No doubt, gentle reader, you have noticed a lackadaisical attitude towards frequent posting hereabouts. Guilty as charged. Since its inception, I've mostly blogged about things I encountered while cruising about the Internet. But lately, I've slacked considerably from daily peripatetic perusing of the pandemic punditry because I've found a new love, the Amazon Kindle.
Now I probably shouldn't tell you this for fear you sill stop reading my blog, or any blog. Blog reading, while entertaining, is detrimental to the ability to think. Small tidbits of unconnected information consumed as if from a smörgåsbord of data leads to shallow short attention span thinking. Reading long form material lends itself to prolonged concentration and logical progression on the way to a well reasoned conclusion. In other words, to think a thought until it is well thunk takes concentration. Flitting from blog to blog lends itself to distraction, the continual diversion of thought. Reading a book, on the other hand, lends itself to instruction and fruitful cogitation.
This is not an original idea from me. See, for instance, T. David Gordon's book "Why Johnny Can't Preach".
Mother's vision is afflicted by macrodegeneration. Part of the retina is detached, dried out, and dead. The center, the focus, of her vision is a big black spot. She still has peripheral vision, but dead ahead is blank. In order to read, she has to look off to the side and try to spell out the words. Very tiring. She also suffers the more usual age induced vision impairment requiring larger and larger fonts. We progressed through the super giant print Bible and are now living beyond even that threshold. So, for Christmas, she got a Kindle.
Oh joy! The Kindle allows 8 levels of font enlargement. More than that, the Kindle will read to her when her eyes get so tired the begin tearing and blurring. With a Kindle, she can read again!
We got her a 30" LCD monitor for her computer. With the aid of the magnifier program native to Windows, she can read most anything on that screen. In fact, we can set in the next room and read over her shoulder :) But the backlit screen is itself an aggravation to her vision and tires her eyes. But, oh wonder!, the e-ink technology of the Kindle screen is like reading black print on white paper. Much easier on the eyes. And it is eminently readable even in direct sunlight.
I have also become enchanted with the lightweight device. I once took an Evelyn Woods Reading Dynamics course and became a speed reader. I once could read a couple thousand words per minute with over 90% comprehension. Alas, the key to speed reading is rapidly shifting your focus to one or two spots per page, and my eyes no longer focus fast enough. When my gaze shifts, is take an appreciable instant for the focus to sharpen. I now read books at the rate of about 300 words per minute. Or much slower for technical matter or things, like the Bible, that require serious mental engagement. But, with the Kindle, I can adjust the font size and the number of words per line such that I can focus on one spot in the middle of the screen and, pressing the side bar to advance the pages, move the words instead of my eyes. Speed reading is back! Although I have lost some skill through long neglect.
I propose to fill up some of the blanks in my blog posting routine by regaling you with reports of what we are reading. If you would like to share the experience, the rest of this post will be given over to information for new Kindle owners. Much of this I recently compiled for an email to a friend who recently acquired a Kindle.
I am indebted to Tim Challies recent post, "Building an eBook Library on the Cheap" and the more recent Nathan Bingham post, "Amazon Kindle Tips, Tricks, and Resources".
First, a free program which will convert text and html, etc, to mobi format suitable for reading on Kindle.
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/downloadSoft/DownloadCreator.asp
Second, some web sites loaded with free and inexpensive ebooks...
Christian Kindle Books on a Budget http://www.inspiredreads.com/
Project Gutenberg, US: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page or http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/
Project Gutenberg Australia: http://gutenberg.net.au/ (lots of free books in text format which you can buy in Kindle format for $4 or use the utility above to convert into .mobi format for your own use)
Puritan Library: http://puritanlibrary.com
Kindle Review: http://ireaderreview.com/
Books on the Knob: http://blog.booksontheknob.org/
Christian Classic Ethereal Library: http://www.ccel.org/
Bring The Books: http://www.bringthebooks.org/search/label/Free%20Kindle%20Book
Cheap Nonfiction eBooks: http://www.cheapnonfiction.com/
Third, my top recommendation for Christian bibliophiles who get a Kindle..
Christian Books Collection ($7.99): http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Collection-Theologica-Commentary-ebook/dp/B004L9LBNG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1307841284&sr=1-2
This contains dozens of classic books including Calvin's Institutes (the very good Beveridge translation), 4 selections from Luther, Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress", Dante's "Divine Comedy", Thomas Acquinas, John Milton, Lew Wallace's "Ben-Hur", etc etc. See the listing for an idea. A huge bargain. Some of these book will appear individually in the list below.
Fourth, Free ($0.00) from Amazon. Follow link for book description.
"Charles Hodge's "What Is Darwinism?": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKRM02
Thomas Aquinas "On Prayer And The Contemplative Life": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKS6LQ
Thornton Burgess "Old Mother West Wind", first in the children's book series: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKRUWW
Sallust, "Conspiracy of Catelline", ancient Roman history by an ancient Roman historian, but a very readable translation: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JQUXMA
Andrew Murray, "A Plea For More Prayer": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKRXJC
Andrew Murray, "The Master's Indwelling": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKR6P8
Archibald Sayce, "Ancient Israel and the Surrounding Nations": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKTN1S A surprisingly informative history and geography which includes some economic and cultural history of the Old Testament world. I recommend it.
Chesterton, "Orthodoxy": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JMLDCS
Thomas Paine, "Common Sense": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKRQEY
John Bunyan, "Pilgrim's Progress": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKSZOE/ref=yml_dp
Arthur Conan Doyle, "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JQU1VS/ref=yml_dp
Fifth, $0.99 (ninety-nine cents) from Amazon...
Westminster Shorter Catechism with Proof Texts: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002H9XN06
Alexis de Tocqueville, "Democracy In America, vols 1 and 2": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00307S1MY HIGHLY recommended
McGarvey, "FourFold Gospel or a Harmony of the Four Gospels": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033PRXK4recommended
The Didache: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00315684S
Suetonius, "The Lives of the Twelve Ceasers": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004L9LPTG
The Works of Mark Twain, 24 books plus short stories: http://www.amazon.com/Classic-American-Literature-improved-ebook/dp/B002FQJQ20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308185349&sr=1-1-spell
Augustine, "On Grace and Free Will": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003M0N9LW
Sixth, bargains I recommend from Amazon...
$1.99 Works of Jonathan Edwards, vols 1 and 2, plus Religious Affections and others, mobile reference Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Religious-Affections-Collected-ebook/dp/B004L9L15E/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307843469&sr=1-1-fkmr1
$1.99 Athanasius, "On the Incarnation": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MAP6CS
$2.18 The Works of Richard Baxter: http://www.amazon.com/Unconverted-Slighting-Everlasting-Collected-ebook/dp/B004L642VC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1308184934&sr=1-2
$4.79 Complete Works of Josephus Flavius including "War of the Jews" and "Antiquities": http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Josephus-Flavius-ebook/dp/B004L9LRWG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1308185072&sr=1-1
Well, that is certainly enough to get anyone started. I don't know what a person might spend to accumulate such a library as this in hard bound or paperback books, but I reckon the savings will make a serious dent in the $139 price of a Kindle.
A note of caution. Prices change often at Amazon. For instance, Crossway's ESV Bible was listed for $0.00 for a while. Now that page says it is not available in the United States for that price. Go for it you folks in other countries. Keep your eye out for bargains and promotions. Sometimes publishers will put a special promotional price on new releases.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
BRAVO! John MacArthur
On June 5, 2011, John MacArthur preached the final sermon on his journey to preach the entire New Testament verse by verse. It was a brilliant apologetic defense of the integrity of the cannon of Scripture handed down from the earliest days of Christianity based on the disputed closing verses of the gospel of Mark.
I know of no other 20th century pastor who has managed the same. It is an amazing demonstration of faithful expository preaching.
You can listen to that sermon, "The Fitting End To Mark's Gospel", at the Grace To You website.
Take a few minutes to listen. And ponder the forty years of faithful preaching behind it. Did I mention the word "faithful"? Thank You God for John MacArthur. And take that you purpose drive scripture twisting pretend wannabes!
You may from time to time read in this blog that I disagree with Pastor MacArthur over something like premillenial end times, or criticize the idea of multi-thousand "member" mega-churches. But nothing can still my admiration for Mr. John MacArthur as a model of faithful preaching for our generation.
I know of no other 20th century pastor who has managed the same. It is an amazing demonstration of faithful expository preaching.
You can listen to that sermon, "The Fitting End To Mark's Gospel", at the Grace To You website.
Take a few minutes to listen. And ponder the forty years of faithful preaching behind it. Did I mention the word "faithful"? Thank You God for John MacArthur. And take that you purpose drive scripture twisting pretend wannabes!
You may from time to time read in this blog that I disagree with Pastor MacArthur over something like premillenial end times, or criticize the idea of multi-thousand "member" mega-churches. But nothing can still my admiration for Mr. John MacArthur as a model of faithful preaching for our generation.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Genesis 3 World
In a fallen world, insane goings on are "normal". The following insanities serve to prove the point.
INANITIES FROM NOW UNTIL ELECTION 2012
The media serve up circuses for the voting public. There are two teams, the red team and the blue team, and from now until the election we will get a steady diet horse race statistics and fan boy comments from the sidelines. It is so easy to poke a camera in someone's face, ask a provocative question, and display the results at 10 PM.
The red team blue team divide is the most important concern of the American people for the next year according to our news media. As a meme, it works. It is undeniably risible. Take this interview with newly appointed Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Hat tip to PowerLine
When she says Republicans are just trying to limit access to the polls to people who primarily vote Democrat, I say "Yeah!" Illegal aliens, convicted felons, people who get bussed from poll to poll and vote multiple times. When she says it unlikely you will ever see any actual voter fraud, that it is all made up, I think of Al Franken in Minnesota, or the Washington state governor's race where the recounts continued until King county finally came up with enough votes to throw the election to the Democrat. It is a very real problem. Think Acorn. It makes my blood boil. It is risible.
It is part of the circus to keep your attention from considering real problems.
MEXICO
What if, instead of calling certain folks "illegal aliens", we were to call them "refugees from war violence"? Just 570 miles south of here lies a region where more than 40,000 civilians have been killed since 2006. That makes it a more violent region than Afghanistan or Iraq. Why wouldn't refugees flee across the border? If they were called "refugees" instead of "illegal aliens" don't you think attitudes towards them would change? Wouldn't we be much more concerned about that border?
Here is a challenge for you philosopher-kings on the way to the voting booth in 2012. Read this story from the London Daily Mail without letting your stomach turn. Click through. It is way to graphically violent for me put here.
Now, where should our attention be? On the red team blue team divide? Or the violence just one day's drive south that is driving millions of refugees to seek shelter in this country?
SHOOT A CAMEL, SAVE THE WORLD
Just how inane is worldly insanity? How about shooting camel's in Australia to save the planet? (The Financial Times requires registration. You may have to get there through a Google link)
You see, certain gasses cause "global warming". We can encougage the reduction of these gasses through regulation. If you have a coal fired power plant spewing carbon into the air, you can purchase credits from someone else who has earned them by reducing the production of greenhouse gasses elsewhere. Camels produce methane. So shoot a camel, save one ton of methane production a year, and sell the credit to the power plant. Viola! A new industry is born!
Insane.
INANITIES FROM NOW UNTIL ELECTION 2012
The media serve up circuses for the voting public. There are two teams, the red team and the blue team, and from now until the election we will get a steady diet horse race statistics and fan boy comments from the sidelines. It is so easy to poke a camera in someone's face, ask a provocative question, and display the results at 10 PM.
The red team blue team divide is the most important concern of the American people for the next year according to our news media. As a meme, it works. It is undeniably risible. Take this interview with newly appointed Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Hat tip to PowerLine
When she says Republicans are just trying to limit access to the polls to people who primarily vote Democrat, I say "Yeah!" Illegal aliens, convicted felons, people who get bussed from poll to poll and vote multiple times. When she says it unlikely you will ever see any actual voter fraud, that it is all made up, I think of Al Franken in Minnesota, or the Washington state governor's race where the recounts continued until King county finally came up with enough votes to throw the election to the Democrat. It is a very real problem. Think Acorn. It makes my blood boil. It is risible.
It is part of the circus to keep your attention from considering real problems.
MEXICO
What if, instead of calling certain folks "illegal aliens", we were to call them "refugees from war violence"? Just 570 miles south of here lies a region where more than 40,000 civilians have been killed since 2006. That makes it a more violent region than Afghanistan or Iraq. Why wouldn't refugees flee across the border? If they were called "refugees" instead of "illegal aliens" don't you think attitudes towards them would change? Wouldn't we be much more concerned about that border?
Here is a challenge for you philosopher-kings on the way to the voting booth in 2012. Read this story from the London Daily Mail without letting your stomach turn. Click through. It is way to graphically violent for me put here.
Now, where should our attention be? On the red team blue team divide? Or the violence just one day's drive south that is driving millions of refugees to seek shelter in this country?
SHOOT A CAMEL, SAVE THE WORLD
Just how inane is worldly insanity? How about shooting camel's in Australia to save the planet? (The Financial Times requires registration. You may have to get there through a Google link)
You see, certain gasses cause "global warming". We can encougage the reduction of these gasses through regulation. If you have a coal fired power plant spewing carbon into the air, you can purchase credits from someone else who has earned them by reducing the production of greenhouse gasses elsewhere. Camels produce methane. So shoot a camel, save one ton of methane production a year, and sell the credit to the power plant. Viola! A new industry is born!
Insane.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Camping's Error
It has been revealed how Harold Camping's error occurred. He forgor a basic rule of Biblical numerology...
six hates seven because seven ate nine.
OK. OK.
That was weak. One more try...
A Sadducee is called Sadducee because they don't believe in resurrection. And that makes them sad, you see.
OK. I'll be quiet now.
six hates seven because seven ate nine.
OK. OK.
That was weak. One more try...
A Sadducee is called Sadducee because they don't believe in resurrection. And that makes them sad, you see.
OK. I'll be quiet now.
Monday, May 2, 2011
A Call To Anguish
This week our church Bible reading schedule puts us in the Book of Romans, chapters one through four. I love it! As I get out my Bible and open it to begin reading, I am already muttering, "Deep! Deep!"
Consider with me Romans 3:21-26...
Consider, if you will, a District Court judge in Denver who, after hearing a case and determining the defendant is indeed guilty of the rape and murder he is accused of, turns to that defendant and tells him, "It is my gift to you to pass over this crime and turn you free. Go in peace, my son."
Riot! Impeach him!
Isn't that what God did with his favorite David who seduced Bathsheba into adultery and ordered the murder of her husband?
Through his grace, God's justice is called into question. To show that God's grace is not inimical to God's righteousness, Jesus had to pay the penalty for those sins, our sins, with his blood. God's righteousness is rescued by by the cost of the sacrifice, the incomparable blood price of divinity. God's wrath against sin is propitiated by the obedience of his Son. None can say that God's justice is lax when we look in horror on the penalty that was paid. When we say we are saved by the grace of God, it is well to remember that that grace is no small thing. It is not, "Excuse me, By your leave," polite social grace. It is not going to the store for a gift under $50 party grace. It is divine blood bought grace.
With his blood, Jesus went to the slave market and bought you and me and innumerable other folks from the slave broker, sin, called them his church, and made them his bride. The bride of Christ was infinitely costly, infinitely precious.
But these days there are parts of the bride of Christ who are whoring with the culture. Look back at Romans 2:17 and following...
Sound like anybody you can think of? Think about it. Is not Rob Bell, in his own mind, the instructor of the foolish. Is not Rick Warren, in his own mind, a guide to the blind? Have you ever heard an evangelical pastor who, preaching against adultery, committed adultery? What about the idols, the pastors who preach prosperity, or patriotism, or "radical" good works (sell all you have and scale back you life so that you can give more away). What about the made up idol who will save your marriage and get you a bigger house, newer car, and parking place at the door? Forget about heaven/hell, you can have it all now! Do you get angry when a pastor preaches a diet plan instead of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in the blood of Christ alone?
Churches should be proclaiming the gospel. The pastor should stand in the pulpit and shout, "Hear ye! Hear ye! This is what the Lord and King has said in His Word! Jesus Saves! Can I get an amen? Say after me, Jesus saves! Louder. JESUS SAVES!"
Does it make you angry? Are you jealous for the Word? Are you grieved that your friends, relatives, and neighbors attend those kinds of churches and get inoculated so that they do not understand the pure word of salvation when you try to share it with them?
David Wilkerson, founder of Times Square church in New York city, recently died. You may remember him as the author of "The Cross and the Switchblade", a best seller when I was a young man. Mr Wilkerson had this to say about the passion aroused by the willful harlotry of the American church. (Click through if you do not hear this 7 minute audio/video.)
(Hat tip to The Bottom Line)
Consider with me Romans 3:21-26...
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26 ESV
Consider, if you will, a District Court judge in Denver who, after hearing a case and determining the defendant is indeed guilty of the rape and murder he is accused of, turns to that defendant and tells him, "It is my gift to you to pass over this crime and turn you free. Go in peace, my son."
Riot! Impeach him!
Isn't that what God did with his favorite David who seduced Bathsheba into adultery and ordered the murder of her husband?
Through his grace, God's justice is called into question. To show that God's grace is not inimical to God's righteousness, Jesus had to pay the penalty for those sins, our sins, with his blood. God's righteousness is rescued by by the cost of the sacrifice, the incomparable blood price of divinity. God's wrath against sin is propitiated by the obedience of his Son. None can say that God's justice is lax when we look in horror on the penalty that was paid. When we say we are saved by the grace of God, it is well to remember that that grace is no small thing. It is not, "Excuse me, By your leave," polite social grace. It is not going to the store for a gift under $50 party grace. It is divine blood bought grace.
With his blood, Jesus went to the slave market and bought you and me and innumerable other folks from the slave broker, sin, called them his church, and made them his bride. The bride of Christ was infinitely costly, infinitely precious.
But these days there are parts of the bride of Christ who are whoring with the culture. Look back at Romans 2:17 and following...
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law, and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, and instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth - you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you not rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor Bod by breaking the law. For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." - Romans 2:17-24
Sound like anybody you can think of? Think about it. Is not Rob Bell, in his own mind, the instructor of the foolish. Is not Rick Warren, in his own mind, a guide to the blind? Have you ever heard an evangelical pastor who, preaching against adultery, committed adultery? What about the idols, the pastors who preach prosperity, or patriotism, or "radical" good works (sell all you have and scale back you life so that you can give more away). What about the made up idol who will save your marriage and get you a bigger house, newer car, and parking place at the door? Forget about heaven/hell, you can have it all now! Do you get angry when a pastor preaches a diet plan instead of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in the blood of Christ alone?
Churches should be proclaiming the gospel. The pastor should stand in the pulpit and shout, "Hear ye! Hear ye! This is what the Lord and King has said in His Word! Jesus Saves! Can I get an amen? Say after me, Jesus saves! Louder. JESUS SAVES!"
Does it make you angry? Are you jealous for the Word? Are you grieved that your friends, relatives, and neighbors attend those kinds of churches and get inoculated so that they do not understand the pure word of salvation when you try to share it with them?
David Wilkerson, founder of Times Square church in New York city, recently died. You may remember him as the author of "The Cross and the Switchblade", a best seller when I was a young man. Mr Wilkerson had this to say about the passion aroused by the willful harlotry of the American church. (Click through if you do not hear this 7 minute audio/video.)
(Hat tip to The Bottom Line)
Friday, April 29, 2011
Looking For A Good Easter Sermon
The Easter Sunday morning service should be an opportunity for a church to put it's best foot forward. In our culture, it is the best attended Sunday of the year, the time when C and E Christians show up (Christmas and Easter). It is, therefore, the Sunday to see what any particular church is presenting. Faithful gospel teaching? Or Christian flavored commentary and counseling? Searching amidst the sermon audio posted by their web sites by the various churches of Denver for the Word of God rightly divided and proclaimed is an exercise in frustration.
John Calvin writes in his Institutes, book I, chapter 2, "...it is one thing to perceive that God our Maker supports us by His power, rules us by His providence, fosters us by His goodness, and visits us with all kinds of blessings, and another thing to embrace His grace of reconciliation offered to us in Christ."
To apply it to modern sermonizing, it is an easy thing to find a church proclaiming God as Creator who providentially rules over us because He is good and kind and wants to shower us with blessings. It is very difficult to find a church that proclaims the excellencies and perfection of God and our helplessness as sinners before His throne of Justice.
Are we basically good people who make mistakes? If we are basically good, then it was cruel and unnecessary for Christ to die on the cross! Waking up in the dark of morning and putting on mismatched socks is a mistake. Misreading the street signs at an intersection and turning the wrong way against the flow of traffic onto a one way street is a mistake. One is inconsequential, the other potentially fatal. But neither is a sin. Proclaiming from the pulpit that God will forgive our mistakes is making light of the cross. Hear lead pastor Jim Burgen of Flatirons church proclaiming that Jesus is promising you a better life: We are in the middle of our life journey, overwhelmed and a little frustrated by family, mariage, relationships, and finances. But not to worry, all things are still possible if you hang onto certain truths and values. And quit making "mistakes".
Mistakes? Isn't that heresy? Mistakes are embarrassing; sins are damnable. The Holy Spirit brings us to salvation by convicting us of sin and righteousness; our sin in the face of a holy God; a righteousness which is only possible through a risen Savior. Folks who go to such a church looking for "a better life" are not looking for the Christ of Scripture. Christ wasn't crucified and resurrected so that we can continue sinning "better" by making fewer mistakes.
Scripture is the authoritative revelation of God so it is good to hear pastor Barry Palser of Calvary Temple state his reliance on Scipture as the Word of God. But then he quotes The Message. And takes the quote out of context. When you were a child, did you ever play that child's game where the first child in a circle is given a statement to whisper to the next child in the circle? Each child in turn whispers to the next child. The last child in line then stands up and announces what was whispered in his ear and that is compared with the original message. Such is The Message, a paraphrase, not a translation, of the Bible. A pastor who uses The Message is being careless with the Word of God.
Most especially a pastor who quotes Jeremiah 29 as if it were meant to apply to you and me is being careless. Jeremiah is writing a letter to the exiles recenlty taken captive to Babylon and telling them God has not abandoned them, that God will bring them back from captivity.
This is not a promise to believers of our generation that God will give them "the good life". It is a promise to a specific group of people that was fulfilled and is now expired.
If scripture is our only sure revelation from God, can we trust a pastor who sprinkles his philosophical musing with a few examples from the Bible? Not as "proof texts" but merely saying, "See, here is an example from this verse that agrees with what I have just told you." Such is the Easter sermon from Russ McKendry at L2 Church in Denver. This is a church with a reputation of being "reformed" and the imprimatur of Acts29, but this sermon is merely a philosophical exercise. As such, can it be distinguished as any more worthy than the philosophical musings of the Unitarian Universalists at First Unitarian Church? Aside, that is, from the fact that Pastor McKendry's audience doesn't giggle at the Bible references. In fairness, Pastor McKendry mentions in passing that at other times he practices exposition, so this may not be a fair example of what goes on there. But, since he is reasoning from his own intellect and not from the Bible, I am left wondering just what he means when he tells the audience they need to repent if their life doesn't shine.
There are so many examples of getting it wrong, preaching another gospel, and missing the point. What would it be like to hear a pastor preach about sin (not mistakes) in a manner meant to convict and bring a person about to salvation? Hear Pastor Jarrett's Easter sermon.
John Calvin writes in his Institutes, book I, chapter 2, "...it is one thing to perceive that God our Maker supports us by His power, rules us by His providence, fosters us by His goodness, and visits us with all kinds of blessings, and another thing to embrace His grace of reconciliation offered to us in Christ."
To apply it to modern sermonizing, it is an easy thing to find a church proclaiming God as Creator who providentially rules over us because He is good and kind and wants to shower us with blessings. It is very difficult to find a church that proclaims the excellencies and perfection of God and our helplessness as sinners before His throne of Justice.
Are we basically good people who make mistakes? If we are basically good, then it was cruel and unnecessary for Christ to die on the cross! Waking up in the dark of morning and putting on mismatched socks is a mistake. Misreading the street signs at an intersection and turning the wrong way against the flow of traffic onto a one way street is a mistake. One is inconsequential, the other potentially fatal. But neither is a sin. Proclaiming from the pulpit that God will forgive our mistakes is making light of the cross. Hear lead pastor Jim Burgen of Flatirons church proclaiming that Jesus is promising you a better life: We are in the middle of our life journey, overwhelmed and a little frustrated by family, mariage, relationships, and finances. But not to worry, all things are still possible if you hang onto certain truths and values. And quit making "mistakes".
Mistakes? Isn't that heresy? Mistakes are embarrassing; sins are damnable. The Holy Spirit brings us to salvation by convicting us of sin and righteousness; our sin in the face of a holy God; a righteousness which is only possible through a risen Savior. Folks who go to such a church looking for "a better life" are not looking for the Christ of Scripture. Christ wasn't crucified and resurrected so that we can continue sinning "better" by making fewer mistakes.
Scripture is the authoritative revelation of God so it is good to hear pastor Barry Palser of Calvary Temple state his reliance on Scipture as the Word of God. But then he quotes The Message. And takes the quote out of context. When you were a child, did you ever play that child's game where the first child in a circle is given a statement to whisper to the next child in the circle? Each child in turn whispers to the next child. The last child in line then stands up and announces what was whispered in his ear and that is compared with the original message. Such is The Message, a paraphrase, not a translation, of the Bible. A pastor who uses The Message is being careless with the Word of God.
Most especially a pastor who quotes Jeremiah 29 as if it were meant to apply to you and me is being careless. Jeremiah is writing a letter to the exiles recenlty taken captive to Babylon and telling them God has not abandoned them, that God will bring them back from captivity.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
This is not a promise to believers of our generation that God will give them "the good life". It is a promise to a specific group of people that was fulfilled and is now expired.
If scripture is our only sure revelation from God, can we trust a pastor who sprinkles his philosophical musing with a few examples from the Bible? Not as "proof texts" but merely saying, "See, here is an example from this verse that agrees with what I have just told you." Such is the Easter sermon from Russ McKendry at L2 Church in Denver. This is a church with a reputation of being "reformed" and the imprimatur of Acts29, but this sermon is merely a philosophical exercise. As such, can it be distinguished as any more worthy than the philosophical musings of the Unitarian Universalists at First Unitarian Church? Aside, that is, from the fact that Pastor McKendry's audience doesn't giggle at the Bible references. In fairness, Pastor McKendry mentions in passing that at other times he practices exposition, so this may not be a fair example of what goes on there. But, since he is reasoning from his own intellect and not from the Bible, I am left wondering just what he means when he tells the audience they need to repent if their life doesn't shine.
There are so many examples of getting it wrong, preaching another gospel, and missing the point. What would it be like to hear a pastor preach about sin (not mistakes) in a manner meant to convict and bring a person about to salvation? Hear Pastor Jarrett's Easter sermon.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Redrocks Sunrise Service Spoiled
The Red Rocks Easter service has been popular among evangelical youth. I wonder how many of them are aware that this year's service will be un-Christian?
As Pastor Bolz-Weber has been quoted praying before, "Dear God, help me not f*ck this up. That’d be great. Thanks" (source)
Edgy! Inspiring!
Damnable!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Just Sayin'
A tip of the hat to Townhall.
Visit http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/ for a daily recap of the best political cartoons.
Tim Challies has a list of useful shopping tips in his post, Resisting Consumeristic Temptations. Highly recommended reading.
Tim Challies has a list of useful shopping tips in his post, Resisting Consumeristic Temptations. Highly recommended reading.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Remarks About Rob Bell
I spent much time this week following the Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago. The plenary sessions and some panels were broadcast live on the Internet. The audio is still available here, although I expect the web page will be revised when the video is published. The speakers each demonstrated the art of preaching Christ from the Old Testament. The most interesting part is comparing the various preaching styles.
On the last day of the conference, they added an address by Don Carson and a panel discussion prompted by the controversy over Rob Bell's new book and it's selection as a topic for Time magazine's Easter week cover. The audio is available here.
Albert Mohler also comments on the Time cover on his blog.
You may also want to follow John MacArthur on his blog as he continues a series of posts challenging Rob Bell's theology.
On the last day of the conference, they added an address by Don Carson and a panel discussion prompted by the controversy over Rob Bell's new book and it's selection as a topic for Time magazine's Easter week cover. The audio is available here.
Albert Mohler also comments on the Time cover on his blog.
You may also want to follow John MacArthur on his blog as he continues a series of posts challenging Rob Bell's theology.
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