Confessions of a 'Pulpit Psychology' Preacher    Link

Steven Cole is a pastor who used to preach sermons such as
"Feeling Good About Yourself" and "Developing a Sense of Self-Worth",
based on Scripture (so he thought), laced with insights, quotes, and stories from the leading Christian psychologists. Here's why he has since repented, and now says that psychology does not offer anything necessary for life and godliness that's lacking in the Bible. Psychology has nothing to offer the believer, and has much to deceive and confuse... [Read Link]

True and False Unity, by Bob DeWaay    Link

We are in the midst of a radical change in evangelicalism that has left countless Christians starving for God's Word in their churches. Proponents of the change have labeled as "divisive" those who resist the movement away from gospel preaching and Bible teaching. Opponents of the change are declared judgmental and selfish "Pharisees" and are told that they should be more loving toward others and quit hanging onto their old ideas about church. In short the "troublemakers" are told they must embrace the new paradigm or leave. At issue is the true nature of Christian unity. Are we unified by God's work of grace that converted us, giving us the unity of the Spirit with all true Christians, or are we unified organizationally with the corporate "vision" of the new paradigm change agents? ... [Read Link]

Have Today's Evangelicals Become Like Yesterday's Liberals?    Link

The late James Montgomery Boice said that many evangelicals do not really think that the Bible is adequate to meet today's challenges, or sufficient for winning people to Christ. They have turned to felt-need sermons, entertainment or "signs and wonders". The Bible is insufficient for achieving Christian growth; so they turn to therapy groups or Christian counselling.
It is insufficient for making God's will known; so they look for external signs or revelations. It is inadequate for changing our society; so they establish evangelical lobby groups in Washington and work to elect "Christian" congressmen, senators, presidents and other officials. They seek change by power politics and money... [Read Link]

The Role of Pastors, Part 2: Dealing With Authoritarianism    Link

'Authoritarianism' has risen among some pastors such that whole churches seem to be little more than idol worshippers of 'the great man' and the 'omnicompetent elders'. Christians can find themselves confusing conformity to their church's 'status quo' and the 'traditions of the elders' with conformity to the Word of God and the image of Christ. As a result, Jesus Christ is dishonored, the doctrines of the gospel come into discredit, and many sheep are deeply hurt in the process. Here is some sound advice for authoritarian shepherds as well as their idol-worshipping sheep. ... [Read Link]

The Role of Pastors, Part 1: The CEO Power Pastor    Link

Today's pastors are spending more time in leadership classes than in prayer and study of the Word. One must be fully immersed in books on leadership but not so fully immersed in God's insistence that a leader love and serve God's people. While leadership study can be important, too often it leads to thoughts of power rather than thoughts of function. Questions arise such as, "How do I change the direction of the church with the least resistance?" Or, "How do I handle damage control when the people are not ready to follow?" Utilitarian in nature, it looks too often at manipulating people rather than serving people. Pastors are not intended to be CEOs, no matter how they attempt to make their setting appear as such with the addition of more and more staff. CEO pastors are really telling the Lord to move aside and to let the more capable leader handle the situation. This thinking says in practice that Christ is an incapable Head of the Church. ... [Read Link]

More Audience-Sovereignty 101, Robert Schuller

Have you heard the new lyrics for Amazing Grace? Instead of "saved a wretch like me" some churches are singing "saved and strengthened me". That fits in perfectly with Robert Schuller's modern definition of sin as "any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem". ... [Read More!]

NBC Exposes Superficial American Evangelicalism

Friday evening NBC ran an hour-long special with Tom Brokaw entitled "In God They Trust".
Although much of the show focused on the influence evangelicals have on American politics, Brokaw was able to put his finger on much of the superficiality of modern American Christianity. Here's a closer look at what was said.... [Read More!]

Audience-Sovereignty 101, with Robert Schuller

Meet your audience where they are at, be relevant in addressing perceived problems in their lives, keep your message positive and upbeat. Sound familiar? These are some of the prime directives for seeker-driven churches. Though many of these churches would not want to be identified with extremists like Robert Schuller, this Q&A session shows that he has a more obvious version of the same man-centered mindset. ... [Read More!]

The Numbers Game - Pastors Paid By Popularity

A couple of weeks ago I reported on a 2006 salary survey which based pastoral salaries on a variety of factors including church attendance and size of offerings. Here's a church that's taking it one step further. They're paying assistant pastors according to how many people attend their ministries. So if your youth group has a lot of kids, you'll be paid accordingly. Never mind the fidelity of the message that you're preaching. ... [Read More!]

Determining The Worth Of A Man Of God

The 2006 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff has been published, and from it, I've come to this reprehensible but probably-accurate conclusion: Those few pastors out there who do as John MacArthur suggests - in spending 20 hours per week in personal bible study, and strive to remain faithful to God's message as Ezekiel did, deserve about the same salary as a McDonalds store manager. On the other hand, those "creative-minded" pastors who de-emphasize biblical preaching in favor of entertainment and worldly gimmicks, deserve to be paid like a corporate CEO. ... [Read More!]

The School Of Prosperity, Costs You Only $20

It almost seems too far out of the Christian mainstream to comment on.
That is, until you consider the fact that it's coming from (what Forbes 2003 called) the second-largest mega-church in America.

For $20, you can take an online course from the "School of Prosperity" based on Creflo Dollar's "ground-breaking revelation on prosperity". The course promises to teach you:

• Why God wants you rich
• How to use biblical principles to make natural principles work on your behalf
• The keys to debt reduction
• How to increase for kingdom advancement