An Example of Much-Needed Integrity: Biblical Requirements for Leadership

shoot.jpgThe issue of integrity is going to be huge in the Southern Baptist Convention in the next couple of decades. More and more younger leaders are calling for true integrity in commitment to what the Bible says, what we say and do, and what we declare is the will of God.

Those battles for integrity will be worked out in local churches as well as in the halls of conventions and the offices of denominational power brokers.

I’m going to show you what that battle for integrity is going to look like, and, in this instance, why I am very, very hopeful that we just might make it through as a better convention.

An IM reader sent me the following material recently. First, here is a covenant similar to one this man is being asked to sign in order to continue serving as a deacon at a church where he’s been a member and a deacon for many, many years.

I don’t object to this kind of covenantalism at all. I support it. But there can be some problems. In the unprinted preamble, this covenant says it is a list of Biblical requirements for being a deacon. Here’s the gist of the covenant document. (Excuse the caps. That’s the text as printed.)Continue reading “An Example of Much-Needed Integrity: Biblical Requirements for Leadership”

An Analysis of the Emerging Church

UPDATE: Check out the “Emeghing Remix” of the same video.

OK…What a humorless crowd we’ve got around here. I’m not serious. This guy is, but this “analysis” is awful, though unfortunately is typical for many emerging critics.

Several of you have asked for information on the Emerging Church. This comprehensive look at the Emerging Church should answer all your questions. Please take notes and all your questions will be answered in the comments.

I especially feel his analysis of “beat” music is important.

Fear of Women and Their Cute, Pink Books

The Beautiful Ache: Finding the God Who Satisfies When Life Does NotForty-five men authoring books solo or with others.

One female author.

Two books with female co-authors.

That’s the “gender” count from the new books page at a major conservative, reformed, Christian book source on the net.

Blind spot? Evidence that most of conservative evangelicalism is a movement by men, for men, described by men, expressed by men?Continue reading “Fear of Women and Their Cute, Pink Books”

Three Resources For A Missional Reading of the Bible

The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand NarrativeThree good resources for a missional reading of the Bible: one essay, one book, one set of questions.

The essay is Notes Toward a Framework For a Missional Hermeneutic by Michael Goheen. Goheen is one of the authors of the outstanding literary/narrative introduction to the Bible, The Drama of Scripture. Goheen is a professor at Trinity Western University.

In this collection of notes for a presentation of a missional hermeneutic, Goheen gives an overview of the entire Bible quite similar to a Biblical introduction, but with a focus on how the Bible itself functions in a missional communication of the Kingdom. The essay begins with some personal notes, but the meat of the presentation is in the two larger sections.Continue reading “Three Resources For A Missional Reading of the Bible”

Photoshopping Luther

Martin Luther: The Christian between God and DeathThe longer I observe evangelicals, the more astonished I am that anyone among them could, with a straight face, ever criticize the Roman Catholic church for paying too much attention to “the saints.” The evangelical focus on personalities, past and present, can’t be too far behind any Roman Catholic veneration of the saints.

For example, I first saw “Dead Theologians Society” t-shirts at Calvinist gatherings in the 1990’s. The shirts featured the faces of Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon, Edwards, John Owen and so forth. Today, if you Google “Dead Theologians Society,” you’ll get this: a fan club for Catholic theologians of the past.Continue reading “Photoshopping Luther”

Thirty-Two Rooms and No Way Out: Adventures in Bookstore Claustrophobia

claus.jpegThis post is an odd soup. Call it one part “Second Half of Life,” for just getting old and pathetic; one part “In The Study,” for the sermon idea I’ll get out of it; and one part “Parable, Metaphor and Illustration” for what you can do with it. Laugh at me, with me, and then think about it a bit.

And if this is your bookstore, don’t put me on your mailing list. I won’t be back unless I’m getting paid by a psychiatrist who has me wired up.

On our second visit to my daughter and son-in-law (married in June of ’06 and now living in a neighboring state), I had expressed my hope that we could visit some bookstores in the metro area nearby. Noel and Ryan found two excellent bookstores and we made a day of visiting them this past Saturday.Continue reading “Thirty-Two Rooms and No Way Out: Adventures in Bookstore Claustrophobia”

Evangelical Anxieties 7: Our Children

child.jpgHere are the previous six posts in the Evangelical Anxieties series. There will be several more.

This isn’t even close to the final version I want of this post, but I may not get back to it for a while. So this will have to do for now.

Worrying about our children has been an evangelical preoccupation for at least two hundred years, and probably more. Let me analyze the problem with the illustration of a junction of roads, one of those cloverleafs where everything is supposed to come together into some form of smooth traffic flow, and instead ties up the highways for hours every morning and afternoon.Continue reading “Evangelical Anxieties 7: Our Children”

Guess what this atheist heard in church?

woman1.jpg“Before I restart the “Evangelical Anxieties series, here are words from an atheist who visited some 30 churches.

Clearly, most churches have aligned themselves against non-religious people. By adopting this stance, Christians have turned off the people I would think they want to connect with. The combative stance I’ve observed is an approach that causes people to become apathetic—and even antagonistic—toward religion as a whole. Many evangelical pastors seem to perceive just about everything to be a threat against Christianity. Evolution is a threat. Gay marriage is a threat. A swear word uttered accidentally on television is a threat. Democrats are a threat. I don’t see how any of these things pose a threat against Christianity. If someone disagrees with you about politics or social issues or the matter of origins, isn’t that just democracy and free speech in action? Why do Christians feel so threatened?

You need to spread the message of Christianity—the message being what Christianity stands for—loving each other, helping the people around you. Those are things everyone can get on board with.

I can hear the blah blah blah now, so if you plan to comment on how dumb it is to expect an atheist to get the Gospel, save it. This guy heard exactly what evangelicals are selling these days: the Culture War. Be afraid, fear for your culture, save your kids, take control of the country, stop Hillary, etc. Manipulation. Fear mongering. Not the Gospel, unless you’ve already traded in the Gospel for something else.