Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: answers in the bible, bible idolatry, bible inerrancy, worshiping the bible
The bible does not have the answer to everything. Here are some questions you will not find the answer to in the Bible:
1. What is 2+2?
2. What job should I have?
3. What is the name of the person I am supposed to marry?
4. What music is okay to listen to?
5. What movies are okay to watch?
6. Should I be a republican or a democrat?
I think you get the point. We need to stop the making the Bible something it isn’t. It is not a science book, a math book, a history book, a biology book, a chemistry book, etc… The Bible is a spiritual book that points us to the Creator of all life, his Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit left by His Son, and guides us in the new life we have through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Worshiping the Bible is idolatry. We worship the God that the Bible reveals. Not the Bible itself. The Bible was not written to teach us the exact time frame of creation, what clothes to wear to church, what music to listen to, what shows to watch, what cuss words are good and bad. The Bible was written to reveal the one true God and His amazing love for us. Read it for what it is and defend it for what it is. But don’t tell people it is the only book that ever need to read and it is the only book schools should use to teach anything. That’s just not true.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blue like jazz, blue like jazz movie, Don Miller, steve taylor
If you have never read “Blue Like Jazz” you should. It is an amazing book that has profoundly impacted me. I am really excited because it’s going to be made into a movie. Don Miller gives an update on his blog:
“Steve Taylor is moving forward on shooting Blue Like Jazz the movie. He’s set to shoot in Mid May through June. We will be shooting in Portland and Nashville through the end of June.
I couldn’t be more excited. I’m skyping today with the actor who will likely play me. Unfortunately I can’t tell you who it is until we sign contracts, but we are both stoked on the choice. Anyway, as a teaser, Gabe Lyons over at Relevate took a look at the screenplay and wrote a little review. Just one more glowing review of the screenplay. I can’t wait:
From Gabe:
Blue Like Jazz portrays a vivid tension between Christianity and the world. I thought it was fantastic. It was hard to swallow some the direct obligations towards Christianity – they are so true though. The times of hope and resolve allowed me to emotionally connect to the character of Don. I laughed out loud and swallowed hard at times when reading through the script. The story touched on every single issue that outsiders have with Christianity (Judgmental, Hypocritical, Antihomosexual, Sheltered, Too Political, and Proselytizing based on the research of unChristian). It’s an emotional ride that brought me to an ending that gave me much hope and confidence in (1) Being Christian (2) The story I am developing with God on a personal level and (3) Jesus.
The Evangelical viewer is going to come face to face with some tough criticisms. However, the honest Christian is going to come away feeling refreshed. The cultural elite are going to laugh at the cynicism and debate that takes place during the Reed College scenes and they will appreciate the genuine tension that Don has with God. Your Juno fans are going to love the the witty dialogue, emotional connection to each character and who they represent. They will also love the scenes dealing with rabbits, the Pope, condoms, college parties, and the journey Don is on. The dialogue comes off as very genuine, even when reading it as opposed to seeing it on screen. Homosexuals who believe in God will love the relationship between Don and Laura. Conservative Christians are going to have the hardest time with it – but it is a necessary affliction they need to feel. The postmodern crowd of Christianity is going to rave about it. Since the story is about a guy who is in college your college students will love it on so many different levels, especially, the character development of Don. I think majority of criticisms will come from your extreme conservative and your extreme liberal – However, majority of the world rides the fence.
I can’t wait to see the motion picture.”
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: american flag, church without cross, no cross on church
One of the things that bugs me about many progressive churches is the inconsistent message when it comes to having a cross on the church.
Here’s the argument: “We don’t have a cross on our building because of the strong feelings it brings about in some people who have been hurt by the church. For many people the image of the cross brings back harsh memories of spiritual abuse and legalism.”
It’s interesting that those same people don’t feel the same way about the American flag. America has done some very terrible things to people (and still does). For many, the image of an American flag brings back harsh memories of racism, sexism, hatred and abuse. Why is it that we don’t take down the American flag as well?
It’s almost as if we are more willing to defend the flag than the cross. Besides, let’s get real honest about this. Do you really think anyone has ever gone to a church that had no cross on the building and was “surprised” by the fact that these are indeed those people who talk about the cross? People know the cross is central to the Christian faith. We are not fooling them by keeping one off the building.
I am not one of those who believes that you must have a cross to legitimately be a church. I am saying to be consistent with your message. If you are not going to have a cross because people are offended by it, then don’t have a flag either.
You don’t have to fly a flag to show people you’re patriotic, and you don’t have to display a cross to show the love of Christ to your community. That’s a consistent message.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: aimee semple mcpherson, angelus temple, foursquare, old time religion
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9
I watched a great documentary on PBS last night about Aimee Semple McPherson. Sister Aimee was a preacher in the early twenties who founded the Foursquare denomination and built the Angelus Temple. It was a fascinating documentary about a fascinating woman.
What struck me as interesting was how familiar her church sounded :
Over 5,000 people
21 services a week
Dramas about biblical stories that rivaled Hollywood
Sensitive to the unsaved
Very politically involved
National weekly radio show
It sounds similar to many megachurches of today. Except that this church was pastored by a divorced woman. Her ministry was the center of a kidnapping scandal, was publicly criticized by another up and coming preacher (Bob Schuller), ended her ministry traveling and preaching campmeetings like she did when she first started, and died of an overdose.
I am not against seeker-sensitive megachurches as a model, but it struck me as somewhat humorous that they have long been celebrated as rethinking church. But what they are doing is really nothing new. They are just using technology and packaging things a little differently. It’s kind of like Old Time Religion 2.0. It’s amazing how the message still works after all these years.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: church entertainment, church service, entertainment
There have a been a couple of people lately that I have heard make several comments about “entertainment” in the church. These comments are made in the context of this being a negative thing.
I can’t help but wonder how entertaining Jesus and the disciples must have been when they were performing miracles. I think feeding over 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish had to be extremely entertaining.
Jesus drew a crowd partly because He was entertaining. Imagine the crowd that gathered when Jesus drove people out of the temple. That was quite a show.
I wonder why Jesus spit in mud and placed it on a blind man’s eyes. Certainly He didn’t have to do that to heal him. Maybe Jesus did things entertaining on purpose.
Obviously, Jesus’ point was not the miracles. The miracles were a way to get people’s attention and then point them to the Father. I think it’s the same way with entertainment today. We can’t be entertaining for entertainment’s sake, but we can be entertaining so we can get people’s attention and point them to Jesus.
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: breakfast song video, breakfast video, gospel breakfast video
Can’t think of anything to say:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: christian books, essential christian books
Eugene Cho has a great post called “the most anti-essential christian books. This is awesome! Click Here to read it on his blog. I have posted the list below:
- Everyone Is Going To Hell Except Me – John MacArthur
- There’s No ‘U’ in Ministry: A Woman’s Guide – Mark Driscoll
- Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid – John Hagee
- God’s Most Glorified When We’re Most Calvinified in Him, by John Piper
- Right Behind – a fresh set of Apocalyptic chronicles by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
- Eugene Cho Haven’t Published Squat so No One Can Even Make Fun of Him – by Eugene Cho
- We Know Jesus Better Than You Do – The Vatican Curia
- I’m Cool With Whatever (Featuring Enhanced Doodle Graphics) – Brian McLaren
- This Book Looks Longer Than It Really Is – Rob Bell
- God Wants You To Pay For My Airplane – Creflo Dollar
- 10 Keys To The 8 Steps To The 3 Paths To The 1 Way to God (TM) – Rick Warren
- I Secretly Wish I Were the Pope: A Memoir – N.T. Wright
- How to Smile – Joel Osteen
- How to Fall in My Presence – Benny Hinn
- Hippie Christianity for Ordinary Rednecks – Shane Claiborne
- You Can Kiss Dating My Daughter Goodbye – Joshua Harris, Sr
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: God in a box, God is love, Habakkuk, habakkuk 1:5, habakkuk 1:6, habakkuk 1:7, habakkuk 2:20
So, I was wondering to myself how God was going to respond to Habakkuk’s questions (see previous post). How would he defend Himself against these accusations? What miracle would He perform or what one word would He utter that would answer Habakkuk?God says,
1:5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.”
Now, I’m excited. I have heard this verse quoted by a lot of TV preachers and I have heard them say that the same is true for me. They say this proves that God is going to do something so great for me that no one will believe it (they usually equate this to money). What is it that God is going to do for Habakkuk (and me) that he won’t believe even if someone told him?
1:6 I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwelling places not their own.
1:7 They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
The thing God is going to do that Habakkuk won’t believe is that God is going to use the evil, wicked and unrighteous Babylonians to invade Israel and punish them. WHAT?!?!?!? Just when you think you have God figured out, He completely throws you for a loop. Just try reading the Old Testament and anticipating how God will react to things people do. It’s really frustrating, because He is not at all predictable.
I am starting to feel bad for Habakkuk. I can’t imagine this is what he expected to hear from God. How many of us want to question God and have Him respond by saying, “You’re not going to believe this, but things are about to get a lot worse.”
After God is finished describing how horrible the Babylonians are, Habakkuk argues with Him again (1:12-2:1). God spends chapter two telling Habakkuk how the Babylonians themselves will someday be destroyed. He ends the chapter by letting Habakkuk know that what seems to be out of control is being controlled by God,
2:20 “But the LORD is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.”
The truth about our lives is that when we think things can’t get any worse, they certainly can get worse. But no matter how bad they get and how out of control they seem, God is in control…and He has the last word. Sometimes this isn’t really that comforting, but it is still true.
God has the right to do what He wants, and sometimes He does things that make no sense…to us. One of the reasons I have failed at being a fundamentalist is because I can’t seem to keep God in any of the boxes that have been made for Him. The only box God is in is the one He has made for Himself. That box has a label He put on it. It says, “Love.” God is Love.That is the only box He will fit in.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: doubting faith, Habakkuk, questioning God
Last Sunday night I taught about Habakkuk. Yes, it really is a book of the Bible. Yes, it’s a pretty silly name. I have to admit that before I studied for my message, I really hadn’t read Habakkuk in a LONG time. It’s one of those books that get passed over easily. Mostly because it’s only three chapters long and because, well…it’s named “Habakkuk.” It sounds like it would be a really boring book.
When I started reading through it I couldn’t believe how much it applied to my life and how much I could identify with Habakkuk.
The main thing I love about the book are the questions:
1:2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
1:3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
I find myself asking the very same questions. Why is God not listening? Doesn’t He see all the violence and injustice? Why do 30,000 kids die every day of starvation? Why is Joseph Kony terrorizing an entire country? Why is justice seemingly never served?
In the church I grew up, it was a big problem to question God. To question God, I was told, means that you undermine His authority, put yourself above Him, and put your faith in God into serious jeopardy. I think questioning God is simply human. God can handle it if you question Him. He is not going to cower in fear. He can take it. He knows you’re thinking it anyway, why not say it out loud.
Besides, Habakkuk isn’t the only one to question God. Remember when John the Baptist asks of Jesus in Luke 7:19, “…Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Or in Psalm 73 where Asaph wonders why the unbelievers never get sick and get all the money (sound familiar).
Doubt is a part of faith. You don’t really believe something until you have doubted it first. I know that’s a pretty big statement, but think about it for a little bit. Who has the greater faith? The one who believes in Jesus without ever having wondered if it really is true or the one who has questioned all of it and has still decided to declare full allegiance to Christ.
I don’t think Habakkuk was wrong. I think He was honest with God…and himself. We have all had questions like the ones Habakkuk asked. There is nothing wrong with questions. Questioning God is a normal part of the faith process.
How will God respond to these questions? The answer to that in the next post.
