Oy. Ad hoc interpretations of the law by British cops who would say that its a crime to call homosexuality a sin [now, does this mean that they accept that there is a category called sin, so as to be offended by it? If so, that presupposes a divine law by which that sin is defined…] Ah,Britain; against the law to say homosexuality is a sin-
From Randy Alcorn. “In 1973, when abortion was first legalized, United States child abuse cases were estimated at 167,000 annually. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 903,000 children were victims of abuse during 2001, a number more than five times greater.” "My belief is that when people believe it's okay to kill a child before he's born, because an adult has rights over his life, then inevitably it will become more acceptable to beat him up once he's born." http://randyalcorn.blogspot.com/2009/06/rise-of-child-abuse-as-result-of.html
Bird doesn’t like Walter Kaiser’s essay in Three Views on the NT use of the OT. Kaiser rejects midrash (a Jewish argumentative form usually consisting of a main text that is explained and interpreted by a second text), while Bird says that Paul “clearly uses midrash in Romans 4 where he links Gen. 15.6 and Psalm 32.2 as part of his exposition of logizomai (credit, reckon, impute),'” and in Gal. 4.24 the word allegoreo does not mean the "grammatico-historical method". He points to Calvin, who views the use of Gen. 21 here as typological. Denying arbitrary and fanciful allegorizing of Scripture, saying the text has one meaning is generally correct. The WCF 1.9 declares that the text has one meaning as an attack on the classic medieval interpretation of Scripture with four senses of literal, allegorical, moral, and spiritual. This is not a denial of typology, canonical readings, or even situating the biblical interpretation in its ancient and cultural context. Walter Kaiser and Jewish Exegetical Methods in the NT
Engwer responds to a claim put forward by eastern orthodox/Roman Catholic advocates that (a) Prots apply ‘man of God’ to anyone, and (b) it only applies to religious leaders/leaders. To (a), it’s false, as Prots only apply it to believers (and contextually depending, mature believers), and to (b) Engwer shows (i) from biblical usage in the OT and NT that it can be applies to a wide variety of believers, and (ii) from various patristic literature that it's often applied to believers in general, or it's applied to religious leaders in a manner suggesting that it wouldn't be exclusive to them. The Phrase Man Of God
A fossil, claimed to be 37 million years old, described as “so well preserved that some of its soft tissues such as skin and even its stomach contents can be examined.” That suggests both rapid burial (and fossilization) as well as a fossil age on the order of thousands of years, not millions. Also, while snails were in the news for ‘evolving’,it was really just changes in population over time due to natural selection (i.e. the snails with lower metabolic rates tended to survive). Here’s some interesting study results regarding students: “Among those exposed to evolution only, 72–78% agreed that evolution is scientifically valid. Among those exposed to creation (solely or along with evolution), 57–59% agreed that evolution is scientifically valid.” Only 1-2% were only exposed to creation – meaning that when students see both sides, they are far less likely to accept evolution. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/05/16/news-to-note-05162009
White challenges preachers – is your preaching so wimpy that you would never trouble a religious hypocrite? There are always religious hypocrites in the church, even in the best churches (Acts 20:26-27). Sound, complete, consistently biblical preaching will offend the natural man. The reality is that the unregenerate will express their rebellion in a number of ways, including professing faith in false religions to show their hatred to the truth. So do you preach in a way that will let them sit comfortable in the pews, as you shrink back out of the fear of man? It is a fearful thing to fail to preach the whole counsel of God. Is Your Preaching Wimpy-
Challies positively reviews Carson’s The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (a more advanced book). The belief that God is a loving being is in rooted in a foundation other than Scripture in the minds of many. Postmodernism reinforces a sentimental, syncretistic, and pluralistic view of God, and the church has fallen into believing a sentimentalized version of God's love that is not consistent with God as presented in Scripture. Carson dives into the Scriptures in this book and discusses the distortion of the love of God, the fact that God is love, and God’s love and sovereignty and wrath. The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God
Challies recommends Lou Priolo's Pleasing People, a book which aims to deal with our insatiable desire to orient ourselves as people-pleasers. Challies focuses on a chapter with forgiveness. “First, you promise not to bring up the offense to the forgiven person so as to use it against him. Second, you promise not to discuss with others the sin you have forgiven. Third, you promise not to dwell on the forgiven offense but to remind yourself that you have forgiven the offender in the same way that God has forgiven you for a multitude of far greater sins.” An apology isn’t seeking forgiveness. Acknowledge sin. Name is specifically , not generically. Acknowledge the harm it caused, which is humbling. Demonstrate repentance through alternate biblical behavior. And ask for forgiveness. Pleasing People
JT quotes an interesting comment on the application of Revelation to daily life. It provides us with footage of the climactic conclusion of world history… “It appears that one of God’s main purposes in the book of Revelation is simply this–He wants to change us.” How Do You Apply the Book of Revelation to Everyday Life-
Gilbart-Smith discusses how sermon introductions can be helpful, including getting people thinking about the topic, about applying it, it helps to give shape, and it disarms the hearers who lives to listen without putting things into practice. Introductions continued.... make sure they are not pants... by Mike Gilbart-Smith
Spurgeon: “The only solution to the mystery of Jesus' exclamation on the cross is this: Jesus Christ was forsaken of God because we deserved to be forsaken of God.” “he, for a little while, was separated from his Father, we may boldly cry, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"” The doctrines of substitution is the key to all the sufferings of Christ, and there is no other sufficient explanation. “Christ's testimony concerning his own ministry was, "The poor have the gospel preached to them;" so if you bring me a gospel which can only be understood by gentlemen who have passed through Oxford or Cambridge University, I know that it cannot be the gospel of Christ.” Simple Substitution
Carolyn Mahaney is quoted to the effect that the woman is the manager of her home (i.e. the ruler, the despot), and that women are to be in charge of domestic affairs. “But this mandate also precludes the currently popular “co-responsibility” approach to homemaking. As wives, It is our job to manage our homes, and we should not expect our husbands to contribute equally to this task.” There are times when the husband should and must help. But women should aim to create a world where her husband could fulfill his God-given duties without being concerned for the domestic tasks of the home. A Homemaker’s Dilemma
Bayly comments further on raising hands in worship: i) raising of hands, kneeling, and standing is obedient to Scripture, taught and practiced by the Reformers, gives glory to God, and is a needed discipline for our souls. ii) We need to reverse the logic about reserving bodily disciplines for home and privacy. We should be able to neglect these at home, and for those with the besetting sin of pride, it is an especially excellent discipline to stand, kneel, and lift hands in a childlike gesture to our Heavenly Father as we worship Him. More on disembodied brains at worship.
Bird provides two excerpts from Tom Schreiner’s book, Run to win the Prize: Perseverence in the New Testament. It looks good. Run to Win the Prize – Schreiner
In answering a question on headship, Burk points out the incongruity in many churches wherein they will affirm male headship in the home, which is understood to be a reflection of Christ’s headship of His bride, even holding this headship as necessary to a healthy home, but then deny male headship in the church and have women in authority over men. This despite that the leadership structure in the church derives from the home, and Paul says that one of the qualifications of an elder is that he must first be able to “manage his own household well” (1 Timothy 3:4-5), meaning that male headship in the home is the necessary condition for leadership in the church. So 1 Tim. 2:12 - it is both logical and biblical to see a connection between headship in the home and headship in a church’s leadership. He points to an essay by Poythress: ““The Church as Family: Why Male Leadership in the Family Requires Male Leadership in the Home,” and he sums up the matter well.” Scot McKnight’s Question about Headship
Hays points out that universalism, following post-mortem salvation, is the logical conclusion of Arminianism, since Arminianism espouses a ‘fair chance’ for man (and that God would be unfair not to give everyone a chance). Yet there are an innumerable number of obstacles in this life to a fair chance. So it only follows that this change would extend past death (contra traditional Arminianism). From there, it’s a short step to saving everyone sooner or later, given enough of a chance. “The only equally logical alternative is Calvinism. For Calvinism never predicated salvation on equal freedom of opportunity. Calvinism never took the position that God would be unjust to deny someone a “chance” to be saved.” From Arminianism to universalism
Massive resource page on cessationism. Ultimate resource on cessationism
Thabiti writes about introductions, pointing to the grounding effect that it has on him as a preacher before a sermon, and the positive reminder that his sermon actually has an audience. More on Intros... by Thabiti Anyabwile
Gilbert writes that an introduction directs the congregation's mind in the direction you want it to go and sets the agenda for the sermon. In other words, it puts the congregation's minds on the ideas you want their minds on. Intros that just grab attention aren’t useful. If you hook them with humour you’ll lose them when you return to truth. On Intros by Greg Gilbert
Hays points to the problem with the ‘rational’ thinking of liberal ‘prevention programs’, with regard to overeating. There are people who overeat because they’ve taken a cost/benefit analysis. Jogging/calorie counting aren’t a recipe for immortality. And there are those willing to shave a few years off their lives to enjoy things a little more now. That’s a rational, cost/benefit analysis, that they view as a good trade-off – so the program won’t make a dent. The food police
Bolt at Solapanel writes on the inconsistency of the ‘respect women’, etc. campaigns he frequently sees in light of the lack of campaigns to respect men. I thought we were supposed to be equal! What of the poor men whose wives are raped at the company Christmas party, or whose wives engage willingly in an office affair because the wife is off working her liberated job. What of the ‘normal sexual experimentation’ of men who ‘practice’ with girls – “What, you are just practising on a girl who will one day become someone else's wife??? A little respect for other men might actually put a curb on such good old-fashioned immorality—immorality that is now just called ‘normal’.” Bolt points out that even in our enlightened day when a woman is no man’s woman and fornication is a synonym for recreation, men still kill over this. Maybe we should show the respect due men and women as a God-given prerogative: one man, one woman. She is only given to you if God has given her to you. If he hasn't, then she is not yours, but she is God's gift to another man. Don’t steal another man’s gift from the Lord. While we are newly respecting women, why not newly respect men too-
“We have even fewer Christians on university campuses who are leaders in their fields and who actually see that their faith has relevance to what they have to say on physics, medicine, law, education, sociology, new media, economics, history and so on. Not surprisingly, there seem to be less and less Christian voices amongst the opinion makers, thought leaders and media spokespeople than ever before.” Apologetics and the university
This post at Genderblog calls out the strange and twisted new trend of sexualizing the bride on the wedding day (i.e. sexually oriented dresses, etc). “It’s very strange, and quite twisted, to have brides attempting to draw the eyes of men other than their husband on their wedding day. One doesn’t need to be a Christian to see this. It’s just common sense. It’s downright weird for a woman to sexually advertise herself on the very day that she announces to the world that she is permanently taken.” The Bride Wore White - But Why-
Mohler comments on an article by the Washington Post which points to the brain drain over the summer: “Evidently, educators now believe that almost all students lose between two and 2 1/2 months of math computational skills over the summer. ” “The gap in rich learning experiences turns out to have much to do with socio-economic factors. Children who are deprived of the kinds of experiences that come through travel, conversations with parents, cultural experiences, and contact with nature turn out to have problems reading that have nothing to do with words on a page and everything to do with missing background knowledge.” Parents should actively mitigate this by making the summer experiences education. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3980
This article from AiG points out that the search for a ‘magic bullet’ for creationism is misled, because fundamentally the difference is one of worldviews, and the meaning interpreted from the evidence by both creationists and evolutionists. The key isn’t more evidence (cf. Romans 1). http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/06/15/is-there-an-ultimate-proof-of-creation
Jeff Jones has written here of his experience in a “Word-Faith” “church”. What A Disgusting Message- My First Exposure to the Faith Movement
Seven thesis from a new book on Jonathan Edwards by Doug Sweeney: “Edwards shows us the importance of working to help people gain a vivid sense, an urgent impression, of God's activity in our world. Edwards shows us that true religion is primarily a matter of holy affections. Edwards shows us the advantages of keeping an eschatological perspective on our lives. Edwards shows us how God uses those who lose their lives for Christ. Edwards shows us that theology can and should be done primarily in the church, by pastors, for the sake of the people of God. Edwards shows us that even the strongest Christians need support from others. Edwards shows us the necessity of remaining in God's Word.” Doug Sweeney's Seven Theses on Jonathan Edwards
Sweeney: “"theology can and should be done primarily in the church, by pastors, for the sake of the people of God"”. Amen. A Call for Pastor Theologians
JT highlights Bird and Keener’s case for generalist scholars. The Case for Generalist Biblical Scholars
Helm reviews and recommends James Anderson’s book Paradox in Christian Theology. “Anderson in effect is extending Plantinga's argument to belief in creedal formula which rest purely on a foundation of Scriptural testimony. The argument (roughly) is : If belief in the great things of the Gospel is warranted by the testimony of Scripture, as Plantinga plausibly argues, then doctrines adequately based on that testimony are also belief-worthy, even though they contain paradoxical elements. Anderson’s distinctively Reformed conviction about the necessity and sufficiency of Scripture become evident here. So he links his idea of paradox to biblical testimony regarding divine incomprehensibility.” Paradox and Mystery
White shows the non-argumentation of a Romanists arguments against sola scripture, and then cites Athanasius lauding the sufficiency of the Scriptures. “Vainly then do they run about with the pretext that they have demanded Councils for the faiths sake; for divine Scripture is sufficient above all things; but if a Council be needed on the point, there are the proceedings of the Fathers, for the Nicene Bishops did not neglect this matter, but stated the doctrines so exactly, that persons reading their words honestly, cannot but be reminded by them of the religion towards Christ announced in divine Scripture.” “For indeed the holy and God-breathed Scriptures are self-sufficient for the preaching of the truth.” Sola Ecclesia Produces Amazing Historical Anachronism
Mohler talks about Twitter, which he views as worthwhile, with its benefits outweighing its negatives. There isn’t going to be intense theological discussion with a 140 character limit. He finds it a powerful way of connecting and reaching people that he otherwise wouldn’t. Twitter actually helps with his prayer life, in that he knows what is going on. He can let others know what he is doing and thinking. Twitter doesn’t belong in worship, but it does belong among the people of God. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3951
Let’s remember Jesus’ exhortation in Luke 10 to find joy in our redemption, not in our results. This post offers a series of questions to test oneself to this effect. The Main Thing to Rejoice About in Ministry
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