Welcome

This blog is intended to be both a repository for my thoughts and an examination of the Christian church in America, which is in serious crisis. The church is falling away from Christ-centered, cross-focused worship into apostasy, heresy, feel-good nonsense that is leading people astray. The churches that “lift high the cross” and teach directly from scripture are outnumbered by those that offer easy answers, post-modern gobbledygook, cafeteria Christianity and what Michael S. Horton calls “Christless Christianity.”

Many Christians—or people who believe they are Christians—unwittingly swallow this stuff without knowing, or caring, what Christ Himself actually teaches about Himself and the Father. And that’s why this blog is called Crisis Christianity.

To help you understand where I’m coming from, here are some of my modern-day heroes in the faith. In no particular order:

Hank Hanegraaff—the Bible Answer Man and president of the Christian Research Institute. He’s the first person to divulge how much Christianity in America was—and is—in trouble. His weekday radio show and books, including Christianity in Crisis and Counterfeit Revival, have made many enemies among the rich and powerful televangelists and word-of-faith preachers.

Todd Wilkin—host of Issues, Etc. on KFUO AM 850. A master interviewer, this pastor explores all aspects of Christianity and faith on his terrific radio show and comes from the confessional Reformation theology. His sermon reviews are not to be missed, especially when he picks apart a fluffy Joel Osteen pep talk.

Chuck Rathert—another KFUO host, Pastor Chuck hosts The Bible Study, where he and a guest pastor break down books of the Bible one chapter at a time. The viewpoint is confessional Reformation theology, e.g. original Lutheranism.

Chris Rosebrough—Owner of ExtremeTheology.com, Chris is “dedicated to the proclamation and defense of the most extreme religious claim of all time; that Jesus of Nazareth IS the ONE TRUE God in human flesh and that He died for the sins of the world, rose victorious from the grave and is coming again to judge both the living and the dead.” He’s a very pointed critic of Rick Warren and his “Purpose Driven” movement, and with good reason. Chris’s other site, A Little Leaven, is a hysterical and tragic look at how far astray Christians in America have gone and continue to go.

John MacArthur—We don’t agree on everything, but he’s one of the strongest lions for sound doctrine in the world today. His Grace To You ministry has been a strong inspiration, as has his writings and study Bible. (We diverge on end-time teachings.)

Greg Stier—He’s the founder of Dare2Share, with the singular mission of helping high school kids stay faithful once they get out into the wider world—by teaching and daring them to share their faith with their peers. His G.O.S.P.E.L. journey is a great way to help people understand what “it” is really all about. We may not agree on everything, but he preaches the essentials, and keeps Christ as the center and the cross as the focus.

BK and Pastor JC—my church’s youth minister and pastor, respectively. BK puts up with me and JC preaches Christ crucified for our sins and resurrected for our salvation.

As for me, I believe that we are saved by God’s grace alone by faith alone through Christ alone. There is no other name given by which we can be saved. The Nicene Creed is my creed. I am a sinner, and can only enter the presence of the Almighty by the foreign righteousness of Jesus Christ, which I did not and cannot earn, but was given to me by the mercy of the Father through the sacrifice of His son. Called by the Spirit to Him, my filthy rags are replaced by spotless robes through Christ.

I believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God. It is NOT merely a guidebook for good Christian living, although it does contain many, many guidelines on how Christians are to conduct ourselves. It is NOT the founding document of Western civilization, though many have deluded themselves into believing that Christianity = Western. It is NOT a source for political parties to find justification for this or that policy.

It is, from start to finish, the book about Jesus Christ and the Father’s plan for our redemption through His Son.

Things I will discuss on this blog:

• “Christless Christianity,” a fascinating thesis by Michael S. Horton
• Apostasy and problems with movements such as the Emerging Church
• How “feel good” Christianity can and does create false hope if it is not rooted in Christ and the cross
• The new Pharisee-ism
• Why doctrine is so incredibly important
• Why youths are either tuning out or latching on to false teaching
• Why the gospel needs to be presented continually—and why believers need to hear it continually
• Why the seeker-sensitive movement creates false followers by softening—or avoiding—the gospel
• Why the gospel is sufficient and any attempts to “update” Christ or Christianity are foolish
• Why any church—or Christian—that puts politics before Christ has lost its way (whether conservative or liberal)
• The feminization of the church and why godly men need to take charge of the pulpit once more
• How pornography is destroying healthy sex in Christian marriages
• Why the cross remains foolish to the world, and why the gospel message must remain offensive and never be watered down.

Notice that this blog, for the most part, won’t be dealing with atheism, agnosticism, Islam or other religions. The focus is on the deteriorating state of Christianity in America, and my own small role in helping to reverse that tragic and harmful trend.

And who am I? My name is Black Jack Truman. Please forgive me for not being more specific.

-- Truman