Linkathon!
Ten things every theological student ought to know…
California bill would require priests to break seal of confession to report child abuse…
Cardinal convicted of sex abuse…
Did George Whitefield serve two masters?
Have Americans given up on the theme of spiritual warfare?
United Methodists may affirm traditional, biblical, sexuality…
Can you study this book too much?
4 ways the modern church looks nothing like the early church…
Cliches, what would we say without them?
Serving God in the struggle against cancer…
What to do when you just can’t do church anymore…
James MacDonald and the end of the celebrity pastor…
What you should know about the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act…
From Mars Hill to Harvest, hope for a wounded church…
A progressive very unhappy with the UMC…
Sackcloth and ashes in the SBC…
SBC Executive Committee puts SBC prez in his place…
Culturally appropriating Jesus…
Stories and permanence in an impermanent world…
Rock and roll and Pentecostalism in the 1950’s south…
Huge thanks to EricL for all the help…support him at top right…
FWIW… a ponder from the early church comparison
The song “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” was written by Frank Loesser, a Jew
curious to read the piece on Pentecostalism and early rock. After Franklin passed I started to reminisce about my Pentecostal youth and got to thinking about how much American popular styles seem to have been influenced by Pentecostal musical legacies.
https://baptist-blogger.com/2019/02/26/an-open-letter-to-sbc-president-j-d-greear/
I know this stuff isn’t as interesting to you guys as it is to me, but this is well-written.
Josh,
That was really good.
My guess is that it will comfort Greear when they annihilate him…
I found the piece on spiritual warfare to be timely. Having served in ministry in a very dark and demon-controlled city from 1975-2000, I am very much AWAKE to the reality of spiritual warfare. Why else would we be exhorted to put on the ‘full armor’ and to “pray will all kinds of prayers” to withstand in the evil day? That is not some future event… I have seen many believers ‘picked off’ by evil deceptions.
A quick reading of 1 Timothy makes it abundantly clear that there are standards to adhere to in ministry, and perils all around diverting us.
My meditation verse for the last year has been Hebrews 2:1… we must pay much closer heed to the things we have heard, LEST WE DRIFT… many have.
I also found the article about recovery after a church has had to deal with immorality and abuse in the pastorate, of interest. Hello, My Life Story. In fact, these two topics… this polluted pastor fallout and spiritual warfare IS the Story of My Life. … and I am currently standing against the same dark spirits that pulled my former life and church apart nearly 20 years ago, and has now again, come out in force against me. Plain as day. “Be on your guard, for your enemy the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may DEVOUR”. You may remember Pastor Chuck saying it was only a ‘toothless lion’…. absolutely not so. “Watch and pray” is our Lord’s admonition. The battle is real.
If you, or know someone you know has ADHD, there’s an amazing conversation about it happening on Twitter since last night. I’d recommend it highly. Just follow this hashtag #ADHD
Josh,
That was a powerful article. Thank you for sharing. I’m heartened by the many in the SBC who are demanding accountability. May their voices be heard and heeded.
Paige, you are absolutely correct. ? ?
Some are gonna try to annihilate him, for sure. I don’t think he cares.
I don’t know that they will be successful though. There are enough power-brokers siding with JD that I’m not sure which way this thing will go. Should be an interesting convention.
I admit that I feel a certain amount of shame regarding the SBC. But I think we need to attach to this article the article on spiritual warfare.
We are engaged in a spiritual battle. We often whisper this because we are afraid of what others might think when we say it. And I know that a lot have abused the idea. But the Bible has a lot to say about spiritual warfare, especially Paul in Ephesians 6: 11 & ff. Often we interpret spiritual warfare as a personal battle. We forget that churches and denominations are involved in the same warfare.
The SBC is the perfect organization for the enemy to attack. It is large with with lots of power and money and thus a lot of hubris. It is decentralized with no real accountability possible. And, this is important I think, it is unbalanced theologically. No one has written a significant theology from a Baptist perspective in a very long time. In fact most Baptists are allergic to theology! I have a baptist resource that has a lot of old works from baptist writers and no one writes like this today. In other words, we have given up our distinctives in order to be identified with the larger Evangelical community. And missing from all of this is the notion that Baptists, along with every other denomination, are under constant spiritual oppression from an unseen world.
I think that denominational institutions are particularly vulnerable because of rigid structures, the felt need for secrecy. Most leaders see themselves as achievers who have obtained great position because of their significant ability-this pride. And everyone has lost the notion that we are called to be servants, not leaders.
I don’t know what to do about it. But we can start by acknowledging that we are in the mist of a literal hell storm. Instead of deliverance ministries and other such things, we need a resistance movement. Isn’t that what Scripture tells us to do? We prepare our hearts, our churches and denominations because we stand against the world. We need to know that it is not just old white guys who are the problem. We need to guard against secularism in our churches but also in our personal lives. We need to acknowledge that putting on the whole armor of God is not metaphorical and the command has an important purpose. And we to understand that no matter what we do, the battle will not end in this life.
That…was excellent, Randy.
I don’t think people are committed to the church in large enough numbers to actually make a difference in this area…
A few years ago, Mark Galli wrote an article about a Pentecostal monastery in Sweden. I found that to be strangely appealing.
I agree with Randy that we are inspiritual warfare – but heaven forbid that you come out on the losing end – social media will eat you up.
A wise Lutheran (is there any other kind?) once said “we all say the church is made up of sinners, but once we see evidence of such, we act surprised and dismayed.”
Spiritual oppression, hell storm, standing against the world etc… is a bad “pass the buck”. Own faults, and correct them.
My single largest complain against Christianity (aside from it’s god) is that Christians will blame imaginary sky forces for everything, and write it off as a work of the devil, and “repent” and seemingly move on like there is nothing else to do but be saved and such. This does not fly IRL, but it does “in house” every day.
Faith without works is dead. It’s your law, so abide by it. The battle is imaginary and a total copout, you just gotta act, correct, openly rebuke, kick people the hell out of your churches, IMNSHO. A pedophile is a pedophile, there is nothing spiritual about this, it’s a sickness. Men who beat their wives and kids, they need an ass kicking, not forgiveness. Pastors fornicating with women in the office for spiritual counseling is just that. Be gone with the pervs and people who treat their religion like a free hall pass. Show them the door and shout them out.
Michael is right again on this one. There are not enough people willing to own failures and correct them in any pragmatic sense. Just blame the devil and back to the football games.
… “repent” and seemingly move on like there is nothing else to do but be saved and such.<<<
Yes. I have seen people, pastors even, commit serious sins, cast their eyes heavenward, thank God for forgiving them (without even mentioning the sin), smile, and go on as usual. I don't think this is a reflection of genuine Christianity as much as it is a reflection of modern people who can't stand to feel uncomfortable about anything.
Faith without works is dead. It’s your [our] law, so abide by it.<<<
Amen.
Reuben may no longer be a Christian, but as an outsider he does seem to be able to zero in on some serious flaws in Christian culture. It wouldn’t kill us to listen to some of the things he has to say. Not everything, of course…
This morning i was reading the account of Jesus throwing out of the Temple those who were using it to make a profit I thought of that incident when MLD spoke of taking the perps who profane the Faith out behind the Church.
I’m guessing that threat would be more effective on these cowards than our civilized “Christian-so-called” kindness and understanding.
Who am i to judge? Well, i think you’re a child of God in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. God expects us to keep a clean house.
The churches Reuben describes desperately need a house cleaning – top to bottom. They don’t need mercy. They need God supplied wisdom … and power … and a jealous love for the work and reputation of a holy God of grace and mercy…
Better still – IMV – take that God given wisdom and mercy and get out of there! In my humble opinion, of course. God places quality above quantity, i think.
Dunno, though, do i? I think i do. ?
“God places quality above quantity, i think.”
I think you’re right…