One of the most poisonous of all Satan’s whispers is simply, “Things will never change.” That lie kills expectation, trapping our heart forever in the present. To keep desire alive and flourishing, we must renew our vision for what lies ahead. Things will not always be like this. Jesus has promised to “make all things new.” Eye has not seen, ear has not heard all that God has in store for his lovers, which does not mean “we have no clue so don’t even try to imagine,” but rather, you cannot outdream God. Desire is kept alive by imagination, the antidote to resignation. We will need imagination, which is to say, we will need hope.

While I often disagree with John’s presuppositions, use of scripture, and foundational elements, I also find much in his books to enjoy.  What a lovely paradox!

In one of my favorites, “The Way of the Wild Heart”, John leads his male readers through a six-stage, sometimes overlapping, pilgrimage.  The journey Eldredge lays out is the masculine journey as he sees it: Boyhood to Cowboy to Warrior to Lover to King to Sage, all within a mostly typical 80-year life span.  John notes that each stage must have its allotted time for learning appropriate life lessons so that a man grows deep in his foundations; otherwise, the scarring of an underdeveloped soul might result and assert itself when strength is most required.

As is John’s typical refrain, christian men and boys need something ‘epic’ for which to fight, something beyond themselves worth giving their lives for with abandon.  No matter how differing the circumstances may be, living intentionally is key, writes John, for much is at stake.

What amazing words and thoughts…. “much is at stake”….

How true.

The online satirical news site, “The Onion”, cracks me up.  Here are some of my favorite religious-oriented headlines….

“Christ Announces Hiring Of Associate Christ”

JERUSALEM—Overwhelmed by a constant deluge of prayers and appeals for salvation, Jesus Christ announced Monday the hiring of Tacoma, WA, customer-service supervisor Dean Smoler as Associate Christ. Jesus Christ, swamped by requests for guidance and divine forgiveness, hired 38-year-old Dean Smoler as the first-ever Assistant Savior. “I’ve been in need of an Assistant Savior for a long time now, and I’m thrilled to finally have one,” Christ told reporters at a press conference aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. “Dean is an experienced guy who will really help ease my workload.” With the hiring, effective June 1, Christians seeking spiritual aid or guidance will be able to pray to either Jesus or Dean. From now on, Jesus advised Christians to address prayers to, “Our Lord or His Associate,” “Jesus or Dean,” or “Jesus or anyone acting in His employ.” link

“Christ Returns For Some Of His Old Things”

JERUSALEM—After being away for nearly two millennia, Jesus Christ triumphantly returned Monday to pick up some of His old belongings. “I realize this isn’t exactly how the world’s Christians were imagining it, but I left a really comfortable pair of sandals in Galilee, and I wanted them back,” said Christ, who died for our sins. “Also, I’m pretty sure I lent [Apostle] Simon Peter my best goblet at the Last Supper.” This marks Christ’s first return since 76 A.D., when he thought he’d forgotten to turn off his coffee pot. link

“Heaven Less Opulent Than Vatican, Reports Disappointed Pope”

HEAVEN—The soul of Pope John Paul, which entered heaven last week following a long illness, expressed confusion and disappointment Saturday, upon learning that the Celestial Kingdom of God to which the departed faithful ascend in the afterlife is significantly less luxurious than the Vatican’s Papal Palace, in which the pope spent the past 26 years of his earthly life. St. Peter’s Basilica, with its 90-foot bronze baldachin designed by Bernini, is one of the many Vatican splendors no longer enjoyed by Pope John Paul II. “Where are all the marble statues, sterling-silver chalices, and gem-encrusted scepters?” the visibly disappointed pope asked. “Where are the 60-foot-tall stained-glass windows and hand-painted cupolas? Where are the elaborately outfitted ranks of Swiss Guards? Why isn’t every single surface gilded? This is my eternal reward?” “Up here, everyone is equal,” John Paul II said. “No one has to go through an elaborate bowing ritual when they greet me. And do you know how many times my ring has been kissed since I arrived? None. Up here, I’m mingling with tax collectors, fishermen, and whores. It’s just going to take a little getting used to, is all.” link

“Christ Converts To Islam”

JERUSALEM—In a surprise announcement with far-reaching theological implications, Jesus Christ The Nazarene, founder of Christianity and spiritual leader of nearly two billion people, revealed Monday that He has converted to “the one true religion” of Islam. The controversial announcement has sent shockwaves through religious circles around the globe. As part of His conversion, Christ said He has taken a new name, Isa Ibn Maryam al-Salaam Christ Shabazz. Neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost could be reached for comment. link

“Judge Orders God To Break Up Into Smaller Deities”

WASHINGTON, DC—Calling the theological giant’s stranglehold on the religion industry “blatantly anti-competitive,” a U.S. district judge ruled Monday that God is in violation of anti-monopoly laws and ordered Him to be broken up into several less powerful deities. “The evidence introduced in this trial has convinced me that the deity known as God has willfully and actively thwarted competition from other deities and demigods, promoting His worship with such unfair scare tactics as threatening non-believers with eternal damnation,” wrote District Judge Charles Elliot Schofield in his decision. “In the process, He has carved out for Himself an illegal monotheopoly.” Attorneys for God did not deny such charges. They did, however, note that God offers followers “unbeatable incentives” in return for their loyalty, including eternal salvation, protection from harm, and “fruitfulness.” link

“Christ Getting In Shape For Second Coming”

HEAVEN—Emerging from a grueling 90 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and light lifting for tone, Son of God Jesus Christ said Monday that He is “definitely on track” to achieve peak fitness condition for the Second Coming. “If every eye is going to see Me, and all the tribes of earth are going to wail on account of  Me, I think I owe it to them and to Myself to be in the best shape of My life,” Christ said. “Right now I’m up to 35 minutes at seven [miles per hour] on the treadmill and benching about 165 [pounds].” “The thought of being unable to seize the seven-headed serpent and hurl it into the abyss really keeps Me motivated,” Christ said. And not only has frequent exercise made Christ feel more healthy and confident, it’s “cleared [His] head, which will really help [Him] deal with the massive amount of smiting and condemning.” link

“God Late For Local Wedding”

CARTHAGE, MO—An embarrassed God admitted Monday that He was late for the Saturday wedding of Patrick Moore and Dina Roble, arriving halfway through the ceremony but catching “most of the important stuff.” God admitted that His eyes were upon the couple for a little less than half of the ceremony—”which is a lot,” said God, considering the length of the Roman Catholic liturgy. Among the parts of the wedding God missed were the prelude, in which Roble’s sister Tammy sang “Come And Journey With Me”; the processional; and the opening prayer, in which God was personally thanked for attending the ceremony. link

“Scientology Losing Ground To New Fictionology”

LOS ANGELES—According to a report released Monday by the American Institute of Religions, the Church of Scientology, once one of the fastest-growing religious organizations in the U.S., is steadily losing members to the much newer religion Fictionology. “Unlike Scientology, which is based on empirically verifiable scientific tenets, Fictionology’s central principles are essentially fairy tales with no connection to reality,” the AIR report read. “In short, Fictionology offers its followers a mythical belief system free from the cumbersome scientific method to which Scientology is hidebound.” Church of Scientology public-relations spokesman Al Kurz said he was “shocked” when he learned that Fictionology is approaching the popularity of his religion. “Scientology is rooted in strict scientific principles, such as the measurement of engrams in the brain by the E-Meter,” Kurz said. “Scientology uses strictly scientific methodologies to undo the damage done 75 million years ago by the Galactic Confederation’s evil warlord Xenu—we offer our preclear followers procedures to erase overts in the reactive mind. Conversely, Fictionology is essentially just a bunch of make-believe nonsense.” link

“Christ ‘Categorically Denies’ Speaking To Lutheran-College Administrator”

ELKHART, IN—Jesus Christ insisted to reporters Monday that He has “absolutely never spoken” to Philip Burkett, rejecting the 48-year-old Lutheran-college administrator’s claim of having “a close, personal relationship” with the prominent savior. Elkhart Lutheran College administrator Philip Burkett, who claims to have spoken to Jesus Christ. “I categorically deny having had any prior contact whatsoever with Mr. Burkett,” said Christ at a press conference called to quell rumors of a Christ-Burkett dialogue. “At no point have I ever conversed with this man.” Christ was responding to remarks published in the July issue of the Elkhart Lutheran College alumni newsletter, in which Burkett said he decided to become the school’s Assistant Director of Student Affairs at the urging of the Messiah. “It was in 1994 that I answered the Lord’s call,” Burkett wrote. “Since then, I’ve been here in Elkhart, doing His work.” link

“I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.

It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.

2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.

The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.

4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.

We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.

5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.

Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know that therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).

6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.

It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.

7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.

When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.

Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss—loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different—it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.
9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.

Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination—all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).”

Pastor John

—————————————-

full article located at Desiring God Ministries

Imagine my surprise to open the New York Times last week to read of these “Prosperity Preachers” preying on those hit hardest by the recession.  In a recent convention in Forth Worth they had the audacity to try to impress the attendees with “anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God.”  Boasting about their “private airplanes and boats. A motorcycle sent by an anonymous supporter. Vacations in Hawaii and cruises in Alaska. Designer handbags. A ring of emeralds and diamonds.”

Unthinkable.

Their message was simple… “if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold”… and it’s simply wrong.  The Bible contains a litany of people who were closer to God than these so-called Prosperity Preachers, none of them received earthly riches in return for their devotion to God.

It is a message that puts ourselves and our comfort at the core of God’s plan.  WRONG.

It is a message that makes God nothing more than a divine clucking Chicken Machine: put in your quarter, turn the crank, get your lucky egg.

When will people learn… God’s chief goal in life is NOT our happiness.
———————-

FORT WORTH — Onstage before thousands of believers weighed down by debt and economic insecurity, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and their all-star lineup of “prosperity gospel” preachers delighted the crowd with anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God.

Private airplanes and boats. A motorcycle sent by an anonymous supporter. Vacations in Hawaii and cruises in Alaska. Designer handbags. A ring of emeralds and diamonds.

“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s.

Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times.

The preachers barely acknowledged the recession, though they did say it was no excuse to curtail giving. “Fear will make you stingy,” Mr. Copeland said.

But the offering buckets came up emptier than in some previous years, said those who have attended before.

Many in this flock do not trust banks, the news media or Washington, where the Senate Finance Committee is investigating whether the Copelands and other prosperity evangelists used donations to enrich themselves and abused their tax-exempt status. But they trust the Copelands, the movement’s current patriarch and matriarch, who seem to embody prosperity with their robust health and abundance of children and grandchildren who have followed them into the ministry.

“If God did it for them, he will do it for us,” said Edwige Ndoudi, who traveled with her husband and three children from Canada for the Southwest Believers’ Convention this month, where the Copelands and three of their friends took turns preaching for five days, 10 hours a day at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

The crowd of more than 9,000 was multiracial, from 48 states and 27 countries. There was no fee to attend. There were bikers in leather vests, pastors, blue-collar workers, professionals and plenty of families with children.

A large contingent came in wheelchairs, hoping for miraculous healings. The audience sat with Bibles open, flipping to passages cited by the preachers, taking notes on pads and laptop computers.

“The folks who are coming aren’t poor,” said Jonathan L. Walton, a professor of religion at the University of California, Riverside, who has written about the movement and was there doing research. “They reside in that nebulous category between the working and the middle class.”

Sitting in Section 316, eight rows up, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on a Bible at lunch time, was a family who could explain the enduring loyalty the prosperity preachers inspire.

Stephen Biellier, a long-distance trucker from Mount Vernon, Mo., said he and his wife, Millie, came to the convention praying that this would be “the overcoming year.” They are $102,000 in debt, and the bank has cut off their credit line, Mrs. Biellier said.

They say the Copelands rescued them from financial failure 23 years ago, when they bought their first truck at 22 percent interest and had to rebuild the engine twice in a year.

Around that time, Mrs. Biellier first saw Mr. Copeland on television and began sending him 50 cents a week.

Others who bought trucks from the same dealer in Joplin that year went under, the Bielliers said, but they did not.

“We would have failed if Copeland hadn’t been praying for us every day,” Mrs. Biellier said.

The Bielliers are now among 386,000 people worldwide whom the Copelands call their “partners,” most of whom send regular contributions and merit special prayers from the Copelands.

A call center at the ministry’s 481-employee headquarters in Newark, Tex., takes in 60,000 prayer requests a month, a publicist said.

The Copelands’ broadcast reaches 134 countries, and the ministry’s income is about $100 million annually.

The Bielliers were at the convention a few years ago when a supporter made a pitch for people to join an “Elite CX Team” to raise money to buy the ministry a Citation X airplane. (Mr. Copeland is an airplane aficionado who got his start in ministry as a pilot for Oral Roberts.) At that moment, Mrs. Biellier said she heard the voice of the Holy Spirit telling her, “You were born to support this man.”

She gave $2,000 for the plane, and recently sent $1,800 for the team’s latest project: buying high-definition television equipment to upgrade the ministry’s international broadcasts.

Mrs. Biellier said some friends and relatives would say the preacher just wanted their money. She explained that the Copelands did not need the money for themselves; it is for their ministry. And besides, even “trashy people like Hugh Hefner” have private airplanes.

“I remember Copeland had to once fly halfway around the world to talk to one person,” she said. “Because we’re partners with Kenneth Copeland, for every soul that gets saved, we get credit for that in heaven.”

But while a band primed the crowd, Professor Walton called the prosperity preachers “spiritual pickpockets.”

>“To dismiss and ignore the harsh realities of this economic crisis,” he said. “is beyond irresponsible, to the point of reprehensible.”

The Copelands refused an interview request, but one of their daughters, Kellie Copeland Swisher, and her husband, Steve Swisher, who both work in the ministry, spoke for them.

Mrs. Swisher said the ministry gave away “a minimum of 10 percent of what comes in” to other charities. Her father’s current favorite, she said, is a Roman Catholic orphanage in Mexico.

The ministry has resisted providing the Senate investigation with all the documents requested, she said, because the Copelands did not want to publicly reveal the names of the “partners.” The investigation, which could result in new laws, is continuing, a committee spokeswoman said. Among those being investigated is Creflo Dollar, one of the ministers at the Copelands’ convention.

Mr. Swisher said that even in the economic downturn, the ministry’s income going into the convention was up 3 percent over last year. Asked if they had adjusted the message for the economy, Mrs. Swisher patted the worn Bible in her lap and said: “The message they preach is the Word of God. The Word doesn’t change.”

At the convention, the preachers — who also included Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle — sprinkled their sermons with put-downs of the government, an overhaul of health care, public schools, the news media and other churches, many of which condemn prosperity preaching.

But mostly the preachers were working mightily to remind the crowd that they are God’s elect. “While everybody else is having a famine,” said Mr. Savelle, a Texas televangelist, “his covenant people will be having the best of times.”

“Any time a worried thought about money pops up in your mind,” Mr. Savelle continued, “the next thing you do is sow”: drop money, like seeds, in “good ground” like the preachers’ ministries. “Stop worrying, start sowing,” he added, his voice rising. “That’s God’s stimulus package for you.”

At that, hundreds streamed down the aisles to the stage, laying envelopes, cash and coins on the carpeted steps.

excerpted from the New York Times, August 15, 2009

Enter the Southern Baptists…

In June they held their annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky.  Interestingly, Mark Driscoll was the topic of many motions, resolutions, and discussion.  Five motions directly or indirectly related to the controversial Driscoll who, in their words, is known for vulgar speech and questionable biblical interpretations.

The first resolution stated that “all SBC entities should monitor” funds spent in “activities related to or cooperative efforts with Mark Driscoll and/or the Acts 29 organization” and that SBC entities should be made to report their expenditures to ensure that was the case.

The second resolution stated that SBC entities should avoid “inviting event speakers” who “are known for publicly exhibiting unregenerate behavior … such as cursing and sexual vulgarity, immorality, or who publicly state their support for the consumption or production of alcohol,” which was submitted by a pastor from Mississippi.

Both of these resolutions were referred to all SBC entities for further review and comment.

One resolution was considered so harsh that the chairman of the Committee on Order of Business, Ken Render, ruled it not in order and summarily dismissed it.  What was the resolution?  That author Mark Driscoll’s books be removed from LifeWay Christian Bookstores (an arm of the SBC) because of his “reputation for abusive and ungodly language and … promotions of sex toys on his church web site.”  The resolution’s author Jim Wilson continued, “We need to live holy lives and bringing this man to our college campuses and promoting his books in the bookstore … I believe is a violation of Scripture.”

Another item concerning Driscoll, a motion seeking that messengers encourage all SBC entities “to refrain from inviting event speakers” who engage in “cursing and sexual vulgarity, or who publicly state their support for the consumption or production of alcohol,” was ruled not in order because of a technicality, it was presented as a motion rather than a resolution.

Being as forward as possible, a final failed motion presented by Brian LeStourgeon, pastor of an Arizona church, sought to have Mark Driscoll “address the concerns of his accusers” at the next convention in 2010.  Render said the committee declined LeStourgeon’s motion since it could have put the Convention in the role of exercising church discipline.

Though the 2009 Convention discussed many other topics and avenues for ministry, Mark Driscoll seemed to be the item that drew the most breath and ink.

In all fairness it is worth noting that there were others who were more interested in opening lines of communication than closing them.  Greg Taylor, lead pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mt. Eden, Kentucky, made a motion that all Southern Baptist “institutions, agencies and churches” be willing to “support and partner with other Christian agencies and individuals … for the sake of the Great Commission.”

… it was ruled out of order because it “resembled a resolution.”

source: Baptist Press

Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin’s 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism’s buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism’s latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination’s logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time’s dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision.

Calvinism, cousin to the Reformation’s other pillar, Lutheranism, is a bit less dour than its critics claim: it offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness (or home foreclosure!), by a logic we may not understand but don’t have to second-guess. Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by “glorifying” him. In the 1700s, Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards invested Calvinism with a rapturous near mysticism. Yet it was soon overtaken in the U.S. by movements like Methodism that were more impressed with human will. Calvinist-descended liberal bodies like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) discovered other emphases, while Evangelicalism’s loss of appetite for rigid doctrine — and the triumph of that friendly, fuzzy Jesus — seemed to relegate hard-core Reformed preaching (Reformed operates as a loose synonym for Calvinist) to a few crotchety Southern churches.

No more. Neo-Calvinist ministers and authors don’t operate quite on a Rick Warren scale. But, notes Ted Olsen, a managing editor at Christianity Today, “everyone knows where the energy and the passion are in the Evangelical world” — with the pioneering new-Calvinist John Piper of Minneapolis, Seattle’s pugnacious Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler, head of the Southern Seminary of the huge Southern Baptist Convention. The Calvinist-flavored ESV Study Bible sold out its first printing, and Reformed blogs like Between Two Worlds are among cyber-Christendom’s hottest links.

Like the Calvinists, more moderate Evangelicals are exploring cures for the movement’s doctrinal drift, but can’t offer the same blanket assurance. “A lot of young people grew up in a culture of brokenness, divorce, drugs or sexual temptation,” says Collin Hansen, author of Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists. “They have plenty of friends: what they need is a God.” Mohler says, “The moment someone begins to define God’s [being or actions] biblically, that person is drawn to conclusions that are traditionally classified as Calvinist.” Of course, that presumption of inevitability has drawn accusations of arrogance and divisiveness since Calvin’s time. Indeed, some of today’s enthusiasts imply that non-Calvinists may actually not be Christians. Skirmishes among the Southern Baptists (who have a competing non-Calvinist camp) and online “flame wars” bode badly.

Calvin’s 500th birthday will be this July. It will be interesting to see whether Calvin’s latest legacy will be classic Protestant backbiting or whether, during these hard times, more Christians searching for security will submit their wills to the austerely demanding God of their country’s infancy.

[ taken from Time magazine, "10 Ideas Changing the World Now", #3. The New Calvinism ]

That desire for growth is at the heart of what can go wrong for many companies. Growth is the by-product of doing things right. But in itself, it is not a worthy goal. In fact, growth is the culprit behind impossible goals.

People do damaging things to force unnecessary growth.

This also applies to churches. Great attendance is the by-product of doing things right. Your goal is your God-given mission. When attendance becomes your goal, you risk doing damaging things for growth’s sake.

Remember, God cares about changed lives not accumulated lives. As long as you are focused on your mission and continually getting better at fulfilling it, you should be content with the by-product of doing things right.

And if your church has been thrust into the spotlight because of your attendance, methods, or pastor, be extra careful that you do not swap your God-given mission with the pursuit of growth. Jack Trout continues:

Did you ever wonder why very successful, privately held companies, such as Milliken or Gore-Tex, rarely show up in the press? It’s because no one is staring at their numbers quarter after quarter. All they have to worry about is their business. And if they are happy with it, that’s all that matters.

When people start staring at your ministry to see what you do next, it can be tempting to do things to please them rather than to please God. It can be tempting to make the newspaper, the blog posts, and the “cool” church lists. But if you are being a good steward of your God-given calling, that’s all that matters. Do not be concerned what anyone but God thinks.

[originally posted on Church Relevance]

By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building.  The survey found that while billions are being spent on church buildings, overall church attendance is declining.

The article rightly implies that the unchurched prefer the more aesthetically pleasing look of gothic cathedrals because it speaks to a connectedness with the past.  The younger the person, the more they prefer the gothic to the contemporary.  “I don’t like modern churches, they seem cold,” said one survey respondent who chose the Gothic design. “I like the smell of candles burning, stained-glass windows, [and] an intimacy that’s transcendent.”

I’m finding that the ‘seeker’ of today is not the seeker of decades past.  For years we’ve built and programmed our churches on the philosophy that the ‘unchurched’ don’t really want a traditional church experience.  And in some respects, that is still true.  They don’t want the trappings of a church that is judgemental, lifeless, condescending, and more concerned with themselves and their tradition than those in need who need the love and life of Christ.  What they DO want is connectedness, unity, and a sense of something beyond themselves.  The ‘tradition’ of being involved in a church that has deep roots, a rich history, and is connected to the life of Christ through a vibrant community is very inviting.

As I am preaching, writing, teaching, design media, editing video, or programming services, these thoughts are always on my mind.  How can I help those around me connect with God on a level that is deeper, richer, and more connected with the world around them.

Stained glass, sculpture, art, hymn, call and response, and other traditional elements might just be what the churched AND unchurched are longing for.  I wonder where my clerical collar is…

RALEIGH, N.C. — What was supposed to be an honor — a cover story about a group of successful women pastors — has instead been tarnished for a Durham non-denominational church leader.

Sheryl Brady, the 48-year-old pastor of The River Church, was featured among four other women pastors on the cover of Gospel Today, a Christian lifestyle publication based in Atlanta. The article, titled “Women Pastors: Breaking the Glass Ceiling,” was pulled from the shelves of LifeWay Christian stores because it upset the owner — the Southern Baptist Convention.

The convention believes the position of pastor is reserved for men. “I respect the theological debate about women in leadership and the Southern Baptist Convention’s decision to disagree, but to deny Gospel Today the right to freedom of the press to cover it and discuss it is alarming,” said Brady, who preaches in the Pentecostal tradition of prophesy, healing and speaking in tongues.

The Detroit native and her husband, Bishop Joby Brady, travel widely on the Christian conference and seminar circuit and grabbed the attention of Gospel Today founder and publisher Teresa Hairston.

Hairston said she was impressed with Brady’s dynamism.

“I was absolutely shocked,” said Hairston, when she learned last month that LifeWay and its 150 stores nationwide was pulling the September/October edition.

The chain is a major distributor, but the magazine is still widely available elsewhere.

A spokesman for LifeWay Christian Resources based in Nashville, Tenn., said the magazine story was contrary to the Southern Baptist denomination’s statement of faith and therefore stores were asked not to promote it. Customers may ask for a copy of it at the counter, said spokesman Rob Phillips.

Having been a member of a SBC congregation in Texas, as well as having been ordained in the denomination, this story is interesting to me.  I do know where I stand on women in the senior pastorate… but I am not sure where I stand on censorship.  Or, perhaps I do.  Do you?

COLUMBUS, OH — Mixed feelings. That’s the best way to describe how people feel about a controversial church sign that was seen in Blacklick this past week. For 24 hours, the message board outside Havens Corners Church, 6696 Havens Corner Rd., read, “I kissed a girl and I liked it, then I went to Hell.” The message refers to the chart-topping song by pop artist Katy Perry “I Kissed A Girl.”

Pastor David Allison said he didn’t put up the sign to draw attention to the church. “We didn’t intend to get into all this, but it’s become a bigger thing,” Allison said. He was just very concerned about the implications of the song for teenagers and what he called a music video so suggestive it borders on pornography. “If anyone’s seen the video and understands how lewd and suggestive the video is for this song, that is not something young people should go toward,” Allison said. He thought the message would be a loving way to remind teenagers that the Bible denounces homosexuality.

Taking a look at the other side of this story, some people can’t believe the church displayed that message so publically. A viewer sent us a picture of the sign with the subject title “Worst Church Sign Ever.” The sign was removed Thursday. Pastor Allison said it was not due to outrage. He said he received volumes of support from throughout the state. Instead, he said, it was confusing to many people who called in or e-mailed because they didn’t know to what he was referring. They were unaware of the song.

Equality Ohio said their “jaw dropped” when they saw a picture of the sign. “It was a little jaw-dropping. But it happens and we want people to know there are more than 300 welcoming and affirming churches across Ohio,” said Kim Welter, of Equality Ohio. They maintain while the church is free to air their opinion on a reader board, members of the gay, lesbian and transgender community will find more than 300 welcoming churches throughout Ohio.

Allison said they do welcome the GLBT community but believe they are engaged in sin.

I’m not really sure that I need to comment any further on this.  The terrible theology concerning what condemns one to hell notwithstanding, I see both side of the issue… I suppose.  I just wish the church could find ways to get press coverage in more positive ways.  I’m not sure the shock factor really helps much…. perhaps I am wrong.