Secret Church

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Secret Church 11 – Reflections – Part 2 Posted: 05 Dec 2011 03:00 AM PST The following is the second post in a three part series by DMI Intern, Eric Parker.  In this series Eric shares his thoughts on Secret Church 11 and the current cultural climate in relation to “Family, Marriage, Sex, and the Gospel”: _________________________ The Sexual Polarization—The "New Conservative" At the other end of the spectrum, however, there are many things that suggest a growth toward the Biblical paradigm for marriage and the like. Over the last 10+ years, within the Christian sector of the culture, a group of "New Conservatives" have produced sermons, videos, books, conferences, and films. (We can talk about what is "New" about the new conservative in another post). Consider prominent evangelical pastor-speakers like Darrin Patrick, Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Matt Chandler, Voddie Baucham, and David Platt, just to name a few, who have really spoken out on the insufficiency of the ideologies presented at the other end of the spectrum. Granted, they all do not directly engage these ideologies (though some of them do), but they most certainly address the effects of the ideologies. Much discussion has centered on manhood as the ideological place of change. As evangelicals, we believe that men are to lead in the home, and in the church as Christ does. So the thought process is that if we can start to get manhood right, both Biblically/ideologically, as well as practically, then these many distortions of God's Biblical design will fade out. Voddie Baucham touches on this subject in a different way with sufficient clarity here. Many books have been published recently, but I would commend one book in particular, called A Guide to Biblical Manhood. The book stands out because it is brief, yet contains the practical Biblical model of manhood that the present generation seems to be longing for. There are also two films that were recently released in theatre's, either nationwide, or around the south east, that I'd like to bring to your attention as films that represent the conservative end of the spectrum. The first being a film entitled Courageous (released 9/30/11), and the second is called October Baby (released 10/28/11). Both of these films either directly, or indirectly, address the grave state of families and marriages across the country, whether Christian, or not. Interestingly enough though, both attempt to show in some way how the gospel speaks into such broken realities. While these two films are most definitely diversified in terms of content, they are unified in terms of content. Both films exist because there is something greatly amiss in the way we often times view this overarching topic of family, marriage, sex, and sexuality. In Courageous you have a picture of men learning what it really means to be men, husbands, and fathers. But why? If each of these men had other men (namely their fathers) show them, and train them intentionally in Biblical manhood, then we might expect a different result. But this film is only reflecting the need in our culture. Similarly, October Baby centers on a girl who was the product of a failed abortion, as well as adopted. Abortion often flows from faulty views of children, where in our society children are often thought of as burdens until we are able, in our flesh, to support one. But in the Bible's worldview, children are seen as blessings that are given by God and sustained by God. If this had been in the worldview of the mother of the main character, we might have expected a different film on a different topic. Yet again though, the film is only highlighting the tragic reality of the need within our culture. Next week – final post in this series – “The Slippery Slope” _______________________ To watch or listen to Secret Church - “Family, Marriage, Sex, and the Gospel”, visit the Resource Library in the DMI website.  DVDs, CDs, and Study Guides are also available for purchase through the DMI Store.

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