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Church Has Stemmed the Tide of Evil Throughout History

Written by Dr. Everett Piper

Cambridge Professor C.F.D. Moule once said, “The gospel is more than a declaration … It is something which we do not merely know but experience.” He continued, “The action of Christ in our world is not a dead and static thing,” but on the contrary, “a great flowing stream, not a separate draught of water; the apex of a pyramid, not an unattached point in mid-air.”

According to Moule, there will “never be an end” to the pursuit of justice and righteousness, for there is “a living God at work … through that which we call the Church, the Body of Christ.”

St. Athanasius, whom many have called the author of the Nicene Creed, once wrote, “Seeing the exceeding wickedness of men, and how little by little they had increased it to an intolerable pitch against themselves … [Christ] took pity on our race, and had mercy on our infirmity.”

He went on to conclude: “Lest the creature should perish, and the Father’s handiwork in men be spent for naught,” God “took unto Himself a Body,” a body that not only endures, lives and breathes in His resurrection but also in His church. “A blind man cannot see the sun,” said the bishop, “but he knows that it is above the earth from the warmth which it affords. Similarly, let those who are still in the blindness of unbelief recognize [what] He has brought about through His manifest powers in others,” i.e., the church.

Even those who openly place themselves somewhere along the atheist-agnostic continuum are now speaking honestly about the redemptive power of the church as described by Moule and Athanasius. For example, Fox News contributor Greg Gutfeld, who describes himself as “non-religious,” says, “I haven’t been to church in years. But there is one thing I know: The church is a positive influence in communities, in terms of encouraging charity and neighborly concern.”

Likewise, Alain de Botton, author of “Religion for Atheists,” laments the loss of “discipline, structure, community” in contemporary culture. He then goes on to come perilously close to affirming the Christian view of original sin when he says, “At heart [we are all] desperate, fragile, vulnerable, sinful creatures, a good deal less wise than we are knowledgeable, always on the verge of anxiety, tortured by our relationships, terrified of death — and most of all in need of God.”

Then there is Matthew Parris, writer for the London Times, who extols the virtues of Christian missionary work in Africa: “As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God … Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone, and the machete.”

Indeed, the church is the salt and light of human history. It has preserved culture in the midst of disease, debauchery and despair. It has been a beacon of hope in the darkest days of violence and oppression. Wilberforce led the British to abolish the slave trade. Mueller rescued orphans from the poverty of the industrial revolution. Bonheoffer defied Hitler. William Booth served the poor. Orange Scott, Luther Lee and B.T. Roberts fought for abolition, and Chuck Colson befriended prisoners.

Yes, the church has stemmed the tide of evil time and time again. From the killing fields of Cambodia to the prison cells of Cuba, it has been the “flowing stream” of justice. Amid plague and contagion, it has been the “apex” of care and compassion. In times of terror and war, it has been God’s “mercy on our infirmity” and His “pity on our race.”

Jesus tells us — indeed, he promises us — that the “gates of hell will not prevail” against His church. Not the Orwellian hubris of the European Union. Not the unprincipled materialism of billionaire elites. Not the moral nihilism of the West or the Muslim extremism in the Middle East. Not the “exceeding wickedness” of Planned Parenthood or the pure evil of NAMBLA. Not the child abuse of trans-activism or the comic delusions of drag queen story hours.

Not the selfish focus of “intersectionality” or the disingenuous sanctimony of the SPLC. Not the blatant arrogance of the progressive left or the transparent pandering of those who seek political power. Not the “increased intolerable pitch” of my sin or yours. Nothing can stop the “manifest power” of “a living God at work.” He is not a “dead or static thing,” but alive and well.

“Nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed. Here is a foundation of faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory.” ~Arthur W. Pink

Thank God for the church.


This article was originally published at The Washington Times.




Planned Parenthood Rep: Christianity “Going Down”

For those of us so very blessed to have raised our personal white flag in mankind’s inherently fruitless struggle against the Creator, there can be no joy in watching God-deniers continue to labor under the grandest of all deceptions. Regardless of how nasty they may be as individuals, there can be only sadness, genuine pity and prayer.

Still, it is instructive.

When the atheist gives voice to his or her God-denial, it provides those in Truth a small glimpse into the same dark spirit – old as Adam – that prompted the psalmist to observe: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good” (Psalm 14:1).

Valerie Tarico is one such God-denier. She’s on a fool’s errand. A steadfast disciple to the unholy trinity of “LGBTQ,” atheist and pro-abortion activism, Ms. Tarico proudly sits on the Board of Advocates for Planned Parenthood – America’s premier one-stop-death-shop.

For “progressives” like Tarico, the term “religious fundamentalism” is a euphemism for orthodox Christianity. In a tedious, though unintentionally funny screed recently published at Salon.com under the headline: “10 signs that religious fundamentalism is going down,” Ms. Tarico gives empty hope to her fellow hopeless with a word salad steeped in anti-Christian bigotry and wishful thinking. I share excerpts only because they so clearly encapsulate the broader secular-”progressive” mindset. Ms. Tarico’s reflections are so hyperbolic – so far removed from reality – that they require little additional commentary.

“[T]hings are looking bright for those who would like to see humanity more grounded in science and reason,” she begins. “If you are a nonbeliever in the mood for a party, here are 10 reasons to celebrate.”

She then rattles off a litany of tired claims the pagan left has repeated annually since the year 0001.

The nutshell? Atheism is on the rise, while Christianity is in decline. “Queer sexuality” is winning, while “biblical sexuality” is losing, yada, yada and so forth. (Total truth, of course, can be ignored, disobeyed, denied, temporarily repressed or masked, but it can never lose.)

“From Hollywood celebs like Cameron Diaz and Angelina Jolie to high school students, skeptics are opening up,” she caws, going on to sing the praises of fellow atheists like Alain de Botton, who “simply posits the nonexistence of God and then goes on to discuss what humanity can glean from the rubble of religious traditions.” (You know, Christian “rubble” like charity, hospitals, nursing, the Red Cross, the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement, et. al.)

Ms. Tarico then throws out a few earthshaking discoveries – scriptural “dog whistles,” I guess – that, heretofore, have somehow eluded every biblical scholar since the Apostle Paul: “Perhaps the most consistent sexual theme in the Bible,” she declares, “is that a woman’s consent is not needed or even preferred before sex.”

Say what?

“By demanding an end to rape culture,” she adds (whatever that is), “today’s young women and men are making the Bible writers look as if they were members of a tribal, Iron Age culture in which women were property like livestock and children – to be traded, sold and won in battle. Small wonder the culture warriors have ramped up their fight against contraception and abortion. Imagine if, on top of everything else, all women got access to expensive top-tier contraceptives and the power to end ill-conceived childbearing.”

Zing. Ouch. Busted. Small wonder, indeed, Valerie. (See why I said little additional commentary is required? OK, I admit it: I have considered selling my children. Don’t judge. You haven’t driven cross-country with them.)

In perfect keeping with the instinctive habits of the indigenous North American “progressive,” Ms. Tarico then goes on to make up a bunch more crap.

Of “believers in recovery” she waxes worried, while sounding the alarm over some really scary sounding pretend thingy called “Religious Trauma Syndrome,” followed with analysis most scholarly on the imaginary “relationship between religion and mental illnesses like depression, anxiety disorders and panic.”

Finally, Ms. Tarico offers hope beyond hope that “religious fundamentalism itself may one day be treatable.”

Shazam! Electrodes, anyone?

Oy vey.

While “a mind is a terrible thing to waste,” how much more a soul? The secular-”progressive” mind is a curious thing – a waste of God’s purpose for the very soul, the very life to whom it was gifted.

What is the meaning of life? It’s not complicated. The meaning of life is to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27).

This is true freedom. “It is for Freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:5).

From the freedom of Christ stems “the fruit of the Spirit,” which is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Without Christ, there is no freedom.

There is only death.

Those who live by the Spirit of Christ “will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want (Galatians 5:16-17).

This is at odds with man’s fleshly desire – which began in the garden – for autonomy from God. The God-denier seeks to fill the void where Christ belongs with “acts of the flesh.”

Warned Paul: “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).

Those who do not – have not.

When God-deniers like Ms. Tarico dig in their heels, a pitiable paradox occurs. While they think they’ve achieved intellectual enlightenment and freedom, they have, instead, been played for the fool. They have become slaves to the flesh, and playthings to the enemy.

Ultimately, there is no autonomy. In the end we each belong to one Master or the other.

Ms. Tarico, the end is just the beginning.

And eternity is a very long time.