Clergy Convicting Congregation with the 7 C’s

The catchy blog post title is what happens when a scientist tries to be creative and make every word start with the letter C. In a few weeks I will be traveling to Dunbar, West Virginia, to speak at Dunbar Church of the Nazarene. This is a special treat for me because I was raised in the Nazarene denomination and taught at a Nazarene university for six years before coming to AiG. It’s also very important because many of the professors in Nazarene universities are compromised on Genesis, and this is leading to a questioning of biblical authority in other areas as well (e.g., the definition of marriage and homosexuality). Several of them write and speak for BioLogos, a liberal Christian organization that promotes theistic evolution. People attending Nazarene churches need to be aware of the compromise at the university level because their children are attending these schools and represent future leadership and laypeople in the Nazarene church.

The pastor of the Dunbar church, Greg Hudson, recently sent me this email in regard to how he is preparing his congregation for my visit:

We are looking forward to that weekend, and to prepare our congregation for that time, I have begun a 7 week sermons series, running concurrent with the Lenten season, on the 7 C’s of history, as outlined at the Creation Museum. The timing works out well, as the Cross comes on Palm Sunday, to begin Holy Week, and Consummation then comes on Easter, focusing on the resurrection, ascension and expected return. This past Sunday was Creation, which went over well, but most of the congregation was in shock.

They know I am a firm creationist and they primarily believe or want to believe that way, but had never “thought” through some of the issues and implications of Creation; its foundation for Salvation and conversely the destruction of Salvation through evolution. There was quite a bit of “buzz” throughout the congregation on Sunday and so far this week, including discussions about members encouraging their friends to listen to the podcast.

How thrilling it was to read this, and how I wish every pastor would prepare his congregation like this before an AiG conference! I’ll be giving two sessions on Saturday (April 14) for the ladies and then two sessions on Sunday (April 15) for everyone. I’m excited because my daughter Elizabeth will also be joining me for this event!

Keep fighting the good fight of the faith!