"I'm not much of a reader..."

Jared Wilson:

In pastoring, in discipling, I’ve heard it more than I care to count. When exhorting a fellow spiritual journeyman to “Take up and read” the Bible as part of a regular discipline of growth in the Spirit, I will sometimes get this excuse: “I’m not much of a reader.” 

“I don’t read,” these folks are saying. “I don’t really read anything. Nothing personal against the Bible itself; I just don’t learn that way.” 

This book, they tend to agree, is the place where God is speaking. The one true living God of the Universe reveals what he wants us to know to be complete for every good work in this book called the Bible. In this day and age, when the Scriptures are available in the West at the click of a link or the touch of an iPod, excuses to remain biblically illiterate aren’t just silly — they are sinful. 

Imagine I showed you a tent across the yard. You can see a glow emanating from its zippered door. “Inside that tent,” I said, “is God himself. He has something to say to you. You just have to go inside the tent, and the God of the Universe will reveal the mystery of the ages to you.” And then imagine you were to say, “I’m not much of a walker. I prefer sitting to walking.” 

Makes about as much sense. 

“What great toil and effort it cost the church fathers to gather up a few crumbs, while we with half the labor – with almost no labor at all – can acquire the whole loaf. O how their efforts put our indolence to shame!”– Martin Luther

Music Video of the Week: Lecrae

Lecrae - "Tell The World (Billboard)"

Russell Moore: The Pastor and Politics

I had the privilege of hearing this discussion live the other day on campus, and I found it very helpful. Russell Moore answers some questions about how Christians should relate to politics, and more specifically, how pastors should relate to these areas.

The Pastor and Politics from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

Who Jesus Was vs. Who They Thought He Was

Kevin DeYoung:

This Jesus of Nazareth—the one you saw, the one you knew, the one you crucified—he is more than you know. Jesus may not be what you expected, but he is better. He may not be what you were looking for, but he is bigger. Have you ever considered that what you saw in Jesus is not what God sees in Jesus? 

You thought he was a false prophet, but according to Moses, he was the Prophet. 

You spoke against him, but Samuel spoke of him. 

You said his father was the Devil, but he was the promised son of Abraham. 

You had no ears to hear his gospel, but the Lord God said to listen to him in whatever he tells you. 

You considered him a blasphemer, but he was the Holy One of Israel. 

You treated him wickedly, but he was the Righteous One of God. 

You gave life to a murderer and murdered the Author of Life. 

You handed him over to die; God raised him up from the dead. 

You denied him before Pilate; God glorified him in heaven. 

The One you delivered to the Romans, God has made your Deliverer. 

Have you ever heard of a man like this? Can’t you hear him calling your name? Can’t you hear him speaking to you now through his word? If you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Now is the time to repent and believe. For the Savior you would not set free is mighty to save, even for you.

The Best Sermon of Christianity and Politics

Matt Smethurst:

The Story: While preaching his way through the Gospel of Mark, Mark Dever came to that section where Jesus is questioned about paying taxes to Caesar (Mark 12:13-17). 

Despite standing in a pulpit five blocks from the Capitol, Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., doesn't often plunge into politics from the pulpit. He doesn't believe that to be his calling. The text that September 2010 morning, however, demanded reflection on how believers should think about and relate to the political realm. 

Collin Hansen, who attended the service, later wrote that it was "the best sermon I know on Christianity and government." Likewise, Thabiti Anyabwile described it as "a biblical theology of Christians and the state, at once full of unction, intellectually challenging, and affecting the heart. I've heard a lot of Mark's preaching, but I don't know that I've ever heard him better." 

Dever offered three simple points from Mark 12:13-17. First, Christians are good citizens. Second, no earthly kingdom can be identified with God's people. Third, Christians are finally accountable to God. 

Why It Matters: With election day just around the corner, Dever's message bears fresh relevance. By listening to the sermon and reading Hansen's copious summary, you will be well served. 

As Americans, it's often helpful to be reminded that the epicenter of Christ's kingdom is not located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And the purposes of God have never been thwarted at the hands of men---a streak that's not about to end on November 6. Such a recognition isn't quietism or escapism---just biblical Christianity. 

President Obama and Governor Romney are, like you and me, feeble creatures of dust. They're worthy of our honor (Eccl. 10:20; 1 Pet. 2:17), but never our hope. 

So pay your taxes, choose your candidate, and cast your vote (politics does matter, after all), but do so as one whose trust is anchored in another world. As citizens of "a better country" (Heb. 11:16; cf. Phil. 3:20), we the people of the risen King await "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet. 3:13). 

Whatever comes of our quadrennial sojourn to the ballot box, we can rest in the sovereign goodness of a Father who sits enthroned in the heavens and, with majesty and mystery, does whatever he pleases.

Music Video of the Week: The Killers

The Killers - "Runaways"

Do Faithful Christian Read the Bible Literally?

Glenn Stanton:

I know of no serious, Bible-believing Christian who actually takes the Bible literally. I doubt you do either. And if there were any at our Bible-studies or Sunday schools, all would look at them as either an uninformed simpleton or mentally unstable. 

If we open the scriptures to any random page, as I have just done, we will easily find an example to disprove this myth. Here I am at Ecclesiastes 10:2: 

The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. 

Besides the interesting political connotations for contemporary Americans reading this text, are we to take literally that my heart---this four-chambered, muscular organ beating in my chest---physically inclines to the left part of my body because I'm a fool? If I take a literal view of scripture it does. But if I take these words seriously and truthfully, they mean my internal self---who I really am---is inclined in a direction exactly opposite of the one who is wise. Scripture's lesson for me? Being wise or a fool has dramatic and polar opposite consequences. 

I randomly flip over a few books and find myself in Psalms 62. I read here, in verse 2 that God is my rock, my salvation and my fortress. This is very good, comforting news. 

As we read it seriously and truthfully, we don't believe that God is literally a rock, much lessmy rock. If so, how big is He? Is He igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic? God says He's my fortress. Is he stone or wooden? How tall are his walls? What's his configuration? Am I being disrespectful to God with such questions?  It seems like it. And that's the point. We dishonor God and much of His Word by trying to take it literally. 

But is God literally my salvation? Oh my, YES! And I tremble at the literal truth of it.
You see, these words we just read work as powerful and dramatic symbolism to drive home the literal truth that God is our firm, immovable foundation, our strong, impenetrable protector, and our salvation... 

...You see, Scripture communicates the truth of God in multiple, beautiful and creative, ways. Faithful readers of Scripture know it speaks: 

• Literally - Jesus is God's Son, physically rose from the dead, bodily ascended to the Father and will return, literally.

• Poetically - As in much of Psalms and Song of Solomon, even in Christ's teaching.

• Metaphorically - Many of Jesus' parables and illustrations.

• Rhetorically - Acts 1:18-19. Did all---every last bit---of Judas' intestines spill out? Did everyone in Jerusalem hear about this---to a person? Or is Luke saying the news was widespread, difficult to have missed?

• Descriptively - "Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill these jars with water' so they filled them to brim."

This is not mere quibbling. These are important points, because it demonstrates a more serious appreciation and faithful understanding of God's Word than merely accenting to a flimsy ill-informed belief about scripture merely because of what it implies.

Honorable Leadership: A Take on Biden's Debate Actions

Joel Beeke:

I stared in disbelief at my laptop last night as our Vice President interrupted Congressman Paul Ryan 96 times in about as many minutes of debate. When I observed his arrogance, his degrading laughter, his angry responses, and his dismissive attitude, I was deeply troubled.  

These debates are first and foremost about policy. But when one’s attitude is so belligerent an honest dialogue of substantial issues can scarcely take place. It is not enough to excuse our Vice President by simply saying that he was trying to overwhelm the congressman like a tsunami, or to say, “That’s just the way Joe Biden is.” No one should act that way. 

A burning issue was raised last night that is not on a party’s political platform, nor on a moderator’s list of questions, but is crucial for our nation. That’s the issue of relating to each other with dignity. Titus 3:2 reminds us “To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.” Even if we believe that another person is wrong and must be publicly corrected (as in a debate), we should do it in a way that shows courtesy and respect (2 Tim. 2:24; 1 Pet. 3:15–16). 

In a word, you might boil it down to honor. The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:17, “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” We have a special responsibility to give honor and respect to those in authority. But we have a general responsibility to honor all human beings. If for no other reason, we should honor them because man was created in the image of God (James 3:9). 

Honor is especially crucial for leadership. God requires that leaders in the church be “grave” (Titus 3:8), which means dignified or honorable. When God commands us to honor those in authority, He implicitly commands leaders to act in a manner worthy of honor. Leaders should not let people despise them (Titus 2:15). But how? They must be examples of honorable character (1 Tim. 4:12). 

Sadly, we live in an age without honor. Our culture neither gives honor nor does it know how to act in an honorable manner. Our heroes are insolent rebels who demand honor but do not deserve it. Disrespect is fashionable, and dignity is discounted as stuffy pride... 

...The Vice President’s behavior last night was anything but honorable, precisely because he refused to give due honor to a fellow human being and a fellow government official. He has brought shame to the office he bears and to the American people. Vice President Biden should repent and publicly apologize for his conduct. 

However, Mr. Biden’s behavior points to a broader need for honorable leadership in America. When George Washington completed his job as commander of the American army during the Revolutionary War, many people expected him to make himself the king of the American colonies. In fact, some people urged him to do so. When the news spread that instead of reaching for a crown, he resigned his military powers and humbly yielded to the civilian government, King George exclaimed, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” This is true greatness: humbly serving others (Matt. 20:25–28).

"Seeker Sensitive's" All Bait and No Switch

Jared Wilson:

A few days ago I tweeted the following: “At our church we want our music to be as good as it can be without having people come to our church because of it.” Some of the responses were rather telling, some folks reading what I didn’t write, asking me why I want to promote bad music and why I’m against people finding music attractive. For the record, I’m not a fan of bad music (in lyric or tune or style), and I’m not against people being attracted to music (and the arts in general). 

Taking a step back, though, I find a lot of the leaping to hearing what I didn’t say indicative of the fundamental problem. It happens whenever one decries pragmatism and is asked why they want to be impractical. But pragmatism and practicality aren’t the same thing. And neither is the attractional paradigm of “doing church” identical to wanting an attractive church. 

There is something fundamentally wrong with the attractional church paradigm — biblically and therefore theologically — but these days I think there is a very real practical dysfunction in the “fog and lasers” and silly movie tie-ins and all the rest that people discipled within the system don’t even notice (any more). At its beginning, the attractional church (or “seeker church” or whatever you want to call it) was about getting people in the doors to then hear the gospel of Christ’s finished work. It was what we might call “the ol’ bait and switch.” Only, increasingly, the gospel of Christ’s finished work became relegated to the end of a sermon, then the end of a series, then saved just for special occasions, ultimately replaced by the shiny legalism of moralistic therapeutic deism and lost altogether. 

Eventually the attractional church became all bait, no switch. The approach of today’s attractional church is like the Trojan Rabbit of Monty Python’s Arthurian nincompoops — smuggled inside the castle walls with nobody inside. 

And it’s because of this, that so many inside the system, shepherded under this system and joined to it, can’t distinguish between attractive and attractional, practical and pragmatic. When we lose the centrality of the gospel, we lose the ability to think straight.

Music Video of the Week: Matt Redman

Matt Redman - "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)"

No One Understands Like Jesus

I really needed this today...

Rob Ventura:

On Sunday morning I plan to preach on Christ as a compassionate High Priest from the words of Hebrews 4:14-15. As I put the final touches on that sermon, I was reading a commentary where I came across a beautiful hymn that I had never heard before. Here are the words:  

No one understands like Jesus,
He's a friend beyond compare;
Meet Him at the throne of mercy,
He is waiting for you there.  

No one understands like Jesus,
Every woe He sees and feels;
Tenderly He whispers comfort,
And the broken heart He heals.  

No one understands like Jesus,
When the foes of life assail;
You should never be discouraged,
Jesus cares and will not fail.  

No one understands like Jesus,
When you falter on the way;
Tho' you fail Him, sadly fail Him
He will pardon you today.  

Chorus:
No one understands like Jesus,
When the days are dark and grim;
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus,
Cast your every care on Him.

How Our Fathers Shape our View of God

Really good stuff from Jeremy Pierre:

Unreasonable, dissatisfied men roam this world. And many of them have children along the way. This is no surprise to our culture. The terrible father is a recurring motif in our literature and a common feature in our experience. You can read Mark Twain and Richard Wright, or you can talk to your child's classmate or a friend from church. A good dad is hard to find. 

People have generally lost the sense of what a strong, self-sacrificing father looks like, largely because they've never seen one. Anyone with a listening ear and a speck of empathy can see the unique difficulty that growing up under a crummy father can cause. 

Our early relational experiences---particularly with those entrusted with our care---are incredibly shaping. That's not a bad thing. In fact, it's part of God's design for human development. Through fathers and mothers, children receive a framework for understanding the world and everything in it, from important things like morality to relatively trivial things like clothing styles. Why else would God be so adamant that parents teach their children the knowledge of him in the context of the everyday activities of life (Deut 6:7; 11:19)? And alongside the words they speak, parents model the character of God in their affection for, generosity to, and patience with their children. This should be particularly true of fathers (Psalm 103:13,Matt 7:9-11, Eph 5:4, Col 3:21, 1 Thes 2:7-12). 

So how can ministers of the gospel help people whose fathers were bad role models?

His 4 Ways:

• First, we recognize that earthly fathers can lie to their children about the nature of fatherhood. 
• Second, we recognize that these false beliefs about fatherhood can hinder a person from trusting the fatherhood of God. 
• Third, we recognize that God's revelation of himself as Father is ultimately the only way to undermine false beliefs about fatherhood. 
• Fourth, we help men to be earthly fathers who reflect their heavenly Father.

Read the whole post to see these fleshed out.

Bad Lip-Reading Interpretation of the First Presidential Debate

I've seen this multiple places, and just had to post. Hysterical.

Rachel Held Evans' "Year of Biblical Womanhood"

There are few bloggers who are as frustrating to read as Rachel Held Evans. Obviously, I disagree with her on complementatiran/egalitarian issues, but I can agree to disagree with people on that issue for the most part (although I take the opportunities to explain why I believe the former to align best with Scripture). You can be a Christian and think egalitarianism is right.

The issues with Evans are much deeper than that. Despite somehow claiming to be an evangelical, she basically denies everything that would historically define an evangelical. At the center of this is her denial of the "Bible’s exclusive authority, inerrancy, perspicuity, and internal consistency." Essentially, it is just another book that contains some good and some bad things, and it's up to us to decide which parts are which.

I haven't read Evans' new book, "A Year of Biblical Womanhood," but based on some of the reviews I've been seeing and the videos she's put on her blog (which amazed me for it's lack of basic canonical understanding), it's obvious that the book is not really about gender issues; it's about the Bible. Whether intentionally or not, she's simply mocking the Bible.

Trillia Newbell has written a review of the book over at Desiring God and comes to this conclusion as well. You can read the whole review (and you should), but here's the final take:

Through this book it seems Evans is trying to “reach” women like me, who take the Bible seriously and believe God is honored through his design for complementary roles in marriage and the church. But I fear she will actually have the greatest impact on those who are already sympathetic to her undermining of the truthfulness and sufficiency and relevance of the Bible, those who are already suspicious of Christianity, and who are already prone to deny that God has designed a special and beautiful role for women in marriage. This is a book that will reinforce the views of non-Christian men and women who seek validation for thinking Christians are foolish for following the Bible closely. 

In this book Evans is trying to build a bridge, but I wonder if it is not rather a comfortable bridge for shaky evangelicals to find their way into theological liberalism. This book is not ultimately about manhood and womanhood, headship and submission, or the complementarian and egalitarian debate. At its root this book questions the validity of the Bible. And denying the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture is a denial that will ultimately erode the gospel of our Savior. 

For this reason, along with many others, and with a very heavy heart, I cannot celebrate the upcoming release of this book.

Music Video of the Week: The Lumineers

The Lumineers - "Ho Hey"

"Finding the Church That Will Prescribe Vicodin"

Russell Moore:

Law enforcement officials use the term “doctor shopping” to refer to the way those addicted to prescription pain medications seek to avert accountability. If you go to your doctor to ask for Vicodin, and your physician refuses to prescribe it, you are doctor shopping if you then seek out multiple doctors until you find the one who will prescribe the Vicodin. Sometimes an addict will have multiple doctors going at once, all prescribing different medicines, often those that are dangerous to mix. I’ve noticed the same thing going on when it comes to church accountability. 

The truth is, there’s a certain type of personality that doesn’t want accountability, but affirmation. If one wants to divorce someone one shouldn’t divorce or marry someone one shouldn’t marry or do something one shouldn’t do, he seeks out a pastor’s “accountability.” When the pastor tells him the opposite of what he wants to hear, he leaves and goes to find a pastor or counselor who will. And this goes on and on. 

This isn’t being shepherded. It’s the same old autonomy of the self, that first manifests itself in the life-cycle of a child saying, “But Dad said it was okay…” except now grown up into something with a far more malevolent motive and a far more dangerous outcome. 

Sadly, there are too many ministers of the gospel out there willing to empower this sort of behavior. 

Read the rest.

Paul Tripp's New Book - "Dangerous Calling"

Looks like a fantastic book:

Dangerous Calling from Paul Tripp Ministries on Vimeo.

Thabiti Anyabwile Weighs in on "Precious Puritans"

From The Gospel Coalition:

The Puritans are not so precious that they’re beyond criticism. We ought not be reduced to Gollums, defending our “precious” at any cost. Instead, we ought to observe how our “precious” actually emaciates our souls and our understanding. And we ought to see that we become what we worship. In the final analysis, just as in the final verse of the song, we’re not that different from the Puritans. It’s no small thing that we’re just as crooked. We’re just as full of contradiction and partial sight. And God uses us for His glory even when we can’t see all that we should. Praise His name! 

The full analysis is really good and full of helpful insights and a summary of the whole ordeal. Totally worth the read.

What the Bible Says About Governments

Some good reminders in this election season from Tim Challies:

1. Every government is put in place by God. 
2. God uses even sinful governments to do his will. 
3. We ought to pray for those who govern us. 
4. We should honor and submit to those who govern us. 
5. All human governments will eventually end and Jesus will reign over everyone forever. 

 Read the whole post to see the biblical support for each point.

Music Video of the Week: Propaganda

Propaganda - "Excellent"