Break Free From the Disneyland of America

Posted by: Art | June 14, 2012

Break Free From the Disneyland of America

A huge H/T to dear sister Carla, who toils steadfastly on behalf of the Yahweh Center Children’s Village, for the following excellent, short (ten-minute) montage of a sermon by John Piper, the title of which is self-explanatory, Biblical and refreshing to those seeking Christ:

I found it doubly exciting because, I just learned this week, brother Piper will be preaching at out newish (and still quite small, 100-ish +/- attending) church, Redeemer Fellowship, here in the desert-like gospel mission field of Boston, on October 21st!!! (I had to resist the temptation to use seven exclamation marks.)

Seeing the huge auditorium which he addresses in the video, I’m humbled that he would take the time to preach to our tiny band, impressed at what that says about Pastor Piper’s walking-the-walk humility and commitment. Please pray that the Lord do a mighty work through this event and spread the word. Please also consider coming to join us that day. I’d love to meet at least a few of you.

No, there’s no ‘catch’ or fee other than laying down your entire life….

If the message is convicting/attractive you’re probably already in the process of doing that already though… Everyone else will likely be offended if they take his words seriously. You mean it’s not a cake-walk? You mean Christianity and Americanism — pick your flavor — are not one and the same? Uh, no…

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Responses

Art,

It’s been a while, brother, but wow, to come back and see this. You could have no idea, but it’s a confirmation of something I have been wrestling with God on for a few months now. Thank you for sharing this with us. God bless you.

Tam Z
By: Tam Z on June 30, 2012
at 12:50 am
Amen Art! You are on fire with the spirit lately. You know the gospel is the “good” news, but often I like to think it of the difficult news. It is both difficult and good, and its a good thing too.

If our churches preached the WHOLE gospel as you say, the congregation would all have the look of shock on their face like that one girl in this video when they panned to the crowd. The look on her face was both priceless and painful to see. It looked like it was the first time she heard such a message.

[ART: The gospel itself is much, much simpler than many make it out to be: God is perfectly good and we're not. To maintain both His justice and mercy (aspects of His goodness), a man had to die, AND that man had to be perfect, i.e., God. I suspect I'm not the only one who feels both that, 1) we need to keep hearing the gospel over and over (e.g., preaching it to ourselves, encouraging one another with it, exploring the fulness of God's Word which points to it), and 2) as simple as it is, the gospel is 'evergreen', yielding fresh scents and boughs and growing to new heights as we reflect on it. I feel like I'm hearing it more clearly each day.]
By: Hopeful_watcher on June 15, 2012
at 3:32 pm
I’ve watched this video before and it was equally impactful the second time I watched it. The prosperity gospel is worldly desires wrapped in religiousity. I would not be a proponent of that message because the millstone fashioned around your neck would be great. Great message and reminder that to love Christ, to follow Christ is to live like Christ.

[ART: It's a reminder also that the "prosperity gospel", as many think of it -- explicitly saying that we deserve health and wealth here and now -- is far from the only problem. It's not sufficient to point to folks like Joel Osteen and say that this particular spiritual cancer in the church is limited to that set of clearcut manifestations.

There is a MUCH larger phenomenon, in my opinion, in many churches, including ones which say all the right things about taking the Bible seriously (but which never preach through the whole thing and freely ignore what they don't like). That manifestation of H&W 'gospel' implicitly avoids emphasizing the hard aspects of the Christian walk so as not to offend. It accommodates itself to whomever shows up so as not to drive off non-believers or immature believes who have other options for having their ears tickled with what they want to hear. It may preach faithfully from the Bible but without 'traction' -- embracing worldly Western cultural norms rather than highlighting how many of them run completely contrary to the gospel and are thus demonic.

For example, the number of churches advertising yoga programs has ballooned in the last few years (health gospel in stealth mode). What's wrong with that? Simply that it brings the emphasis onto oneself and one's physical well-being rather than onto others and one's eternal soul. (It's also an example of syncretism, but one needn't even go there to make the case.)

Similarly, I've grown weary of prayer meetings in which the overwhelming emphasis is on asking God to 'fix' a litany of health woes rather than on a heartfelt desire that He be glorified in and through such suffering and for the sufferers to be open to seeing and responding to His grace in those situations, whatever may come, i.e., for the ability to "count it pure joy".]
By: Hopeful_watcher on June 15, 2012
at 7:09 am
Mr. Piper’s message needs to be heard by all professing Christians in America. We are so far from the truth and we are lost. Thank you for posting this message from our God.

I give thanks for men like this one that are not afraid to speak the truth and are not presenting a fluff, feel-good word to their audience. I have sat through too many of those services until I couldn’t bear it any longer. Shame.
By: JD on June 14, 2012
at 10:52 am

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Break Free From the Disneyland of America

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