The Monastic Mist

I thought this was marvelous and really describes the insane direction to which the evangelical movement is hurtling itself. This is from a new blog I am now reading daily, Books and Things,

...Meanwhile, back in the basement lab, the mad scientists conducted experiments on the youth of the post-modern church era, injecting them with the DNA of Celtic monks...as their parents drove their SUV's to work to pay for their mortgages, unaware of the post-modern mutant mystical army about to emerge on the horizon from the monastic mist...

Community: A Matter of Good Organization

I almost always agree with Dan Edelen at Cerulean Sanctum. However, a while back, he wrote a blog post entitled, Being the Body: How to Forge Real Community, Part 1 in which he made this statement,

If there's no real community at your church, then the Holy Spirit's not there. Pure and simple.

Well, not exactly. If there are Christians there, the Holy Spirit will be there since He's IN us. The problem in most churches as I see it is a poor organizational structure to bring people together. And to be fair, Dan has also spoken about this in the past too. I have rarely been in an evangelical church where people really didn't want to come together. In fact the problem in my view was ALWAYS poor structures that either weren't set up to bring people together; or, actually prevented people from coming together.
That is why I am such a BIG fan of church home groups.

Some time ago, I wrote about how churches could successfully organize and implement these groups. A list of posts in that series is below. God has shown me over and over that diversity is what He is into. To achieve this diversity,

1. We need to have more intergenerational Adult Sunday School classes combining all ages and marital statuses.
2. We need to have geographical home groups (home groups whose members are from the same area/zip code). I believe elders, at least at first, should lead these geographical home groups. Having just anyone lead home groups is misleading as home group leaders do more than "host." Elders should lead these groups (at the beginning especially) for several reasons. First, the groups need to start with the best leadership in the church. And there should be assistants in training. And second, it gives elders an opportunity to get to know people in the church.
3. We need to do more ice breaker games at all-church dinners. Also, have people sit in their zip codes if the church either doesn't have home groups, or if those groups aren't geographical.
When people get to know others, they care because the Holy Spirit then has the freedom to flow.

But, on the other hand, here is how to keep the status quo and the clique groups.
1. Keep your Sunday schools according to age and marital status. In other words, separate singles and marrieds; young, middle-aged and elderly; disabled from able-bodied; and have classes for those who have been trapped in certain sins--a class for codependents, one for ex-homosexuals, one for ex-alcoholics, one for ex-motorcycle gang members, etc.
2. Don't have any home groups. But if you do, be sure to allow church members to sign up for any group they want. That way, they will sign up to be with their friends. Never have geographical home groups--they are deadly to the clique mentality.

Here is the series I wrote almost two years ago about how to organize and run home groups in churches.
Cell Churches vs. Home Groups
Home Groups: Why?
Home Groups:Who?
Home Groups: Where and When?

How to Recognize a Christian

From Frontline:

"On one of my first mission trips behind the Iron Curtain to Eastern Europe, one of our persecuted brothers explained how they were able to recognise true believers, and identify informers planted by the Communist government: 'A real Christian loves God, a real Christian loves to read the Bible. A real Christian loves to pray. And a real Christian hates sin.” Then this pastor added: “We don’t count our members by how many attend the Sunday service, but by who attends the Bible study and prayer meeting.'"

And that leads us to this from Apprising Ministries:

"...the new mission field [in the west], I believe, is behind the doors of the church."

It's Official: We're #2

I usually don't do sports here but since I am a USC alumna, I of course had to say something. The BCS standings just came out and we are finally up to #2. One creaming next week of not-in-the-top-25 UCLA and I think we may just hold on to play Ohio in the big BCS playoffs for the national championship.

YEA!...Go Trojans!!

Let's All Grow Up

One day a few years ago I came in on the middle of an old movie on the AMC channel. I would guess the movie was made right after WWII--probably in the middle or late 1940's. In the movie, a girl in her thirties, was arguing with her parents about moving into her own place. I sat there saying, "Hey, parents. Let her move into her own place already."
Then the bomb dropped! The parents said to her, "But you're only 18. You can't leave yet. You are so young."
18??? But she looked like 35! And it was then I realized that people back then didn't just look mature; they WERE more mature. But why are our 18 year olds more like 13? And out 30 year olds act so often like 21 year olds? It probably has to do with the hardships in life the teens faced in the 1940's. As children they were in the Great Depression and as teens going through the dread and rationing of the war. And what are the young people of today going through?

Ummmmmm....Uhhhhhhh...hmmmmmmmm. (thinking)........
Perhaps it's difficult for chidlren to make all the choices they have available. Do I get the Sony or Apple or Microsoft or.....? video console? Do I buy Nike or Adida or ...? shoes? The Los Angeles Times yesterday had an article about children between 8-12 not only wanting...but even knowing about designer clothes for children. One westside (read that the Beverly Hills area) parent moaned that her daughter wouldn't get anything else but designer clothes. What will a parent do?
Perhaps our children have it too easy?

And, marketing today emphasizes youth - in fact the whole culture does. And old people like me are kind of disparaged, even in churches. There used to be a reverance for parents and elders that is sorely missed today.

Stanley Crouch of the New York Daily news wrote a great article on November 20, 2006 addressed to young black men entitled, Memo to young black men: Please grow up. Although it was intended for the black male, I think it's very relevant to any young man - - or woman, regardless of race or ethnicity.

He writes,
"Last week, I was in a studio in midtown where a popular program for black youths was being filmed. I found myself surrounded by black men, ages 18 to 35, and I was appalled. As a father with a daughter nearly 30 years old who has never been close to marrying anyone, I was once more struck by what my offspring describes as "a lack of suitable men." She has complained often about the adolescent tendencies of young black men, as will just about any young black woman when the subject comes up. Those who believe that America is perpetually adolescent will point at the dominance of frat-boy attitudes among successful white men and will say of the black hip-hop generation, 'So what? How could they not be adolescent? They are not surrounded by examples of celebrated maturity. The society worships movie stars, wealthy athletes and talk show hosts. These are not the wisest and most mature of people.'
There is more than a little bit right about that. Our culture has been overwhelmed by the adolescent cult of rebellion that emerges in a particularly stunted way from the world of rock 'n' roll. That simpleminded sense of rebelling against authority descended even further when hip hop fell upon us from the bottom of the cultural slop bucket in which punk rock curdled. At the television studio, as I watched and listened to those young men, each of whom seemed to be auditioning for a lifelong part as a 'man-child,' I discussed this phenomenon with a black woman in her 40s who is a writer. She had worked for rap magazines, magazines that had focused on black women and in black television. Her analysis was quite direct and could be profoundly true. Her profession and being the mother of a teenage daughter has made her pay close attention and forced her to give these issues a good deal of thought.
The way she understood it was that these young black men do not see growing up as having any advantages to it. One is either current or old-fashioned and outdated. The only success they think they can believe in is had by either athletes or rappers. Young black men. So they hold on to adolescence and adolescent ways as long as they can.

So what can be done to make adulthood seem attractive to these young black men?
Good question. From one end of the country to the other, adults sleep in the street for nights on end as though they are homeless in order to have choice places in line when PlayStations go on sale. That alone gives us more than an indication of how great a problem we find ourselves facing. "


And to end this post, here is a great quote from a recent blog post by Michael Spencer at Internet Monk:
I meet many boomer aged parents who are, for all practical purposes, teenagers in dress, speech and behavior. It’s creepy.

Creepy is a very good word indeed.

The Secret Word is.....Starts With a G

OK..here is the secret word. IF you don't know what I am talking about, read my post from yesterday.

Gospel.

That's it--the gospel. In the first of each pair, the gospel is either lost or vague. In the second example of each pair it's much clearer.

There is also a sub-secret word here--reverance.

And the Secret Word is.....

Compare this:

The level of contention between the two-party system is overwhelming. The concept of revolution and revolutionaries is brewing in the land. This nation was birthed on revolution and will see revolution again. As I've said before, the party leaders appear to be like the two women in the Bible arguing over the one live baby (I Kings 3). There are some that have a righteous heart for the Lord. There are others who are motivated by political ambition. This is a Judas spirit.
May the "one" who has the heart of God for this nation rise up, and come into a new place of nurturing and leadership for our nation. The other will be invaded by the "son of perdition" to wreak havoc against God's people and wear down their minds.

I have been studying the end of I Kings 18 and the beginning of I Kings 19, and asking the Lord for revelation over the "Baal" structures that would oppose our nation. Elijah faithfully carried the word of the Lord in his heart until the time came to intercede, bring God's word into the atmosphere, and produce change. Upon confrontation from the strongman (Jezebel) at the end of that season, he ran. He "saw" the demonic forces empowering her and could not stand before them without a new word from the Lord. Stand firm, do not run! Wait for the next word, and we will see a generation arise that will overthrow the Jezebel structure in the land.
[Source: Chuck Pierce]

With this:

Prayer remains one of the great and glorious mysteries of the universe—that the all-knowing, all-wise, all-sovereign God should ordain to run his world in response to our prayers is mind-boggling. But that is the uniform witness of Scripture. God hears and answers the prayers of his people. O do not neglect this amazing way of influencing nations and movements and institutions and churches and people’s hearts, especially your own.
If you want to pray for what the early church prayed for . . .
Pray that God would exalt his name in the world.
[Source: John Piper]

And, compare this:

Tomorrow night, I complete the concert run that started last week. Tim and I are heading to see Scott Stapp tomorrow night with some dudes from church and it should be good. Scott seems to be struggling a little lately. Last week he was locked up hours after getting married for being drunk. Not good. Then a sex video he and Kid Rock made 6 years ago has been made public. Not good again. This dude has got demons but he has written some powerful songs with spiritual themes. Depending on which Scott shows up this could be a great show or it could be very very bad. ... Oh yeah, pray for my ear, it hurts like crap!

With this:

As for music, which is a lawful pleasure ... All should be done to the glory of God; and we have much more in scripture for the holy use of music (public and private) than for any other use of it whatsoever. And it is the excellency of the melody and music, that are the recreations which may be more aptly and profitably sanctified by application to holy uses, than any other. And I should think them little worth at all, if I might not use them for the holy exhilarating or elevating of my soul, or affecting it towards God.
(source: www.oldtruth.com)

Do you know what the secret word is?

Tomorrow all will be revealed.......

Quote of the Week

"On one of my first mission trips behind the Iron Curtain to Eastern Europe, one of our persecuted brothers explained how they were able to recognise true believers, and identify informers planted by the Communist government: “A real Christian loves God, a real Christian loves to read the Bible. A real Christian loves to pray. And a real Christian hates sin.” Then this pastor added: “We don’t count our members by how many attend the Sunday service, but by who attends the Bible study and prayer meeting.”

Source: www.frontline.org

"Protestant" Popes

In my study of control and codependency over the past two and half decades, I've noticed that controller-abusers can only exist because of certain [faulty] organizational structures. For example, when there is little, poor or no supervision in companies, churches, religious organizations, non-profits, schools, governments, and other organizations; then there is the capacity for either over-control or chaos.

The following came in my email a few days ago. It's written by
Ivan Poulter and I think it exemplifies my point given above. The second paragraph is a very Charismatic and if you aren't used to their viewpoint and "speak" it may startle you. But I hope you won't focus on that paragraph to the detriment of the rest of this very good prophetic word from Mr. Poulter

From Ivan Poulter:

"As long as you have unaccountable leaders, whom I refer to as The Untouchables, the visible church will continue to decline. With perverted translations under the British noble-pheasant mentality giving license to those, not who' rule over' you as is translated, but who are called to stand before, we will continue to see abusive authority in the church.

In the eighties Keith Green, I believe by the Spirit of God, exposed a homosexual problem in Oral Roberts University. Embarrassed, Roberts Jnr. Shut down the meeting. The likes of Haggard never received their release.
Great names from this University have fallen in the same kind of sin, eg. Roberts Lairdon. The all too important leaders have stopped God working over and over again.

When we delegated the ministry of the church to those who see themselves as the Lords who' rule over' the saints, we were headed for a decline. The individual saints were called to be equipped to do the work of the ministry.
Each Christian has a responsibility to impart the nature of Christ to one another. When the saints were robbed of their responsibility, the Christians were stunted in their growth. Like dwarves, the Christians are deformed. The Christian

Churches are deformed with oversized heads and grossly undersized bodies. Worse still, there is an eternal baby-hood factor that dominates the characteristics of the modern believer. Constantly spoon fed with information, and the impartation of the Christ to one another, in all practical proposes, non-existent, this has led to shallow-rooted believers:
Trees that are constantly watered never root deep in search of water for themselves. The slightest wind blows them over.

We educate leaders in Universities, allowing them to be indoctrinated with secular humanistic principles that appeases the brain washed society educated in the secular humanistic public education systems. Leaders don't grow through the ranks of Christianity thereby learning to be equipped to deal with spiritual realities. Yet, they are installed into places of leadership through charisma which is often not much more than worldly charm, honed, to be skilled deliveries attracting the carnally minded. Isaiah said it well when he said, 'The head is sick'. Sick with over inflated egos.

When will we reject head knowledge implantations of mere information, and come to look for Christ-character impartation that can only come into effect by the power of God? That power which only comes by being in an intimate relationship and fellowship with God Himself. All by the Christ within."

Source:Storm-Harvest Ministries
http://www.storm-harvest.asn.au

Thank You, Young Fathers!

I had an interesting experience today. A friend of mine started a pre-school at my mother's church 30 years ago. It has garnered many awards as an outstanding pre-school in California. Every Thanksgiving the school holds a Thanksgiving feast for the children and invites their parents. I have voluntered for the past two years to carry out and serve the food. They have booths manned by some of the retired people from the church. One booth teaches the children how to crush cranberries in a stone bowl with a pestle; another is Indian face painting; another is a fishing "pond" with fake fish to catch with a rod with a hook. After the children experience Indian and pilgrim life at the booths, the feast begins. Tables are on the ground and everyone chooses a table to sit around. The school tries to have foods that were indiginous to Massachusetts in the 17th century. In actuality, the food looks more indiginous to what Southern Californians eat...LOL.

That is the background to tell you this:
I counted 35 parents there today, which I thought was excellent since most parents out here in Calfiornia work. Almost every child's parent was there. But here is the really amazing thing! 15 of those parents were fathers. Of course, since this is a pre-school, most were in their 20's and 30's. I don't know how they were able to come--perhaps some work at home, maybe some are unemployed, perhaps some just wanted to take the day off for their children. I don't know, but the important thing is they were there.

At my church (another church from my mother's), I've noticed that in the past few years, the same thing is happening. Young fathers are getting involved with their young children. They are teaching Sunday School, helping with the children's choir and are wildly supportive of their children. In fact, they are wildly supportive of all the children. When the children's choir performs at our church service, the fathers (and mothers too) cheer and cheer and cheer. Any child who wouldn't feel supportive by these fathers must be in a coma.

But sadly, I have seen this phenomenon, not come by the church. NO! It came in the early 70's through the hippies and flower children. THEN--it drifted into the church. But I guess the important thing is--it's finally here.

So, thank you young fathers for your participation with your children. This will not only affect your children positively, but other children whose fathers aren't present will benefit by your love and interest in them too.

Christian Carnival CXLVIII

Welcome to this week's Christian Carnival. And now....here it is.......

The Evangelical Ecologist is a fascinating blog and I imagine one of the first in many Christian ecology blogs to come, as this seems to be a big trend in the evangelical community. But what distinguishes Christian ecology from other religious or secular attention to wildlife? In this post,
Knowing the Gardener, we see the panorama of God's interest in the creation but with the most important interest in all--Christ dying for us and bringing us into sonship with God.

Sun and Shield is challenging us to give our top ten favorite Bible verses - those that mean a lot to us. He's given us his, so now it's our turn. Oh by the way, reading his first few ones, perhaps he and the Evangelical Ecologist might want to smooze together (for those outside of S. California, smooze means to talk together). His post is entitled, being dead, yet speaketh.

For years, I've wondered why some Christians don't vote? I think in this election there might have been some obvious reasons and at Veracity-the Way, Veracity delves into them in her post, The Christian Vote.

Politicians misquoting the Bible is quite common , but what do we do when an Apostle misquotes the Bible? Well that does in fact seem to be the case for two Holy Spirit-inspired Biblical authors named Matthew and Mark. Church Hopping looks at this in,
And I Approve This Message

Here's an interesting question--Why is there such a big difference between the way we think it's right to behave and the way we behave? The word that Rodney at The Journey uses is one of my favorites---boundaries. I thought his post, Building Fences was a very good one about building and maintaining moral fences.

Many of us have been curious as to how some of the emergents are reaching our postmodern culture. Dr. Platypus heard a talk by a Baptist pastor in Georgia. No, not our Georgia--the ex-soviet Georgia. Wait until you see how this Baptist church is reaching the mostly Eastern Orthodox Georgians. This is really a post I am going to think about and I bet you will too. So here it is-- Sakartvelo on My Mind.

At Trivium Pursuit, we see a winning video produced by Christians. It takes the viewer on an exploration of caves at Wilder Cave.

At Leslie Carbone, Leslie sends us Through the Window.

Rev. Ed at Attention Span tells a true story about Dale, who was in a Nazi POW camp the year I was born. This is great and I'm sure you'll want to read this one entitled,
The Vet.

Beyond the Rim has posted something that really hit home to me personally. What is the difference between what he calls "utilitarian relationships" and a more binding association he calls a true friendship? William explains this and then goes into the implications for our relationship with Jesus the Son and God the Father. For many of us, this well-written post will be a must read. It's entitled, True Relationships (AKA Friendships).

Rene at Rene's Ramblings attended the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention recently. His post, Life: YS-NYWC Anaheim 2006 - Index & Impressions gives links to each day of the conference and what happened on that day. Each day is a short read and I think important for us to know what the national leaders of Christian youth ministries are thinking these days.

If you aren't acquainted with liberal Protestantism, this is a good introduction. Steve at Angry in the Great White North tells about how the new female head of the Anglican Communion here in the USA (Episcopalian Church) wants to reach out to the unbeliever. Sadly, it might not be through preaching the Truth of the gospel. Steve does an excellent job of defining the difference between polemics and irenics. This blog was personally helpful to me and I hope you will read it also at Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Anglican Church, and Irenicism.

When Dave of Every Thought Captive began to blog, he made a solemn vow. He set his vow to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's When I Went to the Bar. This is really cute and you can read it at When I Got My Own Blog, or A Newbie's Solemn Pledge.

We hear a lot about success today, even in the Christian world, but at the Worldwide Success blog, in the post entitled, Feed My Starving Children, David tells us that part of success is looking after those less unfortunate than us. He points out that nobody is less unfortunate than the 300 million children that go to bed hungry each night and that there is an organization that is effectively helping with this dilemma.

Brian at All Things Bloggable brings up a topic that probably needs to be discussed more. I have to admit I am not into video games and know nothing about them. Recently, there has been a new genre of so-called Christian video games, and sadly, many of these games are violent, with unbelievers being the targets. Brian's post, Christians should avoid producing "God Games" for the mainstream is very instructive about these games and the moral and theological boundaries they may be crossing. Personally, I think this is a must read, especially for parents and Christian leaders (and probably for the rest of us too).

How do we answer people who say that faith is blind belief for kool aid drinkers? Amanda at Imago Dei has posted a marvelous article on what we base our faith. I especially liked the "we need to test our beliefs" section of the post. You can read it at Faith is not blind belief.

When trouble knocks on our door, what do we do? Brian at a small faith encourages to hold on tight to the hand of Jesus. He also has the lyrics to a Rich Mullins song which is neat reading. So, comfort yourself by reading Comfort in Jesus.

Fortunately, we've left the legalist--little or no grace period behind in the church for the most part. But have we swung too far to the other side? I thought John at Light Along the Journey did a very good job of presenting a good balance. He takes Hebrews 4:16 and helps us see it in context in his post, Gimme Some of That Grace.

The next post is entitled The Privacy of Our Parts. Yes it IS what you think it's about. A. J. at Put up thy Sword has had the guts to post something that I think the church needs to talk about more. I'll leave you in suspense as to exactly what this is about, but I do hope you'll read it and perhaps leave some comments on his blog. By the way, read the first commenter there--good stuff (and no, it's not me).

At Mommy Babble we learn how a busy mother of young children can get organized and have time for herself too. Do check out the first thing she suggests you do before the morning even starts. I bet you can even guess it. You'll find all of this useful info at Help for Busy Mommies - 5 Ways to Help Balance Your Day.

Many of you have heard about the best selling books that are circulating by Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins. JCHFleetGuy at Brain Cramps for God brings some cogent answers to some of the Harris-Dawkins type of arguments in his post, Science, Reason, and Faith.

At the beginning of his gospel, Luke, writing to Theophilus, says "it seemed good to me...to write an orderly account for you..." What exactly does an "orderly account" mean? Richard at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos offers an explanation in his post, Orderly Account.

I really love this quote from Nancy at What I Learned Teaching Sunday School in her post, The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard :
If we are saved early in life we should be grateful that we had a chance to live with the fruits of the spirit: joy, love, peace, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, kindness, self-control and patience. If we are saved at the end of our life we should be grateful period!
What can you say to that except a BIG amen!

If you sense you are being called into something, like ministry for example, how do you know it's God's voice? Perhaps it's your own. Mick at Romans 15:4 Project tackles this serious dilemma in his post, Discerning God's Call.

Many Christians believe this recent midterm election has been a turning point for our country--and for Christians too. Barbara at Tidbits and Treasures asks whether this might signal the beginning of a real persecution for Christians. She says the signs are already appearing. Her post on this subject is Persecution has begun.

I found Patricia's post, How To Overcome Loneliness, During The Holidays Or Any Time to be very helpful. I don't think I've ever read a more thorough exposition of this subject. In fact, Patricia's entire blog,
A Better You is quite intriguing.

Henry at Participatory Bile Study Blog presents the idea of Jesus as both our priest and king. This combination was not common in Old Testament times, so then how does it play out with Jesus. Henry looks at the image of Melchizedek to see how it illuminates that relationship in Reuniting Priesthood and Kingship.

Andre of Every Square Inch and I could be twins. That's because we both need to be more encouraging to people. In his post, Growing in the Grace of Encouragement, he gives us 6 great points as to how to grow in this grace of encouragement. I think this is one list I will be reading daily.

What should be our principal aim as Christians? Annette of Fish and Cans gives us the answer out of I Timothy. Here is a hint: "_ _ _ _ and a pure and sincere _ _ _ _ _." You can find the answer in her post, Our Aim.

Our resident philosopher, Jeremy of Parableman, has been doing an interesting series on Theories of Knowledge and Reality. This post, Moral Argument I: The Inadequacy of Naturalistic Ethics, is the 23rd in that series. Where does morality come from? Jeremy presents some of the naturalist's positions and shows how these are inadequate for a fuller moral foundation.

Our other resident philosopher, Mark of Pseudo-Polymath, compares the story of creation in Genesis chapter 1 with the account in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 in his post Reflections on Genesis 2-3: (part 1) Freedom and Reason.

Joe of Help With Everything presents some questions that present conundrums in his post,
It takes more faith not to believe. This is a short, but very effective post. It left me thinking for hours about those darn questions...:)

Are you rich? Most of us would say no. On the post at S. R. Blankenship entitled, Are You Rich?, he gives a really neat link that gages how rich you are in relation to the rest of the world. I put in my meager income and found to my surprise that I am in the top 13%. That would mean that most of you would be much higher than me. S.R. talks about how very fortunate we are here in the West and how important it is to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our financial choices.

Rev Bill weighs in on the Haggard affair in his post, Jesus and Ted. He reminds us that no one is above sin and therefore we shouldn't be too quick to judge.

The work of ministries in Tijuana working with children of prostitutes is highlighted at the Money Missions blog in the post entitled, Born Into [Tijuana] Brothels.

This is an absolutely wonderful story that you don't want to miss. And, it's true as it happened to Jami of Jami Leigh. The story is entitled, The Wal-Mart Lady.

For those of you who have lasted this long here, you get rewarded. You will get a good laugh from Catez of Allthings2all. She brilliantly, IMO, tongue-in-cheeks what the implications of global warming will be for her country of New Zealand. You've absolutely got to read this post, entitled, NZide View: Global Warming vs. The Rugby World Cup . I'll give you a big hint of some of the content: for us in the USA, if we want to visit NZ, we might have to take an outrigger boat. Oh wait, that might upset the fish.

Crossroads to Host Christian Carnival

Tomorrow, Wednesday, I will be hosting this week's Christian Carnival. There are alot of really interesting and intriguing posts that have been submitted so far, so stay tuned........

Quote of the week

...the institutional evangelical church in America has grown so corrupt with money and personal ambition that it resembles the medieval Roman Catholic Church just prior to the Reformation.

__Ingrid Schlueter on Slice of Laodicea.

Isn't There Someone Out There for the Younger Evangelical?

"Since leaving government, I've asked young evangelicals on campuses from Wheaton to Harvard who they view as their model of Christian activism. Their answer is nearly unanimous: Bono."
--Michael Gerson, NEWSWEEK


When I read this quoted at Slice of Laodicea, I almost regurgitated. That is polite speak for throwing up. To clarify, Ingrid at Slice was sickened too.

What's the matter with our young evangelicals today? Have they been raised in a cave? A worldly cave? Bono??

There must be at least one young evangelical leader who is solid AND VOCAL about the cross and Christ (instead of the constant whining about poverty and the environment, although these certainly need to be raised) in their Christian gospel faith.

Well, I guess there is uh..um...well..uh..there's...ummm...er...uh oh.....can someone help me please?

Strom Says-Repent of Political Idolatry

I'm currently reading Greg Boyd's Myth of a Christian Nation. When I finish the book I'll report on it as it's a much needed treatise on what has happened politically in the Christian world here in tne USA for the last 30 years.
In that vein, here is the latest from Andrew Strom. I am reprinting it in its entirety as it is so appropriate about the spiritual truth about the reality in today's America and especially in the evangelical part of America..


REPENT of POLITICAL IDOLATRY!
-by Andrew Strom.

Something I find a little distressing in America is that the Christians are so often relying on POLITICS to accomplish SPIRITUAL results. Thus they ally themselves fervently with one particular party and treat it like "God has won" if that party wins - and "God has lost" if it doesn't. I almost see this as a kind of BLINDNESS.

The fact is - most of America's problems today are SPIRITUAL problems that can only be solved by a sweeping move of God's Spirit. Yet we are relying on Politics and Politicians to accomplish many of these things?? How bizarre!

How bizarre that we strive and strive to get the "right (worldy) guy" elected. How bizarre that we treat the President like some kind of mega-preacher or mega-minister. We put our "hope" in him and his Political party for all kinds of SPIRITUAL things! What is wrong with us?

I don't know of any other country where the Christians put such hope in worldly political parties for things that ONLY GOD CAN DO. Is this not a kind of IDOLATRY??

Yes - there are issues of righteousness to be concerned with - and it is good to vote. But what is with this OBSESSION with Politics amongst the Christians? Do we not realize it is a kind of "phony war"? Imagine if we spent all that time PRAYING instead of STRIVING for Political victory. We might be actually having a Revival right now!

Can Politics make America truly righteous? NO! Only GOD can do that!

I want to issue a call to all true Christians right now: "REPENT of trusting in MAN instead of God. REPENT of trusting in Politics to do things that only God can do. REPENT of striving and striving to get the "right party" in power - and thinking that will solve this country's SPIRITUAL problems. REPENT of making an IDOL out
of any party or any PRESIDENT. The Presidency does NOT equal God's move! REPENT of putting so much energy and effort into things that WILL NOT SOLVE the PROBLEM!

If only the Christians of this nation would PRAY instead of running to POLITICAL ACTIVISM - everything would be different.

What if all of this is a false trust - a false hope - a false gospel?
What if our worship of Republicanism is out and out IDOLATRY??

God help us all.

Will the Real Christians Please Stand Up?

What does it mean to be " a born-again Christian?" In most of my years as a Christian I never really thought that people who said they were might not be. But today, with the advent of Christ-less and cross-less preaching, I am wodnering just who are the real born-again Christians. Can you become a Christian if all that is heard is "accept CHrist?" Do people understand what that means and all the ramifications surrounding WHY they are "accepting Christ?" I thought the following findings were interesting and speaks to the point well.

In 1991, a major 'evangelical' denomination in the USA - consisting of 11,000 churches - launched a huge push in evangelism. After securing 294,000 'decisions for Christ' in 12 months (26.73 per church), only 14,000 new members came 'into fellowship' (1.27 per church). Are we really to believe that within 12 months of being saved, under the sound preaching of the Holy Spirit empowered Biblical gospel, 95.2% of the 'converts' (over a quarter of a million people) had become 'backsliders'? And what of the general membership of contemporary 'evangelical' churches? Where have all the serious Bible students gone? Where is the clear line of demarcation between today's Christians and the secular world - in language, entertainment, music, dress, associations, ambition, interest and outlook? These are symptoms of a root problem, namely the abandonment of public gospel preaching and the alteration of the content of the Biblical gospel message.

Source: www.banneroftruth.org

Drugs Anyone?

I have been quite disturbed for the past years about what I consider to be the overemphasis by the Christian Right on abortion and homosexuality at the expense of a more serioous problem. While these items are serious, what about drugs? I don't hear a word about drugs by Chrisitan leaders. Never. I am wondering why. In my estimation, drugs are a terrible scourge on our country--morally, economically, politically and sadly spiritually. Could it be that pastors today, most of whom are Baby Boomers, cannot bring themselves to talk about drugs because it was so "cool" in their generation? Could it be also that some are still conflicted about drugs, sex and alcohol? They certainly are conflicted about rock music in the church. So when a pastor buys meth, should we be surprised? Or, when we hear constant reports about Christian youth using marijuana at Christian concerts, aren't they just parroting the weak drug thinking of their leaders? Why hasn't the war on drugs been won? IMO because so many top political and even some spiritual leaders are using. After all, why would they want their supply to be cut off? And many others who don't use have a soft spot in their heart for drug use and the users.

I mean, I wouldn't even know where to buy drugs. If someone put a gun to my head and said, "Take me to the nearest drug dealer," I guess I would be shot since I don't have a clue where a drug dealer would be. So then how in the world does a pastor know where drugs are being sold and how to get them? Huh??

The Haggard Mess

By now you've probably heard of the Ted Haggard "scandal."

Here is my take on all of this. Recently, many people have felt led to pray for disclosure of leaders, both political and Christian that aren't living a moral/ethical life. However, when the Foleys and Haggards are "outed," (I mean for all moral hypocrisy, not homosexuaility necessarily, as at this writing it isn't clear about that with Haggard--just the drugs), Christians who are praying for this go beserko. Why? "Well we didn't mean OUR leaders or the Republicans. We meant THOSE leaders and the Democrats." Welcome to God's method of "cleaning." The Bible makes it very clear that the "cleaning" (judgement) STARTS at and with the House of God, NOT with teh world. They come next.

Why is this happening? Many of us bloggers, including me, are trying to tell you. It's all about the cross and THAT message.

Phil Johnson has weighed in on the Hagard situation and writes,
The back-story here includes just about everything wrong with 21st-century "evangelicalism." This was the top leader of the largest organization representing America's old-guard evangelical core. The movement (not everyone associated with it, of course, but the drift of the movement as a whole) long ago sold out eternal values for more pragmatic and temporal concerns: political power, contemporary fashions, public opinion, and a lopsided moral agenda.

It's time for evangelicals to rethink their priorities, reexamine the evil fruits of pragmatic and market-driven "spirituality," and retool their own movement. Better yet, Christians with a concern for the glory of God and the authority of Scripture should renounce the latitudinarian-style movement contemporary "evangelicalism" has morphed into. It is a hopelessly mixed and muddled multitude. The fashionable brand of NAE/Christianity Today-style "evangelicalism" actually abandoned historic evangelical principles long ago, and hasn't taken a firm stand for biblical and evangelical doctrine for some time. The current scandal is only a symptom of that much deeper problem.

Which is to say that evangelicalism right now is at least as much in need of Reformation as Medieval Roman Catholicism was before Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church. We need to face that squarely, rather than reflexively defending our "movement" in the wake of a scandal like this.

And Jon Wenger, pastor of Heritage Christian Center, writes,
I bought into the psychology lies in church counseling," Wenger said. "It never solved anything. The power of the Gospel is the message of the Cross.

I realize dissing so-called Christian psychology is very politically incorrect in the Christian world. Sometime in the future I will do a post on "Christian psychology." Wenger goes on to speak about the emergents, seeker-sensitives and other assorted "new" ways of preaching and doing the evangelical faith,

There is an apostasy, there's a great falling away. I believe God is giving us a message to stand up and be counted.

Wenger source=

And there you have it. I believe Johnson and Wenger put it very well indeed.

Left-brained, Right-brained or Hare-brained?

"The future belongs to right-brained [church] leaders."
--------Mark Batterson


Several years ago in the mid-1990's, some of the top business schools saw a need to change course. Business leaders were complaining that the business grads with their MBA's were number crunchers but had little selling and overall "intuitive" skills. They basically wanted their MBA employees to be like used car salesmen. Good with the public and "knowing" what the clients wanted and how to sell them. So, Stanford and Wharton, as well as a few other top business schools came up with some changes. The change was from a left-brained approach to a more right-brained approach. Here is a short synopsis of what left-brained and right-brained means. If you wish to learn more, simply do an internet search using the search terms "whole brained thinking," or, "left brain," or, right brain." I found this this site which explains the differences quite well. Below is a summary of left brain/right brain:

Left brain Right brain
analytical synthesizing
deductive inductive
logical random
sequential intuitive
objective subjective
looks at parts looks at wholes
decodes well comprehends well
facts feelings
memorizes is artistic/sees pictures to remember
facts well

Our Western society as a whole is shifting from the left brain to the right brain in many aspects of life including education, philosophy, religion and now Christianity. The New Age and Eastern mysticism fits well with right-brained thinking, while the old modernist enlightenment type of rationalism fits with more left brained thinking. In the above mentioned schools of business, they are experimenting with New Age exercises to help their grad students develop their right brain.

The quote at the beginning of this post shows us that this is happening in Christianity too. Right brain thinking isn't bad; its the inclusion of New Age and Eastern religious methods that are the problem in some of the evangelicalmovement today, both in the seeker, emergent and Third-wave Charismatic movements. It's of great concern to many of us. It's apparent for example, that they emergents are in favor of a mostly right-brained approach to theology as well as how they do church.

But then, we have had centuries of the left brained approach. So maybe swinging way over to the right brain is the answer? I feel the solution is.....well....let me tell you a story first......a true one.

All my life I've been an educator. That is a fancy word for teacher. However, in addition to having been a teacehr in both Christian but mostly public school, I have also worked in educational businesses--those that sold to and trained public and private school teachers at mostly the K-12 level. For the 22+ years I was in that field, there were several frustrations. One of them was the determination by two opposing groups to put their will into the curriculum no matter what the results. Sadly, Chrisitans took one side of this fight without thinking it out IMO. The war I'm talking about was the one between phonics vs. the language approach to reading. Any thinking person could see that they needed an electic approach-that is, combining the best of the two. But they had to always pick one--or the other. So, when we had phonics only (a left-brained approach) the poor right-brained students lost out. And when we shifted over to the language approach the left-brained students lost out. Experts estimate that about 10% of the population are extremely right-brained and 10% extremely left-brained. Then there is another 5-10% that are fairly left or right brained. That leaves about 65% or so either right smack in the middle (they are called bilateral), or slightly over to the right or left side. For those 15-20% solidly on either side, presenting the curriculum through techniques of the other side is difficult for them.
Finally, after all of these years, I am happy to report that the trend has been to combine the best of both. Overall, the reading scores have improved throughout the country (even in some areas where there is overwehlming non- or limited English speakers).

So what does this have to do with the church? I think you might see where I am going with this? The emergents will make a huge error if they go too far over to the right side, just as the fundamentalists made a huge error being so far on the left side.

So I guess I am calling for an electic approach to reach everyone from whatever generation. Now it's your turn to tell me what you think about this. Comments are appreciated, and unless they are nasty, weird or an advertisement, are not moderated here.