In my previous post, I started by stating that this “new” Christianity states that we should be cautious to judge things up to Scripture, since quite a few parts of Scripture appear flawed/misguided in their understandings of God. That’s why I commented to Melena that I chose not to use the words of Paul in my last post. I know that there are those who might dismiss what Paul has to say, because they see some of his teachings as contradictory to what Jesus taught. So I wanted instead to study Jesus’ own words as much as possible, since we hadn’t addressed the issue of this blog post yet. So what does this “better” Christianity have to say about Scripture and Jesus? ——————————————————————————— TRUST JESUS, NOT THE BIBLE The idea goes something like this: Jesus is the fullest revelation of God, not the Bible. Jesus is the word of God (John 1:14), not the Bible. The Old Testament tried its best to describe who God is, how He acts, what He wants from us. But it was written by people who didn’t have the knowledge of God given to us by Jesus, and therefore they attribute things to God that aren’t really in His character. And it’s not just them that do this. Even in the New Testament, various authors in their zeal of God over-reach themselves. People like Paul, for example, who is trying his best to understand what it means that Jesus has come in the flesh and how we should respond to that truth. But we also have something better than the writings of people before Christ and the people after Christ (who are humans like the rest of us). We have the very words of Christ himself! Paul wasn’t the Son of God. Paul didn’t die for our sins. Paul isn’t the Way, the Truth, the Life. He didn’t come down from heaven. He isn’t our Savior, and he isn’t the Messiah. Jesus is! So, sure, it’s great to read what Paul or Old Testament writers had to say–just like it’s great to read what any Christian philosopher has to say down the centuries. But we aren’t to trust Paul or his words with our...

Ok, so here’s the start of some blog posts that I promised a little while back to unpack some of the beliefs being presented today–claims for a “better” Christianity. Before I get into the first one about “not judging”, let me say that we must judge these “new” claims by Scripture. I believe it’s clear that they don’t stand up. But part of this “new” Christianity states that we should be cautious to judge such things up to Scripture, since quite a few parts of Scripture appear flawed/misguided in their understandings of God. In effect, these people are judging Scripture and find it to be lacking. This illustrates one of the points I will present in this blog that people who say “don’t judge,” create impossible criteria for what it means to “judge.” In fact, it is quite ironic that, when I was told that “my” view of Christianity (as if I’ve come up with something new) and my attitude was narrow-minded, judgmental, and arrogant, the very people telling me that I was judging were doing exactly that–and to an even greater degree. In other words, I did in fact “judge” their positions by stating that I completely disagree with their positions on matters that I believe are central to the Christian faith, and that I firmly believed they go completely against the whole of Scripture. I made judgments on their positions, for sure, but did not belittle them as persons in doing so. In return, those who would say that we shouldn’t judge responded by making judgments not only on my positions (which is completely fair and appropriate), but also belittling who I am as a person when they stated I was judgmental, arrogant, and narrow-minded for believing that Jesus is the only way, for example. This is what too often happens by those who say “Don’t judge.” When someone tells you that you are judging–by saying this, they are now judging (and not just judging your beliefs, but sometimes even your motivation, intelligence, or character). The reason for this circular conundrum is a misunderstanding of what Jesus means by “Don’t judge.” Almost anything we say is considered a “judgment.” By this definition, that last statement itself is...

The biggest reason why I left Genesis, my former church, was that I believe that putting one’s faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to God, but I was told that this was narrow-minded, judgmental, and arrogant to believe and teach this. Of course, I had been teaching this to the youth, and was dismayed to learn that the church felt this was unnecessary and not beneficial to do so. Through this experience, my eyes have been opened to realize that churches like this really do exist out there. Sure, I’ve always known that, but I never thought it was so prevalent that I would actually be part of one. In addition, I discovered that the arguments given to me for why I was wrong for my beliefs would be rather persuasive to anyone who doesn’t read their Bible, which is very scary to me. Because statistics show (and people’s understanding of the Bible show) that most people who go to church don’t read their Bibles regularly. In the weeks that have followed my resignation, I’ve been looking hard at Scripture–and what I’ve found has amazed me. Of course, I knew that Scripture preaches that Jesus is the only way, etc. so that didn’t surprise me. But what has surprised and encouraged me is how powerful, alive, and transforming the gospel is. It’s like I’m experiencing it anew all over again. A re-genesis of sorts. But I lose sleep almost every night thinking about the people who remain at Genesis. Some of them have come to the conclusion that this issue is unimportant, and amounts to nothing more than simply parsing doctrinal hairs. They would say, “We can get along with you and your beliefs–why can’t you get along with us?” Then there are others who have no clue that the church feels this way about the gospel, because the gospel is never presented. Like me, they probably have wondered why we don’t talk about it, but assume that it’s because our sermons are more seeker-friendly. Yet they don’t realize the danger of not hearing the gospel on a regular basis. Pretty soon, if you’re not careful, you devalue the gospel in your own life, because it is...

Ok, maybe not just here in Alabama, but it makes for a compelling blog title. Check this out. It’s a real filing by a law firm to move a trial to a later date. Enjoy!

Let me start this post by warning you–I’m sure this will be much longer than a typical blog post. I would like to flesh out a series of thoughts I’ve had recently. I would appreciate anyone’s feedback to what you read. These thoughts have originated because of two separate events in my life recently. One deals with a friend who has an eating disorder. Another deals with some people I know who live within the homosexual lifestyle. For awhile, I’ve been considering the the idea that we all have some issue of depravity within us. For some, it’s very noticeable and apparent, such as an eating disorder or addictive tendencies, and so those people often go through intervention for their issues. For others, the depravity is much more secretive, and oftentimes even more destructive. For example, if someone has a serious problem with gossiping, that destructive behavior can destroy an entire church and cause many people to never know Christ. Whereas the homosexual may only destroy their own life and the lives of his/her partners. My passive/agressive behavior or my bitterness may destroy everyone I come in contact with…so I must come to recognize the depravity in me and must assume that everyone else has severe depravity in some area(s) too. We must realize that our depravity, even if it is not so noticeable, is probably even more deadly than the ones we typically label as depravity (i.e. homosexuality, drug use, sex outside of marriage, murder, etc.). I would like to probe this a little further as well and compare the depravitous behavior in both homosexuality and your typical eating disorder. I would like for you to see if these similarities are true for your own depravities as well: Both the homosexual and the anorexic must not give in to their depravity. For the homosexual, to do so is to exist in a relationship that is not God-honoring and contrary to God’s will and intent. It is to participate with another person in a way that was only intended for the sacred relationship of marriage. This unnatural union can also lead to other perversions of God’s natural sexual law if more permission is given it. The same is true...

I would like to be the first (even though I may not be the first) to say “Congrats, Marko!” on your recent firing/release from President of Youth Specialties by their parent company, Zondervan. While many others are offering their condolences, I can’t help but want to throw a party for the latest person in ministry who has had to struggle with the complexities of serving in a corporate-America environment. While Zondervan is indeed a publicly-traded company, many of us  serve in churches who try their best to act like they are, too! Those of us who do so recognize that as much as we’d like to make ourselves to be the holy righteous minister in the evil, corporate church world, it simply isn’t that simple. We know deep down inside that our churches are trying to carry out God’s mission. We understand that we can’t caricaturize them that way, even though our differences were so severe that it resulted in our firing, our resigning, or our perpetual suffering as we continue to serve in that environment. Case in point: When we leave, we feel torn away from the work we felt God had us do–the only work we knew how to do. We walked away from deep relationships, and we discovered a deep loneliness/lostness–we weren’t in the trenches, doing what we’ve always done. As much as we want to demonize the institution, we are constantly reminded of the redeeming qualities we found there. And now what to do? Go to another church and start it all over again? Or work in the “secular world”? It all feels second-best. Either way, it probably means subjecting ourselves to the corporate mindset. But then we remember what Paul said: “They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” So it really doesn’t matter where we go, does it? Wherever we go, whatever we do, we do it all for the glory of God. Yes, as Mike Yaconelli would say, “Congrats, Marko! Congrats on getting fired for the glory of God!” You’ve joined an elite group of people who are struggling to serve God faithfully–even after being pulled away...