Facebook: Community Without Depth

The Gospel Coalition Blog raises some interesting points in a recent post by Anthony Carter, Facebook: Community Without Depth. Facebook no doubt has it's positives, but it certainly has a number of drawbacks as well. Like what? For some it's addictive, for others it's a way to engage in "community" without actually engaging with anyone at all. This latter point that Carter picks up on and connects it with the way many Christians in the church today approach their Christian lives and church. Here is part of Carter's post:

Recently there was a study done in which it was determined that people in America are being religious without institutions (read more). According to the findings, “While weekly attendees of religious services dropped from 32 to 26 percent of the population between 1983 and 2006, people praying daily rose from 54 to 59 percent in the same time period.” Apparently there is still a strong belief in God and even in the afterlife, but fewer and fewer people are finding a need to attend church because they can pray and have a personal relationship with God apart from the church. Besides, Facebook demonstrates that it is possible to have community without commitment. It is possible to have community without depth of relationship. While this may work on the Internet communities, it often proves counterproductive when applied to the church community.

Facebook is community without depth; community without commitment. Church is community with depth and commitment. It is the way God has designed it. As disciples of Christ, we are called to be in community. There are two many “one another” passages in the Bible to deny this. And yet, this community is also with commitment and depth. The Christian life is not designed to be a life lived in isolation. God saves us and calls us together. We are to pray together. We are to sing together. We are to eat together. We are to serve together. We are to study together. We are to raise children together. We are to live and die together. This togetherness creates a depth of intimacy that not only serves the cause of Christ (John 13:35), but it serves us in our times of need (2 Cor. 1:3-7).

The old joke is that church would be great if it weren't for the people, but this is not God's plan. He intends for us to be in community with others, to confess our sins, to be held countable, to seek guidance from those who are mature Christians, and to disciple those who are spiritual infants and adolescents. While community is central God's plan, it is the area of the Christian life most often ignored or intentionally avoided. While individuality and a psychologically-based and professionalized approach to helping are certainly aspects of our culture, including the church, I think the root cause of this problem is spiritual immaturity. Most of us are spiritual babies and we stay that way our entire lives. We seek to be served, we're most passionate about our own interests (i.e., worship style), and while we say, "Jesus is Lord of my life," the way we live our lives demonstrates that we're more interested in self-salvation. As long as the church is primarily made up of spiritual babies, our collective focus will rarely move away from our own personal needs and interests.

Where did Halloween Come From?

Ancient Celts celebrated a holiday called Samhain (essentially “end of summer”), where they would extinguish their hearth fires and host large ceremonial bonfires, sacrificing animals and crops. This didn’t occur on October 31 but around the same time, depending on the phases of the moon. It marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of a season where the people would be dependent on food stores and shelter from the elements. Superstitious Celts associated winter with death and thought that the season’s transition was marked by the close proximity of spirits; they believed this thin veil would help their Druid priests make prophecies, enabling them to survive the harsh winter. There is an accrued mythology that Druids also wore masks on this night and went from door to door, but historical evidence does support this theory; it seems more like creative fiction manufactured to explain the evolution of modern customs.

The name of our present-day holiday, Halloween (or “All Hallows’ Eve“), actually stems from a celebration for saints formed by the early church. A celebration day for all saints emerges in church history as early as the 4th century, but it was originally set in May or the day following Pentecost (some records suggest this also paved over a similar Roman day of the dead). It was the Germans who initially shifted the custom to November 1st, and whether or not this had to do with the practices of the Irish Celts is questioned by historians to this day.

Read more.

HT: Mars Hill Blog

Where did Halloween Come From?

The many customs we have today in relation to Halloween have their origins in the religious practices of the Romans and the Druids, therefore dating back many centuries. The Romans worshiped various gods and on October 31, a special feast was held in honor of Pomona, goddess of the fruit trees. Later, the Druids, an ancient order of Celtic priests in Britain, made this feast an even more extensive celebration by also honoring Samhain, lord of the dead. This was normally done on November 1 and it was therefore decided to conveniently honor both Pomona and Samhain on October 31 and November 1.

These Druids believed that on the night before November 1 (October 31) Samhain called together wicked souls or spirits which had been condemned to live in the bodies of animals during the year which had just transpired. Since they were afraid of these spirits, they chose October 31 as a day to sacrifice to their gods, hoping they would protect them. They really believed that on this day they were surrounded by strange spirits, ghosts, witches, fairies, and elves, who came out to hurt them. In addition to this, they also believed that cats were holy animals, as they considered them to represent people who lived formerly, and as punishment for evil deeds were reincarnated as a cat. All this explains why witches, ghosts, and cats are a part of Halloween today.

The custom of trick-or-treating and the use of "jack-o'-lanterns" comes from Ireland. Hundreds of years ago, Irish farmers went from house to house, begging for food, in the name of their ancient gods, to be used at the village Halloween celebration. They would promise good luck to those who gave them good, and made threats to those who refused to give. They simply told the people, "You treat me, or else I will trick you!"

The apparently harmless lightened pumpkin face or "jack-o'-lantern" actually is an old Irish symbol of damned soul. A man named Jack was supposed to be able unable to enter heaven due to his miserliness, and unable to enter hell because he had played practice jokes on the devil. As a result, he was condemned to wander over the earth with his lantern until judgment day (i.e., the end of the world). The Irish were so afraid that they would receive an identical plight, that they began to hollow out pumpkins and place lighted candles inside to scare away evil spirits from their home.

Read more here.

Happy Reformation Day: October 31, 1517

Read all 95 Luther's theses here.

Is Christianity Good for the World?

"Collision: Hitchens vs. Wilson" - EXCLUSIVE 13 minute preview.

In May 2007, leading atheist Christopher Hitchens and Christian apologist Douglas Wilson began to argue the topic “Is Christianity Good for the World?” in a series of written exchanges published in Christianity Today. The rowdy literary bout piqued the interest of filmmaker Darren Doane, who sought out Hitchens and Wilson to pitch the idea of making a film around the debate.

In Fall 2008, Doane and crew accompanied Hitchens and Wilson on an east coast tour to promote the book compiled from their written debate titled creatively enough, Is Christianity Good for the World?. “I loved the idea of putting one of the beltway’s most respected public intellectuals together with an ultra-conservative pastor from Idaho that looks like a lumberjack”, says Doane. “You couldn’t write two characters more contrary. What’s more real and punk rock than a fight between two guys who are on complete opposite sides of the fence on the most divisive issue in the world? We were ready to make a movie about two intellectual warriors at the top of their game going one-on-one. I knew it would make an amazing film.”

This film, Collision, is now out and can be purchased in DVD format at Westminster Bookstore.

HT: Westminster

Missional and Participating in Halloween

Michael Patton:

I can’t believe I am going to say this but, WWJD? Really, what would Jesus do? Can you see it? Jesus with his lights turned off on Halloween? That would be the Jesus history never knew. That would be the Jesus of western fundamentalism. The one who is not a friend of sinners and tax gatherers. The Jesus that was never accused of being a drunkard. The Jesus who looked from a distance at the wedding of Cana waiting for the sinners to wipe the dust off their feet before he talked to them. The Jesus who saw a child dressed up as a Ghost and said, “I can’t take this anymore. It is not worth it. Give me that stone so that I can turn it into bread.”

Mark Young, my friend and former missions prof at DTS (now the president of Denver Seminary), used to talk about this in his missions 101 class. Oh the shame of all of us students who turned off the light. We left the class crying looking for little witches and ghosts to hug. His thesis: Christians are not Christians on Halloween. Not because they have compromised and participated, but precisely because they don’t participate. The one day of the year where children (”Permit them to come to me…” Mark 10:14) were attempting to come to us and we shut the door and turn off the lights. We left the class in tears and began to plan what we were going to be for Halloween.

Read the rest.

Related: Christians Devise a Number of Alternatives to Halloween.
Halloween Outreach Idea: Trunk or Treat

HT: Z

John Calvin We Hardly Knew Ye

I meant to post this earlier in light of Reformation Sunday, but I didn't get a chance. The Banner has a really good post, I think, about John Calvin, the man and his doctrine. I certainly learned a great deal about Calvin that I did not know (did you know that some accuse Calvin of being a murderer?) and I think you will too. Check it out here.

What Should You Do When You Feel Useless

Most of us feel inadequate at times, whether in parenting, serving God, or even just having the discipline to eat healthy and exercise, we all feel the reality of falling short of our own expectations. And I don't know about you, but during these times, and they sometimes come several times in the same day for me, it's easy to listen to that voice inside your head that tells you that you're useless; and if you listen to that voice long enough, you begin to believe it, which in turn robs you of your joy for life and your ability to see your usefulness to God. Feeling useless is a dangerous place to be. But what should we do during these times?

Pastor John Piper has offered some wise advise, drawing from 1 Corinthians 12:14-20, about how we should respond to feelings of uselessness. Below is his first remedy for feelings of useless, but please check out the all of his helpful counsel from his sermonBody Pains: Feelings of Uselessness

Remedy 1: The Invalidity of the Conviction of Uselessness

The first truth is that the conviction of uselessness is not the truth.
This is what (it) says in verses 15 and 16. "If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,' it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body." Paul boldly and forthrightly denies the conclusion. You may make the comparison between yourself and another and conclude that you are useless, but your conclusion is wrong.

The same in verse 16: "If the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,' it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body." You may think it and you may feel it, but it is not true. Arguing yourself into a sense of uselessness in the body of Christ is invalid arguing. The conclusion does not stand. If you are a part of the body of Christ, you are not useless, but rather are meant to give a unique manifestation of the Spirit of God.

HT: Desiring God

What is the Gospel?

The gospel is objective. It tells us what God has done to save his people. It consists of concrete, historical events, rooted in Old Testament promises, types, and institutions that were fulfilled in Jesus. It promises that all who trust in Christ and his work will receive forgiveness and life. Of course, this isn’t merely a catalog of events of only historical interest; all of this has massive implications for our lives. But we must not confuse the gospel message itself with the outworking of those implications.

So, for example, although the gospel calls me to respond to what Jesus has done, strictly speaking it doesn’t include my response—repentance is not the gospel. Although the gospel introduces me to a life lived in glad obedience to God, strictly speaking it doesn’t include that life of obedience. Our existence as Christians involves unspeakable privileges, significant responsibilities, and untold promise. But those things themselves are not the gospel.

Why is all this important?

It’s important because the very nature of the gospel is at stake—and there is no higher priority for the pastor than to guard the gospel from neglect, distortion, or redefinition (1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:14).

If the gospel message expands to include “discipleship in the kingdom,” then the objective nature of Christ’s work is minimized. When the gospel is redefined as a call to a social or political movement, Christ’s work is replaced with ours. When the gospel includes my response, then the ground of my assurance lies in me rather than in Christ. Indeed, anytime we shift the definition of the gospel from God’s objective accomplishment to our subjective appropriation, the rock-solid foundation of our faith is misplaced—and the glory of God in the gospel is obscured.

Of course, we can be clear on the gospel message and make other mistakes. We can neglect the entailments of the gospel (a life of self-denial and obedience to Christ). We can focus only on spiritual salvation to the exclusion of any concern for the material or physical well-being of others. We can so focus on a heavenly home that we neglect our responsibilities of loving others in a fallen world, and that our ultimate future lies in a “new heavens and new earth” that have been fully renewed by God’s power.

None of these mistakes, however, minimizes the importance of holding fast to the gospel of our salvation. For it is through the power of the gospel that we are transformed to live new lives by the power of the Spirit. It is through the gospel that we are freed from selfishness to give our lives in service of others. Sure, the scope of Christ’s redemption is the whole cosmos (Colossians 1:20), but at the center of his redemptive concern are rebellious image-bearers whom he is ransoming to be his children. But all of these entailments, implications, and promises are founded upon the rock-solid, unchanging accomplishment of God through the gospel of his Son. It is this message that is God’s power to save sinners, to comfort the grieving, to motivate the listless, to encourage the downhearted, to assure the guilt-stricken.

This message never changes; this message is always true; and so our hope is always secure.

And it precisely when those erstwhile rebels grasp God’s accomplishment in the gospel—the greatest display of “the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love”—that they will be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19) and marvel with wonder at the gospel’s display of God’s glorious grace.

HT: Sovereign Grace

Is it OK to have different denominations when Paul seems to say that Christians should identify only with Christ?

HT: Desiring God

Free Tim Keller Sermons Now Online

Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York has opened up a new free sermon resource, starting with 150 of Pastor Tim Keller’s sermons, all categorized, labeled, and downloadable, at this site: Download Tim Keller's Sermons

Here's more info from the site:

Redeemer’s Sermon Ministry has been faithfully recording, cataloging and reproducing all of our sermons for the past 20 years. To celebrate all 20 years of our history, and to meet the growing demand for our church’s teaching in New York City and around the world, we have created this resource of 150 sermons and lectures covering a broad array of topics, completely free to download and share.

The recordings chosen for the Free Sermon Resource were culled from classic sermon series as well as lectures and seminar addresses delivered to various Redeemer ministry gatherings, and are intended to present to the listener the full scope of teachings they would receive over several years of active involvement at Redeemer.

This is an amazing new resource, and there will be more content getting added regularly, so tell all your friends: Redeemer Free Sermon Resource.

God's Design is Love

What is the design of God in this sovereign governing of our adversaries and circumstances? Hebrews 12 is wonderfully clear on this. Verse 6: "Those whom the Lord loves he disciplines." The design of God is love. Our pain is not the effect of God's hate, but of God's love. Will you believe this? That is the question.

Or verse 7: "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons." In other words, in your pain, you are not being treated as a slave or as an enemy. You are being treated as a loved child of God. The issue is: will you believe this? Will you let the Word of God settle the issue for you, so that when the suffering comes, you don't turn on God and put him in the dock and prosecute him with accusations? He probably will not tell you why it is your turn, or why it is happening now, or why there is this much pain, or why it lasts this long. But he has told you what you need to know: it is the love of an all-wise Father to a child. Will you trust him?

Five Books Every Youth Minister Should Read

The books on this list are not about youth ministry but for youth ministers so you will be better equipped to serve by knowing the culture and lives of youth well and knowing the Gospel and its power to heal even better.

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton

This book maps the landscape of the spiritual lives of American teenagers. It is the most comprehensive and thorough study ever done on the topic, and the authors, Smith and Denton, are top-notch sociologists of religion. They find that the "spiritual but not religious" affiliation thought to be widespread among young adults is actually rare among American teens. Smith and Denton helpfully describe "moralistic therapeutic deism," which they call the dominant religion of most American teens.

Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers by Chap Clark

This book reveals powerfully the painful, lonely inner-world of many teens. Clark explains that abandonment is the defining issue for contemporary youth and traces this throughout family life, school, peers, morality, and other dimensions of teens' lives. The final chapter, which promotes five strategies to counter the "tide of systemic abandonment," is particularly helpful.

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper

Piper explains what God achieved for sinners by sending Jesus to die. This book will help you explain why and how the work of Christ on the cross is central to the Christian faith: "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14). Any one of these chapters would provide you plenty of material for a sermon, teaching, or group discussion.

On Being a Theologian of the Cross by Gerhard Forde

Forde celebrates the cross as proof that God will have mercy on sinners and warns us not to seek God apart from the cross because it is in the cross that God will be found. The only solution for humans bound by sin is the forgiveness that comes from Christ alone. This is what youth feeling the guilt and shame of their sins need to hear, not some horrible message of self-help and behavior modification. If you aren't preaching salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, you're probably preaching "moralistic therapeutic deism."

Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change by Paul D. Tripp

There is a deep need for a gospel-centered, biblical counseling vision to influence youth work and the youth worker role. As you'll be listening to youth talk about their dreams, pains, and struggles, you'll need to explore the wisdom and depth of the Bible and apply its grace-centered message to them. This book will help you do that.

HT: The Resurgence

What is Success (and Failure) in Ministry?

Below is a wonderful post by Justin Taylor recounting the call of God on Dr. John Piper to move into pastoral ministry. It's a tremendous story and I encourage you to read it.

My favorite quote from the post is when Piper shares his concern for his new ministry at Bethlehem Baptist Church, which was, “Not so much that I will fail—as the world counts failure—but that I might succeed in my own strength and wisdom and so fail as God counts failure.” I cannot think of a better definition of success, and failure, in ministry.

I'm so thankful for Dr. Piper's ministry. As a new christian, I remembering wrestling with Dr. Piper's Calvinistic teachings (the first book I read about the Christian faith was Desiring God). At the time I could not accept that God had chosen me while apparently not choosing so many close friends and relatives in my life. I wanted desperately, like so many today, to make God in my image and I refused to except what I believed was Piper's distorted interpretation of God's Word. I prayed that God would change the hearts of those I loved so that they too would choose to live for Jesus. Do you recognize the irony of that prayer? I pleaded with God to change the hearts of my loved ones, even as I struggled with the biblical doctrine of election.

Thank you Lord for calling Dr. Piper into ministry and for keeping him standing firm upon your Word has he proclaims your sovereignty. By your grace, he has impacted the lives of so many and I pray that his ministry continues to glorify you for years to come.

30 Years Ago Today: How God Called John Piper to Become a Pastor

In May of 1979 John Piper had completed his sixth year of teaching biblical studies at Bethel College (Saint Paul, MN) and was due for a sabbatical in the fall. In every class Piper had encountered students who sought to discount his Calvinistic interpretation of Romans 9. So he had one aim for his eight-month leave: “to study Romans 9 and write a book on it that would settle, in my own mind, the meaning of these verses.” Or put differently, “to analyze God’s words so closely and construe them so carefully that I could write a book that would be compelling and stand the test of time.”

The book–which Richard Muller would call “the most compelling and forceful exposition of Romans 9:1-23 I have ever seen”–was published four years later by Baker as The Justification of God.

But God had more designs for this sabbatical than the production of a book. He would use this time to call Piper away from being a professor to become a pastor.

Read more.

HT: Justin Taylor

The Art of Listening

Spencer Burke has several great interviews with good folks over at Ooze.tv but I especially appreciated some of the significant ideas that Gabe Lyons expresses here regarding the impact of listening, the negative motivation of fear, and exposure as a key to transformation.

MLK Jr. Hit the Nail on the Head

“The contemporary church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoledby the church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are. But the judgement of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”

- Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

Where Have All the Christians Gone?

Christianity is plummeting in America, while the number of non-believers is skyrocketing.

A shocking new study of Americans’ religious beliefs shows the beginnings of a major realignment in Americans’ relationship with God. The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) reveals that Protestants now represent half of all Americans, down almost 20 percent in the last twenty years. In the coming months, America will become a minority Protestant nation for the first time since the pilgrims.

The number of people who claim no religious affiliation, meanwhile, has doubled since 1990 to fifteen percent, its highest point in history. Non-believers now represent the third-highest group of Americans, after Catholics and Baptists.

Other headlines:

1) The number of Christians has declined 12% since 1990, and is now 76%, the lowest percentage in American history.

2) The growth of non-believers has come largely from men. Twenty percent of men express no religious affiliation; 12% of women.

3) Young people are fleeing faith. Nearly a quarter of Americans in their 20’s profess no organized religion.

4) But these non-believers are not particularly atheist. That number hasn’t budged and stands at less than 1 percent. (Agnostics are similarly less than 1 percent.) Instead, these individuals have a belief in God but no interest in organized religion, or they believe in a personal God but not in a formal faith tradition.

The implications for American society are profound. Americans’ relationship with God, which drove many of the country’s great transformations from the pilgrims to the founding fathers, the Civil War to the civil rights movement, is still intact. Eighty-two percent of Americans believe in God or a higher power.

But at the same time, the study offers yet another wake-up call for religious institutions.

First, catering to older believers is a recipe for failure; younger Americans are tuning out.

Second, Americans are interested in God, but they don’t think existing institutions are helping them draw closer to God.

Finally, Americans’ interest in religion has not always been stable. It dipped following the Revolution and again following Civil War. In both cases it rebounded because religious institutions adapted and found new ways of relating to everyday Americans.

Today, the rise of disaffection is so powerful that different denominations needs to band together to find a shared language of God that can move beyond the fading divisions of the past and begin moving toward a partnership of different-but-equal traditions.

Or risk becoming Europe, where religion is fast becoming an afterthought.

HT: Shapevine

3rd Culture: An Alternative Way of Being

Third Culture Video - Short from Newsong Church on Vimeo.

Third culture is about the fusion of multiple cultures, the art of adaptation, dialogue rather than dictation, diplomacy over strong arm tactics, and the embrace of discomfort as part of the journey to real community. Third culture is the mindset and will to love, learn and serve in any culture even in the midst of pain and discomfort.

HT: Dave Gibbons

The Prodigal God: Seven Sermons from Tim Keller

Click "Download" to listen to sermons related to Tim Keller's book The Prodigal God from the series The Fellowship of Grace.

He Welcomes Sinners	Luke 15:1-10	Download
Give Me Mine	Luke 15:11-14	Download
He Came to Himself	Luke 15:11-20	Download
To Be Called Your Son	Luke 15:21-24	Download
And Kissed Him	Luke 15:11-24	Download
We Had to Celebrate	Luke 15:17-32	Download
The True Older Brother	Luke 15:17-32	Download

Evangelism: Advice from a Non-Christian

Christians Trying to Convert Non-Christians from Rethink Mission on Vimeo.

Agree or disagree?

HT: Reformissionary

Piper in Germany

John Piper is in Germany last weekend, preaching God's word at the Hirten Konferenz in Bonn. His first message was "Feel Christ," followed by "Think Christ," and "Preach Christ" (the audio for this final message is presumably coming soon).

Piper gave 10 arguments for the indispensable role of right thinking and right knowing in the life of the Christian:

It is possible to have strong feelings and be lost if the feelings are not based on knowledge (Romans 10:1-2).

God has planned that thinking about the Bible is the means he uses to give understanding (2 Timothy 2:7).

Paul is given as an example of reasoning with the Bible (Acts 17:2-3).

Jesus assumes and requires that we will use logic in understanding both what is natural and what is spiritual (Luke 12:54-57).

Jesus refuses to deal with people who use their reason to conceal truth (Matthew 21:23-27).

Thirteen times in Paul’s letters, he asks the question, “Do you not know?” Paul assumes that if his readers knew something, they would see things differently, feel differently, and act differently.

The Bible tells us that Christ has given pastors and teachers to the church and tells us that they should be apt to teach—because God intends that the Bible be explained to ordinary folks who don’t have the time or ability to go as deep as God wants them to go. Christ would not have given teachers to the church if he thought they were not needed.

The Bible declares that we should proclaim the whole council of God (Acts 20:27). That implies that there is a coherent unified whole, a body of doctrine, that should be given to the church. It is not easy to find this whole council in a book with 1,500 pages! It’s mainly mental labor. Finding the unified biblical theology that the people need to know takes hard thinking.

The Bible is a book, which means that it must be read.An example of how thinking and valuing and acting relate to each other is (Matthew 7:7-12).

HT: Desiring God

CJ Mahaney's Office

The T4G video crew films C.J’s office, library, work habits, and captures a few distinguishing features of a “pastor-athlete” in this 7 minute video:

C. J. Mahaney - Study Video from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Why Church Membership Matters

Kevin DeYoung gives a six-fold answer to the oft-asked question, why does membership matter?

1. In joining a church you make visible your commitment to Christ and his people.

2. Making a commitment makes a powerful statement in a low-commitment culture.

3. We can be overly independent.Church membership keeps us accountable.

4. Joining the church will help your pastor and elders be more faithful shepherds.

5. Joining the church gives you an opportunity to make promises.

Go read the whole post to see how each of these are fleshed out.

Related to this is Kevin’s new book (co-authored with Ted Kluck), Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion.

HT: Ryan Kelly

Faith in Sports

By Tom Krattenmaker

October is the sports fan's Promised Land.

America's pastime (baseball) enters its sprint toward the World Series, and the sport that is America's pastime in more than just name (football) has fans transfixed from coast to coast.

Anyone who watches pro and college football or follows the drama of the baseball playoffs can't help but notice something else that often competes for our attention amid the passes, pitches and home runs: religion.

Audio clips: Krattenmaker on his book and his research.

Players point skyward to the Almighty after reaching the end zone or home plate, star athletes voice thanks and praise to their savior after a big win, and sports heroes use their media spotlight to promote the Christian message. (See University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and his eye-black, touting Scripture.) These are the outward signs of a faith surge that has made big-time sports one of the most outwardly religious sectors of American culture.

Far less visible, but worth knowing about, are the infrastructure and strategy of the sports-world evangelicalism that powers these pious displays. Athletes' expressions of Christian faith reflect decades of hard work by evangelical ministries to convert players and "coach" them to use their stature to promote a particular version of conservative Christianity.

Christian chaplains are embedded with all the teams in professional baseball, basketball and football — and many college teams as well — to provide religious counseling, Bible studies and chapel services. Given the misbehavior and self-seeking that plague sports, who could doubt the benefit of bringing moral guidance and a broader perspective to locker rooms and clubhouses?

The Good with the Bad

But Jesus' representatives in sports aren't just practicing faith. They are also leveraging sports' popularity to promote a message and doctrine that are out of sync with the diverse communities that support franchises, and with the unifying civic role that we expect of our teams. Typifying the exclusive creed taught by many sports-world Christians is the belief statement published by Baseball Chapel, which provides chaplains for all major- and minor-league baseball teams. Non-believers in Jesus, the ministry declares, can look forward to "everlasting punishment separated from God."

Read more.

You're Approved in Christ

By Ray Ortlund Jr.

"For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man?

If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Paul had lived for human approval. That's what his uppity legalism had really been about. It's why the word "still" is in there: "If I were still trying to please man . . . ." Paul gave it up, in order to please God.

It is so freeing to stop caring so much about what people think. It is so freeing to lift your eyes to Christ, whose approval is all that finally matters. What does he want from you? Not that people would think you're wonderful, but that your gospel would be pure and honoring to him. You can't control how people respond. That is their own responsibility before God. And if your gospel is pure, some will inevitably disapprove (2 Cor 2:15-16) and will blame you for it. Why? The impenitent are incapable of self-awareness. Don't be discouraged. Just keep your gospel clear. And keep your heart close to the Lord.

Here is his word to you: "Approved."

What if He Won't Lead?

This past Sunday we explored the issue of submission in marriage from Ephesians 5. The text is clear that a man should lead in his home and is responsible for the spiritual growth of his wife and children, but how should a wife should respond if her husband won't lead?

To begin with, her concept of leadership might be different from what the Bible teaches. Leadership doesn’t have one specific form. So her husband might be leading, and she just doesn’t like the way he leads. She wants him to lead another way. In that case it’s not a leadership problem, it’s a submission problem.

But assuming he’s really not leading, she needs to examine herself and be sure she’s not just automatically stepping into the leadership role. This might lead him to not feel the need to lead. He might step up if she weren’t already filling that space. Instead, her first step should be to lovingly, respectfully, and submissively share her concerns with him and give him the chance to lead. If he still won’t lead, she can lead her children. And she can do all she can to grow in godliness herself. Women don’t need leaders (this thought implies an inequality between men and women, with women being inferior). Instead, God’s direction is that in marriage, men ought to lead. There’s a world of difference here. His failure to lead isn’t holding her back spiritually. She can grow and develop and be complete in Jesus without his leadership. But she should not try to lead her husband. Her role is to submit, even if he won’t lead.

Eschatology Conversation

You can now listen to or watch "An Evening of Eschatology," a conversation about the end times with John Piper, Doug Wilson, Sam Storms, and Jim Hamilton.

You can also read John Piper's thoughts on this event for some introduction to the issues being discussed.

HT: Desiring God