The Museum of Idolatry: Relevancy EPIC FAIL!

The Scandal of the Public Evangelical | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

The Scandal of the Public Evangelical
What we really have to offer the world.
Mark Galli | posted 7/02/2009 09:10AM

It’s been a tough couple of months for evangelical public figures. We discovered that Carrie Prejean, Miss California, sudden heroine in the gay marriage debate, posed nude for the cameras to kick-start her modeling career.

Then there were the Gosselins, a seemingly devout couple who were sacrificially raising a “ginormous” family on reality TV for all to see their Christian witness. They have decided to divorce. They mouthed the usual mantra, about doing it for the sake of the kids—and the hearts of the devout nationwide sank in despair.

You Supply the Caption #118 – purgatorio

You Supply the Caption #118

The Next Big Things via www.christianitytoday.com

Boy, I hope he is really off in his predictions

The Next BIG Things

I’ve
been giving a lot of thought to the state of the church as we enter a
new year. In these uncertain, times we naturally look to reliable and
wise voices to guide us through the fog. And who is more reliable and
wise than yours truly? To help you plan ahead, I’ve compiled my list of
the top five predictions to watch for in 2009.

The next BIG word: Post-Missional
There was a time when everything was “postmodern.” Then we all
“emerged.” Now it’s nearly impossible to find a ministry that isn’t
passionately “missional.” But in 2009, I predict the truly innovative
ministries will be “post-missional.” No one will actually know what
post-missional means, but the word will become ubiquitous, finding its
way into the subtitles of at least 34 percent of all ministry books
published in 2009.

The next BIG outreach trend: The 30-Day Alcohol Challenge
A number of churches have gotten enormous attention for variations of
the 30-Day Sex Challenge. These ministries have tried to attract the
sexually-charged unchurched by proclaiming that Christians have better
sex and more of it. In this “more is more” philosophy of Christian
liberty, I predict the next hot outreach trend will focus on alcohol as
a way of deconstructing the church’s tee-totaling reputation. Pastors
will challenge church members over 21 to drink every day for a month—an
expensive proposition for Lutherans who only drink imports.

The next BIG book: REVEAL 3: You Go, I’m Staying Right Here.
The Willow Creek Association published REVEAL: Where Are You? in 2007. Last year brought REVEAL 2: Follow Me. In 2009 I predict we’ll see the publication of a third book in the series, REVEAL 3: You Go, I’m Staying Right Here.
The new book will outline why changes to Willow’s ministry strategy
really aren’t, and how it’s more seeker-sensitive than ever.

The next BIG celebrity pastor: Rod Blagojevich
I predict that after the embattled, corrupt governor of Illinois is
forcibly removed from office, he will have a “come to Jesus” moment at
the federal penitentiary. He will emerge with a new mission and one of
the most marketable conversion stories since Stephen Baldwin’s. Because
of his bountiful mane, Brother Blago (as he’ll be known) will likely
end up a televangelist.

The next BIG catch phrase: “Jesus is my bailout plan”
With the government issuing bailouts to banks, mortgage brokers, and
the Big 3, I predict that the “bailout” language will quickly be
adapted to Christian T-shirts and bumper stickers. Other possible
phrases to be seen in ‘09: “My 401k is in Heaven,” “Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit: These Big 3 Don’t Need a Bailout,” and “SEC: Secured
Eternally in Christ.”

Url Scaramanga is the moderator of Out of Ur.

Walk the Aisle | Christian History

Story Behind
Walk the Aisle
Popularized by frontier camp meetings and Charles Finney’s “anxious bench,” the altar call became an evangelistic staple of American churches.
Douglas A. Sweeney and Mark C. Rogers

Walk the Aisle

The pastor closes his sermon: “The Holy Spirit bids you come. The congregation, praying, hoping, expectant, bids you come. On the first note of the first stanza, come down one of these stairways, down one of these aisles. May angels attend you. May the Holy Spirit of God encourage you. May the presence of Jesus walk by your side as you come, while we stand and while we sing.” And come they do. Week after week, in churches all across the America—and other parts of the world—scenes like this play out at the end of thousands of sermons. The congregation stands and sings “Just As I Am” or “Come Just as You Are.” Sinners walk the aisle and pray for salvation.

This common evangelistic method, known as the altar call or the public invitation, has not always been around. Successful evangelists such as George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley never gave an altar call. In fact, they did not even know what it was. They invited their hearers passionately to come to Christ by faith and regularly counseled anxious sinners after their services. But they did not call sinners to make a public, physical response after evangelistic appeals. So where did the altar call come from? When did it begin?

http://wallbuilders.com/downloads/newsletter/VotersGuide.pdf

Ray Boltz Comes Out | Liveblog | Christianity Today

Ray Boltz Comes Out
Mark Moring

Ray Boltz, who sold about 4.5 million records before retiring from Christian music a few years ago, came out of the closet Friday to announce that he’s gay.

In an interview with the gay magazine The Washington Blade, Boltz said he came out to his family and some close friends in December 2004, but only now decided to go public with the news.

“I’d denied it ever since I was a kid,” Boltz, 55, told the magazine. “I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’”

One reason Boltz decided to come out now might be because he’s performing Sunday at Jesus Metropolitan Community Church in Indianapolis, and then next Sunday, Sept. 21, at the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C. Both congregations are a part of a denomination that embraces the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community.
Boltz is perhaps best known for his song “Thank You,” about a dream in which a Christian thanks the Sunday school teacher who led him to Jesus. It was the GMA song of the year in 1990. Other Boltz hits include “Watch the Lamb,” “The Anchor Holds,” and “I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb.” (see rest of article)

Letterman’s Top Ten Signs Barack Obama is Overconfident

From the Late Show with David Letterman, a “Top Ten” list written for the July
29 show, but edited out for time from what aired yet accidentally posted on
the show’s Web site, the “Top Ten Signs Barack Obama is Overconfident.” Late
Show home page: lateshow.cbs.com

For video of Letterman presenting this list: lateshow.cbs.com

10. Proposed bill
to change Oklahoma to “Oklobama”

9. Offered Bush
20 bucks for the “Mission Accomplished” banner

8. Asked guy at
Staples, “Which chair will work best in an oval-shaped office?”

7. The affair
with Barbara Walters

6. Having head
measured for Mount Rushmore

5. Guy sits around
eating soup all day

4. He’s voting
for Nader

3. Offered McCain
a job in gift shop at Obama Presidential Library

2. Announced his running
mate will be Andy Dick

1. Been cruising
for chicks with John Edwards

From http://www.mediaresearch.org/

Great little video

Our good friend won a contest to see who would sing the “Star Spangled Banner” with the Charlotte Symphony for the 4th of July concert.

Josh is a graduate of Southeastern FWB College and Bob Jones University . He is the music minister and associate pastor at Cramerton FWB Church in Cramerton, NC.

Here are some links to the contest and to Josh Baer’s entry and successful audition.

 www.gastongazette.com

http://www.charlottesymphony.org/emailclub/sing.htm

Here he is singing

National Anthem with Charlotte Symphony from Golf Guy on Vimeo. 

Hey man! Congratulations again!

An excellent summary of a more disturbing trend over at www.christianitytoday.com

It has not been that long ago since the online editor was praising her nightly ritual of watching sitcoms and going to bed with Jay and Dave in her editorial section at the start of the weekly Christianity Today updates. I wrote a nice email asking if she was serious or just being hyperbolous for effect. I am still waiting on a reply.

Click below and see the excellent synopsis.

Sex and the CT « The Shepherd’s Scrapbook

Sex and the CT

Here’s an update on the Sex and the City and Christianity Today movie review ordeal…

Sex and the City was an HBO television series (1998-2004) that won 7 Emmy Awards.

The SATC movie (rated R) was released on May 30 with more of the same, what the Chicago Tribune labels “outré fashion, casual sex and dubious cocktails” and “plenty of eye candy for the ladies (think naked men and haute couture).” Not your typical Christian movie.

However, Christianity Today’s Camerin Courtney wrote a fairly explicit and positive review, giving SATC 3 stars (CT gave Prince Caspian 2.5 stars).

People criticized CT for positively reviewing a “pornographic movie.”

Carolyn McCulley (a CT contributor herself) writes an exceptional response to the CT review: “the pot with the proverbial frog has boiled over. The changes that have come about with the introduction of ’sex positive’ or ‘porn positive’ third-wave feminism, beginning in the early 1990s, have now so thoroughly permeated our culture that even evangelicals fail to see the trend or the danger.”

CT responded to the swarm of criticism by defending the original review.

Then yesterday Ted Slater of Boundless called CT to *repent* over the review (and the defense of the review) in an article simply titled “Christianity Today Relishes Sexual Perversion.”

Baptist Press – Prof withdraws from ethics society for its ‘honoring sin’
Prof withdraws from ethics society for its ‘honoring sin’

Posted on Jun 18, 2008 | by Lauren Crane

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)–Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary ethics professor Daniel Heimbach has withdrawn his membership from the Society of Christian Ethics after the group took a stand in what he calls “honoring sin over Scripture” regarding homosexuality.

Heimbach said new guidelines soon to be adopted by the society will make it impossible for any member to remain in good standing who does not affirm homosexuality. After 24 years of membership in the Society of Christian Ethics, Heimbach said the group has now gone so far in its view and defense of homosexuality as to disqualify members who defend and apply biblical morality.

The membership of the group now totals more than 1,000 people from the United States, Canada and Europe. According to its website, the group aims to “promote scholarly work in Christian ethics and in the relation of Christian ethics to other traditions of ethics … and to provide a community of discourse and debate for those engaged professionally within these general fields.”

While Heimbach said he has remained a member of the group to be a “beacon in the darkening circumstances,” the time has come for him to withdraw his membership.

“The reason I am withdrawing now, and not before, is that only now is the SCE adopting ’standards of professional conduct’ that go so far as to disqualify membership based on defending and applying biblical morality,” Heimbach said, in reference to the amendments made to the Standards of Professional Conduct. They will be voted on in January 2009.

“It is ironic that, having assiduously avoided favoring any one moral understanding over others for nearly 50 years, the SCE should now see no problem with enforcing one view over others by conditioning membership on presuming to accept the moral legitimacy (requiring all to actually ‘respect’ and ‘honor’) of self-justified character and behavior God declares to be categorically wicked,” Heimbach said.
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