Quotes of the Day

"Theology pieces sometimes require heavy lifting by readers. Magazine consultants are wont to think that such pieces are a throwback—and too demanding for modern readers. Hogwash. First, good theology always looks forward. And second, many readers are tired of small thinking and blog logic."

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"God is in the longest bad marriage in history."

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"The key word in Mrs. Meyer’s dream is not “vampire” or “girlfriend” but “meadow.” The key confrontations in all four published Twilight books take place in meadows, usually a meadow in the Olympic Mountains. James the Tracker stumbles upon Bella there in Twilight, Victoria’s Newbie Vampires fight the Cullens there in Eclipse, and the epic final showdown with the Volturi in Breaking Dawn takes place there as well. Edward reveals himself to Bella in the “perfectly circular” meadow of Mrs. Meyer’s inspiring dream, and she sees Jacob Black, her Quileute buddy, as a werewolf for the first time in the same meadow in New Moon.

"'Mountain Meadows,' however, means something much less pastoral and positive and much more visceral and painful to American Latter-day Saints (LDS). The summer of 2003 saw the publication of three books that focused on the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which tragedy Mormon faithful in Southern Utah executed more than 120 men, women, and children on their way to California from Arkansas.

"All three books paint the Mormon faith as inherently bloodthirsty, violent, secretive, and abusive to women and non-believers. The Twilight novels, especially Breaking Dawn, can be understood as a response to the challenge they posed to Mormon believers like Mrs. Meyer. In brief, Meyer was inspired to write works in which she addresses and resolves in archetypal story the criticisms being made of Mormonism by atheists and non-believing gentiles."

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"If you were able to go back in a time machine and witness the tomb of Christ only to find that Christ did not raise from the grave, what would that do to your Christian faith?"

Thankful for a Brain Tumor

You may not know Matt Chandler (he's an up and coming preacher/teacher), and you don't necessarily need to to understand and be moved by a video he made for his 6000+ member congregation days before having a tumor removed from his brain.

He has since had the surgery and is waiting to find out if the tumor was cancerous.

Is Jesus Your King?

Tim Keller, in his small group study on Mark, says that there are five things you must do to make Jesus King of your life:

A. Obeying. (Not like Jonah. He thought that if he did what God had said that it would ruin things.) The evaluation question: “Am I willing to obey whatever God says about this life-area?” Symptom: guilt and “covering up”.

B. Accepting. (Not like Job. He thought God was unfair, and that he knew how to run history better.) The evaluation question: “Am I willing to thank God for whatever happens in this area?” Symptom: worry, self-pity, or bitterness.

C. Relying. (Not like Abraham. He made Isaac an idol, something he had to have along with God to be happy.) The evaluation question: “Is there something instead of God I am relying on for self-worth?” Symptom: insecurity (people-approval as an idol), “drivenness” (success or achievement as an idol), self-indulgence (comfort as an idol).

D. Expecting. (Not like Moses. When called to do a great deed, he was sure he was not competent.) The evaluation question: “Are there problems or limitations in my life I think are too big for God to remove?” Symptom: boredom and discouragement.

A fifth, overall evaluation question:

If you ever say, “I’ll obey Christ if…” then you are still on the throne of your
life, determining when and whether you will take a course of action. Are there
any if’s in your life?

There is No Sunday "Worship Switch"

R. Kent Hughes, in Worship by the Book (p. 141):

Because worship is a way of life, you cannot worship corporately on the Lord's day if you haven't been worshiping throughout the week--apart from repentance! Christians don't have a Sunday "worship switch," despite what is sometimes portrayed on television. Neither must we be allowed to think that "worship" is only part of the service--as if singing and praise were worship in contrast to the preaching. And "worship leader"? What an odd term! Does the worship end when his or her part is done?

Heaven Isn't Appealing to Me Because I Won't Be Married

Piper responds to that common (and understandable) statement:

Moldovans are Macedonians

Eating to Survive

As I picked at my own food (if you could call it that), I stared at the orphans around me. Coming in ordered droves, they ate like utilitarians, quickly, efficiently. I could see some desperation in their eyes as they shoveled food into their tummies.

We were in the dining hall in a little orphanage in a little village called Tocuz. Meals were basic--some bread, chicken soup perhaps, always some sort of oatmeal--and came at least twice a day, as far as I could tell. Interestingly, the kids spoke very little to one another as they ate. They were all business, you could say, no pleasure. Ranging from 7-16, these kids would never sip on soda or get dessert if they ate everything on their plate. They always ate everything on their plates. As I stared at the devouring, it dawned on me that, for them, eating was a means of survival. Though meals came with some regularity in Tocuz, they could not be depended upon. The eyes of the kids said resoundingly, "This meal could be my last for a while."

I don't understand that in the slightest. I have gone hungry for, maybe, half a day. The only dilemma I have when eating is whether or not I will eat enough or way too much (I usually choose the latter). What a dilemma. The kids in front of me, however, would never experience true bounty. What they had before them was all that they had and, as far as they knew, all they would have for a while. And it was in this context that I saw, perhaps for the first time, true sacrifice.

A Macedonian Before Me

It was nearing the end of the meal and I was watching one girl eat her food. She was one of the matriarchs of the orphanage, probably 14 or 15 years old. She had only finished half of her meal when she promptly stood up. She grabbed her plate, walked briskly across the room, and scraped the rest of her food off on to the plate of a girl much younger, who quickly began inhaling it. The girl had done this before, I'm sure of it, probably every day. Though she needed the food as much as anyone there, she had taken it upon herself to care for the younger ones. Where there was no mommy to provide, she would be the mommy.

As I tried hopelessly to grasp the enormity of what I had just seen, I thought about the Macedonians. The Macedonians, as we learn from Paul, gave when they had nothing to give. 2 Corinthians 8: 1-2: "We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." This girl was a Macedonian. Generosity had flowed not out of the abundance of her riches, but out of the abundance of grace.

Generosity is not Easy to Come By

Tim Keller says that if you really want to give, you must give sacrificially. That is, you've got to give in a such a way that it hurts. But few of us do that. Very few of us would give the way that girl gave. Why? Several reasons, and they are interconnected.

1. The more we burden ourselves with stuff, the harder it is too free ourselves to actually give any of it away. The show Hoarders is about people who are literally incapable of throwing things away. For a multiplicity of reasons, they collect and collect and collect. And usually, their collection of food or clothes or things grows to such a great degree that getting rid of any of it would prove to be impossible. The same goes for those of us who have plenty. There comes a point when you gather too much stuff to give any of it away. Mountain climbers, for example, rid themselves of anything that isn't useful to them. If they burdened themselves with the extraneous, they'd never make it to the top. How many of us are loaded down with the extraneous? Though it is counter-intuitive, the less we have, the more will give away.

2. There is a direct correlation between wealth building and stinginess. I have spoken to numerous people who believe that giving will come as a result of accumulating money and things. What I have found, however, is that the building of earthly wealth serves as a dandy memory eraser. The more we collect, the more we forget that everything we have is a gift from God. Consequently, the more we collect, the more we believe that what we have is a result of our own ingenuity and discipline. We are owed what we have. So we could say that wealth building reinforces our self-righteousness, the belief that we are our own saviors. And rarely are the self-righteous able to give sacrificially. Giving sacrificially requires faith in something outside of ourselves.

3. The degree to which you give generously will depend on the degree to which you understand how generous Christ was with his own life. Paul does not say that the Macedonians gave out of the goodness of their hearts. Contrary to that, their generosity was a result of the "grace of God." And what is the grace of God? "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." It's pretty simple. The more deeply you understand what Christ gave up for us, the more you will give up for others. But if your generosity is not rooted in the work of Christ on the cross, you will never be sacrificially generous.

The girl was a Macedonian. At 14 years old she had little but gave much. I am 30 now. Will I finally follow her lead?

He Is Now Our Enemy

Joe Carter, on how Christians must respond to mass murderer Nidal Malik Hasan:

During times of tragedy, it is often easier to talk about praying than to take time out to pray. But I hope that all of us truly will take the time to pray for those involved in the recent massacre at Fort Hood.

We should pray for the dead, pray for the wounded, pray for the victim’s families . . . and pray for Nidal Malik Hasan.

Although he swore an oath to protect his homeland against all enemies—foreign and domestic—Hasan became a traitor to his country and a murderous enemy to his fellow soldiers. His actions make him an enemy of the state and an enemy of his fellow citizens. He is our enemy now. As such the duty of those who call ourselves Christian is crystal clear: We must love and pray for Hasan.

As Christ’s commanded, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” We can be angry, we can grieve, and we can expect Hasan to pay for his crimes. But we must also love and pray for him, remembering that we were once enemies of a God who, though angered and grieved, paid for our crimes with the blood of his only begotten Son.

Moldova Taught Me the Justice of God

My friend leaned into my ear and said, "Do you see the woman standing in the back over there?" We were standing in the tiny village of Suhat, Moldova, surrounded by kids nervously waiting for some new shoes, a bit of soap. I glanced over and instantly knew who he was referring to and why. I had not seen a shiner like that since I had jumped from a chair and elbowed my eight-year-old brother straight in the eye (he deserved it). The woman's lip was busted up too. "It looks really fresh" my friend said. "I'm sure her husband did it."

I am not one usually to wish vengeance upon strangers. That day I did. I quickly thought about ways my friends and I could dispatch the a-hole who thought it a good idea to make a punching bag out of his wife. He was probably drunk when he did it, and probably drunk because he was desperately sad, not being able to provide much for his kids and all. That didn't much matter to me as she tried her best to hide her face from those around her. When I had come up with a relatively good plan to make the guy pay, my eyes were drawn to the other moms. How many of these moms had taken the back of a calloused hand for no good reason or gotten kicked in the kidneys to protect their kids? My plan was not encompassing enough. How would I take all the husbands out? I quickly envisioned myself Rambo with a large, menacing weapon and bulging, sweating muscles. It would take a lot more than I realized.

Suhat is a town long since forgotten, not on any map that I saw. The nearest village shares none of its resources they get from the government and their mayor consistently denies Suhat's existence. Food is so scarce there that meals are far from daily. The kids are dressed up in anything and everything to keep warm. One young girl I saw (an orphan) was dressed in a Playboy t-shirt. Though the rain, snow and brutally muddy roads would come soon, most of the people there would have only sandals to keep the cold from their feet. My plan was worthless. These people would get no justice that day or any day. I was far too small to do anything useful.

And so I must believe that God will have the final say. He must be just. If he is not, then there is no God or, worse, he is not much of a God at all. The scriptures affirm, though, that he is righteous--he must right all the wrongs. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord,'" (Romans 12:19). Though he has shown mercy for a time, his patience will not endure forever. Jesus Christ himself will soon return with a tattoo emblazoned on his leg and a sword tearing out from his mouth (Revelation 19:11-16). He's not coming to make nice.

Suhat exposed me for who I really am: A flaccid sinner clinging desperately to a righteous savior. I am worthless to provide justice. But it is he who hands out soap and it is he who will dispense furious fists.

The Prosperity Gospel in Africa

Via Out of Ur. Words cannot express how infuriating this is to me.

"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." -James 3:1

Tim Keller Freedom

I guess his books sales have done well enough to allow the poor people of the world (i.e. me) access to some free Timmy K. One hundred and fifty free sermons here.

Unpacking Forgiveness: A Summary

I have yet to read Chris Braun's book Unpacking Forgiveness, but it is on my short list. For a one page summary of the book, which is quite helpful, click on the image below. Also, read this amazing article (I have posted about before).

Does it Matter How Many People Pray?

You Have to Make a Choice Here

My former proffessor, David Wells, was interviewed by the Globe recently (he is being honored with a conference at GCTS). For all you Mass Christians, the first question and answer will interest you:

Is it different being an evangelical in Massachusetts than somewhere in the Bible Belt?

It undoubtedly is. Here you make a choice whether you want to be an evangelical believer. You have to be serious about it. In the South, it might be more following convention and habit or a family pattern.

Whole interview.

Changing Our Tone

Margret Fineberg was asked what she would change about U.S. Christians. She replied,

I would change the tone. We have forgotten that when Jesus rode into Jerusalem to settle things once and for all, Scripture depicts him as "gentle." Paul described himself as gentle in 2 Corinthians 10:1. In a culture of noise, gentleness is not a sign of weakness, but can be incredibly powerful for the glory of God.

Work as Your Worship

D.A. Carson, in Worship by the Book, pp. 40-41:

In theological analysis of work, it is a commonplace to say that work is a "creation ordinance" (the terminology varies with the theological tradition). However corrosive and difficult work has become this side of the Fall (Gen 3:17-19), work itself belongs to the initial paradise (Gen 2:15), and it continues to be something we do as creatures in God's good creation. That is true, of course, but under the new covenant it is also inadequate. If everything, including our work, has been sacralized in the sense just specified, then work itself is part of our worship. Christians work not only as God's creatures in God's creation, but as redeemed men and women offering their time, their energy, their work, their whole lives, to God--loving him with heart and mind and strength, understanding that whatever we do, we are to do to the glory of God.

Typhoon Ketsana and Weakness

Neil Postman (among others) argue that the information we glean from the news (TV) is largely unhelpful. We see things that have no affect on our immediate lives, nor can we affect most of the the things we see. What is it's point? he asks. While there are some pieces of international information that are indeed extraneous, one can't help but praise God that he has made us aware (sometimes painfully so) of the world's sufferings and joys. Can we physically affect most of the things we see on TV? Of course not. But can we pray? Of course we can and should. And, perhaps more importantly, can we be transformed by the goings on of the world? Yes.

Such is the case with Typhoon Ketsana. Seeing these pictures (especially the one below of the drowned child) profoundly challeneges my American sensibilities. We have it so incredibly easy. And so, to some degree, I am made weak as I experience, in spirit, the sufferings of my brothers and sisters in the Philippines (see 2 Corinthians 11:16-12:10). And for that, I am joyful.

Why All the Denominations?

New Calvinism: Its Pitfalls

Most people consider Mark Driscoll the MMA fighter of the Christian world. But in truth, he is Kimbo Slice compared to Carl Trueman. Armed only with a pen, Trueman consistently obliterates those in his path (with decidedly British flair). His corrective prose is always worth reading and usually is spot on.

Such is especially the case with his newest article, "The Nameless One," as he reflects on the pitfalls of the new resurgence of Calvinism, or the "Young, Restless and Reformed," as he refers to them (YYR). If you're interested in some inside-baseball, read away. Personally, his cautions cut out my heart several times as I am a guy who consistently desires fame (that will never come) more than faithfulness.

Here are a few blurbs that burned my fingers as I read:

One striking and worrying aspect of the movement is how personality oriented it is. It is identified with certain big names, rather than creeds, confessions, denominations, or even local congregations. Such has always been the way with Christianity to some extent. Luther was a hero, both in his own time and for subsequent generations, and he is hardly alone. The names of Owen, Edwards, and Spurgeon, to list but three, also have great cachet; and, if we are honest, there are things which we all find in their writing which are scarcely unique to them but which we are inclined to take more seriously because it is these men who wrote the words on the page....

The significance of the leaders of the YRR movement, however, seems less like that of ages past and at times more akin to the broader cultural phenomenon of the modern cult of celebrity, a kind of sanctified Christian equivalent of the secular values that surround us. The world has Brad, Anjelina, Tom, Barack, and so on; the Christian world has - well, I am sure the reader is quite capable of filling in the blanks. All too often we're a bit too much like the church in Corinth, with its Christian competitive equivalents to pagan Sophists.

[...]

The supply side economics of the YRR movement is also worrying here, as it can easily foster such idolatry by building up a leader's importance out of all proportion to his talent. Let's face it: no preacher is so good that his every sermon deserves to be printed or his every thought published; but some contemporary leaders are heading fast in that direction, and this can only fuel their cultic significance for those needing someone to follow. Come on, chaps, everyone preaches a disastrous clunker once in a while; and many actually preach them with remarkable and impressive regularity. The world therefore does not need to read every word you ever utter from a pulpit; and not every electrical impulse which sparks between the synapses in your grey matter needs to be written down, turned into yet another expository commentary, and sold for 15% net royalties at the local Christian bookshop.

If leader-as-celebrity-and-oracular-source-of-all-knowledge is one potential problem in the YRR culture, then another concern is the apparent non-exportability of the models of church on offer. Everyone knows the amazing works that have been done through the ministries of men like Tim Keller in Manhattan and Mark Driscoll in Seattle; but the track record of exporting the Redeemer or Mars Hill models elsewhere is patchy at best, raising the obvious question of whether these phenomena are the result less of their general validity and more of the singular talents of the remarkable individuals. To be clear, this is in no way to suggest that these churches are not faithful; but it is to ask whether they are not more unique and unrepeatable than is often acknowledged. If the secret lies in the gifts of the individual leader, then time spent trying to replicate the models elsewhere with less talented or differently gifted leaders is doomed to failure and a waste of time.

[...]

Ultimately, only the long term will show if the YRR movement has genuinely orthodox backbone and stamina, whether it is inextricably and inseparably linked to uniquely talented leaders, and whether `Calvinism is cool' is just one more sales pitch in the religious section of the cultural department store. If the movement is more marketing than reality, then ten to fifteen years should allow us to tell. If it is still orthodox by that point, we can be reasonably sure it is genuine. Indeed, when torn jeans, or nose rings, or ministers talking about their sex lives from the pulpit become passé or so commonplace that they cease to be distinctive, we will see if it is timeless truth or marketable trendiness which has really driven the movement; and, even it proves to have been the latter, we should not panic. We will still be left with the boring, mundane and nameless people and culturally irrelevant and marginal churches - the nameless ones -- upon whose anonymous contributions, past and present, most of us actually depend.

Every Chapter Will Be Better than the One Before It

Randy Alcorn, on suffering and evil (see also his new book If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil):

Practicing the Presence of God

I don't do this well. Because I releagate God to my quiet times in the morning, I am much more prone to sin. If I were mindful of God always, would I not be more apt to live in holiness? John White writes well on this subject in The Fight: A Practical Handbook to Christian Living, p. 35-36:

It is good to have a set time to meet with God daily. But it becomes a bad thing if you feel that communion is confined to that brief period. Meister Eckhart, an old mystic, urged Christians to carry from their secret meeting with God "the same frame of mind" into the world around them. You see, you do not leave God when you go from the quiet place any more than he leaves you. A "quiet time" is a "tuning in" time. You should not switch off the radio once you have tuned in to God's wavelength. Thomas Kelly in his book Testament of Devotion talks about living on two planes at once. Impossible as it may seem, it is the unusual privilege of the Christian to be aware of God at all times. Brother Lawrence in the little book The Practice of the Presence of God speaks simply and straight-forwardly of the same thing.

You need not constantly be formulating verbal petitions, but like the psalmist you may enjoy the Lord "always before your face." It may be that such a practice is what Paul refers to when he urges us to "Pray constantly" (1 Thess. 5:17). You may leave the room where you pray, but you do not have to leave the inner sanctuary deep inside your being.

Still, old habits of mind may be hard to overcome. Most of the time, whether we are aware of it or not, our minds are occupied at the same time with the intellectual tasks on hand or the impression we think we are making on those around us or how much time we have or a hundred other things. "Pure concentration" on one task is almost impossible. Our minds function simultaneously on various levels even when we are concentrating hard on a mathematical problem. The capacity to carry out our tasks efficiently while we continue to praise God presents no difficulty as far as our brain function is concerned. Our difficulty is simply that old habits of thought want to reassert themselves and crowd out what is most needed.

The Holy Spirit wishes to make us more aware of God at all times. Just as we wander in thought when having devotions, we will constantly wander in thought all day long. And each time we become aware of doing so, it is because God is getting through to us again. Don't waste time kicking yourself when you wake up to the fact that your thoughts have been anywhere but where they should be. Immediately say, "Thank you, Lord. Thank you because you never cease to speak to me. Thank you that you are always near."