tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67816977611115463402024-03-07T12:48:54.214-05:00The Christian IntellectOne step in the process of redeeming the Evangelical mind.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-50801765999558273842017-01-25T08:21:00.000-05:002017-01-25T08:27:19.708-05:00Getting Lost Down the Knowledge Rabbit-Hole or When Learning Can Shut You Down<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLUE014SSWyzvL5Pcg9nYS-WdJes1LLsZz8V99svpJVYNQA66WGtSZ501lWl6_Pb1YJ9tIvL_3nSnVYy36-Rzt98SM4wiuKYHqBtr2rbW0rKxwlS4NV9KbbCy698QsIVP3CTyImoRstkw/s1600/book-2869_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLUE014SSWyzvL5Pcg9nYS-WdJes1LLsZz8V99svpJVYNQA66WGtSZ501lWl6_Pb1YJ9tIvL_3nSnVYy36-Rzt98SM4wiuKYHqBtr2rbW0rKxwlS4NV9KbbCy698QsIVP3CTyImoRstkw/s320/book-2869_1280.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo: Pixabay</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">R</span><span style="font-size: large;">ecently I have been stuck in a trap. It's a trap that says, "You don't know enough to write anything relevant on [insert a topic here]. You need to learn more and study harder before you can have an intelligent statement on that." Consequently, I haven't been doing much writing lately. I have become intimidated by my book cases, which are three-quarters packed with unread books. Books are surrounding and taunting me. There is so much that I don't know--so many people who are smarter and more learned. How can I possibly have anything to write about?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Writing a blog entitled The Christian Intellect has added another layer of intimidation. I have actually fallen prey to the wrong-headed thinking that I was trying to dispel <i>with</i> this blog, namely that the intellect isn't something high brow--for professor-types only. It is simply how we think about things. A Christian intellect is a mind devoted to Christ--a mind that is being renewed by the Spirit and transformed. The idea for this site was that every Christian is called to renew their mind and learn to see the world through the lens of the New Creation. It's not about impressing people with theological jargon or quoting Luther and Aquinas.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reading and listening to lectures or sermons is part of the process of developing your thinking, but writing is also an important element. As the saying goes: "Thoughts disentangle themselves passing over the lips and through pencil tips." (I cannot find a standardized version of this quote nor verify its origin, but it's a useful phrase none the less). In other words, we clarify our thoughts when we are forced to shape them into coherent sentences and paragraphs. We write in order to learn.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have also heard from multiple sources that the best way to learn a subject is to teach it! Far from being experts, some teachers are only a couple weeks ahead of their students in terms of study. If writing is a way of processing and learning information, then teaching can be even more so because you are actively engaging your brain on multiple levels.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is easy to get sucked down the knowledge rabbit-hole. It is easy to get lost in a wonderland of ideas, scratching your head and asking, "Where do I even begin?" It is tempting to sit back and let others engage in hashing out theology or biblical studies or philosophy or apologetics while we watch from the sidelines. Maybe that next book, sermon, or lecture will frame everything just right and we will feel expert enough to write or teach on a topic. When we do this, we are not truly honing our Christian intellect. Honing the intellect will require us to charge "once more unto the breach, dear friends."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So let's not worry about being pretentious. We want to learn to think well--think clearly and deeply on important issues. But we need to remember that there is never a point at which a person can be said to have arrived. There are always more books than we can read. There are brilliant minds that we haven't yet encountered. I don't have everything figured out. I'm just a guy who wants to grow deeper in my walk with Christ and put my intellectual capacities at his service. How about you?</span></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-28684205846026547382016-12-06T13:52:00.000-05:002016-12-06T13:52:00.169-05:00"No Crying He Makes" and Other Christmas Myths<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefFH22zTV2-rUCtkumREKb3cztv9y2Inq8hcB22dG4f__kzaBpdngpo33eHN1cYL7Xy6b6oQB8imWg9Jn_e1SdrlicVHlIpvMhYUcd_2y5J6L1Hv_CAjW5SABGLFn2VeV20HLa_GaJ1A6/s1600/3136026321_4da1580be5_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefFH22zTV2-rUCtkumREKb3cztv9y2Inq8hcB22dG4f__kzaBpdngpo33eHN1cYL7Xy6b6oQB8imWg9Jn_e1SdrlicVHlIpvMhYUcd_2y5J6L1Hv_CAjW5SABGLFn2VeV20HLa_GaJ1A6/s320/3136026321_4da1580be5_z.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;">O</span><span style="font-size: large;">ne of my dad's favorite holiday pastimes is demythologizing Christmas songs. His sermons are regularly sprinkled with anecdotes about the "little drummer boy" not existing and "the three wise men" not being present on the night of Jesus' birth. One year he even picked on the fact that the Bible does not say whether Mary rode on a donkey, a camel, or a cart...or maybe had to walk on her way to Bethlehem. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Consequently, I now have this hobby as well, much to my wife's chagrin (sorry honey). She feels like I'm always trying to rain on everyone's parade. As we listen to Christmas songs, I like to think through the lyrics and see if they gel with reality. What can I say? Many of them are full of myths about Christ's birth, and those myths can damage of the message of Christmas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For instance, our songs and paintings would have us believe that the baby Jesus never cried. The song Away In a Manger puts it right out there: "the little Lord Jesus no crying he makes." He was the most inhuman baby you ever saw with a halo around his head and group of people standing around at a fair distance gazing on the new born Son of God. This is the baby of a religion--not history. Notice the Gnostic tendencies that have crept into this picture (Gnosticism views the spiritual/non-material world over the physical one). Is crying a sin? I don't think so. Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, so why would he not cry as a baby? One of the important reasons for the birth narratives is to show us that Jesus <i>was </i>human. He can identify with the lowest of the low.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our songs have a way of sticking with us--especially since they play the same twenty-five in various iterations from October through December. They have a way of influencing the way we imagine the birth narratives. So do Christmas cards. They deliver this portrait that seems so ideal, so air brushed, so fake. I, for one, can't identify with a calm and sanitized birth and viewing session in a barn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The version that I read in scripture is a lot more complicated. </span><span style="font-size: large;">This Christmas I would encourage you to reread Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 with fresh eyes. What does the text say? What does it not say? What is emphasized in each? We always need to go back to the Bible. I think that when we immerse ourselves in the story as the gospels present it we will find that we can connect with it in richer ways.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-36380714472058870012016-08-24T11:11:00.000-04:002016-08-24T11:12:31.344-04:00Son Of A Preacher Man: a Book Review of Barnabas Piper's The Pastor's Kid<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LmOKhtVw7bYx-RrPDTL2vGCVhcXfIl5E32wjyToo_BYDc6fm_ohd39o9p-ggPYkDH44UnHh_p4F_qXiTd_bVohuzqwTBzAj_3u2pTVaD8NnVFhbYql2uCzmby26FBbvM5AsygxRBah20/s1600/410359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LmOKhtVw7bYx-RrPDTL2vGCVhcXfIl5E32wjyToo_BYDc6fm_ohd39o9p-ggPYkDH44UnHh_p4F_qXiTd_bVohuzqwTBzAj_3u2pTVaD8NnVFhbYql2uCzmby26FBbvM5AsygxRBah20/s320/410359.jpg" width="209" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: x-large; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: large; line-height: 21px;">n Evangelical Christianity, many pastors have risen to near celebrity status. Everything they do, everything they say is under the microscope. Even if a pastor isn't nationally or internationally known, it is likely that they are well known within their community. People could pick them out of a crowd at Pizza Hut or Wal-Mart. But there is a unique group of people who are along for the ride but have never asked to be singled out. They did not respond to a "call." They did not necessarily climb into the spotlight of their own volition. They may not even have a full understanding of their spiritual standing. This special group of individuals are singled out just the same. They are the pastors kids--otherwise known as PKs.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">Barnabas Piper grew up knowing all about the joys and trials of such a life. His dad is John Piper, internationally recognized preacher and author of numerous books. Now Barnabas is a skilled writer and author in his own right, and he has some things to say. But he does not write this book to throw his family under the bus (John Piper actually wrote the foreward) or piggyback on his father's noteriety. He writes this book to give readers an inside look at what it is like to be a PK and to help PKs themselves deal with some of the issues that they have faced--or as the subtitle has it, help with "finding your own faith and identity."</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 21px;">Most pastor's kids that I have known, myself included, cannot win. People assume that you are a trouble-maker or put you on a pedistal. Neither one is fair. People make many other assumptions, as well, and treat you accordingly. That is partly what this book is about. Barnabas also gives many insights into the difficulties that PKs face, so that pastors and congregants alike can avoid doing damage to these unique individuals within our churches.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This book has been really good for me. For most of my life I have been a PK, and now I am in the ministry myself. I can identify with quite a bit of what Barnabas has written concerning the difficulties and blessings of growing up in that kind of environment: I was often under the microscope, expected to be the leader, and preached at in the home. But </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I am also reminded of how blessed I have been to view my experience in a (mostly) positive light. There were some negatives to be sure, but my parents worked hard to avoid several of the pitfalls that he describes in this book. I even received a lot of mentoring in ministry by my dad and had the blessing of learning many skills that serve me well now. But I know other PK's who weren't as fortunate.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> Barnabas doesn't claim to speak for every PK, but I think he speaks for a majority. He doesn't write merely from his limited experience--he has spent time interviewing other PKs and doing research. As a matter of fact, not all of the situations or criticisms that he offers are a part his own experience at all</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 21px;">--and, so, I think it rings true to the general experience of PKs. The simple fact is that most of us are measured against our fathers, rather than as the individuals that we really are and we were (or are) held to a higher standard than the rest of the youth of the church.</span></span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21px;">What ar PKs to do? How do we respond? The reality is, and I speak for numerous PKs, I do not care what my father thinks about many things. I am not a chip off the old block. He has influenced me and taught me, and now I am taking my own lane and going my own speed. And that is what PKs must be able to do. We must choose to do it, and the church must let us (kindle location 479).</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I recommend that anyone in ministry read it and take note; PKs read it and know that you are not alone; and congregants read it with an eye to supporting and praying for their pastors and their kids.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-55976328126404242562015-02-10T07:01:00.000-05:002015-02-10T12:16:00.776-05:00What Does It Profit a Church If It Gains the Whole World and Loses Its Soul?<blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8leasFR0l3E8glI6vwW4Mm2GTU8Zfw-iChtQbs4N21a9tWsCoCEFswZGNfyradnL3bIeXnGbrVtYjvQPNgWAssQ6_bB7RZhQqqyfDHwTQG5Y75lt4gXVmc32aaspAVaumQ-nTWNd8mK_g/s1600/2627129802_1cc33ce490_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8leasFR0l3E8glI6vwW4Mm2GTU8Zfw-iChtQbs4N21a9tWsCoCEFswZGNfyradnL3bIeXnGbrVtYjvQPNgWAssQ6_bB7RZhQqqyfDHwTQG5Y75lt4gXVmc32aaspAVaumQ-nTWNd8mK_g/s1600/2627129802_1cc33ce490_z.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">"T</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">he preacher, instead of looking out upon the world, looks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">out upon public opinion, trying to find out what the public would like to hear.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Then he tries his best to duplicate that, and bring his finished product into a</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">marketplace in which others are trying to do the same. The public, turning to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">our culture to find out about the world, discovers there is nothing but its own</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">reflection. The unexamined world, meanwhile, drifts blindly in the future."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">--Dining With the Devil, by Os Guinness p.59 citing a quote from Context, 15 April 1991, p.4</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This quote strikes me as true. It's a symptom of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">attractional</span> model church that peddles the "gospel" for it's own self-serving aims: growth, popularity, power. Churches have turned people into numbers. We want to get butts in the seats and keep them there...and if we have to take the sting out of the gospel to do it--then so be it. We tweak the music and our dress codes. We build gyms to make our facilities more appealing. We modernize the children's programs. We want to be accepted in the community. But where is the substance? Where is the awe of God? Where is the power?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. --2 Timothy 4:3</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What is the purpose of the church? According to Revelation 5:10, we are "a kingdom and priests to our God." We can't cater to the "needs" of some people at the cost of the church's holiness or the gospel message of repentance from sin and toward discipleship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The interesting thing is that we have tried to make the church so palatable to the world that we have lost our uniqueness. In his book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whos-Afraid-Postmodernism-Foucault-Postmodern/dp/080102918X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233120759&sr=8-1">Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?</a>, James K. A. Smith states this well:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Worship, then, needs to be characterized by hospitality; it needs to be</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">inviting. But at the same time, it should be inviting seekers into the church</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">and its unique story and language. Worship should be an occasion of</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">cross-cultural hospitality. Consider and analogy: When I travel to France, I</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">hope to be made to feel welcome. However, I don't expect my French hosts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">to become Americans in order to make me feel at home. I don't expect them to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">start speaking English, ordering pizza, talking about the New York Yankees, and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">so on. Indeed, if I wanted that, I would have just stayed at home! Instead, what</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I'm hoping for is to be welcomed into their French culture; that's why I've come</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">to France in the first place. And I know that this will take some work on my</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">part. I'm expecting things to be different; indeed, I'm looking for just this</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">difference. So also, I think, with hospitable worship: seekers are looking for</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">something our culture can't provide. Many don't want a religious version of what</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">they can already get at the mall. And this is especially true of postmodern or</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Gen X seekers: they are looking for elements of transcendence and challenge that</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">MTV could never give them. Rather that an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">MTVized</span> version of the gospel, they</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">are searching for the mysterious practices of the ancient gospel" (78).</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Here's a unique <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">attractional</span> model for us:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."--John 12:32</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's easy for us to point fingers at our churches, ministers and elders, but let us not forget that the Church is made up of people, people who are buying into this mode of being, as well. We have to be different. We can't be afraid to stand out. If we look like the world, talk like the world, think like the world and live like the world then what in the world is there for the world to see in us? The salt has lost it's saltiness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's time for us to be different--be godly. It's time for us to have a sense of Awe in worship. A.W. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Tozer</span> nails this on the head in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Holy-Authentic-Classics/dp/1850786216/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233120823&sr=1-1">The Knowledge of the Holy</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God" (1).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In a world full of talk--the world wants to see action. But not mindless action. They want to see God in action. They want to see His people in action and acting as if they believe that He is truly there. What do people see in us?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-35864863481419025692015-01-19T11:03:00.003-05:002015-01-19T19:38:55.429-05:00Making Sense of 3 John: A Proposal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix7H0b6CQk-ujhwJdGe-i1C_JyJMaP6RZbW-XqeC2JEwkjk8ijH3n1kGnfDIgyBGjKRJaKFxMx1k9GLPrub1OjxuenMOnBOmsntpNO8Hu3Lftcsru05ztxtLiTpl8GoE0JQK_oYx0x4wVx/s1600/greek-of-1-John-5-1-570x259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix7H0b6CQk-ujhwJdGe-i1C_JyJMaP6RZbW-XqeC2JEwkjk8ijH3n1kGnfDIgyBGjKRJaKFxMx1k9GLPrub1OjxuenMOnBOmsntpNO8Hu3Lftcsru05ztxtLiTpl8GoE0JQK_oYx0x4wVx/s1600/greek-of-1-John-5-1-570x259.jpg" height="181" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">A </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">couple of years ago a friend and I were talking about reading the Bible, when he admitted that he struggled with where to start. Not knowing where to begin, he began with one of the shortest books of the Bible he could find--3 John. He didn't get much out of it and was curious to know what in the world he was supposed to make of it. What he didn't know is that there are many people in the course of studying the Scriptures who have asked that very same question.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The letter of 3 John is a personal letter written to Gaius. By and large it covers personal and church business--"I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health...I have written something to the church but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority..."(vv. 2, 9). In other words, there's not a lot of meat on the bones for "daily devotions." You don't see many t-shirts or coffee mugs with verses from 3 John. Why is it in the New Testament? How are we supposed to read it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">While studying <i>Introduction to the New Testament</i>, I found a helpful solution in the work of Dr. Luke Timothy Johnson. Johnson has written a helpful book--<u>The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation</u>. He proposes a theory that all three Johannine letters were written as a packet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"3 John was most likely a letter of recommendation from the elder to Gaius, certifying that the carrier of the other two letters, Demetrius, was to be received with open arms. Second John was to be read to the entire assembly as an introduction and cover letter for 1 John, which is not really a letter at all but an exhortation, closer in nature to a homily. The Johannine letters thus make most sense when viewed as parts of the same epistolary package" (562).</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Based on this this theory, read the letters in reverse order and see if 2 and 3 John make more sense. Personally, I have found this method helpful and believe that it is a solid theory. It explains why the two shorter letters would have been collected into the New Testament and it gives a context for understanding 1 John.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You may be like me and wonder, "Why, then, would these letters be placed in reverse order within the canon?" The answer may be found in the fact that the epistolary material in the New Testament is arranged by length. Paul's letters start with the longest (Romans) and end with the shortest (Philemon), Hebrews is anonymous, but is associated with the Pauline circle, so it stands alone after Paul's letters. None of this arrangement is based on chronology. It is arranged by length. The Johannine letters most probably were arranged in the same way for the same reason.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I encourage you to try the theory for yourself and see if it yields any insights or if it holds up to scrutiny. Please let me know what you find.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-42246645330166292312015-01-12T00:03:00.000-05:002015-01-14T14:19:18.251-05:00Is Jonathan K. Dodson's Book "The Unbelievable Gospel" Really That Great?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVcoAwjkAauJqE9RFCBBfiI3qdauEF2Cgw39C1WP_BxFGc5WiC6rIXE-vhtYj7LCWq9ItyG-cGRsK6mNflB8k6VM9qlcleoFLJYENm4cvlHVclylfqBYTuuA6b_h1932VxqXVxc0ObiC6/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVcoAwjkAauJqE9RFCBBfiI3qdauEF2Cgw39C1WP_BxFGc5WiC6rIXE-vhtYj7LCWq9ItyG-cGRsK6mNflB8k6VM9qlcleoFLJYENm4cvlHVclylfqBYTuuA6b_h1932VxqXVxc0ObiC6/s1600/cover.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">"I</span><span style="font-size: large;"> am not an evagelist. I haven't led thousands to Christ. There won't be a long receiving line of eternal souls waiting to thank me at the golden gates of the New Jerusalem" (17). Thus Dodson begins his book on evangelism. What could he possible have to say about the topic after making this claim?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Christianity Today selected Jonathan K. Dodson's book, <u>The Unbelievable Gospel: Say Something Worth Believing</u>, as their 2015 book of the year in the apologetics/evangelism category. Robert E. Coleman, author of <u>The Master Plan of Evangelism</u>, lauds the book, saying, "This is evangelism for the 21st century." These were high praises, but when I saw my professor and President of Asbury Theological Seminary, Timothy C. Tennent's, write up I took note. "Jonathan Dodson in <i>The Unbelievable Gospel</i> demonstrates, once again, that he is one of the church's leading thinkers in knowing how to present the gospel effectively in an increasingly postmodern world."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I read it for myself and loved it for several reasons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>1. He can write clear, entertaining prose </b>without resorting to the antics of some hip, "relevant" types. I hate it when writers try to pretend that they are not writing but, rather, simply talking with you. Their writing is riddled with fragments and ill-conceived punctuation. It makes me wonder if they should really say, "I didn't write it. I dictated it. I shouted it into a tape recorder over the Columbus Day weekend, then handed it to my agent and said, 'Sell this.' He's the one who turned it into a book" [Stephen Colbert, I Am America (and So Can You)]. However, that cannot be said of this book in the least. Dodson can clearly write--and well at that. I found it a pleasure to read several chapters at a time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>2. He is upfront about his own struggle and weakness</b> when it comes to evangelism. He doesn't try to come off as some pro that will teach you all the tips and tricks. Because of this authenticity, he also emphasizes that...</span><br />
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<b>3. Not all of his stories have happy endings</b>. Some of them are unfinished. Dodson stresses that we don't need to see these examples of rejection or back-sliding as failures because it is up to God. We are called to work <i>with </i>God, but the weight of the task is not on us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>4. He understands the need for apologetics in evangelism</b>. There are many people in our country right now who do not have a basic Christian framework from which we, as evangelists, can draw. Not everyone feels the need for the forgiveness of their sins. Not everyone is geared towards cookie-cutter gospel presentations. In fact, many people have serious questions about Christianity, God, and the Bible. They are looking for serious answers. Dodson writes, "Thinking faith isn't a matter of rehearsing canned apologetic defenses; it's a commitment to thinking deeply about the implications of the gospel in various cultures and then working to communicate that to people in those contexts" (88).</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">5. He doesn't offer a script. He holds up a simple, yet multifaceted, gospel.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A few years back my wife and I were in a class at church that studied <i>Evangelism Explosion</i>. It set our teeth on edge. None of the young people in the class connected with the approach. It was too formulaic. What's more we found that it tended to push for a "sale" based on how satisfied or happy the target was with their life. This book will have none of that. Dodson shows that canned formulas and rehearsed speeches are the kind of stuff that makes the gospel unbelievable to non-Christians.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Dodson understands that we can't approach different people with a one-size-fits-all method. He displays that the New Testament shows people engaging the gospel from different angles. He highlights the five "gospel metaphors" that he finds in the NT and shows how they maybe the entry point in connecting someone with Jesus: justification, redemption, adoption, New Creation, and union with Christ. For each of these "metaphors" he shares a story of how he has used it to share the gospel. I found this approach helpful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">All in all, this book is the best take on evangelism that I have read (or heard or even seen). It is easy to read yet intellectual. It is serious but unpretentious. So, to answer the question: Yes, Jonathan K. Dodson's book <u>The Unbelievable Gospel</u> really is that great! I highly recommend it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Disclaimer: This book was provided by Gospelcentereddiscipleship.com in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-41597164439532066012014-12-24T11:31:00.004-05:002014-12-24T21:46:46.209-05:00A Christmas Myth? Pushing "Evidence" Beyond the Christmas Story<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MlxfA7mZD46J-hYIIoxUU-joV08V8F3a98ePl-dDtu8IerSjETLuCp486O0CevMdMhn7Ly4wmJjc_glhJfxqHhLA2rsQpTwMB8gdAf0C5A8B8wTe_Ih2KFC8dVAPWZa61hV49pW_acnh/s1600/6990405646_045bc1e69d_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MlxfA7mZD46J-hYIIoxUU-joV08V8F3a98ePl-dDtu8IerSjETLuCp486O0CevMdMhn7Ly4wmJjc_glhJfxqHhLA2rsQpTwMB8gdAf0C5A8B8wTe_Ih2KFC8dVAPWZa61hV49pW_acnh/s1600/6990405646_045bc1e69d_z.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31878512@N06/6990405646/in/photolist-bDHE4h-dx475v-o9KMCv-i9Ggsn-i7K4Zi-e7rbTu-hm5cGr-dCGVEV-4qW5qW-64aRf8-4BSvMk-fob78C-kqmjC-jjWYGy-8wLvgg-LnE86-dkpvPM-iciqwo-bmohvj-mjixyp-8Fgbnq-bE8n-oxdoQS-cvFR1h-p3sstm-6443sv-bpQtTo-nB7qfQ-9S1MgB-aqBkKS-9dSK5j-9tQcEE-9Fw9Ci-yfHvb-9AEx97-osAVVd-8gX4Tx-gsrbe4-5iUEnB-6LMy9L-9dSKBw-9x7mTT-9EVz8n-aGS9Sn-dXC4fw-e1Lmgn-5MeXsH-5RJSe-oEGHfM-bQZJDi" target="_blank">Shepherds Delight</a>" by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31878512@N06/" target="_blank">Neal Fowler</a> is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">M</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">emes are circulating faster than ever. Stories "go viral" in a matter of minutes. Fictitious emails, doctored pictures, and urban legends rehashed as fact spread like wild-fire thanks to Facebook and Twitter. Having fallen prey to several of these in the past, I have become alert to some tell-tale signs and usually follow up by going to Snopes.com to see if it's "too good to be true." Nine times out of ten it is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The other day my dad asked me to sit and watch a video with him called "<a href="https://dod.org/explore-the-lands-of-the-bible/dod2165.html" target="_blank">Bethlehem: Beyond the Christmas Story</a>" from Day of Discovery, hosted by Jimmy DeYoung. I have no previous experience with this ministry or the scholarship of Mr. DeYoung, so I had no idea of what to expect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">DeYoung presents a theory that the birth of Jesus took place in a room that shepherds used to birth sacrificial lambs. This room is purported to be at the base of an edifice we know only through Scripture and some rabbinic writings--Migdal Eder (Tower of the Flock). According to him, the shepherds that were tending to their flocks in the fields of Bethlehem were no ordinary shepherds but rather levitically trained shepherd who watched over the flocks destined for Temple sacrifice. As such, he claimed, they would have been familiar with the prophesies about the messiah's birth in Bethlehem. Then he offered up another intriguing morsel to tie up all the loose ends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This final claim really caught my attention because it sounded so odd to me. He stated that when these shepherds delivered a lamb, they would wrap them in swaddling clothes and lay them in a manger until they calmed down. They didn't want the disoriented lamb to thrash around and twist a limb and thus be ineligible for sacrifice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The supposed proof that unified this theory was that the angels never told the shepherds exactly where to go in order to find the baby Jesus. According to this theory, they didn't need to because a message of messiah born+wrapped in swaddling clothes+lying in a manger=the birthing room at Migdal Eder. Interesting theory...and also a little too neat and tidy for my taste. Lambs wrapped in swaddling clothes sounds like the very kind of thing people would have latched on to and talked about a lot, so why am I just now hearing about it? It's not like I have my head in the sand. I read commentaries and other material on 1st century culture and customs--books by guys like Victor Matthews, Craig Keener, Kenneth Bailey, N.T. Wright and Ben Witherington III. So I set out to check the sources (if it gets overly detailed, this is because there are scores of blogs and websites that are touting unsourced hearsay in this matter).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">To make this easier, let's break it down into individual claims:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1. Shepherds at Bethlehem were temple shepherds, caring for flocks destined for sacrifice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2. There was a birthing room under Migdal Eder (the Tower of the Flock) in or around Bethlehem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">3. Shepherds wrapped new born sacrificial lambs in swaddling clothes and laid them in mangers to keep them from harming themselves and disqualifying themselves for sacrifice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>First of all, DeYoung uses Alfred Edersheim, a 19th century scholar who relied on late source material for many of his deductions.</b> Since Edersheim's time the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi library have shed new light on the 1st century life and thought. Still, I wanted to be generous and thorough, so I pulled a copy of Edersheim's <u>The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah</u> to see what he actually wrote. His claim that Migdal Eder was linked in Jewish expectation to the Messiah finds it's source in the targum (translation/commentary) <i><a href="http://targum.info/pj/pjgen32-36.htm" target="_blank">Pseudo-Jonathan</a></i> on Genesis 35:21. However, current scholarship dates this targum to the 4th century A.D., so this doesn't necessarily tell us what 1st century expectation was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Edersheim makes a case for priestly shepherds based on a couple of passages from the Mishnah (Shekalim 7:4 and Bava K. 7:7). These seem to check out and reputable scholars, such as Keener, have allowed for the possibility.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">However, Edersheim says nothing about the structure of Migdal Eder (and neither do the Biblical texts Genesis 35:21; Micah 4:8), nor does he say anything about these priestly shepherds swaddling newborn lambs. So, I referred to all reputable sources in my personal library that might speak to Migdal Eder or priestly shepherds or swaddling. My conclusions have led me to believe that...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Mr. DeYoung, secondly, seems to use anecdotal evidence or pure conjecture to make this theory more appealing.</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If such a practice as swaddling sheep and laying them in a manger were documented by historians, I am confident that I would have found some evidence for it in the works of careful and thorough commentators and historians as F.F. Bruce, William Barclay, Ben Witherington, Craig Keener, or N.T. Wright. However, the only place I can find any evidence of such a practice is on blogs, none of which cite any sources.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Also, DeYoung repeatedly claims that it was a 2-story stone tower, but where he gets this information is beyond me. He states that the remains of such a tower have not been discovered, but then he states that there was a room in the lower level of this tower where the shepherds would birth sheep. DeYoung admits that they have looked for the remains of this tower but could find none, so without archaeological or textual evidence for the design of such a structure I have no idea how he can make these claims.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> If someone can prove me wrong, I would love to see hard evidence. Sometimes I feel like the Grinch, but thinking Christians need to be careful to investigate information before they pass it along. Don't take everything you read or see at face value.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">That being said, my conclusions are that the status of this tale is: unknown. While there is some Biblical and extra-biblical evidence for such a place as Migdal Eder in the vicinity of Bethlehem and possibly tied to the revealing of the messiah, we have no proof or usable evidence for what such a tower would look like. Moreover, while the Bethlehem shepherds may have been priestly shepherds, we have no documentation on how they delivered their sheep. If I could re-title Mr. DeYoung's theory, I would have to call it <i>Migdal Eder: Beyond the Evidence of the Christmas Story.</i></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-14408178825544555852014-12-11T00:24:00.000-05:002014-12-11T00:25:51.416-05:00Demolishing the Intellectual and Moral Pretensions of Christianity?: My Review of Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsX9PbnixvKqRC_uS6bcYoi-z_Bk43HDXPqTeO2Mbc3i8WN-8x1kDdwTpy7PjQC-kFhpix6v1A5ZG5vzOxLao1ShrxQHA3QZpUeiJiwPiO2NUQA04m2_4qqF6whqyVhGHbID_5TVUg1xSd/s1600/lettertoachristiannation-samharris-121219232912-phpapp01-thumbnail-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsX9PbnixvKqRC_uS6bcYoi-z_Bk43HDXPqTeO2Mbc3i8WN-8x1kDdwTpy7PjQC-kFhpix6v1A5ZG5vzOxLao1ShrxQHA3QZpUeiJiwPiO2NUQA04m2_4qqF6whqyVhGHbID_5TVUg1xSd/s320/lettertoachristiannation-samharris-121219232912-phpapp01-thumbnail-4.jpg" width="226" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;">f you are an intellectual Christian or aspiring to such, at some point you will need to engage the so-called "Four Horsemen of the New Atheism"--Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennent, and Sam Harris. These four men (Hitchens lost a battle with cancer in 2011) are not so much atheists as anti-theists. Their books are popular and influential. As such, I believe that we, as Christians, need to be informed and able to articulate a response. So when I spotted Sam Harris' little book, <u>Letter To a Christian Nation</u>, on the discount rack at the bookstore, I snatched it up and bumped it to the top of my reading list.</span></span><br />
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Weighing in at 91 pages, I thought it would be a quick read. I was wrong. I was wrong because I was compelled to dialogue with the book, rather than passively read it. I filled the margins and spaces between sentences with questions and retorts of my own. I would go back through an argument and find the holes and fuzzy logic. It was mentally stimulating to read someone with whom I disagreed at nearly every turn. I rather enjoyed it and just might make it a habit.</span><br />
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This "letter" was written in response to so-called Christians who had "written to tell [him] that [he was] wrong not to believe in God" after the publication of his first book, <u>The End of Faith</u> (vii). He states that "the truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ's love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse" (vii).</span><br />
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First of all, it saddens me that so many "Christians" resort to anger and bad-mouthing people for whom Christ died--even if those people refuse to accept it. This adolescent reaction stems from the inability to give thoughtful and learned answers for the hope they have. It is a sign of fear or a clear indicator that other idols occupy the place of Christ in their hearts. While such snarling is unbecoming of a disciple, it does not diminish the reality of the Christian gospel. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Harris fails to cite any of these "murderously, intolerant" rantings. Later in the book he does lampoon certain passages, leaving me to suppose that these could be the verses that Christians threw at him. He deems these verses morally wanting, but in engaging these passages he smuggles in his own premise that these Old Testament laws are "timeless wisdom." He fails to read them in their context and commits the same intellectual fallacies as the Christians he is berating.</span><br />
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Interestingly enough, Harris is of the opinion that "there is, in fact, no worldview more reprehensible in its arrogance than that of a religious believer" (75). By this point in the letter he has used a snide and snarky tone for seventy-five plus pages, made sweeping assumptions, groundless claims, and moral judgments of his own. He blames religions, in general, for most of the world's conflicts. His basic thought seems to run that:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBOVLtYajwG9vI0w973-6Q7ET5KGg5TRvgl5JZTHr6KnIgTfXbDfx3k_-BGaWU38M4WgTBNKF5f3c0D0k0TwIyu1MgxYLHC-Yh6BFb3mjlJTsYZ9vFRUWcJPgVHa6W2ujVfdNA40U89f9R/s1600/samharris.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBOVLtYajwG9vI0w973-6Q7ET5KGg5TRvgl5JZTHr6KnIgTfXbDfx3k_-BGaWU38M4WgTBNKF5f3c0D0k0TwIyu1MgxYLHC-Yh6BFb3mjlJTsYZ9vFRUWcJPgVHa6W2ujVfdNA40U89f9R/s1600/samharris.png" height="220" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <i>Religions give people different opinions about the way the world should be run. Different opinions lead to conflict and war. The world needs to talk its problems out, but religions stand in the way of discourse. However, my atheistic scientific naturalism holds no presuppositions and is therefore neutral and the only way forward.</i></span><br />
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In other words, "if you don't hold to my worldview, then you are a narrow-minded idiot." I can only imagine Mr. Harris flailing a baseball bat while he spews his disgust over the moral judgments of Christian and Islamic worldviews (and, oh yes, he conflates these two every chance he can get). As Alister McGrath points out in his book <u><a href="http://christian-intellect.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-why-god-wont-go-away.html" target="_blank">Why God Won't Go Away</a></u>, "Any worldview based on an exclusivist metanarrative (a controlling story) has the potential to provoke hostility...Get rid of religion, and conflict and violence will simply find other occasions for their emergence and other grounds for their justification" (71, 79). The anger than emerges out of the "new atheism" in books like this, as well as on atheist websites and forum demonstrates this clearly enough.</span><br />
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In the end, I found this letter to be pure rhetorical tripe that relied on false inferences, unsubstantiated claims, non sequitur arguments, straw men, and gross double standards. He fails to show how atheism provides a moral framework for a world filled with love and self-sacrifice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">On the one hand, he spins religion as a by-product of evolution, but then claims that it causes the greatest evils. He claims to believe in objective truth, believes that certain behaviors are moral reprehensible and should be punished, makes a case for abortion as a lesser of two evils, and yet sits in judgment on a god that would ever dare to kill anyone. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">His ethics are utilitarian when they suit his needs, but he moves to emotionally based appeals when they don't. In brief, it falls far short of "demolish[ing] the intellectual and moral pretensions of Christianity in its most committed forms" (Harris, ix).</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-34094628725730762832014-11-30T14:00:00.000-05:002014-12-01T20:13:29.268-05:00The Greatest Mystery Of Christmas<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiro6ahJL-7A0AEBRezP_pqR8F381BA9bY5svrYDJF9oY7mq0uXSgMlC_AHtjEtnhW9yeZjgSBEi9ZrClw4gQJi3IaAvYIDFVgFdWAAF8Z_HBqTYN8IWgSWzaXSC4mVPAzNXbrhGGVAt5vs/s1600/NT-162-med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiro6ahJL-7A0AEBRezP_pqR8F381BA9bY5svrYDJF9oY7mq0uXSgMlC_AHtjEtnhW9yeZjgSBEi9ZrClw4gQJi3IaAvYIDFVgFdWAAF8Z_HBqTYN8IWgSWzaXSC4mVPAzNXbrhGGVAt5vs/s1600/NT-162-med.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span><span style="font-size: large;">oday is Advent Sunday, and while the world may kick off their Christmas celebrations with Black Friday (how fitting in a consumer driven society), the Church has the grand opportunity to use this season to reflect upon the doctrine of the Incarnation. This is our time to ponder and stand in awe of the ultimate mystery that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory" (Jn 1:14). We often do a good job of understanding that Christ was born of a virgin and was born into poverty. We contemplate the events surrounding His birth as so much history. Then we skip to the Atonement. He came to die. The end.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It is true that one of the reasons Christ came was to die to redeem us, but maybe we shouldn't rush to the end of the story during this time of year. We have Lent, Good Friday and Easter to contemplate those aspects from a Church calendar standpoint. But this time of year is the season to wrap our minds around the fact of Emmanuel--"God with us." God one of us. The Incarnation is mind blowing. Trying to understand the intricacies of the Theandric Union can either fry our brains or fill us with wonder at the greatness of Almighty God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Luther wrote: "It is not for the angels to be proud of Christ's incarnation, for Christ did not assume and angelic but a human nature. Therefore it would not be a surprise if the angels looked at us with envy in their eyes because we human beings, creatures far inferior to them and sinners besides, are placed above them into an honor so high and great. They worship Christ, who has become our Brother, our flesh and blood" (<em>Serm. on Col. 1:18-20</em> quoted in Thomas Oden, <strong>The Word of Life</strong>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We have a God who can identify with us! He knows, in an experiential way, our struggles and weaknesses. This is one of the messages of the Advent season. What might it mean that God became flesh? Not just in a systematic theological sort of way but in a personal way. Do we need to sit back and think about that one for a while? That's what this season is all about. That's the greatest mystery of Christmas.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">(Originally published 2009 under the title "God With Us" @ www.4sixteen.blogspot.com)</span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-51932824523238696332014-11-13T05:30:00.000-05:002014-11-13T17:32:44.461-05:00My First Lesson On Not Being A Biblical Scholar of the Gaps<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcoYedDIWAIdj6bNWcnHo1oUQrlibv5fx8YZMwSmaGHjLPucvrH0q5pdqx9UFlylTOctvTtUIiJnVVrMNaWo12cH9y4ZbgjoXdH-C3sLgtZQsvAx30HB-F-5Ul6zXDKl3r1uGHahKFUS5/s1600/download+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcoYedDIWAIdj6bNWcnHo1oUQrlibv5fx8YZMwSmaGHjLPucvrH0q5pdqx9UFlylTOctvTtUIiJnVVrMNaWo12cH9y4ZbgjoXdH-C3sLgtZQsvAx30HB-F-5Ul6zXDKl3r1uGHahKFUS5/s320/download+(1).jpg" width="312" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;"> was in the sixth or seventh grade when I learned one of the most foundational principles I would carry forward in my work as a Bible student and theologian. I was in the middle-school Sunday school class at my church. The teacher, Cindy, didn't seem particularly comfortable teaching middle-schoolers--especially know-it-all preacher's kids. But she was dedicated to two things--the Bible and making her students think.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I wish I could remember what she was teaching or how she was teaching it. Unfortunately, all I remember is where it ended up. She must have been talking about the dinosaurs and how they fit into creation, when I spoke up as a proponent of "the Gap theory." Bad move on my part.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">At some point in my childhood, someone had explained to me this theory that the reason dinosaurs did not appear in the Bible was because there was a "gap" between Genesis 1:1--"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" and Genesis 1:2 "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep..." The Gap Theory runs that God created the heavens and the earth in verse one but by the time that we've made it all the way to verse two, we find it formless and void. Logical conclusion? God created a good earth populated with dinosaurs and other creatures and then destroyed that world for unknown reasons before starting over in Genesis 1:3.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The first thing Cindy said was, "Show me where or how you can find that in the Bible." In other words, she wanted me to prove my case with evidence. So I went home and pulled all our reference books that talked about the lost world of the Gap. I made photo copies for her of my extensive research, but she was unimpressed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"I'm not talking about what someone else says. I'm talking about showing me evidence from the Bible."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I went back to work, and you know what I found? Nothing. The Gap Theory had a gap in Biblical credibility. It also had a gap in logic. While it is possible that there is a gap in time between passages, it is unprovable from silence. When I looked at how it stacked up with the other possible explanations of the data, it was the least credible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This lesson has formed me in how I interpret the Bible. Even though my teacher didn't know it, she was showing me the difference between eisegesis (bringing outside ideas into the interpretive process) and exegesis (interpreting from the text). We shouldn't try to make our square peg fit into a round hole, rather we should allow the peg to dictate what hole it will fit. As students of the Word, we can't afford to build our arguments or beliefs on thin air. We need to push towards evidential arguments from exegesis. But not only that--we need to push students in our churches to think and study for themselves. It's never too early to learn that lesson.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-65300142656314466272014-10-30T05:00:00.000-04:002014-10-30T05:00:00.489-04:00Why and How To Use Biblical Commentaries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9nZixxPzwDh05XJQGn9OJx8ah-KPxVK58vuIEsLn5mjDVm1XOOExFGXg7vm24avfzdOLkS1imQuEm-iDgEAWbapuEBdpvA996e-a0OnJq1vShCO_GSkBKSXWRw7fNXCeZViMkjqamC4_R/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9nZixxPzwDh05XJQGn9OJx8ah-KPxVK58vuIEsLn5mjDVm1XOOExFGXg7vm24avfzdOLkS1imQuEm-iDgEAWbapuEBdpvA996e-a0OnJq1vShCO_GSkBKSXWRw7fNXCeZViMkjqamC4_R/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">L</span><span style="font-size: large;">ast week I had a conversation with a gentleman about reading and understanding the Bible. In the course of our talk he made a comment that he didn't put any stock in commentaries. I wish I could say that this was the first time I had heard someone make such a statement, but it wasn't. Sadly, I have talked with several folks who have a "me and my Bible" approach to study, meaning they pick up the Bible, interpret it for themselves, and believe that it means whatever they understand it to mean. Their line of reasoning is that God wrote the Bible to communicate with people for all time, so it just can't be all that complicated.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Some people are skeptical of scholars and commentaries in the same way I am skeptical of used car salesmen and contractors going door-to-door. The prejudice seems to run that these learned types are trying to take away our time-honored understandings of Scripture and baffle us with BS (that's Bible Study if you are easily offended). These well-meaning people fail to realize that any time they talk with someone else about the Bible, hear a sermon or a Sunday school lesson on a particular passage they are listening to commentary. Commentaries are merely a person's reflections on a book of the Bible. The best ones present sound exegetical proofs for their inferences and subsequent case for interpretation. Commentaries are conversation partners we invite into our dialogue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Other Christians have the opposite problem. Rather than engage in a conversation with several informed voices, they read one or two commentaries and take everything they have to say as God's honest truth without doing any of their own study. No interpretation of Scripture outside of the Bible is inspired, so we can't afford to hand off our brain to another interpreter. So, what is the proper way to use commentaries in the service of Biblical interpretation? Read two or more only after you have conducted your own study.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My mentor, Dr. David Bauer, always teaches his students to inductively study the Bible, looking to such things as key terms and definitions, book survey, immediate and broader book context, word usage, NT and OT usage, etc. before they ever pick up a commentary. However, reading a few commentaries is an important part of interpretation because without other scholars weighing in on a subject it can be quite easy to see what you want to see in a particular passage. The scripture doesn't belong to you or me--it belongs to the Church, and it is in the community of faith that we should interpret it.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1PoxSTgZftcstmWGD3NFcxT4KpasLqi2NWpcZs1Fl463RImp8cWE9VHGMVD-NQqW5PYgKZ_uOwA04E1pRgh40DjtWE6YtnTHIkEO8plcI8xq3H6QEGcj8yd5BxzbY9fbfmky_2B-R4iW/s1600/commentaries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1PoxSTgZftcstmWGD3NFcxT4KpasLqi2NWpcZs1Fl463RImp8cWE9VHGMVD-NQqW5PYgKZ_uOwA04E1pRgh40DjtWE6YtnTHIkEO8plcI8xq3H6QEGcj8yd5BxzbY9fbfmky_2B-R4iW/s1600/commentaries.jpg" height="200" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If you are new to reading commentaries and are not sure how to get started, you should know a few things. There are several types of commentaries aimed at different levels of learning. There are <b>devotional commentaries</b>, which illustrate the scholar's interpretation but offer few to no proofs along the way. These can be edifying (or even good for sermon helps) but they aren't helpful for a student engaged in deep study. You need to be able to understand how the commentator got there. Commentaries of this type would be Matthew Henry's Commentary or N.T. Wright's "New Testament For Everyone" series.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Then there are <b>exegetical commentaries</b>, which build a case for an interpretation from the text using such things as original languages, grammar, context, historical background, etc. There are numerous types of these with various levels of technicality. Some are easily read by a lay person while some are difficult for an academic. Personally, I use the IVP New Testament series, Tyndale New Testament series, Word Biblical Commentaries, New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) and New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT), and New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC) to name a few. If you want further help in selecting good study resources, I highly recommend Dr. Bauer's <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Guide-Biblical-Resources-Ministry/dp/1610973860/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414643487&sr=8-1&keywords=an+annotated+guide+to+biblical+resources+for+ministry" target="_blank">An Annotated Guide to Resources For Ministry</a></u>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Once you find some that work for you, don't feel the need to read them like regular books. They are reference tools. A good one will be laid out in such a way that you can dip in at the points in the conversation where you are interested or need clarity.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Please let me know if this has been helpful to you or if you have any thoughts or questions.</span></i><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-18512343312701773572014-10-23T22:52:00.000-04:002014-10-23T22:52:00.200-04:00Getting Rid of Negative Thoughts<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQ3_4GcxZ-53APvT0ZTW0Afn4zEB0RC41U2290wCl7blUf_WS_qTy6ejTVqAEjWuFbelV-6pqP_Gi3s6Q2sR2q16UWYw9-xqwtWhc-c6XZB4YYVIvS-R3bJ2e0gSXBBe6-68YGjuvbPnP/s1600/Pollyanna+Club+Pin,+and+Be+Glad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQ3_4GcxZ-53APvT0ZTW0Afn4zEB0RC41U2290wCl7blUf_WS_qTy6ejTVqAEjWuFbelV-6pqP_Gi3s6Q2sR2q16UWYw9-xqwtWhc-c6XZB4YYVIvS-R3bJ2e0gSXBBe6-68YGjuvbPnP/s1600/Pollyanna+Club+Pin,+and+Be+Glad.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">U</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">nless your name is Pollyanna, you have probably had some days and nights where negative thoughts took over and darkened your mood. I'm not just talking about waking up on the wrong side of the bed and having a bad morning. I'm talking about a long-term funk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A few weeks ago I started feeling a bit down-in-the-mouth with no clear reason. My wife would ask me what was wrong, but I could not articulate the problem. No one thing seemed to be the culprit. After ten or twelve days of this nonsense I sat down with my journal and decided to do a "brain dump" of everything negative that I could think might be a factor. I wrote a paragraph: gray weather, lack of exercise, bad eating habits, a few frustrations at the church, some disappointments on a couple of projects...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Then I wrote a heading--Blessings--and began to note some of the things for which I was grateful. My dad had my sister and me do this when we were kids. Before I knew it I had quite a list of blessings and my mood had improved.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Every time I do this exercise I can hear my dad singing "Count Your Blessings" in the background.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Count your many blessing name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done..."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This is a useful way to get our minds out of a cycle of negativity. Why do our minds move towards entropy? Why do worry, bitterness, frustration, and guilt crop up more frequently than peace, contentment, and hope? And misery loves company, so the cycle continues, spiraling down, down, down until we're depressed. The negative thoughts bounce off each other and echo in our minds with increasing intensity until we no longer know the source. Writing helps us sort things out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But is this the best way to maintain a positive outlook on life? Is this the type of exercise that Paul was advocating in his letters, particularly in the letter to the Philippians? "Rejoice in the blessings always..." That is not what it says, but rather, "Rejoice in the Lord always." Do you see the difference? Blessings and circumstances can change--just read Job. Jesus does not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Theologian Leslie Newbigin was once asked whether he was an optimist or a pessimist. He replied, "I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead." That is a powerful statement. Optimism or pessimism have to do with the state of things in our world. Are they improving or going to improve or are they declining with no hope of recovery? Neither. Christ is risen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What in creation does that mean? Not <i>creation </i>but New Creation. Two verses of Scripture will help me illustrate how I understand this. First, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come" (ESV). Except that isn't what the Greek technically says. It says, "Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ a new creation. The old things have passed away; Behold! has emerged the new." The Greek doesn't indicate that the person is new, but rather that in Christ they live in a new creation...a new creation that is emerging. It is not fully here, but it will be one day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The second passage that speaks to this issue is five chapters later in 2 Corinthians 10: 5. Paul writes, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and<i> take every thought captive to obey Christ</i>" (ESV emphasis mine). The context of the passage indicates that we don't wage war through physical means but through ideas and truth. We are to take every thought captive--that means our own fallen and sinful thoughts too. We make them captive to Christ Jesus because, as the verse in chapter five shows, those who are in Christ have a new creation. The rules have changed. Christ has risen. Death has been reversed. The ultimate consequence of the fall has been stripped of its power and now we can have eternal life in relationship with God. Everything else is peanuts compared with that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So when we find ourselves depressed it does us good to think on positive things, but those positive things shouldn't simply be the material or circumstantial blessings that God has given us. Rather we should look to the blessing we have in Christ. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3 ESV). Through Him we have New Creation. We need not choose between optimism or pessimism--the victory has already been won.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So when you find yourself dwelling on negative thoughts, fix your eyes upon Christ "and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace" (<i>Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus</i>, Helen Howarth Lemmel).</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-79356110312383646422014-10-15T07:14:00.000-04:002014-10-15T07:14:15.816-04:00Apologizing For the Gospel<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;">t seems that everyone is entitled to their opinion these days, even if their opinion is crass, disrespectful, unpatriotic, ignorant, or down-right devoid of objective proof. Scientific naturalism is touted with religious zeal as the answer to all of life's problems, while moral relativism is being championed with equal fervor. Somehow these two worldviews seem to be tag-teaming Christianity to shut us up. Naturalism likes to proclaim "facts" that eliminate God while relativism states that there are no absolutes. All opinions are equally valid unless, of course, your opinion is exclusive. This truth claim is self-refuting, but so many people in our culture, including those inside of a Christian worldview, are so unschooled in basic logic that truth claims like this often go unchallenged or become outright accepted. Thus, many Christians give away ground and apologize for the exclusivity of the Gospel.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Everyone may be entitled to their own opinions, but not all opinions are equally valid. An opinion is simply a person's interpretation of a particular matter. Opinions are subjective. But objective truth still exists, and our opinions only hold water insofar as they comport with reality. Imagine that you see a person standing atop a 20 story building who is about to walk off the ledge, and you say, "Get away from the edge! You will fall to your death." The person cheerfully states, "Oh, I won't die. The law of gravity doesn't apply to me. As a matter of opinion, I doubt whether or not gravity is even real." Who do you think would be right? They may be entitled to their opinion, but their opinion would be dead wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Christianity is not based on subjective truth claims. We may have experiential reasons for holding onto our faith. The apostle Paul had such a starting point for his beliefs on the Damascus Road, but his subjective experience never stood alone. However, so many Christians that I have talked with retreat into subjective reasons for their faith in Christ without having objective backing. "You ask me how I know He lives...He lives within my heart," as the old song goes. Or more recently, "God's not dead. He's surely alive. He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion..." "Heaven is for real" because some person had a vision, near death experience, or the like. Don't hear me saying that these reasons are wrong or invalid, they are just not very useful for interacting with skeptics. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We need to be able to apologize for our belief in the Gospel--not in the English sense of the word but in the Greek sense. The branch of Christian study dedicated to offering reasons for our faith and defending it is called apologetics. Apologetics has nothing to do with being sorry for our beliefs or opinions. It comes from the Greek word <i>apologia</i>, meaning 1.) A speech of defense, defense, reply 2.) The act of making a defense. Peter exhorts all believers to this when he writes, "...always being ready to [apologia] to anyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you..." (1 Peter 3:15 NASB).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As long as we lean on opinions and subjective reasoning we will constantly be lashing out in anger or apologizing for our beliefs in the face of a belligerent world. We need not apologize for the exclusive claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, rather we need to <i>apologia </i>for the hope that we have. We need to be able to go further than "how I know" into "and here is how you can know as well."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If you have not examined the evidence for Christ, then I greatly encourage you to listen to the apostle Peter and do so. Faith is not against reason. Our faith is reasonable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If you need a good starting point, I recommend </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> <u>The Case For Christ</u> by Lee Strobel or </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><u><a href="http://www.christian-intellect.blogspot.com/2014/09/examine-evidence-like-cold-case.html" target="_blank">Cold-Case Christianity</a></u> by J. Warner Wallace.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-40079409200241638812014-10-09T07:55:00.001-04:002015-01-14T10:11:09.452-05:0010 Ways To Build Your Intellectual Muscles<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjzsY8SqCliw55_A83wTkzuOfwjJ9LqmAyVc0TGyOvA8kVl8UTJwdzjtEomJv4sq60p2U6VBTHnM0hZlS9qoOVFcyg4Bm1pLtPcvLB57Ytfz6X6y53V0A2iYryj0aKbS8zmx1xn9Kd3CK/s1600/2264851630_459facd66e_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjzsY8SqCliw55_A83wTkzuOfwjJ9LqmAyVc0TGyOvA8kVl8UTJwdzjtEomJv4sq60p2U6VBTHnM0hZlS9qoOVFcyg4Bm1pLtPcvLB57Ytfz6X6y53V0A2iYryj0aKbS8zmx1xn9Kd3CK/s1600/2264851630_459facd66e_z.jpg" height="300" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/polapix/2264851630/in/photolist-4s8Xu3-62srhZ-of4Z2o-4rfcVG-acg5vF-gayZDq-b8LL66-bPewqD-dNPx66-Mo7JU-7Zftmo-4tjTnK-wj8x-9uTVTr-2BPkgB-hgFNN7-5MfXWP-8B7oY2-of4Z3W-4ssvyA-ihD64e-9MKjen-4Z8PFU-o3KF16-6x6ZqV-a7WnGC-74fi5b-yEqgm-6zfiyB-6x6Znt-aKCr76-dBB96C-6MaCW8-788nce-bgpTJp-7biuSW-9f4EHy-a3vLfM-eWE6YF-k2FPqk-fm2frj-2shyzK-yEqfr-oxEuMk-cQViCd-dQf6RJ-hgGB8k-jE3SCJ-6SCgyS-LuJQs" target="_blank">Photo by Georg Holderied Via Flickr.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> don't know about you but I have Intellectual Envy. Not in a sinful sort of way but in a "what in the world would it take me to learn and grow and write and think like that person!?" sort of way. I read writers like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Lewis, Chesterton, and N.T. Wright (to name a very few), wanting to know if there is a remote chance that I could learn to be a deep and seasoned thinker too. Are some people just born with "it"? Is it a false hope to aspire to join the company of such learned thinkers?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some people are surely born more adept at learning than others, but even if you are of average intelligence there are some things you can do to sharpen the knife. I know that I want to do everything I can to increase my mental capacity in the service of God. But how? This question has put me on task to researching ways to build intellectual muscles, and, while there are surely many more, here are some sure-fired ways to get started.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">1. Prayer.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">James 1:5 states, "If anyone lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Jesus promises us that if we ask, seek, and knock then we shall receive, find, and have open doors (Matt. 7:7-8)</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">2. Read. Read. Read.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">--Reading just a little each day may decrease your risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to some recent studies. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- A recent poll found that </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">27% of Americans didn't read a single book last year. If you read 20+ books in a year, then you are within the top 20% of readers in the US.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">--</span><span style="font-size: large;">Read a variety of authors in a field. I know some people who are so obsessed with a certain author that they lock in their heels on an issue without bothering to see what others have to say on the topic. Nothing could be worse for mental growth. Beware of the sound of one hand clapping!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">--Read old books and new. C.S. Lewis said, <i>"It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read on old one to every three new ones"</i> (from the preface to <b><i>On the Incarnation</i></b>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">--Read authors with whom you expect to disagree. It's easy to read someone who thinks like you or believes the way you do, but real intellectuals "keep their friends close and their enemies closer" as it were. If you want to interact with the world of ideas then you will need to read those voices contrary to your own.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">3. Evaluate what you read or watch.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">There is a difference between passive and active/critical learning. Learn to question books or TV, analyse them, and weigh the evidence. Just because it's labeled "history" or "science" doesn't mean that it is fact. Learn to look for signs of careful scholarship and basic presuppositions.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">4. Teach or explain something to a beginner or child.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's amazing how your mind engages when you suddenly have to simplify complicated, abstract, or even commonplace items and occurrences for beginners or children. See if you can simplify things to their basic level without becoming reductionistic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>5. Practice integrated reasoning.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">According to the book <u>Make Your Brain Smarter</u>, by Sandra Bond Chapman and Shelly Kirkland, integrated reasoning develops a stronger frontal lobe. Integrated reasoning is looking for ways to connect what you are learning to your life. Interestingly enough, it seems that Bible studies have encouraged this for years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>6. Experience "Meaning Threat."</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Do you know that frustrating feeling when what you are reading, seeing or experiencing makes no sense? That is what researchers are calling "meaning threat." Researcher Travis Proulx from the University of California at Santa Barbara says that when you experience it your brain goes into overdrive. During their research, Proulx and his college, had people read stories by Kafka and watch David Lynch movies before taking tests. They found that the people who had tried to make sense of nearly incoherent material, were almost twice as accurate when taking tests.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;">1 </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">You can simulate "meaning threat" by reading bizarre stories or even going through culture shock--anything that pushes you to make sense of your situation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>7. Learn to ask more and more pointed questions</b>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My mentor Dr. David Bauer once told me that "the key to having profound insights is in examining the details." How do you get to those details? Ask more pointed questions. Ask questions of everything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Little children are naturally curious. As we get older, we become more confident in our knowledge and begin to assume that we have more answers. But what if we could begin to ask who, what, when, where, how, why, what is the significance? For instance: Who made this fruit cake? What exactly is in this fruit cake? When was this cake made and when am I really going to eat this? Where can I throw this fruit cake away without Aunt Margaret finding out? How am I going to reply when she asks me how I liked this disgusting brick of liquor-filled Skittles? Why did she buy this for me in the first place? What is the significance of giving someone a nasty cake that no one eats?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You get the drift.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>8. Take a stroll</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">By stroll I mean something different than just a jog with your headphones in and listening to a podcast or pop song. I really mean a walk for the sake of being out of doors, breathing fresh air, and taking notice of the world around you. Men like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien loved country walks and they did alright for themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The fact is the human mind can only take so much input. If we don't take time out of our schedules to reflect on the information that we are receiving, we won't properly digest it and turn it into productive insights. Walking is a great way to step back from lectures, books, sermons, and podcasts. Take this time to process. It also benefits your health.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">9. Puzzles, riddles, codes.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Back in the day before <i>Candy Crush Saga</i> and <i>Angry Birds</i>, <i>The Walking Dead</i> and <i>The Big Bang Theory</i> stole all of our time, people had things called brains and they kept them sharp with word games, puzzles, riddles, and the like. When was the last time you played a game of chess, go, or sudoku? How about a crossword puzzle? Cracking a secret code can be a very stimulating experience. These types of exercises help your memory, improve you deductive ability, and can help us learn to concentrate (a sorely need skill these days).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">10. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We tend to become like those with whom we spend our time, so it's important for an intellectual novice to join the company of brighter minds. This is a great way to kill complacency and push yourself towards excellence. If you look around your group of friends and realize that you are the top thinker, then it's time to find a sharper cohort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There you have ten ways to improve your intellectual muscles, which of course will benefit your mind for Christ as well. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Please leave a comment and share tricks and tips that you have found helpful. I would love to hear from you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/boosting-brain-power_n_3211255.html</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-70995186754178881472014-09-25T11:59:00.000-04:002014-10-27T12:52:30.842-04:00Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright--A Book Review of Yawning At Tigers: You Can't Tame God So Stop Trying<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNCqZwm3YCjAbtfCT54paVlnnQVbQFF7s5ExbwgU9Y0sGPqRp0IxMuom7FMGpPg9ab8-TS5YVal81CFBjvvXobZORHpQuqLVtLlTNiCbDSXvCwMfRiOnjYxk8carftdcjYIG2rrSIpmqC/s1600/140020545X.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNCqZwm3YCjAbtfCT54paVlnnQVbQFF7s5ExbwgU9Y0sGPqRp0IxMuom7FMGpPg9ab8-TS5YVal81CFBjvvXobZORHpQuqLVtLlTNiCbDSXvCwMfRiOnjYxk8carftdcjYIG2rrSIpmqC/s1600/140020545X.jpg.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">W</span><span style="font-size: large;">hen I first read the title of this book, I was intrigued. What in the world does yawning at tigers have to do with the topic of trying to tame God? Hook. Set. Reel it in. Maybe you too are intrigued. You should be.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In <u>Yawning At Tigers,</u>Drew Dyck discusses several topics centered around the theme of God's holiness and love. While it is difficult to summarize this book in a paragraph, I can give you a drive-by, whistle-stop tour. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We like taming God because it makes us feel safer and in control. At the same time, we get bored because we thrive on awe. By and large, churches in Western culture have lost this sense of awe and holiness and our worship suffers for it. Reading scripture reveals how far we've gone off the mark. Worship is a natural response to <i>holiness</i>. We have become obsessed with safety and security, but God is dangerous and calls us to live dangerously. But, lest we get too focused on His otherness, His hiddeness, or His dangerousness, we must also look at His nearness, tenderness, and intimacy. God is a God of Holy Love. He is the Word made flesh. We are to take our cues from God as found in Jesus Christ. [End of tour]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There are many reasons why I like this book. <b>First</b>, Dyck writes well and with style. I felt that he was writing about something that really mattered to him and that he had wrestled through over a period of many years. He's not trying to ride the wave of angst filled books on why Christians aren't doing a good enough job. I sense that he has read deeply and observed first-hand the issues he addresses. His end notes are littered with references and he gives numerous examples from his own travels and church life. It all comes together with clarity and authority. (Great job, Drew!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Plus, he actually used his gifts in writing to tell stories and convey imagery rather than sending me to some website to watch a quick video. If you haven't read enough of my book reviews to know--I hate that. I'm reading a book. Don't have me go to some other site. Bloggers and website developers will tell you, that outside links can increase your "bounce rate." In other words, it pulls you out of the experience of reading. If you are planning to write a book, let my plead with you to take a lesson from Dyck or any other good writer--write, don't refer out. This ends my diatribe...Let me continue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Secondly,</b> this book is all of the things that <u>Crazy Love</u> should have been but wasn't. I'm almost reluctant to draw the comparison/contrast, but over and over again I thought, "This book is so much better than <u>Crazy Love</u>. It's balanced, well-written, and not confusing in its call to action." But don't misunderstand me--Dyck isn't asking to be compared or contrasted. This isn't a debate or academic exercise. It is its own thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Thirdly</b>, and this is really a subset of the second point, Dyck realizes that if we have a spiritual malaise or Christian lifestyle deficiency, then it stems from our theology and lack of experiencing God. There is no brow beating in this book. His solution is to look to God and the Gospel to overcome our idols. He writes, "Too often we answer the question by looking around instead of up. We take our cues from ministry models that succeed in attracting lots of people. Even weighing biblical passages that stress purity against ones about love can miss the point. What we need to do is look at God. I'm convinced his very nature holds the secret. The divine otherness and intimacy provides the model for how we can relate to outsiders with both conviction and love." And there's more where that came from.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In short, <u>Yawning At Tigers</u> is a well-written, engaging, and thoughtful book. Grab a copy, give it a read, and let me know what you think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">P.S. You can follow Drew Dyck on Twitter @drewdyck. If you found this review helpful, please leave me a comment and/or tweet me @pastornickjones.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-55566120713603585252014-09-18T05:34:00.000-04:002014-09-18T05:34:01.574-04:00Over-Simple Faith? Over-Simple Gospel?<div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>"...the only simplicity to be trusted is the simplicity to be found on the far side of complexity." </i> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> --Alfred North Whitehead</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9GJBIsQhj_q6k06NjDdFzMYR67_c3eH-wqMY0wsUGoXMEf4g3Avx3vnz5-F4QSZWvztvUfbO1Mi9wztyks13WZcuQhnHEY4XM75Nzy4cNQOGR0TuzBlABodEMuBC-hz0Y2NaaY9z9hFP/s1600/simplicity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9GJBIsQhj_q6k06NjDdFzMYR67_c3eH-wqMY0wsUGoXMEf4g3Avx3vnz5-F4QSZWvztvUfbO1Mi9wztyks13WZcuQhnHEY4XM75Nzy4cNQOGR0TuzBlABodEMuBC-hz0Y2NaaY9z9hFP/s1600/simplicity.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;"> am indebted to Dr. Stephen Seamands for drawing this quote and its implications to my attention. It was a good dose of validation when I heard it, and I immediately knew that many of the frustrations I have had with the modern church/Christian music thought process is because of this concept. Many in the Christian world today fail to understand this concept.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Let it be noted that I don't endorse Whitehead's Process Theology. I just think he's right in saying this statement. Albert Einstein said something similar when he wrote, "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." Yet again, someone else has said, "Simplicity is not the same thing as simplistic." These quotes together make a good platform from which to launch my own questions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> How simple are our sermons? How simple are we making terms like "gospel" and "faith"? How simple is it to be a Christian? How simple-minded are our congregations?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_a5lRZEWApTAHY-3sfD_iULjpDGWUsnLHUrzigKTbNMC8wFNYxGA0mBcePNKgjlkDzji7GT080gbwdNqoJGStRivHxNRsHwRXQZTaEKBso3YWdCXm4SG2Rpth_ianhpj9o66WdUIplZbJ/s1600/the-bible-for-dummies-paperback-637x800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_a5lRZEWApTAHY-3sfD_iULjpDGWUsnLHUrzigKTbNMC8wFNYxGA0mBcePNKgjlkDzji7GT080gbwdNqoJGStRivHxNRsHwRXQZTaEKBso3YWdCXm4SG2Rpth_ianhpj9o66WdUIplZbJ/s1600/the-bible-for-dummies-paperback-637x800.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I ask these questions because I have seen a strong push to over-simplify the gospel, salvation, Christian-living and Christian-thinking. We have books like <u>The Bible for Dummies</u> and sermons that seem to have been plagiarized directly from them. We have worship music and popular Christian songs that reflect the same theological framework as Aaron Neville's song says "I don't know much, but I know I love you. And that may be all I need to know."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I understand that people have to start simply and work up to the complex, but when we set the bar at the theological equivalent of "Chop Sticks" instead of Rachmaninoff we short-change believers who then can't "give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1Pet 3:15).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There is a big difference between a child playing a simple tune on a piano and a professional playing the same song. That difference is that the child can only play the simple song (and probably poorly at that), but the professional has the skills to play it with full control and mastery. It's fine that the child starts her music career where she does, but she should grow in her skill and her ability as she moves forward in life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I think the writer of Hebrews would be frustrated with the depth of the average Western Christian and his/her lack of knowledge. This statement could easily have been written to the North American church today:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (Heb. 5:11-14)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The motive behind this movement to over-simplify the gospel, salvation, and discipleship is most likely to meet people (simple people) where they are. We've taken these concepts and put them on the bottom shelf. The real problem that I see is that many are leaving them on the bottom shelf without telling people that a richer and deeper experience can be found on higher shelves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the forward to Scot McKnight's book <u>The King Jesus Gospel</u> N.T. Wright writes, "For many people, 'the gospel' has shrunk right down to a statement about Jesus' death and its meaning, and a prayer with which people accept it. That matters, the way the rotor blades of a helicopter matter. You won't get off the ground without them. But rotor blades alone don't make a helicopter. And a microcosmic theory of atonement and faith don't, by themselves, make up 'the gospel'" (kindle location 85 of 3110). I agree wholeheartedly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My daughter has a BabyLit™</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> book called </span><u style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">Pride & Prejudice: A Counting Primer</u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">. It tells the basic story of Jane Austen's class novel through pictures and numbers, but it would be a travesty if someone believed that this baby book was all that was needed to get the Pride and Prejudice experience. How much worse is it that mainstream North American Christianity is passing off skim milk as "all you need to know."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We shouldn't be in such a rush to strip our faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ down to its bare essentials that we strip it of its power. If we strip too far, many in the Christian world today may find that their emperor has no clothes.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-32811739924934896502014-09-11T07:36:00.000-04:002014-09-11T07:51:28.342-04:00Examine the Evidence Like A Cold-Case Detective<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja2OQ6DdOz2vNpUdSzrfgfj9k_AQOBeIAdcb9mEvYHzu3sQtWms6xn2kub_dzMV04zO5iBhjwfiRVgIy4-jmG9_yXnbN0JC-mE1dlofa2kWzea8sD0tmM1kaUgQZKa7_FweOnaailF9ZKt/s1600/cold-case-christianity.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja2OQ6DdOz2vNpUdSzrfgfj9k_AQOBeIAdcb9mEvYHzu3sQtWms6xn2kub_dzMV04zO5iBhjwfiRVgIy4-jmG9_yXnbN0JC-mE1dlofa2kWzea8sD0tmM1kaUgQZKa7_FweOnaailF9ZKt/s1600/cold-case-christianity.jpeg" height="320" width="248" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">W</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">hat would happen if a cold-case detective turned his skills
towards examining the truth claims of the gospels? Would the Bible come up
wanting? Would he expose faulty evidence and discredit their reliability? J.
Warner Wallace is such a cold-case detective, and he shares his findings in his
highly readable book, <u>Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates
the Claims of the Gospels. </u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Detective Wallace did not grow up in a Christian home,
attend church, or read the Bible for the first 36 years of his life. As a
matter of fact, he was an avowed atheist who liked to antagonize Christians.
Once he finally sat down to study the Scriptures for himself—using all his
skills in forensic statement analysis, eye witness questioning, and abductive
reasoning—he discovered something startling. He was coming to believe that the
gospel accounts were actual eye-witness testimonies. Throughout this book
Wallace shares his own journey of coming to faith in the Scriptures and the God
of whom they give testimony. And it is not a journey of existential angst or subjective emotion but one of a man examining the facts and weighing the evidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For a culture that is so steeped in police procedural shows
and courtroom dramas, this book offers an understandable and relevant gateway
into Bible study, defending your faith, and becoming better skilled at
examining and weighing evidence. In order to bridge the gap between good
old-fashion police work and Biblical case-making, Wallace uses examples from
cases he has worked to illustrate how these methods are fully accepted in our
legal systems, therefore we should find them to be credible methods for
investigating the claims of the Bible. This blend makes for an enjoyable and
thought-provoking reading experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Some Christian apologetics books may be content with telling
readers what to believe through theological and/or philosophical reasoning.
These are important and have their place, but J. Warner isn’t satisfied with simply
stating his findings and telling readers why they need to believe. He takes it
further and gives instructions on how to think and do the hard work for
yourself. In his first ten chapters, he sets out to teach his readers how to
become detectives through “ten important principles”:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1.
<!--[endif]-->Don’t Be A “Know-It-All”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2.
<!--[endif]-->Learn How To “Infer”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">3.
<!--[endif]-->Think “Circumstantially”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">4.
<!--[endif]-->Test Your Witnesses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">5.
<!--[endif]-->Hang On Every Word<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">6.
<!--[endif]-->Separate Artifacts From Evidence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">7.
<!--[endif]-->Resist Conspiracy Theories<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">8.
<!--[endif]-->Respect the “Chain of Custody”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">9.
<!--[endif]-->Know When “Enough Is Enough”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">10.
<!--[endif]-->Prepare For An Attack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the second section of the book, he walks the reader
through applying these principles to the claims of the New Testament. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">While this book is by no means comprehensive, it offers a
window into the hows and whys of evidential reasoning. Wallace focuses his work
on the gospels and makes an excellent case for them being reliable sources for
our faith. He does not spend time on philosophical or scientific reasons for
Theism in general. Rather he hones in on historic and critical reasons why
Christianity is reasonable—given the evidence. If you are the type of person
that avoids enjoyable reading in favor of stodgy academic material, then this
book is probably not punishment enough for you. Thankfully, you should be able
to find plenty of reading material up your alley among the stacks of doctoral
dissertations at your local seminary. However, if all you read is cotton candy
fluff (and first of all, thank God your on this blog because there’s hope for
you yet!) then this book is equally not for you. To my mind this book has an
excellent blend of entertainment and educational content. Highly recommended!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-79686053477426490652014-09-04T08:47:00.000-04:002014-09-05T05:46:38.909-04:00What Do We Do With Fallen Theologians?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">W</span><span style="font-size: large;">hat do we do with less than perfect (or downright problematic) theologians and Christian leaders?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Of course all Christians sin, but there is sin that would seem to disqualify a person for public ministry based on some of the implications of <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+3%3A2-10&version=NIV">I Timothy 3:2-10</a> and the surrounding passage. There are also examples from the Old Testament with Eli’s sons and many others throughout scripture.</span><br />
<img class="right" data-position="2" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10aG_hThfu8xEPunjSdB_LSXBKU0ZQCHpT1FzADVVk1-LBf26ReVo2NzkbxitKkCx4DcgLUEtcXVtIFJjt0vCj_to8RSe-PHIQdn1qgvD6ta8Et5nnn4A7RF4PfLJRkZGu4ZdcXUuVzLy/I/1409689320_0.png" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" width="298" /><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Over the past several months I have read several articles about John Howard Yoder, including a <a href="http://theotherjournal.com/2014/07/07/scandalizing-john-howard-yoder/" target="_blank">very good article in The Other Journal about Yoder and the problems of his legacy</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard_Yoder">John Howard Yoder</a> was the most prominent advocate of Christian Pacifism during the late 20th century and one of the theologians that moved the modern study of pacifism and Anabaptist theology to the mainstream of Christian academic thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Yoder, <a href="http://www.ourstoriesuntold.com/2013/07/17/whats-to-be-done-about-john-howard-yoder/">from evidence that has been gathered over a long period of time</a>, was sinning in a way that deserved some type of censure and real rebuke (and maybe legal prosecution.) The evidence says that Yoder sexually harassed women, exposed himself, and abused his power with female students. It is likely that he coerced women into having sex (which may have crossed the line to rape) although no charges were ever filed with police.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://theotherjournal.com/2014/07/07/scandalizing-john-howard-yoder/" target="_blank">The Other Journal article</a> and <a href="http://www.femonite.com/2013/08/09/can-subordination-ever-be-revolutionary-reflections-on-john-howard-yoder/" target="_blank">other blog posts</a> have suggested that Yoder </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">was, by his own definitions, violent against women in a way that his public theology was opposed to. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The Other Journal article notes that Yoder used the </span><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18:15-20" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Matthew 18: 15-20</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> passage to stop or hinder his victims from speaking out against him similarly to the way that Sovereign Grace Ministries and others have used the passage to stop public discussion of sexual abuse of children. Or how it has been used to terrorize victims long after the initial abuse by forcing victims to confront abusers and forgive them publicly while not holding the abusers accountable for actually changing their actions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So what do we do with Christians that not only sin, but use church structures to hide their sin?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Social media and blogging are both blessing and curse in this regard. While, social media and digital space can allow victims to be heard, the rise of very narrowly concerned ‘watch bloggers’ can lead to its own problems. It was at least partially blogging that forced the exploration of Yoder’s sin. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Long work by </span><a href="https://www.recoveringgrace.org/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Recovering Grace</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> eventually led to Bill Gothard being removed. And bloggers played key roles in SGM and a variety of Catholic sex abuse cases. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">But there are also bloggers that have raised concerns that have proven unfounded, and the recent case of the suicide of </span><a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2014/august/suicide-pastors-kid-soul-searching-ergun-caner-braxton-hall.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Ergun Canor’s son</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> is a case where a watch blogger may have gone too far and possibly contributed to pushing an unstable teen over the edge. (Although in this case there has been a clear apology and some good introspection that we might be able to learn from.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It does not take long to find someone that calls exposing sin gossip. However, my concern is that the meaning of the word gossip has become slippery. Is it possible to address issues of sin within a church without it being gossip? Should church discipline only happen within a local congregation? Is there a place for censure or disassociation if there is not a oversight role (especially in the Evangelical world where church and ministry autonomy is a common practice)? What about nationally known pastors and ministries that have a footprint that is far larger than their physical geography?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As Christians, I think we have a particular call to listen to the less powerful, the victim, the poor and the non-institutionally connected person. I have been aware of (and sometimes participated in) too many instances of institutional or personal cowardliness where something could have been done but wasn’t because of fear (of losing income, prestige, reputation, influence, etc.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What I do know is that we need to find a way to hear victims, appropriately call perpetrators of sin to repentance (and assist them toward restoration), and we need to depend on God’s strength to allow us to overcome our fear and do the right thing, especially when it is hard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I, also, think that ‘rules’ are not going to solve any of these problems. There is no rule that will allow a person to know where the hard line is between real concern and gossip. Our motives are always a little mixed. Rules often keep the powerful in power instead of elevating the concerns of the powerless.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">And after all of this, how do we appropriately use Yoder's theological work, which is an important voice for peacemaking, even though his personal life seems to counter his theological contributions?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So here is the start of some questions that have been troubling me and that I don't have answers to:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">How do we build institutions that take the reality of sin into account better than some of our predecessors have done?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">How do we appropriately use the theological work of flawed theologians? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">(And all theologians are flawed as this </span><a href="http://nathanfelmore.com/blog/2013/10/18/classic-offspring-and-john-howard-yoder" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">post rightly notes</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">How do we rightly value claims of victims and the less powerful while still protecting against unfounded claims?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">How do we appropriately lead flawed leaders toward restoration and flourishing while not excusing ongoing sin?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">How do we create institutions that value repentance and restoration over image and reputation?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">And how do we deal with the sin of nationally known pastors, theologians or authors that our outside the scope of our own immediate circle of contacts?</span></li>
</ul>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guest post by Adam Shields </span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 30px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adam Shields currently writes at <a href="http://www.bookwi.se/">www.bookwi.se</a>, is a stay at home Dad, and a part-time non-profit consultant. Adam reads about mostly young adult fiction, science fiction/fantasy, history or biography and Theology and listens to a lot of audiobooks.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30px;">Follow him on Twitter @adamshields</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-18013200768187525902014-08-29T00:17:00.001-04:002014-08-29T00:17:55.218-04:00Is There A New Model For Christians Engaging the Culture...Even Politics?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcv8zACegWru_A4fJS3vXIas5Q0BZn-uO_Z_WY2qQ6EX7mqtqDWvI3IByazvw20pK0hG1M8bEXx0z7bbmWYXjpT9XNqa-DYgH6AyAcj-uRdUJl0qMfazvqduNGQYSfOGyFqPGnp63axR-/s1600/3002776434_643d076694_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcv8zACegWru_A4fJS3vXIas5Q0BZn-uO_Z_WY2qQ6EX7mqtqDWvI3IByazvw20pK0hG1M8bEXx0z7bbmWYXjpT9XNqa-DYgH6AyAcj-uRdUJl0qMfazvqduNGQYSfOGyFqPGnp63axR-/s1600/3002776434_643d076694_z.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 17px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vox_efx/3002776434/in/photolist-fq1P6o-9cSrt-6qAkk-5zm1Pu-5z2jST-gMN1pk-7LVhcC-4qphFv-7d3uUD-2GGaM-rd89z-8B6BRB-78HBq5-7iqW-rMpNV-rr99u-5Y3iJT-Jtmtf-draTAD-61Ygch/" target="_blank">Photo by Vox Efx via Flickr.com</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> must admit that I don't love thinking or talking about politics a great deal. As I've said before, it tends to stir up the pot and lead into areas of conversation that I don't know a lot about. If I'm going to get into a heated discussion, I would prefer that it be over theology, biblical studies, or even bacon rather than politics. However, I can't let myself slide on the subject and still consider myself an aspiring Christian intellect. You...me...we must all understand exactly what role we, as Christians, have in engaging our culture--even the messy quagmire that is politics.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Previously, I have written about examining the subject through the lens of H. Richard Niebuhr's five Christ and culture paradigms. To be honest, I really only tackled three of them (<i>Christ against culture</i>, <i>Christ transforming culture</i>, and <i>Christ and culture in paradox</i>). The main reason for this abridged treatment was that I was sticking with material that I had written about earlier and considered the stronger models. There are elements of these three that I like, but none of them completely rings true for me as a stand-alone approach. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A Critique of Niebuhr's Whole Framework</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> In his book <u>Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-first Century</u>, Dr. Timothy C. Tennent critiques Niebuhr's Christ and Culture paradigm in four ways:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Niebuhr's understanding of culture was constructed on the foundation of secular anthropology...Because he understands culture as 'the work of men's minds and hands,' he inadvertently secularizes culture, creating an unbiblical dichotomy between human cultural activity and Christ...To bracket God from culture is an effective denial of the Incarnation, whereby Jesus stepped into our history--into human culture--as a particular man...[His] entire perspective on culture assumes a Christendom framework...[And his] conception of culture is not set within an eschatological framework that sees the future as already breaking in to the present order...Niebuhr never articulates an understanding of the Holy Spirit as God's empowering presence bringing the New Creation into the present order. Instead, his secularized view of culture, which puts God in a supracultural category, robs his entire project of the eschatological perspective that is so central to all Christian thinking" (163-166).</span></blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9swvsJn9yxgF0X0VOuUmqU9kMH5Hi1vPIeCSB3XScWBC-Y9HpJZ0ajZDkLbpu1rEIz-JxbqQcWeBdR3n42D4vMP6nBcK0CdNSN0R4Inj1J1wPfPapi3I-_9-6Qrqxe37aHgzAlCbQHRT/s1600/Tennant.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9swvsJn9yxgF0X0VOuUmqU9kMH5Hi1vPIeCSB3XScWBC-Y9HpJZ0ajZDkLbpu1rEIz-JxbqQcWeBdR3n42D4vMP6nBcK0CdNSN0R4Inj1J1wPfPapi3I-_9-6Qrqxe37aHgzAlCbQHRT/s1600/Tennant.png" height="232" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Timothy C. Tennent</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A New Model?</span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Critiques are all well and good (some people seem to think it's a spiritual gift), but is there a helpful solution--another way of looking at this whole Christ and culture interaction? Dr. Tennent says, "Yes," and proposes a Trinitarian, "New Creation" Theology of Culture. He presents it this way:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The Foundation of the model is that...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1. The Father is the source, redeemer, and final goal of culture.</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> "God is a sending God. However, it should be clear that whether God the Father is sending prophets, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, or His church into the world, His ultimate purpose is to draw entire peoples and cultures and, indeed, the entire cosmos into communion with His divine life" (177).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2. The Son is God's embodiment in human culture.</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> The life of Jesus shows us that God the Father validates "the sanctity of human culture." Jesus was a real person who lived in a real culture. But Jesus' life also provides us "the basis for cultural critique."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">3. The Holy Spirit is the agent of the New Creation</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> At Pentecost, Christ empowered his followers to be his witnesses in the world--witnesses of the New Creation--by giving them the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who transforms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Once he lays this foundation, Tennent moves on to spell out the key features that emerge from the New Creation model. "First, as Christians, our primary cultural identity is in the New Creation...Second, we recognize that ultimate meaning can be found only in the triune God...Third, the church is the corporate, community witness to every culture of the New Creation" (187-189).</span><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></b>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Evaluation</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You may be thinking, "Great! That may be a better model for thinking about <i>missions</i> and how we interact with culture in general, but how does this new model really speak to how we tackle politics in particular?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Here's how I see it working. Christians are called to be involved in God's transforming work in the world because in the cross and resurrection the New Creation has begun, even though it is not fully realized. We should fully engage our culture as citizens who's home is in the New Creation. This means calling out the sinful patterns of this world by preaching and living out the Gospel. The hope and the transformation is found in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ rather than in a political system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Christians have effected change in our world and politics in such ways as helping to end slavery in the Western world and ending apartheid in South Africa, but Christians don't always persuade governments towards a Christian-worldview. If culture refuses to change or maintains laws which Christians deem immoral, the boldest and prophetic statement the Church can make is one of civil disobedience, saying, "We must obey God rather than any human authority" (Acts 5:29). Jesus told His disciples that He was sending them out as sheep among wolves after all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In America we have presupposed a Christendom framework for far too long. Look around. Christendom has collapsed, and the Church doesn't have the power it once did in this country, or the rest of the West for that matter. Christendom is about having the balance of power. But neither the early Church (pre-Constantine) nor Jesus Himself wielded power. The examples of Christ and the early Church are of loving sacrifice as witnesses to the truth. The Gospel is about the weak things of the world shaming the wise--</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">strength in weakness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">So, if it is possible to achieve healing for the broken structures of our world by speaking within the political sphere, just as Joseph, Esther, or Daniel did, then I believe Christians have the duty to be involved in the process. But, if governments are unwilling to surrender to the Gospel, our duty is to peaceably stand for the truth through non-violent resistance and civil disobedience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What I propose is not the most popular model at the moment, but it is the one that I find in Scripture. Does this model make sense within the canon of Scripture? What arguments do you find that may contradict this view? Please share your thoughts.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-77485124784534887592014-08-18T23:23:00.001-04:002014-08-23T00:55:09.406-04:00Is It A Paradox To Be A Christian Engaged In Politics?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33QKXNIPgXI3ehdF0ia-SiTK2jQ2jZeppISxp1dNRR_eFqMrIWHU3twwRPy-76ducEsqaKu1RZqBr8B2_ErmBJioTBLsRKNuvDS257fr-7aggAdy0s72IAcytSRZmJBr484AjR2eGo-xw/s1600/Par.a.dox.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33QKXNIPgXI3ehdF0ia-SiTK2jQ2jZeppISxp1dNRR_eFqMrIWHU3twwRPy-76ducEsqaKu1RZqBr8B2_ErmBJioTBLsRKNuvDS257fr-7aggAdy0s72IAcytSRZmJBr484AjR2eGo-xw/s1600/Par.a.dox.png" height="320" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">C</span><span style="font-size: large;">an
Christians be simultaneously committed to Jesus Christ and to the fallen and
broken structures of our culture? The Christ and culture in paradox paradigm
would say, “yes!” After all, we are all fallen human beings and cannot escape
our broken world. In Martin Luther's thinking this was due to the fact that Christians are</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: large;"> </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">simul justus et peccator</i><span style="font-size: large;">--simultaneously
just and sinner. So what then does this mean for Christian involvement in
politics?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In two of
my previous posts, I addressed H. Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture paradigms
and began to ask how Christians are to relate to their culture, especially in
regards to politics. First we looked at "<a href="http://www.christian-intellect.blogspot.com/2014/07/christian-politics-and-h-richard-niebuhr.html" target="_blank">Christ transforming culture</a>"
then at "<a href="http://www.christian-intellect.blogspot.com/2014/08/christ-against-culture-thinking.html" target="_blank">Christ against culture</a>." Finding neither one of these 100%
satisfactory, I then asked the question of whether the "Christ and culture
in paradox" model might be the balance I find in the Scriptures. So let's
have a look and see just what this model proposes and what its strengths and
weaknesses are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps
the best way to define this paradigm is that it proposes that Christians can
and should be simultaneously committed to Christ and the governmental
structure--paradoxically holding to the separation of Church and State as two
realms that are mutually exclusive, while believing that both realms are
divinely instituted by God to govern in harmony with each other. Niebuhr often
referred to people in this camp as "Dualists," who keep Christ and
Culture separate while being a part of both. He gives Martin Luther as an
example of this way of thinking, and, indeed, among Lutherans it is known as Two
Kingdoms Theology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This
lengthy quotation by C. H. Little explains this view quite nicely:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">“We
Lutherans should honor the State as an institution of God for the regulation of
the outward affairs of men, that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives here
upon earth. God has given us this institution “for the punishment of evil doers
and for the praise of them that do well” [1 Peter 2:14]. And for the execution
of this purpose God has bestowed upon it the sword. The State has authority
from God to employ force where this is necessary for the accomplishment of its
ends.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The Church also is a
Divine institution, but its realm is quite different from that of the State. It
is limited to spiritual affairs. It touches matters which the State cannot
reach -- religion, conscience, the thoughts and intents of the heart. God has
entrusted it with the means of grace and has laid upon it the obligation to
preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments. The Church’s work is in a word
evangelization. The Church has no sword but the sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God. She employs no force, but uses only the persuasive power of
the Word. Church and State observing their appropriate spheres should dwell
together in harmony. But the Reformed conception of the Church as a theocracy
is strong; and the idea that people may be made righteous by governmental
agencies has found a lodging even among Lutherans. And especially when some
issue, like prohibition, comes to the front, representing itself as a moral
issue, we find Lutheran bodies joining them in bombarding the government in the
name of the Church to enact such legislation. They seem to think that the chief
duty of the Church is to reform the world and set it right. They fail to
realize that the Church in thus seeking to invade the province of the State is
removing the only guarantee that the State may not someday reverse the process
and invade the sphere of the Church by endeavoring to regulate its internal
affairs.” (<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/djw/lutherantheology.churchandstate.html" target="_blank">From Disputed Doctrines [Burlington, Iowa: Lutheran Literary Board,1933], pp. 88-90</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20CL_WKPGutuX543wc54EB_E2OKa-7Ecgn8OMzNCPIEJUJ1UJ8QL2nFIBKWVJLiXlQw1lucQRP2dzL_xzboLyWWuykJZLFemDqkQQMwCWV2PTWSzigNRPTNMZmreiOPbN4ZJ4vZ9KDkYp/s1600/keep_calm_by_focusing_on_dual_citizenship_notepad-r46e65821b25b4541834a4f3bc22dc154_amb08_8byvr_512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20CL_WKPGutuX543wc54EB_E2OKa-7Ecgn8OMzNCPIEJUJ1UJ8QL2nFIBKWVJLiXlQw1lucQRP2dzL_xzboLyWWuykJZLFemDqkQQMwCWV2PTWSzigNRPTNMZmreiOPbN4ZJ4vZ9KDkYp/s1600/keep_calm_by_focusing_on_dual_citizenship_notepad-r46e65821b25b4541834a4f3bc22dc154_amb08_8byvr_512.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The
"Christ and culture paradox" or Two Kingdoms Doctrine seems like a good
solution at this point, since it realizes that there will always be sin in government
(because government is made up of sinful human beings), and that the Church is
a presence of God's grace in the world that will effect change. Though it
realizes the tension between our faith and sinful politics, it "looks only
for resolution between the tensions" at Christ's return. Until then we are dual citizens who need to respect the sovereignty of both realms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">However, I,
among others, believe that this model tends to separate Christian faith and the
world in which we live. Operating within this model, Christians <i>could</i> tend towards viewing their
convictions as personal and not work towards change in the world, allowing the political
world to run by its own rules. Mr. Little describes the Church’s role as Word
and Sacrament, but wouldn’t that include bringing the reality of those truths
to bear upon our world, including the structures that control our everyday
lives. It was because of the Gospel that men like William Wilberforce worked
tirelessly to change the laws of England against slavery. John Wesley preached
numerous sermons that called for the Gospel to call into question unjust laws
and work for their transformation. We are whole people—not dual people. How can
we serve two masters? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">While I
agree that Christians cannot and should not use force to evangelize, nor look to political structures and answers for
transforming our world into the coming Kingdom of God, I do believe that the
Church has a responsibility to be a light to the nations in such a way that “they
may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven” (see Matthew 5:14-16).</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In Luther’s day, both politics and
the Church looked very different than they do in our present context. Kings and
Popes still ruled. The common people had little to no voice in the workings of
either institution. So, I ask my Lutheran friends how living in a republic with
voter responsibilities and rights plays out in the current workings of the Two
Kingdoms Doctrine. I personally don’t see it as the best solution, but I would
enjoy hearing from you on just how a Christian is to engage the culture—particularly
politics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Please leave a comment and let me know what you
think. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-26366721120470417442014-08-07T08:00:00.000-04:002014-09-30T16:16:38.095-04:00Should Christians Be Against Culture?: Thinking Politics with H. Richard Niebuhr<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRk0cxLiLZXVfxxOSG-RFZ600hRULDFBV86Qw6h4J2kbynNvUAI-aT7mirXgX2xe4HytKUhgIU7wx-qIeCOLAveRkajaQ-PvuSt-99hF-4b59-lyz2YM74kgMEE9pT9oZAN2lLwNduyyJy/s1600/51rjuRiQVPL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRk0cxLiLZXVfxxOSG-RFZ600hRULDFBV86Qw6h4J2kbynNvUAI-aT7mirXgX2xe4HytKUhgIU7wx-qIeCOLAveRkajaQ-PvuSt-99hF-4b59-lyz2YM74kgMEE9pT9oZAN2lLwNduyyJy/s1600/51rjuRiQVPL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;">n my </span><a href="http://christian-intellect.blogspot.com/2014/07/christian-politics-and-h-richard-niebuhr.html" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">last post</a><span style="font-size: large;">, I began looking at Christian politics and H. Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture paradigms. First I looked at the "Christ transforming culture" model, its strengths and weaknesses. How are we to understand a Christian's responsibility when it comes to something so corrupt and corrupting as politics? Some prominent Christian figures have opted for the "Christ transforming culture" paradigm, using their colleges, churches, and para-churches to sway the political climate and legislate change towards a new Christendom. However, like I said before "it becomes very easy for Christians to slip into the optimism and softening of the harder teachings of the "Christ </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">of </i><span style="font-size: large;">culture." So what about looking to the "Christ against culture" model?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
The "Christ against culture" model is characterized by a radical withdrawal from the culture. Over the millennia, numerous groups have pulled away from society to form their own--the Essenes, cenobite monks, and the Amish to name a few. They are characterized by separatism and quietism. Perhaps the theme verse for this paradigm would be "Do not love of the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15) without the tempering of John 3:16.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
One of the strengths of "Christ against culture" is that it calls the Church to a standard of holy separateness that God requires when scripture says, "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Leviticus 19:2). In this way Christians become a counter-culture that is free from the entanglements of social mandates, being fully able to speak prophetically to the culture without anything to lose. It acknowledges that no matter what society ultimately does "we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). This separate identity in the minds of believers is where I see the strength of this reaching its limit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
For the "Christ against culture" model there is no political engagement. There is also no hope for the world at large. All those stories about Jesus hanging out with tax-collectors and prostitutes become irrelevant anomalies. All of those those accounts of Paul engaging the Roman authorities in the book of Acts make little sense. Jesus was against the evil elements of His culture, but Jesus did not pull out of His culture altogether. He celebrated Jewish feasts (even ones not specifically mandated in the OT, such as Hanukkah--the Feast of Dedication), and He continued to teach in synagogues and worship in the temple. If we are going to be thinking Christians who make sense of the New Testament and who follow Christ, we dare not jettison these stories. We "must walk as Jesus did" (1 John 2:6).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Of the five "Christ and culture" models, which are left for us to consider as viable options? What about "Christ and culture in paradox"? What do you think? Is it possible to be a political Christian? In what way?</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-69938887135178524422014-07-31T08:00:00.000-04:002014-08-23T00:55:51.310-04:00Christian Politics and H. Richard Niebuhr<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZj0M9P2KvytgC8dzaUZFPJBCr8cgE3mx3h7lJ3T1f9GYkG8OmeH2cH_rtA_xV7KAyP-TmsBeCZ7xVTj5tk1gXbqkHE24MmD1hZ7dqa64FP4R0SU_j1iihIPVewUrlVO-8s8QH0SlFRWN/s1600/h-richard-niebuhr2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZj0M9P2KvytgC8dzaUZFPJBCr8cgE3mx3h7lJ3T1f9GYkG8OmeH2cH_rtA_xV7KAyP-TmsBeCZ7xVTj5tk1gXbqkHE24MmD1hZ7dqa64FP4R0SU_j1iihIPVewUrlVO-8s8QH0SlFRWN/s1600/h-richard-niebuhr2.jpg" height="320" width="299" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;"> must admit that politics is one of those areas of discussion that I try to say clear of with many people because it can be so divisive. If I'm going to draw a hard line in the sand, I want to make sure that it is for the sake of the Gospel. However, I do believe that it is important for Christians to take part in the political process in order to be "salt and light" in our world. At the same time, we should realize that our particular political party or concern is not synonymous with God's kingdom. The only hope for the world is the Gospel and finally the reign of Christ in the New Creation, so how does this fit within Niebuhr's <u>Christ and Culture</u> paradigms?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1951 H. Richard Niebuhr wrote a book called <u>Christ and Culture</u>, which presented the model that is still commonly used when Christians discuss how Christians should engage the culture. He believed that there were five prevalent ways the Church has viewed culture:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://www.christian-intellect.blogspot.com/2014/08/christ-against-culture-thinking.html" target="_blank">Christ against culture</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2. Christ of culture</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">3. Christ above culture</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://www.christian-intellect.blogspot.com/2014/08/is-it-paradox-to-be-christians-engaged.html" target="_blank">Christ and culture in paradox</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">5. Christ transforming culture</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When we look at Nieburhr's five approaches to "Christ and culture", the "Christ transforming culture" model is highly compatible with Christians engaging in political spheres. Dennis Hollinger writes, "Adherents emphasize that God the creator and God the redeemer are one, and thus redemption is not a move away from the world but a transformation of the world that God created and still rules." John Calvin saw that "in some measure, begins the heavenly kingdom in us, even now upon earth, and in this mortal and evanescent life commences immortal and incorruptible blessedness, while to the latter it is assigned, so long as we live among men, to foster and maintain the external worship of God, to defend sound doctrine and the condition of the Church, to adapt our conduct to human society, to form our manners to civil justice, to conciliate us to each other, to cherish common peace and tranquility." According to Jonathan Blanchard, "every true minister of Christ is a universal reformer, whose business it is, so far as possible, to reform all the evils which press on human concerns." Matthew 5:13-16 makes it clear that we are to be salt and light in our world and to "let [our] light shine before others." As Martin Luther King Jr. pointed out, "the church is the body of Christ...but...we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Understanding that Christ wants to use His body as a transforming agent in society, Christians can be free to lobby and vote for better laws to effect change. However, I tend to side with Stephen Carter who believes that "religions...will almost always lose their best, most spiritual selves when they choose to be involved in the partisan, electoral side of American politics" (as quoted in Hollinger's <u>Choosing the Good: Christian Ethics In a Complex World</u>), so I feel that it is probably best for the Church at large to stick to a prophetic model, using general principles and middle axioms. In working for Christ's kingdom, we must not forget what Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom is not from this world" (John 18:36). It becomes very easy for Christians to slip into the optimism and softening of the harder teachings of the "Christ <i>of </i>culture" model.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">May we find some help in the "Christ <i>against </i>culture" paradigm? I'll look at this in my next post. In the mean time, please share your thoughts on how you understand the Christian's role in politics.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-29188555600569160522014-07-17T09:00:00.000-04:002014-08-06T22:53:47.845-04:00Sow A Thought--The Art of Mental Graven Images<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpmUuw1tShsB6wRWqX7dcs9Wnfet55Xqe047z53bLLrO-FKBLTeEoHZLA1KSR69AYl-Z4xySyNb_IxbuLqvh-g5RACum7TLgZp68XCiGtUqLQOxMK43ikjZRr9O8cW6VMop1GhmB1OAv3/s1600/ID-100122590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpmUuw1tShsB6wRWqX7dcs9Wnfet55Xqe047z53bLLrO-FKBLTeEoHZLA1KSR69AYl-Z4xySyNb_IxbuLqvh-g5RACum7TLgZp68XCiGtUqLQOxMK43ikjZRr9O8cW6VMop1GhmB1OAv3/s1600/ID-100122590.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">L</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">ast night I picked up a book from my shelf called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Thinking-Ernest-Dimnet/dp/B000M5DRA8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265654859&sr=1-3">The Art of Thinking</a>. The author had one idea that I couldn't seem to let go of until I wrote about it:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> "All we can say is: 1. That most of our mental operations are inseparable from images, or are produced by images...2. That those images closely correspond to wishes or repulsions, to things we want or do not want, so that this wanting or not wanting seems to be the ultimate motive power in our psychology, probably in connection with elementary conditions in our being. 3. That inevitably, people will reveal in their thoughts and speeches, in their outlook on life and in their lives themselves, the quality of the images filling their minds. Investigation and estimation of these images, together with investigation and estimation of our likes and dislikes, will tell us what we are worth morally more accurately than even our actions, for they are the roots of action" (19).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This quote in turn brings to mind the famous proverb often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny." So, it hit me that we should guard our minds against these images and be very careful what we allow to enter our minds. I realize this is not a new thought, but it struck me in a fresh way.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Our thoughts are made up of images, so if we want to change our thoughts or our actions we have to tackle it at the level of the images. Maybe this I why God placed a ban on idols and graven images in Israel. In the classic book <u>1984</u> Orwell writes about the idea that if a society eliminates words from the vocabulary it also eliminates the ideas associated with those words. If you don't have words to convey a concept, it's difficult to have a clear thought, let alone pass it along.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So what if these mental images work in the same way? If we begin to eradicate our minds of sinful images--images that fuel covetousness, lust, pride, etc.--we begin getting rid of the building blocks of sinful thoughts and actions. The authors of <u>Every Man's Battle</u> propose this when they write about "starving the eyes." But it's not enough to get rid of these images (if we even can) without overwriting them with other ones.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is where Romans 12:1-2 helps me begin to understand this process. "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Paul adds more to this picture in Philippians 4:8 when he writes, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If we want Christ Jesus to control our lives, it's time we start allowing Him to overwrite some of the corrupted files in our minds with His own image rather than lesser gods around us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">Image courtesy of Renjith Krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-15036464378248605862014-07-14T11:32:00.000-04:002014-08-18T16:49:34.510-04:003 Reasons Why You Need To Read More Fiction and/or Poetry<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2Se7qrDkk2-xiO5aTiEd8VkQB2dB15EdX_p1VGSx4rvZ7VpebbVZBylsVS7zsJm-xeskjc2UuqyyQ2rI08nBePjm90A8tJdS1-X_eUWznRP9fQNp7_DhaEYSAKQv0FosBUnDlz_Eq4gD/s1600/Fiction+montage" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2Se7qrDkk2-xiO5aTiEd8VkQB2dB15EdX_p1VGSx4rvZ7VpebbVZBylsVS7zsJm-xeskjc2UuqyyQ2rI08nBePjm90A8tJdS1-X_eUWznRP9fQNp7_DhaEYSAKQv0FosBUnDlz_Eq4gD/s1600/Fiction+montage" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">B</span><span style="font-size: large;">ecoming a <i>thinking </i>Christian requires a lot of things, but it certainly takes reading books on at least some level. In the quest for knowledge, it can be tempting to read primarily non-fiction. As a seminary student I can remember thinking at one point that all of those years that I spent reading fiction growing up where a complete waste of time. All I once thought gain, I counted as a loss! However, after several more years of studying, I discovered that reading good fiction is very important for the intellect. Here are some reasons that I have found to make more room in your reading list for good fiction and poetry:</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1. Fiction and poetry engages the imagination.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Many non-fiction books can been dry. They are usually written to communicate information rather than stimulate the imagination. Dr. Ellsworth Kalas once told me that seminaries and other academic institutions did not put out many skilled writers. Good writing, imaginative writing is not the goal of most professors. Content, no matter how dryly conveyed, is king. All it takes to become a success is a good peer review. However, a perusal of great Christian intellects will reveal imaginations that were alive and kicking. Just read G.K Chesterton or C.S. Lewis and you can see why they are still so popular today--they loved stories and poems and it showed through in their creative thinking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Adults lose their sense of wonder. The older we get the more it takes to impress us. To a three year old, a rock can be quite magical. A thirty-three year old can look at the same rock see something a lot more pedestrian. Chesterton asked the question of who was right in their thinking--the adult or the child? Reading fairy-tales and fantastic tales of adventure can give us some of our long-lost wonder back. Poetic language can inspire us to see common-placed items or scenarios in a new light. Imaginative thinking can be just as important as informational thinking.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2. Provides memorable illustrations and metaphors for writing and speaking.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Some of my favorite authors and speakers are people who know the power of a good illustration. Literature, or even popular fiction, can be a great source to draw from when trying to connect with an audience. I can still remember a speaker using an illustration for Stephen King's <u>Christine</u> in a talk he gave in 1993! If he had never made the connection, the subject he was illustrating may have been forgotten long ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> My preaching professor had all his students read good literature and look for possible sermon illustrations. I chose <u>Crime and Punishment</u> and was pleasantly surprised by all the insights into human nature that it offered. He didn't just assign a novel, however, he would also read us a poem at the beginning of every class. By the end of the semester I rediscovered my love of literature and poetry and realized that my English degree could be a real asset to ministry and had't been a mistake after all.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> In addition to providing a treasure trove of illustrations, stories and poems give readers more linguistic tools in their tool box. One of my mentors, Dr. Steve Elliott (loving known as Pastor Steve), has shown me the value that good literature can bring to the table in crafting a great sermon. He doesn't mine books simply for illustrations; he allows his explorations into poetry and literature flavor the very language, metaphors, and cadence of his sermons.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">3. Creates possible connections with secular intellectuals.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Actually, this point could be made in relation to anything outside of a narrow field of study--art, music, even television. If you are a Christian thinker, artist, philosopher, apologist, or student, you need to find intelligent ways of connecting with non-Christian thinkers. If you are reading a steady diet of books on atonement theology or textual criticism, you may be able to debate your topic with others, but, chances are, you will have a difficult time connecting with them. However, a line or a thought from Chuck Palahnuik's<u> Fight Club</u> or George Orwell's <u>1984</u> may help you bridge the gap.</span><br />
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMck9HXVBKhPO5N45uipPctF5PHrTdYRBIzo0NZbBEgCsRBagEzWwLeeFpyZIIVsqwmfLPcBYUwuwPZlaG9Af6n5hJS9lxNvbF4mihJJVpANWKQpxSw1AmEBrEFd9m7CMDitEOQ1I5y50g/s1600/collision-christopher-hitchens-vs-doug-wilson-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMck9HXVBKhPO5N45uipPctF5PHrTdYRBIzo0NZbBEgCsRBagEzWwLeeFpyZIIVsqwmfLPcBYUwuwPZlaG9Af6n5hJS9lxNvbF4mihJJVpANWKQpxSw1AmEBrEFd9m7CMDitEOQ1I5y50g/s1600/collision-christopher-hitchens-vs-doug-wilson-21.jpg" height="155" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> A couple of years ago I watched the documentary <i>Collision</i> in which Pastor Douglas Wilson went on tour debating notable atheist Christopher Hitchens. Both men were voracious readers and both shared a love for P.G. Wodehouse. In the midst of all their debating, the documentary cut to one scene where both men where trading favorite Wodehouse quotes back and forth and genuinely having a good time. Even though Hitchens strongly disagreed with Wilson on many major issues, he said that he respected him as a thinker and person. I have found that secular thinkers tend to respect well-read Christians--especially Christians who are not afraid to engage the culture through the humanities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> In a nutshell--thoughtfully engaging poetry and fiction will keep you from being dry and crusty as a person, speaker, author, or intellectual. A steady diet of reading dissertations, journal articles, or how-to books will suck the creative life right out of you if you are not balancing it with some good writing and stories.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What are some other reasons to read more fiction?</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781697761111546340.post-53255112285123872152014-06-30T16:39:00.000-04:002014-08-19T13:33:19.305-04:007 Tips For Reading More Books<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfv9WM84UayPBe38ZTUaitXSjiwwT7nt0oblaNFGczjFyIESQcMr8bZzjOxMUp-WA-0W7gXGBoNp2he_qLsX4JY_qFF1_24M-GJGuftLMq2u-fqo-cmglMP7zqjgX3s490l5hPYYltsvS/s1600/To+Read" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfv9WM84UayPBe38ZTUaitXSjiwwT7nt0oblaNFGczjFyIESQcMr8bZzjOxMUp-WA-0W7gXGBoNp2he_qLsX4JY_qFF1_24M-GJGuftLMq2u-fqo-cmglMP7zqjgX3s490l5hPYYltsvS/s1600/To+Read" height="320" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;">f you're a book-lover like me, then you probably have a growing stack of books to read and not enough time to read them. I love my books, but they seem to mock me from my shelves and beg me from my Kindle. Come on! If I wanted a guilt trip, I would call some of my many neglected friends and family. What to do? Here are some ideas to help you whittle down that mountain to more manageable proportions.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">1. Set goals.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Have a plan with a date. Noting pushes me like a good deadline and accountability. I use an on-line site called Goodreads to help me catalog my books and set goals for reading. They have a built in tracker that lets me know if I'm behind. This pressure keeps me motivated to stay on task. There are several on-line tools that you can use for this purpose. Or you may decide to go the old-fashioned way and make a paper book-list and year-end goal. Either way, the important thing is to take charge of your reading.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">2. Read <u>How To Read A Book</u> by Mortimer J. Adler</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I heard about this book from Howard Hendricks some years ago and have had it recommended to me by several people since. I finally gave in and read it through a couple of years ago. I found it beneficial for navigating different types of reading material. Here's a hint: you don't read every book in the same way.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">3. Hit the highlights</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Several years ago I asked my Inductive Bible Study professor and mentor how he got through so many books. He has a personal library of over 3,000 books in his office and another, supposedly larger one, at home. For a man who picks through Scripture with a fine-toothed comb, I was surprised a what he told me. Here it is in a nutshell: don't worry about reading non-fiction books in order, try reading the first and last page of the book and then read the first sentence of every paragraph. For many books that will be enough to give you the information for which you are looking. But does this count as having read the book? According to several scholars I have interviewed or read, Yes! I still struggle with method of reading but if it advances my progress even a little, it is worth it.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">4. Audio books</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Many people I respect use audio books to get more reading done. There are services like Audible to which you can subscribe. I have used the public library's audio book selection quite a bit, and recently I have used librivox.org to download to my Kindle Fire. I have a thirty minute commute to work, so I have an hour a day to listen to something. Thus far, I have only used it for fiction, since I usually mark up my non-fiction reads pretty heavily...but to each his or her own.</span><br />
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<b>5. Cut out "time-sucks"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In this day and age, it is becoming increasingly difficult to unplug. I don't know how often I have found myself reading at the table with my laptop right in front of me with Goodreads or Twitter or Facebook pulled up. Needless to say, those where not very productive reading times. Other people like to read with the TV or radio going. All of these forms of media cause unwarranted distractions and suck time away from your intellectual development.</span><br />
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<b>6. Pause or quit books that aren't engaging at the moment</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Too many people feel like they have to finish a book before they can move on to something else. If their book stalls out, so does their productivity. Here's the deal: life is too short to waste time on dull books. Give yourself a pass to either pause the book till a later date or quite it altogether. Then move on to something more interesting to you.</span><br />
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<b>7. Quit shopping and start reading</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This is something I have to tell myself every so often. The fact is that I'm not sure which I like more--reading or getting new books. I'm a bit of a book collector--my wife thinks of it in terms of hoarding--so rather than spend my free time reading, I often find myself at Half Price Books or Goodwill or Amazon.com. Declare a shopping fast and shop your own book collection. More importantly, use that time to actually read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you have any additional tips for getting more read, please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. I might even edit this post and include it!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07544582707791837558noreply@blogger.com2