Explaining Health Care Reform & “Christian” Reflections Thereof [REPOST]
Can the common man understand this health care debate? Is there a particularly Christian perspective on health care? Also, a curious and unexpected memorial to Ted Kennedy. Read on.
[Editor's Note: This is a repost of an article posted in August. It was fairly popular at the time, and in light of the potential difficulties the current health care bill may be facing due to the fight for Senator Kennedy's Senate seat, I thought it might be helpful to post this up again. I'm also posting this to go along with a recent post I put up on my personal blog called "I sort of want this health care bill to die." It has to do with this Massachusetts's Senate race and health care reform. I hope these resources spur your thoughts on these issues facing our country.]
Below is a series of illustrations by Dan Roam and Dr. Tony Jones of Digital Roam explaining the current Health Care system and proposed reforms to that system. This is by far the best explanation I’ve seen. So much so, it is forcing me to break a bunch of my own rules concerning this site and perhaps even give some new freedoms for what I post up here. Take a few moments and look through this series of slides and familiarize yourself with these ideas. Analysis will follow below. A couple of things before you start: I have no idea why this guy calls these “napkins” nor do I know why he says there are only four. Don’t let that distract you too much. The quality is such that I am more than willing to forgive these minor lapses of clarity.
There is No One Like You (Adv, Days 23/24; HelloGoodBye 09/10) [REPOST]
“I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer.”
–I Timothy 2.8, NIV
There are these days, when it is so difficult to find words that wrap around concepts, that, no matter how concrete in one’s mind, find it impossible to find substance in the barrier we use to communicate called language. In those moments, it seems that experience does precede existence and existentialism, for a moment, seems fun (and fun is clearly the wrong word, but for to-day, for this beautiful-day-before-Advent, will have to do).
Mr. Crowder crowed through the speakers “There is nooooo-one like You…” and in the seconds that followed slivers of eternity slipped through the wall of sound. The elders bowed, the beasts bellowed and the saints sang in holy adoration “Holy, Holy, Holy…”
Hope leaks into life in the most unexpected ways, ways that we’d never ask for, but cannot do without. We’d never ask for them because they hurt oh-so-badly; we cannot do without them because they are the pearls of great price, treasures to be cherished.
—
I’ve been more intentional about writing lately (and the reason for that is coming…). The past two-and-a-half years have been epic, at the very least. The genesis of the journey was in March of O-Six, high-lighted by a late-night {spiritual} beat-down in July {thank you, Mark Driscoll}, and punctuated with new life that October. Two months later, on a frigid Friday in December, Pittsburgh was finally in view. Six apartments, three cities, and 80,000 miles on the Interstate later I landed just where I jumped from. I didn’t expect it, honestly, to be back here so soon, if ever…
(more…)
A Theology of Ethics, Truth, & Contemporary Applications
In a continuation of an exchange concerning Slavery in the Bible, some atheist critiques are addressed concerning ethics, the Bible, and modern society.
_______________
[EDITOR'S NOTE: At my personal blog, the long way home, I have been working on a series of posts responding to some old atheist friends of mine on the topic of slavery, ethics, and the Bible. So far: what the Bible says, why I'm doing the series, Philosophy & Ethics, and now, Theology & Ethics. If you want, read the other posts and feel free to get in on the lively discussion. I'm posting this article on this site, because I believe it addresses very real societal and cultural ideas and assumptions that affect our everyday lives and do not just belong to the areas of academia or theology. Let me know if you disagree.]
Objective Truth & Morality
The ideas mentioned in the previous post of transcendent ethical principles (and not simple behavioral norms) and a hierarchy of those principles (and not simplistic applications) within ethics are nothing new to Philosophy. Those enough could show the overly simplistic nature of the usual argument concerning general Christian ethics made when talking about slavery in the Bible. The Bible does not have simplistic do/don’t do ethics. It has consistent transcendent principles that are then wisely and faithfully applied in ways that look differently throughout history. This is the way that ethics works, even on a secular level. But, these are not uniquely Christian. There are ways that Christianity and the Bible uniquely further inform our ethics.
The first thing, and the most important thing I want everyone to get from this post is that neither the Bible nor historic Christianity believes in Objective Morality or Objective Truth. This is an idea of modernism. Modernism redefined “Truth” to mean anything that has a one-to-one correspondence with created reality. An unintended consequence of this mindset was that the only vehicles for Truth, then, became history and science. This meant that anything that called itself “true” had to be speaking in either historical or scientific terms — nothing else. Christians were influenced by these ideas and then began defending the Bible on the basis of these assumptions (best example: Creation “science”). This even seeped into many Christian articulations of Morality (“there is only one set of ‘good things’ people everywhere, at all times, should do”). But this is not the Biblical view of Truth nor Morality. The Biblical view is not that of objective Morality/Truth, but of an objective standard for Morality/Truth. This is such an important distinction. The Bible relocates Truth and Morality as anything that has a one-to-one correspondence with Ultimate Reality — the nature and character of God. This exists outside of created reality (and therefore outside the realms of history and science). In that case art, poetry, stories, myths, and even children stories can now fully be relied upon for truth and moral principles even if they have little or no basis in history, science, or universal applications of the ethical principles. There is an objective standard for Morality and Truth that is now subjectively applied by using wisdom, discernment, discourse, debate, intellectual thought, and engagement — not naive cut and paste applications of the Bible to life.
“An Evolving Creation: Oxymoron or Fruitful Insight?” by Keith Miller
In the first in a series of posts going through the book “Perspectives on an Evolving Creation” (Keith Miller, ed.), we look at the Scientific and Theological justifications for the very idea of an “Evolving Creation”.
_______________
As the title of this essay suggests, it sets the tone for the rest of the book by laying out what exactly the authors mean by an “evolving creation”. Miller begins by defining terms. “Evolution,” as he uses it, “refers to the descent with modification of all living things from a common ancestor. Miller talks of “Creation” as a noun meaning anything “to which God has given being” and as a verb meaning God’s past and present action of bringing things into existence and sustaining them there (closely related to the idea of Providence). In light of these seemingly innocuous, uncontroversial definitions, can we really say that an idea of an “Evolving Creation” is inherently antithetical and contradictory? Miller, nor I, believe this is the case.
“Lord . . .”
artwork and article by Michael Meulstee (click for larger image)
I sit down to write as a way to reflect. At this very moment in my life when there is no other thing to be certain about besides your provision and grace I cling to that and I pray that my sin will not cause me to mishear what you’re doing to shape and mold me into something better than myself.
I feel a sense of Déjà vu; this time last year when I needed your help, your wisdom, more than anything I needed your comfort; you came through in only ways that you can. You took my lack of trust, my discomfort, my fear and blew it away. Took it away and returned with trust that all the promises I made in those prayers; in those talks where I talked at you rather than talked with you… you trusted me, you trusted I would keep my word. You trusted that all of those fearful, manipulative and selfish things that I said would ultimately be used for your good. I said and promised so many things; if you would just come through for me on this one thing… if you just helped me once more I would be a better believer; I would read more; I would pray more; witness more; serve more; do. more.
I’m Coming Out (Intro to an Evolving Creation)
Can one more voice crying out from the evangelical wilderness make a difference amidst the rising and seemingly never-ending din concerning Science “versus” Faith? I guess we’re about to find out.
_______________
You ever start reading a book and can immediately tell that it is going to be a pivotal book in your life? It hasn’t happened often, but the few times it has, it has indeed proven to be a life-altering experience. I’m feeling that right now.
Almost exactly a year ago, I met my now dear friend Chris Martin (not the guy from Coldplay). We were sitting there at a party (where he first met his now fiancee), and he began telling me about his experiences at L’Abri, a Christian retreat/study center in Switzerland started by Francis Schaeffer. In that conversation Chris told me about a book he had read from during his study. It was a large, poorly-graphically-designed, 525-page collection of essays called Perspectives on an Evolving Creation. It piqued my interest. I immediately purchased the book and am only now getting around to reading it. This is a book I know will affect me for the rest of my life. And that brings me to my secret. It’s something about myself that I have kept hidden from the vast majority of Christians I’ve known. I’ve wondered if/when/how to reveal this to the world. And I think now is the time.
I, Paul Burkhart, am totally on board with Darwinian Evolution.
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.
______________
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…
_______________
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.
the pursuit of proverbs 31.30 (+ one who loves distance driving and semi-colons)
It burns in my soul like few other things. And it has for as long as I can remember. In kindergarten, while all the other boys were afraid of cooties, I was tackling girls on the playground so I could kiss them despite the fact that they did not, for one second, care for that sort of thing. And now, going on 23-years, I’ve been awkwardly and unsuccessfully (so far) chasing her down.
My Grandfather was the Grandson of an Austrian immigrant who came to Western Pennsylvania by himself at 19 years of age just before the turn of the 20th Century. Francis Karl Schrott was born December 1, 1928, fought in Korea and retired from the struggling U.S. Steel industry just before its out and out collapse in the mid-80s. He bought his first house in 1959 for $15,000 and lives there to this very day. His story is nothing out of the ordinary for middle-twentieth-century life in post-War America — substitute his name with any other and not much changes.
In ‘52 and ‘53, he came home from Korea, met Anna Ramach (a Czechoslovakian immigrant who emigrated through Ellis Island with her family as a child) and married her. The engagement ring (with all five diamonds still in tact) that he gave her nearly sixty years ago is pictured above and to the left; one of their few remaining wedding day photos to the right. My Father was born in February of ‘55 and when my Grandmother became pregnant with her would-be second child (against doctor’s recommendations), she died in ‘57.
Something was certainly started in those tumultuous fifties for our family — a legacy, undefined, was slowly emerging. My Grandfather eventually re-married and my Father’s relationship with his step-mother was less than warm. He was a trouble-maker and drug-dealer, engaging in the very activities that would lead him to meet my mom. In the fall of the bi-centennial, he gave my Mother the very same ring that Francis gave Anna twenty-some years earlier. Like the glass slipper, it fit perfectly and didn’t even need the standard re-sizing. They were married in September of ‘77.
(more…)
REVIEW: “Fearless” by Max Lucado
Max Lucado, a Christian publishing powerhouse, releases his new book today to millions of struggling Evangelicals needing real theology applied to real problems. Does this book address that need?
_______________
Imagine Your Life Without Fear.
That’s the subtitle of Max Lucado’s new book Fearless. A daunting call indeed – sensationalist, even (or that’s the fear, at least). Lucado spends fourteen chapters going through different things that we as humans fear. There includes chapters on insignificance, poverty, death, doubt, and (surprisingly) a fear of God proving your doctrine of Him wrong. He opens each chapter with a story or image that depicts this kind of fear in action, he then describes what this fear is, and then why humans fear this. The last half of every chapter is a presentation of a Biblical passage that addresses this fear and application of it.
As I’ve written before, I was expecting this book to be pop evangelical light fare. No talk of sin, no reference to wrath, no mention of the Gospel, just good ol’ Pharisaical moralism wearing the clothes of Christianity. You know, things like “God says here ‘Do not fear’, so a good obedient Christian shouldn’t fear. It’s disobedience, so if you’re fearing something, you’re disappointing God, and you don’t want to do that, do you? So stop it.” No dealing with real issues, no wrestling with the human heart, just a bunch of spiritual milk, when we all need meat.
The first chapter began to show me I was wrong about Max. He opens up with the account of his brother’s sudden, heartbreaking, painful, death. After that, though, I’ll admit, the first several chapters of this book began confirming that original theory of mine. For example, the first “fear” chapter is about the fear of insignificance. Lucado’s answer? God made you! He doesn’t make mistakes! And because He’s so awesome, and he made you, you can hold your head high and get that promotion or relationship you’ve been waiting for. If you hang your head low, then you won’t get those things! Joel Osteen couldn’t have said it better. This isn’t the Biblical answer. There are many things that God makes that he will willingly destroy. What is the Gospel answer to this fear? Jesus loves His people and His Glory shown in them, so He dies so they can get lost in something bigger and more meaningful than themselves. This gives them purpose and hope in the midst of that poor job and relationship, not necessarily to escape it. Our hope in this is that even in our weakness and very real earthly meaninglessness we can work for the glory and sake of an eternal kingdom. (Admittedly, the “Discussion Guide” in the back of the book gets at some of these issues, but it frustrated me that Lucado wouldn’t go there himself.) This is the way Chapters 2-6 are.
I was so ready for Lucado to prove me wrong and as I read the book, you can see my notes in the margins of my copy grow increasingly frustrated that he wasn’t doing so. His Introduction, and explanation of why we fear these things was so amazing. He understands the human heart so well. Not only that, even unpacking the Biblical passage was very well done. He was explaining Greek, Hebrew, and historical contexts in a way that shocked me. But I just couldn’t understand why the application of that passage kept being so incomplete.
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
_______________
[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.
(more…)
Explaining Health Care Reform & “Christian” Reflections Thereof
Can the common man understand this health care debate? Is there a particularly Christian perspective on health care? Also, a curious and unexpected memorial to Ted Kennedy. Read on.
_______________
Okay, everyone up to speed now? So are there any uniquely Christian thoughts on this? First, of immediate concern for those Christians whose consciences are so inclined to view abortion as a fundamentally political and legislative issue (no sarcasm in that statement, by the way; it’s a totally valid way that the Holy Spirit moves in many believers); in Obama’s most recent weekly address, as he “debunks” various ideas being spread about the reform, he says: “Some are also saying that coverage for abortions would be mandated under reform. Also false. When it comes to the current ban on using tax dollars for abortions, nothing will change under reform.” So apparently (at least from what the carefully phrased political talk) it would seem that these sets of reform do not concern abortion.
So with the one health issue it seems Christians have anything to say something about out of the way (yeah, there was some sarcasm in that one), what else does the Christian have to engage with in this debate? Well, before we get quite there, two foundational things that have plagued my thinking about this:
Let’s play: “Guess Who’s Doctrinal Statement?”
Given just the “Core Doctrines” of a Church, can we evaluate its true Orthodoxy and faithfulness?
_______________
Okay, we’re going to a play a little game I like to call “Guess Whose Doctrinal Statement.” I’ll give you the doctrinal statement of a popular American Church and you all try and think whose it is. Then we’ll reveal the answer and talk about it. Everyone ready?
Okay, here’s the doctrinal statement:
- WE BELIEVE…the entire Bible is inspired by God, without error and the authority on which we base our faith, conduct and doctrine.
- WE BELIEVE…in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to this earth as Savior of the world.
- WE BELIEVE…Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins. We believe that salvation is found by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. We believe Jesus rose from the dead and is coming again.
- WE BELIEVE…water baptism is a symbol of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ and a testimony to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
- WE BELIEVE…in the regular taking of Communion as an act of remembering what the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross.
- WE BELIEVE…every believer should be in a growing relationship with Jesus by obeying God’s Word, yielding to the Holy Spirit and by being conformed to the image of Christ.
- WE BELIEVE…as children of God, we are overcomers and more than conquerors and God intends for each of us to experience the abundant life He has in store for us.
_________________
So whose doctrinal statement do you think it is? Is it:
- a. Mars Hill Church (Mark Driscoll)
- b. Bethlehem Baptist Church (John Piper)
- c. Lakewood Church (Joel Osteen)
- d. Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob Bell)
- e. The Village Church (Matt Chandler)
- f. Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps)
- g. None of the above
and the winner is . . . found here.
So what do we do with this?
Is God Done with the American Church? Perhaps Not.
Does an ever increasingly secular and post-Christian America necessarily mean a smaller and weaker Evangelical Church?
_______________
Christianity is growing numerically around the world! With books such as The Next Christendom and Theology in the Context of World Christianity we are reminded of the work of the Holy Spirit in communions in third-world countries and even nations like China. However, we are reminded of the decline of Christianity in North America. Not only are mainline churches shrinking (as they have been since the 1960s) but even the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest of conservative Protestant denominations, will be half it’s size by 2050.
So the question facing American Christianity now is, Are we good as dead? Is there no sign of renewal, reform, and revival for American Christianity? Before any verdict is announced, I think it would be most beneficial to ponder about recent events regarding two very dissimilar conservative evangelical denominations and see if our prayers might be more motivated to prayer for a move by the Holy Spirit in American evangelicalism.
Two of the bigger stories from this summer’s plethora of synods, assemblies, and conventions have come from the biggest denomination and one of the smallest. Both the Southern Baptist Convention and the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church witnessed historic decisions and events within their assemblies in June. The evangelical empire itself saw the rise of young pastors in the SBC call for a Great Commission Resurgence and for a task force to examine how the largest denomination in America might be more efficient (and more biblical) in being intentionally missional and Great Commission-friendly.
bright as yellow
_______________
Time has had its way with me, my broken, tired hands can’t build a thing…
Coffee’s a murdering bitch, you know? It started with the arrhythmias, sometime in Oh-Three. They were added frustration on top of everything else: photo-synthesis, the commute, the roommate. Only she was my safe haven. Nothing more.
The idol of my days has won, the empty I have fed has made me numb…
It got worse sometime in the spring. A resting heart-rate under fifty is beautiful but not, when because, the ventricular muscle is shutting itself off every ten seconds. Thirty beats, maybe. Death was imminent one of these nights. You knew it. Falling asleep was hard and staying there even worse. Three hours a night was a good sleep. The contractions knifed from pectoral to shoulder-blade. Shallow breaths and bad dreams. Would I see her one more time before I was snuffed out and cast to Hades?
She was no Saviour — no matter how much you wanted her to be.
Save the nights your hollow dreams revealed the sweet release of death…
A scant twenty hours ago this idol was threatened. Despair sweeps in, rustling restlessness from its slumber while six-dollar nicotine bathes your grey lungs at eighty-five-miles-per-hour. The interstate is clear and the wash of sleep still seems so far away. To-morrow is ruined. Who cares about to-morow – what about to-night? Will it ever expire?
In the emptiness of broken flesh, the mercy of the thorns…
Along the river. Finally. This is where you wanted to be from the get-go. It only took ninety minutes of frantic free-way driving to find a place only a mile from home, if that. One more smoke while you let Him have it. Trust is your flaw; at least with this man-made god. It becomes so weak that the vapid space in your chest now desires to cease its rhythmic ticking. The near fatal flaw of six years ago would be a welcome addition right about now. The cherry draws near and you’re out of words. Soon there will be peace and welcome sleep.
WTFWJD? | (on Christian cursing)
"Andrew Murray" by Amy Roberts
More Christians of prominence are being “accused” of profanity from the pulpit. How do Christians navigate the increasingly clouding waters of holiness in speech?
_________________
[NOTE: no curse words are used in this article other than some mild "profanity" used in pastor Ed Young's linked video and in one of the linked movie clips]
UPDATE 9/11/09: Patrol Magazine has just posted a great editorial on this topic that I cannot recommend highly enough.
This is a tough topic to write about. I don’t know that I can beat Jon Acuff’s article on Stuff Christians Like, or cause as much of a flurry as pastor Ed Young, but I would like to lend my thoughts to the discussion. By the way, before we start, in the interest of full disclosure: I curse. In fact, probably more than most Christians.
First and foremost: God does call us to purity. To holiness. To right living. Sin should not abound because grace is abundant. Christians are supposed to be pure in contrast to the ways the rest of the world is dark. We are called to look different than “non-Christians” in affection, thought, conduct, and speech and I have definitely failed much in this respect. Words are very powerful. They can bring communities together or tear them apart. This is what Colossians 3:8 is talking about. Paul mentions several things that can hurt others in a relational sense and his final thing is “obscene talk”. Coarse, filthy, and inappropriate statements about others can infect an entire group as much as anger, gossip, or slander, whether or not they use “bad” words. Speech is a precious gift God has given to us and it should be used to His glory and His honor. But, what in humans glorifies him the most? As broken, weak sinners, what is it that God calls us to over and over and over again?
For your life – Flee!
(Adam Papadatos Photography)
_________________
The words of this message are as the moment a sound comes to your ears so powerful that it is as if a bomb struck, and all other sounds are silenced into a buzz; and in that moment, all you can think about is one thing, and that one thing is clear. There is a din, a clamor, a cacophony of sounds and voices vying for our ears and attention and hearts, and souls, today. But God does not yell. Although God has the most powerful voice that will ever exist, He speaks in a still small voice. Listen.
I believe God speaks in this man’s words.
“We have got to lay our lives down for the purposes of God. This is not a Sunday school picnic for the church of Jesus Christ; this is not an invitation to have continuous good times. This is a war for the souls of men.
Come out from among them. Run for your life. Because this is about your life. This is not just about an opposing viewpoint or conflicting theology; this is about your life.
Independence Day?
Is it really the fact that “both sides are right” on the whole Sovereignty question?
_______________
“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
(more…)
John Piper on Obama & Abortion
by Reform & Revive
______________
This is a video by John Piper of Desiring God Ministries in Minneapolis Minnesota. This is powerful. I’m still kind of really from it. The are difficult times in which to live indeed.
Thanks go to Ryan Burns for the video.
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.
_______________
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!
_______________
The Scarlet Cord
How a prostitute can both save a city in the past and teach us how our souls are saved in the present.
_______________
Our dear brother Paul of Burkhart not long ago wrote a letter asking that a theme of “women in ministry” be written on. As I am in graduate school and life has taken me in its undertow, over a month has passed since. I have been thinking all the while about this, though, and I thought of all the women whose ministries have deeply engraved Christ in my heart and mind. Women like Elizabeth Elliot, Kristyn Getty, Grace Driscoll, Grace Irwin (who wrote a book called Servant of Slaves), Brooke Fraser, and women only some have been graced to know, as Susan Hermes, Helen Toroian, Rachel McConnell, Lisa Rodebaugh, and Linda Sieben. I believe all of us have known women who have indelibly nurtured Christ in us.
(more…)
Stephen Hess on GoingToSeminary.com
by Reform & Revive
__________
One of our Guest Writers, Stephen Hess, recently wrote about his journey to seminary on the wonderful website, GoingToSeminary.com. Stephen is about to start his first year (of four) at Covenant Theological Seminary. Here’s the article:
“God-honoring Reluctance” – GoingToSeminary.com
We at Reform & Revive want to congratulate Stephen and wish him the best on the years to come. Hopefully we’ll see some more of him on the site.
red as crimson, yet . . .
painting by Sarah Stevens
How a winter ride home from church taught me more about the Gospel than the service itself.
by Stephen Hess
_______________
I was raised in a nominally Catholic family. By nominally, I mean that church was seen as an obligation, that somehow going to church meant you were a moral person. We would dutiful attend mass on Sunday mornings or occasionally Saturday nights, but an actual faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior was absent and frankly inconsequential the other six days of the week. I left college and experienced the reality of my own sin and received the free gift of saving grace through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. But when I am back in Rhode Island over holiday breaks, I attend mass with my parents, setting aside the banner of my reformed theological views in order to spend time with them.
As I was in the passenger seat of my mom’s car on our way to the 5pm Christmas mass at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island, my eyes were fixed upon the cold landscape. For the very first time, it occurred to me that the look of the snow in New England was the perfect metaphor for the depraved state of the world that the second person of the Trinity entered into in the form of a helpless and vulnerable infant. When the snow first falls, it is absolutely picturesque. The pure, clean, white snow covering everything remains one of the most breathtaking and beautiful images that I have seen first-hand. But the purity of the winter snow is fleeting. Driving, just a few days after the first snow falls, one does not glance out onto pristine snow, but blackened, dirt-filled slush lining the roads–a product of cars and SUVs travelling up and down those very roads.
(more…)
Redemption’s Song
I’m mostly a listener of the older hymns, but the lyrics of this song by Israel Houghton have grown on me…it’s like my life in a verse…everything from depravity to God’s Sovereign grace…I attempted to add scriptures to the parts of the verse…may God be glorified in the Redeeming work of Jesus Christ…
- I was lost.
- (Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 6:5; Luke 15:24; Ezekiel 34:6; Romans 3:12,23)
- I was desperate and broken.
- (Genesis 8:21; Jeremiah 2:13; Psalms 51:5; John 3:19; Ephesians 2:1-2)
- Wounded heart.
- (Jeremiah 17:1,9-10; Ezekiel 36:26; Psalms 51:10,17; Mark 7:21)
- And the wounds were still open.
- (Ephesians 2:4-6; Romans 5:8, 7:5)
- That’s the way You found me.
- (Colossians 1:12-13; Romans 5:8; Luke 19:10; Matthew 9:13; John 10:16)
- Turn the page. By Your hand.
- (Romans 9:15-16; John 1:13; Ephesians 2:8; Ephesians 1:4-5; John 15:16)
- Yesterday washed away as You write in the sand.
- ( John 8:1-11; Isaiah 53:4-5; Ezekiel 36:25; Romans 4:24-25; Hebrews 10:22
- My accusers.
- (Job 1:9-10; Luke 22:31-32; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Romans 8:1)
- Where are they?
- ( Romans 8:1-2; 31,33,34,35-39)
- One by one in the silence they all walk away. ..
- (Isaiah 54:17)
- And I will worship You
