Ravenhill Returns

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One of the most perplexing parts of the Bible occurs whenever we have people wondering whether a deceased prophet has "returned" in the spirit of a new prophet. Consider this passage:

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."
—Mark 8:27-28 ESV

Today, some highly confused people use this to endorse reincarnation, but the reality of what is said above is reflected in another passage:

And he [John the Baptist] will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
—Luke 1:16-17 ESV

John wasn't Elijah, but he preached by the same powerful Spirit that compelled Elijah. 

Leonard Ravenhill was one of my favorite preachers, but he passed on to glory a few years back. I haven't encountered anyone who can preach in the spirit of Ravenhill—that is until recently.

If you haven't heard the blistering message delivered by Paul Washer at an SBC youth rally, then you haven't heard one of the most pyrotechnic sermons since Ravenhill departed this sphere. Washer even mentions Ravenhill mid-sermon, so you know he's done his homework listening to that great saint. 

I heartily encourage you to listen to Washer's sermon by any of the means possible at the SermonAudio.com site. Several bloggers have linked to Washer's message, and I thank them all. I think every Christian in America needs to hear this one, myself included. It's an hour spent you won't regret.

No, Leonard Ravenhill hasn't come back. But it's good to see that men who minister in the same spirit and power as he did still exist. 

“A Church for People Who Don’t Like Church”

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Don't Like Church?A church located on one of the major highways that we routinely  travel has a huge sign out front that reads

“A Church for People Who Don’t Like Church.”

I think about that sign every tiime I pass it, wondering what it is about “church” that shoos away the average person. Those of us who have been churchgoers for a long time take going to church for granted, but if the polls are right, more and more people are staying home on Sunday.

So what say you all? What do you believe are the parts of the whole we call “church” that people don’t like?

Just Plain Christian?

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Simple, stark crossLast week at the Boar's Head Tavern, Josh Strodtbeck noted how easily we refer to any ideology as "liberal" or "conservative," and how those ideologies, even when theological, mirror those of the Democrats and Republicans.

The problem with those labels, however, is the same pothole I discussed in my post "Either Faithfulness or Relevance?" We're perpetually forcing dichotomies where none should exist. Instead, we cling to one ideological side or the other without ever asking if the truth can be found somewhere in-between.

I'm sure that most of you readers would self-label as conservative Christians if forced to choose between that and being a liberal Christian. But I wonder if a more "radical middle" exists that blurs the stereotypes we commonly attach to both of those theological ideologies.

Consider the liberal/conservative Christian trait emphasis table below:

Liberal Christian

Conservative Christian

Mainline

Evangelical

God is Love

God is Holy

Jesus the Servant

Jesus the Savior

The Holy Spirit quickens

The Holy Spirit convicts

The Bible is the story of salvation

The Bible is the Word of God

The authority of the believer

The authority of Scripture

The Gospel is for Man

The Gospel is for God

Christ in community

Christ in the individual

Praxis

Doctrine

Mystery

Certainty

The least of these

The saints

Justice

Judgment

The stewardship of Creation

The New Heaven and New Earth

The poor in spirit

The rich in Christ

The imaginative

The concrete

Salvation is a process

Salvation is a singular event

Meditation

Study

Horizontal relationship

Vertical relationship

Freedom

Discipline

Corporate sin

Personal sin

Doubt is healthy

Doubt is crippling

Immanence

Transcendence

Feeling

Thinking

Sacramental

Authoritative

For the one who is not against us is for us.

(Mark 9:40 ESV)

Whoever is not with me is against me….

(Matthew 12:30a ESV)

Is it possible that the boundaries defined by these oft-used traits are false? If so, why do we cling so readily to arguments that reinforce one side over the other?

What would a Christianity look like in 21st century America that sees no paradox in combining mystery and certainty? Or uniformly emphasizes both Christ in community and Christ in the individual?

Is it possible to be neither a conservative Christian nor a liberal one, but something altogether better than either? And if so, why is it so hard for us to live that out?