Girl, 2, Gives Birth While Skydiving

A nationwide survey by The Barna Group on Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code shows that the book has impacted millions of lives – but changes few beliefs. One out of every five adults has read the book but only 5% - which represents about two million adults – said that they changed any of the pre-existing beliefs or religious perspectives because of the book’s content. The survey finds that the people most likely to have altered their religious views in response to the book’s content were Hispanics (who comprise 17% of the book’s readers), women (three times more likely than male readers to do so), and liberals (twice as likely as conservatives).

Recommended Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World by John F. MacArthur

[A]n overpowering surge of ardent pragmatism is sweeping through evangelicalism. Traditional methodology—most notably preaching—is being discarded or downplayed in favor of newer means, such as drama, dance, comedy, variety, side-show histrionics, pop-psychology, and other entertainment forms. The new methods supposedly are more “effective”—that is, they draw a bigger crowd. And since for many the chief criterion for gauging the success of a church has become attendance figures, whatever pulls in the most people is accepted without critical analysis as good. That is pragmatism.

Perhaps the most visible signs of pragmatism are seen in the convulsive changes that have revolutionized the church worship service in the past decade. Some of evangelicalism’s largest and most influential churches now boast Sunday services that are designed purposely to be more rollicking than reverent.

Even worse, theology now takes a back seat to methodology. One author has written, “Formerly, a doctrinal statement represented the reason for a denomination’s existence. Today, methodology is the glue that holds churches together. A statement of ministry defines them and their denominational existence.” Incredibly, many believe this is a positive trend, a major advance for the contemporary church.

[. . .]

Subtly the overriding goal is becoming church attendance and worldly acceptability rather than a transformed life. Preaching the Word and boldly confronting sin are seen as archaic, ineffectual means of winning the world. After all, those things actually drive most people away. Why not entice people into the fold by offering what they want, creating a friendly, comfortable environment, and catering to the very desires that constitute their strongest urges? As if we might get them to accept Jesus by somehow making Him more likable or making His message less offensive.

That kind of thinking badly skews the mission of the church. The Great Commission is not a marketing manifesto. Evangelism does not require salesmen, but prophets. It is the Word of God, not any earthly enticement, that plants the seed for the new birth (1 Peter 1:23). We gain nothing but God’s displeasure if we seek to remove the offense of the cross (cf Gal. 5:11).


Is All Innovation Wrong?

Please do not misunderstand my concern. It is not innovation per se that I oppose. I recognize that styles of worship are always in flux. I also realize that if the typical seventeenth-century Puritan walked into Grace Community Church (where I am pastor) he might be shocked by our music, probably dismayed to see men and women seated together, and quite possibly disturbed that we use a public address system. Spurgeon himself would not appreciate our organ. But I am not in favor of a stagnant church. And I am not bound to any particular musical or liturgical style. Those things in and of themselves are not issues Scripture even addresses. Nor do I think my own personal preferences in such matters are necessarily superior to the tastes of others. I have no desire to manufacture some arbitrary rules that govern what is acceptable or not in church services. To do so would be the essence of legalism.

My complaint is with a philosophy that relegates God and His Word to a subordinate role in the church. I believe it is unbiblical to elevate entertainment over biblical preaching and worship in the church service. And I stand in opposition to those who believe salesmanship can bring people into the kingdom more effectively than a sovereign God. That philosophy has opened the door to worldliness in the church.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel,” the apostle Paul wrote (Rom. 1:16). Unfortunately, “ashamed of the gospel” seems more and more apt as a description of some of the most visible and influential churches of our age.

Recommended The Revised and Expanded Answers Book: The 20 Most-Asked Questions About Creation, Evolution, & the Book of Genesis Answered by Ken Ham, Jonathan Sarfati, Carl Wieland, Don Batten

In the [cartoon's] courtroom, a stereotype is fueled: that there are no Christians who are real scientists. Although one expert witness for the prosecution claims to be a scientist and declares there are still missing links, his degree is shown to be from some Christian-based diploma mill.

While on the stand to argue against Lisa, anti-evolutionist Ned Flanders loses his cool when Lisa’s father (Homer) creates such a stir in the courtroom that Ned calls him a gorilla. It prompts the judge to wonder whether Homer might be a missing link himself. The case is dismissed when Ned admits the possibility that Homer could be related to an ape.

In an attempt to be serious, the cartoon has a moralizing (usually politically liberal) Lisa present the tired argument that religion should not be taught in schools and that scientists should not teach in churches. Ned, the evangelical, concurs, saying that a few more young people like Lisa should “evolve.” The program ends.

Recommended Presumed Guilty by James Scott Bell

Murder, betrayal, and a trial that feeds a media frenzy.

Can one woman stand against the forces that threaten to tear her family apart?

Pastor Ron Hamilton’s star is rising. His 8,000-strong church is thriving. His good looks and charisma make him an exceptional speaker on family values. And his book on pornography in the church has become an unexpected bestseller. Everything is perfect.

Until a young woman’s body is discovered in a seedy motel room. The woman is a porn star. And all the evidence in the murder points to one man: Ron.

With the noose tightening around her husband’s neck, Dallas Hamilton faces a choice: believe the seemingly irrefutable facts—or the voice of her heart. The press has already reached its verdict, and the public echoes it. But Dallas is determined to do whatever it takes to find the truth.

And then a dark secret from Dallas's past threatens to take them all down.

As the clock ticks toward Ron's conviction and imprisonment, and an underworld of evil encircles her, Dallas must gather all her trust in God to discover what really happened in that motel room . . . even if it means losing faith in her husband forever.

Recommended The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin W. Lutzer

“Believers are touting [The Da Vinci Code movie] as an 'opportunity for evangelism' and even an incentive to bolster our own faith. Baloney,” says Barbara Nicolosi, founder and director of the Christian screenwriter training program Act One. “This film is based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor, and I intend to stay far away from it.”

Recommended The Complete Guide to Writing and Selling the Christian Novel by Penelope J. Stokes

For many Christian writers, telling a good story doesn't seem to be enough. They want to evangelize, to teach and fill their fiction with high moral purport, doctrine and direction. This all sounds quite noble, of course, except that the purpose of fiction is not propaganda. The proper place for preaching is the pulpit, the evangelistic crusade or even in the pages of the nonfiction book. Fiction is different. Fiction is story.

It's a grave temptation for a Christian novelist to being by trying to establish a religious theme for the work: the adverse effects of abortion, for example, or the changes conversion brings to the sinner's life. But when we start with a theme, we often end up with one-dimensional characters and a mundane plotline, and then simply follow the idea through to its preconceived (and often sleep-inducing) conclusion.

The author states, regarding Christian fiction, “It is not sermonizing. It is not about saving lost souls ('Rarely,' she says, 'does a religious novel find an audience among the unconverted'). It best not be full of religious jargon or Bible-quoting zealots.”

This is shocking, to say the least. Christ commissioned his followers to PREACH to the lost, not to go out and simply entertain ourselves.

Jesus didn't browbeat people or give them a list of requirements for godliness. He walked among them, lived with them, shared their joys and sorrows, broke bread with them, danced at their weddings and wept at their funerals. He raised more questions than answers--disturbing questions like “Who is my neighbor?” “What does this mean?” “Are you the Messiah who is to come?” And his answers were almost always riddles: “What do you think it means? Who do you say that I am?”

Jesus revealed himself through his presence and allowed people to come to him in their own way--alone or in a crowd, at noon when the well was deserted or at night when no one would see. If our writing does the same--demonstrating truth in our characters' lives and allowing our readers to draw their own conclusions--our work will have a much greater and more lasting impact upon our readers.

The best, most effective novels I have read in more than fifteen years in the Christian publishing industry are not those which loudly proclaim “The Way” or insist that the reader agree with the writer's perspective on truth, but those that subtly, and with finesse, demonstrate the reality of God in the characters' lives. In fiction, as in life, we learn more by example than we do by precept.

Recommended The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin W. Lutzer

It is no secret that Christianity in the USA, UK and other nations is increasingly under fierce attack in the media, in schools, in the courts and, all too often, even in churches. In a culture that systematically seeks to discredit Christ and His Word, theologian (and Chicago-area pastor) Dr. Erwin Lutzer has made this observation: “The Da Vinci Code is the most serious assault against Christianity that I have ever witnessed.”

[. . .]

The assault

Is Pastor Lutzer, then, correct to label The Da Vinci Code as “the most serious assault against Christianity” of our time? In a sense he has come close to the truth, for the greatest attack against Christianity and Jesus Christ is, and has always been, the purposeful assault against His Word. However, in this war, The Da Vinci Code is only a small cog in a much greater wheel. How many theologians and Christian leaders find themselves up in arms against a mediocre work of fiction, while continuing to teach that God’s Word can’t be trusted in all 66 books, especially Genesis? The Da Vinci Code will someday go quietly out of vogue, while generations of Christians continue down that slippery slope of unbelief that begins with compromise. It is on this battleground that the real war is being waged.

Whether or not a believer chooses (with discretion) to read The Da Vinci Code or watch the upcoming movie, it remains imperative to be informed of all aspects of the assault against the Word of God—whatever form it takes—and to “be prepared to give an answer” (1 Peter 3:15) in order to gently and intelligently overcome any obstacle to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Recommended Refuting Evolution 2 by Jonathan Sarfati, Mike Matthews

Small damages to sequences in the human genome are causing evolutionary changes in our DNA, according to a group of Japanese geneticists.

Their recent findings prove that a common form of DNA damage caused by oxidation (called 8-oxoG) is a primary cause of mutagenesis, damage to DNA during the genome replication process that causes mutations in the resulting DNA molecules.

Succinctly, the human race is genetically mutating, and we now may know how and why--at least in part.

X-Men may be closer than you think

Google Inc. has come out with something that's a bit like Etch A Sketch gone 3-D.

The search giant's latest free software program, called Google SketchUp, allows users to use a basic mouse to drag-and-click their way to recreating their house, erecting a fantastic sculpture or sizing up a potential kitchen redesign.

“3-D is probably one of the most expressive tools to express dreams,” said Brad Schell, who founded Boulder, Colo.-based SketchUp in 1999, sold the company to Google last month and still manages the product. Most existing three-dimensional drawing software is highly technical and hard to use, he said, so it limits the audience to architects, structural engineers, graphics artists and the like.

By comparison, Google SketchUp, the free version of SketchUp's software available for download at http://sketchup.google.com/, consists of less than a dozen basic commands for drawing. Clicking and dragging a line creates a trapezoidal shape; another adjustment to the height creates a box. Using another tool, it's possible to rotate and pan around the created structure, so you can view it from any angle, including from below.

Curves, lines and texture can also be added, and the software comes with stock images of people, benches, trees and more.

Recommended Captured by Grace: No One Is Beyond the Reach of a Loving God by David Jeremiah

We've got [singing worship songs without thinking about the actual words] down to a science. I was sure of it after leading worship Wednesday night...Pastor asked me to make the worship time more meaningful and gave me my head as far as stopping and asking questions... I stopped songs and asked questions like “What picture did that verse bring to your mind?”

HA! They had to immediately go back and read the verse they just sang! They didn't even KNOW what they just sang.

It was...sad. And hopefully enlightening for them. They realized that they didn't know what they were singing!

They didn't like it, either. It broke up the mindless automated routine.

By the time we get around to singing the third verse of John Newton's great hymn [Amazing Grace], we might be thinking several things:

Are we going to sing every single verse?
When is the part about being there ten thousand years? That's the coolest part.
These shoes aren't very comfortable.
I wonder if I could sing the alto part? I get tired of soprano sometimes.
Hmm, I wonder what all these words are about . . .

Every now and then, someone stumbles upon that last thought. What a nifty concept! You and I can actually pay attention to the words and ideas as they emerge from our lips. I've heard of Christians trying this and experiencing an immediate “worship upgrade,” from business class to first class.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we slipped in some different lyrics one Sunday. Maybe we could sneak in a new verse to “Amazing Grace” that went:

I sing every hymn every week in church,
I make every note sublime,
I never pay attention to a single word,
I'm thinking of dinnertime.

Wouldn't it be fun to look out at the congregation and count how many singers noticed the change and how many just went on harmonizing?