Between Two Worlds

Forget Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Lewinsky-gate. The Associated Press has broken news that will send this country reeling: the website for the White House counts visitors.

Peter Hastie of the Australian Presbyterian seems to publish an excellent interview in every single issue. Here is his interview with Michael Horton on what's so amazing about grace.

Hugh Hewitt writes, "I have pieced together what seem to be the MSM's self-destructive New Year's Resolutions":

1. Display utter ignorance of the free-market system the rest of us work in, which is competitive and requires us to work hard to fend off competitors.

2. Have obvious contempt for your readers.

3. Save the most contempt for your most engaged readers.

4. When in doubt, throw up your hands and blame someone else.

Read the whole thing for context and explanation. Hugh sums it up well:

These New Year's Resolutions are simply not going to work for the MSM. As a blogger, I pick on the MSM a lot. We all do, and usually with good reason. We wish to hold them to the same standards they wish to hold corporations and politicians.

It doesn't mean we think the MSM should disappear. I know that when it comes to thorough, worldwide, concentrated, quick newsgathering, you can't beat AP. It will be a long time before anyone can, but there's no reason that the APs of the world should be able to recline forever in that comfortable knowledge.

I have a special place in my heart for newspapers because I grew up with them; it's what I studied in school; it's what I thought I wanted to do. But I have a more special place in my heart for whomever can give me the best information when I want it. I will not forever hold onto MSM sources simply because they feel entitled to my business, and no one else will either.

Here are some great quotes by Chesterton on humility, from his book Orthodoxy. (HT: Douglas Wilson, who comments: "Read a couple emergent books and then read this chapter [3], or better yet, the entire book. It will be like clapping a oxygen mask on your face after bicycling up Mt. Everest."

"…what we suffer from to-day is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert—himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt—the Divine Reason."

"…the new skeptic is so humble that he doubts if he can even learn."

"The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a nail in his boot that prevented him from going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.

"At any street corner we may meet a man who utters the frantic and blasphemous statement that he may be wrong. Every day one comes across somebody who says that of course his view may not be the right one. Of course his view must be the right one, or it is not his view. We are on the road to producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table. We are in danger of seeing philosophers who doubt the law of gravity as being a mere fancy of their own. Scoffers of old time were too proud to be convinced; but these are too humble to be convinced. The meek do inherit the earth; but the modern skeptics are too meek to claim their inheritance."

"The sages, it is often said, can see no answer to the riddle of religion. But the trouble with our sages is not that they cannot see the answer; it is that they cannot even see the riddle."

Sam Storms of Enjoying God Ministries has written an extensive, must-read review of George Barna's new book, Revolution.

Part 1

Part 2

Here is Storms' summary of Barna's thesis:

Barna’s thesis is that one can be a Christ-loving, Bible-believing, soul-winning, God-exalting Christian without any formal involvement in or connection with the “church”. The absence of the latter, be it noted, is not because of circumstances beyond your control. It’s not that some people, because of geographic isolation or persecution or other factors, cannot find or plant or become involved in a local church. The Revolution is a movement of people who easily could but refuse to do so, believing that for them, at any rate, true spirituality and authentic obedience to God and a genuine, thriving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is possible only by forsaking membership in, support of, and allegiance to a local congregation of believers.

Storms concludes his extensive review in this way: “I hope and pray that people who read this book (if they must) will have the discernment to recognize its flaws and resist its gut-level appeal. With all due respect to George Barna and his many accomplishments for the sake of the Kingdom, this is a bad book that encourages a bad agenda for the people of God.”

Here are some more reviews and quotes:

Kevin Miller, writing in Christianity Today: "Do you want to become a Revolutionary? First, trade your copy of Revolution for Life Together, the manifesto written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer during the dark days of Nazi Germany. Then, if you want to do heroic and revolutionary exploits, go back to your local church. That's something so spiritually challenging that several million people no longer want to do it."

Michael Haykin writes: "Here is Evangelicalism throwing the past and its caution to the winds and eloping with the fervently anti-institutional spirit of the age—a nymph with oh so many paramours. Nothing really revolutionary here. Just utter silliness and the giddiness of childish infatuation."

Chris Treat at Reformation 21 writes: “His exegesis is so thin that the most telling result of Barna’s book may be how much evangelical leaders take his exegesis seriously. If Barna’s weak exegesis can convince evangelical leaders that the Bible is silent about the local church, then evangelicalism has surely reached the pinnacle of Biblical ignorance."

Update: broken links to the Storms' review are now fixed

Doug Wilson has wrapped up his review of McLaren's Generous Orthodoxy. Here are the final entries:

• Scribes Haven't Changed
• Theological Tourism
• No Place But the Mall
• Brown Theonomy
• Just Go Home
• Relativism As Medicine

The latest Reformation 21 is largely devoted to David Wells' thought and writings.

Roundtable Discussion: The Wells Quadrilogy, with Ligon Duncan, Philip Ryken, and Carl Trueman.

David Wells: An Appreciation from the Land of Braveheart, by David C. Meredith

Above All Earthly Pow'rs, Reviewed by Ligon Duncan

An audio interview with Wells will be forthcoming.

Here is a quote from Duncan's review that expresses the importance of Wells' thinking and writing:

Let me pause here and, at the serious risk of being charged with sycophancy, say that David F. Wells is one of the most eminent theologians in the English-speaking world today. His combination of theological brilliance and acute cultural analysis is rare, even at the highest levels of his profession. The circle of friends into whom the Lord has providentially placed Professor Wells constitutes a Who's Who of great evangelical leaders, preachers, thinkers, theologians and historians over the last half-century. A quick glance at the preface of the fourth volume of his decade-long reflection on evangelical theology and American culture will indicate Dr. Wells’ extensive fellowship with, for instance, John Stott, J.I. Packer, Carl F.H. Henry, Francis Schaeffer, Martin Lloyd-Jones, Os Guinness, George Marsden and Mark Noll. This has both prepared him to play the role of Jeremiah to the 21^st century Protestant church in the West, and placed him in a uniquely strategic place for the observation and analysis of evangelicalism.

See the full table of contents for the whole Ref21 issue, including stuff not related to Wells.

In his latest "Wages of Spin" entry at Ref21, Carl Trueman looks at the world of blogging: The Theatre of the Absurd.

"To cut to the chase: the danger of the web is this: where everyone has a right to speak, everyone ends up thinking they have a right to be heard; and when everyone in general thinks they have a right to be heard, then you end up with a situation where nobody in particular is listened to."

Ardel Caneday has a good blog post on Christians who make a fuss about certain TV shows, and wonder if evangelicals have the stomach for any perseuction at all.

Here's an announcement that some readers may be interested in:


The INSIGHT Program:

• Instills in students a global world view in a one year college curriculum integrating Bible, History, Anthropology and Philosophy
• Prepares students for living in intellectually and spiritually challenging environments from the secular college campus to the mission field
• Utilizes curriculum developed at the U.S. Center for World Mission
• Offers fully transferable credits from Northwestern College, St. Paul, Minnesota
• Annual tuition of just $7,900
• Financial aid and grants available to qualifying students through Northwestern College

For a full description of INSIGHT, see this brochure.

For more information, contact E. Michael Rusten, Th.M., Ph.D., Associate Dean of The Bethlehem Institute and Director of the INSIGHT Program, at mike.rusten@bbcmpls.org or 612-338-3404

For an information packet and registration materials, contact Connie Kopischke, Registrar of The Bethlehem Institute, at connie.kopischke@bbcmpls.org or 612-338-3420

Tom Steller of Bethlehem recently wrote:

Here's a chance for young men and women to spend a year with us at Bethlehem, benefitting from Pastor John's preaching and the life of this unusual body of believers, engaging in urban cross-cultural ministry, while getting a powerful year of transferrable college credit studying the World Christian Foundations curriculum in a Socratic cohort-based group. This curriculum mixed together with solid doses of the sovereignty of God and Christian Hedonism can lay an unforgettable foundation for future study and ministry at a fraction of the tuition of more traditional programs. It's almost too good to be true! If I could repeat my freshman year of college, this is what I would choose to do!

While running some errands tonight, I caught much of Hugh Hewitt's fascinating interview with Robert Kaplan. You may have heard Kaplan's name recently, because the President is currently reading his book, Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground. Kaplan has spent several years traveling the globe being embedded with US troops.

When Hewitt asked Kaplan about the idea that the military is tired and worn out, I found Kaplan's answer to be very interesting:

My commentary is that...and I just came back from Iraq, and I spent six months a year in the barracks, is that I've only met two kinds of Army Special Forces and front line Marines: Those who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those who are pulling every bureaucratic string to get deployed there. Morale has never been better. It's much better than in the 1990's, where the military was not really allowed to do anything. Front line combat troops are like artisan writers. They want to be active in their chosen profession. As I said, morale has never been better, and the one complaint I hear is we can get this thing done in Iraq. It may take a few years longer than people think, but the weakest link is the home front.

You don't see that on the evening news--but then again, it doesn't exactly fit their preconceived storyline.

The LA Times falls for an internet hoax and runs the story on the front page. Powerline has the details.

Joe Carter has some useful tips and tricks for googling.

Here is a wonderful Olney Hymn by John Newton, expressing a "Prayer for Ministers." It can be found in Worthy Is the Lamb: Puritan Poetry in Honor of Christ:

Chief Shepherd of thy chosen sheep,
From death and sin set free;
May every under–shepherd keep
His eye, intent on thee!

With plenteous grace their hearts prepare,
To execute thy will
Compassion, patience, love and care,
And faithfulness and skill

Inflame their minds with holy zeal
Their flocks to feed and teach;
And let them live, and let them feel
The sacred truths they preach.

Oh, never let the sheep complain
That toys, which fools amuse;
Ambition, pleasure, praise or gain,
Debase the shepherd’s views.

He, that for these, forbears to feed
The souls whom JESUS loves;
Whate’er he may profess, or plead,
An idle shepherd proves.

The sword of God shall break his arm,
A blast shall blind his eye
His word shall have no pow’r to warm,
His gifts shall all grow dry.

O LORD, avert this heavy woe,
Let all thy shepherds say!
And grace, and strength, on each bestow,
To labor while ’tis day.

- John Newton

(HT: Ray Van Neste)

If you're interested in the study of Paul and the law, you may be interested in this interview with Frank Thielman. (The interview is from a while back, but I just came across it.) In my opinion, his book Paul and the Law is the most helpful treatment of the subject to date. Also worth reading is his short but insightful and persuasive volume, The Law and the New Testament.

If you're looking for careful, thoughtful, God-centered audio resources on practical theology, check out John Piper's practical theology courses at BiblicalTraining.com. They are all available online for free:

• Why We Believe the Bible
• T.U.L.I.P.: The Pursuit of God's Glory in Salvation
• Desiring God The Pursuit of Joy in Life and Ministry
• Living by Faith in Future Grace: The Pursuit of Holiness in Life and Ministry
• Suffering for the Sake of the Body
• Prayer, Meditation and Fasting: The Pursuit of Communion with God
• Gravity and Gladness on Sunday Morning: The Pursuit of God in Corporate Worship
• Sexual Complementarity: The Pursuit of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
• Biblical Eldership (for those aspiring or currently active as an elder)

Augustine once preached on Christmas:

He, through whom time was made, was made in time;
and He, older by eternity that the world itself, was younger in age than many of His servants in the world;
He, who made man, was made man;
He was given existence by a mother whom He brought into existence;
He was carried in hands which He formed;
He nursed at breasts which He filled;
He cried like a babe in the manger in speechless infancy -- this Word without which human eloquence is speechless!

-- Augustine of Hippo, Sermon on Christmas

(HT: Albert Mohler)

A new 9Marks interview is now online:

Four veterans go a few rounds on the subject of cooperation among evangelicals & their churches. Listen to Mark Dever, Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan and CJ Mahaney talk about where they can and cannot cooperate as church leaders. Mark writes, “This is one of my favorite conversations we've been able to record. We had already been together for several hours and the conversation just flowed."

You can listen online or purchase the audio here.

Below is a new hymn written by Philip Ryken, senior minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Dr. Ryken has been posting a stanza each day at the Reformation 21 Blog:

Joseph, see the Holy Child,
Born to Mary, mother mild;
Call him Jesus, Adam's son --
Now in Christ our God has come;
Call him brother, close of kin --
Human nature, without sin.
Born to us, a fallen race,
God Incarnate, gift of grace.

Shepherds, run to Bethlehem,
Seek the babe outside the inn;
Shepherd in the manger lies,
Born to comfort all your sighs;
Unto you the Savior lives,
For the sheep His life He gives.
Born to save our sinful race,
Jesus leads us by His grace.

Eastern kings, your glory bring,
Royal treasure for the King;
King of all, the Son is giv'n,
Destined for the throne of heav'n;
Raised on high, the Christ will reign,
Conquer sin and death and pain.
Born to govern Adam's race,
Jesus rules, the King of grace!

Jesus--Brother, Shepherd, King,
Sinners, let your voices ring!
God made flesh, the Living Word,
King of Kings and Mighty Lord,
Faithful Shepherd, David's Son,
Christ, Messiah, Holy One--
Born to save His chosen race,
Jesus gives us grace on grace.

The Associated Press reports that Joel Osteen's wife and children were recently asked to deboard an airplane after she caused a disturbance. According to the FBI: "She failed to comply with the flight attendant's instructions, and they were asked to leave the flight."

The spokesman for Lakewood Church said: "In semantics, they might have been asked to be removed. Really, it was more of a mutual thing."

When I saw the link on Challies' site, it reminded me of another connection between the Osteens and the airlines. In CT’s review of the “Smiling Pastor” they summarize his book Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living Your Full Potential. Amazingly enough Osteen cites his exasperating and annoying an airline employee as an example of the favor of God in his life:

One of the finest chapters shows how Christians should aim for excellence and integrity. The book undercuts the emphasis on integrity, however, by suggesting trivial examples of God's favor to the faithful: faster seating in restaurants, a last-second opening of an excellent parking space, being upgraded to first class without seeking it, and enjoying a personal exemption from an airline's baggage policy.

Osteen tells of not wanting to check an expensive television camera on a flight to India. The counter clerk insists that the airline’s policy strictly forbids him from it carrying on, and Osteen asks if he can talk to someone else. A pilot walks up and offers to stow the camera behind the cockpit.

“The woman behind the counter glared at me and shook her head, clearly aggravated,” Osteen writes. “I just smiled and said, ‘Sorry, ma’am; it’s the favor of God.” Or was it simply that an observant pilot intervened to prevent an unnecessary conflict (which some planning on Osteen’s part could have prevented) from escalating?

Here's a quote from Luther as we anticipate the celebration of the Savior at Christmas:

If you will have joy, bend yourself down to this place. There you will find that boy given for you who is your Creator lying in a manger. I will stay with that boy as he sucks, is washed, and dies.... There is no joy but in this boy. Take him away and you face the Majesty which terrifies...

I know of no God but this one in the manger...That person lying in the manger is both man and God essentially, not seperated one from the other but as born of a virgin. If you separate them, the joy is gone. O Thou boy, lying in the manger, thou art truly God who hast created me, and thou wilt not be wrathful with me because thou comest to me in this loving way- more loving cannot be imagined."

(HT: Cranach)

Along similar lines is H.R. Bramely's The Great God of Heaven:

The great God of Heaven is come down to earth,
His mother a virgin, and sinless His birth;
The Father eternal His Father alone:
He sleeps in the manger; He reigns on the throne.

Refrain

Then let us adore Him, and praise His great love:
To save us poor sinners He came from above.

A Babe on the breast of a maiden He lies,
Yet sits with the Father on high in the skies;
Before Him their faces the seraphim hide,
While Joseph stands waiting, unscared, by His side.

Refrain

Lo! here is Emmanuel, here is the Child,
The Son that was promised to Mary so mild;
Whose power and dominion shall ever increase,
The Prince that shall rule o’er a kingdom of peace.

Refrain

The Wonderful Counselor, boundless in might,
The Father’s own image, the beam of His light;
Behold Him now wearing the likeness of man,
Weak, helpless, and speechless, in measure a span.

Refrain

O wonder of wonders, which none can unfold:
The Ancient of Days is an hour or two old;
The Maker of all things is made of the earth,
Man is worshipped by angels, and God comes to birth:

Refrain

The word in the bliss of the Godhead remains,
Yet in flesh comes to suffer the keenest of pains;
He is that He was, and forever shall be,
But becomes that He was not, for you and for me.

Adrian Warnock interviews Josh Harris about being discipled by CJ Mahaney.

In his essay for our ethics symposium on torture, Albert Mohler, noting that the McCain Amendment will not be opposed by the White House, writes:

Nevertheless, public debate over the amendment – and the issues of coercion and torture – will not end with the conclusion of this political drama, nor should it. This is a vital issue of great moral consequence, and this debate should not be allowed to slip from public view. All citizens bear responsibility to be informed and engaged concerning this question.

If you have not yet read the essays in the symposium, you may want to start with Dr. Mohler's, which he has reprinted today as his Crosswalk column. On his blog he provides an overview of the symposium, along with an indication that he'll be commenting on the other essays.

Also, Joe Carter has now made available all of the essays in a printable Word file.

CJ Mahaney, working with his son-in-laws at the Married Life Blog, provides a pointed pastoral application on the topic of humility after the Cowboys were humiliated by the Redskins this weekend:

“There are rare occasions when this blog has a moral obligation to deviate from our normal purpose. This day would be one of those occasions.”...

“While avoiding the idol worship that is present in and around Washington D.C. today, we are none the less very, very happy. Because we hate the Cowboys. And you should to. Please don’t misunderstand. We don’t hate individuals. Just the organization.”...

“Any team that arrogantly appoints themselves as America’s Team should be despised by all those who love humility.”...

“See today as an opportunity to reach out to discouraged Cowboy fans in your midst. Here is an opportunity to comfort–not gloat. Unless of course they make an arrogant assertion about Cowboy supremacy. At that point we have an obligation to serve them by reminding them of each and every glorious moment of yesterday’s triumph. We do this because we care and desire to help them weaken their pronounced pride and cultivate humility so rare amongst Cowboy fans. Go forth today not simply ecstatic, but with a heart to serve, not simply ridicule, Cowboy fans wherever they may be."

Very few people know, however, that CJ--like a former fundamentalist rebelling against a legalistic upbringing--has a past relationship with the Cowboys that he is ashamed to admit. After some sleuthing, I was able to uncover this picture of CJ's pre-conversion glory days as a quarterback for the Cowboys.


(Mega HT to Marc Heinrich with the photo help!)