Friday, December 20, 2013

No one has a right not to be offended

Jay Watts at the Life Training Institute blog has a great post reporting how he responded to someone who basically said she was offended that he would present a reasonable argument against abortion. Two quotes follow, which will hopefully encourage you to read the entire post.

Anytime someone disagrees with us and offers arguments for their position there are only a few options open to us in response. (1) We can quietly listen, consider their views, weigh the counter arguments, and decide they were wrong. (2) We can listen, consider, weigh, then decide we are wrong and adjust our beliefs appropriately. (3) We can listen, consider, weigh, and then decide that we simply lack sufficient information to come down on one side or the other. (4) We can offer counter arguments on the spot addressing the specific lines of evidence offered.

[…]

[W]hen some people say they are offended what they are really saying is that I’m upsetting them so I ought to stop talking…. I reject that all together. No one has a right not to be offended. Sometimes there are questions of such importance that we are compelled to engage in public discussion knowing that it will be upsetting to do so. Imagine how you would feel if someone suggested that you shouldn’t be allowed to argue for positions with which they disagree simply because they are incapable of controlling their emotions.

The entire post is well worth reading. It serves as a reminder that we are all too often “held hostage” by people’s feelings, emotions, and perceptions when discussing important issues. Obviously when a deeply-held belief is challenged, our first impulse is often to react emotionally rather than sensibly.

While Watts’ reply might not have been diplomatic, it was certainly appropriate to the situation.

HT: Tim Challies

Friday, December 13, 2013

Advent: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

—John 1:11–18, ESV

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

A Pentecostal in (General) Support of the Strange Fire Conference

A refreshingly candid post from Josiah Batten, a Pentecostal associate pastor at an IFCA church in Fairmont, WV in which he points out the value of the Strange Fire Conference. Here’s a sample— but the entire post is worth reading.

I recognize the value of unity, but a unity not grounded in and centered on the truth is merely a superficial unity. If we Pentecostals want John MacArthur to make distinctions when he calls out the Charismatic movement for its abuses, then maybe we should be the first ones making distinctions and calling out heresy and excess where we find it.

Reading this reminded me to not paint all continuationists (or indeed anyone) with the same brush. This author is humble and generous, and we probably agree on most things (theologically speaking).

I continue to be in awe at the many ways God brings glory to Himself.

Advent: for they loved the glory that comes from man

So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

“He has blinded their eyes
   and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
   and understand with their heart, and turn,
   and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

(John 12:34-43, ESV)

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Advent: From Jesse's root hath sprung

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
   and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
   the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and might,
   the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
   or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
   and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
   and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
   and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
— Isaiah 11:1–5, ESV

Offsping of a virgin's womb

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail, the Incarnate Deity,
Pleased as Man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!
  — Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Monday, December 9, 2013

Far as the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.

—Isaac Watts

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
     for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
     whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
     from the east and from the west,
     from the north and from the south.

Some wandered in desert wastes,
     finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty,
     their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
     and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
     till they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
     for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
     and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

(Psalm 107:1-9, ESV)

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Humble Statement of Faith

Speaking of orthodoxy, I was looking through the “statement of faith” at the website monergism.com. Their statement concerning eschatology is quite fair and humble. We are often arrogant in our dogmatics and that’s rarely the wisest approach. I see this as an example I can certainly learn from. I share it hoping you too might find it useful.
At the end of the age we expect the personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures. We find that the amillennial view has the most biblical evidence, and therefore, this is the view we affirm. But we do not teach with surety any of the major millennial views, but encourage each person to study the Scriptures and come to their own conclusion. In preparation for His coming we are called to live holy lives. Through years of study we personally favor the amillennial understanding of the eschaton.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

A Decent Synopsis of Orthodoxy

On page 81 of John MacArthur‘s new book Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship, he discusses continuationists who embrace what MacArthur calls the “true gospel.” His enumeration of the traits is a decent synopsis of orthodoxy.

They embrace substitutionary atonement, the true nature of Christ, the Trinitarian nature of God, biblical repentance, and the unique authority of the Bible. They recognize that salvation is not about health and wealth, and they genuinely desire to be rescued from sin, spiritual death, and everlasting hell.

We could argue about what this list does not include, but it’s quite a solid starting point.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Neither Condemnation Nor Justification

Michael Horton on Joel Osteen:
There is no condemnation in Osteen’s message for failing to fulfill God’s righteous law. On the other hand, there is no justification. Instead of either message, there is an upbeat moralism that is somewhere in the middle: Do your best, follow the instructions I give you, and God will make your life successful. “Don’t sit back passively,” he warns, but with a gentle pleading suggests that the only reason we need to follow his advice is because it’s useful for getting what we want. God is a buddy or partner who exists primarily to make sure we are happy. “You do your part, and God will do his part.”
Read the whole thing here

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Like Trying to See Your Own Eye Color

To open, a paraphrase of Jeff Foxworthy:
  • If you believe that all Christians are guaranteed health and wealth now, you might suffer from an over-realized eschatology.
  • If you believe we can bring about the Kingdom if only we have the right social programs, you might suffer from an over-realized eschatology.
  • If you believe we can experience Heaven on Earth once we get the right government in place, you might suffer from an over-realized eschatology.
The above doesn’t have much to do with what’s below, but perhaps it will prove helpful in explaining what I mean by the term over-realized eschatology.

Recently I heard a sermon on 1 Corinthians 4:8 – 21 delivered quite ably by Reverend Jon Medlock of Trinity Presbyterian Church in San Luis Obispo, CA. The message was timely in that it poked a place in my brain that’s been poked before, but this time something thankfully broke loose. Please note that I’m expanding on a couple of the points that were made in the sermon and I don’t claim to speak for Reverend Medlock, nor do I want to put words in his mouth—this is me taking hold of what the preacher said and turning it over in my mind until something came out. I pray that what comes out is edifying.

In the passage in 1 Corinthians, Paul rebukes members of the Corinthian Church for living in the “already” as opposed to the “not yet.” Theologians refer to this as having an over-realized eschatology. This can be summed up as believing God’s Kingdom is already wholly realized on earth, or can be brought to full realization if only the correct social policies were in place or the right person was in the White House. Practically, an over-realized eschatology leads to a variety of problems, including a theology of glory, liberalism, or fundamentalism.

Pastor Medlock’s message also warned us to beware of the disconnect between our theology and our practice. He described our “functional theology” as the theology exhibited by how we live (as opposed to what we profess) and challenged us to take a critical look at our own lifestyles, which, he admits, is about as easy as trying to see your own eye color without a mirror.

Regardless of the theology they professed, the Corinthians saw themselves as kings; practically, they were living like the Kingdom was fully realized, when the reality that Paul experienced was that he was “the scum of the world.” Paul is not above sarcasm when he explains this in the following passage.
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
—1 Corinthians 4:8 – 13 (ESV)
By claiming the Kingdom was already a a spiritual reality, the Corinthians were trying to claim the promises of the age to come, while ignoring Biblical commands to care for the downtrodden, to suffer well, and to love one’s enemies. Remember, Paul planted this church only a few years before he wrote this letter (Acts 18), so there were many in the church who “knew the right words,” yet they showed by their actions that they thought other things were more important than advancing the gospel.

The Corinthians’ skewed practical theology led to confusion on all kinds of matters, including participation in paganism, order within the worship service, sexual immorality, social cliques, the bodily resurrection of believers, marriage, and divorce.

This shows us that our practices betray our beliefs, and reminds us our orthodoxy should be integrated with our orthopraxy.

If someone were to interpolate your (or my) belief system by observing your (or my) actions, what would their result be? All too often, it would be said of me that I believe in cheap grace and a “theology of me.” The reality is, of course, that I don’t profess these, but I seem to have no trouble practicing them.

So one point is that our theology should be as sound as we can make it. One doesn’t just “get” sound theology overnight—it is the result of having the gospel preached to you regularly, investing in the lives of others, making mistakes, and through trials and suffering.

Another point is that your theology could be spot-on but if your daily practice does not reflect this, your theology is useless.

These two points work together to strengthen each other into one overarching imperative; practice sound theology.

As a layman, my theology is often unsound. It’s better than it was, and by God’s grace it will be better still. I’m blessed to sit under sound teaching and to have great resources available only a click away. That convenience is also a curse because there is far less solid teaching online than there is heresy and heterodoxy.

Here’s hoping this post doesn’t add to that heap.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Chronological Snobbery

If C. S. Lewis were with us today, we’d probably call him a Luddite. However, his very distaste for keeping current is what makes him so timeless, even 50 years after his death.

John Piper on Lewis’ lack of “chronological snobbery” and its impact on him:

Lewis’s unwavering commitment to what is True and Real and Valuable, as opposed to what is trendy or fashionable or current, has been another kind of liberation for me, namely, from “chronological snobbery.” He loved the wisdom of the ages, not the whimsy of the passing present. He called himself a Neanderthaler and a dinosaur. He didn’t read newspapers. He never wore a watch. He never learned to type. He did not own or drive a car. He cared nothing about cutting a good appearance and wore the same old clothes until they were threadbare. He was incredibly free from the addicting powers of the present moment.

The effect of this on me has been to make me wary of what he called “chronological snobbery.” That is, he has shown me that “newness” is no virtue, and “oldness” is no fault. He considered the present time to be provincial with its own blind spots. He said once: every third book you read should be from outside your own (provincial) century. Truth and beauty and goodness are not determined by when they exist. Nothing is inferior for being old, and nothing is valuable for being modern. This has freed me from the tyranny of novelty and opened for me the wisdom of the centuries.

Piper has also released a free ebook celebrating Lewis’ influence on him. Piper explains it thus:

In this fiftieth year since he died, I offer this little book as a celebration of the influence of C. S. Lewis in my life. I hope I do so in humility. I know I do so with profound thankfulness.

HT: Justin Taylor

Written with StackEdit.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Quick Administrative Post: Advertisements

Today I disabled advertisements on this blog. I had little control over the content and I found them distracting. Whatever income generated by advertising was not worth this site promoting things that might lead others astray.

Righteousness and the Law

In the law, the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that condemns all our pretenses of righteousness as ‘filthy rags.’ But in the gospel, a righteousness that is from God, that is, a gift of righteousness, is revealed… 
We need to constantly hear the law of God, in spite of our own failure to conform to it, so that we will be running to Christ.
—Michael Horton in The Law of Perfect Freedom: Relating to God and Others Through the Ten Commandments

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

On Being Unloving and Lazy

It’s been a few days since the Strange Fire Conference at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church. Many writers have summed up the conference better than I could. Eric Davis has written a superb and fair summary of the event.

Mars Hill Church‘s Mark Driscoll managed to stir up some controversy by stopping by with some books. This is best summed up by Darren Wiebe.

I don’t pretend to know Pastor Driscoll’s motivations, but upon a close examination of the evidence at hand, the most charitable thing one can say is that it was a misguided publicity stunt; a stunt that unfortunately distracted folks from examining the meaning and message of the conference.

I don’t always agree with Pastors MacArthur or Driscoll, but I have respect for their ministries. The Strange Fire Conference was a legitimate examination of trends (and abuses) in the Church today. It was done with an eye toward speaking the truth in love.

Allowing someone to believe a lie is unloving and lazy; speaking the truth is loving and often difficult. Truth is, by its very nature, divisive. By divisive I mean it causes one to discern — to decide on one position over another.

Of course this is my opinion. I welcome yours.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Preachers of L.A.

A new reality series "Preachers of L.A." is underway on Oxygen (cable network). This is yet another reason I don't miss having cable. From the trailers I have seen, this program is not doing the Kingdom any favors. More on this later.

Strange Fire Conference

Go to http://www.tmstrangefire.org to check out the live stream of the Strange Fire Conference from John MacArthur's Grace Community Church. October 16–18.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Has Longmire Already Jumped the Shark?

I’m a fan of the television series Longmire from the A&E Network, currently in its second season. It’s a show about a small-town sheriff (Walt Longmire) in a fictional northern Wyoming county. The show has a nice, easy pace, is rich with nuance, has complex characters, and is beautifully photographed. The show often has strong themes of redemption, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Usually the bad guys are not all bad and the good guys are not all good. The characters are so rich and nuanced because the TV series is based on series of novels and the author is intricately involved in the show.

Sheriff Walt Longmire is a quintessential man’s man — a man of few words; principled, yet broken and imperfect. Walt does what he believes to be right even if his beliefs don’t always exactly line up with law-enforcement “best practices.” That’s okay; after all, this is television. The story wouldn’t be too compelling if everyone behaved exactly how they were expected to behave.

This week, however, I'm scratching my head a bit. In the most recent episode The Great Spirit, we discover Sheriff Walt Longmire possesses mad rodeo roping skills. I mean of course he would, right? After all, he lives in Wyoming. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief this far. What makes me wonder if they’ve already jumped the shark is the over-the-top coerced confession Sheriff Walt extracts from the bad guy at the end of the episode.

We’ve all seen coerced confession in procedural police dramas before, and I’m usually willing to suspend my disbelief for the sake of the story and the fact that the good guy probably didn’t really mean it in the first place. My gripe here is the degree of coercion.

In the episode, the suspect confesses only after Sheriff Walt lashes the suspect’s legs to a wild horse and threatens to horse-drag him (like the victim had been). The suspect, who was on his front porch, is shown prone, helpless, and holding on for his life; gripping patio furniture and pillars as the horse slowly begins to drag him from his porch, while one of Walt’s deputies makes a show of having difficulty controlling the mare. Throughout this ridiculousness, Sheriff Walt is mocking the suspect and the Constitution; violating (at least) the fourth, fifth, and eighth amendments faster than an eight-second rodeo ride.

This blatant violation of rights does not agree with the character of Walt Longmire as revealed thus far in the show. Certainly he is a private man with his own demons, but he has never by any stretch been an anti-hero.

One can only hope this episode (which was an otherwise fine episode) was an anomaly. New episodes begin on July 29th.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Picking at the scab

To begin, some wisdom from Chad Vegas from this past Saturday to put things in perspective:
I don’t celebrate the not “guilty verdict” of Zimmerman today. If he was truly “not guilty,” then I am thankful some semblance of justice was done. However, I am still grieved today. I am grieved that a family lost a son. I am grieved that this same family must feel a tremendous sense of injustice with their loss. I am grieved that black people were treated so badly in our nation’s past that they rightly question the equality of our justice system. I am grieved above all that sin has entered our world and driven us into both a deep racial divide and into the need for a criminal justice system in the first place.
That being said, Doug Wilson is rightly lamenting the unsurprising and hackneyed aftermath/reaction to the verdict.
Douglas Wilson:
The irony is that Trayvon is now being compared to genuine lynch mob victims, and the comparison is being made by crowds outside the courthouse, away from the evidence presented in a rule-guided setting, but nevertheless demanding the conviction of an individual for political reasons.
Wilson goes on to point out that, in the current political climate, no one even blinks when another court butts in to a case that has already been adjudicated, if the verdict was politically distasteful.
Whenever someone is tried and acquitted, as Zimmerman has been, it is beyond offensive to continue to orchestrate political pressure in order to keep trying him until we find a venue that will give us the “right answer.” Our double jeopardy protections are there for a good reason, and the right of a convicted man to appeal, while restricting the right of a defeated prosecutor to do so, is grounded in biblical law. It is of the highest order of importance that political passions be kept out of the courtroom.
The parties involved in the George Zimmerman / Trayvon Martin case have had their day in court. One can only assume each party gave it their best shot before a jury that reached a unanimous decision. Now the feds want to get into the act.

How can you expect to heal if you keep picking at the scab?

Monday, June 24, 2013

On Receipt of the 17th Arrow

Douglas Wilson:

The current battle is not between homosexuals and evangelical heterosexuals. The current battle — for some reason — is between homosexuals and evangelical eunuchs. This helps explain, incidentally, why it is going the way it is.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions

The following is from “The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions,” by David Berlinksi. A quote from the Amazon.com review of the book says, “A secular Jew, Berlinski nonetheless delivers a biting defense of religious thought…”
‘Faith’ it is said in Hebrews 11:1, ‘is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’…If religious belief places the human heart in the service of an unseen world, the serious sciences have since the great revolution of the seventeenth century done precisely the same thing…. The universe in its largest aspect is the expression of curved space and time. Four fundamental forces hold sway. There are black holes and various infernal singularities. Particles pop out of quantum fields. Elementary particles appear either as bosons or fermions. The fermions are divided into quarks and leptons. Quarks come in six varieties, but they are never seen, confined as they are within hadrons by a force that perversely grows weaker at short distances and stronger at distances that are long. There are six leptons in four varieties. Depending on just how things counted, matter has as its fundamental constituents twenty-four elementary particles, together with a great many fields, symmetries, strange geometrical spaces, and forces that are disconnected at one level of energy and fused at another, as well as at least a dozen different forms of energy, all of them active.
This is not an ontology that puts one in mind of a longshoreman’s view of the material world. It is remarkably baroque, and it is promiscuously catholic.
You can see a 45(ish) minute interview with Berlinski here.