Josh Benner

Category: society

  • The great enemy of success: excuses

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    It’s common for people to blame officials for their team losing a game.

    It’s less common for people to blame officials for losing a game by 29 points. But I found myself in a conversation on Facebook recently with a person who was arguing that officiating cost Ohio State that game.

    I say this not to belittle that particular person but it made me think of society and how we approach failure.

    Many people struggle with pride and never take responsibility. The problem with that is if you never admit your own mistakes and your own contribution to your life situations, you’ll never be able to grow. (more…)

  • Survey reveals pervasive heretical beliefs among American Christians

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    Working with Lifeway Research, Ligonier Ministries recently released the third installment of their “State of Theology” survey.

    Part of the goal is to find out what American Chrstians “believe about God, salvation, ethics, and the Bible.” Lifeway polled 3,000 Americans in the survey.

    The results were troubling.

    Many people in the poll have unbiblical views on moral issues. For instance, 46% of people ages 18-34 believe that gender is a matter of personal choice. 38% disagreed that abortion is a sin.

    But what is even more concerning than views on moral issues is views which are heretical. For the question, “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.” 78% agreed with that statement.

    The problem?

    Jesus isn’t a created being! The heresy that Jesus is a lesser being than God the Father is a heresy that is essentially as old as Christianity.

    Other key doctrines where people disagreed with Biblical teachings included undermining that humans have a sinful nature. 53% of respondents agreed with the statement “Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.”

    51% of respondents believed that a person can be saved who follows a religion besides Christianity. 58% believed that “worshipping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church.”

    Churches must be committed to teaching sound biblical doctrine. We too often shy away from sound doctrine because we’re afraid it’ll be too advanced for people in a culture that is often not well versed in the Bible.

    But there are catechisms for little kids. Surely adults can learn basic Biblical teachings, such as that Jesus is not a created being.

    But I’ll also say that it’s not all on churches either. A person can be taught correct doctrine but choose to believe that which is unbiblical. I especially think of this in terms of beliefs that water down the penalty of sin or that try to find backdoors for people to get into heaven without having faith in the gospel.

    We must take the word of God seriously.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • Kavanaugh, society, and the #MeToo movement

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    The past week has been a circus with allegations of past sexual abuse levied against Supreme Corut nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

    I don’t know what this man has or hasn’t done.

    I do believe people are fundamentally innocent until proven guilty and that there needs to be evidence.

    Some of the moves that the democrats in congress have taken in this process do make it seem like a bunch of political posturing (for instance, them sitting on Dr. Ford’s allegations for weeks and not revealing them until right before a vote. Was that out of their sincere concern for Dr. Ford and desire for her to be heard? Seems like they were very deliberate with that timing).

    The whole situation is immensely complicated.  (more…)

  • No matter how terrible things seem, the gospel shows that there is always hope

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    Andrew Stoecklein was pastor of a megachurch in California who took his life last week. I’ve seen many stories shared about this man this week. I’ve seen articles about social media posts his wife has made in the wake of the loss of her husband.

    It’s an incredibly sad story. Successful young pastor. Growing megachurch. He had struggled with depression and anxiety. Stoecklein had actually taken a four month sabbatical as he was battling these mental health issues and had returned earlier this month. (more…)

  • New gender study suppressed because it doesn’t fit agenda

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    I originally read about this story on the DailyWire.

    A recent article from a Brown University researcher named Lisa Littman was published on the subject of rapid-onset gender dysphoria. In short, there can be a social component to issues with gender identity.

    The article suggests the hypothesis that:

    friends and online sources could spread certain beliefs. Examples include the belief that non-specific symptoms such as feeling uncomfortable in their own skins or feeling like they don’t fit in — which could be a part of normal puberty or associated with trauma — should be perceived as gender dysphoria; the belief that the only path to happiness is transition; and the belief that anyone who disagrees with the teen is transphobic and should be cut out of their life.

    Brown University has pulled the study offline. In a statement from the Dean of Brown University School of Public Health, she said:

    Independent of the University’s removal of the article because of concerns about research methodology, the School of Public Health has heard from Brown community members expressing concerns that the conclusions of the study could be used to discredit efforts to support transgender youth and invalidate the perspectives of members of the transgender community.

    So the article has been removed because: “conclusions of the study could be used to discredit efforts to support transgender youth and invalidate the perspectives of members of the transgender community.”

    So we must therefore hide from research because it’s unpopular and doesn’t fit an agenda. The research results are unpopular and what is necessary is to proactively seek out studies that suggest the opposite findings.

    Truth should speak for itself. Truth is inherently worthy of being known. If truth is going to be suppressed because it might “discredit efforts to support transgender youth,” then there can be no honest discussion on the subject.

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    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

    Let’s connect!
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    Twitter
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