Christianity in Crisis? A Response to Andrew Sullivan

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

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.

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The Devil is the Father of Those Who Cannot Bear to Hear Jesus’ Word

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

διὰ τί τὴν λαλιὰν τὴν ἐμὴν οὐ γινώσκετε; ὅτι οὐ δύνασθε ἀκούειν τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐμόν. ὑμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστὲ καὶ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν θέλετε ποιεῖν. ἐκεῖνος ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἦν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ οὐκ ἔστηκεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλήθεια ἐν αὐτῷ. ὅταν λαλῇ τὸ ψεῦδος, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων λαλεῖ, ὅτι ψεύστης ἐστὶν καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ. John 8:43-44, NA27

“Why do you not understand what I say? Because you are not able to hear my words. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and the truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie it is from his own character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” Personal translation of John 8:43-44 from the NA27 Greek text

Christianity, true Christianity, is not about feelings or experiences as “proof” of its veracity. No, read the accounts given to us in the book of Acts and in the rest of the New Testament. It is all about real events that happened that were witnessed by real people. Jesus was a real person who walked and ministered. He was illegally arrested, tried, and executed. However, He was resurrected after three days and nights in the tomb. Real people witnessed all of these things. No one has ever been able to provide evidence to refute any of it. Paul said that Jesus’ resurrection is the key to our hope and if it is not true then our religion is false. The reason we can know that it was true is that we have the proof of eyewitness accounts of it in the Word of God. Therefore, when so called “christian leaders” in our time write books or give interviews or whatever in which they attempt to refute the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, His deity, or the fact of the His resurrection or even they try to simply cast doubt on any of it, we must understand that those we are listening to have a different spiritual father than genuine Christians. View article →

Traveling Evangelist Sammy Nuckolls Accused of Filming More Women Undressing

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

Apprising Ministries takes no pleasure in bringing you a story like this one. The reason it’s necessary is actually twofold.

First, unfortunately you’ll see that what was once thought of as an isolated incident by Nuckolls, apparently wasn’t at all.

Secondly, it’s my opinion, this is an example of the fruit of years of watered down preaching within mainstream evangelicalism. View article →

Pragmatism vs. Biblical Preaching

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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.”

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Secularism with the Gloves Off: Vanderbilt University’s Assault on Religious Organizations

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

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.

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The Authority of the Son

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ὅτε οἱ νεκροὶ ἀκούσουσιν τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀκούσαντες ζήσουσιν. John 5:25, NA27

Amen, amen I say to you that an hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those having heard will live. Personal translation of John 5:25 from the NA27 Greek text

The misunderstanding or false teaching about two truths pertaining to our Lord Jesus Christ and man are at the center of much of the false teaching that passes for “Christian theology.” It has always been so. The first truth refers to the deity of Christ and His sovereign authority as Lord and God. The second truth pertains to the original sin of Adam and the fact that all people are born dead in trespasses and sins, no exceptions. That spiritual death is without any ability to please God in any way. If we get either of these truths wrong, then we will get the Gospel wrong and that means all our theology is wrong as well.  View article →

The Gospel Test: Do Your People Really Know the Good News?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

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?”

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Jesus Knows What is in Man

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

23 Ὡς δὲ ἦν ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐν τῷ πάσχα ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ, πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ θεωροῦντες αὐτοῦ τὰ σημεῖα ἃ ἐποίει· 24 αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἐπίστευεν αὐτὸν αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν γινώσκειν πάντας 25 καὶ ὅτι οὐ χρείαν εἶχεν ἵνα τις μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐγίνωσκεν τί ἦν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ.

John 2:23-25, NA27

23 And when he was in Jerusalem during the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, seeing his signs which he was doing. 24 But Jesus, himself, was not entrusting himself to them because he knew all men, 25 and because he had no need that anyone should testify about man, for he himself knew what was in man. 

John 2:23-25, Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1

I was in a quasi-theological discussion with a fellow I work with not that long ago. We were discussing matters directly relevant to John 2:23-25 (above) in that just because people committed themselves to some religiosity or temporal experience or the personality of a “religious leader” with a “social cause” or whatever, does not mean Jesus is necessarily committed or entrusted to them. That was basically my stance and when I stated it, the jaw of the fellow I talking with dropped and he looked at me as if I had said something that he could use against me somehow or at least challenge me. He seemed positive that he could tear up my arguments. Of course, as he objected, I offered to debate him on any of his  “issues” with what I said, but only if his part was to challenge what I said biblically. That ended it. All he had was platitudes from his favorite preacher who sounded a lot like Joel Osteen. Right now, that fellow is the most “Politically Correct” person I know so I do all I can to not have any one-on-one encounters with him at all. View article →

Jimmy Carter: Democrats Should Abandon Pro-Abortion Position

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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.

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Forget Not

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

Apprising Ministries reminds you that there are many today who think that those who believe in man’s total depravity and God’s absolute sovereignty have no heart for the lost.

Here in this devotional teaching from Charles Spurgeon you’ll see this is decidedly not so. View article →

What is Faith?

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Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1, ESV

Much of the false doctrine that we see in our time can be at least partially seen to emanate from a misunderstanding of what faith is. Paul tell us in Ephesians 2:8 that Christians are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. So, whatever faith is, saving faith has as its source something other than our fallen nature. View article →

Does T.D. Jakes’ New Book on Forgiveness Deny Original Sin?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

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.”

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Matt Chandler Warns Pastors of Dangers of Seeking 'Success'

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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.”

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T.D. Jakes’ Spiritual Daughter Paula White in the News

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Apprising Ministries reminds you that the primary goal of Elephant Room 2 appeared to be the mainstreaming of Word Faith prosperity preacher T.D. Jakes.

Here in this new article, you’ll see why, as we examine the Word faith fruit of Jakes’ own disciple, Paula White. We shall see that a dangerous door into contemporary evangelicalism has been opened. View article →

The Marred Image of God

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

Apprising Ministries takes a look at the root reasons why we have so many unregenerate preachers in the visible church today.

In this devotional teaching you’ll see that years of over-emphasizing the love of God and a misunderstanding of the true nature of man has had a detrimental effect on the Christian witness. View article →