The Wartburg Watch » Answers in Genesis

Andy Davis and His Associations

deb — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:11:22 +0000

"This made such an impression on my heart that I got up out of my hammock, picked up a saw, and cut off a leafy green branch from a tree. As soon as the saw passed through the branch, I knew that the leaves were as good as dead, even though they looked as healthy as they had a moment before. Soon they would wither because they were cut off from the living source. I took that branch with me to work and still have it. The leaves are completely dead now, because I cut that branch almost ten years ago. It represented the end of the era of unregenerate church members dominating the life of FBC." (link) Andy Davis Cathedral in Europe (Taken by Deb) Andy Davis, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, claims to possess great discernment regarding what is "Biblical". In fact, he is so sure of himself that he proclaims the following at the conclusion of his reformation article posted on the 9 Marks website (see link above): "ONE OF THE GREATEST DISPLAYS OF GOD’S GLORY The reformation of First Baptist Church is one of the greatest displays of God’s glory that Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Dec 09 2011.

Categories: Authoritarian leadership, Carolyn Mahaney, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Ken Ham, Scott Brown

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The Fred Principle: Fundamental Evangelicals Rejecting Reason

dee — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:57:09 +0000

The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind. Mark Noll amazon.com TWW has often quoted from Mark Noll’s landmark book called: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. His premise is this. “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” Noll contends that evangelicals need to “repent for their neglect of the mind.” He expresses deep concern that such Christians have abandoned the intellectual heritage of the Protestant Reformation. On 10/17/11, The New York Times printed an op ed piece, link, written by two self-described evangelicals, Karl Giberson and Randall Stephens titled The Evangelical Rejection of Reason. They are authors of The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age. They use Mark Noll’s premise as a basis for their assertions. All quotes from this piece are labeled (NYT). Karl Giberson also appeared on NPR on 10/20/11 discussing “Evangelical Christians Form Parallel Structure.” Link. Quotes from this piece will be labeled (NPR). In the NPR piece, Neil Conan, the host used the term fundamental evangelicals. One TWW reader calls them fundagelicals.This term appears to be used more and more frequently to describe a certain subset Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Mon, Oct 24 2011.

Categories: Al Mohler, Answers in Creation, Answers in Genesis, Creationism, Ken Ham, Science and faith

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IndoctriNation and the Blame Game

deb — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 03:05:11 +0000

"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV) Have you heard about a newly released movie called "IndoctriNation"? According to its promoters, it is a “90-minute documentary film that takes the audience on a panoramic exploration of one of the most important and controversial issues in the history of mankind, the issue of education. Traveling all over America with his family in a big yellow school bus and conducting a series of candid conversational interviews, Colin Gunn, a Scottish filmmaker, actor, and homeschool father of seven children living in Texas, is on a quest to discover the origins of our modern educational system. What he discovers is a masterful design that sought to replace God's recipe for training up the next generation with a humanistic, man-centered program that fragmented the family and undermined the influence of the Church and its Great Commission.” (link) To give you an idea of the documentary's focus, here are some quotes from the trailer which you can view at the above link. “When you send that child off to school today, you’re sending them into a pagan society.“ Charles Stanley Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Oct 21 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Creationism, Doug Philips, Education and the church, Homeschooling, Ken Ham

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The “Creation” of a Mohler / Ham Alliance?

deb — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:46:10 +0000

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1 (NASB) One of our primary goals here at TWW is to detect trends within Christendom and then alert our readers with our findings. In early January we posted an article entitled: "Al Mohler's Young Earth Rhetoric Heats Up". (link) In that post we made the following statement: "We believe the Young Earth Creationists, such as Al Mohler and Ken Ham, have made creationism a doctrinal issue. In other words, if you don’t believe just as they do – that the earth was created in six literal 24 hour days – then you are simply WRONG! This is legalism at its worst. It is incredible that Mohler “accepts without hesitation the fact that the world indeed looks old,” yet he insists on one view of creation – Young Earth." Over ten months have passed since publishing that remark, and it appears we may be witnessing the "creation" of an alliance between Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Ken Ham, founder and president of Answers in Genesis. Why? Well, look who was featured as keynote speaker at the Answers for Pastors Conference hosted by Answers in Genesis Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Oct 20 2011.

Categories: Al Mohler, Answers in Genesis, Creationism, Homeschooling, Ken Ham, The Flintstone Doctrine

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Family Integrated Church Wrap-Up

deb — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:20:16 +0000

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." Abraham Lincoln Church in French Countryside (Taken by Deb) Family integrated churches are beginning to garner some attention in the Christian community, and it appears this is due, in part, to self-promotion. The documentary "Divided" is a case in point. This video plays the blame game regarding why youth are leaving the church and holds up the FIC model as the ONLY solution for keeping the next generation from slipping away from the Christian faith. Of course, the video presents valid criticisms regarding youth ministry, parents, and church structure (i.e. Sunday School). That’s what makes this propaganda piece so deceptive. The FIC model seems to work best in the homeschooling community, as one of our commenters pointed out. As I have mentioned before, I homeschooled my daughters for four years when they were very young, and I believe this educational option can be a wonderful choice for some families. What greatly concerns me about the FIC movement is that from what I understand, homeschooling is the only acceptable form of education. The “government schools” as the FIC crowd calls public schools, are lambasted. Where is the liberty in such a strict religious system? Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Sep 29 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Creationism, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Homeschooling, Ken Ham, NCFIC, Patriarchy, Scott Brown

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“Divided” – A Review

deb — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:39:15 +0000

"United we stand, divided we fall." Aesop Greek slave & fable author (620 BC – 560 BC) Taken by Deb "Divided" is a documentary written by Scott Brown’s son-in-law, Peter Bradrick, as indicated in the credits. Philip Leclerc goes on a journey to discover why a purported two-thirds of young people are leaving the church. He interviews a variety of Christian leaders and slowly builds his case that the solution to this tragic problem can be found in the family-integrated church model. Folks, it's just that simple… Early in the video Leclerc attends a Christian rock concert with flashing lights, blaring music, and fanatical teens. He explains that this experience opened his eyes to how worldliness has crept into Christianity. Leclerc responds with these scripted words: “I think we all know my generation needs to abandon the world and play to Christ, but yet here I see no distinction between worldliness and Christianity. It occurred to me if the church is allowing worldliness in here and calling it Christian, how can I trust the church not allowing the brokenness of the world in elsewhere and calling it Christian?" In the next clip, we see Ken Ham, founder and president Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Sep 28 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Creationism, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Ken Ham, NCFIC, Science and faith, Scott Brown

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“Divided” Lives Up To Its Name

deb — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:27:11 +0000

"He that is not a son of Peace is not a son of God. All other sins destroy the Church consequentially; but Division and Separation demolish it directly…" Richard Baxter Mondsee Abbey Location of The Sound of Music wedding (Taken by Deb) How ironic that a documentary lambasting age segregation in the church is itself causing division and separation among God's people. Have you heard of a documentary appropriately called "Divided"? The caption atop the promo states: “One of the most controversial films of the decade: Is modern youth ministry multiplying or dividing the church?” Looks like the film’s producers were correct. Divided is so controversial that Ron Hunter, executive director and CEO of Randall House, which sponsors the D6 Conference, banned the film. Here is how Charisma News covered the development: (link) “Divided, a documentary film that raises probing questions about dangers associated with modern youth ministry, has been thrown out of a major conference. Having gone viral with over 100,000 online views, Divided has generated an enormous response in the blogosphere since being released on www.Dividedthemovie.com. The film's message—that churches should follow the Bible's pattern of ministering to young people, not disregard it—has been deemed as too controversial Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Mon, Sep 26 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Botkin, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Homeschooling, Ken Ham, Scott Brown

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Is Sunday School Unbiblical?

deb — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:23:22 +0000

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD: A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible; Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter. Little Rick was excited about the task — but, he just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line. On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, 'The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know.'" (link) Westminster Abbey (Taken by Deb) While the Sunday School quote cited above may be humorous, what is happening today in the body of Christ is no joke! As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, there is another group of helicopter parents on steroids that is wreaking havoc in some corners of Christendom. It has been quite a while since we focused on them, and we believe it is important to update our readers on the latest developments involving this close-knit group. This domineering clan, which touts homeschooling as the only Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Sep 15 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Authoritarian leadership, Botkin, Calvinism/Calvinista, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Homeschooling, Ken Ham, Legalism

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The Earth Is Fixed and the Sun Moves- Real Christians Believe It!

dee — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:59:59 +0000

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is a ridiculous fiction. How do you think these germs in the air can be numerous enough to develop into all these organic infusions? If that were true, they would be numerous enough to form a thick fog, as dense as iron." Professor Pierre Pochet, 1872 NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC/Caltech) (With thanks to Dr John Lennox and Fixed Point Foundation) Your humble blog queen has seen the error of her ways. She now believes that we must take the Bible literally whenever possible. No more literary framework, no more cultural sensitivities, historical perspectives or scientific discoveries will be considerd. If the Bible says it; I believe it and I intend to believe it as Calvin's simple plouwboy. Calvin taught that every plowboy should be able to read and interpret the Scriptures for himself. Link (Calvin knew his Bible almost as well as Jesus). None other than Al Mohler, President of Southern Seminary, has declared war on all those who do not adhere to a strict literal interpretation of Genesis. In fact, he said it is of Gospel importance. In a talk entitled Why Does the Universe Look So Old, he said: “I would Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Fri, Sep 02 2011.

Categories: Al Mohler, Creationism, Ken Ham, The Flintstone Doctrine, Theology

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I Do Not Like Green Eggs and (ken) Ham

dee — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:18:23 +0000

“They that approve a private opinion, call it opinion; but they that dislike it, heresy." Thomas Hobbes Accusation of a Witch-PeabodyEssex Museum Salem MA. When I first heard about the current Ken Ham fiasco, I thought: karma, kismet, providence, destiny, what goes around comes around, you reap what you sow, and on and on. Then, I confess, there was schadenfreude. For a minute I gloated that someone finally had the good sense to call this demeaning agitator on the carpet. But, then again, one should not take delight in the misfortunes of others, no matter how well deserved. Darn it. At the end of this post, I will post both the Great Homeschool’s “disinvitation” to Ham and Ham’s response. I will also include a response from Biologos. Please click on the “rest of the story” link at the end of this post to see the letters. I especially thank the Unsettled Christianity blog for providing these letters all in one spot. So, What’s the Skinny? Ken Ham’s group, Answers in Genesis, has long held a lock on many of the homeschool conferences and groups in the United States. His materials are displayed and are Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Thu, Mar 31 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Biologos, Creationism, Francis Collins, Hugh Ross, Ken Ham

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