The myth of global warming?

Check out this article!

New media and musings about Avatar…

New sermons have been added to the audio page, including Sam’s sermon from November!  There is also a link to the song of the month on the main page.

I went with the kids to see Avatar a few weeks ago, and it was absolutely stunning in 3-D.  I thoroughly enjoyed the artistry that went into making the film.  The storyline, however, is a completely different story.  It attacks corporate greed, imperialism, and military might, while elevating mysticism, pantheism, environmentalism and science.  I felt like I was hit over the head with a political message the whole time I was in the movie, even in the midst of the stunning special effects.

Yes, imperialism can be bad, and corporate greed has cause many problems in our world today.   However I very rarely hear the term “imperialism” used in our society without having the word “American” before it.  And am I the only one that is nonplused that most of the ex-military in the movie come across as bloodthirsty jerks?  Or that scientists are seen as saviors?  I’m afraid that certain stereotypes are being reinforced under the guise of entertainment without many people even realizing it!

That goes for the religious message of Avatar as well.  Avatar does affirm some sort of afterlife, but it is  more in line with mysticism, spiritualism, and the new age than with Christian thoughts and ideas.  While immersing ourselves in the story we shouldn’t allow our thoughts and ideas to be affected by the non-Christian worldview of James Cameron.

Ironically, while elevating the mystical ideas of the “Navi”, I think that the film actually undercuts their beliefs.  There does seem to be some sort of soul or essence that continues after death and that can communicate with others, but the scientists describe the ancestral tree and it’s connections with terms like “neurons” and “synapses”, and they liken the entire system to a  computer network.  It seems that although the Navi are more in tune to their environment, they still can’t understand it like the scientists can.  They can describe it phenomenologically, but  only the scientists are the only ones who can really understand what is going on behind it all.

In summary, there may be some good ideas present in Avatar, but don’t check your mind at the door.  You may find that you’ve been invaded by aliens!

New media!

New audio sermons, and new video as well!

You’ve gotta check out this Christmas clip!

Silent monks “singing” the Hallelujah Chorus!

A lesson on discernment when listening to sermons…

When we travel we tend to listen to lots of different material while we are in the car.  For example, on this last trip we listened to almost an entire sermon series on the book of Revelation!  However, we don’t see that as a replacement for church, and we still try to attend church on those Sundays when we are away.  On our past trip we ended up trying a particular church as a favor to someone else.  I’d like to comment on the sermon.

The pastor started out with a nice enough idea:  we need to help people experience God.  Sounds reasonable enough, particularly since the expression “experiencing God” has become much more common since the Blackaby study of the same name.  How do we help people to experience God?  We pray for them!  All innocent enough.  Up until this point the pastor hadn’t quoted much Scripture.  When he did start to quote Scripture from the Gospels, he started pointing out how Jesus and the disciples helped people experience God.  He pointed to several prayers, and all of those prayers resulted in the person getting healed.  He even talked about how Jesus spoke prophetically to one individual so that he could experience God.  He finished by sharing an illustration of how one of their associate pastors wanted to help someone who had come to church experience God, so he prayed for him.  As a result, the man was healed, and he ended up running away, scared to death!

What I find interesting about this sermon is the underlying duplicity.  At no point did the minister say that we should pray for people to be healed.  He didn’t even say that we could speak prophetically into peoples lives.  What he did do is say that we should help people experience God, and that we do this by praying for them.  BUT EVERY EXAMPLE HE GAVE SHOWED HOW HE EXPECTED THAT TO BE PUT INTO PRACTICE!  He presented his more charismatic beliefs by using illustrations and misapplying Scripture, all with the hope that his audience would make the connection.  I’m sure that this was all done very deliberately in an attempt to seduce people into believing charismatic doctrine.

The long and short of this spiel is this:  be careful what you listen to, and listen very carefully.  People, ministers, and politicians are always trying to sway you to their viewpoint.  Some can be very persuasive, and will attempt to sway you without you even realizing it.

On a side note, this minister also was against an educated clergy, and even an educated laity.  He didn’t think much of apologetics, and even seemed at some points to minimize the importance of teaching and learning in the worship service.  Hmmmm.  If he doesn’t watch it he may just preach himself right out of a job.  I mean, if you shouldn’t attend worship, why should you even listen to him!?!?!  We can hope…

New sermon audio has been added!

On the church website!

More info…

New audio sermons have been added, and here is the list about suffering that I mentioned in Sunday’s sermon…

Biblical Teaching on Suffering

New media!

Here is the video of Andrew’s song from Sunday.  I also have new sermon audio and video on the church website.

Supplement for Sunday’s Sermon

If you want to know more about the Holy Spirit, check out these charts (there are 4 of them — Facebook users may want to go to pastorbillington.wordpress.com).  They are taken from “Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine” by H. Wayne House, and the some of the material for the charts is adapted from “The Moody Handbook of Theology”.

A neat story about Monica Migliorino Miller, a pro-life photographer

Click here to see the article from the New York Times.  The photos may be somewhat disturbing.