RESPONDING TO CELEBRITY DECONSTRUCTIONISM

RESPONDING TO CELEBRITY DECONSTRUCTIONISM

Several high-profile Christian performing artists have famously deconstructed their Christianity and have frequently also described it as deconverting. This includes DC Talk’s Kevin Max, and Hawk Nelson’s John Steingard and former pastor and best-selling author, Josh Harris. These stories have frequently rocked the faith of younger believers—especially since many of these deconstructed celebrities actually encourage these younger believers to deconvert. If you’re being influenced by a deconverted Christian celebrity to consider deconverting yourself, then please consider the following information. 

read more
5 Threats The Church Will Face Over The Next 5 Years and How We Must Respond

5 Threats The Church Will Face Over The Next 5 Years and How We Must Respond

 In some respects, the Church has always been under threat as it has faced attacks from three perpetual sources – the world, the flesh, and the devil – or, to put it another way, from: external forces, internal forces, and spiritual forces. 

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
-Ephesians 6:12

 From the outset of the Church’s inception, it has been under threat. Initially, the Church was threaten by the Jewish Sanhedrin. They viewed Christianity as a sect of Judaism and strictly forbad the Jewish apostles of the Christ from preaching the Christian message.

read more
BEFORE YOU LEAVE – How to best spend the last 3 seconds of your life!

BEFORE YOU LEAVE – How to best spend the last 3 seconds of your life!

LIFE HAS ONE CERTAINTY

We used to say that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. But life has only one certainty – we will all die. The death-rate is still 100%! Yet faced with this absolute certainty, too few people think about it and even fewer people take steps to prepare for it and what lies beyond it. And, as it turns out, not even many people who have become Christians have given much thought either! But I have something to say to those who think religion – and Christianity in particular – is (at best) irrelevant. Please give me just three minutes now – and just three seconds later!

WHY DO PEOPLE CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY? 

Christians have sometimes been accused of promoting a pie-in-the-sky message. But the social research reveals a pretty clear message about why people convert to Christianity. Here are the top three reasons why people become Christians-

1. I was raised in a Christian home.

2. I had a religious experience (answered prayer, dream/vision, etc.)

3.  I had a need that converting to Christianity met (drug/alcohol deliverance, marriage repair, loneliness, poverty relief, etc.)

Conversely, the top three reasons why people reject Christianity are – 

Science has now disproven Christianity.
Too many doubts about the Bible’s claims.
Too many Christians are hypocrites.

The Morality Of Hell

The Morality Of Hell

Heaven and Hell are commonly presented as either the benefit or the consequence of how a person responds to God. It’s as if people think that the whole point of religion is to get people into Heaven and to keep them out of Hell. From this “religious” perspective, Heaven is Ultimate Bliss, Paradise, Perfect Beauty – while Hell is Fire, Eternal Punishment, Anguish, Torment, and The Devil’s Domain.

read more
The Bible For Left-Handers

The Bible For Left-Handers

There are some obscure verses in the Bible that seem to make is difficult for anyone claiming that every word of the Bible is inspired. These obscure verses tend to pop-up through the Old Testament. Some of them seem random. Some of them seem out of place. Take Judges 20:16 as an example-
Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Judges 20:16

Some people who believe the Bible to be divinely inspired resolve these obscure verses by using a combination of ignoring them and ascribing to them a “lesser” divine inspiration. But if the Bible’s own claims about itself are taken seriously, then this approach can not be reconciled with such claims.
One of the primary claims of the Bible is that it is uniquely authoritative (2Timothy 3:16-17).

read more
THE LOGIC OF TRUTH

THE LOGIC OF TRUTH

If the New York Times is right, there is a lot of public support given to paperback authors who attack Christianity at the moment. In recent times they have ranked several books in their Best Sellers List which have made almost shrill allegations against Christianity. One of these “NY Times Listed Best Selling Books” was brought to me by a member of our local community who is investigating his spiritual options. He asked me if I would give him a “Christian response” to it. This particular book, THE NEW REVELATIONS – A Conversation with God, presents itself as a reasoned and rational approach to understanding God and our relationship to Him and then to each other. It claims to be a direct “revelation” from “God”. From all reports this book has made a significant impact on the way millions of people regard God and how we should live. For those familiar with the Bible it shouldn’t take long to recognise that the message of this book could not be either a revelation from God or even about God. But for those not familiar with the Bible, but familiar with the principles of logic, they too should be able to detect that this book has no credibility to what it claims.

read more
THE MYTH OF SAFE, LEGAL, AND RARE

THE MYTH OF SAFE, LEGAL, AND RARE

It’s reported that President Bill Clinton was the first to coin the phrase, “Abortion should be safe, legal and rare.” This clever sounding phrase was designed to be a politically safe appeasement for both the ‘Pro-Life’ and the ‘Pro-Choice’ camps. Due to the political success of this phrase it has been picked up by other politicians around the world who are also seeking to avoid polarising their electorate. But I consider this phrase absolutely non-sensical and utterly morally indefensible. Here’s why.

read more
WHAT ABOUT SOGI CONVERSION PRACTICES?

WHAT ABOUT SOGI CONVERSION PRACTICES?

Several jurisdictions around the world have introduced SOGI (Sexual Orientation Gender Identity) Conversion laws to restrict promotion of attempts made by groups or individuals to convert non-heterosexuals to heterosexuality. In December 2020, the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute (TLRI) had several groups from among the LGBTQA+ communities approach them and refer them to the possible need to reform the law in response to SOGI Conversion practices. The TLRI accepted their reference and issued an Issues Paper (#31) and has invited public consultation on their paper which calls for the outlawing of ‘conversion practices’. There are several underlying premises in the TLRI Issues Paper, many of which I have addressed in my submission to the Institute which you can view here. 

read more
Does Genesis 1 Contradict Genesis 2

Does Genesis 1 Contradict Genesis 2

The foundation of the Bible and Christianity is the opening story of Genesis – about how God created the world- especially its claim that God created Adam and Eve as the parents of all humanity. If this opening account is wrong, the very foundation for believing the Bible is destroyed! But if this account of creation is the pillar of truth, why are the two opening chapters so contradictory? Or are they?

read more
A Novel Conspiracy

A Novel Conspiracy

Just over a hundred years ago, a group of Trinity College, Cambridge students formed a covert society called the “Midnight Society”. Many of the Society members became professors at Cambridge, while others became famous novelists, playwrights and authors. At a time when Christians generally considered fiction grossly inferior to non-fiction (and theologically devotional writings), the members of the Midnight Society were strategically using it. They understood that the values and the morals of a nation could be influenced by the fiction it consumed. And they had a radical agenda…

The Bible’s Authority, Infallibility, and Divine Inspiration

The Bible’s Authority, Infallibility, and Divine Inspiration

Nearly everything we do is built on trust. When we eat we trust that we will not be poisoned by the cook. When we go for a walk we trust that other walkers will not bump us out of their way. When someone tells us something we trust that they are telling us the truth. In fact, there is hardly anything we do in our everyday lives that does not involve trust. While we generally trust those we have come to know, we readily trust some people whom we do not know if they are people possessing appropriate authority such as a policeman, or a medical doctor or an airline pilot. The right authority invites and engenders trust. Christians trust the Bible because it derives from the highest authority – God. In fact, Christians have good reasons (a rationale) for believing that the Bible is divinely inspired and the only infallible and authoritative written Word of God.

read more

Articles

Read articles about ethics, apologetics, philosophy, public policy discussions here

Teaching Videos

View hundreds of teaching videos here. Invite a ‘virtual’ guest speaker by using these videos.

Free Resources

Choose from 100s of Printable, free, & downloadable, Bible Studies, & Sermon Powerpoints/Keynotes.

Subscribe To The FTM PerspectiveseMail

Receive our regular email with updates, fresh articles, audio downloads, and special offers.

You have Successfully Subscribed!