After a long week of moderating the snot out of a particular message board, we were finally treated to the sight of a particularly obnoxious member's banning. I won't go into details, most of you who would have any interest probably know the story. But I will say this much: it is nice to be able to use the word "Emergent" again, without it being equated to moral relativism. In addition, it will be very nice to go for two weeks without seeing the word "postmodern" used as a derogatory term.

On a similar note, we were comparing McLaren and MacArthur, and I went through all the trouble of typing up a transcript that I wanted to post it somewhere other than on a messageboard:

McLaren said, "...People ask me, what do I think is the way to Heaven. I have a problem when they ask me this question, because it assumes that the primary purpose of Jesus coming, and the primary message of Jesus was about how to get to Heaven."

MacArthur replied by saying the McLaren was calling everyone that believed Jesus came to save us stupid, and gave an explanation of propitiation, then said, "[Salvation] was the only reason he came. He didn't come to fix life here. He didn't come to eliminate poverty. He didn't come to eliminate slavery. He didn't come to bump people up five notches on the marriage satisfaction scale. [Considering how short life is, you see] how silly it is to think that Jesus came to fix something in somebody's life for the little moment that they live on earth...Look at the life of Christ. He didn't even fix the world that he lived in. He never, ever, basically assaulted, one social institution that was out of whack. Not one. So he never had a social agenda. He cared for people. He fed people, sure, but he fed them once, and he didn't feed them everyday."

He goes on to draw a parallel to welfare, but you can listen to the interview for yourself.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH1yOmij7Q4

I think that's it for the night,

John MacArthur just has released a revised edition of his MacArthur Study Bible, as if the first wasn't bad enough. I like the fact that the name "MacArthur" is the largest word on the cover. It's bigger than the sord "study," bigger than the word "bible" by at least 300%. If you open it, there are pages that are three-quarters commentary and one-quarter biblical text. But I suppose that's how much effort it takes to justify some of the things he believes in.

Here's the fun part, though: As I wandered into my local Christian bookstore, I saw an entire shelf of them , perhaps a dozen copies, with bright yellow "50% off" stickers. Seems the sales aren't going so hot. A week later, I checked back. Still, not a copy sold. Another week, still nothing. They will, most likely, be returned for credit, a sales clerk told me.

Nothing warms my heart like Calvinist literature unread. It's always reassuring to know that what, only twenty years ago, might have sold like syrup at a hotcakes convention, is now informing store owners what not to purchase. Next time, try something more theologically significant, like John Wesley's A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, of Brian McLaren's More Ready Than You Realize or, for that matter, Veggietales.

Good night.