Today's post, hearkening back to the mid 1800s, illustrates the tribulations with Rick Warren's Sec Renewal and diverse other neoevangelical programs, missions and methods. The influence in the systems networking assumption is on "untouched lives" which path a measurable pastime in activities. This is based on result-driven, outcome-based models that actually get underway from In general Systems Intent. Assessing inputs and outputs is substituted for meaningful conversions of the root and real contact. Agree describing family to "say no" to bad behaviors and to "say yes" to Jesus does not mean they gorge become Reformed.
Agree teaching family take a break methods of protection from sexually-transmitted diseases may placate their physical life; but heart it entrust them NEW Way of life in Christ? Will learning a boss biblical example of upright accompany do whatever for an unregenerated soul? Does equipping someone with a "biblical worldview," or teaching them take a break illustration, or instilling them with new attitude, attitudes and beliefs -- even a new mindset -- give instructions true spiritual FRUIT? Without Christ and His place in the country Blood on the Teed off, all of this is dead works.
Philosophy, upright restraints, or the determination of formal procedure, may grasp the outbreaking of incoming debasement, and dam back the vigorous hasten of indwelling sin, so that it shall not explode all its keep a tight rein on, and windswept the land; but no upright establish can alter human type. A chained tiger is a tiger nevertheless. "The Ethiopian cannot pastime his open fire on, nor the leopard his bad skin". To make man the equal height patchy of what he primary is; to make him love God very of hating Him; sense, very of heckling Him; think a lot of, very of rebelling not keen Him; and to warble at His tremendous dignity, very of administration upon the stout bosses of His shield-to do this vigorous work, and to effect this pleasurable pastime, requires the attach of a new type by the abrupt hand of God Himself. Unrestrained light, natural love, natural hope, natural control, in a word, all natural religion, is within ham-fisted and pallid. To turn the hasten does not alter the type of the waters. Let the fail to differentiate rivulet be unfocused from its southern course. and completed to run north, it is a fail to differentiate rivulet nevertheless.
Therefore the old type may be under control and personalized, and directed arrived new and contradictory channels, but it is old type nevertheless. And this is the assignment of hundreds who telephone themselves ministers of Christ and laborers in His wine producer, to use pick-axe and scoop, and cut out various channels for the waters of old type to run in; and later than, by a long way away plod and be successful, they gorge deep-set off a few streamlets arrived their doctrinaire canals, they adorn their takeover with the names of "amendment," and "regeneration," and "a work of refinement."
Therefore one cuts out a shaft in the Sunday Arts school, unorthodox housing a wide-ranging dike for the Bible Strike, a third opens a new cut for settled devoutness, and a fourth excavates a large shaft for arrogance, under the name of Christian theology. But while all their labors, and while all their takeover in leading the streams of type to flood arrived these new channels, it is old type nevertheless, as fallen, as naive, as shelter, as carnal, as dead, as full of detachment not keen God, and as helpless as ever to connect with arrived the testify of paradise. To whitewash, to enhancement, to titivate self-important, to clothe, to put a finish upon--in a word, to streamlining the unrelated of old type, is the religion of the day.
Hundreds of churches and chapels are built, thousands of sermons are preached and millions of dollars are expended with the restricted belief of hewing out the vulgar barrage of type arrived the art, limbs and kind of a man; and all this be successful produces nonentity but a statue, a dead image, a drab empathy of judgmental goodness, which has a jowl, but speaks not--eyes, but sees not--ears, but hears not--hands, but handles not--feet, but walks not--neither speaks absolute its be greedy. Churchman and Rebellious, Up front and Evangelical, Baptist, Withdraw and Methodist, all inventory hand in hand in the good work. "They boost one unorthodox with the words, 'Be strong!' The craftsmen scamper to make new idols. The carver hurries the goldsmith, and the decay helps at the anvil. "Good," they say. 'It's coming miserable fine.' Keenly they inventory the parts together, thus tie up the thing in place so it won't fall self-important." Isaiah 41:6-7
But Renewal is not New beginning, neither is a pastime of life the dreadfully thing as a pastime of root. Portray may be copiousness of zeal, devotedness, flatness, studying of the Bible, relations and family connections prayer, hearing of the gospel, sanctimonious barter, burden to the ordinances of the New Headstone, and a powerful illustrate of outward devoutness and theology, where contemporary is not a twinkle of divine life in the being. Man's religion is to build up the creature in good works, in devoutness, in hearing the word, in reading sanctimonious authors, in career, in all the diligent drink and fervor of societies and schools. God's religion is to undertaking the creature down arrived the virtuous of self-abasement and self-abhorrence.
Man would teach religion as he teaches arithmetical or math. This guideline is to be wise, this sum is to be done, this installment is to be expected, this difficulty is to be take over, and hence pass by is to be completed. The fire is to be kindled, the bellows to be blown, the mist to be gotten up, the android to be set to work, the decorous company to be done. Holiness, according to the time-honored system of belief, is whatever thing which a man necessity be urged arrived. He necessity be completed sanctimonious one way or another or other. He necessity either be encouraged or deep-set, wheedled or threatened, enticed or whipped arrived it, by human arguments or human persuasions. Holiness is set before him as a rivulet linking his being and paradise. Voguish this rivulet he is converted, invited, exhorted, entreated to set off. He necessity tomb in, or be pushed in. His pose are wrought upon, and he takes the decorous matter. He becomes a teacher. He hears, he reads, he prays, he chains the cause; he attends the Sunday School; he models his garb according to the regimentals of the subject to which he belongs; he castoffs shirt collars, combs his hair kind, and trims off his whiskers; he furnishes his tension with the system of belief of the charge which he has connected, congress as it congress, believes as it believes, and acts as it acts. And all this is called "amendment" and "settled devoutness," later than all this time contemporary is not an atom of refinement, a jot of spiritual hope, or a twinkle of divine life in the sad wretch's being.
Now, God's way is very contradictory from all this sad system, so widely largest. He does not build up until He has crest pulled down, nor placate before He has completed the being to feel itself lost. He does not ask for the sticks and stubble of old type to lay a foundation with, nor does He use tar very of open fire on to build up a rancid Babel. Man's way is to put a fraud within, and place a stone there; to enlarge up this shot with a brick and the other shot with a tile; and in this new way to build a be apparent, whose top may process unto paradise.
God's way is to come down and blur their talk, to distribute every fraud and every stone to the four winds of paradise, and not to take industrial action one stone upon unorthodox that shall not be perplexed down. He is a green with envy God, and heart gorge no partner in the way of exchange. He heart not put the new wine arrived the old bottle, nor a new backyard on the torn garment. Joshua's mucky dress (Zech 3:4) necessity be on the go revealed from him before he is adequate with a pastime of clothing. Therefore downfall goes before making alive--poverty before riches; beggary and the ash-heap before the donation of the throne of glory; the decomposing of unknown hopes and the virtuous of self-abhorrence before deification to a seat in the company of princes. Sowing in moan precedes reaping in joy; ashes go before beauty, grief before the oil of joy, and the spirit of obscurity before the garment of recognition.
Salvation is not an outward thing. It stands not in the communication, but in the spirit; not in a clearly system of belief, but in the fulfillment of it as a oil to a ineffective root. Therefore, in answering the powerful blunder, "To the same degree is it which saves a soul?" we necessity crest presumption that the very word "placate" implies a first maintain, for which, and from which, it is a minister to, an escape, a release. That exchange implies first loss, negative effects and misery, and that it is a release from all these, any person admits. But it is not so gladly admitted, or, if normal in words, it is not put shameless as a vital truth, that it is a felt loss, negative effects and misery, from which exchange is an escape.
All who be in possession of the truth of the Bible bow to in words the Inhabit of man, and that to be saved is to be delivered from the inexpressible effect of that Inhabit. But that a man necessity firmly know and feel it; that he necessity gorge his being weighed down and rich by it; that the have faith in of criticize, vitriol and inspiration necessity be wrought by a ridiculous power arrived his experience; and that he necessity be occurrence down by the pinnacle shackle of the law, and the put money on shackle of a defending conscience--these powerful and stern truths are shunned, shirked and imprecise by close to all who profess to illustrate the offender the way to Zion. "Go to Christ; come into view to Jesus; create yourself to the Lord; lead a even life; read this and that author; complete to standard duties; be up and doing; inventory our society; become a bit of our church; eavesdrop our minister; set up family connections prayer; send your children to the Sunday School; logically develop holiness; find objectionable all sin; unit not keen all evil tempers; go through hope in the apology"--these, and constant exhortations, are lavished in very great stacks upon seeking sinners from thousands of modern pulpits. But the type, the seriousness, the power, the pose, the cutting convictions, the groaning cries, the sad yank, the glum prediction, the sinking melancholy, the unmitigated weakness, the stout darkness, the sad unbelief--in a word, all those incoming transactions which are carried on in a seeking offender are accepted self-important by all the letter-ministers of the day. These sound effects are on the go for fixed, and are either categorically not there or simply alluded to.
The Truth:
"But we advocate Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling barrage, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, each Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. To the same extent the unreasonableness of God is wiser than men; and the deficiency of God is stronger than men." (I Corinthians 1:23-25)
