Decision-Making Non-Answers
“To seminary, or not to seminary?” That’s the question for our newest Contributor, Katie Olmstead, as she navigates the ambiguities and nuances of that most frustrating of mysteries: the Will of God.
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Last February, the decision was made. Everything would change come August. I would leave my home in Phoenix for Philadelphia; continue to work for Food for the Hungry part-time remotely while going back to school. My cross-country road trip was charted, housing scouted out, mental shift made and farewell gifts purchased. I was ready for the adventure of a new city, new friends, classes, books, changing seasons, green and rain (so not the desert), wealth of history and arts to explore, another step towards my long-term dream….blah, blah, blah.
It is now October, the decision deferred for Spring maybe Fall. All my plans were unexpectedly postponed (or maybe canceled, ugh). Although convinced it was the right conclusion in light of changed circumstances, I am still filled with disappointment, anxiety and confusion; faced again with the decision of what is next. I catch myself daydreaming about avoiding it completely: driving my Rabbit, jumping on a plane or catching a train until I’ve explored every new interesting place and escaped this suffocating suburbia. Yet adventures offer no solution and I wake up to reality, decisions still far from clear. (more…)
The Infinite Beauty of Beauty
A nine-month old brain child concerning Beauty and many of its components is finally done being birthed on a blog. Come see…
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In about January of this past year, I received word that seven months from then, in August, I would be giving a message at Epiphany Fellowship on the topic of Beauty, of all things. This terrified me and I immediately began listening to every lecture, reading every article, and checking out every book in the library on the topic to prepare. Then I began working on the manuscript for this message. By the time I finished, I had produced a 43-page manuscript for a 40-minute message. The message answers several questions: Why we long for Beauty? What is Beauty? What Things are Beautiful? and How do we respond to Beauty?
The message went really well, but of course, a lot was cut out of the full manuscript for the sake of time. For that reason, a couple of months ago, I started a series on my blog that went through the various sections of the manuscript in bite-sized chunks, so that others could read it. Well, yesterday, three months after the original message was given, I finished that series on my personal blog and I wanted to plug it to the readers of this site. Below, you’ll find a complete directory of the fourteen parts of the series, along with links to the full audio and original manuscript that the message was based upon. I hope this is helpful and edifying to all of you. Be sure to send feedback, as I hope to build this out even more in the future, perhaps into a book-length project. We’ll see. Enjoy.
Turning the T.U.L.I.P. On Its Side
Can the classic Five-Points of Calvinism, notorious for inspiring complacency and judgmentalism, actually cause relationships that are gracious, self-sacrificing, and long-suffering?
by Stephen Hess
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[Editor's Note: For those unfamiliar with the historical Five-Points of Calvinism (a.k.a. "TULIP"), click here for a quick guide, or here for a full article on it]
At Chapel time recently (every Tuesday and Friday at Covenant), I got the privilege to hear from Dr. Robert Petterson, a Covenant graduate and the Senior Pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Naples, FL. Out of John 13:34-35, he gave a message entitled, “Turning the Tulip on Its Side: The Sociology of Soteriology.” This was the first chapel message for the year (my first ever as a Covenant student). This message was perfectly timed for me (and I am sure, for many others). Not to mention the passage that Pastor Petterson focused on was the biblical motivation for myself and four (then five) other brothers in Christ to meet together in college weekly. To this day, despite the changes over time and the different post-college locations, these guys are still my closest brothers in Christ.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
Pastor Petterson’s main point: A soteriology of grace without a sociology of grace is illusionary.
In other words, “turning the TULIP on its side.” The biblical soteriology of Reformed theology is often captured in the acrostic TULIP. Dr. Petterson described the five truths in these ways: (1) there’s not a single molecule of my being that is not corrupted by sin, (2) God has chosen to love me unconditionally, (3) he loves me specifically, (4) his love for me is irresistible, and (5) his love will persevere to the end.
When Jesus says, “so you must love one another,” he is saying that it is not enough to have a vertical relationship with God. That same love relationship must become horizontal in the same way with others.
After such rich beautiful description of this soteriology, he went on to explain about an angry, old Dutch Calvinist that he recently counseled. This man had memorized the five points as a child in catechism classes. He would pound anyone who would listen with the doctrines of Sovereign Grace. But this man had been estranged from his daughter for over five years. His wife could barely tolerate him–they slept in separate rooms. And he kept blowing through churches that weren’t reformed enough for him–creating controversy all along the way.
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Independence Day?
Is it really the fact that “both sides are right” on the whole Sovereignty question?
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“There is another and worse evil which springs from this basic failure to grasp the radical difference between the natures of the two worlds. It is the habit of languidly “accepting” salvation as if it were a small matter and one wholly in our hands. Men are exhorted to think things over and “decide” for Christ, and in some places one day each year is set aside as “Decision Day,” at which time people are expected to condescend to grant Christ the right to save them, a right which they have obviously refused Him up to that time. Christ is thus made to stand again before men’s judgment seat; He is made to wait upon the pleasure of the individual, and after long and humble waiting is either turned away or patronizingly admitted. By a complete misunderstanding of the noble and true doctrine of the freedom of the human will salvation is made to depend perilously upon the will of man instead of upon the will of God. ” – A.W. Tozer
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Unlimited Limited Atonement? | (a discussion)
art by Patrick Benbow
A new articulation of an old idea: a Facebook exchange on the single most controversial tenet of traditional Calvinism.
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This was a facebook message/discussion between a few friends and me on the topic of “Limited Atonement” (the “L” in Calvinism’s acronomical existence). I’m thinking about letting this be the first of a new type of article I’m calling “Orthodoxological”. I’m thinking about trying to write some articles on some of the deepest and seemingly arbitrary and useless doctrines of the Christian faith, and showing how they do in fact necessarily lead to a greater worship of God. Let me know what you think!
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Praying for Discipline, Standing on Grace [Praying for Prayer; Pt. II]
Previously, we covered: The Conception of a Disciple, The Miracle of Birth, and Changing the Diapers. Now the conclusion-
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Razing Cain
Mortification of the flesh which we war against is the constant goal in the process of sanctification. We must always be seeking to raze, or burn our sin to dust in the hopes that Christ will be revealed in us. As I sought to pray and to seek God in a new way, this was my chief goal. With the Liturgy of prayer before me, I had a powerful tool against the devices of the evil one.
With this in mind, I bowed before the throne of the Sovereign LORD and, with the aid of my Advocate, I spoke boldly. I began with an Invocation, asking the Lord to meet with me. I believed that He would meet with me, yet I could not assume anything; I didn’t want to.
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Praying for Discipline, Standing on Grace [Praying for Prayer; Pt. I]
In a two-part series, Austin Rickett’s explores the depths of prayer: it’s difficulty, discipline, and delight.
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The Conception of a Discipline
When I first decided to attempt a spiritual discipline, I thought that I would do something with worship. I was going to try to see God wherever I could. Maybe I would notice His handiwork in the sunset of the day. Perhaps His provision in my life would be evident in the cheeseburger I was eating at the time. Possibly God was allowing me to relax with the advent of an overcast and drizzly day, which often instills a somber mood within me.
As I set out to begin this experiment, I was joyfully hindered. It seemed as though the Lord was saying, “Find something new, you already practice this discipline quite often.” And so, I decided to take God’s advice because I hear that He’s omniscient, therefore He probably knows what He’s talking about. Without much hesitation I moved on to something new.
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The New York Times on Mark Driscoll
At Reform & Revive, I try to offer only original content, but this was something I couldn’t pass up. A friend and fellow “Westminsterian”, Art Boulet, put a post up on his blog a few days ago containing an article about Mark Driscoll that appeared in the New York Times. I found both the article and the discussion that followed in the comments section fascinating.
What Ben & Jerry told me about Jesus
Last night I picked up a new Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream called “Imagine Whirled Peace.” It’s this amazing Caramel and Sweet Cream-swirled Ice Cream with chocolate peace signs and toffee pieces throughout. It was amazing. This morning I saw the top in the trash and it got me thinking . . .
The Ice Cream is dedicated to John Lennon and his song “Imagine” (duh). Other than the twenty-something idealists that plan on saving the world, most people scoff at the Lennon’s notions of no borders, no religion, and “world peace.” Despite my twenty-something-”ness”, I typically fall into the scoffing camp. But why do we? Why doesn’t it resonate with us when people talk of such idealism?
Staring into the trash can, thinking these thoughts, I was reminded of my old roommate. A non-practicing Jew who would say he is practicing (just in the way he deems appropriate right now in this time of life). So, like I said: non-practicing (but I digress). I had a talk with him once about why Jews don’t believe Jesus was their Messiah. I pointed out all the different prophecies and such and he responded by telling me that there was one prophecy – the most important one – that Jesus never fulfilled. He said that the true Jewish Messiah would bring about unprecedented eternal “world peace.” So, as long as there was still warring and killing and death and disease, the Messiah had not come.
I gave the typical response you would expect us Christians to give: a non response that really didn’t help him. I just told him how there was this “already but not yet” dimension to what Christ accomplished, and the “peace” Jesus ushered in (that we can experience now) was primarily spiritual, not temporal. Feeling I had won the discussion, I dropped him off and slept soundly that night. I only realized this morning, over two years later, staring at an ice cream lid in the trash, how incomplete and unhelpful my response was.
Instead of showing him how his presuppositions may have actually been wrong, I simply offered my opinion and said it was right. It was as if Paul walked up to the Athenian leaders on Mars Hill in Acts 17, pointed to their statue to an unnamed god, and said “that’s wrong. Jesus is right. Repent.” No, he meets them on their own philosophical turf and shows how what they believe actually – ultimately – points to Christ. So what would I say to Julian now?
I realized this morning that the problem here is what we lovingly call “humanism”. As is known, it’s the idea that “man is the measure of all things.” Sure, we all have this dream and desire for that which we call “world peace,” but our arrogance comes in our insistence that this “peace” comes from within ourselves – from within humanity. Well, actually, it’s not an outright insistence as much as it is an unquestioned assumption. What if “world peace” would not come from within humanity, but from without? What if Jesus did accomplish achieving perfect spiritual and temporal peace with God, man, and creation? What if this peace were sitting there, within our grasp – within our reach – if we would but take one moment to look outside of ourselves? What if the perseverance of all that is antithetical to peace comes not from outside of us (bio-socio-cultural-economic-historical-political systems and trends), but rather from within us (the total depravity and sinfulness of man that infects us all).
So, Peace has come. Peace has been accomplished and purchased by the only One not infected by that which takes away all our peace. We must simply accept this peace and live freely in it. Cease to “look in ourselves” to find the cure to all ills.
To non-Christians: you are like one with mud on their face and hands that keeps trying to wipe away the mud, but you only make it worse as you strive and try. Christ has taken all the uncleanness that you bear on Himself that you might not anymore. Repent from your love of this filth and believe Christ has the righteousness you seek.
To Christians: peace is yours! Trample not the blood of Christ underfoot as you release the cross from your gaze under the fear of unaccomplished peace. Trust that peace has come to the world, and it is not a political, economical, or philosophical system. It is a man named Jesus. Repent for your seeming need for some part of your peace to come from within yourself and believe that it has come from without. It is done. It is finished. Enter your master’s rest.
Thank God for Whirled Peace.
