Ah, Bach!
If I knew I were to die tonight, I may only wish for four things: my copy of God's Word, my wife to be near, my journal, and access to the music of J.S. Bach.
Was there every such a steward of his talents as Bach? Was there ever one who could take the natural revelation of music that the Father has woven into the very created order and unveil it in such a way, transporting us to realms of cosmic delight?
Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli said it well:
"There is the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Therefore there must be a God.
You either see this one or you don't.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The Carpenter and the Physician
"I have been saved!" you loudly exult.
Saved from what demise, pray tell? And unto what end? This "saving" is no mere rescue in the abstract, the way a man might be rescued from a late appointment by the timely arrival of a taxicab. Of the severity of it, you cannot begin to imagine.
No, dear friends, when you ponder from whence and to what you have been saved, you have no recourse but to fall on your knees, yea, even prostrate upon your face, clenching the dust, weeping in tears of ecstatic joy and gratitude and remorse.
Can you not still feel the heat of the flames licking your feet? Have you no recollection? How quickly the thought has escaped your mind that you were dead in the crematorium of the universe, being devoured by the flames of wrath that you had earned and warranted and requested. Can you not still smell the stench of your own burning flesh, as the full recompense of all the endless years of your selfish recklessness and indulgence and rebellion now come back to greet you?
And what a greeting it was. Death, in his grim cloak and veil and his gruesome scythe, would have been a more welcome doorman than him whom you had met.
But O, what grace! Can you not still recall how the Great Physician Himself barged in while your lifeless corpse lay there and, even while you still despised Him, snatched up your body from the furnace and hoisted you out? Do not you remember? Has no one told you the tale?
Yes and indeed! Brother! Sister! Hear me! Do you not remember how that same Physician bore you across seemingly endless miles of treacherous journey outside your wanted grave, and awaiting on the far side was his home and yours? Do you not recall how your lifeless body was miraculously taken from the ashes, even while you could still feel the heat radiating from the furnace, as the skin on your arms was still terrifyingly warm? And that ugly, vile corpse that you were was miraculously remade, from a worthless heap of death and dust, to a body of glory suddenly robed in splendor? Do you remember how that Physician brought you into His home, and there you saw a multitude of seats indwelt, and there at the center that Physician sat enthroned as a King, and you were seated there at His very side? Do you recollect the suddenness of confusion and perplexity and ill-comprehension?
Oh, remember, remember, remember! Remember what you were! Remember the extremity of hopelessness from which you were rescued. Remember the utter horror of being separated from Christ, without hope and without God, on the brink of hell. May it move you to weep! May it move you pray earnestly unto the Lord of harvest for more of same stories! May it move you to exultation and thanksgiving for those saints who for countless years prayed and cried with tears of agony on your behalf, that what was was said of them might be said of you!
Remember our dear brother Piper who writes, "When the heart no longer feels the truth of hell, the gospel passes from good news to simply news. The intensity of joy is blunted and the heart-spring of love is dried up. But if I remember these horrible things and do believe them in my heart; if I let every remaining sin and every moment of indifference to spiritual things remind me of the smell of hell lingering in the remnants of my corruption; if I let my knees become weak as on the day when I tottered on the cliff of my doom; if I recall that apart from absolutely free grace I would be the most hardened sinner and now in the torments of hell; if all this I remember, and believe in my heart, then, oh, what a contrition, what a lowliness, what a meekness will be effected in my heart.
"To whom can I return evil for evil?...Where is the lowest sinner over whom I could feel a millimeter of superiority? Instead I become a brokenhearted leaper for joy. Tears for all my wickedness (yes, clean, middle-class, nice-boy wickedness of pride and unbelief and indifference and ingratitude and impurity of mind and worldliness of goals). Yet leaping with joy for the free and inexhaustible mercy of God."
And to what? Oh, dear friend, that you might glorify God and enjoy Him forever. May you never stop being satisfied in your Great King and Savior. May you never grow weary of ascribing unto Him the glory due his name. May you never tire of hearing the old, old story over and over again. May it never grow mundane for you to sing:
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Yes and, for the sake of God Himself, take part in that glorious feast! He is yours to enjoy forever. Feast and be satisfied in Him! Feast and be satisfied in his gift to you "so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
The Great Physician and Great Carpenter has crafted you from all eternity. And He has bid you come.
While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?
“Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”
’Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.
Saved from what demise, pray tell? And unto what end? This "saving" is no mere rescue in the abstract, the way a man might be rescued from a late appointment by the timely arrival of a taxicab. Of the severity of it, you cannot begin to imagine.
No, dear friends, when you ponder from whence and to what you have been saved, you have no recourse but to fall on your knees, yea, even prostrate upon your face, clenching the dust, weeping in tears of ecstatic joy and gratitude and remorse.
Can you not still feel the heat of the flames licking your feet? Have you no recollection? How quickly the thought has escaped your mind that you were dead in the crematorium of the universe, being devoured by the flames of wrath that you had earned and warranted and requested. Can you not still smell the stench of your own burning flesh, as the full recompense of all the endless years of your selfish recklessness and indulgence and rebellion now come back to greet you?
And what a greeting it was. Death, in his grim cloak and veil and his gruesome scythe, would have been a more welcome doorman than him whom you had met.
But O, what grace! Can you not still recall how the Great Physician Himself barged in while your lifeless corpse lay there and, even while you still despised Him, snatched up your body from the furnace and hoisted you out? Do not you remember? Has no one told you the tale?
Yes and indeed! Brother! Sister! Hear me! Do you not remember how that same Physician bore you across seemingly endless miles of treacherous journey outside your wanted grave, and awaiting on the far side was his home and yours? Do you not recall how your lifeless body was miraculously taken from the ashes, even while you could still feel the heat radiating from the furnace, as the skin on your arms was still terrifyingly warm? And that ugly, vile corpse that you were was miraculously remade, from a worthless heap of death and dust, to a body of glory suddenly robed in splendor? Do you remember how that Physician brought you into His home, and there you saw a multitude of seats indwelt, and there at the center that Physician sat enthroned as a King, and you were seated there at His very side? Do you recollect the suddenness of confusion and perplexity and ill-comprehension?
Oh, remember, remember, remember! Remember what you were! Remember the extremity of hopelessness from which you were rescued. Remember the utter horror of being separated from Christ, without hope and without God, on the brink of hell. May it move you to weep! May it move you pray earnestly unto the Lord of harvest for more of same stories! May it move you to exultation and thanksgiving for those saints who for countless years prayed and cried with tears of agony on your behalf, that what was was said of them might be said of you!
Remember our dear brother Piper who writes, "When the heart no longer feels the truth of hell, the gospel passes from good news to simply news. The intensity of joy is blunted and the heart-spring of love is dried up. But if I remember these horrible things and do believe them in my heart; if I let every remaining sin and every moment of indifference to spiritual things remind me of the smell of hell lingering in the remnants of my corruption; if I let my knees become weak as on the day when I tottered on the cliff of my doom; if I recall that apart from absolutely free grace I would be the most hardened sinner and now in the torments of hell; if all this I remember, and believe in my heart, then, oh, what a contrition, what a lowliness, what a meekness will be effected in my heart.
"To whom can I return evil for evil?...Where is the lowest sinner over whom I could feel a millimeter of superiority? Instead I become a brokenhearted leaper for joy. Tears for all my wickedness (yes, clean, middle-class, nice-boy wickedness of pride and unbelief and indifference and ingratitude and impurity of mind and worldliness of goals). Yet leaping with joy for the free and inexhaustible mercy of God."
And to what? Oh, dear friend, that you might glorify God and enjoy Him forever. May you never stop being satisfied in your Great King and Savior. May you never grow weary of ascribing unto Him the glory due his name. May you never tire of hearing the old, old story over and over again. May it never grow mundane for you to sing:
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Yes and, for the sake of God Himself, take part in that glorious feast! He is yours to enjoy forever. Feast and be satisfied in Him! Feast and be satisfied in his gift to you "so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
The Great Physician and Great Carpenter has crafted you from all eternity. And He has bid you come.
While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?
“Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”
’Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Thoughtful Orchestration
Not trying to be coy or deceptive here: this issue is one my favorite hobby horses.
I found this article posted here at Kevin DeYoung's blog.
I believe Harold Best is spot-on in his evaluation: neither the band nor the organ is to be demonized, but rather poor orchestration of any musical accompaniment is to be scorned. The point of instruments is to bolster congregational singing, not drown it out or be showy. Leave that to the concert hall on Saturday night. Performances have no right to intrude on congregational singing on Sunday morning.
Here's the article snippet:
I found this article posted here at Kevin DeYoung's blog.
I believe Harold Best is spot-on in his evaluation: neither the band nor the organ is to be demonized, but rather poor orchestration of any musical accompaniment is to be scorned. The point of instruments is to bolster congregational singing, not drown it out or be showy. Leave that to the concert hall on Saturday night. Performances have no right to intrude on congregational singing on Sunday morning.
Here's the article snippet:
Speaking of wise words from Harold Best, here are some good thoughts on thinking carefully about how to use (and, just as critically, not to use) instruments in corporate worship:
I want to be respectful and thoughtful in these next words, and I realize that I might be wandering into the territories and preferences of other contributors to this book. But as valuable as the instruments and sounds of the typical praise band might be, they often do little to bolster and enhance congregational song in the pure sense of physics and acoustics. They can easily overwhelm to the point where congregations no longer hear themselves sing and end up accompanying the worship band, when the reverse should be true. This does not mean praying for good riddance. That would be evil. Rather, it means that musicians who truly understand the laws of sound, the acoustical congregational voice, and the rigors of instrumental collaboration must make use of their instruments in radically different ways. I attend a church in which the worship band—especially the drummer—understands how delicate and understated their work can be. As a result, there is better singing and less watching than I have observed in so many other churches and colleges around the country. By the same token, organists must be more insightfully trained as to how the instrument is to be played beyond the often boringly slow and tedious sound masses that are enough to put a thunderstorm to sleep.I long for the time when all instruments together comprise a worship band, where insightful musicians will come to understand the orchestrational aspect of instrumental music. I mean this: A skillful orchestrater understands that all the instruments at his or her disposal do not play all the time—no, not even the drum set. Rather, through sensitivity to the rich variety of musical contexts and, in our case, to the wide-ranging contexts of congregational song, instruments and instrumental combinations are chosen that remain in perpetual ebb and flow, showing sensitive shifts of color and texture based both on the art of musical cation and the nuances of text and context. This is not impossible; it is simply difficult. But what isn’t when it comes to doing things well? (Exploring the Worship Spectrum: 6 Views, 74)
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Dude, Where's Your Bride?
I like almost anything Kevin DeYoung writes. He is engaging and very diagnostic. I think I resonate with this particular post because I have observed many of the same nagging trends among men my age.
By Kevin DeYoung
As I speak at different venues across the country, one of the recurring questions I get comes from women, young women in particular. Their question usually goes something like this: “What is up with men?”
These aren’t angry women. Their question is more plaintive than petulant. I’m not quite sure why they ask me. Maybe because they’ve read Just Do Somethingand figure I’ll be a sympathetic ear. Or maybe they think I can help. They often follow up their initial question by exhorting me, “Please speak to the men in our generation and tell them to be men.”
They’re talking about marriage. I have met scores of godly young women nearby and far away who wonder “Where have all the marriageable men gone?” More and more commentators–Christian or otherwise–are noticing a trend in young men; namely, that they don’t seem to be growing up. Recently, William Bennett’s CNN article “Why Men Are in Trouble” has garnered widespread attention. The point of the post is summarized in the final line: “It’s time for men to man up.” Sounds almost biblical (1 Corinthians 16:13).
Virtually every single single person I know wants to be married. And yet, it is taking couples longer and longer to get around to marriage. Education patterns have something to do with it. A bad economy doesn’t help either. But there is something even more befuddling going on. Go to almost any church and you’ll meet mature, intelligent, attractive Christian women who want to get married and virtually no men to pursue them. These women are often in graduate programs and may have started a career already. But they aren’t feminists. They are eager to embrace the roles of wife and mother. Most of the women I’ve met don’t object to the being a helpmate. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of mates to go around.
What’s going on here? Why are there so many unmarried, college graduated, serious-about-Christ, committed-to-the-church, put-together young women who haven’t found a groom, and don’t see any possibilities on the horizon?
Maybe women have impossible standards. That is a distinct possibility in some circumstances. I’m sure there are guys reading this thinking to themselves, “I’ve pursued these young women, Kevin! And they pushed me over the edge of the horizon.” Some women may be expecting too much from Mr. Right. But in my experience this is not the main problem. Impossible standards? Not usually. Some standards? Absolutely.
On the other end of the spectrum, some women may be so over-eager to be married they make guys nervous about showing any signs of interest. There is a fine line between anticipation and desperation. Men don’t want to spot the girl they like inside David’s Bridal after their first date. The guy will panic–and be a little creeped out.
This path of prolonged singleness is a two way street. But I think the problem largely resides with men. Or at least as a guy I can identify the problems of men more quickly. I see two issues.
First, the Christian men that are “good guys” could use a little–what’s the word I’m looking for–ambition. Every pastor has railed on video games at some point. But the problem is not really video games, it’s what gaming can (but doesn’t always) represent. It’s the picture of a 20something or 30something guy who doesn’t seem to want anything out of life. He may or may not have a job. He may or may not live with his parents. Those things are sometimes out of our control. There’s a difference between a down-on-his-luck fella charging hard to make something out of himself and a guy who seems content to watch movies, make enough to eat frozen pizzas in a one room apartment, play Madden, watch football 12 hours on Saturday, show up at church for an hour on Sunday and then go home to watch more football.
I don’t think young women are expecting Mr. Right to be a corporate executive with two houses, three cars, and a personality like Dale Carnegie. They just want a guy with some substance. A guy with plans. A guy with some intellectual depth. A guy who can winsomely take initiative and lead a conversation. A guy with consistency. A guy who no longer works at his play and plays with his faith. A guy with a little desire to succeed in life. A guy they can imagine providing for a family, praying with the kids at bedtime, mowing the lawn on Saturday, and being eager to take everyone to church on Sunday. Where are the dudes that will grow into men?
The second issue is that we may simply not have enough men in the church. Maybe the biggest problem isn’t with nice Christian guys who lack ambition, maturity, and commitment. Maybe we have lots of these men in the church, but they’re all married and there aren’t enough of their brethren to go around. I don’t know which is the bigger problem, the lack of good men or the lack of men in general. It’s probably a combination of both. The church needs to train up the guys it has. And by “training” I don’t mean “clean ‘em up, plug ‘em in the singles ministry and start matching them up with a spouse.” I don’t believe most unmarried Christians are looking for a church community full of Yentas. But a church full of godly, involved, respectable, respected, grown up men? That’s a project worth undertaking.
So, what can be done about the growing tribe of unmarried women? Four things come to mind.
Everyone, pray. Pray for a joyful accepting of God’s providential care, believing that godliness with contentment is great gain. If you are single, pray more for the sort of spouse you should be than for the sort of spouse you want. Pray also for the married couples and families in your church. If you are married, pray for the single people in your church, for those never married and those divorced or widowed. All people everywhere, pray for ways to start serving the Lord now, no matter what stage of life you are in or wish you were in.
Women, don’t settle and don’t ever compromise on requiring solid Christian commitment in a husband, but make sure your list of non-negotiables doesn’t effectively exclude everyone outside of Mr. Darcy.
Churches, don’t make church one giant man cave or machismo, but think about whether your church has been unnecessarily emasculated. Do you challenge and exhort? Do you sing songs to Jesus that men can sing with a straight face? Does “fellowship” at your church always focus on activities men don’t typically excel at, like sitting around and talking about how you feel? Does your church specifically target the discipling of men–particularly young men in high school and college? Grab them young and get them growing up in their teens instead of their twenties.
Men, you don’t have to be rich and you don’t have to climb corporate ladders. You don’t have to fix cars and grow a beard. But it’s time to take a little initiative–in the church, with your career, and with women. Stop circling around and start going somewhere. It’s probably a good idea to be more like your grandpa and less like Captain Jack Sparrow. Even less like Peter Pan. Show some godly ambition. Take some risks. Stop looking for play dates and–unless God is calling you to greater service through singleness–start looking for a wife.
By Kevin DeYoung
As I speak at different venues across the country, one of the recurring questions I get comes from women, young women in particular. Their question usually goes something like this: “What is up with men?”
These aren’t angry women. Their question is more plaintive than petulant. I’m not quite sure why they ask me. Maybe because they’ve read Just Do Somethingand figure I’ll be a sympathetic ear. Or maybe they think I can help. They often follow up their initial question by exhorting me, “Please speak to the men in our generation and tell them to be men.”
They’re talking about marriage. I have met scores of godly young women nearby and far away who wonder “Where have all the marriageable men gone?” More and more commentators–Christian or otherwise–are noticing a trend in young men; namely, that they don’t seem to be growing up. Recently, William Bennett’s CNN article “Why Men Are in Trouble” has garnered widespread attention. The point of the post is summarized in the final line: “It’s time for men to man up.” Sounds almost biblical (1 Corinthians 16:13).
Virtually every single single person I know wants to be married. And yet, it is taking couples longer and longer to get around to marriage. Education patterns have something to do with it. A bad economy doesn’t help either. But there is something even more befuddling going on. Go to almost any church and you’ll meet mature, intelligent, attractive Christian women who want to get married and virtually no men to pursue them. These women are often in graduate programs and may have started a career already. But they aren’t feminists. They are eager to embrace the roles of wife and mother. Most of the women I’ve met don’t object to the being a helpmate. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of mates to go around.
What’s going on here? Why are there so many unmarried, college graduated, serious-about-Christ, committed-to-the-church, put-together young women who haven’t found a groom, and don’t see any possibilities on the horizon?
Maybe women have impossible standards. That is a distinct possibility in some circumstances. I’m sure there are guys reading this thinking to themselves, “I’ve pursued these young women, Kevin! And they pushed me over the edge of the horizon.” Some women may be expecting too much from Mr. Right. But in my experience this is not the main problem. Impossible standards? Not usually. Some standards? Absolutely.
On the other end of the spectrum, some women may be so over-eager to be married they make guys nervous about showing any signs of interest. There is a fine line between anticipation and desperation. Men don’t want to spot the girl they like inside David’s Bridal after their first date. The guy will panic–and be a little creeped out.
This path of prolonged singleness is a two way street. But I think the problem largely resides with men. Or at least as a guy I can identify the problems of men more quickly. I see two issues.
First, the Christian men that are “good guys” could use a little–what’s the word I’m looking for–ambition. Every pastor has railed on video games at some point. But the problem is not really video games, it’s what gaming can (but doesn’t always) represent. It’s the picture of a 20something or 30something guy who doesn’t seem to want anything out of life. He may or may not have a job. He may or may not live with his parents. Those things are sometimes out of our control. There’s a difference between a down-on-his-luck fella charging hard to make something out of himself and a guy who seems content to watch movies, make enough to eat frozen pizzas in a one room apartment, play Madden, watch football 12 hours on Saturday, show up at church for an hour on Sunday and then go home to watch more football.
I don’t think young women are expecting Mr. Right to be a corporate executive with two houses, three cars, and a personality like Dale Carnegie. They just want a guy with some substance. A guy with plans. A guy with some intellectual depth. A guy who can winsomely take initiative and lead a conversation. A guy with consistency. A guy who no longer works at his play and plays with his faith. A guy with a little desire to succeed in life. A guy they can imagine providing for a family, praying with the kids at bedtime, mowing the lawn on Saturday, and being eager to take everyone to church on Sunday. Where are the dudes that will grow into men?
The second issue is that we may simply not have enough men in the church. Maybe the biggest problem isn’t with nice Christian guys who lack ambition, maturity, and commitment. Maybe we have lots of these men in the church, but they’re all married and there aren’t enough of their brethren to go around. I don’t know which is the bigger problem, the lack of good men or the lack of men in general. It’s probably a combination of both. The church needs to train up the guys it has. And by “training” I don’t mean “clean ‘em up, plug ‘em in the singles ministry and start matching them up with a spouse.” I don’t believe most unmarried Christians are looking for a church community full of Yentas. But a church full of godly, involved, respectable, respected, grown up men? That’s a project worth undertaking.
So, what can be done about the growing tribe of unmarried women? Four things come to mind.
Everyone, pray. Pray for a joyful accepting of God’s providential care, believing that godliness with contentment is great gain. If you are single, pray more for the sort of spouse you should be than for the sort of spouse you want. Pray also for the married couples and families in your church. If you are married, pray for the single people in your church, for those never married and those divorced or widowed. All people everywhere, pray for ways to start serving the Lord now, no matter what stage of life you are in or wish you were in.
Women, don’t settle and don’t ever compromise on requiring solid Christian commitment in a husband, but make sure your list of non-negotiables doesn’t effectively exclude everyone outside of Mr. Darcy.
Churches, don’t make church one giant man cave or machismo, but think about whether your church has been unnecessarily emasculated. Do you challenge and exhort? Do you sing songs to Jesus that men can sing with a straight face? Does “fellowship” at your church always focus on activities men don’t typically excel at, like sitting around and talking about how you feel? Does your church specifically target the discipling of men–particularly young men in high school and college? Grab them young and get them growing up in their teens instead of their twenties.
Men, you don’t have to be rich and you don’t have to climb corporate ladders. You don’t have to fix cars and grow a beard. But it’s time to take a little initiative–in the church, with your career, and with women. Stop circling around and start going somewhere. It’s probably a good idea to be more like your grandpa and less like Captain Jack Sparrow. Even less like Peter Pan. Show some godly ambition. Take some risks. Stop looking for play dates and–unless God is calling you to greater service through singleness–start looking for a wife.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Ryle: Do We Really Use and Know the Bible Like We Should?
by Justin Taylor
Bishop J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) exhorts us on the importance of “Bible Reading“:
You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on every side. Your own heart is deceitful. Bad examples are numerous. Satan is always laboring to lead you astray. Above all false doctrine and false teachers of every kind abound. This is your great danger.
To be safe you must be well armed. You must provide yourself with the weapons which God has given you for your help. You must store your mind with Holy Scripture. This is to be well armed.
Arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the written word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible. . . . Neglect your Bible and nothing that I know of can prevent you from error if a plausible advocate of false teaching shall happen to meet you. Make it a rule to believe nothing except it can be proved from Scripture. The Bible alone is infallible. . . . Do you really use your Bible as much as you ought?
There are many today, who believe the Bible, yet read it very little. Does your conscience tell you that you are one of these persons?
If so, you are the man that is likely to get little help from the Bible in time of need. Trial is a sifting experience. . . . Your store of Bible consolations may one day run very low.
If so, you are the man that is unlikely to become established in the truth. I shall not be surprised to hear that you are troubled with doubts and questions about assurance, grace, faith, perseverance, etc. The devil is an old and cunning enemy. He can quote Scripture readily enough when he pleases. Now you are not sufficiently ready with your weapons to fight a good fight with him. . . . Your sword is held loosely in your hand.
If so, you are the man that is likely to make mistakes in life. I shall not wonder if I am told that you have problems in your marriage, problems with your children, problems about the conduct of your family and about the company you keep. The world you steer through is full of rocks, shoals and sandbanks. You are not sufficiently familiar either with lighthouses or charts.
If so, you are the man who is likely to be carried away by some false teacher for a time. It will not surprise me if I hear that one of these clever eloquent men who can make a convincing presentation is leading you into error. You are in need of ballast (truth); no wonder if you are tossed to and fro like a cork on the waves.
All these are uncomfortable situations. I want you to escape them all. Take the advice I offer you today. Do not merely read your Bible a little—but read it a great deal. . . . Remember your many enemies. Be armed!
HT: J. I. Packer, 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know, pp. 40-41.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Drinking Coffee=Hearing Voices?
Drinking Too Much Coffee can cause people to hear voices and experience other hallucinations.
What?! That's silly. I've been drinking coffee for years and I've---what?...No! You shut up!...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Southern Baptists pass resolution against the 2011 NIV
Baptists and the NIV - Scroll down to 5:14pm and there is an interesting resolution from the Southern Baptists not to use, buy or sell the new NIV translation.
Good for them.
Good for them.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Horror in Sudan
Horror in Sudan - EPM makes a plea for prayer for Sudan. Some of the things that are going on there are so evil, so horrific, they are almost impossible to believe.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Book Review: The Next Story
In exchange for a copy of the book, I am participating in the promotional blog tour of Tim Challies' The Next Story (2011, Zondervan). I offer up my thoughts having just finished this most enjoyable read.
Do you own your technology or does your technology own you? Tim Challies explores this question in his recent book, The Next Story (Zondervan, 2011). While the question he poses may seem silly to some, but it is a given that everywhere we look people are addicted to texting, unable to sit and enjoy dinner with their spouse without being interrupted or taking a phone call at dinner in a nice restaurant, and entire generations are spending what seems to be 90% of their time staring at glowing rectangles and neglecting to interact with the natural or real world, it seems that we are not masters of our technology, but that our technology has mastered us.
We invent technology, he pontificates, to become our servants, to aid and improve our lives, as a means to take dominion over creation, and to make us more productive and efficient. But in an elusive reversal, the digital have become the master and we are often stuck reloading and trouble-shooting, spending countless hours unwillingly obsessed with the trivial and many more hours willingly obsessed with the boorish and mundane (i.e. YouTube’s “David After the Dentist”).
Challies writes with a very thoughtful tone, offering to consider a “middle-way” (though he does not employ that term) with regard to our response to the outpouring of new technologies. He does not advocate blindly accepting technology, as if we should not be critical or analytical about how it affects our behavior. Nor does he advocate a Luddite/retreatist attitude, as if we should burn all our cellphones, notebooks, and iPads and go back to the horse and buggy, thus ensuring our moral purity. Rather, he reminds us that anything in our life can become an idol—food, sex, money, power, or digital gadgets. For the Christian, it is important to think seriously about our use of technology, as well as how it reflects our commitment to biblical living.
Challies reminds his readers that man was created to take dominion over the earth (Genesis 1) and technology is one way that mankind obeys that mandate. It is important to remember that cell phones and computers are not the only thing that constitutes “technology”, but any created item that man uses is “technology” (chalk, wagons, plows, spears, nuclear bombs) and it is important to be critical and thoughtful about its intended use, knowing that any technological power can, ultimately, be used for good or ill; the same power that can be used to fuel a nation with energy for 100 years can also be used to destroy an entire city in one detonation.
While avoiding the anti-technological bent of the Luddites (of which he gives brief historical background and suggests that the term, though it is usually one of derision, ought not to be necessarily), he reminds his readers that advances in technology (i.e., the printing press) have been met with resistance and that people from all ages, not just our own, have called out for careful, thoughtful reflection before accepting all technological developments uncritically.
He explains how information, in of itself, came to viewed as a commodity and that with the progression from the Pony Express to the telegraph, telephone, TV, and Internet, its value has been determined by the speed at which it is disseminated, and people have had to re-evaluate social etiquette (the interruption of a telegraph delivery is not unlike the interruptions we constantly receive with the beeping and buzzing of our cell phones. Challies also explores the advent of social media and its effect (good and ill) on our lifestyles, how it has shifted our priorities and even, ironically, impaired our ability to communicate with our fellow man.
One of the high points of Challies’ book is his discussion of mediated vs. immediate interaction. Created in the image of God, man was intended for immediate (that is, no mediator, no go-between) relationship with God, which Adam and Eve had in the Garden. Since the Fall, man’s sin has created a need for a mediator, a medium, a go-between man and God: first Moses and the Law, then the Aaronic priesthood, and now, in these latter days, Jesus Christ, who is God himself. And now Christians await the last day when they shall have no more need for mediation but shall see God face to face.
Challies, rightly, argues that face to face communication and interaction is superior to all mediated forms of interaction, since that is how man is designed. Yet, this current trend seems to be seeking ways to place more media between one another (Aside: media is the plural of medium, it is not synonymous with “news/press outlets”. A medium is anything, in this context, like a cellphone or computer that is a go-between; it serves as a tool of communication with another person).
It seems as if we are frighteningly favoring distance and ambiguity rather than rich, personal, bodily interactive community. Our generation seems to prefer sending a text message over having a conversation on the phone, or favoring email over a face-to-face conversation. Strangely, when people wrote letters, they would often mention how they longed to be in the presence of that individual, not the other way around. Yet that is what seems to be the trend today: people genuinely aim toward and prefer inferior forms of interaction and “community.” Digital technology, with all of its boons, is serving to drive us as humans further apart. It is distorting our humanity, marring the imago Dei in one another and destroying our perception of the beautiful and the rich. It is an ugly thing that is causing us to love ugliness and we are allowing ourselves to become self-developed cyborgs, an identity that is tragically reflected in our human relationships.
Challies also has several very helpful chapters discussing distraction, our love of distraction, how to protect our homes and families from such, the idolatry of gadgets, the idolatry and over-valuing of speed vs. the value of pondering and careful thoughtfulness, truth and authority or relativity, and the need for privacy in the midst a world where the entitlement to privacy is quickly diminishing.
As well, he gives some extremely helpful musings on intellectual authority, the advent of the power of consensus/popular opinion in the age of Wikipedia, and on “data trails.” The fact is that transparency and integrity are of even greater import now since Google/Bing/AOL have on digital record forever the pattern and history of one’s Internet searches. These data trails tell a story, they give an insight, and, to many, they may even bring shame and conviction.
To elaborate further on the contents of the book would be tipping too far into the realm of summary and leaving the realm of review. Suffice to say, The Next Story is an enjoyable read; it is succinct, concise (under 200 pages), and thought-provoking. I highly recommend it to any thoughtful Christian, family, Sunday School class, or book group for reading and discussion of its many commendable, intriguing pages.
Challies writes with a lucid, flowing, and logical style and for those of you who have heard him preach or speak at conferences, you will notice how his writing style is very much akin to his manner of speaking. Woven throughout the book are various sections on application where he discusses the interaction of our theory, theology, and experience with much of the subject matter (i.e. social media).
As noted, Challies gives due focus to an oft-overlooked blemish in contemporary Christendom: idolatry. Nobody likes to talk much of idolatry these days and when they do it is often in reference to ancient, pagan peoples who once bowed to wooden and stone statues. Challies’ book is more diagnostic than prescriptive, and he echoes Calvin’s diagnosis of the perpetual factory of idols that man’s heart is by noting our tendency to idolize (inadvertently worship?) our gadgets.
A caveat? I would not recommend this book to a non-believer. If you are a person who is concerned for his non-Christian friend or family member and their idolatry/misplaced priority on digital technology, this is not the book to give them for conviction. Granted, God works in mysterious ways and can use anything as an instrument in regeneration/conversion. However, Challies writes with various presuppositions in mind such as the Image of God, the inerrancy of Scripture, and other biblical values that a non-believer is not likely to share. Since those presuppositions are often the basis from which he draws his conclusions, the Christian is likely to give a hearty “Amen!” or feel convicted because he is convinced of Challies’ arguments, but the non-Christian is not likely to be persuaded since he probably does not share the same worldview.
Be that as it may, evangelical Christians are indeed his target audience, and as one who shares Challies’ concerns and perhaps has even greater disdain for the invasion/enslavement of humanity to digital beeps and buzzes, I heartily recommend this book for all to read. I hope and pray that the tech-savvy among us will be thoughtful in their reading and not arrogantly dismiss his concerns and conclusions and go on about their uncritical use of gadgets and gizmos. My hope is that many readers will be convicted and begin to use their technologies in a way that reflects man’s dominion over the device, not the other way around, and that we can soon begin to see the imago Dei restored, rather than ravaged, by the advent of otherwise useful, helpful devices.
The 50 Best / Worst Childhood Fads
They were the best of fads, they were the worst of fads—all at the same time. The faddish objects of our childhood were sometimes loved and sometimes hated but they were hard to ignore. Here are a list of the 50 best/worst from the 1960s to today…
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/05/27/the-50-bestworst-childhood-fads-2/
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/05/27/the-50-bestworst-childhood-fads-2/
Obedience is Possible
I believe with all my heart that we can do nothing to merit eternal life. We are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. God accepts and declares us righteous not because of our good deeds, but because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We cannot earn God’s favor. We depend entirely on his gospel grace
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The Pastoral Challenge and Opportunity When the Rapture Doesn’t Happen
Via JT
Some wise words from Eric Landry:
Some wise words from Eric Landry:
We must be very careful about how we respond. Will we join our friends at the “Rapture Parties” that are planned for pubs and living rooms around the nation? Will we laugh at those who have spent the last several months of their lives dedicated to a true but untimely belief? What will we say on Saturday night or Sunday morning?
History teaches us that previous generations caught up in eschatological fervor often fell away from Christ when their deeply held beliefs about the end of the world didn’t pan out. While Camping must answer for his false teaching at the end of the age, Reformational Christians are facing a pastoral problem come Sunday morning: how can we apply the salve of the Gospel to the wounded sheep who will be wandering aimlessly, having discovered that what they thought was true (so true they were willing to upend their lives over it) was not? If this isn’t true, they might reason, then what other deeply held beliefs and convictions and doctrines and hopes might not be true?
It’s at this point that we need to be ready to provide a reasonable defense of our reasonable faith. Christianity is not founded upon some complex Bible code that needs years of analysis to reveal its secret. Christianity is about a man who claimed to be God, who died in full public view as a criminal, and was inexplicably raised from the dead three days later appearing to a multitude of witnesses. When his followers, who witnessed his resurrection, began speaking of it publicly, they connected the prophecies of the Old Testament to the life and death and resurrection of this man who claimed the power to forgive sins. This is the heart of the Christian faith, the message that deserves to be featured on billboards, sides of buses, and pamphlets all over the world. It is also the message that needs to be reinvested into the hearts and lives of those who found hope and meaning in Harold Camping’s latest bad idea.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Does Fair-Trade Actually Help The Poor?
One noted economist argues, "No."
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/05/18/does-fair-trade-help-the-poor/
Also, an intriguing Q&A with that same economist here: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/17811
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/05/18/does-fair-trade-help-the-poor/
Also, an intriguing Q&A with that same economist here: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/17811
Thursday, May 12, 2011
What if Starbucks marketed like the church?
So much hokeyness.
Yet, there's a lot of truth in this parody of what modern/contemporary/trendy evangelical churches try to do in order to be "relevant."
Yet, there's a lot of truth in this parody of what modern/contemporary/trendy evangelical churches try to do in order to be "relevant."
Monday, May 9, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Links for Weekend Reading
Where Is the Steeple? - Veith shares an article from USA Today about the decline of the steeple (and with it traditional church architecture) and asks a few questions: “Architecture, like other art forms, expresses meaning. Do you know why older churches built steeples? Why they had bells? What does it mean that today’s churches tend to use cheap materials?”
Matt Chandler: Is Church Membership Biblical?
When the Lights Go Out: The Death of a Denomination
Matt Chandler: Is Church Membership Biblical?
When the Lights Go Out: The Death of a Denomination
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