Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was great. Mine sure was. Two full dinners, and all the turkey soup and hot turkey sandwiches I could ever want! Who's complaining? My wife's soup rocked the house!
Anyway, with a busy week of work (including trips to Binghamton and Boston), working on my Berean classes, my re-write of my book (which seems to be going nowhere, unfortunately), and church plays - plus a thousand other things - all you get from me today is another essay from another featured writer. But I don't know of too many better than john Piper, one of my personal favorites. This was in his weekly e-mail today. Enjoy. Maybe I'll actually write something of my own soon! Yes, that's a promise, not a threat...
Do Seeker-Driven Pastors & Churches Minimize the Bible?
John Piper
I have been pondering a possible relationship between the minimizing of the Bible in so-called seeker-driven churches and in some of the radical forms of contextualization that have emerged in missions. Perhaps there isn’t any connection. But I wonder. The common denominator that I am pondering is the loss of confidence that declaring what the Bible says in the power of the Holy Spirit can create and sustain the church of Christ.
John 2:11, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” I bowed and prayed, “O Lord, this is how faith happens. People are given eyes to see your glory in your person and in your deeds. Please don’t let me turn away from the ministry that puts all the emphasis on the ‘gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God’” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Then I was reminded of another text in John that connected the revelation of Christ’s glory to the written word of God. John 20:30-31, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The signs that reveal the faith-awakening glory of Christ are not mainly new signs being done today, but the signs that are written in the gospels. These are written “so that you may believe.” He “manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” That is the way faith comes. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes “He will glorify me!” (John 16:14). Therefore we declare the fullness of the glorious Person and Work of Christ in history. That is how the church is created and sustained. It seems to me that a growing number of pastors and missionaries have lost confidence in this truth. They have concluded that the gap between the glory of Christ and the felt needs of their neighbors, or between the glory of Christ and the religion of the nationals, is simply too great for the fullness of God’s word to overcome. The upshot seems to be the minimization of the Word of God in its robust and glorious fullness."
It seems to me that a growing number of pastors and missionaries have lost confidence in this truth. They have concluded that the gap between the glory of Christ and the felt needs of their neighbors, or between the glory of Christ and the religion of the nationals, is simply too great for the fullness of God’s word to overcome. The upshot seems to be the minimization of the Word of God in its robust and glorious fullness.
This is on my front burner just now because in recent weeks I have received a steady stream of testimonies from aching saints who say in so many words, “Our pastor doesn’t proclaim to us what the Bible says and means. The messages are not revelations of the glory of Christ. They are advice-talks with a religious twist.” And then I have been reading about certain kinds of gospel contextualization in missions that seem to minimize the fullness of the biblical revelation which converts should share with others. So I have been pondering whether there are connections.
I have no desire to naively equate the cultural conglomerate of western Christianity with the true, spiritual body of Christ. I can appreciate avoiding the word “Christian” in a missions context where it signifies: degenerate, materialistic, immodest western religion. And I realize that most of the ways we “do church” are culture specific rather than biblically mandated. But there are other questions that trouble me:
1) Are the essentials of biblical faith embraced by new converts to Christ, and do they make them known in love to others? For example, do they embrace and make known that the Bible is the only inspired and infallible written revelation of God, and that Christ is God and was crucified for sin and raised from the dead above all authority?
2) Are the former religious behaviors of converts to Christ, which they may retain, communicating regularly a falsehood about what the convert means and believes?
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2)?
I may be wrong about a Bible-minimizing connection between seeker-driven pastors and radically contextualizing missionaries, but it is hard not to see a loss of faith in the power of God’s Word when I hear that the Bible is not preached at home, and when I read from the frontiers: “We have little hope in our lifetime to believe for a major enough cultural, political and religious change to occur in our context such that Muslims would become open to entering Christianity on a wide scale.”
Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to come in power in our day for the sake of powerful displays of the glory of Christ in the declaration of the Word of God where those glories are revealed with infallible and converting authority.
11.27.2006
11.20.2006
Ministry in the 21st Century
I'm including another great article by Ray Pritchard. His comment that seminary doesn't resemble how ministry is done today got me thinking about my own college experience. I only graduated in 1993. E-mail was just coming into its own then. We had INTRA-net at Plattsburgh, where you could sit on your "green screen" first generation Macs (remember those?) and send little messages to others logged on in the computer lab. We thought that was incredible. Now look at the technonlogy today. It's apples to oranges. No one had laptops then. They were not even a thought for the typical college student. Now everyone has one, and Wal-Mart will sell them this Black Friday for around $200. We do live in a different world. As Christians, we either catch up and swim, or we're going to drown in the pool of irrelevency.
As an addition, Pastor Lorenzo has some "technology in minstry" details on his web site, linked to the right of this post.
How the Internet is Changing Ministry
Ray Pritchard
I ran across two recent articles that reinforced the notion that the Internet is radically reshaping how we will do ministry in the 21st century. Brian Bill pointed out an article in CT called "What's Next: Publishing and Broadcasting." Here is the money quote:
Already, industry insiders are talking about on-demand kiosks that will print paperbacks right in bookstores within seconds. These kiosks' product lists could number into the hundreds of thousands, offering bestsellers, stand-alone book chapters, and self-published titles from authors around the globe.They also imagine broadband sites and iPod/cell-phone services that will broadcast original programming from media giants alongside YouTube-style self-productions. The old media won't die, most agree, it will just be distributed in new ways, and it will face greater competition from new technologies. Radio will confront popular podcasts; TV, viral videos; books and magazines, e-publications.
The second article deals with the decision by Desiring God Ministries to take John Piper's radio broadcast off radio altogether. Calling their approach "Radio Without Radio," they offer an impressive array of statistics to show that alternative means of media delivery are skyrocketing in popularity, offering the chance to reach huge listening audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional radio ministry. Here are the four key words that shape their strategy for the future. Media must be:
Accessible: We want people to have convenient access to as many of our resources as possible. Our new website has been designed for this purpose.
Portable: We want our resources, whenever possible, to be in a portable format, so that you and others can read, listen, or view them where and when it's convenient for you.
Transferable: We want many resources that you can easily pass along or show to others, so that the vision of God we love together will most effectively spread.
Economical: We are pursuing strategies that we believe will be the most effective at spreading a passion for the supremacy of God, while keeping our costs and prices low.
Readers of this weblog know that I keep hammering away at this point. We're not living in the 50s or the 60s or the 70s. It occurred to me recently that the world that seminary prepared me to minister to bears almost no resemblance to the world we live in today. That's not a criticism, just an observation. When I attended seminary in the mid-70s, we were still following models that worked in the 50s and the 60s. Change on the horizon, and we sensed it was coming, but no one foresaw the cultural and technological revolution of the last fifteen years.
Frankly, I can't think of a better time to serve the Lord. We have tools for reaching the world that D. L. Moody (who died in 1899) and Bill Sunday (who died in 1935) never dreamed of. If we are going to reach our own generation, we must be at least as proactive with technology as Moody and Sunday (who were both innovators in terms of their evangelistic methods) were in their own day. By the way, lest anyone think I am advocating watering down the gospel message to somehow "make it relevant" to the post-moderns (or whatever term we're using nowadays), just check out John Piper's website. Everything he writes is saturated with strong biblical content, but his ministry in Minneapolis is also very innovative in the best sense of that term. He offers an excellent model for the rest of us to follow.
Occasionally I visit churches that seem to think that this is 1956 instead of 2006. And they wonder why they aren't reaching people. I am not calling for changing our message one iota, but in the name of Christ, for His glory, in order to follow His command to take the gospel to every nation, if we truly want to make disciples in our own day, we must let go of some things that worked well a generation ago and rethink how we do church, how we reach people, and how we harness modern technology for the sake of the gospel.
I keep saying this, and I intend to keep saying it because I believe it so deeply.
As an addition, Pastor Lorenzo has some "technology in minstry" details on his web site, linked to the right of this post.
How the Internet is Changing Ministry
Ray Pritchard
I ran across two recent articles that reinforced the notion that the Internet is radically reshaping how we will do ministry in the 21st century. Brian Bill pointed out an article in CT called "What's Next: Publishing and Broadcasting." Here is the money quote:
Already, industry insiders are talking about on-demand kiosks that will print paperbacks right in bookstores within seconds. These kiosks' product lists could number into the hundreds of thousands, offering bestsellers, stand-alone book chapters, and self-published titles from authors around the globe.They also imagine broadband sites and iPod/cell-phone services that will broadcast original programming from media giants alongside YouTube-style self-productions. The old media won't die, most agree, it will just be distributed in new ways, and it will face greater competition from new technologies. Radio will confront popular podcasts; TV, viral videos; books and magazines, e-publications.
The second article deals with the decision by Desiring God Ministries to take John Piper's radio broadcast off radio altogether. Calling their approach "Radio Without Radio," they offer an impressive array of statistics to show that alternative means of media delivery are skyrocketing in popularity, offering the chance to reach huge listening audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional radio ministry. Here are the four key words that shape their strategy for the future. Media must be:
Accessible: We want people to have convenient access to as many of our resources as possible. Our new website has been designed for this purpose.
Portable: We want our resources, whenever possible, to be in a portable format, so that you and others can read, listen, or view them where and when it's convenient for you.
Transferable: We want many resources that you can easily pass along or show to others, so that the vision of God we love together will most effectively spread.
Economical: We are pursuing strategies that we believe will be the most effective at spreading a passion for the supremacy of God, while keeping our costs and prices low.
Readers of this weblog know that I keep hammering away at this point. We're not living in the 50s or the 60s or the 70s. It occurred to me recently that the world that seminary prepared me to minister to bears almost no resemblance to the world we live in today. That's not a criticism, just an observation. When I attended seminary in the mid-70s, we were still following models that worked in the 50s and the 60s. Change on the horizon, and we sensed it was coming, but no one foresaw the cultural and technological revolution of the last fifteen years.
Frankly, I can't think of a better time to serve the Lord. We have tools for reaching the world that D. L. Moody (who died in 1899) and Bill Sunday (who died in 1935) never dreamed of. If we are going to reach our own generation, we must be at least as proactive with technology as Moody and Sunday (who were both innovators in terms of their evangelistic methods) were in their own day. By the way, lest anyone think I am advocating watering down the gospel message to somehow "make it relevant" to the post-moderns (or whatever term we're using nowadays), just check out John Piper's website. Everything he writes is saturated with strong biblical content, but his ministry in Minneapolis is also very innovative in the best sense of that term. He offers an excellent model for the rest of us to follow.
Occasionally I visit churches that seem to think that this is 1956 instead of 2006. And they wonder why they aren't reaching people. I am not calling for changing our message one iota, but in the name of Christ, for His glory, in order to follow His command to take the gospel to every nation, if we truly want to make disciples in our own day, we must let go of some things that worked well a generation ago and rethink how we do church, how we reach people, and how we harness modern technology for the sake of the gospel.
I keep saying this, and I intend to keep saying it because I believe it so deeply.
11.15.2006
Addendum to Elton's Letter -
I just want everyone to know that I have tried to e-mail the previous post to Elton directly to communicate with him. The only e-mail address I could find was to his record company in NYC. After sending the e-mail, it was put in the holding tank, then was mailer-daemoned. I tried. If anyone has Elton's phone number at the winter residence in Bermuda, please pass it along. I promise I'll only use it once. Then I'll destroy it...after I post it here...NO I WOULDN'T DO THAT!!!!!!!
11.13.2006
An open letter to Elton John -
Dear Elton -
I must admit at the outset that I'm not the biggest fan of your music. I'm more of a Billy Joel-type; though I'll admit to liking some of your late 70's-early 80's stuff. Anyway, I felt the need to write to you after reading your comments in my local newspaper this morning. I'm supposed to be working on a re-write of my book, but this topic seems to be front and center for me this morning.
According to the article, you said, "I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays." You went on to say, "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings, and it's not really compassionate."
As a "lemming" - a proud born-again Christian, I must say you are painting all religious people with the same broad brush that many of us paint the gay community with. You make a valid point - the "God hates fags" people ought to be ashamed of themselves. Many give gays and lesbians blind hatred and dismiss them altogether, as religious folks have done through the centuries to those they do not understand. There is intolerance, especially in the Christian church. By that, I do not mean acceptance of a lifestyle (for, no matter how we slice this, homosexuality to those who believe what the church has taught from the beginning is sinful, immoral behavior. This is not a forum to argue that topic, which could go on for days), but acceptance of a person. We should never turn anyone away from the doors of our churches, no matter what. Some feel it's just more comfortable to only deal with "our kind". It takes all the risk away.
But I see your statements as having the same basis in reality as some religious peoples' comments. Especially your idea that religion isn't compassionate. Oh, no? Who started hospitals? Christians. Who created the first schools? Christians. What group of people has workers in nearly every country on earth to help the poor, orphaned and widows? Christians? Who give BILLIONS of dollars every year to see this work goes forth? Christians. Mother Theresa? Not commpassionate? Ish!
Forget the "big names". I'd love to have you come visit my church the next time you're in the Albany, NY area on tour. I know my pastor, Lorenzo Agnes, would love to show you around our community outreach, the Haven. When we built our new sanctuary, we converted the old one into a gym/learning center. Kids come from all around to play basketball, get tutoring and find a safe place to be, off the streets. Why? Because we're in the area and it's our mandate as Christians to do it.
Hopefully, Sandy Lawyer will be home from South Africa, and you could meet her. In her retirement, she decided to go to Africa to help the widows and those dealing with HIV/AIDS. She goes door-to-door, loving each person and meeting their needs. Compassion? Meet George Snyman, the man who runs Hands @ Work in South Africa. His level of service for people is of a kind I have never seen.
My pastor left yesterday for Bulgaria, to minister at a leader's conference. We're connected to a large group of Christians, most of whom have either come out of orphanges or work with them. Our church has committed to seeing these kids grow in all ways, turning them into people who will change the culture of a nation.
Our church has a large group of people in Nuevo Laredo, Texas even as we speak, meeting several needs for a small orphange and church there.
I could even tell you of the girl several years ago in our church who wanted to work with the children in the nursery. She was HIV positive. Our church allowed her to serve, with the obvious precautions. Because she's not a leper. She deserves a place in the church. You know why her story is important? Because it's true. And because I don't even know the girl's name. My pastor mentioned it one Sunday in passing, as if to say, "Of course we let her serve. Are you crazy?"
I could go on and on about work going on in our church. And there are countless thousands of churches all across the United States and the world who work this way. Why? Because we take our beliefs seriously. And if we really live what we say we believe, it's going to radically effect the way we live our lives and what we do. We're not about putting our faces on TV or being commended for all we've done. We believe the treasure waits in Heaven. It's really not about the reward anyway. Compassionate service springs from the notion that we have been blessed beyond our ability to grasp it. We must give as we have received. I'm not just speaking of Christians, though I can only speak intelligently of my religious culture. Other faiths do great compassionate work, I'm sure, for which they simply want to help. They are to be commended for that.
I have found that it is nearly impossible to make blanket statements about groups of people. Because they are rarely, if ever, true. I find your statements about religious folks like that. You cannot justify your comments for all who hold to a faith-based belief system. Your ignorance is just as shameful as the ignorance on my side.
My invitation is open to visit to meet with me and folks from my church. I'd love to show you how compassion works and how 'narrow-minded' folks actually live. I think we'd both be surprised.
Thank you for reading this letter. I hope it finds you well.
Cordially,
Darren
I must admit at the outset that I'm not the biggest fan of your music. I'm more of a Billy Joel-type; though I'll admit to liking some of your late 70's-early 80's stuff. Anyway, I felt the need to write to you after reading your comments in my local newspaper this morning. I'm supposed to be working on a re-write of my book, but this topic seems to be front and center for me this morning.
According to the article, you said, "I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays." You went on to say, "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings, and it's not really compassionate."
As a "lemming" - a proud born-again Christian, I must say you are painting all religious people with the same broad brush that many of us paint the gay community with. You make a valid point - the "God hates fags" people ought to be ashamed of themselves. Many give gays and lesbians blind hatred and dismiss them altogether, as religious folks have done through the centuries to those they do not understand. There is intolerance, especially in the Christian church. By that, I do not mean acceptance of a lifestyle (for, no matter how we slice this, homosexuality to those who believe what the church has taught from the beginning is sinful, immoral behavior. This is not a forum to argue that topic, which could go on for days), but acceptance of a person. We should never turn anyone away from the doors of our churches, no matter what. Some feel it's just more comfortable to only deal with "our kind". It takes all the risk away.
But I see your statements as having the same basis in reality as some religious peoples' comments. Especially your idea that religion isn't compassionate. Oh, no? Who started hospitals? Christians. Who created the first schools? Christians. What group of people has workers in nearly every country on earth to help the poor, orphaned and widows? Christians? Who give BILLIONS of dollars every year to see this work goes forth? Christians. Mother Theresa? Not commpassionate? Ish!
Forget the "big names". I'd love to have you come visit my church the next time you're in the Albany, NY area on tour. I know my pastor, Lorenzo Agnes, would love to show you around our community outreach, the Haven. When we built our new sanctuary, we converted the old one into a gym/learning center. Kids come from all around to play basketball, get tutoring and find a safe place to be, off the streets. Why? Because we're in the area and it's our mandate as Christians to do it.
Hopefully, Sandy Lawyer will be home from South Africa, and you could meet her. In her retirement, she decided to go to Africa to help the widows and those dealing with HIV/AIDS. She goes door-to-door, loving each person and meeting their needs. Compassion? Meet George Snyman, the man who runs Hands @ Work in South Africa. His level of service for people is of a kind I have never seen.
My pastor left yesterday for Bulgaria, to minister at a leader's conference. We're connected to a large group of Christians, most of whom have either come out of orphanges or work with them. Our church has committed to seeing these kids grow in all ways, turning them into people who will change the culture of a nation.
Our church has a large group of people in Nuevo Laredo, Texas even as we speak, meeting several needs for a small orphange and church there.
I could even tell you of the girl several years ago in our church who wanted to work with the children in the nursery. She was HIV positive. Our church allowed her to serve, with the obvious precautions. Because she's not a leper. She deserves a place in the church. You know why her story is important? Because it's true. And because I don't even know the girl's name. My pastor mentioned it one Sunday in passing, as if to say, "Of course we let her serve. Are you crazy?"
I could go on and on about work going on in our church. And there are countless thousands of churches all across the United States and the world who work this way. Why? Because we take our beliefs seriously. And if we really live what we say we believe, it's going to radically effect the way we live our lives and what we do. We're not about putting our faces on TV or being commended for all we've done. We believe the treasure waits in Heaven. It's really not about the reward anyway. Compassionate service springs from the notion that we have been blessed beyond our ability to grasp it. We must give as we have received. I'm not just speaking of Christians, though I can only speak intelligently of my religious culture. Other faiths do great compassionate work, I'm sure, for which they simply want to help. They are to be commended for that.
I have found that it is nearly impossible to make blanket statements about groups of people. Because they are rarely, if ever, true. I find your statements about religious folks like that. You cannot justify your comments for all who hold to a faith-based belief system. Your ignorance is just as shameful as the ignorance on my side.
My invitation is open to visit to meet with me and folks from my church. I'd love to show you how compassion works and how 'narrow-minded' folks actually live. I think we'd both be surprised.
Thank you for reading this letter. I hope it finds you well.
Cordially,
Darren
11.10.2006
A necessary apology -
It was brought to my attention tonight that information that was posted in a prior article here on my blog site was hurtful and damaging to a relationship I have with certain brothers in the Lord. It is never my intention to smear people or to let personal issues become public fodder. I screwed up and spit out stuff that should have been kept private.
I ask those who were offended for forgiveness. I am truly sorry for letting, possibly, the whole world know what was going on between the three of us. I guess I forgot that, in reality, people really do read this stuff. And I am responsible for what is written here.
I have deleted that section of the article from the site, never to be seen again. And I will surely be more careful about the things that are posted here. We can speak our minds and have concrete opinions. But not when they cross the line into bad taste or, in my case, closed-door issues.
Again, I ask those who were hurt for forgiveness. You got me. I blew it.
I ask those who were offended for forgiveness. I am truly sorry for letting, possibly, the whole world know what was going on between the three of us. I guess I forgot that, in reality, people really do read this stuff. And I am responsible for what is written here.
I have deleted that section of the article from the site, never to be seen again. And I will surely be more careful about the things that are posted here. We can speak our minds and have concrete opinions. But not when they cross the line into bad taste or, in my case, closed-door issues.
Again, I ask those who were hurt for forgiveness. You got me. I blew it.
11.08.2006
Let me qualify my last post, with another radio guy's comments...
In listening to even more talk radio tonight (I'm a glutton for punishment, no?) I heard Michael Savage - typically out of control and unlistenable - said something interesting.
I commented how most Republicans lost and how it seems like people are rejecting the conservative message as expounded upon by Rush and Hannity, etc. Well, Savage pointed out that many conservative referendums passed - limiting affirmative action in Michigan, parental notification law in California, several same-sex marriage bills. Even in states where Republican senators or Congress seats were won by Democrats, conservative ballot initiatives won. What do we make of all this? It seems to be the classic "throw the bums out" mentality.
Conservatives have watered down Reagan's message. They spend too much, they're weak on border enforcement, they mostly sound like Democrats. Maybe the American people are very smart and more conservative than we think. They are craving someone to stand up and unashamedly say, "I'm a conservative". Maybe Rush is right. A candidate who doesn't compromise on thier right-wing beliefs would actually win!
Savage says it was a moratorium on Iraq. I can see that, especially now that Rumsfeld got the ax. But I don't know if I'd do anything different. What DO you do? No one else I've heard today has a better idea than what's currently happening. If there seems to be a better idea well, by all means, do it!
It will be interesting to see what the Democrats come up with. Maybe the charge will be led by new congress-chick Kirsten Gillibrand...man, why do I have to take a dump everytime I say her name? Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now...
I commented how most Republicans lost and how it seems like people are rejecting the conservative message as expounded upon by Rush and Hannity, etc. Well, Savage pointed out that many conservative referendums passed - limiting affirmative action in Michigan, parental notification law in California, several same-sex marriage bills. Even in states where Republican senators or Congress seats were won by Democrats, conservative ballot initiatives won. What do we make of all this? It seems to be the classic "throw the bums out" mentality.
Conservatives have watered down Reagan's message. They spend too much, they're weak on border enforcement, they mostly sound like Democrats. Maybe the American people are very smart and more conservative than we think. They are craving someone to stand up and unashamedly say, "I'm a conservative". Maybe Rush is right. A candidate who doesn't compromise on thier right-wing beliefs would actually win!
Savage says it was a moratorium on Iraq. I can see that, especially now that Rumsfeld got the ax. But I don't know if I'd do anything different. What DO you do? No one else I've heard today has a better idea than what's currently happening. If there seems to be a better idea well, by all means, do it!
It will be interesting to see what the Democrats come up with. Maybe the charge will be led by new congress-chick Kirsten Gillibrand...man, why do I have to take a dump everytime I say her name? Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now...
Limbaugh and Hannity - shut the %$!@#% up!
What? Has he completely lost his mind? Has passion and belief in Kirsten Gillibrand's congressional campaign overtaken Mr. True Heart Times? Hardly...
I spend quite a bit of time listening to political talk radio. I'm not a die-hard; it does get a little tiring after a while. But I'm thinking all of these guys have jumped the shark. They're becoming irrelevant. At least their constant badgering of the listener is growing tiresome.
Here's why I say this - All of these national guys (Rush, Hannity, Glenn Beck, et al) are listened to by countless millions of people every day. They are on the most listened to radio stations in the country. Their books go to #1 on the best sellers' list. They all are vitriolic - the nation skews conservative. They have been beating the Democrats up for months and years. I can't tell you how many times I heard Sean Hannity say, "The thought of Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House ought to scare you.". Well, it does scare me. But apparently, it doesn't scare enough people, since beginning Jan. 1, she will be. With all of the listeners they have, all of the power they supposedly possess, all of the campaigning they did for their "buddies", most every conservative that ran for office lost! But how can that be, guys? If so many of your listeners were motivated enough to go to the polls, wouldn't there be enough votes across the nation for the "good guys" to win? It just seems odd to me that despite all of the venom they shot at the Democrats, they still came out and won.
Of course, with the Senate apparently 51-49 and the House swinging just a couple of Reps to the Democrats, it's hardly a "national mandate". The left cannot claim some kind of completely victory. But Santorum, Allen (who I thought had a shot for President in '08), John Sweeney (more on him later), and so many others losing, we need to re-evaluate the effect talk radio has on the political process.
John Sweeney's seat was fought for by Kirsten Gillibrand, a political newcomer. They didn't debate, and the ads that were slung back and forth between them were disgusting on both ends. I still haven't heard Kirsten...
I'm sorry, let me give and aside here. I can't deal with
the fact that we have a local congress-ette named
"Kirsten". It's like my lawyer being named "Barbie".
Anyway...
I still haven't hear Kirsten (ick) talk for more than 30 seconds in an ad. I don't really even know if there IS a Kirsten Gillibrand. I contest she's just a New York City actress paid to stand in for Bill Clinton, who's really running the show. I know, lots of anger. But here's my point - and I do have one - Paul Vandenburgh is the #1 talk morning host in Albany. He's a conservative and, to be fair, a friend of John Sweeney. But on Election Day, Paul was on the air telling all his listeners to go and vote for Sweeney. He'd been doing that for weeks, months! And you know what? Even the #1 guy in the market couldn't get the people to re-elect a three term Congressman who's done great things. Evil commercials, nasty politics, a little Bill Clinton and WHAM! you can win the election. Congress-chick Kirsten (bleck) Gillibrand.
I am not saying we should give liberals the benefit of the doubt. They are going to raise my taxes, allow same-sex marriage, abortions all over the place, investigations and impeachement proceedings, and anti-Christian bigotry. That's not conjecture; that's from their own press conferences today.
But now the right-wing talk show hosts are spinning so fast they're going to toss their cookies. Rush says he feels liberated. At least Hannity was giving examples of how the right messed it up. But Sean kept saying, "Don't let your heart be troubled.". Kind of like Kevin Bacon in "Animal House" - he kept saying "All is Well!" as he gets trampled by the thundering horde. Clueless. We also have to thank the guy in Colorado who outed Ted Haggard last week. That didn't help either.
I think talk radio needs to re-evaluate its message. Yesterday proved most talk radio hosts are screaming and yelling and carrying on and many are listening, but it seems they're losing ground. More and more are drifting away from the party line. Has their brand of talk radio crossed too much into entertainment? With situations like the Michael J. Fox controversy, did Rush BECOME the news instead of commenting on it? Were people turned off by that? I think time will tell on many of these issues.
I know that as I grow in Christ, and get more involved in social action at my church, I'm finding myself not as right-wing as I thought I was. Jesus was not a Republican, remember! Christians can't just buy everything the Republicans feed them. As my pastor said on Sunday, "Don't vote as a Republican, Democrat, Green, Yellow, Purple, ETC., vote as a resident of the Kingdom of God." I did. ALL of those I voted for last night lost. But His Kingdom is not of this world. Should I expect any less than all of my preferences going down?
It will be an interesting two years. Kirsten...Ugh! I think I'm going to be sick...
I spend quite a bit of time listening to political talk radio. I'm not a die-hard; it does get a little tiring after a while. But I'm thinking all of these guys have jumped the shark. They're becoming irrelevant. At least their constant badgering of the listener is growing tiresome.
Here's why I say this - All of these national guys (Rush, Hannity, Glenn Beck, et al) are listened to by countless millions of people every day. They are on the most listened to radio stations in the country. Their books go to #1 on the best sellers' list. They all are vitriolic - the nation skews conservative. They have been beating the Democrats up for months and years. I can't tell you how many times I heard Sean Hannity say, "The thought of Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House ought to scare you.". Well, it does scare me. But apparently, it doesn't scare enough people, since beginning Jan. 1, she will be. With all of the listeners they have, all of the power they supposedly possess, all of the campaigning they did for their "buddies", most every conservative that ran for office lost! But how can that be, guys? If so many of your listeners were motivated enough to go to the polls, wouldn't there be enough votes across the nation for the "good guys" to win? It just seems odd to me that despite all of the venom they shot at the Democrats, they still came out and won.
Of course, with the Senate apparently 51-49 and the House swinging just a couple of Reps to the Democrats, it's hardly a "national mandate". The left cannot claim some kind of completely victory. But Santorum, Allen (who I thought had a shot for President in '08), John Sweeney (more on him later), and so many others losing, we need to re-evaluate the effect talk radio has on the political process.
John Sweeney's seat was fought for by Kirsten Gillibrand, a political newcomer. They didn't debate, and the ads that were slung back and forth between them were disgusting on both ends. I still haven't heard Kirsten...
I'm sorry, let me give and aside here. I can't deal with
the fact that we have a local congress-ette named
"Kirsten". It's like my lawyer being named "Barbie".
Anyway...
I still haven't hear Kirsten (ick) talk for more than 30 seconds in an ad. I don't really even know if there IS a Kirsten Gillibrand. I contest she's just a New York City actress paid to stand in for Bill Clinton, who's really running the show. I know, lots of anger. But here's my point - and I do have one - Paul Vandenburgh is the #1 talk morning host in Albany. He's a conservative and, to be fair, a friend of John Sweeney. But on Election Day, Paul was on the air telling all his listeners to go and vote for Sweeney. He'd been doing that for weeks, months! And you know what? Even the #1 guy in the market couldn't get the people to re-elect a three term Congressman who's done great things. Evil commercials, nasty politics, a little Bill Clinton and WHAM! you can win the election. Congress-chick Kirsten (bleck) Gillibrand.
I am not saying we should give liberals the benefit of the doubt. They are going to raise my taxes, allow same-sex marriage, abortions all over the place, investigations and impeachement proceedings, and anti-Christian bigotry. That's not conjecture; that's from their own press conferences today.
But now the right-wing talk show hosts are spinning so fast they're going to toss their cookies. Rush says he feels liberated. At least Hannity was giving examples of how the right messed it up. But Sean kept saying, "Don't let your heart be troubled.". Kind of like Kevin Bacon in "Animal House" - he kept saying "All is Well!" as he gets trampled by the thundering horde. Clueless. We also have to thank the guy in Colorado who outed Ted Haggard last week. That didn't help either.
I think talk radio needs to re-evaluate its message. Yesterday proved most talk radio hosts are screaming and yelling and carrying on and many are listening, but it seems they're losing ground. More and more are drifting away from the party line. Has their brand of talk radio crossed too much into entertainment? With situations like the Michael J. Fox controversy, did Rush BECOME the news instead of commenting on it? Were people turned off by that? I think time will tell on many of these issues.
I know that as I grow in Christ, and get more involved in social action at my church, I'm finding myself not as right-wing as I thought I was. Jesus was not a Republican, remember! Christians can't just buy everything the Republicans feed them. As my pastor said on Sunday, "Don't vote as a Republican, Democrat, Green, Yellow, Purple, ETC., vote as a resident of the Kingdom of God." I did. ALL of those I voted for last night lost. But His Kingdom is not of this world. Should I expect any less than all of my preferences going down?
It will be an interesting two years. Kirsten...Ugh! I think I'm going to be sick...
11.05.2006
OK, so I wrote this book last year...
It was called On the Fritz. It was the story of a successful pastor, Steven Hassmann, who seemingly had it all - a large, influential church, a beautiful wife and daughter, a strong marriage. And now, the latest and greatest: he's been hand-picked to be the new President of the National Evangelical Union, the largest Christian organization of its kind. Nothing could be better, right? Except the fact that Steven has had a sexual addiction since high school.
He tried to keep it all under wraps. The mountain of dirty magazines he'd collected. The on-going relationship with a prostitute while at seminary. The random encounters he'd line up while traveling the country "preaching the good news". Rev. Hassmann's double life is found out at the worst possible time for himself and the organization. He is stripped of his pastorate and his title and goes into seclusion. The rest of the book details what happens next - hitting rock bottom and the healing that comes as a result.
Sound vaguely familiar? I was stunned when I read of Ted Haggard's mess Friday morning. 24 hours later, and he's a goner. He never admitted to having sex with the massage guy, but it's obvious what he was doing was out of bounds and he needed to be punished for it.
I'm angry that Haggard was doing all this. That he was so loose with his personal issues. I'm angry that no one around him saw the signs or, if they did, had the stones to say something. I'm angry for the political opportunism that is so apparent in all this. I'm angry for trash blogs like the one at (no surprise) the San Francisco Chronicle, who accuse Haggard of everything from male gang sex to beastiality, profaning the name of Jesus in the process. I'm angry that Christians now will have to answer all the Jim Bakker/Jimmy Swaggart/et al questions again.
I'm angry that most Christians won't be able to come up with a suitable answer to the world's blistering critiques. I'm angry that even this won't wake up most men who are bound up by sexual addiction, and they'll stay locked away in their closets, convinced no one will ever know.
Proverbs 26:24-26 says, "A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.". Remember Moses' famous line, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). NO ONE can get away with sin forever. If there is hypocrisy, it will be exposed. Set up as much Teflon around you as you want to, it doesn't matter. Light will shine on you sooner or later. I tried to hide my sex addiction for years. No one needs to know that. I can be on the radio, preach in churches, expect to pastor a church even! All with the core of my being rotting away from unrepentant sin. I confessed to my wife, my pastors, the guys at GFF. I found freedom. Am I 100% yet? No way. I still struggle daily. I'm finding it easier, little by little, to not let my eyes wander. I check lust on a minute by minute basis. I'm doing much better.
But why am I where I am now? Because I confessed it! I spoke it out to many people. I broke the agreement with the enemy. Psalm 32 is a beautiful account of David confessing sin to the Lord. Verses 3 and 4 says, "When I kept silent (did not confess my sin), my bones wasted away...your hand was heavy on me...my stength was sapped". It's obvious unspoken sin was taking its toll on David. What happens in the physical realm when we have a disease inside us, like cancer, that we don't treat? It destroys us. Sin does the exact same thing. Thanks to Jesus taking our sin, we no longer have to bear the weight of it. It's not like we could BEFORE the cross either. But they had the sacrifices to at least give them some semblance of hope. Now we can lay all our burdens on Jesus. The trouble is, we still have pride and think we can save ourselves. Even Christians I have heard talk about how they need to just "toughen up and get back in the Word" to get rid of sin. News flash for you all: No works you do will get rid of your sin. Pray all you want for healing and freedom, change jobs, go to church eight days a week. You'll still be tempted.
What does it take? First, it's trust that Jesus is who He said He was. If He came to save His people from their sins, that means every last one of them is forgiven. There is no "back room" where you hide all the really nasty ones. Even if there were, He'd know about it and want you to confess it anyway. Second, it's confessing the sin. 1 John 1:9 is good here, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.". The next portion of Psalm 32 is also good, "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity....and you forgave the guilt of my sin." (v. 5). Third, it's like the woman Jesus caught in adultery - "Go and sin no more (John 8:11)" - we need to turn away from the sin. Not in a self-effectuating sort of "I'm tougher than my sin and I can beat it", but a humble, innocent, "I'm going to strive after Jesus with all I have. I'm sorry, I don't have time for my sin any more".
All that to say this: Ted Haggard made some GIGANTIC mistakes, which he'll never get back. If his mindset is as mine was two years ago, he never wanted to hurt anyone, never wanted to destroy a church and a national movement. But here he is. God has forgiven him, we can too (though it will be in stages for some). We prayed for him and his family in church this morning. I realized this morning how utterly desperate I am for His grace. As good as he's been in the last 17 years, even just today! there were untold numbers of times that I've turned around and spit at Jesus as I disobeyed and sinned. But yet He still forgives. He's still faithful. No matter how far away the person has gone, Jesus ALWAYS takes us back. He has taken Ted back. No questions asked.
If you are reading this and you've never asked for His forgiveness, you need to do it now. You know now, the Holy Spirit is convicting you, that what you've been doing is wrong and you have no way to clean your soul on your own. Jesus will do it for you. He already has, by dying that substitutionary death on the cross. Don't listen to what some may say, "God isn't real. The church is playing a game. They're all hypocrites". I dare you, look into my life. You know what you'll find? I am saved by grace, and this not of myself, it is the gift of God. Jesus never asked us to be perfect. He wants us to be holy, set apart.
May Ted Haggard and his family find hope, support, peace and privacy during this tough moment.
He tried to keep it all under wraps. The mountain of dirty magazines he'd collected. The on-going relationship with a prostitute while at seminary. The random encounters he'd line up while traveling the country "preaching the good news". Rev. Hassmann's double life is found out at the worst possible time for himself and the organization. He is stripped of his pastorate and his title and goes into seclusion. The rest of the book details what happens next - hitting rock bottom and the healing that comes as a result.
Sound vaguely familiar? I was stunned when I read of Ted Haggard's mess Friday morning. 24 hours later, and he's a goner. He never admitted to having sex with the massage guy, but it's obvious what he was doing was out of bounds and he needed to be punished for it.
I'm angry that Haggard was doing all this. That he was so loose with his personal issues. I'm angry that no one around him saw the signs or, if they did, had the stones to say something. I'm angry for the political opportunism that is so apparent in all this. I'm angry for trash blogs like the one at (no surprise) the San Francisco Chronicle, who accuse Haggard of everything from male gang sex to beastiality, profaning the name of Jesus in the process. I'm angry that Christians now will have to answer all the Jim Bakker/Jimmy Swaggart/et al questions again.
I'm angry that most Christians won't be able to come up with a suitable answer to the world's blistering critiques. I'm angry that even this won't wake up most men who are bound up by sexual addiction, and they'll stay locked away in their closets, convinced no one will ever know.
Proverbs 26:24-26 says, "A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.". Remember Moses' famous line, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). NO ONE can get away with sin forever. If there is hypocrisy, it will be exposed. Set up as much Teflon around you as you want to, it doesn't matter. Light will shine on you sooner or later. I tried to hide my sex addiction for years. No one needs to know that. I can be on the radio, preach in churches, expect to pastor a church even! All with the core of my being rotting away from unrepentant sin. I confessed to my wife, my pastors, the guys at GFF. I found freedom. Am I 100% yet? No way. I still struggle daily. I'm finding it easier, little by little, to not let my eyes wander. I check lust on a minute by minute basis. I'm doing much better.
But why am I where I am now? Because I confessed it! I spoke it out to many people. I broke the agreement with the enemy. Psalm 32 is a beautiful account of David confessing sin to the Lord. Verses 3 and 4 says, "When I kept silent (did not confess my sin), my bones wasted away...your hand was heavy on me...my stength was sapped". It's obvious unspoken sin was taking its toll on David. What happens in the physical realm when we have a disease inside us, like cancer, that we don't treat? It destroys us. Sin does the exact same thing. Thanks to Jesus taking our sin, we no longer have to bear the weight of it. It's not like we could BEFORE the cross either. But they had the sacrifices to at least give them some semblance of hope. Now we can lay all our burdens on Jesus. The trouble is, we still have pride and think we can save ourselves. Even Christians I have heard talk about how they need to just "toughen up and get back in the Word" to get rid of sin. News flash for you all: No works you do will get rid of your sin. Pray all you want for healing and freedom, change jobs, go to church eight days a week. You'll still be tempted.
What does it take? First, it's trust that Jesus is who He said He was. If He came to save His people from their sins, that means every last one of them is forgiven. There is no "back room" where you hide all the really nasty ones. Even if there were, He'd know about it and want you to confess it anyway. Second, it's confessing the sin. 1 John 1:9 is good here, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.". The next portion of Psalm 32 is also good, "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity....and you forgave the guilt of my sin." (v. 5). Third, it's like the woman Jesus caught in adultery - "Go and sin no more (John 8:11)" - we need to turn away from the sin. Not in a self-effectuating sort of "I'm tougher than my sin and I can beat it", but a humble, innocent, "I'm going to strive after Jesus with all I have. I'm sorry, I don't have time for my sin any more".
All that to say this: Ted Haggard made some GIGANTIC mistakes, which he'll never get back. If his mindset is as mine was two years ago, he never wanted to hurt anyone, never wanted to destroy a church and a national movement. But here he is. God has forgiven him, we can too (though it will be in stages for some). We prayed for him and his family in church this morning. I realized this morning how utterly desperate I am for His grace. As good as he's been in the last 17 years, even just today! there were untold numbers of times that I've turned around and spit at Jesus as I disobeyed and sinned. But yet He still forgives. He's still faithful. No matter how far away the person has gone, Jesus ALWAYS takes us back. He has taken Ted back. No questions asked.
If you are reading this and you've never asked for His forgiveness, you need to do it now. You know now, the Holy Spirit is convicting you, that what you've been doing is wrong and you have no way to clean your soul on your own. Jesus will do it for you. He already has, by dying that substitutionary death on the cross. Don't listen to what some may say, "God isn't real. The church is playing a game. They're all hypocrites". I dare you, look into my life. You know what you'll find? I am saved by grace, and this not of myself, it is the gift of God. Jesus never asked us to be perfect. He wants us to be holy, set apart.
May Ted Haggard and his family find hope, support, peace and privacy during this tough moment.
11.04.2006
"Have You Been to Jail for Justice?"
I got a couple of comp tickets to see Peter, Paul and Mary last night. I thought it would be a nice date night for me and Carissa, my eight year old. You know, "Puff the Magic Dragon" and all that. In my naivete, I said to my wife over dinner last night, "Boy, I hope they don't spend all night ranting and raving about politics." I wouldn't call it ranting and raving - more like a constant dull whine. The kind you get in your car. But instead of fixing it, you just push the car over a cliff to put it out of its misery. After nearly two and a half hours, I was just about ready to gauge my eyes out with a spoon.
Let's see, which part was the wackiest: the two blatant references to accepting the gay/lesbian lifestyle, the equating of rejecting illegal immigrants to "bigotry" (in a song, appropriately named "Hey Mr. Bigot"), the speech Mary gave where she got a stem cell transplant for her leukemia but they "weren't the type the President hates"; then she considered reversing the procedure if she found out her stem cell donor was a Republican. Then there's the song that spawned the title of this entry, "Have You Been to Jail for Justice", an obvious 60's hold over. There's just something odd about seeing Mary violently shaking her cane at the audience, yelling, "SEND 'EM ALL TO JAIL!!!!" as if she's yelling for the neighborhood punks to get off her lawn.
Average age of the audience: 55
Average number of conservatives present: 1
Several thoughts went through my head as I sat being "entertained" -
First, if I attempted to yell, "Shut up and sing!", I wouldn't been hurled from the balcony. So I sat there and took it like a man. Speaking of men...
There were supposed to be two men singing on stage. I couldn't find them. Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey are nice guys. Sweet, kind, compassionate, thoughtful. They're Mr. Rogers! I kept thinking, in true Wild at Heart fashion, "They may be heroes, famous for their protest songs; but I wouldn't want them to be my dad. I wouldn't want to be like them." They're soft, almost feminine. It's all about emotion to them. There is no realism, no facts. Just love one another, be tolerant and compassionate, and everything will be OK. They may be bold, but it's the boldness you would see from a woman. It's no wonder gender roles are blurred in their politics - they seem rather confused themselves.
I also considered the weight of their message. They advocate harmony and working together. All that "This Land is Your Land/If I Had A Hammer/We Shall Overcome" business. But they are so antagonistic to anyone who doesn't agree with them. If I, as a Christian who is a conservative, told them I work to reduce poverty and bring equality to the inner city, but only by using a Gospel-centered program, they'd ridicule me, call me intolerant and narrow-minded. It's only inclusive if it includes everyone who thinks like them.
Lastly, I was struck by the lengths they would go to stand up for ca-ca politics and dogma. I was seeing images of myself standing up for the cause of Christ, press conferences, books, speeches, confrontation, etc. "Have I Been to Jail for Justice?" No. And I'm ashamed by that. Not that I have been thrown in jail for my faith. But do I live so that all would know what I beleive from day one? Do I witness for Him when it's convenient, or when someone needs to hear? What legnths would I go to proclaim that He Lives, He has His being in us. We need to move on the offensive, beat back the darkness. Would we stand on the corner and protest if the government tried to take our religious freedoms away? Risk losing our jobs, our homes, etc.
This week's Today's Pentecostal Evangel magazine details the plight of the persecuted church around the world. Some of the stories will make you sick. Blatant human rights violations. Now, the Peter, Paul and Marys of the world will defend these foreigners right to religious freedom (at least I hope so, or we're in bigger trouble than I thought) overseas, but will attempt to pass laws to shut Christians up here! They will stand and sing pseudo-spirituals, but approve of a school denying a Christian student the right to pray in school. Shouldn't the children of the sixties be so open-minded, that ALL ideas would have equal value in the marketplace. But there is something they hate about the cross. And those who follow Him. We're narrow-minded, intolerant. We deserve no place in the public square.
I think it's going to take a new Martin Luther King, Jr. in our generation. Someone with the stones to face all the onslaught of the lefties and come out smelling sweet. Only a God-anointed person could do that. I'd get chewed up in three seconds. But God has a man, I know it. We almost need to create a new protest streak. Amazingly enough, the last one is now in power in many places. And they rule by fear an intimidation, the very thing they accused their parents' generation of. It's truly amazing to see how they've become what they once feared.
Well, I've sufficiently washed all the liberalism off. At least all Carissa remembers is "Puff" and stopping by the gift shop and getting a new Beany Baby. Thankfully, she's too young to be brainwashed. I can't say the same for the more than 2,000 who were there with me.
I also want to tackle the Ted Haggard mess. As one who wrote (what is now slightly prophetic) On the Fritz, the story of a pastor who is dismissed from his church based on sexual allegations, I think I offer a fresh perspective on it all. Hopefully, tomorrow. If not, soon. You'll see...
Let's see, which part was the wackiest: the two blatant references to accepting the gay/lesbian lifestyle, the equating of rejecting illegal immigrants to "bigotry" (in a song, appropriately named "Hey Mr. Bigot"), the speech Mary gave where she got a stem cell transplant for her leukemia but they "weren't the type the President hates"; then she considered reversing the procedure if she found out her stem cell donor was a Republican. Then there's the song that spawned the title of this entry, "Have You Been to Jail for Justice", an obvious 60's hold over. There's just something odd about seeing Mary violently shaking her cane at the audience, yelling, "SEND 'EM ALL TO JAIL!!!!" as if she's yelling for the neighborhood punks to get off her lawn.
Average age of the audience: 55
Average number of conservatives present: 1
Several thoughts went through my head as I sat being "entertained" -
First, if I attempted to yell, "Shut up and sing!", I wouldn't been hurled from the balcony. So I sat there and took it like a man. Speaking of men...
There were supposed to be two men singing on stage. I couldn't find them. Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey are nice guys. Sweet, kind, compassionate, thoughtful. They're Mr. Rogers! I kept thinking, in true Wild at Heart fashion, "They may be heroes, famous for their protest songs; but I wouldn't want them to be my dad. I wouldn't want to be like them." They're soft, almost feminine. It's all about emotion to them. There is no realism, no facts. Just love one another, be tolerant and compassionate, and everything will be OK. They may be bold, but it's the boldness you would see from a woman. It's no wonder gender roles are blurred in their politics - they seem rather confused themselves.
I also considered the weight of their message. They advocate harmony and working together. All that "This Land is Your Land/If I Had A Hammer/We Shall Overcome" business. But they are so antagonistic to anyone who doesn't agree with them. If I, as a Christian who is a conservative, told them I work to reduce poverty and bring equality to the inner city, but only by using a Gospel-centered program, they'd ridicule me, call me intolerant and narrow-minded. It's only inclusive if it includes everyone who thinks like them.
Lastly, I was struck by the lengths they would go to stand up for ca-ca politics and dogma. I was seeing images of myself standing up for the cause of Christ, press conferences, books, speeches, confrontation, etc. "Have I Been to Jail for Justice?" No. And I'm ashamed by that. Not that I have been thrown in jail for my faith. But do I live so that all would know what I beleive from day one? Do I witness for Him when it's convenient, or when someone needs to hear? What legnths would I go to proclaim that He Lives, He has His being in us. We need to move on the offensive, beat back the darkness. Would we stand on the corner and protest if the government tried to take our religious freedoms away? Risk losing our jobs, our homes, etc.
This week's Today's Pentecostal Evangel magazine details the plight of the persecuted church around the world. Some of the stories will make you sick. Blatant human rights violations. Now, the Peter, Paul and Marys of the world will defend these foreigners right to religious freedom (at least I hope so, or we're in bigger trouble than I thought) overseas, but will attempt to pass laws to shut Christians up here! They will stand and sing pseudo-spirituals, but approve of a school denying a Christian student the right to pray in school. Shouldn't the children of the sixties be so open-minded, that ALL ideas would have equal value in the marketplace. But there is something they hate about the cross. And those who follow Him. We're narrow-minded, intolerant. We deserve no place in the public square.
I think it's going to take a new Martin Luther King, Jr. in our generation. Someone with the stones to face all the onslaught of the lefties and come out smelling sweet. Only a God-anointed person could do that. I'd get chewed up in three seconds. But God has a man, I know it. We almost need to create a new protest streak. Amazingly enough, the last one is now in power in many places. And they rule by fear an intimidation, the very thing they accused their parents' generation of. It's truly amazing to see how they've become what they once feared.
Well, I've sufficiently washed all the liberalism off. At least all Carissa remembers is "Puff" and stopping by the gift shop and getting a new Beany Baby. Thankfully, she's too young to be brainwashed. I can't say the same for the more than 2,000 who were there with me.
I also want to tackle the Ted Haggard mess. As one who wrote (what is now slightly prophetic) On the Fritz, the story of a pastor who is dismissed from his church based on sexual allegations, I think I offer a fresh perspective on it all. Hopefully, tomorrow. If not, soon. You'll see...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)