Gospel Living

Phil Johnson, Speaker Evangelicalism is a “ mixed multitude .” Each time that term is used in the Old Testament of the KJV, it is used despairingly. We are living in a time of apostasy that is not too diff erent than some of the times described in the book of Judges. We have reached a time where everyone does what is right in his own eyes. He says he is tempted to stop calling himself Evangelical to distance himself from those who claim the label, from Joel Osteen to Tony Campolo to some Catholics and now, even some Mormons! However, he affirms the historical definition of Evangelicalism, and his spiritual fathers are Evangelicals. A lot of Evangelicals are fed up with the superficiality of the movement, and are following the path of Francis Beckwith, and run to Rome. Others, like Frankie Schaeffer, have gone to Eastern Orthodox churches. Still others are turning to the Emergent Churches. Has the movement gone astray because our parents and grandparents f...

Tony Campolo's Red Letter Christians (hereafter, RLC ) has been out a bit over a year now, and the recent election results leave little doubt that it helped make waves. Not written to be a hefty theological lesson, RLC focuses on the role Christians should play in politics, citing several texts to support its admonitions. With a steady flow of thought, simple but fairly precise and amiable language, Campolo produces a fine work to champion his position. That said, I have a few concerns about how this book answers the question of whether politics should become an extension of the church's mission. Primarily, my concerns come down to how RLC interprets Scripture and presents the red letters of the Bible in order to answer this question. These concerns appear below. First, readers concerned about how politically involved Christians have become should also be concerned about this book. Asking students at an Ivy League university to define Evangelicals, Campolo received no ...

An interesting video has popped up on YouTube: My first impressions are that the video is clever and the singer, a pretty good impressionist. I'm not sure people would dance around in tie-die shirts waving peace signs, resurrecting the spirits of the (dead) Beatles in the process, but a decent video all the same. Yet, this "Imagine" scenario describes only one point in the future: the Kingdom Age. For this time, these people are needed for the health of the church. How do I know? Because God is a sovereign God, and these men and their heresies continue to deceive. Now, I don't know the complete answer to the why question, of course. Are they a judgment because of where the church is today, spiritually? Maybe. Are they the simply natural byproduct of the poor theological emphasis and training of our churches? Perhaps. But I think Martin Luther said something like, " God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick ." These are here for a reason, and...