Alfred Edersheim wrote a major life of Christ called "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah." Edersheim's Jewish heritage gave him interesting insights into many of the beliefs and ways of life during the time of Christ. In his book (Vol.11, p.12), he wrote of the Jewish traditions concerning the defilement of hands and the accusation that Jesus did not keep these traditions (as recorded in Mark 7:1-9).
Most churches today are learning marketing techniques from men like George Barna in order to grow larger and larger churches. They think that their actions must be right because they bring the desired growth. However, one of the flies in this ointment is the fact that the methods work equally well for basically any kind of church. Doctrine or any semblance of truth does not matter. Gary Gilley, in "This Little Church Went to Market" (p.18), reports this about those who buy into the church growth industry:
One of the dirty little secrets of Calvinism is that it really does make God the author of sin. In "The Doctrine of God" by John M. Frame, John Calvin is quoted (p.177) as saying: "But how it was ordained by the foreknowledge and decree of God what man's future was without God being the author and approver of transgression, is clearly a secret so much excelling the insight of the human mind, that I am not ashamed to confess ignorance." John Frame declares (p.176), "it seems to me that it is not wrong to say that God causes evil and sin." In another place (p.65), Frame states, "God does in fact bring about the sinful behavior of human beings, whatever problems that may create in our understanding." Yet James 1:13 states, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." It all boils down to whom we believe: God or man. Who do you believe?
On August 3, 2006 (9th of Ab in the Jewish calendar; a month called the "fifth month" in the Bible), the Jewish people will remember the 2,592nd anniversary of the destruction of King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem with a day of mourning and fasting. This is also thought to be the date when Herod's Temple was destroyed in 70AD and the date for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. The Jews still mourn their many losses. In Zechariah 7:3-5, Zechariah was asked if it ws proper to continue the fast of the fifth month. The fast had been established to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem; but now Jerusalem was being restored. In reply, the Lord foretold of the day when Israel will be fully restored and the fasts "shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace" (Zechariah 8:19). Yet, as any reading of today's newspaper will demonstrate, the Jews still fast and Rachel is still weeping for her children (Jeremiah 31:15). All who love the Lord still look to that day when the fast of the fifth month will be turned into a feast.
Recently, scientists have discovered that hallucinogenic drugs developed from certain mushrooms that grow wild in Wales can give a mystical experience with life-changing effects. "They say that there is no difference between drug-induced mystical experiences and the spontaneous religious ones that believers have reported for centuries. They are 'descriptively identical.'" Thirty volunteers attended two eight-hour drug sessions that were spaced two months apart. "In more than 60 per cent of cases the experience qualified as a 'full mystical experience' based on established psychological scales, the researchers say. Some likened it to the importance of the birth of their first child or the death of a parent." The effects of the experience lasted for at least two months [Hmmm - about as long as the salvation experience of some]. Researchers are looking into ways to use the drug for depression and other psychological problems. We can only hope that the drug is not released to churches. It could be the new church-growth inducement.
