Slice of Laodicea

For several years, Slice of Laodicea has existed to inform and educate Christians about trends and news in contemporary evangelicalism and religion in general. As of tonight, the news and commentary will now be located at the Crosstalk Blog under the Religion category. There, you can continue to stay up to date on the important issues facing Bible-believing Christians.

The present Slice blog will stay up indefinitely for those who would like to access the archives. The new Crosstalk site will have VCY staff contributors as part of the team, and will allow reader interaction through moderated comments. We hope you will check it out. Those who are currently receiving Slice posts by RSS will continue to receive the posts from the Religion category at the new site. Thank you to all Slice readers for your past support. We look forward to having you visit us at the Crosstalk Blog soon.

–Ingrid Schlueter

Last week it was reported that Brian McLaren and other emergent church leaders are celebrating Ramadan with Muslims. WorldnetDaily has an article on this new trend and notes that McLaren is not fasting for the salvation of his Muslim neighbors, but rather to join them in an act of community and solidarity.

In case you missed it, here is Dr. John MacArthur in an interview called, The Case Against the R-Rated Church: Language in the Pulpit.

HT: Puritan Fellowship

“We are willing to go to jail rather than following a criminal law, Rodriguez said, “and we are willing to commit the supposed crime of disobedience before the crime of abortion.”

“We doctors are not soldiers, nor policemen, nor executioners. There is no civil disobedience in the refusal to kill a human being, but rather the fulfilling of our professional obligation,” he added.

—Dr. Esteban Rodriguez, spokesman for the organization Right to Life (Derecho a Vivir) in Spain, responding yesterday to comments by the country’s Minister of Justice, Francisco Caamano, who said there was no room for a conscience clause in the new law on abortion. Read the article about these courageous doctors here.

The gay affirming Bolz-Weber, who is a pastor in the ELCA, is to be a featured speaker at a prominent upcoming emerging church conference Christianity 21.

In this piece we look at her sermon yesterday concerning the ELCA’s tragic decision to embrace practicing homosexual clergy.

While introducing the video, where one can view the “sermonette” preached by Driscoll at the apostate church of Robert Schuller, online apologetics and discernment ministry DefCon informs us:

First, I recognize that there are those who will read this that will immediately judge my statements while at the same time stating, “JUDGE NOT!” Second, I know that Driscollites will probably show up en masse to defend their champion while deliberately overlooking Biblical commands to point out error.

Sadly, there are few opportunities for those who claim to be ministers of the gospel to make a stand that will impact millions. This is because the gospel OFFENDS and the listener to the Word of God will be brought under conviction of the Holy Spirit. The conviction will bring a conviction of sin and then it will bring transformation from an old creature to a new creation in Christ Jesus.

Recently, one man was given that opportunity to give a clear explanation of the gospel and the consequences of not believing the truth as proclaimed in the Word of God. That man was Mark Driscoll AND HE FAILED MISERABLY!…

In this sermon, Paul Washer shares much biblical wisdom on what a Christian family should look like and what its priorities should be. Highly recommended for all, but especially men who are married or hope to be some day.

As you’ll see in this post the serious sexuality issues within the ELCA may indeed even extend well beyond their decision yesterday to allow openly gay clergy.

Today emerging church leader Brian McLaren begins his fast for Ramadan. In this short piece, containing a must-hear clip from Fighting for the Faith by Chris Rosebrough, you’ll see from Scripture why this is absolutely wrong. And further, you’ll find proof that the non-gospels preached by McLaren and his disciple Rob Bell are virtually identical that spread by liberals like Marcus Borg.

A discussion concerning a subject which will be critical in our generation in this Vintage Pyromaniacs post:

The futility of crying “Peace, Peace,” when there is no peace... In one sense it is sad that the history of the church is so marred by doctrinal conflicts, but in another sense that is precisely what the apostles anticipated. Even while the New Testament was still being written, the church was contending with serious heresies and dangerous false teachers who seemed to spring up everywhere.

This was so much a universal problem that Paul made it one of the qualifications of every elder that he be strong in doctrine and able to refute those who contradict (Titus 1:9). So the church has always been beset by heretics and false teachings, and church history is full of the evidence of this.

Obviously, then, we who love the truth cannot automatically shy away from every fight over doctrine. Especially in an era like ours when virtually every doctrine is deemed up for grabs, Christians need to be willing and prepared to contend earnestly for the faith…

A look at an ongoing shift in the theology of the Emerging Church toward panentheism, with a flawed theosis (deification of man) ala Eastern Orthodoxy, particularly evident with Brian McLaren.

As further evidence of how even secular media recognize the spiritual shift taking place towards eastern religious practices, here’s a new piece from Newsweek.

The Rig Veda, the most ancient Hindu scripture, says this: “Truth is One, but the sages speak of it by many names.” A Hindu believes there are many paths to God. Jesus is one way, the Qur’an is another, yoga practice is a third. None is better than any other; all are equal. The most traditional, conservative Christians have not been taught to think like this. They learn in Sunday school that their religion is true, and others are false. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” Americans are no longer buying it…

So only the “most traditional, conservative Christians” believe that Jesus meant what he said about being the way, the truth and the life. The rest of the “Christians” think He was what? Lying? Deluded? That is, however, just how bad it’s gotten. Supposed “Christians” who wouldn’t even know who Jesus was without the Bible, completely reject what Jesus Christ had to say. What kind of religion is that where you can make things up as you go and discard your own supposedly sacred text?

HT: Lighthouse Trails

A quote from John MacArthur’s new book The Jesus You Can’t Ignore.

“The last thing many believers need is to go to another Bible study. They already know far more than they are putting into practice. What they need are serving experiences in which they can exercise their spiritual muscles.”

–Rick Warren, propounding his Martha-style Christianity and works righteousness theology.

My response: At a time of unprecedented biblical illiteracy and rampant carnality among evangelicals, the last thing they need is to be told not to study the Bible. But if you aren’t working, you’re just a useless feeder in Rick’s world. And besides. If you actually do read your Bible, you’ll figure out pretty quickly just how off base Rick Warren’s social gospel really is.

This short post, containing an excellent clip from Chris Rosebrough’s Fighting for the Faith program, notes the striking similarities in Bell’s work with that of unbelieving liberals like Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan.

(The American culture now resembles the landscape in this iconic Woodstock photo. Click on the photo to catch a glimpse of this hippie “heaven” on earth.)

Last week saw many misty-eyed retrospectives on Woodstock, the 3-day music festival in 1969 that was supposed to define the Baby Boom generation. Well, it actually did, as the fornicating, weed-smoking, barefoot cultural barbarians launched a revolution that has effectively destroyed the moral fabric of our nation. But perhaps those aging hippies in newsrooms who put together the fond trips (pardon the pun) down memory lane last week are still laboring under the influence of controlled substances. This disturbing report from Fox News informs us that the Woodstock crowd, now firmly in the grips of the AARP, is still several tokes over the line. As a member of one of the next generations to inherit the mess this bunch is leaving behind, I have one word for this news. Pathetic.

This jaw-dropping quote comes from today’s report that one of Finland’s largest arenas is refusing to stage Alice Cooper’s show due to its anti-Christian content. “Practicing Christian” Alice speaks:

“As a Christian, I don’t declare myself as a ‘Christian rock star.’ I’m a rock performer who’s a Christian. Alice Cooper is the guy who wants to entertain the audience – it happens that he’s a Christian. Alice (the character I play on stage) began life as a villain and he remains one. There’s a villain and a hero in every Shakespeare play,” he said.

“Alice is no more dangerous than a villain in a cartoon or a Disney film. We have fun with him. He snarls and wears make up. He’s punished for his crime and he comes back on the stage in white top and tails. We put on a good show. I’ve always put limits on Alice because I believe there’s a certain amount of Alice that’s a gentleman. He’d slit your throat, but he’d never swear at you. And there’s always a punchline; he may kill you, but he’ll slip on a banana peel. I get right-wing Christians down on me and I always ask them the question: ‘If I was doing Macbeth, would it be OK?’ And they always say that’s Shakespeare so of course. I say that’s about four times more violent than anything I do on stage.”

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Pastor John Chisham is challenging other biblical preachers to speak out during the October Christianity 21 Conference in Edina, Minnesota. Christianity 21 is no ordinary Christian conference. Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones want you to know it will offer the following:

Toward this end we are providing on-site, free-of-charge personal coaches in the areas of Spiritual Direction, Natural Health, Sexual Health, Professional Development and Job Pursuit. Also available are group sessions of yoga and a publishing seminar. In addition, the facility will serve as a living Art Gallery.

So when does the Christianity part begin? You know, the part about the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Somewhere among the sexual health workshops (whatever those are), the sweating pastors on yoga mats and the cheese sculptors in the “living Art gallery”, is there any mention of lost souls on their way to an eternal hell without Jesus? Or is hell just a construct of modernity, now outmoded in this über-cool postmodern age?

It looks like Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt could use a good dose of biblical preaching, and Pastor Chisham is challenging Minnesota area preachers to provide it during the conference.

I received the following press release today.

Austin, MN – Aug. 19, 2009 – A new resource is available to those who want to look more closely at the Christian book they’re reading. “Clear as a Bell” is a new e-book that holds the first chapter of “Jesus Wants to Save Christians,” by Rob Bell and Don Golden, up to the light of Scripture. Carefully written by experienced teacher Chris Jensen, the e-book offers Christians a new way to read faith-based materials.

“Without page-by-page, paragraph-by-paragraph analysis, it’s easy for us to assume that the Christian book we’re reading is in line with biblical truth,” says Jensen. “The e-book format allows readers to view the authors’ text and my analyses in tandem, creating a virtual conference between myself and the authors.” Jensen’s hope is that this format will become “the gold standard” for providing necessary feedback to Christian authors and provide valuable insight to readers.

“Most Christians agree that only the Bible is perfect and without flaw,” says Jensen, “so everything we humans write will be flawed to some degree. Unfortunately, though, we typically don’t consume ‘Christian materials’ with any kind of criticism at all.” Jensen believes we should bring “a healthy skepticism” to everything we read, listen to, and view, and that we should be always testing the media we consume against the truth of God’s Word, lest we fall into error. “To stay clear of false teaching,” he says, “we must take this matter of Christian media seriously.”

Having evaluated thousands of essays for his English classes, Jensen is now applying his critical eye to the popular Christian teachings of our day. Last February, he began posting his observations in the form of open letters on his blog, “the red pen” (www.redpen.org). To date, he has received very favorable feedback from visitors, in respect to the content of his analysis, and to the manner in which he shared his observations with Bell and Golden.

“Jesus said that I am to love my neighbor as myself,” says Jensen. “If I am going to be critical of the work of others, I must attend to the matter with loving prayer and the utmost care, lest my intended readers, the authors to whom I’m writing, stop reading and listening altogether.”

To access the free e-book, “Clear as a Bell,” simply follow the download instructions at www.redpen.org.

Kevin Williams sent me a link to this excellent video challenge regarding those who want to see how close to the world they can live and still be a Christian.