“While some “Christian” pastors have slipped their Biblical moorings and are now apologizing for opposing abortion, men like Barak Obama are leading the charge to against pro-life legislation.”

This was the opening line in the post entitled It’s a Mad World, at CRN this morning.

It was followed with the statement

Is it really wrong and “Un-Christian” of Christians to call abortion a sin

So, I followed the link to a little leaven where they asked

Is the church wrong and judgmental for claiming that abortion and homosexuality are sins and contending against them?

Wow! A church that claims it is judgmental to call abortion and homosexualty a sin? A church that says it is wrong to call homosexuality a sin!? Where would this be? Well, it doesn’t exist. Here is the original news story and a few quotes that CRN or A Little Leaven will probably not want you to read

Georgia Baptist pastor who pledged to apologize to gays, women seeking abortions, and couples who live together outside marriage…

His apology was not limited to the aforementioned groups but was directed to those in the secular world that drive by churches each day and never consider visiting because of the judgmental posture…

Lee did not yield ground on his conservative beliefs but said the Church’s established methods of judging others for their shortcomings obviously has not worked. Driving people away from Christ is not an effective way of bringing them to Him, he said through a variety of illustrations….

“I am 37 years old and I believe the Bible is 100 percent truth without error. But the Bible tells us we are to judge our own lives and not the lives of those outside the faith”

And while I firmly believe that Romans 1 is true in its discussion of homosexuality I know that it is much easier to condemn when you do not know those in that lifestyle.

So, this would have been a big, huge, juicy story… if it were actually true. Apologizing for how we have treated these people is not the same as apologizing for what scripture has to say about their lifestyle and choices. I find it very ironic that Christians run to the media for an apology when someone treats them bad, but we are unapologetic for gay bashing, abortion clinic vandalism and arsons, and let’s not mention gadhatesfags.com. Don’t see too much outrage over how we have treated those that need Christ the most.

BTW… I LOVE how they had to drag Barack into the equation. Wouldn’t be a good ODM article without blaming some politicians for where the church has fallen short in affecting society.

Well, well, well, it seems as if the anonymous editor over at CRN.com has a problem with an emergent/emerging church’s gathering due to the adult beverages they served.

Oddly enough, the anonymous editor had nothing to say about the issue of women in leadership, which as you can see was clearly laid out as egalitarian:

Rob and I had talked about the conversation we would have about women in leadership. I was excited for this conversation because I knew how Rob had courageously led his own church through the change of an all male leadership structure to include women on every level of leadership.

Now, for those not paying attention, ODMs have taken a hard line stance against women in church leadership. So why the sudden bout of silence on such a nice big juicy target? It probably has something to do with the fact that Ingrid is busily setting herself up not just as an authority within a church, but as an authority over many churches.

So there it is. If you’re an ODM its ok to take a completely anti-scriptural view of alcohol, yet ignore what is a much stronger case against female leadership, all because you happen to have a big female voice on your team.

Turns out sola scriptura is an ODM punchline.

Tags: double standard

Since Ravi Zacharias is now labeled as an apostate, I’d thought it would be apropo to point out some more apostasy from another elder statesmen of evangelicalism.

“The hallmark of an authentic evangelicalism is not the uncritical repetition of old traditions, but the willingness to submit every tradition, however ancient, to fresh biblical scrutiny, and, if necessary, reform.”

John Stott

Looks the Emergents have gotten their claws in another one…

***UPDATE (by Chris L)***

For those who might not understand where Ingrid’s article references Ravi Zacharias as being apostate, please see the graphic below:

______________
It is hard to find a ‘charitable’ reading of this to suggest otherwise.

This has obviously been a bad week for Slice and Ingrid’s self declared “gift” of discernment. The writer filed this post under “Apostasy Alert”, effectively declaring that Ravi has fallen away from the Christian faith. Most writers here have a great deal of respect for Ravi Zacharias and consider his ministry a true discernment ministry.

In other news, Mark Driscoll once had lunch with Ravi Zacharias. It sounds like they had a good and healthy discussion about the differences in the emerging church. Does this mean that Ravi is an emerging Christian too, even though he has expressed his concerns about the Emerging church?

Ingrid’s entire post is appalling. Be prepared to stifle your gag reflex.

Did you ever look back and look your old high school year book photos? Or perhaps peruse the family album? Some of the thoughts that come to my mind when I do this are, “Man, I was young” or “Why did I wear that? No wonder I couldn’t get any dates”.

Years ago I listened to a band called Stryper. They were the first popular Christian heavy metal band. They were known for wearing yellow and black spandex, teased hair, and throwing out bibles to the audience.

People quickly forget just how huge Stryper was (think more popular then Rob Bell). They had two gold albums, one platinum album, and several #1 videos on MTV (back when MTV played music). They played huge arenas and it was ok to tell your non believing friends that you listened to them.

They were also controversial. Many fundamentalists thought they were the biggest threat to Christianity that they had seen in a while. I quickly learned not to bring up Stryper to my fundamentalist relatives because a literal family fight would break out. To fundamentalists, listening to Stryper was almost equivalent of selling your soul to Satan. (For an ODM/KJV-only take on Stryper, full of ad-hominem and gba arguments, go here).

There were even fundamentalist newsletters, books, and tracts, all exposing the evils of Christian rock. Stryper was a lightning rod for this criticism. Some fundamentalists still consider the band a threat to Christianity and have taken their accusation online, full of ODM arguments and tactics, even though Stryper hasn’t released a major record in almost 20 years. (See here, here, and here for only a few examples).

Now I look back at it and I have to admit that I wonder why I listened to them. They weren’t very good musically and they looked goofy. The lyrics were spiritually shallow and just plain dumb (”And we’re fighting,oh wooh wooh – the sin. And the Good Book, it says we’ll win” – Soldiers Under Command) But at the same time, it’s kind of like looking back at that old photo album. Honestly, they were harmless. No one can or has gone back to the annals of church history and proven that Stryper damaged the Church, Jesus, or Christianity. They were stylistically embarrassing but not much more.

There are real threats to the Christian life. Most of the writers here would say that the health and wealth gospel and some extreme forms of charismatic beliefs are great examples.

Then there are overblown, hyped up, “chicken little” threats. Things like the emerging church, PDL, or gospel music (or as Ingrid calls is, “fanny shaking” music) comes to mind. We can and should talk about these things, however, we should do it with humility and love. Over the top, polarizing statements like “McLaren’s Worldview Leads to More Violence, Not Less” only show that one is simply being asinine.

After we got over the 80s, most of us were able to discern that Stryper wasn’t worth the trouble. We can have a discussion about their style, their theology, or their tactics. But, in the end, both Stryper and the volumes of criticism they received was all hype.

I guarantee that the ODM types will completely miss the point of this post. Why are you living for the devil when you should be living for the Lord?

Sometimes no commentary is needed to illustrate how the ODM’s have the unique ability to twist “news” to fit their agenda.

First from A Little Leaven comes the story of the sorry church

Is the church wrong and judgmental for claiming that abortion and homosexuality are sins and contending against them? Pastor Richard Mark Lee of the Family Church in Sugar Hill, Georgia thinks so. What did he do about it? He apologized to the unchurched for being judgmental during a highly publicized church service.

We think that Pastor Richard should also apologize on behalf of God for destroying the earth by flood because of men’s wickedness, destroying Sodom and Gomorah, plaguing the Egyptians and killing their first born, destroying Korah and those who followed him, killing everyone in Jericho, and killing the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel for their false religion.

And now from the Pastor, Richard Mark Lee, of Sugar Hill Church

“For me, I cannot stand in front of God and tell Him that I did nothing to reverse that perception. It’s important to know that the 18-28 year-olds are not against Christ; in fact, they tell pollsters that they have fond feelings for Him and believe in God. But the bottom line is that the Church is still perceived as judgmental, homophobic, and irrelevant” rather than for our love for them.

“I am 37 years old and I believe the Bible is 100 percent truth without error. But the Bible tells us we are to judge our own lives and not the lives of those outside the faith.

“Today I want to apologize to our community for getting in the way of Jesus. He really is awesome and you’d like Him, even though you may not like those in the Church.”

Lee addressed a variety of misperceptions the Church has given to unbelievers in an increasingly non-Christian society.

“I have picketed abortion clinics, I’ve held the signs and banners and done all those things. I am pro-life but I regret being involved in those things. I am sorry for having a bumper sticker mentality.

“If you have had an abortion recently or even several years ago, I want you to know that I do not sit in judgment of you today. I am sorry if you have sensed a spirit of judgment in the way I presented myself and the gospel.”

Then he addressed the gay issue and individuals in the Church who “have a pharisaical mindset,” apologizing for the way some Christians “have demonstrated prejudice, bigotry, or a hateful attitude.

“We are sorry for acting like the head of the body of Christ rather than like a part of that body. We are sorry for driving you out of church; that is not of God. “I have apologized to God and now I am apologizing to you.

“In my day of arrogance I have laughed at my share of gay jokes but I now understand that participating in such activity does color the way you view people. You can’t avoid it. And while I firmly believe that Romans 1 is true in its discussion of homosexuality I know that it is much easier to condemn when you do not know those in that lifestyle.

“I have recently renewed an acquaintance with an individual who is homosexual and I have come to the realization that I cannot engage in jokes which demean the very person I am trying to reach.

“We have used trite phrases such as ‘love the sinner but hate the sin’ in these instances but we should really love the sinner and hate our own sin. The Bible teaches that love does not find fault, but the hard truth is that the world has seen that we do not love those who are different from us.

“Time and again, Jesus’ words challenged the religious establishment. He taught us to leave the 99 and go after the lost one. But we have not followed that teaching very well and have actually pushed people further away from church.

“In John 4:18 we read that ‘perfect love drives out fear.’ I apologize for driving you out of the church and making the church a place that you fear. While the Bible teaches that we should all have a reverential fear of God, we should not fear those who sit in the pews. I make this apology and genuinely ask you to forgive me.”

Read the rest of the story here.

We’re back with another political topic. This time Scott and John talk to us about immigration. Download the podcast here or listen to it below.

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Tags: Podcast

It is no secret that a certain Christian website has taken great pains to vilify teen star Miley Cyrus (of “Hannah Montana” fame), who frequently uses her public stage to reference her Christian faith. We’ve defended Ms. Cyrus, who attends Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, CA at least twice previously (along with a bit of tongue-in-cheek advice for her and other Christian artists). In one of the most read chapters of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13, we read:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

And so it is that we try to consider love, though we have a lot of room for improvement. In light of this, it seems that almost the OPPOSITE of love is displayed in this article (UPDATE: cached image), which gleefully ‘exposes’ Ms. Cyrus for having racy photos taken of her and posted on the internet:

My congenital detractors hooted and howled with laughter when I posted on Miley Cyrus, rock idol to millions of little girls around the world, and her claims that she is a Christian, doing everything she does for Jesus. Irate evangelical Hannah Montana fans indignantly defended the professing Christian rock star for her “squeaky clean” image and her image as a “good Christian role model” for their daughters. Yeah, yeah, right. The news headlines at AOL this morning:

Yet another batch of probably-meant-to-be-private photos of teen sensation Miley ‘Hannah Montana’ Cyrus have found their way on to the Internet, showing the 15-year-old starlet flashing a bra and laying across the lap of a male with her top pulled up. While certainly scandalous simply because of her age, this wouldn’t be the first time that mature photos of Cyrus have made their rounds. In the past, pictures of the singer-actress in underwear and bikinis also made headlines.

Noting that Ms. Cyrus thanked “my lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” when accepting a recent award, the author sneered:

Just leave my Saviour’s holy name out of it, Miley. (emphasis mine)

So what, exactly is the problem with this response to the news about Ms. Cyrus’ suggestive pictures? Well, maybe the fact that they weren’t pictures of her, and that the reporting standard was just shy of that of the National Enquirer? In this age of frequent “Photoshopped” scandals, it doesn’t make sense to be sensational with ‘breaking news’ – particularly when it is salacious – until enough time (typically one or two news cycles – 1-2 weekdays) has passed for the actual facts of a situation have been ascertained. As for the final comment about “my Saviour’s holy name”, the implication is clear that the author arrogantly believes that her Saviour and Ms. Cyrus’ Saviour are two different individuals. If they are two separate individuals, indeed, I think I will take the one publicly proclaimed by Ms. Cyrus over one that (by the author’s implication) would wholeheartedly endorse the gossip-mongering, externals-focused, deceitful, slander-filled rantings of her critic.

If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

I wonder if a retraction will be forthcoming, or if it will be an Obama-like “I’m sorry if people were hurt by the way I said things, but the underlying truth still exists” non-apology. I am truly hoping for the former. ***UPDATE (with thanks to Matt B)*** It seems that the original author deleted the article (I’ll rescue the original from my cache and link it tomorrow, if possible) and – rather than issue an apology – used her own error to compound her attack against the teenager in her crosshairs, by issuing an increasingly vitriolic non-apology. What is sad is that she links to a rather innocuous video of Ms. Cyrus performing at a charity event to raise money for the relief of human suffering. (See below) Were we to be of the same, twisted mindset, we could write up a post comparing this author’s ideal of Christian dress with that of the FLDS Texas polygamy cult. Then, we could make suggestions that the two are somehow connected. (See below):

While we could do this, such a comparison would be just as much of an ad homenim attack as the string of anti-Christian attacks made by the author of the attack piece. Instead, we have an author who has had to issue multiple corrections in the past week, whether for being punk’d (along with several other media outlets) by a Yale student, for linking to gay porn, or – now – for posting false, salacious gossip that might be a stumbling block for Christians struggling with porn. Perhaps the saddest thing of all is that this website claims to have the gift of discernment here:

That’s right the Lord gave everything he had for us, the least we can do is to return what we have — the gifts that he’s given us — to use them for his glory and to warn those in the church — as unpopular as it is — to be in the postition of watchman you take a bit of egg in the face from the kids standing down below.

Despite claiming such powers, its own powers of ‘discernment’ seem to be on par with the Weekly World News, and just as sinful. Certainly, God has called – and He wants His truth back…

Apparently, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is too Anglo-centric and is vestigial of England’s glory days as a colonial power. In light of this, a new call has been put forth:

Muslim scientists and clerics have called for the adoption of Mecca time to replace GMT, arguing that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth.

Sound far-fetched? With the Islamification of Europe (and we Americans thought our immigration issues were problematic!) and increasing social pressure to institute Islamic cultural icons into the public square (Sharia Law, the Lunar Calendar, etc.), such issues are not going to just go away.

The meeting also reviewed what has been described as a Mecca watch, the brainchild of a French Muslim.

The watch is said to rotate anti-clockwise and is supposed to help Muslims determine the direction of Mecca from any point on Earth.

So if clocks start rotating anti-clockwise, wouldn’t anti-clockwise be clockwise and clockwise be anti-clockwise? Textbook writers rejoice!

More heresy brought to you by the emergent church:

1. Commitment to God in the Way of Jesus:

We are committed to doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. In the words of Jesus, we seek to live by the Great Commandment: loving God and loving our neighbors – including those who might be considered “the least of these” or enemies. We understand the gospel to be centered in Jesus and his message of the Kingdom of God, a message offering reconciliation with God, humanity, creation, and self.

We are committed to a “generous orthodoxy” in faith and practice – affirming the historic Christian faith and the biblical injunction to love one another even when we disagree. We embrace many historic spiritual practices, including prayer, meditation, contemplation, study, solitude, silence, service, and fellowship, believing that healthy theology cannot be separated from healthy spirituality.

PRACTICES:
* As Christ-centered people, to understand the gospel in terms of Jesus’ radical, profound, and expansive message of the kingdom of God.

* As people seeking to be formed spiritually in the way of Christ, to learn historic Christian spiritual practices (disciplines), and to use them for the development of character, integrity, and virtue which flow from true communion with God

* As participants in the historic Christian faith, to be humble learners, to stimulate learning in others, and to give priority to love over knowledge, while still valuing knowledge.

* As lovers of God and God’s truth, to seek wisdom and understanding, which are the true goal of theology, and to engage in respectful, thoughtful, sacred conversation about God, world, and church.

After reading that, consider everything the ODMs have said about the emergent church. Sort of makes you wonder what they think orthodoxy is.

HT: Internet Monk.

Tags: Emergent Church, owosso, tim reed