The Emergent Church is the Latest Version of Liberalism
Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church (http://www.marshillchurch.org/), was one of the early leaders in what has come to be known as the emerging or emergent church. However, he has clearly separated himself from the emergent crowd and people such as Brian McLaren because of theological reasons. In his newest book he says the following: "the emergent church is the latest version of liberalism. The only difference is that old liberalism accomodated modernity and the new liberalism accomodates postmodernity" [Mark Driscoll, Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 21-22; thanks to Challies: http://www.challies.com/archives/001863.php].
For an explanation and critique of "liberalism" check out the classic by J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1923; reprinted 2001).
Monday, May 22, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
A Peace Time Mentality in War Time
“The crying need of the hour is to put churches on a wartime footing. Mission leaders are crying out ‘Where is the church’s concept of militancy, of a mighty army willing to suffer? Where is the risk-taking, the launching out on God alone?’ The answer is it has been swallowed up in a peacetime mentality. Thousands of Christians do not hear the diabolic bombs dropping and the bullets zinging. They don’t smell the hellish Agent Orange in the whitened harvest of the world. They don’t cringe or weep at the thousands who perish every week. They don’t reckon with the spiritual hosts of wickedness of this present darkness. In fact it is not dark at all they say. It is bright and comfortable and cheery – just look at my home and car and office and cabin and boat” (John Piper in Pleasures of God; thanks to Nadi Tadros for the quote).
“The crying need of the hour is to put churches on a wartime footing. Mission leaders are crying out ‘Where is the church’s concept of militancy, of a mighty army willing to suffer? Where is the risk-taking, the launching out on God alone?’ The answer is it has been swallowed up in a peacetime mentality. Thousands of Christians do not hear the diabolic bombs dropping and the bullets zinging. They don’t smell the hellish Agent Orange in the whitened harvest of the world. They don’t cringe or weep at the thousands who perish every week. They don’t reckon with the spiritual hosts of wickedness of this present darkness. In fact it is not dark at all they say. It is bright and comfortable and cheery – just look at my home and car and office and cabin and boat” (John Piper in Pleasures of God; thanks to Nadi Tadros for the quote).
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Robert Coleman on Scripture and the State of the Church
"The dynamics of the Christian faith centers in experiencing the truth of God's Word. Whether in individuals or mass revival movements, when the Scripture is believed, blessings come; when it is questioned or compromised, decline and ruin follow" - Robert Coleman
"The dynamics of the Christian faith centers in experiencing the truth of God's Word. Whether in individuals or mass revival movements, when the Scripture is believed, blessings come; when it is questioned or compromised, decline and ruin follow" - Robert Coleman
Why is expositional preaching so rare today? Is it a must? Is it needed for the revival of the church? Here is a helpful article by David King: www.9marks.org (click on Articles; then see the article in the middle of the page).
Why Expositional Preaching Matters
Here is a powerful testimony of one pastor of what happened when he changed his preaching from "felt needs" to expositional preaching: www.9marks.org (click on Articles; then see the article in the top middle of the page).
Here is a powerful testimony of one pastor of what happened when he changed his preaching from "felt needs" to expositional preaching: www.9marks.org (click on Articles; then see the article in the top middle of the page).
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Onward Gnostic Soldier
Scholar Peter Jones (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary), author of The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back and other books that critique anti-Christian doctrines, including Cracking Da Vinci's Code, says that The Da Vinci Code has its roots in ancient Gnosticism: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/11862.
Scholar Peter Jones (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary), author of The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back and other books that critique anti-Christian doctrines, including Cracking Da Vinci's Code, says that The Da Vinci Code has its roots in ancient Gnosticism: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/11862.
The Da Vinci Phenomenon
Here is a helpful article on the Da Vinci Code in WORLD, a Christian news magazine, by Gene Edward Veith: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/11861.
Here is a helpful article on the Da Vinci Code in WORLD, a Christian news magazine, by Gene Edward Veith: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/11861.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
"God Spoke to Me," and a "Word of Knowledge": R.C. Sproul on Canon Addition
Here is something by R.C. Sproul that is worth reading. What do you think?
"There are few if any people who are lobbying to add contemporary writings to the New Testament. Nevertheless we are living in a time in which countless claims of new revelations are being made. Neopentecostal theology often views messages delievered in tongues or the utterance of 'prophecy' as new forms of revelation. Sometimes these revelations are described as true revelations but not necessarily normative for the church (despite their often containing information that might benefit the entire church). If indeed these are new revelations that have value to the church, we ask, why wouldn't they be added to the canon?
The claims of private new revelations are many. Pat Robertson routinely gets 'the word of knowedge' on national television. God reveals specific illnesses of people who live in various parts of the nation as he prays. I have seen him say things like, 'Someone in Topeka, Kansas, is right this moment being healed of a goiter.' This is an astonishing thing. Here is a man hundreds of miles from the scene who is getting supernatural revelation of the healing of a specific disease in a specific city. What puzzles me is the restricted specificity of these revelations. The disease and the city are named, but never the name and address of the person being healed. Here the prophecy can be neither verified nor falsified.
Oral Roberts tells the nation that God has revealed to him that his life will be taken if he doesn't receive a large amount of money in donations. Robert Tilton promises his constituents that he will mail them a special message from God if they send in their donations. These, of course, are crude forms of modern claims to added revelation. How these claims are entertained by the credulous is a matter of consternation for me.
But it gets more subtle. We hear respected Christian leaders claiming that God has 'spoken to them' and given specific guidance and instructions upon which they are duty bound to act and obey. They are careful to note that this divine speech was not in audible form and there is a disclaimer that this is not a new 'revelation.' Yet the message which is 'laid on the heart' is so clear and powerful that to disobey it is to disobey the voice of God. I am not speaking here of the work of the Holy Spirit by which he illumines the text of Scripture in such a sharp manner as to bring us under conviction or direct our paths. But here the Spirit works in the Word and through the Word. I am speaking of the speaking of the Spirit that men claim is working apart from the Word and in addition to the Word.
Though such claims are more often than not attended by the disclaimer that they are not revelation, the way they function is as revelation so that the distinction between them and bona fide revelation is, in actuality, a distinction without a difference" [R.C. Sproul, Scripture Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2005), 59-60].
Here is something by R.C. Sproul that is worth reading. What do you think?
"There are few if any people who are lobbying to add contemporary writings to the New Testament. Nevertheless we are living in a time in which countless claims of new revelations are being made. Neopentecostal theology often views messages delievered in tongues or the utterance of 'prophecy' as new forms of revelation. Sometimes these revelations are described as true revelations but not necessarily normative for the church (despite their often containing information that might benefit the entire church). If indeed these are new revelations that have value to the church, we ask, why wouldn't they be added to the canon?
The claims of private new revelations are many. Pat Robertson routinely gets 'the word of knowedge' on national television. God reveals specific illnesses of people who live in various parts of the nation as he prays. I have seen him say things like, 'Someone in Topeka, Kansas, is right this moment being healed of a goiter.' This is an astonishing thing. Here is a man hundreds of miles from the scene who is getting supernatural revelation of the healing of a specific disease in a specific city. What puzzles me is the restricted specificity of these revelations. The disease and the city are named, but never the name and address of the person being healed. Here the prophecy can be neither verified nor falsified.
Oral Roberts tells the nation that God has revealed to him that his life will be taken if he doesn't receive a large amount of money in donations. Robert Tilton promises his constituents that he will mail them a special message from God if they send in their donations. These, of course, are crude forms of modern claims to added revelation. How these claims are entertained by the credulous is a matter of consternation for me.
But it gets more subtle. We hear respected Christian leaders claiming that God has 'spoken to them' and given specific guidance and instructions upon which they are duty bound to act and obey. They are careful to note that this divine speech was not in audible form and there is a disclaimer that this is not a new 'revelation.' Yet the message which is 'laid on the heart' is so clear and powerful that to disobey it is to disobey the voice of God. I am not speaking here of the work of the Holy Spirit by which he illumines the text of Scripture in such a sharp manner as to bring us under conviction or direct our paths. But here the Spirit works in the Word and through the Word. I am speaking of the speaking of the Spirit that men claim is working apart from the Word and in addition to the Word.
Though such claims are more often than not attended by the disclaimer that they are not revelation, the way they function is as revelation so that the distinction between them and bona fide revelation is, in actuality, a distinction without a difference" [R.C. Sproul, Scripture Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2005), 59-60].
Friday, May 12, 2006
Is God Less Glorious Because He Ordained that Evil Be?
The following is recommended reading by two of our pastors at Rexdale Alliance Church, Sunder Krishnan and Steevens Audige, so that when suffering arises in people's lives we do not try to get God off the hook and give inane, shallow, and superficially comforting answers. Here is a biblical God-centred answer to the problem of God and evil by John Piper:
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/suffering/god_and_evil.html
The following is recommended reading by two of our pastors at Rexdale Alliance Church, Sunder Krishnan and Steevens Audige, so that when suffering arises in people's lives we do not try to get God off the hook and give inane, shallow, and superficially comforting answers. Here is a biblical God-centred answer to the problem of God and evil by John Piper:
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/suffering/god_and_evil.html
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Read the Gospel of Judas
Craig Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, encourages all Christians to read the Gospel of Judas. This is what he has to say:
"What is really sad are the Christians who tell others not to read books like the Gospel of Judas at all (or to see movies like The Da Vinci Code). What a wonderful opportunity for believers to become informed and share intelligently with their non-Christian friends whose interest has been sparked in Christian origins in ways that pure scholarship alone seldom accomplishes. Censorship merely reinforces the stereotypes that we truly do have something to hide, makes Christians look ignorant at best and repressive at worst, and actually makes it harder for certain personality-types to come to the Lord at all. Read the Gospel of Judas, and the other apocrypha and Gnostic writings for that matter. You’ll have no difference sensing in a heartbeat the entirely different philosophical context and worldview in which these documents were written. Your confidence that the church made good choices in its process of canonization will be bolstered. Your faith will be based on your own investigation and you won’t have to just take the word of others, including me. God won’t betray you in the process!"
For the full article and an excellent and thorough critique of the Gospel of Judas go here: http://www.denverseminary.edu/dj/articles2006/0200/0211.php.
Craig Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, encourages all Christians to read the Gospel of Judas. This is what he has to say:
"What is really sad are the Christians who tell others not to read books like the Gospel of Judas at all (or to see movies like The Da Vinci Code). What a wonderful opportunity for believers to become informed and share intelligently with their non-Christian friends whose interest has been sparked in Christian origins in ways that pure scholarship alone seldom accomplishes. Censorship merely reinforces the stereotypes that we truly do have something to hide, makes Christians look ignorant at best and repressive at worst, and actually makes it harder for certain personality-types to come to the Lord at all. Read the Gospel of Judas, and the other apocrypha and Gnostic writings for that matter. You’ll have no difference sensing in a heartbeat the entirely different philosophical context and worldview in which these documents were written. Your confidence that the church made good choices in its process of canonization will be bolstered. Your faith will be based on your own investigation and you won’t have to just take the word of others, including me. God won’t betray you in the process!"
For the full article and an excellent and thorough critique of the Gospel of Judas go here: http://www.denverseminary.edu/dj/articles2006/0200/0211.php.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
How to Listen to a Sermon
Here is some helpful wisdom on how to listen to a sermon: Take Care How You Listen by John Piper: http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/98/022298.html and Expositional LISTENING By Thabiti Anyabwile:
http://www.9marks.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID314526%7CCHID598014%7CCIID2190814,00.html [thanks to Justin Taylor: http://theologica.blogspot.com/].
Here is some helpful wisdom on how to listen to a sermon: Take Care How You Listen by John Piper: http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/98/022298.html and Expositional LISTENING By Thabiti Anyabwile:
http://www.9marks.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID314526%7CCHID598014%7CCIID2190814,00.html [thanks to Justin Taylor: http://theologica.blogspot.com/].
May God Raise Them Up
Arnold Dallimore: "[It is our desire]…that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more . . . raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives" [Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield, vol. 1 (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1970), p. 16--cited by John Piper in his address at Together for the Gospel; taken from Justin Taylor's blog: http://theologica.blogspot.com/].
Arnold Dallimore: "[It is our desire]…that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more . . . raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives" [Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield, vol. 1 (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1970), p. 16--cited by John Piper in his address at Together for the Gospel; taken from Justin Taylor's blog: http://theologica.blogspot.com/].
Together for the Gospel Statement
My friends, Steevens Audige and Jamie Strickland just went to a conference called: Together for the Gospel featuring Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, Albert Mohler, John MacArthur, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul. The conference came up with a statement containing both affirmations and denials about the gospel itself:
http://www.togetherforthegospel.org/T4TG-statement.pdf. This type of thing is needed, especially when divergent and unbiblical views are now in the historically Evangelical camp. It is well worth reading.
My friends, Steevens Audige and Jamie Strickland just went to a conference called: Together for the Gospel featuring Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, Albert Mohler, John MacArthur, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul. The conference came up with a statement containing both affirmations and denials about the gospel itself:
http://www.togetherforthegospel.org/T4TG-statement.pdf. This type of thing is needed, especially when divergent and unbiblical views are now in the historically Evangelical camp. It is well worth reading.
John Stott on the Cross
"Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to be saying to us, 'I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.' Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size" [John Stott, The Message of Galatians (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1968), 179 quoted in C.J. Mahaney, Humility: True Greatness (Sisters, OR: Mulnomah, 2005), 67].
"Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to be saying to us, 'I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.' Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size" [John Stott, The Message of Galatians (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1968), 179 quoted in C.J. Mahaney, Humility: True Greatness (Sisters, OR: Mulnomah, 2005), 67].
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
J.C. Ryle on Religious Knowledge
"...when knowledge only sticks in a man's head, and has no influence over his heart and life, it becomes a most perilous possession. And when, in addition to this, its possessor is self-conceited and self-satisfied, and fancies he knows everything, the result is one of the worst states of soul into which man can fall....Let us use diligently whatever religous knowledge we possess, and ask continually that God would give us more. Let us never forget that the devil himself is a creature of vast head-knowledge, and yet none the better for it, because it is not rightly used. Let our constant prayer be that which David so often sent up in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, 'Lord, Teach me Thy statutes: - give me understanding: - unite my heart to fear Thy name'" [J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, Volume II (James Clarke & Co., 1957), 182].
"...when knowledge only sticks in a man's head, and has no influence over his heart and life, it becomes a most perilous possession. And when, in addition to this, its possessor is self-conceited and self-satisfied, and fancies he knows everything, the result is one of the worst states of soul into which man can fall....Let us use diligently whatever religous knowledge we possess, and ask continually that God would give us more. Let us never forget that the devil himself is a creature of vast head-knowledge, and yet none the better for it, because it is not rightly used. Let our constant prayer be that which David so often sent up in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, 'Lord, Teach me Thy statutes: - give me understanding: - unite my heart to fear Thy name'" [J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, Volume II (James Clarke & Co., 1957), 182].
Why James MacDonald Is Not Emerging
James MacDonald, a native of Canada, pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and preacher on the radio program Walk in the Word, writes a helpful and insightful article on why he is not a part of the Emerging Church movement: http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2005/10/why_james_macdo.html.
James MacDonald, a native of Canada, pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and preacher on the radio program Walk in the Word, writes a helpful and insightful article on why he is not a part of the Emerging Church movement: http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2005/10/why_james_macdo.html.
Without Excuse: The Problem is a Lot Deeper than a Lack of Information
Michael Horton, professor of apologetics and theology at Westminster Seminary California (Escondido, California), reflects on Romans 1 in Modern Reformation magazine. I found this article helpful and relevant in understanding why people reject God, in understanding religious pluralism, and in understanding what responsibility people have before God who have never heard the gospel: http://www.modernreformation.org/mh06excuse.htm.
Michael Horton, professor of apologetics and theology at Westminster Seminary California (Escondido, California), reflects on Romans 1 in Modern Reformation magazine. I found this article helpful and relevant in understanding why people reject God, in understanding religious pluralism, and in understanding what responsibility people have before God who have never heard the gospel: http://www.modernreformation.org/mh06excuse.htm.
Monday, May 01, 2006
The Gospel of Judas: A Villain Rehabilitated?
The "Gospel of Judas" has been getting a lot of attention as of late. Here is an intelligent response by Andreas J. Kostenberger, Professor of New Testament and director of Ph.D/Th.M studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, on his website called Biblical Foundations: http://www.biblicalfoundations.org/blog/?p=34.
The "Gospel of Judas" has been getting a lot of attention as of late. Here is an intelligent response by Andreas J. Kostenberger, Professor of New Testament and director of Ph.D/Th.M studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, on his website called Biblical Foundations: http://www.biblicalfoundations.org/blog/?p=34.
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