02/23/13

There Go I

By Don Enevoldsen

A couple recently shared with me some of their insights from a lifetime of ministry. The part that dramatically caught my attention and prompted thoughts about the grace of God and the course of my own life and ministry was when the wife recounted a recent conversation with God. God told her that she had put idols between herself and him.

She had faithfully served in ministry for many decades, and could not think of anything she had ever allowed to distract her from her service of him. Baffled, she asked God for clarification.  Read more...

12/17/12

Malachi and the Curse

Excerpt from the book:

The Wealth of the Wicked

By Don Enevoldsen

I never set out to memorize Malachi 3:8-11. But somehow, along the way, it has become ingrained in my mind. It’s probably because I’ve heard it read about once a week for the past twenty years. If it wasn’t referenced as part of taking the offering, it came up in a sermon. I have heard it quoted many hundreds of times.

For most people, Malachi is the book that talks about tithing, and all that many have read of Malachi is those four verses. It has become the classic “take an offering” scripture.  Read more...

12/7/12

Rich Weddings and Big Business

Excerpt from the book:

The Wealth of the Wicked

By Don Enevoldsen

A popular element of the Prosperity Message is the teaching that Jesus was rich. If it can be shown that Jesus had great wealth, then the idea that Christians should pursue as much money as they can accumulate becomes not only acceptable, but something of a mandate. This is presented as a validation of owning wealth, neglecting to consider that it also becomes a validation of greed. These claims are generally in the form of highlighting a supposedly overlooked tidbit of information that, when viewed properly, demonstrates that Jesus had money. For example, Jesus had so much money he needed a treasurer, or he owned a house, which implies he was rich. The problem with these claims is that they usually lack logic or they demonstrate an ignorance of history and the culture of the time in which Jesus walked the earth.  Read more...

11/30/12

The Wealth of the Wicked

Excerpt from the book:

The Wealth of the Wicked

By Don Enevoldsen

What is the Prosperity Message? At first glance, that may seem like a silly question. It is the message that God wants people to experience prosperity, isn’t it? Unfortunately, as we apply the inevitable nuances to that statement, the issue becomes progressively unclear.

Does it mean that God wants everyone to be prosperous? Most proponents of the Prosperity Message immediately answer, “Yes.” But then they begin to clarify, just to make sure we don’t walk away actually believing that God wants “everyone” to be rich.  Read more...

09/1/12

Why Do People Stay in an Abusive Church?

Part 16 in the Series:

Questioning Church Authority

By Don Enevoldsen

“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.’” (Genesis 2:18)

Who would have thought that the first thing God identified as not good would become the strongest tool of control and abuse in history? Human beings recognize how undesirable isolation is, and they prove it by their willingness to do anything to avoid being alone. That fact explains a wide range of dysfunctional behavior, from the tendency to stay in unhealthy relationships to a fanatical devotion to abusive churches and church leaders.  Read more...

08/20/12

America’s Heritage

Part 7 in the Series:

Is America a Christian Nation?

By Don Enevoldsen

America has largely forgotten its heritage. The developing moral failures of the past century portray much more than simply a declining influence of the church on American life. They indicate the loss of the foundational principle of American freedom. In 1819, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Judge Spencer Roane, “Independence can be trusted nowhere but with the people in mass. They are inherently independent of all but moral law.”  Read more...

08/17/12

The Decline of Christian America

Part 6 in the Series:

Is America a Christian Nation?

By Don Enevoldsen

The greatest challenge to America today is the question of whether or not we will continue to be a Christian nation. The criteria are not in the polls that track how many people consider themselves Christians or how many meet the definition for being born again. The test is in whether or not we deviate from the moral foundation described in the Declaration of Independence and inherent in American law. All segments of modern society justify their positions by declaring themselves constitutional and their opponents unconstitutional, but few today understand the moral fabric of the Constitution. The test, as the Founding Fathers conceived it, was a very simple thing. If any law or any action violates the individual rights of life, liberty or possessions, it is unconstitutional. Period. In the minds of early Americans, such violations are also un-Christian.  Read more...

08/16/12

The Weakness of American Democracy

Part 5 in the Series:

Is America a Christian Nation?

By Don Enevoldsen

The drawback to the American form of government is that it requires the nation as a whole to buy into the underlying moral values. The majority has to genuinely believe that they have no right to infringe on anyone’s basic rights. Because Americans universally accepted without question the Christian morality observed by de Tocqueville, they possessed the ability to sustain a government of this nature. The people were considered the source of all government power, but neither the government nor the people had a right to infringe on the most basic rights of the individual. Such was considered a Christian duty.  Read more...

08/13/12

Natural Law

Part 4 in the Series:

Is America a Christian Nation?

By Don Enevoldsen

The question, then, of whether or not America was founded as a Christian nation is not established in an appeal to Christian quotes from our Founding Fathers. Rather it is confirmed by the basic belief in individual rights, which, in the minds of Americans, were drawn from Christianity. Once this mindset of early America is understood, the Christian bias is easily discernable, even in political documents such as the United States Constitution, which make no mention of God or any other religious topic.  Read more...

08/10/12

Christian America and the State

Part 3 in the Series:

Is America a Christian Nation?

By Don Enevoldsen

The Christian moral responsibilities observed by de Tocqueville were synonymous in the minds of early Americans with being good citizens. They could not, and did not, separate the two. Nearly all Americans agreed that the moral values that made a good Christian were the same that made a good American. De Tocqueville observed:  Read more...