Extreme Theology

Leadership Conferences Have Jumped the Shark

I think that Leadership and Pastoral Leadership conferences have jumped the shark. They are sooooo 2006 and they quit being innovative a long long long time ago. I knew things were getting desperate in the world of leadership conferences when Rick Warren slapped a new label on his same old tired Purpose-Driven leadership materials and renamed it Radicalis. Did he think that no one would notice that its the exact same curriculum he's been pushing for 25 years?

Yawn. Boring. Stale. Been there done that. I even have a t-shirt to prove it.

I can think of hundreds of other things I rather be doing than attend an outdated rehash of leadership leftovers in yet another multi-day so called 'transformational' leadership experience.

And has anyone noticed that it is the exact same people who keep getting invited to speak at these events? Seriously, how many times do I need to hear Perry Noble complain about the mean bloggers who aren't 'man enough' to come out from behind their laptops? Even the young avant garde emergent types are getting old and fat and their kewl trendy jeans, shirts and glasses are looking as relevant as a re-run of Love American Style.

Yawn. Boring. Stale. Been there done that.I even have a t-shirt to prove it.

Seriously, the pantheon of so-called innovative church leadership demi-gods sure seems to be seriously lacking innovation lately. Apparently the well spring in their "valley of vision" has run dry and there's nothing really new under the leadership sun. So they have nothing better to do than invite the same speakers to say the same things in the same auditoriums singing the same songs delivering the same leadership pep talks. Even Perry Noble wore the exact same clothes two years in a row at the conference that his church hosts (No kidding! Here's Perry at the 2009 Unleash Conference. Here's Perry at the 2010 Unleash Conference.)

Yawn. Boring. Stale. Been there done that. I even have a t-shirt to prove it.

Some have tried to keep the leadership industry alive by creating a new Christian Leadership Code Language that we're supposed to read their books in order to decipher and apply to ministry. They throw around words like missional, intentional, incarnational, experiential and relational as if these words actually mean anything real. But these words are now as cutting edge and edgy as venti, grande, macchiato and frappuccino. I think those terms are yawn-al, boring-al, stale-al. I even have a t-shirt to prove it.

R.I.P. Leadership Conferences. You taught us that if you live by relevance you also die by relevance. You were kewl for a season. But I'm bored with you now.

Been there done that. I even have a t-shirt to prove it.

The Brutal Truth About Lectio Divina

Dangers of Monastic Mystic Meditation Practices

Why on earth are Roman Catholic Mysticism and practices developed in monasteries by men who rejected the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone by Christ's work alone being promoted in supposedly Protestant churches?

Here are a few notable examples:

Rick Warren has invited Pete Scazzero to teach Roman Catholic Monastic Mysticism at the upcoming Radicalis Conference.

Rob Bell and Shane Hipps of Mars Hill Bible Church promote the use of Lectio Divina, the so-called "Discipline of Silence" as well as the Prayer Examen which was developed by one of the arch enemies of the Reformation, Ignatius Loyola.

Scott Hodge of The Orchard is an up and coming innovative leader in the seeker-driven ranks who also promotes and practices Monastic Mysticism.

And the list of supposedly Protestant pastors who are teaching and practicing various forms of contemplative monastic mysticism is growing and growing. Fact is, Roman Catholic Monastic Mysticism is becoming all the rage in today's post-modern, cutting edge, innovative market-driven churches.

But, despite what these men may tell you, these practices are not Biblical, were not practiced by Jesus or any of His disciples and rather than connecting you with the Holy Spirit of the Bible, will instead connect you with the demonic realm.

But even worse, as you'll hear in my interview with Christine Pack of the Solasisters, these practices contradict the scriptures by teaching that we can experience God apart from Christ and His Cross. If the claims of those promoting these Roman Catholic practices were true then Jesus was lying when he said that no one can come to the father except through him. (John 14:6).

Truth be told, I know exactly why Rick Warren and others in the Purpose-Driven community as well as the Willow Creek Association are promoting and adopting the use of these Roman Catholic Monastic practices. However, I will save that answer for a forth coming post.

First, I would like for you to hear from someone that Christ rescued out of the mire of mysticism. Here is my interview with Christine Pack from yesterday's edition of Fighting for the Faith.

A Fair & Provocative Question: Since these pastors have so little Biblical discernment as demonstrated by their promotion of these Roman Catholic Monastic practices, how long will it be before Rick Warren, Rob Bell, Shane Hipps, Pete Scazzero and others begin promoting prayers TO the Blessed Virgin Mary? [Ironically, the exact same Biblical Doctrines come into play.]

Click on the Menu button on the player above and you can embed this radio segment on your blog or website.

Rob Bell's Convoluted Gospel Isn't the Biblical Gospel

Rob Bell's theology is moving in a very disturbing direction. I've never been much of a fan of his theology but now I feel compelled to throw the Galatians 1:6-9 Card. Why? In Rob Bell's latest interview with Christianity Today he couldn't even give a simple, concise or Biblically correct definition of the Gospel.

Here is the exchange from the interview that needs to be highlighted and scrutinized:

CT: All well and good, but how is this good news to people with no earthly hope? If I'm dying of aids or cancer, I probably don't give a rip about the renewal of all things. I want to know if my sins are forgiven, and when I die, if am I going to see Jesus or not.

Rob Bell: Yes, and I would say that central to that new creation is the problem with the first creation—death. The Resurrection is about God dealing with the death problem. And central to this giant cosmic hope is a very intimate, yes, you can trust this Jesus. You can trust this new creation. You can trust being with him when you die, when you leave this life, however you want to put it. Yes, there is an intensely personal dimension to this giant story that you and I get to be a part of.

CT: You're essentially reframing the gospel—at least the gospel you inherited, the gospel we have known as the gospel in North America for the last couple hundred years.

Rob Bell: I am leery of people who have very clear ideas of what they're doing from outside of themselves: "You have to understand that I'm doing this and doing this." I would say that for 10 years, I have tried to invite people to trust Jesus. You can trust this Jesus. You can trust him past, present, future; sins, mistakes, money, sexuality. I think this Jesus can be trusted.

I often put it this way: If there is a God, some sort of Divine Being, Mind, Spirit, and all of this is not just some random chance thing, and history has some sort of movement to it, and you have a connection with Whatever—that is awesome. Hard and awesome and creative and challenging and provoking.

And there is this group of people who say that whoever that being is came up among us and took on flesh and blood—Andrew Sullivan talks about this immense occasion the world could not bear. So a church would be this odd blend of swagger—an open tomb, come on—and humility and mystery. The Resurrection accounts are jumbled and don't really line up with each other—I really relate to that. Yet something momentous has burst forth in the middle of history. You just have to have faith, and you get caught up in something. I like to say that I practice militant mysticism. I'm really absolutely sure of some things that I don't quite know.

CT: How would you present this gospel on Twitter?

Rob Bell: [pay attention to Bell's answer/non-answer] I would say that history is headed somewhere. The thousands of little ways in which you are tempted to believe that hope might actually be a legitimate response to the insanity of the world actually can be trusted. And the Christian story is that a tomb is empty, and a movement has actually begun that has been present in a sense all along in creation. And all those times when your cynicism was at odds with an impulse within you that said that this little thing might be about something bigger—those tiny little slivers may in fact be connected to something really, really big.

CT: Not quite down to 140 characters.

Rob Bell: Well, you can't really tweet the gospel. I'm convinced that I am not doing anything new. I am hoping that I'm in a long tradition.

Bell's claim that you 'can't really tweet the gospel' is VERY TELLING. I think it fundamentally shows that Bell has either rejected the Biblical Gospel or that he actually doesn't know what the Biblical Gospel is.

Oddly enough the Biblical Gospel CAN be tweeted. I accomplished this easy task while on the air yesterday. Here's the Gospel I Tweeted in less than 140 characters.

The Gospel: Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he was raised on the 3rd day & he appeared to Peter then to the 12 http://bit.ly/3Wpqm

Notice that this Gospel Tweet even contains a bit.ly link to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. This passage of scripture gives the Biblical gospel in clear creedal simplicity. In fact, Biblical scholar and theologian Gary Habermas has written extensively on this passage of scripture. He is convinced that this passage contains one of the earliest Christian creeds. I think Habermas makes a great point. The very structure of this passage is creedal, especially the opening phrases.

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
he was buried,
he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve,
he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive
he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

More important than the creedal nature of this passage is the Apostle Paul's clear claims that this creed comprises the very essence of the Gospel that he preached. Paul told the Corinthian church that this creed IS the Gospel that he preached to them, which they received and it IS the Gospel they are standing on and it IS the Gospel by which they are being saved:

1 Cor 15: 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved,

It's clear from this passage that so concisely defines the Gospel that the Apostle Paul would have had no trouble AT ALL tweeting the Gospel in 140 characters or less. The fact that Rob Bell couldn't even come close and then claimed that it couldn't be done is disturbing at best.

Even more problematic is the content of Bell's "gospel". It doesn't communicate the good news that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, came to earth, lived a perfect life under the Mosaic law and died in our place as our substitute on the cross for our sins and that salvation is a free gift offered by God to all who would repent and believe this good news.

Bell's "gospel" isn't really good news at all. It is convoluted, hard to understand and doesn't touch on any of the real Biblical themes and content of the Biblical Gospel.

Sadly, I think Rob Bell's "militant mysticism" has caused him to wander off the Christian reservation and he and those foolish enough to follow him with this UNgospel are adrift at sea without a rudder.

It's time to pray for Bell and call him to repentance and the forgiveness of sins offered in Jesus' name through the true Biblical gospel found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6.

Why Does Rob Bell Sound NOTHING Like the Ancient Christians?

As I've previously pointed out, Rob Bell, in his book Velvet Elvis claims that, "The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God. We are dealing with somebody we made up."

This is not an isolated instance of Bell speaking like this. In an interview with Christianity Today on topic of the "Emergent Mystique" Bell said he and his wife found themselves increasingly uncomfortable with church after they launched Mars Hill in 1999. The interview goes on to say:

"Life in the church had become so small," Kristen says. "It had worked for me for a long time. Then it stopped working." The Bells started questioning their assumptions about the Bible itself—"discovering the Bible as a human product," as Rob puts it, rather than the product of divine fiat. "The Bible is still in the center for us," Rob says, "but it's a different kind of center. We want to embrace mystery, rather than conquer it." (Online Source)

The term "embracing mystery rather than conquering it" sounds so spiritual and enlightened. But, did our ancient Christian forbears "embrace mystery" or did they embrace and worship God using the neat lines and clear definitions of God laid out for us in God's Holy Scriptures?

By way of comparison, here is the confession of faith that Irenaeus confessed. See if you can detect any "mystery embracing" by this ancient saint who learned the Christian faith from Polycarp. (Polycarp learned the Christian faith directly from the Apostle John.)

The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, “every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess” to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send “spiritual wickednesses,” and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.

Irenaeus - Against Heresies, Chapter 10:1

Notice that Irenaeus' confession incorporates the clear teachings and definitions laid out for us in both the Old and New Testaments. Irenaeus wrote his book Against Heresies in the mid to late 2nd Century and it was written against the multiple forms of the Gnostic heresy that were threatening and convoluting the Christian faith in his day.

Point of Note: If you read Irenaeus' work you will discover that the "Christianity" that Rob Bell is promoting sounds EXACTLY like the gnostics and NOTHING like the Christianity that Irenaeus confessed.

Maybe the reason why Rob Bell sounds NOTHING like the ancient Christians is because he doesn't confess the same faith as they do but instead confesses a faith that the ancient Gnostics were more familiar and comfortable with.