Cults 'R' Us
by Laurence Windham

This "cult" label keeps coming up regarding our little group here in Virginia. I know, I know. You can't believe it either. But it's true. The strange thing is that we don't have any of the hallmarks of a true cult:

1. The men are not in charge.
2. They drink Kool-Aid (i.e. they don't drink the good stuff).
3. They say they believe the Bible but they really don't follow it.
4. They offer their children to false gods.

Let's break these down a bit.

1. Almost if not all cults have a "Main leader." The others around him basically worship this guy as a god. He rules the group by wowing them with his knowledge of, and relationship to the group's deity. No one fits that description here at the Highlands Study Center. In fact, we probably are closer looking to Homer Simpson than Jim Jones.
2. Ok, we do drink sweetened iced-tea. But we also home brew beer and mead. Alcohol, however, is generally eschewed by your local cult.
3. We love the Bible enough to challenge anyone to correct the things we write and say by it. We endeavor to shape our lives by nothing but the Holy Scriptures.
4. We don't send our children to government schools.

'Nuff said. But, as you know, perspective is a hard thing to shake. So let me give just one more example of why we are not a cult. If for some reason you see on the news one day that the ATF, FBI, PCUSA and the NEA surround our little congregation, and while besieged, they should start blasting our compound with highly amplified rock music as they did to the group in Waco, don't be surprised if a news report goes something like this, "A message has just been received from the notorious Highlands Study Center group. This vicious cult that home schools their children, prays, weeps and endeavors to call the church back to her roots, who have fed the homeless, aided the widow, and cared for the hurting, has sent the following message and I quote, "Could you guys put on some Aerosmith and adjust the treble just a bit?"

We've Come a Thong Way, Baby
by R.C. Sproul Jr.

We've argued in these pages before that one of the reasons we feel no dread over the seed of the serpent is that without grace the bad guys can't even get along with each other. Watching our enemies duke it out with each other, in fact, makes for outstanding entertainment. So it was last month when two rival gangs met in the mean streets of southern California. There the fascist relativists rumbled with the hedonistic relativists.

It seems a government school was sponsoring a dance. Rumors spread before the dance that there would be thongs galore at the celebration. So administrators lined a group of teenage girls, those dressed in skirts, along the wall, and lifted up those skirts in search of thongs. The girls, of course, were aghast. Whose side are you on?

On the one side are the girls, whose objection is that of course, who is to say it's wrong to wear these things? I mean, who is to say? How dare these old folks make a fuss about this stuff? On the other side are the administrators, who will at the same time affirm that it is wrong for girls to come dressed like street—walkers to the dance, and yet, that there is no transcendent standard that would cover things like who can and cannot uncover the backsides of young girls.

And all this comes about because we ask the state, at the same time, to educate our children, to raise them up to be decent human beings, and to leave transcendent standards out of it. It's like watching that perennial cat fight between those feminists who claim to be empowered by porn, and those who say it is degrading to women, while both deny that empowerment or dignity are transcendently good things.

Now here's my question. Is Dr. Dobson now advising Christians to get their kids out of government schools in California because the girls there wear thongs, or because the administrators look up girls' skirts?

There, But for the Justice of God…
by Laurence Windham

"I would not be here if it were not for God!" Can you guess who made that claim? In a recent newspaper story, Joyce Meyer made that claim. Ms. Meyer is one of Central Florida's latest attractions. She is the "pastor" of a mega church and televangelist with a five million dollar a month budget. The reason she made the above statement was in answer to criticism for her filling a role reserved for men.

A local charismatic group made the same statement recently after having been confronted with inconsistencies in their beliefs with the Bible. Destiny's Child, a pop—rock trio of scantily clad young women also made the same claim. They claim that their success is due to God blessing them and their careers. That would include performances where they wear as little clothes as possible, while they sing and gyrate to songs such as "Bootylicious."

Dyan Cannon's idea of Christianity was just showcased in last week's Atlanta Constitution. She summed up her theology by stating—"God made man and woman in His own image. God is love; therefore people are made in the image of love." (Hmm, ok, how about-God is love, love is blind, Ray Charles is blind, therefore, Ray Charles is God.)

The common denominator here is that when confronted with the Word of God, people tend to fall back on their success as evidence that God has approved them over and above what He says in His Word. This is confusing. For if this is the criteria for determining what God is into, then He must be a huge fan of the WWF, abortion, welfare, Islam, McDonalds and Disney. But we know what they are doing. Romans I tells us that unregenerate man fashions god into his own image. Which makes sense. Why would you fashion a god that would be opposed to your lifestyle or theology?