2009-03-11

Phillips has an interview on why one should learn Greek. I've been interviewitized again

Patton gives a list of reasons why one might enter ministry, whether it be a passion for the Gospel of pure stupidity. Spurgeon said that one should only enter ministry if there is nothing, absolutely nothing, else they can do. "In other words, no one should casually “try out” a career in ministry any more than they should casually “try out” a career in ultimate fighting." Now, we all love people with charisma, and we love to label charismatic Christians as Christian. But without the Holy Spirit charisma is like salt-water for a thirsty crowd, and He doesn't need it. If you can find some other way to use your charisma, do it. Charisma can even be self-deceptive, gaining ground in an area you cannot manage. Don't be deceived into a false calling. Ministry is like blowing up balloons that all have a small leak. No amount of charisma can therefore substitute for stamina, “The quality or power of withstanding hardship or stress.” God will use your charisma, but he will try your will and perseverance. Count the cost. The Cost of Ministry- Charisma is Not Enough

Bird comments positively on an apocalyptic framework for Galatians (Paul is set apart from many of his Jewish contemporaries by believing that the cogs of the eschatological clock had indeed turned over thus creating a whole host of significant corollaries about the law, salvation, and gentiles), but says that he doesn't like J.L Martyn's "denunciation of "religion" (see Peter Bolt's fine book, The Cross at a Distance for a similar deconstruction of "religion") since the ancient world did not denigrate "religion" in favour of spirituality, relationships, or reason the way that (post)moderns often do. Religion is simply an expression of devotion and piety towards the gods or in their name (see the end of James 1) and not a synedoche for climbing a ladder to God as some make it. You cannot play off an areligious Christianity against the religion of Judaism." Martyn on Galatians (1)

Payne of solapanel responds to 'concerned comments' about his satirical parable on crime and responsibility. He points to Jesus' own teaching of a millstone tied around a neck for those who caused the 'little ones' to sin - something surely 'insensitive' to those who had lost loved ones to drowning. Different forms of communication, including humour, hyperbole, parable, parody and satire, are part of God's good gift of language, and are throughout the Bible, especially on the lips of the prophets and of Jesus. Let's not be afraid to use them, and let's learn to recognize them and read them appropriately. Jesus and the Piranha brothers

Bird points to an article at CT which speaks of an education initiative where Jewish and Arab Christians are working together. Neither Jew nor Arab

These sermon notes (from an elder listening to the sermon) are legendary. The Sermon Notes of Apocalypse by Michael Mckinley

With the economy in shambles, shark attacks are down, as people have less time at the beach. Shark Attacks Down in 2008 as Economy Tanks

Tom Ascol writes, "As a father of five daughters I am appalled that the majority of abortions worldwide are carried out on future women. Since the development of sex identification methods, selective sex abortions have put preborn girls at tremendous risk. The ratio of boy births to female births is rising dramatically leading to "gendercide." It is tragically ironic, isn't it, that the feminist movement that championed abortion in the name of women's rights now finds its hands red with the blood of the very half of the species whom they pretend to represent!" Abortion as gendercide- the brutal secret of feminism's unintended attack on women

Naturally, Obama continues his assault on babies by pursuing funding for embryonic stem cell research despite massive and recent breakthroughs in induced pluripotent stem cell technology. What's more, despite his claims to 'life a ban,' "There never was a ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. President Bush was, in fact, the first president in history to fund embryonic stem cell research. The compromise Bush reached, however, put restrictions in place that prevented the further destruction of human embryos. It is these restrictions protecting human life that Obama has lifted." Obama's Perpetuation of a Needless Stem-Cell War

Bird quotes FF Bruce on Hebrews 6:4-6: "The reason why there is no point in laying the foundation over again is now stated: apostasy is irremediable. Once more our author emphasizes that continuance is the test of reality. In these verses he is not questioning the perseverance of the saints; we might say that rather he is insisting that those who persevere are the true saints." Bruce goes on to explain that this passage is speaking of those who see clearly where the truth lies, and perhaps for a period to conform to it, but then, for one reason or another, renounce it: We aren't talking about those with a mere formal attachment, but those who have through the aforementioned experience received an inoculation to the Gospel. He takes the view that it is impossible for people to restore them, experientially speaking, but not for God. F.F. Bruce on the Warning Passage

Bird points to a CT article apparently rehashing the Calvinist-profs getting fired rumour at SWBTS. I'll note that this has been quashed by Calvinists, including Tom Ascol. Tiptoeing through the TULIPS\

Hard words for Chris Tomlin and other popular Christian singers from John Stackhouse: "Well, enough’s enough. We are the most educated Christians in history, and yet our lyrics are considerably stupider than our much less educated Christian forebears–the people who sang lyrics by Fanny Crosby or Charles Wesley or Isaac Watts." John Stackhouse on Worship. Stackhouse really doesn't like the lyrics, whether it be his seeming inability to rhyme or his "mix-n-match approach to imagery, a kaleidoscope of fragments that happen to occur to him and yet don’t make any sense once they’re set down together." http://stackblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/chris-tomlins-worship-songs-we-have-got-to-do-better/

Here's an insightful read from a Christian man who is tempted persistently by homosexuality. He says, "Reading New Testament texts like Romans 1:26-27 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 through the lens of time-honored Christian reflection on the meaning and purpose of marriage between a man and a woman, I find myself—much as I might wish things to be otherwise—compelled to abstain from homosexual practice. As a result, I feel, more often than not, desperately lonely. In recent years I have made it a point to read as many biographies of homosexual Christians as I can find. (“We read to know we’re not alone,” as the characters in the movie Shadowlands say.) Invariably, they talk about loneliness." After discussing how hard it was for him to confess these things to his fellow Christians, he asks, "Will the Church shelter and nourish and humanize those who are deeply lonely and struggling desperately to remain faithful?" http://www.ransomfellowship.org/articledetail.asp?AID=506&B=Wesley%20Hill&TID=7

CotW: "Unlike when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, most evolutionists are not open and up-front about what they are on about, or how they feel. They tell us it’s about the impact of Darwin’s great ideas. But when we ask about the way his ideas underpinned the blood-stained policies of Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Pol Pot they change their tune. Richard Dawkins, Darwin’s famous promoter, put it like this, “I’m a passionate Darwinian when it comes to science, when it comes to explaining the world, but I’m a passionate anti-Darwinian when it comes to morality and politics.”¹ They want it both ways." What is the sense of celebrating the uncaring process of evolution? http://creation.com/what-is-there-to-celebrate-about-darwin-s-200th-birthday

Turretinfan responds to the absurd claim from a Romanist that Calvinists must be Pelagians because they have 'the same view of pre-lapsarian Adam.' Pelagius was a heretic that opposed Augustine. Pelagius' primary error was denying the necessity of grace - he consequently also denied the sufficiency of grace - and he also denied that people are born with sin. Calvinists affirm the necessity of grace, and it is a central aspect of Calvinism to affirm the necessity of grace, as well as to affirm original sin, both of which negate Pelagianism. Rome, on the other hand, denies the sufficiency of grace, and is therefore semi-Pelagian. Response to Jay Dyer on Calvinism (Part 8 of 13)