Thursday, March 18, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
What to read?
Oh, there is so much to read! Well let me assure you that I have certainly not even come close to collecting, reading and comprehending as much as I'd like to but I'm trying. And you can too! And if you would, share your insights with me! I LOVE to discuss theology. I mean it's the study of God! Let's grow in this together! Here's a site that I trust for good reading material. Take a look. Mine that gold!
http://theresurgence.com/recommended_reading
What am I reading now? "Desiring God" by John Piper. This book is incrdible! You talk about a lofty view of God and being able to put it into words. Piper's the best I know of. What will I take from this book? I hope I can ingest a lot but I know it will take many visits to really begin to absorb all those years of wisdom that Piper pours out onto each page. But here's the main idea:
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
http://theresurgence.com/recommended_reading
What am I reading now? "Desiring God" by John Piper. This book is incrdible! You talk about a lofty view of God and being able to put it into words. Piper's the best I know of. What will I take from this book? I hope I can ingest a lot but I know it will take many visits to really begin to absorb all those years of wisdom that Piper pours out onto each page. But here's the main idea:
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
What a belief statement should look like
It's confusing isn't it? You want to find a church that's theologically sound, a place where God is glorified, the Word is faithfully preached, the Lord's Supper and baptism are celebrated, there's a genuine sense of joy, people are loving God and loving one another and about a hundren other things. So what should their belief statement look like? Here's one from Cornerstone Simi Valley that I believe is right on.We Believe:
The Bible is the inspired, inerrant and authoritative Word of God for the Christian faith and living. (The Bible)
That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.(God the Father)
In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father and His personal return in power and glory. (God the Son)
In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling every Christian is able to live a godly life. (God the Holy Spirit)
That all people are lost sinners and must turn to Christ in saving faith and repentance forregeneration by the Holy Spirit. (Salvation)
In the resurrection of both those who believe in Jesus and those who do not believe: those believing to eternal life with Christ and those unbelieving to eternal punishment in hell.
The Bible is the inspired, inerrant and authoritative Word of God for the Christian faith and living. (The Bible)
That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.(God the Father)
In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father and His personal return in power and glory. (God the Son)
In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling every Christian is able to live a godly life. (God the Holy Spirit)
That all people are lost sinners and must turn to Christ in saving faith and repentance forregeneration by the Holy Spirit. (Salvation)
In the resurrection of both those who believe in Jesus and those who do not believe: those believing to eternal life with Christ and those unbelieving to eternal punishment in hell.
a blog about a blog
Yeah I know. Not so original right? Why would you have a blog if you're just going to post other people's stuff? Well, it's good stuff. Have a look. See what God's doing through guys like Francis Chan. As a friend once shared with me: Gather, gain and go!
http://francischansblog.blogspot.com/
http://francischansblog.blogspot.com/
Is all truth indeed God's truth?
Great article from "Taste and See" from John Piper. I'll probably post many articles from Piper throughout the life of this blog. I would recommend that you read everything he writes. His Archives go way back. However, these ones caught my attention so I'll share them with you. Enjoy! Be blessed by them! I certainly have!
Sometimes the slogan “All truth is God’s truth” is used to justify dealing in any sphere of knowledge as an act of worship or stewardship. The impression is given that just knowing God’s truth and recognizing it as such is a good thing, even a worthy end. But the problem with this is that the devil does it.
“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” (1Corinthians 8:2-3). Which I take to mean that until we know in such a way that we love God more because of it, we do not yet know as we ought to know.
Alongside “All truth is God’s truth,” we need to say, “All truth exists to display more of God and awaken more love for God.” This means that knowing truth and knowing it as God’s truth is not a virtue until it awakens desire and delight in us for the God of truth. And that desire and delight are not complete until they give rise to words or actions that display the worth of God. That is, we exist to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and merely knowing a truth to be God’s truth does not glorify him any more than the devil does.
All truth exists to make God known and loved and shown. If it does not have those three effects it is not known rightly and should not be celebrated as a virtue.
I give thanks that unbelievers see God’s truths in the natural world in a limited way. They know many scientific and cultural facts. But they do not feel desire for God or delight in God because of them. So these facts are misused. This is not a virtue.
I also give thanks that that believers may learn many of God’s truths from unbelievers and see them rightly and thus desire God more and delight in God more because of those truths, so that unbelievers become, unwittingly, the means of our worship.
Thus an unbeliever’s knowing God’s truth is not ultimately a virtue—that is, not a knowing that accords with God’s purpose for knowing—nevertheless that knowing may be a useful knowing for the sake of what God makes of it for his self-revealing and self-exalting purposes in the world, contrary to all the expectations of the unbeliever whose knowing God uses.
It is fitting, therefore, for God’s sake—for love’s sake—that believers learn what we can from unbelievers who see many things that we may miss, but do not see the one thing needful.
© Desiring God
Sometimes the slogan “All truth is God’s truth” is used to justify dealing in any sphere of knowledge as an act of worship or stewardship. The impression is given that just knowing God’s truth and recognizing it as such is a good thing, even a worthy end. But the problem with this is that the devil does it.
“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” (1Corinthians 8:2-3). Which I take to mean that until we know in such a way that we love God more because of it, we do not yet know as we ought to know.
Alongside “All truth is God’s truth,” we need to say, “All truth exists to display more of God and awaken more love for God.” This means that knowing truth and knowing it as God’s truth is not a virtue until it awakens desire and delight in us for the God of truth. And that desire and delight are not complete until they give rise to words or actions that display the worth of God. That is, we exist to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and merely knowing a truth to be God’s truth does not glorify him any more than the devil does.
All truth exists to make God known and loved and shown. If it does not have those three effects it is not known rightly and should not be celebrated as a virtue.
I give thanks that unbelievers see God’s truths in the natural world in a limited way. They know many scientific and cultural facts. But they do not feel desire for God or delight in God because of them. So these facts are misused. This is not a virtue.
I also give thanks that that believers may learn many of God’s truths from unbelievers and see them rightly and thus desire God more and delight in God more because of those truths, so that unbelievers become, unwittingly, the means of our worship.
Thus an unbeliever’s knowing God’s truth is not ultimately a virtue—that is, not a knowing that accords with God’s purpose for knowing—nevertheless that knowing may be a useful knowing for the sake of what God makes of it for his self-revealing and self-exalting purposes in the world, contrary to all the expectations of the unbeliever whose knowing God uses.
It is fitting, therefore, for God’s sake—for love’s sake—that believers learn what we can from unbelievers who see many things that we may miss, but do not see the one thing needful.
© Desiring God
What is "The New Calvinism"?
The "New Calvinism"
In an article entitled “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now,” TIME magazine numbered the "New Calvinism" as the third most influential idea changing the world in 2009. In an effort to explain this "New Calvinism," New Calvinists are laboring to shake off a fundamentalist, religious image and articulate the old gospel in fresh, biblically faithful ways. They are making five important distinctions:
1. Gospel/Religion:
New Calvinists point out that the Gospel is not Religion. This came as a surprise to some of the students. Religion says, “You must impress God,” but the gospel says, “Jesus impressed God for you.” Religion says, “Perfect yourself and God will be happy.” The gospel says, "We are all imperfect people, but Christians cling to a perfect Christ who obtains the pleasure of God for them." The gospel is good news, but religion is burdensome news. Religion tells us to perform for God, but the gospel reminds us that Jesus has performed perfectly on our behalf. The Gospel is not Religion.
2. Us/Them:
The Gospel makes a distinction between arrogant separatism and humble evangelism. It doesn't exaggerate an Us/Them mentality. New Calvinism doesn't evangelize out of superiority but empathy. We recognize that we all need Jesus before the judgment of a holy God. The only difference between true Christians and non-Christians is that Christians are recipients of God’s grace in Christ. But we all are equally in need of that grace. There's not one person in this world who needs God's saving grace more than anyone else. The New Calvinism does not pit the human race against one another—Us versus Them—but views all humanity in light of our standing with God.3. Big/Small:
New Calvinism is recovering a gospel that is bigger than "fire insurance" from hell. It is articulating the gospel as “good news” for the whole world—society, culture, people, and the environment. The gospel is not an LCD, a lowest common denominator of the bare minimum facts you have to believe to get into heaven. Rather, it is a TOE, a theory of everything that addresses God’s purpose for humanity, society, culture, cities, environment, justice, and the future. It possesses an explanatory power that addresses everything from human motivation to environmental concerns. New Calvinists are embracing all goodness, truth, and beauty as God’s truth, goodness, and beauty, and redemptively engaging those things that are false, ugly, and evil. The gospel is much bigger than people think, but it is not smaller than personal redemption.
4. Conservative/Liberal:
New Calvinists are distancing the gospel from politics. They are not preaching a political gospel, though the gospel does have political implications. In short, Jesus is not a Republican or a Democrat.5. Urban/Suburban:New Calvinists are returning to the city, to engage the beauty and brokenness of urban life. They are recovering a commitment to justice and mercy in the city, returning to cities from the white suburban flight.
Where Do These Distinctions Come From?
These distinctions are the direct result of a high view of the sovereignty of God—his reign over all of life, not just in so-called religious matters. These distinctions flow from a big gospel that can be articulated as the good news that Jesus has defeated sin, death, and evil through his own death and resurrection and is making all things new for those who hope in him. The dying-rising-from-the-dead Messiah alone has the power to break the back of evil, redeem sin, and exchange life for death. It is the gospel that awakens us to this marvelous news.
Continuity from the Old to the New Calvinism
Much more could be said regarding this resurgence. One student asked what remains the same between the "Old Calvinism" and the "New Calvinism." There is much more continuity between the New Calvinism and John Calvin than with some of his followers. However, what essentially remains the same is the soteriological core—God's sovereign grace in redeeming broken sinners, which has been popularly captured by the TULIP acronym: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints (limited atonement appears to be more negotiable among the New Calvinists). This understanding of God’s sovereignty over salvation extends into a life lived under his sovereignty post-salvation.
The TULIP is flowering more vibrantly than it has for some time in the U.S. The Reformed resurgence has led to a missional resurgence that is set on holding the formerly "liberal" and "conservative" agendas together with the gospel, promoting robust engagement of social, cultural, and spiritual spheres of life. In this regard, the New Calvinism has more in common with the Calvinism of Abraham Kuyper, who argued that Calvinism is not merely a soteriological system, but an entire life- and worldview. The New Calvinism is broader than some of its narrower conceptions. All in all, I believe this resurgence is a very positive resurgence, a winsome Calvinism for the 21st century that advocates a whole gospel for the whole person and country.
In an article entitled “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now,” TIME magazine numbered the "New Calvinism" as the third most influential idea changing the world in 2009. In an effort to explain this "New Calvinism," New Calvinists are laboring to shake off a fundamentalist, religious image and articulate the old gospel in fresh, biblically faithful ways. They are making five important distinctions:
1. Gospel/Religion:
New Calvinists point out that the Gospel is not Religion. This came as a surprise to some of the students. Religion says, “You must impress God,” but the gospel says, “Jesus impressed God for you.” Religion says, “Perfect yourself and God will be happy.” The gospel says, "We are all imperfect people, but Christians cling to a perfect Christ who obtains the pleasure of God for them." The gospel is good news, but religion is burdensome news. Religion tells us to perform for God, but the gospel reminds us that Jesus has performed perfectly on our behalf. The Gospel is not Religion.
2. Us/Them:
The Gospel makes a distinction between arrogant separatism and humble evangelism. It doesn't exaggerate an Us/Them mentality. New Calvinism doesn't evangelize out of superiority but empathy. We recognize that we all need Jesus before the judgment of a holy God. The only difference between true Christians and non-Christians is that Christians are recipients of God’s grace in Christ. But we all are equally in need of that grace. There's not one person in this world who needs God's saving grace more than anyone else. The New Calvinism does not pit the human race against one another—Us versus Them—but views all humanity in light of our standing with God.3. Big/Small:
New Calvinism is recovering a gospel that is bigger than "fire insurance" from hell. It is articulating the gospel as “good news” for the whole world—society, culture, people, and the environment. The gospel is not an LCD, a lowest common denominator of the bare minimum facts you have to believe to get into heaven. Rather, it is a TOE, a theory of everything that addresses God’s purpose for humanity, society, culture, cities, environment, justice, and the future. It possesses an explanatory power that addresses everything from human motivation to environmental concerns. New Calvinists are embracing all goodness, truth, and beauty as God’s truth, goodness, and beauty, and redemptively engaging those things that are false, ugly, and evil. The gospel is much bigger than people think, but it is not smaller than personal redemption.
4. Conservative/Liberal:
New Calvinists are distancing the gospel from politics. They are not preaching a political gospel, though the gospel does have political implications. In short, Jesus is not a Republican or a Democrat.5. Urban/Suburban:New Calvinists are returning to the city, to engage the beauty and brokenness of urban life. They are recovering a commitment to justice and mercy in the city, returning to cities from the white suburban flight.
Where Do These Distinctions Come From?
These distinctions are the direct result of a high view of the sovereignty of God—his reign over all of life, not just in so-called religious matters. These distinctions flow from a big gospel that can be articulated as the good news that Jesus has defeated sin, death, and evil through his own death and resurrection and is making all things new for those who hope in him. The dying-rising-from-the-dead Messiah alone has the power to break the back of evil, redeem sin, and exchange life for death. It is the gospel that awakens us to this marvelous news.
Continuity from the Old to the New Calvinism
Much more could be said regarding this resurgence. One student asked what remains the same between the "Old Calvinism" and the "New Calvinism." There is much more continuity between the New Calvinism and John Calvin than with some of his followers. However, what essentially remains the same is the soteriological core—God's sovereign grace in redeeming broken sinners, which has been popularly captured by the TULIP acronym: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints (limited atonement appears to be more negotiable among the New Calvinists). This understanding of God’s sovereignty over salvation extends into a life lived under his sovereignty post-salvation.
The TULIP is flowering more vibrantly than it has for some time in the U.S. The Reformed resurgence has led to a missional resurgence that is set on holding the formerly "liberal" and "conservative" agendas together with the gospel, promoting robust engagement of social, cultural, and spiritual spheres of life. In this regard, the New Calvinism has more in common with the Calvinism of Abraham Kuyper, who argued that Calvinism is not merely a soteriological system, but an entire life- and worldview. The New Calvinism is broader than some of its narrower conceptions. All in all, I believe this resurgence is a very positive resurgence, a winsome Calvinism for the 21st century that advocates a whole gospel for the whole person and country.
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