New Isaac Pics

I just added some new pics of Isaac to our Picasa album.

You can also see them by clicking on the little slidshow on the sidebar a bit down the page.

He's a smiley little guy now.

The Great Exchange

Over at Gospel Prism there was a post about a new book by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington called the Great Exchange. It looks quite good. I've been searching around for something that is accessible to the average reader and has a clear presentation of the gospel. Most books that I've found either use language that is too hard to understand or waters it all down too much.

Anyway...I haven't read the book yet, but thought I'd mention it. Usually anything by Jerry Bridges is worth the time to read. There is a website that gives more detail about the book, including study guide questions.

Don't Toss Those Canadian Quarters

Well, it looks like the "loonie" is worth as much as a dollar again. From what I've read, the last time this happened I was just a year old.

At least it will be easy to figure out prices now when I buy something at Tim Hortons.

Robert Jordan

Well, one of my favorite authors, Robert Jordan, passed away on Monday. He suffered from a rare blood disease, but seemed to keep his faith in God's providence to the end.

Jordan was the author of the Wheel of Time series. If you've ever read the series, you'll know that it is really, really long and the books are also really, really long. He was working on the 12th and final book in the series when he died. I have to admit, I'm pretty selfish. My first thought, when I heard he was dead, was about the 12th book. Part of the reason I thought of that is that I'm in the midst of re-reading the whole thing and am on the 3rd book right now. No one wants to read a series that doesn't have a good ending.

Thankfully, it appears that the major plot-lines will be resolved. From Wikipedia:

On October 18, 2005, at a book signing in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Jordan gave the working title of the 12th book as A Memory of Light. As one of the attendees told Dragonmount.com, Jordan also warned that the final volume of the saga "could be a 1500-page monster" because he has so many dangling plot threads to wrap up in a single volume. He maintained that A Memory of Light would remain one volume "whether it is 1500 pages long, Tor has to invent a new binding system, or it comes with its own library cart". Due to his health problems, Jordan did not work at full force on the final installment, but blog entries confirmed that he continued work on it until his death, and he shared all of the significant plot details with his family not long before he died.

I guess I'll keep reading!

Emergent Gospel

Tim Challies has a great preview / review on Brian McClaren's upcoming book over at his blog.

In particular, I'm interested in the way McClaren summarizes the two understandings he has of the gospel.

The ORTHODOX / TRADITIONAL view of the gospel:

Purpose of Jesus: Why is Jesus Important? Jesus came to solve the problem of “original sin,” meaning that he helps qualified individuals not to be sent to hell for their sin or imperfection. In a sense, Jesus saves these people from God, or more specifically, from the righteous wrath of God which sinful human beings deserve because they have not perfectly fulfilled God’s just expectations, expressed in God’s moral laws. This escape from punishment is not something they earn or achieve, but rather a free gift they receive as an expression of God’s grace and love. Those who receive it enjoy a personal relationship with God and seek to serve and obey God, which produces a happier life on earth and more rewards in heaven.

Amazingly, McClaren pretty much gets it right. He misses the awesome and amazing wonder of the gospel and makes it sound pretty flat, but he at least gets the heart of it. We have rebelled against God, stand condemned for our sin and must face his wrath, and Jesus dies to save us from the wrath of God against sin. Jesus suffered God's hatred of sin for us on the cross, and we receive forgiveness by trusting in the grace of God offered through Jesus. Not bad... Not perfect, but not too bad.

But he doesn't like this view of the gospel. So we have, to replace it, the NEW, IMPROVED, EMERGENT view of the gospel:

Purpose of Jesus: Why is Jesus Important? Jesus came to become the savior of the world, meaning he came to save the earth and all it contains from its ongoing destruction because of human evil. Through his life and teaching, through his suffering, death, and resurrection, he inserted into human history a seed of grace, truth, and hope that can never be defeated. This seed will, against all opposition and odds, prevail over the evil and injustice of humanity and lead to the world’s ongoing transformation into the world God dreams of. All who find in Jesus God’s truth and hope discover the privilege of participating in his ongoing work of personal and global transformation and liberation from evil and injustice. As part of his transforming community, they experience liberation from the fear of death and condemnation. This is not something they earn or achieve, but rather a free gift they receive as an expression of God’s grace and love.

I sometimes wonder if McClaren is aware of the fact that this gospel isn't really that new or emergent. It's basically repackaged liberal theology. Jesus came to save us by giving us truth. He shows us what grace, truth, and hope really are. Through his work on this earth and the work God does through it, we can change the world and make it a better place. "The world God dreams of..."? The problem isn't that the second version is blatantly wrong. It's just so vague as to be almost meaningless.

Anyway...more than ever before, we need to recover a biblical understanding of the gospel, in a day when there are many who "preach a gospel" that is different than the one the apostles taught.

SOME FURTHER THOUGHTS:

About a half hour after posting, I thought of one more thing. It seems like one of the key differences between the traditional understanding of the gospel and the emergent gospel is in answering the question: What are we saved from? For McClaren, the answer is that we are saved from the evil EFFECTS of sin. Because of human evil, this world has been trashed. Bad things happen. People die. Lots of nasty stuff goes on. There is racism, genocide, all sorts of things that are wrong. And Jesus came to change all that.

Which is true. But incomplete. It misses the root cause. The true problem with sin is not the evil that we see in this world, but the offense it is against God. Sin is, first and foremost, a rejection of God--it is rebellion and disobedience...the breaking of God's law.

So saving us from the effects of sin to make the world a better place misses our real problem--God.

A verse that helped me think about the difference is from Matthew10:28. Jesus says: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

In other words...yes...there is great evil in this world. People are mean and nasty and there are lots of bad things they do. But that's not the biggest problem. That's not what we really need to be saved from. Our big problem is a holy God who hates our sin. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a holy God.

Notice what Paul says in Romans 5:9: "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" What are we saved from? God's wrath, his righteous anger against sin.

And in Colossians 3:5-6 we seek to live holy lives because we know that God is coming again someday to judge all sin: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming."

The gospel is good news because it tells us that when we put our faith in Christ, God credits our sin to Jesus and the goodness of Jesus to us. We become acceptable to God, not because we are good and perfect, but because Jesus died for us and all of God's hatred of me and his hatred of the evil that I do was directed at his only Son, Jesus. The horrors of hell that I should be sent to someday were experienced and embraced by Jesus--he literally took my punishment. And now I am truly forgiven. And loved.

McClaren has criticized the traditional gospel for being too narrow. For focusing only on sin and wrath and the cross. For ignoring the kingdom of God...the global dynamic of God's work.

But in my opinion, the emergent gospel is just too small. It only deals with the horizontal issues of human evil, of life in this world, of broken relationships and human suffering. It tries to fix these things with human effort.

The gospel of Jesus Christ shows us the glory of God. A God who is just and holy, merciful and loving. The gospel points us to God, and it leads us to put our hope in God, not in our own efforts. Is there salvation from the effects of sin? Yes. Is there a challenge to be a light and witness in this world? Yes. But if you miss the cross, if you minimize God...you miss the gospel. And the gospel is our only hope to change this world.

So again...we come back to the question: What am I saved from? The effects of human evil? Or the wrath of a holy God?

I found this strangely funny.

I was looking through some of the articles at FoxNews.com and came across this story from good old Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Before you read it, I'll tell you why I thought it was funny.

Two things. And neither one has to do with the live chicken.

1. The article says that the officer "punched him in the head". For some reason, that strikes me as funny.

2. I'm pretty sure the article says that the second officer "zapped BOTH" with his stun gun.

Anyway. Police officers must see some really strange things.

Police Find Live Chicken in Wisconsin Man's Trunk at Traffic Stop

Saturday , September 15, 2007

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. —

Sheboygan police got a surprise after they stunned a man during a traffic stop: They opened his trunk and found a live chicken.

The man told the officers he got the fowl from a local fast food restaurant, police Capt. James Tetzlaff said.

The incident started about 2 a.m. Friday with a traffic stop. The 34-year-old Sheboygan man threw a pack of cigarettes out of his car window and then tried to run, Tetzlaff said. The pack contained three-fourths of an ounce of cocaine, he said.

An officer pursued the man, caught him, punched him in the head and knocked him to the ground, Tetzlaff said.

The man tried to run again, and the two were struggling when a second officer zapped both with a stun gun. The second officer zapped the suspect again before he was able to handcuff him, Tetzlaff said.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he received six stitches for two cuts on his face. The chicken was taken to the Sheboygan County Humane Society.

Police are recommending charges including cocaine possession with intent to deliver, resisting arrest and operating while intoxicated, Tetzlaff said.

Since So Many People Are Asking

A few days ago, our friends, the Hondorps, published a little disco video of themselves.

It was hilarious.

So my wife and I did one ourselves. And, of course, we looked really stupid.

And it was funny.

We emailed a few people. And now I'm being forced to put this on the blog.

Awesome Science Experiments

Check out this sweet archive of simple science experiements by a news guy in Colorado named Steve Spangler. These would be great fun for kids! I can't wait to do some of this stuff with Isaac!

This one on exploding watemelons looks like fun!



And, of course, my all time favorite...the Mentos Guyser!

It's Official: TV is Getting Worse

Yup. They did a poll.

A majority of Americans think TV stinks.

I happen to agree. That's why we don't watch it anymore.

(Except for two occasional pleasures: HGTV and a new season of 24, which unfortunately, may also be losing steam...sob.)

Vatican Decision on Prolonging Life

The Vatican released a paper yesterday clarifying their moral position on giving life support to patients in a vegetative state.

From the article: "In a document approved by Pope Benedict, the Vatican's doctrinal department said tube-feeding such patients presumed to be near death was "ordinary" care that should not be discontinued because the patients still had human dignity."

In other words, the Vatican is saying that if a person will continue to live simply by providing them with the basic necessities of life--food and water--we should continue to do that! Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Ahhh, but this gets at an even deeper issue. You see, many argue that the person in a "vegetative" state is really already dead. The brain is gone, but the body continues to live. In effect, the person, according to these arguments, is a vegetable. They have no consciousness, no awareness, no brain activity.

So is a person in this state dead? Why would the Catholic church want to keep a body alive, even after the brain is gone?

The answer brings us to an intersection of two different worldviews. The Catholic Church (and most Christian churches) argue that we are not just brains or bodies or disembodied spirits...no--we are a unity of both body and soul And the two are connected. So long as the body lives, the soul remains. When the body dies, the soul departs.

Modern science, dominated by philosophical naturalism and a view that we are nothing more than matter, doesn't accept that there might be more going on than brain activity. Once the brain is dead, the "person"--the body--is dead. So why bother keeping a "dead" body alive? Surely there is nothing more to keep alive!

I don't agree with the Catholic church on everything, to be sure, but on this one, I think they got it right. We have a fundamental responsibility to care for life, whatever state it may be in. The value of a life is not determined by our awareness, or even our consciousness. If that were true, my worth as a person would decrease every time I took a nap! If our value were based on conscious awareness, then infants would be less valuable than other human beings. Sadly, this is exactly the way some people think in our world today. They feel that children, the elderly who cannot care for themselves, those who are mentally impaired, the severly handicapped, children who have not been born--all of these are less than human in some way.

God teaches us to value human life, not based on how much a person can do or even how consciously aware they are--but because he made it, and it is made in his image, however broken that image may be. It is still a precious gift.

"Those are some sweet Bible maps, mister!"

For those of you who love good maps and think Google Earth is one of the best programs ever invented (even though it does infringe on our privacy a bit).... AND have a love for the Bible....

There is a great little site (BibleMaps) that lets you look up Bible places by book and chapter and zoom around to see the places in Scripture.

It's kind of fun.

Good, Quality, Free Stuff to Listen To

Take note... in the past month or so, two new ministries have made their audio messages available for download.

Sovereign Grace has made all of their messages available as free MP3 downloads. Yes...all of their messages! This includes some great messages on parenting, which I will be listening to over the next few months :).

Just recently, Reformed Theological Seminary made many of their seminary classes available for download through iTunes. You'll need to install iTunes, if you don't already have it, to access the audio files... just follow the directions at the site. I haven't listened to any of them yet, but my friend Jag is starting out with J.I. Packer and his series on the History and Theology of the Puritans. Sounds good!

While I'm mentioning these two ministries, let's not forget the granddaddy of free audio sermons--Desiring God Ministries! If you haven't heard John Piper preach...now is the time. Check out his recent messages on suffering, sin, and evil.

With these three ministries alone you've got at least 10 years of stuff to listen to. What are you waiting for! Start downloading today! It's FREE!

Yoga for Christians?

In a recent CNN interview, Doug Pagitt (an emergent church yoga-lover) and John MacArthur (a non-yoga lover) were asked what they thought about Christians practicing yoga.

I wasn't too impressed by Pagitt, but I thought MacArthur hit it right on the head. "Holistic" Christianity isn't about numbing your mind and getting your body relaxed. It's about filling your mind with the truth. Here is his summary:

MacArthur: "The idea of Christianity is to fill your mind with biblical truth and focus on the God who is above you. That’s Christian worship. The idea of yoga is to fill your mind with nothing except to focus on yourself and try to find the god that is inside of you. From a Christian viewpoint, that’s a false religion. Exercise is a different issue."

You can read the whole excerpt here (and see the video here).

Lil' Abe's Cake

My buddy Jag has a 1 year old son, Abe, who recently celebrated his birthday.

I love this video.

To be honest... I have always wanted to do the exact same thing when someone gives me a chocolate cake.

Another Take on Iraq

I haven't blogged much about Iraq, not because I'm not interested or not following what happens, but mainly because I've been busy! One thing I've noticed is that our perspectives on the war in Iraq are greatly influenced by the reports that we choose to read. For the most part, when I read the paper or listen to the news, the reports are negative. But if you listen closely, you'll find a definite bias in most of the media reporting on Iraq.

I want to thank my friend Marc for pointing out some sites that clarify how we get our news from Iraq. With a reduction in the number of reporters actually going out and getting news, checking facts on the ground, it seems that the most reliable source of information comes from bloggers who are there on the ground, reporting directly from Iraq. Some of them happen to be foreign reporters (non-American), and it is interesting to see that some foreign magazines and papers (who were staunchly anti-war) are recognizing that the American military strategy in Iraq is actually working (even though our own media won't admit it).

Marc recently added this piece summarizing a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, giving us a sense of the Iraqi optimism about the recent surge and the inevitable success of the war.

For my part, all I can say is that I'm glad to hear the other side of the story. And I continue to hope and pray that the current strategy is successful, and that we can truly see a reduction in US forces and the rise of a secure Iraqi government. In the end, we hope for stability and peace (at least in the political sense).

True peace...well, that's a different matter. And that's where we really need to be praying.

Getting Nice Steaks

I'm certainly not an expert in the world of grilling. But there is one little tip that I've picked up from my friend Scott, and have seen verified numerous times over.

Salt your steaks before you grill them.

Anyway, I didn't realize just how much you could actually salt them. Apparently, the more salt, the better. And salting them a few hours before you grill is actually the best option of all.


Check out this little blog/article on getting good, juicy steaks from regular "choice" grade meat.

The pictures alone got me salivating.

Dramatic Reading of Hebrews 9-10

Justin Taylor had this video clip of Ryan Ferguson doing a dramatic reading of Hebrews 9-10 (from memory) on his blog. I thought it was incredible.

Watching him recite the letter to the Hebrews reinforces my belief that Hebrews was originally a long, written sermon. It really preaches!

Enjoy.

Win Some Free Commentaries

If you have any interest in winning some free commentaries, there is a little contest going on, hosted by one of the bloggers that I read (Tim Challies).

You can enter the drawing (it will be held in about 10 days) by clicking on the banner link below.



Oh yeah. If you enter by clicking on this link, I get an extra ballot for each person I refer.

So my motives are somewhat selfish.

Oh yeah. Also. If you win the commentaries and you don't want them, I'll take them off your hands. If you don't want them. :)