[CP Today] Legendary singer Carman dies at 65; winning 'millions to Christ' was greatest achievement

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 TODAY'S HEADLINES is sponsored by Trump cabinet member launches think tank to restore 'consensus of a nation under God' Entertainment Legendary singer Carman dies at 65; winning 'millions to Christ' was greatest achievement GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame member and Christian trailblazer Carman Dominic Licciardello, better known as Carman, died at a Las Vegas, Nevada, hospital on Tuesday.  A Message from The Christian Post Shop Master Life Coach Certification Bundle Life coaching is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. Whether you are new to the life coaching field or you have been practicing for years this course will take you from foundation material to advanced techniques and strategies to help transform your clients' lives. Learn More

Church & Ministries 'Criminal, sociopathic, satanic': Christian leaders react to Ravi Zacharias sex abuse report After an independent investigation uncovered evidence of rape, other acts of sexual abuse and numerous extramarital relationships carried out by late apologist Ravi Zacharias, pastors and ministry leaders reacted with horror and dismay.  U.S. 8 companies that made changes to reduce sexual exploitation The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has released a report highlighting actions taken by major corporations to address concerns about children's access to pornographic material on the internet. World India: 23 'forced' conversion cases filed in 23 days of new anti-conversion law Police in India's central state of Madhya Pradesh registered 23 cases of "forced" conversion in the first 23 days of the implementation of a new and strict "anti-conversion" law, according to media reports, indicating that the ongoing persecution of religious minorities is likely to further intensify. Church & Ministries John MacArthur's men's conference postponed after threats from California officials John MacArthur's Shepherds' Conference for men in church leadership, which was expected to draw some 3,000 attendees to the megachurch in Sun Valley, California, next month, has been postponed due to "ongoing litigation" and "threats" from the state. Church & Ministries Melvin Banks Sr., founder of largest black-owned Christian publishing company, dies at 86 Melvin E. Banks Sr., the founder of Urban Ministries, Inc., the largest independent, African American-owned and operated Christian media and publishing company, passed away Saturday at 86.

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Voice Critical race theory provides answers very different from what Christianity offers CRT sees the world in terms of power dynamics. In this way of thinking, social evils such as poverty, crime, or oppression result not from universal human frailties but from Euro-Americans intent on securing and increasing their economic and social power.

Sponsored Are You 'Woke' or Awake? It seems as though "wokeness" ideology is taking over our society with everyone from churches, to schools, to giant corporations seeing who can be the most "woke." Generally, "woke" ideas emphasize feelings over facts, pretend that individuals determine reality for themselves (i.e. your "truth"), put a priority on affirming feelings, ideas, or behaviors rather than willing someone's actual good, and often deny even the ability to know objective truth. Being "woke" means you have become enlightened to the alleged systemic oppression of various groups and you vow to fight for "social justice" which usually means working for equal economic and social outcomes in a given context. In reality, the current popular understanding of "social justice" that undergirds the "woke" movement is the opposite of the good all humans should pursue and is anything but just (i.e. giving someone their due). Historic Christianity, and even things like logic and science, are seen as opressive, racist, bigoted, etc. Today's "woke" culture is tearing our society apart and erecting barriers to people considering the true Gospel and the freedom it provides. While acknowledging the need to combat actual instances of racism and bigotry, the Church should summarily reject the major notions of "wokeness" ideology, critical race theory (CRT), "white guilt," and "white fragility" for several reasons. False Ideas and Fallacious Thinking One reason to reject such thinking is that many of these ideas are built upon the false notion of standpoint epistemology that essentially rejects the ability of, or even need for, humans to know objective truth about reality. As one evangelical professor says, "CRT scholars 'reject the prevailing orthodoxy that scholarship should be or could be "neutral" and "objective."' … Human beings are perspectival knowers. We learn about, see, and treat things from tradition-bound perspectives. Our scholarship, then, never arises from a neutral, objective view from nowhere." This, however, is a completely self-defeating proposition as it itself claims to be an objective truth about "scholarship" that somehow transcends his own "tradition-bound perspectives." Sadly, this type of thinking saturates both the CRT movement and the Bible and philosophy departments of many evangelical institutions. Carried to its ultimate end, such thinking makes biblical exegesis subjective if not meaningless. In addition, "woke" ideology is largely built upon the idea that every individual is either racist or anti-racist. Any reasons one provides to prove he is not a racist is used as evidence for his alleged racism. This dichotomy is in fact a false dilemma and the logic underpinning it is fallacious. Even further, these ideas violate the command of Jesus to love God and love others (ex. Love your enemies; Love keeps no record of wrongs; Love wills the good of others; etc.). They remove any personal responsibility and choice from individuals and place guilt on a collective group of people simply because of their skin color. This is the epitome of collectivist and racist thinking. While individuals are certainly impacted and influenced by the societal structure which they have experienced, ultimately individuals are responsible for their own behavior. Loving Our Neighbors Well It's time to love our neighbors well by boldly standing for truth and goodness. The Apostle Paul says, "Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them … For this reason it says, 'Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.' So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time …" (Eph. 5:11-16, NASB). Classical natural law thinking found in scholars such as Thomas Aquinas gives us an objective basis, common to all human beings and consistent with God's inerrant Word, from which we can fight the real evils of racism and bigotry while also shining light on the unfruitful ideas of the cult-like movement of "wokeness." Edward Feser recognizes the irony, "The currency of the term 'social justice' originated in Thomistic natural law theory. … It has to do with the just or right ordering of society as defined by strong families and cooperation between husband and wife in carrying out their respective roles for the sake of children and elders, solidarity and cooperation between economic classes and other social groups, and scrupulous attention to subsidiarity in the state's relationship to the 'little platoons' of society." Good philosophy (such as classical natural law theory) and good theology give us the needed tools to expose the "wokeness" ideology standing in the way of the Gospel. To effectively engage with this "woke" culture, you will need a deeply integrated understanding of theology, philosophy, and apologetics—the bedrock of an accredited degree or certificate from Southern Evangelical Seminary and Bible College (SES). SES is committed to training believers to effectively proclaim the Gospel, engage bad ideas in the public square, and defend objective truth and goodness. As SES co-founder, Dr. Norman Geisler, said, "[Apologetics] is opening the door, clearing the rubble, and getting rid of the hurdles so that people can come to Christ." Take a moment right now to download our FREE ebook Three Reasons a Seminary Education May Be Right for You. Regardless of your particular vocation or ministry context, sound apologetics that is undergirded with good philosophy and theology is a must for doing the heavy lifting of removing the hurdles that prohibit many in our "woke" post-Christian society from considering the Gospel. We cannot love our neighbors well and lead them to the feet of Jesus if we sacrifice truth and goodness on the false altar of "wokeness" ideology. It's time to wake up. Read our full statement on racism and social justice here. Get Your Free eBook

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