What Shapes Your Faith?

A story from USA Today caught my eye. Sunday's article in the Faith & Reason section by Cathy Lynn Grossman reports on the book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us by political scientists Robert Putnam of Harvard and David Campbell of Notre Dame. Their research concludes that American evangelicals believe that most good people will make it Heaven regardless of what the Bible says about Jesus being the only way to the Father.

Grossman says:

They found that on the ultimate religious tolerance questions -- who is saved -- Americans overwhelmingly believe "a good person who is of another religion (than your own) can go to heaven. The group that scored lowest, evangelicals, were still greatly in favor of a wide and generous grace with 83% saying yes to this.

But did they really mean non-Christians, or was this Methodists saying, sure, Lutherans are saved, too? They asked again,adding "even if they are not Christian" and 54% of evangelical protestants on up to 98% of Mormons agreed.

This is a particularly disturbing opinion, if true. One of the things a pastor must continually repeat is the simple premise of the Gospel: Humans are alienated from God by sin. The exclusive cure for sin is the payment made by Christ, His shedding His blood on the cross. The only hope any person has of eternal life is repenting of their sin and coming to Christ by faith alone.


It is particularly frustrating that Christians don't get the fact that God will not "grade on the curve" for their loved one or friend. Just because we love them and see lovable qualities in them doesn't mean the Father will give them a mulligan on the Gospel at the judgment. They will be judged based on their righteousness, or on the imputed righteousness of Christ. If they don't have Christ, they will not gain eternal life. That is why it is critical for every Christian to share the Gospel with those he loves. No Gospel, no Heaven.


Our church's theme is "First Baptist Church Loves Robinson!". The way this church or any individual Christian can best show love is by showing people the way to Christ. Anything less is simply kind-hearted wishful thinking.

There's A Conservative Christian Running For President

There's a real conservative who is making noises about running for President in 2012.  He's visiting Iowa and staying active in the media.  This past week, he was one of the keynote speakers at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit.  His name is Mike Pence.  He's a leader in the House and is a member from Indiana.  He states that he's "a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican...in that order."  He deserves a good look by everyone interested in conservatism and by every politically active Christian.

The time to fight for our values is in the primaries.  Remember Rush's rule: vote for the most conservative Republican in the primaries.  We have to pay attention early this cycle and get behind and work for our preferred candidate.  The cycle for 2012 begins on November 3rd this year.

Listen to his speech at the Value Voters Summit:

Back In Action and Two Quick Hits

After neglecting the blog for too many months, I'm back in action. I must admit that my inclination to update and inform didn't go away. But I was seduced by Twitter and Facebook, using those platforms for lots of quick hits. After some time, reflection, and encouragement, I'm going to try to merge all three venues.

Two articles from my morning reading deserve mention. The first is from Dan Burrell. He posted a new article titled Paying The Price When You Take a Stand. Using the recent case of the family who objected to overly-sexual cheers on their six year old's cheer squad, he makes the following observation:

But let’s make something clear — taking a stand will often require you to pay a price and that’s a good thing. Dead leaves and dead fish go with the flow. Taking a stand causes ripples and waves. Turn on a light and watch the cockroaches run for the shadows. Put some salt on ice and watch things start changing. Taking a stand on matters of propriety, morality, philosophy, ethics, values and conduct is going to exact some sort of price at the hands of those whose values are different than yours.

We should expect nothing less.

The entire article is worthy of reading and considering. He makes powerful points of living biblically holy lives without being legalistic prudes.

The other article is on a blog new to me called Sola Sisters. It's a revealing and discerning article on Glenn Beck.

And okay, sure, I knew you were a Mormon. But maybe, I said to myself, he's really a Christian. Maybe he's one of those "cultural Mormons," a Mormon in name only, who doesn't even know about all that kooky Mormon theology. After all, he talks about God and Jesus and salvation and atonement.... Looking back, I'm so ashamed of myself: I should have known better! After all, a large part of what I do is write about cults, and how they use the same terminology that Christians do, only with redefined meanings. Oh, how I wanted to believe.

The rest of the article details the deviant and false gospel beliefs of Mormonism.

A Testimony To God's Terrible and Wonderful Sovereignty

Patrick Hughes is a living example of God's terrible and wonderful sovereignty. This young man was born blind and crippled. Yet God gifted him with an amazing native musical talent. Watch the report on him and his dad.

New Sermons, MLK, Odds & Ends

The last two weeks worth of audio have been uploaded to my podcast. There's a player here on the blog that you can use to listen, if you like.

My message last night was on the Christian and racism. I don't think I "nailed" the subject. In fact, I just began to scratch the surface of it. But this has been a journey that started for me ten years or so ago. And it's one that has unfortunately not started for many white Christians. I've been particularly challenged by John Piper's writing on the subject and by his example. Even though most of us have not engaged in overt or conscious hatred of other ethnic groups, the very facts that we have eschewed much consideration of race relations in our churches and that we unconsciously and unwittingly consider "minorities" as other are damning indictments. May God give us the grace to live out our oneness with all our brothers in Christ. I include the link to MLK's Letter From A Birmingham Jail and a video of his I Have A Dream Speech below.

Also, I unashamedly borrow from Dan Phillips' blog the video of Wintley Phipps singing "Amazing Grace". What a blessing this man is to the Church!

Resolved: To Make An Impact For Christ This Year

I believe in evaluating myself and in setting goals. It’s a healthy practice everyone should cultivate from the beginning of adolescence until their last breath. The New Year is a traditional time to do this. Many people start the off the year with a set of resolutions. “I’m going to lose weight.” “I’m going to learn a new language.” “I’m going to manage my finances better.” All of those are good resolutions.

But what if your resolutions this year included things that were greater than that? What if your resolutions weren’t just about self-actualization and life enhancement? What if your resolutions were God-centered? Let me share three questions with you to get you started. And then let the Lord guide your thinking and praying as you resolve to serve Him this year.

1. How can I serve the family I live with so they will see God’s glory this year?
2. How can I serve through my church so that my brothers and sisters enjoy the presence of Christ and the Gospel advances in our community?
3. How can I surrender my will to God this year so that Christ’s glory blazes brightly to everyone around me?

A Powerful, Poignant Pro-Life Video

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