I love this picture. These books are on my kitchen counter, and I used flash bounced off the ceiling which gave a nice reflection on the counter (just in case you were interested in the technicals). I have been reading these books the past few weeks, and for whatever reason, I seem to be caught up in this war inside my head about theology. Where is this coming from? Probably from years and years and years of "stuff". I'm not necessarily the kind of person to get caught up in opinions of the mind. And I really don't even care much about "religion" per se, but I DO get caught up in having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We have found ourselves at a crossroads, and I have actually enjoyed really diving into God's word and figuring out exactly what He is trying to say to us, on so many levels. I have experienced many different kinds of "religions" in my life, and I would never say that there is any one that is more "right" than another. But I am slowly learning what is NOT right. It is very interesting to learn about different ways of thinking, to be sure, when it comes to theology. Lately, we have been attending a church that preaches the Doctrines of Grace. I have been in church all my life, and have never been taught these doctrines until this past year. Now, I'm not going to say that I am sold - hook, line and sinker on these views, but I am going to say that it has caused me to evaluate my spiritual life, caused me to really reflect on the passages I read in the Bible, and my family now reads the Bible together on a daily basis, by my husband. What a blessing. Here is an excerpt from one of the books that is something that has been on my heart for years, and I have never been able to eloquently state exactly what it was, but this book says it for me....
Sadly, this is not the church's finest hour. We live in an age of weak theology and casual Christian conduct. Our knowledge is insufficient, our worship is irreverant, and our lives are immoral. Even the evangelical church has succumbed to the spirit of this age. Perhaps the simplest way to say this is that evangelicalism has become worldly. This can be demonstrated by comparing it with yesterday's liberalism. What was once said of liberal churches must now be said of evangelical churches: they seek the world's wisdom, believe the world's theology, follow the world's agenda, and adopt the world's methods. According to the standards of worldly wisdom, the Bible is unable to meet the demands of life in these postmodern times. They believe that by itself, God's Word is insufficient to win people to Christ, promote spiritual growth, provide practical guidance, or transform society. So churches supplement the plain teaching of Scripture with entertainment, group therapy, political activism, signs and wonders - anything that promises to appeal to religious consumers. According to the world's theology, sin is merely a dysfunction and salvation means having better self-esteem. When this theology comes to church, it replaces difficult but essential doctrines like the propitiation of God's wrath with practical techniques for self-improvement. The world's agenda is personal happiness, so the gospel is presented as a plan for individual fulfillment rather than as a pathway of costly discipleship. The world's methods for accomplishing this self-centered agenda are necessarily pragmatic, so evangelical churches are willing to try whatever seems like it might work. This worldliness has produced the "new pragmatism" of evangelicalism.
Whoa - I know..... But it really makes you think. Now most churches would never say "yeah, thats what we are all about", but if you really look closely - that is EXACTLY what they are doing!!! Whatever happened to simply preaching the black and white truths of the scriptures? It seems like most churches today, especially those one might call a "mega church" want to reach out to the lost to the extent of conforming to the world's standards. I'm tired of it. Why do churches want to appeal to emotionalism and sensationalism instead of simply preaching the gospel? If we walk out of church feeling all butterflies and roses, then we haven't been to church.
Stepping off the soap box now....
