The Cultural Christian / The Cultural Pastor Part 2 of Many

Maybe this movement has "good intentions". Maybe they see this as becoming all things to all people in order to save some. Maybe they see no other choice but to dumb down the message and the service (substance and style), because everything about everything is being dumbed down in all aspects of life today. As "good" as the intentions may be, let the Word of God shed light on what is falsely called light; on what is actually Satan's greatest tool, the Cultural Christian/Pastor movement.
"And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
(1Co 2:1-5)

Cultural pastor, your cunning, crafty, "intelligent", culture-soaked worship may bring up the number, but it's not the number of souls saved that are rising. Stop relying on your wisdom, the wisdom of men, the wisdom of the world, and rely on God to prick the hearts with the unadulterated Gospel message that Paul vowed only to teach. Do not be ashamed to stand up and speak truth, the Gospel. Accept that God did indeed choose the foolishness of preaching to save His elect.

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
(1Co 1:18-31)

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"Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you."
(1Jo 3:13)

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
(Joh 15:18-20)

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
(Rom 12:1-2)

"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began"
(2Ti 1:8-9)

"So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."
(Rom 1:15-18)

To be continued...

The Cultural Christian / The Cultural Pastor Part 1 of Many

This series of blogs will be long; I make no apology.

He and his three friends pull up in the parking lot early. Obviously not early enough; the lot is packed, and they have to park close to the grass at least a football field away from the show. "Hurry up! Lock it please; I'm gonna leave my bag in the car," he says. They reach the building and get in the back of the line. Through the walls they can hear the beat, beat, beat, beat of the bass from the stage.

Sadly, this isn't a narrative of four guys waiting anxiously in line for the upcoming U2 concert; this is the narrative of four guys waiting in line for their Sunday morning "worship" service.

This is the not-so-new movement that is quickly sweeping through Christendom creating millions of people with a false sense of security in their new found buddy, Jesus. I could go on naming names, such as Walther Kallestad who actually has clowns in worship, Joel Osteen who everso beautifully never touches the word sin, or Rick Warren who can have me entrepeneuring for Jesus in just 40 easy days, but that's not my agenda. My focus is currently on what we see with our own eyes in our own churches. The easy and not so hard to believe truth that is being fed to young and old minds in hopes that the numbers in the bulletin rise for a change instead of drop like they have been in the last few years.

In many churches Sunday morning is no longer a place for believers to gather, humbly but zealously sing songs and hymns that tell of the wondrous salvific work of Christ and scream out our unworthiness and therefore thankfulness to the God who has saved us, a place for believers to stand in humble adoration for Scripture reading and prayer soaked in thankfulness, where we are lead in confession or are able to confess our sins and then hear or sing of our forgiveness that we are graciously granted as we're cleansed in the precious blood of Christ our Lord, where we hear a deep, thoughtful, thought-provoking, 20 hour in preparation Bible exposition that pierces our hearts and prepares us to go out into the world revived and rejuvenated showing the love in us that the Father has for us, where the climax of our fellowship and worship is the Lord's Meal where we commune and take part in the body and blood of Christ reactualizing not only His death on the cross, but the full salvific work, the life, righteousness, suffering, death, the powerful resurrection, and His current reign over all things in Heaven, where the Holy Spirit of God strengthens us and prepares us and teaches us and reveals truth to us and nurtures us and lifts us up, and so on and so on. These things are being lost, and not slowly, but they are being swept out from under our feet!

Worship as the Scriptures know it is being, in many churches, transformed into the tool to appeal to the outside rings in Tom Long's Bullseye (the non-believers and the Sunday morning cultural Christians). The cultural pastor now yells, "No longer is the world supposed to hate us! No longer are we to go out into the world and make our disciples! No longer are we to be persecuted! No longer are we to be a peculiar people! No longer is the Gospel going to be offensive! We are taking matters into our own hands!" Now, these "Christians" no longer have to be ashamed of the Gospel that they know no one wants to hear, because that Gospel no longer exists in their vocabulary. The Good News is now actually "good news". It's user-friendly, easy to hear, and easy to live. It fits in with the lifestyle of the person who says "give me a message on the 'unconditional love' of God and let me go home to the game or give me nothing at all!"

The center of the Long's Bullseye is tiny. And in that very small, hard to hit target are the committed, informed, but most importantly, Spirit-filled, Spirit-regenerated, fed-by-the-Spirit Christians who thrive on every word contained in the Book of hard truths we call the Bible. We hang on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We arrive at the place we gather longing for the long-awaited sermon, songs, prayer, teachings, fellowship, love, and Meal that God has granted us to partake. We need those 20 or more hours poured into the exposition of Scripture, we need to be lead in our confession of sin, we need to hear of the grace and forgiveness that we receive, we need to hear how our minds should be renewed and how we must spend every day of our lives unconforming to the world outside! Instead, the last thing we need is the very thing we get: CULTURE SOAKED SERVICE. The movement feeds the cravings of the cultural crowd with their cultural music. Some feed them with movies of the day, fun and games, and excitement. Some feed them with the exciting message that God loves everyone no matter what being that God is love and His love must be unconditional (therefore no one goes to hell). Some feed them with whatever it takes to keep them in the building so the number does not fall, because high numbers equal success.

One Step Closer

One Step Closer by U2
Album - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

I'm 'round the corner from anything that's real
I'm across the road from hope
I'm under a bridge in a rip tide
That's taken everything I call my own

One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing

I'm on an island at a busy intersection
I can't go forward, I can't turn back
Can't see the future
It's getting away from me
I just watch the tail lights glowing

One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
Knowing, knowing

I'm hanging out to dry
With my old clothes
Finger still red with the prick of an old rose
Well the heart that hurts
Is a heart that beats
Can you hear the drummer slowing?

One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
To knowing, to knowing, to knowing

Day at the Lake & Pumpkin Patch

Trip Into the City 2

Another amazing day! It was more than amazing. We took the Dart train, the cable car trolley...and yes, Marq, we went to the Dallas Museum of Art. It was so awesome! I can't wait to go back. Marq, we'll have to go in December.

It was great to just forget everything and spend some time with the family. Here are some pictures of two amazing days:

Trip Into the City 1

It's a Beautiful Day

We had a great day today, even though Kelli was sick. It was great just staying home, keeping my head out of the books, and spending the day together. Before lunch we went to a pumpkin patch and played and took some pictures, then we all went to White Rock Lake and played on a huge tree that touches the ground and watched sailboats. We threw big rocks in the water and explained to Eli that the huge shadows in the water weren't whales but shadows of the trees. Kai learned how to balance on the log with the big boys (Eli and me). With the Dallas skyscrapers in the background of the lake, we decided that tomorrow is going to be another great day; so we're going into the city (where the skyscrapers are) tomorrow for the first time since living here. At Kai's nap-time Kelli, Eli, and I sat down and watched Batman Begins. It's an awesome movie, I recommend it whether you like comic book heroes or not.

It's been a beautiful day. Praise God!

Pictures coming soon.

Visible & Invisible

Is there in fact a "visible" church and an "invisible" church? While we know that not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel (Rom 9:6), does this correspond to the New Testament church? Are there weeds sown among the wheat (Mat 13:25)? Some argue that there is no such thing as the "visible and invisible church". I believe the New Testament teaches that there is in fact a physical church that the human being is capable of seeing, and there is an invisible church that only God in Heaven with all certainty sets His eyes upon.

God has a chosen people. We are called the Church. All others are vessels of wrath, sons of disobedience owned by the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2). Yes, we were all at one time in such a state, but God created life in us, the Church, freeing us from the enslaving chains of death in which the vessels of wrath remain. Can these sons of disobedience, put on sheeps clothing and mingle in the blessings that the children of God receive in the sanctifying life they now live? Can their prince sneak in during the night and sow his weeds in the same field that is cultivated for the wheat? Can we not by our own discernment answer an emphatic YES to these questions? Yes!

There are more than several references in the New Testament that teach this truth. I'll mention a few.
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
(Mat 7:15-23)

These weeds sown among us we sometimes will recognize by their fruits, or lack of, but will some be able to deceive the Church all the days of their lives? These particular people at least tried to keep up their false righteousness until the end. They will dare tell the Lord they did all things for His sake, but they were "never" known by Him.

Some will last until harvest.
He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
(Mat 13:24-30)

They are sown in by the enemy in hopes of choking the Master's wheat and deminishing the grain or fruit that will be produced by true wheat.

Most will leave, in order that it might become plain that they are sons of disobedience, weeds once growing with the wheat.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
(1Jo 2:19)

There are many many references to there being a church within the church, just as there was indeed an Israel within Israel. I hope to study this more in depth in the coming weeks. I pray that in better understanding this, it will lead to a better understanding of some other things I'm hashing out at the moment.

Rom 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

Mat 13:25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

Heb 6:7-8 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. (8) But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

Mat 7:22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'

1Jo 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

It's been a great week, and I praise God for it.

conscientia

Good or bad? Luther said that man is driven to dispair by his conscience. I believe the conscience can be the devil's tool. The conscience creates guilt, which Luther would say is able to bring about despair.
Guilt can overcast grace. I wonder if Paul had what today we call the conscience in mind when he wrote Romans 7:14-25. My sin brings me to shame and guilt, my conscience screams "Wretched hopeless man!", but it is silenced by my God-given faith that Jesus Christ has died for my wretchedness.
The conscience can be an enemy, a tool in the devil's hand. But, faith in Christ and assurance of God's undefeatable, indescribable grace, takes the conscience that is the tool in the evil one's hand, and uses it to his, Satan's, own demise. Then, my conscience is eased, and although I am in fact a wretched man, I know I'm accepted by God (washed in Christ's blood), and I accept, yet fight against, my wretchedness.

Praise God