John Piper: Weather Oracle

Wednesday, tornadoes caused a great deal of damage in the Twin Cities (where both John Piper and Greg Boyd pastor churches.) As we have seen in the past, these two pastors often have very different interpretations of events that occur in their proverbial backyard. This event is no different. Informed by either his deterministic theological framework (as is the case for Piper), or by his open theological framework (as is the case for Boyd), each pastor arrives at very different conclusions regarding the tornadoes' destruction-causing touchdowns.

What does make this disaster different (at least for Piper) is the tornadoes' appearance during the conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America (ELCA). Due to the fact that one of the issues the ELCA was slated to discuss was the denomination's stance on homosexuality, Piper boldly claims the destructive storms are God's work. Calling it "Providence" (with a capital P), Piper "ventures an interpretation."

According to Piper,

"The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin."

Thankfully, Greg Boyd responded to Piper's post today on his blog. Boyd's response brings a much-needed rational, Christ-centered perspective to the incident. Boyd makes several very important points that are important for us to read.

You can read Boyd's response HERE.

Crosswalk.com Apparently Allows Only Ignorant Comments

Dr. Soong-Chan Rah was recently interviewed about his book The Next Evangelicalism by Crosswalk.com. When I read the comments left by "readers," I was amazed by the level of ignorance they display. One commenter's remarks particularly caught my attention. He calls himself "metaphysicalmike," and this is the comment he left:

"This is like our Constitution is a living and breathing document - wrong. The Bible is not either. I have been a member of many churches and have yet to find one that is really directing itself to be a captive white church. Some of the churches have tried to attract non-whites to the church by offering alternative services and Sunday school classes, etc., but without a minority minister it doesn't seem to work. This article misses the mark. It is not the evangelism that misses the target, but the fact that the cultures are different and as in regular life society the two have not yet meshed into one society, but are made up of many small ones each with distinct differences. Further this article only seems to point out that there are differences, but not what can be done to change the system. Without the constructive part of the criticism showing what needs to be done and how it can be done does not offer much other than criticism which detracts further from bringing the groups together."

While the comment by "metaphysicalmike" has been allowed to remain visible for over a week, my comments posted last night were immediately removed.

"@metaphysicalmike: Your comment is alarmingly ignorant and defensive. Why Rah's thesis concerning the church evokes from you the need to share your political bent is beyond odd. And even though it is grossly off-topic, you are flatly wrong about the Bible. Hebrews tells us explicitly that the Scriptures are "living and active." However, what is worse is, when you arrive back at the relevant topic of Rah's book, you clearly demonstrate you are not a bit more informed. You assume you can judge Rah's thesis based on this single interview alone. You obviously have not touched the book, let alone read it, but yet you consider yourself qualified to condemn it. This is a sad mistake.

Moreover, you display a seriously unfortunate lack of understanding of the New Testament. There have been few cultures in recorded history with less in common than the Hebrews and the Hellenists, yet it is the overwhelming testimony of Scripture that God's mission was to unite the disparate peoples of the first-century in Christ. So much so that Paul's journeys and exploits to do this very thing make up the majority of the these 27 books.

Are we any different? Has the mission of God ceased since Acts? Is not God's redemptive purpose still to call out from among all the nations one bride of Christ? Or do you supposed that the scene in heaven which John describes omits the necessary segregating compartments of God's throne-room? Are American Christians exempt from the duty of all believers to reflect the heavenly worshipping reality that it is God's dream to manifest?

One third of _The Next Evangelicalism_ is devoted to strategies for combating the rift between American Christians of diverse ethnicity. Three chapters. Since you have not actually read the book, you wouldn't know that."

I have written to Crosswalk.com and will update this blog post if I get a response:

"Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing regarding comments that have been removed and allowed to remain on a recent interview conducted by and posted on Crosswalk.com. The interview was with Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, author of _The Next Evangelicalism_. Several comments left by readers are ignorant and unhelpful to anyone, yet they are allowed to remain. However, comments I posted addressing and correcting their ignorance were removed.

If Crosswalk.com desires to be a place where people are free to post ridiculous, and unhelpful comments, while also censoring those of us who actually have read Dr. Rah's book, then Crosswalk.com will not be a place that attracts and keeps an intelligent and helpful readership.

Please either remove the ignorance that is currently displayed or repost the comments I left addressing and correcting the ignorance.

T. C. Moore"

The "New Chosen" and Corruption: Calvinism, the C-Street House, and The Family

For 10 years now, I have challenged Calvinists on the unbiblical doctrines they espouse. Many, many times I have expressed my concerns about the psychological affect Calvinistic doctrine can have on a person's thinking and subsequently their choices. Despite all the evidence, Calvinists routinely deny the presence of any danger whatsoever. That is why I find this story coming out of Washington D. C. so incredible fascinating.

The American public at large is only just now becoming fully aware of the influence a small but incredibly powerful "Christian" Fundamentalist group has on conservative politicians in Washington. The group is called "The Family" and they are the group that runs the now-famous "C-Street House."

Author Jeff Sharlet, who is a contributing editor to both Harper's and Rolling Stone, is interviewed in this article for the Las Vegas Sun. The part that interests me the most, due to my habit of carefully examining theological claims, are the Calvinistic doctrines this group and it's members espouse. The Family, and subsequently dozens of powerful conservative politicians, hold Calvinistic "Christian" doctrines that are astonishingly offensive. And never before has the affect of this thinking been as clearly displayed as it has in the conduct of this group's adherents. Almost without exception, the "Christian," Fundamentalist, conservative politicians who have lived at this house, have all been involved in sex scandals recently. Senator John Ensign and Governor Mark Sanford are just two names among a long list.

I pose the question to you readers, "Can Thinking You are Chosen by God Corrupt Your Mind?"

Here are some excerpts from the article:

"The Family began with this idea that God does not work through churches but rather through those whom The Family calls the “New Chosen.” They believe they’re chosen by God. They can’t be expected to pray with the rest of us. They need to pray in private with people of equal status."

"Doug Coe, David Coe’s father and leader of The Family fellowship going back to the mid ’60s, likes to call The Family 'The Christian Mafia.' I knew Coe when I was part of The Family. He explained what it means to be a chosen politician.

Talking to another man, he said, 'Let me explain to you the concept of ‘chosen.’ Suppose I hear you raped three little girls. What would I think of you?'

The man says, 'You would think I was awful, a monster.'

And Doug Coe said, 'No, I would not, because you’re chosen, and when you’re chosen, the normal rules don’t apply.' "

"[The Family is] a group that regularly invokes as leadership models Hitler, Stalin and Mao, whom Doug Coe said are three men who understood the New Testament best in the 20th century.

[David Coe] means that they are evil men, but what they understood is that the New Testament is not about love, mercy, justice, forgiveness. It’s about power."

"Doug Coe in one presentation talked about Nazi Germany and the allegiance many Germans had to the Nazis. He said it was something of a role model for the approach that Family members need to have to their organization."

"The [Family] began during the Great Depression because the founder thought that God came to him and revealed a vision that the New Deal was satanically inspired and that Christianity was getting it wrong for 2000 years by focusing on the poor, the weak, the suffering.

He said God came one night in April 1935 and said, 'I want you to be a minister to not the down and out, but the up and out,' he called them, the powerful. And God’s going to choose a few powerful people, he’ll work through those people, and those people will distribute the blessings to the rest of us."

HERE is the link to the full article.

And please be sure to check out Jeff Sharlet's new book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power - HERE