Zach Uram's Blog

  • Union With Christ: On the Errors of Infant Baptism & Baptismal Regeneration

    Baptism Deconstructed

    I think many Christians, who fall prey to the theological errors of infant baptism (paedobaptism), and the concept of so-called covenant children, are confused about what the covenant is for believers, and how one enters it. The covenant sign of the new covenant is spiritual circumcision of the heart (as opposed to the physical circumcision of the old covenant). Baptism by water is NOT the covenant sign. Unlike the old, the new covenant is wholly different and better Scripture tells us. The covenant sign as I said is spiritual circumcision when God grants repentance and saving faith to an individual. It is a strictly monergistic act. Water baptism is a synergistic work of man. And no, faith is not a work of man. Unlike the old covenant, the new covenant membership is made up of only the regenerate (the Elect sheep)!! So infant baptism can’t possibly be the covenant sign since millions of babies baptized as infants grow up to be reprobates (unregenerate). We Reformed believe one who is truly Elect cannot lose their status as being saved. Unlike the Roman Catholics who will vacillate between saved and unsaved thousands of times throughout their life! I call that Yo-Yo soteriology!

    Baptismal Regeneration

    It’s no secret that the Roman Catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox church both practice infant baptism, specifically they believe in baptismal regeneration.

    Proponents of baptismal regeneration sometimes will say that water baptism is God’s proscribed method of saving souls. This is terribly false! If we say that you recite a certain phrase and baptism with water and the child is now miraculously regenerate that degrades Christianity to a type of witchcraft where one says the spell or incantation, does the ordained act, and gets a supernatural effect. No that is absolutely not how salvation works!

    Baptismal regeneration goes against the whole counsel of Scripture and is absolutely demonic and Satanic! It has been Satan’s most effective tool. Infant baptism has sent literally billions of souls to Hell because they trusted in their baptism and figured they were “already saved” so they never learned of biblical repentance and the gift of saving faith which God grants His Elect sheep vis a vis the hearing of the Gospel!

    Credobaptism Is Biblical

    Scripture is clear that believer’s baptism (credobaptism) is the only biblical model of baptism. There is not in the New Testament a single case of explicit and unambiguous infant baptism (and no, examples of household baptism doesn’t imply infants were present, let alone baptized), nor baptismal regeneration. So both positions, of infant baptism and baptismal regeneration, are arguing from silence which is the weakest of all forms of argumentation.

    The only way to make a case for infant baptism or baptismal regeneration is to cherry pick certain so-called proof texts which are then interpreted via eisegesis not proper exegesis. Also such proponents also employ faulty unbiblical hermeneutics in their analysis of Scripture.

    Born of water and Spirit?

    In John 3:5, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” This statement emphasizes the crucial role of spiritual rebirth in one’s relationship with God. In the excellent article below we’ll examine John 3 which is the seminal text on baptism since it’s Jesus Himself who is teaching us! Pay careful attention.

    In John 3, Jesus uses the phrase “born of water” in answer to Nicodemus’s question about how to enter the kingdom of heaven. He told Nicodemus that he “must be born again” (John 3:3). Nicodemus questioned how such a thing could happen when he was a grown man. Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5).

    Being “born of the Spirit” is easily interpreted—salvation involves a new life that only the Holy Spirit can produce (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6). But there are a couple different schools of thought on what Jesus meant when He said, “born of water.” One perspective is that “born of water” refers to physical birth. Unborn babies float in fluid in the amniotic sac for nine months. When the time for birth arrives, the amniotic sac bursts, and the baby is born in a rush of “water,” entering the world as a new creature. This birth parallels being “born of the Spirit,” as a similar new birth occurs within our hearts (2 Corinthians 5:17). A person once-born has physical life; a person twice-born has eternal life (John 3:15–18, 36; 17:3; 1 Peter 1:23). Just as a baby contributes no effort to the birth process—the work is done by the mother—so it is with spiritual birth. We are merely the recipients of God’s grace as He gives us new birth through His Spirit (Ephesians 2:8–9). According to this view, Jesus was using a teaching technique He often employed by comparing a spiritual truth with a physical reality. Nicodemus did not understand spiritual birth, but he could understand physical birth so that was where Jesus took him.

    The other perspective is that “born of water” refers to spiritual cleansing and that Nicodemus would have naturally understood it that way. According to this view, “born of water” and “born of the Spirit” are different ways of saying the same thing, once metaphorically and once literally. Jesus’ words “born of water and the Spirit” describe different aspects of the same spiritual birth, or of what it means to be “born again.” So, when Jesus told Nicodemus that he must “be born of water,” He was referring to his need for spiritual cleansing. Throughout the Old Testament, water is used figuratively of spiritual cleansing. For example, Ezekiel 36:25 says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities” (see also Numbers 19:17–19; and Psalm 51:2, 7). Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, would surely have been familiar with the concept of physical water representing spiritual purification.

    The New Testament, too, uses water as a figure of the new birth. Regeneration is called a “washing” brought about by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God at the moment of salvation (Titus 3:5; cf. Ephesians 5:26; John 13:10). Christians are “washed . . . sanctified . . . justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). The “washing” Paul speaks of here is a spiritual one.

    Whichever perspective is correct, one thing is certain: Jesus was not teaching that one must be baptized in water in order to be saved. Baptism is nowhere mentioned in the context, nor did Jesus ever imply that we must do anything to inherit eternal life but trust in Him in faith (John 3:16). The emphasis of Jesus’ words is on repentance and spiritual renewal—we need the “living water” Jesus later promised the woman at the well (John 4:10). Water baptism is an outward sign that we have given our lives to Jesus, but not a requirement for salvation (Luke 23:40–43).

    https://www.gotquestions.org/born-of-water.html

    I personally favor the interpretation where water refers to the physical birth waters that occur when a baby is born. But we have Christian liberty since Scripture is not adamant on any of the various interpretations mentioned in the article. This doesn’t mean that one can hold to the baptismal regeneration position and be biblically consistent.

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  • The Lost Generations: Christians in America to Become a Minority by 2070

    The Problem

    I’ve noticed recently some polling showing that young people aged 18-25 are leaving the faith they were raised in record droves! These young apostates are the Millennials and Gen-Z’ers.

    Some Context

    Let’s be frank, the real issue here is not that these churches (Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant) didn’t have a good enough youth pastor, the senior pastor didn’t capture their attention and keep them entertained, they didn’t have the trendiest worship music, or any other superficial metric is to blame. The truth is that these people left the Church because they were never converted! In other words as Scripture says, “they were never of us.”

    Also I think a good number of the pastors and elders were also unconverted. In many churches in America you can attend numerous times without once hearing the authentic Gospel preached.

    What To Do?

    We need to drop the seeker sensitive garbage, put away all forms of entertainment – whether it be in preaching or in praise and worship, and preach the pure Gospel and let the Holy Spirit do His work to raise up a new generation of believers.

    Parents have a huge impact on their children. I think it is a very good thing when the whole family worships together: I mean participating in the Church or public services, in addition to having an active and constant prayer life at home. Such a foundation is extremely important for the future adult, especially if they are separated later on, during the teen years and early adulthood.

    Some Sobering Statistics

    The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.

    Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of U.S. adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And one-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009. Meanwhile, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population – a group also known as religious “nones” – have seen their numbers swell. Self-described atheists now account for 4% of U.S. adults, up modestly but significantly from 2% in 2009; agnostics make up 5% of U.S. adults, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their religion as “nothing in particular,” up from 12% in 2009. Members of non-Christian religions also have grown modestly as a share of the adult population.

    The data shows that just like rates of religious affiliation, rates of religious attendance are declining.3 Over the last decade, the share of Americans who say they attend religious services at least once or twice a month dropped by 7 percentage points, while the share who say they attend religious services less often (if at all) has risen by the same degree. In 2009, regular worship attenders (those who attend religious services at least once or twice a month) outnumbered those who attend services only occasionally or not at all by a 52%-to-47% margin. Today those figures are reversed; more Americans now say they attend religious services a few times a year or less (54%) than say they attend at least monthly (45%).

    Broad-based declines in share of Americans who say they are Christian

    The changes underway in the American religious landscape are broad-based. The Christian share of the population is down and religious “nones” have grown across multiple demographic groups: white people, black people and Hispanics; men and women; in all regions of the country; and among college graduates and those with lower levels of educational attainment. Religious “nones” are growing faster among Democrats than Republicans, though their ranks are swelling in both partisan coalitions. And although the religiously unaffiliated are on the rise among younger people and most groups of older adults, their growth is most pronounced among young adults.

    Furthermore, the data shows a wide gap between older Americans (Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation) and Millennials in their levels of religious affiliation and attendance. More than eight-in-ten members of the Silent Generation (those born between 1928 and 1945) describe themselves as Christians (84%), as do three-quarters of Baby Boomers (76%). In stark contrast, only half of Millennials (49%) describe themselves as Christians; four-in-ten are religious “nones,” and one-in-ten Millennials identify with non-Christian faiths.

    Only about one-in-three Millennials say they attend religious services at least once or twice a month. Roughly two-thirds of Millennials (64%) attend worship services a few times a year or less often, including about four-in-ten who say they seldom or never go. Indeed, there are as many Millennials who say they “never” attend religious services (22%) as there are who say they go at least once a week (22%).

    https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/

    Analysis of the Data

    Sadly, this data shows:

    • Fewer Americans identify as Christian.
    • Of the Christians who do identify as Christian, fewer are attending church.
    • The number of Millennials who identify as Christians has shrunk considerably in a decade.
    • Fewer Millennial Christians are attending church.
    • The number of “nones” (those without a religious affiliation such as atheists and agnostics) has skyrocketed in a decade.

    Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” This accelerating trend is reshaping the U.S. religious landscape, leading many people to wonder what the future of religion in America might look like.

    What if Christians keep leaving religion at the same rate observed in recent years? What if the pace of religious switching continues to accelerate? What if switching were to stop, but other demographic trends – such as migration, births and deaths – were to continue at current rates? To help answer such questions, Pew Research Center has modeled several hypothetical scenarios describing how the U.S. religious landscape might change over the next half century.

    The Center estimates that in 2020, about 64% of Americans, including children, were Christian. People who are religiously unaffiliated, sometimes called religious “nones,” accounted for 30% of the U.S. population. Adherents of all other religions – including Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists – totaled about 6%.1

    Depending on whether religious switching continues at recent rates, speeds up or stops entirely, the projections show Christians of all ages shrinking from 64% to between a little more than half (54%) and just above one-third (35%) of all Americans by 2070. Over that same period, “nones” would rise from the current 30% to somewhere between 34% and 52% of the U.S. population.

    https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/
    Chart shows U.S. Christians projected to fall below 50% of population if recent trends continue

    Chart shows U.S. ‘nones’ will approach majority by 2070 if recent switching trends continue

    As you can see, by 2070 Christians would fall into a minority position and so-called nones (atheists, agnostics, etc.) would be in a majority position. I don’t want to live in America ruled by atheism! This is not the nation my grandparents fought for, this is not the nation I want to live in. I can only imagine the horrific laws the atheists/agnostics will enact once they control virtually every American institution! Thank God I will be in Heaven by then!!! I WEEP FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN SAINTS!

    Parental & Church Influence

    The number one developmental factor in children’s lives are their parents. Second is their churches. Sadly many parents no longer attend church; so thus, their children also don’t attend. And they never hear the Gospel (faith comes by hearing), and thus they are never given the gifts of repentance and faith through sovereign election. Sadly, even for the children who do regularly attend church, many are never exposed to the true saving Gospel. And the hard truth is that for many who are raised the so-called “right” way by godly parents, they will never be regenerate because they are not a member of God’s Elect. You can have 10 Doctor of Theology degrees worth of head knowledge, but that doesn’t count for a single iota in terms of salvation. Many a learned soul has been damned to Hell.

    Infant Baptism & Covenant Children

    I am strongly against infant baptism and the whole concept of so-called “covenant children” that is popular with many Presbyterian Reformed believers. You can be exposed to the Gospel and godly influences your entire life, from baptism to old age. But, unless you are one of the Elect, chosen by God without any consideration of or basis in any qualities or merits of yourself, then you will die as a reprobate and go to Hell. The only truly covenant child is a child who at age 7 (the age of reason), or older, is granted repentance and saving faith after hearing the Gospel. Baptism does absolutely nothing to change our spiritual state. And raising our children to love and fear God, teaching them doctrine, teaching them how to read and study the Bible, these are all noble things. But don’t kid yourself and think your child has a greater chance at being regenerate than some kid in China raised under atheistic communism. How many millions upon millions have been baptized as infants who go on to prove by their lives that they were never Christ’s. And consider all the millions of souls raised in godly Christian homes, who turned out to be reprobates.

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  • Economic Slavery: The Tyranny of the Credit Scoring System

    There was a time when a man’s word was good enough to get credit, but those days are long gone sadly.

    Before 1989 there was no such thing in America as a FICO credit score. Before then if you went to a local bank and applied for a mortgage, they’d take into account how long you’d been a customer, your salary, and your monthly expenses. The same thing for buying a new car. One didn’t need a “credit score” to make use of credit.

    It wasn’t until credit reporting became computerized in the 1960s that the industry would become consolidated. 

    In the 1960s, there were more than 2,000 credit bureaus across the U.S.. Over the course of the next 20 years, that number would shrink to five and, eventually, to the three major credit bureaus that exist today, Lauer explains.

    “Before [the 1960s], all the files were in filing cabinets, on papers and cards,” says Lauer. “So we have these bureaus that have lots of money. They come into a town and buy up all the local credit bureaus with all [of] their information and then computerize it.”

    It would take longer for credit scoring to gain widespread popularity in the U.S., however, as lenders were hesitant to give up their use of character assessments in the evaluation of someone’s creditworthiness. 

    Today, FICO scores are considered to be the most widely used type of credit score.

    According to Sally Taylor, vice president and general manager of FICO Scores, the company was founded in 1956 and would initially work with business clients to develop credit scoring models that were specific to that company.

    A company would hire FICO and then use the its customer files to produce an individualized model, which would then be used to calculate the credit risk level of its customers, explains Lauer. 

    In 1989, FICO worked with the national credit bureaus to create a credit scoring model that could be used to evaluate all consumers — this is when the first generalizable credit score was born.

    “The idea that there’s a generic model means that lots of different companies can use a credit score for the first time and this makes credit scoring much more accessible and popular among lenders,” says Lauer.

    FICO scores were then cemented as a crucial part of the financial decision-making process when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac started requiring mortgage applicants to submit them in the mid-1990s.

    https://www.cnbc.com/select/when-did-credit-scores-start/

    Ever since the credit score was introduced it’s been increasingly used by credit card companies, car dealerships, and banks to block and marginalize low income workers and workers on fixed incomes (like me who is disabled), and bar them from getting the car loan, mortgage, or credit card they desperately need. And the galling thing is that while this is happening, the people who have the least need for credit (the wealthy) have the best credit scores and get the lowest interest rates.

    Those who what are deemed poor or average credit scores are forced to take out secured cards with ridiculously high rates (18% to 32%) – loan shark rates if you wanna get real.

    The existing credit score system routinely discriminates against, and thus disenfranchises, millions of low income workers and people on fixed incomes. It is a system rooted in bigotry!

    Criticism of credit scoring systems in the United States

    Credit scoring systems in the United States have garnered considerable criticism from various media outlets, consumer law organizations,[1] government officials,[2] debtors unions,[3][4] and academics. Racial bias,[5] discrimination against prospective employees,[6] discrimination against medical and student debt holders,[7] poor risk predictability, manipulation of credit scoring algorithms,[8] inaccurate reports,[9] and overall immorality are some of the concerns raised regarding the system. Danielle Citron and Frank Pasquale list three major flaws in the current credit-scoring system:[10]

    1. Disparate impacts: The algorithms systematize biases that have been measured externally and are known to impact disadvantaged groups such as racial minorities and women. Because the algorithms are proprietary, they cannot be tested for built-in human bias.
    2. Arbitrary: Research shows that there is substantial variation in scoring based on audits. Responsible financial behavior can be penalized.
    3. Opacity: credit score technology is not transparent so consumers are unable to know why their credit scores are affected.

    The scoring system has also been critiqued as a form of classification to shape an individual’s life-chances—a form of economic inequality.[11] Since the 1980s, neoliberal economic policy has created an inverse correlation between the expansion of credit and a decline in social welfare—deregulation incentivizes financing for the consumption of goods and services that the welfare state would alternatively provide.[12] Credit scoring systems are seen as scheme to classify individuals creditworthiness necessitated by the loss of these collective social services.[11][13] The credit scoring system in the United States has been compared to, and was the inspiration for, the Social Credit System in China.[14][15]

    The use of credit information in connection with applying for various types of insurance or in landlord background checks (for rental applications) has drawn similar amounts of scrutiny and criticism, because obtaining and maintaining employment, housing, transport, and insurance are among the basic functions of meaningful participation in modern society,[16] and in some cases (such as auto insurance) are mandated by law.[17]

    Discriminatory effects

    Credit scores are widely used as the basis for decisions to allow or deny individuals the opportunity to do things such as taking out loans, buy houses and cars, and open credit cards and other kinds of accounts. [18] This has been criticized as a practice having discriminatory effects.[19] Credit companies purport to measure creditworthiness by looking at information like: the number of accounts held, the age of associated credit accounts, consumer payment history of borrowed money, and the punctuality and consistency of payments.

    As credit scores have become necessary to maintain credit and purchasing power, this system has been criticized as a wall between favored and disfavored classes of people.[11] The expansion of accessible credit can come with a downside of exclusion as people with poor credit (those that are considered high risk by credit scoring systems) become dependent on short-term alternatives such as licensed money lenders (the home credit industry), pawn brokers, payday lenders, and even loan sharks.[20] Credit scores can function as a form of social hierarchy that creates opportunities to exploit poor Americans. This can also prevent people from ever escaping their poverty or a poor financial past.[21]

    Credit scoring systems also act as a way to treat individuals as objects that are subject to a particular set of quantifiable attributes.[22] In addition, they have a degrading potential that celebrates calculability over human needs.[23] Discriminatory responses to poor credit create a self-fulfilling prophecy as it raises costs for future financing which increases the likelihood of being unemployed or insolvent.[10] Since credit scores aim to classify people, other markets have expanded its applicability for use as a screening or assessment tool.[11] Credit is no longer used just for financial products such as mortgage loans, but is increasingly being applied cross-institutionally for other services such as:

    • car insurance [17]
    • health insurance[16]
    • starting utilities (electricity, natural gas, water, etc.)[24][21]
    • employment[5][25]
    • rental housing[16]
    • small purchase financing (e.g. cell phones, appliances, etc.)

    Alternative credit scoring systems can use data such as rental payments, utility payments, subprime credit, and cell phone bills.[26] Other sources are social media activities, internet browsing history, employment history, student history, past loan application dates and locations, or the method one uses when purchasing gasoline.[27] Scores have also used for bespoke purposes such as dating.[28] Prior to the formation of the Fair, Isaac and Company (FICO) or the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970), early credit scoring systems such as the Retail Credit Company (now Equifax) in Atlanta, Georgia gathered information on individuals’ sexual lives, disabilities, their political ideologies, and social behaviors.[21] Today, some scoring systems such as those developed by Versium Analytics are moving far beyond scores for financial products to measure probabilities that a consumer will commit fraud, cancel a subscription, be at risk of identity theft, buy environmentally friendly goods, donate to charity, among others.[16][29]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_credit_scoring_systems_in_the_United_States

    As you can see from this Wikipedia quote the current credit scoring systems in America are inherently unfair and broken. I’ve personally felt the negative effects of these systems. My sister and I were denied several apartment rentals because our credit scores were deemed too low. Also we are unable to obtain credit cards with sane and non-discriminatory interest rates!

    It’s unnecessary 

    There’s no question that a computer can point out a person’s potential for future trouble. But so can a human who reviews a credit report. It should not take software to see if someone has the potential to go bad. Lenders are relying too heavily on scoring factors alone. 


    It’s unfair 

    Computers don’t care about special circumstances. Everything is either black or white. There is no consideration of a person’s basic character or allowance for the fact that people can change their lives and their behaviors. A computer looks at data and assigns a number. Negatives stay on your credit report for seven years or longer. Murderers have been known to walk out of prison on appeal or probation in less time than it takes to clear one’s credit history. 


    It’s a conflict of interest 

    Fair Isaac sells its products and services to companies that issue personal lines of credit. On its Web site it boasts that it influences more than 13 billion credit decisions each year and has sold more than 10 billion FICO scores since 1985. To achieve a high credit score, Fair Isaac has programmed its scoring model to require multiple open lines of credit. It creates the problem for consumers (not enough credit), charges them a fee to diagnose it (credit score), and then prescribes a remedy (get more credit), which sends that consumer to the very industry that creates Fair Isaac’s income stream.


    It’s punitive 

    Jeffrey Strain of http://www.TheStreet.com says that a low credit score could cost individual consumers $1 million in their lifetimes. 

    Mortgage. According to http://www.MyFico.com, someone with a good credit score between 760 and 850 can get a mortgage at 6.346 percent APR. But a person with a low score between 500 and 579 will pay 10.152 percent APR. Over the 30 years of the loan, the difference would be $288,000. 

    Auto loans. Good credit score? You can expect to pay around 7.2 percent APR at this time. But if you have a low score, expect that amount to be nearly double at 14.9 percent APR. 

    Credit cards. A poor credit score can translate to a credit-card interest rate close to 20 percent, or more.

    Insurance. Now that insurance companies have jumped onto the credit score bandwagon, they have adopted their own similar type of scoring based on a person’s credit report. Low score? Expect to get socked with higher premiums —much higher.

    Housing. Even landlords are now requiring credit checks as part of the application process for renting an apartment or other real estate. A low score can result in a hefty increase in the deposits required. 

    https://www2.cbn.com/article/not-selected/credit-scoring-flawed-system

    So we’ve seen that the current credit scoring system is broken, flawed, and highly biased! Here is an excellent article by a scholar from the CATO Institute discussing the issues and possible solutions.

    Conclusion

    The credit scoring system, which has its roots in a Chinese Communist social credit scoring system, ballooned into a systematic tool of discrimination which marginalizes and stigmatizes tens of millions of Americans every single day. We need to demand better. Change must come!

    It’s like they are chaining people to their credit score!

    Violet Uram
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  • Race Realism: A Discourse on the Current State of Race in America

    Shakespeare was the greatest writer of all time, besides the Bible – which was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It’s sad so many high schools and universities have dropped the study of the venerable bard and his many works. Too white. Too western. Too Christian. This is the tip of the anti-white, anti-Western, and anti-Christian bias which is, sadly, now so prevalent in Western society. White Christian men are largely responsible for our modern society and all of its knowledge and scientific advances. Examine any field of knowledge: whether it be chemistry, physics, mathematics, geography, geology, archaeology, literature, political science, history, business and industry, architecture, the arts such as music, painting, and sculptures, poetry, etc. You will see, if one is objective and intellectually honest, that white Christian men are largely responsible for constructing modern civilization. I could go on and on! This doesn’t mean that other races haven’t achievements of their own. But if one compares all the races, the white race alone is responsible for the lions share of achievements, breakthroughs, advances, and discoveries.

    I for one am proud to be a white Christian male! We made the greatest achievements the earth has ever known. When we die out then the real hell on earth begins! We’re seeing now only glimpses of the coming degeneracy, anti-intellectualism, destruction of western civilization! Open your eyes white man before it’s too late!

    I’m sick of having to qualify my statements and defend myself regarding my race. For boldly stating that I am proud to be a white Christian man I was slandered, called a fool, dismissed as a racist, and labeled a white supremacist.

    The discussion of race in America has become so poisonous and anti-white that if a white man is not politically correct, if he is not woke and discusses race realism and objective historical facts he will be ostracized, ridiculed, dismissed, and written off as a racist.

    There is a huge double standard and a staggering degree of hypocrisy involved in current talk and attitudes about race. If a black man says he is proud to be a black man he will receive near universal praise and affirmation. If a black man says he is proud of the accomplishments of fellow blacks, once again he will find wide support and acceptance. However if a white man says either of those 2 statements he will be attacked, ridiculed, mocked, demonized, vilified, he could possibly lose his job or be expelled from university.

    There is far far more anti-white racism now than anti-black or anti-hispanic racism. Whites are blamed for virtually every single problem in the modern world whether real or imagined. Charles who is black didn’t study in school and now has a low wage job, does he go to college and get a degree to better himself? NO! He blames whitey and says systemic institutionalized racism is holding him back and the cause of all his problems in life. This type of thinking is absolutely Satanic. Groups like BLM have made literally billions of dollars by demonizing white people, men in particular, and blaming us for every single problem that people of color in America face!

    And if you want to bring up police brutality I can count on both hands the number of cases of outright racist police brutality against black men, yet groups like BLM would have us believe this is a widespread and systemic problem. If you want to talk about brutality and violence lets discuss the tens of thousands of innocent white victims who are murdered by black men EVERY SINGLE YEAR in America! It is outrageous to frame blacks as the innocent victimized race and whites as the aggressors and oppressors. The harsh reality is that whites experience far more violence and anti-white hatred and racism than blacks by a very wide margin.

    I went to black majority middle and high schools. I saw white students being bullied and brutalized by blacks, I heard anti-white racial pejoratives such as honkey, cracker, white devil, whitey etc. on a daily basis! Yet in my entire life I only once heard a white person use the N-word to insult a person of color.

    The ridiculous double standard and gross hypocrisy needs to end.

    The saddest thing is when black Christians are accusers of their white brethren and attack them and label them as racists when they in fact are not racist. And it’s sadder still when white Christians become woke and accuse their fellow whites of being racist.

    I don’t care what anyone says in my personal experience growing up in Pittsburgh black people are the most racist racial group I’ve ever come across. Some anti-black racism still exists, but we’ve made a lot of progress. The way BLM talks and whines you’d think it was 1823 not 2023! Black people don’t have to hide their anti-white racism, they seem to relish it. Virtually every time I rode the bus for the past 30 years nearly 90% of the rides black teenagers would hurl racist insults at me. People who were complete strangers to me. Why would blacks feel comfortable exhibiting anti-white racism in a city where they are just 9% of the population and whites are 70%? It’s because the popular culture which is profane and degenerate and anti-Christian is on their side and shields, protects and encourages them to act racist towards whites.

    Literally my entire life I hear how blacks are encouraged to take pride in their race, to laud their ancestors accomplishments, yet hypocritically when whites do the EXACT same thing we are suddenly labeled racists and white supremacists and even classified as domestic terrorists and hate groups by the FBI! It’s absurd and deeply wicked.

    The thing about my recent Facebook post on race which seemed to drive the woke crowd over the edge was my assertion that the white Christian males achieved and built more in history, and accomplished inventing classical and modern society, than any other race. I don’t know if these people suffer from race envy, jealousy, or an inferiority complex, but it is objectively and demonstrably true that by virtually ANY metric you choose the white Christian men are responsible for achieving more than any other race by a large margin. And white Christian men did the most in missionary work and spreading the Gospel to heathen continents like Africa and South America. They should thank God every single day for those white Christian men who brought them the Gospel, who established hospitals and schools and universities, who invested in infrastructure and industry. These men literally brought these primitive societies that had virtually no technology or knowledge, and built them into thriving and successful economies and thus brought them into the modern age! No instead of thanks all you find is ungratefulness, scorn, hatred, bitterness and resentment. They idealize living in Africa or South America as their ancestors did. But if modern blacks had to live in those ancient primitive heathen societies they would be appalled!!

    I am race realist, not a racist. I talk about race openly and honestly in frank terms. If you wish to classify me as a racist please do me a favor and unfriend me on Facebook!

    As I said, so far I’ve been called a fool, a racist, a white supremacist and I’ve even been called an unbeliever. This is simply unacceptable! I am being maligned and misrepresented. This slander and hate mongering and character assassination will not stand. It is not Christ-like. I am not a racist. I am not a fool. I am not a white supremacist. I don’t believe I or any white person is superior to any other race. We all stand uniformly guilty and dead in our sins until God regenerates us by His sovereign will. I do believe one can make a very strong case that historically God has blessed the white race for being faithful to the Gospel and advancing God’s Kingdom. And further that the white race achieved a staggering amount of achievements in virtually every single field of endeavor, and no other race even comes close to the level of achievements.

    If I look at the past 1,000 years the white race had the great geniuses, the great theologians, the great royalty, the great scholars, the great minds who achieved the most in every single intellectual field of study, as well as responsible for building the modern world almost single handedly in comparison to other races. I should be able to state these OBJECTIVE HISTORICAL AND INTELLECTUAL FACTS without being slandered, attacked, demonized, vilified and dismissed as a racist honky. I challenge anyone to show me how what I said is false. By virtually any metric you choose to analyze and study the issue, the end result will confirm and validate what I said. The vast majority of Americans cannot have open and honest frank discussion of race issues without getting hyper emotional and without falling into a woke politically correct leftist narrative.

    I stand by what I said and believe it is factually correct so help me God. If God reveals to me a flaw in my argumentation I will be happy to share that knowledge publicly on my Facebook timeline. It is a serious and very ugly and Satanic thing to label a man a racist. You better have rock solid irrefutable proof. But in our modern culture the word racist is thrown around with impunity and is used carelessly and undeservedly. I am no racist!

    White people continue to be censored, marginalized, ostracized and demonized in American society, and when they do try to defend themselves and expose the false narrative they face near universal condemnation. It’s a very sad time in America to be a white person. Where is all that white privilege I hear groups like BLM speak about? I live on approximately on a very low income. White so-called privilege never helped me one bit in my life. In fact by being white I’ve faced additional hardships.

    We need to encourage people of color to stop believing the false race narrative they’re being spoon fed in school and sadly often in church!

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  • Darwinian Evolution Debunked: A Critique of the So-Called Evolution of the Species

    Macro evolution (one species through adaptation in nature developing into a whole new species) was the biggest scam to come out of the 19th century.

    Darwin was Satanically inspired to create his theory of evolution. He was greatly deceived as are any Christians that believe in evolution of the species, even so-called theistic evolution where God directs the evolutionary process is utterly false.

    Darwin’s theory posits that in the struggle in nature, those who are most fit, the strongest, the fastest, the most brutal, will survive and flourish by passing on traits via gene which ensure their survival over other species which will die off.

    To posit that simple naturalistic forces of nature alone determines the survival of the species is a huge error based on false presuppositions.

    Man, unlike the animals in the natural kingdom, is unique. He alone possesses God give intellect and the ability to reason on a high level. This sets him apart from other animals who are in brute competition.

    Man is able to override genetic advantages or weaknesses. And, in fact, technology has progressed so far that scientists can know even edit genes and manipulate the human genome.

    Evolutionists will argue that human and chimpanzee DNA is so similar it must thus provided causal evidence of evolution in the distant past millions of years ago.

    The fact that humans and chimpanzees share so much DNA in common is explainable in the simple fact that God is a very efficient and clever Designer. Also man shares a lot of common DNA with insects, it doesn’t logically imply we descended from some insect-man hybrid!

    But like I said, the most important factor in the survival of the so-called fittest, as Darwin characterizes it, is not brute strength, speed, or specific adaptive skills. The single largest determining factor, by a huge degree, is our rational minds and our ability to reason and create and self-direct our progress or decline.

    Another huge problem that evolutionists and theistic evolutionists have is the glaring lack of evidence of transitional forms in the fossil record. If millions of species over the course of millions of times adapted and changed transitional forms there would be literally hundreds of millions, if not billions, of transitional fossils documenting this directed process. But that is not what archaeologists and anthropologists find. They will take a skull from a human from 200,000 years ago and compare it to a modern human skull and notice differences which they offer as proof of evolution. The answer is simple, God created different species of mankind and some of them died off and some of them survived. It had nothing to do with evolution. And they were distinct species descended from Adam and Eve whom God created ex nihilo (out of nothing).

    Further let us consider specified complexity. If one examines DNA and sees the staggering complexity of the human mind, our vision (eyes), and the whole wonderful structure of the body, consider that all of this complexity is encoded in our DNA. There is simply no way that something as complex as DNA could evolve from some biochemical soup. Mathematically it is impossible. The inescapable conclusion is that man was designed by an Intelligent Designer.

    As you can see evolution is a scam and has been used by different bad actors as the basis for genocide and the death of millions of people. Darwin’s ideas on human evolution fueled a specific kind of racism, influencing generations to believe there were higher and lower (primitive and advanced) races (with so-called Caucasians at the top of the evolutionary hierarchy). Darwin’s views influenced a wide variety of evil people, including perhaps the most infamous of all: Adolf Hitler.

    The bloodstained legacy of Darwin is highlighted in a new book from historian Richard Weikart, “Darwinian Racism: How Darwinism Influenced Hitler, Nazism, and White Nationalism”. It explores Darwinian racism in the past and present. According to a write-up about the book:

    “The work reveals how Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution shaped the views of Hitler and the Nazis, and how the Nazis championed Darwinism during the Third Reich. Guided by Darwin’s Descent of Man and by early Darwinists such as Ernst Haeckel, the Nazis viewed the “Nordic race” as superior to other races. Worse, they concluded that the Nordic Germans should advance human evolution by ridding the world of “inferior” individuals and races, and claiming more living space for themselves and their offspring. The results were forced euthanasia programs for “unfit” Germans, the Holocaust, and World War II.”

    Here is an excellent 20-page article by Professor Weikart which covers the issues of Nazis and Darwinian evolution.

    I also highly recommend reading Professor Weikart’s earlier book “From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany”.

    As these books demonstrate Darwinian Evolution was Satanically inspired. It was used as the justification for all types of atrocities. The Chinese and Soviet regimes were strictly atheistic and also taught the principles of evolution. Think of the 100+ million victims who were murdered on the basis of this wicked system of evolution.

    It pains me to see an increasing number of deceived Christians affirming theistic evolution. May God open their eyes.

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  • Altered States Don’t Define Me

    I am quite insane
    I have a corrupted brain
    My neurotransmitters
    Are out of sync
    It affects
    The way I think
    Some days I’m in
    A dark malaise
    Yet, in despair
    Like hymn writer
    William Cowper
    Christ – I do praise
    Some days I’m on
    A manic high
    I need sanity
    To come nigh
    At times I have
    Terrifying psychosis
    Yet my mind
    Remains precocious
    Sometimes I’m delusional
    That is quite unusual
    I may meow like a cat
    Or bark like a dog
    But thankfully
    I never
    Croak like a frog
    I have found order
    In chaos
    And peace
    Amidst conflict
    Christ’s love
    Is never derelict
    I shall take my meds
    And weather
    The mental storms
    I may not meet
    The psychiatric norms
    But I have a mighty
    Lord and Savior
    Who can help me
    To alter my behavior
    Pray for me please
    And help as you can
    Such is the effects
    Of sin
    On fallen man

    by Zachary Uram
    (c) 2023

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  • Who rules the Earth right now?

    Satan. Illustration by Gustave Dore – Paradise Lost by John Milton

    The Issue

    Who currently rules the earth: Satan or Christ? I will argue in this article that in fact Satan is master of the earth until Jesus returns at His Second Coming to claim the Davidic Throne and rule from Jerusalem for a millennium (1,000 years).

    Context

    Consider the following Scriptures:

    When Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days, the devil came to Him and said this: “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 4:6).

    First John 5:19 says, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

    Galatians 1:4 says that Jesus “gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age.”

    The Bible clearly teaches that Satan is not bound and has dominion here. The world has been handed over to him, so for the present time he has control over it.

    Sovereignty

    Christ is sovereign over everything, but delegates local sovereignty to kings and lords and presidents, and yes, even the devil who currently roams the earth.

    Those who oppose the idea of Satan being ruler of this world assert that such an arrangement would nullify God’s sovereignty. This is a false dichotomy.

    God is absolutely sovereign. Satan only has any degree of control because God allowed him to. He’s like a ferocious dog on a leash. God is the ultimate Master who controls all things for His glory and man’s good.

    The notion of Satan being lord of the earth does not in any way impugn God’s sovereign character and power.

    It should be noted that Satan’s time as ruler of the earth is limited by God. When Christ returns in glory and with all power and authority at His Second Coming (in the upcoming future), He shall assert Himself as ruler of this world and ascend to the Davidic Throne as prophesied.

    Christ is Lord

    Since I affirm Lordship Salvation (one must obey Christ’s commands if one is a true believer, and thus Christ is both Savior and Lord of your life) I am dismayed by Christians who have told me I can’t have Christ as Lord if I maintain that Satan rules the earth currently. This is, sadly, another false dichotomy. I fully affirm that Jesus is Lord and the absolute Master of the universe. Satan is only able to operate because he’s on a short. Christ holds that leash. Satan can only act within the constraints of God’s permissive will.

    Some Additional Scriptures

    “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 4:4

    “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8

    “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” – Ephesians 2:1-3

    Conclusion

    We’ve demonstrated that Scripture clearly teaches the following:

    • Satan was appointed lord of the earth, for a limited time, by God.
    • God remains absolutely sovereign.
    • Satan is on a leash, and Christ holds that leash.
    • Jesus will reclaim authority over the earth at His Second Coming in the future.
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  • Freedom in Christ

    In the dawn
    Of the new millennium
    I lost my sanity
    Chaos reigned
    In my mind
    Disconnected thoughts
    Voices in my head
    My eyes deceived me
    Hallucinations abounded
    I slowly
    Became very depressed
    Almost lost
    The will to live
    But at my lowest
    With a fractured
    Mind
    I found Christ
    Waiting for me
    Choosing me
    To save
    To adopt
    He is now
    And forever shall be
    My God
    My Lord
    And my Savior
    Glory to God

    By Zachary Uram
    (c) 2023

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  • God’s children: Natural Birth or New Birth

    We’ve all heard the popular assertion, “We are all God’s children.”, but is this slogan really a true statement of fact according to Scripture?

    In this article we shall examine that question and see what Scripture has to say about it.

    If we carefully study and exegete Scripture relating to this topic, four things stand out in stark contrast:

    1. Scripture is clear, only regenerated, born again believers are God’s children.
      At the time one is saved, they are adopted into God’s family. The context is we are spiritual children, not physical. The story of the Bible is the story of adoption. We Elect are adopted into God’s spiritual family as a chosen child of God. The logical inference we can make from these truth propositions from Scripture is that if only the Elect are God’s children, then all the non-Elect are not God’s children! So we are not God’s children by virtue of our natural birth (when we were born), but rather it is determined on the basis of our new birth in Christ. This makes some people uncomfortable. Nevertheless, as Christians we have a duty to stand on God’s Word.
    2. Scripture is also clear that Satan is the father of the unregenerate.
      For the totally depraved unregenerate, all their thoughts, ways, and inclinations are according to their nature. Thus they are wholly evil, all the time, and they are truly Satan’s children. They are God’s enemies, and they do his will, not God’s will. We can only do God’s will when we have been spiritually brought to life from being spiritually dead.
    3. Scripture is clear that the unregenerate do not possess the image of God.
      The number one rejoinder I hear, from people who believe every single person ever born are God’s children, is that we are made in the image of God; thus that proves we are God’s children. That is totally wrong. First being made in God’s image means we are created above mere animals (evolution is false and Satanic) and have self-perception and sentience. We can reason. We can create and destroy. However, as I argue in one of my blog posts (you can find it linked to below), I believe, as well as many of the leading Reformed thinkers, we lost this image in the Fall. The unregenerate do not have God’s image. This image is restored to us when we are regenerated. Certainly the unregenerate can reason. But they absolutely cannot reason and discern spiritual truths.
    4. We can have absolute assurance we are God’s children.
      Scripture says that the Holy Spirit communicates with our spirit that we are God’s children. This inner witness will be there for every regenerate person.


    Imago Dei: Lost or Retained?

    The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

    Romans 8:16

    This Scripture relates to point 4 above.

    The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

    1 Corinthians 2:14

    This Scripture relates to point 3 above.

    The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

    2 Corinthians 4:4

    This Scripture relates to point 3 above. This amazing Scripture informs us that God Himself has blinded the unbeliever’s (unregenerate) minds so that they cannot repent and have faith. Only when the Holy Spirit quickens their soul from a dead state to an alive state, and He imparts the gifts of repentance and faith, do they become regenerate and able to discern spiritual matters.

    “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

    John 1:12

    This Scripture relates to point 1 above.

    Speaking to a group of Jews, Jesus says:

    “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

    John 8:44

    This Scripture relates to point 2 above. Jesus was speaking to the Jewish Pharisees, but the truth He conveys to us is applicable to all unbelievers.

    “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great delight.”

    Ephesians 1:5

    This Scripture relates to point 1 above.

    By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

    ‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭10

    This Scripture relates to point 2 above.

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  • A Rejoinder to Reformed Presbyterians and Reformed Baptists

    Saints, for 20 years I’ve had only Presbyterians giving me hate, denigrating me, belittling me, ridiculing me, mocking me, being dismissive and haughty and insisting I am not Reformed. I finally got so sick of the abuse. I reached a breaking point, and that was the catalyst for my recent blog article on being Reformed.

    When I shared my article, “A Response to Reformed Presbyterians: Semper Reformanda”, which you can view below at the link, on my Facebook timeline. It created a firestorm of controversy. I was mocked, insulted, belittled, my sanity was questioned, and my arguments were totally dismissed without being addressed. I’d say 95% of those Christians who responded failed to grasp the nuance of my arguments, and it went totally over their heads.

    A Response to Reformed Presbyterians: Semper Reformanda

    Despite literally dozens of people asserting that my article was garbage and that I was not Reformed, not a single one of them refuted a single argument I made. One person referenced the article, and was in error in what they said the article asserted.

    I honestly believe the vast majority of people on Facebook who commented never read my article. Is it so much to ask for 20 minutes of their time to read it?

    This blog post represents my final rejoinder to my critics and adversaries.

    I’m getting tired of repeating myself, but I affirm a Reformed confession – the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. I affirm 95% of it, I differ only on eschatology and covenant theology. I AM REFORMED! In fact, not only am I truly Reformed, but I’m more Reformed than Presbyterians because I adhere 100% to Sola Scriptura and I have a reformed eschatology (premillennialism), a truly reformed hermeneutic (a dispensational hermeneutic – historical-grammatic contextual literalism), and I agree with Scripture on the Church-Israel distinction. Also because I reject the unbiblical practice of infant baptism.

    I had many people on Facebook assert I don’t hold to the 1689 LBCF when in fact I do, I just differ on eschatology and covenant theology. So it seems ridiculous and intellectually dishonest to assert I must have 100% conformance to the confession when I agree with virtually all of it (95%). It seems some people are so bigoted they must deny me what is my rightful and proper designation to describe my theological beliefs. How sad and pathetic.

    By the way, I’m chided for holding to dispensational views (I’m actually a leaky dispensationalist like Dr. John MacArthur), yet covenant theology is less than a hundred years older than dispensationalism (in it’s fully realized and codified state – major tenets of dispensationalism date back to the Early Church period). In fact, not a single Magisterial Reformer, such as Luther or Calvin, held to covenant theology! Yet Presbyterians and some Reformed Baptists act as if covenant theology is the sine qua non of Reformed theology. It isn’t.

    We should keep in mind that the Reformed Confessions, as useful as they may be, like the 1689 LBCF, or the Westminster Confession, are in fact secondary documents subordinate to Scripture. They are not perfect. They are not God-breathed. Secondary documents, like confessions, theological books, sermons, and commentaries, are profitable tools that we can utilize in understanding the Scriptures, as well as honing in on what we believe and sharpening our doctrine, but only to the extent that they accurately and faithfully represent the Scriptures. We must always be Sola Scriptura Bereans in our study of Scripture and in our formulation of doctrine whether it be confessions or creeds.

    As I briefly mentioned earlier in this post, asserting that I must have 100% conformance with the 1689 confession in order to affirm it ,when in fact I do affirm 95% of it and differ only on eschatology and covenant theology, is akin to saying if I eat 95% of an apple I didn’t really eat an apple! If you assume one must have 100% conformity to a confession that is just stupid. I will repeat myself ONE MORE TIME: I AFFIRM 95% OF THE LBCF! If you keep insisting that I am not Reformed or that I don’t affirm the LBCF I will have nothing further to say to you. I’m not going to spend hours arguing in circles with any of you anymore. Life is too short. If you reject all my arguments in my blog article on being Reformed that’s your right, but my article is my fullest and final exposition on my reasoning and my position!!!!

    I am FULLY and truly Reformed and FULLY and truly a Reformed Baptist. If you disagree, that’s your problem. Nothing you can say or do will convince me otherwise. The truth is on my side!

    In conclusion, let me say that despite the massive amount of hate I’ve received, I forgive them and do not hate them. I pray the Lord would open their eyes and show them how they’ve wronged me – a faithful brother in Christ. I pray they would keep reforming and come fully into line with biblical truth.

    Semper Reformanda!

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