by Bret Capranica | May 24, 2005 | Ecclesiology, Seeker-Sensitive
Our local Inland Empire newspaper (The Press Enterprise), published the referenced report yesterday about a local congregation that will do anything to “reach” people, including giving away a new $25,000 Harley-Davidson Road King. The 6500 member Crossroads Church in Corona gave away the motorcycle in the name of the gospel. “I guess they feel the bike has significant value in the people they’re trying to reach. … Barry McMurtrie is a no-nonsense kind of a guy. He’ll do anything to reach people, but he’ll also make sure they have the opportunity to know the Gospel. When he opens his Bible, there will be no misunderstanding.” The bike was given away not to a visitor, but a year-long member who won the bike through having his name pulled from a hat. Obviously with the seeker driven emphasis among contemporary American churches, this latest show should not be surprising. In fact, the article notes that such a feat is being replicated across the country. “The River at Tampa Bay in Florida gave away a Humvee in January. On New Year’s Eve 2003 Abundant Life Christian Center in La Marque, Texas, raffled off a Harley-Davidson Sportster and a Chrysler PT Cruiser to visitors and members. And Christ’s Church of the Valley near Phoenix appealed to unchurched young adults by giving away two tickets to a sold-out U2 rock concert to people who visited the church’s Web site.” All of this is done in the name of Christ and promoted as a means of attracting people to hear the gospel. However, with the gimmicks used to attract the lost, one has to wonder...
by Bret Capranica | May 20, 2005 | Church History, Ecclesiology, Seeker-Sensitive
Do we need another reformation within Christianity? Rick Warren says we do. However this time, the new reformation needs to be one not based on belief, but on behavior. In a recent gathering of over 12,000 people in Dallas, Warren spoke about how the Reformation of the sixteenth century divided the church, but how a new reformation centered on planting churches, developing servant leaders, feeding the poor, curing the sick and educating the uneducated will unify the church. And with whom will we be unified? The meeting was a gathering of “Baptists, charismatics, nondenominational evangelicals, and others [I wonder who these folks are] at Dallas’ Reunion Arena for a Global Day of Prayer rally May 15.” Warren commented about the first reformation and the new reformation, “The first one was about creeds; this one’s going to be about our deeds. The first one divided the church; this time it will unify the church.” Warren led the assembly in “praying against the global giants” that lead to fear, loss of direction, and lack of purpose, noting spiritual emptiness is the greatest giant.” This push for a global response of the Church to issues such as health, education and poverty is a necessary one. My concern is that we are approaching such issues without a common conviction about what is actually most basic: the gospel. To link arms with religious groups who do not agree on the content of the gospel in order to cure societal ills is eternally meaningless. In my estimation, Warren’s approach is picking up the ball where the Promise Keepers left off: unity without theology. He seems...
by Bret Capranica | May 20, 2005 | Ecclesiology, Seeker-Sensitive
What will the results of Rick Warren’s blockbuster book The Purpose Driven Life (PDL, over 20 million copies sold) look like? George Barna has conducted a recent review of what “Purpose Driven” currently looks like in America. From the article: More than four out of every ten adults – 44% – said their top priority in life is having a satisfying family life. This was nearly three times as popular as the second-most common response and more than four times as prolific as the third-most popular reply.” Despite Warren’s opening appeal in PDL that “it’s not about you,” I found much of the remainder of the book to be “much about you.” Thus Barana’s research, showing that “The second-most common life priority, listed by 18% of all adults, was that of understanding and carrying out the principles of their faith,” should not be shocking. As a matter of fact, even Barna’s concluding comments about his survey indicate that he also believes that faith is really a means to live a better life. His survey states, The survey results raise some questions, however, about the faith commitment of many church-going and born again adults. One must wonder,” he continued, “if the struggles evident in so many marriages and parent-child relationships are connected to the fact that people are generally more interested in pursuing a fulfilling family life than in understanding the principles for meaningful living that may help shape such a family experience.” Does “Purpose Driven” (capital “P” “D”) result in being God-centered? Barna’s research suggests it does not. We live in a culture that sees God as valuable as...
by Bret Capranica | May 17, 2005 | Ecclesiology, Seeker-Sensitive
What is it that current contemporary-driven churches lack in their approach to worship? Let me allow a friend of mine who is currently converting to Catholicism give her evaluation after attending both a Baptist contemporary service and her new-found Catholic service. Her blog reveals her opinion of the differences: Dual Church Going. While I have a number of issues of disagreement regarding the Catholic Church’s view of salvation and all of the trappings associated with their sacerdotalism, I find it interesting that a young adult who is seriously seeking a relationship with Christ finds the missing link in the contemporary church to be “reverence for God” and “truth” as the basis of the worship. While I have a number of disagreements with my friend and her take on what “truth” consists and whether or not the ritual of the Catholic system is actually biblically reverencing God, I nonetheless respect her evaluation. I have long believed that the contemporary drive in many churches has less to do with God than it does with man-centered marketing. How telling that a former Baptist is looking for God-centeredness and finds less of it in the contemporary service she attended and more in the theologically errant system of Catholicism. I have addressed a number of these concerns in a sermon (and series of sermons) entitled Heaven Help Our Worship – Part 1 and Part...
