May 28, 2009
Interview with Aurelio Barreto, President of C28
Mr. Aurelio Barreto is the President and CEO of C28, a Christian retail store chain which sells Christian clothing, music, jewelry and accessories. C28 stands for Colossians 2:8, and the phrase "not of this world" (NOTW), which can seen on the back of cars and on T-shirts all over the place. You'll see a flashing icon on this blog--that's them. Check them out--they sell attractive, professionally designed, high quality clothing and jewelry which winsomely presents the gospel. I asked Aurelio if he'd be kind enough to answer a few questions for us.
What was your religious background as an adult, and how did God call you to Himself?
I grew up Catholic and did all the right things as an adult, but while I was a teenager I went from drugs to girls and then as an adult to being a moral man. After selling my $62 million dollar business and retiring at age 37, I realized first hand that all the money, power, influence and success of this world could not buy me the happiness and peace I was looking for.
Why did you start a T-shirt company?
After giving my life to the Lord Jesus, I began changing and wanting to glorify Him. I began praying about serving Him. At first I thought I would be a pastor, I thought about being a missionary, but that was only until I realized that God wanted me to do everything as unto the Lord. I realized that my gifts and talents were in business and that I could truly glorify Him through business. When He gave me the idea of a retail store I thought, “Dear God, why retail of all things? I will certainly lose everything. Please God, just point me to ministries where I can donate a couple of million to and I can serve You.” I thought I would lose it all. At first we were losing $50K per month. After the first 4 years of operations I finally surrendered the business over to Him 100%. I told Him I had no idea what I was doing and was afraid I would lose it all. I told Him that if things were going to work, then He would have to take charge. That very year after surrendering the business over to Him was the very first year we had a profit, and now we have been profitable for the past 5 years ever since. All praise goes to God. And what matter most is that over 13,000 people have prayed to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior since we started 9 years ago. I have seen and witnessed changed lives that are now bearing much fruit.
You said that after 4 years of operations you finally turned over your business to God 100%. What did this look like?
Basically, it was a surrender of the mind. That I could actually trust God to not just take care of the business, but actually do better than I could.
In what ways (if any) do you now believe that you were behaving/thinking inappropriately the previous 4 years?
Always taking charge instead of waiting on the Lord. Not being so quick to exercise my God-given rights as opposed to waiting upon the Lord to give me His clear directions. I needed to trust God to do what only God can do.
In just a few sentences, what do you hope for your T-shirt company to accomplish?
Expose people to God’s Word. Shirts are read an average of 300 times by people who otherwise would never step into anything Christian. As Christians, we assume that everyone knows about Jesus and the unfortunate reality is that the majority has no clue.
What resources have helped you as a Christian businessman, particularly in a leadership role?
The Lord Jesus. The Bible is totally about business. Jesus Christ was a carpenter, back then that was business. Our company’s mission is to glorify God by sharing the life-changing gospel message of grace, truth and love found in Jesus Christ. We seek to do this through prayer, evangelism, and God's written word on apparel. Our mission statement, vision, message and values are posted on our website.
What practical measures have you placed in your life to battle materialism?
It truly is about God’s grace. The same grace that God used to save me is the same grace that keeps me looking to Him. There is nothing bad with money, but it is the “love” of money that kills a person. The parable of the talents is clear about multiplying whatever God has given a person. Whether it is time, talents or treasures, we are to multiply them for God’s glory.
Do you have any significant involvements outside of your role leading C28?
It seems like God has me speaking and doing evangelism 1-2 times per week. I also serve on 3 boards of directors for different Christian organizations: Woodcrest Christian School for 8 years; Haven Ministries for 6 years; and CBA for 2 years.
May 27, 2009
The Gospel and Marriage
"The cross makes a stunning statement about husbands and wives: we are sinners and our only hope is grace. Without a clear awareness of sin, we will evaluate our conflicts outside of the biblical story--the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross--thus eliminating any basis for true understanding, true reconciliation, or true change. Without the gospel of our crucified and risen Savior our marriages slide toward the superficial. We begin to make limp justifications for our sinful behavior, and our marriage conflicts end, at best, in uneasy, partial, negotiated settlements."
--Dave Harvey, When Sinners Say "I Do": Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage
Robert George on Sonya Sotomayor (and Prop 8)
HT: James H. Grant
May 26, 2009
Identity Politics and Sonia Sotomayor
Writing for the National Journal Magazine, Stuart Taylor has a pair of outstanding articles, both written before Ms. Sotomayor was nominated for the SCOTUS, which very helpfully explain the concern of her playing identity politics.
The case you'll be hearing about:
Frank Ricci, a firefighter in New Haven, Conn., worked hard, played by the rules, and earned a promotion to fire lieutenant. But the city denied him the promotion because he is not black. Ricci sued, along with 16 other whites and one Hispanic firefighter.How did this happen?
Ricci studied for eight to 13 hours a day to prepare for the combined written and oral exam in 2003 that he hoped would win him a promotion. He spent more than $1,000 buying the books that the city had suggested as homework and paying an acquaintance to read them onto audiotapes. (Ricci is dyslexic and learns better by listening.) And he got one of the highest scores.Naturally, Ricci and his colleagues sued. And Sotomayor was among the judges who supported New Haven's decision to discard the test results. Read the whole thing. Taylor's conclusion:But Ricci and other would-be lieutenants and captains with high scores did not get the promotions they expected. The reason was that -- because not enough black firefighters had done well enough to be eligible -- New Haven decided to discard the test results and make no promotions at all.
"Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race," Obama said in his much-acclaimed March 18 speech about race. "So when they ... hear that an African-American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed ... resentment builds over time."Taylor's second article was written just a few days ago. It contains this quote from Sotomayor:So it does. But based on Obama's record and the views of the civil-rights specialists on his transition team, there is every reason to worry that he will appoint civil-rights enforcers, judges, and justices bent on perpetuating the race-based discrimination against whites (and Asians) in many walks of life that is exemplified by the New Haven firefighter case.
I suspect that deep down, Obama would appreciate the simple injustice of the New Haven firefighter case. It would be most interesting to find out.
"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn't lived that life." -- Judge Sonia Sotomayor, in her Judge Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Lecture at the University of California (Berkeley) School of Law in 2001And these thoughts from Mr. Taylor about her speech at U.C. Berkeley (my Alma Mater):
Sotomayor also referred to the cardinal duty of judges to be impartial as a mere "aspiration because it denies the fact that we are by our experiences making different choices than others." And she suggested that "inherent physiological or cultural differences" may help explain why "our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging."Read the whole thing.So accustomed have we become to identity politics that it barely causes a ripple when a highly touted Supreme Court candidate, who sits on the federal Appeals Court in New York, has seriously suggested that Latina women like her make better judges than white males.
Indeed, unless Sotomayor believes that Latina women also make better judges than Latino men, and also better than African-American men and women, her basic proposition seems to be that white males (with some exceptions, she noted) are inferior to all other groups in the qualities that make for a good jurist.
Any prominent white male would be instantly and properly banished from polite society as a racist and a sexist for making an analogous claim of ethnic and gender superiority or inferiority.
CA Supreme Court Upholds Prop 8
Great news out of San Francisco, CA this morning. The Supreme Court's website appears to be jammed right now, but the news will soon appear.
The California Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld same sex marriages that were already performed but upheld voters' rights to amend the state constitution banning gay marriage.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Court is Where Policy is Made
Krauthammer Reacts To Sotomayor Pick
Columnist Charles Krauthammer discusses the identity politics of Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor. He also discusses how the Sotomayor selection may placate the left-wing of President Obama's party:
Sonia Sotomayor - Supreme Court Nominee
It is being widely reported that Ms. Sonia Sotomayor is President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Briefly, Sotomayor was first appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1992. She served there until 1998, when President Clinton appointed her to the U.S. Appeals Court. Clinton's nomination occurred in 1997, but her confirmation took about 1 year.
The Administration is hoping for hearings in July and a confirmation before summer recess. The case for Sotomayor: Compelling personal biography (raised in housing projects in the Bronx, later attended top law schools, has had a lifelong struggle with diabetes). In her Senate confirmation to the U.S. Appeals Court, Sotomayor won the support of 25 Republicans, including eight senators who still serve. The case against Sostomayor: Jeffrey Rosen, writing for the left-leaning The New Republic, writes (in part):
The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it. "She has an inflated opinion of herself, and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren't penetrating and don't get to the heart of the issue." (During one argument, an elderly judicial colleague is said to have leaned over and said, "Will you please stop talking and let them talk?") Second Circuit judge Jose Cabranes, who would later become her colleague, put this point more charitably in a 1995 interview with The New York Times: "She is not intimidated or overwhelmed by the eminence or power or prestige of any party, or indeed of the media."Unfortunately, Sotomayor is an advocate of affirmative action, identity politics (highlighting race and gender over against intrinsic, objective criteria) and a woman's "right" to abortion. And from a more conservative perspective, Ed Whelan, writing the The Corner (National Review) offers a negative evaluation of Sotomayor's sense of fairness.Her opinions, although competent, are viewed by former prosecutors as not especially clean or tight, and sometimes miss the forest for the trees. It's customary, for example, for Second Circuit judges to circulate their draft opinions to invite a robust exchange of views. Sotomayor, several former clerks complained, rankled her colleagues by sending long memos that didn't distinguish between substantive and trivial points, with petty editing suggestions--fixing typos and the like--rather than focusing on the core analytical issues.
Sarah Palin To Write Memoir with World Magazine Editor
HarperCollins, slated to release Gov. Sarah Palin's as-yet untitled memoir in the spring of 2010, announced that World Magazine Features Editor Lynn Vincent has been signed on as Palin's collaborator. Vincent, 46, has collaborated on four previous memoirs, including Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together
As a regular reader of World Magazine, I'm encouraged by this announcement and look forward to the Palin/Vincent book.
HT: World Magazine Press Release
May 25, 2009
The Real Pregnancy Crisis
In 2007, about 40% of American children were born out of wedlock. Perhaps surprisingly, only 23% of these non-marital births were to teens. None of this should come as a surprise, says Bradford Wilcox in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece, given that a 2003 Gallup Survey found that 64% of young adults age 18 to 29 thought that having a baby out of wedlock was "morally acceptable." Writes Wilcox:
But a number of academics and advocates who track family issues are more than willing to provide intellectual cover to contemporary young adults' laissez-faire approach to childbearing and marriage. For instance, Stephanie Coontz, the director of research at the Council on Contemporary Families, wrote on the New York Times "Room for Debate" blog that "policymakers and researchers need to discard one-size-fits-all generalizations about the causes, consequences, risks and benefits of different family forms. Average outcomes from married and single parenting hide huge variations" in child well-being. Likewise, Silvia Henriquez, the executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, urged readers to resist the temptation to "present single motherhood as a problem in itself."Read Dr. Wilcox's response.
May 23, 2009
CA Supreme Court To Rule on Prop 8 on Tue
From the Supreme Court of California website:
The California Supreme Court has announced that it will issue an opinion in three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. (Strauss v. Horton, S168047; Tyler v. State of California, S168066; City and County of San Francisco v. Horton, S168078.) Tuesday (5/26/09) at 10 A.M. The opinion will be available on the California Courts Web site.For those unaware, California voters passed Proposition 8 last November. It changed the CA constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to "marry" in California. Furthermore, it provided that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California".
Finding Your Child's Way on the Autism Spectrum
I introduced this book a while ago. Given the strong interest, I asked a friend who has an autistic child if she'd consider reviewing it. Here is her review:
This book was such a blessing to me!
There is a plethora of information about autism available on the web and in books…everything from diets and supplements to special education law to Floortime, ABA, and social skills. I am grateful for all these resources, but I’ve also been struck by the dearth of help that is specifically Christian, that addresses the biblical responsibility for caring for my child’s heart. When I did my first Google search for “Christian, autism,” I got a website selling vitamin supplements. Which may help my child's heart in some ways, but I was hoping for some guidance with a bit more of an eternal perspective!
Finding Your Child's Way on the Autism Spectrum: Discovering Unique Strengths, Mastering Behavior Challenges
“My book isn't intended to replace any treatment or educational approach you may choose. Rather, it's intended to supplement it. As your child comes home every day from school or early intervention, what can you do to help him grow in areas of function that are important to you, especially at home? This is the kind of question that it answers.”Dr. Hendrickson is member of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors and a former psychiatrist. She’s also the mother of a young man (Eric) diagnosed with Autism as a child. Her son is now attending a competitive university and successfully pursuing the passions that God has given him. She is a wise and godly woman, and I was blessed to get to know her as she shared her heart and experiences in the book.
Finding Your Child's Way
There is so much information out there about Autism, and caring for our children is so time intensive. But this book does not take long to read and is well worth it. Her practical and godly parenting advice is immediately applicable to you and your child no matter what age or where your child is on the spectrum. I was especially encouraged by her metaphor of the Disney character Dumbo, that God can use what may seem to be a defect to make our children soar. God created every child with a purpose. All through the book she talks about using and developing and encouraging the strengths that our children have. And even if we can’t see that our child is “soaring” or has any hope of doing so in this lifetime, “…does it mean your child’s life is pointless, or that the things you’ve suffered have no meaning? By no means! As you walk by faith, you’re glorifying God through that very action. And as your child walks by whatever light that God has given him, he glorifies God, too.” (p. 111)
I hope you will read this book and be encouraged and helped as I was. I am so grateful not only for the “in the trenches” parenting wisdom, but for her model of how to trust God and view my child’s disorder and my role as her parent in a way that brings Him glory. I'll end with this quote from Dr. Hendrickson:
“As you’ve learned throughout this book, I did everything I could to help Eric grow to his fullest potential. But I also trusted God to glorify Himself in Eric’s life even if his potential turned out to be very limited. God used Eric’s challenges in my life to cause me to grow in faith. I don’t believe that I’d have become the woman I am today if He hadn’t brought Eric into my life. What a privilege it’s been to raise him up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord! Although I thought that his diagnosis was the worst thing that could possibly happen, it’s turned out to be a source of some of the greatest blessings I’ve ever experienced.” (p. 104)
LeBron James -- Wow
May 21, 2009
Ralph Winter (1925 - 2009)
Perhaps the foremost missiologist in our day, Dr. Ralph Winter, went to be with the Lord last night, succumbing to a protracted battle with myeloma. In 2005, Dr. Winter was included among the top 25 most influential evangelicals in America. I first learned of Dr. Winter and his legacy when I took Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, a fantastic semester-long course for which college-level credit can generally be obtained. A former professor at Fuller Seminary and founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission (part of William Carey International University) in Pasadena, California, Dr. Winter had a profound impact on global missions in the 20th century and to this day. As John Piper explains in his tribute, Winter played a significant role in coining the phrase "unreached people groups" which teaches us to think of the world as made up of distinct "ethno-linguistic groups" and then to push hard to get a gospel witness into each one of those groups. Much more could be said (see this lengthy discussion from John Piper).
Piper's tribute includes this short video about unreached peoples:
May 19, 2009
Interview with Godfrey on New John Calvin Biography
Collin Hansen of Christianity Today interviews Robert Godfrey on his new book John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor.
Culture War Over Capitalism
Arthur C. Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute and author of Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism
Still, the tea parties are not based on the cold wonkery of budget data. They are based on an "ethical populism." The protesters are homeowners who didn't walk away from their mortgages, small business owners who don't want corporate welfare and bankers who kept their heads during the frenzy and don't need bailouts. They were the people who were doing the important things right -- and who are now watching elected politicians reward those who did the important things wrong.While supporting the claim that capitalism is still preferred by most, Brooks adds this advice:Voices in the media, academia, and the government will dismiss this ethical populism as a fringe movement -- maybe even dangerous extremism. In truth, free markets, limited government, and entrepreneurship are still a majoritarian taste. In March 2009, the Pew Research Center asked people if we are better off "in a free market economy even though there may be severe ups and downs from time to time." Fully 70% agreed, versus 20% who disagreed.
Advocates of free enterprise must learn from the growing grass-roots protests, and make the moral case for freedom and entrepreneurship. They have to declare that it is a moral issue to confiscate more income from the minority simply because the government can. It's also a moral issue to lower the rewards for entrepreneurial success, and to spend what we don't have without regard for our children's future.Read the whole thing.Enterprise defenders also have to define "fairness" as protecting merit and freedom. This is more intuitively appealing to Americans than anything involving forced redistribution. Take public attitudes toward the estate tax, which only a few (who leave estates in the millions of dollars) will ever pay, but which two-thirds of Americans believe is "not fair at all," according to a 2009 Harris poll. Millions of ordinary citizens believe it is unfair for the government to be predatory -- even if the prey are wealthy.
May 18, 2009
Mike Huckabee Calls On Nancy Pelosi To Resign
In poetic fashion:
Here's a story about a lady named NancyOK, so the meter might be somewhat irregular but the content is all there!
A ruthless politician, but dressed very fancy
Very ambitious, she got herself elected Speaker
But as for keeping secrets, she proved quite a "leaker."She flies on government planes coast to coast
And doesn't mind that our economy is toast
She makes the Air Force squire her in their military jets
There's room for her family, her staff, and even her pets.Until now, she annoyed us, but her gaffes were mostly funny;
Even though it was painful to watch her waste our tax money.
But now her wacky comments are no laughing matter;
She's either unwilling to tell the truth, or she's mad as a hatter!She sat in briefings and knew about enhanced interrogation;
But claims she wasn't there, and can't give an explanation.
She disparages the CIA and says they are a bunch of liars;
Even the press aren't buying it and they're stoking their fires.I think Speaker Pelosi has done too much speaking;
And instead of her trashing our intelligence officials, it's her nose that needs tweaking.If forced to believe whether the CIA and her colleagues in Congress are lying;
Or it's Speaker Pelosi whose credibility and career is dying.
I believe in the integrity of the men and women who sacrifice to keep us safe;
Not the woman who has been caught flat-footed, lying to our face.I say it here and I say it rather clear-
It's time for Nancy Pelosi to resign and get out of here.
Reaction to Obama's Notre Dame Address
Yuval Levin, writing for National Review, says Obama's Notre Dame speech gives cause for long-term optimism on the pro-life front. Levin writes:
Although it was certainly not his intention, the president’s remarks point to the profound and growing weakness of the case for America’s radical abortion laws.(HT: JT)
However, we do occasionally see a more crass argument, like with Bonnie Erb's US News and World Report piece which argued that, given the recession, abortions are not tragic.
Also, this is the first time Obama's discussed abortion since the election (notes CT). Could it be that he has become more articulate (than he was at Saddleback) in expanding his influence among more classically pro-life groups?
I agree with Levin that the pro-abortion choice case is weakening, and am encouraged by the recent Gallop poll that shows pro-life gains in public opinion, but I also think that in his remarks on abortion Obama was addressing a more center-right spectrum of America on this. He might have couched things quite differently in a different venue. In other words, he was not playing offense, not defense, at Notre Dame (as at the Saddleback Civil Forum). That is, he was seeking to expand the number of Christians/Catholics who are willing to overlook his radical pro-abortion rights agenda. Remember, Obama only got 52% of the national vote (though his electoral tally was broad and impressive). Take away the extra evangelicals and Catholics who supported him (but did not support John Kerry in 2004) and John McCain might be President.
May 17, 2009
The Love of God and John 3:16 - John Piper
John Piper gives an outstanding pair of messages on John 3:16. The second message is focused on the difficulty many have reconciling the universality of God's love for sinful humanity with the clear fact that only some are in fact saved by Christ's sacrificial, atoning death on the cross. On this topic, Piper recommends (as do I) a short, helpful book by D.A. Carson entitled Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God.
An excerpt from Piper's 2nd message:
We may, therefore, say to every human being, “God loves you. And this is how he loves you: He gave his Son to die, so that if you would believe, your sins would be forgiven and you would have eternal life.”And another excerpt from that same message:
There is a greater love than the love of John 3:16. The love of John 3:16 is an amazing gift of Christ to the world so that the free offer to eternal life goes out to everyone: Believe and you will be saved. Believe and your sins will be forgiven, God’s wrath will be removed, you will have eternal joy with him. If you believe.Confused? Curious? Check it out.But there is another love of God. It goes beyond offering eternal life and actually creates it in your heart. If you only know the love of John 3:16, there is more love for you to know and enjoy and admire and be amazed at and be thankful for and be strengthened by.
Those of you who believe on Christ, God wants you to know yourself loved, not only with universal love of John 3:16, but also with his death-conquering, hardness-removing, rebellion-eradicating, sight-imparting, faith-creating, personal, individual, invincible covenant love of which we are absolutely undeserving. He inspired the Gospel of John and I have preached this message so that you would know more fully and experience more deeply how you are loved.
May 16, 2009
Notre Dame Students Respond
HT: Denny Burk
May 15, 2009
At the Gates of Notre Dame
If you are looking for the definitive article on the Catholic Church's struggle and divide on the abortion issue, as exhibited in sharp relief by the decision of Notre Dame to grant an honorary law degree to President Obama this weekend, this lengthy essay by Joseph Bottum, published in First Things, is it. An excerpt:
...Abortion is not the only life issue, but it is the one that bears most directly on the lives of ordinary Catholics as they fight against the current to preserve family life. And until Catholic universities get it, they will not be Catholic—in a very real, existentially important sense.And the closing remarks:What’s more, they will not be politically effective. Notre Dame and President Obama created the present unhappy situation by attempting to use each other in the normal political way, but Notre Dame has gained nothing from it. If anything, Notre Dame has lost ground. What political capital has it earned with the White House from the embarrassment of Mary Ann Glendon’s withdrawal and the open sniping of the bishops and the protesters camped outside the college gates? Nothing that will do the school any good.
Wouldn’t it be more politically effective if Catholic schools withheld their honors to try to force the politicians they admire to oppose abortion? Wouldn’t it be more culturally powerful if Catholic schools were Catholic in a way that Catholics understood?
Sixty Percent of Adult Baptisms in SBC Churches are "Rebaptisms"
In John Hammett's book, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology
By way of contrast, Baptists in other parts of the world do not have this problem. In Romania, while there is no rule, no one would think of asking for baptism prior to the age of fourteen. The same is true of many Baptist groups in Africa and Asia. I was struck by the practices of Baptist churches I saw in Brazil. Upon profession of faith, a new convert was placed in a new convert's class for from six to thirteen weeks. The central purpose of this class was to make as sure as humanly possible that the individuals involved had understood the gospel and were making valid professions of faith. After the class, the next step in the process of preparation for baptism was speaking to the congregation. Candidates described their experience of conversion and answered questions from the pastor and congregation concerning what they believed about Christ, their experience of conviction of sin, and their understanding of the gospel. Only then did the congregation vote to baptize the individuals. The contrast with the lack of care concerning baptismal candidates in Baptist churches in North America is striking. Regenerate church membership began to disappear when Baptist churches in North America began to baptize and bring in members who gave no visible evidence of regeneration.HT: Thabiti Anyabwile
Sweden Upholds Sex-Based Abortion
Amanda Carpenter, writing for the Washington Times:
Swedish women will be permitted to abort their children based on the sex of the fetus, according to a ruling by Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare.Read the whole thing.
May 13, 2009
Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem
There are times when the title of a book is so immediately gripping that one must immediately buy it. This is such a case. Is it not the case that capitalism is increasingly under scrutiny (and even disrepute) in our day? Capitalism, we're told, is fundamentally based on greed. It's mean. It's the process whereby the strong prey on the weak. I'll never forget (now President) Barack Obama sometime this summer decrying the record profits of the oil companies. Citing the large profit figure, he cried out (absurdly), "That's your money!" Really? How can it be my money when they have it? I gave it to them in exchange for their product. Nobody made me do it. I chose to.
Anyway, here's the product description:
Does capitalism promote greed? Can a person follow Jesus's call to love others and also support capitalism? Was our recent economic crisis caused by flaws inherent to our free market system? Jay Richards presents a new approach to capitalism, revealing how it's fully consistent with Jesus's teachings and the Christian tradition, while also showing why this system is our best bet for renewed economic vigor.And the endorsements:The church is bombarded with two competing messages about money and capitalism:
* wealth is bad and causes much of the world's suffering
* wealth is good and God wants you to prosper and be richRichards exposes these myths, and other common misconceptions about capitalism, and reveals the surprising ways that capitalism is, in fact, the best system to respond to the biblical mandates of alleviating poverty and protecting the environment. Money, Greed, and God
equips readers to take practical steps in their own lives to conduct business, worship God, and serve others without falling into the "prosperity gospel" trap.
"In Money, Greed, and God, Jay Richards has written the definitive case for capitalism, a crisply written and incisive discourse on wealth and poverty, money and morality for the 21st Century."
-George Gilder, co-founder of the Discovery Institute and author of Wealth and Poverty
"Jay Richards understands the objections to capitalism, and here explains why they do not convince him. The empirical findings revealed in Money, Greed, and God run against those objections."
-Michael Novak, Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute
HT: JT
John Piper's Response to President Obama on Abortion
HT: Desiring God
May 12, 2009
Preaching Justification Undiminished
John Piper's plenary message at The Basics conference (going on right now at Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio) is entitled Preaching Justification Undiminished. The audio and manuscript are available.
May 11, 2009
Interview on Feelings and Faith - Brian Borgman
I previously posted my own endorsement of Feelings and Faith: Cultivating Godly Emotions in the Christian Life. Pastor Brian was also kind enough to do a brief interview for us about the book.
Why did you write this book?
A number of years ago I preached a series called, "A Biblical Understanding of the Emotions." I originally intended it to be a short series, maybe 3 or 4 messages, but it grew into 22 sermons. The sermons were very well received by our congregation. The series aired on Pilgrim radio and the response was very positive as well. Our church administrator put the sermons on sermonaudio.com and to date, those sermons are downloaded more than any other sermons we have posted. Some of my fellow elders and our church administrator kept telling me that the sermons should become a book because they are obviously helping people. As a busy pastor I didn't feel justified in taking the time to write. God had other plans. In August 2007 I had a debilitating back injury that led to emergency surgery. I was incapacitated. In God's kindness, I had the time the write and quite honestly, the project kept me sane while I was laid up for three months.
What have been the key influences on your own thinking about emotions and the Christian life?
When I was a new Christian I was an experience junkie and lived by my feelings. I swung to the other end of the spectrum for a few years and believed that only the mind mattered. I went to Western Seminary in 1990 and Bruce Ware was my theology prof. He made us read John Piper's Desiring God. My history prof, Bob Krupp was a big believer in primary sources, so we read Edwards and Owen. Between Piper and then Edwards on the Religious Affections, I started going through a shift in my thinking about the emotions. Then I discovered the puritans, who wed together doctrine and devotion. Owen's Volumes 6 and 7 were especially awakening. I was also helped by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, especially his book Spiritual Depression, B.B. Warfield's essay, The Emotional Life of our Lord, Al Martin's sermons on Christ: the Pattern for our Emotional Life and more recently, Matthew Elliott's Faithful Feelings
Perhaps the most significant influence, however, came when I was doing my D Min at Westminster. I focused on the role of the emotions in preaching, in both the preacher and the listener. I was surprised by how much the Bible has to say about it and how much our spiritual predecessors thought about it. This, coupled with pastoral counseling issues, led me to think more deeply about the emotions and the role they play in the Christian life.
How does right feeling relate to right thinking?
Right thinking is key to right feeling. Right thinking is the starting point for emotional vitality. For instance, we will be a real mess if we have wrong thoughts about God. We can actually throw ourselves into an emotional vortex if we perceive God as vindictive, capricious, angry, unkind or cruel. Although this sounds extreme, many Christians think that although God may be good, He is not good to them. Another example would be incorrectly thinking about salvation. There is a direct connection with anxiety, unfounded fear, or arrogance and works-righteousness. Incorrect thinking about what this life is supposed to be like can also throw us into despair. If I really believe that God's plan for me is my best life now in terms of health, prosperity and temporal happiness, then I am setting myself for despair, distress and and weakening faith, especially when trials come. On the other hand, there is tremendous emotional equilibrium that comes with right thinking. Right thoughts about God, who He is and what He is like, are an anchor for our lives. A great example of this is found in Psalm 16:8-9. Right thinking about the work of Christ and His full salvation can bring us rest, peace and joy. Properly thinking about our struggles in this life and God's purposes in them can spare us from worry or disappointment. So one of the important pieces of our sanctification is the renewing of our minds with God's truth and having our emotions shaped by that truth. Feelings and Faith is filled with Scripture texts that make these points.
What are the most common misunderstandings Christians make regarding their emotions?
The misunderstandings are across the board. On the one end of the spectrum you have the anti-emotion view which looks at emotions as dangerous, unreliable and even undesirable. From this perspective, one of the goals of the Christian life is to ignore or suppress the emotions. All of the emotive words in the Bible are recast into mental or volitional activities. On the other end of the spectrum you have the view that the emotions are king, they sovereignly rule the Christian. This can manifest itself in "I can't help the way I feel" emotional victimization. I have seen grown men and women justify sins of all sorts because they "couldn't help the way they feel." This notion of the sovereignty of the emotions can also be turned into something quite mystical. From this perspective, one lives by the emotions. The emotions (how a person feels) determine whether they are close to God, what they believe, how they conduct themselves and even determine God's will. In this camp virtually nobody considers the tougher doctrines like election or hell, because they don't like the way they "feel." The correctives for these views are to see that the emotions, although fallen, are a good part of our humanity which reflects the image of God and that they are not soverign over us, but rather through the Word and Spirit we can grow in emotional maturity and balance. Making that case is the burden of Feelings and Faith.
How is Jesus our pattern with regard to our emotions?
This segues from the previous question nicely. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He redeems us from our sins (Matt. 1:21). For those who are saved by Him, He is also now their perfect example as we see in so many NT texts. When we consider that Jesus, as the God-Man perfectly reflects God and perfectly reflects perfect, sinless humanity then He must be our example. Jesus said that when we have seen Him we have seen the Father (John 14:9). Paul calls Jesus the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15) and the writer to the Hebrews calls Him the exact representation of God's nature (Heb. 1:3). Jesus is also perfect humanity, without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). This next point is vital, Jesus perfectly displayed the full range of sinless emotion during the incarnation. He is displayed joy (Lk. 10:21), anger (Mk. 3:5), compassion (Mk. 1:41), love (Mk. 10:21) and every other emotion that is native to human nature, reflecting the image of God, yet without sin. The goal of our redemption is full conformity to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29; 1 Jn. 3:2). The goal of the Christian life is to be increasinly conformed to the image of Christ (Col. 3:10). We have a call to imitate Christ (Phil. 2:5; 1 Pet. 2:21; 1 Jn. 2:6). This call to be conformed to and imitate Christ extends not only to our attitudes, word and deeds, but also to our emotions. Our whole being is to be transformed and conformed to His image. So we look to Christ to see our standard of compassion, love, devotion, delight and even anger. The emotional transformation comes by beholding Christ (we become like that which we behold, 2 Cor. 3:18), meditating on Christ and seeking change by the Holy Spirit through prayer. This is obviously a process that takes a lifetime.
Update: See more endorsements for Feelings and Faith.
Faith and Feelings - A Great New Book
Brian Borgman has teamed up with Crossway Publishers to provide a significant blessing to the church with the release of the book Feelings and Faith: Cultivating Godly Emotions in the Christian Life. Pastor Borgman and I worked together in the summer of 2004 when he allowed me to teach a six-week series on singleness and marriage at the church he pastors, Grace Community Church in Minden, NV. Those lessons later became With One Voice. Brian officiated at my wedding to Marni on December 18, 2004. So it was with delight that I reviewed this book in manuscript form and was able to offer this endorsement:
"Martyn Lloyd-Jones taught us that if we see truth clearly, we must feel it. Authentic faith in the supreme, indomitable goodness of God in sending Jesus Christ as our substitute and redeemer necessarily transforms our feelings. The Holy Spirit awakens earnest love for others from a pure heart (I Peter 1:22), joyful acceptance of loss (Heb. 10:34), and cheerful generosity (II Cor. 9:7). Pastor Brian Borgman's Feelings and Faith stands in the great tradition of Desiring God by John Piper and Spiritual Depression by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Borgman clearly sets forth the foundational role of truth, unpacks a robust theology of Christian experience, and provides examples of how to mortify sinful emotions and cultivate godly ones. I highly recommend this book."Brian was also kind enough to answer a few questions for us about this book.
Math TV -- A Great Learning Tool
Perhaps you are a home schooling parent or just want to help your kids do their homework. Maybe you are a college student needing to brush up on your math. Math TV is just the tool for you.
The left side of the home page gives you the menu of options available: calculus, trigonometry, algebra, and basic mathematics. Click on the triangle and you'll see a large number of sub-topics. Then, click on an option (for example, Quadratic Formula, under Quadratic Equations, under Algebra). You will then see a list of videos to the right. The top one is the easiest, most straightforward example. Just move your way down to see increasingly complex examples. You can either watch a student perform the example, or you can select the teacher, Mr. McKeague. The videos seem to all be no longer than about five minutes.
May 09, 2009
Plodding and Productivity
Speaking of Douglas Wilson, this old post he wrote on the fruitfulness of plodding is insightful. Excerpts:
I believe in plodding. Productivity is more a matter of diligent, long-distance hiking than it is one-hundred-yard dashing. Doing a little bit now is far better than hoping to do a lot on the morrow. So redeem the fifteen minute spaces. Chip away at it. For example, I have a stack of six books that I am working through most weekday mornings -- a page or two of each every time I sit down to read. I do the same thing with writing -- if you have time for a little bit, then do a little bit.And:
A sixty hour work week is an honest job and a significant load, but a lot of the problems that come to people who work this much happen because of where those sixty hours are placed. It is possible to work sixty hours and still have lots of time left over for family. A week has a total of 168 hours in it. Sixty hours of work leaves 108, and eight hours of sleep a night take away another 56 hours, leaving you with 52 hours a week to play tag with the kids.Read the whole thing.
Also, from the parts I've read, this 36-page booklet by C.J. Mahaney on biblical productivity seems quite helpful--particularly at making a distinction between busyness and fruitfulness. Plenty of "busy" people are relatively unfruitful and unfaithful to their deepest priorities, and its a temptation we all face.
May 08, 2009
Using RefTagger To Quickly Link To Bible Verses
In just a few minutes, I added RefTagger to my blog. If you are not aware of this cool feature to quickly reference Bible verses, check it out by hovering your mouse over some of these great verses.
John 3:16
Romans 1:16-17
Romans 3:21-26
2 Corinthians 8:9
Romans 8:1-11
Here's a quick summary of what's happening:
RefTagger takes citing Bible references to a whole new level. All you need to do is copy the customizable code that we provide for you below and paste it into your website’s template file(s), and it will instantly be applied to your entire site—all past and future content! It doesn’t matter how big or small your site is. RefTagger does it all instantly—saving you hours of time linking verses manually! Because RefTagger uses JavaScript, it doesn’t actually change the code on the content of your site’s pages. If you decide to remove RefTagger from your site, it’s as simple as deleting the code from your template file(s).Want to use it? Scroll down to copy the JavaScript code. Thanks, Logos!
Collision Movie: Douglas Wilson & Christopher Hitchens
A few years ago I edited a book on which I was privileged to have Douglas Wilson as a contributor. Pastor Wilson is a smart, quick-witted fellow who really knows how to have a good, clean, honest debate. That is one reason why I so enjoyed following the dialogue he carried out with atheist intellectual Christopher Hitchens over their rival books, God Is Not Great
It turns out that a movie called Collision has been made about the series of joint appearances & debates that Wilson and Hitchens have been engaging in over the last year or so. (For example, at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.) The release schedule of the film and the venue is still to be determined, it seems. But here is a 13-minute sneak preview. The movie looks terrific.
HT: JT
May 07, 2009
Mike Huckabee Interviews Pro-Life Advocate Kathy Ireland
Speaking of a compelling, pro-life case, author Kathy Ireland
"If the unborn is not a human being, have as many abortions as you want, whenever you want, no justification is necessary. If, on the other hand, the unborn is a human being, then no justification is adequate unless another human life is at risk, that being the mother's. But then you are not acting to kill you are acting to save another life."Watch the video for the context.
May 06, 2009
Greg Koukl Interviews Scott Klusendorf on The Case For Life
Greg Koukl, of Stand to Reason, interviews Scott Klusendorf on his new book The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture. A bit about the author:
Scott Klusendorf is the president of Life Training Institute, where he trains pro-life advocates to persuasively defend their views. A passionate and engaging platform speaker, Scott's pro-life presentations have been featured by Focus on the Family, Truths That Transform, and American Family Radio. Scott is a graduate of UCLA and the author of Pro-Life 101: A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your Case PersuasivelyThe book is clear and accessible -- the sort of book that a busy layperson can read, understand, and apply in everyday conversations on questions like: What is an unborn baby? Isn't abortion a "private matter"? What if the mother cannot afford to have a child? Klusendorf also helpfully sets the pro-life view within the larger framework of a Christian worldview..
Read the Introduction and Chapter 1.
"The Case for Life is a veritable feast of helpful information about pro-life issues, the finest resource about these matters I have seen. It is accessible to the layperson, and it lays out a strategy for impacting the world for a culture of life."
- J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Biola University; author of Kingdom Triangle
"Scott Klusendorf has produced a marvelous resource that will equip pro-lifers to communicate more creatively and effectively as they engage our culture. The Case for Life is well-researched, well-written, logical, and clear, containing many pithy and memorable statements. Those already pro-life will be equipped; those on the fence will likely be persuaded. Readers looking to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves will find much here to say. I highly recommend this book."
- Randy Alcorn, best-selling author
"Scott Klusendorf takes the insights and methods for defending the right to life he so effectively communicates in his teaching presentations into a book that provides a clear and cogent biblical rationale for the sanctity and dignity of life, born or unborn. This is a great tool for the layman who knows he or she is pro-life, but doesn't understand the presuppositions on which his or her beliefs are based or who doesn't feel equipped to defend or discuss the issue with others."
- Chuck Colson, founder, Prison Fellowship
DA Carson on OT in NT: Free Audio Messages
Dr. D.A. Carson recently gave a series of addresses at the Word Within The Word conference on the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament. Here are links to the audio files:
Plenary 1 - Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14 in Hebrews 1
Plenary 2 - Psalm 95 in Hebrews 3-4
Plenary 3 - Genesis 14 and Psalm 110 in Hebrews 7
The conference ran from April 24-25, 2009 and was hosted by the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University. This conference also included three breakout sessions by David and Sally Michael (Directors of Parenting and Children's Discipleship at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN).
Session 1 (8:30 am) - God-Centered Bible Teaching for the Glory of God
Session 2 (9:45 am) - Raising Bible-Saturated Children
Session 3 (1:30 pm) - Aiming for Application and Response in Teaching Children the Bible
HT: Brian Denker
Albert Mohler's New Book: The Disappearance of God
Dr. Albert Mohler's latest book, The Disappearance of God: Dangerous Beliefs in the New Spiritual Openness
For centuries the church has taught and guarded the core Christian beliefs that make up the essential foundations of the faith. But in our postmodern age, sloppy teaching and outright lies create rampant confusion, and many Christians are free-falling for 'feel-good' theology. We need to know the truth to save ourselves from errors that will derail our faith.Dr. Mohler's blog today posts the preface of the book. My copy came in the mail on Monday. It looks very interesting. Here is the endorsement from David Wells:As biblical scholar, author, and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Albert Mohler, writes, "The entire structure of Christian truth is now under attack." With wit and wisdom he tackles the most important aspects of these modern issues:
* Is God changing His mind about sin?
* Why is hell off limits for many pastors?
* What's good or bad about the emergent movement?
* Have Christians stopped seeing God as God?
* Is the social justice movement misguided?
* Could the role of beauty be critical to our theology?
* Is liberal faith any less destructive than atheism?
* Are churches pandering to their members to survive?In the age-old battle to preserve the foundations of faith, it's up to a new generation to confront and disarm the contemporary shams and fight for the truth. Dr. Mohler provides the scriptural answers to show you how.
"Here is a picture on the life of the church where it is being troubled, seduced, and attacked by today's dominant cultural forces. Its analysis is clear and to the point., and its answers are biblically framed, thoughtful, and helpful. I wish there were more books like this!"
- David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
May 05, 2009
Notre Dame Out of Step With Public on Obama Honorary Degree
Rasmussen Reports, an outstandingly reliable, unbiased poling agency, conducted a recent survey to determine public opinion on Notre Dame's decision to award an honorary Doctor of Law degree to President Barack Obama during this spring's Commencement service. Their finding:
Fifty-two percent (52%) of Americans nationwide say the University of Notre Dame should have followed guidelines set by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and refrained from awarding an honorary degree to President Obama.Read the whole thing.By a 60% to 25% margin, U.S. Catholics say the university should not award an honorary degree to the president. Sixty-six percent (66%) of Evangelical Christians share that view along with 52% of other Protestants.
However, a plurality (45%) of those who do not have Christian affiliations say the university should give the president the honorary degree.
You may recall that Mary Ann Glendon, a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, rejected a prestigious Notre Dame award rather than participate in the Commencement service during which Obama would receive an honorary degree.
May 03, 2009
Mark Dever Interviews Ken Myers on Christians and Culture
For years now I have enjoyed Ken Myers' cultural commentary. His Mars Hill Audio Journal is in many ways a thoughtfully Christian version of NPR's All Things Considered. Myers is consistently clear-headed, erudite and relevant. In this hour-long interview, Mark Dever covers a wide variety of topics with Mr. Myers. Most interestingly, they discuss the impact of culture on Christians, our fascination with culture, and whether cultural accommodation by the church is healthy for Christians (and, in turn, the communities in which they live). Check it out.
HT: JT
May 01, 2009
Free Audio Book: Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Christianaudio is offering the much beloved and timeless Foxe's Book of Martyrs as a free audio book for the month of May. The unabridged version of Foxe's Book of Martyrs is read by John Fox. The official description:
Beginning with the story of Stephen from the book of Acts, considered the first Christian martyr, the drama builds to the passion of the early Church's persecution under the Roman Empire. The hardy and radical faith of those first believers spawned medieval missionary movements that spread the gospel across Europe and into England, Scotland, and Ireland.Use the coupon code MAY2009 to download the entire book for free.
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