Brooke Fraser

Based upon this music video, I think I am going to like her music.

Lessons from Teenagers

Busy grading papers for my reformed doctrine class today. The assigned topic was “Why are you a Calvinist, Arminian, or undecided? (In terms of your doctrine of salvation.) I am impressed with a few of the students. Many have a strong desire to conform their minds to Scripture and be biblical in their worldview. Others however are not.

Many of my students wrote, “debating Calvinism is not worth dividing the church over.” Others said that “while scripture is true, our interpretations are not. Let us sit back and refrain from arguing.”

There is one student I have who is a nightmare. No matter what I say this young person’s hand is straight up to debate something that hardly left my lips. When I see that shift of weight that is recognizable with my back turned a deep sigh is within me. But I appreciate this student far more than my apathetic students. For to him it matters and he sees its importance.

Why is election important? Why is our radical depravity? And so on. I can recite that this debate matters because of the definition of the word grace.

When one says it is not worth dividing the church over, they say that it is not important as church unity. If that is the case return to Rome.

Church History Syllabus

Here is my syllabus for my church history class I teach at Trinity.  The new semester begins on January 21st.  I would love your thoughts and comments on it.

1/2/2009 – final draft – Church History Syllabus

Last February I went to visit Westminster Theological Seminary.  One of the classes I sat in on was Carl Trueman’s Medieval Christianity.  Much of what he said still reverberates within me today.  Another visitor was there that day.  A man who sought to be a teacher and he was Roman Catholic.  A few things disgruntled him that left Trueman’s lips.  However, Dr. Trueman gave one of the best answers; it was marked with humility.  ”I have much in common with the Catholic tradition, more in common than I do with many Evangelicals.”  He said that Reformed Christians should and must appreciate the church through all her centuries and in all countries.  In this aspect he spoke specifically of Eastern Orthodoxy and commended Dr. Robert Letham’s book.  

One thing that bugs me is the desire for conformity and not unity.  In my decision to leave the RPCNA for the PCA many people said that I was abandoning my heritage.  (The same was said to my wife when her OPC congregation decided to merge with a PCA congregation into the PCA).  To this I have a simple reply.  Machen certainly was a theological predecessor that I have much in common with.  The same with BB Warfield.  What of the 12 apostles and many others?  Our heritage transcends our denominational boundaries as we are all united in Christ.  This is the reason why I am not spending 4 weeks on the reformation.

Twitter and Networking

A few days ago, now a couple weeks ago, I joined Twitter.  (Hence the twitter icon and link to the right.)  Since that fateful day hits to this blog jumped a couple dozen.   So it was a good publicity move; but that is not why I joined.  I joined only to see what the craze was.  Thus far I like it.  A few reasons why.  

(1) Short, simple, and to the point “tweets” where people inform you what is going on in their minds or what they are doing.  

(2) “follow” friends (Steve Steele, Ryan Cerbus, Sam Desocio to name a few) 

(3) Meet new people.  People I never met or talked to I can now do so, like Mark Driscoll- if I were to ever message him.  Though his secretary probably does all that.  

(4) Networking – simply to meet new people and develop acquaintances 

In my last semester of college I read Ideas have Consequences.  The author raised the idea of networking, and my professor asked us to critique it in a Christian worldview.  I have no problem with networking, but at that moment I had a very broad definition.  My mind has not changed, however I think networking does not go far enough.  Christians are to be “instruments in redeemers hands.”  We are to help people in need of change, while recognizing that we are in need of change.  (You might hear Paul David Tripp’s influence in those words).  Is it OK for Christians to have acquaintances?  Yes, but only if your purpose is to get to know them more.  

In this vein Twitter became an access point, where I can easily keep an eye on the news, organizations I appreciate, causes, and friends all in one platform.  In a sense this could make one lazy.  

If you have twitter, don’t be ashamed to look me up.

If you are interested – here is a good article on how to use facebook and understand it in our lives. 

Religion + Ridiculous = Religulous

Here is Maher’s own words in an interview about this documentary.

For years men like Richard Dawkins, Richard Muse, and Daniel Dennett have attacked religion in general and Christianity in particular. Albert Mohler, Ravi Zacharias, and Douglas Wilson each took this movement, the New Atheism, on by publishing critiques of their thought. (Earlier I referred to the debate between Wilson and Christopher Hitchens that took place at the Kings College and Westminster Seminary). This does not worry me; it is another illustration of how something that people teach at the academic level disseminate down to the popular level. Something we saw before in Carl Sagan, and something we will continue to see before Christ comes. I am thankful for the doors that this will open.

Maher made a great point. Christians should be more Christ-like. It was for this reason, the reality that Christians do not follow Christ’s teachings as they should, that Francis Schaeffer struggled with his faith. A memoir of that entire struggle is True Spirituality.