Report of the Watcher

This Sunday we are looking at Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38ff. 50 years ago A.W. Tozer caught the jist of this passage when he wrote,
"Were some watcher or holy one from the bright world above to come among us for a while with the power to diagnose the spiritual ills of church people there is one entry which I am quite sure would appear on the vast majority of his reports: Definite evidence of chronic spiritual lassitude; level of moral enthusiasm extremely low.
"What makes this condition especially significant is that Americans are not naturally an unenthusiastic people. Indeed they have a world-wide reputation for being just the opposite. Visitors to our shores from other countries never cease to marvel at the vigor and energy with which we attack or problems. We live at a fever pitch, and whether we are erecting buildings, laying highways, promoting athletic events, celebrating special days or welcoming returning heroes we always do it with an exaggerated flourish. Our building will be taller, our highway broader, our athletic contest more colorful, our celebration more elaborate and more expensive than would be true anywhere else on earth. We talk faster, drive faster, earn more, spend more, and run a higher blood pressure than any other people in the world.
"In only one field of interest we are slow and apathetic: that is the field of personal religion. There for some strange reason our enthusiasm lags. Church people habitually approach the matter of their personal relation to God in a dull, half-hearted way which is altogether out of keeping with their general temperament and wholly inconsistent with the importance of the subject.It is true that there is a lot of religious activity among us. Interchurch basketball tournaments, religious splash parties followed by devotions, weekend camping trips with a Bible quiz around the fire, Sunday School picnics, building fund drives and ministerial breakfasts are with us in unbelievable numbers, and they are carried on with typical American gusto. It is when we enter the sacred precincts of the heart’s personal religion that we suddenly lose all enthusiasm."

Why Hell?

This may seem a strange time of year to be thinking about hell. But I stumbled upon this excellent article called "The Importance of Hell" by Tim Keller, and wanted to place a link here. I don't know how long this link will be good, so don't wait too long....

Something for a College Student in Your Life

I always look forward to Christmas and summer vacations. That's because college students come home. I don't get to know them the way I would like to--but I wish I could and did. And I enjoy seeing them.
In fact, I am reading a book that is intended for college students, and that I am finding an excellent read. It is written by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., who was once the president of Calvin College (his brother Alvin is one of America's premier philosophers, and an articulate defender of Christianity against its secular philosophical despisers). One of Cornelius's other excellent books you may have heard me mention--Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, which is a powerful book on sin.
So for the college student in your life--if it's too late for Christmas, get it for them for New Year's Day. It's available from http://www.wtsbooks.com/ (good discounts!), among other places.

The Real Tightwads

Many of you will appreciate the unexpected (?) findings by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof found here.

Incarnation

The divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needed to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child…. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. (J.I. Packer)

Our Disinformed Electorate

During the last election cycle I, along with many others, appreciated the web site www.factcheck.org. They tried to sift through the competing claims of campaign advertisements, and find the truth (or lack thereof) therein. For you perusal, here is their post-partum report, titled Our Disinformed Electorate. A worthwhile read--particularly if you thought one side had all the truth and the other side all the falsehood.
I mention this becaue tomorrow we are going to look at Christ, the newborn king, in relation to the wise men from Persia, the wise men in Jerusalem, and the "King of the Jews" Herod. We long for King Jesus. At present his kingdom is spiritual, and we sojourn in earthly kingdoms (and republics, democracies, etc.). None of these earthly kingdoms and their aspiring rulers can deliver. That doesn't mean we should give up on them--they serve the common good at God's appointment (Romans 13:1-7), but we dare not put our ultimate hope in them (Psalm 146:3).

Real Harmony Amidst Apparent Contradiction

I'm studying the Magi in Matthew 2, and here is a marvelous quote from John Calvin about this account:
"A beautiful instance of real harmony, amidst apparent contradiction, is here exhibited. A star from heaven announces that he is a king, to whom a manger, intended for cattle, serves for a throne, because he is refused admittance among the lowest of the people. His majesty shines in the East, while in Judea it is so far from being acknowledged, that it is visited by many marks of dishonor. Why is this? The heavenly Father chose to appoint the star and the Magi as our guides, to lead directly to his Son: while he stripped him of all earthly splendor, for the purpose of informing us that his kingdom is spiritual. This history conveys profitable instruction, not only because God brought the Magi to his Son, as the first-fruits of the Gentiles, but also because he appointed the kingdom of his Son to receive their commendation, and that of the star, for the confirmation of our faith; that the wicked and malignant contempt of his nation might not render him less estimable in our eyes."

Redefine Christmas

In this Sunday's sermon I'm going to make reference to a newspaper ad to "redefine Christmas." Here is a link to an article (from 2007) about the "Redefine Christmas" ads, web site, etc. Here is a link to comments about it. Both are interesting reading. What do you think? And find out Sunday what it has to do with the visit of the Magi to see Jesus...

Jesus Made in America Redux

A few months ago I blogged enthusiatically about Stephen Nichols' book, Jesus: Made in America. Here is a video interview of Steve about that book, with Derek Thomas. Steve will be our speaker at our 2009 "Greater Reading Gathering of Reformed Evangelicals" (a meeting which, incidentally, needs a new name; I am open to suggestions!).

Something different

Sometimes being a missionary is quite exciting... click here.

Joining in Prayer, Some More

Those of us who are naturally inclined loners may need to grab ourselves by the shirt collar and give ourselves a stern scolding, something along the line of: My true identity before God is marred if I indulge this attitude of emotional withdrawal and keeping my relational distance. It does not allow me to be fulfilled; I am not growing in grace as long as I indulge myself in inner detachment in this way; my children and my friends are not benefitting as they should from my example of shared faith. My call from God as one of his people is to be transparently close to others in fellowship, ready to open my heart to share my own testimony, just as I need to receive the testimony of others, and I should be as ready to pray with them as they are to pray with me. (J.I. Packer, Praying, p. 254)

Joining In Prayer

In preparing for this week's Sunday School class (on prayer in fellowship with others) I came across this excellent descriptiong by J.I. Packer of some of what ails the church (as a whole) nowadays. Packer writes about what he calls an overly individualistic "piety":
'The popular form of pietism that we no face... is this priority of "personal relationship with God" pulled out of shape by this modern, secular, Enlightenment-bred type of individualism that teaches us to see ourselves as distinct from, if not actually against, all existing forms of society (family, school, political consensus, cultural consensus, church, whatever). In secular contexts this individualism glorifies the rebel; in Christian contexts it makes recognition of churchly identity as part of our Christian identity difficult.... The popular pietist way is to value church services... as we value gas stations and maybe college lectures too: we show up in order (in one sense or another) to fill up and then go on our way without any sense of continuing commitment to the source of our filling.'
The antidote is found in 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul speaks of the church as a body; or Ephesians 4, especially vv. 11-16, where, growing up into Christ, the whole body makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. So close are we in Christ, and so dependent on one another. Come and reflect on this together Sunday in Sunday School.