An Announcement and a Word

ANNOUNCEMENT:

I'm excited about home group this summer. We will be going through a new DVD study by John MacArthur called "A Tale of Two Sons". It's a 6 week series on the most famous parable Jesus ever told, commonly known as "The Prodigal Son" (even though that title may not be very accurate since the story is really about all three figures: the father, the son, and the brother). Perhaps you're thinking, "I already know that parable inside and out". Well, let me tell you: not like this you don't. The historical data that he talks about will shed new light on this parable for you in a profound, life-changing way. I promise. (And it has a surprise ending to the story you've probably never heard before.)

This study comes from a five week sermon series John MacArthur did at his church. He's been preaching there for over 40 years. That's right ... 40 years. The people at his church said it was the best sermon series he's ever done. It will be very fresh, very fun, and very ... what's another word that starts with "f"? ... anti-Futilitarian. :-) (I know it doesn't start with "f") If you'd like to view a short, heart-wrenching, theatrical preview of the series, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QABrwP-W3Y

For the other 4 weeks of home group we'll be doing a variety of things. I'd like to have one or two nights reserved for Q&A. For those sessions, I'd like everyone to prepare one major question you have about the Bible/God/life/theology. For example: 1.) What's the unpardonable sin? 2.) Are Christians required to tithe? 3.) Why are there 4 gospels? 4.) What's wrong with Mormonism? 5.) Is smoking a sin? - If you think about it, there are tons of questions out there. Craig and I will do our best to answer those questions along with the collective wisdom of everyone else present. The other 2 or 3 nights are still being decided upon. One or two of those nights will probably be a family fun night (perhaps a "subs and kickball" night).


Word:

Often times we aren't satisifed with our church experience because it doesn't seem to square with the experience of the early church. The early church was described in the book of Acts as happy, praise-filled, loving, powerful people. They saw lives saved, they took care of one another, shared their possessions, and saw God work in miraculous ways. This is what we want. We want our church to be like this.

But let me tell you WHY the early church was this way: Acts 2:42 - "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Their blessings didn't just happen. They weren't sitting around getting zapped by God's Spirit. That's lazy Christianity. That's American Christianity: "Please God, work a miracle in my life! ... But I don't want to have to work at anything." The lazy culture in which we live has utterly permeated the modern church. We must remember that nothing valuable comes easy or automatically. NOTHING. You have to devote yourself. To devote yourself means to make up your mind about something beforehand and stick with it. For example, when you sign your kids up for music or swim lessons, you take them every week. Unless you're sick or on vacation, you're there. You don't say, "Oh, let's skip tonight." No. You go because there are other people depending on you, there are important things to be learned, etc. You make it a priority.

The same must be true of a church. You must make up your mind: "We're going to be committed to this thing. Unless we're sick or on vacation, we're there." If you don't do this, do not expect to experience the blessings of Christianity. Also, if you're not committed to regular prayer, fellowship, and learning, you cannot criticize anyone or anything in the church. If you're not committed to fellowship (and not just one hour on Sunday), prayer, learning the Word from your leaders, and the institution of the Lord's supper, as described in Acts 2:42, you have absolutely no voice in the church. You'll lose blessing and you'll lose your moral authority. I don't want that for anyone. I want everyone to be blessed and I want everyone contributing to the vision and moral direction of our church. But that can't happen unless you devote yourself to the things described in Acts 2:42.

Remember: now that you're a Christian, your life is no longer about temporary pursuits. It's not about t-ball. It's not about entertainment. It's not about shopping. It's not about securing my financial future. It's not about my business, my goals, my work, my hobbies, or even my family. It's about one thing: the Kingdom. It's about seeking and building HIS kingdom. Not MY kingdom. HIS kingdom. Do this ... "and all these things will be added unto you".

Grace and peace.

For The Men Especially

I'd like to recommend the following blog post by Tim Challies who is one of the most well known, top-rated Christian bloggers. This post is especially intended for the men of our church, but it applies to everyone. It shows the critical need for accountability and community:

http://www.challies.com/archives/articles/escaping-anonymity.php

Movie Review: Marley and Me

OK, I do not want to get any flack for this. You can persecute me all you want for my biblical convictions, but if your name is "Rob Padley" or "Jason Stude" or "Matt Wunderlin", you can keep your comments to yourself concerning this particular post. :-)

WARNING: You will not understand this movie if you are not a dog person! You will not get this movie if you don't have a soft spot in your heart for dogs. You won't like this movie if an animal has never touched your life before. (There is a biblical basis, by the way, for developing feelings for animals. Read David's reaction to the story of the rich man who killed the poor man's lamb who would share his food, drink from his cup, sleep in his arms, and was "like a daughter to him" (2 Samuel 12:3). Anyway, if you love dogs, if you've ever developed a relationship with an animal before, you'll enjoy this movie. You'll need to get out the tissues, but you'll enjoy it.

There are a couple of scenes where the man and woman get physical, but the movie is PG, so it's never taken too far. Besides, I really think Christians can get their panties in a bundle over the slightest physical expression in a movie. If you think it's going too far, keep your finger on the fast forward button, like Laura and I always do, and just "get over it".

And while I'm on the subject, why do we only complain about sex and violence? What about all the other sinful attitudes and actions that are often displayed in movies? I don't say this to persuade you to watch more tv shows and movies. I just say this so you'll keep in mind the other sinful aspects of a show or movie that might be harming you because the only thing you're concerned about is sex and violence. It's like a person who's petrified of lightning and tornados, so he's always looking up in the sky, and, as a result, gets hit by a car. We need to be aware of all the dangers. Grace and peace ... and I hope you enjoy the movie. We did!

3 Essentials For Effective Witness

I can't stand Christian books with consumeristic titles like: "The 5 Keys to Reaching People" or "The 7 Success Principles". Why? Because you can't predict spiritual results in the same way you can often predict economic results. The church is not a business. Sometimes you can do everything right and get few results (i.e. Noah and Jeremiah). Sometimes you can do everything wrong (i.e. Joel Osteen and "Your Best Life Now") and get huge "results". One day God will reveal the truth about people's ministries (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

Therefore, I'm titling this blog: "3 Essentials For Effective Witness". They are essential, but they aren't automatic. In other words, doing these three things won't gaurantee you anything, but without them, don't expect results. Eating right doesn't gaurantee you won't have a heart attack at 40, but it's still essential in order to avoid a heart attack. The same is true of these three essentials. They don't gaurantee anything, but without them, forget about being effective. Here they are: 1.) Humility, 2.) Selflessness, and 3.) Grace. Let me explain...

As I was studying evidences for the resurrection, something very interesting came to my attention. It was a question: Were there any false motives the disciples had for telling people Jesus had risen from the grave?

Let's start with the first possible false motive: glory. Maybe the disciples knew that Jesus didn't rise from the grave and in order to save face after having followed him for three years, they spread the lie that he did. Perhaps they wanted to look like they were the victors in light of their dead savior. Perhaps they wanted to start a new religion with their names attached to it for purposes of self-glorification?

This line of argumentation doesn't hold up, though. The disciples went around proclaiming a message that was both offensive to Jews and ridiculous to Gentiles. The message of Christ on the cross made the Jews gnash their teeth in anger and it made the Gentiles laugh. The thought of God coming to this world and being crucified on a cross because we are unable to earn our own salvation through our own good works was, and still is, the most offensive and laughable truth in the world today. If you were trying to gain glory, save face, and get your name in the history books, why would you continue to pound home this message? If you knew that Jesus really didn't raise from the dead, why not preach something the Jews and Gentiles would have liked and accepted?

Well, maybe they did it for financial reasons. Maybe they did it for personal gain. Maybe they were the "televangelists" of their day: preaching Christ so they can live in luxury. But again, that makes no sense, either. How do you make money off an offensive, foolish message, such as the gospel? They didn't preach "God will get you a car if you sew a seed" like many televangelists do today. They didn't preach that God will make you successful, healthy, wealthy, and happy. They preached that if you accepted this message, you would suffer; you would be persecuted. In fact, Peter said that Christians were actually called by God to suffer (1 Peter 2:21). How is that going to get you money? What kind of a religion says, "You are called to suffer; you will be hated, mocked, and persecuted ... come join us"? So they couldn't have done it for financial gain.

"I know why they did it! They did it because they were trying to earn their salvation! Just like those Jehovah's Witnesses who think they're bettering their odds of making it to heaven by going door to door. They're just like those Muslims who think they'll awaken in heaven to a harem of virgins if they fly airplanes into buildings. That's why they're doing it!"

But this, too, doesn't hold up to scrutiny. The disciples actually preached that there was absolutely nothing a person can do to earn salvation (Eph.2:8-10). They preached that salvation was a gift, not a reward. Paul said that salvation is not something earned, like a wage for working. He said it was a free gift of God given to those who will simply hold out their hands and receive it. So, the disciples didn't even believe that anything they did could earn their salvation. So they couldn't have preached Christ for that reason.

So what other possible motive could they have had? The only other possibility is this: Christ actually did rise from the dead. It's the truth. They died for the truth. How else do you explain their martyrdoms? People don't give up their lives for a lie if they don't think it will benefit them personally in any way. Especially not all twelve disciples. They did it because it was the truth. They did it because Christ commanded them to do it after he rose from the grave.

So here's the application to us: If we want people to seriously contend with our message (the gospel), then we must be three things:

1.) Humble - we can't be in ministry for our personal glory. If people see that we're always trying to make ourselves look good, our message will become discredited.

2.) Selfless - we can't be in the ministry for personal gain. If people see that we're longing for the good life, the best car, the best house, the nicest things, they'll wonder what our real motive is for ministry. We need to commit ourselves to simplicity.

3.) Grace - we can't be in the ministry because we're trying to earn our salvation. If people sense self-righteousness from us, if they sense a spirit of judgment and a "holier than thou" attitude, our message will be discredited. But, if they see us being honest and open about our shortcomings and sins, they will believe our message of grace much more readily.

Humility. Selflessness. Grace. These are three essentials to an effective testimony.

Feeling Hated Or Mocked For Your Faith?

If you have ever felt despised, rejected, hated, mocked, looked down upon, ignored, etc. for your stance for God's truth, I have a very comforting Word from God just for you. It's from the prophet Jeremiah who said this:

"I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, 'Violence and destruction!' For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,' there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! 'Denounce him! Let us denounce him!' say all my close friends, watching for my fall. 'Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.' But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. (Jeremiah 20:7-11, ESV).

Jeremiah starts out by lamenting the trials that come when you preach truth: people laugh, mock, and even worse: they accuse YOU of being the wrongdoer. The world we live in today says, "Anyone who claims he or she knows the truth and pushes that view on other people is the real source of the world's problems". To denounce homosexuality or to say that God is full of wrath toward mankind and punishes and judges humans for their sins will not make you very "likable". They will turn the tables on you and say YOU'RE the one who's evil. Such was the plight of Jesus, all his apostles, the prophets, and such was the case with Jeremaih.

So what should we do? I'll tell you what you feel like doing. I'll tell you what you're tempted to do: shut your mouth and never open it again. OR, worse: saying something, but really not saying anything. Many preachers are tempted to get into the pulpit and say lots of nice things, but when they're done, they really haven't said anything. Nothing prophetic, nothing challenging, nothing convicting, nothing confrontive, nothing that grabs the listener by the collar and forces them to make a decision, lest they spend an eternity in torment as a result of their apathy and deadness. Many stand in the pulpit today and say things like this: "Let us remember ..." and "Let us give thanks for the many blessings ..." and ... and ... it's all so sanctimonious and holy-toned, isn't? It all sounds so good, but really, nothing is being said. This is what we are tempted to do: either say nothing, OR, say something that won't get us in trouble.

And I will admit, there have been times I've entertained that option. I've experience little persecution in my preaching ministry. Little. But, even the very little I have experienced has sapped me big time. It's draining. Can you imagine how Jeremiah felt? You want to just be quiet. BUT, there's nothing you can do about it. Why? Because if God has put his Spirit in you and called you to proclaim the truth, he won't let you rest until you do. Jeremiah said, "If I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,' there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." So ... there's absolutely NOTHING you can do about it. God has placed a fire in us as Christians that longs for people to be reconciled to God, and when we shut our mouths, we suffer the torture of God, do we not? Are we not tortured by his convicting Spirit which cries out in our hearts: "She's going to die! This person is hopeless! This person is depressed! This person doesn't know me! This person is lost! Say something! Do something!" There's no way out: we suffer when we do not speak, we suffer when we do.

So here's my conclusion: if you're going to suffer, you might as well suffer for opening your mouth rather than closing it. Hear the words of a godly mother to her Son: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute" (Prov.31:8). Hear that? "Speak up". People are dying. You cannot simply love someone into the kingdom. At some point we must say something.

My Evening With the Jehovah's Witnesses (Pt.2)

As I was leaving the auditorium, a sharply dressed young man extended a firm hand shake to me. He was the last person available for me to talk to so I made an abrubt decision to say something. All I could think of was, "Thank you for having me tonight". He accepted my thank you kindly. I then asked him, "Let me ask you: what do you guys believe about Jesus Christ?" (I already knew what they believed, but sometimes you get conflicting reports depending on who you talk to. So, hopefully it was a valid, honest question.) He raised his eyebrows: "Jesus Christ?" "Yes", I said. "Well, we believe that he is ... the redeemer ... uhhh ... that he is the son of God ... that he paid for our sin ... uhhh ..." and then he brought up the elephant in the room: "...but he's not God. We don't believe he's Almighty God." I had to give him credit for being honest and forthright. I respect anyone who's willing to say something unpopular, something that goes against the grain of the majority opinion. I was developing a like for him already.

Respectfully I responded, "What do you guys do, then, with all the passages in the Bible which indicate that Jesus is, in fact, God? Aren't there plenty of verses which indicate that?" He said, "Yes, it would seem so". And then he said, "You're probably thinking of John 1:1" At that point, I started to wonder if he was thinking I was a Christian pastor. [Jehovah's Witnesses believe all Christian pastors are antichrists. (Insert little, yellow devilish smily face here) Unless a Jehovah's Witness reaches the status of being a "qualified" disciple, they're not aloud to evangelize a Christian pastor]. Even so, I nodded in agreement, "Yes, John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word ... and the Word was God."

He responded exactly as I thought he would: "Well, actually, if you were to examine the Greek text, it actually says that Jesus (the Word) was a god, not the God. In fact, Satan, as well, is called a god in Scripture." Well, so far, this conversation had gone precisely as I thought it would. I already knew the basic tenents of Jehovah's Witnesses. I knew they didn't believe Jesus was the God. I knew they thought he was Michael, the archangel, who took on human flesh. But I knew I wasn't going to be able to get into an indepth examination of the Greek text of John 1:1 that evening. I knew I wasn't going to get into an indepth conversation at all. My primary purpose was to simply ask one probing question - one simple question that would cause whoever I conversed with to leave that meeting wondering about the validity of their assurance of salvation. So I said, "But ... what if you get to heaven and discover that Jesus is God? What do you think will happen to you? How do you think he'll respond to you for having believed and taught other people that he wasn't God, when in fact he is?" (I wasn't thinking on my feet; this was prepared beforehand) Smiling, he responded by saying, "Well ... one would have to just admit the error of his ways I suppose."

At this point, I felt I had grilled him enough. Besides, one of the "older disciples" had been coming up to us throughout our conversation and listening in. I'm not sure he was too happy. I said, "Well, Troy (that was his name), you are very articulate and kind. Thanks for answering my questions." He then said, "Would you like to learn more about our beliefs?" I didn't know what to say. I couldn't say, "Uhhh...actually I wouldn't" So I said, "Sure. Do you have a pamphlet or website?" He said, "Well, you could do that, or someone would be willing to meet with you any time at your convenience." (Wow, if only evangelical Christians were that eager and persistent!) And then he said, "I'll meet with you. Here's my cell and home phone." I was quite surprised, but the surprise was pleasant. I then politely dismissed myself.

I had kept my composure. I had acted together. But as I got into my car, I was assaulted by a number of emotions and thoughts: "God, why would you allow people to believe and promulgate these things? Why am I not someone who is deceived? Why do I belong to the truth and they don't? Why? Is it really because "I saw the light"? Is it really because I chose to accept and respond to God's revelation in creation and Scripture while they didn't?" Well, the answer to that question, unfortunately, isn't an either/or, it's a both/and. So, yes, I have chosen to believe the truth, while others have rejected it. But, at the same time, if God hadn't enabled me to believe, if God hadn't opened my heart as he did Lydia in the book of Acts (16:14), unless he had drawn me to himself (John 6:44), unless he had given me this salvation before time began (2 Timothy 1:9), I never would have believed. I would have been lost in my sin. Therefore, "Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." You say, "That's not right! That's not fair!" But, I want to offer some peace and comfort to you. Ephesians 1 also says that God made this decision "in accordance with his pleasure and will ..." and then later, "...with all wisdom and understanding." Be at peace. God's decision was made "in wisdom".

My beloved reader, do not be angered by God's sovereign choice of some over others. Jesus said, "Blessed is he who is not offended by me." Instead, rejoice in his sovereign choice. Let it devestate your pride. Let it cause you to fall on your knees in desperation and cry out tears of dedication: "I will live for you the rest of my days, oh Lord ... how could I not after everything you have done for me?!" In short, let his sovereign choice motivate you to stop living a half-hearted, double-minded, casual Christian existence and start living solely for the sake of his glory and other people's good. Remember, you are God's beloved child. You are his precious one. He loves you with an everlasting love. He rejoices over you with singing. His love for you is more vast than the largest ocean. Receive that love today. Be humbled by his choosing. And then, go out and shine like the stars in the sky, as Paul said to the Philippians. Do this ... and you will be a true witness for Jehovah.

My Evening With the Jehovah's Witnesses (Pt.1)

I felt out of place as I entered the Waunakee High School auditorium. The men were dressed in suits and ties and the women were all done up as if they were all attending a funeral. I, on the other hand, was there in a pair of dark blue jeans, dark blue tennis shoes, and a black Bannana Republic zip-up jacket with a green t-shirt underneath. A group of old, white men with very white, very receding hairlines greeted me at the doorway. "I feel out of place" I said to one of them as I smiled. He responded with a warm, "That's ok" as he patted my back and welcomed me into the unexpected room.

I didn't know how many people were going to be there. "How many Jehovah's Witnesses could be in Waunakee?" I wondered. There were lots of cars in the parking lot, but maybe they were there for other reasons. "Well, I guess I'll find out in about two seconds", I thought to myself. As I entered the room I could here a familiar sound. It was the sound of faint, joyless, half-hearted singing set to something worse than an old piano in the corner: a tape recording of an old piano in the corner. Ouch. It reminded me of a few churches I had been to in my life where people were singing because ... well, that's what you're supposed to do.

I decided to take a seat where most people who visit religious gatherings for the first time tend to sit: the back. Last row baby. I thought, "This is where I want to be. No one can look at me. I'll just slide right in and then slide right out." My plan was going well, that is until a "Jehovah's Witness Usher" waved me over to himself. He then proceeded to walk all the way down the isle and pointed at a seat smack dab in the middle of the auditorium. I thought to myself, "This must be some Jehovah's Witness tactic. Get me in the middle and then ... attack!" Not wanting to offend him, I reluctantly sat where he pointed. I understood that these people were used to having their rules obeyed. I didn't mind really. After all, maybe he was just being kind.

As I arrived at my seat, I suddenly felt as if I was being watched ... by everybody. Even though this was indeed a Jehovah's Witness evangelistic event, a few stares seemed to say, "What are you doing here with us?" But they weren't hostile stares. They seemed more fearful than anything. And then, the moment I just knew would happen ... happened. I got the "cult kid" stare from the little girl next to me. I almost laughed. I gave her a smile and a slow wink as if to say, "I think you and I have a lot in common here".

As we were seated, one of the elder's began teaching everyone from their translation of the Bible, The New World Translation (aka: "The Whatever We Want It To Say Translation"). The elder seemed like he was straight out of the 50's. Even his glasses were that thick, black style. He seemed nice enough, though. At first it sounded like I was at some Baptist church in the mid 80's or something. Nothing out of the ordinary. He began by talking about God's love for us as sinners. He said that Christ was the son of God, the redeemer. He quoted John 3:16 as a proof text for the necessity of faith for salvation. He then balanced that out with James 2 (a passage I had recently preached on) concerning the necessity of works accompanying faith as evidence of that gen-u-INE faith (his accent, not mine).

But the evangelical party ended right there. He then proceeded to tell us that God was creating a new heaven and a new earth. The new heaven would be a place reserved only for the 144,000 people mentioned in the book of Revelation - a group of people Jehovah's Witnesses refer to as "the little flock", or, the remnant. But that doesn't mean all is lost! In fact, rejoice! Be glad! The JW elder-powers that be in New York City have ammended their doctrine. It used to state that only 144,000 people would live forever in heaven. It now states that "The Other Sheep" (their term) will inhabit the New Earth for eternity as well. These second class citizens of the kingdom are still liked by God and cared for, but they won't be able to enjoy the glory of heaven with God and Jesus. That's just for the privileged few who had already been chosen years earlier.

And, so, in order to remind us of this exhilarating, joy-producing truth, they passed the communion elements around to each one of us, but no one was aloud to partake. That's right. You heard me. No one was aloud to partake of Christ's blood and body. Why? Because that was only for the 144,000 who were already chosen. This didn't keep them from passing it around to everyone though. I guess it's supposed to remind everyone of Christ's sacrifice on their behalf, but somehow I can't help but think it only reminds them of this one dreadful thought: "I'll never be with God and Jesus. Ever. I don't even have a chance". That's when my heart began to break. And that's when I began to experience deep feelings of anger welling up inside me. ... But not towards them; towards Satan. There's a reason he's called the Father of lies. There's a reason he's called the Deceiver. There's a reason he is called "the god of this age who has blinded the eyes of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel" (2 Cor.4:4).

What was this? How did this happen? How did these people get pulled into this hopelessness? Why were they attracted to it? It's so hopeless and dark and ... unfortunately ... real. This wasn't a movie or a dream. It was real. These were real people, worshipping a false god, learning "doctrines taught by demons" (1 Tim.4:1). It was the blind leading the blind. And I felt so powerless. So at a loss. So ... helpless to do anything about it. So I prayed: "Lord, bring these people to a saving knowledge of your Son Jesus Christ. Help them to see that Jesus is in fact God. Give me words. Give me an opportunity. Help me, Father."

Well, the preaching ended, the music subsided, we were encouraged to come again, and then the service was over. I began to walk down the isle. I didn't know what was going to happen next. A part of me desperately wanted to speak to someone. Another part of me wanted get the heck out of there and drive back to my family who were probably snuggled up on the couches in our warm living room just one block away. I'll tell you what happened after this in my next blog. :-) Peace.

Something To Be Careful Of

I know that many of you at Grace Community Church may not be aware of the biggest theological debate that is occuring in the American church today, so here's an extremely quick summary:

Conservative, reformed evangelicals, like myself, are being critiqued by a movement called "the emerging church". Basically the emerging church says that conservative, reformed, evangelical Christians are what's fundamentally wrong with the church today. Why? Because we preach the Bible with confidence and clarity, and those are the two things they say we can't possess due to our fallen, broken natures: confidence and clarity. In other words, they say you shouldn't say/proclaim/preach anything confidently because the Bible is so unclear about so many things. The only things we can know are a couple fundamental things (but even those are debatable). Instead, all of us, as Christians, should be involved in a conversation with one another. We shouldn't be preaching, we shouldn't be proclaiming, we shouldn't be making confident affirmations of truth, we should simply be talking with one another. The key word in this movement is the word "dialogue". We should be dialoging with one another. Some of their churches don't even have preaching anymore. They just have people sitting around "conversing" and dialoguing with one another.

So, there's an extremely brief summary. There's a lot more to it, but that'll do for now. What I want to say, though, is this: DO NOT be wary simply of people who deny the truth; be wary also of people who downplay the truth. The reason the emerging church is still considered evangelical is because many of them don't actually deny some of the most important truths of our faith, but they do downplay some of the most important truths of our faith. Many of them don't deny the inspiration and authority of Scripture, but they do downplay the inspiration and authority of Scripture. They don't come right out and say, "Scripture is not the inspired Word of God". But they say, "the issue isn't as clear as conservatives say it is." See? They're not denying, but they are downplaying. And it's the same with a number of issues. Be careful of this. Someone who deceives and denies is bad. But so is the person who downplays. Downplaying may just be the most deceptive method of deception (if that makes sense).

Finally, beware of reading anything by these authors: 1.) Rob Bell, 2.) Brian MacLaren, 3.) Tony Jones, or 4.) Don Miller (Author of the wildly popular "Blue Like Jazz").

In His Truth,
Pastor Josh

Does Satan Exist?

If you'd like to watch an extremely interesting debate on the existence of Satan between Deepak Chopra and Mark Driscoll, go here:

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/in-the-news/nightline-satan-debate