Houses Divided (or…More Theological Jackassery)

Being a Southern Baptist who holds to Reformed theology is messy. I am connected to a denomination (more accurately, a convention) that is either largely unaware of or antagonistic toward this theological perspective. I don’t really talk about Reformed theology much outside a smallish group of friends, because my main objective in life is not to convert people to a Reformed perspective, but to see and reveal the glory of Christ. I find I can do that without mentioning Calvin, the TULIP or the Protestant Reformation. In some ways, in fact, I would consider myself (to take advantage of the parlance of our time) post-Reformed. By this I mean

Stolen…but in good faith

This post was so good I had to rip it off broaden its publication.

Do you know the Orphan Man?

If you know anything of George Muller, then you are probably thinking this thought: “orphan-man.” And rightly so. Through the five orphanages that George Muller established in Bristol, England, he provided care for 10,024 orphans, of which 4 to 5,000 became believers. He also established over 117 day schools, educating roughly 122,000 children in England, Scotland, India, Malacca, British Guiana, Essequibo, Belize, Spain, France and Italy. An estimated 20,000 of these children were converted. His Scripture Institute gave out more than 270,000 Bibles in various languages and 1,440,000 New Testaments. £258,000 was raised for missions. In today’s American dollar, that is approximately $24,764,891.69 (via Measuring Worth). Over 109,000,000 books, pamphlets, tracts were published and distributed. Nearly 500 missionaries were sent, converting an approximate 20,000 souls. At his death, his possessions were a few pieces of furniture, books and £60. No earthly treasures, no retirement fund, no inheritance.
Amazing… the power of a believing man. More amazing still, the power of what that man believed in, condescending to us, using us as a means to His merciful and gracious ends.

information from the book George Muller by William H. Harding

see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Muller

his original narratives via Dust and Ashes Publications

[Shamelessly appropriated from Mutiny. Thanks, SG!]

The Christian Church in a Post-Modern World

This quote was on the banner at the Boar’s Head Tavern this evening. I find it compelling.

The primary problem confronting the Christian Church in a post-modern world is not whether Christian claims about God can be debated in credible ways with alternating accounts (logos) of abstract reasoning. Rather, the challenge is about ethos of Christian witness. Can particular Christian communities produce and sustain the kind of witness to God in which their practices of discipleship can serve as credible signs of God’s reconciling work in the world? -Michael Cartwright

Thanks banner guy at bht.

Relative Moral Ambiguity

On Mondays I attend a small gathering of Southern Baptist pastors who affiliate with our local association (yes, I’m a Southern Baptist). Yesterday during the preliminary chit chat (which I just love) the subject of hunting came up. One pastor was talking about conveniently forgetting to put a plug in his shotgun (required by law to prevent more than three shells being loaded into the weapon at a time), but he does purchase a licence because he doesn’t want his name in the paper for violating the law.

Garver on Emerging

Read Joel Garver on emerging church. Really. Read it. For a fuller understanding of what he’s talking about, click on the links embedded in his post.

Rules of Engagement

Joe Thorn offers six rules for cultural engagement. Simple but thoughtful.

[HT:JT]

The Reason for God

Tim Keller has a new book, The Reason for God, coming out in February 2008. I’m excited for a couple of reasons. First, I like Tim Keller a great deal. I have learned from him and find him to be an important voice in the Evangelical world. Second, I have been looking for a book like this.

Justin Taylor has an excerpt on his blog. Read it here.

The Atonement in Full

I had lunch with my friend David (always a great time) and we talked about the atonement for a few minutes. The question of a dominant motif came up, and David shared this observation connecting the atonement motifs with the offices of Christ, namely, Prophet, Priest and King. (Time is short so I’m not going to fill it out very much. Maybe discussion in the comments will do that.)

Moral Exemplar = Prophet

Penal Substitution = Priest

Christus Victor = King

To try to set one up as dominant, it seems, is to minimize the others, and quite unnecessarily at that. Very helpful, David. Very helpful.

The New Fundamentalism?

This quote has been gladly robbed from the Boar’s Head Tavern. It will be incorporated into a larger post I’m working on, but for now it is just to good too not consider.

Tim Keller, An Incomprehensible God, Hard Knox and The End of Time

Darryl at DashHouse.com summarizes one of Tim Keller’s talks at the 2007 EMA conference. This point stood out:

It is necessary to draw boundaries. What really matters is how we treat the people on the other side of those boundaries. People are watching. We’re going to win the younger leaders if we are the most gracious, kind, and the least self-righteous in controversy. The truth will ultimately lose if we hold the right doctrines, but do so with nasty attitudes and a lack of love.

Read Darryl’s entire summary here. It is a worthy investment of time to read it.