Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

There are few politicians I hold in greater disdain than I do Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. This RINO Republican (Republican in name only) constantly comes off as a smarmy, smug arrogant political hack. (And yes, I’ve met him personally.) He is one of the leading Republican proponents for abortion on demand and the fact that he’s the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is a tribute to the spinelessness that has made the Republican Party in Washington the ineffective failure it has largely been during the last decade.

A self-avowed “centrist”, what he really possesses is a unique ability to get re-elected in spite of the fact that he has no fundamental core principles by which he governs his philosophy or politics.

In just the latest example, he has now come out publicly criticizing the Philadelphia Eagles for their treatment of NFL ingrate Terrell Owens while at the same time, criticizing Owens’ conduct and behavior. Not only that, he’s threatening to haul the leadership of the NFL franchise before a Capitol Hill Committee that oversees anti-trust violations contending that the Eagles refusal to allow Owens to leave the team this year and play for an opponent somehow violated federal monopoly laws. And oh yeah, he can’t stand Owens personally and thinks he should be paid.

Not since (former)New York Governor Cuomo’s pussy-footing stance of “I am personally opposed to abortion but I support a woman’s right to choose abortion” have we seen a bigger example of cowardly wishy-washiness. Quite frankly I have more respect for true-blue liberals of the Kennedy and Wellstone ilk who don’t try to play it both ways than I do for these duplicitious Republicans who wear a so-called conservative party’s label and try to make nice with the liberals.

Too bad the citizens of PA didn’t have the good sense to vote him out of office when they had the chance last year.

But, hey….that’s just MY opinion.

Rant over. (Aren’t you glad?)

As I mentioned in an earlier blog article, one of our NCA graduates and church members, 1st Lt. John Zaal was injured in Iraq a little less than 2 weeks ago. His dad keeps me posted on his recovery and hopefully he and Janet will be able to go visit John in Germany shortly. Keep him in your prayers as well as the other brave men and women who wear the American uniforms.

Here’s a picture of John and a link to a website that gives more information on John’s heroic actions as he was wounded.

I’ve always been a kind of “Eat the Meat and Spit Out the Bones” kind of guy. It’s not a position that I think everyone should take. Without trying to be arrogant, I believe that I largely possess a grasp of orthodox and fundamental Christianity and its corresponding worldview that allows me to read a wide variety of authors ranging from Evangelicals to Infidels and to be able to sort through their various ideas and perspectives without “buying into” that which is unBiblical. I often use the “…eating the meat…” analogy to defend my broad stable of authors and leaders after whom I follow.

One such example of an Evangelical Leader I’ve enjoyed reading after and following his ministry has been Rick Warren. There’s plenty of meat in his book entitled “The Purpose-Driven Church.” It’s a stimulating read and I foundit helpful on multiple levels. I don’t believe in blindly closing my eyes to what the Lord is blessing in other cities simply because I wouldn’t use the exact same methodology in my own setting. I need to be prodded — even provoked, at times, to avoid falling into the traps of traditionalism, apathy or lethargy that is causing a lot of churches to fight over inconsequentials and whither in their own vineyards. In the interest of full-disclosure, you should know that we use some of the principles of “The Purpose-Driven Church” at our church, I’ve visited his church on two occasions and I’ve read several of his works. I just don’t switch off my brain when I’m reading someone.

For me, I was significantly less impressed with his blockbuster book, “The Purpose-Driven Life.” Yes…I know lots of people whom the Lord touched through reading this book. I don’t doubt their sincerity or the validity of the salvation. God calls whom He will using whatever means He chooses and I’m not going to engage in a debate on the genuineness of salvation experiences apart from Doctrinal Issues. Though speaking of Doctrinal Issues, I must note that my largest objection with “The Purpose-Life” was the absence of any significant discussion of what it means to “take up one’s cross and follow Jesus”. Short shriff was given to the non-seeker-friendly doctrine of Repentance in my opinion. There was a substantial whiff of Finneyesque “Decisionism” which promotes “making a decision” as opposed to a genuine “conversion” and which, once again in my opinion, promotes a false sense of security. So, I would say it is “light” on at least this key principle, but I would not categorize it as dangerous and heretical, as some have.

(As for giving someone a book that introduces them to the gospel, I far and away prefer Andy Stanley’s excellent little book, “How Good is Good Enough?”.)

But I will state here, that I have seen a marked change in the demeanor of Rick Warren since he became [arguably] “the world’s most influential Protestant pastor” and due largely, to his media-driven cash cows surrounding the “Purpose-Driven Life” campaigns. He certainly is now coming across as a man with an emerging “Messiah Complex” and we need to listen to his words carefully.

No longer satisfied with building a network of “Purpose-Driven” Churches, Warren now wants to end AIDS in Africa, erradicate poverty around the world and apparently unite all churches who “love Jesus” into a joint exercise in ecumenical group hugging.

For me, a major bone that caught in my throat was the press reports that he had written a substantial check to the rank liberal Baptist World Alliance which embraces a theological mushiness and liberalness that caused the Southern Baptist Convention to withdraw their affiliation and funding. Warren denounced the SBC pull-out, spoke kinds word about the BWA without caveat and announced that he and his wife had written a generous check to the BWA.

Now, there’s an even more ominous statement being attributed to Warren in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette article I linked to earlier in this article. (In case you missed it — click here.)

Let me quote some of his statements… (You can go read the whole article for the complete context.)

“It really doesn’t matter what your label is. If you love Jesus, we’re on the same team,” he said.

“I really do feel that these people are brothers and sisters in God’s family. I am looking to build bridges with the Orthodox Church, looking to build bridges with the Catholic Church, with the Anglican church, and say ‘What can we do together that we have been unable to do by ourselves?’ “

Stop the buffet line, I’m harking on a major-league bone here.

If “loving Jesus” is all that is required to put someone on Rick’s “team”, then he needs to look around him before leading in Kumbayah. He’s going to be holding hands with Muslims (remember — in their book, Jesus was a Prophet and they “love” prophets), with liberal Protestants (folks like UMC and PCUSA and others still “love” Jesus while they try to earn their way to heaven on works), with cultists like the Jehovah Witnesses, Worldwide Church of God, Mormons and let’s throw in some White Separatists folks — they all “love” Jesus.

What should “bind us together” is not a shared goal, similar origins or some sort of mushy admittance that “Jesus” was a good guy — it should be TRUTH. Nothing less.

Why would Warren be interested in “building bridges” of cooperation with people who deny fundamental doctrines such as sola scriptura, sola gracia, sola Christos, sola fide, the Diety of Christ, the Doctrine of the Trinity and other key lines of orthodoxy?

What is it about high-profile evangelical leaders that entices them to sell out their beliefs to maintain their viability in the world politic? I sat, less than a year ago, and listened personally and in his presence, Billy Graham espouse the virtues of the head of the Roman Catholic Church as if he was an evangelical orthodox Born-again Believer. Even a first-year seminarian at any real evangelical or fundamental school will tell you that the gospel as preached by Rome is far removed from the Gospel taught by Bible-believing Baptist, Protestant and evangelical churches.

When men of the stature of Graham and Warren start making these kind of high-minded and unsound declarations in front of their adoring masses and sycophants, someone needs to speak up and demand clarification and/or correction.

I can turn my nose up at some of the pragmatic philosophies that drive much of the modern church movement today. I can choose to ignore some of the positional compromises that are taking place in regards to philosophy and methodology as I choose what I believe is a sounder, more Biblical strategy in my own ministry. I can dismiss some of the “trendiness” we see in today’s “Church Growth” empire as just one more fad that will flare up and die away in the face of Eternal Truth.

But when we start serving “bones” disguised as “meat”, someone needs to fire the chefs. The corruption being introduced into orthodox, fundamental Christianity by the likes of the “Emergent” folks, the “Open Theists”, the philosophically ignorant and the theologically pragmatic needs to be clearly identified and warned against.

While there is much to appreciate by many of today’s Evangelical “superstars” — when their notoriety and fame stir them to statements that are at least intemperate and poorly constructed and at worst, dangerous and heretical, good leaders need to stand up and speak out.

The road to heaven is narrow, the gate is small, the cost is high — and there is but one way to gain entrance — through Christ alone.

We must never water down the real message of the Gospel. Not for fame, not for fortune, not for opportunity, not for access, not for good and noble ends, not for anything. The Gospel stands quite well on its own. Spiritual leaders need to lift it high.

I hope everyone had a good Thanks-giving. My gang and I are taking a prolonged holiday break at our house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This was our first Thanksgiving here and it was very nice. We actually ate with the french doors open and a warm fall sun shining on parts of our table. We nearly an hour away from any significant mall, so Julie is shopping on-line instead of doing the whole Friday-After-Shopping thing. I have some work I have to get done today and the kids are playing games and having a generally good time. So please forgive me if I haven’t posted anything really substantive for a few days.

Several of you have written asking about my harddrive and whether or not I have received any word from the data retrieval folks. The answer to that would be “no”. I don’t know if that means “no news is good news” or “they just didn’t want to spoil my Thanksgiving” — but either way, I’m still functioning without three years of my life. Thanks for asking….

We had a tremendous week at church last week. Sunday was our Chest of Joash offering. I had set an optimistic goal of $100,000 above our regular $45,000 budget offering. We have several projects and initiatives (like starting a new daughter church) that we really want to get underway and this offering was to fund that. When the offering was counted on Monday, we had received $80,000 and some change. That’s nothing to snort at and I was pleased, but still wondered what projects would be left behind.

Tuesday night, we had planned (sort of on the spur of the moment) a “Family Thanksgiving Meal” as part of our traditional Thanksgiving Praise Service which we hold each year on Tuesday to replace our Wednesday WOW service. The service is usually small with maybe 200 people coming as many are busy traveling, etc… We asked people to pick up free tickets for this event so we’d know how many tickets to print. When it was all said and done, we ended up with 650 people joining us! It was a tremendous time of fellowship and rejoicing for our church family. I can’t wait until the next one. We actually had to move it into our gym so that we could hold everyone in one room.

But the story isn’t over. I asked our church leadership team to serve the turkey and fixings to our folks as they came through the buffet lines. One gentleman, who is a dear saint of the Lord and a prayer partner of mine, asked if he could whisper something in my ear. I was busy, but this man is just a dear friend. He pulled me aside and said, “I really think the Lord wants us to hit that $100,000 goal and I think He wants me to make it happen. So, next week, I’ll bring a check by for $20,000 to make sure we hit the goal.” Isn’t that incredible! I could hardly serve the turkey without blubbering in the gravy!

So, this year, even my leftovers have been blessings. God has been so good to me in the last few weeks that a lost harddrive seems pretty inconsequential in comparison.

Next Wednesday night, I’m sharing with our church a plan whereby we can complete our HUGE parking lot project and traffic flow and road improvement project in the next year as well. This is a major opportunity for our church and I hope they will be as excited as I am when they see how the Lord has orchestrated a way for us to see these long-needed projects addressed. We have acres and acres of pavement that desperately need replacement and if we vote to follow through on this plan, our entire campus will look completely different and fresh.

That’s some of what’s going on in my life, post-Thanks-giving. But the spirit of Thanks-giving can keep right on flowing if we’ll just look around and see what God is already doing!

Tomorrow, I will sit at a Thanksgiving table with my wife and four children. It will be loaded with the Burrell family traditions turkey, Julies incredible sweet potato casserole, my hand-made/home-made country noodles, green bean casserole and topped off with home-made pumpkin pie and blackberry cobbler (from blackberries we personally picked.) At some point in the conversation, we will discuss things for which each of us are thankful. At out table tomorrow, it will be whine free. We will be tee-totalers when it comes to griping tomorrow (and when it comes to beverages of the alcoholic kind as well).

I will confess that Im not always a half-full kind of guy. My nature is just a tad too perfectionistic, my spirit many times to critical, my desire for excellence often clouds my pleasure in things that arent pretty good otherwise. So for me, I often tend to look at the glass as half empty. I purposefully have to reset my own calibration of things that make me gripe from time to time and sometimes those closest to me need to remind me its time for an attitude adjustment when Im just being to negative, grumpy or dissatisfied.

It might just be that our whole culture is that way. I read several surveys recently on the internet and elsewhere that noted that todays Americans are gloomy, discouraged and pessimistic. But do we really have cause to be so whiny right now.

Stop and think about it.

In spite of hurricanes, wars and ridiculous fuel prices, our unemployment rate is way below most other national economies. Theres LOTS of work out there for people who are willing to work.

Nationally, weve had a warm fall and summer wasnt a scorcher either. Utility bills have been moderate and weve enjoyed mild weather that has allowed us to be outside and enjoying life.

Our military and government has done an incredible job of keeping the bad guys away from us. Remember the threats of imminent attack by Al Quaida and other terrorist organizations right after 9/11? Yet, weve remained attack free. Im not sure how theyve managed to stop the various plots and plans (and perhaps I dont want to know) but no one thought wed go this long without another attack.

Our Government, as flawed as it might be at times, is absolutely unexcelled by any other government or system of governance. Weve got a President who is sympathetic to Christian values, if not as effective as wed like him to be. Weve got competent leaders throughout the administration. And if we dont like them 2006 is next year and we can change direction with the pull of a voting machine lever.

We ARE winning in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the war or not, the American military is an example to every army past and present. They kill and defeat the enemy with machine-like precision. They care about civilians. They are rebuilding nations. All the while, hate-filled, Islamic lunatics are hell-bent on murdering them and anyone in their way with a zeal that is virtually unequalled in all of human history.

Think of all the conveniences we enjoy by simply of the virtue we live todayIPods, high-speed internet, luxury cars, huge houses, supermarkets, cell phones, satellite TV and radio, microwaves and so much more. Are we not spoiled?

Sure health care is expensivebut, wait no country in the world has made the kind of medical interventions possible that we enjoy in the US. If youve ever seen a hospital in the rest of the world, they cant hold a candle to what we have in the States.

Spiritual freedom look at the Christian subculture that doesnt just exist, but flourishes today. Twenty-four hours a day we have access to music, preaching, books, media, support groups, chatrooms and forums, counseling and more that comes from the Christian perspective. While a lot of it is bones theres plenty of meat to enjoy as well.

Travel is incredible today. I could have flown to my moms house for less than $250. Sure gas is $2 a gallon, but thats done a buck and half from 3 months ago.

I can pick up the phone and talk to my mom and sisters for a nickel a minute. No limits.

I go to the grocery store and I can choose from 10s of thousands of items. I can have my turkey baked, broiled, broasted, rotisseried or even fried. I dont have to make anything from scratch that I dont want to make.

I will go sit in my leather recliner after I hit, use my remote to flip through the football games, relax in a house that is a mansion by world-wide standards and later waddle into the bedroom to take a nap on my king-sized bed.

And I want to whine? Puhleeze.We need to grow up and be grateful.

Good friends, good food, good shelter. And best of all a great and gracious God.

Nope No Whine with my Thanksgiving meal this year!

Regardless of your position on the war, no one can deny that the American soldiers who are protecting our nation and serving our Commander in Chief are courageous examples of courage and discipline. Few people in our country don’t know of at least one family who has sent one of the sons or daughters to Afghanistan or Iraq.

The personal danger and costs of the war have come very close to our church family this week as we received a report of the wounding of 1st Lieutenant John Zaal (Marines) who is a graduate of Northside Christian Academy and a member of Northside Baptist Church. His father, Ron and Ron’s wife, Janet, are among the dearest members of our congregation.

1st Lieutenant Zaal was engaged in an exercise in which his platoon came under a grenade attack by Iraqi insurgents. One of the men was killed and several others were wounded — including John. 1st Lt. Zaal is the Platoon Weapons Commander and has the authority to call in air support. Even while seriously injured and knowing those around him were in the same position, John had the discipline and courage to call in air support. With minutes, an F-15 had arrived and wiped out the renegades.

John has been airlifted to Germany where he was treated for shrapnel wounds in all four of his extremities. He will be medivaqued to the USA when he is able to travel. He has been able to talk to his father and Janet and is in good spirits and concerned about his men.

Please pray for John Zaal and his recovery and for our other brave women and men in uniform. While political debate rages here as to the progress of the war, we must never forget that everyday is a life and death struggle for young people who wear the American flag on their sleeves and who are willing to fight the nastiest of Earth’s scum in the name of freedom.

I try to visit a wide number of blogs on a weekly basis and there are about 20 on my rotation. This week I found two articles in particular that I think are worthy of any thinking fundamentalists time.

The first is written by Dr. Kevin Bauder of Central Baptist Theological Seminary. It is entitled, “Are These Rights? A Response to the Homosexual Agenda“. It is a very articulate examination of the issue of Homosexual Rights and the fallacies being used to promote an extreme agenda.

The second article is in regarding to the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, pastor of the Bellview Baptist Church in Memphis. Dr. Rogers passed away earlier this week and was the first president in the resurgence movement of conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention. The article, written by Ben Wright who goes as “Paleoevangelical” on his blog is entitled, “On Denominations and Militancy: What was Adrian Rogers Supposed to Do?” is a thoughtful and thought-provoking essay on the relationship Independent Baptists, such as I and others, have with Southern Baptists. His dilemma is akin to mine and I appreciated the way that he enunciated the conundrum. I don’t know much about Ben Wright, but this blog entry was excellent.

So, while my posting has been light of late, go to these blogs for a meal for your mind.

This time next week, shoppers will be pouring over sales circulars ready to go on a gluttonous spending spree that will propel our economy upward and our personal financial resources downward. But before you go forth to share in this annual ritual of irresponsibility, I’d like to ask a question…

What did you get for Christmas last year?

Unless it was a new puppy or an engagement ring, I’m guessing you can’t remember (I can’t) or if you do remember, it would only be one or two items.

Let’s be honest, Christmas (or if you’re Wal-Mart, Target and other politically correct megastores “Holiday“) gift-giving has become an orgy of excess. We give stupid presents (like mugs, anything that they promote as belonging on an “executive’s desk”, fragances and clothes in which many of us wouldn’t be caught dead) to people who don’t need more stuff, who don’t deserve more stuff, or whom we don’t even know or like very well. Seriously — I’m not just being a scrouge here. It’s gotten ridiculous.

I’ve seen parents go into 3 months of debt to give a 1-year old every new toy and stimulation game created when the kid will have NO, ZERO memory of the event by the time they take their afternoon nap. In many cases, products we spend billions of dollars on collectively will be offered for pennies on the dollar at garage sales and on Ebay in the coming months. And for what?

The most frightening aspect of this Christmas spree of absurd indulgence and over-compensation is the financial ruin it will leave in its wake for many families. Credit cards will be maxed, real giving for legitimate needs will be short-changed, stress will be introduced — and for what? Peace on earth, good will toward men? Hardly.

Let me get real practical in this entry. Let me give you 12 things you can do to reduce Christmas spending and to make the spending you do engage in become more worthwhile.

1. Give gift cards. I know, I know…your 8-year old can’t play with gift cards. I’m not saying “only” give gift cards — just give them where appropriate. As a school teacher years ago, I would have much rather had a $10 gift card to a grocery store than a bottle of cheap cologne or another one of those blasted coffee mugs people are always giving teachers. (I didn’t even DRINK coffee!) But on the limited budget that we were on, gas or grocery cards would have been a huge blessing. Gift cards are great for co-workers, the elderly, teachers, newspaper deliverers, pastors, extended family and others who probably already have enough “stuff” at their house. For those who say that giving a gift card is less “thoughtful” than all the trouble in getting a gift and wrapping it and presenting it, I would say — I personally find it thoughtful when someone remembers me at all and who knows that I probably would like to use a gift card to “splurge” on something at Home Depot or take my wife to dinner than I would enjoy getting something that someone’s going to need to dust.

2. Scale it back. Seriously…simply don’t spend so much. What does $25 say that $20 doesn’t say. Yet, that’s a 20% savings over all.

3. Set a limit on the number of gifts. How many gifts does a kid need to open on Christmas morning? Five? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? Set a limit and stick to it. Here’s what we do. We say to our kids to expect eight gifts. One “biggie” — this is something that they’ll use all year long. Two “fun” gifts — these would be toys or CD’s or video games or DVD’s. Two practical gifts — Clothes probably. Two educational gifts — books, magazine subscription, something school related. One “surprise” gift — this is just an “indulgent” gift that is fun to find. We also buy something for the family and it is usually bigger. One year it was a trampoline. Another time it was a game system. These are usually the best gifts of all and are enjoyed by everyone.

4. Skip the cards and fancy bows. Cards are $3 and up. Who reads them anyway? I’d rather get a letter or a picture or even a newsy family newsletter with a digital photo printed on it. Fancy bows just get squashed and they cost a buck or more each. Buy the big bag of cheap bows and use them. If someone has an issue with cheap bows, consider them self-absorbed and petty and give what you’d spend on them to the Charlotte Rescue Mission and then cross them off your Christmas list.

5. Don’t be afraid of “Home-made”. Some of the sweetest gifts I’ve ever gotten we from families I knew were on a tight budget but who wanted to remember their pastor. I’ve received homemade birdhouses, soup, those jars filled with pre-measured ingredients for cookies or brownies, etc… We once got a “family basket” that they had put together for a “family night” that had a 2-liter of soda, bag of micro-wave popcorn and a used DVD in it. A cute and creative idea. Even a night of baby-sitting or a car wash or something of that sort is a nice expression.

6. Condense. If you’ve got lots of people in your family, trade names. Instead of buying a gift for each individual in a family, but a gift the whole family can enjoy.

7. Invest. Grandma and Grandpa may want to give their 6 month old new grandbaby one of those battery-powered cars that they can ride in, but seriously, they don’t need one. Not this year. Not ever. But put a $100 savings bond in their safety deposit box or set up a college or retirement fund for them and put something in it every Christmas, birthday and special event and you’ll be making an investment in them that will serve them for years AND when they can really appreciate it. And sure, you’ll want to see them unwrap something for you and squeal, so buy them something cheap for the thrill at the bargain lane at Walmart. Just don’t over-do it.

8. Skip it. That’s right, skip it. If you know someone is struggling financially, release them from the pressure and guilt that they might feel at Christmas time. Just suggest in a kind way, “Look, this is an expensive time of the year and I’m so blessed just to have you in my life. Would you agree with me that we’ll just skip exchanging gifts for this year so we can just remember Christmas for what it is?”

9. Spend Cash Only. That’s right. No plastic. None. Withdraw the money you can spend from your savings account and dole it out in advance in envelopes for each individual for which you are going to be buying a gift. Do not give into to the temptation. Put your credit cards in a big bowl of water and put the bowl in the freezer. Cash is harder to spend than credit. You’ll love me in January if you’ll just do this — I promise. Remember — Cash good. Plastic bad.

10. Use a budget. Sit down and make a list of every person you will be giving a gift. Then put a dollar amount by each person. Then total it up. After you get over the shock, go back and reduce and eliminate. Then stick to it.

11. Don’t buy gifts out of guilt or obligation. That’s just stupid. No one’s going to remember in 30 days anyway and if they do, are they REALLY your friend?

12. Shop on-line. (I know this violates my credit card policy, but as you purchase each item, you take the cash out of the envelope and put it in a different envelope for when the credit card bill comes in.) Shopping online reduces “impulse” purchases, gas bills, eating out costs, the “in-the-mood-to-spend” hysteria that malls create and reduces Ibuprofen bills when you get those Christmas shopping headaches.

OK…there you go. Start saving money. Don’t buy into the madness. Don’t use God’s money by stealing the tithe in order to be indulgent to others in honor of HIS birthday. Don’t go overboard. Keep it simply. Remember, unless you’re giving a once-in-a-lifetime gift, most people won’t remember what they got this time next year. But they WILL remember YOU if you are true friend year ’round — not just in December.

Hey…Did you like this article? Forward it to someone or link your blog to mine!

I haven’t quit the ministry, quit blogging or quit life. I’m just busy working on several projects and am still coping with the loss of my hard drive from last week. (No, I still haven’t received any good news from the data retrieval people.) It’s amazing how much stuff I regularly used was on that piece of equipment!

But, I’ll be back eventually. Keep checking in. Lots of things to comment on lately, but just no time to blog.

Dan

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