Beware of Deception

Full Circle

2009-07-26T08:54:00.003-04:00

I was raised in denomination churches. I was baptized as a baby in the Methodist church, and attended there as a child. I was also brought to a Catholic church as a child because my mother was Catholic. After my parents divorced, I had a chance to convert Catholicism. But for some reason, I did not want to. Going through my youthful rebellious stage, and living in an apartment on my own, I attended my local Methodist church, but didn't feel right because I didn't feel good enough. Years passed and I became involved with an abusive man. We were living together and I got pregnant with his child. This man, ironically was a Christian. His stepfather had a preaching degree. Even while living in sin he encouraged me to seek the Lord. As things got worse, I felt stuck in this relationship and cried out to the Lord to get me out of this situation. After going to a battered women's shelter, and not being able to find affordable housing here in NY, I was led to Kokomo, IN where I had a friend who was not a Christian. But there were a lot of Christians there and God put people in my life to help me reconcile to him. It was amazing how he worked in my life. I was in a Bible teaching spirit filled Charismatic church. We had altar calls and when the preachers prayed for me, they'd lay hands on me and I'd be slain in the spirit, and it felt so good. I always knew I needed repentance of my sins. The night I got baptized as an adult was amazing. It was not planned and I had no towel with me, but I was not cold or feel wet. I truly felt reconciled to God.
Fast forward years later. I moved back to NY and married my now husband who was attending an Episcopal church. The preacher's sermons made no sense to me and they sounded philosophical rather than from the word of God. I sensed no spirit there. So we searched and searched for many years for a church and 5 years later we found a nice church that seem to combine the less Charismatic church but the word was preached. We loved the people. After awhile I got tired of the "lack of spirit" in that church, missing the charismatic church. But I later found out that that's not what worship is about. It's not about our feeling good in church. Worship is our time of communication with God. Giving him our love and praising him no matter how we feel. God is good and is worthy of our praise at all times, in good times and bad. It's vital that we hear his word and that Christ was crucified for our sins. Yes, we may come away feeling good, but I have discovered in my search and scriptures that it's not about me, it's about him. He wants me to know him and he reveals himself through scriptures. So I've come full circle. I've read through the Bible one time and been trying to reread it. I am back in a liturgical service in a denomination that comes closest to the Biblical church. I didn't want to go back to the Episcopal church which ordains homosexual and women clergy. The priest at the church where my husband and I were married has left and was replaced by a gay priest. I didn't want to join an Evangelical Lutheran church, where they sit on the fence on the homosexual clergy and women priests. I want to be in a church where Christ and him crucified is preached. A church that teaches that we need to repent of our sins daily. We are all sinners and I think the problem with many charismatic churches is that they tend to be seeker sensitive. They try to draw people in and do not tell people "what to do next after they've asked Jesus into their heart." I have come to strongly disagree with this. There are too many false converts in the church today. So we are now in a Lutheran church of the Missouri Synod. Transitioning churches hasn't been easy. Our new church is a bit further from the church we attended and we haven't been able to get there every Sunday. As I type, we are on our way there now. Please keep us in prayer that we be able to grow closer to Jesus as a family. I do believe that by my parents bringing me to a denomination church as a child, the seed was planted. What I do with my life after church is MY responsibility. If I sin, I must call on Christ for forgiveness of sins and ask for help for repentance from that sin. I am eternally grateful to my parents for bringing me to church as a child. I do believe that God seeks us to come to him and to know him and invites us to a relationship through his son Jesus Christ. I pray that all I know will do the same. Blessings!

Boldness for the Gospel

2009-05-11T16:51:00.003-04:00

One thing that has been on my mind is boldness. I was thinking of how wonderful it is that some will boldly preach the Gospel in addition to the Law. Then there are others who are confronted 3 times on national television and cannot say a word.

Great video

2009-04-10T17:41:00.001-04:00

WOW part 2

2009-04-07T21:34:00.002-04:00

See part 1...never made a statement, huh MR. Rick Warren?

WOW part 1

2009-04-07T21:32:00.001-04:00

A New 95 Theses

2009-03-26T19:11:00.002-04:00

A New 95 Theses

Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, the public bulletin board of his day. In like manner, we, Athanasius and Chrysostom, post these 95 theses on the door of the internet. Like the original theses, these are debatable, for we believe that it is through vigorous debate that the spirits are tested and truth is revealed.

In publishing these theses, we do not intend to foment division, but to expose those who are creating division within the body of Christ. We are not addressing any particular church body or person, but invite all who love the Gospel of Jesus Christ to engage in this debate. We do so in the spirit of the great Reformer, Martin Luther, as we implore the mercies of God upon His Church, for the sake of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church and Bishop of our souls.

1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” He willed that the whole life of believers should be one of repentance.

2. To “repent” means to be contrite for one’s sins and to trust Jesus Christ and solely in His completed work for one’s forgiveness, life, and salvation.

3. Those who describe the Christian life as purpose-driven deny true repentance, confuse the Law and the Gospel, and obscure the merits of Christ.

4. Impious and wicked are the methods of those who substitute self-help and pop-psychology for the Gospel in the name of relevance.

5. This impious disregard for the Gospel wickedly transforms sacred Scripture into a guidebook for living, a pharisaic sourcebook of principles, and sows tares among the wheat.

6. Relevance, self-help and pop-psychology have no power to work true contrition over sins and faith in Jesus Christ.

7. Like clouds without rain, purpose-driven preachers withhold the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins won by Christ on the cross and enslave men’s consciences to the law which they cleverly disguise as so-called 'Biblical Principles'.

8. By teaching tips for attaining perfect health, debt-free wealth, and better sex in marriage, the purveyors of relevance undermine true fear, love and trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

9. They are enemies of Christ, who distort the Word of God by tearing verses from their original context in order to use them as proof texts for their self-help, pop-psychology agendas.

10. Injury is done the Word of God when it is used as a source book for practical, relevant “life applications.”

11. In the name of relevance, our Lord Jesus Christ is reduced to a life-coach whose “gospel” assists and motivates people to achieve the objectives of their self-centered delusions of grandeur.

12. Apart from the Holy Spirit, the seeker cannot understand the things of God for these are “spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14).

13. The natural man does not naturally seek the Gospel. “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me” (Is. 65:1)

14. The true Seeker of men’s souls is our Lord Jesus Christ who came to seek and to save the lost by His death on the cross (Luke 19:10).

15. The truly “seeker-sensitive” church proclaims God’s wrath against our sin and His mercy for Jesus’ sake.

16. The preaching of Christ crucified is a stumbling block to purpose-driven pragmatists and foolishness to church growth consultants.

17. The true gold of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

18. But this treasure is a stench in the nostrils of fallen and sinful men because it exposes man’s complete lack of ability to save himself by his own religious efforts.

19. On the other hand, the fool’s gold of self-help is preferred by sinful men, for it creates the illusion of moral progress and a life that is pleasing to God apart from repentance.

20. The gold of the Gospel is the net by which Christ would make us fishers of men.

21. The fool’s gold of self-help is a snare by which purpose-driven purveyors of relevance attempt to capture the riches and approval of men.

22. The church is holy sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd.

23. How can sheep hear the voice of their Shepherd when false shepherds preach self-help and pop-psychology?

24. Purveyors of purpose-driven relevance are not shepherds of men’s souls but wolves in sheep’s clothing.

25. Purveyors of relevance claim that self-help, life-applications and biblical principles are the means to reach the unchurched because they meet people’s felt needs.

26. Yet a person’s greatest need is one he does not by nature feel, namely the need for the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ.

27. The true means by which fallen sinners are reached is the preaching of Christ and His sacraments. (Romans 10:17)

28. The true need that mankind is seeking but does not know is justification by grace through faith for Christ’s sake.

29. Since justification is through faith and not through works, natural man neither seeks it nor desires it.

30. Therefore, the teaching of justification by grace through faith is neither seeker-sensitive nor relevant to a world that naturally seeks self-justification.

31. To be in the church is to be union with Christ through faith.

32. Regardless of the number of people in attendance, the church does not grow unless men are granted repentance and faith by God through the action of His Word.

33. Scripture clearly teaches that the means by which God grants faith are the the hearing of the Word of Christ (the Gospel) and the water of Holy Baptism.

34.Therefore, even if a congregation, through their own marketing methods and business prowess were able to draw 100,000 people every Sunday, if the Gospel is not heard and the sacraments are not administered according to the Gospel there is no church and the true Church of Jesus Christ has not grown by a single soul.

35. If numerical growth is a measure of God’s approval, then we must conclude that God approves of Islam and the Mormons.

36. If financial success is a measure of God’s approval, then we must conclude that God approves of pornography and gambling.

37. Cancer and crabgrass both grow rapidly, as does the church that obscures the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

38. The purveying of purpose-driven relevance is the theology of glory; the preaching of Christ crucified for sinners is the theology of the cross.

39. The theologian of glory says that the kingdom of God is visible now in buildings, people, and dollars; the theologian of the cross says that the kingdom of God is an article of faith.

40. The theologian of glory asks “How much?” and “How many?”; the theologian of the cross preaches Christ regardless of how much or how many.

41. The theologian of glory prepares people to receive health, wealth, and happiness; the theologian of the cross prepares people to suffer and die in faith.

42. The theologian of glory preaches that God wants to grant you favors; the theologian of the cross preaches the favor of God for the sake of Christ crucified.

43. The theologian of glory proclaims 40 days of purpose; the theologian of the cross preaches daily dying and rising in Jesus.

44. God established the Church to be a “mouth house” of forgiveness not a madhouse of activity.

45. Christ wills that His voice be heard in His Church and not the voice of man when He says, “He who hears you, hears me.” (Luke 10:16)

46. Purveyors of purpose-driven relevance obscure the voice of Christ and so draw the sheep away from the Good Shepherd.

47. Christ saves from sin and death not through the motivation of the sinner to do good, but through baptismal death and resurrection.

48. The mission of the church is not to transform the world but to disciple the nations by baptizing and teaching (Matt 28:19-20).

49. Anyone who preaches a vision and demands allegiance to it sets up a new papacy among the churches.

50. A synod or church body is a human institution that exists by the will and consent of its member congregations and pastors.

51. A synod or church body is not merely an affiliation of churches that agree on a common purpose.

52. A synod or church body is not the Church, properly speaking, but a fellowship of churches sharing a common confession of faith and practice.

53. Synods are not of the church’s essence (esse) but for her well being (bene esse).

54. Synodical leaders are not lords over the churches, but servants of the churches and stewards of their common possessions.

55. Synodical leaders are not called to promulgate visions but to execute the collective will of the synod’s churches.

56. The old papacy arrogated the Church’s treasury of merits; the new papacy arrogates the Church’s treasury.

57. The old papacy said, “As the coin in the coffer clings, so the soul from purgatory springs.”

58. The new papacy says, “As the coin in the church coffer clings, so another program out of debt springs.”

59. The old papacy counted plenary indulgences; the new papacy counts money and people.

60. The old papacy suppressed the Gospel through canon law; the new papacy suppresses the Gospel through constitutions and by-laws.

61. The old papacy was a friend of Caesar; the new papacy is a friend of Mammon.

62. The old papacy bound a man’s conscience for the sake his wallet; the new papacy binds a man’s wallet for the sake of his conscience.

63. The old papacy promulgated infallible dogma; the new papacy promulgates undebatable visions.

64. The old papacy claims to sit on the seat of Peter; the new papacy claims to sit on the mandate of the majority.

65. The old papacy reserved the right to judge doctrine and practice; the new papacy judges doctrine and practice by commissions and committees.

66. The old papacy issued “bulls;” the new papacy issues task force reports.

67. The old papacy had a college of cardinals; the new papacy has high-priced consultants.

68. Just as popes and councils have erred in the past, so synodical leaders and synodical conventions err in the present.

69. A synod that is concerned for the true unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace does not excuse unionism and syncretism.

70. Unity in doctrine and practice means discernible interchangeability in teaching, preaching, and practice.

71. Unity in doctrine and practice does not consist in signing confessional statements, but in word and deed.

72. Worship is doctrine put into practice.

73. As one worships, so one believes.

74. As one believes, so one worships.

75. Christian worship consists in God’s service to us through His giving and our receiving in faith the gifts of Christ’s Word, Body, and Blood, and our service to God by our prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

76. Worship that is focused principles for Christian living obscures the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His gifts and is detrimental to faith and salvation.

77. While Christian liberty allows that worship forms need not be altogether the same in every time and place, unity in faith and practice requires that worship forms must not be altogether different in every time and place.

78. Worship forms serve as identifying banners in the confessional field of battle.

79. Peculiar and novel worship forms obscure the unity of the churches and extol the creativity of the worship leaders.

80. In matters neither commanded nor forbidden in the Word of God (adiaphora), the churches of God are free to change ceremonies according to circumstances, as may be most beneficial and edifying to the churches of God. (Epitome, Art X.4)

81. Such changes must avoid all frivolity and offenses, particularly with regard to those who are weak in faith (Epitome, Art X.5).

82. Where the Gospel is at stake, concessions in ceremony must not be made so as to suggest unity with those who deny the Gospel (Epitome, Art X.6)

83. Therefore, it is contrary to the doctrine of adiaphora to hide the substance of Lutheran doctrine behind a non-Lutheran style of worship.

84. To create and sustain saving faith, God established the office of the holy ministry in the church to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments according to our Lord’s institution.

85. No one may publicly preach, teach, or administer the sacraments in the churches without his being called and ordained.

86. Those who introduce novelties into the church are the true agents of division.

87. The ordination of women is a novelty that has caused great division in the church.

88. The introduction of worship forms not held in common by the churches is a cause of division and a stumbling block.

89. The church belongs to no man but to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, and Lord of the church.

90. Woe to the false prophets who cry, “Unity, unity” when there is no unity.

91. Again, woe to those who say, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.

92. Again, woe to those who say, “Gospel, gospel,” when there is no Gospel.

93. Blessed are those who say, “Cross, cross,” when there is no cross.

94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through all suffering, death, and hell;

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many trials and tribulations, rather than through the assurance of outward peace, unity, and happiness.

Excellent Video

2009-03-25T18:36:00.000-04:00

Obama Youth Brigade: Church Attendance Forbidden

2009-03-24T20:15:00.001-04:00

Obama Youth Brigade: Church Attendance Forbidden

Posted using ShareThis

2009-03-08T17:36:00.000-04:00

2009-03-08T17:33:00.000-04:00

Rejection

2009-02-19T21:53:00.003-05:00

So the other day after I posted about our experience at the museum and my little crying bout, I realized I forgot to post what was going through me as the tears rolled down. I've been on such auto pilot lately.

I was just grieved. Grieved that so many have turned a blind eye to Jesus Christ. Even from a historical point of view, reading about so many pagan cultures out there, it broke my heart.

2 Timothy 4:3-4: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Apostasy. It's happening. Putting on the rose colored glasses isn't going to make it any better. All I can do is to beg of you to please read your Bible, the sword. Pray for wisdom and knowledge before you read your Bible.

Creation

2009-02-18T09:43:00.004-05:00

We went to NYC to the Museum of Natural History. We were there a little while and came upon the Display of Human Origins. In the first display we could see was...you guessed it, a monkey. My husband had to rush me out of there because I started yelling and started making a scene. Oh how that hurt. God has shown me so much in reading online blogs about apostasy and prior to that, I really had no clue how much evolution is accepted and taught. We later went upstairs to the floor that has the dinosaurs. We looked at a display saying how Stingrays(which I love)evolved from Sharks. Hogwash. Same family, yes, but evolution is a satanic word and I won't accept that theory. God created stingrays just like he created you and me. Read Genesis. Words from it pop out at me from it quite often.
So yesterday, I was on my way to an appointment, and turned on a song by Jeremy Camp called Wonderful Maker. I started bawling. Now on monthly occasions I could cry very easily. I don't cry much, but if something goes wrong then or if I am confronted with something then,you know it's that time. So other than nearing to that time, I just wondered what was wrong with me. I guess I just needed to let it all out.

off topic

2009-02-01T00:18:00.002-05:00

I'm going off topic because I'm thoroughly confused. I feel like screaming HELPPPPP

Not going to get too personal here, but do you ever feel like throwing in the towel? Ok that's rhetorical. I yelled out earlier that I just wanted to lay under my blanket and die. That's not like me. I'm weaning from a medication...well no I'm weaning off two, thanks to changes in our health insurance, and it's been making me feel sick and crabby. I've been trudging along with 3.25 miles done on the treadmill and 10 minutes cooking in the tube(turbo tanning for my light therapy), It's working too well now though because I cannot sleep. Without the light therapy, I would just sleep all of the time.

So the last few months have been a roller coaster. Sometimes I find myself wanting to revert back to old ways. Like when I was a lot younger. I can't go back there though because I'm different..newly created in Jesus. A few minutes ago I listened to a song I used to dance to at the club. I laughed but I was not sure whether to keep on laughing or start crying. It was a song about cocaine. I never got into that stuff because I knew I could easily get addicted. To me the song was a funny song and I liked to listen to it because it made me flirt with someone I liked(mouthing flirtatious song lyrics at him while looking at him). Then I played the Electric Slide because I recently watched 13 going on 30. My son asked me if I ever did the Thriller Michael Jackson dance like they did in the movie, since I'm in my
30's. I told him no but when we danced at the club, my friends and I did the Electric Slide and it reminded me of the moves. We were in unison just like the dancers in the movie. My best memories of those nights at the club was that dance. I didn't drink at the club, nor really like to pick men up, I just liked to dance. My friend's mother kept tabs on us so we stayed out of trouble. No I can't go back there. I shouldn't want to. I wasn't walking with Jesus back then. I'm just upset over something going on spiritually and I'm vulnerable to spiritual attack. I try not to look back unless it involves a stepping stone with Jesus. I have to remind myself....remember Lot's wife. I also have to remind myself that I am not 18 anymore.

Look at this....

2009-01-04T19:43:00.000-05:00

Rick Warren's PEACE Plan and his Free Enterprise Gospel

2008-10-01T15:30:00.000-04:00

Avoid This

2008-09-23T08:26:00.000-04:00

Larry DeBruyn on Crosstalk:Church on the Rise;Why I Am Not a Purpose Driven Pastor

2008-09-19T13:52:00.001-04:00

Confidentiality Violation???

2008-09-15T10:48:00.001-04:00

Palin calls Warren

What happened to confidentiality????

revival

2008-09-14T06:48:00.001-04:00

John Piper

2008-09-13T05:55:00.001-04:00

This is good! A message we need to hear.

Truth is necessary

2008-09-12T12:28:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we went to NYC for the 7th anniversary of 9/11. I don't want to politcize my blog, but I will say that I am a 9/11 truther. I believe the government had some sort of involvement with 9/11. How, I do not exactly know, but the evidence is overwhelming. Don't take my word for it, research it yourself. Loose Change. Anyway, God shows me through my work how truth is so hard for many people to take. I observed three middle fingers and some choice words while marching through the streets of NYC. I honestly expected it to be much worse. I've heard that truthers have been spit at!

To me, the Bible is truth. But many do not want to hear it, or know it. I've been told it's my "opinion." When I speak from the Bible, I am accused of bashing the person I'm speaking to. I told them I am not bashing them. I am not telling them they are stupid or dumb. I am telling them that apart from Jesus, there is not salvation. See the difference?

We must continue to speak truth. Even when it hurts. Because if we REALLY love someone, we will tell them the truth. It's difficult, especially in today's world. We tend to be sensitive and don't want hurt people's feelings. But God's word cannot be compromised. I pray that we can all be bold and speak truth when necessary.

Bob DeWaay: Pastoral Malpractice and the Visible Church

2008-09-08T08:31:00.000-04:00

Posted: 09/03/2008

Pastoral Malpractice and the Visible Church

By Bob DeWaay

Suppose you were to contract a potentially serious medical condition and went to see a doctor. Upon asking him details about the diagnosis and medical consequences you found out that he does not take medical literature literally. In addition, he has not kept up on the latest medical research and has been out of medical school for several decades. He prefers to make his patients happy and comfortable rather than to force them to confront the truth about their health condition. Would you see such a doctor? Neither would I. Such a doctor eventually could be found guilty of malpractice.

But consider this: The doctor who treats a body is dealing with something that is merely temporal. In a lesser-to-greater argument Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). If, as the Scriptures assure us, our souls are more important than our bodies, why do people look to premier doctors to diagnose and treat their physical conditions but select a pastor who sidesteps truth when it comes to their eternal souls? That makes no sense. Apparently many do not truly believe that the condition of their souls is that important.

I thought about this after a recent trip to California, when I was able to speak to a member of Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. The man was very angry with me for having written a book critical of Warren, and he explained that I had sinned by writing such a book. Rebutting his premise in an attempt to reason with him, I took him to the chapter in my book where I dealt with the mistreatment of Scripture. I pointed to the quote of Genesis 6:8 and asked if, as Warren states, he really believed that the passage was about how we can make God smile like Noah supposedly did.[i] In the book I claim that Genesis 6:8 states that Noah received grace from God, not that Noah gave God something. The man’s response? “Rick Warren is not always careful about how he uses the Scripture.” I failed to convince the man of my position but raised an important issue: how can some Christians think that what the Bible actually says is of such little importance that a pastor who misuses it is deemed to be doing what God wants, while another pastor who corrects the misuse is sinning? Clearly something is amiss.

I have assumed in Warren’s case that he indeed has the tools to perform sound exegesis. Some of the other leaders of large congregations—Bill Hybels, Robert Schuller, or Joel Osteen—likely are capable of doing sound Biblical exegesis and correctly applying the Bible to the lives of those who attend their churches. But sadly they often do not use sound exegesis—or even use the Bible as the main source of their messages. Never before in our history have we possessed better “diagnostic tools” to help us study the Bible. For example, the Logos Bible Software makes it possible for any English-speaking person to dig deeply into the meaning of Biblical passages. Why aren’t more pastors using these “tools”?

We can easily lay the blame at the feet of the seeker movement, whose main premise is that Christianity must be presented in such a way that potential seekers will see it as beneficial in terms of meeting their felt needs. Many important passages of the Bible, interpreted correctly, are not useful to attract seekers. In The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren explains:

You cannot switch back and forth between targeting seekers and believers in the same services. For example, don’t follow up a series on “Managing Stress” with “Expository Gems from Leviticus” or follow a series on “What God Thinks About Sex” with “Unmasking the Beast in Revelation.” You’ll create schizophrenic members, and no one will know when it’s safe to bring unchurched friends.[ii]

But this creates a noteworthy temptation to downplay the importance of expounding Scripture accurately. Seekers (i.e., those who are lost) have no hunger for the “pure milk of the Word” because they are not “newborn babes” and cannot “grow in respect to salvation” because they are, in fact, lost (see 1Peter 2:2). This means that the seeker-sensitive pastor has to “file down” the rough edges of Scripture for these seekers in order to make it appear to teach human wisdom about how to make life better. Thus Noah “makes God smile” rather than finds the grace to escape the horrible sin in which his world was caught up (according to the seeker-sensitive telling of the story). We are living in days like those of Noah (Matthew 24:37, 38), meaning that people are facing certain and unexpected judgment. Only pastors who know and preach the Bible accurately have the means to warn them and help them find how to escape God’s wrath.

Pastor Warren may be correct that you cannot do both—expound important Biblical topics and appear attractive to seekers at the same time. But I disagree completely with the idea that we must appear attractive to lost sinners. We need to preach Christ to lost sinners so that they can know the terms of the gospel. That is the only valid “diagnosis” that will do them any good. In the book of Acts this was done up front, and not through a back door after presenting an alternative that would seem attractive to people in their lost state.

The Bible does not give pastors the liberty to handle the Bible in a sloppy manner. Consider this passage: “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine” (1Timothy 5:17 NKJV). We must grant that people have various levels of skill. But every teacher of the Bible must labor to understand the passage under consideration. No amount of skill will make up for a lack of motivation.

The issue of motivation to develop the skills and use the tools to perform Biblical exegesis also has reached seminaries. Because of a growing lethargy concerning Biblical interpretation and sound doctrine, many have turned to such sidetracks as “marriage and family therapy” or deceptive mysticism such as “spiritual formation.” Young people from around the country have written us stating that they want to go into the ministry but cannot find a school where they can gain a solid theological education without being subjected to postmodernism, mysticism, the therapeutic gospel, or church growth theory. If many churches are not looking for those who “labor in word and doctrine,” seminaries have little market to train people to do just that. So we find ourselves in the lamentable situation where young people who want to be godly pastors trained with the tools to accurately handle the Bible have difficulty finding a place to be educated, and those who actually do find such an education have difficulty finding churches that want them. As a result, our evangelical movement has grown accustomed to pastoral malpractice as though it were the norm. Many seminaries are producing professional “people handlers” rather than theologians, and many churches like it that way. This is analogous to the situation in Jeremiah’s day: “The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?” (Jeremiah 5:31)

The standards are strict and generally well observed for those who treat our bodies and cure our physical ailments. But the standards for those who care for our souls have fallen woefully short. That this is so illustrates what little concern the visible church of the 21st century has for eternity. The Bible says, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1). There will be malpractice lawsuits against pastors, just as there are against doctors. But pastoral malpractice will be dealt with in eternity, making it even more serious. In the meantime, pray that God will raise up pastors who will take seriously their sacred duty to interpret and apply the Bible accurately—and pray for churches that want such pastors to lead them.

Judging

2008-09-07T08:02:00.001-04:00

Ronnie McMullen: When is a Christian a Christian?

2008-09-05T07:49:00.002-04:00

When is a christian a christian?

I think the title says it all. So maybe I don't need to write anymore in this article. Well, I guess I'll finish my thought. My mind keeps pondering the thought, when is a Christian truly a Christian? I mean is Christian a name? Is it like a denomination? It seems like at this point, it's like having a wart on your backside. Oh I know that seems quite blunt and very ugly. But I believe that's what Christian looks like today. Ugly, and blunt. And when I say blunt, I myself am quite blunt. But what I'm referring to is a blunt . . .with no love. Sort of like the butt end of a rifle in your face.

More and more as I travel and I hear people call themselves Christians I am ashamed for them. They are sheep with no shepherd. They are people with no purpose. They are lost, they are ignorant, and unfortunately, they are now becoming dangerous. Let me explain "dangerous". Sometimes when one acquires too much information and yet does not understand the information they have acquired, they can run their mouth boasting about their knowledge, boasting about their understanding and boasting about their position. But truly the wise who understand the hidden truths know these imposters will fall by the wayside. A Christian shouldn't have to market himself. A Christian should stand out in the crowd. A Christian should carry a gentle and kind Spirit whom the world wants to cast out or who the world is magnetized to. When we carry a kind and gentle Spirit, this does not mean that we can be run over by anyone else, it just means we have the power to strike, but we choose not to. When we are wrong, we deserve in the natural to take vengeance. But the Lord says, "Vengeance is Mine". See, if we trust in the Lord, He avenges us. If we trust in the Lord, we understand true righteousness and know that He is the Judge over all judges. We know that He is the King over all kings. We know that He is the Lord over all lords. But as I continue my walk in the Lord I find more and more people are being provoked by the enemy to become like the enemy, yet wear the robe of a Christian. In other words, I think today there are more imposter Christians than at any other time in history. That seems to me as a definition for "dangerous times". I think today there are more imposter Pastors and leaders than at any other time. These are people dressed in robes of righteousness yet who carry a sickle to slay the neck of the innocent lamb. It reminds me of II Tim 3:5, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power therof."

Now, I want to finish that scripture. And the reason being, is that most religions pick what they want, and discard the rest. So let's finish II Tim 3:5: "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power therof: from such turn away." Let's even go a little deeper. What do you say? Verse 6: "For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with various lusts." Verse 7: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." And I think I want to sum this truth up with a verse that really tells the story. We'll start with II Tim 3:4: "Traitors, heady, high-minded or conceited, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." Now this might be blunt, but I hope it's blunt in a good way. You might say blunt. . . with love. The remnant at this point is being challenged. There is a full frontal attack on the remnant of God right this very minute. It is an attack for your to be provoked to look just like the rest of the world. You are being provoked to blend. You are being provoked to sit on the fence. You are being provoked to be scared of the word "extreme". You are being provoked to either shut your mouth or you are being provoked to lead a people that you were not called to lead. You are being provoked to give yourself a position that the Lord never, ever intended you to be in because you cannot handle the job. You are being provoked to be in meetings with other "so-called" spiritual people and being provoked to talk yourself up and talk others down. You are being provoked to look righteous and faithful when you have no clue of the true power of God. You are being provoked to be led away from humility, from love, from joy, from patience, from kindness, from. . . FORGIVENESS. You are being provoked to choose the side you never wanted to be on. I call unto the true righteous people of God to pray for the fallen ones. Not the fallen angels, but the people that are being provoked to act just as the fallen angels. Can you imagine for those that lust to lay and bed themselves with a human, female or male, that does not have pure bloodlines? Corrupted blood is the name of the game. You lay with a fallen entity and chain yourself to their judgment and their sentence.

We live life on this earth one time. There are no do - overs. The Lord Jesus will not sentence you to hell, and then decide you can put in a couple hours and you can get out now. The Pastors are not preaching about hell. The ones that do understand a little bit of hell, preach it with no love, mercy, grace, or humility. They center their control and their existence around the word hell. They are a bully and a wolf. I will die in the line of fire trying to love versus trying to kill. The Lord's power comes upon those who understand the mysteries and the depths of His existence. It is not words my friends, but action that the Lord looks for. I had someone attend a meeting of mine and rallied herself around to create her own bible study with all the people who were at my meeting. She never, ever spoke any of this to me. She used the meeting that God had brought together as a recruiting center for her ministry. I pray for this lady as joy was void of her body. I don't know why this happened but I had a great lesson to learn in trying to love more deeply. It's easy to love the ones that love you. But it is a challenge to love those that hurt you, that reject you, that bring you constant pain. When, I ask you is a Christian a Christian? Are we Christians on Sundays? Are we Christians on the Sabbath? Are we Christians on the night of Bible study? And one last question, what truly is a Christian? Because, in my opinion, the word "Christian" is just a word. It has no power. It has no meaning. For like all other things, it has succumbed to corruption. I no longer want to use the word Christian, but take a step forward to be bolder. I shall call myself a follower of Christ. And maybe in a few months, I might excel to calling myself a follower of Jesus Christ. And yes, I know His name is Yeshua. We have the Messianics to thank for that. But the Lord Jesus Christ is simple. He's not about perfect names, He's not about fancy titles, He's not about putting His name on a business card, He doesn't need TV cameras, radio programs, or coliseums to make His move. Oh, and by the way, don't think He's silent. For as the lion roars, the thunder shall pierce our hearts. If we can grow up enough and mature ourselves enough to become childlike again, we shall realize the Lord is Our Father. The Lord God has more names than Yeshua and Yaweh. So maybe even the Messianics can learn something too. I do not believe any one people has arrived at retaining all the knowledge of Christ Jesus. May we take time to reread this and throw away anger, or hurt, or any other thing that the enemy might want to attach to us so we don't heed. Maybe it's time to just sit in the quiet. The word Christian should be defined as, "runneth thy mouth". Or maybe another definition could be: "boasteth of pride". Or maybe I have it all wrong and the meaning is "I'm better than thy neighbor". No, I think the definition to a Christian should be love, joy, humility and the following of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

We have come so far away from the teachings of Our Precious Savior. We have received from the world its wisdom, its knowledge and its doubt. We are full of everything that we don't need. We must empty ourselves and receive from Our Father. We must trust in what we can't see and this nation should take a class once again on respect. As I sign off on this article I am saddened by what our nation has become. And I am saddened by what Christians have become. We're only a step away from the same spirit that guided the war of the Crusades. We will soon begin to slaughter one another in the name of Our God. The question is: Which God or god do you serve? May you pray and let this word sink to your soul. If you have considered repenting you are taking a step forward. If you choose to mock . . . well, the rest will be history.

In His Service

Ronnie McMullen

Bob DeWaay on Mike Corley show about PDL

2008-09-05T07:04:00.001-04:00

http://www.wqbc.net/mcpaudio/mcp20080902.mp3

Crosstalk:Paul Washer: Asking Jesus into Your Heart Unbiblical

2008-09-04T14:51:00.002-04:00

Justin Peters: A Call for Discernment Pt 4

2008-08-31T18:03:00.000-04:00

Justin Peters: A Call for Discernment Pt 3

2008-08-31T18:02:00.000-04:00

Justin Peters: A Call for Discernment Pt 2

2008-08-31T18:01:00.000-04:00

Justin Peters: A Call for Discernment Pt 1

2008-08-31T17:43:00.001-04:00

My nonsense

2008-08-31T15:59:00.004-04:00

The other night, I was giving my younger years thought. Since I am working with kids, I am constantly reminded of reasons I do it. As a teen, I was depressed and put the walkman on to lose myself in what I now know is Satanic music that encouraged suicide. Not many people knew this. I started dating someone when I was in my senior year, which was a better year for me, but I still hadn't lost that bad habit of listening to negative music. He was an older guy and much more experienced. He was my first boyfriend and an alcoholic. I was so gullible and so "in love." Well of course, he ended up hurting me. So what did I do? I would listen to bad music and lose myself in it. The other night, I thought of one of the songs. I believe the meaning of the song was prophetic for me. Because although I interpreted it one way(feeling sour and bitter and feeling like people do nothing but hurt each other)the song was actually about the New World Order. Wow. I was heavily involved in politics and studying up on that until recently. When I heard the song, I also used to dream of someone rescuing me and sweeping me into a life of security...not prosperity, but just wanting to be loved. There are lyrics that go, somewhere, someone somehow someday....So I wondered to myself, was it Jesus all along I desired? I think so. I had gone to church as a child, but hadn't been in awhile(maybe about 4 years) I think that there was a part of me that wanted to know that there was someone out there who cared, and that life wasn't about people hurting each other. About 6 years later was when I rediscovered Jesus after returning from feeding the swine. I got to know him in a way I never knew him before.

'nuff said

2008-08-31T15:51:00.000-04:00

Christless Christianity by Michael S Horton

2008-08-31T13:16:00.002-04:00

http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=printfriendly&var1=Print&var2=1

Christless Christianity:
Getting in Christ's Way

Michael S Horton

What would things look like if Satan actually took over a city? The first frames in our imaginative slide show probably depict mayhem on a massive scale: Widespread violence, deviant sexualities, pornography in every vending machine, churches closed down and worshipers dragged off to City Hall. Over a half-century ago, Donald Grey Barnhouse, pastor of Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church, gave his CBS radio audience a different picture of what it would look like if Satan took control of a town in America. He said that all of the bars and pool halls would be closed, pornography banished, pristine streets and sidewalks would be occupied by tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The kids would answer "Yes, sir," "No, ma'am," and the churches would be full on Sunday ... where Christ is not preached.

Not to be alarmist, but it looks a lot like Satan is in charge right now. The enemy has a subtle way of using even the proper scenery and props to obscure the main character. The church, mission, cultural transformation, even the Spirit can become the focus instead of the means for "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2). As provocative as Barnhouse's illustration remains, it is simply an elaboration of a point that is made throughout the story of redemption. The story behind all the headlines of the Bible is the war between the serpent and the offspring of the woman (Gen. 3:15), an enmity that God promised would culminate in the serpent's destruction and the lifting of the curse. This promise was a declaration of war on Satan and his kingdom, and the contest unfolded in the first religious war, between Cain and Abel (Gen. 4 with Matt. 23:35), in the battle between Pharaoh and Yahweh that led to the exodus and the temptation in the wilderness. Even in the land, the serpent seduces Israel to idolatry and intermarriage with unbelievers, even provoking massacres of the royal family. Yet God always preserved that "seed of the woman" who would crush the serpent's head (see 2 Kings 11, for example). The story leads all the way to Herod's slaughter of the firstborn children in fear of the Magi's announcement of the birth of the true King of Israel.

The Gospels unpack this story line and the epistles elaborate its significance. Everything is leading to Golgotha, and when the disciples-even Peter-try to distract Jesus away from that mission, they are being unwitting servants of Satan (Matt. 16:23). "The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers"-not simply so that they will defy Judeo-Christian values, but "to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor. 4:4-5).

Satan lost the war on Good Friday and Easter, but has shifted his strategy to a guerilla struggle to keep the world from hearing the gospel that dismantles his kingdom of darkness. Paul speaks of this cosmic battle in Ephesians 6, directing us to the external Word, the gospel, Christ and his righteousness, faith, and salvation as our only armor in the assaults of the enemy. In Revelation 12, the history of redemption is recapitulated in brief compass, with the dragon sweeping a third of the stars (angels) from heaven, laying in wait to devour the woman's child at birth, only to be defeated by the ascension of the promised offspring. Nevertheless, knowing his time is short, he pursues the child's brothers and sisters. Wherever Christ is truly proclaimed, Satan is most actively present. The wars between nations and enmity within families and neighborhoods is but the wake of the serpent's tail as he seeks to devour the church, employing the same tried and tested methods: not only martyrdom from without, but heresy and schism from within. In the rest of this article, I want to suggest a few of the ways we are routinely tempted toward what can only be called, tragically, "Christless Christianity."
Denial: The Sadducees

The modern spirit has been dedicated to shifting authority from the outside (the church or the Bible) to the inside (reason or experience). Kant said the one thing he could always trust was his moral intuition, which led to the irrefutable fact of "the starry heavens above and the moral law within." The Romantics said we should trust our inner experience. In fact, was it not the desire to usurp God's throne that motivated the rebellion of Lucifer as well as Adam and Eve?

Whenever we determine what really matters by looking within ourselves, we always come up with law. Some would object, "Not law, but love." However, in the Bible, the Law simply nails down what it means to love God and our neighbor. Long before Jesus summed up the Law in this way (Matt. 22:39), it was delivered by the hand of Moses (Lev. 19:18, 34), and Paul reiterated the point (Rom. 13:8-10). We were created in the image of God, without fault, entirely capable of carrying out God's moral will of making all of creation subservient to God's law of love. The Fall did not eradicate this sense of moral purpose, but turned us inward, so that instead of truly loving God and our neighbor, we suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. The fall did not even mean that people became atheists, but that they became superstitious: using "God" or "spirituality" and their neighbors for their own ends.

The Enlightenment philosophers were right when they recognized that morality is the common denominator of humanity. Yet they concluded from this that whatever came to us from the outside-the reports of historical miracles and redemption-was the least essential to true religion. "All we need is love" and "All we need is law" make exactly the same point. Duty, love, or moral and religious experience lay at the heart of all the world's religions-their insides-while the historical packaging (stories, miraculous claims, creeds, rituals) are the outer shell that can be tossed away.

Kant distinguished these in terms of pure religion and ecclesiastical faith. The former has to do with our moral duty. The latter consists of doctrines of sin, the incarnation and atonement, justification, supernatural rebirth, the particular historical claims concerning Christ, as well as the official practices of the church (such as baptism and the Supper). The story of the death and resurrection of Christ, for example, could be accepted only to the extent that it represented a universal moral truth (like self-sacrifice for others or for one's principles). Taking it at face value actually undermined pure morality. If you look to someone else's sacrifice to save you, then you won't be as prone to fulfill your own duty yourself. One sect dealt with guilt by throwing children into volcanoes to pacify the gods, while Christianity says that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son ... " (John 3:16). Yet once religion is refined of such "superstitions," the residue left over is a pure morality that will at last lead us to build a tower reaching to the heavens. Trust your insides; doubt everything external to you. That was the lesson of the Enlightenment.

The problem, of course, is that we have an outside God and an outside redemption. Everything inside of us is the problem. The good news, however, is that the God who is completely other than we are became one of us, yet without succumbing to our selfish pride. He fulfilled the law, bore its judgment, and rose again as our solution to the curse of sin, death, and condemnation. Furthermore, he sent his Spirit to indwell us, making us new from the inside out, until one day our very bodies are raised. In one sense, of course, the Enlightenment was right: the law is in us by nature, since we are created in God's image. The gospel is surprising, good news that has to come to us from the outside. Everyone knows that we should treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves: the Golden Rule does not by itself provoke martyrdom. It does not need witnesses and heralds. In fact, it did not require the incarnation, much less the atonement and resurrection.

So it's not surprising that the world would think that "all we need is love," and we can do without the doctrine, since the world thinks it can do without Christ. Doctrine is where the religions most obviously part ways. Doctrine is where things get interesting-and dangerous. As the playwright Dorothy Sayers said, doctrine isn't the dull part of Christianity, rather, "The doctrine is the drama." Jesus was not revolutionary because he said we should love God and each other. Moses said that first. So did Buddha, Confucius, and countless other religious leaders we've never heard of. Madonna, Oprah, Dr. Phil, the Dali Lama, and probably a lot of Christian leaders will tell us that the point of religion is to get us to love each other. "God loves you" doesn't stir the world's opposition. However, start talking about God's absolute authority, holiness, wrath, and righteousness, original sin, Christ's substitutionary atonement, justification apart from works, the necessity of new birth, repentance, baptism, Communion, and the future judgment, and the mood in the room changes considerably. If postmodernism is simply a revival of modern romanticism (experience as sovereign), then it's not very postmodern after all.

Historians often point out that for all of their differences, pietism and rationalism converged to create the Enlightenment. The heirs of modernity looked inward, to autonomous reason or experience, rather than outward, in faith and repentance toward a God who judges and saves. With Friedrich Schleiermacher, father of modern Protestant liberalism, the emphasis fell on Jesus as the supreme example of the kind of moral existence that we can all have if we share in his "God-consciousness." So while Christianity may represent the purest and fullest realization of this principle, other religions are in their own ways attempts to put this universal religious and moral experience into words. We just say things differently, but we are experiencing the same reality. Where Kant located the essence of religion in practical reason (moral duty), Schleiermacher located it in religious experience, but either way the self is made the measure of truth and redemption is something that we find within ourselves, even if it is "Christ in my heart." Revivalism, which is the mother of both Protestant liberalism and Evangelicalism, pressed the "deeds over creeds" and "experience over doctrine" thesis to its limits.

This means, of course, that Christ is not the unique God-Man, but the most divinized human being. The gospel is not what Christ did for me, outside of me, in history, but the impression that he makes on me, the nobility that he stirs up within me, to experience the same God-consciousness and love. Sin is not a condition from which I need to be saved, but actions that I can keep from doing with sufficient motivation and instruction. Christ's death is not an atoning sacrifice that satisfies God's just wrath, but an example of God's love that moves us to repentance. Hence, "What would Jesus do?" is the main question, not "What has Jesus done?" The inside takes priority over the outside.
Distraction: The Pharisees

In contrast to the Sadducees, the Pharisees were scrupulous. The outside mattered, but in a legalistic way. They believed in the resurrection, the last judgment, the truthfulness of the miracles reported in the Bible's historical narratives, and were so eager for the messianic age that they wanted everybody to get their house in order. Only when God's people obey the law in all of its details (even the rabbinical rules designed to guard against violating the actual prescriptions of Moses) would the Messiah visit Israel and vindicate his people in the last judgment.

Now what could be wrong with a call to moral renewal and national righteousness? But the Pharisees were distracted from the real point of the kingdom. Expecting a king who would overthrow Roman rule and reestablish the Mosaic theocracy, they missed the real identity of the Messiah and his kingdom under their noses. The disciples themselves were also distracted, routinely changing the subject whenever Jesus spoke of the cross as they neared Jerusalem. They were thinking inauguration day, with the last judgment and the consummation of the kingdom in all of its glory. Jesus knew, however, that the only route to glory down the road was the cross up ahead. For all their emphasis on external righteousness and behavior, they too affirmed salvation from inside: by moral effort.

Jesus contrasts the false piety of the Pharisee with the genuine faith and repentance of the citizen of his kingdom in his famous parable in Luke 18:

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted. (vv. 9-14)

Jesus told the Pharisees, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15). While Jesus basically seems to ignore the Sadducees, since they probably viewed each other as irrelevant, he warns repeatedly of "the yeast of the Pharisees," which is "their hypocrisy" (Luke 12:1).

In the parable that Jesus tells, the Pharisee even prayed, "I thank you that I am not like this tax collector." The only thing worse than his hypocrisy and self-righteousness was that he pretended to give God a little credit for it. We have all witnessed awards ceremonies in which recipients acknowledged the many people without whom such success could not have been possible. This is quite different, however, from being a beneficiary of the estate of someone who, at the very moment of drafting the bequest, was treated as an enemy. Christless Christianity does not mean religion or spirituality devoid of the words "Jesus," "Christ," "Lord," or even "Savior." What it means is that the way the names and titles are employed will be removed from their specific location in an unfolding historical plot of human rebellion and divine rescue and from such practices as baptism and Communion. Jesus as life coach, therapist, buddy, significant other, founder of Western civilization, political messiah, example of radical love, and countless other images can distract us from the stumbling block and foolishness of "Christ and him crucified."

In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis has the devil (Screwtape) catechizing his minion (Wormwood) to keep the Christians distracted from Christ as redeemer from God's wrath. Rather than clumsily announce his presence by direct attacks, Wormwood should try to get the churches to become interested in "Christianity and...": "Christianity and the War," "Christianity and Poverty," "Christianity and Morality," and so on. Of course, Lewis was not suggesting that Christians should not have an interest in such pressing issues of the day, but he was making the point that when the church's basic message is less about who Christ is and what he has accomplished once and for all for us, and more about who we are and what we have to do in order to justify all of that expense on his part, the religion that is made "relevant" is no longer Christianity. By not thinking that "Christ crucified" is as relevant as "Christ and Family Values" or "Christ and America" or "Christ and World Hunger," we end up assimilating the gospel to law. Again, there is nothing wrong with the law-the moral commands that expose our moral failure and guide us as believers in the way of discipleship. However, assimilating the good news of what someone else has done to a road map for our own action is disastrous. In the words of Theodore Beza, "The confusion of law and gospel is the principal source of all the abuses that corrupt or have ever corrupted the church." When God's Law (and not our own inner sentiment) actually addresses us, our first response should be, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner," not the reply of the rich young ruler, "All this I have done since my youth."

Another way we distort the proclamation of Christ in the "Pharasaic" mode is by what has sometimes been called "the assumed gospel." This is often the first stage of taking our eyes off of Christ. Even where Christ is regarded as the answer to God's just wrath, this emphasis is regarded as a point that can be left behind in the Christian life. The idea is that people "get saved" and then "become disciples." The gospel for sinners is Christ's death and resurrection; the gospel for disciples, however, is, "Get busy!" But this assumes that disciples are not sinners, too. There is not a single biblical verse that calls us to "live the gospel." By definition, the gospel is not something that we can live. It is only something that we can hear and receive. It is good news, not good advice. The good news is that, "But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the Law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe," since sinners "are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, received through faith" (Rom. 3:21-25).

When the gospel-that is, Christ as Savior-is taken for granted, we are no longer being constantly converted from our hypocrisy and self-trust to faith and love. Like the Pharisee in Jesus' parable, we thank God that we are not like others, but we are really trusting in our own "discipleship." The Pharisees were disciples too, and they had their disciples. But only in Christ is discipleship the consequence of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, rather than its own contribution to human redemption.

Jesus himself said, "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). When he was rebuked by his disciples for raining on their parade by talking about the cross, Jesus said, "It is for this reason that I have come to this hour" (John 12:27). When Philip asked Jesus to show them the way to the Father, Jesus said that he is the Way (John 14:8-14). Similarly, Paul told the Corinthians that he was not only single-mindedly determined to preach Christ alone, but "Christ crucified," although it is "a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks," since it is the only good news capable of saving either (1 Cor. 1:18, 22-30; 2:1-2). In other words, Paul knew (the super-apostles were always providing concrete evidence) that preachers could use the name of Jesus, but as something or someone other than the vicarious sacrifice for sinners.

The Greeks love wisdom, so show them a Jesus who is smarter at solving the conundrums of daily living and the church will throng with supporters. Jews love signs and wonders, so tell people that Jesus can help them have their best life now, or bring in the kingdom of glory, or drive out the Romans and prove their integrity before the pagans, and Jesus will be laureled with praise. But proclaim Christ as the Suffering Servant who laid down his life and took it back up again, and everybody wonders who changed the subject.

The church exists in order to change the subject from us and our deeds to God and his deeds of salvation, from our various "missions" to save the world to Christ's mission that has already accomplished redemption. If the message that the church proclaims makes sense without conversion; if it does not offend even lifelong believers from time to time, so that they too need to die more to themselves and live more to Christ, then it is not the gospel. When Christ is talked about, a lot of things can happen, none of which necessarily has anything to do with his doing, dying, rising, reigning, and return. When Christ is proclaimed in his saving office, the church becomes a theater of death and resurrection, leading to genuine lives of witness, love, fellowship, community, and service-yet always requiring forgiveness and therefore always coming back to the good news concerning Christ.

Today, we have abundant examples of both tendencies: denial and distraction. On one hand, there are those who explicitly reject the New Testament teaching concerning Christ's person and work. Jesus was another moral guide-maybe the best ever-but not the divine-human redeemer. However, evangelicals are known for their stand against Protestant liberalism. On the other hand, many who affirm all the right views of Christ and salvation in theory seem to think that what makes Christianity truly relevant, interesting, and revolutionary is something else. Distractions abound. This does not mean that Jesus is not important. His name appears in countless books and sermons, on T-shirts, coffee mugs, and billboards. Yet it has become something like a cliché or trademark instead of "the name that is above every name" by which alone we are saved.

Jesus Christ as the incarnate God in the merciful service of redeeming and reconciling sinners is simply not the main theme in most churches or Christian events these days. And what happens when we stop being reminded of who God is and what he has achieved in human history for a world in bondage to sin and death-in other words, when doctrine is made secondary? We fall back on our natural religion: what happens inside, that which we always know intuitively: law. "Deeds, not creeds" equals "Law, not gospel." For all their theoretical differences, liberals and evangelicals end up sounding a lot like each other. Evangelicals who say that they believe in Christ end up reducing Christ to a moral example just as thoroughly as liberals, not by outright denial but by distraction. The goal of this article is not to brand contemporary Christians "Sadducees" and "Pharisees," but to point out that one doesn't have to deny Christ and the gospel in order to end up with Christless Christianity. In fact, one can appeal to Christ and "make Jesus the center" in a way that drifts back toward "pure religion" (morality) and away from "ecclesiastical faith" (doctrine).

Today, partly in response to the appalling lack of genuine discipleship in a post-Christian era, many Protestants like Stanley Hauerwas and Brian McLaren encourage us to recover the Anabaptist legacy, which, as I mentioned, focused on Jesus as moral example. In A Generous Orthodoxy, Brian McLaren explains, "Anabaptists see the Christian faith primarily as a way of life," interpreting Paul through the lens of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount rather than vice versa. The emphasis falls on discipleship rather than on doctrine, as if following Jesus' example could be set against following his teaching. What happens when the Sermon on the Mount is assimilated to a general ethic of love (i.e., pure morality), and doctrine (ecclesiastical faith) is made secondary? Christ himself becomes a mere example to help people become better non-Christians. In fact, McLaren writes, "I must add, though, that I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts." "I don't hope all Jews or Hindus will become members of the Christian religion. But I do hope all who feel so called will become Jewish or Hindu followers of Jesus." It is no wonder, then, that McLaren can say concerning liberal Protestants, "I applaud their desire to live out the meaning of the miracle stores even when they don't believe the stories really happened as written." After all, it's deeds, not creeds that matter. McLaren seems to suggest that following Jesus (pure religion) can exist with or without explicit faith in Christ (ecclesiastical faith).

There is nothing especially postmodern about any of this, of course. It is simply the legacy of the Enlightenment and its moralistic antecedents. If following Jesus' example of love (never mind his exclusive claims, divisive rhetoric, and warning of judgment) is the gospel, then, of course there will be many Buddhists and liberals who are better "Christians" than many of us who profess faith in Christ. As Mark Oestriecher, another Emergent church writer, relates, "My Buddhist cousin, except for her unfortunate inability to embrace Jesus, is a better 'Christian' (based on Jesus' description of what a Christian does) than almost every Christian I know. If we were using Matthew 26 as a guide, she'd be a sheep; and almost every Christian I know personally would be a goat." Yet at the end of the day, "radical disciples" will burn out, too, and realize that they, like the rest of us, are hypocrites who fall short of God's glory and need someone outside of them not only to show the way but to be the way of redemption. Although McLaren himself does not deny the Christ confessed in the creeds, he believes that what is most important about Jesus Christ is his call to discipleship, which allows us to participate in his redeeming work, rather than his unique, unrepeatable, completed work for sinners two thousand years ago.

In his book, The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations, Dan Kimball, pastor of Santa Cruz Bible Church, announces the goal of the emerging church movement: "Going back to a raw form of vintage Christianity, which unapologetically focuses on kingdom living by disciples of Jesus." If we are allowed to pick and choose whatever we like from the New Testament (again, hardly a uniquely postmodern trend-Thomas Jefferson had his own edited version, the moral Jesus of love minus the Christ of "ecclesiastical faith"), we will always gravitate toward ourselves and our own inner experience or morality, away from God: the external authority of his law and redemption announced in his gospel. Emergent Christians recognize the hypocrisy of evangelical consumerism with remarkable insight, and properly recoil at the images of Christians one finds in The Simpsons' character Ned Flanders. However, they forget that before Emergent there was the "Jesus Movement" that turned into the megachurch movement that they recognize as deficient.

For all of their reactions, the "post-evangelical" emerging folks seem to follow the well-worn path of their revivalist forebears in seeing the church primarily as a society of moral transformers who preach themselves rather than Christ. Like many emerging church leaders (in continuity with my evangelical pastors growing up), Kimball invokes Francis of Assisi's famous line: "Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." "Our lives will preach better than anything we can say." But doesn't this mean to preach ourselves rather than Christ? The gospel that we preach is good news because it is not the story of our discipleship, but of Christ's obedience, death, and resurrection in our place. The good news is not, "Look at my life" or "look at our community"; it is the announcement that in Christ God justifies the wicked. Yes, there is hypocrisy, and because Christians will always be simultaneously saint and sinner, there will always be hypocrisy in every Christian and in every church. The good news is that Christ saves us from hypocrisy, too. But hypocrisy is especially generated when the church points to itself and to our own "changed lives" in its promotional materials. The more we talk about ourselves, the more occasion the world will have to charge us with hypocrisy. The more we confess our sins and receive forgiveness, and pass this good news on to others, the more our lives will be authentically changed in the bargain. With all due respect to St. Francis, the gospel is only something that can be told (i.e., words), a story that can be declared. When our lives are told within that larger story, rather than vice versa, there is genuine salvation for sinners and mission to the world.

Kimball writes that the "ultimate goal of discipleship ... should be measured by what Jesus taught in Matthew 22:37-40: 'Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul.' Are we loving him more? Love others as yourself. Are we loving people more?" This is not a revolutionary, new message; it is the imperative preaching that many of us have always heard growing up in Evangelicalism.

For all of its incisive critiques of the megachurch movement, how different is the Emergent message from Rick Warren's call to "Deeds, Not Creeds"? These voices are right to remind us of what the law requires, and how Jesus in both his teaching and example exhibited the deepest demands that love places upon us. But if this is the good news, then we are all in trouble. As I grow in my holiness-realized in greater love for God and neighbor-I am actually more aware of how far I fall short. Therefore, on good days, I might answer Kimball's question with cautious optimism, on other days it might lead me to despair. But the gospel is the good news that I need on any day, leading me away from myself to Christ "who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

Many conservative evangelicals and emerging "post-evangelicals" display their common heritage in an American revivalist tradition that Dietrich Bonhoeffer described as "Protestantism without the Reformation." In a recent issue of TIME on Pope Benedict's critical relationship with Islam, conservative Catholic scholar Michael Novak was quoted as saying concerning the pontiff, "His role is to represent Western civilization." There are a lot of evangelical leaders who seem to think that this is their job, too. The mission of the church is to drive out the Romans (i.e., Democrats) and make the world safe for democracy. The Emergent movement's politics are different: they lean left rather than right. For many reared on the "Christian America" hype of the religious right, this may seem like a major shift, but it's just a change in parties rather than a deeper shift from moralism to evangelical mission. The Emergent sociology is different, too: Starbucks and acoustic guitars in dark rooms with candles rather than Wal-Mart and praise bands in bright-lighted theaters. Yet in either case, moralism continues to push "Christ crucified" to the margins.

We are totally distracted, on the right, left, and in the middle. Children growing up in evangelical churches know as little as unchurched youth about the basics of the Christian faith. They increasingly inhabit a church world that is less and less shaped by the gospel through Christ-centered catechesis, preaching and sacrament (the means that Jesus instituted for making disciples). The songs they sing are mostly emotive, rather than serving to make "the Word of Christ dwell in [them] richly" (Col. 3:16), and their private devotions are less shaped by the practices of corporate prayer and Scripture reading than in past generations. Nothing has to change on paper: they can still be "conservative evangelicals," but it just doesn't matter because doctrine doesn't matter-which means faith doesn't matter. It's works that counts now, so get busy!

So now people are called to be the "good news," to make Christ's mission successful by living "relationally" and "authentically." Where the New Testament announces a gospel that changes lives, now the "gospel" is our changed life. "We preach not ourselves but Christ" (2 Cor. 4:5) has been exchanged for a constant appeal to our personal and collective holiness as the main attraction. Church marketing guru George Barna encourages us to reach out to the unchurched on the basis of our character: "What they are looking for is a better life. Can you lead them to a place or to a group of people that will deliver the building blocks of a better life? Do not propose Christianity as a system of rules but as a relationship with the One who leads by way of example. Then seek proven ways to achieve meaning and success." I am not at all implying that we shouldn't follow Christ's example or that the church shouldn't have models and mentors. What I am suggesting is that discipleship is teaching others, and teaching them so well that even when we falter as role models, the maturity of their own discipleship will not fail because it is grounded in Christ and not in us.

No matter what we say we believe about Christ's person and work, if we aren't constantly bathed in it, the end result will lead to H. Richard Niebuhr's description of Protestant liberalism: "A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through a Christ without a cross." According to University of North Carolina sociologist Christian Smith, the working religion of America's teens-whether evangelical or liberal, churched or unchurched-is "moralistic, therapeutic deism." And the answer to that, according to many megachurches and emerging churches is "do more; be more authentic; live more transparently." This is the good news that will change the world?

Christless Christianity can be promoted in contexts where either the sermon is a lecture on timeless doctrine and ethics or Christ gets lost in all the word studies and applications. Christ gets lost in churches where activity, self-expression, the hype of "worship experiences" and programs replace the ordinary ministry of hearing and receiving Christ as he is given to us in the means of grace. Christ gets lost when he is promoted as the answer to everything but our condemnation, death, and the tyranny of sin, or as the means to the end of more excitement, amusement, better living, or a better world-as if we already knew what these would look like before God addressed us in his law and gospel.

Back to Barnhouse's illustration. Of course, Satan loves war, violence, injustice, poverty, disease, oppression, immorality, and other displays of human sinfulness. And of course he is displeased whenever a cup of cold water is offered to a thirsty man in Christ's name. However, what he spends most of his time plotting is the displacement of Christ from the focal awareness, ministry, and mission of the church. Keeping unbelievers blind and believers distracted is his main strategy. Genuine renewal only comes when we realize that the church is always drawn to distractions and must always be redirected to Christ, always one generation away from becoming something other than the place in the world-the only place, in fact-where the finger points away from us to Christ, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Speechless......

2008-08-28T22:23:00.000-04:00

Growing Hostility Toward Christianity from Evangelicals

2008-08-27T22:20:00.005-04:00

Some thoughts....

2008-08-27T08:51:00.003-04:00

Lately, I've been pondering my life and how I've had to abandon a lot of what I've been taught. I was in therapy at age 16-17 and the therapist would tell me that I'm depressed because I lacked self-esteem. I disagreed, but I never could understood why, until I became a Christian. I've been in therapy on and off since then(I'm 36) but I never really felt comfortable with therapy until late last year. It took years to find the right therapist. Not once has my current therapist told me I need self-esteem. Phew!

Self-esteem is unBiblical. Where in the Bible does it say to love yourself? I now know that I needed love when I was told I needed self-esteem. I wasn't getting it the way I needed. We are being so de-sensitized nowadays due to busy schedules and political correctness that showing love seems harder to do. Lack of time and stress can make things very difficult. It tends to make us focus on self. What we need to do is focus on Jesus and then our families. Slow down, take time to spend in the Word. We are to die to self.

2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Now I reread the paragraph and thought "political correctness?" I originally meant the fact that there is not a lot of public showing of affections nowaday. I've heard that in Britain, you need a license to kiss and hug your children in public due to fear of pedophilia. I am not sure if that's true, but if it is, we're in trouble! Kids need to know they are loved. Not by getting that Wii or Playstation. But a physical touch. Telling and showing them they're loved.

Test the Spirits

2008-08-26T21:44:00.002-04:00

Mike Corley Show: Two brothers resist PDL in Virginia

2008-08-26T16:57:00.001-04:00

Listen:
http://www.wqbc.net/mcpaudio/mcp20080325.mp3

MacArthur on the Purpose Driven Life

2008-08-26T15:53:00.001-04:00

I'm not a cessationalist like John MacArthur, but I like a lot of his other teachings, and he has it right on this one for sure.

Daniel

2008-08-26T11:18:00.002-04:00

Warrenism: Heresy on Purpose

2008-08-26T10:45:00.000-04:00

Repent.....

2008-08-25T22:21:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if I believe in the rapture or not. There's scripture for and against it. I do believe it could happen. This short clip is a good reminder why we must get right with God.

Did Rick Warren Lie?

2008-08-25T12:53:00.002-04:00

A lot of Todd Bentley/Patricia King videos

2008-08-25T11:19:00.002-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=LocalPastor

Way of the Master on Rick Warren Part 2

2008-08-25T10:55:00.003-04:00

Way of the Master on Rick Warren Part 1

2008-08-25T10:55:00.002-04:00

The Do-IT-Yourself Florida Revival

2008-08-25T09:39:00.003-04:00

http://wordnverse.com/2008/08/24/the-do-it-yourself-florida-revival-kit/#comment-5370

I've had it with this country, so.....

2008-08-24T22:15:00.001-04:00

Use DISCERNMENT

2008-08-24T21:59:00.000-04:00

Todd Bentley

2008-08-02T18:40:00.001-04:00

Scripture for today

2008-08-01T22:37:00.000-04:00

Romans 16:7 "Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them."

Meditate on these

2008-07-28T11:26:00.001-04:00

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1)

Eph 4:11-14 "11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting

But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).

Stand up

2008-07-27T21:36:00.000-04:00

Rejecting the Messiah????

2008-07-27T21:17:00.000-04:00

2008-07-27T20:03:00.000-04:00

Best Life Now

2008-07-18T13:17:00.000-04:00

Say No to Idolatry

2008-07-18T12:49:00.000-04:00

Oprah Exposed

2008-07-16T13:25:00.001-04:00

Rick Warren Exposed pt 3

2008-07-15T22:42:00.004-04:00

Rick Warren admits he is a globalist. He's a member of the Council on Foreign Relations whose goal is to have a one world government.

George W Bush

2008-07-15T21:54:00.000-04:00

Rick Warren Exposed pt 2

2008-07-15T21:43:00.003-04:00

Rick Warren Exposed pt 1

2008-07-15T20:46:00.002-04:00

2008-07-15T20:05:00.001-04:00

Could the apostasy be upon us?

Steve Gallagher - Guest Columnist - 4/11/2008 7:30:00 AM

Although he is better known for his role on The Love Boat, Gavin MacLeod cited his supporting performance in the 2003 film Time Changer as "the most important thing" he had ever done. It's hard to disagree with him.

The storyline occurs in 1890 and revolves around Bible professor Russell Carlisle, who is unwittingly transported by a time machine into modern-day America. For five days, he finds himself trapped in a wicked world to which you and I have become shamefully accustomed.

In his day, the term "Gay Nineties" referred to the nation's innocence, not to the filthy and lewd behavior reflected in our past decade. Men married their wives for life, with divorce rates hovering around a microscopic five percent. Teenage promiscuity, marital infidelity and abortion were almost nonexistent. Pornography -- even if you could find it -- was typically an artist's rendering of a topless woman.

Christian filmmaker Rich Christiano's character, Russell Carlisle, is an awkward and unlikely hero who is thrust into the America of our day. This results in the inevitable scenes of him marveling over modern technology and dodging speeding cars. More important, though, are his reactions to the stark contrast in morality between the two eras.

At one point, he is seen watching television. His horrified expression betrays the fact that he is witnessing the kind of blatant immorality which has become standard fare for many of us. But perhaps the most poignant scene occurs when he is invited by some Christians to attend a movie with them. Suddenly, he is shown running out of the theater screaming at the employees, "You have to stop this movie! That actor took the Lord's name in vain! He blasphemed God!"

If you or I witnessed a fellow believer acting this way, we would quickly distance ourselves from him. And yet this scenario provokes a few pointed questions Christians should ask themselves:

• Why aren't we more outraged when we hear actors take the Lord's name in vain?
• How can we look upon scantily clad girls on television without blushing?
• Why do we permit TV to indoctrinate our children with the world's values?

The Church is obviously backslidden. The greater question it provokes is: Could we be in the Great Apostasy and not be aware of it?

After having spent the last two years studying this subject in scripture, I was forced to acknowledge that two of my long-held assumptions regarding it have been wrong.

First, I came to realize that this falling away would not primarily be an obvious, outward renunciation of Christianity; it would be much more an issue of what is occurring in people's hearts (e.g., Matthew 24:12 -- Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold... [NIV]).

My second erroneous notions was that the greatest problem in the Church today is that pastors are too busy to effectively disciple their flocks. I thought the sin and carnality running rampant in our midst was the result of harried pastors not holding churchgoers accountable to actually live what they are learning. I now believe that the larger issue is that pastors are burning themselves out trying to lead unconverted people into living the Christian life.

In the end, I arrived at the devastating conclusion that a large segment of the Post-Modern Church -- that which has been the subject of our love and efforts -- fits all the criteria predicted by scripture of the Apostate Church.

Yes, I believe that if "Russell Carlisle" stepped into our Christian world today, he would immediately come to the conclusion that we are indeed in the midst of the Great Apostasy. May God help us to discern the times in which we live!

Steve Gallagher is the founder and president of Pure Life Ministries. This column appears in that ministry's Spring 2008 issue of "Unchained!" and is printed with permission. Time Changer was written, produced, and directed by Rich Christiano (ChristianFilms.com).

More Scriptures

2008-07-15T19:43:00.003-04:00

Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

1 Timothy 4:1
The spirit clearly says that in the latter times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

2 Timothy 4:3,4
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away form the truth and turn aside to myths

2 Thessalonians 2

2008-07-15T19:40:00.001-04:00

2 Thessalonians 2

1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming

9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,

12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.