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Brian McLaren continues to get it wrong

Mar 11th, 2010
by misterrichardson.
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The Christian Post has posted an interview with Brian McLaren on its website. He talks about his new book and a few other things like the difficulty of believing in hell or the problems with Biblical inerrancy. He tells us numerous times that the term “original sin” does not appear in the Bible.

This is the usual liberal two-step – step this way, talk about how difficult the Bible is; step that way, talk about how unenlightened the rest of us are. Of course, the meaning of it all is how McLaren (or whatever liberal is speaking) has figured all this out and is now sharing his wisdom with the unwashed masses. They all do this. It would be totally different if they said that the Bible was difficult and they needed help.

But the thing I want to zero in on is this – when all is said and done, these guys still don’t know how to read Scripture. Take for example the last part of the interview, where McLaren says this:

When I was a little boy, I memorized a verse from the book of Isaiah, though your sins be as scarlet they will be as white as snow and though they are as crimson they will be as wool. I memorized that verse as part of understanding the plan of salvation and then many many years later I was a pastor and I was preaching in Isaiah. And then I read that verse in context, I realized that verse in context was God complaining with the people that they had developed a whole approach to religion that ignored justice and care for the oppressed and care for the widow and the orphan. So I realized that when I had quoted that verse it had nothing to do with justice, the oppressed, the widow and the orphan. I’ve been taught that verse to fit into another narrative entirely. It had nothing to do with oppression and the poor. So it’s not in any way because I want to get us away from the Bible, I’m trying to be true to the Bible and to what God really wants from us.

The verse in question is Isaiah 1:18. So, for context, I would suggest reading all of chapter 1. And having read this chapter, could you honestly say that Judah “had developed a whole approach to religion that ignored justice and care for the oppressed and care for the widow and the orphan”?

Posted in: Bible, Christianity, Liberalism, Theology.
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Matthew 5:13

Mar 1st, 2010
by misterrichardson.
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The memory verse for Friday, March 5, is Matthew 5:13:

13You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

- NIV

Posted in: Bible.
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Matthew 5:11-12

Feb 22nd, 2010
by misterrichardson.
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Here’s the memory verses for Friday, February 26:

11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

- NIV

Posted in: Bible.
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Matthew 5:1-10

Feb 16th, 2010
by misterrichardson.
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Here’s the memory verses for Friday, February 19:

1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

- NIV

Posted in: Bible.
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Subjective truth vs. objective truth

Feb 6th, 2010
by misterrichardson.
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Objective truth, or that which is true no matter what anyone else says, always trumps subjective truth, or that which is true because I feel that it’s true. Of course, it is entirely possible that the truth that I so firmly believe and feel is also that same truth which is also objective. But I could also be entirely wrong if my standard for truth goes no further than myself.

Now add into this mix the debates about absolute truth. Some say their truth is the objective truth, others, with a totally different set of beliefs, say their truth is the objective truth. Even those who claim there is no objective truth assert that there is at least one objective truth (that there is no objective truth), but their position is absurd. Everyone, on some level, believes in some sort of objective truth.

This emphasis on objective truth is what motivated the Apostles of Jesus Christ to go out into all the world, preaching the gospel and making disciples. Jesus Christ was the truth, not a truth.

One of the weaknesses in the modern day church is that we have left off the preaching of objective truth and substituted something that won’t necessarily do the job, subjective truth. It may be true that Jesus has done something for me, but unless I understand the objective truth of Jesus Christ, I am not really going to understand what it is that He did. Sermons filled with endless stories about the preacher betray a very subjective view of the truth. You might get to know the preacher well, but you won’t really learn the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Jesus is not the best way for me, He is the only way for everyone. Jesus calls Himself the truth. Paul states that if anyone contradicts his preaching of Jesus Christ, then they’re wrong. Christians are not called to pick and choose truth based on “what works” – we are called to internalize the objective truth of the Scripture, which is our only infallible source for that truth.

I really believe that this breakdown in the teaching and preaching of objective truth is what causes so many of our teenagers to forsake the faith when they get older. It’s also why so many older people have no clue why they’re really going to church or living as they do. Many are doing and believing what seems right to them, only to be shaken in their beliefs later when something happens that doesn’t fit into their system of subjective truth. And once their foundation begins to shake, the structure of their lives is sure to fall. And when this shaking begins, it won’t matter how many Christian concerts you’ve been to, or how many buildings you’ve built in third world countries, or how many times you’ve walked an aisle and said the sinner’s prayer. You might hold subjective truth, but it won’t hold you.

However, the believer in God’s objective truth found in Jesus Christ will never fall. He may stumble, yes, but he will not fall. Why? Because if Christ is for us, who can be against us? The fact of Jesus Christ, the objective truth of Jesus Christ, is what will hold us when nothing else will. There is a difference between me gripping what I think is the truth, and the true truth gripping me.

This is the difference between subjective truth and objective truth.

Posted in: Christianity, Theology.
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This is why I love Voddie Baucham

Feb 5th, 2010
by misterrichardson.
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I have a very high view of the role of the worship leader. I view leading worship as a sort of pastoral responsibility to which one must be called, and for which one must be equipped. Unfortunately, we live in a time when every kid who knows five chords and ten songs thinks God has called him or her to be a worship leader. Hence, there is a flood of young, inexperienced, untrained, and often biblically illiterate worship leaders who have done nothing more than learn the top songs off of a few worship CD’s. This is a travesty!

…

A good voice and a love for God is not the sum total of a worship leader’s qualifications. Nor is it the ability to “move a crowd.” There is the question of the depth of one’s theology and how that depth is communicated in the songs one chooses to use, and how one chooses to use them. There is the ability to choose songs that are appropriate for the given audience and occasion. There is the ability to sense where God is leading and moving during a service, or a series of services (I.e. choosing response songs that suit the manner in which God is calling people to respond to what they’ve heard).

These are just a few things that must be taken into consideration. Unfortunately, they rarely enter into the decision of whom one will invite to lead worship. Often, the only questions asked are, “does he do the songs our people like?” and “does he sing well?” That is the type of shallow, carnal approach to ministry I try to avoid.

Source

Posted in: Christianity.
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Unless the Father draw him

Jan 30th, 2010
by misterrichardson.
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No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)

Here the emphasis is on the divine decree of predestination carried out in history. When Jesus refers to the divine drawing activity, he employs a term which clearly indicates that more than moral influence is indicated. The Father does not merely beckon or advise, he draws! The same verb occurs also in John 12:32, where the drawing activity is ascribed to the Son; and further, in 18:10; 21:6,11; Acts 16:19; 21:30; and James 2:6. The drawing of which these passages speak indicate a very powerful – we may even say, an irresistible – activity. To be sure, man resists, but his resistance is ineffective. It is in that sense that we speak of God’s grace as being irresistible. The net full of big fishes is actually drawn or dragged ashore (John 21:6,11). Paul and Silas are dragged into the forum (Acts 16:19). Paul is dragged out of the temple (Acts 21:30). The rich drag the poor before the judgment-seats (James 2:6). Returning now to the Fourth Gospel, Jesus will draw all men to himself (12:32) and Simon drew his sword, striking the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear (18:10). To be sure, there is a difference between the drawing of a net or a sword, on the one hand, and of a sinner, on the other. With the latter God deals with as a responsible being. He powerfully influences the mind, will, heart, the entire personality. These, too, begin to function in their own right, so that Christ is accepted by a living faith. But both at the beginning and throughout the entire process of being saved, the power is ever from above; it is very real, strong, and effective; and it is wielded by God himself!

- William Hendriksen, Commentary on John.

Posted in: Bible, Theology.
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