I recently wrote about the relatively unremarked issue of gender dysphoria and believers opting for gender reassignment. I wrote that I had communicated with Assemblies of God leadership about this issue some years ago, and that I believed a position paper is in order — now, not at some later date when it becomes a "real" issue.

And it has begun. I'd say the issue is now real.

While it hasn't surfaced within the Assemblies of God yet, I suspect it will within the next few years. Meanwhile, The Church Report Online released a special report in its May 2007 issue, titled: "Identity Crisis: A Transgender Minister Reappointed to Lead

Recently, I posted my Spider-Man Bible Study / Discussion Guide. Simultaneously, I dropped a few comments on some blogs that referenced a different Spider-Man Bible Study produced by Fuller Theological Seminary's professor Craig Detweiler.

Some GodBloggers have been critical of the whole "movie-based Bible study" enterprise. Not surprising, really: using Hollywood movies to teach Biblical truth is a little like using dance to teach worship, or wine to serve Communion. There may be a place for it, but it's going to generate controversy somewhere.

I've been asked before to justify how I could write a Bible study with a movie as its context. After all, if I'm writing a

My Spider-Man 3 movie-based Bible Study is here, at long last! I have permission from CTI to provide the study here on my site. Over the next few days or weeks, I'll post the previous combo-study I wrote for Spider-Man 1 and Spider-Man 2 as well.

Warning: the following contains spoilers! Stop now and do not read below this paragraph if you hate knowing anything beyond what the trailers reveal.

Spider-Man 3
The greatest battle lies … within

The first two Spider-Man films established Peter Parker and his super-heroic alter-ego as a popular and profitable theatrical draw: Spidey is loveably unstoppable and Peter Parker is the nice boy everybody wants to see "get the girl."

But Spider-Man 3 severs those silky threads of comfortable niceness, dumping Peter Parker and Spider-Man into a dark abyss where evil infects the

Update: The Spider-Man 3 study can be found here.

In early 2005 I wrote a Bible study for the Spider-Man 1 & 2 movies, currently only available via ChristianityToday.com. Last week I stopped by the offices of Christianity Today International and "volunteered" to freelance the Bible study for Spider-Man 3, as well, opening May 4 in a theater near you. (Here's the official site. Here's the IMDB site.)

So, this coming Tuesday, thanks to CT Movies editor, Mark Moring, I will attend a screening of Spider-Man 3 at 10 AM in downtown Chicago. Wahoo! After that, I will put on my thinking cap, review my extensive notes, think hard and start writing about the many redemptive themes from the film to weave into a Bible study useful for small group discussions and

I've blogged on tragedy before:

• Church shooting at Sash Assembly of God, Sash, Texas and a survivor's reaction ("God Protected Her")
• Katrina ("On Moral Levees," and "Nature, God, Blame and Shame")
• Former A/G youth pastor, Eric Brian Golden, who murdered his wife ("Youth pastor slays wife, confesses. Why, oh why?", with several updates)
• And 9/11, five years later ("September 11 and a Terrible Joy")

But since the massacre at Virginia Tech, I've been at a loss for words. I've wanted to try to research this to put it into perspective for myself and perhaps my readers — as if anyone could. But it's still too grisly and horrifying. I

I was surprised to read of a recent arrest at Central Bible College when some folks arranged a non-violent protest and an attempt to "dialog" with allegedly "homophobic" school officials over Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered issues recently:

Central Bible College: Our First Act of Civil Disobedience (via Soulforce)

The blogger, Brandy Daniels from Wheaton, writes:

We arrived to Springfield, Illinois [knowing] at the beginning that it was likely that Central Bible College would not be as pleasant a stop. We relentlessly pursued conversation with the administrators at the school, who told us again and again that our voice was not welcome, that this was a conversation that the school did not need or want.

Arriving at CBC, the protesters found the school ready, with police and security from Evangel, CBC, and the General Concil all around (all hands on deck, apparently). After loitering on the sidewalks just off

Greed is the surprising accompaniment to almost all our sins.

We all like lists. They help create organized presentations, and they are easy to remember. Perhaps that is why God chose a list format to present some of his most well-known laws. But what if we took that list — the Ten Commandments — and reduced it to its essence? What basic sins would we identify? One hopelessly alliterative preacher condensed the Decalogue to a clever three-point quip: man's chief temptations are "gold, girls, and glory." Gary Downing, in his article "Accountability That Makes Sense," agrees, calling them "the three issues with which we all struggle: money, sex, and power."

But perhaps we could distill even further, to a sort of grand unifying sin: greed. It is the misplaced love and desire that drives broken

While things are confusing down here, we can always trust in the hope of heaven.

About an hour northeast of Indianapolis on April 26, 2006, a tractor-trailer drifted across the Interstate 69 median. In its path: ten students and staff in a Taylor University van. The tractor ripped through one side of the van, scattering wallets, purses, and debris across the dark roadway and sending five souls into eternity.

In the accident's aftermath, one survivor was identified as Laura VanRyn, and officials contacted her family as she was airlifted from the site in a comatose state. Over the next several weeks the VanRyn family kept constant and prayerful vigil at her bedside while she struggled out of her coma.

Then came the shattering revelation: the young woman they lovingly watched over did not answer to the name Laura VanRyn. Instead, a battered and broken stranger lay in her place: fellow Taylor student and

Last year, on October 3, I did a live interview with John Hall and Stephanie Fraschetti from Word-FM about the "Jesus Camp" documentary that was then the height of Evangelical fear-mongering (start here if you don't know what I'm talking about: "Jesus Camp: Brainwashed in the Blood — or Is it Spin?"). At least that was before the Ted Haggard fracas blew up.

Not long before this interview took place, I had also been interviewed by MSNBC for its program, "The Most." (If you're interested, see "Jesus Camp and BlogRodent on MSNBC."). It was interesting experiencing these two interview formats back-to-back. I enjoyed being on "The Most" as a floating-head talker, but I really enjoyed chatting with John

I recently received this question in an email:

« Where does it say that we are not to torture others? No where in Scripture does it say "Thou shalt not torture." »

While it is true the proscription against torture can be nowhere found in the Book, we can also say that nowhere is doctrine of the Trinity explicitly spelled out. But this is an argument from silence, which says that because a text is silent on an issue, it has nothing to say to the issue.

But this argument from silence ignores the whole testimony of Scripture as to the expected character of the righteous man.

I would find it extremely ironic that the same God who instructs the righteous to care for animals would not expect us to extend similar care for prisoners (Proverbs 12:10, Deuteronomy 22:4, Exodus 23:5, Deuteronomy 25:4).

Over on my post, “Charismatic Heresy,” inspired by the egregious charismatic excess highlighted by Charisma editor J. Lee Grady, reader Lynn asked some questions that deserve more attention than a comment reply merits.

Lynn writes:

I go to an A/G church, but have very Reformed views. It has been a struggle for years.

Here’s one question I have: Why, if Charismatic/Pentecostals have the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” do they tend to have MORE sin/problems in life than other more mainline denominations? It seems to be a doctrine that this second blessing is supposed to give power to live a godly life. I just don’t see it! My Presbyterian and Baptist friends seem to have a better handle on living the Christian life.

What about “prayer language”? Is this phenomena really in the Bible? I see the gift of tongues, but not a prayer language solely for the individual? If it is really supposed to build up the believer, why does it produce such flakiness?

Perhaps you’ve heard of Yahawa Wahab recently? Mr. Wahab lives in Malaysia, and he’s looking forward to his day in court: He owes $218 trillion dollars. If Mr. Wahab paid off his debt by one dollar every second of every 24-hour day, he would need 68,770.28 years to pay down his bill--or 1,058 lifetimes with 65 years of earning potential ("How Big is a Trillion?").

The editors of Leadership journal have posted another incisive commentary on the state of the Church today in their Out of Ur weblog. It’s about how we (in the Western church) have turned the gospel into a pimping enterprise. There’s nothing really new here, it’s the same complaint Bonhoeffer had about “cheap grace.” But the language is, well, provocative. From church planter Jonathan Yarboro:

Update (07/14/2007): "Carlton Pearson: The closest to God you’ll probably ever get"

On Heresy

What is heresy? The textbook definition is simply:

• An opinion or a doctrine at variance with established religious beliefs … or
• A controversial or unorthodox opinion or doctrine.

And right alongside that definition — at least on this weblog, anyhow — you can find a picture of Bishop Carlton D. Pearson who wants to "rewrite the theology of the charismatic world" by preaching a "Gospel of Inclusion" asserting that Christ's death conclusively reconciled all mankind to God — whether we realize it or not — and that the only separation between man and God's grace is subjective, illusionary, and exists only in unenlightened minds (Carlton Pearson, "Jesus Savior of the World/Gospel of Inclusion — Position Paper," Higher Dimension website, viewed March 5, 2006).

More on that later, but first.…

My longtime email friend and fine Bayou pastor, Rev. Louis Bartet (The Grace Place), recently posed this thought-provoking question, which I have attempted to answer from my perspective.

« What in your opinion should be the primary basis of Christian ethics?»

Lou, doesn’t believe in simple questions with short answers!

Okay. I'll give the short answer first—just to save you time: the character and nature of God should serve as the primary basis of Christian ethics. God created us, and formed us in his image, therefore our ethics should reflect his character and nature. Like Jesus, we should do what we see our Father doing (John 5:19-20).

Unfortunately, the Fall in the Garden marred and damaged God's image within us. As a result, we can no longer consistently act within an ethical framework reflecting God's character. All have acted unethically: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Therefore, any ethical system which does not ultimately move us closer to the Divine ideal reveals a fatal flaw. Indeed, even our attempts to interpret the revealed ethical framework of Scripture inherits this flaw because God did not give us a systematic ethical calculus to cover every circumstance. Our ability to "tease out" the ethical underpinnings of God's character, nature, fall short. The flaw reveals itself in our tendency to legalize the framework and ignore the spirit of the laws he did provide.

Now, to unpack that a bit.

What is ethics?

This question was recently posed to me (and some other friends) on an email discussion-group:

« What is your take on Matthew 5:17-18 regarding the Law and Prophets? Do you believe we are still under the Law, and do you believe that we have Prophets today, and if so for what purpose in light of receiving the Holy Spirit individually? »

I waited with anticipation for an answer to these questions from the group, but nobody dared venture forth... I suspect it’s because the answers to those questions would require so much explanation that too many are daunted!

I too am daunted, but I've never let that stop me from being a foolish blow-hard (witness this weblog!). So, here goes a long answer.

First, see the a larger context of the verses cited:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have

Christianity Today just released an article by Sarah Sumner that so nicely exegetes Ephesians 5 that I am compelled to share it with you here. Not only that, I want to be sure to remember this, so it’s going into my blog as part of my online brain.

Article Summary
Sarah comes right out of the gates with the observation that we have read into Scripture what was probably never intended: that the metaphor describing the union between man and wife (we become one flesh, one body) and the imagery of that metaphor (that the man is the head, the wife is the body, as Christ is the head of the Church and we are his body) has been taken too far.

Ephesians 5 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up

I posted a couple comments recently on a blog I visited off my PneumaBlogs aggregator that I'd like to recapture here for additional commentary from my readers, if you're game.

There was an interesting post by Maryellen at her “To Everything a Time” blogspot about God's divine plan and predestination, and the moral and intellectual confusion this causes. In fact, Maryellen herself was asking good questions after reading some sci-fi, so like a good blogger, she shared the angst.

This was what caught my attention (from early morning insanity):

Is this whole mess God’s divine plan? ... And one more question, can one believe in God, love God, and still be damned? Like Cane, or Esau? Like Judas?

I commented:

Interesting post. I like your question, “can one believe in God, love God, and still be damned? Like Cane, or Esau? Like Judas?”

I took a few quizzes tonight, and I generously share the results with you, my Gentle Readers. I’m not sure what they really reveal about me. I worked as an opinion/market research interviewer for four years, and I know how very subtle changes in questions and their interpretation by the respondent can wildly skew results. But if you’re looking for a quick read on where I am theologically (or where you are, if you take the test) this may be helpful for you.

First, I went to QuizFarm and took the “What’s your theological worldview?” test. Here are the results.

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God"s grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your

UMC pastor, Donald Sensing, over at the One Hand Clapping blog, has posted his sermon manuscript on the failure of moral levees. It’s an excellent sermon in the wake of the Katrina disaster, regarding the fallen nature of man, and the need for the rule of God’s law in our hearts through love.

His best graphs, like finely polished jewels, come at the end:

One of the things that churches should do is train the moral sense of it members. The God who created us also demands a high level of morality in us. The Ten Commandments do not say that a little murder is okay, a little adultery is permissible, a little thievery is allowable. Instead they instruct: No murder. No adultery. No stealing. There’s no wriggle room.

Our continuing challenge as Christians is to follow the moral commandments of God’s law

In “The Ultimate Issue” Brian logged an interesting and thought provoking post on “designing your own God.”

Likewise, the hundreds of differing beliefs that people have about God, and the fact that people dearly want them to be true, do not make them true. God is who he is. God is the authority on God. We cannot design God. We have to deal with God as he is. We have to face reality, like it or not.

I like it. That’s good stuff.

Yet, I think there is a tension between having the right beliefs about God and having a personal knowledge of God—which will always be unique to at least a degree.

To make a comparison: Knowing God is like studying the stars. There are facts that can be known: among other things, stars are hot; are primarily composed of

If you haven’t seen this site, yet, you should. If you ever refer to the Greek or Hebrew texts in your Bible studies or sermon prep, then you really owe it to yourself to check out this website:

zhubert.com
For Fellow Students of the Bible in the Original Languages

When you get there, just check out your favorite passage in whichever language you prefer. Once you see the passage in all its glorious original language splendor, you can click on a word and get the lexical root, it’s basic meaning, and a bit more. You can suggest additions (or “fix”) definitions, the related words, etc., and your entry will be considered. You can also see the word frequency count of both the inflected form of the word you’re studying, and all its appearances in the root form, and by clicking on the graphs, you can go directly

Well, last night was a good night!

Went to church and gave my talk on the existence of Heaven and Hell. Had a good crowd show up. Unfortunately, as usual, I had far more prepared than I could deliver in 45-minutes. :: Sigh ::

So, I've put the entire manuscript online, and it's available on my PulpitRodent page.

Some comments I received: My wife noted that she really liked the section on proofs and whether we require the same high level of evidence for most of the things we believe as we do for religious things. She mentioned that it was the kind of thing that once I said it, she felt a "Well, duh!" sort of reaction. The kind of thing you always know, but don't always articulate. I liked that.

Someone else told me they didn't

I stumbled across an interesting passage from Plato's Phaedrus (translated by Benjamin Jowett) the other day. (Or, check out the published translation.) It seemed relevant to me as I am wrapping up my research on Heaven & Hell in preparation for my presentation at church this coming Wednesday.

I lean on the Internet quite a bit as I do research. And beside me at this moment I have no less than 16 books measuring two feet in height that I have also leaned on — or should I say they have leaned on me? Yet through it all I am painfully aware that my knowldge of either Heaven or Hell (I capitalize the terms for I think of them as real places) is bound up

I'll be teaching a class this next month. I'm deep in the middle of research for it now.

Believe or Not?
Do you believe everything you read...or not? When it comes to the claims of the Bible you have to ask yourself if you believe it...or not? Can you believe what the Bible says about the creation of the universe, heaven, hell and angels? This four part series seeks the answers to these difficult questions.

• Creation...Myth or Fact?
• How Reliable is the Bible?
• Is There Really a Heaven or Hell?
• Do Angels Exist?

I'm working on the "Heaven or Hell" topic. To my surprise, there's a lot more debate going on about Hell than I ever suspected.

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[tags]BlogRodent, Heaven, Hell, belief, religion, christianity, death, afterlife, paradise, gehenna, eternity[/tags]