Religious Pluralism

Yesterday’s editorial page in our local paper had a viewpoint published from the pastor of a local Lutheran church.  She noted how her congregation had helped the United Methodist congregation over the past several years while the Methodists were rebuilding their burnt facilities.  In this spirit of cooperation and unity she concluded with the following statement: “Join us and we will praise God in one place, not just as Lutherans and Methodists, but as Buddhists, Catholics, Muslims, Presbyterians, Jews and many other spiritual traditions.  Hope to see you there!”

Christians ought to be sharing their faith and Thanksgiving to God, and the friendship between these two churches is a shining example of unity and love to all of us.  Though there are differences between the beliefs and practices of Methodists and Lutherans, both Martin Luther and Charles Wesley held to the exclusivity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Today, however, this view has been jettisoned by their heirs and replaced with religious pluralism.

I don’t want to rain on the parade, but as nice as it sounds Lutherans, Methodists, Buddhists, Catholics, Muslims, and Jews can only praise the same God if

FUNDAMENTALISM AND MEDIA LABELS

Some of you may know that Ray Comfort, the California evangelist from New Zealand, has brought out a 150^th Anniversary Edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.  In it he has placed his own 50 page introduction where he points out the fallacies of the theory, notes some of the ramifications of evolutionary philosophy (eugenics, euthanasia, abortion, etc.), and preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is planning on distributing this book free of charge on the campuses of the top universities in the United States.

Evolutionists and atheists are predictably irate; Richard Dawkins, the notorious British author of The God Delusion, calls Comfort an ignorant fool and tells students to

PREACHING & CULTURE

David Wahlstedt is lead pastor at CrossPointe Commnity Church, an emergent church in Carrollton, Texas.  He was interviewed recently in the NOV/DEC 2009 Church Production magazine, and he recounts the incident that lead him away from traditional church services and into emergent worship:

“Ten years ago

Salvation Phrases

Here is a quote from a recent interview with Michael Horton in Christianity Today (Nov. 2009, p. 49).  Mr. Horton is a professor at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, CA, and the author of Christless Christianity.

“You also say it’s [the Gospel] not ‘a personal relationship with God’ or ‘making Jesus your Lord and Savior.’  What do you mean?

I realize that those are deeply held, personal convictions among many evangelicals.  But everyone has a personal relationship with God.  You start with Genesis and work your way to the Book of Revelation–everyone has a relationship with God.  In Romans 1-3, Paul says Gentiles have a relationship with God, even when they are engaging in idolatry.  The question is whether the relationship is with a father, who has justified and adopted his heirs, or with a judge.

The phrase ‘making Jesus Lord and Savior’ does not appear anywhere in Scripture (any more than does ‘personal relationship’).  It assumes we are the ones who make God something.  It is hard to imagine a Jew saying he made God his liberator and Lord in the Exodus.  No.  God made the Israelites the recipients of his saving and lordly work.  So we don’t make God anything; it is he who makes us his people.  The Good News is not that Jesus has made it possible for you to make him Lord and Savior.  The Good News is that he has actually saved and liberated you, and that he is your Savior.”

There is much confusion about the salvation today because we have adopted these and other unbiblical phrases to represent the Gospel.  The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ applied by faith to the hopelessly lost repentant sinner through the mercy and grace of God.

BOOK REVIEW

BLAME IT ON THE BRAIN?

Edward Welch ( 1998 )

Blame It on the Brain? was written to help believers distinguish among chemical imbalances, brain disorders, and disobedience. His task was “twofold: to introduce areas where the brain has received too little credit, and to highlight where the brain has received too much credit (or blame).” (pp. 13-14). The brain, as an organ in our body, does have an influence on behavior, so the problem becomes one of knowing when it is “legitimate to blame our misbehaviors on the brain” (p. 15) and when it is not.

The first part of the book is devoted to laying

BOOK REVIEW

WORSHIP IN THE MELTING POT

Masters, Peter (2002)

Worship in the Melting Pot was written by Dr. Peter Masters, the pastor of the world famous Metropolitan Tabernacle since 1970. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was the church which C. H. Spurgeon pastored in the 19th century. Metropolitan Tabernacle has continued in the Baptist tradition of simplicity and predictability in its worship, which is in stark contrast to the

BOOK REVIEW

Very Naughty Figs
Dan and Sonya Carlson, Traffod Publishing, 2006

Very Naughty Figs came across my path recently. It was written and illustrated by a husband and wife team to help expose the archaic expressions and words found in the AV (Authorized Version, also known as the King James Version). The book catches the eye and brings a smile to the face because

IMMERSED IN WORSHIP

In the June 2007 Church Production magazine there is an article about Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Chandler, AZ. The church has constructed a new auditorium and the magazine was reporting about the multimedia equipment that was used to punctuate their worship with a “live band and expansive video presentation.” (p. 24).

The article brings out the philosophy behind the two 9×16 foot and one 19×36 foot video screens and the subsequent sound system to go with them. The worship director said that their goal was to

TATTOOS and PIERCINGS

In our local newspaper (The Tribune) there was an article from the Los Angeles Times about tattoos in the work place. Many work places require tattoos to be covered, although more and more companies are becoming accepting of them.

There were a couple interesting statistics;

MERCY

It has been a while since I have posted. I’ll try to get on a regular schedule here, for what it is worth (FWIW).

In 2 Sam. 16 we find a man named Shimei. Shemei was distant relative of King Saul and he had come out to curse King David who was in exile from his throne because Absalom had taken the hearts of the people and the throne of Israel.

As David passed by Shimei cursed him, kicked up dust, and threw stones at him. David refused to retaliate.

In 2 Sam. 19 the tide had turned; Absalom was dead and David is now returning to Jerusalem to resume his position on the throne. Shimei is now before David, this time on his face, confessing his sin, and pleading for mercy.

Amazingly, David again grants mercy to Shemei and swore to him that he would not die.

How do we treat our enemies? Do we operate with revenge? Do we refuse to forgive? Who has wronged you that you are harboring bitterness toward? May God help us to operate in His mercy and lovingkindness.

Postcript:

David did demand that justice be done, and eventually he had Solomon put Shemei to death, but this was after a long period of mercy with plenty of opportunity for Shemei to show his loyalty and righteousness. Apparently Shemei’s repentance was insincere, and he paid for it with his life when he rebelled against Solomon (1 Kings 2).