Kuyperian, Author at Kuyperian Commentary

On October 10, 2013 By Kuyperian In Culture Like

Public Schools–Mohler, McDurmon, and Christianity Today

by Marc Hays

One month ago, Answers in Genesis published an article by Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. entitled “Is Public School An Option?” In it he addresses the brief history of public schools as well as the more recent “progressivist” agenda of John Dewey and his fellow humanists. Dr. Mohler then addresses the “political and ideological” secularization of the public schools. He states, “The ideological revolution

has been even more damaging than the political change. Those who set educational policy are now overwhelmingly committed to a radically naturalistic and evolutionistic worldview that sees the schools as engines of social revolution. The classrooms are being transformed rapidly into laboratories for ideological experimentation and indoctrination. The great engines for Americanization are now forces for the radicalization of everything from human sexuality to postmodern understandings of truth and the meaning of texts. Compulsory sex education, the creation of “comprehensive health clinics,” revisionist understandings of American history, Darwinian understandings of science and humanity, and a host of other ideological developments now shape the norm in the public school experience. If these developments have not come to your local school, they almost surely will soon.”

He wraps up by re-asking his opening question, “Is public school an option?” He answers,

For Christians who take the Christian worldview seriously and who understand the issues at stake, the answer is increasingly no. The number of Christian parents coming to this conclusion increases each year. We can understand the nostalgia that many Christians hold about the public schools. I spent every minute of my school life from the first grade to high school graduation in a public school. And yet, I saw the ideological transformation of the schools before my own eyes. Long ago, the public schools entered a Brave New World from which no retreat now seems possible.”

You can read it in its entirety here.

Most often, when one offers his opinion publicly, some folks will think he went too far, other folks will be sure he didn’t go far enough, and still others will say he’s just plain wrong. Such is life, and I’m sure Dr. Mohler is not taken aback by this. He’s been at this a while.

One very recent, very popular article that would most assuredly disagree with Dr. Mohler’s answer was published on Christianity Today’s website on October 7. It is entitled “Why we send our kids to the poorest public school” and was written by Jennifer Slate. The subtitle is, “It’s not just my own kids’ well-being that matters anymore.” In the article Mrs. Slate rejoices in how God has used the trials and hardships of being involved with extremely poor children in their public school to open doors of Christian ministry in their lives. She sounds like a very dedicated mother and neighbor and sees all these ministry opportunities being made possible via their involvement in the public school system. Toward the end of the article she states,

But it is worth it. Not only for the other children to have experiences of dignity and hope and joy, not only for my children who are learning that everyone is not just like them, and that the world doesn’t revolve around them either. It is worth it also for me. I am trusting God, and trusting that the “best life” is this one that he has given us. Trusting that he is the One ultimately working for common good, trusting that he is inviting me to work with him, and with all the other families, teachers, coaches, and neighbors here.

She never expressly disagrees with anyone’s position nor does she malign those who would educate their children at home or a private institution, but she’s believes she and her family would be less active in the kingdom if that was the case for them.

It would be fairly easy to take my children back to an all-white, all-Christian, all-moneyed, educated world. And in times of doubt, I think about doing it.

Lots of folks are enjoying this article. It’s up to about 14,000 Facebook “likes” as I write this. You can join that number by clicking here.

Another author believes Dr. Mohler did not go far enough. His name is Dr. Joel McDurmon and has published a critique over at The American Vision. His article is entitled, “Al Mohler calls for public school exodus, sort of.” Dr. McDurmon begins by stating that Dr. Mohler begins “laudably.” Dr. McDurmon’s concluding assessment contains far less approbation,

So when he [Dr. Mohler] concludes, “Is public school an option? For Christians who take the Christian worldview seriously and who understand the issues at stake, the answer is increasingly no,” I have to remain a bit miffed. While I am thankful if this leads more Christians to abandon public schools, they will be doing it with misguided thinking, and they will be liable to return to the mire. Indeed, some will be tempted to stay there based upon even the slightest excuse, merely because Mohler hinted that public schools may be an option for some. The correct answer he should have given his readers is not “increasingly no,” but “No, never, and should have never.

You can read it all here.

So there you go. Three opinions on a very hot topic right now in Christendom. Read all three. Study hard. Then, make wise, biblical decisions concerning the paideia and nouthesia of your covenant children.

Ephesians 6:4 – Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

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On October 9, 2013 By Kuyperian In Interviews, Scribblings Like

Uri Brito: Interview with Christian Counselor, Dr. Chuck DeGroat

Beyond managing this beautiful experiment, called Kuyperian Commentary, I also do interviews with authors and scholars at another website called Trinity Talk. You will find lots of free interviews there. Go ahead. Take a look. I will wait.

Now that you are back, let me draw your attention to the new season of Trinity Talk interviews. This time I cannot afford to make them free. In order to make my extra hours outside pastoral work worth it, there is a small fee ($0.59) to download these. The fee will serve mainly to cover website costs and perhaps the luxury of buying some pipe tobacco.

My latest interview is with Christian Counselor, Chuck DeGroat. DeGroat is the author of a wonderful book entitled “Leaving Egypt: Finding God in the Wilderness Places.” You can download the interview here or here.<>site

On October 8, 2013 By Kuyperian In Scribblings Like

Marc Hays: Leithart Quote on Why “Nothing Happens” in Austen

Here’s a brief quote by Peter Leithart from the introductory essay to his book Miniatures and Morals:The Christian Novels of Jane Austen.
The essay is entitled “Real Men Read Austen.” While discussing the various ways that Austen deliberately limits the number of characters and variety of settings of her novels, he also points out that she also limits what happens to the characters in those settings. In reality, not much happens at all. Here he elaborates on why this miniature aspect of her writing is a strength instead of a weakness:

In fact, even the apparent lack of incident in Austen’s novels is part of their particular strength. The events of an Austen novel are the kinds of incidents that most people are involved in most days and weeks and months of their lives. Nothing happens in Austen–nothing but marriages, engagements entered into and broken, scandals exposed, evenings spent in conversation at the card table or around the fire, secrets kept and revealed, promises made and kept or broken. If “nothing happens” in Austen, it is because “nothing happens” most of the time. yet, precisely because of this limitation, because so little seems to happen, every nuance and contour of what does happen takes on considerable importance. We begin to realize that men can be cads without kidnapping women and confining them in dark towers, and women can be vicious without poisoning their rivals. Men can be cads just by being male (John Thorpe in Northanger Abbey is the prime illustration), and women can kill as effectively with words as with arsenic. If we read Austen sensitively and begin to see things through her eyes, we begin to realize that much is happening in our lives even, or especially, at those frequent moments when “nothing is happening.” If this is a “feminine” vision of the world, it is one that men would do well to pay attention to. For it is not good that we should be alone.

Thank you to Dr. Peter Leithart for helping us to learn how to read. He’s explained it using Scripture in Deep Exegesis and shown us how to read other literature in books like Miniatures and Morals and Brightest Heaven of Invention.

If you’re interested in reading these works in their entirety, they’re super-cheap right now at Canon Press. Click on the pictures below to visit the Canon Press website.

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On October 4, 2013 By Kuyperian In Scribblings Like

Marc Hays: Lewis on the Problem of Pain

“Thomas Aquinas said of suffering, as Aristotle had said of shame, that it was not good in itself; but a thing which might have a certain goodness in particular circumstances. That is to say, if evil is present, pain at recognition of the evil, being a kind of knowledge, is relatively good; for the alternative is that the soul should be ignorant of the evil, or ignorant that the evil is contrary to its nature, ‘either of which’, says the philosopher (Aquinas), ‘is manifestly bad’. And I think, though we tremble, we agree.”
-C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Evil being “contrary to the nature” of “the soul,” may be over-generalized here, but I don’t think it detracts from the truth of Lewis’ application of pain giving us a knowledge of that which is contrary to “shalom”: the way things ought to be. The distinction between joy and pain can be pedagogical and not simply existential. Pain is not simply a matter of fact, but a gift, or a tool, to help us learn the difference between light and darkness; good and evil; heaven and hell. In fact, this quote is from his chapter on hell.

Thoughts?

On October 3, 2013 By Kuyperian In Theology, Wisdom Like

If You Clean Up As You Go, The Mess Never Spreads

by Marc Hays

This morning I woke up with a plan. I was going to come downstairs, put the coffee on, come into my office and clean it before I did anything else. No Facebook. No Blog and Mablog. No email. No phones, no pools, no pets. The state of disarray in my office had gotten awful. There were papers that needed to be sorted; many more papers that needed to be trashed; books that needed to be reshelved; drawings from the children that needed a museum to house them. And that was just my desk.

As it became cleaner, I noticed that the contrast between my now-clean-desk and the floor and tables around it was becoming starker. There were papers stacked everywhere! More books underneath them, and still more drawings from the kids. My entire office was atrocious, and until one part was clean, I didn’t notice the rest being in such disarray.

Recently, a friend called me and confessed a sin to me that I might pray for him throughout the day. It was a sin in his mind. He hadn’t acted on it yet- not with his eyes, his mouth, his hands, or his feet, but he knew where his heart was, and he knew this thought was a work of the flesh. He knew that man cannot take fire into his lap and not be burned. He knew that these types of thoughts spread like wild fire until there is no controlling them. He also knew that these types of thoughts wasted the life and breath that God had given him, and he didn’t want to waste those things. His heart was soft and humble and wise.

My office, being a negative example, and my friend’s confession, being a positive example, remind me of the same thing: If you clean up as you go, the mess never spreads.<>rpg mobile game реклама в директе

On October 2, 2013 By Kuyperian In Theology Like

Biblical Manhood in the Marketplace: Working to Harmonize Vocation and Calling

Guest Post By Todd Leonard

I have heard it no less than several hundred times in the past ten years. No doubt, it is always well-meaning and well-intended, and comes from a multitude of choruses, but the assertion leaves me a little perplexed, and, truth be told, somewhat discouraged. The refrain usually sounds something like this: “Todd, you missed your calling. You should have been” – then comes the rich and variegated occupations – pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, columnist, narrator, network anchor, broadcaster, politician, high school football coach; yes, even at times, nouthetic counselor, one that really puzzles me. Yet for the past twenty-two years, outside of four years as a Scout Platoon Leader in the United States Army, I have worked in some form of educational sales, marketing, and selling everything from textbooks, class rings, graduation cap and gowns, to varsity letterman jackets. Not exactly high glamour! The logical and difficult question thus becomes: Have I missed my calling? While I’m certainly no relativist, the answer is a bit more complicated and nuanced than what might appear on the surface and what I might have answered ten years ago. It goes beyond a simple yes or no, but I believe when we carefully understand the biblical basis and ground for work, the nature of primary and secondary callings, and the future orientation of our work, not only have I not missed my calling, but perhaps have come to understand it more completely and appreciate it more fully.

Learning From Kuyper and Luther

Sadly, most Christians in our contemporary culture today have little if any theological framework for a doctrine of work. The secular culture lives for the weekend, and many Christians have adopted much of the same mentality. The famous cliché that we “work at our play, and play at our work” may be a cliché, but a truthful one at that. Many view work as a result of the fall, coming as a sort of punishment for man’s disobedience and rebellion. Pastors have, sadly in my estimation, failed the Church in this area by their failure to fully ground the doctrine of work in the “very good” declaration of Genesis 1. In Genesis 1:26-28, popularly described as the Cultural Mandate, God establishes His first command for Adam and Eve to take dominion over the earth, for His glory, and to be co-laborers in establishing his Kingdom over the vast expanse of the Cosmos. Kuyper’s famous declaration of the Crown Rights of Christ over every “square inch” of creation was a restatement of God’s original plan, one that most certainly involved work, and physical work at that. Post-fall, that command has not been rescinded, but given a new orientation and direction, as I shall briefly explore shortly below. This concept gives immense dignity and meaning to every legitimate and moral enterprise; thus the great Reformer Martin Luther could declare: “God Himself will milk the cows through him whose vocation that is. He who engages in the lowliness of his work performs God’s work, be he lad or king.”

The Difference Between Calling and Vocation

While every legitimate vocation may have worth, we must go a step further and delineate between calling and vocation (by which I mean the work we are employed to do), something many in the Church fail to do and which engenders much disagreement. Over the years, I have examined the notion of “vocation” and “calling” from a multitude of angles, and while I used to hold firmly to the belief that both held much the same meaning, careful study has led me to cautiously make a distinction between them. Hugh Whelchel, in his marvelous book, How Then Should We Work, distinguishes between our primary calling and secondary callings as Christians. Our primary call is to follow Christ and receive the gift of salvation; many secondary callings flow out of this one primary calling. While certainly not setting up any kind of dualism between the sacred and the secular, something the Reformers vehemently opposed, this framework recognizes our secondary callings in the realm of family, church, and society. We are called to be husbands, fathers, elders, deacons, and into vocational work that glorifies God and serves the common good. With regard to the last, Whelchel labels this secondary calling ourvocational calling and says this: “A Christian’s work is not a specific type of occupation but rather an attitude that sees work ‘not, primarily as a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do…Work is, or should be, the full expression of the worker’s gifts, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental, and bodily satisfaction, and the medium in which he offers himself to God.’ Under this definition you may have different careers and jobs at different points in your life, but your vocational calling from God will stay constant.” There it is! Many jobs may come, but the God-given passion and skills uniquely granted by the Creator and refined through years of discovery will remain and be brought to bear upon whatever vocational task that may constitute one’s “career path” for a particular season. In short, your job may not fully harmonize with your “calling” but the thoughtful Christian will constantly be seeking to integrate them as fully as possible. For some, this task is much easier than others, as there is more coherence and unity between the two. I think about many of my friends who have a passion for teaching and actually make their living doing it; the pilot who loves to teach and serves as a flight instructor; the skilled artisan who has a passion for restoration and runs a paint business; the astute and savvy business-minded friend who loves legal documents and research and supervises operations and title search at a major title company. For that matter, I think of my wife, a woman who loves numbers, finance, data, and spreadsheets and works as a CPA out of our home, and a great one at that! For most of us, however, the landscape is a bit more uncertain and requires that we constantly evaluate how our talents and treasures are brought to bear upon our vocational endeavors.

Work has Eternal Significance

Finally, work must be done with a view toward God’s overarching plan to unite all things in Christ, “things in heaven and on earth,” as the Apostle Paul states in several places in Scripture. When we are tempted to despair, and fail to understand in any remote manner how what we do from day to day has significance and meaning, we must remember that God has redeemed us, and thus, by extension, our vocational pursuits, and has promised to bring the best of those efforts and undertakings into the New Heavens and the New Earth. With redemption comes a new orientation for all of our efforts; we know that “our labor is not in vain” and that if the Kings of the Earth will bring their glory into eternity in some sense (Rev. 22), then what we do now, no matter how trivial and miniscule it might appear to us at the time, carries with it some transcendent and eternal purpose which is known perhaps only to God and which will find its way into the Consummation.

Several years ago, I had the privilege of hosting Pastor Greg Strawbridge in my home, along with ten other men, for an evening of theological discussion. He began the meeting by asking each man present what he did for a living. When he heard my response, he said, “so you work in the glory business.” It left a deep impression on me, for I had never really thought of it in those terms before. From that point forward, I began to see, sometimes more so than at others, the profound difference that the products I provided made in people’s lives. I also began to see how all of the unique skills, like those of speaking, teaching, motivating, and narrating, were employed in my vocational calling. I’m not sure how a class ring or a cap and gown will find its way into the New Heavens and the New Earth; most likely it won’t! What I am certain of is that it will be a place full of Glory where wise stewardship will be called for, where unique gifts will be employed in the service of the King for all eternity, and where God’s original purpose for man will be fully and finally realized. Perhaps, just maybe, what I’m doing here is but preparation for what I will forever do there. I can think of no better reason to work!

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Todd Leonard has worked in Educational Sales for the past eighteen years and was previously a Scout Platoon Leader in the U.S. Army. He is married to Trina and the proud father of six children. He is a recreational triathlete who loves the pursuit of the strenuous life. He is also the leader of Micah 6:8 ministries, a member of Providence Church in Pensacola, Florida, and blogs at micahmandate.blogspot.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @micah68min.

(Originally published at CBMW)<>vklom

On October 2, 2013 By Kuyperian In Scribblings Like

Uri Brito: Is the Church in America Really Dying?

Ed Stetzer offers a resounding no. He says that the Church is going through a transition, which is not the same as dying. He concludes:

Today, we need a mobilized mission force in the midst of this mission field. So, it’s time to time to work for the sake of the gospel, and to live for the cause of the gospel, not run around proclaiming the sky is falling.

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On September 27, 2013 By Kuyperian In Books, Theology Like

Why Virtue?

Click to see the book at Amazon.

N. T. Wright has a wonderful book called After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. I would strongly recommend it to anyone, whether a new Christian, or one who has been in the faith for many years but wants to grow in discipleship and faithfulness.

WHY BE VIRTUOUS?

One of the key insights that Wright brings to light in the book—and there are many—has to do with the Why? of Christian virtue. In other words, what is the reason for pursuing holiness, discipline, character, and virtue? What is our motive? Here he offers something fresh—something that I think moves us further along than many of the common answers to this question, and it does so by inspiring the imagination.

Often the answer to such a question seems to boil down to brute command: Do it because the Bible says so. Which amounts to: “Do it because God says to. Just obey. Don’t ask why, just get to it.” There is, of course, a certain amount of validity to the notion that God as creator has the authority to command, and that we as creatures have a duty to obey, whether we understand or not; however, that kind of misses the point. God is not like the exasperated parent who says, “because I said so,” in response to a sincere search for understanding. After all God doesn’t want a bunch of brow-beaten children; he wants us to grow up in doing his will and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12.2). He wants us to know why we obey, so that we can obey with wisdom, discerning not only the letter, but also the spirit of the law of liberty. (more…)

On September 27, 2013 By Kuyperian In Theology Like

What Is A Word Worth?

by Marc Hays

It has been said that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but it ain’t necessarily so. This old adage implies that in the marketplace of communication pictures are far scarcer than words, i.e., it takes 1000 words to equal the value of one picture, but is that always the case? To say, to the contrary, that words are worth more than pictures would be to make the same mistake, i.e. to set up a false dichotomy. Worth is often tied to purpose, which provides the determining factor for the solution of many disputes. What are we trying to do with our words? What are we attempting to accomplish via our pictures? The answer is found in the “both/and” rather than the “either/or.”

Interestingly enough, the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” is not a picture at all, but a collection of words, logically organized into a sentence. The earliest example of this phrase in print is in newspaper advertising in the early 20^th Century. The advertiser wanted the consumer to come by the showroom and see the advertised product in order to be convinced to purchase it, i.e. seeing the items will be more convincing than reading a description of them.

In a sense, pictures are empirical and words are rational. Pictures are data, not devoid of meaning, but always in need of interpretation. Words are similar in lacking inherent meaning, but interpretation is unavoidable due to the inability of any person to speak a “neutral” sentence. A photograph communicates what we can see with our eyes and nothing more. A sentence communicates a necessarily biased opinion about what we’ve perceived. So, if our purpose is to show, then a picture may be far more appropriate than a paragraph, but if the goal is to tell, then you probably need more than just an image.

One sterling example of an effective use of both pictures and words is N. D. Wilson’s bookumentary “Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl.” Here, the cinematography is amazing, stunning, breathtaking, and 997 other positive modifiers, but the message of the pictures is always subservient to the narrative. The pictures are a hand-maiden to the text, serving to enhance the presentation of the meaning, not establish it. Many of the images would still be breathtaking without Nate’s narration, but the story could never be told if the TV was muted (with no subtitles.) Here’s the trailer as a taste of what I’m getting at.

The preeminent example of image and word kissing, is the Son of God who is both image and Word. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15). There can be no necessary dichotomy between word and image, as both are manifest in the man Christ Jesus. In Him, thousands of thousands of words will never tell all of His glories. “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). So what about pictures? Can one picture of Christ tell us 1000 times more than all these “insufficient” words? Well, one day we’ll see Him face to face (1 Cor. 13:12), but until then, only one thought comes to mind: the Bible is not a picture book.

Nate Wilson’s book, Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl can be purchased here.

And the DVD bookumentary here.

The featured image in this article is a mixed-media collage entitled “Worth 1000 Words” by William Beasley. Prints of this artwork can be purchased here.<>wicrack.com бренд в интернете

On September 22, 2013 By Kuyperian In Culture Like

The Case for Prison Reform: How and Why

The United States’ rate of incarceration is the highest in the world, higher by 50% than that of the second highest: Russia. The nation and the states are heavily in debt, and prisons are a part of the cost. Prison reform has got to be a part of the conversation, not only because it is expensive, but also because the question of justice has to be answered.

The prison system has become a means by which vengeance is executed, not justice. In many cases, the victims are convinced they cannot have closure until they have “justice,” by which they mean vengeance. In other cases, the government executes “justice” in order to exact vengeance itself, without regard for what the victims may actually want or need. In fact, the actual victim has been replaced by the government, who sees itself as the victim in need of vengeance. Some crimes, for example, are defined in a way that the victim cannot refuse to press charges because the government will do so anyway. While in other cases, the victim has the right to refuse to press charges.

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