The following article was written by Chaplain (Capt.) Rick Cantrell of 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment at Fort Jackson in Columbia South Carolina.
The transfiguration of Christ is recorded in Mark 9:1-12. Peter, James and John accompanied Jesus up a high mountain. After Jesus was transfigured, Peter was so moved by the magnificence and glory of God that he said, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here” (Mark 9:5a).
Peter wanted to camp out and savor the awesome presence of God indefinitely. We too, like Peter, want to extend our mountaintop experiences with God because they do not happen often. The sobering reality is that our mountaintop experiences quickly fade away as we journey down the mountainside. Continued »
Is the Ground Zero mosque a sign of
judgment to come?
On September 11, 2001, two planes struck the World Trade Center and brought both towers down in a cloud of dust and smoke. Mixed in with the rubble of the Twin Towers – and seemingly lost from public awareness – were the ruins of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
For the past eight years, the congregation of the small four-story church has tirelessly tried to work out a deal with the local government to rebuild their church. Within the past year, talks all but broke down.
But now the headlines are teaming with news of the construction of a very different religious center near Ground Zero: an Islamic Cultural Center, which includes a mosque. The church, which has been there for nearly a century, faces rejection…while an Islamic mosque receives approval to build. Continued »
If Christianity dies in America it will not be for a lack of evidence of its truthfulness. It will be for a lack of dissemination of the evidence of its truthfulness. And the blame for the lack dissemination of that evidence will fall squarely on the shoulders of Christian men who are simply too weak and passive to deserve to be called “Christian” or “men.”
In the last few months, I have been in no less than one dozen arguments with “Christian men” who have attempted to persuade me to stop my advocacy of, and direct involvement in, litigation against public universities. This is despite the fact that the universities are seeking to curtail the rights of Christian students and professors. Continued »
Recently, someone wrote to me complaining of a “recent and dangerous trend” of attacks on intellectuals coming from “those on the right.” The writer’s ostensible purpose was to shield intellectuals from “attacks.” His real purpose was to shield them from criticism.
Nothing could be more dangerous than shielding today’s intellectual, particularly the secular university professor, from criticism. It is precisely because they are so coddled and shielded (read: tenured) that they have become modern day Pharisees.
Jesus was not nice to the Pharisees. In fact, He had this to say to them:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23: 27-28
Continued »