Spider-Man 3 Trailer

The trailer for Spider-Man 3 is out. This movie is the third installment of the modern Spider-Man movies. I am not a Spider-Man junkie, but I did enjoy the first two movies. It looks like Spider-Man 3 will deal with Peter Parker/Spider-Man dealing with his darker side. To make the metaphor as clear as possible, the trailer shows Spider-Man being covered in a dark web-like substance that changes his recognizable red and blue suit into a dark charcoal black. It is your classic inner struggle between the evil and goodness within us that has been explored recently in the both Star Wars 3 and Lord of Rings 3. It will be popular, because it deals with this very basic human dilemma of the evil within. Paul describes his struggle with evil (sin) in Romans 7. (Gordon Fee and other New Testament scholars argue that this is Paul describing his life before Christ, but I think it is clear from the context that Paul is talking about his current situation as a New Testament believer.)

Romans 7:13-25 ESV
Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

There is a "body of death" within us all. A darkness that perverts and twists all of the godness of God's creation in us and Jesus is the only hope. "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Paul asks. He then answers his own question: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Jesus is the answer.

I am sure Spider-Man 3 will work its way into many sermons next summer. It opens May 4th. Hopefully, Jenni and I will be able to see it. Our anniversary is May 27th and we normally go out to the movies near our anniversary.

Rick Warren and the Peace-Driven Life

Rick Warren’s popularity has given him an enormous platform. It looks as if he will replace Billy Graham as “America’s Christian Leader.” I do hope that God continues to use Rick to speak to the nation (and to the world) in the same way that Billy Graham has been able to do. This week he is hosting the 2006 GLOBAL SUMMIT ON AIDS AND THE CHURCH, a conference drawing attention to the AIDS epidemic around the world. He is also spending a lot of time focused on the P.E.A.C.E. plan, a missions-initiative targeting the five "giants" of the global community: spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy.

With popularity comes backlash.

This is the sad truth. And most of the backlash is from “evangelical” Christians. I have read a lot of the criticisms hurled towards Rick Warren through books, articles and endless blog posts…and for the most part I am baffled. I can understand if you do not like his use of 3 million Bible translations in one message. I can understand if you are upset that he has dropped the Hawaiian shirt and glasses for untucked, stripped shirts and a gotee, but to say that he is a deceiver, a New Ager or a heretic is simply laughable.

He recently emailed out a letter (through email) addressing some of the more recent criticisms. I confirmed with his office that this is the letter he sent to his church members and then out to those who have been connected to his purpose divine ministry. As a side note, the recovery ministry in our church, Celebrate Recovery, is a saddleback/purpose driven ministry and it is a wonderful way to connect with people in the community who are hurting. Here is Pastor Rick’s letter:

Dear Friends,

This weekend, I shared a very personal message on "Living By Your Convictions".

When Kay and I announced the launching of the P.E.A.C.E. plan a few years ago, we both knew we could expect severe opposition coming from different angles. The P.E.A.C.E. plan empowers churches to do the 5 things Jesus did, and Jesus warned us, " People will do to you exactly what they did to me. They will do it because you belong to me, and they don´t know the one who sent me." John 15:21 (CEV) Millions of Christians throughout history and around the world right now know that persecution is real.

We are in a spiritual battle for the lives of billions, so we expect opposition. The Bible tells us that "Satan is the accuser of the brethren." Unfortunately, sometimes Christians do Satan´s job for him. They accuse and criticize other believers. I´m sure that makes Satan smile.

The Bible says it is foolish to spout off about issues before knowing the facts, but the Internet has made it very easy to do. God says, " He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame". Prov. 18:13 (NIV) God also says, "Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions." Prov. 18:2 (NLT)

Recently, 4 "bloggers" made accusations about my visit to Syria (between speaking in Germany and Rwanda). They based their accusations on a Syrian state press release! Of course, they had no idea what my motivation was, what I actually did and said, and the confidential results. But they attacked me anyway. Not a single newspaper carried the story, but several websites repeated the gossip without talking to me to get the facts. Most sites were already critical of The Purpose Driven Church and Life, and were just happy to have something else to attack.

Before going to Syria (as a pastor, not a politician) I called Franklin Graham who is very experienced in dealing with the Middle East and asked him what I should say. He said “Thank the government for protecting the freedom of churches from radical Muslims.” The Christian leaders I met with in Syria said the exact same thing. This does not excuse other government actions that we’ve all read about. But my visit was not political . My visit was to encourage the Christian leaders and to get permission from the government to do the PEACE Plan in Syria, which we were given!

Another blogger claimed I´ve invited Barack Obama to preach in my pulpit to the Saddleback congregation. Of course that is untrue. I´d never invite ANY politician to speak from the pulpit to our congregation. Never. The blogger got his facts wrong but he told everyone to call our church office and complain. Many of these people were quite rude and vicious to our receptionists this past week.

Next week, the Global Summit on AIDS and the Church will be held on the Saddleback campus. It is not a church service, but an international summit for pastors and world leaders. Leaders from churches, denominations, health organizations, NGOs, Christian organizations, governments, businesses, and entertainment will meet together to discuss how they can work with and through churches to end AIDS. Participants will hear messages from Laura Bush, Sen. Bill Frist, Sen. Sam Brownback, Bill Gates, Bono, the doctor who discovered AIDS transmission heterosexually, Franklin Graham, the President of World Vision, the President of World Relief, the President of Compassion, and about 30 other speakers who are concerned about AIDS. Sen. Obama is one speaker at a conference which includes Republicans and Democrats, Christians and non-Christians, pastors, business leaders, of all kinds of ethnicities from around the world. Yet the vitriol and unChristlike slander was over the top.

This weekend I taught a message called "Living By Your Convictions" where I´ve explained the 6 Biblical convictions that are the framework for all we do at Saddleback. The video of this message will be available to watch on www.pastors.com for free later this week.

Of course, you friends know my heart, my motivation, and my 26 year track record. What matters to me is not pleasure...possessions...prestige...politics...power.. or popularity. I couldn´t care less about these things. I care about bringing people to Jesus, and I will do whatever it takes to "Reach One More For Jesus" as my father´s dying words instructed me. No criticism will ever stop me from doing that.

Like Paul, God has called me as a missionary to non-believing cultures, and he has opened doors in amazing ways to share the Gospel behind lines that pastors don’t normally get invited to. Paul was willing to go anywhere and talk to anyone about Jesus. So was Billy Graham. So am I. I´d go into hell if I could bring some people out with me.

No matter where I´ve been invited to speak - to Congress; to the Davos World Economic Forum; at Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge; to the United Nations; the Foreign Affairs Council; from Rabbis at the University of Judaism to Muslim leaders in the Middle East, from Urban Gays to Rural Cowboys - my message is unchanged:

We all need Jesus! Left or Right is irrelevant to me. I´m not a politician. I am a pastor, and my calling is to go "to ALL nations and ALL people" with the saving knowledge of Jesus.

I believe the Good News with all my heart and I want everyone to have the opportunity to respond to it - not just those who come inside the doors of churches.

I hope you´ll email this weekend´s sermon transcript and email it to others when we post it for free on www.pastors.com. I love you all!

Pastor Rick

The comment line is now open

I have been talked into opening up my blog for comments. I have not done this in fear of spamers wasting my time deleting their adds for online poker and natural male enhancement. So if you have some kind of meaningful comments to make on any posts future or past, feel free to do so. If you are a spamer and you spam my blog I will pray for the ten plagues of Egypt to invade your computer!

And I don't think I have blogged this Jonathan Edwards quote, but it is one that I have been meditating on and preaching on for a while. Let this be your Thanksgiving meditation about our happy God. Here it is:

“It is common when speaking of the Divine happiness to say that God is infinitely happy in the enjoyment of Himself, in perfectly beholding and infinitely loving, and rejoicing in, His own essence and perfection…”

Jonathan Edwards
An Unpublished Essay on the Trinity

Train Blast in West Bengal, India

There was an explosion on a passenger train in North India very close to Siliguri where I went this March and plan on going back next March. It happened Monday night India time, Monday morning US time. The perpetrators are not known at this time, but there have been similar train bombings by Islamic militants in India in the past. There is suspicion that the KLO, an Indian Miltant group, may be connected. Here is some of the news report from IBNlive.com.

Blast in West Bengal train; six dead, 50 injured
New Delhi: At least six people are feared dead and more than 50 injured after a powerful explosion ripped through a compartment of the Haldibari-Siliguri passenger train in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri district on Monday evening. According to the Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railways, Trikal Rabha, the blast occurred in the general compartment No. GS 8321 when the train was standing at Benakowa Station, 18 km from New Jalpaiguri. Train services on the route have been suspended and medical teams have been rushed to the spot.

The injured have been rushed to Jalpaiguri Sadar hospital where the condition of some was reported to be critical. Two bogies of the train have been completely damaged.Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray has said that the passenger train was en-route to New Jalpaiguri from Haldibari in Cooch Behar, adding the involvement of any particular militant group or the nature of device was yet to be ascertained.

"There was a loud explosion in the train at around 6:20 pm when it was entering the station. Officials have rushed to the spot and have already identified five dead bodies and fear at least 66 people have been injured. They have been rushed to the hospitals. We'll release the names of the dead as soon as possible," Ray said.
Ray has also said that the incident is serious and the needle of suspicion points towards the militant organisation Kamtapur Liberation Organisation. He has also said that teams from the Intelligence Bureau and CID will take over the investigation.

Why I am a Trinitarian Christian

The Trinity is one of the unifying doctrines between the various branches of the Christian faith. We may disagree on minor points of theology, but for the most part the Christian God has been proclaimed by Christian people as one God revealed in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There are a few viable denominations that reject the Trinity such as the United Pentecostal Church (www.upci.org). The UPC denies the doctrine of the Trinity, noting that it is “inadequate” in describing the biblical revelation of the oneness of God. I do find it interesting that while they deny the triune nature of God, they do accept the divinity of the Holy Spirit. It seems to be more inadequate to explain the divinity of the Holy Spirit from their idea of the oneness of God. How can the Holy Spirit be God and Jesus be God and yet Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. There either has to be two gods here or one God in multiple persons. Nevertheless, here are at least eight reasons why I am a Trinitarian Christian:

1) God is triune.
2) The Bible reveals God as three in one.
3) Historical, orthodox Christian faith confesses a triune God.
4) The Trinity is the grammar of the Christian faith.
5) The Triune nature of God underscores the value of relationships.
6) The love expressed in the Trinity draws me into a community.
7) The mystery revealed in the non-rational nature of the Trinity demands my worship.
8) The three most influential Christian traditions in my life correspond to the persons of the Trinity.

Let me elaborate on the last reason. When people ask me if I am a “charismatic” Christian, I always hesitate. I do not know how to answer that question. If by “charismatic” they mean that I embrace the present-day work of the Spirit including the miraculous gifts recorded in I Corinthians 12, then I would say "yes". But if by “charismatic” they mean that I embrace some kind of TBN-spirituality of biblically-sounding rhetoric, an anti-intellectual faith, emotionally demonstrative expressions of worship with crying, laughing and falling down on the floor, then no, I guess I am not a “charismatic” in those terms.

I much prefer to describe myself as a Trinitarian Christian, because the image of the Trinity has become a lens by which I see God, myself, the Church, worship, ministry….life. And as I look at my growth as a Christian over these last sixteen years, I can see that I have been influenced steadily by three different, but inter-related Christian traditions. I can look back and see times in my life when one of these streams has been more predominate than the others, but I can certainly see the influence of each three. What is interesting to me is that each tradition seems to correspond somewhat to the trinity. I would title the three streams as reformed, evangelical and charismatic. Let me explain…

reformed: This stream would most correlate with God the Father. This tradition emphasizes the sovereignty and providential work of God in ruling and reigning over his creation. The chief influencers for me have been John Piper and Mark Driscoll.

evangelical: This stream would most correlate with God the Son. This tradition emphasizes the authority of Bible, the centrality of Jesus, the work of salvation and the necessity of evangelism and missions. The chief influencers for me have been Bill Hybels and Andy Stanley.

charismatic: This stream would most correlate with God the Holy Spirit. This tradition emphasizes the gifts of the Holy Spirit, a whole-person spirituality and the necessity of experience in the Christian life. The chief influences for me have been Oral Roberts and Jack Hayford.

I have been influenced my many other streams within the Christian community, but these are the groups that have played the most significant influence on my faith and theology. Here is a wonderful statement from Gregory of Nazianzus (330-394 AD):

"No sooner do I conceive of the one than I am illuminated by the splendor of the three; no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carrried back to the one. When I think of any one of the three I think of him as the whole, and my eyes are filled, and the greater part of what I am thinking escapes me. I cannot grasp the greatness of that one so as to attribute a greater greatness to the rest. When I contemplate the three together, I see but one torch, and cannot divide or measure out the undivided light." Gregory of Nazianzus Orations (40.41)

Ted Haggard’s Confession

Larry Stockstill read Ted’s confession today in the Sunday morning worship service at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. (You can read the statement here.) In the letter, Ted sounds sorrowful, honest and he is taking full responsibility for his actions. It would seem to be that the truth has risen to the surface. Ted has confessed to sexual immorality. Here are a few quotes from Ted’s statement:

I am so sorry. I am sorry for the disappointment, the betrayal, and the hurt. I am sorry for the horrible example I have set for you.

This is Ted’s opening statement. There is no excuse or blame shift here, just heart-wrenching sorrow.

The last four days have been so difficult for me, my family and all of you, and I have further confused the situation with some of the things I’ve said during interviews with reporters who would catch me coming or going from my home. But I alone am responsible for the confusion caused by my inconsistent statements. The fact is, I am guilty of sexual immorality, and I take responsibility for the entire problem.

I would assume from this statement that the “sexual immorality” that he is admitting to is homosexual in nature. I appreciate that Ted is owning up to the truth and diffusing what could have been a lengthy and painful media circus. It appears that he is not trying to lie or shift blame. He is taking responsibility for his actions and this truth-telling takes a little bit of the sting out of it for me.

I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I’ve been warring against it all of my adult life.

This statement hit me like a ton of bricks. I appreciate his honesty and this is brutal honesty. I do pray that he finds healing and I think he will. Later in the letter he says that he is going to submit to the counsel of Jack Hayford, James Dobson and Tommy Barnett. These guys are the right guys for the job. They have the right spiritual and psychological background to help.

The public person I was wasn’t a lie; it was just incomplete. When I stopped communicating about my problems, the darkness increased and finally dominated me. As a result, I did things that were contrary to everything I believe.

The accusations that have been leveled against me are not all true, but enough of them are true that I have been appropriately and lovingly removed from ministry.

Sin has the power to completely overtake us if we continue to live according to the sinful nature. Sin’s power to dominate is why we need the Holy Spirit to transform us into the image of Christ. We need forgiveness from the guilt associated with sin, but we also need to be changed on the inside. I believe that Ted needed to be removed from ministry not as punishment, but so that he can get the healing that he needs. I am certainly not going to judge Ted or try to “punish” him by words of confirmation. I am going to continue to trust God with Ted’s transformation. What a story of grace and transformation this will be in years to come.

It is important that you know how much I love and appreciate my wife, Gayle. What I did should never reflect in a negative way on her relationship with me. She has been and continue to be incredible. The problem was not with her, my children, or any of you. It was created 100% by me.

It could have been easy for this to go unstated, but again it shows the rightness in his heart to remove any accusations towards his wife. I led a prayer today in our congregation for Ted, his wife, his family and his church.

Please forgive me. I am so embarrassed and ashamed. I caused this and I have no excuse. I am a sinner. I have fallen. I desperately need to be forgiven and healed.

I know this was written to his congregation, but I felt that it was meant to be read by the larger body of Christ. I for one forgive Ted and believe that God can heal him and restore what sin has stolen.

(You can read the entire statement here.)

Ted Haggard and Allegations of Drugs and Gay Sex

So I was stoking up the fire in my fireplace this morning and sipping my first cup of coffee when I got an early morning call from a friend. “Have you heard about Ted Haggard?” My friend began to tell me what I later read online: Ted Haggard has “temporary stepped down” as the Senior Pastor of New Life Church and resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals pending an investigation and spiritual counsel after an accusation surfaced that he has been paying a male prostitute for drugs and sex over a three year period.

What a way to start the morning…

My reaction is complex. I have met Ted Haggard and had a conversation with him about pastors and sexual sin. (I have written more on this in my fifth reaction below.) Here are my thoughts:

First, I think it is important that we wait to get the facts and see what the truth is. I actually asked God for this. My initial prayer was, “God let the truth come forth.” Here is what we know. The guy accusing Ted, Mike Jones, says he has recorded messages from a man named “Art,” who Jones says is actually Ted Haggard. Ted has stepped down from leadership. The interim Senior Pastor, Ross Parsley, said “I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that has been discussed but there is an admission of some guilt.” Ted has denied the allegations of gay sex and any kind of homosexual relationship.

Second, Ted has been an outspoken opponent of homosexual marriage and there is a gay marriage ban on the ballot in Ted’s home state of Colorado. Mike Jones has admitted that he went public with the story, because the gay marriage issue was a part of the election and because Ted has been in support of the gay marriage ban.

Third, this issue feeds into my doctoral dissertation work and I have an academic interest in this story. I have been working on my dissertation for two years on this very subjection of how in the world can leaders can be empowered by the Spirit for public ministry and yet not be developed by the Spirit in their heart? In my dissertation I am working to understand how Christian leaders understand and experience the Holy Spirit shaping their inner life to reflect the image of Christ.

Fourth, emotionally I feel a combination of anger, sadness and trepidation. I just got off the phone with a pastor friend in Florida and we shared these feelings. I feel angry because of the stain this leaves on the gospel ministry. Ted was not as well known as Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swagart, but he is probably more influential than these two guys were in their hay day. Ted has political power and influence in both the Evangelical world and in the Pentecostal/charismatic world. I am also angry, because Ted is a fellow ORU grad. Great just what we need, another ORU grad who has gone off the deep end.... I am sad for Ted, his family and his church. This must be absolutely devastating for them. I am asking God for his mercy for Ted and his family. I also feel trepidiaiton in my own heart, because I know that I am no better than Ted. I could stumble and fall too ...GOD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL.

Fifth, I am also bothered by this because I have had a conversation with Ted about this issue of pastors and sexual sin. Ted had helped a church recover after their pastor stepped down due to sin. Ted returned to Colorado Springs and preached a message entitled, “How Much is Your Sin Going to Cost Me?” In the sermon he told the story of pastor’s sin, without mentioning his name. The sermon was later played on Focus on the Family, which I happened to hear on the radio. In 2001, Ted was speaking at a pastor's conference in St. Simmons, Georgia and after one of his sessions, I asked Ted about the church that was in recovery and how that sermon about got broadcasted on Focus on the Family. Ted said that it was a mistake. The sermon was supposed to edit out the references to the pastor, but he was clear on the message of the sermon – sin costs other people a lot. He explained to me what he new about the pastor’s sin and then talked to me about the ripple effects sin has.

And now it seems that Ted found himself in some kind of sin himself. I would like to ask him, “Ted, how much is your sin going to cost me?”

A few final thoughts for now... I am sure that there will be more blogs to come...

We who are leaders and pastors have to realize that there is an intoxication that comes from power and position that can warp our perceptions of reality. We have to stay humble before God and accountable with friends in the ministry. If any of us get in a place where we are isolated from God, people and friends—then we are in trouble. We also need to realize that God doesn’t really need us. It is only by his sovereign choice that we were called into ministry. He doesn't need us. We are not as important as we think we are. God help us.

The Allegory of the Cave

I was reading through Colossians chapter 1 and I was struck by something in verses 12 & 13: giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

I was thinking about the light and darkness imagery used here and it reminded me of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. It comes from The Republic which was written by Plato in approximately 360 B.C. The Republic is a classic in Western philosophy so if you haven’t read it, you should at least scan it to get the gist. Below is a synopsis of the allegory from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave. Read this and see if you can see the gospel anywhere in this allegory. And if you look closely you may see Neo, Trinty and Morpheus in this too...

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

Imagine prisoners who have been chained since childhood deep inside a cave. Not only are their limbs immobilized by the chains; their heads are chained as well so that their gaze is fixed on a wall.

Behind the prisoners is an enormous fire, and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway, along which shapes of various animals, plants, and other things are carried. The shapes cast shadows on the wall, which occupy the prisoners' attention. When one of the shape-carriers speaks, an echo against the wall causes the prisoners to believe that the words come from the shadows.

The prisoners engage in what appears to us to be a game - naming the shapes as they come by. This, however, is the only reality that they know, even though they are seeing merely shadows of images. They are thus conditioned to judge the quality of one another by their skill in quickly naming the shapes and dislike those who begin to play poorly.
Suppose a prisoner is released and compelled to stand up and turn around.
His eyes will be blinded by the firelight, and the shapes passing will appear less real than their shadows.

Similarly, if he is dragged up out of the cave into the sunlight, his eyes will be so blinded that he will not be able to see anything. At first, he will be able to see darker shapes such as shadows and, only later, brighter and brighter objects.

The last object he would be able to see is the sun, which, in time, he would learn to see as that object which provides the seasons and the courses of the year, presides over all things in the visible region, and is in some way the cause of all these things that he has seen.

Once enlightened, so to speak, the freed prisoner would want to return to the cave to free "his fellow bondsmen". Another problem lies in the other prisoners not wanting to be freed: descending back into the cave would require that the freed prisoner's eyes adjust again, and for a time, he would be one of the ones identifying shapes on the wall. His eyes would be swamped by the darkness, and would take time to become acclimatized. Therefore, he would not be able to identify shapes on the wall as well as the other prisoners, making it seem as if him being taken to the surface completely ruined his eyesight. The other prisoners would then not go to the surface, in fear of losing their eyesight. If someone were to try and force a prisoner to come to the surface, the prisoner would become murderous, and kill whoever tried to force him to come to the surface.

(The Republic,VII, 516b-c; trans. Paul Shorey; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato's_allegory_of_the_cave)