| FEATURE ARTICLE |
| DOES EVIL EXIST? YOU BETCHA! |
| By Dave Daubenmire of Pass the Salt Ministries |
DOES EVIL EXIST?
That was the defining question asked by Pastor Rick Warren at his “Christian” forum the other night.
Even though both candidates disagreed on how evil should be dealt with, both McCain and Obama made it clear that they believe there is
such a force.
Seeing how this was a debate involving self-proclaimed Christians, in a Christian church, hosted by a Christian pastor, this was a great
opportunity for America’s leading evangelical to define for all America the root cause of our nation’s problems.
Instead, Pastor Warren moved on to climate change, adoption, and other peripheral issues. Perhaps I am wrong, but I would expect
“America’s Pastor” to handle the debate in a manner that would reflect the attitude of the Berean Christians who “searched the scriptures
daily, whether those things were so.” Sadly, Pastor Warren looked more like Tom Brokaw than John the Baptist.
How could a Christian pastor not more aggressively defend the Cross? Why are CNN, Time Magazine and the God-hating media fawning
over this “evangelical” pastor? Could it be that they love his non-judgmental form of Christianity? Are you aware that Rick Warren is drifting
towards an affiliation with “the religious left.” From a political perspective, "left" usually is a synonym for “liberal” or “socialist”, while “right”
refers to “conservatives” or “capitalist.” The “left” believes that government is the answer to most of America’s problems, while the “right”
believes that government IS the problem.
So, there sat the face of modern evangelicalism, representing the church of Jesus Christ, with the two men most likely to be leader of the
free world, and he failed to zero in on the seminal issue of the whole debate. You see, the question was not “Does Evil Exist”, but “What is
Evil?”
Pastor Warren was a total failure. He let down the church, and he let down the Lord. In his desire to be “fair and balanced” he denied the
Truth. You cannot be a Christian and support the killing of un-born babies. He should have said so. Instead, it was more important that CNN
and their minions be able to speak about how “balanced” Pastor Warren was. Maybe he is bucking for Larry King's job.
Folks, there is no balance when dealing with evil. Black is black and white is white. Sin is sin; it is not a “moral failure.” If America’s leading
pastor won’t say it, who will? No wonder we are losing the battle for this nation. Today, millions of Americans think McCain and Obama are
Christians. Rick Warren allowed their self-identification as Christians to go unchallenged. You shall know them by their fruits. Warren’s job
was to inspect the fruit. Instead, he polished it.
So, since we all now agree that evil exists, perhaps we should point out some pertinent facts about it. Let me say what the “Purpose Driven
Pastor” failed to do.
I know what you’re thinking, “Who do you think you are, Coach? Rick Warren is a big-league pastor and best-selling author. Who are you to
cast aspersions his way? You can’t carry Rick Warren’s bag.”
That may be true, but I’m not sure I want to. His bag is full of snake-oil. It is not full of Truth. I am a contender for Truth and I think I could teach
Warren a thing or two. God placed him in that chair for a purpose. Too bad he wasn't driven to be faithful to it. Woe to Pastor Warren and his
ilk. They call evil good and good evil.
As Christians the Bible is the un-questioned source of right and wrong. Right is good and wrong is evil. The Scriptures make that very clear.
In case there was some confusion, God gave us the 10 Commandments as our moral guide. Christians believe that our sin-nature has
caused us to violate God's laws. We call those violations sin. Non-Christians believe violations of god's laws are "mistakes", usually caused
by "environmental" issues. Christians believe sinful behavior must be changed. Non-believers think it should be tolerated. Wouldn't you think
that a pastor would point out the difference before such a captive audience?
Sin is defined as “the transgression of divine law.” Divine means “proceeding from God or a god.” Failure to call sin what it is a denial of
God. No God, no sin. That is where the secular left has taken us and where Warren and his acolytes have come on board the wagon. Sin is
now a “moral failure.” Morality is open for interpretation. Individuals are no longer responsible for their behavior. The religious left wants the
government to pay for the consequences of sinful behavior. It is like complaining about your carpet being wet when there is a hole in your
roof.
Warren and his Purpose Driven followers should say so.
AIDS is the consequence of immoral behavior. God called it the wages of sin. Unfortunately, sin also affects the innocent. Timothy McVeigh
called it collateral damage. AIDS is the collateral damage of adultery. Warren wants government to replace the carpet rather than patch the
roof. Stop adultery and AIDS will stop.
Abortion is also the fruit of adultery. Obama thinks an unwanted pregnancy is a “difficult choice.” Pregnancy is the result of sexual behavior.
Sexual behavior outside of marriage is fornication. Fornication is a sin. Sin leads to a multitude of “difficult decisions.” Stop fornication and
abortions will go away.
Poverty is a consequence of sin, often associated with fornication. Single parent motherhood is the leading cause of poverty. Fornication
leads to single motherhood. A government check will never replace a father.
Why won’t the Purpose Driven Pastor say so? Has Truth become too judgmental?
Universal healthcare is not a right….it is a violation of the 10th commandment. Forcing someone to pay for someone else, no matter how
noble is a sin. Socialism is anti-Christian. Socialism is based on covetousness. It legalizes government thievery for the benefit of the “less
fortunate.” Warren smells like a socialist.
Climate change is paganism. It is a classic example of “worshipping the creation rather than the Creator.” Environmentalism is Gaia
worship. Christians are called to be stewards of the environment, not worship it. McCain and Obama will fight to protect ANWAR while they
sacrifice unborn babies. Their priorities are wrong. Warren had a Christian obligation as a pastor to say so. Instead he joined the parade.
Does he really think we can destroy the environment? We can’t even predict the course of a hurricane.
Government is replacing God and Pastor Warren is leading God’s ouster. The same group that loves to scream “separation of church and
state” wants the government to determine morality. Abortion is moral, global warming is immoral. Homosexual sex is moral, lack of AIDS
funding is immoral. Shacking up is moral, failure by taxpayers to pay for fatherless children is immoral. Failure to drill for oil is moral, driving
a car is immoral.
The religious left wants to treat the symptoms. Our pastors should be fighting to eliminating the cause.
Monday night Rick Warren was on with Larry King. Once again he failed to clearly share the Gospel. Larry King is lost. If I were on his show I
would tell him so. I would pin him down. I would make him uncomfortable. He is heading towards a future without God. He would never invite
me on the show again. Maybe that’s why Warren swallowed his tongue. The fear of man is a snare…
Last night the God-mocking Bill Maher was Larry’s guest. He made fun of God. He poked fun at Christianity. He is a radical fundamental
secularist. He wants God driven from America. He wasn’t worried about offending anyone. He is proud of his agnosticism.
Maher was prouder of his lies than Warren was of God’s Truth. For an hour Maher preached the foolishness of Jesus.
Warren spoke of global warming, AIDS, and adoption. He failed to mention sin. He never talked about the need for repentance and
redemption He speaks only of treating symptoms.
Maher thinks Christianity is evil. He doesn’t believe in sin. Warren believes in sin, he just doesn’t think it is evil.
Evil exists alright. The problem we face is how to recognize it. Sadly, before the whole world Warren came up empty. He hid the Light under
the bushel of politics.
Sometimes I wonder who the real enemy is.
That was the defining question asked by Pastor Rick Warren at his “Christian” forum the other night.
Even though both candidates disagreed on how evil should be dealt with, both McCain and Obama made it clear that they believe there is
such a force.
Seeing how this was a debate involving self-proclaimed Christians, in a Christian church, hosted by a Christian pastor, this was a great
opportunity for America’s leading evangelical to define for all America the root cause of our nation’s problems.
Instead, Pastor Warren moved on to climate change, adoption, and other peripheral issues. Perhaps I am wrong, but I would expect
“America’s Pastor” to handle the debate in a manner that would reflect the attitude of the Berean Christians who “searched the scriptures
daily, whether those things were so.” Sadly, Pastor Warren looked more like Tom Brokaw than John the Baptist.
How could a Christian pastor not more aggressively defend the Cross? Why are CNN, Time Magazine and the God-hating media fawning
over this “evangelical” pastor? Could it be that they love his non-judgmental form of Christianity? Are you aware that Rick Warren is drifting
towards an affiliation with “the religious left.” From a political perspective, "left" usually is a synonym for “liberal” or “socialist”, while “right”
refers to “conservatives” or “capitalist.” The “left” believes that government is the answer to most of America’s problems, while the “right”
believes that government IS the problem.
So, there sat the face of modern evangelicalism, representing the church of Jesus Christ, with the two men most likely to be leader of the
free world, and he failed to zero in on the seminal issue of the whole debate. You see, the question was not “Does Evil Exist”, but “What is
Evil?”
Pastor Warren was a total failure. He let down the church, and he let down the Lord. In his desire to be “fair and balanced” he denied the
Truth. You cannot be a Christian and support the killing of un-born babies. He should have said so. Instead, it was more important that CNN
and their minions be able to speak about how “balanced” Pastor Warren was. Maybe he is bucking for Larry King's job.
Folks, there is no balance when dealing with evil. Black is black and white is white. Sin is sin; it is not a “moral failure.” If America’s leading
pastor won’t say it, who will? No wonder we are losing the battle for this nation. Today, millions of Americans think McCain and Obama are
Christians. Rick Warren allowed their self-identification as Christians to go unchallenged. You shall know them by their fruits. Warren’s job
was to inspect the fruit. Instead, he polished it.
So, since we all now agree that evil exists, perhaps we should point out some pertinent facts about it. Let me say what the “Purpose Driven
Pastor” failed to do.
I know what you’re thinking, “Who do you think you are, Coach? Rick Warren is a big-league pastor and best-selling author. Who are you to
cast aspersions his way? You can’t carry Rick Warren’s bag.”
That may be true, but I’m not sure I want to. His bag is full of snake-oil. It is not full of Truth. I am a contender for Truth and I think I could teach
Warren a thing or two. God placed him in that chair for a purpose. Too bad he wasn't driven to be faithful to it. Woe to Pastor Warren and his
ilk. They call evil good and good evil.
As Christians the Bible is the un-questioned source of right and wrong. Right is good and wrong is evil. The Scriptures make that very clear.
In case there was some confusion, God gave us the 10 Commandments as our moral guide. Christians believe that our sin-nature has
caused us to violate God's laws. We call those violations sin. Non-Christians believe violations of god's laws are "mistakes", usually caused
by "environmental" issues. Christians believe sinful behavior must be changed. Non-believers think it should be tolerated. Wouldn't you think
that a pastor would point out the difference before such a captive audience?
Sin is defined as “the transgression of divine law.” Divine means “proceeding from God or a god.” Failure to call sin what it is a denial of
God. No God, no sin. That is where the secular left has taken us and where Warren and his acolytes have come on board the wagon. Sin is
now a “moral failure.” Morality is open for interpretation. Individuals are no longer responsible for their behavior. The religious left wants the
government to pay for the consequences of sinful behavior. It is like complaining about your carpet being wet when there is a hole in your
roof.
Warren and his Purpose Driven followers should say so.
AIDS is the consequence of immoral behavior. God called it the wages of sin. Unfortunately, sin also affects the innocent. Timothy McVeigh
called it collateral damage. AIDS is the collateral damage of adultery. Warren wants government to replace the carpet rather than patch the
roof. Stop adultery and AIDS will stop.
Abortion is also the fruit of adultery. Obama thinks an unwanted pregnancy is a “difficult choice.” Pregnancy is the result of sexual behavior.
Sexual behavior outside of marriage is fornication. Fornication is a sin. Sin leads to a multitude of “difficult decisions.” Stop fornication and
abortions will go away.
Poverty is a consequence of sin, often associated with fornication. Single parent motherhood is the leading cause of poverty. Fornication
leads to single motherhood. A government check will never replace a father.
Why won’t the Purpose Driven Pastor say so? Has Truth become too judgmental?
Universal healthcare is not a right….it is a violation of the 10th commandment. Forcing someone to pay for someone else, no matter how
noble is a sin. Socialism is anti-Christian. Socialism is based on covetousness. It legalizes government thievery for the benefit of the “less
fortunate.” Warren smells like a socialist.
Climate change is paganism. It is a classic example of “worshipping the creation rather than the Creator.” Environmentalism is Gaia
worship. Christians are called to be stewards of the environment, not worship it. McCain and Obama will fight to protect ANWAR while they
sacrifice unborn babies. Their priorities are wrong. Warren had a Christian obligation as a pastor to say so. Instead he joined the parade.
Does he really think we can destroy the environment? We can’t even predict the course of a hurricane.
Government is replacing God and Pastor Warren is leading God’s ouster. The same group that loves to scream “separation of church and
state” wants the government to determine morality. Abortion is moral, global warming is immoral. Homosexual sex is moral, lack of AIDS
funding is immoral. Shacking up is moral, failure by taxpayers to pay for fatherless children is immoral. Failure to drill for oil is moral, driving
a car is immoral.
The religious left wants to treat the symptoms. Our pastors should be fighting to eliminating the cause.
Monday night Rick Warren was on with Larry King. Once again he failed to clearly share the Gospel. Larry King is lost. If I were on his show I
would tell him so. I would pin him down. I would make him uncomfortable. He is heading towards a future without God. He would never invite
me on the show again. Maybe that’s why Warren swallowed his tongue. The fear of man is a snare…
Last night the God-mocking Bill Maher was Larry’s guest. He made fun of God. He poked fun at Christianity. He is a radical fundamental
secularist. He wants God driven from America. He wasn’t worried about offending anyone. He is proud of his agnosticism.
Maher was prouder of his lies than Warren was of God’s Truth. For an hour Maher preached the foolishness of Jesus.
Warren spoke of global warming, AIDS, and adoption. He failed to mention sin. He never talked about the need for repentance and
redemption He speaks only of treating symptoms.
Maher thinks Christianity is evil. He doesn’t believe in sin. Warren believes in sin, he just doesn’t think it is evil.
Evil exists alright. The problem we face is how to recognize it. Sadly, before the whole world Warren came up empty. He hid the Light under
the bushel of politics.
Sometimes I wonder who the real enemy is.