If you’re still in the dark regarding the emerging church and want to get the perspective of a conservative evangelical leader, you may want to check out John MacArthur’s newly released book The Truth War. You might also find the following articles by MacArthur helpful.
In a recent interview at Belief.net, former President Jimmy Carter said,
And I have been asked often, you know, in my Sunday School classes, which are kind of a give and take debate with people from many nations and many faiths—what about those that don’t publicly accept Christ, are they condemned? And I remember that Christ said, “Judge not that ye be not judged.” And so, my own personal belief is one of God’s forgiveness and God’s grace. That’s the best answer I can give.
Mohler gives a blistering and compelling response.
He goes on to suggest that when Jesus taught love of neighbor and the limitations of human judgment, He was teaching universalism. This is nonsense, of course, since those texts mean nothing of the kind. Beyond this, Mr. Carter’s interpretation would mean that Jesus contradicted himself when He warned of Hell and condemnation for sin.
The Bible is clear that not all persons will be saved. Jesus contrasted the wide gate that leads to destruction with the narrow gate that leads to salvation. As the Lord said in Matthew 7:13:
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
The fact is that many persons are embarrassed by the Gospel as revealed in the Bible and taught by Christ. The central issue of offense is the exclusivity of the Gospel of Christ, And yet, Christ left no doubt about the matter.
Mark Goodacre, Associate Professor in New Testament at the Department of Religion, Duke University, has written a couple of articles defending the use of Wikipedia for research. I think he’s on target with his analysis. The context for his discussion is academia, but I think much of what he says applies to its use by pastors. I use it frequently and often find it very helpful. It’s a good starting place for research on people, terms, ideas, events, etc. Of course you need to read with discernment, but its breadth, up-to-dateness, and connectedness to additional sites make it a valuable resource.
Answers in Genesis, whose founder and president is Ken Ham, is building a 50,000-sq. ft. Creation Museum in northern Kentucky to demonstrate the scientific validity of creationism and the impossibility of evolution, which is “the root of most of modern society’s evils.” It is scheduled to open on Memorial Day.
Al Mohler comments on the recent rise in infanticide in Germany.
A spate of murdered babies has shocked Germany in recent weeks. The Times [London] reports that at least 23 babies have been killed this year, “many of them beaten to death or strangled by their mothers before being dumped on wasteland and in dustbins.” German officials believe the total number of babies killed this year to be even higher than what has been reported.
He makes a solid connection between infanticide and abortion, showing the inconsistency of objecting to infanticide but not abortion.
The rise of infanticide is shocking, but hardly surprising. After all, in many societies these babies could be safely aborted almost up to the time of their delivery. The logic of infanticide is just the logic of abortion pushed beyond the moment of birth.
The fact that Germans have responded with outrage over this spate of infanticides is comforting in one sense, but it also reveals the hypocrisy of the age. How can infanticide be wrong and abortion be a basic right? Both mean the killing of a baby, and both represent the Culture of Death at its most deadly.
Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv, is in the middle of a series of posts where he is discussing things in church ministry that shouldn’t matter, but unfortunately do. He suggests, then, that they should, in a sense, matter to us if we are to reach the lost. (He points out, though, that these things don’t matter in some places in our country and in many other parts of the world.)
He begins with these three disclaimers:
Our goal is always to communicate Jesus and point people to Him.
Our goal is never to become worldly to reach people.
Occasionally we must adapt our ways to communicate Jesus in the world. (The message doesn’t change, but the method has to change.)
In the first post he talks about how environment, things like the quality, style, comfort, and up-to-dateness of a church building and the use of modern technology, shouldn’t matter.
In churches, environment shouldn’t matter. We shouldn’t care. But some people do. . . .
No, I don’t think a good environment will change anyone’s life. No, I don’t think it is necessary for a church to be successful. But I do think people are being conditioned to expect quality. As churches, we should do our best with what we have to create spiritually welcoming atmospheres.
In the second post he addresses the issue of dress—whether a pastor dresses cool, professional, like a slob, or like a pimp.
As pastors, our goal is never to be “cool.” But we can discredit ourselves with some people before we even start talking simply by the way we look. Or we can gain some credibility when someone thinks, “Well at least he/she looks normal.”
In the third post he deals with entertainment and says, “In the church world, entertainment shouldn’t even be a consideration. God’s Word and His presence should be enough.” But our culture and people’s infatuation with entertainment has changed things.
I’ll be honest, I don’t like to think about how to gain and keep people’s attention with humor, suspense, stories, video etc. But a wise communicator and leader understands that in today’s world, even though entertainment shouldn’t matter, when it comes to getting and keeping someone’s attention to hear about Jesus, it often does.
What do you think? Is he on target? Or should churches just stick with what does matter—living and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ—and trust God to bridge the gap by His Spirit?
“James White has done it again. This timely book handles the infidel ravings of people dedicated to destroy Christianity with care and precision. It is a devastating refutation of an outrageous claim.” —Dr. Jay Adams
“James White has done a splendid job of answering questions that would have been raised in the minds of thoughtful inquirers by the sensationalistic but dubious documentary ‘The Lost Tomb of Jesus’ by James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici. Readers who think Christians are afraid of hard facts will have to think again after reading this rapidly produced but superbly informed and rigorously reasoned rejoinder.” —Dr. Ligon Duncan
“James White has applied his considerable skill as a Bible scholar and apologist to the task of debunking the latest bunk in ‘the historical Jesus vs. the biblical Christ’ false dichotomy so loved by theological liberals. The new bunk in question is the film The Lost Tomb of Jesus and the pseudo-scholarship and wacky-science that precipitated it. In a word, Dr. White readily shows that Christianity is perfectly safe from this lame attempt to stab it under the fifth rib.” —Dr. Robert P. Martin
“The Lost Tomb of Jesus documentary is a direct attack upon the reliability of the Resurrection of Christ and that makes it a direct attack upon the heart of Christianity. James White knows it. Here he cuts through the spin, exposing layers of inconsistencies and frequently turning his readers back to Scripture. But this book’s enduring contribution to the church will be the reaffirmation that history and theology are inseparably bound.” —Tony Reinke
“James White has earned a reputation among evangelicals as a careful biblical scholar and as a skillful defender of the faith. His reasoned response to the alleged burial tomb of Jesus exposes this theory’s numerous unwarranted speculations, errors, and contradictions. This brief book also reminds people of the Gospel message and of the authentic case for the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.” —Dr. Kenneth Samples
“How times remain the same; and, our need for valiant warriors stays constant. James White is to be applauded for taking pen in hand to fight against this hoax while directing all to the faith once delivered.” —Dr. Mike Renihan
See our extensively updated post, Jesus’ Tomb Found?, where we have been tracking hundreds of blog responses. There’s still been a lot of ongoing discussion, especially on Mark Goodacre’s blog and Darrell Bock’s blog.
Time has an interesting piece entitled, “The Case for Teaching the Bible,” in which David Van Biema argues in favor of classes on the Bible in public schools. Such classes are becoming more popular.
SIMPLY PUT, THE BIBLE IS THE MOST influential book ever written. Not only is the Bible the best-selling book of all time, it is the best-selling book of the year every year. In a 1992 survey of English teachers to determine the top-10 required “book-length works” in high school English classes, plays by Shakespeare occupied three spots and the Bible none. And yet, let’s compare the two: Beauty of language: Shakespeare, by a nose. Depth of subject matter: toss-up. Breadth of subject matter: the Bible. Numbers published, translated etc: Bible. Number of people martyred for: Bible. Number of wars attributed to: Bible. Solace and hope provided to billions: you guessed it. And Shakespeare would almost surely have agreed. According to one estimate, he alludes to Scripture some 1,300 times. . . .
. . .
In the end, what is required in teaching about the Bible in our public schools is patriotism: a belief that we live in a nation that understands the wisdom of its Constitution clearly enough to allow the most important book in its history to remain vibrantly accessible for everyone.
The Pope recently expressed great concern for the future of Europe.
It appears, the Holy Father said, “that the European continent is losing confidence in its future.” As a result, he said, the European Union “seems to be on a path that might lead to its twilight in history.”
. . .
he crisis . . . has been created by the failure to embrace the spiritual and cultural heritage of their continent. His speech reflected his dismay that the Rome Declaration, issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Rome treaty, did not mention the influence of Christianity.
. . .
f the European Union is to play a credible role in the 21st century, the Pope argued, it can only do so with the “spark” supplied by its cultural and spiritual heritage. Scolding the government leaders who failed to recognize that patrimony, the Pontiff asked, “how can they exclude from Europe’s identity an essential element like Christianity in which a vast majority continues to identify themselves?”
. . .
“A community that is built without respect for the authentic dignity of human beings, that forgets that each person is created in God’s image, ends up not doing any one any good,” the Pope said.
If you’re still in the dark regarding the emerging church and want to get the perspective of a conservative evangelical leader, you may want to check out John MacArthur’s newly released book The Truth War. You might also find the following articles by MacArthur helpful.
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Mark Goodacre
Answers in Genesis
Craig Groeschel
