Why do children of the Reformation retreat to Rome?

Since we are not far removed from Reformation Day, it might be a good time to ponder a question that puzzles me: Why do children of the Reformation retreat to Rome?

In other words, why do evangelical Christians convert to Roman Catholicism?

It happens periodically with well known evangelicals. During the last two decades, the list has included Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, author and Baylor University professor Francis Beckwith, young pro-life leader Lila Rose and, most recently, USA Today columnist and Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers.

You may be as perplexed as I am about why these switches occur. In a podcast two years ago, evangelical preacher and writer John Piper suggested four reasons these conversions take place. He said:

Many people of those who return to Rome are hungry for seriousness and are tired of the slapstick worship services that are normative in many evangelical churches.

Many are hungry for roots, a sense of history that they don’t feel in the new church plant down the street that seems to mainly want to hide its connectedness to any tradition.

Many are hungry for intellectual and artistic richness that worship services in jeans and movie clips and bouncing beach balls and the shrines of the drum set just don’t satisfy.

Many are hungry for authority and clarity and stability and sometimes it is just easier to let the church tell you what to believe and to be unburdened by the need to work it all out.

Piper's critique of the practices of some churches is strong but would appear to be on target in parts of the evangelical world.

He closed his assessment with this encouragement to evangelicals: "Let’s pour our lives into the true evangelical doctrines and grow churches that are strong and rich and serious and relevant and powerful and biblical and that overcome the weaknesses that have pushed some people away."

Fortunately, God has provided a fresh wind among evangelicals during the last two decades or so. Increasingly, churches are being serious about corporate worship, theology, expositional preaching, ecclesiology, and community. Young men are planting churches that demonstrate the same marks.

As an evangelical church, it is good to remember the reasons for the Reformation that Martin Luther helped ignite when he nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, on Oct. 31, 1517. The truths the reformers championed -- scriptural truths that conflicted with the teaching of Rome -- are the same ones we, as evangelicals, must not forget. They are:

-- Scripture alone is our final authority, not Scripture plus an individual, council, church, tradition, experience or document.

-- Christ alone is our mediator with God, not Christ plus any human righteousness or accomplishment.

-- Grace alone is the way of salvation, not grace plus any human work or method.

-- Faith alone is the means of justification, not faith plus any human merit or infusion of Christ’s righteousness.

-- The glory of God alone is the purpose of life, not His glory plus that of any other.

Planned Parenthood, the church and the USA

It's hard to imagine a dark underbelly still could be uncovered in the abortion industry, but it's happened.

After all, abortion is the killing of a truly defenseless human being. And it has been legal in this country for more than four decades to destroy unborn babies even into their ninth month of gestation. In that time, the deaths of mothers during abortions, the killing of born-alive infants outside the womb, the development of the now thankfully outlawed partial-birth abortion procedure, and the disgustingly unsanitary conditions and practices in some clinics have been well documented.

What else could there be? Well, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) has shown us. Thanks to the work of some enterprising investigators at the Center for Medical Progress (CMC), undercover videos have lifted the veil on other evils that lurk within some PPFA clinics.

As Americans, we all could have known what Planned Parenthood does and what it stands for, but it is often difficult for people busily working, rearing their children and serving in their churches to keep up with such organizations, especially when the mainstream media refuse to report on them. For those who have been able to keep up, here is some of what we have known previously about PPFA:

1. It is the United States' No. 1 abortion provider, averaging more than 325,000 abortions a year or nearly one-third of the lethal procedures performed in this country.

2. Its founder, Margaret Sanger, was a eugenicist who sought to prevent "human weeds," as she called them. (She founded the American Birth Control League, which developed into Planned Parenthood.)

3. It receives more than $500 million annually in government grants, contracts and reimbursements.

4. It never met an abortion it didn't like, opposing even the mildest of legal restrictions on the practice, including bans on late-term and partial-birth procedures.

In the last six weeks of video releases by CMP, here is some of what we have learned additionally about PPFA and some of its affiliates:

1. They traffic in body parts from aborted children.

2. They sometimes manipulate the abortion process to provide intact organs for research.

3. They will cut open live babies outside the womb from which to harvest organs.

This is an important moment -- maybe a pivotal one -- in the life of our country. I believe the true church will remain faithful to the Scriptural teaching that every human being from conception to natural death is an image bearer of God. I believe the church will continue to work to bring an end to such atrocities, as well as legal abortion, while helping women in need.

How this country will respond is a far different matter. There do not seem to be enough lawmakers willing to cut off government funding of Planned Parenthood. Certainly, our president is not willing to do so. One major political party is almost totally sold out to the abortion industry. The other often seems squeamish about confronting it. While some pro-choice citizens have acknowledged these new videos have caused them to rethink their position, many continue an all-out defense of Planned Parenthood. And while many Americans have expressed horror at what the videos have revealed, too many likely have grimaced initially before going on to the next thing. A society that cannot cry out for justice in such a matter is ripe for a fall. For this alone, God has reason to bring a new level of judgment on this country.

What can we do as the church of Jesus? Here are a few suggestions that likely serve more as reminders:

1. Pray, of course. For the defunding of Planned Parenthood. For the conversion to Christ of PPFA's staff members, their allies, and their advocates. For the protection of the mothers and their babies who continue to enter Planned Parenthood's doors. For revival in the church. For an awakening in the country. For a common-grace, common-good understanding in society of the intrinsic value of each human being.

2. Engage senators, representatives and other government leaders who need input from their constituients.

3. Support pro-life ministries that seek to help mothers to choose life for their babies and receive new life in Christ.

4. Live out a sanctity of life ethic that treats every human being -- regardless of condition, development or characteristic -- as a person made in the image of God with sacred value.

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Helpful resources for addressing same-sex issues

The nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, the ascendancy of transgenderism and the growing acceptance of homosexual relationships likely are raising numerous questions for the church. As followers of Christ, we may be asking ourselves:

-- Can a Christian experience same-sex attraction?

-- How do I help a fellow church member who acknowledges his or her same-sex attraction?

-- How do I help my child who senses he or she is attracted to the same sex?

-- How do I befriend, love and evangelize a gay or lesbian person?

-- How do I respond if a friend or family member invites me to his or her same-sex wedding?

-- How do I talk to my children about these issues?

And those are only some of the questions we may be confronting or will confront.

While other Christian organizations have provided helpful resources, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has performed what may be the most beneficial service for Christians in partnership with The Gospel Coalition and the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas. It has collected many videos and articles at a central site: Equip: Same-sex Marriage and Homosexuality.

The resources at this site include 20 brief videos of answers from Sam Allberry on questions related to same-sex attraction. Allberry is a British pastor who wrote the book Is God Anti-gay? and has acknowledged he deals with same-sex attraction. The site also features one-on-one interviews with other pastors and specialists, as well as videos of speeches and panel discussions from the ERLC's conference in October on the gospel, homosexuality and marriage.

Here are some of the best resources to help you get started:

"How to Care for Your Gay Neighbor" -- Rosaria Butterfield, converted to Christ from a lesbian lifestyle, gives advice on loving homosexuals.

"Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert" -- ERLC President Russell Moore interviews Butterfield in a conference session with the same title as the book about her conversion.

"What Does It Mean to Be a Same-sex Attracted Person Who Is Also a Christian?" -- Allberry briefly provides a biblical answer.

"How Can Christians Minister to a Same-sex Attracted Member Who Is Experiencing Loneliness?" -- Allberry explains the importance of friendships within the church, especially to a same-sex attracted Christian.

"Is It Okay to Be Gay? A Candid Conversation on Christians and Same-sex Attraction" -- Moore interviews Allberry, Butterfield and two others in a conference panel discussion.

How Should You Talk to Your Children About Same-sex Marriage?" -- Moore provides counsel to parents in a blog post.

"Here We Stand: An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage" -- This is a statement from a coalition organized by Moore in response to the Supreme Court's ruling that legalized same-sex marriage.

Seven truths as we face a new day as the church

While many have said much about the Supreme Court's June 26 decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, it is important for the church of Jesus Christ not to be silent in the wake of this grievous, barrier-breaking ruling. I introduced yesterday's sermon on I Peter 2:11-12 -- a passage that was providentially appropriate for the occasion -- by declaring seven truths on behalf of Covenant Community Church and our Lord and as a reminder to us as a congregation. Here they are, based on my manuscript, with a few tweaks and, in the seventh point, an additional sentence:

1. God is still sovereign. We may find it difficult to grasp the reason why such a ruling can come forth from five Supreme Court justices who live under the providential rule of the holy God. Yet, we know God does not align Himself with evil. This action did not soil God’s perfect character, but it did occur within His absolute control of all things. God is not without purpose in His sovereign rule.

2. God’s Word is still authoritative. Where the Bible speaks, God still speaks. The Bible has not been reimagined or reinvented to fit the fickleness of a frequently shifting culture. It still judges “the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” Heb. 4:12 says.

3. God’s design for marriage and sexuality is still in effect. The Supreme Court can decide what the governments of this country must recognize as marriage, but it cannot define what marriage is. Marriage was God’s idea. He defined it as only one relationship. The first chapter of the Bible tells us when God made human beings in His image He made them male and female. He gave the female to the male for them to be distinctive and complementary partners. God has made marriage to picture the gospel, and only a man and a woman can portray the Bridegroom and the bride who are the parties in the gospel. So much has happened in the last four weeks, it is difficult to remember what occurred on the first day of this month. Then, the most famous transgender transfer so far was unveiled, when Bruce Jenner appeared on a magazine cover looking like a female. The sexual revolution is bearing bitter fruit its proponents of 50 years ago likely did not imagine. These truths remain: God has made each human being permanently as either a male or a female; He has designed marriage as only between a male and a female; and He has given sexuality as a good gift only to be expressed by a male and a female within marriage.

4. Jesus is still the only Lord and Savior. As has always been true, the Son of God and His life, death and resurrection in our place are the only hope for sinners, and that includes each of us. Whether a person considers himself heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or transgender, no new marriage, no new gender identity, no acceptance of a new sexual orientation will deliver from the guilt, condemnation, shame, penalty, power and presence of sin. Only Jesus will.

5. We are still ministers of reconciliation. As with all our neighbors, no matter where they live, we remain ambassadors of Christ to them. The lesbian or gay in a same-sex union and the transgender person are not enemies to be reviled or avoided. They are fellow image bearers of God to be loved and served. We have the message of reconciliation with God to share with them. As Russell Moore has pointed out, same-sex marriage will produce great disappointment in many who find it does not satisfy, and we need to be prepared to love, serve, evangelize and disciple these “refugees from the sexual revolution.”

6. We will face new challenges. We should not minimize this reality: This is a new day for evangelical Christians in this country. We are in a strange land for ministry and liberty. We must prepare ourselves, our families and our church for friendship with and ministry to same-sex couples and the children of same-sex couples. We also must prepare ourselves for the intolerance to come. A winnowing is coming. We will face pressures of various kinds to bend the knee to a culture and likely a government that will brook no dissent. Many of us, if not all, will suffer harm. This is our heritage. Our faith sprang up amid hostility, and we have the privilege of joining the suffering saints who preceded us in this great cause.

7. We still win. No matter what happens, victory is assured – not because of any achievement of our own but because of the absolute triumph of King Jesus. We “overwhelming conquer through Him who loved us,” Rom. 8:37 says. We will reign with Him. This calls for humble trust, not haughty triumphalism. While we await that day, may we be joyful soldiers. May we reject fear, anger, frustration and depression. May we practice humility, gentleness, compassion, courage, holiness, faith, hope and love as we follow our Captain, and may we do it together.

It will be helpful to remind ourselves of these truths, and more, as we live as the church and walk united in truth and grace in the days to come.

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Lessons from a long airport wait

Last Sunday, Linda and I spent nearly five hours waiting to fly out of Dulles International Airport, most of that time in the terminal but some waiting on the plane at the gate and on the tarmac. The experience prompted some observations, as well as some applications for the church.

Observations:

1. There is something exceptional and wondrous about a gathering of the nations, including in an airport terminal.

2. A common cause during difficult circumstances produces an atypical camaraderie.

3. Some people serve sacrificially during difficult circumstances to help the needy.

Applications:

1. All the nations will be represented eternally in the exceptional and wondrous gathering around the throne of God.

2. Our common Savior and common cause -- the discipling of the nations -- produce a unique fellowship.

3. All of us have the opportunity to serve sacrificially like our Servant Savior to help the needy.

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How to respond to Bruce Jenner and transgenderism

Monday's unveiling of Bruce Jenner with a new appearance raised the transgender issue to a previously unknown level of cultural consciousness. There are a number of questions Christians face on how to respond to this growing phenomenon, but we must first get the basics right.

Last summer, I preached a sermon series titled "Gender, Sexuality, and the Purpose and Power of God." I addressed the transgender issue in that series' first sermon, which was on Genesis 1:26-27. In that text, the Bible says, "God created man" -- which is the word for human being -- "in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

Here are excerpts from that sermon's manuscript that relate to transgenderism:

Man, as used in these two verses, consists of both male and female. Both are made in God’s image. Both have a responsibility to rule over creation.

Yet, they are different. And there are only two kinds of them – male and female. There is purposefulness in this distinction, a purposefulness by God that is fleshed out in the verses that follow. . . .

God has not changed His pattern from creation. There is nothing in the Bible that indicates a revision in this truth – human beings are male and female. There is a distinction between the two. Each of us is whom God made us to be. And a vital part of who we are is our gender. We are either male or female. That is a reality to be embraced by each of us. A male should embrace the fact he is a male. A female should embrace the fact she is a female. It is God’s purposeful design in our lives. . . .

[H]ow should we respond? With truth and grace. In addition to embracing our gender and thanking God for making us exactly the way He has:

(1) We should not be shocked that such misguided thinking as that of transgender people is found in human beings. They, and we, live in a fallen world where the sin nature blinds us and causes us to believe lies. But we also should not surrender on this reality of Scripture and creation: God has made us male and female.

(2) We should not see those who have what is described as a gender identity disorder as monsters, mutants or freaks. They, like all other human beings, are made in the image of God.

(3) We should love, care for, serve, evangelize – and hopefully – disciple them. They, like all other sinners, need the gospel. And once they have received the gospel of Jesus, we should help them see that part of repenting and following Jesus is not rebelling against their Creator but accepting the gender they were given by God.

Five things to recognize in a 'Fifty Shades' culture

The record-breaking reception for "Fifty Shades of Grey" -- including in the South and Midwest -- provides an occasion for us, as Christians, to consider what it means "to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27b).

That was the topic a group of brothers and sisters who are part of Covenant Community Church in Fredericksburg, Va., considered the evening of Feb. 15. The discussion came during our monthly care group meeting.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" is the movie about the sadomasochistic relationship between a billionaire and a college student that opened with a domestic box-office haul of more than $94 million, breaking the record for a President's Day weekend. The movie is based on the first of a trilogy of books released three years ago. It took only two years for the series to sell 100 million copies worldwide.

There is a lot that could be written about the popularity of the books and movie. The books have been labeled "mommy porn," apparently because of the primary makeup of their readers. Their popularity with women apparently carried over to the film. An estimated 68 percent of the opening weekend audience was female.

But our concern in the care group discussion was what it means for followers of Christ in light of the definition in James that "[p]ure and undefiled religion" in God's sight includes keeping ourselves unstained by the world. Here are some conclusions I came to with the help of that conversation:

(1) We should recognize we increasingly are going against the current of our culture. The popularity of books and movies such as "Fifty Shades" reminds us of this reality. When a fictional account of the torture of a woman is this popular, we can surmise our culture has passed over a previously uncrossed line of public morality. As followers of Jesus, we progressively find a culture that increasingly worships at the altars of many aberrant forms of sexuality in conflict with the standards of Scripture and the holiness of God.

(2) We should acknowledge the temptations that surround us in a hyper-sexualized culture. Sex is a wonderful gift from God in the context for which He designed it -- marriage between a man and a woman. It also is powerful, and that is a good thing in marriage. Outside of marriage, its power is dangerous. This is nothing new. The apostle Paul warned the Christians in Rome to avoid "sexual promiscuity and sensuality" (Rom. 13:13). John Mark Yeats, associate church history professor at the undergraduate arm of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently said of the early church, "During the first couple of centuries, any Christian living in an urban environment would have experienced an all-out assault on Scriptural standards for morality. From sexual exploitation in public baths to sexual rituals as part of worship ceremonies in pagan temples, believers were assaulted with every form of temptation and visual stimuli. Yet the Christian's firm grounding in the Word gave a stronger foundation to the family. Virtue became a clear defining principle of the early church. As the social units of the broader culture continued to collapse and struggle, the clear claims of the Gospel stood in stark contrast. The church truly was a city on hill that couldn't be hidden." While our culture flaunts sexual immorality almost ubiquitously, we have an opportunity to demonstrate by our flight from temptation the overcoming power and love of Jesus.

(3) We should value Christ above all. If we would resist the Siren call of sexual temptation, we should find value in the One who is supremely valuable. If we do not treasure Jesus as "our life" (Col. 3:4), we are setting ourselves up to be seduced by a false god. No idol may be more enticing in our culture than that of biblically forbidden sexuality.

(4) We should realize we are in an ongoing fight. This battle against the pull of immorality in a hyper-sexualized culture is a daily one. It requires alertness and perseverance. We must spend time reading and learning from God's Word, as well as in prayer. We must constantly remind ourselves of the truth about God and His gospel -- and what He has accomplished for us in the cross-work of Jesus that gives us true and lasting life, meaning, satisfaction, joy and peace.

(5) We should help one another. We would do well to acknowledge we are all soldiers in this battle. The skirmishes may differ somewhat from disciple to disciple, but we are in the same war on the same cultural battlefield. That calls for prayer for one another, encouragement of one another and accountability to one another. If we would be the true church in this culture, we would graciously support one another as fellow warriors who are dependent on Christ and blessed by His body.

So thank you -- Scott, Rob, Donna, Bob, Di, Jim, Christian and Linda -- for the great conversation and the important contributions to thinking about what it means "to keep oneself unstained by the world."

* -- Photo attribution.