In A 2004 Article by Jeff Robinson...

Robinson quotes Gary Knapp, and although the circumstances of such a quote saddens me, the quote itself I find encouraging and worthy of reflection in light of postmodernism and the churches taken captive by the waves of culture and individual subjectivism as the basis of reality and truth. The Resurgence website supplied Robinson's article. I would encourage you to read the whole article, for it concerns the compromise of a popular megachurch.

In the article Knapp says (though the italics belong to me),

"Despite how [some] might define and understand postmodernism and the church, I think the classic definitions apply to Mars Hill and churches like it..."

"Truth for them seems to be more subjective and experiential than a product of a worldview developed by means of an interaction with God's Word, an interaction that often requires rigorous exegetical study and a measured reflection upon the results of that study."

All Violence and No Compassion: Bystander Syndrome or Indwelling Sin?

In the course of the last couple of months, I have seen a rash of violence and a lack of compassion like I have yet to witness in my life. Perhaps, I have been hidden from it. But our country has become that wicked land numbered with Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, who having witnessed the mighty works of God revealed in and through Jesus Christ, did not repent because of them. But have we not also witnessed the glory of God in the face of Christ as given to us in the Word of God; and do not men preach the pure Gospel in almost every corner of this nation?

But in these past months, I have seen an overflow of indwelling sin in a manner most disturbing and burdening to me:

1. In Florida, eight young teenagers, six of them young girls attack one girl, taking turns throwing haymakers, leaving the girl partially blind, deaf, and broken - and the videotaped it for public viewing! No compassion became them.

2. On the campuses of Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois, gunmen took lives without remorse.

3. Members of an FLDS sect are vindicated despite evidence that young girls, even to the age of 13, had been married to much older men, and slept with, while other children were found to have untreated broken bones.

4. A couple of days ago, I came unto a story of a mother, who having murdered her three year-old daughter in 1979, had kept the deceased child in her closet at home for over twenty years!

5. And then yesterday, a 78 year old man was the unfortunate recipient of this hit and run (continue with caution; this is extremely graphic, but a shocking portrayal of the inward reality of the fruit of indwelling sin; here the fruit is violence and a complete lack of love and compassion or moral compass involving severl people). For those of you just interested in the story (and my take on the news affiliates commentary) continue reading:

First, that the car committing the crime was crossing a double yellow line; second, that he sped off without hesitating; thirdly, how many cars continue to pass him by while he lies motionless on the street; fourthly, how many people stand idly by; fifthly, that one car coming his way stops in the road, reverses and goes the other way without a care; sixthly, a man on a moped circles the man and then leaves the scene. Absolutely no concern for human life, and of course, this is where we are today in America. This is not shocking to me, but affirming to me what I read in the Bible. How do news affiliates deal with our lack of compassion in this video? They call it "Bystander Syndrome." Bystander Syndrome? They even gave a three step process that everyone goes through when they witness something like this: First, they assimilate what they've witnessed, then they go through the "diffusion of responsibility", and lastly, they decide that they are not able to help due to lack of training! What they deem "bystander syndrome", I deem indwelling sin! I think this is a more accurate portrayal of the inward case, though not an intense one. This picture comes courtesy of bible.org:

This is the perfect portrayal:

"And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness...All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one...Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes," Romans 1:28-29, 3:12, 15-18.

And this is a call to Gospel mobilization. How can we who so often sit lazily and comfortably in our pews continue to do so without the slightest hint of burden for people who are dead in trespasses and sins, knowing that God is willing and able (and Him alone) to raise sinners from the miry clay? Did he not do this for you also? Oh, that "Christians" in America would stop telling themselves that everything is "fine", that we are "so blessed spiritually in this nation", and the true Church would again take up its Cross - in America! That this nation would be ground zero of a God-Awakening!

Let the Church, then, take up their Sword. Let us slay men and this nation with the Gospel; that is, let us, by the grace of God, preach the Gospel of Christ, of repentance towards God and of faith in Jesus Christ. Let our obedience be full and missionary in its activity. Let us not rely on stupid psychological babble as a means of explaining away plain sin, but instead, let us expose sin for what it is, and the eternal consequences of it, in the heralding of a pure Gospel, and then, let us turn them to the love and comfort of Christ who, Himself, we viciously crucified because, in part, He wasn't like us in our sinful ways, though He became us, and our sinful ways on the cross of His passion. May God help us in our endeavor, for nothing will be accomplished lest He grant it, and let us pray to the Lord of the harvest for this nation and its state of depravity, that God will not forsake us in holy wrath but be that which He is continuously as well- gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Brothers, today, bear Gospel arms; arise, preach the Gospel, love one another, love unbelievers, push forward for the faith of the Gospel. Our state is not one to discourage us, for Christ has already won - He is Christus Victor! Therefore, in view of God's grace upon our own previous rebellion, His love for us in Christ, His mercy cast upon us in the laver of regeneration while we all were yet sinners, let us all the more go with the Gospel in the authority of Christ, for perhaps God will relent and bear spiritual children for Christ's sake and for His glory. May it be so in Christ's name, Amen.

The Presidency: An Imperfect Representation - Who Will You Vote For? (Thanking God For Jesus Christ!)

Will it be Obama? McCain? Clinton? So the presidential carousel goes! Several times in the past weeks I have been asked something like the following:

"If the race for the presidency came down between Obama and Clinton who would you vote for?"

Now this is a hypothetical situation, the assumption obviously being that whomever prevails between these two will reign supreme over McCain as well, thus the race between the two Democrats is the real ordeal. And though it is a hypothetical, it is worthy of a short, and slight, and light consideration. Who would you vote for as the representative head of America, and by default, your own?

Some quick thoughts of my own concerning this election, and then, as I prefer to do, a quick reference to the Church's (and praise God, my own) sinless representative Head, Jesus Christ; and then I will turn the consideration of these things over to you. Obviously, this will be very minimalistic and reductionistic by nature, but -

Thoughts on the Presidential Election

1. I'm glad that it won't come down to Obama and/or Clinton; but my gladness subsides quickly at the realization that it will come down to Obama or Clinton vs. McCain, for though I suppose that I would prefer him over the other two for various reasons that I am more ignorant of than anything else, I am quite disagreeable to him also. It is a burdensome thing to me that these three possible representatives are in fact the 'cream that has risen to the top' in the minds of the American people - but I suppose that it is to be expected and not a thing to be surprised about.

2. That this election is paradoxical - it is all about "change that matters", but the change that most Americans seem to want would place (more than likely) Clinton or Obama as our representative - one of which stood "curiously" by while her husband committed sexual immorality and gross adultery while in the White House, biding her time to make her own run at the oval office, who even in the course of her own running has been proven a "liar" - though admitting such, she tip-toed around using the actual term "liar" to describe herself! Hmmm? The other has tapped danced around so many irrational and socially irritable statements and associations that one has to wonder - "who is Barack Obama and what does he stand for - really?" But, hey, just hold up your arms, two fingers waving in the air and say, "I'm about change that matters," and apparently you can be the president of the United States even if the people have no idea what you mean seeing as you have no idea what you mean.

3. That regardless, the presidential election is an imperfect one, and thus, whoever is elected will be an imperfect representative, not only because he or she is a sinner like the rest of fallen humanity, but because 49.9% of Americans can vote against you and you can still become the representative of America. That means that 151,760,436.36 Americans can disapprove of you and you can still represent those very people. At least we are sensible enough never to title the President infallible, like the Roman Church declares the pope to be - how can one be infallible when almost half of the electoral committee says he ought to be the pope and therefore he is infallible (although he was not infallible seconds before he was chosen), and the other half says that he ought not to be pope and that he is not infallible - but if we elect him, then he is infallible! You cannot have a split decision on infallibility, for that is not infallible (this is another issue!) Suffice it to mention that whoever is elected President of the United States will not be a perfect representative of the people, though he stands in that representative position; I suppose he is best described as the representative of the slight majority?

4. All of this taken into consideration, I would advise much prayer, counsel, reflection on the sovereignty of God in these elections, and upon that which is most in keeping with His character, word, and will, though I'm sure that in keeping with our natural character we will disagree on these things also without being disagreeable.

Thoughts on God's election

1. God was not confused. Though He is three Persons, He is One God, and He agrees with Himself supremely. When he created the first Adam to be mankind's representative head, He elected perfectly without division. None of Him disagreed! In other words, Adam was the perfect representation of you and me. Practically, we would have acted no different than Adam when he transgressed God's command, though we often think of ourselves that we would have obeyed instead. Nope! Think again - you were perfectly represented; you were in Adam's loins, his seed. As he did, even in the midst of God's perfect creation and the infinite benefits attributed to it, so we, had we actually been in the same atmosphere, would have sinned against God. Thus, we all fell in Adam by his sin, for it was ours in principle, and were separated from God because of the heinous transgression of our representative.

2. God had His redemptive plan in mind from eternity past. As Adam was our representative, and we fell in him, so God's only Son, born of a virgin in the likeness of sinful flesh, being tempted as we are by infinitely more cunning and intense measures by Satan and the human flesh, yet He perfectly, sinlessly prevailed in His life and then died a penal, substitutionary death on the cross as a satisfaction of the righteous requirements of God's holiness upon us and wrath against our sin, which satisfaction God approved by raising Him up from the dead in the glory of His power, that through repentance and faith in Him we are (individually and corporately) brought into His covenant, Jesus being our representative Head before both God and man. Just as in Adam, the first representative, we fell from God though we did not actually commit the crime (it was imputed to us from our representative), so in Christ, the Head of the Church, we are made righteous and reconciled to God through faith in Him, though we were not actually sinless or perfectly righteous (it is imputed to us by the grace of God through faith in Christ). Thank God for Christ, our Representative Head!

3. I am thankful and I rejoice that God has His elect - that the Church is dubbed "elect exiles." By "elect" the reference is to our adoption into Christ, our perfect and sinless Head, Who honors God as God, Jesus who was God's representative for our salvation. An amazing thing it is that God offers Himself to be our Representative before Himself (think about it!) By "exile" the reference is to the appropriation of our heavenly citizenship in the midst of our earthly citizenship. I am glad that by God's electing love He has wrought in me a "change that matters for eternity in the midst of our temporal life."

For the Sake of Comments

1. Concerning the imperfect representation of the American presidency, who will you vote for, why, and (if you will) provide some Christian counsel and insight for many of us (myself included) who need it?

2. Concerning God's perfect representation of us, first, Adam, and for us, secondly, God in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ through whom and for whom He has individually elected sinners from eternity past to know Him in the covenant of salvation; share your considerations and thoughts.

Are Covert Christian Converts...Converts?

As I scanned a recent U.S. News magazine I came across an article entitled "Covert Christian Converts." It seemed fascinated by the lifestyle of a young man and his family in Iran who had converted to Christianity from Islam. Apparently, in Iran there have been discussions concerning the penalty of apostasy from the Islam religion. The inevitable punishment is death. Because of this, and other harsh persecutions that would daily present themselves to these converts, they live a dualistic lifestyle - a private life and a public life of equally dual devotions.

In private, this family, who apparently received Christ via Christian television programming in Iran, whereby they contacted the hotline and prayed with a counselor standing by, leads a life devoted to Christ, praying and humming hymns to Him, while enjoying Bible study.

In public, however, they are of the strictest devotion to Islam, attending to their rituals with as much tenacity as any other Muslim. The testimony of the article leads us to believe that this other life is lived in fear of death.

I'd like to give a few considerations and then ask for your biblical and thoughtful insights:

1. Living in America, one thing that becomes clear to me is that I have no experience or idea of suffering and persecution, much less the threat of my life for the sake of Christ. The closest I have come is in the reading of the Bible, Foxes Book of Martyrs, and three days with an underground church in Israel. Though America is growing intolerant with evangelical Christianity (which is to be expected), it is still a country that largely celebrates its multi-faceted diversity even in the things of religion, even in the way of biblical Christianity. Therefore, I admit beforehand, that I am not as sympathetic towards this family as perhaps I ought to be, or at least, I am not as associated with the reality of their circumstances. I also understand that they may not have met another Christian in the whole country, much less had any biblical discipleship, encouragement, or accountability. All of this taken into consideration (which is alot):

2. There is no such thing as covert Christianity. Our Lord declared that if we confess Him before men that He would confess us before the Father, but that if we denied Him before men that He would deny us before the Father. To Christ, and to the apostle Paul, to believe in Christ was to lose one's life for the gain of eternal life, it was to deny oneself, and to take up our personal instrument of death every day for His sake and the advanement of the Gospel. In Paul's mind, believing in Christ and suffering for His sake were inseparably linked as dual graces of God and by a life lived in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ (which is the sure sign of true faith and of our ultimate salvation; cf. Philippians 1:27-30). Jesus literally lived the Gospel into operation, and He both suffered and died for it (through which death the Gospel offer was codified and made available to every sinner). Christ was constantly on mission; Christians are constantly on mission - and suffering is the expectation not the surprise. If you are a Christian, you are a Christian outloud! It is not a life of ease that we live for, but rather a life eternal!

3. We are either with Christ or against Christ. We either gather with Him or we scatter. Our Lord was black and white without a hint of gray. There is no dual citizenship for the Christian in terms of devotion. Although we belong to a heavenly citizenship and exist in an earthly realm (see Augustine's 800+ pages in The City of God), the object of our devotion, love, priority, and allegiance is God and our purpose to glorify Him by loving sinners with the truth of His reign in Christ - in the midst of the world of unbelievers who are immersed in the culture, and largely, anti-God, and in opposition to the Gospel of Christ. We ought never to feel at home in the world! In attempting to come up with a comparable situation of an American convert to Christ who continues to live in religious compromise, the closest that I can come up with is an antinomian life, one who professes Christ as Savior but denies Him as Lord, who abuses the freedom of grace to the negation of obedience of God's Word...but to me, I think the Word of God is clear that we ought not be to quick to receive such into the kingdom of God's eternal glory in Christ! It seems to me that at the heart of this situation there is too great a care given to their own temporal life and lifestyle, and not enough care given to the name of Christ and the advancement of the Gospel in Iran by that testimony. The main reason for their conversion by the testimony of the young man was that Christianity offered them a more free religion. But have they mistaken the paradigm of Christian freedom: we are free from all to be servants of all (See Luther's Christian Liberty)!

4. Within the same article, testimony was given of a man who having been converted to Christianity from Islam refused to deny his Lord and was imprisoned for it for ten years. Another Christian pastor in Iran managed to make enough of a stink about this man's situation, that he was released. However, not long after, both, the convert and the pastor were found slain because of their testimony, the pastor being stabbed 26 times. Are we to make no distinction between these men and this family? I would say that there was something imputed to them by God that was principally different than in this recently converted family. The question is what? Was it a true faith? Or was it just a greater knowledge of the grace and the glory of the name of Christ? The answer is an eternal one. In other words:

5. What do we make of such conversions in countries where the threat of one's life for the sake of Christ is a probability rather than a possibility, if with their lives they deny their Master so as not to suffer persecution for His name's sake? I think that this question is an important one, for it concerns the theology of missionaries, as well as the depths with which a missionary needs to go in discipleship to secure a firm understanding that the converts are actually Christians, for what does it do for a missionary to secure a decision for Christ when the convert will not confess Him publicly at the expense of his life? Is not to die gain?

Moreover, it is a worthy meditation for the pastors of local churches in America who have members of that body serving in the Gospel in foreign countries and at home- what do we make of their reports concerning conversions? What do we consider missionary activity, or missionary endeavor? How should we pray for converts in such places? How do we communicate to our stewardship the authenticity of a God-work (cf. Philippians 1:6)?

But it also concerns the essential fortitude and disposition of believing in Christ, for as Christ taught, and as the apostles knew, and as the church father's knew, and as many today are knowing, and as I pray that we will come to know, that to be raised from the dead through faith in Christ by the grace of God means not only to live for Christ, but to share in His sufferings becoming like Him in His death that by any means possible we may attain the resurrection from the dead! Let us therefore become courageous in the face of persecution knowing that this is the cost and gain of faith in Christ and that the Gospel will progress through the grace of suffering for His name. We must remember that the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

What do you make of such situations? What conclusions do you come to? What biblical thoughtfulness might you add to these things? What themes, or practical insights? What might you subtract or revise? Thoughts welcomed!

Paul Washer Confronts American Christianity

A reality check for the American church culture. Shocking, dramatic, needed - sharing the truth in love - at a youth conference!

"Love Is Not Always Lenient"

This phrase and the one that came after it ("love does not always let") come from the Nine Marks website, specifically in the section concerning the biblical understanding of church discipline, or mark #7 of a healthy church.

I found the information there quite helpful due to a circumstance of discipline currently in my own church by the providence of God. The truths related on this topic at the Nine Marks website served to reveal my own insobriety and carelessness in consideration of my disciplinary tactics. To this end, I highly recommend to all in the Christian vocation and laity to check out the site. You can read the "marks" by clicking on them at the top of the page.

As to the phrase that called my reflection to attention, that "love is not always lenient - love does not always let", I see uncovered an intolerable tolerance in the contemporary church, the allowance of a little leaven which leavens the whole lump, a disconnect and common sloth in the biblical injunction that the Church be a pure bride, and that we ought to endeavor by all means to carry out the multiplication of personal holiness within its members. Moreover, the disservice done to the identity of Christianity, the mindset of the many in the pews on Sunday mornings is that sin is not serious, that it is rather tolerable, that one may call himself a Christian and yet be the most miserable and wretched sinner without conviction or hesitation or repentance.

But God disciplines - and His discipline is deemed as love (Hebrews 12:5-11), the love of a Father towards a child, but when the discipline of sinning church members comes upon them, they deem it (and the disciplinary - God and the man/men of God/the Church) as unloving. As if a parent, seeing their child enjoying something that places them in grave danger and in the clutches of death, like playing in heavy traffic or being an amateur pyrotechnic, is unloving when they discipline their child not to do those things; but it is rather the opposite, that the discipline of the parent is the most loving thing that they could do in that instance and it serves to restore and save the child from certain destruction and to train them to love the obedience that brings them safely into the parents arms. This kind of discipline with this kind of intention is hardly unloving. If we are not experiencing the discipline of God, then we ought to begin to be fearful, wondering whether or not we are in fact His children, for God disciplines those whom He loves, namely, His children. But God does not let us continue in sin without correction. As Dever writes, "love is not always lenient - love does not always let."

It is a cultural ideal that love is that strict emotion by which we let others do their own thing without consideration of consequence, either temporal or eternal. This idea must not be that which drives the life of the Church. We are not to stand idly by while "brothers and sisters" in Christ "continue in sin" thinking that "grace will abound". The apostle says that this type of thinking ought not to exist in the affection of him who is rightly called "Christ-ian". "How can we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:2)" And how should we be tolerant of such things as the body of Christ - unless we are not truly in Jesus Christ!? Impenitence is not the mark of an authentic believer in Christ, no, bearing fruit in keeping with repentance is (Matt. 3:8)!

But the intention of the disciplinarian cannot be anger or control or condemnation, but rather restoration, and salvation (See James 1:20 cf. 1 Corinthians 5:5b). That is, Christ is not interested in the kind of discipline exercised by the world to bring about behavioral change, where physical force is used and abused along with various other methods of violent mental technique. And Christ is no more interested in the church's adaptation to the culture and its reflecting the values of the culture with respect to the tolerance of sin than what was previously mentioned. Christ is interested in the kind of discipline that confronts the sin of a person with an attitude of humility, gentleness, compassion, and love, but intolerance, with the intention of seeing that person restored to Christ through repentance or saved through Christ by grace through faith in Him. Severity to the body and self-made religion are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh though they may have the appearance of wisdom; rather, being made alive in Christ whereby one is clothed with His righteousness and equipped with His Holy Spirit is one empowered to overcome the indulgence of that mighty evil within us called "the flesh" (See Colossians 2:20-23).

In all church discipline, truly, in everything we undertake, this is to be the aim - that sinners put on Jesus Christ; if he be a Christian, then let him repent of his sin and be restored to Christ; if he be a sinner, then let him repent as well of his personal sin and believe in Christ for righteousness that he may be saved in the last day. Therefore, let us love one another rightly - with encouragement and rebuke - knowing that loving is not always synonymous with letting, with the earnest intention of bringing each other to our Lord Jesus Christ, for He alone is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us before the presence of His glory blamelessly and with great joy (Jude 24). God be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen.

No Groom? No Bride!: Emphatic About the Name!

What would the union between a man and a woman be without the bridegroom? This is a ridiculous question, is it not? Obviously, it would not be a union at all, and the woman not a bride. There is no stand alone marriage where a woman may marry herself or a man himself and it rightly be called "marriage". This is not a relationship - or if it is, it is not a sane one or a logical one, no it is insane and illogical. It is a stupid and senseless thought!

But what of a Christless church? A church without Christ is no church! We are the church because we have believed in Christ by the grace of God, and we have thereby been united to God. Christ has wed us, sinners saved by grace, and therefore, we are not our own but His. Christ died for the church; His love demonstrated towards us as particular, separate from any other love - a love with the intentionality of God's purpose preeminent over the generic love with which God upholds a sinful world. And so we husbands understand that the love that we have for our brides is a particular love juxtaposed against our love for any other woman in the world - we chose her out of the mass, and so Christ called His bride out of the world.

It is a thing burdensome and alarming to me that many who would clothe themselves with the name of Christ are so quick to remain destitute of Him in their language, thoughts, actions, and opportunities. There was a time when we were much concerned over the ignorance of the Holy Spirit. But it seems now that we are oft to speak of God in general, and of the Spirit of God (albeit with much abuse), while being silent with the name of Jesus Christ. I wonder if many of us who would claim the name of Christ for our own have not fallen under the heading of Titus 1:16, "They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works." Nevertheless -

Christian musical groups are inclined these days to sing of many things, including the greatness and vastness and wonder of God, and of amazing grace, and the renewal of the Spirit of God, while these same albums are devoid of the mention of the name of Christ.

Christian pastors, counselors, and chaplains who are given public opportunities to bear witness to the name of Jesus Christ have dropped the proverbial ball and settled (compromised) to speak of God, and of spirituality, but not of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, lest by that name they might actually offend someone.

Christian family members are more and more adamant that their relative be silent about Christ; and they excuse it by means of danger; and when the relative holds true to the Scriptures and actually loves Christ preeminently to the exclusion of their families wishes, they are dubbed hard-headed, uncompromising, insane, and "different" - titles I would gladly wear for Christ.

And the Church - well, three out of one hundred share the name of Jesus Christ in a given day! Is this the church? What would the state of a marriage be if we only spoke passionately or kindly of our spouse three percent of the time? The fact of the matter is that this is not only a bad marriage in need of much repair, but hardly a marriage at all, and if it is a marriage, it is certainly not expected to be a very romantic covenant.

It is a terribly damning thing for we who comprise the church to be silent about our bridegroom, who loved us and chose us and redeemed us from sin and utter ruin! We would be worse than the whorish wife of the prophet Hosea, for at least, though she slept around, yet she bore him children, but we are childless - we not only whore against God, but we are silent about Him, about the name of Christ - that name wherein is embedded the salvific mission and purpose of God, that name by which we were called into His glorious light and love. Will we bear the children of another "god", speaking and living in such a way that bears the fruit of sinful adolescence and Christian immaturity? The fact of the matter is that if there is no Groom, then there is no bride!

The name of Christ concerning which we have grown seemingly silent is the only name in heaven or on earth by which a man may be saved. Only by being grafted into that name are we safe from God's holy fury against our sin. John the Baptist knew this name quite well and rejoiced in the bridegroom - "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete," John 3:29.

John's joy was complete because the bridegroom had come to claim His bride - and he was part of her (the Church). Moreover, John, rejoicing in Him, did not conceal the name of Jesus Christ from the world - "He must increase but I must decrease," John 3:30.

Let us speak of God - Father, SON, and Holy Spirit! Let us rejoice in our bridegroom, being overwhelmed by the salvation in His name that we may overflow with the truth and praises of His name that every sinner may be overcome for the sake of His name. Let us not conceal the name of Jesus Christ, but like the Baptist cry out, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" In JESUS' NAME. Amen.

American Idol Fashions An American Idol

I do not regularly watch American Idol, mainly for the reasons associated with its name, where teenagers and young men and women become in a short period of time the posterized idols of millions of Americans. But I happened to catch the end of last Wednesday's edition deemed "American Idol Gives Back".

The entirety of the show was devoted to philanthropic ideals and the social gospel. They raised money for the poor, they devoted funds for relief efforts, they built homes and provided medicines for the diseased and homeless. Included in the efforts were big-screen stars Brad Pitt, Ben Stiller, and singers, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys, among others.

I applaud their philanthropy, but I wonder if something can be truly philanthropic without having Christ as its end, without seeing the nations drawn to rejoice in God. In a sense, it is a shameful thing upon the Church that those who reject Christ would do more philanthropic things than those who know Christ and therefore know the ultimate end of such endeavors, which is that Christ be glorified. We ought to be engaged in feeding the world, in providing for the homeless, in sharing a glass of pure water with those who travel miles for a mud hole - and we ought to do it in a way that declares our distinctive love for them, but that in no way leaves them satisfied by those things alone without being confronted with Him who satisfies all things and that completely so! In other words, meeting the physical needs of people should be a priority of the Church, but passionately secondary; for in all things and in every way we ought to endeavor to take every illness, every hunger, every thirst, every impoverishment, every ideology, etc., captive and make it obedient to Christ, that they may be truly satisfied in Him alone, and overflowing with the pure Gospel that leads to a God-entranced passion in all things.

But aside from "Idols" giving back edition, I was taken back by the stamp that they put on their efforts when they sang the older contemporary Christian song - "Shout to the Lord". Here are the essential lyrics to the song:

"My Jesus, My Savior Lord there is none like
You All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My Comfort, My Shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
(Chorus)
Shout to the Lord, all the earth
Let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King.
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in YOU!"

I found myself wondering "why?" or "how?" or "what?" or "really!?" The contestants joined in with a "gospel" choir, Ryan Seacrest "passionately" called out the name of the song, and off they went into vanity, and blasphemy, idolatry, and pluralism - and five seconds afterwards, they had to make sure that Ben Stiller (presumedly Jewish) received twenty seconds in which he was "bleeped" out four or five times!

Did they truly listen to what they were singing? They took out the name of Jesus and replaced it with "My Shepherd, My Savior" to avoid religious repercussions and make sure that anyone in the place could put the name of their god in the place of "Shepherd". On what can only be described as a secular (and often godless) sing-a-long the house rocked with "Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship you...nothing compares to the promise I have in YOU!" And they fashioned a god for themselves, for though they sang the words (with the previously mentioned exception) of a Christian song, the biblical God and the exclusivity of the name of Jesus Christ were certainly not intended. This was the "god" of all people and faith structures and religions and spiritualities, the "god" who helps people and gives people material things and is outworking himself through Brad Pitt, and Mariah Carey, etc., the "god" within the self and the collaborative efforts of creatures (human beings).

I wonder, if no money had been raised, no homes built, or a tragic disaster had thwarted the night when "American Idol gave back"; if touching stories had been left untold, if everyone had been stripped of everything they had, from Ben Stiller to the African child - stomach protruding from starvation and diarrhea, would they have stayed on course, would they have still sang the "praises of His name", would they have collaborated to "shout to the Lord...to worship Him...to sing for joy at the work of His hands", would they have still considered the "promise" that we have in Christ alone to be beyond comparison? Do they even know what the promise is?

In the end, American Idol fashioned an American idol - the "everything goes good and everybody walks away ignorantly happy" god; the god who "makes me feel better inside, gives me fuzzy feelings, and allows me to go to bed at night without a true care in the world." This god is the false god of the cosmos that everyone can tolerate so long as he does what he is supposed to do - which of course is in accordance with our will - and throw in a little world peace on the side so long as we can be recognized for it. It was a display of the god of consumerism, for though in appearance the acts were cloaked in sacrifice, yet, the acts were consumed with mammon and good will as its ends, and that is necessary in every missionary endeavor, but it is only missionary when the money is a means to something greater - the propagation of the Gospel of Christ and the joy of the nations in Jehovah through Jesus.

Positively, what happened last Wednesday is an opening for the true Gospel of Christ, where God is the Treasure even in the midst of pain, loss, sickness, and despair, where we are satisfied in God and rejoice in the suffering that comes in the preaching and promoting of the biblical Gospel. Moreover, revealed is the depraved knowledge that every person has of the one True and Living God, and the Truth that they have suppressed in their ungodliness and unrighteousness. The Word of God holds true - God has made Himself plain to them and they are without excuse, because they have traded in His glory for images "resembling mortal man". And one must wonder, what might that song have testified to in their own suppressive hearts? They sang "Shout to the Lord", and harmonized in praise of His "wonders", "mighty love", "comfort", "shelter", "power", "majesty", "kingship", "worth", "creative works", "name", and "incomparable promise"!

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For (because) although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man..." Romans 1:19-23.

In consideration of these things, I wish that I might have been there on stage with them, given a great boldness to witness of God in the way that Paul did in Athens in the Areopagus address having observed the suppressed knowledge of God manifest in idolatry, "Men of Athens (America), I perceive that in every way you are very religious (and/or spiritual). For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you," Acts 17:22-23 (through 31 for the awesome entirety). And where Paul starts with them - in the center of their culture - associating with them, binding what they worship in shadows with Him who is God, so he ends, and so we should endeavor to end by proclaiming God's nearness to sinners (27), God's self-definition, God's own terms of salvation (29), God's command for all people to repent (30), the Day of God's righteous judgment and the man whom God has appointed as the standard of judgment, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (31).

Therefore, let us boldly endeavor to share the true Gospel, to associate with sinners in a way that communicates clearly that Gospel, which casts down their shadow gods, and God willing, exalts the true God through faith in Jesus Christ. And let us go with the Great Commission in the great expectation that when we go with the Gospel, that Christ is there with us, and we pray in the regenerating, saving power of the Holy Spirit.

Let us truly sing and "shout to the Lord", and declare to those so idolizing American Idol's god, that what you worship as unknown, Him we now proclaim to you. God be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen.

Whatever Happened To "Thus Says The Lord GOD"?

To the prophet Ezekiel, God said, "I send you to them, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them," Ezekiel 2:4-5. God spoke of a famine of the Word through His prophet Amos, "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine on the land - not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it," Amos 8:11-12. Now this was perhaps fulfilled most immediately during the 400 years of prophetical silence leading up to the incarnation of Jesus Christ, when God Himself would tabernacle among us and speak the Divine words to the sinner.

A combination of these texts yields to us that God's true preachers preach God's Word, that God has sent them to people by grace to hear His Word, without which grace, the Word of God will not be heard, nor sought, nor found, but rejected by the general audience like a hoard of rebels that don't know what - by grace - they have until it is gone and judgment takes its place. The judgment of God was the cutting off of the prophet from the people, His Word from their hearing, whereby they were given over to and lost to their own finite and perishing suppositions.

Currently - though there appears on the horizon a resurgence in biblical, passionate, reformational preaching - the vast majority of the laity, and, God forbid, many pastorates too, have become biblically inept, having turned a deaf ear to God's word, and a prideful ear to the sound of their own voices. This seems to be the current form of judgment against the modern day version of a rebellious world, and a secularized Church - that preaching has become human, absent of God and the power of His Holy Spirit - many preach their own word; and so many only hear a human word, and have become accustomed to that depravity so that upon hearing the Word of God, it is something altogether foreign to them which they are much inclined to reject due to its "inherent power" which they know nothing of.

A quick examination of many professors of Christianity today offers the evidence of dissipated doctrine, a worrisome retreat from the infallibility of Scripture, and a frightening agreement with the world that nothing can be known absolutely, that experience and culture determines truth, that human movements are the true lens through which to understand Scripture, and if Scripture speaks contrarily, then God is wrong, and the movement right. It is the lost world that influences the doctrine and doctrinal attitude of these Christians (what may only be deemed liberal, thoughtless, and careless theology - and no true theology at all - though it is offered up as "God's Word" with surprising ease of conscience). They preach it under the title of Christ and the world considers the sound of it quite good, appeasing, and tolerable - it's just not truth, it's not God's Gospel, it's not God's Word.

The tempter and the temptable nature of the flesh are quite the tag team in drawing us into error, and overthrowing the truth, being more of a hindrance than a help to Christ. Modern theology is a mere reflection of that moral carelessness of the culture around us on every side. Giving no thought to God's Word, we often with much earnestness receive and take to heart the erroneous words of self-proclaimed men of God. We are hardly 21st century Bereans - though we ought to be! Rather, we appear much like Lot who grew hardened to true righteousness because of his prolonged love affair with the wicked society of Sodom and Gomorrah - his doctrine, his morality reflected the nature of his surroundings.

If a godly man mentions holiness, they are "judging"; the mention of wrath is deemed "intolerant"; sin is "too harsh", and hell "unthinkable, because God is love"; that men and women have specific gender roles in the home, in the Church, etc., the godly man is called "sexist"; if he crys out against homosexuality and abortion, he is dubbed "out of context, out of touch, archaic"; if the man preaches the Gospel and engages in active evangelism, he is "ultra-aggressive, dangerous, an invader of personal space"; if he advocates the Word of God as it is in truth the Word of God and clings with his whole heart to every word believing it to be infallibly true, he is at best "puritanical". And this objection comes from many who claim investment in Christ. What of the type who at the mention of Christ simply says to you, "go to hell!"?

The problem with these type of comments from people in the Church (or not) towards this kind of man is that this kind of man is restating and explaining for those people the truth of God's Word. It is not his word, his invention, his opinion - what is fact cannot be opinion and what is believed is believed because the one believing is convicted and assured that it is factual truth. It is God's Word! If when the man, therefore, believes that a woman should not be the pastor of a Church and he articulates his position based on the gender roles specified by God in Genesis, as well as the pastoral roles expounded by God through Paul in 1 Timothy 3, and the like texts, and is titled "sexist" because of it, then the one who titles him must also be willing to call God a "sexist". It is God's Word - to all of the above responses, the same must be said of God, that He is "judging, intolerable, too harsh, unthinkably cruel, out of context, out of touch, archaic, ultra-aggressive, dangerous, an invader of personal space, and puritanical, etc.", to which most would just tell God, "go to hell!", and we did, all of us, when in Jesus, God spoke His Word and lived His Word before us. We rejected Him, and crucified Him - a blasphemer, smitten by God!

The tempter tempts us into Scriptural lethargy, and this appeases and strokes the flesh quite well. We are at ease with our own spins on Scripture. Let us not forget that the devil knows Scripture quite well - and purposefully misrepresents it but not without cloaking it in a tasty frosting. A move away from biblical orthodoxy is not a step forward, unless by forward it is meant into the doctrine of the devil and of demons (James 3:14-16). The devil is a liar - will you listen to him? He aims at murdering you - and in so far as anyone abides by his principle of interpretation (to bring about selfish ambition, jealousy, bitterness, and ease of temporal life), then you are in fact eternally perishing in heart and mind and soul, swallowing his sweetly fatal poison.

The delusion is manifold, but mainly, that to stray from God's Word and to create your own will be a greater joy than to love and obey and abide by God's Word. The serpent slithers within the guise of secular and pop culture, and the culture weaves your theology upon his scales. As our patriarchal parents did, so we, their progeny do. Culture rather than the Bible determines our thinking about God, the devil rather than the Creator.

What do we make of ourselves by the notion that we ought not speak of sin, or that we should not speak up against the immorality of human nature? Shall we give evidence that the devil's fangs are attached to our hearts? Then by all means let one speak half-truths which are no truths, let one be advised by the blindness of unregenerate culture and unregenerate persons that to speak so passionately about God in Christ for righteousness is an intolerable type of speech, and therefore, ought not to be proclaimed. This will grant you an easy life - maybe - but what of that life to come which is called "everlasting"?

What eternal joy is there in usurping the authority of God's Word? What do you gain by deeming God "a sexist pig"? It is of note that in the galactic battle between the devil and the Lord Jesus Christ during the period of His temptation, that the temptation came in the form of the misinterpretation of Scripture - and that Jesus defeated satan with the right and authoritative knowledge of Scripture!

What must be observed in these things? That the lie consists within the thought that God's Word is out of touch with reality; that false happiness consists in the authority of one's own word and rationale. That we must be careful not to become the Church of the Culture, rather than the Church of Christ. That it is not in our deviation from God's Word that will bring greatest joy, but instead, our greatest joy and fulfillment lies within the obedience to and love of every one of God's revealed words. God has spoken and He speaks still - through His Word! And what God has revealed, He has revealed because it gives the knowledge of Himself to sinners who are starved for the Real, for the God of the universe, and this revelation is so understood in the life and words of the Son, Jesus Christ, and that whatever is revealed, because it is meant to lead us to God, is revealed to be loved and adhered to with the most sensational delicacy, and it is within such "stick-tuitiveness", such true faith in every word, that our greatest joy and happiness and fulfillment will be realized both now and increasingly forevermore, and not the contrary. If God has given specific gender roles, have we given thought to the reality that it is in our obedience to those roles that our greatest joy will be had in Him, and that it is in being contrary to those roles that we will be ruined, moving away from His Word - and yet, women continue to be the spiritual activist's and men the spiritual "passivist's", etc., and we say, "Ah, this is good; this is the way things are!" And satan applauds.

The Scriptures are the written form of God's authoritative Word. As we depart from them, ever so slightly, we depart greatly from Christ, for any measure of departure from the Word, is a total departure from Christ, Who is the Word of God. And this Word gives rules and regulations and requirements, and Christ fulfilled them for us who because of sin and the weakness of the flesh could never (this is the Gospel of grace), and the prescription, the intentionality of this Word is to bring us to God that we may in part know Him and enjoy Him now as the Treasure of our soul and the universe and of eternity - and as this is the intentionality of the Word of God, so it is the intentionality of Jesus Christ, Who is the Word. Any adherence to anything less is in no way profitable for the soul in view of eternity.

More than peanut butter to the roof of the mouth ought we to cling to every word of Scripture, and then, at no time should we forfeit our stance in God's Word, but bring every thought, doctrine, word, deed, opinion, persuasion, everything that is anything, into captivity to the doctrine of Christ, the Word of God. Let us hold up the banner of God Almighty atop the massive peaks of Holy Scripture, and not settle to sit upon the dung hills of liberal theology, unregenerate reasoning, secular culture, or church tradition (which often stands in stark contrast to Christian doctrine).

Be warned! Satan would have you convinced that your greatest joy lay in Scriptural lethargy, misinterpretation, and uninspired human babble, masquerading as "something new and fresh" - and completely opposed to everything true and godly. By this design, the enemy of your soul would take you down to hell.

In truth, our greatest joy is God, known through faith in Jesus Christ (the Word of God), and therefore, to love and obey and be taught by His authoritative rule and justifying Gospel is to embark on and taste now the happiness which is only and truly known through our unwavering and uncompromising feasting upon and propagating of His Word, the Christ. By this, we meet God.

By God's grace, I will hold steadfastly to every word of Scripture, believing it in truth. I will not depart, for I long to know Christ, and if you so long to know Christ, know not your own inventions, but instead hold fast the Word of God. At least in the day of the prophet Amos, the people sought out the Word of God. Let us long for the day when men will roam from sea to sea, and from north to east, running to and fro, from South Carolina to South America to South Korea to South Africa and beyond to find the word of the Lord, and by the mercy and kindness of God, may they find it both heralded, "Thus says the Lord GOD," and heard and loved not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the Word of God.

Good Article by Kyle Vaughn from "The Resurgence" website

"The Digital Age--A New Dark Age? A Look At How Christianity Can Speak To Those Lost In A Storm of Information"

Great article with information on the Enlightenment, postmodern, and post-literate movements, how these movements have impacted the Church and how Christianity masters the reason - faith paradigm, the highest knowledge being that of God, the understanding of ourselves being in Him, as well as our salvation. Truth as it is revealed by God in Christ reigns preeminently.

Agreeableness Not Synonymous With Regeneration

I have observed that the general and secular culture of the South is noticeably, and often frustratingly, aligned with the "churchy" culture of the Southern states. The secular culture is quite agreeable to the church culture and the church culture seems to be quite content with reflecting that culture and quite indifferent towards molding it. The Gospel is met with much agreement, but little conversion. As with most dichotomies, this is simultaneously advantageous for the church provided the church is appropriately opportunistic, while being an eternal threat both to the accountability of the church's evangelical identity and to the immortal souls of those deceived by their agreeable nature to the things of Christ when we do not make use of the opportunity so given.

With regards to the Church of the living God, we need to mortify our "churchiness" and become the Church. Contentment in the way of things current will ultimately lead to the condemnation of souls, not the salvation of them. We ought not to be content with the agreeableness of the lost, and we should not rest at ease until their eyes are spiritually opened and they are given the Divine breath of life accompanied by the evidence of spiritual sneezes removing the clog of spiritual and agreeable deception. Being agreeable to the Gospel is not synonymous with being regenerate of God, although we ought to be thankful for what agreeableness exists, for though it serves too deceive a soul, yet the reality of it is often the impression of God upon the same soul, and we ought to, therefore, be encouraged and emboldened to move forward with the Gospel in hopes of true conversion to Christ. We must push forward upon this soul, not settling until the habit of sin and the ritual of agreeableness has been broken, thrown down to the ground in contrition, and lifted back up through a real and genuine faith in Jesus Christ. The Gospel is relevant, the word of the cross is the power of God to those who are being saved, who are called of God, and we must persist and persuade and be in earnest with agreeable souls until God swallows them up, drowns them in the spittle of His holy Law, and revives them by the CPR of the Gospel, imputing to them His holy breath of life through faith in Christ.

We are thankful for those churches who are bringing in the people in groves and we hope that God will make salvific use of whatever is imparted that honors Him, but the fear is that in many of these there may not be much imparted to those souls that truly honors God or converts anyone to Christ - perhaps they are converted to the creation of human atmospheres which masquerade as the presence of God, or perhaps they are converted to a man who speaks with great charisma about the "God within a box", and that is quite comfortable to both the preacher and the lost soul; it just doesn't do much to seed and water and convert souls to Christ!

It is the earnestness and passion of the Church that will be the means of true conversion. Our aim is not to make converts to an agreeable nature, a cushy and comfortable nature over against the warnings and threatenings and punishment of just and eternal torments; our aim is to win souls to Christ for the sake of His name among all the nations. This is the exhortation of Spurgeon from the text of 2 Kings 4:29-37, when Elisha came to the Shunamite women's house and found her son lying dead on the bed, he stretched himself over the child and the child's flesh became warm - this, I would say, is that good kind of agreeable nature, but it is not enough to satisfy us - for Elisha got up and stretched himself out again over the child and then the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes - ah, then he was alive, the breath of life causing him to sneeze, and when he has so spiritually sneezed and had eyes opened, then we shall rest in regeneration. Spurgeon writes more ably, "The result of the prophet's work soon appeared: 'the flesh of the child waxed warm.' How pleased Elisha must have been; but I do not find that his pleasure and satisfaction caused him to relax his exertions. Never be satisfied...with finding your children in a barely hopeful state. Did a girl come to you, and cry, 'Teacher, pray for me'? Be glad, for this is a fair token; but look for more. Did you observe tears in a boy's eyes when you were speaking of the love of Christ? Be thankful for it that the flesh is waxing warm, but do not stop there. Can you relax your exertions now? Bethink you, you have not yet gained your end! It is life you want, not warmth alone...not mere conviction, but conversion...not only impression, but regeneration, - life, life from God, the life of Jesus...nothing less must content you." (from "The Soul Winner"; pages 157-158.)

The Church must be just that; the Christian must be just that; and when they are, Christ will be just that in the conversion of the lost soul. If our petitions with the Gospel are met with agreeableness, do not be fooled into thinking them saved, lest with that agreeableness comes the agreeable fruit of faith. If you observe them and their life stands in stark opposition to their agreeable nature, then thank God that at least their flesh is perhaps "waxed warm", but do not cease in our holy endeavor and end of seeing the soul saved, brought to God through faith in Christ. Watch them "sneeze", and "open their eyes", then we shall recognize new life. Again, agreeableness is not synonymous with regeneration, with being born of God. Work up a sweat in earnestness, plead with the lost soul until they see through their agreeableness into the deadness of the testimony of their lives, and when they presume themselves dead, then with more zeal, stretch out over them the Gospel of Christ.

And this is not the south only, but a great percentage of America is agreeable to the notion of Christianity and of "believing in God", and that is well and good, and ought to be a thing very hopeful for us so long as we then walk through the open door of that statistic with the Gospel of Christ in heart and hand to see them converted. But until the end is met by the grace of God the cultural agreeableness to the belief in a God is insufficient, for even the demons "believe in God" and they shutter, but it avails nothing to believe what demons and the devil, himself, believes, when God believes in God rightly, if one does not believe rightly in Christ exclusively through whom God is truly revealed and known. Again, agreeableness is not synonymous with regeneration, but it is hopeful for those who aim to see the lost soul saved and reunited to God.

In conclusion, an agreeable nature to the things of God can be both damning and the advantageous hope of conversion, the finger print of God on a life, the great chasm between the two possibilities being bridged only by the zeal of Christians to share the full Gospel of Christ with an earnestness that transcends agreement and confronts the culturally deceived with sin, righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment (Acts 24:25). Only then, like Felix, will the agreeable become "alarmed." We must seek to alarm the agreeable, to sound off in the soul, that culture, heritage, positive thinking, self-improvement projects, regular church attendance, or singing in the choir, and the like, does not save anybody. And only when they become alarmed, having their agreeableness set against spiritual deadness, are they set to be comforted with Christ. We do not seek an agreeableness in the lost soul, dear Christians, we seek the life of God imputed, we seek conversion, we seek true righteousness. May this be our passion and earnest plea to God in Jesus' name.