I’m not trying to promote a pile-on here, but this story effectively points out something I’ve experienced many times.

It’s a story about Christians justifying rudeness with religion. Here’s the short version, but you’ll want to read all of what the original poster had to say. [Continue reading]

I’ve both defended and critiqued Mark Driscoll here at IM. He’s one of the good guys, and for those of you who don’t know what God has done through him in Seattle, here’s a Nightline piece that does a good job letting Driscoll be Driscoll.

I especially want Catholic, Orthodox and other friends to get an intro to Mark Driscoll. He’s a significant person in the current version of evangelicalism. His churches won’t collapse. Solid. (No nit picking please. Keep the comments civil.)

This week: Douglas Wilson: Heretic, Know it All Clergy, Thoughts on the Coming Evangelical Collapse.

Randy Stonehill. The new CD, Paradise Sky.

Our sponsors are: 60 Ways to Leave Your Mother…Alone. A comic by Michael Buckley.

New Reformation Press. Download new teaching by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt.

Zaccheus Press- Fine Catholic Books, including Priestblock 25487.

Want to be an IM advertiser? Want over 450,000+ unique visitors with close to 5.5 million page views last year to see your ad on the sidebar? IM has the most diverse readership in the blogosphere. I am #12 on Relevant Christian’s list of blogs read by Christian leaders…ahead of some of the biggest names in the blogosphere. Get your product out there to a loyal audience that supports this site. Contact me if you are interested. Outstanding rates available on request.

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Liturgical Gangsta Dr. Wyman Richardson is a Southern Baptist pastor in Georgia. He recently was invited to do a “devotional” for the Georgia House of Representatives. Looks like preaching to me. It’s a great talk, and while we don’t have an mp3, the text is on his website at Walking Together.

Outstanding job, Dr. Richardson. For a guy with a criminal background, you really sounded like a preacher. What a great message.

Read: “Jesus is Lord.”

Welcome to IM’s popular regular feature, “The Liturgical Gangstas,” a panel discussion among different liturgical traditions represented in the Internet Monk audience.

Who are the Gangstas?

Father Ernesto Obregon is an Eastern Orthodox priest.
Rev. Peter Vance Matthews is an Anglican priest and founding pastor of an AMIA congregation.
Dr. Wyman Richardson is a pastor of a First Baptist Church (SBC) and director of Walking Together Ministries, a resource on church discipline.
Alan Creech is a Roman Catholic with background in the Emerging church and spiritual direction. (Alan’s not a priest. If he is, his wife and kids need to know.)
Rev. Matthew Johnson is a United Methodist pastor.
Rev. William Cwirla is a Lutheran pastor (LCMS) and one of the hosts of The God Whisperers, which is a podcast nearly as good as Internet Monk Radio.

Here’s this week’s question: Someone comes to your office and asks you, “When were you saved?” What do you say? And wow….do we have a variety of answers for you! [Continue reading]

UPDATE: Great Minds Think Alike: Jared Wilson heard Tim Keller recently. Here’s the quote from Jared’s summary:

Related to that, he predicted, in response to someone’s question in the Q&A time, that in one generation’s time, there won’t even be the nominal Christianity in the South that there is now. The megachurches will flounder and people will just stop going. Now they are only going b/c it is somewhat expected, part of the culture, or as some moral exercise to “stay right” or raise “good families” or do what their parents did or to “connect” with other Christian consumers.

Keep reading IM, Dr. Keller. (That’s a joke.)

3. Is all of this a bad thing?

I’ve received many notes and emails over this series of posts, and I’m glad that it has been provocative and discussion-producing.

Is the coming evangelical collapse entirely a bad thing? Or is there good that will come from this season of the evangelical story?

One of the most encouraging developments in recent evangelicalism is the conviction that something is very wrong. One voice that has been warning American evangelicals of serious problems is theologian Michael Horton. For more than 20 years, Horton has been warning that evangelicals have become something almost unrecognizable in the flow of Christian history. From the prophetic Made in America to the incredible In The Face of God to the most recent Christless Christianity, Horton has been saying that evangelicals are on the verge of theological/ecclesiastical disaster. [Continue reading]

I’m going assume that you either know, or can find on the net, the basic story of who is Francis Beckwith and why he is a person of interest in the current evangelical-Roman Catholic encounter. Let’s just say that when one of the leading academic ethicists in evangelicalism and the President of the Evangelical Theological Society reverts to Roman Catholicism, it’s a story worth reading.

I want to get to the heart of my reaction to this book.

It’s a very good book. Short. Well-written. Quite personable. No axes to grind at all. Gracious to everyone. No name calling. No apologies or triumphalism. Lots of good questions, insight and humility. If you want to spend an couple of hours with a very intelligent, articulate Catholic revert from the heart of evangelicalism, this is a great book. [Continue reading]

2. What will be left after the evangelical collapse?

a. An evangelicalism far from its historical and doctrinal core. Expect evangelicalism as a whole to look more and more like the pragmatic, therapeutic, church growth oriented megachurches that have defined success. The determination to follow in the methodological steps of numerically successful churches will be greater than ever. The result will be, in the main, a departure from doctrine to more and more emphasis on relevance, motivation and personal success….with the result being churches further compromised and weakened in their ability to pass on the faith.

For some time, we’ve been at a point that the decision to visit a particular evangelical church contained a fairly high risk of not hearing the Biblical Gospel. That experience will be multiplied and expanded in the years to come. Core beliefs will become less and less normative and necessary in evangelicalism. [Continue reading]

I’m not a Prophet or a Prophet’s Son. I can’t see the future. I’m usually wrong. I’m known for over-reacting. I have no statistics. You probably shouldn’t read this. The “Gracious God” post depressed me.

Part 1: The Coming Evangelical Collapse, and Why It Is Going to Happen
Part 2: What Will Be Left When Evangelicalism Collapses?
Part 3: Is This A Good Thing?

My Prediction

I believe that we are on the verge- within 10 years- of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity; a collapse that will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and that will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West. I believe this evangelical collapse will happen with astonishing statistical speed; that within two generations of where we are now evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its current occupants, leaving in its wake nothing that can revitalize evangelicals to their former “glory.”

The party is almost over for evangelicals; a party that’s been going strong since the beginning of the “Protestant” 20th century. We are soon going to be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century in a culture that will be between 25-30% non-religious. [Continue reading]

I’m not the usual blogosphere fanboy of John Macarthur. I appreciate the good contribution he made to my own life, especially right after seminary. Several of his books and talks are outstanding. I love his take on Church/State issues. (See his series on Titus.) I appreciate books like Ashamed of the Gospel and many others.

But I have a lot of disagreements, too. I’m not a dispensationalist. I don’t get his view of the relationship of faith and works at all. I think he’s got some law/Gospel issues, but so do a lot of us. I’m sure we’d disagree on plenty of other things. With whatever criticisms I have, and some of the critical comments I’ve made on here regarding his views on the Gospel and culture (that tie comment still gets me), I still count him as way up the list of good guys.

So this segment of Macarthur on TBN is something to be savored. Yeah, that TBN. Apostasy central. Kirk Cameron feeds him the ball and Macarthur dunks it more than once. Yeah, I don’t like Hard to Believe and there’s some quibbles here, but seriously folks, how many in the TBN audience get THIS Gospel presented to them? Ever?

When Macarthur explains how Christ is our substitute and our righteousness, it’s just perfect.

I have to wonder what the regular TBN cast of prosperity pimps was doing while this interview was happening. Macarthur tells more truth in this segment than you generally hear from that stage in a decade. [Continue reading]

UPDATE: My essay “Our Problem With Grace” deals with some of the issues critical commenters are raising. I recall that Lloyd-Jones said that you can generally be sure that you’ve preached the Gospel when you’re accused of going too far in the direction of grace.

And just a few weeks ago, it was The Gospel and Legalism.

As always, dedicated to Fr. Robert Capon, a light for me upon the gracious face of God.

Religion #1:

God is mean, angry and easily provoked. From day 1, we’ve all been a disappointment, and God is–justly–planning to punish us forever. At the last minute, thanks to Jesus stepping in to calm him down, he decides to be gracious.

But don’t do anything to mess that up. Peace is fragile around here.

Religion #2

God is gracious, loving, kind, generous and open-hearted. He rejoices in us as his creations, and is grieved that our sins have made us his enemies and caused so much brokenness and pain. In Jesus, he shows us what kind of God he is and restores the joy that should belong to the children of such a Father. True to his promises, he will bless all people in Jesus, and restore the world by his resurrection victory.

You can’t do anything to mess this up. God’s got his heart set on a universe wide celebration. [Continue reading]

Catholic convert blogger Bryan Cross asks “Where is the visible Church Christ founded?”

Bryan says a lot of good and truthful things. He’s a fine theologian and an excellent Roman Catholic apologist. If you are the person we’ve been discussing all week, remember: it’s this question that will drive you batty, so read at your own risk.

Or go a different way. A way that just might save your sanity.

British Lutheran blogger (and BHT fellow) John H at Confessing Evangelical gives the sane and Biblical Lutheran answer to the question, and links you to several of his previous posts on the subject.

if that doesn’t stop the voices in your head, here’s some medicine that really has helped me. Alastair at Adverseria has been on blog hiatus for quite a while, but back in the day he did some writing on “The Denominational Church” that rescued me from being sucked into the apologetic vortex.

I’ve written another essay (March of 08) on this topic called “The Happy Enough Protestant.” I recommend it highly, but it doesn’t deal with depression.

I am going to write rather directly to those of you who feel that you are experiencing some measure of mental anguish, anxiety and depression in regard to theology and, especially, the church. I have in mind, particularly, those who are tormented about the so-called “Search for the true Church.” I’ll be relating at least some of this to the subject of depression, which has been a major part of the menu here at IM this past week.

1. Depression has a variety of causes, from strictly bio-chemical to completely event related. There is no simple, one-note description of depression. If you are confused about what is depression, find a diagnosed and successfully treated person and let them describe to you what depression was like. Read a few accounts of depression. Realize it’s not just being down or feeling bad. It is the closing in of the mind, hope, and clarity. It is a kind of abyss and it doesn’t give up easily. [Continue reading]

I’ve written quite a bit on the subject of mental illness/depression.

In 2005 I did an entire series on The Christian and Mental Illness.

In January of 07, I wrote about the issue of anti-depressant medication.

One of my favorite essays from the past recounts how my dad’s depression affected my life: The Boat in the Backyard.

Counseling psychologist Mike Benoit also wrote a guest piece on anti-depressant meds.

This week: A Note from God, and the iMonk goes a bit nuts over legalism.

Our sponsors are: 60 Ways to Leave Your Mother…Alone. A comic by Michael Buckley.

New Reformation Press. Download new teaching by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt.

Zaccheus Press- Fine Catholic Books, including Priestblock 25487.

Want to be an IM advertiser? Want over 450,000+ unique visitors with close to 5.5 million page views last year to see your ad on the sidebar? IM has the most diverse readership in the blogosphere. I am #12 on Relevant Christian’s list of blogs read by Christian leaders…ahead of some of the biggest names in the blogosphere. Get your product out there to a loyal audience that supports this site. Contact me if you are interested. Outstanding rates available on request.

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