Moreland Speaks to 600+ Pastors

San Diego, CA - JP Moreland spoke at three major sessions at the 2008 National Pastor's Convention.

He did two 90 minute sessions on Kingdom Triangle related themes (e.g., "The mind, the heart, and the Power of the Holy Spirit" and "Sex and Secularism: Why Islam may win the West") to a total audience of about 400 pastors. JP says,

I worked through my worldview analysis and then on the the three legs of the triangle and I was deeply moved at the incredible responsiveness to the book and it's message (they sold out of KT and had to order more). This was a rare opportunity to minister to pastors and to give them hope and practical suggestions for greater impact.

To an audience of at least another 200 pastors, JP contributed to a panel discussion with Greg Boyd, Roger Olsen, and Richard Twiss concerning "Theological Trends Facing the Church." JP says,

It was a really fun time; sometimes passionate about our difference and always cordial. I liked these guys a lot and, while we have differences to be sure, there was also much about which we agreed.

Audio of JP's session can be purchased here.

What is Knowledge?

JP discusses here the importance of "What is knowledge?" and its significance to the Christian experience.

Do we the disciples of Jesus possess through Scripture and other means a reliable source of knowledge of reality or do we not? We have seen that this is an important question. The possession of knowledge—especially religious and moral knowledge—is essential for a life of flourishing. To answer this question we must, first, answer another question: What exactly is knowledge and what does it mean to say Christian teaching provides it?

Moreland Speaking on STR Cruise

Join JP Moreland and other notables on Stand to Reason's Alaskan Cruise:

August 2-9, 2008

JP will be speaking on the importance of the life of the Christian mind.

Check-out their informative brochure.

KT Featured at SermonCentral.com

Ron Forseth, General Editor of SermonCentral.com, featured Kingdom Triangle in Moreland's article, titled, "Preaching to Increase Awareness of the Supernatural"

"Is American Christianity Turning Charismatic?"

The Barna Group recently released a report about the sociological character of Charismatic and Pentecostal churches in the U.S.

Since JP's Kingdom Triangle attempts to show the interrelated significance of a Christianity that fuses Spirit-empowerment with thinking Christianly along with cultivating an inner life through Christian spiritual disciplines, we thought JP would have something to say about this report.

Here are his comments:

Barna's study on the growth of "Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity" is interesting on several fronts. If his data and interpretation are valid and sound, then it underscores the importance for non-Pentecostals and Charismatics to pay attention to this growing trend and assess its strengths and weaknesses.

But there seems to be several missing or omitted elements from Barna's "reflection":

First, Barna seems to mostly present an emotive and cultural interpretation of charismatic expression and experience when he writes, "the freedom of emotional and spiritual expression typical of charismatic assemblies parallels the cultural trend toward personal expression, accepting diverse emotions and allowing people to interpret their experiences in ways that make sense to them." Granted, this may be true as far as obvious sociological reflection goes, but charismatics also have diverse theological reasons and evidences for cultivating the emotionality of their individual and corporate expression. Namely, Charismatics and Pentecostals expectantly confide in God with the understanding that he is alive, active, and not impotent in his world. In short, they actually believe that the presence of God is real and not imaginary; he's always active at work in mission and not impotent or indifferent to the responsiveness of his creation.

Second, Barna's research and reflection does not seem to take into consideration the growing association of what Peter Wagner has called "third wave" churches, such as the Vineyards and the Calvary Chapels. If these are taken into consideration, then their categorization is not obvious or clear in this Barna report. These movements have been, I think, the historical catalyst for change and bridge-building, if you will, between traditional evangelicals and Charismatics/Pentecostals.

Third, "third wavers," especially of the Vineyard sort, increasing make the case, theologically and practically in corporate church experience, that it is the nature and significance of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God and the ministry of Jesus and NOT whether "sign gifts" are for today, as the differentiating reason for why we can continue to expect God to bring healings, prophetic words, deliverances, etc in our midst.

Why does God do these things? Because they are signs - and not the only ones, either - of God, the presence and power of his Kingdom, and the ministry of Jesus actually our midst. If you gathered for church or in a small group with the expectation that God is in our midst, that he is alive and actually desires to interactively communicate His heart, administer his ministry, and bless us in order to make us a blessing to others, pray tell, how could your emotions and affections, let alone your mind and will, not be stirred and compelled? But this explanation, in content and tone, is omitted in Barna's research and reflection as a viable theological explanation for informing and forming so-called "Charismatic/Pentecostal experience."

Fourth, there is a growing number of church movements (e.g., Sam Storms, and other Charismatic and theologically Reformed folks), who would consider themselves "evangelical" but also charismatic. Indeed, this is, perhaps, the real news about the growth of Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity in the U.S.: its been hugely influential in areas of theology, teaching, worship, music, and overall ecclesial practice among evangelicals, who continue to remain evangelical but with an eagerness to interactively know the living God and practice his presence.

I'm encouraged by what appears to be the genuine growth of Charismatics and Pentecostals in the U.S. Their growth also signals the importance of helping them, and all of us, develop our inner lives in the discipline of Christian formation so that the life of our minds are skilled in virtue, theological knowledge and wisdom, which I demonstrably discuss in Kingdom Triangle (see chapters 4-7).

KT New Year's Resolutions

If you were to read and apply JP's Kingdom Triangle in 2008, here's what he would encourage as five key resolutions in light of the themes and values of Kingdom Triangle:

1. I urge people to read the suggested works on pages 200-201 and encourage others to read them.
2. I will make it my aim to learn about and grow in the supernatural aspects of the Kingdom. I will do this by selecting some of the suggestions from pages 181-187 and doing them.
3. I will make it my aim to grow in my inner life, especially my emotional warmth. I will ask a loved one or close friend how they experience me, to give me feedback about my emotional distance, coldness and so forth, and together with him/her (or them), I will seek to grow in this area.
4. I will seek to spread the things in Kingdom Triangle with which I agree. I will form a study group using the book and seek to influence others.
5. I resolve to spend an afternoon listing my strengths and weaknesses in each leg of the triangle, and identify which leg is my weakness. I will try to find ways to grow in that area and to balance that area with the other two.

Knowledge of Christ in Today's World

A few years ago, JP Moreland and the Eidos Christian Center produced an eight lecture CD set with Dallas Willard titled, "Knowledge of Christ in Today's World."

You can listen to a sample here and then the entire CD set can be purchased through the Masters in Apologetics program at Biola University. Follow this link to purchase.

Its a superb summary of Willard's ideas (for Willard newbies), but its also very meaty teaching that wisely demonstrates the importance of the Christian knowledge tradition and its ability to diagnose the culture, which JP further develops in Kingdom Triangle.