Posted on 02/15/2015 10:56:42 PM PST by Maudeen
D. James Kennedy successor keeps quiet on public moral concerns. . .
When D. James Kennedy was preaching at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church – the fastest growing Presbyterian church in the nation for much of his tenure – his sermons and comments to media sometimes sparked fireworks.
One time he said: “We hear today that this is a pluralistic nation and that it is not a Christian nation. But Christianity itself, general Christianity, was conceived as the support of all our government.”
Kennedy, who died in 2007 after 47 years of ministry at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, church, preached that Jesus is the only way to God, urged Christians to discern between good and evil, pointed out the failings of the theory of evolution, affirmed the resurrection of Jesus and believed the church should be a social force in society, defending traditional marriage and opposing abortion. He named one of his efforts “Reclaiming America for Christ.”
When it comes to faith in the public square, Coral Ridge is now moving in a new direction.
Pastor and popular evangelical author Tullian Tchividjian is in the pulpit and has made it, for the most part, a no-comment zone when it comes to matters such as the sanctity of human life and the sin of Sodom.
Regarding social and moral concerns, Tchividjian is happy to talk about them in the public library or somewhere else, but the 42-year-old grandson of Billy Graham says the pulpit should be reserved for leaders “to diagnose sinners by preaching God’s law and then to deliver sinners by preaching God’s gospel.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
I didn’t know that he died, I liked him.
We did D. James Kennedy’s Evangelism Explosion (training) at our church many years ago (back in the ‘80s for us anyway).
Evangelism Explosion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelism_Explosion
I think I saw Coral Ridge’s current pastor in an interview on TBN . . .the interview’s dialogue didn’t do much for me so I turned the channel. I guess I didn’t watch long enough to catch that he was Billy Graham’s grandson.
I always like Kennedy. This new guy sounds full of rationalizations for not hungering and thirsting for justice.
And he isn’t the only one. Looking inward seems to be what many pastors direct their congregations to do these days. Rick Warren, and also Charles Swindoll. I heard Swindoll once rail as though with moral outrage against Christian pastors and churches concerning themselves with social issues, and mention how someone in his church praised him for avoiding it all. I stopped listening to him then. There always seemed to be something not quite right with his preaching to me anyways, and I read different things about him being not quite orthodox.
I have a problem in either direction on this issue, do we go to Church to hear a good sermon or to have fellowship or just what?
The sermons have already been preached so why would a preacher need to preach his own sermon?
It is all right there in scripture, what better way to teach people the word of God than reading scripture with one or more witnesses?
I find this hard to argue with.
....The feud at Coral Ridge appears mostly to be a matter of style, not substance. Under the leadership of Kennedy, who died in 2007, the church was a forerunner to modern evangelical megachurches, a fiercely conservative voice on social issues including homosexuality and abortion, and a powerful political voice. Tchividjian, 37, took over earlier this year. While he has shown no sign of theological differences with Kennedy, he has rejected politics as the most important force for change, and his sermons have not focused on divisive issues.Related threads:
-- from the thread Hundreds leave pioneering Fla. megachurch'Preachers these days are expected to major in “Christian moral renovation.” They are expected to provide a practical “to-do” list, rather than announce, “It is finished.” They are expected to do something other than, “more than”, placarding before their congregations eyes Christ’s finished work, preaching a full absolution solely on the basis of the complete righteousness of Another. The irony is, of course, that when preachers cave in to this pressure, moral renovation does not happen. To focus on how I’m doing more than on what Christ has done is Christian narcissism (an oxymoron if I ever heard one)–the poison of self-absorption which undermines the power of the gospel in our lives. Martin Luther noted that “the sin underneath all our sins is the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and that we must take matters into our own hands.”'
-- from the thread God's Final Solution
He is right. Worship is for God, not for man.
Kennedy used to pack the church with worshipers each Sunday. Is that still happening?
Near the end of his publis ministry Dr Kennedy drifted to far to what is almost a works rightousness through patriotism.
The new minister focuses on salvation through the abundant richness if God’s love through His son Jesus.
Both have a time, and most importantly a place
Like I trust anything I read in WND’s religion section.
“It is all right there in scripture, what better way to teach people the word of God than reading scripture with one or more witnesses?”
Amen!
You are either attacking or you are on defense.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.