6 Unbiblical Methods for Change

Many professing Christians seek change in their lives using methods which are contrary to Scripture. As a result, they don’t experience the change which God seeks to produce in his people. In the very helpful booklet, HELP! Want to Change, which I refer to as a primer on progressive sanctification, pastor and biblical counselor Jim Newheiser mentions six common, but ineffective, methods for lasting personal transformation.

1. Deliverance Ministries: Some claim that the source of every personal problem is demonic and that the solution is to identify and cast out the evil spirit(s). Certain preachers claim to have the special powers and methods to perform these deliverances. They often draw large crowds of people desperate for help. While the Bible does teach that we are engaged in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:11–12), it does not teach that all our spiritual problems can be solved by casting out demons.
2. Mysticism: Many believers expect that God will somehow instantly zap away their sin patterns and problems through dramatic answers to certain kinds of prayers. Some seek out spiritual leaders who claim to have special powers in prayer to produce dramatic results. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that spiritual growth and true wisdom are typically obtained through a persistent disciplined pursuit of God (Proverbs 2:2–12), not through a one-time experience.
3. Medication: While we embrace the use of medicine for true medical problems, many believers are hoping to find quick and easy solutions to their spiritual problems through pills. Some drugs may dull some of the symptoms of our emotional pain, but they do not address the heart issues from which sin comes (Proverbs 4:23; Mark 7:20–23). Wisdom must be exercised.   Continue at Paul Tautges

The Old Idea Still Causing Us Problems

Time recently published its 2012 list of 10 ideas that are changing your life. Some of the usual suspects appear: "Computers are destroying our brains," "Humanity is destroying the earth," and (hold the front page!) "We're destroying ourselves with stress." There's also the bizarre: new food preservation techniques can keep meat edible for up to seven years (think I'll give that BBQ a pass). But at least half the entries mask a core idea that's been causing us problems for 6,000 years---the self-centered desire and demand for independence. Here are its latest disguises.

Living Alone Is the New Norm: In one of the biggest societal changes ever witnessed, the number of Americans living alone has increased from 4 million in 1950 (9 percent of households) to 33 million (28 percent of households) today.

But don't feel sorry for the "new loners." NYU sociologist Erik Klinenberg tell us this is the ideal life:

Living alone serves a purpose: it helps us pursue sacred modern values---individual freedom, personal control, and self-realization---that carry us from adolescence to our final days. Living alone allows us to do what we want, when we want, on our own terms. It liberates us from the constraints of a domestic partner's needs and demands and permits us to focus on ourselves.

The Rise of the Nones: "The fastest-growing religious group in the U.S. (16 percent) is the category of people who say they have no religious affiliation."   Continue at David Murray

How Sunday School Can Change Your Church’s Culture

Changing the culture of a church is one of the most difficult things for a pastor  to do. But over the last decade our church has discovered an unexpected tool for changing a culture: adult Sunday school.

HOW SUNDAY SCHOOL CHANGED OUR CHURCH’S CULTURE

Here’s an example. For some time, our elders were concerned that dating in our church too closely resembled dating in the world. People dated for fun, and only sometimes with an eye toward marriage. They treated their roles interchangeably, failing to view their interactions as a chance to prepare for the complementary roles of husband and wife. For instance, men would not lead and shoulder the risk in relationships, but instead sit back to see if a woman was interested before he put his cards on the table. And of course many couples maintained cavalier attitudes toward physical touch.

Periodically, several married men in the church conducted evening seminars for single men and women in an effort to inject biblical teaching into their thinking. And, while helpful, these seminars did not accomplish the culture change that the elders desired.

Enter a Sunday school class on dating and marriage. The elders asked a man in the congregation to prepare seven weeks of material on marriage and six on dating. The first seven described the goal of marriage, while the next six applied the principles discussed there to the process of finding a spouse. This class has been repeated each year for ten years now.

The class was controversial, especially at first. The questions became so lengthy and involved that the leaders quickly decided to devote an entire class to Q&A, and for several years they held an additional Q&A session at an elder’s home on a weekday evening.

But today, the culture of dating in our congregation is markedly different. Not all dating relationships in our church are conducted according to biblical principles, but most of them are. And while only a bare majority of our single members have taken the class, virtually all of their conversations about dating are overshadowed by the content of that class. Couples more naturally ask, “How can we make our relationship more biblical?”  Continue at Jamie Dunlop

"Innovation" and Irrelevance

After five decades spent obsessing over a warped notion of "relevance," American evangelicalism is overrun with "change agents" who are so steeped in worldly values that they can't distinguish true relevance from mere trendiness. Their philosophies of ministry are complex, wrong-headed, counterproductive, and hostile to the notion that some things—namely God Himself and the truth He has revealed in His Word—are by definition not susceptible to change.

By contrast, what Paul bequeathed to Timothy in two brief epistles was a remarkably simple, straightforward, but comprehensive ministry philosophy. Not only did Paul not urge Timothy to be innovative; what he did urge Timothy to do flatly contradicts practically every ministry philosophy currently in vogue.

This is part 1 in a series of posts I intend to write in the days to come.

Consider the undue stress today's leading church-growth gurus invariably put on innovation. We are relentlessly told that pastors and church leaders must be novel, "contemporary," cutting-edge—architects of change within the church.

Evangelicals have been obsessing for at least four decades about "relevance." But that word as used in evangelical circles has become practically synonymous with novelty and fashionableness. It has little to do with actual relevance.

Of course, the church's only true relevance lies in her role as a community where God's Word is proclaimed, where the whole counsel of God is taught, and from which the gospel is taken into the world. But when a church nowadays advertises itself as "relevant," we know exactly what is meant—and let's be honest: it isn't about anything Paul told Timothy to do; it's about being "innovative."  Continue at Phil Johnson

Does God ever Change His mind?

Pastor John, I have a theological question for you. What would you say to someone (who was an Arminian) if you were having a discussion with them about the sovereignty of God in salvation and they stated that God does in fact change His mind (Exodus 32:14 is an example)? 

That is a very good question. Nowadays people like to have instant sound bite size answers to their questions, but that is not always possible. On this issue, it is important to lay the groundwork to provide a satisfactory, biblical answer and to do that necessitates serious study and application of the Scriptures. Let's take a look at this question from a few different angles.

Hermeneutics is the science of biblical interpretation. One amongst many sound principles of interpretation is that we should base our view of God on the didactic (teaching) portions of scripture rather than the narrative (story) or poetic portions. This is why although the Bible says we can hide under the shadow of the Most High and under His wing find refuge, no Bible scholar expects God the Father to be a winged bird in heaven. This is obvious picture language where God uses images to speak to us highlighting the fact that just as a young bird finds refuge in the warmth and comfort of its mother's wings, we believers can find refuge in the Lord. The Lord is our rock and fortress, but that does not mean God is a literal rock or castle; or that because the Lord is our Shepherd and the Psalmist wrote, "your rod and your staff, they comfort me" God the Father has a literal rod and shepherd's staff that He uses with regularity in heaven. No, it is obvious picture language to describe something very meaningful about His relationship with His people, even though it is not to be viewed in wooden, literal terms. Keep Reading...