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Reading Classics - The Religious Affections (I)

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:55:00 -0500

Today we come to the second week of reading through The Religious Affections. You can click here to read more about this effort.

This weeks’ reading really marked my first significant attempt at plowing through a substantial part of Edwards’ work. While I began with some trepidation, I have to say that it wasn’t as bad as I may have feared. Sure the language was a bit obscure and sure Edwards often uses several sentences when he could probably get away with just one, but overall I didn’t find that it was too difficult. Tough, yes; impossible, no.

Summary

Our assigned reading for this week was nothing less than the entirety of Part 1. While the reading was long, I think it made sense to read it as a unit rather than dividing it into two smaller portions. This makes sense logically as well as in terms of timing since it will take a very long time to read this book if we do only 15 pages at a time. In this first part, Edwards writes about the nature of the Affections and their importance in religion.

Having said that, a reader who is participating in this reading challenge sent along this comic. I definitely feel some of this:

Edwards first seeks to define true religion, saying, “true religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.” He defines the affections in this way: “The affections are no other than the more vigorous and sensible exercises of the inclination and will of the soul.” He bases this definition on the understand that the human soul has two faculties, one of which he terms understanding. This is the faculty that allows the human soul to discern, view and judge. The second faculty he terms inclination or will or heart. It is this one that allows the soul not to just perceive and view things, but to incline or disincline it. Holy affections are those that are distinguished by “vigorous exercise of the inclination and will towards divine objects.”

The bulk of the chapter is given to ten biblical proofs that true religion lies much in the affections. It concludes with three inferences or applications from this doctrine.

Discussion

This was a long and dense chapter but one of uneven importance, meaning that there were some portions that were more important than others. I’m grateful for this since otherwise I don’t know that I could have absorbed very much! I am going to provide thoughts on just a few areas that jumped out at me.

After providing his ten biblical proofs that true religion requires true affection, Edwards summarizes by saying, “It is evident that religion consists so much in affection, as that without holy affection there is no true religion; and no light in the understanding is good which does not produce holy affection in the heart: no habit or principle in the heart is good which has no such exercise; and no external fruit is good which does not proceed from such exercises.” All of this to say that an affectionless Christian is no Christian at all. While the presence of affection does not necessarily prove a person to be a Christian, the complete absence proves that he cannot be one. Just last night my son asked how he can know that he is a Christian and here Edwards gives us a mark to look for. Is your heart stirred by these affections? If it is, that may point you to the reality that you are saved; if it is not, it will point you to the sad reality that you are unsaved. Affections are too close to the heart of the faith to be completely absent. At one point Edwards says, “I am bold to assert that there never was any considerable change wrought in the mind or conversation of any person, by anything of a religious nature that ever he read, heard or saw, that had not his affections moved.”

Edwards’ second inference about the affections is a logical one. If true religion lies in the affections, we must pursue those things that tend to move our affections. Here he points to prayer, preaching and praise. True Christians will necessarily wish to pursue such means of grace to stir our hearts and to grow in our affections. The application is obvious: do you find that your affections are tied to such means of grace? Is listening to a sermon a delight or a chore? Is prayer a duty or a delight?

The chapter’s final exhortation is one worth pondering. “So has God disposed things, in the affair of our redemption, and in his glorious dispensations, revealed to us in the gospel, as though everything were purposely contrived in such a manner as to have the greatest possible tendency to reach our hearts in the most tender part, and move our affections most sensibly and strongly. How great cause have we therefore to be humbled to dust that we are no more affected!” And really, what excuse do we have for being so little affected by the great things revealed to us? What a hard-hearted people we are…

Next Time

Our reading for next week will take us from the beginning of Part 2 up to the end of the seventh (VII) point. So stop when you hit point VIII and see “Nothing can certainly be determined concerning the nature of the affections by this, that comforts and joys seem to follow awakenings and convictions of conscience, in a certain order.” In my book (the Banner of Truth edition) this will take us from page 54 until page 78.

Your Turn

I am eager to know what you gained from this part of the book. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you can only say anything if you are going to say something that will wow us all. Just add a comment with some of the things you gained from the this week’s reading.

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A La Carte (7/24)

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:45:00 -0500

Thursday July 24, 2008T4G Slideshow
Together for the Gospel has released a great slideshow from the T4G 08 Conference. It is set to "How Sweet and Awful Is the Place."

The Spirit of Revival
At the Ligonier blog we're serializing a great bit of writing from R.C. Sproul. He writes about revival and how we can distinguish between true and false revival. It is a great read when so much talk about supposed revival is in the news.

Faith-Based Currency
A good article by Ron Paul addresses fiat currency. "Some are blaming the recent shakeup in the markets to "whining" or financial fear-mongering, which misses the whole point. History has shown that fiat money, or "faith-based currency" always fails, because when governments claim this power, they always behave irresponsibly."

Rick Warren's Presidential Forum
Rick Warren is defending his decision to hold a Presidential forum at his church despite the fact that it is co-sponsored by "the liberal social justice group Faith in Public Life, whose board president is Meg Riley, a Unitarian Universalist minister who previously ran the denomination's homosexual advocacy office."

Watching Joel Osteen
Sean Michael Lucas gives some good reflections on what makes Joel Osteen so popular.

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Movie Review - Fireproof

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:40:00 -0500

Kirk Cameron totally stood me up. “Come to a screening of my new movie,” he says. “I’ll be there and it would be fun to meet up.” So off I went yesterday, along with Aileen and our friends Julian and Stacey (yes, I think all of my friends have their own blogs), to attend a pre-screening of Fireproof in Buffalo, New York. But conspicuously absent was Kirk. He was a no-show. It hurt. (Though shortly after the movie ended, while I was drowning my sorrows in Dairy Queen, he called to apologize and say that his flight from L.A. had arrived late. I guess that’s a pretty good excuse.)

Here is a photo I snapped of Kirk and me outside the theater (Note: in this photo the role of Kirk is being played by Julian):

On to the film.

Fireproof is a product of the team who brought us Facing the Giants, a film produced with a budget of merely $100,000 that went on to gross $15,000,000. In this new film Kirk Cameron plays Caleb Holt, a fire chief in Albany, Georgia. While he is loved by the men who work for him and regarded as a hero in his town, Caleb struggles in his relationship with his wife, Catherine. After seven years of marriage it seems that the relationship is growing cold. Caleb finds solace in looking at pornography on the Internet while Catherine finds herself in a growing relationship with a colleague. As the couple begins to steel themselves for a divorce, and as they begin the process of ending their marriage, Caleb’s father presents him with a book and challenges him to begin a 40-day experiment he calls “The Love Dare.” Caleb decides to give it a shot, though he does so more to respect his father than to salvage his failing marriage. Struggling to show love for his wife even as she continually rejects him, Caleb calls his father and asks, “How am I supposed to show love to someone who constantly rejects me?” This gives his father an opportunity to share the gospel with him and, armed with the reality of a new love, Caleb sets out to win back his wife’s heart.

I can be excused, I think, for entering the theater somewhat apprehensively. After all, Christians do not have the greatest track record when it comes to combining great spiritual truths with sound art. But in the case of Fireproof I was pleasantly surprised. The film, though produced with a limited budget compared to most of what we see on the big screen, is very well put together. There are really no occasions where I feel a bigger budget might have improved the film, and this despite a couple of extended action sequences where I would almost expect to see quality compromised by budget restrictions. This is clearly not the case.

This is not to say the movie is without blemish. There are a few occasions when the dialog becomes just a bit stiff or stilted and this is especially true in the film’s opening moments. There are a couple of times when I feel that portions of the script could have done with just a little bit more tweaking or when a scene could have benefited from just one more take. Also, I feel that a handful of the minor characters are too weak, either through lack of development or through sub-par acting. But these are really the only downsides worth mentioning. (Is it worth mentioning that everyone in the town has a good Georgia accent except for Caleb? How is it that his father and mother both have that southern drawl and he doesn’t?)

Kirk Cameron is very solid in the lead role and was a great choice for it. He is strong throughout and at key moments, when given the chance to shine, is outstanding. Erin Bethea, who plays opposite Cameron as Catherine Holt is also very good, and this despite Fireproof being her first major movie role (and only her second role overall). Caleb’s father is excellent as a wise, loving, pastoral father. The prominent characters develop well and I found myself genuinely drawn into the story. While the movie deals with difficult and serious themes, it does not take itself so seriously that it cannot pause for a few laughs now and again.

One thing I like to evaluate in Christian movies is whether the film inserts faith themes subtly or blatantly. In the case of Fireproof the person who watches this film will walk away with absolutely no doubt that it is a Christian movie. Faith figures prominently and the gospel is clearly presented. Sinful actions and decisions are shown to have negative consequences and are eventually rebuked. While “The Love Dare” is used to draw Caleb back to his wife, it is clear that this is merely an instrument used by God to do His work. This movie is Christian by any measure. It sweeps to an ending that is powerful and emotional, stirring to tears at least several of the people in the theater with us.

I enjoyed Fireproof and am excited to know that, come September 26, a film with such a good message will be debuting on hundreds or thousands of screens across America. It is a refreshing film with a refreshing message that speaks boldly to a culture infatuated with immorality and convinced that divorce is freedom. I am grateful for this film and pray for its success.

Here is the film’s trailer:

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A La Carte (7/23)

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:50:00 -0500

Wednesday July 23, 2008The Father of the Fatherless
The Desiring God blog features a guest post by Jason Kovacs who writes about glorifying the Father of the fatherless.

What God Should Have Said?
byFaith Magazine, the web magazine of the PCA, has a good review of The Shack. "Writing an unfavorable review of The Shack, then, is like criticizing your Aunt Martha's macaroni casserole. Sure, it's fattening, but everyone else in the family loves it, so why not just shut up and eat your Waldorf salad? Any critic risks stumbling directly into the book's own well-worn stereotype: a strident religious nitpick."

The Audacity of Vanity
"Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials. What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn."

Gen Xers Unhappy at Work
Sean Michael Lucas offers ten reasons that Gen Xers are unhappy at work.

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Book Review - Moment of Truth in Iraq

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:00:00 -0500

Michael Yon has logged more time in combat situations in Iraq than any other reporter, and this despite twice being removed from Iraq for his critical statements about the U.S. military leadership. Remarkably, he has spent his time in Iraq largely as an independent reporter and blogger rather than an associate of a massive media network. As such, he offers a unique voice—one that is vastly different from what we are accustomed to hearing on CNN or reading in the New York Times. He also offers, at least in my eyes, unique credibility as he is required to follow no agenda but his own. In Moment of Truth in Iraq he offers his assessment of the conflict in Iraq so far and some prediction as to what will have to transpire in the months and years ahead if the United States is to conclude the campaign successfully.

Though Yon was at one time a critic of the U.S. handling of the war, the focus of his book is the remarkable transformation that has occurred under the leadership of General David Petraeus. Since Petraeus assumed command, he has focused on moving soldiers away from isolated bases far removed from the population and instead on placing the soldiers where the Iraqi citizens are. This strategy has proven very effective with casualty rates falling to their lowest levels in years. U.S. soldiers are working with and among the Iraqi people to rebuild the nation and to provide the security that has so long been lacking. There have been setbacks, to be sure, but the trajectory seems encouraging. He illustrates this with story after story drawn from his own eyewitness accounts at the front lines of the war. He is so close to the action that on at least one occasion he has dropped his camera, grabbed a rifle, and, relying on his training as a Green Beret, has charged into a room of militants.

Those who have not heard of Yon will surely at least be familiar with one of his photographs. He took what has become an iconic photo for the Second Gulf War. In the photo, which was voted as TIME magazine’s photograph of the year in 2005, U.S. Army Major Mark Bieger gently cradles a little Iraqi girl who has been wounded by shrapnel from a car bomb. The girl was rushed to hospital by U.S. soldiers but, tragically, quickly succumbed to her wounds. This photo stands as symbolic of the war—an American soldier brokenhearted at the devastation Iraqis are bringing to their own nation.

For those who are entirely skeptical about the war in Iraq and about the direction it is heading, this book will prove, I think, that the Americans are making some headway and are doing some good. Whether or not this is a just war will be for the history books to decide, I suppose, but the reality is that the U.S. cannot simply withdraw at this time. There is far too much to lose. Yon seeks to prove, and indeed does prove, that Petraeus’ new strategy is working and that the United States military is making great strides in Iraq. Free from the bias that pollutes so much of the mainstream media, Yon offers an account of the war that is poignant, stirring, and encouraging. It is well worth the read.

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A La Carte (7/22)

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:50:00 -0500

Tuesday July 22, 2008Danger Sermon Illustrations
"A pastor brought out a dirt bike during a church service to demonstrate the concept of unity. Now he's demonstrating the concept of healing."

Distracting Ourselves to Death
John Mark Reynolds outlines five tips his family is trying to avoid being overly distracted by media.

An Absentee God
Dinesh D'Souza provides a great answer to a question posted by Christopher Hitchens. "God seems to have been napping for 98 percent of human history, finally getting his act together only for the most recent 2 percent? What kind of a bizarre God acts like this?"

A Bona Fide Benny Hinn Miracle
This [fake] news site has the story. "Religious and scientific experts say there is strong evidence that American televangelist Benny Hinn performed a 'genuine verifiable miracle' in Johannesburg on the weekend. According to the experts, Hinn and his colleagues made thousands of dollars disappear from the bank accounts of worshipers, before making the money reappear in offshore accounts."

NiceCritic
I'm not so sure about this site. It allows you to send anonymous advice, praise and criticism to friends, family or colleagues.

Obama and McCain at Saddleback
Rick Warren has announced that Senators John McCain and Barack Obama will be making a joint appearance at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion on Saturday, August 16.

Low Numbers at ICRS
"The Disney magic did not materialize at last week's trade show which ended July 17, with total attendance of 7,448--the lowest numbers since the 1980s..."

Together for Adoption
The annual Together for Adoption Conference will be held in Greenville, SC on November 1, 2008.

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They Were Ready

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:50:00 -0500

At four o’clock in the afternoon of August 2, 2005, I was just a few minutes into a long online training session with a software manufacturer. As we spoke, and as the technician showed me the features of this software, I suddenly noticed that it had gotten very dark in my office. I looked outside and saw that the sky was as dark as ever I’ve seen an afternoon summer sky. Within minutes rain began to fall—hard, driving rain—the kind of rain that will soak you to the skin in seconds. I said to the technician, “this is the worst rain storm I’ve ever seen.” The rain was falling so hard and in such great drops that I could only barely see the house across from my own.

The pilots of Air France flight 358 may have been echoing my words. As the rain fell in Oakville, it also poured down in nearby Toronto. At that very moment their aircraft was on its final approach to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. The airplane, an Airbus A340, had left France’s Charles de Gaulle International Airport just over eight hours prior to this and the passengers—businesspersons, vacationers, and students—had enjoyed an uneventful flight. Uneventful so far, that is.

As they neared Toronto, the pilots were warned of thunderstorms in the area and, as they began their approach, were told that jets landing moments earlier had warned of poor braking action on the runways below. Their weather radar showed heavy rain immediately over the airport. Despite such warnings, the pilots felt they would be able to safely land their aircraft. When they were nearly 200 feet above the runway threshold, while on the instrument landing system approach to Runway 24L and as the pilots reacted to rising winds, the aircraft began to deviate slightly from its glidescope. A series of lightning strikes struck the ground in the area of the runway. Flight 358 crossed the runway threshold nearly 40 feet above the standard glideslope. As it neared the ground, violent winds rocked the plane and heavy rain pelted it, drastically reducing forward visibility.

The pilots, unaware that they still had plenty of time to bring the plane around for a second, safer landing attempt, pressed forward. The aircraft’s wheels touched down at 4:01 PM, but did so at almost the halfway point of the 9,000 foot runway. Improper procedures kept the pilots from activating the thrust reversers until 13 seconds after touchdown and from going to full reverse for a further 3.5 seconds. In such weather conditions and with delayed activation of thrust reverses, the laws of physics dictated that a plane weighing almost 185 tons would require nearly 6,700 feet of usable runway to come to a complete and safe stop. The pilots did not yet know it, but they were facing an impossible task.

With the pavement covered in water and a runway surface that was now far too short, the pilots did their best to stop the aircraft as it skidded down the runway. Twenty six seconds after touching down, still traveling at 90 mph as it came to the end of the runway, the Airbus careened across a strip of grass, crossed a service road, crushed fences and light posts, and hurtled across Convair Drive before coming to rest, finally, in a small ravine adjacent to Etobicoke Creek. Some fifteen to twenty seconds had elapsed from the time the aircraft left the runway. Amazingly, the fuselage was largely intact. But as the plane had crossed Convair Drive, fuel had begun to leak and had immediately caught fire. As the plane came to a halt the fire began to spread and to intensify.

It had been almost three decades since the last serious incident at Pearson Airport. On June 26, 1978, Air Canada flight 189 to Winnipeg suffered a burst tire while taking off. The pilot aborted the takeoff but did so too late. That plane, a DC-9, also overran the runway and plunged into Etobicoke Creek, killing two passengers and injuring most of the 105 who survived. It was an eerie foreshadowing of the events of August 2, 2005.

Since flight 189 in 1978 there had been no serious occurrences at the airport—no major accidents or incidents. For twenty-seven years the firefighters had trained to deal with a situation like this one. An entire generation of firefighters had come and gone without seeing a single incident. They could almost be excused for being under-prepared, slow to respond, slow to act.

Seeing flashes of fire and realizing the plane had overrun the runway, a tower controller activated the airport’s crash alarm twenty-six seconds after flight 358 left the runway. But by this time the airport firefighters who, due to the bad weather, had been in the alarm room and had watched the plane land, were already on their way to the crash scene. They arrived only 52 seconds after the plane left the runway. Already they found that half of the passengers had been evacuated. The Air France flight attendants had reacted promptly and just as their training dictated, ushering the passengers to the closest available exists. By the time fire began to consume the fuselage, the last passenger had been evacuated.

Despite twenty seven years without an incident, those firefighters were ready and they responded well in advance of the parameters dictated by safety regulations. In less than a minute they were on the scene and were assisting the passengers. It took less time for them to get to the crash site than it did for fully half of the passengers to leave it.

In the aftermath of this crash, and as I read reports about it, I immediately zeroed in on this simple number that appeared almost unbelievable to me: 52 seconds. I couldn’t believe just how ready these firefighters were.

The theme of preparation is important in the Bible and was much on my mind around the time of that crash as it was then that I was in the early stages of writing a book on the subject of discernment. This incident has been sitting in the back of my mind ever since. Preparation, I’m convinced, is one of the keys to discernment. In all my studies on discernment, this was the one thing that stood out above everything else. The simple fact is that those who are discerning are those who prepare themselves by knowing and studying Scripture. They dedicate themselves to the simple disciplines of reading, prayer and sitting under biblical preaching at the local church.

Just this morning I spent some time studying Genesis 3 and I read of Satan tempting Eve. It seems that Eve was somehow inadequately prepared to deal with this adversary. She was so easily led astray, so easily allowing Satan to lead her away from what was true. Perhaps she just hadn’t given enough thought to the command of the Lord that she not eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Perhaps she had never paused to consider what God meant by not eating. Regardless, she certainly did not trust in His Word or in His goodness. She was unprepared. And so often we are the same way. Though Satan’s tactics have changed little in the millennia between then and now, we are still woefully unprepared to deal with him.

The crash of Flight 358 ended far better than it could have. Almost unbelievably, all of the 297 passengers and 12 crew members survived the crash. There were only a few serious injuries, almost all of which were caused by the leap from the plane to the ground below. Air France flight 358 was a disaster averted.

The last to leave the shattered wreckage were the plane’s First Officer and several airport firefighters. They firefighters had swept through the plane ensuring that no one had been left behind. They stepped out just as the fire consumed and destroyed what was left of the cabin. They were where they were needed when they were needed. They were ready.

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A La Carte (7/21)

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:55:00 -0500

Monday July 21, 2008The Most Colorful Creatures in the World
ColorLovers has a gallery of Nudibranchs, the most colorful creatures in the world. "Part of the mollusk phylum, Nudibranchs are the shell-less relatives of the snail and are known for their garish colors."

New for Logos
New in prepublication at Logos is An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews by John Owen (in 7 Volumes).

The Golden Compass Trilogy?
An article in "The Independent" says "Sources in the film industry said that plans for a sequel to The Golden Compass appeared to have been put on ice following the fervent Christian protests surrounding the first film, which led to boycotts and box office disappointment in the United States. "

Homeschooling is not the Gospel
Here is an interesting article by Brian Sandifer dealing with something of the homeschool culture he has found (as a homeschool dad).

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Memoirs - A Weekend Away (1990)

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:55:00 -0500

Today I continue posting memoirs (see here for more), little tidbits of my life experience.

I can’t believe my parents are making me do this. It is Christmas break and the last thing I want to do is head away from home to spend time with a bunch of people I don’t know. Yet mom and dad have seen fit to send me for a weekend away at a little Reformed Presbyterian Church in Smiths Falls, four or five hours away from home. The church is holding a youth gathering running from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. I do not know any of the young people at this church or at any of the others nearby. Really, the only light in the darkness is that they’ve sent my brother along as well, so at least I will know one person. Mom and dad must think I need to build my character or something. There is no other logical reason for sending me here. I’m so nervous I feel like I could throw up.

Dad drops us off and Andrew and I lug our suitcases, pillows and sleeping bags into the church’s sanctuary where the guys are taking up residence. It is already evening and there will be little time for formal programs before we need to get some sleep. I make the rather surprising discovery that many of the people in attendance have strange accents. Is it an East Coast kind of accent? A Newfoundland accent? It turns out that many of the people here come from the Ottawa Valley which must be the only place in Ontario that has its own regional accent. So here I am, stuck for a weekend with a bunch of yokel Reformed Presbyterians who will sing only Psalms and do not believe in instrumentation. Wonderful. After a quick meal and a brief talk from the pastor, we find an area of the floor to call our own and stuff ourselves into our sleeping bags. I sulk myself to sleep over occasional accented cries of “Garth!” coming from across the room. Who is Garth?

The next morning comes too soon and I gobble down some breakfast before heading back to the sanctuary for a time of teaching by the pastor. Like most sermons I’ve heard in the past, this one soon passes into oblivion, but there are a few points here and there that catch my attention and pull on my heartstrings, at least a little bit—rather a rarity for me. We sing some songs and while I can’t believe any church would want to sing only Psalms and do so without any instruments whatsoever, I am moved by the skill of those who sing and by their harmonizing. They do not have a lot of songs to choose from, but the ones they sing, they sing awfully well.

At lunch I am put on cooking duty, having to help a team of other kids make lunch. While heating up a giant pot of soup I meet someone who seems particularly friendly. Her name is Emily, she is from Syracuse, just across the U.S. border, and, rather strangely, is half Chinese and half Swedish (though, going by appearance, it seems that the Chinese genes are dominant). We have fun discussing the old wives tale that “a watched pot never boils” and that seems to prove itself as we wait interminably for that pot of soup to heat up. The weekend brightens just a little bit as I become familiar with at least one more face in the crowd. Emily introduces me to a few more and before long I am feeling a little bit more comfortable. I’ll be able to make it through the weekend.

In the afternoon we head to the great outdoors where we climb up a huge hill and spend an hour or two sliding down it on giant inflatable tubes. Cries of “Garth” continue to punctuate the fun. The freezing winter air does me some good. After the sliding we listen to more teaching and after that more teaching still, breaking occasionally to emphasize application. I learn with some dread that in the evening we will be doing a square dance. I cannot believe this. I’ve never danced in my life and have no intention of beginning this weekend. But before long we are in someone’s barn learning the steps and enjoying the music. It is far more fun than I would have imagined. It turns out that these Presbyterians are rather adept musicians (at least for a bunch who never get any practice in church) and can fiddle with the best of them.

By the time I climb back into my sleeping bag for another night’s sleep I have a lot to think about. I have grown up in a church where personal faith and personal holiness somehow takes a back seat to corporate faith and the conviction that we are saved even if our lives show little evidence. Going against the grain, mom and dad have often emphasized personal holiness and I come to the conclusion that they must have sent me here because I am exhibiting little of it. The kids at this conference are like none I’ve ever met. They seem to have a kind of faith, or a kind of joy and conviction to their faith, that is absent in my life. It is like nothing I’ve ever seen in my own church. I can’t deny a little bit of jealousy. There is part of me that wants to write this crowd off as weird (the easy choice), but another part that wants what they’ve got (the hard choice). What gives them this joy? How could they, at even this young age, really care about following God?

Sunday afternoon, my dad returns to take me home. When he asks how I enjoyed it I offer little more than, “It was okay.” But it was more than that. Something inside me has changed. For the first time I remember, I have a kind of longing inside—a longing for, well, something. Could it be a longing for God? For holiness? When my friends in mocking voices ask me how I liked the dreaded weekend away there is little I can say. They do not understand (at least not yet). I’m not so sure I understand either.

But it is not long after this weekend away that, almost by surprise, I find myself on my knees in my bedroom, begging God to be the Lord of my life. Whatever changes in me that weekend changes for good.

I guess mom mom and dad really do know best.

Postscript: Eventually I learned that the “Garth” whose named I heard time and time again that weekend was none other than Garth Brooks. Some of the people at the conference must have been big fans. This was the first I had heard of him and, though it took some time, eventually I, like so many others, began to enjoy his music. Of course it was but a short-lived thing that lasted no later than In Pieces, after which I grew tired of him. I haven’t listened to his albums for years, but my kids can testify that if they need help getting to sleep, they are likely to fall asleep hearing me sing “Cowboy Bill” or “In Lonesome Dove” or something else equally depressing.

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Quote for a Busy Day

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:40:00 -0500

It’s funny how Saturdays, a day of fun and relaxation when I was young, have turned into days of busyness. Early in the day I had to put on my coach’s hat to lead my son’s team through a baseball practice. No sooner had we returned home from that than Aileen had to run my daughter to a birthday party. This afternoon will be spent, least in part, preparing lunch for a crowd we’re having back to the house tomorrow. Saturdays are a good day, to be sure, but they sure aren’t quite as empty as I remember them being as a kid.

Here’s a quote I dug up recently. It is a good one and perhaps particularly so on such a busy day. It comes from a letter missionary Robert Moffat wrote to his wife.

It was only yesterday, after laying down the Bible, that I wondered what kind of mind I would have had if I had not the Book of God, the Book containing the astounding idea of ‘from everlasting to everlasting,’ the development of all that is worth knowing … One would think, that as I have critically and, I think, devoutly read and examined every verse, every word in the Bible, some a score of times over, I should not require to open the pages of that unspeakable blessed Book. Alas, for the human memory! I read the Bible today with the same feeling I ever did, like the hungry when seeking food, the thirsty when seeking drink, the bewildered when seeking counsel and the mourner when seeking comfort. Don’t you believe all this? For alas, I read it sometimes as a formal thing, though my heart condemns me afterwards … I am yet astonished at my own ignorance of the Bible!

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Book Review - Touching History

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:05:00 -0500

I think we all remember where we were and what we were doing when, on September 11, 2001, we first heard that a plane had slammed into the World Trade Center. It is one of those moments we will undoubtedly always remember, just as so many people have never forgotten where they were when they heard about the assassination of J.F.K.. They are seared forever into our memories. They are utterly unique moments in history. How could we ever forget?

While the story of what happened on that day has already been told in many books and in several movies, none of the accounts has told it from the perspective of the pilots of the 5000 planes that were in the skies that day or from the perspective of those on the ground who were responsible for the air-control and air-defense systems that controlled the skies over America. In Touching History Lynn Spencer tackles the story from this new perspective and in so doing writes a book that is both fascinating and riveting. A commercial pilot herself, she is well acquainted with the decisions and the responsibilities faced by pilots and controllers across the nation.

In an interesting literary decision, Spencer opted to write the book in the present tense rather than the more obvious past tense. This makes the book read less like history and more like current events. It transports the reader to the day itself, giving a moment-by-moment breakdown of the actions and decisions of the day. The book effectively takes the reader back to that day, stirring memories and evoking emotion perhaps long forgotten. Though the reader knows how the story ends, it makes the journey no less interesting.

Meticulously researched, the book actually makes some important corrections to the official 9/11 Commission Report and introduces some interesting new details to the account. Even those who have read other books on the subject will find new information here as the author deliberately covers some of the lesser-known drama. For example, she writes quite extensively about Delta flight 1989, an aircraft officials became convinced had also been hijacked. The plane was refused landing on the East Coast and was eventually forced to land in Cleveland where it sat for hours on the tarmac before a SWAT team finally approached and cleared the plane. She tells such stories from the perspective of those involved, not as abstract history but as personal narrative. She writes also of fighter pilots who, flying unarmed planes, were ready and willing to sacrifice their lives by crashing into hijacked airliners to save lives on the ground; she writes about air traffic controllers who were faced with almost unimaginable stress and the nearly-impossible task of, for the first time in history, grounding every plane in the country. Spencer has a knack for detail and for finding and describing interesting stories.

Touching History is a book that drew me in and wouldn’t let me go until I had finished the last page. In fact, I took concerted effort for me not to destroy a whole work day reading it. It is that good. Anyone who wants to have a better understanding of what transpired on September 11 will want to read this account.

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A La Carte (7/18)

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:15:00 -0500

Friday July 18, 2008Pray for Tom Ascol
Timmy Brister requests prayer for Tom Ascol who is facing some strange medical problems.

Things to Like About $4 Gas
TIME lists ten benefits that may come about on the back of $4 gas.

Black & White Twins
Here's a story of twins born to an interracial couple. One twin is black-skinned with brown eyes like his mother, while the other is white-skinned and blue eyed, resembling his father (HT: TA).

Driscoll on Packer
Mark Driscoll describes some time he spent with J.I. Packer earlier this week.

What I'd Like You to Know
Guest-blogging at Rocks in My Dryer, Molly Piper writes about how to reach out to a friend in grief.

The Gift of Opposition
John Ortberg writes about the gift of opposition.

Chess Boxing
This may be the strangest sport I've ever heard of.

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Reading Classics - The Religious Affections (Introduction)

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:00:00 -0500

This morning we kick off the fourth round of Reading Classics Together, an effort in which we read some of the great Christian classics together and convene here once a week to discuss them. In the past we’ve read J.C. Ryle’s Holiness, John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation and A.W. Pink’s The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross. We’ve had hundreds of people participate by reading the books together and discussing them each week. All along we’ve been reading some of the classics of the Christian faith—books many of us wish to read but books few of us have ever made time for. And now we begin on the fourth classic—The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. Well over 100 people have agreed to participate in reading this book together…and it all begins today. This is going to be our toughest challenge yet, I’m am sure!

“Read Religious Affections, at all costs read Religious Affections! And anything else you can get your hands on by this great saint.”
—John Piper I generally follow a certain format in posting about the chapters we are reading, but will deviate from that today. The assigned reading for this morning was simply the book’s Preface. The Preface is short and contains little of real substance, but I guess we need to begin somewhere! Edwards uses it to state the purpose for which he has written this book. He will seek to answer this question: What are the distinguishing qualifications of those that are in favor with God, and entitled to His eternal rewards?

Sam Storms summarizes the book’s purpose by saying, “He endeavored to identify what constitutes true and authentic spirituality. Or, to put it in the form of a question: Are there certain features or characteristics in human thought and behavior that serve as ‘signs’ of the saving activity and presence of the Spirit of God? Again, is it possible for us to know with any degree of certainty whether or not a person who claims to have experienced the saving grace of God is truly born again?” This is essentially the same question said in many ways and it is the question we expect Edwards to answer in the text of this book. We will do well to keep this question in mind each week as we give ourselves to reading The Religious Affections. And it is an important one to answer for, as Edwards says, “it is by the mixture of counterfeit religion with true, not discerned and distinguished, that the devil has had his greatest advantage against the cause and kingdom of Christ.” From the earliest days of the church until today, the devil has done much damage to the cause of Christ in the world by men and women deluded into thinking that they are Christians when they are not.

It is my hope and expectation that this book will arm us to better discern the state of our own hearts and to see and understand the defining characteristics of those who belong to Christ. To quote Edwards, “It greatly concerns us to use our utmost endeavors clearly to discern, and have it well settled and established, wherein true religion does consist.”

Next Week

Next week we will begin to discuss the heart of the book and I’d suggest we read all of Part I. In my book this comes to 32 pages—a rather long reading, but I think it makes sense to attempt to read it as a unit rather than dividing it rather artificially. I’ll try to keep future readings shorter since I know that 32 pages of Edwards may prove a challenge (or a chore!) but please bear with me. Just read five pages per day through the week and you’ll have no trouble keeping up.

Would You Like to Participate?

If this is the first you’ve heard of Reading Classics Together and it sounds like something you’d like to participate in, we’d be glad to have you along. I will be reading from the Banner of Truth edition of the work, but you can follow along in any of the unabridged editions (of which there are many available). For technophiles, there is a Kindle edition available for only a couple of dollars. For those who are not interested in spending money, CCEL has the complete text available in HTML, PDF and other formats right here.

If you wish to purchase a printed copy of the book, you can do so from Amazon, Westminster Books, Monergism Books or just about anywhere else good Christian books are sold.

We are only a few pages into the book so it’s definitely not too late for you to begin reading with us.

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A La Carte (7/17)

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:50:00 -0500

Thursday July 17, 2008God Wants Me To Be Rich
Portfolio.com writes about "Joel Osteen preaches the virtues of prosperity--for himself as well as his congregation. A look at the man who may well be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the slumping economy."

It's Lovely! I'll Take It!
This humorous site offers "A collection of poorly chosen photos from real estate listings. With love." (HT: Amy)

Backstage With Poison
Here's an interesting post (with video) about C.C. DeVille, guitarist for the band Poison. He has apparently become a Christian and here he is seeking pastoral guidance.

Stetzer on ICRS
Ed Stetzer was twittering from the International Christian Retail Show. Some of his photos are worth a look!

JellyTelly
JellyTelly is a new children's network headed up by the founder of VeggieTales.

Better Than Being There
Tyler Kenney, writing on the Desiring God blog, says that "The Bible Is Better Than Being There."

Discerning Reader Updates
Here's the latest list of reviews at Discerning Reader.

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Data Smog and the Christian Life

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:35:00 -0500

We are at a strange and unique stage of human history. The combination of the Internet, electronic storage media, the rapid rate of technological progress and the fast-pace of our society, has given us unparalleled access to unparalleled amounts of information. Never in history have people had access to so much information. Consider just a few examples:

Google currently indexes billions upon billions of web pages and adds hundreds of thousands more every day (I was not able to find an exact count, but as of 2005 the page count was already well in excess of 8 billion). Almost every one of those pages contains at least some information. Amazon and other internet retailers sell hundreds of thousands of different books, videos and other sources of information. Newspapers, especially weekend editions, are obscenely large, often totaling hundreds of pages and weighing several pounds. In Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life, Don Whitney says that the amount of information contained in just one weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than a man like Jonathan Edwards would have encountered in his entire life (though I can't imagine how that is really measurable).

A 2003 study showed that print, film, magnetic, and optical storage media produced about 5 exabytes of new information in 2002. Ninety-two percent of the new information was stored on magnetic media, mostly in hard disks, meaning that much of it was readily available to others. (5 exabytes = 5 billion gigabytes, or the equivalent of 125,000,000 average-sized hard drives. This was a dramatic increase from just two years before when the total amount of new information was a "mere" 1.5 exabytes. "How big is five exabytes? If digitized with full formatting, the seventeen million books in the Library of Congress contain about 136 terabytes of information; five exabytes of information is equivalent in size to the information contained in 37,000 new libraries the size of the Library of Congress book collections." And that is the total for just one year.

Neil Postman, in a talk entitled "Informing Ourselves To Death" once spoke about the information facing Americans: "In America, there are 260,000 billboards; 11,520 newspapers; 11,556 periodicals; 27,000 video outlets for renting tapes; 362 million tv sets; and over 400 million radios. There are 40,000 new book titles published every year (300,000 world-wide) and every day in America 41 million photographs are taken, and just for the record, over 60 billion pieces of advertising junk mail come into our mail boxes every year. Everything from telegraphy and photography in the 19th century to the silicon chip in the twentieth has amplified the din of information, until matters have reached such proportions today that for the average person, information no longer has any relation to the solution of problems." That was years ago and since then the amount of information has grown almost exponentially.

All of this points to the fact that we are facing much more information than humans did in days past. In fact, we are facing information overload. We cannot possibly keep up with the amount of information that is coming our way. Yet in many ways it is becoming increasingly important to our lives that we do just that.

Francis Heylighen, in a 1999 article entitled "Change and Information Overload: negative effects" writes about the problem of information overload as a condition that is becoming increasingly destructive in the workforce. He shows that the acceleration of change in our society has caused a dramatic increase in information, and thus an increase in the amount of information the average person needs to know.

The acceleration of change is accompanied by an increase in the information needed to keep up with all these developments. This too leads to psychological, physical and social problems. A world-wide survey (Reuters, 1996) found that two thirds of managers suffer from increased tension and one third from ill-health because of information overload. The psychologist David Lewis, who analysed the findings of this survey, proposed the term "Information Fatigue Syndrome" to describe the resulting symptoms. Other effects of too much information include anxiety, poor decision-making, difficulties in memorizing and remembering, and reduced attention span (Reuters, 1996; Shenk, 1997). These effects merely add to the stress caused by the need to constantly adapt to a changing situation.
Part of the problem is caused by the fact that technological advances have made the retrieval, production and distribution of information so much easier than in earlier periods. This has reduced the natural selection processes which would otherwise have kept all but the most important information from being published. The result is an explosion in often irrelevant, unclear and inaccurate data fragments, making it ever more difficult to see the forest through the trees. This overabundance of low quality information, which Shenk (1997) has called "data smog", is comparable in its emergence and effects to the pollution of rivers and seas caused by an excess of fertilizers, or to the health problems caused by a diet too rich in calories. The underlying mechanism may be called "overshooting": because progress has inertia, the movement in a given direction tends to continue even after the need has been satisfied. Whereas information used to be scarce, and having more of it was considered a good thing, it seems that we now have reached the point of saturation, and need to limit our use of it.

His conclusion is that the biggest problem facing our society is not that we are making too little progress, but that we are making too much! I think I know just what he means.

Christians are by no means exempt from the impact of information overload. Consider, for example, a pastor who lived in America in the early nineteenth century. What information was he privy to on a daily basis? If he lived in a large town he may have had access to a newspaper and perhaps even a library. He may have owned a few books, but generally he had very little access to significant amounts of information. He usually rose and went to bed with the sun, he never watched CNN, never listened to the radio, and if he lived outside of the city, may have only rarely had anyone to talk to outside of his family members. But consider a pastor today. We can be sure he has access to hundreds of television channels, hundreds of radio stations, billions of web pages, millions of books, newspapers, magazines and so on. The phone rings constantly, the cell phone interrupts his meetings and the computer beeps that a new email has arrived.

In many ways the nineteenth century pastor had a difficult life compared to what we experience today, yet, in the words of Don Whitney, "On the other hand, he never had to answer a telephone once in his entire lifetime! Despite his inconveniences, his mind, like the psalmist's, was not as distracted by instant world news, television and radio, portable and car telephones, personal stereos, rapid transportation, junk mail, and so on. Because of these things, it's harder for us today to concentrate our thoughts, especially on God and Scripture, than it ever has been."

How can a Christian find time to just sit and think, or sit and memorize or meditate upon Scripture? I know first-hand how difficult it is to remove myself from this information overload, even for a few days or a few hours. I consider it a hardship to be disconnected from email and the internet, and often my job depends on having near-instant access to these technologies. It is such a temptation to begin my day with checking my email and checking my favorite blogs and news sites rather than beginning quietly with God. I have a difficult time turning off the phone and the computer so I can sit and memorize God's Word, even for just a few minutes at a time. I have succumbed to the information overload, and have loved being a part of it. I have seen the data smog envelop my life. But, as with many other Christians, I know it has affected my spiritual life. While the information we are privy to is in many ways a blessing, in other ways it is a temptation and a curse.

Some days I thank God for the vast amount of information at my disposal. Other days I just wish it would all go away. In my more rational moments I know that this is impossible - the information is going to increase, not decrease. Therefore I am responsible before God to live a spiritually disciplined life in spite of this information overload. I am responsible before Him to carve time out of this information influx so I can just be alone with Him; alone with no telephone, no email, no internet. It is critical to my spiritual well-being that I find ways of removing and properly managing these distractions that keep me from spending the time He and I need to build a thriving, growing relationship.

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