Supernaturalfreakotechnological

Because of the major snowfall we didn’t have church today, so I thought I would take the opportunity to listen to a sermon by one of my favorite teachers, R, C. Sproul. I have heard many of his lectures, but haven’t yet heard him preach since he became a pastor. So I went to his website, and chose to listen to his message on the prologue to John’s Gospel. I clicked the link, and began to hear a voice very unlike Dr. Sproul. It didn’t take long to recognize the voice of another of my teaching heroes, John Piper. I was hearing Piper preaching on Paul’s doxology at the end of Romans. The website says Ligonier, the window displays St. Andrew’s, the text reads The Prologue of John's Gospel, but out of the player comes Piper and Romans 16:25-27 from his message from November 26, 2006. I can only conclude that God really wants me to hear this message.

Update on Don Coleman—good news!

Earlier today I received news of significant improvement in Don’s condition from our mutual friend, Dr. James Anderson. Here is the note from James:

Brethern,

  I visited Don this morning (Thursday) and he had not needed the respirator during the night at all. This is a big step forward. He has no fever. The kidney dialysis is still needed and we'll have to trust the Lord for restoration of kidney function. This hopefully will show steady improvement. There has been no recurrence of the blood clots but this is a concern until he his physically active and up out of bed. He sat in a chair yesterday.

He is communicating by writing presently. He should be able to talk when the trach tube is plugged, hopefully soon.

The Lord be praised. Lord bless you. Thank you for sending this to folks who are eager to know Don's status. In Christ, James

James C. Anderson, MD

Update on Don Coleman

I know thousands are praying for Don, but I discovered someone had come to this site by searching blogs for Don’s name, so I thought I would forward this update that I received moments ago.

A mutual friend, Dr, James Anderson, was able to visit with Don and the physician who is treating him, and gives this report:

1. Infection-----seems controlled and probably treated successfully with toe amputation and antibiotics.

2. Shock lungs----improving a little each day. He'll need the respirator for 1-3 more weeks but he is being slowly weaned off of it. He is tolerating the withdrawal of support.

3. Kidney failure----today his kidney function improved which gives hope that the kidney dialysis may not be permanent.

4. Blood clots----on Monday, Nov. 30, he survived a clot that went from his leg to his lung. This is God's mercy. He cannot tolerate the 2 main drugs used to treat this but the intenivist today said the 3rd drug they are using is working. This is the most fragile situation presently and makes the whole situation very unpredictable. The intenivist believes that this situation has definitely improved in the last 24 hours.

5. Nutrition---- Don will get a tube from outside his abdomen through the abdominal wall into his stomach. It is felt he will need this only for as long as he is on the respirator. Nutrition will be maintained very well with this.

May God hear our prayers.

Today’s Gleaning 12/1/09

A friend and I commiserated today about the inordinate interest and passion that so many of our Christian friends devote to things political. He and I agreed that a person has but so much attention to spend, and if politics are taking up a disproportionate share, this is likely a sign that faith is being placed in solutions sought in that realm. He brought up the observation by Francis Schaeffer that one our most tempting idols is the God of personal peace and affluence. Could our infatuation with politics be a symptom of this particular idol’s sway?

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Justin Taylor quotes J. I. Packer  in World Magazine pointing out that I spend too much time on the internet:

“I’m amazed at the amount of time people spend on the internet. I’m not against technology, but all tools should be used to their best advantage. We should be spending our time on things that have staying power, instead of on the latest thought of the latest blogger—and then moving on quickly to the next blogger. That makes us more superficial, not more thoughtful.”

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

So now, doesn’t it make sense that I would commend an article about politics that I read on the internets? I couldn’t resist, though, because this essay by John Mark Reynolds (concluding a series on Sarah Palin’s new book) helpfully and excellently describes what we ought to look for in a president.

Today’s Gleanings 11/27/09

Phil Johnson at Pyromaniacs completed today his excellent series on why gambling is sinful. If you have any doubts yourself, or you wish you could better articulate to someone why gambling is wrong, you need look no further than this series. It’s the most comprehensive treatment I’ve seen developing the biblical case for why gambling is sin. Here are the links to whole series:

Is Gambling OK? Don't Bet on It

Gambling: Some Definitions and Distinctions

Answering a couple of objections

Oh, and one more thing . . .

Gambling vs. Faithful Stewardship

Does 'Mutual Consent' Eliminate the Evil in Gambling?

A good question

The Sin of Putting God to the Test

Gambling: The Moral Antithesis of Charity

Today’s Gleaning 11/26/09

For some reason I have great difficulty remembering the meaning of metonymy and today’s reading in the Institutes (Section: 4.17.21-23) should be helpful in that regard, because Calvin helpfully points out that this figure of speech is the explanation for what Jesus meant when he said of the bread at the Last Supper, “This is my body.” Calvin goes on to point out many other scriptural examples of this literary device:

“I say that this expression is a metonymy, a figure of speech commonly used in Scripture when mysteries are under discussion. For you could not otherwise understand such expressions as "circumcision is a covenant" [Gen. 17:13], "the lamb is the passover" [Ex. 12:11], "the sacrifices of the law are expiations" [Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22], and finally, "the rock from which water flowed in the desert" [Ex. 17:6], "was Christ" [I Cor. 10:4], unless you were to take them as spoken with meanings transferred. Not only is the name transferred from something higher to something lower, but, on the other hand, the name of the visible sign is also given to the thing signified: as when God is said to have appeared to Moses in the bush [Ex. 3:2]; the Ark of the Covenant is called God and God's face [Ps. 84:8; 42:3]; and the dove, the Holy Spirit [Matt. 3:16].”

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

At the rate I’m referencing the daily Calvin reading, I may be approaching Blogging the Institutes, but more learned men, such as Sinclair Fergusson, Stephen Nichols and Derek Thomas are doing a great job at this eponymous site. Concerning today’s reading, Derek Thomas catalogs a long list of literary devices employed by the Bible’s authors:

“Paul says "so is Christ" in 1 Corinthians 12:12 having spoken of the church, Christ is to be equated with the church's members. This is to fail to see the literary nature of Scripture, bearing marks of human (as well as divine authorship): thus we find acrostics, alliteration, analogy, anthropomorphism, assonance, cadence, chiasm, consonance, dialogue, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, meter, onomatopoeia, paradox, parallelism, repetition, rhyme, satire, simile and more. So why should we stumble over the meaning of "is" as metonymy?”

Today’s Gleaning 11/25/09

In today’s reading in the Institutes, (Section 4.17.18) Calvin offers a simple rubric for avoiding a wrong understanding of what takes place to the elements during communion:

“Let us never (I say) allow these two limitations to be taken away from us: (1) Let nothing be withdrawn from Christ's heavenly glory-as happens when he is brought under the corruptible elements of this world, or bound to any earthly creatures. (2) Let nothing inappropriate
to human nature be ascribed to his body, as happens when it is said either to be infinite or to be put in a number of places at once.”

Today’s Gleaning 11/24/09

Matt Perman of the uber-helpful productivity site What’s Best Next, answers three questions in an interview by Josh Etter:

1. What’s the most common mistake people make when developing a system for productivity?
2. In the last three months, what is the most helpful insight that has helped you be more productive?
3. In a nutshell, what is the most important and fundamental principle for being productive?

Here’s a sample from the answer to question #3:

“The key denominator of effectiveness is not intelligence or even hard work, as important as those are. It is the discipline to put first things first. You need to operate from a center of sound principles and organize and execute around priorities. This means that instead of prioritizing your schedule, you schedule your priorities.”

Reading the whole thing would be a productive use of your time.

Today’s Gleaning 11/21/09

For some time now I have avidly read Doug Wilson, Idaho pastor and Christian thinker extraordinaire. Now I have more reason for being quite the fan boy: his church sings the Psalms in a manner to die for. Do yourself a favor and click here to listen to their rendition of a portion of Psalm 119. Or, you can click here to find a collection. It’s enough to make you want to let goods and kindred go and move to Moscow, Idaho.

Today’s Gleaning 11/20/09

Calvin (from today’s reading in the Institutes), Section 4.17.7, writing with great humility on the difficulty of fully grasping the significance of the Lord’s Table:

“Rather, I urge my readers not to confine their mental interest within these too narrow limits, but to strive to rise much higher than I can lead them. For, whenever this matter is discussed, when I have tried to say all, I feel that I have as yet said little in proportion to its worth. And although my mind can think beyond what my tongue can utter, yet even my mind is conquered and overwhelmed by the greatness of the thing. Therefore, nothing remains but to break forth in wonder at this mystery, which plainly neither the mind is able to conceive nor the tongue to express. Nevertheless, I shall in one way or another sum up my views; for, as I do not doubt them to be true, I am confident they will be approved in godly hearts.”

Today’s Gleanings 11/19/09

Today’s Calvin reading, Section: 4.17.2 features a lovely description of the benefits mystically conferred to the saints through communion:

“Union with Christ as the special fruit of the Lord's Supper:

Godly souls can gather great assurance and delight from this Sacrament; in it they have a witness of our growth into one body with Christ such that whatever is his may be called ours. As a consequence, we may dare assure ourselves that eternal life, of which he is the heir, is ours; and that the Kingdom of Heaven, into which he has already entered, can no more be cut off from us than from him; again, that we cannot be condemned for our sins, from whose guilt he has absolved us, since he willed to take them upon himself as if they were his own. This is the wonderful exchange which, out of his measureless benevolence, he has made with us; that, becoming Son of man with us, he has made us sons of God with him; that, by his descent to earth, he has prepared an ascent to heaven for us; that, by taking on our mortality, he has conferred his immortality upon us; that, accepting our weakness, he has strengthened us by his power; that, receiving our poverty unto himself, he has transferred his wealth to us; that, taking the weight of our iniquity upon himself (which oppressed us), he has clothed us with his righteousness.”

The more I read of the Institutes, the more I wonder how the modern caricature of him came to be.

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Tim Challies let’s his hair down in major way today with a brilliant, hilarious parody of the state of Christian fiction. He manages to spear three genres at once: Amish Romance, End Time Action and Vampire Love Stories. Here’s an excerpt from his proposed back cover:

“Meanwhile, the strength of the Antichrist grows as he consolidates his power and seeks to destroy the peace-loving people of Pennsylvania. A blossoming romance unfolds between Cassidy and Slade as the world around them changes forever. They must fight to stay alive, they must fight to keep their forbidden love a secret, but, as Amish, they must not fight at all.”

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing (and try not to snort toward your keyboard.)

Urgent prayer request

A long-time personal friend and dear brother in Christ from Richmond, Don Coleman, is in ICU at a local hospital on a breathing machine due to severe blood infection.  There are additional complications involving his diabetes impacting kidney function. Don has been a hard-worker and important force for Christ’s kingdom in the Richmond metropolitan area.  I would very much appreciate your prayers.

Today’s Gleanings 11/18/09

Somehow due a mysterious eddy in the Christian blogosphere—or could it be providence?—independently of one another Phil Johnson (here, here, here, and here) and Kevin DeYoung (here and here) are both making a case against gambling.

The best argument I’ve heard for Christians to be against gambling is the fact that in order to win, we have to hope for someone else to lose. Therefore, it is a strong violation of Christ’s command to do to others as you would have them do to you (Matthew 7:12) as well as the multiple NT commands to love one another (i.e. John 13:34).

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

In today’s reading from the Institutes, Section: 4.16.31-32, Calvin responds to numerous objections from Servetus regarding infant baptism. Calvin considers these objections “a heap of trifles.” I don’t have a fraction of Calvin’s theological and intellectual horsepower, but it seems to me many of Servetus arguments are valid. Calvin repeatedly appeals to Jesus’ statement “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (in all the synoptics), to make his case for infant baptism, which, in my opinion, is forcing the passage to carry way too much freight because baptism is nowhere in view.

Today’s Gleanings 11/17/09

Over at the new evangelical Christian group blog, Evangel—hosted, by the way, by the Catholic website, First Things (confused yet?)—Joe Carter, John Mark Reynolds,  and Frank Turk weigh in on the question of whether evangelicalism is experiencing growing pains, death throes, or a mid-life crisis.

If consensus can be found among these three it might be that the patient definitely has some symptoms, but it’s too early to tell what they mean.

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Dan Phillips posts some great thoughts on why we should be thankful for the fact that we live in a God-created and God-designed universe. Bonus: he includes a memorable example of a merism to help you learn what a merism is.

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Michael Patton channels Jon Acuff in a hilarious Beginner’s Guide to Christianity. Here’s item #23:

“Lord,” “Lord God,” “God,” and “Father God” references in prayer: This is related to the previous, but an important addition to  your understanding of public prayer. While praying, Christians will continually repeat God’s name so as to remind you and themselves to whom they are praying. Therefore, do not be surprised to hear “Lord,” “Lord God,” ”Father,” or its popular variation, “Father God” at the beginning of every sentence. It sometimes will even occur multiple times in the same sentence such as the following: “Lord God, we just pray that you will be with us God during our trip God.” Pretty much, the more you say a variation of God’s name, the more spiritual you are.

Scary how spot-on these are.

Today’s Gleanings 11/16/09

Does a word or phrase exists to describe the effect of instantly recognizing what someone proposes as being true, but knowing you never would have thought of it yourself. Déjà true, perhaps?

I felt this way after reading this essay from Michael Patton at Parchment and Pen. He describes how orthodox (little “o”) Christian belief grows over time. His premise is that ultimate truth never changes, but our understanding of it does. As God reveals truth to his people and the church wrestles with its implications, the church’s understanding grows over time.

Here’s an example:

“God gave man revelation in a progressive fashion. This is often referred to as “progressive revelation.” This simply means that when Adam and Eve were in the Garden, God did not give them a completed Scripture. For example, Abraham did not know as much as Moses about redemption. He had some basic components, but very few details. The same can be said of David. While he knew more than both Abraham and Moses, he did not know as much as Isaiah, and so on.”

He includes some nice charts that helps the reader visualize what he’s describing. Great food for thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times notes that only 42 days remain in this first decade of the 21st century, and we really should have a name for it, as in the manner of the Roaring Twenties. I’m still fretting over how to pronounce the “00’s”. The oughts? The double zero’s? No sooner will we have taken care of that and we’ll have to worry over what to call the “10’s”. I have a serious need to know this for future sermon illustrations. How will I say, “Back in the “00’s”, an event took place which perfectly demonstrates the truth of this passage?.”

Today’s Gleaning 11/15/09

Thabiti and Zach today both quote Ray Ortlund quoting Jonathan Edwards on pride:

"There is no sin so much like the devil as this for secrecy and subtlety and appearing in a great many shapes undiscerned and unsuspected, even appearing as an angel of light. It takes occasion to arise from everything, it perverts and abuses everything, even the exercises of real grace and real humility. It is a sin that has, as it were, many lives. If you kill it, it will live still. If you suppress it in one shape, it rises in another. If you think it is all gone, it is there still. Like the coats of an onion, if you pull one form of it off, there is another underneath. We need therefore to have the greatest watch imaginable over our hearts and to cry most earnestly to the great Searcher of hearts for his help. He that trusts his own heart is a fool."

- Jonathan Edwards, Thoughts on the New England Revival

To which I say, Amen.

Today’s Gleanings 11/14/09

 

From Matt Perman, a great definition of virtue from Arthur Holmes:

“A virtue is a right inner disposition, and a disposition is a tendency to act in certain ways. Disposition is more basic, lasting and pervasive than the particular motive or intention behind a certain action. It differs from a sudden impulse in being a settled habit of mind, an internalized and often reflective trait. Virtues are general character traits that provide inner sanctions on our particular motives, intentions and outward conduct.

…virtue is the love of what is just and good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zach Nielsen quotes helpful advice on confronting legalism from Jerram Barr in Learning Evangelism from Jesus, p.177:

“… we still must sit at Jesus’ feet and recognize that legalism is an implacable enemy of the gospel of grace. And we need to be prepared to fight against it, rather than bow to it or allow it to govern the life and outreach of our churches. Indeed, we may regard it as a principle: the more legalistic a church is, the less genuine outreach there will be.

Attacking legalism is necessary to bring about the salvation of the legalists themselves by humbling them before the Lord, before his truth, and before his grace. Attacking legalism is also necessary in setting people free from the rules that the legalists impose upon them. We are to proclaim liberty: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). This proclamation of liberty from legalism is one of the great friends of true proclamation of the gospel, both to the church and to the world.“

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today’s Gleanings 11/13/09

Michigan is cold this time of year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bible translation is more complicated than I imagined and I imagined it to be plenty complex. David Ker explains,

“The qualities of a good Bible translation form a four-sided triangle. The basic characteristics are accuracy, naturalness and clarity. This means accurately representing the meaning of the original text using natural language in a way that clearly communicates. The fourth side of the triangle is acceptability. If a translation is not acceptable then it doesn’t matter how accurate or natural it is”.

In other words, it doesn’t matter how faithful to the Greek, or how well-written it is, if no one will use it, it’s not effective. Scary thought, especially for those who spend a quarter century working on a single language.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin Taylor via James Grant has an interesting quote from Ken Myers on “Two Kingdoms” thinking:

“So I would say that there ought to be a Christocentric politic and aesthetic. Christians will not be the only ones who can recognize properly human and hence Christocentric realities. I think that is what the Reformed idea of common grace means. That non-believers will have the capacity to see that because they perceive things that are built into the structure of creation, built in there by Christ. So there is no getting away from Christ.

I became excited by this when I read Colin Gunton, who points out that there has long been a tendency by Christians to view creation as Unitarians, in other words, an impersonal and non-Trinitarian view of creation. So we think that God the Father made everything, things got screwed up, God the Son came and paid the penalty, and God the Spirit comes along and affirms it. So there is a type of sequential Trinitarianism. But Scripture affirms over and over that creation is a Trinitarian act, and so we don’t separate Christ from the fact of creation and the ordering of creation. To do that too starkly is to make a mistake.”

As a pastor, I’m wrestling with this all the time. Precisely how and to what extent do individuals and churches engage the culture, particularly in the realms of art and politics?

Daily Gleanings 11/12/09

In Section: 4.16.10 of the Institutes, Calvin considers those who “ceaselessly assail” the practice of infant baptism, “mad beasts”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A good definition of worship from Archbishop William Temple via Ravi Zacharias via Zach Nielsen:

“Years ago, I read a definition of worship that to this day rings with clear and magnificent terms.(1) The definition comes from the famed archbishop William Temple: "Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose—all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable."

Today’s Harvest 11/11/09

Thanks to Kevin DeYoung, I learned that Guido de Bres, the author of the Belgic Confession, was publicly hanged for his beliefs on May 31, 1567, at the age of 47.  Kevin points out how de Bres’ trust in God’s providence motivated him to be a faithful husband.

Today’s Harvest 11/10/09

Timmy Brister posts this sobering thought from Jonathan Edwards’ The Religious Affections, p.51-53:

“If true religion lies much in the affections, hence we may learn what great cause we have to be ashamed and confounded before God, that we are no more affected with the great things of religion.”

Not sure why that didn’t jump out at me more when I read it the first time.

_________________________________________________________

From today’s Calvin reading, Section: 4.15.19-22:

Speaking of sacraments, he writes, “It is, therefore, much more holy to revere God's ordinance, namely, that we should seek the sacraments from those only to whom the Lord has committed them.”

I  don’t recall where in the Bible that either Baptism or Communion are to be administered only by a church officer. Anyone out there know of such a passage?

Retaining Somehow What I Read

I love to read. I monitor forty-one blogs via RSS feed, read a book or two per week, do research for my weekly sermons and Bible Study, and am using Princeton Theological’s nifty feed to read through Calvin’s Institutes in the course of a year. Sadly, the realization has sunk in that I retain only the tiniest fragment of what I read. My wife often asks what I’ve been reading, and while I can recall the sources for the most part, I struggle to retain the content.

Perhaps not surprisingly, though, I can remember what I actually use in my sermons and Bible studies.

So, in an attempt to actually hang on to some of what I’ve read, I’m going to attempt regularly posting interesting stuff here as a form of memory enhancement. (This was actually one of my reasons for blogging in the first place. I fell off the wagon. Here’s my attempt to drag myself back on.)

Recent nuggets:

John Calvin baptized by immersion—who knew? (Section: 4.15.13-18 of the Institutes—if you don’t believe me, you can read it here.)

David Ker, a field worker in Mozambique with Wycliffe Bible Translators writes sumptuous, evocative prose at his blog Lingamish, relating his path to Bible translatordom. (Obviously, I don’t write sumptuous prose.) Check out this paragraph about his learning Portuguese:

“After several months of battle, I successfully learned how to pronounce, eu the personal pronoun, “I.” It is not YO, like those crude Spaniards would have it. It’s not AY-YU like some robot might say it. Eu is in fact a four syllable word pronounced without either opening or closing your mouth. It is the sound of the tide among the rocks, and the sound of a seagull’s wings. Eu is a mixture of pain and delight and the sigh of isolation you can only feel among the ghosts of an old city.”

From Tim Chester and Steve Timmis’ book Total Church:

“The role of rational apologetics is to demonstrate that unbelief is a problem of the heart rather than a problem of the head. People may claim that the obstacle to faith is the problem of suffering or the implausibility of miracles or the existence of other religions. The role of rational apologetics is to show that these are not the real causes of unbelief. It is to strop away the excuses and expose rebellious hearts.”

Undone. All over again.

Studying Tim Keller’s latest book, The Prodigal God and listening to his related sermons, I almost had cause to wonder if I was truly a born again Christian, so many were my identifications with the wrong attitudes of both sons in Luke’s parable.

Now Keller strikes again with a message on idolatry delivered at The Gospel Coalition 2009 Conference earlier this month. His talk was bracing enough to digest, but in it he referenced a sermon on the topic by a Puritan writer David Clarkson titled, Soul Idolatry Excludes Men Out of Heaven that disabused me of any remaining sense of wholesomeness.

Here's a sample:

"That which we most highly value, we make our God. For esteem is an act of soul worship. Worship is the mind’s esteem of a thing as most excellent. Now the Lord demands the highest esteem, as an act of honor and worship due only to Himself. Therefore, to have an high esteem of other things, when we have low thoughts of God, is idolatry. To have an high opinion—of ourselves—of our abilities and accomplishments—of our relations and enjoyments—of our riches and honors—or those that are rich and honorable—or anything of like nature, when we have low opinions of God, is to advance these things into the place of God—to make them idols and give them that honor and worship which is due only to the divine Majesty. What we most esteem—we make our god. If you hold other things in higher esteem than the true God, you are idolaters (Job 21:14)."

The entire thing’s a 37 page .pdf file that you can access either on Tony Reinke’s site, or at Google Books. If you prefer a light dismantling you can read a summary here at Grace Gems. Warning: not for the faint of heart.

Worried About Worry II (or IV depending on your reference point)

Clicking here will take you to part four of David Powlison’s excellent series on worry, as well as provide links to Parts 1, 2 and 3.

He sums up by providing four pro-active steps:

First, name the pressures.

Second, identify how you express anxiety.

Third, ask yourself, “Why am I anxious”?

Fourth, what better reason does Jesus give you not to worry?

You know what the ubiquitous “they” say: Read the whole thing.

Worried About Worry

CCEF (Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation) has begun posting a series by the always insightful David Powlison on the topic of worry. Sadly, this is a subject with which I struggle all too much.

Powlison brings up a point that convicts me every time I think about it: that by and large, the people to whom Jesus spoke about worry lived in a sustenance economy. This means, he points out, that

“…the people Jesus is talking to are poor people. They have primitive sanitation, no health care, and their lives immediately depend on whether it rains or not. When drought comes here in Glenside, it’s just an inconvenience. Your lawn gets brown. But when drought comes there, they die.”

My prayer is that the Lord would reveal to me the exact nature of my failure to trust in light of this era of incredible prosperity we now enjoy. I know right now I fall far short of the rest Jesus describes—the only question is how far.

You can read the whole article here.

Atheists and Christians Together?

This article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune reporting on Trinity United Methodist Church in Minneapolis joining forces with an organization called Minnesota Atheists to host a Bible Study was enough to rouse me from blog hibernation.

On one hand, I’m hopeful anytime God’s word is read due to the power inherent in it. On the other, it’s hard to be optimistic about a study that will “focus on the Bible's historical and cultural context” as opposed to discerning its meaning and significance.

Thoughts anyone?

HT: Marc

Parable Challenge

Two of my favorite bloggers are having somewhat of a feud. They sent out for friends to join the festivities, and this is how one replied:

Once there were two luthiers who had somewhat of a gentlemanly rivalry concerning their craft. One of the craftsmen, who lived in the north, misted the various parts of his instruments with oil and stain before assembling them. The other, who lived in the south, believed it better to apply the finish by dipping after all the parts were put together. Everyone agreed that both produced very fine-sounding instruments, though their tone differed. Both insisted that their instruments were constructed according to the Book.

And Now for Something Completely Different from Princeton Seminary

From their website:

"Princeton Theological Seminary is inviting the church, the academy, and individual Christians around the world to celebrate the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth by participating in "A Year with the Institutes," a daily reading of Calvin's major work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, during 2009."

To check it out, click here to go to today's reading. Once at the site you can sign up for an RSS feed, or even have it sent to you as audio via podcast.

The inimitable and preternaturally productive Doug Wilson pledges to write daily discussion questions.

I am sorely tempted to try this, if for no other reason than my not being able to imagine myself reading all the way through this important work any other way.

HT: Doug Wilson

Another Stellar Analysis by Tim Keller

Ok, I admit it: I’m prepared to stand in front of group and say out loud, “Hello, my name is Michael and I’m a Tim Keller fan-boy.”

My latest excuse for imbibing? Check out this essay on the way the gospel should inform our thinking about the poor.

Here’s a taste (the article's conclusion):

“Proverbs tells us that God identifies with the poor. "If you do it to the poor, you do it to me." Matt 25 says the same thing. I showed above that this means that on judgment day God will be able to judge a person's heart attitude toward him by the person's heart-attitude toward the poor. It also means, however, something more profound.

In Proverbs and Matt 25, God identifies with the poor symbolically. But in the incarnation and death of Jesus, see God identifies with the poor and marginal literally. Jesus was born in a feeding trough. At his circumcision Jesus' family offered what was required of the poor (Luke 2:24). He said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Matt 8:20). At the end of his life, he rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, spent his last evening in a borrowed room, and when he died, he was laid in a borrowed tomb. They cast lots for his only possession, his robe, for there on the cross he was stripped of everything.

All this gives new meaning to the question: "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or naked or in prison?" The answer is—on the cross, where he died amidst the thieves, among the marginalized. No wonder Paul could say that once you see Jesus becoming poor for us, you will never look at the poor the same way again.”

In my opinion, convicting, enlightening, profound. Like they say, read the whole thing.

God's Nüvi

Lately in one-on-one meetings with some men from church, our attention has been drawn to the topic of wisdom and the book of Proverbs. After discussing a number of passages, one of the men asked a great question, “What exactly is wisdom?”

A quick survey of the references in Proverbs turns up quite a few descriptions (wisdom is valuable, does this or that) but no precise definition. So I began to meditate on it, and here’s what I came up with: wisdom is God’s Nüvi.

Many people reading this will immediately say, “Hunh?”, and rightly so. So, here’s a little explanation. I had heard radio advertising for GPS systems for automobiles—“Turn left! In 200 feet, turn right! Destination on right!”—but didn’t really appreciate them until the day I traveled with a friend who had one (incidentally, the same one who asked the question about the meaning of wisdom), and discovered what a great help it was. We used it not only to get to and from where were going, but also to find a Panera with its wireless connection, as well as places to stop and eat along the way. Did I say what a great help it was? So much so, I ended up purchasing one for myself for a vacation to Cincinnati to see the Creation Museum there. And guess what? It was a great help!

Anyway, these things work by a combination of technologies. First, the device has stored in it a database of roads and points of interest. Secondly, a built-in receiver picks up signals from satellites orbiting the earth and then computes the angles between itself and the satellites. Next, it compares where you are with the roads and all the places it has loaded in its memory and displays it on a map. (The one I bought, a Garmin Nuvi 200, has in addition to its map of the entire continental U.S. over 600 million points of interest. And this is one of the cheapest, entry-level models.) Finally, speech technology enables it to verbalize where you should turn.

By now you're surely asking what this has to do with Proverbs and wisdom. Well, what led me down this track was the realization that wisdom describes the moral order of God’s creation. Wisdom classifies interactions between God and his creation and describes those which are beneficial. Proverbs 1:3, for example, says that to receive wisdom is… “to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity”… (ESV). Wisdom is an internal attribute of God by which he acts for the ultimate good of himself and his creation, as in Proverbs 3:19, 20… “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.” (ESV). Along this line, wisdom communicates what we should do according to God’s internal reasoning, as in Proverbs 4:11-13: “I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.” (ESV)

So here’s what I mean by saying wisdom is God’s Nüvi: Wisdom is like a GPS device that contains a database of moral positions within God’s created order and which is able to describe the proper relations within that order and the creatures who inhabit it. Want to know where you should go, what you should do that is in the best interest of you and the rest of creation? Get out your Bible and get wisdom, which is catalogued there.

After hearing me explain the concept, the friend who asked about wisdom and who had exposed to me the wonders of the earthly Nüvi, came up with his own definition for wisdom. "Wisdom is GPS", he said. “God’s Positioning System.”

Super Commendable?

Continuing in the vein of “whatever is commendable” from my last post, I was finally able to listen to the mp3 of Tim Keller preaching on Luke 15 and the parable of the Prodigal Sons. I had gotten a taste of this message when I first heard Keller when he spoke here in Richmond back in 2006. Somewhere I and had read about about this message, but was only recently able to access it. (Thanks, Steve McCoy for the great work cataloging Keller resources!)

At the risk of overstating, this is simply one of the most profound messages I have ever listened to. It seems like I’ve heard more sermons on this parable in my lifetime than any other single topic, and each time I recall learning something new. This one, however, is off the charts new and helpful for me. Maybe I’ve led a sheltered life, but this is the first time I have heard someone focus on the contrast between the elder and younger brothers. What Keller does with it gets to the heart of the good news as well as anything I’ve heard or read.

I know I’m guilty of frequently saying this or that is a must read or listen, but I wish someone had given me a link to this message before now.

Whatever is Commendable

In Philippians 4:8 the Apostle Paul tells us

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (ESV)

Such is my main purpose for blogging: upon discovering that which is worth commending, writing with a mind to publicizing it helps me contemplate it more deeply. In addition, I imagine that through the marvel that is the internet, friends or others might benefit from my pointing them to things worthwhile by Paul’s criteria.

For that reason I’m adding to my blog roll, Enjoying Jesus, which just happens to be written by a longtime friend, Jamie Calabrese. I first met Jamie when I was director of our local pregnancy resource center and she came through the training program and eventually ended up serving on the board of directors. Last summer my wife, Carol, and I were blessed as we travelled down to the Billy Graham Training Center with Jamie and her husband, John, to hear John Piper speak. (I wrote about that here.) Recently, Jamie has acquired the blogging bug with wonderful result. Writing poignantly of everyday experience and how the gospel affects her thinking, her thoughts are uncomplicated yet frequently profound. For an example, check out Begging Earnestly where her thoughts on a friend’s fundraising plea challenged me to rethink the way I view similar requests from acquaintances.

See for yourself.

A Must Read Manifesto

Russell D. Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has written a stunning commentary on the values and beliefs that drive the behavior of Southern Baptists, particularly with regard to their actual versus stated views on sexuality and abortion. My only quibble with the article is his targeting of Southern Baptists, when I believe he is in fact describing just about all evangelical Christians in America.

He observes that while we conservative evangelicals talk loudly about particular immoralities, our behavior is instead guided more by affections for material comfort and economic status than by genuine adherence to Biblical principles.

Here are some quotes out of context, but I hope they serve to get you to read the whole thing.

“A biblically literate Southern Baptist church will be able to see that the demonic beings do not mind shifting tactics from generation to generation; wherever people are unsuspecting as to their own weakness, they will strike. If Bathsheba will not take down a son of Adam, then Babylon can; if not hedonism, then Pharisaism will do. It is at this point that Southern Baptists are especially vulnerable, because we fail to see how the family chaos around us is directly related to our captivity to our appetites.”

“We have become the people that Jesus warned us about. Southern Baptists more and more want to distance ourselves from our blue-collar, economically impoverished roots, and more and more wish to be seen as affluent, suburban, and politically influential. But this comes with a cost.”

“The reason we have made peace with the sexual revolution is because we are captive to the love of money. Southern Baptist men and women want to live with the same standard of living as the culture around them, and, as the Spirit warns, we will grind our churches and our families to pieces to get there (James 4:1-4).”

“Why does the seemingly godly deacon in a conservative Southern Baptist church in north Georgia drive his pregnant teenage daughter to Atlanta under cover of darkness to obtain an abortion? Because, however he votes his "values," when crisis hits, he wants his daughter to have a "normal" life. He is "pro-life" with, as one feminist leader put it three exceptions: rape, incest, and my situation.”

Hat Tip: Kyle Newcomer via Consumed’s blogroll.