December 2004 Archive

2004 - The Year In Review (12/31/04 - 0 Comments)
I am in a pensive mood today. I spent some wonderful time with the Lord this morning, just basking in His presence in a meaningful time of personal worship. Some days I can sit for an hour or two hours, reading and praying but getting nothing out of it. I allow my mind to wander and find myself wishing I was doing something else - anything else - other than spending time with God. Other days I just delight in His presence and have an awesome time of just resting in Him. Today was one of those days. How I wish I could spend time with Him that way every day. I am rational enough to know that I am the only one standing in the way of that happening.

After spending time with God I spent some more time thinking about the year that was. (In case you are wondering where I found all this time, I took the day off). Nine hours from now the clock will strike midnight and another year will be behind me. Already I can feel 2005 breathing down my neck. But on the whole I think 2004 was a good year, perhaps even a banner year.

Book Review - A Generous Orthodoxy (12/30/04 - 0 Comments)
In this article I will be reviewing Brian McLaren's book A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN, known hereafter simply as A Generous Orthodoxy. This is going to be quite a long book review - probably the longest I have written. To spare you having to read the full text if you are not so-inclined, I will ruin any sense of expectation by giving in advance my general impressions of this book. In short, it is awful. I consider it, in terms of content, one of the worst I have ever read and it stands as damning evidence of what passes for Christian reading in our day. Though it was easy to read, and even enjoyable at times, throughout the text Brian McLaren has consistently, deliberately and systematically dismantled historical Protestantism. From Sola Scriptura to hell to biblical inerrancy, nothing is sacred. At this point, those who are devotees of McLaren, The Emergent Church and post-modernism, will no doubt already have felt their blood boil and will be ready for a fight. I would encourage those people to keep reading. Those who are more traditional Christians will be grappling with an all-too-familiar feeling that this book represents yet another attack on the faith. And that is exactly what this book is. The remainder of this review will concern itself with showing how this book does away with biblical faith, replacing it with something far less godly and far more human. In short, something that is simply not Christianity.

It is difficult to critique the writing of people like McLaren because discerning what they actually believe is far more difficult than finding what they do not believe. Settling on those beliefs is akin to nailing Jello to the wall - it is a near impossible task as the Jello has no consistent form or shape, always changing, always conforming to what contains it. We are often left to read between the lines, interpreting what the author believes in light of what he rejects.

One has to become accustomed to McLaren's rather odd style of writing. He is able author who writes in a conversational tone, continually pokes fun at himself, uses many long sentences and, by his own admission, uses parentheses far too often.

In Deep (12/29/04 - 0 Comments)
This morning I began writing my review of Brian McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy. As of 3:45 PM I am several hours in, but not near enough finished to seriously think I will be able to post it today. There go my plans for the day! I have written most of it, but now need to go back and edit it, clean up the introduction, and attempt to write a charitable conclusion.

It is a difficult thing to read a book, written by one who claims to be a believer, treasured by many more who are definitely believers, but so contradictory to the faith. I have not yet decided how I will handle this. Do I just say what I believe and indicate that McLaren's writings are heretical and thus he is a heretic? Would I be uncharitable to label him in this way or would it be a greater sin to pretend he is not? I believe this review will be ready by many and will likely generate some discussion. If my articles on the labyrinth are any indication, the discussion will not be all positive.

Brian McLaren's TULIP (12/28/04 - 0 Comments)
Brian McLaren seems to enjoy controversy. Actually, it would seem from his books that he even likes controversy merely for the sake of controversy. Like the boys in days of old who used to sneak out of church, go into the adjoining outhouse and stir up the "pot" just to create a stink, so it seems McLaren likes to make trouble. He does this in a nice way, accompanied to all sorts of disclaimers and warnings, but at the end of the day, that seems to be his clear intent. He seems to view his job as being the one to ask questions, sometimes even outrageous ones, but never to answer them - a definitively postmodern attitude.

His theology (or lack thereof) is difficult to nail down, mostly because, as I indicated, he prefers asking questions to answering them, but seems to be a fusion of the New Perspective on Paul, Mysticism, Inclusivism, Open Theism and humanism. While he operates under the guise of a teacher of the Bible, in reality it seems he teaches mostly human wisdom with just the occasional reference to Jesus or the Bible. He is a student of every branch of Christianity and, in reality, of all religion and human experience, trying to draw and absorb what he likes while rejecting what he does not.

In his latest book, A Generous Orthodoxy McLaren tells his audience why he is a "Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN." He goes through each of these topics, showing what he has learned from each, which aspects of each he has integrated with his faith and why he considers himself an adherent to all of them. In other words, he makes up his faith as he goes along, much like someone might choose a meal from a buffet line...

Book Review - Led By The Spirit (12/27/04 - 0 Comments)
Led By The Spirit by Jim Elliff is a short, but well-argued, satisfying and scriptural examination of how a believer can know and understand the will of God. It is also practical, having been based on the author's own experience in being what he refers to as an illuminist - a person who, when confronted by difficult decisions in life, seeks guidance from God by getting a series of impressions which he believes come as God directly impacts the spirit. This belief is taught by most evangelical leaders today, though perhaps the most notable of these is Richard Blackaby in his book Experiencing God. While Elliff does not rule out such forms of communication altogether, he does teach that there is no reason to believe that such means of communication are normative for Christians today. These types of communication are inherently subjective, meaning that there can always be an element of doubt in the recipients mind about whether he really heard God's voice or merely his own mind. A quote from George Whitefield is helpful to understand this: "God may use the sincere individual who gets his guidance the illuminist's way. He may bless him. He may honour his faith more than his method. I am quite sure that God always condescends to our imperfections. And if there is immaturity, we must realize that God will often use in our zealous immaturity what he disallows in our maturity...The Great Awakening preacher, George Whitefield (1714-1770), who had such tendencies in his earlier days, later commented, "I am a man of like passions with others, and consequently may have sometimes mistaken nature for grace, imagination for revelation." He put away his illuministic patterns as he grew in Christ. Yet, it is important to note that he was used in those earlier days just as dramatically as in later life." (page 35)

Condescending to Imperfection (12/26/04 - 0 Comments)

In his small but powerful book Led By The Spirit, Jim Elliff describes Christians he terms "illuminists" - people who, when confronted by difficult decisions in life, seek guidance from God by getting a series of impressions which they believes come as God directly impacts the spirit. This term is not to be confused with illumination, which is the Spirit's work of illuminating the words of Scripture to believers. The author used to practice this kind of decision-making so knows it well.

Here is a short quote from the book that I found very meaningful:

God may use the sincere individual who gets his guidance the illuminist's way. He may bless him. He may honour his faith more than his method. I am quite sure that God always condescends to our imperfections. And if there is immaturity, we must realize that God will often use in our zealous immaturity what he disallows in our maturity.

The Great Awakening preacher, George Whitefield (1714-1770), who had such tendencies in his earlier days, later commented, "I am a man of like passions with others, and consequently may have sometimes mistaken nature for grace, imagination for revelation." He put away his illuministic patterns as he grew in Christ. Yet, it is important to note that he was used in those earlier days just as dramatically as in later life.

Merry Christmas (12/25/04 - 0 Comments)
I woke up this morning to find my site showing nothing but error messages. I called technical support and they told me that they are doing maintenance today and things should be up and running later this morning. You see, this is why I use iPowerweb. I called on Christmas morning and got a support rep on the first ring. Anyways, things should be back to normal later today. If you can see this and everything looks normal, it is safe to assume they have fixed the problems. I'm off gorging myself with turkey and stuffing and other stuff.

Headlines (December 24) (12/24/04 - 0 Comments)
I thought for today, just to be different, I would grab headlines only from other blogs.

Canada's Homosexual Marriage Ruling - My friend Leslie, who is a lawyer, decided to tackle the Canadian Supreme Court's "opinion" on homosexual marriage. With her legal mind she can read out of the document things that most of us probably missed altogether. Part one of her analysis is here with part two coming later.

The Apologist's Verse - Every apologist knows 1 Peter 3:15 which reads (in the NASB), "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always [being] ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;"...

The First Thing Every Christian Needs To Know (Part 2) (12/23/04 - 0 Comments)

This is the third article in the series "Five Things Every Christian Needs To Know." Yesterday we examined the doctrine of Sola Scriptura or Scripture Alone. We saw that the first thing every Christian needs to know is that the Bible alone is the infallible rule of faith for the church. We further defined the doctrine, saw why it was known as the formal principle of the Reformation and examined what Scripture says about Scripture. Today we will examine the practical implications of this doctrine.

It seems that most Christians go through their lives feeling some measure of guilt that they do not love the Bible more. So often we take time to do devotions out of guilt and not because we truly desire to study the Word, learn about God and have Him challenge us. More often, perhaps, we do not read the Bible at all. In the past men and women have died to defend our right to read the Scriptures and even today people are dying for their devotion to the Word. Many more would give all they have for the ability to feed on the Words of God, yet so often we who have unlimited access to the Bible see it as a burden and not a delight. Ben Merkle wrote critically of today's Christians when he said:

Headlines (December 23) (12/23/04 - 0 Comments)

The Tiniest Baby - No baby as tiny as 8.6 ounces had ever survived before Rumaisa Rahman was born Sept. 19. Rumaisa was delivered by Caesarean section, along with her twin sister, at just 26 weeks. Remarkably, she was free of collapsed lungs, pneumonia and other complications usually associated with such an extremely premature birth. If she survives, and at this point it is likely that she will, she will be the smallest baby in history who has done so. Rumaisa is expected to go home to Hanover Park during the first week of January. Her fraternal sister, Hiba, is scheduled to go home next week. You can read the story here.

Snow Day - We are in the midst of a major snowstorm here. I took a peek outside and it seems we have already had a good 10 or 15 centimeters of snow and are expecting at least that amount again by this afternoon.

The First Thing Every Christian Needs To Know (12/22/04 - 0 Comments)
In the first article of this series I indicated that there are five things every Christian needs to know. These five things are distinctives which divide Christianity from every other religion. Further, they divide true Christianity, Protestantism, from Catholicism and cults and all other attempts to combine the wisdom of men with the wisdom of God. Today we will turn to the first of these five important points.

Here is the first thing every believer needs to know: The Bible alone is the infallible rule of faith for the church. This is known in theological circles as the doctrine of Sola Scriptura or Scripture Alone. This may seem to be quite an obvious doctrine to some, yet I would encourage you to keep reading to examine if you really do believe this, to see how an improper view of this doctrine can taint your walk with Christ, and to learn how a strong view of the Scripture's authority is necessary for a strong and living faith.

Headlines (December 22) (12/22/04 - 0 Comments)
'Tis The Season To Be Surveyed - A national survey of 1100 physicians conducted by HCD Research and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City has found that 74% of doctors believe that miracles have occured in the past and 73% believe they can still occur today. Physicians surveyed crossed all religious and denominational boundaries. "The picture that emerges is one where doctors, although presumably more highly educated than their average patient, are not necessarily more secular or radically different in religious outlook than the public, stated Dr. Alan Mittleman, Director of The Finkelstein Institute." They survey also found that over half regulary attend worship surveys and nearly half believe that prayer is very important to their lives. I have to wonder if these statistics are too vastly different from any cross-section of the American population. You can find more about it here.

What Makes Google Tick? - Every time we need to do a search we just know that Google will be there, waiting patienty to comb the Internet on our behalf. But of course behind that simple, plain little page is some of the most incredible technology known to man...

Church of the Dropouts, Losers, Sinners, Failures And Fools (12/21/04 - 0 Comments)
Road hockey is a Canadian tradition - so much so that we invented the word "shinny" to describe the informal games that are played on driveways, roads and parking lots across the nation. It seems that today's youth generally prefers to play hockey on the PlayStation and it is becoming more and more rare to see panting kids, huffing and puffing up the road with frozen cheeks, frozen noses and missing teeth. But I digress. When I was in grade school I knew that any self-respecting boy had to have a hockey stick at school throughout the duration of the school year. Every recess and lunch break afforded us the opportunity to head outdoors, even if it was just for fifteen or twenty minutes, to play a bit of pick-up hockey. Of course the difficultly always arose that we needed to divide into teams. Now there were two methods of doing this. The first was an egalitarian method where all the sticks were thrown into a pile and a blindfolded person (actually, the blindfold was usually just a "touque" (another Canadian word, this one meaning "hat") pulled over the person's eyes) would divide them into two groups. The group your stick was in defined which team you would play for. The second method was the skill-based method where two captains would be elected and they would pick their teams as they saw fit. Naturally the most-skilled players were picked first and the least-skilled were picked last. While I was never a standout player, it was blessedly rare for me to be the last guy picked. Last guy picked was a position of shame and embarrassment and was reserved only for the most clumsy, least-athletic guy in the class. Of course the least-athletic guy was also considered the class loser. Popularity in grade school was largely determined by one's ability to succeed in sports. Those who simply did not have the coordination and skill to do well in sports ranked at the very bottom of the pecking order.

As I reminisced about my childhood I became profoundly thankful that God didn't use either of these methods to choose a people for Himself. The Bible tells us that God predestined to salvation those who would believe in Him.

Five Things Every Christian Needs To Know (12/21/04 - 0 Comments)

Over a short series of articles, I am going to introduce five things I believe every Christian needs to know. This is not to say that one cannot be saved if from ignorance he does not know these, but that these five things are of foundational importance to the faith. One may be a Christian without knowing them, but one's walk with Christ will be greatly enhanced by understanding, applying and treasuring them. To deny them, however, is to undermine the very bedrock of the faith.

If you have been a Christian for any length of time, and especially if you have been part of a Reformed tradition, you may well know of these five things. While their origin is the Bible, they were not formulated as doctrines until the time of the Protestant Reformation. This is often the way God has revealed truths about Himself. For example, the doctrine of the Trinity was not formulated until several hundred years after the death of Christ, though it was clearly revealted in the Bible all along. For the Reformers these five things defined what it meant to be a Protestant. The Roman Catholic Church could not and still cannot abide by these five things and has declared them to be anathema - false doctrines. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons along with other cultic groups cannot hold to them. These five things define Protestantism, even crossing the boundaries between Calvinism and Arminianism, and hence define a biblical view of the Christian faith.

Headlines (December 21) (12/21/04 - 0 Comments)
News Trends of 2004 - James Jewell, author of the Rooftop Blog has compiled a list of what he considers to be the top news trends among Christians of this past year. It begins with and obvious and most-contentious one - The Passion of the Christ - and closes with another that has generated its share of controversy this year - the faith of George W Bush. Here is his complete list:

1. The Passion of the Christ: The Movie
2. Islam’s War on Christianity
3. Evangelical Political Muscle
4. Same-Sex Marriage Set-backs
5. Crisis in Catholicism
6. Mainstreaming of Christian Books
7. New Media Sources for Conservative Christians
8. DeChristmasizing of America
9. The Ideological Alignment of the Church
10. The Personal Faith and Integrity of President Bush

You can read about how he came up with this list as well as an explanation of each headline by reading the article.

Basilica Bar - St Peter's Basilica now has its own rooftop coffee bar. Though it opened several months ago, its existence has only just become public. "Located on the terrace at the base of the cupola designed by Michelangelo, it commands a breathtaking view of St Peter's Square all the way to the Tiber River and beyond.

Biblical Methods of Criticism (12/20/04 - 0 Comments)

This post has been prompted by Saturday's post regarding IX Marks Ministries and their review of the teachings of Rick Warren, as summarized and popularized in his books, The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life and his program 40 Days of Purpose. We live in a very non-judgmental age. The first rule of the postmodern mindset is that "what is good for you is good for you, what is good for me is good for me." Absolutes are out, relative values are the rule of the day. Even Christians have slipped into this mindset and constantly quote Jesus' words that we should "judge not lest we be judged." This verse is often quoted without any view to its proper meaning, but instead is seen as a blanket statement that we are not to pass judgment on what other believers do, think or believe.

As they released their reviews of all things Purpose-Driven, IX Marks included a letter than outlined why they felt they needed to do this. I would like to examine this a little bit, not as it deals with Warren in particular, but how it deals with any issue relevant to Christians. I find it an excellent example of how to properly approach the criticism of another believer.

Headlines (December 20) (12/20/04 - 0 Comments)
47 Years For Reading The Bible - That is the very unlikely worst-case scenario for some protestors at a gay pride event in Philadelphia. Four people were arrested for reading the Bible out loud at the event, focusing, of course, on passages that condemn homosexuality. After homosexual activists became irate, city officials told the protestors to move. "City officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the video did not show the start of the confrontation, when they said Marcavage tried to interrupt an onstage performance with his preaching and then disobeyed a police order to move to the perimeter of the "block party" to avoid the potential for violence..."They were not prohibited from preaching," said Karen Brancheau, a lawyer for the district attorney's office. "A reasonable request was made to prevent a situation from becoming dangerous to their own safety, as well as the safety of the participants."" The four protestors face several charges - criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation and riot and five misdemeanor charges. It's hard to know how to react to this. The protestors should have obeyed the officials who told them to move. Then again, it is a scary thought that they could face serious charges based on reading the Scriptures. You can get the story here.

Low Carb Craze Over? - It seems that the low-carb craze as popularized by Robert Atkins may be coming to an end. Thankfully. In February of 2004 9.1 percent of Americans were on a low-carb diet, but by November that number is down to 4.9 percent...

Sunday Ramblings (12/19/04 - 0 Comments)
It has been quite a while since I have taken the time to do a ramblings article on this site. I guess some could argue that rambling is all I ever do, but that would just leave me feeling all depressed and defensive.

As I write this my children are behind me trying to figure out just who or what Santa Claus is. There seems to be some confusion as to whether he is real or fake and just what his relationship is to God. "Can God see me whatever I do?" "Yes" says mom. "Can Santa Claus?" "He's not real" says mom. "Yeah, but can he see me?" No matter how often we tell them that he isn't real they just don't quite seem to understand it. They keep getting mixed messages from the media and advertising and their friends and their parents. I suppose sooner or later they will figure it out - I just hope they learn to differentiate between a real God and a fake Santa.

IX Marks Takes On Purpose Driven (12/18/04 - 0 Comments)
IX Marks Ministries has decided to focus on Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven ministries in this month's newsletter. As part of their focus they have posted in-depth reviews of The Purpose Driven Church, The Purpose Driven Life and 40 Days of Purpose. I have deep respect for IX Marks Ministries and have been looking forward to their take on the Purpose Driven phenomenon. They are a ministry with high visibility and, more important, high credibility. Where many critics of the programs have been from Reformed or various independent churches, IX Marks is an organization staffed by Southern Baptists - the same denomination as Warren. Some of the other reviews I have read, while they contained some good information, were tainted by the author's obvious disregard for the Southern Baptist Convention. IX Marks, though, obviously has no agenda against the Southern Baptist Convention and is able to be unbiased in this regard.

I am not writing about this to (once again) give my take on Rick Warren's teachings - that is well-documented on this site. Rather, I want to call attention to what I think is a very biblical and unbiased examination.

The IX Marks newsletter first provides all sorts of caveats and disclaimers. So many, in fact, it is almost irritating. We are told that that "several recognized leaders of the Reformed evangelical community have critically evaluated these reviews and given constructive feedback."

Headlines (December 18) (12/18/04 - 0 Comments)
Shootout At The Crystal Corral - On Thursday an employee of the Crystal Cathedral, home of heretic Robert Schuller, opened fire inside the Cathedral before barricading himself in a bathroom. Police officials attempting to talk him into surrendering, but he eventually shot himself, ending the holdout. There were no other casualties. The man was apparently known for exhibiting self-destructive behavior. "The 78-year-old Schuller, who was at home when the shooting occurred, came to the command post police set up near the cathedral and taped a personal message for the man, with whom he is acquainted. Police did not have the chance to play the message from Schuller or another message from the man's wife, but they did play him a message from a friend who had successfully intervened in past cases where the man had become despondent, Prince said." You can read more here.

Mother Murdered, Baby Stolen - Here is one from the sicko files. Some depraived individual murdered a pregnant woman, cut the baby from her stomach and kidnapped the child. A few hours later police found a child they believe is the one who was kidnapped and they are awaiting DNA identification.

Campolo On The Emerging Church (12/17/04 - 0 Comments)
Tony Campolo, who, despite absolutely awful theology for some reason continues to be an exceedingly popular Christian speaker and author, recently weighed in on the Emerging Church in an article published in the Winston-Salem Journal. He describes the movement as expressing "progressive evangelicalism," and defines this as meaning that they hold to traditional Protestant theological distinctives while rejecting the structures and styles of institutionalized Christianity.

Most conservative, Reformed believers would have no issue with people meeting in small home-based churches rather than in the type of church buildings that are foreign to the Scriptures. As a matter of fact, church often seems to work better in small numbers than in large. "The Emergent Church turns away from spending money on buildings. Instead, most congregations meet as "house churches" or gather in makeshift storefronts and warehouses." While I believe that statement is, in theory, true, when these churches begin to grow they will have no choice but to either continually split into smaller groups or invest in buildings...

How To Survive A Canadian Winter (12/17/04 - 0 Comments)
It's cold today, there is a bit of snow on the ground and this morning my windshield wipers were frozen to the windshield. Put it all together and it is clear that winter has arrived in Southern Ontario. Here are some tips to survive a Canadian winter.

Rock Salt - You won't make it through the winter without a bag of this stuff. It should not be confused with your standard table salt or with a bagful of the little salt packets from McDonald's. The big chunks of salt melt ice and add valuable traction on slick roads. If you don't put down a good base of salt you'll find that next time there is a good snowstorm you will be unable to navigate your driveway, walkway or sidewalk. The ideal amount of salt will burn away all grass within six inches of your driveway.

Just Don't - Don't eat the yellow snow. Ever. Actually, these days it's probably best just not to eat any snow, even that light grey (formerly white) stuff.

Stay Back - When the snow is all yucky and slushy, you'll want to be sure you stay at least a couple feet back from the road. Those snowplows can get quite a head of steam and if they drive through a slush-puddle just as you're walking by, it can ruin your day (and your MP3 player).

Car Washes - Salt does not only destroy snow - it also destroys the body of your car.

Headlines (December 17) (12/17/04 - 0 Comments)
Historical Revisionism - There seems to be a movement out there that is trying to prove that just about every major historical figure was homosexual. The latest target, as you may know, is none other than Abraham Lincoln. C.A. Tripp, an associate professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York and a man who worked closely with Alfred Kinsey, is releasing a book next month entitled The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln in which he portrays Lincoln as being gay...as in homosexual. He has apparently gathered all sorts of data, ranging from the fact that Lincoln and his friend shared a bed for several years since both were quite poor, to the statement of his stepmother who said "he never took much interest in the girls." "I think that his homosexuality was not noticed by either his wife, or many of his friends, which is one reason why we are only finding out about it today," Baker said. Of course the more likely story is that never in history has anyone felt the need to defend other people's aberrant behavior by showing that "he did it too!" I hope there are people out there capable and willing enough defend such a great man as Lincoln.

Morgentaler: The Movie - Henry Morgentaler is Canada's foremost abortionist. Isn't that a title you would like to carry with you when you depart the earth and go to meet your Maker?

Book Review - Their God Is Too Small (12/16/04 - 0 Comments)
Open Theism, once a doctrine known only to Christian academics, is slowly becoming mainstream among evangelicals. While it continues to be a minority position, it is gaining wider acceptance and several popular Christian authors are teaching it or teaching principles derived from it, even while denying their belief in it. This represents one of the battle-lines of the contemporary church and it is important for Christians to know what this doctrine teaches and be prepared to give a defense of the traditional view of God. This short book, written by Bruce Ware, sets out to teach believers the basics of what they need to know to defend the traditional doctrines.

Put simply, open theism is a doctrine that teaches that God does not fully know the future, for he cannot see what humans will do with the free will He gives them. Therefore, God has taken a great risk in giving us freedom. Of course this contrasts with the biblical teaching of God's omniscience - that He sees and knows everything in the past, present and future - as well as God's omnipotence - that He not only knows these things, but controls them as well...

Headlines (December 16) (12/16/04 - 0 Comments)
Words of Wisdom - "What Is needed to-day is a Scriptural setting forth of the character of God-His absolute sovereignty, His ineffable holiness, His Inflexible justice, His unchanging veracity. What Is needed to-day Is a Scriptural setting forth of the condition of the natural man-his total depravity, his spiritual insensibility, his inveterate hostility to God, the fact that he is "condemned already" and that the wrath of a sin-hating God is even now abiding upon him. What is needed to-day is a Scriptural setting forth of the alarming danger in which sinners are-the Indescribably awful doom which awaits them, the fact that if they follow only a little further their present course they shall most certainly suffer the due reward of their iniquities. What is needed to-day is a Scriptural setting forth of the nature of that punishment which awaits the lost-the awfulness of it, the hopelessness of it, the unendurableness of it, the endlessness of it. It is because of these convictions that by pen as well as by voice we are seeking to raise the alarm." (A.W. PINK)

Free MP3's - Eb+Flo music is offering some of their MP3's free on their web site. They include songs by Phil Keaggy, Sandra McCracken & Derek Webb, Kenny Meeks and Steven Delopoulos.

Book Review - 9 Marks of a Healthy Church (12/15/04 - 0 Comments)
Truth be told, I was a little disappointed with 9 Marks of a Healthy Church. The problem is not that it is a poor book but more that I had unrealistic expectations of it. I was hoping this book would be everything the church growth manuals are not; that it would be a knockout punch against church growth. It is not all of this, but that does not mean it is without value. I suppose I expected it to be a rebuttal of the seeker-friendly/church growth movement, but this is not what it is inteded to be. In retrospect, this is far better, for the book begins and ends with the Bible and the wisdom of God rather than with a rebuttal of the the wisdom of men. This book represents an interesting contrast to other books on this topic that have emerged from the Southern Baptist Convention, most notably The Purpose Driven Church. Where Warren's book claims to be about church health it is clear that the true focus is on growth. In 9 Marks, Mark Dever is able to seperate health from growth, rules from results. The focus of this book is on "being" church rather than "doing" church - on accentuating biblical perspectives on personal holiness above numbers or cultural relevance.

The author, Mark Dever, is pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Washington, D.C., and also heads up IX Marks Ministries. Dever seems to be anything but typical as a Southern Baptist pastor, and with his thoroughly Reformed theology must represent a minority position within the Convention...

The Openness of God (12/15/04 - 0 Comments)
I have said much in the past year or two about the doctrine known as Open Theism. This is a doctrine that began on the fringe of evangelicalism but is slowly becoming increasingly popular. Many evangelicals, though not willing to embrace the view, are open to regarding it as a non-essential, optional doctrine. They do not believe it is important enough an issue to fight against. In this article I want to first define Open Theism and then provide some quotes from its main proponents. Following each quote I will provide a brief commentary. I believe that allowing the Open Theists to speak for themselves will be more valuable than having me summarize their positions. So first, a definition which I blatantly copied from Monergism.com (apologies to my friend John!).

Open Theism is a sub-Christian theological construct which claims that God's highest goal is to enter into a reciprocal relationship with man. In this scheme, the Bible is interpreted without any anthropomorphisms - that is, all references to God's feelings, surprise and lack of knowledge are literal and the result of His choice to create a world where He can be affected by man's choices...

Headlines (December 15) (12/15/04 - 0 Comments)
Sailor Refuses To Doff Hat - How's that for a headline? The Canadian military has decided that it cannot force atheists to remove their hats in ceremonies that honor God. Lieutenant (this is Canada and for some reason in the Canadian military it is pronounced LEF-tenant rather than LOO-tenant) Darryl Scott, an atheist, refused to remove his hat while his unit's chaplain recited a prayer at a military parade. While "Obedience to lawful orders is essential to maintaining necessary discipline in the military," the court ruled that in this case there was no clear military purpose in forcing the solider to remove his hat. I assume that what most people find most shocking about this article is that Canada does, indeed, have a military. You can read more here.

Can't Buy Happiness - Weird Al once penned the words "if money can't buy happiness, then I guess I'll have to rent it." I'm not so sure either one is a viable option. Two years ago Jack Whittaker won the largest undivided jackpot in American history, an astounding $314.9 million, though he elected to take his winnings in one $113 million lump sum payment (after taxes).

The Lost Practice of Church Discipline (12/14/04 - 0 Comments)
Much has been written in our day about healthy churches. Men like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, known as being at the forefront of the church growth movement, insist that their primary concern is not with making churches bigger but with making them healthier. Mark Dever, in 9 Marks of a Healthy Church includes an appendix that lists the prescriptions offered by many contemporary authors. Though this is merely a small sample of what people have suggested, the list comes to over 10 pages. Clearly there is some controversy regarding how we can discern a healthy church from a corrupt one.

Since the time of the Reformation most Protestants have agreed on the marks of a true church (not to be confused with a healthy church). These are summarized in the Belgic Confession, Article 29, which says "The marks by with the true Church is known are these: If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preaching therein; if she maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in punishing of sin; in short, if all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the only Head of the Church." While not all confessions included church discipline as one of the marks, where absent this was assumed as being integral to the proper administration of the sacraments, for they are to withheld from those who are engaged in gross sins. Luther, Melanchthon, Calvin and Cramner, for example, all agreed on these marks.

Life's Little Experiences (12/14/04 - 0 Comments)
As a child I used to love buying a new pack of baseball cards. There was an experience involved - removing the wax paper outer packaging, popping the stick of gum into my mouth, brushing that powder left over from the gum off of the cards and then sorting through the actual cards, hoping against hope to get that particular rookie card. It was a wonderful experience, albiet one that was short-lived. As I got older I found I was more excited by opening a new tape (and later a CD) than a pack of cards, and although there was no gum involved, it was also an experience, reading the lyrics, reading the thank you's, and looking forward to listening to the album.

I'm a little bit older now and baseball cards have lost their appeal. I still enjoy buying new albums, but having listened to thousands of albums, they do not excite me as much anymore. Fortunately, there are still books. The other day I had a person contact me about a domain name I registered earlier this year and was not using. He offered me a $75 Amazon gift certificate in exchange for rights to the domain.

Headlines (December 14) (12/14/04 - 0 Comments)
Peterson Gets Death - Scott Peterson, having already been found guilty of the murder of his wife and unborn child, has now been sentenced to die. "...To hear the jurors tell it, Peterson's apparent lack of emotion, from the day his wife disappeared through the last day of testimony two years later, was the final piece that doomed him." The man tried to force some fake tears every now and then, but clearly this was not a grieving husband and father, but a man who had taken the lives of his own wife and child. While the defense tried to cast doubt on the evidence, in the end it was only too clear that Peterson was guilty as charged. Like many, I rejoice to see justice being done, though because of appeals it will probably be 15 or 20 years before he is finally given that lethal injection. May God have mercy on him between now and then, that he may know his sin and come to know the Savior.

The Vanishing Word - I know nothing about the author of the book by that title, but the description sounds most interesting. "Is image everything? For many people in our culture, image and images are everything...

As Many As Wanted Salvation Were Saved (12/13/04 - 0 Comments)
The other day I mentioned that Dave Hunt has released a second edition of his anti-Calvinist diatribe What Love is This. Hunt came under fire from many believers for embarking on this ill-advised crusade, one which alienated much of his audience. After the publication of the book subscriptions to his newsletter, the Berean Call, fell as many Calvinists decided to end their affiliation with Hunt and what had once been a ministry that focused mostly on Catholicism and cults. Having been challenged on so many of the points he made in the first edition of his book, most notably by aplogist James White, Hunt felt he needed to go return to the manuscript and make some changes. Most of these, unfortunately, were for the worse. It seems that in his irrational desire to debunk Calvinism he is willing to go to nearly any extremes. Read the following quote that appeared only in the second edition:

Headlines (December 13) (12/13/04 - 0 Comments)
Biographies - I have been updating my Amazon wishlist (link will take you to my Reading List site, not Amazon) and am looking for some suggestions on good biographies of great Christians. In particular I would like a biography of Calvin and one of Luther since I really don't know about those men the way I feel I should. I have books listed on Wesley, Spurgeon, Edwards and Lloyd-Jones (all written by Iain Murray) but would like some other suggestions. So please pass along suggestions of biographies or any other books I really need to read and I'll add them to the list.

The Two Mannings - While Peyton Manning was inching closer to one of the most coveted records in football, the single season passing touchdown record, his little brother was having a career game. Career-worst game, that is. Eli's season is almost enough to make one believe in karma. After refusing to play for the team that drafted him, all the while sulking like a little child, he got the chance to start for the Giants...

Valley of Dry Bones (12/12/04 - 0 Comments)

Withdrawing From Marriage (12/11/04 - 0 Comments)
Earlier this week I mentioned that the Supreme Court of Canada has allowed legislation to move forward that would legalize homosexual marriage throughout Canada. As with the United States, we currently have some jurisdications that allow it and others that do not, but this law seeks to change that. Under the proposed law, which is nearly guaranteed to pass the House of Commons early next year, marriage would be allowed for homosexual couples, but churches would be protected from having to perform ceremonies they objected to on moral grounds. The law seeks to protect religious freedom.

There is another aspect to the redefinition of marriage that I had not considered. Roland de Vries, a Presbyterian pastor, has written an interesting article in the National Post outlining why he does not feel he can cooperate with the government anymore when it comes to marriage. While the details are specifically Canadian, I would recommend this article to Americans as well since this issues will be facing you soon enough.

Headlines (December 11) (12/11/04 - 0 Comments)
The Beginning of the End - With the emergence of Personal Video Recorders and other similar devices, we may be at the beginning of the end of the commercials we see on television. So many people simply skip over commercials now that many companies are beginning to re-evaluate how they advertise on television. Product placements are becoming a standard part of almost every show these days, especially on "reality" shows. The latest idea is to...

This Online Life (Friday Ramblings) (12/10/04 - 0 Comments)
I desperately wanted to write something deeply theological today. I found myself pacing up and down my office racking my brain trying to think of something to write. Over the past few days I have put a lot more time into the look of this site than the content and I feel guilty about that. Even today I have been chipping away, adding a word count feature to each archive page (I have no idea what possible use it can serve but I thought it was neat) and adding an About Me page to the main menu. I installed a couple of great Movabletype plugins to the What I'm Reading page that track my reading list and Amazon wishlist.

Headlines (December 10) (12/10/04 - 0 Comments)
Gay Marriage Update - Last night Canadians were indundated with pictures of gay men hugging and kissing and celebrating as they heard the news that the Supreme Court, as expected, had allowed a law move forward that will legalize gay marriage across the country. "The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday that Ottawa has sole authority to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples, but that religious officials can't be forced to perform weddings against their...

Pilate Marveled (12/09/04 - 0 Comments)
In the wake of The Passion of the Christ and the increased awareness of the events surrounding Jesus' death I have seen several discussions about why Pilate showed surprise that Jesus died so quickly. These discussions are based on the gospel of Mark where we read:

To understand Pilate's surprise it is important to know that crucifixion was a method of execution designed to prolong suffering...

Headlines (December 9) (12/09/04 - 0 Comments)
A Bit Late - I'm running a bit late this morning. I went to a Switchfoot concert last night and didn't get back until pretty late (late for me, anyways). It was another great show, probably better than the first two times I saw them this year. There are some bands that play and put on an enjoyable shows while there are others that just take over the stage and really take over the entire auditorium. Switchfoot falls squarely into the latter category. They put on a great show and are a lot of fun to watch and listen to. They played a couple of new tracks from their upcoming album and both songs were exceptionally good, so I'm holding out high hopes for the new album, which I believe is due in May of 2005.