Rick Warren on Hannity & Colmes

I criticized Joel Osteen for failing to mention Jesus in his Wednesday night interview with Fox News' Hannity & Colmes about the California wildfires. Well, on Thursday night they interviewed Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose-Driven Life. (You can watch the video here.) Warren didn't mention Jesus, either, but the focus of his interview was different. The interview with Osteen asked theological questions. The interview with Warren asked him what his church was doing, since three of the fires are raging around Saddleback Church, and Warren told how his church is a shelter, is feeding firefighters, and has sent out 100 chaplains to do counseling.

By the way, on Thursday, California Southern Baptists fed 10,000 people in San Diego who were affected by the fires.

Osteen discusses California wildfires - all smoke, no fire

Last night my wife and I were watching Hannity & Colmes on Fox News, when suddenly who should appear to give religious consolation to the viewers, than Joel Osteen and his wife, Victoria.
They asked the Osteens how people suffering in the California wildfires can find hope. The Osteens talked about trusting God despite trouble, being better rather than being bitter, staying positive, and not blaming God. What they said was fine, but it was what they did not say that struck me. Not once did they mention Jesus Christ. They were on the air for several minutes, and were asked multiple questions by both Sean Hannity and Colmes. The door was wide open to share the gospel, but they never did. Despite being asked about the meaning of suffering and how to find hope, they said nothing about the cross. Nothing about the resurrection. Not a word about Jesus. I guess they didn't want to offend anybody.

Good review of Joel Osteen's new book

Tim Challies has written an insightful review of Joel Osteen's new book, Become a Better You, at his blog, Challies.com.

Thanks to Reva Daniel for pointing it out to me. Challies hits the nail on the head. Please go read Challies' review, and it will save you wasting time reading Osteen's book.

Something Baptists & Catholics agree about

Baptists and Catholics have our differences, but one thing we agreed about is the sanctity of human life. This past Sunday afternoon I stood with Catholic and Baptist Christians for an hour in front of our church in a "Life Chain." That's me holding the sign that says "Jesus forgives & heals" and the man in the red shirt with the sign "Pray to end abortion" is Allen Bazemore, organizer from St. Boniface Catholic Church.

Our church is along Highway 21, a very busy four-lane highway. Traffic tended to slow down respectfully, and quite a few people waved, gave us thumbs up, and honked, although at least one person gave us a thumbs down (which is better than a Life Chain I was in a couple of years ago, when I got a different finger than the thumb).

Our purpose was to make an impact and get the attention of people, especially a young person who might be considering an abortion. It was also great to cooperate with other Christians in the effort.

Read the article about the event from the Effingham Herald here.

Christ Church of Savannah leaves Episcopal Church

The leadership, called the "vestry," of Christ Church, the Mother church of Georgia, has voted to leave the Episcopal Church and put itself under the authority of a bishop in Virginia who is under a conservative bishop in Uganda, Africa.
Church leaders defended their decision on their website, saying that they are not leaving the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Church has left them by denying the authority of scripture. While not directly mentioning the issue of the ordination of homosexual bishops, the liberal rejection of Biblical sexual morality is a major factor in Christ Church's decision. This is a local result of an international split, as the Anglican worldwide communion has called on the Episcopal Church in America to discontinue ordaining gay bishops, but the Episcopal Church has not agreed to make such a pledge.
The Episcopal Church will probably take Christ Church to court and try to seize their property. Unlike Baptist churches, which are owned by the local congregation, the denomination generally owns the property of local Episcopal churches. Bishop Henry I. Louttit issued a statement asserting the denomination's claim to the church's property.
"Christ Church is and will remain a parish of the Episcopal Church in this diocese and will continue to occupy its present facilities," he said.
Who will win a court case? Christ Church points out that they were in existence 50 years before there was an Episcopal denomination. The congregation was founded in 1733 when Oglethorpe founded the new colony of Georgia, thus making Christ Church the oldest congregation in Georgia. They feel that since the vestry of the church had possession of the property long before there was an Episcopal Church in America, they have strong legal reason to keep control of their local church. "We are confident of our ownership of the property," said the pastor, known as "rector," Rev. Marc Robertson.
See an article in the Savannah Morning News that discusses the legal case for and against Christ Church keeping ownership of their building.
This brave congregation needs the prayers of other Christians as they seek to be faithful to their Christian heritage, no matter what may happen in their future.

UPDATE: The bishop says they will take Christ Church to court.

Letter from Hell

Was George Washington a Christian?

Was George Washington a deist or a Christian? It is an important question, as Washington was not only the first president but the most respected of all of America's founding fathers.

In their book, Washington's God, Michael and Jana Novak investigate Washington's public and private life to answer this question. The evidence is mixed:

Toward the view that Washington was a deist: Washington rarely referred to Jesus Christ (although he did write a letter to the Delaware Indians and recommend the religion of Jesus Christ), but instead he preferred the term "Providence," or generic terms like "the Author of our Blessed Religion." Washington regularly refused to take communion at church. When asked point-blank if he believed in Jesus Christ, he would not answer the question. When he died, he did not ask for a minister, and simply said, "'Tis well."

Toward the view that Washington was a Christian: Washington was a member of the Anglican church, which he attended regularly, including overseeing business of his local church. He agreed to be godfather to eight children, something the less religious Thomas Jefferson refused to do. He spoke of "Providence" in Christian terms, not deist terms. A deist believes God is like a watchmaker who makes the world and then is not involved; Washington instead spoke of divine Providence intervening and bringing together the events that led to his victory in the American Revolution. His reluctance to explicitly state his faith in Jesus Christ can be understood as typical for an Anglican who is more reserved about public expressions of faith. Nevertheless, there are reports of him privately praying during the war, and he insisted on having chaplains in the Continental Army. After his death, Martha Washington spoke of it as a Christian death.

On balance, Novak concludes that while he was very private about his faith, George Washington was, indeed, a Christian. He notes that Washington believed in religious liberty and opposed a state church, but Washington supported an accomodationist view of church and state that allows for public expresssions of general faith in the public square, without an endorsement of any particular denomination.