The Environment, Politics, and Christians

Gordon Wilson, "Is the Dominion Mandate Green?" Fight Laugh Feast, Spring 2022, pg 31.

"The flood was the biggest act of judgment in all of history but the ark was the biggest biodiversity conservation act in all of history.  Keep this in mind in formulating your opinion on saving endangered species.

"When we immerse ourselves in the great outdoors it not only refreshes our spirit, it declares the glory of God and also puts my life in perspective by revealing how utterly puny I am.

"Our tendency is to exert political muscle power to affect change on a big scale.  But getting into political activism or into office to exert top-down political pressure to change environmental policies isn't very realistic for most of us and not very effective in a democracy....  But if you're called to that, knock yourself out.  For the rank and file, the best approach is grassroots change....  

"Cultivate an appreciation of nature in yourself and your kids... because you love its Creator."

Of Whiteness...

Thoughts after listening to Brian Sauve's latest King's Hall podcast, "Of Whiteness...."

When woke people make you feel guilty for being white, the proper response is not to take pride in being white.  Any pride in cultural achievements must always be tempered by gospel conviction of sin, more than comparing your culture favorably to other cultures.  God's holiness is the standard, not the politics of man.

Skin color is morally neutral, and whiteness is not a "proxy" for Christianity.  When the left attacks white identity and Christianity, it does so out of envy against the majority, as all the players in a board game go after the one who is starting to win.

White people face reverse discrimination today, as the podcast points out.  The solution is not to embrace or advocate for whiteness in any way, other than to say, "It's as okay to be white as it is to be black or brown."  Conservatives today are in the same position as blacks in the 1960s: many were tempted to Malcolm X's more radical position, favoring blacks over whites, and working for it violently.  So today, conservatives are tempted to the politics of power, aggressive rhetoric, and group assertion.  But MLK had the right dream: judge people by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

The woke left is a leveling force, akin to the French Revolution as Sauve points out, seeking to be the "more equal" pigs of Orwell's Animal Farm.  They want God's power - that's why they attack His image in the world, and accuse everyone else of being motivated only by power.  It's literally Satanic.  Western civilization and Christianity are in the way of their goals.

To assume they are really just after us as Christians is partially true (see Revelation 12:13-17).

But to respond with White Boy Summer is weird, and very off base.

Instead, the church needs to continue to assert that God is there, and has made us all in His image.  That Jesus has restored our broken humanity.  This gospel is what gives every person equal dignity, freedom of conscience, and brotherhood/fellowship (fraternitie).  

The state cannot give us those three hallmarks of the French Revolution.  

Neither can your assertion or celebration of your particular heritage or identity.

Only the Gospel of Jesus the Christ can do this.

A Douglas Wilson Day

The joke and limerick here are really good!

https://dougwils.com/resources/the-content-muster/content-cluster-muster-09-30-21-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-8-4.html

How to think about baptism

https://dougwils.com/the-church/christ-not-water.html

Moses' Ethiopian Wife

 I just listened to a sermon on Hebrews 3, Moses faithful in God’s house as a servant, and it referred to his Ethiopian wife, which I’d forgotten about.  Here’s the fruit of a bit of study I did.

 

In Numbers 12:1, Aaron and Miriam criticize Moses for his Cushite wife.  Cush was the normal bible name for Ethiopia, then.  Opinion is mixed on this:

 

1 - how could Moses have had a second, foreign wife, if he was faithful?  They must have been talking about Zipporah – maybe Cush was a geographical name for where Jethro lived.

 

2 - there’s no way you can make this wife be Zipporah.  Moses had an Ethiopian wife, and God was fine with it.

 

I go with #2.  Besides there being nothing wrong with an inter-racial marriage, God had singled out Moses for leadership.  Aaron and Miriam were jealous, and just using this as an excuse in a popularity campaign against him.  God rebukes them for it.

 

This is a tactic we see all the time on our political landscape today, and God says we should avoid it.

 

Don’t highlight a questionable-but-okay practice, to throw shade on those you want to take down a peg or two.

Nationalism // Republican Tensions

 Two articles from a local paper on the west side of the state:

1. A local pastor writes about nationalism and patriotism, and the difference.

2. The Detriot Free Press writes an article less biased and more informative than usual, on the state of Republican party.  It highlights candidates I'm voting for August 2, so was highly interesting.

Refuge and Assurance, for When We Confess

 Psalm 9:9-14

    "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
    A refuge in times of trouble.
    10      And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
    For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
    11      Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion!
    Declare His deeds among the people.
    12      When He avenges blood, He remembers them;
    He does not forget the cry of the humble.
    13      Have mercy on me, O LORD!
    Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
    You who lift me up from the gates of death,
    14      That I may tell of all Your praise
    In the gates of the daughter of Zion.

    I will rejoice in Your salvation."

When we prepare to confess our sins, we usually set some aspect of our sinfulness out there and think about it.  We need to remember how we are sinful.  That’s good to do.  But Another important way to prepare to confess our sins is here in Ps 9: we need to remember that God is our refuge, vs 9.  When you confess your fault to someone, you are confiding in them, opening yourself up to them.  We can do that to God, and He will take care of us.  He will lift us up from the gates of death, vs 13.  It’s almost as if we need to start with the assurance of pardon, to be okay confessing our sins.

 

We don’t realize how much we need assurance.  Our children need to hear from us, that it’s going to be okay.  Your spouse needs to hear and see that you still love her or him.  God is constantly assuring us in His Word of His love for us.

 

So David asks God to consider his trouble, vs 13.  He asks this a lot.  But trouble can come at you, through no fault of your own.  Or you can cause your own trouble.  When you cause your own trouble, it’s time to set it before God, admit your fault.  Forgiveness will follow.  Vs 14, Rejoicing and telling God’s praise comes after, too.

Call to confession - 07/24/22

Submission or Resistance? // A Debtor to Grace Today?

 This was a very insightful interview with Glenn Sunshine, on Romans 13, church history, and our current politics.

"O to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be..."
I found this article VERY edifying spiritually.
How are we in debt to God for His grace to us, yet today, if at all?
Should we seek to pay off this debt?
Please read carefully, for your own spiritual health.

A Review of Stranger Things 4

 

I’ve been watching Stranger Things 4. 

 

Yikes.

 

As I went to bed (eyes wide open, trying not to fall asleep), I realized how close to a Christian worldview it is.  The monster comes to kill/crush you, because of your guilt.  But there is a way of escape from his curse.

 

But of course the show’s specific diagnosis and solution is wrong on both counts.  The guilt that crushes in the show is subjective – feeling bad after a traumatic experience happened to you, feeling like you caused some bad thing you’re going through, when you didn’t.  It’s a hard assertion of the view Oprah often croons softly: “you aren’t responsible for this!  Bad people around you put you through this!”  If we’d just believe this, and be able to forgive ourselves, monster Vecna couldn’t get us.

 

The way of escape offered is also friendship and loyalty to friends (and music).  This is good on a human level – “friends don’t lie.”  There’s also a fair bit of accountability among friends that is shown, which is good, though it’s done in a pretty hokey way.  We should express our love and commit to our friends, and encourage them to do what is needed in their lives.

 

But a supernatural demon-curse needs a supernatural solution.  And modern shows like Stranger Things will never acknowledge the existence of a good God above who might show you mercy and save you from the monster stronger than you.  No, we have to fix it, by our effort, ingenuity, unexplained abilities, and loyalty.  That way, Dustin, Mike, Will, El, and Max get the glory, not God.

 

After watching more, the Christian storyline is evident, though twisted in various ways.  Papa is God the Father, a flawed and misguided father.  He wants to bring out our abilities, but hurts those he tries to control/help.  He is irrelevant/dead, now, and we are on our own to fight evil.  The One character is Lucifer, who hates life and wants to destroy it.  Hawkins lab is heaven, where there was war among the angels.  One is cast out, but monsters are unleashed on the earth, because of it.  El is the Christ figure (cruciform positions and hanging between earth and heaven are frequent), but she makes mistakes, and has to learn to harness her power without hurting others.  The way Vecna kills people is very similar to crucifixion.

 

I’ll end with a positive note.  Stranger Things has a strong moral compass.  We see evil for what it is, and viscerally know how wrong and destructive it can be.  But evil is not just out there.  The show also depicts the subtlety of sin, the swords of scorn and dissension that can divide those who should be friends and allies in the cause against evil.

 

If you can handle a high level of gruesome violence, jump scares, and PG13 swearing, I’d recommend the show.

On Protesting at Abortion Clinics

 This news story on pro-life protests in Grand Rapids, MI, really got me thinking.

https://wng.org/podcasts/protesting-abortion-1657769684

 

All these things can be true at once:

 

These pro-life protesters are doing everything they can to save life and persuade women not to abort their babies.  Many kudos to them.

 

It is a populist error to knowingly act contrary to the ruling of state judges, which these protesters did.

 

It is good to appeal to lesser magistrates, in this case county prosecutors, who express a willingness to prosecute abortionists, contrary to the judge’s order.

 

It is good to appeal to the police to enforce the law according to that county prosecutor’s willingness.

 

It is quixotic (tilting at windmills, foolish to pursue a purpose that has no chance of success) to call 911 or continue blocking the sidewalk, when the police have given their decision and specific orders to you.

 

 

This is an excellent case study in civil disobedience.

The appeals were good, but getting arrested after the police tell you what to do appears to me either self-righteous or foolish.

Or is it akin to MLK getting arrested, to make a point, that the judge and the police are in the wrong?

 

 

I am firmly in the incrementalist camp, contra the abolitionist camp, when it comes to pro-life differences.  Wilberforce’s tactics were right: patient persuasion via the populace and the politicians.  The opposing abolitionist view is held by many in my circles, including zealous post-millennialists: not taking no for an answer from the decided policy of the state.  This makes you feel righteous in your defiance, but gets nowhere, and usually detracts from your cause.  Though I just poked at the other side, I don’t think we should fight with each other, but stay focused on persuading the culture of the pro-life position.

 

Pro-lifers should be making their case before state legislators and state judges right now, as well as continuing to persuade women – respectfully - to preserve life at abortion mills.

The Long Slide - Tucker Carlson Book Review

 

The Long Slide: Thirty Years in American Journalism by Tucker Carlson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve only watched Tucker Carlson’s show once or twice, ever.

Something about the constant scowl, mixed with the pretty boy face.
And I don’t get cable. I’m a dinosaur who discovered, literally, just last week that his show is on Youtube, too.

But when I read a review of “The Long Slide,” it intrigued me enough to try it at the local library.
I was NOT disappointed.

The review noted that the key to Carlson’s success is his good writing. That’s what makes his monologues compelling. After reading The Long Slide, I’m convinced that is true.

The book is a compilation of magazine articles from 20-25 years ago, NOT current events commentary. He is seldom partisan in his writing, though often covering political figures. Carlson’s strength in covering the likes of George W Bush, John McCain, and Al Sharpton, is his up-close observations of personal characteristics. McCain sleeping on the bus. Bush attracting evangelicals but using the f-word liberally in private. Being caught himself in a firefight in Baghdad’s green zone, while on the phone with his wife.

But the best articles were cultural, about growing up with the opposite of helicopter parents. I read one or two of these out loud to my family, and they are laugh-out-loud funny.

The introduction is the only commentary on current events. Here, Carlson blasts the publisher of his book for canceling authors for political reasons, which seems indisputably warranted to me. Simon and Schuster probably published it to refute his argument, but it was bizarre to see.

The title of the book is rather self-serving. Tucker is using his own articles to say, “see how far journalism has descended since I wrote these! Now it’s all just partisan hackery and advocacy journalism.” I would say not all. World magazine makes a valiant effort at unbiased journalism today.

But Carlson’s point is valid, however self-aggrandizing, and reading this is an edifying opening of a time capsule into the recent past.

4 stars.

View all my reviews

On Appreciating Your Judeo-Christian Heritage

 An article recently promoted by Gab prompts me to write.

 

“The Old Testament Belongs to Christ and His People Alone” by Andrew Isker

https://biblescienceforum.com/2022/07/13/

 

What is the relationship of Jew to Christian today?  Isker leans toward antipathy; I lean toward sympathy.

Is it appropriate to speak of a common Judeo-Christian heritage?  Isker argues no; I believe it is.

 

I agree with the article, that Jews are not saved by being Jews.  They must come to Christ in faith like anyone else.  If you don’t know the Son, Jesus, then you don’t know the God of the Old Testament, either.  True.  There should be no assumption of spiritual favoritism for the Jew before God, as a Jew.

 

But the Old Testament IS the heritage of the Jews – God revealed Himself to Abraham and his descendants.  To say they don’t belong to them, as the article title claims, is a deep insult and obviously untrue.  Have modern Jews forfeited the Old Testament writings by rejecting the Messiah they point to?  That is not how Paul spoke (Romans 3:2; 10:2).  Jesus didn’t even claim this when He said they were searching their Scriptures, and they spoke of Him (John 5:35).  Paul held out hope for his fellow countrymen, even while they largely rejected Jesus, the Christ, to his face.  He always went to the synagogue first in his mission work (Romans 1:16), because the Jews were seeking the Messiah.  When they rejected Jesus, Paul’s response was, “Maybe they’ll come to Him later, after many Gentiles do” (Romans 11:25-26).  It wasn’t, “The Old Testament isn’t even theirs at all.”  He didn’t speak of their Scriptures being taken from them, but that they had a veil of misunderstanding over their minds as they read them (2 Cor. 3:15).  It can be true that the Hebrew Scriptures still “belong to” the Jews (an ambiguous phrase), and also that when you reject the Son, you reject the Father (1 John 2:23).

 

A lot of Messianic Christian thought and practice is silly or unbiblical (keeping feasts, the exotic attraction of Hebrew words, in itself, e.g.), but it remains true that Christianity has Jewish roots.  We Christians are adopted, ingrafted children of Abraham, Jesus will always be the Son of David, and we should appreciate our family heritage.  Not stridently denounce and deride our older brothers (Romans 11:18).  The latter attitude will impoverish us of a great heritage.

 

The Jews did not reinvent their religion after 70AD, though they did adapt it to the lack of a temple and sacrifices.  Yes, they rejected Christ, and later codified many extraneous oral traditions in the Talmud.  But to call Judaism after 70AD a “cult formed after Christ,” and a “made-up religion” is false and uncharitable.  When Jews today reject Jesus, they do not reject their Scriptures, but misunderstand them.  They adhere to them zealously, but without knowledge (Rom 10:2).

 

What the OT asserts morally is continued on rightly by the Christian worldview.  The liberalism or legalism of modern Judaism is irrelevant.  Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, etc. would have sided with Christians in the culture wars against unbiblical immoral practices.  To refuse the ‘Judeo-Christian’ term is overly-exclusive, when we should welcome Mormons, Jews and Muslims in the public-square fight as co-belligerent allies for morals taught in the Old Testament.  The ”Judeo” doesn’t refer to contemporary, apostate, liberal Judaism.  It is claiming the heritage of God revealing Himself to His people, not only for 2,000 years, but for 6,000 years.

 

The position articulated in the article seems to be an over-reaction to dispensationalism, which favors Jews over-much.  I am not a dispensationalist, and never have been exposed much to their thought.  This may lead me to be less strident on these points.  A covenantal understanding of Scripture holds all of Scripture together, making a Judeo-Christian heritage a natural assumption.

 

This is a theological disagreement.  I do not assume any racist, or anti-semitic views on the other side.  It’s tempting to smell a visceral antipathy for modern Jews in such articles, but I think it is just a frustrated rebuke of those who have rejected Jesus, their own Messiah, whom they should receive.  Part of the difference here may be how a Christian views an orthodox Jew, in contrast with an LGBT advocate or an abortion doctor.  I see them both as apart from Christ, but in a very different light.  Not all who reject Christ are in the same deep level of wicked as Isker seems to assume the modern Jewish religion is.

 

I think my motivation in writing this is to maintain a high level of sympathy and openness to Text-believing Jews.  An open hand of invitation is far better than a door slammed in their face.

Life or Death // Alito's Great Speech // Jordan Peterson Speaks to the Christian Church

 George Grant exhorts us to continue working for life, broadening our view of pagan societies' war on life and children.

Samuel Alito gave a great speech to the Federalist Society during Covid, Nov 2020.

It is well worth your time.

15.40 Alito begins

18.00 What the Federalist Society is

21.00 The Rule of Law and the Covid Crisis

Jordan Peterson recently gave a message to Christian churches.

The last 3-5 minutes was the best.

JBP is NOT a Christian, does not believe the Bible is God's Word, and tolerates gross immorality (same sex parenting) in some of his work.  But his message here to churches regarding social justice, young men, and inviting people to church, is very good.

On Children in Worship

It is a real blessing to be a part of a church that welcomes our little ones into worship!  We believe it is God’s design for His covenant people of all ages to worship together.

 

This brings with it a special set of challenges that I’d like to address.  It’s important to love our neighbor, and to prioritize the corporate worship of the saints.

 

Parents with little ones:

Keep in mind that the highest priority is NOT that your little ones stay in the service, no matter how disruptive they become.  Rather, we want to help the whole body focus and worship together best.  The noise level has been rather high, lately, due to waiting a bit too long to take noisy children out.  Out of kindness to others, be quick to remove disruptive children for a time.  Going outside during temperate months may be ideal.  This may mean a lot of in-and-out for the 1-3-year-old saints!  And that is fine.  More in-and-out is less disruptive than assuming they’ll stop soon, and the whole church needing to strain to hear through a noisy child for a minute or two.  Getting a back, aisle seat can make this easier.  If you see a “melt-down” coming, take pre-emptive action!  Personally, I really enjoy it when I’m preaching and 1-2 parents are standing in the lobby, swaying and comforting a child in their arms!  Also, work during the week to train your children to sit still and to listen, as best they can.  Doing family worship together and interrupting it to train them to sit still is an ideal occasion for this.

 

Some parents cringe when there is a 5-decibel squawk from their infant, as if the whole church heard and condemns it.  They are overly sensitive.  Others are not sensitive enough to loud and long disruptions, because after all, they’re supposed to be in worship, right?

 

Please do not take ANY of this as condemnation.  Your church is rooting FOR you in the difficult task of parenting little ones during worship!  My wife can tell you stories of making it through worship services with a 5, 4, 3, and 1 year old, taking out first one, and then another, and then another, all while I was up front leading worship!  The struggle is real, and our congregational vows at baptism call us to be for you in it.  With that in mind…

 

Others:

Do your best to be deliberately UNdistracted by little people noises.  Decide not to be bothered, but to rejoice in the messiness of raising covenant children and worshiping God with them.  The temptation to judge others for the misbehavior of their children can be strong, and frankly defiling, during worship.  Condemning our brothers in Christ for this, while seeking to worship God with them, can be quite the act of hypocrisy.  Instead, sympathize with the toddler life-stage!  Parents of little ones often miss much of what is said in worship, because they are tending to children, and that will happen to those of us sitting around them, too, to a lesser degree.  That’s okay.  Being the body of Christ together in grace takes precedence over getting every word of teaching.  Encourage parents who are struggling, without any hints of criticism.  Feel free to give the officers feedback on this, and on the sound system – one reason we focus on the sound is to help it overcome background noise, with our acoustically active space!

 

 

“We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the LORD” (Exodus 10:9).  God wants our children with us in worship.  Let us honor Him and raise the next generation to do so, as well!

Streams of Reformed Christians Today

Reformed Theology is not a homogenous camp.  

We have intense, even vicious, debates with each other about various things.  Many people who come into the Reformed orbit through only one of these camps, are often weirded out, appalled, or take other streams as compromised or even heresy.  

This article is an attempt to describe the landscape, and call for Reformed people to have more charity with each other.  The camps are not always mutually exclusive.  But let us give more energy to a positive apologetic toward the unbeliever, and critique of the non-Reformed, before we fight with each other.

 

1. The Culture-friendly

Found mainly in the PCA, CRC, and maybe the ARP, this stream tends to welcome and be fine with people who adopt the same entertainment choices that the general world does.  Many of them send their children to public schools, and think it is fine.  Their churches offer programs from a more consumeristic mentality – classes and fun for the toddlers and teens, etc.

Publishers like Zondervan and Baker tend to cater to this market with theology more accommodating to cultural trends, and music that mimics pop culture.

 

 

2. The piety-minded

Another stream is focused on the means of grace: devotions, private and public worship.

Stricter denominations, like the RPCNA, and the Free Continuing Church of Scotland are in this camp.

Publishers like Banner of Truth and Reformation Heritage Books provide this camp with plenty of Puritan fodder.  Joel Beeke is a leading voice in this stream, today.

 

 

3. The hard-core theologian of the Truly Reformed

This camp consider themselves the policemen of the Reformed world, calling out every error and defining any deviance from Reformed thought.  Articulating down to the fine details what truly Reformed thought is.  Podcasts like Reformed Forum put forth this view today.  Guy Prentice Waters, Joe Morecraft, Louis Berkhof, and Herman Hoeksema are figures, past and present, that I’d put in this camp.  They are very confessionally-minded, and polemical against the error they see in others, or they write long, detailed systematic works articulating their theology.

 

 

4. Reformed Baptist

The resurgence of this view in American evangelicalism, Charles Spurgeon its most visible figurehead, has been remarkable in the last 30 years.  Thanks to John Piper, Steve Lawson, and others, there has been a welcome home in the Reformed camp for credo-baptists for a while now.  This camp typically holds to the London Baptist Confession of 1689, which articulated Calvinist soteriology, while maintaining a credo-baptist and congregational ecclesiology.

 

 

5. Interlude to note institutions spanning these camps:

Ligonier Ministries is an interesting phenomenon that seeks to span all 4 of these camps, and is fairly successful at it, thus their popularity.

 

P&R and Crossway do a good job as publishers maintaining orthodoxy, while not falling hard into any one of these camps.

 

You’ll find various seminaries aligning more or less with these camps.

Westminster West, with the hard core theologians.

Covenant in St Louis, with the PCA culture-friendly.

RTS with… none of the above, exactly?

 

 

6. The Post-Millennial Liturgists – the Communion of Reformed Evanglicals (CREC)

We are a different breed of cat.

 

While all of the above camps are almost uniformly a-millennial, the CREC is stridently post-millennial.  (Although I believe we tend to define this more culturally than exegetically.)  I am not as post-mil and high-liturgy as some in the CREC, but still place myself firmly in this camp.

 

1. In contrast with the culture-friendly, we are frankly, more “culture-hostile.”  We look to critique and refute cultural trends, welcoming those who agree with our critique, more than welcoming the normal person who hasn’t thought deeply about such critiques.  The discontent contrarians tend to flock to us.  There is a minority of PCA type churches with an affinity for higher liturgy, that are more friendly to the CREC.

 

2. In contrast to the Banner of Truth crowd, we eschew pietism.  Our Christianity is not 50 points of how to mortify sin in our hearts, and to exercise the means of grace in home and church, with no emphasis on exercising our faith beyond into the public square.  Rather, it is 3 points of mortifying sin in our hearts, 3 points of the church’s importance in our corporate life together, and 3 points of living out our faith in the public square.  If you wanted to be a bit more uncharitable, judging us by our appearance, we are 10 points railing on the culture, 5 points family life, and 2 points piety.

 

3. In contrast to the hard core, “Truly Reformed,” we are gracious regarding theological differences.  We hold to the historic Reformed confessions, yes.  But when some have questions, or demur on a minor point, we don’t prosecute or condemn.  This can tend us to be too tolerant of views that are Lutheran, or even Roman or Orthodox, rather than actually Reformed.

 

4. In contrast to the Reformed Baptist, we strongly encourage baptizing our babies!  But our history pushes us toward more toleration of the credo-baptist than most presbyterian groups.  We are working through how strongly we should welcome this camp amongst us, or maintain friendly fellowship in separate groups.  Many of our pastors are former Baptists.

 

 

A helpful tool could be to rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not me at all) to 4 (this is me) for each camp. 

I would “self-identify” as…

 

Culture-friendly – 2

Piety-minded – 3

Truly Reformed – 3

Reformed Baptist – 1

CREC - 4

Biblical Worldview Series

Over the next month or two, I plan to write a brief article on each of the seven cardinal points of theology, listed below.

My hope is to set forth what I believe.

Lately, I've been interacting online more, and doing a fair bit of criticism or correction regarding culture.  There is a LOT of unbalanced or immature stuff out there - people who have caught on to the right ideas in general, but they don't weigh them with other biblical truths, or there are still unsanctified, pagan, sinful-nature elements mixed in.

One way to address that is to confront it head-on with correction.  

Another way is to set forth the "analogy of faith," as it is called: what the whole church has agreed together is true and important.  I've decided to focus my energies more here, for a while.

The important things for Christians to consider are these:

1. God

2. Creation

3. Mankind - our condition before and after the Fall

4. Christ - His person and work

5. Salvation - the Holy Spirit 

6. Church and Means of Grace - the Spirit's continuing work

7. Last Things, Eschatology, End Times