Evangelism Today!

Wesleys used bar tunes?

2008-12-28T01:23:00.002-06:00

No.

A music adviser for the United Methodist Church has set out to puncture the "myth" that John and Charles Wesley, the brothers regarded as the fathers of Methodism, based several of the most beloved hymns of Christendom on 18th-century tavern songs.
"There is a widespread misconception, and I heard it at conferences everywhere this summer, that the Wesleys used drinking songs," says Dean McIntyre, a music officer with the denomination's Board of Discipleship. "That is a myth. It just is not true." John and Charles Wesley, Anglican vicars whose preaching led to the founding of the Methodist Church in the late 1700s in England, wrote some of the most enduring hymns of the church, sung in churches of all Christian denominations. McIntyre, in a telephone interview from Nashville, says many Methodists today, inspired by the Wesleys' evangelism aimed at the common man, want to believe they sanctified boisterous and drunken tavern songs with new lyrics to save souls.

"Many have cherished the idea that the Wesleys were so evangelistic that they engaged in this practice," he says. He first wrote on the topic last year and sent out another memo to church music experts this month as the myth persisted.

"This idea is that tavern songs can be used to justify using popular music today as a way to reach people, which I have no problem with," McIntyre says. "But the tavern argument is a myth."

Even life itself must be secondary!

2008-12-28T01:09:00.003-06:00

"China is not to be won for Christ by quiet, ease-loving men and women … The stamp of men and women we need is such as will put Jesus, China, [and] souls first and foremost in everything and at every time—even life itself must be secondary."

I am reading "Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret" this week. What a man. Here is a great Christian History piece on him.

Atheist decides Africa needs God!

2008-12-28T00:58:00.000-06:00

Atheist decides, disbelief or not, Africa needs God. http://tinyurl.com/8awby2

Five reasons Muslims convert

2008-07-11T14:52:00.001-05:00

Some good info here.

A survey of 750 Muslims who converted to Christianity shows five predominant reasons they chose to follow Christ.

The lifestyle of Christians. Former Muslims cited the love that Christians exhibited in their relationships with non-Christians and their treatment of women as equals.

The power of God in answered prayers and healing. Experiences of God's supernatural work—especially important to folk Muslims who have a characteristic concern for power and blessings—increased after their conversions, according to the survey. Often dreams about Jesus were reported.

Dissatisfaction with the type of Islam they had experienced. Many expressed dissatisfaction with the Qur'an, emphasizing God's punishment over his love. Others cited Islamic militancy and the failure of Islamic law to transform society.

The spiritual truth in the Bible. Muslims are generally taught that the Torah, Psalms, and the Gospels are from God, but that they became corrupted. These Christian converts said, however, that the truth of God found in Scripture became compelling for them and key to their understanding of God's character.

Biblical teachings about the love of God. In the Qur'an, God's love is conditional, but God's love for all people was especially eye-opening for Muslims. These converts were moved by the love expressed through the life and teachings of Jesus. The next step for many Muslims was to become part of a fellowship of loving Christians.

The respondents were from 30 countries and 50 ethnic groups. The survey was prepared at Fuller Theological Seminary's School of Intercultural Studies, and reported in Christianity Today.

Muslims are now 21 percent of the world population, increasing from 12 percent in the past 100 years. And the growth rate of Islam is higher than that of Christianity (1.81% per year, compared to 1.23%). Christians still outnumber Muslims, with one-third of the world population naming Christianity as their faith.

In some parts of the world, significant pockets of Muslims are turning to Christ, including North Africa, South Asia, and Indonesia.

—info from J. Dudley Woodbury, Russell G. Shubin, and G. Marks at ChristianityToday.com.

Bifurcation can be such an unholy word

2008-07-03T16:17:00.002-05:00

"It is not a matter of engaging in both the gospel and social action, as if Christian social action was something separate from the gospel itself. The gospel has to be demonstrated in word and deed. Biblically, the gospel includes the totality of all that is good news from God for all that is bad news in human life—in every sphere. So like Jesus, authentic Christian mission has included good news for the poor, compassion for the sick and suffering justice for the oppressed, liberation for the enslaved. The gospel of the Servant of God in the power of the Spirit of God addresses every area of human need and every area that has been broken and twisted by sin and evil. And the heart of the gospel, in all of these areas, is the cross of Christ." - Christopher J. H. Wright International director of John Stott Ministries (from Knowing the Holy Spirit Throught the Old Testament)

This, actually reminds me of the E. Stanley Jones quote: Evangelism without social action is like a body without a soul. Social action without evangelism is like a soul without a body. One is a corpse, the other is a ghost. We don't want either one.

So - why do we so often settle for ghosts and corpses in our ministrues?

Last song on the lips of John Wesley

2008-06-10T18:05:00.002-05:00

This hymn by Isaac Watts (1714) was on Wesley's lips when he died:

I'll praise my Maker while I've breath,
and when my voice is lost in death,
praise shall employ my nobler powers;
my days of praise shall ne'er be past,
while life, and thought, and being last,
or immortality endures.

Why should I make a man my trust?
Princes must die and turn to dust;
vain is the help of flesh and blood:
their breath departs, their pomp, and power,
and thoughts, all vanish in an hour,
nor can they make their promise good.

Happy the man whose hopes rely
on Israel's God: he made the sky,
and earth, and seas, with all their train;
his truth for ever stands secure,
he saves th'oppressed, he feeds the poor,
and none shall find his promise vain.

The Lord has eyes to give the blind;
the Lord supports the sinking mind;
he sends the laboring conscience peace;
he helps the stranger in distress,
the widow, and the fatherless,
and grants the prisoner sweet release.

He loves his saints, he knows them well,
but turns the wicked down to hell;
thy God, O Zion! ever reigns:
Let every tongue, let every age,
in this exalted work engage;
praise him in everlasting strains.

I'll praise him while he lends me breath,
and when my voice is lost in death,
praise shall employ my nobler powers;
my days of praise shall ne'er be past,
while life, and thought, and being last,
or immortality endures.

Notice the compassionate themes (the poor, the wicked, the fatherless) and also notice that at the end of the day, an evangelist's final message is that of praise.

Hallelujah!

Questions to ask to stay spiritually sharp

2008-06-04T11:28:00.003-05:00

In the middle of the twentieth century the Christian Business Men's Committee urged each other to confront themselves with these questions daily:

1. Does my life please God?
2. Do I enjoy being a Christian?
3. Do I cherish in my heart a feeling of dislike or hatred for anyone?
4. Am I studying my Bible daily?
5. How much time do I spend in secret prayer?
6. How long has it been since I led a soul to Christ?
7. How long since I had a direct answer to prayer?
8. Do I estimate the things of time and eternity at their true value?
9. Am I praying and working for anyone's salvation?
10. Is there anything I cannot give up for Christ?
11. How does my life look to those who are not Christians?
12. Where am I making my greatest mistake?
13. Do I place anything before my Christian duties?
14. Am I honest with the Lord's money?
15. Have I neglected any known duty?
16. Is the world better or worse for my living in it?
17. Am I doing anything that I would condemn in others?
18. Do I hav e a clear conception of my place in the Lord's work?
19. What am I doing to hasten the coming of Christ?
20. Am I doing as Christ would do in my place?

(David R. Enlow, Men Aflame: The Story of CBMC (Zondervan).

Performing Orthodoxy

2008-04-03T09:36:00.002-05:00

Action-provoking article from CT.

The reason Christians need to read The Hermeneutics of Doctrine is because of Thiselton's argument that, properly understood, doctrine involves the disposition of belief, which always includes formation and leads on to transformation. Each doctrine he examines, whether he says so with clarity or not, maps how these three terms are at work. In so doing, Thiselton reminds us that any piece of theology that does not lead to worship, absorption of God's work on the cross of Christ, and sanctity in life in community, is not genuine theology.
What does it mean to "believe" a doctrine as true? Belief, as Thiselton has learned from H. H. Price, is an utterance that is "inextricably embodied in patterns of habit, commitment, and action, which constitute endorsement, 'backing,' or 'surroundings' for the utterance." To "believe" is to take a stand in the face of opposition. He quotes Price: "If circumstances were to arise in which it made a practical difference whether p was true or false, he [the believer] would act as if it were true." To believe is "performatory" in character. Thiselton puts it like this: "Belief, then, is action-orientated, situation-related, and embodied in the particularities and contingencies of everyday living." He adds one more component, which, if he's right, shapes everything he says and everything we believe: belief in a doctrine involves "communal commitment and communal formation."

Or, as an old professor of mine named Robert Traina would say: You do what you believe, and you believe what you do.

Spiritual warfare and the mission field

2008-04-02T14:39:00.003-05:00

Just attended a forum today where eight current and former missionaries were asked, among other things, about spiritual warfare. This is what they said:

1. Spiritual warfare starts with your own spiritual life. If it is vital, you will be impactful. If it is not, watch out.

2. The weapons of spiritual warfare are daily prayer and Bible study ("which allows you to continue in the fight and keep your joy"), fasting is integral, sabbath-keeping and local church involvement (participation and accountability and community-friendships).

3. Much of the world thinks more holistically than Americans. Address the spiritual problem head-on ("or they will go to a witch doctor or whatever to get those needs met) but don't neglect that the spiritual, physical, intellectual run together for many peoples of the world.

4. Many cultures are very "spiritual." Pay attention to the people you've been sent to so they can teach you about spiritual warfare.

5. Don't get over-focused on evil. To do so gets you into all kinds of strange thinking and doctrine. We are a faith of love (God and neighbor).

6. Pull on the same end of the ministry rope as your family...not against them. Keep your family spiritually and emotionally happy. Take time for your marriage.

7. People may try to put you on a pedestal. Don't let them.

When Muslims convert...

2008-02-22T15:19:00.002-06:00

From 1991 to 2007, Fuller Theological Seminary's School of Intercultural Studies conducted a survey among 750 Muslims who had converted to Christianity. Those surveyed represented 50 ethnic groups from 30 different countries. Here were the nine most-cited reasons for conversion to the Christian faith:

1. Christians practiced what they preached.

2. Christians appeared to have loving marriages in which women were treated as equals.

3. Christian-to-Christian violence was less prominent than Muslim-to-Muslim violence.

4. The prayers of Christians had healed the disabled and delivered others from demonic powers.

5. The Koran had produced profound disillusionment because it accentuates "God's punishment more than his love, and the use of violence to impose Islamic laws."

6. God had used visions and dreams to influence the converts' decision.

7. Muslims can never be certain of their forgiveness and salvation as Christians can.

8. As they read the Bible, the converts had been convicted of its truth.

9. The converts were attracted to the idea of God's unconditional love.

Jennifer Riley, "Analysis: Why Muslims Follow Jesus," The Christian Post (11-16-07)

Good advice from Fulton Sheen?

2008-01-30T22:07:00.000-06:00

Richard John Neuhaus in First Things seems to think so:

A priest on Long Island tells me that, when he was newly ordained, he had the chance to visit with the legendary Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who was famed for, among other things, winning many converts to the Catholic Church. Sheen was in the hospital and, as it turned out, on his deathbed. “Archbishop Sheen,” my friend said, “I have come for your counsel. I want to be a convert-making priest like you. I’ve already won fifteen people to the faith. What is your advice?” Sheen painfully pushed himself up on his elbows from his reclining position and looked my friend in the eye. “The first thing to do,” he said, “is to stop counting.”

Preaching that melts...

2008-01-25T14:02:00.000-06:00

From George Whitefield's Journal:

Tuesday, November 27, 1739 - ...I preached from a balcony to above six thousand people. God strengthened me to speak nearly two hours, with such demonstration of the Spirit, that great numbers continued weeping for a considerable time.

Tuesday, April 30, 1740 - Towards the conclusion of my discourse, God's Spirit came upon the preacher and people, so that they were melted down exceedingly.

May 14, 1749 - I believe there were near twelve thousand. I had not spoken long before I perceived numbers melting. As I proceeded, the influence increased, till, at last, thousands cried out, so that they almost drowned my voice...What tears were shed and poured forth after the Lord Jesus...After the last discourse, I was so pierced, as it were, and overpowered with the sense of God's love, that some thought...I was about to give up the ghost. How sweetly did I lie at the feet of Jesus. With what power did a sense of His all-constraining, free, and everlasting love flow in upon my soul! It almost took away my life.

What kind of preaching melts hearts today?

Why we don't make disciples

2008-01-24T09:29:00.000-06:00

1. Our world view is all wrong. "Be holy as I am holy" is not a core conviction.

2. We prefer the things that are "more exciting" - like worship, harvesting tithes, building buildings, getting on the latest trendy movement of evangelicalism.

3. Not intentional enough. We think Sunday school or the regular programming dynamic of the local church will do the trick to transform lives.

4. We read the gospels for many reasons but not to find the methodology of Jesus for changing the world.

5. Hard to brag about discipleship in the statistics manual of district conference.

6. It is hard work.

7. We were not discipled therefore we don't have a clue what is meant by discipleship or how to do it.

8. American society is a time stealer, and discipleship, alas, takes time.

A third group of growing churches...

2008-01-23T15:57:00.000-06:00

This from GROW magazine, a publication of the Nazarenes:

For many years, our Research Center has known that new churches and large churches grow faster than the res of the denomination. But recently, a third group of growing Churches of the Nazarene was discovered.

Three groups...routinely exceed the average denominational growth rate in the U.S. Churches organized less than ten years (or not yet organized), churches reporting at least 500 in worship the previous year, and those churches reporting no more than 50 in worship the previous year....In seventeen of the past twenty years these smaall churches have grown faster than the denominational average. As recently as 2000, their growth rate was higher than that of our largest churches.

Progress!

2008-01-23T15:29:00.000-06:00

"It took 18 centuries for dedicated believers to grow from 0% of the world's population to 2.5% in 1900, only 70 years to grow from 2.5% to 5% in 1970, and just the last 30 years to grow from 5% to 11.2% of the world population. Now for the first time in history there is one believer for every nine people worldwide who aren't believers...we're talking about Bible-reading, Bible-believing stream of Christianity." (Ralph D. Winter and Bruce A. Koch/Perspectives)

Disparity of the gospel (World Christian Encyclopedia)

2008-01-23T15:18:00.000-06:00

Cost per baptism:

Africa 13,888
Antartica 1,677,852
Asia 61,071
Europe 933,371
Latin America 144,910
Northern America 1,518,991
Oceania 634,479

Full-time Christian workers per million

Africa 1,018.3
Antartica 6,666.7
Asia 185.0
Europe 2,482.6
Latin America 890.7
Northern America 5,399.2
Oceania 3,285.1

A good bit to analyze here. But, for starters - seeing how ripe the mission field in Africa is should we not be spending more laborers to that harvest? North America has more than its fair share of workers with precious little receptivity to the gospel to show for it.

Other points to be made?

Quotable

2008-01-21T15:19:00.000-06:00

The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. --C. S. Lewis

Understanding Mike Huckabee using Explo '72

2008-01-19T21:15:00.000-06:00

Hmm. Had a sister who was there. I bet all this really sounds strange to Inside the Beltway Supply Side Conservatives. My favorite paragraphs with a great big, "Go Zachary!"

Looking back, it is hard to appreciate just how revolutionary these steps were for evangelicals in 1972. Crusade's Mr. Bright, one of the most influential evangelicals of the post-World War II generation, had long rejected rock music -- along with long hair and dancing. Less than a year before Explo, he told a reporter that rock 'n' roll "wasn't for us . . . because of the complaints of ex-addicts." At the time, conservative evangelicals strongly associated rock music with drug abuse. Mr. Bright's son Zachary remembers telling his father: "You can have a conservative view of music and keep what worked for you, or you can win [young people to Christ]." "I'd rather win," Campus Crusade's president responded.

The organization's embrace of rock music at Explo '72 went a long way toward revolutionizing evangelicalism's relationship with popular culture. Only a few fundamentalists seriously swim against the cultural tide today. Explo may not have changed the world, but it changed American evangelicalism.

Church shifting...

2008-01-18T00:14:00.000-06:00

Church shift?

If your church ain't doing this...then get shifting....

"We need to change the way church is done in this country. We need to shift -- and it's a complete shift from the way church is done now," he explains. "We don't just sit behind the walls outside and condemn the people in the mainstream and say, well this country is bad and this country is going down."

The Ukrainian pastor encourages church members to get out of their pews and out of the building in order to "engage the culture and try to win back the values that have made America great."

State of the Church

2007-12-04T16:44:00.001-06:00

The Condition of the Church in America
Complied by Andy McAdams

1. 1,400 pastors in America leave the ministry monthly.

2. Less then 20% of churches recognize or appreciated their pastor in some way annually.

3. Only 15% of churches in the United States are growing and just 2.2% of those are growing by conversion growth.

4. 10,000 churches in America disappeared in a five-year period.

5. Only 45% of the U.S. population, attend church regularly.

6. The number of people in America that Do Not attend church has doubled in the past 15 years.

7. No more then 38% of the population attends church at all and that’s in the Bible belt. The next highest is the Midwest at 25%, West 21% and the Northeast 17%.

8. Though the Bible Belt still boasts the highest percentage of church attendees, yet many of those churches are filled with legalism or extreme liberalism.

9. The vast majority of churches have an attendance of less then 75.

10. In 70 % of the churches in America, the pastor is the only full-time staff person

11. There are almost 100 million unchurched Americans, 11-20% of them claim to be born-again. They have either left the church or never connected for some reason.

12. The median adult attendance per church service in 1999 was 90 people, which is slightly below the 1998 average of 95 adult attendees and in 1997 it was 102. There seems to be a slight gradual decline.

13. Only 1/5 of the adult population attends Sunday school or some sort of Christian training.

14. 23% of church attendees say they attend a small group for growth and accountability.

15. Only 65% of Americans donate to a place of worship. Evangelicals however 85% donate to their church yet only 9% tithe.

16. 20-25% read their Bible consistently, 59% attend church weekly, 16% listen to Christian radio, 7% watch Christian TV, and 11% are held accountable to someone.

17. Only 60% of Christians say they are deeply committed to their faith, yet 85% of evangelicals make this claim.

18. Among the 71% of those who have heard of spiritual gifts, 31% can name a spiritual gift they believe they possess.

19. One in four have a place in the church where they serve.

20. Less then 50% say that the Bible is totally accurate, yet 60% of those that clam to be born-again.

21. Just 1/3 of church attendees believes that they have a personal responsibility to share their faith with others.

22. 56% of the population believe that salvation can be earned and shockingly, 26% are among evangelical churches.

23. Giving to charities increased in the past decade yet giving to local churches is declining.

24. Out of 100,000 churches in America less then 2% are considered mega-churches, (1,000 or more).

25. In his book, "Who Shall Lead Them", Larry Withham said,
"20% Of US Churches Have No Future"

26. 1 out of 4 church attendees are considered church hoppers.

27. On average, just 7% of new church attendees are formally unchurched.

FOR DISCUSSION: What do you think? What stood out to you?

Andy McAdams is the director of Pastor to Pastors Ministry, a division of Church Dynamics International. www.churchdynamics.org

Beijing Olympics bans Bible

2007-11-05T16:19:00.000-06:00

Here. And I still think the US should boycott the whole thing.

D'Souza - "What so great about Christianity?"

2007-10-26T11:31:00.000-05:00

Good.

Coulter's remarks could have used some "perfecting"

2007-10-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

"Coulter's remarks are outrageous, offensive and a throwback to the centuries-old teaching of contempt for Jews and Judaism," the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recently huffed in response to Ann Coulter. The commentator's remarks to an interviewer that Jews needed to be "perfected" by Jesus didn't set well, even if delivered with a winsome smile.

The ADL apparently doesn't have a clue about Christianity. So, let's review. Jews -- inspired by God -- wrote and revere the Old Testament, same as Christians. Jews daily read and meditate on that Testament, as do serious Christians.

And Jesus was a Jew.

Jesus was a Jew, however, who was a bit exclusive in His teaching -- "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Christians believe Him. Other Jews of His time believed him, not the least a gentlemen we would come to know as Paul of Tarsus. The early Christian faith was mostly a Jewish movement. Today, Israel has no better friends than the evangelical Christians of America.

Here is where Ann could have turned it on the interviewer named Donny Deutsch. "Donny," she might have articulated, "if this upsets you then you must turn your anger to Jesus. He said the 'I am the Way ... " things. Not me. I am just one of hundreds of millions alive today who have believed Him."

"Donny, do you have a problem with Jesus? Your listening audience would like to know. As C.S. Lewis once said, you cannot call him a great teacher if he was calling himself God and you think he was a liar. He was either a madman, a false prophet, or God. Which?

"And Donny, if you are mad and want to keep taking the 'how hateful, how anti-Semitic' line, then know this -- we will just have to love you until you change your mind. Yes, Donny, know that right now thousands of evangelical Christians watching this program are going to begin loving you through prayer to Jesus until you relinquish your life to Him who loves you more, Donny, than you could ever love yourself.

"You see, friend, we don't believe in hateful anti-Semitism. We believe in a Jesus that has taught us to love."

In the herky-jerky world of interview-entertainment on "serious" talk television, it is hard to believe that Ann could have ever had the uninterrupted time to deliver such thoughts. Still, it would have been a good reminder to all of us that yes, Jews need "perfecting," just like all men and women, boys and girls of all ethnic and religious stripes need the same. Jesus quoted twice from the Jewish Torah to let us all know how:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

And then Jesus said, "Follow Me."

History of religion in...90 seconds!

2007-10-16T14:21:00.000-05:00

Oh, my.

Confused about masculinity?

2007-10-16T12:46:00.000-05:00

I have been in on a few discussions just recently about what a “real man” is. I have jokingly offered that here in the Deep South I am nowhere near what seems to be the standard composite.

A real man in these parts works darned hard, hunts, fishes, cuts his own wood for burning, fixes his own car, roots for the football team with the appropriate local pedigree. And it is not just a “South” thing - variations on this theme can be found, of course, across the country and the world.

University of Texas psychologist Andrew Rochen was recently quoted in TIME magazine. “Masculinity has traditionally been associated,” he says, “with work and work-related success, with competition, power, prestige, dominance over women, restrictive emotionality. . . But a good parent needs to be expressive, patient, emotional, not money oriented. Basically, masculinity is bad for you.”

Ouch. A real man is bad for the family? Perhaps real manhood should take a second look at its self understanding. At the least maybe this southern psychologist needs to rethink masculinity.

Jesus was the Real Man. Theologically, we say that he was 100 percent man. Indeed, the only 100 percent man to ever lived, unmarred by sin and indiscretion. If a definition of “manhood” is available to the world, it ought to be found in this Person.

And so – this Man had a vital, loving and moment-by-moment relationship with His Father. He invested in other men, training them to change the world. He related well to women and children. He spoke up with a gentle tongue that could also roundly curse wrongdoing when found. He was smart. He was, at various moments, loving, harsh, welcoming. He touched and healed and gave, called men to repentance and had an eye for those that society had shoved to the periphery. He cried. He died so that others could live.

Luther had a Latin phrase he felt described the state of unredeemed man: Cor incurvatus ad se (a heart curved in on itself). Instead of a heart that arched its loving way toward God and outward towards humankind in all their frailty and lostness the godless spend their love on…themselves. Think of Jesus’ message this way - it is not the enormity of his teaching we remember, but the simplicity of it all. Challenged to name the most important of hundreds of Mosaic laws he chose two – Love God, and love your neighbor, Deuteronomy and Leviticus respectively.

Some are most captivated by His miracles. Yes, they were, and are, incredible. But the miracles, according to the late missionary E. Stanley Jones, don’t carry Him. The miracles of His personhood carries the miracles. Truly – it would have been shocking if that miraculous life hadn’t performed miracles. But is He that carries the virgin birth, the healing of the lepers, the resurrection. Not the other way around. And the greatest miracle perhaps of all for us is that He wants with that miracle life to dwell in us.

What is a real man? The “realest” of all men said, “Follow me.” Those who do, fulfill their destiny. Those who don’t but have bagged the limit of deer this fall or managed to fix that carburetor or rooted for the Super Bowl winners …they have some learning yet to do…some commands still to follow…some potential yet untapped.

Faith-based prisons...it is what's workin'!

2007-10-15T16:43:00.000-05:00

Go, Colson!

Guidelines for churches/pastors politically

2007-10-04T18:05:00.000-05:00

A lot of leeway for pastors. Good.

Perspectives on various faiths

2007-10-04T18:01:00.000-05:00

From the Pastor's Weekly Briefing (H.B. London)

Most Americans will say they know little or nothing about the practices of Islam and Mormonism even though they both have gained increasing national visibility in recent years.

A new national survey by the Pew Research Center reveals the ways that Americans view these faiths and their followers. Forty-one percent say they know a great deal about the Muslim religion with 58 percent saying they do not know very much or next to nothing. Forty-nine percent say they know a great deal about Mormonism with 51 percent saying they don't know very much about this religion.

The following percentages show how the 3,002 adults polled viewed different religious groups:

Jews: 76 percent favorable; nine percent unfavorable; with 15 percent having no opinion.
Catholics: 76 percent favorable; 14 percent unfavorable; with 10 percent having no opinion.
Evangelical Christians: 60 percent favorable; 19 percent unfavorable; with 21 percent having no opinion.
Mormons: 53 percent favorable; 27 percent unfavorable; with 20 percent having no opinion.
Muslim Americans: 53 percent favorable; 29 percent unfavorable; with 18 percent having no opinion.
Muslims: 43 percent favorable; 35 percent unfavorable; with 22 percent having no opinion.
Atheists: 35 percent favorable; 53 percent unfavorable; with 12 percent having no opinion.

Most Americans believe that their own religion has little in common with either Islam or Mormonism. Sixty-two percent say the Mormon religion is very different from their own, while 70 percent say Islam is very different.

The most frequently used negative word to describe Islam was "fanatic," with "radical" and "terror" often mentioned. The most positive word was "devout." For Mormonism, the most commonly used negative word used to describe it was "polygamy," even though they banned polygamy almost a century ago. The most positive word was "family."

The "religious" are more happy

2007-09-29T23:29:00.000-05:00

Here.

How do religious Americans compare to the secular when it comes to happiness? In 2004, the General Social Survey asked a sample of Americans, "Would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?" Religious people were more than twice as likely as the secular to say they were "very happy" (43% to 21%). Meanwhile, secular people were nearly three times as likely as the religious to say they were not too happy (21% to 8%). In the same survey, religious people were more than a third more likely than the secular to say they were optimistic about the future (34% to 24%).

The benefits of religion

2007-09-28T15:30:00.001-05:00

Medved is a Jew, but argues a couple of simple points even the skeptic would have to agree with...if he was actually trying to be fair.

Pastors and porn

2007-09-25T15:58:00.000-05:00

This is bad. And why?

According to many Christian groups, pornography is a disturbing and increasing problem. A Promise Keepers survey found that 53 percent of its members consume pornography. A 2000 Christianity Today survey found that 37 percent of pastors said pornography is a "current struggle" of theirs. Fifty-seven percent called pornography the most sexually damaging issue for their congregations. A Barna Research Group study released in February 2007 said that 35 percent of men and 17 percent of women reported having used pornography in the past month.

Christianity losing reputation with younger generation

2007-09-24T17:59:00.000-05:00

New from Barna:

As the nation’s culture changes in diverse ways, one of the most significant shifts is the declining reputation of Christianity, especially among young Americans. A new study by The Barna Group conducted among 16- to 29-year-olds shows that a new generation is more skeptical of and resistant to Christianity than were people of the same age just a decade ago.

The study of Christianity’s slipping image is explored in a new book, entitled unChristian, by David Kinnaman, the president of The Barna Group. The study is a result of collaboration between Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons of the Fermi Project.

Rising Reactions

The study shows that 16- to 29-year-olds exhibit a greater degree of criticism toward Christianity than did previous generations when they were at the same stage of life. In fact, in just a decade, many of the Barna measures of the Christian image have shifted substantially downward, fueled in part by a growing sense of disengagement and disillusionment among young people. For instance, a decade ago the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society. Currently, however, just 16% of non-Christians in their late teens and twenties said they have a "good impression" of Christianity.

One of the groups hit hardest by the criticism is evangelicals. Such believers have always been viewed with skepticism in the broader culture. However, those negative views are crystallizing and intensifying among young non-Christians. The new study shows that only 3% of 16 - to 29-year-old non-Christians express favorable views of evangelicals. This means that today’s young non-Christians are eight times less likely to experience positive associations toward evangelicals than were non-Christians of the Boomer generation (25%).

The research shows that many Christians are innately aware of this shift in people’s perceptions of Christianity: 91% of the nation’s evangelicals believe that "Americans are becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity." Among senior pastors, half contend that "ministry is more difficult than ever before because people are increasingly hostile and negative toward Christianity."

Ideas to impact your public schools this year

2007-09-24T09:34:00.000-05:00

Good stuff.

Six worldviews you are competing against

2007-09-24T09:29:00.001-05:00

The folks in the pew come with assumptions. Best to know what they are. From Rick Warren.

Some interesting resources

2007-09-19T13:52:00.000-05:00

Speaking of Faith

speakingoffaith.publicradio.org
Among religion journalists, Krista Tippett is the equivalent of Terry Gross on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air. Tippett, a graduate of Yale Divinity School, skews leftward and defines faith so broadly that she’ll discuss the history of disbelief, but she also asks outstanding questions.

The Religion Report
abc.net.au/rn/religionreport
Stephen Crittenden of the Australian Broadcasting Corp. welcomes many American guests. His interviews with Archbishop Peter Jensen of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney are illuminating. A recent show featured an interview with a theologian from the Catholic University of America who gave historical perspective on the Vatican’s rethinking of limbo. Crittenden makes it cool to be a religion geek.

Saturdays With Mark and Tony
marklowry.com
The playful comedian and singer Mark Lowry is Tony Campolo’s best dialogue partner since theologian Steve Brown of the cable TV show Hashing It Out. Campolo is at his best when he has someone to keep him on his toes. If Steve Taylor was once the court jester of evangelicalism, as Newsweek called him, Lowry is its effusive Southern fabulist.

The Kindlings Muse
thekindlings.com
Dick Staub mixes relaxed interviews with occasional efforts at Inklings-style discussions. His one-on-one interviews work better than the roundtable discussions, in which Christians strive mightily to challenge the main guest, who is usually a scholar or admirer of C. S. Lewis.

Holy Trinity Brompton
www.htb.org.uk/
For veterans of the Alpha Course who can’t get enough of HTB’s vicar, Nicky Gumbel, this weekly sermon is a fine pacifier. It’s not a one-man show, so listeners hear a wide variety of clergy and lay voices from one of the most important congregations in the Anglican Communion.

(This originally appeared on p.103 of the September 2007 issue of Christianity Today)

Living biblically?

2007-09-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

So, a guy writes a volume titled The Year of Living Biblically, in which he attempts to follow all the rules of the Bible, from the famous (e.g., love thy neighbor) to the strangely ignored (e.g., don't wear clothes of mixed fibers).

It was a surprising and perspective-changing year. I was taken aback by how relevant many of the Bible's rules are to modern life. The laws about lying, gossiping, and coveting come to mind, since I live in New York. I was also surprised at how much practical information the Bible contains. I expected the wisdom and spirituality; I didn't expect the helpful household hints. So I've decided to take a few questions.

Calvinistic response to compassionate ministry

2007-09-12T14:48:00.001-05:00

Good article:

Far from being hindered by theology, the ministry of mercy is furthered by theology, properly understood. Consider the story of Calvin’s Geneva. Prior to the Reformation, the city was infamous for its immorality. Among its common vices were drunkenness, disorderly conduct, gambling, and prostitution. On occasion Genevans had been known to run naked through the streets singing vulgar songs. Unfair business practices were common.

When the Reformation came to Geneva, the city’s Council of Two Hundred passed civic ordinances that were designed to promote the Protestant religion and restrain public indecency. Yet the Council quickly discovered that laws alone made little difference; what was needed was a change of heart. There would be no social transformation without biblical proclamation.

So the Council decided to do something that no city council would even think of doing today: they hired a theologian, John Calvin. The way Calvin reformed Geneva was simply by preaching the Bible, teaching the great doctrines of the Christian faith. Calvin preached verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book. He preached five, six, seven times a week. And he preached what people eventually called Calvinism: the sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners.

The result was not just that people came to Christ and grew in grace, but that the whole urban environment was transformed by the practical application of gospel mercy. Taverns were closed, reducing alcoholism. Sewers were cleaned, eliminating illness. The refugees that were streaming to Geneva from all over Europe were offered Christian hospitality. Deacons were organized to care for the poor. A job program was developed in the clothing industry. Schools were opened, not just for boys, but also for girls. One visitor said that under the teaching of sound doctrine, with its faithful application in practical mercy, the city of Geneva had become “the wonderful miracle of the whole world.”

Heroes - who will they be?

2007-09-10T16:31:00.000-05:00

How about opening up this question to the listeners:

The passing away of Rev. Falwell, Rev. Adrian Rogers and, most recently, Rev. D. James Kennedy has left a hole in our defenses. Both men have been instrumental in helping to stem the tide of secular humanism from flowing over into the church. Who will be the next person to stand up and take their place on the front lines?

I've thought a lot about this. Many of our "heroes" of the faith are now much older and may soon see the Lord. Even spiritual icons like Billy Graham have approached their twilight years and cannot engage the enemy as staunchly as before.

This, I believe, is a good time to revive your call to arms for people to get in the fight. Not just politically, but on the front lines, with their neighbors and friends and families. Who knows? Maybe the next Dr. Dobson will be listening.

Thank you

Sincerely,

BC

Sigh. Imprecatory prayer teaching rears its ugly head.

2007-08-17T16:09:00.000-05:00

Calling down God's wrath or love. Which do you think is more powerful? Check it out.

Wiley S. Drake, a Buena Park pastor and a former national leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, called on his followers to pray for the deaths of two leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The request was in response to the liberal group's urging the IRS on Tuesday to investigate Drake's church's nonprofit status because Drake endorsed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for president on church letterhead and during a church-affiliated Internet radio show.

Drake said Wednesday he was "simply doing what God told me to do" by targeting Americans United officials Joe Conn and Jeremy Leaming, whom he calls the "enemies of God."

"God says to pray imprecatory prayer against people who attack God's church," he said. "The Bible says that if anybody attacks God's people, David said this is what will happen to them. . . . Children will become orphans and wives will become widows."

Imprecatory prayers are alternately defined as praying for someone's misfortune, or an appeal to God for justice.

"Let his days be few; and let another take his office," the prayer reads. "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."

It's a thought

2007-08-16T11:51:00.000-05:00

The atheistic onslaught of late

2007-08-14T09:20:00.000-05:00

Blasphemy is a tribute to God? Brilliant, in its own way. Check out this great article by Michael Gerson in the WashPost.

British author G.K. Chesterton argued that every act of blasphemy is a kind of tribute to God, because it is based on belief. "If anyone doubts this," he wrote, "let him sit down seriously and try to think blasphemous thoughts about Thor."

By the evidence of the New York Times bestseller list, God has recently been bathed in such tributes. An irreverent trinity -- Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins -- has sold a lot of books accusing theism of fostering hatred, repressing sexuality and mutilating children (Hitchens doesn't approve of male circumcision). Every miracle is a fraud. Every mystic is a madman. And this atheism is presented as a war of liberation against centuries of spiritual tyranny....

How do we choose between good and bad instincts? Theism, for several millennia, has given one answer: We should cultivate the better angels of our nature because the God we love and respect requires it. While many of us fall tragically short, the ideal remains.

Atheism provides no answer to this dilemma. It cannot reply: "Obey your evolutionary instincts" because those instincts are conflicted. "Respect your brain chemistry" or "follow your mental wiring" don't seem very compelling either. It would be perfectly rational for someone to respond: "To hell with my wiring and your socialization, I'm going to do whatever I please." C.S. Lewis put the argument this way: "When all that says 'it is good' has been debunked, what says 'I want' remains."

Difference between evangelicals and church-going evangelicals

2007-08-10T15:13:00.000-05:00

Wish the pollsters would change their research methodologies. It would make a difference. Not all evangelicals attend church, for instance.

My recent research for the Russell Sage Foundation indicates that evangelicals who attend religious services weekly, when compared with average Americans, are less likely to cohabit as young adults (1% vs. 10% of other young adults), to bear a child outside of wedlock (12% vs. 33% of other moms) and to divorce (7% vs. 9% of other married adults divorced from 1988 to 1993). So churchgoing evangelicals, who are also the ones most likely to be involved in political and pastoral efforts to strengthen the family, are actually achieving some success in their efforts to focus on the family.

But their nominal brethren--that is, evangelicals who attend church rarely or never--are a different story. According to my research, nominal evangelicals have sex before other teens, cohabit and have children outside of wedlock at rates that are no different than the population at large, and are much more likely to divorce than average Americans. One reason that nominal evangelicals have been particularly vulnerable to the family revolution of the past 40 years is that they are much more likely to be poor and uneducated than other Americans.

But even after controlling for class, I find that nominal evangelicals do worse than other Americans. Why? I suspect that many nominal evangelicals are products of a Scotch-Irish "redneck" culture, still found in parts of Appalachia and the South, that Thomas Sowell and the late Southern historian Grady McWhiney argue has historically been marked by higher levels of promiscuity, violence and impulsive behavior. This cultural inheritance, and not their Protestantism, probably helps to account for the poor family performance of nominal evangelicals.

So the next time one hears about evangelicals trying to impose their family values on the rest of us, remember that they are probably more concerned about the families of their nominally Protestant brothers, cousins, neighbors and friends in the Bible Belt than they are about folks in Massachusetts.

Church and homosexual funerals

2007-08-10T12:27:00.000-05:00

I can imagine this comes with issues that aren't as easy as covering the event with "Of course, we'll do the funeral for a gay guy!" What I do feel about it is this - if the people want to hold the funeral in the church then it is the pastor that is the decision maker as to how the funeral proceeds. Don't like his take? Have your ceremony at the funeral home, then.

An Arlington church volunteered to host a funeral Thursday, then reneged on the invitation when it became clear the dead man's homosexuality would be identified in the service.

The event placed High Point Church in the cross hairs of an issue many conservative Christian organizations are discussing: how to take a hard-line theological position on homosexuality while showing compassion toward gay people and their families.

The unevangelist - "Jesus was a fag"

2007-08-09T14:27:00.000-05:00

How are we to conduct ourselves in the face of such, uh, revelation?

Finally, your dream pastor

2007-08-07T12:31:00.000-05:00

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Don Lawrence preaches three times a week to an appreciative congregation at Life Baptist church. His sermon tapes often sell out, and this year he is leading the people through a study of Matthew’s gospel.
But Lawrence is not a real person. He is a virtual, on-screen pastor whose sermon topics, personality, even mannerisms are chosen collectively by his congregation.
"We’ve never been happier," says head elder Louie Francesca. "We finally got the pastor we all want."
Virtual Pastor, a UK company, began pioneering the "virtual pastor model" in 2005, and has created a dozen lifelike, on-screen avatars which preach, joke and give personal anecdotes as if they were real people. All their sermons and personal stories are scavenged from the Internet.
When a church subscribes to Virtual Pastor, each person in a congregation helps "shape" their pastor by entering likes and dislikes into a response box during services. This live feedback is fed into the company’s servers and helps to change the pastor’s sermon topics, hair style and more in following weeks. The result is a pastor perfectly tailored to the will of the congregation.
"We unify churches and remove any reason for quarreling," says co-creator Gavin McReady, standing next to the servers in Scotland where all the virtual pastors reside. "It’s a monumental achievement." More

Sex and the Evangelical Teen - good grief!

2007-08-04T22:51:00.000-05:00

From Gene Edward Veith over at World. We are the world! We are the children!

Christian parents and churches need to face up to a problem long hidden in the dark: Evangelical teenagers are just as sexually active as their non-Christian friends.

In fact, there is evidence that evangelical teenagers on the whole may be more sexually immoral than non-Christians. Statistically, evangelical teens tend to have sex first at a younger age, 16.3, compared to liberal Protestants, who tend to lose their virginity at 16.7. And young evangelicals are far more likely to have had three or more sexual partners (13.7 percent) than non-evangelicals (8.9 percent).

What about abstinence pledges? Those work—for a while—delaying sex on an average of about 18 months, with 88 percent of pledgers eventually giving up their vow to remain virgins until marriage.

Proud atheists, unite!

2007-08-03T12:02:00.001-05:00

Read Richard Dawkins' Introduction to The Out Campaign here

Atheists have always been at the forefront of rational thinking and beacons of enlightenment, and now you can share your idealism by being part of the OUT Campaign. Send us money and we'll send you a T-shirt with a great big "A" on it so you can show your pride in your atheism. Woo-hoo!

Evangelistic smackdown quote of the day

2007-08-02T14:49:00.000-05:00

"Every man needs reconversion at forty on general principles! Because at forty we settle down, begin to lose that sense of spiritual expectancy, begin to take on 'protective resemblance' to environment, and to play for safety.

I once heard an Anglican bishop say that the period of the great number of spiritual casualties is between forty and fifty and not between twenty and thirty, as one would expect. Why? Well, if 'heaven lies about us in our infancy,' the world lies about us in our middle age. We come under its standards, fit into its facts, and are slowly de-Christianized." (E. Stanley Jones, Christ and Human Suffering)

My kind of atheism

2007-08-01T11:47:00.000-05:00

Hattip: http://arbevere.blogspot.com/

Low Bible, low church

2007-08-01T11:37:00.000-05:00

Insight from one of my online students this summer:

I was in a church of a main line denomination last February in East Dayton, OH. The congregation had shrunk from over 1,000 in the 90's to 14 in 2007. The main sanctuary was locked up because they could not light it or heat it for the lack of funds. While I was waiting in the church library I found hundreds of monogrammed and embossed Bibles that were left in the church. I initially thought that they were of old saints that had passed on. I was wrong. These were Bibles that living people had just abandoned as they left the church. It was like an Army, whipped in the field, throwing away their personal equipment to run faster. These people had thrown away their Bibles and left faith period. It is a sad commentary as to the general state of faith outside of evangelical oriented churches. (SG)

Discount the Bible, discount people, discount evangelism. But where there is a high view of scriptural authority (otherwise known as biblical inerrancy) you see spiritual vitality spreading around the world.

So, why do so many want to fight for biblical errancy?

Looking both ways...a word study

2007-07-31T14:26:00.000-05:00

Preached on Acts 3 on Sunday. It is the story of God healing the crippled beggar through Peter and John. Luke says that "Peter looked straight at him" which is an interesting word in the Greek pronounced a-te-NEE'-zow.

It is used 14x in the NT, twice by Paul, twice by Luke in the Gospel and 10 times in Acts. Every usage in Acts seems instructionally significant. The first two times a-te-NEE'-zow is used is the believers "looking intently" up into heaven. Godward. Second time - Peter and John "looking straight" at the beggar. Toward human need.

Good lesson here. To look Godward is symbolic of the first of Jesus' two great commandments "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength." To look toward human need seems symbolic of "Love your neighbor as yourself."

I once thought it was easy for Christians to think heaven all day without being moved toward those in need of our compassion. I no longer think so. The vast majority of those who call themselves "Christian" have no vital prayer life, are largely scripturally illiterate and are theologically inept. Most also don't take seriously the hurting in their midst.

But the abundant life is found right there taking looking intently with eye and hand with the weekly warp and woof of our lives.

The LA Times on House Churches

2007-07-30T16:18:00.000-05:00

I was saved in a house church. I like them. I am a part of a body that has chosen to have a great contemporary worship service in our current location of a couple hundred people with home cells on Sunday evening to replace the traditional Sunday school. It seems to work.

House churches have a lot going for them and the most exciting part is the intimacy, the low cost and the easy proliferation possibilities. Worked in the New Testament!

At any rate, the LA Times piece.

The trend goes by several names: house churches, living-room churches, the underground church, the organic church, the simple church, church without walls. Although they disagree on whether it's a good thing, proponents and detractors say that going to church in a home has the potential of forever changing the way Christians worship.

"We are at the initiation point of a transformational shift," said George Barna, author of the book "Revolution," about the changing nature of worship, and founding director of the Barna Group, a Ventura-based research firm that tracks religious trends.

A 2006 survey by his firm — tracking developments for use by researchers and the media — concluded that 9% of U.S. adults attend house churches weekly, a ninefold increase from the previous decade, and that roughly 70 million Americans have experienced a home service.

Those most likely to attend house churches, according to phone interviews with more than 5,000 adults nationwide, are men, families that home-school their children, residents of the West and nonwhites, while those least likely to attend include women, people older than 60 and Midwesterners.

"We predict that by the year 2025, the market share of conventional churches will be cut in half," Barna said. "People are creating a new form of church, and it's really exciting."

Funny stuff - emerging church motivational posters

2007-07-30T14:58:00.000-05:00

If you are emergent or wondering why you are not - here.

I fought the good "jihad?"

2007-07-27T18:28:00.000-05:00

Yep. That's what Paul said...

A legendary missionary who smuggled Bibles behind the Iron Curtain is calling on Christians worldwide to join the “good jihad” for the souls of Muslims in the Middle East and in other Islamic nations.

Though the term jihad carries a negative connotation – especially after the 9/11 attacks and current events around the world involving Muslim extremists - Christians have a biblical mandate to wage a “good jihad,” according to Brother Andrew, the founder of the international ministry Open Doors.

“It is literally quoting from the Bible because Paul said, ‘I fought the good fight’ and in the Arab Bible it says, ‘I fought the good jihad,’” said Brother Andrew during a recent interview with The Christian Post.

Evangelism?

2007-07-27T18:08:00.000-05:00

ROME (Reuters) - Catholic missionaries have always trekked to dangerous parts of the Earth to spread the word of God -- now they are being encouraged to go into the virtual realm of Second Life to save virtual souls.

In an article in Rome-based Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, academic Antonio Spadaro urged fellow Catholics not to be scared of entering the virtual world which may be fertile ground for new converts wishing to better themselves.

"It's not possible to close our eyes to this phenomenon or rush to judge it," Spadaro said. "Instead it needs to be understood ... the best way to understand it is to enter it."

Second Life is a simulation game where players can create a virtual version of themselves -- an avatar -- and interact with other people in the three-dimensional world.... (more)

A question: Why not more pastors?

2007-07-06T16:01:00.001-05:00

"Why aren't more pastors involved in this?" asked one of my friends this morning standing with me outside an abortion clinic. I told him we were happier preaching and staying respectable in the eyes of the world and our parishoners than we were in activating the faith.

Then we asked someone else who was standing out there. Doug said that most churches are outreach oriented in the first place and, second, most churches who are will start ministries that are easier and more compatible with traditional emphases than, say, abortion clinic ministry. If that is ever added, it will be added to a much larger mix of outreach and compassionate efforts.

He is probably right.

But the abortion clinic ministry was our first ministry at DaySpring. Then we added all the rest.

What a backward bunch I serve with!

Evangelical scandal

2007-07-06T15:42:00.000-05:00

Ron Sider wrote a volume called The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. In his chapter on “The Depth of the Scandal” he starts off with a quote by Michael Horton: “Evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general.” Then come the statistics and other data from the research:

Conservative protestants are more likely to divorce than the rest of the population and the rates are higher where conservative Protestants make up a higher percentage of the population in the country.
As evangelicals have gotten richer, we have spent more on ourselves and given smaller percentages to the church. Evangelicals give about two-fifths of a tithe.
Born-again adults cohabit with members of the opposite sex without marriage only a little lower than the general public.
26 percent of traditional evangelicals do not think premarital sex is wrong and 13 percent says it is okay for married persons to have sex with someone other than one’s spouse.
The percentage of Christian men involved in pornography is not much different than that of the unsaved.
Coach Bill McCartney of the Promise Keepers thinks a major reason attendance dropped dramatically in his organization’s stadium events was their stand on racial reconciliation.
Husbands who attended conservative Protestant churches or held conservative theological views were no more or less likely to engage in domestic abuse than others. Theologically conservative Christians commit domestic abuse at least as often as the general public.

Sider also quotes Peter E. Gillquist who says that “All the evangelism in the world from a church that is not herself holy and righteous will not be worth a hill of beans in world-changing power.” Modern evangelicalism, is in a “modern Babylonian captivity and we do not yet know it.” But Sider ends with what he deems a “ray of hope.” Cited is research in the early nineties by George Gallup Jr. and Timothy Jones called The Saints Among Us. A twelve-question survey was used to identify heroic and faithful individual Christians.

1. My religious faith is the most important influence in my life.
2. I seek God’s will through prayer.
3. I believe that God loves me even though I may not always obey him.
4. I try hard to put my religious beliefs into practice in my relations with all people, regardless of their backgrounds.
5. I receive comfort and support from my religious beliefs.
6. I believe that Jesus Christ was fully human and fully divine.
7. I wish my religious beliefs were stronger.
8. I believe in the full authority of the Bible.
9. I do things I don’t want to do because I believe it is the will of God.
10. God gives me the strength, that I would not otherwise have, to forgive people who have hurt me deeply.
11. I try to bring others to Christ through the way I live or through discussion or prayer.
12. I wish my relationships with other Christians were stronger.

“Saints” were those who agreed with every question. “Super-saints” was the name for those who agreed “strongly” with every question.

The “saints”, found Gallup and Jones, lived differently:

42 percent of the strongly uncommitted (answered all questions with disagree or strongly disagree) spent “a good deal of time” helping needy people compared with 73 percent of the “saints” and 85 percent of the “super-saints”
63 percent of the spiritually uncommitted reported they would not object to having a different race neighbor. But 84 percent of the “saints” and 93 percent of the “super-saints” said they would not object.
71 percent of the spiritually uncommitted believed it is important to forgive people who had hurt them. 98 percent of the “saints” and 100 percent of the “supersaints” agreed.
71 percent of the spiritually uncommitted and 100 percent of both the saints and supersaints “try to follow a strict moral code.”

The idea of “saints” for Gallup and Jones are what we call, in this volume, “witnesses.” The content of the “witness’” character is different and uncommon. And it makes a difference in life. Gallup/Jones says that

There appears to be a great deal of self-centered, provincial faith – extrinsic religion…that makes little difference in people’s lives. Extrinsic faith tends to be more institution-centered, and primarily something to be called on in crisis.

But, say the authors,

For a society tempted to think that only a highly visible few – the Billy Grahams and Mother Teresas – make a difference, our research shows otherwise. Our interviews with the friends, associates, and neighbors of the saints among us lead us to conclude that they have an impact on society far out of proportion to their numbers.

Atheists and Agnostics Take Aim at Christianity

2007-06-18T15:16:00.000-05:00

Going to be tough to do it effectively, of course, if they are as disengaged as the Barna research suggests.

Un-seeker friendly worship

2007-06-14T15:42:00.001-05:00

Yup - guess it is possible.

Discussion starter for your sermon series on heaven

2007-05-19T20:23:00.001-05:00

If you are really desperate...

Rick Warren on Jerry Falwell

2007-05-16T16:36:00.000-05:00

His press release on Falwell's death:

“Jerry Falwell was one of the giant figures who towered over the 20th Century American church. While most people knew him as the founder of the Moral Majority, the face of the Religious Right, and by some of his more controversial statements, many saw only his opponent’s caricature of the real man.

The story was never told about his compassionate heart, his gentle spirit, his enormous sense of humor, and the millions he invested in helping the underprivileged. Jerry founded the Elim Home for alcoholics, the Center for tutoring inner city children, the Hope Aglow ministry to prisoners, Liberty Godparent Home for unwed mothers, and literally dozens of other compassion projects to help the poor, the sick, and others in desperate need.

I believe Jerry Falwell’s primary legacy will not be his political leadership, but the church he pastored for 50 years; the university he founded that has produced two generations of leaders; the millions who heard him preach the Good News; the innovations in ministry he introduced; and the thousands of young pastors, like myself, whom he constantly encouraged, even when we did it differently.“

Is a National Day of Prayer really helpful?

2007-05-10T15:55:00.000-05:00

The National Day of Prayer for this year has come and gone. It is time we investigated the whole concept a bit further.

I don’t have anything against such a “National Day…” Anytime God’s people get together to praise and thank, to confess and intercede, all the better. But the issue, which is addressed precious little these days, lies further on.

E. Stanley Jones, the late Methodist missionary to India, once said that “Where there is no effective prayer life, the heart of religion has ceased to beat and…becomes a dead body of forms and customs and dogmas.” And yet the vast majority of lay and clergy alike don’t practice a consistent and daily practice of prayer and thus fall as casualties before the admonition of James: “The prayers of a righteous man availeth much.” Righteousness is a matter of God’s grace and prayer is one of the chief means of that grace.

Jones continues: “If I were to put my finger on the greatest lack in American Christianity, I would unhesitantly point to the need for an effective prayer life among laity and ministers.” And then Kagawa is quoted. To second-generation Japanese Christians in America he said “Your greatest lack is that you do not know how to pray.” Christianity becomes anemic and feckless without personal prayer lives. (E. Stanley Jones, How to Pray)

And what has happened to the church prayer meeting? Once this nation was known for Wednesday night prayer gatherings where people labored in getting through to God. Now, if there is a prayer meeting at all, it is too often the most boring meeting of the week, little attended and the hour is crammed with singing, preaching and requests more than fervent prayer.

Pastor Jim Cymbala swears that Brooklyn Tabernacle went from “doomed” to dynamic after he sensed God speaking to him: “If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call upon my name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that’s needed, both for the church and for your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response.”

“Lead to pray.” In Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire Cymbala then quotes that great Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.

All of this to ask: What use is a National Day of Prayer if no one has a prayer life, and local churches aren’t passionately interceding?

We need the following:

Pastors who spend at least an hour a day in personal prayer thus leading by example in this most consequential church dynamic.
Churches who reclaim a time for fervent intercession either during the Sunday service or at something like a Wednesday prayer meeting or both.
We need pastors to begin beckoning their people to consistent and ardent prayer and fasting as a local church standard.
We need seasons of prayer where pastors and laity alike are honing in on the life of holiness God desires for all of us.
Then…we need to participate in the bigger vision of “National Days of Prayer.”

I just have this funny feeling that doing the last without the former won’t mean much to God. And that all of these together in abundant fashion across the nation will likely mean revival.

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #29

2007-05-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

Three ways to teach evangelism and compassionate ministry:

I have often wondered if there aren’t three ways to teach evangelism and compassionate ministry to your seminary students (and, by extension, to your church).

Method one: hypocritically. This means, you use your mouth and pulpit/lectern only. You don’t actually evangelize yourself, you just talk about it.

Method two: from the margins. You do talk about it, and you do it. But you don’t involve others with you in the ministry. Your teaching thus is separated from your action.

Method three: centrally. You teach and preach about it, and you do it, and you involve others with you. This is Christ’s method.

Insight – I don’t know that I have ever (with any degree of certainty) been taught evangelism by someone who did anything other than the first method.

What evangelism does for the evangelist:
“Evangelism is work, often hard work. Yet it is not drudgery. It puts a person on good humor, and makes him truly human.” (Oswald C.J. Hoffmann)

An outreach idea
AUTO-CARE (www.autocareministry.com) - Policies and procedures (call for passcode & username)

Monthly ministry to single moms and widows
Volunteer mechanics provide service and tools
Services are provided on the church property or site
Advertisement interest everybody
Involves everybody in the church to serve
High exposure to the community leaders and other churches

A bunch of interesting audio seminars to download.
Go for it.

Three transferable insights from John Calvin: Acts 4:1-4
Three things are to be chiefly noted in this narration.

First, that as soon as the truth of the Gospel comes to light, Satan sets himself in opposition to it by every means in his power, and uses every endeavour to crush it in its earliest beginnings.

Secondly, that God furnishes His children with unconquerable fortitude, that they may stand firm and unmoved against all the devices of Satan and may not yield to the violence of the wicked.

Finally, we must not the outcome, that however completely the enemy may appear to be dominant and in control of events, leaving no stone unturned to blot out the Name of Christ, and however much on the other hand the ministers of sound doctrine be as sheep in the mouths of wolves, God none the less spreads abroad the Kingdom of His Son, keeps alive the light of His Gospel, and looks to the safety of His children. (Calvin, Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, Acts Vol. 1)

"Is Christianity Good for the World?" A debate

2007-05-09T00:34:00.000-05:00

Woo-hoo! Something interesting to read during finals week!

True or false?

2007-05-07T10:25:00.000-05:00

One man practicing Christianity is better than a thousand preaching it.

What would Jesus really do?

2007-05-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

What would Jesus really do? Provocative article. What do you think?

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #28

2007-05-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire reminder:

“Lead to pray.” In Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire Cymbala then quotes that great Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.

Concerning the National Day of Prayer:
What use is a National Day of Prayer if no one has a prayer life, and local churches aren’t passionately interceding?

We need the following:

Pastors who spend at least an hour a day in personal prayer thus leading by example in this most consequential church dynamic.
Churches who reclaim a time for fervent intercession either during the Sunday service or at something like a Wednesday prayer meeting or both.
We need pastors to begin beckoning their people to consistent and ardent prayer and fasting as a local church standard.
We need seasons of prayer where pastors and laity alike are honing in on the life of holiness God desires for all of us.
Then…we need to participate in the bigger vision of “National Days of Prayer.”

I just have this funny feeling that doing the last without the former won’t mean much to God. And that all of these together in abundant fashion across the nation will likely mean revival. MF

Barna.org
A new survey released by The Barna Group, which has been tracking America’s religious behavior and beliefs since 1984, reveals that one out of every three adults (33%) is classified as unchurched - meaning they have not attended a religious service of any type during the past six months. While that figure is considerably higher than the one out of five who qualified as unchurched in the early Nineties, it is statistically unchanged since 36% were recorded as having avoided religious services in the company’s 1994 study.

Podcast
Rick Warren’s discussion with several about how to minister in an urban setting. Always worth listening to. http://blog.pastors.com/

Lausanne
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA/COLORADO SPRINGS, CO USA, 4 May - The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE, www.lausanne.org) today announced plans for the Third International Congress on World Evangelization, to be held 16-25 October, 2010, in Cape Town, South Africa. "Lausanne III: Cape Town 2010" will gather mission and church leaders from around the world to address challenges and opportunities that are before the church with respect to world evangelization.

Mark Driscoll gets some added criticism

2007-05-01T14:32:00.000-05:00

Apparently Driscoll got in a bit of hot water over this video. Mostly, it was his "man" talk and his apparent dismissal of women in ministry. What do you think?

Plagiarists, beware

2007-04-30T18:02:00.001-05:00

Who, me?

OK Kids - 5000 years of Middle East history...right before your very eyes

2007-04-30T10:48:00.000-05:00

Click on it...very interesting.

Why the increasing animosity towards Christianity?

2007-04-23T15:33:00.000-05:00

Is it possible that a dearth of Christ-like characteristics -- such as integrity, holiness, forgiveness, compassion -- among believers is turning off "the world" to Christianity? Surely not.

OneNewsNow.com recently asked its Internet readers: What is the primary cause of the increasing animosity toward Christianity?

Readers said:

Anti-Christian media (39.58%)
Liberal public education (30.61%)
Political correctness (13.59%)
Indifference to religion (11.63%)
Anti-Christian politicians (4.59%)

On the Mississippi talk-radio show that I host, I asked the audience if a sixth answer might be appropriate. How about "Christians"? Could believers themselves be the primary cause of the "increasing animosity"?

OneNewsNow's poll was unscientific by polling standards. So were the answers to the talk show inquiry. But that day on the airwaves, 100% agreed that the Church has caused negative perceptions by:

Lackadaisical response and/or silence in the face of national moral decline
Mirroring the world's values
Rank hypocrisy -- we talk a good talk, but our walk is well worth criticizing
Powerless living
Anemic involvement in addressing the nation's problems

Is there an antidote to the Church causing loathing among the wider populace?

The audience thought so -- integrity, for starters. Talk holiness, but live it even more. Forgive those who wrong you and wrong the culture. Reach out to the unlovable and the "untouchables" of our age with Christ-like compassion. Quit saying that prayer is the most important thing and act like it really is. Be humble.

Like most talk-radio conversations, it all came out a little choppy. But there is wisdom here.

I once participated in a televised, four-person panel discussing my community -- Jackson, Mississippi. The city council was in disarray as the president of the council and another councilman were headed off to jail. The council president, for his part, had made a behind-the-back deal with a strip club for the purposes of a re-zoning ordinance, was caught and found guilty of the crime, and was subsequently sent to a correctional facility.

The moderator, a local newscaster named Katina Rankin, looked at me during the give-and-take and, trying to get a rise out of me, asked, "Matt, whose fault is all of this?"

Mission accomplished. I suddenly became agitated. My face began to get red and I prepared to launch into a tirade about how we are a nation of laws and how the city council president had looked at that law, trampled on it, and tried to get some cash flow he had no right to have as a public official. If we were looking for culprits there was only one place to put the blame -- smack dab in the council president's lap as he sat in his well-deserved jail cell.

That is what I was going to say.

But I never got the words out. One of the panelists sitting next to me was a gentleman named John Perkins -- author, teacher, community developer, national evangelical leader, Christian statesman. As my index finger stiffened and my blood pressure rose, I prepared to answer Ms. Rankin when Dr. Perkins intervened before I got a word out.

"It's my fault," he answered Rankin.

All heads, quizzically, turned his way.

"I have lived in this community for decades as a Bible teacher," he said. "I should have been able to create an environment where what our council president did would have been unthinkable because of my efforts.

"You want someone to blame? I'll take the blame."

You could have heard a pin drop. Part of the silence was mine as I reflected on my own lack of involvement.

Whose fault? Our fault. And that is something we can change.

Your worldview - TC or ID? G or F? B or Q? C or L?

2007-04-23T13:28:00.000-05:00

From Marvin Olasky...discerning worldviews.

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #27

2007-04-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

A leadership seminar by Paul:

Luke summarizes Paul’s teaching in Acts 20:18-35, which can be read out loud in 2 minutes and 10 seconds. In other words, we have here less than one-half of 1 percent of Paul’s teaching content, even assuming it was a short one-day seminar. So from one perspective, we could say we have ended up with but a brief summary of the high points that seemed important to Luke. Or, from another perspective, we could say we trust that the Holy Spirit, who inspired Luke as he was writing Acts, guided Luke supernaturally to select the exact items that would be the most important for the leaders of the church through the ages. Let’s move on this latter assumption.

As I read it, it looks as though the seminar could have been divided into four sessions, all of which are important for Christian leaders in all places at all times:

· Session 1: Striving for a servant’s heart (Acts 20:17-21)

· Session 2: Counting the cost of discipleship (Acts 20:22-24)

· Session 3: Guarding against counterfeits (Acts 20:25-31)

· Session 4: Turning the church over to the nationals (Acts 20:32-35) (Peter Wagner, Blazing the Way, 197-200)

Urban Evangelism
Rodney Stark (Christianity Today, 6/15/98; Christian History, 5/30/01) talks about how the early Christian community “outlived the pagans.” Part of this was the urban sanctuary the Christians offered.

Greco-Roman cities were terribly overpopulated. Antioch in Syria, for example, had a population density of about 117 inhabitants per acre—more than three times that of New York City today. Tenement cubicles were smoky, dark, often damp, and always dirty. On the street, mud, open sewers, and manure lay everywhere. Newcomers and strangers, divided into many ethnic groups, harbored antagonism that often erupted into riots. For these ills, Christianity offered a unifying subculture, bridging divisions and providing a strong sense of common identity.

To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity and hope.
To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate fellowship.
To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family.

Why was Paul a “tentmaker” when he didn’t have to?

Credibility: Paul says twice (1 Cor. 9:12; 2 Cor. 6:3ff) that he works in order not to put an “obstacle: in the way of the gospel. He tries to give the Gentiles no reason to distrust his motivation. He does not want to be classes with exploiters of audiences. He gets nothing, it costs him.
Identification: Paul is known for adapting to cultures…including the lower classes. A skilled artisan was somewhere in the lower middle (I Cor. 9:19ff). He would have had to immerse himself in the marketplace to gain the trust of the artisans and laborers. His identification would not be phony…he genuinely earned his living. This would be, of course, an imitation of the incarnational Jesus (Phil. 2:5-11).
Modeling: Paul, generally, would model the holy life of one living in an unholy world. “He lived a holy life in the same immoral, idolatrous, cesspool society where he expected converts to live holy lives.” He would do the same, more particularly, with a Christian work ethic.

“With toil and labor, we worked night and day that we night not burden any of you, and to give you an example to follow.” (I Thess. 3:8) Work would not be optional for new believers. He would turn thieves, idlers and drunkards into good providers for families and generous givers to the need (I Cor. 6:10-11; Eph. 4:28; I Tim 5:8). More importantly, Paul established a pattern for lay ministry…all converts were to be full-time, unpaid evangelists in their places of work, extended households and cities, villages. Perspectives, Ruth Siemens

A witness, not a lawyer
”As a lawyer for God, putting up his case, I was a failure. As a witness for God, telling what he had done for me, I was a success. As in a flash I saw my calling: I was to be a witness! It was bitter medicine, bitterly and publicly administered, but I took the medicine and found it cured me of illusions. I would not be God’s able lawyer, but I would be a witness to grace. And I have been a witness - a witness before princes and peasants, before Brahmans and outcastes, before the mighty and the miserable of what Christ has done for an unworthy recipient. I have found that this is what people want to hear – testimony of what has happened and is happening to you.” (E. Stanley Jones, Song of Ascents)

Bible help
Want help in Hebrew and Greek insights. You are missing out if you haven’t discovered the Blue Letter Bible online. http://www.blueletterbible.org/

Newsweek: Rick Warren vs. atheist Sam Harris

2007-04-11T15:48:00.000-05:00

Newsweek magazine has a transcript of the debate. Read it.

Excellent resource

2007-04-11T09:37:00.000-05:00

Rick Warren podcast. Great idea generator.

What Jesus saw from the Cross

2007-04-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

James Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902)
What Our Saviour Saw from the Cross
Gouache, 1886-1894
The Brooklyn Museum
Hat tip: Locusts and Honey

Which Church Father are you

2007-04-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

OK - it is the weakest survey of this sort I have ever seen (and I have seen some weak ones!). Still...try it for fun.

You are St. Justin Martyr!

You have a positive and hopeful attitude toward the world. You think that nature, history, and even the pagan philosophers were often guided by God in preparation for the Advent of the Christ. You find “seeds of the Word” in unexpected places. You’re patient and willing to explain the faith to unbelievers.

Check out St. Justin Martyr: The First and Second Apologies for more information on St. Justin Martyr.

The Passover Seder

2007-04-05T14:40:00.000-05:00

Our church celebrates a Passover meal together, including the Christian insights that can be gained if you accept Jesus as Messiah. At any rate, enjoy these. Christian insights in the second part of three and part four:

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #26

2007-04-03T16:18:00.000-05:00

Here’s why we grew so wonderfully in the beginning
“Let me state my thesis: Central doctrines of Christianity prompted and sustained attractive, liberating, and effective social relations and organizations. I believe that it was the religion’s particular doctrines that permitted Christianity to be among the most sweeping and successful revitalization movements in history. And it was the way these doctrines took on actual flesh, the way they directed organizational actions and individual behavior, that led to the rise of Christianity.” (Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity)

The Scent of Love
"In his book The Scent of Love Keith Miller proposes the reason why the early Christians were such phenomenally successful evangelists. It was not because of their charisms – such as the gift of speaking in tongues – and not because Christianity was such a palatable doctrine (to the contrary, it is about the unpalatable doctrine there is) but because they had discovered this secret of community. Generally they did not have to lift a finger to evangelize. Someone would be walking down a back alley in Corinth or Ephesus and would see a group of people sitting together talking about the strangest things – something about a man and a tree and an execution and an empty tomb. What they were talking about made no sense to the onlooker. But there was something about the way they spoke to one another, about the way they looked at one another, about the way they cried together, the way they laughed together, the way they touched one another that was strangely appealing. It gave off what Miller called the scent of love. The onlooker would start to drift farther down the alley, only to be pulled back to this little group like a bee to a flower. He would listen some more, still not understanding, and start to drift away again. But again he would be pulled back, thinking, I don’t have the slightest idea what these people are talking about, but whatever it is, I want a part of it.” (M. Scott Peck, The Different Drum, Simon and Schuster, ’87)

Second Generation Leadership
Chapter 9 describes the conversion of Paul, whose ministry dominates the rest of Acts. In fact from now on, except for the pioneering work by Peter in the home of Cornelius, these newer leaders are the standard-bearers of the advance of the kingdom.

As we noted above, they become initiators while the apostles become verifiers. In a beautiful sequence Peter and John follow the lead given by Philip and preach the gospel in many Samaritan cities (8:25).

We can detect a certain hesitancy to change among the older established leaders, which is natural.

Thus, when there is an evangelistic harvest in Samaria by Philip, Peter and John are sent to check things out.

Peter later resists the message to go to the home of Cornelius (10:9-23).

When Paul tries to join the Christians in Jerusalem, he is accepted only after Barnabas intervenes before the apostles on his behalf (9:26-27).

When the gospel is preached later in Antioch among Gentiles, the Jerusalem11:19-24).

The good thing is that in each of these four instances of groundbreaking changes within the church, the apostles accept the changes after giving them due consideration. Our passion for obedience to God and his ways should make us careful about naively accepting every change that comes along without examining them. But it is our passion for obedience that also enables us to accept the changes even though we may sometimes be uncomfortable with them. In this way we not only encourage healthy change and growth in the church, we also help develop new and creative leadership. The abiding principle we learn from this is that good leaders are open to change that comes from younger creative people and, after giving it proper thought, encourage such change and even learn from it. (Ajith Fernando, Acts – NIV Application Commentary)

How to enthuse a eunuch!

Philip went up to the chariot of the eunuch reading (then, Scripture was always read outloud…learning comes by hearing) a scroll (worth about $20,000 in 2002 dollars). The Ethiopian was a wealthy character…the chief treasurer, a trusted official. He was reading the Isaiah scroll.

In those days, a eunuch had both testicles and penis removed…which means he could not have been circumcised.So at the temple, he could only proceed as far as the Court of the Gentiles (which had a railing that said “No Gentiles may go beyond this line, if you do you will be responsible for your death which will ensue”).

The eunuch wants some help from Philip concerning Is. 53.They began there.

Perhaps they made it as far as 56:“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths who choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant – to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.”

No wonder the eunuch got enthused! (Jim Fleming)

A God beyond our control…
“It can be pointed out that while there is no first-century evidence of the church in Ethiopia, nevertheless several early church fathers attribute to the eunuch the evangelizing of the region (cf. e.g., Irenaeus, Against heresies 3.12.8-10). We can only say, it may be so, and in any case the eunuch can be seen as a fulfillment of the psalmist’s words: “let Ethiopia hasten to stretch out its hand to God” (Ps. 68:31). For Luke’s purposes, however, at least part of the point of this story is to show that with or without apostles, God was going to fulfill his plan to spread the good news to “all flesh” even unto the ends of the earth, even if it required using an evangelist rather than an apostle, and even if it required direct divine intervention in various forms. The human leaders of Christianity in Jerusalem could only try to catch up with the plan of God, which was operating often apart from and quite beyond their control.” (Ben Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles, 301)

How not to evangelize

Kudos to Alabama and their biblical literacy...but we can all do better!

2007-04-02T09:46:00.000-05:00

From an H.B. London (Focus on the Family) newsletter:

A new poll found that Alabamians were the most knowledgeable on some biblical basics. The Press-Register/University of South Alabama survey of 404 adults found that most Americans can't identify one of the four Gospels while 70 percent of Alabamians can correctly identify all four. More than 70 percent of the Alabama respondents knew where Jesus was born (Bethlehem) and nearly 90 percent correctly identified Jesus' words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God," as coming from the Bible, cited Boston University professor Stephen Prothero.

Only 16 percent of respondents knew that President Bush's reference to the Jericho Road in his first inaugural address was the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. Prothero was most troubled that 30 percent of respondents incorrectly attributed Benjamin Franklin's adage, "God helps those who help themselves," to the Bible. In Prothero's opinion, the phrase is opposed to the spirit of the Bible that teaches God helps those that cannot help themselves.

A key concern for Prothero, "is that we're not doing anything about the religious illiteracy problem, but we are ramping up religion in politics, so there's more and more of a gap between what American citizens know and what's going on in the political world."

Dean of the School of Christian Studies, Cecil R. Taylor, commented on "how biblically illiterate even students who come from Bible-believing, Bible-teaching churches are." Forty-one percent of the poll respondents said they wanted to learn more, while 59 percent said they possessed a "full understanding." Taylor said that within some Christian circles, "It's not how much you know, it's whether you believe."

Prothero said that for evangelicals it is about having a relationship with Jesus and feeling Him in your heart. For most liberal Protestants, it's doing — soup kitchens, social gospel and taking care of the poor. Neither is about knowing. Prothero said that in early American history, Christianity was about knowing — God gave us our brains; use them. God gave us the Bible that has truth in it; we should learn it. Prothero continued, "But, you know, I think that we're now in a phase...where there's more emphasis on loving Jesus than on knowing what he has to say."

What does evangelical leadership in America lack?

2007-03-28T15:12:00.000-05:00

A student just asked that a few minutes ago in class. I quickly made a list of five things. Does this get it or am I missing something really big?

1. Lack of missional passion (both personally and corporately). Outward bound passion is huge...and pastors need to lead the way out the door.

2. Lack of a serious devotional life. E. Stanley Jones said the greatest lack in the American church is lack of a prayer life.

3. Lack of holy character...Christlikeness. All too often we are made in the image of the world.

4. Lack of persistence. We take a church, do a good job and try to land the next best thing for - always! - more money, more people, better community. What happened to the missionaries who would pack their belongings in the pine boxed casket never to return to the land of their ancestors?

5. Lack of adaptability. We get calcified in our modus operandi. To allow God to transform us all our lives is key to success in ministry.

An evangelism tip you probably ought to keep in mind

2007-03-27T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ahem!

Missionary Pioneers: A Legacy of Women and Men Advancing the Gospel Together

2007-03-27T09:41:00.000-05:00

Great column by Mimi Haddad:

The gospel partnerships of men and women on mission fields today may seem unprecedented to some. Yet history is filled with examples of men and women using their gifts together, advancing the kingdom throughout the world.

In fact, many of today’s evangelical leaders stand as part of a glorious legacy of Christian men and women whose God-given talents advanced the gospel with passion, purpose and power. Even a short survey of mission history offers astonishing examples of men and women who worked together in advancing the gospel. Consider Paula and Jerome who translated the Bible from the original languages into Latin in the fourth century. Or consider Theodora and Justinian—emperor and empress of the Byzantine Empire in the fifth century who brokered peace between Christian factions and developed laws that aided female prostitutes. Or consider Protestant Reformers Martin Luther and his wife Katharine Von Bora. Or consider the missionaries of the nineteenth century such as Catherine and William Booth, Pandita Ramabai and Frances Willard. The gospel partnerships of missionaries throughout history are examples for us to celebrate and model today.

While men and women have advanced the gospel together throughout history, it was during the modern missionary movement of the 1800s when Christians began to develop a cohesive biblical basis for women’s service as gospel partners with men. Let us explore several leaders within the modern missionary movement and the biblical foundations they laid for men and women’s gospel service. Read more.

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #25

2007-03-26T10:53:00.000-05:00

The latest Lausanne World Pulse
Some good reading here. http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/

Sober thinking on church planting
Since 1906, and particularly after WWI, new church planting slowed drastically, for a complex variety of reasons. Since 1906 the population has grown roughly 300%, but the number of Protestant churches has grown no more than 35%. This is no more than one new church planted for every 1,000 new residents now. As a result, mainline Protestant churches have had huge declines in membership since the 1960's, and Catholic church attendance has also fallen. If we want to renew our country spiritually, we will have to plant thousands and thousands of new churches annually.

In light of this research, it is clear why America has become decreasingly influenced by a Christian world and life view. It takes new churches to reach new generations, new ethnic groups-and there are far, far fewer churches being planted. Established churches are like "full sponges". The main reason the mainline churches are declining is not bad theology (directly), but the lack of church planting. (The Mormons are not orthodox, but they plant churches like crazy, and thus they are growing.) It should be noted however, that you plant churches because you believe something crucial for others to have…and therefore the culprit is still bad theology in that it produces apathy, and apathy is not exactly great fuel for church planting.

Application to San Francisco
By an approximate count, San Francisco has 300 churches of any potentially Christian stripe. With a population of 760,000, this means there is approximately 1 church for every 2500 residents. (The national average is 12 churches per 10,000 people. San Francisco is at approximately 4 churches per 10,000.) If we wanted to see the number of active Christians in San Francisco double, there is only one way-to get that ratio down to 1 to 1200 or less. That would take at least another 300 churches, this with the assumption that the original 300 were healthy! (City Church/San Francisco website)

Word study: homothymadon (with one mind, of one accord) –

Denotes the unity of a group…the thymos may be anger, fear, gratitude or political or, in Judaism, religious. At its best Unanimity is achieved in the magnifying of the one Lord (Rom. 15:16). It is a response to God’s action for the community and the world (cf. Acts 1:4; 4:24). It is thus a gift of God to the praise of God. (TDNT, 1 Vol)

“They were characterized by: first, unity of plan to assemble; second, unity of place where physical proximity would lend strength and faith to their vigil; third, unity of purpose which gave direction and focus to their praying; fourth, unity of persistence which afforded drive to their praying; and fifth, unity of prayer which integrated their desires with their objective and thus sealed to them by faith the fulfillment of the Father’s promise to endue them with power from on high.” (The Acts of the Apostles, Carter/Earle)
The Greek word itself cannot be said to be a musical term, but the best English word with which to translate it, accord, is decidedly musical. It means, among other things, to agree in pitch and tone. There was no discord.
1:14; 2:46; 4:24; 15:28…”Where there is homothumadon among Christians, there the Holy Spirit is present. What men think in the homothumadon way, the Holy Spirit can think with them and inspire their difficult problem solutions. In our first homothumadon reference, Acts 1:14, the Twelve were involved. In the second reference, Acts 2:1, the one hundred and twenty were involved. In the subsequent references, and particularly the last one, the interests of the whole Church are at stake.: (The Acts of the Apostles, Carter/Earle, 26)

Three views of Paul in Athens:
John Pollock: Athens had rejected (Paul). He could not know that his speech would go down to posterity. . . as one of the greatest speeches of Athens. He could not know that whole books would be written about it or that in a few hundred years the Parthenon would become a Christian church; and that nineteen centuries on, when Greece after long suppression became once more a sovereign state, the national flag which lies beside the ruins of the Parthenon would be lowered to half-mast each Good Friday and raised on Easter Day in honor of Christ’s resurrection. (John Pollock, Apostle, 155.)

Acts 17:33-34: Although Paul’s message to the university community of his day does not produce massive immediate results, his ministry to the Areopagus is clearly effective. The Areopagus included only those of highest status in this university community, so the conversion of Dionysius is significant. Modern readers who judge Paul’s work in Athens a failure on the basis of 1 Corinthisns 2:1 have missed Luke’s point entirely (the emphasis of Acts is on his success, and the original readers of Acts could not simply turn to 1 Corinthians). (Craig Keener)

Another perspective: “We often quote Paul’s speech at Athens as a model of missionary approach and yet it was one of Paul’s biggest failures. He did not succeed in founding a church there. Mackintosh analyzes his failure thus: ‘The Christian propaganda failed or prospered in proportion as the fresh data for religion present in Jesus were studiously concealed or openly proclaimed. Take Paul’s address at Athens: says some fine things, God’s spirituality, a God not afar off – one in whom we live and move, creation instead of chaos. Providence instead of chance, men of one blood instead of proud distinction between Greek and Barbarian. But at no point is publicity given to the distinctive Christian message. In this studied omission of the cross is the secret of his comparative failure at Athens and his subsequent change at Corinth. He writes penitently, “I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” The gospel had lost its saviour when it was merged in Jewish commonplace.’” (The Originality of the Christian Message, Mackintosh) (The Christ of the Indian Road, E. Stanley Jones)

Luke, on “how not to live your life”
Acts 17:21: (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

Cotton Patch Versions of the New Testament On-line
Brilliant stuff. http://rockhay.tripod.com/cottonpatch/index.htm The Great Commission from Matthew 28, for instance:

Jesus came over to them and said, "Every right to rule in both the spiritual and physical realms has been given to me. As you travel, then, make students of all races and initiate them into the family of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to live by all that I outlined for you. And you know, I am right in there with you—all the time— until the last inning."

Wasted on Jesus?

2007-03-26T10:09:00.001-05:00

Nice article by Ferdinand Nweke:

“As [Jesus] sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. And she broke the flask and poured it on his head. But there were some who were indignant… and said ‘why was this fragrant oil wasted?’…
and they criticized her sharply.”
(Mark 14:3-5)

The world has not changed. Every time you pour something costly and precious on Jesus, the immediate reaction is, “To what purpose is this waste?” What the master gladly accepts as a sacrifice, the world calls a waste. As far as the people were concerned, the costly oil was misused. If she wanted to give it all away, why didn’t she use the proceeds from its sale to bless some poor people? In other words, there could have been a better use of the precious oil than “wasting” it on Jesus.

There is always an alternative use for whatever you want to pour on Jesus. If somebody with a degree in electrical engineering resigned a lucrative job and packed up to go and settle among the Wolof people of Senegal, the world would ask, “Can you imagine such a brilliant fellow with prospects, wasting his life and calling himself a missionary? What kind of waste is this?” If, however, he becomes an Information Technology guru, walking the financial capitals of the world and flying from New York to Singapore, from Tokyo to Brisbane, it would not be considered a waste.

Many Christians are afraid to pursue God’s high purpose for their lives because of the comments and expectations of others whose opinions belong in the trash can and who have no idea what the Lord has ordained for such a life. The truth is, everybody will be wasted somewhere. It is your choice to determine where and on what. But as for whether or not you will be wasted, it is an inescapable reality. Every life is being spent on something.

Some people are wasted on the pursuit of power, popularity and pleasure. Others are wasted on the mad-rush for money and other mundane matters of life. If your life is not wasted on Jesus, it certainly will be wasted on something less. You can only be emptied on something less than the master because there is nothing greater than him. Some people are waiting until they have been wasted by the system. At that time they will limp to the altar at age 70 singing “I surrender all.” When the best of your youthful resources have been spent pursuing your own personal agenda, what else is remaining to surrender? More, here.

Video of one of my heroes in the faith...

2007-03-24T00:18:00.000-05:00

Clarence Jordan. What a man...

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #24

2007-03-23T16:11:00.000-05:00

Psalm 22:6
(“But I am a worm and not a man” – a verse that gives us a picture of Christ…the Psalm starts with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again.

The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood.

From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might "bring many sons unto glory" (Heb 2:10")! He died for us, that we might live through him! " Ps 22:6" describes such a worm and gives us this picture of Christ. (cf. "Isa 1:18") (from page 73, "Biblical Basis for Modern Science", 1985, Baker Book House, by Henry Morris)

Creeds are nice…but…
“The fact is that the Sermon on the Mount is not in our creeds. As the Apostle’s Creed now stands you can accept every words of it and leave the essential self untouched. Suppose we had written it in our creeds and had repeated each time with conviction: ‘I believe in the Sermon on the Mount and in its way of life, and I intend, Godhelping me, to embody it’! What would have happened? I feel sure that if this had been our main emphasis, the history of Christendom would have been different.” (E. Stanley Jones, The Christ of the Mount)

Barna’s Latest:
Some population segments are notorious church avoiders. For instance, 47% of political liberals are unchurched, more than twice the percentage found among political conservatives (19%). African Americans were less likely to be unchurched (25%) than were whites (32%) or Hispanics (34%). Asians, however, doubled the national average: 63% were unchurched! Single adults continued a historic pattern of being more likely than married adults to stay away from religious services (37% versus 29%, respectively).

Residents of the West (42%) and Northeast (39%) remain the most church resistant, while those in the South are the least prone to avoid religious services (26%). Sexual orientation is closely related to church status, too: while about one-third of heterosexuals are unchurched (31%), half of the homosexual public (49%) met the unchurched criteria.

Within the various faith communities residing in the U.S., Christians are the most consistent church goers. A majority of the adults (61%) who are associated with a faith other than Christianity had not attended any type of religious service in the past half-year. In fact, people aligned with a faith other than Christianity are two-and-a-half times as likely as self-designated Christians to be unchurched (61% versus 24%, respectively).

Looking at the distinctions within the Christian population, evangelicals are the most reliable church goers: just 1% is unchurched. Born again Christians who are not evangelical also had a pretty formidable attendance record: only one out of every six (16%) were unchurched. However, adults who call themselves Christian but are not born again were by far the least reliable church goers within the Christian realm (32% were unchurched).

Catholics have traditionally been more consistent in church attendance than Protestants. However, in the mid-nineties that trend reversed course, and Catholics have been more likely than Protestants to earn the unchurched label throughout the past decade. Currently the gap between the two segments of Christians is five percentage points, with a higher percentage among Catholics (25% are unchurched) than Protestants (20% are unchurched). More, here.

On Keeping Redhot for the Outgoing Gospel Until the Day You Die
“Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.”
(Psalm 71:18)

Trouble-causers (Ajith Fernando):
Of what “crime” were the Christians accused? “These men…have caused trouble all over the world!” (Acts 17:6). Is it true? The original Greek statement from which this is translated can be interpreted several ways. Check out these translations and verses.

“Christians turn the world upside down” (King James Version). It’s true. Jesus changes people. Examples: Luke 19:1-10; Acts 9:1-20; Acts 19:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

“Christians upset the civilized world” (William Barclay’s translation [Barclay, Acts, 127]). It’s true. Jesus’ values conflict with society’s values. See Matthew 5:3-10; Luke 6:20-36; Luke 16:15; Luke 18:14.

“Christians subvert the whole world” (FF. Bruce’s translation [Bruce, Acts, 323]). It’s true. When the Gospel gets into people they become part of a secret force seeking to undermine and overturn the unjust, immoral principles and practices on which godless culture is founded. See Matthew 13:33; Luke 17:20-21; John 19:36; Romans 12:1-21; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

“Christians cause trouble all over the world” New International Version). It’s true. Christ’s teachings do not please people who don’t want their selfish lifestyles disturbed. Christ’s claims and ideas are often met with discomfort and rage, which leads to trouble. See Luke 12:49-53; John 15:18-16:4.

Faith question: Are you troubling? Subverting? Turning upside down? Upsetting? Causing trouble all over the world? And these…in the name of Jesus and with His love?

Quite an evangelistic hymn (and it has more than four verses!)
Wesley wrote this hymn to commemorate the first anniversary of his conversion to Christ. The stanza that begins “O for a thousand tongues to sing” is verse seven of Wesley’s original poem. This work first appeared in 1740.

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

In Christ your Head, you then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Glory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heaven.

On this glad day the glorious Sun
Of Righteousness arose;
On my benighted soul He shone
And filled it with repose.

Sudden expired the legal strife,
’Twas then I ceased to grieve;
My second, real, living life
I then began to live.

Then with my heart I first believed,
Believed with faith divine,
Power with the Holy Ghost received
To call the Savior mine.

I felt my Lord’s atoning blood
Close to my soul applied;
Me, me He loved, the Son of God,
For me, for me He died!

I found and owned His promise true,
Ascertained of my part,
My pardon passed in heaven I knew
When written on my heart.

Look unto Him, ye nations, own
Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone,
Be justified by grace.

See all your sins on Jesus laid:
The Lamb of God was slain,
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.

Awake from guilty nature’s sleep,
And Christ shall give you light,
Cast all your sins into the deep,
And wash the Æthiop white.

Harlots and publicans and thieves
In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes
From crimes as great as mine.

Murderers and all ye hellish crew
In holy triumph join!
Believe the Savior died for you;
For me the Savior died.

With me, your chief, ye then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Containment? No...

2007-03-23T15:45:00.000-05:00

America has many trenchant problems. Is there any chance that one of our woes could include pastors who consider merely preaching from a pulpit to be more Christ-like than lovingly traveling the wider community, as Jesus did, compassion in hand and a message of holiness on the tongue?

Three years ago I led an altar call at the prison where I preach. With no actual altar to work with, I asked the men who came forward to put their noses, belt buckles, and knee caps on the concrete and admit to being "dirty, rotten sinners" before the Lord. Michael was there that evening and responded, face flat on the floor. At a later date and out of prison on bond, he said that those words weren't nearly as formative as the word "surrender."

There in that prison cell -- A3 of the Hinds County Detention Center -- he heard a word that made immense sense in that divine moment and surrendered fully to the Lordship of Christ.

He was released on bond, reconciled with his wife, became a member of our church, and began discipling his four kids and paying child support for two others. He provided a holy example to his children and solidified that model by leading them in two devotional periods each day -- times that included praise and intercession and reading two chapters of Scripture.

On the work front, his longtime employer declared Michael the most godly man he knew, since his jailhouse experience, and the best employee he'd had in the last 25 years.

So, three years after he got out on bond, he went back to trial in a system anything but speedy and was found guilty (this pastor thinks him likely innocent, by the way). I had the honor of testifying at his sentencing. Among other things, I said he wasn't just a good man but a great one, and that his life "had been thoroughly redeemed by Jesus Christ." Michael could have received up to 30 years in prison. The judge ruled that he would serve four more (he has already served one).

A local television station, tipped off through the D.A.'s office that the judge might be lenient in this case, ran the story as part of an ongoing "Broken Justice" series. The segment which was aired in this case portrayed Michael, this pastor, and the church as being grossly on the side of injustice. As might be imagined, the phone lines of the station filled with outraged viewers and the next day talk radio in our community was buzzing with the subject.

One on-air comment suggested that the pastor should stick to the pulpit, and stop getting involved in affairs outside the church.

In seminary, I studied under a professor named Dr. Robert Coleman. He wrote the famous "Master Plan of Evangelism" which could alternatively be named "The Master Plan of Getting out of the Synagogue and Getting Into the Highways and Byways of Life With Disciples in Tow to Change the World." I wasn't one of Coleman's better students, but even so, if I am to be accused of many bad things, I trust it will never be said that I minded my own business and that of my congregants by merely keeping to a pulpit. Or, that I just didn't have the time or inclination to get involved at the abortion clinics, the prisons, the strip clubs, and the nursing homes. Or, that I didn't care for or stand up for the less fortunate, the downtrodden, the poor. Or, that I cared little about the unevangelized and refused to stand for the people God has entrusted to me with a good word when they were in trouble.

America has many trenchant problems. It might be proposed that all problems are, in the final analysis, spiritual ones. Is there any chance that one of our woes could include pastors who consider merely preaching from a pulpit to be more Christ-like than lovingly traveling the wider community, as Jesus did, compassion in hand and a message of holiness on the tongue?

The greatest, men like John Wesley, would have had nothing to do with a message of containment or simply taking care of the already well-mannered:

"Let us be employed, not in the highest, but in the meanest, and not in the easiest but the hottest, service -- ease and plenty we leave to those that want them. Let us go on in toil, in weariness, in painfulness, in cold or hunger, so we may but testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24) The rich, the honourable, the great, we are thoroughly willing (if it be the will of our Lord) to leave to you. Only let us alone with the poor, the vulgar, the base, the outcasts of men. Take also to yourselves 'the saints of the world': but suffer us 'to call sinners to repentance"; even the most vile, the most ignorant, the most abandoned, the most fierce and savage of whom we can hear. To these we will go forth in the name of our Lord, desiring nothing, receiving nothing of any man (save the bread we eat while we are under his roof), and let it be seen whether God has sent us." (John Wesley, "A Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion")

Let it be seen, indeed.

The trials of war strengthen many soldiers' faith

2007-03-09T15:32:00.001-06:00

Good read from the Wall Street Jounal.

Test your religious literacy

2007-03-08T13:44:00.001-06:00

Here. And good luck. Or, bless you. Or, don't embarrass yourself. Or...whatever...

Survey Finds Link Between Decline in Values, Waning Belief

2007-03-07T13:12:00.000-06:00

Read it.

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #23

2007-03-05T09:23:00.000-06:00

Illustration of the Navigator's "one verse evangelism" on the right.
Might work sometime...

You believe in incarnational ministry? How about to THIS extent?

Evangelistic “wannabes” and seminary professors talk about incarnational ministry – preach it, teach it, read about it, converse on it. “The word became a sermon and was later expanded into a book and the book sold well and inspired other books until the making of books there was no end. And the world died in darkeness and was buried in the theological library. (Clarence Jordan) Occasionally, something pricks our phony worlds of “incarnational” verbiage and we are reminded what it really means…

“During the nineteenth century a group of missionaries in what is now Surinam in South America, wanted to reach the inhabitants of a nearby island with the gospel. Most of these islanders were slaves on the large plantations that covered the island. The plantation owners feared the gospel and its results, and would not even allow the missionaries to talk with the slaves. They would allow only other slaves to talk with slaves.

“So the missionaries sold themselves into slavery in order to take the gospel to the islanders. Working in bondage in the harsh conditions of a tropical climate, they reached many of them with the good news.” Ray Hoo, "Turn Your World Upside Down," Discipleship Journal (July/August 1982)

They will know we are Christians by our love
I know, this is more an American story than a Christian one. But it illustrates the power of coming to people’s rescue one by one.

“Time magazine carried an interesting story about former President George Herbert Walker Bush. It described a trip he took back to the South Pacific. During World War II, Bush had been a bomber pilot, and was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire. The article detailed Bush's return to the very spot where he was rescued from his downed aircraft.

“During his return visit, Bush met with a Japanese gentleman who claimed to have witnessed Bush's rescue back in 1944. The man related that as he and others were watching the rescue take place, one of the man's friends remarked, ‘Surely America will win the war if they care so much for the life of one pilot.’” Canadian Edition, Time Magazine (11-23-02); submitted by Darin Latham, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada

Passtion – Do we have it?
Paul said that “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.”

One can understand what “cursed and cut off” meant in the life of Paul from his testimony in his second epistle to the Corinthians: "I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?"

And how about this passionate prayer:

“My God, grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer all my life whatsoever it may please thee to lay upon me; yes even for a hundred years am I prepared to endure the sharpest pains; only let my people be converted. My God, convert my parish.” Cure d'Ars Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney (better known as the Cure' d'Ars, or curate of Ars) was the son of a peasant farmer, born in France in 1786. Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 4. The foregoing stories and the quote from PreachingToday.com – one great resource for illustrative material and more.

How about this for a Charles Wesley hymn.
A class hymn by a classic evangelist/poet. Songs of righteous responsibility are a bit rare these days, aren’t they?

My talents, gifts, and graces, Lord,
Into Thy blessed hands receive;
And let me live to preach Thy Word
And let me to Thy glory live!
My every sacred moment spend
In publishing the sinner’s Friend!

Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart
With boundless charity divine.
So shall I all my strength exert
And love them with a love like Thine
And lead them to Thy open side,
The sheep for whom their Shepherd died.

Charles Finney on revivalism and evangelism contrasted
They are not the same, to be sure. A few thoughts on how they are different.

1. Revivalism is by periods; evangelism is perennial.

2. Revival is the Lord at work in the Church; evangelism is the Church at work for the Lord.

3. Revival is concerned with the conservation of spiritual realities; evangelism concentrates on the conversion of those who are aliens to spiritual realities;

4. In revivalism the accent is on the prevailing atmosphere, while in evangelism it is on a transforming decision for Christ.

“In a revival, Christians…will feel grieved that others do not love God, when they love him so much. And they will set themselves feelingly to persuade their neighbors to give him their hearts…When the churches are thus awakened…the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow.” (Finney, Revival Lectures)

Whew! The pastorate is messy!

2007-03-02T11:10:00.000-06:00

Good quote from Larry McKain

Being a priest in Old Testament times was not for the faint of heart. Imagine if your job description included activities such as removing "all the fat from the bull of the sin offering... both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver..." (Lev. 4:8-9). It probably felt a lot more like being a butcher than being a preacher!

Pastors today don't have to deal with entrails, but their job is still plenty messy. Their weeks hold much more than just preparations for Sunday's sermon. Every day, they have to deal with the messiness of their church members' lives--whether it's a marriage in crisis, a teenager's rebellion come to a head, a worsening conflict between ministry leaders, or a report of giving being down and expenses being up. Add to that the pressures of his own family life and struggles to keep everything in balance. Sure, there are many joys in serving, but much of being a pastor is day-to-day nitty-gritty, roll-your-sleeves-up, dirty, and thankless work.

So much for the prosperity gospel!

2007-03-01T15:58:00.000-06:00

HOBART, Ind. (AP) - Kevin Russell found out it's not easy trying to cash a check from God. The 21-year-old man was arrested Monday after he tried to cash a check for $50,000 at the Chase Bank in Hobart that was signed "King Savior, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Servant," Hobart police Detective Jeff White said.

Russell was charged with one count attempted check fraud and one count intimidation, both felonies, and one count resisting law enforcement, a misdemeanor. He could face prison time.

Police were called to the bank after Russell tried to cash the check, which was written on an invalid Bank One check with no imprint, White said. Russell had several other checks with him that were signed the same way but made out in different dollar amounts, including one for $100,000.

Russell struggled with police as they tried to detain him, White said, and then threatened police as they transported him to the Hobart Police Department.

"I've heard about God giving out eternal life, but this is the first time I've heard of him giving out cash," White said.

No court date has been set for Russell. He was being held Wednesday at the Lake County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #22

2007-03-01T11:16:00.000-06:00

I know, I know...this is Thursday.

Metaphor City!
A nice evangelism thought from Glynn Pope, pastor in Byram, MS.: Jesus is the door. We are the doorknobs (that which God uses to open the Door).

A door can look an awful lot like a wall without a doorknob.
A doorknob needs to be able to twist, turn to be effective.
A doorknob can act as a way in, or a lock.
A doorknob has to be pushed before the door opens.
A doorknob can look inviting, or not.

Other possible implications to our evangelistic life?

Some evangelistic proverbs:
Actually, all the proverbs are relevant for evangelism, since they lead us to the life of wisdom. And that life is attractive, able to share appropriately, and will know when to do what and how. Even so, some specific proverbs:

"The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment." (10:21)
"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise." (11:30)
"The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death." (13:14)
"A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful." (14:25)
"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death." (14:27)
"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones." (15:30)
"A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions." (18:2)
"He who answers before listening - that is his folly and his shame." (18:13)
"A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great." (18:16)
"What a man desires is unfailing love..." (19:22)
"Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel." (20:15)
"Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters." (25:13)
"Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone." (25:15)

God's lesson for me this week
A precious friend and parishoner was sentenced to jail this week for carjacking (see item below on this blog). It has broken my heart. Having wept, we then have to ask - What now?

Evangelism is "good news" not just in presenting the gospel, but in perpetuating it in the life of the believer. So we will go and visit Michael, help take care of his wife and children, continue to disciple the family and embrace them through the next four years of incarceration...and beyond. Most evangelists are perceived as loud, bold, daring, short-term. Evangelism now, in this case, will have to be loving, tender, listening, long-term. You will never get real evangelism with only the former sans the latter.

You Tube - Evangelism Teacher?

A DaySpring Member Gets Thrown in Jail

2007-03-01T07:51:00.000-06:00

And my comment to the press that doesn't appear in this story:

"As Michael Thomas' pastor, I respect a jury verdict, but I also stand behind a man that I suspect is innocent, has been thoroughly redeemed by Jesus Christ and has done an extraordinary job discipling his young family."

A Moral Case Against Big Government: How Government Shapes the Character, Vision, and Virtue of Citizens

2007-02-27T14:50:00.000-06:00

Nothing about evangelism here. And yet...

Read this Heritage paper. It is important.

The moral nature of governing and the moral implications for society of the nature, size, and scope of government are inescapable. The case for limited government will therefore inevitably need to take these moral considerations into account. A government that understands its main responsibility to be that of administering judgment in terms of justice will play an essential, and essentially limited, role in sustaining a healthy society. A good but limited government will both exercise the authority it is competent to wield—i.e., the power to use legitimate force to defend right—and provide conditions of justice in which local associations can exercise the authority that rightly belongs to them.

The moral case for good but limited government rests on the competency of other institutions to provide for the needs of citizens and to cultivate the virtues necessary to fulfill the moral obligations that sustain a free society. Not only can the fundamental institutions of family and religious congregations, as well as other communities of civil society, provide more personal, humanizing, holistic, and compassionate care, but they can better engender the trust and responsibility required for citizens to fulfill their moral obligations to each other.

Families and churches, as well as such other institutions as schools, businesses, sports teams, community orchestras, professional organizations, neighborhood watch committees, and faith-based and other nonprofit groups, bind their members not to abstract laws, but to other people. They are premised not on individual autonomy, but on the authority of knowledgeable and competent parents, pastors, teachers, coaches, conductors, and other leaders with the power to discipline. They motivate not solely by fear but by trust, and they are united not only by their opposition to unjust interference, but also by substantial positive goals, commitments, and convictions that they share in common.

It is therefore the responsibility of a modern nation-state that desires to bind its "many" into "one" to limit its power and its purse, leaving primary responsibility for moral formation in the hands of local moral communities. Only these associations and institutions can foster true justice and compassion for those in need—a fact that makes them essential for the cultivation of virtuous citizens and the prevention of governmental tyranny.

Serve yourself by serving others

2007-02-26T16:07:00.000-06:00

Coming back from Philadelphia on a plane last eve I sat beside a lady who said she was a minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA. She bemoaned the fact that her denomination, some years ago, made the decision to turn inward and "take care of themselves" and ceased to reach out and evangelize or share in compassionate ministry.

I said, "It may be that the way to take care of yourself best is to take care of others...you have to use your gospel muscle - or atrophy." She heartily agreed. And many churches within my own denomination understand this well, because their membership freefall looks a lot like the PCUSA losses over decades.

You grow by serving; you gain muscle by exercising. It is as true personally as it is congregationally.

The power of a long attention span!

2007-02-26T11:59:00.000-06:00

"[For over two decades, William Wilberforce] fought tenaciously until the slave trade was finally outlawed. And then he fought for another twenty-five years, despite failing health, for the emancipation of all slaves in 1833. The battle had taken forty-six years. Forty-six years!

Today, we are tempted to throw up our hands and go home if we lose a single election. In our campaigns against modern moral evils, we are too easily discouraged; we have forgotten how to persevere. Of course we will have fierce opposition; sometimes the opponents will play dirty, as they did with Wilberforce. But that is no excuse to give up. Who do we think we are working for?...

In our own era, the campaign to eliminate the killing of unborn children has already taken thirty-four years. And that is just one battle: Christians are fighting as well modern slavery, embryo-destructive research, and the attack on marriage. We had better take a lesson from Wilberforce (and Wesley) and roll up our sleeves---permanently, if necessary... persevering until the battle is won." ---Chuck Colson

Read it and weep - the American slave trade

2007-02-22T18:13:00.001-06:00

Oh, where is Wilberforce now?

Read on.