A new controversy has erupted in School District U-46, and this time it doesn’t involve compulsory co-ed locker rooms or offensive statements from board member Traci O’Neal Ellis. This time 18 local religious leaders have objected to school board member Jeanette Ward’s Facebook post about a controversial article on religion assigned in a sixth-grade class.

A teacher had her sixth-graders read an article by Australian history of religion professor and agnostic Philip Almond and then answer questions based on that reading. Here are some of the controversial statements from that article:

“Judaism, Christianity and Islam are three of the world’s major religions. While they have many differences, they all believe in the same God.

“Some of the prophets that Jews follow were Noah, Abraham and Moses. Christians follow these prophets too. They also think that Jesus was another prophet of the same God.”

“Jesus, Muhammad and the Hebrew prophets all described the same God.”

“The God of the Old Testament can be both good and evil.”

“Like the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus predicted a day when God will punish humankind and will be merciless in doing so.”

 “Muslims, Christians and Jews all worship the same complex God. But each religion believes that its books and teachings reveal the true nature of that God. This disagreement has shaped the course of history. The followers of each religion believe that only they will be saved by God. They see all others as damned. This way of seeing people, as damned by God and beyond saving, has led to violence and hatred.”

After reading the assignment, Ward posted the entire article by Almond along with these innocuous comments:

Do you know what your children are being taught: Muslims believe in the same God as Christians and Jews?

My 6th-grader came home with this assignment today. She was supposed to read the article and answer the questions. (She will not be completing this assignment). The full text of the article is below. Quiz questions are depicted in the pictures. This article is utterly incorrect and false on many levels. This is one of the many reasons I voted no on this curriculum resource.

In response to Ward’s Facebook comments, a statement signed by 18 religious leaders—mostly from apostate denominations—was read at Monday’s school board meeting (see names and affiliations below*). They began by mildly critiquing Almond’s article for its lack of “nuance” and “generosity”:

None of us saw our faith traditions represented in their fullness in the article as represented from the school’s curriculum.

The central problem with the article was not lack of “nuance,” “generosity,” or  “fullness.” The central problem was theological errors taught to children as facts. For many Christians such theological errors are offensive, and having government employees present such errors to their children as facts compounds the offense.

Then, with insufficient nuance and generosity, these religious leaders criticized Ward’s Facebook comment:

[W]e feel that more important than the content of the article is the question of how we are to engage with inevitable differences of opinion, theology, and world view. Here, we strongly take exception to Ms. Ward’s approach… We believe that these instances represent a valuable opportunity to practice civil discourse and to express our differences with both respect and humility.

Seriously? Ward’s “approach” is more important to purported Christian pastors than a public school presenting resources that teach children that the God of the Old Testament is evil and that Allah and Jesus are the same?

Moreover, what specifically did Ward write that is uncivil, disrespectful, or prideful? Maybe these faith leaders could tell everyone exactly what the permissible ways to “engage with inevitable differences of opinion, theology, and world view” are.

One wonders why these religious leaders didn’t publicly chastise school board member Veronica Noland when she referred to opponents of co-ed locker rooms as “narrow-minded fear mongers.” And why didn’t they condemn school board member Traci O’Neal Ellis’ “approach” when she three times referred to Republicans as the equivalent of KKK’ers. Curiouser and curiouser.

This theologically imbalanced coterie of critics next claimed it’s the job of some unnamed persons to correct the misinformation provided to young middle schoolers by government employees:

[W]hen such articles and statements are presented to our children, we believe it is helpful to use these instances as opportunities to teach our children why we disagree with the information being presented and how to do so with respect and humility. Indeed, we believe teaching our children to identify, understand, and even challenge ideas with which they do not agree is helpful training for them as students, citizens, and people of faith.

The subject of their recommendation remains unclear. Who should teach children that the material presented at school is incorrect? Religious leaders? Parents? How can religious leaders or parents engage in the work of correcting misinformation if they don’t know that such misinformation was disseminated to their children?

This raises critical questions: Who selected this article? Did a department chair and curricula review committee read it? And why are teachers using resources that present arguable assumptions and errors as facts?

Continuing their criticism of Ward under the guise of offering their definition of proper leadership, the faith leaders inadvertently revealed their fealty to government employees as opposed to parents and other taxpayers:

[F]aithful, respectful leadership means engaging teachers and administrators directly.

This may be the most troubling part of their troubling statement. They failed to mention that the primary responsibility of school board members is to directly engage parents and other stakeholders—you know, the people who elected them and for whom they work.

How can Muslim, Jewish, or Christian parents have the kind of conversations with their children that this group of mostly “progressives” recommend unless a school board member or members engage directly with those parents to inform them of what was taught? Clearly the teacher didn’t do that.

From working for a decade in a public school, I learned that there is an unwritten principle that teachers, administrators, and board members cling to as if it were sacred. The rule is that if parents have a concern with resources, they should first express their concerns to teachers, and then if unsatisfied with the response, move up the food chain. In my humble opinion, that’s an arbitrary, socially constructed rule that parents need not honor.

Ironically, teachers, administrators, and board members who believe there’s no need to honor the practice of segregating boys from girls in restrooms and locker rooms think parents must honor the practice of keeping controversial resources on the down-low in order to avoid controversy. How “progressives” arrive at their ethical and moral imperatives is baffling.

Unfortunately, given the desire of “progressives” in government schools for absolute autonomy and their self-identification as “change agents,” controversy is both inevitable and necessary. To borrow from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”:

[W]e who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

There’s a lesson to be learned from this mess. It’s that “progressives” control schools in part because they act. Perhaps at the next board meeting, 20, 25, or 30 theologically orthodox Christians could make a statement about the problem of using taxpayer money to teach young children that Jesus and Allah are the same God or that the God of the Old Testament is evil. Surely there are a few pastors in the Elgin area who find such teaching objectionable. And surely  there are some who feel empathy for Jeanette Ward who stands in the gap for children when no other school board member does.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Faithless-Faith-Leaders-Protest-Jeanette-Wards-FB-Post_01.mp3

*Lois Bucher, associate pastor, First Congregational Church (United Church of Christ), Elgin; Richard T. Carlson, pastor, First United Methodist Church, Elgin; David Daubert, pastor, Zion Lutheran Church, Elgin; Marlene Daubert, deacon, Zion Lutheran Church, Elgin; Dr. Paris Donehoo, senior pastor, First Congregational Church (United Church of Christ), Elgin; The Reverend Dr. Nathaniel Edmond, Second Baptist Church, Elgin; Rev. Donald J. Frye (“married” to a man), rector, St. James Episcopal Church, West Dundee; Sulayman Hassan, Baitul Ilm Academy, Streamwood; Ed Hunter, chaplain, Presence Saint Joseph Hospital, Elgin; Margaret Frisch Klein, rabbi, Congregation Kneseth Israel, Elgin; Steven J. Peskind, rabbi and chaplain, Streamwood; Fred Rajan, reverend (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and vice president, Office of Spiritual Care, Advocate Hospital; Karen Schlack, reverend, First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), Elgin; Jill Terpstra, reverend, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Kane County; Katie Shaw Thompson, pastor, Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren; Rev. Denise Tracy, president, Coalition of Elgin Religious Leaders President, Elgin; George Wadleigh, Christian Scientist; and Mark Weinert, pastor, First Christian Church, Elgin.

End-of-Year Challenge

As you may know, IFI has a year-end matching challenge to raise $160,000. That’s right, a great group of IFI supporters are colluding with us to provide an $80,000 matching challenge to help support IFI’s ongoing work to educate, motivate and activate Illinois’ Christian community.

Please consider helping us reach this goal!  Your donation will help us stand strong in 2018!  To make a credit card donation over the phone, please call the IFI office at (708) 781-9328.  You can also send a gift to:

Illinois Family Institute
P.O. Box 876
Tinley Park, Illinois 60477

A cursory look at recent words from prominent homosexual writer Andrew Sullivan who self-identifies as Catholic illustrates the ways homosexual Christians attempt to remake Scripture in their own image to serve their own desires.

Catholic revisionist Sullivan, a well-known cultural commentator, offered a fanciful and childish reinterpretation of Scripture when he wrote about the U.S. Supreme Court case involving Colorado baker Jack Phillips. It should be noted from the outset that Sullivan hopes Phillips wins, but also hopes he wins based on expressive speech arguments—not religious free exercise grounds.

Sullivan not-so-carefully constructed an ugly straw man that he then went about pummeling with weak, floppy punches that couldn’t knock down a thin man of straw let alone God’s enduring Word:

Sealing yourself off from those you consider sinners is, in my reading of the Gospels, the reverse of what Jesus taught. It was precisely this tendency of the religious to place themselves above others, to create clear boundaries to avoid ‘contamination’ from ‘evildoers’ that Jesus uniquely violated and profoundly opposed. If Jesus is your guide, why is this kind of boundary observance such an important part of your faith? Are you afraid your own faith will be weakened by decorating a cake? Would you have ever had dinner with prostitutes or imperial tax collectors as Jesus famously did? What is this Christianity you are so dedicated to? Somewhere, the fundamental Christian imperative to love others and be humble before them has been lost.

Refusing to bake a wedding cake for a type of union that is the antithesis of marriage in no way constitutes “sealing oneself off,” placing oneself “above others,” or avoiding “contamination” from “evil doers.” Nor is such a refusal impelled by fear of having one’s faith weakened. In reality, such refusal both reflects deep faith and strengthens faith through the trials (both figurative and literal) that ensue.

For Christians marriage is first and foremost a picture of Christ and the church. Its essence is complementarity. Christ the bridegroom and his bride the church are different in nature and role. Therefore, a union of two people of the same sex would suggest that there is no difference in nature and role between Christ and the church. In addition, Christ himself explicitly defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Moreover, God detests homosexual activity. A ceremony that solemnizes and celebrates an intrinsically non-marital union that is “consummated” by activity that God abhors is heretical. Those, like Jack Phillips, who own businesses that serve only sinners—including homosexuals—everyday, aren’t sealing themselves off by refusing to serve a heretical celebration that mocks marriage. They are serving and honoring God.

Nor is such a refusal indicative of lack of humility as Sullivan claims it is. Humility does not require Christians to refrain from making distinctions between right and wrong. And making distinctions between right and wrong actions does not constitute or reflect pride, arrogance, or a sinful sense of superiority. When Sullivan decries actions that he believes are wrong or when he refuses to be a part of some activity that he believes is wrong, is he guilty of unbiblical lack of humility?

Pastor and theologian John Piper writes this:

Humility begins with a sense of subordination to God in Christ.… Humility asserts truth not to bolster ego with control or with triumphs in debate, but as service to Christ and love to the adversary.

Truth is integral to biblical humility.

Sullivan then makes the tiresome claim that because Jesus ate with prostitutes and tax collectors, there should be no boundaries regarding the types of events that Christians serve, facilitate, or celebrate. This criticism implies that Christians who refuse to be part of homosexual faux-wedding celebrations also refuse to eat with homosexuals. Does Sullivan have any evidence for such an ugly claim?

Jesus did, indeed, eat with prostitutes and tax collectors. He did not, however, serve, facilitate, celebrate, or participate in celebrations of prostitution or of the exploitation of the poor through excessive, unjust taxation. Nor did he just hang out chewing the fat with prostitutes, tax collectors, and people who favored other forms of sin.

Rather, he told them to “go and sin no more,” to repent and follow him. He told the sinners he spent time with that “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me,” and “whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

At the feast with tax collectors, Jesus described them like this:

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Jesus broke bread with tax collectors, calling them sick and in need of healing and sinners in need of repentance. Sullivan left out those inconvenient details about the time Jesus spent with sinners.

Sullivan is wrong again. God did, indeed, establish boundaries for his followers. In Ephesians 5:11, the apostle Paul commands Christians to:

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Sullivan is right too. We should go to sinners. We should eat with them. And we should to the best of our ability and in humility emulate Christ by sharing the gospel message.

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Homosexual-Catholic-Gets-Scripture-and-Jack-Phillips-Wrong-2.mp3

Editor’s note: Laurie is the featured guest on this week’s Illinois Family Spotlight podcast.  Check it out HERE.

End-of-Year Challenge

As you may know, IFI has a year-end matching challenge to raise $160,000. That’s right, a great group of IFI supporters are colluding with us to provide an $80,000 matching challenge to help support IFI’s ongoing work to educate, motivate and activate Illinois’ Christian community.

Please consider helping us reach this goal!  Your donation will help us stand strong in 2018!  To make a credit card donation over the phone, please call the IFI office at (708) 781-9328.  You can also send a gift to:

Illinois Family Institute
P.O. Box 876
Tinley Park, Illinois 60477

This week the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear a case that will either preserve our First Amendment religious liberty in the United States or diminish it.

The case is about Jack Phillips, a bakery owner in Colorado who in 2012 declined to create a wedding cake to celebrate so-called same-sex “marriage.” He turned down the job because doing so would violate his deeply held Christian belief that God created the institution as the union of a man and a woman.

Phillips offered to make the same-sex couple any other type of baked good or sell them a pre-made cake, but they refused. A complaint was soon filed with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission for “sexual orientation” discrimination.

The commission ordered Phillips either to comply with the state-enforced morality by creating wedding cakes that violate his religious beliefs or stop providing wedding cakes altogether. The commission’s ruling also mandated “re-education” training for Phillips’ employees and requires him to submit quarterly reports to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

Thankfully, SCOTUS has agreed to hear this case. On December 5th, attorneys will present their oral arguments. No person should be forced by the government to violate their deeply held religious beliefs. This includes artists like Jack, who shouldn’t be coerced into making art with a message that he considers immoral.

This may be one of the most consequential religious liberty cases to be heard by the SCOTUS in decades.  Therefore, IFI is calling for focused prayer for this case and preservation of religious liberty in our nation.

PLEASE PRAY…

• for clarity of thought for the attorneys defending Jack Phillips

•  for the U.S. Supreme Court Justices considering this case

•  for the Lord to preserve religious liberty in the United States

• for Jack Phillips and his family as they continue to courageously challenge government tyranny in the courts

• for the oral arguments on December 5th

• for God to receive honor and glory even in the midst of increasing opposition to His Word

Please continue to lift this case up in prayer throughout the next several weeks, and share this information with like-minded Christians. You can also share this article on social media.

#JusticeForJack

​​​​​​​#ReligiousLiberty

Most of us don’t find it a challenge to be thankful for the good things that come our way. It’s easy to be grateful for a beautiful day, a raise at work, or a good report from the doctor.

But what about when life is hard? When everything feels hopeless and dark? The gratitude doesn’t flow quite as freely in those times.

A couple of years ago, I walked through such a time. I was hit by some unexpected challenges, and the struggle was intense. The emotional weight of it all pulled me down, distracted me from my work and family, and left me gripped with anxiety, discouragement, and hopelessness. And it didn’t stop. Every day was a struggle. For months. And months. And months.

How can we be thankful for those times?

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I think I’ve learned a lesson or two that could be helpful to others walking through their own valley. A disclaimer first: I’ll freely confess that while I was walking through that dark time I wasn’t feeling very thankful. I just wanted it to end. But now that I’m (mostly) on the other side, I’ve started experiencing some gratitude. And as painful as the experience was—and still is on some days—I’m really not sure I would change it if I could, because I’m finally catching some glimpses of how God can use it in my life.

So, how can we find thankfulness for the hard times?

Thankfulness Requires Trust

If we’re going to be thankful for the difficult things life brings our way, we’re going to need faith. We’re going to need to have a deep trust that God knows best and that He really does work everything together for good, as Romans 8:28 promises. If we don’t believe that, we’ll never be able to thank God for the valleys we walk through.

I have three young children. Like any parent, sometimes I have to make decisions they don’t like. From their perspective, there’s absolutely no reason for me to make the decisions that bring grief into their lives—no reason to say they can’t have more dessert, play longer, or stay up later. All they know is that they don’t like what I’m saying. They don’t recognize that I have more wisdom than them, and that if I allow them make all the decisions it will ultimately ruin their lives.

In the same way, God is exponentially wiser than us. Sometimes He knows we need to walk through a difficult time for some reason we can’t see. And just like a child who can’t comprehend why they need to eat broccoli instead of cake, we can’t comprehend why life sometimes has to be hard instead of easy. But just as we know more than our children, God knows more than us. Infinitely more. If we can accept that and trust in His goodness, we’ll be a long way toward expressing gratitude for the hard things.

Choosing Our Focus

One of the major lessons I’ve learned during the past couple of years is that we can choose where to focus. We can get stuck focusing on the difficulties we’re going through, or we can focus on taking the next step in front of us. We can focus on the lies of Satan, or we can focus on the truth of God.

One powerful strategy we can use to change our focus during a hard time is to ask ourselves a simple question: “What is true about God right now?” If you’re feeling upset or discouraged, your first answer to that question might be flippant or superficial. So don’t stop there. Ask yourself again, “What else is true about God right now?” Keep asking until you’ve peeled back enough layers that you’re speaking deeply meaningful truth into your own heart and mind. You’ll find your focus shifted from your problems onto the wonderful goodness of our God—a much better place for our thoughts to rest, and also much more likely to produce gratitude.

Look for the Blessing

One reason I can experience a budding thankfulness for the hard time I’ve walked through is because I can see how God will use it to make me a blessing to others who are walking through like trials. Just a few weeks ago, I was able to be an encouragement to a friend who is going through a similar challenge and was encouraged to talk with someone who has been there and understands. When I see God transforming my dark time into a ray of light for someone else, it helps me be thankful.

Looking Back

I wish I could say that I found gratitude right in the middle of those dark days. I didn’t. It took some time. Even today, it’s just a small bud of thankfulness—but I know it can keep growing with time, and that God can turn it into something beautiful.

At many Thanksgiving tables, family and friends will pause for a few moments to share things they’re thankful for. Most of the things mentioned will be positive: good health, provision, home and family, the love and grace of God, and so on. But maybe you’re walking through a valley so dark that gratitude—for anything—is having a hard time taking root. Believe me, I understand. But if we can trust God, choose to focus on His truth, and look for the blessings—however hidden or obscure they may be—we can begin to find the gratitude that has eluded us.

Jonathan Lewis is husband to Linnea, and Daddy to Patrick, Timothy, and Katherine. He is a writer, speaker, and self-employed graphic designer. You can reach him at jonathan@JonlinCreative.com.

Written by Casey Ryan

A Colorado baker has a right not to make a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex marriage that is against his faith, and the LGBT agenda is not a new civil rights movement, black Christian leaders said Monday outside the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nine leaders spoke in support of Jack Phillips, whose lawyers will ask the high court Dec. 5 to affirm that his free speech and religious liberty rights under the First Amendment allow him to turn down a request by two male customers to create such a cake.

“The First Amendment gives us the freedom of religion, not the freedom from religion,” Garland Hunt, senior pastor at The Father’s House, a nondenominational church in Atlanta, said at the press conference in defense of Phillips, who was not there. “The freedom of religion is an inalienable right that comes from God.”

In 2012, Phillips declined the business of two men who visited his bakery in Lakewood, Colorado, and asked him to create a cake celebrating their wedding in Massachusetts.

His Christian faith, Phillips has said, teaches that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. He also has said he doesn’t design and make cakes that go against his faith in other ways, such as being sexually suggestive or depicting Satan.

Persecution of Christians is real and “coming for America,” Hunt said.

Dean Nelson, co-founder of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of North Carolina and senior fellow for African-American affairs at the Washington-based Family Research Council, said Phillips is being attacked because he is a Christian.

“Jack is an honorable man who has served his community through his business for all people, regardless of their race, creed, color, gender, or sexual identity,” Nelson said. “Jack as a Christian is compelled to love all people, and this is what he has done for decades.”

The press conference was organized by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group that defends religious liberty and represents Phillips, and sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Foundation, which promotes Christian and Republican values. The foundation also has launched a website in support of Phillips called We Got Your Back, Jack.

Janet Boynes, author of Called Out: A Former Lesbian’s Discovery of Freedom, said the civil rights movement started to help blacks gain their rights and sexual behavior is not the same as skin color.

“I resent having my race compared to what other people do in bed,” Boynes said.

LGBT activists want special rights, she said, and she is concerned that people are falling for the idea that homosexuality is not a choice. American culture is in a “downward spiral,” she said.

“God only condones and blesses sex between a man and a woman in marriage,” she said.

William Avon Keen, president of the Virginia chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization co-founded by civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr., said activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans have hijacked civil rights.

Unlike many LGBT activists, Keen said, he dealt with separate and unequal public facilities when he was growing up.

Keen said the Bible calls homosexuality a sin.

“We as Christians, we feel that murder is a sin. … We feel that marriage is ordained by God between a man and a woman,” Keen said. “We don’t believe in the third gender.”

He said the civil rights movement of the 1960s was “anti-sin,” and that today Christians are “too quiet” on societal issues and need to speak up.

“It is an injustice for our nation or anyone to try to force an individual to deny their faith,” Keen said.

Article originally posted on Stream.org.

There are myriad reasons why young people are abandoning conservative principles, one of which is that our publicly funded schools are run by and our children are taught by fools who revile truth. Neil Rigler, an English teacher at Deerfield High School in Deerfield, Illinois, is one such teacher.

Last week, Rigler posted a link to an article from the far Left website PinkNews that criticized President Trump’s appearance at the Values Voter Summit, which is sponsored by the Family Research Council. Rigler added this comment:

Why isn’t this the lead story on national news? [Trump] endorses this hate group and supports legalized discrimination. Horrific. (Yet again).

Evidently Rigler is a disciple of the ethically impoverished, anti-Christian hate group known euphemistically as the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has deemed the Family Research Council (and IFI) “hate groups.”

But why such a designation for organizations that actually denounce hatred?

The SPLC and Rigler hurl the epithet “hate group” at organizations that hold theologically orthodox views on the moral status of volitional homosexual activity and biological-sex rejection. The SPLC and Rigler evidently believe that moral positions with which they disagree constitute hatred of persons.

Of course, it’s unlikely they apply their underlying principle consistently. It’s unlikely they believe that all moral disapproval of volitional acts constitutes hatred of persons. It’s unlikely they would hurl the epithet “hater” at someone who believes homoerotic love between two consenting brothers is immoral or at someone who opposes the legal recognition of poly-marriages.

Foolish inconsistency is the hobgoblin of little Leftist minds.

Government employee Rigler posted his feckless, pernicious comment on his Facebook page where anyone with a Facebook account can see it, including former, current, and future students. Presumably some of them are theologically orthodox young people.

And Rigler fancies himself “inclusive.”

Unfortunately, Rigler is not alone among our taxpayer-subsidized propagandists who identify as educators and who accuse those who hold values and beliefs with which they disagree of being hateful. Rigler’s comment is emblematic of the openly contemptuous attitude many of our  public school teachers have toward those who hold conservative beliefs and values.

There’s Jason Spoor-Harvey, former Fremd High School social studies teacher and current history department chair at Oak Park and River Forest High School. Spoor-Harvey is “married” to a man and has posted pictures on his Facebook page of his faux-marriage as well as his hearty support for Planned Parenthood. When he was a teacher at Fremd, he posted pictures of Che Guevara and Karl Marx on his official school web page along with this image titled “Evolutionary Theory”:

Rigler and Spoor-Harvey have every right to express their foolish beliefs and values  on their Facebook pages, and parents have every right to say these men are poor role models for their children and refuse to place their children under the their tutelage. The mere fact that Spoor-Harvey is legally “married”—though not in reality married—to a man teaches young people a harmful, untruthful lesson and renders him an unfit role model.

But Rigler and Spoor-Harvey don’t restrict expressions of their political and moral views to their Facebook pages. They express their views in the classroom both through their comments and the materials they choose, like homosexual writer Tony Kushner’s essay titled “American Things,” which Rigler has taught. In this essay, Kushner compares the homosexuality-affirming revolution to the Civil Rights Movement and calls moral disapproval of homosexuality a “social evil.”

There are countless teachers like Rigler and Spoor-Harvey who see themselves as “change agents” and view it as their right and responsibility to use their publicly funded positions to transform the political and moral views of other people’s children. Sometimes they do so by bringing in representatives from partisan organizations to disseminate destructive ideas to children as unassailable truths.

Just last month, Public School District 150 in Peoria, Illinois invited the Central Illinois Pride Health Center (CIPHC) to teach eighth-graders a lesson on “Sexual Orientation and Gender Stereotypes.”

The executive director and founder of the CIPHC is Len Meyer (on the left below), a lesbian who masquerades as a man and is “married” to a woman.

In March 2017, Meyer partnered with Illinois State University for its 19th annual drag show charity fundraiser with proceeds going this year to CIPHC. Meyer said, “I have always been a supporter of the drag show…as a person of the community. I think it is a great opportunity to give students a chance to get involved and get exposure of the cause.”

Do PSD 150 administrators, teachers, and school board members really believe this is the kind of person who should be teaching 13-year-olds? Do they really believe this is the kind of person most parents in their community want to teach their children about sexuality?

The troubling and very hard-to-find “Sexual Orientation and Gender Stereotypes” lesson on the PSD 150 website lists a handout titled the “Genderbread Person,” as a “needed” material for this class. This infamous handout teaches children to sever the connection between one’s sex and gender, or in the words of the Genderbread Person, to break through the “binary.” The lesson outline includes teaching students the meaning of “key terms” like “cisgender,” “queer,” and “intersex,” which is defined as “actually quite common!”

What is never discussed in the lesson is whether the beliefs of the “LGBTQ” community are objectively true or good. No dissenting views are included.

Christian parents should not allow their children to be trained up by men and women who view Scripture as hate-filled, ignorant bigotry.

Christians should not allow their children to be trained up by men and women who do not recognize the intrinsic value of all human lives—and all means all—including those yet in their mothers’ wombs.

Christian parents should not allow their children to be trained up by adults who don’t recognize and respect the immutability and profound meaning of sexual differentiation.

Christian parents should not allow their children to be trained up by adults who believe that inclusivity and compassion demand the affirmation of sexual perversion or confusion or the relinquishment of physical privacy.

Christians parents should not allow their children to be trained up by those who cannot see that marriage has a nature central to which is sexual complementarity and without which a union is not in reality a marriage.

Churches must begin today to create affordable schools for their church families. For diverse reasons, many families are unable to homeschool and unable to afford Christian private schools. Churches should view the education of children in their flocks as a mission field, with mission funds going toward making disciples of them. No matter how nice they are, people like Neil Rigler, Jason Spoor-Harvey, and Len Meyer cannot properly educate children.

Thomas More College of Liberal Arts professor Anthony Esolen offers this parable to illustrate where we are culturally:

Imagine a scene of wholesale destruction. Every old and venerable structure has been reduced to rubble. People relieve themselves in the street. Sometimes they copulate there, too. Their “music” is little more than grunting and groaning. Their rulers are on the take. There are hundreds of thousands of old books in the mountain of stone and mortar that used to be the library. Most of those books are far beyond the capacity of the people to read. They sneer and snort at Shakespeare, because they can’t understand him. They’ve never even heard of Virgil. A lot of these people have taken to cannibalism.

Now then—you have retained some vague memory of a more noble way of life.  You have therefore arrived at a great truth. It’s perfectly obscure to most of your fellow rubble-pickers, who mock you and call you a prude, a Neanderthal, a medieval monk, a madman, a hater of the hungry, and so forth. Your precious truth is simply this: it is wrong to eat human flesh.

Well, that is no great burst of enlightenment, but it is a beginning. So what do you do?  Will you be content to say, “My children will do everything that everyone else is doing, but they will not eat human flesh?” They will be subhuman and subcultural, but their taste in dining will be restricted just a little?  Is that all?

Will you say, “Our family is not anthropophagous, but we will send our children to be taught by the same fellow that all the other parents use,” the one with the squalid leer, dabbling in excrement, contemptuous of any wisdom from the past?

…

What do you do, then?  Turn back, O man.  It’s time to recover and rebuild.

Churches should start the recovery and rebuilding project now. We’re very late. Some of our children are cannibals.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

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Written by Daniel Boland, Ph.D.

In his commentary on the Las Vegas tragedy, Psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow mentions psychological denial as a way people avoid thinking about human vulnerabilities. Human vulnerability refers to our fear of being wounded (“vulnera” in Latin means “wound”). We fear bodily harm or, most often, bruising to our fragile egos. Thus, we deny hard personal truths which we want desperately to avoid, desperately not to face. Denial is an attempt to escape.

In a state of denial, our conscience is stifled by the need to protect ourselves from perceived threats to our ego. Our ego is the repository of our so-called self-esteem. It’s where our self-protective instincts stand ever at-the-ready.

We have a spiritual power within us called conscience. It is infused by God and is a gift to human nature. Conscience reminds us that the only antidote to denial is facing the truth — or, in spiritual terms, facing the Truth – and living up to our responsibilities and duties, however difficult.

Trouble is, psychological denial stifles the conscience. Denial is a deliberate choice to avoid discomforting reality and mute the call of responsibility. Denial creates an alternative reality in which we shield our ego from danger. We falsify life. We lie to ourselves in a topsy-turvy universe where our values are badly askew. We avoid facts, history, reason and experience. We live in a state of sustained pretense. We even stifle common sense … but others usually see right through us.

As a nation, America suffers from a profound measure of astonishing denial. Presently we bemoan the tragic deaths of 50 people in Las Vegas. At the same instant, we support and fund the legalized killing of millions of our own citizens, i.e., those helpless children unborn and being born. These children are the condemned progeny of Roe v Wade. Yes, we contemplate the tragedy of Las Vegas, yet we tolerate and abet the ongoing killing of these babies.

Both events chill our nation’s soul — and should. But our decades of disregard for the safety of babies unborn and being born exposes a twisted version of humanity and denial of our most fundamental duty to one another, a duty which should always – always – be honored before we dare demand our rights.

The toll of children killed by abuse of the Constitution and the Divine Law now rises to more than 61 million. We are compelled to wonder what value we truly put on the lives of strangers. One must wonder about the state of our national conscience and our regard for Creation itself.

This article was originally posted at DrDanBoland.com

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The 40 Days for Life campaign is getting underway. Leaders are counting on the power of prayer to shut the doors of abortion facilities and to block legislation that will increase the number of abortions in Illinois.

Written by Leah MarieAnn Klett

Evangelist Ray Comfort believes there’s a “sleeping giant” within the Church today – and it’s time for that giant to wake up.

“I have a hidden agenda,” the filmmaker and best-selling Christian author confessed in an exclusive interview with The Gospel Herald. “I believe that as the Bible says, there’s a very real hell, and that’s the motivation to reach out for the gospel, it’s the motivation for my work. We have a sleeping giant within the church; we have the formula that tells everyone how they can find everlasting life. But most Christians don’t share this faith because they’re filled with fear, they look at evangelism like Goliath – they stand there in fear and trembling.”

To help combat this fear, Comfort recently released his latest book, a collection of devotionals titled “Think on These Things: Wisdom for Life from Proverbs.” In his book, Comfort uses the advice of Proverbs to change our lives – always living with eternity’s values in view.

“This book is interlaced with principles that will help you deal with your fear, because fear is what holds us back,” he said. “For example, if I said to you, ‘jump in that icy river and stay there for three minutes,’ you would say, ‘no, it’s too cold, I’ll probably die. But if I say to you, ‘there’s a 4 year old boy drowning in that river’ you wouldn’t hesitate. You’re going to dive in and grab him and pull him out.”

After an embarrassing rant about Christianity somehow disqualifying an individual from public office and impying that a religious test should be implemented for those seeking to hold public office, California Democratic U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein is doubling down on her remarks.

On Wednesday, September 6, 2017, Feinstein attacked U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Amy Coney Barrett during her confirmation hearing. Barrett, a mom of seven children, and a former clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, was basically told her Catholic religion should keep her from being qualified for the judgeship.

“When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” said Feinstein. “And that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for, for years in this country.”

WATCH: Sen. Feinstein to appeals court nominee Amy Barrett, @NotreDame law prof/#Catholic mother of 7: "The dogma lives loudly within you." pic.twitter.com/mpDgNZGRsa

— Jason Calvi (@JasonCalvi) September 6, 2017

There was justifiably a huge backlash against Feinstein’s comments, but rather than retract them and issue an apology, Feinstein instead is doubling down on her statement, while unsuccessfully trying to explain away her obvious prejudice for people of faith.

On an appearance this weekend with CNN’s State of the Union, Feinstein said:

“This is a woman who has no real trial or court experience,” she argued. “And, therefore, there is no record. She’s a professor, which is fine, but all we have to look at are her writings, and in her writings, she makes some statements which are questionable, which deserve questions.”

Barrett was nominated by President Trump to fill a vacancy on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Perhaps Feinstein is concerned with the idea of having a judge who clerked for Scalia, a “lion of the law” on the Circuit Court of Appeals. However, Feinstein’s comments are representative of a larger feeling within the Democratic party. This is illustrated by the fact that during the same hearing in which Feinstein told Barrett, “the dogma lives loudly within you,” another prominent Democrat, Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, asked her, “Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?”

Questions and statements like these are entirely inappropriate and have no bearing whatsoever in determining Barrett’s qualifications and abilities.

Family Research Council President, Tony Perkins says:

The reality is, liberals have as many deep convictions as conservatives — they’re just not as often rooted in the Christian religion. So to suggest that they can be impartial and believers can’t is not only untrue, it’s unfair. Telling Barrett that the “dogma lives loudly within [her]” is to ignore the dogma that lives even louder within Senate Democrats.

C.C. Peckhold, writing for the Wall Street Journal says:

Sens. Feinstein and Durbin were troubled not by Ms. Barrett’s Catholicism, but by her failure to prove her religion could conform to a more dogmatic progressivism. The “religious test” Democrats want to impose isn’t about religion per se; it’s about ensuring that every religious claim can be bent to more comprehensive political aims. It’s about defining anyone who dissents from the mores of the sexual revolution as disqualified from public office. That’s what makes Ms. Feinstein’s questioning so chilling.

Yet Feinstein stressed during the CNN interview that she has no animosity towards people of faith. “I think Catholicism is a great religion. I have great respect for it,” Feinstein said. “I’ve known many of the archbishops who have been in our community, we’ve had dinner together, we’ve spoken together over many, many decades, and I’ve tried to be helpful to the church whenever I could.”

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In the fourth chapter of Hosea, the prophet delivers God’s charge against the nation of Israel. The Lord pronounces that there is “no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.”

However, what was present in the land was swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and adultery. God had established the inhabitants of Israel to be His people and His priests. Furthermore, they were to be the light of the world in the Old Testament, pre-Messianic era. Yet the Israelites willfully rejected their God-given honor and traded it for the ways of the world, the lust of the flesh, and new theologies. In verse six, the Lord laments, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

What brought the nation of Israel to this state? It was a deliberate, willful choice to ignore and forsake the principles and boundaries the Lord had created for their welfare. The Israelites’ faith and relationship with God had deteriorated to nothing more than a vain and hollow shell of religious expression. God’s chosen people had no clue as to His character or the true purpose of the temple. Consequently, worship was reduced to rote rituals and the reality of God’s holiness and His Truth were far from the minds and hearts of His people.

I believe we are in a similar state in America today. We have the breadth of the internet and more books, tapes, DVDs, CDs, MP3s, television, radio, print media, and versions of the Bible than any nation on the planet. Yet, Christians are being destroyed from a lack of knowledge. The lies promoted by our godless culture are insidious and pervasive; even believers are seduced and ensnared. It is imperative that the Church not only stand up and refute these lies, but also educate and equip believers to recognize and refute them as well.

Too few Christians are able to clearly and confidently defend their faith. If we do not know why we believe what we believe, we will fall far short of the injunction in 1 Peter 3:15 to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” Much like the Israelites in the time of Hosea, our knowledge is lacking and we have deliberately chosen to forget God and His Word.

Sadly, many Christians don’t even understand man’s purpose for existence. The orthodox teachings of Catholics and Protestants agree that we are created to know God, to glorify Him and serve Him in this world, and to enjoy Him forever in the world to come. (1 Cor 10:31; Ps 16:11; 37:4; 73:25-26; Is 43:7) But it is fairly evident in the way we Christians spend our time — our life isn’t about God nearly as much as it is all about ourselves. This self-centered attitude has serious consequences, especially when it intersects with debates and decisions that are settled in the public square. A substantial number of church-going believers cannot be bothered to exercise their duty to vote or become informed regarding public policy. And so, the institution of government —
delegated to man by the Lord — has become the antithesis of a God-honoring entity.

This apathy toward public policy as it relates to matters of faith and conscience is vividly illustrated in our view on the sanctity of life. Certainly, the vast majority of committed Christians are pro-life, but many have a flawed and inconsistent understanding of what it truly means to be pro-life. While claiming to stand for the rights of the unborn, they misguidedly reserve the “rape and incest” exception as an acceptable and compassionate position. It is unequivocally neither.

Additionally, Christians often present a mixed message regarding children and family. Though we profess to embrace the Biblical directive to leave, cleave, and conceive, we often refuse to relinquish our control over the timing and number of children we are willing to welcome into our family. How can it be that believers, who claim to trust the Lord with their entire life: their job, home, education, finances, etc., refuse to trust Him with the size of their family? By suppressing fertility, we oppose God’s plan and we limit the magnitude of Christian impact in the world. Those who deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and worship other gods certainly are not taking the same approach.

Furthermore, in our interactions with believers and nonbelievers, we often communicate, by word and attitude, that children are a burden. The belief that motherhood is an important calling is mocked and derided. Instead, we are easily influenced and deceived by the latest “research” that claims children derail careers, decrease marital satisfaction and deplete bank accounts. We have forgotten that God’s Word tells us that children are a heritage from the Lord, a reward, and a blessing. (Psalm 127:3)

We have to understand: we are called to much more! In Genesis 1:28, the Lord sets out five basic responsibilities for mankind: be fruitful, increase, fill, subdue, and rule.

D. James Kennedy defines our responsibilities as follows:

We are to take all the potentialities of this world, all of its spheres and institutions, and bring them all to the glory of God. We are to use this world to the glory of God. We are to bring it and surrender it at the foot of the cross. In every aspect of the world, we are to bring glory to God and this means in all of the institutions of the world.

For example, in the institution of marriage and the home; in the institution of the school; in the institution of the Church (which has not always brought glory to God); in the institution of the state (which most certainly has not always brought glory to God); in the various spheres of life, whether they be music, literature, art, commerce, business, architecture, government, education, or whatever — in every sphere of life, the potentialities, the treasures that God has placed in this world, are to be brought out, fashioned, and offered to his glory.

For too long we have ignored this mandate and, as a result, we see our distinctively Christian culture circling the drain. The Church, the Body of Christ, has been in retreat mode, or worse, conforming to the godless culture around us. We cannot let this situation continue. In every area of our life — public, private, work, and leisure — we are to bring glory to God.

In order to do this, first and foremost, we need to know the Lord — who He is, His character, His Word. If it seems that we have forgotten God, maybe it is because we haven’t truly known Him. Know the Lord!

If we do know the Lord, there is always more to learn about Him! We must purpose to grow in relationship with Him through worship, prayer, and time in His Word. Increase in knowledge of the Lord!

Finally, we would be sadly remiss if we keep the knowledge of our great God to ourselves. Christians are called to be salt and light to a world that is mired in sin and darkness. When we know the Lord, we are compelled to share Him with those who need to know Him. Share your knowledge of the Lord! ♦

Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.

— H o s e a 6:3 —

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Join us in Medinah, Illinois, to hear world renowned Christian apologist Ray Comfort. Space is limited, don’t miss this special one time event. Click HERE for more information.

Tickets are just $10 each. Call (708) 781-9328 or purchase tickets below.

A survey conducted online between June 5-9, 2017 by the Barna group poll shows that many Americans still rely on prayer as a means to communicate with God. The study shows that prayer is the most common faith practice among adults with 79 percent of the population engaging in prayer at least once in the past three months.

Here are some of the interesting things the study found:

Eighty-two percent of praying adults most often pray silently and by themselves. 13 percent pray audibly by themselves. And 2% pray audibly with another person or group or collectively with a church.

When asked what the content of their prayers were, 62 percent listed gratitude and thanksgiving, 61% listed the needs of family and community, 49 percent listed personal guidance in crisis, 47 percent for health and wellness, 43 percent for confession and forgiveness or things they suddenly felt the urge to pray about, 41 percent for safety in daily tasks or travel, 37 percent for a sense of peace and blessings for meals, 34 percent for specific requests from others, 24 percent about concerns in our nation or government, 20 percent about concerns over global problems or injustices, 12 percent about their sleep, and 8 percent reciting Scripture, meditations, or liturgies.

Elders are 30 percent more likely to pray for health and wellness than 38 percent of millennials, who reported doing so. Lower income earners, 52 percent (under $50,000) also pray this type of prayer more often than higher income earners, 42 percent (over $100,000). Those living in rural areas as opposed to more urban locations are more likely to pray for health, perhaps because access to medical services and gyms and health centers are not as easily accessible.

Thirty-seven percent of prayers are for a sense of peace. Those with children under the age of eighteen are more likely to pray for a sense of peace, likely because raising children can feel rather chaotic at times. People who live in big cities are also more prone to pray this prayer (43 percent) over those who live in small, rural areas (29 percent).

Elders are more likely than their younger millennial counterparts to cover prayer requests from others. 27 percent of millennials said they actually follow through with praying for specific prayer requests from others, while 47 percent of elders said they cover requests from others.

Twenty-four percent of paying adults make it a point to pray about their concerns for the nation or government. When it comes to global problems or concerns, only 20 percent, or 1 in every 5 Americans pray specifically for these issues.

Millennials and parents with children under the age of 18 are most likely (both at 19 percent) to pray for sleep. Just 1 percent of elders are likely to pray for sleep, and 9 percent of adults with no children under the age of 18 pray for sleep.

Women are more likely than men to cover each category listed in the survey. Evangelicals are also most likely to be praying actively about each category. Evangelicals are especially prevalent to pray for the needs of their families and communities (89 percent), gratitude and thanksgiving (69 percent), and confession and forgiveness (77^ percent).

Though 89 percent of those surveyed direct their prayers to God, this does not mean that they are all praying to the same god – some do not even pray to a diety. No specific definition for God was given in the survey so the widespread meaning of the word usage could be very broad. “For instance,” the survey notes, “Only half of praying adults (50 percent) pray to Jesus, and less than one-quarter (23 percent) pray to the Holy Spirit.” 28 percent of those surveyed claimed to have no faith whatsoever.

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

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Admittedly, I don’t know much about running, but I remember listening to an online sermon in which an important distinction was made between runners and Runners. The preacher made that point that runners enjoy going out for a jog now and then, perhaps even a few days per week, but if the weather or an unexpected change of schedule keeps them from running, it’s not a big deal.

Runners, on the other hand, don’t take such a laidback approach. These athletes do not merely run, they train and they race. Each time they head out they have determined a precise course with specific mileage and a plan of action that will enable them to address and fine tune an aspect of their running. One training run might be devoted to endurance, another to increasing speed, while others may concentrate on negative splits, hydration, fueling, stride cadence, even recovery. Runners do not run aimlessly; he or she runs intentionally, with purpose and with a goal in view.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-26, the Apostle Paul talks about running aimlessly, and, he exhorts us: don’t do it!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly….

Paul is telling Christians, “This isn’t a just-for-the-fun-of-it run; this is a serious race. Be a Runner – run to win!” He further emphasizes his point in his letter to the Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. . . ~ Hebrews 12:1

Clearly, we are in a race, and Paul says what is set before us is our own individual endeavor. We do not compete against other Christians. Rather, God has given to each one of us a specific race – a unique course and distance – that we are to complete. Even though this race is our own, Paul tells us to look to those saints who have already finished and learn from their example, both good and bad. In so doing, we can determine how to not run aimlessly the race God has put before us.

In a modern example of literally running aimlessly, Runners were extremely frustrated with the Chicago Lakeshore Marathon. Unlike the world-famous Chicago Marathon, the Lakeshore Marathon had a brief lifespan of just four years. Though the event was popular, the organizers struggled to attract sponsors and race day volunteers. Participants complained about nonexistent mile markers, depleted and deserted water and aid stations, and a poorly marked race path that caused some half marathon runners to miss the turnaround point and run aimlessly until they encountered other runners who helped them get back on course.

Many competitors were given medals for the wrong distance and more than a few runners never even received their prize. But the cruelest blow occurred in 2005, the final year of the event, when every marathon finisher ran 27.2 miles, not 26.2. The course planner made a critical error and the marathon course was a mile too long. Runners, who had spent months training for the marathon distance, physically and mentally ran out of steam as they struggled to cover the unexpected extra mile.

Every Christian who submits to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is on a race course. But unlike the 2005 Lakeshore Marathon, this race course is clearly marked with boundaries and guideposts that will keep us on the right path – if we diligently look for them. On the course that God has set before us, He provides the support, encouragement, and strength we need to run, persevere, and endure until the finish – if we continue to seek Him. And finally, at the end of the race, when we cross the finish line, there awaits a lasting and priceless prize for each Christian – if we will hold fast to our goal and stay the course.

Paul goes into great detail about both the race and the magnificent prize in Philippians 3:8-13. In this passage, Paul tells us that the reason he diligently runs the Christian race is for the “excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…” Anything beyond that is “rubbish.” He is determined to “gain Christ and be found in Him” and to keep running toward “the goal for the prize is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s focus – and what he wants us to focus on as well – is knowing Jesus and enjoying eternal life with Him.

While the Philippians passage gives us Paul’s motivation for running, we need to return to the passages from 1 Corinthians 9 and Hebrew 12 to recall his how-to: his exhortation to not run aimlessly, but to run to win. To that end, Paul encourages us to stay in the race, to exercise self-control and not wander off course. Not running aimlessly means not becoming distracted by worldly pursuits or seductive lies and amusements. Resist these temptations! Do not head down their dark and dangerous trails where thistles and thorns reach out to wound or ensnare.

Thankfully, we have the Word of God which not only identifies the boundaries, but also illuminates the path we should take:

Your Word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path. ~ Psalm 119:105

At times it might seem the race we are running is all about us and solely for our benefit. But Jesus corrects that wrong thinking, much as He silenced the Pharisees when he summed up the entirety of Old Testament law and prophecy in the first and second great commandments:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Matthew 22:27, 29

These lofty requirements – the habits, traits, virtues, and focus needed to stay on course – do not come naturally to us. In fact, they are impossible to develop without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But if God is working in our lives to produce and nurture these fruits of the Spirit, we cannot help but grow our love toward Him and others. This is the motivating factor for the staff and board of directors at IFI.  We want to run this race as intentionally and purposefully as we are able.

Hear again Paul’s exhortation – “do not run aimlessly…” – and consider these questions:

• Are you a runner, content with running aimlessly, jogging along when it suits you?

• Or are you a Runner, a physical and spiritual athlete, committed to racing to win?

The race that Christians are called to run is contested on a clearly-marked course with many well-stocked and aid stations (staffed by the Holy Spirit) and a definite finish line. It also rewards an amazing prize, one which our finite minds cannot fully grasp, yet, we long for it.

We must not run aimlessly, but instead race with perseverance and endurance, impelled by the overwhelming desire to “gain Christ and be found in Him.” Pursuing the goal of the unimaginably glorious prize set before us – keeping our eyes on Jesus – may we run with purpose and race to win!

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It does make a difference.

Written by Dr. Joey Krol

Ever have a conversation with someone about God’s view on a matter, such as homosexuality, abortion or sme-sex “marriage,” and they bring up some wild response from the Old Testament law as a defense?  They say, “What about not eating shellfish?”  Or, “what about wearing mixed fabrics?” They dig up certain passages on restrictions on beard trimming, or keeping your hair at a certain length.  They do this to downgrade the validity of the Scriptures, but also to create doubt on the Word of God.  However, by people making these statements from the Old Testament law within that context actually shows their lack of understanding of the Holy Scriptures.

First, we need to understand the different types of law in the Old Testament.

Ceremonial Law

There were some ceremonial laws that had specific instructions meant to distinguish the Israelites from pagans, to have right-standing with God and to remember His faithfulness to their ancestors.  These instructions included sacrifices of animals, circumcision, honoring the feasts and many others.  These do not apply to the church today because Christ made us in right standing with God. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Civil Law

Second, civil law in the Old Testament dealt with disputes and conflicts between individuals.  It focused on the day-to-day activities of the Jews.  It focused on restitution for crimes committed, practices for justice, how to handle family inheritances and a bunch of other civil matters.  While the culture back then and the culture today are radically different, the principles behind the commands should guide the way we treat one another.  When it comes to civil matters today, Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Moral Law

There is an aspect of Old Testament law that still exists today, the moral law.  The moral law is based on God’s holy nature, which does not change.  It includes Idolatry, human sexuality, loving God, loving your neighbor, sexual sins, etc. The moral law has no expiration because it is based on God’s holiness and character.  Malachi 3:6 says, “For I the Lord do not change.” As believers in Christ, we are not saved by the moral law but by the finished work of the cross. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  While we’re not saved by keeping the moral law, when we fully follow Christ, we should naturally bear godly fruit.  When we bear godly fruit, we will naturally uphold the moral law.

So go ahead, trim your beard, get a haircut, and enjoy a nice platter of shrimp—and celebrate your freedom in Jesus Christ.

Dr. Joey Krol is the Senior Pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Decatur, IL and is the author of “Common Misunderstandings about God, Jesus and The Bible.”  Pastor Joey is married to Aubrey and they have two children, Timothy and Hannah.