Partiality in the Church: Brief Thought

As the title specifies, today's post is a very brief sharing of some thoughts I've had over the years. These thoughts come to me time and time again and today I thought I'd just let them out and see what others think.

Anyhow, in my church we are studying through the book of James on Sunday morning and our pastor is doing a really good job. I missed out on his messages regarding chapter two but I plan on going back and listening to them since they can be found online (see here). Our pastor has asked us to read through James every week while we study the book so I have been doing so and every time I read a specific passage I come back to those thoughts that refuse to leave me alone. Here goes:

"My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should some into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, 'You sit here in a good place,' and say to the poor man, 'You stand there,' or, 'Sit here at my footstool,' have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?"
- James 2:1-4

Now then, let me begin by saying that these are, of course, my own personal thoughts. It seems to me, however, that these words appear to be among the most ignored words of Scripture! Experience and observation has shown me that most pastors/churches do the very thing this passage warns against. Rarely do I find that the poorer folk are the ones in leadership or the ones with whom the pastors mingle with the most. And yet the people I've come into contact with who show the most sincere faith and desire to learn are often the ones our society would consider poor.

Before I say anything else I want to share one example. I could, in truth, share examples from most of the churches I've been in but this one will suffice: Many years ago while I was going to school we attended a SBC church that was made up of mostly farmers, students, and para-professionals. One day a real live doctor came and began to attend. Within weeks this man and the pastor were golfing buddies, and within the same amount of time this doctor was teaching from the pulpit. Mind you, my experience with this man gave me no reason to expect that the honor of the pulpit should be bestowed upon him, but this was what happened. Now then, is it just me or was this man shown partiality and made to sit in a good place? And why was this? Merely because the title "Dr." was before his name. Guess what? Within six months or so, probably sooner, this doctor was no longer attending our church.

As I said, I could give examples of this from almost all of the churches I've attended. Why is this? Why do servants of the Lord, those to whom the sheep are entrusted, why do they do this? A man with money comes into a church and within weeks is teaching Sunday school, or even worse, he is addressing the congregation from the pulpit! I cannot tell you how much this hurts my heart.

But hey, maybe it's just me. What do you think? Do you see this happening?

God Bless!

White House Celebrates Ramadan

I could not believe it when I read a blurb about the White House hosting a celebration dinner for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, but sure enough if you go to the official White House site you can read the official press release!

I wonder if there will be, as others have asked, a special dinner to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ...or one to celebrate His birth? Imagine that, where I work they won't display Christmas decorations because it might offend people, but our own President hosts a special dinner to celebrate a Muslim holiday. God will surely bring judgment upon our nation, and I'm beginning to think it will come in the form of attacks from the radical adherents of the very religion which now, apparently, is the only one that can be celebrated in America without the liberals crying about separation of church and state.

O Lord, come quickly please!

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

I recently was pointed towards a blog written by an Episcopalian "bishop." This man is a life-long friend of someone with whom I work and in reading over the contents of the blog I can truly see why it is that the Episcopalian church is having so many issues nowadays. Considering that a man who professes faith in Christ can write some of what I've read is truly sad. That such a man would be elevated to the position of bishop is appalling.

I want to interact with something this man wrote considering the death and resurrection of our Savior, but since it's late and I need to get to bed I will just share the following:

"We have a special mission on the Reservation. There are practioners of tradtional Native Spirtuality, and there are Protestants who insist that the Native traditions are pagan evils to be deplored by Chrstians. We are the place where First Nations people can stay true to their culture and the ways of their ancestors and follow the gospel of Christ. The gospel is not about European culture. It is a flower that can grow in different soils. Seeing the gospel in these different contexts reaveals its essence and keeps us from confusing it with the social norms of our own backgrounds."

Hmm...so the Episcopalians are emergent? You can be Muslim AND Christian? You can be Buddhist AND Christian? I think not. Therefore you cannot cling to a spiritualist religion AND profess Christ. And any man who claims to be Christian and yet embraces such people as fellow Believers has absolutely no understanding of his professed religion. First of all, it is foolishness to utter a statement such as "The gospel is not about European culture." Okay. Who says it is?
The gospel came first to the Jews, then the Greeks, the Africans, etc...it took some time to get to central and northern Europe. This statement is nothing but a red herring intended to distract the reader from thinking through the implications of what this "bishop" has just written. The gospel, dear brethren, is radical. It calls us to repentance and to submission to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. There is no repentance without the knowledge of our sin...and there is no repentance without the realization that we need a Savior to save us from the just penalty for our sin.

So let others try and hide this uncomfortable truth behind poetic language about the gospel being some kind of flower that will grow in all kinds of soil. Maybe this "bishop" needs to read the words of Jesus in Matthew 13:1-23 instead of trying to create some new kind of gospel. As for "confusing it with the social norms of our own background," it seems to me this is exactly what that writer is trying to do...confuse the gospel with the social norms of his own background. He obviously comes from a religious tradition that has rejected the Bible as the authoritative Word of God. He rejects the doctrine of substitutionary atonement (more on that in a different post), and so he must make things fit into the worldview of what he has accepted as normal. Out of this is produced a clergyman who does not call a people to repentance but to embrace his idea of Christ and mesh him with what they already have. This, you see, is nonjudgmental and accepting.

Who cares that it leads them straight to the pit of hell.

It's Not Your Theology Stupid, It's You Being Stupid...hmmm, I Think Not!

The other day during my lunch break I listened to a sermon by Dr. Bill Heinard, Sr. Pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Heinard was preaching at Southern Seminary on March 27th, 2008, and his text was Genesis 39:1-9.

While I liked most of what he had to say, there was one part that I disagreed with and I wanted to briefly share here why that was. He was discussing humility and integrity and said that he knew some men who were almost proud of having been asked to leave a church because of doctrinal issues. While I agree nobody should take pride in this, Dr. Heinard said that these men and others are "not fired for theology, but for being stupid." He maintained that it was them not being honest with their congregations from the beginning that got them fired. I don't, of course, know the particulars of the men he referred to, but I do know that the current president of the SBC once said that candidates should be open with search committee's if they are Calvinist. Now, why this should even be an issue I don't know...why not tell Arminians to be honest about their Arminianism?

At any rate, Dr. Heinard is either clueless or purposefully trying to confuse, because most times when a man is let go due to his theology it is because his listeners disagreed with him...not because he was stupid. It is NOT stupid to teach and preach the Word of God, which like it or not tends to sound pretty much like what we call Calvinism! Or does Dr. Heinard believe we should stop praying for the lost? What about asking God to change hearts?

So I disagree with Dr. Heinard and I think he did a disservice to these men he referred to as friends of his. If they were truly stupid then they should not have been in a position of teaching...but if they were fired for believing what is clearly taught in Scripture, then they have nothing to be ashamed of.

Finally, though, I caught a possible glimpse into what Dr. Heinard feels is truly worthy of focusing on. He said later on that "[his] theology ought to make [him] love people." I agree and disagree. Yes, we will have a love for the lost when we love God...but our theology should make us love GOD! All of our theology needs to point us to the One, because Scripture points us to Him. Anything else is man-centered and unworthy of us who claim to serve Him.

God Bless

My Rambled Thoughts for Tonight!

So a few days ago I finished reading Ann Coulter's new book, "Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault On America." I have to say that I really really like her books, not only because of her good analysis of the political climate, but mostly because she makes me laugh. I know that many people do not like her books, but I think too many of them forget that while she is dead serious about what she writes...she writes in a manner intended to be humorous. Well, this book is no different, and I want to share one particular part here that not only was laugh out loud funny, but pretty good commentary upon our society as well. Towards the middle of the book she is discussing the "theft" of the 2004 election and she is writing about how the media was announcing the likelihood of John Kerry winning...these predictions based on faulty exit polls which even the poll's creator admitted was faulty since it depended on interviewing a large proportion of voters and that many of the pollsters were admittedly biased in favor of John Kerry. Denouncing the practice of depending on such silly polls to determine who is winning during an election, Ms. Coulter writes:

"There was also conspiracy theorist David Earnhardt's documentary Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections, which again took the exit polls as the fact-based control group that proved the actual voting results were a fraud and a hoax. You know what we need? We need a system even more reliable than an exit poll for determining how people want to vote. Maybe if we could get every voter to go into some sort of booth and cast a secret ballot..." (Last emphasis mine)

I just about died laughing when I read that paragraph!

If any of you have not read any of her books, I highly recommend them. I do, however, want to quickly share something I found very interesting. The book I read was one from the library, and as I was checking it out, the Circulation clerk noticed the title and author of the book. Since I've worked with her for a number of years, she felt free to comment on it and mentioned she just did not like Coulter...when I asked her why not she could not really say except to mention something about her reputation.

What is interesting to me is that this person has not read any of Ann Coulter's books and yet would be more than happy to read something by Al Franken, for example. How is it possible, however, to have such a low opinion of someone whose works you have not read? It really bothered me because those of us who are conservative in our politics are always made to seem so closed minded and even somewhat provincial. Yet I have actually read books by Al Franken and have watched the comedy show from which most 20 something year olds seem to get their news (the Daily Show, which "educated" people seem to think is NEWS!). Anyhow, this same person is one who professes Christ but voted for Barak Obama, the most pro-aboriton candidate I think I've ever encountered! Not that this means anything, since most "christians" who voted for him are equally unconcerned about actual Biblical issues like the sanctity of life, etc...

Well, since I have mentioned Obama, I'd may as well just add that while I certainly believe this administration will have a negative impact on our country, we should be happy tomorrow to celebrate what his election represents about what is good in our country. Despite the persistent accusations of racism in our country, tomorrow we shall have the first Black President of the United States of America. This is a good thing. It shows that America is not the country it was in the 1700's or the 1800's when being Black was so dangerous. It means that most of the country has finally accepted that we are all indeed created equal! And just so you know, when I say that I believe his administration will have a negative impact, I am not referring to economics or anything like that. Our economy may well improve, though whether it is due to his policies or the natural cycle of things will remain to be seen. When I talk about the negative impact, however, I refer to spiritual issues that have all too real effects upon us. Abortion for one. I fear we are about to enter an era of diminished protection for the unborn. Let us be sure to pray that this is not the case.

What can we do about this? The most important thing we can do, however, is to pray for the salvation of our President. May He experience the grace of God and come to know Christ as Lord and Savior of his life.

Nothing else would impact our nation more than that.

The Religion of Peace...Really?

I heard of this situation that occurred in Germany and finally found the video posted on "Atlas Shrugged," a conservative blog. I found it again on YouTube so I'm embedding it here. Watch it and then tell me why exactly the police would do what they did...unless it is out of fear of a militant minority whose religion does not forbid them from using violence to achieve their admitted goal of turning all nations Muslim!

Watch:


I hope this shocks you as much as it does me...that police would break into someone's home and remove a flag hung by a private citizen in their own home! Notice the police are not removing flags from the Muslims marching in the street...whose own flags are just as if not more inflammatory than that of the Israelis! I hope and pray this never happens in our country, but as this next news video shows, there have already been such protests in our own country against Israel...oh that the Muslims among us would be as quick to protest the terrorist acts committed in their name, and that they would be as willing to be so visible at it!

Watch this video too:



So as my title asks...THIS is a religion of peace? Great. And the secular world accuses us Christians of being narrow minded!

The Wolves Among Us

I first came across this video over at A Little Leaven. Based on some of what I wrote earlier about people who confidently describe themselvs as "christians" while denying His claim that nobody can be saved without Him, I thought I'd post this video and show how one of the great heroes of the emergent church views the Book upon which we base all that we know about Jesus!

I hope that all of you will have the opportunity to watch at least some of this video, and as you do so consider that this man, with his gentle demeanor and soothing voice is really a ravenous wolf full of deceit and in whom the Spirit does NOT dwell! Shocking isn't it? I readily admit that he is someone whom I would probably like (if I did not know of his heresies), and someone who is probably a lot more likeable than I am to a whole lot of people. And yet unless he repents of his sin and truly follows Jesus as Lord and Savior of his life...he is nothing but a walking corpse.

Watch the video and compare what he says to what the Word of God says!

Well...I could not get the video to embed here, so instead I'm posting it as a link...my apologies for this, but please follow the link to see Marcus Borg discuss his [warped] views on the Bible!

Here is the LINK

I have been reading the book pictured here for a number of days, and I have to say it is quite good. I wish that I could say that it's premise is unlikely, but it is all TOO likely. It is a political treatise on the dangers of Islam, but I was struck more by the what it says of Christianity and the animosity towards it in our culture. There is so much fear and animosity against the True Faith that Americans want its every hint ereased from our public dialogue.

I found this passage on page 66 quite illuminating:

"[speaking of a man named Abdurahman Alamoudi] He's...the fellow who helped devise the three-week Islamic awareness course in California public schools, in the course of which students adopt Muslim names, wear Islamic garb, give up candy and TV for Ramadan, memorize suras from the Koran, learn that "jihad" means "internal personal struggle," profess the Muslim faith, and receite prayers that begin "In the name of Allah," etc. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals- the same court that ruled the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because of the words "under God"- decided in this case thta making seventh graders play Muslim for two weeks was perfectly fine, just an interesting exposure to a fascinating "culture" from which every pupil can benefit. Separation of church and state? That may be, but nobody said nuthin' about separation of mosque and state."

Imagine a statewide curriculum on living like a Christian! And just who is this Mr. Alamoudi? Well I googled his name and came up with plenty of information on this man who was considered a "moderate" Muslim but who ended up being imprisoned for various extremist actions! See here for some basic on the man! And if you don't believe the story cited about Islam in the public school of California, view this link.

I'm not going to go into a huge rant about how our society hates the Believer...but consider that quote above and ponder why our country hates us so. But by no means be surprised, for did our Lord not warn us about this and tell us to expect nothing less?

Just think about it. And hopefully you will conclude that if the world is going to hate us no matter what, just for professing His name even...why not go all out and be zealous for His name? Can they hate us any more? Well, actually they can...but they won't hate us any less if we compromise our standards...they'll just hate us AND hold us in contempt.

No Need for Christ in Christianity?

This morning I just finished reading Dr. Mohler's latest blog post. I highly recommend that everyone read this post, which you will find here.

After reading it, I was struck by how true his words are, and the report by that Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. What I don't believe for even one minute is that those so-called Christians who reject the Biblical claim that there is no salvation without Jesus are actually Christians. If you read Dr. Mohler's blog you know what I'm talking about, but if you have not done so, he cites some statistics from the aforementioned Pew report, which show that 52% of American "Christians" and whopping 37% of supposed "evangelical Christians" reject the FACT that Jesus alone saves and that without Him there is no hope of heaven for anyone. Unfortunately, I know from personal experience that there are indeed many of these false Believers, for I work with a number of them. Ones who profess Christ as their Savior but deny that the Holy Scriptures which alone proclaim Him to us are actually the Word of God; ones who profess Jesus as the one they worship while denying His own claims to be the only One by which men can taste salvation. Even more troubling, I am related to some who think that Jesus' claim to be the only Way does not refer to salvation but to a way by which one might reach the judgment. In this view, Jesus is little more than a gatekeeper rather than the Gate itself! How such a view can be held in the face of the very context of that particular verse (John 14:6) is beyond my limited mental capacities!

So, yes, there are indeed those who reject just about any and all claims made by our Lord and Savior Jesus...and contrary to popular belief (ha ha), many if not most of those come from within the fellowship...in the form of the false convert or the deceiving one. But by no means can we say that they are truly saved.

Let me say this again...if you don't believe that faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, as revealed in the Bible, is the only way to enter into heaven, then you are not a Christian!!! If you think you are, then my suggestion would be to open up that Bible and start reading it, not as a bunch of literature put together, but as God's Living Word. And don't look at one passage and think to yourself that you have found the answer, but compare it to the rest of Scripture. You think you are a Christian, so start to act like one and study His Word. If you begin to find that you have been deceived, then repent and truly be saved!

Praise God for men like Dr. Al Mohler, who stand for the faith without any compromise. Men like him and Dr. MacArthur deserve our prayers and our support...and may the Lord raise up young men to take their place when the time is right.

God Bless

Christians in Worship

I just finished reading an article on the Baptist Press that talks about a new book coming out regarding worship. You can read the article here, but allow me to quote the part that caught my eye and, quite frankly, sorta irked me:

"Combining a mix of Bible stories, personal testimonies and wisdom learned, Harland and Moser write about how believers can make worship come alive in their own lives and ultimately in their churches. Worship, they emphasize, is not just something to do in Sunday morning services. And it's not just something to read about in the Bible."

I have a novel idea...how about if we let Christians worship and stop encouraging non Believers to come to church? This way, the goats among us can stop working so hard at worshipping God and the rest of us can focus completely on Him! After all...come on, if you are one of those described by the authors, and you have trouble making "worship come alive in [your] own [life]," then maybe some serious self examination is in order!

But wait...it gets better! Note this next paragraph:

"Spending time in God's presence -- getting to know Him in the most intimate parts of our heart and soul -- gives us the foundation to really believe all He has planned for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose," they write. "There is no substitute for time spent in God’s presence."Unfortunately that time often gets whittled away in a busy life, Harland and Moser write, as Christians live in a world full of things that compete for their attention and their worship."

Nothing terribly wrong here right? I mean, it's totally true that nothing can take the place of spending time in the presence of God. Indeed, everyone should spend daily time in the Word of God, the means we have been given by which to enter into His presence! And it's true that Christians certainly face many distractions as we seek to worship God. Still...I cannot agree that anything is so distracting that it is any true competition in our lives against the worship of God! Are the authors seriously suggesting that these distractions can truly trip us up? Maybe the false convert, but the Christian? The one bought by the blood of Christ and redeemed by His sacrifice on the cross? This is one who can be distracted by the foolishness of the world? Have we truly arrived at a place in the life of the church where false believers are so common and in such powerful positions that we cater to their weaknesses? God forbid!

Next, however, the authors say this (be ready to have your mind blown away!):

"Jesus dealt with the same situation in Matthew 4:8-11, Harland and Moser point out."

Ummm...no He didn't. Let me pause to re-read that passage; in fact, read along with me:

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Did I miss something? Is it me, or does Jesus seem completely focused to you too? Distracted? Absolutely not! Where is the picture in this passage showing Jesus as being distracted? From what the authors say next they try to make a godly application but they've already messed the entire passage up by comparing Jesus in this passage to over stimulated Christians who have trouble opening up their Bibles! But let's be fair...maybe the context of the passage shows Jesus in this way, and they are therefore totally justified in presenting this picture. Let's see shall we?

These are the first seven verses of this passage:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘ In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”

Did you catch it? Neither did I. It seems to me Jesus is led by the Spirit here, fasts for forty days and forty nights in order to have full communion with the Father, and when approached by a haughty Satan, immediately dismisses him by quoting Scripture. If you ask me, that seems like a pretty focused Jesus wouldn't you say?

Such a stunning display of expository genius, however, does not get past the people at Lifeway, and so anyone wanting to read the book can also purchase an 8 week study and music CD as a companion! What a deal! I don't know about you, but I sure do wish those who say we need to be in the Word more would actually encourage their churches to open up their Bibles and study the Word!

But hey, I'm old fashioned that way.

How Do You End an Argument? Call Your Opponent a Legalist!

Many years ago when I taught adult Sunday school at a church in North Idaho I tried to include Scripture memorization as part of our class structure. Mind you, the class was made up mostly of married couples, ranging in ages from the mid twenties to late thirties, and there were about 6 couples plus a few single people. At any rate, I soon found myself facing a minor rebellion when some people took offense at my obvious attempt to impose my legalism upon them. Some people stopped coming to class and others refused to participate, which was fine since it was always proposed as a voluntary thing in the first place! Another little bit of background information is that our class was about one hour and fifteen minutes, so there was plenty of time to review a few verses together AND open up our Bibles to study from the text (we were studying Genesis at the time). And finally, one significant if baffling factoid is that many of the people in the class were involved with the AWANA program, where...ummm...kids are expected to memorize Scripture! And, oh yeah, one member was also the director of the Baptist Student Ministry on the college campus! Go figure.

Well after a number of weeks of this, I set aside the regular lesson to address the concerns of the people in the class. I took as my text for that morning John 14:15, in which Jesus declares that if we love Him we will keep His commandments. I won't repeat the entire lesson here but I tied it into the need to memorize Scripture as a means of remaining obedient. For example, as we face particular temptations, having memorized Scripture which addresses that sin issue will help us to avoid committing it. Well the class never jumped onboard with my idea, and we did indeed lose members to other classes...but that was fine. Others joined, and while my class never grew to its former size, it was made up mostly of people who were of one mind. As a side note, however, I will point out the focus of SBC churches by mentioning that within weeks I'd been moved to a tiny cramped room in the back of the church...my former room being taken over by a class that was much smaller than mine! :)

Well...this entire point serves as a mere introduction to a fantastic post by those pesky Pyromaniacs, who have once again written such an excellent post that they leave me no choice but to link to them and encourage my few readers to head on over there and check it out!

So please do so by following this link! And if you get a chance, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

When the Holy Spirit Does Not Do It's Job...Call Evangelist Steve Hale!

The current issue of Baptist Press (the newspaper of the Southern Baptist Convention) includes an article by professional evangelist Steve Hale which is titled "Evangelism in Action: Evangelists key to helping Southern Baptists win lost..." I'd like to spend a little bit of my time discussing this article because to be honest, it really annoyed me. The title alone was enough to make me cringe, but I decided to hold in the retching and read the entire article. I should have not held it in.

As most of you know, I was a Southern Baptist until about one year ago; I would still be a Southern Baptist if I had not been told, after attempting to confront a sin issue, that I might need to make a "hard decision" and find another church for my family. Despite this, I hold the Southern Baptist in high regard even if I have some serious concerns about the direction in which the Convention is heading, especially its rabid anti-Calvinism (sure to become even more problematic under the leadership of Johnny Hunt, anti-Calvinist extraordinaire!). I mention this only so you know that I don't search out things to complain about regarding the SBC, but when something like this (Hale's article) pops up and is given the authority of the Convention...then yes, I feel it is important to speak out against it.

On to the article:

Hale begins by bemoaning the lack of baptisms within the churches of the SBC, stating that "10,000 of them [churches] baptized no one last year and another 11,000 baptized less than six. Sixty percent of our 43,000 churches failed to baptize one teenager last year. In fact, if a church baptized 29, it was in the top 2 percent of the entire denomination."

Don't get me wrong here...I am all for baptizing new Believers. But if we should be wailing about any lack it should be about the lack of true expository preaching in the pulpits of the SBC! And if churches baptize people just to place a check mark on their little tally book then they are in SIN! Baptize those who confess with their mouths and believe in theirs hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord! Oh oh. Did I just say "Lord"? Sorry, that can no longer be taught can it? He is Savior first but not necessarily Lord. At least that's what too many SBC churches seem to be teaching! To their shame.

Back to my point though...if a church baptizes ONE person in a year, and that is a true convert, then the church is doing well. If a church baptizes 29 and 25 of them are not following the Lord a year, and the other 4 are so-called carnal Christians...what is the benefit to those false converts? They have been deceived into thinking themselves saved, but unless they truly repent at some time, they will not enter into the presence of the Lord!

But okay...let us go with Hale's argument. SBC churches are not baptizing enough (the only way to tell whether a church is fulfilling the Great Commission apparently). What is the solution? Hale has it!

"...if you were to ask most of our Southern Baptist evangelists, it would not be uncommon for them to see 29 professions of faith in a four-day revival meeting. If, indeed, a church can see more people saved in four days by utilizing a vocational evangelist than in an entire year, then why are local church revivals not being scheduled by the hundreds and why are evangelists not being utilized as in days past?"

There are many problems with this paragraph...but I want to address only two. 1) scheduling revivals? Isn't this the biggest problem we have? Thinking we can schedule a revival? Yet this is one of the biggest fallacies embraced by the SBC! The word revival means bringing "restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength, etc." and "an evangelistic service or a series of services for the purpose of effecting a religious awakening: to hold a revival." See the problem? The Holy Spirit is the One who brings revival! Not man. Yet too many churches, especially in the SBC, act like they've called upon God, told Him when to show up, then called a special paid person to come and bring special messages (and apparently powers) that will cause the Holy Spirit to do His job!

Sorry...it does not work this way. And it is Arminian theology that leads pastors and evangelists to think it can be done. Because, after all, it is WE who save people, right? Wrong.

Another thing, the evangelist (the kind that Hale would have us bring into churches anyhow) offer up an emotional appeal to people without calling them to repentance! Those numbers he says the evangelists are responsible for are the very ones who fall away soon after the evangelist leaves to some other church! At the SBC church I attended, I was present when Hale came to "evangelize" our church. I even agreed to be one with whom those who came forward would speak to after they came to speak with the pastor and Hale. Was it our unsaved neighbors and relatives who flocked down the aisles to repent of their sin? No. It was, for the most part, people who'd been in the church most of their lives! They came to "rededicate" their lives to Christ, but even though they agreed to enter into discipleship studies, I never was able to meet with the person I prayed with! And it was not through lack of trying to make myself available and constantly offering to change my schedule in order to meet! So if what happened at my church was indicative of what happens everywhere Steve Hale goes, then it's no wonder I pray to the Holy Spirit and not Hale for the salvation of my loved ones who do not know the Lord!

Steve Hale then makes a pitch for the professional evangelist (and by the way, in case you missed it...he is one). He says that to do without the professional evangelist is to ignore the clear teachings of Scripture. After all, these penniless evangelists are doing without in order to bring the Word to the lost...oh wait a minute..no they are not (more on this later).

Steve says, "those men who leave their families week after week to reach souls for Christ see the difference that revivals make in the life of a church.Yet, the perception is that "nobody" ever schedules a revival anymore. And to be sure, most do not. Consequently, the spiritual terrorist and all of his demonic cohorts are successfully eliminating God-called evangelists from the evangelical landscape."

Okay...if Hale is going to point out how much the evangelists suffer by being away from family...let's examine the martyrdom of these men. My experience when these men come to a local church is that they ask for a certain amount of money...and it's not traveling expenses we're talking about. That is extra. Oh yeah, they make demands as to which hotel they will stay at too. And are these evangelist going to the lost? No, they are coming to a church, where they want YOU to bring the lost in. But hold on, I guess in coming to churches they really are coming to the lost nowadays, since the idea taking hold among evangelicals is that church is for the lost. Forget about the fact that in the NT the Christians met to have fellowship, break bread, and be taught! Apparently the early Christians didn't realize the house church was for the lost!


"Our churches have never been in such dire need of a strong prophetic word from a fearless man of God who will address the issues of carnality and lukewarmness with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The need for the hour is for all of us who name the name of Jesus to be called to prayer with expressions of repentance."

Yeah...I call them the teaching elders of our churches, don't you? At least that is they way it should be.

But Hale is right about one thing...these men are rare. And when they show up, we accuse them of being too legalistic. What? He wants us to read our Bibles? To apply it to our lives? Get rid of him!

Well, I know I have been a bit harsh here. But realize that what he has written is representative of what is wrong in the SBC. If he'd written this article on his website (find it, I'm not linking it here!) I would not care, but it being published by the Baptist Press indicates that the leadership in the SBC agrees with it! And there are too many people I love within SBC churches...some of whom read this blog. I cannot remain silent.

God bless.

The ACLU and the Nampa Public Library

Let me begin this short post by apologizing ahead of time for taking a small detour away from thoughts on Biblical issues. I am asserting my rights as the writer to diverge from it in order to quickly comment on something that has happened at work which is really troubling to me. You see, the Nampa Public Library, for which I work, has returned some controversial books on sexuality to the shelves. You may be surprised to know that this does not trouble me as much as another issue which I will address in just a moment. For now, however, please read the aricle in the Idaho Press-Tribune, found here

Now then, a number of years ago the library was approached by concerned citizens and asked to remove the books because they were considered pornographic in nature. I suspect that another major motivator was the presence of one book in paritcular since it had to do with homosexuality. Because I hold to the Bible as the literal and revealed Word of God, I believe the best way to impact our society is by sharing Christ and making disciples of all people, NOT by forcing others to believe as we do; but be that as it may, the citizens exercised their rights to protest the books in question. While many of my co-workers and others immediately took up the cry of censorship, I believe this is an exaggeration. Censorship is given different definitions by different groups depending on their own agenda, but traditionally censorship has been the action of the government attempting to ban material by preventing its access by any means. This was not the case here at all. Access to the books would be limited at the library but nobody can truly censor books from everywhere else, only a government can do that. Besided which, all citizens have the right to express concern, to challenge books, and to have a voice in the decisions of their government, local or federal. So while I disagreed with the manner in which the books were challenged (there were many exaggerations and even complete falsehoods were used to justify the attack on the books...unfortunately by many people I attended church with at the time), I have never thought that those who brought the challenge were wrong in doing so...even if I do think there were confused as to their duties as Believers.

At any rate, the Board at that time voted to keep the books in the collection because of the library's mission statement and collection development policy. In many ways, they were right to do so. I don't say I agree with the decision made, but I can see why they made it. So at that time many people celebrated the "defeat of censorship" or were saddened by the "defeat of family values," the label applying to which side you were on, of course. Regardless though, a local board made a decision and that is as it should be.

Fast forward to June of this year, when a Board made up of a couple of different members once again faced a challenge to the same books, brought up again by the same people. This time, however, the Board moved to sequester the books in the Director's office and then change the collection development policy to prevent pornographic books from being selected. I lost no sleep over the removal of the books, but I was still concerned over the Board's decision, but only because they should have changed the policy first and then allowed the books to remain until they could be weeded out if they were not being circulated (which is our policy with all books). Again though, a local board made a decision and some people were sad but others were happy. And now, as you know if you've read the article linked above, the books are once again on the shelves (as of today).

Here is my issue: However chaotic local government can be, and however much people on either side of an issue will fight within the community, it is at the local level that these things belong. The ACLU, however, has come into a situation and unilaterally decided for everyone what is right and what is wrong! This really makes me upset. Whether for good or bad, our local governing entities have the right to make decisions for which we elect them, but outsiders come into a community and decide it does not matter how people feel about an issue so long as they know what is right and what is wrong. Rule by judicial fiat in other words. And now, while many of my co-workers will rejoice that the books are back on the shelves, our local autonomy has been washed away because a powerful lobby has used its wealth to intimidate into compliance our Board of Trustees. I wish they would have been willing to take this all the way to the Supreme Court, but I cannot judge them too harshly for not doing so. The members did what they felt was the right thing to do, and I respect that. But I do not have any respect for the bullies of the ACLU...and as for those who are all too happy over the decision, I can only think of that scene in "Revenge of the Sith" (come on, it's a GREAT movie!) when the empire is declared...and Mrs. Skywalker turn to her retinue and says, "Is this how democracy dies? To the sound of applause?" (I know, it's not an exact quote!) This is exactly how I feel. Again, democracy is messy, but it is about what the people want, not what lobbies determine is best.

Those are my thoughts.

"Christian" Chat Rooms and Discussion Boards

Well today is the last day of August and it strikes me that this has been one quick summer! I realize that as we get older time seems to speed up for us but still...

In my own life, many of you know that I have been going through quite a bit in the last couple of months. Well while the worst of that situation appears to be over, it is not completely over nor will it truly be over for the next three years! Unfortunately we live in a wicked society, but this gives me all the more reason to be in the Word and remain faithful to my God! I will not sit down to rest from the battle while the enemy indeed seeks to devour the followers of our Lord!

But aside from that quick update, my purpose in writing tonight is to share a brief thought I've had over the last few weeks. As you know from my blog, I have an account with LibraryThing (you can see the widget that shows my books on the right of my posts). Well I have catalogued all my books on theology and am seriously contemplating doing the same for my books on history and my novels. The only thing that has kept me from doing this so far has been that my widget is on this blog and I don't want my books on WW2 or my novels to show up on my blog! But I may do so anyhow and then remove the widget...we'll see. If I do leave it on the blog just don't be surprised when you start seeing Louis L'Amour novels show up from time to time! lol

Back to my thesis here though...on my LibraryThing account I joined a Christian discussion board and over the last few months I have been reaffirmed in my belief that the vast majority of those who refer to themselves as Christians are not truly saved nor do they even pretend to acknowledge that there is such a thing as the Word of God! They act like members of the Jesus Seminar, deciding for themselves what they will and what they will not believe! So many times I have attempted to engage someone in discussion about some theological point, or about some passage of Scripture in the OT and then found out that the person or persons I was communicating wth did not even believe the passage could really be real or have any possible application to our "modern" times. Only one God and one Mediator (Jesus)? Ha! I must be very arrogant to believe such a thing! Homosexuality, abortion, lust...dare I call these sins? Well I must be a very judgmental person! Does the Bible teach what I have declared? No, and if it appears to do so then it is either my misinterpretation or the Bible is wrong on the issue! After all, it was written by mere men, right?

How sad, no? Due to this, I have shaken the dust from my sandals and have decided not to engage in discussion with these groups of people. Does this mean I don't want to stand firm for Biblical Truth? Not at all. But allow me to give you an example of what my thinking is. Back when I was teaching Sunday school, one of my great joys was to present the Scripture and then discuss the passages with people. Not because I thought we could see what we "thought" the passage was saying but because my hope was to teach and to correct misunderstandings that people had about the Word. But what if someone came into my Sunday school class and denied the authority of Scripture? Or denied the doctrines of the Trinity, eternal security, Deity of Christ, etc...? I tell you honestly right now that I see no reason why in
Sunday school we need to pause the teaching in order to address these people who would voice such thoughts. I say set the question aside and meet with the person one on one later on. Sunday school is, as shocking as it may sound, for the teaching of the Believer!

If ever again it pleases my Lord to permit me to teach His Word, I will continue to teach with this foremost in my mind: there are Truth's that must be assumed. What I mean by this is that when I come before a Sunday school, I have the right to assume that those sitting with me acknowledge the basic Truth's of Christianity. For someone to say they are a Christian and deny these is for them to expose themselves for what they are: Non Believers. NOT Christians. For them, I need to present the Gospel and explain to them their need for a Savior. And this I am happy to do one on one with them. But as I've said often before, if the person devoid of faith in Jesus Christ comes into our churches and our Sunday school classes, let them listen in silence and let them ask questions of the pastor and teacher later on. And most of them do...remain silent that is. For it is my experience that those who speak up with their doubts in the midst of a class are those who wish to attack God Himself. They don't really want answers...they want to present their own worldview and mock Christianity! Fine. Let them mock it all they want, just not in the assemblage of the saints!

Rick Warren, Politics, and Preaching

This post was on my mind for awhile but I've just this evening been able to sit down and type it out! :)

This may be old news to some but for some of you it will be nice and fresh, so for those of you who fall into the latter category, here goes:

On Monday August 18th, the Idaho Press-Tribune carried a guest opinion from Star Parker, founder and president of CURE. I'd never heard of her, but after reading her article I have visited her site and am now subscribed in order to receive her articles as soon as they are published...yes I liked what she had to say that much! :)

Anyhow, the article was about the hosting by Rick Warren's Saddleback church of the presidential candidates, or more specifically, about what Warren's hosting represents for America, and in my mind, Christianity. Now then, a quick word about the Press-Tribune...they do not keep online sources for more than 14 days unless you pay to subscribe, so I found the article as published originally on Ms. Parkers own website.

You can read the full article HERE

I do not plan on going into some huge anti Rick Warren rant here (only a small one... ha ha), but I do think it bears mentioning that a few days ago I watched a news report in which he was compared to Billy Graham. And as much as Billy Graham has disappointed me due to some silly comments he has made in the last couple of years, I will generously attribute these to the decline of his mental capacities brought on by old age; and despite those comments, I still do not think Rick Warren is worth mentioning in the same sentence as Billy Graham, unless it is to say something like "Rick Warren is nothing like Billy Graham." :)

Indeed, after reading "The Purpose Driven Life" and "The Purpose Drive Church" it truly dawned on me how lacking in discernment too many Christians really are. As you know, most churches fell head over heels in love with his message, singing the praises of Warren and wanting to be just like him...and I still don't understand completely why! But, I have promised to keep this rant short, so I'll leave it at that and maybe at a later time pick it up again, who knows, right?

Back to Ms. Parker and her article!

In her article, which I hope you will all read, Parker says the following about the event held at Saddleback:

"For whatever good intentions Pastor Warren may have, by posturing as a neutral broker between different points of view, many of which have profound moral and religious implications, he contributes to the moral ambiguity we'd expect a pastor to be combating."

In other words, despite asking tough questions of both candidates, Warren does a disservice to the church by allowing candidates of both parties to speak, especially when one of the candidates holds opinions that, no matter how much he protests that he too is a Christian, are contrary to what Scripture teaches. Now, before someone accuses me of wanting only Republicans to come speak at churches, I will state plainly and without any reservation that I don't think ANY politician should be given the floor within a church and allowed to speak about his/her political stances. If a politician comes to a church and addresses the congregation, it had better be in the form of a sermon and not about politics! The pulpit belongs to those who will carry out that highest of callings, to preach the Word. Not to those who are running for office and want to give their political speech. For Warren to permit his pulpit to be used in this is, therefore, distressing to me because it is indicative of his lack of appreciation for the supremacy of preaching. And as Parker so truly says, moral ambiguity is the last thing we want from our preachers. Warren, by turning over his pulpit to representatives of the political parties, allowed his people to be exposed to this ambiguity...what a sad affair.

Later on we read this:

"When a pastor hosts a political candidate that has a 100 percent rating by NARAL Pro-Choice America and a 0 percent rating by the National Right to Life Committee, he gives legitimacy to that candidate. When legitimacy is given to a line of reasoning that says that poverty and AIDS are symptoms of anything other than moral breakdown, the relativist views of the left are justified...[a]nyone that thinks this ambiguity is helpful in addressing poverty, crime and disease is misinformed."

Wow.

If Ms. Parker can see this so clearly, why can't a man who is supposed to be shepherding the flock of the Lord? Why is he so eager to engage in world wide PEACE initiatives instead of fulfilling His calling? God forbid that it be selfish ambition and the desire to be thought of positively by the world!

But you understand, don't you, that it is indeed disturbing that a man such as the candidate descibed by Ms. Parker in the quote above could enter a church and be given the right to speak? Such a one, if he claims to be a Believer, needs to be chastised, NOT allowed to speak before the congregation. Anyone who wishes to hear him speak has countless opportunities to do so in a secular setting, why profane the place where we meet to worship our holy God?

Finally, Ms. Parker concludes her article with the following statement:

"We need political leaders that are more moral. Not church leaders that are more political."

Did you catch that? Go back and read it again if you did not!

To Rick Warren and to all of his acolytes throughout the world...I implore you, preach the Word and feed the flock. Devote yourselves to this and leave the world of political debates to the secular arena...use your churches instead to call upon the nation to repent and to turn to the Lord as the only solution to all the problems of the world.

Christians and Politics

I've already written a little on this topic but today I was reading through the Pyromanics blog and found this little gem that does an excellent job of addressing the topic in a very powerful way.

As I've shared many times before, I have a real problem with people who place political activism above the proclamation of the Gospel. I have a real problem with people who protest anything and everything but never present the only real solution to the problems of the worlds...Jesus. And I have a real problem with people who think that a political defeat of their chosen candidates will result in the ushering in of the one world government. Finally, it really annoys me that there are so many people out there who would vehemently defend a monument to the Ten Commandments and (as Al Mohler once said) cannot even tell you what those commands are!

Read the blog here, I think you'll like it!

Church Leadership, Wealth, and Privilege

James 2:1-9
"My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors."

A few days ago I read a really good post on Dr. Albert Mohler's website (find post here). In it he addressed the sale of a personal letter from Albert Einstein to a friend of his in which he (Einstein) dismisses belief in God as "childish." This letter should put an end to the claim of many evangelicals that claim Einstein as a Believer and rabidly defend this...as if the Truth depends on whether or not this or that individual believes in Him. This whole thought reminds me of that shirt and bumper sticker I've seen in which a picture of Friedrich Nietzsche is shown with that infamous quote "God is dead." The next image shows the stereotypical image of God made famous by Michelangelo (the bearded man pointing a finger) and the following quote: "Nietzsche is dead." You see, God's power and existence does not depend upon the belief of any person, no matter how great in the world's eyes they may be. He simply IS! And when mankind puts his puny efforts into toppling our Almighty God from His throne, it is He that shall have the last laugh.

Indeed, look at Psalm 2:1-3 which states:
"Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”

God's reply?

Psalm 2:4-6
"He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”

So let's see...the kings of the earth think they will set themselves free from the Sovereignty of God...yet the true King scoffs at them and His will is still accomplished!

So returning to Mohler's blog...he writes the following:

The emergence of the letter from Albert Einstein to Eric Gutkind goes a long way toward setting the record straight. Evangelical Christians are prone to over-excitement when any famous person, living or dead, is claimed as a believer in God. This is not an attractive habit, and it often leads to intellectual embarrassment. The truth of the Gospel and the reality of the self-revealing God are not enhanced by vague expressions of a non-theistic spirituality or a sense of nothing more than an inexplicable sense of meaning in the cosmos.

Beyond this, the witness of an honest Christian is far more powerful than a listing of the rich, intelligent, and powerful who may or may not have believed in some kind of God. Attempts to claim Einstein for theism reveal a deep intellectual insecurity.

Truly Mohler speaks powerfully here. Because this, I believe, is exactly where one of the biggest challenges lies for the modern church in America. This is why I started this post with James 2:1-9, because it is so applicable to this sin that Mohler refers to...the sin of favoritism towards those with fame and/or money. The church today extols the standars of the book of James while practicing the very opposite every day! People who are well off do not need to attend a church for very long before they are invited to teach or even to preach from the pulpit. People of wealth are immediately placed a step above those without it...because obviously the money they possess is a sign of God's blessings upon them! This at least is how the church behaves! Indeed, the pastors are usually the very first to give this person a place of honor within the church...sometimes letting in false teachers who will mislead many, to the shame of that pastor.

The shameful behavior of such church leaders makes me think of one of my favorite movies, "The Fiddler on the Roof." Do you remember the song "If I was a rich man"? Do you recall how the main character sings about what he would do if he himself were rich? The most telling point of the whole song contains the following words:

The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them, Like a Solomon the Wise.
"If you please, Reb Tevye..."
"Pardon me, Reb Tevye..."
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes!
And it won't make one bit of difference if i answer right or wrong.
When you're rich, they think you really know!
(emphasis mine)

That last part speaks volumes of how people view people of wealth! Have you not observed the same yourself? Have money? You can't be wrong! And as silly as this is in the secular world, it is a travesty, a disgrace, and completetly sad when it happens within the church! Indeed, "if you show partiality you commit sin, are are convicted by the law as transgressors." Why is that? Why does James speak so strongly? I think it is because of what I've already said...because this partiality towards the rich blinds the church and allows the false teachers into the church! I mean, seriously, does money allow a person to view the Bible more clearly? You would think so the way church leaders fall over themselves to welcome in someone who smells of money, driving into the parking lot in their shiny new cars, perfectly groomed, etc...

But you may think to yourself...am I just being petty and jealous? Maybe! :)

Seriously though...there are times when I wish I had more material comforts than what I have right now...I wish I did not have to worry about the gas to go to church, or about how much milk I'm drinking 'cause we can't afford to buy more. But I fight against these thoughts...I want so much to be like Paul who said that he had "learned in whatever state [he was] to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (Ephesians 4:11-12)

So yes, there are times when I fail and begin to covet...but those are times of weakness. Knowing myself all too well I know that riches would turn me into a horrible person. I would become materialistic and greedy and so I stronlgy believe that the Lord keeps me in my current financial state because He loves me. I take comfort from that thought above all. So in reality it is not jealousy that leads me to write this post, but sadness. I have belonged to three churches in the last 10 to 12 years, and in every one of them I observed this failure to obey the Word of God. Even from a preacher that taught through the book of James for quite some time! So I write this in order to plead with anyone reading this to cleanse our ways...to repent of this sin as a church, to uphold our church leaders in whatever churches you are, that they may truly honor His Word and protect His sheep. Let us keep out the wolves even when they come with full wallets!

Amen?

A Letter Promising a Blessing but Bringing a Curse

So about one week ago I received a letter many of you probably received as well. It was from some church based in Tulsa, Oklahoma that wanted to give me a free cross which was supposedly blessed specifically for me! Included in this letter was a poster sized “prayer rug” with a huge picture of what was supposedly the face of Jesus…a face with eyes closed and a blood teardrop falling from one of his eyes! I was directed to immediately take this rug somewhere where I could be alone and then kneel on it and pray. Supposedly, all my wishes would then come true because the genie in the bottle…oh wait, I mean Jesus…has promised me every financial and spiritual blessing I can possible desire. This must be somewhere in Genesis 51, right?

On the outside of the envelope was the following prayer:

Dear Jesus,
We pray that you will bless someone in this home spiritually, physically & financially. And please dear Lord, bless the one who’s hands open this letter. Make good changes in this one’s life and give them the desires of their heart. We pray over and bless this letter in your holy name. Amen.

Huh? Where do people come up with this type of babble?

Worst of all though, within this envelope was a taped up letter which purported to be a prophecy I should not read until I’d returned a list of my prayers to this “church.” Oh, and if I was especially lacking in brain matter, I could also give some money to this “church”, I assume the money was so that my prayers would be more rapidly answered! I won’t tell you what was included in this “prophetic” letter because it was full of demonic trash about opening yourself up to some spirit and so you could be “infused in a divine manner.”

Sorry, I don’t think so. I’m already infused with the Holy Spirit and need no counterfeit “divinity” in my life!

The reason I wanted to write this post, however, is because as I read the contents of this letter I was struck first with sadness as I thought of all the simple minds that will be deceived by these workers of iniquity from Tulsa. Also though, I was upset that God’s name would be mocked by these people, that His glorious reputation would be taken advantage of…but then I had to stop and think. Wait a minute…what is so different between these deceivers and the ones within our so called evangelical churches today?

Do you understand what I mean?

How many conservative churches today subscribe to a prosperity message? How many teach that if you only pray with faith your wishes will be granted? I could share many stories of people I know who believe that if you only pray hard enough you will get what you want…as if God were some celestial genie just wanting to release His power upon you….as if Christ came to seek and save that which was poverty stricken rather than that which was lost!

You know what? Such a foolish and arrogant attitude makes a mockery of the faith of our brothers and sisters in Asia, the Middle East, and other areas where persecution, including death, are the norm. What prosperity are they receiving? Well from the world’s perspective they are seeing nothing…but what spiritual blessings they probably have! And what crowns they will be able to present to our Lord! Brothers and sisters…WE are the poverty stricken ones! We in the West are the ones lacking in true prosperity!

I know I have written of this before…but one of my favorite passages comes from Daniel 3. Do you remember that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to bow down before the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had built? The King, who had honored these friends of Daniel by making them governors of sorts in Babylon (Daniel 2:49), had them brought before him:

“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter, if that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Daniel 4:14-18

Now in this case, God chose to intervene in a miraculous way and saved these men from the furnace. But other times, God chooses not to act to save His children. The important thing is that our attitudes be as these men…God CAN save us, but if He chooses not to, we still will serve only Him!

When God does not act to reward your faith or your prayers it is not because you have not had enough faith, or prayed hard enough…it is because it was not His will to do so. Deal with it.

Better yet, praise Him for it!

Amen?

Evengelism...Rob Bell Style!

I hope that you will follow THIS link...it's from http://www.alittleleaven.com/ and it shows a clip of Rob Bell answering some questions and (failing) to say anything about our Lord. Funny how a supposed preacher can fail to preach at a time and place when he might have the best opportunity to be heard by those least likely to ever visit any church. Anyhow, I intend to view the entire thing once it's posted at the site mentioned...

How sad that so many follow Rob Bell...truly Paul knew exactly what he was talking about when he wrote to Timothy that "...the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but accroding to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (emphasis mine)

SBC President Frank Page Causes Dissension Again

I hope the title of this post didn’t unduly concern anyone…I just wanted to try out something catchy! :)

Seriously though, this is in regards to an article in the February issue of Christianity Today, “TULIP Blooming" which you can find here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/february/8.19.html?start=1

What I wanted to say about this article and Frank Page is simply that I have long noticed a double standard among those who embrace Arminian theology; they are so eager to share their views and opinions but let someone confess themselves a (gasp!) Calvinist, and they are quick to accuse such a person of causing dissension in the ranks! Express a belief in God’s sovereign choice in election and you are a heretic and blasphemer, daring to accuse God of thwarting the ever sacred “free will” of mankind! The way they carry on you’d think you’d suddenly sprouted horns upon revealing your Calvinist leanings! :)

The article in question is about how an increasing number of SBC seminary graduates are coming out of seminary with those nasty doctrines of grace in their heads. Oh my! Send them back!

But seriously, enough of these graduates are actually getting churches that one Oklahoma pastor was devastated, no appalled, when his former youth pastor “secretly taught predestination to teens.” You see his dilemma don't you? I mean, God forbid teens should be tempted to think about doctrine! Indeed, note that this youth pastor has the word “former” before his title, since that Oklahoma pastor promptly booted him out. I guess maybe he’d prefer the youth minister I knew that gave 5-10 minute pep talks, had kids spell out biblical names with their hips, and had the teens place their arms around each others torsos as they played games that taught them Biblical truths…rest assured there was no danger of those kids learning anything as insidious as doctrine! That’s the kind of youth minister the church needs!

Right?

But excuse me for following that rabbit trail…back to the Oklahoma pastor. He “recently led the Arbuckle Baptist Association to adopt a motion calling on the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma to rebuke Reformed theology. It sent copies of the motion to all members of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee.” There’s a good use of pastoral energy. Who needs to confront apathy in the church when Calvinism is on the loose? Who cares if antinomianism has its horrible grip in our churches when Reformed theology is destroying youth groups throughout the nation? Why bother battling selfishness, lack of Bible reading, and doctrinal ignorance when those pesky doctrines of grace are around?

And what did Frank Page say about all of this?

“SBC president Frank Page thinks Calvinism will increasingly become a source of contention. "What we're seeing across the nation is that it's not being discussed enough," said the South Carolina pastor. "Candidates and churches are being put together, and it immediately becomes apparent they've got a serious issue of disagreement."

How will it become a source of contention? Are the Calvinists out there seeking to convert everyone to their way of thinking? Well from my own personal experience I can only say that some poor Calvinist probably said something that merely hinted at election and someone else (an Arminian) overheard this and went ballistic…frothing at the mouth and demanding that the church take a stand against such heresies! Ok, the frothing at the mouth thing was a bit much but I think you get the point!

The following is more from the article:

“While acknowledging that both sides seek to uphold biblical truth, Page worries that extremists could undermine the SBC's emphasis on outreach. He isn't impressed by arguments that most convention founders embraced Reformed ideas. "The totality of history shows the vast majority of Baptists have not been [Calvinists], so why go back to the founders?" Page said. "I think we need to go back to the Bible."

So Page is worried that those Calvinists will undermine outreach? If by this he thinks there will be no desire to provide “seeker friendly” services that leave out true Biblical teaching then he is right. If by this he means there will be no evangelical efforts then he is wrong. ALL of God’s people should witness for one very simple reason…He commands us to. This ad hominem attack upon the doctrines of grace is tiresome. And I say it is an ad hominem attack because it serves to take away the focus on whether the doctrines of grace are true or not. Oh no…we won’t throw block parties anymore! Oh my…there go our evenge-cube (look it up!) sales! My goodness…no more loud music to blast out eardrums in hopes nobody will notice the sermons lacking any depth!

Frank Page has even written an article in which he says that “Calvinist-led churches are in the minority, though the number is increasing. Second, Calvinism is on the rise among recent seminary graduates. If present trends continue, Calvinism will continue to grow as an influence in our convention. Third, Calvinist-led churches are generally smaller in worship attendance and annual baptisms than non-Calvinist churches. Fourth, church growth statistics in terms of annual baptism rates indicates there is little difference between Calvinist and non-Calvinist led churches.” (read article at: http://www.sbc.net/redirect.asp?url=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27050 )

Wait…do statistics show that “Calvinist-led churches are generally smaller in worship attendance and annual baptisms than non-Calvinist churches” or that “there is little difference between Calvinist and non-Calvinist led churches” because certainly it can’t be both!

You notice, of course, that the inference here is that if the SBC turns Calvinist their numbers will dwindle! The mighty numbers racket rears its ugly head…who cares that most of those baptized don’t stay in the church…or that those numbers, as I’ve seen firsthand, are made up of people who don’t even know why they are in a SBC church! They are attracted by the programs not the theology!

So the question must be asked...do we want Rick Warren type churches or Acts 2 and 4 churches? Sadly, most SBC pastors would say “give me Warren!” So yes, that numbers game is a distraction as usual…’cause be honest and look around your churches and tell yourself every one of them is a true Believer. No brothers and sisters…our Lord said it right when He said “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

So back to my original point: What was it? Oh yeah…when you read all these things about Calvinists causing dissension…look into it. I think that for the most part you will find that somebody was offended that a Calvinist actually voiced his/her opinion and reacted emotionally to this. Not able and willing to engage in an examination of the Word to see whether there is any truth to the claims, they attack the person and seek to drive him/her out of the church. Such is the type of theological debate we engage in today...how very sad.