Missional Church II

"This does not mean that the church or the gospel it preaches is somehow outside culture. There is no cultureless gospel. Jesus himself preached, taught, and healed within a specific cultural context. Nor is it the case that the gospel can be reduced to a set of cultureless principles. The message of the reign of God, the gospel, is always communicated with the thought constructs and practices prevalent within the cultural setting of the church in a specific time and place. But when truly shaped by the Holy Spirit, this message also points beyond its present culture's thought forms and customs to the distinctive culture of God's reign proclaimed by Jesus. For this reason, the church is always bicultural, conversant in the language and customs of the surrounding culture and living toward the language and ethics of the gospel. One of the tasks of the church is to translate the gospel so that the surrounding culture can understand it, yet help those believers who have been in that culture move toward living according to the behaviors and communal identity of God's missional people" (114)

"Believing is a matter of doing." (130)

[Quoting Newbigin] "the only hermeneutic of the gospel is the life of the congregation which believes it." (219)

Ergun Caner

Well I am chiming in late on the Caner/Calvinism controversy. On V-day, Tom Ascol wrote a post about Johnny Hunt being nominated for SBC president (which I didn't even read). That led to 316 comments (at least of today). About half way through the comments, Dr. Ergun Caner (looking tough on the right) chimes in. I am aware of this guy through the book that him and his brother Emir wrote about Islam. They are both former Muslims, and now Ergun is a dean and professor of theology and history at Liberty, and Emir used to teach history at Southeastern and is now the dean at the college at Southwestern. Both of them comment on Tom's blog. They are adamantly anti-Calvinistic. Just like most who are hostile to the doctrines of grace, they completely misrepresent them. That is my pet peeve. A professor of history and theology ought to at least understand the facts. It is one thing to disagree, but another to completely misrepresent. He makes a lot of arrogant and sarcastic remarks. So does his brother. Ergun said that "Five-point calvinism is a VIRUS. It saps the evangelism of every church it infects." Emir does the same kind of thing. One said that if John Gill were still around then Caner would be 'killed for refusing to baptize my sons as infants.' Gill was as Baptist as they come, know your history! He was adamantly opposed to infant baptism. Emir calls John Piper a hyper-calvinist. Piper has done more for the sake of the kingdom through missions than either of the Caners will ever do. Of course his definition of a hyper-calvinist is "one who goes beyond Calvin. Period." I am not sure where he got that definition, but Piper is no hyper-calvinist. Emir signed one of his posts with "Elected because I selected." I am not sure if you can be much more man-centered than that. Anyway to make a really long story short, James White chimed in and challenged Ergun to a debate. Ergun asked why he would debate a non-southern Baptist. White said he was. RTS was a potential site. Ergun asked why he should debate a non-southern Baptist site. White said that he would come to his school, Liberty. To my knowledge, Ergun never accepted the challenge. It is kind of funny to me, especially since Ergun's home page says, "He has been called the "Intellectual Pit Bull of the evangelical world"." I guess he knows that White is feistier. The correspondence between Caner and White can be found here. If anyone needs to call me and vent (Plev), holler at your boy.

Missional Church

This week I finished Darrell Guder's book 'Missional Church.' It is a book that I think every reformed pastor should read. Others should start elsewhere.

"..God's mission is calling and sending us, the church of Jesus Christ, to be a missionary church in our own societies, in the cultures in which we find ourselves." (5)

"..mission is the mother of theology." (7)

"The basic function of all theology is to equip the chur ch for its calling." (12)

"Mission is not something the church does, a part of its total program. No, the church's essence is missional, for the calling and sending action of God forms its identity. Mission is founded on the mission of God in the world, rather than the church's effort to extend itself." (82)

"There is no cultureless gospel. Jesus himself preached, taught, and healed within a specific cultural context. Nor is it the case that the gospel can be reduced to a set of cultureless principles. The message of the reign of God, the gospel, is always communicated with the thought constructs and practices prevalent within the cultural setting of the church in a specific time and place. But when truly shaped by the Holy Spirit, this message also points beyond its present culture's thought forms and customs to the distictive culture of God's reign proclaimed by Jesus. For this reason, the church is always bicultural, conversant in the language and customs of the surrounding culture and living toward the languae and ethics of the gospel. One of the tasks of the church is to translate the gospel so that the surrounding culture can understand it, yet help those believers who have been in that culture move toward living accrording to the behaviors and communal identity of God's missional people" (114)

not even a hint

Wednesday afternoon, I read Joshua Harris' book 'not even a hint' about defending your heart against lust. It was a very easy read with some good things in it. Here are some quotes:

"He really knew what He was doing didn't He? 'Be fruitful and... multiply,' he commanded mankind (Genesis 9:7). And then, just in case we'd be tempted to slack off in this task of populating and subduing the earth, He made us sexual creatures and wired us with this incredible thing we call a sex drive." (p. 33)
This quote reminds me of a talk Mohler gave on marriage and pornography. In it (I think in the Q & A in the audio) he said that if there were no sex drive, many males would never marry because we can be slothful, alone, and content. Our sex drive should lead us to find a wife.

"Lust is always based on the same lie - that satisfaction will be found apart from God." (84)

"Lust offers men the pleasure of sex devoid of the hard work of intimacy. Lust offers women the power to get what they want relationally if they use their sexuality to seduce." (87)

"And yet this is how we often practice discernment when it comes to our entertainment choices. We seem to think that because we don't approve, because we sigh and roll our eyes, because we complain about the ungodliness of Hollywood, because we fast-forward through the really bad parts, we can watch all the garbage in the world and our souls won't be affected. We call this 'discernment.' But that's as foolish as saying that if you don't enjoy a calorie, it won't make you fat." (122)

"Jesus Christ died to rescue me from darkness and sin. How can I willingly immerse myself in that darkness for the sake of entertainment? What a tragedy it is that I've sat idly by during movies and television shows and watched the very sin for which Christ had to die being laughed about, even celebrated." (125)

Speaking of Mega-churches...I'm In!!

Feel free to add a caption to what me or Joel is thinking, or add a title to this pic.

Build Your Own Mega-Church

I found this pretty funny. You can be just like Joel Osteen. I ordered mine today.

Driscoll and Emergent

For those interested in the emergent conversation, I read an interesting response to Brian McLaren from Mark Driscoll. McLaren was recently silent on the homosexuality issue. Here is some of what Driscoll sarcastically said:

"Well, it seems that Brian McLaren and the Emergent crowd are emerging into homo-evangelicals. "

"And on January 23rd McLaren wrote an article for Leadership that is posted on this blog. In it he argues that because the religious right is mean to gays we should not make any decision on the gay issue for 5-10 years. "

"Lastly, for the next 5-10 years you are hereby required to white out 1 Peter 3:15 which says "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" from your Bible until further notice from McLaren because the religious right forget the gentleness and respect part and the religious left forgot the answer the question part. Subsequently, a task force will be commissioned to have a conversation about all of this at a labyrinth to be named later. Once consensus is reached a finger painting will be commissioned on the Emergent web site as the official doctrinal position.
In conclusion, this is all just gay."

The Arrows of the Almighty

"Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Psalm 115:3) God is the all-powerful Ruler of the heavens and the earth; we stand at His mercy and bow under the weight of His divine glory. His unchanging wisdom providentially directs all existence in a spectacular show of His radiant glory. Nothing is hidden from His all-seeing eyes; nothing is out of the reach of His outstretched arms. God is never confused; He is never caught off guard. He doesn't make mistakes. There is no chance, no accidents, only God and His perfect plan that encompasses every minute detail of nature and human life. No aspect is left to speculation, not one sparrow will fall to the ground apart from Him. (Matthew 10:29) Without God's sustaining providence we inevitably would cease to exist. In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28) We inhabit a world that is under direct control of a supernatural Being that is outside our natural, mechanical reality. God's existence is not dependent on this world. He is behind all of reality, continually unfolding His divine plan according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11) God's Sovereign Will is fixed and unbreakable. It is never quenched, hindered, moved, or changed. Nothing happens apart from this plan, and everything that happens is planned. There are no wrong answers; only God's eternal Sovereign Will for all creation." (p. 14)

"The devil is a slave and he doesn't even realize it. Every satanic deed must first be approved by God himself. Satan has no authority of his own; he is an instrument in God's hand. Like a dog on a leash biting at our heels, he is powerless until God loosens the slack. Satan is God's employee, in all ways inferior in strength, knowledge and effect. There is no great power struggle between Christ and the devil as if they were on equal footing. The battle is over; victory is God's. Satan is a pawn, a puppet; a defeated slave. Fear not Satan and his demons; fear God and seek him first!" (p. 16)
-Taken from Adam Lancaster's article 'The Arrows of the Almighty' in "The Village Pub" Issue 3

New Perspective

Recently, I read a book that had a few insights from 1st century Judaism that shed some light on a couple of passages of Scripture. This moved me to read a little more about the Hebraic mindset that the disciples (and Jesus) would have had. As Derek Webb says, it might shock many Americans to discover that Jesus wasn't a white middle-class republican. I ended up studying the New Perspective on Paul. This movement is led by N.T. Wright, James Dunn, E.P. Sanders and others. Many evangelicals are being swept away by it. Their basic premise is that we (and all the reformers) have misread Paul. They say we don't understand the context in which Paul was writing. The Jews were not living a works-righteousness faith after all, so they say. If this were true, then we have messed up the gospel. They are very smart guys, much smarter than I, but I see problems, specifically when it comes to dealing with personal sin. The ultimate question is how does one get right with God? This question hasn't been answered for me yet, but I haven't read much of their stuff. I think Wright sees justification as eschatalogical, with works playing a role. This is fundamental for believers and non-believers. They reject the imputed righteousness of Christ in justification (and many other things). This would be detrimental to me, and the rest of the world that sees themselves as hopeless sinners. The righteousness of Christ is my only hope. I cling to it daily. Without it I am wretched in God's sight. I have much to learn still though. After having been sidetracked by the new perspective, I still want to learn more about the Hebrew mindset and 1st century Judaism. This can only enrich exegesis and my personal life. That reminds me, what does 'kicking against the goads mean" Anyway, I will keep you posted, but it will be a while because I haven't even looked at books yet. Recommendations are welcome.

John Owen

It seems that this blog has turned into 'quotes from what Blake is reading.' That is okay though, because the guys I read can say it much better than I can. I was recently meditating on 2 Corinthians 3:18 which reads:

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

This motivated me to read John Owen's book 'The Glory of Christ' in order to behold the glory of the Lord, and thereby be sanctified. Man, it was good! Here is some of it to chew on:

"If we regularly beheld the glory of Christ our Christian walk with God would become more sweet and pleasant, our spiritual light and strength would grow daily stronger and our lives would more gloriously represent the glory of Christ. Death would be most welcome to us." (21)

"The glory of Christ is the 'pearl of great price' which we should make every effort to find (Matt 13:45-46). And the Scripture is the ocean into which we dive to discover this pearl, or the mine in which we dig for its precious treasures (Prov 2:1-5). (33)

"Men may still hold a right doctrine of Christ; but beholding the glory of Christ does not lie in remembering doctrine. Men may have the outward form of godliness but no longer have the encouragement of Christ's presence and glory." (109)

"As for your pleasures, the truth is, you have never yet known real pleasure and will not until you come to Chris. For only in Christ are true pleasures to be found. A few moments with Christ are to be preferred to an eternity with the cursed pleasures of this world (Prov 3:13-18, Ps 16:11). (139)

"Spiritual life shows itself in a healthy appetite for the Word, grounded on an experience of God's grace in it. How healthy then is your spiritual appetite? If you have no appetite for God's Word then your spiritual life is in a bad state." (158)

"Not making Christ and his service the main business of our lives is another evidence of spiritual decay in the soul. Where grace is flourishing in the soul then all other things will be secondary to the duties of Christ's religion. Everything else must take second place." (159-159)

Mavs Win 12th Straight

Dallas beat the Lakers 102-87 tonight to make 12 wins in a row. Kobe only had 24, which isn't much compared to the 62 points he had in three quarters the last time they played. Anyway, that is about all that went on tonight in the basketball world, at least worth mentioning.

More Mohler on Reading

Mohler has written some more on reading. Here are some of my favorite excerpts:

[On reading bad theology] - "Pastors should certainly read enough to know what is going on at the level of popular theology (be brave and go into a Christian bookstore) and in the cultural conversation. My library has an entire collection of various heretical writings, ranging from the heresies of the ancients to the heresies of the present day. I read them in order to understand them, to confront them, and to correct their heresies with the truth.
How will you understand Augustine if you do not understand Pelagius (whose writings are mostly lost)? How can you understand Calvin without knowing about Servetus? Machen without Fosdick? Mahaney without Jakes? Oops, that last one was as yet a dream."

"C.J., here is my Super Bowl prediction: The winner will be either the Seattle Seahawks or the Pittsburg Steelers. I heard that inside scoop on TBN. Just call it a word of knowledge."

Texas rolls on.

Texas beat A & M today 83-70. I find it funny that most aggies talk trash about UT. Texas is the women's track, men's baseball, and men's football national champions this year. The men's basketball team is ranked #8. Let the record reflect.

Sweet & Self-Sufficient

"God does whatever He wants. His purposes are a sure thing. There's no stopping Him. No containing Him. No refuting Him. No cutting Him of at the pass. No short-circuiting His agenda. God is in control. He sends forth lightning from His storehouse, He breathes out the wind, waters the earth, raises up rulers, directs the course of nations, births life, ordains death, and, in the midst of it all, still has time to be intimately acquainted with the everyday affairs of everyone on the planet." (49)

"Everything God does, He does for His own glory. He approaches every decision with the question: "What will bring the most attention and honor to My name in this situation-what will most glorify Me and make Me look the very best?" And then He does whatever that is." (162)

--Taken from i am not but i know I AM by Louie Giglio

Packer on Owen

Today at work, I had the privilege of reading J.I. Packer's chapter on 'The Spirituality of John Owen.' It is taken from his book, 'A Quest for Godliness.' You can download this chapter from Justin Taylor's site on Owen. Owen is known as the Prince of the Puritans, and if you are not familiar with the Puritans then I highly recommend them to you. They had a right balance on things. Right theology was very important to them, but so was right affections for Christ. Here are a few noteworthy quotes from the chapter:

"I hold myself bound in conscience and in honour, not even to imagine that I have attained a proper knowledge of any one article of truth, much less to publish it, unless through the Holy Spirit I have had such a taste of it, in its spiritual sense, that I may be able, from the heart, to say with the psalmist, 'I have believed, and therefore have I spoken.'" [Owen]

"Thus, to the Puritans, communion between God and man is the end to which both creation and redemption are the means; it is the goal to which both theology and preaching must ever point; it is the essence of true religion; it is, indeed, the definition of Christianity." [Packer]

"The first Person, the Father, is revealed as the one who initiates, who chooses a people to save and his Son to save them, and who plans a way of salvation that is consistent with his holy character. The second Person is revealed as Son and Word in relation to the Father, imaging and embodying in himself the Father's nature and mind and coming forth from the Father to do his will by dying to redeem sinners. The third Person proceeds from the first two as their executive, conveying to God's chosen the salvation which the Son secured for them. All three are active in fulfilling a common purpose of love to unlovely men; all three give distinct gifts of their bounty to the chosen people, and all three, therefore, should be distinctly acknowledged in faith, with an appropriate response, by Christian believers." [Packer]

"Anyone who knows anything at all about Puritan Christianity knows that at its best it had a vigour, a manliness, and a depth which modern evangelical piety largely lacks. This is because Puritanism was essentially and experimental faith, a religion of 'heart-work', a sustained practice of seeking the face of God, in a way that our own Christianity too often is not." [Packer]

"Truly for sinners to have fellowship with God, the infinitely holy God, is an astonishing dipensation." [Owen]