I don’t have time to read this, but I wish I did.
Nothing frustrates me more than smart people buying and forwarding internet rumors. Snopes.com should be the place we all run to find out if indeed we’ve been left $10,000,000 in Nigeria or if really atheists are getting the FCC to ban all religious broadcasting. (Would that be a bad thing?)
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but this interview with Snopes’ founder is a fascinating insight to human nature, the power of the internet, and why we believe what we believe.
Plus it’s just plain interesting. This is just a husband and wife in their house? Yep. And someone who is gracious when he could be caustic.
His observations are worth pondering:
“…for a good many people, it’s not important whether things are true or not. It reflects what people want to believe. It reflects a worldview….
“A lot of people are unwilling to acknowledge anything that contradicts their worldview. So telling them that it’s false doesn’t necessarily slow them down.”
I still believe that some woman tried to dry her poodle in the microwave.
…in the way he should go;…”
“…even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
This IS what Solomon had in mind, right?
I think it was Mark Driscoll who once said that the New Calvinists are just like the Old Calvinists, just nicer. I’ll leave that without comment other than to say that if that is true, then I want to be a New Calvinist.
The Orlando Sentinel took notice of the New Calvinism in a lead story Sunday profiling one of the movement’s well-known old proponents. R. C. Sproul is the teaching pastor and clearly the face of Sanford, Florida’s St. Andrew’s Chapel.
The article articulates in positive tones St. Andrew’s place and vision, and in so doing speaks appreciatively of Rev. Sproul’s clear influence upon modern American theological thinking. R. C. Sproul has been a steady voice articulating a reformational orthodoxy during a period of theological experimentation. He has been used by God not only to defend but also to lend credibility to Reformed thinking. And he has done so while at the same time avoiding the moral traps that have ensnared so many who rise to prominence.
His has been a remarkable career which has blessed many, myself included. It is good to see the front page of a large secular newspaper acknowledge that not all of those shaping the cultural landscape sit in congress or swing a putter.
Nevertheless, while the article rightly connects Sproul with the current renaissance of Reformed thinking, it would be wrong to suggest, as the article could be read to suggest, that Sproul defines the borders of that renaissance. Calvinism does not exclusively reside in a St. Andrew’s can.
The beauty of Calvinism which has drawn many to it is its hearty embracing of the centrality of God in all things, including salvation. God’s holiness, his sovereignty, his grace, his good and remarkable providence, these things all find careful and comforting prominence among those who extol what I call a Big God theology. But what one might not know from the article is that these things are finding prominence not only in the neo-gothic traditionalism of St. Andrews, but as well from pulpits set on stages in the midst of the trappings of worship bands.
In fact, surprising to some would be the fact that those very worship bands, seemingly so far removed from the reserve of a St. Andrew’s type experience, are leading people to give glory to God for his holiness and his sovereignty, a holiness and a sovereignty many first learned from R. C. Sproul.
Though Rev. Sproul would not be interviewed for the article, a spokesman of his Ligonier Ministries is reported to be ‘dismissive’ of churches which have both ‘traditional’ and ‘contemporary’ services. I know what it is like to be taken out of context, so I certainly hope that the brothers at Ligonier and St. Andrews are not dismissive or scornful of any other ‘container’ in which God-centered worship might appear.
What is wonderfully ironic is that this same solid Calvinism is emerging from worship services like that at St. Andrews as well as those which the spokesmen of St. Andrews might characterize as ‘pep rallies’. And if one probes, one might find that there is a God-saturated passion and vigorous biblical methodology motivating those churches every bit as much as that motivating the traditionalism at St. Andrews. All of it flowing from the theology so well championed by good men like Rev. Sproul.
We still have not settled upon the complete menu for our future Oxymoronic Dinner (click through, those of you who have no idea what I am talking about). However, I have found the place where we must hold it.
We will hold it outside, in the shade of some “live oak” trees (for some redundant effect), at the Little-Big Econ State Forest.
Not little, not big.
No. Little-Big.
And to make things fancy, we will add the king of oxymoronic dining features:
“Domitian’s claim to ultimate power and his rigid law enforcement produced the same unhappiness that plagued China when rewards were given for reporting on the misdeeds of others, and vexed Aparta when each man was the enforcer of his brother’s morals. The atmospere in Rome grew so oppressive that Tacitus expressed gratitude that his much-loved and missed father Agricola had died before Domitian’s reign: ‘Domitian no longer left interval or breathing space…. Under Domitian more than half our wretchedness consisted in watching and being watched, while our very sighs were scored against us.'” (Susan Wise Bauer, The History of the Ancient World
, page 739)
There are those in history who, in frustration at the disarray and messiness of human society, conclude that the solution to such disarray is law. Whether a family or an empire law is imposed as the holy grail of order. The more law, it is assumed, addressing more of life, the greater the happiness.
Some Christian thinkers latching onto this propose that the law which should receive such broad imposition is ‘Biblical Law’. Sophisticated proponents of this view nuance that this cannot work without a broad spread of spiritual renewal. These propose that a great spread of Christian faith will allow for a righteous imposition of biblical law, resulting in the greatest glory to God in a universally righteous earthly kingdom. They do not advocate, strictly speaking, the imposition of such law when Christians are the minority. But they do long for a time when a society predominantly converted, will structure itself best around God’s law.
This is sophisticated, careful, and frightening to the core. They do not question the premise that law is the solution to social disarray, nor do they properly estimate the remaining corruption of the redeemed heart left to wield that law.
The quote above speaks of an experience in the Roman empire when legal restrictions multiplied into moral application, where every sin became a crime. We ourselves have come to understand the resulting oppression of certain muslim regimes based upon religious law governing every sphere of behavior.
But these are examples of law in the hands of converted men. True. But I’ve been a Christian long enough, serving as a pastor nearly half my life, to know that redemption does not cure all the ills of the corrupt human heart. Christians are as capable of oppression and misapplication of law as the next guy. And we pastors are often the most culpable.
Law does not tame the human heart, Biblical or otherwise. We ought not dream of a society which is someday ruled by law. It should scare us when the enforcement of morals falls into the hands of powerful people. We should never fall into the illusion, no matter how skillfully presented, or how seemingly ‘rooted’ in ‘Biblical’ notions, that the solution to social disarray is the enforcement of law (which is normally law which we find pleasing enforced upon those who seem to so easily disregard it).
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even when it is in the hands of Christians. Especially when those Christians are drunk on the idea that the power they wield is the power of King Jesus.
The following showed up in my Facebook news feed this morning. And it made me sad:
For most of you, that means little. For me, it meant the passing of another one of those faithful models whose lives have kept mine true. I don’t know where I would be if God had not brought my life and his together some 35 years ago.
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I was a sophomore at Michigan State University and though a Christian, I had tried to live my Christian life without the support of others. It wasn’t working and so a fellow student drug me to some meetings of the campus ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, and my world began to expand.
During one of those meetings there was a special speaker, a visiting professor of geography named Reuben Brooks. Lee, my friend, and I were strangely moved by the prospect of having a professor who also served Jesus. I’m sure there were many on such a large campus. But we knew none.
Soon, Lee and I registered for a class with Dr. Brooks. We had no special interest in geography, no need to fill out our transcript with such a class, no vision of the class’s usefulness. We just wanted to take a class with a Christian professor.
The end of my sophomore year found me still wrestling with choosing a major, and so Lee and I scheduled a time to visit with Dr. Brooks in his office. The counsel received from him was wise and directive, and played a role in the choices eventually made, but that is not what made this visit so momentous.
In the course of that conversation, I asked Dr. Brooks what was the most significant book he had ever read. I don’t know what made me ask that question. I cannot remember ever asking that of anyone else. Dr. Brooks did not hesitate a moment with his answer: “Knowing God
This was significant in my life, but I never saw Dr. Brooks again. Subsequent to that, many years passed. I told a number of people of the significance of Knowing God in my life, and how I came to first be aware of it. But over time I even forgot the professor’s name. For thirty years.
Then, one day, for no apparent reason, his name came to mind. I did an internet search and found him at a university in Nashville, TN. I was able to email Dr. Brooks, and that initiated a regular correspondence. Eventually, we were able to meet again, have lunch, and catch up with one another. That was a delight, and we have stayed in touch for as long as he has been able.
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I’ve often said that the book was how Dr. Brooks changed my life forever. But as I’ve reflected on the nature of influence, I’m not sure I am correct.
Early in our correspondence, I was shocked and humbled to have Dr. Brooks tell me this:
“I’ve made it a habit, Randy, to pray for you every weekday, at least.”
This man whom I have not seen for thirty years was committed to praying for me EVERY WEEKDAY. Was it the book that changed my life? I can never measure the impact of those prayers.
What will I now do without those prayers? I must leave it to God to raise up others. For now, he has taken to Himself a man who delighted in serving Him. Delighted in that. I would be thrilled to have half the delight, faithfulness, and love for Jesus as Reuben Brooks. May he find joy in the Lord he loves.
Ruling elder Jon Boardman leads Covenant Presbyterian Church in prayer each Sunday morning. Upon request we are posting his prayers so that their devotional content may be useful to us days after the fact. We believe you will find these edifying.
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Pastoral Prayer
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Oviedo, Florida
7/18/2010
Jon Boardman
El Shaddai
Translated, “God Almighty” this probably means ‘mountain’ used symbolically of changelessness and enduring strength, contrasted to the helplessness of man. The idea is that God is the all-sufficient One [cf. Ps. 68:14, 91:1].
The first time we are introduced to the name, El Shaddai, is in Genesis 17:1-5: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am El Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.’ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.’”
For Abraham, God was the all-sufficient One, the One who would provide a child for Abraham and who would be faithful to Abraham for generations to come. By virtue of what Christ has done on our behalf and the faith we have in Him, we are descendants of Abraham, so we can pray in confidence to El Shaddai. Let us pray…
Lord,
we pray with the psalmist when he says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High [El Elyon] will rest in the shadow of El Shaddai. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” (Psalm 91:1-2).Almighty God, we declare our trust in You.
Indeed, You are our fortress, our refuge, our shelter, and our God.
We acknowledge our helplessness and our need to rest in Your shadow.
Like Abraham, we have no power to resolve hopeless situations.
We are in need of You in all areas of our lives.
Time and time again we have found You to be our all-sufficient God.
You have held us through a difficult time of transition and provided us with a pastor.
You have held us through times of great financial need.
You have held us through disease and death.
You have held the Nuwayhids through grief.
You have held Joseph through leukemia. We continue to pray for his strength and healing as he endures treatment.
We also pray for Jonathan and his upcoming surgery. May You hold him through it.
You have held Jim through his treatment with multiple-myeloma and through his bone marrow transplant.
You have held Carole as she cares for him.
You have held our missionaries on the field through financial and prayer support.
You have held our evangelists through their efforts to share the gospel.
You have held our church as we seek to follow you and find a place to worship.
You have held our children, our singles, our marriages, and our families through the trials and tribulations of this life.
You are our refuge, our rock, our very present help in a time of trouble.
Where can we run when we are hurting and afraid?
Where can we go when we become frantic, anxious, and overwhelmed?
We can run to You.
For our weaknesses and difficulties—all human impossibilities—present no problem to You, El Shaddai.
So we come before you this morning to find our rest in You.
Specifically, we pray for Penni’s mother as she continues to struggle with her health. Grant her rest and healing, and we pray too for Penni’s father that You would uphold him.
We lift up Anita Samuels and her family as they grieve the loss of Anita’s father. Be their refuge as they mourn his death.
And we pray for all those in our midst and in our circle of love who are struggling financially, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Grant them all rest as they trust You with each and every aspect of their lives.
We ask for your blessing on the Dumas family as they look forward to the arrival of their daughter.
We ask for your blessing for all of Your people so that they may return the blessing to You and be a blessing to others.
To You be all the glory and honor.
We pray in the name of Jesus who has secured our rest and given us the hope of heaven.
Amen.
Every Sunday, a ruling elder in the church I pastor prays the pastoral prayer. Recently, Jon Boardman (you can read a brief bio here) has been preparing his prayers as he meditates on some of the names of God. Some in the congregation have asked that these be transcribed and posted where they could be read and reflected upon later on. That is worthy request.
Jon has been doing something that every congregation needs: modeling scripture infused prayer. God has given us a gift in Jon and in the prayers he prays. I intend to get his recent prayers posted here, and then regularly hereafter as we are able.
Some of the names and requests will be unknown to many of you. That’s okay. There is still wealth here to be mined.
Thanks, Jon, for letting us do this!
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Pastoral Prayer
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Oviedo, Florida
7/11/2010
Jon Boardman
El Roi – The God Who Sees
When Hagar fled from the wrath of Sarai to a well in a strange land, she was pregnant, lonely, and desolate. In her moment of distress, the angel of the LORD came to her and comforted her with promises and assurances.
Genesis 16:13-14 describes Hagar’s response: “She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’ That is why the well was called Beer-lahai-roi [the well of the living one who sees me].”
God saw Hagar in her distress and came to her. He continues to watch over His children today. He never abandons His own.
Let’s pray to El Roi – the God who sees.
Lord,
in Psalm 11:4-5, 7, the psalmist declares:
“The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. The LORD examines the righteous but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. … For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.”LORD, you see all things.
Nothing escapes Your watchful eye.
There is no where on earth we can hide from Your presence.
There is nothing so dark in our lives that can be hidden from You.
No matter how distressful our lives become, no matter what or who we try to run from, and no matter how lonely or abandoned we may feel, You are there watching over us.
Knowing that You see all, we can find great comfort and healing.
You do not allow us merely to hide our sins, our thoughts, our fears, or our pain from You.
Rather, You bring all these things to light, so that we can face our sin, our darkness, and our pain, and then we can find healing in You.
Thank you for the forgiveness of sin and the deliverance from darkness when we turn to You and repent.We also thank You, O Sovereign God, who permits suffering, for using all things to bring about Your good.
This morning we pray for those who need to know that You have not abandoned them and that Your eyes are upon them every moment of every day.We lift up those under distress due to physical pain like Jim Fitzgerald and Penni’s mother.
Lord, grant them relief and healing.
We pray for the Nuwayhids – grant them comfort.
Grant all those in grief and pain the knowledge of Your presence.
May You give them eyes to see You and Your hand at work in their lives.Lord,
we pray also for those who are apart from loved ones.
Even though they may not know their whereabouts or they may worry about loved ones who might be in difficult situations where they have no ability to help them,
we take comfort in knowing that You are with them. You see their comings and goings.
We pray for the likes of Thomas McFadden and others who serve in the military. Grant them Your protection.
We pray for our brother Josiah as he spends time and ministers with his family in Kenya.
We thank you for Carol’s ministry at General Assembly and for returning her to us safe and sound.
And for many others from our church family who are traveling, we ask for your providential hand to sustain and protect them.We also pray this morning for our church.
We take comfort in knowing that You see all that the future holds for us.
We need not be anxious, but rather we rest in the absolute trustworthiness of your nature.
We trust and ask that You would lead us to a meeting place to worship. Grant the facilities team discernment to find such a place.
We ask that you grow our body and the ministries of our church: the children and youth ministries, college ministry, small groups, our missionaries and evangelists.We pray for the families, marriages, and singles in our church that you would encourage them and lead them.
For our pastor Randy and our elders and deacons, we ask that you give them wisdom to guide and serve Your people.May we all have eyes to see the work you are doing in Oviedo and beyond.
Convict our hearts to participate in what You are doing and in reaching out to others with the hope that resides in our hearts.And it is in the name of Jesus, our Everlasting Hope, we pray.
Amen.
The iPhone 4 has taken a lot of heat in the past few weeks for a problem that I can’t replicate on my own. I hold it every which way but loose and can’t seem to cause any reduction in signal. So, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.
The concern I have is that the phone is so stylish that I want to protect it from damage while preserving its appearance. The best solution for that seemed to be what Apple calls a ‘bumper’ – a piece of plastic and rubber which extends around the outer edge of the phone.
To date, though, I have not bought one due to the outrageousness of Apple charging $29 for this piece of rubber and plastic. That is my only complaint about the iPhone 4.
Thanks, though, to PR damage control at Apple, I now get my bumper for free.