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Matthew 11:20-30 is one of the most sobering, yet hopeful sections of Scripture in all of Matthew. Jesus gives a stern warning to three cities (Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum) that should have repented because of his testimony. Listen to what he says:

Matthew 11:20 Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. 21″Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22″Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

23″And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. 24″Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Why is Jesus speaking so harshly against these cities? Because they would not repent! Their hearts were hardened. They would not turn from their wickedness. Jesus even used “Woe!” The word “woe” is used to express grief, regret, or distress. Can you imagine if Jesus were to say that to you? How would

you

respond? It is my prayer that you would respond with repentance!

This message is repeated many times throughout Scripture. One prominent is Luke 16, with the story Jesus tells of the rich man and Lazarus. Bear in mind: this is not a parable. In no other parable does Jesus use a proper name to describe any of the participants. He calls the poor beggar Lazarus, signifying that this was a real event, not a parable simply meant to impart meaning. The events Jesus describes actually happened.

You know the story. Lazarus died as did the rich man. Lazarus goes to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man goes to Hell. At first, the rich man is thinking only of his own torment, and asks if his tongue could be cooled. After he is told that he’s not going to receive any reprieve from his punishment, he asks that someone be sent to his five brothers to warn them of impending doom if they don’t change their ways. (Even from Hell, the man wants an evangelist sent to his brothers.) But he is told the following:

Luke 16:27 “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house– 28for I have five brothers–in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29″But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

Notice that Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; Let them hear them” Let’s translate that to today for us: WE have the Scriptures. We have the testimony of God’s saints. We have the very WORD OF GOD! What gives me chills are the two following verses:

Luke 16:30 “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31″But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Does this not convict you? Oh that we would truly understand this teaching! They will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead! In our generation, Jesus’ resurrection is being attacked, especially by some of those in the emergent movement (process theology) camp. Phyllis Tickle has even said that it’s possible to be a Christian without believing in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. What rank heresy! Repentance is necessary for true Christian faith, as well as believing in the physical resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Back in Matthew 11, three cities were mentioned. The precise location of Bethsaida and Korazin are not known today, but we know of Capernaum. Bethsaida means “a house of hunting or of game.” It was probably located near the Galilean sea banks. We also know from Scripture (John 1:44) that Phillip, Andrew, and Peter were from Bethsaida.

However, we DO know something of the cities (Tyre and Sidon) that these unrepentant villages were compared to. Tyre and Sidon were opulent, wealthy places. 2 Chronicles 2:11-16 lists these cities as places where building materials for Solomon’s temple were derived. These cities were very old and yet Jesus is saying that these cities would have repented if they’d seen the miracles in them that were performed in Bethsaida and Korazin.

What would have caused them to repent? The Mighty works of Jesus Christ!

In our culture, what mighty works have been done? What has Christ done for us? Has Christ been proclaimed here? Of course! Do you realize that westernized countries are overrun with Bibles? We have churches everywhere. Pastor, what of Jesus have you shown forth to this wicked generation?

But WOE to us! We kill 3,700 babies A DAY in the US due to abortion alone. The figures below from AbortionNO should shock you into how wicked our nation is:

UNITED STATES
Number of abortions per year: 1.37 Million (1996)
Number of abortions per day: Approximately 3,700

Who’s having abortions (religion)?
Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as “Born-again/Evangelical”.

Did you catch that? Add it up: 55.4% of the women having abortions (OVER HALF) of them either claim to be Protestants, or “Born-again/Evangelical.” What wickedness!

Why? Why does this happen? I blame many pastors for this tragedy. In an effort to be culturally relevant, many pastors are preaching “feel-good” messages aimed at increasing church attendance, rather than preaching messages of holiness, righteousness, and what we must do to live lives that are pleasing to God!

You see, in whatever direction culture turns, the church is not far behind. Don’t believe me? Just go to Youtube and do a search for church humor. The videos that result should be revolting. We pastors have turned church into an entertainment center and as a result, MEN are not being taught to be the biblical, Godly leaders of their homes that they should be. Because of the lack of Biblical men in the church today, women (our daughters and wives) are coming to their own conclusions about whether life is sacred, and how important careers should be, instead of how precious life is. Christian women today are making decisions to kill their children because they truly believe that it’s for the best.

WAKE UP! Woe to us, American pastors!

In Leonard Ravenhill’s book “Why Revival Tarries”, he says the following on p. 20:

“The tragedy of this late hour is that we have too many dead men in the pulpits giving out too many dead sermons to too many dead people.”

I wholeheartedly agree! Pastors and preachers need to be alert, and sober-minded. What is it going to take for us westernized Christians to wake up and realize we’ve fallen into a pit? When are we going to repent with sackcloth and ashes and turn away from our wickedness?

Matthew 11:23 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. 24″Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Did Jesus really say that it would be MORE tolerable for the land of Sodom? Yes, He did! Oh, that we would wake up! This is not some sort of word game we Christians are playing. This isn’t a time to just nod in mental assent to the teachings of Christ! This is absolute spiritual warfare between those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who oppose Him.

Jesus now THANKS God the Father that these things were hidden:

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26″Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

Has Christ revealed the Father to you? Do you realize your need for repentance? Pastors, are you teaching your flock the truths of the Bible? Are you broken in prayer for your sheep? Do you realize the peril they are in if they perish without Christ?

Yet still, we must praise the Lord! He continues to offer us redemption! Even though we are wicked, even though we murder our children daily, Christ has come! He offers us rest!

Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

Rest from what? From the yoke of legalism, for one.

I love to evangelize. I love sharing the Gospel with someone for the first time. It’s so exciting to me, knowing that I have been given an opportunity to share the love of Christ with someone who may not believe. Most of the time, if I ask someone, “Why should God allow you into Heaven?” the answer I receive is: “Because I am a good person.”

My answer to them? No you’re not! Even if someone managed some sort of humanistic change and they were able to stop sinning from this moment forward until their life ended, they would still wind up in Hell for their hardness of heart because of the unforgiven sins of their past. We must NEVER presume to say that God OWES US salvation! God forbid it! We all deserve punishment for our past. If you think that you can just be good from this day forward consider this verse:

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
You’re not good. There is but one who’s good, and that’s God. And it is this self-same God who offers us salvation through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus rescues us from that yoke of self-righteous legalism. He rescues us from our sin and wickedness. The Holy Spirit removes our stony hearts, and gives us hearts that beat for him!

Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30″For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

What are you yoked to? Are you yoked to the Law, or to Christ? If you are yoked to the law, you’re yoked to the entirety of it.

Galatians 5:1It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. 2Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. 7You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

Pastors, are you preaching weak sermons that are meant to attract goats? Or are you preaching with unction, praying and pleading that the Lord would draw His own elect unto Himself? Do you soft-pedal the Gospel, like Rick Warren, Robert Shuller, Joel Osteen, and others? Or do you preach God’s word with the power of the Holy Spirit?

I am laying this charge at your feet, pastors. The sheep are not being fed, so instead they turn to wickedness. Are you going to be faithful to preach God’s word and stand firm, come what may?

L. Roy Taylor,
It is my understanding that you have signed the “Covenant of Civility.” As you may know by now, Assemblies of God General Superintendent George O. Wood has asked that his name be removed from this document.

I respectfully ask that you, as President of the National Association of Evangelicals, do the same.

You see, Brian McLaren and other signatories have added their signature to the document. I applaud Lanagan’s letter written to L. Roy Taylor, and here’s why: Scripturally we cannot support joining hands with those who deny some of the basic tenets of the Christian faith.

I was a musician before I was saved, and I often think of things in musical terms. If two people were singing in unity, it meant that they were singing the exact same pitch or note. If they were singing “in harmony”, it meant that the two notes were not the same pitch, but they complemented each other. Finally, if they were singing in “discord”, or in dissonance, then the two notes being sung would have a rather grating effect.

This is what we have going on when you have people such as the Superintindent of the AoG and the President of the NAE signing a document with the likes of Brian McLaren and others who cannot agree with us on the core tenets of the Christian faith.

Scripture explains it like this:

2Co 6:14-18 (ESV) Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? (15) What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? (16) What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (17) Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, (18) and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

I hope that more men will step forward and take their names off such a document. It may seem fruitful from a pragmatic sense to sign such a document, but as Ken Silva has pointed out over at Apprising.org (link here), this will only serve to help those who wish to silence those of us who hold to orthodox Christianity.

This sounds to me like a warmed over version of Catholics and Evangelicals Together. Am I wrong?

My daughter was watching TV recently, and she shocked me when she came and told me she heard the “S-word” on TV. I was horrified and wondered what she could’ve watched that used the “S-word”. I couldn’t think of what it was. I asked her and she said it was a children’s show. Now this really had me puzzled so I asked her, “Honey, what’s the S-Word?”

She whispered her reply: “Stupid.”

You see, around my house stupid is the “S-word”. My daughter has been taught since she was young that you don’t call people stupid. Yet here in the Proverbs we find the word stupid leading off the 12th chapter. For those of you who are fans of the King James version the word “brutish” is used. Yet the meaning is still the same.

Albert Barnes in his commentary on this particular verse writes:

Brutish – Dumb as a brute beast. The difference between man and brute lies chiefly in the capacity of the former for progress and improvement, and that capacity depends upon his willingness to submit to discipline and education.

Psalm 49:20 also reveals this same idea:

Psalm 49:20 Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.

Albert Barnes also has the following to say about the final phrase of Psalm 49:20 …”Is like the beasts that perish.”

They live only for this life. They have no higher nature than that which pertains to the senses, and they live accordingly. The man who, though of exalted rank, lives for this life alone, herein resembles them. See the notes at Psalm 49:12. Alas! what multitudes there are who thus live – whose only aim is to secure the wealth and the honors of this life – who have no more thought of a future state, and who form no more plans in regard to a future world, than do the brutes! For many there are in exalted stations, who are surrounded by all that wealth can give, yet who no more admit the thought of a future world into their hopes and plans than if they had no other endowment than the camel or the ox, and whose conduct in this respect would not be changed if all the higher endowments which constitute the nature of man were withdrawn, and they were at once reduced to the condition of a brute. While, therefore, the main purpose of this psalm is to show that wealth confers no “power” which is to be dreaded – that its possessor, though wicked, cannot permanently injure us, since he must soon pass away by death – the course of thought at the same time teaches us that we should not “desire” wealth as our portion; that we should not live for this, as the main object of life. The possessor of the most ample fortune must soon be laid in the grave. All that he has acquired will pass into other hands, and will be his no more. But he “has” a higher nature. He “may” live in a manner different from the brute that perishes. He “may” act with reference to a higher – an eternal – state of existence; and, when he dies, he “may” leave his earthly inheritance, whether great or small, only to enter on an inheritance that shall he permanent and eternal. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36.

Proverbs 12:1 uses two contrasting verbs: love and hate. Whoever loves discipline gets one result. Whoever hates reproof, another. God in his amazing wisdom didn’t just give us one glimpse, but as is so often the case in the Proverbs, comparison is drawn between two different ideas in order to help us understand.

So in order to understand the brutishness, or stupidity of those who hate reproof, God gives us a glimpse of those who love discipline.

For me, discipline conjures up two different thoughts: correction, and discipleship. These two run hand in hand in my mind. How can I call myself a disciple of someone if I am not willing to subject myself to their correction? But before we just run ahead with my opinion of this proverb, let’s look at what the original Hebrew calls discipline. From Strong’s we read the following definition of discipline:

From H3256; properly chastisement; figuratively reproof, warning or instruction; also restraint: – bond, chastening ([-eth]), chastisement, check, correction, discipline, doctrine, instruction, rebuke.

We can see that both chastisement and doctrine/instruction are seen in this word. Let me take this to a conclusion: By loving the chastising hand of the Lord, I also love his instruction and knowledge that he gives me.

Likewise with the second half of the verse, Strong says of reproof:

From H3198; chastisement; figuratively (by words) correction, refutation, proof (even in defence): – argument, X chastened, correction, reasoning, rebuke, reproof, X be (often) reproved.

So if I hate the chastisement of the Lord, I am stupid – even brutish in nature. That sounds harsh doesn’t it? I mean, do the Scriptures actually teach me that I have to LOVE correction from the Lord?

Yes! It does. If I am to love the Lord, then I will love even his correcting hand.

If you are a parent, you know this is true because your own children bear this out as a witness. Imagine what would happen if you were to let your child run free, and never correct them. It wouldn’t take long until you’d have a spoiled brat on your hands with no boundaries, and no respect for you the parent. It’s true.

So why would we think that spiritually things would be any different for us? God loves us and he corrects us. Scripture consistently bears this out:

Pro 3:11-13 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His reproof, (12) For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. (13) How blessed is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding.

If we are truly to gain in our understanding of the Lord and knowledge of the Holy One, then we must begin loving His correction.

“Apprising Ministries made it clear in Desiring God 2010, John Piper, And Warrengate that this isn’t about Dr. John Piper because no one credible is saying he’s anything other than a dear brother in Christ who’s made a mistake by inviting Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren to be a keynote speaker at the Desiring God Conference 2010. What’s been forgotten is there’s a very real reason why I refer to Warren as the PDL pope.”

Ken then links to several blogs (some of which use personal experiences) in order to express problems with this whole issue of someone like John Piper inviting Rick Warren (of Purpose Driven Life fame) to come speak at his upcoming “Desiring God 2010″ Conference.

In my mind, the real question becomes: Why does Piper want to invite Rick to speak at DG2010 when Rick’s man-centered “gospel” and the Gospel as revealed in Scripture are diametrically OPPOSITE of one another?

Rick’s gospel is man-centered. Yet the Bible places salvation in the sovereign hands of God Himself! (Read Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 1:16, Romans 5:8, John 1:12, Romans 6:23, etc.) The last time I checked, Piper was right on target Biblically, and I admire his zeal for the Lord and his desire to live holy. But something fishy is going on.

When I first became a Christian, I was literally surrounded by people who were falling in love with Rick Warren, and the “Purpose Driven Life”. It seemed like everywhere I turned people were talking about Rick Warren’s new book and how great it was.

I was unimpressed.

Compared to Scripture, Warren’s book is shallow, and lacks biblical substance. It compromises the Gospel by providing one of the weakest efforts at evangelism I’ve seen. Here’s how Rick explains the Gospel in the PDL:

In Rick’s PDL video that accompanies the book and study series, Rick leads everyone watching the video in the following prayer:

“Dear God, I want to know your purpose for my life. I don’t want to base the rest of my life on wrong things. I want to take the first step in preparing for eternity by getting to know you. Jesus Christ, I don’t understand how but as much as I know how I want to open up my life to you. Make yourself real to me. And use this series in my life to help me know what you made me for.”

Rick then makes this amazing claim:

“Now if you’ve just prayed that prayer for the very first time I want to congratulate you. You’ve just become a part of the family of God.”

The problem with that presentation of the Gospel can be summed up in this scripture:

1 Cor 1:21:  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Unlike Rick’s pragmatic, man-centered message, the Scriptures teach us that salvation starts and ends with God himself. It’s not a man-centered feel-good message. Instead the bible teaches us the following:

Acts 17:30-31:  “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

Now this raises an interesting point. Piper says in his video where he is trying to validate why he asked Rick Warren to come speak at his conference:

Uh, repentance: He’s been criticized for not highlighting repentance in the purpose Driven life and the way he would explain it is to say:
“I totally believe in the… the necessity of… of repentance and I totally am committed to the call for repentance though I may not use the word as often as some would want me to. So, check out the reality if not… if not the language.”

So Rick Warren says to John Piper that he believes in the necessity of repentance and that he’s totally committed to the call for repentance. Yet time after time when he speaks about the Gospel, he leaves repentance out.  Not only does he leave out repentance which Jesus also preached (see Luke 13), he replaces it with SINCERITY during prayer?!

In Rick Warren’s world, repentance may not be necessary, only sincerity of heart. Yet the Bible teaches us that:

Jer 17:9-10:  “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

The real issue with this whole dust-up online between Piper and Warren has to do with how Rick Warren presents himself. He’s like a chameleon. He will say whatever is pragmatically necessary to get the results he wants. So to him the end justifies the means.

Friends, this is not Biblical. We’re never told to compromise on the Gospel. Instead, we hear the opposite in Scripture:

Gal 1:6-10: I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

For a more in-depth study of why Rick Warren’s gospel is inadequate, I recommend you check out: Bob DeWaay’s excellent article found here:  http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue80.htm

McLaren published the book in 2010 with HarperCollins, and it’s been quite a hit. As of mid-April 2010, it’s currently #484 at Amazon.com for book sales, and #4 in the “Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian Living > Faith” category.

Brian describes himself inside the back jacket cover as “an author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists.” He also says “here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.”

My disagreement starts there. What McLaren presents isn’t an introduction to the ‘Christian faith’ at all. While McLaren may be describing what he thinks faith will look like in the future, he has intentionally mischaracterized much of evangelical Christianity, presenting a straw-man view that modern Christians worship a faulty idea of God that’s derived from the “Greco-Roman” lens. Once McLaren sets up the straw man at the beginning of the book, he proceeds to prop it up and knock it over in each chapter.

Each of the 10 questions gets one chapter of discussion. Yet once McLaren asks the questions, he often dodges direct answers, or using Hegelian dialectic methods, he sets up “thesis/antithesis/synthesis” answers that often employ gross mischaracterizations of evangelicals. He seems to practice rather long-winded exercises in “missing the point.”

This isn’t orthodox Christianity. It’s doubt.

Brian slowly introduces his brand of liberal post-modernistic poison, until by the end of the book the views he expresses are at direct odds with what Christianity believes, all the while calling it “an introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.”

I plan over the course of several serialized blog posts to show how Brian’s opinion of the Christianity of the future isn’t a true picture of biblical Christianity, but is instead a picture of wolves running amok in the church.

Just to give you an example of the anger that seems to seethe just below the surface of his book, consider the following:

On page 191 of Chapter 18: “Can We Find a Better Way of Viewing the Future?”, Brian  mischaracterizes conservative Christians, especially those who hold to an eschatology that Jesus is coming back soon with the world being consumed by fire. He seems to reject both ideas as old-fashioned and in the way of the Kingdom work that needs to be done. (Yet both ideas of Jesus’ imminent return and the destruction of the earth are both Biblical: See Revelation 22:20, and 2 Peter 3:12)

Listen to what he says on page 192:

Those of us raised in dispensationalist circles can regale one another with stories about scary “left-behind” sermons, sometimes illustrated through huge and serious wall charts and dramatized in B-rated movies. These sermons often climaxed with warnings about the second coming, when Jesus will return like “a thief in the night” – initiating the “Rapture” when “born-again Christians” will (we were told) be miraculously evacuated to heaven and the rest (includign the children of “saved” parents) will be left behind for a nightmare apocalypse. As a boy of about eight, having come home from school and found the doors locked and nobody home, I once spent nearly an hour sitting on my back porch, deeply dejected and with rising panic, sure that the Rapture had occurred and I was a child left behind. Who knew a third-grader could feel such terror and despair?

To the uninitiated, this all might sound pitiful or laughable, like wild conspiracy theories shared on strange Web sites or middle-of-the-night AM radio. But surprising numbers of mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics have also been thoroughly catechized in this eschatology through televangelist broadcasts and books (and newer B-grade films) in the Left Behind Series, which have broken sales records around the world. If they only focused on speculation about who the antichrist is (I remember hearing it was Khrushchev, then Henry Kissinger, then Saddamm Hussein, and now apparently odds are being placed on Barack Obama!), their eschatological hobby might be harlmess enough – like a crazy uncle obsessed with UFOs. But in recent decades, dispensationalism and it’s eschatological cousins have become significant factors in the foreign policy of the richest, most consumptive, and most well-armed nation in the history of history, and that’s where things get even scarier than a B-grade movie.

Here’s where McLaren really begins to mischaracterize Christians:

If the world is about to end, why care for the environment? Why worry about global climate change or peak oil? Who gives a rip for endangered species or sustainable economics or global poverty if God is planning to incinerate the whole planet soon anyway? If the Bible predicts the rebuilding of the Jewish temple (or requires that rebuilding for it’s prophecies to work in a dispensationalist framework), why care about Muslim claims on the Temple Mount real estate? Why care about justice for non-Jews in Israel at all – after all, isn’t it their own fault for being on land God predicts will be returned in full to the Jews in the last days? If God has predetermined that the world will get worse and worse until it ends in a cosmic megaconflict between the forces of Light (epitomized most often in the United States) and the forces of Darkness (previously centered in communism, but now, that devil having been vanquished, in Islam), why waste energy on peacemaking, diplomacy, or interreligious dialogue? Aren’t those simply endeavors in rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic? And since even Jesus can’t set the world right without taking up the sword and shedding swimming pools of his enemies’ blood (recalling our discussion under the Jesus question), what’s so bad about another war, and maybe even a little torture and genocide now and then? If God sanctions it, why can’t we?

McLaren’s idea of writing a scholarly approach to “Christian Faith of tomorrow” seems to involve mischaracterizing Christians, setting up and knocking down a laughable straw-man argument that we view Scripture through a “Greco-Roman” lens, spewing forth vitriol at fellow Christians – all the while holding forth a smug attitude of false humility and piety.

Reader be warned! This book is not about the coming Christian faith. It’s McLaren’s attack against the faith that’s already been delivered to us.

In the next segment, I will be discussing Question 1, “What is the Overarching Story Lline of the Bible?”

Recently there’s been a big stir in evangelical circles because John Piper has invited Rick Warren (of Purpose Driven Life fame) to come and speak at the 2010 Desiring God conference. Posts have gone up everywhere. For the sake of helping bring some clarity to the situation, I decided to transcribe the video, so you can not only listen to what John Piper has said, but you can read it.

I’ve tried to separate what Rick was quoted as saying from what John says to minimize confusion. When I can tell the difference, Rick’s words will be italicized.

To comment, please log in on the right.

Here’s the transcript:

So I made a list… Here’s my list.. talking to him on the telephone two hours ago about what he thinks about a whole group of… of things. So I’ll just give these to you quick ‘cause we could talk about this for half an hour easy.

The bible is totally inerrant, and valuable in every way.

Penal substitution is of the essence of the Gospel, and the Steve Chalk approach that says “God’s pouring out his punishment on His own Son to free us as divine child abuse” is just horrific to Rick Warren. It’s absolutely essential that we get substitution right in the Gospel.

God is sovereign and central over all of life. I.. I think Rick Warren meant it when he began the Purpose Driven life with “It’s not about you. Anybody wants to know why he’s on the planet must being with God.” That’s page one of day one on… in the Purpose Driven Life.

“People are lost. They’re going to Hell. I am not a universalist” he said. “I’m an evangelist.” What drives my life is Matthew 24:14: “This gospel must be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come.”

Uh, He’s a baptist. That’s relatively insignificant to me, but a little… little icing on the cake, that it’s a Southern Baptist church out there though they don’t wave that banner.

What would you think he would believe about women elders? He’s just totally there as far as the… the office of elder is concerned.

“We don’t have ‘em”, he said. “Can’t find it in the Bible. Women have all the spiritual gifts and they have all the… the gifts of pasturing but as far as the office of pastor, the office of elder goes,” he says, “the bible says it shouldn’t happen. I’m committed to the bible. Therefore we’re not gonna go there.”

Uh, repentance: He’s been criticized for not highlighting repentance in the purpose Driven life and the way he would explain it is to say:

“I totally believe in the… the necessity of… of repentance and I totally am committed to the call for repentance though I may not use the word as often as some would want me to. So, check out the reality if not… if not the language.”

Emergent church: “Brian McLaren’s new book: Off the charts… uh, old fashioned liberalism. It’s as Raushenbush boil… boiled over, warmed over,” he.. he said. “I’m not emergent.”

I could even tell you other things he said he’s not but that… that might offend uh… too many people.

Uhm, memorize Scripture every week. Preaches for an hour. Doesn’t do any drama in worship. Plants a church a year. Uh, rejects the Prosperity Gospel. ZERO FAITH in politics, and he gave me a long and elaborate explanation for why he did the inaugural prayer, and I don’t… I don’t  think it would right for me to share how he made that decision but he hasn’t talked to Barak Obama since that and has no desire to be putting his faith in politics.

He said: “I… I…If… if… if politics were the way to change world I’d be a politician. The only thing that’s gonna change the world is changing peoples’ hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

And on and on, so I… I’m uh… I’m uh… I need … I’m gonna need help to know why I should feel bad about this decision. (Laughs)

Uh, because let me put it out: One… One… one bigger, one bigger, uh  context: If you see a man do things that you wouldn’t do, if you see him express attitudes that you wouldn’t have. Uh, if he has strategies in ministry that you wouldn’t do, what’re you going to do with that? How do you rank up who you’re gonna hang out with and in what ways you’re gonna hang out? And who are you gonna criticize and who you’re not gonna criticize?

And uhm… I’m real eager that this glorious thing God is doing in the young, restless, reformed, whatever uh this this thing is called that God’s doing – awakening people’s love for the supremacy of God in all things – I’m real eager that that not become a… a brittle, narrow, ugly, excessively separatist movement and so I am not devoting my life to finding a lot of enemies to attack. I’ve got some and I like to do it by simply hammering on truth. I… I’m gonna hammer on truth.

In fact I said it to Rick, I said “OK, if you come, how about you and I do a uhh… ohh what do you call it… interview for an hour or so, and we’ll do this kind of thing right here, and I will put…”

He said: “In a heartbeat! No holds barred. Ask me anything you want theologically about anything.”

So I hope we can fit that in and fold that in, we’ll see if that’ll work in the conference.

Separatism or uh, who you do things with is… is an important, Biblical question. And so I… I don’t put Rick Warren in the group that I am gonna hold at arm’s distance.

On… On the Calvinism thing, on Reformed Theology he said, “I got… I got, I need to tweak. I need to tweak some traditional ways of talking about total depravity.” Well, every time I hear any reformed person talk about total depravity they… they tweak it, saying like… things like “Uh, We could do more bad things than we do. So it doesn’t mean total in that way.”

And he said “I’m stumbling over limited atonement because of some texts.”

Well, I got some really close Reformed friends who stumble there. I told David here on the way over, I said “Rick if you’ll give me a half an hour I could persuade you on limited atonement. I know I could.” So I’ll try to get that… that half an hour.

But as far as election, as far as the irresistibility of God’s grace, as far as His keeping power in the substitutionary atonement, the necessity of justification by faith, these central things – We’re there, and I’m not gonna push somebody like that away when they’ve got so much to offer.

Practically, and here I just think he could put me to shame with his aggressively, in-your-life, transformative discipling of his church. Uh, they have a membership covenant that you have to sign, and it is really rigorous and there are no inactive members and he said, “We discipline people in this church. They don’t fulfill their covenant? They’re gonna be disciplined.” And on and on.

So uh, I am not gonna draw the circle there and suppose you disagree with me on that. Now you’re face with the question: “OK, I’m with John Piper theologically. I’m not with Rick Warren on a bunch of things. John Piper has just chosen to hang out with Rick Warren. What do I do with John Piper?” That’s called secondary separation issues. And there you are. I hope… I hope we can disagree about WHO we hang out with. OK? Because a lot of traditional fundamentalists have said “No, if you hang out with somebody that I believe I should separate from, then I’m gonna separate from you.”

And I wanna say: Look. Let’s… Can we disagree about whether he would come to your conference and you still be willing to eat with me, talk with me? So I would encourage you to think through that issue of secondary separation.

The way I have chosen to live my life for the sake of reformed theology and the supremacy of God, and the inerrancy of Bible, and the importance of solid Reformation Gospel truths, the five Solas and so on, is to give all my energy to putting them in a positive, aggressively, uh, spreadable form, NOT to spend my time shooting at the people who don’t like them. And uh, at age 64 looking back over the years I think I have uh, got some work to do with my marriage, and my kids, and my soul, but I do not regret that approach to.. to Reformation advance.

I’ll see if I can transcribe it soon.

McLaren’s new book is merely a fresh take on an old lie, SBTS panelists say

“Brian McLaren, author and leading voice of the emergent church movement, has written a new book that seeks to reformulate Christianity, but it is nothing more than a wholesale rejection of historic Christianity, concluded members of a panel discussion Thursday at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.”

Brian McLaren’s success with young evangelicals has been picking up speed recently, and with his new book he seems to have completely shucked off his sheep outfit and is basically professing to be a wolf.

The problem? he still professes to be Christian.

What does Scripture have to say about such things?

Jud 1:14-23  It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,  (15)  to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”  (16)  These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.  (17)  But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,  (18)  that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”  (19)  These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.  (20)  But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,  (21)  keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.  (22)  And have mercy on some, who are doubting;  (23)  save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

So the scriptures teach us that as we come closer and closer to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we would see such things. Even though we can expect such people to profess Christianity yet deny the basics of our beliefs as we have known them for 1,900 years, expecting them does not mean that we sit idly by while they drag unsuspecting people off into their own error and sin. Instead, we are told to “save others, snatching them out of the fire.”

The only way I know to do that is a two-fold method: 1) Proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16), and 2) Point out the error of following after someone like Brian McLaren.