More on Wright

Scott Clark gives his thoughts (in light of the previous post) on N.T. Wright's upcoming speaking engagement at Redeemer NYC

This will certainly raise a few eyebrows

I don't know all of the details, but this really doesn't seem like a good thing.

From Nick Batzig at Feeding on Christ:

Apparently Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s Center for Faith and Work is hosting N.T. Wright, on April 20th, to speak about his latest release, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. How is this not a tacit approval of Wright?

....so much for the prosperity gospel

I've seen this pic on a few blogs lately. It's a failed tract for the prosperity gospel.

Emerging Influence?

"It's more mystery than mastery," I heard him say. I heard these words on a recent segment that one of our local Christian radio stations played over the air; a piece that is designed to help listeners become more familiar with the personalities of the Christian artists they listen to. Two men were featured from a well known Christian group and I have to admit that these words quickly took my attention.

Maybe it is because so much attention has been given to the emerging church movement by evangelicals in recent months, or maybe it is because I read The Truth War a few weeks ago, but for whatever reason I thought to myself, "That sounds emergent." These words were this artists description of the Christian life and admittedly there is an element of truth in what he said. There is an element of mystery to God, Christ, and redemption; Paul himself said, "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness" (I Tim. 3:16). But the reason my ears perked up when I heard these words is because they represent a popular trend in the emerging church movement. It is a trend that fits in well with our post-modern times and is descriptive of the spirit of this age. Many believe today that truth is beyond our grasp, that no one can be sure what the Bible means by what it says. Many embrace the thought that Christianity is more mystery than mastery.

It is a popular notion for one to think that doctrine is beyond our understanding and that it expresses true humility to say that we do not grasp it. Many would say, "I am too humble to say I understand what the Bible means by what it says." Instead, many would rather say, even of historic orthodox Christian beliefs, that I would rather be humbly unsure than to declare that I know what the Bible means by what it says. Mystery and ambiguity equal humility.

But as others have pointed out, it is a more humble thing to submit ourselves to the logic of truth given to us in Divine revelation than to say we couldn't possibly understand what, Paul for instance, means by justification by faith alone, or on the clarity of the Gospel itself. There is great mystery in the Bible, there are things that are hard to be understood, and of course we would admit that there are things we cannot understand because God's thoughts are higher than ours, but there are truths in Scripture that are unmistakably clear, especially the Gospel.

That is exactly why I take the time to express this concern. Before I am labeled as hypercritical or as a heresy hunter I should inform you of what another member of the group had to say. I listened as he said that the group's practice at their concerts, is to tell a story. He said that they could do one of two things: they could tell the story of Jesus and hope that it is the Gospel and hope that it will effect people, or they can tell their story. The latter is their practice. I listened in utter shock as he went on to even question the existence of God and placed "their story" above the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "Their story" became the good news, and the Gospel of Christ became unsure, unclear, and doubtful. They trust that "their story" is the Gospel and communicate that truth to their audience.

Once again, objective truth (the Gospel) is downplayed and subjective truth (experience) is crowned king. With this logic my experience defines what it true, not facts. What saddens me is that this group would consider themselves mainstream evangelicals when they hardly fit the description of Christianity. The truth is that Gospel is outside of us. It is objective truth. What Christ accomplished happened regardless of how we feel about it. My experience is not the Gospel; the Gospel is Christ crucified bearing the wrath of God for guilty sinners, and rising from the dead. The subjective (experience) only comes to play a part when we believe the objective (the Gospel). Though our experience may provide a helpful testimony to the work of Christ, let our message be the Gospel of Christ, His story, and the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

The Clarity of the Gospel

The Gospel is to be central. In Christian living and in ministry Jesus Christ and Him crucified is to be the center of everything. I hear many statements like this and I thank God for them.

However, I have recently been made aware of the importance not only of the centrality of the Gospel but of its clarity. Of course the Gospel is to be central, provided we have a clear understanding of what that Gospel is.

Getting the Gospel right was paramount to the apostle Paul even telling the Galatians that there is no other Gospel than the one he had preached unto them. There are no other true Gospels, nothing else is truly "good news" but there are many counterfeit gospels. The false gospel preached to the Galatians was a gospel of legalism. We have many forms of so called gospel today in America, including the prosperity gospel, the gospel of self esteem, and the Jesus will fix your life gospel.

If there is one thing, by the grace of God, that I want to strive for, it is keeping the Gospel pure. I want nothing more than to get the Gospel right and to be crystal clear when I proclaim it to others. All I am calling for is for a thoughtful presentation of the Gospel. When we throw out statements with no context like "You need Jesus in your life" we need to keep in mind that the unregenerate may think, "My neighbor is a Christian. He drives a BMW. Nice home. Nice family. Sure, I need Jesus in my life." We need to be clear that the Gospel is not salvation from financial difficulty, or a bad marriage, though He may do these things. It is salvation from the wrath of God against our sin. We need to be clear.

It seems that we have also reversed the role on who it is that is in need. I recently saw a church sign that read "Be an organ donor: give your heart to Jesus." Now having an American evangelical background I understood the message they were attempting to get across and I am not trying to split hairs but I couldn't help but think, "Why does Jesus need a new heart? The truth is that we need for Him to take out our heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. We need a new heart, not Him."

One thing we need to ask ourselves when we have presented the Gospel is Have we made the Gospel clear? Have we made it clear what people need to be saved from when we tell them they need to be saved? Or does our Jesus sound like an aid to another self help plan? I understand that God must do the work in the hearts of men, no matter how clear we present the good news but the purity and clarity of the Gospel must be defended in every age. Paul stood even against Peter "when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the Gospel" (Gal. 2:14).

There is only one Gospel, God help us to keep it pure and clear. It needs no additives, nothing taken away. It is the simple message of Christ and Him crucified, buried, and risen again for our sins that we need to proclaim. The scandal of the cross is its beauty.

Emerging and Emergent: What's the Difference?

I found this clip to be very helpful on an issue many evangelicals are being forced to think through.

Piper on the Prosperity Gospel

I saw this post on Justin Taylor's blog and I say "AMEN!" I have recently studied through Ezekiel 13 and it seems to me to be a mirror of American evangelicalism. The prosperity Gospel is tailor-made for Americans and I say with piper that I hate it. We laugh at faith healers and make fun of televangelists but lately I have had nothing more than a broken heart when I think of all of those who are deceived by the lies promised by prosperity preachers.

Mohler on the Golden Compass

Last week, Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Seminary, posted this article on the new movie The Golden Compass. This is a place of interest for me as a youth pastor and definitely something we should give serious consideration. Here is what Dr. Mohler posted last Tuesday:

The release of The Golden Compass as a major motion picture represents a new challenge for Christians -- especially parents. The release of a popular film with major actors that presents a message directly subversive of Christianity is something new. It is not likely to be the last.

Having seen the movie at an advance viewing and having read all three books of His Dark Materials, I can assure Christians that we face a real challenge -- one that will require careful thinking and intellectual engagement.

Why is this movie such a challenge?

First of all, The Golden Compass is an extremely attractive movie. Like the book on which it is based, the movie is a very sophisticated story that is very well told. The casting was excellent. Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond actor) are joined by others including Sam Elliott and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, who plays the central role of 11-year-old Lyra Belacqua. Kidman is chilling as the beautiful but evil Marisa Coulter and Craig is perfect as Lord Asriel. Actor Ian McKellen (Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) is the voice of Iorek Byrnison, the armoured bear.

The movie is very well done and will be very attractive to audiences of all ages. The special effects are superior to any previous movie of the type, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy (also released by New Line Cinema). Everything is in place for this to be a blockbuster at the box office.

Second, the movie is based in a story that is captivating, sophisticated, and truly interesting. Philip Pullman is a skilled writer and teller of tales. His invented worlds of The Golden Compass and the entire His Dark Materials trilogy are about as good as the fantasy genre can offer. His characters are believable and the dialogue is constant -- largely due to Pullman's brilliant invention of a companion for each character -- a "daemon."

The bottom line is that these books and this movie will attract a lot of attention and will captivate many readers and viewers.

So, what's the problem?

This is not just any fantasy trilogy or film project. Philip Pullman has an agenda -- an agenda about as subtle as an army tank. His agenda is nothing less than to expose what he believes is the tyranny of the Christian faith and the Christian church. His hatred of the biblical storyline is clear. He is an atheist whose most important literary project is intended to offer a moral narrative that will reverse the biblical account of the fall and provide a liberating mythology for a new secular age.

The great enemy of humanity in the three books, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass (together known as His Dark Materials) is the Christian church, identified as the evil Magisterium. The Magisterium, representing church authority, is afraid of human freedom and seeks to repress human sexuality.

The Magisterium uses the biblical narrative of the Fall and the doctrine of original sin to repress humanity. It is both violent and vile and it will stop at nothing to protect its own interests and to preserve its power.

Pullman's attack on biblical Christianity is direct and undeniable. He once questioned why his books attracted little controversy even as the Harry Potter books attracted so much. He told an Australian newspaper that what he is "saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God."

Will viewers of the movie see all this?

The direct attack on Christianity and God is toned down in the movie. But any informed person will recognize the Magisterium as representing the Church and Christianity. Of course, in our world the Magisterium is the authoritative leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. In Pullman's world it represents Christianity as a whole.

Indeed, Pullman's tale tells of John Calvin assuming the papacy and moving the headquarters to Geneva, thus combining the Catholic and Reformation traditions into one. In the movie, the Magisterium appears to be located in London. In any event, the point is not subtle.

The most direct attacks upon Christianity and God do not appear until the last book, The Amber Spyglass, in which Lyra and Will (a boy her age who first appears in the second book) eventually kill God, who turns out to be a decrepit and feeble old imposter who was hardly worth the killing.

Is Pullman's attack on Christianity exaggerated by his critics?

No -- his attack is neither hidden nor subtle. The entire premise of the trilogy is that Lyra is the child foretold by prophecy who will reverse the curse of the Fall and free humanity from the lie of original sin. Whereas in Christian theology it is Jesus Christ who reverses the curse through His work of atonement on the Cross, Pullman presents his own theology of sorts in which the Fall is reversed through the defiance of these children. As Pullman insists, Eve and Adam were right to eat the forbidden fruit and God was a tyrant to forbid them the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The supernatural element of Pullman's story is "Dust," which is seen by the Magisterium as original sin but is presented by Pullman as the essence of life itself. In The Golden Compass, Lyra is given an "alethiometer" or "golden compass" which is filled with Dust and tells the truth to one qualified to operate it. Readers are told that a great battle is coming in which forces fighting for human freedom and happiness will confront (and destroy) the Magisterium and God.

In the last volume of the trilogy, a character known as Dr. Mary Malone explains her discovery to Lyra and Will: "I used to be a nun, you see. I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn't any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all."

Is there more to the larger story?

Yes, and it has to do with sex. Surprisingly graphic and explicit sex. Pullman believes that the Christian church is horribly repressive about sex and that this is rooted in the idea of the Fall. As he told Hanna Rosin of the Atlantic Monthly, "Why the Christian Church has spent 2,000 years condemning this glorious moment, well, that's a mystery. I want to confront that, I suppose, by telling a story that the so-called original sin is anything but. It's the thing that makes us fully human."

Puberty is a big part of Pullman's concern. Coming-of-age stories are one of the most common forms of fiction, but Pullman's packs a punch that readers cannot miss. He wants to celebrate the adolescent's arrival at sexual awareness. Remember that the child's daemon can change forms until puberty. At that point it is fixed as a single creature that reflects the personality and character of the young adult.

Puberty means the coming of sexual feelings. The Magisterium would prefer that children grow up without experiencing sexual temptation, so it is conducting an experiment in order to separate children from their daemons before puberty, when their daemon can no longer change. This procedure, known as "intercision" makes the child a "severed child" who has no daemon -- and thus no soul. The Magisterium has assigned Mrs. Coulter the job of abducting the children and taking them to the North for this experiment.

As Mrs. Coulter explains to Lyra (who is revealed to be her own daughter) in the first book: "All that happens is a little cut, and then everything's peaceful. Forever! You see, your daemon's a wonderful friend and companion when you are young, but at the age we call puberty, the age you're coming to very soon, darling, daemons bring all sorts of troublesome thoughts and feelings, and that's what lets Dust in. A quick little operation before that, and you're never troubled again."

In The Golden Compass, Lyra and her companions free the children held at this experimental station in the North and destroy it. In The Amber Spyglass, Lyra and Will reverse the story of the Edenic Fall by consummating a sexual act in the garden.

Again, Pullman is not subtle. Keep in mind that this is a series of books marketed to children and adolescents. Lyra puts a red fruit to Will's lips and Will "knew at once what she meant, and that he was too joyful to speak." Within moments, the 13-year olds are involved in some kind of unspecified sexual act.

"The word love set his nerves ablaze," Pullman writes of Will. "All his body thrilled with it, and he answered her in the same words, kissing her hot face over and over again, drinking in with adoration the scent of her body and her warm, honey-fragrant hair and her sweet, moist mouth that tasted of the little red fruit."

Just a few pages later, Will and Lyra will dare to touch each other's daemon. That passage is even more sexually charged and explicit than the first. The adolescents now know "that neither daemon would change now, having felt a lover's hands on them. These were their shapes for life: they would want no other."

What is it about Pullman and C. S. Lewis?

Put simply, Pullman hates C. S. Lewis's work The Chronicles of Narnia. He told Hannah Rosin that Lewis's famous work is "morally loathsome" and "one of the most ugly and poisonous things I ever read." Narnia, he said, "is the Christian one . . . . And mine is the non-Christian."

When the first Narnia film was released in 2005, Pullman described the books as "a peevish blend of racist, misogynistic and reactionary prejudice."

Indeed, Pullman's His Dark Materials is intended as an answer to Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. What Lewis (and J. R. R. Tolkein) did for Christianity, Pullman wants to do for atheism.

So, what should Christians do?

A good first step would be to take a deep breath. The Christian faith is not about to be toppled by a film, nor by a series of fantasy books. Pullman has an agenda that is clear, and Christians need to inform themselves of what this agenda is and what it means. At the same time, nothing would serve his agenda better than to have Christians speaking recklessly or unintelligently about the film or the books.

This is about the battle of ideas and worldviews. While Christians will not celebrate the release of this film, we should recognize the mixture of challenge and opportunity that comes with millions of persons watching this film and talking about the issues it raises. When the movie is mentioned in the workplace, in school, on the playground, or in the college campus, this is a great opportunity to show that Christians are not afraid of the battle of ideas.

We should recognize that the Christian Church has some very embarrassing moments in its history - moments when it has failed to represent the truth of the Gospel and the love of Christ. Authors like Philip Pullman take advantage of these failures in order to paint the entire Christian Church as a conspiracy against human happiness and freedom. Of course, that charge will not stand close scrutiny, and we can face it head-on with a thoughtful response.

Some Christians have also held very unhelpful views of human sexuality. These, we must admit, would include figures as great and influential as Augustine and, alas, C. S. Lewis. But these figures, rightly influential in other areas of the faith, are not representative in this case of biblical sexuality. We can set the record straight.

Should we be concerned that people, young and old, will be confused by this movie? Of course. But I do not believe that a boycott will dissuade the general public from seeing the film. I am very concerned when I think of so many people being entertained by such a subversive message delivered by such a seductive medium. We are responsible to show them, in so far as we are able, that the Magisterium of The Golden Compass is not a fair or accurate representation of the Christian Church.

I can only wonder how many parents and grandparents will allow children and young people to see the movie and then buy them the books -- blissfully unaware of what is coming in books two and three.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ has enemies; this we know. Christian parents must be informed about His Dark Materials and inform others. We must take the responsibility to use interest in this film to teach our own children to think biblically and to be discerning in their engagement with the media in all forms. We should arm our children to be able to talk about this project with their classmates without fear or rancor.

Philip Pullman has an agenda, but so do we. Our agenda is the Gospel of Christ -- a message infinitely more powerful than that of The Golden Compass. Pullman's worldview of unrestricted human autonomy would be nightmarish if ever achieved. His story promises liberation but would enslave human beings to themselves and destroy all transcendent value.

The biblical story of the Fall is true, after all, and our only rescue is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The curse of sin was not reversed by adolescents playing at sex in a garden, but by the Son of God shedding His blood on a cross.

So let's get our bearings straight as we think and talk about The Golden Compass. This movie does represent a great challenge, but a challenge that Christians should always be ready to meet.

__________________

We discussed The Golden Compass on Monday's edition of The Albert Mohler Program [listen here]. We will continue the discussion on today. Listen and call with your questions or comments.

Trick or Retreat

What are we to do with Halloween? Many Christians are divided over this issue. This morning I saw an article on the Grace to You website concerning this very question. Like anything MacArthur puts out, it is worth reading.

Emperor Worship in the 21st Century?

Last night I was able to catch the end of National Geographic's:

Explorer: Inside North Korea

A brief analysis of the program says:
"Cross into North Korea, one of the most secretive nations on earth, for an extremely rare glimpse of the country and its absolute dictator Kim Jong II known as the "Dear Leader," who rules the country as a god-king, controlling the worlds fourth-largest army and creating international crises with his condemned nuclear program. Correspondent Lisa Ling penetrates its border by traveling undercover with a Nepalese eye surgeon on a humanitarian mission, providing a unique look at life on the inside."

I was not able to catch much, but what I saw surprised me. When I think of Emperor worship my mind travels back to the Roman Empire or even farther back in history. This concept seems to be a memory of the distant past, but last night I saw North Koreans raising their hands and lifting their voices in praise to their dictator, Kim Jong II. Many gave thanks before a picture of their king promising that they and their children would serve him for generations to come. One man even promised to take a gun and kill Americans! There were people who were blind and had received sight who were giving the credit to Jong (at least to the picture of him) for their healing.

I couldn't help but hurt for these people understanding that their worship was for a mortal man. I pray that God will send laborers into the North Korean harvest to tell them about the One Who can truly heal blinded eyes, Who is worthy of adoration and praise, Whose glory we have exchanged for a corruptible image, Who is blessed forever and ever, Amen! It should humble those of us who were not born under the rule of an absolute sovereign but in a free nation to contemplate God's mercy and grace toward us. For those of us who know the Lord, we should be even more humbled at how God really did open our blinded spiritual eyes when we met the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

---Josh

With a Broken Heart...

...I sat on Tuesday Night and watched an interview with the man who pastors the largest church in America. It is rare that my wife and I sit down together and watch television but we happened to be flipping through the cable news channels and Larry King was interviewing Joel Osteen. This was the second time in the week he had been interviewed on television and out of curiosity we tuned in.
From the moment I first saw Osteen on TBN, I'll have to admit a red flag went up. "Something is not right with this guy," I would think to myself. The quick sinner's prayer at the end of the broadcast with the words, "If you said that prayer, we believe you just got born again" made me extrememly skeptical right off the bat. I began to dig and found some of what Mr. Osteen believes and decided that his message was not one I wanted to hear.
Well, Tuesday Night I was aloud to hear from his own mouth what confirmed that Joel Osteen's Gospel is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The God he preaches is not the God of the Bible, though his speeches are sprinkled with Scripture.
Osteen's approach is very subtle, responding to his critics with Scripture, experience, and a Texas smile that no one would want to argue with. When asked how he responded to those who say his message is theologically light (or watered down), he and his wife responded with examples of so many people being helped by their ministry.
No one can argue that people are being helped. I am just afraid that the help people are receiving is superficial and temporary at best. When asked questions that a pastor should have been able to give clear Gospel answers, responses were made that were cloudy, and for the here and now. And I shouldn't have been surprised, for that is his focus. His message has nothing to say of sinners who stand condemned before God and pointing them to their only hope in Jesus Christ Who bore God's wrath for their sin. His message is a Jesus who saves you from low self esteem, makes you successful, and helps you to have a good life and become a better person. Honestly, if motivational speeches is what this man wants to give and not preach the Gospel, I wish he would put down his Bible, get a couch, and go on national television beside Dr. Phil and help people get their lives straightened out. I would have no problem with someone trying to make a difference in the world by helping people be successful, but I do have a problem with someone who twists the message of the Gospel to that aim.
While I sat and watched, my stomach churned and at times I felt tears beginning to well up in my eyes. I pray for Joel Osteen. I pray that as he opens God's Word the power of the Gospel Truth would open his eyes and shine light into his soul, because clearly he misunderstands the message "For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25).
Osteen's message would be like sending out missionaries to third world countries to feed the poor and build hospitals and fail to give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These are wonderful things but they will profit nothing for eternity. If we give them the whole world and they die without the Gospel, what have we profited them? "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26)
What will it profit, if everyone under Joel Osteen's voice becomes a better person, has great self esteem, and lives to be successful, yet dies without Jesus.
Many joke and mock Mr. Osteen but I find it hard to laugh when there are as many as 50,000 people who come to their three services each Sunday. That doesn't count all the people reached by television in the US or the 100 or so countries the broadcast is viewed in. That is a great amount of people listening to a distorted message.
Not everything he says is false, and there are some good things that come from his mouth. But as I told our people Wednesday Night: I hope we as Christians have enough spiritual discernment and knowledge of the Bible to see clearly that his message is not the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is a famine in the land; a famine of the preaching of the Word of God.


---Josh

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD-Psalm 33:12a

With memorial day being yesterday, it seemed that all weekend there was the feeling of patriotism in the air. I thank God for those who have given their lives so that I might enjoy the liberty I have today. I pray that God would let me reflect more and more on the price that was paid for our freedom in this great nation.
Yesterday I was thinking just how good it is to be an American. I thank the Lord for allowing me to be born in this country; there is no other place I would want to be if I had my choice. The Lord has blessed the good 'ol USA but I am not sure about what lies ahead for our nation.
On Friday night we attended a baseball game where "God bless America" was sung. "Yes Lord, bless America," I thought. "Shower us with grace and grant us repentance to turn back to you."
That is America's only hope; to turn back to the God who birthed our freedom. We need God to send the rain of revival to our land. We need a spiritual and moral awakening or else judgment is sure and it will be swift.
I was reminded how far we have strayed when Sunday morning we sang the last stanza of "My Country tis of Thee."

Our fathers' God to Thee, Author of liberty, to Thee we sing: Long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light; protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King!

Oh, God, help us to turn back before it is too late. Send revival in these last days and be known in our nation once again!