This morning I was listening to the radio and the DJ mentioned an article by R. Albert Mohler Jr. (of the Southern Baptist Convention). I emailed him and got the article link. It was a really interesting aritcle on the life of the Pope, the office of the Papacy and a look at the legacy left by this Pope that will live well beyond his 26 years in office. Here are a few snippets from the article which I found interesting:

…Inevitably, his death raises fundamental questions about how evangelical Christians should understand the papacy itself, as well as those who hold the papal office. Given the low level of theological knowledge and the high emotionalism of the era, many evangelicals appear confused when confronted with an event like the death of a pope. Furthermore, evangelicals are more likely to have been aware of this pope in contrast with those who held the office in the past. In this age of mass communications and media, John Paul II has been one of the most publicized, televised and celebrated public figures of our age.

We should be unembarrassed and unhesitant to declare our admiration for John Paul II’s courageous stand against communism, his bold defense of human dignity and human life, and his robust and substantial defense of truth in the face of postmodernism. In many of the great battles of our day, evangelicals found John Paul II to be a key ally. This was especially true with the crucial issues of abortion and euthanasia. With bold strokes and a clear voice, this pope defended human life from the moment of conception until natural death. In his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (1995), he argued for an implacable opposition to what he called the “culture of death” — an age that would increasingly embrace death rather than life and forfeit human dignity on the altar of human autonomy and individual rights.

Even so, we must also recognize that John Paul II also represented the most troubling aspects of Roman Catholicism. He defended and continued the theological directions set loose at the Second Vatican Council. Even as he consolidated authority in the Vatican and disciplined wayward priests and theologians, he never confronted the most pressing issues of evangelical concern.

Even in his most recent book, released in the United States just days before his death, John Paul II continued to define the work of Christ as that which is added to human effort. Like the church he served, John Paul II rejected justification by faith. Beyond this, he rejected the biblical doctrine of hell, embraced inclusivism, and promoted an extreme form of Marian devotion, referring to Mary as “Co-Redemptrix,” “Mediatrix,” and “Mother of all Graces.”

While I’m not a Baptist, I probably would be classified as an Evangelical – if you’re comfortable using that term. Really what I am is an individual who is striving to glorify God with my whole life – not fragmenting it into sections (work, home, church, etc.). Since the Pope has died I’ve had to take a serious look myself at what it means to me – his office, his religion, he as a man and the fruit of his life and ministry.

While I agree with much of the article about the office of the Pope and the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, I still find myself continuing to seek out the Truth. Scripture is very clear that we are to “test everything according to the Truth” (1 John 4), so therefore I continue to test everything that is put in front of me according to that Truth.

The one thing I was glad to see in the article is the recognition of the good things this Pope has done – the sanctity and dignity of life issues he took on. While I may not agree with the man’s doctrine, I can certainly agree that he did what he believed was right in the sight of God and

Read the full article

Biblical Answers to Catholic Questions

There is an interesting movement going on in Mega Churches today. Many of them are now adding the cafeterias and Starbucks to their facilities. There is a lot who see this as something wrong or heretical and then there are others who love the idea of it. Whether it’s right or wrong to have corporate business under the roofs of our churches is not as important as why they are there. Let me explain.

I work a lot in coffee houses around Chicago land – it used to be downstate, but I’ve recently moved up north. And since I’ve begun hanging out these coffee shops I’ve begun to notice “regulars.” The regulars are the people who come in every week, they order the same thing, meet with the same people and talk about the same stuff – I’m one of these people. But when I take my headphones and listen to the world around me I’m hearing a different kind of conversation. What I’m hearing is what we in the Christian circles call “discipleship meetings” or “accountability meetings.” A meeting where believers in Christ get together to practice the wisdom of Proverbs 27:17: “As one iron sharpens iron, so let one man [or woman] sharpens another.”

This phenomenon is really intriguing to me because for a while I thought it was only me and my buddies doing this. But the more I watch people and the more I see those regulars I’m realizing that places like Panera Bread, Starbucks and Caribou Coffee are resembling the church more and more – the Church being the body of believers and not the building itself. And as a follower of Christ, that really excites me because it is our job to sharpen one another and I love the process of it all. It also excites me because I’m starting to see a generation of people who are saying that church is not about a building, or programs or a denomination, but it’s about a relationship with Jesus Christ as the only means for salvation.

So that bring us to the question of why should the church have these “evil” [stereotyping there] corporate businesses under their roof. Frankly there is nothing wrong with having industry inside the church – God created industry and work before the fall of man, so it’s a good thing; but that is a whole other topic. The reason why is that Christians today are begging for community and if the churches they belong to are not providing an adequate meeting locations which are able to meet their needs, then the church will just have to move to the nearest Panera Bread! That’s not a knock on churches; it’s just the reality of the culture today. We may be Christians, but we still want a good atmosphere, great coffee, a scone maybe and Norah Jones or Maroon 5 playing in the background.

If there’s one thing that Chris McMurry wants you to know about his custom-publishing and marketing firm, McMurry Publishing, it’s this: His company has values.

Eight values, to be precise. A full list is available in McMurry’s promotional literature. Do the right thing. Help one another. On the firm’s homepage, the values flash across photos of smiling staffers. Deliver raving service. Produce quality always. They also can be found on the “about us” pages. Exceed expectations. Embrace change. In fact, once the company finishes renovating its Phoenix headquarters later this year, the eight values will be beamed in yellow light by miniature projectors onto the floor of the foyer, where clients are received.

As you’ve probably noticed, values are in vogue these days, with so-called moral values credited by many pollsters as having played a key role in the reelection of President Bush. Of course, moral values didn’t first appear on the scene on Election Day, nor are they just about politics. Consumers have long said that they buy products and services with values in mind — whether those values are religious, spiritual, environmental, or political.

More than a quarter of U.S. consumers, for example, say they’d like to see the companies that they do business with get more involved in everything from protecting the environment to fighting homelessness to improving education, according to Roper Reports, a quarterly survey of 2,000 adults. (Only 15% volunteer or donate money for such causes themselves, Roper also found.) Depending on how you look at it, the success of everything from Toyota’s environmentally friendly hybrid car, the Prius, to movies like The Passion of the Christ, or books like The Purpose-Driven Life, can be attributed to the values trend.

None of this has escaped the notice of corporate America, seeking to repair its image after several seasons of scandal. That’s particularly true in the financial sector, where companies like UBS and SmithBarney, among others, are hawking a hearty stew of moral values, with their trustworthiness, character, and integrity the principle ingredients. “Consumers are fed up with businesses that seem to lack values like honesty, and are frustrated by trying to figure out who to believe,” says Cary Silvers, vice president of consumer trends at NOP World, the New York City market research firm that administers Roper Reports.

If you’re in business and you’ve got morals, then it would seem there’s been no better time to flaunt them. But you’ve got to wonder: In our current polarized times, is there a downside to all of this talk about morals and values, whatever they happen to be? Will playing the morality card drive your business? Or does it run the risk of driving it away?

For Mcmurry, the answer is easy. The way he sees it, broadcasting his company’s values far and wide increases the comfort level of clients — and the firm’s $22 million in revenue in 2004 is enough to convince him that he’s on the right track. “Clients are more inclined to do business with people they’re comfortable with,” he says.

In fact, social psychologists have found that persuasion — which, of course, is what marketing is all about — depends to a large extent on creating the impression that you’re substantially similar to your potential customer, because people are more likely to pay attention to those they can relate to. And creating a sense of shared values is a particularly powerful way of communicating those similarities. Jocelyn D. Campbell, president of T3 Design Associates, a 12-employee architecture, engineering, and construction firm in Atlanta, knows that well. Campbell’s company typically focuses on projects in the aviation, infrastructure, and education arenas. But she recently found herself meeting with an auto dealer looking to build a new 50,000-square-foot dealership. During her presentation, Campbell mentioned that her company had recently participated in a church construction project. She got lucky: The dealer, it turned out, was a member of that church. As she does in many circumstances, Campbell also related her own strong Christian beliefs. (The T3 in her company name stands for Trinity.) She got the deal. “He was a Christian business owner,” she says, “and my beliefs provided a level of comfort that our value systems were the same.”

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