Dr. Phil on the Emerging Church

I am a huge fan of this blog: http://teampyro.blogspot.com/
Phil Johnson is one of my favorite blog writers and I think you will enjoy this post. It is great food for thought regarding Rob Bell and Mark Driscoll.

"Perhaps you are one of those who thinks I have been too hard or too shrill in my criticisms of "the Emerging Church." In all honesty, the more I have been exposed to the various streams of the movement, and the more closely I have examined the agglomeration of trends and ways of thinking that make Emerging-style "ministry" distinctive, the more I want to distance myself from everything "Emerging." If any ostensibly-Christian movement since late-nineteenth-century modernism was more deserving of a shrill warning, I can't imagine what it would be.

Here is a lie writ large: "Postmodern Ministry Takes Us Back to The Bible." I invite you to follow that link; read the page; notice the sound file linked at the bottom of the page; and give it a careful listen.

It's a sermon by Rob Bell. David Posthuma introduces the message with this hopeful claim: "I present this teaching for one purpose alone . . . to illustrate how radically different postmodern Biblical facilitation is from the Seeker-Sensitive Topical Talk model so prevalent within our churches today."

OK. I'll grant that Bell's message is completely and radically different from anything you would hear in a seeker-sensitive context. But Posthuma's blogpost seems to imply that Bell's sermon proves Emerging-style ministry is somehow more "biblical" than seeker-sensitive worship.

Hardly. Bell's message is not only unbiblical; it's anti-Christian. He takes a bit of drivel he apparently learned from a yoga instructor somewhere, badly rephrases in quasi-biblical terminology, and spends 36 minutes doing "exposition" on a breathing exercise.

The result is not merely trivial: it's flat-out heretical. And in more ways than I care to enumerate.

I'll give one brief example, though. Here's a sample of what Bell does with the gospel: "You can't get enough points to get in with the Big Guy. You can't do enough good deeds and then God will like you. One of the things the Spirit does is remind us that we belong. Period. Just exactly as we are. You are loved by God."

Bell's syncretized amateur yoga exercise is not Christianity by any stretch of the definition. I'll go further: if this is what Bell really believes, he himself is no Christian.

The message actually proves that the stream of Emerging religion represented by Rob Bell hasn't a clue or a care about basic biblical truth. It's nothing but an experiment with the deconstruction of Christianity.

On a side note, but a related subject I thought in the interests of balance, after hearing that sermon by Bell, I ought to listen to a sermon from the "conservative" side of the Emerging movement. So I listened to this one by Mark Driscoll. I wish I hadn't. Driscoll's smutty language and preoccupation with all things lowbrow are inappropriate, unbecoming, and dishonoring to Christ. I completely agree that many Christians fail to appreciate the true humanity of Jesus. But it's not necessary to get vulgar in order to communicate the truth about His humanity.

This is the first time I have ever posted anything critical of Driscoll. I have appreciated his defense of the atonement and his willingness to confront the neo-liberalism of other Emerging leaders honestly. But I don't think his perpetually coarse language in the pulpit and his apparent preoccupation with off-color terms and ribald subject matter are merely minor flaws in an otherwise healthy ministry. It is a serious shortcoming.

No, it's actually worse than that, because it blatantly violates the clear principle of Ephesians 5:3-4. It is shameful (v. 12) and therefore a reproach. It's characteristic of the old man and one of the fleshly behaviors we are expressly commanded to put aside (Colossians 3:8). Scripture even seems to indicate that unwholesome language signals an impure mind (Matthew 12:34). And yet this seems to be a deliberate, calculated, and persistent practice of Driscoll's. It is practically the chief trademark of his style.

That's troubling, and even more troubling when I see young Christians and older believers who ought to know better mimicking the practice. If this is the direction even the very best Emerging-style ministry is headed, it's not a trend any Christian ought to find encouraging, much less one we should follow." BY Phil Johnson

Check out http://teampyro.blogspot.com/ if you'd like to interact with Phil or read all the comments in context.

On Vacation

I am on vacation now with my wife and family. We are visiting my parents and brother in WA. The Pacific NW is very beautiful. God's creation is really awesome (esp. when you visit spots like Seattle).

I have a bad cold but other than that am really enjoying this time off. I hope everything is going well in Carmel. We miss our church family/friends but are grateful for this opportunity to spend some time with our rents. This was my father's first time meeting Evelyn. She is now 5 months old and is getting a little more perfect each day (perhaps Weslyian theology of sanctification is correct)! :) Just kidding of course.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Da Bears are back in town!

On 9-11-06 i posted the following,
I've been a Bears fan since 1982 (my first childhood photograph w/Bears clothing on) and I've stuck with them these 26 years. I was born in WI so you understand this never made me a popular guy around the house. My dad and older brother are both huge Packer fans. My little brother is a Houston Oilers fan (now the Tenn. Titans) which makes things interesting.

Moving from CA to IN has been great. One of the things that has been annoying is getting use to being on E.S.T. Monday night games start at 8:30pm or later so I'm in bed before the start of the third quarter.

People at our church are serious Colts fans! We live only 25 minutes from the RCA Dome. As you can imagine Peyton is a very popular baby name out here.


EVEN COLTS FANS REALIZE THE BEARS ARE THE BETTER TEAM (AT LEAST FOR NOW).

I'll take Rex and the Bear's D over Peyton Manning and Colt's O anyday!!!!

Too busy to post here or anywhere

Not many people read this blog anyways.... I know that because i have not recieved any comments from anyone saying "hey Caleb! Why aren't you blogging." That's ok because everyone and their grandma has a blog these days AND their are much better one's to be reading then mine!

I have had the opportunity to preach through Jude 5, Jude 6, and Jude 7 on Sunday morning. If you are interested in what i said the mp3s are at www.fbccarmel.com

I also preached a special sermon on Is 53:10 (God's pleasure in crushing His Son) during our PM communion service. I did a small sermon for a funeral last Monday (from John 14:1-6) for some dear friends at my church (the Carrs). I also attended much of the NANC National conference.

In addition to these things are my duties as a youth pastor; putting together the FIRE regional pastors conference (which is Oct 16-18th at our church); and all the other things that need to happen (our Sr. Pastor has been on vacation the past 3 weeks).

My wife and baby daughter are in NY visiting some family right now. I taught an evangelism class this morning for our Upward Basketball coaches (Upward basketball is around the corner and this year i am coaching as well as continuing my role as League Commissioner). I've been teaching through a series on Pride & Humility in our new young marrieds/families/singles class. I'm using Mack's book, Scott's pamphlet, and Mahaney's short book. Good Stuff!

Please keep me in your prayers! God's grace is truly sufficient.

Caleb