Questioning Christianity

I’ve just started a new series of sermons on Sunday at City Light. It’s called, “Questioning Christianity: Ancient Answers for Modern Questions.” The series seeks to answer questions about very modern objections to Christianity. Last week I spoke about hypocrisy in the church: “Your actions speak so loud I can’t hear what your saying!” In the weeks to come I’m tackling things like, “Aren’t there many roads to God?” and “How can I know that the Bible is true.” I’ll also deal with lovely themes like hell. Fun stuff.

We’re hoping through this series many people can invite their unbelieving friends to come and hear Christian responses to these modern questions. But I realize as we are getting further into the series that these are questions that Christians themselves struggle with. Christian pastors often assume that our members don’t struggle with things like the authority of the Bible or the existence of hell. But these questions often linger in the most faithful disciples.

Here’s the schedule for the rest of the series leading up to Easter Sunday:

2/10: The Problem of Hypocrisy
2/17: Why is Christianity So Exclusive?
2/24: How Can Christians Be Sure the Bible is True?
3/2: Why Do Christians Believe in Something as Cruel as Hell?
3/9: If God is Good Why Does He Allow Evil?
3/16: Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
3/23: What is the Proof and Meaning of the Resurrection?

You can listen to all of the sermons on the citylightchurch.org website.

Filed under: City Light

The Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast

Last Saturday a group of us at City Light attended the 35th annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast at the Westin in Downtown. It’s origin goes back to Tom Bradley and a group of ministers who asked to meet with him to pray. It was my first time at this particular event. It’s an odd event because it combines both civic and spiritual elements. I was curious which would be more prominent. I was also curious to hear the remarks of our mayor.

Upon entering we found a huge American flag draped across the background of the stage. There were a lot of people filling almost every table of the large banqueting hall. We were sitting with some sweet elderly women. It seemed they had been to every prayer breakfast since its inception! The program was filled with ministers, celebrities and politicians (I guess only in LA will a prayer breakfast have these three elements!). We heard some stirring gospel, a really quaint personal testimony by Patricia Heaton (of “Everybody Loves Raymond” fame), and some remarks by politicians.

The mayor was seemingly in a tight spot for this prayer breakfast. He’s had a rough year personally and politically. He had a very public affair and divorce. He lost some important political fights such as his failure to take over the LAUSD. As he was scheduled to deliver some remarks, it would be hard to avoid any of these subjects. During his speech he alluded to his “personal struggles.” But to his credit he didn’t try to shy away from any of it. I wouldn’t say he was exactly contrite but he clearly seemed broken by the whole experience. He spoke of forgiveness and the support of many of those who stood by his side.

1 Timothy 2 says that we should pray for all those who are in authority. When you consider the daunting task of running a city of millions with limited resources, our mayor’s tasks couldn’t seem more daunting. Recently the mayor announced city cutbacks because of a severe fiscal crisis. If we want to see our renewal in our city, we need to pray for a renewal in our leadership. Our city isn’t going to move forward lingering over past sins. Here’s to praying for new beginnings for our mayor and our city of angels.

Filed under: City