Listen, whether you like the series or not, I’m sure we’ve all wished we could receive a letter saying that we’ve been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But we simply won’t get that opportunity. And for some people it may be seen as a good thing. While for others it remains a sad reminder of how boring our muggle lives are. But just how should christians view this series? Is it okay? Is it the gateway to witchcraft? Is it just a weird and slightly demented work of fiction?
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Alright, before we begin let me give this quick disclaimer... This will most likely be very controversial. Just like the last time, if you disagree with me... IT IS OKAY! Also, this is a follow up to my post about the church being involved in politics so if you haven't read that post I encourage you to go read it. Now lets dive into this question...
So, many of you are wondering, like myself, what are we supposed to do during this pandemic? Well, I'm going to give you some ideas that will help grow you as a person and help your faith in God.
Keep in mind, most of what I will be talking about will be solely my opinion and you may have a differing opinion. But yes, I think the church should be involved in politics. Here is why. The media has a way of lying to us about what the truth is. The media makes it seem like, whatever makes you happy is okay. And that's not completely true. It is important to be happy but not everything that makes you happy may be okay. For example. Murdering someone may make you happy. I hope not but maybe. Murder is clearly not okay. Stealing may make you happy and that is not okay. Now of course these are extreme examples but let's look at some not so extreme and much more controversial subjects.
First of all, I want to be very clear that I am not intending to point fingers or judge anyone or anything like that. I am simply stating my opinion so please don’t take anything I say personally. Let's say dating and/or being married to someone of the same sex makes you happy. I believe same sex marriage is not okay and I use Romans 1:26-32 (as well as a few other scriptures) to back up my view. Now, this is something the media likes to push us to believe is okay, and if the church stays quiet about it, we are going to have a whole lot of people that don’t listen to God's commandments. This is just one example why the church needs to be involved in politics. Another example would be premarital sex. Something that seems normalized in todays culture and corrupts the minds of young adults in our nation. The bible clearly says that this is wrong. Sex should be kept inside the covenant of marriage. It's nearly impossible to go somewhere like the store and not see sex advertised like it's a retail product. Everywhere you go there is at least one add trying to promote sex. People now days in relationships think that all they need to be happy in a relationship is good sex. That's simply not true. Now to be clear, I'm not saying sex is bad. God created it. God can't create bad things. But when not done his way it can corrupt your relationship, your happiness, and your life. We need the church to be involved in politics to speak into these issues. So let’s talk about the church’s current involvement in politics. The church seems to mostly be remaining silent. They aren't generally talking about these issues, from the pulpit or otherwise. There are of course a few churches that do talk about some of these issues but it doesn’t seem to be enough. We need the vast majority of churches to come together and to take a stand or we may be in for a dark future. The church needs to stop remaining silent on these issues and they need to speak up. And people need to listen. These are just a few of the reasons why I believe that the church should be involved in politics and should be speaking God's truth into our nation and where they are currently at. I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope I didn’t anger too many people. If you have any further questions, comments, concerns, or problems, let us know in the comments below. Also be sure to follow ReKnew Blog on social media. Many Christians have asked the question, “which bible translation should I read? Is there a right or wrong one?” The easy answer... the one that you will read. Look, there is no right or wrong translation to use (sorry my KJV only friends). There is no one translation that’s better than any other translation. If you can study and get something out of the KJV/NKJV then use that. If you get something out of ESV use that. Dare I say, if you can sit down and have a meaningful study and get something out of The Message Bible, then use that. I don’t care. As long as you are having a meaningful interaction with the scripture every day and you are growing closer to God, use whatever translation you want. But... there are a few things that you should keep in mind when choosing what translation to read.
Is It Accurate? Some translations are a bit more accurate than others and that is because of the way that they are translated. There are a few different types of translations... Word For Word A word for word translation is translated word for word or at least as close as they can. And tend to be the most accurate to what the original manuscripts said. I strongly recommend you have at least one word for word translation that you are referencing. Common word for word translations include... KJV/NKJV, NASB, CSB, ESV. Thought For Thought A thought for thought translations similar to a complete paraphrase. The translator will translate it and keep the main thought from the original manuscripts. These tend to be pretty accurate but do be careful because they can have some of the translators own theologies and ideas hidden in it if you’re not careful. Some common thought for thought translations include... NIV, NLT Complete Paraphrase This is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a complete and total paraphrase. The translator is taking the text and putting it in their own words. Be very careful when using these translations because they have the translators theologies and ideas everywhere. I don’t want to deter you from using them because they are great translations but do be aware that they can be far off from what the original manuscripts said. Some common paraphrase translations include... The Message Bible, The Amplified Translation and others. Which One Do I Use? I personally use the ESV for my personal study. I also cross-reference the NIV, and NLT translations. For our first discussion, we will be talking about who Jesus is. Now, I want you to imagine with me fir a moment that Jesus was standing in front of you and that you were having a conversation. What might he be saying? What might he be asking you to do? Is he even real? Is he actually white? It can sometimes be tough to imagine what Jesus is like but for the next few moments I am going to try and paint a picture for you of who Jesus actually is. Is Jesus Even Real?Yes. I can assure you that Jesus is very much real. Many people have debated over whether or not he is actually the messiah or whether he was just a person. But the Bible tells us that Jesus died and rose again from the grave. We know for sure that Jesus was dead. Let's take a look in scripture. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. - John 19:32-34 This shows us quite clearly that Jesus was already dead before the soldiers even came to him. But in order to be the messiah he also had to be raised again... Was Jesus Raised Again?Some people argue over whether or not Jesus died and rose again. Some think that maybe Jesus just passed out while others argue that his disciples took his body. Neither of these arguments when you begin to think about them really make sense. We have medical evidence that Jesus was in fact dead and the tomb was guarded quite heavily by soldiers. They wouldn't have let the disciples in to steal the body. Even if they would have tried to kill the guards in order too get the body, the guards were trained and experienced and could have easily killed them before they could get through. So when we begin to think about it, the only thing that really could have happened was that Jesus was killed, burried, and then three days later he rose again.
ReKnew is a christian blog taking theological questions like, is drinking a sin, or is water baptism requried for salvation, and answers them from a biblical perspective.
For most of my posts I will get the questions from an app called Got Questions? and a podcast/YouTube series called Real Truth Real Quick as well as a few other sources so be sure and check those out as well. |
About The AuthorPhilip is a student at Evangel University and has a passion for Jesus and his local church. |