Not What My Hands Have Done

I recently purchased Aaron Keyes latest album, Not Guilty Anymore. There's one song, in particular, that's really hit me hard. It seems to sum up a lot of what God has been teaching me this year.

The verse God has continually brought me to over and over this year is 2 Corinthians 5:21:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (ESV)

This song fleshes out that concept really well to me, and musically, the melody is beautiful. You can hear the song on Aaron's website, but the whole album is worth the purchase as well.

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not what my hands have done,
Can save my guilty soul
Not what my toiling flesh has borne,
Can make my spirit whole
Not what I feel or do,
Can give me peace with God
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears,
Can bear my awful load

These guilty hands are raised
Filthy rags are all I bring
And I have come to hide beneath your wings
These holy hands are raised
Washed in the fountain of your grace
And now I wear your righteousness

Thy work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within
Thy love, to me, O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee
Can rid me of this dark unrest,
And set my spirit free

Thy grace alone, O God,
To me can pardon speak
Thy power, O Lamb of God,
Can this sore bondage break
No other works save Thine,
No other blood will do
The strength of God which is divine,
Can bear me safely through

These guilty hands are raised
Filthy rags are all I bring
And I have come to hide beneath your wings
These holy hands are raised
Washed in the fountain of your grace

Top 10 Theological Stories of 2010

I thought this was an interesting post from Colin Hansen on the top theological news stories of 2010. Here are his 10 stories. Click through to see a brief description of each.

10.) Crystal Cathedral Files for Bankruptcy
9.) BioLogos Stirs Debate Over Evolution
8.) Philip Ryken Becomes President of Wheaton College
7.) Liberty Removes Ergun Caner as Seminary President
6.) Matt Chandler Fights Malignant Brain Tumor
5.) Glenn Beck Grabs the Religious Right’s Megaphone
4.) David Platt Pricks the Evangelical Conscience with ‘Radical’
3.) John Piper Takes Leave of Absence
2.) Wright Clarifies Justification Views in ETS Debate
1.) Francis Chan Steps Down from Cornerstone

Music Video of the Week - Joe Day

Joe Day - "Passover"

Merry Christmas from the Robbins

Hope you had a fantastic day. Merry Christmas! Christ is born!

What's Christmas All About?

HT: Zach Nielsen

My Favorite Christmas Music

So I love Christmas music. I love the time of year it comes out, and I love the feelings it evokes for me. I'm always on the lookout for new Christmas music to add to my collection, and I also have my annual favorites that I never get tired of listening to. I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorites. They might not all resonate the same with you since some are pretty sentimental to me, but some ideas to check out if you like the genre.

Here are my current favorites, both old and new, in no particular order:

Sovereign Grace Music - SAVIOR: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man

Amy Grant - Home For Christmas

Downhere - How Many Kings

Jill Phillips and Andy Gullahorn - Christmas

Phil Wickham - Songs for Christmas

Andrew Peterson - Behold The Lamb of God

Shane and Shane - Glory in the Highest

Third Day - Christmas Offerings

Songs of Grace - So Much Joy: A Grace Christmas

The Overdose - Lecrae

From Reach Records:

Around every corner is the lure to consume. A desire to be satisfied. Unfortunately no human being has found anything under the sun that brings satisfaction. So we consume more, and more, and more. Eventually, we overdose. However, there is hope--if Christianity is our Rehab. In Jesus, satisfaction can be found. Grace, love, peace and hope can be found...and there is always more. Consume more of Jesus. Overdose.

Rehab: The Overdose officially hits stores and online outlets 1.11.11.

Check out the promo video below.

Also, place your order today so you can be among the first to get an extra dose!

To pre-order Rehab: The Overdose album go here.

To pre-order Rehab: The Overdose combo packages go here.

To pre-order the new The Overdose Tshirt go here.

Get ready for The Overdose on 1.11.11!

Music Video of the Week: Andrew Peterson

Andrew Peterson - "Matthew's Begats"

My Top 10 Books of 2010

As always, the disclaimer - these are my FAVORITE books that were released in 2010 that I was able to read. The criteria is totally subjective, and I'm making no claim other than that they are the books I enjoyed or was challenged by the most.

End of disclaimer.

Looking back, I'm amazed at the quality of books this year. There were some fantastic ones.

1. Radical - David Platt

I was rocked by David Platt’s Radical more than any other book I’ve read in recent years. There’s very little that most believers don’t already know, but Platt refuses to allow you to ignore that gnawing feeling in your stomach that tells you you’re missing what God’s called you to. It made me uncomfortable, challenged my thoughts and beliefs about how I’m living my life, and inspired me to more. He’s biblical, straightforward, brutally honest, and writes powerful narrative when describing stories as he sets out to discover what Jesus really taught to first century followers.

2. The God Who Is There - D.A. Carson

This is probably the best book I've ever read for getting a "big picture" view of the whole story of the Bible and how it all fits together. Concise yet robust, Carson is his typical brilliant self in tracing different themes throughout the entire Bible, connecting things I've seen for years but never really grasped how they meshed. This is a fantastic resource for the church, for mature Christians, and for new Christians alike. Carson continues to deliver.

3. Church Planter - Darrin Patrick

This is a fantastic book. Any man aspiring to leadership roles in the church will benefit from it. It should serve as an inspiration to many in my generation to step up and help carry to gospel to the lost and “guard the deposit” entrusted to us. My only nit-pick with the book would be the title, as it implies that the book would only be for those wanting to plant churches. I hope that doesn’t keep those aspiring to other leadership roles from reading. I was encouraged, challenged, and motivated by this book, and I think many others will be as well.

4. Generous Justice - Tim Keller

I’m in no position to critique Keller’s arguments. They are far too complex and subtle for me to do so. From my situation, however, Keller has given me a biblical framework through which to view many issues that people my age, especially young evangelicals, are questioning with regards to social justice and the gospel. I’m sure others will find things to quibble over, but it’s hard to argue with the biblical arguments put forward in this book. As a Christian, justice should be important to us. This book will definitely contribute to helping it become so.

5. What Is the Gospel? - Greg Gilbert

This book has great potential as an evangelistic tool as one cannot read it and fail to hear the true gospel. For believers, it can serve as a great means to learn how to articulate the truths of the gospel better. It’s a simple message, really, but one that we need to make sure we have right. After all, if we don’t get the gospel right, everything else is ultimately pointless.

6. A Sweet and Bitter Providence - John Piper

The book is basically an expositional look at the book of Ruth. This sometimes forgotten book is a treasure-trove of insight into the nature of God, suffering, race, and sexual purity. Piper expertly mines the book’s narrative, pointing out what the author of the book is trying to communicate, then pastorally applies those insights to our lives today to help us face suffering with God’s providence in mind, face sexual temptation with God’s holiness in mind, and approach the diversity of races with God’s plan of redemption through Christ in mind.

7. Surprised By Grace - Tullian Tchividjian

If, like me, you grew up hearing the story of Jonah but never really listening to it, let me encourage you to read this book. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and the book of Jonah demonstrates that his grace was just as prominent in the Old Testament as during the time of Christ and today. He’s a gracious, loving Father who pursues His children however far from Ninevah they run. I repeatedly saw myself in Tchividjian’s descriptions of Jonah’s responses to God, and this book encouraged me that God’s relentless grace pursues me in exactly the same way it did Jonah so long ago.

8. Dug Down Deep - Joshua Harris

You cannot love a God you don’t know. You cannot follow a Christ of your imagination. You can praise both of them until you’re blue in the face, but if you don’t know anything about them, you might not be praising someone who’s actually real. I can laud my wife’s brown hair and green eyes all I want, but she’ll be pretty upset because she’s blonde with bluish eyes. The same thing applies when dealing with God, and he’s given us descriptions of Himself and His Son in the Bible. This is the God you will meet in Harris’ book. He states the book isn’t intended to be a systematic theology, and it’s not. But it very well may cause you to want to read one and learn more about the God he loves.

9. Crave - Chris Tomlinson

Chris Tomlinson isn’t a pastor or theologian. He’s a businessman. His stories aren’t all about fighting big battles for the Lord and accomplishing giant things for Him (though like me, he wants to do those things). Instead, they’re about things like struggling to be fervent in prayer, obedient in action, and vulnerable in evangelism. Yes, Tomlinson has done some pretty cool things and been a lot of places, but his descriptions of his walk with the Lord seemed extremely familiar for me. I’m guessing it will for many of you as well.

10. Holy Subversion - Trevin Wax

This short (150 pages) and fairly easy read was highly enjoyable for me. It’s packed with Scriptural truth yet connected intimately to our lives. In a world that makes constant demands on us for our time, resources, and attention, we need to be careful what we’re worshipping with those things. We Christians tend to be almost indistinguishable from non-believers a lot of the time in how we live our lives. By subverting the idols our culture wants us to have, we show others that Christ is of highest value. He’s the only one truly worthy of our worship.

Honorable Mentions:

Think - John Piper
Hello, I Love You - Ted Kluck
Doctrine - Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears
Leaders Who Last - Dave Kraft
Scandelous - D.A. Carson
The Sword - Bryan Litfin

A Digitalized Christmas Story

This is actually pretty cute.



HT: Zach Nielsen

Cool Mashup of an Aaron Keyes Song with Chandler and Driscoll

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

This is fantastic. Well worth the few minutes. There's a reason it has over 12 million views on YouTube.

HT: Kevin DeYoung

Driscoll on Santa

Mark Driscoll:

'Tis the season . . . for parents to decide if they will tell the truth about Santa.

When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: (1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.

Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don't feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.

So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.

We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children.

Read the whole article.

Music Video of the Week: Sanctus Real

Sanctus Real - "Lead Me"

What The Internet Killed

An interesting slideshow over at Newsweek about how the internet has changed our lives, in most cases, not necessarily for the better. Some of these I won't miss, and some aren't a big deal, but some definitely are. Here are the things they say have changed and/or been eliminated:

1. The 9-to-5 Work Day

2. The Video Store

3. Concentration

4. Civility

5. The CD

6. The Telephone Book

7. Letter Writing

8. Vacations

9. Privacy

10. Facts

11. Polaroids and Other Film

12. Reference Books

13. The Yearbook

14. The Peep Show

The Princess Bride Meets Star Wars

The Princess Bride was one of my favorite movies growing up. Here's an interesting take on two of the sword fights from that movie.

HT: Abraham Piper

Matt Chandler's One-Year Update

Matt Chandler:

This Saturday, Dec. 4 marks the one-year anniversary of the 7-8 hour craniotomy that removed a malignant cancerous tumor from my brain and started a year of radiation, chemo and recovery. To say that we’ve been doing some reflecting as a family would be an understatement. So on the one-year anniversary here are a few random thoughts I’ve had:

He really is enough.

For years I have taught that simple sentence to people, and I believed with everything in me that it was true. Seeing it personally has been another story, like the difference between seeing a picture of the Grand Canyon and actually seeing it. I found out on Nov. 26 that I had a mass on my frontal lobe, on Tuesday Dec. 1 that I was going to need surgery soon and that the scans “didn’t look good,” and on Dec. 4 had a good portion of my right frontal lobe removed. I’ll be honest, that season was terrifying, and we wept. I wept with Lauren, my friends, family members, partners in ministry and by myself. Leading up to the surgery if I saw one of my children, particularly my oldest daughter Audrey, it was a fight to hold myself together. Under all of that fear and all those tears there was this quiet confidence, this firm foundation, this unshakable promise, and we never lost it. The world would sink in the days and months to come but we continually found our footing in the truth that He is in control of all things and loves me deeply (Romans 8:28-39)...

...If God grants me another 100 years, I couldn’t begin to thank all of you who have prayed, encouraged, sent me cards, letters, books, money, prayer blankets (BTW I sat under everyone of those blankets and received your prayers in Jesus’ name), pictures, paintings and poems. Things came in from all over the world, and the entire Chandler family felt the tangible love of God made visible through His saints.

Read the whole post here, and continue to pray for Matt, his ministry, and his family.

Hallelujah Food Court Flash Mob

You might have already seen this, but it's just too good not to post.

Music Video of the Week: House of Heroes

House of Heroes - "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

Michael Jordan's Response to Lebron James

Awesome. They took the Lebron commercial and juxtaposed it against an old Michael Jordan commercial. Sounds like he's talking right to Lebron.

Lyrical Bombs

These are simply two of the best things I've heard in a really long time.



HT: DWYL

Here's another guy from the same group about the consequences of not sharing the gospel. Absolutely astounding.

The Maverick Flying Car

This is fascinating. A road-legal car that actually flies. This is worth watching anyway, but watch till the last minute or so and pay attention to who this guy's dad is. Amazing.

Most Impressive Breakdancer I've Seen

The ab strength this guy has starting around 1:10 is simply ridiculous.

Living With the Discomfort of the Justified Life

Powerful quote from Jerry Bridges:

God wants us to find our primary joy in our objectively declared justification, not in our subjectively perceived sanctification. Regardless of how much progress we make in our pursuit of holiness, it will never come close to the absolute perfect righteousness of Christ that is ours through our union with him in his life and death.

So we should learn to live with the discomfort of the justified life. We should accept the fact that as still-growing Christians we will always be dissatisfied with our sanctification. But at the same time, we should remember that in Christ we are justified. We are righteous in him.

--Jerry Bridges, 'The Discomfort of the Justified Life,' in Justified: Modern Reformation Essays on the Doctrine of Justification

HT: Dane Ortland (via Zach Nielsen)

New Page CXVI Hymns Album

Page CXVI has released Hymns III, the third installment of traditional hymns reworked into modern renderings. I've really enjoyed the first 2, and I'm sure this one will be no different.

Here's the intriguing tracklist:

1. Be Still My Soul
2. Be Thou My Vision
3. In the Sweet By and By
4. Holy, Holy, Holy
5. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
6. You Have Redeemed My Soul
7. Divine Invitation

You can buy the album at their website. You can get an immediate download, or get both the download and physical version shipped to you.

I'm so thankful for bands like this taking the timeless truths of these fantastic hymns and making them accessible for modern listeners. The theological content is simply astounding, and their arrangements and musically interesting and serve the lyrics well. I highly recommend Page CXVI.

Here's a sample song from the Hymns III album.

02 Be Thou My Vision by PageCXVI

Music Video of the Week: Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge (Not Alter Life) - "Wonderful Life" (Not Wonderful Like)

Christmas Season: Andrew Peterson

Thanksgiving is typically the point where I give myself permission to listen to Christmas music. There's a lot of great stuff out there (and some new stuff which I'll highlight over the next few weeks). My favorite Christmas album, though, is easily Andrew Peterson's Behold The Lamb of God. I usually break it out a little early. After all, it's not Christmas-y, just about the birth of Christ.

We'll be going to the tour again this year when they come to Cincinnati. We went last year and it was phenomenal. If you've never heard the album, head over to Andrew's site where they've set up a player where you can listen to the whole album and view tour dates. You'll definitely want to buy it after that.

Merry Christmas Season!

Do Younger Evangelicals Neglect Holiness?

A good word and something to ponder from Kevin DeYoung:

I have a growing concern that younger evangelicals do not take seriously the Bible’s call to personal holiness. We are too at peace with worldliness in our homes, too at ease with sin in our lives, too content with spiritual immaturity in our churches.

God’s mission in the world is to save a people and sanctify his people. Christ died “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15). We were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). Christ “loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her…so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14)...

...I find it telling that you can find plenty of young Christians today who are really excited about justice and serving in their communities. You can find Christians fired up about evangelism. You can find lots of Generation XYZ believers passionate about precise theology. Yes and amen to all that. But where are the Christians known for their zeal for holiness? Where is the corresponding passion for honoring Christ with Christlike obedience? We need more Christian leaders on our campuses, in our cities, in our seminaries who will say with Paul, “Look carefully then how you walk”? (Eph. 5:15).

When is the last time we took a verse like Ephesians 5:4–“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving”–when is the last time we took a verse like this and even began to try to apply this to our conversation, our joking, our movies, our you tube clips, our t.v. and commercial intake? The fact of the matter is if you read through the New Testament epistles you will find very few explicit commands that tell us to evangelize and very few explicit commands that tell us to take care of the poor in our communities, but there are dozens and dozens of verses in the New Testament that enjoin us, in one way or another, to be holy as God is holy (e.g., 1 Peter 1:13-16).

I do not wish to denigrate any of the other biblical emphases capturing the attention of younger evangelicals. But I believe God would have us be much more careful with our eyes, our ears, and our mouth. It’s not pietism, legalism, or fundamentalism to take holiness seriously. It’s the way of all those who have been called to a holy calling by a holy God.

Read the whole post.

Driscoll's Daddy Christmas Tips

Driscoll:

1. Dad needs a plan for the holidays to ensure his family is loved and memories are made. Dad, what’s your plan?
2. Dad needs to ensure his family is giving generously during the holidays. Dad, who in need is your family going to adopt, bless, and serve?
3. Dad needs to carve out time for sacred events and experiences to build family traditions that are fun and point to Jesus. Dad, is you calendar ready for December?
4. Dad needs to not let the stress of the holidays, including money, cause him to be grumpy with Mom or the kids. Dad, how’s your joy?
5. Dad needs to make memories and not just give gifts. Dad, what special memories can you make this holiday season?
6. Dad needs to manage the extended family and friends during the holidays. Dad, who or what do you need to say “no” to?
7. Dad needs to schedule a big Christmas date with his daughter(s). Dad, what’s your big plan for the fancy Daddy-daughter date?
8. Dad needs to schedule guy time with his son(s). Dad, what are you and your son(s) going to do that is active, outdoors, and fun?
9. Dad needs to help get the house decorated. Dad, are you really a big help to Mom with getting things ready?
10. Dad needs to ensure there are some holiday smells and sounds. Dad, is Christmas music on the iPod, is the tree up, can you smell cookies and cider?

Music Video of the Week: John Mark McMillan

John Mark McMillan - "Carbon Ribs"

Facebook Users Tend to be Narcissistic and Insecure

From York University:

Narcissists and those with low self-esteem gravitate toward Facebook as a self-promotional tool and tend to be heavier users of the site, according to a study by a York University psychology student.

Soraya Mehdizadeh examined the online habits and personalities of 100 Facebook users at York University ranging in age from 18-25 years old. Her study, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, found that individuals higher in narcissism and lower in self-esteem spent more time on the site and filled their pages with more self-promotional content.

My reaction to this story was the same as this guy's:



HT: Luke Gilkerson

Book Review: Tim Keller - Generous Justice

Genre: Christian Living/Theology
Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: November 2, 2010

I’ll freely admit that the relationship between social justice and the gospel is not one I completely understand. It’s become a hot topic the last few years, but I haven’t delved much into the fray. I’m definitely no expert, and the thought of trying to critique a guy like Tim Keller on the subject is a little humorous. His newest book, Generous Justice, contains multiple sections of thought that caused my head to spin, but in a good way.

I’ve become uncomfortable with how some Christians seem to ignore some of Jesus’ commands regarding the poor and weak, but I also have a problem with people just wanting to “do justice” and never evangelize. So here’s my perspective as a young, idealistic, evangelical Christian who doesn’t want a theoretic faith that turns a blind eye to the poor and needy, but also doesn’t want to compromise any piece of the biblical gospel and evangelism in doing so.

In the introduction, Keller states:

This book, then, is both for believers who find the Bible a trustworthy guide and for those who wonder if Christianity is a positive influence in the world. I want the orthodox to see how central to the Scripture’s message is justice for the poor and marginalized. I also want to challenge those who do not believe in Christianity to see the Bible not as a repressive text, but as the basis for the modern understanding of human rights.

After taking some time to define “justice,” this is exactly what Keller does with this book. As a believer, I was confronted with a view of God, Christ, and redemption that won’t allow us to turn from injustice. Always balanced by a nuanced view of God’s redemptive work in creation and the gospel of the atonement, believers are shown the value and purpose of justice: to glorify the one from whom it emanates. I really appreciated the balance. You tend to get only those who elevate justice to the place of the gospel at the exclusion of atonement, or those who over-react to this error and ignore justice altogether.

The other thing Keller does is to address the nature of discussion about issues of justice. The terms are thrown around, by religious and secular, but few ever discuss what they really mean. Keller deftly shows, by scripture and by logic, how religious and moral rationale underwrites everyone’s opinions in these areas, despite how they might try to dress them up in objective, secular language. By removing religious ideas from the public square, we’ve removed the language to describe the disagreements most people have over things like abortion, levels of taxation, racism, and others. By trying to find an objective “common ground” upon which to discuss the issues, we’ve removed the ground completely.

Finally, Keller discusses the concept of Shalom, and how efforts to “do justice” help reflect the restoration of Shalom after the Fall. Again, this is balanced with a nuanced view of the redemption of the world.

As I said, I’m in no position to critique any of Keller’s arguments. They are far too complex and subtle for me to do so. From my situation, however, Keller has given me a biblical framework through which to view many issues that people my age, especially young evangelicals, are questioning. I’m sure others will find things to quibble over, but it’s hard to argue with the biblical arguments put forward in this book. As a Christian, justice should be important to us. This book will definitely contribute to helping it become so.



This book was provided for review by Dutton in exchange for a review. No expectation of a positive review existed.

Help Build an Orphanage in Sudan

Matt Chandler:

For the last year and a half The Village Church has been heavily vested in Southern Sudan. We are working with the Evangelical Presbyterian Churches (EPC) based out of Yei.

Although our primary role has been training their pastors theologically, we have also sent some of our doctors and nurses to work in their clinics and hospitals. In addition, we have been partnering with their pastors doing some evangelism. From Sept. 22 to Oct. 4, my wife and I were able to make the trip and see firsthand all that our great God and King is accomplishing in this war-torn country.

The needs are vast, but God’s-called people are praying, seeking and serving Him well. Southern Sudan will vote on Jan. 9 in a referendum that will more than likely separate it from the north and create a new country. Please be praying for the referendum and for peace following the vote.

Over 2 million people have been killed in Sudan over the last 20 years, and our hopes and prayers are that the relative peace that has ensued since the signing of the peace treaty several years ago might continue through the vote and on into the future.

The South is in shambles. There are 3 miles of paved roads in Southern Sudan (a land mass that is much bigger than Texas) and no infrastructure to speak of. The airstrips are dirt, the roads are dirt, clean water is an issue, infant mortality is through the roof and the orphan crisis there is hard to see with your own eyes without wanting to weep.

This is where I want your help. The Village Church is partnering with His Voice International and Collision Records to raise $250,000 for a fourth orphanage in Sudan. Collision released a song today by Swoope featuring Lecrae, Tedashii, John Piper and Jai called “Actions Speak Louder.” It’s on iTunes now and 100 percent of the money goes to build the orphanage that is attached to the EPC and self-sustained once we get it built.

You get great hip-hop while 100 orphans get food, education and shelter. Not a bad deal.

Christ is All,

Matt Chandler

Can I Live?

HT: Randy Alcorn

Makoto Fujimura - The Illuminated Gospel Book

This looks fascinating. Crossway:

Makoto Fujimura, one of the century’s most highly regarded artists, has illuminated the Four Holy Gospels. Fujimura is known for his use of traditional Japanese Nihonga techniques and his passion for reconnecting Christian faith with fine art. This will mark the first time in nearly 400 years that an illuminated book of the four Gospels has been undertaken by a single artist.

The Four Holy Gospels is based on the ESV translation of the Bible and also coincides with the 400th anniversary of the King James Version (KJV) Bible, published in 1611. The ESV is a direct descendant of the KJV Bible; first published in 2001, the ESV carries forward this classic Bible translation legacy.

Fujimura explains, “By using the ESV translation, we honor the King James Version by allowing contemporary vernacular to reflect the timeless truth of the Bible. This project brings a reconciled whole of the Gospels to a new century and a global audience.”

Editions of The Four Holy Gospels will be available January 31, 2011. An exhibition of the works featured in The Four Holy Gospels will take place from December 9 through January 9 at the Dillon Gallery in New York City. You may download the preview PDF here.

Fujimura - 4 Holy Gospels from Crossway on Vimeo.

Contradictions in the Bible

Before God granted me faith in Christ and a love for the Bible, one of my biggest hang-ups with Christianity was its insistence that the Bible was the infallible Word of God. I, as most skeptics, believed it was full of contradictions and, therefore, couldn't possibly be infallible, unless God was in the habit of always being wrong about things. Of course, I'd never taken the time to really study those passages, but it was an easy way to intellectually bully my older sister who never stopped confronting me with the truth, despite my arrogant condescension towards her.

So are there contradictions in the Bible? Aren't there clear places where the Bible disagrees with itself, proving it's just the work of fallible human authors who continually got things wrong, even theologically-significant things?

No. There are not.

But there are clearly "apparent contradictions," passages that on the surface appear to say different things and cause issues for even believers to understand. There are also plenty of passages that can be twisted to mean whatever the reader wants, thus creating contradiction out of nothing.

That's basically what Sam Harris did for Fast Company. His non-profit organization, Project Reason, came up with this infographic depicting all of the supposed "contradictions" in the Bible. The horizontal axis represents all the books of the Bible, and each red arc represents a contradiction between passages. (Click here for a larger picture and the list of contradictions.)

Now, ignoring the fact that many of the "contradictions" are premised on grade school-level theological mistakes (they seem to have no comprehension whatsoever of the relationship between the law and the new covenant, the nature and purpose of circumcision, and what it means to "fear God"), even the ones with apparent contradiction have reasoning to explain those as well. Doug Wilson takes on a couple from the chart at random to demonstrate this (# 208 If a husband believes, is his wife saved also? Also, #211 Is it ok to make images?)

The point: the Bible is, in fact, the most coherent and consistent piece of literature ever constructed. It was written by about 40 different authors over a period of about 1,600 years, and yet the over-arching narrative and theological consistency of God's progressive revelation is remarkable for it's coherence. Having read through the Bible a few times now, that's what I was struck most by. It has strengthened my faith to see how everything in the entire Bible comes together in Jesus Christ, the living Word.

This coherence and consistency has been mapped out as well:

This chart shows the 63,779 cross-references in the Bible, all the passages that build on, corroborate, and coalesce into the beautiful picture that is God's Word.

I pray that people like Sam Harris will experience what I did and God will grant them a faith that sees truth and doesn't suppress it. But for those of us who do believe, who might still experience doubt because of seeming or apparent contradictions and difficult passages in the Bible, be encouraged by the coherence. There are answers for the difficult parts. In God there is only truth. He cannot lie. When considered in its context and with the original author's intent in mind, God's Word can't either.

HT: Justin Holcomb at the Resurgence, Matt Perman, Doug Wilson

Resting in God's Perfect Will

This prayer by Scotty Smith really hit me this morning.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Sovereign Father, this promise brings me immeasurable peace, humility, and joy. You’re vitally engaged in determining and directing every one of our steps. You’re working all things together after the counsel of your will. You’re working in all things for your glory and for our good. You open doors no man can shut and you shut doors no man can open. Indeed, you’re no mere life coach, you’re the Lord of all things… including me.

Many years I labored under the arrogance and anxiety of assuming that if I prayed hard enough and long enough… that if I was really filled with and “tuned” into the Holy Spirit, I could know the specifics of your will for my life… well in advance of any decision that needed to be made. Of course, my assumption was that if I was in your will, life would be enjoyable, pleasant and hassle-free.

If I bought the right car, it would never break down…If I bought the right house, the roof would never leak… If I married the right person, we would never disagree… If I went to the right college I’d get the right job and life would be all-right... If I sent my kids to the right school, they would never act out and would end up on the mission field. If all of this was true, I wouldn’t really need you.

Father, you’re certainly honored when we work hard to make good plans, in keeping with our understanding of the Scriptures. It’s important for us to seek and heed, wise prayerful counsel of good and godly friends. But help us to live with more confidence that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, not a consulting partner… a very present Lord, not an absentee landlord… the reigning King, not an impotent bystander. Because of Jesus, I’m confident your will is being done… on earth as it is in heaven.

Free us to accept that many times your will leads to great suffering and pain. It’s called the cross. But the cross and resurrection go together. Hallelujah! What a most glorious and gracious Father you are. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ exalted and very present name.

~ Scotty Smith

Music Video of the Week: OK Go

OK Go - "Last Leaf"

This is Fantastic News: Matt Chandler Update

Praise God.

Lecrae on CNN

Cool article about my favorite rapper, Lecrae, on CNN.com today:

“I just look at myself as another individual who has a different message and a world view that I think is the most beneficial, the most helpful, and I’ll be honest, it’s the right one. Maybe not mine specifically but I think a Biblical world view is the right world view.”

Moore’s latest CD is “Rehab,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Christian albums chart and the Gospel albums list, sold more than 26,000 copies its first week. It also hit No. 5 on the rap albums chart.

It is a product of Reach Records, which he co-owns in Atlanta, Georgia. The label has four other Christian rappers, some of whom Lecrae thinks will be even more influential than he has been.

Moore also founded ReachLife Ministries, which seeks to "bridge the gap between biblical truth and the urban context," he said.

Rehab is a statement, a message to all that while there is much wrong in this world, there is a way to reshape your life, he said. We all need a sense of purpose, but we're all a bit messed up.

“We are fractured; this is a fractured world, but there is rehabilitation available through Jesus,” he said. “He came to save. He came to restore.”

Read the whole article.

And in case you don't read the blog regularly, here's Lecrae's latest video I recently posted:

Put the Phone Down.

You've probably already seen this. Horrible solution to the problem, but this is still pretty funny.



Along those lines...

Ah Cleveland...

This is pretty funny.



HT: Zach Nielsen

Music Video of the Week: Tedashii

Tedashii - "Make War"

The Rent is Too Damn High - Auto Tuned

If that word offends you...don't watch this. But you're missing out, cause it's hysterical.



HT: Abraham Piper

Very Cool Time Lapse Video

TimeScapes: Rapture from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

HT: Challies

Kids and Video Games

I was encouraged and challenged by this post by Trevin Wax:

Dear Dad and Mom,

I’d like to use this space to publicly thank you for being parents that were willing to take the hard road instead of the easy road.

Thank you limiting my access to computer games and Nintendo when we were growing up.

I realize it would have been much easier for you to let the Nintendo babysit us four kids. But you put our well-being ahead of your own comfort and taught us to read, write, make music, create radio shows, play in the backyard, and make movies. We’re the better for it today.

Thanks for not giving in to our whiny pleas for the newest video games that our neighbors had. Thanks for insisting that we would be better, happier, more well-rounded children by causing us to entertain ourselves instead of sit like zombies in front of Mario and Luigi.

Thanks for not being legalistic about Nintendo. We appreciate the rainy days in which you brought down the Nintendo from the closet top shelf and let us play our hearts out. But thanks even more for putting the Nintendo back up when the sun returned.

Thanks for allowing us to play educational computer games. But thanks also for the thirty-minute timer you set for us each time we played.

Thanks most of all for being involved, for caring about what we were putting into our minds. Thanks for giving us a childhood that some of our friends missed out on – the backyard romps in the clubhouse, the creek Kingdom, all the cassette tapes we made as we created our own sitcoms.

Thanks for the parameters and guidelines you set up for us. We didn’t understand or like them then, but they look like good parameters we want to set for our own kids now.

Love,

Trevin

I grew up playing video games all the time, but still developed a love of reading and sports and many other things. I don't think letting kids play video games will inevitably lead to the negative things Trevin mentions, but they are definitely things to consider as I think through how to approach parenting my kids.

Matt Chandler: One Year Later

Cool post by Justin Taylor yesterday about Matt Chandler. Matt's the Pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, Texas. He's one of my favorite pastors to listen to. I've posted quite a few of Matt's video blogs over the past year since his seizure that led to the discovery of a brain tumor. Justin has a great recap of some of Matt's updates, along with an interview he did with him.

Here's a sample:

What role has your theology played in sustaining you throughout this year?

I’m not sure how men and women without a strong view of God’s sovereignty and authority over all things handle things like this.

There were at least 3 meetings with my doctors early on where I felt like I got punched in the soul. In those moments when I was discombobulated and things felt like they were spinning out of control, my theology and the Spirit were there to remind me that “He is good and He does good”—to remind me that God has a plan for His glory and my joy that He is working. I was reminded that this cancer wasn’t punitive but somehow redemptive (Romans 8).

How can we be praying for you and your family?

I am 10 months in to 18 months of chemo, and the treatments are starting to wear down my stomach and intestines. I am cramping up quite a bit, even after the round is over. I still have at least 8 months left and am hoping that it doesn’t get worse.

I asked in the first email I sent out after the seizure that people would pray for the salvation of my children, and whatever happened that they wouldn’t grow embittered to the Lord. My oldest Audrey has asked God to reign and rule her life a month ago and we’ve been celebrating ever since.

I’d ask for the continued prayers of salvation and sustaining grace on my family’s life and continued death to the cancerous cells that once ravaged my brain!

Read the whole interview at JT's blog.

Pretty sure the kids had fun last night...

My Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm with some friends of theirs before trick-or-treating last night. They had a blast and I've never enjoyed a Halloween more.

Music Video of the Week: Our Lady Peace

Taking me back to high school today...

Our Lady Peace - "Life"

Sharing the Good News of Christmas

Crossway:

Crossway is inviting churches all across North America and around the globe to reach one million homes with the gospel this December!

Share the Good News of Christmas is designed to complement what churches are already doing this year—helping them connect with their communities, reach out with the gospel, and invite people to a Christmas service in their church. Share the Good News kits will be sent to participating churches, allowing them to tailor the kits for their specific communities. Each kit contains 50 ESV Outreach New Testaments, 50 gospel tracts, and 50 customizable invitations to the church’s Christmas service or event...

...Learn more about how can you and your church get involved or purchase your kits today at http://www.goodnewsofchristmas.org/. Pastors or church staff can sign up for a free sample bag as they consider this opportunity.

HT: JT

Amazing Parkour Dog

You've probably seen some Parkour videos in the past. You know, those video where the guys run around town climbing everything in their path and doing ridiculous jumps across things? Have you ever seen a dog doing Parkour, though?



HT: Rhett and Link

Book Review: John Piper - Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God

Genre: Christian Living/Theology
Publisher: Crossway
Publication Date: September 15, 2010

There are two basic errors that Christians tend to fall into. One is the elevate thinking and the life of the mind with regards to theology to a point where it fails to connect with real life and results in theoretical Christians who are lacking in love. The other is to essentially demonize thinking and theology because “it only divides” and focus solely on love, which results in Christians who may love others but who worship a God they don’t really know. John Piper’s new book, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God, seeks to destroy the underlying assumptions and problems behind both of these errors.

Piper begins the introduction with these words: “This book is a plea to embrace serious thinking as a means of loving God and people.” Ultimately, as Piper points out numerous times throughout the book, if thinking hard about God and the bible doesn’t translate into love for him and the people around you, it’s pointless. Thinking is a means, not an end. It’s how we come to know God for who he has really revealed himself to be. In response, our love for him grows and spills over into love for people as well. As someone who can get very academic in my theological pursuits sometimes, I was encouraged to step back and examine my motives. This is a good thing for any Christian to do from time to time.

The structure of the book is very helpful. Piper begins by clarifying the aims of the book, as well as what he means by thinking (mostly, he means reading, and, more specifically, the bible). He then details the role of thinking in coming to faith. From a view of election, he details the futile nature of our thinking apart from the new birth which God initiates in us. Piper treads carefully as he notes our role in thinking with regards faith and God’s role in granting that faith. This all spills over into the next chapter on what it means to love God with your mind.

Piper also takes on two ways of thinking that are dangerous to the pursuit of truth through thinking, relativism and anti-intellectualism. I found Piper’s comments on relativism very powerful and virtually devastating to that way of thinking. He says:

Relativism enables pride to put on humble clothes and parade through the street. But don’t be mistaken. Relativism chooses every turn, every pace, every street, according to its own autonomous preferences, and submits to no truth. We will serve our generation well by exposing the prideful flesh under these humble clothes.

Ultimately where Piper comes down is that any way of thinking that does not submit to God’s truth and acts as though we can’t know God’s truth in the bible and creation is centered on pride, whether it is conscious or not. God has determined what is true, and any way of thinking that distorts this places us in the place of God. A humble approach to thinking that seeks to understand God’s Word and submit to that truth inevitably leads to a greater love for God and others. I would highly recommend this book for all Christians, both thinkers and those who aren’t naturally built that way, as a means to understanding the role of our minds in our faith.



This book was provided for review by Crossway in exchange for a review. No expectation of a positive review existed.

"Double Pre-Blessed!" - Pre-Blessed Food

Ah, Julian Smith. You continue to crack me up. This one's also got an interesting thought process underlying it.



HT: Abraham Piper

Rapping the Heidelberg Catechism

Curtis Allen (aka Voice) recently took a challenge from C.J. Mahaney to do a rap song about the Heidelberg Catechism seriously. Here's the result.

Heidelberg Catechism by avoice

Lyrics:

Verse 1

Yeah I'm on a mission like a couple spies, and that guys is the reason why I catechize. The good news we almost forgot I recognize, Heidelberg rediscovering the gospel prize. It's not scripture but the truth in it will mention he, introduction hide and seek the 16th century. Written in a time when your mind was the weaponry, this document is back into the populace shouts to Kevin D. Better than you think not as bad as you remember, purpose driven truth, from Frederick the elector. He would initiate, the 129 questions to illustrate truths like Christ propitiates. All in a document, whose purpose was to teach children, a guide for preachers, and confessions in a church building. And this is all fact The Heidelberg Cat has been around but now it's seem like it is coming back.

Hook

We believe in the cross, believe in his life,
We believe in his death, believe he's the Christ.
We believe that he rose from grave yes it is him
And we read the Heidelberg Catechism

We believe in the after life and we believe nothing's after Christ, so we stand our ground, cuz the truth's been around from the word to Heidelberg.

Verse 2

Year of the Heidelberg resulting in renewed passion, and we could see it in our lives lights camera action. Let's take a gander and address a few questions from Heidelberg document then look at the answers. But before that make sure that, you know how it's broken down, in a Q & A format, a few sections. Suggestions how to read this not to sound promotional, but Kevin put it in his book to make it a devotional. Each question each answer has a bit of commentary, so the application of it is not some involuntary. Mystery, the history screams through rings true but I'll just leave that up to God, cuz that's between you. to believe, but to believe you gotta read you and then you meditate on all the truths that the Heidelberg will illustrate. What's that the catechism homey where you been the good news we almost forgot let's get it in!

Verse 3

From the word to the Heidelberg, we see that what's the comfort of life should come first. And in death that I with, body and soul but belong to the savior, commentary from me man, tell this to your neighbor. Moving on, how many things are necessary for thee, enjoying this comfort, to live and die happily? Three, my sin's misery, deliverance from sin, and gratitude for God is how the answer ends. Let's stretch it out the Lord's day 23 the grandaddy of them all, questions 59 and 60. What good does it do to believe in all this? In Christ I am right heir to the promise. Paraphrase, anyways I'm kinda limited I'm just trying to say a couple things my man Kevin did. On the Heidelberg, go and get you one, and by the way CJ homey this was fun.

Russell Moore on Testimonies

Interesting timing. After posting Josh Hamilton's testimony below, I came across a post that got me thinking about testimonies in general.

Is there a danger in testimonies from people who have been completely freed from sin and even the temptation to certain sins? Have you ever felt demoralized because you are still fighting against something you've fought for years? Yes, progress has been made, but you're still not free.

I found this commentary from Russell Moore very interesting:

I think personal testimonies, as part of Christian worship, are a good thing to do. And I think we need more of them. I wonder, though, if sometimes our testimonies might unintentionally empower Satan rather than combat him...

...If Satan cannot draw people into sin, and thus into death, he’ll draw them into despair because their fight against temptation hasn’t dissipated. Don’t leave those people with a message of condemnation, when the gospel promises freedom.

Yes, celebrate those who have escaped the grip of sin. But don’t just pretend that this means an escape from temptation. Even the ex-drunk who doesn’t want alcohol anymore (and there aren’t many) just has his temptation moving to some other area. Let’s celebrate too the sinner who wants what he doesn’t want to want, but who dies to self, picks up his cross, and follows Christ.

It might be that God frees someone instantly from the appetite for whatever he or she is drawn toward. But typically he instead enables one to fight it. This might go on for forty days, for forty years, or for an entire lifetime. That’s all right. In the meantime, we’re going to be there to bear burdens for one another.

Satan hates the gospel, and he hates the testimony of grace. Let’s make sure our people (and their demonic accusers) hear the whole message. Temptation isn’t instantly nullified by conversion. Even our sinless Lord Jesus was tempted. The grace of God leads us to Christ, and then joins us to him in the war zone.

That’s painful. Crucifixion always is. But it’s grace, and, however strong the fight, it’s amazing.

Read the whole article.

Josh Hamilton - I Am Second

As he prepares to play in the World Series tonight, here's Josh Hamilton's testimony on IAmSecond.com. They have some great testimonies on their site, but Hamilton's story is extremely powerful when you hear where God has brought him from. Great stuff.



HT: Challies

So What Does the Original Greek Really Say?

HT: Abraham Piper

Music Video of the Week: David Crowder Band

Wow. Amazing.

David Crowder Band - "SMS (Shine)"

What's New about "New Calvinism"?

DeYoung, Duncan, Mohler: What's New About the New Calvinism from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Pride: "You owe me!"

Great discussion on humility and pride last night in our bible study as we continue to work our way through Romans. Then, in God's never-ending providence, I came across this video today. I love Piper's comment about pride essentially being a sense of entitlement that looks at everyone and says, "You owe me."

Battling Anxiety with Scripture

Scripture is a sword for us to use by faith in battling sin. Specifically, it's useful to battle the unbelief that typically resides behind whatever sin or challenge we are confronting. I heard John Piper give a talk at the New Attitude Conference a few years ago (2008 Conference, "Fighting For Faith with God's Word") where he basically just talked through different challenges and struggles and showed us how he used sin to fight the unbelief.

Here are some examples for fighting against anxiety that Justin Taylor posted at his blog:

• When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with the promise: “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
• When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise, “So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
• When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), and “As your days so shall your strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25).
• When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).
• When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, “If God is for us who can be against us!” (Romans 8:31).
• When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise that “tribulation works patience, and patience approvedness, and approvedness hope, and hope does not make us ashamed” (Romans 5:3–5).
• When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).
• When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9–11).
• When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promise, “He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:6). “He who calls you is faithful. He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). “He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).