Category: Apologetics

The Requirement To Forgive

How serious is the call to forgiveness? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

In Jesus’s new Kingdom, forgiveness is kind of a big deal. After all, the only way anyone else gets into the Kingdom is through forgiveness and grace. If you are a recipient of that forgiveness and grace, it follows that you should show it to others.

Jesus later gives a parable illustrating this. We know it as the parable of the unmerciful servant, though perhaps we should also consider it the parable of the merciful master. The servant begs the master for just a little more time to pay off a debt that he must be deluded to think he could ever pay off. The master doesn’t give it, but instead he just cancels the debt entirely. The servant leaves and finds a fellow servant who only owes him a small amount. He demands this servant pay him immediately and when he is begged for time, he throws the other servant in prison. The master finds out and has the servant brought to him and then the same is done to him.

Jesus ends saying that if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. In other words, it must not just be the lip service that is done. It must be real and honest forgiveness. In our world, it might be easy to say something before the cameras that looks really good, but God knows the heart and won’t be fooled at all.

This is something that should give us all pause. If we are not showing mercy to one another for their sins, it is because we do not trust that we have been shown mercy. The unforgiving servant still thought that somewhere he had to pay off the debt. Had he really believed he had been forgiven, he would be able to show forgiveness.

This should give us pause because there is no indication Jesus doesn’t mean what He says. Forgiveness is not optional. It is a requirement. If your brother comes to you and asks for your forgiveness, there is no question about it. You give it. You don’t test. You don’t ask for proof. You don’t withhold. You just forgive.

The Kingdom is to be a place of grace and thus its citizens must be gracious. To not be gracious is to say one would rather inflict suffering and judgment on another instead of showing the love that is required in the Kingdom of God. This is one reason also to believe in the forgiveness of God. To believe God has not forgiven us when we come to Him is to believe that He would rather punish us than to show grace to us.

This is a big requirement, but a necessary one, and maybe if we took it more seriously we would find ourselves becoming a better people. We would be more gracious of the wrongs of others considering how much grace has been shown to us. Maybe that would be the kind of Kingdom most of us would like to live in.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

And The Glory

Why do we pray that God get the glory? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

What does it mean to glorify something? It means to honor and extol it. It means to treat it as it if you think it is worthy of whatever you are giving it. It may be or it may not be, but you want to treat this object as something special and often, you want others to know how special it is too.

In the Lord’s Prayer, it is God who is to get the glory. We already talked about the Kingdom and the power. This goes right along with that. If God has the Kingdom and He has the power to rule, then He gets the glory of that Kingdom.

This is important for us to remember who are often all about our glory. Now it is not a bad thing to seek glory. Romans 2 encourages us to seek glory, honor, and immortality. The question is how we are seeking it and why we are seeking it.

J.P. Moreland once said that we are here to serve a name and not to make one. If you’re in ministry sometimes, this can be a fine line. You need to get your reputation out there so people can see your work, but you don’t need to make it all about you. If you cannot do the work, others can.

There will likely always be something in us that seeks out for the good of #1. This is why I often tell people to do what is right anyway and purify your motives. A husband might get something special for his wife and in the end, he’s hoping she’ll give him something really special. Should he avoid giving her something because he wants something in return? No. He should do what is right and pray to God that his motives will be purified.

Something interesting is that God has also promised to glorify us anyway. Romans 8 says that if we are justified, we will also be glorified eventually. Jesus gave a parable where He said that if you are invited somewhere, sit at the lowest place so that the host will ask you to move to a better place and you will be honored in the sight of all. Yes. Jesus is telling this story to tell us how we can receive honor.

Seeking honor is not a bad thing and wanting glory is not a bad thing. If you do a job well, there is nothing wrong with thinking you should get something for it. Again, Proverbs tells us that if a man is skilled in his work, he will serve before kings one day. Do the best you can and enjoy the benefits of that work.

But in the end, ultimately God will get all the glory. Everyone will see that He is truly worthy. Some will happily rejoice in that having known it all their lives. Some will only admit it begrudgingly and to accomplish them nothing, but God will get what He deserves.

Then He will either give us what He wants to bless us with….

Or what we deserve.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

And The Power

Why do we say God has the power? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Something I found interesting when I went through the first part of Aquinas’s Summa Theologica was that questions were being answered that are really just now becoming major issues. Before the new atheism had hit, most of the arguments were already answered by Aquinas and other medieval theologians. Augustine has a wonderful paragraph on Christians and scientific issues that could have looked like it was written today.

One such question asked is if there is power in God. Then, it was asked if He was omnipotent or not. Aquinas answered the questions and answered all the objections to them. Note that I said objections. The medievals were thinking about these things long before we were.

So what about power? That shows up in the Lord’s prayer. God’s is the Kingdom and the power. Why do we say that?

Because if you’re going to rule a Kingdom, you have to have the power to bring about that Kingdom if it isn’t already there, and you have to have the power to rule it. Only God, and specifically God in Christ, can be the true king because only He is omnipotent and only He is without beginning and without end. He has the power to make what He wants happen and the power to sustain it when it does.

Which should really make us all think seriously about things. If you know the king has the power over everything in your life, how are you going to respond? Are you going to treat Him in a nonchalant way? Are you going to act regularly against His authority and power? If so, then you are a fool.

And by that, we are all fools.

The Lord’s prayer is meant at this point to remind us not to do that. Everything is about God. We ask God to supply our needs because we realize we are dependent on Him. We ask God to forgive us our debts, because we know that He alone can forgive us and we know that He is the one we have wronged. It’s His Kingdom and we are all traitors to the King.

Serious stuff. Do we really think about this when we pray this prayer? Do we consider that He has the power?

If you do something wrong at your job and know that the boss knows about it, you can be in fear since he holds your livelihood. If you have an affair and cheat on your spouse, you can live in fear because if they find out, they can leave. If you are guilty of a crime, you can live in fear of the police lest you be arrested.

Should we not live with an appropriate fear of God? Should we not want to do the same with Him? Should we not want to make it our goal to avoid wronging Him?

It is always tempting to take God lightly and to take prayer lightly. We should do neither. We should realize that we are entering into the presence of the King. Dare we make requests when we have not considered His power and holiness (The prayer reminded us that hallowed be God’s Name)? Yet we do.

Let’s not take the Lord’s Prayer lightly either. God has the power. We need to respect that.

In Christ,
Nick Peters

The Problem With Christian Entertainment

Why do we not impact people in the entertainment industry? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Yesterday I saw a post on Facebook, and whether it was sarcastic or not, I don’t know, about why Christians shouldn’t watch The Office. Now I have never seen an episode of the show. The most I know about it is I understand a lot of memes on Facebook are from it and I know about the Owlkitty video of it. That’s it.

This led me to thinking about something else. I know we all realize it, but for the most part, Christian entertainment sucks. It’s often just boring and preachy. There are some exceptions, but it’s nothing the world wants to see. I remember when Fifty Shades of Grey came out that the same day, a counterpart movie called Old-Fashioned came out. You might have never even heard of it. There’s no way it could compete with Fifty Shades.

If there is one clear exception to this, it is the Chronicles of Narnia. Yet do you see Christianity explicitly spelled out in that? No. There’s a lot of symbolism in the books of course that points to Christ and so there is also in the rest of Lewis’s fiction, but many atheists can even enjoy reading C.S. Lewis.

Christians don’t have anything in the way of entertainment. We think you have to spell it out explicitly. It’s not fun. If we make something for the purposes of entertaining, our aim should be that the product is actually entertaining. That doesn’t negate we do it for Jesus, but people won’t want to watch Christian entertainment or play Christian video games or read Christian books for fun if they are not, well, fun.

Back in the days of the NES, I remember getting the Bible games from Wisdom Tree. They were alright games, but the only reason I got them was that they were Bible games. That’s it. They honestly hardly even worked on the NES at times. Bible video games are often some of the worst games that they are.

Many of us who are Christians don’t like it when we see a series and the politics is out there in front and everyone knows it. We think we are being preached to, and in essence, we are probably right. I know a lot of people have complained about the newest Star Trek series thinking that it’s going on. They could be right. If we don’t like it, why think unbelievers will like it?

What would be good is if we had a series come out on TV that was actually entertaining or a movie at the theater that was actually entertaining or a book or a video game or whatever it is and people wanted to play it and then find out later on that it was a Christian series. I know some of you will disagree, but on my podcast I have had John Granger on to discuss the Harry Potter series as a Christian series from a Christian viewpoint. Even if you don’t agree with that, if it is true, that is something powerful. That is having it done right.

When we think things have to be explicit, we also assume our audience is stupid. We assume that they have to state it outright or else no one will get it. That insults our audience. No one wants to be assumed to be an idiot.

I don’t know if you should watch the Office or not, but I know the reason we debate this is because we don’t have our own entertainment that’s good. You may enjoy watching Pureflix, but how many people do you know who are non-Christians who are buying it? This is not to knock them at all, but if we are wanting to reach people, it doesn’t help that goal if people aren’t interested in our method of outreach.

God gives us all things richly for our enjoyment as is said in 1 Tim. 6:17. Shouldn’t we do something for the enjoyment of our fellow neighbor? If we want to show Christianity to them in a way that is something they will want, shouldn’t we show them something they would want to have and something they can actually enjoy? This isn’t to say fun is the main goal of the Christian life, but fun is the goal of entertainment. If you sit down to watch the Office, you likely aren’t doing it to study theology or philosophy. Rightly or wrongly, you’re doing it to have fun.

We’re also meant to be creative people in the footsteps of the creator. Our creator created some very fun things for us here. I’ve seen our cat running around here playing some tonight. The animal kingdom is a testimony to the fun of the creator in many ways. Yes, nature is red in tooth and claw at times, but it’s also very fun in many other ways. Shouldn’t we be creative that way? Shouldn’t we make music and TV and movies and video games and books that unbelievers even will want to live?

Let’s do better.

Then maybe we won’t have to debate the Office because not only will we be watching our own great material, but so will everyone else.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I Affirm The Virgin Birth.)

For Yours Is The Kingdom

Whose kingdom is it? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

When we finish the Lord’s prayer, I will point out that not all manuscripts have this final part, but I intend to cover it anyway. In this final section, Jesus tells of three things that belong to God. The first is the Kingdom. What is that about?

We are here to be servants, but many times, we want to build up our own kingdom. J.P. Moreland has said that Christians are here to serve a name and not to make one. Being in ministry, I understand that to succeed you need to get the word out about what you do. You can’t have a light if you’re not being public in some way.

At the same time, it’s important to realize the Kingdom doesn’t stand or fall on my ministry. If my ministry were to go away, the Kingdom of God would still go on. I make the same remark about our own country of America here. America needs the gospel, but the gospel doesn’t need America.

Years ago when I was on PALtalk, I remember a leader of a well-known internet apologetics ministry being on the microphone in the room and I could tell easily he had a bad cold and it was confirmed when he said it. When he got off the microphone I messaged him and told him to go and rest and get off of PALtalk. He said, “Truth must be defended.” I told him that that is so, but he is not the only one defending it.

Thankfully, he got off of PALtalk at that point, but that is the point. None of us is necessary for the Kingdom. That we get to have a part in the Kingdom is a gift and an honor. God has no obligation to give any of us a great ministry. It’s not about what He can do for us. It’s about what we can do for Him.

It’s not our Kingdom. It’s His. Let’s build it up.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I Affirm The Virgin Birth)

A Bad Use of the Dictionary

How do you not use the dictionary? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

In 1872, The lyrics to the Christmas Carol were written. We find in those lyrics the verse “Don we now our gay apparel.” What did the author have in mind? Well, let’s turn to the dictionary. What does the Oxford English dictionary have as the first definition of gay?

“(of a person) homosexual (used especially of a man)‘the city’s gay and lesbian people’“

And the Cambridge English Dictionary?


sexually attracted to people of the same sex and not to people of the opposite sex:

Collins dictionary?

1. ADJECTIVE [usually ADJECTIVE noun]A gay person is homosexual.…the gay community.

Merriam-Webster?

: of, relating to, or characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to people of one’s same sex

Now later on, these dictionaries do include something about being happy, but imagine not knowing the context of this song. What are you to include? The writer wanted us to dress like homosexuals.

Now if you were to look up a dictionary from the time of 1872, you might find things different. You would find happy being the main meaning of the word. The writer of the song is letting you know that it’s time to put on clothes that symbolize joy and happiness.

In the same way, if you’re studying a word that is in the Bible, an English dictionary is not your source to go to. I recently got in a debate with someone on faith. What did they do? Go to the dictionary.

The dictionary though gives you the popular usage of a word at the time. It is not the meaning for people in all times and all places since language can be fluid. A resource like a Bible dictionary would have been much better at this point.

You can search high and low and you will not find a reference of the Greek word pistis that takes it to mean “Belief without evidence.” It’s quite ironic that the ones presenting this claim that faith is believing something without evidence have no evidence that that’s what pistis means. Unfortunately, too many people have bought into that trope and ran with it.

It’s acceptable and fine to use a dictionary for modern words, but when someone speaks of a word and uses it in a more ancient context, it’s best to see what it meant to the people at the time. To do otherwise is a more postmodern approach to literature where the meaning of the word in the text changes depending on who is reading it.

Do the hard work. Look at what the ancients meant by the term. You’ll be better for it.

In Christ,
Nick Peters

Do You Love Me More Than These?

How much are we willing to give? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

We all know the story of how after Jesus’s resurrection, He appeared to Peter and the other apostles while they were fishing. By a fire, Jesus asked Peter three times “Do you love me?” The first time He asks, “Do you love me more than these?”

One of my favorite quotes of philosopher Peter Kreeft is when he says that sometimes he thinks he’s a bigger Red Sox fan than he is a Jesus fan. I can relate to that, though not about the Red Sox. I often think I can get more joy out of many other things in my life besides Jesus and I think “Do I love Jesus more than these?”

Now if you think your love is deficient, the obvious thing to do is to increase your love of Jesus more. By the way, for all Christians, our love of Jesus is deficient. None of us love Him as we ought to.

Sometimes, lack of love shows up in addiction. I have heard several times in Celebrate Recovery when someone talks about being sober from alcohol for years. Then one day they’re at a restaurant and decide that they can handle one drink. Boom. The whole thing starts all over again. It’s really a form of pride. We often like to get so close to temptation and think we can handle it and boom, we can’t.

Sure. You can be friends with that girl at the office. That’s no big deal. Yeah. You’re both going on break. Why not go together? I mean, you both know you’re both married. No big deal. Right? Then after a few conversations you’re making arrangements to meet at a hotel one day. It doesn’t just happen instantly.

Sometimes, you might have to remove some things from your life if they’re hindering your walk with Jesus. Obviously, this can’t always be the case. If you find you love your family more than you love Jesus, you’re not called to divorce your family.

There is a danger though that this could become legalism. Obviously, Jesus gave us things to enjoy and there’s no sin in enjoying them. When the Final Fantasy VII Remake came out, a friend got me a copy of it and for a number of days I spent more hours than usual going through that. After awhile, it toned down and I haven’t really sat down to play in months. That happens. For some guys, when a major sporting event is going on, they might sit down and watch that a lot. It happens.

I also think though about how many of us are willing to give up things definitely sinful. Yesterday, I reviewed Rachel Gilson’s book about how she gave up homosexual practice for Jesus, and she isn’t the only one. Some people will choose to be celibate for the kingdom, which is a big sacrifice.

In her book, Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity, Lauren Winner writes about taking a class of church students to see several nuns, I think at the convent, but I don’t remember exactly. One student during a question time bravely asks “What’s the deal about giving up sex?” The nun was glad to be asked and said that she knew it was a real sacrifice she was giving up, but it’s done for Jesus.

While sex properly understood is not sinful, many people go without it all their lives for the sake of the kingdom, including Jesus Himself. Many people will have to give up pornography for the sake of the kingdom. It all comes down to if the kingdom is worth it.

If it isn’t, then we have a deficient view of the kingdom of Christ, and we all do. There’s a saying about theology that whatever your idea of God is, it’s inadequate. Thomas Aquinas was said to have had the beatific vision before he died and said that whatever he wrote, it was like straw to him. His masterpiece, the Summa Theologica, was unfinished when he died.

This is something that convicts me often. I wonder why it is I don’t read as much as I should many times or pray as much as I should. Sometimes, I think it’s a sad familiarity with the story of Jesus. That’s again a deficiency in me. However, I suspect I’m not alone in this. Odds are even if you see yourself as a devout Christian, you are probably similar. How many of us can sit down at Facebook wanting to look for just ten minutes and then spend an hour doing it?

So I come back to the question. Do you love me more than these? What am I to do? Just strive to love Jesus more. What more can I do?

What more can you and I do?

In Christ,
Nick Peters

Book Plunge: Born Again This Way

What do I think of Rachel Gilson’s book published by the Good Book Company? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

We all know the story. Girl grows up. Girl decides she’s gay. Girl enjoys spending time with her girlfriends. Girl goes off to Yale and meets Jesus and abandons homosexual desires.

Wait. What?

Yeah. Of all places, she found Jesus at Yale and while she at first encountered Christians who told her homosexual behavior was no problem for a Christian, her reading of Scripture told her otherwise. With that, she had to decide what was more important. Following through on her desires for sex and romance that way, or following Jesus.

She chose Jesus.

This book is written for all sorts of people. It is written for those who have same-sex desires and don’t want them and want to follow Jesus instead. This book is written for those who have friends or loved ones, maybe even a spouse, who struggles with same-sex desires. This book is written for those who are just curious about what Rachel’s story is like. This book is written for readers like myself also who think heavily on issues of sexual ethics.

The main theme of the story is unexpected. Rachel keeps having things happen to her that she does not expect to happen. In her study, she comes to a greater discovery of what it means to follow Jesus. What do love and romance and sex really mean?

A lot of this is helpful not just for the Christian with homosexual desires who wishes to honor Jesus and be celibate, but also it would apply for the straight Christian who is single and still wants to honor Jesus despite not finding a spouse. Gilson takes a good and hard look at our modern romance culture and finds it lacking. She encourages us to look at what it really means to marry and to love.

She also says that while some people with same-sex desires, including herself, marry someone of the opposite sex, that doesn’t mean the goal of that marriage is to “cure” homosexual desires. Sometimes, there are people who do overcome such desires and find themselves going the other way. That can happen. It’s not a requirement though and making it a necessity can make focus be where it doesn’t need to be.

Gilson writes with great sympathy for Christians who have this struggle, but assures them life is possible still and there is still joy. It is not for all, but it is possible to marry an opposite-sex partner and still have joy and to love that person and to even have a good sex life together. While her message is great for Christians struggling with homosexual desires, it is also good for those of us who are straight. We can learn something about how marriage and sex is to be seen and done and single straights can learn something about their own desires.

The real great value is to consider how much Jesus is worth. In our culture, sex is often king. It is seen as the true pearl of great price. Gilson’s work reminds us that whatever temptation we face, Jesus is worth it. Jesus is worth forsaking everything. Gilson’s sacrifice is noble and for her, it ended with joy here too. It won’t for everyone, but we have to believe that whatever we sacrifice, that Jesus is worth it.

Gilson’s book is a great read. It’s a relatively short one in comparison to many others and in chapters that are easy to digest and deal with. It’s an amazing story of a woman coming to terms with her own desires and finding joy regardless of not getting what she initially wanted.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Book Plunge: The Madness of Crowds

What do I think of Douglas Murray’s book published by Bloomsbury Continuum? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I ordered this book on Interlibrary loan after I saw my wife’s priest recommended it, and I shortly forgot that I had. When I got it, I was thinking “I have so many books to go through already. Do I really want to go through this?” I saw an endorsement from Sam Harris on the back and seeing as I think the new atheist material is just horrible, that got me even more concerned. Do I really want to go through this? Still, I decided to open it up and give it a shot.

Within a few days, I was telling so many people they needed to go through it as well.

This is one of the most important books on our society that I have read. Murray deals with four major areas today and with some smaller areas that have a major impact. He does not write as far as I can tell from a Christian perspective and actually I gather is a homosexual from what I read. I read through though finding extreme agreement with so much that I read.

Let’s start with the first section he has on homosexuality. He talks about a movie being played in a theater in England that a gay publication protested against so much that it had to go to a new venue to play. The story in the film was about people who used to be same-sex attracted and no longer were.

Murray wrote about taking the main man behind it who helps people who want to be rid of same-sex attraction. He says that he never forces anyone and they come to him and how he said we should take him at his word. He’s not out there trying to eliminate homosexuals from society. He’s trying to help people who want to be helped. We could question his methodology, but why assume base motives of him?

He then goes on to say that gay no longer refers to just who you sleep with. Consider Peter Thiel who spoke at the RNC convention in 2016 and made a remark about the great battle of the day in comparison to past generations was what restrooms can we use? That he was truly representative of the homosexual movement was called into question. Ian McClellan made a statement about Brexit that said that if you were a homosexual, it was clear how you were to vote.

Murray also points out that this view of homosexuality only goes one way in the sense that if someone leaves a straight lifestyle to embrace a homosexual one, they are said to have found their true selves. If they go the opposite way, then they are said to be traitors to the cause living in denial. I wish something had been said about how in the first case it can often leave a family behind that doesn’t really want the dynamic to change.

The next major area to be dealt with is the question of women. This has begun with the idea of women being sexualized, and again, there are mixed messages. Consider how when Harvey Weinstein was found to have a casting couch that immediately women jumped up to complain about the treatment.

Mayim Bialik of the Big Bang Theory talked about how she makes it a point to be modest and dress conservatively, except, of course, when she doesn’t. Murray brought up about her being on Piers Morgan’s show and how he was saying there was an event to honor someone who had died and he thought too many women were using the event to show off their cleavage and he didn’t find that appropriate, Bialik, who is on the panel, gets up and turns her back to the crowd and tears her dress to expose herself to Morgan in protest.

Murray writes about how women have complained about being sexualized, all the while while often wanting to be as sexy as possible. Too often, women want men to notice them and yet at the same time not turn them into object. One aspect of this I was surprised was not mentioned were topless marches. Women who complain about objectification aren’t helping themselves by doing this.

He also says the feminist movement has often gone to an extreme of “Kill All Men” which really doesn’t mean to kill all men for some strange reason. It really means that men need to realize how they behave and bring about change. Who knew? Men are vilified for the crime of being men.

If women want a world where men are not going to notice them physically, it’s really a pipe dream. This is especially so since women buy so many items that are designed to highlight their feminine features and be noticed by men. It is human nature for men to notice beautiful women and this is a power that women have in that they can drive men absolutely mad and make them do things they wouldn’t normally do, a power they can use for good or for evil.

As for believe all women, this seems to go one way. When a woman makes a charge about how a man has behaved towards her sexually that is inappropriate, that is to be believed. What happens when it goes the other way? What if a man complains about a woman? The man is part of the patriarchy and must be dealt with!

There is an interlude after this on technology. Social media has its benefits, but it has also been a problem. Now, anything you say can be found and used against you. A tweet made years ago in innocence can ruin your career today. A person could have made a statement back in the early 2000’s that was opposed to redefining marriage, which was the majority opinion then, and be called into question for it today.

Social media means everything you say can be found for all time and there is no distinction anymore between private things and public things being said. Also, many people say things online that they wouldn’t say in person. It’s easy to do that when the person isn’t right in front of you and you are safe that way.

The next major section is race. Here again we see the same kind of scenario that we saw with women. Charges of racism and cultural appropriation can show up anywhere and someone can be turned into the bad guy immediately. Campuses have had riots over a comment that most of us would see as innocent, but was perceived as racist.

Consider the case of a school where one day a year, minority students were expected to stay off of campus by choice to show the contributions that they have made to culture. Whatever one thinks of this, it is an event done voluntarily by a group to themselves. Then one year they decided to reverse this and have a day where no white people were to show up.

The difference is that the whites were not volunteering. It was told they should do this. One professor sent out an email in response saying that this is not proper and goes against our basic freedoms. Before too long, there were riots taking place with even the president of the college being in a kind of hostage situation and the professor who sent the email was being accused of racism and had to quit his job.

As with Peter Thiel also, race has become more of a political stance than a biological one. Kanye West endorses Candace Owens and then goes and meets with Trump. At this point, it doesn’t matter what you think of any of those three people. The point is that after this, Kanye is said to not be truly black.

By contrast, what about Rachel Dolezal who was a chapter president of the NAACP and whoops, she turned out to actually be white. Her parents are both white. What are we told? If she wants to say she’s black, then she’s black. So Kanye who is truly black is not black, but Dolezal, who is truly white, is black.

The next interlude is on forgiveness with some nodding towards the Christian tradition on this. Can there be any forgiveness in our culture? Someone gets appointed to a government position and everyone scours through their past tweets and Facebook posts to find any dirt that can be found whatsoever and ruin their lives.

I have gotten annoyed thoroughly with the apology culture where everyone has to apologize for everything. Just this morning I read about a Padres player who apologized for hitting a grand slam. Apparently, he was supposed to not get one because when your team has a great lead, you shouldn’t pile on the runs. Ridiculous! This guy plays the sport well and has to apologize for it?

Besides that, it’s easier to think today that these aren’t apologies. They’re a way of saying “Please don’t ruin my life.” Unfortunately, the crowds don’t know forgiveness.

The last issue is transgenderism. One theme in the book regularly is that we make a major change in society, such as many people have done on homosexuality, and before the dust can settle and we can see how this will work out, we’re off to the next one. Murray writes about children even as young as eight being given hormone treatment to transition and they’re not required to tell their parents about it, although their parents sure need to get permission if that child needs an aspirin in school. Parents get concerned and they are told, “Get in line or your child will commit suicide!” What’s a parent to do?

Long time feminists who speak out are condemned. This includes those cases where a rapist in a prison identifies as a woman and then goes to a women’s prison and, well, I think we all know what happened. What about men who transition into women and then compete against women in sports? They do have an advantage from their past. The feminist movement must be beside themselves since they have long complained about men being seen as superior. Now, apparently, men are also superior at women’s sports.

Where will this end? It’s hard to say, but the crowd is not getting any better. More and more people are being attacked for perceived wrongs and the worst motives are assumed every time. Discussion is automatically shut down when one person is said to be on the wrong side of history or a racist or a homophobe or transphobe or sexist or whatever. Such people exist, but why assume they are everywhere? Why not have a real dialogue about our differences?

I really encourage everyone to read this book. It’s incredibly eye-opening and very easy to read and shocking to read. Our society has a lot of problems and if we don’t reverse the trend, it will only get worse.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Deliver Us From Evil

Why should we be delivered? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

There is some debate on if this passage means evil in general or the evil one, meaning the devil, in particular. For our purposes, it really doesn’t matter. That’s a great textual debate I have no wish to dive into. Let’s just sum it up. We are to be delivered in some way.

Note that this comes right after the part about leading us not into temptation. Temptation is always to something that we shouldn’t do. This is why James says that no one should say that God is tempting them. God will test us sometimes, but He does not tempt us.

This is also a reference then to the coming kingdom. We are to long for that time when the Kingdom comes so that evil will be abolished. We are to eagerly anticipate that. We see evil all around us and we want it to be gone. Praying this part of the prayer is asking for that to happen.

Yesterday I saw a little boy with crutches walking because of some condition I couldn’t identify. I immediately thought about what a great day to come when that boy is able to walk normally. I wondered about how it might be difficult in the future to see all the kids running and not be able to yourself. Would he have a problem with getting a girlfriend in the future and marrying and having kids? This isn’t to say a physical disability can’t keep you from that. My friend, J. Parker, wrote something on that yesterday.

Many of you reading this blog disagree with me on various points. Some of you disagree with me on Christianity. What all of us will agree with I am sure is that we all have a problem with the way the world is. We all want something to be different. It could be a minor thing or a major thing. It could be political, religious, spiritual, physical, etc.

When we ask us for us to be delivered, we are asking for rescue. We are asking for salvation. Salvation is about more than just us though. It’s asking for recreation of the whole world. We are not wanting us to just be evacuated from the planet so God can destroy it because “Well, it was a good idea at the time but evil ruined it so let’s go to plan B of Heaven.”

God made this world to be lived on and He hasn’t changed His mind. He made this cosmos for Him to dwell in and He hasn’t changed His mind. The plan has never once been scrapped. If anything, everything is going according to plan. This is God’s story. It’s not ours.

We all long for that world. We long for some sort of perfection. C.S. Lewis said that if I have a desire so strong that nothing in this world can meet it, maybe I was made for another world. That’s true of us. We all seek deliverance from evil. That’s why many of us fight it regularly and why superhero movies are so popular. We all want evil to be stopped.

Yet we can’t do it on our own. It will require God to truly eliminate evil. While we are to do our part, the prayer is asking for God to bring His kingdom so that evil can be finally abolished once and for all. We do not give up or surrender to evil, but we do realize we can’t fight it without God.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)