Measuring Days

2008-12-11T16:22:00.003-05:00

If you're still reading this blog or getting the feed, be herewith informed: I am somewhat officially, semi-permanently switching to my tumblr blog. It's more fun and better looking. I'm going to leave this site up for reference sake, but if you're interested, feel free to dig the new blog.

My internet fast: reflections and resolutions

2008-10-28T14:54:00.003-04:00

I've been back from the internet fast for a while. Here are some thoughts and applications.

My relationship to the internet is definitely more love/hate than ever
The internet is a powerful tool and should be wisely used for great good by God's people
The internet is a powerful tool and can be wickedly used for great harm by anyone, God's people included
A month away from the incessant drumbeat of more information isn't enough to get me back to thinking more deeply. I need to read more books and less snippets.
James was right (1:14) -- Temptations come from within, whether laziness or impurity or otherwise. The internet, especially through anonymity, only fans the already-present flame. To think otherwise, to think we can avoid temptation by swearing off this or that, is foolish.
However, though temptation is unavoidable, wisdom will lead us to avoid it as much as possible
For now, I have decided to only read blogs of people I know personally. There are lots of great thinking and posting being done right now, but I simply can't keep up and am tired of trying. I have too many wonderful and powerful and proven books to read to wade through the good, bad and ugly of blogging. But I do want to keep up with friends and family!
I am officially quitting youtube...unless someone sends me a link to something worthwhile. Really, it's just a time waster and my schedule needs surgery right now.
I'm not sure if I'm going to keep blogging or not. I like the idea of a pastor being able to do a little more teaching and writing in a medium accessible to the congregation. But I'm not sure that I have a lot to say right now. As topics come up in my life and reading, I will likely still use the blog to attempt a small helpfulness to others.
I have decided to start a tumblr blog for my own sake: here I intend to post quotes, news stories, pictures, etc., that might be helpful in future lessons, articles or sermons. Feel free to follow along, but don't feel you need to. I'm using tumblr instead of blogger for this project because it is more user friendly and the tagging system is a little more intuitive.

An experiment

2008-09-16T07:52:00.005-04:00

An idea has grown out of the soil of frustration: I am going to try to go without the internet for a month (I'll still do email, see my rules below). Why? Two main reasons:

First, I think (don't know, though) that the internet is changing the way I think. See here and here. Simply put, for my life's calling, I can't afford the short attention span this interweb has developed in me. I can't afford to think in blog posts and headlines; I need to get back to essays and books and talking to people.

Second, the internet is changing the way I work and not usually for the better. I realize the incredible resource this is, especially for research, but I need some time away to learn better to separate the wheat from the chaff, to figure out what I really need and what is wasting my time.

Caveat: my little experiment is really designed for me and shouldn't be taken as a condemnation of the internet or as an example to follow. This experiment is designed to combat my own weakness in self-discipline. When my wife and I first got married, we lived in a place that had cable. I learned then that I would either watch way too much t.v. or I would keep the television in storage until I really had something to watch. So I'm putting the internet in storage for a little while.

My rules: email is still in, because it's a necessary part of my work as a pastor. Financial interactions (paying bills, making necessary purchases) are in, but online window-shopping is out. Also, if someone adds me as a friend on facebook, I'll accept, but only to avoid hurt feelings. Finally, there are one or two couple small tasks for which I use the internet; I'll continue those.

So, no blog posts. No twitters. No news. No youtube. No wikipedia. No drudge.

Ultimately, I'm headed back to the stone age in an attempt to get enough perspective to discern what parts of this internet are worth keeping around in my life.

On Modesty

2008-09-09T09:14:00.005-04:00

Modesty is a must, everywhere and for everyone but perhaps never more so than in our increasingly proud and licentious society. How does this practically work out in the family? In your family?

Fathers are responsible for what goes on in their home and family; this includes the clothes your daughters wear! My daughter is not yet old enough to need rules and guidelines but I've already tried to think through some, mostly on behalf of the families in our congregation. It's actually a very difficult thing to do. So I appreciate the wisdom of these four guidelines from Michael Hyatt, who's the CEO at Thomas Nelson [of course, I don't endorse much of anything that Thomas Nelson publishes]. But first, a friend sent me a good preamble to keep us from diving off the other side:

Recognizing that God has designed women with beautiful features that should not be covered like the muslim women, consider these guidelines...

If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.
If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

A couple thoughts: this list smells like Biblical wisdom to me and I appreciate that it doesn't claim a proof text for each rule, which is a dead giveaway for legalism. If you (ladies) or your wives/daughters (men) don't like it, I'd be interested in hearing why not and what guidelines you use toward modesty.

Finally, it's worth remembering that modesty isn't for women only. Anytime we pridefully draw attention to ourselves-whether it sexual or otherwise, whether it's tight clothes or prominent piercings-we are being immodest. So let's not forget to teach our sons about modesty, too.

Science, Scripture, and the people stuck in the middle

2008-09-02T08:48:00.001-04:00

Recently, I had a conversation with a fellow believer, who's also a scientist, about creation, evolution and the many gray areas in between. One thing he said stuck out to me, so I thought I'd toss it out for discussion:

When the Bible and science disagree, the Bible is always right. When Christians and scientists disagree, scientists are usually right.

Do you agree? Why or why not? What the implications?

Maybe the show doesn't need to go on

2008-08-20T05:29:00.003-04:00

I just read that LeRoi Moore, the brilliant saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band, died from an ATV accident. The band went ahead with their scheduled concert last night.

One concertgoer asserts "they knew it was the right thing to do and LeRoi would have wanted it."

A thought that I've had before but never published: when I die, I don't want the show to go on. I want people to stop the regularly scheduled programming of life and think about deep things like life, death, love, hate, Jesus and salvation. I want people to be uncomfortable.

Is there anything more typical of a culture that shudders to think about death, that refuses to measure their days, than the ridiculous notion that the "show must go on"? The dude at the concert (and he certainly was a dude) even said it was the right thing to do--it was a moral obligation to keep the party going. We live in a world that takes every opportunity possible to push death to the shadows and boundaries of life. When death comes close, we keep the concert going when we should stop and consider, "unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Aloha-or, how Hawaii kills push ups

2008-07-30T15:27:00.004-04:00

While many of our friends went to the RP conference at Calvin college, we went to Hawaii. They're back and we're back. But we're more tan. Plus, we swam with sea turtles. The downside, though, is twofold: I hear we missed a lot of great preaching and fellowship. And it turns out that it is physically impossible to stay on the push up routine in Hawaii. So, for all my push up buddies, I'm a week behind, maybe two. I'll let you know.

pushups and other

2008-07-18T21:09:00.003-04:00

(for my push-up buddies) I wasn't able to start the push-ups until Wednesday...let me assure you that doing them three days in a row is killer. I've only been able to max a little above the minimum.

Someone asked if we could get together at the RP international conference -- alas (for you, not me) I will be in Hawaii tomorrow evening, Lord willing. This providential trip to Hawaii has cancelled our attendance at the conference. But we'll be praying for God's blessing on you who are going!

The 100

2008-07-12T07:42:00.002-04:00

Here's my push-up project update--First week is completed with no snags. After the 5 sets each day, I maxed at 15, 15, then 21. How about you?

Praying for Pastors, even Spurgeon

2008-07-10T14:45:00.002-04:00

I received a kind note the other day that included this from Charles Spurgeon on praying for pastors; I pass it on for the sake of your pastors, that it might encourage you to pray for them.

"Brothers, pray for us!"
--I Thessalonians 5:25

Today I want to remind you about the importance of praying for your ministers. In the most earnest way that I can I ask every Christian household to grant this request of the Apostle Paul on behalf of every minister of the Gospel.

Brothers, the fact is that our work affects the eternal benefit or curse of many; the souls of men are our eternal business. A very heavy responsibility rests upon us, and we strive to be innocent of the blood of all men.

As officers in Christ's army, we are the special point of attack of those who hate Christ. They watch for us to fall, and work to trip us up in any way they can. Our sacred calling requires us to endure certain temptations from which most are exempt. We see some go back into a life of sin, and we see millions dying without Christ. We long to be useful both to saints and sinners.

And so, we ask you, pray for us! Your spiritual blessings come from God, and not from us; and yet, how many times has He given those blessings through His ministers. In our behalf, please pray that we may be the humble jars of clay into which the Lord may put the treasure of the gospel. On behalf of all those who are called to minister the Gospel today, I ask YOU to "Pray for us."

Because we don't kill babies for no reason

2008-07-09T07:23:00.006-04:00

George Grant has started a new blog exposing the genocidal legacy of Planned Parenthood. It's worth plugging into your Google Reader, if only to be reminded more regularly of the ongoing homicide bloodying the hands of our nation. This historical reminder is from a recent post:

...dark and malignant seeds were already germinating just beneath the surface of the new century's soil. Josef Stalin was a twenty-one-year-old seminary student in Tiflis, a pious and serene community at the crossroads of Georgia and Ukraine. Benito Mussolini was a seventeen-year-old student teacher in the quiet suburbs of Milan. Adolf Hitler was an eleven-year-old aspiring art student in the quaint upper Austrian village of Brannan. And Margaret Sanger was a twenty-year-old out-of-sorts nursing school dropout in White Plains, New York. Who could have ever guessed on that ebulliently auspicious New Year's Day that those four youngsters would, over the span of the next century, spill more innocent blood than all the murderers, warlords, and tyrants of past history combined? Who could have ever guessed that those four youngsters would together ensure that the hopes and dreams and aspirations of the twentieth century would be smothered under the weight of holocaust, genocide, and triage?

(thanks to Jeff for the link)

Quote, unquote

2008-07-06T22:19:00.002-04:00

If you go into the future, there are evil robots. If you go into the past, they don't have toilets. So, why bother?

-Meg Morton on the philosophy of time travel

Happy Independence Day

2008-07-05T08:49:00.003-04:00

A day late, but hopefully not a dollar short, here's a great version of our national anthem.
May God see fit to bring this independent nation into her rightful dependence on King Jesus.

100 push-ups project

2008-07-03T10:14:00.003-04:00

100 push-ups is a popular strength-training program that seems quite simple to do.

I linked to it last week and asked if anyone wanted to have a go with me. Check it out if you haven't - the idea is that everyone will be able to do 100 consecutive push-ups at the end of the program, regardless of where they start.

Anyhows, it seems a couple folks are interested, so here's the plan: if you want to do the program together (well, as together as we can be over the internet), take the initial test sometime today or tomorrow and reply to this post with your initial level (I'll put a comment with my level later today - we're all friends, so there's no shame here). Then I'll post my progress once a week and have everyone participating use the comment section to post their progress as well.

The more folks participate, the more fun we'll have!

New links, new widget ( --> look that way --> )

2008-06-26T19:52:00.001-04:00

Justification Controversy

2008-06-25T11:38:00.001-04:00

The synod just passed these recommendations from a committee that was formed to study the current controversies surrounding the doctrine of justification. If you're not in on this controversy, don't worry about it - it's not really worth your time. If you know some of what's going on, you'll be interested to see where our synod now officially stands. I should also note that these recommendations were unanimously approved with no dissent.

1. That Synod declare that we stand in solidarity with our Reformed and Presbyterian brethren in rejecting as contrary to our confessional standards the theological views that are generally associated with the movements identified as "The New Perspective(s) on Paul" and "The Federal Vision."

2. That Synod reaffirm our commitment to the biblical, historical, and confessional, Reformed doctrine of justification - sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus - which requires the imputation of the active obedience of Jesus Christ as an essential component of that righteousness which is the ground of our justification and is received by faith alone.

3. That Synod recommend to our ministers and members the study of the reports of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), the Mid-America Theological Seminary (M-ARS), and the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS).

4. That Synod request our Sessions, Presbyteries, and other examination boards to be diligent in their examinations of potential office holders as to the critical areas of theology that are associated with the new views.

Synod

2008-06-24T09:21:00.002-04:00

The RPCNA synod began meeting last night. Keith Magill, pastor of the Elkhart congregation, preached from 2 Corinthians 11. Afterwards, Dr. Denny Prutow, professor of homiletics was elected as the new moderator. This morning, John Edgar preached from Acts 16 on the mission of church planting. More of these kinds of details can be found at the official synod blog.

If inspiration strikes, perhaps I shall publish some synodical limericks or haikus.

Prayer, 2

2008-06-19T07:30:00.002-04:00

Here are a few more thoughts on prayer from our recent series through the Lord's Prayer.

First, prayer is God-connected. That connection is specifically the connection of adoption, so Jesus teaches us to approach God in prayer as our Father. It's fascinating that there is extremely little said about the Fatherhood of God in the Old Testament, but it's all over the New Testament. This points to the greatness of living in the new covenant, of following the one who tore the temple curtain in two. Also, this God-connection aspect of prayer means that prayer is inseparably connected with the gospel. In fact, we could say that prayer is living out the gospel of our adoption.

Second, prayer is God-centered and so Jesus teaches us to orient ourselves around our great God by addressing Him not only as Father, but as our Father in heaven. An illustration may suffice to make the point: when you are getting directions from Google maps or Mapquest, you may know full well your destination, where you want to end up. But if you don't start at the right place, you're going nowhere. So it is with prayer. We may have a clear sense of what we want or need from God, but if we are so quick in prayer that we skip past praise, we have not begun in the right place.

Third, prayer is God-captivated: our first request is "hallowed be thy name" or "make your glory more known in my life and the world." Where does the heart of adoration come from but meditation? One of the greatest passages of praise, one of the most God-captivated portions of Scripture is Romans 11:33-36 (O the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God...). how did the Apostle Paul cultivate such a God-captivated heart? Well, by meditating upon and writing about the great truths of Christ's redemption for eleven long chapters. So meditation begets adoration. Deep prayer requires deep thinking.

Presbyterians & Joy

2008-06-12T12:09:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was our bi-monthly pastors' fellowship lunch in Indianapolis. As I was driving back, I alternated between meditating on the upcoming sermon passage and reflecting on the blessings of this meeting. Here's what I came up with for the latter:

It's a wonderful comfort to be in fellowship with men I can trust. This trust comes from both their personal character as well as our common subscription to our doctrinal standards. The second may seem like a little thing, but to know that these men stand in the same place I do (or, more properly, that I stand where they do) is a wonderful, presbyterian joy.

It's also a wonderful humbling and instructive thing to hear godly men pray. As we split up for prayer, I found myself in a group with three other men who were each walking with Christ when I was still "behind the picture on the wall." All three prayed differently, but with each there is an almost-tangible sense of their closeness to Jesus.

Finally, it is a great blessing and boon to true fellowship to be understood. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two because solo ministry is, well, stupid. Even though most of us serve as the sole pastor in a congregation, being a presbyterian means never really being alone. It means having friends and mentors who are always available for counsel and prayer and who understand this vocation more deeply and incisively than most.

Now for something lighter

2008-06-04T08:39:00.000-04:00

Prayer, 1

2008-06-03T14:52:00.004-04:00

As 2008 approached and commenced, I wondered to God what He would have for my spiritual growth this year. At the same time, I was prayerfully considering the same question for our congregation. The four areas I have been steadily praying about since then are (1) more outreach, (2) more holiness, (3) more generosity and (4) more prayer.

Two weeks ago our sermon series came to Luke 11, where Jesus teaches His disciples to pray. At the same time in our congregation, we are beginning a new class on basic spiritual disciplines and an evening sermon discussion time. All this amounts to a lot of time this month at Immanuel RPC talking about prayer. It occurs to me that perhaps God is answering my prayer for more prayer.

In this light, I thought I might take a few blog posts to share some Biblical points and personal thoughts on prayer. For those at Immanuel, this will be review...but review makes the soil of our hearts and minds able to sustain growth.

First, prayer must be learned. The disciples grew up in a praying culture, but yet realized how much they had to learn. Thus they asked Jesus, "teach us to pray."

Second, prayer is not natural. Certainly there is an impulse in humanity to cry out to a conceived deity. Only a very few succeed in stifling this impulse entirely. But even though we all pray, Biblical prayer, Christ-centered and Spirit-powered prayer are not natural. We are all born breathing and breathe all our lives - but as opera singers must relearn the right breathing for their art, so Christians must relearn prayer.

Third, a desire from prayer comes from keeping our eyes on Jesus. Luke the historian brings a great gift to the church in constantly revealing to us the ongoing, infinite and eternal love that exists in our Triune God. In the gospels, the Father is always pointing out the Son and providing for Him; at the same time the Son is always seeking the Father's glory and purpose. As we watch this, we are to be more than instructed: we are to be inspired. Like the disciples whose desire for prayer came from watching Jesus, so we should meditate on the majestic, Trinitarian love of Jesus for the Father.

Joyful Ministry

2008-05-06T08:44:00.003-04:00

Sunday's sermon was from Luke 10, when Jesus sends out 70 (or 72, depending on translation) to visit various towns and prepare His way. The tone of the whole text (v. 1-24) is joy. From this joyful text, I drew out five lessons for ministry. Not just better ministry, but joyful ministry. I hope they might encourage you as you serve Christ this week. Some of you know this, but the word ministry most often simply means "service", so this should apply to every Christian.

1. Know your purpose - Jesus sent the disciples out to prepare the way for Him. So they went out to their ministry with a clear sense of purpose. The great thing here is that this is our purpose as well: whatever God has called you to, you are preparing the way for the return of Christ. Whether raising covenant children, building houses, running a company or preaching sermons, we are all working to bring all things under the lordship of Jesus in preparation for His return. What is key, then, is remembering it.

2. Begin with prayer - The first thing Jesus told these laborers to do? Pray for more laborers. When we pray, we give honor to Jesus as the only one who can do it. When we pray, we remember that the fields are white for harvest and we simply cannot do it all. Let's commit to this, then: beginning every ministry, every service, every day with prayer.

3. Confidence creates vulnerability - Jesus then tells these disciples that they are going out as "lambs in the midst of wolves." A cheery thought. But then he makes it even harder by telling them, "Don't take your overnight bag or your credit cards or any extra footwear." Why this strange command? Because Jesus expects them to have such confidence in the gospel they are preaching that they are willing to be vulnerable. There is no effective and joyful service to God which doesn't require vulnerability and real risk. To be up for that risk, we must continue to develop confidence and faith in the gospel.

4. Don't be distracted - Jesus tells them, "Don't greet anyone on the road"...not because he wants them to be rude, but because they are to be urgent in their task. What is sapping you of your sense of urgency in ministry? Where does the life and priority of the church fall in your priority scheme? Sometimes, even good things can rob us of heaven-centered urgency, like greeting someone on the road. But we must focus on Jesus and maintain the radical urgency of those who are preparing his way.

5. Keep Jesus' sovereignty in view - Jesus finishes thier commission by telling them what to do when people accept the message (heal & proclaim the nearness of the kingdom) and when people reject the message (condemn & proclaim the nearness of the kingdom). Rather than take John and James' approach of calling down heaven's fire on the infidels, Jesus' disciples are to preach and give warning and let Jesus take care of the rebellious on the last day. Serving Christ without a conscious appreciation of his sovereignty leads to crippling failures and prideful victories.

The days are evil but my ipod isn't

2008-04-28T19:28:00.005-04:00

A while back, I bought an 80-gig ipod. At the time, I really hoped it wouldn't be a waste of money; in fact, I had hopes of it being a help and blessing to my spiritual life. Towards that hope, I have delved into the world of podcasting: investigating, subscribing, unsubscribing and listening to a lot of different podcasts. In the end, I'm very happy with what I'm able to listen to every week. I thought some of you may be interested in this list of my regular downloads.

Preachers
-Joel Beeke
-Mark Driscoll
-Sinclair Ferguson
-Thabiti Anyabwile
-Ted Donnelly
-R.C. Sproul (Renewing Your Mind)
-Alistair Begg (Truth for Life)
-Several RPCNA Pastors (see reformedvoice.com)

Lectures
-Covenant seminary's church history
-Covenant seminary's preaching class
-Sovereign Grace Leadership Series

Fun/Humor
-NPR's Car Talk
-Best of YouTube

Culture/Music/Other
-This American Life
-NPR's live concert podcast
-NPR's All Songs Considered
-NPR's Science Friday
-Mahalo Daily
-Paste Culture Club
-National Geographic's Wild Chronicles
-Grammar Girl

What am I missing? What podcasts help you or encourage you in some way?

Sermons

2008-04-17T14:28:00.005-04:00

The internet is pretty nifty. Our sermons are hosted at sermonaudio.com, but now they have a little widget, which you should see in the right hand column under "recent sermons." Visitors to the sight will be able to listen to the sermons by simply pressing the play button. If you want to download it, you'll still need to click the title of the sermon to go to its specific page. I'll try to post our newest sermon there every week.

A Prayer for Preachers

2008-04-15T09:40:00.001-04:00

O Spirit of God, may you then waken my mind and tongue as a loud-shouting clarion of truth, so that all may rejoice, who are united in spirit to the entire Godhead.
-St. Gregory of Nazianzus, poem 1.1.1 De Filio

More from Bonhoeffer

2008-04-15T09:31:00.004-04:00

When Bonhoeffer wrote The Cost of Discipleship, he was struggling to call the Lutheran church to wake up and prepare for to do battle with national socialism. His prescription went much deeper than mere laziness. He blamed it on poor theology masked with good theology. I read this paragraph with my mouth open (people at the coffee shop think I'm a little weird anyway); it is bracing prophecy, a powerful tonic even today.

We Lutherans have gathered like eagles round the carcase of cheap grace, and there we have drunk of the poison which has killed the life of following Christ. It is true, of course, that we have paid the doctrine of pure grace divine honours unparalleled in Christendom, in fact we have exalted that doctrine to the position of God himself. Everywhere Luther's formula has been repeated, but its truth perverted into self-deception. So long as our Church holds the correct doctrine of justification, there is no doubt whatever that she is a justified Church! So they said, thinking that we must vindicate our Lutheran heritage by making this grace available on the cheapest and easiest terms. To be "Lutheran" must mean that we leave the following of Christ to legalists, Calvinists and enthusiasts - and all this for the sake of grace. We justified the world, and condemned as heretics those who tried to follow Christ. The result was that a nation became Christian and Lutheran, but at the cost of true discipleship. The price it was called upon to pay was all too cheap. Cheap grace had won the day.

I'm not convinced this exalting of the doctrine of free grace is the problem in reformed churches today, but this is a clear warning: we are not justified by the doctrine of justification. We are justified by Jesus. A misplaced focus will give birth to a host of errors and sins.

Bonhoeffer, Luther & Cheap Grace

2008-04-15T09:19:00.003-04:00

For our next book club, I'm reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship. In light of Bonhoeffer's historical context (the degeneration of the German confessional church giving way to Nazi control) and our own context (good reformed theology not always have the effect it ought to have), I thought his discussion about the reformer Martin Luther and cheap versus costly grace was fascinating. Here are some interesting quotes that struck me.

The grace which gave itself to [Martin Luther] was a costly grace, and it shattered his whole existence. Once more he must leave his nets and follow. The first time was when he entered the monastery, when he had left everything behind except his pious self. This time even that was taken from him.
...
[Before Luther left the monastery for the secular world] the Christian life had been the achievement of a few choice spirits under the exceptionally favourable conditions of monasticism; now it is a duty laid on every Christian living in the world.
...
The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ. Such a man knows that the call to discipleship is a gift of grace, and that the call is inseparable from the grace. But those who try to use this grace as a dispensation from following Christ are simply deceiving themselves.

Probably not

2008-04-08T20:12:00.003-04:00

My lovely wife is out shopping, all four kids are in bed and relatively quiet. I'm back to studying and suddenly wondered, "Is God relieved when I go to sleep at night, just so He can have some peace and quiet?"

Yeah, I didn't think so either. If only I were that obnoxiously constant in my prayers and singing.

Now another thing pops to mind: during dinner tonight, I was trying to have a civilized conversation with said wife and #3 called out continually, "mama! mama! mama! mama! MAMA! MAMA!" So, I gave him whatever it was he wanted. No, God doesn't grant prayer requests because he's tired of me, but he loves that spirit, that continual cry until I receive from him the desire he's planted in me.

pssst, new links (look right)

2008-03-27T10:14:00.002-04:00

I'm almost 30

2008-03-27T10:02:00.003-04:00

I'm listening to Bruce Hornsby on Pandora right now. And I really like it. Perhaps adulthood has its perks. Like not being required to hate piano pop anymore. Billy Joel, watch out.

Koran, round 1

2008-03-07T08:49:00.004-05:00

For this month's book club, I decided to read through the Koran. This was the first time I have done so. Though I hesitate to record my thoughts (picture an Islamic book club reading through the Bible for the first time...), here are some things that stuck out to my on my first reading.

Compared to the Bible, I was surprised at how little of the Koran is made up of history stories. There are some stories in the Koran, but not many. And the ones that are there are, by and large, re-told stories from the first five books of the Bible. This re-telling often adds or changes details (like Jesus speaking to Mary while he was still an infant); the changes are sometimes incidental, but other times constitute a major rearranging of the ideas of the Biblical story.

Some things were noticeable because of their absence. In the Koran, I found no trace of regeneration of internal conversion. And, despite claiming repeatedly that Allah is a merciful god, there is no sense given of how he forgives. That is, there's no sense of atonement. In the place of atonement is a strong theology of merit, of inheriting Allah's favor and eternal happiness through our good works. More broadly, there is a great sense of religion, but no great sense of redemption. Despite the reality of sin, there is no overarcing storyline of salvation.

There are other parts of the Koran which, if we read them without knowing who wrote them, could have been written by Christians. The Last Day, the resurrection, monotheism (only one god-ism), the reality of heaven and hell, the sovereignty of god - these are themes we have in common with the Koran. It's good to know these, to keep us from caricaturizing and to help us in our outreach.

Finally, there is not nearly as much violence in the Koran as I guessed there might be. I've heard that some of the harsher jihad teachings come from the Hadith (the recording of Muhammad's life and sayings) rather than the Koran. I only came across a few passages which tended toward a violent mindset and none of those were any harsher than what we could pull out of our Old Testament.

Again, these are my observations based on a first time reading. So take them with some salt pinches and feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken!

Puny

2008-03-06T10:07:00.004-05:00

I can't speak for other preachers, but one of the things that runs through my mind right before I preach is, "How can I preach? Why should these people listen to me? So many of these people are more advanced than I in their walks with Christ. Some here are more obedient to God's Word than I am." But even this is part of God's blueprint, even using weak and imperfect men. Yes, the character of the preacher is important; but even his weakness is part of God's plan. This quote from John Calvin came across my desk today and is a helpful addition to the recent discussion on the primacy of preaching.

This is the best and most useful exercise in humility, when (God) accustoms us to obey his Word, even though it be preached through men like us and sometimes even by those of lower worth than we. If he spoke from heaven, it would not be surprising if his sacred oracles were to be reverently received without delay by the ears and minds of all. For who would not dread the presence of His power? Who would not be stricken down at the sight of such great majesty? Who would not be confounded at such boundless splendor? But when a puny man risen from the dust speaks in God's name, at this point we best evidence our piety and obedience toward God if we show ourselves teachable toward his minister, although he excels us in nothing. (4.3.1)

It's not easy

2008-03-04T09:40:00.002-05:00

Poet Stephen Dunn, from an interview in Books & Culture by Aaron Rench, speaking about how poetry brings us closer to reality:

To get the world right is a hard-won thing. It's not easily done.

I feel the truth of this daily. This understanding the world rightly. It is a fight.

Honor to whom honor is owed

2008-03-04T09:24:00.003-05:00

Our presbytery met last week in Orlando, Florida. Presbytery accomplishes a lot of good and necessary work, but the most significant thing we did last week was to honor the lifetime ministry work of Dr. Roy Blackwood. Dr. Blackwood officially requested, and was granted, that his resignation as senior pastor at Second RPC in Indianapolis be received. Although that part of the evening was a very sad occasion, the receiving of his resignation was followed by Pastor Keith Magill giving a long testimony concerning Dr. Blackwood's ministry and work. For me, three things shone through the evening.

First, the amount of work God has used Dr. Blackwood to accomplish is truly amazing. When he began pastoring in the 1950's, there was only one Reformed Presbyterian Church in Indiana. Now there are nine, all of which have the stamp of his passion and ministry upon them. Even our new church, Immanuel, owes honor to Dr. Blackwood; though he did not participate in the planting of this congregation, he helped plant our mother church and he helped instill the vision in that session and in our presbytery for continual church planting.

Second, the testimony of so many men and women include how Jesus used Dr. Blackwood in their lives. Several of the pastors spoke at a reception, revealing how Dr. Blackwood's passion for the church as a whole was equaled (if not surpassed) by his love for people as individuals. He was and remains a disciple-maker, calling and training many men for the pastorate and many more for lives devoted to Christ in other vocations.

Third, and perhaps the most moving, was Dr. Blackwood's reason for resigning his pastorate. His dear wife, Margie, was able to be there that evening with us and he recognized her commitment to and help for his ministry. This resounds in so many pastors' hearts, that "without her, I could not have done any of it." Fact is, Mrs. Blackwood needs more and more help these days. And Dr. Blackwood resigned in order to receive his promotion to taking care of her full time, this helpmate who took care of him for so many decades of ministry.

I'm sure Dr. Blackwood doesn't read blogs. If he did, he probably wouldn't like this post. At least not unless I end it the right way, by giving the honor to Christ rather than to Roy. This is his greatest testimony to me, that in everything, Jesus should receive the glory. It's not Roy's church or your church or my church. It's Jesus' church.

Just once more

2008-02-27T14:45:00.006-05:00

To conclude my part of this discussion, here are some quotes from John Calvin in the Institutes, book four, chapters five and six. Some quick notes: if this is getting old, I'm sorry and I'm almost done. If this discussion feels off-balanced by not addressing the preacher's responsibility, I agree and hope to write more about that soon. Finally, these quotes from Calvin are meant to inform the idea and are not aimed at anyone in particular.

On Ephesians 4:10-13: We see how God, who could in a moment perfect his own, nevertheless desires them to grow up into manhood solely under the education of the church. We see the way set for it: the preaching of the heavenly doctrine has been enjoined upon the pastors. We see that all are brought under the same regulation, that with a gentle and teachable spirit they may allow themselves to be governed by teachers appointed to this function.

On God's giving interpeters to His people (Mal. 2:7): This is doubly useful. On the one hand, he proves our obedience by a very good test when we hear his ministers speaking just as if he himself spoke. On the other, he also provides for our weakness in that he prefers to address us in human fashion through interpreters in order to draw us to himself, rather than to thunder at us and drive us away.

To those who think the authority of the Word is belittled when handled with authority by men: For, although God's power is not bound to outward means, he has nonetheless bound us to this ordinary manner of teaching. Fanatical men, refusing to hold fast to it, entangle themselves in many deadly snares. Many are led either by pride, dislike, or rivalry to the conviction that they can profit enough from private reading and meditation; hence they despise public assemblies and deem preaching superfluous...In order, then, that pure simplicity of faith may flourish among us, let us not be reluctant to use this exercise of religion which God, by ordaining it, has shown us to be necessary and highly approved.

What follows in chapter six is a great portion discussing the balance of believing the primacy of preaching yet giving full credit to God who "claims for himself alone both the beginnings of faith and its entire course."

More on the primacy of preaching

2008-02-26T13:38:00.009-05:00

I do want to continue the discussion from the last post. Not having much time to write, let me point your attention to this article from Keith Mathison, critiquing the doctrine of solo Scriptura (vs. the reformed doctrine of sola Scriptura). Those on the other side of the debate are holding to a form of this, not the full-blown solo Scriptura, but a form of it, and thus ought to wrestle with Mathison's conclusion. (thanks to Jeff for the link)

Not only has solo scriptura contributed heavily to this division and sectarianism, it can offer no possible solution. Solo scriptura is the ecclesiastical equivalent of a nation with a constitution but no court of law to interpret that constitution. Both can lead to chaos. At best solo scriptura can offer an abstract doctrinal statement to the effect that “Scripture” is the sole authority. But using Scripture alone, it cannot tell us what “Scripture” is or what it means. It simply cannot resolve differences of interpretation, and the result is more and more division and schism. The resolution of theological differences requires the possibility of authoritatively defining the propositional doctrinal content of Christianity, and it requires the possibility of an authoritative ecclesiastical “Supreme Court." Since neither of these possibilities are allowed within the framework of solo scriptura, there can be no possibility of solution.
Solo scriptura also undermines the legitimate ecclesiastical authority established by Christ. It negates the duty to submit to those who rule over you, because it removes the possibility of an authoritative teaching office in the Church. To place any kind of real hermeneutical authority in an elder or teacher undermines the doctrine of solo scriptura. Those adherents of solo scriptura who do have pastors and teachers to whom they look for leadership do so under the stipulation that the individual is to evaluate the leader’s teaching by Scripture first. What this means in practice is that the individual is to measure his teacher’s interpretation of Scripture against his own interpretation of Scripture. The playing field is leveled when neither the ecumenical creeds nor the Church has any more authority than the individual believer, but Christ did not establish a level playing field. He did not establish a democracy. He established a Church in which men and women are given different gifts, some of which involve a special gift of teaching and leading. These elders have responsibility for the flock and a certain authority over it. Scripture would not call us to submit to those who had no real authority over us (Heb. 13:17; Acts 20:28). [emphasis mine]

Elsewhere in the article, Mathison points out that those who appeal to the Bereans of Acts 17 as Scriptural evidence of the primacy of the individual over the preached Word ought to realize that Acts 17 comes after Acts 15, where the council of the church decided what the Scriptures taught regarding circumcision and handed their decision down as authoritative. Again, the Scriptures lead us to seek balance. Real authority, the primacy of preaching yet maintaining the practice of submissive discernment.

Especially Preaching

2008-02-20T09:04:00.013-05:00

The shorter catechism (#89) says that the Spirit of God makes "the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation." What follows is an attempt to justify the idea of "especially" in the catechism.

Please know that I do not mean to lessen the importance of private and family worship, but to rescue the importance of corporate worship and the preaching of the Word from the depths to which it has sunk.

First, some Biblical thoughts:

Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:11 that Jesus gave pastors and teachers (or, more literally, pastor-teachers) to His people. Why? V. 14 - so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. In other words, Jesus gave pastor-teachers because we need them. Because on our own, we would be blown every which way and would not reach maturity in Christ. The fact that Jesus gives preachers - and that we didn't come up with this idea on our own - means that our responsibility to the preaching we receive on Sunday mornings is a responsibility we have to Jesus, the giver of the gift. Contrary to popular thought, it was Jesus' opinion that we do need preachers to understand the Word of God. Not as mediators, but as teachers. And not that we are ignorant on our own, but that we won't normally achieve the maturity and protection Jesus has planned for us apart from the church's preaching and teaching.

In Acts 17:11 we see the Bereans searching the Scriptures for themselves. But the Bereans aren't solitary Christians deciding for themselves and by themselves what the Scriptures say. They are searching the Scriptures for a purpose: to make sure what they heard from the preachers was true. What prompted their searching was their receiving the Word with joy and their hope to find these things to be true. In other words, this isn't a picture of individualized Christianity, reading and living the Bible on their own. What set these Jews apart, what made them "more noble than those in Thessalonica" was the eagerness with which they received the Word, eagerness proved by their devotion to understand and double-check what they were about to obey. I would argue these Jews did exactly what I exhorted our congregation to do: watch how you hear! (Luke 8:18) Along the same lines, note the testimony of the Thessalonican church (1 Thess. 4:5), the Colossian church (Col. 1:5)

Many of the promises we have regarding the Word of God come in relation to the Word of God proclaimed and preached. See Romans 10:10-15 - justification comes by faith (10) and faith comes by hearing the Word preached (14).

Also helpful here is Paul's instructions to Timothy regarding his preaching. 2 Timothy 4:2 is well-known by every preacher: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. Why such a strong instruction? Because the "time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions." In other words, because we are sinners, we can't be trusted to read, study, understand and obey God's Word entirely on our own. Personal study shouldn't be neglected, but the noetic effects of sin - sin's ongoing brain damage - necessitate the giving of authoritative teaching. Not infallible, but authoritative. "But" some will say,"don't preachers have the same problems I do?" Yes, which is why the Bereans' discernment was totally warranted and why the painful process of ordination is so vital. This isn't a call to turn off our minds and consciences, but a call to joyful, expectant submission.

Yes, pastors are imperfect people; just ask my friends. Yes, we make mistakes. Two weeks ago I found myself repenting of something I had said from the pulpit. This is why we have sessions overseeing the pulpit, guarding the people from the preacher's mistakes. But at root here is the attitude we bring to worship: do we come to worship with an expectation of hearing God's Word from the preacher and obeying what we hear or do we come with great reservation? Do we recognize worship as the highlight of our union with Christ or as a possibly helpful time of encouragement? Do we view our preacher-in-his-preaching primarily as one more imperfect man or as Jesus' gift to me?

This post is too long to continue. I hope to write again about the historical nature of this question and my own testimony regarding it.

*note: this post was edited on Feb. 25 to reflect some of the ways the discussion in the comments have helped clarify my thinking. None of the edits were changes to my central arguments.

**Thanks for all the comments. For now, I've decided to hide them all, because we seemed to reach the end of what was helpful. If you have a question about this, feel free to email or call. -Jared

Watch How You Hear

2008-02-18T07:12:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I preached on the parbable of the sower and the seeds from Luke 8. The only command in the passage is Jesus' admonition to "take care how you hear" or, more literally, "watch how you hear." My exhortation to the congregation was the same: take a look at how you hear sermons. Do some evaluation.

Toward that end, I'd like to offer some evaluation questions to use as a mirror. I really don't think faithfully hearing sermons means being able to answer all of these questions, but they should give a good idea of how we're doing. These questions are designed to lead to living Scripture; this is on purpose, because Jesus wants us to be those who hear God's Word and do it. (Luke 8:21)

What passage was the sermon from?
What was the story or main thought of the passage?
What was the main point of the sermon?
What subpoints, illustrations, exhortations struck me most?
What applications did the preacher draw from the text?
Is there any reason to think this application is a bad idea or somehow unbiblical?
If not, what is my plan for implementing this application? How will I know when I've done it or at least in process of doing it?
How can our church family live out this application together?
What other applications should I draw from the sermon? What is my plan?
How should this part of Scripture change the way I pray?
How can I use the sermon and its applications in discipling my children this week?
How will living out what I've heard change how I treat my wife, husband, children, friends, parents, etc.?

These questions would be a nice outline for discussion over Sunday dinner or a good way to spend some of your private and family worship through the week.

Would you add any questions to this list?

Down in my heart

2008-02-07T08:13:00.000-05:00

#1: We're going to go to heaven when we die, aren't we?

Me: Yup. 'Cause we belong to God and trust in Jesus.

#1: We're all going to die, aren't we?

Me: Yup.

#1: But I won't die, because I've got lots of schoolwork to do. In my heart.

God 1, Jared 0

2008-02-05T21:47:00.000-05:00

One year

2008-02-05T08:32:00.000-05:00

Sunday was Immanuel RPC's first anniversary as an organized congregation. During our evening service, we spent time giving thanks to God for His many mercies toward us over the past year. Some highlights include a wonderful sense of unity, great ministry from families to families, financial blessings, fifty-two weeks of sitting together under God's Word in worship, some good evangelism and outreach events, the mom's group and the grad fellowship group.

Near the top of my list for thanksgiving is the servant attitude of so many people at Immanuel. Especially the young men and women. Our junior high and senior high men are always willing and excited to serve; they find ways to help on Sundays. And our young ladies have been incredible encouragements to those of us with young children!

Glory be to God! May He give us another year of worshipping and serving Jesus Christ, who is God with us.

Toward a theology of geese

2008-02-04T12:12:00.000-05:00

Since the post a little ways down generated some feeling, I thought we might have a fruitful discussion about a Biblical view of animals. It's really a fascinating topic. Toward this end, here are some theorems, thoughts and ideas I have about the topic and how I think Scripture supports them. Please comment - do you agree, disagree? Are there other points to add?

[Note: once more, let me say that the whole goose-kicking thing was fairly serious but written for a laugh. For those who laughed, grand. For those who didn't, please know I don't chase down animals just to kick them. I'm pretty sure it was going to bite me.]

Sorry for the bullet points. It's probably harder to read, but it helps me think more clearly. Here we go:

Animals aren't people. Man and woman are made in the image of God, birds, beasts and fish aren't. (Gen. 1:26-27) Therefore, the idea of "humane" treatment is somewhat oxymoronic. They have value, clearly. But it isn't even on the same continuum of the value of human life.

If there is ever a choice to be made, we go with human life rather than animal. Always. Risking a car accident to avoid hitting a squirrel is unbiblical.

Animals aren't plants. Obvious, yes, but worth pointing out. (Gen. 1:11, 20) Though we may eat meat, God told Noah not to eat meat with the blood still in it, because the life is in the blood. Plants have no blood, therefore no life, in the Biblical sense.
Animals are part of the creation over which humanity is given dominion and stewardship. (Gen. 1:26) Animals exist for mankind, not mankind for animals. So there should be no talk about humanity serving animals. (Gen. 2:20)

Along the same lines, check out Genesis 9:5 where God tells us that animals are held responsible for their actions toward humanity. If one kills a human, God decrees its life should be taken. But it doesn't flow the other way - we aren't responsible to pay in any way for the spilled blood of animals. Also see Exodus 19:13 where God promises punishment for both men and animals who might touch the mountain.
After the flood, God clearly and specifically gave animals to humanity to eat (Gen. 9:3). Perhaps because the curse of the fall (i.e., how hard it would be to farm), perhaps as a measure of kindness and mercy. Either way, animals belong to man (in a stewardship sense, see below).

If you're like me, Proverbs 12:10 comes to mind in this discussion: Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. Some thoughts:

The word regard is the very general Hebrew word "to know." So "regard" simply means "to be aware of", not necessarily to have a great passion about or even to value highly, but simply to be aware of. So I take the verse to mean "the righteous person has an awareness of his animals' lives, and seeks to provide for them based on that awareness."
Deuteronomy 25:4 is a good example, that oxen shouldn't be muzzled when they're treading grain. Why? Because it would be cruel. Because being full is better than starving and animals should share in the fruit of their work if at all possible.
Cruelty to animals for fun or spite is unrighteous.
A theory: because modern Americans are (1) often pet owners and (2) often very removed from the animals which they eat, we may be quite off-balance in what it means to "regard" animals. It doesn't mean treat them like pets.

I think the overriding rule is that of stewardship. We are stewards of the animals. Stewards don't own that which they care for, but are responsible for it. Humanity will have to answer for how we cared for creation, including animals.

Therefore, species' extinction is a bad thing. Interestingly, Darwinian evolution cannot account for why extinction is bad. Yet macro-evolutionists are more passionate about this than most Christians.
Conversely, refusing to control animal population is also bad. See modern India for an example of how religious beliefs lead to a refusal to take animal life which leads to economic and health problems.

For Christmas, we bought our family this great series on nature/creation. It's astoundingly beautiful. The great variety and beauty among God's animals reveal His beauty and majesty. So a fully Christian ethic of animals must include delight in their beauty and diversity.

Well, surely I'm missing something. What would you add? Or disagree with?

35 years

2008-01-22T10:48:00.000-05:00

Today is the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Approximately 1.37 million children are killed each year in America, sacrificed at the altars of privacy and convenience. This is not a political issue. This is not just a drum for Republicans to beat. This is a matter of religion and the holiness of God.

Here is George Grant's short reflection.

Justin Taylor shares a rightly disturbing video.

Some thoughts, if I may. It would be good for each of us, personally, and each church to spend time in prayer this week. This prayer should include praise to God, who is the giver of life; it should include repentance for our nation's many sins; it should include a prayer for deliverance; it should also include a call for our Priest-King to go to war for the cause of truth and meekness and right (Psalm 45:4).

Lest we sink into despair, consider during your prayers Jeramiah 31:38-40 -

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown anymore forever.

The context is the truly astounding promise of the new covenant (see v. 33 - I will be their God and they shall be my people). In that context, God promises the expansion of His children's territory, despite the current state of His people in Babylonian exile. This rebuilding and expansion will include the tower gates and the corner gates. But it's more than just the city - God promises to send His measuring line to the hill Gareb and Goah, covering the valley of dead bodies and ashes.

We don't know the details about Gareb and Goah, but we do know this: the valley of dead bodies and ashes was where the Israelites killed their children, sacrificing them to Molech and other pagan gods. What a horrible thing to even consider. But note what God promises: not only will He reclaim the ground where they sacrificed their children, but it will be a place "sacred to the Lord."

This is the greatness of the new covenant - not only does God save us from sins, but He goes right to the place of our greatest sins and makes it His greatest glory. Those who are sinfully angry glorify God when He makes them gentle and peaceful. Those who are full of lust God glorifies by making them pure in heart and body. And so we can rightly pray that God would go to the source of our nation's greatest sins, till up the ground, plant a new garden and make it sacred to the Lord. In other words, don't just pray that God would help us stop killing our babies, but that He would make us a people who love life, who love children. Pray that our greatest sins would become the place of His greatest glory. This is how He promised to work in the new covenant.

On Bloggery

2008-01-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

Technology in general and blogs in particular have broken the dam and set loose a flood of words. Each of us could read blogs all day and never find the end of words being put forth. What to do? How, then, shall we read?

I began picking through a book of theological poetry by St. Gregory of Nazianzus this morning and found this gem:

Seeing many writing in this present life
words without measure, smoothly rolling,
who pass most time in drudgeries
producing only a hollow logorrhea,
and how they write so brazenly
things clogged full of idiocies,
as sand fills the sea or fruit-flies Egypt:
I've found this to be
the single sweetest counsel, that,
pitching out all other word, one hold
on only to those inspired by God,
as a calm harbor for those who flee the storm.

In other news, we had a great college conference this past weekend. David Hanson spoke from the book of Job and the Spirit was working, ministering through David to many students there. See Barry's comments here.

Friendship

2008-01-17T16:15:00.000-05:00

This weekend is the annual CYA (covenanter young adult, i.e., college) Winter Conference. And by "winter", we apparently mean four degrees below zero. Real winter.

Anyhow, my friend David Hanson (pastor of Grace RPC in State College, PA) is coming to speak to the students; he'll be speaking on triumph and tragedy in the book of Job. On my latest read through the book of Job, I was convicted of the quality - or lack thereof - of my friendship toward others. Here are the lessons I took away from Eliphaz, Bildad & Zophar on what not to do.

Just "being there" does not qualify me as a good friend
Just "being there" does not give me enough capital/sufficient right to say anything I want
I will constantly be tempted to rush to judgment without all the facts; and when I do rush to judgment, I'll usually be wrong
Theology isn't enough...theology without love kills. Theology without wisdom kills. Wrong theology kills.
True sympathy is often impossible (who can really sympathize with Job??) - I can't assume I know what my friends are feeling or enduring
Singing the same song sixteen different ways doesn't make it true - Job's friends really didn't say all that much, they just said it a lot.
Just because someone's in pain doesn't mean they're wrong

2008-01-16T09:51:00.000-05:00

This morning the guard goose was back. As I came to the office for our session meeting, the stray Canadian goose (or does he belong to the house near the building?) was wandering around the parking lot in the dark, honking at me. And then he got in my way and hissed at me. So I kicked him in the head. Hard.

Then, I needed to go back to my truck to retrieve something and there he was again, on the sidewalk, hissing at me. So I kicked him in the head. Harder. He flopped around for a while.

This is how you know it's going to be a great day. When you get to kick a goose in the head. Twice. Goose head first, the gates of hell second. I'm on my way.

Chaplain to the status quo

2008-01-11T16:40:00.000-05:00

Ken Myers, of Mars Hill Audio Journal fame, sends out the best fundraising letters. They're four pages long, with two lines of money requests and two hundred lines of great wisdom:

...there are two conclusions with which I started this project which have been remarkably reinforced. The first is that what is called "modernity" is essentially incompatible with Christian faithfulness, that what makes modern culture distinctively "modern" involves a rejection of important Christian beliefs and practices. The second is that one of the greatest temptations faced by the Church and her leaders is the desire to be approved by the world, that the evangelistic motive can produce a dangerous preoccupation with "getting along," with being "winsome." When the Church gives in to this temptation, the result is a form of cultural captivity in which the Church is simply a chaplain to some cultural status quo, reducing the consequences of faith to personal, "spiritual" matters, but incapable of encouraging a truly counter-cultural stance except at the margins.

Sermons

2007-12-20T08:47:00.001-05:00

Immanuel RPC has recently joined sermonaudio.com. Those who are interested can listen to our sermons at the new site. We're now also a part of reformedvoice.com, the sermonaudio mini-site where all RPCNA and RPCI sermons are collected.

This brings a couple things to mind. First is the great benefits technology can have for the church. Though we are a fairly "old-fashioned" (as in 2,000 years old-fashioned!) church, I'm glad for our churches to be thinking creatively about the use of technology. Not that I'm gunning for powerpoint sermons or anything, but in light of all the negative press technology receives - and often rightly so - it's good to seek out the good things and plunder the electronic Egyptians.

Second, the advent of recording technology should be a special encouragement to families with children. Since I have a better-than-front-row seat for worship every Sunday, I can testify that no matter how hard parents with young children work, they probably will not be able to listen to the whole sermon. I greatly appreciate parents working to train their children to worship alongside them, but I also worry about the spiritual health of parents who only get "sermon snippets" every week. If the weekly preaching of the Word is one of God's plans for our salvation (and I strongly believe it is), then any opportunity we have to catch the whole thing is a great gift. So if providence (or sleepiness - you know who you are!) kept you from hearing the whole sermon, use the technology providence has provided to keep yourself under the Word of God.

Stupidity not necessary for conversion

2007-12-04T10:28:00.000-05:00

As Christianity penetrated the well educated society of Alexandria, the choice for the convert seemed too often to be between clever, eloquently defended heresy on the one side and a dim, obscurantist orthodoxy on the other. It was one of Clement's principal achievements to render this dilemma unreal and irrelevant...

-Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, 95

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T09:04:00.000-05:00

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Immanuel RPC held her first annual Thanksgiving service yesterday morning. It was a wonderful time of worshiping a very good Creator.

The newspaper wrote about the story here (doesn't Ben look good? Note: right now the story says about 12 people came; this is a typo. I think about 120 were with us). And a tv-crew even showed up (I haven't seen the video yet).

Here is the original 1777 Proclamation of Thanksgiving by the Continental Congress. As we read this during worship, we were all amazed at how explicitly Christian it is.

And here is the prayer of Thanksgiving we offered to God near the end of worship.

Our great and good Heavenly Father,

ruly You deserve more gratitude, more offerings of thanksgiving, than we could ever bring to you. On this day particularly, we take time to remember and to give voice to a fraction of the gratitude you have worked within us.

Father, thank you for the revelation of your goodness and the ongoing proofs of it - you have created us after your image, you have preserved our lives, freely granting us our daily bread. You have helped many of us recover illness and have lifted many hearts out of despair and discouragement. You have given us much peace and have made us far more wealthy than most of our fellow men.

Father, thank you for your wonderful plan of salvation which you planned perfectly from before time. Thank you that before the first word of creation was spoken, you chose your Son to be our Redeemer, despite knowing the fullness of our rebellion and the cost of His death on the cross. Thank you for the many promises and pictures of Jesus Christ given to us in the Old Testament and for the incarnation of God into this world as the son of Mary.

We thank you for the obedience of our Savior, for the perfect fulfillment of the law and His willingness to die on the cross as the propitiation for our sins. We thank you for the many and wonderful invitations from Christ to sinners, that we could come to Him and be rid of our guilt, that we could come to Him and find communion through Him with the Triune God. We thank you for the blood of Christ, which satisfied fully your wrath and justice and holiness, which cleanses us from our sins, which provides our hope for victory and triumph on the last great day.

We thank you for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and His ascension to heaven, where He reigns at your right hand. Thank you for a King who loves us and protects us. Thank you for the many comforting and certain promises of His return to this world.

We thank you for the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, who comforts us and supports us and changes us and prepares us for the Second Coming.

We thank you for the Scriptures you've given to reveal yourself and your plan of salvation. We thank you for the church Jesus is building, for the family of families you have brought together, that we might not walk as solitary pilgrims, but as a joyful band of saints. Thank you for the communion of saints we enjoy with Christians everywhere and at all times. Thank you for the sure hope of eternal life in your glorious presence, where our fullness of joy is.

Thank you for making us and sustaining us.
Thank you for teaching us and drawing us.
Thank you for forgiving and cleansing us.
Thank you for persevering with us and for us.

We thank you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and King, Amen.

Jesus Camp - Some thoughts

2007-11-16T07:46:00.000-05:00

I picked up Jesus Camp last week at the library and have some thoughts I'd like to get down before they're gone.

A summary: Jesus Camp is a documentary about a Pentecostal youth minister, Becky Fischer, her "Kids on Fire" youth camp in North Dakota with a focus on a few of the kids attending, all framed by reaction from a radio talk-show host (a self-professed moderate Christian) who's quite alarmed at the idea of kids becoming Christian soldiers in "God's army." The camp specializes in training young children to "take back America," while also whipping them into an emotional, tongue-speaking, ecstatic state. So, clearly, there's nothing controversial here. Just move along.

[Side note: the documentary includes sermon footage from Ted Haggard, proclaiming the normal, Republicanized Christianity. After this film's release, Haggard was released from his pastorate in the midst of accusations from a homosexual prostitute. In the sermon clip, homosexuality was one of the specific sins he spoke against. In the wake of his personal sin, the film clip is both ironic and terribly tragic.]

Here are some thoughts, in no particular order:

I thought the documentary was about as fair-minded as one could be trying to record something like this. There was no overdubbing, all-knowing narrator and there were only a few explanatory notes along the way (i.e., "Evangelical Christians believe one must be born again by faith in Christ to be saved."), most of which were accurate, if simplistic. So the directors (Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady) should be commended for that.
Having never really been around much charismatic Christianity, the film was a real eye-opener for me. Several times I found my mouth open and my eyes wide at how different this type of Christian life is.
Despite her obvious love for the children and strong faith in her message, Becky Fischer's teaching strategy was thoroughly manipulative rather than Scriptural. Clips of teaching kids how to speak in tongues ("just open your mouth and let the Spirit flow through you!") and young children crying in fear of Satan all made me quite sad. Even if the parts of the camp they left out were filled with solid, Biblical and reformed teaching, I still wouldn't send my kids within 10 miles of the camp. The problem lies not just with Fischer, but with the hyper-emotional, unbiblical and manipulative tendencies of charismatic Christianity.
I shudder to think that the outside world, looking in at the church, thinks the evangelical church is all like this. But yet we are joined in some way to Becky Fischer and the charismatic-evangelical churches. Until we are ready to disavow them as Christians at all, they are our brothers and sisters. And so I find myself in the odd position of being embarrassed by our own extended family. It make me hesitant to write these thoughts in public, because I don't like the idea of airing our familial grievances before the world. Yet there is, I trust, another branch of the American evangelical church, one not beholden to the Republican party, one steeped in Scriptures rather than emotional experience, one ready to engage the world thoughtfully and Biblically - and somehow I want the world to know about that part, too.
One of the homeschooling moms interviewed had a solid and reasonable defense of homeschooling her children. I was glad for this.
Watching a young girl (7 or 8) take a tract to an adult woman in a bowling alley, stumble through the most awkward gospel presentation ever ("God just wants to love you and you'll be happy and Jesus died for you and...") and walk away assured that she has done what God wanted ("I just heard Him speak to me...") must be one of the most uncomfortable moments I've ever seen on film. But when was the last time I had the courage to approach a stranger to proclaim the gospel?
The passion for and focus on the children should also be commended. Fischer and her church is entirely right to believe the future of our nation and culture lies with our children. That belief is good and right; it's how they work it out that poses the danger of zeal without knowledge.
That this movie is rated PG-13 is quite interesting. As far as I can tell, it's because of some discussions of abortion. But even then...

Overall, I'm glad this film was made and that I ran across it at the library. I'd be interested in your thoughts if you've seen it!

Everyone, say hello

2007-11-14T09:24:00.000-05:00

Here is John Ambrose Olivetti, who made his entrance and began breathing air Monday night, a tad before eight o'clock. God is good and great. My wife is my hero. Big brothers and sister are appropriately tickled pink.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1

How spirituality will kill the church

2007-11-11T13:51:00.000-05:00

I love the Weekend Journal. On Fridays and Saturdays, the Wall Street Journal includes this section of movie reviews, book reviews, art lessons, political commentary (Peggy Noonan) and other assorted goodies. If we ever stop getting the Journal, I'll probably still go out and buy it on the weekend just for this section. For me, the most important column is the weekly "Houses of Worship" column, authored by various writers, giving quite wide-ranging thoughts on religion.

This week's column ("Buddhist Boomers: A Meditation" by Clark Strand) really has nothing to do with Christianity, which is of course my religion. Except that between the lines of the article is a potent prophecy for American Christianity about her incessant desire to flirt with the world ('cause, y'know, if they like us, maybe they'll invite us to the party!).

Here's the scoop: Among the major religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), Buddhism stands as the only one the rest of the country is comfortable with. Even Sam Harris, one of the new evangelistic atheists, doesn't mind Buddhism so much "because it is not a religion of faith, or a religion at all in the Western sense."

The problem Buddhism faces is one of aging and eventual extinction. Most American converts to Buddhism are over 50 years old. Worse yet (for the religion, that is), these converts have no concrete sense at all of what it means to be Buddhist. They know nothing about Buddhist baptisms, weddings or funerals. The version of Buddhism they practice is a "thought experiment" more than a true religion; that is, it is an active attempt at a peaceful, tolerant form of spirituality trying to find a home in the intolerant, hypermodern world. Problem is, without the religious part of the religion, without baptisms and rules, funerals and rites, there is nothing to pass onto children except a vague sense of spirituality. And so young Buddhist children have a vague sense that their parents want them to be spiritual, too (but nothing too specific, lest anyone charge the parents with abusive brainwashing).

Therein lies the parable for the church. Quite in vogue is all this talk about spirituality versus religion. (Exhibit A: Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality, by Donald Miller. Exhibit B: every other Christian radio preacher proclaiming "Christianity is a relationship, not a religion!") As the church continues to lose relevance by chasing it, she is more and more capitulating by refusing to speak of "religion" and focusing solely on "spirituality." Loaded terms, to be sure. But here's what I think folks like Donald Miller mean: religion is what constrains us and restricts us, defining us with rules and rites. Spirituality is what sets us free to be what we're meant to be in Christ.

For these anti-religious Christians, Buddhism is now waving the yellow flag. If we lose the religion and attempt to keep the spirituality, we will end up with neither. While this anti-religious spurt may really tickle you, it will mean nothing to your children because there can be no substance without form. It is religion we pass onto our children and it is Spirituality which the Holy Spirit imparts through the ordained means of grace (y'know, those rules and rituals that seem so confining).

Can the church be too religious and not spiritual enough? Absolutely. But the answer is not to abandon the foundation for the upper story. The answer is to use the rites and rituals and means of grace to the end for which God intended: radical spirituality. Just because your car smells a little funny doesn't mean you should stand in your driveway, hoping magically to appear at the Grand Canyon. God has ordained one to get to the other. Give up the car and you can't go anywhere. Give up the religion and spirituality becomes a vapor to chase.

Magazine

2007-11-07T08:52:00.000-05:00

This week only, you can subscribe to Paste magazine for $_.__! They're letting folks name their price. Everybody wants to be like radiohead.

I love Paste magazine - it's a thoughtful and fun journal of culture. I find more great music with them than anywhere else (they send a free [and good] sampler CD each month). I've never seen an offensive photograph in their pages; the content is adult, but most often in a good way. They often review significant Christian artists. Etc. You should subscribe. (ht: Lynard)

Books

2007-11-02T08:49:00.000-04:00

First off, Christian Audio has a free download of an audio book every month. A couple months ago I got Augustine's On Christian Doctrine for free and this month they're giving away Jonathan Edward's Religious Affections for free. So if you're an ipodder or listen to books in the car, go forth and reap the freebie.

Next up, some book reviews:

The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper - What kind of book can both fill a preacher's soul with visions of glory and slap him around at the same time? Well, Piper's short take on preaching fits the bill. The first section of this preaching manifesto - and you should know it's not a lengthy theology or practical book about preaching - consists of lectures given by the author at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. The second section returns Piper to his favorite historical subject, Jonathan Edwards, to see what the preacher can learn about preaching from the life and ministry of America's greatest theologian. This isn't a whole compendium on preaching, but a lightning bolt of a preacher's passion. I greatly recommend this to any preacher and to anyone interested in reading a book which might show them a Biblical vision for preaching.

The Gospel & Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever - Evangelism being a weak area of mine, as I'm sure is true of many of you also, I was glad to find another resource from a pastor I would trust on the subject. The many unbiblical assumptions about evangelism prevalent in the church today ("Let's get them all the watch 'The Passion' and then we'll hand them tracts!") often makes me hesitant to go near Christian leaders when they're talking about spreading the gospel. But this book is different! Not only is it short (helpfully so) but it is full of long and deep thinking on the idea and practice of evangelism. The chapters are helpful ("Why Don't We Evangelize?" "How Should We Evangelize?" etc.) and the writing is Biblical, clear and to the point, often with great illustrations. Though Pastor Dever should write with more authority in spots ("I don't know what you think, but I agree with...") this book is worth having in multiple copies to give away to anyone longing to be used by Jesus in building His church.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne - This is the book I reviewed for our most recent book club (which has been a real blast so far). The Secret has been near the top of the bestselling nonfiction list for more than a year now, catapulted to fame by the endorsement of Oprah, or the "Great O in the Sky" as some like to call her. What is the Secret? I'm terrified to even tell you. The Secret is "the law of attraction." You want more? Really? The point is this: the universe is at your command, by your thoughts and emotions you are sending out wavelengths to the universe which will inevitably attract the things you are thinking/feeling about. That's it. That's the secret. Think it and it will come true. So...let's reason together...if you're sick it's because you've attracted sickness to yourself with negative thoughts. If you're rich it has nothing to do with God's blessing but everything to do with how powerfully you are commanding the universe. Oh, but why can't these people "attract" immortality? Or why can't they "attract" the end of the law of attraction? Or if, as they claim, the law of attraction has the same scientific merit as the law of gravity, why can't they "attract" anti-gravity and fly around for a little bit. The real secret isn't in this book - the real secret is why people are buying this book. Figure that out and you'll have found the desperate condition of humanity, the condition crying out for Jesus Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Prayer means staying awake

2007-09-26T15:37:00.000-04:00

Accordingly it seems to me that anyone who intends to embark on prayer should lay a foundation for himself by preparing himself a while so that he will be the more attentive and alert throughout his prayer. He will have put aside every testing and troubling thought and will recall, as far as possible, the greatness of the one whom he is approaching, and the disrespect which lies in approaching him yawning and inattentively and, as it were, contemptuously.

Origen, On Prayer, 31.2

Prayer is War

2007-09-21T15:38:00.000-04:00

...the spiritual poison...is injected by the enemy powers into the mind of any who neglect prayer and who do not observe the words of Paul, following the exhortations given by Jesus, that we should "pray ceaselessly." For like a dart from the soul of the one who prays with knowledge and with reason or by faith will it go forth from the saint, and wound to destruction and dissolution the spirits which are hostile to God, those who desire to truss us with the bonds of sin.

Origen, On Prayer, 12

2007-09-21T09:26:00.000-04:00

My friend Jason passed along a great link and quote which I think are appropriate for the visitors of this blog and probably every other Christian blog as well. Francis Schaeffer, writing on love as the true mark of a Christian, has this to say about our disagreements:

A fourth way we can show and exhibit love without sharing in our brother's mistake is to approach the problem with a desire to solve it, rather than with a desire to win. We all love to win. In fact, there is nobody who loves to win more than the theologian. The history of theology is all too often a long exhibition of a desire to win.

But we should understand that what we are working for in the midst of our difference is a solution — a solution that will give God the glory, that will be true to the Bible, but will exhibit the love of God simultaneously with his holiness. What is our attitude as we sit down to talk to our brother or as group meets with group to discuss differences? A desire to come out on top? To play one-up-manship? If there is any desire for love whatsoever, every time we discuss a difference, we will desire a solution and not just that we can be proven right.

I for one find myself wanting to win more than I find myself wanting to glorify God. I don't think we need to close down all bloggy discussions and disagreements, but we must go about them with the same passion which should be driving all of life: to make the name of Jesus Christ beautiful among the nations.

Listen up

2007-09-19T09:11:00.000-04:00

The almost famous debate between Greg Bahnsen and atheist Gordon Stein is being offered for 2 pennies from Covenant Media. Buy it and listen! It's worth, like, at least twice that amount. Seriously, this is one of the best examples of presuppositional apologetics ever recorded.

Why "go" means "go"

2007-09-12T10:27:00.000-04:00

In the comments section of a previous post, a discussion emerged about the propriety of the church maintaining an emphasis on international missions. Apparently, there are some who believe the American church should focusing more (or as it will practically mean, solely) on those God providentially brings to our nation.

To answer, I'd like to point out a few things about the Great Commission (Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.) and then a few practical remarks about the mission work of the American church.

Jesus' commission was to the apostles, but not the apostles alone. That is, this commission extends through the apostles to the whole church. The only proof one needs is to see the actions of the commission: teaching and baptizing. Those were actions repeatedly imparted to the church; if the imperatives of the commission were given to the church, then we can assume the scope of the commission (all nations) belongs to her as well. More proof of this would be to read on into the book of Acts to see how seriously the church took her commission to disciple the nations. There is nothing in the pages of the New Testament to make us think the geographical focus of the commission will be lifted before the return of Christ.

Jesus' commission is based upon and geared toward the great covenant promise God gave to Abraham: in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Gen. 12:3) There has always been, and there must always be, a worldwide focus of gospel-centered churches. We see this focus in Jesus' repetition of the commission in Acts 1:8, You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

More broadly, the pattern we see in the church of the new covenant is a pattern of sending. All we have to do is read through Acts and the Epistles to count up how many people were sent from one place to another for the purpose of gospel ministry: Peter, Barnabas, Paul, Philip, Silas, Timothy, Apollo, Titus, etc. The book of Philippians is especially strong with the expectation and need for sending: I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need (2:25)...a Christian church is one that sends laborers into the harvest fields, near and far.

In response to the charge that a focus on international missions is a foolish waste of money and resources and an unnecessary danger, I would note the following: Gospel ministry has never operated according to the wisdom of men (1 Cor. 2:4-5); remember the story of Paul being forbidden by the Spirit from going to Asia! This doesn't mean we don't use wisdom - it means we seek and use heavenly wisdom. If God has decided to use the foolishness of international missions for the building of His church, we are in no position to disagree. As to the threat of danger, we must weigh it seriously, but if the church comes the point where we aren't willing to risk our lives for the kingdom, what really has become of us?

In response to the charge that international missions can be accomplished in our own backyard, I say "amen." But it's an "amen" with a qualification. God has providentially arranged the world so ministry in American can have consequences reaching farther than ever before. But this isn't enough: there are yet some countries that have no significant presence in America. And even among those that do, there are families and certain groups in societies which will never be represented in America, being prevented by poverty and/or oppression.

In response to the charge that American missions is prideful, given the greater numbers of Christians elsewhere and the moral decline of the American church, I would reply: hogwash. Proper missions says: we are both sinful and worthless. The only difference is the access to God I've found in Christ. There is no pride in evangelism, local or worldwide. Also, it's important to note that, despite the decline of the American church, she still has much to offer a needy world. Even as the numbers of American believers declines, the church still has more financial resources than any national church at any point in history. Simply put, we can afford to send more missionaries and so we ought. Furthermore, the American church has a wealth of theology and men and women with ability to impart that theology to the baby churches around the world. Realization of our theological and monetary resources isn't prideful as long as we recognize the Giver of the Gifts.

But even if we had no money and our theology was paper thin, we must still go. Always going, always sending, the church - every church, everywhere - must participate in the great commission, beginning with our neighbors and extending to the corners of the earth. This is Jesus' plan for extending His dominion over the nations (not just individuals, but nations!) - may God keep us from anything that would hinder our participation in His plan.

A word of advice

2007-09-06T08:13:00.001-04:00

Say you happen to drive a Ford pickup with no air conditioning. And say you're driving to visit a friend on a 90+ degree day. If you happen to think to yourself, "Self, I have this ticket for a free car wash; now would be a good time to use it", you also ought to think to yourself, "But self, with no air conditioning, this truck cab would soon turn into my own little scorching Death Valley, but with 954% humidity."

This is all hypothetical of course.

Sale

2007-09-04T15:02:00.000-04:00

CVBBS is having their fall sale the next two days (September 5 & 6): 10% off everything in stock, including already discounted items. Buy and read!

Cute, too

2007-09-01T07:40:00.001-04:00

Though not as cute as the girl, our #1 can still hold his own (the second song he sings is sort of a "best of" collection):

The Stars Aligned

2007-08-31T11:37:00.001-04:00

Last night we finished our summer book club, concluding our discussion on St. Athanasius' On the Incarnation first and G. K. Chesterton's Heretics second. Throughout this time, I have read other books, one of which was the last Harry Potter novel. I tend to keep quiet about the Potter novels because I know some folks are uncomfortable with the idea and presence of magic. But though I've been quiet, I'm not apologetic about reading the books because they are simply great stories.

What might Potter have to do with Chesterton? Wonderfully, Alan Jacobs explains: in Heretics, Chesterton ably defends what he calls the "penny dreadfuls", unsophisticated, even unliterary works of popular fiction. Books with exotic locations, roaring stories and simple characters. Jacobs nicely argues that the 3500 pages of Potter might be the greatest penny dreadful ever written.

Really, just read Jacobs' article. It is outstanding as is everything I've read of his. [Note: it won't make much sense to folks who haven't read the books. But if you are a Potter opponent, it would be good for you to see the other side, to understand why some conscientious Christians read them.]

The New Spirituality

2007-08-28T14:26:00.000-04:00

I've been reading (slowly) David Wells' Above All Earthly Pow'rs: Christ in a Postmodern World. Wells sets out to give a thorough overview of the postmodern worldview and then address the church on how to live and worship in this world. It is, so far, an outstanding book, setting itself head and shoulders above other worldview analyses I've read. Here are some quotes I thought you'd like.

On missions:

The reality, however, is that America is the
world's most religiously diverse nation now and from a Christian point of view it is as fully a mission field as any to which churches now are sending their missionaries. This is true, not only because of the arrival of these new immigrants with their diverse religions, but also because of the postmodern decay in American culture.

On the new spirituality:

In religion of a Christian kind, we listen; in spirituality of a contemporary kind, we talk. In religion of a Christian kind, we accept a gift; in spirituality of a contemporary kind, we try to seize God. In the one, we are justified by the righteousness of Christ; in the other, we strive to justify ourselves through ourselves. It is thus that spirituality is
the enemy of faith.

...because the emerging worldview is not being engaged, the Church has little it can really say. Indeed, one has to ask how much it actually wants to say. Biblical truth contradicts this cultural spirituality, and that contradiction is hard to bear...Is the evangelical Church faithful enough to explode the worldview of this new spiritual search?

Jesus Glorified

2007-08-28T11:27:00.001-04:00

Luke says that when Jesus returned to Galilee and began teaching in the synagogues, he was "glorified by all" (4:15). But then they tried to kill him. What gives?

Turns out Jesus' so-called glorification was the same type of glory he suffers from so many of us. We appreciate Jesus as a great teacher, we admire Jesus as an upright person, we even adorn him by saying nice things about him. And so we think we've glorified him. But the real test is when the devastation of the gospel comes home: when Jesus claims to have fulfilled all Scripture, when he points out our sin, when he claims divinity - this is when the world tries to push him off the cliff.

Thus as we seek to glorify our Savior, we must not settle for the "glory" this world gives him. We cannot be silent when people seek to relegate him to the category of Ghandi and Confucius and any other admirable religious-type folk they can remember. Jesus doesn't let himself be "admired" and we shouldn't either, whether in our hearts or in the minds and lives of our neighbors. You either worship him or you hate him. Any middle ground is pure fantasy.

p.s. - One possible reading of Luke 4:14-15 is that Jesus was glorified in the greater area of Galilee, but not in Nazareth. The problems with this are (1) the people's initial reaction to Jesus in Nazareth was one of supposed "glory" as well and (2) the people of Galilee didn't uniformly exalt Jesus as Lord in their hearts.

Update from Texas

2007-08-24T10:10:00.001-04:00

We had a great trip to Texas and all accounts point to God's blessing in planting an RPCNA church. Last I heard the group will be called Brazos Valley Reformed Fellowship (since they're not really a church yet). The real kick-off is a fall Bible study meeting on Sunday afternoons/evenings, studying Scripture using the Westminster Shorter Catechism as a guide. Already a few families and individuals have expressed interest.

What can you do? Pray! Pray for Sean, who will be leading the study. Pray for the news to spread in a way that glorifies Christ and draws folks into the group. Pray for the Midwest presbytery as they oversee the work.

What else can you do? There may soon be an opportunity to give financially to this church plant; I'll let you know when I find out. Also, if you know folks or know of folks in the College Station/Bryan annex of Texas, let them know about the group!

p.s. - There are some new links to the right.

Aren't you a little young for that?

2007-08-02T08:09:00.000-04:00

I used to hate it when people asked me that question; most kids do because they have dreams bigger than their bodies - why else was I trying to make a basketball shot when I could barely lift the ball over my head? (No jokes about that being last week, now.) But there are some things that being young never disqualifies us for - like being in worship or helping mom and dad around the house.

Tomorrow morning I leave for a short (3 1/2 day) trip to Texas. One of Immanuel's founding families relocated to the College Station/Bryan area shortly before we began our first worship services last fall. As they've lived and worshipped and prayed in Texas, they began hoping God might be leading them to plant an RPCNA church in their new hometown. They've contacted the Midwest presbytery, who are intersted in investigating this new possibility; as a result, the presbytery has invited me to fly down for the weekend to minister to this family and talk about church planting stuff together.

This trip is part of God's answer to one of our prayers from the beginning of IRPC, that God might allow us to be used in planting other churches from the very beginning of our congregation's life; our desire is serious enough that we included church planting in our very first budget. To some this certainly seems counterintuitive - We aren't a mature church yet, why should we be extending ourselves to support a church plant in Texas? Isn't church planting something "old" churches do? Aren't we a little young?

Well, no. Because of the continuing force of the Great Commission, church planting is something every church should always have within their sights. We ought to seek and expect to see Great Commission-fulfilling in every part of the church's life. We ought to see our young people walking faithfully with Christ. We ought to see new people brought into the faith. We ought to see new churches planted. And we shouldn't wait for any of these. Many churches, especially in our denomination, are as small or smaller than we are; most have some sort of internal conflict which needs to be addressed (who doesn't?). But an outward focus - local outreach and wider church planting - will do something we never expect: it will help the local congregation to grow stronger. But even this isn't our ultimate motivation - we don't look outward to grow stronger internally (though this will happen). We look outward with the same motivation we seek holiness internally, to see the kingdom of Christ coming on earth as it is in heaven. We're never too young, or too old, for that.

If you're interested in reading more, here's a great article by Tim Keller on the why of church planting.

Of making many books there is no end

2007-07-26T08:22:00.000-04:00

I have a stack of books I wanted to write about and, coming to the realization that a full review of each one is a pipe dream, here are the mini-reviews!

Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading, by Eugene Peterson - Though Peterson (author of The Message, a paraphrase version of Scripture) comes from a different theological stripe than I, this book was a good treat. He focuses on obedient reading of Scripture and what it looks like to live God's Word. His discussion of the Lectio Divina was helpful for the uninitiated like me and the chapter describing why and how he wrote the Message was clarifying, even if I don't totally agree with his translation philosophy. Peterson loves the Bible and helps his readers to do the same. [Note: this is the 2nd book in Peterson's "spiritual theology" book series]

The Fragrance of God, by Vigen Guroian - Guroian is an Eastern Orthodox theologian who teaches at Loyola College in Baltimore. I first heard of him from Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio, who interviewed him concerning ethics in the Orthodox tradition. Fragrance is a short book of meditations surrounding gardening. Weaving together Scripture, references from the church fathers, gardening and the seasons and the path of his own life, Guroian puts together a wonderful little book. Again, the theology isn't right up my ally, but the love for God and his creation certainly is. I should garden more (if only God had chosen a different curse than weeds...).

Art for God's Sake, by Philip Ryken - Pastor Ryken's short (90 page) take on the arts is very, very good. Beginning with Bezalel and Oholiab (the men called to oversee tabernacle construction) and moving through various theological and practical considerations, Art for God's Sake ends up being a Biblical and balanced take on a subject in which the 20th century church became quite unbalanced.

On the Mortification of Sin, by John Owen - Without qualification, this is one of the best books I've read since becoming a pastor. Owen's take on the battle against sin should be read by anyone who hates sin, and especially by anyone involved in counseling or pastoral ministry. Through this short (but dense) book, Owen considers general rules of mortifying (killing) sin and how sin is ultimately killed: by faith in Jesus Christ. Though Owen's writing is a challenge, please buy this book and read it. If you ever need to come to my office for counseling, what you'll hear will hopefully be a regurgitation of this book - so cut out the middle man and read it yourself.

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, by Walter Marshall - If you don't read Owen, read Marshall. They address the same topic with the same point: believe in Jesus, not only for justification but also for sanctification. We so often try to fight sin and become "better" Christians through programs or checklists or accountability groups or some other means and yet we neglect God's plan for making us holy: by faith in and union to Jesus Christ, the Holy One. If this is a new thought for you, as it was for me, please read. (Thanks to David Reese for suggesting this book.)

The Substance of Style by Virginia Postrel - Because of my recent interest in Christian interaction within the arts, I've also found an interest in design and style - no skill, mind you, but interest. Postrel's book (subtitle: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value is Remaking Commerce, Culture & Consciousness) first shows that increased wealth and economic prowess have allowed us to be more picky about the style of what we consume; i.e., all things equal, I'll choose the more stylish teakettle, even if I have to pay a little more for it. Then she argues that this "aesthetic value" isn't a bad thing, only a complicated thing. So if you're interested or involved in visual art, design, fashion, etc., this is a very deep-thinking and helpful book. [Note: this is not an explicitly Christian book; but, I think, Christians should read it and consider how pursuit of fashion and style and beauty can reflect the beauty of God or, I suppose, distort it.]

Cuter than me

2007-07-19T19:53:00.000-04:00

This is a cell phone video on purpose because if I posted a high quality video, your head would burst with the cuteness.

Extra points if you can actually tell what she's saying.

[Here's what she's saying: "John 5:24 - Truly, truly I say to you: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life. John 5:24" ...she certainly has a unique way of talking.]

Synod, part 3

2007-06-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

A couple updates:

The first chapter (out of 5) of the worship directory was approved, the 2nd and 3rd chapters were sent back to the committee with comments. The committee will bring back their work next year for further review and votes.

The Psalter revision will continue after hearing synod's "mind" on some of the updates they were proposing. The new psalter might be ready in a year or so.

Also, synod put together a committee to read and report on the various committee work done by other reformed denominations on recent controversies on justification.

Synod, part 2

2007-06-27T14:01:00.000-04:00

A modern psalter suggested
An appendix of old tunes requested;
At such a new shape,
Synod went ape;
Revision committee arrested.

(This interpretation of events is slightly out of line, since the revision committee hasn't finished reporting.)

Synod, part 1

2007-06-27T10:03:00.000-04:00

The worship directory was read
Then many presbyters pled;
They prodded and poked
And fires were stoked;
The worship directory fled.

(Actually, the worship directory will be revised during the week, so hopefully we can yet approve the first few chapters.)

What my brain is eating

2007-06-23T09:44:00.001-04:00

Here are some things entering into my brain these days:

The Narnian, by Alan Jacobs - this is sort of an intellectual biography of C. S. Lewis. It is, without qualification, excellent. After fifty pages, I thought Jacobs was very smart. After 100 pages, he started to make me smarter. I especially have been appreciating his explanation faery (an English literary construction - important for all y'all who don't like fairy stories). The title reflects Jacobs thesis, that Narnia was place Lewis inhabited, spiritually and intellectually, and the books he wrote flowed from his God-enchanted worldview; I want to live in Narnia. They have talking mice. With swords.

Handel's Messiah by the London Philharmonic Orchestra - Goose bumps covering goose bumps.

Ringing Bell, Derek Webb - Paste magazine gave Webb's new CD 5 stars, which prompted my purchase. It's a trim, 30-minute pop music masterpiece. Smart songwriting and good music. Let's hear it for Christians who've moved their art past kitsch.

Depression: A Stubborn Darkness, Ed Welch - My respect and appreciation for Ed Welch continues to rise. His excllent book on addictions should be required reading for anyone interesting in killing idols. This book on depression is gracious and gentle and Christ-centered. He doesn't run to quick solutions or hurtful platitudes about depression. If you fight depression or love folks who do, please buy this book and read it with them.

I'll be at synod next week, accompanied by my laptop. If you luck out, I just might post some updates; last year, I did updates in haiku. This year, I'm considering limericks. Or, if I'm really, really crazy, iambic pentameter.

Book Reports

2007-06-09T10:39:00.000-04:00

Hi again. It's been a while, hasn't it? I'd really like to do a long review of all the books I read, but that's become impossible. So here are some bite-size reviews, hopefully to whet your appetite.

5 Paths to the Love of Your Life, Alex Chediak, ed.

This fascinating little book brings together five different authors to opine about the best and most Biblical way to go about finding and getting hitched to that significant other. Now, I've found God's best wife for me and have no personal need for this book; but I'm a pastor and a father, so it was extremely helpful in leading me to give more intelligent counsel and better lead my children. Here's my take on each of the five paths:

The countercultural path (Lauren Winner) - "the real issue is not determine a correct dating method but instead to live entire lives-including dating relationships-in obedience and devotion to Christ." Sounds pretty good, but I think Winner's advice falls flat, especially in Biblical and theological depth and accuracy. She doesn't deal much with the differences between men and women and doesn't deal too much with accountability to authority (church and/or family). But...she does have some good things to say for those who choose to date.

The courtship path (Doug Wilson) - I should confess I haven't read many (any) of the recent spat of books on courtship, though I probably should. Despite not reading much on the topic, I think my predisipostion tends toward some form of courtship. Wilson does an outstanding job setting forth the Biblical pattern of the father's authority and responsibility in the daughter's life as well as working out practically how a courtship might proceed to Christ's glory. I also appreciated that Wilson recognizes the potential downfalls of courting ("...the courtship model means that we have six idiots involved instead of two.")

The guided path (Rick Holland) - Holland sets forth ten "principles" to guide decisions about dating relationships, principles like the character principle ("being the right person more than finding the right person") and the common ground principle ("consider only another Christian for a romantic relationship")...hey! All his principle start with "c". He must be a preacher. Anyway, Holland does a very fine job shaping a Biblical practice of dating. If folks choose to date, here is some really good ways to form and refine your thinking and living.

The betrothal path (Jonathan Lindvall) - This was, by far, the most disappointing chapter, for a couple reasons: first, Lindvall never exactly shows what betrothal looks like (although it has to do with an "irrevocable" agreement to get married, somehow being decided by the parents with some input from the kiddos). Second, Lindvall's arguments for betrothal are quite flat: his appeals to Old Testament Scripture read quite a bit into the text. And, his theological argument is lacking; it goes like this: (1) Christ and His church are the divine pattern for marriage. (2) The church is, currently, betrothed to Christ but not yet married. (3) Therefore, betrothal must be God's will for romantic relationships. The problem with this is that it fails to take into account the reality that we are, right now, in union with Christ; I am married to Christ right now, but not as fully as I will be at the last day. This is what theologians call the "already and not yet." I don't believe betrothal can be argued against (that is, I don't think we can prove it's unbiblical), but Mr. Lindvall certainly didn't convince me that it could be argued for.

The purposeful path (Jeramy & Jerusha Clark) - If the betrothal chapter was the most disappointing, this was the second-most disappointing. The Clark's basic take is this: Christians can date in a healthy and appropriate way. But what makes this chapter different from the 3rd is the greater freedom and looseness in standards. The purposeful path doesn't take too seriously the role of the young woman's father or the harm that can come from pursuing romantic relationships before one is ready for marriage. If folks are going to choose dating as a path toward marriage, I'd much prefer they go with Mr. Holland's advice over the Clark's.

In the end, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to forcefully argue that God has revealed one and only one path toward marriage. Therefore, some grace needs to be practiced in the church as folks choose different paths. But this grace doesn't mean everyone gets to go their own way (contra Fleetwood Mac) without me raising a stink. There are Biblical principles we must submit to, principles which necessarily mean the modern method of dating, hooking up, breaking up is out of the question. What to do? Know the principles and decide for you and your household how you will proceed in this great life endeavor. Involve your pastor and elders in the decision and let them know what you decide so they can pray for you and shepherd you well in the process.

I would recommend this book to young folks and parents - as much thinking and praying needs to go into the decision about how you are going to find the "love of your life" as who that love is. Parents, you need to work this out in your minds well before it becomes an issue in your children's lives. That way, you'll be able to teach them over the course of years how they should seek a spouse and you'll be able to pray consistenly for them.

p.s. - I thought I would do a bunch of reviews, but this one ran long. Next time, I suppose.

Just a little more

2007-05-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

A couple wise friends have noted, in relation to Carl Trueman's essay ("here we go", below), that we need to be wise and Biblically balanced in discussing women's vocations, especially when it includes homeschooling. I believe their notes are helpful, so I want to put them before you as we continue our conversation.

Jeff rightly noted that it's not a sin for women to work hard and be tired. In fact, if a mother of young children or homeschooled children isn't a little tuckered out at bedtime, one would wonder how well she is fulfilling her calling. We must be careful not to drive our wives to "haggardness" by demanding more than they are capable of - but all of us are called to work six days a week. All of us should know that specific weariness at the very end of a day of Christ-honoring work. That's a good - nay, great - weariness. I hope the distinction is clear.

Another friend pointed out that women, especially women in the congregation I serve, may be wondering, "Does he think I'm haggard and way in over my head?" Let me say that, although I believe this is a problem in the reformed world and one I have observed in the past in local congregations, the women at Immanuel RPC are doing a bang-up job glorifying Christ in their various vocations. If it were not so, it would be the job of the husband and elders to find a way to help her out. I think we can expect the situation Trueman speaks of (a wife unfairly overworked) to surface every now and then. When it does, the church must help - beginning with her husband. But please know that my post was not done with any of the ladies at IRPC in mind.

Finally, the same friend pointed out that God has a pattern of leading men and women through times of stress and incredibly hard work. We are indeed jars of clay and sometimes we are pressed more than at other times. Being "haggard" doesn't necessarily mean something's off; when there are medical problems at home, when God brings a family or individual to a time of concerted effort for the kingdom (starting a church?), when God is dealing with big sin in the family...these can be times of God-ordained "haggardness." But let it be from God and not from insensitive husbands and inattentive churches.

Prodigals

2007-05-09T13:17:00.000-04:00

Many, if not most, Christian families with children know the pain of seeing a child conscientiously and purposefully reject the grace of Jesus. Abraham Piper, the son of pastor John Piper, was one such wayward son, won back to Christ after his wandering. In this article, he shares his perspective as one such prodigal son.

I must confess that, in my haste and speed-reading of blogs, I rarely pause to stop and think. But, for personal and pastoral reasons, Abraham's article made me stop, brought me great conviction and loosed tears from my eyes. If you are near to such a wanderer, please read it.

Piper: And not only is [Jesus] the only point—he’s the only hope. When they see
the wonder of Jesus, satisfaction will be redefined. He will replace the
pathetic vanity of the money, or the praise of man, or the high, or the orgasm
that they are staking their eternities on right now. Only his grace can draw
them from their perilous pursuits and bind them safely to himself—captive, but
satisfied.

He will do this for many. Be faithful and don’t give up.

Here we go again

2007-05-09T06:29:00.000-04:00

If you've been keeping up with the comments on the last post, this article might be interesting to you: Challies discusses the spiritual challenges of homeschooling. It is by no means a homeschooling-bashing party, but a pretty frank discussion of what potential problems can come from choosing to educate children at home. I think discussions like this are rare and important; homeschooling is often seen as "the answer" rather than "a good choice."

One of the common motivations for homeschooling is to keep negative influences away from kids - but this is both impossible and (even if it were possible) not a good enough reason. If they are Christians, parents are still sinners, quite able to exert some very negative influences upon their children (as well as the positive, righteous influences). Homeschooling guarantees nothing, though it is often chosen as a guarantee.

To take this a step further, it is God's good and gracious plan that we live life in a covenant community larger than our family. In many churches, when a baby is baptized, the church family enters into that covenant, promising to help the parents in the raising of that child in the fear of the Lord. To edit Hillary Clinton, It Takes a Covenant Village.

I am the federal head of my home, the one responsible for my children's education (what a weighty resopnsibility!), but I refuse to be the only one influencing them. I need their Sunday school teachers, other fathers and mothers, the elders of the session to come alongside and offset my weaknesses and negative influences. My kids need you and your kids need me. The family alone is not sufficient; the covenant community is. This is all to say, when parents choose homeschooling (often a fine and great choice!), they have a responsibility to make sure the natural insulation of homeschooling does not extend to their life in the church.

Here we go

2007-05-04T09:09:00.000-04:00

This is why I really like Carl Trueman: he says stuff everyone else thinks but doesn't say. I would love to hear some thoughts on this post at Ref21's blog:

In the US (and it is the US -- I have not seen this so much in the UK) , I
have lost count of the number of women I have come across, particularly in
presbyterian circles, who feel the need to conform to some Reformed cultural
norm. You can tell them on the Sundays: the exhausted and haggard mothers
whose husbands expect them not only to cook and to clean, but also to
home-school the kids. For every omnicompetent wife who seems to be able to
run the world and then some, and still look like a million dollars when hubbie
gets home for dinner (already on the table, of course), there are ten or more
who look crushed and dispirited, who really need to send their kids out of the
house in the morning so they can get some rest and some mental sanity, who need
their husbands to see the problem and take steps to help them. Are they
inadequate as Christian mothers? No. They are crushed by a
"Christian" culture that demands their all and gives no slack.

I am no feminist (my wife will confirm my impeccable Neanderthal
credentials); I have strong views on women's ordination; but I am saddened by
the way Reformed church culture so often tramples its women underfoot with its
mindless identification of biblical manhood with something akin to John Wayne
and its assumption that all Christian women should make Mary Poppins look
domestically incompetent.

What do you think?

Current events

2007-04-20T08:11:00.000-04:00

I know I almost always post a link to Peggy Noonan's latest column, but here it is again, this time on the VaTech murders. She is one of our finest cultural critics, hands down. Actually, you can have WSJ.com email you their "Opinion Journal" every day, which includes Noonan's column once a week or so.

On a different, but perhaps related note: have you kept up on the murder of Christians in Turkey? It kind of slips through the net in a week like this, but here are three brothers wearing the crown of martyrdom for the glory of Christ, testifying by their death to the essential conflict between the followers of Christ and every other religion, including Islam.

Responding to Evil

2007-04-19T10:33:00.000-04:00

I was just looking through some of the victims of this week's shootings in Virginia. The NYTimes should be commended for putting a human face on what the media has turned into a sickening circus.

One of the far more sobering reasons to sing the Psalms is to be able to react to evil according to God's plan; many Christians look to the Pslams to give Biblical voice to their joy. But Jesus' songs have much to say about wickedness and evil, too. And they give us a chance to say it in a way that we know pleases God.

The two churches in town (Lafayette RPC and Immanuel RPC) have planned for a while to have a joint psalm sing this Sunday night. We've decided to focus the night on "Responding to Evil through the Psalms." I hope to post the service outline, to give you a sense of how the Psalms can help in a week this - but I'd rather you come and sing with us, to experience rather than just learn!

Update

2007-04-18T17:11:00.000-04:00

Man, it's true. I'm getting bad at blogging. I hope to do a couple book reviews soon...in the meantime, here are some general points of interest or non-interest as the case might be.

Olivetti baby #4 is on his/her way. Yea wife! Yea God! (Pray for strength - it looks like there will be about a month when we have four children under the age of four.)
We're also trying to sell our house. Right now we live in the north part of Lafayette and we'd really like to be in West Lafayette, living near those we're seeking to build up in faith. We've had some interest (actually, there's someone looking at this very second - how exciting!).
Immanuel is turning into a healthy little church - not that there's always excellence in smallness, but I'm glad to see God blessing our fellowship and building strong relationships. I've also been blessed to see several folks really grow in the quantity and quality of their service to the kingdom of heaven. We hope to find some effective roads of outreach this summer, so you can pray for that, if you're inclined.
Movie review: The lovely bride and I really enjoyed Stranger than Fiction. It's not perfect in purity, but quite thoughtful. And with a great soundtrack.
As an early birthday present, my parents told us they're taking us to see Alison Kraus & Union Station this summer. I hope I can preach the next morning without a really goofy grin on my face.
Finally, my little brother is graduating from law school next month! We're glad to hear he and his wife are moving back to Indianapolis. It'll be great to have them around more.

Have a great Thursday, everybody.

It is a good Friday

2007-04-06T07:52:00.000-04:00

Almost 2,000 years ago a man died for me. Knowing my name, knowing the number of hairs on my head, he died for me. Knowing that I hated him, he died for me. Knowing my worthlessness and weaknesses, he died for me. The God of vengeance visited his own son so he might pass me over. Blood of infinite worth and power was spilled for me. Nails between his bones held him up on a wooden stake so he could suffocate to death for me. Thorns squeezed blood from his head because he was a king not yet ascended. Crowds mocked and I would have too, if I was there. Or, maybe I'm the thief and not a soldier. Maybe my eyes, these 2,000 years later, would be open to truth in all its beauty. Maybe my ears have heard the amazingly gracious promise, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Like that thief, I have done nothing to earn these words from the dying Savior.

On this day, grace was so amazing that it approached insanity. As the heart fills with gratitude, the mind swirls in incredulity - How can this be? How does this work? What kind of God would make a deal like that for me? And then heart and mind combine to confess with the apostle, O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! I am no detective of grace, no investigator of God's wisdom, no explorer of his ways. The depths cannot be plumbed and grace's motivation cannot be fathomed. I am a thief, dying. Dying yet holding in my hand an invitation to a feast. And what a feast! But that's for another day. This is Friday, the day a man died for me.

7-word album reviews

2007-03-23T08:39:00.000-04:00

The Black Crowes, Freak 'n' Roll...Into the Fog (live at the Fillmore) - The best live rock album ever. Maybe.

Tom Petty, Highway Companion - To be played with windows rolled down.

Madeleine Peyroux, Half the Perfect World - Norah Jones with jazz cred. And romantical.

R.E.M., And I Feel Fine...the Best of the I.R.S. Years (1982-1987) - Learn well, young friends; the eighties rocked.

Norah Jones, Not Too Late - Slow doesn't always mean boring. Does here.

Taj Mahal, Shake Sugaree: Taj Mahal Sings and Plays for Children - Taj rescues your children from musical ignorance.

Umphrey's McGee, Safety in Numbers - Jamband; uptight, eighties version of Phish. Awesome.

Peace hippies, part 2

2007-03-21T14:29:00.000-04:00

When you begin peeking under the church's rug for the dust bunnies of worship controversy, the floodgates seem to open (and your metaphors begin to mix, apparently). It seems a mini-controversy has come about regarding John Piper and Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. Dr. Piper invited a Christian rapper, Curtis "Voice" Allen, to rap at some of their worship services and in another part of their building after service. This, apparently, rankled some fundamentalists concerned about the impropriety of rap for worship. (By the way, Curtis Allen loves and raps about the doctrines of grace, so we're on his side, at least theologically.)

The controversy is instructive for how (and how not) to speak in the blogosphere. Allen has acquited himself quite graciously and humbly, deciding not to stoop to his attackers' ridiculous vitriole and anti-intellectualism.

But there remains another voice to be heard: the peace hippies (!!). I don't pretend that singing without instruments gets rid of all questions about music styles and preferences, but it sure does answer any questions about instruments, and, de facto, some about style. Anyone who's ever been involved with instrumental worship knows the problems that sprout up like weeds, and the silliness that comes when folks try to answer those problems. Some only want a piano. Others want the whole band (the bigger, the better). Others think wisdom would lead us somewhere to the middle.

But unless you come sit in the peace hippie circle and decide to forego instruments in worship (like the apostles...and Jesus...), you will find a great lack of any "line" to draw. That is, why piano and no guitar? What spiritual principle are we applying there? What theological or Scriptural argument informs whether we have one drum set or three ("this Sunday in worship, the Allman brothers!")? Why a little bit of drums and no thump in the trunk? Why is "Amazing Grace" okay and Allen's "Unstoppable" so damnable?

I believe it comes down to this: by surrendering her Scriptural and historical testimony on the purity of worship, the majority of the church has become enslaved to the cult of preference and personality in worship decisions. Preference because no line of right and wrong can be drawn. Personality because the strongest personality in each debate will take home the trophy (only to realize said trophy is plastic and covered with lead paint).

The days are coming when their guitars and pianos and synthesizers and bass machines will be hung on the wall of the local Applebee's and the entire church will worship in the light of Christ's face, without the shadows of the old covenant confusing us. Come, join the peace hippies; make worship, not war.

p.s. I should say that I really like instruments and don't really want them smelted down or hung on a wall. But, for the sake of unity and purity, I would prefer them outside of God's worship.

Peace hippies, part 1

2007-03-20T11:18:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, Jerry O'Neill (president of RPTS) led our men's retreat in considering Scripture's teaching on worship, especially the "distinctives" of the RPCNA - exclusive psalmody without instruments. I thought I'd take a couple posts to explain an observation I made about ecclesiastical unity.

In the American church, it's common to hear of "worship wars", interchurch or multi-church arguments about what and how to sing to God in corporate worship. This leads to one of the great arguments for exclusive psalmody: the unity of the church. The church is unified in Christ and part of her mission is to manifest that unity more and more. This includes our worship; so, what will we sing? The psalter is the only truly ecumenical hymnbook, the only book of songs all Christians can agree to sing. Thus, in regards to the worship wars, exclusive psalm-singers are the peace hippies, sitting cross-legged in their bongo-less psalm circles, calling to the church, "Make worship, not war."

And then, lo and behold, this comment appeared on Ref21's blog from Dr. Phil Ryken in regards to his recent Korea visit:

The hymn-singing was vibrant. I discovered that Korean Christians
typically have their hymnals bound with their Bibles, and that all of the
evangelical churches use the same hymnal (also the same Bible
translation). The advantages of this are immense. Having a hymnal
always ready to hand facilitates greater familiarity with the worship music of
the church. Also, having a Bible/hymnal that cuts across denominational
lines enables Korean Christians to have shared experiences of worship and a
common memory of biblical texts. I couldn't help but be a little
envious.

Imagine that! A hymnbook in the Bible - what will they think of next?? And a hymnbook that cuts across denominational lines - why didn't God think of this??

Infectious sarcasm aside, if you love the church (the whole thing and not only your slice of it), sing the psalms! Anything other hymnal you pick up, any other song you put on the overhead is a wedge dividing the people of God.

Humility in the Face of God

2007-03-13T11:59:00.001-04:00

In our Sunday night teaching services, we've been sauntering our way through the Shorter Catechism; currently we're on question 4, a marvelous mini-systematic theology:

Q4: What is God?
A4: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his
being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

One of the things I try to do as a teacher is bring our discussions into practical applications. But sometimes I feel stuck in a rut; for example, as we've considered these aspects of God's essence (His eternity, immutability, wisdom, etc.), it seems I keep coming back to the application of humility.

As I study and write next week's lesson, I've come to see this is the way it should be. Whenever we come into contact with our Maker, whenever we study any of His majesties and attributes, shouldn't we always conclude that humility is a proper application? Shouldn't we echo Psalm 8, "Who am I, that you should make so much of me?" and Psalm 131, "O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high"?

Do we want to know God? We must be prepared to be humbled. Do we want humility? We must continually seek the face and truth of God. And as we look for elders and teachers and spouses and friends, how we will find those who know God deeply? Look for humility - it is the mark of those who have spent time close to the God who cannot help but humble us by His majesty.

Get Broken or Get Built

2007-03-07T15:28:00.000-05:00

Isaiah prophesies the coming Immanuel will facilitate God's dwelling among His people (8:14) - He will be the cornerstone of the sanctuary, the where and how of God's fellowship with His children. Or He will be the rock of stumbling. According to Isaiah and Peter, Jesus is one stone set upon the earth by God. All the world will come into contact with that stone and either be bruised or built upon that stone. One stone with two purposes. If, in our preaching or evangelism, the world is given any choice other than "Be built or be broken" when confronted with Jesus, we have become unfaithful in handling the gospel. If, in our hearts, we devise some third way, of turning Jesus into a pet rock, we are serving an idol. Jesus breaks or builds souls; therefore, one of the marks of a faithful ministry is the refusal to find a third option.

More on Creeds & Catechisms

2007-03-01T09:05:00.000-05:00

Here is Carl Trueman on creedal middle ground (read the whole article here):

Creeds and confessions will, I suspect, continue to suffer at the hands of
friend and foe alike. The latter will always dismiss them as encroaching on
scripture’s authority; the former will continue to make them narrower and
functionally more important than they were ever intended. But on this issue I
believe there is a middle way, which gives peculiar but subordinate status to
such documents, and which also sees a place for occasional, transdenominational
statements as well. The church must never compromise the unique authority of the
Bible, must always focus on the basic essentials which cross time and space, but
must also speak thoughtfully, to the here and now. Historic creeds and
contemporary declarations thus both have their part to play in making the
church’s voice a relevant voice. Until we realize that, I fear that a good creed
will seldom go unpunished.

And this from Gregory Reynold's in OPC's Ordained Servant: (thanks, Nick)

When Washington's troops built their fortifications in Brooklyn, he
insisted that they explore the terrain before battle in order to be surefooted
during the rapid movements often required in the fight. Likewise catechizing
should be a chief concern of the church militant...Just as no one confuses a map
with the reality of the terrain it depicts, so we understand that the Satechism
helps us understand the terrain of the Bible itself. It is not a stand-alone
source of truth. So, reading the Bible confirms the terrain, just as traveling
confirms the accuracy of a map. A map teaches us what to look for and keeps us
from getting lost.

Our mid-week small group is continuing to benefit from a slow, careful study of the doctrines of Scripture using the outline provided by the Nicene Creed. And our evening teaching services at Immanuel are structured on the outline provided by the Shorter Catechism. This is on purpose and it is not because we don't believe in Sola Scriptura. On the contrary, it is because we believe so strongly in Sola Scriptura that we value the roadmaps God has providentially provided to His church throughout the centuries.

Books

2007-02-19T13:08:00.000-05:00

So for my absence from your bright, shiny screens. Like most of you, life and snow combine to render me busy...but not too busy to read, of course.

-----
Mark Dever's ministry philosophy 9 Marks of a Healthy Church has turned into the foundation for a wide-reaching ministry aimed at revitalizing lagging chruches or simply kicking them in their Biblical keisters. At their website, 9Marks presents a great resource of articles, book reviews, and audio interviews - any pastor would do well to bookmark their site and use it as a source of encouragement and learning.

The book that started it all is centered around Pastor Dever's (Capitol Hill Baptist Church in D.C.) conception of what a healthy church looks like:

Expositional preaching
Biblical theology
The gospel
A Biblical understanding of conversion
A Biblical understanding of evangelism
A Biblical understanding of church membership
Biblical church discipline
A concern for discipleship and growth
Biblical church leadership

It's hard, if not impossible, to disagree with his assesesment that unfaithfulness in many of these marks persists in today's churches. While each reader could probably substitute one or two other "marks", it would also be hard to argue that any church consciously striving for faithfulness in these nine areas would be missing something. In the book, each "mark" gets the same treatment: a chapter-length, Biblical defense of what it is and why it's important. I especially appreciated the chapters on expositional preaching and a Biblical understanding of conversion.

The negative side of the book is not any of the teaching, but the simplicity of the teaching. As Dr. Dever aims at helping the church by convincing her leaders of what a Biblical church looks likeI think he could have delved into the Biblical teaching on these topics more significantly than he did. One of the blurbs on the back reports that Nine Marks is required seminary reading, which is disappointing - again, not because of the book's faithfulness, but because of its simplicity. Readers who are presbyterian by conviction will find a few other points to quibble with, as Dr. Dever writes from a muted-but-present Baptist background.

I did enjoy this book and appreciate the reason it was written; originally, I read it to see if it was something our session could benefit from reading together. In the end, I decided to go with something more consciously presbyterian and pastoral, John Sittema's With a Shepherd's Heart. Nine Marks is a fine book of solid ecclesiology; perhaps it might become the basis for a more in-depth book in the future.

-----
The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard is a highly readable, extremely helpful book about our fight against sin. Lundgaard begins by acknowledging his dependence on the venerable John Owen, whose two books, Mortification of Sin and Indwelling Sin, form the theological backbone of this book. Anyone who has read John Owen realizes the great work Lundgaard has accomplished by making Owen's dense, theological, Puritan writing easily understandable.

The problem of sin faces every believer and it doesn't always make sense - "In what sense has Christ defeated sin in the believer?" The answer is that he has overthrown its rule, weakened its power, and even killed its root so that it cannot bear the fruit of eternal death in a believer. Still - and this is amazing but true - sin is sin; its nature and purpose remain unchanged; its force and success still grab us by the throat.

Through a series of short chapters (with discussion questions included at the end), the author begins by examining the power of sin in a believer - what is it, how does it work? As I read this, I felt like I was getting a sneak peek at the enemy's playbook, or as Bryan Chapell put it, a "remarkable reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines..." If Lewis' Wormwood and Screwtape were devils conniving against a soul from the outside, Lundgaard would have us also recognize the incredible enemy lying inside - what the Apostle Paul calls our flesh.

Throughout the book and especially toward the end, Lundgaard is our general in the battle against sin, teaching us to use our weapons against sin, teaching us to keep our eyes on Christ - especially His cross - and encouraging us to never let up in the battle.

The Enemy Within can be read in short order (I shot through it in a couple plane rides) - but should really be read slowly. The Biblical teaching in this book is exactly what need for the ever-present battle against sin - and is best digested through meditation and prayer.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough; for you who read it, you will likely be spurred on to read John Owen's writings as a followp-up, which is an added benefit. The Enemy Within would be a great book for accountability partners, small groups, men's groups, etc. For the good of your soul and the purity of the church, read this wonderful book!

Immanuel

2007-02-06T06:45:00.000-05:00

I know everyone's thinking and writing about the Colts winning the Super Bowl. But something much more important happened last weekend.

Friday night the Great Lakes/Gulf presbytery of the RPCNA met to organize Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church as a particular congregation. It was a great night of worship and rejoicing in the greatness of God. Pastor Barry York preached for us from Psalm 45, on our call as a daughter church to "forsake our people and our father's house" and our mother church's great sacrifice of sending a daughter away from her in order to pursue Christ's kingdom. James Faris, pastor of the Southfield (MI) RPC, prayed the prayer of constitution, and Immanuel became a congregation - we start with 38 communicant members and 32 baptized members.

Two men were elected as ruling elders: David Carr, who was a ruling elder in Lafayette, and Ben Larson. I might be more excited about this than anyone else - I am, perhaps, an incurable presbyterian. I'm so glad to have men to work alongside with, men to keep me accountable and watch over souls with me.

The service was wonderful. And wonderfully long - it takes Presbyterians a while to do something like this. At one point, Pastor Faris reminded us that, though the world was focusing their attentions on a football game, what we were doing that night would be remembered for eternity because it was of eternal significance.

Sunday was our first full day of worship together. Though it feels weird and a little "off" to not be worshipping in the Lafayette church, it was an exciting day. In our morning worship, I began a sermon series examining the theme of Immanuel throughout Scripture. In our evening teaching service, we're studying through the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

If we come to mind, pray that God might use us for His glory and purposes, that the kingdom of Christ would come in West Lafayette as it is in heaven.

1978 was a banner year. Clearly.

2007-02-02T11:33:00.000-05:00

A Good Goodbye

2007-01-29T14:51:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning was our last time of Sabbath worship as part of the Lafayette Reformed Presbyterian Church. Pastor Long preached on God's character as a sending God and then we had a service of consecration and sending for the folks going to Immanuel RPC. It was a truly blessed morning - not easy by any means, but it was clear to us all that we are following God's will in church planting. There was sadness without bitterness and joy for how Christ has cared so well for us. My only role in the service was to say IRPC's official "goodbye's" to our church family. I really thought I would be fine, but it ended up taking twice as long because of tears (I think I had something in my eye...), which seemed to be plentiful all around. Really, even as I read these goodbyes, I was astounded at how faithful God has been to us through this dear church family. Here, at length, is our goodbye - quoted to honor our "mother" church and to glorify God.

-----

January 28, 2007
To the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Lafayette,

How can we really speak of our love for you and our thankfulness to God for how He has used you in our lives? Certainly better words than these would still fail to make clear how dearly we cherish you, so please accept these words of love and gratefulness with the depth we wish we could express.

God paints several word-pictures to help us understand the church better. In each of these pictures, we find reason to confess our love for you and our deep thankfulness to God for His work through you. Please understand, as we speak of our love and respect for you, we know behind you is our perfect God who has used you and blessed your faithfulness to us.

The Church is an army
As you have you have reminded us day after day, Jesus’ church has an outward focus, a worldwide mission, a passion for multiplication. We have learned this from your words and your example. In fact, if you’re a little sad to see us leaving, realize that it’s mostly your fault – you have given us a vision for pursuing the kingdom of Christ over our own comfort.

Because you have fought for us and alongside us, and because you have equipped us with the weapons of spiritual warfare and are willing to send us, we love you and we thank God for you.

The Church is the temple of God
Paul tells us God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3:17 The temple is where and how God dwells with His people. Rather than a building, now the temple is wherever God’s Spirit is. Living and worshipping with you, we know God’s Spirit abides in you – we know this in part because you have driven us again and again to the pursuit of holiness for the glory of God. You’ve never abandoned us when we stumbled; rather, you have consistently walked beside us and held us up as we sought together to live a life pleasing to our Creator.

Because the Spirit in you has led us to holiness, we love you and we thank God for you.

The Church is the body of Christ
God also calls His church a body; specifically, He says we are the body of Christ, united not just in our purpose, but in our head, Jesus Christ. We have seen in you what this means for day-to-day life in the church: some of you are elders, some teachers, some serve in ministries of prayer, ministries of mercy, ministries of service, the grand ministry of raising children…but all of you have a place in the body. You have helped each of us to find how we can serve the body of Christ; you have removed us from the spectator stands and brought us into significant service to Jesus.

Because you have shown us that the church is more than a club, that the ministry lies at all our feet, we love you and we thank God for you.

The Church is the bride of Christ
The Apostle John’s Revelation describes heaven as a marriage feast, when the church and Christ will be finally and fully unified. And so, learning from you, we look forward to the day when all our sins will be purged, when we are clothed in the robes of Christ’s righteousness. And in faith, we see this has begun even now. You have shown us the church is truly beautiful, not because she’s yet perfect, but because she is Christ’s bride. But in you and with you we have learned to look with the eyes of faith and see what the Holy Spirit is really doing.

Because you are beautiful and ever-growing in your beauty, we love you and we thank God for you.

The Church is God’s flock
We are a flock, a rather humiliating reminder of our weakness, our constant need for guidance, our inability to follow Christ on our own. Rather than pretending to be strong, you have shown us how to live in meekness and rejoice in weakness in order to glorify Christ. You who have been our elders have shepherded us faithfully and lovingly, never serving in selfishness, but calling us to follow our Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. This is especially true of Pastor Long, whose faithful ministry in the Word can now be measured in decades rather than years. All of you have called us to hear the Shepherd’s loving voice day after day.

Because you have shown us how to follow the Shepherd’s voice in the midst of weakness, we love you and we thank God for you.

The Church is a family
Perhaps more than anything else, today we remember that God calls His church a family, a household. We are thankful to God for the meals we have shared together and will share together, for the acceptance we have found in your midst, for the innumerable opportunities for prayer and worship together, the many chances to labor with you, physically and spiritually, and even for the discipline we have sometimes needed. And we believe and want you to know that you aren’t like our family, somehow resembling something like a family but you really are our family. We call you brothers and sisters without qualification, for this is what you are. We truly believe that, although you are sending us out today, you can never get rid of us as your family.

Because you are our loving family, we love you and we thank God for you.

We don’t know and cannot see every implication of this move for us and for you. Certainly many changes will come – but surely God will bless the relationship between two local congregations seeking to do His will. We know that for some of you, it is as hard for you to send us as it is for us to leave – but again we’re going to blame you. If you had taught us following Christ was about being comfortable and seeking our own pleasures, we wouldn’t be leaving. But you haven’t. Rather, you have shown us true discipleship means evangelism and equipping, sacrifice and sending, always looking to the Savior and seeking God’s will above ours in all things.

As you send us forth to pursue the Kingdom of Christ, we bless our great God for the love He has poured on us through you. We are honored to be your letter of commendation, living proof of what Christ has accomplished through your faithfulness.

Love, the families of
Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church

1 John 4:11-12
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.

The God-Man

2007-01-24T09:24:00.000-05:00

I came across this in preparation for tonight's Bible study on the incarnation:

If salvation were simply a matter of correcting some mistaken ideas that humans held, then Jesus need be no more than a good teacher sent by God in the manner of Moses. If salvation were simply a question of rectifying social structures that were oppressing the people, then Jesus need be no more than a faithful prophet sent by God in the manner of Amos or Isaiah. If salvation, in short, were simply a human matter, then Jesus needed to be only a human being.

But what if the New Testament speaks about salvation in terms quite other than didactic or political? What if the witness of the New Testament - and the life and practice of the church from the beginning - regarded salvation as something far more than the adjustment of thought or of social structures? Then the agent of salvation must fit the nature of salvation. If the salvation witnessed by the Scripture and experienced by the
church could come only from God, then the agent of that salvation, Jesus Christ,
must be considered fully divine (because we have received from him what only God
could give) just as he is fully human (because we have seen and heard him as a human like us). And this is exactly what the earliest witnesses to the experience of Jesus tell us.
from The Creed, by Luke Timothy Johnson

Thoughts on other people's thoughts

2007-01-19T06:48:00.000-05:00

Books & Culture magazine usually provides quite stimulating reading; it's not something I can read for enjoyment, as I have to keep my orthodox and reformed shields up while reading, but it does really draw me into other conversations and issues I wouldn't otherwise consider. Here are some notes on articles in the most recent issue.

Virginia Stem Owens reflects warmly on the name we choose to use for God when we pray. "Getting that initial address right seems important to me...the name I call to God with determines the guise in which I come to this task, duty, privilege of prayer." Our #1 is starting to pray more for our mealtimes. It's a true delight to hear him thank God for the snow and the opportunity to shovel and throw snowballs and sled down hills; sometimes he waxes poetic so long that our food gets cold. But what strikes me the best is the way he begins his prayer, with an earnest "Our gracious heavenly Father!" It's a big phrase for a little guy. Thing is, I don't think he got this from me. Rather, I'm pretty sure he picked it up from my dad. Regardless of the word we use to name God at the beginning of our prayers, wouldn't we do well to consider that name and consider what we're really saying about Him and us with that name?
Saray Hinlicky Wilson has an engaging review of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes entitled "A New Kind of Calvinism." But we already have neo-calvinists, so would this be neo-neo-calvinism? Anyway, it's light-hearted and clearly in love with Bill Watterson's boy-and-tiger strip. A quote: "Still, every Christmas without fail, Calvin is acquitted of his crimes and showered with gifts, even when he learns the wrong lesson from it. A parable of God's love for the sinner and justification by faith, not works, the theologian infers - good Calvinism, indeed."
Edward Short reviews the book Gothic Arches, Latin Crosses by Ryan K. Smith about the rise of Gothic architecture in American Protestant churches. Realizing that American Protestants were originally quite simple in their architecture and in the trappings of worship, the question becomes, "What changed? And when? And how?" Smith documents how in the 1840s American Protestants wandered from their iconoclastic roots and began feeling more comfortable with crosses and candles and stained glass and Gothic architecture. Therein lies a parable about the relationship between Protestants and Catholics: as the population of Catholics and Episcopalians rose dramatically toward the 1850s with the Protestant churches not keeping step, Protestants began to argue how and why they could borrow more traditional forms from the Roman church. "In the Gothic style Protestants saw an ideal not only of piety but of refinement, and they were determined to make it their own." Surely lessons could abound for us and how our heart leads us to make decisions, individual and corporate. Are we trying to keep up with the Jones'? Is that always bad?
Bill McKibben reviews David Orr's Design on the Edge, the story of how Orr and others worked to produce a "high-performance building" for Oberlin College (OH) for their environmental studies program. The building only uses 1/3 of the energy that comparable buildings use; the coolest innovation was titled the "Living Machine", an outdoor series of manufactured ponds and wetlands that treat the building's waste as it leaves, thus making the water going out as clean as the water going in. Apparently, Orr's book is as much about the politics of such a building as the building itself; one can imagine...what if we encouraged churches to think and build this way? Is it foolish for me to be scared of being associated with Al Gore just because I believe Christians ought to be concerned about the environment? Indeed, that Christians ought to be leading in such projects like Orr's and not putting up roadblocks? Anyway, it's a mighty nifty building that is just a nice little piece of dominion.

2007-01-16T12:57:00.000-05:00

At this moment, I am giving a Hebrew exam to seven wonderful students in my office. We're about 15 minutes into the exam, at which point I say, "2 more minutes!" and they all look up in horror. Good fun was had by all. Or at least me.

Updates

2007-01-11T07:04:00.000-05:00

What's going on in my life...

Baby #3 is sleeping around 7 hours a night now, for which we (mostly my wife) are quite thankful. #1 just learned his first Bible verse (John 3:16) and laughs with joy every time he gets to say it for us. #2 is, well, learning how to work the system as the only little girl in the house. And the beautiful bride is obviously lovingly busy.
Our mid-week Bible study is going piece by piece through the Nicene Creed and studying each doctrine Biblically. It has been more encouraging than I could have hoped. If you'd like a copy of the Bible studies I've been writing, let me know. I've toyed with the idea of putting them together in a nice little booklet for Bible study groups.
At Immanuel RPC, we're nearing the end of our sermons in Colossians. It has been, for me at least, very helpful and very convicting. February 2nd is our official organization date - you're welcome to come! I've been praying that it would be a night of great encouragement and great glory for God. If you do want to come, we'll be at the Lafayette church building, beginning at 7 p.m.
February 4th is first morning worship together; we haven't picked a new sermon series yet, but hopefully we will soon. We're all very excited to begin our full Sabbath day of worship together.
This weekend is our college winter conference. Pastor Harry Metzger is coming to speak on developing a heart for the lost...nothing too convicting, I hope. I'll be doing a workshop on improving our worship.
Tootsie rolls lollipops now have a lemon lime flavor. It's like a party in my mouth.

2007-01-06T19:25:00.000-05:00

Housekeeping:

- Check out the nifty "search my library" doohickey down toward the bottom on the right.
- I'm not planning on posting anymore links in these posts. I will continue to update the "links" section on the right with new and interesting and otherwise.

Blessings on your Sabbath!!

Becoming a fearful statistic

2007-01-03T08:52:00.000-05:00

In the latest Books & Culture, Christian Smith (professor of Sociology at Notre Dame) contributes an oustanding article, "Evangelicals Behaving Badly with Statistics." Dr. Smith documents then laments the generally pathetic manner of evangelicals and statistics. His example is an advertisement for a ministry conference heralded by these words: "Wake Up Call - Christianity Won't Survive Another Decade Unless We Do Something Now." What proof could be marshalled to support such an appalling view of the future? "...current trends show that only 4 percent [of teens] will be evangelical believers by the time they become adults. Compare this with 34 percent of adults today who are evangelicals." Of course, Dr. Smith did some digging and found that this "statistic" came from a book on youth ministry wherein the author recounts an informal survey of 211 teenagers in 4 states, finding that only 4% of them were, at that time, born-again believers. Smith believes, and I concur, that this is one example among many of "Evangelical leaders and organizations routinely [using] descriptive statistics in sloppy, unwarranted, misrepresenting, and sometimes absolutely preposterous ways, usually to get attention and sound alarms, at least some of which are false alarms."

He then goes on to dig a little deeper - the band-aid prescription is for the leaders of the church to simply be wise about how statistics should be gathered and use. But the deeper prescription has to address the deeper problem - why is this a trend in the evangelical church? "Evangelicals, by my observation, thrive on fear of impending catastrophe, accelerating decay, apocalyptic crises that demand immediate action (and maybe money)." I have, in past conversations, labeled this tendency as "fear-mongering"; peddling platitudes and statistics designed to scare someone into committing themselves to extra-Biblical doctrines and commands. Keep your eye open for it and you'll see it in many different ministries from many different corners of the church.

Ironically, just today I read that good-for-a-laugh Pat Robertson has made his yearly prediction, that God has told him of mass killings in America in 2007, perhaps even nuclear attacks. Putting aside, if we are able, the theological problems and sheer silliness of Robertson and his club, what's the point of his prediction? Isn't it to scare people into (1) greater Christian service [the best option] or (2) giving more money to the 700 Club so they can get the word out [the more probable reason]?

This isn't a problem only among the theologically wayward like Robertson. Fear-mongering and alarmism can be heard from many parachurch ministries and many churches themselves. Every time a Christian leader prophesies and proclaims that this is the doomsday, this is the worst generation ever, we are facing a moral decline unlike any in the history of Western civilization, etc., we need to name those platitudes for what they are: rubbish. Is our country in a sorry state? Yep. Is it the worst country ever? Nope. More importantly, are we, the children of God, to be operating from the assumption of pessimism and fear of the world or from the foundation of optimism and confidence in Christ our King? When we make decisions based on fear of anything/anyone but God, we are foolish and have our head in the sand, Biblically speaking - whether that decision is about what ministries to support or how and where to educate our children, fear-based decisions aren't Christian decisions. Not that we don't take into account possible downsides of certain decisions, but that our decisions must ultimately be motivated by confidence in the promises of God, not fear of what man can and is doing.

May God grant for His church to begin operating on confidence and certainty in the kingdom of Christ and her King. May we be alarmed at what is truly alarming: the prospect of eternal punishment for those who refuse to bow their knee to the King. Beyond that, let's meditate and act upon God's promises and not oft-repeated predictions of doom. Serve in the church, not because the world is going to hell in a handbasket, but because Christ promised to make all things new and we get to take part.

Creeds vs. Hyper-preterism

2006-12-24T14:15:00.000-05:00

A comment in a post below contains a somewhat-common sentiment - Why use creeds to determine orthodoxy? Why not just use Scripture? In response to that question, and to encourage all of us toward more submission to the creeds, I'd like to line out for some of the arguments given by Doug Wilson in his chapter "Sola Scriptura, Creeds, and Ecclesiastical Authority" in When Shall These Things Be? (side note: despite some recent controversy, Wilson does support and submit to the church's creeds and offers clear thinking on the issue ...and this chapter has nothing to do with the federal vision controversy.) The length of this post reflects on the importance I place on this subject.

The debate between the church and hyper-preterists isn't really about the timing of eschatological events; people within orthodoxy debate those things all the time. Rather, the debate is over things the church has settled a long time ago, especially the resurrection of the dead. The debate hinges on the question of authority.
If the hyper-preterists are right, then the church has been wrong for a very, very long time on some very, very important issues. This means that the HPists must have for their goal the restoration of some purer form of the church than has existed for two millennia. If this sounds familiar, it's because this is the same thinking ("arch-restorationism") behind Mormonism, who take the idea of restoring the true church to an extreme.
Wilson argues well that many semi-restorationists have been and are orthodox; the Church of Christ (Campbellites) would fall into this category. But they are orthodox through inertia, because they have inherited from the saints before them creedal Trinitarianism and creedal Christology, even though they would never admit it.
The response from HPsts is "Sola Scriptura! We must submit to Scripture, even if it means calling 2000 years and millions of saints dead wrong in what they believe." Wilson: "But the definition of Scripture itself is a creedal issue, and if one is consistent in a disparagement of the creeds, he finds that 'just me and my Bible' is soon replaced by 'just me.'"
The enemies of creeds love to proclaim their dependence on Scripture. But how do they know what Scripture is? How do you know what books to include and Scripture and which are apocryphal? They know because the church has defined the canon through her creeds! "...restorationists of all stripes have no foundation for their appeals, and hence their appeals are consistently parasitic. They get their Bible from the historic church, and then use it to attack the historic church. Another name for this is sawing off the limb you are sitting on." Later: "If everything in the creeds is up for grabs, then sola Scriptura is up for grabs."
Some view creeds as helpful tools without any real authority, preferring to stick with Sola Scriptura. (Ed Stevens, a prominent HPist, wrote that creeds have "no real authority anyway.") The problem: even sola Scriptura is a creed. The second problem - they don't understand what sola Scriptura really means. "Sola Scriptura, rightly understood, means that Scripture is our only spiritual authority that is ultimate and infallible. Other spiritual authorities exist and have genuine authority over us." All the great theologians you love viewed church tradition, as encapsulated in creeds, as a "subordinate norm" or a lesser, but very real, authority. To fight Rome, the Reformers went back to the creeds, to the church fathers, as well as to Scripture. Go page through the Institutes and see how often Calvin is quoting someone with an odd Greek name.
Though the church has never totally agreed on eschatology, she has always agreed on this one point of eschatology, that Christ is returning in the future to judge the quick and the dead and to raise the dead to life. "In short, the only eschatological position that the universal church has been able to agree on thus far is that hyper-preterism is wrong."
It follows, "authority need not be infallible." Example 1 - parents' authority over children. Example 2 - the church over the flock. The creeds (namely, Apostles', Nicene, and Chalcedonian) are the height of the church's real-but-fallible authority. If the fallibility of the church presents a problem for you submitting to her creedal authority, realize that she is also the pillar and ground of the truth - capable of error, but also enabled by God to be the guardian of His truth. Or else your kids don't have to submit to your fallible authority anymore...
Flippantly dismissing the creeds' authority shows a lack of historical humility, something vital whenever considering important doctrines.
Sola Scriptura was never meant as a license for each individual to come up with their own interpretation of Scripture for themselves - though, judging from the American church, that is precisely what has happened. Needed: a balance between overly-individualistic interpretation of Scripture and overly-heirarchical interpretation of Scripture. "Balance" itself is usually something rejected by those pushing an aberrant exegetical agenda.
Scripture was given to the church as a whole, not only individuals - "orthodox creeds, councils, theologians, and individual layment line up against their heretical counterparts...the Word of God is given to us so that we might come to confess it together."
In some corners of the church, anti-intellectualism still reigns - look for those who proudly claim to be a "layman with no formal seminary education." This is a good thing?? Of course we don't believe that seminary education renders one infallible or necessarily more capable. But there is a reason the church has valued the training of her pastors for centuries - because when unsubmissive men with little exegetical skills study God's Word apart from the historic teachings of the church, very bad things happen (see: Jehovah's Witnesses).
Also, be wary of those who want a "New Testament church" - rather, view the New Testament church as the New Testament does, as "an historical phenomenon, one that was intended to develop over time...into greater and greater maturity..." Remember the gifts Christ gave to the church (Eph. 4:11-16), gifts intended to make the church able to grow. And though the church isn't perfected by any means, there have been great points of catholic like-mindedness, teachings of Scripture which everyone in the church got behind - for one, the coming return of Jesus Christ. For two, the idea of sola Scriptura (which is, to repeat, a creed itself).
To those who would call for us to show more charity to HPists, to spend more time in debate, etc., we only need to remember that loving the sheep means fighting wolves. If we're not sure if someone is a wolf or not, we extend charity until we're sure one way or the other; but if they growl and devour the sheep like wolves (my, what big anti-resurrection teeth you have!), we don't wait around for our asssumptions of their wolfiness to be confirmed.
Charge: Adherence to creeds is inherently Romanist (oh snap! he said "romanist") because it gives authority to infallible men. Response #1: The HPsts are closer to Rome because they believe "that there can be no church authority without church infallibility. Rome agrees with this fully." Response #2 - HPists maintain the church cannot speak authoritatively unless she speaks infallibly; apply this to marriage and see how your wives start acting. Response #3 - The HPist himself must submit his own "readings" of Scripture under this charge; is he infallible? If not, then he ought to toss his writings into the fire along with the creeds!
Charge: The creeds were "Hellenistic" and therefore their relevancy is bound to that culture. Response - rather, the Nicene and Chalcedonian creeds stood strongly against any who would make accommodations to Hellenism, strongly supporting the real, corporeal body of Jesus Christ (a totally anti-Hellenistic idea). The creeds were used by God to keep Hellenism at bay.
Charge: Adherence to creeds keeps folks from really examining any theology which contradicts them. Response #1 - great! This is what they're for, to "help many laymen recognize faulty theology when they do not have time to study everything for themselves." Response #2 - The truths of the creeds are "theological prerequisites. A student is not going to get on very well in fifth grade if he has to restudy and reexamine everything he learned in first grade." Assumption of truth gets us going somewhere! Rejection of it, contra HPist rhetoric, is boring and stagnant. [I.e., there is no semper reformanda apart from the creeds. The church is progressed and beautified when she stands upon the foundation of the forefathers, not when she forgets how to speak and babbles like an infant again.]
What to do with HPists? If they are teachers of HPism, they are wolves and must be treated as such. And the church's shepherds must name them for what they are. If the HPists in question are followers but not teachers, "we must...grab them by their baptism." We must exhort them to repent of their beliefs and be faithful.
"If we are headstrong and unwilling to study the faith of our fathers carefully, then we are headed for trouble. If we insist on individual 'veto power' over all the creeds of men, we have not successfully gotten away from all man-made creeds. We have simply submitted to the creed of one, a creed that is often composed on the fly...which conveniently leaves me by myself, in charge of myself."

We ought to be thankful to God for the creeds of the church; we ought to know them, measure our beliefs by them, measure our teachers by them - not as a denial of sola Scriptura, but as the only real way of holding to sola Scriptura faithfully.