I was recently interviewed by Greenville Seminary's Confessing Our Hope. As many of you know, we are in the process of beginning a church plant in an impoverished urban area. If you are interested in hearing about the work, this interview will give you a pretty good run down concerning our vision, goals and philosophy. I am thankful for William Hill who conducted the interview. He was a delight to speak with and huge encouragement for me personally.
You can find the interview on the Confessing Our Hope website here.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Please Watch: Thi'sl Video - Hold On
I would encourage you to listen intently to the words of this song as they depict the realities and struggles of those trying to make it in impoverished communities. The message hits home to many of my good friends in the neighborhood where I presently serve.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Picking Out Errors in Evolutionary Arguments
Both Christians and atheists find evolution highly problematic and troublesome. The inconsistencies and errors are so profound and obvious that those who promote the worldview are forced to hide behind a mirage of rhetoric while they depend on the inability (and unwillingness!) of their audience to see the fallacy behind the facade.
With this in mind, I have found a few books on logic to be extremely helpful, not only in pointing out the fallacies in evolutionary and atheistic arguments, but also in my own.
The first book is Biblical Logic: In Theory and Practice by Joel McDurmon. This is the more thorough of the two as it gives a richer context to logic and right thinking.
The second book is Discerning Truth: Exposing Errors in Evolutionary Arguments by Dr. Jason Lisle. This is a small and easy read. I suggest this book for those who have little time and who are relatively unfamiliar with philosophical language and work.
The one fallacy that I come across most often is the fallacy of reification. Reification is attributing a concrete characteristic to something abstract. Not a few times have I heard someone say, "Science says..." or "The evidence says evolution is true." Evidence and Science are abstract entities that are unable to speak. They do not have an authoritative voice but are subject to the presuppositions, viewpoints, biases and agendas of those who do.
Science does not say anything, scientists do. And most who say that science says this or that, have never really conducted the science themselves, but are merely reading the written words of scientists. They are trusting the words of another.
See any irony here?
By pointing out the fallacy of reification, their position is reduced to a matter of faith. But can the object of their faith be ultimately and absolutely trusted? I will take Christ over Dawkins any day.
With this in mind, I have found a few books on logic to be extremely helpful, not only in pointing out the fallacies in evolutionary and atheistic arguments, but also in my own.
The first book is Biblical Logic: In Theory and Practice by Joel McDurmon. This is the more thorough of the two as it gives a richer context to logic and right thinking.
The second book is Discerning Truth: Exposing Errors in Evolutionary Arguments by Dr. Jason Lisle. This is a small and easy read. I suggest this book for those who have little time and who are relatively unfamiliar with philosophical language and work.
The one fallacy that I come across most often is the fallacy of reification. Reification is attributing a concrete characteristic to something abstract. Not a few times have I heard someone say, "Science says..." or "The evidence says evolution is true." Evidence and Science are abstract entities that are unable to speak. They do not have an authoritative voice but are subject to the presuppositions, viewpoints, biases and agendas of those who do.
Science does not say anything, scientists do. And most who say that science says this or that, have never really conducted the science themselves, but are merely reading the written words of scientists. They are trusting the words of another.
See any irony here?
By pointing out the fallacy of reification, their position is reduced to a matter of faith. But can the object of their faith be ultimately and absolutely trusted? I will take Christ over Dawkins any day.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
From Bored to Blown Away
My wife and I are going through a mentored "program" called Sonship, given through World Harvest Mission. The basic goal of the course is to help individuals and couples understand their proper relationship to the Lord - as sons and daughters and not orphans. They do this by applying the glorious truths of the bible to the "nitty gritty" situations of every day life.
The course is far from easy. As they like to put it, head theology is pretty simple to intellectually understand and know. But, for me, making the transition from head theology to heart theology feels nothing short of impossible.
The truths of the gospel are so simple and basic that at every moment, I am tempted to either twirl my thumbs in boredom or be profoundly effected as those truths trickle into my stubborn heart. I know that I am righteous in Christ, but do I feel it? I know that I am a son, but why do I act like an orphan so much? I know that my wife is a daughter of God, but why do I treat her otherwise at times?
Sure, we can always dive the depths of systematic theologies. But diving and dwelling where most don't swim, has been an escape mechanism to get away from people. It has been my attempt to keep from facing the reality that I just don't love people well.
A few weeks ago I was up to my orphan ways, and consequently without the company of my wife. I called our mentor an hour before we were supposed to meet to let him know what was going on. After listening to me and asking a few questions here and there, he began to point out to me the parts of my life that were less than holy. Like a surgeon, he skillfully peeled back the layers of my life and exposed what was really wrong with me.
And then he told me that this course is not designed to fix me. That it was probable we would get to the end and I would continue to act the way I was acting. As my heart sunk, I kept listening. He said that the purpose of the course was to expose our need for Christ. It was to show why we do not deserve his presence and acceptance; why we should be orphans and not sons and daughters.
After an hour of conversing, he told me to stand in awe, that in light of all of my sin and selfishness, the Lord delights in me because of Christ.
I broke. My cold heart bled a bit. My dry eyes wept a bit.
You will have to excuse the personal tone of this post, as well as many others as of late. I am going through a transition. For too long I have trusted that learning a new theological fact was the same as leaning upon Christ the foundation. I have confused knowledge with faith, learning with love. I have made every religious attempt to exempt myself from the very category that Jesus came to save - sinners who are sick and needy (Luke 5:31-32).
I am reminded now of the glorious truth that we don't have to be well to come to Jesus. We don't have to be right to be righteous. And we don't have to be perfect to be perfectly accepted. Christ did it all and gives it all. And because he does, as the old hymn so gloriously confesses, "We need him every hour."
The course is far from easy. As they like to put it, head theology is pretty simple to intellectually understand and know. But, for me, making the transition from head theology to heart theology feels nothing short of impossible.
The truths of the gospel are so simple and basic that at every moment, I am tempted to either twirl my thumbs in boredom or be profoundly effected as those truths trickle into my stubborn heart. I know that I am righteous in Christ, but do I feel it? I know that I am a son, but why do I act like an orphan so much? I know that my wife is a daughter of God, but why do I treat her otherwise at times?
Sure, we can always dive the depths of systematic theologies. But diving and dwelling where most don't swim, has been an escape mechanism to get away from people. It has been my attempt to keep from facing the reality that I just don't love people well.
A few weeks ago I was up to my orphan ways, and consequently without the company of my wife. I called our mentor an hour before we were supposed to meet to let him know what was going on. After listening to me and asking a few questions here and there, he began to point out to me the parts of my life that were less than holy. Like a surgeon, he skillfully peeled back the layers of my life and exposed what was really wrong with me.
And then he told me that this course is not designed to fix me. That it was probable we would get to the end and I would continue to act the way I was acting. As my heart sunk, I kept listening. He said that the purpose of the course was to expose our need for Christ. It was to show why we do not deserve his presence and acceptance; why we should be orphans and not sons and daughters.
After an hour of conversing, he told me to stand in awe, that in light of all of my sin and selfishness, the Lord delights in me because of Christ.
I broke. My cold heart bled a bit. My dry eyes wept a bit.
You will have to excuse the personal tone of this post, as well as many others as of late. I am going through a transition. For too long I have trusted that learning a new theological fact was the same as leaning upon Christ the foundation. I have confused knowledge with faith, learning with love. I have made every religious attempt to exempt myself from the very category that Jesus came to save - sinners who are sick and needy (Luke 5:31-32).
I am reminded now of the glorious truth that we don't have to be well to come to Jesus. We don't have to be right to be righteous. And we don't have to be perfect to be perfectly accepted. Christ did it all and gives it all. And because he does, as the old hymn so gloriously confesses, "We need him every hour."
Monday, June 25, 2012
Free Book - "A Church in the House" by Henry
Carson Summarizes the Bible in 221 Words - I Love It!!
D. A. Carson:
(HT: Desiring God)
God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image-bearers. Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath.For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present and Future, ed. Steve Brady and Harold Rowdon (London, UK: Evangelical Alliance, 1986), 80.
But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects.
In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them—an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is repent and trust Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel (Romans 10:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17).
(HT: Desiring God)
Sunday, June 17, 2012
It's a Tear Jerker - "Dancing in the Mine Fields"
This is an amazing song. I'm thankful for my good friend JM (and my lovely wife) for pointing it out.
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