Religion

by

The attack on fathers.

PX001126 Stupid. Lazy. Uninvolved. Ignorant. Timid. Detached. Neurotic. Weak. Powerless. Unreliable. Ineffectual. Irresponsible.

What do all these words have in common? They are all descriptions of how men and fathers are depicted in today’s Western culture.

Television is a great example of the problem. Whether it’s Archie Bunker from All in the Family, Al Bundy from Married With Children, George Castanza from Seinfeld, Peter Griffin from Family Guy, or Homer Simpson from The Simpsons men are often portrayed as fools and inferior to not only their wives, but to their own children as well. And this isn’t even considering the latest onslaught of one-parent homes (homes absent of any father), and those normalizing homosexuality. These trends have been increasing every year and it seems to show no sign of stopping.

The problem is especially pervasive in shows geared toward children as Hollywood and the current culture is hell-bent on turning the hearts of the children away from their parents–especially their fathers.

If you still need convincing, turn on Nickelodeon or The Disney Channel and watch how men are depicted. It won’t take long for you to see what I mean. Even the commercials feed into this distortion of manhood. In so many cases all authority figures are depicted as incompetent including teachers and police officers, but none are so marginalized as fathers.

Mothers are depicted as much more capable of navigating through life than their incompetent spouses, but even they take a back seat when it comes to the kids themselves. Watch these same channels and observe how the kids are depicted. They’re the ones in control, who are running the show, making all of the important decisions, saving the world, and doing it all with zero or minimal input from their parents–especially that detached lump on the couch they call dad.

William Leith recently wrote an eye-opening piece in England’s Daily Mail in which he asked Why Do All My Son’s Books Tell Him All Men Are Useless? I highly encourage you to read the article; here are some excerpts:

“A recent academic study confirmed that men – particularly fathers – are under-represented in almost all children’s books. And when they do appear, like the fathers in Gorilla and Zoo, they are often withdrawn, or obsessed with themselves, or just utterly ineffectual.”

Leith continues:

“Why had this never bothered me? Because it’s all around us, everywhere we look. For years, men in our stories – not just for children, but adults, too – have been losing their authority. Not just years – decades. It’s crept up on us and now it’s everywhere. Remember when movie stars were strong and decisive? That was a long time ago now: John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn. Then came a new, softer type – Cary Grant and James Stewart were strong, yes, but against a background of self-doubt. And then came Jack Lemmon, Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, Bill Murray, Kevin Spacey – neurotic, bumbling, deeply flawed anti-heroes.”

Now I’ll readily admit that there are many, many men today who refuse to grow up (they’re known as Rejuveniles), but the situation begs the question: Is our culture’s entertainment merely reflecting the problem of the modern American male, or are these men actually the product of their culture’s entertainment?

_________________________________________________________________________________

For an absolutely wonderful story in which the father is refreshingly portrayed positively, I cannot recommend enough the book A Basket of Flowers; it’s one of my favorites.

See also:

How to make your husband a false convert and cause your kids to reject the Christian faith

Working moms

by

Thabiti Anyabwile on the altar call.

The following article, What About Altar Calls?, is from Thabiti Anyabwile:

I’m sometimes asked by people why we don’t do “altar calls” at our services. Like the people who ask the question, the churches in my personal background pretty much all practiced “altar calls” at the conclusion of a sermon or service. I’ve seen them done in very poor fashion, and I’ve seen some pastors be really clear about the gospel, repentance, faith, and the fact that “coming forward” does not save. I date my own conversion to the preaching of Exodus 32, which concluded with an altar call.

So, why don’t we practice “altar calls”? I don’t think the pastor who practices an “invitation” at the end of a sermon is in sin, but he may not be acting wisely either. This list of reasons, compiled by Pastor Ryan Kelly of Desert Springs Church, is a pretty good summation of some of my thinking (HT: Z).

1. The altar call is simply and completely absent from the pages of the N.T.

2. The altar call is historically absent until the 19th century, and its use at that time (via Charles Finney) was directly based upon bad theology and a man-centered, manipulative methodology.

3. The altar call very easily confuses the physical act of “coming forward” with the spiritual act of “coming to Christ.” These two can happen simultaneously, but too often people believe that coming to Christ is going forward (and vice-versa).

4. The altar call can easily deceive people about the reality of their spiritual state and the biblical basis for assurance. The Bible never offers us assurance on the ground that we “went forward.”

5. The altar call partially replaces baptism as the means of public profession of faith.

6. The altar call can mislead us to think that salvation (or any official response to God’s Word) happens primarily on Sundays, only at the end of the service, and only “up front.”

7. The altar call can confuse people regarding “sacred” things and “sacred” places, as the name “altar call” suggests.

8. The altar call is not sensitive to our cautious and relational age where most people come to faith over a period of time and often with the interaction of a good friend.

9. The altar call is often seen as “the most important part of the service”, and this de-emphasizes the truly more important parts of corporate worship which God has prescribed (preaching, prayer, fellowship, singing).

10. God is glorified to powerfully bless the things He has prescribed (preaching, prayer, fellowship, singing), not the things we have invented. We should always be leery of adding to God’s prescriptions for His corporate worship.

Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 of Ryan’s list are the most compelling reasons in my opinion. These would seem very serious objections for anyone who takes seriously the idea that our Christian lives and gatherings should conform to what the NT commands, models, and prohibits. Perhaps I would add an 11th: The “altar call” teaches the congregation to evaluate the “success” or “effectiveness” of the ministry on outward, visible actions and results.

Further, the need to be pastorally careful and sensitive with the souls of men needing to repent and believe couldn’t be more urgent. So, anything that obscures the reality of God the Holy Spirit’s work in conversion and the necessity of repentance and faith must be regarded–at best–a practice with potential to undermine the very work we’re giving our lives to.

Do people “respond” to the word of God at our services? They do. And we give them a number of ways they may follow up on what they’ve heard, from talking to an elder or Christian friend after the service, to scheduling an appointment during the week, to letting us know they would like us to visit with them, and so on. One thing I appreciate about our approach is that it allows us to meet, listen, question, encourage, teach and pray in a much more thorough way. By God’s grace we’re seeing people converted and profess their faith in baptism as the Spirit opens their hearts. We’re not perfect by any means. But I do hope we’re being faithful to the scripture’s commands, examples, and restrictions.

What do you think about Kelly’s list? Are you “for” or “against” and why? Would you add anything to or challenge anything on the list?

by

A video on the LDS by the BBC.

This was a well done piece on Mormonism by the BBC.

Although the impetus for the documentary was presidential candidate Mitt Romney, this video uses his potential presidency as a springboard to delve into Mormonism’s seedy underbelly (unfortunately they never mention such morsels as Mormonism’s racism and blasphemous doctrines like Blood Atonement, paying for your own sins in Hell, and their god having physical relations with Mary to conceive Jesus . . . just to name a few).

by

Happy 100!

The following parody (or sad commentary) comes from Tom In The Box:

This past Sunday Jake Krenshaw celebrated the number “100.” No, that is not his age, neither has he been a Christian for one-hundred years. The number also does not represent how many people he has “won to salvation.” For Krenshaw, rather, the number “100” is significant because that is how many times he has “walked the aisle” at his home church, Chapel Hill Baptist Church, and gotten “saved.”

“I think I’ve finally got it right this time,” said a smiling Krenshaw. “This is the 100th time that I’ve responded to the invitation, and this time it’s for real. I really got saved this time.”

The journey of faith began for Krenshaw back in 1995 when he first “walked the aisle” at Chapel Hill Baptist. He was baptized for the first time the following Sunday. But it was within a couple of weeks that Krenshaw began to have serious doubts that he had been sincere, so he again “walked the aisle” and again was baptized the following week. From that point on any time Krenshaw has had the slightest doubt he has “walked the aisle” and received the invitation. As a result, he has been now been “saved” 100 times and has been baptized 93 times.

For Krenshaw the struggle with assurance of “genuine salvation” is rooted in his inability to see evidence of true faith.

“The reason I felt that I wasn’t saved this time goes back to last week actually,” he said. “I was flipping through the channels on Thursday evening when I came across an old rerun of Seinfeld. Well, they made dirty comment on the show, and I actually laughed at it. I knew that a saved person wouldn’t laugh at such a thing. So I determined right then and there that I was going to get my soul right, that when the preacher offered the invitation on Sunday that I was going to truly accept it this time.”

Since getting “saved” this past Sunday Krenshaw states that this week his life has been a virtual “bed of roses,” free from all temptation and “big sins.”

“Now that I’ve finally gotten saved,” he said, “I don’t have those old temptations to big sins anymore. I’ve been completely free from any desires to do what is wrong.”

Many, though, in Krenshaw’s congregation are skeptical as to whether this will be his last time to “walk the aisle.”

“Every time Jake so much as blinks the wrong way he thinks he’s not really saved,” said a church member who wished to remain anonymous. “Several of us even have a pool going to see when he’s going to walk the next time.”

If all goes according to plan, Krenshaw will be baptized for the 94th time this weekend.

“I know the drill by now,” said Krenshaw. “I know just when to hold my breath and how to lean back when I’m dunked. I’d say I’m pretty experienced at it.”

When asked if he thought he would ever have to “walk the aisle” again he replied, “as long as they can play fourteen verses of Just As I Am I’ll always have that option open to me.”

by

Senseless tragedy: Another victim of charismatic Pentecostalism.

Pastor Randy Wolford of West Virginia dies after being bitten by a rattlesnake that he was handling during a Pentecostal service.

“Vicie Haywood, mother of Pastor Randy ‘Mack’ Wolford, strokes her son’s feet as the pastor lies on the couch at his mother-in-law’s home near Bluefield, W.Va. Wolford was bitten by a rattlesnake during a Sunday worship service. He was pronounced dead early the next morning at the Bluefield Regional Medical Center.”

Source: The Washington Post

by

Quotes (939)

Gary Gilley The new-paradigm church is offering a purely commercialized, yuppie brand of Christianity found nowhere in the New Testament. . . . Is a person coming to Christ in order to bolster her self-esteem or experience a great thrill, truly born again? If [average church goer] Mary does not clearly understand that the real issue on the table is her personal sinfulness that has offended a holy and righteous God, does she understand the gospel at all? If she believes that Christ died on the cross to save her from a poor self-image in order to give her a fulfilling life brimming with excitement, has she not been presented with a gospel so hopelessly muddled that the true gospel is still a mystery to her? Can such a person, who so totally misunderstands the purpose and nature of Calvary, be saved, even though she has prayed the “sinner’s prayer?” From my understanding of the true gospel I would have to say probably not. And if a multitude of these kinds of Marys are now flooding into the local church, what kind of church is being created?

– Gary Gilley

by

Sermon of the Week: “The Calling of a Preacher” by Albert Mohler.

Albert Mohler was one the key-note speakers at the 2012 Shepherd’s Conference. While there were several excellent speakers throughout the event, this message from Mohler was timely and relevant to me personally – and seemed to resonate with the two or three thousand others gathered there as well. Here is an excerpt from his introduction, full message in video below, mp3 download here (right click and save or click to listen).

Let’s admit it. There’s a lot of mysteries in the christian life, but one of the greatest mysteries is why God would in His sovereign, omnipotent and omniscient, and wisdom and righteousness, and mercy choose the likes of folks as we… to do this. You might think that if we were orchestrating this, we might have angels doing the preaching. Everybody would listen to an angel, wouldn’t they? Of course,  not American angels. We domesticate little angels, we paint little pictures of cherubs and hang them in the bathroom. It’s a completely different reality. Just remember in the Gospel of Luke, the angelic hosts showed up to the shepherds and the first think they had to say is, “First of all, don’t die” – “Fear not, we bring you tidings of great joy”. Meanwhile, most Americans, in our weirdo, fake, postmodern spirituality think they’re channeling with little cherubs in the bathroom.

But God doesn’t assign angels to do the preaching. He assigned human preachers, men whom He has called because when an angel shows up to preach you don’t ask, “How did God do that?”. But, when we show up to preach you’re looking at me going (saying), “He’s just flesh and blood. He’s nearsighted. He only speaks one language. He’s gonna be hungry soon. He fell asleep during a Greek lecture, thirty something years ago and you’re letting him preach?” Well, it’s as the apostle Paul says, “It’s so that the glory would be all of God’s and not ours. So that the excellence would be His excellence that’s demonstrated and not ours.”

Admit it: you’d love to be doing this, and then admit it: That’s a good thing. And then let’s just admit it together, it’s just a priceless thing that we get to be together for these days and these hours, to preach and to hear preaching and to be encouraged, not only by each other, but by the Holy Spirit of God in this calling that has come to us.

by

Yet another example of what the gospel is NOT.

Meet Charles L. Worley. He pastors Providence Road Baptist Church in North Carolina and he apparently has no idea what the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ is.

Mr. Worley, have you forgotten the pit of depravity from which God saved you, or is your lack of mercy a sign that you have yet to receive God’s grace yourself?

There is a striking irony about Mr. Worley’s suggestion during his “sermon” that homosexuals be imprisoned behind fences till they die out (an irony similar to the obnoxious street preacher we featured a few days ago). The irony is that one day in the near future it is very likely that Christians will be imprisoned in America for their faith, and it will be men like these that will have proven to be instrumental in–and the justification for–the passing of legislation needed to criminalize Christianity.

by

What the gospel is NOT.

Meet James Lyman. He is the man in the below video street preaching (I use the term very loosely as to not bring reproach upon those men out there who actually preach Christ and Him crucified on street corners).

As you’ll see in the video, exactly what Mr. Lyman is preaching is a little hard to pin down, as there seems to be no gospel message. It seems that Law and gospel have taken a backseat to just plain condemnation and ridicule.

If you recall, Mr. Lyman is the man who mocked, ridiculed, and called Rosie O’Donnell names while street preaching at this past year’s Superbowl. He then defended his actions here on DefCon.

How Mr. Lyman treats this woman is heartbreaking, for the message of the gospel is supposed to be the offense, not those who carry the message of the gospel.

For those who are not familiar with the preaching of the gospel, rest assured, this is not it.

by

Martial law and Romans 13.

How far is Romans 13:1-3 meant to be taken?

There’s no denying that the government’s reach and control grows larger every day, individual  rights continue to erode, and the framework for the persecution of the church is being laid. So, does Romans 13 mean Christians are to unquestionably collude and cooperate with their coming persecutors?

Here is a brief news clip to spur the conversation (debate). I look forward to reading the discussion.

Romans 13:1-3

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;”

by

Church suing former member for defamation.

Seriously.

From KATU news in Oregon:

BEAVERTON, Ore. – A church pastor is suing a mother and daughter for $500,000 because they gave the church bad reviews online.

The family being sued left the church a few years ago and Julie Anne Smith says she and her family were shunned and couldn’t understand why. So she went online and wrote Google and DEX reviews of the church and then started a blog.

“I thought, I’m just going to post a review,” Smith said. “We do it with restaurants and hotels and whatnot, and I thought, why not do it with this church?”

Never did she think Beaverton Grace Bible Church and Pastor Charles O’Neal would slap her with the lawsuit.

“I’m a stay-at-home mom. I teach my kids at home, and this is just not the amount of money that normal moms have.”

When the family left the church, Smith says friends were told to end all contact with her.

“If I went to Costco or any place in town, if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way,” she said. “All we did was asked questions. We just raised concerns. There’s no sin in that.”

Dissatisfied, she went online to write reviews. Other church members counteracted them with church praise. So Smith started a blog called “Beaverton Grace Bible Church Survivors.”

But the pastor claims in the lawsuit he filed that her words, “creepy,” “cult,” “control tactics,” and “spiritual abuse,” are defamation.

“What somebody does in the church is one thing, but when you get out into society we have the right to free speech, and it may not be what people want to hear, but we absolutely have that right,” Smith said.

The lawsuit didn’t just target Smith. Her daughter and three other commenters are also being sued.

“He can say what he wants in the church and say, don’t talk about this or don’t talk about that, or don’t talk to this person, but when you’re out in the civil world, you don’t do that anymore,” Smith said. “And he’s not my pastor anymore. He does not have that right to keep people from talking.”

The Smiths filed a special free speech motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It goes before a judge later this month.

KATU News called the church, went there, went to the pastor’s home and spoke to his wife. KATU News also called the pastor’s attorney. All of them declined to give their side of the story.

Here’s the video from KATU news and here’s the blog of one of the people being sued.

by

Quotes (937)

When a congregation is made up of many people whose lives more resemble the works of the flesh than the fruit of the Spirit, the experience of following Christ together, of love and encouragement and spurring on and mutual advocation and accountability, all of this is eroded and cooled and diminished. The church becomes more like the world.

– Mark Dever

by

Sermon of the week: “Election” by Russ Sukhia.

Russ SukhiaYour Sermon of the Week is Russ Sukhia’s message simply entitled, Election. I spent the majority of my (false conversion) Christian life never hearing about the doctrine of Election in spite of having attended many different churches.

Eventually, however, as my study of the Bible continued, I couldn’t avoid those pesky words that testified of God’s sovereignty; words like “predestination,” “chosen,” and of course, “election.”

In this 40-minute sermon Pastor Sukhia explains this doctrine (and the oppositions and challenges to it) very clearly. I highly recommend it for anyone who is wanting to know more about Election or anyone who is struggling to come to terms with it.

If you enjoy this sermon I also recommend listening to another message by Russ Sukhia’s (featured here) called Recovering the Lost Doctrine of Repentance. Russ Sukhia is uncompromising in his messages and he’s a strong preacher who conveys the Word with clarity and conviction.


by

Quiz: Are you loving or unloving?

Here’s a quick and simple six-question quiz to determine whether you’re loving (“tolerant”) or unloving (close minded and “intolerant”).

  1). You’re sitting in a coffee shop when a woman at another table gets up–leaving her coffee unattended–to get a napkin. As she does, a man walks by her table, pours a powdered substance into the woman’s coffee and quickly exits the shop. You immediately warn this woman of what just happened. Your reaction is:

A. Loving

B. Unloving. This is none of your business. Quit interfering with other people’s lives.

2). A small child runs toward a bush to retrieve his ball that rolled into it. You know that the bush contains a rattlesnake nest. You yell out for the kid to stop. Your yelling at this child is:

A. Loving

B. Unloving. Who are you to impose your beliefs onto this kid. His parents have a right to raise him how they see fit without your close-minded “snakes are bad” views being forced down his throat.

  3). You are woken to the sounds of fire alarms and the smell of smoke in your apartment complex. As you hastily exit your apartment you notice that no one has alerted your elderly neighbors who are  deaf. You bang on their door (and even kick it in if necessary) to alert them of the pending doom. This action that you’re taking is:

A. Loving.

B. Unloving. Have you considered that perhaps this couple is happy where they are? Why wake them from their slumber? If they’re happy, then leave them be.

4). On a dark and rainy night you observe a family in a car heading home in the direction of a washed-out bridge. You holler and flail your arms, making every effort you can to get their attention to warn them. Your behavior is:

A. Loving

B. Unloving. All roads lead to their house. Who are you to tell them that the road that they’ve chosen to go home will lead to their deaths?

  5). While sitting in your car waiting for your friend in a bank, you observe a man walk into the bank wearing a stocking on his face and carrying a gun. You call 911.This judgment of the man’s intentions is:

A. Loving

B. Unloving. “Judge not lest ye be judged!” Who are you to judge this man’s heart. Maybe his intentions are good and he will do no harm to those inside. You’re always so negative and have no faith in other people. You’ve condemned this man already. Jesus would have never done that, He would have befriended him. You need to be more like Jesus.

6). Your friend is going to die in his sins, and when he wakes up on the other side of eternity, will find himself in Hell. You share with him the fact that his unrepentant sin will condemn him before a holy God and that he deserves God’s wrath (just like everyone else) because he’s transgressed God’s laws. You further explain that any of his attempts to purchase God’s forgiveness by his own obedience to the Law or good works is futile because not only are we saved by faith apart from the works and the Law, but God’s grace is not earned, it is a gift. You share with your friend that through the death of one Man, God has provided forgiveness to sinners, but this unmerited favor for sinners is only found in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who ransomed us with His own blood. God’s only Son took our sin upon Himself on the cross and, in turn, imputed his perfect righteousness to us. You tell your friend that Jesus became a propitiation for him in order to absorb the wrath of God that he deserves. You urge your friend to repent and put his trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. This discussion with your friend is:

A. Loving.

B. Unloving. Insert any of the above “B” answers (or all of them) here: __________.