Christopher Adamo has a great column in this week s Hawaii Reporter on Rick Warren deceptive ways.
In the column he recounts the facts of the Rick Warren/Joseph Farah flap. However, one the best quotes from this editorial that was published in a secular paper was about Rick Warren s penchant for twisting the Bible.
Said Adamo
For those among his congregation who sincerely want to know the truth, the evidence is ample. Unfortunately, it always has been available, and any present confusion merely results from past decisions to ignore that evidence.
For example, his letter to the congregation decrying the attack and making his defense by invoking Scripture is barely four paragraphs long.
Yet in those four paragraphs, he employs three different translations of the Bible. Why, it must be asked, does he not trust any single translation to convey God s message to humanity?
Could it be that he has his own message and agenda to advance, and that he has found it very convenient to utilize different wordings of different passages, not because they better convey God s purpose, but rather his own?
I have posted before on the fairly new trend in pastoral methodology that includes the use of deliberately vulgar and coarse speech. I say deliberately because these pastors who are now using crude sexual references, anatomical terms, and vulgar phraseology taken directly from the secular pop culture are old enough to know better.
It s a deliberate choice to use words when you re writing or speaking and as someone who writes and speaks on a daily basis, I should know. What I find interesting is that this particular pastor starts out in this post encouraging fellow Christians to read the Bible through. Rather than ask who has the courage to commit to reading the Bible through?
, he, like a lot of pastors now, prefers to say it a different way that is frankly, disgusting. The coarsening of America is now being helped along by Christian shepherds, it seems.
I got to talk about sex, sperm, eggs and virgins.
It was great. I love watching people squirm we will never back down from talking about real issues. Just wait 07 will be even better.
So pastors who use vulgar terms are more real than those who choose words that are not vulgar to convey the same message? I say hogwash to that. This is just one more excuse to indulge the flesh from these pastors .
I am fascinated by the patronizing thinking that this latest crop of teens and young adults is so hopelessly barbaric and absent any sense of propriety and dignity that in order to be relevant , you need to use the crudest terms possible to be understood. Is there anyone out there in that age bracket that resents being an assumed Neanderthal? Are caveman attire and large clubs the next ministry tools for aspiring emergent pastors?
After all, you have to be relevant and with the direction our culture is going, that s clearly next. What these emergents seem to be saying is that crude, filthy and coarse speech is not only normative, it is preferable so that your congregation, er, community, of hunter-gatherers will actually get your message, whatever that is. How much worse can it get?
You only have to read emergent sites like theooze.com to see how much worse it truly is getting.
P.
S. To all of you who think it s silly to get worked up about a simple phrase that s so common now, I want to thank you in advance for helping make my point about the downward slide our culture is experiencing. The loss of the capacity for moral outrage and the casual uses of terms by Christians that would have made non-Christians blush just a few years back, is an indicator of how far gone America and the church actually are.
Even the reek of garbage will fade in human nostrils if a person is exposed to it long enough. It doesn t mean the garbage is gone, only that the person is no longer aware of it. The same is true about moral decay.
As consciences are increasingly dulled, the garbage just doesn t seem to smell anymore.
Can we ever fully comprehend just howmarvelous the grace of Jesus is until we see Him face to face? This old English hymn says it best.
My song is love unknown,
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I, that for my sake
My Lord should take, frail flesh and die?
But men made strange, and none
But O!
my Friend, my Friend indeed,
Who at my need His life did spend.
Sometimes they strew His way,
Then Crucify! is all their breath,
And for His death they thirst and cry.
Why, what hath my Lord done?
What makes this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run,
He gave the blind their sight,
Sweet injuries!
Yet they at these
Themselves displease, and gainst Him rise.
The Prince of life they slay,
Yet cheerful He to suffering goes,
That He His foes from thence might free.
In life, no house, no home
What may I say?
Heav n was His home;
But mine the tomb wherein He lay.
Here might I stay and sing,
Never was love, dear King!
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend, in Whose sweet praise
I all my days could gladly spend.
(To hear the best tune for this hymn, click and then click on the John Ireland midi file and the other tune will start playing.)
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. (Psalm 90:1-2)
For those who may not be able to get out to a good church we at Slice offer you sound words from Pastor A.W.
Tozer:
Yet I do not advise that we end the year on a somber note. The march, not the dirge, has ever been the music of Christianity. If we are good students in the school of life, there is much that the years have to teach us.
But the Christian is more than a student, more than a philosopher. He is a believer, and the object of his faith makes the difference, the mighty difference.
Of all persons the Christian should be best prepared for whatever the New Year brings.
He has dealt with life at its source. In Christ he has disposed of a thousand enemies that other men must face alone and unprepared. He can face his tomorrow cheerful and unafraid because yesterday he turned his feet into the ways of peace and today he lives in God.
The man who has made God his dwelling place will always have a safe habitation. WOS148
Thank You, Father, for all You ve taught me this past year. Thank You for the stretching experiences.
Thank You for Tozer s wise counsel. Thank You for the privilege of serving You. Thank You for Your love and grace.
Amen.
I was looking through the hymnal our church uses and under the section of hymns entitled, The Word of God , there are so many rich treasures.
I want to share the texts of two of these with you this Saturday night. Heaven and earth will pass away, but God s Word will never pass away. Fads and trends will come and go, but only God s sure Word remains the same.
By Emanuel Cronenwett, 1841-1931
And though assailed on every hand,
Jehovah s Word shall ever stand.
2. By powers of empire banned and burned,
While haughty empires lie in dust.
3. Lo, what the Word in times of old
Is all fulfilled while ages roll,
As traced on the prophetic scroll.
4.
Abiding, steadfast, firm, and sure,
The teachings of the Word endure.
His anchor holds in Christ, the Lord.
This next one needs to be sung with all the organ stops pulled out.
This is a magnificent hymn with the music behind it that speaks of the power of the Word.
At thy speaking it was done.
For created light we thank thee,
While thine ordered seasons run.
Lo, on those who dwelt in darkness,
Dark as night and deep as death,
Broke the light of Thy salvation,
Breathed thine own life-giving breath.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Praise to Thee who light dost send!
Bright with thine own holiness,
Glorious now, we press toward glory,
And our lives our hopes confess.
From the cross Thy wisdom shining,
All Thy bright redeeming light.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Praise to thee who light dost send!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia without end!
Text: Martin H. Franzmann
The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors The zeal of the LORD will perform this.
Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city, declares the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David s sake.
Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.
Christ Jesus the Lord - Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished I told you that [you would] die in your sins, for unless you believe that I Am [you will] die in your sins Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
(Matthew 5:17-18; John 8:24, Greek; Revelation 22:12).
Do you see; do you know; do you believe? The children of God are longing and looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. (Titus 2:13-15).
If you ve ever spent time at a purpose-driven church or an aspiring mega-church then you know that one of the standard recurring sermon topics is financial management.
Rather than hearing sermons that work through different books of the Bible or teach you about sin, hell and Jesus death on the cross, you are instead fed a steady diet of self-help sermons that teach you how to do better at work, increase your income and decrease your debt. It all seems so practical and helpful.
But, did you know that the real reason for preaching these sermons is to get more money out of you?
I know it sounds crass. But Rick Warren actually said this at a workshop that he spoke at in 2004 entitled Teaching Your People to Be Generous .
(Even the title of the workshop speaks volumes)
People can give in many different ways. Some can give cash, some can give stocks, some can give assets, and others can give through long-term commitments. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 8:12: For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
The Bible is teaching equal sacrifice, not equal gifts. Not everybody can give the same amount, but everybody can make a sacrifice. Show people how they can give more.
People give when you make it possible for them to give.
How do you do that? Well, two ways.
Show them how to decrease their expenses and show them how to increase their income. You might do a budget workshop. Show them practical steps to get their finances in order.
Crown Financial Ministries has terrific materials in this area. When you show people how to decrease their expenses, you have effectively shown them how to increase their income in certain ways so that they can give more.
It s not about you, it s about raising the money to fund Warren s vision for the church.
Saddam deserved to be executed. This was good, noble, honorable and just under God s righteous laws (Roms. 13:1-7) for the numerous atrocities that he had committed against hundreds of thousands of his own people; and the world at large.
He is receiving the due penalty for his actions - and they were without equivocation, humility, nor repentance unto the end he reaped what he sowed.
I realize that this a time of conflicted emotions: on the one hand, we rightly rejoice that justice was measured and accomplished - something very rarely seen in our moral pluralistic, sentimental world today. On the other hand, it is not a time for celebration - for God does not delight in the death of the wicked.
Say to them, As I live! declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!In this one verse we see both compassion and chastisement - the longing forbearance and mercy of God AND the certainty of impending judgment. The wages of sin is death (Roms.Why then will you die, O house of Israel?
6:23); and because it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18), He remains faithful to His Word, to His character, and to His judgments (Psalm 19:7-11). Because He is loving, He delights not in the death of the wicked; but because He is holy, sin cannot be tolerated and certain judgment must come.
Good afternoon/evening internet theologues, blogging Biblicists, conservative orthodox historical doctrinists, and all who love truth, justice and the biblical way.
Many of you have read the 107 THESES that I wrote eight years ago. I have made one slight update on the subtitle above: this is no longer a call to reformation for Christian music, but for Christian ministry.
It is no secret, the current state of evangelicalism moving away from biblical truth is eroding dramatically almost monthly with no corrective in sight. There needs to be a clarion call for action in evangelicalism today that I am now reoffering The 107 THESES as one such call.
No one today, and I mean no one of any evangelical note of leadership, is willing to risk their current book deals, contracts, public standing in the marketplace, or radio positioning to confront the theological/biblical corrosion of modern day evangelicalism head on.
Let me explain: it is one thing to voice disgust and disagreement over theological error today by teaching against Open Theism, the New Perspective of Paul, Pragmatism, Sabellianism, Political Activism, etc., and that is a necessary and appreciated and part of sound ministry to confront unsound doctrine with the Word of God (Titus 1:9). But, it is quite another thing, and just as important, to also say to your publisher, radio networks, music company, etc.
that you will no longer continue to publish your books and/or broadcast your radio programs with companies that continually further those same unsound doctrines and that have been bought out by multinational conglomerates which currently are under secular ownership (i.e., Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Word, etc.
) violating 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1 by being unequally yoked in a spiritual ministry or enterprise with nonbelievers. That takes courage of monumental proportions and no one has taken it today in the pastoral, radio teaching, publishing arena.
Here is a key question: Why would proven men of God who write, preach and teach sound doctrine and correct theology through books, radio, podcasts, MP3 downloads, etc. not want to leave the very entity that continues to fuel the marketplace and church with material that is against the very faith and Lord they love so much?
Possibly two key reasons: one, it means the loss of a significant platform that grow and sustain one s audience; and, two, the loss of financial giving and resources that comes from that expanding audience.
The failure to leave the system and to continue to do ministry in that same system is like trying to mop up the floor while keeping the faucet running. You cannot pick up a tub while standing in it. You must first step outside of it in order to change it.
Until evangelical leaders are willing to put their ministries where their teaching is, then the current system will continue to win every time; dominating the marketplace and the church with skewed, errant and heretical material. Strong words against error are not enough; action is now required.
I was going through my mail this morning and idly opened a copy of the January/February, 2007 Today s Christian Woman Magazine.
This magazine is annoying on several fronts, usually featuring airbrushed Christian celebrity women who have written a new book/produced a new CD, and who want to tell us how to have the perfect abs while having the perfect ministry. Today, however, I looked down at an article entitled, Fresh Air: 3 Practices to Breathe Life into Your Conversations with God. The article is by Keri Wyatt Kent and it is an instructional manual on contemplative spirituality.
She talks about Deep Listening (going into the silence) to encounter God s voice, Breath Prayer , and finally, Being There which is actually a form of guided imagery where you supposedly actually go and experience Bible stories with Jesus in the spirit. She writes:
David Benner, author of the Gift of Being Yourself, writes, Gospel meditation provides an opportunity to enter specific moments in Jesus life and thereby share his experience. Shared experience is the core of any friendship.
And spirit-guided meditation on the life of Jesus provides this possibility.
Friends, what she is describing here is an occult practice. Here are her instructions:
Try this: Choose a passage from one of the gospels.
Read it slowly. Daydream about it, imagine you re there. Perhaps you re a bystander watching Jesus, or the person talking to Jesus.
Try playing various roles in the scene. Use your imagination to add details. Put yourself into the story via your five senses: What do you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell?
By being there, you re spending time with Jesus.
No, you re not spending time with Jesus, you are delving into the imaginations of your own heart, imagining extra-biblical things and polluting the sure Word of Scripture with your own subjective impressions and feelings. This is unbelieveable New Age material, coming from a woman who is teaching these methods at Willow Creek Community Church right now.
She even features downloads and MP3 s from her Willow Creek Classes on her . In March, she will be leading two workshops at Willow Creek s Children s Ministry Conference where she will be talking about contemplative practices for children. She further says this:
Gospel meditation or Being there, has traditionally been called the Ignatian Method, after Saint Ignatius of Loyola.So now the founder of the Jesuits is our model for spirituality in the evangelical world?He instructed his followers to spend time with Jesus by imaging themselves in the gospel story.
In this coming New Year, it is my heartfelt prayer that Christians will recognize the need for ever greater discernment.
Things are getting very subtle and only those firmly rooted in Biblical teaching will spot it.
Towne Lake Community Church is home to the where they are preparing to dance the night away on New Year s Eve.
These people must be dancing maniacs because they are following up their New Year s dance with a 1950 s style dance on January 20th. I guess New Year s Eve prayer services are out of vogue now.
in Blountville, Tennessee invites all singles to a New Year s Eve Dance.
Their ad says,
Get yo groove on! The Singles Ministry is hosting a New Year s Eve Dance for all area singles. Cost is a mere $5 at the door.
Dress classy, and be ready to bust a move with DJExpress.
One wonders whether the Apostles had their groove on. Here s another ad running on a Christian radio station in California.
December 31st; Christian Singles New Year s Eve dance party at Pasadena s historic Lake Avenue Church! 8:00 to 12:10 in the Wherehouse . A large mix of swing, slow, country, free-style, disco, oldies, and Christian songs will be played.
Coat and tie (tux optional). Non-alcoholic drinks and upscale munchies provided. Lots of free parking in our lite lot on the west side of the church (which is on the NW corner of Lake Avenue and the 210 fwy).
Only $15.00 in advance which makes this the BEST deal in Southern California! This should be a sold out event, so it is crucial that you pay in advance!
At least they don t call it a ministry. I have no doubt that the event will be sold out. I wrote a year ago for Christian Worldview Network.
It seems like a good time to re-run it. I titled the piece, For This the Martyrs Died? Christians in America are writhing across the dance floors of their churches, oblivious to God s looming judgment on a lukewarm and apostate evangelicalism.
The Australian recently featured an interesting about spirituality in that country. The spirituality described really mirrors that of all Westernized countries. Dry theology is out.
Spirituality and mysticism are in. What is described is really a make-it-up-as-you go view of spirituality. Some like this, others like that.
Invent or find what works for you. Particularly interesting is this line:
The mysticism is returning to the religious marketplace, a real sense of experiencing the presence of God or the beyond: that s what spiritualities give people, and usually in a fairly unmediated way.
Experiencing the presence of God or the beyond is what the emerging church is telling young people they are doing when they shut their minds off and go into the Silence.
They are definitely encountering the spirit realm, but as author Brian Flynn, a former New Age medium put is, it s not the Holy Spirit. We re at the front end of a new age where the concrete truths of God s Word are being discarded, and the true God of Scripture is rejected, in favor of this new mystical spirituality. We are seeing a worldwide spiritual rebellion and it is truly terrible to witness that rebellion coming into once Christian churches.
1. Ambiguousness about the nature of saving-faith - justification
2. Awkwardness about the depraved nature of man as sinner and the doctrine of sin
3.
Ashamed of the exclusivity of the nature, person and gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Arrogance against the authority, sufficiency, and veracity of God s Word
Throw into this quadrate the leaven of the prosperity gospel; patriotism being equated with biblical Christianity; post-modern ecclesiology; pragmaticism and the human potentiality movement, you have the disastrous recipe for a PC version of Christianity, which is pleasing to man, but in the end is not biblical Christianity (and therefore, not pleasing to God).
Ultimately, it will tragically lead to apostasy.
We need reformation again in the church in America beloved. God will have to sovereignly work among His people to accomplish this great task for no man may conjure this of his own volition, unction, or desire.
May we pray for the Lord to open the heavens and bring the church back to honoring Him again and His Word. And let us pray also for the many evangelical leaders that carry the weight of high visibility in the world that they would remain true to the gospel, true to God s Word, and true to the person and character of Christ.
By His grace and for His glory,
or for more articles and music by Steve Camp.
This Sunday s Wasington Post featured Clinton and Obama s domination of the field among Presidential hopefuls in the Democratic Party. I personally am going to predict a Democratic win of either Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton, (I think it will be the first, due to Obama s inexperience) and I predict that Rick Warren will feel a sudden calling to a higher office because he can do more good and reach more people in such a position of political power. Then we will see the payoff for his willingness to prostitute his church and ministry on the altar of political ambition.
Remember, you read it here first.
P.S.
Richard Land, left leaning president of the Southern Baptist Ethics Religious Liberty Commission, was awarded a membership on the Council on Foreign Relations in 2006 according to his own just like Rick Warren.
Here s on the CFR s plans for North America.
Do not love the world or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him . And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15,17)
Although A.
W. Tozer wrote these insightful, and I dare say inspired, words below over fifty years ago those with ears to hear can also see within them the counterfeit works of men like Rick Warren, Rob Bell and Joel Osteen:
Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His name. He calls them to forsake the world; we assure them that if they but accept Jesus the world is their oyster.
He calls them to suffer; we call them to enjoy all the bourgeois comforts modern civilization affords. He calls them to self-abnegation and death; we call them to spread themselves like green bay trees or perchance even to become stars in a pitiful fifth-rate religious zodiac. He calls them to holiness; we call them to a cheap and tawdry happiness that would have been rejected with scorn by the least of the Stoic philosophers
We can afford to suffer now; we ll have a long eternity to enjoy ourselves.
And our enjoyment will be valid and pure, for it will come in the right way at the right time. BAM141-142
Lord, may I be faithful to call people to that which is important to You, at whatever cost. Amen.
It s time for Christmas train wreck stories from churches across America. We ll start with this one. There was a time when a church Christmas program meant a nativity scene, memorized verses, the Christmas story and Christmas carols.
Seeker churches today, however, don t want any part of that sentimental pap. Here s from a church that decided turning little girls into ghetto rappers was a far more appropriate way for children to celebrate the Lord s birth.
Granger Community Church decided to for its annual Christmas party for children.
How do you top this one next year?
Coast Hills Community Church wanted a jazzy 1940 s club theme for its Christmas church program. Here s Cuban Pete even injects some sex into it by placing his hand on his Senorita s hip.
After the Obama-nation at Saddleback recently, Evangelicals apparently have earned the reputation for being so stupid that Hillary Clinton believes she can remake herself to appeal to them with the help of an evangelical consultant, as Newsmax . I would love to be a fly on the wall of the consultant while he gives his advice to her.
1. Hillary, you need to talk about your feelings more, emote more. Evangelicals are suckers for tearful stories, especially if they involve your childhood and your church going as a child.
They ll forget Vince Foster, Travelgate, partial birth abortion, gay marriage, the whole nine yards. Dig up those stories, or make them up. Your future depends on them.
2. Hillary, you need to litter your speech with terms that signal to evangelicals that you re one of them. Use phrases like, touched my heart and life , felt God calling me to .
, God showed me that . , putting your faith into action, etc. Make sure to use biblical metaphors at every opportunity.
Evangelicals won t hear what you re recommending, they ll only hear the biblical metaphors. So when you want to increase funding for abortion, for example, say it this way: We need to pull down the Jericho walls of opposition when it comes to young girls having babies and we need to stare down the Goliath that stands in the way of allowing them to continue their lives without the disuption of childbirth. Therefore I d like 600 million more dollars for Planned Parenthood.
They ll never get to the Planned Parenthood part, Hillary. They ll be swooning over Goliath and Jericho! You will need to part the Red Sea , rather than do a difficult task from now on.
You will have to talk about being in the Lion s Den when you re facing your political opponents. They ll love you, Hills! Just look at that Obama guy.
He has em eating out of his hand. These people have small minds and short memories. They want to hear those rolling religious cadences and feel that sentiment burble.
Give them what they want and they re all yours.
3. Make an appointment to speak at RIck Warren s Saddleback, ASAP.
He s our best friend right now because he loves being considered a player on the world stage. Start talking about AIDS, quickly. Perfect those tearful stories I told you about.
Evangelicals will elect you Queen of the Universe if you can reduce them to tears. Here s the phone. I m dialing Saddleback now
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
(1Corinthians 15:45}
Here is an encouraging morning devotion from the prince of preachers Charles Haddon Spurgeon. We here at Slice pray you have a blessed day in the Lord!
Jesus is the federal head of his elect.
As in Adam, every heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest, because he is the covenant head and representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so under the law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since he is the Second Adam, the Sponsor and Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love. The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is a certain truth that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made sure for ever. Thus, whatever Christ hath done, He hath wrought for the whole body of his Church.
We were crucified in Him and buried with Him (see-Col 2:10-13), and to make it still more wonderful, we are risen with Him and even ascended with Him to the seats on high - And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). It is thus that the Church has fulfilled the law, and is accepted in the beloved.
It is thus that she is regarded with complacency by the just Jehovah, for He views her in Jesus, and does not look upon her as separate from her covenant head. As the Anointed Redeemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing distinct from his Church, but all that He has He holds for her. Adam s righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and his sin was ours the moment that he committed it; and in the same manner, all that the Second Adam is or does, is ours as well as His, seeing that He is our representative.
Here is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This gracious system of representation and substitution, which moved Justin Martyr to cry out, Oh blessed change, O sweet permutation! this is the very groundwork of the gospel of our salvation, and is to be received with strong faith and rapturous joy.
News RSS