The Chicken or the Egg?

A couple weeks ago, when I went out shopping for books for my high school grads, the first place I visited was a local Lifeway. I must say, I was absolutely disgusted by the drivel that filled the shelves, and the associated lack of solid content. It's a shame that this is the best our SBC dollars can do. There were three or four books I had in mind for my students, all by known authors, and none of them were anywhere to be found. The place had more Don Piper than John Piper. Fluff was the name of the game. My wife had a similar experience a week earlier looking for a family and parenting book for some friends of ours. No wonder everybody's using Amazon. I mean, it's not like there's not good stuff out there. This got me thinking recently - what's the problem? Are our bookstores stocked with fluff because that's what our biblically anemic American Christianity wants, or is our American Christianity biblically anemic because our bookstores are full of fluff? My sense is that it's much like the classic "chicken or the egg" conundrum, where the two are so interconnected it's impossible to say which begat the other. I'd be interested to hear your take.

Note: For any Louisvillians out there, let me recommend the Christian Book Nook, where I easily found what I was after. It's a great, locally and privately owned bookstore with great prices, selection, and service. Check it out. Lifeway - take some notes.

This Is Why Our Culture Doesn't Understand the Cross

It's real. I checked.

Oh Yeah, That's Why I Hate Politics

Once upon a time, it was summer in America. The primaries were over, and our eyes looked toward the upcoming election, with two candidates who promised to stay away from politics as usual. Remember when quotes like this filled the airwaves?

"I've pledged to conduct a respectful campaign and I urge, time after time, various entities within the Republican party to also do that." - John McCain

"We don't need John McCain and I to be demonizing each other. You won't get that from my campaign." - Barack Obama

What a respectful, non-demonizing few months its been. Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it? Candidates can shout all they want about mavericks and change, but as long as politicians are people then politics will be business as usual. After paying more attention to politics this year than I have have for a while, today I'm reminded why I'm so fed up with the whole mess. It's days like this that make me so grateful for truth like this...

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" - Numbers 23:19

Prayer

Sorry for the recent silence. Our pastor at Hazelwood resigned Sunday morning, so I've been quite busy these past few days and not really in the right frame of mind to post. Please pray for our pastor and his family as they move on and for peace and direction for our fellowship during this difficult time.

The Dangers of Losing Discernment

Charisma magazine editor J. Lee Grady has written a fantastic piece reflecting on the fallout from the sad debacle in Lakeland, Florida over the recent months, which has just come to an end with news that revival leader and faith healer Todd Bentley is separating from his wife. An excerpt...

"But among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message was clear: “This is God. Don’t question.” So before we could all say, “Sheeka Boomba” (as Bentley often prayed from his pulpit), many people went home, prayed for people and shoved them to the floor with reckless abandon, Bentley-style...

...Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up."

I have a whole host of concerns with the charismatic/pentacostal movement, but I applaud Grady here for putting a finger on a problem that's crippling the American church, and not just the pentacostals - the danger of zeal unpaired with careful discernment. From the start of the "Lakeland Revival," the Scriptures were abandoned and cheapened in the name of "the work of the Spirit." When a man seriously contends that God told him to heal an elderly woman by kicking her in the face, that should probably send up a couple red flags. If we truly want to know God, then we need to be carefully searching the revelation he's given us through his Word rather than following the fanciful constructions of our own minds.

HT: Desiring God

Farewell, Ferrets

Well, last night was a sad night for Heather and I. Over the last 5 weeks since Jordan was born, we came to the realization that we simply didn't have the time and energy that we needed to care for our pet ferrets, Slinky and Linus. So, last night we gave them to a family that will provide them with an excellent home. We really enjoyed our furry friends (and God even used them to teach me a spiritual lesson from time to time) and we miss them already, but we're also confident we made the right decision. Praise God for the blessings he brings into our lives - both the inexpressible joy our daughter brings and the much smaller (though often frustrating!) joy that two crazy ferrets gave us.