The ‘S’ word… alas, it’s so foul and so dreadful that there really is a great disdain with it and a discomfort in using it. If you do use it, be prepared to be denigrated and treated, by the ‘tolerant’, intolerably. What is the ’s’ word? ‘Sin’.

Nothing is sin anymore. Shacking up- that’s not sin. Homosexuality- that’s not sin either. Alcoholism- why that’s not sin, it’s a disease. Theft? It can’t be sin since it’s provoked by an economic reality over which you have no control- your not a thief- you’re just trying to get by. Adultery? That can’t be called sin either. Neither can anything else because sin doesn’t exist anymore. Everything is the simple singular choice of those who are predetermined to be or act or behave in a specifically predetermined way. It’s not sin. It’s a choice or a problem.

In fact, because there isn’t sin anymore- one preacher is apologizing for all the bad things that have ever been said about behavior that was once upon a time called sin.

On Sunday, Lee plans to apologize for these past wrongs in a sermon at his church, Sugar Hill Baptist, known as The Family Church. Some of the groups Lee said he’ll apologize to include gays, women seeking abortions and couples who live together outside marriage. “For too long, we’ve been known for the issues we’re against, not for the God we’re for,” Lee, 38, said.

Yes dear friends, don’t be against sin- even though sin destroys. Embrace it. Love it. God is love after all and he must love sin too. Have at abortion, kill the unborn for the sake of your career or convenience. Sleep around. Get an STD. Destroy yourself and your family. It’s all ok because there’s no such thing as sin. And you should apologize for every time you’ve said there was.

[But to do so make sure you don't actually read the Bible- because it has rather a lot to say about sin- including the fact that the whole of the world was destroyed because of it in the days of Noah- not to mention the thousands of other passages describing God's rage at sin].

There is a difference between hating sin and loving people. One can do both. And if one really does love people one doesn’t wish to see them destroyed. Parents who love their children correct them. And if our friends are destroying themselves through alcohol or drugs or illicit sex, we don’t really love them if we don’t warn them.

I won’t be apologizing for speaking out against sin tomorrow. No one should be.

The SBC is suggesting that we plant more new churches.

…3,200 churches close their doors each year in America, while 3,600 new churches are started. “That resulted in a net gain of 4,600 churches from 1990-2000. However, to have kept pace with population growth during the decade, a net gain of some 39,000 churches was needed,” [Dave Olson] the NAMB church planting strategist said. Moreover, the overall number of membership of all Protestant denominations in America has declined over the last ten years by 9.5 percent, while the national population has increased by 11 percent. The United Methodist Church reported last year that its membership was at its lowest since 1930 with just over 8 million members.

And

… there were 29 churches for every 10,000 Americans in 1900; 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans in 1950; 12 churches for every 10,000 in 2000; and only 11 churches for every 10,000 in 2004, according to NAMB statistics. “Clearly, we are losing ground with each passing year,” said Ed Meacham. “We have a growing evangelistic deficit in America that will best be answered by starting new churches.”

I’m continuing investigation for the history of the Big Emory Association and discovered today, while researching the 1990’s, that the population of Morgan county in 1990 was 17,300; in 2000 it was 19,757. The total population changed +14.2%. The unadjusted adherent totals of all religious groups in the county (9,179) include 46.5% of the total population in 2000. The adjusted total adherents (10,24 include 51.9% of the population. All of which means that growth in religious adherence had been slight over the decade and does not match the general population growth of more than 14%. Churches of all denominations, in other words, were not keeping up with population growth.

The picture for Roane county is not much different. The population of this county in 1990 was 47,227; in 2000 it was 51,910. The total population changed +9.9%. The unadjusted adherent totals of all religious groups in Roane county (30,191) include 58.2% of the total population in 2000. The adjusted total adherents (33,847) include 65.2% of the population. Hence, Roane County is self evidently more ‘religious’ than Morgan.

Oprah’s ’spirituality’ with it’s touchy-feely new age / emergent / seeker sensitive / abomination of desolation smarminess has long been an annoyance. But I thought it was just me. Seems it isn’t. Seems that Oprah has annoyed others with her misguided and unbiblical nonsense and now she’s gotten a good old fashioned Baptist thwack across the head. The piece appeared a few weeks ago but I didn’t notice it till today. Please do read the whole piece- what follows are just the bits I enjoyed most:

In America’s celebrity-driven culture, perhaps the most harmful “Pied Piper” of heresies leading millions astray is Oprah Winfrey. Her adoption of anti-biblical doctrine is on display every day this year through her satellite radio network channel “Oprah & Friends.” It’s time for Christians to “just say no” to the big “O.”

And

The Apostle Peter describes the challenge of false teachers and how believers should respond to them in his second letter (2 Peter: 2:1-22). He warns against “false teachers … who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them …” (v.1). He says “many” believers will be beguiled by the false teachers’ “sensuality” resulting in the maligning of the truth (v. 2). These false teachers are “springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved” (v. 17). Peter’s warnings are clearly applicable to Oprah, Williamson and A Course in Miracles for undermining the faith with a false gospel and counterfeit “Jesus,” which in the end bring no actual spiritual nourishment or relief. Tragically, these teachers are leading people straight to Hell. Christians should flee from Oprah and her cohorts and recommitment themselves to careful Bible study, in the context of a local body of believers with whom they have covenanted for mutual edification and accountability led by a faithful pastor. Of course, this isn’t as glamorous as Oprah—but neither is eternal punishment in Hell.

Well said indeed!

To BJ and Betty on the birth of their newest grandbaby!  And congratulations, of course, to mom and dad too!

When it has internal behavior like this

A Pennsylvania pastor has pleaded guilty to stealing church members’ identities to obtain credit cards and cash advances for personal purchases totaling nearly $30,000. The Rev. Raymond Lee Clayton, 43, admitted he used Grace Fellowship Church members’ personal information to obtain credit cards during a six-month period that ended last April. “I trusted him completely,” said Patricia Tomedi, 83, who was treasurer of the now defunct church. Others in the small congregation just outside Mount Carmel became suspicious of Clayton, but “I thought it was his way of doing things,” she said. She later learned her Social Security information was among the data Clayton used to obtain credit cards. The Baptist minister, who is without a church, was indicted in October on charges of bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The Church too often becomes its own worst enemy.

The Nominating Committee will need to meet Sunday, April 6th, after the morning service.

Martin Luther wrote

Oh, if we could only see the heart of Christ as he was suspended from the cross, anguishing to make death contemptible and dead for us. How fervently and cheerfully he embraced death and pain for us timid souls who are horrified by death and pain! How willingly he first drank this cup for us sick ones, so that we might not shrink from drinking it after him! In his resurrection we see that nothing evil befell him, in fact, only the greatest good. If we could see this, then undoubtedly that precious myrrh dropping from Christ’s lips and commended by his words would be sweet and appealing to us, even as the fragrance and beauty of the lilies.

Pastor Zaur Balaev was released from prison on the 19th of March.

“We won – it’s a great joy to be free,” Balaev told Forum 18 hours after his release as he traveled the six-hour journey back to his home village of Aliabad in Azerbaijan’s remote north-west. “We’re all waiting for him,” one of his church members told Forum 18.

Ilya Zenchenko, head of the Baptist Union, welcomed the release. “We thank God and those who prayed and supported Zaur,” he told Forum 18. “But there is a lot more work still to be done to defend religious freedom in Azerbaijan.”

Balaev was pardoned under a March 18 decree from Aliev – published on the presidential website - which pardoned 58 prisoners and reduced the sentence of one other. Forum 18 reported that former US President Jimmy Carter was amongst those who appealed for Balaev’s release, writing to President Aliev on Feb. 15.

Balaev was arrested in May 2007 and sentenced in Aug. on charges of using violence against state representatives, an accusation church members denied to Forum 18. After his appeal failed in Oct., Balaev was transferred to a prison in the capital Baku.

Pray for other prisoners of conscience who are jailed simply because they have faith in Christ.

That’s the title of a new program initiated by the Tennessee Baptist Convention. It’s purpose- that every Tennessee Baptist church member will tithe at least 10 percent of his or her income by the end of 2010. The second goal is that by the end of the same time frame every Tennessee Baptist church will give 10 percent of its income through the Cooperative Program to reach the world for Christ.