Our Privacy Obsession

One of the issues that are most prevalent in our 21st century society is the obsession that people have with privacy. Take for example the issue of abortion, to name one glaring matter. A primary argument for what some say should be the legality of abortion is that denying a woman the "right" to an abortion is violating her privacy. In many, if not most, cases even the father of the creature being aborted is not afforded the opportunity to have a say in his child's fate.

“God Must Ask Permission”

Years ago, famed “faith healer” and charismatic preacher Miles Monroe, had a conversation with another so-called “faith healer,” Benny Hinn, where he told Hinn that God must ask permission to do anything on earth. According to Monroe, this permission had to be asked of men because, paraphrasing him “God is in charge in heaven but He has given men the rule and power over the earth.” This conversation reminds us that the health and wealth and supposed miraculous healing movement has some extremely strange ideas. Who could possibly believe that God must ask His creation for permission to do anything. In fact, folks who hold such a position should be reminded of Psalm 115 where the psalmist says that “God is in the heavens. He does whatever He wills.”

“The Preacher is Insignificant”

The apostle Paul is perhaps the best known among all the disciples of Christ. That likelihood is owed to the fact that it was Paul who carried the gospel “to the ends of the earth.” It was Paul who was responsible for the conversion of countless thousands of gentiles throughout the Roman world, the city-state which at the time was the dominant power in the ancient world. Yet, we have scant knowledge of Paul outside the New Testament.