As we expose the American Idols - those things besides God that we are tempted to worship, emulate, or believe will save us - that loom over our land, we would be wise to go back to our Founding Fathers in order to be reminded of the values upon which our country was established.  Remember, of course, these famous words from the Declaration of Independence:  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  Now, I’m not much of a history buff, but I find it interesting that they considered the pursuit of happiness to be a God-given right for each individual.  Whatever may have prompted them to include that phrase, it has certainly been prophetic, as I look around at a culture doing all it can to entertain me and make me happy.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Idol #4 – the Idol of Personal Pleasure.  Let us all stand for its anthem, as sung by Sheryl Crow:  “If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.”
Read more »

There are approximately 1.61 billion Muslims in the world today.
I believe that there are many good and beautiful things in the religion of Islam.
I believe that there are a lot of good people who are Muslim.
I also believe that Muslims are wrong in their belief that Jesus was just a man and not God incarnate, and that Muhammed is the last and greatest prophet.

(Intolerance Alert!!!  Intolerance Alert!!!)
Read more »

I want you to try an experiment with me for a minute.  Think about all of the celebrities that are constantly parading across our TV screens, magazines, and newspapers these days – Brad & Angelina, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Johnny Depp, and so on – and answer me these two questions:  Firstly, do you know more about them than you do about your next door neighbors?  And secondly, has knowing the details of their lives added even the smallest bit of value to your life? 

We’re in the third week of series I’m calling “American Idols,” where I’m attempting to unmask the idols in our culture – things other than God that we are tempted to worship, emulate, or believe will save us – and discuss how they have distorted our understanding of the gospel and what it means to follow Jesus.  Idol #1 was the Idol of consumerism, with the Temple of the Mall as its place of worship.  This week’s Idol is the Idol of celebrity, and here is one of its many sacred texts:
Read more »

Last week, I defined an idol as something other than God that we are tempted to worship, emulate, or believe will save us.  I’m specifically interested over this next month in discerning what the most obvious American Idols are and how they have distorted our understanding of the gospel and what it means to follow Jesus.  For each idol, I plan on uncovering its temple so that we can unmask this idolatry in all of its phony glory.  So without further ado, here is Idol #1:
Read more »

I’ve heard it said that “fish don’t realize they are wet” – it’s just the world in which they live.  In the same way, it is easy to be unaware that we are reading the Bible as 20th century Americans with a 20th century American way of looking at the world.  As American fish living in an American sea, we have grown up with a culture that plays a significant role in shaping our theology and outlook on life.  Which leads me to an important question:  how have we obscured the gospel of Jesus Christ by looking at it through lenses that are democratic, capitalistic, scientific, and American-dream seeking (among other lenses)?  
Read more »