Brian McLaren: Christians living in ‘deep denial’

Renowned emergent church leader Brian McLaren stated recently that Christians are in "deep denial" over the continuous evolution of the Christian faith that allows the work of Charles Darwin to be celebrated, not feared.

McLaren has long argued that Christianity has lost touch with the original spirit, words and teaching of Jesus and with this in mind argued for an overhaul of the Christian faith in his 2010 book ‘A New Kind of Christianity.’

McLaren was part of a panel discussion that addressed the evolution of the church and Christian identity in postmodern or "post-postmodern" times.

The telecast discussion was part of "The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity," a project that seeks to bring together a diverse panel of "evolution-celebrating" Christians who don't believe one has to settle on either Jesus or Darwin.

"Evolutionary Christianity is a fact of history about which a lot of Christians are in deep denial," said McLaren. "The fact is the church has constantly been evolving. So many Roman Catholics are shocked to learn that priestly celibacy wasn't required for quite a while. It was several centuries ago that it became a universal requirement."

"I think of lot of Protestants assume that when the Apostle Paul was establishing house churches they had Sunday School, bulletins and hymnals," he continued. "So many of things, even doctrines that are very precious to a lot of people, particularly doctrines of atonement, for example, have evolved greatly over history."

The pastor and author also praised faith perspectives that permit the discussion of Darwin and evolutionary theory as opposed to some conservative views that refuse to even dialogue around the possibility.

"[I]t enables us to do theological reflection on the theory of evolution and on evolution as a beautiful ark of history and ark of creation," explained McLaren. "Personally, that has freed me in so many ways. It's raised my vision of who and what God would be. It has certainly raised my excitement on what it means to be a Christian."

McLaren also said that refusing to see the possibilities in “Evolutionary Christianity” would restrict Christians from moving confidently into the future.

"The call to be a Christian and a follower of God and of Jesus, that call is a call to the future and not a call to the past," said McLaren.

"My Christian identity is more about joining God in the healing, restoration and development and evolution of the world moving toward a brighter, richer and deeper future," he said. "Where as the identity of joining the Christianity apart from an evolutionary understanding is joining the ranks and we're holding the lines of something that is 2,000 years old."

During the course of the discussion McLaren also spoke at length about Christianity’s relationship with other religions.

He challenged, "Is it possible to find a strongly Christian identity that is strongly benevolent and hospitable and friendly to people of other faiths?"

Reversing Christianity’s bad image once confession at a time

Changing the Face of Christianity, Inc. is a non-profit that exists to reverse the bad image of Christianity that many have. The group have launched a new campaign in this regard, which encourages Christians to publicly confess their shortcomings by leaving notes in public places and reporting them on a website.

The My Confession campaign hopes that in getting Christians to acknowledge and be real about problems such as hidden hypocrisy, intolerance and homophobia – they will improve Christianity’s standing in the minds and hearts of those non-Christians who carry hurt because of things Christians have said or done.

"We are trying to help Christians actually change for the better. This begins by acknowledging we have a problem through heartfelt confession,” explained the founder of Changing the Face of Christianity, R. Brad White.

White is a previous atheist who now follows Christ and believes his mission in life is to challenge and change Christian intolerance and restore the Jesus Christ message of grace among those who carry his name.

The CFC founder shared his own personal confession about being a “homophobic Christian.”

"My confession is I’ve allowed my religious convictions to make me numb to the human rights of gays and lesbians,” confessed White. “I haven’t consciously fought against gay marriage, but I’ve allowed outspoken Christian political activists to limit the human rights of LGBTs and let them speak for me through my silence.”

“My confession is I've been a homophobic Christian. The gay community deserves love, not discrimination,” he added.

The project encourages participants to put their confessional notes in a public area such as on a public restroom mirror, bank ATM, or gas station pump instead of sending them to him. Once the secret confession has been posted publicly, White asks participants to take a picture and post it to the My Confession website.

White says the ultimate aim of the project is to encourage Christians to find maturity in their faith.

“Through confession, we are inviting God into our hearts and minds and allowing Him to do His transforming work in our lives,” he concluded.

So what do Lily Allen and Lent have in common?

Controversial singer Lily Allen’s song ‘The Fear’ and clips from movies like Lord of the Rings and 2012 are just some of the things a Bishop is encouraging Christians to use as part of their devotionals this Lent.

The newly-appointed Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Steven Croft, has compiled a five-week course entitled Exploring God's Mercy, which suggests Christians play popular songs or DVD clips at the start of each session to set the scene for the week’s theme.

The Lenten resource can be used by small groups, couples or individuals and employs varied communication techniques from YouTube videos, iPod podcasts and the more traditional Scripture readings.

Croft says Lily’s hit song The Fear is the ideal listening material for participants in the course, because he believes it captures a “certain spirit” of modern culture, and thinks it is a “clever” song with interesting puns.

However, the Bishop did stress church groups should only play the radio edit of the 2009 track, instead of the uncensored version which is littered with four-letter words.

“There is the kind of mindset expressed to which I think the Christian gospel has a great deal to say,” Croft said.

“I’m not commending it as a way to think, but the song sums up a particular way of seeing the world which is very common, which is confused and afraid, but also confident.”

The Bishop added: “There is a pretty clear instruction in the book to group leaders to check out the lyrics first and to make sure that they use the radio version.”

Lily Allen’s songs hit the headlines last year when U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said he had banned his six-year-old daughter Nancy from listening to them because some of the lyrics were “inappropriate” for a child of her age.

Croft, who is a father of four grown-up children, agreed that he wouldn’t have allowed his children to listen to uncensored versions of Lily’s songs at primary school age.

Croft also explained the overall vision of his course.

“The depth, strength and constancy of God’s love is of course a lifetime’s journey and Exploring God’s Mercy is designed to take groups or individuals further on that journey," he said. 



The course focuses on five images of salvation: the weekly sessions are entitled Lost and Found: Hungry and Satisfied; In Prison and Set Free; Sick and Made Well; Storm Tossed and Comforted; Living the Fruitful Life.



Each session contains a reading from Psalm 107; a testimony based on Mark’s Gospel focusing on the ministry of Jesus; and a New Testament passage looking at Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.

See yourself in the poor says Tim Keller

New York Times bestselling author Tim Keller says Christians could get to grips with why they should help the poor more easily if they began to see themselves spiritually in those that lack materially.

Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, and the author of many books including his latest ‘Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just’.

In a recent interview, Keller said:
“The more you see yourself as spiritually poor and the recipient of God’s wonderful grace the more your heart is going to go out to the poor. When you look at the materially poor you know that in a sense you are looking in a mirror.”

Keller also applies this technique to common fears regarding sharing with the poor. For example, quite often people wonder whether the poor person will abuse their charity and grace, but then Keller says they should remember that they have also “trampled” on God’s charity and grace by not living the life they should.

The influential leader also pointed to Deuteronomy 15:4 (“However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you”) and Acts 4:34-35 (“that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need”) to illustrate the theological continuity from the Old to New Testament regarding generosity and sharing so that everyone has enough.

“The more you understand the gospel of grace with the mind and experience with the heart, the more likely you are to care about people who are poor, marginalized, [and] hungry,” added Keller. “I think that is a very important biblical theme.”

Keller sees justice as empowered by an experience of grace. He defines justice simply as giving everyone what they deserve according to what God thinks is fair to give to those made in His image.

Youth united by Tony Blair’s interfaith leadership program

Over 680 young people between the ages of 20-27 have applied to participate in Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Faiths Act Fellowship this year.

The program is in its second year, and chooses 30 young people from Canada, India, the U.K. and the U.S. who are motivated by their faith to assist vulnerable people. Those who are selected are then paired with someone of another faith to work together in local communities to tackle global poverty. Part of their mandate is to attempt to unite the various different local religious communities to raise funds and awareness of these problems.

Forty-one percent of this year’s applicants to the interfaith youth leadership program were Christians, while Muslims (17%) and Hindus (18%) made up the second and third highest faith groups that applied.

“The idea that young people are not motivated by faith to help others – or that faith only inspires conflict – is simply wrong,” stated the British ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, founder and patron of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.

“The number of applicants clearly shows the enthusiasm there is among today’s young people to demonstrate how faith can be a force for good in society,” said Blair. “It can build understanding and provide unity and strength to counter those who see faith as a source of division and discrimination.

“As the first ever World Interfaith Harmony Week approaches I remain an optimist about the future, when I see the commitment of this generation to deliver real change.”

The U.N. World Interfaith Harmony Week will take place the first week of February.

This year, the particular focus of Blair’s program is on eradicating deaths from malaria.

Israel promises Christian site is safe for pilgrims

Only a few months before the official opening of one of Christianity's holiest sites, the area where John the Baptist is believed to have baptized Jesus remains surrounded by thousands of land mines.

The Israeli government has promised the site known as Qasr el-Yahud is already safe since it is routinely visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists, but advocacy groups are deeply concerned about the dangers.

This site is Christianity's third holiest; after the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem where it is believed Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem where church tradition teaches Jesus was born.

Israel have controlled the site since the 1967 Six-Day War, but there have always been security concerns because of leftover land mines. The ancient churches and monasteries in the area, which date back to the fourth century, are surrounded by signs reading "Danger! Mines!"

Thousands of people currently visit the site annually, but with the official opening this figure could rise to millions thereby increasing the dangers, although it is claimed by the Israeli government that the baptism site and adjacent churches are located in a completely mine-free zone, and thus pose no danger is posed to tourists or worshipers.

"The [army] regularly clears away minefields in the Jordan River Valley, and in the last year alone approximately 8,000 mines have been removed from the area," a recently released statement declared.

The site is right on the border with Jordan, who cleared the minefields on their side after signing a peace deal with Israel in 1994.

Jordan has developed a cultural heritage center across the narrow river from the West Bank shrine, claiming it as the true site of the baptism. Pope John Paul II visited this site in 2000, reinforcing its claim.

Irish Bishops were forbidden to report abuse

A newly revealed letter from the Vatican dated from 1997 forbids Ireland's Catholic bishops to report suspected child abuse cases to police since this would be in violation of the church's canon laws.

The damning letter was brought to light by Irish broadcasters RTE and provides details of the Vatican's complete rejection of an Irish church initiative to assist police in identifying paedophile priests.

The letter contains information from the Vatican's diplomat in Ireland who quotes instructions from a church panel in Rome, the Congregation for the Clergy, which declared that the new Irish policy of "mandatory" reporting of abuse claims was in conflict with canon law.

The Vatican has yet to officially endorse any of the Irish church's three main documents on child protection since 1996. All of these documents stress mandatory reporting of suspected offenses.

"The letter is of huge international significance," said Colm O'Gorman, director of the Irish section of Amnesty International. "It shows that the Vatican's intention is to prevent reporting of abuse to criminal authorities. And if that instruction applied here [in Ireland], it applied everywhere."