My Family Was Raptured

I was 12 years old when I attended children’s church in a small United Brethren in Christ church near Meadville in northwestern Pennsylvania.  I loved children’s church for all the wrong reasons.  Separation from a father who determined to make me toe the line was a relief.  I was the kid every teacher would love to take behind the woodshed.  I was the real deal when it came to causing trouble.

      My teacher’s name was Carolyn, she always smiled and hugged me when I came in the door and I knew she didn’t mean it.  I entered the Sunday School classroom in the basement of our church on one particular Sunday morning in the Spring of the year not knowing that I was about to learn something that would change my life.  She took out the flannel graph and told us of an event that would happen in the future.  I was spell-bound.  I sponged up every word she said about the rapture.  That morning I left that room fearing that I might be left behind because I knew my life was full of sin.

      I went to school the next week and tried to forget about that silly Children’s church lesson but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. 

      On Friday of that week I was meandering on a path through the woods that led from Neason Hill Elementary School to my home.  With my trumpet case in one hand and a load of books in the other, one mile felt like three.  As I approached our white, two-story home on that April afternoon I looked over the hill beyond and saw the darkest cloud approaching I’d ever seen.  I heard distant thunder and saw lighting flashing in the cloud. 

      I picked up the pace and dashed to the house.  What did I find when I got there?  I found nothing.   There was no one there.  This was the first time I’d come home to find it empty.  The silence was deafening.  I called out for my parents and my older brothers. No one replied.  I felt a knot form in my throat.  I knew….oh, I just knew that the rapture had taken place and I had been left behind.  I went out in the yard and called for our dog, Buster.  Buster was always quick to meet me when I arrived from school but there was no sign of him.  Can dogs be raptured also?  I was all alone.

      I began to form a plan for survival.  I was going to have to live alone.  I knew there was food in the refrigerator and the cupboards.  I knew Dad had planted a garden and I knew Mrs. Henry has also planted a garden and she lived up on the hill.  Now, Mrs. Henry was the holy, saintly mother figure in our church.  She was old, very old.  She had already outlived three husbands. 

      The thought of Ms. Henry brought hope to my heart.  I stepped out in the yard and peered toward her house and I thought my heart would explode with joy.  Ms. Henry was out working in her garden.  That could only mean one thing.  I hadn’t been left behind.  God would never, ever rapture his saints and leave Ms. Henry behind. 

      I didn’t know where my family was but there was no possible way any one of them was going to be raptured ahead of a saint like Ms. Henry.

      It seemed Ms. Henry lived to be about 100.  When she died everyone knew she had a special place in heaven.  Two things happened to me on that day:  I wanted to know I was ready for Christ’s return and if I died before he returned I wanted to have lived a saintly life so that I could die in confidence and everyone would know that I had gone to heaven.

      We recently commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  Everyone knows about the Titanic but few people know about the Titan.  Morgan Robertson wrote a short novel about an enormous passenger liner called Futility.  The Titan was said to be unsinkable and it carried an insufficient number of lifeboats.  In the month of April, the Titan, on its maiden voyage from South Hampton to New York, hits a mammoth iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic. 

      Morgan Robertson’s novel and the actual event are not exactly the same.  In Futility, the fictional ship, Titan, is 880 feet long.  The actual Titanic was 882 feet long.  The fictional Titan was able to displace 70,000 tons of water. The actual Titanic was able to displace 66,000 tons of water. 

      Why would Morgan Robertson go to the trouble of writing a fictional account of a real event and not take more care in the accuracy of the facts?  It is because he didn’t yet know what the facts were.  The Titanic sunk on April the 19th, 1912.  The book Futility was published in 1898.  Morgan Robertson wrote his book 14 years before the sinking of the Titanic.

      Is it amazing that a book 14 years ahead of its time could predict the events of the Titanic?

      We have a book that tells us the future, not 14 years ahead of time, but thousands of years ahead of time.  The Bible contains 2500 prophecies.  Over 1/3 of it is prophetic.  2,000 of the biblical prophecies have been fulfilled to the letter with no errors.  The remaining 500 prophecies extend into the future and they are being fulfilled rapidly as time progresses. 

      The Bible is 100% accurate in the fulfillment of its prophecies.  One of the most amazing and exciting prophecies yet to be fulfilled is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.  It is the one my children’s church teacher, Carolyn, taught me about years ago, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

 

      These words spawn joy and hope in the hearts of true believers throughout the world.  We are to encourage each other with this great hope.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Holiness or Legalism: How You Can Know The Difference.

When we first become Christians, when we confess and repent of our sins and accept Christ as the Savior of our souls, we begin a long and exciting journey.  God’s plan for us is to grow and mature and he gives most of us three score and ten years to experience his growth plan.  I looked at my new- born grandson a few months ago and felt the softness of brand new skin.  I peered at his new little ears and looked into his eyes as he struggled to hear my voice and focus on my face for the first time.

New Christians experience so many new sensations.  They now have eyes that can see more clearly.  Spiritual discernment gives to them ears that hear differently, minds that think differently and a heart that has been cleansed of evil and bathed in goodness.  The darkness that pervaded in the deepest part of their souls has been replaced by a light that reflects the brightness of His glory.  Unbelievers become accustomed to the feeling of the emptiness they must always be burdened with.  Like a ball and chain on the prisoner’s leg, they carry this emptiness everywhere they go.  But those who experience conversion have had their chains broken and the empty void in their soul is filled with the inexplicable fullness of God.

Once the new Christian sets out on this journey with Christ he is instructed not to look back.  Lot’s wife looked back and suffered horrible consequences because she still desired the things that would bring destruction to her soul.  We are instructed to leave the old sinful habits at the foot of the cross and move forward into maturity.  Our cry echoes the cry of Hosea, “Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him.” (Hosea 6:3) 

So how does a young seedling grow into a massive oak?  After experiencing the miracle of germination and emerging from the darkness of the soil, the fledgling plant absorbs the light, drinks in the moisture and nutrients made available to it.  A Christian, after the miracle of regeneration, emerges from the dark, sinful soil of spiritual death.  New life enables him to absorb the light provided by One who said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)  He sponges up the water of One who promised “living water” (John 4:10), a water that permanently quenches the thirst of a troubled soul. 

Young Christians are reminded that “we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Cor. 4:7). We are instructed to strive for perfection; “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) But we are reminded that we can never achieve the absolute perfection that belongs only to a Holy God.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  (Isaiah 55:8) 

The admonition toward perfection is an admonition toward spiritual maturity.  We are instructed how we might become a mighty oak in the kingdom forest.  We are to make provision to saturate ourselves with the word of God because it is a “lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  (Psalm 119:105)  We become strong in the Lord by spending time with him.  We are to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). While lifting our voice to him we are assured that he hears us because the shepherd knows the voice of his sheep.  “I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”  (John 10:14)  We should become so intimate with God that we also know his voice.  Elijah recognized it as a small still voice.  (1 Kings 19:12)  The flow of gentle, spontaneous thoughts that come unexpected into your mind may very well be the voice of God speaking to your soul.  We are instructed to “test the spirits to see if they are from God.”  (1 John 1:4)

The practice of certain disciplines becomes the vehicle through which we come closer and closer to God.  Maturity without discipline is an illusion. 

There is a movement that is quite prevalent today that provides a subtle opposition against the practice of such disciplines.  I would refer to it as the “legalism” movement.  Christians who purpose in their hearts to have a closer walk with God, to follow him into the deeper, more abundant life that he offers will inevitably be accused of practicing legalism.  There seems to be a fine line between legalism and holiness.  Some of Christ’s harshest words were reserved for those who practices legalism.  Nothing offends God more than the humanistic idea that we can somehow achieve salvation through our own efforts.  This devalues the precious blood Christ shed on the cross and stirs the anger of God.  Jesus reprimanded the Pharisees for their legalism when he referred to them as vipers and said, “You also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness".  (Mat 23:28)

How might one know when he is practicing legalism or when he is using the disciplines provided to strive for holiness?  He will know by discerning whether he is in bondage or whether he is free.  Legalism leads to bondage, holiness leads to freedom.  Legalism brings death, holiness brings life.  If one feels a whip on his back he is being driven by legalism.  If he feels a yearning in his heart to spend time with one he loves more than words can tell, he desires holiness.  Legalism is an attempt to please a demanding taskmaster.  Holiness is a desire to emulate One whom you love, admire and adore.   Legalism is because you ‘have to’.  Holiness is because you ‘want to’. 

Dr. Kent Hughes wrote a book entitled Disciplines of a Godly Man, in which he declared, “There is a universe of difference between the motivations behind legalism and discipline. Legalism says, ‘I will do this thing to gain merit with God,’ while discipline says, “I will do this because I love God and want to please him.’ Legalism is man-centered; discipline is God-centered.”

The legalist trusts in his own actions to make him righteous.  He relies on traditions like regular church attendance, prayer-time and paying of his tithes to achieve favor with God.  These become traditions for the legalist but they become disciplines for one in pursuit of holiness.  The one who hungers for holiness realizes that his righteousness is as “filthy rags”.  (Isaiah 64:6)   Praying just to ease one’s conscience or to impress others because a babbling of “vain repetitions”.  (Matthew 6:7)  The prayer of a truly righteous man is very powerful and affective.  (James 5:16)

So, the question we must ask is this:  Are we floundering about in legalism or are we on the path to maturity and righteousness?  Is our Christian experience about us or is it about Him?  Is our intent to satisfy some longing within our own soul or is our intent to satisfy Him?  Are we on the same page as John when he said, “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.”?  (John 3:30)

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Public Schools: Education or Indoctrination

Educators have pondered for years the achievement gap between Caucasian, African-American and Asian students. In order to narrow the gap educators have tried segregating schools, they have tried providing comparable facilities and they have politically corrected all the pictures in the text books to reveal a member of each race of people and all gender possibilities. The academic performance of the child seems not to depend so much on these issues as the attitude of their parents toward the educational process. If the parents consider the school a glorified baby sitting service then it's unlikely their children are going to perform well.

Like two ships passing each other in the harbor, Christians and secular humanists reveal two opposing viewpoints when it comes to the purpose and philosophy of education. Christians understand their responsibility in educating their children. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 reinforces the obligation parents have toward their children: "Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

The early American theologian and Civil War Army Chaplain, Robert Louis Dabney, said, "True education is, in one sense, a spiritual process. It is the nurture of the soul." Because we are, by nature, spiritual beings we will develop our foundational concepts of spirituality during the elastic years of childhood and adolescence. Men are created to worship and worship we shall. We will either worship the one and true God or we will worship his creation (materialism) or ourselves (humanism).

The Puritan poet, John Milton, expressed the Christian view of education well when he said, "The end of learning is to repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge, to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him." Education is not the primary responsibility of the schools, nor is it the responsibility of the government or the church. It is every parent's responsibility to be sure his child is educated in the truth of God's word. Even though John was talking of his spiritual converts, 3 John 4 fits well here, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." Christians believe that the sole purpose of man's life is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. We find ourselves strongly opposed to anything that blocks us from that goal.

Those who believe that government schools are prohibited from promoting religion are deceived. They are prohibited from promoting Christianity but most any other religion is fair game. The religion most commonly propagated in our public schools is secular humanism. In the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins the U.S. Supreme Court defined humanism as a religion. The first Humanist Manifesto openly identifies humanism as a religion and Julian Huxley referred to humanism as a Religion Without Revelation. He taught that Christianity was fading and in its place was emerging the religion of humanism.

Many are awakening to the fact that our schools have become more focused on indoctrination than education. Our public school system is based on an industrial revolution model that came out of Prussia. It is a system that is compulsory. You must send your children to school and you must pay taxes to support the educational welfare system. Why do so many Americans think education is free? The average cost of paying for a child's education is between $10,000 and $12,000 per year. It costs a whopping $27,000 to educate a child in Washington, D.C. (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66)

The social agenda seems to be to convert our children to humanism. They are taught that homosexuality is an acceptable and alternative lifestyle. They are taught that marriage is no longer between one man and one woman but can include partners of the same sex and a multitude of other combinations. They are taught that we all evolved from nothing and God had nothing at all to do with our existence. They are taught that the fetus in a mother's womb is simply a mass of cells that can and perhaps should be aborted as the mother wishes. The result: the minds of our children are clouded about the existence of God, they are gender confused and they no longer believe in the value and sanctity of life.

90% of Christians send their children to government schools in which federal law forbids the mention of the name of Christ. Some of them have no choice because they cannot home school and they cannot afford a private Christian school. These parents must do all in their power to counteract the humanistic indoctrination their children are learning at school. It will require an organized effort to read and explain the Bible to their children in the home setting.

Other parents use the salt and light argument for sending their kids to public schools. They often say, "My child will be a witness for Christ.". A study done by the Southern Baptists indicates that 88% of Baptist youth who graduated from public schools left the church. Our missionaries are not converting others, instead they are being converted. They are going up against a systematic effort of organized policy and well developed curriculum that is designed to indoctrinate social servants of the state.

I am no enemy of public education. I know many wonderful Christian teachers and administrators here in Columbus, Georgia. They love Christ deeply and they are doing all they can to be a light shining in a darkened world. Most of my Christian teacher friends stay in government schools because they believe it is important to demonstrate Christianity to their students and co-workers. I agree with them but that is only half of the command of Christ. He also said, "…everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32) We are instructed to boldly declare the name of Christ. If you follow this directive in the government schools you will be looking for another job.

Neutrality is not an option. I am teaching my six year old son the concepts of driving an automobile. The line in the center of the road provides a parameter for travelers. If you decide to straddle the line you may lose your life. "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters." Straddling the fence on this issue can be fatal. We must not only demonstrate the lifestyle, we must proclaim his name boldly. Don't be deceived by the politically correct approach to Christianity in government schools. If you are not for Christ…you are against him!

Christ addressed this problem in Luke 6:40 " A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." When it comes to secularism, nine out of ten Christian students will cave. If our children have secular teachers they will likely embrace secular teachings, if they have Christian teachers they likely will embrace Christian teachings. Who is your child's teacher?



Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

The Voices We Hear and the Voices We Don’t

Have you ever boldly asked someone, “Are you a Christian? What is your faith? What do you believe?” Politicians, especially from New England, like to say, “Well, that’s a private matter. I don’t choose to talk openly about my faith.” These voices usually claim some sort of Christianity but they are either ashamed to be self-proclaimed followers of Christ or they recognize that it is not politically expedient to reveal a faith that may be offensive to some of their non-believing constituents.
Both politicians and celebrities love to talk about themselves, but celebrities speak with less hesitance about their faith, especially if it separates them from the mainstream and makes them seem a bit peculiar. It seems strange that so many celebrities are involved in Scientology. John Travolta credits his success to Scientology, “I would say that Scientology put me into the big time." (ABC News.com) Will Smith, a good friend to Tom Cruise says, “I just think a lot of the ideas in Scientology are brilliant and revolutionary and non-religious." (Blender, June 2005) Lisa Marie Presley said, “"Were it not for Scientology, I would either be completely insane or dead by now." – (ABC News.com)
The voices we now hear promoting atheism are becoming almost deafening. Woody Allen adds humor to his revelation of atheism. “Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends." (New Yorker) The late comedian, George Carlin, took pride in believing in nothing at all, “I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country. I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas." (Godless Geeks) Katherine Hepburn shallowly proclaimed to the Ladies Home Journal in October, 1991, “I’m an atheist and that’s it.” Angelina Jolie doesn’t take us any deeper when she proclaimed, “There doesn't need to be a God for me.” (Religionfacts.com)
There are more and more voices I could share but won’t take up the space. There are voices promoting Mormonism, Buddhism, Mohammedism, Hinduism and just about every other ism you can imagine. But do you notice, the voices that proclaim Christianity are nearly silent or non-existent? Many Christians have passively been muzzled by a secular politically correctness that ostracizes Christian voices from religious discussions. If you proclaim any other god you are welcome to the discussion but if you proclaim Christ you are pegged a fanatic and unworthy to be heard.
Christians must not be manipulated into silence by cultural bullies. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) This truth is essential to all who would find salvation and eternal life through Christ. In an age when non-Christian religions and cults are multiplying daily it is imperative that Christian voices be heard. There is much room for tolerance in the Christian faith, but with this particular issue there must be no compromise. When John the Baptist pointed to the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world he wasn’t pointing to Buddha or Mohammed, he was pointing to Jesus, the very Son of God!
Might we go so far as to say that this is a life and death matter? We must not be hesitant to share the Christian message of love, forgiveness and hope because “Death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2).
The whole scenario of the problem of man was neatly summed up by Emil Brunner, pastor of the Fraumunster Kirche in Zurich, Switzerland. He said that every man has a past, a present and a future. All of us have a problem in the past, a problem in the present and a problem in the future. The problem in our past is the problem of sin. God’s answer to that problem is faith and trust in the death and resurrection of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. The problem of the future is death. The answer to that problem is hope in the return of Christ who promised a resurrection to all who believe. The problem of the present is hatred. God’s answer to that problem is the love of Christ which can supplant hatred in the heart of the believer.
When I married my bride I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, I still do. I love to take her by the arm and show the world the woman who is my wife. Should we be no less proud of the one who became our Savior? Should we not share the attitude of John when he said, “He must increase and I must decrease”? (John 3:30)
We must witness for Christ not only because we want to but also because we have been commanded to. “Christ does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). With that in mind, let us be obedient to the command of Christ to "Go and make disciples of all nations"; and "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation" (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15)

Jumping off 'The Ledge'

Many Christians, especially Presbyterians and Baptists, have embraced and attempted to live by the teachings of the Westminster Confession since it was formulated by the Church of England in 1646. It attempts to answer a mystifying question that has dogged man for thousands of years. What is our purpose? Why were we born? Why are we here? The answer given by the Westminster Confession is simple and direct: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God.” We were created to praise the Creator. Unfortunately, most in our modern culture worships the creation rather than the creator. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator…” (Romans 1:25)

The Westminster Confession reinforces the idea that men were created to worship: “Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone: not to angels, saints, or any other creature.” American society is becoming more and more pantheistic, substituting the worship of nature rather than worship the true God.

New Age guru, Shirley McClain, was given a five hour block by ABC to promote her mystic beliefs. McClain promoted the idea of God being a part of everything and everything being a part of God. She claimed to have some sort of Aquarian revelation while walking along the beach one day. She lifted her hands toward the heavens and said, “I am god.” She felt a bit sheepish at first but as she repeated it again and again she said she finally embraced her inner god nature.

A major contradiction in this belief that we are all threads in a god quilt is the failure to reconcile good and evil within our very nature. If God is holy, sinless and perfect in his purity, how can he then also be sinful and unspeakably wicked? Light and dark cannot simultaneously exist in the same space, nor can purity and sinfulness coexist in the same entity. Therefore, if man is sinful in his nature his claim that “I am god” is an absurdity. Christ died on the cross to bridge the great gap that separates us from the living God. We can experience reconciliation with God through repentance and forgiveness but we can never become god. It’s an age-old problem that goes all the way back to Eve’s desire to become God in the Garden of Eden. The same problem surfaced again at the Tower of Babel. It is still prevalent today.

Who is surprised that Hollywood and the modern media would give a platform for such tripe? A true Christian would not slough off his God-given responsibility to be a conscientious steward of the earth God has given. God created the earth and saw that it was good and was very pleased. The first responsibility of Adam was to tend to the garden in which he lived. We still have an obligation to care for and respect the creation.

But, many have gone beyond being good stewards. They have violated the chief purpose of God for man by glorifying nature rather than God. Hollywood and the media have given Al Gore and others an inordinate amount of time to use their studios as a bully pulpit to promote the worship of Gaia, the earth goddess.

Men were created to worship. Worship is an involuntary response like breathing or blinking our eyes. When we worship God, the Creator, we are able to maintain a proper perspective of God, his creation and our place in it. When we choose to worship others or other things our minds become more and more distorted. An apathetic failure to fulfill the chief purpose of man will bring major distortion but an aggressive determination to substitute God with a false idol will bring gross distortion and a dreadful response from a God who is terrible in his justice.

This brings us to another twisted Hollywood promotion. Matthew Chapman, who ironically happens to be the great-great grandson of Charles Darwin, has directed a movie called “The Ledge”. In a nutshell, the movie depicts a fundamentalist Christian husband whose wife yields to seductions of an atheist friend. Just as Hollywood used “Brokeback Mountain” to promote the acceptance of the sin of homosexuality, it now uses “The Ledge” to promote acceptance of the sin of unbelief.

The Christian is depicted as the evil one forcing another to commit suicide while the atheist is the classic victim. The non-believer is sexy and attractive to the leading female while the Christian husband is stiff, stodgy and overbearing. This is typical for Hollywood to trash the Christian and glorify one who declares there is no God.

If man’s chief end is to glorify God, is this not a perversion of the true purpose of man? Chapman says, “I hope atheists who are still in the closet will take heart from the film and think, I am not alone.” The intent of the film is to unite atheists and encourage the acceptance of the general public of their God-denying beliefs.

It borders on blasphemy. Chapman puts his viewers on the ledge and encourages them to jump off into an abyss of moral decay because we have failed to fulfill the primary purpose of man, to bring glory to the true and living God. Think of it, millions of people will shell out multi-millions of dollars to see this film and each of the dollars they spend will have written on it, “In God We Trust.”
Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Truth Comes This Way

We now live in an age when many of the ideas of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment are quickly being deposited in the dust bin of history. It seems that most people no longer have faith in the idea that truth can be known. The belief that reason will lighten our paths is fast fading. Modernists believe that truth not absolute. Reason can not possibly lead you to truth because truth is relative, it comes in various forms and

presents itself differently to different people.

I'm reminded of a moment of the Dick Cavett Show years ago when the host was entertaining Jane Fonda and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop said, "Jesus is the Son of God, you know." Fonda's quick answer was, "Maybe he is for you, but he's not for me." The Archbishop's response was profound, "Well either he is or he isn't."

Jane Fonda's response is post-modernism is a nutshell. Modernism was a child of the Enlightenment and it promoted the idea that reason and intellect, applied with great diligence, could eventually lead us to truth. Post-modernists (Jane Fonda) have given up on that idea. They believe there is no absolute or universal truth. Truth is whatever you desire for it to be. Post-modernists eliminate a common source (God) and measure (Holy Scriptures) by which to measure our actions and morals. The result is a moral confusion because "what is right for you may not be right for me and what is right for me may not be right for you."

Doug Groothius makes reference in his book, Truth Decay, regarding a bumper sticker he once saw, "I've given up on reality and now I'm looking for a good fantasy." When truth is no longer objective reality presents a problem. So, postmodernists lean toward eastern mystics who question the existence of reality. The Chinese philosopher Chuang Chou framed this way of thinking with this story, "Once upon a time I dreamed I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awoke, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man." Chou taught that one day we would all awaken and realize that what we once thought was our reality was really just a dream. The failure to embrace absolute truths makes it necessary to eliminate reality.

This post-modern philosophy is a result of the influence of our culture. Our modern world calls more for transition rather than tradition. My grandfather worked for the Erie Railroad his entire adult life. My father worked for the Post Office most of his life. But today the average American stays on the job an average of only 4.1 years and will have as many as seven to ten jobs in a lifetime. We try constantly to change our reality. If you don't like the wrinkles on your face you can have plastic surgery. The remote control allows us to switch channels every few minutes. If we don't like truth, we just change it to suit our own fancies.

I am amazed as I watch modern day celebrities reinvent themselves throughout their careers. Madonna, Mick Jagger and many others come to mind. As the culture changes they change their style and their music to suit the tastes of their fans. The post-modern God has become a sort of smorgasbord God, a creation of our own. We might make him 2 parts Christian, one part Hindu and 2 parts Buddhist.

The Christian God is not a god that can be formed or created by frail men with finite minds. God spoke to Moses in the wilderness and said, "I am who I am." He is eternal and immutable. He does not change nor does his truth change. He is what he has always been and he shall always be what he already is. Truth is absolute because the source of truth is absolute.
The use of relativism in post-modern thought is troubling. We naturally apply facts in every facet of life to find truth. If we take our car to a mechanic and he says, "You need a new transmission" we will probably take it to another mechanic for a second opinion. We naturally wonder if the mechanic is telling the truth. If a second mechanic says, "Your transmission is fine" we would never say, " what is true for one mechanic may not be true for another mechanic and that is okay". That is un acceptable. The truth is that one mechanic is telling the truth and the other is not.

This illustrates the absurdity of what Jane Fonda said to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Her idea that Jesus may be the son of God to the Bishop but not to her is absurd. Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." He also said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:6) Either Jesus lied or he told the truth. Either he is the Son of God or he is not. Truth is not a diamond that can be cut or formed to satisfy our own whims.


Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.