Oh, What A Joker!

I don't claim to be the world's funniest man or have the best sense of humor. I tend to be sarcastic and have a dry wit. I think British humor is funny, Seinfeld, King of Queens, and Frasier are shows I think are hilarious. However, I think I can certainly spot a bad joke when I see one. Here is a prime example of a bad joke:

During his weekly worldwide broadcast, the ever-smiling pastor of Houston's mega Lakewood Church is comfortable onstage, infectiously congenial, oozing down-home charm as he makes a joke related to Scripture (Hebrews: biblical proof that the husband should make the morning coffee).

Awww, shucks! Can't you just hear him now? That cheesy grin, Houstonian-twang, and breathy voice delivering this lame attempt at humor with all those people yucking it up like they were at a comedy club!

Is Jesus Really a Rock Star?

I came across this article yesterday and found it be interesting. I really like the guy's passion and enthusiasm for Christ. However, I'm not 100% sure of the method used here. Here is a quote that I found humorous:

"Services at The Basement open with roughly 45 minutes of hip-hop performed by local Christian rappers who whip the crowd into a frenzy, encouraging them to dance mosh-pit-style to lyrics like, "Jesus is my rock/ Jesus is my rock star/ Jesus is my rock/ And he's totally cool..."Look at those Jesus freaks right there who are not ashamed," he (Matt Pitt) says, pointing to a row of gyrating worshipers."


Gyrating worshippers? Rock Star? Sounds like an interesting service. Anyone up for a little "bump and grind"? Well, I will let you read this article and see what you think.

Church and Culture

I enjoy reading the book reviews and other articles by Pastor Gary E. Gilley in Springfield, Ill. Once again, I wouldn't say that I agree with him on everything, but I do agree with him on a lot, especially concerning the Emergent Church. He does a thorough investigation and biblical analysis on their theology and books. Yesterday, I was reading this article that he had written last month on the Emergent Church and their Kingdom theology. He posted the following quote by Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Seminary, in regards to church and culture:


In rejecting the very real defects of fundamentalism during the past few decades, evangelicals have begun to take very seriously their responsibilities to the larger culture – and with some obvious signs of success. The questions we must face honestly are these: Have we sold a new policy to the culture – or has the culture sold us a policy (emphasis mine)


I believe this question is important to consider in light of what is taking place in the Western church. It is amazing to me how we watch Christianity trying to be so relevant and "cool" in our society today. We try the seeker-sensitive models where we try to get on their level and draw them in using any and all types of marketing schemes. We try to have the latest video productions and high-tech media, the coolest music that sounds just like (insert a popular secular band), as well as the coolest buildings loaded with video games and everything else to draw them in. It has even grown to the point where most of the Christian books written today are garnered towards seeing people come to the point of "self-actualization". Yes, of course I'm referring to Joel Osteen, but there are many others too. I'm not sure where we in Christendom have gotten this idea that if we water the Gospel down, make it look really cool and culturally saavy, then people are going to think that Christianity is worth trying. Hey, if you can have all of this and still fit into culture, who wouldn't want it? Of course, I think the latest group guilty of this type of Christianity (I use that term loosely here) is the Emergent Church. I am all for changing methods in the way the Gospel is presented to certain groups, but I am definitely not in favor of changing the message. The main problem with the Emergent Church is that they have molded and changed the Gospel message in order to reach a postmodern generation. Of course, Emergent theology is merely a re-packaging of 19th and 20th Century liberalism with a little Liberation Theology tossed in. I won't delve too deeply into that at this point, because that would take too much time. Pastor Gilley made the following quote in regards to the previous quote about the Church and culture:


This is a most thought-worthy question in light of the emergent church movement’s recent inroads into evangelicalism, and in some cases even fundamentalism. The emergent church is a movement deeply concerned with impacting the culture. But evidence is mounting to the effect that culture is having more impact on the emergent movement than the other way around. As a matter of fact emergent seems to be chasing culture, even imitating culture, rather than changing it. The reason this is true has to do with its understanding of the kingdom of God.


Here is my question: Has the Gospel lost its power? Why do we feel the need to alter its message or make it more culturally relevant in order for people to come to Christ? I am not only referring to the Emergent Church, but to Western Christianity as a whole, though the Emergent Church is the most guilty at this moment. It is almost as if we have taken on the "high school Christian" method of evangelism. When Christians in high school try to make it seem like, "Hey, we can be cool too!" and imitate the world in our music, clothes, and way we do church. I know I used to think like that in high school. I believe that we think the gospel message is not powerful enough to impact people or change their lives unless we make it better for them to receive. History has shown that the church grows the most under persecution. Now, don't get me wrong here. I am all for trying to impact the culture in every arena and area of our culture. Yet, I'm not for changing the message to make it better to swallow or not as demanding as it really is. The problem I believe is that we are breeding superficial churches that are feeding off spiritual milk instead of growing "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). We need to disciple our people in the fundamentals of the faith, building a strong foundation, and continuing to allow them to mature as Christians. Stop tailoring our messages and evangelism to people's "feelings" and give them the meat of the Gospel. Maybe then, our churches will stop chasing after everything that looks or sounds "spiritual" and be able to discern that which is right and wrong. Yet, we have people going out to buy the latest book promoted by Oprah and allowing it to be their "spiritual guide".


It is important for the Christian body to love our neighbors and reach out to them wherever they are. However, we need to reach them with the Gospel message that never changes, no matter whether the winds of culture are blowing back and forth. Our anchor needs to be in the Lord and not in some self-refuting claims that we have to doubt everything, which in turn puts us in the uncomfortable and self-refuting position of having to doubt even the idea of doubting everything. I pray that the church will continue to reach the culture, confront it, and change it. Not the other way around.

Funny Pictures

Here are some funny pictures I found here about the Emerging Church and their "Conversation". I will be posting these periodically for your enjoyment. Here is the first one!

Christian Buzz Words I Loathe

The following is a list of over-used Christian buzz words that I can't stand. This list will be added to as I continue to remember certain words or hear new phrases.

1. Conversation - i.e. Emergent "Conversation"
2. Community - i.e. It provides community that I need. (Not as in the name of a church)
3. Social Justice
4. The use of the prefix "uber-" before any word
5. Missional

Observation of Our Times

I came across this video this morning while browsing the internet. I found it to be very funny as a reflection on our society as a whole. Of course, as I listened more and more, I couldn't help but think of the Emerging Church when he was speaking. He seems to pretty much nail it on the end. Here is what Phil Johnson posted in response to this video:

(The speaker is a "slam poet" named Taylor Mali; you'd swear he was talking about Christians in general and pastors in specific, though I've not seen that he makes any claim to be a Christian.)

Here's the irony: a man who apparently is a worldling, who accordingly has no transcendent and eternal basis for his own worldview, sees this ridiculous trait of our age. And he calls other worldlings, who accordingly have no transcendent and eternal basis for their worldview, to speak boldly and with conviction.

But self-identified cutting-edge Christian leaders are by contrast modeling the very stance through which Mali has seen, so devastatingly.

In an age in which Christians should be called to know what and why we believe, and to say it with conviction, instead the very foundational truths on which Christian truth-claims rest are being held at arm's length. And this stance is held up as virtuous, rather than pilloried as cowardly and disastrous.


Enjoy!

Hating the Truth

Here is a quote I came across while reading the book, Why Good Arguments Often Fail by James Sire. I hope to do a book review in the next few days to share some thoughts on it. This following quote is by Augustine on how people come to hate the truth:

Simply because truth is loved in such a way that those who love some other thing want it to be the truth, and precisely because they do not wish to be deceived, are unwilling to be convinced that they are indeed being deceived. Thus they hate the truth for the sake of that other thing which they love, because they take it for the truth. They love truth when it enlightens them, they hate it when it accuses them. (Augustine Confessions 10.23)

Interesting how true this statement is today for our world as a whole, but especially Western society. We don't necessarily want to know what is true, but what is "true for us". As long as it fits with our own thoughts and our own agenda, then we love the truth. However, we don't want anything to prove us wrong or change how we think. Sean McDowell posits this idea when he reflects on the youth today:

Rather than holding to the traditional definition of truth as correspondence to reality, youth today seem to have adopted a pragmatic approach to truth. In other words, many youth see truth as what "works" in their lives, rather than a belief that accurately reflects the world. A recent Newsweek article put it this way: "Even more than their baby-boomer parents, teenagers often pick and choose what works for them..." If Hugh Hefner's motto, "If it feels good, do it," characterized the sixties, today's youth seem to buy the idea that "If it works, it's right for you".

No matter what people try to do these days, they can't escape the reality of absolute truth. We use it in our everyday lives. When I go to the doctor, I am assuming (and praying) he is not using this pragmatic form of truth when it comes to diagnosing my problems and prescribing medicines. We demand it in everything else in life, so why shouldn't we demand it when it comes to the eternal? The problem is that religion has been pushed off into the subjective category, similar to ice cream. I like chocolate, you like vanilla. It's a preference versus something that is true or false. Of course, this view of Christianity isn't open for debate. It's grounded in factual history. If Christ did died and rise from the dead, then it makes all the difference in the world. That would mean the tenants of pretty much every other religion are false, especially Islam which flat out denies this fact. However, we shouldn't be surprised at our societies view of truth. In fact, it really isn't anything new. It is just re-packaged to look new with a fancy name, postmodernism. Yet, Solomon hit it on the head when he wrote, Is there anything of which one might say, 'See this, it is new?' Already it has existed for ages which were before us. (Ecclesiastes 1:10) Or the more modern version where Malcolm Muggeridge says, "New news is old news that happens to new people" The more I live, experience life, and examine it, the more I realize this to be true.

Just a quick observation based upon this quote by Augustine. Though written hundreds of years ago, it remains true today. More thoughts later...