I would contend it is a sin NOT to get angry at such.

Any clarification?

Jared, linkspam – a new term for me. I guess I did that to Timmy Brister last month. Great post, on your page, by the way.

James, great thoughts on which “message” is your functional Good News. Thanks brother.

Here is the perfect test. We are made to glorify God in worshipful response, and that happens when we see God as truly fantastic. When our sight is focused clearly on the person(s) of God, we cannot help but speak of what we see and love. Lovers offer each other poetic praise because it’s a spontaneous response. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Such is the nature of all evangelism. Adoration seeks saturation fuels evangelization.

What many people are enraptured by, in our time and nation, is a political ideology. It flows naturally from their mouth and heart in sweet (confrontational) “praise.” “Followers” fill their days & nights, friendships & family gatherings with such worship. They analyze their beloved belief from every angle. They are filled with a kinship toward those who believe, yet disdain towards those too dumb to convert. “The Way” holds out promise of a glorious future fulfillment: The Promised Land. A land flowing with un-infringed rights. Heaven on Earth.

I don’t hate these folks. In fact, I vote pretty much like they do, and with good, bible-informed reasons.

But a few years ago, I had to ask myself honestly:

If I spend my free-time hearing, conversations preaching, and daydreams dreaming of a Message, isn’t that Message it my functional Good News? Which message do I love most? If someone followed me around with a tape recorder, or if Christ played back the content of my thoughts, what message would they hear? When was the last time that someone who disagrees with my politics followed me as I followed Christ? When was the last time I followed someone who disagrees with me, as they follow Christ?

Thanks, Jonathan, for helping me to think through this issue more clearly. Thanks for helping me to repent and believe (and preach) the Gospel of the Only True God.

http://sites.google.com/site/americasgodcourse/week-nine–early-u-s–evangelicals–patriotic-misremembrance

He built the site for a Sunday school class he was asked to do a series on because of all the misconceptions about the Founding Fathers’ faith.

Does that sound preposterous? Listen to his definition of worship: ‘To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.’ If that is what worship really is, perhaps the Archbishop was correct. Only worship can save us.”

Jared’s post is also quite helpful here.

I have seen the dangers you speak of. Here, it seldom comes from the pulpit, but rather it comes out in small groups and informal conversations.

The other place it comes from is “christian” radio from groups like the ACLJ and the SBC’s ERLC.

I wrote on a similar thing that I see involved in Christ-less leadership development.