Christ-ian Emotions

I have recently begun re-reading J.I. Packer's Knowing God. It is for good reason considered a classic--and if you read one book this year, outside of the Bible, this should be it. Here he is on one of the themes of my ongoing discipleship--what following Christ looks like from an emotional (or affective) viewpoint. (I, for one, struggle mightily with my emotions, and long for them to be part of God's regenerative work in my life.) Here is Packer:

The emotional side of knowing God is often played down these days, for fear of encouraging a maudlin self-absorption. It is true that there is nothing more irreligious than self-absorbed religion, and that it is constantly needful to stress that God does not exist for our 'comfort,' or 'happiness,' or 'satisfaction,' or to provide us with 'religious experiences,' as if these were the most interesting and important things in life. It is also necessary to stress that anyone who, on the basis of 'religious experiences,' 'saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him' (1 John 2:4; cf. verses 9, 11, 3:6, 11, 4:20). But for all this, we must not lose sight of the fact that knowing God is an emotional relationship, as well as an intellectual and volitional one, and could not indeed be a deep relation between persons were it not so. The believer is, and must be, emotionally involved in the victories and vicissitudes of God's cause in the world, just as sir Winston [Churchill's] personal staff were emotionally involved in the ups and downs of the war [WW II, that is]. The believer rejoices when God is honored and vindicated, and feels acute distress when he sees God flouted. Barnabas, when he came to Antioch, 'and had seen the grace of God, was glad' (Acts 11:23); by contrast, the psalmist wrote, 'rivers of water run down my eyes, because they keep not thy law' (Psalm 119:136). Equally, the Christian feels shame and grief when convicted of having failed his Lord (see, for instance, Psalm 51, and Luke 22:61f.), and from time to time knows transports of delight as God brings home to him in one way or another the glory of the everlasting love with which he has been loved ('transported with a joy too great for words' [1 Pet. 1:8, NEB]). This is the emotional and experiential side of friendship with God. Ignorance of it argues that, however true a man's thoughts of God may be, he does not yet know the God of whom he is thinking."

Here is a brief video about the referendum being held this week in southern Sudan. Please watch and pray.

Read the Bible This Year!

Want to read the whole Bible in 2011? Why not? It only takes about 10-15 minutes a day (yes, really!). One way is to start in Genesis and go all the way through, reading 3-4 chapters per day. Another way is with one of several reading schedules that are chronological. Send me an email, and I can send you one. I have one that puts all the Psalms on Sundays, another that puts the Psalms, as much as possible, into their historical context (the latter is the one I've used for about a decade).

The ESV web site also has several reading plans that you can do online--you can find out about that by clicking here.

Why not do it this year?

Silent Night/7 O'clock News by the Beatles

Here is a video that captures the contrast of Christmas with Matthew 2:13-23 (the aftermath of the wise men's visit and Herod's fear/anger). It was done by Simon and Garfunkel during the Vietnam war:

What Is the Family's Purpose?

Countless people--not only Christians, but especially Christians--have decried the downfall of the family. Recent surveys show that the percentage of adults in a marriage is steadily declining, and the percentage of children born out of wedlock is steadily rising. It doesn't take a degree in psychology or theology to recognize that this is not good (in fact, those with degrees in psychology are the ones insisting that this does not matter--shame on them! But that is another matter....)
In Christian circles (and especially in Reformed circles) some have sought to fight this by insisting that, in fact, the family is a small church, and the church exists primarily to strengthen the family. Does the Bible truly teach this?
It may be that you have never asked that question--and you might say, Wendell, where on earth are you getting this? That's OK. But if you have asked yourself what the relationship is between church and family, here is an article you may find helpful--at least to understand how family relates to church in a theological way.

Church + Friends = Happiness

At least so says the research in this article. Is anyone surprised? What do you think?

Unlocking the Mysteries of Life

Here is a video by that title that I watched this morning. Beware--it is over an hour long.



It is excellent. Primarily because it does not try to do too much. What I mean by that is this: you can't get from science to Christian faith--that is the work of the Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. But scientific discovery does undermine the false assumptions behind naturalistic evolution--as it must, because this is God's world.

You can also watch it here on google video.

Failed Human Predictions

Click this link for a most interesting observation about the reliability of biblical prophecy--and the failure of human predictions! The blog operator does not allow me to copy and paste--otherwise I would paste it in here. But just click on the link.