The OC -- A New Burned-Over District? Part One -- The "Buzz"

I am certain that my family owned and operated the only Christian Bookstore in an amusement park (Knott's Berry Farm).  The photo above is of my dad (Clayton) and was taken when our bookstore was newly remodeled in 1967.  If you ever visited Knott's back in the day, and can recall the displays of the California missions in what was then Fiesta Village, you'll understand why our store looked like a California mission.  It was a California history thing, not a papal thing. 

I grew up in this strange world of Christian retail, and I have long since repented of supplying too many families and churches with Warner Sallman's awful "Head of Christ" painting.  If your grandma lived in Southern California (or visited Knott's), and had on her wall the picture of the old man praying over his bread, or the gleaners in the field giving thanks for the harvest, chances are she bought it from us.

I begin with our family's bookstore (the Inspiration House), because the first time I encountered the Christian "buzz" so typical of the OC in the late 60's through the mid 90's was the first "Maranatha Night" at Knott's.  I don't remember the year (1971?), but my dad had died in 1969 of a sudden heart attack at age 50, and my mom took over the business.  Darrell Anderson (one of the younger and hipper members of the Knott family) had recently become a Christian while attending a "Jesus People" church, which I later came to know as Calvary Chapel. 

Anderson had what he thought was a great idea--to have a special "Christian themed" event at Knott's.  It was arranged for some of the new bands which played at Calvary Chapel and elsewhere (Love Song, Children of the Day, and then later on Mustard Seed Faith, Sweet Comfort, etc.) to play the various music venues throughout Knott's.  Better still, our family's bookstore could sell their records (the fledgling Maranatha music label was just getting started, and generated a buzz far greater than folks like George Beverly Shea or the Gaithers) along with the accouterments which the Jesus People just loved--leather Bible covers (with the ichthus or Maranatha dove), Christian tee-shirts (with Bible verses or clever "witnessing" slogans), and all sorts of religious trinkets. 

Knott's first "Love Song" festival packed out with some 25,000 mostly young people who loved Jesus and were truly excited about their faith.  Our shelves were soon empty, and we found the Jesus People to be a breath of fresh-air, compared to the stodgy blue-hairs and matronly Sunday School teachers who usually shopped in Christian bookstores.  After the first "Maranatha Night," sheet music and greeting cards were no longer among our best-selling items.  Bibles, praise music, and tee-shirt sales were off the chart.  But we also sold many more commentaries and theology texts (we carried a few--mostly dispensational stuff).

I recall my mom telling me how this caught her completely off-guard.  These freaky Jesus People were truly excited about their faith in Christ.  They knew their Bibles.  They were kind and patient while waiting in line despite the fact our small store couldn't handle them all.  Many had remarkable testimonies about deliverance from all kinds of drug addiction and their previous fascination with the Eastern religions which dominated hippy culture.  I'm not big on the term "revival" because of my understanding of the Bible's stress on the ordinary means of grace (word and sacrament).  But this was a remarkable time however you attempt to understand it.  I'm still not sure what to think of it, or what to call it.

Maranatha Night was my first real encounter with the new Christian "buzz" spreading all over the OC.  I had been raised in the Grace Brethren and then the Evangelical Free Church--if you know anything about Orange County, you know how much influence Chuck Swindoll and the Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton exercised upon the OC's evangelicals--it was huge. 

But the influx of the Jesus People changed everything.  Everywhere you went, it seemed, people were talking about the Christian faith.  Before long, it was not just the Jesus People, it was successful businessmen (like Darrell Anderson of the Knott family), it was people in line in the grocery store, there were Christian bumper stickers on countless cars (many purchased from us), and there was the rise of a Christian media (radio at first), along with a distinct Christian sub-culture.  You couldn't escape it.  My non-Christian friends (among the few who were not converted during this time) hated it. 

In Christian circles and Bible studies, people debated among themselves the role of the gifts of the Spirit, and the ill (or good, depending upon which side you were on) effects of the charismatic movement.  It really mattered whether you were "pre-trib" or "post."  Hal Lindsey was must reading.  But so was Josh McDowell's Evidence that Demands a Verdict.  And as things progressed, it became increasingly important to identify yourself with one (or more) of the various elements (not yet "factions") within the evangelical subculture.  If you were Charismatic or Pentecostal, you went to Melodyland (the theater in the round, turned church, across from Disneyland).  If you preferred the new "praise music" to traditional hymns, and if you liked the laid-back Jesus People atmosphere, you went to Calvary Chapel.  If you wanted the Calvary Chapel style but with a focus on signs and wonders, you went to the Vineyard (a 1977 offshoot of Calvary).  If you wanted serious Bible teaching you went to Chuck Swindoll's church, or even to one of Calvary Chapel's mid-week studies.  And you just had to listen to the "Bible Answer Man" on Saturday night, because you knew that Walter Martin's clobbering an LDS stake president or some poor JW attempting to defend Arianism was going to be discussed at church the next morning.

This is what I mean by the Christian buzz. 

But beneath the surface, the same ills plaguing the Corinthians in the mid-fifties of the first century, were beginning to manifest themselves.  Christians were drawn to Christian celebrities and celebrity preachers, and to a distinctly evangelical sub-culture which was able to provide them with every style of music, clothing, image and self-identity you can imagine.  Christian bookstores (like Maranatha Village) popped up everywhere, selling the various badges and symbols of the subculture, and a few books as well.  It became "cool" to be a Christian and identify with the buzz.  As Ken Myers so aptly put it, you were of the world (because you baptized worldly methods), but you were no longer "in the world" because you had your own Christian sub-culture.  The seeds of the buzz's destruction were already sown.

If you wanted in on the buzz, you had to identify with these sub-groups.  As exciting and attractive as it was, none of this evangelical sub-culture was connected to the historic creeds and confessions of the church, the church's liturgy and sacraments, or to the responsibilities of church membership and discipline.  Those who participated in the buzz were consumers (not churchmen), eager, ready, and willing to go wherever you could find the buzz.  The buzz was always tied to the newest celebrity convert, doctrinal controversy, or the latest "move of the Spirit."  You could keep up with the buzz, but still never be connected to a church.  I joined EV-Free (as the Fullerton EFCA was known), attended faithfully for several years, but never once actually met or talked to Pastor Swindoll.  The church was too big and the reality was Swindoll did need to be protected from both groupies and kooks--the reason for his isolation from people on Sundays.  I didn't expect anything else, and didn't see this as out of the ordinary. 

The very nature of the this sub-culture is the reason why the buzz is now gone.  Ironically, it was one Charles Grandison Finney who first spoke of a "burned over district."  Finney was speaking of a region in the state of New York in which previous and repeated revivals had left the people cold-hearted and disinterested in religion.  In other words, his "new methods" no longer worked there.  The region was "burned over." 

While the changing demographics of the OC (as discussed in my previous post--Click Here) provide the most obvious reason for the decline in the Christian buzz, it is also true that such a buzz inevitably runs its course and then finally peters out.  In many ways, the OC is nothing but a new burned-over district.  The buzz cannot be sustained.  The Christian bookstores are gone.  CCM has run its course.  The Christian-themed events are gone--with the notable exception of Greg Laurie's Harvest Crusade (which is now a kind of a family reunion for Calvary Chapel folk).  The megachurches are still here, but the buzz they once generated is long gone.  There can only be so many "new" ministries, celebrities, and passing fads before the whole thing becomes wearisome if not old hat.  Rick Warren's "deeds not creeds" plays much better in such a burned-over place, than does "creeds and then deeds."  Although he is the latest in this long line of buzz generators, Warren is also quite likely the last.

Next time, we'll take up the "Pentecostal follies" which occurred nightly on TBN.  Love `em or not, Paul and Jan created quite a buzz, and you cannot talk about the evangelical sub-culture in the OC without discussing the "Praise the Lord" television program--an OC staple (Click Here).

"Strive to Excel in Building Up the Church" -- 1 Corinthians 14:1-19

The Twenty-Sixth in a Series of Sermons on 1 Corinthians

One of the most divisive theological controversies of my lifetime was the charismatic movement with its stress upon speaking in tongues.  Whenever the charismatic renewal spread to a new church, it immediately divided the church into two camps–those who experienced what they claimed was a new work of the Holy Spirit which manifested itself in the speaking with tongues, and those who thought such a thing was demonic and who did everything in their power to stamp out the movement before it could spread.  Thankfully, that controversy has long since died down.  It amazes me that we now are able to tackle with little if any sense of controversy, what was once considered to be a very controversial biblical text and subject.

As we continue our series on Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we come to chapter 14 and Paul’s discussion of speaking in tongues and proper behavior in Christian worship.  It is clear from the Apostles’ discussion that the Corinthians were greatly divided about the role and purpose of tongue-speaking in public worship, and they wrote a letter to Paul in which they asked him about this very thing.  Although we don’t have their letter to Paul, and so we don’t know what exactly the Corinthians asked Paul, we do know that it takes Paul three chapters to answer the Corinthian’s question.

In the opening verses of chapter 12, Paul begins by addressing the Corinthian’s faulty understanding of spiritual things (pneumotikon), before taking up a discussion of gifts of the Spirit (the charismata) in which Paul uses the metaphor of the human body as an illustration of the church of Jesus Christ.  In chapter 13, Paul pointed out that love of our brothers and sisters is the context in which any discussion of spiritual gifts must take place.  In chapter 14, Paul turns his focus to the specifics of the controversy causing so much consternation among the Corinthians, speaking in tongues during worship. 

It is clear from Paul’s response that certain individuals among the Corinthians who had the gift of tongues, thought themselves to be superior to others who did not.  Once he has established the proper categories to discuss such things (“spiritual things” and “spiritual gifts”), Paul can now proceed to the specifics of the controversy plaguing the Corinthians, how to properly exercise the gift of tongues so that this gift strengthens the body and that it is exercised in love.  Those who claim to be spiritual, must demonstrate love for others, or else they demonstrate that they are nothing but windbags.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here

"The Dreams of a Favored Son" -- Genesis 37:1-11

Rev. Andrew Compton is preaching through the Joseph Narrative (Genesis 37-50) this summer (while I am on sabbatical).  Here's the first in his series:  Click Here

This Week's White Horse Inn

Contending for the Faith

How did the apostles contend for the faith throughout the book of Acts? Did they share their testimonies or inner experiences? Did they encourage blind faith? On this special live edition of White Horse Inn, the hosts discuss the sermons in Acts in order to discover how to “contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.” (originally aired May 2, 2010).

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Sounds Quite Reasonable to Me

I always tell people "unless your smart phone plays the actual tune to the `Song of Moses' from Exodus 15, turn it off during church."  This is even better.

(h.t. Shane Rosenthal)

The OC -- A New Burned-Over District?

I've been thinking about tackling this subject for some time.  But it was an article in Monday's Orange County Register (Click Here) which prompted me to begin this brief series.  In an article in the new "faith & values" section of the Register religion writer Jim Hinch observes . . .

The future of religious America lives in a two-story beige office building in downtown Fullerton, where homeless people and college graduates attend church together. The future also lives at a mosque in Mission Viejo. At an organic farm started by a megachurch. In downtown Santa Ana, where kids of many faiths feed the homeless. And in an Orange County church for hipsters where women, once excluded from ministry, now are pastors.

Hinch goes on to describe the biggest change of all to the Orange County religious landscape--Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral is soon to become "Christ Cathedral," home to Rome's OC diocese.  Anyone who has been to the OC, knows that the Crystal Cathedral stands tall and is directly across the 5 freeway from the Honda Center (where the Ducks play hockey) and Anaheim Stadium (where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play baseball).  Christ Reformed is also nearby, but almost invisible until you are on top of it.

Hinch is right.  The change in ownership of the Cathedral is simply the latest and surely the most visible sign that much has changed.  The loud buzz long associated with the various Protestant, evangelical, Pentecostal, and charismatic megachurches of the OC, has, by and large, given way to the kind of low-key religious pluralism described above by Hinch. 

With all of the changes afoot in OC's religious climate, my question is simply this, "what happened to the OC of the 70s, 80s and 90s?"  An era in which a distinctly Christian "buzz" was everywhere, and a time when many of the religious trends and fads which drove American evangelicalism began in my own backyard.  Locals joked that based upon church attendance and Harvest Crusade responses, the population of the OC had been saved twice over.  You don't hear that quip anymore. 

I saw much of it, and participated in some of it.  I am now the pastor of a church in the OC where many of us (including me) came to faith in Christ (or to a new or deeper understanding of our faith in Christ) because of that "buzz."  My guess is that about 75% of the members of Christ Reformed were, at one time, actively involved in some aspect of OC's Christian buzz.  So, if all of that is true, why is it that the OC is now so different?  Why is the buzz gone?  Why is this a good thing? 

I'm not intending this series to be a scientific study of current religious trends (I'm not equipped to evaluate these trends in that manner, nor am I interested in such things).  Nor will this series be a nostalgic look back at a better time--granted, it had its moments.  I am doing nothing more than offering my observations on a time now gone, and looking for any lessons which might be learned. 

My take is that this era was more of like a super nova of a dying star, than it was the establishment of any sustained evangelical movement.  We know that to be true, based upon the observations of Hinch and others about the decline of the megachurches and the rise of a generic religious pluralism which has taken their place.  Granted, the megachurches are still here, but the buzz they generated is gone (or greatly diminished), as is the influence they exerted upon the religious life and the culture of the OC.  

There are several reasons why OC Christianity has changed so drastically.  The most obvious is that the OC itself has changed--drastically.  Thirty years ago, the OC was mostly white middle-class and Republican.  OC had the highest percentage of Republican voter registration in the country.  Most of those folks moved here after World War Two, attracted by good jobs and the great weather.  There were some Asians, and more Hispanics, but the county was predominantly WASP.  The economy was robust and virtually recession-proof, driven largely by aerospace (Hughes, Rockwell, Boeing, and others were here), hi-tech industries (i.e., Bechman Instruments, Fluor), and entertainment (Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland).  

Little of this is true anymore.  The local economy is not near as robust.  Aerospace and the hi-tech industry are leaving the state because of California's oppressive business climate--high paying jobs are going away and not coming back.  Immigrants now dominate many of the county's neighborhoods--including my own.  "Little Arabia" is two miles away from me, and Garden Grove has a substantial Vietnamese neighborhood ("Little Saigon").  The barrio of Santa Ana now extends into North Orange County (and is within a block of my home).  Right-winger Bob Dornan's old congressional seat is now held by the very progressive Linda Sanchez. 

As the county has changed, OC religion has become as diverse as the people who now live here.  Hardly a surprise.  But one thing which has come with the change is the virtual silencing of the Christian buzz which was quite loud and lasted some three decades.

The Christian buzz was a cacophony arising from the churches and ministries which were located here.  During this time, the OC was home to TBN and the nightly follies of Paul and Jan Crouch.  The Hour of Power was based here (the TV ministry of Robert Schuller), as well as Insight for Living (Chuck Swindoll's radio broadcast).  Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel and John Wimber's Vineyard reached out to the Jesus people in the late 60's and seemed to get the whole "youth culture" thing rolling.  Maranatha music and "praise songs," anyone?  There were always concerts, and bible studies in these churches were usually packed to the rafters.  Meanwhile, Walter Martin fought back the "cults"--Walter's Saturday night live call-in radio broadcast of the "Bible Answer Man" always generated buzz at church on Sunday.  Walter gave many of us our first exposure to Christian theology (weak as it was).  There were a host of Word-Faith "ministries" here (like Gary Greenwald and the "Eagles Nest").  Meanwhile, good ole Rich Buhler comforted the neurotic, and KYMS (the local Christian radio station which now broadcasts in Vietnamese) had huge ratings.  Then Rick Warren showed up, along with Benny Hinn (for a time) . . .  I am sure I am missing many others.  There was a lot going on here in the OC.  And it generated a distinct Christian "buzz."  

We'll talk about all of this and more in this series.  Bear with me as we go, I'm doing this from memory, and I didn't think to take notes at the time!  A lot of water has gone under the bridge.  Thankfully, I have now so successfully isolated myself in the theological sanity and comfort of Reformed theology and church life, if there were still such a Christian buzz, I probably wouldn't hear it. 

We'll start next time with an attempt at a definition of a "burned over" district, and develop in a bit more detail what I mean by a Christian "buzz."  I'll also recount my own very small role in the OC religion.  Part One -- "The Buzz"

To whet your whistle a bit, did you know that both R.C. Sproul and Mike Horton were on TBN?  Stay tuned.

"The Greatest of These Is Love" -- 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

The Twenty-Fifth in a Series of Sermons on 1 Corinthians

What the Bible says about love, and the way most Americans think about love, are often two different things.  Our culture thinks of love as essentially an emotional feeling, most often associated with romance.  Pop culture images of the hearts and cupids of Valentine’s Day are ingrained in us from an early age.  For those of us who grew up in the sixties and seventies, love is tied to a utopian dream when people experience a powerful sense of brotherhood and unity.  Sadly, these images are far from the biblical meaning of love–an emotion which issues forth in action, and which arises not from romantic or sentimental images, but from the Good News that the blood of Jesus, shed on a Roman cross, redeems sinners–people like us who are anything but worthy of the love God showers upon us in Christ’s work of redemption.

We have now come to chapter 13 in our series in 1 Corinthians, one of the most familiar passages in all the Bible.  As one writer states about this chapter, “this is one of the most beloved passages in the New Testament, and for good reason.  It is one of Paul’s finest moments: indeed, let the interpreter beware lest too much analysis detract from its sheer beauty and power.”  Well said, and very true.  This is a beloved passage for a reason.  It is both beautiful and powerful.

Throughout our study of 1 Corinthians, we have seen that the church in Corinth was plagued by division and factions.  This church was composed of new Christians, who were struggling to leave their pagan ways of thinking and doing behind.  When they asked Paul about the role and purpose of speaking in tongues–something which apparently was a source of on-going division within the church–Paul answers their question in chapters 12-14.  In the opening verses of chapter 12, Paul makes an important distinction between spiritual things (pneumotikon), and spiritual gifts (charismata), of which tongue-speaking was the least.  According to Paul, you cannot properly understand spiritual gifts unless you first understand spiritual things.  And you cannot understand spiritual things unless you confess that Jesus is Lord–Jesus is the only Savior from sin, the creator of all things, and whose death upon the cross takes away the wrath of God toward sinners.  The cross is the picture of that love of which Paul now speaks.

To make his case that all Christians are members of the spiritual body of Christ (the church) and are given gifts of the Spirit for the common good, Paul uses the metaphor of the human body.  Each one of us is a member of Christ’s body (the church) through faith in Jesus.  Although not all members of Christ’s body serve the same function (just as eyes are not toes), each member of that body is essential to the health and well-being of the whole.  This is why Paul ties various gifts of the Spirit to the offices of the church, before exhorting Christians to earnestly desire the higher gifts, so that the Corinthians will be stronger and better able to resist the temptations of their pagan past, as well as the sinful tendency to put our own interests ahead of others.  At the end of chapter twelve Paul had written, “but earnestly desire the higher gifts.  And I will show you a still more excellent way.” 

That more excellent way is the way of love.   To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here

This Summer at Christ Reformed Church

Summer has come, and I'm now on my annual vacation/sabbatical. 

Rev. Andrew Compton (above) will be preaching through the Joseph story in Genesis 37-50 this summer.  Andrew is a first-rate OT scholar, and we will be privileged to sit under his preaching while I'm on break.

As for me, after a week off or so, I'll take up several writing projects.  I'm doing a review of Sam Storm's new book, Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative for Modern Reformation.

I'm updating my Riddlebarger family history in light of my DNA test--now that the reality has set in that I'm no longer German, and am related to Ben Roethlisberger (he's a distant cousin), as we both are descendants from the Rotlisperger family of the Canton of Bern.

I hope to make good progress on my two kingdoms book--its been on the shelf because of deadlines for my revised A Case for Amillennialism (which should be out in July) and my recent commentary on 1 Corinthians.  

Lord willing, I'll get to spend some time in the Eastern Sierras with church friends and family--always the highlight of my year.  One of the first books I'm going to tackle is Allen Guelzo's new book on Gettysburg.

A year ago at this time, I was still recovering from major surgery (colon cancer), and as I enter into summer a year later everything looks good and I feel fine--back to my old sinful self.  The Lord has been very kind and gracious to me!  Your prayers for healing were answered and I am very thankful for them!

I'll be around, and will post as I can.

"I and the Father Are One" -- John 10:22-41

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon:  Click Here

This Week's White Horse Inn

Is Christianity the Only True Religion?

Is it true that all the religions of the world are simply different paths to God, or is Jesus the only way? If Christianity is the only true religion, does this mean that other religions are completely false? What about those who have never heard about Jesus? Joining us to discuss some of these questions is Dr. John Stackhouse, Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College in Vancouver, BC. (originally aired June 21, 2009).

Click Here

Is it true that all the religions of the world are simply different paths to God, or is Jesus the only way? If Christianity is the only true religion, does this mean that other religions are completely false? What about those who have never heard about Jesus? Joining us to discuss some of these questions is Dr. John Stackhouse, Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College in Vancouver, BC. (originally aired June 21, 2009). - See more at: http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2013/06/23/whi-1159-is-christianity-the-only-true-religion/#sthash.sbiBTrth.dpuf

Is it true that all the religions of the world are simply different paths to God, or is Jesus the only way? If Christianity is the only true religion, does this mean that other religions are completely false? What about those who have never heard about Jesus? Joining us to discuss some of these questions is Dr. John Stackhouse, Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College in Vancouver, BC. (originally aired June 21, 2009). - See more at: http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2013/06/23/whi-1159-is-christianity-the-only-true-religion/#sthash.sbiBTrth.dpuf