Patrick Henry on the Value of Reading

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Patrick Henry one of the truly great men involved in the founding of the US and arguably the greatest orator of his day gave this encouragement regarding reading:

“Cultivate your mind by the perusal of those books which instruct while they amuse. History, geography, poetry, moral essays, biography, travels, sermons, and other well-written religious productions will not fail to enlarge your understanding, to render you a more agreeable companion, and to exalt your virtue.”

Both the source and the content of this exhortation commend it to us and to our children.

Quoted in Give Me Liberty: The Uncompromising Statesmanship of Patrick Henry, by David Vaughan, p. 140.

Local Paper on “Church”

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The local paper here ran a story this weekend entitled, “It’s time we gave selfish ambition a swift kick – out of church.” I was pleased to find this in our paper. The author might be downplaying the role of doctrine (hopefully not), but she is surely right about how consumerism has infiltrated popular thinking about church. She writes:

Instead, church meetings for many have become a time for showing up at a building once or twice a week to be a spectator.
Worse, recent statistics show our obsession with being entertained has Christians church-hopping in epidemic proportions to meet their designer needs, only to walk away less than a year later in search for something new.
With that kind of constant upheaval, it’s no wonder churches are largely ineffective at taking care of the needs of their congregations, not to mention those outside the four walls.

You can find statements like this in some Christian literature, but I was glad to see it in our local paper. The labor for a healthy church is a crucial labor for the advance of the gospel.

Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the OT

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Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the OT
By Christopher J. H. Wright
(IVP, 2006), pb. 159 pp.

I have perused this book today as part of a broader review project, and I am impressed. You know right away that this topic is useful since it combines two areas where our understanding in the church tends to be limited- the Holy Spirit and the Old Testament.

The book grew out of 5 addresses given at a conference in Northern Ireland in 2004. He mentioned how many people wondered if he could find enough material to fill five talks, and then writes:

“Such is the widespread lack of awareness among many Christian people of the identity, presence and impact of the Spirit of God in the Bible before Pentecost. It’s not that they don’t believe he existed before Pentecost. They believe in the Trinity after all. It’s just that they have never noticed how extensive a role the Spirit actually plays in those centuries before Christ. Of course, it could be that they just never read the Old Testament, but let’s be charitable” (9).

He argues that since the indwelling Spirit mentioned in the New Testament is the same Spirit of the Lord God of Israel found in the Old Testament, then to understand and know this Spirit we need the Old Testament.

The five chapters of the book correspond to the five original addresses. I was particularly taken with the chapter titled “The Empowering Spirit.” In this chapter he notes how the Spirit is the one who empowers the people of God. He then notes this same Spirit produces humility in His people. Thus one section is entitled, “Power with Humility.” Good stuff!

Preaching and Imagination

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Too often when people join these two words they mean something speculative, preaching about things we don’t really know. That is not what I am talking about. I have in mind preaching in such a way that you draw your hearers into the biblical world so that they see, feel, experience it anew so that the text impacts them powerfully. I found this well expressed in a collection of sermons by James S. Stewart entitled Walking With God (Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1996; recently republished by Regent College). The memoir of Stewart contained at the beginning of the book quotes John McIntyre describing Stewart’s preaching. This is a good description of what we ought to aim for in preaching.

“At a conference in the Pollock Halls, attended by members of the Presbytery of San Francisco, he gave an address of Jesus’ use of imagination in his life and teaching as we encounter them in the Gospels. Here for me was the clue to his own preaching and teaching that I had missed all these years. For I have known expository preaching which was dull in excess, being little more than flat commentary; as I have known pastorally-oriented preaching which did not rise above counseling. But, by the use of imagination, Dr. Stewart gave exposition and pastoral perception new power and relevance. As he described so graphically the situation of the biblical passage, he gradually incorporated his hearers in the situation. They so became part of it that they identified with the persons of whom, or to whom, Jesus was speaking. The nearest analogy I know is the ability of a great artist to draw the viewer into the action he is portraying.
But there was more. It was not merely an exercise in empathy. Embodied in the situation, the hearers could not escape the urgency of the words of Jesus directed to them. The Gospel appeal, or challenge, or invitation, was not a codicil [i.e., supplement] to the descriptive passages going before. Each one of them was an integral – an inescapable – part of the whole presentation, directed at each listener.” (7)

Einstein, God & Humility

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Several weeks ago on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart, my boys and I were able to do one of our favorite things on such trips- slip away to the book aisles! On this occasion I had the opportunity to thumb through Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Einstein. I was particularly intrigued to find a chapter titled, “Einstein’s God.” I later checked out the book from a library and read with much interest this chapter. Einstein was of course a Jew and never professed faith in Christ. However, he was convinced that the orderliness of the universe demonstrated the design of a deity. Isaacson wrote of the impact on Einstein of this belief in God:

“For Einstein, as for most people, a belief in something larger than himself became a defining sentiment. It produced in him an admixture of confidence and humility that was leavened by a sweet simplicity. Given his proclivity toward being self-centered, these were welcome graces. Along with his humor and self-awareness, they helped him to avoid the pretense and pomposity that could have afflicted the most famous mind in the world.” 385

If the belief in a fairly impersonal, deistic concept of God had such a humbling effect on an incredibly gifted, non-Christian scientist, why doesn’t knowledge of the redeeming work of Christ produce more humility in less brilliant, Christian pastors like us? Far too often pastors are marked by more knowledge of God but less evidence of His grace than is suggested in this quote. Far too often “pretense and pomposity” are words associated with Christian leaders. Let us ponder the greatness of God that we might see his glory and our smallness, and find joy in both.

James Stewart and the Missionary Church

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Those who have read this blog for some time will know of my appreciation of James S. Stewart, the prominent Scottish preacher and New Testament scholar (previous posts). I am currently working on an encyclopedia entry on Stewart, and have come across another great quote. In his book on preaching, Heralds of God, Stewart stated:

“no church is anything more than a pathetic pietistic backwater unless it is first and fundamentally and all the time a world missionary church.”

Well put! As pastors we must see to it that the task of world evangelization stays front and center in our churches.

Amend ETS

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Denny Burk (Criswell College) and I have been working on a proposal to amend the constitution of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). Recently I commented on my proposal from 2001 for a more “evangelical” doctrinal statement. Denny has taken this suggestion and has done the lion share of the work in putting together a formal proposal we plan to submit at the annual meeting in November. We have launched a website (www.amendets.com) with the proposal, our rationale, FAQ’s and a blog where we will continue the conversation. We want to further the conversation, invite response and hopefully gather support for the amendment.

Tell Me About Heaven

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Tell Me About Heaven, by Randy Alcorn
Illustrated by Ron DiCianni
(Crossway, 2007), hb., 64 pp.
Ages 5 and up

This is a great book about heaven. It is well written, nicely illustrated and theologically sound. Alcorn really does a good job in demonstrating the “tangibleness” of heaven. Too often people think of heaven as something ethereal, with clouds and disembodied spirits. This is not what the Bible teaches us. We await new bodies on a new earth. Alcorn does a great job of showing this corporeal, physical element of heaven. This of course leads to speculative questions (like “Will there be animals?”, “What about my pets?, etc.). Some may be dismissive about such questions, but these are the questions that come up. If you are going to write for children you ought to address questions they ask, so this is well done. Alcorn is clear about areas where the Bible does not give a specific answer and then is willing to venture his best guess.

The way the story is told is well done also. A young boy, Jake, is making his regular 2 week summer visit to his grandparents in Oregon. However, this year he is a bit apprehensive since his grandmother had died in the last year and he does not know what it will be like. However, his grandfather is a godly man who knows his Bible well, and they have numerous conversations over the two weeks as they enjoy the wonderful scenes of Oregon, eat together and gaze at the stars. So the discussions about heaven are not abstract but arise naturally within the believable relationship between a grandfather and grandson. This led to good discussions wit my boys. Along the way the point is clearly made that only those who repent and believe go to heaven. Thus, this is a good evangelistic tool as well.

Lastly, there is another side benefit to this book. It provides a nice picture of a grandfather who is intentional about being involved in his grandson’s life enjoying life with him and teaching him about God along the way. Such examples are always a good challenge to me as I seek to be intentional in parenting.

This is a great book and we warmly recommend it.

Helping Parents

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One of the important things we must do in pastoral ministry is to encourage gospel-driven parenting. Churches know that families around us are in shambles, and people are looking for help. Sadly, though, people are too often looking for a magic silver bullet, “5 Steps to Change Everything.” What is needed, and what we must provide, is the demonstration of how the gospel speaks to and must shape all areas of life. But again, people too often think of the gospel simply as what you believe to be saved. This is the result of defective teaching over the years. The whole of our pastoral labors is showing ourselves and our people how the gospel is to shape everything we do. Much could be said here, but for now let me just mention two resources.

First, I have recently commented at my blog on Children’s literature on a book entitled Hints for Parents which embodies this gospel oriented approach. You can see the comments here and here.

Second, one summer at our church we took our Wednesday nights to watch the Shepherding Your Child’s Heart video series and to discuss it (the book is also excellent). All our adults are together on Wednesday nights in the summer so we showed it to the whole group. Some in that group have children, some have children who are grown and gone, some have never had children and quite a few were unmarried. However, we (pastors) made the point that if we were really to engage in one another’s lives we all needed to think through an issue like this whether we applied it as a parent, grandparent, nursery worker, future parent or an encourager to parents. The material is excellent, and I would highly recommend it. Our experience as a community was also excellent and I would commend this idea to you as well.