All posts tagged: Human rights

Why does God approve war and violance in the OT?

Published by

Frankly, parts of the Old Testament are sometimes difficult to accept, especially as they relate  to God’s character. Take his command to King Saul of Israel: “Now go, attack the Amalekites  and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women,  children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys” (1 Samuel 15:3, TNIV). Camels and  donkeys? Children and infants? Or how about this statement regarding Israel’s destruction of  Jericho at God’s prompting: “They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword  every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys” (Joshua 6:21,TNIV)? Is the God of the Old Testament a lover of war and destruction? Is God a warmonger who  arbitrarily takes out his frustration? Reading certain passages, one could get this impression. This issue presents quite a challenge for Christians who have come to believe that love is the defining attribute of God. Even more so, these passages often propagate the doubts of non-Christians who are skeptical of God …

The Most Influential Evangelist You’ve Never Heard Of

Published by

The Most Influential Evangelist You’ve Never Heard Of by BARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY Listen to the Story All Things Considered [9 min 8 sec] transcript EnlargeHarry Cabluck/AP Republican activist David Barton speaks before testifying before the Texas State Board of Education in 2009. August 8, 2012 David Barton says Americans have been misled about their history. And he aims to change that. Cue The Tape: How David Barton Sees The World “It’s what I would call historical reclamation,” Barton explains, in his soft but rapid-fire voice. “We’re just trying to get history back to where it’s accurate. If you’re going to use history, get it right.” Barton has collected 100,000 documents from before 1812 — original or certified copies of letters, sermons, newspaper articles and official documents of the Founding Fathers. He says they prove that the Founding Fathers were deeply religious men who built America on Christian ideas — something you never learn in school. For example, you’ve been taught the Constitution is a secular document. Not so, says Barton: The Constitution is laced with …

Break my heart for what breaks Yours

Published by

Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like You have loved me Break my heart for what breaks Yours We are living in a day and time where everything we see or hear, potentially, has a deadening effect on us spiritually. The movies, the tv shows, the music and even our culture has this deadening effect on our sensitivity to what is holy and of God. Some of us have already become desensitized to these horrors and filth all around. To become desensitized is to become numb, stupefied or less likely to feel shocked or distressed at scenes of horror, sexual perversion, cruelty, violence and suffering by overexposure to such images. That is why a prayer like “break my heart Lord, for what breaks yours” is so powerful and timely. Would you join me today and for the rest of the week in praying this prayer – “break my heart Lord for what breaks yours?”. Would you join in sounding the alarm …