Does Jesus Hate Religion?

Yesterday my wife drew my attention to this edgy hip hoppy poetic video by a guy called Jeff Bethke about Jesus v Religion which has gone very "viral" on youtube and is popping up all over the place in social media. The use of poetry is very clever and the video is well presented but I got a lot of red flags the first time I watched this. Have a look and see what you think . . .



This video serves as a great example of why pastors must train their flocks to practice biblical discernment. The fact that ultra liberal websites like Sojourners (run by Jim Wallis) love this video affirmed a lot of my initial fears about the type of people who would gravitate towards a video like this. This was also confirmed by the people I know who posted this video on Facebook but aren't too fond of biblical Christianity.

Bethke does say a lot of things that are true, which is a great way to package something deceptive or leave something too vague on a lot of points. And my initial impression was that a lot of Bethke's terms were too vague, undefined, and sometimes missed the point. Did Jesus die to set us free from the bondage of religion? Chapter and verse please Jeff because that is not what I read in my Bible (try reading Romans 3:10-26). Is all religion bad Jeff because the book of James tells us that:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

I don't think Bethke would disagree with the Epistle of James but it does highlight the need for him too tighten up his use of language and define his terms more clearly. His railing on self-righteousness is absolutely correct but again there is too much missing information. If I was a prostitute watching this I could easily feel like a victim who can receive affirmation from Jesus because those are the people Jesus hung out with. We need to remember that Jesus did hang out with drunks, whores, poor people, and pagans - but He also hung out with sober people, chaste people, rich people, and Pharisees. He hung out with all types of people because all types of people are sinners and he told them things like "go and sin no more" and often demanded repentance. Was Jesus imposing his religious legalism on these people? I wonder what Jeff Bethke would do with Jesus' closing words in Matthew chapter five (the Sermon on the Mount):

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven . . . You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:20,48)

And this again points to the main meaning of the cross which gets completely missed in this video now seen by over 6 million people. Jesus death on the cross was necessary because of our violations of God's law. It was not to "set us free from religion" but to fulfill that law and then endure God's just wrath against sinful people. God's law requires sinless perfection which is why we require a Substitute to accomplish that in our place. Bethke may argue that the religion we need to be set free from is that of human works, but if that is the case then why didn't he point that out? Furthermore, the biblical reality is that sinful men are not pursuing God and trying to earn salvation. The Bible describes the sinner as "dead in trespasses" (Ephesians 2:1). Jesus describes the sinner (just after John 3:16) as someone who "loves darkness and hates the light", someone who will not will not come to the light because it will expose his evil works (John 3:19-20). So do we need freedom from religion, or do we need to repent from our sins and put our faith in the Author of the one and only True Religion?

Christianity is a religion as well, it's just that it is right and all the others are wrong because no other religion deals with atoning for our sin against a holy God. No other religion points to the finished work of Jesus instead of our futile and evil human efforts. That is why Jesus said "it is finished"!

I don't doubt that Jeff Bethke genuinely loves Jesus and wants to honor Him with this video. But redefining the core of the Christian faith is a very bad way to do that. Millions of undiscerning people are watching this every day and being deceived by a message that totally misrepresents the meaning of the cross. If Jeff loves Jesus he should apologize, pull the video down, and consider the option of remaking the video in a way that is faithful to the Gospel . . . like this one!



Here is some great and helpful discerning insights on the Jesus > Religion video courtesy of Jonathan D. Fitzgerald:

The poem is about “how the gospel of Jesus is the good news that breaks us free from the chains of religion.” Ah yes, the chains of religion. For four minutes, Bethke rhymes his way around all kinds of false dichotomies and outright bad theology.

He begins by suggesting that Jesus came to abolish religion, a popular claim among evangelicals, particularly those of the non-denominational persuasion, but one that has no theological foundation. He then goes on to say that “Republican doesn’t automatically mean Christian,” which is true, if not slightly off topic. Then, returning to the subject of religion, he plays right into the hand of the so-called New Atheists by asking “if religion is so great, why has it started so many wars?” There’s some stuff about single mothers, poor people, whores, and John the Baptist, all by way of showing the inconsistencies of religious people.

Religion, according to Bethke, never “gets to the core,” rather, he calls it “behavior modification” and says it’s like “a long list of chores.” Then he gets to what he’s actually talking about. See, he’s not actually on about religion, but about people whose expression of their faith doesn’t match his criteria. It’s not religious people he’s talking about, it’s what we used to call Sunday Christians. “It’s like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey,” he says before digging into his own biography to show that he was once like you.

At just about 3 minutes, though, he returns to religion, claiming that “Jesus and religion are on opposite ends of the spectrum.” One is the work of god, he explains, and the other is “a man made invention” (slant rhyme). He continues, “one is the cure, and the other is the infection.” And now he’s on a roll, “religion says do, Jesus says done. Religion says slave, Jesus says son. Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free. Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see.” He is building toward this, “And that’s why religion and Jesus are two separate clans,” before his grand finale, ”So for religion, no I hate it. In fact, I literally resent it. Because when Jesus said ‘It is finished,’ I believe he meant it.”

Where do we begin? The number of false dichotomies and ridiculous claims is astounding. Religion is an infection? Religion puts you in bondage? Religion makes you blind? Is he just quoting Sam Harris here?

I believe Jesus meant it when he said, “It is finished,” as well, but I’m sure the “it” he meant wasn’t religion.

See the problem is, Bethke doesn’t mean religion either, but he’s rehearsing a popular evangelical trope, that the freedom that Christians find through Jesus is freedom from structure, organization, and authority. Of course, Bethke, like all Christians, is a member of a religion, he holds “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs,” as Dictionary.com defines it. What Bethke is actually railing against is people whose expression of religion doesn’t look like he believes it should. Thus, rather than discounting religion, he is just discounting other religions, or even just other manifestations of his own religion.

Had this poem, with its dramatic music and epic setting, simply been called “Sunday Christians,” and if every reference to religion was replaced by something like “hypocrisy,” this video would have been as easy to ignore as his others. But, here Bethke is doing far more harm than good by playing into hurtful stereotypes about religion–his religion and mine, as well as the other major world religions. Denouncing this video takes stepping outside of evangelical subculture to see its actual implications beyond our little playground, but doing so, I think, is extremely important.

Click Here To Read The Follow Up To This Post

A Cavalcade Of Heretics - The Wild Goose Festival

The emergent movement still seems to think that there is plenty more life left in that rotting carcass. The movement may live on in the form of the heresies they propagated that have now infiltrated modern evangelical churches. But old liberalism continues to die the death of a thousand attempts at repackaging.



In the words of the "organizers":

The Wild Goose is a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit. We are followers of Jesus creating a festival of justice, spirituality, music and the arts. The festival is rooted in the Christian tradition and therefore open to all regardless of belief, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, denomination or religious affiliation.

In adopting the image of the Wild Goose we recognize that in the current climate of religious, social and political cynicism, embracing the creative and open nature of our faith is perhaps our greatest asset for re-building and strengthening our relationships with each other, with our enemies, with our stories, our texts, and the earth. In that spirit, in a festive setting, and in the context of meaningful, respectful, and sustained relationships, we invite you to create with us!

As a child my favorite cartoon was the "League of Justice". It was the transcendent superhero cartoon where Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Spiderman, and Wonder Woman (yes, even then PC demanded a token woman and, let's face it, her invisible jet was a tremendous innovation in cutting costs). All these superheros were able to combine their superpowers for the ultimate force against all evil in the world.

The Wild Goose Festival is just like "League of Justice" except for the fighting evil part . . . and the superhero part . . . and the enjoyable part . . . Anyway, Wild Goose festival is what you get when you combine the apostate false teaching superpowers of Tony Jones, Jim Wallis, Jay Bakker, Brian McLaren, Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, Lynne Hybels, Frank Schaeffer, Phyliss Tickle, Richard Rohr etc into one giant potpourri of every imaginable religious idea apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They may even try to outdo each other - maybe some new heresy might be birthed at Wild Goose.

(Sidenote: if the name Lynne Hybels (wife of Bill Hybels and "Willow Creek Advocate For Global Engagement") surprises you - don't be surprised. This woman is full of liberal kookiness so beware all you Willow Creek'ers who think that your fellowship is a safe haven. Lynne Hybels is not only seeker sensitive, she is very liberal on a lot of fronts - and very influential as well. Just check out her role as an inner circle counsellor to Barack Obama, her troubling association with radical leftist ministries like Sojourners and Red Letter Christians, and her ridiculous apologies to Islam.

The Wild Goose festival website carries the following bold prediction:

Wild Goose is going to grow into the largest, best run, most dynamic religious happening in the USA!

Here is a video highlight from the festival that lends so much credence to that bold prediction of a "dynamic", well organized, religious "happening" with teeming crowds. I would say that the word "religious" does apply to the Wild Goose festival . . . it's just that I can't quite make out what religion that would be!



Newsflash emergent gurus - whether your movement is dead or on life-support, Woodstock 2 is not the solution!

Sacred Cow Saturday - Episode 10 - Religion and Politics

Gianna Jessen is a true hero and revealer of truth concerning the horrendous things that happen to babies that "survive" abortion procedures. Barack Obama can try and play technicalities all he wants - the fact is that he is the pro murder candidate.

I often hear Ronald Reagan's name maligned by intellectuals but unlike Obama he showed that the issue of life was not “above his pay grade”. When asked when does life begin Reagan (like Obama) said he did not know, but in contrast to Obama he said that that uncertainty was reason enough never to allow abortion. It would seem that, if elected, Obama should get minimum wage.

Again I want to stress that I am not overly interested in the political realm but I take keen interest in engaging a Christian worldview where our morality is biblically aligned and our political allegience lies with truth. And in light of this it is important to shed light on candidates who attempt to lure the Christian vote with a deceptive agenda and Obama continually attempts to position himself to the voting public as a Christian voice even though he denies so much of basic Christian truth including the exclusivity of Jesus. My concern lies not with people voting for Barack Obama, my concern lies with the undiscerning church goer who votes for the pro murder candidate because he thinks he's voting for a Christian.

Don't think for one minute that this is an endorsement of John McCain. Christian brothers and sisters, we should not kid ourselves about what can be achieved through politics. Civil law only serves the purpose of restraining a wicked and perverse generation enough for the Gospel to be preached. As I often say the heart of he human problem is the problem of the human heart and preaching is the God ordained means of bringing this about. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (I Corinthians 1:21).

The emergents, liberals, and "red letter" crowd have railed long and hard against the "religious right" for being too political and campaigning for the wrong issues. In fact guys like Tony Campolo (standing on the Democratic party platform), Jim Wallis (who chastened the religious right for their failure to be civil whilst saying "George W. Bush was, and is, clueless about how to be the president of the United States") and Brian McLaren (who is doing and funding TV commercials or Barack Obama) continually claim to be above partisan politics.

The truth is that the "religious right" gets it wrong. But their failure has not been the issues they have fought or political opportunism. They have fought the right issues but have shifted the emphasis in evangelicalism from mission to activism. It is good to fight moral issues but fantasy to think that morality can be legislated. I often say that the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart and God's ordained method for changing the human heart has been faithful preaching; "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe" (I Corinthians 1:21). No amount of legislation can do what can only be done by God's Holy Spirit - regenerating the human heart.

The left on the other hand takes getting it wrong to a whole new level. They have been the actual political opportunists who have politicised moral issues, abandoned the authority of Scripture, and redefined the Gospel.

Christians need to remember that civil laws, ultimately, only serve to restrain a wicked and perverse generation enough for the Gospel to be preached. We are strangers in a strange land that is temporal and perishing. We serve a King who is eternal and has left this strange land to go and prepare a place for us. In the meantime Christ has called us to preach His Gospel in only two situations - in season and out of season. Remember that when you vote.



A lot of negative things are being said (often by emergents, liberals and "red letters") concerning being a single issue voter. True - saving lives of the unborn is not the only issue. But we need to remember that a single issue can disqualify someone from being president and some issues are so BIG that they can outweigh all the others in one single swoop. If you are a preacher or a church and you don't get the Gospel right then everything else is a waste of time.

By Joe Belz from World Magazine

It's become an increasingly frequent reminder to us evangelical Christians not to let our cultural identity be framed by "single issues."

It was a reminder implicitly included in the "Evangelical Manifesto," a document whose basic content we at WORLD have applauded but whose political direction I questioned in our last issue. Why are the Manifesto's backers so ready to join the cultural left in suggesting a guilt trip for those evangelicals who have been preoccupied with the evils of abortion and same-sex marriage?

And if some argue that the rising generation of younger evangelicals is a bit embarrassed by what they think is an out-of-balance focus by their elders, and thinks it's time to get equally exercised over issues like racism, economic justice, and the environment—well, if that's the case with our twentysomethings and our teenagers, then maybe we need to go to work and do a better job of explaining to them why we've put the emphasis where we have for the last generation and why we believe that it's time not to lower our voices.

Evangelicals shouldn't be embarrassed to say boldly and clearly: Abortion and same-sex marriage are uniquely heinous sins. They rattle the foundations of a civilized society. They take a culture in a dreadful direction. We haven't been wrong to say so. We aren't fanatics.

And I'm not referring here so much to the young women caught in the anguish of an unexpected pregnancy or folks bewildered by their sexual identity. I'm talking mostly about a society that goes all out to tell such people that what they're doing is just fine. There's forgiveness for individual sinners. There's judgment for societies that lead them astray.

It's true that we evangelicals sometimes haven't been as zealous as we ought in fighting racism, abuse of the environment, and poverty. But on all those fronts and more, we're at least facing the right direction. We're sometimes slow.

But here's the difference: What evangelical do you know who says insensitivity to the poor should be promoted? What evangelical leader is calling for more racism? Who advocates the uncontrolled plundering of the environment?

That is exactly the kind of cheerleading that is going on for abortion and same-sex marriage. Whole movements and organizations devote themselves to telling us how good abortion and same-sex marriage are for society. It now is expected that Barack Obama feature on his speaking schedule, as he did on June 26, a New York fundraising dinner for the Democratic Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council—where the news account reports casually that Obama helped the homosexual lobby raise $1 million in just one evening.

But here's the core of the matter. To be robustly and consistently anti-abortion is at the very same time to cast your vote for environmental sensitivity, against racism, and for economic justice. These are not independent, isolated packages.

It's hard to see how anyone can claim to be a protector of the environment and not put a high priority on the preservation of human babies. To defend a focus on the future of polar bears and whales, while asking evangelicals to get less noisy about infant humans, is an embarrassing contradiction.

Similarly, keep in mind that abortion is one of the most racist of all social causes in history. Minorities don't just happen incidentally to be targeted by the practice of abortion. The history of Planned Parenthood and similar organizations is racist to the core—as is their current practice.

And no economist can look at the loss of 50 million American babies over the last 45 years and not wince at the impact of such a drain on the economic vitality of our society. Today's poor Americans are poorer than they would have been if we'd taken care to preserve enough consumers—and workers—to fill a state one-and-a-half times as big as California. Tomorrow's elderly will worry about Social Security more than they would have with 50 million more contributors to the system.

So stop apologizing for having focused on a single issue. Don't let the "Evangelical Manifesto" or anyone else shame you into an overly narrow self-image. It's the folks promoting causes like abortion and same-sex marriage who are the real "single issue" fanatics, falsely teaching that you can mess with just one or two aspects of life without upsetting the balance God so wondrously installed in His creation order. We need to expose that lie for the tragic falsehood that it is—and to teach the next generation what a very bad bargain they have been asked to accept.

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14153

The Staggering Hypocrisy of Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis

Yesterday I posted a letter by concerned Christians who wrote to Rick Warren pleading with him to retract his invitation to have staunch pro abortionist Barack Obama speak at his AIDS conference. If you read the letter it is plain to see that it is devoid of politcal agenda and instead voices a legitimate concern.

But into the picture stride Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis (and a host of other "Christian leaders") who are a part of a movement known as "red letter Christians" (which is their way of saying that they have a low view of Scripture). On the reason for creating Red-Letter Christians, Tony Campolo said, "The purpose of this gathering was not to create a religious left movement to challenge the religious right, but to jump-start a religious movement that will transcend partisan politics." So because Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis are doing such a great job at transcending partisan politics they decided to write a letter of their own turning the earlier letter to Rick Warren into a political issue all the while ignoring the infinitely more important moral issue that these Christians were concerned about.

Several right-wing religious organizations, including the National Clergy Council, recently blasted Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church for inviting Senator Barack Obama to speak on World AIDS Day this Friday, December 1. It's unfortunate that these groups would exploit the Christian faith to advance their divisive agenda – an agenda that gives almost exclusive attention to a few wedge issues while ignoring the diversity of problems plaguing American communities.

We reject the creation of an unbiblical litmus test to exclude believers from the body of Christ. We are called to the ministry of reconciliation and the liberation of all people, spiritually and socially.

We also wonder why any organization claiming to represent believers in Jesus Christ would choose to play what amounts to partisan politics (emphasis added) instead of encouraging our leaders to address the scourge of AIDS.

AIDS has claimed the lives of 25 million people since 1981. Forty million people across the globe, including 2 million children, live with this wretched disease. And nearly 7 million people are now in desperate need of life-saving drugs, without which they will die. In the face of this crisis, it boggles our minds and offends our God-given sense of justice that these groups would choose to attack Senator Obama and Reverend Warren – Christians both – for working together to stamp out AIDS.

It is time for believers to unite under the banner of truth and work to address our society's most pressing problems. The time for scare tactics and divisiveness is over. As leaders in the Christian community, we will not stand silent in the face of these attacks, but will instead serve as voices for equality, fairness, and justice for all people.

It is easy to see who is playing the partisan politics here. Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis should be severely disciplined by their local congregations for such disgraceful behavior and high level hypocrisy. In fact Tony Campolo is so "above" partisan politics that he was on the Democratic Party Platform Committee for their convention in July. Join the dots on that one!

Tomorrow - Washer Wendesday

The Lie of the "Social Gospel"

I have recently touched on the ridiculous fiasco of Rick Warren inviting rabid pro abortionist Barack Obama to his AIDS conference to talk about saving lives. Then, many from the "emergent", "red letter", and social justice camps (who have been pontificating for years about the religious right being too political) decided to turn it into a political issue. This stinks on so many levels and I just don't know where to begin unpacking this.

First of all, just because Barack Obama calls himself a Christian doesn't mean he is one. This is how Barack Obama describes his faith: "I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people." Hmmm how can I say this gently . . . "many paths" IS NOT CHRISTIANITY. The Christ of Barack Obama is not the Christ of Scripture. Barack Obama might speak christianese but he doesn't follow the TRUE Christ Who is the ONLY path to salvation. C'mon, this isn't that hard to figure out.

Secondly, Obama really brings nothing new or helpful to the fight against AIDS as his solution revolves around sex education programs rather than promoting abstinence before marriage. AIDS, as far as the big picture goes, is a moral issue because it is mainly spread through sexual promiscuity.

Third, all this focus on AIDS, global warming, opposing the war in Iraq is becoming disturbing - not because those issues don't matter but because of the silence on the abortion issue. All these "progressive Christian Leaders" rallying around Barak Obama and talking about taking the "holistic approach" is just one big fat disgraceful joke. If you were to add the total number of deaths from AIDS, the war in Iraq, and "the melting icecaps" it does not even come to one twentieth of the 46 MILLION estimated abortions each year (abortionno.org). Abortion is an outrage that dwarfs these other issues. If these people cared about abortion they would be making plenty of noise about it because they have no problem making a song and dance about our "carbon footprint" and they would never endorse Obama's pro death policies.

Genuinely concerned Christians wrote to Rick Warren pleading with him not to invite Barack Obama to his AIDS summit because of his pro abortion stance. Here is a copy of the letter:

As those who have worked to defend preborn children from the horrors of abortion in America and who have stood uncompromisingly against the legalized slaughter of an estimated 50 million Americans in the womb since 1973, we join with one voice in expressing our indignation and opposition to Rick Warren's welcoming of Senator Barack Obama to his church on December 1, 2006. Rick Warren is bringing Senator Obama to his church to speak for his Global Summit on AIDS and the church and to take an AIDS test in front of the cameras at a noon press conference.

Senator Obama comes to Rick Warren's church believing that abortion should be kept, "safe and legal". When Barack Obama campaigned for the U.S. Senate in 2004, his wife wrote a fundraising letter for him that revealed his support of partial-birth abortion. She said Obama's position is that the "partial-birth abortion ban . . . is clearly unconstitutional and must be overturned." Support of partial-birth abortion goes a lot farther than the politicians who want abortion to be "safe and legal." Senator Obama actually supports the barbaric practice of allowing abortionists to kill babies by allowing them to be partially, born, their skulls punctured and their brains sucked out. Further, he repeatedly opposed an anti-infanticide bill in the state of Illinois that only passed after he left. Killing a child at any stage of life is a violation of God's clear command, "Thou Shall Do No Murder". In addition,Obama's solution to the growing AIDS crisis has been and continues to be the widespread distribution of condoms, not chaste behavior as directed by the Bible.

In the strongest possible terms, we oppose Rick Warren's decision to ignore Senator Obama's clear pro-death stance and invite him to Saddleback Church anyway. If Senator Obama cannot defend the most helpless citizens in our country, he has nothing to say to the AIDS crisis. You cannot fight one evil while justifying another. The evangelical church can provide no genuine help for those who suffer from AIDS if those involved do not first have their ethic of life firmly rooted in the Word of God. Accordingly, we call on Pastor Rick Warren to rescind his invitation to Senator Obama immediately. The millions of silent victims who have died because of the policies of leaders like Senator Obama demand a response from those who believe that life is a gift from God. The name of the seminar at which Senator Obama will be appearing is entitled, " We Must Work Together." No, Mr. Warren, Mr. Obama, we will never work with those can support the murder of babies in the womb.


Did you count the number of times the word "democrat" got mentioned in the letter - big fat zero. That is because this letter was solely conerned with Obama's pro murder stance.

Well those so called "progressive Christians" like Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis got wind of this letter and wrote a response. As you will see tomorrow, the real problem of political opportunism is not from the "religious right" but from these disgraceful individuals. Read their response tomorrow

Sacred Cow Saturday - Episode 8 - Rick Warren Wrap Up

There is much more that could be discussed about Rick Warren and may well be at a later date. There is the issue of Purpose Driven mission trips where copies of Purpose Driven Life are handed out instead of Bibles. There is the issue of Rick Warren training Jewish leaders how to grow their Synagogues. There is the issue of Rick Warren prasing the Syrian Islamic regime for their treatment of Christians, then denying that it ever happened, then having to delete a youtube video that confirmed it did happen. There is also Pastor Warren's proud claim of being Rupert Murdoch's pastor - Murdoch being the worlds largest peddler of pornography (paging church discipline . . paging church discipline).

And there is also the issue of Rick Warren inviting homosexuals and strong abortion advocates to speak at his global AIDS summit. This included Barack Obama who supports the hideous murderous practice of "late term abortion". Rick Warren was roundly criticised for inviting these people and rightly so. His mantra to these criticisms is generally "I don't have to agree with 100 percent of what another person does in order to work with them on the 20 percent that we do agree on." Well here's my question following this philosophy - what if the leader of the Ku Klux Klan has some really positive contibutions to the AIDS summit? Would you invite him? Could you find 20% of common ground and put aside that "side" issue of racism? I would love to hear Rick Warren's response to those questions. And I would strongly contend that murder of the unborn is even more hideous than the blight of racism.

This issue of Barack Obama has left a stench on the landscape of "modern Christanity". I've followed the smell and it leads to some very ugly goings on within the "emergent" and "red letter" camps. These people who include Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, Brian McLaren, and Donald Miller are hypocrites of the highest order. I have "held back" on this blog for a long time but I can no longer remain silent. I have patiently listened to (and taken on board) their continual criticism of the "religious right" for many years now but now they are starting to show their true colours and I will be speaking openly about their seductive deceptions over the coming days - so stay tuned.

The bottom line, though, with Rick Warren is the "gospel" he preaches and it is not the biblical Gospel as has been clearly exposed in the previous posts. The main purpose behind these posts has been in response to the continual attempts by Purpose Driven Cybercensors to delete any criticism or renounce it as people having personal issues with Rick Warren. There may be people out there who do have personal issues with Rick Warren and I have no interest in their grievances. It is also true that much of what Rick Warren teaches in his Purpose Driven books is helpful and beneficial within the daily life - even a broken clock gets it right twice a day. But these truths can serve as a smokescreen for the greater eternal picture and many of Rick Warren's critics are people who hold these issues dear to their hearts and labor tirelessly in them. They should not be silenced, they should be heard - especially by Rick Warren. Because if you get the Gospel wrong then the rest, ultimately, is a waste of time.

Go On To Episode 9
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Purpose Driven Dead End

Standing on the outside and looking in can be an aggravating experience for an outsider viewing the goings on in America by many professing Christians. I love the USA and make no secret of the fact that it is my favorite country in the world. It is the land that fuels world mission and the source of most biblically sound teaching. But among that there are things going on that I can no longer keep silent about. It's time to pick a fight.

There is a certain sacred cow pastor in southern California who I will be talking about in the coming days and perhaps weeks. I can't say his name but his initials are Rick Warren! There seems to be a lot of cyber bullying going on by certain defenders of Rick Warren that is inflicted on anyone who dares to question anything he says or does. In recent times a friend of mine had his website shut down after his ISP was pressured into deleting the website. I know of other preachers who have had doors shut on them after criticising Rick Warren's ministry. Richard Abanes who seems to be RW's top cyberspace attack dog seems to think that all criticism is purely on the basis of people not liking Rick Warren. The fact of the matter is Richard that there are many people critical of the Purpose Driven deception because it is built upon a false gospel. These are people who love the true Gospel and as such cannot stomach a man centred substitute.

There are other things that need to be talked about including the emergent crowd and "red letter christians" who have taken the apolitical moral high ground for so long in criticising the "religious right" for being too political. Well looky here, it's an election year and many of these politcally neutral crusaders are coming out in support of Barack Obama even though he supports the murder of unborn (even late term) babies. The stench you can smell is the rampant hypocrisy. It needs to be talked about and brought into the open. It seems that their problem with the "religious right" was not that they were political but that they don't like that brand of politics. Just like Jim Wallis' book called "God's Politics" which should have been called "Putting God's Name to my Own Left Wing Political Agenda".

I've held off for long enough. Stuff needs to be said because of the fall out that is happening. The Bottom Line's going to Defcon One and it could be a bumpy ride.

This episode of The Bottom Line was proudly