Uri Brito

On September 19, 2019 By Uri Brito In Worship Like

A Brief Letter to Union Theological Seminary

Dear Union Theological Seminary,

I am a gigantic supporter of seminary education. I think our expectations of ministers who handle God’s Word should at the very least include formal training. Seminaries continue to be the place where a combination of scholarship and dialogue with world-class scholars in their field all come together. My training was fantastic! I thank God daily for it! I would walk into John Frame’s office to talk about Kuyper and then run into Simon Kistemaker and talk about Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, then pray with Mark Futato. Thank you, Reformed Theological Seminary!

You see, there is one thing that holds a good Christian institution together, and that is loyalty to their mission. If an institution is to remain faithful, she must submit to the God of all knowledge. God guides the mission of theological and biblical training. If you are to train future ministers and theologians, they must uphold the traditional and classic virtues of Christendom. However, if you choose the changing theological winds of the day, your legacy will perish.

In the early 1930s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer graced your facility. But even back then, almost 90 years ago, he was not impressed. He wrote concerning your institution:

“A seminary in which numerous students openly laugh during a public lecture because they find it amusing when a passage on sin and forgiveness from Luther’s de servo arbitrio is cited has obviously, despite its many advantages, forgotten what Christian theology in its very essence stands for.”

Congratulations! You have been a joke to many for almost a century. You have laughed at sin, and now sin openly laughs at you. It was only a few months ago that your president, Serene Jones, observed that heaven, miracles, and resurrection of Jesus as Greek mythology. Here is the truth: the idea that you still dare call your yourself a “seminary” institution is the real myth. You are no such thing. But here is where I think you are being consistent and applaud your efforts: I believe that confessing your hopes and dreams to plants is precisely what you need to do from now on. Let’s be honest: God does not hear the cries of the unrepentant wicked, so confessing anything to plants is your only refuge and strength. Once the Creator God is forsaken, the only thing for you to identify with is the created thing. May the plants guide your future!

Yours truly,
Rev. Uriesou Brito

On September 5, 2019 By Uri Brito In Theology Like

Kuyperian Sabbatarianism

A man is walking home on Friday night near midnight. He lives on the fourth floor of a large apartment complex. As he arrives at his apartment complex, he realizes that it’s midnight; it’s the Sabbath. He needs to get in an elevator to take him to the fourth floor, but he pauses and realizes he can’t use the elevator because it would require him to push the #4 button, which is considered work. And this simple work would violate the Sabbath. This man is a practicing Jew and using the elevator broke one of the 39 Shabbat Laws.

When we think about the Sabbath, it’s possible that these kinds of laws come to mind. In fact, conversations about the fourth commandment are rare in evangelical environments. Any talk about the Sabbath is quickly greeted with the retort that we don’t live in the Old Testament. The more astute will mention that in Mark 2 Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for adding hundreds of regulations to the Sabbath that “robbed the day of its joy.”^a Or some will reply with Jesus’ statement that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). But what precisely did Jesus mean with that statement? It seems clear that he did not mean that we can do whatever we want on the Sabbath, or that the Sabbath is somehow abrogated (see Matt. 5:17), but it does mean that the Sabbath is a gift and blessing to man.

Therefore, making a list of dos and don’ts would be unwise, because the Sabbath is to be commemorated as a blessing and without burdensome hindrances. That much is clear. Jesus comes into the scene and dusts off the fourth commandment to “its original beauty and luster.”^b.

Sabbath Controversy

There is no more controversial topic than the application of the Fourth Commandment in the life of the Church. More pages have been written discussing this commandment than probably all the other commandments combined (perhaps with the exception of the second). The reason it’s so controversial is that the Bible does talk about the Sabbath and it speaks of it in positive ways in the Old Covenant. It’s a day of refreshment in Exodus 23; it’s to be treated as a day of delight in Isaiah 58; and there is even a song dedicated to the Sabbath, called “A Song for the Sabbath Day,” which is Psalm 92.

The reality is that everything modern Christians have thought about the Sabbath is probably wrong in the Old Testament. The Jews didn’t look at the Sabbath and say, “Oh no, here it comes again; the day of boredom and silence.” No, in fact, our forefathers treasured the Sabbath which is why our God declares it a Holy Day.

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Douma 113 (back)
Ibid. 114 (back)

On August 27, 2019 By Uri Brito In Podcast Like

Episode 65, Interview with Brian Wright on the Rhythm of the Christian Life

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:46 — 21.3MB)

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Pastor Uri Brito welcomes back Dr. Brian Wright to discuss his new book, The Rhythm of the Christian Life: Recapturing the Joy of Life Together.

Wright looks to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic work, Life Together, as a helpful model for developing a Christian rhythm for all of the Christian life. Further, he shares the interplay between time alone with God and time with God’s people and argues that there is no contradiction between the two, but rather one works to prepare for the other.

We discuss practical steps for incorporating a healthy rhythm into our lives as families and church. This book is immensely practical, Bible-saturated, and a feast for our unrhythmic souls.

Kuyperian is giving away one signed copy on Friday. To enter, please share this post on any social media platform and let us know where it was shared by leaving a comment or e-mailing us or tagging us on Facebook or Twitter.

Resources:

The Rhythm of the Christian Life Endorsements

A Conversation about the Book with Brian Wright

Extraordinary Music featured by Smith Leithart, Used with Permission.

On August 13, 2019 By Uri Brito In Worship Like

Indwelt Reading: A Proposed Model for Reading the Bible

The great Michael Scott once said: “I am optimistic, but every day I get a little more desperate.” I don’t wish to play into the apocalyptic cheerleaders’ game, but I do want to say there is a crisis of biblical literacy in our culture. It’s not for lack of Bibles. “Almost nine out of 10 households (87 percent) own a Bible, according to the American Bible Society, and the average household has three.”^a We have come a long way from Gutenberg. We have so many Bible translations that I am afraid to update my Bible Software for fear they will give me six more translations I won’t read. With the progress of linguistic studies, we are living in an age where a tribe without any written language can actually have a language developed and written for them by gifted missionaries. It’s the modern-day gift of tongues.

Yet, I get a little more desperate, especially when I consider the methodologies for Bible reading. As LifeWay Research concludes:

Americans also differ in how they approach reading the Bible. Twenty-two percent read a little bit each day, in a systematic approach. A third (35 percent) never pick it up at all, while 30 percent look up things in the Bible when they need to. Nineteen percent re-read their favorite parts, while 17 percent flip open the Bible and read a passage at random. A quarter (27 percent) read sections suggested by others, while 16 percent say they look things up to help others.

It’s not for lack of trying. Every major Bible site has some kind of Bible reading plan. Pastors encourage their people to read the Bible in one year and for the weak, there is even a three-year plan. There are Bibles designed so you can read through it at a certain length of time. I applaud such efforts and I know many who have conquered the limits and distractions of every day. But in my eleventh year of pastoral ministry, what I have found are frustrated Bible readers, defeated Christians who have tried so much and failed to achieve the prize of finally reading Revelation 22:21.^b

A Proposed Model

I want to propose a Bible reading plan for you. It’s likely not new.^c I am not going to ask you to read through the whole Bible in 30 or 365 days. If you wish to go that route, I encourage you. But for those who have tried and returned empty, I am not going to bind you to any sort of commitment that will likely leave you feeling guilty when you do not achieve the desired goal or find yourself 18 chapters behind the schedule. I have seen this too often.

I propose something I call “Indwelt Reading.”^d Here’s the way it goes. Instead of seeking to read the Bible chronologically, you dwell in a particular book or section of the Bible for long periods of time. As a family, you may wish to read through James in a month. It’s highly practical and short. Another example is Ruth with 85 verses. You can read this book in 7-8 minutes. If you decide to dwell in Ruth for a whole month and succeed at reading through it 20-30 times, you will have a remarkable knowledge of its details and themes.

If every book of the Bible is truly a miniature Gospel, then you can sit and ponder anew passages that you often overlooked. Instead of viewing Bible reading as a 5K run, you should view it as a long marathon where you stop every few minutes to enjoy for a considerable time the lovely vistas of nature around you. The Bible is not a competition, it’s an experience of learning and growing in the very words of our Lord; it’s the composition of heaven’s music given to men.

What about longer books? I have taken the task of reading through Genesis in 2019. My goal is to read it at least four times. It’s doable and provides an incredible framework for studying any future book since the basis of everything else in the Bible is formed in that first book. With the Psalms, one can take the Psalms of Lament for a whole month or something similar.

Further, this model will help you to see words and ideas you never stopped to ponder in your hurry to finish the 5K in the past. You allow the Word of God to dwell in you richly instead of dwelling in it for a quick hotel stop or water break at a run. One of the benefits of this is that you will become highly comfortable with the furniture and layout of a particular book. In this process, I would urge you to read from one Bible. I like the idea of knowing where verses and ideas are found on a particular page.

Let me know your thoughts after you try it for a few weeks and please let me know what book or section you chose. I hope it’s as beneficial to you as it has been to me.

https://lifewayresearch.com/2017/04/25/lifeway-research-americans-are-fond-of-the-bible-dont-actually-read-it/ (back)
In a liturgical congregation one will have the opportunity to hear three lessons; a vastly more sober model than most evangelical churches that barely read any Bible except the sermon text. (back)
One reader said that John MacArthur proposed something like this (back)
The idea simply stems from Colossians 3:16 where Paul says that the word of God should dwell in you richly (back)

On August 6, 2019 By Uri Brito In Podcast Like

Episode 64, Josh Harris, Courtship, and Apostasy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:30 — 32.1MB)

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These three words are not synonymous, but it is hard to separate the author of the most well-known book on courtship in history and his falling away. Harris’s journey in the Christian world began with youthful zeal and ended zealously when he announced his departure from the Christian faith. In this episode, Dustin and Uri discuss Harris’ history, the courtship conversation and some of the key moments in his life as well as various lessons we can gain from this devastating news. The interview ends with a plea to Josh Harris. If you have been following this conversation, you will not want to miss this discussion

I Kissed Jesus Good-Bye: A Plea to Josh Harris by Uri Brito

Latest News: Josh Harris Marches in Gay Pride

On August 3, 2019 By Uri Brito In Scribblings Like

Monotony and the Spirit

Human beings are navigational creatures. They steer their lives from one thing to another. We are as C.S. Lewis once wrote, “continually unsatisfied.” We are easily enamored by the next thing, the coolest thing, or the brand-new thing.

Church life can be much the same. Sometimes we fall into a monotonous pattern which is the general criticism of liturgical services. “Why are we doing the same thing again?” “Why can’t we have new things every Sunday? Why can’t we be spontaneous?” Or to put it in holy language: “Why don’t we let the Spirit lead?” And the implication is that the Spirit of God is fickle, moving from one thing to another. But the Spirit in the Bible is portrayed as the Person who brings order out of chaos. The Spirit was involved in the creation of the world. On the Day of Pentecost, the Spirit was the harmonizing figure in the building of this renewed Church in Acts 2.

Far from being capricious and indecisive, the Spirit is order and structure. In fact, one of the most evident things we see in the early church is a life of repetition. They gathered and broke bread, read the Scriptures, and prayed. They moved in this litany of practices again and again. They weren’t making things up as they went along, they weren’t enamored by the latest trends in 1st-century practices. They followed the Spirit of God. Our monotony is sometimes evidence of our indifference and not the result of liturgical habits

On July 30, 2019 By Uri Brito In Counseling/Piety, Politics 5

I Kissed Jesus Good-Bye: A Plea to Josh Harris

In a recent Instagram post, Josh Harris said good-bye to his Lord Jesus Christ. Harris is the (in)famous author of the worldwide classic, I Kissed Dating Good-Bye. He popularized the concept of courtship in his 1999 classic. The term itself, as Harris defined in his book, attempted to provide an alternative to dating methods. Dating was synonymous with “selfish pursuits of short-term romance.” Harris observed that the “joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment.” He exhorted his purity warriors that the best remedy against a chaotic world of relationships was to kiss worldly methods good-bye.

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On July 27, 2019 By Uri Brito In Politics Like

A Primer on the Gospel

We cannot exhaust the beauties of the Gospel, but we can provide a bigger picture of the Gospel than what is typically presented in the Church today. The hope is that we would grow ever more grateful for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the Gospel?

First, the Gospel is about Christ. The clearest Bible passage is found in I Corinthians 15 where the Apostle Paul summarizes the Gospel focusing on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. In Romans 1, Paul says he declares a Gospel about the Son, who was descended from David. Later in Romans, Paul makes a powerful connection between the Gospel and Christ’s incarnation. The Apostle John declares that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn. 14:6). Everything that makes the Gospel beautiful is beautiful because of Christ. So when we think about the Gospel, one fundamental facet of it, perhaps the most central of them all, is that the Gospel is about Christ and his work for us.

Unpacking the Gospel

The word Gospel is not just a word we use in the Christian world. In fact, the word was used in the ancient world for various reasons. For example, the word gospel was used when Caesar would have a son, or if he won a great military victory, or if a new Caesar ascended the throne – the proclamation of that news was called gospel. Caesar’s heralds would then announce the gospel in all the empire.

The Christian community adopted this language to proclaim a different message; not a message about Caesar, but a message about Christ. The Gospel is about Christ because Jesus Christ is greater than Caesar. The most basic confession of faith is Jesus is Lord. The Gospel is good news because it announces that Jesus’ kingship is greater than Caesar’s.

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On July 12, 2019 By Uri Brito In Theology Like

Mark Driscoll’s Fall from the Doctrines of Grace

Mark Driscoll was once a respected pastor in Seattle where he commanded a massive church with his charismatic and calvinistic appeal. He once referred to himself as a five-point Calvinist and was often associated with Calvinists of every variety like John Piper, Matt Chandler, Doug Wilson and a host of others. His network of churches, Acts 29, was known for its grace emphasis drawn from the Canons of Dort as the five points of Calvinism.

Driscoll’s success was great and so also was his fall. Charges of plagiarism and abusive behavior took the bold Mark Driscoll to a sea of despair in a short period. Driscoll’s labors drew heavy criticism from many evangelical pastors but his unique skills in communicating to a largely pagan culture in Seattle provided him an invisibility cloak for some time. But that didn’t last forever. Driscoll fell from grace.

It took him some time to put himself together, and the ideal scenario, in my estimation, would have been for Driscoll to set his eyes upon Jesus, repent fully and find restoration to a local church to serve as a faithful layman and perhaps some form of role that would use his gifts under strong and capable leadership. But as in most cases, a man of Driscoll’s caliber are rarely content with regular church life unless they are in the spotlight of the church.

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On July 11, 2019 By Uri Brito In Books, Theology 3

A Response to Michael Heiser: “Yes, the Bible is All About Jesus!”

“Everything in the Bible isn’t about Jesus.” That’s the thesis of Michael Heiser’s piece at Logos Talk. As examples, he argues that the “procedures for diagnosing and treating leprosy” and the laws “forbidding people who’ve had sex or lost blood from entering sacred space” aren’t about Jesus.” He goes so far as to make the bold assertion that “No Israelite would have thought of a messianic deliverer when reading these or many other passages.” Heiser concludes his essay with his central concern that “While the drama of the biblical epic ultimately leads to Jesus, he isn’t the ultimate focal point of every passage.”

It appears to me that Heiser is particularly concerned about developing a hermeneutic that leaves the interpreter off the hook when it comes to studying the Bible or to make connections to Jesus that simply aren’t there.

I appreciate Heiser’s motivations but believe that his approach is misguided and ultimately can do greater damage to Bible interpreters everywhere. I would begin by stating that Heiser’s approach to the topic is fairly minimalistic. He asserts that unless the New Testament alludes to Old Testament presenting Jesus as the messianic deliver and fulfillment, therefore, Jesus must not be read into such ancient texts. This minimalistic approach actually discourages the reader and forces them to put boundaries in the text that do not exist. But the Holy Spirit is a creative God who moves and lives in the narratives of the Bible and who offers a rich array of harmonious themes throughout. Themes of marriage, war, sea, dry land, and creatures are already presented to us in the early chapters of the Bible to prepare us for all its luxurious repetitions throughout the rest of the Bible. Indeed the Word himself appears in the creation narrative which leads to the question: “How can the One in whom all things cohere not be found in some manner in the stories, laws, and descriptions of the Bible?”

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