Christian Heritage News

This protestant church is where pastor André Trocmé called for non-violent resistance to Nazism in June 1940. It is located in Haute-Loire, France. (Source: Wikipedia - Pensées de Pascal  )  By John Stonestreet and Glenn Sunshine - Posted at Breakpoint: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon is a small village in south-central France. Back in 1940, the total population of this area, including the surrounding villages, was only about 5,000. Still, under the leadership of their Protestant pastor André Trocmé and his wife, Magda, the residents of these villages were responsible for saving up to 5,000 Jews from deportation to Nazi concentration camps during World War II. In late January, Holocaust survivor Eric Schwam passed away at age 90. According to a BBC article, Schwam, a native of Vienna, arrived in Le Chambon in 1943, a refugee along with his mother, father, and grandfather. After the war, Schwam eventually returned to Austria to live a quiet life. However, he never forgot the people of Le Chambon

 By Dr. Peter Jones - Posted at TruthXchange: I recently heard a sermon that gave me deep concern. It was on 1 Peter 4:12–13, a text that predicts serious suffering for Christian believers. Peter, who was crucified upside down by the “civil” authorities of Rome, wrote: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Peter was writing to Christians under persecution for not worshiping the Roman emperor, who believed himself to be god. As I listened to the sermon preached in 2021, I couldn’t help wondering what Christians will suffer and are already suffering in our time and in cultures around the world. A few days before hearing that sermon, I received an email from Christian Concern, a UK legal defense ministry similar to the Alliance Defending Freedom. The article desc

 Posted at Reformation Scotland: "However much the Lord has just indignation against the gross iniquities of those outside the Church and will in due time punish them, He will also chastise His people... Each day almost seems to bring further news of ways in which biblical values are being subverted. In society, government and education we witness the advance of an agenda bulldozing remaining Christian values and silencing opposition. The headlines are a source of great grief and perhaps weary silent questioning. What are the prospects for the future? Why is rebellion against God prevailing? It seems only to be increasing at an ever-rapid rate. Others have been in similar circumstances, and we find similar concerns in the book of Habakkuk. God’s people were suffering under the oppressive rule of pagan conquerors. Habakkuk wants to know how this is consistent with God’s purpose and promises. He discovers that things will in fact get worse but that he must also take the long view an

 By Jordan Standridge - Posted at The Cripplegate: Samuel Sey tweeted something recently that came as a shock for many christians. A church in Canada is going to reopen next month (after being closed since covid began) but with a twist, they will be requiring a vaccine passport for people to come in the doors. The writer of the article , who is the pastor of the church, said that if Jesus been alive today, he would have done the same. After appealing to science for his decision, the pastor made a shift into theology. He said Jesus would agree with him. Read more...

By Kyle Borg - Posted at Gentle Reformation: Today the Federal Drug Administration granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19. In the lead-up to that news, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said such an approval will likely increase vaccine requirements especially in places of business and educational institutions. Not unexpectedly, the societal discussion around this topic has been extremely contentious, and there are sincerely held and well-informed opinions on both ends of the spectrum about whether or not to get the COVID-19 vaccination. In arguing the Bill of Rights before the first session of Congress, James Madison asserted that the "rights of conscience" is something for which "the people in America are most alarmed." What was civilly true of our founding has, for a long time, been religiously true too. The Protestant and Presbyterian tradition to which I belong has valued the liberty of conscience both in society and within the church. As citize

 By Slimjim - Posted at The Domain for Truth: These days as some of us pray for Afghanistan and wanting to find out more news of what’s going on there on the ground it can be frustrating with how little we know, and what we do know is distressing. Its also been a time that I’ve seen some reflect back the last 20 years since 9/11. For me it led me to think also about my own family’s history as the events in Afghanistan have been compared to the fall of Saigon. I thought I share this, in gratitude to God, and the kindness of American Christians in America’s Mid-West. By the way this post isn’t political partisan politics, nor a support for interventionist political policy, but simply stories of the human experience, and thoughts about with God and also his work through Christians in America. My mom’s side of the family had family members that were involved militarily with America’s secret War in South East Asia against the Communists while the Vietnam War was raging on. Some of you re

Afghans cling to a U.S. Air Force C-17 as it takes off from a runway in Kabul. (Screenshot via Twitter - Source: MilitaryTimes.com )  By Ron Paul - Posted at The Ron Paul Institute: This weekend the US experienced another “Saigon moment,” this time in Afghanistan. After a 20 year war that drained trillions from Americans’ pockets, the capital of Afghanistan fell without a fight. The corrupt Potemkin regime that the US had been propping up for two decades and the Afghan military that we had spent billions training just melted away. The rush is on now to find somebody to blame for the chaos in Afghanistan. Many of the “experts” doing the finger-pointing are the ones most to blame. Politicians and pundits who played cheerleader for this war for two decades are now rushing to blame President Biden for finally getting the US out. Where were they when succeeding presidents continued to add troops and expand the mission in Afghanistan? The US war on Afghanistan was not lost yesterday in Kabul

 By Lawrence W. Reed - Posted at the Foundation for Economic Education: Of the Presbyterian theologian J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937), Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and Nobel laureate Pearl S. Buck declared, The man was admirable. He never gave in one inch to anyone. He never bowed his head. It was not in him to trim or compromise, to accept any peace that was less than triumph. He was a glorious enemy because he was completely open and direct in his angers and hatreds. He stood for something and everyone knew what it was. Lest you be tempted to dismiss Buck’s praise as predictably biased because, after all, she was raised by Presbyterian missionaries living in China, consider the view of H.L. Mencken. Mencken was known for his caustic criticisms of Christians in general and ministers in particular. He described the Creator as “a comedian whose audience is afraid to laugh” and once wrote, “Shave a gorilla and it would be almost impossible, at twenty paces, to distinguish him from a he

By Al Baker - Posted at  FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS : volume 20, number 32, August 12, 2021 “Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin.” -Jeremiah 7:34 The Scriptures are replete with references to the consequences of sin. A person, family, church, or nation cannot live long without experiencing the consequences of disobedience to God and His word. God will do what He promises to do. As the nation of Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, Yahweh spoke through Moses to tell His covenant people that if they obeyed Him they would be blessed and prosper in the land (Dt.28:1-14), but He also told them that if they disobeyed Him they would be cursed with horrifying consequences (Dt.28:15-68). Israel very quickly disobeyed Him and went after false gods. God sent many prophets but the people continued in their diso

 By Ron Paul - Posted at The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity: The Senate Armed Services Committee approved last month a National Defense Authorization Act that includes a requirement that women register with Selective Service on their 18th birthday. If the bill becomes law with this provision included and a military draft is reinstated, women will be forced to join the military, and America will have equality in slavery. Proponents of drafting women argue that since women can now serve in combat it makes sense to make the draft “gender neutral.” Some conservatives have made moral arguments against drafting women, saying that women should be able to decide for themselves whether or not to serve in the military. It is certainly true that it is immoral to force women into military service, but that is because it is wrong to force anyone into military service. Forcing young people, regardless of their sex, to fight, kill, and even die in war is the worst violation of individual

By Mark Loughridge - Posted at Gentle Reformation : One of the great buzz words of our times is ‘authenticity’—we are to be ‘authentic’. We are meant to express ourselves authentically— from “I’m just saying what I feel” to “I just had to walk away from my wife and children—I had to be true to myself.” Obviously I believe in being honest and genuine, but often ‘authenticity’ is less about being honest and more a justification for doing what we want despite the needs of others around us. It is the great whitewash agent of the 21st century, used to excuse much. Authenticity seems to be premised in the crazy idea that we are somehow innately good, and in being authentic we are somehow peeling back the layers to expose that innate goodness. Read more...

 By Zachary Garris - Posted at Knowing Scripture: The egalitarian books just keep coming. And they will keep coming as long as people keep buying. The latest trend is for women authors to attack complementarianism, the view that men are to lead in the home and church, as being rooted in unbelieving cultures. I previously reviewed two popular books by women who attend complementarian churches (both in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church), Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Aimee Byrd and Beyond Authority and Submission by Rachel Green Miller. Beth Allison Barr’s book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth , is different in that she is openly egalitarian, explicitly advocating for women to serve as pastors. In this sense, Barr’s book is less dangerous. Whereas Miller and Byrd seek to push complementarianism in an egalitarian direction, Barr calls for a complete abandonment of complementarianism. Barr’s attack is much less subtle