Had the chance to spend some time this morning with Steve Deace of WHO Radio. He was talking with a group of pastors to discuss engaging culture. Deace is know for being controversial, and in his own words has “his picture on a dartboard in the Iowa Democratic Party and Republican Party of Iowa headquarters.” Some tidbits of that conversation.
He really didn’t say much about politics:
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Our churches are full of people who are afraid and are unprepared to engage people with the truth because they don’t know what or why they believe.
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“Many (Christians) are better prepared to give a defense for supply-side economics than the resurrection.”
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He talked about having attended a “pottery barn” church which he left and encouraged pastors to “preach the whole counsel of God,” and not reduce it to therapeutic moral advice that resembles deism, not Christianity. (my paraphrase). Our culture has a low threshold for scripture as a result.
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Our goal should be raising up our kids, discipling our people in churches, sharing the Gospel and as a result – “if there are more saints than sinners we’ll transform the culture.”
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We need to challenge people in our churches who’d rather be consumers than servants.
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He believes that we are done as a civilization, but the fact our culture has embraced nihilism which leads to anarchy opens up a chance for revival.
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We’ve created a youth pastor nation (youth ministries that are flash, but no substance and is focused on entertainment rather than discipleship).
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Pre-millennial dispensationalists have destroyed the church (too much focus on details of end times which have destroyed intellectual credibility and have taken focus on what matters most).
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Christian ministries in America should not take a time of government money and say no to everything the government offers – licensure, tax-exempt status, etc.
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“Make this culture come to their knees with the carcasses of people who won’t compromise.”
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Looking for politicians who: 1. don’t lie 2. don’t steal 3. don’t murder (pro-life) and 4. don’t promote immorality.
Deace recently wrote an article for WorldNetDaily called “It’s about G-O-D, not G-O-P,” said this about the state of politics:
The inconvenient truth is America’s conservative talk radio titans, and the Republican grass-roots activists and voters that love them, are ignoring the giant pink gorilla in the room. Our country is not in the shape it’s in because there are too many RINOs, liberals and wannabe victims. Those are symptoms of the disease.
The reality is there are too many RINOs, liberals and wannabe victims in our culture because our culture has too many sinners – and there’s no work written by the indomitable Milton Friedman or witty William F. Buckley that can cure that disease. Our culture is in need of a house call by the Great Physician, for He alone has the cure for what evil lies in the human heart.
The reason moral virtues that were once accepted culture-wide regardless of political or religious persuasion no longer are is because America has far more sinners than saints. When the righteous rule the people rejoice, because God’s moral law blesses a nation as He makes the rain fall on both the just and unjust.
Thoughts?