Friday, August 6, 2010

Julia Roberts: "I'm Definitely A Practicing Hindu"

Posted by Christine Pack

Julia Roberts, who stars in the upcoming movie Eat, Pray, Love - which presents a sort of "Americanized" version of Hinduism - recently said in an interview that she is now a practicing Hindu.

Only in America could we find a way to romanticize the core theology of Hinduism to the point that it looks appealing - when in reality it is a religion of despair.  The "Americanized" form of Hinduism, however, as artfully put forth in Eat, Pray, Love, "feels" very good to the sinful flesh.   As a friend of mine pointed out....food binges, Eastern spirituality, and free love?  Please!  So much more appealing than the biblical concepts of crucifying the flesh, dying daily to self, and laying down one's life.

Julia Roberts needs to read Out of India by Caryl Matrisciana to get an understanding of the underlying ugliness and despair of true Hinduism.  Writer and producer Caryl Matrisciana was born and raised in India, and witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of Hindu thought and beliefs on the culture around her.  The goal of Hinduism is for its practitioners to realize that one's soul is identical to Brahman, the "Supreme Soul."  Or, in layman's terms....we are all "god," which is the core theology of the New Age.

But, UNTIL a Hindu attains this knowledge, they are, according to eastern belief (Hinduism/Buddhism), trapped in the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth (reincarnation).....a theology which leads to utter despair.

We've written before about the fact that the New Age, that "dated" 80s movement starring Shirley MacLaine running down the beach with her crystals clanking, never really went away, it just became absorbed into our culture.  New convert and "practicing Hindu" Julia Roberts has just proved this point...in spades.  Hinduism and New Age Spirituality are here to stay.

photo credit: david_shankbone via photo pin cc

photo credit: indi.ca via photo pin cc


 Additional Resources 

"Christian" Yoga?

Universalism: The Gospel Message of Emergent and New Age Spirituality

Karma Just Doesn't Cut It

Yoga Alliance Shows Its Hindu Teeth


Christian Yoga an Oxymoron? 

Yoga Training: Not Just Exercise

Yoga For children: Not Child's Play

Yoga: From Hippies To Hip

Yoga: Its Spiritual Roots Can't Be Separated From Its Physical Movements

Thursday, August 5, 2010

A Response and An Open Letter to Anne Rice

Dear Anne-

Thank you for engaging on this.  Please know that the purpose of my original post about you was not to quarrel or dispute with my brothers in Christ over at White Horse Inn.  There is a difference between biblically exhorting and quarreling...and I was simply hoping, by God's grace, to exhort them to test all confessions of faith against God's word.

You wrote to Sola Sisters:
"This article is a perfect example of the kind of quarreling and disputes that infect Christianity and Christians. Roman Catholics aren't Christian? This is precisely why my commitment to Christ demands that I have to step away from organized religion."
My response would be that I think the heart of the issue is that there are certain things in Scripture that Christians are holding the line on that you find offensive, even wrong.  But do we get to "cherry pick" only the truths that "feel" good and spiritual to us while rejecting others?

Anne Rice, Author
My pastor often makes the statement: "We are reformed, always reforming."  Meaning, we all have gaps in our theology, but we don't "close the gaps" with our own man-made wisdom....we allow Scripture to "reform" our thinking.  Let's say there is something that I hold as a "truth," something that I think has guided me faithfully for years.  I love this truth, I embrace it, I speak about it to others, it has value to me.  And let's say that in ongoing Bible study, one day I realize this "truth" to be in error.  What happens to this "truth?"  Bye-bye, is what happens to it.  It has to go.  It's been great knowing you, dear "truth," but I have something better:  Scripture.....God's truth.

What I have discovered in my own life, as I grow older and study the Bible more, is that the ideas I've come up with as I travel through life - which oftentimes have seemed so profound along the way - have always been shown for what they are in light of Scripture: Silly little nothings. Futile thinking. Vain imaginations. (2 Cor. 10:5, Rom 1:21-22).  I must reform my thinking in light of Scripture because I am a Christian.  I do not insist that its truths must "work" alongside mine.  I bow the knee in humble submission to God's Word.

Anne, I would be the first to admit that not all professing Christians speak the hard truth of Scripture in love.  But this still does not mean that these hard truths are not there, and that they do not demand a response: they do.  Your response has been to say:
"In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian."
As gently and lovingly as possible, Anne, I must tell you that I and my fellow Christians have not drawn the line in the sand on these issues....God has.  Your quarrel is not with us; it is with Him.

And I also have to wonder: have you ever heard the true gospel message?  It is not simply that there is a God high and holy - even pagans and lost people know that through natural revelation.  And I gathered from listening to your interview that you at least felt this truth pressed upon you.  But this is not the gospel.

The gospel message of salvation is that there is a sovereign creator God who has made us, and owns us, and has a righteous claim on our lives.  But we have sinned against this God who made us and takes care of us by breaking his moral laws....and without his merciful and loving intervention, we will die in our sins and be condemned to hell forever.  It is a wretched, desperate situation.  But God, being rich in mercy and loving-kindness, made a way where there was none: He has made a way for sinful man to be reconciled to a holy God. How could this be done?  It seems impossible, given God's nature.  We are sinful, wretched, depraved.....and He is pure and holy beyond our comprehension.  And after all, the Bible itself plainly lays out the bad new for us in Proverbs 17:15:
"Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—the LORD detests them both."
Will not justice be subverted if a holy God does both of these things - acquit the guilty (us) and condemn the innocent (Christ)?  And yet, God - in his magnificent, unsurpassable wisdom - found a way to do just this thing without compromising his perfect, holy justice.  He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life, never sinning in thought, word or deed, and who, because of this, was able to offer up his life as a ransom for many. I broke God's laws, and Jesus paid my fine in his life's blood so that I could be released from the rightful condemnation of the law.  But this gift of salvation, though given freely, is narrow and exclusive.  Only those who recognize their sinful wretchedness and need for a Savior, and repent and place their faith in Christ's atoning work done on their behalf, will see the kingdom of Heaven.  The very first words of Jesus's public ministry (Matthew 4:17) were: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  Narrow is the way, and few be those who find it. But ah, the wretched, human heart, which hugs its sin and depravity close, and would rather perish, clinging stubbornly and unrepentantly to its right to determine what "truth" is....

In closing, I am praying for you to be given "eyes that see" and "ears that hear." I also welcome your response, either publicly or privately.

Christine
(one of the Sola Sisters :) )


photo credit: lanskymob via photo pin cc


 Additional Resources 

Anne Rice Rejects "Christianity?"

Proverbs 17:15 - What Is Real Christianity? by Paul Washer

The Stranger on the Road To Emmaus

A Former Roman Catholic Priest Gives His Testimony

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Anne Rice Rejects "Christianity?"

Posted by Christine Pack

Anne Rice, Author
Author Anne Rice, best known for her Vampire Lestat chronicles which were popular in the 90s, rather famously "converted" to Christianity in 1998...which she has now publicly rejected.

But did she really convert in the first place?

The truth is that Anne Rice grew up Roman Catholic, became an atheist, then converted back to Roman Catholicism...which she has now rejected once again.  And in fact, there really is no evidence that I can find that Anne Rice, who has said that Christian theologian N.T. Wright greatly influenced her "conversion," has ever even heard the life-giving message of the true gospel:
Repentance and faith in Christ's sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.
Roman Catholicism teaches a salvation by works....this is not the gospel message of salvation...which is by grace alone....through faith alone....in Christ alone.

Anne Rice was interviewed by the White Horse Inn a few years back in which she talked about once again embracing her "childhood faith" (Roman Catholicism).  The host of White Horse Inn, which is the teaching radio ministry of Michael Horton, for some reason did not challenge Rice's Roman Catholic views.  Now, I have had White Horse Inn recommended to me many times in the past few years as a great resource for teaching.  But the truth is, that one interview so completely threw me, that I stopped listening to White Horse Inn for a long period of time, so great was my confusion.

You see, I'm not just concerned with the struggles of a Christian radio program in how they will work within the world system and continue to speak truth (which is the argument I've heard about why White Horse Inn would not challenge Rice publicly).  I'm also concerned about Anne Rice's soul!  I'm concerned about the resulting confusion for Protestant listeners who may not know all the finer distinctions about how and why Roman Catholicism is not Christian (and who therefore might not be concerned for Roman Catholic friends, neighbors and loved ones).

I'm not clear on the reasoning over at White Horse Inn on why they did not challenge Anne Rice on her (wrong) beliefs at the time they interviewed her, but I think Anne Rice's recent - and very public - rejection of "Christianity" underscores in a big way why Christians are cautioned against yoking with unbelievers (2 Cor 6:14-15):
"Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?  And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?"  
This passage cautions that we must not "yoke" with those who do not hold fast to the true faith that was "once for all entrusted to the saints"......whether that would be in marriage....or in public, ecumenical love-fests between Protestants and Catholics.

The truth is that it's not Anne Rice who gets besmirched by all this, not really.  It's not even White Horse Inn, not ultimately.  The bottom line is that God has been robbed of his glory in this whole mess.  Somewhere along the way, it was decided that it was better to give a public forum to someone who is far, far outside of orthodoxy than to hold God up rightly and in a way that is honoring to him and to his character and nature.  Now, do we always do that perfectly?  Of course not.  But White Horse Inn got on a very slippery slope when they decided to give a then practicing Roman Catholic a very public forum.  I know that they had no way of knowing how this would turn out, but seriously, why wasn't the fact that Anne Rice was a confessing Roman Catholic enough to give them pause?  I'm not trying to throw White Horse Inn under the bus on this, but whether they know it or not, their radio program is held in very high esteem in reformed circles; and I would urge them, as gently and lovingly as possible, to be as cautious and biblical as possible in how they make decisions on whom they will share their teaching platform with.

Let me close by saying that the issue in all this is not how to handle guests, who to share a platform with, etc.  The issue is that Anne Rice is not a straying sheep...she is in much greater peril than that. She needs life-giving truth, and she needs to repent of her idolatrous view of God and humble herself before the one true God...the One I fear she has never known.

photo credit: lanskymob via photo pin cc




Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A Testimony to the Power of God's Written Word

NOTE: this testimony was written for Sola Sisters by a friend and sister in Christ, guest writer Valerie Leone, after I urged her to write down her harrowing experiences with mysticism.  Valerie had these experiences as a believer.  Her testimony is a wonderful exhortation that we must "test all things" against Scripture, with the sobering knowledge that none of us are immune to being deceived.  Jesus exhorts believers over and over to not allow themselves to be deceived.  These words are aimed at the Church, not the world - those in the world are already deceived!

I was born into a family of Bible believing Christians. I was taught from birth that there was a God who I could know by Faith. I don’t remember a time that I did not believe in God. The problem is that the Scriptures teach that even the demons believe and shudder. I was not necessarily in good company.
At the age of 12 I started to read my Bible on my own. I have to admit that most of my reading was done in order to correct others and point the finger at their sins. I did not understand what I was reading. The word of God had not taken root in my heart; it was only on the surface.  This verse best describes my heart during my early adolescent years.
"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. " (Matthew 13:18-19)
It wasn’t until I attended a small Bible college that I met some believers who were my age who really loved God and lived godly lives - not out of compulsion, but out of love for God. It was at this same time that I was required to take an Old Testament survey class, which meant that I had to read through the entire Old Testament. I have to admit I had never spent much time there, unless it was reading the Psalms or Proverbs. During this time I was convicted over my own sin.  I admitted that I was living in rebellion to God (even though if you were to compare me to most teenagers, I would have been considered a model child....looks can be deceiving.)


So even though the seeds of truth were being planted by my family, nothing happened until God’s word  started to plow up my hard heart, so that I could see my own sinful condition.  I was happy knowing that because of Christ’s sacrifice, my sins were forgiven, and in my mind I knew that I should turn away from my sins. For a while I would turn away from those things that I knew were sinful, but when hard times came, I turned back to my old ways. I was trying to stop sinning in my own strength (Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”).
"The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;  yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. (Matthew 13:20-21)
This went on for years as I continued to struggle against my own sinful desires and the conviction of the Holy Spirit that I should be living to please God and not my flesh.  I would seem to walk in victory for a while, but then more troubles would come and I would fall down again. Then at the age of 26 I met the man of my dreams. George was a fairly new believer of only three years, and we both enjoyed talking about spiritual truth and studying the Scriptures.

Now as you can imagine, things went well at first, but then we hit some bumps in the road.  The first one was the most devastating because it damaged our foundation. The church that we had been attending, I for six years and George for about two years, changed directions. They started teaching that people needed to "experience a miracle" before they could be truly saved. George was very perceptive to pick up their using Richard Foster’s book “Celebration of Discipline” which teaches contemplative prayer, and God gave him the discernment to know that this was a dangerous path. At that time I knew nothing of Richard Foster and didn’t even know about contemplative prayer. There is much more to this situation, but it is sufficient to say that we were terribly hurt, and during this time in my life I became very skeptical of church leadership.

Now Satan used this to keep me from trusting God for many years. We did find another church that we thought was biblically sound and which we attended regularly for many years. During this time, George would never be the same. He went through the motions, taught Sunday School, and gave faithfully financially, but his heart was far from God.

I too was going through the motions. Over the next several years we were blessed with two healthy children. After the birth of our first child, a daughter, our marriage was suffering, as most do. Adjusting to “sharing me” was not going over very well with George.  So you can imagine that after our second child, a son, that everything was even worse.  I was not spending time reading the Bible or in prayer. I was so busy with the children and tired all of the time.  George became discouraged with my lack of discipline and he stopped reading and praying. I ended up having gall bladder problems and eventually had to have surgery when my son was less than a year old.
"And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Matthew 13:22)
After finally somewhat recovering from the gall bladder issue, I was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis in 2005. I had been on my knees desperately crying out to God for relief from the severe pain. Pain so bad that I couldn’t walk on my feet or even wear shoes. My hands so swollen and painful that I couldn’t hold a fork, wash my hands, or go to the bathroom by myself. It was very debilitating, so much so that I not only could not take care of my family, but I could not even take care of my own personal needs. 

I had no idea how vulnerable I was to deception at this point. I was spending a lot of time in prayer and reading the Bible, and decided that I must rethink everything that I believed. I read through the gospels, focusing on the words of Christ, because I reasoned that everything that He said had to be of utmost importance. Now this is true, but then somehow along the way, I had been influenced to believe that prayer was two-way communication. I decided that I had been doing too much talking, and not enough time "listening" to what God had to say.

So I started spending time sitting in silence “in His presence” with the expectation that God was going to transform my heart spiritually during this time. Just like Mary sat at Jesus feet while Martha was working right? But in reality I was practicing visualization as well as meditation. Please know that I was not expecting to hear an audible voice, nor did I ever hear any voices, but I was definitely influenced in my thinking during these times of silence. I had been deceived into believing that I was going to hear from God by sitting in silence by waiting and listening. What I did experience was a beautiful illumination of light that was totally spiritual and not of this world.  It was so wonderful that I don’t have the words to describe it.  I was convinced that this was the glory of God, the Shekinah Glory.  I wanted all of my loved ones to have this wonderful experience.

After having this experience, I remembered having a similar thing happen back in the 1980s when I was in my early twenties. I had purchased a book by Madame Jeanne Guyon called “Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ.”  I was very spiritually hungry at the time and had no idea that a “Christian” book that seemed to be pointing to Jesus Christ could be dangerous. While reading this book and following her suggestions, to sit and turn your thoughts inward, I had had my first mystical experience and entered an altered state of consciousness. At the time, it surprised and intrigued me.....but at the same time, it had also frightened me. I never shared what had happened with anyone, and though I tried again, never had another experience, until almost 20 years later, during my dark, searching period of October 2006. During these twenty years I had never made the connection that it was "sitting in the silence" that had been the catalyst. This vision was much more powerful than my first experience and I thought that because of my great piety, God had blessed me with this divine vision.

After some time had passed, I became very frustrated. None of the other believers around me seemed to have had a similar experience and I had no one to share my experience with. No one in my sphere of friendship had any understanding of what had happened to me.  I tried to share what had happened, but I felt like I was speaking another language and no one could understand me.

Anyway, I continued to diligently search the scriptures, and to test my experience by the Word of God. One of the biggest clues that I had been deceived was that I began to think and feel like I was more spiritual than my other Christian friends because I had this experience.  Pride is a sure indication of deception.

Then I started doing research on the internet and I found some disturbing testimonies by people who were not Christians who had similar experiences: for instance, a Mormon with an eerily similar story. At this point, I started to really question the source of the bright spiritual light. Not long after I found the Mormon testimony, my mother-in-law gave me a Catholic Bible that she had gotten from an elderly friend of hers that had been cleaning out their garage. Inside was a folded up paper entitled “How to pray the Gospels” that had been typed with an old typewriter. When I read it, alarm bells went off. At that point I started to research Madame Guyon and upon discovering that she was a Roman Catholic mystic, I realized that I had surely been deceived by a satanic messenger.

Slowly but surely, over a period of four to six months, the Word of God brought correction and rebuke and I repented for this act of rebellion. God showed me that this was not from Him, but it was a counterfeit from Satan, appearing as an angel of light, a messenger of light, if you will (2 Corinthians 11:14). If this had been God, He would have identified Himself, but also, we are not to summon up God. While researching mysticism, I found the Lighthouse Trails web site, and what I read there only confirmed that what I had been through was a very powerful counterfeit. I was truly humbled that my pride had so blinded me and thankful that I was set free from this deception. Still, I have to admit that this experience was so powerful and beautiful, that to this day I have to remind myself that this was demonic.

I learned that this practice goes by several names, one of which is "contemplative prayer." It was at this point that God taught me an important truth: Prayer is when we talk to God, and God talks back to us through the written Word.....the Bible.
“(Y)ou shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deut 13:3)
So to sum things up, God has been doing a work in me from an early age, and He isn’t finished with me yet. I am so thankful for those people throughout my life who have been faithful to speak God’s word into my life and point me to the Truth of God’s word.
"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ..." (2 Cor 10:5)
I am continually striving, by God's grace, to take every thought captive, and to fight the good fight of faith, so that when I stand before the Lord, I will hear those most precious words: "Well done good and faithful servant." My heart's desire is to be pleasing to God, not because I must, but out of love for Him.  There are many times that God has tested me to see if I love Him, and I am humbled to look back and see proof that yes, even in painful times, my faith is in Him, not just what He can do for me. He gives me the strength to walk through the hard times, and like Job I can say, “Though he slay me, yet I will trust or hope in Him.”(Job 13:15)

The Lord will test us to see if we really love Him, and what confidence we have in His goodness when our faith is shown to be real. Each one of us must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  (Philippians 2:12) As we diligently seek Him to truly understand his Word, we will bear the fruit of righteousness, which comes only from abiding in His Word. (John 15:4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me”)
"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some  a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." (Matthew 13:23)
I like what Luke says after he recounts the parable of the sower.
"So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him” (Luke 8:18)
I also can look back and see myself as the Pharisee in the following passage in Luke chapter 18 (The Pharisee and the Publican). I used to think that I was being thankful for all that God had done for me, but now I can look back and see that I was as deceived as the Pharisee. It wasn’t until I truly cried out for mercy that my understanding of Scripture started to grow. Deception is that way; we don’t even notice all the areas in which we have been deceived, until the truth is revealed. Each day I fill my mind with God’s word, which will keep me from deception and keep me humble before my God.
"And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 
 "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 
 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' 
 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'  "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." " (Luke 18:9-14)

I know there are things that I've left out in this account, but the most important thing is that people are warned. These mystical practices may appear as a form of righteousness, but they are indeed demonic. No matter how long we have walked with the Lord, we are still only human. Unless we stay diligently in His Word, it is always possible for us to be deceived.

Satan has had a long time to polish his skills and knows God's word better than we probably ever will.  He is always watching for an opportunity that he can twist to his advantage.   Most Christians today can recognize the more obvious demonic deceptions that are hideous and evil (and which would manifest themselves in obvious sin, such as an immoral lifestyle). But there is another, even more sinister, Satanic ploy that uses pride and a false sense of righteousness (self righteousness) to deceive those who claim the name of Christ (the puffed up Pharisee).  Let us pray by God's grace that we would not be deceived by any of Satan's deceptions, be they the obvious ones......or, the more subtle ones that would tug at our flesh and our pride.

Grace and peace in His Name, Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind,
Valerie Leone


 Additional Resources 

Desiring God Bookstore Selling Books on Roman Catholic Mysticism

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

John Piper, A "Charismatic Calvinist?"

Posted by Christine Pack and Cathy Mathews

Right now, there is a huge struggle going on inside reformed circles over the issue of HOW it is that we hear from God.  Honestly, this does not seem to be an issue that should be within 100 miles of reformed thought.  And yet it has come right into the reformed camp, and in a very big way.

First, let's define some terms.

What is a Calvinist?  A Calvinist has generally been maintained to be a Christian who holds to Calvinist thought, as espoused by John Calvin, one of the key figures in the Reformation.  Calvin wrote "Institutes of the Christian Religion," in which he put forth the teaching that the knowledge of God could not be inherently known by humanity (inner knowledge) nor could it be understood by observing the world (external knowledge).  Instead, the knowledge of God could only be obtained through the study of Scripture (special revelation).  Wrote Calvin:  "For anyone to arrive at God the Creator he needs Scripture as his Guide and Teacher."

What is a Charismatic?   While a Charismatic would say they believe the Bible is God's authoritative Word, in practice these Christians live as though they do not believe that the canon was ever closed, and therefore believe that extra-biblical revelation through ongoing prophecy/tongues is one way that we continue to "hear" from God in subjective and mystical ways.

Charismatic teaching challenges Calvinism as well as the very straightforward teaching in Scripture that the canon was closed after (1) Jesus the greatest and final Prophet came in the flesh and (2) the New Testament was completed.  Charismatic thinking is based mainly in taking 1 Corinthians 12-14 out of context.  These passages, while they do speak of the charismatic gifts and exhorts Christians to earnestly desire and seek these gifts, were written at a time when the canon was still "open" and God was still using the supernatural charismatic gifts (tongues, prophecy) to spread his gospel message of salvation far and wide.  "Tongues" was the gifting by which, say, a Greek fisherman, could travel to another country and begin to speak in the language known to that region, but which he himself had no training in. And thus the gospel burst forth into the world in a dramatic and supernatural way.

But what Charismatics of today don't understand is that there was an end to these gifts....there was an end to "words from God:"
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." (Heb 1:1-2)
1 Corinthians, you see, was written approximately 55 AD, BEFORE the canon was closed....and during the time when all the supernatural gifts were still in full force.  1 Corinthians, therefore, predates the writing of Hebrews (67-69 AD) by 12-14 years.  In context, we understand that there are no more "words from God."  But not so today's Charismatic Calvinists, who seem to want to have it both ways.  They want to claim both Calvinism, which teaches that study of Scripture is how we hear from God, as well as the Charismatic gift of prophetic words from God, a gifting that is no longer active, per Heb 1:1-2.

Now, shouldn't it go without saying that when we read a book - any book - we understand without being told that we must understand what it is saying in context? And yet, with the Bible, people seem to want to pull verses out and make them stand alone, regardless of contextual setting.  For instance, when we read classic literature, say Sophocles' Antigone, we would read it in context: At the beginning of this epic, King Creon has emerged victorious from the war, but by the end he is weeping, and it is proclaimed, "All is lost!" Well, which is it? is he a proud conqueror? Or a broken man who has lost everything? Well, he's both.....there is a story arc you see.....

Let's not forget that the Bible is not just guidance for us: it was real and historical and played out in real life.  Paul's letter to the Corinthians exhorting them to prophecy predated later revelation given that closed the gift of prophecy.  But it is only through careful, systematic study of the Bible that we can know these things, and yet, it is this "heavy lifting" kind of study that so few Christians today seem interested in doing.  They want sound bytes.  They want short sermons with a little moral saying at the end.

"Charismatic Calvinist," therefore, is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms, like "jumbo shrimp" or "virtual reality."  

And yet, some of today's Calvinists seem determined to fight for their "right" to hear "words from God" that come to them from outside of Scripture.  Why is this?  Well, I would submit that the main problem is that we are living in postmodern era, and even without realizing it, Christians have allowed themselves to be influenced by postmodern thought.  For those who don't know, postmodernism is a belief system that proclaims that there is no so such thing as universal truth that is true for all times and all ages.  All "truth" according to postmodern thought, is culturally constructed, and any supposed universal truth claims would merely be someone's way of trying to control another.  Whenever you hear someone say, "Well, you have your truth, and I have my truth, and even though our 'truths' are different, we can both be right," you are talking to a postmodern.  The result of postmodern thought, naturally, is that subjective experience is valued far more than factual data.  In Christianity, this postmodern thought has given rise to people claiming, variously, to hear words from God, and some even claiming to be able to mystically encounter God through various disciplines (spiritual formation, spiritual disciplines).

So now to the point of this post: Dr. John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN has typically been included on any list of conservative, reformed, Bible-believing teachers.  Dr. Piper has also generally been well-regarded and very respected in an increasingly liberal and chaotic Christianity.  However, in a recent video post (dated 4/20/10), Dr. Piper seems to be straying from his conservative roots in the following exchange (starting around 45:55):
Question: "To turn to the miraculous gifts - tongues, healing, prophecy - where would you say the place for those gifts would be in the life of the church today?"
Answer (John Piper): "What I think, whether it's the right thing to say - I'm not gonna die on this hill - they are most effectively and appropriately used in smaller groups, rather than Sunday morning.  Sunday morning meaning, the large gathered body with lots of people, and lots of strangers, and the need for some kind of movement in the service, rather than the whole thing being devoted over to individual expressions.  And so when I think of trying to do whatever elements of 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14 are appropriate to do today, I would want my people to know I believe in those things, I want them to flourish in those things, and I would think spontaneously and in relationships, and especially in small groups, they would take the time and ask people, "Did you bring anything from the Lord tonight that you think we need to hear? You can use whatever language you want. You can say 'Have you got a word of knowledge for us?' or 'Got a word of prophecy?' And if you're scared of that kind of language you can say 'Has God impressed upon you in some way something that you think somebody in this room, or all of us, need to hear, from your walk with God?' And open yourself up to that, they may say something that just penetrates right through to the very core of somebody.... "
My question is, with all due respect to Dr. Piper who is not only my elder but a respected teacher, why are Christians today so determined to go outside of the Bible to "hear from God?" God gave us 66 books of inerrant, inspired revelation - is that not "enough?"  Do we need more than "mere" Scripture?  And yet, besides the video above, there is more troubling evidence of a lack of discernment to be found on Dr. Piper's website (Desiring God), which sells books promoting and teaching how to get mystical, extra-biblical "words from God" through Roman Catholic Monastic practices.  These books include:
Experiencing the Depths of Jesus (by Madam Guyon, a Roman Catholic mystic) 
The Ragamuffin Gospel (by Brennan Manning, a Roman Catholic mystic) 
The Practice of the Presence of God (by Brother Lawrence, a Roman Catholic mystic)

Our Reformers gave their very LIVES to protect Sola Scriptura - God speaks to us through Scripture alone - and now we're going back to the bondage of Roman Catholic mysticism and mystical experiences and words from God. Truly, we are living in an unbelievable time.

As for myself, I've had enough "mysticism" to last a lifetime.  I bow the knee at Scripture that tells us "The hidden things belong to the Lord," (Deut 29:29).  That's good enough for me. The supernatural arena is God's and God's alone, and I have given up my "right" to seek after special, extra-biblical "words from God" and mystical experiences. If God should sovereignly choose to intervene in my life in some unmistakably supernatural way, fine. If not, fine.  As if taking my heart of stone and making it a heart of flesh, and making my dead bones live, wasn't enough of a supernatural experience! It is truly a sign of these postmodern times in which we live when today's "Charismatic Calvinists" proclaim by their actions (of going after mystical encounters) that the Bible is not "enough."  May God help us and give us discernment in this time.  Can we be in the period described in Scripture as the great falling away?  When someone as solid as Dr. Piper shows signs of falling away from the faith that was "once for all delivered to the saints," can the end be very far away?

photo credit: Micah_68 via photopin cc

 Additional Resources 

Mystical Calvinists?

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Rick Warren Hospitalized After Eyes Burned By Toxic Fumes

A recent news story reported that Saddleback megachurch pastor Rick Warren is home recovering after his eyes were burned in an accident at his house. Warren was hospitalized Monday after the incident and released Tuesday, and is expected to make a full recovery.  Posted Warren on his Twitter account Thursday morning:

"My eyes were severely burned by a toxic poison, Hospitalized Mon. Excruciating pain. Now home. Pray my sight loss is restored."

Rick Warren, as many of you know, has been the target of many a post in the discernment blogosphere, being called to task for preaching a man-centered and watered-down gospel.  Still, none of us wish him ill. Therefore, please join us in praying for Rick Warren's sight to be physically restored and for spiritual sight to be granted to this well-known and influential church leader.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Dr. John Piper Okay With "Old Earth?"

Posted by Christine Pack

The following is a partial transcript of a response Dr. John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church gave in answer to the question "What should we teach about creation?"
"When it comes to the more controversial issues, such as how to construe Genesis 1 and 2, about how God did it, and how long it took him to do it, there I'm totally sympathetic with a pastor who is gonna lay his view down, having studied it, and is gonna say to his people, "Here's my understanding of those chapters, these six days, there can't be any other understanding of 6 literal days, and so that's how long God took to do it, and this earth is about ten or fifteen thousand years old, or this universe is. And though it looks old, that's the way God made it, He made it to look old, or something like that."  Or, he might take another view that these days are "ages."  Or he might take Sailhammer's view, which is where I feel at home, namely, that all of creation happened to prepare the land for man in verse 1. (In the) beginning, he made the heavens and the earth, that's everything, and then you go day by day and He's preparing the land. He's not bringing new things into existence, He's preparing the land and causing new things to grow, separating out water and earth, and then when it's all set and prepared, He creates and puts man there.  And so that has the advantage of saying that the earth is billions of years old, if it wants to be, and whatever science says it is, it is. But, man is young, and he was good, and he sinned, and he was a real historical person because Romans 5 says so, and so does the rest of the Bible.  And so that's where I am, and I think every pastor ought to go ahead and say what he believes......But I could be wrong about that, I'm 63 years old and I've never preached through Genesis yet.  I'd like to. We're gonna finish (the Gospel of) John, and maybe the next thing I'll turn to, if the elders let me stay around that long, would be Genesis. I really think it would......we need to give our people help in this." (my emphasis)

With all due respect to Dr. Piper, who strikes me as genuinely sincere and humble when he talks about not having preached through Genesis (and by implication, meaning he doesn't have deeply felt convictions on the issue of young earth/old earth), I think it would be good for him to avail himself of some of the very scholarly resources on young earth creation that have come around only in the last few years: chiefly, Answers in Genesis and Institute for Creation Research.

Both of these relatively new ministries are chock full of scientific data in support of a young earth, which not coincidentally, supports the common sense reading of Genesis.  From the interview above, it sounds as if Dr. Piper is unaware of these ministries, and so I would urge Dr. Piper to check into these resources.  We don't have to "buy" old earth and find a way to make it make sense, just because, as Dr. Piper said, "whatever science says it is, it is."  These ministries are filled with scientists who have studied the evidences for and against young earth within their particular fields of expertise - archaeology, biology, chemistry, astronomy, physics, etc. - and have come away with the conviction that young earth is the most plausible explanation for the state of the earth today.  It's very exciting to me to have access to great articles, books and DVDs on the subject of young earth.  No longer do Christians have to just smile feebly and plead "Just have faith in Jesus!" when the secular Darwinian humanist mocks him with "scientific" data; we now have data of our own, and trust me, there are no village idiots at either of the Creationism ministries linked above.

But putting aside the science for a moment, and coming at this from a strictly biblical angle, how would an "old earther" account for all the evidence of death contained in the fossil record - which presumably would have pre-dated the death that came as a result of Adam's sin in the Garden?  For the Bible tells us that it was by this sin (in the Garden) that death and suffering came into the world.  So what do you do with Romans 5:12 if you're an evolutionary Darwinian Christian? It doesn't work.  Why? Because the fossil record is filled - loaded - with evidence of death that, from the Christian point of view, would be a contradiction to Scripture, which plainly tells us that death came into the world as a result of Adam's sin. 

Hmmm, it's almost as if God intentionally placed a great big spotlight on the very first death recorded in Scripture......but why? Well, the first death that came as a result of Adam's sin was the death of the animal God used to cover Adam and Eve's shame.  Now, it's hard to imagine what Adam might have felt as he watched this animal die.  He loved all the animals, he was their caretaker, he had given them their names.  And now, he was watching one of them die as a result of HIS sin.  I wonder if he even had an understanding of what he was seeing, as this beloved animal gasped its last, the life draining from its eyes while Adam watched.  He had never seen death before.  I wonder if he even knew the finality of what was happening in front of him.  Perhaps it was at this point that he began to grasp the seriousness of his sin....

Now think of this in the context of the evolutionary Darwinian view: how big of a deal would the death of the animal used to clothe Adam and Eve have been?  It would have had very little importance, it would have been just another death among the millions of deaths that came before it, attested to by the fossil record.  But I would submit that God placed a great big spotlight on this first death because its spiritual significance was staggering: the first death was but a dim shadow of the salvation that was to come through Christ, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world," whose death would make propitiation for wicked men, and would "cover" their sins, making all who would repent and believe righteous in the eyes of God.

Thankfully, because of the ministries of Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research, we no longer have to shut down our critical thinking faculties on this topic ....we now have science, genuine science, confirming for us what we have had to take on faith for many years while the scientific community berated us as being village idiots for daring to entertain the idea of young earth creationism.

My hope and prayer is that, by availing himself of the resources linked above, Dr. Piper will rethink his position on old earth and the contradictory nature of the fossil record.  Many eyes are on him, and as a leader, his teaching is held to a higher standard.


 Additional Resources