Monday, May 12, 2008
In September of 2005 Panic in the Disco released a song called “I write sins not tragedies.” Here are the first few lines…
I Write Sins Not Tragedies
Oh, well imagine; as I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor,
and I can't help but to hear, no I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words.
"What a beautiful wedding!, What a beautiful wedding!" says a bridesmaid to a waiter.
"Oh yes, but what a shame, what a shame, the poor groom's bride is a whore."
Well, I'd chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the god damn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality.
I'd chime in "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the god damn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of.....
Honestly, the song’s kind of weird and there’s nothing inherently captivating about Panic in the Disco themselves. But what strikes me when I hear the song on the radio (versus when I hear it on my iPod) is the way it was edited for playtime over the airwaves.
If you read the lyrics you probably noticed that I Write Sins Not Tragedies contains a mildly offensive phrase by today's standards -- “God damn.” Evidently in 2005 the FCC wouldn’t allow a phrase like that to be aired, so the song’s producers were faced with a choice – which word would they edit?
The logical choice would have been to bleep the “damn” part of the phrase, but as anyone who has ever heard the song on the radio can attest, that’s not what they did.
They bleeped out “God.”
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the BLEEP damn door?!" the song goes.
Every time I’m driving down the road and I hear the song I’m struck by the fact that we live in a culture that finds the word “God” more offensive word than the word “Damn.”
Why?
Spirituality is popular.
Finding meaning and higher consciousness is all the rage.
So why would the concept of God be a socially unfit topic of public discourse?
Here’s my take:
There are two basic rules upon which modern-day culture operates:
Rule #1: Everyone’s ideas, beliefs and lifestyles must be embraced, celebrated, and tolerated.
Rule #2: The only ideas, beliefs and lifestyles to be excluded from public discourse are those that keep us from obeying rule #1.
In America, when people say the word “God” 99.9% of the time it’s shorthand for Jesus.
Not coincidentally Jesus doesn’t give a rip about following Rule #1. Not in the least.
So Rule #2 comes into play.
Don’t Censor Me _ _ _ Dammit
Shuffling God In My iPod
Monday, May 12, 2008
One of my favorite things to do when I’m relaxing is hit the “shuffle songs” feature on my iPod. The “shuffle songs” feature randomly plays songs from any artist, genre, and album that you’ve downloaded.
Since I’ve collected a sizeable number of songs over the years, almost 95% from non-Christian artists, two things inevitably happen when I do this:
1. “Shuffle songs” brings up some great songs I’ve simply ignored. Every album buries the “least marketable” tracks on the 9-10-11-and-12 line-up on the play list. But, as any artist will tell you, sometimes the most profound works of art were never created to have mass-market appeal. In fact, I’ve come to believe that the least marketable works always convey the real texture of an artist’s soul.
2. These songs always trigger challenging thoughts about God. Since the “buried” tracks are usually the ones surfaced by “shuffle songs,” I often find myself being drawn into the complex inner battles the artist was waging at a particular stage in his or her life. More times than not the enemy tends to look and sound like Jesus.
This week I’m going to ramble a bit about the ways some non-Christian songs have shuffled around thoughts in my head about Jesus and Christianity.
I’m not quite sure where this will head. But I guess that’s what I like best about shuffling songs on my iPod.
Are Homosexuals Born That Way? - Questions About Homosexuality (Part 5)
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?
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?
Building Casas Por Christo
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
In a little over a week 30 people from CCV will head down to Juarez Mexico to build two homes for families in need.
Maria Albarado is a single mom with a 14 year old son named Jonathan. Together they live in a wooden shack in the slums of Juarez. She’s 39 years old and makes $70 a week.
Javier and Maria Velazquez and their three children -- Consuelo (20), Areli (10), and Itzel (5) -- live in a thrown together shanty no larger than the shed in the backyard of many Americans. He makes $75 a week for a family of five!
CCV’ers…because of your hard work, prayers and generosity Jesus is about to change their world.
Love God. Love each other. Love our world. That's what it's all about!
Man do I love the people of this church!
F.Y.I. -- Here’s a video of the trip we took last time. Expect another one in a few weeks.
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?
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.
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.
Sushi and Full-Frontal Nudity
Monday, April 21, 2008
Here are some things happening in my world…
Two New Books To Read
I’m excited about two new books I picked up to read this week:
100 Ways to Improve Your Writing
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Time Off Last Week
Last week I took two vacation days to shovel 2.5 tons of rock around my yard (the previous owners used rock instead of mulch…go figure). It was great just working in the yard and clearing my head. The weather was stunning -- 70 degrees and sunny every day. My back still hurts though!
Art’s Pastor Search
We’re narrowing our search for our worship pastor and really excited about the possibilities. We should have someone hired by June 1.
Youth Pastor Search
We’re accepting applications for our Student Ministry Pastor position. If you are interested send your resume to Kevin Stone at Kevin@moviechurch.com. Our goal is to have someone here by mid July.
Sushi and Full-Frontal Nudity
On Saturday Lisa and I went on a date to the Tokyo Japanese Restaurant in Skippack and ate sushi. Skippack is just gorgeous this time of year. Because dinner went so long we didn’t make it in time to see Expelled. Rushed and not sure what to see, we followed the crowd into Forgetting Sarah Marshall (knowing absolutely nothing about the movie). Dumb idea.
Within 2 minutes we were staring at a guy’s penis. A few minutes after that we in line to get a refund for our tickets.
Listen, I’ve been to a few rated R movies and have NEVER seen anything like that. What the heck is going on? I’m with Jud Wilhite at Central Christian in Las Vegas. There is no “culture war” going on any longer. There may have been a war at one time, but we lost.
Do you hear that? The culture war is over. We lost.
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:
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
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.
We're Number, Um, 66!
Friday, April 04, 2008
Well, my Ohio State Buckeyes, not considered one of the top 65 basketball teams in the country and thereby excluded by the NCAA March Madness tournament, went on to win the NIT last night - Ohio State 92, Massachusetts 85.
The victory was bittersweet. Winning the NIT is like a boys team going on to win an all girls tournament. Hooray! We're Number 66!
The only consolation is that we didn't get beat by Florida.
Pop Goes The Church!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
My youngest daughter came home from school a few minutes ago and found a UPS package on our doorstep.
It was my copy of Tim Steven's Pop Goes The Church.
I’ve been looking forward to this book. I read about 2-3 books a week, and have hit a real dry spell lately.
I can’t wait to jump in.
Thanks for serving the church through this book Tim.
Obama’s Former Pastor Should Graciously Repent
Monday, March 31, 2008
James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
Years ago when I first read that verse I thought it meant that those who teach in the church will be judged more strictly by God on judgment day. I wonder if that’s all James was implying.
Maybe James also meant that the words of teachers in the church would be examined more closely by people with skin on 'em too – which, in our day means the media, community leaders, politicians, pundits, and even fellow believers. That’s certainly been the case with the inflammatory words of Barack Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Lately clips of Wright’s sermons have been racing all over the internet and the 24 hour news channels, so there’s no need to re-type those statements here. We’ve all heard them.
While I’ve been hesitant to say anything about this issue, Wright is a fellow pastor, and since part of the reason I write this blog is to encourage and prod fellow pastors, I feel compelled to say just two things.
First, while slow to do so, Obama has come out and publicly denounced these statements by his former pastor.
“All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country." (Associated Press, 28 March 2008.)
Those looking for ammo to keep this attack going against Barack on this issue need to simply let it die. It’s ridiculous to think that everyone at the church I serve is 100% in line with every single statement I make every single Sunday morning.
Second, as a pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright should come out and graciously repent.
Not because it will help Barack’s campaign.
Not because people disagree with him.
And not because it will help bolster his reputation.
But because he’s a disciple of Jesus.
My guess is if James were still around, he’d probably say the same thing.
Things Too Good Not To Share
Friday, March 21, 2008
Moonsand
I’m in trouble. My youngest, somehow, someway, got sucked into some commercial on the Disney Channel and now all she can talk about is “Moonsand.” Have you seen the stuff? First it was Care Bears, then Littlest Pets, now it’s “Moonsand.”
It’s sand. With coloring. For $10 to 20! Talk about marketing genius! Getting a job to market sand would have to be, like, the crappiest job ever. But some 24 year old kid somewhere came up with the idea to color it, re-name it, and then package it at a 95% mark-up. Now they can’t keep the stuff on the shelves.
Now that’s creativity -- taking an old story and making it new! I want to hire that kid for my staff. Speaking of staff hires…
Staff Searching Etiquette
We’re searching for a worship pastor and I was just reminded again this week of our commitment to NEVER talk to someone until after they've been given permission to talk to us by their Senior Pastor or Executive Pastor first. The ways of the kingdom world are not the ways of the corporate world. Spiritual leaders never "steal" people. Plus, I firmly believe that if God is calling someone to our faith community, then the community that person is with will sense that calling too.
Gorilla off to a great start!
I just got done talking with a pastor who wanted 45 copies of Getting Rid of the Gorilla fast. If you want to order 20 or more copies I can get you a 20% discount plus shipping! Just drop me a line at brian@moviechurch.com and we’ll get them right out to you.
Some great blogs I stumbled upon…
Phil Vischer, the Veggie Tales creator, has started blogging
Church Relevance keeps cranking out innovative church concepts
Bradley Wright at Yale keeps challenging me
Blast from the past
I love catching up with old friends! My old Preaching Professor from Kentucky Christian University, Louie Webber, dropped by my blog yesterday. It was great hearing from him. You can check out his blog at: www.louieweber.com. He's one of the reasons I became a Senior Pastor!
Here’s the comment I left on his blog…
Dude,
Talk about a blast from the past.
You know, when people ask me how I got into ministry, I often share how in my first preaching class at KCU I had this prof named Louie Webber and after my first sermon (which royally stunk) he said, “Brian, if I were God, I would call you to a lifetime of pulpit ministry.” And that was it.
I lost track of you man. You were so dynamic I thought either you’d keep doing what you’re doing and have incredible kingdom impact. Either that or you’d leave the faith and move to Montana and start a new religion with 16,000 followers and I’d be watching The Nightly News with Brian Williams one night and there you’d be, holed up in a cabin with 1,500 federal troops surrounding you and suddenly you’d come out guns ablazing like Young Guns or something.
Glad you chose the Jesus route, tats and beard not withstanding. Looking forward to catching up.
Brian
Have a Powerful Easter
I’m praying that you have a great Easter. As my friend Dick Alexander always says, “Give ‘em heaven!”
Brian
