In the comments Kent wrote: Maybe it would have been better to say “it sucks that you don’t have independence”...

Which of course opens a large can of worms. Have I not seen a “Dominion Day” or something equivalent?

Clever!!!... Actually, we do have independence (1867) while remaining loyal to the crown. I have no problem with this. God save the queen!

It used to be called Dominion Day, as the official name of our country is The Dominion of Canada – from Psalm 72:8 – “He shall have dominion from sea to sea”. It’s called Canada Day now – which some on our nearly insignificant Christian Right consider to be a snub of our Christian heritage.

We had an interesting Thanksgiving with people we hardly knew, the caretakers and other residents at the residence where my grandmother lives. The only other family we have nearby are Jehovah’s Witnesses so we usually try to get together with them during the next few days after Thanksgiving.

We’ve had a short exchange of email and phone communication with some family members, we were reminded of our Pastor and Counselor during these exchanges of “crazy-making”. He gave us that term to use to describe some of the family pathology we wade through. It is a very deep and destructive pathology, in some cases tipping over into serious thought disorder.

That said, it was very good. Not that the situation is good, one of our family members is at great risk because of her risky behavior, we would not be surprised to learn of her death, nobody is even certain of her whereabouts. The part that is very good in all this divisiveness is that we’ve been able to forge a couple of re-connections with family members that have grown (not gotten “better”) in their understanding of, and patience with, the working out of God’s plan in our loved-one’s life.

For all the import we place on this life, we need to remember that it is but a vapor…

Tomorrow at 6am (Central), Heather is going to be induced. This means our lives as we know them are over. Please save your prayers for me and expend them on Heather since she’s the one who will be in serious pain. I appreciate it. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Bill: An American once said to me “It sucks that you guys don’t have the fourth of July!”... Of course we do… We just go to work and don’t do anything special on that day!

So happy Thanksgiving to you all (except Joell) from the frozen tundra of northern British Columbia where I am teaching the book od Galatians this week to a class in a tiny Bible college. Great fun!

I also agree that NPR rocks. One of the great joys of high-speed internet is that I can listen to it (and the BBC) from my home in Canada.

that I am, I have to agree that NPR kicks commercial talk radio’s butt.

Well, Happy Thanksgiving all. I’m off to Ottawa for class. Our uncaring neighbors to the north don’t have the courtesy to celebrate all the US holidays so off I go. Rain, Fog, and a winter storm watch happening, so prayers would be appreciated.

I am thankful. It was a a valuable & fun three weeks at home.

To start, immediately upon arriving home in the afternoon, I was taken to the Carson & Barnes Circus by the wife. I am not sure who had more fun- me, or my 2-year old boy. To anyone reading, I say this—if a Circus comes near to you and you fail to attend, you are WRONG. A true big-tent circus is one of the few awe and joy-inspiring entertainments to be had. (Carson & Barnes has been around a while. I recall seeing them in my youth. I believe they are the only big outfit left who still tours with a Big Top—the other famous circus only plays coliseums now.)

We undertook the unusual goal of attending some event out of town every single weekend. For the first, it was the increasingly excellent Austin Celtic Festival. Just recently recovering from several years’ worth of disastrous, bankroll-killing rainouts, the Austic Celts have rebounded and are now hosting talent such as Kevin Burke & Martin Hayes. And I got to session with the likes of Ged Foley and the best Austin fiddlers until the wee wee hours.

For the second, it was the always excellent Texas Renaissance Festival. Angus got to ride an ELEPHANT, as well as a Llama. He also got to gawk at Rennies all day, a worthwhile experience for an impressionable young person. I got to be with my loved ones all day, drink mead, and gawk at Rennies all day- worthwhile experiences for an impressionable person such as myself.

For the third, we accompanied Amy to a particular rural part of Texas to observe her participation in a foxhunt, a pursuit which she is growing more and more rabid about. No canids were killed, yet a great time was had by all (which is the usual affair of a foxhunt), despite a driving rain and swampy conditions. These people are quite mad, and I can see why they are so devoted to the pasttime. The horsemanship was impressive. Interestingly, this practice was just banned in the UK, so the best game afoot may be in the US, for a while (the politics behind all of that are fascinating to study.)

On the spiritual side, I finally became involved in a weekly men’s bible study hosted by my church, which meets Tuesday mornings at 6:45 AM. And, I finally met and was interviewed by my church’s equivalent of a “service placement counselor” (minister who reviews an informal personality survey you fill out, then pinpoints some areas of interest in which you may enjoy serving- everything from roles in worship service to prison ministry). This was interesting & productive.

And I revised my annual giving commitment to more accurately reflect the impoverished state of my spirituality, and failure to discipline my finances. Maybe next year I’ll work up to a tithe.

Increased fellowship with the people of God, more musical memories with wife & son, opportunities to support my wife in some much needed R&R activity (bonding with her horse). A productive and blessed field break indeed.

Yesterday morning I arrived safely onboard, despite tornadoes ravaging southeastern Louisiana, and several power outages at the heliport. God bless the men who designed the helicopters, and those who fly them.

Thanksgiving is today- our ship chef will kill the fatted calf, or more likely will fry the cajun marinated Turkeys. A huge spread will be spread. A bunch of oilfield people will enjoy a relaxed and fattening day of collegial fellowship, even without beer (none allowed here). Wife & son will celebrate with family at home, and I’ll miss them. But, I get Christmas off this year.

Joe Carter has a really good post with good comments.

XMLHead.com has a new look. I’ve moved off MT to Tinderbox.

I’ve also been doing some more recording

Oliver what did you do?

What a lot of uses we have for this word “universalist.”

There is the “universalist” who says that everyone is going to be saved because (in spite of sin and depravity) the death of Christ is efficacious for the salvation of everyone. (As far as I can tell, that’s Capon’s position.

Then there is the “universalist” who says that God was only kidding about all that damnation stuff in the first place.

It seems to me that the first universalist may be in error over the extent of the atonement, but he isn’t denying that there was a need for one or that Christ provided it. So he may be “wrong”, but he’s not a heretic. On the other hand, the other universalist is a heretic, because he’s denied exactly that.

For what it’s worth, and to give perhaps a less emotionally charged pair of examples, George MacDonald seems to be the first sort of universalist, while William Barclay seems (at least at times) to be the second. (Sorry, Angus, I didn’t mean to pick on the Scots…)

In the interest of full disclosure, let me admit that I’m 99.999% in the MacDonald/Capon camp on universalism every other day (on the alternate days, I’m a 5-point Calvinist; I’m right then, but no one can stand me.)

The following events happened to me and my wife and daughter last Thursday evening. I know this post is long, but PLEASE read it. You will no doubt be entertained.

1. We were on our way to Ohio to stay with the in-laws and for me to attend a conference when our alternator quit. That means no lights (not even hazard lights), and it was dark and raining and we were on the Western Kentucky Parkway, where the speed limit is 65 and people go 80. Many semi’s were blowing by.

2. I had my wife and daughter get out of the car in case it got hit, which put them on the side of the road (behind the guardrail, but still), at night, in the dark, in the rain.

3. I could not get a signal on my cell phone, so I could not call road service. A man stopped and offered us a ride. Fearing we would soon be skin-suits, we nevertheless took the ride, seeing no other options (we were nearly 20 miles from the nearest town with anything open).

4. I get in touch with road service, who agrees to let us ride in the tow truck back to our car. When we get to the site, the driver tries to turn around on the median. The truck gets stuck.

5. The driver tries to get unstuck, but only manages to get further mired. He gets out, and goes to the back to try to use the towing equipment as sort of a pry-bar to get us out of the muck. Everytime he pries the vehicle, we move, DRIVERLESS, a foot closer to the road. We are terrified.

6. We hear a huge “BONG!” followed by silence. I start to wonder if the driver got hit when I suddenly hear, “F—-!” So we at least know he is alive.

7. Driver comes to the door, says to me: “Could you do me a favor?” I say yes. “Could you go check on those people?” He points to the east-bound lanes, where I see a car facing west, against the guardrail. “Did they hit something?” I ask, fearing the answer I know is coming.” “Yeah,” he says, “they hit us!”

Evidently, the driver (who had two little girls in the car with her) had tried to avoid the two equipment that was sticking out in the road behind us, had been unsuccessful in avoiding it, and had instead clipped it, which thre her into the guardrail of the west-bound lanes, which sent her careening across the median into oncoming traffic, where she miraculously did not hit anyone and came to rest, facing the wrong way, against the east-bound guardrail.

Mother and daughters were okay, thank God, just shaken.

8. We have to wait for the police to get there to take our statements, so we spend a few hours inside the truck. I ask the tow company to pay for a hotel for us, since the parts store is now closed (before all the drama, we had had plenty of time—over an hour—to get to an open establishment). The company refuses. Later, as we are on our way to Elizabethtown to get a room and drop our car at a gas station to be fixed in the morning, I ask the driver to see if the company would at least waive the fee for the extra tow miles the road service did not cover. The boss’s answer? “Negative! It’s not our fault the damned woman decided to hit us!”

9. While I go to drop the car and pay the tow charge, my wife and daughter check into the Budget Hotel (note: no matter how tired, desperate, or destitute you are, never ever in a million years stay at this hotel). The hotel demands pre-payment, and my wife, tired, frustrated and not a haggler by nature, does not have the heart to protest when the clerk overcharges her $20-worth.

10. I return to the hotel (which has strange people roaming the parking lot, trash surrounding the exterior, and a sign out front reading “Pets Welcome”), knock on our room’s door, and my wife says from inside, “Take a deep breath before you come in!”

And boy was she right: I don’t know which smell was stronger in the room: cat urine, or dried blood and semen. It was SO nasty. There were crumbs and pubic hairs in the bed, the bathroom was filthy, the door looked like it would pop open if a drunk came along and leaned on it, and the Styrofoam drinking cups were used. Also, as I was about to drift off to sleep, the window above the bed started leaking—no, streaming—onto the bed.

We slept with our clothes on and left as soon as possible.

11. In the morning, I paid $235 for an alternator and 20 minutes of labor. I walked funny as I left the shop.

The moral of this story? I have no idea. But oh what a night!

I’m off to see Alexander the Gayet.

I may comment when I return. I may not. It’s going to be a wonderful weekend.

I Thank God for giving us His Son, the world in which we live, the ability to love, the ability to heal, Germany and their automobiles, the Bible so we may learn His will, dinosaurs which power my vehicle, beer, airplanes, family, pizza, beer, NASCAR, Pepsi, and imagination.

Feel free to list what you are thankful for :)

We thought we had a skunk under the house. Turns out we have a cat in the house recently sprayed by a skunk. Ugh!

Dennis Prager interviews a guy I saw on Faith Under Fire, Sam Harris. Very articulate atheist with an excellent point: religion is the problem. Now how do Christians respond to that one?

I’ll be gone today till late Friday night. We will worship with Noel’s church family at Tate’s Creek Presbyterian tonight. Have a good Thanksgiving everyone…even you people who have the audacity to disagree with me. (jn)

Last night I attended my first Calvin and Hopps. The Reformed are so nifty. It’s almost like the BHT only with real beer.

>Tom has a long track history of being contrary to Michael on everything.

I vote we rescue that line from the toilet. Yes, Tom and I agree on some things. But Tom, really…..you have a long history of disagreeing with me on almost everything, and it’s one of the more predictably interesting things about the bar. Like my explosive arrogance, PW’s withering wit, Jim’s sarcasm and Bill’s curmudgeonly yankee opinions :) Embrace your dark side. Become a whole person. (jn)

A history is nothing to be ashamed of. I am trying to develop a long history of disagreeing with Joell about his whacked view of Calvinism. (jn)

Reading the discussion of our discussion on betterment over at Thinklings our discussions get discussed!- I would amend my thoughts on being a better person:

1. Regeneration can be a term used for the whole Christian experience; in fact, even for all God is doing in total. But I was responding to it as the first event in that part of the chain that goes: regneration-faith-justification-sanctification. Therefore, YES, I was relating it to justification which declares us righteous when we are not.

2. I am pretty Lutheran on all this sin/righteousness stuff. I think he got it right.

3. I really do believe younger men- that’s most of you- will change your mind about how much “better” you’ve gotten as you get older. My endeavor is to be honest, and honesty compels me to say that all I have lived since coming to know Christ is a tribute to my continuing wretchedness, and not to my improvement. Romans 7 Romans 7 Romans 7.

4. I do fear that the emphasis on being “better” as a Christian buys into the theology of Glory Luther warned against, Arminianism (Wesley’s idea of love perfected as a motive,) Catholicism’s view of grace infused, Pentecostalism’s emphasis on spiritual fruit and the New Puritan’s emphasis on visible evidences of election. I join Luther….Look at the cross and see yourself in THAT. It is not your improvement you will see there.

5. Just speaking for me, the day I tell myself I am better is the day my pride rises up and I sin all the more callously. Only the Gospel of the Cross can penrtrate this predictable cycle.

And on Schuller- When I hear Jesus made into a monkey for some idealogy, I do not tend to say “Well, what is still OK about what this fellow is saying?” I get mad, and I blog things that offend some people. Schuller did a Ph.D on Calvin. He knows the Gospel and rejects it. He is an Apostate with a capital “A.” Osteen is ignorant. Schuller is not.

I think this is a good discussion topic, even though I won’t presume to make it a QotD. If a preacher or teacher in some way departs in some degree from strict orthodoxy, doing so with the best of intentions (in other words, I’m not talking about phonies or obvious ripoff artists), even using Scripture to bolster their position, are they in danger of eternal damnation? Examples: Robert Schuller, who I would say preaches more of a “self-help” message than the pure gospel, much in the line of Norman Vincent Peale would be one example. Another would be “openness” theologians who sincerely believes the Bible supports their position. We could even throw my liberal seminary profs in there, many of whom I know personally are very sincere about their relationship with God even though they use critical scholarship. And how about all those Rhema students running around everywhere? Will they possibly burn in hell for eternity? How would this square with someone like Capon, who seems to think just about everyone will be in heaven? (And I know we have some big Capon fans here, so that’s why I ask).

Note: I’m not being contrary, I’m just asking. I will say, in my opinion, God’s grace spreads a lot wider than we sometimes think, and I really think I will see some of those liberal professors and some of those deluded Rhema students in heaven with me. But that’s just me.

JS: I’m a PK.

how did [do] you get kids to adulthood in Christianity without ruining them?

As someone who was “ruined” by this, let me offer the following:

Be transparent about your failings. Children tend to idealize (and idolize) their parents. People in ministry often feel a burden to demonstrate “righteousness” in terms of both their actions and their attitude. One of the basic steps in moving to true success in ministry is to come to a place where your own brokenness is out in the open. This is a necessary prophylactic against the destructive self-righteous patterns.

Be one person. Please, please, please never adopt a “public persona” that is in any way at odds with who you really are, if for no other reason than this: your kids know who you really are, and if they detect any inconsistency between that and who you are in the pulpit, they just got proof of a message they have been tempted with all their life: “it’s only for show, it’s not real.”

Be realistic. Don’t expect your kids to be “better” just because you’re a minister, and never communicate that their misbehavior has any special significance because of your leadership role. Doing so will cause them to resent your ministry and reject your faith, I guarantee it. In fact, don’t ever call your kids “PKs”. You are the preacher. It was your choice, or calling or whatever. You found the burning bush. They are kids, plain and simple; the fact that their parents are in ministry is an “accident of fortune.” Whether the accident proves to be a happy one or a sad depends a great deal on how you handle this.

Be forgiving. Once a week, get together with your wife and read the parable of the prodigal son out loud. This is the absolute model for biblical parenting. Period. Everything else is just technique and details; get the message of the prodigal and you’ll be a great parent regardless of how your kids turn out; miss the message and it won’t matter even if you memorize Love Must Be Tough.

Jim,
I’m not being contrary and I’m tired of being pegged that way because it’s not accurate. I agree with Michael about a hell of a lot more than I disagree with him, OK? It’s just when I do agree it’s just not very memorable apparently. And I wasn’t necessarily disagreeing with him here, so you can take that “history” and flush it down the toilet. Thanks.

Should we start a category called “Shameless Personal Blog Plugs”?

I had some personal thoughts on Days of Elijah that I posted on my personal blog of all places. I could of posted ‘em here, but I need the hits.

Re: PK’s. If you made me hang around a church that much I’d get pretty pissy too.

Question: I finally figured out that “Laguna Beach” must be a TV show. Don’t laugh at me, all we get is CBS and Prairie Public, which is why I’m very thankful Mr. Rather got the axe. When I was a kid the real Laguna Beach had a pretty big gay community, is that what the show is all about? (We used to shoot trap over by the 405 freeway and there were cool art places in Laguna Canyon, I’m sure that’s changed.)

I suppose this is the book I ought to write. I’ve worked with teenagers for 30 years, half that as a full time youth minister, 12 years of it at a boarding school for grades 6-12. I’ve been around PKs into the triple digits, I’m sure. I’ve been around Christian families and Christian kids that turned out everything from Billy Graham to Marilyn Manson. I’ve raised one to a college sophomore and one to a high school junior, and they are both believers with a serious commitment to Jesus that I can see in their lives.

Let me say that if MTV’s cameras followed me for a week- and I let down my guard- I’d be done as a minister. So I don’t think I’m better. (And to the brother who said that maybe I am more aware of my sins…yes, that’s true, but my sins are also worse. They are not the sins of youth, and they are not the sins of ignorance. They are worse. My sins against my wife are worse than they were when we were younger, and the list could grow. I should sin less, but I keep right on sinning, and while they are more distasteful to me, I also wonder with Paul why they still have such a hold on me? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord who has promised to get me out of this mess sooner or later.)

Back to kids. I wrote about this here in “How Christian Parents Royally Screw Up Their Children.”

As for my own….

1. We waited seven years to have them. We grew up and we needed to grow up.
2. I never made my kids do anything at church besides Bible Study and worship. Noel goes to both today and always has, including when she was at governor’s scholar and was probably the only kid out of 700 going. She goes at college, and that speaks for itself. Clay goes to the youth group of a local church every Sunday evening. He chooses to be in the school choir. But we never made them do anything at church beyond the minimum. Very occasionally their mother will ask them to do something in drama or creative ministries here at school because of their talent, and they have said yes and no to those requests.
3. They saw that the ministry is painful and difficult. They saw serious marital problems because of the ministry. They saw depression that was primarily ministry related. They heard a lot of tears and saw a lot of anger. Most of that, they shouldn’t have seen, and I don’t know why they still love Jesus.
4. I removed them from as much revivalism as I could, given where we were. We went to the liturgical church in town, and they both thank me for it. The hothouse atmosphere of invitational, revivalist, Arminian services made my daughter cry. (No joke.) I decided it would not be their heritage. Noel just joined the PCA. Clay says he will be ECUSA. Fine with me.
5. Denise and I never went overboard with our faith, but it is the center of what we do, who we are and how we live. The kids got to figure it out from there.
6. My wife catechised both our kids from the Shorter Catechism over about 2-3 years.
7. We have a lot of cool Christian friends.
8. We took them to selected Christian events. Not too much, but enough that they appreciated it.
9. Oneida. Oneida. Oneida. Oneida. At the end of the day, living and growing up in a Christian community surrounded by people who make $5k to be here, worship together every day, hear the Word every day….it has an effect. A good one. Almost all our staff kids turn out well in the short and long term. Christian community is a wonderful thing, and I don’t mean the average church. I mean intentional, mission oriented, service oriented community, where Christian values are up front.
10. We didn’t shield them from the world. We introduced them to it through our Christian understanding of it. Movies, Music, etc. They never had a lot of forbidden fruit. We’ve had a few conversations about lyrics, but very few. They figured it out on their own.
11. God was gracious to allow us to be involved in the lives of our kids. By being at OBI, we spent hundreds more hours with our kids than other people do. That was the best thing. When we are off, they are off. We know their friends, are here for all activities, etc. (Yes, we have staff openings now. www.oneidaschool.org :-)
12. I think my kids listen to my preaching, and I hope it’s done them good.
13. God’s grace. Other Chrsitian adults. Clay’s weeks at camp. Noel’s terrible year. Things I don’t know about. I have no idea all that God did. We prayed every day for them. We did our best. I was a lousy dad, Denise is a great mom, God is a wondrous God.

On this Schuller mess, a few points:

Reality TV isn’t reality. If you believe it is, you’re a hopeless idiot and deserve to be ruled by Democrats. Whether you call such shows “scripted” or not is immaterial. Things happen when the cameras are rolling that wouldn’t happen otherwise, and producers of “reality” programs routinely coach the casts to incite behaviors they want for the programs. If Schuller’s granddaughter was on MTV acting like a little angel, you’d all suspect it was a put-on. Why don’t you think that now? You saw Hollywood portray a PK in a stereotypical way, and you are surprised? Face it, the fact that we are even discussing a crappy “reality show” from a “music television” station that seems to not actually play music anymore (Yes, I’m old enough to remember when they did; when I was growing up, Michael Jackson was still black) is proof that the producers of this are good at what they do. Why don’t we just get a list of advertisers from the program and put them on the masthead here? We might as well – at least maybe some of them have an affiliate program, so we could see some money for giving them free publicity.

I know where Michael is coming from on Schuller, and I can appreciate it. The content of his stuff isn’t really all that far off from Osteen. Schuller is a lot like Oral Roberts, except he has better hair and doesn’t claim to heal anyone. Anyone who wants to defend Schuller against the charge of watering down the gospel has a tough project ahead of them, and nobody is going to agree with you just because Michael’s words seem a bit harsh. I suspect the basic problem Tom has is that Michael is right about this; Tom has a long track history of being contrary to Michael on everything.

Unlike Michael, I’m a pragmatist; my problem with Schuller is, his theology doesn’t work. It doesn’t save, and it doesn’t make anyone better. “Put on a happy face” and march forward to your death, because, well, smiles are more pleasant. Sorry, I’m not buying it.

Who’s picking on pastors’ children (PKs) these days? Is anyone else here other than me a PK?

Yeah, that behavior is pretty revolting, but I can’t say that I don’t know another half-dozen PK from my parents old church who would do the same, or almost the same. I think that this is an occupational hazard of being in the ministry: your children will grow up to be annoying little punks and despise the church. I managed to escape with my soul intact, but not without a blistering cynicism about everything charismatic. I note that the children of the director here at the Suceava Bible School are much the same: cynical quasi-Calvinists with huge distaste for pocaitzi.

Actually, this is on my mind these days as I’m getting ready to marry and facing the fact that I will have children in a couple of years. Since I also intend to spend my life in some kind of ministry, how can I avoid this fate for my children? Imonk and others who are ministers/parents, how did you get kids to adulthood in Christianity without ruining them?

Looking material on Schuller, I found this interview with Michael Horton.

Tom: Niebuhr’s definition of liberalism applies to Schuller and the rest of the positive thinkers: “a God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.”

You know, Tom, if I can get you to defend Schuller just because I criticised him I will qualify for some sort of award.

Reading some of the comments in the Christina Schuller story, I though I might clarify a couple of things from my perspective.

I join Joshua Claybourn in wondering how this got onto television, given the potential for embarassment to one of the largest television ministries in the world. It’s not at all unusual or surprising to me that a PK is on this two-faced wave-length.

Face it. Most children brought up in church present this same kind of behavior. One of the reason I really have no interest in a “church-centered” youth ministry model is the inevitability that young church members will “play the game.” I don’t see that as an issue of church discipline. (BTW- Schuller’s church is hardly orthodox. The Gospel is denied and Christ is mocked every week, so the possibility of actual disciples of Jesus in that operation is pretty small.)

I’m mostly amazed that this kid is up in front of the church, singing. Entertainment is of such a major value in today’s church that really the only things that matter are her appearance and her voice. Her mockery of the whole thing goes right along with this. How many young people go down this same road with all kinds of applause in the wings? Who actually cares about the person’s daily Christian walk? As Noel said, only actual mentoring can deal with this situation. As long as Christian kids live in their insulated subculture within the subculture, it will be more of this.

Young people will be young people. What makes me cynical is the church’s preference for entertainment over substance.

TBN is running their version of American Idol this week. If you can stand it, you’ll see what evangelical young people are seeing as the highest calling: entertainment with lots of “worship words” on the surface.

Michael—thanks for putting Walker Percy on the banner. The Moviegoer was one of those eye-opening books for me. The whole concept of “everydayness” struck me then, and I’ve never become unstruck (yes, I made up that word in honor of Percy).

The Schuller daughter/grand-daughter does the family proud. Since my daughter loves Laguna Beach, I’ll call this a BHT Must Read. (Hat Tip Joshua Claybourn) But I’ll also say these are the evangelical kids I worked with my whole ministry. Rarely do they rise above this. Hence my cynicism. (Call this the “Not Better” File.)

Mr. Manson comes to class.

National Geographic asks the question, “Was Darwin Wrong?”

CT does U2.

Faith in Christ makes us better already, but not quite yet.

That fine young man who is training to become iMonk II has a good piece at his blog.

This “does it make us better?” conversation just seems odd to me. I mean, it is the kind of conversation that we Christians have with each other all the time, but when we have to cite scripture, we have to make adjustments. Example:

1 Timothy 1:12-16 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Now, I’m not ignorant of the fact that it was an improvement to stop killing and imprisoning people for being Christians, and this is the guy who said his life before Christ was “dung,” but the whole tone seems to be, “There is nothing about me that gives me reason to boast, but I can boast in who Jesus is and what his Gospel means in my life.”

I remember this student making a rather big scene one day over a preacher who said Christians were happier than non-Christians. He was sick of hearing it, and he rejected it. In fact, he was offended at the whole idea of someone saying their religion made them better/happier than those who chose not to believe it.

I tend to agree with this student. The point of faith is the mercy of God. It doesn’t give us the message of “Look at how much happier and better I am than I was when I used drugs!” even thought that is absolutely undeniably true. The emphasis is always on Christ, and the truth of the Gospel, not on the results.

This is why I resist all the church ads that promise happiness, moral reform, better marriages, moral and well behaved kids, etc. if a person will just go to church, get saved and take notes. We may be able to see the tangible results of conversion, but is it consistent with our faith to announce them comparitively? Especially when things like divorces, suicides, depression, etc are all too common among believers.

I’m back at work… back in action. Yippee….

Don’t know if you’ve heard yet, but Gunga Dan is going the way of the Dodo, apparently to go to work full-time with the Communist Party, USA.

Best Swordfights: Captains Courageous, Captain Blood, Robin Hood w/ Basil R… Modern flicks have come close: Empire Strikes Back, Jedi, Phantom Menace, etc. Princess Bride’s swordfights were more humorous than actually skilled. But the best I’ve seen have come from Asia… Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero… Kill Bill, Vol. 1 was workable.

Which movies have the best sword fight sequences?

My votes: Princess Bride, Star Wars: Phantom Menace, Highlander: Endgame

Larry King is a moron. Rick actually did pretty well with that nutcase popping up with specious comments every five seconds.

Rick Warren says I can’t believe in Jesus and Elvis, that they are mutually exclusive. Now I’m ticked.

He also got the story of Jairus daughter wrong.

You just don’t like him, do you?

I think if he worked here, I’d like him. I think if he were my pastor, I’d probably be in his corner on most things, but in his office on a lot of others. If he were my neighbor I’m sure we’d be on friendly terms. But we would have some matters to debate.

You’re jealous, right?

Absolutely. The fact that anybody sells 500,000 books before the book is published makes me jealous. Since I can’t find a way to write anything longer than 10 pages, I am jealous. I’m more concerned about his influence than jealous, but sure, I’m jealous. I’m also jealous of lots of people I like and recommend. So what?

No, I mean the big church. That bothers you because you are a loser.

Uh…..no. Not at all. Do I wish my church were bigger? Sure. Do I begrudge him the success of Saddleback, Inc.? That’s ridiculous. There are plenty of big church pastors I love and promote. Size doesn’t matter :)

But the fact he has a big church and is into church growth is why you harp on him.

It’s why I critique him. Big church pastors did something to make the church big. They tell the rest of us what we ought to do. That means you should examine and ask questions. They are influential, and usually get a free pass because Americans love success. I don’t think that’s how scripture urges us to look at leaders. If something is wrong or questionable, you should say so. Warren has said a lot about his church growth methods. That invites criticism or approval. He’s also got a whole ministry telling pastors what to do, and I think that invites even more scutinty, because what he does at his church is their business, but what he tells the rest of us we must do is our business and the business of the church as a whole.

But listen to the guy. He’s a solid evangelical Southern Baptist. What’s your problem?

Solid? Not too solid. Pretty hard to pin down. He’s not a theologian. He’s like Bill Bright more than anyone else. He’s like Billy Graham in other ways. These figures influenced evangelicalism away from it’s reformation foundations and towards a fuzzy Arminianism and unquestioning pragmatism. As a (bad) Calvinist and a Reformation Christian, I don’t find those developments positive. There is a message and a method in scripture. It’s not up to me to define either as it suits me. Listen to Warren on Larry King. He is right on the boundary line between evangelicalism and a total muddle. He lives on that line and he sells that approach as the moel for the rest of us. Every theological statement is soft, every church growth statement is hard. As the major influence on the future of the church, he doesn’t impress me. Sorry. Does that make me a bad person?

So you just don’t like to be told what to do? It’s your “only child” syndrome.

Thanks for the diagnosis, but…Yes! And I don’t like Christian publishers telling me what MUST happen in my church or who I MUST read in order to hear God’s voice. I don’t like the fact that on Pastors.com and in PDC, Warren has become this combination of trite and authoritative, and I am supposed to recognize his wisdom and leadership. He’s mediocre as an author and unoriginal as a preacher. That’s not hating on the guy. He sells books. That’s his great quality.

why we bluestaters are better than you redstate hicks. (no, not better because we’re regenerate)

Here you go, Joell. The interview is gone, but hang this on the wall.

Theologically, I am a monergist and firmly hold to the five solas of the Reformation. It�s pretty obvious from the book that I believe in foreknowledge, predestination, (see chapter two, �You Are Not An Accident�) and, especially, concurrence�that God works in and through every detail of our lives, even our sinful choices, to cause his purposes to prevail. Proverbs 19:21 (NIV) is one of my life verses.