Desert Highway Newsletter

November 2006

NEXT MONTHS NEWSLETTER FEATURE:  
1^ST You will find out who bought "Heroes of the Faith" Missions Chopper
                          BIDDING ENDS AT MIDNIGHT CST ON DECEMBER 5^TH

IS YOUR CHURCH A "BIKER FRIENDLY CHURCH"?
See below how to include your church in a national database.

Insights

Roger Olson: Truth matters in religion

I saw a large banner on the facade of a church. It proclaimed “Truth Matters.” I wondered how many people understood that sentiment.

I agree with whoever put up the banner: Truth matters — even and perhaps especially in religion. And yet many people in our post-modern culture don’t think about religion that way. For them, what really matters is how religion functions to help them cope with the stresses of daily life.

As a child, I heard an old hymn titled “If I Am Dreaming, Let Me Dream On.” It was written by 19th-century evangelist Gypsy Smith in response to a skeptic who said Christianity was a fantasy. He told the evangelist he was dreaming if he thought Christianity was true. Smith expressed his response is song.

Even as a child, I wondered if that might be a too cavalier attitude toward truth. Do we really not care if what we believe is true? Unfortunately, that seems to be the case for many people.

I saw a book in the religion section of a bookstore by pop psychologist Ashleigh Brilliant. The title is I Have Abandoned My Search for Truth and Am Now Looking for a Good Fantasy. Unfortunately, that expresses many people’s approach to religion.

American Christianity is profoundly influenced, even shaped, by an 18th century movement called Pietism. Pietism, which eventually led to revivalism, attempted to inject feelings and emotions into the dead orthodoxy of European and later American Christianity. The pietists were “heart Christians” who believed that religious affections mattered more than right doctrine. Some of them said “Better a live heresy than a dead orthodoxy.”

That kind of Pietism (a distortion of the original movement) shaped the Christianity of my childhood, and I see its affects everywhere in American religion.

We tend to care more about warm, fuzzy feelings than truth. After all, how many American church members can express, let alone explain, their doctrinal beliefs? And yet most can tell a story or two about having profound spiritual experiences.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an especially astute observer of religion in 19th-century Britain. He said: “He who loves Christianity more than truth will go on to love his own church more than Christianity and end by loving himself more than anything.”

Are many American Christians in danger of loving Christianity more than truth itself? Do some love their denomination or church more than Christianity? I wonder about that when I hear some good folks talking about their own church or denomination more than about Jesus.

The only good reason for believing something is that it is true. A religious affiliation not based on conviction that it is true is a fantasy; it’s immature and irresponsible. People need to examine the truth status of their beliefs from time to time.

If I am dreaming, I hope I wake up pretty soon. The reason I don’t think so is that I’ve given serious thought to the matter and am convinced that what my church teaches is true.
So what am I recommending? Not that religious folks expunge feelings or emotions from their faith experience. Dead orthodoxy is not the prescription here! Rather, I suggest that religious people occasionally ask: “Is what my church professes really true?” and “Is what I’m confessing real?”

They should ask their pastor or other religious leader to teach a series on that and give them the very best reasons possible for believing what the church teaches.

--Reprinted with permission---

Dr. Olson holds degrees from Rice University, North American Baptist Seminary and Open Bible College. He has written numerous articles for such publications as Christian Century and Christianity Today. His recent books include The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform and Who Needs Theology? with Stanley J. Grenz. Olson recieved two awards for The Story of Christian Theology including a Gold Medallion from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for 1999. In 1993 he and co-author Mr. Grenz received Christianity Today’s award for best book in theology/biblical studies for 20th Century Theology: God and the World in a Transitional Age. Dr. Olson was the editor of Christian Scholar’s Review.

Sometimes misunderstood…

We have completed most of the remodeling of our website.  We will be able to provide more content, information, training, and opportunities with the new format.

One of the things we will be adding is a national directory for “Biker Friendly” churches.  In our drive to get bikers that get saved into a committed relationship with local churches the worse thing we can do is send them to a church that does not welcome them into their fellowship and into a discipleship relationship.  Should all churches accept everyone?  Sure, but the fact is many do not.  I have even heard pastors say that they are not really looking to reach anyone but the middle class and up in their church.  A church with this mindset would do better to support us and let us reach these people and send them to churches that can minister to them.

We already have churches that have sent in their information from Kansas, Washington, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Iowa… We hope we can have churches in every state participate so bikers will have a place they can go to and find “Biker Friendly” churches.

Maybe you should register your church.  You can do this by going to our website at www.deserthighway.org then click on the  “Biker Friendly” churches link or just send an email to: duane@deserthighway.org with your churches information.  Include the churches name, street address, city, state, zip, pastor’s name, email address, website address, and a slogan or additional information.

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Roger Olson, Ph.D.      Professor of Theology (1999)
A past president of the American Theological Society (Midwest Division), Olson has been the co-chair of the Evangelical Theology Group of the American Academy of Religion for two years. An expert in historical theology, he is a frequent preacher, teacher and speaker for local churches and organizations.

HonorBound Motorcycle Ministry

It is READY TO GO!
We are starting the HonorBound Motorcycle Chapters.
Right now we are working to do this primarily in Texas as we itinerate, but it is available everywhere,

CHECK OUT THESE LINKS:
HonorBound Motorcycle Ministry links Page  NEW
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOTORCYCLE MINISTRY NEW
HBMM GUIDELINES NEW
HBMM APPLICATION AND PASTOR'S ENDORSEMENT

FREE Global University Courses
AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE

• The Great Questions of Life
• The Life Of Christ
• Your New Life
• Your Helpful Friend

Click on the links above
to go to the lessons

If you know others who would support this ministry,
Forward this email
 to them
The sooner we are fully funded the sooner we can devote full time to ministry instead of raising support.

GREAT NEWS!

Janet and I have been chosen to  serve as chaplains during
the Dream Tour 66

We are hoping for
not only a great offering
for the Dream Center,
but also for many to get saved at the nightly events.

PRAYER REQUEST

Pray for those who are
considering supporting
 our missionary endeavors.

Pray that we will reach full budget soon

Pray for us to have wisdom
as we consider relocating our home base

We need to replace our small fifth wheel camper with a larger camper that has a separate garage in the back for the bikes.
This needs to be large enough to live in.

Sign up to support us now.  We need to make a lot of headway on our fundraising.
More than we could possibly get from just the churches we are preaching in.

Copyright © R. Duane Gryder 2006

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