A Disturbing Precedent?

A New Hampshire judge has recently ordered a homeschooling mother to enroll her daughter in public school because the child, "appeared to reflect her mother's rigidity on questions of faith." I remember not long ago certain evangelicals being called paranoid for warning that this sort of thing would soon begin to occur.

As the Washington Post reports:

"If you've ever wondered why conservative evangelical Chrisitans seem so concerned about the dangers of government intervention in our lives, read a recent New Hampshire court ruling that 10-year-old Amanda -- who has been home schooled by her religiously conservative mother since first grade -- must now attend public school."

Read the entire article HERE.

Check out THIS STORY from The Wall Street Journal about Amanda and another girl who fled to Florida from Ohio after becoming a Christian because her Muslim father threatened to kill her.

Also, THIS EPISODE of the Al Mohler Radio Program is dedicated to the homeschooling case from New Hampsire. Take time to listen.

Being Christian in a Secular Culture

What does it mean for Christians to be good citizens? What does it mean to be resident aliens? Often times Christians have become cultural crusaders or political activists. But is this the way we are to function in the world? Are we to abandon politics altogether or ignore what happens in the culture?

9 Marks interviews Darryl Hart on the subject of "Being Faithful in a Secular World." It's worth a listen.

Also, you may be interested in Jason Stellman's new book Dual Citizens.

Sorrow, Humility, and Hope

On September 16, 2001 John Piper preached a message entitled, "Sorrow, Self-Humbling, and Steady Hope in Our Savior and King Jesus Christ." In those day immediately after the terrorist attacks it was vital for God's people to have their gaze directed heavenward.

When you have a chance take time to listen to the audio or read the transcript of Dr. Piper's message HERE.

Eight Years Later

Today is a sobering anniversary. Who can forget sitting in front of their TV or listening in shock to the radio as the unspeakable evil of 9/11/2001 unfolded?

For Christians, may today be an occasion for sober reflection and prayer.

May we do what Jesus instructed when asked about tragedy and evil - examine our own hearts and repent.

May we pray for our President as he carries the enormous burden to lead our military and seek solutions to protect our country from future attacks.

May we pray for our military leaders and soldiers as they root out evil-doers who continue their plans to kill citizens.

May we pray for our intelligence services who are seeking to discover terrorist cells around the world.

May we pray for the church of Jesus Christ that we may be heralds of the Good News even, and perhaps especially to our enemies.

God still speaks in His law

Al Mohler's new book, "Words From the Fire" is a study of the Ten Commandments. It will be I am sure, like all things Mohler writes, well worth the reading. Lord willing, I'm picking up my copy tomorrow.

Persevering to the End

For the next two Sundays I am going to be preaching from Hebrews 6:4-12 which contains perhaps the most challenging and certainly the most controversial passage in the book. It is a sober warning against apostasy. But the quesiton remains, is it possible for a truly regenerate person to fall away from God's saving grace?

Check out this helpful link from Monergism.

Redeeming Science

Westminster Theological Seminary has distributed copies of Dr. Vern Poythress' brilliant work "Redeeming Science" to over 15,000 science teachers and students across the U.S. If you have any interest at all in the intersection of science and theology Dr. Poythress' book is well worth reading.

Also, by Dr. Poythress - Philosophy, Science, and the Sovereignty of God

What the church is here to do

From J. Gresham Machen's provocative 1933 essay "The Responsibility of the Church in Our New Age":

"The responsibility of the church in the new age is the same as its responsibility in every age. It is to testify that this world is lost in sin; that the span of human life--no, all the length of human history--is an infinitesimal island in the awful depths of eternity; that there is a mysterious, holy, living God, Creator of all, Upholder of all, infinitely beyond all; that he has revealed himself to us in his Word and offered us communion with himself through Jesus Christ the Lord; that there is no other salvation, for individuals or for nations, save this, but that this salvation is full and free, and that whoever possesses it has for himself and for all others to whom he may be the instrument of bringing it a treasure compared with which all the kingdoms of the earth--no, all the wonders of the starry heavens--area as the dust of the street.

"An unpopular message it is--an impractical message, we are told. But it is the message of the Christian church. Neglect it, and you will have destruction; heed it, and you will have life" (from Selected Shorter Writings, edited by D.G. Hart, 376).

HT: Kevin DeYoung

Paul Tripp at Church of the Saviour

Church of the Saviour where I have the privilege of serving as Senior Teaching Pastor will be hosting Paul Tripp in January. Paul will be speaking on the topic, "Your Walk with God is a Community Project." If you are familiar with Paul Tripp then you know of his commitment to the power and sufficiency of God's Word as well as his unique gift for teaching.



If you can join us we would love to have you here!

Date: January 10-12
Cost: TBA (minimal)
Schedule:
Suday: Paul will be preaching in the morning worship services
Monday: 7:00 - 9:30
Tuesday: 7:00 - 9:30

"Whose Glory is Their Shame"

Recently President Obama signed a declaration proclaiming the month of June as "Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender Pride Month." Unfortunately, the churches in the Northeast (from what I could tell) seemed to be largely silent on the event. I, in an effort to not be accused of being too political, avoided mentioning it. I will try not to make that mistake again.

Terry Johnson, pastor of Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia wrote a thoughtful article on the topic.

President Barack Obama recently signed a proclamation designating the month of June as “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, 2009.” This follows the precedent set by President Clinton, who with a similar executive order declared June of 2000 “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month.” Pride. The use of this word by Presidents Obama and Clinton communicates what Al Mohler, President of Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, calls “a vast moral judgment.”

Christian civilization, or more precisely, civilizations influenced by Christianity, determined centuries ago that some forms of sexual expression are inherently sinful. This judgment was based on the reading of Scripture, as well as the laws of nature. Polygamy, prostitution, sodomy, incest, bestiality were universally held to be evil, both because the Bible said so and because such acts were unnatural and degrading, so contrary to human nature that they could only be the acts of those who are either desperate, confused, or perverse.

The “consenting adults” argument would have been dismissed by countless generations before ours. Two or more women, pushed by desperate circumstances, may consent to live as wives of a single man, but laws forbade it because a polygamous household was seen as inherently degrading to the women and children involved. A man and a woman may consent to a financial arrangement in which money is exchanged for certain favors, but prostitution is inherently degrading to the prostitute especially, and to her customer as well. What besides
desperate circumstances would drive them together? Two men may consent to sodomize and etc. each other. But anyone could see that the desire to do anything so unnatural and bizarre was indicative of startling moral confusion and moral corruption. What could be more degrading to any human being than to be on the giving or receiving ends of these acts? Similar things could be said about incest and bestiality.

Our nation has traveled a vast moral distance in a single generation. What was clear to previous generations, stretching back at least to Moses (c. 1500 B.C.), is not merely unclear. Rather, its opposite is now celebrated. Now the unnatural, the strange, the perverse, the degrading is to be a source of “pride.” So says the leading political figure in the entire planet! So says the government of the most powerful nation on earth. So says our President.

How can our laws, institutions, and customs continue to draw any line, any line whatsoever, distinguishing between moral and immoral sexual behavior? We are morally at sea, rudderless, without compass or any means of navigation. How can laws prohibiting polygamy, incest, prostitution, bestiality, or public indecency continue to stand? They won’t. The logic of “Gay Pride” eventually, over time, will erase the remaining lines. It is the logic of a culture of unfettered and ubiquitous perversion, which “glories” in what was once our “shame.”

Thinking about vocation on Labor Day

From Gene Veith in an article he wrote for Modern Reformation:

“Justification by faith alone” is surely the most important contribution of the Reformation. The second most important, arguably, is the “doctrine of vocation.”

Whereas the doctrine of justification has wide currency, the doctrine of vocation has been all but forgotten. The word vocation can still be heard sometimes, but the concept is generally misunderstood or incompletely understood. The doctrine of vocation is not “occupationalism,” a particular focus upon one’s job. The term means “calling,” but it does not have to do with God’s voice summoning you to do a great work for him. It does not mean serving God by evangelizing on the job. Nor does the doctrine of vocation mean that everyone is a minister, though it is about the priesthood of all believers. It does not even mean doing everything for God’s glory, or doing our very best as a way to glorify God, though it is about God’s glory, at the expense of our own.

The doctrine of vocation is the theology of the Christian life. It solves the much-vexed problems of the relationship between faith and works, Christ and culture, how Christians are to live in the world. Less theoretically, vocation is the key to strong marriages and successful parenting. It contains the Christian perspective on politics and government. It shows the value, as well as the limits, of the secular world. And it shows Christians the meaning of their lives.

Dr. Veith's book God At Work is worth reading. Check it out HERE.

Sunday's Sermon

Sunday's message was part 16 in our series through Hebrews: "Move on to Maturity" (Hebrews 5:11-6:3). You can listen to or download it HERE.

Another Review of The Shack

I have linked to a number of reviews of The Shack since its runaway popularity. I have done so because of the number of Christians that have read the book and found it to be helpful. The problem is that we are not called to be spiritual pragmatists. In fact religious pragmatism is a very dangerous thing. The standard we use to measure the value of religion is not whether it is helpful but whether it is true. And, I am sad to say, The Shack fails miserably in the matter of truth.

Trevin Wax has weighed in with his own review:

Let’s say you meet an author who wants to use your grandparents as the main characters in a novel. The author tells you that the narrative will be fictional, but that your grandparents will have the starring roles. Sounds great! you think.

But when the manuscript arrives in your hands, you discover that the story does not accurately represent the personalities of your grandparents. The relationship between them is all wrong too. Grandma berates Grandpa. Early on, they run off and elope (which is totally out of character). At one point, they contemplate divorce.

When you complain, the author responds, “Remember? I told you it would be fictional.”

“Yes,” you say, somewhat exasperated, “I knew the story would be fictional, but I thought you would get my grandparents right. The grandparents in your story aren’t anything like my grandparents.”

“Who cares?” the author responds. “It’s a work of fiction.”

“Well, I care,” you say, “because people will put down this book thinking that my grandparents were like the way you portrayed them.”

My biggest problem with The Shack is its portrayal of God. I understand that the book is a work of fiction, not a theological treatise, and therefore should be treated as fiction. But the main characters are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are actual Persons. To portray God in a manner inconsistent with his revelation to us in
Scripture (and primarily in Jesus) is to misrepresent living Persons.

When people put down The Shack, they will not have a better understanding of the Trinity (despite the glowing blurbs on the back cover). They will probably have a more distorted view of God in three Persons.

Wax groups his main problems with The Shack into three categories:

A very low view of the institutional church.
Jesus claims to not recognize the institution of the church as something he started. I understand the intense pain of being burned by a local church. Some readers will resonate with Young’s description of local church imperfections. But evangelicalism
is already plagued with solutions to suffering that emphasize “me and Jesus” or “me and God.” We need community! The Shack compounds the problems of individualism and makes the institutional church unnecessary and irrelevant.

A low view of the Bible.
The Shack so emphasizes the personal encounter with God in Mack’s mystical experience that the Scriptures become irrelevant. The Bible is reduced to words on paper that need to be decoded by those with theological training. Instead, “you will learn to hear my thoughts in yours,” says Sarayu (the Holy Spirit). “You might see me in a piece of art, or music, or silence, or through people, or in Creation, or in your joy and sorrow…” In other words, look everywhere else but the Bible to find God. Oprah would be pleased.

The distorted view of the Trinity.
There is absolutely no sense of transcendence and holiness. It is the “God is my buddy” perspective on steroids. Compare (better yet, contrast!) Mack’s encounter with God to the final chapters of Job or the stunning vision of God that Isaiah witnesses in the temple. One can hardly imagine Young’s “Papa” eliciting the same kind of response. The God of the Bible cares deeply how he is portrayed. To tamper with the way God has revealed himself is to put forth a false picture of God.

Read the entire review HERE.

Clear Thinking on Health Care

Justin Taylor has a very helpful post dealing with the current health care debate:

Lots of people are saying that the best piece on health care is now this 10,000+ word essay by David Goldhill entitled How American Health Care Killed My Father, published in the September 2009 issue of The Atlantic. I don't know anything about Goldhill except that he is a Democrat and a business executive. But the piece will definitely inform you and cause much food for thought. Here's The Atlantic's summary:
After the needless death of his father, the author, a business executive, began a personal exploration of a health-care industry that for years has delivered poor service and irregular quality at astonishingly high cost. It is a system, he argues,
that is not worth preserving in anything like its current form. And the health-care reform now being contemplated will not fix it. Here’s a radical solution to an agonizing problem.

Here is how David Brooks opens his op-ed in today's NYT:
If I were magically given an hour to help Barack Obama prepare for his health care speech next week, the first thing I’d do is ask him to read David Goldhill’s essay, “How American Health Care Killed My Father,” in the current issue of The Atlantic.

Joe Carter at First Things:
The forthcoming issue of the Atlantic includes one of the most sensible and pragmatic articles on the health care debate you’re likely to ever read.

John Schwenkler , who says this may be the best piece he's ever read on the issue and that it's "absolutely worth reading carefully and in its entirety," tries to identify the top 10 points in the 10,000+ word piece:
1. We treat “health insurance” and “health care” as synonymous, but they shouldn’t be.
2. There is a massive moral hazard problem.
3. We’re the only ones who can pay.
4. Governments can’t do enough [to] reduce costs.
5. Regulation limits competitiveness.
6. Medical providers work to serve the people who pay them, not the people in their care.
7. The costs of medical technologies are vastly inflated.
8. The present push for “comprehensive” reform will do nothing to solve the underlying problems.
9. The proper response is a shift toward consumer-driven care, with subsidies for the poor and a single program of truly catastrophic insurance available to all.
10. We spend too much money on health care.

Read Schwenkler's post for a summary of each of these points.

God is not our girlfriend

Something to consider...

The False Gospel of Moralism

From Al Mohler:

One of the most amazing statements by the Apostle Paul is his indictment of the Galatian Christians for abandoning the Gospel. "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel," Paul declared. As he stated so emphatically, the Galatians had failed in the crucial test of discerning the authentic Gospel from its counterfeits.

His words could not be more clear: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you have received, he is to be accursed!" [Gal. 1:8-9]

This warning from the Apostle Paul, expressed in the language of the Apostle's shock and grief, is addressed not only to the church in Galatia, but to every congregation in every age. In our own day -- and in our own churches -- we desperately need to hear and to heed this warning. In our own time, we face false gospels no less subversive and seductive than those encountered and embraced by the Galatians.

In our own context, one of the most seductive false gospels is moralism. This false gospel can take many forms and can emerge from any number of political and cultural impulses. Nevertheless, the basic structure of moralism comes down to this -- the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior.

Sadly, this false gospel is particularly attractive to those who believe themselves to be evangelicals motivated by a biblical impulse. Far too many believers and their churches succumb to the logic of moralism and reduce the Gospel to a message of moral improvement. In other words, we communicate to lost persons the message that what God desires for them and demands of them is to get their lives straight.

Read the rest of this excellent post HERE.

Panel Discussion on N.T. Wright

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted an excellent panel discussion on N.T. Wright's view of justification. The particiapants were Albert Mohler, Tom Schreiner, Mark Seifrid, Brian Vickers, and Denny Burk.

Take time to LISTEN or WATCH.

Pray for Muslims During Ramadan

A good way for Christians to be engaged during Ramadan is to pray for Muslims. Check out this helpful guide.

HT: Justin Taylor

A Brave New World Coming?

Remember that the philosophy of the classroom in one generation becomes the philosophy of society in the next.

10. Planetary control…
“Perhaps those agencies, combined with UNEP and the United Nations population agencies, might eventually be developed into a Planetary Regime—sort of an international superagency for population, resources, and environment. Such a comprehensive Planetary Regime could control the development, administration, conservation, and distribution of all natural resources, renewable or nonrenewable, at least insofar as international implications exist. Thus the Regime could have the power to control pollution not only in the atmosphere and oceans, but also in such freshwater bodies as rivers and lakes that cross international boundaries or that discharge into the oceans. The Regime might also be a logical central agency for regulating all international trade, perhaps including assistance from DCs to LDCs, and including all food on the international market.

The Planetary Regime might be given responsibility for determining the optimum population for the world and for each region and for arbitrating various countries’ shares within their regional limits. Control of population size might remain the responsibility of each government, but the Regime would have some power to enforce the agreed limits.”

9. Regulating the number of children…
“Individual rights must be balanced against the power of the government to control human reproduction. Some people—respected legislators, judges, and lawyers included—have viewed the right to have children as a fundamental and inalienable right. Yet neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution mentions a right to reproduce. Nor does the UN Charter describe such a right, although a resolution of the United Nations affirms the “right responsibly to choose” the number and spacing of children (our emphasis). In the United States, individuals have a constitutional right to privacy and it has been held that the right to privacy includes the right to choose whether or not to have children, at least to the extent that a woman has a right to choose not to have children. But the right is not unlimited. Where the society has a “compelling, subordinating interest” in regulating population size, the right of the individual may be curtailed. If society’s survival depended on having more children, women could he required to bear children, just as men can constitutionally be required to serve in the armed forces. Similarly, given a crisis caused by overpopulation, reasonably necessary laws to control excessive reproduction could be enacted.

It is often argued that the right to have children is so personal that the government should not regulate it. In an ideal society, no doubt the state should leave family size and composition solely to the desires of the parents. In today’s world, however, the number of children in a family is a matter of profound public concern. The law regulates other highly personal matters. For example, no one may lawfully have more than one spouse at a time. Why should the law not be able to prevent a person from having more than two children?”

8. Forced abortions…
“Indeed, it has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society.”

7. Forced marriage, forced adoptions, and more forced abortions…
“One way to carry out this disapproval might be to insist that all illegitimate babies be put up for adoption—especially those born to minors, who generally are not capable of caring properly for a child alone. If a single mother really wished to keep her baby, she might be obliged to go through adoption proceedings and demonstrate her ability to support and care for it. Adoption proceedings probably should remain more difficult for single people than for married couples, in recognition of the relative difficulty of raising children alone. It would even be possible to require pregnant single women to marry or have abortions, perhaps as an alternative to placement for adoption, depending on the society.”

6. And it could be legal…
“Indeed, it has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society.”

5. Involuntary fertility control…
“A program of sterilizing women after their second or third child, despite the relatively greater difficulty of the operation than vasectomy, might be easier to implement than trying to sterilize men.…The development of a long-term sterilizing capsule that could be implanted under the skin and removed when pregnancy is desired opens additional possibilities for coercive fertility control. The capsule could be implanted at puberty and might be removable, with official permission, for a limited number of births.”

4. Not quite human…
“The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being.”

3. ZEG…

“Why should we not strive for zero economic growth (ZEG) as well as zero population growth?”

2. De-development…
“A massive campaign must be launched to restore a high-quality environment in North America and to de-develop the United States…De-development means bringing our economic system (especially patterns of consumption) into line with the realities of ecology and the global resource situation.

…The need for de-development presents our economists with a major challenge They must design a stable, low-consumption economy in which there is a much more equitable distribution of wealth than in the present one. Redistribution of wealth both within and among nations is absolutely essential, if a decent life is to be provided to every human being.”

1. Sterilants in your drinking supply…
“Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods is a suggestion that seems to horrify people more than most proposals for involuntary fertility control. Indeed, this would pose some very difficult political, legal, and social questions, to say nothing of the technical problems. No such sterilant exists today, nor does one appear to be under development. To be acceptable, such a substance would have to meet some rather stiff requirements: it must be uniformly effective, despite widely varying doses received by individuals, and despite varying degrees of fertility and sensitivity among individuals; it must be free of dangerous or unpleasant side effects; and it must have no effect on members of the opposite sex, children, old people, pets, or livestock.”

These statements were made by John Holdren the Obama administration's Science Czar in his book "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment".

Wright Reviewed

Paul Helm has offered three insightful critiques (with a fourth on the way) of N.T. Wright's view of the doctrine of justification expressed in his latest book titled appropriately Justification. The book is, at least in part an effort to refute his critics, not least of whom is John Piper. Professor Helm's posts are worth reading not simply because they deal effectively with Wright but because in doing so he ably defends the biblical and historic Protestant understanding of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Read the posts Here, Here, and Here.

Michael Horton weighs in helpfully Here, Here, and Here.

Kevin DeYoung evaluates Bishop Wright's understanding of the phrase "the righteousness of God." Check it our Here.