December 11, 2006 by iMonk
The BHT has a regular banner quote, and this one was so good I wanted to share it with my readers over here.
The nominal Christian, then, will see Jesus as a name, a representative, a symbol, a personification, a prototype, a figure, a model, an exemplar for something else. The nominal Christian pays homage to something about Jesus, rather than worshiping the man himself. For this reason, nominal Christians will extol the moral teachings of Jesus, the faith of Jesus, the personality of Jesus, the compassion of Jesus, the world view of Jesus, the self-understanding of Jesus, etc. None of these worships Jesus as the Christ, but only something about him, something peripheral to the actual flesh-and-blood man. This is why when the almighty God came into the world in Jesus, he came as the lowest of the low, as weakness itself, as a complete and utter nothing, in order that men would be forced into the crucial decision about him alone and would not be able to worship anything about him. -Robert L. Short, “The Parables of Peanuts”
November 30, 2006 by iMonk
II Corinthians 6:3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
When you read the New Testament, you come across many chapters in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians where the church-planting apostle talks about ministry. As I’ve moved through a life in ministry, these passages have become some of the most vital and personal parts of scripture for me. [Continue reading]
November 15, 2006 by iMonk
This post is important. If you keep up with my journey, read this because what is going on with my ministry to Chinese students is becoming a major chapter in the deconstruction of my American Evangelicalism.
American Christian.
You didn’t like that did you? I don’t like it either. “American Christian” sounds idolatrous. It makes me want to hit the delete key and retype something like “a Christian, who happens to be an American.”
But I’m an American Christian. Whether I like it or not. I live in an American culture that has delivered Christ to me in the swaddling clothes of American religion, American culture, American values, the American imagination, American education, American language, American assumptions and an American view of reality.
To declare myself independent from this is to be purposely ignorant and naively arrogant. Every time I read the New Testament, I am an American reading and interpreting that New Testament. When I go to church, I am an American. When I apply my understanding of the gospel, I do it as an American. [Continue reading]
September 11, 2006 by iMonk
I’m looking at a promotional flyer for a typical American youth ministry ski retreat. I used to get these all the time when I was in the youth ministry biz at large Southern Baptist Churches. I don’t get this much anymore, which probably counts for how I started looking at this one with a different perspective.
It looks cool. Snowboards. Happy kids. Fireplaces. Fun. Food. Worship. Speakers.
Someone is going to pay about $300 a person for their young people to go for a skiing weekend. If the youth group has 30 kids, it’s 9k. Add in some the incidentals for the church (gas, leaders, insurance, etc.), it’s a $10,000 investment for the weekend. Lots of churches pay this kind of money all the time for their big-time youth ministry.
This youth event is a Christian event with a purpose. The themes for this ski retreat are all about radical discipleship. Extreme commitment. Change the world. Be the generation that God uses. Getting serious for God. Stop the Silence. Confront the Culture. Finish the Work. Good titles. [Continue reading]
September 7, 2006 by iMonk
As far as this blog goes, Joel Osteen posts have been good business. The largest traffic in the history of IM came from my original posts about “the smiling preacher.” I have it on good authority that, sometime in the near future, my famous Joel Osteen post is going to be getting some large attention. I thought it would be a good time to revisit Mr. Osteen, and update my one excursion into the sport of watchblogging. [Continue reading]
August 4, 2006 by iMonk
Ann Out Of Place
This afternoon I listened to Ann Coulter being interviewed on TBN. Not CNN. TBN. The Paul Crouch/Jan Crouch fashion show and soap opera that you can’t look away from. Yes, that TBN. The one with Creflo, Joel, General Joyce, Kenneth and Gloria, Kim, Matt and hundreds of very, very uncool people with shocking attractions to hair-styles from other planets.
There sat Ann Coulter, blonde babe darling of the hardcore far right, loathed and hated enemy of all things liberal, author of the new hit Godless, a book I haven’t read, but whose reviews tell me is an assault on the left as the “anti-God” side in American politics. There sat Ann on the same couch as hundreds of Pentecostal preachers and well-dress Apostles to America’s women, talking to Paul Crouch, Jr.
There has been a bit of a blogosphere dust-up regarding exactly what Ann’s religious commitments might be. Based on my limited knowledge, it appears to me that Ann is either a cradle Christian occasionally returning to church or one who is in what some evangelicals might call modest “seeker” mode, though she certainly seems sold on some aspects of historic, orthodox Christianity. She’s read more than a few things, articulates the content very well, but when she gets to the experiential side, she seems, shall we say, somewhat less than convincing. [Continue reading]
July 15, 2006 by iMonk
“In the United States culture has transformed Christ, as well as all other religions found within these shores. In every aspect of the religious life, American faith has met American culture” and American culture has triumphed.” -Alan Wolfe (HT to Glenn Lucke) [Continue reading]
July 1, 2006 by iMonk
Read Two Books. Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, an absolutely wonderful book, and John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. The writing of Gordon Macdonald is also good in this area.
What I mean are leaders, so excuse the sexist language, but I’m wanting to get at something the Bible talks about a lot using Psalm 118:8 and similar verses: It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. Evangelicals are trusting more and more in men, what they can do, what they say and where they are leading. [Continue reading]
June 29, 2006 by iMonk
Anyone interested in this series of posts would want to read The Great Giveaway by David Fitch.
I want to begin in what will seem an odd direction, but it is important to remember some basic characteristics of the church if we are going to see the effect of idolatry on it.
Christianity is a movement; it is a cross-cultural, church planting movement. That movement is an outflowing of the truth we call the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a movement that teaches, proclaims, ministers, worships, congregationalizes, missionalizes and evangelizes the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [Continue reading]
June 27, 2006 by iMonk
In this series, Michael briefly examines the idolatries that have infected evangelicalism, especially the Southern Baptist Convention.
Previous Posts: American Idolatry: With God On Our Side
A previous IM essay on a similar topic is “Christianity: Silly or Serious?”
Entertainment. Entertainment is an idolatry that has become so much a part of evangelicalism that you almost can’t talk about it. Unlike God and Country patriotism, which is something you can point at and say “There it is. Let’s discuss it,” entertainment has become part of everything evangelicals do. [Continue reading]
June 25, 2006 by iMonk
Michael begins a new series on American Evangelical Idolatries. A similar IM essay is eric rigney’s “Christianity and Patriotism.”
We were driving home from a visit to Richmond, Kentucky when I stopped at a Dairy Queen in Mckee for a few moments. As I was leaving, I noticed this sign painted on the side of a van next to my parked car.
Faith in God and Commitment to Christ is (sic) Our Nation’s Greatest Source of Victory.
Here in eastern Kentucky, patriotism runs high. Though Democrats and the Left like to act as if the poor in Appalachia are their sympathizers, the truth is that I have never seen an anti-war sign anywhere in eastern Kentucky, and I travel extensively. “Support Our Troops” is everywhere, because those troops are the sons, daughters, grandchildren and neighbors of thousands of mountain families.
This support for the troops may co-exist with various degrees of appreciation or disagreement with the war in Iraq. Frankly, the average person in these environs hasn’t moved past an emotional reaction to 9-11. Economics and social realities make the military a good choice for many people, and the pride in the military is real and sincere. [Continue reading]
