"The Lost Message of Jesus"

I've come to love the blogosphere.

And not just because I get to participate.

Steve, over at Ponder This... has turned me on to Mike Todd at Waving or Drowning? and Mike has a post called The Lost Message, which has turned me on to next book I plan on spending some time in.

The book's first chapter can be read here. Let me tease you with a few excerpts:

"...if society at large has grown ignorant or indifferent to Jesus and his message, surely all will be well in the Church, the guardian of the gospel. Sadly, the reality turns out to be very different. In truth, thousands of despon-dent, disappointed and disillusioned Christians stagger under the burden of “spiritual expectation” that they can-not meet and the so-called “good news” they hear week in week out from the pulpits and platforms of their churches.And even more worryingly, the problem is mas-sively compounded by the lack of opportunity people have to articulate genuine doubts and questions. They struggle to give voice to the niggling feeling that they aren’t even certain that what they hear preached really is the message of Jesus at all!"

"The longer they have been part of the Church and have listened to its teaching and preaching, the more they have come to believe that things in this “perfect” world just don’t quite add up. For some it’s no more than a nagging doubt; for others it’s a deep unease. Many have already voted with their feet and found the exit door. As the author and pastor Brian McLaren observes in A New Kind of Christian, 'Either Christianity itself is flawed, failing and untrue, or our modern, West-ern, commercialized, industrial-strength version of it is in need of a fresh look, a serious revision.'"

"For many people, Church has become a barren and unfulfilling experience, which fails to address, let alone answer, life’s deepest questions and concerns. People haven’t stopped going to Church because they are too modern-minded, too scientific, too rational or too enlightened to be spiritual. Rather, when they apply the formulated message proclaimed by so many preachers and evangelists to the tough realities of day-to-day life, they become disillusioned."

It is gratifying to know that what my wife and I are experiencing isn't something we're going through in isolation.

Comments

[MC]

"It is gratifying to know that what my wife and I are experiencing isn't something we're going through in isolation."

The question becomes what you do with it. Do you throw out truth in order to follow something "new". Truth is unchanging, and McLaren's cult is a danger to young Christian who allow themselves to be indoctrinated by his heretical teachings.

[MC]

http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2004/1115chalke.asp

http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2005-04-27

http://www.facingthechallenge.org/chalkeintro.php

[Rick]

Wow... a blast from the past...

And I've certainly wisened up since then...

Brian McLaren I see today as a broken watch... right a couple of times a day... by accident.

[Mommynator]

Who said anything about throwing out truth? I don't get that.

We have the Bible, we have people who through the history of the church have written wise things.

No truth being thrown out here.

[Leslie]

I always wondered how you two became blogging friends...

:)