Russell Moore on "Judgement House" Evangelism

Click here for an excellent column by Russell Moore. Here in the DFW area a group of liberal United Methodists have started to picket one of the local manifestations of the "Judgement House" (see the story that I watched here). Their on-camera objection was that the concept of divine judgment is incompatible with the concept of divine love (typical shallow inane liberalism).

Moore's article is something entirely different. He shows from a God-honoring, biblically-faithful perspective why these productions are such a misdirection from weightier things. Read and enjoy.

Bill Maher Is a Playground Bully

Expect to hear a good bit about Bill Maher's new film "Religulous" in the coming days. Awakened by a soggy, hungry, sleepy two-year-old in the wee hours of this morning, I caught a 4:00 am discussion of the film, including an interview with Maher. Clips showed Maher ambushing Arkansas (Democrat) Senator Mark Pryor, ridiculing an Islamic clothier, and the like.

Maher's view is that religion is (quoting him from last night's interview) "silly and…dangerous." Regarding the affirmations of religious faith of Maher's favored presidential candidate, Barack Obama, Maher stated his opinion that Obama was lying in order to hope to be elected (OK, so I'm not inclined to reject that charge out-of-hand!). Confronted with the idea that so many great thinkers of the past were not exactly confirmed atheists (e.g., Blaise Pascal, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, etc.), Maher opined that they were, all of them, victims of some sort of neurological disorder.

So let's get this straight, Billy Boy—some of what are demonstrably the greatest minds in all of human history were neurologically deficient, while you, a professional court jester, have it all figured out? Riiiiiiiiiiiight.

Please note: I AM NOT suggesting that all of those listed above were exactly confirmed Christians, either. Merely that none of them seemed to share Maher's view that belief in God is, ipso facto, delirium.

But note this about Bill Maher: His film will not include a Paige Patterson or an Albert Mohler or a Francis Collins or a Russell Moore or an Emir or Ergun Caner. His work and that of any other Michael-Moore-wannabe will, in the classic modus operandi of a playground bully, prey solely upon the unsuspecting or the ill-equipped. He possesses neither the courage nor the honesty to do otherwise.

Where We Need Reform

Today I journeyed to hear Dr. Russ Moore speak about contemporary issues in the SBC. He spoke passionately for nearly three hours. Other than in direct responses to direct questions, he said almost nothing about national issues in the SBC. And yet everything he said was directly connected to every national issue in the SBC. It was a masterful presentation. Dr. Moore realizes, as I myself believe, that the most pressing issues facing us today have to do with the local church. The institutional local congregation was founded by Jesus Christ, and it must adhere to the New Testament pattern to realize the divine genius in its nature. In the process of restoring my older posts, I actually paused to read most of my older posts. In doing so, I realized how much I have allowed other people's agendas to shape my blogging in more recent days. I hope to be more intentional and less reactionary in the coming year. Dr. Moore's lecture reminded me of my sentiments expressed in this post from the early dawning of my blogging enterprise. My agenda is expressed in the Fifth Century Initiative, which I will be posting at the beginning of August. As a postscript, please allow me the personal privilege of expressing how much I dislike Dr. Moore:

1. I don't mind when people are a little bit smarter than I am, but it really bothers me to encounter people who are a whole order of magnitude smarter than I am.
2. On top of all that, Dr. Moore is younger than I am. For a man who is only thirty-five years old to have read so much, written so much, spoken so much, and learned so much is obscene. To think that, at his age, he holds such high position at the second-greatest seminary in the SBC is astounding.
3. Finally, and worst of all, for an Arkansan to be forced to concede such things about a Mississippian is quite nearly a violation of my Eighth-Amendment rights.

At least I can take some consolation in being so much better looking than he is.