“One of the most urgent tasks facing Evangelical Christendom today is the recovery of the gospel.” – J.I. Packer

The quote above is featured under the title of a blog called, “Recover the Gospel.” Kim Riddlebarger, pastor of Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, California, co-host of the White Horse Inn Radio Show, and Reformed Blogger extraordinaire, directed his readers to the Recover the Gospel website where they have prepared a series of videos featuring the past two weeks’ episodes of the White Horse Inn for viewing on YouTube.

For those who aren’t aware, The White Horse Inn is a “theological talk show” advocating a return to the solid doctrine and practice of the Calvinist and Lutheran traditions which were foundational to Protestantism. They’re call is for every believer to “Know What You Believe and Why You Believe It.” This is an important message for this generation for very obvious reasons.

What passes for Protestant Christianity nowadays is often hardly Protestant, and some of it does not even legitimately pass as Christian. Here in America, pragmatic and entertaining methods often trump and undermine the validity of the Christian message. Whether we know it or not, Christianity in America is experiencing a “Dark Ages” of its own, because biblical illiteracy and ignorance of Christian history is so rampant that most American Christians are adrift in a see of error which they cannot discern and which is endangering their very souls. The Gospel is in desparate need of recovery in our day, and I urge you to begin your own examination of your personal beliefs with Scripture and historically orthodox resources, making an effort to see how different yours and your church’s views may or may not be from the generations of faithful Protestant Christians who’ve gone before us (which era ended sometime early in the nineteenth century).

I have embedded part one of the YouTube presentation of The White Horse Inn’s recent episode called, “That’s Entertainment,” where the hosts discuss the history of the development of entertainment as a form of ministry in America. You will be introduced to such folks as Charles Finney, Aimee Semple McPherson and Billy Sunday and you will see how what passes for ministry nowadays comes from a long line of unorthodox ministers who were acting in a manner consistent with their unbiblical beliefs. It is simply unacceptable that churches with otherwise orthodox doctrine should emulate such people and attempt to glean so-called “wisdom” from the methods of “successful” “ministers” like these. But back at Recover the Gospel, you’ll find a similar YouTube presentation of the previous White Horse Inn episode which analyzed the errors of Joel Osteen, pastor of the largest church in America.

Pray for your church, pray for your family, and pray that the Lord will give you the wisdom to search the Scriptures daily to see whether the things you are being taught on an ongoing basis are so.