by Bruce Mills
I am about two-thirds of the way through reading a brand new book titled Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong. It was written by members of the leadership team at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California where John MacArthur is the pastor. It is "sell your old ice skates and buy it" good!
There are few churches in America today who, like Grace Community Church, provide their flock with such sound, thoroughly biblical perspectives on the wide range of controversial issues which face believers in our society. This book deals with everything from entertainment choices, internet dating, video gaming, divorce and remarriage, abortion, birth control, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy, homosexuality, euthanasia, suicide, capital punishment, political activism, economics, global warming, racism and reconciliation, illegal immigration, suffering, the problem of evil, and more. Every chapter is solidly based on Scripture, not the vacillating opinions of human wisdom.
I think my favorite chapter of all that I have read so far is titled "God's Carbon Footprint" which deals with global warming and the environmental movement. While acknowledging the responsibility of Christians to care for every resource God has provided, and agreeing that we are not to be reckless, abusive, or irresponsible with any of the wonderful resources this world contains, this chapter takes the American evangelical culture to task for blindly accepting the secular, naturalistic, evolutionary perspective which idolizes nature by giving it a higher priority than obeying the clear commands of Scripture to love the Lord God wholeheartedly (Mark 12:29-30). The unnamed writer points out that this results in misinterpreting certain biblical texts by ripping them out of their context in order to make them fit an environmentalist understanding. He reminds believers that contrary to the National Council of Church's statement that "the central moral imperative of our time is the care for Earth as God's creation," Scripture teaches that the central moral imperative for the church in this age is the Great Commission; that is, to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you..." (Matthew 28:19-20). At the end of the chapter, this concluding statement summarizes Grace's pastoral approach to this issue:
While we should be good citizens (as we submit to government restrictions), good neighbors (as we are sensitive to the needs of others), and good stewards (as we invest the resources God has individually bestowed to us into His kingdom work), we should not become preoccupied with agendas or concerns that distract us from our primary mission in this world.
Well said. And anyone who picks up this book will find that it is packed with sound, solid biblical advice for anyone who wonders what God's Word has to say concerning any of the wide-range of controversial issues which are included in it. I particularly recommend it for those with young children at home, because it provides a biblically-based approach to these matters which parents can use in helping their children develop a biblical world view. As of this writing, it is on sale at www.christianbook.com for $12.98 including shipping, and also at www.amazon.com for $13.19 including shipping.
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