Interlude: Martin Gets the Gospel Wrong

In between my posts on Why We Love the Church, I’ll briefly comment on something I read today.

Roland Martin often writes articles on faith (specifically the Christian faith) featured on CNN.com, a site I check fairly often. And while I bet he’s a super nice guy with some wonderful qualities, I’m not so sure he gets the gospel (I say this based not on this one article, but after following his articles over a two-year period…there are patterns).

In this particular article, he’s tackling the subject of faith and Hollywood. More particularly, he’s using Tyler Perry and his movies as a focal point. I won’t go into his analysis of the films, nor his view on Christianity and Hollywood. I want to focus on something else.

At one point in the article, he’s making the point that hope and redemption should be prevalent ideas in the filmmaking industry (a gigantic AMEN to that!). And he explains how Perry’s movies mention God, Jesus, and the Bible all the time. This is all fine and well. But this is the quote that gets me:

When we look at the destruction going on all around us – people committing suicide because of financial strains, mounting job losses, folks screaming and yelling at health care town hall meetings – it’s gratifying to watch a movie that speaks to the goodness in people, no matter how messed up they are.

I think his point here actually works against the argument of his article. A message of the “goodness in people” is not God’s message at all. In fact, I would say that’s the message God is speaking against in the cross of Christ. Additionally, it’s arrogant to say that movies about people of faith are movies about the goodness within said people, for they should be the very ones saying the opposite.

The cross of Christ tells us that we are not good at all (Rom. 3:9-18). It indeed says we are “messed up”, but the goodness we need must come from outside of us — we need the righteousness of another. That’s the message of the gospel. It’s not a relief to watch a movie that promotes the deep-down goodness of human beings, it’s a lie; the last thing we need are movies promoting self-goodness. Rather, we need to hear about the goodness of God as he ransomed our sins through the work of his Son Jesus on the cross.

If Christians are going to be involved in Hollywood, we need to get our message right.

Review: Why We Love the Church

I should have called this post “Why I Love This Book”. Because I do. The Lord was good to give me this book at this particular time for many reasons. My review will just be a recounting of some of these reasons I’m thankful for these authors and what they put into the pages of this book. And this post may stretch into three or four separate posts…so stay tuned.

1. Gospel-centered: The opening chapter contains a critique of how we understand the “progress” of the church in America. Deyoung correctly assesses that when it comes to our judgment of the American church’s rise or demise, we pin our arguments mostly on church attendance. Read church-planting books and you’ll see this straightaway, as we are told we should plant churches because our numbers are down. The church is being defeated because it grows smaller! Deyoung, I think, is right in saying that while numbers may say something, they sure as heck don’t say everything.

For instance, if attendance numbers are the main criteria we use to assess the progress of the church, what happens when numbers are up? Are we then being truly faithful to our calling? Deyoung’s point is that there are much better questions to be asking alongside these other stats. Questions like:

-Are we believing the gospel?
-Are we relying on the power of the gospel?
-Are we getting the gospel out?
-Are we getting the gospel right?
-Are we adorning the gospel with good works?
-Are we praying for the work of the gospel?
-Are we training up our children in the gospel?

How we answer these questions seem more along the lines of what biblical churches should be most concerned about. I dig it.

Any thoughts?

Pictures (for those interested) of Jane

Here ya go.

Jane Avis Rogers

8 lbs. 13 oz.
20 inches
Light brown hair

Praise the Lord for such a good gift!

Encouragement for Southern Seminary

Our nurse came in to check on Bethan this morning and we talked for a bit. After learning that we moved to Louisville to go to Southern, the nurse said, “My nicest patients always end up being connected with the seminary.”

I like hearing things like that. Hopefully that’s a testimony to the gospel-transformation that’s happening in the lives of God’s people here in the Ville.

Pray for Jane (and us)

We’re checking into the ol’ hospital tonight at 8:00, and the plan is for Bethan to be induced tomorrow morning. Please pray for us (to trust Jesus) and Jane (health, and also to trust Jesus…albeit later on in life).

Here we go!

O WOW!

Luke has just learned to say “O WOW!” at just about everything new he learns about the world. Providentially, Rachel has made this month’s emphasis in our home to be amazed at all that God created. Tonight we were teaching him about a blow-fish as we puffed up our own cheeks with air. Luke thought we were doing something very peculiar, but this did not prevent him from still being amazed as we pointed to the picture of the blow-fish and he responded, “O, WOW!”

In watching Luke be amazed at all the new things he learns, the Lord showed me a bit more about what it meant to be his child. How many days am I simply not amazed at the glory of God, as he has revealed it all around me in the created order. Everyday I walk by large trees whose roots are pushing sap to the uttermost limb and whose plush leaves have a billion micro-factories inside running off carbon-dioxide and nutrients and returning good oxygen to the aire, and often find the sidewalk and my destination to be much more interesting. What would it be to just look up for 30 seconds to see God’s power and might and wisdom and say, “O, WOW!” Or even more, to look upon all the many peoples I know who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and say “WOW, Lord! You are amazing!” Still more, to look upon all those many people created in God’s image, who possess no gospel and have no hope in Christ, and ask the Lord, “Father, help me to preach your gospel to them right now, that they may say with me, ‘WOW! What a Creator! What a Mighty Judge! What a Great Savior!’”

I am thankful that my son is amazed at everything. I hope the Lord uses this to continue cultivating a heart in myself that is always remaining amazed in him [the LORD].

“What Must We Do?”

At Sojourn’s most recent member meeting, we were able to hear a former-elder-now-missionary-in-Ethiopia tell us a wonderful story. I’ll recount it here (as best I can remember) for your encouragement.

“Back in Ethiopia, I went on a camping trip with two of my sons. While we were out camping, we came upon the rim of a valley in which 20,000 people live. We knew that these people had never heard the gospel, and so my sons and I knelt down and prayed for them.

After we prayed, a woman who was out in the fields, noticed us and asked if we needed lodging. I told her, ‘Well, we have tents, but we do need a place to pitch them so that the hyenas and wild dogs don’t mess with us.’ So she told us to pitch our tents near her house.

Once we had our tents up, this family invited us in for a meal. As we ate, they went back and forth sharing folk tales with us. After they were done, I began to tell them the story of the Creator God who made all things. I told them about how he loved humans and how they enjoyed a life of unbroken fellowship with God. Then I told them about how humans sinned against God and how we were all deserving of judgment.

When I was done telling them the story, they stood up and asked, ‘If this is true, what must we do?’ So I told them, ‘You must enter into a covenant with our God.’ And then I told them about Jesus and the whole family believed.”

He went on to entice us with the beginnings of a follow-up story about that same family, but left us hanging in order that we might attend a talk he’s doing on missions. Nonetheless, that one story made me come close to weeping where I sat (weeping with joy!). I was so glad he shared it.

Want to read the news?

If you’re like me, it’s easy to become addicted to reading things on the internet. Sometimes it becomes an idol — reading for the sake of reading. No real reason for doing it, you’re just bored and you become addicted to whatever media source feeds your desire for the next story. In that way, it becomes sort of like gossip. You just want to be included in everything that’s going on. I think, and maybe I’m wrong, that it also can lead to disengaging from your own life. But that’s a different blog post.

As I read the headlines for today, I wondered why I wasn’t as interested in reading about the global movements of the church. I check several news outlets daily, which can be good for understanding cultural issues, etc. However, it doesn’t help me understand or be encouraged by what God is doing through his church in other countries.

So…do yourself a favor and read the sobering stories of the faithful in countries where they’re not free to speak about Jesus. It’ll wake awaken you to the harrowing (but encouraging!) tales of your brothers and sisters around the globe, enduring hardships even unto death for the sake of the gospel. Upon reading only two stories I was cut to the quick, made aware of my toying with sin and worldly pleasures. Reading these stories made me want to put away living for myself, and they made me want to live the full life God means for his people to live. Here are some examples:

Pastors in Nigeria
Pastor in Bangladesh
Believers in Pakistan
Bold Women in Iran

Praise the Lord for these people. I want to follow after their example.

[update: Bret...we thinking each other's thoughts here? How was I writing this while you were posting that video? The Lord is good.]

Tears of the Saints

HT: JT