Pastor/Theologians

This was posted on Michael F. Bird's website a few weeks ago. This is from a paper by Kevin Vanhoozer. The final paragraph is particularly challenging. May God give us a new perspective on pastoral ministry.

Seminary faculties need the courage to be evangelically Protestant for the sake of forming theological interpreters of Scripture able to preach and minister the word. The preacher is a “man on a wire,” whose sermons must walk the tightrope between Scripture and the contemporary situation. I believe that we should preparing our best students for this gospel ministry. The pastor-theologian, I submit, should be evangelicalism’s default public intellectual, with preaching the preferred public mode of theological interpretation of Scripture (emphasis mine).

Happy Reformation Day

(This is a repeat from last year)

Many in our country celebrate today with cries of “Trick or Treat.” For Christians, the more significant cry should be “sola Scriptura.” On this date in 1517, Martin Luther, a young Augustinian monk, posted his “95 Thesis” on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church (this is probably apocryphal, but the door posting idea has survived). The resulting controversy over Luther’s opinions regarding the sale of indulgences led to what would be later known as the Protestant Reformation. As can be seen in the “95 Thesis,” Luther had no intention of creating a schism within his Church – he merely wanted to correct what he considered to be the bad theology practiced by those who did not understand canon law. In reality, it was Luther who naively misunderstood the furor that his thesis would cause. It was not so much theology at stake (for the Roman Church, that is), but power and money.

The essence of the Reformation is Luther’s insistence upon the authority of Scripture. Of course, his emphasis upon justification by faith alone (sola fide) is key; but this flows from his view of the sufficiency and primacy of the Bible’s teaching over the opinions of men. This is the relevance of the Reformation today.

For the world at large, people who believe in and take the Bible seriously are considered dangerous but probably not for the same reasons that Luther was considered dangerous. Those who actually believe the Bible are accused of endorsing book burning, Usher’s date of creation (4004 BC), and discrimination against any kind of people they don’t like. Nonetheless, the church must return to the principle of sola Scriptura. Thankfully, there are encouraging tokens of this. The very real shame is among those who profess to believe the Bible but do not honor or regard the Bible in the life or methodology of the church. There are churches that still covet the label “Fighting Fundamentalist,” yet one is hard pressed to hear the Bible capably and systematically taught or expounded. Scripture is preached about, but not always proclaimed.

On this Reformation Day, may we once again renew our appreciation for and determination to live by the holy Word of God.

Trick or Treat

Whatever you, as a Christian, think about the celebration of Halloween, read this blog. Bottom line: why are some so hot under the collar about this practice when popular assualts on the doctrine of the Trinity are welcomed, endorsed, studied, and defended? Perhaps the words of Jesus to the Pharisees are in order: "This you should have done and not left the other undone."

Providence

Jerry Bridges on God's Providence:

All things are indebted for their existence to the continuous sustaining action of God exercised through His Son. Nothing exists of its own inherent power of being. Nothing in all creation stands or acts independently of the Lord’s will. The so-called laws of nature are nothing more than the physical expression of the steady will of Christ. The law of gravity operates with unceasing certainty because Christ continuously wills it to operate. - Jerry Bridges, Trusting God

The Reason for Creation

The newly released images from the Hubble Space Telescope are pretty amazing. I can’t help but recall the opening lines of the Star Trek TV series which ends with the statement, “to boldly go where no man has gone before” (“man” changed to “one” in Star Trek, the Next Generation to be more politically correct). Of course, scientists now believe that they have a new window into the origins of the universe.

My mind went immediately to these images as I read Graeme Goldsworthy’s comments on Ps. 19. The fact that Paul in Colossians 1:15-17 speaks of all things being created in him, through him, and for him is significant. It indicates that the gospel is not an afterthought but is in fact the reason for the creation in the first place (Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, 204).

Why is the universe so large, so massive, so expansive? Because the God who made is so big and because the gospel is so awesome!

The Most Difficult Book

Another great post by Pastor Ray Ortland:

"The books of Israel's prophets are among the most difficult in the Old Testament, and probably among the most difficult books ever written."Delbert R. Hillers, Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea, page 124.

God did not give us a comic book. But precisely because the Bible is so challenging, it's satisfying. God treats us like adults.There's something about our culture that leaves us men feeling deeply trivialized: "My capabilities are video games, pornography and goofing off, I will never change, and I see no reason to change." Then along comes the gospel and tells us that we matter to God. Along comes theological grandeur that lifts our minds into lofty things. Along comes the cause of Christ that gets us working in ways that will still matter a bazillion years from now.

At the center of this revolution is the Bible. It gets us reading and thinking and studying and discussing and going deeper than we've ever gone before, deeper than we've ever dreamed of going.Thank God for the Bible. Difficult, but not impossible.

Posted by Ray Ortlund at Saturday, August 08, 2009

News Stories I Like

This from Press TV:

Coffee helps brain, liver to function better
Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:48:54 GMT

The latest studies by German researchers have shown positive effects of coffee on human health, saying it improves functions of liver and brain. The studies run by Germany's Green Cross points out that coffee accelerates digestion, and prevents age-related diabetes, chronic liver disease and replacement of liver tissue by fibrous scar tissue. Drinking at least four cups of coffee a day is also reported to reduce the risk of liver cirrhosis by up to 80 percent. The report says coffee can help reverse some elements of memory impairment commonly seen in Alzheimer sufferers and improves concentration. Health promoting ingredients of coffee like chlorogenic acid also play important roles too. Chlorogenic acid is one of the antioxidants found in coffee that can cut nearly in half the risk of Alzheimer's Disease.