February 29, 2008
Black History Month and Abortion
Here's the gist of John Ensor's recent article in honor of Black History month: "There are people alive today, within the Black Christian community, that are pioneers and prophets. I expect history to show them forerunners in arousing the Black Church to provide the impetus for victory in the greatest moral challenge of this current age; making abortion as unthinkable as slavery." A few quotes:
"Our own unconfessed blood-guilt over abortion produces silent pulpits and a church so weak that it can only dream and endlessly talk about the church achieving a muscular faith that produces personal holiness and social impact. But when the secret is outed, the gospel finally makes sense—joyful, conscience-cleansing, doctrine-loving good sense. There can be no forgiveness for the shedding of innocent blood…except by the shedding of innocent blood. But the blood of Christ satisfies the just demands of a God rightly offended by the sin of child-sacrifice."And:
"African-Americans, Dr. Johnny and Pat Hunter started L.E.A.R.N. in the 1990’s; and called abortion “black genocide.” They have documented the ethnic cleansing nature of the abortion industry by pointing out the racist/eugenics philosophy of Planned Parenthood’s founder Margaret Sanger and her targeting of minorities for abortion, forced sterilization and contraception. While this explicit racism may be a thing of the past, they point out that 9 out of 10 abortion business are now located in urban neighborhoods. And while only accounting for 12% of the female population, African-American women suffer 36% of all abortions."
Read the whole thing.
February 28, 2008
Byron York on Senator Obama's Farrakhan Comments
Minister Louis Farrakhan backed Obama for President at the recent Nation of Islam convention in Chicago. Byron York of the National Review thinks Obama fell into a trap at this week's debate when Tim Russert pressed the Senator on whether he accepts Farrakhan's support. I think York is on to something:
What if, the blogger Andrew Sullivan asked, it had been a question to John McCain about David Duke? And what if McCain had answered, “You know, I have been very clear in my denunciation of Dr. Duke’s racist comments. I think that they are unacceptable and reprehensible. I did not solicit this support. He expressed pride in a white man who seems to be bringing the country together. I obviously can’t censor him, but it is not support that I sought. And we’re not doing anything, I assure you, formally or informally, with Dr. Duke.”And what if then, after the debate, McCain’s top campaign aide explained by saying, “The point is this: David Duke said kind things about [McCain]. From what I read, he didn’t say it was an endorsement, and I think Sen. McCain made clear what his position on Duke’s racist statements was.”
Here's the seven-minute video of the comments in question:
February 27, 2008
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008)
William F. Buckley, Jr., founder of the National Review Magazine in 1955, is widely credited for his pioneering role in reviving conservatism from the sidelines of public discourse. He died this morning at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. Buckley handed over the reigns at National Review in 1990 and retired from his TV talk show "Firing Line" in 1999. The latter elicited this observation from William Kristol, editor of Weekly Standard:
"For people of my generation, Bill Buckley was pretty much the first intelligent, witty, well-educated conservative one saw on television. He legitimized conservatism as an intellectual movement and therefore as a political movement."The AP Report.
Live-Blogging the Ligonier National Conference
It is an honor to be joining the esteemed Tim Challies to live-blog the Ligonier National Conference (March 13-15 in Orlando, FL). It will be my third live-blogging experience, and I must admit, it will be good to work in tandem so to speak. Live-blogging is a fairly exhausting enterprise, particularly with having to balance reporting and editorializing, and all the while getting the posts up quickly so as to keep pace with the conference speakers. We'll see how Challies and I divide the load. Perhaps we'll divvy up the work like sports broadcasters, with one of us giving the play-by-play, and the other color commentary. Or maybe I'll do all the writing and Tim will just bring me snacks and drinks.
Amazingly, on-line registration is still available. The speakers include Sinclair Ferguson, Steve Lawson, John MacArthur, C.J. Mahaney, R.C. Sproul Jr., Joni Eareckson Tada, and R.C. Sproul.
John Mark Reynolds on Barack Obama
John Mark Reynolds (a former Romney advocate who now appears to be solidly in McCain's corner) offers some insightful thoughts on Senator Obama and a suggested strategy to beat him. I completely agree with Reynolds' assessment that Hillary is finished:
"Against a weak field, cleared out for her, she failed. She is a phenomenally weak campaigner who is exhausted by crowds and people. She is smart, perhaps having the most book smarts in the race, but she has no “people intelligence.” She is MS-DOS in a suddenly Windows world."Read the whole thing. Elsewhere, Reynolds speculates that if the surge really works (not just drastically reducing violence, but engendering political healing between the various Sunni and Shiite factions), McCain has a strong advantage over inexperienced Obama (who is probably a weak debater when pushed for details).
First Things Interview with Tim Keller
Anthony Sacramone, managing editor of First Things, posts a lengthy, detailed interview with Tim Keller about his book The Reason For God (#18 on the NYT best-seller list) and his ministry in New York City. Here's a question and response that I found particularly interesting:
Sancramone: "You say early on in The Reason for God that a little doubt is necessary to test the integrity of your faith. Does this mean that Christians need to become amateur apologists to some extent, to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within them?"
Keller: "Yeah . . . Would you like me to be more illuminating than that?"
Sancramone: "Sure."
Keller: "I don’t mention it in [The Reason for God], but I think there are always doubts that, if you come to grips with them—I think there’s doubts that you have, that you always have, that you ought to be more forthright and address them, for two reasons. One is, then you’re a better apologist. Because now people are coming shootin’ stuff at you in a way they wouldn’t when I was growing up.
But the other is, it’s actually good for your faith to actually work it out. Here’s my illustration. I don’t know what your readers will think. When I was recovering from thyroid cancer, from the surgery, I actually had time on my hands, something I never have had in years and probably never will again unless I have something else like that. And so I read every word of N.T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God—all eight hundred pages, even the indices (laughs), because I didn’t have anything else to do. And it was kind of startling to me, because we do live in a less rational sort of anti-foundationalist approach, and he was just taking a nice old-fashioned approach: There’s no historically viable alternative explanation for the birth of the Christian Church than the fact that the early Christians thought they saw Jesus Christ and touched him and that he was raised from the dead. As I was reading it, I realized I was coming to greater certainty, and that when I closed the book, I said, at a time when it was very important to me to feel this way, I said, “He really really really did rise from the dead.” And I said, “Well, didn’t I believe that before?” Of course I believed it before—I defended it, and I think before I certainly would have died for that belief. But actually, there were still doubts in there, and the doubts were taken down 50 percent or something. I didn’t even know they were there. And it was a wonderful experience It was both an intellectual and emotional experience: You’re facing death, you’re not sure you’re going to get over the cancer. And the rigorous intellectual process of going through all the alternative explanations for how the Christian Church started, except the resurrection—none of them are even tenable. It was quite an experience.
So in a way I was working on a doubt and it was a wonderful experience and I took it down. Maybe there is a deeper level of doubt that I don’t even know is there yet. So it’s for you and your ability to be a good apologist."
Read the whole thing.
February 24, 2008
Crossroads: Navigating Your Calling and Career
This new book looks very interesting. Here is the Table of Contents (each chapter is about 6-8 pages):
PART 1: CALLING
Chapter 1: Calling--A Definition
Chapter 2: Work Is a Gift
Chapter 3: Reasons to Work
Chapter 4: Discerning Your Call
Chapter 5: Where Does Your Trust Reside
Chapter 6: Hearing God's Voice?
Chapter 7: Bloom Where You Are Planted
Chapter 8: They Pay Me for This?
Chapter 9: Aroma of Christ
Chapter 10: What's In Your Hand?
Chapter 11: A Congruent Life
Chapter 12: Reweaving Shalom
Chapter 13: Leaving the Harbor
PART 2: CAREER
Chapter 14: The Importance of Endurance
Chapter 15: The Importance of Character
Chapter 16: The Importance of Integrity
Chapter 17: The Importance of Frugality
Chapter 18: The Importance of Mentoring
Chapter 19: The Importance of Discipline
Chapter 20: The Importance of Skill
Chapter 21: The Importance of Humility
Chapter 22: The Importance of Weighing Your Words
Chapter 23: The Importance of Family
Chapter 24: The Importance of Boundaries and Balance
The entire book can be browsed on-line. Colin Creel, dean of junior boys at Wesleyan School in Norcross, Georgia, where he also teaches Bible and coaches swimming, will be on featured on Moody Radio's Prime Time America on Monday, February 25. Check local listings (or catch it on-line).
(HT: Lydia Brownback)
Preston Sprinkle on Law-Gospel and Lev. 18:5
Awhile back, I posted a six-part series on law-gospel issues in Rom. 9:30-10:13. One of the most fascinating citations (in both Rom. 10:5 and Gal. 3:12) is Leviticus 18:5: "You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord." Does this passage teach works salvation? What does it mean to "live by them"?
My friend Brent pointed me to an interview that Dr. Jim Hamilton conducted with Dr. Preston Sprinkle on Dr. Sprinkle's Ph.D. dissertation, conducted at Aberdeen under the guidance of Dr. Simon Gathercole. Dr. Sprinkle is now on the faculty of Cedarville University. Here's an excerpt:
What question did your dissertation ask and answer?
My dissertation was more of a descriptive pursuit. That is, I sought to describe how early Judaism (200BC-AD100) understood Lev 18: 5 [ESV Leviticus 18:5 “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”], how Paul understood it, then compare the two. I didn’t set out with a conclusion in mind, nor was I seeking to even prove/find a certain answer. I just wanted to understand Early Judaism and its attraction to this verse, and why Paul opposed it without elaboration.Do you see a distinction between what Leviticus 18:5 means in Leviticus and how it is interpreted later in the Old Testament?
Yes, sort of. The verse is actually very difficult to understand in Leviticus (Anyone who thinks there is a clear-cut meaning has not really understood the issues, in my opinion!) I think that in Leviticus, to “live by them” (18:5) means to enjoy the covenantal blessing of life as a result of doing the “statutes and ordinances” of the LORD (18:3-4).Read the whole thing, which helpfully includes comparisons/contrasts between Dr. Sprinkle's view and those of E. P. Sanders, James D. G. Dunn, and N. T. Wright; Francis Watson, Mark Seifrid, and Seyoon Kim; and Douglas Moo, Tom Schreiner, and Simon Gathercole.This would be the general understanding of Ezekiel (20:11, 13, 21), but for him “life” is connected to the dry bones passage in Ezek 37, where the Spirit (of life!) breathes life into the dead nation and brings them back into the land. What is significant in Ezekiel is that Lev 18:5, according to the prophet, focuses on human agency, “which if a person does, he will have life by them.” But this is not how eschatological life is attained. Life comes through divine agency, through the Spirit of life who revives a dead nation. (NOTE: I don’t think Ezekiel is speaking of an afterlife at this point).
February 21, 2008
Eternal Subordination of the Son
Jeff Robinson has been writing a good series on the doctrine of the eternal subordination of the Son of God -- a topic that is more relevant than you might think. Referring to Bruce Ware's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance
"The eternal subordination of the Son means that Jesus Christ is eternally the Son of God, equal in essence and in eternal divine nature with the Father, that the Father exercises eternal authority over the Son in function, and the Son eternally submits to the authority of the father."Drawing from Dr. Ware's 2006 address at the Evangelical Theological Society national meeting, "Equal in Essence, Distinct in Roles," Robinson proceeds to argue:
1. The subordinate relationship of the Son to the Father is seen in the Bible's use of the names "Father" and "Son."2. The Father exercises rightful authority over all things.
3. The Son submits to the Father in His incarnate mission.
4. The Pre-Incarnate Son submitted to the Father in eternity past.
5. The Son will submit to the Father in eternity future.
The most recent post shows that eternal subordination has been maintained and defended by a host of respected leaders in church history.
February 20, 2008
Guidance, The Will of God, and Whom to Marry
In my recent interview with Anthony Calzia, I made the following statement regarding Christian liberty in the determination of a marriage partner:
"While there is 'one person' out there for us to marry (if we’re called to marry), the only way to be completely certain we’ve found 'the one' is after we’ve made our vows and tied the knot. And this is liberating – we don’t have to wait for some magical moment when we know with mathematical certainty that Jen (or Jake) is 'the one.' There is some Christian liberty in terms of choosing whom to marry. The person should be a growing Christian, and someone whose presence in your life helps rather than hinders your walk with God. But it should also be someone whose presence you generally enjoy, and to whom (for a myriad of reasons, physical and non-physical) you find so attractive that life without them is unimaginable."
I then received the following question:
How are you so sure this is the “only way” and if it is, that’s a rather large commitment to make not being “completely certain.” Can you please clarify?
My friend was referring to my stating that the "only way to be completely certain we’ve found 'the one' is after we’ve made our vows and tied the knot." It is a very good question. Let me be clear: I do believe that Christians can have a subjective sense of God's leading on major life decisions, but I don't think it is infallible. When I was deciding whether to ask Marni to marry me, I prayed for God's subjective leading. In other words, I asked God to give me a high degree of emotional certainty that Marni was whom I should marry. I was not aware of any Scriptural basis for not marrying her. Nevertheless, since the decision was so important, I hoped that God would give me an even stronger sense that I should marry her. I think God did--through many means, including conversations with trusted friends and mentors.
But the peace I had was not mathematical certainty nor was it infallible. At the very least, James 4:13-15 warns us that we cannot know what will happen tomorrow. Marni could have died in her sleep the night before we got married. Had that happened, I hope I would have eventually married someone else. And in that case, it could not be said that Marni was "the one" for me to marry, because evidently God had something else in mind. That was what I was getting at when I said, "after we’ve made our vows and tied the knot" we can, with certainty, say that "God willed for me to marry her." Because it happened.
But there's more. There's a danger to believing that I have to "know with certainty" that God wants me to do X before I do X (marry Jennifer, take a job in Dallas, spend my savings to buy a new car). Consider these words from Pastor Mark Dever:
"I do believe that God's Spirit will sometimes lead us subjectively. So, for instance, I am choosing to spend my life here on Capitol Hill because my wife & I sensed in 1993 that that is what God wanted us to do. However, I realized then (and now) that I could be wrong about that supposition. Scripture is NEVER wrong. I was free in 1993 to stay in England, or teach at a seminary, either of which would have been delightful opportunities. I understand that I was free to make those choices. But I chose, consulting Scripture, friends, wisdom, and my own subjective sense of the Lord's will, to come to DC. And even if I were wrong about that, I had (and have) that freedom in Christ to act in a way that is not sin. And I understand my pastoring here not to be sin. So I am free. Regardless of the sense of leading I had."Like Mark does elsewhere in his post, I would also acknowledge that most decisions I make are made without a subjective sense of God's leading. Rather, several good, non-sinful options are available, and I have to choose the one I deem best. I can pray that God will lead me. However, my subjective sense of God's leading can be wrong (I'm not yet perfected--my perception of how God is leading can be mistaken). But to pursue a non-sinful option is, by definition, not sin. This is liberating. God will unfold His sovereign will for my life through the decisions I make (does not mean I should sin so that grace may abound).
(HT: JT)
February 18, 2008
Interview on Singleness, Dating, and Marriage
Anthony Calzia, a student at California Baptist University, recently interviewed me about With One Voice, a book my wife and I wrote a few years ago. Extended portions of the interview appear in CBU’s campus newspaper, The Banner. The interview appears in its entirety on my friend Jeff Mooney's blog. Dr. Mooney is an Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at California Baptist University and the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Norco, CA. Here's an excerpt:
1. Who are you? How did you come to write your book? How and when did you come to date and marry?
I came to Christ as a high schooler, and saw the aimless dating patterns of many high school Christians in my youth group and elsewhere. Later, I was involved in college ministry, and, being single in my twenties, I naturally gave these issues significant consideration. I first worked on Five Paths to The Love of Your Life for NavPress; the idea for that book came from all those helpful “multi-views” books that IVP and Zondervan publish on theological issues. I was finishing it when, in the summer of 2004, I was interning at Grace Community Church in Gardnerville, NV and was asked to teach a six-part series on Christian dating. The audience was the entire church, not one age demographic. So I began to think about how to prepare a series for all ages (high school students, college students, junior highers, parents and grandparents). The six messages I gave became the six chapters in With One Voice.I met Marni on November 1, 2003 and married her on December 18, 2004 (yes, I’ve got all the anniversaries down!). I was in Berkeley, CA finishing graduate school, and she was living in Oakland and working for SBC (the CA phone company, now AT&T). We were both almost 30, and I guess you could say that we were both “ready for marriage” in that we each knew what we were looking for and were at an age/life-stage to marry. With the guidance, support, and community of her family and a lot of our close friends living nearby, we were able to get to know each other pretty well in a variety of contexts quite quickly. Over the period of a few months it was clear that we both met the criteria on our “lists,” and over the next few months we were delighted to discover how much we enjoyed each other and wanted to spend our lives together. God’s leading seemed clear by mid-summer 2004, when I proposed to her on a walk at sunset on the beach at Lake Tahoe.
February 17, 2008
Three Books for Black History Month
I know Shelby Steele from his previous book White Guilt. This latest title, A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win
"Obama is caught between the two classic postures that blacks have always used to make their way in the white American mainstream: bargaining and challenging. Bargainers strike a "bargain" with white America in which they say, I will not rub America's ugly history of racism in your face if you will not hold my race against me. Challengers do the opposite of bargainers. They charge whites with inherent racism and then demand that they prove themselves innocent by supporting black-friendly policies like affirmative action and diversity."The title, then, A Bound Man is based on Steele's view that Senator Obama is "bound" to racial identity politics. I find this intriguing given that Obama is consistently winning an overwhelmingly high percentage of the Black vote in the Democratic primaries (anywhere from 60% in Clinton's home state of New York to almost 90% in Alabama). Given the intelligence and superb writing ability of Shelby Steele, I would not be surprised if this was a great book. Unfortunately, I disagree with the subtitle: I think Senator Obama can (and probably will) win -- against Senator Clinton, and then against presumptive nominee Senator McCain. With regard to the latter, I truly hope I am wrong.
Cosby notes,
"In 1950, five out of every six black children were born into a two-parent home. Today, that number is less than two out of six. In poor communities, that number is lower still. There are whole blocks with scarcely a married couple, whole blocks without responsible males to watch out for wayward boys, whole neighborhoods in which little girls and boys come of age without seeing up close a committed partnership and perhaps never having attended a wedding."It is imperative that African-American men take responsibility for their academic, professional, and social future, and for the well-being of their families, moving beyond a culture of victim-hood so often promoted in the mainstream media. It is equally imperative that they move beyond the self-saturated image of independent, commitment-less, womanizing male animals promoted by an economically powerful rap music industry for commercial gain. Given the importance of these matters, I welcome this new book.
This book came in the mail a few weeks ago, but I haven't much opportunity to look through it. I met Anyabwile when he came to speak at the Desiring God Pastors Conference in 2007. I was impressed by both his message and his personal demeanor. I later heard his testimony of conversion and call to ministry. Now the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, Anyabwile is an erudite, seasoned thinker and an articulate communicator. I don't always agree with him (Christians should be generous tippers in restaurants!), but he is always worth reading, particularly on theological topics. This book traces the history of African American theology from its former days of biblical faithfulness to its modern expression of cultural captivity. It begins in the slave era of the 1600s and proceeds through the centuries all the way to modern leaders such as T.D. Jakes.
February 16, 2008
The Reason For God Website
A website specifically devoted to The Reason For God is now online. It contains several outstanding sermons, information about his speaking tour, etc.
Brief Q&A with Tim Keller
I previously introduced Tim Keller's new book, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Pastor Keller was graciously willing to field a few questions from me. My chapter 1 question wanders off the theme of Keller's book--probably because it is something I've unconsciously been wanting to ask for awhile. I left it here because others might be curious and the book to which Keller refers (due out in May 2008) sounds very good. Hopefully, this brief interaction whets your appetite for some of the content in the early chapters.
CHEDIAK: In your book's Introduction, you talk about how the world is polarizing over religion. The recent books on atheism suggest that secularism has its staunch adherents. You also note that the number of Americans answering "no religious preference" to poll questions has doubled or even tripled in the last decade. But yet religion is on the rise in academia. Islam is growing exponentially in Europe and the Christian faith is explosively spreading in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Can you talk a little bit about the distinction between religion and spirituality? We often hear them contrasted by people who say they are "spiritual, but not religious." Among non-materialists, would you say that both formal religion and spirituality are on the rise? Is that another polarization in our culture (if you will)—between people who privatize their spirituality and those who gravitate to something closer to biblical orthodoxy?
KELLER: As the older mainline churches (which virtually everyone used to belong to) are dying, people now have three options: a) some version of secularism/materialism-disbelief in anything spiritual or supernatural, b) a self-constructed, patchwork spirituality, c) some form of robust, supernatural faith (of either a cultic or orthodox type.) Yes, among non-materialists both religion and spirituality are on the rise. It is one more tension, because often orthodox believers find the self-made spirituality more nutty and weird than straight-up materialism.
CHEDIAK: In Chapter 1, you acknowledge that although religion can be a major threat to world peace, Christianity itself cultivates peace making among its adherents. One of the real fears among the political left is that evangelicals want to take over the government and force their views onto others. Would you say that, rightly understood, Christianity is (as Darryl Hart has suggested) a "secular faith"—favoring the separation of church and state? And if so, how (if at all) does this relate to your view of the role of the church in the fight against social injustice? Others, it seems, want to limit the church's role to gospel proclamation and allow individual Christians (in their callings) to work for justice, the poor, etc. I hope I'm not misrepresenting either view.
KELLER: At this point—I’d defer to my friend Don Carson’s new book coming out on Christ and culture
CHEDIAK: Chapter 2 is on the "How could a good God allow suffering?" question. You repeated a phrase that I first heard you use in an eight-minute sermon you gave on September 11, 2006 in NYC to a crowd including President Bush, Mayor Rudy Giuliani and other dignitaries. That phrase is, "Everything sad is going to come untrue." It is a beautiful statement. Not only that, you say in your new book that it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost. How do you respond to those who say, "Yes, but according to Christianity, that is only true for Christians. Those in hell will not find it to be so."?
KELLER: Of course it’s only for those who are part of the new heavens and new earth through Christ. But that question, ‘what about the people in hell?’ assumes that the lost will be down there, wishing they can get out and have all the blessings of heaven, but not being allowed by a God who says, ‘No! Too late! Ha! You had your chance!’ That’s a misunderstanding of the power of sin’s self-deception. People in hell will be thinking that God’s salvation and eternity is a big crock. When you get to chapter 5 on hell I address this concern.
Sovereign Grace February Sale
Sovereign Grace Ministries is having a huge sale in February. Most of their music is $6 per CD. Many of their books are $5 each. I heard that the shipping is even free!
February 13, 2008
A Scandal of the Secular Conscience?
Jon Shields, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado, writes an excellent review of Arthur Brooks' Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism
1. Religious citizens who make $49,000 gave away about 3.5 times as much money as secular citizns with the same income. They also volunteered twice as often, are 57% more likely to help homeless persons, and two-thirds more likely to donate blood at work.Jon Shields' review is a great read, and so is the book2. Some states are more charitable than others. Arkansas citizens give away 3.9% of their income on average. In Massachusetts, the value is only 1.8%. Citizens of South Dakota gave away 75% more of their household income than those in San Francisco. Of the 25 states that gave a percentage of household income above the national average, 24 voted for George W. Bush in 2004.
3. 75 million Americans never donate money and 130 million never volunteer their time. But Americans who give time and/or money tend to give a lot of both. Brooks concludes there is a clear demarcation between "Charitable America" and "Selfish America."
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Newsweek Profiles Tim Keller
Calling him "The Smart Shepherd," Lisa Miller profiles Pastor Tim Keller, whose recent book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism hits bookstores everywhere this week. Excerpt:
Keller started Redeemer 17 years ago in a small rented church on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Now he preaches five times on Sundays, shuttling between three different rented venues and reaching more than 5,000 people each week (5,000 also download his sermon online). A recent sermon is taken from the Book of Job, and its message is unrelentingly grim. There's no pat "I'm OK, you're OK" theology here. Peppering his discussion with quotations from The New York Times Book Review and the British moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, Keller promises that human suffering is inexplicable and that it will break you.....Keller is a pastor for people who like their Christianity straight up.Read the whole thing. Keller reflected on some of Miller's statements in a recent correspondence with Ed Stetzer (the comparison to C.S. Lewis, to Rick Warren, his supposed belief in evolution).
Related: My Introduction to Keller's book.
February 11, 2008
John Piper's Roots: What He Learned From His Dad
Every year at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors, John Piper does a biographical message on a great saint. This year, with the theme of the Conference being The Pastor as Father & Son, John Piper preached on his own father, Bill Piper. The message is a great vista into John's heart for preaching, the glory of God, joy in God, salvation, and so much more. The text of John's message includes some great video clips of his Dad preaching, and the comparison between Father and Son is most remarkable. Snippets of Bill Piper's sermon texts also reveal the same sort of poetic richness that many of us have grown to love in John Piper.
There is also great insight into Bill Piper as a Fundamentalist (with some helpful background on the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy as it developed from the 1930s into the 1950s).
Unborn Twins Save Mother From Cervical Cancer
A heart warming story:
Michelle Stepney, 35, said her twins Alice and Harriet, now age 13 months, were a lively pair in the womb. At the time, however, she had no idea that constant kicking she felt actually dislodged a tumor that had formed on her cervix and, according to doctors, saved her life.Read the whole thing.Shortly after becoming pregnant, Stepney of Cheam in South-West London was taken to the hospital after suffering what was believed to be a miscarriage. Soon doctors realized she was still pregnant, but had developed life-threatening cervical cancer. Stepney declined to have an abortion and doctors at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London agreed to give her reduced chemotherapy in the hope of stopping the cancer spreading during the pregnancy.
But it wasn't the chemo that ultimately saved Stepney.
"I couldn't believe it when the doctors told me that the babies had dislodged the tumor," she said. "I'd felt them kicking, but I didn't realize just how important their kicking would turn out to be. I owe my life to my girls, and that's why I could have never agreed with a termination."
(HT: Reformed Chicks Babbling via Joe Carter)
February 09, 2008
Together for the Gospel (T4G) - Videos from 2006
Not sure if you should go to T4G 2008? Ligonier is currently hosting the videos from the 2006 Together for the Gospel Conference, and they can be viewed at no charge (scroll down and click video).
February 07, 2008
Reflections on Dobson (re: McCain and Huckabee)
I have reservations about a McCain presidency (immigration reform, traditional marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, campaign finance reform). However, I questioned the wisdom of Dobson's scathing diatribe against McCain earlier this week for several reasons. For one, it seemed a bit late (though this was not the first time Dobson had blasted McCain). But a larger concern was this: Instead of blast McCain on Tuesday, why not endorse Huckabee on Monday? What has changed about Huckabee in the last 72 hours? If Dobson had endorsed Huckabee on Monday (or last Friday!), that might have energized enough turn-out for Huckabee to win Missouri and Oklahoma (which would have narrowed the delegate gap between Huckabee and McCain by about 30%).
So now what do I think? Many will disagree with me, but I think Dobson's forthcoming Huckabee endorsement is better late than never. The endorsement (and any influx of new cash) gives Huckabee the credibility to continue. For Dobson personally, the Huckabee endorsement serves as a positive: It might take some of the edge off of what many see as perpetual negativity (given his previous rejections of Guiliani, Thompson, and McCain, as well as his tendency to lambast the decline of cultural mores and values). But will it matter? Can Huckabee win? Well, I'm neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but here are a few thoughts:
1. Almost exactly half of the delegates are yet to be won (1183 delegates have not been awarded compared to 1197 which have). Granted, Huckabee trails McCain by 533 delegates, but he only needs to win more than 60% of the remaining delegates to prevent McCain from clinching the nomination with 1191 delegates. And I'm not an expert on GOP policy, but I think that would mean a brokered convention, into which (under this scenario) Huckabee would enter with very strong momentum (even if McCain had more total delegates).
2. Huckabee and McCain are both running positive, gracious campaigns, and seem amiable toward one another. It remains to be seen if this will continue, but if it does, it could be a welcome opportunity for the GOP to wrestle over their identity. There are some significant policy differences between Huckabee and McCain and I wish Huckabee would spend more time explaining them, and why he is a better choice. But the overall friendliness between the men suggests that one could readily get behind the other when necessary.
3. Currently, there are a lot more Democratic primary voters than Republican. I heard on Fox News this past Tuesday that in some states roughly 2 out of every 3 primary votes are being cast for either Obama or Clinton. Both Obama and Clinton, individually, have more than the 4.7 million votes that McCain has accumulated. Conventional wisdom says an ongoing GOP battle delays the leading candidate's ability to build a national campaign. However, an enlivened two-man debate in an extended primary season could bring out more Republicans (who then might stay engaged in the race and pull the GOP lever in November).
4. I still believe McCain would lose in November. I do not believe he will be able to sufficiently rally conservatives. In some ways, I admire his steadfastness and his willingness to break with his party even if it costs him professionally. But I think it is just that -- his brutal honesty (or allegiance to his own ways) -- that may be his undoing. Let's face it -- he will only go so far in reaching out to conservatives.
5. Huckabee has proven appeal among African Americans (48% in gubernatorial races in Arkansas) and women, two demographic blocs that often plague GOP candidates. And he can win in the south and Midwest--states that Republicans typically need to win.
Update: For another perspective, see Joe Carter's unfolding series on How to Save Conservatism. Two installments have been posted and a third is apparently on the way.
James Dobson to Endorse Huckabee for President
Last time it was a mere rumor. This time it looks very real:
Until now, Dobson had never endorsed a GOP presidential hopeful during the primary campaign. But he ruled out front-runner John McCain in a blistering commentary on Super Tuesday, and on Thursday the fight for the GOP nomination narrowed to a two-man race between McCain and Huckabee, who is far behind in the delegate count but pledged to fight on. Mitt Romney, a third hopeful trying to claim the conservative label, dropped out of the race Thursday.Read the whole thing.
February 03, 2008
Playing (or Watching) Sports to the Glory of God
We are wise to acknowledge that, in general, our society idolizes sports and winning. Nevertheless, sports holds great potential for growth in godliness. But we need to be intentionally God-oriented in our enjoyment of, and participation in, sports. Here are some helpful thoughts from C.J. Mahaney on how he seeks to cultivate Christ-like character in his son, who plays high-school basketball:
Playing sports holds great potential for growth in godliness for our sons, but only if we as fathers lead our sons theologically and strategically. I fear that all too often our sons devote significant time to playing sports with little growth in godliness. Here is where the example and leadership of a father can make all the difference. It is our responsibility as fathers to teach and prepare our sons with biblical priorities prior to a game (or practice) and not to assume that we have fulfilled our fatherly responsibility simply by attending the game. And after the game, we should encourage and celebrate evidences of godliness and not primarily our sons’ athletic ability or achievements. Our priorities for our sons’ participation in sports must be theologically informed priorities rather than culturally celebrated priorities. Fathers who aren’t theologically informed are more impressed with athletic ability, statistics and final scores than they are biblical masculinity and godly character.Read the whole thing.
Also: Writing for a new blog, Mahaney recently posted some great advice on watching the Super Bowl to the glory of God (though his predictions about tonight's game were decidedly off the mark).
The Lightlings: An R.C. Sproul Book For Children
Over the last two nights Marni and I read The Lightlings to our daughter Karis. The Lightlings is a short, well-written allegory that captures the essence of the biblical story of redemption in a creative, arresting fashion. The story makes use of the Scriptural motifs of light and darkness. The Son of God is the Light of the World (John 8:12). He is also the light of men, whom the darkness cannot overcome (John 1:3-4). Through Him, His followers themselves become light (Matthew 5:14). Sproul's story involves a Grandpa referring to a race of tiny beings known as Lightlings. The Lightlings follows the story of creation, fall, and redemption. The Grandpa uses the story to explain to a boy named Charlie why some people fear light more than darkness, and why Charlie does not need to fear the darkness. At the back of the book, there is a helpful list of thirteen questions which walk through the parallels between Sproul's allegorical account and The Greatest Story.
In addition, the text is wonderfully complemented by exquisite, richly detailed illustrations (Justin Gerard) that are sure to keep children attentive.
Urban Church Planting Conference: April 29-30
Having just returned from live-blogging the Global Church Advancement Conference, I was curious to learn of an upcoming conference focusing exclusively on urban church planting:
The Conference title Dwell is taken from the text Jeremiah 29:4-7:
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace."Mark Driscoll - Dwelling in the Text & Dwelling through the Text
Tim Keller - TBD (2 sessions)
Ed Stetzer - Dwelling in the Kingdom & Dwelling in the Mission
CJ Mahaney - Dwelling in the Cross
Darrin Patrick - Dwelling with non-Christians
Conference will also include panel discussion, worship and breakout sessions.
(HT: Steve McCoy)
February 02, 2008
Wilberforce Documentary Coming to PBS
Christianity Today commends the forthcoming PBS documentary THE BETTER HOUR:
The Legacy of William Wilberforce:
The Better Hour: The Legacy of William Wilberforce does well what television documentaries do. It presents the basic facts of Wilberforce's dramatic life in a calm and orderly fashion, illustrates them with historical images, fleshes out the story with interviews with experts, and grounds it with a basso profundo narration (provided by Avery Brooks, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Captain Benjamin Sisko).Read the whole thing. Broadcast info is available.The interviews feature the authors of popular Wilberforce biographies—Kevin Belmonte, Eric Metaxas, John Pollock—and other founts of Wilberforce lore, including Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury and David Isherwood, rector of the church in Clapham where Wilberforce and his friends found spiritual sustenance.
February 01, 2008
Shari Thomas - The Main Thing - GCA Conf
Mrs. Shari Thomas is the Director of Parakaleo, A Church Planting Wives Ministry.
TOP SIX STRESS AGENTS FOR CHURCH PLANTERS’ WIVES (INVERSE ORDER):
6. The average wife oversees ~2.5 ministries, raises children, and many have part-time jobs. About 80% experience depression.
5. Boundary ambiguity -- Emotional, physical, and role ambiguity. For example, the house is often used for ministry purposes. Do we have personal space? When can I say no? Do my children always have to share their toys with many kids simultaneously?
4. Lack of reliance on Christ.
3. Insuffucient re-creation. She needs time for exercise and regular Sabbath.
2. Lack of a support system. Many feel that they have nobody to whom they can go when they are struggling.
1. Her husband. Is he involved or uninvolved in her life? Is he so involved with planting the church, that he is not involved in the life of the family? Or is he so involved with his work that she is unable to join him in it (in healthy ways)?
THINGS CHURCH PLANTING COUPLES NEED TO KNOW
1. Both the planter and his wife needs coaching. Each needs to have people who they can call.
2. Periodic review/reflection is needed. The utilization of her spiritual gifts is also important. The wife needs her husband's help to remain faithful to her priorities, especially if they have young children.
3. What a husband needs from his wife is love and respect. He has plenty of critics and nags, and he already has a mother. Wife and husband need a weekly meeting. Life/church plant need to be integrated in a healthy way. The core group (or leadership team) needs to be cognizant of involvement on the part of the church planter's wife.
4. There are unique stresses on the biological children. Remember to minister to them. And there are incredible joys of seeing your spiritual children later minister to you.
5. Be prepared that occasional questioning ("Is this where God really wants us?") is not abnormal.
6. You will have to work harder at maintaining your marriage than your church plant. Repentance in the marriage does not just mean saying you're sorry, but really listening to how you have hurt each other. And remember that the marriage is more important than the church plant.
7. The planter needs to take time off for his family. Periodic repenting openly before his kids is needed. Taking vacation every year.
Church planting is not about working super-hard or being perfect. The gospel of Christ's finished work comes before our performance. Knowing that will help us enjoy more, play more, and take naps when we need them.
8. The planter's gentle wooing of his wife when she is discouraged is invaluable.
Steve Childers - The Main Thing - GCA Conf
BACKGROUND
The banner over the entire conference was that the advancement of the church is the hope of the world. The leadership held out a beautiful, robust vision of church planting in America with a view to the nations both in our midst and beyond our borders--all undergirded and motivated by the supremacy of God's glory in Christ, the One who is building His church. The importance of church planting today is clear: Even the USA, once assumed Christianized by many, has now become one of the largest, most fertile mission fields in the world. Since 1990, when there were 27 churches for every 10,000 people in the U.S., the spread of churches has fallen behind demographic growth so that there are now only 12 churches for every 10,000 people (Ref: Lost in America, T. Clegg).
THE MAIN THING
The last session, entitled "The Main Thing," featured Steve Childers walking us through the eight things that every church planter should know before planting a church.
1. A biblical view of success
Childers defined success as "faithfully pleasing God with all the resources and responsibilities He has given you." Leave the results up to God, and find joy in who you are in Him, not in what you do for Him. Don't sacrifice others on the altar of success. The book Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome
2. Managing Your Time vs. Managing Your Life
The key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities. The urgent easily crowds out the important. An exalted sense of self-importance (a.k.a., pride) drives workaholicism. The root of anxiety and fear is likewise pride.
Steve recounted that he was personally advised to have one hour a day with his family, totally unplugged (no media). In addition, one day/week. And once a month, two days in a row (with intentional inclusion of his wife). And a minimum of two weeks/year. It takes at least three days away from the stress of a job to really be on vacation.
3. Understand the difference between goals and desires.
Goals are things that are in your control. Desires are things that are outside your control. Work hard on your goals. Pray hard for your desires. Examples of goals include daily Bible reading and prayer for one's self, wife/kids, and church. Examples of desires include things like "ten conversions over the upcoming year." But related goals would be things like: We're going to do an evangelistic training workshop, I'm going to pray daily toward ten conversions, we're going to knock on 500 doors to get to know people in our community.
4. God is a Father, not just a General and a Master.
Eternal life is to know God (17:3). There is difference between knowing the God of grace and the grace of God. Likewise, we often think of ourselves as soldiers marching in God's army. There is an element of truth here (Paul referred to himself as a slave of Christ), but we ought not to forget that we are beloved children of God.
Be reminded and encouraged by the picture in Zephaniah 3:17:
"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."Bill Bright came to speak at RTS right before he died. He said, "I wish someone had told me that God is not just 'useful.' He is beautiful."
5. The way up is the way down.
God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; Isaiah 66:2). God shows strength primarily via human weakness (I Cor 1). God can glorify Himself by our lack of resources or by our renouncing of our dependence upon those resources.
Do not hold your weakness in disdain. Most of us are ordinary people. And "God must have loved ordinary people, for He made so many of them." (Abraham Lincoln)
6. People or programs
It is hard to lead (programs), but it is harder to love (people). The latter is more vital. Remember Jesus' conversation with Peter: "Do you love me? Tend my sheep." (John 21:15-19)
7. Process living vs. product living
"The joy and happiness from the process lasts much longer and can be much more satisfying over the duration of your life." Discontentment is sometimes cast in the form of objectives (we can't be happy until we accomplish X). Joy in process lasts longer than joy in the product. Most of life is process. Enjoy the process.
8. Make the main thing the main thing.
Behold the beauty of God. Keep the Great Commandment central (Matt. 22:37-38). Faith working itself out in love. The main thing is not the ministry.
Mike Tilley - Strategic Planning - GCA Conf
INTRODUCTION
This is an Essentials Track workshop. Tilley spoke yesterday about leadership, describing that leadership had four roles: Coach/Motivator, Change Agent, Spokesperson and Direction-Setter. Leadership comes with four responsibilities: Vision-Casting, Strategy Formulation, Aligning and Motivating. Today, he will talk about setting direction. Strategic planning in church planting can feel like "building a plane while trying to fly it."
OBJECTIONS TO PLANNING
1. It is not spiritual to plan. False dichotomy.
2. Plans tie people down. We become enslaved to a plan. [What Tilley is talking about, by contrast, is a strategic planning process, not something set in concrete.]
3. Successful businessmen are often frustrated when it comes to church planning, because it is a volunteer organization, and it can feel inefficient.
4. Over-emphasis (or, at the other extreme, lack of recognition) on God's sovereignty.
PERSPECTIVES ON STRATEGIC PLANNING
1. Strategic planning is a tool to create, shape and claim the future....not simply manage the present.
2. As Paul was a "skilled master builder" (I Cor. 3:10), we also must consider how we build. We are architects.
3. Seek counsel via prayer and wise friends (Prov. 20:18; Isa. 30:1).
4. Understand the times (I Chron. 12:32).
5. Be able to articulate a clear call, or people will not be able to rally around you (I Cor. 14:8).
6. This process needs to be simple.
Tilley recently read Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect
7. This process is not the only way to plan, but it is a team process. (Eccl. 4:9-12)
It extracts the value from other members. It is self-aligning. Leader can write the first draft in pencil.
8. It is a process and therefore adaptable.
We are ready to capture "such a time as this" moments. It defines our work....agenda for meetings. It "speaks to us" about our decisions. A leader should think about his plan 3 times/day.
SIX QUESTIONS YOU MUST BE ABLE TO ANSWER ABOUT YOUR PLAN
1. What is your vision?
2. What is your current reality?
3. What resources do you have to get there?
4. What practical steps will you take to get there?
5. How will you allocate resources? (leaders, money, systems)
6. What am I learning along the way? (evaluation)
VISION - A MENTAL PICTURE OF A DESIRABLE FUTURE
ABCs of a good vision: Appropriate, Bold, Clear, Desirable, Energizing, Feasible, Godly (consistent with God's heart & His word)
How to work with your people on articulating a vision? Ask your leadership team to write out their hopes and dreams for the church. What has God put on their hearts? At Tilley's church, they put all of their dreams in a DNA paper.
Identify milestones and millstones.
Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT analysis)
Identify "mid-course corrections" related to the four roles of a leader.
RESOURCES (CAPACITY)
1. Leaders (the right kind of leaders in sufficient numbers) [Exod. 18; Acts 6]
2. Money
3. Tools
4. Infrastructure (technology, communication, etc.)
Leadership Community: Staff and lay leaders
Tilley does not want to have a staff-driven church. However, it is important to have lots of volunteers so that you can periodically relieve them to avoid burnout. And there are some positions which need to be filled by staff.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
What happens if we give insufficient attention to capacity?
It puts extraordinary pressure on you as the leader to be "superman."
Who is responsible for developing the critical mass (capacity) of the organization?
This goes on the leader's to do list, and it behooves the leader to involve the team to get help.
CRITICAL PATH (STRATEGIES)
How does the plan "speak to us" about how to identify our next steps (strategies)?
We identify next steps by listening to our current reality, our vision, and our resources. For example, if your reality is that your church as a gap in discipleship, this might become one of your steps, or priorities, for the coming year.
What are some marks of a good strategy?
A good strategy fits the current reality, moves you toward your future vision, and generates new resources.
Where does tactical planning fit in?
Each path step warrants its own tactical plan. For example, if "improving children's ministry" is a priority step for the coming year, what is the tactical plan? This involves roles (who will lead it), goals (where are we headed), tools (what is needed), and time (what's the timeline).
How do you choose path steps with your team?
This works best if you brainstorm path steps in light of your vision and current reality. But, of course, not every idea is created equal! But get it all out there, then go back through and choose 3-5 top priority steps.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
Each "path step" needs a point person (primary person responsible) or a team.
Resources (money, time, people) are drawn from the critical mass and distributed according to priorities.
GROWING WISER
1. Cultivate a culture with your team that learning is on-going.
2. Maintain an environment in which "grace and truth" are balanced. Share honestly, but in love.
3. Remain open to feedback.
Church Planting & Match Making: A GCA Testimony
This is a guest post from freelance writer Cindy Sawyer, who is also covering the GCA National Church Planting Conference:
There are a lot of reasons for couples to change the date of their wedding. I know of a woman who married early in order to allow her dying aunt to attend the wedding, and during World War II many couples got married sooner rather than later because in that intense atmosphere it seemed imperative that their love be declared publicly while they still had the chance. Let it never be said that the GCA Church Planting Conference is akin to World War II, but one couple did feel it was important enough to change the date of their vows in order to attend as a married couple.
Craig and Kim Sheffield are church planters. Craig has had a heart for planting a church in downtown Denver, Colorado for several years. He even moved downtown simply to live among the people there. Last summer he heard of a pastor named Jason Janns who was working toward starting a church downtown. Craig called him. At the time Janns had eight people on his team, two of whom were single women. When he learned that Sheffield was also single, he immediately began playing matchmaker. Sheffield had little interest in marriage at the time. After all, he was there to advance the Kingdom of God among a population that was broken and hurting and in desperate need of Jesus. None of that silly, distracting marriage stuff for him, no sir! But at lunch one day, shortly after their first phone call, Janns introduced Craig to team member Kim Hahnel. Kim had not been thinking of marriage either, but something about Sheffield changed her mind. Later that very day Kim told Janns, “That’s the man I’m going to marry!”
Craig joined Janns’ team and soon invited the rest of the team over to his house to discuss the church plant. After the meeting, one of Sheffield’s friends pulled him aside and told him, “I think I just met your future wife,” and Craig, full of male acuity and wisdom, responded hesitantly, “So maybe I should ask her out?” It turned out to be one of the best decisions he’d ever made. Not too many months later, Craig asked Kim to marry him.
They initially decided to marry in the Spring, but a funny thing happened… It was Kim’s idea actually. Kim had signed up for GCA’s Church Planting Conference before they’d met and Craig had signed up not long after. Both felt the conference would be invaluable to their future goal of seeing a church born in downtown Denver, but finances were tight, and Kim thought, “Why not get married before the conference? After all, one room is cheaper than two!” Okay, so it wasn’t the War or personal tragedy that prompted the change, but what good church planter doesn’t have to find ways to balance the budget? And although a church planting conference is not exactly the best honeymoon spot, the GCA Conference was being held in Orlando, Florida, Vacation Capital of the World.
The Sheffield’s were married in South Carolina on January 19, and I’m happy to say they did get to enjoy a honeymoon cruise to Grand Cayman before arriving in Orlando for the conference. When I spoke with them they were both glowing. It could have been from all the powerful insights they were gaining from the conference, both Sheffields seemed delighted with what they had learned in just a few short days, but, as good as GCA’s training is, I suspect being newly married may have had a little something to do with it.
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