We call this revealing

 One of these things is not like the other: 

Did you notice?  Look again.

That's right, the 'Tomatometer' score, that is the compilation and average of individual, professional critics, is missing on The Chosen.  I looked it up, and that means for a production already released, that not enough such critics have bothered to review the show or movie in question.  Despite its mammoth, global success or that it's been out now for almost eight years, still not enough have bothered.  

Let's review: 

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’"

That's from the Gospel of St. John, chapter 15. 18-25.  Now, liberal and leftwing Christians often make a mess of this passage.  Not infrequently they'll claim the reason why the world hates Christianity, Jesus or the Church today is that there are Christians who still refuse to vote Democrat or support the latest leftwing activism or talking points.  Perhaps they confuse their politics with God or the Faith.  Or they really think the Left to be so infallible that to not support it is akin to rejecting God, despite the Left's increasingly open advocacy for the most egregious evils and mortal sins.  I don't know.

I just know that's not what the passage means.  It's not really about where one falls on the political spectrum, be it left or right or center. 

No, I'm not equating The Chosen with God or Jesus. But let's face it, whatever you think of it, it's clearly trying to promote the Christian Faith and the Gospel.  And despite being a global phenomenon of staggering levels, with worldwide audience views in the hundreds (not tens) of millions each episode - it's crickets from the critics.  That's what all those thousands and thousands of professional critics around the world have to say.  

The other shows?  Just random ones.  I searched popular shows and movies on Rotten Tomatoes and grabbed a few.  One of them actually had a story about how they've gone from 1.5 million to 3 million viewers!  Huzzah!  As opposed to those hundreds of millions watching The Chosen that critics haven't appeared to notice. 

Again, the Church always believed it must have some impact on the world.  Perhaps we didn't know what to do when the world decided it no longer wanted what the Church was selling. But a perusal of the Bible or Christian history should demonstrate that however much God loves us and reaches out, we will forever smack His hand and tell Him to take a hike.  As we're seeing now. 

Oh, it's different now, as Rod Dreher pointed out.  For centuries and eons, the Gospel moved into new lands that had never heard it, and then made inroads.  Not all was accomplished at the end of a sword or gun, despite what the modern narrative says.  Sometimes the message came and was eagerly accepted by those living in the darkness of paganism and heathen gods.  

But today, the World that once heard the Gospel is now tired of it, and wants to go back to that world of paganism and heathen gods, at least from a secular angle.  An angle that has a vague religious underpinning that says I'll either die and become worm food or perhaps, if not, there'll be some happy light place we all go when we die because of course we do.  Otherwise, the trappings of old paganism are becoming popular among our best and  brightest.  And they are increasingly willing to demand conversion to the cause by rhetorical sword and figurative gunpoint.  Because that's what the World does.  See John's Gospel above. 

Does this seem a lot to hang on a single show, however popular, that is missing reviews on Rotten Tomatoes?  If this was the only thing I could point to, then perhaps.  But you know as well as I do that this is only one of a million examples of the World's increasingly open hatred for God, Christ and His Church.  Those who say the problem is that Christians don't vote the way I do, one way or another, are worthless in confronting this development.  

Because even if we did everything the modern World wanted - bring back race based hatred, dabble with broadening the mass extermination of undesirables, porn sex younger and younger children, embrace Marxism outright and end national identities and tear down principles of equality, freedom, forgiveness, and religious liberty (or fully embrace a Free Market for that matter) - the World simply would find other reasons to continue the hatred of Christ while openly embracing the rulers of darkness of this world.  Because we know from our Bible studies, that's what the World does.  And I'm sure I don't know how much more the modern world could do to make that clear.  

Those who don't follow the ways of the World are about one of four.  If the Parable of the Sower has anything to say about statistics.  And if we work to remain in that group and avoid making excuses for the World by changing the Gospel to conform to the World, we can take heart.  Because John continues:

“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16.31-33

Maranatha 

*Brief Note: I mentioned to one of my sons that I was posting this.  He said there is a possibility that critics have reviewed the series, but RT has chosen not to link to them.  I suppose.  But that seems almost more purposefully corrupt.  It's easier, and perhaps more charitable, to assume they are simply blinded by their own biases - biases which today are clear as day - than that there is some purposeful conspiracy to suppress those critics.  Plus, I searched myself for reviews and have only seen a couple beyond some religious outlets and publications.  So I'm going with a notable lack of reviews from critics as the reason.  It seems, kinder.  

Rudolf Bultmann, Pope Francis and a little story

Why?  That is the million dollar question

When I was in seminary back in the 1990s, one of my professors told a story about a theology student from way back in the day that I took, put in the back of my memory, and largely forgot about.  Until I saw someone defending Pope Francis as nothing less than 100% in line with historical Catholic teaching in light of the whole synod going on.  

According to my professor, the student was studying in Germany over Easter one year.  That year, word came to him that none other than Rudolf Bultmann would be delivering the Easter sermon at a local church.  The student thought, in his best Grinchy way, that this was something he simply must hear.  So he made sure to be there and see what would surely be a wacked out, far out Easter message.  

That's because Bultmann, of course, was one of the most popular advocates of de-mythologizing the New Testament.  What's that mean?  It means stop taking the New Testament, or the Bible in general, seriously.  At least literally.  At least historically.  In a world of planes, trains and automobiles, computers, air-conditioning and television, there simply is no more room for talking donkeys and people walking about on water or raising from the dead. It's time to admit the Bible for what it is: myth (in the 'didn't really happen' sense). 

Of course this was before the rise of the liberation movements and the growing scrutiny of the Bible as a cultural relic of bigotry, sexism, homophobic and transphobic prejudice, barbarism and savagery.  It was just saying we need to look at the Jesus story the same way we see Apollo or Thor or Luke Skywalker.  None of it was real, none of it happened.  Or at least as much as you feel uncomfortable clinging to.  You certainly could believe, but you didn't have to.  Bultmann was on record as saying that belief in an actual physical Resurrection was entirely unnecessary for Christian faith. 

That's why an Easter sermon from him had to be worth the ticket.  So the student went.   And there was Dr. Bultmann. And then came the sermon.  And the student was stunned.  

Why was he stunned?  Because he heard that morning an Easter sermon that wouldn't shame Billy Graham.  It was all there:  the nail pierced hands, the arms stretched out on the cross in love for mankind, the spear in the side, the dead rising, the earthquake, the empty tomb, the risen Lord.  All of it.  He said Bultmann even did the famous trick of holding out his own arms when he described Christ's arms on the cross spread out for our salvation.  And this was the great de-mythologizer!  

So what's my point kiddies?  My point is, just because someone prattles on with orthodox Christian language doesn't mean they believe it.  And I typically assume those who say you don't have to believe it don't believe it.  While I understand that the Gospel, including teachings such as the Resurrection, are matters of faith, I also know the Church didn't evangelize the world by approaching the pagans with a 'take or leave it' attitude.  Most movements and causes don't accomplish much if that is their approach. 

I admit that I have no clue how much of the Bible, the Gospel or Christ Bultmann didn't actually believe in, beyond them being myths and tales and little white lies.  I know he didn't seem to care how much anyone did believe.  If you thought they were nothing but ancient folklore from a bygone, pre-industrial age, no problem.  I also know he was heavily influential among those - Protestants at least - who followed his lead and began rejecting anything and everything from the Bible as fables and nothing more (think The Jesus Seminar).  It was a great way to reject pretty much anything of the Faith you choose, once you no longer believe it was real. 

But when called upon to give an Easter morning sermon in a German church, you'd never have known a bit of it.  No Baptist preacher in a tent revival was ever more serious, or literal, about the crucified and risen Christ as Bultmann was that Sunday morning. 

And so?   And so, just because we see people running about saying Jesus this and Resurrection that or Risen Lord here or Savior Jesus or Heaven and Hell there doesn't mean in the depths of their minds they believe it actually happened, or that anything from the Gospel or the historical Faith has any real basis in fact or reality.  To them, it might be like gleaning inspiration from a few Harry Potter tales, but not really believing you can go to London and get a train to Hogwarts.  

It should be mentioned that Bultmann, to his credit, was open about his views.  How many, I wonder, aren't.  As we see so many leaders buckle and throw values, doctrines, teachings, customs, rituals, social norms and common sense out the window under the slightest pinky-pushback, it makes you wonder. 

 After all, even the most cynical non-believer can catch the warmth and fuzziness in the distilled Jesus story even if you think it was all fake.  I know as an agnostic I did.  But that warm and fuzzy comes to a screeching halt if someone puts a gun to your head, or even threatens to compromise your middle class living, if you don't think in your gut of guts it ever happened.   After all, will I go to the mattresses over freedom?  I'd like to think.  Will I go to the mattresses over the story about Washington cutting down a cherry tree?  Nope. 

The German church in the 1930s often catches flak for having sold out to the Nazis.  That so many German Lutheran leaders happily draped the Swastika over the altar, and Germans in those churches gladly goose-stepped down the naves, has been endlessly condemned since I can remember.  But consider.  Bultmann was hardly alone, and by the 20th Century, Germany was leading the charge in endless new philosophies and theories for the secular world.  Was a time that if you wanted a PhD in philosophy, you had to know German.  

Therefore, it shouldn't be shocking that many of those people and leaders in that Church, as much as anywhere, had accepted a secular take on religion: As something invented by ancient man, embellished, and changed accordingly depending on the latest, hippest.  Not that the Scriptures were worthless, they simply weren't true.  At least in terms of reality and history.  Therefore, anything within the pages could be suspect, or discarded when no longer up to the latest modern perfection that progress always yields.  

That's why theologians point out that, though he would appear a theological liberal to us Americans, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in the context of the German church in the 1930s, was practically a fundamentalist.  But so many weren't, and had accepted the idea that a 'God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross' (official Niebuhr quote).  

So when the Nazis rose to power, do you think they were going to take a bullet for the cause?  Do you think people who learned that Jesus was as much a myth as Odin or Robin Goodfellow were going to stand up to the Nazis because of their faith in Christ, even though their faith was on nothing other than good thinking? Heck no!

Does that mean everyone we see throwing over old Christian values and teachings and priorities, tossing aside the exclusivity of the Gospel, warming up to forces once consider antithetical to God's revelation, are all people who no longer believe the Gospel story historically happened?  No.  I'm sure more than once a favorite believing disciple denied Jesus when the heat was on.

Nonetheless, I also bet that there's more cynicism about the historical Faith than we might know, or care to know, even among many leaders today, no matter what they say.  These are people who didn't sweat their doubts, because for many generations in America and the West you could still be a good Christian on Sunday and play with a secular world through the rest of the week.  After all, that hipster non-Christian world was honor bound to live according to its lofty post-war promises of tolerance, diversity, kindness, openness, inclusion and respect for all different beliefs and opinions and expressions. 

Now, as we witness the emergence of this post-diversity revolution and its diminishing tolerance for those who won't bend a knee to the new progressive movement, expect more and more to drape over the altars whatever flags the new way demands. And no matter how evil - up to, and including, mutilating the bodies of adolescents in the name of post-genderism - you can bet the best we'll get from many is a good old Rodney Dangerfield collar tug.  At worst, they will actively promote the evil and join in.  After all, if the thing you see before your eyes demands conformity, do you think you'll say no in the name of something you no longer believe?

I can't believe it. I'm ignoring the mutilation of adolescents

The most shocking thing I have read in many months

 A new Gallup Poll (take it for what it's worth) has found that: 

"Seventy-four percent of Americans said they believe in God, while 69 percent said they believe in angels and 67 percent said they believe in heaven, the poll found. Slightly smaller shares — 59 percent and 58 percent — said they believe in hell and the devil."

That stunned me.  Today, 2023, and 58% of Americans believe in the Devil?  They don't say what they believe about the Devil, but at least they believe something about the Devil. 

By now we should look back and realize that we've been a secularized country for generations.  And that secular movement has relentlessly, and at times ruthlessly, proselytized religious believers for decades.  Armed with convenient interpretations of the Bill of Rights and a sympathetic education industry, pop culture and media, their browbeating of historical religious faith has been unrelenting.  And that includes openly mocking people of traditional beliefs with impunity, often through those same media and cultural outlets.  More than one professor I had in college in the 1980s was happy to openly ridicule religion, especially traditional religious beliefs, especially Christianity.

But through it all, 58% still believe in the Devil?  I'm reminded of this:

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.  1 Kings 19.18

Of course believing in the Devil and acting like you believe in the Devil are two different things.  Other polls have found a lack of traditional Christian beliefs among the faithful, including the majority of Catholics not believing in the Real Presence.  This doesn't count the growing number of Christians (Devil believers apparently) who openly embrace what the Faith has historically believed is 'of the Devil.'  

So it's not all peaches and cream.  The point of the article is that these beliefs, such as belief in the Devil and Hell, are declining.  I'm just shocked they haven't declined far more than they have.  So there is hope.  

Out secular society has been hitting us with everything it can for decades, all while telling us to step aside and let it do so.  On the whole, much of our leadership has been willing to let the World have its way in this regard.  Yet 58% still believe in the Devil.  Someone within the halls of the Faith is doing something right.  Insert 'chef's kiss' here:

Give the Orthodox Church credit

Like all faith traditions today, secularism has besieged the Orthodox, and increasingly the younger Orthodox are ready to chuck the olden Faith and embrace the modern secular paganism, especially where south of the waistline issues are concerned.  Inadvertently, the Orthodox also aid that by insisting they never jump into politics, but then diving headfirst into things like BLM if they can make the West look bad.  America looking bad being a bonus point.  Remember, the Left can always bet on 1/3 of its opponents to join the Left at any point in a revolution.  BTW, one of my beefs with the Orthodox was their almost pathological resentment, if not hatred, for anything west of the Danube. 

With that said, many older Orthodox are fighting the good fight, and doing so much more openly than we're seeing in the West, and especially in the United States:

That comes from being in a tradition where some of your colleagues can still show their scars from being tortured during the days of the Soviet Union.  

Fact is, most of us in the US, including our leaders, never imagined we'd face actual persecution for resisting the emergent secular society.  Lulled by eternal chanting of never ending tolerance and respect for diversity, we imagined whatever grave evils they indulged in, they would leave us alone.  

It doesn't help that those who long ago sold themselves to this new tyranny have said, without saying it, that anything less than shaved heads, striped pajamas, and two steps from a gas chamber doesn't count as persecution.  For dissenters of course.  Designated minority groups, when in line with the latest progressive dogma, can declare themselves the most persecuted people in history if a conservative says they're wrong.  And suddenly those same leftwing believers will weep and lament and declare their plight the worst in history.  

So it's a bit of a one-two punch.  Suddenly we are faced with a movement with increasing power to persecute any who dissent, mixed with those who betrayed righteousness and our posterity by making it clear that no matter your suffering, they will support it. 

Because of that, I think we're seeing a great many leaders invoke the sacred ostrich when it comes to the evils we're seeing.  See no evil, hear no evil, run like a baby from the evil, head in the sand at all times. 

Again, this isn't to say all Orthodox are resisting, or even all Orthodox leaders.  The Orthodox have a long, proud history of throwing their sheep into the wolves' den to save their skin.  But among those who are resisting, they are far more prepared to speak openly, directly, and truthfully while addressing the egregious evils of our day. 

Good for them

The James P. Joyce Library, where I spent many long hours

The Southern Baptist Convention, my old stomping grounds, has voted to expel two churches that went ahead and hired women pastors. 

OK, here's the thing. I'm Catholic, so the last thing Catholics can do is complain about this.  Orthodox as well.  In fact, most traditional Christian traditions (and other faiths in general) still draw distinct lines between various clerical roles and the sexes.  Still believing, at least on paper, that gender differences mean something.  Most reject the modern notion that there is no difference between men and women, except for when there clearly are differences or when gender doesn't even exist - depending on the ideological needs at the moment. 

Why the SBC was a lighting rod for what was common elsewhere likely had to do with its rather open and zealous fight against liberal incursions through the 70s and 80s and into the 90s.  Contrary to media stereotypes, all evangelicals are not alike.  Nor were Southern Baptists.  In any church I attended, you could bet the stats would be about the same as most polls indicate.  That is, about 1/3 of those in the church would be democrats.  Not necessarily liberal.  But prepared to defend the Blue as much as conservatives would defend the Red.  Republicans and vague independents made up the rest.  

That included the emerging liberation theologies and liberalizing of the Faith that hit high speed in the 20th Century.  When I came to seminary in 1993, we had plenty of left to far left professors - most Southern Baptist by identity.  Many would eventually leave, or join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (essentially Southern Baptist for liberals).  They tended to hold liberal views on everything from the historicity of the Christian faith to a variety of issues, such as abortion, homosexuality, socialism, ecumenism, feminism, racism and the positive or negative assessment of the greater impact of the Christian West.  That included the positive or negative assessment of the United States.  Hence there were plenty of fireworks within the denomination for the national press to investigate and take sides. 

Things came to a head when Dr. Al Mohler came on board as president. A young Calvinist sprout in his early 30s, he set about with the winnowing fork, separating the conservative wheat from the liberal chaff.  He often went too far, IMHO.  And sometimes those conservatives who bemoaned just how intolerant and unfair liberal administrations were to conservatives, had no problem turning on a dime and doing the same thing to the liberals of the day.  A big lesson I learned about consistent ethics.  If you say something is wrong when you don't have power, then don't do it when you do have power. 

In any event, while this was happening, it seemed the SBC was in every news story out there.  Each year something happened, the SBC met, and the news media pounced.  I recall in the late 1990s when the SBC said it would put a special initiative on reaching out and evangelizing the Jewish community.  Whew.  Hard to believe people that late still thought Jewish individuals had need of Jesus. Talk about your media firestorms.  But that was par for the course in those days.  As it still appears to be. 

FWIW, one of the churches in question is Rick Warren's famous Saddleback Church.  I have a soft spot for Rev. Warren.  It was his book The Purpose Driven Church (published before The Purpose Driven Life) that helped me become Catholic.  It was not the only reason of course.  And it wasn't really the book itself.  It was the reaction among so many of my colleagues.

Again, during the 80s and 90s the 'Battle for the Bible' was in full swing.  The conservative coalition to stop the madness of the Left was digging in. There were a variety of issues that became non-negotiables.  Issues that we were told to die on the hill to resist.  For Sothern Baptists, this included some theological issues as well.  For instance, against my preferences, various state conventions began insisting that anyone joining our church must be baptized again, no matter how they were baptized before.  I fought that losing battle for years.  But it was one of many battles the denomination was prepared to wage.

Until The Purpose Driven Church.  Rick Warren came out of nowhere with a megachurch that defied even Willow Creek standards.  And he wrote this 'how to book' for all church leaders to know how to do it, too.  It was simple.  Follow a set of basic strategies and procedures that smelled and awful lot like what you would do if you worked on Wall Street or Madison Avenue.  Theology was irrelevant.  Liturgy was irrelevant.  Doctrine was irrelevant.  You follow these steps and you, too, can have a storefront church that ends up with thousands of people hanging out of the windows.  What your actual church is doesn't matter. 

Almost overnight, I saw my colleagues immediately begin shifting their focuses.  Suddenly baptism or church liturgy or even some social issues had a place in the discussion, but do we really need to make those the deal breakers? Come on.  We have the blueprint for the next megachurch after all.  That was when I told a ministry conference I spoke at that too many of us judged a pastor by the size of his gymnasium, and that needed to stop.

Needless to say, my opinion and four bucks will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  The same then as now.  Nonetheless, it's nice to see that the SBC, amidst withering attacks by the press, the World, and former luminaries like Russ and Beth Moore (no relations), decided to take a stand.  You might disagree with how they did it (though be careful of your own traditions here).  But you have to admit, religious leaders and institutions with the moxie to withstand the worldly juggernaut are in short supply today. I say applause is in order, no matter my thoughts about the details. 

When Bishop Barron takes off the gloves

You know you're dealing with grave evil.  Bishop Barron isn't exactly known for his Terminator approach to adversaries of the Faith.  He's long tried the Neville Chamberlain approach and, as can be expected, usually ticks off everyone on all sides as a result.   

So for him to come out and explicitly say this is an anti-Catholic hate group, and call their behavior offensive, is like watching Pollyanna grab a combat assault rifle and plunge into the fray.  Which is good. 

I've said that this thing we call the Left - perhaps Marxist Communist would be appropriate at this time - is almost every day revealing itself to be more and more nakedly evil.  Now, as the rhetoric changes from 'it's a lie, nobody will ever surgically alter a minor's body' to 'it's a lie, nobody will ever alter a child's body', and we watch so many who brainlessly follow along, the line between good and evil is becoming thick and obvious. 

There will come a time when excuses are no longer acceptable.  To support the evil is to be the evil.  I just fear that those who support the evil will be prepared to do evil to defend their allegiance.  That's when it will get ugly. 

But as for this particular moral stench, it shouldn't surprise students of the Christian Faith.  After all, the hatred of the Church is rooted in the hatred of Christ.  And it isn't as if Christ didn't see it coming. 

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you."  John 15.18

Busy time

This week, and likely next week, will be busy, busy, busy.  Our youngest fell a bit behind in homsechool owing to all the big events this last spring.  We must focus on that right now.  

I'm heartened to see several Christian movements are trying to put a positive Christ focus on the month of Pride.  A month dedicated to what most ancients understood to be a toxic trait is about as symbolic of our modern society as one can imagine.  Nonetheless, offering positive alternatives isn't a bad thing.  Keeping focused, faithful and fearless will be the name of the game.

On a quick aside, some years go when discussing things with the family, we began to talk about 'our half of the year.'  A couple years later, I posted on it, before the rise of the Covid era crazy.  Now we've honed it a bit, with June 25th (6 months before Christmas) becoming the official turning point.  Our third oldest's birthday is right after, and that's when we plunge into the festivities. 

Yes, I get that the Left will continue to attack, chisel away, and generally try to upend anything from beginning to the end of the year.  I also get that we have plenty of great celebrations and traditions in the first half of the year.  

But the template remains, and has become more entrenched in our minds over the last couple years.  Just food for thought as we enter day one of June.  It's getting crazy out there, but if we remain grounded and build our houses on the Rock, we will endure.  Food for thought until I get back to things.

The choice is ours

Heading into Easter

A little post from back in the day, showcasing our annual viewing around this time.  We won't get anywhere near watching all of these now, with busyness and our second oldest ready to move on.  Fact is, the very weekend of his wedding, our oldest is graduating from college.  Also our youngest was supposed to be confirmed that weekend, but he will be going through another church a week before.  Plus our third is passing his year long training stint for his promotion at work.  Did I say May and this time in general would be busy?   

Anyhoo, that was our viewing for many a year, and this year we'll see some of it.  We already watched The Ten Commandments on a big screen and projector the family bought me for Christmas a year ago.  One of the perks of those old 'great rooms' that were all the rage some years ago.  We can fit a mighty big screen that's as close as you'll get to theaters without being there.  I must admit, seeing it up close and giant was a new way of enjoying the spectacle.  

Blogging will go back to being light as we head into Easter.  I came out of semi-retirement because of the Nashville shooting and the clear corner we turned as a nation.  Christians were killed because of the relevant church's adherence to historical Christianity - and we darn well know that plays into it.  Yet the Left made it clear we would not go there and, for the most part, our nation didn't.  No nationwide Christian prayer vigils.  No protests.  No Christian leaders decrying the horrible post-shooting vitriol from the transgender community.  The US Catholic Bishops have been silent.  Few if any even mentioned a thought or prayer, and nobody looked glaringly at the movement increasingly comfortable saying anyone who believes in boys and girls must go.  Again, because the Left is now Caesar, and as far as most Americans are concerned - including a large swath of believers and their leadership - what Caesar says, Caesar gets .

Pondering the implications of living in a hostile empire in light of Easter this year will certainly cast a new light on things.  We are no longer an anti-Christian nation.  We are a zealously pro-secular pagan nation.  There is a new god in town, and a new Caesar who rules.  Neither will tolerate disobedience and, more to the point, in most cases neither will receive any.  Nashville showed that in flying colors. 

Those few, those remnant few, who keep to the historical Faith increasingly will be targeted.  Nashville was merely a mile marker.  One more that historians will look back at and study when the inevitable question of 'what went wrong' is pondered.  

Nonetheless, all the viewing (Charlie Brown excepted) above reminds us of a time when even our entertainment industry conveyed the message of our faith in troubled times.  So let us hold firm and rejoice.  Even if the bulk of our leaders flinch and cower, we can look past them to the God we serve. Our nation says now that there is no God, and our faith is myth at best, evil at worst.  At some point, dust off the heels is an appropriate reaction. 

It won't be easy in the coming years.  But as one of my sons said, if we just take an honest look at the track record of our post-Christian nation and civilization, that alone should be enough to instill a solid faith in God's revelation that they so openly reject.  

BTW, bonus quote from one of my sons while discussing the state of things: "For moderns, perseverance is the only solution to failure." I liked that.  Because it's true.  It took the most educated generation in history to refuse to admit failure  no matter what the body count.  The problem is, so few leaders with access to the national stage will call it for what it is.  

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

In these changing times

The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; men were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory. The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

Revelation 16.8-11

No, I’m not saying global warming is fulfilling Scripture!  Or if you arrange the clues, it proves that political party over there is the Beast!  That’s not the value of Revelation.  As I said here, Revelation was written as Rome was beginning to look toward persecuting Christians as a matter of course.  It was long removed from the days when St. Paul could appeal to Rome to avoid persecution by the Jewish community.  Jewish Christians had long been banished from their communities for following Jesus by the time of Revelation.  Now Rome was emerging as every bit the threat.  

Plus, Rome had been going through some pretty tumultuous times in general.   Then you had the destruction of Jerusalem that some believers thought would usher in the Last Judgement, but didn’t.  Shaky faith, persecution, societal upheaval.  The message of Revelation, no matter how you parse the horns and frogs, is persevere.  Hold on to the Gospel of Christ.  Do not give in, do not surrender, do not receive the mark, stay firm even if everyone around us is receiving the mark and cursing God and you. 

A great many today are abandoning the Faith one way or another.  They’re trying to jettison the world the Church helped build, and change the Church to justify doing so.  They’re watering down the Gospel.  They are throwing down teachings and truths that even common sense, much less divine revelation, declares indisputable.   And those are the ones still going to church each Sunday.  Outside of those a vast number is abandoning the Faith altogether, renouncing the Gospel and God, and joining the prophet and his minions. 

That’s the setting for the call to hold firm.  Not because there is some wonderful rapture that will bail us out of the tough times.  If that were the case, there would be no need to hold firm.  Instead, the message is that no matter how bad it gets – and the cyclical revelations in the book show things get worse, and worse and worse – we must hold firm and that’s that. 

The thing proclaimed in so many churches today bears little resemblance to almost any version of Christianity taught before the 20^th Century.  But there is a remnant, a faithful remnant, and that is as much the target audience of Revelation as anything.  Not that those abandoning the faith or allying with Caesar aren’t invited to repent.  See above.  The statements ‘they did not repent’ are stated with a sense of sadness.  With everything collapsing we could repent and run to God.  Yet so many won’t.  

But those of us who do?  Be inspired and be comforted.  God will not abandon the faithful no matter how many abandon God.  And the increasingly common idea that it won’t matter what we do to God, because God is honor bound to reward us with eternal paradise?  That’s just a backhanded way of cursing and mocking God.

Just some thoughts as we head into Holy Week increasingly aware of our surroundings. 

The fifth bowl

The time to choose is fast arriving

To side with the Lamb of God or the Beast of the Pit

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed.

And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.

It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.

He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

Revelation 13.1-18

Don't worry, I'm not going all premillennial dispensationalism on you.  I took classes and seminars on the textual development of the Greek New Testament.  It's one of those little majors I spend little time harping on here at the blog.  But it is an interest of mine.

Now I'm not looking for helicopters and The Beatles by reading between the lines of Revelation.  But it was written and included in Sacred Scripture for a reason.  Long reason and short, the church was by its writing routinely being targeted by the Roman Empire.  Many believed a faith that hadn't delivered in the 'eternal life' promise wasn't worth dying for, and jumping ship wasn't unheard of.  

Using the imagery of apocryphal literature, John weaves a wild phantasmagoric ride through a very symbolic end of times, but with the same consistent messaging:  keep hope.  It will get worse before it gets better.  But stay close to God.  Many won't.   Many will curse God rather than repent, while others will abandon God.  But don't let that be you.  No matter how many join Baal, Moloch or Ashtoreth, including apostacy, stay with the new covenant.  

As we watch our society and our world lurch down the next step of the ladder, it's worth brushing the dust off this last book of the Scriptures and pondering that message. It's not going to be easy, but it is as simple as that. 

Actually it's a stupid point Mr. Annett

 So:

The fact is, what Stein said had nothing to do with Annett's point.  Stein is trying to deconstruct the positive influence of the Gospel, as well as using the sins of Christians to dismiss the historical contributions of the Christian Faith. Contributions that were still taught as late as the 1980s when I attended a state university and learned from decidedly not-Christian professors.  That Christians may have raped teddy bears is irrelevant to the role that the Christian Gospel had in revolutionizing the world's attitude about a host of issues, including the worth of the poor, the meek and the sanctity of human life.  Mr. Annett should have reiterated that valid point. 

Instead, Mr. Annett reminds me of the type of person I don't want by my side if I have to charge into battle.  Children of the Christian West have made acquiescence, surrender, compromise, and cowering before opposition our generational trademark.  We have focused so much on the sins of our ancestors, we'd rather let Moloch eat our children than take the chance on being as horrible as those reprehensible old timers in their defense.  We see that in the tens of millions of aborted pregnancies.  We see it in the staggering suicide, homicide and drug overdose rates among our youth.  We see it as our society goes from 'nobody will ever change a minor's body' to proudly declaring the goal of changing our children's bodies - consequences be damned - and parents can head to the cornfield if they don't like it.  

All of these developments are the result of those like Mr. Annett who, when met with a clear attack on the unique heritage of our Faith and the positives of its inheritance, is happy to charge forth with white flag waving.  I don't know if it's cowardice or a lack of belief.  I just know there comes a time when what we call virtue is merely cowardice with a Jesus mask.  

I don't know this Jesus of whom you speak

So suggests Chris Pratt.  Ah, Mr. Pratt, we hardly knew ye.  

Mr. Pratt exploded on the world stage in the wake of three unlikely mega-hits: The Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Jurassic World.  He had been that big, frumpy, floppy, simple-Simon fellow on the television show Parks and Recreation.  Then he met Anna Faris who whipped him into shape - literally.  In The Lego Movie we didn't see the difference.  It was his voice still being that guy from Parks and Recreation.  But when he appeared in Guardians, muscles and ripped abs and everything, he swept millions of female fans off their feet, and impressed many male fans along the way.

With a self deprecating humor, he wore his religion on his sleeve, spoke openly of his Christian faith, defended conservative views, and came off like everyone's next door dad, husband and good old friend.  His and Anna's open and gentle care of their special needs child endeared him even more to the masses, especially those within the Faith.  

Over time, his antics did grate on the nerves.  His insistence on conveying religious values with the mentality of a Nickelodeon kid's show at times became embarrassing. After his wife left him (the speculated reasons are many, but most I've heard feel it was her inability to watch his career skyrocket while hers floundered (The Emoji Movie?)), he seemed to convey those values less and less.  

My sons, who are more in tune with the goings on in pop culture today, say that Mr. Pratt has been a target of the digital lynch mob for some time.  More than once his failure to appropriately bow before the 90 Foot Left caused him to dodge and parry against one assault after another. 

By the Trump years, Marvel, like Hollywood in general, completely immersed itself in the Left's neo-McCarthyism, while more and more Marvel actors came out to condemn Lenin and Stalin for failing to be leftwing enough.  In such an environment, it isn't hard to imagine how maintaining a traditional set of Christian values would be difficult at best. 

Nonetheless, like so many we've seen in the last couple decades, the pressure was obviously too much.  In a recent interview, he downplays his religious walk, condemns religion in general, and espouses variations on the famous' Religion sucks, but I have some vague sort of kind of thing about something faith you know.' 

It's not renouncing Jesus before the altar of Caesar as much as insisting you never heard of Jesus or Caesar in the first place.  A dodge meant to cover one's own rear.  No doubt it is due to mounting pressure from the always tolerant Left.  It might also be scraping together credibility as the beaming spotlight that once illumined him has begun to dim in the wake of one turkey bomb after another.  

In generations to come, the Church will need to revisit the topic of apostasy and prepare to receive those who may return to the flock.  A good point of reference would be John 21.15-19.  Even if it takes three times, Jesus is forever willing to forgive a denial to save one's stardom, and welcome them, like He welcomes all, back into the sheepfold through the narrow gate. 

Like a Bigfoot sighting

Is the news coverage of the Nigerian massacre on Pentecost.  I didn't even hear about it until a day later, and haven't been able to find out much information.  By today there were no stories at all.  It's horrific, and I have many friends from Nigeria I've met over the years.  In my ministry days, working with those through the International Missions Board, it was my blessed privilege to meet so many, and see what true joy in Christ really looks like.

It breaks my heart that this is their life, and has been for decades.  Again, you don't know it because the press ignores it.  So do most leftwing pundits.  We can't really blame the Islamic driven violence on European colonialism, or the US government, or GW Bush.  So it's small potatoes.  I know people can point to the WaPo, or Reuters, or CNN - all who have run some stories.  But can you in all seriousness say it compares to something like the coverage of the New Zealand mosque shootings?  I can't come close to mustering the level of denial to make that claim. 

Nonetheless, I know from those I've been blessed to befriend that their joy will continue apace.  Despite disease, hunger, persecution and death, they are among the most joyful and caring Christians I've ever known.  I still remember when my dear, late friend Joseph first met my dad.  My mom and dad were visiting us while in seminary.  I introduced Joseph to my dad, and he immediately rushed over and grabbed my dad and lifted him in a giant bear hug - just because.  Anyone who knew my dad gets the humor with that one. 

But prayers for these forgotten victims.  They serve no practical purpose to the media by covering their sorrows and suffering.  Pray for their loved ones.  Pray for the Church universal. And dear Lord, pray that we never slip down into the media's pitcher plant of demonic evil that measures charity and sympathy against a politically expedient yardstick. 

May the Lord protect faithful Catholics from the pope

By now many have heard the news that Pope Francis has fired yet another salvo at the Latin Mass.  I went to find defenders of Pope Francis trying to spin this, but haven't found any.  In fact, among those I often went to in order to hear 'the other side' regarding support for Pope Francis, I've seen little in recent weeks.  Most defenders seem to have dropped off after President Biden announced to the world that Pope Francis sees a rabid pro-abortion politician as a model of Catholic fealty. I guess that is hard to defend unless you're a post-Catholic modernist. 

Sometimes it's worth remembering that in the days surrounding that first Christmas, the religious leadership was likely no more inspiring than many see in Christian leadership today.  A very unpopular 'king' ruled over the land, but in clear obedience to the power of Rome.  Rome itself had recently seized control of the region and the people.  Things looked dour.  

Like today.  Many are abandoning the Faith because I fear the faithful sparred with the rising modern secularism from a point of naiveté.  They believed there was common ground, and assumed good will and the search for objective truth from anyone but the faithful.  That was clearly wrong.  While we spent generations trying to find ways to evangelize the World, including changing and modifying anything we could to keep up with the World, it was successfully evangelizing us. 

For those who have weathered the storm and strive to remain faithful to the historical, orthodox Catholic faith, future years will prove quite lonely.  As lonely as those disciples who followed Jesus between so many splinter groups who went this way and that in reaction to the spirit of the time in those days.  

Just as thought as I muse on the days surrounding that first Christmas, and the troubling times in which we find ourselves today. 

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed, who was with child.  Luke 2. 4-5

Sometimes I'm glad we went through years of hell to become Catholic

Then there are times like this.  As some of my former ordained colleagues are moving into retirement, ministers emeritus with a pension and healthcare and time to golf, I consider everything we lost and then see the Church drop another rabbit jelly bean under pressure from the World.

At what point will the fracture tear through the Church?  At what point will we see some form of schism between those who take the historical Catholic Faith seriously, and those who are prepared to throw it under the bus to cleave unto the Global Left, I can't say.

It won't be pretty.  Those Catholics selling out will know what they're doing, and those who know they are in the wrong but can't bring themselves to resist are often the most dangerous of the bunch. Think Rolf in The Sound of Music.  

Not that those who betray the Faith will need to go out of their way to cause problems.  The Left has demonstrated an almost pride in broadening the extermination of undesirables all while fomenting race hate, ethnic cleansing, and a desire to eliminate our rights and liberties.  Despite it all, how many continue to fall over themselves to maintain allegiance to this global revolution?  

My strong feeling is to hunker down in prayer, good works and the Sacraments.  Will come a time when something will happen.  Then we'll know.  But until then, drop anchor and pray, fast, and prepare.  

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.  Revelation 2.10

Pope Francis - Culture Warrior

Heh. Read it here.   The Church has spent the better part of the last few generations losing.  Protestants were ahead of the game and started their surrendering some generations earlier.  The defeats have been a string of battles large and small, but all adding up to one thing: Convincing people that the Gospel is false, therefore to be abandoned. 

'Happy Holidays' and 'Seasons Greetings' have been around for many moons. There was nothing wrong with them.  And people with advanced sensitivities no doubt dropped a generic greeting in mixed company, or if they were in the presence of someone who, for instance, is Jewish.   That was no problem and I doubt too many gave it much thought.

But somewhere, at some point, it started to be insisted upon.  And among the earliest mischief makers were Jewish activists who rode the 1970s wave in America's reassessment of itself.  Perhaps it happened at another time in Europe.  But here in the colonies, it was when I could remember that suddenly we were told to say the non-Christian version of the greeting.

This reached a zenith back when our wonderful corporate brothers got caught telling their employees to drop the J-Word or any overtly Christian terminology at this time of year. Keep secular in Christmas, or so were the directives.  That was when FOX branded it the 'War on Christmas.'  An over the top phrase to be sure.  And false.  It wasn't just a war on Christmas, but on Christ and His Church, as it ultimately always is. 

But these are not small things.  Forcing people to speak words is a classic way of control.  All societies have their taboos and polite language that excludes certain words or phrases.  But forcing people to say things they disagree with, especially when they are true, is a good indicator that something seriously wrong is happening. 

Those who poo-poo such worries (I'm looking at you Russ Moore) are often found to be people who are giving up the fight.  Compromise, surrender, giving up - whatever.  We've seen many who, decades ago, laughed at worrying about such trivial things jump ship or in some way or another find ways to suck up to this new world order.  That is, they shouldn't have been trusted.

In this case, I agree with Pope Francis.  It's a sign of dictatorships to control people on this level.  It's not a laughing matter.  Remember, we're looking at the state of things today for a reason.  It wasn't some sudden massive attack on our civilization.  It was the death of a thousand cuts.  And this little gem, this 'War on Christmas', was merely one of those thousands too many ignored or downplayed when we could have stood up for the cause. 

Congress shall make no law

Liberals and Democrats approve this practice

Blocking the veneration of pagan religions by brutally crushing the right to practice the Christian religion thereof.  I'm no Constitutional Lawyer, but that's the First Amendment if I'm remembering correctly.  Or at least the First Amendment as currently understood. 

Not that we should care.  Per a CBS report from all the way back in 2018, well over 40% of Americans think it's time to ditch the old Constitution anyway.  That fits with a recent survey that found 48% now support the government stepping in and working with Tech Barons to censor free speech misinformation. And since we know only conservatives haven't read the Constitution, you can bet those surveyed have done their homework.  

I guess that's why a school would ask its students to chant to the glorious gods of the Aztecs.  The same reason we've seen stories about schools taking their kids to hear the Dalai Lama, or teach the kiddos the Five Pillars of Islam.  Or do Yoga.  Or basically any darn religious/spiritual/cultic lesson or exercise as long as it's not that vile Christianity thing that is the only religion the First Amendment apparently spoke to. 

As an aside, this story about the school puts me in mind of my son's cultural anthropology class that I've mentioned a few times.  You know, the one where the class broke out into a thoughtful debate about the human sacrifice of the Aztecs.  You know, where they concluded apart from the silly religion gibberish, the need to cull the human herds in light of Global Warming demands we could do worse than looking to the Aztecs and other cases of human sacrifice for inspiration. 

Thus is our world. We're being taught to be the Nazis redux, with a peppering of Communism for taste and effect.  Race hate?  Sure, as long as you hate the right race.  Erasing history?  You bet, as long as it's the history of those unforgivable reprobates from the West.  Judging others?  Sure, just judge the right sinners for the right sins. Banning books and censoring speech?  Alrighty then, just make sure it's the really bad stuff.  Ethnic discrimination?  That works, as long as you are doing it to the right ethnic groups.  Presumption of innocence, equality, burden of proof, redemption, forgiveness?  The Leftist cares not for these things.

But the Leftist controls the institutions of our culture, so the Leftist gets its overthrow of life, liberty and democracy.  Truly we are the worst generation. 

Fun bonus: Snopes "fact checks" this story and gives it a mostly false.  Why?  Because apparently the school has the students chant based on the meaning of the gods' names, rather than the gods.  You see, because the students are chanting in the name of the Aztec concepts that the gods represent rather than the gods, it's OK.  Fact checkers; the Snake Oil Saleswomen of the modern age.  Since apparently the name of a god meaning something must mean you're not speaking about that god?  Again, to be the Left is to be filled with pride, slander, BS, and denial. 

Life in the American Soviet

 Or the USSA as we like to call it:

Yep.  The messaging is picking up steam: those who fail to bow before the Leftist State should be shunned and ostracized accordingly.  Reeducation camps to follow presently.  This is merely the latest in a long line of 'shun them now' announcements. See the difference in response between the BLM riots and the January 6th riot to see just how this attitude is filtering into the halls of our government.  Death, destruction and violence are fine - when done to glorify the Left.  Those that put a toe over the line to the Right?  Hunt them down now. 

How do you get the freest, most prosperous and one of the most charitable societies in human history to sell it all for tyranny, oppression, want and misery?  Easy:

Turn one generation after another into a bunch of drugged up, sexed up nihilists.  Who cares?  F-you. Get high, get laid, and abort 65 million pregnancies to keep it going since life sucks unless I say otherwise. 

Well done American Christianity for taking no stand.  I have no doubt that in ancient Rome you'd lead the charge to lay wreaths at Caesar's feet, that is if you could pull yourself away from helping feed dissidents to the lions.  

Though the positive is that I think we're about to see just who still believes the Christian Faith, and the ones who have only been going along with things they no longer believe because it's what you do on a Sunday.  Nothing will separate the wheat from the chaff like the winnowing fork of persecution.  May I stand firm along with my loved ones in the face of the coming storm.  

Listening to Dick Durban assure us of our religious liberty

 Made me think of this scene from The Shining (Language Warning):

Yep. By now only leftists, liars and lunatics don't know what it means when a liberal says they're for freedom, they're only against evil.   This little duplicity is rightly condemned by anyone who hasn't sold mind, heart, body and soul to the ninety foot idol of the Leftist State. 

The time for a middle ground is over, but it might be past even that.  The Left holds the orb, the scepter and the crown.  It has the press, education, entertainment and now Wall Street.  Given the treatment Tucker Carlson received from the military for calling out their progressive policies, and given that both the military and law enforcement threw their support behind BLM, it's likely those holdouts are soon to go.

Religion?  The sad history of religion is that, as far back as the Old Testament, you can always count on the faithful to bow before Moloch.  The Bible itself is, after all, a minority witness.  In most cases, the Word of God speaks through those rare individuals or groups who remain faithful to the Covenants even as the majority betrays them. 

So those who cling to historical orthodoxy?  Those who cling to the values and teachings of the historical Christian revelation, and cherish the long testimony of those who came before?  Where will they be?  Hard to say.  How will they manage after centuries of Christianity being, for want of a better phrase, the 'easy way out'?  Indeed, how many will be those who remain faithful in the face of the coming storm?  

We'll see.  But it's odd if you think on it.  In recent generations it's been fashionable to quote Jesus almost exclusively as if there is no other source of teaching in the New Testament. When it comes to love and tolerance and diversity and inclusion, it was that one lost sheep and eating with the sinners all day.  If you ever notice, however, that when the subject of 'how many will be saved' unwisely enters the debate, it's almost as if we never heard of Jesus.  Then it's the letters, it's Paul, or it's a few select scenes from the Revelation of John. 

That's because, if you get right down to it, Jesus' appraisal of the crowds in the end times is a rather dour one.  More often than not it's many are called, but few are chosen.  Or it's many will say, "Lord, Lord", but Jesus will say never knew you.  Or narrow is the way that leads to life yet few are those who will find it.  'Few' seems big in the Jesus vocabulary when speaking to the faithful in the final judgment.  

I think of that as the Left begins mop-up operations in preparation for the final push to abolish the Christian West and the American Experiment, along with what Truths and values emerged through Christ's revelation.  We've already seen so many apostatize or jump ship or try desperately to compromise or throw other believers under the bus.  But when Christ does return, or when the tribulations come, will He find faith on Earth?  I'm sure He will.  The question will be, among how many will He find it.  Few, it would seem, if Christ's appraisal has anything to do with it. 

I just thought of that as I see what is happening.  It's not going to be easy, as we're seeing.  Much of the Church from top down and side to side is about finding ways to make an increasingly hostile revolution compatible with business as usual Christianity.  When we consider the somber appraisal of how many remain faithful and how many don't, and see how many are crumbling and acquiescing and surrendering now, it can hopefully motivate those who would remain faithful to hunker down and prepare for a long, cold night. 

Lucado blinks

Apparently Max Lucado, the popular Evangelical author and pastor, has dropped and given the Left twenty for being asked to speak at the Washington National Cathedral.  His unforgivable sin?  Failing to conform to the Left's dogmatic definitions of diversity when it comes to LGBTQ agendas.   That saddens me because when I first came into the Christian Faith, his book Six Hours One Friday helped me see Christ and the Gospel in ways our already secularized culture never allowed. 

Nonetheless, like so many church leaders in the public square who rely on accessibility to mass media and publishing, Lucado must find it tough to kick against the goads of tolerance as mandated by our leftist society.  He joins a growing list of church leaders and prominent figures from all Christian traditions - Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox - groveling for mercy and begging forgiveness for being hurtful and mean and hateful by teaching what God has revealed about human nature and human sexuality. 

I know it's difficult to put our fingers on just what is happening and why it's happening so quickly.   So many individuals we imagined were firm in the orthodox teachings of the historical Faith are caving like dead flies falling off a wall.  Why it's happening I can't say.  Do they just not believe it anymore?  Has doubt eroded their resolve?  Are they merely afraid of being marginalized by a brutally intolerant revolution?  

I don't know.  I just know almost every week I see a story where either a prominent Christian caves, buckles, compromises or outright rejects the Faith and walks away for good.  All I can guess is that something went horribly wrong in modern Christianity.  And by that, I mean Christianity over the last century or so.  I fear we are only beginning to see the smallest tip of the oncoming Great Apostasy iceberg.