Christianity

A few days ago on Twitter, I said this: “If you’re living your Christian faith in a way that no one knows you have one, you’re doing it wrong.” I’d like to discuss that in a bit more detail.

In Christian circles, we talk a lot about a “personal faith” in Jesus Christ, or a “personal walk,” etc. While I think those terms are appropriate, I think there’s some confusion about the word “personal.” For many, both in the Church and out of it, “personal” has come to mean “private.” Certainly, there are many outside the church that would be happy if we were treat our faith as private, keeping it to ourselves and “out of their faces.” Inside the church, many Believers are perfectly content to sit on their hands, so to speak, enjoying their faith in silence. Unfortunately for them, that’s not what the Bible tells us.

All through the Gospels, we see clear indications that, while our faith is personal (that is, it’s a faith that each of us must hold, not relying on that of another), it’s meant to public. For example, in Matthew 5, we are told that we are “the light of the world,” that “a city set on a hill can not be hidden,” and to “[l]et your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” The apostle Peter wrote in I Peter, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Most importantly, Jesus’ last words to his disciples before his ascension included what we call The Great Commission. In this short piece of Scripture, we’re told to go, to make, to baptize, to teach. While the nature of you’re involvement is not something someone else can tell you, I think it’s safe to say that if you’re not involved in this great commission in some way, you are, indeed, doing it wrong.

Brian McLaren is “a prominent, controversial voice in the emergent church movement.” Like many in the emergent church movement, though, he has been, at least for me and apparently a few others, difficult to pin down on exactly what he thinks. That has all changed, it seems, with the publication of his book, A New Kind of Christianity. Melinda at Stand to Reason has a nice discussion of the tome, including some counter-arugments at the end. If you’re a fan of McLaren’s, or, like me, wondering what he believes, this should be a very helpful discussion.

Not V-Day. Not even plain Valentine’s Day.

I hope everyone had a happy Saint Valentine’s Day!

This is not the best writing on his life, but read about Valentinus: priest, bishop, martyr, true Christian saint.

From ChristianityToday.com:

“The great preacher and founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley (1703-1791), was once approached by a man who came to him in the grip of unbelief. ‘All is dark; my thoughts are lost,’ the man said to Wesley, ‘but I hear that you preach to a great number of people every night and morning. Pray, what would you do with them? Whither would you lead them? What religion do you preach? What is it good for?’ Wesley gave this answer to those questions:

You ask, what would I do with them? I would make them virtuous and happy, easy in themselves, and useful to others. Whither would I lead them? To heaven, to God the judge, the lover of all, and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant. What religion do I preach? The religion of love. The law of kindness brought to light by the gospel. What is this good for? To make all who receive it enjoy God and themselves, to make them like God, lovers of all, contented in their lives, and crying out at their death, in calm assurance, “O grave where is thy victory! Thanks be to God, who giveth me victory, through my Lord Jesus Christ.”

From equip.org:

“Yoga Day USA is January 23 – this Saturday.  Yoga teachers around the country will be holding free sessions in yoga studios, fitness clubs, and even churches to spread their message.  As Christians, how should we respond?  Is yoga compatible with Christianity? Aren’t Christians called to meditate on scripture?  How is that different from yoga meditation?

“Hear the answers to these and more questions on [The Bible Answer Man program on] your local station or tune in at 6PM ET today on our website at www.equip.org! You can join the conversation by calling 888-ASK-HANK (275-4265).”

As you’ve likely heard by now, a massive earthquake has hit the island of Haiti, killing thousands. While it’s impossible to know for sure, the estimated death toll ranges from 100,000 to 500,000. Half a million people. The size and scope of the devastation is hard to grasp, despite the heart-wrenching pictures and videos filtering out of Haiti. Also making news, though perhaps not quite as widely, is yet another disaster: Pat Robertson. Read the rest of this entry »

I knew I liked Brit Hume, and now I have a solid basis for my appreciation for the news man with the catchy name.

On The O’Reilly Factor, Hume shared that he encourages Tiger Woods to turn to Christianity and “be a great example to the world.”

This is a great discussion between Hume and O’Reilly. The two shared what Christianity offers, which is forgiveness and redemption. “Jesus Christ offers something that Tiger Woods badly needs,” said Hume.

Hume shared there have been those who harshly criticized him for his words, as well as the impression he gave for putting down Buddhism. He explained himself well and shared that even Scripture tells there would be those who would be angered by mentioning the name of Jesus.

Here are two memorable quotations from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters:

• My dear Wormwood,
  I note what you say about guiding your patient’s reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend. But are you not being a trifle naive? It sounds as if you suppose that argument was the way to keep him out of the enemy’s clutches. That might have been so if he had lived a few centuries earlier.

• Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.

My criteria include:

a) focus on the Christ Child and all His coming means;

b) whether it has stood the test of time (i.e. newer songs have the burden of proof; and

c) musical quality (though I realize many older hymns were later put to other tunes).

But first, honorable mentions include: Hallelujah! Chorus (I was recently told this was actually part of the Easter, not Christmas, portion of Handel’s Messiah); O Come All Ye Faithful, and Mary Did You Know?

The top five are:

5. What Child Is This? (I love the composer’s answer to his own question)

4. Away in a Manger (Children love this song and for good reason)

3. Silent Night (Is there any more serene song that this?)

2. O Holy Night (enough said)

Read the rest of this entry »

Just finished listening to The Screwtape Letters on audio CD. If you are a Christian and you’ve not read C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece, do yourself a major favor and pick it up from the library.

“The Screwtape Letters is a Christian apologetics novel written in epistolary style by C. S. Lewis, first published in book form in 1942. The story takes the form of a series of letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior tempter named Wormwood, so as to advise him on methods of securing the damnation of a British man, known only as ‘the Patient’.”

One of my favorite lines from Screwtape, “Prosperity has a way of knitting a man to the world. He has thoughts of him finding his place in the world when actually; the world is finding its place in him.”

“If religion be false, it is the basest imposition under heaven; but if the religion of Christ be true, it is the most solemn truth that ever was known! It is not a thing that a man dares to trifle with if it be true, for it is at his soul’s peril to make a jest of it. If it be not true it is detestable, but if it be true it deserves all a man’s faculties to consider it, and all his powers to obey it.”

-Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

-Anne Bradstreet, 17th Century Puritan and considered the first notable American poet

Happy Reformation Day, from Pilgrims’ Progress! And an early happy All Saints’ Day! From Wikipedia, here’s a bit about the two:

“Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some Reformed church communities. It is a civic holiday in Slovenia (since the Reformation contributed to its cultural development profoundly, although Slovenians are mainly Roman Catholics) and in the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. It is also a national holiday in Chile since 2008.”

“All Saints’ Day (officially the Solemnity of All Saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas), often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November in Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity in honor of all the saints, known and unknown.”

I realize I may be in the minority, but I admire Christopher Columbus.

Though I’m not her biggest fan ever, Phyllis Schlafly has a nice piece about the man, the hero, the legend. It states in part:

“Columbus had great moral and physical courage. Again and again he faced mutinous sailors, armed rebels, frightful storms, and fighting Indians.”

So, as we celebrate Columbus Day, let’s marvel at what he accomplished and at the Lord he strived the serve.

A while back, you may recall my mentioning the new book,Why We Love The Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion

The summary stated: “The authors of the award-winning Why We’re Not Emergent return to tackle another set of theological innovators. Whether committed, disgruntled, waffling, or disconnected from the local church, this book will help you love the bride of Christ.”

In the face of the Emerging Church’s “we love Jesus but dislike the church” sentiment comes this breath of fresh air. Though I’m less than halfway, I can see this book surpassing the authors’ superb Why We’re Not Emergent: by two guys who should be.

I intend to write a full review upon finishing. As a preview, I’d like to quote respected Christian scholar and author J.I. Packer, who said of the book: “As I read, I wanted to stand up and cheer.” I know just how you feel, Dr. Packer.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”

-C.S. Lewis

You may recall when Pilgrims Progress blogger Chris Doyle implored us to pray for Barack Obama. A new Baptist Press piece condemns a hate-filled, so-called prayer spewed by a non-Southern Baptist preacher from Arizona, then reminds of us how we ought to pray:

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”(1 Timothy 2:1-4).

In short, our prayers for the president must be directed for his ultimate spiritual good, not his condemnation.

Douglas Groothuis has written a nice piece for the Christian Research Institue on a topic near and dear to my heart, apologetics.  In his piece, he address the six enemies of apologetic engagement.  It’s a good, quick read, and a nice sanity check for those of who labor (or don’t ;) in this area of The Work.

For the impatient, here’s his list:

1. Indifference
2. Irrationalism
3. Ignorance
4. Cowardice
5. Arrogance and intellectual vanity
6. Superficial techniques or schlock apologetics

Check out the article for the full treatment.

Interesting write up from one of my favorite evangelical thinkers:

For most of our history, Baptists have been more concerned with the externals of the Table—grape juice or real wine, who may preside, who may partake—rather than with the question of what actually goes on at this sacred meal.

Read the rest here.

An interesting piece from Christianity Today’s website:

As Christians join the rest of the country in jousting over the proposed changes to our health care system, one significant fact should inform the Christian debate: modern health care is a Christian invention. The reasons Christians developed the world’s first health care system—as opposed to simply medical practitioners—are as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago.

Read the entire piece here.

One of the more popular religious games to play, for both the sectarian and the secular, is “What kind of politician would Jesus Be?” Would He be a Republican or a Democrat? Sometimes this branches out into more a economic realm with would He be a capitalist or a socialist? This former flavor of the discussion was recently brought op on twitter. Since 140 characters at a time is a tough format in which to have a serious discussion, I thought I’d try to share my thoughts in longer form here. Read the rest of this entry »

Let us remember, as people of faith, that our primary mission is not to have a political ideology, it’s to change the world so that every man, woman, boy, and girl can experience true freedom. Not just the freedom to speak out, but the freedom within to be all God ever intended for us to be. I would suggest that we need an evangelical version of Shock and Awe. That we would show this country that the people of faith are not just angry folks mad about some things we don’t like, but people who have joy in our hearts. People who want to help those without housing to find it, those without drinking water to drink it, to help people who are hungry at night to know what it is to have food. And you know, some people say, “Are you worried that the government might try to do it,” and yes I am, but I’m even more worried the church won’t do it, and the government will mess up trying. That’s why those of us who are people of faith need to act out of our souls and consciousness, and not expect government to do what we could do if every believer, instead of sending half of his money to the government in taxes, would give one dime out of every dollar to his church.

-Mike Huckabee

Today, August 18, in Christian history:

August 18, 1688: John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress preaches his last sermon, in London.

Me: His masterpiece, Pilgrim’s Progress is arguably the most famous Christian published book besides the Bible (before The Shack usurped its status, that is, on the wings of a bereft culture).

“The Christian should work as if all depended on him, and pray as if it all depended on God.”

-Charles H. Spurgeon

Christianity Today offers yet another thought-provoking column on the “marketing” Jesus movement. The piece says in part:

The de-churched nature of our theology makes evangelism hard to do without seeming salesy, because churchless evangelism unavoidably promotes a consumerist soteriology. When it’s just you and Jesus, you (the consumer) “invite him” (the product) “into your heart” (brand adoption) and “get saved” (consumer gratification). Certainly God has worked and continues to work through these formulae. His doing so testifies to his grace, however, not to the fidelity of such evangelistic formulations, which, in this culture, inadvertently make Jesus out to be a cosmic version of the consumer brands promoted in the thousands of advertisements each of us sees daily.

Such brands promise to deliver goods—self-esteem, sex appeal, confidence, coolness—that they have no intrinsic capacity to give. Their power is in consumers’ collective willingness to imbue them with that kind of power. In other words, consumerism is impotent to deliver on its promise, and deep down, we know it. Consumerist marketing offers something that just isn’t there.

Read the rest of this entry »

From NewsOK.com

Former President Jimmy Carter appeared to throw down the proverbial gauntlet at Friday’s New Baptist Covenant meeting, asking a large crowd of people where they stood on thorny issues that have divided Baptists and other Christians for years:

“How many of you believe women should serve as deacons, pastors and military chaplains or do you believe women are supposed to be submissive to their husbands and not allowed to be leaders and teachers of men?” he said.

“How many of you believe homosexual Christians should be treated with respect and accepted into our congregations or that the sin of homosexuality is paramount above all other sins and warrants their complete exclusion?”

“How many of you believe that the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade (legalizing abortion) was appropriate and should remain unchanged or that all abortions should be prohibited?”

Sounds like a pretty unifying speech to me.

“A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”

-H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America, critiquing the social gospel.

The Christian Research Institute offers a summary critique of Joel Osteen’s best-seller, Become a Better You. It begins:

Named as one of Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People of 2006” and selected as the “Most Influential Christian in 2006” by the readers of Church Report Magazine, Joel Osteen’s star continues to rise. His charmed life as the guru of the ”gospel-light” message is now all the more assured with skyrocketing sales of a new blockbuster book on self-improvement. Not without its merits, Become a Better You offers good advice throughout, such as accepting God’s forgiveness, reaching out to others, and never giving up. As in his other number-one bestseller Your Best Life Now, which remained on the New York Times “Best Sellers” list for more than two years and has sold more than four million copies, however, there are serious concerns about its teachings.

Read the rest here.

Of all the radio talk shows out there, among my favorites is the “Bible Answer Man” broadcast. Hosted by Christian author and apologist, Hank Hannegraaff, the show touches on cutting edge issues and theological topics. For a look into what answers you might here on the show, here is his blog, as well as an excerpt:

I often get the question, “Is apologetics really necessary?” Too often people suppose the task of evangelism and apologetics is the exclusive domain of scholars and theologians but that simply isn’t true.

Happy reading and listening!

“In answer to the historical query of why it was accepted, and is accepted, I answer for millions of others in my reply; because it fits the lock; because it is like life. It is one among many stories; only it happens to be a true story. It is one among many philosophies; only it happens to be the truth. We accept it; and the ground is solid under our feet and the road is open before us. It does not imprison us in a dream of destiny or a consciousness of the universal delusion. It opens to us not only incredible heavens, but what seems to some an equally incredible earth, and makes it credible. This is the sort of truth that is hard to explain because it is a fact; but it is a fact to which we can call witnesses. We are Christians and Catholics not because we worship a key, but because we have passed a door; and felt the wind that is the trumpet of liberty blow over the land of the living.”

-G.K. Chesterton on the Christian faith in The Everlasting Man

“Now personally, I don’t recommend the Potter books. I’d rather Christian kids not read them. But with some 325 million of them in print, your kids will probably see them and hear others talk about them, and they’re probably going to read them anyway. So use this occasion to teach them to be discerning—like Daniel. Dare them to have Daniel as their role model, not Harry Potter.

“And if your kids do enjoy Harry’s magical world, you should give them copies of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

“These books also feature wizards and witches and magic, but in addition, they inspire the imagination within a Christian framework—and prepare the hearts of readers for the real-life story of Jesus Christ.”

–Chuck Colson in his July 2007 Breakpoint commentary

What do you all think? Is Colson right?

Less than a year ago, I wrote this review of the best-selling book, The Shack. In the meanwhile, I have spoken to countless others who either loved it or hated it.

The other day I came across a review by author and preacher, Dr. Michael Youssef. He says, “The book is like a deep ditch covered with beautiful flowers — and sadly, many Christians are falling into this ditch.” Read the rest here.

His is not the most thorough treatment of the work, but neither is the best comment I’ve heard to date about it. Controversial Pastor Mark Driscoll said, “If you haven’t read The Shack, don’t.”

What do you all think of The Shack?

HT: Jerry M.

“As God can protect his people under the greatest despotism, so the utmost civil liberty is no safety to them without the immediate protection of His Almighty arm. I fear that Christians in this country have too great a confidence in political institutions … [rather] than of the government of God,” from Confidence in God in Times of Danger by Alexander Carson.

“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”

—Martin Luther

Frank Turek, of I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist fame, writes in his blog at crossexamined.com that Bob Cornuke, “a Christian Indiana Jones,” claims that the real Ark of the Covenant has been found. I won’t duplicate his post here, so go there and read it for the details. As Turek notes, who knows if this is true, but wouldn’t that be something if it is…

Having recently returned from the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in Louisville, Kentucky, I wanted to pass on some thoughts:

Speakers

The list of speakers for the Pastors’ Conference/SBC meeting included former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Chuck Colson, Richard Land and more. I was inspired by all on the program, including Okie pastor and author Tom Elliff.

Elections

Without opposition, the convention re-elected Johnny Hunt, who is doing a stand-up job as SBC president.

Key Issues

There were some unusual motions made from the floor, such as a request that LifeWay bookstores no longer carry Mark Driscoll’s books. The resolutions, meanwhile, were fairly predictable and innocuous (with the exception of the one I am about to mention).

The Aftermath

The mainstream media, as best as I can tell, picked up on two developments from the meeting. The first was the resolution about Barack Obama. What was meant to be a resolution showing our willingness to support (insofar as biblical ideals allow) and pray for him was taken to be an insult. The media highlighted only our opposition to his pro-choice stance.

The second was the action to break fellowship with a Baptist church in Ft. Worth that is actively embracing the homosexual lifestyle. The vote to break fellowship took only a moment but led to huge headlines. Go figure.

First Things

What struck me most about the convention was the fervent desire to return to the Great Commission and rely on the Lord during dark times. Perhaps Baptists are not the most correct of all Christian denominations on every single issue, but they are a good people, set on spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness and new Life He brings.

Why We Love The Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion
by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck

“The authors of the award-winning Why We’re Not Emergent return to tackle another set of theological innovators. Whether committed, disgruntled, waffling, or disconnected from the local church, this book will help you love the bride of Christ.”

In the face of the Emerging Church’s “we love Jesus but hate the church” sentiment comes this breath of fresh air. Having read Why We’re Not Emergent, I am confident this work will be worth its weight in gold.

Last week, David Letterman made a “coarse” joke about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her daughter who were visiting New York City. The joke was done in poor taste, and all who were offended and outraged by the joke have legitimate grounds to respond the way they did.

I could give a lengthy analysis of why Letterman’s joke was bad, give an interpretation of his intent, accuse him of being an angry liberal, so on and so forth. But I won’t do that; rather I will focus on something all of us should be ready and willing to do when we have done something wrong. That is admit the wrong and begin the process of forgiveness.

Monday night, Letterman gave a sincere apology:

David Letterman Apologizes

I commend him for what he said. He admitted there was a misunderstanding, and he gave a thorough explanation. He also was genuine in apologizing to everyone involved.

Forgiveness is not a quick remedy. Time is needed. But the greatest thing about forgiveness is watching how God can work. I recently received a good description about forgiveness from Rick Warren’s book  The Purpose Driven Life. I think it is applicable to this situation.

Christianity Today’s journal, LEADERSHIP, has an important analysis on recently reported trends within the Church. An excerpt reads:

Spiritual growth, then, may be occurring for many of today’s Christians in non-traditional ways. Instead of attending church on Sunday mornings, many opt for personal, individual ways to stretch themselves spiritually.

There is some good news in the story, as well as some action steps that could stem the tide.

Recently, I read an article by Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com criticizing NBA All-Star Dwight Howard for thanking God for Howard’s team the Orlando Magic making the NBA Finals. Here is what Howard said in the press conference after Orlando defeated Cleveland in the Eastern Division series:

“First, I want to thank God, man, because without Him none of this would be possible. I told my guys before the game if we come out, we play 100 percent, play hard for 48 minutes, then God is gonna do the rest, and He did tonight. We got a good victory; man … it’s all because of Him.”

Freeman gives a common rebuke to comments like Howard’s, saying God doesn’t care about sporting events, that He is more concerned about world tragedies and other severe issues. He has a point, but it is easy to forget that God has no limits to his care and the concerns of this world. And because we are limited to the understanding of God’s will, it is possible that God has a purpose and plan that involves the NBA Finals and specifically Dwight Howard.

But as Jesus reminds us, God cares for the sparrow and the lilies of the field, so he also cares and provides for us. Also, we are reminded that in everything we do, we are to give all the glory to God. Howard is to be commended for showing his thanks.

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”

– C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters

“Are Christians being more influenced by Jack Bauer than Jesus Christ?” a new Christianity Today piece asks.

“A new survey shows most churchgoers support torture.” Read more about this disturbing trend here.

One of my favorite authors and professors, Dr. Timothy Paul Jones, answers “How should Christians respond to the new movie Angels & Demons?” You can read his entire press release here, but for a taste:

“As in The Da Vinci Code, Brown blends history and fiction so smoothly that it’s difficult to tell where one begins and the other ends. The difficulty comes when readers fail to explore the claims and inadvertently trust fiction as a fact. According to Angels and Demons, ‘References to all works of art, tombs, tunnels, and architecture in Rome are entirely factual, and the brotherhood of the Illuminati is also factual,’” says Jones.

The Illuminati

“In Angels and Demons, The Illuminati is depicted as an organization that began in the 1500’s, whereas it actually began in 1776,” Jones says.

Persecution of Galileo?

“And as for the supposed persecution of Galileo: While Galileo was correct that the earth moved around the sun, his reasoning was wrong. Galileo’s ‘proof’ was the movement of the ocean; he said that the tides came in and out because they were sloshing around on a spinning earth. We know now that that’s not what causes the tides. He was never tortured, and he wasn’t convicted in court because of scientific irregularities. It was because he lied under oath. He was exiled to a luxuriant villa where he carried out scientific research until the day of his death.”

The Death of Copernicus

“Angels and Demons declares that Copernicus was murdered by the Roman Catholic Church for his scientific research when, in truth, Copernicus was a Polish priest who died a natural death,” Jones says.

Me: Dr. Jones provides some worthy analysis. Yet unlike The Da Vinci Code,  this movie seems to be drawing a yawn from critics, the media, Christian apologists. Just about everybody, including me.

by Morris H. Chapman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)– I am truly amazed at the excellence of many of our Christian colleges and universities. I serve as a trustee of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and we have remarkable students from around the world and a first-class faculty to train them. Several times throughout the year we send out graduates who will elevate the professionalism in their respective fields but also who will transform the world with the message of the Gospel.

But in celebrating accomplishments like these, I now wonder if our focus in the evangelical community should shift at least in part from training our children during the transition to adulthood to placing greater emphasis on training up a child in the way he should go. I’m not advocating the neglect of what we have already established in higher education, but simply a course correction in an area that seems to have suffered neglect — the protection and nurturing of the spiritual health and growth of children and adolescents. In far too many public schools throughout the country our children are being bombarded with secular reasoning, situational ethics and moral erosion.

Read the rest here.

“The Bible Answer Man” radio program broadcasts on weekdays from 5-6 p.m. (CST).

It is arguably the most insightful program in Christian Talk radio. Even if I do not agree with him on every single issue, Hank Hanegraaff, has done much to defend the faith and is an indispensable apologist.

This Wednesday and Thursday, he is going to take on major skeptics who are attacking the veracity of the Scriptures. Read more about the program here.

“There is no room for torture as part of the United States’ intelligence gathering process, in Richard Land’s view. The practice known as ‘waterboarding’ is torture, he said.” Read the rest here.

Excepting his views on the Red River Shootout, I think I may have never disagreed with the man.

Christianity Today interviews “Joe the Plumber,” a fixture of the 2008 circus, I mean campaign. Glad to see he is a professing Christian.

Mike Huckabee is featured in the latest issue of World Magazine. Marvin Olasky follows the former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate on a routine schedule of talk show productions and speaking engagements and asks Huckabee a solid list of questions regarding current issues and the possibility of running for office again.

In the article, Huckabee hits a Ruthian grand slam when he responds to Olasky’s question, “How do you break out of the Christian ‘box’?”

Huckabee said, “I don’t want to break out of the box if that means people think I’m somehow abandoning my faith. If my faith is the reason people say, ‘I’m not going to vote for him,’ then good, don’t vote for me, because I’m not going to abandon who I am to get your vote. . . . When I was governor people asked me, ‘Is it hard being a governor and a Christian?’ and I said, ‘No, it’s actually easier. I don’t have to wake up every day and decide what I’m going to believe today.’ If I get defeated, I get defeated. That’s part of the deal. I’d rather be defeated and go to my grave with some sense of consistency of conviction than that I had to win every last office in America including the presidency but had to sell my soul to do it.”

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. ”

C.S. Lewis, from ‘Is Theology Poetry?’

“Church attendance is slipping rapidly as Britain has become one of the most secular countries in Europe,” says a telling NPR report.

Read the rest here. May the Lord help them–and us.

The Christian Research Journal has a thought-provoking piece on the Roman Catholic Church.

Entitled, “What Think Ye of Rome? An Evangelical Appraisal of Contemporary Catholicism,” the author goes out of his way to provide an fair and balanced answer to his own question.

Was he generous enough, though? I am still deciding but would like your opinion.

Christ has died.

Christ has risen.

Christ will come again.

Here’s wishing you all a good Good Friday and a meaningful, Happy Easter!

“Be not deceived, Wormwood, our cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe in which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

-”Screwtape,” a senior demon speaking to his understudy, ”Wormwood,” in C.S. Lewis‘ masterpiece, The Screwtape Letters. (The aforementioned “Enemy” in “Screwtape’s” eyes is, of course, God Himself.)

“In answer to the historical query of why [Christian faith] was accepted and is accepted, I answer for millions of others in my reply; because it fits the lock, because it is like life. It is one among many stories; only it happens to be a true story… We accept it; and the ground is solid under our feet and the road is open before us…. It opens to us not only incredible heavens but what seems to some an equally incredible earth, and makes it credible.

“This is the sort of truth that is hard to explain because it is a fact; but it is a fact to which we can call witnesses. We are Christians… not because we worship a key, but becasue we have passed a door; and felt the wind that is the trumpet of liberty blow over the land of the living.”

-G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

In a recent speech on the floor of the US Senate, Senator Jim DeMint (R, SC) made a great, principle speech on why the GIVE Act (HR 1388). While there are many great, political reasons to oppose this boondoggle, one of the provisions of the bill that bothers me the most is this:

SEC. 1304. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.
Section 125 (42 U.S.C. 12575) is amended to read as follows:
SEC. 125. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) Prohibited Activities- A participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle may not engage in the following activities:
[SNIP!]
(7) Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization.

The way I understand that is this: If, say, your son gets a federally subsidized student loan, he will be compelled to enter a period of public service. However (above and beyond Senator DeMint’s excellent case against government-mandated volunteerism), your son will not be able to choose as his service anything that might spring from his personal faith. Want to help out at your local denomination-sponsored boys’ home? Too bad. If the name of Jesus (or Jehovah, Allah, etc, to be fair) happens to be mentioned by the group you’d like to serve, they are enjoined from receiving any GIVE help. The message, then, is that you can help, but only if you’re humanistic or atheistic in whom you want to help. To force someone to “volunteer” is bad enough¹, but then to deny them their rights of free speech and exercise of religion is beyond the pale.

The government intrusion into private life and the erosion of personal rights continues apace, and the band plays on.

(h/t Michelle Malkin)

¹ The “volunteering” here is, indeed, forced. I can think of no other instance where one gets a loan and is forced to perform some sort of service. I certainly don’t pull weeds for my mortgage company.

William P. Young, author of the runaway best-selling fiction book, The Shack, is coming to Oklahoma next month. Read more about it here, and pay special notice to the backlash.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all. Growing up, I always enjoyed this holiday, though until recently this Evangelical did not fully appreciate the saint behind it.

Of the many feats (some likely legendary but many true) of Patrick’s, I like that he explained the Holy Trinity by use of the three-leaf clover. My five year old daughter learned a powerful lesson from that, and I suspect the author of The Shack could use a similar lesson.

Read more about St. Patrick’s love for Christ and the people of Ireland here.

Peter Jones recently attended the National Pastors’ Conference, sponsored by Zondervan and Intervarsity Press. In a brief report filed at truthXchange, he describes what Michael Horton (whom he mentions in post) so aptly dubs “Christless Christianity¹.” The report is not a good one.

(Hat tip to Brandon Dutcher)

¹ Dr. Horton uses the term “Christless Christianity” to describe that “flavor” of Christianity that likes to talk about being nice to people, etc., but avoids discussion of Christ, who he was, why he came, why we need him, etc. It’s a nice, catchy phrase that embodies the rebirth of the Social Gospel, in which salvation through Christ has been all but completely removed (and in some cases, no longer “all but”) from any teachings and we focus on making people like us. Dr. Horton probably has a better description of his term, but that’s my take on it from what I’ve heard him say. Dr. Horton podcasts regularly at the White Horse Inn if you’d like to hear more.

This news story tells me there is at least one other Okie besides me who hasn’t bent over backwards to the yoga boom. The story says in part:

For Laurette Willis, there is no middle ground on yoga. She describes it as a gateway to the occult or New Age religion, and, at best, a diluted, one-size-fits-all spirituality.

The Oklahoma resident and author spent more than 20 years practicing and teaching yoga before reconnecting with her Christian faith and inventing PraiseMoves, a Bible-based exercise program that pairs individual verses with postures, some of which are similar to yoga poses.

In those two decades, Willis said yoga opened her to astrology, metaphysics, crystals, channeling, psychic readings, out-of-body experiences and other practices.

My Elijah Complex needs a reality check sometimes.

Hat Tip: BTD

Interesting article on National Review Online today. It begins:

“For the first time since Jimmy Carter ran for the White House in 1976, large numbers of evangelical and Catholic voters pulled the Democratic lever in a presidential election. Last week, Pres. Barack Obama decided to reverse a policy that prohibits U.S. tax dollars from funding abortion providers overseas.”

“How to square the two? Some younger Christians probably saw it coming: Obama’s campaign emphasized social-justice issues like overcoming racism, combating poverty, and tackling global issues like AIDS, and for them, this agenda trumped abortion. For others, however, the new policy is a betrayal: While courting the evangelical and Catholic vote on the campaign trail, Obama also promised to reduce the number of abortions.”

Though I chose to start out neutral and/or favorable to him, this one major policy switch (and the disloyalty to his campaign rhetoric it represents) is why I cannot in good conscience approve of the job Obama is doing. Read more of the piece here.

Amid the backdrop of news stories on Guatanamo Bay detention camp’s future, and the runaway popularity of the show “24,” I bring up the said question.

A couple years back, Christianity Today published an important column on the piece entitled, “5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong: And why there should be no exceptions.”

We could debate all day what defines torture, but it seems to me it’s one of those things that is hard to put into words, but you know it when you see it. We could further debate if waterboarding qualifies as “torture.”

Setting aside specifics, I see no biblical or moral grounds in which the ends justify these means of torture in itself. But what do you think?

On a lighter note, Jay Leno quipped that with Obama doing away with any and all forms of torture, perhaps ABC’s The View might soon be cancelled. One can only hope.

The Internet Monk, which, I have to confess, I just heard of today so I don’t know much about him, has a pretty good analysis of the two prayers given at today’s inaugural. My favorite quote is this:

You can’t talk reasonably and genuinely about a God of many understandings. Not with actual believers in Jesus, Yahweh, Allah and Buddah around. You might as well pray to the cat. (It probably would be better to pray to the cat.) But you can talk about the God who created, the God who reigns and the God we know as we know and believe Jesus.

President-elect Barack Obama ignited a firestorm of controversy with some by allowing Rick Warren to voice a prayer during his inauguration. More controversial, I think, though certainly less-covered, is a similar selection of homosexual Episcopal priest Gene Robinson. Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs with Liberty Counsel and associate dean with Liberty University School of Law, discusses this selection in his short but poignant column, “Obama betrays Christian voters.” He makes a really good point, with some really good zingers (“After that comment, I wonder if he heard a rooster crow.”). It’s a short piece, so I’d encourage you to read it, and by all means, pray for our next president, and pray for Gene Robinson.

“In sum, while an alarming number of Western Christians suppose they can achieve physical and spiritual well-being through a form of yoga divorced from its Eastern worldview, the reality is that attempts to Christianize Hinduism only Hinduize Christianity.”

- Hank Hanegraff, adding to a carefully documented three-part series entitled, “The Yoga Boom, A Call for Christian Discernment.”

For Christmas this year, I received not one but two copies of Do the Right Thing by Mike Huckabee — one from my mother-in-law and another from a friend.

The irony of this is I attempted to purchase the book for my mother, and it was sold out (though I noticed this particular popular bookstore was well stocked with multiple books on Obama, as well as many liberal authors).

Since I’m in the middle of reading four different books, I’m only on chapter four, but already I’m convinced this is one of the best books I have ever read, mostly because of one profound paragraph. Read the rest of this entry »

“Richard John Neuhaus, 72, editor-in-chief of First Things, president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, and author of numerous books, died Thursday morning in New York City.”

WORLD magazine correctly noted, “Protestant evangelicals have lost a friend who himself was Roman Catholic.” Read more.

Here’s to a happy new year. Our prayer is that we truly make it the year of our Lord.

If we were able to somehow calibrate our time’s equivalent to a moral Dow Jones Industrial average, I wonder if 2008 would have fared any better than the financial markets. Indeed it was easier for me to recall many discouraging trends and headlines than encouraging, from a culturally conservative, Christian perspective.

Be that as it may, I have put together this list of the good and the bad. Perhaps as you make your New Year’s resolutions, you could ponder this question as well:

Concerning Trends

• The Shack was a runaway bestseller
• Yoga became more widely available–in churches at that
• Millions of pro-life Christians supported Barack Obama
• Emergent church spokesman, Rob Bell and Brian McLaren, became much more influential
• Numerous pro-life initiatives went down at the ballot box (in South Dakota and other key states)
• The so-called gospel of Judas gained headlines and caused confusion
• And perhaps most disturbing of all, Christianity Today published a movie review of Sex and the City (a fairly favorable one at that)

Encouraging Trends

• Millions of people worldwide accepted the Gospel, with key gains in China, Africa and other parts of the world.
• Rick Warren represented evangelical Christians well at a presidential forum at Saddleback Church.
• The Bible was the number one best selling book–yet again.
• The Chronicles of Narnia books and movie outdid The Golden Compass.

Finally, it was also amid the backdrop of 2008 that this very blog, Pilgrim’s Progress, was founded. We appreciate you reading our thoughts and offering yours. Here’s praying for a good 2009.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

Proverbs 31:8 (NIV)

My criteria include:

a) focus on the Christ Child and all His coming means;

b) whether it has stood the test of time (i.e. newer songs have the burden of proof; and

c) musical quality (though I realize many older hymns were later put to other tunes).

But first, honorable mentions include: Hallelujah! Chorus (I was recently told this was actually part of the Easter, not Christmas, portion of Handel’s Messiah); O Come All Ye Faithful, and Mary Did You Know?

The top five are:

5. What Child Is This? (I love the composer’s answer to his own question)

4. Away in a Manger (Children love this song and for good reason)

3. Silent Night (Is there any more serene song that this?)

2. O Holy Night (enough said)

Read the rest of this entry »

I just read a message from Mike Huckabee. I hope you will read it as well and will be encouraged.

In the past, I have referred to Father Jonathan’s news blog on Fox News website. He has posed another intriguing penning.

In his “Letter to a Frazzled America,” he asked readers to post responses to three questions. Read the rest of this entry »

“Is it not the great end of religion, and, in particular, the glory of Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions; to curb the violence, to control the appetites, and to smooth the asperities of man; to make us compassionate and kind, and forgiving one to another; to make us good husbands, good fathers, good friends; and to render us active and useful in the discharge of the relative social and civil duties? ”

-William Wilberforce

Having just finished the work, I estimate otherwise, and believe The Shack could more appropriately be called a pilgrims regression. Why do I say that?

First, while the work paints itself as fiction, it is clearly designed to contain teachings about the nature of God. And it is the author’s (mis)understanding about God—especially the Trinity—that presents the most problems. I do not think it spoils the plot to tell you that, amid a great tragedy, the protagonist meets the Father, Son and Holy Ghost in a remote shack, each of whom is a separate person. The Father (or “Papa” as He is called) manifests Himself as a large, African-American woman with somewhat lacking grammar. The Son, meanwhile, is presented as a sort of fuzzy teddy bear, and the Holy Ghost (also a woman) is nebulous and even apologizes at one point to “Mack,” the main character. There is also a dialogue in which the Holy Spirit is approvingly equated to the legendary American Indian’s Great Spirit.

Read the rest of this entry »

A special thanks to Brian Hobbs for passing along a story from The Baptist Messenger’s Bob Nigh.

Along with passing the proclamation to emphasize prayer for the next President of the United States, Oklahoma Southern Baptists also heard a passionate address from BGCO President Alton Fannin, pastor of FBC Ardmore.  Read the rest of this entry »

I had the wonderful experience of attending the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma annual meeting in Broken Arrow, Okla. Personally, it was a great experience for many reasons.

One reason I would like to share with our blog readers is my appreciation of a resolution that BGCO messengers passed. I am truly thankful for the conservative values represented by Oklahoma Baptists, and they were emphasized in many of the proposed resolutions. But one resolution holds significant encouragement.

Read the rest of this entry »

It always amazes me how many versions of the Bible there are to purchase. They come in so many different shapes and sizes.

This latest version, The Green Letter Bible, though, boggles my mind. Essentially, it is produced from all-natural materials, and the ink is made of soy. Where it gets controversial is, instead of highlighting the words of Christ in red, it highlights verses that relate to the environment.

Another red flag for me, so to speak, was that Emerging Church liberal Brian McLaren was part of the project. But decide for yourself.

Over at Public Discourse: Ethics, Law, and the Common Good, Maggie Gallagher, President of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and President of the National Organization for Marriage, has an excellent article titled, Marriage Matters: For Kids, for Parents, and for Religious Liberty.  If you are one of the ones wondering what the fuss is all about, this article should give you a very nice introduction to the issue, which goes well beyond “fairness.”  Some highlights:

• Marriage between a man and a woman is rooted in our nature–”in biology, not bigotry”–sex between men and women makes babies, society needs babies, and babies need a father as well as a mother. But the proponents of same-sex marriage want the government to declare in law that there is no difference between same-sex and opposite-sex unions, and anyone who thinks otherwise is promoting bigotry. This will have major ramifications for those who believe in marriage in the traditional sense–especially religious citizens and organizations.
• Equality, especially racial equality, trumps religious liberty in our constitutional scheme. Indeed just a few weeks after declaring that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right (because sexual orientation is a protected class just like race), the California Supreme Court explicitly affirmed that the government has the right and obligation to punish a Christian doctor who refused to perform the insemination procedure on a lesbian couple. Treating two women in a union any differently than a husband and wife is now the same as discriminating on the basis of race under California law–and it is a well-established principle of law that religious beliefs do not give an individual or an institution a right to violate norms of racial equality.
• Everyone acknowledged that a union of a black man to a white woman could be a marriage–which is why these unions had to be banned to maintain a racial classification system in the law. Calling same-sex unions ”marriages,” by contrast, requires the law to redefine the very meaning of the word, and to strip marriage as a public, legal status of its ancient, honorable, and distinctive relationship to responsible procreation.

You should read the whole article to see how this attempt at redefining marriage will affect you, your family and your church.  It won’t be pretty.

According to the online resource, Wikipedia, “Religulous is a 2008 American documentary film written by and starring political comedian Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles. According to Maher, the title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words ‘religion’ and ‘ridiculous,’ implying the satirical nature of the documentary that is meant to criticize the concept of religion and the problems it brings about.^“

There is no way I could, in good conscience, justify supporting this movie financially by seeing it. Therefore, there is no way to provide our readers a movie review. So instead I wish to point to the “Bible Answer Man’s” (Hank Hanegraff), who has something to say about this so-called documentary in this brief blog entry.

I was privileged to attend a round-table luncheon this week featuring one of my favorite Christian spokesman, Richard Land. If this name is new to you, I wish to unlock the treasure trove. Feel free to Google him, or start by reading this TIME magazine piece about “God’s lobbyist.”

Dr. Land conversed about the hottest topics, such as the upcoming elections and embryonic stem cell research. When I asked him what he thought William Wilberforce, one of his heroes as well as mine, would think are the most pressing issues of the day, he answered: “The pro-life question and the definition of marriage.” I quite agree.

In fact, there was really only one issue on which Dr. Land and I cannot agree. He, a Texan, wants the Longhorns to win in the Red River match this weekend. To that I say, “Go Sooners!”

Update: Richard Land’s public policy group, the Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission, has produced an impressive “party-platform” guide for 2008. Find out more here about this nonpartisan resource.

The indispensable Christian journal, First Things, has an important piece on the subject. It begins, “Mormonism has been much in the news over the past year. The presidential campaign of Mitt Romney was the principal reason, though there were other causes as well: the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to become the fourth-largest denomination in the United States, for instance, and the prominence of Harry Reid as Senate majority leader. The total number of news articles devoted to the church in the past year more than doubled the previous high, reached during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.”

In another portion, one of the piece’s two authors, Gerald R. McDermott, continues: “Most Christians say Mormonism is not Christian—though their reasons are sometimes awkward.”

Read the rest here.

I just heard about a new book on apologetics, When God Goes to Starbucks. Meanwhile, I am reading a rejoinder to Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great. Written by Christian author Douglas Wilson, the book (which is more of a pamphlet) is called “God Is,” and offers a brief answer to each of Hitchens’ main points.

I bring these book titles up to say, in this age of so-called New Atheists and constant gratuitous broadsides to the historic Christian faith, apologetics appears to be more important than ever.

Have we posted enough commentary about Rick Warren’s Faith Forum?

I am thinking more and more that Pastor Warren’s table talk is the pivotal point of this presidential campaign. I read a great op-ed from the Wall Street Journal outlining some of the heavy questions featured in Warren’s oral quiz.

Also, regarding the Democrats featuring “faith” at their convention this year, Pew Forum’s Michael Cromarty says it does not have an effect on Evangelicals due to the fact that Evangelicals are “interested in policy not just language.” Obama’s usage of “church speak” will not hold as much clout until he changes his position on non-negotiable issues such as abortion.

Next month, the greatest professor in Oklahoma (and the country for that matter) will be delivering five lectures on America’s Legacy of Freedom. “Internationally distinguished scholar and author, Dr. J. Rufus Fears, will present the series beginning Sept. 8.” Click here to read more.

My friend Brian Hobbs has done an excellent job of promoting Rick Warren’s recent forum with the two presidential candidates. Warren was phenomenal with his line of questioning.

Personally, I expected the typical shallow dialogue that was featured in the primary debates. Warren’s questions were well-phrased with no vague political slant.

The question of the night was “At what point is a baby entitled to human rights?” Of course, McCain was spot on with his answer, “At the moment of conception.”

Obama, however, failed miserably with his answer: “I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that quesiton with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.”

I watched Warren in a follow-up interview on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes. The man gained my confidence again after his exchange with liberal commentator Alan Colmes:

Colmes: And “above my pay grade,” he’s coming under fire for that as if to say — I interpreted — to me, you know, that’s really between a person and God, that’s really higher than any of us.

Warren: Yeah. Well, you know what? He is right in the fact that it isn’t his decision, it’s God’s decision. If you believe Psalm 139 where — as a pastor I do — it says I formed you in your mother’s womb and I planned all your days before you were born, so obviously to me, that was — an answer that I wasn’t comfortable with, but I thought that he shared his view and people know where he stands.

Excellent Pastor Warren! May all future debate moderators follow your lead!

Mosab Hassan Yousef is an Arab, and his father is one the most influential leaders in Hamas, yet Mosab Hassan Yousef has become a Believer.  All new Believers need the prayers of their brothers and sisters in Christ as they grow, but this man needs them more than most.  Read more about his remarkable embrace of the Christian faith here.

One of my favorite conservatives from one of my favorite, though least well-known, think tanks has an important piece this week. Ken Connor (formerly of the Family Research Council) and his Center for a Just Society have distributed, “How to Produce Real Change.” It begins:

“Change! It’s the mantra of the political season.  But what kind of change—from what to what?”

Connor then pulls lessons from one of the greatest reformers of all time, William Wilberforce. Click here to read the piece. You’ll be very glad you did.

Dear Readers,

You may already be aware that over the weekend, one of the greatest writers, thinkers and Christians–Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn–passed away. All the free world owes a great debt of gratitude to this man, whose abounding contributions brought freedom and honored God. Here is a sampling of his genius, a speech he delivered at Harvard University nearly 20 years ago.

Update: Chuck Colson here offers a must-read about this giant, “Jeremiah at Harvard: Three decades after Solzhenitsyn’s speech, where do we find ourselves?”

If you do not know to whom I refer, count yourself lucky. Mr. Tolle is the New Age spiritual rock star created by Oprah Winfrey who likes to quote Jesus. In an important piece, Christianity Today magazine explores the answer to the question I pose in the title of this post. Read it here.

NewsOK.com has a very important interview with the greatest professor in Oklahoma and the country, Dr. J. Rufus Fears. If you have heard Dr. Fears speak even once, then you are bound to click on the link here.

If you are not, please drop whatever you are doing and listen to him discuss the superb art exhibit on ancient Rome now in Oklahoma City. Wait for the end, when you will hear Dr. Fears reveal the most important legacy of the Roman Empire, which may surprise you.

“The righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and mercy God justifies us by faith. I felt myself reborn! … The passage of Paul became my gate to heaven … Works do make one righteous. Righteousness creates good works.”

-Martin Luther

In the past, I have referred to Father Jonathan who does a column on Fox News’ website. A couple of weeks ago he wrote a column that disappointed me, giving a theological perspective that is contrary to mine.

His latest, though, is a really good one. I encourage you to read it especially if the difficulties of life have you down. Check out his column ”Happiness on the Isle of Capri.” 

National Review has an insightful piece about the struggle going on inside the United Methodist Denomination. Below are some excerpts from the piece, which centers around Hillary’s long-standing membership in the UMC:

This pervasive advocacy for legalized abortion is one of the reasons Hillary says with a smile, “I’m comfortable in this church.” But Hillary Clinton may begin to feel less comfortable. The UMC recently concluded its 2008 General Conference — Hillary has addressed the conference in the past — where it made some positive steps back from the abyss of the Culture of Death advanced by its most liberal members.

Among the steps taken was a statement encouraging the church to “assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion.” The conference made some important changes in language, deleting a previous assertion that advocating legalized abortion was “in continuity with past Christian teaching,” and even adding a sentence informing Methodists that they are “bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and unborn child.”

Read the rest here, and pay notice to the important positive role the Methodists in Africa are playing.

Last night, I had the unique privilege of taking my wife to a sneak preview of the movie, Fireproof. If you are familiar with the movie, Facing the Giants, you may have known about this forthcoming release. Here is my brief take on it.

What to like

Two words: Kirk Cameron. OK, I’ll admit: Left Behind: The Movie left a bad taste in my mouth, but he more than redeemed himself is his role as “Captain Caleb Holt,” a firefighter who struggles to keep alive the cooling embers of his marriage.

If I had to place the movie in a single genre, it is a love story. It is not, however, a so-called (and I really dislike this term) “chick flick,” like You’ve Got Mail. But unlike that, it can put wind in your sails if you are (or hope to be) married. Further, the movie had plenty of comic relief and some good, hearty masculine aggressiveness. The movie contains some tense scenes and some violence (which I think can be a good thing), which may make it not for children. Yet it did not have profanity or inappropriate content, which is a huge plus.

What critics won’t like

With the exception of Cameron, the actors in the movie are amateurs. It shows in only a few parts though, and all of the main actors were good. And that is point two: it is a movie in pursuit of goodness, not beauty. In other words, it was more like a good meal from Chick-Fil-A than a fine French restaurant. But that’s okay by me and it achieves the goals it sets out for itself. I mean, this film isn’t supposed to win an Oscar, it is supposed to help change lives and thus the culture. Finally, many will see the film as more of a sermon than a movie, and I will be the first to admit that it is a heavy-handed presentation of the Gospel. Of course, isn’t that our call as Evangelical Christians, to engage the culture and present Christ to all?

Overall

I give this movie two enthusiastic thumbs up, and I will be encouraging my Evangelical brethren (and neighbors) to see it come September 26. My movie date dubbed it “simply awesome,” and I would agree.

For more information or to see the trailer, visit the movie’s website.

Just last week, I heard a contrast made between being a “conservative” and a “progressive” (by the way, that’s the new term for liberal). A “conservative” was defined as someone who looks back, who holds on to things of the past, whereas a progressive is someone who looks forward to the future, ready to embrace new ideas, even new truths. Of course, carefully defining the words like this is a thinly veiled attempt in pejorative monikers by those on the left. That being said, there is some truth in the definitions. Read the rest of this entry »

If you follow Christian fiction at all, you’ve likely heard of The Shack, a novel by Oregon salesman William P. Young.  You might even have seen it on the shelf of a local Christian bookstore, as I did just last week.  The novel, which was written by Young to help explain all of the perceived contradictions between the existence of a good God and all the evil in the world, is a run away best seller.

While many view it as simply a work of fiction, since it discusses the very nature of God (specifically, the Trinity), it deserves a very careful and thoughtful analysis.  Is it a wonderful piece of writing, as Eugene Peterson and Michael W. Smith think it is, or is it a the heresy-ridden tome as Albert Mohler claims?  In this fairly short piece, Tim Challies, author of “The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment,” analyzes The Shack to see where the truth lies.

If you’ve read this book or know someone who has, you owe it to yourself to see what the fuss is about, as ideas have consequences, and truth matters.

Check out the bad news from this AP story, which shows relativism is alive and kicking within the Church today. I just rue the near inevitable successor to it: the arrival of nihilism.

“America remains a nation of believers, but a new survey finds most Americans don’t feel their religion is the only way to eternal life — even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.”

“The findings, released Monday in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don’t know fundamental teachings of their own faiths.”

“Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attendees said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.”

Whether reading books from Emergent Church writers, or visiting the local Christian bookstore, you may have run across a title for Jesus that I have not yet found in the Bible. “Leader.” I came across a new blog today, linked from ChristianityToday.com, that bemoans the title:

“Beware of any literature that starts with these words: ‘Jesus was the greatest leader of all time.’ The sentiment behind those words may be true, but the point they make is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if Jesus was the greatest leader of all time. Jesus is our leader (and, in a holy sense, we’re stuck with him).”

“The issue at hand is far from nit-picky. Evangelicals have long been accused of domesticating Jesus—making him one of “us” (often white, middle-class, socially respectable, and politically conservative). The glut of Jesus-as-leader books runs a tremendous risk as it attempts to introduce Jesus into the economy that surrounds 21st century leadership.”

Read the rest here.

You may recall me noting that last week, I attended the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis. This week, The Weekly Standard, has an important piece about us. Entitled, “The Dwindling Baptists? Not Really,” the piece starts this way:

ARE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS “dwindling”? Recent headlines about the annual meeting of the 16.27 million member Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) refer to its ostensible struggles with membership decline. Having lost 40,000 members last year, America’s second biggest religious body was described as “dwindling” by a Washington Post headline, which other media echoed.

In contrast to Mainline Protestant denominations like Episcopalians and Presbyterians, the SBC is overwhelmingly conservative. During the 1980s, conservative Baptists, derided as “fundamentalists” by critics, were alarmed by liberal inroads and solidified their governance of church agencies and seminaries. Southern Baptist and other evangelical churches have enjoyed almost unfettered growth in recent decades, while the once dominant Mainline denominations are now in their fifth decade of decline.

Read the rest here.

[hat tip: JR]

While I was at the annual SBC meeting in Indianapolis, I was pumped to discover my favorite Christian scholar, Timothy Paul Jones (an Okie, by the way), would be signing his latest book.

To tell you the truth, I wasn’t all that jazzed about Dr. Jones’ new book, but I bought one nonetheless. Boy, am I glad I did. In it, he twists so-called Christian skeptics into an intellectual pretzel, in his usual engaging style. The book is summarized here:

“So far, the twenty-first century has been rough on Jesus. Theories that have been swirling around for hundreds of years claiming to discredit His life have suddenly become hot again. None of these theories are completely new. In fact, the hundreds of books, movies, and other reconstructions simply recycle the “top ten” conspiracies. Timothy Paul Jones has researched them all and discovered there is no reason to fear these skeptical reconstructions of Jesus. When subjected to actual historical evidences, each conspiracy crumbles beneath the weight of its own overblown claims.”

It is a must-read, which I try not to say too often. Shortly after meeting Dr. Jones, I took advantage of the long afternoon break to see another Dr. Jones, the new Indiana Jones movie. Something about seeing it in Indiana made it better than it otherwise would have. I give it 3 stars (out of 4). Is it a must-see? Probably, though not nearly as much as Prince Caspian.

So I am writing this post from Indianapolis, where the annual meeting of the SBC is going on. This is my first year to attend and first year to serve as a messenger (i.e. delegate) for my church.

If you are pretty connected in Baptist circles, you may have already heard that the new SBC president will be Johnny Hunt. In addition to the winner (who received 52% of the vote), there were five other candidates for the position, all of whom appear to be conservatives in every sense.

The conference, which is attended by more than 7,000 Baptists from all over the map, has included big name speakers like Al Mohler and Paige Patterson. After tonight’s dinner break, Dr. Richard Land is set to speak.

The resolutions committee meets tomorrow, so things could get even more interesting there. Until next time …

In Numbers 12, the Bible calls Moses was the meekest (or most humble) man in all the earth. We also know that Moses himself composed the Book of Numbers. Here you have a rare case in which someone became aware of their humble nature and yet somehow retained it.

Recall in his masterpiece, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says, “The vice I am talking about is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea-bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

He goes on to say, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”

I may have stumbled upon two other Christians who have realized the danger of pride, but are calling for wearing the badge of humilty. The first is the author of this book who calls for “humble apologetics,” the second is this group calling for “a humble orthodoxy.”

By any standard, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was one of the most important figures of the 20^th Century. His writings and Christlike example are remarkable.

To explain his rarity, Solzhenitsyn’s Thursday, June 8, 1978 Commencement Address at Harvard University gives us an example of one of the only good commencement addresses on record. Moreover, it provides one of the most thoughtful indictments of our western culture, which comes “ not from an adversary but a friend,” one who knew firsthand the tortures and evils of life in the communist Soviet Union.

“A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society. Of course, there are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life.”

Find the entire speech here.

There is little question in my mind that the 50s in America were a better time, in terms of social goodness and a thriving Christianity, than the decades following. A new piece in the superb journal, Touchstone Magazine, though, provides a provocative look back into that oft-lauded time and asks a few probing questions, such as:

“Are the 1950s in any way a useful model for American Christians of the twenty-first century? Would we like to go back? Would it be better, for instance, if the movie moguls returned to producing religious epics like The Ten Commandments, with their earnest depictions of the power of God? Would the renewal of prayers before football games in any way strengthen the fabric of public life?”

Their answer might surprise you. Read the feature here.

From an AP news story: “Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word ‘evangelical’ has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.”

“The statement, called ‘An Evangelical Manifesto,’ condemns Christians on the right and left for ‘using faith’ to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.”

It looks like some heavy hitters have signed the document, such as Os Guiness and Rick Warren.

Update: Al Mohler has an important analysis of the manifesto. Also, I discovered that one of my favorite Christian thinkers of our day–and one of the most underrated–Timothy George, has signed the manifesto.

Do you recall ever hearing about Richard Niebuhr’s classic, Christ and Culture? It
outlines the five prevalent ways Christians have interacted with culture:

• Christ against Culture
• Christ of Culture
• Christ above Culture
• Christ and Culture in Paradox
• Christ Transforming Culture.

I am pumped to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, “a 2008 fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the second published novel in C. S. Lewis’ children’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia.”

This promises to be a good example of how (Christian) works can attempt to transform culture, not merely oppose the bad already out there.

Grace is the keystone of the Christian faith. For reasons we can’t fully understand, God condescended to send his Son to die in our place, paying a price for sin we never could. For many, it seems (myself included, often times), the role of grace is limited to the salvation experience: we get a gift we don’t deserve and that’s that. This misunderstanding is often seen in our response to sin. After committing a “big one,” we are often crippled by guilt, anguish, depression, despair, etc. “How can God use me now?!” the shamed and burdened offender might wail. What we seem to forget in times like these is that we didn’t do anything to earn our salvation, and we can’t do anything to lose it. It is the Lord who saves, and it is Lord who sustains.

Quit wallowing in your failure
And get yourself off your mind
God uses broken vessels
They’re His favorite kind

In a recent resolution passed by the Student Government Association of Oklahoma Baptist University, the SGA inserted itself into a volatile conversation, that concerning recent comments made by State Representative Sally Kern concerning homosexuality and Islam. Setting aside the ramifications of said issues with regard to national security and stability — a debate, perhaps, for another entry — as well as the appropriateness of a “legislative” body addressing issues outside its charter, I would like to address some very disturbing assertions by the SGA. Read the rest of this entry »

At risk of spoiling some April Fool’s jokes, I give you the verse for this week.

“Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, Is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, “I was only joking!”
Proverbs 26:18-19 (NKJV)

I’m a big fan of apologetics.  I listen to the likes of William Lane Craig, Hank Hanegraaf and Greg Koukl almost daily.  Most people, though, hear “apologetics” and immediately tune out, thinking that it’s the domain of academics and people who like to argue.  The Bible, though, has a different view.  In I Peter 3:15, we are told to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”  That leaves the serious Bible student, then, needing a place to get started.

Stand to Reason, the apologetics training organization founded by Greg Koukl, just announced the availability of one of their most popular resources, Tactics in Defending the Faith, as bite-sized chunks in 14 weekly emails.  When you sign up, you simply tell them when you want to start receiving the emails, and just sit back and wait.  Getting started in your effort to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” could not be easier, or cheaper.  Sign up today!

This debate, set to take place next month in OKC, looks quite interesting.

“Grace Bible Church of Oklahoma City announces the 2007 Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield Lecture Series featuring a debate on The Christian’s Final Authority: The Bible or The Church? Father Mitchell Pacwa and Dr. Eric Svendsen will engage this timely question. The debate will be held Friday, May 18 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Meinders School of Business of Oklahoma City University located at N.W. 27th and McKinley Avenue on the eastern edge of the OCU campus. This debate is open to the public free of charge.”

“Fr. Pacwa will represent the position that the Roman Catholic Church is the only infallible interpreter of Scripture or Sola Ecclesia Romanus. Dr. Svendsen will contend for Scripture alone as the final authority for the believer or Sola Scriptura.”

My only question: who’s going to represent the third way, “prima scriptura“?

Update: As it turns out, the debate to which I referred took place last year (it’s no wonder my critics say I’m stuck in the past). THIS year’s lecture series will feature Gene Edward Veith on “The Church and Culture,” and will take place on Friday, May 9. Dr. Veith, whom I admire (and who is a native Oklahoman by the way), will be superb. Click here for details, and I apologize for the confusion.

The Learning Channel is currently running the third season of Jon & Kate Plus 8. I have recently been introduced to this reality show, but I am quite fascinated with the group dynamics of this young couple and their family of twins and sextuplets.

It’s an interesting experience in my house on Monday nights now. My wife and I have been married for 10 months, and it seems like she and I each carry an opposite gene.

I want to watch Jon & Kate, and she prefers to watch CSI:Miami. How odd is it that the husband is interested in a reality show about a couple with a bunch of kids and the wife prefers to watch a crime show? Fortunately, both shows don’t come on at the same time, so I have my preference at 8 p.m., and she gets to watch Horatio speak his overdramatic lines at 9 p.m.

So what is it about this show that appeals to me?

It could be that as an inexperienced husband I find it educational to watch another couple whose lives are on display to the world, observing how they relate to each other, how they fight yet work out situations.

It could be that I like making my wife paranoid with the thought I could actually consider wanting a set of multiple kids and will have us rush out to meet with a fertility doctor. Fear not, though. Jon & Kate have no bearing on when we decide to have children.

What I do find appealing about the show is some of the things TLC does not emphasize. Jon and Kate Gosselin are committed Christians, and they do have pro-life convictions.

When discovering Kate was pregnant with six, her doctor attempted to provide comfort with the suggestion of reduction. Kate emphatically said on the show that her response was “we will NOT discuss reduction.” That sound byte was a major selling point for me.

I found the Gosselins’ website, and reading their story was priceless.

“I have learned that I am not at all in control of my own life—God is,” Kate writes. ”He owns every facet of my very being! What great relief to know that all that stress does not have to sit on my shoulders anymore! I give it to God and he takes care of it for me! I have learned to be grateful for everything I have.”

Of all the multitude of reality shows that have been aired and are currently airing, I don’t know if there ever could be one with a greater impact of planting seeds of the gospel as well as providing a positive pro-life message than Jon & Kate Plus 8.  

Stand to Reason’s Gregory Koukl has an insightful monologue on the claim “Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship.”“This slogan has been a rallying cry of 1970’s and 80’s evangelicalism,” said Koukl. The emphasis on having “a relationship with God,” I think, is a new phenomenon coming out of the sixties. It smacks of T-groups and sensitivity training, emphasizing freedom and feeling rather than form and content.”

“The crux here is what is meant by the words “religion” and “relationship.” If “religion” means a body of truth pertaining to God and the afterlife and the unseen world, combined with a way of life informed by that truth, and a community of faith seeking to follow that way of life, then Christianity certainly is a religion.”

Click here to read the rest. It appears what Koukl maintains is that Christianity is both a religion and a relationship.

I’ve been arguing this for some time now and am glad to see someone of such stature is on the same page. Too bad I’m not in the bumper sticker business. I could have been a millionaire, Jerry, I could have been a bumper sticker millionaire.

Special Note: This is my second post to the two other contributors zero. This should provoke them to jealousy (i.e. wanting or fearing losing something to which one has a right), as opposed to envy (i.e. wanting something to which you do not have a right.)