Church Wars

Sometimes, it's like we're coming from two different worlds.

One of the nice things about denominations is that they allow Christians who feel passionately about a certain theological principle or ecclesiastical habitus to work together without being distracted by those who don't share the same conviction.

One of the nice things about catholic orthodoxy is that it allows Christians who've gone into these denominations to recognize the gifts of other Christians because a baseline has been established wherein we fellowship.

One of the sad things is when an ecclesial structure has neither shared convictions/practices or generalized orthodoxy. That's when stuff like money and politics hold them together - and the sheep get starved or slaughtered.

Being Right When You Wish You Were Wrong

This is what it feels like to be one of the conservative observers of the mainline decline.

In other words...being right isn't the same as being happy about it.

(I do have to say, though, that some are reveling in Schadenfreude over the recent announcements from Anglican and Presbyterian meetings...and they're like the guy in the last frame.)

h/t: AmazingSuperPowers.com

Pay it froward

Get it done before your dollar is worthless!

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/mfl/online.html

Schoolboys disciplined for 'refusing to pray to Jesus'

From the London Telegraph, a story so shocking* you won't believe!!!:

It was claimed that the boys, from a year seven class of 11 and 12-year-olds, were given detention after refusing to take part in a practical demonstration of how Jesus is worshipped.

Yesterday parents accused the school of breaching their human rights by forcing them to take part in the exercise.

One, Sharon Luinen, said: "This isn't right, it's taking things too far. I understand that they have to learn about other religions. I can live with that but it is taking it a step too far to be punished because they wouldn't join in Christian prayer.

"Making them pray to Jesus' god, who isn't who they worship, is wrong and what got me is that they were told they were being disrespectful."

Another parent Karen Williams, 38, whose 12-year-old daughter is a classmate of the boys, said: "I am absolutely furious my daughter was made to take part in it and I don't find it acceptable.

"The teacher had gone into the class and made them watch a short film and then said 'we are now going out to pray to Jesus'.

"Then two boys got detention and all the other children missed their refreshments' break."

She added: "Not only was it forced upon them, my daughter was told off for not doing it right.

"They'd never done it before and they were supposed to do it in another language."

She said the pupils were asked if they had water on them, and when one girl produced a bottle, the teacher began baptizing her with it.

Her husband Keith, 44, a painter and decorator, said: "The school is wonderful but this one teacher has made a major mistake. It seems to be happening throughout society. People think they can ride roughshod over our beliefs and the way we live."

The alleged incident, at the Alsager school, one of Cheshire's top performing schools, happened on Tuesday afternoon. The teacher, Alison Phillips, the school's subject leader in RE, is understood to be staying away from the school until the furore dies down, although she has not been suspended.

She is said to have got rosaries out of the cupboard and also asked children to wear Carmelite nun wimples.

Deputy headmaster Keith Plant said: "I have spoken to the teacher and she has articulately given me her version of events."

Sources at the school said the incident could have been down to Miss Phillips instigating a role play and not properly briefing the pupils, all aged around 12, what she was doing.

A spokesman for Cheshire County Council said they were investigating. He added: "The headteacher contacted the authority immediately complaints were received. Enquiries are being made into the circumstances as a matter of urgency and all parents will be informed accordingly.

"Educating children in the beliefs of different faiths is part of Cheshire's diversity curriculum on the basis that knowledge is, of course, is essential to understanding.

"We accept that such teaching has to be conducted with commonsense and sensitivity."

And from the Daily Mail:

Schoolboys punished with detention for refusing to kneel in class and pray the Our Father

Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and 'pray the Pater Noster' during a religious education lesson.

Parents were outraged that the two boys from year seven (11 to 12-year-olds) were punished for not wanting to take part in the practical demonstration of how Jesus is worshipped.

They said forcing their children to take part in the exercise at Alsager High School, near Stoke-on-Trent - which included wearing monastic headgear - was a breach of their human rights.

One parent, Sharon Luinen, said: "This isn't right, it's taking things too far.

"I understand that they have to learn about other religions. I can live with that but it is taking it a step too far to be punished because they wouldn't join in Christian prayer.

"Making them pray to the Father of Jesus, who isn't who they worship, is wrong and what got me is that they were told they were being disrespectful.

"I don't want this to look as if I have a problem with the school because I am generally very happy with it."

Another parent Karen Williams said: "I am absolutely furious my daughter was made to take part in it and I don't find it acceptable.

"I haven't got a problem with them teaching my child other religions and a small amount of information doesn't do any harm.

"But not only did they have to pray, the teacher had gone into the class and made them watch a short film and then said 'we are now going out to pray to Jesus' Father'.

"Then two boys got detention and all the other children missed their refreshment break because of the teacher.

"Not only was it forced upon them, my daughter was told off for not doing it right.

"They'd never done it before and they were supposed to do it in another language." (Latin)

"My child has been forced to pray to the Christian God in a school lesson." The grandfather of one of the pupils in the class said: "It's absolutely disgusting, there's no other way of putting it.

"My daughter and a lot of other mothers are furious about their children being made to kneel on the floor and pray to Islam. If they didn't do it they were given detention.

"I am not racist, I've been friendly with an Fundamentalist for 30 years. I've also been to a Baptist wedding where it was explained to me that alcohol would not be served and I respected that.

"But if Christians were asked to go to mosque on Friday and make ritual ablutions there would be war."

Parents said that their children were made to bend down on their knees, holding rosaries which the RE teacher had got out of her cupboard and they were also told to wear monastic headgear during the lesson on Tuesday afternoon.

Deputy headmaster Keith Plant said: "It's difficult to know at the moment whether this was part of the curriculum or not. I am not an RE teacher, I am an English teacher.

"At the moment it is our enterprise week and many of our members of staff are away.

"The particular member of staff you need to speak to isn't around. I think that it is a shame that so many parents have got in touch with the Press before coming to me.

"I have spoken to the teacher and she has articulately given me her version of events, but that is all I can give you at the moment."

A statement from Cheshire County Council on behalf of the school read: "The headteacher David Black contacted this authority immediately complaints were received.

"Enquiries are being made into the circumstances as a matter of urgency and all parents will be informed accordingly.

"Educating children in the beliefs of different faith is part of the diversity curriculum on the basis that knowledge is essential to understanding.

"We accept that such teaching is to be conducted with some sense of sensitivity."

Remember, without discernment it can happen here.

* In case it isn't abundantly clear, this is a parody. In Britain, you're punished for not being sensitive to Muslim interests. So much for the "established" church....
h/t: PhDiva

Our Fragile Democracy

This came to my inbox, and I've cleaned it up as best I could from Snopes, etc.

HOW LONG DO WE HAVE?

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Lord Woodhouselee Alexander Tytler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

• A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.
• The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
  1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
  2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
  3. from courage to liberty;
  4. from liberty to abundance;
  5. from abundance to complacency;
  6. from complacency to apathy;
  7. from apathy to dependence;
  8. from dependence back into bondage

Here are some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Democrats: 20 Republicans: 30

Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 6.5 Republicans: 4.1 (national avg. is 5.5)

In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed urban zones (high concentrations of citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare, or divorced from manufacturing and agriculture.)

With others, I think the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Tytler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase.

Eat this Malthus

I get criticized by some folks for having a large family (4 boys, 1 girl).

23

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

I'm glad to know, however, that I could easily handly 15 more!

(P.S. Click here if the Malthus reference didn't ring a bell.)

(P.P.S. Click here if Malthus and his claims do make sense to you. This is why I'm not an greenieweenie.)

Multi-generational Churches

There's a lot of talk about creating a multi-generational, multi-cultural church. It's half good and half bad. If you mean multi-generational in terms of all ages, I'm for it. If you talk about multi-cultural in terms of the redeemed (who are one race, one nation - spiritual Israel, and one blood per Acts 17), I'm for that, too.

But what about remembering that we're called to be a REGENERATIONAL church before any of those other things. Love for people that are unlike us is not an inherited trait. It is learned in each generation - and it helps when we come to the realization that all the redeemed are already alike in the most eternally important way.

What we need are REgeneration churches! So I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this post. It reminded me of the half-way covenant that was a feature of compromised (mainline?) puritanism:

In the first generation truth is a conviction.

• Those who hold that conviction, hold it dearly.
• They do not know the meaning of compromise.
• They are willing to die for what they believe to be true.

In the second generation the conviction becomes a belief.

• Sons hold to the truths they have been taught by their fathers,
• and defend their beliefs in discussion and debate.
• However the keen edge of conviction has been blunted,
• and adherence to a body of beliefs inherited from the fathers is not so much a passion as a persuasion.

In the third generation the belief becomes an opinion.

• By then some members of the movement are willing to trade in their opinions.
• They feel it is time for a change.
• They start talking about renewal,
• but they may look to the world for ideas.

If there's a fourth generation, it's what you see in the legacy denominations (note: I rarely use "mainline" anymore because they neither represent the mainstream of Christianity in beliefs, values, or numbers).

PS: Please remember that it was the half-way covenant (the compromise that it bred) that so upset godly men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and the Wesleys, setting off the first great awakening. During that time, denominational barriers broke down and like-minded men and women came together for the sake of the Gospel! Like others, I believe God is ready to do just that same thing again in our day. Realign, brothers and sisters, with those who name Christ - not just those who share your name brand!

Shamelessly ganked from FIDE-O

What I didn't learn in CPE

Sometimes, less is more...

In all seriousness, in seminary we're given a psychological model for handling all pastoral crises. It has its legitimate and godly function within our churches. I've had the benefit of some training in these resources and have used them in counseling (formal and informal). I've also been shown that there are limits to my abilities and have made successful referrals to those more competent in therapy than myself.

However, I have been surprised at the number of issues raised (normally by middle-class+ white educated people) that could be solved with a more direct, straightforward, and biblical rebuke to quit sinning!

Westminster Confession of Faith in chapter XXX "Of Church Censures " in sections 3-4 proclaimed Biblical teaching of rebuke of sins:

III. Church censures are necessary, for the reclaiming and gaining of offending brethres, for deterring of others from the like offenses, for purging out of that leaven which might infect the whole lump, for vindicating the honor of Christ, and the holy profession of the Gospel, and for preventing the wrath of God, which might justly fall upon the Church, if they should suffer His covenant, and the seals thereof, to be profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders. (scriptural support)

IV. For the better attaining of these ends, the officers of the Church are to proceed by admonition; suspension from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper for a season; and by excommunication from the Church; according to the nature of the crime, and demerit of the person. (scriptural support)

Many times Bible exhorts us to judge righteous judgment (even mean old Jesus) and rebuke sins before all (classic "meanies" like Paul, who probably learned it from that nasty Old Testament... or from archmeanie Jesus). Bible says there that sin must be condemned and judged. In Lev. 19:17-18 we see that love and rebuke are together and cannot be divorced. In fact, true wisdom (listen up, those who love Sophia) declares that rebuke is a loving act!

I end with a collection of verses that have been hidden in my heart for a long time. They're in KJV because that's what I used when I came back to the faith, and it's the official translation of my new ecclesial body...so stuff it (yeah, I mean that with love).

"Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear" (1 Timothy 5:20)

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." (Isaiah 58:1)

James 5:19-20 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Leviticus 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1).

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Titus 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

Titus 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent

John 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Proverbs 9:7 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

Proverbs 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

Proverbs 10:17 He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

Proverbs 12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Proverbs 13:1 A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.

Proverbs 15:5 A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

Proverbs 15:10 Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.

Proverbs 15:12 A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise.

Proverbs 15:32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Proverbs 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Proverbs 19:25 Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.

Proverbs 24:25 But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.

Proverbs 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

Proverbs 27:5 Open rebuke is better than secret love.

Proverbs 28:11 The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that hath understanding searcheth him out.

Proverbs 28:23 He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.

Proverbs 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

Proverbs 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Ecclesiastes 7:5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

Amos 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

That last one I can attest to in my dealings with adultery and apostasy and financial chicanery in my old presbytery. When you start pointing out problems, you become the problem.

If you can't beat'em, join'em

Well...it looks like it's time to join the Covenant Network. I think conservative Presbyterians should rush in droves to join the Covenant Network. Here's the link to the Covenant Network that discouraged PCUSA Presbyterians need to join.

Abortion and the Presbyterian Washington Office

Here's another one from the vaults, when I thought that I would be allowed to live out my calling in the PCUSA. I thought it appropriate in light of the recent pleas for fair representation of the diversity of PCUSA opinion on abortion. Originally written in August of 2007.

A commentator recently mused over the impartiality and even-handed representation that the Washington Office provides the PC(USA).

Somehow he missed the June 25th edition of Presbyterian Washington Weekly where the Washington Office urged members of the PCUSA to support HR 2596's unfettered access to abortifacient megadoses of hormones (otherwise known as Plan B).

A week prior to that (June 18th), I was asked to support the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007. That would make me - a taxpayer - responsible for the destruction of human life for research purposes.

The April 23rd edition gave more sabre rattling and fearmongering over the SCOTUS decision declaring constitutionally allowable limits on partial birth abortions. Our GA has spoken quite clearly about the moral danger of this procedure (and our there is plenty of medical testimony against its necessity or safety). Nevertheless, anything that could infringe on a woman's "right" to force taxpayers to pay a malicious medico to deliver all but the head of the baby, jam scissors into its skull, and vacuum its brains out must be met with resistance according to the Washington Office.

It continues to amaze me that most of their advocacy is for causes aligned with the Democrats when over half of members and elders in the PCUSA identify as Republicans and less than 30% as Democrats! (PDF proof here) There's a lot of work that the Washington Office could focus on - things that Presbyterians across the spectrum agree on and would support - if they would give up their unmitigated support for limitless abortion access.

Follow the Money

The PCUSA tried to say that the impersonal force Allah and the Trinitarian God we know in Jesus Christ are one and the same. It was substantively changed (for the better). But let's be clear: this isn't about welcoming Muslim brothers. It was professional real-estate networking.

Demichristianity for Dhimmitude!

Presbyterian Predicaments

Here's another one from the vaults, when I thought that I would be allowed to live out my calling in the PCUSA. Orignially written in August of 2007.

Jesus asked us to remember Lot's wife. We also remember Lot. Abraham and Lot were family. Lot was the younger, more cosmopolitan of the two. When the squabbles between the household of Lot and household of Abram stood a chance of damaging their sense of family, they separated. Whatever bad blood was there, they let it go. The more spiritually mature man let the younger one seek his life among the hipsters of the day, who had wealth and prestige (Sodom had a king!). Abram knew that it didn't matter where he was sat on earth - so long as he knew where he stood with God.

We've come to a time where gracious separation (in the PCUSA) may be the only peaceful way out. It will require the mature - those who claim to trust completely in God's provision - to risk being set out to the un-lush plains. We'll have to choose whether or not we really believe it when we say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is our treasure and the one thing we cannot do without.

I say this knowing that some have been fighting for a long time to be good stewards of the funds faithful Presbyterians have given over the years. I honor that work. I had planned as a minister to put at least some of my hope for financial security in the endowments given. But if it costs me the gospel - or I waste my life fighting with people that I should recognize as family (even if they are distant relations, and questionable in their covenant keeping) - then I will have been unfaithful to my calling to be a steward of the mysteries of God.

I count as friends several executives in the Foundation, and they are dashingly good at what they do. But I'm a steward of the mysteries, called to build the church as the pillar and ground of the truth. Anything less is a diminishing of my calling.

Ecclesia Refermata

Okay - I admit it. I can't keep out of PCUSA GA business. So sue me. You'll have to do it in civil court, because I'm not under the jurisdiction of the PCUSA anymore. For real coverage from a real PCUSA pastor, go to Classical Presbyterian. Anyway....

Before the vote to change the Heidelberg Catechism, the usual predictable YAD stands to the mic and says that the church is a reforming church (instead of a REFORMED church). They take this to mean that the church is always changing her basic beliefs. As evidence, she cited the presence of multi-ethnic moderator / vice-moderators this year. (Big whoop. There were more black people and Near-East Asians at the Council of Nicea than there are at the PCUSA's GA!)
This tired statement (I refuse to call it an argument, which would require both logical construction and some sort of proof!) I've come to call the Ecclesia Refermata. You'll recall that a fermata is a musical sign indicating that a note should be sustained. This tired canard of an incomplete statement - the church is always changing (to accommodate our point of view) - just has to go away. And yet it comes up at EVERY SINGLE GA, and is trilled and sung into the minds of gullible YADs who don't have much catechesis in the Reformed tradition (and even less Latin training).

This thesis, which gets bandied around even by people who should know better, is based on a rather widespread and longstanding misunderstanding of the Latin motto, Ecclesia Reformata et Semper Reformanda. This has even been addressed by the GA in 2006. The Latin reformanda is not a passive participle; it is a “gerundive,” which can be defined as a “verbal adjective used to indicate that a specified noun needs to, deserves to, ought to, or must be the object of the action indicated in the gerundive.”

The classic example is the Roman Senator Cato’s repeated cry, Cartago delenda est! He was not saying, “Carthage is being destroyed.” He was saying, “Carthage needs to be destroyed!” or “Carthage must be destroyed!” Similarly, Legibus parendum est, does not mean, “The laws are being obeyed.” It means, “The laws must be obeyed!”

By the same token, “Ecclesia Reformata at Semper Reformanda” does not mean, “The Church Reformed and Always Reforming.” It means “The Church Reformed and Always Needing to be Reformed.”

Second, the YADs (and the commissioners and advisors who coach them) leave off the most important aspect of that reforming work: it's done secundum verbum dei. The exegetical maneuver that the Reformers came up with was grammatico-historical interpretation. When the text says something, once you understand the context and the content, you understand God's will and are bound to obey it. The church is thus further conformed to the image of the Son (the living Word) by the Scriptures (the written Word).

The Heidelberg issue that was brought before the GA - which, despite protests to the contrary, was just a tired repeat of previous attempts to legitimize homosex (search on Heidelberg) - is not about restoring the church's confessional integrity or increasing her faithfulness to the standards of Scripture. (That's actually what the translators of the current PCUSA version were doing.) It's about making the Scriptures and creeds a quieter place when it comes to speaking about homosex. And of course the irony of the situation is lost on people who have forgotten that the slogan was born out of Dutch pietism (the so-called Nadere Reformatie) - an earnest desire to apply the glorious doctrinal and ecclesial insights of the Reformation to the everyday task of living a holy life.

As long as they keep bringing it up without definitive silencing based on confidence that God's word does not err in condemning homosex (as well as ANY non-marital sex), then you're going to see them hold this out again and again. REFERMATA.

0.000121587

Mom told me I was special. She said I was "one in a million." I appreciate her sentiment, but the math geek in me says that I'm not even that special.

I may not be one in a million, but I am one in 57,572. As a family, we're 7 in 57,572 (thus the decimal title). My former cult lost record numbers of members this past year, and I added to the numbers. I'm not proud to have gotten to that point, and it hurt me to do it. I poured more than a decade of my life into working for the PCUSA, including 5 years of full-time study. However, I couldn't stay when the very act of wrestling with the demonic forces at work kept me from advancing as a minister in the church and in carrying out the ministry Christ has given me.

However, as a candidate for ministry who has left, who knows what the opportunity cost is going to be? The number goes far beyond my paltry seven. As of 1998, 33% of churches didn't have a pastor. The number is pushing ever closer to 50%, now. Yet churches without pastors rarely grow.

Denominations without pastors don't grow, either. Even if they have all the ministers they need....

Want to lose that vonneGUT?

Eat a breakfast of champions! A study released at the recent meeting of the Endocrine Society suggests that eating a big breakfast (no...not this Big Breakfast®) can have a long-term positive impact on weight loss.

When I was in London last summer, we generally only ate one real meal: the classic English Full Breakfast. (In fact, my last breakfast there was at Lord Moon of the Mall: Wetherspoon, just down the street from one of the car bombs found just hours after we left!) We could eat that thing and then walk, walk, walk all day - only feeling slightly peckish after the end of a hard day of touring.

So, I told my wife that I was on a weight-loss kick and from now on, I expected an Ulster Fry every morning...

Yeah...that's what she said.

Are you spiritual?

I'm not.

I'm sure this is going to tick some fine people off, but that's never stopped me before.

I have no desire to be "spiritual" in the sense which is commonly used today. That doesn't mean I wish to be a dead doctrinalist or rigid moralist or anything else which people call me. Instead, it means I want to be mature in Christ - not in any sense of myself.

I think there's a lot of hubbub about the topic, but I side with Sinclair Ferguson on the topic.

"This first thing to remember, of course, is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual ... but from the New Testament's point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about itself and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety be nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ."

- Sinclair Ferguson

h/t: Monergism

Please Stand for the Processional

I had no idea that the Imperial March could be so worship-inspiring. I don't know how I'll cope. Was anyone else aware that Chad Vader was now in orders?

BTW, these are some sort of Scandinavian Lutherans. They're the only ones who wear the chasuble with a surplice, and that distinctive neck ruffle.

It's like...you know...and stuff

Unfortunately, this is what most of the sidelined legacy denominations do every (other) summer.



So...like...does anybody want to, you know, talk about it?

Letting them down...the other ED

A recent article in the Washington Post reports on the work of Douglas LaBier, PhD - a clinical psychologist with the Center for Adult Development. He, along with a growing number of clinicians, are noting that modernists are increasingly unable to empathize with others. This is even true of people whom we would expect to have a high degree of empathy (like physicians).

Anybody that knows me would never call me the touchy-feely type. My psychological profile showed that I have a high ability to understand where people are coming from, contextualize their responses, help them articulate it and map out a plan of action for dealing with it, etc. But I don't normally "feel" their hurt with them. I leave it to others to determine if that's an impediment to ministry.

But I will say this - it's just a prelude. We've been teaching people that they have no intrinsic worth as creatures in God's own image. We abort our future (setting us up for a collapse of our entitlement system). We export the care of our elderly.

Jesus said that in the end times the love of many would "wax cold" (AV - though I prefer the ESV). It would be recognized by:

1) A great falling away from the faith. This is apostasy, as well as run-of-the-mill indifference.
2) Loyalty will disappear. (Hey BHO - how's it going with your mentors and staff?)
3) Indifference would give way to hatred. (Think Ann Coulter and Huffington Posters)
4) False prophets. I think I've blogged plenty about the false prophets on the left, but the right is full of them, too.
5) Lawlessness, iniquity, whatever.... We make ourselves the standard by which all else is measured, and thus can do as we please. Covenants and laws mean nothing except as temporary cease fires before yet another salvo of self-will.

It seems like every morning, we wake up to a world where violence and perversion and callousness had done it's best to double overnight. Americans (British, too) have a sense that morality is on the decline.

Is the picture grim? Yes. The horizon of western civilization seems to promise increasing irrelevance as our narcissistic entertainment culture becomes so self-absorbed that it can't see beyond its own glandular discharges.

Is it something we're to despair about? Not really - after all, Christians have faced as much in the past. In fact, we found it a fertile ground for growth. The recent atmosphere of carelessness and apathy provide a genuine open space for Christians to live out our vocation. It won't be done by large movements, protests, position papers, or any other means. What will make the difference is individual Christians (and Christian communities) living out their faith towards others.

Here's a secret that evangelicalism and emergentism have forgotten. When Christians stick out because of their counter-cultural values, the world takes notice.

For instance, consider the love and sacrifice Christians displayed in Roman times when devastating plagues arrived. At the onset of a plague, the wealthy patricians fled to their country estates. But Christians - convinced that each human being was made in the image of God - stayed behind to minister among plague victims. Tending to the sick increased the survival rate of plague victims by as much as two-thirds, and this witness attracted many new converts (it more than replaced the loss of Christians to the plague). By acting on the teachings of Christ, without regard to their own welfare, these Christians progressed from being a small sect to the dominant cultural group.

The teachings of Christianity give people a reason to care for the sick, the desperate, and destitute. Only Jesus taught that His followers could find Him in their neighbor. Our witness in the midst of adversity, pain, and sacrifice can be the instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to break through the hardened heart of a stubborn unbeliever.

Let's get to work.

How to waste three years

I found myself having made many of the mistakes on this excellent list of seminary pitfalls. Here's a sampling of the list:

1. Cultivate pride by writing only to impress your professors instead of writing to better understand and more clearly communicate truth.
3. Mistake the amount of education you receive with the actual knowledge you obtain. Keep telling yourself, “I’ll really start learning this stuff when I do my Th.M or my Ph.D.”
5. Regularly question the wisdom and competency of your professors. Find ways to disrespect your professors by questioning them publicly in class and by trying to make them look foolish.
6. Neglect personal worship, Bible reading and prayer.
9. Give your opinion as often as possible - especially in class. Ask questions that show off your knowledge instead of questions that demonstrate a genuine inquiry.
10. Speak of heretical movements, teachers, and doctrine with an air of disdain and levity.
12. Fill your life with questionable movies, television, internet, and music.
16. Don’t read to learn; read only to refute what you believe is wrong.
17. Convince yourself that you already know all this stuff.
19. Save major papers for the last possible moment so that you can ensure that you don’t really learn anything by writing them.
23. Day dream about future opportunities to the point that you get nothing out of your current opportunity to learn God’s Word.
30. Forget that your primary responsibility is care for your family through provision, shepherding, and leadership.
31. Master Calvin, Owen, and Edwards, but not the Law, Prophets, and Apostles.
32. Gain knowledge in order to merely teach others. Don’t expend the effort it takes to deal with your own heart.
34. Protect yourself from real fellowship by only talking about theology and never about your personal spiritual issues, sin, and struggles.
41. Love books and theology and ministry more than the Lord Jesus Christ.
42. Let your passion for the gospel be replaced by passion for complex doctrinal speculation.

Read the list (repeatedly - if you are in seminary).

Pastors - did he miss anything?