The Christian Post reports:
A recent survey conducted by LifeWay Research found that while a majority of Protestant pastors believe Christianity is the only way to obtain eternal life, there is a small percentage who strongly feel other religions offer eternal salvation as well.
The survey asked 1,000 Protestant pastors the question, “If a person is sincerely seeking God, he/she can obtain eternal life through religions other than Christianity.”
Seventy-seven percent of the pastors questioned said that they strongly disagree with the statement and seven percent somewhat disagreed. Another seven percent somewhat agreed and five percent strongly agreed. Three percent said they are not sure.
The Christian Post reports:
False conversions are a serious problem that could lead not only to the “suicide of the church” but also to the defaming of God’s name, an evangelical pastor warned.
Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., told some 8,000 ministers Tuesday at the Together for the Gospel conference that he fears there are thousands, if not millions, of people in churches who are not truly converted.
Fox News reports:
The chaplain of Vanderbilt Catholic, one of the largest student religious groups at Vanderbilt University, said their organization has been ordered by university officials to change their name. The order came after the Catholic group announced it was leaving campus rather than comply with the university’s new nondiscrimination policy.
Writing in the Christian Post blogs, Marsha West maintains that secular humanism is on the way out. This atheistic, anti-religious belief system has caused spiritual deprivation. As a result a large number of people have moved on to Cosmic Humanism. Cosmic Humanism is a pantheistic worldview which holds to the notion that God is all, all is God. The cosmic humanist believes humanity is evolving, moving upward toward an age of higher consciousness where we will experience “cosmic unity.”
In the mid-1990s, the Brownsville Assembly of God church in Pensacola, Florida was home to what was known as the “Brownsville Revival.” In the time since then, much has changed. The Associated Press notes that Pastor John Kilpatrick, who was leading the church at the time, has moved on. The AP also reports that the church is $11.5 million in debt and on the edge of financial ruin.
The Christian Post reports :
A Massachusetts appeals court heard from lawyers challenging the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, on Wednesday.
A lawyer for gay married couples argued before the three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, saying that any law that prohibits them from receiving the same federal benefits that heterosexual couples get should be struck down as unconstitutional.
On 4 April, the White House hosted its annual Easter Prayer Breakfast. CNS News reports on an interesting choice of words from President Obama:
Speaking to a group of Christian clergy at the Easter Prayer Breakfast he hosted at the White House on Wednesday, President Barack Obama referred to Jesus Christ as “a son of God.”
“It’s an opportunity for us to reflect on the triumph of the resurrection, and to give thanks for the all-important gift of grace,” Obama said of Easter, which is this Sunday. “And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured–not just as a Son of God, but as a human being.”
Denny Burk, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, also shared his thoughts on the President’s speech. Burk, however, focuses on a different consideration:
In his remarks this morning at the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast, President Obama reflected on Jesus’ suffering and said that Jesus experienced “doubt” and “fear” in the same way that we do. Of course the Bible does teach that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are and that He is therefore able to sympathize with us (Heb. 4:15). But does that mean that He himself doubted God and feared death?
Trevin Wax of The Gospel Coalition responds to a recent Newsweek story, Christianity in Crisis. He writes:
Newsweek’s cover story, written by popular author Andrew Sullivan, encourages Americans to “forget the church” and just “follow Jesus.” According to Sullivan:
We inhabit a polity now saturated with religion. On one side, the Republican base is made up of evangelical Protestants who believe that religion must consume and influence every aspect of public life. On the other side, the last Democratic primary had candidates profess their faith in public forums, and more recently President Obama appeared at the National Prayer Breakfast, invoking Jesus to defend his plan for universal health care. The crisis of Christianity is perhaps best captured in the new meaning of the word “secular.” It once meant belief in separating the spheres of faith and politics; it now means, for many, simply atheism. The ability to be faithful in a religious space and reasonable in a political one has atrophied before our eyes.
Phil Johnson of Team Pyro offers his thoughts on The Purpose-Driven Church. He writes:
Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven® Church is now 18 years old. It is the best-selling book on church ministry philosophy ever.
Warren is sensitive about complaints that his overtly pragmatic strategy for church growth leads to doctrinal compromise, so he subtitled his book, “Growth Without Compromising your Message & Mission.” He insists throughout the book that you can follow his “seeker-sensitive” model of ministry without compromising or watering down your message. On page 244, he writes, “A worship service does not have to be shallow to be seeker sensitive. The message doesn’t have to be compromised, just understandable.”
Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, addresses the secularization of American higher education. He writes:
Like most of America’s historic private universities, Vanderbilt University was founded by Christian believers for the purpose of inculcating Christian beliefs in its students. Vanderbilt was founded in the 1870s by Methodists and later funded largely by New York’s Vanderbilt family. Within a remarkably short period of years, Vanderbilt had forfeited its conservative Methodist roots in order to identify with the emerging secular consensus in American higher education.
Evangelist Greg Stier, President and Founder of Dare 2 Share Ministries, wonders: If the Gospel of Jesus is so simple then why can’t the average Christian clearly articulate it? He writes:
Imagine waiting outside the doors of the sanctuary of any evangelical church in America with a video camera and a microphone at the end of the Sunday morning service. Your mission? To interview 10 random members of the congregation with a simple question, “If I were not a Christian and you were to explain the gospel to me what would you say?”
Life News reports:
Appearing on the radio talk show of conservative radio host Laura Ingraham today, former President Jimmy Carter said he believes the Democratic Party should moderate its position on abortion, which it currently supports without limits and funded at taxpayer expense.
Carter said toning down the stridently pro-abortion position would help win back Republicans who abandoned the Democrats because of abortion and other liberal social issue positions.
The L.A. Times reports:
Villagers in this small textile town thought Saeed Mehmood ul Hasan had a pipeline to God. They believed that his Koranic maxims — sometimes scrawled onto wadded scraps of paper, stuffed into a leather pouch and worn around the neck — could cure headaches, mend an ailing kidney or patch up a family rift.
The Christian Post reports:
T.D. Jakes recently released a new book on forgiveness that has at least one critic accusing the renowned preacher of denying the doctrine of original sin.
Chris Rosebrough, an apologist, rejected Jakes’ statement to CP that forgiveness is innate and unforgiveness is learned from one’s environment. There isn’t a “single passage (in Scripture) that says human beings are by nature forgiving,” he argued.
Rosebrough explored the premise of Jakes’ new book Let It Go: Forgive So You Can Be Forgiven on his radio program, “Fighting for the Faith.”
The Christian Post reports:
Evangelical pastor Matt Chandler has been disturbed by what he’s been hearing or sensing from pastors lately – and that is their search for “success” through the size of their churches and the growth of their platforms.
In a post featured on theresurgence.com this week, Chandler, who leads The Village Church in Texas, bluntly stated that such a goal is “hollow” and “dangerous.”
Marsha West takes up where she left off in Part 1. Among other things she reveals Rick Warren’s plan for interdenominational cooperation. She writes:
In part 1 I brought you up to speed on what some “watchbloggers” refer to as “Kingsway-gate.” I’m guessing we haven’t heard the end of this mess. However, this matter and many others commented on in part 1 have helped to earn Rick Warren the title: Teflon Pastor. So we shall see what happens with Kingsway-gate.
Common ground in the love of God…or god?
Most likely Saddleback Church congregants are unaware that their pastor signed a controversial document produced by the Yale Center for Faith and Culture titled Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to a Common Word Between Us and You. In July 2008 Christian and Muslim leaders gathered at Yale University for a conference to promote understanding and peace between Christians and Muslims. The letter urged the two faiths to find “common ground” in the love of God. Since Christians and Muslims do not believe in the same God, one wonders which God we’re to find common ground with.
The Christian Post reports:
While GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney is not known for a willingness to discuss his Mormon faith in detail, at least during his political speeches, a family member and former Mormon has come out to accuse The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of being a cult and a fraud.
Authors Vince and Lori Williams viewed Monumental. They express their concern over seeing Glenn Beck in a live feed from the set of the GBTV studio and the conversation Kirk, an evangelical Christian, and Glenn, A New Age Mormon, had about God. They write:
“My premise as I start out this film is to approach this subject not as an actor or as a politician or not even as a Christian but to approach it as a father.” (emphasis ours) This is how Kirk Cameron defined his documentary in a recent interview to a secular radio host and this is exactly what the film delivered having just watched it at the live screening.
Before we even get into the review, it needs to be noted one of the most shocking parts of the live event was a very welcomed live feed from Glenn Beck on the set of GBTV studio. On the pre-show before Monumental starts, Kirk talks to the audience of viewers and introduces Beck as “one of our biggest supporters of the film and a friend.” Beck then comes on the screen very excited to be partaking in this live event and says, “I am honored to be called your friend”, and then goes on to say, “You were in Left Behind while I was reading it.” He goes on to address the audience with statements on the topic of how God is giving us an alarm, and if you don’t have freedom you can’t be who you are.
Beck states “He (talking about God) is telling us to do these things.” Beck also says, “There’s no way out”, then goes on to say that God has really confirmed to him “why would I be telling you to gather if I’m a God that wants to torture you. He is a loving God. We have to return to Him.” Kirk then says, “We are ready to answer the call” and graciously thanks Glenn and pleasantries are exchanged.
Kirk then introduces some others involved with the film, in particular of note was his conversation with his current pastor Rex Holt of Conejo Church, http://www.conejochurch.com/
They have a conversation together talking about this being a spiritual journey and Holt speaks about John Robinson the pastor to the Puritans that were on this voyage.
The film opens up with the trailer many of us have seen with Cameron blasting away at how the world is supposedly going to hell in a hand basket and we have to somehow stop it from spiraling downward before we hand it off to the next generation.
The film is portrayed with Kirk’s narration back and forth of what he is learning along the way as he goes from point to point along the pilgrim’s escape route from England.
CRN has compiled a list of false teachers and several other professing Christians we’ve warned you about over the years. The list also contains those we must keep an eye on plus movements, organizations and “frauds, phonies and money-grubbing religious quacks” to mark and avoid as per Romans 16:17-18 such as Glenn Beck.
Berit Kjos of Kjos Ministries reviews the smash hit The Hunger Games. The movie is based on Suzanne Collin’s first novel of a trilogy that has fascinated readers young and old alike. Kjos warns of the movie’s occult themes and “stark contradictions to America’s founding beliefs and values.”