Tuesday Watchdog: Pastor Calls Native Ceremonies “Idol Worship”

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A major Associated Press report published Monday examines the escalating dispute at the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Pastor Sarah Lucas of Foundations for Nations publicly condemned traditional Arapaho practices—including the Sundance and sacred pipe ceremonies—as “idol worship.” The sermon triggered protests, and Northern Arapaho leaders have told the church to leave.

There’s a legal complication: the church sits inside reservation boundaries but on privately owned land, making the tribe’s authority to remove it uncertain. Attendance at the church has reportedly fallen by roughly half, and tribal leaders have adopted new rules requiring religious organizations to obtain approval before operating on tribal lands.

Can Christians respect another person’s religious freedom while simultaneously telling them their religion is false? Biblically, yes.

Paul didn’t arrive in pagan Athens and announce that every religion was equally true. He saw a city filled with idols—and then reasoned with the people about the God they didn’t know.

So What?

Christians shouldn’t mock Native Americans or pretend the brutal history of forced religious assimilation never happened.

But neither should a Christian pastor be required to say something she believes is worship of another god is compatible with Christianity. Respecting someone’s right to believe something is not the same as agreeing that what they believe is true.

That’s religious liberty.

But let’s be clear about the basic tenet of our faith as declared by Jesus Christ, and let’s not hesitate to speak the truth boldly:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” — John 14:6 (KJV)

Saturday Watchdog: Spiritual Wickedness In High Places

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Never Forget

Never forget. Because the people who invoke the name of their god as they slaughter thousands of innocent men, women, and children never forget.

Because the spiritual darkness that animates their hatred and inspires the evil acts they commit never rests.

Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

But it appears that too many in our country have indeed forgotten over the past 25 years. Hopefully not enough to open the door to a shocking reminder.

They Said It: Four Quotes On The Book Of Zechariah

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Here are four quotes from four different Christian voices on themes in the Book of Zechariah:

Charles Spurgeon — on Zechariah 12:10 and God’s work of grace:

    “Every work of grace begins with God.”
    Spurgeon saw Zechariah’s promise of the “spirit of grace and of supplications” as pointing ultimately toward Christ and God’s initiative in redemption. (The Spurgeon Library)

    John Calvin — on God’s presence among His people:

      “God is never idle while he dwells in his people.”
      Commenting on Zechariah’s restoration promises, Calvin emphasizes that God’s presence produces actual transformation—truth and holiness, not merely religious identity. (Enduring Word)

      David Guzik — on Zechariah 6 and the promised Priest-King:

        “God’s promised blessing in the future means that He wants the work to continue right now.”
        Guzik draws an important practical lesson from Zechariah: future hope isn’t an excuse for sitting around waiting for prophecy to happen. It should produce faithfulness in the present. (Enduring Word)

        James Montgomery Boice — on Zechariah 8:23:

          “We are all clinging to the seamless robe of that one Jew, Jesus of Nazareth.”
          Boice understood Zechariah’s picture of the nations seeking God through Israel as ultimately pointing toward Jesus—the Jewish Messiah through whom God’s blessing reaches the nations. (Enduring Word)

          Thursday Watchdog: Nightclub Church?

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          An American bishop says churches shouldn’t become nightclubs to attract young people

          American Catholic Bishop Robert Barron has publicly criticized London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral for entering a multiyear partnership with nightclub company Fabric to stage musical events inside the cathedral. New York Post

          Barron argues the attempt to attract younger people by making sacred spaces more like secular entertainment venues misunderstands what spiritually curious young people actually want. The controversy follows similar debates over silent discos and other events staged inside historic churches.

          Churches have spent decades adding coffee bars, concert lighting, giant screens, skinny jeans and worship music that sounds like Coldplay circa 2008. All of those ‘features’ are part of the reason I personally have no interest in modern churchianity.

          So What?

          I think young people who are seeking spiritual meaning want something other than the cultural experiences they can find for a dime a dozen anywhere and everywhere. They want something deeper and they’re looking in other places for it, like in ancient liturgy, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Bible study and traditional Christian practices.

          The answer isn’t found in making Christianity look more like the culture.

          Armchair Apocalypse: What Is The Beast?

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          The Monster With Seven Heads Had an Address

          Imagine being a Christian in first-century Asia Minor. Roman banners hang over your city. Coins carry the emperor’s image. Temples praise Caesar. Soldiers enforce his laws. Rome controls politics, trade, religion, and public life.

          Then John’s Revelation is read aloud:

          “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea….” — Revelation 13:1, KJV

          Nobody in the room asks, “Could this be a twenty-first-century president, celebrity, or tech mogul?”

          They already know what the monster looks like.

          John builds the Beast from the creatures in Daniel 7, where terrifying animals symbolize kingdoms that conquer and oppress. His Beast has features of a leopard, bear, and lion—as if history’s worst empires had been stitched together into one giant political monster.

          For John’s readers, that monster was Roman imperial power.

          Rome claimed to bring peace and civilization, but it maintained that “peace” through armies, executions, slavery, and fear. Emperors accepted divine honors, and anyone refusing to play along could be viewed as disloyal. The Beast represents the Empire as a system, although individual emperors—especially the brutal Nero—could become the human face of that system.

          Revelation 17 provides another enormous clue: the Beast’s seven heads represent seven mountains and seven kings. Rome was famously associated with seven hills. John wasn’t tossing random monsters into a religious horror movie. He was exposing Rome’s spiritual identity.

          There is also a second beast, rising from the land. It looks somewhat like a lamb but speaks like the Dragon, Satan, from whom the Beasts get their power and marching orders. It represents the local religious and political machinery that encouraged people to honor Rome and worship imperial power. In modern terms, the first Beast wielded the sword; the second handled the propaganda.

          Mainstream biblical scholarship broadly places these images within the world of Roman rule. Futurist interpreters often expect a final ruler who will display the same characteristics, but the Beast’s original identity cannot simply be removed from the first century and turned into one man waiting at the end of history.

          So What?

          Revelation’s imagery had a meaning before it had a modern application. Rome had become a beastly empire by demanding the loyalty and worship that belonged to God.

          Its continuing application: Any nation, ideology, institution, or leader can become beastlike when power becomes sacred, truth becomes optional, and people are crushed for refusing to conform.

          The Beast doesn’t need seven literal heads, it only needs people willing to worship power.

          Tuesday Watchdog: Is Jesus A Democrat Or Republican?

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          A new national political debate is emerging around candidates such as Texas Democrat James Talarico, Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon and Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, who are explicitly incorporating faith into their campaigns. Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell accused progressive candidates today of “virtue-signaling” to Christian voters rather than authentically representing biblical Christianity.
          See story here.

          For decades, Republicans have enjoyed something close to ownership of America’s public Christian vocabulary. That may be changing, and that would be a good thing.

          Let Republicans quote Jesus. Let Democrats quote Jesus.

          Phillipians 1:15-18

          Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
          The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
          But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
          What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

          Listen to them all then open the Bible and check them all.

          Jesus isn’t Republican or Democrat, and Scripture shouldn’t be retrofitted to whichever political platform we already support.

          Saturday Watchdog: 47 Dead in Haiti. Christians Should Be Paying Attention

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          While much of America argues about politics and whatever outrage is trending today, Christians in Haiti are burying their dead.

          On August 23, about 150 heavily armed gang members attacked Kenscoff, in the mountains above Port-au-Prince. According to the Associated Press and the United Nations, 47 people were killed and more than 50 kidnapped. Thirty-four people were killed inside or around a church where residents had sought refuge. This week, mourners returned to that same church to bury members of their families. (AP News)

          Christian outlets report that the attack centered on the Ark of the New Testament evangelical church, where displaced families had taken shelter, and that many of those killed were Christians. At least five of the dead were children. (CBN)

          We should be careful with the word persecution. Haiti’s gangs murder, kidnap and terrorize people indiscriminately, and current reporting does not conclusively establish that every victim was killed because he or she was Christian.

          But it isn’t debatable that people seeking safety inside a Christian church were slaughtered there.

          Meanwhile, followers of Jesus elsewhere in the world can argue about worship styles, denominations, doctrines, and whether the coffee in the lobby is any good.

          But let’s all try to remeber this exortation from Hebrews, because it resonates and reminds us that our comfortable Christianity here in America isn’t neccesarily the norm.

          “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.” — Hebrews 13:3 (KJV)

          Our brothers and sisters aren’t merely the people sitting beside us Sunday morning. The Body of Christ crosses borders, languages and oceans.

          So What?

          So today, pray for Haiti. Pray for the kidnapped. Pray for grieving families. Pray for Christians trying to remain faithful in a country where simply gathering together can put them in mortal danger.

          And remember them, because much of the world won’t.

          They Said It: Four Quotes On The Book Of Haggai

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          Here are four thoughtful quotes from four different voices on Haggai:

          Warren W. Wiersbe — on the excuses the people made for postponing God’s work:

          “Too often we make excuses when we ought to be making confessions and obeying the Lord.”

          Charles Spurgeon — on Haggai’s command to “consider your ways”:

          “Consider your ways practically by altering them.”

          J. Alec Motyer — on the returned exiles’ misplaced priorities:

            “Their problem was not lack of goods but of good.”

            David Guzik — on God’s response once the people finally obeyed:

              “He always empowers and encourages us to do what He commands.”

              Haggai’s message is remarkably contemporary: Stop making spiritual-sounding excuses, take a hard look at your priorities, and then do something about them.