I recently wrote a response to a video of Voddie Baucham addressing the idea of Christian Nationalism (here). The same individual who asked me to review the video responded to that post and while I usually do not engage in such back and forth in this format I thought I would make an exception and respond directly to the comment here.

 Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”

I was asked to review and critique a sermon by Dr Voddie Baucham about Christian Nationalism.1 A few words before I engage in that exercise, I am not trying to belittle Dr. Baucham in any way nor disparage his legacy, I am simply critiquing one message. Further there are things in this message I appreciated and even though I am not going to dwell on those things I want to mention that .

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33 22 Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.

Scripture: Daniel 6:10-23 10 Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. 11 Then those men watched and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God.

Scripture: Genesis 6:11-22 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw that the earth was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

Scripture: Daniel 7:1-3, 13-18  In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: 2 I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3 and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.

Scripture: Ruth 4:1-12  No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin of whom Boaz had spoken came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the town and said, “Sit down here,” so they sat down.

Scripture: Joshua 6:15-27 15 On the seventh day they rose early, at dawn, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. 16 And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:31-51 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father, and whenever a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth, and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it.

Scripture: John 17:13-26 13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.

Scripture: Jonah 1:1-17 1Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Over the last few weeks I've seen the CS Lewis quote: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” frequently. And I was glad that Erika Kirk spoke of forgiving her husband's killer. I genuinely pray she has the resolve to maintain that sentiment because forgiveness is both difficult and an ongoing process.

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-9 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Scripture: Philippians 1:12-30 12 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the progress of the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ, 14 and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might gain all the more. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to gain Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might gain those under the law.

I have been writing a series of posts this year about young earth creationist (YEC) organizations-- particularly Answers in Genesis (AiG) and the deceptive tactics they use. In previous posts (here) I have talked about specific deceptions and a little history of the YEC position.1 My goal in those posts was to provide Christians with the barest of overviews about these organizations and how they lie to maintain control over the narrative.

In this ongoing, series I am pointing out how Young Earth Creationist (YEC) groups particularly Answers in Genesis (AiG) use deceptive statements to further their particular views on the Bible, science and Christianity. (Previous posts can be found here). But unlike my other posts where I wrote about specific statements and how they were deceptive, in this post I want to point out something different.

Scripture: Luke 12:35-48 35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.

This is sadly too true. When I find God in nature God is saying, "This is beautiful do you love it as much as I do?" And I have to think I appreciate the beauty but am I caring for creation the way God does. There is a sense that I am like God and a recognition of where I need to grow to be like God.

Scripture: Mark 10:17-31 17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 As we work together with him, we entreat you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: in great endurance, afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 in purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute.