Challies Dot Com - Informing the Reforming

Never Waste a Good Crisis

Tim — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:50:08 +0000

You never want to waste a good crisis. That is true in politics and religion and any other field that values ideology, that values one thing over another or one thing in place of another. As Christians we know that the Lord often uses times of crisis to call people to himself, that when people are weak, he remains strong and reveals himself as strong. Of course if God uses crisis, so must Satan. In those times of intense difficulty we may be more aware than ever of the cosmic battle that wages around and inside us.

I have been thinking of the value of crisis as I have watched Americans grapple with President Obama’s recent mandate that demands that almost all employers and health insurance companies provide free contraceptives, up to and including contraceptives that cause (or can cause) abortions. The outrage to this mandate is multi-faceted. On the one hand it forces employers and insurance companies to violate conscience in providing contraceptives for those who are opposed to all forms of birth control, or abortifacient birth control for those who have no objection to preventive contraceptives. In either case, it ignores the separation of church and state that is so integral to America; with this mandate government forces violation of religious conscience.

This is a true crisis and I feel great sympathy for Americans as they wrestle with the implications and call for this bill to be abandoned. I would do the same if I lived south of the border.

As my friends to the south deal with this crisis, I want to offer a word of advice or encouragement: Please do not forget that there are many people who will seek to take advantage of this crisis in order to advance their agenda. Please keep fighting against this injustice, but do be careful how you fight and who it is you fight with.

I was not surprised that one of the first and loudest objections came from Charles Colson. He is, after all, a cultural commentator and a leader within evangelicalism. He and Timothy George worked together to pen a piece for Christianity Today they titled First They Came for the Catholics. Acknowledging that this crisis was first advanced against the Roman Catholic Church and their hard [official] stance against contraception, Colson and George said, “We evangelicals must stand unequivocally with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. Because when the government violates the religious liberty of one group, it threatens the religious liberty of all.” They are right, of course, that violating the religious liberty of one group violates the religious liberty of all. But note their underlying assumption that Roman Catholics are brothers and sisters. Rick Warren offered a very similar note via Twitter: “I’m not a Catholic but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers and sisters to practice their belief against government pressure.”

The solutions Colson and George propose revolves around The Manhattan Declaration, a document that has already been much debated since its 2009 release. This document was framed around three cultural and biblical issues: the sanctity of life, the meaning of marriage, and religious liberty. It has been a while since most of us have thought of the Declaration, but a crisis like this one brings it right back to the forefront. After all, today’s crisis treads upon two of those three issues: the sanctity of life and religious liberty. It is exactly the kind of crisis that make that Declaration appear relevant and necessary.

Yet that Declaration is dangerous, and particularly so in the way it does damage to the gospel. You may want to revisit R.C. Sproul’s article Why Didn’t R.C. Sproul Sign the Manhattan Declaration?. The heart of his objection is this: “The Manhattan Declaration confuses common grace and special grace by combining them. While I would march with the bishop of Rome and an Orthodox prelate to resist the slaughter of innocents in the womb, I could never ground that cobelligerency on the assumption that we share a common faith and a unified understanding of the gospel.” John MacArthur’s reasoning is much the same: “Support for The Manhattan Declaration would not only contradict the stance I have taken since long before the original ‘Evangelicals and Catholics Together’ document was issued; it would also tacitly relegate the very essence of gospel truth to the level of a secondary issue.” Whatever was true of that Declaration in 2009 is true today.

I cannot speak of the motives of Colson and George, not without some speculation, but I do know that we do well to be alert. Their desire to lower the wall between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics—the wall of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone—is well-documented. Don’t think that they will allow today’s crisis to go to waste. There may be times for cobelligerency, to fight side-by-side with people who are on the other side of the gospel divide. This may even be such a time. But please remember that these are times to be more careful than ever, to continue to preach those gospel truths to yourself, and to ensure that the gospel is never, ever minimized or compromised. The more we labor with people on the other side of that gospel divide, the more we are prone to allow our similarities on non-gospel issues to blur our differences on the gospel itself.

I know that in times like this many Christians look for leadership, they look for trusted leaders to help them think through the issues so they know what to do. My encouragement is to take your cues from a few trusted individuals, people who have earned the right to be heard. In times like this so many of us turn to men like John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul and ask their help. These are men who have a long history of ensuring that the gospel remains central, men who have always valued truth over popularity, who have been willing to stand firm on truth. If this crisis continues without quick and happy resolution, I hope we will hear from men like MacArthur and Sproul who are specially gifted to help us interpret this time and help us know how to act.

For now, tread carefully, pray earnestly, hold tightly to the gospel, and remind yourself that no one wants to waste a good crisis. Through it all, know that Christ has already conquered and even this is under his complete and total sovereignty. In some way, at some time, he will glorify himself in it and through it.

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A La Carte (2/13)

Tim — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:58:30 +0000

There was so much goodness on the Net this weekend I’ve had trouble distilling it down to a few great links. But I gave it a shot and here are the ones that stood above the crowd.

The Queen of Sheba - “A British excavation has struck archaeological gold with a discovery that may solve the mystery of where the Queen of Sheba derived her fabled treasures.”

The Scale of the Universe - This is kind of a fun graphic that allows you to zoom WAY in and WAY out. You may find that it takes a few moments to load.

Satan May Seek to Destroy You - Paul Tautges offers a list of 20 ways that Satan may try to destroy you this week.

Books on Sale - Monergism Books has some pretty good deals at the moment. They include D.A. Carson’s brand new book along with Bibles, classics, children’s books, and more.

Guns, YouTube and Parenting - A few people have asked what I think of that YouTube video that’s been getting so much attention (where a father scolds his daughter and then takes a gun to her laptop). Phil Johnson says it well.

Anatomy of a Tear-Jerker - Why does Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ make everyone cry? Science has found the formula.

The Tebow of the NBA - The Tim Tebow of the NBA has arrived, or so it would seem. If guys like this keep performing, we’ll be seeing a few more athletes in church!

Every genuine revelation of God has this mark upon it, that it makes him appear more glorious. —C.H. Spurgeon

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Without Money and Arms

Tim — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:51:55 +0000

As I was sorting through some books today, I came across a volume by Philip Schaff. As I thought of him, I just had to go looking for this quote, the one that more than any other, has outlasted him.

Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mahomet, and Napoleon; without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and schools combined; without the eloquence of schools, He spoke words of life such as never were spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of any orator or poet; without writing a single line, He has set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art and sweet songs of praise, than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. Born in a manger, and crucified as a malefactor, He now controls the destinies of the civilized world, and rules a spiritual empire which embraces one-third of the inhabitants of the globe. There never was in this world a life so unpretending, modest, and lowly in its outward form and condition, and yet producing such extraordinary effects upon all ages, nations, and classes of men. The annals of history produce no other example of such complete and astonishing success in spite of the absence of those material, social, literary, and artistic powers and influences which are indispensable to success for a mere man.

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Weekend A La Carte (2/11)

Tim — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:05:55 +0000

Clarence - This is a touching article (even if it’s a mite over-stated at times). “We met you the first day we moved to Augusta. You introduced yourself as Clarence Davis, and you weren’t homeless but just ‘down on your luck’. You explained that you knew the previous owners and that you used to rake their leaves and that you were HIV positive and could we please give you a little work ? You raked our yard that day and didn’t complain once about the heat, although you were sweating so much I’m not sure how you could see to finish the job.”

World Press Photo Contest - “5, 247 Photographers, 124 Nationalities, 101, 254 pictures. Three hundred and fifty images by 57 photographers of 24 nationalities were awarded prizes in nine categories.” Here are the winners.

What Compromise? - Al Mohler: “President Obama walked into the White House Press Room today and attempted to pull a political rabbit out of a hat. Faced with an avalanche of mounting opposition to his administration’s mandate that religious employers provide birth control to all employees, the President announced what his staff characterized as a ‘compromise.’ Was it?”

Faith vs Victoria’s Secret - This is a neat story: “Christian model Kylie Bisutti says her faith led to her stop working for Victoria’s Secret.”

Monumental - Monumental is a documentary from Kirk Cameron that is set to release next month.

Check Engine Light - We’re all accustomed to ignoring the check engine light, but apparently it is actually beginning to serve a useful function (beyond enriching your mechanic).

What fools are they who, for a drop of pleasure, drink a sea of wrath. —Thomas Watson

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Free Stuff Fridays

Tim — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:59:00 +0000

This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by the Ockenga Store at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. This store offers a wide selection of audio resources from conferences and events held at the seminary. It also has a variety of educational resources including Semlink, the distance learning program at GCTS, and Dimensions, education from seminary professors for the building of the church. It also distributes PulpitTalk, a quarterly audio journal published by distinguished preaching faculty, including Dr. Haddon Robinson.

The store is offering 5 prize packages, each of which includes:

Preaching to the Heart by Timothy Keller - How can we change people’s lives with our preaching without simply providing information on the one hand or working on people’s emotions on the other? As preachers we are called upon to bridge the distance between the solid Truth of scripture and shifting demands of our congregation. How can we remain faithful to the task to which we are called? Each week, Tim Keller works to meet this demand to his own congregation. In this series he helps us to take a hard look at preaching that impacts the congregation with biblical accuracy.
CASKET EMPTY: God’s Plan of Redemption Throughout History by Dr. Carol Kaminski and David Palmer - These lectures are intended to help you grasp the “big picture” of both the Old and the New Testaments and understand how God’s redemptive story progresses through history and is fulfilled in the Messiah.
Theology of the Pentateuch by Dr. Gordon Hugenberger, Senior Pastor Park Street Church, Boston, MA - The primary objective of this course is to introduce the student to the theology of the Pentateuch, stressing its foundational relevance for a proper understanding of the whole of biblical revelation.

In addition to the giveaway products being on sale, other sale items this month include “Greek I” with Dr. Scott Hafemann which is normally $50 but only $25 until the end of February. Tim Keller’s “Evangelism and Church Planting in Postmodern Cities” is normally $20 and is on sale for $5 and Michael Horton’s recent conference “The Ministry: A Fellowship of Receivers and Deliverers” is priced at $5 from its normal $12.

Giveaway Rules: You may only enter the draw once. Simply fill out your name and email address to enter the draw. As soon as the winners have been chosen, all names and addresses will be immediately and permanently erased. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes Saturday at noon.

Note: If you are reading via RSS, you’ll need to click through to see the form.

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John Piper's Unexpected Career in Hip-Hop

Tim — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:52:01 +0000

Holy hip-hop or Christian rap has been on my mind lately. While I still feel like a complete poser when a listen to such music, I can’t deny that I quite enjoy it (as my wife would be glad to testify with a roll of her pretty eyes; she isn’t much of a fan). As I’ve been exploring this genre, which is still rather new to me, I have come across an interesting and unexpected influence on these artists: none other than John Piper. Sometimes he is the one who has inspired the song and, even more often, he actually appears within the song. Let me give you some examples.

Let’s get started with what is probably the most notable and most popular of these Piper references. Don’t Waste Your Life by Lecrae may not actually feature Piper’s voice, but it is named after one of his most popular books.

Next up is Make War by Tedashii which begins with John Piper’s battlecry of “Make War!”

From Tedashii we go to Shai Linne who begins his song All-Consuming Fire with a great quote from Piper.

We’re just getting started. Here is Json with Who He Is, a song that features Lecrae. And John Piper.

Let’s not forget Voice (aka Curtis Allen) who was the first person ever to rap at Bethlehem Baptist Church and who subsequently wrote a song titled Desiring God.

Timothy Brindle is also in on this John Piper thing, using a Piper sermon to introduce his song Sanctification.

And here comes Swoope with Actions Speak Louder. You’ll need to wait to the end to hear Piper’s bit.

We’ll go back to Tedashii and his song This Song’s For You, which is meant to honor true preachers. “So this song’s for the true shepherds / who prove selfless / whose aim is to aid the true helpless / I mean brothers like Spurgeon and Piper, Tom Nelson, John Edwards, / brothers who make disciples / Those who because of Ezekiel 34 shepherd the flocks / as a true pastor of the Lord.”

And back to Shai Linne with My Portion who gets Piper involves right off the top.

Once I began looking, I found quite a few more Piper quotes and references from artists who are not quite as well-known, but I guess I’ve made the point. Even here I am sure I haven’t exhausted all of the references from the more popular artists. Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what I’ve missed!

Bonus

Here are some bonus videos:

It is not just rappers who use Piper’s sermons. Matt Papa includes John Piper in his song The Glory of God.

The Joy Eternal has a whole album based on the work of Piper. The title of the album is A Sweet & Bitter Providence. Here is their song The Best Is Yet to Come.

And to wrap it up, here is John Piper interviewing Lecrae:

(Note: I’ve linked to YouTube videos, some of which are official and some of which are not. I am not too sure of the moralities and legalities of all of this, so do tell me if it’s wrong to link to non-official videos.)

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A La Carte (2/10)

Tim — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:11:20 +0000

A First Century Manuscript? - Dan Wallace: “On 1 February 2012, I debated Bart Ehrman at UNC Chapel Hill on whether we have the wording of the original New Testament today. … I mentioned that seven New Testament papyri had recently been discovered—six of them probably from the second century and one of them probably from the first. These fragments will be published in about a year.”

A Month of Junk - Over the next month PluggedIn will be looking at all of those new reality shows that buy, sell, trade or auction other people’s junk. What a strange phenomenon that so many of today’s most popular shows deal with this premise, of all things.

What If I Don’t Feel Love? - “Over the years, I have had people tell me they want to be married because they love each other and I’ve had people tell me that they want out of their marriages because they no longer feel love for their mate. This has led me to ask some serious questions about the nature of love. What is love? Is it something we can fall into and fall out of? Is it chemistry? Infatuation? Is it an emotional response or a choice?”

Spam Works - This is quite an amazing infographic dealing with the spam industry.

An Interview - My pal Darryl Dash interviewed me recently, asking me about being and becoming a pastor, the relationship between blogging and pastoring, and so on.

Judges in the American Canon - Ever since I got my Audible account, I have been using some of my credits to explore the works of Cormac McCarthy. John Piper once said “Cormac McCarthy is to the American literary canon what Judges is to the the biblical canon.” I have found that to be true. In this article Mike Cosper reflects on those books.

$5 Friday - Ligonier has a couple of good deals in this week’s $5 Friday. Look for books by R.C. Sproul and Michael Haykin.

It is never said, “whom the Lord loveth he enricheth,” but it is said, “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” —C.H. Spurgeon

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Asking Better Questions

Tim — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:32:58 +0000

So how many people go to your church?” That’s a question just about every pastor faces at just about every conference he attends. It usually doesn’t take long for a conversation to progress to that point. For the pastor this can be a moment of great pride or great humility, great freedom or great shame. Regardless, it is a question that always seems to come up. And it comes up for those who are not pastors as well; you begin to talk about your church and your friend inevitably asks that same question.

Today I’d like to make a two-part proposal: Let’s stop asking, “How many people go to your church?” And when someone asks us that question, let’s stop providing a direct answer.

We all pay lip service to the reality that we cannot necessarily measure the health of a church by its size. We all know that some of the biggest churches in the world are also some of the worst churches in the world. After all, the history of the church has long-since shown that it is not all that difficult to fill a building with unbelievers by just tickling their ears with what they want to hear. We also know that the Lord is sovereign and that he determines how big each church should be and we know that in some areas even a very small church is an absolute triumph of light over darkness. And yet “How big is your church?” is one of the first questions we ask.

Why is this? I don’t know all the reasons but I’d suggest at least three. First, I think our question betrays us and shows that in the back of our minds we equate size and health. Somewhere we make the connection between big and healthy, between big and blessing. We exacerbate the problem when we ask and answer this too-easy question. Second, we just haven’t taken the time and made the effort to form better questions. Instead, we gravitate to the easy one. Third, we are lazy and don’t really care. Asking “How big is your church?” is like asking, “How’s it going?” Neither one is a question that asks anything meaningful. If you are really interested in how a person is doing or how a church is doing, you will ask better, deeper, more meaningful questions.

I wonder, what would happen if we found better questions to ask and better ways to answer them. Instead of going to the easy question of, “How many people go to your church?” why don’t we ask things like this:

How have you seen the Lord working in the lives of the people in your church?
What evidences of the Lord’s grace has your church experienced in the last few months?
What are you excited about in your church right now?
Who are you excited about in your church right now?
What has the Lord been teaching you?
Who have you been discipling recently? Tell me about some of the future leaders at your church.

When asked, “How many people go to your church?” why don’t we consider answering something like this:

As many as the Lord has determined we can care for at this time.
Enough that we are actively working toward planting a church.
I don’t know, but let me tell you about a few of them…
You know, I have chosen not to answer that question, but let me tell you how the Lord is blessing us these days.

So tell me what you think. Do you think it would benefit the church to have us migrate away from asking and answering the number question?

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A La Carte (2/9)

Tim — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:21:52 +0000

Receiving Criticism - Dane Ortlund: “Seems to me there are two wrong ways to receive criticism and one right way. By ‘criticism’ I have in mind love-sent but hard words from a believing brother or sister that are meant for our good, in the spirit of so many NT passages (neglected by many today, first and foremost by me) that call us to exhort, rebuke, and sharpen one another.”

9 Good Purposes in Suffering - Rebecca has a helpful list, taken from scripture, of good results that come from the suffering of believers.

Radiant Inspiration - There are some nice Christian-themed wallpapers at this site.

Joke of the Year - “Comedian Tim Vine has cemented his reputation as king of the one-liners after he won the prize for joke of the year at the annual Lafta awards.” Some of the jokes here are pretty clever…

10 Digital Commandments - David has been reading a book about leadership in the digital age and provides what he is calling the 10 digital commandments. There’s some real wisdom there.

You cannot repent too soon, because you do not know how soon it may be too late. —Thomas Fuller

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Are You Living by "The Prius Fallacy?"

Tim — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:06:33 +0000

The Prius Fallacy: “a belief that switching to an ostensibly more benign form of consumption turns consumption itself into a boon for the environment.” That’s how David Owen, in his recent Wall Street Journal article, “It’s Too Easy Being Green,” defines the Prius Fallacy. Here’s how he illustrates it in action:

A favorite trick of people who consider themselves friends of the environment is reframing luxury consumption preferences as gifts to humanity. A new car, a solar-powered swimming-pool heater, a 200-mile-an-hour train that makes intercity travel more pleasant and less expensive, better-tasting tomatoes—these are the sacrifices we’re prepared to make for the future of the planet.

He lays on the sarcasm pretty thick in that last sentence, but in case you don’t catch it in the article he finishes with the clarification, “Our capacity for self-deception can be breathtaking.”

Owen’s article is insightful and rather humorous as he considers what many of us find ourselves thinking about consumption: that by substituting what we would ordinarily consume with a different product (which, typically, also happens to be nicer, more expensive and “greener”) we’re somehow consuming less. But that’s not true. The result is that we actually end up consuming more, and justifying it more.

Even when we act with what we believe to be the best of intentions, our efforts are often at cross-purposes with our goals. Increasing the efficiency of lighting encourages us to illuminate more. Relieving traffic congestion reduces the appeal of public transit and fuels the growth of suburban sprawl. A robust market for ethanol exacerbates global hunger by diverting cropland from the production of food.

Near the end of the article he gets at the heart of what is going on:

We may believe that we care about the world’s deepening environmental challenges and are merely waiting for scientists, environmentalists, politicians and others to come to their senses and implement effective solutions. But we already know more than enough, and we have for a long time. We just don’t like the answers.

He doesn’t quite get into biblical terminology (“greed,” perhaps, or “selfishness;” maybe even “idolatry”) but that is essentially what he concludes is the heart of the problem with human consumption. In other words, the issue is not that we’re consuming the wrong things; the issue is that we’re consuming so much and still aren’t satisfied. And a great way we’ve found to feed this greed is to portray our new purchases as virtuous “sacrifices,” offerings made selflessly to the gods of environmentalism (neverminding that being “environmental” also happens to earn you a lot of praise these days).

I appreciate what Owen has to say here and think that, even though he doesn’t name it for what it is, he is identifying the real problem behind our planet’s environmental issues: the sinful human heart.

More greed will not save us from the effects of our past and present greed. Only by believing in Jesus Christ and his Word, and having our contaminated minds cleansed and our polluted hearts restored by his blood, can we rightly acknowledge the true source of our planet’s problems and learn how to steward it better. And all the while we know that our hope is not ultimately in seeing the earth in its present form restored but in one day witnessing Christ replace it, new and unbreakable and unpolluted, for his people to enjoy forever.

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