Archives For Clint Archer

April 8, 2013

Why We Wait: What the Bible says about sex before marriage

by Clint Archer

When I was in college and a brand new believer, I was asked a question that caught me off guard: Where in the Bible does it say that Christians should wait until marriage to have sex?

It stumped me because a) I didn’t know my Bible at all, and b) even as an unbeliever I had taken for granted that Christians did not sleep together before marriage. I had never thought anyone would challenge that assumption. I was wrong.

I was asked the question again the other day, and decided to put an answer on the blog for others to use. Here’s my condensed offering…wait

In his letter to the Thessalonian Christians Paul reveals God’s will on the issue of sex before marriage to “you in the Lord” I.e. Christians. It is important to realize that this is not limited to a particular culture of time period, because Paul says this is what he received from God who inspired the writing of Scripture (as in 2 Tim 3:16-17 explains), on “how you aought to walk and to please God (1 Thess 4:1)”

If you don’t live this way you are living like the people “who do not know God” (vs 5) i.e. unbelievers. So, if a person lives this way, he should not call himself a Christian.

Here’s the passage…

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in Shepherding with 1 Comment
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April 1, 2013

I See Dead People: Must Christians Believe in the Dead Being Raised?

by Clint Archer

In 2005 a Russian man made the news with his claims of being able to bring dead people back to life. This was no Miracle Max resuscitation of the “mostly dead” nor a psychic sixth sense of channeling revenant spirits. His claims were audaciously clear: he could bring your deceased loved ones back to life, body and soul—for a price.miracle max

The fee of such sought-after services would limit his clientele to a select few who possessed an unfortunate composite of wealth, desperation, and gullibility.

One grieving widow paid 118,000 rubles (about $40,000 at the time) for Grabavoy to resurrect her two deceased boys. A cheaper package is the “prevention is better than cure” option, for which one man shelled out 40,000 rubles to heal his dying parents. In an unprecedented callousness this self-proclaimed necromancer marketed his services to the distraught parents of the 300 children who died in the Beslan school terrorist siege of 2004. Continue Reading…

in Apologetics with 5 Comments
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March 25, 2013

Vatican II Quotes that Divide

by Clint Archer

I like that the new Pope Francis has elected a popmobile without the bullet proof fish tank. Not because I’m looking forward to his successor, but because I think it’s a great statement of faith in God’s sovereignty: Catholic by theology, Calvinist by practice.

Since Steve’s radio interview about Cripplegate’s polemic posts (not that we’ve said anything fresher than what Luther said 500 years ago), I thought I’d bring back to our attention some quotes from Vatican II to remind us, basically, that “they started it.”

From October 1962 until December 1965, the Second Vatican Council was held to address the Catholic Church’s relationship to the Modern world (read: update God’s revelation to deal with the Pill, etc.)

The authority of the documents published by this council—known in Catholic shorthand as “Vatican II”—are considered to be on par with Scripture. This would have been an ideal time to rectify some of the issues Luther had with his mother church. But alas Vatican II made the Roman Catholic Church more Roman and less catholic (universal) than ever.

To help you decide if Protestantism is outmoded, pertinacious or passé, I offer a few lines from the horse’s own vocal chords for your consideration.

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in Evangelicalism with 28 Comments
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March 18, 2013

Is the Pope Catholic? (And other things not to say to Joe Catholic)

by Clint Archer

White smoke signal

You’ve got to admire Pope Benedict ex vee one for knowing how to quit while you’re ahead. As far as climbing the corporate ladder goes, getting the keys to the kingdom and the company Popemobile is a sign you’ve maxed out your promotability. And the responsibility of being infallible is a burden no octogenarian should have to bear for long. When you’re getting on in years, and noticing an increased frequency in “senior moments” you don’t want to have to invoke St Anthony to help locate either misplaced bunch of keys.Papal keys

As for the new kid on the block, weighing in at a spritely seventy-six years young (getting the white smoke green light two years sooner than his predecessor), Pope Francis ushers in a new era of pontificating. Personally, I think the name Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a cooler name than Francis (no offense pastor Chan), but having a 1 in your name certainly scores points for originality.

My concern whenever the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) perennially makes the news, is that Evangelicals get swept up in peripheral discussions with their Catholic counterparts in water cooler debates at work. Evangelicals assume that Joe Catholic at work knows and believes what the Pope teaches.

I grew up in a loving, fun, and staunchly Catholic home. When my Evangelical schoolmates lobbed half-baked assaults on my Mariology, purgatory, indulgences, and praying to St Christopher for a safe bus ride, they accomplished no more than convince me they were ignorant of my beliefs.

My Baptistic buddies learned, from their youth pastor no doubt, that Catholics believe in odd myths like the treasury of merit, that contraception was evil, and that Mary was born sinless and was assumed into heaven without ever tasting death. It was true that the Pope and other die-hards knew, understood, and believed in all those issues, but I could dismiss most of their attacks by honestly denying that I believed any of it. This muffled their clamorous conversion attempts, and left me just as Catholic in my own mind as I would be if I actually did subscribe to the official teachings of the RCC.

I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret a nun taught me in the 1st grade when I questioned transubstantiation (it turns out trace elements of Sola Scriptura were already stashed deep in my spiritual DNA from before the foundation of the world, according to Eph 1:4). Here it is… Continue Reading…

in Evangelism , , with 31 Comments
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March 11, 2013

Orphan Annie and You: Together for Adoption

by Clint Archer

“If you’re picturing a cute, feisty redhead Annie embracing a transformed Mr Warbucks, you’re at the wrong conference.” Or so we were forewarned by one of the speakers at the Together for Adoption Conference last week.Annie and Warbucks

No Free Samples

As I left for the flight to attend the “Together for Adoption” conference, one of my pre-school kids casually chirped, “Dad, you can bring home one if you like, just make sure it’s a boy.” I had to explain that this wasn’t going to be an auction or a convention with booths offering free samples; it was a conference of teaching on the topic. When I arrived at the (ironically opulent) venue— a plush church building—I thought for a moment that I had spoken too soon. Booths and exhibits were being set up, manned by representatives from various local orphan homes and foster care organizations. And the number of children seemed to outnumber the adults present. But it turned out that the kids were all accounted for, and the booths were distributing literature.

I wasn’t sure who would be sitting next to me in the pews, but I found a patchwork of theologians, pastors, the curious, the passionate, the prospective adoptive parents, and largely the veteran adoptive parents. These arrived like a U.N. peace-keeping force in a convoy of mini-vans, representing various nations that have been brought together for—and by— adoption.

Cheaper by the Half-Dozen

It was inspiring to see so may families who had “tested” the waters of adoption, then after tasting God’s grace for the challenge, and having reaped the blessings of the experience, they then dived in boots and all, adopting half a dozen orphans at a time. These couples joked about having to resist the temptation to say things like, “Oh, you’ve adopted one? How cute.” Or, “Yours are healthy and emotionally balanced? What an interesting a choice.” Continue Reading…

in Shepherding , , with 3 Comments
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March 4, 2013

Is Dad Making a Mistake as Big as a House?

by Clint Archer

Higuita's famous scorpion kickThe flamboyant Colombian national soccer team’s goalkeeper, René Higuita, was renowned for his on-field eccentricities, especially coming way out of his goals. He would dribble the ball as far as the center of the field at times, leaving his nervousdefenders to keep their goals without the benefit of a pair of hands. He is even credited with scoring 8 goals in 68 matches. Did I mention he’s the goalkeeper? His nickname was “El Loco”— the madman. The concern was that his flaunting of the conventions of his position would eventually lead to disaster.

Sure enough, in the 1990 World Cup final 16 game against Cameroon, Higuita was near the half-way line when an opposing striker stole the ball from him and took it all they way to score a winning goal in a keeperless net, costing Colombia their shot at the World Cup title. In a country that takes soccer seriously, and whose economy is sustained by caffeine and narcotics, you have a recipe for over the top reprisal. Players have literally been assassinated for their errors. Higuita described that moment as “a mistake as big as a house.” He never played a World Cup game again.

Christians are known for taking family seriously. But when the key players are misplaced out of their assigned position, does anyone do anything about it? I’m not suggesting assassination, but some sort of confrontation would certainly be appropriate.

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