Who's Church Hopping?

Changing faiths: New study finds why people switch churches

According to the Sun-Sentinel, "U.S. religion is in a churn," quoting a new study which found nearly half of all adults changing faiths at least once in their lives — usually before the age of 24. "Americans change religious affiliation early and often," says the article quoting a survey, released Monday by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, called Faith in Flux. The report finds that 44 percent of the population holds a faith different from the one in which they were raised. Many people who change religions do so more than once."My family used to have Chevrolets all their lives; now I drive a Nissan," said Fred Greenspahn, director of religious studies at Florida Atlantic University. "Religion is showing the market economy at work."

No, what the survey may be indicating more than anything else is the inherent dichtomy between professing and possessing true, biblically-based Christian faith. The FAU religious spokesman at least indicated he had a clue, when he qualified that many people who switch religions may not have had strong beliefs in the first place."You'd have to ask about the nature of their commitment, and how much they're really changing. A lot of people think of religion as one thing, just different paths to the same God." That's the difference folks between heaven and hell and light from darkness. As we preach, they're may be as many as four roads to God- but they all run through Christ as the scripture teaches (John 14:6, see http://www.christcomchurch.org/knowing_god for more). The good news in all this is that many more adults are perhaps being regenerated and coming to Christ later in life, and are joining Bible-believing churches as many of us have- particularly those who came from Jewish and Catholic family traditions. I can relate to that.

Are people confused today about the gospel and where they will be going in eternity? Click on to this YouTube film clip from Ray Comfort's Living Waters web-site for a beach interview that well-illustrates the 'buffett' attitude influencing such surveys today (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq-36n_98vA ). Non-Christian religions, too, are showing the effects of a "salad bar approach" to faith, said Nathan Katz of Florida International University. He said many Americans shuttle between Zen centers, yoga classes and Kabbalah studies."We've become mobile and self-centered," said Katz, who directs FIU's Program in the Study of Spirituality.

"[Religion] has become a matter of personal fulfillment, not obligation..." When more of us, our friends and family members come face to face with sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-11), personal fulfillment will convert to obligation to King Jesus and church and faith hopping will be a thing of the fallen past.

Tea Parties and a Rare but True Beauty Queen

South Florida Tea Parties and Tax Fever

Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine (Amos 5:11, ESV)

Did you hear about the South Florida Tea Party last week? According to the Sun-Sentinel an amazing 2,500 (amazing for this liberally minded region) citizens joined several thousand others nationally, in protesting our federal government's recent spendfest of bail-out money, proposed tax increases and the New Deal like alphabet soup of social programs to combat the 'Great Recession.' Many today feel like our governments are using the current economic crisis to feed it's addiction to tax and spend.

The police records of major cities are filled with the names of those who commit crimes to feed their drug habits. These felons begin with a mere sampling of the narcotic, but that “recreational” use soon gives way to higher doses as tolerance rises. It takes more and more of the substance to satisfy their hunger, and they even victimize the poor to gain money for their next fix. Heroin or crack cocaine is their likely drug of choice. For the politician, it can be taxes. Certainly the Bible teaches the legitimacy of taxes; unlike heroin, they are not illicit in moderation. But their narcotic effect can drive the government to perversity.

Israel’s Jeroboam II (798-747 B.C.) reigned during a time of prosperity generated by his father Joash. Despite a considerable treasury, Jeroboam pressed for strict enforcement of ever-ascending taxes. The collections financed winter and summer palaces for the king and luxurious conditions for his powerful associates (3:15; 6:4-6). The prophet Samuel warned of this two centuries earlier when the people demanded a monarch—“He [the king] will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants” (1 Sam. 8:14). In Amos’s day, this “taking” had become a “trampling,” even of the poor. Some inner-city churches organize “neighborhood watches” to discourage the predatory practices of drug dealers and their desperate customers. They keep their eyes peeled for those who, for the sake of their own agendas and comfort, dishearten and victimize good people. By extension, many churches could join Amos in his watch for those who, in their spiraling addiction to revenue, bewilder and cripple the populace.

Rare but True -Beauty contestant chooses 'biblically correct' over PC

On Sunday, Miss California Carrie Prejean, 21, was asked in the Miss USA pageant by blogger Perez Hilton, an open homosexual and one of the pageant's judges, about her stance on same-sex marriage. Responding, Prejean said she personally believed marriage should be between a man and a woman. We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman," she said. "No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised. I think that it should be between a man and a woman."

Although Miss North Carolina, Kristen Dalton, won the title, Prejean has made the rounds of television news and talk shows, addressing the controversy that her answer may have cost her the Miss USA crown. Prior to the interview segment of the pageant, Prejean reportedly was the hands-down favorite to win. Wonders never cease in America's free-fall from a grace when a beauty queen contestant of all people, takes a correct and biblical stand for truth, suffering persecution in the process.

Gay Rights Momentum

NY Gov. to Propose Bill Legalizing Gay Marriage

Just when you thought the whole same-sex marriage issue was done away with and settled with our state's Yes amendment and California's Prop. 8 election victories last November, affirming marriage as between one man and one woman (Mega-churchman Rick Warren's confused "purpose" notwithstanding), the last week or so have presented us (biblicists) with the latest wounds from shots and skirmishes in the gay rights battle front of the culture war.

Vermont's legislature became one of the few legislative bodies in the country to approve same-sex marriage and the Iowa Supreme Court just side-stepped the will of the people (as per recent trends) in ruling same-sex bans as unconstiutional, opening the door for gay marriage there (yes- America's heartland). Today, New York Gov. David Paterson is expected to introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in a move that comes nearly a year after Paterson ordered all state agencies to recognize gay marriages performed in other jurisdictions. Despite the lack of votes by Democratic senators needed to pass the measure, Paterson still wants the bill to be debated and to come to a vote. If the legislation is approved by lawmakers, New York would become the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Paterson said on Tuesday. "I think it is, as other states are showing, the only ethical way to treat people who want to live together in peace under the civil law. So my general feeling about all these issues is the right ethical decision will inevitably be the right political decision." I would ask the good governor, "is it also ethical to let polygamists and pedophiles marry as well, so they can 'live together in peace under the civil law?" Can anyone draw the line today when it comes to morals, values and truth and NOT be branded a bigot? A greater challenge to world-view Christians is how do we find an effective, uncompromising and yet compassionate ministry to gays and lesbians, while taking proper, biblical positions on policies and politics pertaining to homosexual issues?

Why does this matter? Because votes aside, we can't argue homosexuals into biblical perspectives any more than we can argue them into the kingdom. Most attempts to do so will only result in pain, alienation and unecessary impediments to the cause of Christ. Unless confronted directly with direct questions regarding ethics and "gay rights," I suggest that we lovers of the Word and truth, who are commanded to "love God and love people," take the following positions when preaching and relating on the front-line of this battle in the culture war:

- Love and care for the hurting homosexual whom you know (and may work with or have in your family) and remind them that they too, are made in the "image of God," and are worthy of His love, redemption and reconciliation. Tell them they can have a new identity in Christ. they don;t have to go around telling people, "I'm a homosexual, " anymore than we tell people we're hetrosexual. They can say when in Christ, they're born-again, new creations (Jo. 3:3; 2 Cor. 5;17; Ro. 8:1).

- Preach a confession and repentance gospel of all sins, not just homosexuality as the 'road' to God through Christ. Tell them homosexuality is just another in the list of sins the Bible names "fornication (sexual sin)," which according to it's root word, has to do with idolatry (which is why unfaithful Israel was corporately known as an "idolatrous" nation). Sexual sinners love immediate gratification in their bodies and pleasure more than Jehovah God (Pro. 28:13; Ja. 4:8-10) and that's idolatry.

- Preach and teach God's model and best for sexuality. Make no mistake about it, God condemns homosexuality amongst other fornications as sin worthy of judgment (Gen. 18; Lev. 18:22; Ro. 1:27; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:8-11). Moreover, Christ and the church and hetrosexual unions among people, are His models and design for marriage (Gen. 1:26-27, 2:18-25). Biology, sociology and common sense affirm this. Otherwise, as Pastor James McDonald says, "If we choose to sin, we chooser to suffer, or when God says, don't- He really means don't hurt yourself."

- Finally, teach them that same-sex marriage and gay rights disrupt the created order and functionality of families, children and societies, which is precisely why governments of all sorts and for all times have opposed gay rights in civilized societies, up until only the later half of the 20th century. If divorce is dysfunctional and harmful to children (from instability to mixed mesages of gender roles) and the future of a given society, what further damage would occur if same-sex marrriage were legalized and normative?

At the end of the day however, remember it is your visible love, prayers and the grace and sovereign will and power of God that will change the heart of a homosexual and the culture of America - one saved sinner at a time, not Focus On the Family and not any particular politician.

Pilgrims in a Strange Land

"Who ever thought that trying to live the biblical Christian life in America could make you feel so foreign?"

I don't know about you, but I'm still adjusting to this new life as a stranger and pilgrim as a Christian with a biblical world-view in the U.S. How about you? We now live in a western-American world where "Christians" are dating the church, attempting to custom make their own house of worship, attending when it feels right, our own government and media are telling the church to shut up and leave well enough alone when it comes to little things like sin, life, death, marriage and liberty.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is now hearing arguments as you read this blog against President Obama’s intention to rescind the “conscience clause” regulation that former President Bush put into place weeks before leaving office. The clause aims to protect the rights of health-care workers to refuse to provide care they find morally objectionable — especially abortion and the morning-after pill. It also stops federal funding to medical facilities that do not accommodate their workers’ convictions. Welcome to the new wave of American persecution to hit pro-lifers and the church in 2009. A biblical conscience could conceivably lead to criminal charges today.

David Stevens, president of the Christian Medical Association, warned in a Washington news conference: “In some states, pharmacists must dispense certain medications or lose their licenses. . . . Students are denied admission to medical schools or residency programs because they are not in favor of abortion. Doctors and nurses are losing their job or a promotion because of their beliefs.” Stevens also warned of the many Catholic-affiliated hospitals in the U.S. that may close their facilities all together rather than follow government regulations on abortion and contraception. He noted that 23 percent of his association’s members already report facing discrimination because of their beliefs.

What's our response? Protest and petitions? Not if our lifestyle and faith makes little difference to those we disagree with. The church is a body of believers that is rather dysfunctional today. According to a pastor of a large church in Kentucky, "Faith is relevant for many people, but church is not. People want to attend to the spiritual side of their lives, they are interested in God, but their experience of church has not been relevant. They say, 'Why do I have to sit through boring sermons and old music that don't speak to my real needs and problems?" A better question might be, "when did we get the idea that church is about us and meeting our felt-needs?"

According to the pastor quoted in a survey of Christians in Leadership magazine, "These days, people can get good teaching, wonderful music, and excellent writing, whether through iPods, TV, or online. They learn to shop around and pick and choose. Then they expect the same high quality in their local church. A generation ago, the average person learned to accept his home pastor and was faithful to his local church. But now, people's appetites for excellence have been heightened." Consumer church is not God's plan brothers and sisters.

God has a beautiful plan for His church- the bride of His Son Jesus. If you're in Christ, you're part of His plan and it's not too late for us to make a difference in America. When we resist that plan and relationship with His church, everyone gets cheated out of God's best.

* We cheat ourselves

* We cheat our community

* We cheat our world.

This week we'll begin a new series on The Body, taking a fresh look at ourselves- the church, it's vision, our mission and role in the world as we prepare to rejoin God in His plan for the world. Come, be prepared and America- beware.