Church of England Bishop Tom
Wright responds to the current events in the Episcopal Church in
America.
Many in TEC have long embraced a theology in which chastity, as
universally understood by the wider Christian tradition, has been
optional.
That wider tradition always was counter-cultural as well as
counter-intuitive. Our supposedly selfish genes crave a variety of
sexual possibilities. But Jewish, Christian and Muslim teachers have
always insisted that lifelong man-plus-woman marriage is the proper
context for sexual intercourse. This is not (as is frequently
suggested) an arbitrary rule, dualistic in overtone and killjoy in
intention. It is a deep structural reflection of the belief in a
creator God who has entered into covenant both with his creation and
with his people (who carry forward his purposes for that creation).
Paganism ancient and modern has always found this ethic, and this
belief, ridiculous and incredible. But the biblical witness is scarcely
confined, as the shrill leader in yesterday’s Times suggests, to a few
verses in St Paul. Jesus’s own stern denunciation of sexual immorality
would certainly have carried, to his hearers, a clear implied rejection
of all sexual behaviour outside heterosexual monogamy. This isn’t a
matter of “private response to Scripture” but of the uniform teaching
of the whole Bible, of Jesus himself, and of the entire Christian
tradition.
Read it all here at Times
Online.
HT: Justin
Taylor, Art
Boulet
 Five hundred years ago today, John Calvin was born in the French town of Noyon in Picardy. Calvin is well-known for his work in support of a reformation of the Church in Geneva as well as for his theology textbook, Institutes of the Christian Religion. If you're not familiar with Calvin or his work, today might be a good day to find out more about him. Here are five opportunities to do just that.  heology was Calvin's life's work. He was devoted to teaching and preaching the Bible to members of the Church in Geneva, and to training pastors to serve other congregations across Europe. The system typically known as "Calvinism" or "reformed theology" is one of the things Calvin is most remembered for. On DesiringGod.org, John Piper explains the origin of Calvinism. He and the other pastors at Bethlehem Baptist Church explain Calvinism in more detail here. R.C. Sproul explains reformed theology in his book What is Reformed Theology. Finally, John MacArthur and the staff at Grace Church list God's sovereignty in salvation (PDF) as one of their distinctives.
 nderstanding a person's life can be more fully achieved by reading biographies. John Piper suggests T.H.L. Parker's Portrait of Calvin. Desiring God is republishing this biography in honor of Calvin's 500th birthday. They also offer the book as a free download. Dr. Jim Hamilton recommends Robert Godfrey's John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor.
 igonier Ministries has made John Calvin's life in devotion to God its theme for the July edition of Tabletalk Magazine. They are offering free access to July's Tabletalk online.
 n connection with their annual pastor's conference, Desiring God asked two questions about John Calvin. First, what can we gain from Calvin today? Second, why is Calvin controversial? Watch the videos at DesiringGod.org.
 rimary sources are the best way to get a full grasp on a person's life and work. Christian Classics Ethereal Library has a list of works by John Calvin, including the Institutes and his complete set of commentaries. The online editions are available to read for free. If you're willing to pay for it, Westminster John Knox publishes a great edition of the Institutes in two volumes. Hendrickson Publishers offers a more affordable, but older translation of the Institutes in one volume. This is the edition that I have on my shelf.
So there you have it: a guide to John Calvin in five points. Clever, eh?
 A friend of mine recently posted a question on his website, asking "What do you do in your time of family worship?" I've been thinking about the topic a lot, since my own time of personal worship (i.e., devotions) leaves a little to be desired. I've also been looking for a good plan or form to use in personal worship, since structured forms can help us not to leave important things out. The essential elements of family worship include reading the Bible and praying, because Jesus said that those who worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23–24). Reading the Bible is important to family worship because we are to worship God according to truth. Because it is God's Word, the Bible is our ultimate source of truth and the standard by which all other views, beliefs, and opinions should be tested. Prayer is important to family worship because worshiping God in spirit means that through faith, our hearts are moved to pray. So here are my forms for Morning and Evening Prayer. They have been cobbled together from various sources including Martin Luther's Small Catechism and the Book of Common Prayer. Morning Prayer 1. Begin by calling yourself to worship. Say, "In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen." Then read a short portion of scripture to remind yourself of the One whom you are worshiping, and the One through whom you worship Him. These are provided as examples: -
Ps 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. -
Ps 43:3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! -
Ps 66:1–4 Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” -
Ps 95:1–3 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. -
Ps 96:1–6 Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. -
Ps 96:7–13 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness. -
Ps 100 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. -
Matt 11:28–29 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. -
Rom 8:12–17 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. -
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. -
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 2. Prepare to read God's Word.Read the Apostle's Creed or Nicene Creed or pray the Lord's Prayer (Matt 6:9–13). Then pray that the Lord would prepare you for your reading. From the Community Bible Reading program: - Pray that the Spirit of God would give us ears to hear as we read.
- Pray that each of us would know the joy of knowing Jesus as we read and see aspects of His glory.
- Pray that through this reading we would be transformed in our minds and hearts into Christ’s image and actually believe that we are transformed.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit would cause us to hunger for His Word and would cause us to know the glory of God and His holiness so that we tremble as we read.
3. Read a portion of scripture. You can follow whatever reading plan you prefer. I would recommend a reading plan that takes you through the Bible in a year. Here are a few you might try: If you're leading family worship, you may take some time, if you are able, to explain the passages you read. 4. Pray. Praise God for who He is. Thank him for what He has done. Intercede for others. Bring your requests to Him. Thank the Lord for keeping you through the night. Pray that He would keep you from sin and evil through the day, and that He would help you live in a way that is pleasing to Him. Allow the portion of scripture you just read to inform your prayer. 5. Sing a hymn. Most hymnals have a scripture index so that you can find a song from the passage you read. If you don't have a hymnal, they are fairly inexpensive. 6. Go about your day. Approach your work joyfully and do it well so that you may honor God in your work. Evening Prayer 1. Begin by calling yourself to worship. In the evening before you go to sleep, say, "In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen." As in the morning, read a short portion of scripture to begin your worship. 2. Prepare to read God's Word. Pray the Lord's Prayer (Matt 6:9–13). Then, just as you did in the morning, pray a short prayer that the Lord would prepare your heart for your reading. 3. Read a portion of scripture. Many reading plans suggest that you read from two or four passages each day. Read two in the morning and two in the evening. 4. Pray the same way you prayed in the morning. Thank the Lord for keeping you by his grace during the day. Confess any sins you know of that you haven't repented of, and ask the Lord to forgive you. Ask the Lord to help you repent and avoid that sin in the future. If you are leading family worship this may be a time to pray a general confession. Entrust yourself to the Lord to keep you during the night, and cast before him any cares or concerns you might have from the day. 5. Sing a hymn. 6. Go to sleep promptly and cheerfully.
Listen as R.C. Sproul explains the Gospel. You can also read it here.
Update: If you're unfamiliar with The Shack, I added bibliographic data and the publisher's blurb at the bottom of the post.
 Occasionally, William Young's The Shack still pops up in conversation. Now, I don't like the book, and that often comes through in my tone. I don't mind that it comes through, either. But the fact is, my goal is to dissuade others from liking the book for several really good reasons. And I'm afraid that those reasons don't come through quite as clearly as I'd like them to.
FIRST, The Shack is a book of fiction, and like all works of art, whether good or bad, it has a message. All fiction contains a message that the author wants the reader to get. The simple fact that it is a work of fiction does not mean that it's neutral. The Chronicles of Narnia were not neutral. The Jungle was not neutral. Neither is The Shack. SECOND, the message of The Shack is that God is very different from what the Church has led you to believe. The god in The Shack doesn't care about sin. The god of The Shack is your grandmother. The god of The Shack has no time for distinct gender roles. In the book, Young goes to great lengths to present an anti-church religion—an anti-Bible religion. Young presents an upside-down world, in which God is reimagined to be more acceptable and less embarrassing. THIRD, none of this has anything to do with Young's motive. In fact, I doubt Young wrote this book with anything other than the best of motives. It is a story about moving through pain and grief. It's a story of healing and reconciliation. All of these are good things. Ultimately, though, if you are a Christian, you have to test the message by the Bible to see if it's true (Acts 17:11). The fact is that the message of The Shack is not true. The message of The Shack is like trying to comfort a man with curable cancer, by telling him he doesn't actually have cancer. He may be comforted, but it's based on a falsehood. So regardless of the author's motive, his message is false. FOURTH, The Shack has a higher potential for danger because it's being marketed as a book by Christians for Christians (and others). Since it's not written by infidels with nefarious motives, it's likely that the reader's guard will be down. FIFTH, it is never okay to tell falsehoods about God. Never. That's exactly what Aaron did when he presented the golden calf to Israel and called it the LORD (Exodus 32). That's what Satan did when he called God's word into question in the Garden, suggesting that God was withholding something good from Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-5). So my challenge, if you read this, is to find the propositions. Find the claims that The Shack makes about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and test them to see if they are true.
_______________ Young, William P. The Shack. Newbury Park, CA: Windblown Media, 2008. 256 pages. From the Back Cover: Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!
 For any of you who may be interested, Christian Audio is offering a free audio download of Francis Chan's book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. To get the free book, enter coupon code JUL2009 at checkout.
HT: Justin Taylor
When people are baptized or received into membership at my church, one of the elders asks them these five questions, or a minor variation thereof: - Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
- Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
- Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
- Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
- Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to pay close attention to its purity and peace?
The new members answer each question in the affirmative.
YouTube - Don't Waste Your Life Video - Lecrae
By Lecrae, Featuring Dwayne Tryumf and Cam. (Lyrics)
This video brings to mind a few thoughts, some of which may become full posts at some point. - I like this song, along with others by Lecrae.
- I'm encouraged by the growing movement of theologically careful, Gospel-centered hip hop artists like Lecrae, Flame, Shai Linne and others. In fact, I like it when I find theologically careful, Gospel-centered artists in any genre.
- I like the subject matter—the song deals with the idea of vocation.
- Lecrae recently performed this song at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN on Sunday morning, May 31.
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