JOLLYBLOGGER

Jolly Good Links - 8-22-08

1. i think You need to read this article - It shows how deeply embedded narcissism is in Our culture. (HT - Josh Claybourn)

2. Chad Bresson ably counters what I would call the contemplative obsession with silence.  Yes, God speaks in a still small voice, but the important thing is that He speaks, He is there and He is not silent.  True, maybe contemplatives our simply asking us to shut up and slow down so we can hear His voice, and there's a bit of truth in that. 

The idea is simply postmodern fantasy. Into the silence, the WORD spoke all things into existence. When He was done, the Sabbath had been created so that man could find his rest in God, a rest marked by the communion of walking and "talking" with God in the cool of the garden. And once man fell, an enscripturated form of that WORD became necessary. In fact, if silence is what we want, destruction is what we will get. Man depends on God's speech, God's language, for his soul's survival. God's language has been embodied in His Son and embedded in an inspired and inerrant text. We don't want God to be silent if we are to ultimately find that Rest. Our sin is such, we can't have God be silent, for if he is silent all is lost.

Vos was surely ahead of his time (though what comes around goes around) when he wrote: "To the Christian church, in the most catholic sense of the word, supernatural religion has always stood for something far more than a system of spiritual instruction or an instrument of moral suasion. The deep sense of sin, which is central to her faith, demands such a divine interposition in the course of natural development as shall work actual changes from guilt to righteousness, from sin to holiness, from life to death, in the sphere not merely of consciousness but of being."

i would also add that it doesn't take some great spiritual exercise or labyrinthine journey to hear the God - God speaks loudly and clearly to me every day through His word. 

3.  The role of bloggers in spiritual awakening?  It's interesting to read Diane Roberts on all things charismatic because she are one of them.  People like me can raise critique charismatics but won't be taken seriously since people like me believe the Holy Spirit ceased to exist with the closing of the canon.  But when Diane and others raise an eyebrow at shenanigans in places like Lakeland, FL, which is my old stomping grounds, it pays to take notice.  And it appears from at least one perspecive that bloggers played a role in unmasking some of the excesses in Lakeland.  Here she quotes Andrew Strom:

Some say that Lakeland would have fallen apart by itself without  any need for all the emails or blogs, etc. As someone with an inside view of events, I have to say that this is not true at all. The people posting information via blogs, emails, Youtube videos, etc, have been utterly essential to what has happened. When Charisma started publishing about the Revival, I know for a fact that when they found out certain information through the Internet it changed their stance from "total support" to 'questioning'. I'm sure that ABC  Nightline would say the same. And I know for a fact that ICA apostle Robert Ricciardelli's opposition to Lakeland would not have become widely known at all if it weren't for blogs or email Lists like this one. All of these factors have been utterly crucial. I think some blogs may get a little bit harsh or "personal" at times, but overall I want to say- Kudos to the bloggers! You've made a real difference. You have protected multitudes of sheep around the world from being further deceived and destroyed.

Some Jolly Good Links 7-18-08

1. I'm not saying he was a paragon of Christian virtue or anything, but John Lennon says he loved Jesus, in a manner of speaking.  Remember that famous quote that Christians have vilified Lennon for for years where he said that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus?  Apparently there was more to the comment than we have given him credit for:

Christians around the world had been dismayed by Lennon’s boast in an article in London’s Evening Standard about the popularity of the Beatles, but the singer says he was misunderstood.

“It’s just an expression meaning the Beatles seem to me to have more influence over youth than Christ,” he says. “Now I wasn’t saying that was a good idea, ‘cos I’m one of Christ’s biggest fans. And if I can turn the focus on the Beatles on to Christ’s message, then that’s what we’re here to do.”

He blames “the hypocrites” for being too “uptight” in reacting to his comments. “If the Beatles get on the side of Christ, which they always were, and let people know that, then maybe the churches won’t be full, but there’ll be a lot of Christians dancing in the dance halls. Whatever they celebrate, God and Christ, I don’t think it matters as long as they’re aware of Him and His message.”

(HT - ThinkChristian)

2. From the Pearcey Report (yep, that's Nancy and Rick Pearcey), a word for culture warriors from a youngish person:

My GenX friends are actually more afraid of the theatrics of televangelists than the cultural threat of sexual anarchy.  These misplaced apprehensions are widespread and dangerous.

The culture war is lost unless people begin to trust Christians more than secularists, atheists, communists, and radical liberals. To gain this social trust, I propose that Christians everywhere submit themselves to the Christian Credibility Creed.

In addition to the other creeds of Christianity:

I believe that dressing up and talking like Paul Revere does not make me a modern day patriot or member of the second Black Regiment. A postmodern revolution will look different from past revolutions.

I believe that always looking for miracles and material signs of God’s favor makes me shallow and less involved in the supernatural. 

I believe that inserting God-talk clichés into everyday conversations with (or overheard by) non-Christians hurts the work of the Holy Spirit.

And there's a bunch more . . .

3. So, what are you trying to say without words?

4. Jonathan Edwards on "The Main Benefit of Preaching" via Jonathan Dodson.

The main benefit obtained by preaching is by an impression made upon the mind at the time, and not by an effect that arises afterwards by a remembrance of what was delivered. And though an after-remembrance of what was heard in a sermon is oftentimes very profitable; yet, for the most part, that remembrance is from an impression the words made on the heart at the time; and the memory profits, as it renews and increases that impression. (Thoughts on the Revival, Part III, emphasis added)

Some Jolly Good Links 7-11-08

1. Look what we got!  His name is Charlie.

2. It's not necessary to contribute to every conversation (from PastorHacks):

"Christians, especially ministers, so often think that they must always contribute something when they are in the company of others, that this is the one service they have to render. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking.

Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because Christians are talking where they should be listening. But [the one] who can no longer listen to his brother [or sister] will soon be no longer listening to God either... This is the beginning of the death of the spiritual life, and in the end there is nothing left but spiritual chatter and clerical condescension arrayed in pious words."

-Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

3. Tony Morgan has 9 Do's and Dont's for Ministry. Here's a few of my favorites.

You don’t need a logo. A new logo isn’t the key to successful ministry. Life change is the key to successful ministry. Only Jesus can change lives. Yes, there are times when you’ll need to update your branding; however, it’s not going to make or break your ministry.

Your fancy flyers won’t help. 80% of the people who show up to a weekend service come with a friend who invites them. That same principle applies to your ministry as well. If people aren’t inviting their friends, that’s likely a ministry problem and not a promotions problem.

Remember: print is dead. (this coming from someone who writes books). It’s highly likely that whatever you’re printing for your audience will just end up in a trash can. Any business in America relying on print media is dying a slow death. You should always think Web first with an emphasis on interactivity and building relationships.

You probably need to cut programs and events. Less is more. If you have fewer events and less programs, more people will connect with your ministry. Stop confusing them and help them focus on the next appropriate step. (Check this out.)

Jolly Good Links - 7/5/08

Sorry I missed the links last week - I was on vacation.  Here's some good stuff I've read over the last few weeks.

1. Leadership lessons from computer geeks.  Who says geeks don't know how to lead?  Actually, this post is not on leadership per se, it's on "Egoless Programming."  But these "ten commandments" not only work for programming, they work in leadership and all relationships.  Here's the first five:

Understand and accept that you will make mistakes. The point is to find them early, before they make it into production. Fortunately, except for the few of us developing rocket guidance software at JPL, mistakes are rarely fatal in our industry, so we can, and should, learn, laugh, and move on.

You are not your code. Remember that the entire point of a review is to find problems, and problems will be found. Don't take it personally when one is uncovered.

No matter how much "karate" you know, someone else will always know more. Such an individual can teach you some new moves if you ask. Seek and accept input from others, especially when you think it's not needed.

Don't rewrite code without consultation. There's a fine line between "fixing code" and "rewriting code." Know the difference, and pursue stylistic changes within the framework of a code review, not as a lone enforcer.

Treat people who know less than you with respect, deference, and patience. Nontechnical people who deal with developers on a regular basis almost universally hold the opinion that we are prima donnas at best and crybabies at worst. Don't reinforce this stereotype with anger and impatience. 

2. N. T. Wright on the gospel/evangelism:

'The task of evangelism is therefore best understood as the proclamation that Jesus is already Lord, that in him God's new creation has broken into history, and that all people are therefore summoned to submit to him in love, worship and obedience. The logic of this message requires that those who announce it should be seeking to bring Christ's Lordship to bear on every area of human and worldly existence'.

3.  Though Victor Reppert directs this to his philosophy students it has much wider application to the issue of contextualization. 

I am myself a Christian and my philosophical career has been centered around thinking things through from a Christian perspective. I have taught in both a Christian setting and a non-Christian setting, but most of my student career and my teaching career has been in secular institutions. I often find that in a non-Christian setting students seem unaware of the fact that they have a world-view, or else they haven’t really thought very clearly about what their world-view is and how to make it a consistent one. So you find people drawing from one source here and one source there whenever it suits them. In a Christian setting you will still find some of that as well. But the main issue that I believe I should try to come to terms with in dealing with Christian students is the fact that they have learned certain ways of talking about what they believe which are common in churches but have little meaning to anyone outside of four walls of the institutional church. One church outsider came to a church and was asked “Are you under the blood?” which prompted him to look up at the ceiling to see if there was some red liquid coming down. Consider even a phrase like “Christ paid the penalty for our sins.” What penalty? What sins? And how could Christ pay it, if we incurred the penalty?

Missionaries often spend years studying the peoples of the countries in which they minister, hoping to understand the thought-forms of those peoples, so that they can learn to present the Christian message in a way that is meaningful to the people of that culture. Yet, I think, a lot of Christians have no idea how their world-view differs from the world-views of others, or how to ask the questions a non-believer would ask.

   

Some Jolly Good Links 6-20-08

1. I had nothing to do with this - Alligator Found in Glen Burnie.

2. If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a Proverbs 31 woman your wife.  Joe Carter quotes Forbes magazine as saying that "career women" don't make very good very good wives.

But if statistics show that you are more likely to be divorced if you marry a career woman then a man who avoids marrying a career woman is less likely--statistically speaking and all other things being equal--to get divorced.

The trouble with all of that is that the "career woman" who is allegedly the bad wife sounds a lot like the Proverbs 31 woman who is an excellent wife.  Thus, Joe suggests that maybe the "career" in "career woman" isn't the determining factor in the success of their marriages.  He also points out that the Proverbs 31 description of the noble woman doesn't fit with some Christian's views of what makes a godly woman.  Kinda makes you go hmmmm . . . . .  .

3. A vegetarian says the Atkins diet is safe.

The study involved 311 women over a 1 year period. They were split into 4 groups, each group doing their own diet. At one extreme, we have a very low-fat/high-carb diet. At the other, a very low-carb/high-fat (Atkins) diet with the other 2 diets falling somewhere in between.

Well, guess what diet produced most weight loss? Atkins of course - by now that shouldn’t surprise you.

However, they were also interested in how healthy each diet was. Here’s the point (and something I’ve been stressing for a long time), Atkins beat all other diets in every single health marker - ALL OF THEM.

The Atkins diet saw most improvements in:

1. Weight
2. Systolic Blood Pressure
3. Diastolic Blood Pressure
4. Triglycerides
5. HDL cholesterol
6. LDL cholesterol
7. Insulin
8. Glucose

To quote Gardner “There was no group that did better than Atkins in anything“.

"Gardner" is the vegetarian who reluctantly admitted that the Atkins diet was the best.

Some Jolly Good Links 6-7-08

Getting ready to go to Dallas for our denomination's General Assembly and I haven't been quite the cyber-surfer this week that I often am.  But here's a few things I found interesting this week.

1. Gadget-Palooza.  I like gadgets, I wish I could own them all.  My favorite gadget place is Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools.  But the true gadget freak for whom one source is not can find links to all the gadgets in the world (ok, that my be a bit of hyperbole) at Gadgets at Alltop.

2. The Clowd or Big Brother.  Seth Godin sees the future:

So, very soon, you will own a cell phone that has a very good camera and knows where you are within ten or fifteen feet. And the web will know who you are and who your friends are.

What happens?

Well, when you take a photo, you can automatically send it to the clowd. The clowd can color correct and adjust the photo based on the million other photos it has seen just like this.

The clowd can figure out that this was the high school graduation (same time, same location), and realize that you were there with fifty of your closest friends, and automatically group the photos together... leaving out the people it's obvious you don't like.

The clowd can also find pictures taken of the same person, but by other people, and show them to you. Or cooler still, introduce you to those people. So, you take a picture of Keith Jarrett at Carnegie Hall and the clowd introduces you to other people who took his picture in ther places. (No, you shouldn't have to tell the clowd it's Keith, it should know. But yes, you will opt in to all of this... you ask before it takes these matchmaking liberties).

Seth Godin says this is inevitable:

This is going to happen. The only question is whether you are one of the people who will make it happen. I guess there's an even bigger question: will we do it right?

Jolly says that sounds a bit creepy.

3. Cars are killing us in more ways than one.  This from Kottke:

The average U.S. citizen completely ignores the regularity with which the automobile kills him, maims him, embroils him with the law and provides mobile shelter for rakes intent on seducing his daughters. He takes it into his garage as fondly as an Arab leading a prize mare into his tent. He woos it with Simoniz, Prestone, Ethyl and rich lubricants -- and goes broke trading it in on something flashier an hour after he has made the last payment on the old one.

By last week, this peculiar state of mind had not only sucked thousands of American oil wells dry, stripped the rubber groves of Malaya, produced the world's most inhuman industry and its most recalcitrant labor union, but had filled U.S. streets with so many automobiles that it was almost impossible to drive one. In some big cities, vast traffic jams never really got untangled from dawn to midnight; the bray of horns, the stink of exhaust fumes, and the crunch of crumpling metal eddied up from them as insistently as the vaporous roar of Niagara.

Oh yeah, did I mention this was written in 1947?

4. The Curious Case of Aiden Wilson Tozer. I have always benefited from reading the writings of A. W. Tozer and so was particularly curious when Tim Challies reviewed a new book about him called A Passion for God by Lyle Dorsett.  Here's a summary from Tim's review:

Tozer was a man who dedicated himself to reading, study and prayer and who delighted to be in the presence of God. “There is no way to measure the hours he spent in a typical day or week reading books and wrestling with ideas, but it was substantial. In a similar vein, we know that he increasingly devoted many hours each week praying, meditating on Scripture, and seeking deeper intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ. During the 1930s Tozer read voraciously, and he also developed a magnificent obsession to be in Christ’s presence- just to worship Him and to be with Him.” Yet he was a man who was emotionally and spiritually distant from his own wife. “By early 1928 the Tozers had a routine. Aiden found his fulfillment in reading, preparing sermons, preaching, and weaving travel into his demanding and exciting schedule, while Ada learned to cope. She dutifully washed, ironed, cooked, and cared for the little ones, and developed the art of shoving her pain deep down inside. Most of the time she pretended there was no hurt, but when it erupted, she usually blamed herself for not being godly enough to conquer her longing for intimacy from an emotionally aloof husband.”

These strange inconsistencies abound. Tozer saw his wife’s gifts for hospitality and encouraged her in them; yet he disliked having visitors in his own home. He preached about the necessity of Christian fellowship within the family of Christ; yet he refused to allow his family or his wife’s family visit their home. For every laudable area of his life there seemed to exist an equal and opposite error. This study in opposites leaves for a fascinating picture of a man who was used so greatly by God, even while his life had such obvious sin.

To add to that picture Sean Michael Lucas also reviewed the book and writes:

Perhaps the most damning statement in the book was from his wife, after she remarried subsequent to his death: "I have never been happier in my life," Ada Ceclia Tozer Odam observed, "Aiden [Tozer] loved Jesus Christ, but Leonard Odam loves me" (160).

And while I might be tempted to become disillusioned with the story of yet more warts from one more great leader, this is more a cautionary tale for me than anyone else.  As a minister I know all too well the temptation to make a mistress of the ministry and to evaluate your family in terms of how they affect your ministry. 

The longer I go on the more I think the craving for success in ministry is a killer, a killer to one's family, one's own relationship with Christ and ultimately a killer to ministry. 

Fortunately for A. W. Tozer, his wife seems to have soldiered on and helped him enjoy a fruitful ministry while he was alive, and stuffed her own emptiness.  That's not always the case.  It may be hard to find now, but if you want to find one of the best "cautionary tales" of wrong priorities, I recommend the book "Days of Glory, Seasons of Night,"  by Marilee Pierce Dunker.  It's the story of Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision and Samaritan's Purse. 

There is no doubt that much good came from the lives of Bob Pierce and A. W. Tozer, you just have to wonder if it was worth the cost to their families and if God couldn't have accomplished the same good through others who didn't sacrifice their families along the way.

PCA General Assembly - Blogging and Twittering

The PCA General Assembly is next week in Dallas and I'll be there.  In the past I've blogged at the general assembly but that has been catch as catch can.  The problem with blogging is that you never know if the assembly hall is going to have wireless so I think this year I am going to post to my twitter account. 

I have a twitter account but haven't used it much and I'm not sure I'll ever become a true power user of twitter.  But I think it could be helpful for an event like this.  I'll be able to text updates even if I'm away from a wireless connection.  Plus I may be able to keep the posts coming more in real time. I'll still try to blog, but I'm going to give twitter a go.

So, I'd like to make this post an info spot for people going to or wanting info on GA.  If you are going to GA and will be blogging or twittering, why don't you leave a comment here with your blog address or twitter feed.  If you are going and just want to try to get together while you are there, leave me a note - maybe we can have some kind of blogger get-together. 

And, if you are a PCA member or friend who just wants to follow what is happening at the GA, I plan on posting my twitter feed in a sidebar here on the blog or in a post - just gotta figure out how to do it.  But, why don't you subscribe to my twitter feed which is here, and if you register with twitter you'll be able to respond to my posts and we can get some conversation going.

There should be some hot debates, particularly over the role of women so I'll do my best to keep you updated.

Jolly Good Links 5-31-08

1. Top Ten Reasons the ________________________ wouldn't cross the road.  Let's start today with some humor.  C. Michael Patton has had me rofl'ing this week with a series of posts which include The Top Ten Reasons the Emerger Didn't Cross the Road (#7 - Because only arrogant people cross roads), The Top Ten Reasons the Reformed Theologian Didn't Cross the Road (#10 - A woman already crossed, and he would be in sin if he followed), and The Top Ten Reasons the Dispensationalist Didn't Cross the Road (#10. Thought he would be raptured before he got there anyway).  They are all great and will give you a good laugh.

2. Justin Taylor has videos of a couple of interviews that Ed Stetzer did with Mark Dever.  They are outstanding.  Here's Justin's intro:

This is a great interview of Mark Dever by Ed Stetzer, who asks great questions. They cover worship (Capitol Hill and Sovereign Grace), contextualization (MacArthur, Driscoll, Mahaney), the seeker-sensitive movement, partnership with those you disagree with, whether the gospel is too big (Dever admits he was being provocative at T4G, that some qualifications are needed, and that euangelion is semantically larger than the God-man-Christ-response scheme), and whether working for Habitat for Humanity is necessarily kingdom work.

3. What happens when gas reaches $8 a gallon. Chris Plummer gives us "Eight reasons higher prices will do us a world of good."  He's got some great points worth thinking about.  Still, I haven't yet reached a state of existential excitement over the prospect of paying $8 a gallon for gas - maybe it will come later.

4. Carl Honore says let the kids enjoy their summer break.  Responding to a British report that recommends abolishing summer holidays for some two week holidays interspersed throughout the year, Honore says the following in a blog entry of May 24, 2008:

The argument is that children forget too much of what they learn during the academic term when schools shut down for a long summer break. But is this really the case? I’ve read mixed research on the subject. Some argue that children need a long break from school in order not only to recharge their batteries but also to let the academic learning sink in. And what about the sheer joy of a long vacation? Surely that is the time when children can see a world in a grain of sand and hold infinity in the palm of their hand - it’s certainly hard to imaging William Blake campaigning for shorter holidays for the young. One of my happiest memories of childhood was finishing school at the end of June and knowing that I had two months of play and freedom ahead of me. Do we want to lose that? Especially when nations with very successful education systems (eg. Finland) allow their kids a long holiday in summer. If academic gains really are eroding during the warmer months in Britain, maybe the real reason is not that children are taking a break from school; maybe it’s that they are getting the wrong kind break. For many kids, the summer holiday is no longer a time to play freely, to roam the neighbourhood without adults butting in or to explore the world on their own terms; it’s just an extension of the rest of the year, a treadmill of structured and supervised activities. Perhaps that is where we are going wrong. Instead of abolishing the long summer holiday, we should be finding better ways to spend it.

I'm a Millionaire!!

Hey big good news here. This kind of snuck up on me, but I just looked at my sitemeter stats and while I was out today I went over the 1,000,000 visitors mark. That is really cool!

Many thanks to all of you who have read and are still reading this humble blog of mine. I wouldn't have imagined this when I started blogging four years ago so again, I thank all of you who have taken the time to stop by and I especially thank those of you who have kept reading over the long haul.

I hope my contributions have brought some encouragement and jolliness to you, and you have brought much of the same to me with your comments and friendship.

Cheers to all!

Hello Blogosphere

Sadly, the muse has left me lately.  Do pray for me though, and for my church.  We're in the midst of a big transition to a new building and are recasting vision and things like that and I've just got a lot on my mind these days which makes blogging seem less and less important.  At the same time, I have built so many good relationships with readers of my blog that I don't want to lose so I hope I can stay in touch. 

With that in mind, let me turn your attention to some other good stuff in the world of cyberspace.

First off, let me wish a very happy 5th Blog Birthday to my good buddy Adrian Warnock - he's got some highlights and some references to some of his long term blog buddies like me.  So, congrats Adrian.  He's also having a contest for people to design a logo for him - that's not up my ally, but I will say this - the key to a good logo is lots of orange and blue, yes, lot's of orange and blue, that's the key.

And now, how about a little entertainment.  For all you lovers of Southern Rock as it is covered by Finnish rock bands with weird hair while being accompanied by the Red Army Choir, have I got a video for you. This is the world renowned Leningrad Cowboys accompanied by the Red Army Choir singing Lynrd Skynrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." I found this through John Armstrong who has a special interest because he has roots in Alabama.  I have a similar special interest since Lynrd Skynrd is from my home town of Jacksonville, FL.  But enough about me, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the Leningrad Cowboys.

As for more serious matters, all I can say about this post by Alexander Pruss is BRILLIANT!  If I were to spiritualize what he is saying I would say that he is saying that God is Lord of our fantasy life, but he takes this in a direction you might not have seen coming.  Yeah, we know sexual and violent fantasies are bad, but he goes deeper:

But I want to note a different kind of badness in fantasies involving the behavior of specific others, even when the situation fantasized about is not actually a bad one. This kind of badness occurs when the fantasy does not respect others as autonomous persons.

Joe Carter at the Evangelical Outpost is hosting the 2008 EO/Wheatstone Academy Symposium which asks you to write a blog post and submit it answering the question:

If the medium affects the message, how will the Christian message be affected by the new media?

Follow this link for more details, including info on some great prizes.

The ESV study bible looks very, very good.  Kudos to Justin Taylor and the team for what appears to be a great study bible. Oh yeah, and thanks a lot for making us wait till October to get one.  What I wanna know is how come Mark Driscoll got one and I didn't?  Huh?  Anybody?

In addition to being a great writer and artist, Scott Adams appears to be a theist and a philosopher, but is he also now a calvinist?

And, for all my fellow men - here's an essential monthly guide for you.

Person Justin Taylor

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