Linkathon!
Kissing Christianity goodbye… (classic Carl Trueman)
Josh Harris says he’s no longer a Christian…
Are we morally distressed by what is happening on the border?
Russell Moore makes this more complicated than it needs to be…yes, pets go to heaven.
How stories of time help us grapple with a fallen world…
Worship isn’t about what kind of music you like…
Dark nights of the soul: Jonah, John of the Cross, and America…
No right way, once and for all…
The local church is a living sign of hope…
Where do Americans find their identity?
Why history matters to the Christian…
The Village Church sued for a million in child sex abuse case…
The key difference between conservative and post conservative evangelicals…
The apostles didn’t share the Gospel and neither should you...
Thanks as always, to EricL…support him at top right…
Trueman is right about the impact of social media that Josh Harris has so far. I would hope that Harris would follow suit and call out the YRR movement as a contributing factor in some of how he has communicated, but I doubt that will happen.
I haven’t read any of JH’s books, listened to a podcast, or known him more than what’s on social media. I think he might have been in a men’s video series I saw last year, but I can’t be too sure. All to say that I don’t see a celebrity pastor falling: I see another sinful man struggling with life and walking away from the faith.
Apostates are not all BAD people – but some of them make more noise than others when they walk away. 🙁
I was single during the years when Joshua Harris’ books caused so much confusion among Christian singles, and I hated his book for what it did. The marketers and power brokers of Professional Evangelicalism milked that whole “kissing dating goodbye” to the utmost, with no apparent concern about the damage it caused. With Pledges and Purity Rings and Balls and conferences and books galore. They made their ill-gotten gain by confusing God’s people with their out-of-balance agenda. So much misplaced guilt, shame, and lost relationships. I’m glad that Harris had now apologized for his part in that whole mess.
That said, I’m saddened to hear the latest about him. In some ways, he’s just one more victim of that book- for he was thrust into the spotlight in his twenties as some kind of relationship expert… a guy barely old enough to vote or live on his own or get his own credit card. He wasn’t old enough to be an expert of beard shaving, let alone the complexities of romantic relationships.
I’m glad he’s repented over some of the damaged he’s caused, but I wonder if those who built him up so fast will ever repent? What about CJ Mahaney? Multnomah Books/ Crown Publishing/ Penguin Random House? (He’s publisher is a division of one of that huge international publisher) There were so many who profited off of him, even as he profited off their use of him. Sad.
May he find peace in a genuine relationship with our Lord, a quiet relationship without the hype and publicity and self-aggrandizement.
“May he find peace in a genuine relationship with our Lord, a quiet relationship without the hype and publicity and self-aggrandizement.”
Here is a compassionate person to person but yet public letter pleading with Josh to really consider and connect with Jesus in the fallout of his perceived faith.
https://truelovedates.com/an-open-letter-to-my-friend-joshua-harris/
Victorious @12:06, thanks for the good link. I do hope the believers who know Joshua Harris draw closer as he struggles instead of shirking the mess. He needs good friends now more than ever.
@EricL
The publishing houses you mentioned will never repent. Can’t repent, won’t repent and don’t plan on repenting. If they did, they would cease to be them, and become us. Us of the Faith. They are them, of the World, and are at emnity with us, who are not them, but us.
But, if you so choose, you could buy shares traded on the London Stock Exchange.(LSE) They are corporations. Souless legal entities, that sell us, of the Faith, worthless advice about matters of our Faith. They don’t care about us, and will sell us whatever we are dumb enough to sepparate our monies for. They sold us basic tenents of the World. Touch not, taste not.
We have been scammed.
Nathan – the publishers do not “sell” you anything. They publish what WE the public demands — which is usually mindless crap.
Just keep those books in your library – I have a big red stamp that I put on the inside cove “”poor theological teaching. For reference only” — just in case someone gets to my books in my estate sale.