I find this article and the conference that Jonathan Falwell is promoting at Thomas Road Baptist Church to be almost beyond belief. Just take a look at some of the people leading the conference. Some of them happen to be part of the problem.
I have news for Jonathan Falwell the Church is not to blame for pseudo Christianity being in crisis. The Church is doing quite fine as always. Pseudo Christianity is in crises because it has no salvation message. They are telling the world what they think they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. They want to tickle their ears instead of telling them the simple salvation message in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Where are the Pauls, the Billy Sundays the Billy Grahams for this generation? They are not speaking at this conference. The Bible says Moses was the most humble man that ever lived but did he put on what we call humility. Did Moses look for some nebulous balance between grace and truth? What do you mean that only in the world’s meaning of humility can we communicate the Gospel? Where is that in scripture? The humility of Moses was his total dependence on God. Moses’ message was uncompromising. When he went before Pharaoh did he put on what the world calls humility today. No. He was bold and told Pharaoh what God told him! We do not need more Uriah Heap’s in the Church.
I have more news for Jonathan Falwell. Evangelicals are looked down on by young non Christians because they are being indoctrinated to do so in their schools and on media. Yet, the Southern Baptist Convention just killed a resolution to remove their children from public schools. Your not going to change the public schools in this nation until moral people take action that threaten the very existence of public schools should they continue on this path of anti-Christian anti-God indoctrination and their promotion of amorality.
Falwell seems to suggest that the answer is a conference to find worldly ways to find new ways to tap dance around biblical truths. If so, then welcome to the postmodern church but don’t confuse it with the Church or Christianity. I simply do not see Paul having a conference to tell pastors how to stop the rise of hatred toward those preaching the gospel. Paul taught the gospel and died for it as did many who followed him. The Church needs to teach the gospel today more than ever. The reason why people are against Christianity is because they are not Christians. We are losing this nation because the gospel is not being taught anywhere anymore, even in the pulpits.
You should know that the Church is not going to win a popularity contest. Jesus said the world would hate us. You think in these last days of mass indoctrination and mass communication that this is simply going to be less of a problem?
The Church needs a conference to tell the leaders to get back to the basics and preach the gospel to every creature. The Church need to tell the truth to the world without compromise and let the chips fall where they may! Salvation is the only way to change people’s thinking and that is achieved by preaching the gospel.
What we don’t need is another damn conference to come up with worldly ways to redefine our message to reach the postmodern world! If you really want to do something about losing the youth you will deal with the core problems that are corrupting them, it certainly is not the Christian message. Unless what you are really preaching is not the Christian message at all and they can see through the hypocrisy.
“Christians” need to start acting like real men and quit kowtowing to the immoral people that are being allowed to subvert the next generation by allowing them to set their own educational and media agendas! We were told what would happen in the last days so preach the good news, suck it up, and start taking care of your own family like men.
Mr. Kinnaman further states, “In just a decade, the perception of evangelicals has become eight times less favorable among young non-Christians when compared to the image held by boomer non-Christians.”
And while I believe this perception of Christians is at least partially because of the constant negative portrayals of us in the mainstream media, I also believe that we – Christians – are largely to blame for the negative way in which we are seen.
While we are confronting the culture with the Gospel, I think we have often forgotten to consider how we are being received by the world around us.
I think the church has sometimes forgotten that faith produces humility: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10). And it is only in our humility that we can effectively communicate the Gospel.
Mr. Kinnaman asks two important questions in his article: “How does a messenger of God strike the right balance between grace and truth? How does a teacher of the Bible help point people toward a holy God, without creating the opposite effect of putting up false barriers to Him?”
That is why I have initiated the Innovate Church Christian Leaders Conference that is being hosted by Thomas Road Baptist Church Aug. 11-13 in Lynchburg, Va. I’ve invited some of our nation’s leading church innovators and theologians to train pastors, Christian leaders and laymen how to become more confident and effective ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
Special guests will include: Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church; Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship; Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle; Tom Mullins, senior pastor of Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Ed Stetzer, church planter and director of Lifeway Research; Dr. Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary; Sheri Rose Shepherd, best-selling author and speaker; Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the Liberty University School of Law; and many others.
“Consider a program titled “A Course of Miracles,” which has received a lot of mainstream notoriety lately. In its description of sin, the course states, “In most Christian religions, we were taught that we were born in sin (original sin) and that we are all sinners. We were also taught that Jesus saved us from the eternal fires of damnation by dying on the cross for our sins. In this crazy thought system, we made up a God that requires sacrifice of His Son to atone for our sins. When we really look at it with clarity, it would be quite a wild and crazy God that would have such a requirement to be appeased.”
Don, Jonathan Falwell is not a Christian! How can one write drivel like this and claim to be a follower of Jesus? So now what we just throw out our Bibles and follow these idiots? I think the time of end is coming sooner than we think.
Joel you took that wrong. Jonathan Falwell was just quoting what they say in “A Course of Miracles” He certainly was not saying that this is what he believed. He wants a conference to deal with these obvious attacks on Christianity like he quoted but apparently without offending anyone.
Jonathan is a Christian brother but I obviously disagree on this approach to a postmodern generation.
The way the article is written I assumed he was agreeing with what was being said. After all why would you invite someone to speak to your congregation knowing that what they spew is not even close to the Gospel. There truly is nothing new under the sun. Until men realize that their sin is the problem, and until they look up to the cross and believe, nothing is going to change. Satan goes around like a hungry lion, looking for those he can devour. Jonathan Falwell may want to prayerfully reconsider the conference and who is going to speak.
Jesus is soon to return and these guys shenanigans make me believe that his return is right around the next bend. It is 11:59 on the clock who is gonna get caught with their souls not right and their works undone? What pastor’s are going to be accused of the same sin as Cain. Guilty of slaying the saints not physically but spiritually, and when God asks them what have they done they will stupidly ask….Am I my brother’s keeper? Not with their mouths, but their actions will have spoken these fateful words.
~Anointed