Kevin DeYoung: Not Even a Hint

Kevin DeYoung:

It’s one thing to describe evil or even depict it. I’d never suggest that good writing or film making must avoid the subject of sin. There are many thoughtful, tasteful movies, television shows, plays, musicals, and books out there—and the good ones usually deal with sin. Sin by itself is not the problem. The Bible is full of rank immorality. It would be simplistic and morally untenable—even unbiblical—to suggest you cannot watch sin or read about sin without sinning yourself. But the Bible never titil­lates with its description of sin. It never paints vice with virtue’s colors. It does not entertain with evil (unless to mock it). The Bible does not dull the conscience by making sin look normal and righteousness look strange. And there are no pictures of plunging necklines. 

We have to take a hard look at the things we choose to put in front of our faces. If there was a couple engaged in sexual activ­ity on a couch in front of you, would you pull up a seat to watch? No, that would be perverse, voyeuristic. So why is it different when people recorded it first and then you watch? What if a good-look­ing guy or girl, barely dressed, came up to you on the beach and said, “Why don’t you sit on your towel right here and stare at me for awhile?” Would you do it? No, that would be creepy. Why is it acceptable, then, when the same images are blown up the size of a three-story building? 

If we’re honest, we often seek exposure to sexual immoral­ity and temptations to impurity and call it “innocent” relaxation. Commenting on Ephesians 5:3, Peter O’Brien observes that, as Christians, we should not only shun all forms of sexual immo­rality, we should “avoid thinking and talking about them.”  Even our jesting should be pure, lest we show “a dirty mind express­ing itself in vulgar conversation.” If, as O’Brien remarks, “talking and thinking about sexual sins ‘creates an atmosphere in which they are tolerated and which can . . . promote their practice,’” how can we justify paying money to see, taste, and laugh at sex­ual sin? How can we stare at sensuality which aims to amuse and arouse and weaken our conscience and deaden our sense of spiri­tual things (even if it is on ordinary cable or only rated PG-13)? We must consider the possibility that much of what churchgoing people do to unwind would not pass muster for the apostle Paul. Not to mention God.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech - Some Things You Should Know

Joe Carter's post, "9 Things You Should Know About the March on Washington," is quite fascinating, especially point 8 (Al Mohler mentioned the same thing on The Briefing this morning):

8. King improvised the most recognizable, memorable part of the speech that he is most famous for, according to his speechwriter and attorney Clarence B. Jones. Although King had spoken about a dream before two months earlier in Detroit, the "dream" was not in the text prepared by Jones. King initially followed the text Jones had written but gospel singer Mahalia Jackson yelled, "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!" King nodded to her, placed the text of his speech aside, and veered off-script, delivering extemporaneously what is one of the most famous orations in American history.

Music Video of the Week: Beautiful Eulogy

Beautiful Eulogy - "Vital Lens"

Alistair Begg: Knowing versus Feeling in Worship

Al Mohler: "Don't Just Stand There - Say Something"

I had the privilege of hearing this in chapel at SBTS yesterday. It was fantastic. I'm honored to go to a school with these values and with this leadership in place.

Don't Just Stand There - Say Something: The Sin of Silence in a Time of Trouble from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

Jeff Bezos on PowerPoint and Writing

Thought this article from Philanthropy Daily was pretty interesting.

You’ve been there too-—the really, truly awful PowerPoint presentation that makes you want to run screaming from the room. 

More than a decade ago, it was estimated that 30 million PowerPoint presentations were given each day—the number must be much higher today. Just think of how many millions of hours are spent every day sitting through truly terrible PowerPoint presentations. 

So it’s noteworthy that Amazon founder—and new Washington Post owner­­—Jeff Bezos’ proscribes PowerPoint presentations at Amazon. 

Bezos instead requires that employees compose 6-page narrative memos, and he starts meetings with quiet reading periods—“study halls”—in which everyone reads the memo from beginning to end. 

So the company that is devoted to helping customers do things quick-quick-quick—“1-click ordering,” same-day delivery, the instant download—creates an environment where employees take the time to write and think slowly. 

If you know you must write six pages—and that others will publicly read and discuss it—you’ll take the time to do it as well as you can. 

Composing six well-crafted pages requires thought—not just a list of topics and disjointed points but the development of an argument.

A Tantrum for My Transformation

Christina Fox:

Some days I wake up and nothing seems to go right. 

The alarm fails to sound. The kids are slow to get ready. The fridge is empty of milk (after I set the table with bowls of cereal). And then the route to an appointment is filled with red lights. Soon I find myself stuck for an hour in a tiny exam room, waiting for the doctor to show up while my boys bounce off the walls. After the appointment, we stop at the grocery store on the way home (for the milk) and the boys act like wild animals broke free from a zoo. My heart sighs and I wish I could just rewind time and start the day all over... 

...Instead of despairing over the seemingly random and chaotic events in my life, I can view them in light of his sovereign care. When my days are long and everything seems to go wrong, I know it has all happened for a reason. In fact, all of my parenting challenges are used for my spiritual good — they are to make me more like Christ (Romans 8:28–29). This is what God is about.

Music Video of the Week: Shane and Shane (ft. John Piper)

Shane and Shane (ft. John Piper) - "Though You Slay Me"

“Though You Slay Me” (featuring John Piper) from Desiring God on Vimeo.

Why We Really Sleep In

Tony Reinke:

Recent studies say hitting the snooze button is bad for our bodies. But studies won’t get us out of bed. 

Elise Snickers was a college student pursuing a career in a psychology when she wrote a letter to 54-year-old C.S. Lewis to ask the question: Can personal sin be avoided — or “cured” — by proving to a patient the un-reasonableness of the sin? In other words, can a discovery of the stupidity of a sin be its cure? 

In his response, Lewis used two examples to make his point, beginning with why we sleep in late: 

A man’s reason sees perfectly clearly that the resulting discomfort and inconvenience will far outweigh the pleasure of the ten minutes in bed. Yet he stays in bed: not at all because his reason is deceived but because desire is stronger than reason.  

A woman knows that the sharp ‘last word’ in an argument will produce a serious quarrel which was the very thing she had intended to avoid when that argument began and which may permanently destroy her happiness. Yet she says it: not at all because her reason is deceived but because the desire to score a point is at the moment stronger than her reason.  

People — you and I among them — constantly choose between two courses of action the one which we know to be the worse: because, at the moment, we prefer the gratification of our anger, lust, sloth, greed, vanity, curiosity or cowardice, not only to the known will of God but even to what we know will make for our own real comfort and security. If you don’t recognize this, then I must solemnly assure you that either you are an angel, or else are still living in a fool’s paradise: a world of illusion. (Letters, 3:330) 

Sins like sloth and rage are, of course, always stupid (Psalm 69:5), always unreasonable, always boneheaded mistakes. But is the expression of sin merely faulty reasoning in need of re-education? Lewis’s answer to the question is clearly “no” — sin erupts out of the molten hot desires and affections churning in the core of our being. 

Scientists can explain why hitting the snooze button is bad for our bodies. But we are not creatures merely driven by mere reason, we are creatures driven by the desire to gratify desires. Which of course means the life of holiness must be profoundly rooted in newdesires and new longings.

Tim Challies on Heath Lambert's New Book: Finally Free

Challies:

Unless you have been deliberately avoiding any discussion of contemporary issues, you must know that pornography is one of the major challenges to the church today. Carl Trueman is not exaggerating when he says “Internet pornography is probably the number one pastoral problem in the world today” and when he speculates that it is set to become an even greater concern in the days to come. Perhaps you, like me, are growing a little weary of hearing about it and reading about it. Yet as long as Christians continue to succumb to pornography, as long as it remains so great a concern, we need to keep up our efforts to address it and to lead people out of its captivity. We simply cannot allow ourselves to grow lazy or complacent. 

A new weapon in our arsenal, and perhaps the strongest one yet, is Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace by Heath Lambert. Lambert is Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Boyce College. He also regularly teaches at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and serves as the Pastor of Biblical Living at Crossing Church in Louisville, Kentucky. In each of those positions he has had opportunity to see this monster close-up and to lead hundreds of people through and past their commitment or addiction to pornography. 

This is a book that approaches an ugly topic with dignity. Lambert does not crack dirty jokes or tiptoe to the edge of good taste and salacious detail. It is not really a book about pornography at all. Rather, its emphasis is “the amazing power of Jesus Christ to free you from pornography.” In the early pages Lambert explains his purpose and offers encouragement: “In this book, I want to share with you the amazing depth and effect of Christ’s power to eradicate pornography from your life. Whether you struggle with pornography yourself or are trying to help someone who struggles, I have good news for you: no matter how intense or long-standing the struggle, it is the work of Jesus Christ to set people free from such sin.”

Music Video of the Week: Green River Ordinance

Green River Ordinance - "Heart of Me"

3 New Albums I've Been Enjoying This Week

1. The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars

2. Stephen Miller - All Hail the King



3. Sovereign Grace Music - Grace Has Come: Songs from the Book of Romans

Tom Schreiner on the Importance of Obedience and The Nature of the Bible's Indicatives and Imperatives

I have been reading Tom Schreiner's new book during my devotions, The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. It is a treasure trove of Biblical knowledge and insight, laying out the Bible's big storyline while letting each book or section of Scripture speak on its own terms. It's one of the best books I've ever read, honestly.

In his chapter on the theology of Paul, he discusses the importance of obedience, the nature of Paul's indicatives (what has been done for us and who we now are) and imperatives (commands), and the impact of the already-but-not-yet nature of the kingdom. I found this discussion immensely helpful.

Another illustration of the indicative and imperative occurs in Rom. 6. Believers have died to sin in baptism, for they have died with Christ and will be raised with him. Because they are united with Christ, they share his victory over sin and death. The "old person" (Rom. 6), the old Adam, has been crucified with Christ, who is the new person (Eph. 2:15). Sin's tyranny and dominion have been dethroned. Believers have a new Lord and a new king, and sin is no longer the master, since they are united with Christ. The indicative is that believers have died to sin, and the power of the resurrection is now theirs. The death of the old person in Adam matches what Paul teaches in Colossians. Believers "have put off the old self with its practices" (Col. 3:9), and they have put on the new person (Col. 3:10). 

And yet Paul commands believers "to put off your old self" (Eph. 4:22) and "to put on the new self" (Eph. 4:24). The old person has been crucified with Christ, and yet the old self must still be put off. Thus, believers are "to put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 13:14). Perhaps we see a hint in Colossians of the tension between the old and new person, for even though believers have put on the new person, there is a process of renewal in the image of the creator (Col. 3:10). As we saw in Rom. 6:1-10, believers have died to sin, but they must count themselves as "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6:11). They must not let sin "reign" in their bodies or "obey its passions" (Rom. 6:12). They must give their members to God (Rom. 6:13). If they present their members to sin, they will face eternal death (Rom. 6:16, 23). The threat in the imperative is quite remarkable. Obedience is not optional. Those who give themselves over to sin will not enjoy eternal life. Once again, the imperative stands forth in all its starkness, showing that the new life of believers is no abstraction. And yet the imperative is grounded in and even secured by the indicative. After the stirring commands in Rom. 6:11-13, we read in 6:14, "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace." This is not a command; it is a promise. On the one hand, believers are exhorted to pursue obedience lest they die; on the other hand, they are promised that they will not surrender to evil, for the grace that has captured them will triumph... 

...The kingdom has come, and believers must live under the rule of their king. Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit empowers and transforms Christians so that they are enabled to please God. Paul does not teach perfectionism. The "already but not yet" persists. There is a tension between the indicative and the imperative. The indicative reflects what God has accomplished for believers in Christ; the imperative call upon believers to live upon the basis of the indicative. They are to be what they are. They are to be now what they will be on the last day. The last days have arrived. Believers are no longer under the Torah, for the Mosaic law was temporary and never was intended to be permanent. The new covenant, now present on the basis of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is marked by the gift of the Holy Spirit. believer are to follow the law of Christ and are to love as Christ did. Obeying the moral norms that reflect God's character should mark their lives, as they live in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. 

Tom Schreiner, The King in His Beauty, pages 566-7, 571

An American Football Coach in London

This is hilarious.

Best line: "Ties, and no playoffs. Why do y'all even do this?" Classic.



HT: 22 Words

A Prayer of Confession for our Speech

Our pastor, Tom Schreiner, preached from Proverbs 15 on "Wisdom in Speech" yesterday (should be up here soon). It was absolutely fantastic and convicting, aimed right at my heart. 

Earlier in worship, we recited this corporate prayer written by the late Chip Stam, which I thought was very profound:

Most gracious God, our faithful Father, we are impatient, irritable and annoyed. We are consumed with having it all, having our way, and having our way all the time. We are so slow to listen and too quick to speak, react and be angry. Ours is not a forgiving and long-suffering spirit. We are often short-fused with others and unwilling to bear with them, especially when they do not share our agenda, our priorities or our timetable. We praise you in one breath, and in the next we snap in anger and contempt. More than this, we have shown contempt for the riches of your kindness and patience by forgetting the infinite patience you have displayed toward us in Jesus. 

Lord, have mercy upon us and forgive us. Give us that long and enduring obedience that travels with Christ. By the power of your gospel, strengthen us according to your glorious might so that we may have great endurance and patience, joyfully bearing with all those you bring into our lives. Clothe us with the compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience of our Lord and Savior. We ask this for our good and for his name. Amen.

Music Video of the Week: Derek Webb

Derek Webb - "Everything Will Change"

Some Serious Dubstep Dancing Skills

Love this style of dancing, especially the ridiculous slow-motion moves...in reverse no less. Awesome stuff.



HT: Stephen Altrogge