For those who missed McCain’s appearance on Conan O’Brien, here was the breakthrough announcement concerning his VP search…sort of
I don’t know how some think about prophets in today’s day, but it seemed that this person had a prophetic fire in him when he called out the left-his-family-to-be-openly-gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson in a recent service. I can’t make out much of what he said, but his repeated “Repent!!” could not have been more Jeremiah-like. May Mr. Robinson heed that message for his own soul’s sake.
[Update: I can't embed it, but here is the link. Here is also the BBC's commentary]
(HT:Irish Calvinist)
Read his account of what happened here. Praise God for sparing his life.
For those of you whose jaws dropped to the floor last night watching Josh Hamilton smack baseballs all over the Bronx, read his words about how he views his life (via Paul Edwards).
By the way, isn’t it interesting how many people are in awe of an athlete who can hit a ball 517 feet, but yawn at the thought of God sending his Son to absolutely crush Satan, sin, death and all who stand in opposition to God once and for all?! How strange is our definition of power!
For those of you who did not know, I spent some time in an Evangelical Free church and actually married a lady who grew up in that same church. I have a lot of respect for the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), though I had always had concerns about their doctrinal statement. It was purposely broad to promote the sense of unity in the essentials. But doctrinal statements are revised because times and contexts change, and new heresies arise that need to be addressed, and what were clear statements in one day must be clarified for a new day. So the EFCA decided to revise their doctrinal statement. I think that many who love the Truth will be pleased.
Here is the previous statement of faith, which was accepted in 1950.
Here is the revised statement of faith.
Here is Colin Hansen’s commentary on the revision.
I’m particularly interested in five things concerning the revision. First, it is interesting how the revision has included much more Reformed statements like these:
- “Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.”
- “In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath.”
- “[The Holy Spirit] regenerates sinners” (omitting the word “believing”, which was in the previous statement, and implies that faith precedes regeneration).
- “We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone.”
Second, it is interesting how the revised statement shifts the focus from regeneration to justification by faith and union with Christ. Consider these statements from the 1950 statement:
- “the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and, during this age, to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner”
- “man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is, therefore, lost, and only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained.”
- “That the true Church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the Body of Christ of which He is the Head.”
Now notice the shift in the 2008 statement:
- “We believe that the Holy Spirit… regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God.”
- “We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.”
- “We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone.”
Third, I’m glad to see that both statements contain a note about regenerate membership. 1950: “That only those who are, thus, members of the true Church shall be eligible for membership in the local church.” 2008: “The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers.” Looks like they’ve got 58 years over 16 7 million member SBC.
Fourth, I’m thrilled to see the inclusion of a statement on Christian living, not found in the original statement:
We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
Such a statement seems to have been influenced by the Gospel Coalition, which is led in part by D.A. Carson, who teaches at the EFCA seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The Coalition has more members who are in some way connected with TEDS and/or the EFCA.
Fifth, I’m also interested in why they removed the autonomy of the local church from being an actual article in the statement to the introduction: “The Evangelical Free Church of America is an association of autonomous churches united around these theological convictions”. Contrast that with the previous statement: “That Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church and that every local church has the right, under Christ, to decide and govern its own affairs.” I don’t want to read too much into it, but it seems like the 1950 statement gave more of an explanation as to why they believed in autonomous local churches. Is it becoming more peripheral?
Overall I think that the statement is good. It is more defined in its approach, which should tighten up the reigns when it comes to what the EFCA believes. It is also broad in that it still opens up for differences in opinion, as evidenced in the omission of “believing” in the line on Holy Spirit regeneration. Some may be concerned about the lack of statements on requirements for baptism, gender roles and spiritual gifts, and some may be alarmed that the phrase “the personal, bodily and premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ” is still there, though it does preserve the historical identity of the EFCA. Those things notwithstanding, it is a good statement, and I’m looking forward to seeing the fruit in their churches’ work for the Gospel.
Eric Redmond has posted a very good piece on why African-Americans might consider Obama even with his pro-choice, pro-homosexual policies (Note: he did not say why they should consider Obama, nor did he say that he would consider Obama. It’s not intended to be an endorsement).
Matt Kaufman has an interesting article on what we can learn from high gas prices.
Christianity Today has entered The Shack conversation (Note: you have to read all of the articles to understand the various approaches to the book, and please remember that you understand who God is from reading and meditating on the Scriptures, not some New York Times bestseller!!).
Ed Gilbreath (author of a very insightful book, Reconciliation Blues) is wondering if Jesse Jackson had something up his sleeve with his all-too-peculiar comments concerning Sen. Obama.
And Erik Raymond (notice the sort of inclusio) gives high praise for Shai Linne’s new CD, The Atonement. For those who have no idea who Shai Linne is (of whom Erik says, “What would Issac Watts’ music sound like if he was alive today and lived in North Philadelphia? I think it would sound a lot like what we hear on Shai Linne’s latest album”), this should whet your appetite:
Yesterday I went to the campus bookstore clearance section and found three books that cost me less than $9. I’m looking forward to reading them. They are:
- Gather into One: Praying and Singing Globally (C. Michael Hawn)
- Come Shouting to Zion: African American Protestantism in the American South and British Caribbean to 1830 (Sylvia Frey and Betty Wood)
- God’s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights (Charles Marsh)
Seeing that Lance Lewis recommended Marsh’s work for good summer reading, I guess I’ll start with that one. Keep your eyes open in those bargain bins; you never know what nuggets you’ll find.
That’s how Touchstone Magazine describes Russell Moore’s article on the similarities between Jeremiah Wright’s approach to the Scriptures and many of the conservative preachers who condemned him. He writes:
Last Easter Sunday, the new pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, where Wright is now pastor emeritus, preached from the biblical account of the crucifixion of Jesus, but did so as illustrative of the controversy over Wright. In other churches all over the country that same Sunday, many conservative “Bible-based” pastors preached from that same account, but the account of the crucifixion and Resurrection was used as illustrative of finding hope when you’re hopeless, of finding a light at the end of your tunnel.
Again, he writes:
There is a liberation theology of the Left, and there is also a liberation theology of the Right, and both are at heart mammon worship. The liberation theology of the Left often wants a Barrabas, to fight off the oppressors as though our ultimate problem were the reign of Rome and not the reign of death. The liberation theology of the Right wants a golden calf, to represent religion and to remind us of all the economic security we had in Egypt. Both want a Caesar or a Pharaoh, not a Messiah.
Preachers will always be tempted to bypass the problem behind the problems: captivity to sin, bondage to the accusations of the demonic powers, the sentence of death. That’s why so many of our Christian superstars smile at crowds of thousands, reassuring them that they don’t like to talk about sin. That’s why other Christian celebrities are seen to be courageous for fighting their culture wars, while they carefully leave out the sins most likely to be endemic to the people paying the bills in their congregations.
Where there is no gospel, something else will fill the void: therapy, consumerism, racial or class resentment, utopian politics, crazy conspiracy theories of the left, crazy conspiracy theories of the right; anything will do. The prophet Isaiah warned us of such conspiracies replacing the Word of God centuries ago (Is. 8:12–20). As long as the Serpent’s voice is heard, “You shall not surely die,” the powers are comfortable.
Are we calling people to a comfortable life of ease in Egypt, or are we urging them to set their hearts and hopes on the Promise Land? Are we pleading for our people to believe in the American Dream or the Gospel of Christ? Do we preach “your best life now” or “whoever will lose his life for my sake and the Gospel’s will save it”? Perhaps we aren’t too far removed from Rev. Wright.
(HT: Denny Burk)
For those who saw the 640-page tome from George Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: a Life, and quickly resolved that you would wait for the shorter “Cliff’s Notes” version, Dr. Marsden has listened and responded. He has an upcoming book just for you, called A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards. Eerdmans has a (brief) description here.
A little over a year ago, I mentioned some lectures that Dr. Mark Noll gave at Princeton University entitled, “Race, Religion and American Politics from Nat Turner to George W. Bush”. Those lectures are being published in an upcoming book, God and Race in American Politics. Dr. Noll also co-edited an updated edition of the book, Religion and American Politics: From the Colonial Period to the Present. Dr. Noll does an excellent job of showing how we misunderstand the problem of race in America without also considering how political thought has developed in America also.
