Great Post Michael Clary. As a backslider on his way back to redemption every point resonates with me. I grew up a church brat. Attendance was mandatory, not legalistically so, yet mandatory. My parents wanted to instill the importance of giving priority to the things of God. My siblings and I also attended private Christian school. I have always been a student of the Bible and have never doubted the author of it. My walk away from God wasn't caused by doubt or a rejection of God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. I have given a great amount of thought as to why it happened. I grew up in a mainstream protestant church, Wesleyan, In the 70's and 80's and though it was a pleasant experience for the most part there was also a complete lack of the power of God and discussion about our foe the devil, lower case intended. The theory of the day was outside of acknowledging the evil ones existence, the study of him was verboten. As with most mainstream protestant denominations it is a common theme that has left the Christian community literally devastated for a lack of knowledge knowledge as to how he operates. If we are to ever get to the root of why things are the way they are in modern Christianity in our world today we need to become 100% invested in exposing the devil and his ways. They are cunning and devastating. His biggest weapon is complacency. He wields it well. The scripture that constantly comes to the forefront for me is Hosea 4:6 My people perish for a lack of knowledge. Thanks for posting and thank you for taking the time to read my reply if time allows. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you my brother.
I also agree with your description of Trump. He isn't Hitler, nor is he a savior. He is reprieve. I've even wondered if he could be the final reprieve before the rapture. I guess time will tell.
For more info on how contraception was introduced to the culture by some very nefarious actors, and how it changed marriage, sexuality, and society, I recommend these books…
1) “The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Why the Church Was Right All Along” and “Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village”, by Jennifer Roback Morse of The Ruth Institute
2) "Adam & Eve After the Pill" and "Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited," by Mary Eberstadt
Exactly! We need to move now to deepen our understanding of theology and God’s ways, deepen our discipleship, and build the Kingdom of God and bring in as many lost sheep as possible… I don’t think we have much time left (although Catholics don’t believe in the rapture as many Protestants do, many of us think we’re very close the end times). FYI I’m a traditionalist Catholic (i.e., I attend the traditional Latin Mass).
Even if it wasn’t the end times and we had tons of time left on the world clock, the people alive today do *not* have all the time in the world and they are very, very lost (as I was not that long ago). Also, there are many people today who are feeling the agony of being far away from God and need a real Christian (not the evil “Christian hypocrites and villains” they see constantly in the media) to show them the Way, the Truth, & the Life — Jesus Christ, the way to peace and hope.
You wrote insightfully in this article about the deep troubles with marriage & motherhood, and the need to recover household discipleship. This is an extremely important topic today, and it has implications from the plummeting birth rate disaster to the scourges of pornography, abortion, and LGBT disorders, including the horrific mutilation of children and sterilization of young adults.
On this same topic, have many conservative Evangelicals ever considered the strange way contraception was introduced into society? After 1,929 years of all Christians of every denomination condemning contraception as an abomination before the Lord, in 1930 the Church of England accepted “limited” contraception “only within marriages,” and 35-40 years later every Protestant group had suddenly accepted artificial birth control as fine and healthy for women, marriages, and society. How could serious, important Christian teaching change that swiftly and profoundly?
In hindsight, has contraception been good for men, women, and society? Has it led to abortion — both 1) directly, as many contraceptives including the pill, IUDs, and injections cause abortions by thinning the uterine lining and preventing implantation of a newly conceived fertilized egg, which is a child, 2) indirectly through the “privacy” clauses of SCOTUS decisions from contraceptive cases being applied to abortion cases, and 3) culturally as contraception is used as a backup for “failed” contraception?
Has contraception led to an enormous upsurge in fornication, pornography, adultery, huge numbers of unnecessarily working mothers leaving their very young, vulnerable children in daycare, plummeting birth rates, LGB sexuality problems, and transgender problems? Has it led to the devaluation of human life, contributing to “euthanasia” and assisted suicide?
If you’d like more info on this topic, I recommend the outstanding website Catholic Answers (Catholic.com) — just search for “contraception,” and the 1968 encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI on contraception called Humanae Vitae, “Of Human Life” (https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html), which predicts our devastating current condition stemming primarily from the adoption of contraception and divorce.
May God bless and guide you & your loved ones!
PS For more info on traditional Catholicism, I recommend the website Fisheaters.com. The name of the site refers to the traditional Catholic penitential / ascetic practice of only eating plant-based meals and fish on Fridays, while abstaining from eating meat from land animals which was more expensive for the ancients).
Important post. Please do a follow up or multiple.
Are there livestream options? Unfortunately, I cannot make it to Cincinnati 😔
We will post the videos/audio from the conference following the event on our YouTube and Spotify accounts
Oh, fantastic. Thank you!
Great Post Michael Clary. As a backslider on his way back to redemption every point resonates with me. I grew up a church brat. Attendance was mandatory, not legalistically so, yet mandatory. My parents wanted to instill the importance of giving priority to the things of God. My siblings and I also attended private Christian school. I have always been a student of the Bible and have never doubted the author of it. My walk away from God wasn't caused by doubt or a rejection of God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. I have given a great amount of thought as to why it happened. I grew up in a mainstream protestant church, Wesleyan, In the 70's and 80's and though it was a pleasant experience for the most part there was also a complete lack of the power of God and discussion about our foe the devil, lower case intended. The theory of the day was outside of acknowledging the evil ones existence, the study of him was verboten. As with most mainstream protestant denominations it is a common theme that has left the Christian community literally devastated for a lack of knowledge knowledge as to how he operates. If we are to ever get to the root of why things are the way they are in modern Christianity in our world today we need to become 100% invested in exposing the devil and his ways. They are cunning and devastating. His biggest weapon is complacency. He wields it well. The scripture that constantly comes to the forefront for me is Hosea 4:6 My people perish for a lack of knowledge. Thanks for posting and thank you for taking the time to read my reply if time allows. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you my brother.
Thank you Todd. May the lord bless you as well
I also agree with your description of Trump. He isn't Hitler, nor is he a savior. He is reprieve. I've even wondered if he could be the final reprieve before the rapture. I guess time will tell.
For more info on how contraception was introduced to the culture by some very nefarious actors, and how it changed marriage, sexuality, and society, I recommend these books…
1) “The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Why the Church Was Right All Along” and “Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village”, by Jennifer Roback Morse of The Ruth Institute
2) "Adam & Eve After the Pill" and "Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited," by Mary Eberstadt
Exactly! We need to move now to deepen our understanding of theology and God’s ways, deepen our discipleship, and build the Kingdom of God and bring in as many lost sheep as possible… I don’t think we have much time left (although Catholics don’t believe in the rapture as many Protestants do, many of us think we’re very close the end times). FYI I’m a traditionalist Catholic (i.e., I attend the traditional Latin Mass).
Even if it wasn’t the end times and we had tons of time left on the world clock, the people alive today do *not* have all the time in the world and they are very, very lost (as I was not that long ago). Also, there are many people today who are feeling the agony of being far away from God and need a real Christian (not the evil “Christian hypocrites and villains” they see constantly in the media) to show them the Way, the Truth, & the Life — Jesus Christ, the way to peace and hope.
You wrote insightfully in this article about the deep troubles with marriage & motherhood, and the need to recover household discipleship. This is an extremely important topic today, and it has implications from the plummeting birth rate disaster to the scourges of pornography, abortion, and LGBT disorders, including the horrific mutilation of children and sterilization of young adults.
On this same topic, have many conservative Evangelicals ever considered the strange way contraception was introduced into society? After 1,929 years of all Christians of every denomination condemning contraception as an abomination before the Lord, in 1930 the Church of England accepted “limited” contraception “only within marriages,” and 35-40 years later every Protestant group had suddenly accepted artificial birth control as fine and healthy for women, marriages, and society. How could serious, important Christian teaching change that swiftly and profoundly?
In hindsight, has contraception been good for men, women, and society? Has it led to abortion — both 1) directly, as many contraceptives including the pill, IUDs, and injections cause abortions by thinning the uterine lining and preventing implantation of a newly conceived fertilized egg, which is a child, 2) indirectly through the “privacy” clauses of SCOTUS decisions from contraceptive cases being applied to abortion cases, and 3) culturally as contraception is used as a backup for “failed” contraception?
Has contraception led to an enormous upsurge in fornication, pornography, adultery, huge numbers of unnecessarily working mothers leaving their very young, vulnerable children in daycare, plummeting birth rates, LGB sexuality problems, and transgender problems? Has it led to the devaluation of human life, contributing to “euthanasia” and assisted suicide?
If you’d like more info on this topic, I recommend the outstanding website Catholic Answers (Catholic.com) — just search for “contraception,” and the 1968 encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI on contraception called Humanae Vitae, “Of Human Life” (https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html), which predicts our devastating current condition stemming primarily from the adoption of contraception and divorce.
May God bless and guide you & your loved ones!
PS For more info on traditional Catholicism, I recommend the website Fisheaters.com. The name of the site refers to the traditional Catholic penitential / ascetic practice of only eating plant-based meals and fish on Fridays, while abstaining from eating meat from land animals which was more expensive for the ancients).