I was in second grade at St. Christopher’s School in Midlothian, Illinois. The ink was still drying on the documents of the Second Vatican Council in Rome and I was preparing for my First Holy Communion in the Catholic church with about 30 to 40 other children (those were the days of big class sizes) who were often giddy with excitement at the thought of the parties and presents that followed this rite of passage. I was hoping for my first wristwatch. Continue reading …

One of the newest naysayers to the validity of the Bible is Bart Ehrman. In our Journal article To Error is Ehrman (which begins on page 16 of the fall 2006 issue) we review Ehrman’s book Misquoting Jesus we pointed out that he is at least functionally post-modern. There is no real way to know historical truth since the historical writers are only communicating perceptions. He was and continues to be very clear that the Bible is fundamentally not reliable. There is little he says that is new but rather he has simply joined ranks with Jesus Seminar types, like John Dominic Crossan, retired Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg as well as Elaine Pagels in his Hysterical Search for the Historical Jesus. In Former fundamentalist ‘debunks’ Bible a review of Ehrman’s most recent book, Jesus Interuppted, CNN (hardly the bastion of Conservatism) reviewer John Blake concurs: Continue reading …

The problem with words is that they can mean different things to different people. The basic meaning may seem the same but the way it works itself out depends on what one really thinks. Where is their mind? If I asked you for a four letter word which ends in the letter “k” which is a synonym for intercourse. What would you say? If you said the answer is Continue reading …

Some of our readers may recall that The Local Church of Witness Lee had filed suit against Harvest House Publishers, John Ankerberg and John Weldon for their inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions. To the surprise of most missions for cults and New Religions movements and discernment ministries, CRI had come out positively for the Local Church and against Harvest House Publishers, John Ankerberg and John Weldon. Near the end of the litigation, “More than 70 evangelical Christian scholars and ministry leaders from seven nations have signed an unprecedented open letter to the leadership of the “local churches” and Living Stream Ministry.” This week, Apologetics Index uploaded Five Christian apologists evaluate the teachings of Witness Lee and The Local Church. There is also a synopsis of this situation on this page and other links and evaluations. The dilemma we face is how to view CRI in its present incarnation. Over the years CRI has produced some of the leading researchers, writers and scholars in the area of missions to cults and New Religious Movements, training and equipping the Body of Christ in discernment and evangelism. Names like Continue reading …

In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution with Congress paving the way for an annual celebration of Mother’s Day recognized by the Federal Government. The following year was the first official celebration. The ORIGIN OF MOTHER’S DAY gives a brief historical overview of what has been our nationally recognized day for nearly a century. I think it is q good thing to corporately recognize mothers, especially in these days of severe feminism and anti-traditional family by a vocal minority. In my opinion, mothers may not be unappreciated as much as under appreciated. The cliché, “more is caught than taught” is certainly true of mothers. They communicate by how they live, Continue reading …