Francis Schaeffer’s birthday
January 30, 2009
I first was introduced to Francis Schaeffer’s works when Contemporary Christian Music magazine honored Schaeffer on the cover when he died in 1984. I was in high school and recently converted. It was not until college that I read Schaeffer at the urging of my campus minister Hal Farnsworth (he also was the first to urge me to read John Owen!). I think A Christian Manifesto was my first read. By the end of my junior year I had purchased the 5-volume The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer and was well on my way to reading it all. I can’t resist noting that Crossway omitted Schaeffer’s short work explaining and defending infant baptism from the ‘complete’ set–but hey, they’re selling books, and I guess we can’t have credo-baptists stubbing their toes over Schaeffer’s covenantal theology.
I am deeply indebted to Schaeffer’s work for the framework and earliest assembly of a Christian world-and-life-view in my own life. I still think True Spirituality and No Little People are some of the finest Christian writings of the 20th century. His work exhibits a breadth of knowledge and wisdom, uncompromising commitment to biblical truth, and a practical, loving concern for people. Schaeffer was an early model in the Truth-Authority-Integrity-Love philosophy of ministry.
Today is the anniversary of Francis Schaeffer’s birth in 1912. Fred Sanders pays homage and gives an assessment not unlike my own at Scriptorium.
Ave atque vale: John Updike
January 29, 2009
American novelist, poet and literary critic John Updike died this week at the age of 76. Here is his “Seven Stanzas at Easter”:
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.
Going nuclear at the public library
January 29, 2009
Checking out a library book may promote nuclear war. Well, having the library’s checkout machines serviced might do it…but it’s a slippery slope. If you doubt it, ask the Berkeley, California Peace and Justice Commission. There’s nothing like deep-seated, gnat-straining and camel-swallowing persnicketiness that exudes self-righteousness the way some people have bad breath.
I don’t want know where those wooden sticks they loops the newspaper into are produced. Don’t ask, don’t tell.
Pardon my Greek…
January 27, 2009
Last night I watched Travel Channel’s curmudgeon/culinary tourist Anthony Bourdain‘s program on his visit the Greek islands. While on the isle of Crete, his host said to him at the table in heavy Greek accents, “If want to speak to the English, speak English. If want to speak to God, speak Greek!” This opinion is not too far off from what many in the church believe as well: that people who have studied the original biblical languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) have a special “in”–special access to the meaning of the biblical texts. This is nonsense at best and dangerous at worst. It begins, as most nonsensical and dangerous ideas do, with a bit of truth. We need an educated ministry, and study of the original languages is a vital part of that education. It takes at least a working knowledge of Hebrew or Greek to work with the substantial commentaries and language helps. But to believe that “if you want to speak with God, speak Greek” inevitably involves exalting the preacher as the definitive interpreter of the Bible. How can an untrained person disagree with an “expert”? George Bernard Shaw wrote in Act 1 of Major Barbara:
“Let me advise you to study Greek, Mr. Undershaft. Greek scholars are privileged men. Few of them know Greek; and none of them know anything else; but their position is unchallengeable.”
That being said, I need to come clean and admit that although I made good grades in seminary in languages, I am by no means a scholar of Greek or Hebrew and certainly not Aramaic. Frequent flaunting of my supposed knowledge Greek in a sermon is nothing less than false advertising and pride. As a result, I studiously avoid Hebrew and Greek discussions in my sermon. On the rare occasions that I do bring it forward, it is because I think that we can gain some significant insight or illustration of the meaning of the text by so doing. I think there is no place for placing the weight of novel or controversial interpretations on alleged nuances and subtleties of Hebrew or Greek studies.
Dr. Bill Mounce, who is a true scholar in biblical languages, recently blogged about this subject. He has outlined some principles for preachers to follow. I wholeheartedly subscribe to his views and found them to be good encouragement and correction. I never want someone to say to me after a sermon, “Well, I never would have gotten that out of that text.” But my heart rejoices when someone says, “Of course, there it is! I could have drawn that out of the text.” Baffling people with Greek exegesis and erudite presentations makes much of the preacher. However, it rarely makes much of Christ. Here is Mounce’s warning:
…people want to put you [the preacher] up on a pedestal. They want to think that you are different from them. But as I have told people many times from the pulpit, we are all gifted people in the same body, and only Christ is the head. My gift puts me up front and puts me in a position of leadership, but I am still just one gift in the midst of other gifted people.
Sweet counsel 1.27.09
January 27, 2009
REMIND
Left behind: Kitchen Committee wants you to retrieve any dishes you’ve left behind over the last year or so. Any left behind after Jan.30 will find a new home–one in which they are loved and treasured and not forgotten.
MIC-WIC Night: Two reminders here: 1) You have three options in deciding what to bring to the wild game supper. You can a) cook your wild game and bring it; b) contact Owen Oliver if you have wild game but would like someone else to prepare it; or c) bring a casserole, side dish or dessert (these can be wild too); and 2) there will be no children’s ministry activities that evening, so that the teachers and volunteers can attend the seminars by Jim and Jane Baird.
Men’s Rally: OK, this is the last time I’ll bug you about this. It’s this Friday…sign-up list on the bulletin board…info at fpckosciusko.org.
Officer nominations: If you have been nominated but are unsure about what to do, please contact me and talk with me about it. This is really important business. Deadline for nomination forms is Sunday, February 1.
INFORM
Joe is attending a church planters’ training conference in Orlando this week.
Presbytery: Tuesday, February 3, we have the honor of hosting Mississippi Valley Presbytery for its quarterly meeting. Presbytery last met here in February, 1993. I remember it well because I was received by the Presbytery as a candidate for the ministry at that meeting!
What will happen that day? We expect about 100 ministers and elders from PCA churches from Vicksburg to Macon, from Meridian to Belzoni. In the morning we will handle a lot of administrative business and some committee reports, all concluded with a season of prayer. At 11:00 we will worship God together and share in the Lord’ s Supper. Dr. Ken Elliott of RTS is scheduled to preach. (I would especially encourage you to attend this service if you can.) After lunch (which our ladies are hard at work in preparing), we will reconvene at 1:00 pm for the Credentials Committee report. You might be find this part especially interesting as candidates for ministry and for ordination will be examined. This usually takes about 2 hours to complete. If any committee reports remain, we will hear those after Credentials Committee’s report is complete. We hope to be done with all the business of Presbytery by 4:00 pm.
According to Plan: Beginning this Sunday, I’m taking over for Joe, who has been teaching a combined John Burge class and Men’s Bible class. They’ve been studying Graeme Goldsworthy’s excellent overview of the Bible, According to Plan. I’m picking up at chapter 15 and will see it through to the end, Lord willing. This book is a tremendous help in grasping the central message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
The Unveiling: Speaking of Revelation, I will begin a sermon series on Sunday evenings, beginning February 8, on that book. I’m calling the series ‘The Unveiling: The Revelation of Jesus Christ.’ ‘Unveiling’ refers to the meaning of the title of the book, apokalupsis in Greek. In Greek, apokalupsis means literally ‘a lifting of the veil,’ as in a disclosure or unveiling of something ordinarily or previously hidden. In English, ‘apocalypse’ has come to refer to the cataclymsic end of the world. This is an unfortunate mis-rendering of the word. My plan is not to preach start to finish through the entire 22 chapters, attempting to expound everything in the text (I did that in 2002-03). Instead, I plan to zero in on some significant themes in the book and highlight how John’s vision gives deep pastoral insight into how we should live in the community of believers right here and right now. The structure will be along the lines of “Christ Unveiled,” “Worship Unveiled,” “Scripture Unveiled,” “Evil Unveiled,” “Judgment Unveiled”, “Politics and Power Unveiled,” “The New World Unveiled,” etc.
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: I’m preaching once more on Genesis 19 ( “The Smoke of Sodom”). It’s Communion Sunday. We’ll be singing Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, and Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed.
Evening Worship: Joe Holland will conclude his series on Jesus, his church and his mission.
We won! 100-0! Why are you making that face?
January 23, 2009
When does a beat-down victory mean that you lose? A Texas high school is faced with that question following a 100-0 victory by its girls’ basketball team. What makes this story more intriguing is that the victorious high school is a Christian school. I’ll be sparing in my judgment, especially since I wasn’t there. But I can’t help but ask: at what point did the easy victory become embarrassing (it was 59-0 at halftime!)? Was it at 30-0, 45-0, 59-0, 88-0, 100-0? What is the Christian response to such situations?
Pray for your pastor(s)
January 22, 2009
I am still humbled and encouraged when people tell me, “Pastor, I pray for you.” Some remember us every day. In 2007 I shared with the prayer meeting group some suggestions as to how people can pray for the pastors (and John Piper’s influence is all over this piece). Here is the outline:
Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ…that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak (Colossians 4:3-4).
1. Pray that we would be single-minded and united in our work: being resident theologians and missiologists, discovering the meaning of Scripture, developing a life of prayer and holiness, cultivating, and working for the cure of souls. Many little things conspire against this.
2. Pray for our purity. Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). Pray that our minds and bodies be pure. If they are not, we become weak and useless. Who wants to drink water out of rusty cup?
3. Pray for our doctrinal faithfulness. Never take this for granted. An elder must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9). Keep a close watch on…the teaching (1 Timothy 4:16). Pray that a hundred years from now the leaders of FPC will believe and love and teach and obey the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).
4. Pray for joyful, Christ-exalting marriages—marriages that set an example for others, that ease the burdens of the ministry, that display the mystery of Christ’s love for the Church, that bless our children, and that protect us all from scandal. It is easy for pastors to neglect this (1 Peter 3:7; Ephesians 6:4).
5. Pray for boldness and earnestness in proclaiming Christ and him crucified. Pray that no difficulty would deter us and no disappointment dishearten us. Pray that we would fear God more than we fear people.
6. Pray that we would be “unbusy.” What I mean is that we would work hard but not vainly crowd our day with conspicuous activity nor let others fill our schedules with imperious demands. Being “unbusy” frees us to do our proper work–for visionary, creative energy. Pray that we not be lazy or domineering or cynical. Pray that we would be sharp and unhindered. Pray that the edge of our blades will not get dull (Ecclesiastes 10:10)
7. Pray for the Spirit’s power. We do not want to counsel and pray and lead and plan and teach and preach without power. Ask the Lord to open hearts and change people through our ministry. Pray that we will be sharp instruments in the Redeemer’s hands–part of a great, global awakening of doctrinally mature, Christ-exalting, God-centered reformation of worship, teaching, nurture and reaching.
Cream of blog: 21 January 2009
January 21, 2009
One of my favorite bloggers, Tullian Tchividjian of On Earth As It Is in Heaven, has been selected as the new pastor of one of the most widely-known congregations in the Presbyterian Church in America. Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, wants to call Tullian to become the second pastor in the congregation’s history–founding pastor Dr. D. James Kennedy died in September 2007 at the age of 76. What is intriguing about the situation is the prospect of merger between Coral Ridge and New City Church of Margate, where Tullian currently pastors. More meetings and approvals must happen before this becomes a reality. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel article is here.
Ligon Duncan has written an excellent piece on how ways we should pray for President Obama.
The Rebellious Pastor’s Wife writes well on patience and teaching children in homeschool and classroom environments.
Sweet counsel 01.20.09
January 20, 2009
REMIND
Congregational meeting: Be ready to stay a few minutes past the ordinary time this Sunday. We’ll present the 2009 budget and ask you to commit your support to it, and we’ll do some Presbytery-related business to the upcoming change in Joe Holland’s call to the ministry. I’ll try to lead things forward over the rumbling of stomachs.
MIC-WIC night: I’m looking forward to Jim and Jane Baird being here on the evening of Wednesday, January 28. The Baird were with us back in March, 2006, when Jim spoke at our Bible Conference on the subject of Christian marriage. Those services were well-attended and blessed. He was also a great friend to us at FPC by preaching frequently during the interim period in 2004-05. On a personal note, Jim was my pastor while I was in seminary, and I served on his church staff as an intern. Nowadays, when I see him I always say, “Sir, you bear a striking resemblance to a man who used to be my pastor.” In response, Jim usually tells me I need to get my eyes checked or that he is in no way to be confused with that man. As for Mrs. Jane, she has always exemplified so much of what a pastor’s wife should be. Her words will be a great blessing and challenge to the ladies.
Men’s Rally: Men, we are planning to take the church bus to Jackson on Friday, January 30. We need you to reserve a spot via sign-up sheet. We will leave a little after 4 pm and return around 10:30 pm. Make your plans, and let us know.
INFORM
Servants of the servants of God: Every month I’ll report some actions of the Diaconate that chairman Dennis Baird and I want to make sure you are aware of:
- Did you know that your deacons stock a freezer with ground venison to distribute to needy families and individuals in the community? Through connections William McKinley has with a generous individual in Noxubee County, our men have access to a number of deer. They do part of of the processing themselves, and Attala Meat Locker completes the grinding process. All total, we have between 130-150 pounds of nutritious meat available at a cost of 50 cents a pound, which we absorb. The Deacons’ Mercy Committee makes it available to families and individuals with acute financial needs. This is the second year this good work has been going on.
- New lighting has been installed at the kitchen end of the fellowship hall. Gone is the romantic (i.e., dark) ambiance; but this is a great improvement. Owen Oliver and the Deacons’ Inside-Outside Committee have done good work.
- One of the essential roles of deacons is what Paul called “helps”–making sure that necessary support and set-up is in place for FPC ministries and events. Deacons should not (and cannot!) do all the work themselves. In fact, effective “helps” requires everyone using his/her time and talents. Michael Holman chairs the Deacons’ Ministry Committee. He might contact you regarding your willingness and availability to help in a specific area. If you are heading up a church ministry or event, you can touch base with him if you need special assistance.
MEANDER
There’s nothing like listening to the presidential inauguration in a room full of 5th-8th graders.
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: I’m preaching on Genesis 18:1-22 (“The Sinking of Sodom”). We’ll be singing Rejoice, the Lord Is King, It Is Well with My Soul, plus another TBD. Congregational meeting following the service.
Evening Worship: Joe Holland preaching on Jesus, his church and his mission.
Calvin birthday cake
January 20, 2009
As noted earlier, this year marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. Bryan Lopez shows us a fitting birthday cake idea.
