Catching up on Culture

Last blog, I alluded to the fact that I was raised without TV. We still don't have a TV in our home; at least in the sense where we can actually watch channels. So, whenever I get the chance to really watch TV, I take advantage of it. It's my way of getting a crash course in culture. I got one such opportunity to catch up on culture during my recent trip to Indianapolis..., and I'm still in recovery.


In fact, I've been left speechless. In all likelihood, this will be a very short blog as a result. All I can say is that it's going to be a very long time before I get over the profligacy, the decadence, the violence, the indecency, the vulgarity, the vapidness, the profanity, and the irreverence of what I witnessed in my motel room. I came away sick at heart - grieved to my inmost being.


I have no harsh words, at this point for those in show business, but I wondered... still wonder... is there no one in the world of Hollywood, is there no one in the ranks of talk show personalities, is there no one in the dressing rooms of showbiz that is tired of the shallowness and petty dramas of celebrity squabbles? Is no one weary of the endless parade of corruption and degradation of morals that so cheapens the worth of humanity? Much of what I saw folks would say is mere show, but I am left to ponder how much the showmen/women have bought into the show?


Now, I know why the prophet Jeremiah once poetically and poignantly lamented, "Oh, that my eyes were rivers of water to weep for the wound ... of my people!" Oh, that I could weep for the emptiness of our culture! Or as the prophet Isaiah said, "Judgement is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter."


You see, above all else, what I witnessed was an absence of truth. Everybody is doing what is right in their own eyes - a sure recipe for disaster, and then we wonder why our world is so chaotic and wretched. It was no accident, that as I flipped wide-eyed through the channels, I saw hedonism on one hand and violence on the other. Just like a ship without a compass, without a rudder, we are drifting, and we are sure to make shipwreck on the shores of time. Whenever truth departs, tragedy fills the remaining void. It is a tried and true formula.


So, if you are reading this blog, and you find you have a heartache, and an inner emptiness that is not satisfied with typical Hollywood fare and the Beverly Hills lifestyle, if you find you are lost and drifting like a ship without a compass, I'm happy to proclaim to you that there is help, there is hope - there is a compass you can rely on to give direction to your life: His name is Jesus. He is the Way, the TRUTH, and the life. He is the Way for those who are lost, He is the Truth for those who are searching, and He is the Life for those who can't find satisfaction in a palatial house, all the toys, and mutiple relationships. He is what Hollywood... and the world... needs now more than ever.


'Til next time,
Pastor Chelle

Damnable Heresies & Pernicious Ways

Growing up without TV has some huge advantages. One of those advantages was being tele-evangelist free for all my formative years. I only recall seeing the odd one from time to time whenever we happened to stay at a motel where there was a TV readily available. It wasn't until I was in my early to mid twenties before I really sat down and watched a tele-evangelist in action.

I wasn't impressed.

There's one big-name dude (who shall remain an un-named dude in this blog) that has been making a lot of waves. I actually know a woman who was healed of cancer at one of his crusades, and so, naturally, I became curious to learn more about him. I checked him out on youtube. The bottom nearly fell out of my stomach. I've never been so embarrassed to be a Christian in all my life! It was all foolishness and money grubbing. Now I know why atheists say Christians are delusional; after a performance like that we deserve it! What still mystifies me is how on earth so many thousands of people are attracted to that person's "ministry." All I can say about my friend who was healed, is that, in all likelihood, it was her faith and not the shenanigans of said "faith healer" that brought about the miracle. (There's more to be said on this point, but it will keep.)

What has this got to do with stars and celebrities, you ask? Well, simply put, there's been some who have made very scorching comments about tele-evangelists. One well-known figure, commenting on the frequency with which these religious stars claim God spoke to them, said, "If God was going to come down and talk to somebody, it wouldn't be somebody with a fleet of Cadillacs." Another referred to "that B-s- preaching." All of this is like a sword through the heart for me. If money-grabbing, blow-dried, posturing tele-evangelists are the only examples of a Christian that these artists know, then I want to endeavor to set the record straight.

First of all, let me say to anybody out there reading this, if you think classic tele-evangelism is what Christianity is all about, let me hasten to assure you that that is far from the truth. There are many, many in the world of faith who view such behavior with horror and shame... such as myself. If a crate of apples stinks, it doesn't always mean that all the apples in the crate are rotten. One or two will do the job nicely.

Secondly, I would like to point out that God hates the money-grabbing as much as you do. Christian author, Max Lucado, put it this way, "Mark it down, religious hucksters poke the fires of Divine wrath." Amen, brother. Remember, it was the money changers Jesus drove from the temple with a small whip, and it was the tables of the money changers that He turned over in His fury with the corruption of the religious system of His day. And His hatred of bilking people in the name of God has not abated.

When I first became a Christian I will never forget my amazement when I read Second Peter chapter two. I never knew such a passage existed in the Bible. You see, I knew enough about tele-evangelists before I was a Christian to have taken a scunner at them myself; so when I read the first three verses of that chapter, I was all agog. I would like to share them here with various and sundry thoughts, in hopes that I might clear God's name in this matter.

Verse 1: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily (secretly/subtly) shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

St. Peter is reminding the relatively new Christian community that there have always been false prophets - those who talk glib in the name of God, those who love gold more than they love the God they profess to represent. He is warning them that the new Christian era will be no different. He's also sounding the alarm that their teaching will be subtle - sneaky, if you please - as preposterous at is my seem, they will deny even the Lord Jesus Himself - His true teachings, His person, and what He truly stood for - and they will seem to get away with it. But it will only seem that way. Destruction will come... swiftly. There are those that will take exception to the word swiftly, since many tele-evangelists and "false prophets" seem to have a long and prosperous "ministry," but from the perspective of eternity, even a lifetime is short, and the destruction that follows upon its heels comes surely and swiftly.

Verse 2: And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.


If ever anything was timely and bang on target that verse is. Many shall follow, huh? Just do a video search on some big-named evangelist, and you'll see the definition of many. Pernicious ways means, causing injury, destructive, or causing injury by insidiously undermining or weakening. I don't need to tell you how destructive the teachings of false prophets have been to the cause of Christ, how insidiously the testimony of God's people has been weakened and undermined by the greed and absurd behavior of those same false prophets, or how "turned off" the unbelieving world has been by the followers of those infamous individuals. Truly the "way of truth" has been "evil spoken of."


Verse 3: And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you:


There's more to that verse, but that will suffice for the moment. When people say "religion is all about money" they aren't far off the mark, at least with regards to false religion. With unerring precision, God puts His finger upon the motivation on these false prophets - greed, materialism, the love of money, filthy lucre. Like it or lump it, that is the plain, ugly truth - it is all about the money. Without attempting to soften the facts, God calls their message exactly what it is: feigned words - false show. I saw a tele-evangelist pull a snake out of the back of some poor arthiritis sufferer. Or, rather, he told us/his audience that he pulled it out, and, like blind sheep, we believed him, and whooped it up, praising God for such a demonstration of His power. Poppycock. And, boy, with their feigned words do they make merchandise out the poor, gullible, souls that they suck in! "Oh, send, me a dollar, and God will give you a hundred!" "Sow a seed, brother" - translation: write me a cheque. Bah.

I have been rather blunt on this blog, but I think the topic calls for it. It's high time Christians call a spade a spade. I just hope that this little soap box rant has cleared the air a bit. You don't like the outrageous behavior carried on in the name of God? Well, you are in good company. God has a mighty poor opinion of it, too. Unless that behavior is repented of, God has made it clear that it will end in no less than damnation.

So if you've been using tele-evangelists as an excuse not to be a Christian, please reconsider and give the real deal a chance. I promise you will never regret it... not now, not for eternity.

With love,
Pastor Chelle

Someone to Care

If I had two wishes one would be that I would have the ability to change people's hearts - soften the stubborn, to make the wicked love righteousness, to make the sinner love God - or rather, to be able to be used of God to bring about that change. My second wish would be that I would be able to help people experience God's love for them.

I have experienced God's love in extraordinary ways. Because of those sacred moments, I know in my heart of hearts that it is the love of God that the world needs above all else. Once someone gets a taste of God's glorious love, they will never be the same. There is nothing like it in the world or out of it. It is a love like no other: it surpasses the tenderest love of a mother for her child, and it far exceeds the exquisite bond lovers share. The love of God is enough to melt the hardest heart and put spine into the greatest weakling. It gives worth to those who feel worthless and hope to those who have forgotten what hope is. God's love brings comfort when all other comforters have failed. God's love is the answer when there is no answer to be found. Or as someone once said:

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry,

Nor could the scroll contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky."

(Significantly, the above verse was found etched into the wall of an insane asylum cell - obviously somebody was an inmate wrongfully.)

Yet, even the sublimest poetry falls far short of expressing the riches of God's love. As the pithy, little saying goes, "It is better felt than 'tellt.'" The past week has been a special week for me - I have sensed God's tender love and care for me in a vivid and profound way. And though I revel in the wonder of it, I know that everyone can experience what I've experienced, and, in hopes that it will help or encourage someone, I would like to share the thoughts of my heart.

There is an old gospel song that says,

"Someone to care, Someone to share,

All your troubles like no other can do;

He'll come down from the skies,

And brush the tears from your eyes -

Your His child, and He cares for you."

Have you ever been lonely in a crowd? Have you ever wished someone would just take the time of day to be a friend without prompting? Have you ever wondered if anyone cares, or are you alone in a universe that could care less? Well, I'm glad to tell you, that there is Someone who cares.

He not only cares, but He understands better than anyone ever could. The little things that others might think you are silly to care about are not beyond or beneath His notice. He is the keeper of both the stars and sparrows. When no one else understands, He does. He not only understands, but He weeps when you weep. What hurts you hurts Him a hundred times more. He shares your sorrow and He bares your sorrow, but He doesn't stop there - He'll carry not only your burden, but you, too. Oh, yes, there's Someone Who cares, and there's Someone Who shares all your troubles like no other can do.

And He does come down from the skies to brush the tears from your eyes. Oh, not in the physical sense, of course, but the presence of God does come to us in our time of sorrow in a very real way, and there are no words for the glory and the mystery of it. Like a father picks up his child who has scraped up a knee, and gentle wipes away the tears and whispers, "Don't cry, Daddy loves you," just so it is with God. And there's nothing pansy, sappy, or silly about it. Rather, it's what the heart of every person, regardless of age, craves. It's a love that is as cozy as a quilt on a winter's day, and bracing as a blast of wind across the ocean.

Above all, you are His child and He cares for you. Do you know what delight and love a good parent has in their child? Do you know that gush of love you feel sometimes clear out of the blue when you just happen to glance at your child? They may be raggamuffins, but you love them, oh, bless you, how you love them just because they are your child. They are more precious to you than the stars of Heaven. That's the love God carrys for you in His heart -He loves you "just because." You matter to Heaven. He'd forfeit the stars and the planets just for you. He'd divest Himself of His splendour and walk through the worst hell had to offer - you're His child, and He cares for you.

God grant that you may know how truly God cares for you.

The love of God be with you,

Pastor Chelle

The Hypocrite Cop-out

How many of you readers have heard someone say, "I wouldn't be a Christian because there are so many hypocrites in the church!"

I've heard it frequently in my short 31 years, and, truth to be told, I made the same declaration numerous times myself before I surrendered to a life of faith. So, how do you respond to that time-honored statement? Are you thrown for a loop, or do you have a clever comeback? (Incidentally, if you do have a clever comeback, I'd like to hear it - drop me a line in the comment box.)

I've noticed that the stars and celebrities are among those who express that sentiment or a very similar one. The band that I've been featuring in the Daily Prayer Request, AC/DC, has been among those who have taken pot shots at Christian hypocrites, and I'm going to take this opportunity to answer them as if they were actually reading what I have to say (fat chance!).

"You are right - there are hypocrites in the church - perhaps even lots of them - perhaps the biggest majority of professing Christians are hypocrites. After all, Jesus said there were few who actually found the straight and narrow. The Bible even tells us there are hypocrites in the church. But you know what? The world is full of hypocrites, too, not just the church. In fact, I'd like to suggest there are more hypocrites at rock concerts than in church - hypocrites that will pump their fists and scream your praises one minute and run you down the next - I know, I've heard them for myself.

"You don't like hypocrites? Small blame to you: neither does God. Jesus spent an entire chapter in Matthew denouncing them, and assured us that hypocrites are going to hell. In fact, I would like to suggest that there is nothing like a hypocrite to infuriate God... unless it is someone who takes advantage of the weak, and/or wounds the innocent.

"But tell me something: how do you know what a hypocrite is? Hmmm? Well, let me tell you how you know - you know what a hypocrite is because somewhere out there is the real thing whereby you can tell the phony from the genuine. And if there is a real deal, isn't it a bit hypocritical to use the excuse that a hypocrite keeps you from being the real thing yourself? Why don't you become a Christian and show the world what the real thing is? The world needs more of the real thing... desperately. Since when do you allow the presence of counterfeit bills in the world to prevent you from becoming a millionaire?"

I urge all my readers to lay aside the hypocrite cop-out, search your heart, and be such a blazing hot Christian, that even the faintest whiff of hypocrisy will be burned away.
God bless us all... and AC/DC, too.
Pastor Chelle

Three, Big Fat Assumptions pt 3

Now for the last of those three, big fat assumptions. And I do believe it is the biggest and fattest of the three. The atheist or humanist assumes that God cannot reveal Himself personally to an individual. This goes beyond both having the moral law written on the conscience or knowing basic Biblical facts. Yet, if I may say so, if there is a God, particularly One like the Christians claim, then it is indeed a big stretch to assume that He doesn't reveal Himself to people. This is the weakest argument in Charles Templeton's hypothesis.

There are so many stories to corroborate the fact that God does reveal Himself, that I scarcely know where to begin. But there are two that stand out foremost in my mind. One of which I will tell, one of which I will let technology tell for me.

The first tale is about a man named Jimmy, a coal miner in Yorkshire. Now, I grant you that Yorkshire isn't exactly pagan, nor or the Yorkshire folk ignorant heathen, but just the same it does make an interesting point. During my teens, I had a marvelous pastor, Pastor Brian, himself a Yorkshireman. Pastor Brian had a friend, who I will call Tommy for the simple reason I have forgotten the dear man's name, though I saw Tommy on two separate occasions and heard him tell this story with my own ears. I must go on record to say that both Pastor Brian and Tommy are still alive, if you really would like to verify this story, and I assure you, furthermore, that these fine men are anything but flakes..., or liars.

Tommy was a coal miner before he too joined his friend, Brian, as a pastor. He became a Christian as a teenager, and was full of zeal to tell people all about the wonderful Jesus he had found. Of course, most of the people whom Tommy knew were his coal mining workmates. He began to witness to all of them with great enthusiasm, including his boss, Jim. Jim wasn't impressed. And Jim, who was a rough, hard-living, hard-drinking man, promptly proceeded to mock and belittle Tommy every chance he got. In fact, he made Tommy's life downright miserable. Naturally, Tommy being young in the faith didn't always have a brilliant, theological come-back for Jim's smart remarks.

Finally, one day, when Jim was being particularly difficult, Tommy, as a last resort, said to Jim, "Jim, if you just knew how much Jesus loves you!"

To his amazement, tears came to Jim's eyes, "I know, Tommy, I know."

"How do you know?!" was Tommy's shocked response.

And Jim told Tommy how, when he had been a teenager himself, he had become very ill. So ill, in fact, that all the village biddies (old women) had gathered at the cottage with Jim's mother and were waiting for Jim to snuff it. (pronounced "snoof" it, in good, broad Yorkshire) When Jim was at his lowest point, Jesus came and stood at the foot of Jim's bed.

"And He loved me so much, Tommy," Jim said, with tears rolling down his cheeks, "I've never forgotten it."

Jesus healed Jim then and there, and Jim walked out of his room fit as fiddle to the consternation of the old biddies who were waiting for him to snuff it. I'm also happy to say that Tommy did have the incredible privilege of leading Jim back the Jesus he had left behind.

What strikes me as singular about that story is who would ever suspect that old rascal of a coal miner would have had such an experience? Certainly not Charles Templeton or his ilk.

You may recall that in the first of these three installments, I mentioned that Mr. Templeton had theorized that if you were born in an Arabic country it was likely that you would be a Muslim, and that a Muslim can't be blamed for what he is because of his culture. Very well. But don't assume that Jesus doesn't reveal Himself to Muslims. In fact, some have speculated, and not without good reason, that Muslims might be providing the most converts to Christianity. Wikiislam has actually stated that the number of converts from Islam to Christianity is so high and so large and so frequent that it is impossible to tabulate proper statistics. What is more curious about this phenomenon is that it is guesstimated that roughly 90% of these conversions are the direct result of dreams and visions of Jesus. A perusal of the 'net will turn up dozens of these stories. I strongly urge you to check out youtube for just such testimonies. To conclude this series of blogs, I am going to leave you with two links to the amazing, wonderful and glorious story of an Iranian man named Afshin. I trust it will bless you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYgLFm0CQGQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBMZDO22sfs

'Til next time. Peace out.
Pastor Chelle

Three big, fat assumptions pt 2

Following up my last blog (hopefully, this installment won't be as lengthy as the last one I inflicted on my long-suffering audience), the second assumption people make is that the "heathen" are ignorant of Biblical truth. Now, let me make a point of distinguishing between knowledge of right and wrong and Biblical truth; by Biblical truth I mean basic Biblical facts and knowledge about God, Jesus, etc.

It is a very natural assumption to think that those living in desolate places without any contact with Christian civilization would be totally unaware of what the Bible teaches. However, it is an assumption, and one that has proven to be astonishingly wrong. Missionaries can tell you just how very wrong it is.

One such missionary is a gentleman named Jim Stanley, a missionary to an obscure African tribe called the Busaris (I doubt that is the correct spelling - I need to brush up on my obscure African dialects, I guess). Here were "ignorant heathens" at their best. When Mr. Stanley arrived in Africa, he didn't know quite where to begin teaching the Busaris about God and the Bible. So, he decided the best route of action was to discover what they did know, and he asked them out right what they knew about God. To which the chief replied, "We know three things. First, He exists. Second, He is going to judge us someday. Third, we are afraid of Him."

Now, how could they possibly know that God was going to judge them someday? The bare fact that God may exist was not just logical grounds to conclude that that God was going to judge them. So, the question remains, how did they know such a profound and fundamental Biblical fact?

This idea of judgement occurs with astonishing regularity among the heathen. Another case in point is the Ecuadorian Auca Indians or Waodani tribe made famous by the martyrdom of five men who attempted to reach them in 1956. The Waodani are animists, but they do believe that when they die, they will walk the trail to the afterlife where they will meet the Great Boa, or obe, and, if their deeds are such on earth as to make them strong, they will be able to jump the Great Boa and enter into the afterlife. While the Bible teaches nothing about a Great Boa, still it is fascinating to once again see the belief of future judgement so imbedded into a culture that should be ignorant of it.

But the story that takes the cake, is the story of the Yanomamo (Venezuelan rainforest) shaman talking with a Christian missionary. I believe the missionary's name is Gary Dawson, and this story is available for listening at this site:

http://radiotime.com/program/p_39957/Focus_On_The_Family.aspx

(You'll find the story under the title "Finding the One True God 2" I highly, highly recommend listening to part 1, also.)

For those of you who don't have the time to listen to the story at the above link, let me tell you as best as I can. One day Gary went to a village where no white man had ever been. As he approached the village, the chanting of the village shaman ceased abruptly. Gary didn't think too much of the incident at the time. However, the next day while talking to the old shaman, he got the surprise of his life. When he attempted to tell the shaman about God, the shaman told Gary he already knew about Him. The shaman's spirits had told him about God, but that He was their enemy. And then the shaman proceeded to tell Gary about the place where God lived, and to describe the angels/being who lived in His presence. He said that he had seen afar off the land where God lived, where there was a river that flowed through that land which was for healing. The shaman then went on to tell Gary that the reason the chanting had ceased so abruptly when Gary had first arrived was that the shaman's spirits were afraid of Gary's God, and that they wanted to know when Gary was leaving so they could come back.

!!!

(Only exclamation points will express my sentiments!)

Anything more to be said on this point would be superfluous. If such a story doesn't prove that the ignorant heathen aren't so ignorant after all, I don't know what does. I rest my case.

'Til next time,
Pastor Chelle

Three Big, Fat Assumptions

You know as well as I do, that assumptions are dangerous. At least, I hope you do. It is an interesting fact that so many people's attitudes and opinions about the Christian faith and the God of the faith are based on assumptions. In the next blog or two... or three... or four..., 8-) I want to point out some assumptions, big, fat assumptions, on a certain subject, that, in spite of their size, often get overlooked.

Back when I first became a Christian, I picked up Charles Templeton's book, Farewell to God. Templeton made a comment in that book, I've never forgotten. At first, it troubled me; I was young in my faith, and not as adept in apologetics now. (Though I hasten to add that I am no Lewis or Zacharias yet, either!) But as the years have rolled by, as my relationship with God has strengthened, as I've studied, and as I've gained experience, Templeton's comment doesn't trouble me any more.

One of his reasons for kissing God goodbye, so to speak, was that he believed Christianity was culturally conditioned. "If," said he, "you were raised in the Middle East, chances are you would be a Muslim." Being born in North America made it likely that you would be a Christian. And furthermore, because faith was largely dependent on where one was born, so your knowledge of God/faith would be limited to your culture. In other words, if God damned people to hell because the they didn't believe in Jesus, He was a very unjust God for damning people for what they could not help - what they couldn't/didn't know, and, therefore, the Christian faith was not valid.

Now, that is a very convoluted way of explaining Mr. Templeton's very smooth and concise arguments ( I told you I wasn't Lewis or Zacharias!), but that is the gist of it. That way of thinking shook my world, all the more so, because I was aware enough to have wondered the same thing myself. Assuming Christianity and our understanding of it is valid, have you ever wondered just how it will be when the "ignorant heathen" stand before God to be judged of their sins? Is it fair for God to send them to hell merely because they are ignorant? It's the sort of issue that causes a strong knee-jerk reaction, doesn't it?

What I didn't see when I was a new, teenage Christian was the huge assumptions in this line of reasoning. In fact, there are so many assumptions, that I'm not sure where to begin. One assumption, both Christians and atheists have made over the years is that God does send all the "heathen" to hell. The Christians have made the assumption through flawed reasoning, and the atheist has reached the assumption through prejudice and ignorance - assuming that the flawed reasoning of many Christians is an accurate representation of Christian doctrine. (More assumptions!) But there are three bigger, fatter assumptions the atheist makes who subscribes to Templeton's reasoning.

The first is that they assume the heathen are ignorant of right and wrong, particularly what God has defined as right and wrong. In this they could not be more mistaken. The Bible says in Romans chapter 2, that God has written His law on the hearts of all humanity, and that people do/know by nature/instinct what is right and wrong without direct revelation - revelation such as what the Jews experienced at Mt. Sinai when the Ten Commandments was given. And the evidence that God has indeed written His law on our hearts is the presence of our conscience - that thing that accuses us or excuses us, that thing that so inconveniently pricks when we are all set to have "fun", that thing that we spend our lifetime trying to soothe and salve.

The best way to explain what the Bible teaches about this subject, is the classic illustration of two children playing ball. Let's say it's a brother and sister named Janie and Tommy. At some point, Janie and Tommy decide to play ball together using Janie's ball. Everything goes fine for a few tosses, until suddenly Janie decides to hang on to the ball rather than throw it back. Immediately there is a row.

Tommy sets up the howling first, "Throw it back, Janie!"

"No,"says Janie, clutching her ball tightly, "It's my ball!"

"But you agreed we would play together!" retorts Tommy, "And you should keep your promise!"

"Who says?" scowls Janie, and clutches her ball tighter."

I'll leave to your imagination how that little scenario ends; however, I think anyone with kids has a pretty good idea what the outcome will be.


What happens in situations like that points to the fact, that even very young kids appeal to a universal scheme of right and wrong, and know how to accuse each other and excuse themselves when they find themselves in the position to do so. I've heard people say that kids do things like that because of cultural conditioning and evolution, but I have to say as kindly as I know how that I think that is nothing more than a cop-out to deny what is clear evidence of a moral law beyond ourselves written by a Lawgiver upon our heart. It always cracks me up how atheists and their ilk go to such lengths to prove there is no such thing as a moral law written into our natures, and then go out and argue frantically and furiously that Christians have no business imposing their beliefs on others. I've always wanted to retort like Janie, "Says who?" If there is no right and wrong, only what culture says or evolution has taught us, what right have you got to tell me that it is wrong to impose my beliefs on somebody else, unless there is a higher law which teaches us mutual respect?

I recently preached on this subject at my church, and I would like to give you the illustration I gave to my congregation to make the point that the ignorant heathen are not ignorant of God's right and wrong, and that their conscience bear witness to it. It is the story of a man named Don Richardson, author of the book Peace Child. A graduate of Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Don and his wife became missionaries to the cannibals of Western New Guinea. The cannibals' culture is something else. Fancy living in a culture where betrayal is a virtue! For the cannibals it was a "big deal" to make friends with somebody from a neighboring village, make all kinds of promises about what the relationship offered, such as the promise of free trade between the two villages, and then when the friendship was well cemented, turn around and eat them. Lovely. (Incidentally, I discovered from reading that book that mac'n'cheese looks like brains; just a little tidbit you might find interesting.) To the cannibal, Judas Ischariot was a hero. Talk of a missionary's worst nightmare. But as warped and twisted as a cannibal's thinking might be, there is a point, where even their conscience kicks into gear, and they sue for peace with each other, a cessation of betrayals and eating one another. And when two villages/tribes decide to make peace, they have a ritual called the "peace child;" in the ritual, they agree to make peace, and, the token given as proof that they have made peace, is to exchange children or babies, so that each village has a representative of the other living in it. The peace stands as long as the peace child lives. If that peace treaty is betrayed and the child is eaten, it is the ultimate transgression. Even in a culture so darkened, there is no words for the monstrosity of such a crime.

And in that illustration we see how the supposedly ignorant heathen know there is a higher law, and they appeal to it. Their conscience accuses them and excuses them. God has not left Himself without a witness. In the end, God will judge them for how they responded when their own conscience pricked them, and He will be perfectly justified to do so.

Mr. Templeton was wrong. The heathen are not so ignorant, and God is not unjust to judge a cannibal for eating a defenceless baby offered to him in good faith. As the Bible puts it, they are without excuse.

Part 2 to follow soon when we'll discuss the next big, fat assumption. 'Til then, God bless.
Pastor Chelle