Peace in the Midst of Change

A lot is set to change in the next couple of weeks. New church, new city, new home, new job, new almost everything.  This change has been in the works for the past few months, but in just a few days my wife and I will start a whole new chapter of our lives together. As we prepare to move on I find it a great opportunity to look back at the chapter that is closing a thank God for the way that He has worked.

As of this past week Sarah and I have been able to celebrate my graduation from college, our one year wedding anniversary, and the announcement of a new addition to our family. We praise God for His sovereignty! There is no way that we would have chosen this time in our lives to be expecting a baby, but God is omniscient and knows what is best for us, even if it does seem to be a bit challenging. Philippians 4:6-7 are verses that have been good reminders that through our communion with God, we are given a peace that doesn’t make sense given the situation. We have many reasons (humanly speaking) to worry and to fret, but we have an even greater reason to simply rest in the promises of God.  We know that we are in His will and we know that He will glorify Himself through the circumstances that we encounter.

In three days we will begin a trip that will cover almost half the country on our way from Northern Wisconsin to Southern California. We will be taking up a new ministry opportunity there with a small local church.  We are excited to see what God will do in the next few years. 

Pujols: More Than The Game

               This book was of special interest to me for three reasons. First, I am a longtime baseball fan and Albert Pujols has been one of the most outstanding players of the past decade. Secondly, I have heard rumors that Pujols was of the Christian faith, as am I, and wanted to know for sure. Lastly, I was curious, supposing he was a Christian, what his view of sports was. It could be that he simply loved the game or that he looked at it as a means by which to share Christ.

                The book did far more than answered my questions and satisfied the curiosities that I had. Scott Lamb and Tim Ellsworth are great writers and I have long respected Lamb for his stand of biblical doctrine and philosophy.

                What impressed me most about Pujols is that he is a solid Christian and that he is not afraid to use his “platform” of baseball to find opportunities to share the gospel with others. Pujols also has a passion for down syndrome children that stems from his love for God and family.

                I would definitely recommend this book especially to those who have a love for sports and sports ministry. You will be challenged, inspired, and rebuked by the life of Albert Pujols.

What do all of these people have in common?

"What do all of these people have in common?

Benjamin Keach
Hanserd Knollys
William Kiffin
Howel Harris
Daniel Rowland
Christmas Evans.
Jonathan Edwards
George Whitefield
J.P. Boyce.
John Eliot
David Brainerd
William Carey
Adoniram Judson
The translators of the Geneva Bible and the King James 1611.
John Bunyan
John Newton
Augustus Toplady
William Cowper
Joseph Hart
J.C. Ryle
D.M. Lloyd
J.C. Philpot
B.H. Carroll
Henry Mahan.
Matthew Henry
John Calvin
John Gill
William Hendriksen,
Herman Bavinck
Louis Berkhof
J.L. Dagg
Charles Hodge and his son
A.A., A.W. Pink
William Shedd
Cornelius Van Til
Gerhardus Vos
B.B. Warfield
Thomas Watson

Answer: Calvinistic Soteriology."

Critique of Brian McLaren

I recently was made aware of a website that offered free books to anyone who would read them and post a 200 word review on their blog and on a retail website. As I am always on the lookout for ways to build my library at little to no cost I jumped on the opportunity. The site lets you browse 10-15 different books and lets you choose the one that you want to receive and review. When I first signed up the selection of books was relatively uninteresting, but I did find a book that was the opener for a series on the "Ancient Practices." This book was authored by Brian McLaren. At the time I did not know much about him. I had heard his name associated with the Emergent Church Movement, but other than that knew nothing about him.

Some are of the opinion that a Conservative Christian should not be reading books that come from such a radically liberal camp, but I disagree on that point. I feel that it is good to be exposed to what they have to offer and to what they are teaching. My reason for this opinion is that there will be people in our churches and communities that find the insights provided by the Emergent camp to be very "helpful" and "beneficial" to their Christian life. Not all believers are discerning readers so it is necessary for Pastors and leaders in the church to be at least acquainted with what these people are reading when they pick up a book that comes from these circles. There are some things that we can learn from them (though it is typically very little) and some teachings that we need to be quite wary of because they sound ever so close to biblical truth but in reality undermine the authority of scripture.

I say all this to say that I was fairly optimistic when I picked up the book Finding Our Way Again: A Return to the Ancient Practices, by McLaren. The first chapter didn’t seem to present or indicate that there was any kind of problem with his theology. In that first chapter he introduced the problem that he desired to address. His claim was basically that Christianity had become a system of belief that had little or no effect on the personal everyday lives of those who claimed to adhere to it. I cannot disagree with his assessment of the problem. I am sad to say that many of those who claim to be Christians do not live like it; they bear no fruit; and they are miserable in their sin. McLarens solution, though, is where his true colors start flying. He claims that we ought to utilize the practices of ancient Christian’s (he uses the term “Christian” loosely so as to include those from Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, as well as Muslims) as a “footpath toward a life that is truly alive.” This pathway is not one specific “way,” but could be any number of different ways or paths to the one end of living “a life that is truly alive.” He says nothing about biblically living a life that is pleasing to God. He says nothing about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. He says nothing about the grace of God that brings men into a right relationship with God. McLaren apparently does not think too highly of scripture.

After reading the book I did a little research on McLaren and found that he could be considered to be anything, but a biblical Christian. He denies the truth that Christ is the only way, truth, and life and believes that people can come to the Father by means other than through Jesus Christ alone. Therefore, I don’t think that McLaren is even saved. He claims that men like Ghandi (a Hindu) sought to follow the way of Christ without identifying themselves with Christ. Last I checked that was completely unbiblical. One that does not “take up his cross and follow after Me (Christ) is not worthy of Me,” (Matt. 10:38). McLaren says that it is “advisable in many circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts.” How can one truly be a follower of Christ and not forsake those beliefs that are contrary to Christ?

My Conclusion:

McLaren is essentially a “postmodern Christian,” which is no Christian at all. He holds that we cannot objectively and absolutely know truth and that there is not absolute and exclusive way to God. He is NOT a Christian and should NOT be considered to be an authority on any topic relating to Christian/Biblical Theology or Christian living. He knows nothing of what it means to be a true follower of Christ. I think it is safe to say that Brian McLaren is what Paul calls a "false-teacher."

I am not saying that you ought never to read anything written by him. I wouldn’t suggest it unless you are able and willing to read with a biblically discerning spirit. His books are great places to develop your critical thinking skills, but are terrible if you are looking for something to help you grow in Christ.

2 Timothy 2:15

            “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Book Review

Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, by Brian McLaren

                In his book Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, Brian McLaren intended to address Christians and encourage them to “rediscover the Christian faith as a transforming way of life.” His goal was (and is) noble, his assessment of the problem was clear, but his solution was vague and far from Biblical. McLaren claims the Christian faith as his own, but throughout the book makes it clear that he considers the Christian faith to be anything but exclusive in its truth claims. He says that “the way – Jewish torah, Christian gospel, or Muslim deen – leads us toward the peace, wisdom, and joy that we seek.” By this he essentially says that each of these ways, which are drastically different from each other, are equally valid ways of reaching that “peace, wisdom, and joy that we seek.”

                McLaren claims that the problem with Christianity (by “Christianity” he means Muslims, Catholics, and any other religion that is remotely similar) is that it has become nothing more than a “system of belief” and that it needs to be more or a “way of life.” I couldn’t agree more, but he offers little to no Biblical support for his methods of change which are basically doing simplistic rituals to help yourself do better. The book is basically a self-help book with the façade of being Christian in nature. McLaren is a modern-day false-teacher and his teaching should not be taken seriously.

What about Worship?

Over the Christmas break I had two main goals that I wanted to accomplish.

First, I wanted to seek the Lord's will for the next step in ministry for my wife and I. The goal of seeking was successfully accomplished! Now we are continuing to wait on the Lord for guidance. We were presented with a few different options and now we are searching each one out in faith that God will point us to the right one.

My second goal over the break was to conduct a personal study on worship as it pertains to the individual as well as to the corporate worship setting. Going into the study I had a general theology of worship in my head, but most of that theology had come from the way that I had been taught growing up. I had never taken the time to do a personal, specific study in the area of worship. My study is ongoing, as it will be for some time, but I have learned much in just the few weeks of digging.

The first thing that I learned is that worship is more about the heart than it is anything else. One can go through the motions of worship and have all their externals looking good and have their heart far from God. This is the type of worship that Christ condemns in Matthew 15 when he says "this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Their outward actions and words proclaimed the praises of God, but they had no love for him in their hearts. True, biblical worship stems from a heart that has a passion for and is devoted to God and God alone.

The second thing I learned is that worship is no confined to any specific time or place. This is a "no brainer" for most on the intellectual level, but on the practical level most of us do confine our worship to a specific time and place. The Sunday Morning Worship Service is where we typically confine our worship to. Either that or the musical portion of each service. It is where we "sing our worship and praise to God." While it is true that the Sunday morning service is a time of worship and it is also true that the musical portion of any service is also worship, worship cannot and should not be confined to these times. In John 4 Christ tells the Samaritan woman that neither of the two mountains that she had mentioned would be the "place of worship," but rather worshipers would worship in "spirit." That is to say that worship will not be tied down to any specific time or place. Worship comes out of a heart that rejoices in who God is and that worship can flow at any time. Actually it should flow all the time.When we realize this truth we are confonted with the question, "why corporate worship?" If worship is not confined to those times when the church body meets together then why do we meet together at all? That's a good question and one that I wrestled with. Corporate worship is a display of the unity that the church body has in Christ. We gather as one body to celebrate Christ and worship God through both the singing and the preaching.

Thirdly, I learned that worship must be done in truth. This also come from John 4 and Christ's discussion with the woman at the well. Christ said that the Father is seeking true worshipers who would worship him in spirit and in truth. The fact that the Father is seeking such worshipers gives us an idea as to how important these two principles (worshiping in spirit and in truth) are. When Christ says that we must worship the Father in truth he is saying that we must worship him in light of who he really is. We must have an accurate view of God  if we are to worship him correctly. It would do us no good and it would bring God no honor to worship him for his holiness if he were not holy. The same goes for his justice, mercy, grace, and love; or any other attribute. If we worship him for something that he is not then he receives no glory from it. We must worship God according to the true revelation of himself.

There is much more that I have learned and I'm sure there is much more that I will learn, but these are just some beginning thoughts.

Questions

Recently someone commented on one of my blog posts under the name “Anonymous” with the following question: “I was wondering why you are a regular endorser of calvinism and reformed theology?” Since my post was simply relaying a free Kindle book offer which only lasted for a couple of days I deleted the post within two or three days of posting it. Therefore, I did not see this question on my blog dashboard until I had already deleted the post from the regular message board which prohibited me from replying to this person directly in the post. Since I am unable to do that, I will take this post to briefly answer the question that was posed.

First, why do I regularly endorse Calvinism? That is an interesting question because my regular endorsement of it goes only as far as the free Kindle book offers that I post. The same goes for Reformed Theology. Yes, I do believe in the Doctrines of Grace because they are in the Bible and if calling me a Calvinist helps you to identify me with that then so be it. Why do I support the Doctrines of Grace (Calvinism)? Because it is biblical and it is vital to our understanding of salvation and sanctification.

Second, why do I regularly endorse Reformed Theology? My primary endorsement of Reformed Theology comes, as with Calvinism, from the free Kindle book offers. In addition to those offers I do have a post endorsing Tabletalk Magazine which is published by Ligonier Ministries. Ligonier Ministries was founded by R.C. Sproul who is of the Reformed Tradition. My recommendation of R.C. Sproul himself and the magazine come from my interaction with both. I have read multiple books by Sproul and am a subscriber to Tabletalk Magazine and have been both greatly edified and challenged by each book and magazine. They are both firmly rooted in Bible teaching. The magazine, specifically, deals with the issues of Christianity in today’s culture better than any other magazine that I have come across. It deals with the issues in a biblical manner which means that it is both true to God’s Word and is relevant to our world and culture today.

I hope that answers the questions of “Anonymous.” If you would like to discuss this issue to a deeper level please email me at stephen.green@ni.edu.

PS. I also wouldn't mind knowing the identity of "Anonymous." You know who I am and it would be nice to know who I am interacting with.