On the Valentines Day broadcast of Battle Lines (2.14.09) Steven and Rabbi Glenn discussed the biblical definition of love. A person’s understanding of love is very important. A wrong definition of love wreaks havoc in our lives: divorce, sexual sin, families in chaos, kids growing up in abusive, neglectful homes. We became our discussion with The Top Ten Wrong Ideas About Love.

10. Love is NOT Warm, Tingly Feelings.
9. Love is NOT Three Little Words.
8. Love is NOT Letting Him Hold the Remote. (But it’s close!)
7. Love is NOT Patiently Listening to Every Detail of Every Conversation She Had That Day. (But we're getting warm!)
6. Love is NOT a Dream-Like State of Euphoric Distraction.
5. Love is NOT a State You Fall Into.
4. Love is NOT Affection.
3. Love is NOT a Sexual Attraction.
2. Love is NOT a Romantic Feeling.
1. Love is NOT All About Self.

It’s important to healthy and godly living to know what love is not and, more importantly, to know what love is. And then to live that kind of love (and that’s the hard part). We discussed a biblical definition of love.

I was driving down the road recently and saw a bumper sticker: “Question Authority. Ask me anything!” In our culture, we are our own authority. I’m in charge. We don’t like anybody telling us what to do. Not even pastors are immune. In seminary, I was required to attend chapel every week. During my last year, I didn’t. I thought the rule was stupid. We have a problem with submission to authority. We’re independent, not wanting to be subject to the control of others, not looking to others for guidance in our conduct. We’re individualistic - our values, rights, and duties originate within ourselves. We have a tendency to oppose a tradition, religion, or any other form of external moral standard used to limit our choice of actions. We’re self-determining, wanting free choice without any external compulsion. We want to make ourselves. While there may be some good in each of these characteristics, each, on its own is dangerous.

On last week’s Battle Lines broadcast (2/7/09), we addressed the issue of spiritual warfare. Christians are involved in a very real struggle: a struggle against Satan, the world, and our own human sinfulness. We contrasted two models of spiritual warfare: the deliverance model and the discipleship model. We believe, according to the discipleship model, that this spiritual war is God’s war and that our role in the battle is simply to submit ourselves to God through obedience to the Scriptures. The key to success in spiritual warfare, therefore, is the ingestation and application of the Scriptures. The deliverance model of spiritual warfare, on the other hand, became popular through the writings of authors like Neil Anderson.

Truth is a person. In this series of blogs, Christ and Culture, I’ve been sharing how I think Jesus confronts and transforms human culture, particularly our American culture. Our culture is increasingly relativistic and pluralistic. People believe that true, that right and wrong, depends on the person. People think that contradictory truths can both be true at the same time. For instance, people think, “What’s right for you may not be right for me.” Or, “Muslims, Christians… we all worship the same God.” Our culture is relativistic and pluralistic. But I believe that Jesus Christ is absolute and singular.

During this week’s Battle Lines broadcast (1/31/09), we continued to address Roman Catholic Doctrine. Specifically, we discussed the doctrines of the sacraments, the Eucharist and the mass, and purgatory. We recognize that there are many Catholics who truly rely on the work of Christ alone for forgiveness of sin, and for that we are glad. They are, however, not following official Catholic teaching. We discussed three ways that Roman Catholic doctrine is unfaithful to biblical Christianity.

During the Battle Lines broadcast of January 25, 2009 we considered the question, “Are Roman Catholics in need of evangelism?” Should evangelicals witness to Roman Catholics? Many Christians would say “no,” because they believe that Catholics are already part of the body of Christ. Is this true? Are the differences between Catholics and evangelical Protestants relatively minor? Or do the differences have eternal consequences? We believe that, yes, we should witness to Catholics, if they believe official Catholic doctrine. We discussed two particular problems with Catholic doctrine.

It is not absolutely wrong to give someone the finger. Before you think that I have a habit of flipping people off, let me get to my point. My point is about truth, about right and wrong. “Truth” is the way things are, reality, truth is what is. “Right” is what is good, what should be, what should be done. “Wrong” is what is evil, what should not be, should not be done. Absolute truth is true for all people, everywhere, all the time. Absolute right and wrong is right or wrong for all people, everywhere, all the time. For example: Rape, murder, and many other such behaviors, are absolutely wrong. The statement, “Marriage is a lifelong relationship between a man and a woman,” is an absolute truth. The statement, “Jesus is the only way to God,” is an absolute truth. Not all statements or behaviors are absolutes , but some are. There is such a thing as absolute truth. There is such a thing as absolute right and wrong. But the concept of absolutes is not popular in our culture.

During last Saturday's broadcast (1.17.09) we asked the question: "Do Christians understand the gospel?" Our contention is that many do not. Sure, all true Christians have a basic understanding that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But many misunderstand the nature of saving faith.

I just watched the inauguration of Barak Obama as the 44th President of the United States. I am not a big fan of Mr. Obama. But I was interested in the event because of its place in the history of our nation. It is certainly historic because Obama is the first black President. But it’s also historic because, for the 44th time in over 200 years, we have peacefully and respectfully transferred power from one man to another. The stability of our nation is evidence of God’s grace in our history. But watching this inauguration, I was also a little disappointed.

If Jesus were here on earth today, I think He would post videos of Himself and His message on YouTube. I think He might even watch an occasional movie or come to a Superbowl party to watch the game. I know for sure that He would be aware of and engaged in our image-driven culture. But not without transforming it. It’s really a pointless question to ask if Jesus would watch television or surf the Web. Jesus is not here today. But we are. As His followers, we live in a culture of images and screens. We must not just close our eyes, nor should we just take it all in. Instead, the Scriptures give us some principles that can guide our viewing.