2009-06-10

DeYoung gives reasons why he cannot accept the Belhar confession. It says that God is God of the poor, destitute, etc. in a special way. But the covenant promise—I will be your God and you will be my people (language Belhar echoes here)—is for those who put their faith in God, not simply those who are poor or oppressed. In fact, Abraham, the man of faith and the model for all covenantal blessing (Gal. 3:5-9), was especially rich (Gen. 13:5-6). Is God less of God to him than to the poor man who rejects Christ? God does not show partiality. Second, the vague term ‘social justice’ can be co-opted to support homosexuality (Mouw also points out the confession can be used this way). The confession doesn’t clarify; it confuses. The Belhar Confession- Yea or Nay

Mohler recounts some of the history in Mother’s Day, which derives from political activism, a ‘Mother’s Day for Peace’ in the 19th century, and was organized by women who were convinced that the moral superiority of women was grounded in the experience of motherhood. Then, it was commercialized, now, it is overly sentimental, undermining what mothers are to truly represent: “nurture, fortitude, courage, dedication, faithfulness, discipline, and trust in God.” Mothers deserving of honor are taken to lunch when songs of praise should rather be offered to the glory of God. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3774

Challies reviews Russ Moore’s Adopted For Life. Moore argues that adoption can help us understand the mystery of our faith in Christ and restore the unity of mission of the congregation. Moreover, the Gospel of Christ means that families and churches should be at the forefront of adoption at home and around the world. Challies gives an outline, and then points out that he knows no other books that not only detail the doctrine of adoption and the Gospel, and the practicalities of adopting, but put the latter in the context of the former. It’s a must read. Adopted for Life

Challies summarizes Lennox’s presentation at the Basics conference (it seems a little disorganized; Challies seems aware of this). Lennox talked about the importance of reasoning with the world, in defending the Gospel (these two go hand in hand). (the biggest reason that people do not attend church in the U.K. is that the pastors never address their questions). Christians should be engaging people’s questions. Don’t develop a theology that excuses laziness. Paul used reason and intellect, but he didn’t trust them. He deployed every ability he had to the utmost in his work for God, but he trusted God. The Basics Conference (I)

Lisa Robinson at Parchment and Pen jumps from recounting her own experience of springboarding from the text to her pet doctrines, and how she committed eisegesis and held extra-biblical doctrine, to ten things to remember while reading the Bible. Are you considering the context? Are you conducting connection fallacies? This is like a word fallacy, wherein you take the meaning in one place and insert it into another. Are you blowing up meaning? Drawing wild allegories? Are you considering the correlation? The Bible is one big story? How does everything fit? Is your flesh in the way? ‘what’s in it for me?’ and so on. Are you bringing in your presuppositions? Do you try to ‘always read like you haven’t seen it before’? Are you inserting your theological assumptions?  Are you considering other theological positions? Are you being dismissive of the text? Are you reading to learn, or glossing over nuances? Are you prayfully allowing the text to actually impact your heart? “Jesus did not hang on the cross so we can spout intellectual superiority but live out humble submission to Him, to hopefully say as Paul in Philippians 3:7-11, to consider all else worthless compared to the surpassing value of knowing Him, being found in His righteousness to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Ten Questions I Always Ask Myself When Reading the Bible

AiG writes, “It’s rare that a movie produced by Discovery and BBC Films about the natural world doesn’t contain any mention of molecules-to-man evolution or millions of years of history.” But apparently in Earth, a trimmed Planet Earth, they did just that – no molecules to man evolution in sight. Though it does have the ‘save the polar bears’ message. They offer some other considerations for those who would consider watching it with family. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/05/11/an-evolutionless-earth

JT posts some lyrics he found to an album by Reilly. Reilly, Let June Decide

Powlison writes that anger is never morally neutral. It is either good or bad or mixed (e.g. God’s anger is always good). It isn’t just how one expresses it. It has to do with the reason anger arises. The expression can be good or bad as well. Being in the image of God, humans are capable of anger. But we’re sinners. “A human being never operates as an abstraction. We are always tilted either towards God or away from him.” http://www.ccef.org/anger-morally-neutral

Dr. Michael Haykin has reviewed the new book Heroes by Iain Murray. Michael Haykin Reviews Iain Murray’s Heroes

JT has an interview with James K. Hoffmeier, professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern History and Archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, on the Bible’s teaching on immigration. Of note is his comments under “Does the OT operate with similar distinctions that we have today between documented aliens and illegal immigrants?” He points out the the ger (foreign residents with permission of host, cf. Gen. 45:16-18; 47:1-4) are not to be oppressed, should receive equal justice, and have access to social support systems (they also had to live by the laws). However, zar and nekhar, foreigners or visitors, those passing through, were not extended such benefits. So ger is a ‘legal alien’. “The mistake of some well-meaning Christians is to apply the biblical laws for the ger to illegal aliens in American even though they do not fit the biblical legal and social definition.” What Does the Bible Teach on Immigration- An Interview with James Hoffmeier

Burk points to more Obama sophistry: “President Obama has said that he wants to find “common ground” upon which to reduce the need for abortion. Yet notice that his Secretary of State says that expanding the abortion license abroad is “a key” part of Obama’s foreign policy. Here is a clear case where moderate-sounding rhetoric is being used to cloak a radical pro-abortion agenda.” Abortion and Obama’s Foreign Policy

What did John the Baptist do when God gave him a message? He called for repentance and pointed to Jesus, going out into all the land. Good model for any platform before the public. How John the Baptist Handled the Attention

Adams points out that sanctification, being set apart to holiness, righteousness, true light, knowledge, means that Christianity isn’t a negative thing, whereby we rid ourselves of something; it’s a positive thing whereby the negative is pushed off by the positive, leaving no space between, where error, sin darkness may creep in during the transition. Growth

Koinonia has a post by the author of Understanding the Book of Mormon, which provides an overview of the content of the Book of Mormon and explores the claims Latter-day Saints make about the book as an ancient record and divine scripture. For those who follow it the book of Mormon is a conduit of revelation, a vehicle for experiential revelation from God. This is different from saying that the text is or contains the word of God. Personal revelation is the norm in LDS life. The book is also evidential, fortifying their beliefs by providing a way of knowing the truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. “the book boldly invites a response: not to evaluate its doctrines or historicity, but to ask God to make its truthfulness known by supernatural means.” Thus the experiential is primary. Understanding the Book of Mormon part 3, by Ross Anderson

Engwer points to some discussions on other sites on a variety of topics including the sinlessness of Mary, the assumption of Mary, and the canon, with interactions with Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. Some Discussions That Might Be Of Interest

Turk zeroes in on “He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.” Paul is telling Titus, ‘not this, but that’ in picking elders. Paul isn’t even considering impeccability, as we so often do. Consider the parallel with the works of the flesh. Paul is offering practical advice on searching for a man who has faith working in him: He is “looking for someone who has demonstrated a repentance from the sin of this world and also a meaningful, fruitful relationship with Christ.” The list isn’t unattainable but the real consequence of mature faith. It’s a good thing to want to be an elder. It’s a better thing to be qualified as blameless. Must be Blameless

Swan responds to some user of citations of Luther wherein he says he cannot pray without cursing, which, of course, is used by Romanists to argue that he’s demon possessed, etc. In the discussion he points out that Roman Catholics historian Anton Fischer held Luther up as a man to be appreciated for being a man of prayer. Swan concludes, "For Luther, prayer was also a weapon we have to call down the power of God against the power of Satan. In our prayers we fight Satan for ourselves as we call upon God to strengthen our reliance on Him. We call down God’s power against every evil Satan seeks to bring upon our lives. Prayer is also a weapon in our fight against Satan on the battlefield of the lives of those around us. We call down the power of God against Satan for those we love. In Luther's mind, Satan was the mastermind behind the Papacy. Hence, his prayer above reflected this.” Luther- I am unable to pray without at the same time cursing

DeYoung considers the incredibly important question for our day of Christ: “Who do you say that I am?” He enumerates a list of “Jesus” conceptions held in our day. But Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. The Creator come down to earth. “This Christ is not a reflection of the current mood or the projection of our own desires. He is our Lord and God. He is the Father’s Son, Savior of the world, and substitute for our sins–more loving, more holy, and more wonderfully terrifying than we ever thought possible.” Who Do You Say That I Am-

Gender selection at home: "A new test to reveal the gender of a fetus in early pregnancy has sparked a row over whether it will lead to sex-selection abortions. The American-designed IntelliGender test kit, which can be used from eight weeks after conception, went on sale in Australia last month. Its Australian distributor hopes to launch it in New Zealand within a fortnight." Gender Test Spurs Abortion Fears. HT Challies: 11)

ETC recommends the Biblical Language Center (BLC), founded and directed by no other than our co-blogger Randall Buth. The whole idea is language immersion – this should help those struggling to learn Greek and Hebrew. How To Learn Biblical Languages Effectively

The Tiller family has closed down the abortion centre that the late Tiller operated for thirty years. They will not be involved further in abortions. Tillers close down baby slaughterhouse

T-fan points out that applause in worship indicates that honour is being given to a person, and that this person is receiving honour, when honour should be given to God. When entertainment replaces worship it indicates that something has gone terribly wrong. One is focused on the performer rather than God, and is giving honour to the performer rather than God. T-fan says that the problem of entertainment in worship rivals the problem of feasting instead of communion in the early church. The Wise Turk on Religious Entertainment

Phillips compares the nationally unifying nature of Hollywood movies in World War II to the dismal absence of anything like it in recent years. Hollywood has backed away from anything remotely supportive. “Hollywood has become rabidly liberal, which is to say anti-American. This war was prosecuted by (some kind of) a Christian, pro-life, (at-least nominally) conservative Republican president. He didn't fit Hollywood's marriage to the Democratic Party and cocktail-party liberalism. So, troops fought, bled, died without the Hollywood film factory's support.” Hollywood in wartime- another lament

Turk has a problem with Paul Washer, in that there’s little that is hopeful. He resembles, inadvertently, the revivalistic fire and brimstone preaching. Turk argues that he’s careless in his use of Scripture, like Greeting card verses, tossed off to make an emotional appeal, because he’s ‘trite and strident’. Turk’s real problem here is that people seem to like it this way. It is very possible to preach repentance while overlooking the grace needed to repent. Paul Washer, too-

Challies points out that though the early church prayed for Peter’s release, when it happened, they didn’t believe it. We’re not much better. God does answer prayer. God answers prayer even when it’s done in little faith, for the prayer is not incidental to the story. Peter then recounts what God had done. And throughout Acts, Luke wants us to know that God builds His church. The God Who Answers Prayer

Ligon Duncan provides a quote which (in part) says of Sotomayor: “But Sotomayor's vainglorious lecture bromide about herself as "a wise Latina" trumping white men is a vulgar embarrassment -- a vestige of the bad old days of male-bashing feminism when even the doughty Ann Richards was saying to the 1988 Democratic National Convention: "After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels." What flatulent canards mainstream feminism used to traffic in!” Paglia on Sotomayor's wise Latina comment, and feminism (Ligon Duncan)

JT writes, “Not only does Rob Bell's knowledge of Greek leave much to be desired, but Chris Cowan shows that Bell knows just enough Hebrew to be dangerous.” NOOMA and the Original Languages

JT points to a resource at WTS books on eating disorders. "In this article, Ed Welch describes how easy it is, in a weight-conscious world that also uses food for comfort, to take the small steps that lead to a full blown eating disorder. He gives a road map for dealing with this difficult problem that includes understanding the thoughts and emotions that trigger destructive eating habits and then encouraging those who struggle with food addictions to take the big step of trusting God, instead of food rules and rituals." Welch, Eating Disorders- The Quest for Thinness. See here for the booklet.

Michael Wittmer has a tribute to Calvin, and some clarifications regarding the Servetus incident. Happy Birthday, John Calvin by Michael E. Wittmer

This post of a mother having a doctor assume that she would abort here baby, given that it had markers of down’s syndrome, is chilling – 90% of such babies are aborted. Now, the level of impairment is unknown from the womb. Some go on to graduate high school and lead independent lives. She opted not to do a confirmatory test. Her baby was born without defect. http://beautifulwork.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/remembering/

Barry at Solapanel writes that we are to put an emphasis on the Christian poor. Matthew 25:40, Galatians 6:10. Also John 13:35. Jewish believing widows were provided with food (Acts 6:1; see also 1 Tim 5:9-10). Paul collected money from those in Asia, Macedonia and Greece to support the financially struggling believers in Judea (1 Cor 16:1-3; 2 Cor 8-9). The reasons for this focus are that it preserves theological truths as the grounds for giving (they are our brothers in Christ), it follows the biblical pattern, it ensures that giving isn’t reduced to a PR activity, but rather is done because it is good to do it, and it shows the world that we are Christ’s disciples. We must focus on the Christian poor

Rob Bell’s use (or misuse) of Greek is criticized here by Andy Naselli. http://andynaselli.com/theology/nooma-blooper