Legend has it that Colonel William Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword and asked his men to choose their fate: surrender and leave the Alamo or stay with Travis and defend the mission till their death. 

In this episode of Wisdom from Above I am drawing a line in the sand. We must either stand for the Bible as truth, or we will have no foundation for our faith, or for the faith of this next generation. 

Progressive Christianity is infiltrating the church. In line with the postmodern belief in relativism, Progressive Christianity has rejected the concept of absolute truth.  In line with the postmodern belief in skepticism, Progressive Christianity values questions more than answers. In line with the postmodern belief in subjectivism, Progressive Christianity values experience over doctrine.

One of the errors promoted by Progressive Christianity is contemplative Prayer. Richard Foster's book, A Celebration of Discipline, is a foundational book for most Progressive Churches. Two of the major ideas promoted in his book are Foster's reconstructed "Spiritual Disciplines" and "Contemplative Prayer."

This episdode of Wisdom from Above explores the background, components, techniques, and goals of Contemplative Prayer.  Some of what you learn in this episode will be shocking. We all need to be aware of the dangers of Contemplative Prayer because it is slowly infiltrating into more and more churches.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6). Is that a statement of exclusivity as traditional historic Christianity has always believed? It certainly looks like Jesus is saying He is the only way to the Father. Whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life. Whoever does not believe in Jesus does not have eternal life. That clearly sounds like a statement of exclusivity. But Progressive Christianity says just the opposite. Progressive Christianity says this verse is a statement of inclusivity. How can that be?

When we read that God so loved the world, traditional historic Christianity would say that means God loves all the people in the world. But Progressive Christianity says it means something entirely different than that. They say it means God loves this planet... the land and water, the plants and trees, the animals and man? Is that right? Is that why Jesus came to earth? Is that the gospel?

Join us in this fascinating look at a couple worldview shaping doctrines... what we believe about hell and what we believe about salvation.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6). Is that a statement of exclusivity as traditional historic Christianity has always believed? It certainly looks like Jesus is saying He is the only way to the Father. Whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life. Whoever does not believe in Jesus does not have eternal life. That clearly sounds like a statement of exclusivity. But Progressive Christianity says just the opposite. Progressive Christianity says this verse is a statement of inclusivity. How can that be? 

When we read that God so loved the world, traditional historic Christianity would say that means God loves all the people in the world. But Progressive Christianity says it means something entirely different than that. They say it means God loves this planet... the land and water, the plants and trees, the animals and man? Is that right? Is that why Jesus came to earth? Is that the gospel?

Join us in this fascinating look at a couple worldview shaping doctrines... what we believe about hell and what we believe about salvation.

Season 4 of Wisdom from Above is focusing on Dangers Infiltrating the Church. The first danger we are looking at is postmodernism. Postmodernism is characterized by relativism, skepticism, and subjectivism. Postmodernism is infiltrating the church through Progressive Christianity. 

In Episode 1 of Season 4, we saw that Progressive Christianity undermines the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scripture. 

In this second episode of Wisdom from Above we are going to discover what Progressive Christianity has to say about the doctrines of God and Jesus and Sin and Substitutionary Atonement. Hold onto your hat because in this episode you might feel like the storm chaser who is leaning directly into the eye of a storm.

Podcast #40. The theme of this fourth season is Dangers Infiltrating the Church. We live in a post-modern world that is characterized by skepticism, subjectivism, and relativism. Those three characteristics have impacted the culture, the church and Christianity. Progressives have a strong commitment to present Christianity in a way that makes sense to our postmodern culture. They believe the church needs to continue to evolve to keep up with culture and to reach this next generation. Unfortunately, though what they crave is good, what they create is bad. It is good to want to reach new youth; but it is bad to reject historic truth.  It is good to be relevant; but it is bad to be wrong! There is a great danger in allowing culture to be more authoritative than Scripture. Progressive Christianity is doing just that. They are failing to stand for truth as truth. In line with the postmodern belief in relativism, they reject the concept of absolute truth. In line with the postmodern belief in skepticism, they value questions more than answers. In line with the postmodern belief in subjectivism, they have come to value experience over doctrine. In this episode we are focusing on how these dangerous ideas are weakening the historic view of the Bible.

In our last episode we rejected the Critical Race Theory (CRT) worldview in favor of the Biblical worldview.  Some might think that if a person rejects CRT, then they really do not care about the injustice of racism and oppression. But that is not true. Those who hold the Biblical worldview do care about justice. In fact, we care deeply about justice. As Micah declared, "What does the Lord require of thee... but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." CRT theorists believe in secular social justice; Bible believers hold to Biblical social justice. This episode highlights the distinctions between secular social justice and Biblical social justice. This is another Distinction Worth Knowing. 

Season 3 of Wisdom from Above is entitled Distinctions Worth knowing. This podcast is dedicated to determining the distinction between the Critical Race Theory worldview and the Biblical worldview. 

The distinctions are glaring because the CRT worldview sees the problem as a breakdown in the horizontal relationships between mankind, while the Biblical worldview sees the problem as a breakdown in the horizontal relationships between man and God. 

The distinctions are great because the CRT worldview finds hope in self, state, and society, while the Biblical worldview finds hope in God. 

The distinctions are gigantic because the CRT worldview is based on the reasoning of man, while the Biblical worldview is based on the revelation of God. 

CRT is being pushed and promoted in many universities, many workplaces, many schools, and even in many churches. Join us as we discover the important distinctions between the CRT worldview and the Biblical worldview. 

Season 3 of Wisdom from Above is focusing on Distinctions Worth Knowing. This episode will distinguish between what John Calvin taught and what the Bible teaches. Calvinism has five main points. They are most often remembered by the acronym TULIP. T = Total Inability. U = Unconditional Election. L = Limited Atonement. I = Irresistible Grace. P = Perseverance of the Saints. These points are all very logical, but the critical question is this, "Are they Biblical?"  If we truly want to go beyond the reasoning of men to the revelation of God, we must search the Scriptures. In this episode we summarize the Calvinistic teaching of these five points and then we turn to the Bible to see what it says about these five points. Calvinism is a clear presentation of intellectual logic, but it is not a clear presentation of Biblical truth. There are many very straightforward passages of Scripture that indicate we should reject all five points of Calvinism. Join us as we investigate the distinction between Calvinism and Biblicism.

To bless Israel or not to bless Israel... that is the question. Should I bless Israel? Should America bless Israel? If the answer is "yes," then why is it "yes"? What are the reasons why I should bless Israel? What are the reasons why America should bless Israel? Let me make it clear. I think the answer is "yes!" We should bless Israel. I want to take a few minutes to give the reasons for blessing Israel... cultural reasons, diplomatic reasons, military reasons, and financial reasons.  Then, having looked at those reasons, I want to top off this podcast with nine Biblical reasons why we should bless Israel. Hold onto your hat, because are going to fly through these reasons. In the end, I think you will join me in blessing Israel!