[The Emerging Church] is a movement born of people who do not want to accept the clarity of Scripture. . . . It allows them not to take a position on homosexuality, premarital sex, or anything, besides “Let’s light some candles and incense, think good thoughts about Jesus, and give to the poor.”
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the day the whole world knows as 9/11. Consequently, there are reflections and discussions circulating on blogs and news sites.
Here are some of the things I’ve come across:
John Piper writes about “Three 9/11’s We Need to Know,” 9/11/2001, 9/11/1857, and 9/11/20??. Abraham Piper points to several other resources by John Piper relating to 9/11:
Just shortly after the announcement that D. James Kennedy (Wikipedia) had officially retired from his position as senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida—a position that he held for more than 48 years—comes the announcement that he has gone home to be with the Lord at the age of 76.
Pulpit Magazine has a three-part series by John MacArthur on killing sin. He shares helpful, timeless advice that, while not new, is something we need to be reminded of often.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. —Romans 8:13
According to the 2006 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff (Amazon), the average US pastor makes $77,096 per year. As you would expect, the single largest factor determining that amount is the number of regular attenders.
Excluding insurance and educational benefits, senior pastors with a worship attendance of more than 1,000 people made an average of $111,052. That’s 73 percent more than the $64,266 paid to pastors with a worship attendance of 300 people or fewer.
It’s hard not to miss it. There’s been a significant resurgence in Calvinism in both evangelicalism and fundamentalism. Blogs, websites, books, conferences—Calvinists are popping up everywhere.
At Bob Jones University where I received undergraduate and seminary degrees, dozens of men were going in with Arminian or middle-of-the-road leanings and coming out four- or five-point Calvinists. The trend was unmistakable, especially among the seminary guys and often after taking Systematic Theology. You might be suspecting that this was the result of the persuasive arguments of an unflinching five-point Calvinist faculty, but for most part the faculty members warned against the dangers of Calvinism—at least the five-point kind.
Pulpit Magazine has a selection from John MacArthur on the relationship between the church and the world. He holds no punches in challenging the church on the matters of seeker sensitivity and friendship with the world, which, by the way, puts one at enmity with God.
Evangelicalism seems to have been hijacked by legions of carnal spin-doctors, who are trying their best to convince the world that the church can be just as inclusive, pluralistic, and broad-minded as the most politically-correct worldling.
The quest for the world’s approval is nothing less than spiritual harlotry. In fact, that is precisely the imagery the apostle James used to describe it. He wrote: “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
. . .
The Christian message simply cannot be twisted to conform to the vicissitudes of worldly opinion. Biblical truth is fixed and constant, not subject to change or adaptation. Worldly opinion, on the other hand, is in constant flux. The various fads and philosophies that dominate the world change radically and regularly from generation to generation. The only thing that remains constant is the world’s hatred of Christ and His gospel.
These words need to be heard. Even if one disagrees with MacArthur’s application, he must do something with the following passages, which seem impossible to reconcile with many of the practices of so much of the church today.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. —Luke 6:26
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. —John 3:19–20
The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. —John 7:7
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. —John 15:18–19
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. —James 4:4
For those who didn’t attend the recent Shepherd’s Conference and haven’t yet heard the audio of MacArthur’s infamous opening message, “Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist Is a Pre-Millennialist,” you might be interested in this transcript. For those of you who may not be aware, this message created a huge stir among the non-premillennial Reformed folks, which we tracked fairly exhaustively in this post: The 2007 Shepherds’ Conference.
Is yoga appropriate for the Christian? John MacArthur, anti-emerging pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, says no. Doug Pagitt, emerging pastor of Solomon’s Porch1 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, says yes. Both pastors participated in a brief CNN discussion on Prime News with Mike Galanos.
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Here are today’s bullet points:
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the day the whole world knows as 
Just shortly after 
Pulpit Magazine has a three-part series by John MacArthur on killing sin. He shares helpful, timeless advice that, while not new, is something we need to be reminded of often.
According to the 2006 
It’s hard not to miss it. There’s been a significant resurgence in Calvinism in both evangelicalism and fundamentalism. Blogs, websites, books, conferences—Calvinists are popping up everywhere.
For those who didn’t attend the recent 