According to a notice received from the Christian Law Association today, the latest attack in America on Christianity is against using the name of Jesus when praying in public. "In the past two months, two states have banned private citizens from praying in Jesus' name in the state legislatures, and other government units are sure to follow. Unbelievably, prayers to other gods, such as to 'Allah,' have not been challenged!"
In 1639, a Baptist preacher in London wrote a book entitled, "The Sufficiency of the Spirit's Teaching without Humane Learning; or, a Treatise Tending to prove Human Learning to be No Help to the Spiritual Understanding of the Word of God" (listed in W. T. Whitley's "A Baptist Bibliography"). Baptists have always had an uncomfortable relationship with the academic world. They have often been accused of being ignorant and some Baptists have been known to glory in their ignorance. Yet, every time Baptists begin to exalt education and learning, they tend to stray away from God. There must be a balance, even though it is an uneasy one at times. Our learning must always proceed from the Bible and be firmly grounded in God's word. Then, we must accept that Bible-believers will always be looked upon as "unlearned and ignorant men" (Acts 4:13). But we must also remember that God looks on the world as "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2Timothy 3:7). May we always exalt the knowledge of God and holy things as the ultimate goal of all our learning and seek the wisdom of God instead of the wisdom of this world.
Sadly, many of the reported converts to Christianity on the African continent are being led astray by a false spirit. The television airwaves in the country of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where most people still believe in black magic, are being dominated by charismatic preachers performing exorcisms as a great spectacle of power. The "Telegraph" reports: "The young Congolese woman lay screaming on the dusty ground, arms thrashing wildly as a white-gowned preacher gripped her head and prayed. As she fainted, thousands of spectators in Kinshasa's Tata Raphael stadium roared with excitement - yet another public exorcism was reaching its climax."
Today's Wall Street Journal has an editorial on how the IRS is reviewing the content of sermons to see if it deems any of them to be political in nature. Under the ungodly and probably unconstitutional 1954 Revenue Act, churches risk losing their tax exemptions if they "participate in, or intervene is... any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for political office." For years this was interpreted very conservatively and very few problems arose. But now, at the instigation of groups like Americans United for the Separation of church and State (an anti-god and anti-Christian organization), the IRS is stepping into the churches.
The Book of Numbers is a great book when looking for devotional material. In chapters 1-10 the people seem to be wholly following the commandments of the Lord. However, chapter 11 is the beginning of woes. The very first phrase is "And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord". In chapter 12, we find the murmuring moving up the ranks into the leadership and infecting Miriam and Aaron as they murmur against Moses. In chapter 13, ten of the twelve spies come back with an evil report concerning the land of promise. In chapter 14, we find the people wanting to make a captain to return to Egypt and then wanting to stone Joshua and Caleb for their report of faith. This chapter includes the decision of the Israelites not to go into the land of promise, and then their decision to go into the land of promise after the Lord told them they could no longer go in. The Israelites decide to go against the commandments of the Lord and try to take the land of Canaan on their own, only to be smitten by the Amalekites and Canaanites.
Mathematics can be quite complex, yet one of the most basic divisions of mathematics is called arithmetic. You may better grasp what I am talking about when I say that the most basic operations of arithmetic are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. A grasp of these basic operations is a necessity for anyone who desires to grasp any of the more complex divisions of mathematics. Interestingly enough, the same things hold true for the Christian life. It can be quite complex, but at the same time we could break it down to the simplicity of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
