• Noah was a drunk
• Abraham was too old
• Isaac was a daydreamer
• Jacob was a liar
• Leah was ugly
• Joseph was abused
• Moses had a stuttering problem
• Gideon was afraid
• Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
• Rahab was a prostitute
• Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
• David had an affair and was a murderer
• Elijah was suicidal
• Isaiah preached naked
• Jonah ran from God
• Naomi was a widow
• Job went bankrupt
• John the Baptist ate bugs
• Peter denied Christ
• The Disciples fell asleep while praying
• Martha worried about everything
• The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
• Zaccheus was too small
• Paul was too religious
• Timothy had an ulcer…AND
• Lazarus was dead!

So what’s your excuse?

Watch this short but powerful video:

If I Was The Devil – TheDevilisReal.com from Denton Bible on Vimeo.

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Of course all you have to do to be young is wear a tight graphic tee and a pair of jeans….

H/T: Museum of Idolatry

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I once was blessed to meet the greatest Luther scholar of the 20th century, in person, Roland Bainton, in the early 80′s after a lecture. I asked him why he never joined a Lutheran Church. His witty response was: “I’ve never seen one. Luther himself, ironically, would not be welcomed in most Lutheran churches today….”

Asked whether there is pre-destination, Luther answered “yes and no.” Asked if we can lose our salvation, Luther answered “yes and no.” Asked if we are basically sinners or totally justified, he answered “yes.” Luther was a Bible teacher, and not a systematic theologian. He loved the (obvious) dramatic tensions in scripture and was OK with just leaving them be. His counterpart, Calvin, seemed to have a high need to cram the Bible into a neat system….

And finally, a direct quote from Martin Luther himself:

“People should not call themselves ‘Lutherans’. ‘What is Luther? After all, the teaching is not mine. Neither was I crucified for anyone . . . How then should I — poor stinking maggot-fodder that I am — come to have men call the children of Christ by my wretched name?’ Not so, my dear friends; let us abolish all party names and call ourselves Christians, after him whose teachings we hold.”

The bottom line: Luther isn’t Lutheran.

H/T: jWinters

Related posts:

1. Luther… on Baptism
2. Lutheran Bible Translators
3. Should churches compete with each other?

Be sure to catch the part around minute 2:12 where Pastor Jack Schapp points out that each visitor cost the church $12.50. I’m sure your neighbor will feel welcome when he finds out you won a prize for inviting him to church!

This church is only a half hour from my house and their affiliated bible college is only 5-10 minutes down the road. I actually attended this church a few times as a kid when I lived in Hammond. I don’t think I ever attended a service where they didn’t brag about numbers or how big they are. Granted, this is the extreme, but it’s close to home. And it’s becoming more common than most of us would like to admit, even if in more subtle forms. I am disgusted. Physically feeling ill right now. God, forgive them for they know not what they do….

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Ministry progress is not measured by numbers!!!

H/T Museum of Idolatry

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I’m really not one to talk since I used to join in the banter, although long ago I recognized the problem with how it’s Chic to Critique and that when we do so, we’re Critiquing His Bride. It’s not fair to critique without offering suggestions for improvement and becoming part of the solution. It’s easy to make pot shots from the sidelines, it’s a lot harder to work for effective, lasting change from the inside.

A lot of the complaints about the church stem from a misunderstanding of the distinction between the Church’s calling and the individual believers’ calling. Without this distinction, the church gets overwhelmed and overburdened with good ideas. I’ve heard people suggest that the Church should do all of these things:

• Feed the homeless and build shelters
• Help people find jobs
• Offer parenting classes
• Help people struggling with addiction
• Support overseas missions and send missionaries
• Begin mentoring programs
• Offer free community healthcare clinics
• Visit shut-ins and hospitalized
• Build nursing homes or find families for elderly
• Run a daycare
• Offer bible studies and classes that accommodate everyone’s schedule
• Reach out to people using Web 2.0 / social networking
• Offer relevant, cutting edge worship music with talented musicians
• Offer a strong youth program
• Provide a community food pantry
• Buy Christmas gifts for underprivileged children in the community
• Offer specific life phase ministries (age, marital situation, parenting, hobbies, etc.)

Do you know what all of these have in common? They all require significant financial and/or human resources to develop and sustain! The funny thing is, many of the people who recommend that the Church do these things also don’t think the Church should have any hierarchy of leadership or organizational structure – nor a building from which to operate. Others want to see these things from their own local church, but they are not willing to contribute their time, talents, or money to support them. And that’s really not fair.

Nothing is wrong with any of these ideas, in fact I like many of them. But these are not the Church’s primary responsibilities. If we judge the Church by the above standards, She is failing miserably and She always will be. The Church cannot meet everyone’s needs.

Critics like to use the existence of a need as justification for the Church being a failure. For instance, if we have homeless people in the community, the Church is failing to care for them. But I would be willing to bet that a lot of things in most communities are actually better because the Church is offering some programs to help and is witnessing in that community. Do we assume that police officers are worthless because we still have crime or that parents are useless because kids do stupid things? NO! Why then do we assume that the existence of an unmet need is proof of the Church’s failure?

The other thing we forget is that individual believers do meet a lot of a communities’ needs simply by fulfilling the duties of their vocations. The Church is filled with healthcare providers who help the sick, social workers who help the underprivileged, emergency service providers who respond to community crises, teachers who educate children, and many more people who help communities and make godly changes in the world. But the Christian faith, more specifically the Church, is never credited with the daily actions of individual believers as they fulfill their vocations.

Most of the above-listed needs overlap with other social institutions. None of these are unique to the Church, that is, others can fulfill them. The Church does have one thing that is unique, however. This is something that NO ONE else can offer. The Church must meet people’s most vital need for the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church primarily exists to preach the Gospel and to equip others to do the same. No one else has this message and no one else can equip others to share it.

So the next time you think of a great ministry that your local church should provide, offer to lead it and to develop the resources for it. Do a little research before making a suggestion, there may be reasons why it isn’t feasible to do something at that time. At the same time, you may find that there are many people interested in donating their time, talents and financial resources to meet a need in your community. As you develop the ministry, be sure that it also meets people’s greatest need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Otherwise you’re just like any other social institution, and you’ll be failing at the very thing the Church is called to do.

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It is not always wrong to use a cliche to communicate a point, but it is wrong when we oversimplify the faith and boil down tough concepts that people need to wrestle with into easier-to-swallow cliches. Here are some of the most recurring biblically incorrect cliches:

• God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
• God hates the sin but loves the sinner.
• All you need to do to go to heaven is ask Jesus into your heart.
• It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.

Each of these cliches contain mostly truth, which is why they can be so dangerous. For the most part, these cliches agree with scripture – but not quite. I’ll briefly walk through each one and show why it’s unscriptural.

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. This is true in a sense, but the real problem lies in the underlying focus: YOU. The focus here is not on God and His plan, but on you and how you fit into that plan. Many churches attract tons of followers by making it all about YOU. They have tons of programs for people in every stage of life, uplifting sermons about how you can be a better person, and inspiring worship music that is all about ME and how I worship God.

God hates the sin but loves the sinner. Do you know who said this? Gandhi. It is true that God so loved “the world,” and so He sent His Son to die for us (John 3:16). But it is also true that God’s wrath abides on those who do not obey the Son (John 3:36). This cliche is a half-truth. It is partially true because God does not want anyone to perish, He wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But it is also false because outside of Christ we are hell-bound, hostile enemies of God (Romans 8:7-8). I’m not saying it is wrong to use this cliche, I know this is word-mincing to some extent. I’m just issuing a caution. Remember, this statement is not scripture – it’s a cliche!

All you need to do to go to heaven is ask Jesus into your heart. There is a couple of problems here. First of all, nowhere in the bible are we promised that if we ask Jesus into our heart that He will actually come in. Second, why would Jesus want to enter a sinner’s heart? Your heart is a wretched and vile thing. He wants to destroy your heart and give you a new one (Jeremiah 17:9; Ezekiel 36:26)! I won’t even elaborate on this one other than to say that this is nowhere to be found in scripture.

It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship. I’ve actually posted about this cliche before, but here’s a quick recap: I’m tired of people using the cliche that Christianity isn’t about do’s and don’ts, it’s about a relationship. This is true, but it’s somewhat of a false dichotomy. It often masks antinomianism (belief that we no longer have any obligation to God’s Law because of Christ). All relationships are guarded and preserved by rules. Try telling your wife after you’ve had an affair, “Come on, I thought our marriage was about the relationship, not all these do’s and don’ts.” So sure, it is about the relationship with Jesus. But all relationships have boundaries for protection. Keeping those boundaries doesn’t make the relationship go well, but the relationship certainly will not go well if you do not keep them.

Simplistic cliches are only part of the problem. The larger problem is the fact that most churches focus primarily on the people in the pews, instead of teaching them to focus on Christ and NOT on themselves. It’s not about us! The church needs to point people to Christ and what He has done for them, not what they are doing for Him. The focus is supposed to be on God, not us. The problem with a lot of greeting card theology is that it paints a picture of a false Christ that is really all about me. In DeYoung & Kluck’s book, Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion, DeYoung writes:

“…The Jesus [many churches] like is almost certainly not the Jesus who calls sinners to repentance, claimed to be the unique Son of God, and died for our sins. He is almost certainly a nice guy, open-minded, spiritually ambiguous, and a good example. He is guru Jesus who resembles Bono in a bathrobe….

Hasn’t this ‘more complete picture of Jesus’ shaved of all of the sharp edges of the gospel? No one will be offended by a transcendent yet personal god who accepts us perfectly and wants to give our lives meaning and purpose. But this is not the Jesus the apostles preached. Their Jesus was transcendent and personal, but He warned of judgment and demanded repentance. He spoke freely of sin, salvation, and the necessity of new birth. The apostles preached Christ dead, buried, and raised for our justification. They preached Christ and Him alone. They told us all that God had accomplished in Christ for miserable sinners. That was their message and the world hated them for it….

In our self-esteeem-oriented, easily offended, suffering-averse world, I fear that the church is too eager to be liked.”

Allow me to close with a quote from Todd Wilken, host of Issues, Etc., Christ-Centered Cross-Focused Talk Radio:

“Are you tired of worship that’s more about self-help than the Savior, the Christian rather than the Christ; and Christ in you, instead of Christ for you? It’s not about you, it’s about Jesus for you.”

What other greeting card theology cliches have you seen? What’s wrong with them?

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TMLutas writes:

…The article assumes that living a christian life is insufficient to transmit the faith. Reason is good. It provides another support for faith in the truth. But true faith lived out in real life is a powerful witness, much more so than any apologetics….

Allyn writes:

I am not much of a Josh McDowell fan. But as a former knuckle-dragger, I can tell you that when a non-believer challenges my faith or questions it, I almost always quote scripture. That is the basis of my faith, period. Without it, all is lies.

If the questioner does not believe the Bible is the Word Of God, then we have no basis from which to begin.
However, the more scripture I quote, the more I believe the HS will pierce their heart of unbelief.
1John 5:13 makes a great starting point.

If you over-intellectualize (is that a word?) God, I think you take the HS out of the mix.
AL

For the reader’s benefit, HS means “Holy Spirit.” And my reply, which has become a post:

Hey Allyn. The verse you mentioned, 1 John 5:13, says: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” Notice that it is very clear that “these things” were written for those who ALREADY “believe on the name of the Son of God,” so that they may have assurance of their eternal destiny.

For those who don’t believe that the Scriptures are true, it is important to help them understand why they are true. The evidence is overwhelming, but few Christians take the time to learn any of it. It is true that God will pierce a heart of unbelief using Scripture, for He promises: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

But when someone doesn’t believe that God’s Word is true, we can help them overcome that obstacle. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit creates faith in people’s hearts, but we can help people see why God’s Word is true, which will give them cause to consider what it says. This is especially pertinent in a day and age where so many lies and so much disinformation is being spread about God’s Word. Paul continually combated false teachings and those that taught them, and his letters became a large part of our New Testament. The Church is still called to identify and denounce false teachings, including false teachings regarding the Word of God.

Go to your local bookstore and you will find a slew of books questioning whether Jesus was a real man who walked the earth and whether or not the New Testament is entirely fabricated by Paul or by later mystics. We know that it is lunacy to deny that Christ was a real man who walked the earth, and that anyone with even an ounce of historical know-how cannot deny His historical reality. But most people have no clue how to do research (including many college graduates) and most people will believe whatever they see on YouTube or on the History Channel (like the Zeitgeist film). Very few people will take the time to do any research for themselves.

To insist that basic apologetics is a waste of time and is mere “intellectualism” is merely showing one’s anti-intellectual bias. The emerging church, a prevalent postmodern heretical movement, has largely been able to prove its legitimacy by pointing out mainstream fundamental evangelicalism’s anti-intellectual bias. And so far they’ve succeeded in making many look foolish, which is unfortunate. It’s unfortunate because we have a large body of academic, scholarly research that has been conducted and compiled by Christians like Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel that demonstrate the trustworthiness of the Scriptures and many other things. To ignore this would be foolish.

This anti-intellectualism causes religious people of all faiths to give simplistic answers to serious, honest questions and this attitude has caused many people to leave the church. Josh McDowell recently asked a group of pastors why the Bible is true and a young pastor responded, “Because I believe it!”, to which he received a round of “Amens” and applause. This is ridiculous! A Jehovah’s Witness believes his bible and a Scientologist believes in the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, but that doesn’t make them true. The Bible isn’t true because I believe it, the Bible is true and that’s why I believe it. Using the circular logic of anti-intellectualism only further proves to the world that religious people don’t possess critical thinking skills.

Rick M. Nañez is an Assemblies of God missionary who wrote a book about anti-intellectual trends in the Pentecostal tradition. In an interview with Christianity Today, he says:

In my estimation, the battle against anti-intellectualism is an ongoing global battle. Whether it’s a secular society whose population says that the elite should think for them or a religious community who has fallen for old-fashioned pragmatism; whether it’s evangelicals who are so busy building their material kingdom that they say they don’t have time to study in order to share or defend their faith; or whether its Pentecostals who claim that the heart and head are enemies—it’s all anti-intellectualism.

….Both our nation as well as our nation’s homegrown movements tend to battle with the temptation to pit doing against thinking, and spirit against mind….

Anti-intellectualism keeps us from affecting our institutions and their various departments with solid Christian thinking. It hinders our ability to think in terms of worldview, that is, to understand the hundreds of otherwise fragmented areas of life in a coherent way. If we are suspicious of the intellect, we are hamstrung when it comes to providing well-thought-out answers to difficult questions from critics and skeptics. Anti-intellectualism can also lead to dangerous forms of mysticism and a type of superstitious faith.

I believe that anti-intellectualism tends to lead Christians into relatively superficial spiritual lives, at least, in comparison to the impact they could make if they engaged in “thinking on purpose” for the glory of God. Also, mediocrity in the “life of the mind” leads the Christian subculture to criticize, fear, and condemn the secular institutions that their anti-intellectual, evangelical, and Pentecostal parents and grandparents abandoned the generations before.

The greatest problem with it is this: It flies in the face of Scriptures, which challenge us to prepare our minds for action, to train ourselves to give good reasons for our faith, and to learn to love God with all of our mind.

As Nañez stated, anti-intellectualism is a dangerous attitude that creates a false dichotomy pitting doing against thinking, and spirit against mind, and this goes against what Scripture teaches.

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The faith of most Christians, even that of many pastors, will not stand up to intellectual scrutiny, according to renowned apologist Josh McDowell.

This is a concern because pastors’ inability to present biblical truth comprehensibly and relevantly has led to children from Christian families leaving the church, research has shown.

In the United States, the age at which nearly all such children leave church has decreased to 18 years.

Not even the children of many successful ministers are spared….

During the past six years, he asked hundreds of Christians and leaders why they see themselves as Christians. Again no one gave him an “intelligent” answer.

In the past 17 years, he has asked over 4,000 pastors, leaders and parents why they believe the Bible is true.

A mere six “came close to giving an intelligent answer,” McDowell noted.

“If anything is based upon truth, it’s the Christian faith,” he said. “Christians who do not know why they have faith or believe have a very difficult time expressing themselves to others.

“The saddest thing is people come to me and say, ‘What’s the answer?’”

“I say, ‘There’s no answer… There are hundreds of answers.’”

Most Christians, even some pastors, don’t even know one. On the other hand, the apologist said he could give 50 reasons for his belief that the Bible is true.

Ninety-five percent of Christians gave disappointing responses when asked why they believe Jesus is the Son of God.

Asked why the Bible is true and historically reliable, Christians replied that it was what they had been taught by their church or parents.

A common response that most Christians gave to both questions was that it is “what I believe.”

McDowell responded: “That’s voodoo thinking. Where did we ever get that crazy idea that something is true just because we believe it?

“If that is true, then there will never be heresy. Everybody would be right.”

On one occasion, 13 youth pastors at a large convention were unable to reasonably answer the apologist’s question.

Finally one young person stood up, walked toward him and told him he knew the answer.

The young man promptly held up his Bible and said, “Because I believe it.”

And to McDowell’s dismay, all the youth pastors applauded him.

McDowell said, “Young man, do you know the difference between you, me and the majority of Christians in the world?

“To you, it is true because you believe it. For me, I believe it because it is true.”

Another response the apologist received was: Because I have faith.

He commented, “Where did we ever get the crazy idea that faith makes something true? That’s idiotic. That’s so unbiblical you can call it heresy.

“God doesn’t use faith to create truth. He uses truth through the Holy Spirit to create faith.”

Christians, the apologist stressed, are called to explain their faith when asked. They are set free by the faith in the truth, he expressed, referring to John 8:32.

Yet others say Christianity is true because Jesus changed their lives.

Even this will not stand up to intellectual scrutiny, McDowell argued.

“Lies change lives; cults change lives,” he said.

To make such an appeal is “not the essence of Christianity,” the author emphasized.

McDowell said: “We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our children, we owe it to our neighbors, we owe it to the lost, to tell them not just what we believe but why do we believe it.”

H/T Defending. Contending.

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The above image shows my recent lament on Facebook after hearing from yet another former believer who has been destroyed by the man-centered pop-psychological mantra of many American churches. Why do churches jump on this pop-psychology bandwagon? It doesn’t end well – it simply creates more self-absorbed people.

Whether we pity ourselves, esteem ourselves, or rip on ourselves under the guise of humility, the problem is still the same: we are focusing on ourselves! A quick sampling of the titles of best-selling Christian books reveals this problem:

• Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living At Your Full Potential
• The Purpose-Driven Life
• The Me I Want To Be
• It’s Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Achieve Your Dreams, and Increase in God’s Favor
• Finding Your Spiritual Gifts
• Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day
• Look Great, Feel Great
• The Dream Giver: Following Your God-Given Destiny
• How to Succeed At Being Yourself

And the list goes on and on… Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of Christian books calling us to die to ourselves and to live for Christ – but unfortunately very few of them are best-sellers, and thus many of them aren’t even stocked at my local Christian bookstore. The books above really aren’t even Christian (in most cases), they are simply self-help/motivational literature. Yet that is what most “Christians” read and live by.

What’s gone wrong in Christianity? Has Satan so infiltrated the pulpits across America that the Gospel has been reduced to finding our purpose in life? Does anyone live a radical life for Jesus anymore?

I’ll close with a quote from Tim Keller:

“The Bible’s purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible’s purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome… religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted’. But the Gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey’. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference.”

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No, he’s not drunk on wine nor on the Holy Spirit, he’s under the influence of demons. Or he’s got mental issues – but either way this isn’t the work of God, for “God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). This is not of God – wake up!

H/T: Museum of Idolatry

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