May 29, 2008
Young, Restless, Reformed - Collin Hansen
A well-researched and entertaining account of Reformed theology's increasing popularity among young Christians, Collin Hansen's new book, Young, Restless, Reformed, appeared in seed form as a Christianity Today cover story in 2006. With a degree in journalism, Hansen is now editor-at-large for Christianity Today while pursuing an M.Div. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL.
Hansen documents the impact of several vibrant ministries that, while having significant theological differences with one another, answer with one voice on the question, "Who does what in salvation?" These ministries all contend that humans contribute no more to their second birth than they do to their first. Just as the cry of a newborn infant is evidence of new life (rather than the cause of that life), so faith in Christ is a response to the new (spiritual) life (re-)created by God the Holy Spirit (e.g., Eph. 2:1-10). Regeneration precedes faith. We love God because He first loved us. We choose Christ because God first chose us. While Hansen spends a little time unpacking the "five points of Calvinism," his book is by no means polemical. Rather, through interviewing a host of rising leaders (and a fair share of regulars), he lets them explain the emotional appeal and the biblical/intellectual consistency of the doctrines of grace.
Chapter one is entitled, "Born Again Again". It introduces us to the theme of the book; namely, that there seems to be a confluence of factors drawing significant numbers of young Christians to embracing at the least the basics of Reformed theology. For example, Joshua Harris is quoted as saying: "I do wonder if some of the appeal [of Calvinism] and the trend isn't a reaction to the watered down vision of God that's been portrayed in the evangelical seeker-oriented churches." The chapter includes Hansen's coverage of the 2007 Passion Conference, and particularly John Piper's presence at that 18,000+ student event. Hansen also describes his own journey toward Reformed theology.
Chapter 2 focuses more fully on the impact of John Piper and Bethlehem Baptist Church. I appreciated this chapter because Piper was instrumental in my own embrace of Calvinism in my early twenties. Also, I spent three years at Bethlehem, and it was during that time that Hansen visited, so I know a lot of the people he was talking to.
Chapter 3 shifts east to Yale University and an investigation of Jonathan Edwards, a man whose popularity is also increasing, as exemplified by the establishment of the Jonathan Edwards Center. Their ambition is to make all of Edwards' writing available in digital form (about 100,000 pages).
Chapter 4 shifts south to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS), where the conservative resurgence has been quite friendly to Calvinism. Hansen gives a good historical sketch of the SBC with respect to Calvinism and includes a few student and faculty interviews (For a more extensive treatment, see By His Grace and For His Glory
Chapter 5 and 6 focus on Sovereign Grace Ministries and their ministry to (primarily younger) singles, New Attitude. With 70 or so churches in the United States and almost 10 around the world, the movement led by C.J. Mahaney has been tremendously significant. Chapter 7 then shifts to the west coast and Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, and the Acts 29 church-planting network. What was so interesting is that until a few years ago, Driscoll and Mahaney didn't even know each other.
The book also includes some interesting tid-bits on the Reformed blogosphere --- Hansen even gives away the visitor statistics on Tim Challies' blog. You'll have to read the book to find out. All in all, a great read. One that won't tax you too much mentally, and yet will inform you of recent developments all over the country. If (like me) you've been impacted by this movement, prepare to be encouraged.
Related: A four-part series I wrote on the Calvinism vs. Arminianism issue: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
May 20, 2008
Think Your Family is Unique?
(Click on the photo to learn more.)
April 15, 2008
Summer Availability of Townhouse in Riverside, CA
Please forgive the highly personal nature of this post. I accepted a summer teaching assignment at U.C. Berkeley, so Marni, the kids, and I will be heading back to my Alma mater. We're hoping to sublet our townhouse in Riverside, CA to trustworthy tenants: A family, mature students, missionaries, etc. All the info has been posted elsewhere, and there are also extra photos.
April 12, 2008
Biola President Emeritus Clyde Cook (1935-2008)
Dr. Clyde Cook, President of Biola University from 1982-2007, influenced countless lives for Jesus Christ during his almost 73 year pilgrimage. My wife and I had the privilege of speaking to him for about an hour last spring prior to his official retirement. We were impressed by his heart for Christian higher education and his balanced perspective on the value of both academic rigor and spiritual formation. May his tribe increase.
A Biola University statement reads:
Dr. Clyde Cook served as Biola University’s president for 25 years, from 1982 to 2007, with a unique background as an educator, administrator and fourth-generation missionary.Both his great-grandparents and grandparents were missionaries to China, and his mother followed in their footsteps. While traveling there by ship, she met her future husband, an officer on the ship, and a year later was married to this Christian sea captain from Scotland.
Born in Hong Kong, the fourth of six children, Clyde was faced with adversity at an early age when the Cook family was imprisoned in three different concentration camps during World War II. In 1942, by God’s grace they were reunited in South Africa.
After five years in South Africa, the Cooks came to the United States and settled in Laguna Beach, California, where Clyde was named California Interscholastic Federation basketball player of the year in 1953. He was offered athletic scholarships to thirteen different major universities.
Clyde received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Biola University (1957) and his Master of Divinity (1960) and Master of Theology (1962) from Talbot Theological Seminary. He earned his Doctor of Missiology (1974) at Fuller Theological Seminary.
After graduating from Biola, Clyde served as the school’s Athletic Director from 1957 to 1960. From 1963-1967 he and his wife, Anna Belle, were missionaries with O.C. Ministries (Overseas Crusades then) in Cebu City in the Philippines. During this time Clyde participated in pastors’ conferences, city-wide crusades, lay institute training, youth conferences and Bible school teaching. He traveled extensively, visiting more than 72 countries in athletic and drama evangelism and to represent Biola University. In 1971, he spent six months in the Philippines helping to set up theological extension education programs.
Returning to Biola in 1967 as an Assistant Professor of Missions, Clyde was then appointed Director of Intercultural Studies and Missions and helped to develop Biola’s nationally acclaimed program in cross-cultural education. Called to the presidency of O.C. Ministries in 1978, he ably guided the mission organization to an increased level of financial stability and multiplied foreign field effectiveness.
Clyde served on the Biola Board of Trustees from 1980 to 1982 when he was invited by a unanimous vote of the Board to assume the seventh presidency of Biola University on June 1, 1982 and became president emeritus on July 1, 2007.
Dr. Cook served for seven years on the Board of Directors of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and one year as its chair. He also served for six years on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and served as the president of that organization for two years. He served on the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation task force as well as serving as a member of the steering committee for the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents. He served for six years on the executive committee of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of California.
On Friday, April 11, 2008, Dr. Cook passed away at his home in Fullerton, California.
(HT: John Mark Reynolds)
February 11, 2008
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)
January 13, 2008
My Favorite 2007 Reading
Various members of the Desiring God staff each recently provided their top three books of 2007. I thought I'd attempt the same. Here are my top three:
1. White Guilt (by Shelby Steele)
2. Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The "Lutheran" Paul and His Critics by Stephen Westerholm
3. God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America
I'm grateful to blog reader Kimberly for alerting me to this new title. This book is a fascinating, insightful story of the mission of Patrick Henry College, which seeks to produce future Christian leaders who impact the cultural and political landscape for Christ. Given that Rosin is both Jewish and a self-described non-conservative, I was impressed at both the depth of her research and the graciousness with which she treated the subject. She is an outstanding, engaging writer. [Fair warning: She uses some profanity and on a couple occasions employs unnecessarily crude sexual references.]
Here are other titles I read this past year (not counting ones I've dabbled in -:), in case they give you ideas. (And if you are new to this blog, I've posted on most of these titles. You can use the search feature to find the posts.)
1. Semiconductor Devices (Muller and Kamins)
2. The Law and Its Fulfillment (Tom Schreiner)
3. Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ (Tom Schreiner) (very long - I read about half)
4. Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce (John Piper)
5. When the Darkness Will Not Lift (John Piper)
6. Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture (Graeme Goldsworthy)
7. The Faith of Condoleeza Rice (Leslie Montgomery)
8. Family Driven Faith (Voddie Baucham)
9. Girls Gone Mild (Wendy Shalit)
10. ReThink (Steve Wright)
11. Perspectives Old and New on Paul (Stephen Westerholm)
12. What is a Healthy Church? (Mark Dever)
13. The Truth of the Cross (R.C. Sproul)
14. Why I Am Not a Calvinst (Jerry Walls and Joe Dongell)
15. Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy (Editors Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca M. Groothuis) (I read about half)
16. Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth (Wayne Grudem) (900 pages -- I read almost one third of it)
17. Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity (Nancy Pearcey)
18. Business for the Glory of God (Wayne Grudem)
December 30, 2007
Tapping into God's Mercy
I was blessed this morning by a good word from Life as a Vapor: Thirty-One Meditations for Your Faith
"In Luke 17:5, the apostles pleaded with the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' And the Lord said, 'If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you' (v. 6). In other words, the issue in your Christian life and ministry is not the strength or quantity of your faith, because that is not what uproots trees. God does. Therefore, the smallest faith that truly connects you with Christ will engage enough of His power for all you need. Moving trees is a small thing for Christ. The issue is not perfection for Christ, but connection to Christ. So take heart, the smallest seed of faith connects with all of Christ's mercy."I think it was in this spirit that a man once cried to Jesus, "I believe; help my unbelief!" We can do the same.
December 18, 2007
Not Like The Others - T4G Ad
October 28, 2007
Best Football Game Ending I Have Ever Seen
You just need to endure one short commercial to get to the clip.
(HT: Denny Burk)
October 15, 2007
Why CAL is Not Ranked #1 in the Nation
Too painful for words! What matters now is how they respond---particularly the young Riley.
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