Officials from Australia, South Korea and Japan have been telling us for months that we would "lose any war with China."
Much of the story comes from Tokyo's governor. Three reasons were given:
1. We respect human life - they don't. "[USA] has a civic society that must adhere to the value of respecting lives." Implying China does not, proven by their brutal one-child policy. This is the same issue we are facing with terrorists.
2. There's just too many of them! What do you do when millions of soldiers come at you?
3. They judge partly on how Iraq is going. Is this legit? I think so. Some might be tempted to think it's completely different because of the insurgents who hate America so. Well, don't you think the same would be true in China? Does the "why do they hate us?" line only apply to terrorists, and not to dyed-in-the-wool Chinese Communists, who are cozying up to us economically? I see no reason for this naivete: "China must like us; we've got this great economy they're feeding off of." Please. Same nonsense we thought about the middle east before 9-11.
Objection:Given economic influence, won't China evolve into a stable democracy with free elections? The Tokyo governor: "I believe such predictions are totally wrong." He advocates economic containment, instead. I wonder if he isn't right. Why would we want to feed this Communist beast? I suppose it makes sense to avoid another Cold War, and actually have relations with our enemies. But we need to remember they are enemies. They brutally suppress - with arrest, torture, and death - Christians who speak against Communism. They wouldn't release our soldiers when they were downed.
The biggest obstacle to remembering the hostile nature of China appears to be American businessmen in an economy that will do anything to cut costs. It seems China is gaining all of our technology as we bring it there, and we're just getting cheap labor in return. No wonder they're catching up with us economically and militarily. To save a few bucks back at home, we give away the store in Beijing. For this to make sense, we have to assume they're a benign non-entity. Then we justify it by naively pleading that they'll become like us through trade.
Meanwhile, Japan and other Asian allies are starting to beef up their OWN militaries, no longer comfortable relying on the good ol' US of A...
11.22.2005
Household despot
Part of being a housewife is taking dominion of the home - read Nancy Wilson on that. So I've been thinking about my little kingdom, with it's 3 short subjects and the king I am responsible to. Everything that happens under my watch is a decision I make - either to do or not to do something. So if something goes undone, it's not just passively ignoring or procrastinating, but a choice to NOT do that chore. OK, I confess there are lots of things that I choose not to do, like ironing, that come back to bite me in the bud.
That said, a wife needs to be careful about how she manages her dominion. She may be the queen bee after all, but the queen still answers to the king (her husband). So how her home is run and managed can be a good picture of her relationship with her heavenly Lord, Jesus. Is the decorating really swank but it's essentially a pig pen once you peel back the pretty veneer? Or is there a humble yet beautiful atmosphere that permeates throughout the home? What really matters? The people in it or the fab dinner or Pottery Barn trappings?
Need I place Martha Stewart before us as an example? Great looking rooms, gourmet meals, but she landed her butt in jail because of a less-than-stellar moral code (and came out wearing a poncho!!)
I encourage all wives and future-wives to spend some time thinking about the relationship between home upkeep and atmosphere with their personal relationship with Christ. The external is a branch off from the inner heart. I'm not saying that our homes need to be spartanly decorated with plain white walls and serve bread and broth for supper. On the contrary, because we are Christians our homes should reflect the beauty and magnificence of our King. And should bless others. Our kids are blessed at dinner time whenever we light candles. They think candles mean we're having a feast, even if it's grilled cheese sandwiches.
That said, a wife needs to be careful about how she manages her dominion. She may be the queen bee after all, but the queen still answers to the king (her husband). So how her home is run and managed can be a good picture of her relationship with her heavenly Lord, Jesus. Is the decorating really swank but it's essentially a pig pen once you peel back the pretty veneer? Or is there a humble yet beautiful atmosphere that permeates throughout the home? What really matters? The people in it or the fab dinner or Pottery Barn trappings?
Need I place Martha Stewart before us as an example? Great looking rooms, gourmet meals, but she landed her butt in jail because of a less-than-stellar moral code (and came out wearing a poncho!!)
I encourage all wives and future-wives to spend some time thinking about the relationship between home upkeep and atmosphere with their personal relationship with Christ. The external is a branch off from the inner heart. I'm not saying that our homes need to be spartanly decorated with plain white walls and serve bread and broth for supper. On the contrary, because we are Christians our homes should reflect the beauty and magnificence of our King. And should bless others. Our kids are blessed at dinner time whenever we light candles. They think candles mean we're having a feast, even if it's grilled cheese sandwiches.
The Dutch contribution to Thanksgiving
Courtesy of World Magazine and the Wall Street Journal:
The story begins "on Jan. 24, 1597..., the Battle of Turnhout, in which Prince Maurice of Orange defeated the Spanish occupiers of a town in what is now the Netherlands. It appears likely that Dutch Protestants--who were forbidden from practicing their religion under the Catholic King Philip II of Spain--celebrated the victory by borrowing the familiar folk melody and giving it new words. Hence "Wilt heden nu treden" or, loosely translated, "We gather together"--a phrase that itself connoted a heretofore forbidden act: Dutch Protestants joining together in worship."
"It's tantalizing to think that the English Pilgrims--in exile in Holland, the only place in Europe where they could worship freely--might have been familiar with "Wilt heden nu treden." There's no record that they were, but the circumstantial evidence is strong. Some of them spoke Dutch, attended Dutch churches and even became Dutch citizens."
The story begins "on Jan. 24, 1597..., the Battle of Turnhout, in which Prince Maurice of Orange defeated the Spanish occupiers of a town in what is now the Netherlands. It appears likely that Dutch Protestants--who were forbidden from practicing their religion under the Catholic King Philip II of Spain--celebrated the victory by borrowing the familiar folk melody and giving it new words. Hence "Wilt heden nu treden" or, loosely translated, "We gather together"--a phrase that itself connoted a heretofore forbidden act: Dutch Protestants joining together in worship."
"It's tantalizing to think that the English Pilgrims--in exile in Holland, the only place in Europe where they could worship freely--might have been familiar with "Wilt heden nu treden." There's no record that they were, but the circumstantial evidence is strong. Some of them spoke Dutch, attended Dutch churches and even became Dutch citizens."
11.21.2005
Worship and the world
More good stuff here, by a pastor friend. Sections quoted below...
"In the midst of a hostile, even persecuting pagan environment, the early Christian leaders made it difficult to join the church. The catechumenate was a three year long process, involving much prayer, fasting, instruction, memorization, and mortification of desire. The disorientation Protestants feel upon worshipping in a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox church is a reflection of just how out of sync we are with the idea of the Church as a body of believers set apart and called out of the world. We are taught to grow the church by blurring the boundary between it and the world. The first Christians grew their churches by doing the exact opposite: by highlighting the differences between the new life and the old."
"You are told by "experts" to change: change the music, the worship, and the outreach. Stop catering to the old, and go after the young. Be hip, be cool, be casual, be entertaining, be happy, be whatever you have to be to get those people into your pews."
Good comment made on the post, too: "if the Spirit is alive-and-well among your people, and if they are truly welcoming of others (as sisters and brothers to whom they can minister, not just "fresh meet" or income sources), then you can reach new folks. AND there's a lot you can do to be user-friendly without abandoning or dumbing-down the tradition."
"In the midst of a hostile, even persecuting pagan environment, the early Christian leaders made it difficult to join the church. The catechumenate was a three year long process, involving much prayer, fasting, instruction, memorization, and mortification of desire. The disorientation Protestants feel upon worshipping in a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox church is a reflection of just how out of sync we are with the idea of the Church as a body of believers set apart and called out of the world. We are taught to grow the church by blurring the boundary between it and the world. The first Christians grew their churches by doing the exact opposite: by highlighting the differences between the new life and the old."
"You are told by "experts" to change: change the music, the worship, and the outreach. Stop catering to the old, and go after the young. Be hip, be cool, be casual, be entertaining, be happy, be whatever you have to be to get those people into your pews."
Good comment made on the post, too: "if the Spirit is alive-and-well among your people, and if they are truly welcoming of others (as sisters and brothers to whom they can minister, not just "fresh meet" or income sources), then you can reach new folks. AND there's a lot you can do to be user-friendly without abandoning or dumbing-down the tradition."
Pride and love
Good words by RC Sproul, Jr., taking the abstract sin of pride down to its recognizeable form in ourselves: how we think about ourselves and others.
11.17.2005
To talk, or not to talk
Received a letter from a local RCA church consistory (leadership board) today expressing "deep concern over the proposed 'continued dialogue' within the denomination over the next three years regarding the issue of homosexuality,... finding it very disturbing that the RCA seems to be unable to 'once and for all' take a firm stand on the issue," and "call[ing] for an end to further dialogue."
Hm. I'm 95% there. I'm disturbed, holding the same position as the authors, having the same concern that the desire for dialogue really DOES reveal an inability to take a stand with the Scriptures against worldly trends of tolerance for sin (in some quarters of the RCA, not all).
But to cut off dialogue? That's what the RCA did with this issue for the last 7 years or so and look where it got us - divided and isolated camps in one pressure cooker waiting to blow.
I recently called for us to take a quick, decisive stand on this issue, just like this letter does, but I don't see a need to end dialogue. Perhaps taking a stand does that tacitly, and we need to accept that kind of fallout in order to live out the truth we've been stating for 20 years. But we shouldn't shut dialogue down, explicitly. Just make the decision graciously and deal with those who remain graciously and according to the decision taken. Those who leave will have condemned themselves.
Part of the difference of opinion here is in what the church should be. Should we reflect:
a. Jesus' parable of the weeds growing with the wheat until harvest, not trying to pull up the weeds until it's time?
b. Paul's call to remove the leaven from among us in 1 Corinthians 5?
I believe it is the latter, because the former is a discussion between God and His angels, the latter option is Paul the Apostle with a direct command for the church (John does the same to other churches in Rev 2-3, so it's not a church-specific thing, either).
If this is the case, then those who slander people trying to be faithful with labels like "witch-hunt" had better be ready to apply that label to Paul and John as well.
"I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel... [who] misleads My servants into sexual immorality" (Rev 2:20). As the corporate Body of Christ living together, tolerance of sin and people promoting sin is wicked. Never mind that in Rev 2 God then says He will deal with the problem; He first rebukes the CHURCH for not having dealt with it already.
Hm. I'm 95% there. I'm disturbed, holding the same position as the authors, having the same concern that the desire for dialogue really DOES reveal an inability to take a stand with the Scriptures against worldly trends of tolerance for sin (in some quarters of the RCA, not all).
But to cut off dialogue? That's what the RCA did with this issue for the last 7 years or so and look where it got us - divided and isolated camps in one pressure cooker waiting to blow.
I recently called for us to take a quick, decisive stand on this issue, just like this letter does, but I don't see a need to end dialogue. Perhaps taking a stand does that tacitly, and we need to accept that kind of fallout in order to live out the truth we've been stating for 20 years. But we shouldn't shut dialogue down, explicitly. Just make the decision graciously and deal with those who remain graciously and according to the decision taken. Those who leave will have condemned themselves.
Part of the difference of opinion here is in what the church should be. Should we reflect:
a. Jesus' parable of the weeds growing with the wheat until harvest, not trying to pull up the weeds until it's time?
b. Paul's call to remove the leaven from among us in 1 Corinthians 5?
I believe it is the latter, because the former is a discussion between God and His angels, the latter option is Paul the Apostle with a direct command for the church (John does the same to other churches in Rev 2-3, so it's not a church-specific thing, either).
If this is the case, then those who slander people trying to be faithful with labels like "witch-hunt" had better be ready to apply that label to Paul and John as well.
"I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel... [who] misleads My servants into sexual immorality" (Rev 2:20). As the corporate Body of Christ living together, tolerance of sin and people promoting sin is wicked. Never mind that in Rev 2 God then says He will deal with the problem; He first rebukes the CHURCH for not having dealt with it already.
Narnia
It's looking like Narnia outside today - a few inches of snow and big, puffy white flakes continue to fall. Beautiful, but thank God it's not always winter and never Cristmas.
In preparing for preaching Mark 7:32-35, I realized ol' Jack (Lewis) may have had this text in mind when having Aslan breathe stone statues back to life. Of course, Genesis 2 as well...
In preparing for preaching Mark 7:32-35, I realized ol' Jack (Lewis) may have had this text in mind when having Aslan breathe stone statues back to life. Of course, Genesis 2 as well...
11.16.2005
Bono
Just finished this one. Fascinating guy, spiritually. He presents his Christian faith to a wide audience in a clear and forthright way. Yes, the U2 rock star has a Christian faith, I think. See below for his own words. He's been married for over 20 years, has 4 kids. He's not a saint - I left out the swear words and the typical Irish drinking kind of stuff he grew up with. Here are some selections:
Interviewer: are you all believers now?
Bono: Yes. Adam had his own path, and it took him further out into the world. But I would say Adam is, right now, the most spiritually centered of the band... the person who is now the most watchful of the sheep as they stray out of the herd. I do love the image of sheep. You've got to hand it to Jesus. (pg 64)
"The God of the Old Testament is like the journey from stern father to friend. When you're a child, you need clear directions and some strict rules. But with Christ, we have access in a one-to-one relationship..." (200)
"Religion can be the enemy of God... A list of instructions where there was once conviction... Discipline replacing discipleship." (201)
On meeting the Pope
Interviewer: Didn't he put them on?
Bono: Not only did he put them on, he smiled the wickedest grin you could ever imagine. (202)
On the dangers of religious extremism:"Zealots often have no love for the world. They're just getting throuh it to the next one... But I take Christ at his word: 'On earth as it is in heaven.'" (203)
On grace and Gospel
Bono: At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.... yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that 'As you reap, so will you sow' stuff.... which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.
Interviewer: I'd be interested to hear that.
Bono: That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge.... I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross.... God says: 'Look, you cretins,... there's mortality as part of your very sinful nature.' The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled... It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven. (204)
On Jesus
"The secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet... along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that.... Christ says: 'No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher.... I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate."' Either Christ was who He said He was - the Messiah - or a complete nutcase... on the level of Charles Manson." (204-5)
On personal life and music
"Unless you have a plumb line, the wall can be built crooked. So I think, for me, that is prayer, and my life worshipping God through music." (137)
On conversion (maybe - my label) and Christmas
"Got home for Christmas... in Dublin.... On Christmas Eve, I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral.... I went for the singing, because I love choral singing.... But I was falling asleep... because it was a bit boring, the service.... It dawned on me for the first time... the Christmas story. The idea that God... would seek to explain [him]self and describe [him]self by becoming a child born in straw poverty.... Love needs to find form... essence has to manifest itself.... Love has to become an action... There must be an incarnation. Love must be made flesh." (125)
On forgiveness
Bono: "Be silent, and know that I am God." That's a favorite line from the Scriptures. 'Shut up and let Me love you' would be the pop song... If ever I needed to hear a comment, it might be that.
Interviewer: What leaves you speechless?
Bono: [long pause] "Forgiveness" is my answer.
Interviewer: You mean being forgiven?
Bono: yeah.
11.15.2005
More "medical" knitting
Wow, I had no idea knitters were so, uh, creative. Not only can you get handknit prostheses for masectomy patients (click here), but the intrepid knitter can create a variety of internal organs. Check out the knit digestive system here or a cute little womb here. And yes, these are all free patterns.
There must be someone on your Christmas list who could use one of these!
Sara
There must be someone on your Christmas list who could use one of these!
Sara
11.11.2005
Hooked - Sara
Last night we had a "learn to crochet night" at our church. Since I already knew how, I thought I'd go along to help teach others and work on a project of my own. It's been a long time since I held a hook! It was a great night and I managed to produce an entire scarf in one evening for Grace. It's pink (of course) and yellow, made out of TLC Wiggles. I'll never use that yarn again as the "wiggles" that are twisted onto the yarn too often get caught on the hook.
I also found a quick and fun crochet flower pin to whip up: www.modadea.com/patterns/rose.htm
Great way to use up oddments of yarn!
The Shetland Tea Shawl is under way - only (!) about 30 rounds (of 600 sts each) to go and the edging. Perhaps this will be done by Thanksgiving. I doubt it though as one round takes about 30 minutes to complete! I don't even want to figure out how many hours that works out to!
I find myself looking for a "no brainer" project with all this lace I've been doing lately. Dare I cast on another project. You bet! And a friend showed my some luscious yarn that is new to our LYS - perhaps a few new projects are in my future.
One last note: I'm intrigued with knitting for medical purposes, and this goes way beyond the chemo cap.
Sara
I also found a quick and fun crochet flower pin to whip up: www.modadea.com/patterns/rose.htm
Great way to use up oddments of yarn!
The Shetland Tea Shawl is under way - only (!) about 30 rounds (of 600 sts each) to go and the edging. Perhaps this will be done by Thanksgiving. I doubt it though as one round takes about 30 minutes to complete! I don't even want to figure out how many hours that works out to!
I find myself looking for a "no brainer" project with all this lace I've been doing lately. Dare I cast on another project. You bet! And a friend showed my some luscious yarn that is new to our LYS - perhaps a few new projects are in my future.
One last note: I'm intrigued with knitting for medical purposes, and this goes way beyond the chemo cap.
Sara
11.09.2005
Putting the brakes on postmodernism
Good post by Doug Wilson here - much of it a critique of Brian McLaren. I'll quote selectively:
"The "neat and tidy" systematicians [to whom postmodernists react allergically] certainly tidy up some things that they ought not to. But neither do they believe that homosexual marriage is a difficult issue that the church has to learn how to "wrestle with." Some things are neat and tidy. If someone comes along and tries to confuse those issues, I assume that there is something deeply disordered in his theology prior to that point.
"I see us [Wilson and postmodernists like McLaren] as standing in completely different places -- and they got to their different place by a different route. The only thing we have in common is the place we are both urging people to leave. I want people to leave the false certainties of modernity for the genuine certainties of Scripture. They want people to leave the false certainties of modernity for a bundle of uncertainties masquerading as humility. The one thing that emergent preachers cannot do (and remain emergent) is thunder the Word. "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, hear the word of the Lord, you sons of men . . ." And yet Scripture says that the one who speaks should speak as the very oracles of God. Given their assumed (and unassuming) ethos, they simply cannot do this. Not without ground level repentance.
"When I cash out what that man [McLaren] is saying, I don't mind saying that he is a very real danger to the church.
"[We are] not ashamed of anything in the Bible, straight up, no apologies. He believes and embraces it all.... McLaren challenges the idols of modernity on the basis of nothing more than the current trendy zeitgeist. He is a theological me-tooer, one of our cutting edge chattering classes. So both Leithart and McLaren attack Enlightenment categories. But [we] pack a punch because [we are] standing on something -- the absolute Word of God."
"The "neat and tidy" systematicians [to whom postmodernists react allergically] certainly tidy up some things that they ought not to. But neither do they believe that homosexual marriage is a difficult issue that the church has to learn how to "wrestle with." Some things are neat and tidy. If someone comes along and tries to confuse those issues, I assume that there is something deeply disordered in his theology prior to that point.
"I see us [Wilson and postmodernists like McLaren] as standing in completely different places -- and they got to their different place by a different route. The only thing we have in common is the place we are both urging people to leave. I want people to leave the false certainties of modernity for the genuine certainties of Scripture. They want people to leave the false certainties of modernity for a bundle of uncertainties masquerading as humility. The one thing that emergent preachers cannot do (and remain emergent) is thunder the Word. "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, hear the word of the Lord, you sons of men . . ." And yet Scripture says that the one who speaks should speak as the very oracles of God. Given their assumed (and unassuming) ethos, they simply cannot do this. Not without ground level repentance.
"When I cash out what that man [McLaren] is saying, I don't mind saying that he is a very real danger to the church.
"[We are] not ashamed of anything in the Bible, straight up, no apologies. He believes and embraces it all.... McLaren challenges the idols of modernity on the basis of nothing more than the current trendy zeitgeist. He is a theological me-tooer, one of our cutting edge chattering classes. So both Leithart and McLaren attack Enlightenment categories. But [we] pack a punch because [we are] standing on something -- the absolute Word of God."
11.07.2005
Karl Rove and the peace of the Church
"I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord." Philippians 4:2.
Amazing story about Karl Rove and his political enemies attending the same church. What a disgrace. I don't claim to know who's at fault between these two, but where is the church? Where is Matthew 18:15ff?
John Chrysostom, the 4th century preacher puts it well:
"As it is not to be imagined that the fornicator and the blasphemer can partake of the sacred Table, so it is impossible that he who has an enemy, and bears malice, can enjoy the holy Communion.… I forewarn, and testify, and proclaim this with a voice that all may hear! "Let no one who hath an enemy draw near the sacred Table, or receive the Lord's Body! Let no one who draws near have an enemy! Do you have an enemy? Draw not near! Do you wish to draw near? Be reconciled, and then draw near, and touch the Holy Thing!" .... We are commanded to have only one enemy, the devil. With him never be reconciled! But with a brother, never be at enmity in thy heart." (Homily 20)
Amazing story about Karl Rove and his political enemies attending the same church. What a disgrace. I don't claim to know who's at fault between these two, but where is the church? Where is Matthew 18:15ff?
John Chrysostom, the 4th century preacher puts it well:
"As it is not to be imagined that the fornicator and the blasphemer can partake of the sacred Table, so it is impossible that he who has an enemy, and bears malice, can enjoy the holy Communion.… I forewarn, and testify, and proclaim this with a voice that all may hear! "Let no one who hath an enemy draw near the sacred Table, or receive the Lord's Body! Let no one who draws near have an enemy! Do you have an enemy? Draw not near! Do you wish to draw near? Be reconciled, and then draw near, and touch the Holy Thing!" .... We are commanded to have only one enemy, the devil. With him never be reconciled! But with a brother, never be at enmity in thy heart." (Homily 20)
Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls
I've started Hebrews, with my system of highlighting verses that have direct word-connections with the Old Testament. 11 references in the first 6 verses!
Hebrews 1:6 wowed me, once again. "Let all God's angels worship Him." The writer is quoting Scripture. Apart from Psalm 97:7 ("Worship Him, all gods/angels"), the best option for what is quoted is Deuteronomy 32:43. There the phrase "let all the angels worship Him" is only found in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT).
But the context of Deut 32:43 is what gets me. Verse 36: "The Lord will judge His people." Vs 39: "Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no god besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal." Verse 43: "He will provide atonement for His land and His people."
And Hebrews, by quoting a phrase from this passage, shows us that it's all about Jesus. There is no god besides Jesus. HE kills and makes alive, wounds and heals, provides atonement.
Hebrews 1:6 wowed me, once again. "Let all God's angels worship Him." The writer is quoting Scripture. Apart from Psalm 97:7 ("Worship Him, all gods/angels"), the best option for what is quoted is Deuteronomy 32:43. There the phrase "let all the angels worship Him" is only found in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT).
But the context of Deut 32:43 is what gets me. Verse 36: "The Lord will judge His people." Vs 39: "Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no god besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal." Verse 43: "He will provide atonement for His land and His people."
And Hebrews, by quoting a phrase from this passage, shows us that it's all about Jesus. There is no god besides Jesus. HE kills and makes alive, wounds and heals, provides atonement.
11.03.2005
Weapons of war - Eph 6:10-20
Wise words from Pyromaniac, Phil Johnson:
"Have you noticed how radically different the Bible's war plan is from the conventional wisdom of contemporary evangelicalism?
"Nowadays we see book after book being published on ministry philosophy, church-growth strategy, and Christian leadership—virtually all urging church leaders to compromise, conform, accommodate, adapt, and adopt the language and thinking of the world. Youth Specialties and Zondervan (under Rupert Murdock's shrewd leadership) have built a major industry publishing how-to books that teach young pastors and youth leaders how to suit their style to the latest worldly trends.
"I am frankly weary of all the self-styled experts who are telling pastors and church leaders today that unless they get with the times, tone down their message, adapt their methods to meet the worldly preferences of the current generation, accommodate their message to the postmodern dialectic, bone up on this or that academic fad, or otherwise adopt some fleshly strategy, the church will die or lose the battle for the souls of the next generation.
"We've tried all those strategies for at least three or four generations now, and we're still losing ground. In our mad pursuit of "relevance," has anyone noticed that the church is becoming more and more irrelevant? All this accommodation to the culture is the very thing that makes the church culturally irrelevant.
"We are supposed to be in this world but not of it, remember?"
More here...
And more on the same theme by the great Charles Haddon Spurgeon, further down Pyro's page...
"Have you noticed how radically different the Bible's war plan is from the conventional wisdom of contemporary evangelicalism?
"Nowadays we see book after book being published on ministry philosophy, church-growth strategy, and Christian leadership—virtually all urging church leaders to compromise, conform, accommodate, adapt, and adopt the language and thinking of the world. Youth Specialties and Zondervan (under Rupert Murdock's shrewd leadership) have built a major industry publishing how-to books that teach young pastors and youth leaders how to suit their style to the latest worldly trends.
"I am frankly weary of all the self-styled experts who are telling pastors and church leaders today that unless they get with the times, tone down their message, adapt their methods to meet the worldly preferences of the current generation, accommodate their message to the postmodern dialectic, bone up on this or that academic fad, or otherwise adopt some fleshly strategy, the church will die or lose the battle for the souls of the next generation.
"We've tried all those strategies for at least three or four generations now, and we're still losing ground. In our mad pursuit of "relevance," has anyone noticed that the church is becoming more and more irrelevant? All this accommodation to the culture is the very thing that makes the church culturally irrelevant.
"We are supposed to be in this world but not of it, remember?"
More here...
And more on the same theme by the great Charles Haddon Spurgeon, further down Pyro's page...
11.02.2005
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