Closing Time

Well, I've decided to make another change. Go here for my new blog. This blog is shutting down.

Reliving the Past in the Present

My Friday night gig

Every Pastor's Worst Nightmare

This really shouldn't be that funny...but it is.

Why, Yes, I am Quoting Donald Miller

"A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of church in America - about the postmodern church. He says the new church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don't think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing." (Blue Like Jazz, 111). [Emphasis mine]

Pull Up Your Pants - Churchianity Exposed! (Ammended)

I've been doing a lot of thinking, as well as semi-serious research, lately about the differences regarding "Churchianity." What do I mean by the term, "Churchianity?" Well, let me first admit that I did not coin this term. I heard it in my seminary days (oh so long ago) but I am tweaking the meaning slightly.

Churchianity, in my defintion, is the way we "do" church. Every church does "it" differently and those who claim that they are not a church, or are more of a movement, and are not not really organized, are simply trying to pull the proverbial wool over your ever straining eyeballs. Everyone does church in some form or fashion, despite what they may have you believe. At the risk of being completely wrong as well as incredibly reductionistic, I am bravely dividing Churchianity into three major categories:

1) The Traditional Church

2) The Seeker-Sensitive Church

3) The Emerging Church

(By the way, is it just my site, or has Blogger changed its formatting options? It's really getting irritating...I may have to move to Wordpress for this dreadful development.)

1) The Traditional Church

What it is: This is, basically, church as we (those over 25 years of age) grew up and knew it. This type of church comes complete with Sunday school, a visitation program, a worship service (or two or three), a Sunday night service and a Wednesday night prayer meeting. Now, some traditional churches may differ slightly, but this would be the generic, Wal-Mart Equate model. This model, especially those "dead" ones is where number 2 and 3 get their visions.

2) The Seeker-Sensitive Church - Basically, this is a reaction to No.1. In my limited understanding, as well as continued gross characterization, these type of churches desire to reach the un-churched - those who are not involved in church, have never been involved in church, and/or don't know what church is. Therefore, in order to reach these people who supposedly would never enter the doors of a traditional church (complete with its oozing hypocritical nature), the Seeker church throws the organ and piano off of the steeple (oops, some took that down too), and inserts a drum set, guitars, and a rock music feel. After all, the un-churched love rock music and who really listens to music with organs and pianos anymore?

The main leaders in this type of churchianity would be those like Andy Stanley and Ed Young, Jr (whose church I used to regularly attend). Readers of this blog know that I've already taken some heat (from those on the Northpoint staff) when I stated that Stanley's model of church limited the power of the Gospel. I'm not going there right now. I'm just presenting the facts of who they claim they are. You can go their websites and check that out. Also, a good many of these type churches see themselves as businesses and spend vast amount of time planning and reading business books. Also, some churches in category 1 do this as well.

3) The Emerging Church - This categroy is the hardest type of Churchianity to pin down. In fact, some in the EC would have you to believe that they are past pinning down altogether. In fact, they are not really even a church. Instead, they are a movement. Don't let this strategic marketing ploy fool you. They're not just a movement. They're a church. They insist that they are throwing off the shackles of traditional and big business churches and they are going to 'get real.' They also use rock music but some churches use other forms of worship, such as artwork. Also, depending on which Emerging Church you go to, you may or may not hear a sermon. However, most of the Emerging Church leaders that I've listened to (via the internet) come complete with preaching and they use the Bible. In fact, I can't find that much of a homiletical difference between Rob Bell (catgeory 3) and Andy Stanley (category 2).

What's the point of this essay you may ask? Well, I submit to you that all of these worship styles and choices of Churchianity have positives. But don't let any fool you that they are different or unique in some way. After all, the Word of God does state: "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done,And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, 'See, this is new'? It has already been in ancient times before us." (Ecc. 1:9-10)

Here are some of the similarities that I've noticed:

1) All three meet in buildings.

2) All three have church staff - paid.

3) All three are organized.

4) All three have definite meeting times.

5) All three have different ministries (children, etc.)

6) All three have some lead type of pastor who preaches weekly.

7) All three have small group Bible study (Sunday school or small group)

8) All three have music.

9) All three use the Bible.

All three of these types of churches have their own culture and all three reach their respective demographic well. For instance, the church I am serving at, Crosswell Baptist, could not be simply plunked down in the middle of Seattle and expect to remain effective. Also, Mars Hill would not work as well in northeast Sumter, SC. Does this make me missional? If so, then I'm guilty as charged.

The point is that I believe that all three types are viable alternatives of church.

However, there is one area where I believe that all three fail in: the effective use of Scripture.

All three are guilty of "using" the Bible to get their message and vision across.

All three are guilty of choosing a Scripture, reading it, and then moving on, never to go back to it again.

I'm all for creativity. I don't care if a church plays punk, jazz, country, or polka. I also don't care if you drive a tank on stage, juggle watermelons, or walk around on stilts in an Uncle Sam costume.

What I do care about is how preachers, and their churches handle the Word of God. But you say, "Charlie - what do you want me to do - preach through a whole book of the Bible, verse by verse? That would be boring." Yes, it could be boring, if you let it be boring. And any pastor that makes Scripture boring is committing a sin. Use video, use multimedia, play the organ, breakdance on stage, but please, please, please, let the text decide your sermon topic, not yourself. Believe it not, the Holy Spirit knows your congregation, and their needs, more then you do.

*Ammendment*

Let me add something: The issue I'm really getting at here is that of the sufficiency of Scripture.

I'm not saying sermons should not have illustrations, stories, etc. I think that any sermon point without some kind of illustration will probably be forgotten.

What I'm saying is that do we really believe that Scripture is sufficient enough to meet the needs of our people or are we merely relying on our cleverly devised sermons. Are we allowing Scripture to penetrate the hearts of our people as we expound it through a sermon? Or are we arrogantly foolish enough to think that we can do it by ourselves?

Biblical Counseling Conference - Session 2, 3, and 4

I'm too lazy to blog about all that happened in the next three sessions.

Dr. Catanzarro spoke on raising children, handling our emotions, and overcoming grief in a biblically-centered way. It was a wonderful conference and our people appreciate Dr. Cat's willingness to share with us his wisdom about this area. Tapes are available at the church office for $1 if anyone would like to hear a session.

Call 803-775-2489

Biblical Counseling Conference - Session 1

Last night was Session 1 of our Biblical Counseling Conference here at Crosswell Baptist Church. The conference runs from Friday night until Sunday night. Dr. Frank Catanzarro, Associate Professor of Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary was our guest speaker.

The conference is titled, Doing Life God's Way. Last night was the first session and was called "Doing Marriage God's Way." Dr. Catanzarro did a wonderful job explaining how our culture has become de-synsitized from the Truth of God. We often mix and match parts of our me-centered culture with the Bible, which is God-centered. One of his premises that under-girds his entire philosophy of counseling is that our culture is self-centered and teaches us to become independent. However, this philosophy stands in direct opposition of two of the major themes of the Bible, which is to be God-centered and to become dependent on Him, not ourselves.

Catanzarro then applied this biblical truth to our marriages. Instead of setting up "performance standards" for our spouses ("if he would only be like this," or "if she would only do this") we are called to love our spouses despite if they are horrible to us or not. Our main, and only "goal" in life should be to glorify God in all that we do. Therefore, when we treat our spouses a certain way or expect certain things from them, we should ask ourselves, "How does this behavior, thought, belief, or action glorify God?"

Session 1 was a wonderful time of conviction and reflection on why we live the way we do and act the way we act. Tonight, in Session 2, Dr. Catanzarro will be discussing "Raising Children God's Way."

My Wife on Biblical Womanhood

There has been some controversy on this board as of late in regards to some of the posts that I've been writing as I've been going through 1 Timothy. My wife is much more of an expert then I am on the gender-role debate so in response to the questions posed under another post. This is written to any of the detractors of our view. Enjoy!


First, The role of women in the church today is probably one of the most emotionally charged issues in American evangelicalism today. This debate has hit men and women alike to the core because it affects all aspects of life. First, we must affirm that the creation narrative in Genesis 1:27 views men and women as equally created in the image of God. Therefore, according to Wayne Grudem, men and women have equal value to God, and should be seen by us as having absolutely equal value as persons, and likewise, value to the church. God’s Holy Word is a woman’s authority (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) and God’s glory is our purpose (Isaiah 43:7)

In the beginning, God created woman has a helper, and as equal in essence yet different in role. God affirms the beauty of manhood and womanhood, the equality of the both genders, and the striking differences in roles of both men and women found throughout the Bible to show his glory. Women can ultimately glorify him by keeping with what the entire Bible clearly states is her function. God created women for a completely different function than men and when this function is ignored, relationships are damaged and God’s glory may be hindered. Glorifying God should be every woman’s goal in all that she does.

This excerpt is from a 50 page paper I did at seminary. The funny thing is that it was not until the feminist revolution that people started to think this way. Since the beginning society has accept man has the protector and the provider but now all of a sudden if a woman cannot be the protector and the provider she is not worth anything! We are not talking about the workplace here, we are taking about who is the spiritual leader. Furthermore, we are talking specifically about the husband and wife relationship for that is the time when God tells the woman to submit. If both the husband and the wife are the heads, then it is a terrible two headed monster. Coming from a woman’s perspective let me tell you, we want to control men, we want to lead. I really think that is a part of the curse.

An interesting punishment that God decrees on Eve as a result of the fall is found in Genesis 3:16b, “Your desire will be for your husband, but he must rule over you.” The phrase “your desire will be for you husband,” usually is understood to mean that Eve will want to control her husband. However, the phrase “he must/will rule over you,” has been debated. The word “rule” could be translated to mean the exercise of godly headship which matches the reasoning found in Genesis 4:7 or it could mean that Adam is going to exercise ungodly domination at times as a result of the curse. However the reader wants to translate the word rule, “nothing can change the fact that God created male headship as one of the aspect of our pre-fall perfection.” Moreover, Ortlund affirms that, “Christian redemption does not redefine creation; it restores creation, so that wives can learn godly submission and husbands learn godly headship.” Christ did not come to redefine creation, but to restore creation to the perfect order God created it to be.

Egalitarians rightly argue that both Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, however inaccurately affirm that Adam’s role as the head is a result of mankind’s fall from grace. Furthermore, they would profess that women no longer have the obligation to submit to their husbands because Christ came to this earth and established a new covenant. Egalitarians have to reinterpret many passages of Scripture concerning a women’s role in the church to fit their view (Eph. 5:21-22; Col. 3: 18-19; 1 Peter 3:1-7). Ultimately, this view must be rejected for it elevates a women’s experience above the authority of the Word of God.

Complementarians argue that both Adam and Eve were equally created in God’s image, but that Adam’s role as head of the home was established before the fall, and is not a result of sin (Gen 2-3). Women are created equal in essence yet different in function. Complementarians believe that a wife should graciously submit to her husband’s servant leadership, care and protection (Eph. 5:21-22; Col. 3: 18-19; 1 Peter 3:1-7). Even though there are some qualifications for women in church life, the many valuable ministries of women far outweigh the few restrictions Scripture imposes.

You probably fall under the egalitarian camp and that is fine we can agree to disagree. The most important thing in Christianity is that Jesus came and died for our sins and we can either accept or reject him. We do not have to work our way to heaven. However, you cannot argue 1 Tim. Or Ephesians as cultural because it is rooted in creation. Other aspects like wearing pearls are not. It goes back to theological basis. The Bible says a woman cannot teach or have authority over man BECAUSE man was created first. If you say this is not fair, then you will have to take it up with our Creator. However, you cannot get past this huge reason on why woman are to learn in silence (Meaning not interrupting the teacher and asking too many questions). They are not to do so because of the order in which God created man and woman and because of how man and woman fell into sin. Moo goes on to assert that complementarians believe that 1 Timothy 2:8-15 imposes two restrictions on the ministry of women: “they are not to teach doctrine to men and they are not to exercise authority directly over men in the church.” Only two restrictions of women in ministry in the local church are found in this passage; there are numerous other roles women can fill in their church. 1 Timothy 2:13-14 states, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” The creation of Adam before Eve, signaled that men are to teach and exercise authority in the church. Furthermore, the events in Genesis 3 confirm the need for male leadership. Eve took over the leadership role and responded to the serpent as Adam just stood back and did not lead Eve. He allowed Eve to sinfully react to the serpent. However, even though Eve was the first to sin, the responsibility for the sin is given to Adam in Romans 5:12-19.

Lastly, Complementarians hold that Deborah did not publicly teach both men and women, and that Deborah stepped up in leadership because Barak would not. In all the biblical texts where women are prophesying, they do not teach the Word that was given to them, they just proclaim it. Thomas R. Schreiner points out that Deborah's prophetic and judging ministry was different from that of her male counterparts:
"Note that Deborah did not go out and publicly proclaim the word of the Lord. Instead, individuals came to her in private for a word from the Lord. The difference between Deborah's prophetic ministry and that of male Old Testament prophets is clear. She did not exercise her ministry in a public forum as they did. Note that even when she speaks to Barak she calls him and speaks to him individually (Judges 4:6, 14)."

Schreiner explains that because she did not go out and publicly proclaim the word of God she exercised her prophetic ministry in a way that did not obstruct male headship. Ligon Duncan praises the fact that God choose women prophetesses in the Old Testament. He states this fact for many reasons. First, it shows that men who were writing Scripture, “did not think that women were some sort of inferior being incapable morally or intellectually to fulfill some significant role in the Kingdom.” These men who wrote Scripture where not male chauvinist “that just need to be enlightened into our modern ways of looking at women which are much more higher and more appreciative and affirming ways of looking at women.” Finally, Duncan asserts that a female prophetess in the Old Testament is the exception to the rule. He affirms that God brought Deborah onto the “scene to take up that role as a judge and a prophetess, is because Barak is wimping out on his responsibilities. So, to rebuke Israel, God raises up Deborah to basically say, ‘Barak, get off your duff and do your work, man. You’re called by God and you’re falling down on the job. If you fall down on the job, then I’ll just raise someone up that normally is not called to be in this role.’ So she’s the exception that proves the rule in that regard. The most important idea though to understand is one person is not deemed "better" because they have a different role. We do not get out self worth from our positions in life...we get it from Christ.

A Reminder

A Wonderful 3 Years

Scripture Memory Sabbatical Over (1 Tim. 12-13)

My Scripture memory sabbatical is over. I know I kind of left everyone (I know there are tons of you out there) on a cliff-hanger as I stopped on 1 Tim. 2:11. I had to this because as I entered the holiday season (Christmas and New Year's) it became increasingly difficult to spend the time needed to practice my daily Scripture memory routine (sans Sundays).

Now, however, I am back in the saddle. And the verse that stares me in the face this morning?

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet." (ESV)

However, I do not think you can have a conversation on this verse without including verse 13 which states:

"For Adam was formed first, then Eve."

Paul seems to be rooting this command in the created order. This is the main reason that I do not simply dismiss verse 12 to a cultural situation.

There has been tons written on this topic. Indeed, I just participated in a discussion on Drew Jones' blog on this very topic. Go there to read my practical application of how this would work in a church setting.

The Single Guy?! (Updated Frequently)

My wife has left me. No, not what you're thinking. On Thursday, she and baby Jack left for Spartanburg so that they could spend some time with her family and attend one of her best friend's bridals showers on Saturday afternoon. Since I was not invited to the shower and because of the short work week (yes, I know I could have worked from home on New Year's Day but I decided to rot my brain by watching six football games), I was kind of behind in preparation for all of the things going on on Sunday.

So, at 11:30 am on Thursday morning my wife with my son loaded up the Honda and took off...the silence was deafening....*crickets*....I looked at my dog and she looked at me and the rest of the night we sat on the couch and stared at the wall, not knowing what to do with each other with out the Matriarch and Prince of the family.

I thought I'd give a time-line of what I have done since she left - I'll update as time goes by since she won't be back until Sunday afternoon:

Thursday

11:30 AM - Left me standing in the driveway waving goodbye

4:15 PM - Walked home from the church and took the dog out and sat down on the couch.

6:15 PM - Got up off the couch and made supper: Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.

7:00 PM - Still hungry so I made some popcorn.

7:30-11:00 PM - Watched television and should have read but didn't have the brain capacity. Just sat there and sinfully felt sorry for myself.

10:15 PM - Millie Boo pooped and peed outside.

11:00 PM - Moved me and Millie Boo into the room to go night-night.


Friday

4:00 AM - Woke up starving because of the light supper and ate two pieces of white bread and went back to sleep.

4:15 AM - Millie Boo pooped outside.

8:35 AM - Woke up and took Millie Boo outside again. Went back to sleep.

9:35 AM - Woken up by my pastor calling to see if I was still alive. I was.

10:00 AM - Ate a bowl of Frosted Flakes and took a shower.

11:45 AM - Met my good friend for lunch.

1:00 PM - Went to Blockbuster video and rented Season 1 Part 1 of Scrubs.

1:15 - 2:15 PM - Visited a church member in the hospital who is recovering. They asked how I was doing without Emily and Jackson...Millie Bee peed.

2:30 PM - Came home and worked on church stuff.

3:30 - 4:30 PM - Took a pity-party depressed nap. Millie Boo peed.

4:30 - 5:15 PM - Wondered aloud at what to eat for supper.

5:15 PM - Drove to McDonald's - decided not to supersize.

5:30 - 6:00 PM - Ate McDonald's

6:30 - 7:30 PM - Was a slave to the Internet. Millie Boo peed.

7:30 - 9:15 PM - Was a slave to Scrubs. Finally laughed and laughed many times and hard. Millie Boo pooped.

10:00 PM - Talked to my wife and my son on the phone.

11:30 PM - Finally went to bed after Millie Boo peed once again.


Saturday

8:30 AM - Ok, Millie Boo uses the restroom about every 2 hours. I guess my wonderful wife, Emily knows this and has to deal with this every day - plus a baby.

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM - Read and studied the B-I-B-L-E - that's the book for me.

11:30 - 3:15 PM - Prepared for Sunday, etc.

3:30 - 5:30 PM - 9 holes of golf at the local golf course. Highlight of the round: birdied a par 5 - on the green in 2 shots with a 12 foot eagle put that I choked on.

5:30 - 9:00 PM - Hung out with a friend from church. Watched The Office Season 2 on DVD.

9:30 - 10:30 - ...no idea.

10:30 - bedtime

As you can see, Saturday was a much better day.


Sunday

Wife and son came back!

Top 10 Ways You Know You're In a Bad Church

10.The church bus has gun racks.

9. The church staff consists of Senior Pastor, Associate Pastor and Socio-pastor.

8. The Bible they use is the "Dr. Seuss Version."

7. There's an ATM in the lobby.

6. Choir wears leather robes.

5. Worship services are B.Y.O.S. -- "Bring Your Own Snake."

4. No cover charge, but communion is a two-drink minimum.

3. Karaoke Worship Time.

2. Ushers ask, "Smoking or Non-smoking?"

1. The only song the organist knows is "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida."

Showing our Faith in God (Luke 2:22-40)

Showing our faith – Sometimes we may go through life and wonder how can we show people our faith? How do you think we can show people visibly our faith in our God? I am going to submit to you that in hit passage in Luke, the Bible gives us four ways that we can show our faith in God to people:

1. We can show our faith in God through obedience (v.22-24)

- v.22 – After forty days, a woman who had just given birth was considered, “clean.” According to Ex. 13:2

- v.23 – By bringing Jesus to the temple Jesus' parents were showing their faith in God by obeying his Word and dedicating Jesus to the Lord.

- v.24 – They were also required to offer sacrifices. Offering a pair of doves or pigeons meant that they were not very wealthy, because a lamb was required if one could afford it.

Sometimes we should obey God even when it doesn’t make sense. Can you think of a time when obeying God will show to people your faith?

Mary and Joseph really didn’t have to do these rituals. They had the son of God as their own son. He created this law. But because they had faith in who He was, they knew it was right to obey Him and adhere to the law.

2. We can show our faith in God through patience (v.25-35)

- v.25-26 – Simeon knew the Scriptures and knew of the promised Messiah and it had been revealed to him that he would see Him.

- v.27 – The Spirit led him to the temple to see the fulfillment of God’s promise

- v.28 – Held the baby and praised God for keeping his promise

- v.29-32 – Simeon saw Christ, God’s plan of salvation that he prepared for all people – a light of revelation to the Gentiles and glory for Jews.

- v.33 – Again, we see that Jesus’ parents marveled at what was said about him. They were amazed. Again, I’m not sure they really knew to what extent Jesus would save us and them.

- v.34 – Jesus was appointed for the “fall and rising” of many in Israel. Jesus would divide those who denied or accepted him and cause many to fall who fail to believe and others to rise one day in the resurrection because they have believed in the promised Messiah. Jesus will always be a sign that is opposed.

- v.35 – a sword will pierce Mary’s soul also – What does this mean? That she will also be convicted of her sin and have to follow her own son, Jesus. Through one’s acceptance of Jesus many hearts and thoughts will be revealed as to what they really believe.

Many people fail to accept Christ because they do not have patience. Simeon never gave up hope that the promised Messiah would come and that he would see him. He showed his faith through his patience in the reliance on God’s Word.

Why do you think people get mad at other people when they drive? Is where they are going more important then where the other person is going? Patience is a Christian virtue that the world does not possess, and that few Christians possess. It is putting others, and Christ, before yourself.

Sometimes the greatest way we can show our faith and have our faith built up is through being patience in times where we don’t want to be patientt.

3. We can show our faith in God through worship (v.36-38)

- v.36 - Anna was a prophetess. Does this mean that she predicted the future? Not always…it could also mean that she spoke the truth of God in public.

- v.37 – Talk about patience…Anna had been a widow for many years. She was at the temple every day and all the time.

It isn’t an accident that someone who is constantly at church would be considered a prophet. Any person who dedicates their lives to serving God will speak good words of Truth.

- v.38 – When she was in the temple she knew immediately that the baby was Jesus the Messiah. What did she do? 1) She praised God and 2) she told others about him.

What is worship? Worship is being committed to our Lord, praising our Lord in all circumstances and telling others about Jesus.

4. We can show our faith in God through growth. (v.39-40)

Jesus grew, became strong, and filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. Likewise, when we grow in our faith we show our faith to the world.

Obedience, patience, worship and growth: through these four actions we can show people our faith in God and his promises for our life.

BCS Madness

Boise State is just plain taking it to Oklahoma right now in the Fiesta Bowl. Of course, as of this writing, there are 8 minutes left in the third quarter and Boise is only up by 18 points so my statement may be a little premature.

Why am I posting about this? Well, I am fed up with not having a playoff system in college football, arguably, the greatest sport in the world.

It's simple take the top 8 teams (heck, I'd even go for the top 4) and match them up in a playoff and play in the existing bowl sites.

The BCS has taken a step in this direction this year by adding a 5th BCS game called simply, The BCS Title Game. Consequently, there will be another BCS game in Tempe this time next week, only then it will be for the National Championship.

If Boise State can win, finishing undefeated in the process, maybe people will finally recognize that just because a team is not in a BCS (top 6) conference, that doesn't mean they don't deserve to play for the national championship. I think this victory (if it happens) will go a long way in spurring a playoff (finally) system. Go Broncos!