Gotta love it when you get search traffic from “prove christians wrong.”

From a post on Al Mohler’s blog entitled “The End of Evolution?”

Darwinism has to explain everything — even why some people accept evolutionary theory and others do not.

Evolutionary theory cannot possibly explain the totality of human experience, much less the reality of human origins.  Evolutionists — if consistent — believe that every human experience, every emotion, every physical attribute, every hope, and every fear is simply a feature developed by means of natural selection.

That’s a cold theory, and it just doesn’t make sense to the vast majority of Americans — and it shouldn’t.  The Christian worldview offers a far more satisfying, true, and understandable account of human origins and human existence.

Read the rest here.

An interesting couple of posts over at liberezenfin.blogspot.com. The Christian Research Network folks are complaining that someone finally called their bluff on the unfair criticism they routinely publish on their network of sites. Richard Abanes explains why he pointed out to the ISP that they were violating the terms of service agreement. His Open Letter to Steve Camp says Ken Silva broke federal law by misappropriating copyrighted material. And Eileen Carroll makes no bones about the spirit of legalism.

They’re worth a read: Personal opinion about Ken Silva and the CRN and A note from Richard Abanes.

Blogger Tim Challies has a new book out, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, that deserves your attention. A lot of bloggers out there claim to be defending the faith against all sorts of modern-day heretics, but what the rest of us see are angry, mean-spirited, hypercritical legalists who can’t pass the most basic test of Christian faith: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 NAS)

To promote the book, Mssr. Challies is “appearing” on various blogs, where he answers a question in true talk-show fashion. And Justin Taylor of Between Two Worlds asked a great question: “As the World’s Most Famous Canadian Reformed Blogger, you seek to practice discernment as you critically engage culture and review books. Having now extensively studied the concept of biblical discernment, I wonder what implications you think this has for ‘discernment blogging’? In part, I’m thinking of ‘watchdog’ blogs and bloggers that have ‘discernment’ as their primary focus. Speaking generally, what are they doing right, and where do they need correction?”

Challies’ response begins with refreshing candor: “One of the questions I was forced to ask as I wrote a book on discernment was this one: ‘Why are so many discerning people so mean?’ If you go looking on the Internet for discernment ministries or discernment blogs, you’ll quickly realize this is exactly the case. There are many people out there who, to borrow a phrase from one of my favorite bloggers, ‘give discernment a bad name.’ Many, and perhaps most, of the people who emphasize discernment do so in a way that seems entirely lacking in grace.”

Indeed.

To read the rest of Challies’ reply, click here.

Related posts:
Neither discerning nor ministering
The apostasy of legalism

It does your heart good when someone who was in a yoke of slavery to legalism meets Jesus and discovers “it was for freedom that Christ set us free.”

I hope to see more from Eileen at Libérez enfin!

I’ve always been partial to Mark’s Gospel. It’s dynamic, forceful language really launches Jesus off the page and into your imagination. You can visualize yourself, sitting in the boat, mending your nets, and Jesus walks up and shouts: ”Time’s up! The Kingdom is right under your nose! Turn from your sins and live for God!”

Bruce Thompson at … to win Christ is blogging through Mark’s Gospel. Check it out. You’ll be blessed!

By Mark Kelly

One of the most frustrating aspects of the “post-modern” age is that people seem to think beliefs are true simply because they believe them. No need to do any research. No need to actually document your case. No need for any logical connection between your assertions. Just regurgitate whatever pops into your head and plop it onto the Internet.

Call it a “blahg” site.

For example, I recently came across a site that in one short posting labeled Rick Warren as a liberal, a postmillennialist, and a Dominionist.

The first of those could have been laid to rest with a simple visit to Saddleback’s Web site, where the confession of faith clearly places the church in the mainstream of historic biblical Christianity.

The second assertion might actually have required contacting the church to ask a question. (Answer: He’s a premillennialist.) Yes, that is a lot of trouble for someone who’s in a hurry to get an opinion out of his system.

While the first two labels are simply wrong, the third is ridiculous.

Dominionism is generally understood to be a political version of Christianity that urges its followers to gain control of the country and impose a religious dictatorship on all the “infidels.” According to Al Dager, author of an exposé book, “Vengeance Is Ours: The Church in Dominion,” one of the three tenets on which this belief system is based is that Jesus cannot or will not return until the Church has taken dominion by gaining control of the earth’s governmental and social institutions.

What Dominionism means in practice depends in part on which set of conspiracy theories you might believe.

If you read the Wikipedia entries on “Dominionism” or “Dominion Theology,” you see the viewpoint of fringe secularists who think that any Christian who exercises his rights as a citizen is out to subvert democracy. Some folks are deeply troubled by the fact that Christians believe right and wrong aren’t just a matter of personal opinion. They want a world where each person does what is right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6) Envision a different social order, perhaps one with somewhat more traditional values, and you become part of a dangerous, militant sect that wants to force its beliefs on the rest of society.

On another fringe, a site that does “discernment research” claims Dominionism is a vast conspiracy that involves collaborators across the entire political spectrum, from Far Left to Far Right. The author divines a spider web of connections between what appear to be unrelated groups in the Church: the “spiritual warfare prayer movement,” the “mission as transformation movement,” and the “patriotic American movement.” The writer claims Rick Warren “has single-handedly accomplished more to bring about a public convergence between the three sects of dominionism than any other individual.”

That is utter nonsense.

Examine the written and spoken record of Rick Warren and the other well-known Christian leaders (including Peter Wagner, Bill Bright, Ralph Winter, James Dobson, Bob Buford, Luis Bush, George Otis, Ron Sider, and Jim Wallis) named by the heresy hunters, and you will not find a single place where any of them have advocated establishing a Christian dictatorship.

You will find people who believe Christians ought to vote their convictions. Many of us are under the impression that is why the Founding Fathers recognized the right to vote.

You will find people who believe Christians ought to be “ambassadors for Christ” in the workplace and marketplace. Many of us are under the impression that Jesus expects us to be salt and light in our world.

You will find people who believe the return of Jesus will not occur until certain conditions of Scripture have been met – like the “Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.” (Matthew 24:14 NAS) None of them believes Jesus’ return has anything to do with Christian control of human institutions.

You will find people who believe Jesus expects us to help spiritually empty people, to address the problem of corrupt, self-serving politicians, to help people who subsist in extreme poverty, to care for the sick, and to educate children for a brighter future. But we are not setting up God’s kingdom here and now. The earthly Kingdom awaits the day when Jesus Christ returns to earth to reign as King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Yes, radical Dominionism is real. There are a handful of people out there who believe that Christians ought to be at the top of every powerful or influential organization in society. No, we don’t believe Dominionism is a biblical theology.

But spinning a web of conspiracy that requires the collaboration of both New Age Theosophists and Christian Reconstructionists – and the entire range of evangelical Christianity in between – is a stretch for even the most active post-modern imagination. Fabrications like this are not a problem, of course, if you don’t require evidence and aren’t bound by the rules of logic.

Such work is governed only by a Latin dictum, ex nihilo quisquiliae – “out of nothing, garbage.”

If only all that time and passion was being invested in making disciples of the nations, instead of grinding out interminable essays that distract people from obeying the Great Commandment and Great Commission.