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On December 29, 2014 By In Worship

The Optimism of Christmas Hymns

Have you noticed the optimistic nature of Christmas hymns? A few examples will suffice:a

The very famous Isaac Watts Joy to the World! which says:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow,
Far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove,
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.

R.J. Rushdoony commented on this hymn when he wrote:

“The Christian religion is a faith of ultimate victory, where the very gates of hell cannot prevail against Christ and His chosen people (Matt. 16:18).”

Another great hymn filled with Gospel hope is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” which says:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With Peace On Earth, Good Will To Man.

Or the language of Isaiah 11 is made clear in that famous hymn: “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”, where the final verse boldly rejoices:

For lo, the days are hast’ning on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of Gold,
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendor fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.

“Hark! the Harold Angels Sing”, also joins in with the testimony of carols to the Kingship of Christ:

Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.

The tidings of great joy are not good feelings during the Christmas Season; the tidings of great joy are comfort and joy to the world. This is what animated these hymn writers as they echoed the biblical message. And this is what exhorts us to sing loudly and confidently the words of the incarnation. “Give ye heed to what we say: Jesus Christ is born today…calls you one and calls you all to gain His everlasting hall.”<>online gameпроверить рейтинг а в google

  1. Mainly taken from Rushdoony’s piece found here: http://bluebannermedia.com/the-postmillennial-character-of-christmas-carols/  (back)

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On December 16, 2014 By In Scribblings

General Thoughts on Douglas Wilson’s Against the Church

In this book, Doug Wilson does what he does best. He offers a return to ol’ time religion, but without altar calls and endless refrains of Just As I Am.  The book is divided into four sections. The first, the most controversial, is entitled Against the Church (also the title of the book). In it, he attacks liturgy, sacraments, infant anything, tradition, systematics and doctrine in favor of the new birth. Wilson’s central premise is that “it is only possible to be for the church in this effectual way if you begin mastering the case against ita. We, in liturgical traditions, value holy things and holy means. Doug writes that “God does not show sufficient respect for our holy things.” He means that our liturgical services are less than appetizing to God if God is not directing the holy.

God is the ultimate iconoclast. The Church has become a place of idolatry masqueraded by the holy. Part of the thesis is that we have arranged our holy furniture after our own desires, and thus, used them for our own purposes and as a result have left God out of the equation. Our house is being left desolate and we kinda like it as long as “our” sacred means are left untouched.

Wilson’s goal is to stress that outwardly we have beauty, but inwardly our churches are dying a thousand deaths because of the stench of death that has permeated our furniture. Central to this analysis is the necessity of the new birth. According to Pastor Wilson, we have failed to stress the new birth and also failed to make distinctions that the Bible makes concerning who is in and who is playing like he is in. In other words, true baptism changes the stuff inside and without that you only have a “wet member of the visible covenant” (18).

Wilson is not contra institution, he is after an institution with an evangelical heart (35). We cannot affirm a religion where the outward controls the inward, but the opposite is desired. What flows from the heart produces the type of church/liturgy that is pleasing in God’s eyes.

Engaging Doug Wilson and Some Other Notes

I love Doug Wilson. In order to let the reader know what my samba dance looks like, I should say upfront, this man has changed the direction of my life. He is my presiding minister in the denomination I serve. I have spent much time with him in meals, private conversations, phone calls, etc. My admiration for this man is truly heartfelt. God bless him. To make it even better, may the whole Trinity bless him. He’s a man for such a time as this.

So, here it comes…

Actually, nothing comes. I learned long ago from John Frame that throwing mud at friends is a losing strategy. And if I were to throw mud it would be very little. In fact, it would be the type of mud that my little kids may accidentally eat on a rainy day causing no tummy pain. I would simply say, “Well, look at that honey: little Zeke had a little mud for lunch, but I think it will help him make better distinctions between good food and food that may look good, but is not.” Then, we would laugh for a bit and move on.

I rarely finish a book these days. In fact, I can honestly say this is only the third book I have read from cover to cover this year, and in this case, the cover and its title gave me a quick heartache. I spend most of my time reading essays, various portions of books, commentaries, and writing a fair bit, but finishing a book is rare. Maybe because of the nature of my relationship with Doug and our denomination, I was able to work my way through the 212 pages of this book. I confess: this is not my favorite of Wilson’s books, and many of his books have I consumed in this last decade. But still, it was a needed book to consume, if only to perform a type of pastoral introspection that is needed from time to time.

Wilson sees things most of us can’t. Maybe it’s his view from Moscow that helps…you know, he’s near Russia and stuff. But from my vantage point–and I kid you not I am staring at the prettiest Florida waves ever a I write–the world down here is not in need of liturgical iconoclasts, but of any liturgy worth a darn. The south is replete with happy-happy-joy-joy Christianity. And sometimes my desire as a zealous disciple of Calvin (God rest his soul) is to use my clerical garb (which is magical, I hear) and walk right to a certain campus in my hometown that rhymes with Pee-See-See and start going all Book of Common Prayer on them. But alas, I actually did that and the looks I got….my, oh my!

Seriously, Doug’s points are valid. I know the liturgical dangers of loving something so much that we end up forgetting the point of the means; and the point is to show us how terribly idiotic we are if we forget the Point of the point.

So, kudos to Doug for pointing us to Jesus more fully; for making us more aware that bad people hide behind bread and wine and peace be with you. Also, thanks to Doug for directing us to the regeneration…whatever that means, it means new life, new world, and new order. And I want me some of that everyday and hope that the people I minister to want some as well. Great thanks also for calling us to lively worship; the kind that makes the kingdom of darkness tremble and God’s people rejoice.

Finally, my thanks to Doug for getting me in such great trouble in the last 12 years. It’s been real. As a result, I’ve seen happy babies, communing babies, spitting up babies, screaming babies, halleluiah babies, and my own babies. But I’ve seen them all, as a friend of ours would say, through new eyes. And to me, that matters a whole lot. In fact it matters so much that I am up for a good beer right now; the kind that is dark and foamy. Cheers for iconoclasts and to hell with the church choir if Jesus ain’t leading it.<>стоимость продвижения акреативная раскрутка в топ гугл

  1. Introduction  (back)

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On December 11, 2014 By In Family and Children

Sexting and Parental Oversight

We live in an age of quick pleasures. Pornography is an epidemic. It ruins lives. It ruins productivity. It ruins imagination. With the advent of smart phones pornography is easily accessible. Children as young as nine have already been exposed to an array of images. Many have seen things and have trained their brains to process them storing and accessing those images at whatever time they deem suitable. These images have an incredible capacity to cycle themselves. They remain and re-invent themselves again and again. It’s a cycle of death. Many have become aware of this trend. Some parents continue to live in naïveté assuming their children would never willingly submit themselves to such images. Indeed these images are little virtual icons. Their appeal eventually causes you to bow before them.

I posted a link recently warning parents to take heed of a phenomenon in our technological world: the world of sexting. At one time erasing internet history was a way to avoid being caught. In our day, the use of acronymns has taken its place. Most parents are unequipped to decipher the vast world of shortened communication. This world has developed quickly. Quick pleasures lead to quick actions mediated by quick texts. We are talking about a lot of acronyms. I am sure some of them rare, but some of them more common than we would imagine. Sin always finds a way to be subtle. Screwtape is on the move.

Some responses to the article linked above treat it as a scare tactic. “Some of the acronyms simply cannot be as common as this article makes it out to be,” they say. Perhaps. The phenomenon exists, however. And this seems to be the main point. Take heed, parents. Children are exchanging body parts like baseball cards. They are giving it out to the world freely. The sacred has become profane. This is taking the culture by storm. Godly communities are not immune to its manifestation. One sociologist observed that the question, “have you ever seen porn?” is outdated and should be replaced by “how often do you see porn?” This is frightening.

Covenant Oversight

I live in a culture where words like covenant succession is thrown out quite often. Covenant succession simply means that parents play a fundamental role in the outcome of their children. Mind you, they do not play the only role, but a fundamental one. In covenant succession the Spirit of God is wrestling with our children; guarding, preserving, and leading them to righteousness. Parents point their covenant children to their covenant Lord and pray that the Spirit might always wrestle with them throughout their lives.a

Among the many responsibilities of parents is the responsibility to deliver their children from evil. This means that they are to direct their children from intentionally tempting temptation; poking a dormant ferocious animal for the mere high it provides. “Deliver us from evil…”Lead us not into temptation.” Yes, the Lord’s Prayer presents us a parental paradigm in many ways. Children mature at different levels and throwing them to the lions before time can be devastating. Parents need to exercise wisdom. No good parent would throw their children into a dangerous situation, but they may unknowingly. The world of cell phones–and social media by extension–provide such an opportunity. The question is not whether we should wait until a certain age or whether we should trust them with such a tool, but rather, “are they equipped to handle such a responsibility?” Cell phones represent the opening of communication. Are our children equipped to handle this new world? How have they behaved and reacted to the local communication they experience? Have their experiences been positive? Or have they been quickly sucked into a false community where communication serves our selfish ambitions and desires? Communication is stewardship. How they use it locally determines how they will use it broadly.

Experiences also shape this question. One respondent to the link said that if we teach them diligently they will stray from such a problem or avoid it. Through self-discipline our children would avoid the world of sexting and the consequences that come with them. This is a healthy observation. It fits into much of the covenantal model, and I should add the Solomonic principles we see in Proverbs. Some who have experienced the overburdens of legalistic backgrounds may simply react to that background by making all things accessible that once were taboos. If covenant education is exercised and a sense of godly discipline is taught then early exposure to certain tools like cell phones can be seen as a reward to good behavior and faithfulness in the little things. At the same time there is a danger of overexposing and assuming too much self-discipline from the son/daughter. We need to remember that once that world is opened it is almost impossible to close it again. Again, images cannot be quickly erased.

Awareness and Maturation

I wrote a short book last year that focused on the need to raise boys to be warriors. The premise was that fathers need to be kings training their sons to assume their thrones in a new kingdom. My hope is to revise that book with a few additional chapters in the next few years. I don’t have the last word on the issue and find myself learning new lessons each day. Specifically, I find new ways in which parents would greatly benefit in applying the Trinitarian model to their own roles in the home. Luke 2:52 says: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” This offers us a three-fold strategy–one might call it tests–to consider before opening our children to the world of cell phone and social media in general:

First, are they increasing in wisdom? Has there been a general trend towards maturation in their lives? Does his/her communication manifest a sincere desire to see life under the lordship of Jesus? Also, do others affirm this maturation? Parents can be deceived and so the wisdom of the community becomes a great platform to determine such realities. Is his maturity a maturity that extends to the heart issues? That is, are his concerns merely outward, or does he express an interest in reforming his imagination and conforming his thoughts and motivation after our Lord?

Second, are they increasing in stature? This is certainly connected to physical growth, but also ties in with the first set of questions. Is he at age 14 easily mistaken for an eight year old when speaking to an adult? In other words, is his physical growth matching his maturational growth? Are his physical abilities and strength being used for good? or are they being used for selfish-gain?

Finally, are they finding favor with God and man? Are they human benedictions in their community? Again, these all overlap and are meant as amplification of the other points. But this last point is the application of the previous two. Wisdom and growth–physical and spiritual–are not meant only in relation to God– for to live before the face of God is necessarily to live before the face of created man–but also for the benefit of mankind. The question of whether or not a covenant individual is prepared to use certain tools depends on a pattern of using the tools he already has for the good or detriment of his fellow brother/sister. Faithfulness in the little things hopefully will mean faithfulness in the big tings.

Parental oversight needs to keep these questions in mind. Parenting successfully is the ability to give gifts to our children and then to see those gifts used wisely for the good of our neighbor and the exaltation of the name of God. The world of quick pleasures need not appeal to us or our children when we consider that the pleasures of God are everlasting to everlasting and his pleasures lead to life abundant.<>обьявлениеуслуги раскрутка а

  1. Wrestling here is synonymous with the consistent move of the Spirit in our lives engaging and confronting us in our war against sin  (back)

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On December 6, 2014 By In Culture, Family and Children

Concluding Observations on the Ferguson Case

I am deeply humbled by all the responses from my Ferguson post. I did not expect all the responses. In fact, I noted from the start that it was a less than eloquent analysis. I said so because it was more autobiographical and less technical or statistical. It was further confirmation in my mind that people still listen and expect certain responses from local priests and pastors on these heavily debated issues.

Yesterday I received a call from someone inquiring whether I would go to Washington D.C. to stand alongside a certain figure and group to discuss issues not only pertaining to Ferguson, but also immigration reform. The world is listening and I am glad the church through her ministers still have a voice. That voice should be more nuanced than politicians’. Politicians generally speak out of fear or for political points and lack biblical stamina when they communicate. This is why one of my central points was to exhort myself and others to be cautious about taking a one-sided narrative on these matters. It is always wise to open our ears.

With this in mind, let me attempt to add some broad conclusions over the Ferguson chaos:

First, as I have reminded my own children again and again, beauty comes from chaos. So, we need to ask ourselves questions about how redemption can be seen in this situation, and what can we do to provide a redemptive outlook to this tragedy.

Second, the looting and robbery that occurred following the announcement of the police officer’s not-guilty status were not justified. There is no excuse to breaking God’s commandments. Private property is a treasured possession in the sacred scriptures., not merely because of modern economic reasons, but because God’s Word sees land and home as fundamental environments for gospel nurture. Businesses that served the local community and were the livelihood of many black business owners also suffered great damage. Some protested peacefully, but were overshadowed by the outrageous reactions of many.  Some have attempted to make the case for looting by observing that the cops do not want looting, because the cops (white) do not want the looters (black) to possess anything. The reality, however, is that possession by force is wrong in almost every case, and this is a clear example of one. You do not destroy to make a point. You do not rob to make a point. These exercises only lead to further chaos.

Third, race issues are still very fresh in the mind of many African-Americans. It does no service to act as if it does not. We say it does not. They say it does. If I am in the former camp I will be willing to open my ears in order to hear from those who believe they have been victimized. In what ways do you feel victimized? In what ways do you believe the law enforcement is out to get you? Why do you feel insecure as a black person when you are a productive citizen in society? What stories have been passed down to you that have shaped your understanding of your own race and its relation to other races? What perception would you like me to have of you and others like you? Where have we misinterpreted your story? Where have we misappropriated your narrative for our own purposes? Have there been people in your own community that have used your message for their personal gain by creating further unecessary tension?

Fourth, there is a problem with how white police officers have dealt with the black community. There is further a problem with how they have dealt with blacks in any community. Marcus Pittman offers this example. Take the time to read this, since I am convinced this can be multiplied by the thousand. We cannot deny this. We need to affirm it and then begin to ask ourselves certain questions as to why we don’t express greater frustration with these inconsistencies in our system.

Fifth, abuses in the system exists. These abuses stem from sinful practices and unethical behavior from individuals, rather than the institution itself. In other words, we need to focus on individual abuse before condemning an entire enterprise equally. Many police officers are honest men seeking to do right and love mercy and maintain order in white, hispanic, and black communities. We need to praise these individuals more often for their service, whether we agree or disagree with the institution at large.

Sixth, white and black churches ought to find ways to work together for the good of their communities. Political differences aside, we need to strive for the betterment of our humanity. And the only way we will come to any real agreement on these issues is by proclaiming a Messianic King who binds us together in His love. The Gospel is more than Jesus saves you from your sin. The Gospel is also now live together in the union I have given and prayed for in John 17.

Seventh, the quick nature in which many in the media or twitterdom assume a certain narrative of those killed by police officers because they a) saw a random picture of a black man with a gun or smoking pot or b) read somewhere that said subject came from a dysfunctional family is a disturbing reality in our culture. We need to assume the best of each human being created in the image of God. Many could claim a similar dysfunctional background or even a mention in a police record somewhere. God redeems us from our sins and takes us from our familial dysfunction and rescues us from chaos. He does it again and again.

Finally, while some may find genuine discomfort with certain racial expressions and cultures, whether in white or black communities, we need to orient our discomfort in ways that does not express itself into tangible discomfort towards a race or community of people. God has made us all into one renewed humanity; one race. Respecting both our oneness and diversity is a way forward.  Though we affirm distinctions in cultures and practices, ultimately, we must affirm the oneness of our lives together in the One true Man, Jesus Christ.  He is the one who reconciles and in Him alone do we place our trust.<>внутренняя оптимизации а

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On December 2, 2014 By In Scribblings

Thoughts on Ferguson and Race

Here I stand: a Latin American analyzing the Ferguson scene. What follows is a less-than-eloquent analysis, but an analysis nevertheless.

I have little to offer, except to say that I have been racially profiled on several occasions. At one time, when my hair was longer, I was stopped consistently at the airport. I have been asked if my country of origin is Morocco, Peru, or Guatemala, among others. I am actually from Brazil. My country has not been in a war in over 100 years. Lula, our former president, famously said, “why should I go to war? have you seen our beaches?” I feel the same way.

So, here I stand: a foreigner, generally opposed to warfare, a peace-making man, yet, often receiving suspicious looks from authority figures in our culture. To make the situation even more interesting, my father-in-law is a cop, and I have family members who are involved in politics, law, and respected positions in police departments in my home country. And to conclude the matter, I have family members in the process of adopting a black child. So I am in a pretty interesting spot, being immersed in both worlds.

I look at Ferguson with paradoxical eyes. On the one hand, I see simplifications of the situation all over the media. On the other hand, I see folks overly-complicating matters and offering the same old solutions to the race-problem. Here is an affirmation: racism exists. It is not as severe as it once was in American history, but it still exists. I have learned over the years that adopting the full narrative of the right — with whom I have much in common — is a bad idea. But to refuse to listen to the narrative of the left — with whom I have far less in common — is also a bad idea. Both sides have spoken concerning Ferguson. They have spoken so forcefully that you would think that one side is either drunk or lost in the sea of ignorance for not seeing the clarity of the opposing position.

I don’t feel the need to offer such antithetical statements. I think there are narratives on the left and on the right that actually get it right. I think a harmonized position can exist. I am not sure I have the wisdom to put it together coherently, but I do see the possibility.

Senator Rand Paul is right to criticize the justice system, and to recognize that there is a disproportionate amount of blacks in prison:

Three out of four people in jail for drugs are people of color. In the African American community, folks rightly ask why are our sons disproportionately incarcerated, killed, and maimed?

This is a reality that modern Republicans need to grasp. Many do not.

At the same time, Democrats must realize that fatherlessness is a huge factor in leading some in the black community to seek drugs or theft as an escape from absence in the home. White kids from fatherless homes also seek the same, but fatherlessness is a disease in the black community in a way that is not in the white community. Some have observed that homes where fathers are present do not necessarily guarantee a safe environment. This is very true. I have invested some of my time into studying domestic abuse and realize that in some cases, the presence of the father does more damage than his absence. But I am quick to say this is not most cases. In most cases, the presence of a stable father (or father figure) in the home provides greater and healthier options for black teens to thrive in society. The same, of course, can be said for the white community.

Another element missing is that theology needs to be joined to sociology. A sociological dimension needs to be added to these conversations. The children of Israel did not walk around 20-50 years later after their slavery and oppression, thinking that since time had passed, the Egyptians would now treat them with dignity. No, they were cognizant that the abuses they suffered left a cultural impression on them that they would not soon forget. Culturally speaking, the abuses seen in the South not long ago led to much of the skepticism in the black community toward the police, and that skepticism has bled over to many outside the black community.

We must also be reminded that the fifth commandment serves as an exhortation to honor those in authority. Police officers, for better or for worse, are placed in a position of protection over us. We may choose to reject their help, or to avoid contact with them, but we cannot go out of our way to disrespect or threaten them. We ought to give them the benefit of the doubt, treat them respectfully, and be at peace with them as much as possible. And in most cases, it is possible, but our stubbornness and perhaps previous bad experiences force us to view them with contentious eyes. We need to keep in mind that not all members of the police department in town are created equal. Each one has a conscience. So we ought to treat each one as worthy of our respect. The same, of course, needs to be said of how police officers treat citizens.

A soft answer almost always turns away wrath. We need to keep that in mind. We are not responsible for what people do or say to us, but we are responsible for how we react to what is said or done.

In this entire drama, there have been various redeeming episodes. There were the black men who protected a white man’s gas station, images of reconciliation that have captivated a nation, and an NFL player who spoke publically and directed the nation to Christ as redeemer. Every conflict is an opportunity to redeem the ugly. Some redemption has taken place. But there is no redemption when we affirm only one side of the story and dismiss the concerns of the other side. We owe our brothers and sisters the courtesy to see things through their eyes.<>коэффициент конверсии продажаудит интернет а

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On November 14, 2014 By In Culture

The Death of Communication

It was a simple test and I failed it. It was so simple that I was celebrating before I even started it. In futebol, this is always a bad idea. Anything can happen in the four extra minutes after stoppage time.  A certain victory can be taken away with a beautiful header after a corner kick or an unexpected long-distance shot. But enough with sport metaphors. I was coming back from the beach with my boys. My cell phone stays with me at all times. As a pastor, I have noble excuses to keep it close. Hospital emergencies, counseling issues, but I digress. I am addicted to that marvelous ringtone. Scientists recently made some comparison to heroine addiction. But I know it’s not that bad. I can stop at any time. Right?

Back to the test. I had a 25 minute ride back home. I even put the cell phone a bit distant from the driver’s seat. Being a good Calvinist I am quite aware of my depravity. Goal: to make it home without touching my cell phone. Test: to wait to answer those life or death calls when I got back to the comfort of my home. Further, to allow those rings to simply disappear into sound heaven. I confess the first five minutes were tough. I tried. I even made it past the first red light. I had two whole minutes alone. The kids were quiet in the back. The sound of silence hurts. Those rings kept coming like Screwtape was trying to get into my brain. I kept assuming that each ring came from the same person asking, nay, begging for help. Then it happened.

I reached back to reach it at another red light, typed my password and quickly checked my e-mail. It only took five seconds. The e-mails were important. I could tell by their titles, but not important enough that they couldn’t wait 20 more minutes, or 20 hours. But the moral of the story is I fell. And great was the fall. a

I am finishing a certification in counseling, which has made me quite reflective these past few months. Reflective enough that I took that lesson in eating the fruit…I mean, checking my cell phone, and made a couple of applications.

The first one that comes to mind is that we live an age where communication has died a thousand deaths. In profoundly Shakespearan ways, it is dying and dying. There is that ring again. I have seen the videos portraying zombie-like teenagers engaged in the art of romacing their cell phones while their future wives are right there physically next to them (though she may possibly be romancing her new Note 4). Can we even talk anymore for five minutes without peeking at our ESPN NEWS app, or for the more sophisticated among us, the New Yok Times app. I am guilty. Mea Culpa. A counselor friend once told me that while he counseled a teenager for $75 an hour this young lady spent a near 45 of the 60 minutes carrying on a “conversation” with her boyfriend via text. She kept assuring the counselor that she was hearing everything he was saying. Doubtful.

It’s a strange age. The world is more engaging than ever, but we can’t engage ourselves consistently for a substantive period of time. Dostoyevsky once said: “Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” Our world is unhappy beacuse so many have been distracted for so long that they no longer have anything to say. Conversation depends on soul and body. To be present in the body in our culture means to be absent in our soul.

The second application is that if conversation dies in more ways than one we cease to be human. We speak and others speak back. This is how Yahweh God made us. If by giving priority to an inanimate object–sorry SIRI–we trivialize flesh to flesh interaction we are of all people most to be pitied. God forbid.

So, I will test my self again. I will probably fail a few more times. But I will keep trying. I am going to leave that cell phone in the car when I have an appointment. I have silenced my ringtones for virtually all notifications. And if someone complains that I did not answer their phone calls or texts soon enough I will just have to tell them that I am fighting for the survival of communication among homo sapiens. I know they will understand.<>dlya-vzlomaпроверить регистрацию а

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On November 13, 2014 By In Theology

The Case for Seminary Training

Seminaries have suffered long and painful deaths in the past twenty years. With the profound influence of free on-line material, many traditions, which do not require M.Div’s as requirement for ordination, have simply by-passed the seminary process urging  brief internships or apprenticeships in its place. During my college days, churches were calling men directly after college graduation to pastor small and large churches. Most of them went on to pastor only to discover there is more to the pastorate than Sunday preaching. They had expectations and college was not sufficient training for what they were to experience in their first year. Seminary training could have spared a lot of pain; not all pain, but a lot of it.

Recently, I heard a Christian say in a Q&A session that the best churches are those pastored by men who have never stepped one mile near a seminary. But those who think seminary did not offer enough courses on x,y, or z would be completely unsatisfied even if they did offer courses on all those things. These folks usually cry in opposition to any institution of higher learning that requires an intellectually vigorous journey.  Otherrs in the low-church tradition make the case that any man old enough can be a pastor, since all he needs is a general knowledge of the Bible. Thus, he is fit to become an elder.

But these expectations all miss the point. Seminary was never intended to be a place where young men would find an exhaustive foundation for his entire pastoral ministry. That expectation would be foolish, if not to demand too much from an institution. Those who sat at Jesus’ feet for over three years still had personal struggles with others in ministry. They still needed to learn things that you only learn on the ground in Corinth or Ephesus. The expectations placed on a young seminary graduate should not be overly high. The training is there, but the implementation of that training takes time. Ask a dentist or a medical doctor.

While offering specialized studies, seminaries have by and large provided a great help to the modern church. In the early 20th century, German liberalism was producing a plethora of young graduates who injected the Church with what Machen referred to as “another religion.” As the seminaries go, so goes the church. On the other hand, well-known Reformed seminaries have provided the Presbyterian and broadly evangelical churches with great ministers who have fulfilled their roles well in the rural church and the metropolis. “But aren’t seminary graduates overly zealous and prone to dividing the church?” Yes. And the same applies to those with no training. In fact, those with no training have never had to submit themselves intellectually to others, which may make them even more unbalanced and unprepared to handle the enormous amount of pastoral dilemmas that require gentleness and humility.a

The Real Seminary Problem

What people perceive as a seminary problem can also be described as a vocation problem. James says that not many of you should be teachers, but too many are becoming teachers when they shouldn’t. And urged by their churches to attend seminary, they attend halfheartedly and learn the art of memorization to achieve their desired diploma.  They please pastors and friends, but they themselves are still clueless as to what they should do. Without an option they mount to the first pulpit they find and begin a pastoral ministry. Again, this is a vocational problem. At the Reformed Seminary I attended, many international students attended seminary simply because it was a way to spend some time in the United States. Instead of engaging the seminary community, attending events, reading the assigned texts, they spent most of their time feasting in a buffet of video games. We knew they wouldn’t last long after seminary, and many of them didn’t.

There is also the problem of idolizing ministerial work. This stems from a false dichotomy between secular and sacred. In my early fundamentalist tradition if someone were not involved in what they deemed to be “ministry,” then they were likely not in the will of God. Carpenters, wood-workers, electricians, etc. were always looked upon with some condescension. But the reality is the exact opposite. Each vocation is fundamental in the growth of the kingdom of God on earth. Gene Edward Veith, quoting Luther observed that “God is milking the cows through the vocation of the milkmaid.”  According to Luther, vocation is a “mask of God.” He is hidden in vocation. We see the milkmaid, or the farmer, or the doctor or pastor or artist. But, looming behind this human mask, God is genuinely present and active in what they do for us.

Who Should Go?

Anthony Bradley summarized it well when he said:

There are… lots of folks in seminary who shouldn’t be. Just because someone, esp., a man, shows spiritual giftedness and ministry interest does not mean he or she should go to seminary to train for formal ministry positions. We need folks like this as 2nd grade teachers, cops, managers at Target, bus drivers, line cooks, lawyers, nurses, CEOs, politicians, teaching biology and economics at the college level, doctors, etc. These is so much confusion out there on vocation.

There are problems in the seminary system. I am the first to make that case. I would like have to seen many more liturgical courses than I did. But again, I attended a seminary that did not seek to produce mainly liturgical leaders. I knew what I was getting into, which meant I had to supplement that with much reading and experience in the local church. On the other hand, seminary provided me with the opportunity to engage a vastly different audience of Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Anglicans. I dare say that my seminary education made me less dogmatic than I was when I came in. I was confronted daily by ideas and thoughts that to this day still shape my pastoral ministry. It further provided me with the wisdom to navigate through vast literature and gain unique insights into different perspectives. It allowed me to interact one on one with men who have engaged the text at a pastoral and scholarly level for decades. Yes, there are problems with seminary; problems, which my former professor John Frame has ably tackled. But the problems with the absence of seminary training are far greater.

I understand that there are circumstances that are unique. The father who has been called to the ministry in his late 30’s and who has four children cannot let go of everything and move somewhere for a three-year degree. Fortunately, there are on-line programs that facilitate this process and Church-sponsored training has also become a good alternative–though lacking due to resources and time limitations of local pastors.  But by and large, for young men considering the ministry, whose gifts have been clearly identified in the ecclesia, a healthy seminary training–coupled with an internship, which provides healthy exprience in the church before pastoring a church– is still the best way of training men to handle the Word of God accurately both in the pulpit and in pastoral weekly activities.<>online gameконтекстная реклама от гугл

  1. Of course, there are exceptions. I myself know very gifted and gracious men who never attended seminary  (back)

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On November 11, 2014 By In Family and Children

Three Lessons I Learned in Talking to the Dying

It was late at night. My wife’s grandfather (Pops) was battling an infection. His cancer was getting the best of his 88 year-old body. I had met Pops on many occasions. His talkative and gracious persona was quite captivating. He visited us on numerous occasions. When I was in seminary he and his wife came to visit us. Being the useless handy-man that I am, there were some lingering duties in the home that needed fixing. Pops came along, and with his decades of experience offered us a helping hand around our little townhome. At other times, he was gracious to us in letting us use his time-share for vacation. He was a generous soul; a soul deeply grounded in faithfulness to his God.

Pops was what some of us would call an old-time religion man. He liked his religion served with altar calls and Fanny Crosby. Rumor has it that I won he and his wife’s approval to marry their grand-daughter when I played every imaginable Fanny Crosby song I knew on my guitar one night. But that’s just a rumor. He was a church-man; one of those rare birds who stayed in the same church for three decades.

It was a late night. My wife thought she’d give Pops a call. The doctor had called the family. It was just a matter of time. Pops had remembered his Creator in the days of his youth, and now in his last hours he was ready to meet Him. My wife asked me to step out of the room as she said her last good-bye. I didn’t think Pops would be able to talk… perhaps just listen. But he was relatively lucid. My wife spoke to him and said her good-byes. She had always loved him. I was reading in my office when she walked in and said, “Pops wants to talk to you.” I was a bit nervous. I didn’t think that in his last hours of life he would want to talk to his granddaughter’s husband. But he did. In fact, he made a point to do so.

As a pastor, I am always prepared for such situations. But this one caught me off guard – it was so sudden. When I receive a hospital call, I have a drive to think through what I’ll say, but this time the phone was handed to me and I had the honor of saying good-bye to a dying man possibly hours before his death.

Pop’s voice was stammering due to heavy medication. He used his last words to encourage me and to tell me how proud he was of me and my call to the ministry. He was quick to remind me that he did not agree on everything with me. I was tempted to tell him that sometimes I don’t even agree with myself, but I gently reminded him that I was glad that we are agreed in our union with Jesus Christ. He gave a hearty amen. He repeated himself a few times and thanked me for everything. I think there is peace in the heart of a dying man who knows that his children and grandchildren are cared for.

I had my pastoral companion with me. I carry it everywhere. It’s a Lutheran book on ministering to people in various situations in life. There is an entire section for ministering to the dying. It was absolutely perfect. The psalms I read and the prayer I used were affirmations that this phone call was not untimely, but perfect, as is God’s timing in every circumstance.

Pops died early in the morning. His family surrounded him and comforted him. It appeared he died in his sleep. Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints, indeed.

I have been pastoring for less than a decade now, so my experience is very limited. But I have spoken to the dying on several occasions. For those who are younger in the ministry than I, or for those who simply want to be prepared to speak words of peace to the dying, here are three lessons to keep in mind:

First, be biblically prepared. The companion book I use has Psalm 23 in the King James Version. Maybe things will change 50 years down the road as modern translations gain greater notoriety, but in our generation, Psalm 23 ministers most effectively in the King James Version. Its sounds and rhythms speaks profoundly to the elderly. It is one of the psalms they have all memorized at some time in their lives. Additional passages may include Psalms 4, 27, 31, and 73.

Second, don’t pray for miracles in the presence of the dying, especially if the doctor has said they have only hours to live. Older saints at this stage in life have gone through every possible prayer for healing. Their community may have already prayed fervently for recovery and healing. But now, they are seeking rest – eternal rest. Praying for healing to the dying is a contradiction to their own petition to commit unto the hands of the Lord their spirit. If someone suddenly discovers he is ill, pray fervently, and call for the elders to anoint him with oil. But if he is in his last hours of life, pray that God would grant him comfort on earth before he meets his Messiah in heaven.

“At your chosen time, grant him a peaceful departure and a joyous entrance into everlasting life.” Amen.

Finally, if he is able to talk, listen. Listen attentively. Listen carefully. Listen lovingly. If he has been faithful to Christ, thank him for running the race well and for setting an example to you and your children of how Christ expects us to run the race on earth. If he is not able to talk, speak softly. In most cases, they are still able to hear you. Speak words of comfort. Read the psalms. Sing a song or hymn he is known to have loved. Share stories with him of fond memories together.

In these precious moments, God uses the weak to minister to the dying. What an honor to speak peace in the last moments of those making ready to meet the King of peace.<>online rpg mobile gamesяндекс анализ запросов

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On November 10, 2014 By In Books, Culture, Theology

The Life and Legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien, Part 2

Tolkien grew and became a formidable rugby player, and also a linguist of first class. He was so gifted in languages that he began to form his own language. His intellectual interests increased, even more, when he started the Tea Club and Barovian Society.a And they would meet frequently for tea and discuss their particular interests. For Tolkien, it was Northern European Languages and Legends.b

He recited for them the Norse Volsunga Saga,  in which a dwarf is featured with a treasure horde and a magic ring. The Norse myths Tolkien found so fascinating even featured dwarves as underground metalworkers.

Tolkien’s gifts were conspicuous, and this eventually led him to change the literary world. It was his background as an orphan, home-schooled by a faithful and sacrificial mother, the influence by his local priest who cared for them and watched over his soul, and his affinity for strange languages that propelled Tolkien to be more than just another writer, but a writer who cherished his faith and heritage, and who did not abandon all hope when life seemed to crush him, but persevered in his gifts.

The Legacy of J.R.R. Tolkienc

“Our world would be poorer without two other worlds: Narnia and Middle-earth,” said Christopher Wright.d Tolkien produced a mythology that was internalized. He produced a world that others could imagine. The casual reader or even the casual Christian reader will look at The Lord of the Rings and admire its poetic brilliance and the protagonists’ perseverance, but you need a good set of Christian eyes. The way you gain these eyes is by training them to see the world not just as a mechanical production of God, but as a witness and a testimony to the glory of God; to see the world through the story of God, and then to judge every other world (“sub-creation,” to quote Tolkien) by the story of God’s world. In other words, the story of God is the model for every other world. This is why we can watch or read anything decent in this world and immediately see facts that reflect the wisdom of God.

The Lord of the Rings is unique, because Tolkien himself wrote the following in a letter to a friend:

 The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work;…e

You may think this is strange because there is no Church, no acts of prayer, or worship in the Trilogy. This is where I think Tolkien offers probably one of the best observations on how to interpret his books, and also how to look at different works as a Christian. He continues his quote:

…it is fundamentally religious and Catholic, unconsciously at first…this is why I have not put in anything like “religion” in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.”f

If we come to The Lord of the Rings trying to find “religion by counting how many times they pray or go to church, we will be soberly disappointed…we need to look hard at the shape of the story itself, not at discreet acts of religion.”g This is a rich application to our witness in our culture. The Word of God is more than a set of propositions we recite, it is a story we believe. While quoting Bible verses is fruitful, establishing the story of redemption can be even more fruitful. I tend to believe that the medium of literature is a great way of preaching the gospel story. The subtlety of Tolkien’s words is that when an unbeliever reads or watches Tolkien’s art he is first captivated by the brilliance of it, then he is confronted with a series of questions about good and evil, the depravity of man, the wise counsel of Gandalf, the courage of Sam and Frodo, and the determination of Aragorn. All these have the effect of confronting unbelief with a world they are not familiar.

The genre of fantasy carries the ability to communicate divine ideas. Tolkien wrote:

 Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode. Because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.h

Tolkien is echoing the orthodox understanding of mankind created in the image of God (Imago Dei). The reason we create stories is because we are imitators of the true Story-Maker. The best worlds are the ones that reflect and communicate our world. Good fantasy reflects our ability to create things after the likeness of God’s creation. Middle-Earth is a reflection of this world.i This is why it is so realistic. The narrative of Middle-Earth itself is the religious element of the story. It contains hints of the Christian message while refusing just to repeat it. C.S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia was explicit in writing a Christian allegory for children. Tolkien wrote a mythology. Just because a mythology did not happen doesn’t mean it cannot relate to the truth.j And this is what Tolkien did. At the end of the Rings trilogy, there is a happy ending to this world. The world at the end is made new. Evil is destroyed. There is lasting peace in the kingdom. There are many sacrifices made, indicating that to achieve the world we believe the Gospel seeks will demand sacrifices from God’s people. It means we may have to abandon the Shire and speak against Mordor. It means we may lose the things we most cherish like Aragorn going into exile for the sake of what he loves most. But in the end, Tolkien is establishing a story built on a heroic community of people, from all sorts of different backgrounds, imperfect, but loyal to the mission of defeating evil.

What then does the life of Tolkien teach us?

First, Tolkien was not a product of solitary imagination. He studied, learned, read vociferously. Tolkien’s mother believed in a good education. Not just a random education, but a particularly holistic education. Mabel wanted her priest involved in the training of her children. That little Catholic parish was acting biblically in providing for the widow and the orphan. Education matters. Why do we take such a strong stand on Christian education? Because a Christian mind needs to be shaped by the knowledge of the world God created, not the world created by chance.

Second, let me encourage you to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy if you have not. It is never too late to begin reading good literature.

Third, appreciate not just the explicit Christian writings, but also the classics. Build a library of good literature. This is a great legacy to leave your children and family members.

Fourth, understand that all literature is religious in nature. The author is always trying to communicate some worldview, whether good or bad. There is no literary neutrality.

Fifth, parents: read, read, read! Do you want to capture your children’s heart and mind? Read to them. Ralph Smith is a CREC pastor in Tokyo, Japan. I asked him last year in Minneapolis what he did to cultivate a love of learning in his children. He said: “We read the Bible, Shakespeare, and everything else out loud at home. I wanted them to hear the Word before they could fall in love with it.” This is a good application for children in worship. Why do we insist that our little ones remain with us during Covenant Renewal? It is because we believe that the Word – even before they are reading – is effective to their hearing. It builds in them a vocabulary that expresses joy and knowledge and truth.

Finally, and by far, one of my favorite features of The Lord of the Rings is their incessant love of food. There is constant feasting! In Tolkien’s world, food is communal. It is to be shared. It brings people together and accentuates joy. The importance of what happens around these meals makes the sacrifice of war worthwhile and lets the reader know there is something worth fighting about. This is the beauty of Tolkien’s writings. He turns every situation into an act of preparation for war. This is the language we use of the Lord’s Supper. It is food given to prepare us for war.

I hope Tolkien provides you some inspiration to look deeper at literature and realize again and again that this world is given to us, and that the worlds we create need to reflect and pay homage to the Creator of the World, namely Christ Himself.games mobi onlineпродвижение и раскрутка а в одессе

  1. A sort of prequel to The Inklings.  (back)
  2. Mark Horne, J.R.R. Tolkien, a Biography.  (back)
  3. Using many notes and inspiration from Mark Horne’s final chapter on the Legacy of Tolkien.  (back)
  4. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2003/aug29.html  (back)
  5. Quote found in Brian Nolder’s paper God and Hobbit.  (back)
  6. Brian Nolder, God and Hobbit.  (back)
  7.  Ibid.  (back)
  8. Quoted in Nolder’s paper from Tolkien’s Fairy-Stories  (back)
  9. Tolkien does write that Middle Earth is this earth  (back)
  10. Horne, Legacy of Tolkien.  (back)

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On November 8, 2014 By In Books

The Life and Legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien, Part 1

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is the man behind orcs, elves, swords and sorceries, and is the father of modern fantasy literature. But before we explore Middle-Earth, let’s consider the life and legacy of the man himself.

Background

In 1891, Arthur Reuel Tolkien was anxiously waiting for Mabe Suffield in Capetown, South Africa to get married. Three years earlier, Arthur had asked to marry Mabel, but her father disapproved due to her young age. So, they continued their relationship by secretly sending each other letters and meeting at dinner parties. Finally, at the age of 21, Arthur Tolkien married Mabel Suffield in Cape Town Cathedral in 1891.a Arthur worked very hard at the Bank of Africa and Mabel worked very hard to endure the miserable heat and lifestyle of Capetown. Soon after settling in the town she became pregnant. On January 3rd, 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born. Mabel wrote to her mother-in-law that “the infant looked like a fairy when dressed up in white frills and like an elf when very much undressed.”b  He was primarily called Ronald, but some of his friends referred to him as “Tollers.”

Shaping the Myth

There were some rare events in his early life that began to shape his literary genius. His childhood days in South Africa did not leave too many impressionable moments in his mind, since he was still very little when he lived there, but a few of the incidents remind us of some of the well-known scenes in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

In one of the few stories remembered by a grown Tolkien, he recalls how as he was beginning to walk he stumbled into a tarantula. It bit him, and he ran in terror across the garden until the nurse snatched him up and sucked out the poison. His biographer, Humphrey Carpenter, observed: “In his stories he wrote more than once of monstrous spiders with venomous bites.” What do we see in The Two Towers? We see a giant venomous spider that the little Hobbit needs to overcome. Even his very early experiences began to stir the literary juices of Tolkien.

A point that all Tolkien’s biographers make of his early childhood is an emphasis on the heat. His young brother, Hillary, did quite well in the South African weather, but Ronald Tolkien and his mother struggled greatly with the weather. This led Mabel, their mother to go back to Birmingham, England, and leave Arthur behind in South Africa working. This is a crucial point in the life of Tolkien, because once they moved everything would change. Whereas Ronald’s health improved in England, his father’s health declined rapidly in South Africa. In November 1895, he contracted rheumatic fever. By January, when Mabel was preparing to return to South Africa to visit him, she received a telegram informing her that Arthur had suffered a severe hemorrhage and that she should expect the worst. On February 15th, 1896, he was dead.

Ronald Tolkien was very little and did not have many memories of his father’s death later on, but his mother Mabel suffered greatly. Though Arthur was a banker, the money he left “was scarcely sufficient to maintain Mabel and the two children even at the lowest standard of living.”c And it is here where we begin to see that Tolkien would have not been the genius he ended up being were it not for his mother’s perseverance in providing an education for her children. She began homeschooling her children. She taught them reading, writing, English, French, and Latin (which was Ronald’s favorite language at the time). He proved to be an excellent student. He learned to read at four and soon began to write. He was an excellent artist and was fascinated by the trees in his town.d

One of the things Ronald recalls is his hobbit-esque times he had with his brother picking flowers and mushrooms at a farmer’s yard. Later he would write that he spent lovely summers just “picking flowers and trespassing and we had to go over the white ogres’ land.”e Of course, you remember this scene in the first book when Sam and Frodo are leaving the Shire and trespass the land of one of the farmers. This is a personal story illustrating the shaping of what would one day become one of the greatest trilogies in the western world.

During this time there is an event taking place that is very important in shaping Tolkien as a writer and more specifically as a religious writer. Mabel had spent many years in the Anglo-Catholic Church, and for various reasons, namely due to the help offered by a local Roman Catholic parish, she converted to Roman Catholicism. Mark Horne in his biography of Tolkien writes:

Mabel’s conversion to Roman Catholicism was the cause of another kind of family loss for the Tolkien boys. While there is no record of any of Mabel’s Methodist siblings and other relatives disowning her Unitarian father, they did ostracize Mabel for her religion and cut off what financial help they were giving to her and her two boys. According to some accounts, the anger and opposition, in addition to impoverishing her, also hurt her health. But, she remained steadfast and gave instruction to her children.f

This is a sad moment in the life of Ronald Tolkien. Not only did he not have a father-figure, but now he lost the extended family.g And his mother suffered an even greater loss. But the Catholic parish was good to the Tolkiens. Mabel entrusted the boys to the church’s care. Tolkien grew in his understanding of orthodoxy, and this began to shape the person of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Later, his mother died in a little cottage all alone, and Tolkien viewed her death as the death of a martyr who sacrificed her life for his own life, and who gave everything she had for his sake. This sacrificial theme plays a role in the Lord of the Rings. In the Trilogy, we begin to see that Tolkien is represented by the hobbits. The hobbits need to sacrifice their lives of joy and peace at the Shire for the sake of others. They abandon their loved ones and family members. I think the death of his mother plays a big role in forming this motif in the Trilogy.h

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  1. Arthur Tolkien was 13 years older than Mabel Suffield when he proposed to marry her when she was 18. See http://www.planet-tolkien.com/modules/tolkien/biography.php  (back)
  2. Ibid.  (back)
  3. Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien, a Biography, 17.  (back)
  4. This is how Tolkien views machinery in his Middle-Earth. Horne elaborates:

    The basics of Tolkien’s love for trees and nature over his dislike for machinery were set early in his life. Later, the reader finds virtually all mention of “machinery” in The Lord of the Rings is associated with villains like Saruman and Sauron in the pursuit of power and the enslavement of others. 

    The trees in Tolkien’s world are the Ents. They are the ancient giant, talking trees who become important allies in the fight against evil. The ancient rises to war against the present menace.  (back)

  5. Youtube Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien  (back)
  6. Mark Horne, J.R.R. Tolkien, a Biography  (back)
  7. Horne adds this interesting note: “Interestingly, as we have already seen in the case of the death of his father, orphans have been historically highly represented in creative fields. An examination of 699 persons to whom the Encyclopedia Britannica had given more than one column’s worth of space shows that, in this sample from different nations and times, “a quarter had lost one parent before the age of 10, more than two thirds before age 15, and half before they were 21.”  (back)
  8. Of course, Tolkien’s Roman Catholic background and its strong emphasis on the crucifixion of Jesus also plays a role in his thinking.  (back)

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