Am I Jealous?

green_monster.pngI don’t take many opportunities to write extended descriptions of the ministry where I serve. There are several reasons for that. I don’t want to involve my ministry in any of the controversies that might be part of this blog. But I hear people talk about their churches all day long, and I have a lot to say about our ministry as well. So in this piece, I talk a lot about where I live, minister and serve. I hope it’s clear that I am grateful most of all to God for all that I have experienced here.

In the Joel Osteen discussion, a couple of people accused me of being jealous- jealous of Joel Osteen’s success. I want to talk about that accusation.

This morning, our school chapel was visited by a Christian ministry that almost every IM reader knows well, at least by reputation. They visit us once a year, and distribute New Testaments to our students. The gentleman who spoke to our students described this ministry’s distinctive mission and vision: evangelism through Bible distribution. One hundred seventy of our students received the Bible as a gift.

This ministry has over 200,000 members, all laity and all volunteers. In fact, these members make the front line financial sacrifices to fund the ministry’s work, and then go into local churches once a year to ask for support. In our community, they literally go to the back door and stand with an offering plate to receive that support personally. As long as I have been involved with them, they have never called me or mailed me asking for money.Continue reading “Am I Jealous?”

Rerun: Witherington on Osteen vs. Jesus

I ran this post when the link from Ben Witherington first came out. It’s one of the best discussions of the issue with Osteen that I’ve read. Worth rerunning.

moneyman.jpgGod bless Ben Witherington, who takes on the THEOLOGY of Joel Osteen, particularly as it applies to the teaching of Jesus. Thank you, Dr. Witherington, for doing what so few others are willing to do.

American Christianity, if not staying focused on Jesus, gets in big trouble in a culture where entitlement is a tremendous temptation. Paul urged Christians to be “…holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” That’s Jesus. This is in contrast to a kind of spirituality that grows from a person who is “…puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind…” (Colossians 2:18.) That’s a mind that says “whatever feels good is God.”

We need much teaching like Dr. Witherington does in this post: the explicit contrast of the teaching and meaning of Jesus with the errors of this subtle prosperity method. Jesus described “Your Best Life Now,” but it isn’t the Osteen positive thinking message.

Making and Breaking Church Leadership

leadership.jpg1Timothy 3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer* must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,* sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Did I mention I’m studying I Timothy with some other men? We’ve been going through this paragraph on the qualifications for leadership, and I had a few thoughts.

1. Leadership is about qualifications, but it’s about a lot more than qualifications. I don’t know if all the apostles were married men with children. I don’t know anything about the spiritual condition of their wives, especially in regard to faith in Jesus. I don’t know anything about the spiritual condition of their children. I don’t know how they were perceived in their community. I assume that, when Jesus called them, they were a pretty rough bunch at times, and all were “recent converts.”Continue reading “Making and Breaking Church Leadership”

Reactions to the “60 Minutes” Joel Osteen Piece

UPDATE: A page of Horton resources related to Osteen.

UPDATE II: So many good Osteen pieces on there. Denny Burke zeroes in on Osteen’s glad admission that he does not preach the Bible’s main message.

UPDATE III: Slate Magazine on Osteen’s God.

joel_blink.gifThe mentality that thinks in terms of marketing Jesus inevitably moves toward progressive distortion of him; the pursuit of the next emotional round of experience easily degenerates into an intoxicating substitute for the spirituality of the Word. There is non-negotiable, biblical, intellectual content to be proclaimed. By all means insist that this content be heralded with conviction and compassion; by all means seek the unction of the Spirit; by all means try to think through how to cast this content in ways that engage the modern secularist. But when all the footnotes are in place, my point remains the same: the historic gospel is unavoidably cast as intellectual content that must be taught and proclaimed. -D.A. Carson, The Gagging of God

A few thoughts on tonight’s 60 Minutes’ piece on Joel Osteen.

1. Byron Pitts, the reporter doing the piece, was simply superb. To the point. Unmoved by show. Understood the problem. In fact, probably understood far more than Osteen himself does about Christianity.

2. As much as I would like to join those who say that Osteen is a simpleton who doesn’t know what he’s doing, a close examination will show that at every point where there is a choice between being part of the church or departing into heresy, Osteen sticks with the church where there is money to be had and departs from the church where there is a faith to be confessed. He’s could be called a heretic by some, even if he is a believer, and he communicates a purposefully false trivialization of the person and work of Jesus Christ in favor of a man-centered motivational message of self-improvement.

Again, as I’ve said before, every evangelical leader needs to personally and by name repudiate and separate from Osteen, and call upon him and his followers to come back into the faith that is articulated in the Apostle’s Creed.Continue reading “Reactions to the “60 Minutes” Joel Osteen Piece”

New BHT Banner Needed….like….now.

boarshead2003.jpgWhat was it Shakespeare said about disposing of all the lawyers?

I just got a handful of major legalese from the Boar’s Head Brand Corporation, makers of fine meats and owners of a registered trademark they believe is in the BHT’s banner. So, according to the barrister sending me the mail, the banner goes or I get sued.Continue reading “New BHT Banner Needed….like….now.”

Ten Big Ideas for Donny Deutsch

deutsch_coulter.jpgDonny Deutsch’s reaction to Ann Coulter’s claim that it would be good if all people were Christians is about as good a tour of the postmodern cul de sac as you’ll find anywhere. Read the conversation, then report back here for class.

Dear Donny,

I like your program. I really do. I wish all my students would watch it.

And I really don’t care much for Ann Coulter. Way too strident. Always looking for the shock line. Especially don’t understand her as a spokesperson for Christianity, but hey, what can I say?

But Donny…..Donny, Donny, Donny, Donny, Donny…..Continue reading “Ten Big Ideas for Donny Deutsch”

Should Women Teach Women?

beth1.gifSome thoughts on women teachers, an issue that continually puzzles me every time I see a Lifeway stocked with Beth Moore Bible studies for sale to Southern Baptists who can’t say enough about women not being pastoral teachers.

I Timothy 2:8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Continue reading “Should Women Teach Women?”

World-Phooey?

worldview.jpgHas the whole Christian worldview thing gotten out of hand?

I teach “worldviews” as part of my high school Bible classes, and in my Advanced Bible class, I spend a good bit of time giving my kids James Sire’s “Seven Questions Every Worldview Must Answer.” I frequently use the term “worldview” in preaching, and I do so without apology or embarrassment.

Worldviews are shorthand descriptions of belief systems, usually involving a standard set of questions or a “grid” that breaks down a belief system into examinable areas. Generally, Christians use the “worldview” concept as a way to understand, evaluate and respond to other belief options.

In the business of teaching evangelism, missions, communication and comparative religions, worldview thinking is useful. It provides a way that Christians can become more aware of the beliefs that exist behind statements and behavior. Getting to the “Worldview” level is a useful way to see the strengths, weaknesses, unique aspects and deficiencies of a belief system.Continue reading “World-Phooey?”