Friday, May 10, 2008
I have this friend who swears that if pastors tell the people in their churches that it is possible that people could be born gay…like…overnight churches will turn into Village People free-for-all orgies.
People will start wearing feather boas to Bible study. Sunday school teachers will start showing clips from Will & Grace re-runs to first graders. Ushers and parking lot attendants will Tivo Jay Leno just to catch a glimpse of “Ross the Intern.”
Utter pandemonium will break out.
“Brian,” he’s told me, “It’s like admitting to people that God made a mistake. People will take that as license to practice homosexuality. You can’t do that.”
Really?
I have lots of friends who are recovering alcoholics and I would venture to say that most of them struggle in part because of genetics – they were born that way.
None that I know, however, use that as an excuse to dive head-long into drunken stupors. Most alcoholics I know are brave, broken, and desperate to stay sober.
Will acknowledging the possibility that people could be born with homosexual tendencies change how God expects us to deal with homosexual behavior?
I don’t think so.
Do I personally think people could be born gay? I don’t know. I honestly don't know how one could conclusively prove such a thing.
It’s pretty clear most secular psychologists and biologists are convinced homosexual orientation is imprinted genetically at birth. And they have piles of studies and journals to back up their claims.
My reaction is simple: So what? How does that change anything?
It’s still sin.
It’s still something to be avoided.
Then hasn’t God tethered those with homosexual urges to a life of constant struggle?
Yep.
That's why I'm betting that those who come to Christ and refrain from acting out on homosexual urges could be one of the few groups of people in the body of Christ who feel the full brunt of James 1:2-5 on a daily basis.
And my heart goes out to them because of it.
Read all the posts in this series:
Questions About Homosexuality
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized?
Gay First Impressions Ministry?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way? - Questions About Homosexuality (Part 5)
Gay First Impressions Ministry? – Questions About Homosexuality (Part 4)
Friday, May 09, 2008
There’s a church in our area that is known for having their parking team “size visitors up” as soon as they exit from their car and radio in to their ushers the specific make-up of the people visiting.
New family with small kids? By the time that new family hits the front door greeters from the children’s ministry with small children in hand are there to welcome them and personally escort them to their classes.
In some respects I guess I applaud their commitment to make people feel welcome by having a similar type of person meet them at the door.
Unfortunately too many people have told me that when they visited this church there weren’t any…
…black people to welcome them…
…or single moms…
…or those who had been divorced…
I often wonder what would happen if two openly gay people visited their church.
In Second Guessing God I talked about how a few years ago our church in Philadelphia went through our first crisis: French-kissing homosexuals in the worship service.
One day after services a man in our church’s band approached me and said, “Dude, I just saw my first homosexual kiss!” I said, “Where?” He pointed to the auditorium and said they had been French kissing during the worship service.
I said, “Really? I didn’t see them.” I looked for other staff members, but they said they hadn’t witnessed it either. The next Sunday three people came up to me and said they had seen the same thing. This went on for weeks. It was like the homosexual version of “Where’s Waldo?” During the sermon I would slowly scan the audience looking for lip-locking visitors, but to no avail.
Eventually, for reasons I could never discover, our frisky friends left, but not before I received a nasty e-mail from a woman visiting from another church that saw the couple making out [the same church known for “sizing people up” and radioing in their “type” to their ushers]. She asked, “Is your church the kind of church that welcomes homosexuals?” That was a loaded question.
I e-mailed back and outlined our church’s belief that homosexuality, like all other sins, goes against what is clearly taught in the Bible. I also explained that we would welcome anyone, regardless of their background, to be a part of our church service, jokingly adding that we had a very strict policy against all French kissing during the service—homosexual or heterosexual.
I concluded my e-mail by saying, “I have to be honest; I was glad to hear that two homosexuals felt comfortable enough to attend our church services and weren’t scared away by the adulterers, pornographers, tax cheats, liars and other messed-up people in the seats around them.”
Since day one it’s been my prayer that CCV would be the kind of church that anyone could attend.
Gay. Straight. Young. Old. Poor. Rich. Married. Divorced. Black. White.
Everyone for whom Christ died – and I mean everyone – is welcome to come and hear the good news that God loves us…
…in spite of their sin
…in spite of their sexual orientation
…in spite of their addictions
…in spite of their skin color
…in spite of the size of their wallet
…in spite of anything that people judge other people by on the surface to keep them from hearing the life-changing message of Jesus.
Read all the posts in this series:
Questions About Homosexuality
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized?
Gay First Impressions Ministry?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way?
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized? – Questions About Homosexuality (Part 3)
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
In my previous post I mentioned that I was posed the following question by two homosexuals jointly raising a child,
“Which sin is greater: continuing with the way we choose to live our lives or having one of us move out and ripping apart the only home our son has ever known?”
Here’s what I said…
“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not God. But even if I did have a strong opinion on the matter, I wouldn’t give it to you. Do you want to know why? Because my hunch is you’re not really looking for an answer as much as you are looking for a reason to leave this church and turn your back on God. Others pastors may have given you reason to do so, but I’m not going to follow suit. You’re here for a reason, and that’s to find your way back to God. Once you do that, He’ll be the one that will help you answer that question.”
Then I hugged them both.
In my mind two more important questions lurked behind the question they asked:
1. Will this pastor guy treat our sin any differently than the other searching non-believers in the Bible study that went home to continue to embezzle money for their employer, look at porn on their computers or abuse prescription drugs?
2. Can I really trust God?
The second question is probably the most important. It’s hard to fathom how hard it is for a struggling homosexual to darken the doors of a church building, let alone contemplate turning their lives over to a deity who is going to ask for radical, painful change. That takes a great leap of faith; probably more than most heterosexual people were required to exercise before they became Christians.
The real issue for me comes down to this: How can we expect any non-believer to truly have a heart for the ways of God BEFORE conversion?
Most pastors I know won’t baptize an openly homosexual person.
This is utter non-sense.
I understand there are varying theologies on conversion and baptism, but the one thing we can all agree on is that by the time someone has been baptized they’ve turned their life over to Jesus and have received the gift of the Holy Spirit (FYI -- at CCV we baptize immediately after someone's profession of faith...not once a year, etc.).
God in us.
Power.
Illumination.
An internal craving for the things of God.
A new mind.
A new heart.
This only happens post conversion.
How can we expect an openly homosexual person to even want to change their life without their minds and hearts being born again?
That’s like a doctor telling someone with radically spreading lymphoma to show signs of remission before he’ll give them chemo.
What we do here at CCV is allow anyone to make a declaration of faith and get baptized.
There’s no “sin litmus test.”
We don’t check to see if anyone is shacking up, or look for heroin tracks on their arms, or condoms in their back pockets. We assume that everyone is as screwed up as I was before I came to Christ.
Now, we make it clear before baptism that Jesus asks us to forsake everything that is out of line with his will expressed in the Bible, but we don’t stand at the baptismal with an exhaustive checklist in hand.
Afterwards, however, that’s when the work of discipleship begins – teaching people how to obey everything that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). People must be taught how to obey following baptism, not before it.
That’s when the subject of someone’s specific sin comes up.
And not before.
Read all the posts in this series:
Questions About Homosexuality
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized?
Gay First Impressions Ministry?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now – Questions About Homosexuality (Part 2)
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
While I was serving as an associate pastor at a large church in Florida years ago two people approached me after Wednesday night Bible study.
“We’d like to become Christians,” they said with smiles on their faces.
“That’s great! Congratulations!”
“But we’re not going to stop being gay,” they quickly added. “Besides, we’ve been raising our 10 year old son together since he was born. We’re the only family he knows.”
I paused, and then gently said, “Are you familiar with what the Bible says about homosexual activity?”
“Yes. But we have a question for you. Which sin is greater: continuing with the way we choose to live our lives or having one of us move out and ripping apart the only home our son has ever known?”
How would you have answered that question?
Read all the posts in this series:
Questions About Homosexuality
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized?
Gay First Impressions Ministry?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way?
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible? – Questions About Homosexuality (Part 1)
Monday, May 05, 2008
It’s clear that the writers of the New Testament saw nothing contradictory whatsoever between following Jesus and upholding the culture’s position on slavery.
There is no command, no teaching, not even a hint among the New Testament writers that slavery was an evil institution to be abolished.
Quite the contrary…
Slaves were encouraged to accept their lot in life…
1 Corinthians 7:20-23:
20 Each of you should remain in the situation you were in when God called you. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For those who were slaves when called to faith in the Lord are the Lord's freed people; similarly, those who were free when called are Christ's slaves. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. 24 Brothers and sisters, all of you, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation in which God called you.
Slaves were taught to obey their masters in everything…
Titus 2:9-11
9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. 11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…
Slaves were taught to endure beatings joyfully…
1 Peter 2:18-21
18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19 For it is commendable if you bear up under the pain of unjust suffering because you are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
The entire witness of the New Testament leads us to one inescapable conclusion: God doesn’t have that big of a problem with slavery; otherwise the early church leaders would have gone ballistic over it.
150 years ago pastors used these very verses to justify slavery.
What if 150 years from now people look back on modern-day evangelicals and think the same thing about the way we view homosexuality?
Does the Bible give us unambiguous direction on the issue? Certainly. Homosexuality is a sin. No issue is any more clear in scripture.
But 150 years ago people used the unambiguous teaching of the Bible to justify their belief that slavery was okay.
150 years later we think, Who cares what the Bible teaches on slavery? It’s wrong. Not because of what the Bible teaches, but because of everything we know to be true about life as Christians.
Abolitionists fought against the evils of slavery in spite of what the Bible taught.
And they were right.
No Christian today denies that.
What if it’s the same situation with homosexuality?
I have unashamedly upheld the Bible’s teaching that homosexuality is a sin for 20 years of ministry. But what if 150 years from now Christians look back on me and think the same thing that we think about pastors who 150 years ago taught slavery was okay?
I haven’t changed my position in the least. I’m just asking the question.
Read all the posts in this series:
Questions About Homosexuality
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized?
Gay First Impressions Ministry?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way?
Questions About Homosexuality
Monday, May 05, 2008
A few weeks ago I met a sharp business guy in our church for lunch who has been reluctant to buy into the whole Christianity thing.
He asked, “Do I have to believe that homosexuality is wrong to become a Christian?”
I get asked that a lot, along with a whole slew of questions about homosexuality that I’ve been reluctant to talk about publicly.
I’m thinking it’s time to open up that can of worms.
Read all the posts in this series:
Questions About Homosexuality
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized?
Gay First Impressions Ministry?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way?
What Should I Write About? -- How To Write A Book (Part 1)
Thursday, May 01, 2008
One of the most difficult questions those of us who feel called by God to write must answer is what should I write about?
Here’s my advice…
Don’t write something that you think will make you rich.
There are almost 200,000 books released every year in the United States. If you’re trying to make lots of money writing books, you’re going into the wrong business.
Don’t write something that you think will make people like you.
There’s a great line from Shakespeare’s King Lear that every writer should memorize. Near the end of the play the Duke of Albany shouts, “The weight of this sad time we must obey. Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” Whenever you’re wondering what you should say and how you should say it, always follow his advice. Always.
Don’t write something that will allow you to follow the path of least resistance.
Quick fix weight loss fads. Fast money making schemes. Effortless online degree mills. There are no easy, quick, effortless ways to do anything, especially writing a book. Red Smith once said, “Writing is easy. I just open a vein and bleed.” I believe him.
Instead…
Write something that will cost you a little piece of your soul to write.
Write something you’re convinced will either comfort someone immensely or completely upend their world.
Write something people will want to read 150 years from now.
Write something no-one else has written about in quite the way you can write it.
Write something you simply must write.
So you want to be a writer
Charles Bukowski
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.
don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
Countdown To The CMT Awards
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I’ve lost my mind.
Up until four months ago I thought the only people who listened to country music were those who skipped routine dental visits so they could buy extra beer and pork rinds for when the cousin they were engaged to came over to watch Wrestlemania and NASCAR.
Now, unbelievably, and I’m sure this will come as a great shock to those within the church I serve; I’m slowly changing my mind.
While I’m still convinced most country music lovers contemplate going to family reunions to pick up women, I’m actually, and it shocks me to say this, starting to like it.
Rascal Flatts. Sugarland. Toby Keith. Kenny Chesney. Taylor Swift. Keith Urban. Martina McBride. Four months ago I had no idea who any of these people/groups were. Then, out of nowhere, I made the decision that I was sick of listening to classic rock and alternative rock and wanted to learn a little bit about a musical genre I knew nothing about. So I forced myself to listen to 92.5 WXTU “Philadelphia’s Country Station” everyday for four long months.
And I’ve been surprised.
So much so, that, believe it or not, we’re going to do our first-ever (and more than likely last) country-music inspired sermon series.
In two weeks we’re going to launch a 4-part series that’s a take off of the 2008 CMT Awards. We’re calling it the “CMT Awards.”
The CMT stands for “Corinthian Moral Troubles.”
When you read through the pages of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians), you begin to wonder if you’re reading the lyrics to a country music song – there’s always someone fighting, drinking, and cheating on somebody.
After Paul founded this tiny church in the cosmopolitan Greek city of Corinth in 52 a.d., he left to start more churches in other cities. In his absence the people in that new church began making immoral lifestyle choices that jeopardized the life of the church.
So Paul shot off 1 Corinthians, challenging them point by point to change their ways. Their immoral choices were beyond anything we read about anywhere else in New Testament! Paul essentially awarded them with what could be called the “CMT Awards” – The Corinthian Moral Troubles Awards. Their crazy lifestyle choices took the prize!
So starting on May 11th we’re going to look at those awards, and the issues that prompted them. We’re going to do so because, quite honestly, Paul could have just as easily written that letter to any church today, even our own.
Well, that’s the series in a nutshell – 1 Corinthians with a little country twang.
I just have four simple requests:
1. Do not make out with your hot cousin in the back row during the worship service, unless she's Carrie Underwood.
2. Do not bring beer coolers or dogs into the church building.
3. Please park all trailers in the back section of the parking lot.
4. Post a comment and give me your favorite country music song and I’ll pass that on to our Art’s team. We're looking for ideas.
God help us. God help us all.
Apologetix and the Demise of Christian Art
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
“The confusion comes about because much so-called religious art is in fact bad art, and therefore bad religion.” -- Madeleine L’Engle
I have a friend who will only listen to Christian music. By that she means music that only uses explicitly Christian lyrics – Jesus, God, Bible verses, salvation, heaven, and hell – all mingled throughout.
However, she would also contend that her musical tastes aren’t marked so much by lyrics contained within the songs, as the words that are kept out of them. No cuss words ever darken the doors of her iPOD. Profanities, hate, vulgarities of any kind, are all blocked by an unassailable wall of Christian censorship.
Her favorite band is a group called Apologetix. They make their living by taking popular songs that everyone likes on the radio, making the lyrics palatable to those within the evangelical/fundamentalist subculture, and then peddling them as a more spiritual alternative to the “world’s music.”
A few years ago a group named Smash Mouth came out with a song called “All-Star.” The song began:
Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me
I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb
In the shape of an "L" on her forehead
Apologetix took that song, re-wrote the lyrics and re-titled it “Pray Now.” Here’s how the spiritually revised tune starts out:
Somebody once told me the Lord is not your roadie
You ain't the star so do it yourself
I said look it's kind of dumb if there's things I need done
It's a shame not to call on the Lord's help
As I read Apologetix’s re-write, I’m struck by two things:
1. Avoiding profanity and vulgarity is a important thing to do as a Christ follower.
2. Expunging profanity and vulgarity from a song, or a poem, or the walls of a dormitory does not necessarily make what replaces it art. And it most definitely does not make it Christian art.
The Sistine chapel. Mozart. Paradise Lost. The Pieta. These are examples of great Christian art.
Juxtapose those pieces with Apologetix, and the fifty kagillion Thomas Kinkade paintings in evangelical homes everywhere, and many of the poorly written books sagging Christian bookstore shelves across the country.
Just because something is labeled Christian, doesn’t make it so.
To me something is “Christian art” if…
1. It is done with excellence.
2. It is done with beauty.
3. It captures some piece of the human experience.
4. It points to something greater than the artist who created it.
Art doesn’t become “Christian” simply because someone throws in evangelical buzzwords, and it certainly doesn’t happen when someone high-jacks someone else’s body of work and makes it palatable to a certain audience.
Art becomes “Christian” when those who view it, read it, or listen to it swear to themselves that they can see fingerprints left from another world.
Wounds From A Friend Can Be Trusted
Thursday, April 24, 2008
This week we had another Leadership Team meeting. I continue to be amazed at the godly people God has assembled to guide this church.
One of the things on my agenda for after the meeting was a one on one with Paul Williams. Paul has been a personal friend and mentor for many years.
In March the CCV staff finished our annual 360 degree reviews where everyone on our staff had an opportunity to weigh on the positive and negative aspects of each other’s performance. It’s pretty affirming and painful stuff all at the same time.
Once that process was over I emailed Paul the complete file and we agreed that after the Leadership Team meeting in April we would meet for my review.
“Brian, you know I think the world of you, don’t you?” he started.
“Yes, I believe that 100%. I trust you completely.”
“Then please understand that what I’m about to share comes from a heart that loves you and only wants to see you become all that God has called you to become.”
Then he took a deep breath and shared two things:
1. He shared a story from his own life where he struggled with what he was about to share with me. That put me at ease. Right off the bat he made it clear that he wasn’t positioning himself as someone who didn’t understand my struggles.
2. Then he slowly said, “Brian, I think ______________________.”
My chin immediately dropped.
I just sat in silence and listened to what he shared.
I thought, He nailed it.
He IMMEDIATELY nailed the core theme that emerged loud and clear through the reviews.
As he expounded point by point though, two things became abundantly clear to me: First, I needed to change. Second, Paul was not judging me, but cheering me on.
I told Paul that I agreed with everything he said, without exception, and that I also continue to be overwhelmed by his love and graciousness towards me.
Together we made a plan to help me proceed, and then he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "You know I love you and think the world of you, don't you?"
I said, "Absolutely."
Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted.”
I know that first-hand.
Evolutionists in the Hands of a Mediocre Filmmaker
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The other night I had the evening free so I decided to go see Ben Stein’s “Expelled” with two friends (I felt guilty for recommending it and then not seeing it this past weekend).
Here’s how the night went for me:
9:25 p.m. Couldn’t wait for the movie to start.
9:45 p.m. Wondered if the whole movie would be interview after interview interspersed with ridiculous black and white 1950’s movie clips for affectation.
10:01 p.m. Looked over to see if my friends were sleeping.
10:07 p.m. Started text messaging people.
10:09 p.m. Realized that yes, indeed, the whole movie was going to be interview after interview with ridiculous black and white 1950's movie clips for affection.
10:10 p.m. Prayed, “Dear Jesus, let the building collapse and put me out of my misery.”
10:37 p.m. “Um. Huh. What? Was I sleeping?”
10:41 p.m. I hear someone snoring. I realize it was me.
10:42 p.m. I look for a sharp edge on my theater seat to impale myself.
10:45 p.m. I tell my friends, “Guys, I quit. Meet me in the lobby. This is the worst movie I’ve seen since Rocky 5.”
After plugging the movie on my blog and then actually seeing it for myself, here's my two cents:
1. The argument that vigorous debate over Darwinism has been censored in some academic circles was convincingly made, after about 20 minutes.
2. “Expelled” should have been reduced to 42 minutes and shown in a one hour PBS special.
3. I really appreciated Ben Stein's heart, but not necessarily his filmmaking skills.
Conflicted About Evolution vs. Creation? -- Go See "Expelled" Tonight
Friday, April 18, 2008
Ben Stein’s movie “Expelled” hits theaters nationwide tonight. Are you going?
“Expelled” shows how educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure and even fired – all for merely believing that there might be evidence of “design” in nature, and that perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance.
Whether or not you want to see it, here’s my two cents on the subject:
1. I do not believe the earth is 6,000 years old.
2. I do not believe the earth was created in six “literal” days.
3. I believe in micro-evolution (adaptations within a specific species), but not macro-evolution (single-cell organisms mutating into human beings).
Micro-evolution is all about explaining how people getting taller, animals adapt to their surroundings, and country music singers stop wearing mullets.
Macro-evolution is all about explaining how single-cell creatures brewed in a gooey soup developed through mutation and natural selection into the vast array of plant and animal life that populate the planet.
3. Many educated Christians have been able to reconcile their belief in creation with macro-evolution (i.e. God could have instantaneously created the world but then created humans through the evolutionary process).
4. I’m not one of them.
I’m firmly in the “conflicted Intelligent Design” camp. I don’t buy into all the young earth creationist stuff, but at the same time I don’t buy the idea that humans are the accidental result of random mutations over billions of years.
Why?
1. Scientists I respect and trust reject the theory of macro-evolution.
Read what Michael Denton, the famous molecular biologist said: “[Evolutionary theory] is still, as it was in Darwin’s time, a highly speculative hypothesis entirely without direct factual support and very far from that self-evident axiom some of its more aggressive advocates would have us believe.”
2. Macro-evolution contradicts one of the most basic laws of science -- the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Everyone knows that Second Law of Thermodynamics says that in any system, energy moves from order to disorder. Things tend to break down into the less-complicated pieces rather than increase in complexity.
3. The lack of evidence of transitional fossil forms.
If macro-evolution is accurate, the fossil records of animal history should reveal an utter absence of precise family boundaries. Everything should be in the process of changing into something else - with literally hundreds of millions of half-developed fish trying to become amphibious, and reptiles halfway transformed into birds, and mammals looking like half-apes or half-men. Instead of finding billions of confused family fossils, scientists have found exactly the opposite. Not one single drifting, changing life form has been studied (except televangelists).
Darwin himself confessed, "There are two or three million species on earth. A sufficient field one might think for observation; but it must be said today that in spite of all the evidence of trained observers, not one change of the species to another is on record." (Life and Letters, Vol. 3, p. 25).
4. Macro-evolution is a theory. Just a theory.
Check out Expelled tonight and tell me if you agree. Here’s the trailer:
Making Room For New Ideas
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Last week I got rid of 1/3 of the books in my personal library. Books are the lifeblood of any spiritual leader, so I was pretty surprised during a recent prayer time when I felt the spirit’s nudge to “clean this place out.”
I believe it was more than an effort on God’s part to create more shelf space. I’m pretty sure it was the spirit’s prompting to take stock of the ideas that had influenced me up to this point in my journey and to begin, both literally and metaphorically, to make room for new ideas.
I approached each book in my library with one simple question: “Has this book so profoundly influenced me that I can see myself reading it 2-3 more times and sharing it with other people?” If the answer was negative, it went into the “Ebay pile.”
Here were a few things that crossed my mind as I did this:
1. Besides biblical study and language resources, which I didn’t touch, I quickly learned that I purchased two kinds of books over the years: timeless books and quick-fix how-to books. Books I’d throw in the timeless category were books like Ordering Your Private World
2. The empty shelves have become symbolic for me. When Lisa came down to my office at the end of the day she looked around and said, “What happened here?” I said, “Time for something new.”
I love the feeling of emptiness around me now. It has the fresh smell of intellectual and spiritual hunger, the kind of aroma I first sensed when I started out in ministry.
Idol Gives Back and the Misguided Church
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Last night I caught a few minutes of American Idol’s much hyped, “Idol Gives Back.” It seemed every “A List” celebrity in the world was brought in to appeal to the American public to send money to fight poverty, disease, and to make the world a better place to live.
Oddly, As I watched, I thought to myself, Maybe the church is starting to sound TOO MUCH like Idol Gives Back, and Bono, and the United Way. Maybe the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction.
For years many of my pastor friends complained that for too long American Christians have been preoccupied with “saving souls” and not caring about how those souls live in the “here and now.”
At the time they were right.
But now, it appears, Christians are more consumed with fighting AIDS in Africa, and homelessness in America, and poverty worldwide, than they are in telling people how Christ died for their sins.
What’s missing, it seems, is the urgency to share the saving message of Christ, without which a person will surely go to hell after they live their life here on this earth.
Here’s my question: What good is it if we give someone medical care, making their life more comfortable for the next 60 years, if we ignore sharing Christ and they spend not 60 years, but all eternity separated from God?
It’s not a question of either/or, but both/and.
Surely the works of the gospel (social justice) must precede and accompany the preaching of the gospel (Christ’s payment for your sins). But if we don't actually open our mouths and share the message of the Christian faith and call for a response, we’re no different than some cheesy suntanned TV personality raising money for charity.
The 10 Most Read Posts In The Last Month
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Here are the 10 most visited posts from the previous month:
South Park – Christianity’s Greatest Critics – Part 2
7 Ways We Keep Church Hoppers From Staying
It Takes A Real Pastor To Preach A Sermon On 1 Kings 14:10
Why Pastors Yield To Sexual Temptation – Pastors Gone Wild (Part 1)
Are People Born Wicked?
Social Change Agents – Christianity’s Greatest Critics – Part 5
8 Creative Things Churches Did For Easter
Effeminate Pastors – Pastors Gone Wild (Part 3)
Does Your Pastor Really Believe In Hell? – Pastors Gone Wild (Part 2)
Oprah, Eckhart Tolle, and A New Earth
I’m On TV Today…No Joke
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Today I have the opportunity to go on two television shows and share the message of Getting Rid of the Gorilla. If you know me, you know I’m not a real big of being in front of the camera, especially Christian television cameras. But God opened this door, so here I am.
If you’re around a TV set and want to see what’s happening, here’s where you can find me:
11:00am (ET) Everyday with Marcus and Lisa Ryan on Familynet
You can find your local listing HERE.
1:30pm (ET) WATC/TV Atlanta with Greg West
Can I ask you for a favor? Please pray for me. Last night I asked my publicist, “How many people watch these shows? I’m pretty nervous.” She said, “A little more than 10 million.” “Oh, that’s just wonderful,” I shot back.
Please pray that…
--People who have been wounded can find hope and healing
--More people than just my mom and some crazy lady in Oklahoma City with 16 cats tunes in
--I get out of the way
--I don’t get nervous voice
Thanks everyone.
Brian
Oprah, Eckhart Tolle, and A New Earth
Over 2,000,000 people from 139 countries have participated with Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle in a live Web-based seminar covering each chapter of Tolle’s recent book entitled, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
.I just finished the book myself.
Here’s my take:
1. There’s nothing new in it. It simply regurgitates the same old stuff you can get from virtually any book in the “New Age” section of your local Barnes & Noble.
2. It was a snoozer. Academic German types are not known for getting right to the point and saying it with flare.
3. Christians need to know there are significant differences between what Eckhart is teaching (and Oprah is endorsing) and what the Bible teaches.
For a balanced article that compares the teachings of the Bible with A New Earth, click HERE.
7 Ways We Keep Church Hoppers From Staying
I think two of the most dangerous influences any church faces are: (1) Spiritual leaders who have lost their first love and (2) the onslaught of church hoppers. Having wavered before in my faith and flirted with losing my first love with God, I know firsthand how dangerous the first one can be. But that's something we spiritual leaders have control over. The second one...not so much.
I call church hoppers “connoisseurs of fine churches” because they’re continually on a quest to find the church that is spiritual enough for them, will endlessly engorge themselves on the “services” of the churches they attend, and always have a critical word to say afterwards whenever “church” doesn’t meet their standards.
Here are seven things we try to do to keep church hoppers from wearing out their welcome.
#1 Ask church hoppers to commit to tithing and serving in your 101-201-301 classes
That usually takes care of it right there. Because church hoppers are consumers by nature, anything that strikes them as sacrificial will surely turn them off. As a ministry friend of mine used to tell me, “At the first sign of trouble, raise the bar.”
#2 Tell your people to stop inviting their Christian friends to church
This past Sunday I may have been one of the few pastors out there that stood up and said, “Please DO NOT invite your Christians friends to our Easter services. We want other churches in the area to know we have their back. Also, we want to grow this church through conversion growth, not transfer growth. Let’s pack this place out with people who are keeping God up at night because they are living far from him.” I strategically do that 3-4 times a year.
#3 Preach short sermons
Howard Hendricks used to say, “Keep them longing, not loathing.” I buy into that philosophy. I try to speak anywhere between 21 and 26 minutes max. That drives church hoppers nuts because they want to “be fed.” I’m not interested in “feeding people” unless they are in the early stages of their spiritual journey. Church hoppers as well as Christians further along their spiritual journey need to be feeding themselves. Anything I provide on Sunday morning should be in addition to their own self-directed spiritual nourishment. One point, one scripture, 21-26 minutes, that’s enough.
#4 Don’t sing 9,345 worship songs
Church hoppers, 9 times out of 10, came from a church background where they were taught they needed 5-6 worship songs to really connect with God. That needs to be re-taught. Where did we get the idea that worship = singing anyway? That’s part of it, but only a small part of it. Every part of the service is worship. Every part of my life is worship. Limiting your worship songs except for occasions when you are led by God to expand the repertoire forces people to recognize this or leave.
#5 Keep your services short
We keep our services to 55 minutes, period. That’s it. That’s because we believe “church” is more than the official service that happens on a Sunday morning. It’s what happens before, during and afterwards. It’s what happens during the week when 2-3 gather. Experiencing a well-conceived 55 minute service to the church hopper is like spending your whole life overeating and then sitting down for a healthy, well-proportioned meal that someone else serves you. “Hey, I’m used to eating 16 pieces of fried chicken for dinner and 8 servings of bread! Why do I only get two? Waah.”
#6 Eliminate Christian “insider” language from the way you talk on the stage
The fact that I say “Leader” and “forgiver” from the stage drives church hoppers nuts. “You meant to say ‘Savior and Lord,' didn’t you?” At issue is an old mission’s word called “contextualization,” which basically means we need to speak in the language and culture of the hearer, not the speaker. The Greek word “kurios” doesn’t mean “Lord” in 21st century American idiom. Your old Bible translation from 50 years ago may read that way, but people aren’t talking that way today. Challenge your “insider” language and watch how church hoppers and their friends file right out of your services.
#7 Sing Non-Christian songs in your services on occasion
This past weekend we opened our service with Jet’s “Are you Gonna be My Girl?”
On Monday I promptly received an email about it…
This past weekend, I could not believe my ears. When worship opened up, I heard the opening chords for Jet’s- "Are you going to be my girl?" I was expecting the Apologetix parody version, “Are you gonna be Ike's girl?”
But in listening to the lyrics it sounded like they were covering the actual Jet Song – a song about figuring out how to get a one night stand, for a girl who came to some club or party with another guy.
I am hoping that I was mistaken and they were playing the Christian Parody version because I am having a real issue with wrapping my head around why it would be remotely ‘OK’ to play this content in a worship service.
There is a line between having a light fun service to reach the new/non-believer and cheapening the value and truth that the gospel can stand alone to reach out to someone. This may have crossed it.
Frustrated…
Name Withheld
Here was my response…
Frustrated,
I got your email and appreciate you taking the time to shoot me your thoughts.
I must say that while I appreciate your concern, this is certainly not the first nor will it be the last time we sing non-Christian music in our worship services.
We do this because we are trying to reach both non-Christians as well as Christians in the same service, and playing a non-Christian song up front in the service, we have learned, puts people far from God at ease.
Our philosophy has always been that Christians should be the ones that should be made the most uncomfortable in church, not the non-Christians. The way I put it is this -- we will always choose to offend the Christians before the non-Christians.
Seeing that you are frustrated, and given the fact that I talked with a bunch of people far from God on Sunday who loved the energy of the song and felt connected to the service because of it, it appears that we have achieved our goal.
My suggestion is this -- weigh carefully whether or not you want to be a part of a church that sings music like this, and plays difficult to watch video clips, and a host of other things to reach people far from God. If not, then now would be the time to look for another church before you put down roots too deep.
If on the other hand this is the kind of church you want to be a part of, I would welcome you to join in with everything you have and start reaching out to people far from God.
I hope this helps.
Thanks!
Brian
Church hoppers can be a lethal bunch, so don’t make them too cozy. However, and I’ll blog about this at another time – please remember that God can also be leading some of those people to your church too. But that’s a post for another day.
Are You Ready For Easter?
Thursday, March 20, 2008
I wanted to share some thoughts about how to prepare our hearts and minds for Easter. But I decided that the best thing I could do was provide a link to a video our Art’s Team edited and showed before our celebration of the Lord’s Supper two weeks ago.
Social Change Agents – Christianity’s Greatest Critics – Part 5
Monday, March 17, 2008
This will be the last post in my series, “Christianity’s Greatest Critics.”
I saved the most damning for last.
In a January 13th, 1997 Time Magazine interview, Bill Gates was asked about his religious beliefs and church participation. Gates responded, “Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on Sunday morning.”
While Gates has talked very little over the years about his belief in God and the afterlife, it’s widely held that he straddles the fence between being an agnostic and an atheist.
The common perception held among the Christian community is that not only are atheists and agnostics intellectually wrong about God, they live morally inferior lives. “If we can’t convince people not to swing over to the “No God” side based on intellectual argument, at least we can show how atheists like Gates are self-centered moral jerks,” we tell ourselves.
Strangely, in 2000, Gates and his wife Melinda founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Just look at their morally corrupt mission statement:
"Bill and Melinda Gates believe every life has equal value. In 2000, they created the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help reduce inequities in the United States and around the world. There are two simple values that lie at the core of the foundation’s work: 1. All lives—no matter where they are being lived—have equal value. 2. To whom much is given, much is expected."
Crap, that wasn’t what we expected out of an agnostic.
Here’s another thing we didn’t expect: on June 26, 2006, Gate’s friend Warren Buffett, another agnostic, announced a pledge to donate 10 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock (BRK-B) worth approximately $31 billion at the time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
No money was pledged to religious foundations. Not a penny.
Why?
Because Buffet and just about everyone else on the planet believes churches are irrelevant, and in most cases they’re dead on accurate.
Jesus has called his followers to pick up their crosses and follow him – changing people’s live both now and for eternity.
Christians have nailed the changing lives for eternity part.
It’s just that most of us have been ignoring the now part.
And Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet, and our schools, and neighbors, and communities, and just about everyone else on the planet have passed us right by.
Social change agents have leveled what I consider the most damning critique of all, without ever opening their mouths. They have rendered Christianity useless in the minds of religious outsiders because they are doing what the church should be doing.
While everybody else is out in their communities changing the world, we just contentedly sit back and “have church services” to get people to heaven. And so the world has ceased to expect anything out of the church, which is worse than any situation the most vocal critics of Christianity could have created.
In October 2006 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Muhammad Yunus, founder of the world renowned Grameen Bank. Yunus’ bank provides low interest loans to the poorest of the poor in an effort to help them start their own businesses and break the cycle of poverty.
Yunus is a Muslim.
Here’s what I’m wondering: why didn’t a Christian come up with this idea?
Read other posts in this series:
Christianity’s Greatest Critics – Part 1
South Park – Part 2
Stand-Up Comedians – Part 3
Late Night Talk Show Hosts – Part 4
Social Change Agents – Part 5
