Day: April 7, 2008

What exactly would it take for you to be personally convinced that man-made global warming is a giant lie for the most part? Now to be totally fair, many scientists (even the one’s against the global-warming marketing agenda) actually agree that man-made influences have a factor to play in the warming of the Earth, but that the percentage is too insignificant to account for in the climatological models. Furthermore, the founder of the Weather Channel himself came out a while back saying those who believe man’s CO2 output is what is changing the atmosphere have absolutely no understanding of how the climate works.

Anyway, would you be convinced that the fear-mongering of those like Gore is totally without warrant if expert climatologists from MIT, Princeton (NOAA), and the National Hurricane Conference all said the data proposed by warming activists was bogus? I hope you would. And that is exactly what has happened. According to William Gray at the National Hurricane Conference this year, we are brainwashing our kids at a young age within the education system to believe our world is on the brink of utter “natural disaster” destruction (from hurricanes and floods in particular). This is misinformation at best. Think about the impact this has on a young mind’s perspective of the world. They are being taught that unless they act in drastic ways, the weather will get worse, floods will get worse and everything will fall apart in the natural order.

Yet these major scientists cited in this article are very clear that if the Earth warms, hurricanes will not increase but decrease in severity. Then they go on to say that what really influences hurricanes is the temperature fluctuations in the ocean. Hmm … so who do you believe? Al Gore, who says those (like these elite expert climatologists and myself) that deny man-made global warming are the same as those who say the Earth is flat? Or some hardcore scientists who know what the junk they’re talking about? I just don’t know how much clearer this could be. I would like to see Gore’s tax records … don’t you think it’s mildly possible he (and CNN, NBC (and its parent, GE), now the Weather Channel, and many many other organizations) are all doing this for a giant sack of mullah? Much in the same way they hypocritically accuse big oil? I mean let’s just be fair. Gore and his cronies are just as guilty of profiteering off of environmentalism as any oil exec, don’t you think?

The reason this is even an issue for me is not just because of the clear scientific data out there. And it’s really not even ultimately about guys like Gore making a ton of cash off of it (though of course that chaps me a bit). It has more to do with the fact that political policies are being implemented to steer this country toward a more secular view of the world in attempting to fix a phantom problem known as man-made global warming. That affects all of us, and ultimately it affects Christian witness to the Gospel. What if we are making policies and guidelines that are chasing after a giant lie, but that in doing so we are moving toward a more “utopian,” godless way of viewing the world and way of living? Is that remotely possible? Have we not seen in the 20th century what happens when godless, atheistic rulers take over entire cultures? Yeah, and they thought it would never happen there either …

Why Has Reformed Theology Surged Among the Younger Generation?

By David Westerfield

On April 7, 2008

In Audio, Christian Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

Nathan Pitchford, blogging over at www.reformationtheology.com, makes some very good observations as to why this phenomenon has occurred. To sum up what Pitchford says, Reformed Theology has surged among us mainly due to five things (though there very well could be other factors as well):

1) Dissatisfaction with the theology and religious environment of our parents.

I believe this factor is one of the largest. Much of this discontentment has to do with a tiredness of the way things have been done in our parents generation. It’s old, worn out, and about 3 inches of spiritual depth. At the root of that is a discontentment with their particular brand of a Christian worldview, their presuppositions, theology, and philosophy of ministry, all of which seems to be more temporally focused rather than eternally focused on the Kingdom. We’re tired of the idolatry, materialism and consumerism that have invaded the church. It needs to stop. The Protestant Church needs a temple cleansing, so to speak. The Church is not the market place nor should it act like it. And that’s what we are reacting against is this blatant idolatry that has moved from worshiping Christ as the supreme King to idolizing self and using Christ to that end. Now of course, it is not a blanket statement to say all within my parents generation are involved in this, because, as noted below, John Piper has been one of the largest influences on this surge. There are many others as well who have made a difference and opposed this idolatry, calling for us to reclaim the faith once for all delivered.

2) Desire for a rootedness and connectedness with the historic faith.

In the latter part of the 20th century, most within the Protestant church were simply looking to the past 100-200 years (or only their present day pastors and teachers) for information concerning the exposition of Scripture. And yet there is a deep, rich, long history of men of the faith who have contributed greatly to the Church’s literature. Our parents generation, in general, seemed to ignore these voices. No more. We want to reclaim those voices. As Pitchford says, we indeed want to be reconnected with those who have gone before us and brought so much rich theology and thinking to the church. Looking to those in church history for their input concerning the Scriptures can really help us see our own blind spots within our culture. As Greg Love, a great friend of mine has said before, you can always go and stare at a wonderful work of art for hours and glean a lot of great perspective. In fact you must be doing that. But to hear an expert on that piece of art go into detail about things you had no idea were there, you can find some things you may never have seen by just observing it yourself. So it is with Church History.

3) The resurgence of Puritan literature.

There are some works out now that you simply could not have gotten a hold of just 20 years ago. This helps greatly for the cause. The publisher Banner of Truth Trust is one of the forerunners and largest distributors of Puritan works, though there are others that have contributed greatly as well.

4) John Piper.

This man is one of the single biggest influences on the shaping of my own personal theology. The first sermon I ever heard from him was this: http://www.desiringgod.org/download.php … 961027.mp3. It shocked me how much of eternal perspective he had. I soaked it up and continue to do so to this day. To me, John Piper is a modern day Jonathan Edwards/John Owen. He takes their theology and makes it accessible. He has been an incredibly vital influence to the surge.

5) The internet (and www.monergism.com in particular).

I can’t tell you how big of help websites like www.monergism.com and www.spurgeon.org, as well as other sites, have been to influencing my own personal theology. God has richly blessed us with these resources. Take advantage of them.

Gospel. Culture. Technology. Music.

Day: April 7, 2008

What Would it Take? The Global Warming Fiasco

Why Has Reformed Theology Surged Among the Younger Generation?