Article: Mega Churches Mean Big Business

Here's an article at CNN.com that discusses the money-making machines that are mega churches. A few quick quotes and then some salient observations:

Mega churches across the United States are becoming increasingly popular which is not only bringing thousands of worshippers together, but also billions of dollars in profit.

Scott Thumma, professor of sociology and religion at Hartford Seminary told CNN that "the mega church on average has about $6.5 million in income a year."

The Lakewood Church which [Joel] Osteen is in charge of has a yearly budget of more than $80million, but church officials deny that it's about money.

However, some critics argue that it's hard to be both a pastor and someone in charge of a yearly budget in the tens of millions.

You can read the entire article here.

The Scripture says that where words are many, sin is not absent (Proverbs 10:19), and I suspect the same can be said of dollars. Now, don't get angry with me - I don't mean to impugn any of these mega ministers, and I'm very well aware that sin can germinate when there is little money present.

I guess what I'm saying is that money carries with it a certain inherent danger - and there are plenty of Scriptures to back that up, with warnings about being pierced with many griefs and having your faith shipwrecked.

Then there's the more subtle warning in Proverbs 30:8-9 about how having an abundance of money can lead to forgetting God, and that's where my concern about these mega churches lies. It's just far too easy to abandon faith in the leading of the Holy Spirit and lean on slick marketing campaigns, demographic data, and sermons based on felt-needs polling.

And large attendance and financial success are not necessarily indicators of God's blessing. Just ask the Laodiceans . . .

Survey Says: Half of Clergy Members View Pornography Every Month

Here's the disturbing story from the Canada Free Press.com:

The reality of Christian America’s shift away from faith in God and sound doctrine is evident by some staggering statistics.

. . . perhaps the most shocking news coming from these surveys concerns the men (and women) in the pulpit. In any given month at least 50% of priests, pastors, and ministers have visited at least one pornographic website.

Why this decay? Why is the church worldlier than ever? There are many reasons: Liberal theology that denies the inerrancy of the Holy Bible; the attempt by many churches to grow in numbers instead of making disciples; churches that love tell you ‘God loves you’ but don’t preach the need for Repentance.

You can read the entire article here.

Ingrid Schlueter over at the CrossTalk blog adds this salient commentary:

The enemy has used porn to derail more lives and ministries than probably anything else . . . If half of all pastors are watching this filth, you can only guess at what the laity is doing.

We are living at a time that resembles the that of Noah. Everyone, including tens thousands of professing Christian pastors, seems to be doing what is right in their own eyes. Scripture tells us that judgment begins at the house of God. Porn-viewing pastors, and porn viewing Christians in general, have reason to tremble.

Revival of the Labrynth

In the wake of the current Biblical drought facing American churches, we have news of the revival of an ancient practice: walking the labrynth.

The denverpost.com has the article here, and here are a few quotes:

Advocates say walking a labyrinth will quiet the mind, feed spiritual hunger, heal suffering, release the ego, bring order to chaos, amuse, amaze, transform the psyche and give firsthand experience of the divine.

More labyrinths have been built in recent years than at any other time in their known 4,000-year history, labyrinth historian Jeffrey Saward said.

The labyrinth was fashionable again in the 19th century, Saward said, and its use has exploded in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The labyrinth had re-emerged in the early 1980s, here and there, in relatively small circles of geomancers, dowsers and New Age adherents . . .

[Psychotherapist and Episcopal priest Lauren] Artress is largely credited with reviving the ancient spiritual discipline in contemporary Christian experience after it had largely slipped from awareness for some 350 years.

I've been reading about this practice for quite a while now, and it does concern me. This is all part of the growing Emergent Church movement, which is a lot of New Age theology dressed up in Evangelical Christian clothing. Whenever God's people begin seeking "new" ways to experience Him outside of the Scriptures, serious error is not far behind.

It must be understood that we are not priviledged to seek or experience God any way we want. We are invited to come to Him freely, but on His terms alone.

How can we be so blind as to accept these practices that find equal acceptance in New Age thought, neo-paganism, and the church?

Once again, I lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of today's pastors. Solid biblical instruction has been replaced by man-centered psychology, leaving the congregation bereft of discernment. Vapid preaching leads to an emptiness of the soul, and the people will seek out other means to find spiritual fulfillment.

Modern Youth Ministry Labeled "Indisputably Unbiblical"

In a recent conference, Scott Brown, director of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches, claimed that modern youth ministry is "indisputably unbiblical."

Here are a few tidbits from the article:

Age-segregated youth ministry, trained youth ministers and programs to draw and entertain youth are a new invention in the history of the church, Brown said.

"Modern youth ministry is also inherently destructive in its impact. It divides the church by creating generational division and multiple cultures instead of a unified 'body,'" he maintained.

. . . age segregation leads to the isolation of an individual's perspective to one that only looks outward from within the confines of their age group and excludes the lessons that can and should be learned from previous generations," he adds.

The National Center for Family-Integrated Churches holds that the biblical order and unity of the family are crucial to the stability and health of the Church of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, churches have contributed to the breakdown of the family, the center claims.

"We now have almost three generations of children who had no father who walked beside them but a youth group instead. It is obvious that half a decade of youth group does not produce young people who are passionate about the church."

Research and estimates by youth workers have suggested that a majority of youth group seniors drop out of church after graduating.

Brown is quick to point out that while he rejects youth groups, he supports ministry to youths. He advocates generous investments in teaching Scripture to teens.

Having been a part of the church machine for the past 25 years or so, and most of that spent in youth ministry, I have to say that – for the most part – I agree.

I don’t have a problem with teens having their own group, but I’ve seen it go way too far – to the point where teens don’t know what to do with themselves after they graduate and are no longer a part of the “youth group”.

I also don’t have a problem with burping contests, and snot shot contests, and all those crazy things, but I’ve seen those become the soul purpose of the youth ministry. In all my years, I always strove to teach solid Biblical doctrine to teens while allowing them to have fun on their own terms. And, all in all, it worked pretty well. The main emphasis, however, must be the Biblical presentation of the gospel and discipleship.

And Brown hits a home run with his indictment of the failure of families (and fathers in particular) to teach Biblical truths in the home. That, in fact, is the Biblical pattern.

A Lesson Learned From Tiger

The Tiger Woods saga is a cautionary tale. As more and more women come out of the woodwork, and Elin moves out, and Tiger steps away from golf for a while, it’s good to remember that while a wise man learns from his mistakes, a wiser man learns from other people’s mistakes.

Let’s face it, we’re not billionaire athletes and our personal sins will not be plastered across tomorrow’s headlines. The world at large does not care about our transgressions.

But our own little spheres of influence will care. That illicit relationship, that shady financial deal, that shameful habit, these will not remain hidden. And the secret things that invariably come to light will affect our own little world of family, friends, and peers.

The Bible puts it this way in Numbers 32:23:

. . . you may be sure that your sin will find you out.

The Bible: Taking on A Classic Argument for Divine Inspiration

I believe the Bible is the Word of God. I also believe that the current sixty-six books we have fully constitute the inspired Scriptures - nothing should be added, none should be left out. But lately I've been thinking critically about an argument we Christians have been trained to use to help prove the inspiration of Scripture.

For years I have believed, and taught, that one of the greatest testimonies to the divine inspiration of the Bible is the incredible unity it contains. We tell students that the Scriptures were written over a 1500 year period, on three different continents, and in three different languages. We say that it was written by over 40 different authors in all different walks of life: farmers, kings, judges, poets, tax collectors, priests, doctors, etc.

And we like to point out how, in spite of these vast influences of time, culture, and geography, the Holy Writ is amazingly consistent in dealing with such controversial topics as the nature of God, the nature of man, death, eternity, personal ethics, worship, etc.

Finally, we conclude this proves that One Divine Hand guided the writers as they wrote. But, I have to wonder . . . does it really? I mean, all of that is true, but is it a valid argument for divine inspiration?

Plain and simple, the sixty-six books of the Bible are so remarkably consistent because way back in 393 AD, a standard was recognized to weed out books and letters that just didn't fit in.

This standard is called the “canon” – an architectural term referring to a standard measuring rod. In 393 the Council of Hippo (no giggling!) recognized the canon for the Bible.

From ChurchTimeline.com (emphasis mine):

To be recognized as canonical, a book had to be Apostolic, fit in with the other scriptures, and have been of fruitful use throughout the church up to that time.

So, claiming that the unity of Scripture is indicative of divine inspiration is simplistic and misleading – mundane steps were taken to insure they were unified.

Yes, the Bible is the word of God, but there are much better reasons to believe.

Some Quick Observations on Church Life in America

The guys over at Resurgence.com have posted an interesting study on church life dealing with staff, worship, and pastors’ job duties. Here’s a sample:

• 
  The number of paid staff for the average congregation is three. But nearly half of all congregations have one paid staff member.
  
• 
  The median pastor who is paid by the congregation works about 50 hours per week.
  
• 
  In almost all congregations, about half of the attendees stay after the worship service to socialize for about 25 minutes.
  
• 
  53.4 percent of congregations have small groups meeting regularly.

You can read the rest by clicking here.

Diversity: Is It Really All That Great?

Okay, that title was intentionally inflamatory - but still an honest question. For the record, I'm not talking about racial diversity, or physical diversity of any kind. I'm talking about a spiritual and philosophical diversity that threatens our relationship with God. Hear me out.

Here's the article that sparked the thought: Parents Sue Florida School District Over Religious-Themed Song.

Apparently, some parents were outraged that their children were being taught an overtly religious song in a public school. The song - "In God We Still Trust" by Diamond Rio - contains the following lyrics:

"You place your hand on His Bible/When you swear to tell the truth/ His name is on our greatest monuments/And all our money, too/And when we pledge allegiance/There's no doubt where we stand/there's no separation/We're one nation under him."

Now, there are a lot of directions my mind went on this story, but the one I wanted to explore - and get your thoughts on - was the idea that we can't publicly teach our children songs about the Christian God of the Bible because we might offend the devotees of some other religion (and that includes Atheism, btw).

Even though this country was founded on Christian principles by mostly Bible-believing men, we are taught - in the name of diversity - to honor, respect, and treat as equal other belief systems. We are told over and over again how rich our culture is to have so many varied inputs into our "melting pot". Other cultures have so much to teach us we hear them say. But I can't help thinking (over there in the stubborn, politically-incorrect portion of my brain) that the "melting pot" has become a standing cesspool of diluted truth (how's that for a word picture!).

You know, there's a reason why God warned Israel about fraternizing with diverse cultures and "learning their ways". He knew it would cause them to fall away from Him and eventually bring about their nation's demise . . .

John Piper: Testing David Wilkerson's Prophecy

Maybe you've heard about famed preacher David Wilkerson's scary prophecy everybody's been talking about? Has he heard from God? The only way to tell is to test the prophecy against the true standard of the word of God.

Bible teacher John Piper does just that in this post from his blog. In short he says:

What shall we make of this? . . . Two things give me pause . . .

First . . . God might have said this. But it doesn’t smell authentic to me. Too prudential. Too reminiscent of the embarrassing Y2K excesses.

Second, my confidence level drops when the Scriptures are not handled carefully.

But my own effort to be discerning says: Stick with the Bible, David. It is scary enough. And it is absolutely true. And your credibility will never fall.

Good stuff. Read all of Piper's post here.

The Missing Question

There are lots of questions in life:
Commercial Questions
“Can you hear me now?”
Clichéd Questions
“Is this thing on?”
Silver Screen Questions
“Dude, Where’s My Car?”
Musical Questions
“Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”
Theological Questions
“Did Adam and Eve have belly-buttons?”

But, as important as these questions are, there is an even more important question that is missing from our society. This missing question was articulated by those who heard Peter’s sermon in Acts:

Acts 2:37 NIV
(37) When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

These men were asking, "What shall we do to be reconciled with God?" They were filled with a holy dread at the recognition that they had offended the almighty God, and they wanted to know what they needed to do to make it right.

Do people ask this question today? Are we as a society at all driven to do anything we can to be reconciled to God?

Color me cynical, but I see an alarming apathy towards God.

Apathy vs. Atheism
Atheism, the belief that there is no God, has gained ground lately. There is currently a world-wide campaign being conducted called the Blasphemy challenge. People from all over the globe post written and video blogs all intended to disparage the Christian God.

Atheism says there is no God, and you can posit rational arguments that challenge an intellectually-honest atheist. But what do you do with the person who acknowledges that there is a God . . . but they don't care?

Where does this apathy come from?

It all begins with the preacher
Romans 10:14 NIV
(14) How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

The integrity of the message lies in the effectiveness of the preacher. I believe, by and large, that the apathetic attitude towards God so prevalent in our culture stems from the humanistic preaching found in pulpits across America. This man-centered gospel has created a generation that no longer asks, "What must I do?" but rather, "What can I get?"

The net result is that we have a generation seeking the fulfillment of their flesh, not restoration with God.

This prosperity gospel creates a perverse relationship in which God is relegated to the position of a kind, old benefactor whose only purpose is to continually access His limitless resources in order to bail out his beloved. This approach to the gospel threatens to turn the Bride of Christ into Anna Nicole Smith!

Repentance Preaching
Notice the kind of preaching from Peter that prompted this question. He wasn’t afraid to place the burden of blame on the people:

Acts 2:22-37 NLT
(22) "People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through Him, as you well know.
(23) But . . . you nailed Him to a cross and killed Him.
(36) "So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!"
(37) Peter's words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"

Too much preaching today seeks to pacify the listeners and make them feel comfortable. Repentance preaching emphasizes man’s innate sinfulness and subsequent separation from God. Then the love of God is fully demonstrated in His sacrifice to redeem us.
You cannot fully appreciate the God’s love without first understanding the sinfulness of man. Because of that, an honest assessment of the human condition must precede every presentation of the salvation message. It is much more powerful to realize that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. (Romans 5:8).