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The Mother of Many Theological Errors

Justin Taylor — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:00:21 PDT

In 1989 Clark Pinnock penned a surprisingly transparent statement regarding his rationale for his pilgrimage from Calvinism to open theism, referring to “the doctrinal moves that logic required and I believed Scripture permitted me to make” (my emphasis).

It’s a temptation many of us face and which we should all resist.

I Want To Do This

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:34:00 PDT

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Francis Schaeffer on How to Read His Books (or, How the Gospel Saved Him as a Christian)

Justin Taylor — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:21:31 PDT

The key is to realize that they were born out of his conversion, his dark night of the soul, and his rediscovery of the gospel as a Christian:

The way to read my books, then, is to realize that I came through a real struggle in those early days, and I’ve tried to be honest in my study ever since. I try to approach every problem as though I were not a Christian and see what the answer would be.

Later on in my ministry I faced another crisis that equally influenced the writing of my books. It came after I had already been a pastor for ten years in the U.S. and a missionary to Europe for five years. Throughout this period one thing was dinned into my thinking: “Why,” I asked, “is there so little reality among orthodox evangelical Christians? Why is there so little beauty in the way Christians deal with one another?”

This led to doubts about the reality of spiritual things in my own life. I realized that although I had been studying for years and although I had been active in Christian ministry and although I was becoming more and more known in certain Christian circles, the reality of my own spiritual life was diminished. Somehow I had lost what I had when I first became a Christian.

For about two months I walked out in the Swiss mountains. When it rained, I walked in the old hayloft above our chalet. And as I prayed, I went all the way back to my agnosticism. With as much honesty as I could, I asked myself, “Was I right in becoming a Christian as a young man?” The unreality I had found in the Christian world, the ugliness I saw in Christian relationships, the fact that Christians were not able to talk to twentieth-century people—all these things made me ask, “Was I right?”

And finally the sun came out. I saw that my earlier decisions to step from agnosticism to Bible-believing Christianity was right, and I also discovered that I had been missing something vital in my biblical understanding. It was this: that the finished work of Christ on the cross, back there in time and space, has a moment-by-moment meaning. Christ meant His promise to be taken literally when He said that He would bear His fruit through us if we allowed Him to do so, not only in our religious life but in all of our life. Christ meant to be Lord of my whole life. This brought my life to a great shattering moment. What began as struggle ended in a song. Without that crisis, I could never have written True Spirituality, for that book is the outcome of that personal struggle.

—Francis A. Schaeffer, “Why and How I Write My Books,” Eternity Magazine, vol. 24 (March 1973): 64f.

HT: Bill Edgar

Christina, The Super Bowl, and Planned Parenthood

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 07:23:00 PST

Lauren Uhrich:

Did you see Christina Aguilera mess up the National Anthem at the Super Bowl? I didn’t.

I didn’t see the failed National Anthem, but I certainly read about it. Minutes after Christina’s big flub YouTube videos surfaced of her “ramparts” deletion and countless Facebook status updates transitioned from “Go Packers!” to “Christina Aguilera Sucks!” and “Who Forgets The National Anthem?” Within moments of the slip-up social networking forums, blogs, and new sites unanimously proclaimed their disapproval of everything from Christina’s choice of wardrobe to her awful pitch and obvious lack of patriotism.

One small mistake brought a hail storm of criticism upon the pop-star. The minor error that harmed no one and broke no laws was enough to provoke immediate opinion from much of the country. The next morning, even more buzz circulated about Christina and her horrifying pre-game solo on early newscasts and television shows. Journalists gave their “two-cents” about why and how the seasoned singer botched her performance. Some reporters cracked jokes, others expressed sympathy. The general public gave no mercy for her blunder. Instead, she became a laughingstock. Her actions, of no actual consequence to the American people, provoked a national response of “comical” condemnation.

NO GRACE FOR CHRISTINA.

Maybe there just wasn’t enough to go around.

In the days before Super Bowl XLV, Live Action released video footage of Planned Parenthood employees engaging in the unlawful behavior of endangering children through aiding and abetting sex traffickers. These videos were similar to those released in previous years, revealing other disgraceful and illegal practices by Planned Parenthood. However, unlike the “Christina incident,” much of the nation kept silent about the Planned Parenthood scandal. Very few members of social networking sites dared to opine on something so controversial as abortion and Planned Parenthood. A disproportionately low number of newscasts and media outlets reported on the tragedy and of those journalists who dared to cover the story even fewer offered their personal insights or convictions regarding the outrageous practices of sex-slavery and child abuse. According to Brooke Baldwin from the CNN Newsroom, she cannot answer the question of whether or not she approves of the abuse of young girls and the assisting of child sex trafficking. She is, after all, “journalistically not on either side of the issue.” Apparently, reporters can “journalistically” offer their opinions about Super Bowl performances but must remain mum on matters of child exploitation.

Why is the public so gracious with Planned Parenthood? Why is it that our country is more apt to criticize and humiliate a celebrity who sang the wrong lyrics than to chastise a government-funded organization that not only contributes to crimes that victimize children but is also responsible for the murder of over 300,000 precious children every year? Why does Planned Parenthood deserve mercy for acts that clearly evidence their murderous, money-making agenda? Why is it allowable for a “public health” facility to break numerous laws that protect minors from danger? Why is it forgivable? Why is it forgettable? Why should such atrocious, pervasive acts go unpunished and unspoken?

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What Kind of Religion Is This?!

Justin Taylor — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 21:25:55 PST

“In a sermon Dick Lucas once preached, he recounted an imaginary conversation between an early Christian and her neighbor in Rome.

“Ah,” the neighbor says. “I hear you are religious! Great! Religion is a good thing. Where is your temple or holy place?”

“We don’t have a temple,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our temple.”

“No temple? But where do your priests work and do their ritual?”

“We don’t have priests to mediate the presence of God,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our priest.”

“No priests? But where do you offer your sacrifices to acquire the favor of your God?”

“We don’t need a sacrifice,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our sacrifice.”

“What kind of religion is this?” sputters the pagan neighbor.

And the answer is, it’s no kind of religion at all.”
—Tim Keller, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, p. 48.

As we prepare to preach tomorrow

Ray Ortlund — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 06:38:29 PDT

Just this reminder from an older brother in the Lord:

“God save you from the sin of paring down the gospel to suit the pride of men. God grant that you may deliver your message straight and full and plain. Only so, whatever else you may sacrifice, will you have one thing — the favor of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

J. Gresham Machen, “Prophets False and True,” in God Transcendent (Edinburgh, 1982), page 125.

As we prepare to preach tomorrow

is a post from: Ray Ortlund

This is Why I Love Southwest Airlines

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:21:00 PST

Amazing story here.

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Ice-Cold at the End of the Age—And White-Hot

John Piper — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:30:00 PST

I am a historic, premillennial, post-tribulational, evangelical Christian who thinks it is possible that, when Jesus appears visibly and bodily on the clouds to establish his earthly kingdom, the Twin Cities could be 95% born-again, Bible-believing Christians, including the mayors, the city council, and the policemen.

“Lawlessness will be increased, [and] the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). But, meanwhile, white-hot martyr-types will take the gospel to every nation (Matthew 24:9, 14).

These indomitable emissaries of Jesus come from white-hot churches. I see nothing in any prophecy that says Minneapolis (or San Francisco, or Jerusalem, or Mecca) could not be a place covered with such churches and such people, while, say, Atlanta or Seoul is covered with the end-time glacier of unbelief.

Should the Church Work on Social and Political Problems?

John Piper — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:30:00 PST

Yes . . .

If you mean: Ten million Christians should take 10 hours a week spent watching TV, and give that time to worthy social and political engagement.

No . . .

If you mean: The pastors should leave their Bible study and pulpits and counseling and evangelism, and put that time into politics and social ministries.

Presuming Grace

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:08:00 PST

R.C. Sproul:

I wonder if we really are amazed by grace? I think we express more amazement at God's wrath than at His mercy. We've come to the place, I think, in our religious thinking where we assume that God will be merciful, that God will be kind, that God will be gracious, and so we're not surprised whenever we experience His kindness. . . .

One of my favorite illustrations about the dilemma that we face with respect to understanding God's mercy goes back to the early days of my career as a teacher in college and seminary. One of my first teaching assignments was to teach 250 freshmen a required course on "Introduction to the Old Testament." Here I had 250 students assembled in a large lecture hall, very uncomfortable, trying to communicate with so many students at one time. I had to print up in advance the requirements for the course because I'd already learned, very quickly, that college students are all budding Philadelphia lawyers. You have to "dot your i's and cross your t's" to make sure that the assignments are clearly set forth. I gave them a published syllabus and told them what their requirements would be. I said, "We have three very small papers, book report type things, that are required during this semester. The first one is due at noon on September 30, the on second October 30, and the third on November 30. Now here's the way it goes: I want these finished, on my desk at 12:00 noon on the appointed times unless you are physically confined to the hospital or the infirmary or there is a death in the immediate family." We had to spell out all this sort of thing for the college students. I said, "Does everybody understand the assignment?" They said, "Oh, yes indeed."

So, September 30 came around and 225 of my students brought their papers in and presented them dutifully at the proper time. 25 of these poor souls had failed to complete their assignments and they were scared to death. These were freshmen, just making the transition from high school and they were in a posture of abject humility. They said, "Oh Professor Sproul, please don't give us an 'F' for this grade." I had told them that if they didn't get their paper in on time they would get an "F" for that assignment. They said, "Please give us some more time, give us one more chance." They were begging me for grace, for mercy. They wanted an extension. I said, "Okay, I'll give you an extension. But don't let it happen again. Remember the next assignment is October 30. I want those papers on time." They said, "Absolutely. They will be there."

October 30 came around. 200 of my students came and put their term papers on my desk. 50 of them were now assembled outside in terror because they hadn't planned their time properly, and were not prepared. So once again these students came to me pleading. They said, "Oh Professor, we didn't budget our time properly. It's mid-term, we have so many assignments all coming in at the same time, so many pressures, it's Homecoming. Please give us just one more chance." They begged me with earnest faces and I was a soft-hearted guy and I said, "Okay, okay. I'll give you one more chance, but don't let it happen again." You know what they did? They began to sing spontaneously, "We love you Prof. Sproul, oh yes we do." So I was the most popular professor in the school for 30 days.

But 30 days later the third paper came due. This time 150 students came into the classroom with their papers prepared and the other 100 came in as casual, as cavalier, as you can imagine. They didn't have their papers, they weren't worried in the slightest, and I said to them, "Where are you term papers?" They said, "Hey Prof, don't worry about it. We'll have it for you in a couple of days, no sweat." I stopped them right there in their tracks and I took out that dreadful little black book and I took out my pen and I said, "Johnson, where's your term paper?" He said, "I don't have it Professor." So I wrote an "F" in the book. "Greenwood, where's your paper?" "I don't have it, sir." I put "F" in the book. What do you think was the response of those students? Unmitigated fury. In one voice they called out, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

I said, "What was that? Johnson, did I just hear you say that's not fair?" He said, "Yes, that's not fair." He was furious. I said, "Okay. I don't ever want to be thought of as being unfair or unjust. Johnson, it's justice that you want?" He said, "Yes!" I said, "Okay, if I recall, you were late the last time, weren't you?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Okay. I'll go back and change that grade to an 'F'." So I erased his passing grade and gave him an "F." I said, "Is there anybody else that wants justice?" Nobody wanted justice. Do you see what has happened here? The first time they were pleading with me in utter, pathetic humility, and I said sure. The second time they begged. By the third time, not only did they begin to assume mercy, but they began to demand it. They assumed now that I was obligated to be gracious to them.

Friends, that's what we do with God.

(HT: Dane Ortlund)

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The size of everything in the universe compared to everything else

Abraham Piper — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:03:44 PST

Sorry if these directions make no sense… Try it, though. It’s interesting, I promise.

Turn your sound down.
Go to this link.
Click “Play.”
Drag the blue button at the bottom of the screen to have some fun playing with the scale of everything from Planck length to the whole universe.

(via Pickering)

If You Only Read One Blog Post Today, Read This One

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:33:00 PST

Brant Hansen, writing from Afghanistan:

Zakara has so many strikes against her. Enough strikes for a full nine innings of strikeouts. This game, quite honestly, should be over.

But it's not over.

And this is why I love God.

I got to do "Kangaroo Duty" with this little one for an hour this morning. Apparently, it helps little ones like Zakara to be held, skin-to-skin, and feel the warmth of another human. Zakara is two months old, and, remarkably, 2.5 pounds. As I held her, I could look into her eyes, and wide-open, they are the size of my shirt's button holes. Her shoulders are smaller than the knuckle of my index finger. Her fingernails are tinier than -- I don't know -- crumbs?

And she's already had surgery. CURE International's doctors helped heal her intestines, and, in a land with one of the highest infant mortality rates on the planet, where almost no newborns get medical care, this one is alive, thanks to this hospital. And the Lord, who does not shy away from longshots. Not even close.

Read the rest.

See more pics here.

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Enjoy the Ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl

Anthony Alvarado — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:35:39 PST

There can be no easily believable explanation for everything I’ve seen in this little ball-happy universe of ours. Occam’s well-worn razor will do us no good. There will be no “simplest” explanation. A single world combining galaxies, black holes, Jerry Seinfeld, over 300,000 varieties of beetle, Shakespeare, adrenal glands, professional bowling, and the bizarre reproductive patterns of wasps (along with teams of BBC cameramen to document them), precludes easily palatable explanations.

I have never read a book quite like “Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl” by N.D. Wilson. Wilson attempts to refresh our wonder in the world while crushing humanistic philosophy, the problem of evil, and the theory of evolution. He also managed to take a bite out of my own self-importance in the process. Wilson takes a look at ants having colossal battles on the sidewalk (and decapitating earwigs), wasps flying through underground tunnels, butterflies defying skepticism, sorority girls crashing their bikes, the beauty and yet lack of scarcity of snowflakes, and much more. Do I think about this crazy world I live in? Do I think about how I really shouldn’t be here? Do I think about the Narrator who speaking and holding all of it together by mere words from His mouth?

Ex Nihilo

In the Christian story, the material world came into existence at the point of speech, and that speech was ex nihilo, from nothing.

We live because He speaks. We breath because God gives us breath. That pile of dog poo that you just stepped in exists because God speaks it there ex nihilo. There are no accidents. There is nothing out of his hands. He speaks and gives live and gives children and barbecued steaks as well cancer and death ex nihilo.

Destroying my self-importance

Tell me what you want me to do, God. Speak to me (in English, please) and tell me if I should take this job in Des Moines or stay closer to my mother. Then, because their part in this story does not include cosmic voice-overs in English, they enter into an existential crisis. They begin to “doubt.”

What kind of story do you think this is? I have no problem with the pettiness of your Des Moines dilemma. The world spins on through space, bowled up by its Maker. The sun burns on, hot with His words, and yet He still crafts every snowflake without digital shortcuts. He knows that you want to move to Des Moines and yet you feel guilty. He wrote the story. He crafted your character.

How often do I get caught up in my own story, in my own life and struggles and disappointments and joys? How often do I try to craft my day around me and only me? I so often miss the context of this created world we live in and get in a rut simply because I woke up later than I wanted to or because the traffic is moving so unbelievably slow or even because my pizza was 1 degree too cold than I prefer. I need to wake up! I play a small part in a larger story! I live on a planet moving mach 86 around a massive flaming ball while also spinning a few hundred miles per hour around its own axis. Yet somehow I can walk around on it and breath and not fly off. Do I think about that? Do I think about God holding all things together by the mere power of His word? Ex nihilo.

The problem of evil

The existence of evil in Hamlet in no way implies that Shakespeare lacked control of his art, or that he was evil. The implication that Shakespeare didn’t exist is even more outlandish. No doubt he wept for Ophelia, and his tears were not false.

I appreciate how Wilson takes on the problem of evil in a way I’ve never seen before. The problem of evil is not a logical problem but a personal one. This world of wonder is both beautiful and terrifying, both delightful and dangerous. We view the incredible beauty of a mountainside at sunset only to then watch an avalanche crush everything and everyone in its path below it. But it is not random. The Narrator is not asleep at the typewriter or indifferent to His cast.

The problem of evil is a genuine problem, an enemy with sharp pointy teeth. But it is not a logical problem. It is an emotional one, an argument from Hamlet’s heartache and from ours. It appeals to our pride and our nerve endings. We do not want to hear an answer that puts us so low. But the answer is this: we are very small.

We are small but we are not ignored or forgotten and we have a Creator who not only speaks this world into existence ex nihilo but stepped into this world willingly, a lowering much more significant than even us going to the ants.

How much do I care for these ants? I think I care. I’ll stop to watch their wars. I’ll buy my children documentaries – insect tributes. I won’t crush them when I can help it. But if given the chance, would I be willing to become one of them? Would I be willing for them to drag me to the place of execution, taunt me, mock me, ridicule the gift I offered, a gift entirely beyond their comprehension? Would I be willing for the earwig, executed beside me, to add his insults to those of the ants? Would I be willing to die? Hell no. Never. I have more self-regard than God does. I have less love for the characters beneath me.

I could go quoting and discussing this book, but I’ll stop there. Read this book and be encouraged that there is God who made you, knows you, spoke this world into existence ex nihilo and is still speaking. Listen to Him.

UPDATE 4/22/11

They have put together a film based on the book that looks tremendous. They’re calling it a “bookumentary.” Check out the trailer:

You can pre-order it now at http://www.notesfromthetiltawhirl.com/. I couldn’t help it – I ordered it as soon as I watched the trailer!

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Piper on The Bible as Unifier

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:15:00 PST

John Piper:

I love this Book. I love this Book way more than the Institutes… or way more than Jonathan Edwards.

An Arminian who is a lover of this Book – and you can smell humility on that guy, an absolute submission to this Book – man, can I go a long way with that guy! I can talk to him all day long.

But if a Calvinist comes along who never quotes this Book, but just quotes Calvin – I don’t want to spend any time with him. I’m not interested. He’s just always blabbering away. He’s read some latest catechism or some latest book, and he’s on to this doctrine or that doctrine… I want to say: “Would you give me a verse?! Give me a verse. I just want to hear God come out of your mouth!”

In that sense, I hope that I’m a winsome person. If an Arminian says, “Look, I think that everything I say is in this Book.” I say: “Me too! Let’s talk! Let’s go to this Book together. Let’s worship the God we see in this Book.” It’s amazing how far you can go with those people.

(HT: T-Wax)

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God’s ability to bless

Ray Ortlund — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 03:37:02 PST

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think . . . .” Ephesians 3:20

“Not above some things that we ask, but all. Not above some of our dimmer conceptions, our lower thoughts, but above all that we think. Now just put together all that you have ever asked for. Heap it up, and then pile upon the top thereof all that you have ever thought of concerning the riches of divine grace. What a mountain! . . . High as this pyramid of prayers and contemplations may be piled, God’s ability to bless is higher still.”

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), III:419.

God’s ability to bless

is a post from: Ray Ortlund

One Year Later: An Interview with Matt Chandler

Justin Taylor — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:00:00 PDT

Last November—November 26, 2009, the morning of Thanksgiving to be exact—Matt Chandler’s life changed forever.

Here’s how the Associated Press profile described it:

Thanksgiving morning, a normal morning at the Chandler home.

The coffee brews itself. Matt wakes up, pours himself a cup, black and strong like always, and sits on the couch. He feeds 6-month-old Norah from a bottle. Burps her. Puts her in her bouncy seat.

The next thing Chandler knows, he is lying in a hospital bed.

What Chandler does not remember is that he suffered a seizure and collapsed in front of the fireplace, rattling the pokers. He does not remember biting through his tongue.

He does not remember his wife, Lauren, shielding the kids as he shook on the floor. Or, later, ripping the IV out of his arm and punching a medic in the face.

During the ambulance ride, Lauren, 29, looks back from the passenger seat at her husband in restraints.

He is looking at her but through her.

The doctors discovered a mass on the frontal lobe of his brain and planned for surgery.

A week later, a few days prior to his surgery (December 4), Matt recorded this message:

On December 15 the neurosurgeon, Dr. David Barnett, informed Matt and Lauren that the pathology report revealed that the brain tumor was malignant (Anaplastic oligodendroglioma, grade 3), that it was not encapsulated, and that they were not able to remove all of it.

He was released from the hospital the next day.

On December 18 Matt taped the following video:

He began radiation and chemotherapy treatments on December 29.

Matt has graciously agreed to answer a few questions, reflecting on the past year. I encourage you to read it not merely for an update or for information, but as a means of stirring you up to pray for our dear brother. (You can receive health updates from Matt here.)

If you could go back and have a conversation with yourself on the evening of November 24, 2009, what would you have said to prepare Matt Chandler for the year ahead?

I think I would hug myself and just say, “He’s prepared you.”

What role has your theology played in sustaining you throughout this year?

I’m not sure how men and women without a strong view of God’s sovereignty and authority over all things handle things like this.

There were at least 3 meetings with my doctors early on where I felt like I got punched in the soul. In those moments when I was discombobulated and things felt like they were spinning out of control, my theology and the Spirit were there to remind me that “He is good and He does good”—to remind me that God has a plan for His glory and my joy that He is working. I was reminded that this cancer wasn’t punitive but somehow redemptive (Romans 8).

It sounds like the Lord not only prepared you personally for suffering, but also enabled you to prepare the people at your church by teaching them about the theology of suffering?

When I arrived at The Village 8 years ago, we started growing with young men and women almost immediately. (I was 28 at the time, and I’ve heard you tend to draw those a decade behind you and a decade ahead of you.) The average age back in those days at The Village was in the early 20s. If there was a funeral or I had to run to the hospital, it wasn’t because an 80-year-old died or was sick. It was a baby that went down for a nap and didn’t get up, a young husband who went fishing and drowned not coming home to his wife and 3-month-old son, and on and on I could go.

I learned that, at least at The Village, there was no real understanding of what was going on in suffering. The theology most people had been taught was erroneous. They felt lost and confused. Over the next few years I would return to the subject of suffering at least monthly trying to weave it in as often as I could. Although most people would rather not hear about the subject, everyone is going to experience it. Therefore, I desperately wanted to help shepherd the men and women of The Village through what is a reality in a fallen world.

In the weeks and months leading up to Thanksgiving I was still doing this, mentioning the reality of cancer in my sermon on Sunday, November 22 and reminding the men and women at Southern Seminary on November 12th out of Hebrews 11 that sometimes we are faithful and do exactly what God wants us to do and we get mauled by lions and overrun by armies. It was a drum on which I was constantly beating and continue to beat. The great mercy of God in it all was that while I was purposefully preparing God’s people, He was purposefully preparing me.

What about the role of your friends in helping you during this painful time?

I have always deeply desired to be an honest man who said it when I struggled, stumbled and worried. I longed to be a man with real friends—friends who knew me at my worst and loved me. I woke up in the hospital on that Thanksgiving morning with no memory of what happened to me. When I came to, it was my wife and two of the pastors of The Village in whom I have confided, by whom I have been rebuked and corrected, and with whom I have prayed, cried, laughed, and vacationed, standing there with tears in their eyes.

Over the next 3 months they were constantly by my side, driving me to radiation treatments, bringing me meals, praying for me, celebrating with me when radiation was over, going to MRIs and doctor’s appointments with Lauren and me. They were steadfast in their love for me despite the workload they all had to bear with my absence for those 6 weeks. When I was afraid, they reminded me of His promises; when I was angry, they reminded me of His goodness. It truly has been a group effort.

For those who are walking with others who are suffering, what are some of the dumb things to avoid doing and saying?

I’ll stay away from the “what are dumb things people do/say” question. I think people can get a little weirded out by pain, suffering, and death. They don’t know what to do so they end up saying things that are hurtful to people who have experienced loss.

What do you wish people understood more about how to relate to those who suffer?

I wish people understood the power of presence. Just people being there to pray with us, encourage us, and support us was extremely life-giving (once I recovered from surgery).

How can we be praying for you and your family?

I am 10 months in to 18 months of chemo, and the treatments are starting to wear down my stomach and intestines. I am cramping up quite a bit, even after the round is over. I still have at least 8 months left and am hoping that it doesn’t get worse.

I asked in the first email I sent out after the seizure that people would pray for the salvation of my children, and whatever happened that they wouldn’t grow embittered to the Lord. My oldest Audrey has asked God to reign and rule her life a month ago and we’ve been celebrating ever since.

I’d ask for the continued prayers of salvation and sustaining grace on my family’s life and continued death to the cancerous cells that once ravaged my brain!

Why God is gracious

joshetter — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 21:05:51 PDT

“For God is not gracious and merciful to sinners to the end that they might not keep his Law, nor that they should remain as they were before they received grace and mercy; but he condones and forgives both sin and death for the sake of Christ, who has fulfilled the whole Law in order thereby to make the heart sweet and through the Holy Spirit to kindle and move the heart to begin to love from day to day more and more.”

- Martin Luther, Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 3, p. 188

An Abortion Debate - Senator Daylin Leach vs. Scott Klusendorf

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:43:00 PDT

Scott Klusendorf reports on and breaks down a recent debate he was in engaged in with Senator Daylin Leach on the topic of abortion. I appreciated this section of his report:

I began by saying that I agreed with everything the Senator just said. I agreed there should be no laws against abortion. I agreed that we should trust women to make their own decisions without state interference. I agreed government should stay out of the decision to abort. I agreed that pro-lifers like me should butt out of this debate. In short, I agreed completely—IF. If what? If the unborn are not human. And if Senator Leach could present scientific evidence to show that the unborn are not members of the human family and philosophic evidence to show that even if they are, we have no duty to value them, I would concede. In short, I was willing to buy his argument for self-determination and liberty, but only after he demonstrated the unborn are not human. I then asked the audience to consider this question: Would any of his assertions work as a justification for killing toddlers? If not, what was he assuming about the unborn? That’s right, he was assuming that they are not human, like toddlers are. But he needed to argue for this, not merely assume it.

And this:

Leach was stung badly when a student panelist asked him to answer this question (paraphrase): “Senator Leach, does it trouble you that in most states you can be prosecuted for harming or killing a fetus, unless, of course, you do it through abortion?” The Senator’s reply amounted to saying that wanted fetuses are valued by their mothers and thus should not be killed but unwanted ones are different. Wow. Your right to life depends on how wanted you are. As I pointed out to the students, the homeless are unwanted, but that doesn’t mean we can kill them.

Read the rest. Friends, for the sake of the unborn, take the time to rest this. It is a class A example on how to engage on these issues in a way that is winsome but rigorously exact in argumentation.

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How Do We Work for Justice and Not Undermine Evangelism?

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:02:00 PDT

D.A. Carson:

(1) By doing evangelism. I know numerous groups that claim to be engaging in “holistic” ministry because they are helping the poor in Chicago or because they are digging wells in the Sahel, even though few if any of the workers have taken the time to explain to anyone who Jesus is and what he has done to reconcile us to God. Their ministry isn’t holistic; it’s halfistic, or quarteristic.

(2) By being careful not to malign believers of an earlier generation. The popular buzz is that evangelicals before this generation focused all their energies on proclamation and little or nothing on deeds of mercy. Doubtless one can find sad examples of such reductionism, but the sweeping condescension toward our evangelical forbears is neither true nor kind. To take but one example: The mission SIM has emphasized evangelism, church planting, and building indigenous churches for a century—yet without talking volubly of holistic ministry it built, and still operates, many of the best hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa.

(3) By learning, with careful study of Scripture, just what the gospel is, becoming passionately excited about this gospel, and then distinguishing between the gospel and its entailments. The gospel is the good news of what God has done, especially in Christ Jesus, especially in his cross and resurrection; it is not what we do. Because it is news, it is to be proclaimed. But because it is powerful, it not only reconciles us to God, but transforms us, and that necessarily shapes our behavior, priorities, values, relationships with people, and much more. These are not optional extras for the extremely sanctified, but entailments of the gospel. To preach moral duty without the underlying power of the gospel is moralism that is both pathetic and powerless; to preach a watered-down gospel as that which tips us into the kingdom, to be followed by discipleship and deeds of mercy, is an anemic shadow of the robust gospel of the Bible; to preach the gospel and social justice as equivalent demands is to misunderstand how the Bible hangs together.

(4) By truly loving people in Jesus’ name—our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all people, especially those of the household of faith. That necessarily includes the alleviation of suffering, both temporal and eternal. Christians interested in alleviating only eternal suffering implicitly deny the place of love here and now; Christians who by their failure to proclaim the Christ of the gospel of the kingdom while they treat AIDS victims in their suffering here and now show themselves not really to believe all that the Bible says about fleeing the wrath to come. In the end, it is a practical atheism and a failure in love.

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How to Battle Anxiety with the Promises of God

Justin Taylor — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:15:42 PDT

John Piper:

When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with the promise: “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise, “So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), and “As your days so shall your strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25).

When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, “If God is for us who can be against us!” (Romans 8:31).

When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise that “tribulation works patience, and patience approvedness, and approvedness hope, and hope does not make us ashamed” (Romans 5:3–5).

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9–11).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promise, “He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:6). “He who calls you is faithful. He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). “He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).