…God treats His creation with integrity: each thing in its own order, each thing the way He made it. If God treats His creation in that way, should we not treat our fellow-creatures with a similar integrity? If God treats the tree like a tree, the machine like a machine, the man like a man, shouldn’t I, as a fellow-creature, do the same — treating each thing in integrity in its own order? And for the highest reason: because I love God — I love the One who has made it! Loving the Lover who has made it, I have respect for the thing He has made.

Dr. Schaeffer had an uncanny ability to learn broadly of history, deeply of the present, to provide insight into the current and future problems of our faith and culture. In his work Pollution and the Death of Man we are given an analysis of sorts to help the Christian understand how we are to understand the man-nature relationship of God’s creation: philosophically, theologically, and practically. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently read an article on CNN website regarding vanity and narcissism amongst college students. I find this interesting considering the study was performed here in San Diego which has a large population (200,000+) of college students. San Diego also boasts a large number of universities and community colleges per capita, close to the highest in the nation, which tells us that much of what I’ve been saying; which is that San Diego may be the most apathetic and self-centered city in the nation. I’m not trying to “dis” my city, I love San Diego very much. But like a good brother or sister, I’m concerned for her because she’s very self-obsessed. Read the rest of this entry »

Q-How can an all-powerful and all-good God allow evil and suffering in His world?

INTRODUCTION

This question has a long history. It is a question that is not asked in academia alone, but increasingly the man on the street is aware of this problem and is either seeking an answer out of genuine curiosity, or is using this problem as a way to bolster their reasoning for disbelief in the Christian God.

As we come to this problem and attempt to consider whether or not a solution is possible, let’s do so from a couple of different perspectives. Since this is as much a personal problem as it is a professional academic one, we should strive to understand how to handle this question from both angles. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last year some have asked me what it means to structure your Church in a Gospel-Centered way. In other words, how does the Gospel function as the centerpiece of your ministry? I thought I would take a few snippits out of our membership class and post it here:

The Gospel’s centrality

The Gospel is not just the ABCs, but the A to Z of Christianity. The Gospel is not just the way we enter God’s kingdom, but the way we thrive within the kingdom. We are not saved through the Gospel and then forced to maintain our salvation through obedience, but the Gospel is the way we grow (Gal. 3:1-3) and are renewed (Col. 1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through each barrier (Rom. 1:16-17). Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some interesting statistics taken from the North American Mission Board.

• The number of unchurched in the U.S. has doubled from 1991 to 2004.
• Since 1991 the adult population has grown by 15% but the number of adults who attend a church has rising from 39 million to 75 million- a 92% increase!
• Every two years, an average of 1% more American identify themselves as non-Christian.
• From 1990-2001, the adult population identifies with no religion, from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2004.
• All of this as the spirituality of American is on the rise. Less and less are Christian, more and more or “spiritual.”
• For San Diego, every major denomination is down from 1990 to 2004 except for Catholicism which is on the rise.
• As the population San Diego increases by 50,000 residents a year, and will grow an additional 400,000 by 2015.
• Even though San Diego is growing, the number of churches planted are not coming close to keeping up with the growth. We will need to plant an additional 400 churches over the next 8 years. Otherwise, the impact the church will make on San Diego will continue to diminish.

From the Apology of Tertullian, AD 197

We are a body knit together as such by a common religious profession, by unity of discipline, and by the bond of a common hope. We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This strong exertion God delights in. We pray, too, for the emperors, for their ministers and for all in authority, for the welfare of the world, for the prevalence of peace, for the delay of the final consummation. We assemble to read our sacred writings . . . and with the sacred words we nourish our faith, we animate our hope, we make our confidence more steadfast; and no less by inculcations of God’s precepts we confirm good habits. Read the rest of this entry »

Sociologist Rodney Stark analyzed the survival and growth of the early church in the first few centuries. Here is his fascinating summary of the Early Church.

“. . . Christianity served as a revitalization movement that arose in response to the misery, chaos, fear, and brutality of life in the urban Greco-Roman world. . . . Christianity revitalized life in Greco-Roman cities by providing new norms and new kinds of social relationships able to cope with many urgent problems. To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachment. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fire, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services. . . . For what they brought was not simply an urban movement, but a new culture capable of making life in Greco-Roman cities more tolerable.”

Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity, Princeton University Press, 1996, page 161 Read the rest of this entry »