Tuesday, December 03, 2019

A Yazidi, former enslaved girl confronts her rapist (now captured)

Born in 1999, she was fourteen when she was enslaved, beaten and repeatedly raped as a slave concubine:



MEMRI TV Blurb at YouTube:

 On November 26, 2019, Al-Iraqiya Network (Iraq) aired a report about Ashwaq Haji Hamid, a Yazidi girl who had been held captive by ISIS, and Abu Humam, the ISIS terrorist who had held her captive and brutally raped her. Hamid recounted that she had been 14 years old when an ISIS gang abducted her and took her to Mosul with 300 or 400 other Yazidi women who were above the age of nine. She said that she was separated from her family and sisters and that the Yazidi women were sold off or given as gifts to ISIS members in Iraq or Syria. She described how Abu Humam selected her and violently raped her several times a day. Abu Humam, who has since been captured and is being held by Iraqi intelligence services, was also interviewed, and he described how he was given Hamid as a slave girl after casting lots with other ISIS members, how he raped her and beat her several times a day, and how he registered her under his name before an ISIS judge. Later in the report, Hamid was brought before the captured Abu Humam and tearfully confronted him, saying: “Why did you do this to me?... Do you have any feelings? Do you have any honor?” While speaking to him, Hamid fainted. Hamid and a group of other girls had escaped from ISIS captivity by drugging their captors.

Let us understand, and let us remember. END

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The gospel, gospel ethics, discipleship, cultural transformation and the kingdom of God

Even something so "simple" as The Lord's Prayer that we routinely teach our children has in it a perhaps puzzling reference to something called the kingdom of God:



What does this mean:
Matt 6:10 [d]Your kingdom come,
Your [e]will be done
On earth as it is in heaven . . .


13 ‘And do not [h]lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from [i]evil. [j][For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.]’
Clearly, God is here seen as a king as well as our Father: Creator-Sustainer and Lord, whose will is done in heaven but not fully on a sinful earth. As Creator-Sustainer, we ask for daily bread, and as Lord we ask for his will to be done here, which reflects the coming of his kingdom on earth. In the midst, we ask for forgiveness and promise to in turn forgive others. We ask for deliverance from the snares of the evil one. And more.

Clearly, already in the most common single Christian prayer there is a theology of the kingdom of God and of our part in it as penitent sinners. Where, obviously, Jesus as Messiah and Saviour is the key means of forgiveness and transformation; starting in our own surrendered hearts and lives.

Obviously, there is much more, and sometimes I have used the seven mountain model to speak to basic discipleship for penitent sinners, given the six first ABC foundational principles of Heb 6:1 - 2 and the backdrop of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of God's eternal kingdom and its impact on the kingdoms of man in Dan 2 [cf. also here], all of which clearly fit into the framework in that prayer:


 Daniel went on to interpret:

 Dan 2:36 “This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. 

  37 You, O king, are the king of [earthly] kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; 38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, and the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. 

You [king of Babylon] are the head of gold.

Medo-Persia and Greece

39 After you will arise another kingdom (Medo-Persia) inferior to you, and then a third kingdom of bronze (Greece under Alexander the Great), which will rule over all the earth.

Rome

40 Then a fourth kingdom (Rome) will be strong as iron, for iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and like iron which crushes things in pieces, it will break and crush all these [others]. 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but there will be in it some of the durability and strength of iron, just as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42 As the [ten] toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so some of the kingdom will be strong, and another part of it will be brittle. 

  43 And as you saw the iron mixed with common clay, so they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not merge [for such diverse things or ideologies cannot unite], even as iron does not mix with clay.

The Divine Kingdom

44 In the days of those [final ten] kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left for another people; but it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.  

45 Just as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has revealed to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.” [AMP]

As Hebrews 12 therefore teaches (and warns):

 Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering], 23 and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], 24 and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].

 25 See to it that you do not refuse [to listen to] Him who is speaking [to you now]. For if those [sons of Israel] did not escape when they refused [to listen to] him who warned them on earth [revealing God’s will], how much less will we escape if we turn our backs on Him who warns from heaven?

  26 His voice shook the earth [at Mount Sinai] then, but now He has given a promise, saying, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the [starry] heaven.”

  27 Now this [expression], “Yet once more,” indicates the removal and final transformation of all those things which can be shaken—that is, of that which has been created—so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire. [AMP]

 So, now, let us look at what is needed for "unshakeable" foundations:




 
Likewise, this coming of the kingdom so that God's good will is done on earth extends to the community in light of what has sometimes been called the four R's of revival and reformation:


From such, we can already see that the kingdom of God is central to the theology of the gospel, which is in fact the good news of the kingdom of God pivoting on the coming of the long-prophesied Messiah. It is in this light that an amnesty of forgiveness and promise of cleansing transformation has been proclaimed as the answer to the chaos of kingdoms of man that too often are caught up in a chaotic, destructive demonic riot of the world, the flesh and the devil. Thus, too, we find that gospel theology and gospel ethics are inseparable and in their natural course extend to community transformation as even now we begin to do the right under God: Christ came, descending, serving, dying, rising and ascending in order to fill all things, where the church is his body, the very fullness of him who fills everything in every way. 

Similarly, we are clearly being led to the book of Daniel, which seems to have in it some key references.

Accordingly, as we ponder the gospel and the kingdom of God, I now want to share some slightly adjusted thoughts I shared yesterday in a WhatsApp group, as I explored the captioned themes:

________________________


>>As I continue thinking about the Kingdom of God perspective on the gospel, linked ethics and relevance to community transformation (implying that true liberation is first spiritual), I am led back to Daniel.



Here, to Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony after he was humbled by God because of undue pride in his achievements as king.



Pardon, therefore, a further sharing of thoughts – towards elements of a Biblical theology of evangelisation, discipleship, mission; thus of repentance, renewal, revival and reformation in our region and beyond:



Daniel 4: >>34 “But at the end of the days [that is, at the seven periods of time [→ of his beast-like insanity]], I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my understanding and reason returned to me; and I blessed the Most High [God] and I praised and honored and glorified Him who lives forever,

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion [→ God as eternal ruler];
And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

[→ realm of that rule, in context, extending over Babylon and other human kingdoms]
35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing.
But He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth [→ sovereignty of God pointing to Judge and redeemer];

And no one can hold back His hand
Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’



36 Now at the same time my reason returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor were returned to me, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was re-established in my kingdom, and still more greatness [than before] was added to me.
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of heaven [→ kingdom of Heaven],
for all His works are true and faithful and His ways are just [→ inherently good, utterly wise, Judge],
and He is able to humiliate and humble [→ acts against arrogance]
those who walk in [self-centered, self-righteous] pride.” [AMP]>>
At once, we see that God is king of the eternal kingdom of heaven that intervenes in the affairs of men. Indeed, from v 32, the lesson Nebuchadnezzar needed to heed was that “the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind and He bestows it on whomever He desires.”


This, of course, cuts clean across certain common notions of our day which are now being pushed hard in our region (and which would end in a chaotic Rom 1 world).


For example, in the course of his ruling that attempts to usurp power to unilaterally amend a constitution from the judge’s bench, Justice Anthony Smellie of the Cayman Islands recently claimed that many inequities have existed in the name of tradition but neither tradition nor religion could form the “rational basis for a law.” He then proceeds to try to redefine marriage chaotically, away from the naturally evident creation order rooted in the complementary sexes, substituting the false for the true and implying perversion of rights, justice and judgement.


Similarly, in its ill-advised August 2, 2019 Editorial, the Gleaner dismissed “emaciated notions of morality,” directly implying Jesus’ teachings in Matt 19:4 – 6 regarding the naturally evident, creation order based institutions of maleness, femaleness, lifelong committed marriage of man and woman, family as the natural fruit of conjugal union. They inadvertently reveal that to advance a dubious agenda they would overturn the moral government that is the basis for a sound civilisation and its government. Such signs point to the ill-advised, ruinous counsel that now rises up on the ship of state at Fair Havens, across our region. (See Ac 27.)


Others have said much the same.


There is also, a Christo-phobia, an irrational fear that perceives the Christian faith, the gospel, gospel ethics and godly reformation as backward, oppressive, outright fascist threats to progress, freedom and reason.


(I have even recently seen an evolutionary materialist scientism advocate assert that “Creationists” cannot do Math because they are utterly irrational, shown by their rejection of “Evolution.” Which is widely regarded as the yardstick of science. This is doubly nonsense as first many “Creationists” are effective Mathematicians, thank you. Secondly, this is a bit of turnabout propagandistic projection: in fact, demonstrably, evolutionary materialism would reduce mindedness to computation on a brain “wetware” computer and whatever mysteriously emerges from but is determined by the physics and chemistry involved. That is exactly what rational insight, intuition, intentionality and inference CANNOT be. That is, evolutionary materialism is self-referential and self-contradictory thus self-falsifying. Thus, utterly, irretrievably irrational. Never mind the impressive lab coats, polished manner and posh accents.)


No, instead we recognise that we are creatures of the God who is inherently good and utterly wise.


Indeed, as LOGOS, he is Reason Himself, upholding all things by his powerful word. As creatures made in his image we have the precious gift of conscience-guided reason leading to ability to know and serve the truth and the right. Accordingly, in the spirit of Ac17, let us see: the first point of wisdom is to know and respect our Creator God, the inherently good, necessary, maximally great being who is the root-source of reality. In him we live, move and have our being, with our minds being governed by undeniable duty to truth, right reason, sound conscience, neighbour-love, justice, etc. He is our rightful eternal king, worthy of our loyalty and of the reasonable, responsible service of doing the good that accords with our evident nature.


Such a view is just the opposite of being backward, irrational, unjust, oppressive.


It is time that that devillish lie be ferreted out and skewered.


Yes, the history of Christendom (like that of any civilisation) is decidedly mixed, with great evils and – notably – great struggles of reformation. Often, directly based on Scripture. For example, it is no accident that the Motto of the antislavery society directly comes from Philemon in the NT: “Am I not a man and a brother?” (Sometimes, even more tellingly, “ . . . a woman and a sister?”)




Civilisation’s course will ever be so.


For, we are finite, fallible, fallen, morally struggling, too often ill-willed.


Likewise, in the great liberating struggle that launched the first successful modern democratic, constitutional experiment, we find in the key second paragraph of their Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776:

>>We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. >>
Notice, self-evident moral government focussed on rights. By implications, nations are under God our Creator and supreme Lord who is Just Judge. Governments are created by covenants under God, to defend justice; by implication the due balance of rights, freedoms and duties in community. Where a fundamental right is a binding moral claim to be respected and protected in some regard, implying the duty of others. Thus, to justly claim a right, one must first manifestly be in the right, which cannot call for others to do or enable wrong to support oneself.


Where also, government can fail; perhaps badly enough to require radical reform or replacement. This BTW is a main reason for the blessing of the peaceful general election: a solemn assembly of the people under God to audit and if needs be reform or replace government. Thus, not to be trifled with and perverted into manipulating the people to vote for a voyage of reckless folly (as we see in Ac 27). Those who rise up as an alternative have a solemn duty under God.


Yes, there is an ages-long struggle between the wrong and the right, the false and the true.


But there is no reason whatsoever to assume that the Christian Faith and its adherents who take the Bible seriously as God’s Word, are always and forever backward oppressors.


No, that is part of why it is GOOD NEWS that the Most High God lives forever, exerting an everlasting dominion, the kingdom of God. Where, in love, he intervened, bringing salvation and deliverance that liberates from the first slavery of all.


Sin.


Thus, Saviour who is also Son of Man, Just Judge, Wounded Healer, Deliverer, Lord. Of Him, Daniel writes – as Jesus would quote (applying to himself) at his trial before a kangaroo court:

>>Dan 7: 13 “I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, [c]on the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.


14 “And to Him (the Messiah) was given dominion (supreme authority),
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language
Should serve and worship Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed. [AMP] >>
Obviously, this is supremely manifest only at the culmination of all things, but already he commissioned us in Matt 28:18 – 20, noting that he holds “All authority in heaven and on earth,” i.e. he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. In that context he has instructed us to go, making disciples of the nations, teaching them to obey him. For, all his ways are just and he is Truth Himself. It is undeniable that the gospel embeds gospel ethics, lives in the context of the kingdom of God, and points to a call of amnesty requiring transformation of lives and families that must by its inherent force affect communities. 

The four R’s appear:

R1 → Repentance, meta+noia as we turn from sin in surrender to God
R2 → Renewal, through cleansing of mind and life under the Word
R3 → Revival, as seasons of refreshing are poured out (generally in contest with a demonic riot)
R4 → Reformation, as R1 – 3 have cumulative impact
There was a time in the which God excused ignorance but now he commands all men everywhere to repent in the face of eternal judgement. For he has appointed The Son of Man as Judge, giving proof of this truth to all men by raising him from the dead, with 500 eyewitnesses.


So, while we find nowhere a call to lead lawless rebellions, as the Kingdom is not of this world and its wars are not with the weapons of this age, we are indeed called to break fallacies and schemes of deception that lead men away from the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obedience of Christ. He, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.


In our day, such fallacies clearly include the oppression thesis, the denial of God’s reality by creating the false impression that “Science” [= atheism in a lab coat] has put him out of a job, and the attempt to undermine sound moral government testified to by conscience. Instead, let us restore moral sanity and truth that leads men to acknowledge God, receiving him who is our Lord and Saviour.


AMEN and AMEN>>

______________________ 

Clearly, the gospel embeds a theology of the kingdom of God and necessarily implies ethical transformation that applies to the individual, the family, the church, the community, the civilisation. Let us therefore acknowledge that Jesus came, descending and ascending in order to fill all things. So, often imperceptibly, there is a rising of the tide of that kingdom where God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven. It starts in our hearts and lives and (despite the chaos of the demonic riot) even now it spreads to the family, the church, the community, the civilisation as we grow in discipleship under Messiah. 

The "simple" gospel -- even so simple as what is embedded in the Lord's Prayer (recall, a part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' central ethical summary) -- has in it an ethics of transformation and reformation that holds out a liberating hope for us all:
1 Cor 6:Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? 

Do not be deceived; [d]neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [by perversion], nor [e]those who participate in homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers [whose words are used as weapons to abuse, insult, humiliate, intimidate, or slander], nor swindlers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God. 

  11 And such were some of you [before you believed]. 

But you were washed [by the atoning sacrifice of Christ], you were sanctified [set apart for God, and made holy], you were justified [declared free of guilt] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God [the source of the believer’s new life and changed behavior]. [AMP]
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, starting with me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Let us remind ourselves of the Mordecai challenge: why not now, why not here, why not us? END


Saturday, August 03, 2019

It begins: Is the church the vanguard of liberation, or entrenched in the status quo? CMVAN Conversations I, part 1

Video 1, Rev Dr Garnett Roper:



(With apologies for streaming challenges on August 1, 2019. Updates will bring in further parts as they come in.)

Video, 2, Rev Dr Stephen Jennings:



Video, 3, Mr Arnold "Scree" Bertram:




 Video 4 (added Aug 20), Summary & questions:



Video 5 (added August 20th), Colonial legacy & the Caribbean church - Q&A:





Note, I think it may help to look at the discussion here on in context, on the sins and blessings of Christendom; which in my view are now necessary if we are to systematically study theology in the Caribbean, towards a serious missionary vision and action. 

Our tainted past is where we must begin if we are to resolve the ghosts that haunt us and find a way to freely move forward in the power of gospel truth and gospel ethics calling us to sound discipleship and so too to Christ-filled blessed transformation. We must start with people where they credibly are, not with what interests us. To build a gospel-bridge, we must address candidate sites to bridge to people where they are physically, culturally, historically, situationally.

Surely, that is a lesson from how Paul pointed to the famous altar to the unknown god; as is recorded in Acts 17.

I pause to highlight a searing accusation:




Notice, the impact of precisely where the Antislavery Society's motto came from, and the model of reformation implicit in the premise of undeniable equality and brotherhood or sisterhood in Christ. Too often we have not fully lived up to that standard but we are duty-bound to acknowledge and move towards living out its truth.  (And we must also take due note of the history of the past 250 years on the nihilism that as a rule comes from radical revolutionism, starting with Robespierre and company thus their reign of terror.)

It is in that context that we may address God as credible root of reality, Christ as how God is there and is not silent, and how Christ's coming and the birth of a gospel-bearing church challenged and yet challenges worldviews, cultural agendas, communities and the course of history.

As one tool for that, consider the tidal waves challenge facing our region now:




and the wider global geostrategic challenge:



thus also the missionary opportunity facing the Caribbean church:






From this, let us ponder how the mountains of influence model further informed by Nebuchadnezzar's puzzling dream raises a challenge of godly repentance, renewal, revival and reformation through discipleship:



Yes, we must go right back to foundations if we are to rebuild our lives, families, churches, community and civilisation soundly.

Let us ponder. END




Thursday, June 20, 2019

How the fullness of Christ theme speaks to gospel based ethics, culture, discipleship and mission

Last time, I reviewed and amplified a bit on the fullness of Christ vision. as I have come to increasingly understand it over the years since c 1984. Now, kindly allow me to follow how (in Eph 4:17 ff)  the apostle Paul immediately set it in a context of gospel based ethics, culture, discipleship and mission, through explicitly counter-cultural life transformation, then pardon some application to our own situation. 

First, a back-up:
Eph 4:11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. [NIV, 2011]
Here, we see the operational core of the gospel mandate and how it confronts a culture in active rebellion against God, knowable truth and the right, being riddled with demonic, deceitful conspiracies and agendas. We are therefore called to truth it in love, implying also the transforming power and purity brought to us by the indwelling, transforming Holy Spirit. That four-point balance is critical: love, truth, power and purity. 

This means, both, [a] no undue hostility and [b] no compromise of what is knowable, livable truth and right. 

No wonder, discipleship requires an implicit struggle to grow in grace in one's own life, with extensions to family, community, civilisation and world. (And yes, I freely confess to my own struggles, as will any serious Christian; I testify to truth because it is a discipline of core duty, not as implying any claim to perfection!)

 For, a world in active rebellion, driven and tossed about by winds of erroneous or deliberately deceptive teachings, through the cunning and craftiness of deceitful schemers is not going to meekly submit to truth or purity. So, we must be spiritually energised with power and motivated by love if we are to be heavenly minded through God's truth and able to successfully do good on earth. 

Where, obviously, this four point, growing balance of truth, love, power and purity then becomes a characteristic sign of the genuine presence and work of God. God who is truth himself, who is love as to essential nature, who is utterly pure, who is inherently good and whose power (starting with being Creator) is beyond any finite measure or bound.

Let me note, too -- in correction to certain trends of our day --  that any attempt to drive a wedge between Jesus  as Messiah fulfilling the OT prophecies, his apostles and "inconvenient" teachings of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is immediately deepest falsehood to be repudiated. As Messiah in the hebraic scriptural tradition, Jesus is tied to and endorses the OT. He sent and poured his Spirit out on his Apostles. The NT records their authentic, accurate, sound teachings, clearly by God's inspiration. Our view of the scriptures should be that of Jesus: scripture cannot be broken.

And yes, I am very aware that all of this means that we need both a bridge and a wall

Or changing metaphors slightly, bridges are built because there are gaps that need to be spanned. However, if a bridge is on a border, there is a place for border protection to preserve from what may otherwise be smuggled in or what may be snatched and taken out

But again, we can do better, going straight to scripture.

In Jesus' vivid words that echo how shepherds of that day apparently used to sleep lying across the entry to their sheep folds, as literal, living doors:
 John 10:So Jesus said again, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I am [b]the Door for the sheep [leading to life].

  All who came before Me [as false messiahs and self-appointed leaders] are thieves and robbers, but the [true] sheep did not hear them. I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security). 

  10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].

11 [c]I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd [d]lays down His [own] life for the sheep. 12 But the hired man [who merely serves for wages], who is neither the shepherd nor the owner of the sheep, when he sees the wolf coming, deserts the flock and runs away; and the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The man runs because he is a hired hand [who serves only for wages] and is not concerned about the [safety of the] sheep. [AMP]


Again, a tough challenge of balance and a call to self-sacrificial leadership willing to stand in the face of the wolves.

Bearing that in mind, let us now read on in Eph 4:
Eph 4:17 So this I say, and solemnly affirm together with the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds [and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls], 18 for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.

  19 And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy], having become callous and unfeeling, have given themselves over [as prey] to unbridled sensuality, eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity [that their desires may demand].

  20 But you did not learn Christ in this way!

  21 If in fact you have [really] heard Him and have been taught by Him, just as truth is in Jesus [revealed in His life and personified in Him], 22 that, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires, 23 and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude], 24 and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation]. [AMP]

Here we see a contrast, a call to a Christian counter-culture of truth, love, power and purity confronting an age of en-darkened minds and benumbed consciences leading to addiction to impurity, sensuality, perversity and even blatant evil. Resemblance to our own day (and to the ugly picture in Rom 1) is NOT coincidental.

This implies ethical challenge and conflict, with debates over what is true and right in communities tainted and polarised through winds and waves of false teaching ultimately rooted in deceitful scheming. Where, to lie is to speak with disregard to truth, in hope that what one says or suggests will be taken as true.  Likewise, it is self-evident that we are morally governed creatures, starting with the testimony of conscience. Similarly, our rational faculties are governed by undeniably known duties to truth, right reason, prudence, fairness and justice, respect for neighbour, and more.

 (Such, already implies that even our vaunted intellectual lives operate on both sides of the notorious IS-OUGHT gap. As a consequence, this gap must be bridged. On pain of ungrounded ought, that can only be done at the root of reality. The source of reality must both be incorruptibly, inherently good and adequately powerful to be source of reality. After many centuries of debates, there is but one serious candidate . . . if you doubt this, simply try to suggest and soundly justify another: _______ . Easier suggested than done! The candidate to beat? The inherently good and utterly wise creator God, a necessary and maximally great being. One, worthy of our loyalty and of the responsible, reasonable service of doing the good that accords with our evident nature. And yes, this is a very familiar picture, one studied in biblical, systematic and philosophical theology.)

In this context, Rom 2 draws out a significant further facet of truth:
Rom 2:14 When Gentiles, who do not have the [--> written, Mosaic] Law [since it was given only to Jews], do [c]instinctively the things the Law requires [guided only by their conscience], they are a law to themselves, though they do not have the Law. 15 They show that the [d]essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts; and their conscience [their sense of right and wrong, their moral choices] bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or perhaps defending them [AMP]
In short, our moral sense, when it is not en-darkened, tainted, twisted and benumbed, points to the heart of sound moral law. Indeed, in Rom 13, Paul further amplifies, giving us a form of the golden rule, drawing out why Jesus taught us that all the law hangs on the dual command to love God and to love neighbour:
Rom 13:[b]Owe nothing to anyone except to [c]love and seek the best for one another; for he who [unselfishly] loves his neighbor has fulfilled the [essence of the] law [relating to one’s fellowman]. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and any other commandment are summed up in this statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor [it never hurts anyone]. Therefore [unselfish] love is the fulfillment of the Law. [AMP]


As a sampler on specifics, let us read on further in Eph 4:
Eph 4:25 Therefore, rejecting all falsehood [whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these], speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one another [and we are all parts of the body of Christ]. 

  26 Be angry [at sin—at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior], yet do not sin; do not let your anger [cause you shame, nor allow it to] last until the sun goes down. 27 And do not give the devil an opportunity [to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness]. 

  28 The thief [who has become a believer] must no longer steal, but instead he must work hard [making an honest living], producing that which is good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with those in need. 

  29 Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak]. 

  30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [but seek to please Him], by whom you were sealed and marked [branded as God’s own] for the day of redemption [the final deliverance from the consequences of sin]. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence].

  32 Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave [c]you. [AMP]

We thus see the core of gospel ethics and how, naturally, it leads to the four-R progression of reformation as Christian discipleship increasingly pervades a community. And yes, I will again point to the seven mountains model championed by Wallnau et al in recent times, but tracing to Bright, Cunningham and Schaeffer in the 1970's. I do so, as it helps us to see the big picture in a fairly balanced way:


Going back to Francis Schaeffer, we can see how this allows us to view the intellectual history of our civilisation in light of the opposite dynamic, rising apostasy -- recall, post Noah, all surviving people had to have had a renewed sense of God's reality and the urgency of serving God as a counter-weight to the progression of wickedness, and let us recall Jesus' solemn "As in the days of Noah . . . " --  leading to corruption and ultimate ruin:



A driving force, here, is the driving of a wedge between what may be known through God and what we imagine we know while being in mind-darkening, conscience benumbing sinful rebellion:
Rom 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or consider Him worth knowing [as their Creator], God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive, 29 until they were filled (permeated, saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and mean-spiritedness. They are gossips [spreading rumors], 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors [of new forms] of evil, disobedient and disrespectful to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful [without pity].

1 Cor 1:20 Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world’s wisdom? 21 For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the [c]foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior] . . .  25 [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].
2 Cor 10:For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man.
The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ . . . [AMP]

Yes, the heart of spiritual warfare is a worldviews and cultural agendas conflict, pivoting on warranting, grounding and living by a gospel integrated sound vision of the truth and the right. In that context, driving a wedge of separation that locks out the authentic voice and grace of God leads to undermining of right reason, prudence, sound warrant for claimed knowledge, ethics and law, worldviews and cultural agendas. This is ruinous -- and is proceeding apace in our day:



That is manifestly happening in our region, the Caribbean:



Starting, with in our churches, for:




By the way, in case you imagine that Wave 2 is irrelevant, kindly notice this outline global plan I first found online on Sept 11, 2001:




Now, of course, we must mark a distinction. We cannot out-argue a demon, such can only be expelled by the power of the Name of Christ and the transforming work of the Spirit. That's part of why Jesus went to a cross, binding the strong man at his very moment of apparent triumph. So, there is a place for prayer and spiritual, Elijah- at- Carmel power confrontation that shows up the emptiness of demonic deception by contrast with the supreme, miraculous, rescuing, redeeming, transforming power of God. 

The gospel is the core, that must be boldly taught, must be soundly warranted in the face of ever so many attempts to discredit, dismiss and lock it out, and must manifest itself in forceful Kingdom Power that breaks demonic chains, expels same and sets captives free to serve God. 

(I note, I think most demons actually quietly pack up and go when the gospel backed by the Spirit's convicting power comes into a life through sound gospel teaching. Others, like those that possessed that fortune-telling girl in Philippi, challenge the spreading of the gospel to provoke a confrontation that then draws out a demonic riot. But even in the face of injustice at kangaroo court, the gospel was vindicated with literally earth-shaking power. A lesson, that today's arrogant judges and rulers who echo Psalm 2:3 -- "Let us break apart their [divine] bands [of restraint]
And cast away their cords [of control] from us"
-- would be well advised to heed. And yes, Chief Justice Smellie of Cayman [and FCO officials], I am looking straight at you. Kindly see here and here, for details. Also, see here, Gleaner Editors and Columnists. Neighbour-love includes the duties of frank confrontation, rejection of slander and just judgement: "
you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him," also "[y]ou shall not go around as a slanderer among your people"  and "[y]ou shall do no injustice in court." [Lev 19:15 - 18 ESV. And yes, this also condemns melee politics that elevates slanderous gossip to a political propaganda tactic.] )

Accordingly, and again echoing Schaeffer, it is time for soundly prophetic intellectual and cultural leadership, starting with the Eph 4:17 - 24 counter-cultural stance:




Then, we may contemplate an onward call to action in response to the tidal wave of apostasy and de-christianisation from the North and the missions challenge of the 10/40 Window to the East:




All of this starts with discipleship foundations:



We could keep going, but for now let us pause. Let us again ponder the challenge: why not now; why not here; why not us? Or, yet again: if not now, then when; if not here, then where; if not us, then who? END