Almost Done!

Well, our taxes are almost finished and I'm beginning to feel a great sense of relief, even though we owe the Gov't money for the first time (that part is kind of depressing). So, it was fun to watch a couple of videos posted on Fide-o tonight about the anthropocentric characterization of modern evangelicalism. As lighthearted as both videos are, they are also saddening because they contain a great deal of truth. And as easy as it is to point fingers at every other church, we are all plagued by these tendencies. None of us would openly admit that we desire to worship ourselves, but we might more readily admit that we are all interested more in our own desires. Churches that seek to be "seeker friendly" are striving to be relevant, but often lose faithfulness to Scripture. Churches that attempt to keep the pendelum swung in the other direction are trying to be faithful to Scripture, but often get locked into traditionalism. Both sides can be self-righteous in their efforts, and both, possibly unknowingly, can be seeking their own comfort and desires rather than God's. There is no doubt a great deal of tension between relevance and orthodoxy. But within this tension we all must be good students of both God's Word and the culture around us.

Anthony Carter brought my attention to another bit of silliness in the Church, a men-only church. I'm not sure how they deal with that biblically.

Jon Bloom gives insight from Martin Lloyd-Jones about the world's influence in how we think. As if the inward struggle isn't enough to pull as away from exalting God (and in turn ourselves), the world bellows this message at us constantly.

Finally, Philip Ryken has answered some questions about preaching that I found refreshing.