Book Review- Culture Shift:The Battle for the Moral Heart of America

Culture Shift: The Battle for  the Moral Heart of America by R. Albert Mohler Jr. . (Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, 2008,2011).  185 pages reviewed.

Culture Shift is a thoughtful and challenging collection of essays written by the author that address numerous areas of cultural interest. Addressing “shifts” in the moral view of issues like the law, political correctness, terrorism, education, evolution and others, Mohler offers an informed perspective on the changes occurring in how Americans view these issues. The book, written from a Christian worldview, addresses culture “head-on” and gives insights worthy of consideration for thoughtful Christians. Mohler brings a historical perspective and writes as a “balanced advocate,” meaning he advocates a Christian worldview and response, but is careful to present culture accurately…and does not shy away from “weaknesses” in the traditional “Christian” position on issues.

This is not a minister’s “rant” on the demise of culture; rather, it is a thoughtful analysis of culture, influence, and the Christian’s responsibility. The tone is cordial. The assertions are gracious. The assumptions are limited and well documented.

As a pastor, I picked up the book as part of my research for an upcoming project. It has stimulated my thinking and inspired me to action in a couple of key areas of my work. I recommend the book to professional minister and lay person alike. It sounds a clarion call to action without taking an alarmist tone.

Thank you Dr. Mohler! An asset to my library.

You can purchase a copy from Amazon HERE.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of their blogger’s book review  program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

3-7-10, Sunday Message: Is the Antichrist among us…and is it me?

Here is a link to the message that I preached on Sunday morning in the series I am doing on 1 John. You can access other messages in this series from there…or you can subscribe to notifications of future videos…if you should choose to.

Grace!

03-07-10, Is the antichrist among us…and is it me? from Chris Aiken on Vimeo.

Interesting Article on “The Joy of Giving”

Here is an article by a Medical Doctor who was the son of Sir John Templeton, world-renowned philanthropist. As I have read about the father, I can not discern if he was a believer, but he obviously impressed some of his thoughts on his son. (Again, the article is by the son). I thought it interesting….

This week, we start a new series called “Give it All Away!” and we will spend 4 weeks discussing the subjects of giving, generosity, and the benefits thereof.

This is one of the articles I found in my research. Thought you might like to read it directly. You can access it HERE. Please drop back by and share your thoughts….ALSO, please share, if you are comfortable doing so, a brief testimony of your attitude and practice toward giving.

For me, my discipline has evolved through the years. I have not always been a disciplined “giver.” I have, however, been a committed giver and supporter of my church and its mission and ministry for well over a decade and can say that the axiom is true, “You cannot out give God.”

I would love to hear your stories….

Great Article by JD Greear for College Students

Hey guys. There is a great article posted by Pastor JD Greear called “The College Student’s Dilemma: Should I Get Involved in my Church or a Campus Ministry?” It is timely and very informative. Let me highly recommend it to you.

Since we have a good military representation here in Pensacola, let me say that the principles involved apply to you guys as well. I remember changing duty stations every year or two and not wanting to really get too connected at any one location…since I would only be moving soon. However, JD brings some great points to consider.

You can access the article on his site HERE. I hope you will drop back by and share with me your thoughts. Thanks JD for a great post!

Link to John Piper on Christian Hedonism

Hye guys. I read this article today. Since I preached last week on the “Idol of Hedonism,” and referenced the subject of “Christian Hedonism,” I thought I would point you to this LINK HERE to a short article that John Piper wrote today defining the what and why of Christian Hedonism. As I said on Sunday, I am not certain that the title originates with him, but he is the one who helped me understand the concept best.

Enjoy the ARTICLE and drop back by here to comment on it if you would. If you missed the message on Sunday, this LINK will take you to our website where you can listen to it, download it, or subscribe to the podcasts via iTunes. Enjoy.

Can a house be divided against itself and stand?

Following a statement I made during the Message yesterday on the “Idol” of “Moralisms,” one of my members asked a question for clarification. It was a great question and I thought more people could benefit from it and the answer than just she and I. So here is the scope of it:

Hey, I was thinking about this, and kinda confused about it.  Jesus tells the Pharisees that “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splentered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive….”  Then you said yesterday, that people can cast out demons, yet not have power from God.  I’m not sure how both of those fit together, but I know they must.  Any thoughts on what I’m missing? 

 Thanks,

First of all…let’s remember the context of my comments…at least as they were intended. My point wasn’t restricted to casting out demons; rather, it was that there were two sources of supernatural power operating in the world. I used the example of the rods becoming snakes before Pharoah as the specific example. (The text is in Exodus 7:8-15). While there are two sources of supernatural power, there is not an implied equality between the two, since God is always presented as Supreme in every regard.

I applied this to the text from the message in Matthew 7:21-23…specifically in the area of “did we not prophesy in your name,, and in your name cast our demons, and in your name perform many miracles?” I implied that from this text, we might conclude that the power used to cast out demons, perform miracles, and prophesy came from the enemy. This implication led to the question.

There actually are a couple of ways of handling the problem theologically that are faithful to the Scriptures. As such, neither of these solutions are definitive…since the Scriptures doesn’t tell us exactly how these supernatural feats were accomplished. The point of the Matthew 7 passage is that the standard for righteousness with God is not our activity, but whether He knows us as His own. Here are the best solutions I have discovered:

• Perhaps God is the source of the power and worked through the false believers…using them as an instrument of His grace toward others. It is not unusual for God to work through an evil person (or people) to accomplish a greater purpose. An example would be Pharoah. God provided for His people through Pharoah. God also used evil nations to oppress His people (see Judges) so that they would repent and turn to Him for deliverance. God is not limited to acting only through believers. He is unlimited and can use “unregenerate ( i.e. unsaved/lost) people” as instruments of His will to accomplish His purposes.
• A second solution may be that there “appeared” to be a miracle of casting out a demon. This is a logic argument. Perhaps the enemy oppresses a person demonically and then pretends to cast the demon out through the ministry of a false teacher (while subversively only ordering the demon to stop oppressing. To the person oppressed, it would seem as though they were delivered by the false miracle worker, when in reality, Satan simply stopped oppressing the person at the time.
• As for prophesy, there are severalexamples where God used evil people to prophesy His will. This is not too unusual. Also, we know that the demons have information that we do not (see Mark 5 for a prophetic confession by the Gadarene Demoniac as to Christ’s identity…something that other people did not fully grasp). When they reveal that information…it is, by definition, prophetic.
• As for miracles or other supernatural occurrences…I think we can safely accept that these occurred (see Acts 19:11-20, et. al) and were recorded in biblicaltimes. Some of these supernatural occurrences occurred at the hands of non-believers (Jewish Exorcists).

Ultimately, there are a number of ways of explaining how someone can do a miracle or prophesy or free someone from demon oppression and still not be known by God as one of His people. We are called to discern. We should examine all people and all claims of people who assert that they have a word from God. A good rule is…if it isn’t in the Bible…it is suspect.

 

Thanks for the question and for allowing me to share an answer that will hopefully clarify some things that I maybe left undone in the message.

Weekend Reflections: April 12, 2008

What an incredible weekend we experienced! On Saturday, our church team, under the leadership of Andrea Frost planned and implemented a community Easter Egg Hunt at Springdale Park in Pensacola. (www.eggsinthepark.com) This is the 6th year that Andrea has been pursuing this. She has a burden for her neighbors and what took place Saturday is a sterling example of how the “church” does ministry. The “church” came alongside in ministering to the community through this outreach event. The results were that between 600-700 people came and enjoyed free games, food, egg hunt, exhibitions by the Esacambia County Sheriff’s Canine Unit, Motorcycle Show and Exhibits of race cars, metal detecting…you name it! Someone said, “this turned out great.” Well, nothing turns out great. The team of volunteers gave all they had and worked hard. God blessed it and it was incredible. Great results, in my experience, follow great determination, and above average commitment to the goal.

Today, we had two identical worship services (8:45 and 10:30). Out teams ministered like they have been doing this for years. This is the first time Calvary has ever had two worship services. We added the second service for no other reason than to reach our community. I received a phone call this morning before the 8:45 service from a woman who said that she had been out of church for some time…but felt led to come to church today. (She called for service times and to know if we ministered to children). God took the careful and faithful preparation of His people and blessed it. He used all of the efforts to tell His Story to people He is drawing to Himself. Again, great success typically follows great commitment and determination. Nothing just happens. When we are intentional about being available, relatable, missional, and worshipful, God uses is. AS A RESULT we had 554 people on campus for worship (an increaseof nearly 200 over Easter last year!) We had 2 dozen families or more fill out first time Connection Cards and many decisions for Salvation and recommitments of lives. PLEASE Pray with me that many of these people will come back next week as we continue in the series of messages on “All Things New.” We will be talking about the purpose God has and how that relates to our success in life.

A special thank you to every member of the teams who made today possible. I know we had a huge turnout for children’s ministry. Everyone worked hard to make this all possible! I heard many positive comments about having two services. What were your thoughts? I feel that God will continue to bless our ministry. As such, I suspect that in the coming months, we will have two regular services and will add a third service for Easter next year! If God gave us 554 this year…why don’t we pray now for 1,000 next year? Wouldn’t that be amazing?

One last thought as I close…After serving at the park on Saturday…and hearing many people compliment the church and our efforts at serving them…I drove home and saw a group of men with big bibles and billboards at the main intersections near my home. They were preaching at cars as they drove by. I pulled in to hear more of what they were saying. There was nothing wrong with the content of their message. The Scriptures were right. Their context, however, was as wrong as anything I have ever seen. I was EMBARRASSED by how they represented Christ and had a single prayer as I drove away. I pray that no one confuses me with them or confuses the Jesus who saved me with the “jesus” that they preached about. (Their jesus simply sought to condemn people for their failures.)

Newsflash…my failure and your failure was fully known to Jesus when He laid down His life in our place at Calvary. He gave His life, not to condemn, but that we would be saved (John 3:16-17). If Jesus were into condemning people, He could simply have avoided the cross. We were condemned already.

I cannot imagine (or even recall an incident in the Bible…even the one they were waving around) where Jesus yelled at people as they passed by. Just a hint to anyone who thinks this is effective or prescribed as a biblical practice: Smile more, yell less, learn someone’s name, and share how God was merciful to you…a sinner, undeserving of His mercy and grace. At that point, they might be open to your message. Otherwise…please pick another intersection…preferably one at a country crossroad 1000 miles from civilization. You are hurting the cause of Christ.

Praise God for He alone is Good and Worthy of our Praise and Adoration.

Grace,

The SECRET Life of every Pastor

I was spending a few minutes this morning (okay a couple of hours) finalizing my message for tomorrow night at church. It is one of the most difficult messages I will give…but for some of the strangest reasons.
I have been teaching through 1 Timothy verse by verse since Noah crashed the boat. (Ok…maybe not that long, but for a long time). I am up to 1 Timothy 5:17-22. The thrust of the passage deals with how a church is to treat its elders (pastors). Of course the first couple of verses deal with financial considerations and then disciplining a pastor and the process of Ordination. The overarching theme relates to the office and is removed from consideration of individuals per se. However, in my flesh, it is difficult to preach on this because I “feel” like it may be received as a self-serving message.
This is not the first time I have had to speak on subjects that were uncomfortable. As a pastor, I do that quite often (mostly because God convicts me of my own shortcomings while I am preparing the message).
Another reason it is difficult to preach messages like this is because most of the people who will hear the message don’t really “know me.” They know who I am…but the me they think they know is the public presence of a man who proclaims God’s truth with conviction. Sometimes, the conviction that I preach with is understood as my own self-confidence or self-assuredness. Truthfully, the “conviction” is a conviction of the truth, value, and profitability of God’s Word…not anything about myself.
In other words, the “public” me might seem like he has it all together. He might seem like he has worked out all of the “kinks” in his life. The truth is though…he is only one step ahead of the rest (if that) and only because he got an advanced copy of the message!
Pastors have tackled this problem in the past. Some work really hard at trying to be “transparent.” When done well and in an environment of trust, this is good. It helps everyone understand that nobody has it all together. Sometimes though…it is a liability. Some people listen to the preacher’s transparent-ness (is that a word?) and they think, “Why listen to him…He isn’t any better off than me.”
The fact is, I will stand up tomorrow and share two messages that are difficult for me to share. I won’t do it because I have mastered every nuance of the truth contained in them, or of the Christian life as a whole. I will do it because they are true and I am confident that God’s Word will change lives when I present it clearly. So, if you will be listening to the messages…pray for me to be confident in God. Pray for yourself and others to see past the personality of the pastor, beyond the delivery styles and form, and recognize the Truth for what it is. Endeavor to train yourself that the real man, is not necessarily the public persona that he might project. In fact, he (the pastor) is probably wrestling with the same areas of life you are…not because he is a horrible, sinful man…but because we are all on a journey together. None have arrived, and prayerfully none are sitting still…but all are progressing toward the “upward call of Christ Jesus” in our lives.
Grace and Peace,