Thoughts on the Bible-Minded Cities Report

2015 Bible-Minded Cities

The Barna Group released a report on “Bible-Minded” cities. The report ranked the “Bible-mindedness” of individuals in the 100 largest media markets in the United States. According to the criteria of the Barna Group, an individual is “Bible-minded” based on two qualifications:

  1. They “report reading the Bible in a typical week.”
  2. They “strongly assert the Bible is accurate in the principles it teaches.”

It is interesting to read reports like this one. Regardless of how “Bible-minded” the cities are in which we live, there are some points we should consider.
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Preaching Politics

Michelle Obama recently said there is “no better place” than church to talk about political issues. To some extent she is right. While not all political matters are worthy of our discussion in the assembly of the saints, those “political” matters that are addressed in the Bible will be taught by faithful men who are striving to speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11), proclaiming the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Therefore, we speak where the Bible speaks, even on certain “political” topics. Some examples of such topics are listed below:
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Joel Osteen, Homosexuals, and Heaven

Joel Osteen, the popular mega-church preacher known for proclaiming the gospel of prosperity, was interviewed recently by Oprah and asked if he believed homosexuals would be in heaven. Osteen stated his belief that they would. He then explained that while he believed homosexuality was described as a sin in the Bible, he did not believe it was any worse than any other sin. Therefore, his conclusion was that since those who commit other sins will be in heaven, then homosexuals must be there as well.
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While Pope John Paul II Moves Closer to “Sainthood,” I Am Already a Saint

The Catholic church is moving forward on their process of recognizing the late Pope John Paul II as a saint. Since a French nun’s recovery from Parkinson’s disease, after she had prayed to the pope, has been declared a “miracle,” John Paul will be “beatified” during a ceremony on May 1. Once he is “beatified,” Catholics will be able to publicly worship the deceased pope. After “beatification,” a second miracle will have to be “verified” to canonize him as a saint.

If you read through the New Testament, it becomes apparent that the Catholic traditions described above are completely foreign to the gospel. Nowhere do we find anything about a pope, let alone praying to or worshipping this man. We read nothing of “beatification” or “canonization.” One of the few familiar terms in the first paragraph is “saint.” Yet even this has been changed from the simple definition we find in the Scriptures.

According to Catholic doctrine and tradition, the late Pope John Paul II is one step closer to being canonized as a saint by the Church.

According to the New Testament, I am already a saint, along with everyone who faithfully follows the Lord.
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Did God Use the “Big Bang” to Create the Universe?

Space

For a long time there has been a conflict between the teaching of the Bible and the beliefs of the scientific community in general over the origin of the universe. On one hand, you have the Biblical account of God creating the universe from nothing in six days. On the other hand, you have a theory held by many scientists that says the universe came into being when a ball of matter of unknown origin exploded (”Big Bang”), sending particles shooting through space, which eventually, somehow, formed planets and stars, bred life, and, over millions of years, through a long string of lucky mutations, those first single-cell organisms evolved into every living thing that we see in the world today.

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Another Judgment Day Prediction

Man has repeatedly tried to predict the date of the Day of Judgment. Predicted dates have come and gone and been replaced with future dates. These predictions are made by those who twist the Scriptures any way they can to come up with a date that suits them.
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It’s the 21st Century, Do Wives Still Need to Submit to Their Husbands?

Couple at sunset

A couple of British church leaders have come under fire recently for preaching that wives are to submit to their husbands. They claimed that women who refuse to obey this command are at least partly to blame for the country’s high divorce rate.

Not surprisingly, there were many people – especially women – who took offense at their message. One woman was quoted as saying she was “disgusted” by this and said, “How can they talk that way in the 21st century?”
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