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The Circle of Life


Resurgence

Click through to the Resurgence if you can't see the video.

Want to see an epic example of pagan one-ism in a movie we all love? Watch this clip of "The Circle of Life" song from The Lion King. See the following posts to learn more about one-ism and two-ism:

Learn all about one-ism and two-ism at the Exchange conference in San Diego. Sign up at thexchangeconference.com. Get huge group discounts with groups of 3 or more.

Exchange Conference

Exchange Conference

Mark Driscoll, Peter Jones, Francis Chan, Kevin DeYoung, and others will teach you how to distinguish the Truth from the Lie in all of life at the Exchange Conference.

The Origin of a Conference


Peter Jones

Professor - Westminster Seminary California

For years I have been seeking terms to identify the enemy of the Christian faith in the modern world, since you cannot engage an enemy until you have clearly identified it. An enemy that describes itself or “frames the issues” in its favor will always wear camouflage, and will catch you in a catastrophic ambush.

Progressive vs. Repressive?

Truth is framed by the social and religious Left as cutting-edge, late-breaking, progressive thinking for “freedom” and “equality.” Biblical notions are dismissed as “repressive,” “backward-looking,” “old-school.”

In fact, everyone’s spirituality is old. In the yoga gyms in LA they go back to 6th-century BC Buddha! Deep ecologists promote the worship of Nature found in ancient Native American spirituality.

The Old Lie

J. Gresham Machen, the great early-twentieth-century defender of biblical orthodoxy, already saw through this in 1925:

    "Our enemy who prides itself in being very modern, is as old as the hills; and from the very beginning, the Christian Church has been menaced by…all-embracing paganism."

In 1898 the brilliant theologian Abraham Kuyper, Prime Minister of Holland, observed:

    "The fundamental problem has always been, is still and always will be till the end, Christianity or Paganism, the idols or the living God."

Indeed, the real issues are virtually timeless, “as old as the hills,” two ageless, contradictory ways of seeing reality. One constantly tries to cover itself in the false claim of newness, though among those in the know, it calls itself the Perennial [perpetual] Philosophy. The other is happy and proud to admit its age.

Framing the Issues

I have tried to come up with a “frame” to help Christians speak the truth of the Gospel with confidence and clarity in our culture and time.

I began with Christianity vs. Paganism, but people saw “pagan” as an insult. I then used the terms Theism (the biblical notion of the Creator/creature distinction) vs. Monism (the theory of All is One), but some complained that this was all too abstract and intimidating.

One-ism vs. Two-ism

My final attempt is about as simple as it gets: One-ism vs. Two-ism. Everyone can count from one to two, and indeed my next book to appear this spring, an application of Romans 1 for the 21st century, is entitled One or Two: Seeing a World of Difference. For 2000 years Romans 1:25 laid out One-ism and Two-ism right under our noses. Here Paul defines these two antithetical ways of thinking as “The Lie” (worshiping creation and believing that all is one) or “The Truth” (worshiping the Creator and recognizing two distinct realities—God the Creator, and everything else, which is created).

The Truth Is Bigger Than You Thought

These simple categories of One-ism and Two-ism indicate that truth is both much bigger than you could imagine, and far simpler than you have been told. In South America where I spoke, they now use “un-ismo” and “dos-ismo”; a missionary in Malaysia who heard me speak in Indonesia tells me they now use the terms in Malaysia; Mark Driscoll effectively used them in his debate with Deepak Chopra on national TV—and that is “the origin of a conference.”

Exchange: The Truth & The Lie

Mark and I dreamed up a conference that would apply these terms to various areas of Christian thinking and living—worship, law, education, sexuality, family, social justice, and Gospel preaching—in order to open the mouths of Christians to witness about Jesus without fear of intimidation. The conference is called Exchange: The Truth & The Lie, and it's June 17-18, 2010, in San Diego.

Come to the Exchange conference this summer and learn with many other Christians how to celebrate the beauty and the glory of biblical Two-ness. Let’s raise a banner to the honor of our transcendent, wholly other Lord who, in Jesus, came with unparalleled condescension into our created world to restore us to fellowship with him.

Do you see it? This is not just theory. Without Two-ism you have no Gospel to preach.
 
P.S. There are a few very large churches in our area who are keen to have their congregations attend, so if you want a seat, register now. I look forward to meeting you there!

You can watch an interview Pastor Mark did with Dr. Jones in 2008.

Exchange Conference

Exchange Conference

June 17-18, San Diego: A conference about identifying the Truth and the Lie of life. Learn more.

The Theology of Rich and Poor


Mark Driscoll

Preaching Pastor at Mars Hill Church

Prosperity Theology/Idolatry: Click | View Series

Theologically, prosperity theology is just plain wrong. When the Bible speaks of wealth, it does so in four categories. In the stewardship chapter of our new book Doctrine, Dr. Gerry Breshears and I explain it this way:

    Everything we have—including our finances, jobs, houses, products of our land, real estate, investments, credit, equity, cash, businesses, automobiles, and personal items—is given to us by God and is part of our treasure, or wealth. Good stewards make every effort to manage their treasure as an act of worship.
    Sadly, much of the teaching about stewarding one’s treasure is prone to either poverty or prosperity theology. Poverty theology considers those who are poor to be more righteous than those who are rich; it honors those who choose to live in poverty as particularly devoted to God. Conversely, prosperity theology considers those who are rich to be more righteous than those who are poor; it honors those who are affluent as being rewarded by God because of their faith. In fact, both poverty and prosperity theology are half-truths because the Bible speaks of four ways in which treasure can be stewarded. (Doctrine, pg. 388-389)

4 Ways Treasure Can Be Stewarded

  1. Righteous rich stewards – Biblical examples of righteous rich stewards include Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job (both before and after his life tragedy and season of poverty), Joseph of Arimathea (who gave Jesus his personal tomb), Lydia (who funded much of Paul’s ministry), and Dorcas (who often helped the poor).
  2. Righteous poor stewards – Biblical examples of righteous poor stewards include Ruth and Naomi, Jesus Christ, the widow who gave her mite, the Macedonian church, and Paul, who often knew want and hunger.
  3. Unrighteous rich stewards – Biblical examples of unrighteous rich stewards include Laban, Esau, Nabal, Haman, the rich young ruler, and Judas Iscariot.
  4. Unrighteous poor stewards – Biblical examples of unrighteous poor stewards include the sluggard and the fool, who are repeatedly renounced throughout the book of Proverbs.

Proof-Texting Prosperity

Those who promote prosperity theology/idolatry are prone to proof text 3 John 1:2 from the New King James Version, which says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” This verse is simply not a promise, but a wish. Like every good friend, John is saying that he wishes and hopes that his friend Gaius would be in good health and would be able to meet his needs. This is a far cry from a promise, especially a guaranteed promise for all. Rather, it is a goodwill prayer for a friend.

A great brother and enjoyable friend of mine, Dr. Daniel Akin, writes about this verse in the New American Commentary:

    After an initial greeting, John moves to express his good wishes for Gaius in the form of a brief prayer. He begins by again expressing his love and affection through the second use of agapete (“dear friend”). In Greek concerning “all things” is put first in the sentence for emphasis: “Concerning all things [John] prays that [Gaius] may prosper and be in health just as his soul prospers” (my translation). The word “prosper” (translated “all may go well with you” in the NIV) can mean “to have a good journey.” Here it is used metaphorically. John asks God for the best in every way for Gaius. Further, he specifically prays for “good health.” (New American Commentary: 1,2,3 John, pg. 240)

We should be free to pray for the total well being (spiritual, physical, and financial) of our friends as John did. But to take a prayer of goodwill and twist it into a promise of guaranteed health and wealth is to completely distort the faith we have in the homeless and poor Jesus Christ, who was so distressed that he sweated blood before suffering excruciating physical pain in order to liberate us from the idolatrous worship of created things, such as health and wealth, in place of the Creator God.

Exchange Conference

Exchange Conference

June 17-18, San Diego: A conference about identifying the Truth and the Lie of life. Learn more.

What Is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism?


Michael Horton

Professor - Westminster Seminary California

Click through to the Resurgence if you can't see the video.

Michael Horton explains moralistic therapeutic deism and how it shows up in our churches and literature.

In this interview series, Mars Hill PR Director Nick Bogardus interviews Dr. Michael Horton. For more information and resources from Dr. Horton, check out White Horse Inn.

Exchange Conference

Exchange Conference

June 17-18, San Diego: A conference about identifying the Truth and the Lie of life. Learn more.

Why Should Christians Learn About Islam?


How should Christians relate to Muslims? Why should we learn about Islam? Sojourn Church in Louisville has a 5-minute interview with Pastor Daniel Montgomery about these issues on their Inside Sojourn podcast. You can also stream the interview directly.

Sojourn is also hosting a forum this week called “Developing a Christian Response to the Challenge of Islam,” taught by Dr. Albert Mohler of Southern Seminary. [Updated with link to the audio from Dr. Mohler's lecture]

Mars Hill Global

Mars Hill Global

Serving the church and spreading the gospel. Help support this effort by giving to the Global Fund. More info at MarsHillGlobal.com.

Ravi Zacharias on Postmodernism


Resurgence

Author and apologist Dr. Ravi Zacharias spoke at The Henry Center in October 2009 on the topic of postmodernism and the pertinent lessons we can learn from two kings of ancient Israel.

See video from Dr. Zacharias’ presentation:

For additional content, visit Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) and download the thought-provoking daily and weekly podcasts Let My People Think and Just Thinking.

Trial Study Guide

Trial Study Guide

Get the companion study guide to Pastor Mark's Trial sermon series in downloadable PDF form. Find out more.

Contextualization & Ancestor Worship


Resurgence

Click through to the Resurgence if you can’t see the video.

Missional cultural engagement is a challenge. How far does one go to engage culture? According to missiologist Ed Stetzer, that is the nature of contextualization. In his recent post Ancestor Worship and Taiwanese Christians, Stetzer gives some helpful guidelines on contextualization as well as this short video of a Taiwanese believer explaining the difficulty of contextualization in his culture of ancestor worship.

Re:Sound - Rain City Hymnal

Rain City Hymnal

The first offering from Re:Sound is the Rain City Hymnal. Listen online and get the record from the Re:Sound website. Find out more.

Luther Puts a Nail in the Heart of Bad Religion— And 3 Other Holidays


Justin Holcomb

Director of the Resurgence

Why did Martin Luther nail his famous 95 Theses to the Wittenberg church door on October 31, 1517?

He was confronting two religious observances that promoted false saintliness and exploited people’s fear of judgment and purgatory. There’s a curious connection between Halloween and Reformation Day, and it’s more than just proximity on the calendar.

Halloween

Halloween (October 31) is celebrated by millions each year with costumes and candy. Halloween's deepest roots are decidedly pagan, despite its Christianized name. Its origin is Celtic and has to do with summer sacrifices to appease Samhain, the lord of death, and evil spirits. Those doing the pagan rituals believed that Samhain sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves.

Christians tried to confront these pagan rites by offering a Christian alternative (All Hallows’ Day) that celebrated the lives of faithful Christian saints on November 1. In medieval England the festival was known as All Hallows, hence the name Halloween (All Hallows' eve) for the preceding evening.

All Saints' Day

All Hallows' Day or All Saints' Day (November 1) was first celebrated on May 13, 609, when Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary. The date was later changed to November 1 by Pope Gregory III, who dedicated a chapel in honor of all saints in the Vatican Basilica. In 837, Pope Gregory IV (827-844) ordered its church-wide observance. Its origin lies earlier in the common commemorations of Christian martyrs. Over time these celebrations came to include not only the martyrs, but all saints. During the Reformation the Protestant churches came to understand “saints” in its New Testament usage as including all believers and reinterpreted the feast of All Saints as a celebration of the unity of the entire Church.

All Souls' Day

All Souls' Day or the Day of the Dead is normally celebrated, primarily by Roman Catholics, on November 2. This is a day dedicated to prayer and almsgiving in memory of ancestors who have died. People pray for the souls of the dead, in an effort to hasten their transition from purgatory to heaven by being purged and cleansed from their sins.

Reformation Day

Reformation Day (October 31) commemorates Luther's posting of his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. This act triggered the Reformation, as they were immediately translated and distributed across Germany in a matter of weeks. The Protestant Reformation was the rediscovery of the doctrine of justification—salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone—and the protest against the corruption within the Roman Catholic Church.

The century before the Reformation was marked by widespread dismay with the venality of the leaders in the Roman Catholic Church and with its false doctrines, biblical illiteracy, superstition, and corruption. Monks, priests, bishops, and popes in Rome taught unbiblical doctrines like the selling of indulgences, the treasury of merit, purgatory, and salvation through good works.

Treasury of Merit

Spiritually earnest people were told to justify themselves by charitable works, pilgrimages, and all kinds of religious performances and devotions. They were encouraged to acquire this “merit,” which was at the disposal of the church, by purchasing certificates of indulgence. This left them wondering if they had done or paid enough to appease God's righteous anger and escape his judgment.

This was the context that prompted Luther’s desire to refocus the church on salvation by grace through faith on account of Christ by imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us. To those spiritually oppressed by indulgences and not given assurance of God’s grace, Luther proclaimed free grace to God’s true saints:

    God receives none but those who are forsaken, restores health to none but those who are sick, gives sight to none but the blind, and life to none but the dead. He does not give saintliness to any but sinners, nor wisdom to any but fools. In short: He has mercy on none but the wretched and gives grace to none but those who are in disgrace. Therefore no arrogant saint, or just or wise man can be material for God, neither can he do the work of God, but he remains confined within his own work and makes of himself a fictitious, ostensible, false, and deceitful saint, that is, a hypocrite (Luther W.A. 1.183ff).

Instead of the treasury of merit that was for sale, Luther protested, “The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God” (Thesis 62).

In celebration of Reformation Day, you should seriously read all 95 Theses—they're really good.

Vintage Church - Re:Lit

Vintage Church

In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.

Pins & Needles: Acupuncture Series


John Catanzaro

N.M.D. - Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

This series deals with acupuncture and provides a guide for careful Christian engagement with this eastern healing practice. Here are quick links to each part in the series:

A Day with Dr. Don

A Day With Dr. Don

Get all the audio and video content from D.A. Carson's lectures at Mars Hill Church in December 2008. Read More.

Eastern Healing, Alternative Medicine, and Christian Faith, Part 8


John Catanzaro

N.M.D. - Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Eastern Healing Series: Click | View Series
Continued from: Part 7

Evaluating With Wisdom (Receive, Redeem, Reject, and Relate)

Now with a foundational understanding of the basics of Eastern healing practices and some elements of alternative healing, we can begin to carefully evaluate the various practices in alternative medicine. This vast subject requires a basic blueprint that would assist the Christian in knowing what to receive, redeem, reject, and relate in the faith experience. This is essential because every successive generation that is not given proper education about these Eastern practices endangers Christendom.

There is evidence that Christians accept and reject practices which they do not understand. I have personally seen devastating outcomes when Christians accepted and allowed healing practices that are clearly anti-theistic (anti-God) and were seriously injured as a result. Conversely, I have seen Christians reject valuable healing resources that are biblically safe. By basing their opinion on hearsay rather than researching and investigating for themselves, they give a valuable practice the reputation of being satanic. Guessing is not a safe option here; knowledge and understanding is crucial.

Springs Without Water

Christian, you must know how serious this is. The church as a whole is threatened by the dangerous encroachment of Eastern philosophy, which we are warned not to embrace. In 2 Peter 2:17-19 we are warned not to be given to false teaching:"Those false teachers are like springs without water and clouds blown by a storm. A place in the blackest darkness has been kept for them. They brag with words that mean nothing. By their evil desires they lead people into the trap of sin--people who are just beginning to escape from others who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. For people are slaves of anything that controls them." (New Century Version)

I believe that the "4 R" evaluation method above will be very valuable to assess whether or not certain practices are acceptable. It is very simple to use, and I will provide the basic blueprint of this method in the following posts. At the very least the Christian will be able after this evaluation to deduce what aspects of a particular practice does or does not violate Christian faith, theology, and doctrine, and see more clearly the reasons why acceptance or rejection is necessary.

To be continued.

Recommended Books

Recommended Books:

A collection of fantastic reading material on various important topics, used and shared by Pastor Mark Driscoll. Find out more.

What is the Resurgence?

The Resurgence is a reformed, complementarian, missional movement that trains missional leaders to serve the Church to transform cultures for Christ.

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