This video from Jeff Vanderstelt is helpful. It is “uncomfortably biblical” — taking serious Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8. It is what I need.
Father, make us so tethered to your Word and consumed by your grace that hospitality is not a hard thing ‘to do,’ but rather an overflow of what it means to be holy in Christ. Fulfill our every resolve for good and every work of faith by your power, for your glory. Amen.
John Witherspoon on church leaders:
The return which is expected from them to the community is, that by the influence of their religious government, their people may be the more regular citizens, and the more useful members of society. I hope none here will deny, that the manners of the people in general are of the utmost moment to the stability of any civil society. When the body of a people are altogether corrupt in their manners, the government is ripe for dissolution.
Good laws may hold the rotten bark some longer together, but in a little time all laws must give way to the tide of popular opinion, and be laid prostrate under universal practice. Hence it clearly follows, that the teachers and rulers of every religious denomination are bound mutually to each other, and to the whole society, to watch over the manner of their several members ["Thanksgiving Sermon," in Works, 5:265].
(Excerpted from John Witherspoon and the Founding of the American Republic, [Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame, 2005], 23), paragraphing mine.
Read the whole post, The Gospel’s Influence on the American Republic.
This is the air we breathe in America. . . and the gospel calls it into question.
There is a growing vision in my heart for a church in the city. I’ve chatted about it over coffee and daydreamed about it when class gets long. I’ve jotted notes down in a journal and teased it out with Melissa not a few times
Now, I’ll keep trying to articulate it in words and crystallize it on a page, but for my friends to whom I’ve so far left more confused than excited, here’s a video that illustrates what I mean:
Paul says that apostasy is the basis for why we should imitate him and those who live like him. Paul does not suggest the benefits of having a role model, he narrows the profile of who a role model should be and he declares its essential place in Christian discipleship. I think these two points from Philippians 3:17-18 make up a concise theology of role models.
John Webster on the Givenness of Neighbors
An excerpt of an excerpt:
Love involves my acknowledgement that I am obliged by my neighbor as a reality given to me by God, a reality which I would often like to evade but which encounters me with a transcendent imperative force (Webster, Holiness, 97).
4 Questions for John Piper | The Lausanne Global Conversation.
This is an interesting article by Krish Kandiah about John Piper and the move to prerecord sermons for Bethlehem’s multi-site model. Kandiah is a brother from the UK who offers a few questions that he has for such a model. Interestingly, he questions the prerecorded sermon on the basis of a theology of preaching (see 2 and 3).
Most of the discussion about the multi-site phenomenon is centered around ecclesiology, and rightly so. But another dimension to consider is how a ‘broadcast’ model fits with a theology of preaching. Specifically, does the NT teach that preaching in the local church involves “2 way communication” and relational matters?
It is an interesting discussion; and helpful to get a perspective from the UK.
My aim in reading[1] the Holy Scripture[2] is to understand[3] what the author is willing to communicate[4] about the LORD[5], by attending to the genre and grammar[6] of the text[7] in reference to the canonical testimony[8], in order to embody the gospel witness in my particular context.[9]
[1] A “hermeneutical rule” is essentially a standard that expresses an “aim in reading”
[2] “Holy Scripture” is used here as a confessional phrase that signifies a conviction that the Bible in its final form is the Word of God inscripturate.
[3] “Understand” corresponds to reading and underscores the cognitive process the authors intended the reader to employ (Eph 3:3-4; use of ge√graptai).
[4] This attends to the intention of the human author who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Tim 3:16).
[5] The qualifier “about the LORD” signifies two points: 1) this reading has a theological emphasis. Having been called out of darkness into light by the gospel, the aim is primarily to know and love the LORD; 2) the LORD abolishes any generic sense of divine revelation. The theological emphasis is directed at beholding the LORD Almighty—the one true God—Father, Son, and Spirit. This Trinitarian reference also implies a christotelic focus because Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate and the conscious focus of all saving faith and worship (John 1:1-3, 14; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 2 Cor 1:19-20; Heb 1:1-3).
[6] The genre and grammar of the text takes the human element of Holy Scripture seriously. The Word of God is written in human language, therefore conveyed in linguistic conventions of a particular culture and history divinely preserved and accessible to contemporary readers.
[7] The use of “text” rather than “author” highlights the conviction that the text is the means by which the author communicates his intention. Therefore, the text itself must be the reader’s central concern as opposed to the events and processes behind the text.
[8] The “canonical testimony” is the conviction that Holy Scripture, in its final form, is the sufficient and holistic witness of the LORD given to his church within the economy of salvation.
[9] This is to say that the purpose of reading is to live out (embody) the Word in joyful obedience to the LORD, contextualized in the specific culture (witness) to which the LORD has called me. This is the task of theology—the living out of and faithful witness to the gospel.
A few Derek Webb songs convinced me that I was a little too easy on myself in the previous post. I do have Americanism issues. I do like stuff. I like stuff even when it’s not mine, as long as it’s around here somewhere.
Now, the question is “Do I like stuff more than people?” Of course not. Nobody does. Give a man all the stuff there is and make him a loner— he’ll never make it. Everyone needs others. We are communal creatures. But beware of over-accessorizing community.
There is something to appreciate about a community’s rawness. One thing that we should help one another with is getting bare. No hype. No stuff. Just us. Us, together. Creatures of God put in relation to one another in Jesus Christ. I think this is what makes me love Bonhoeffer’s Life Together so much. It is real to the core.
May the Father grant us such community.
My family and I got an out-of-blue opportunity to spend a couple of nights outside of the cities at a condo in the northern country. It was a gift from the Lord to get away before winter sets in. The autumn is my favorite time of year in Minneapolis (unless its spring or summer).
Lots of the time away was still spent working and studying, but the air was cleaner and the nights were like vacation. It was a wonderful time and enough space to provoke some thought.
I would not like to live somewhere like that, way out there in the country. It is too disconnected. There aren’t enough people out there and my vocation has everything to do with people. But I wondered, “Is it people that I would miss out here?” . . . “Isn’t it a break from the hustle and bustle of people that make such a trip so satisfying?” . . . “what about this would get old?”
It dawned on me that it wasn’t only people I’d miss, but consumption. It was good to get away from all the advertisements, all the industry, all the commercial. And it would be the absence of these things that would be missed after a while. Is this is my Americanism seeping through? Or is this part and parcel to culture, and therefore, people?
I think its both, but people mainly. I like culture. I like people and their work. I like to be around that, loving the good and hating the bad.
And my hope is that all of my indigenous USA appetites would give way to a pilgrim principle that craves a better city—one that has lots of people, from every tribe and tongue and nation.
