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A La Carte (5/28)
- 05/28/09
- 11
Preaching Curriculum
Biblical Preaching looks to a book called “Explosive Preaching, where the author describes the one-year curriculum he helped to design for a house-church movement in China. The radical design is worth sharing, not only for those who share my fascination with things academic, but for all of us as a good nudge in our level of preparation for preaching.” It’s quite an amazing curriculum.
10 People a Pastor Should Fear
This one should be filed primarily as entertainment, but there is still some good to glean from it.
When Medicine and Faith Collide
Dr. Mohler does here what he does so well—bring Scripture and plain reason to bear on an important cultural issue. “Recent cases involving parents who claim a religious reason to refuse medical treatment for children have cast this issue back into the Public Square — and right into the headlines.”
The Blessing of Unanswered Prayer
“My disappointment and doubt when my prayers are unanswered show what’s in my heart. I think that God should see things my way. I think that he exists to make my path smooth. But where in the Bible am I given such a small view of God—a God whose thoughts are, well, my thoughts (Isa 55:8-9)? Where am I promised that every stone and bump in the road will be levelled before my feet?”
Is Democracy Good for Christianity?
John MacArthur, through an old Q&A session, answers this one. “Having absorbed the world’s values, Christianity in our society is now dying. Subtly but surely worldliness and self-indulgence are eating away the heart of the church. The gospel we proclaim is so convoluted that it offers believing in Christ as nothing more than a means to contentment and prosperity. The offense of the cross (cf. Gal. 5:11) has been systematically removed so that the message might be made more acceptable to unbelievers. The church somehow got the idea it could declare peace with the enemies of God.”
Biblical Preaching looks to a book called “Explosive Preaching, where the author describes the one-year curriculum he helped to design for a house-church movement in China. The radical design is worth sharing, not only for those who share my fascination with things academic, but for all of us as a good nudge in our level of preparation for preaching.” It’s quite an amazing curriculum.
10 People a Pastor Should Fear
This one should be filed primarily as entertainment, but there is still some good to glean from it.
When Medicine and Faith Collide
Dr. Mohler does here what he does so well—bring Scripture and plain reason to bear on an important cultural issue. “Recent cases involving parents who claim a religious reason to refuse medical treatment for children have cast this issue back into the Public Square — and right into the headlines.”
The Blessing of Unanswered Prayer
“My disappointment and doubt when my prayers are unanswered show what’s in my heart. I think that God should see things my way. I think that he exists to make my path smooth. But where in the Bible am I given such a small view of God—a God whose thoughts are, well, my thoughts (Isa 55:8-9)? Where am I promised that every stone and bump in the road will be levelled before my feet?”
Is Democracy Good for Christianity?
John MacArthur, through an old Q&A session, answers this one. “Having absorbed the world’s values, Christianity in our society is now dying. Subtly but surely worldliness and self-indulgence are eating away the heart of the church. The gospel we proclaim is so convoluted that it offers believing in Christ as nothing more than a means to contentment and prosperity. The offense of the cross (cf. Gal. 5:11) has been systematically removed so that the message might be made more acceptable to unbelievers. The church somehow got the idea it could declare peace with the enemies of God.”
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (11)
Only a non-pastor would list the “ten things to fear” under “entertainment”.
What I see more often than parents denying care to their children on the basis of “faith healing” is parents declining the treatment prescribed by the “medical establishment” (which is typically viewed as corrupt and self-serving) in favor of various alternative treatments.
Vaccination is one example, though it doesn’t involve alternative treatment. The crux of the issue is that, sometimes, a parent may disagree with “conventional medical wisdom”. When there is such a disagreement, someone (e.g. a court) may need to decide whether the parent’s decisions are severe enough to be considered to infringe on the child’s right to “adequate medical care”.
Re: MacArthur:
It strikes me that in addition to the watering down of the gospel, U.S. believers’ attempts to impose morality on the citizenry via legal means has done a lot to damage the message of the cross. In the minds of many, Christians are “those guys who want to keep me from doing X or Y”.
Tim, thanks for the link.
Ken, Amen. :-)
Mohler’s piece was helpful and even-handed. Thanks, Tim.
While I appreciate Dr. Mohler on many issues, I didn’t see him actually “bring Scripture” to this particular issue of objecting to medical treatment. He brought biblically-informed wisdom which I heartily agree with, but, he didn’t actually exegete Scripture that I could see.
Now to be clear, I’m not anything close to being in the class of Dr. Mohler,. But, in case you might be left with the same impression and wanting some biblical support for his assertions, I would encourage folks to look at 1 Timothy 5:23. It is possible that Dr. Mohler omitted this text for the sake of the weaker brothers in his circles, and I would give him more than the benefit of the doubt on this. In 1 Timothy 5:23 Paul clearly instructs Timothy to take a medication of the day (wine) for his stomach. The use of medication is also confessionally consistent (if such things matter to you) with the LBCF/WCF chapter 5 paragraph 2 on secondary causes - i.e. the Lord works through means.SDG
I just finished reading this book. J.B. is a great author and this is a great book. If you and I live by what’s written here we all will greatly and magnificently benefit. May Jesus Christ the Lord get all the praise and glory forever.
I just finished reading this book. J.B. is a great author and this is a great book. If you and I live by what’s written here we all will greatly and magnificently benefit. May Jesus Christ the Lord get all the praise and glory forever.
JPHI sympathize with your comments on Mohler. Who defines “legitimate medical practices”? Society? The medical establishment? I just fear that illegitimate, even immoral, “medical” prescriptions will some day be forced on a child regardless of the family’s conscience.
JPHI sympathize with your comments on Mohler. Who defines “legitimate medical practices”? Society? The medical establishment? I just fear that illegitimate, even immoral, “medical” prescriptions will some day be forced on a child regardless of the family’s conscience.
As with any matter of biblical faithfulness, the question of “how do you define” is a matter of God-given wisdom. The point is, if you deem a treatment legitimate, then it is not unbiblical to seek it. Mohler isn’t so much interested in slicing up what’s legitimate and not (in this article) but in debunking the false notion that seeking medical treatment is unbiblical because it is not rooted in faith. A believer can seek God’s wisdom for whether a course of treatment is legitimate or not, and then in faith and good conscience use it.
“The point is, if you deem a treatment legitimate, then it is not unbiblical to seek it.”
I’m not sure it’s as simple as that, given some of the nutty things people consider to be valid medical treatments.
If my kid breaks his arm and I decide, as his parent, that the right treatment is to “rub some vinegar on it”, is that my prerogative? Or should the state intervene and ensure that the child receives “proper” medical treatment?
Or for a more realistic example, suppose my kid has cancer and I decide to try some sort of herbal remedy instead of chemotherapy. Is that my prerogative? Or am I guilty of medical neglect?
Those are the tough questions.