The Abortion Issue

I have attached a video from the Resurgence.com of Pastor Mark Driscoll interviewing Randy Alcorn.  They are discussing the issue of abortion, an issue that isn’t addressed as often as it once was.  It is very interesting and worth a look.  Watch, think, enjoy.

A Herd Mentality

It is going on two years since I last even attempted a post on this blog.  Brutal.  However, it feels like it is time to think critically again, and I find if I have to write things in a way that are somewhat understandable, then I am forced to think more deeply than I otherwise would.

The title of my blog is, The Wandering Thoughts of a Madd Pastor, and today that is certainly true.  In my devotional time I have been reading through the book of Mark.  In chapter 5, Mark recounts the time when Jesus went to the country of the Garasenes and delivers the demoniac from a legion of demons.  In the story, the demons asked to be sent into a herd of pigs.  Mark goes on to tell us they went into the pigs, and 2000 pigs rushed down the hill and drown in the sea (Mark 5: 1-20).

I have never really given too much thought to the pigs before.  I know the Jewish people won’t eat them because of Old Testament law, and I always figured this was a really bad day for a pig farmer, but 2000 pigs?  One of two things happened in this whole possessed pig ordeal.  One, there were 2000 demons all in one man who then each took a pig and drove them into the sea killing all the pigs, or two, there were a number of demons that possessed the bacon on legs, and by their running they started a stamped of swine all careening to their death as they basically just responded to the demon possessed pork running ahead of them.  The Bible doesn’t say what exactly happened here, it just tells us that they ran to their death.

It got me thinking though, I wonder how many people involved in North American Christianity (and in other places for that matter) have a herd mentality?  How many Christians are running hard with the crowd not realizing they are following demon possessed pigs to their graves?  I don’t have an actual number on that, and I would hesitate to list those I think are selling counterfeit gods, but I would say it is becoming increasingly important as Christians that we pick up our Bibles and allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, hearts and minds.  Today, thanks to the information highway you are on right now, we have access to many of the so called Christian movements driven by the Christian celebrities of our time.  We have access to their sermons, articles, blogs, videos etc. and at the rate in which they gain popularity by their ear tickling messages it seems to me that it is possible many are running in the herd, and not everyone is looking for the truth. The sad reality is we have become a lazy society, content to trust the so-called experts and blindly follow them to their graves instead of picking up the readily available word of God(check out www.esvonline.org)  and see for themselves if the teachings of certain men or women are accurate and in line with the Bible.  For many the Bible seems too big, and too much for them to handle. They have never studied any theology systematically, and as a result feel compelled to just listen in to what the most popular purveyors of religious goods are selling and run the risk that they are running with the wrong herd.  If that is you allow me to give you some warning signs of potentially dangerous teachers.

1. Is Jesus the hero of their story?  Do they lift up Jesus as God, as the only savior, or do they point you to yourself, and try to fix you apart from Christ? Acts 4:12

2. Do they call you to repentance?  Jesus started His ministry by calling people to repent.  He confronted sin and made no bones about it.  Matthew 4:17

3. Do you always feel good after you listen to them, or does the honest proclamation of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit bring you to conviction from time to time? 2 Timothy 4:3

4. Do they ever direct you to the Bible? 2 Timothy 3:16

There would be other tell tale signs that you are following the wrong herd I am sure, but if these are continually violated it might be worth checking further into who exactly is leading this herd and where it is going.  You might want to get out like the pig in the picture because it would be awful to be the two thousandth pig to drown in the sea of a frightened mob.