President Obama is being criticized for not holding a public National Day of Prayer Event at the White House this year. Shirley Dobson is heading up the criticism.

You will remember last year that the Dobson’s group refused to require the name of Jesus in the official NDP prayer prayed by Dr. Ravi Zacharias. Barack Obama is only recognizing what Dobson refuses to recognize. The unbiblical, universalist-style prayers intoned in the presence of Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus and so forth are meaningless. Going through the motions is a waste of time. Further, such prayers are an offense to God. Obama has accurately observed that the U.S.A. is not a Christian nation. With that in view, exactly who would Mrs. Dobson have us pray to at the White House when Christians would have been only one of many world religions represented?

Obama’s decision to not hold a Tower of Babel-style prayer service featuring the gods of the American pantheon simply puts an end to the farce. In any event, we can hardly ask God to bless America while the blood of innocents continues to soak our soil. Asking for the participation of America’s death angel President would make a mockery of Christian prayer. At least Mr. Obama is being consistent, which is more than evangelicals are these days.

Note: The official NDP prayer this year does include Jesus’ name, unlike last year. The NDP Committee did not want a repeat of the PR diaster they had last year. It’s too little, to late, unfortunately.  Our nation does need prayer, and specifically Christ’s true church in America. True believers should uphold our leaders, our land, and our churches in sincere prayer that God will actually hear—prayed by Christians  in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Surph’s Side makes an excellent point about the Prejean controversy. Steve Camp, Paul Proctor and others have defended the breast-augmented, naked beauty queen as a Christian example for women. What they’re really showing forth is the sisssification of manhood that’s endemic in the church. Proctor even went so far as to call those women who have objected “busybodies, gossips and feminists.”

They are the militant busybodies, backbiters, gossipers and control freaks among us that may not be as skilled at dressing up as some ladies around the church house, but they are very skilled at dressing down those who are, especially when their self-esteem needs a little boost – all with a feigned purity and “Christian zeal” that serves to cover whatever deep-seated envy, jealousy and resentment they may have toward others, that, for whatever reason, get more attention, recognition and praise than they do – especially from masculine men.

Just re-watch the YouTube swimsuit competition with the dancing naked women, Mr. Proctor, that features the woman you defend. There you will have the real feminists. Real, masculine men, like my husband, Tom, for example, defend women’s honor and dignity and modesty.  You, a supposedly Christian male, defend its undoing and mock the godly women who try to speak out on this. God help you.

One of the women contacting me this weekend to thank me was Dolores Kimball, Managing Editor of Got Questions Ministries. She wrote:

The recent rush to elevate Miss California to sainthood because of her comments about homosexual marriage at the Miss USA pageant is proof positive of the lack of discernment in the Church. Our inability to separate Christianity from political conservatism is the result of a woeful lack of biblical preaching and teaching from our pulpits and a dearth of pastors who know the difference between “causes” and Truth.

 Gay marriage is a political cause. Modesty is a biblical virtue. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us that Christian women are to “adorn themselves in modest apparel” (1 Tim. 2:9). Miss California’s willingness to parade around in a bikini in front of the entire world says much more about her faith than does her stand on gay marriage. Even the heathens recognize the hypocrisy, as witnessed by a rant from a liberal blog addressing “Miss Holier Than Thou” (his words, not mine). He asks, “What does the Bible say about boob jobs and wearing bikinis in public? Anything similar to what the Koran says?” What indeed? And what does it say about us that we have to be rebuked by a non-believer?

 The response of the Christian community, on the other hand, is to lavish her with kudos and give her an appearance at the Dove Awards for gospel music. She has also received the “admiration and support” of the president of the Family Research Council. I have no doubt Miss Prejeanis a lovely young woman who believes she is representing Christ. No doubt she is reflecting what she has been taught, which is exactly my point. Until we take seriously Paul’s admonition to “preach the word… reprove, rebuke, and exhort” (2 Tim. 4:2), develop true biblical discernment, and take as literal Jesus’ statement, “My kingdom is not of this world,” Miss Prejean and her contemporaries will continue to represent Christians in the public square.

Grateful thanks is in order to those Christian men who have spoken out on this, and for Pastor Larry DeBruyn who led the way. May your number increase so that Christian women no longer have to endure the lash of the tongue of men like Mr. Proctor–someone who has abandoned biblical teachings in this area, even as he thunders against the evils in the “church” today. The church is sick because male leadership has been sick for a long time. (Thus, the number of women who are left to fend for themselves on issues of basic morality and sound doctrine.) The area of moral purity is one of the key areas where God’s Word is being ignored. The defense of lewdness and sensuality by Christian men on this issue has revealed the sordid underbelly of the church, and despite all the railing online against sin in the camp, explains much about why judgment is at the door of God’s house.

A succinct teaching by pastor Randall Easter on a subject, which is now becoming an issue even within mainstream evangelicalism.

Dave Welch weighs in on Christian women and the Miss USA contest. I deeply appreciate this father and husband addressing the  issue from a godly standpoint in this WorldnetDaily commentary.

If you ask most Christians today about their history, they will tell you something like, “Well, I was raised _________, became a _________________ in my young adult years, spent 20 years in the ______________ denomination before find the truth as a ________________. It is interesting to study denominational and also religious affiliation in America, and a Pew Forum poll has been released with new statistics on those who change affiliation or walk away altogether. Here is the press release from Christian Newswire.

New Pew Forum Poll Explores Why Americans Change Religious Affiliation

Diverse Reasons, but Distinct Patterns Emerge

WASHINGTON, April 27 /Christian Newswire/ — A new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that Americans change their religious affiliation early and often, and the reasons they give for changing – or leaving religion altogether – differ widely depending on the origin and destination of the convert.

“Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.” is a follow-up to the “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” conducted by the Pew Forum in 2007 and released in 2008, and is based on over 2,800 callback interviews with members of the largest segments of the population that have changed religious affiliation.

The poll results offer a fuller picture of the “churn” within religion in America, where about half of adults have changed religious affiliation at least once in their life.

Key findings include:

Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once.

Many people who have left a religion to become unaffiliated, the group that has grown the most from religious switching, say they did so in part because they stopped believing in the teachings of their childhood faith. Many also cite disillusionment with religious people and institutions as reasons for becoming unaffiliated.

Many people who have left the Catholic Church say they did so because they stopped believing in Catholic teachings. This is true for half of Catholics who have become Protestant as well as two-thirds of Catholics who have become unaffiliated. Many fewer say they left because of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

In contrast with other groups, Americans who have switched from one Protestant denominational family (e.g., Baptist, Methodist) to another tend to do so because of changes in life circumstances, such as marriage or moving to a new community.

The report, including a detailed executive summary, methodology and topline questionnaire, is available online (pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=409). For the original “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” visit religions.pewforum.org…

The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life delivers timely, impartial information on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Pew Forum is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy organization and does not take positions on policy debates. Based in Washington, D.C., the Pew Forum is a project of the Pew Research Center, which is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Christian Newswire

There’s an interesting post at the Christianity today blog regarding the Miss USA flap. I am clearly not the only one who saw the irony in the whole situation.

In this article we ask two key questions concerning Rob Bell of the Emerging Church. The first would be:  Why does Bell want to keep introducing people of dubious spiritual character into mainstream evangelicalism?

And the second one is: Why is it leading voices of this Emergence Christianity such as Bell, his friend Peter Rollins, and Brian McLaren do not love gay people enough to tell them the truth?

On the Crosstalk Show today, host Vic Eliason discussed the Miss USA controversy. The phone calls and emails received have been overwhelmingly supportive and grateful to hear someone actually speak the obvious: Public defenders of biblical morality should actually wear clothes while doing it.

It beggars belief that something so obvious must now be explained to Christians, when at one time, the world itself would have objected to Miss California’s near nudity at the pageant. The tolerance of nudity and immodesty in the world is of little surprise. That God’s people see nothing wrong with a woman professing Christ while standing nearly naked before the likes of Perez Hilton for his judgment on her “beauty” demonstrates how far down we have sunk.

God’s definition of beauty has always run absoluteley counter to that of the world.  A blood-washed believer, wearing the righteousness of Christ, should care nothing for the beauty “crowns” given by the world. The only crown that we should seek after is the one that St. Paul mentioned in the Bible.

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

–2 Timothy 4:8

A reader sent me the transcript of Prejean’s comment – what one group called a “bold witness.” The reader interspersed the statement with some good observations, in bold type.  This is what is being called “bold” today. 

**************************************

“Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. (Really? That’s great? It’s actually disgusting and against God’s definition of marriage. She needs to repent from such comments. She should pray for wisdom as well) Um, we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage.(Being able to “choose” shows how far our country has slid from God’s enduring commands. She should have started the sentence with “Sadly, …” In not doing so, she is sending a mixed message) And, you know what? In my country, and in my family, I think (It doesn’t matter what she thinks, or what I think. What matters is what the Word of God says about the matter) that I believe (see previous comment) that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense(Jesus was the Rock of offense, and Christian positions on topics such as gay marriage will be offensive as well. It’s an occupational hazard) to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think (again, doesn’t matter what she thinks) that it should be – between a man and a woman (Biblically, the only way it can be). Thank you.”

The 2009 Earth Day harmonic (moronic) convergence is underway. Praise for Gaia, the earth goddess, is reaching a crescendo around the world. Berit Kjos has posted an article that enlightens us to the pagan agenda behind the Earth Day fanaticism and propaganda that have been everywhere this month. Here is a related article, Green Lies and Amazing Truth.

*On a side note, a friend of mine joked that we’re supposed to ’suffer for Gaia’ as “earth friendly” policies hit consumers. Caribou Coffee, a chain I frequent in my area, has now decided that customers should burn their hands rather than have the usual cardboard sleeve placed over the non-insulated, 100% recycled paper cup they use. After burning my hand when the clerk (barista, excuse me) handed me the coffee, I asked her why they had stopped putting the sleeve on. “Oh, we’re going green to save the earth!” she chirped. I told her customers like me were going red from anger at having to hold hot coffee in a thin paper cup, and then we were going elsewhere for coffee where customer safety was more important than Al Gore. Just another environmental moment in America.

Tony Woodlief of World Magazine says it’s better to abandon Christian the Christian label altogether than to make it meaningless.  As the news story in the post below reports that a whole lot of “Christians” don’t even believe in the existence of a real satan or the Holy Spirit, it is one more example of how meaningless the term “Christian” has become in this country.

John MacArthur offers some commentary concerning the trend of sexy sermons in evangelicalism in this insightful post:

Apparently the shortest route to relevance in church ministry right now is for the pastor to talk about sex in garishly explicit terms during the Sunday morning service. If he can shock parishioners with crude words and sophomoric humor, so much the better. The defenders of this trend solemnly inform us that without such a strategy it is well-nigh impossible to connect with today’s “culture.” (In contemporary evangelicalism that term has become a convenient label for just about everything that is uncultured and uncouth.)…

Mark Driscoll has boldly led the parade down this carnal path. He is by far the best-known and most prolific popular proponent of handling the Song of Solomon that way. He has said repeatedly that this is his favorite passage of Scripture, and he has come back to it again and again in recent years, culminating in a highly publicized series released on video via the Internet last year…

LORD, who createdst man in wealth and store, 
    Though foolishly he lost the same, 
        Decaying more and more, 
            Till  he  became 
                Most poor : 

                With  thee 
            O  let  me  rise 
        As larks, harmoniously, 
    And sing this day thy victories : 
Then  shall  the  fall  further  the  flight  in  me. 

My  tender  age  in  sorrow  did  beginne : 
    And still with sicknesses and shame 
        Thou didst so punish sinne, 
            That  I  became 
                Most thinne. 

                With  thee 
            Let me combine, 
        And feel this day thy victorie, 
    For,  if  I  imp  my  wing  on  thine, 
Affliction  shall  advance  the  flight  in  me.

- George Herbert, 1633

“Happy then this day to us; happy we that this day came, which opens to us a door of hope—have reason, therefore, to remember it, and with joy to keep it, as the first dawning of a better hope, the day-spring of all our happiness. This day our head is risen, and with him our hope has enlarged its borders, and made a prospect into the other world, sees some comfort there for our sorrows here. This day’s bright -shining beams have lightened our eyes, that now we shall not sleep in death; a Sunday indeed, the first true Sunday that ever shone, wherein the Sun of righteousness arose out of the chambers of the grave, to guide our feet out of misty darkness into marvellous light–out of the paths of the dead into the land of the living–out of this miserable into a blessed life by Christ’s resurrection.”

- Mark Frank (1613-1664)

Some thoughts on the subject in a short devotion which considers Romans 5:6-10.

If people won’t listen to God’s commands, personally delivered in His Word, maybe they’ll listen to an actor from “The Office.” That’s what one Christian video producer thinks. That’s why he hired “Hollywood talent” to deliver spiritual message on his website. Tom Rice declares:

“I think people are much more open to hearing these spiritual messages when the people involved are at the top of their field…”

Yeah, that’s right, Tom. The problem with listening to Jesus in Scripture is that He just isn’t at the “top of His field.” God isn’t cool enough to be listened to. That’s why we need actress Kate Flannery, who plays an alcoholic employee who goes topless in one episode of “The Office”, to teach us about the evils of gossip. That carries way more weight than the Bible. Here’s the press release sent out by Christian Newswire today. Now if we could just get these actors and actresses to put all their teachings in a book. It would, without doubt, outsell the Scriptures in no time.

Celebrities Featured in Christian Videos

Stars from Hit Television Shows Talk About Spiritual Issues on Evangelize.com

LOS ANGELES, Mar. 26 /Christian Newswire/ — Evangelize.com, a new website which features Christian videos, taps into Hollywood talent as actors from hit television shows such as “The Office,” “Saturday Night Live” and “Reno 911″ star in videos on the site.

Officially launched on January 10, 2009, Evangelize.com first showcased its “Gossip” video, which stars Kate Flannery (“The Office”), Victoria Jackson (“Saturday Night Live”), and Beth Grant (“Jericho,” “No Country for Old Men”). The video quickly became the number 1 seller on the site. Evangelize.com co-founder Tom Rice says “I think people are hungry to hear positive messages during these tough times and these talented actors wanted to be a part of that.”

Rice launched the site to give viewers an opportunity to hear about important themes. Videos tackle issues such as gossip, relationships and forgiveness — all from a Christian perspective.

Rice wants people to view Evangelize.com as the top digital resource offering only the best in Christian media for churches, small group leaders and individual use. The downloadable videos range from inspirational pieces and documentary testimonials, to comedies that often feature recognizable actors. The content on the site is produced through a partnership of Christian media producers.

Evangelize.com sees their popular “Gossip” video as an indication of the kind of quality video they plan to show prominently on the site. They are currently in production on several upcoming videos that will also star recognizable faces. “I think people are much more open to hearing these spiritual messages when the people involved are at the top of their field,” says Rice.

Evangelize.com History
Evangelize.com is an online digital resource that offers the best in Christian media for church, small group or individual use. Their high quality inspirational videos, documentary testimonials and comedies often feature recognizable actors — from hit television shows such as “The Office,” “Saturday Night Live” and “Reno 911.”

In addition to founding the site, Rice is also an award- winning filmmaker. His debut feature film, “The Rising Place”, which Rice wrote and directed, won awards at over 16 festivals, including Best Picture and Audience Favorite. It is being distributed by Warner Bros. He has written and/or supervised scripts for various television shows including “American Idol”, “Survivor” and “Last Comic Standing.” He recently produced “The Presence,” starring Mira Sorvino, Justin Kirk, Tony Curran and Shane West, which is currently in post production.

In this piece John Lanagan begins by pointing out:

Concern about The Shack, the novel by Paul Young, has skyrocketed since revelation of the author’s denial of the substitutionary Atonement of Christ… In the month of May, Bill and Gloria Gaither will host the 19th Annual Family Fest, and the author of The Shack is scheduled as one of the speakers…

A new “consumer driven” book expo was promoted as the hottest thing going in marketing new Christian books. Ten thousand attendees were expected at the event. In reality, about 1,500 showed up. Allow me to theorize about the problem.

Thousands of books. Thousands. If you could see a room filled with the books I have been sent by publishers over the last 21 years, you would weep for the rain forests even if you aren’t an environmentalist. One out of 200 is of any literary value. One out of 1000 is of any spiritual value. Cheesy romance novels, end times “Left Behind”-style knock-offs, prophecy books that declared the advent of Armageddon during the Gulf War–that’s the last Gulf War in 1990–books about your inner child, countless books about sexual abuse, inner healing, financial advice, weight loss, marital bliss and handling teenagers, spouses and mothers-in-law from Hades, angry polemics against Calvinism, angry polemics against Arminianism, culture war books by the truckload, books on Christian psychology, books against Christian psychology, books promoting bizarre diets that are supposed to cure all diseases by having readers juice everything but the kitchen sink, books warning about diets that promote juicing as the biblical fountain of youth, and so on and so forth. We’ve had to use dumpsters to hold all of the books I have cleared out.

I am not against books, believe me. I am just fed up with the kind of shoddy books that so many Christian publishers are putting out these days. Reading the only book of lasting value, the Bible, gets ignored in the blizzard of personal success and self-help manuals, romance novels, sex guides, and end-times thrills and chills books. Enough already! This is the wrong time to try to get thousands of Christians to come out to buy more of the same. My advice to organizers of this new event is, forget it. The Christian Retailers Association convention (formerly CBA) is already pumping enough junk from the evangelical pulp mills into society to bury us all.  Stop the avalanche. Stop the madness. Let’s get back to reading the Word.

A prayer in a song…

Sarah Palin’s true colors have been showing a lot lately. Her support for the dangerous Law of the Sea Treaty, her outrageous, Planned Parenthood-inspired statement that people need to get over the “ideal of abstinence. Life happens” in her interview with a Fox reporter a few weeks ago, and now, her ignoring the pleas of Christian pro-lifers not to place a former Planned Parenthood Board member on the Alaska Supreme Court. It’s time “conservatives” wrapped their minds around the fact that this woman is not the future hope of the Republican party. Not even close.

A young teen girl from a conservative Christian home recently gushed online about the Jonas Brothers and how they were “committed evangelical Christians.” She knew this was the case because she said they were the sons of a pastor and they said in a video their “faith” was important to them.

I pondered this for a while today after reading in a news story that thousands of girls, some as young as 6, were at a Jonas Brothers concert this weekend. The girls in the arena, awaiting the arrival of their rock idols, began singing the Jonas Brothers’ hit, “Burnin’ Up.” Here’s what the Christian little girls of America are singing along with as they follow these “committed evangelical” Jonas Brothers.

I’m hot
You’re cold
You go around
Like you know
Who I am
But you don’t
You got me on my toes

I’m slippin’ into the lava
And I’m tryin’ to keep from going under
Baby,who turned the temperature hotter?
Cause I’m burnin’ up, burnin’ up
For you baby

Come on, girl

I fell (I fell)
So fast (so fast)
I can’t hold myself
Back
High heels (high heels)
Red dress (red dress)
All by yourself
Gotta catch my breath

I’m slippin’ into the lava
And I’m tryin’ to keep from going under
Baby,who turned the temperature hotter?
Cause I’m burnin’ up, burnin’ up
For you baby
[Big Rob's rap]
We’re burnin’ up in this place tonight
The brothers sing it loud
(and we’re feelin’ right)
Get up and dance
(don’t try to fight it)
Big Rob’s for real
(and that’s no lie)
Stop, drop and roll
(and touch the floor)
It keeps on burnin’ up
More and more
I got JB wit me
Layin’ it down
Come on boys
Let’s bring the chorus around

I’m slippin’ into the lava (burnin’ up, burnin’ up)
And I’m tryin’ to keep from going under (yeah)
Baby,who turned the temperature hotter? (come on)
Cause I’m burnin’ up, burnin’ up
For you baby

Burnin’ up, burnin’ up
For you baby..

If you need a clear indication of the rotten fruit of American evangelical “Christianity” (increasingly an oxymoron), re-read the text of this song and then read the warnings of God’s Word about lust. How about this simple command? “Flee youthful lust?” II Timothy 2:22

But, then, God’s Word no longer is the standard for conduct today in the lives of many professing Christians and their families. Supposedly Christian children are growing up having gotten their world and life view from the likes of the Jonas Brothers who represent the world and the flesh and all its corruptions. Christian parents tell themselves, “It’s OK! They are  ‘committed evangelical Christians.’ It says so on Wiki when I googled their names!” One look at their lyrics and videos should tell Christian parents all they need to know.

Lord, save us from this worldly, counterfeit Christianity. True believers nurture their children on the pure Word, to fear and love God, to obey His commands, and to follow on that narrow path that alone leads to the Celestial City. Our children are lost in the City of Destruction, all the while being told they are just fine with God because they “asked Jesus into their hearts when they were 5.” Parents and children alike need to run from this kind of false teaching and realize that Christ calls us to leave all behind to follow in His bleeding footsteps.

When we are converted, the Lord puts a new song in our mouths. We no longer sing about lust when we know Him. We sing of our Leader and King, Jesus Christ, and His matchless beauty.

O Savior, precious Savior,
Whom yet unseen we love;
O name of might and favor,
All other names above:
We worship you; we bless you;
To you alone we sing;
We praise you and confess you,
Our Holy Lord and King.

O Bringer of salvation,
So marvelously wrought,
Yourself the revelation
Of love beyond our thought:
We worship you; we bless you;
To you alone we sing;
We praise you and confess you,
Our Holy Lord and King.

In you all fullness dwelling,
All grace and power divine;
Your glory all excelling,
God’s son, O Savior mine.
We worship you; we bless you;
To you alone we sing;
We praise you and confess you,
Our Holy Lord and King.

Oh, grant the consummation
Of this our song above
In endless adoration
And everlasting love;
Then shall we praise and bless you
Where perfect praises ring
And evermore confess you,
Our Savior and our King!

–Frances Ridley Havergal

(Sung to the tune of “O Jesus I have Promised”)