WEBCommentary Contributor

Author: Frederick Meekins
Date:  December 30, 2017

Topic category:  Other/General

Headline Potpourri #102

The pastoral staff of Berean Baptist Church in reflecting on the Charlottesville disturbances elaborated that statues built in honor of men are not Biblical. So if these edifices are going to be construed in light of the prohibition against graven images, will they going to ask SermonAudio to remove their profile portraits posted on the site?

It was said on the podcast of Berean Baptist Church that areas with populations feeling thusly should be allowed to vote on the removal of Confederate statues. Firstly, will this church as enthusiastically defend jurisdictions voting to retain their Confederate statues? Secondly, is their proof that this opposition is a grassroots movement indigenous to the South or is this the next iteration of the carpetbagger phenomena? If Yankees don't want Southerners imposing outdated morality on the rest of America, perhaps the Yankees should keep their views north of the Mason/Dixon Line.

In consideration of whether Jesus would be politically right or left, homeschool activist Kevin Swanson said he was uncomfortable with either the Democratic or Republican Parties. That is largely because politics is concerned about being disputatious about unimportant things. So how is that different than what some people feel about hardline denominationalists and the theological peculiarities or ecclesiastical idiosyncrasies of such?

In a sermon, a pastor got all jacked out of shape that Trump joked about police not having to be gentle as suspects are taken into custody. Such remarks are certainly out of line. But the approach called for is still probably more gentle than the treatment received by the Branch Davidians and Randy Weaver at the hands of the Clinton regime.

During a sermon on predestination, a pastor accused one youth in the audience of distracting another from hearing about the most important thing in the world. But if that youngster was not meant to be one of the called, does it really matter if the student hears a message that he is incapable of responding in the affirmative to? Furthermore, how do we not know that the distractor was not fulfilling a divinely appointed role to keep the distracted from not hearing a message that he was never intended to hear in the first place?

In a lecture on mature manhood posted at SermonAudio, Pastor Sean Harris lamented the increasing trend where young women are stuck to chronologically advanced males that are still mentally boys. As if many of these contemporary wenches that those under admonishment end up with are prize pigs themselves?

In a Sermon Audio upload, Pastor Sean Harris condemned the phenomena where wives end up essentially being replacement mothers for their listless deadbeat husbands. Will there be an accompanying sermon where trashy, spendaholic woman will be criticized for viewing their husbands as little more than replacement daddies in terms picking up the credit card tab?

In a SermonaAudio tirade, Pastor Sean Harris warned girls that men want to sleep with them. But unless it is rape, did not the girls want to sleep with the males as well? The young women were further counseled that often men will fake being Christian in order to marry them in order to do so. And that is worse how from women pulling a similar scam in terms of getting what they want particularly in terms of finances?

In a sermon, Pastor Sean Harris urged young women not to pay attention to young men that did not live up to a set of criteria that he proceeded to elaborate. All well and good. But will young men be admonished to similarly pay no mind to young women that do not exhibit a similar degree of modesty and enthusiasm for living frugally and doing housework?

Regarding a sermon by Berean Baptist Church Pastor Sean Harris that did nothing but condemn young men with nary a criticism directed towards the failings young women. If these “godly” women marry the appealing ungodly young man rather than the less attractive godly one, if the lives of such girls end up miserable, isn't that no one's fault but their own?

Interesting how in a sermon in condemnation of the contemporary adult male Pastor Sean Harris insinuated that men are obligated to work themselves to the bone for some wench but seemed to suggest that it was out of line for men to expect gratitude to be bestowed for this provision in terms of housework completed and bedroom compliance. That is, after all, why a man puts up with the hassle of getting married in the first place.

Regarding these descendants making a name for themselves bashing their ancestor Robert E. Lee. Apparently they don't despise the notoriety deriving from such enough to renounce their proverbial fifteen minutes of fame and any lucrative speaking engagements or book deals likely to result from such.

Joel Osteen's alleged delay in opening Lakewood Church to the victims of Hurricane Harvey will not be remembered as his finest hour. However, the reluctance can be understandable. Osteen might have been concerned that the facility would likely be torn to pieces like the Superdome was during Hurricane Katrina. And, as in the case of the horrors claimed to have taken place in that arena during that particular national calamity, would Lakewood Church be held liable for any rapes or sexual assaults committed on the property by those extended refuge?

In a sermon condemning the contemporary young adult male while deliberately glossing over the shortcomings of the contemporary young adult female, Pastor Sean Harris droned on about new mothers returning to work because of fathers not sufficiently providing. But is it that the father is not making an effort or is it that he's not providing the standard that she prefers? For example, is she having to settle for Aldi's and Savealot when she thinks she is deserving of Whole Foods and is being forced to shop at the local thrift store rather than Noordstrom's or Sacks Fifth Avenue?

In a SermonAudio homily that highlighted the shortcomings of the contemporary young adult male while totally ignoring the as shocking shortcomings of the contemporary young adult female, Pastor Sean Harris remarked that “real men” do not live with their parents. If he wants to maintain the fiction that his congregation holds to Sola Scriptura, can he provide a verse reference proving this assertion? Fascinating how the Hebrew Patriarchs are invoked by many of the hardline fundamentalists when denigrating modern dating where the individual makes their own selection of a mate rather than settling for the one provided by parents but the fact that the likes of Issac resided with his parents well into his forties is conveniently glossed over without mention.

In his analysis of the demise of Christian bookstores, homseschool activist Kevin Swanson characterized the death of Thomas Kincaid as a result of an overdose as a picture of American Christianity. If that is the case, couldn't it just as legitimately be said that the picture of the Reformed homeschool movement was the fall of Doug Phillips from Vision Forum Ministries as a result of an affair with the hired help or the dismissal of Swanson's former sidekick Dave Buehner for similar carnal improprieties?

Reflecting upon the demise of Christian bookstores, homeschool activist Kevin Swanson veered into criticism of painter Thomas Kincaid. In the analysis, Swanson insisted that the late artist's work lacked gravitas. But then again, are we Christians obligated to hang depressing works in our living rooms or over the mantle?

In his condemnation of Christian bookstores, homeschool activist Kevin Swanson compared a book on raising boys written by a Christian psychologist and one written by a pastor. He noted critically how the one written by the psychologist was primarily practical in nature and only had a smattering of Bible verses. The book written by the pastor, on the other hand, was highly praised for containing numerous Scriptures. But isn't each written by a professional that by training is an expert in a distinct yet not necessarily conflicting field? The concern should have instead been if the pastor hadn't utilized so many verses and was attempting to pass himself off as a psychologist? At no time was it clarified whether or not the psychologist was peddling advice that in anyway contradicted Biblical teaching. The psychologist might have simply been providing ways by which Biblical teaching could be put into practice. Many of these professional religionists bind the Christian in a sort of proverbial catch 22. They insist that all knowledge is God's knowledge and that there needs to be the influence of believers in these various fields of study but they then turn around in a tizzy when these issues are approached in a manner different than how they would be handled from the Sunday pulpit.

In exegesis of Esther's proclamation that if she perished, she perished, a pastor remarked that he could not understand why Americans are reluctant to die. Probably because it was God that placed a survival instinct into all living creatures. And apart from hardline Islamists that have to work at undermine this through intensive brainwashing and spiritual manipulation, are there really that many people that are either young or healthy eager to die? If one is going to make as part of one's pulpit persona how much one admires Jewish culture, shouldn't one know that one of their catch phrases is “To life!”?

Congress has passed a resolution demanding the President condemn White supremacism. Will this quickly be followed will successive decrees calling for similar condemnation of Black Lives Matter, enthusiasts of the knock out game, Hispanosupremacist organizations such La Raza and Mecha, and the fanatical babykillers of Planned Parenthood?

So why is CNN propagandist Don Lemon being praised for getting on the bandwagon that fat bottomed girls make the world go round and that he likes big butts and he cannot lie but a husband that confessed similar sentiments on social media regarding his wife was castigated as if he was some kind of domestic abuser?

At the Pentagon 9/11 Commemoration, Secretary of Defense James Mattis declared, “Mr. President, your military does not scare.” So is that sense of courage why a number of elite military functionaries about tripped all over themselves to condemn the Charlottesville disturbances (a domestic political incident the military had no business addressing in the first place) in a manner that totally ignored the role Antifa rabblerousers played in exacerbating the incident?

Secularists are in an uproar over Trump judicial nominee Amy Burrett for seeming to suggest that, as a Catholic, there are instances where fidelity to religious teaching might take precedence over an oath sworn to uphold the Constitution. Such a statement does cause the discerning to stop for a moment of reflection. But upon further consideration, how is her sentiment appreciably worse than most of the fiats issued by numerous administrations irrespective of party finding no basis whatsoever in the Constitution? A perfect example is no doubt the DACA decree of the Obama regime that the very same progressives raising this concern about a jurist's legal ideology are in an uproar over Trump attempting to find a more appropriate statutory foundation for.

President Trump assures that there will be a wall but just not right now. That translates from political gibberish that, if one is ever built, it likely won't be during the Trump regime.

If NFL players should be allowed to sit down during the National Anthem without repercussion in violation of the rules, why should the property owner along Interstate 95 in Virginia be required to comply the with a zoning ordinance pulled out of the backside of municipal officials infringing upon his free speech to fly an enormous Confederate flag?

By Frederick Meekins

Frederick Meekins
Issachar Bible Church & Apologetics Research Institute


Biography - Frederick Meekins

Frederick Meekins is an independent theologian and social critic. Frederick holds a BS in Political Science/History, a MA in Apologetics/Christian Philosophy from Trinity Theological Seminary, and a PhD. in Christian Apologetics from Newburgh Theological Seminary.


Copyright © 2017 by Frederick Meekins
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