We were taught about the pilgrims coming to America in grade school but were often are not giving the full picture. To better understand why the Pilgrims left England to come to America, it may be helpful to briefly review the religious landscape of the time. In the early 1500’s a group of Protestant Reformers in England sought to bring reform to the church in England. These reformers came to be called Puritans mainly because they...
Read MoreThere has always been those who denounce the celebration of the birth of Jesus, most notably the Free Presbyterians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Puritans. But I have run into a few people within the circles of “Christendom” myself who do not belong to these groups but who also have some reservations about Christmas. I think after reading this post all concerns about celebrating the birth of Jesus on the grounds of participating...
Read MoreI saw this post on someone’s Facebook page recently: “You don’t need religion to have morals. If you don’t know the difference between right and wrong, you lack empathy, not religion.” While this view sounds good on the surface, it is actually contradictory to what many anti-religionists believe about truth. Many non-religious people proclaim that there is no such thing as absolute truth, and they state that absolutely! They have proven...
Read MoreMY PERSONAL TESTIMONY OF CHRIST’S REDEMPTION It occurred to me recently that few people know the details of my personal testimony. I don’t talk about my pre-Christ life much because honestly, I’m ashamed of it. I identify with the words of the Apostle Paul when he wrote to the Ephesians that it is “shameful to even mention what the disobedient do in secret” (Ephesians 5:12). Therefore, while I will not go into great detail about my sordid...
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Results of research on religious trends in America by Barna Research Group estimate that 85% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, but only 7% actually embrace beliefs and practices that coincide with the Bible and the teachings and example of Jesus. One criticism leveled at American Christians is that most of them don’t even know much about the Bible. But I would suggest that perhaps not everyone who refers to themselves as...
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In this past Sunday’s sermon we spoke about the Biblical perspective on honoring leaders. This may have been a difficult part of the message to listen to, in that we now live in a society where our government leaders openly oppose the Biblical principles this great nation was founded upon. In fact, our President, Barak Obama, stated in a public address that the United States of America is “no longer a Christian nation.” Indeed, he seems to...
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