I’m stealing the following from Dr. Albert Mohler. He’s way smarter, far more articulate, and better informed that I on nearly every subject. That boy’s smart! Really though, this craze has been sweeping the nation via the Cult of Oprah.

_______________________False teachings emerge anew in every generation it seems, but inventing a new heresy is quite a challenge. After all, once every doctrine vital to Christianity has been denied, all that remains is a change in packaging.

That is what we see in the case of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, the nation’s best-selling book. Millions of Americans are buying, reading, or talking about a book that repackages ancient paganism in the guise of positive thinking and mental energy. There is nothing here that is genuinely new (Byrne openly admits finding the “Law of Attraction” in a nineteenth century book). But, as the sales of The Secret now prove, a heresy does not have to be new to be attractive.

Americans have long been especially attracted to ideas associated with “New Thought,” a movement centered in positive thinking and mental power. The New Thought promoters have promised health, wealth, success, comfort, popularity, and much more through the exercise of positive thoughts and mental focus.

Interestingly, USA Today published a report on the historical background to The Secret in the March 29, 2007 edition. As reporter Marco R. della Cava explained, the movement has deep roots and many contemporary representations.

From his article:

Oprah dedicated two shows to The Secret; Australian video producer Byrne has a roundup on how the mind can deliver a laundry list of goodies, from health to a helicopter. Saturday Night Live was quick to lampoon the book, while Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist Maureen Dowd invoked it while wondering if wishful thinking could lead to a change in the White House.

But such pop culture fascination leaves actress and minister Della Reese Lett laughing.

“Child, The Secret hasn’t been a secret since the times of Moses, if not before,” says the former Touched by an Angel star, founder and minister of the Understanding Principles of Better Living church in Los Angeles. “But every generation needs a new way to look at things that have been around a while. I suppose right now The Secret is it.” Read the rest of this entry »

“The topic is crucial,

the speaker is excellent –

consider attending this conference.”

- Mark Dever, Sr. Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church

 

Join us as we learn about Manhood and Womanhood in the Bible, in the Church, and in the Home.

 

Consider bringing your pastor, your congregation, or your small group to learn together and take the truth back to your local church.

The Northbrook Conference, Spring 2007

Northbrook Baptist Church

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

April 27-28, 2006

Biblical Manhood & Womanhood:

Different By Design

Guest Speaker: Dr. Randy Stinson

Executive Director, The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Session details are coming soon.

Registration

2006 Fall Conference Audio

Related Tags: Manhood, Womanhood, Biblical Manhood, Biblical Womanhood, CBMW, Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Mark Dever, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Northbrook Conference, Northbrook Baptist Church, Northbook, Baptist, Church Conference, Randy Stinson, Different By Design, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cedar Rapids IA

From Christianity Today.

7 important questions to consider
by Jeffrey Arnold

John 15:1-17; Acts 2:42

1. What is the vision for small groups at our church? This question is fundamental. Answering it requires asking two more questions. First, what is our overall vision for what small groups can and will do in our church? (And, What is our biblical basis?) Second, what kinds of people in our church can and must be reached by the small group ministry?

2. What kinds of groups will we utilize?

3. How will we “fill” these groups with people? People will go to the kind of group that best meets (and continues to meet) their needs. Consider how to recruit the people whose needs these groups will meet.

4. Who will lead these groups? Will we have a program of “apprenticing,” where leaders-in-training get hands-on training? How will we discover and begin nurturing leaders?

5. How will we insure the growth of this ministry? What goals do we have for six months? How will we deal with a group once it has 12 members (or, how can we help groups to effect positive group splits)? How will we continue to recruit members and leaders for this ministry?

6. What kind of accountability will we require of leaders? What kind of ongoing training will we provide our leaders? What kinds of reporting will we require, and how often? What about periodic meetings? Who will oversee the ministry in general?

7. How can we communicate our unique ministry desires with potential leaders and members? Many churches with dynamic small group ministries will sit down with their answers to the above questions and “codify” them into a small group manual or a philosophy statement.

Related Tags: Small Groups, Christianity Today, Christian Fellowship, Fellowship, Community, Christian Community, Christian, Christ, Christianity, Jesus, Vision

Below is an article from Christian Post. While the focus is on church plants, I think a lot of what is revealed is transportable to established churches as well. The BOLD is my doing.

A new study measured what characteristics vibrant, growing church plants share and listed 10 factors contributing to high attendance.

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A new study measured what characteristics vibrant, growing church plants share and listed 10 factors contributing to high attendance.

The study was conducted on over 1,000 churches from 12 denominations and networks by the Center for Missional Research, a division of the North American Mission Board. The following 10 common factors, based on the combined four-year mean attendance of church plants, proved to be the best predictors for higher worship attendance.

Location is one significant factor. Church plants that start in school facilities show a distinct advantage in term of visibility, parking and low costs. In the longer term, churches that meet in movie theaters also exhibit higher attendance.

Second, the ministry factor. Reaching children is one effective way to reach families, according to the report. Special children’s events along with outreaches around holidays and other opportunities attract crowds and help churches sustain attendance.

A third way to build attendance is to promote the church. Church plants with high attendance have mail invitations to services, programs and events and keep community awareness high.

Training new members is also key. Successful church plants not only provide training but also communicated clearly that the new members participate and find a place to serve. Read the rest of this entry »

From Christianity Today.

No More Mr. Nice Group: 5 practices that take small groups beyond polite “sharing” to the disciplines that change lives.
by John Ortberg

God has entrusted us with his most precious treasure—people. He asks us to shepherd and mold them into strong disciples, with brave faith, and good character. I would not give my life to any church that was not serious about this calling—the transformation of human beings. God has decided, for his own good reasons, that people are not transformed outside of community.

Years ago, while on vacation, I was going to fix something on the grill. I made a pile of charcoal, I poured a few gallons of lighter fluid over them, and I started the fire. My son was just fascinated by fire, as most young boys are. He asked what I was doing, and I told him.

“There’s something about the way these little briquettes are constructed that when you put them together, the fire glows and they get real hot. And if you isolate one it cools off quickly. It loses the fire. But when they stick together, there’s fire, because they feed off each other. God designed them to work that way.”

This fits what Dallas Willard has said about the Christian life: “Personalities united can contain more of God and sustain the force of his greater presence better than scattered individuals.” Think about that. Personalities united—people in community—contain more of God and his transforming power than isolated individuals. We should not be surprised that transformation requires community; it’s how God designed us.

When we are alone, it’s easy to think, incorrectly, that we are spiritually advanced. I can watch a Hallmark commercial alone and find myself moved to tears. I tell myself that I am a very compassionate person. But when I spend time in community with a person who annoys me, it’s amazing how quickly I experience “compassion fatigue.”

In community we discover who we really are and how much transformation we still require. This is why I am irrevocably committed to small groups. Through them we can accomplish our God-entrusted work to transform human beings. Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who hadn’t heard, Pastor John Piper’s father passed away yesterday. Below is his personal journal entry as posted at Desiring God. Pastor Piper was able to leave Bethlehem Baptist to be with his father for his last few days.

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Hello, My Father Just Died

 

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By John Piper March 7, 2007

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The following is John Piper’s journal entry narrating his father’s death on Tuesday, March 6, 2007.

The funeral is scheduled for Friday, March 9, 2007, at 2 p.m. at White Oak Baptist Church in Greenville, S. C. Visitation is 7:00-8:30 p.m. Thursday evening, March 8, 2007, at Mackey Mortuary on Century Drive in Greenville. All are welcomed.

John Piper will not be preaching this weekend at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007. 2 a.m.

The big hospital clock in room 4326 of Greenville Memorial Hospital said, with both hands straight up, midnight. Daddy had just taken his last breath. My watch said 12:01, March 6, 2007.

I had slept a little since his last morphine shot at ten. One ear sleeping, one on the breathing. At 11:45, I awoke. The breaths were coming more frequently and were very shallow. I will not sleep again, I thought. For ten minutes, I prayed aloud into his left ear with Bible texts and pleadings to Jesus to come and take him. I had made this case before, and this time felt an unusual sense of partnership with Daddy as I pressed on the Lord to relieve this warrior of his burden.

I finished and lay down. Good. Thank you, Lord. It will not be long. And, grace upon grace, hundreds of prayers are being answered: He is not choking. The gurgling that threatened to spill over and drown him in the afternoon had sunk deep, and now there was simple clear air, shorter and shorter. I listened from where I lay next to him on a foldout chair.

That’s it. I rose and waited. Will he breathe again? Nothing. Fifteen or twenty seconds, and then a gasp. I was told to expect these false endings. But it was not false. The gasp was the first of two. But no more breaths. I waited, watching. No facial expressions. His face had frozen in place hours before. One more jerk. That was all. Perhaps an eyebrow twitch a moment later. Nothing more. Read the rest of this entry »

Related Tags: Eagle Brook Church, Eaglebrook Church, Eagle Brook, Eaglebrook, Bob Merritt, Pastor Bob Merritt, Lino Lakes, White Bear Lake, Relevance Conference 2007, Relevance Conference, Relevance, Church Conference, Church Leadership, Leadership, Willow Creek Leadership Summit