Confrontational Christianity: Experiencing Jesus in a Post Modern World

By Rev. Jim Berlin

Have you ever asked why our world is in such a mess? Perhaps our troubles are due to our misguided postmodern, New Age concepts concerning our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior? In Confrontational Christianity we will investigate and experience Jesus and his ministry and its impact upon our world and our own personal faith journey. What is wrong with our world? You may very well be surprised by the conclusions we arrive at.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973649762

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Copyright © 2019 Rev. Jim Berlin.

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Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4975-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4977-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4976-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018915136

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/08/2019

Contents

Dedication: I Dedicate This Book To My Family

Editors Of This Manuscript

Foreword

Introduction

Please Note

Part One: Everything Starts Somewhere

Chapter One: In The Beginning…

Chapter Two: My Beginning

Chapter Three: When Talents, Gifting, Grace And Ability Collide: Music Vs. God!

Part Two: Modernism & Post-Modernism As Christian Movements

Chapter Four: If The Truth Be Told

Chapter Five: Modernism

Chapter Six: The Post Modern Movement

Part Three: The Ministry Of Jesus Christ

Chapter Seven: Jesus’ Ministry

Chapter Eight: Jesus Heals The Sick, Matthew 4: 23 & 24

Chapter Nine: Confrontational Christianity Is Biblical; It Is The Way Jesus Did His Ministry

Chapter Ten: Attributes That Define The Ministry Of Jesus

Chapter Eleven: What Happens Next?

Chapter Twelve: Modernism And Post-Modernism; Part Of Christianity Or Their Own Religions?

Chapter Thirteen: Christianity, Politics And The Secular World: (Matthew 22: 18-21)

Chapter Fourteen: A Summary Of Thoughts To Live By

Chapter Fifteen: A Word For My Millennial Friends And All Generations To Follow

Bibliography

Dedication: I dedicate this book to my family

T o Charlotte Berlin, my wife and love of my life for almost fifty years, the mother of our children and my best friend. A praying woman, without whom, I would not be here today. Love always…

Our children: James and his wife Amy and Michael and his wife Kara. We are very proud of the people you have all become. Love and congratulations…

To our grandchildren Brooke and Alexis: you are always in our hearts even though we are many miles apart from you, we love you both…

To our church family: I wish to thank you for your support, friendship and loving care. I wish to thank Pastor Wes for his leadership, strength, guidance and direction as well as the entire congregation at Calvary Church of the Nazarene in Joplin, Missouri! Praise God for you all…

To all the wonderful and powerful people God has put in my life, past, present and future; I pray that I will always be worthy of your confidence and support of this ministry…

To the Lord, God Almighty and His Amazing Grace. Father in Heaven, it has been quite a journey; I am so grateful that you were there with me and never let go. You are an Awesome God!

Editors of This Manuscript

Rev. Wesley Anderson

Author British Aaliyah

Pastor Linda Alf

Charlotte Berlin

I wish to thank you all for your support, friendship and diligent work ethic in editing this project. I can honestly say that I could not have done this without you. I am eternally grateful. May God bless our efforts. Thanks and blessings…

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Jim Berlin

Foreword

A s the Christian Church, it is no secret that we have often fallen short of the example that Christ set before us. Occasionally, it has been our pride and thirst for power that has caused us to go astray. More times than not, however, our errors have been when well-intentioned people of God have simply gotten off track; sometimes without even realizing it. In the postmodern world that we now live in, it seems that we find ourselves off the well-beaten path of our Christian ancestors once again.

In a culture consumed by capitalist thought, the church now finds itself fighting for a market share of their communities. Because we are in such a competitive market, churches have too often been quick to compromise so much of what they are in order to attract as many new religious consumers as possible. Perhaps the clearest picture of this is in the Seeker-Sensitive Movement, but the tactic existed far before our labels did.

Somewhere along the way, we decided that Christianity and Jesus needed better marketing; better PR and better management. We knew that a Jesus who confronts us with difficult truths about our lives is a hard sale. We needed a better Jesus, a nicer Jesus; a Jesus who demands little from us. So, systematically, we sanded the rough corners and splinters from the cross. We removed the blood and sweat stains from it as well, so that we could more easily hang them from our necks for decoration.

In Confrontational Christianity my friend Jim Berlin reintroduces us to the real Jesus. The one who loves us unconditionally, but whose unconditional love doesn’t allow him to leave us alone in our sin and brokenness. He gives us a renewed vision of the cross; not a cross of sterling silver that hangs from our necks, but one that is as difficult to bear as our Lord’s was on the road to Golgotha.

In essence, Jim is adjusting our vision from the temporary to the permanent. He attacks a version of Christianity that is watered down, undemanding and easy on the ears; a version that appeals to the here and now. It’s a version of church that hopes to see immediate rewards with increased attendance. However, the historical and faithful church of God does not count its rewards on this side of heaven. We are faithful to God’s Holy Word regardless of cultural pressure because we know that the rewards of faithfulness are eternal.

So, because we know that we are dealing with issues of eternal significance, we do not mind being blunt. We understand that we do not have time to sing, Kumbaya in a world, heading straight for Hell.

Because we love, we must be willing to stand up and be confrontational with the Gospel of Christ.

Jim Berlin calls us to return to our roots; to the traditions of a church that overtook the entire world, not by conforming to their ways, but by being unapologetically the people of God. My prayer is that you check your feelings, preconceived notions, and judgments at the door and allow the absolute truths of the Good News speak to you in new and fresh ways.

Rev. Wesley Anderson

Calvary Church of the Nazarene

Joplin, Missouri

Introduction

H ave you taken a look at our world lately? No matter what happens during any particular day, I end up seeing our once great nation struggling to keep it’s place in the annals of history while striving to remain the greatest nation on the face of the planet.

What I see is a nation that is literally falling apart right before our very eyes. In the name of progress, we have become a people who no longer have a foundational belief system by which we make our decisions. Instead, our decisions are justified after-the-fact with no thought as to right or wrong because we have become a people who make up our own values, ethics and morals based upon what we think we believe about particular issues as they relate to us and our own personal happiness.

We justify our behavior by manipulating and massaging the truths we anoint as being true at the time of our actions. Truth becomes what we make it to be in order to justify our actions and the way we live our lives.

I wonder how Christ would handle such a situation if He were here today? Certainly He would confront these issues with questions as He did in Biblical times. But part of the problem for today’s world is that we don’t want to hear the questions anymore. We don’t want to have to face the Truth and change our ways. The reality is that we would rather do without God than live aligned with Him and under His authority. Frankly, we want to do what we want, when we want to do it.

How would Jesus handle such a situation? I believe that He would handle it in a loving, but somewhat confrontational manner. The proof is found in Scripture; All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3: 16 & 17)

Do we accept the Bible as the God breathed word of God? Are we willing to search for it’s deeper meaning and open our hearts and minds to what God’s Word is actually saying? Herein, lies this book’s purpose: if Jesus were here today, how would He be doing His ministry? How would the world view His ministry? Would there be any difference between His ministry of 2000 years ago and how He would minister in 2018? Would Jesus see His ministry and teachings as still being relevant even in the Post-Christian, Post Modern world of today?

Let us then move forward and discover together how Jesus might spread the Good News in 2018. Please join me as we experience Jesus’ ministry as it relates to Post Modern thought, New Age Theology and the Post Christian Movement. I hope you will be coming along?

Please Note

T his is not a book about some WARM AND FUZZY Christian Theology nor is it a theological self-help book that will make you feel better about yourself. If that is your reason for picking this book up, please put it back on the shelf or return it immediately, this book is not for you. This is not a comfortable or peaceful read. It is a book that asks many difficult questions, hoping to answer most of them. Our first question will be: "What is wrong with our country today? As Christians, we need to be able to answer this question as we strive to find the solutions.

The truth about what is wrong with our country and its people, cause us to face things that we do not want to hear or admit. If we do not start to seriously face these questions, our search for answers will become so diluted with misguided teachings, we will no longer be able to find the solutions to fix our problems. Our country and all we hold sacred will be lost forever.

We can continue to pretend that all is well and let this great nation of ours fall apart or we can come together with open minds, listening ears, forgiving hearts and a true desire to correct the current negativity and destruction that seems destined to ruin America.

I choose to follow a path of correction and transformation. I choose to use the ministry of Jesus Christ as my example. Jesus loved everyone He met, but that did not mean He was all-inclusive when it came to His teaching of God’s word. He was not tolerant in order to convince the masses. He asked the hard questions. He was confrontational because He had a purpose to fulfill. He was showing all who would listen the true joy of life, its meaning and purpose.

Life is not solely about happiness for happiness sake. Happiness is at best fleeting by nature. If you have doubts all you have to do is recall any Christmas morning with your children as they open their presents. The excitement and happiness experienced by your children is literally over in 10-15 minutes. By noon the children are so over Christmas that they are looking for other things to do. Why? Because happiness is fleeting, it quickly disappears. The lesson: happiness is not to be confused with joy. They are completely different from one another.

God wants us to live in joy by being totally aligned with His teachings.

Over the next several chapters, we will try to answer many difficult questions, in hope that by answering them, we will find answers that lead us directly to the source of our recovery; Jesus Christ. Using His ministry as our example, we should feel compelled to ask the same tough, confrontational questions He did.

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we recognize that trying to find answers to such questions will lead many down a path towards a contrite heart with a strong desire to repent of our sins, which leads to a complete spiritual transformation. As Scripture tells us, we become what St. Paul calls a new creation on a new path of Enlightenment and Truth.

Confrontational Christianity is the way in which Christ performed His ministry 2000 years ago; but are we still called to continue such a confrontational approach delivering the Good News in 2018? We are about to find out. I ‘m looking forward to it. Hope you are also.

PART ONE

EVERYTHING STARTS SOMEWHERE

CHAPTER ONE

IN THE BEGINNING…

T he book of Genesis makes it quite simple and to the point: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) God created everything! He didn’t just create man; He created everything we know! He created not by using some cosmic super power or extraterrestrial alien, greater than He, to help with the process, or some Big Bang and certainly not by chance as some scientist’s believe. God created all that is, everything, including you and me by His Word. He spoke of creation and it was so. We are His crown of creation because as the Bible states: So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1: 27)

Now, I am not foolish enough to think that all of you who are starting this book firmly believe in a Biblical approach to the story of creation. Frankly, since you just found out that I do, you may have already returned this work to the bookstore for an exchange or refund! That of course is up to you.

I hope you are one who enjoys hearing alternate ideas and beliefs. Isn’t that really what most people pride themselves on today; being open minded, all inclusive, tolerant of other’s ideas and beliefs? I must confess, I sometimes wonder if all who claim to be open minded actually are. Perhaps, together, by continuing further into this work we might show others that people who may disagree can still treat each other with respect and may even learn something from each other.

If we then apply very basic, simple logic, this Genesis passage suggests that we all also have a beginning. My beginning was some 70 years ago and when one’s beginning occurs often says a great deal about who you are, how you view things and what you believe.

A hundred years ago for example, few people doubted the words quoted from Genesis above. In fact, most believed that because it was found in God’s word it was the way it actually happened. It was a simple matter of faith. You believed it to be true because God said so and that reality made it true!

Depending upon where and when your Beginning occurred will also say much about why you believe the things you do and how you came to such beliefs. In today’s world, there are many reasons why people believe the way they do, but never in the history of humankind do so many people believe what they profess to believe without some kind of foundational belief system in place. Do we still have foundational belief systems in out lives that help us or direct us in our decision making process? How do we know for sure that what we believe is consistent with anything that might help us make good decisions? How do we logically distinguish between right and wrong? The answers to these questions are often found in the way our lives first started and then development.

Christians are not alone when it comes to not having a solid foundational belief system upon which to make decisions. Most Christians, when asked to explain or justify their faith, do not have the training or understanding needed to defend their position pertaining to the teachings of Christ.

Ask anyone who has sought out Christ but was turned off by the spiritual ignorance and hypocrisy of God’s people displayed within the walls of His churches. We Christians, who profess that we are called to bring all whom we meet to the Lord, often are precisely the reason why the person we are witnessing to does not come to know God! If we truly believe what we say about God and Jesus then we can no longer just talk the talk; we must be able to walk the walk as well!

Christians profess to be followers of God. They profess to love one-another. They profess to follow all His teachings and commands and yet, we constantly see those who proclaim to be Christian couples choosing to move in together before they are married. We see Christians condemning others for their sins while being guilty of those same or similar sins. We all know of Christians, who swear, are addicted to pornography; love money more than God and the list goes on and on.

How are we to fix the world’s problems using God’s teachings and His commands, with Jesus being our example, when God’s own people are unable to follow His word, will and way and stay obedient to all His callings and commands? The answer is found in our own personal beginnings and understanding how we have come to believe