Tim Ellsworth

A story in today’s Wall Street Journal addresses the issue of churches who take seriously the Bible’s instructions to practice church discipline.

While many Christians find such practices outdated, pastors in large and small churches across the country are expelling members for offenses ranging from adultery and theft to gossiping, skipping service and criticizing church leaders.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of churches are willing to obey the biblical commands to discipline wayward members. The story cites estimates from scholars that only 10-15 percent of Protestant evangelical churches practice church discipline.

And while many churches might be willing to discipline for offenses such as adultery, sadly, they’re not willing to discipline for such issues as “skipping service and criticizing church leaders.” I know a lot of churches that could have been spared so much heartache and division if the church had obediently and lovingly disciplined those who were habitual gossips and consistent critics of church leaders.

This is not a matter of interpretation, as the biblical commands to practice church discipline are abundantly clear. It’s a simple matter of obedience. And it’s too bad that so many churches are more concerned about offending some of their members than they are in promoting holiness.

Hat tip: Denny Burk

Kim Riddlebarger has an interesting post about Mike Huckabee and his confusion over his role as a minister and a candidate for public office.

When viewed from the perspective of the two kingdoms, every Christian is simultaneously a citizen of both kingdoms and our theological beliefs should inform how we behave as citizens. But there’s no distinction of kingdoms with Huckabee in a pulpit, and Huckabee’s “soldiers in God’s army” are people who will serve his political cause. In other words, they’ll vote for him and encourage others to do the same. Fine for a political rally. Not fine for a church service.

Hat tip: Larry

Larry wants to know if he overreacted to a halftime devotional at a recent Upwards basketball game for 1st-3rd graders.

However, leaving aside the theological issues around ‘Jesus loves everyone in the world’, my feeling is it is never OK to trivialize sin in this way. Even very young children are capable of understanding the holiness of God and the seriousness of sin. They must in fact understand that in my opinion before they can repent and be saved. Which brings me to another point, there was no mention at all of repentance - just Jesus loves you no matter what.

Go tell Larry what you think.

You’ve undoubtedly been awaiting with great anticipation the annual predictions from Pat Robertson, which he claims are inspired by God. So, for 2008, Pat says we’re in for a lot of worldwide violence, a U.S. recession and a stock market crash by 2010.

Quite the cheery chap, isn’t he?

“The Lord was saying that there’s going to be violence and chaos in the world,” Robertson said on his “700 Club” news-and-talk show.

“We’ve just begun to see what’s going to happen, and the nations are going to be convulsed with violence,” he said, citing as an example unrest in Pakistan after the death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Pat’s track record on these predictions is, shall we say, less than stellar — as Religion News Service points out. (For some reason, the RNS permalinks aren’t working, so this link takes you to the main page. To see their entire post, look for the one entitled “Pat’s Picks.”)

In 2007, he said the U.S. would be hit by a “major terrorist attack… The Lord didn’t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.” Robertson said God told him during a recent prayer retreat that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September.

In 2006, Robertson said the coasts of America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, will be lashed by storms. 2006 was unusual, say scientists, in that no major hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. In general, it was a very slow year for storms.

In 2005, Roberts said:”What I heard is that Bush is now positioned to have victory after victory and that his second term is going to be one of triumph, which is pretty strong stuff.” Bush’s approval ratings hover at less than 30 percent; I haven’t seen any great triumphs yet. You?

But old Pat keeps hacking away.

Albert Mohler writes about Richard Dawkins’ admission that he likes singing Christmas carols.

We can only wonder which Christmas carols are Richard Dawkins’ favorites. The sight of an avowed atheist joining in the Christmas chorus is a bit hard to imagine. At the same time, there is something comforting about the idea that even the world’s most famous atheist will move his lips to the songs that celebrate Christ’s birth. Perhaps those words will move from his lips to his head and his heart. We should pray that it might be so.

Scott Lamb reports on a developing situation in the Missouri Baptist Convention, where the Executive Board has prohibited church plants in partnership with Acts 29 from receiving any money from the MBC.

Scott writes:

Never mind the fact that Acts 29 church plants in Missouri are thriving.

I just wonder where all the church-planting police were 10-15 years ago when I resisted the siren song of Willowcreek and Saddleback, only to have it thrown up in my face by Baby-Booming pastors that I was an arrogant idiot who resisted the work of God in my generation if I didn’t buy into the seeker model.

And I do have to wonder if the MBC will be consistent and pass a reciprocal measure that says they do not want Cooperative Program dollars that come from such churches.

This polarizes the issue of Acts 29 to the point that it is hard to be able to give any critique or praise of the movement at all. To be sure, there is some of both that any movement rightfully deserves. However, a misguided motion like this just makes the battle lines get all laid down in all the wrong places.

A USA Today story reports on some of the trends in children’s Bibles, and the philosophies  behind them.

If you’re interested, see my recommendations for children’s Bibles.

Denny Burk has a good post today about Paul Janka, who was interviewed on NBC’s “Today Show” on Monday. Janka is a self-absorbed man-whore who claims more than 100 “conquests” of women.

What was remarkable about the interview, however, was the inability of anyone to make a definitive condemnation of Janka’s behavior. Meredith Vieira gave hints that she disapproved of his behavior, and a “sex addiction” therapist was brought in to show that Janka’s exploits could possibly be hurtful to women. Junka’s response was simply to say that he’s up-front with his intentions and that the women he “dates” are on board with his lechery.

Janka styled himself as living out authentic manhood, and neither Meredith Vieira nor the therapist could express an ounce of moral outrage, even though it seemed to be simmering beneath the surface. Their secularism and moral neutrality gave them no resources for doing so. In a culture that says that the only moral requirement of human sexuality is that it occur between consenting adults, there really isn’t any consistent basis for condemning Janka.

Rather than the false ideal of manhood that Janka is promoting, Burk points instead to the true image of masculinity that was embodied in Jesus Christ. Denny’s thoughts on the topic are well worth reading.

I’m thankful for my church.

I’m thankful for faithful elders who teach the Bible, and for members who support their leaders.

I’m thankful for a warm fellowship among my fellow church members — a fellowship that is not characterized by the backbiting, griping, slander and gossip that is prevalent in too many churches.

I’m thankful for the selflessness and the spirit of service and ministry that prevails, and that a selfish hunger for power is nowhere to be found among our congregation.

I’m thankful for my church’s emphasis on holiness, and that it cares for its members enough to discipline them when they fall into sin.

I’m thankful for my church’s commitment to God-centered worship.

I’m thankful for church members who care for me and my family.

I thank God for planting my family at Cornerstone. We are so blessed to be here.

Mitt Romney addressed Mormonism, religion and the presidency in his speech today in Texas.

“I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith, nor should he be rejected because of his faith,” Romney said at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, 90 miles from Kennedy’s speaking site in Houston.

“Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin,” Romney said.

He added: “If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest. A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.”

Oprah Winfrey will be teaching a New Age course on miracles on XM Radio beginning in January.

A lesson a day throughout the year will completely cover the 365 lessons from the Course in Miracles “Workbook.”

For example, Lesson #29 asks you to go through your day affirming that “God is in everything I see.” Lesson #61 tells each person to repeat the affirmation “I am the light of the world.” Lesson #70 teaches the student to say and believe “My salvation comes from me.”

Praise God that my salvation doesn’t come from me, because I’m too screwed up to make it happen.

Hat tip: Tyler

Albert Mohler has a helpful article about “The Golden Compass,” in which he addresses some of the concerns about the movie and how Christians should respond.

A good first step would be to take a deep breath. The Christian faith is not about to be toppled by a film, nor by a series of fantasy books. Pullman has an agenda that is clear, and Christians need to inform themselves of what this agenda is and what it means. At the same time, nothing would serve his agenda better than to have Christians speaking recklessly or unintelligently about the film or the books.

This is about the battle of ideas and worldviews. While Christians will not celebrate the release of this film, we should recognize the mixture of challenge and opportunity that comes with millions of persons watching this film and talking about the issues it raises. When the movie is mentioned in the workplace, in school, on the playground, or in the college campus, this is a great opportunity to show that Christians are not afraid of the battle of ideas.

A company called Fishermen has for sale a variety of Jesus figurines.

There’s Surfin’ Jesus:

Hoggin’ Jesus:

Peaceful Jesus:

Kickin’ Jesus:

And a few others. From company founder Eric Dyson:

I don’t have the words to really communicate how the creation of these figurines is changing my life, but I know it is keeping me on His path. When I see His inspiration in the different Christ figurines, it lifts my spirit. It fills me with courage. It opens my eyes to see Him in all things.

I don’t have the words, either.

Ray Van Neste offers some insights to young men about being men.

Hat tip: JT

Since our previous discussion about “The Golden Compass” seemed to be of interest to so many folks, here’s another thought-provoking article for you, courtesy of Jeffrey Overstreet, in Christianity Today.

It’s interesting to note that Pullman’s dismissal of Christianity skips over one little detail: Jesus. Pullman’s story never makes any attempt to explore or refute the claims and ministry and person of Christ. He has, in effect, set up a “straw God” rather than a “straw man,” and his fans are congratulating him for knocking down Pullman’s flawed perception of God rather than the God of Christianity. He’s not really undermining Christian belief as he thinks he is; he is undermining the abuse of authority, something altogether contrary to the gospel.

Pullman points to bad people as a way of saying that the faith is wrong. For examples of religious folk, he illustrates people who abuse power. That’s not God. And Christ would frown on the persecution carried out by The Magisterium. In the history of the church, followers of Christ have been persecuted and oppressed by others far more than the other way around. So when one of Pullman’s heroic characters, the ex-nun physicist Mary Malone, tells our heroes (in the third book) that “The Christian religion is a powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all,” well, she’s not talking about Christianity at all. She’s talking about Pullman’s misrepresentation of the church.

He answers such questions as “Should Christians be afraid of The Golden Compass?” “Do Pullman’s stories pose a threat to children?” “Is Pullman overrated? Is he a good storyteller?” etc.

He also provides some thoughts about how Christians should react to the movie:

Essentially, don’t behave in ways that the Magisterium in Pullman’s books would behave. You’ll just make his stories more persuasive, by confirming for the culture around us that Christians only really get excited when they’re condemning something.

Instead, respond with grace and love. And truth. Admit that, yes, Christians have committed grave sins in the name of Christ, and that those shameful misrepresentations of the gospel have made many people fearful of, and even repulsed by, the church. But Christians have been called to serve the oppressed, proclaim freedom for the captives, bring healing to the sick, to seek justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly, and to bring good news of “great joy.” And by God’s grace, many are living out that calling. They paint quite a different picture than what Pullman has painted.

You may not agree with all his conclusions, and judging from our other discussion on the topic, many of you won’t. Nonetheless, it’s still an article that’s worth your time and consideration.