On the June 6, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast we discussed what to look for in a church. We began by discussing the need to be in church. According to Barna’s research, a full 17% of people who attend church less than once a year are born again Christians. About half of the overall population of the U.S. does not attend church on a weekly basis and a significant portion of those skipping church are believers! A lot of people are wondering, particularly young adults, why it is important to be a part of a local church. While it certainly is a good thing to attend church on Sunday morning, we are talking about more than just sitting in a pew for an hour once a week. The Christian is a member of the body of Christ and the family of God. Sometimes we call that the universal church; and the universal church finds visible expression in the local church. A Christian connected to a local congregation is part of a community, involved in ministry, submitted to biblical leadership, and regularly under the teaching of the Word. Most Christians, at least once in their lives, have had the experience of looking for a local church to call home. What should you look for in a church? We discussed six characteristics of a good church.

On the May 31, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast we discussed Joel Osteen and his feel-good version of the Gospel. Osteen is the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Lakewood is the largest church in the U.S., drawing 43,000 people every week to services. You can check out their ministry at www.lakewood.cc. Osteen is also the most widely watched television preacher. His messages are televised nationally every week on ABC Family, USA, TBN, and several other cable channels. He also broadcasts here in Detroit every Sunday morning on local NBC. Most of us, flipping through the channels, have seen him. Is the message he preaches in keeping with historic, orthodox Christianity?

On the May 23, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast we discussed the legitimacy of faith healers and miracles of healing. (Due to technical difficulties, the audio is not available.) Our special guest was Dr. Brad Burke, a medical doctor and author of Does God Still Do Miracles? We asked Dr. Burke… Does God still do miracles of healing? Are faith healers for real? We began by defining a miracle. A miracle is a healing that cannot be explained by any natural cause. God intervenes and short-circuits natural processes. For example, cancer that is present one day and absent the next. While Dr. Burke has never seen a miraculous healing, he does believe that God still performs miracles of healing. However, we concur with Dr. Burke that God no longer heals through human agency. We believe that God no longer gives to men the gift of healing. Dr. Burke believes in miraculous healing but not in the gift of healing. What do we make then of faith healers such as Benny Hinn and Todd Bentley? As recently as last summer Todd Bentley led healing services in Lakeland, Florida where tens of thousands of people attended and hundreds claimed to experience healing. World Magazine did a story on Bentley and asked for the names of people who were healed. Bentley submitted 13 names and World followed up on those names.

On the May 16, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast we discussed the homosexual political agenda with special guest Peter Labarbera. Labarbera is the president and founder of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, a national organization devoted to exposing and countering the homosexual activist agenda. Labarbera is a former reporter for the Washington Times and has appeared on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes speaking out for the truth about homosexuality. We discussed whether gay marriage is a civil right. Labarbera’s unequivocal conviction is that it is not – instead it is a moral wrong. Gay marriage, according to Labarbera is not even the issue; the issue is homosexuality. And because homosexuality is morally wrong, gay marriage is not even an option. To the assertion that the government cannot legislate morality, Labarbera reacts with certain disagreement. The very purpose of government is to legislate morality. To establish laws that guide a society’s behavior. The only question is whose morality a government will legislate: a healthy, truth-based morality or a relativistic, liberal morality. According to Labarbera, “The number one threat to free speech and religious freedom in America today is the pro-homosexual activist movement.” We concluded our discussion by reminding our listeners that, while we oppose the homosexual political agenda, we love and are concerned for people who are engaged in a homosexual lifestyle. We believe that through the love and truth of Christ, through faith in His death and resurrection, people can be delivered from sin. Check out Peter Labarbera’s website: www.americansfortruth.com.

On the May 9, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast we interviewed Walid Shoebat. Walid Shoebat is a former Islamic terrorist and a former member of the PLO. He was born in Israel, trained as a terrorist, and committed acts of violence and terrorism in Israel. After moving to the United States, he became a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1993, after reading the Jewish Bible, he left Islam, became a follower of Jesus Christ, and devoted his life to speaking out on behalf of Israel. Walid has appeared on CNN, FOX News, and every major television news network. He has written numerous books. Listen to our interview and check out Walid’s website: www.walidshoebat.com.

On the May 2, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast, we discussed Jesus’ call for His disciples to be salt and light. We asserted that the primary reason for the decay in our culture is that Christians are not being faithful as salt and light. In the first century, salt was used primarily as a preservative for foods. It slowed decay. Christians can and should have a positive influence on a culture. Christians are a preservative from God’s judgment because, while Christians are here, the Spirit is here and God is still at work. Even just 10 righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah would have preserved the cities from destruction. The two sources of light – a city and a lamp – have something in common: both are seen, both give off light. Christians shine the light of the truth of Christ in a dark and erring world. Two common points emerge from these two images: 1) Ineffectiveness: Salt can lose its saltiness and light can be hidden. Let’s not be ineffective. 2) Benefit: Both salt and light benefit others – salt preserves, light reveals. Let’s be a benefit to our culture. We discussed two ways that we can be salt and light in our culture.

On the April 25, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast, we addressed the problem of evil. Why do bad things happen to innocent people? The Holocaust, 9/11, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. If God is God, why do these things happen? The answer to this problem is wrapped up in the mystery of the interplay between God’s sovereignty and human freedom. So we’ll never fully understand. The Scriptures do, however, reveal a few fundamentals. God originally created the world, the way it was supposed to be. But we sinned. Because of sin, things are not the way they’re supposed to be.

On the April 18, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast, while Don was out, Steven and Rabbi Glenn Harris discussed religious diversity. In our culture and in our world, there are billions of people with, what seems like, just as many different ideas about God and faith. You probably know Muslims, Jews, atheists, maybe a Hindu or a Wiccan. And we all know of Tom Cruise and Scientology, Madonna and Kabbalah, and Mitt Romney and Mormonism. Just in Bloomfield we have huge Jewish, Muslim, and Christian populations. We first discussed what our culture thinks about the relationship between all these different people with very different religions.

1. Your way is right for you, my way is right for me.
2. All these religions are basically the same thing, just different ways to God. All religions worship the same God, He/she/it just has different names.
3. We shouldn’t worry about our differences, but instead focus on what we have in common. All religions teach us to love each other. That’s what’s important.
But there’s a problem with these ideas…

On the Easter weekend Battle Lines broadcast (4/11/09), we discussed the Resurrection. As author and researcher Josh McDowell has written, “…the resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon people, or it is the most important fact of history.” It is common knowledge that Jesus Christ truly walked this earth. And no serious historian would deny that the tomb is empty. “No shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources or archeology that would disprove this statement” (Paul L. Maier). There has to be some explanation for the fact that the tomb is empty. We believe that the explanation is supernatural. But those who don’t believe in the resurrection must posit some natural explanation. There are four such theories often used to dismiss the Resurrection. We described each theory and demonstrated how each is easily dismantled.

On the April 4, 2009 Battle Lines broadcast we discussed the immensely popular book The Shack, a work of fiction by William P. Young. As of the week of April 6, The Shack was at number one on the New York Times Best Seller List (Fiction Paperbacks) for 45 straight weeks. According to the publisher’s website, The Shack has sold 5 million copies. It is a story of a man, Mack, and his encounter with God. After his youngest daughter is abducted and murdered, Mack receives a mysterious letter, supposedly from God, inviting him back to the scene of the tragedy. There Mack meets God. The book is the story of Mack’s conversations with and experiences with each member of Trinity. Many people have read and have been impacted by the book. Michael W. Smith claims that “The Shack will leave you craving for the presence of God.”And Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, says, “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!” Both Don and Steven read The Shack and on our broadcast we shared our reactions.