I can’t imagine a more appropriate time than Easter Sunday to make a momentous announcement regarding the future of my ministry. For the time being, I will be suspending my online activities to pursue a fresh calling, and here’s why:
Newsweek’s latest cover story, The Decline and Fall of Christian America, documents the ongoing secularization of our nation. This is fast becoming old news, but the article rather gleefully points out that the number of self-identified Christians has fallen by 10% over the past 20 years, while the number claiming no religious faith has risen from 8% to 15%.
As I pondered this trend, I realized that young pastors today need help. Of course, there is no shortage of advice on church growth strategies, most of them involving half-baked “seeker sensitive” methods. But who is helping today’s Christian leader cope with the steady trickle of members who are leaving the church?
That’s where I come in. During my years as a pastor, the churches I led consistently declined in attendance despite the doctrinally pure biblical teaching that I presented. Eventually, I realized that Jesus was right:
Narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:14)
This meant that, far from failing as a leader, I was actually performing the noble service of reducing each church to the few right-thinking, true-believing Christians it held (driving away the phonies and wingnuts in the process). And I suspect that the same thing is happening across America today.
So to help young pastors navigate these turbulent waters, I will be writing a book based on my years of experience with purifying congregations. It is tentatively titled I’m Right and You’re Not: A Guide to Separating the Sheep From the Goats in the Local Church.
I anticipate that writing this book, conducting promotional tours, etc. will occupy the time I normally devoted to this blog and my ham radio ministry. But you may hear from me again, and in the meantime, I wish to thank my loyal readers – especially my right-thinking friends from the Great White North.
How could this have happened? In the video below, Iowa state Senator Matt McCoy cites Iowa’s long-standing commitment to “civil rights” and a distaste for Republicans’ obsession with “fringe social issues.”
Maybe so, but since California voters shot down same-sex marriage last year, Iowans may soon have their hands full assimilating a bunch of whacked-out, left-coast liberals. Good luck with that!
All my Christian friends have gotten married, but I’m almost 40 and still single. Why hasn’t God blessed me with a spouse?
This is where many well-meaning pastors like to point out that both Jesus and Paul had a high view of the single life. Jesus applauded those who were “eunuchs” for the sake of God’s kingdom (Matt. 19:12), while Paul said to the unmarried “that it is well for them to remain single as I do” (1 Cor. 7:8).
So shouldn’t we follow the teachings (and example) of Christianity’s founders and embrace singleness as a gift from God instead of making the unmarried feel like second class citizens?
Actually, no. Singleness is okay if you’re the Savior of the world or some God-besotted zealot who’s bent on planting churches across the whole of Asia Minor. But few normal believers should take “the eunuch route,” in my opinion, as heterosexual families are the building blocks of both society and the church. After all, James Dobson didn’t start Focus on the Singles, now did he? Of course not.
So even if you’re nearing 40, don’t give up on starting a Christian family. And here are a few tips to help you along the way:
Drop the “soul mate” crap. This is an unbiblical view of marriage, which should be judged successful if a couple is able to produce God-fearing, Republican-voting offspring.
Focus on spiritual rather than physical qualities. Okay, he’s got gappy teeth. So what? Is he disdainful of evolution? Does he nod supportively when you drop references to “homeschooling the kids” someday? These are the questions you should be asking yourself.
Pray more, browse less. Part of the problem with today’s youth is that they trust online dating services more than God. The Good Lord doesn’t need some “Christian” dating site (read: meat market) to bring a godly partner into your life, so go straight to the Source with earnest supplications.
Carry Altoids. If you happen to meet Mr. Right, you sure as heck don’t want this morning’s Sausage McMuffin coming back to haunt you.
I hope that helps, and blessings to all you lonely hearts out there!
Right-thinking Christians rejoiced last November when Proposition 8 passed in California, depriving gays of the right to marry (which they never should have had to begin with). But, alas, it appears the battle has simply shifted to New England.
USA Today reports that state legislatures in New Hampshire and Vermont are expected to pass bills legalizing same-sex marriage this week, with legislatures in Maine and Rhode Island slated to hold “marriage equality” hearings this spring.
Given these facts, would it surprise you to learn that these New England states are also among the most irreligious places in America? USA Today’s analysis shows that states where the percentage of people with no religion (called “nones”) is higher than 15% are the most likely to press for same-sex marriage rights.
And that description certainly applies to New Hampshire and Vermont, where “nones” make up 29% and 34% of the population, respectively (Maine at 25% and Rhode Island at 19% aren’t much better).
This state of affairs underscores the message of my last post on the necessity of the Bible. Left to their own devices, people rely on “common sense” judgments emphasizing “basic fairness,” which leads them to erroneously conclude that gay people should have the same rights as the rest of us – including marriage.
Thankfully, we have the Scriptures to correct such thinking and provide us with the timeless definition of marriage as between one man and one woman (though the one man/many women model was experimented with a bit in the Old Testament, but even that is still a male/female deal).
Why do we even need the Bible – isn’t common sense good enough?
The Bible tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). As a result, human reasoning will eventually lead us astray without the mitigating influence of divine guidance.
For example, common sense would probably tell you that donkeys are unable to talk, that the sun cannot remain stationary in the sky for an extended period, that men do not live for 969 years, and that a person cannot survive in the belly of a fish for 3 days.
Yet all of these wonders are recorded in the Bible as facts (see Number 22:30; Joshua 10:13, Genesis 5:27, and Jonah 1:17). Without the Bible such possibilities would be dismissed far-fetched, and our ignorance would be great indeed.
My son Todd has been moping around the house tonight because American Idol got bumped from its usual time slot. Normally, I would take this opportunity to wonder aloud why he has the time to watch countless hours of “mindless drivel” but can’t be bothered to attend church. But tonight I’m actually a bit sympathetic to his plight.
Yes, friends, I have become something of an American Idol fan. At first, I began watching solely to build a father-son connection with Todd, hopefully leading to him gaining a level of maturity commensurate with his 26 years and moving out of our basement. But somewhere along the way, I got hooked.
And, at first, I felt a bit guilty over this. I mean, the show has got “Idol” right there in the name, which doesn’t exactly square with the 2nd Commandment. But something was drawing me in, and it took a bit of research to figure out what it was.
Frankly, I was wondering how Kris made it this far after getting zero camera time during Hollywood week, but I now see that the Lord’s hand is on him. So all you right-thinkers out there need to support my boy Kris and send that creepy Adam guy packing!
An important part of my ministry is monitoring the activities of godless atheists who seek to undermine the faith of right-thinking Christians. Chief among them is Bill Maher, whose “documentary” Religulous is now available on DVD.
The film’s title combines religion and ridiculous, and Maher certainly does everything in his power to make belief appear preposterous.
Maher pursues this objective using two main methods. First, he assembles a veritable freak show of sad sacks, misfits, and cretins to serve as representatives of religion, including a shaggy-haired pot addict and a deluded pastor who claims to be a direct descendant of Jesus Christ.
And when Maher finally interviews a spiritual heavyweight like Ken Ham, he edits the encounter to make Ham’s views appear simplistic and narrow-minded. (This after Ham kindly gives Maher a tour of his Creation Museum that depicts people cohabiting with dinosaurs.)
Maher’s second tactic is describing religious beliefs in absurd terms. So Christianity becomes “the invisible Sky God who impregnated a Jewish virgin so He could send His Son/Himself on a suicide mission.”
But you can make anything sound stupid if you try hard enough. Take, for instance, the great game of golf. Isn’t it just a bunch of poorly dressed snobs chasing a little white ball with bent sticks? (Okay, maybe that’s a bad example, since golf is kind of idiotic.)
Bottom line, my advice is to steer clear of Religulous and rent a film like Left Behind – The Movie that doesn’t make Christianity appear so dumb.
I often hear people say that they are “spiritual but not religious” – is that even possible?
This claim and others like it are becoming increasingly common, and they simply reflects a desire to enjoy the benefits of faith without subjecting oneself to any hardship or sacrifices. Here is a general guide to the true meaning behind such statements:
I’m spiritual but not religious. Translation: “I want to see myself as a good person while simultaneously engaging in homosexuality and otherwise ignoring the moral restraints that accompany genuine belief.”
I don’t need church because I worship God in my own way. Translation: “I’m too lazy to drag my jumbo caboose out of the sack on Sunday mornings.”
I’m just not into organized religion. Translation: “I’m reluctant to surround myself with godly people who might not approve of my ‘alternate lifestyle’ and/or poor grooming habits.”
Unfortunately, this thinking has infected evangelical Christianity as well. I often hear believers insist that Christianity is a relationship with God, not a religion. To which I respond, “I’m sorry to hear that you have stopped praying, reading your Bible, attending church, believing in historic doctrines, and voting for godly (i.e., Republican) political candidates.”
Of course, they usually haven’t dropped any of those practices, which undermines their definition of Christianity a wee bit. So remember, folks: there’s nothing wrong with religion. Just make sure you pick the right one!
Southern Baptist seminary professor Miguel De La Torre is in hot water after writing an opinion piece entitled Was Jesus a Racist? His essay centers around the story of the Canaanite woman who asks Jesus to heal her daughter, only to be told:
It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs. (Matthew 15:26)
Insisting on a “literal” reading of the text, De La Torre concludes that:
Jesus’ statement reveals the racism toward non-Jews that his culture taught him.
Jesus’ ministry was changed by the woman’s response: “For even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.”
Legislation that denies medical and other services to undocumented immigrants is tantamount to treating them like dogs.
This is a classic misunderstanding of the concept of a literal interpretation of Scripture. Our misguided professor does not realize that you can take a passage literally without taking it at face value.
Sure, Jesus literally called the woman a dog, which sounds offensive to modern ears. But did He mean the word as an insult? Of course not! He wasn’t using dog in the sense of “subhuman, inferior species,” but in the sense of “beloved family pet whose needs are second only to those of the children – and just barely so.”
As for Jesus “learning” from anyone, it goes without saying that His divine nature rules out this possibility. Maybe Mary taught Him the Hebrew alphabet and the danger of touching hot surfaces, but when it came to ethical matters, Jesus needed no instruction.
Having recently written about the decline of religion in America, the least I can do is explore some possible solutions. (Better to light a candle than curse the darkness, I always say.) So here’s an interview with theologian Leonard “Ain’t She” Sweet that finds answers in an unlikely place: Starbucks.
According to Sweet, the coffee giant is peddling more than overpriced caffeinated beverages. Each Starbucks store is offering an experience that appeals to people in our sensory society. And Sweet believes the church would do well to take heed:
This culture is hungry for an experience. You can have all the experiences you want but your soul, your being was made for only one experience that is going to bring you fulfillment and wholeness. That is an experience with God.
To create such experiences with God, Sweet counsels churches to become more “image rich” and “connective”. Presumably, these activities are akin to calling small drinks “tall” and large drinks “Venti”.
This sounds a bit goofy, but I do think Sweet is onto something here. After all, God isn’t big on burning bush-type revelations of Himself these days, so divine encounters can be hard to come by. Jump-starting things with some rich imagery might not be a bad idea.
And while they’re at it, churches might want to throw in a comfy sofa and some pastries, too. I’ve found that eating a good bear claw in a relaxed posture can be a near-sacred moment.
Posted by revright 
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