Is Calvinism Good for the Church?

Calvinism is biblical, so we could say, “If it is biblical, it must be good for the church”…True Calvinism is good for the church, because that which makes us know God more ought to make us love God more, and that which makes us love God more ought to make us love our neighbors more.  If your Calvinism doesn’t make you love God and neighbor more, then your Calvinism is not biblical.  It is not about wearing a badge or a T-shirt to give evidence that you really are a Calvinist.  It is about living our entire lives for God’s glory, to make Him known through our words and deeds.

After the Revolution

In his traditional keen insight, Dr. Mohler explains why Christians “must give careful consideration to our responsibility in the context of this new digital age.”  He says that this new digital age is a transformation “from dead trees to live screens, opening unprecedented opportunities for the sharing of information.”  It is this transformation, this shift that is now directing public conversation away from print, radio, and television to digital.  This shift not only presents challenges, but it also presents opportunities.  He concludes this article, saying, “Like the Reformers who seized the opportunity afforded by the Gutenberg Revolution, we must see the world of new media as an arena for Christian truth-telling. Our engagement with new media is driven by impulses that are evangelistic, missiological, and grounded in apologetics.”

Assurance, Perseverance, and the Warning Passages of Scripture

This is a link to a blurb on Tom Schreiner’s latest book – Run to Win the Prize: Perseverance in the New Testament – from Justin Taylors blog Between Two Worlds.  The primary reason I’m sharing this is to point out the great dialogue taking place.  I haven’t joined in myself, but will look to do so soon and I encourage you to do the same.   Justin’s blogs is one of the one’s I spend most of my time on.  I’ve had the opportunity to make some connections with various people and have always enjoyed the conversations.

Mark Driscoll’s Scatological Humor

Personally, I straddle the fence when it comes to humor.  I guess for me it all depends upon the context and what type of joke is being said and if it actually lends to the “Big Point” of the text.  In light of an article written by Collin Hansen on the use of humor in the pulpit, the folks at Out of Ur related an example by Mark Driscoll “employing the most elemental, and apparently biblical, of all comedic genres–potty humor.”  What are your thoughts on scatological humor in the pulpit?

9 Leadership Lessons from Baseball: Series Recap

Well, I usually don’t read much on leadership anymore since I’ve devoured so much of in the past.  From time-to-time I like to read some articles.  I happened onto The Resurgence and found this great series of articles by Mark Driscoll.

9 Leadership Lessons from Baseball:

1. Get a Great General Manager
2. Get Your Stats
3. Develop a Minor League System
4. Have Spring Training
5. Cut Underperforming, Overpaid Veterans
6. Always Let Young Leaders Get a Shot to Make the Team
7. Keep Some Griffey-Like Player-Coaches
8. Pay for Big-Name, Proven Free Agents As Needed
9. Play Ball

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Last week I finished reading C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce.  I found the book both engaging and though provoking.  If you don’t have much else going on, you could easily read through this in one sitting or two.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, here is an excellent plot summary about the book from Wikipedia:

C.S. Lewis's "The Great Divorce"

In The Great Divorce, the narrator suddenly, and inexplicably, finds himself in a grim and joyless city (the “grey town”, representative of hell).  He eventually finds a bus for those who desire an excursion to some other place (and which eventually turns out to be the foothills of heaven)…When the bus reaches its destination, the “people” on the bus — including the narrator — gradually realize that they are ghosts.   Although the country is the most beautiful they have ever seen, every feature of the landscape (including streams of water and blades of grass) is unbearably solid compared to themselves: it causes them immense pain to walk on the grass, and even a single leaf is far too heavy for any of them to lift.

Shining figures, men and women whom they have known on earth, come to meet them, and to persuade them to repent and enter heaven proper.  They promise that as the ghosts travel onward and upward, they will become acclimated to the country and will feel no discomfort.  These figures, called “spirits” to distinguish them from the ghosts, offer to assist them in the journey toward the mountains and the sunrise.

Almost all of the ghosts choose to return instead to the grey town, giving various reasons and excuses. Much of the interest of the book lies in the recognition it awakens of the plausibility and familiarity, along with the thinness and self-deception, of the excuses that the ghosts refuse to abandon, even though to do so would bring them to “reality” and “joy forevermore”.

The narrator is met by the writer George MacDonald, whom he hails as his mentor, just as Dante did when encountering Virgil in the Divine Comedy; and MacDonald becomes the narrator’s guide in his journey, just as Virgil became Dante’s. MacDonald explains that it is possible for a soul to choose to remain in heaven despite having been in the grey town; for such souls, their time in hell has been a period of testing, and the goodness of heaven will work backwards into their lives, turning even their worst sorrows into joy, and changing their experience on earth to an extension of heaven. Conversely, the evil of hell works backwards also, so that if a soul remains in, or returns to, the grey town, even its happiness on earth will lose its meaning, and its experience on earth would have been hell. None of the ghosts realize that the grey town is, in fact, hell. Indeed it is not that much different from the life they led on earth: joyless, friendless, and uncomfortable. It just goes on forever, and gets worse and worse, with some characters whispering their fear of the “night” that is eventually to come.

According to MacDonald, heaven and hell cannot coexist in a single soul, and while it is possible to leave hell and enter heaven, doing so implies turning away (repentance); or as depicted by Lewis, giving up paltry worldly pleasures and self-indulgences — which have become impossible for the dead anyway — and embracing ultimate and unceasing joy itself.

In answer to the narrator’s question MacDonald confirms that what is going on is a dream. The use of the chess game imagery as well as the correspondence of dream elements to elements in the narrator’s waking life are reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

The narrator discovers that the vast grey town and its ghostly inhabitants are minuscule to the point of being invisible compared with the immensity of heaven and reality. This is illustrated in the encounter of the blessed woman and her husband: she is surrounded by gleaming attendants while he shrinks down to invisibility as he uses a collared tragedian to speak for him.

Toward the end, the narrator expresses the terror and agony of remaining a ghost in the advent of full daybreak in heaven, comparing the experience to having large blocks fall on one’s body (at this point falling books awaken him). This parallels that of the man with his dream of judgment day in the House of the Interpreter of The Pilgrim’s Progress. The book ends with the narrator awakening from his dream of heaven into the unpleasant reality of wartime Britain, in conscious imitation of The Pilgrim’s Progress, the last sentence of the “First Part” of which is: “So I awoke, and behold, it was a Dream.”

One facet of this book I didn’t understand was if the people in “hell” were actually in some sort of quasi-Catholic purgatory.  If anyone knows what Lewis is getting at, I would love to hear from you.

I know that I need to further delve into the topic of Hell and come to my own position.  There is much plausability to C.S. Lewis’s position and has been embraced by others, such as Dr. Tim Keller.    To me I’m not sure if I’m willing to write-off the New Testament teaching on hell as figurative.

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Recently I had the opportunity to read and review “In Justice,” by Alan Sears, for my friends at The Family Policy Council of West Virginia.  The following is what I wrote for their blog, The Engage Family Blog:

Fiction is a story that describes imaginary people and events.  After reading through this captivating legal thriller penned by Alan Sears, President, CEO, and General Counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), you will walk away wondering if you have actually read a fictional work, or just pulled yourself away from current events.    .

In Justice begins with the appointment of an ambitious young attorney, John Knox Smith, to head the newly created Diversity and Tolerance Enforcement Division (DTED).  The DTED is an organization within the Department of Justice that carries the responsibility of enforcing what it believes to be equality and tolerance by ridding the U.S. of supposed hate speech.  The DTED has a multipronged approach in accomplishing their end that will penalize individuals, non-profits, and businesses alike who adhere to any form of conservative Judeo-Christian values.

The protagonist standing in the eye of this new storm is a former collegiate friend of Mr. Smith, Pastor Pat Preston.  Pastor Preston ministers at a mega church, Rogers Memorial Church, in TN, and his weekly messages are heard around the country on the radio and internet.  As his peers, board, and even his wife, succumb to this tide of pressure, Pastor Preston finds himself nearly standing alone in his struggles with Mr. Smith, the DTED, and preserving religious freedom.

To read the rest of the review, click here.

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Reformed

For a nearly exhaustive site for resources on Reformed Theology, check-out what resources Monergism has put together here.

Reforming

(Free) The Necessity of Reforming the Church by John Calvin

If you’re involved in any facet of ministry, have you been more concerned with building your own empire or the Kingdom of God?  Either way you should read Glenn Lucke’s Empire vs. Kingdom at Resurgence.

Is Christian Democracy an oxymoron?  Have you ever struggled with the concept of Christians involved within the Political Process here in the United States?  If so, you may find Dr. James Skillen work on “Christian Democracy” – An Oxymoron helpful in Reforming the Christian mentality in the Public Square (Also see my work on Christianity and Democracy)

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How Google and Facebook Violate Your Privacy

An interesting article from Newsweek that at found at Challies.

A Reivew of Andreas Kostenberger’s A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters

Green Baggins provides a great, concise review of Dr. Kostenberger’s latest book.  I will look to add it to my current library when I get the chance.

Sun Sentinel Best of Blog (BOB) Awards

If you live in South Florida, don’t forget to vote for Matthew Cochrane at Not Conformed Thoughts for the Best of Blog Awards.

On Reading Blog’s I Don’t Agree With

Eric Carpenter explains why he likes to read blogs that he doesn’t agree with and why we should.

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Grace Interrupts Karma

Ray Ortlund shares Bono’s concise thoughts on grace interrupting karma.

Jesus Didn’t Tap

Since I have a particular interest in the seeker sensitive movement, I connected with Michael Mckinley’s disdain for the resurggence of “macho” Christianity in response to a piece in New York Times on mixing martial arts and evangelism (ex. Xtreme Ministries) as a means of attracting men to the Gospel.

What we Believe Matters (Let’s Just Not be Arrogant About It)

Great post.  I especially like these words, “we must be careful about what beliefs would cause us to unite with or divide from others. As Christians, we often make one of two possible mistakes in this area. On the one hand, we often state our beliefs so strongly that we feel like we have to divide from other Christians who believe differently from us. The sad case of Christians dividing over infant vs. believer’s baptism is an example of this. On the other hand, some Christians have such poorly defined beliefs that they will join together with people who do not even believe the basics of the gospel. Both of these are problematic.”

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New to Reformed Theology?

Here is a link to three helpful resources by the people of Ligonier Ministries.

Justification: Is it a Process?

From the people of Reformation Theology.  This is a link to a short video clip, depending on how you define short, of Dr. James White response to Tim Staples and the Roman Catholic view of justification.

Plagarism on Abhinav’s Blog

Bob Matters of Reformed Musings shares the unfortunate event of having his posts lifted by another blogger.

Circumcision and Baptism

Since I just recently compared Circumcision and Baptism this article from R. Scott Clark obviously jumped out at me.

Haiti: A Brief Religious History

After Pat Robertson’s comments on Haiti making a pact with the Devil, I thought that this piece from The Christian History Blog would be beneficial.

What is Oprah’s Spirituality?

The Christian Post recently sat down Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett.

Missional Ecclesiology: Series Recap

From the Resurgence.

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Media and You

Since we are immersed in media as fishes are in water, it’s a great idea that we evaluate the actually environment that we’re living in.  Although this article by Dr. Albert Mohler is geared towards parents with children, it’s still a good piece to read for anyone living in the U.S.  Check it out here.

How to Write

Like to write?  Looking for advice in becoming a better writer?  If so, I thought that this article was a witty and concise guideline to writing well and using basic grammar.  Even if you don’t have an interest in writing, anyone that e-mails and texts would benefit from this short post.

Can Joel Osteen Help You Pay Your Bills?

Not really, but if you enlarge your vision then God can.  To balance Joel’s thoughts you would do well to listen to why John Piper abominates the prosperity message being promulgated.

Science and Religion

In general, has science always been at odds with religion?  Even though Dan Brown thinks this may be the case, Vern Poythress shows why it is not.

Elder(s)

Over at Green Baggins there is a great post addressing some misconceptions on the role and responsibility of elders.

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In terms of production – when it comes to reading and reading comprehension – this has arguably been the best 60 minutes I’ve ever spent (Did I mention that it’s free?)

From Regent University:

About

Speed-reading is a great way to improve your productivity and enhance your studies. This online learning module will help you learn basic speed-reading skills that you can practice with many of your reading assignments and other reading materials you encounter each day. Follow the link below to get started.

This is a self-paced learning module. It contains a self-assessment, practical exercises, and audio and video content. It is recommended that you finish the module in one sitting.

Estimated Time

Estimated time to complete this module: 60 minutes.

Topics Covered

• What is speed-reading?
• Speedreading hindrances
• The “Sweep Method”
• The “Hop Method”
• Increasing your reading speed
• Increasing comprehension

 Click here to access the Speed Reading Module

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