Last week Annie Lobert, Mark Driscoll, Deepak Chopra & Carlton Pearson gathered together at Mars Hill Church in Seattle to debate one of the most heated issues in modern theology and philosophical thought: Does Satan Exist? If you were unable to catch the debate on television or would like to see the entire debate in its fullest you can find it here on Nightline’s “Face-off Website. I would recommend watching the full debate over the short 30 minute episode for the fact that there is more nuance and you can get a fuller understanding of the context from which they were debating.

At the beginning of the debate it was evident that both sides had different understandings of the Satan they were trying to prove/disprove. Bishop Carlton Pearson, after sharing his own life experiences went on to say: “I had tremendous faith in the devil in his omnipresence, his omnipower and omniscience…” and described him as a “hairy, horny, creature.” To which later Driscoll followed up by saying, “The Satan you reject, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipowerful, is the same Satan the Scriptures reject.” It seems the comic book (or South Park) depiction of Satan has so enraptured our minds that this is all we can think of when the name is mention. Along those same lines, I was amazed to see the qualities of God (omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence) attributed to Satan in this setting by a former Bishop in the Pentecostal Church.

I think this points out a glaring weakness in the Pentecostal Church’s understanding of theology as they have in a great extent placed Satan on the same level as God–which is exactly what Satan wanted when he was cast from Heaven. Pearson goes on to say, “We (the church–specifically the Pentecostal Church–have as much faith in the devil as we do Jesus. We’ll defend the Devil more than we will God.” I couldn’t agree more with Pearson. From personal experience I have seen many churches in the Pentecostal tradition speak more of Satan and demonic forces/activity than they ever do about Jesus. It gives me pause and makes me wonder if Pearson is really rebelling against that notion–that Jesus became absent in the church–and it led him down the road to completely deny the existence of Satan.

No one, however could accuse Driscoll of doing the same. It seemed as if Driscoll at times was forcing Jesus into the conversation instead of creating space for Jesus to shine through. I was, however, very impressed with how he approached the debate, sitting quietly and in a real sense allowing the confusing words of Chopra and Pearson to strangle themselves.

Chopra continually tried to toe the line of the existence of Satan vs. the non-existence of Satan depending on the circumstances: “What’s good for me may not be good for you… I don’t need the Devil because I don’t have the guilt and shame that you people do.” To which later he returned saying, “God and Satan are complete allies, you cannot have one without the other.” Yet ultimately, “Belief is a cover up for insecurity.”

Chopra came off as extremely confusing, inarticulate, under-prepared and arrogant (something I wasn’t very much expecting.) Yet at the end an audience member came to ask Chopra a question saying, “You stated earlier, ‘All belief is a cover-up for insecurity.’ Do you believe that?” Chopra responded with a resounded “Yes.” To which the audience member responded, “Thank you” and walked away. It was a priceless moment as Chopra really was caught off guard and with no response but launched into an expanation of how it wasn’t really belief at all if it’s true.

Ultimately it seems this debate spiraled away from the question of “Does Satan Exist?” to “What is Truth?” Chopra ultimately stated, “I don’t trust my mind at all, but I do trust my spirit which is beyond my mind” which is more of a gnostic understanding of reality in which the material, present world is un-enlightened (not evil because evil ultimately doesn’t exist.)

Chopra and Pearson weren’t in sync, weren’t clear, and didn’t really communicate their positions well at all, however Driscoll and Lobert gave clear concise statements of their experience, their understanding and the reality of the existence of Satan. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts about this debate and what you picked up that I may have missed.

I had a few nostalgic moments this week listening to a little Mazzy Star and Coldplay’s Yellow (I had forgotten how good of an album that was.) I even managed to find this week (although it’s not on the playlist) a cover of the song Yellow by Jem, which is certainly worth a listen… very soothing.

Wednesday night I made my way down to Kepler’s Bookstore in Menlo Park to hear the L.A. Times Religion writer, William Lobdell talk about his new book Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace. I didn’t really know what to expect walking in, but I was quickly overwhelmed at the large gathering of people that had come to listen. I would estimate there was in upwards of 125 people packed in (standing room only) to listen to William talk about his journey. (You can read, a short version of last nights lecture here.)

As an investigative reporter (and Christian at the time), Lobdell turned his investigative prowess on Christianity and the church to help ease some of his doubts created in large part (by his own admission) to what he was experiencing in his investigation of the Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal. His doubts emerged from one experience (recounted in in this article) where the church came to the defense of Father Harris, a priest accused of 12 counts of molestation. Lobdell found himself perplexed and devastated at the church’s misplaced compassion–they were rallying around Father Harris, but didn’t seem to care for the victim one iota. This was only one step in his journey that included investigating The Trinity Broadcasting Network, their preaching/practice of the prosperity gospel and specifically Benny Hinn whom he labeled as a fraud. (Hinn rakes in an estimated $90/year in salary while his followers “pay” for healing to the point of poverty.)

These investigations led Lobdell to specifically investigate the validity (fruits) of the gospel in the lives of Christians. His basic thesis/assumption was: If the gospel is true, then the behavior of Christians should be better than that of Atheists. Unfortunately, Lobdell found what most of us know to be true–there is no difference, statistically speaking, between professing Christians and professing Atheists–divorce rates in the church are higher, Generosity is lower, and scientific studies of prayer found no difference on healing for a Christian vs. non-healing for an Atheist. Lobdell concluded, “Every investigation led me against faith.” (Lobdell seems to be the “anti-Strobel“)

As Lobdell spoke about his investigations I resonated with his conclusions regarding the actions/behavior of Christians vs. the rest of the world (much like everyone else present in the room), however I could not and have not been able to come to his ultimate conclusion that “Faith is wishful thinking, not reality.”

Lobdell went on to lament that Christianity and the Church is unable to live with and embrace doubt, that it’s not valued by Christians and the Church and as a result, it something that pushes people away more than it gives them certainty. I have agreed with this assessment for years. There is a tension that is always prevalent between faith and doubt, and it’s living in that tension that allows space for growth, space for relationship with God to build, and space for a new way of life to emerge. Faith is not a verifiable, provable certainty in the same way that doubt is not a verifiable, provable certainty–many see doubt as the opposite of faith, the polar-opposite and in a sense a polar-certainty (atheists included–see Richard Dawkins). Lobdell, although stating that he is now more comfortable with his doubts moved paradoxically to state definitively that he believes there is no personal God, trading in one set of certainties for another instead of living in the tension he claims to desire. This is a philosophical dilemma he seemingly doesn’t recognize and blatantly obvious in his final, ironic statement of the evening: “If I were on the plane that landed on the Hudson, would I be praying? I hope not… but the flesh is weak.”

Thursday night at 11:30p on ABC, Nightline will be airing a debate that took place last week at Mars Hill Church in Seattle between Mark Driscoll and Annie Lobert versus Deepak Chopra and Carlton Pearson on the topic “Does Satan Exist”. The preview itself is certainly a tantalizing and interesting starting point for viewing. Be sure to TIVO/DVR the debate and watch it. We’ll talk about it more in depth later this week and the points raised by Driscoll, Lobert, Chopra and Pearson. Should be an interesting discussion!

Read more about the debate here at Nightline’s Website.

It’s no doubt that in today’s economic environment many people are struggling financially, struggling with unemployment and wishing they were debt free. I know I certainly do! Well, a few weeks ago a friend told me about a website called mint.com, an intuitive personal budgeting web application that helps take all the guesswork out of your budgeting. (We all know how hard it is to guess correctly, right?!) Well, this application shows you your spending trends and helps you in your budgeting process instead of pulling numbers out of thin air. Not only that, it’s a stark reminder every time you open the page of just how far in debt you actually are in addition to showing where you spending the majority of your money. For us, living in San Francisco, it’s also a stark reality to just how high our rent is and how much of our monthly budget goes into our living expenses!

Basically, this web application aggregates all of your online banking into one place (credit cards, bank statements, debit card usage, car loans, student loans, investments, etc) and creates pie charts, and other helpful tools to give you a stand-out visual of your actual financial situation–in real time. There’s a section for budgeting that allows you to set numbers and follow your trends of spending over the months so that you can be more accurate. And here’s a feature that I’m most excited about–whenever you go over your budget in an area, you get an email alert indicating you’re over budget and by how much! It’s a great way to stay on top of your finance!

This tool has some pretty amazing potential, and honestly, could really help a lot of people who are looking to be debt free. It’s something that many churches should seriously look into and consider adding as a resource into their Financial Courses (Good$ense, Financial Peace University, etc.) for helping people get a better handle on and understanding of their spending and their debt. And maybe even best of all… it’s free!

If the biggest barrier to generosity in our churches today is the saddle of debt that we carry around, then this simple web application can certainly go a long way to helping us rid ourselves of debt and walk forward in a new and unparalleled generosity that the world hasn’t seen from us in a long, long time!

Last weekend Tracy and I were able to visit some dear friends in the San Diego area who four months ago planted Momentum Christian Church in the city of Chula Vista. On Sunday morning we were able to share with the entire church about our endeavor in the city of San Francisco to plant a new, reproducing church that will help people find their way back to God.

I’ve been able to travel around the country quite a bit the past several months and share about this new church and it’s always a thrill to be in front of new crowds and see their eyes light up as we share what’s possible in this amazing city. A couple of times we’ve been bowled over with generosity from these churches as they’ve presented us with checks and gifts of varying amounts and types, but nothing prepared me for what we experienced at Momentum.

As Chris wrapped up his interview of me he told the church of his desire to partner with us in making this new church in San Francisco a reality but was uncertain of what exactly that would look like. (Understandably so, they’re a four month old church still being supported from churches from around the country.) “However,” he said, “we’ve been keeping a secret from you all weekend long. Three weeks ago we decided as a church that we wanted to give you our entire weekend offering and use it to help you start this new church…” Immediately, I began to tear up absolutely astounded by this community’s generosity and commitment to helping people find their way back to God not only in Chula Vista but up the coast in San Francisco as well. Chris went on to tell the church that three weekends ago, the offering they took up was $5,100 (a huge offering for a four-month-old church) and since that weekend their offerings have skyrocketed!”

As a new church plant we’re extremely excited to be partnering with a church of this caliber, a church that is this focused on mission, that is so entrepreneurial they’re willing to take a huge step of faith and commit to us in such a major way. I’ve heard stories like this before, but never thought we’d have a story like this to share with our church community. God has provided for us in ways that we never before could have dreamed and churches around this country have stepped up in major ways despite the economic situations they find themselves in. It is our dream to emulate these churches, to follow their example and be as generous to others as they have been with us. It’s that sort of generosity that not only propels the Kingdom forward but enables movements to be birthed!

Thank you Momentum for your amazing example. The tales of your generosity will be legendary!

This weeks play list is hodgepodge of musicians and artists that range from mellow to mellow with a twist (I don’t really know what that means.) These tunes helped keep me focused this week on an out of control task-list… and it was good background music during the NCAA Tournament yesterday when I got tired of listening to the announcers ramble on and on and on.

I hadn’t listened to James Morrison’s album Undisclosed in a while, and I had forgotten how good it is. Also check out Fink’s album Distance and Time.