Just when you thought things couldn’t get any sillier, scarier, sadder …

The online video of this absurdity is some 12-14 minutes long—far too long to bear for anyone with any sort of grasp of biblical and historic Christianity, with any love for the church of the living God (“which he obtained with his own blood”), with any concern for lost sinners, with any heart for the cause of the Gospel in the world!

This is the sort of thing let loose on people when “church” is detached from its biblical moorings. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us, “… we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard [i.e., the biblical Gospel], lest we drift away from it” (2.1). The truth and teaching of the Gospel are matters of life and death. It’s critical to get this right. It’s critical to teach and preach this faithfully—with power and proportion, but without any apology. It’s why James issues this warning: “Not many of you should presume to be teachers … because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1). And it’s why the danger of drifting away from truth, and so losing truth, can’t be treated too seriously. If we drift, we not only lose the gospel, we lose ourselves as well at last. Fellows like Long and Messer are in a fearful place!

The world is full of exotic currents, ready to take you off to who knows where. There’s a strong current to this present evil age, always pulling us away from safe harbor in Christ. Richard Phillips reminds us, in his great commentary on Hebrews, that there are all sorts of subtle undertows at work in daily life. Just don’t pay attention—just read uncritically, watch TV mindlessly, embrace the unspoken assumptions of the workplace or of popular religion, become preoccupied with the sights and sounds, the offers and applause, and the special effects of the world—and you’ll be drawn out, out, out until you’re swept away!

Eddie Long and Ralph Messer, and the whole bunch of their ilk, should seriously come to grips with what Jesus himself did, when the crowds meant to crown him a king. We read, “Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6.15). Even he, who had claim to the throne of David, would not be made “king” on false pretenses, under false impressions, on the authority of men, because of misguided enthusiasm. His sole concern, rather, was for the kingdom of God, and the “King” God himself would crown!

By the way, a very good piece outlining at least 27 misrepresentations of the Torah and other Jewish sancta, as well as of New Testament and Christian biblical interpretation and theology made during this bizarre ritual (written by Rev. Wil Gafney, PhD, Associate Professor of Biblical Hebrew and Jewish and Christian Scripture at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) can be found and read HERE! I recommend it as a good exposé of the kind of foolishness these sorts of “pastors” and “rabbis” are spouting.

There is only one King who matters! He is both “Lord and Christ”—”he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6.15-16).

King Eddie? Really? No! Not really!

See, there is a story—there really is a “way things are,” history is full of meaning, your life in history is momentous in the most far-reaching ways—and that story is God’s, the God of the Christian Scriptures. There is no way to live as you should, to live in a way “pleasing to the Lord” that meets the end of your existence, apart from finding your place in God’s story; and there’s no way to “find your place” in God’s story if you don’t know God’s story, as he’s told it to us in his Word.

So, the purpose of this series during our Wednesday evening study time is to put “the big story” in place—to help you know what you believe and why you believe it in a way that works itself out in greater wonder, greater worship, and greater good works than we’ve known before as we love and serve our great God!

Let me encourage you to make the commitment—re-order, re-prioritize, re-think, revise your whole schedule, if necessary—to fill your seat in this study and find your place in God’s story!

“We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1.9-10)

But go ahead, if you haven’t already, and get started on a plan to read the whole Bible over the course of 2012. You can find a selection of reading calendars HERE! To quote Jim Hamilton: “there it is, throbbing on your desk, the living word of God”!

Now, may the “… grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and with all people everywhere who have been called by God through him, through whom be glory, honor, power, majesty, and eternal dominion to him, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.” (1 Clement 65.2)

—Edward Reynolds (1599-1676)
An Explication of the Hundred and Tenth Psalm

I first got to know Michael when I was at Southern Seminary, and always enjoyed stimulating conversations with him over some good coffee in the Founders Cafe. We may not always have seen eye to eye on every theological jot and tittle, but Michael was articulate, insightful, always charitable even when challenging, and not so much opinionated as having strong convictions. He had studied hard. He knew what he believed and why he believed it. And he was passionate for truth.

Here’s a bit from his bio:

Michael started Internet Monk right after the November 2000 elections, and has been blogging ever since. Internet Monk is consistently rated in the top twenty Christian blogs in the world. It was recently voted the number 6 blog at ChurchRelevance.com and is rated the #11 blog in the Christian blogosphere. His work has been noted on blogs around the world and published in newspapers and magazines, such as The Christian Science Monitor and Modern Reformation. He was featured in the September 21, 2006 edition of Time Magazine for his blogging on Joel Osteen and was chosen as a featured blogger by the Dallas Morning News. He has been cited and linked by The Drudge Report, CNN, Glenn Beck, CBN, GetReligion, Out of Ur, Christianity Today, BBC Africa, Yahoo News, Andrew Sullivan, Daily Kos, Rod Dreher, National Review Online and Real Clear Politics, among many others. His analysis of evangelicalism has made him a frequent guest on podcasts and radio programs such as The God Whisperers, Truth Talk and Frank Pastore.

In 2008 Michael was awarded a sabbatical grant from the Louisville Institute to pursue his interest in “Contemplation and Balance in Life and Ministry.” He has been a seminar presenter and panel moderator at Cornerstone ’08 and ’09. He is a regular guest at Steve Brown, etc. and has appeared at The Frank Pastore Show and The Catholic Guy Radio program. He has been interviewed on numerous radio programs and magazines. He also podcasts the popular Internet Monk Radio podcast.

Michael’s first book, still untitled, will be published by Waterbrook Press in the fall of 2010. [I think the working title now is Mere Churchianity.]

Yesterday, Michael left here, and we mourn with his dear family and ponder our loss. The Lord’s ways aren’t our ways, but his ways are perfect. Today, Michael is alive and well, because Christ the Lord—in whom he trusted and whom he loved—died for our sins, and was buried, and was raised on the third day and lives forevermore and is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by him. Sweet shall be your memory, my brother, till we meet again.

The theme this year revolves around “the fellowship of the gospel” in the context of “life together” in the local church.

Happy reading!

One of the books through which I’ve been reading (and working) recently is Susan Bauer’s The Well-Educated Mind. It’s a practical and encouraging guide to a classical self-education through reading the great books of literature. Near the beginning, in a chapter on “The Act of Reading,” she responds to a common objection that often serves as a rationale (however unjustifiable) for not even attempting to read serious books. The objection is: But I read so slowly; it will take me forever to get through those lists of Great Books! Her answer is “spot on”:

Reading is a life-long process. There’s no hurry, no semester schedule, no end-of-term panic, no final exam. The idea that fast reading is good reading is a twentieth-century weed, springing out of the stony farmland cultivated by the computer manufacturers. As Kirkpatrick Sale has eloquently pointed out, every technology has its own internal ethical system. Steam technology made size a virtue. In the computerized world, faster is better, and speed is the highest virtue of all. When there is a flood of knowledge to be assimilated, the conduits had better flow fast.

But the pursuit of knowledge is centered around a different ethic. The serious reader is not attempting to assimilate a huge quantity of information as quickly as possible, but to understand a few many-sided and elusive ideas. The speed ethic shouldn’t be transplanted into an endeavor that is governed by very different ideals.

I say again, “Amen to that!” So why not start today to nourish the life of the mind for the love of God