Will the Church be the Church for Homosexual Christians?

This article, entitled “A Few Like You”: Will the Church be the Church for Homosexual Christians?, is written by a guy named Wesley Hill. It is a great look into what it's like to be a Christian who struggles with same-sex desires. At one point, he says this:

"If it weren’t for other people, I don’t think I’d make it. For me to live faithfully before God as a sexually-abstinent homosexual Christian must be to trust that God in Christ can meet me in my loneliness not simply with God’s own love but with God’s love mediated through the human faces and arms of my fellow believers."

(HT:Justin Taylor)

Elizabeth Grace Prusa

Tonight, right on her due date, Elizabeth Grace Prusa was born. She's a healthy 8 lbs, 3 ounces & 20 inches. Anna's healthy, but tired. And I think Robert is just excited to be a dad. Here he is with her: Here I am holding her (a little scary at first, but I think I got the hang of it):And here she is with the happy parents:

Human trafficking in Atlanta

Just in case you haven't heard much about the injustice of human trafficking here in Atlanta, check out this video:

Every Christian is a Theologian

Steve Timmis, from The Resurgence:

"We’ve turned the task of theology over to academia, and created a title for a select group of people to wear like a badge of honour: Look at me, I’m a theologian! But if evangelical theology is the truth about God in Christ, then all Christians are theologians in every sense that matters.

We’ve compounded the problem by seeing theology as the articulation of abstract and often difficult intellectual concepts. But the only theology worthy of the name is applied theology: theology that is worked out at street level in the messiness of life. Election is not a doctrine to be discussed only by professionals in the comfort of a study, but by a group of believers so that they are humbled and thrilled by God’s choice. Total depravity isn’t just something to be argued over in a lecture room, but faced up to by a group of saved sinners as they cry out to the Holy Spirit to open blind eyes. Calvin was right in a number of things, not least when he said, 'Doctrine is an affair, not of the tongue, but of life.'”

Andy Stanley's thoughts on exegetical preaching

Ed Stetzer recently interviewed Andy Stanley here. One question he asked was:

What do you think about preaching verse-by-verse messages through books of the Bible?

Stanley's answer:

"Guys that preach verse-by-verse through books of the Bible--that is just cheating. It's cheating because that would be easy, first of all. That isn't how you grow people. No one in the Scripture modeled that. There's not one example of that.

All Scripture is equally inspired, but not all Scripture is equally applicable or relevant to every stage of life. My challenge is to read culture and to read an audience and ask: What is the felt need? Or perhaps what is more important, what is an unfelt need they need to feel that I can address? Because if they don't feel it, then they won't address it."

Although I believe Andy is doing some good things in his ministry, I think he is entirely wrong on this point.

(HT:Matt Adair)

We must come...but we can't

God commands us to do things that we have no ability to do. For instance, this happens in salvation.

John Duncan was a minister in the Free Church of Scotland and a missionary to the Jews in Hungary. John Piper quotes John Duncan here:

"As long as I am told that I must come to God, and that I can come, I am left to suppose that some good thing, or some power of good remains in me, and I arrogate to myself that which belongs to Jehovah. The creature is exalted, and God is robbed of His glory.

If, on the other hand, I am told that I cannot come to God, but not also that I must come, I am left to rest contented at a distance from God, I am not responsible for my rebellion, and God Jehovah is not my God.

But if we preach that sinners can't come, and yet must come, then is the honour of God vindicated, and the sinner is shut up. Man must be so shut up that he must come to Christ, and yet know that he cannot. He must come to Christ, or he will look to another, when there is no other to whom he may come; he cannot come, or he will look to himself.

This is the gospel vice, to shut up men to the faith. Some grasp at one limb of the vice and some at the other, leaving the sinner open - but when a man is shut up that he must and cannot, he is shut up to the faith - shut up to the faith, and then would he be shut up in the faith. God is declared to be Jehovah, and the sinner is made willing to be saved by Him, in His own way, as sovereign in His grace."

The SOLD Project

Thanks to Rachel who commented on yesterday's post, I am now aware about an organization called The SOLD Project:

"The SOLD Project is a grassroots organization dedicated to inspiring and empowering individuals to stop child prostitution before it begins. SOLD is a film and a movement. Our hope is to tell the stories of children affected by prostitution, and allow those stories to empower you towards action."

They are currently on tour to bring awareness to human trafficking specifically in Thailand. For those of you in the Atlanta area, they will be at Emory University on Thursday, March 19 at 6:30pm. Make an effort to go to learn more about this injustice, especially because of how prevalent this industry is in our own city.

Here's the trailer to the film:

The SOLD Project: Thailand trailer from The SOLD Project on Vimeo.

Arrested Development Chicken Dances

If you've never seen Arrested Development, it is/was a brilliantly funny show. Here's a clip showing a compilation of one of my favorite things about the show...the Chicken Dance:

(HT:Paste Magazine)

Help victims of sex trafficking in Georgia

If you live in Georgia, go to this site today to sign a petition to help those who are victims of child sex trafficking. The bill will be voted on tomorrow and, if passed will charge people who visit strip clubs a $5 fee that will go directly to victims of sex trafficking.

Lewis on Equality

Many props to Roy for directing my attention to Present Concerns by C.S. Lewis. While I'm reading through it right now, I might have a few more posts regarding the essays in the book.

First, here are Lewis's thoughts on equality:

“Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.”

and

“I do not think that equality is one of those things (like wisdom or happiness) which are good simply in themselves and for their own sakes. I think it is in the same class as medicine, which is good because we are ill.”

Thoughts on advancing the church by political means

Jonathan Merritt's most recent post:

Steve Monsma, a senior research fellow at the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College and author of Healing for a Broken World, recently received a brochure from an evangelical organization. The pamphlet stated,

With strategic partnerships in Washington, D.C., it [the organization] is able to be proactively involved in the effort to reclaim America for Christ. Whether delivering petitions; encouraging constituents to respond to critical legislation with letters, faxes, phone calls, and email; fighting for qualified judicial nominees; or registering voters; the [name of organization] aims to provide a megaphone for the collective voice of Christ's church.

Reflecting on this, Monsma comments, "There is a problem here, is there not? How, according to this brochure, is America to be reclaimed for Christ? Not by Christians preaching the gospel, not by winning their neighbors to Christ, not by Christian husbands and wives creating homes of mutual respect and love. No, it is by political means: petitions, constituent pressures or public officials, working to affect the judicial nomination process, and voting. It is assumed that America can be led back to Christ by political means. But this cannot be right. Whenever in history the church has tried to advance the gospel by political means, the church has been corrupted and the gospel dishonored."

This story was brought to my mind after some recent comments on this blog. I am reminded that over the last quarter century, many Christians in America have developed the belief that our greatest responsibility is to affect change as citizens of an earthly nation. But even a cursory reading of scripture reminds us that first and foremost we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and our ultimate responsibility is to live as one devoted to the Ruler of that realm. It is unfortunate that so many people get red-faced and wound up in an effort to mobilize Christianity into some political force to fulfill their duties as followers of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, our duties are fulfilled when we live like Jesus--preaching the Gospel, serving the sick and poor, and feeding the hungry.

We have a responsibility to be involved in the political process of this great nation, and if you have followed this blog for very long, you know I take my civic responsibility very seriously. We should rise up to oppose injustices and make good use of our political system. Yet, I am increasingly concerned by the number of Christians who go well beyond this. They fly into an apoplectic panic over political disagreements, reactively fling weak arguments like horseshoes on Independence Day, and demonize any who dare to disagree. We of all people should know that ultimate hope is not found in the hallowed halls of Washington, but in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Perhaps if we spent more time mobilizing people to serve others and share Christ, our communities and even our country would realize the change we so badly desire.

I agree wholeheartedly.

The beauty of doctrine

"Doctrine is the drama"

That's what my Systematic Theology professor said last night after asking him a question. He cited Dorothy Sayers as saying it. She actually said "It is the dogma that is the drama," but it essentially means the same thing. I thought it was beautiful quote. I couldn't then and still can't get it out of my head.

My professor had just finished going through the names of God. He kept pointing out that the names of God are revealed to man. Man doesn't tell God what His names are. He went on to say how certain human caricatures of God do Him injustice. So, when we see books, pictures, movies, etc. about Jesus, they ultimately fall short of who God really is, revealed to us in Scripture.

The drama, the true drama that is meant to ignite our hearts is there for us in the Bible. It's meant to be enough.

Reformed theology vs. Reformed culture

I agree with what Ray Ortlund says here:

"I like Reformed theology. I believe it's what the Bible teaches. But I don't like Reformed culture. I don't believe it's what the Bible teaches.

Reformed theology is all about grace deciding to treat people better than they deserve, for the sheer glory of it all. Sometimes Reformed culture doesn't look like that, feel like that, taste like that. It gives people exactly what they deserve, as judged by the Reformed person. But who exalted him as judge in the first place? Our true Judge stepped down to become our Friend. That theology of grace must translate into the sociology of grace as we treat one another better than anyone deserves, for the sheer glory of it all."

I've had many conversations with people over the years about this very issue. Many are unattracted to the doctrines of grace because of the types of people that believe in them. I lament that this is the case.

Louie Giglio on Passion City Church

Louie Giglio recently did an interview with Christianity Today about the planting of Passion City Church here in Atlanta. It helped me understand a little bit more of where he's coming from. Check it out

Here's one question and answer:

Why are you planting a new church in Atlanta?

In my heart something has been changing and turning for about the last five years. Christ died for the local church. While I've spoken at many of them, and Passion has influenced them around the world, I want to be able to lay down at the feet of Jesus and say I gave it a shot—I tried to build into the local community of faith that he gave his life for, that he loved, and that he believed is the best agent for change in the world.

It's about a man who wants to be obedient to God. It's about me, at 50, hearing the voice of God and saying yes, I will follow that.

(HT:Justin Taylor)

Working in the world through film

Over the last few days, there has been some critical feedback directed towards this article published in the Wall Street Journal. Basically the article was written by the founder of Movieguide.org and tries to show that the United States prefers moral/capitalistic movies based on some profitability statistics (that weren't very convincing). In making their arguement, the authors end up alienating Christians from being thought of as good artists within the movie industry. Mark Moring from Christianity Today wrote a great response to the Wall Street article. Scott also jumped in the discussion here

Jeffrey Overstreet, author and award winning film reveiwer, has responded to much of this as well, and I like what he had to say at the end of this post:

"When the loudest 'Christian voices' in the media consistently embarrass those that actually have something of merit to contribute… when they manipulate statistics and pretend that all America wants are cute, safe, Christian stories with pre-packaged morals at the end… how can we hope to have any meaningful engagement in culture, or appreciate the riches of the stories and movies that others have to share?

If anybody reading this wonders, 'What’s the big deal? Why not have a Christian movie industry?' I encourage you to read the first three chapters of Through a Screen Darkly. That’s where I shared stories from my own life about the awful consequences that can come from such good intentions, and I also shared examples of what is possible when Christian cast of 'branding' and instead glorify God with quiet excellence. If we stop focusing on creating 'Christian Spielbergs' we may realize that God is already revealing himself through Spielberg himself, and that by working in the world rather than separating ourselves from it, we follow Christ’s own example."

Should the falling home values be stopped?

Here's a quick, insightful jab at the logic of wanting to stop the falling prices of homes. This is the opening line:

"Here's the big problem with almost all the current rhetoric about the housing crisis: It presumes that the goal should be to get house prices rising again. The problem with that idea is that, even after a 25% decline, house prices are still way too high."

(HT:Tim Challies)

Lost combining the sacred and the secular

If you watch Lost, you might enjoy this review of last night's eposide by Paste Magazine. Here's how it begins:

"Lost has a long, complicated relationship with religion. While the show is not overtly religious, it is decidedly metaphysical, and not just as a sci-fi nodding to whatever else is "out there." Smoke monsters, ghosts, baptisms, churches and priests with rosaries and biblical walking sticks have all populated the island's lush environs since Season One.

It's highly personal, but this has always made me slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps it's our rigorous separation of church and state that disallowed me from saying the Pledge of Allegiance in middle school, or the music industry's black-and-white genres, marketing Switchfoot to a completely different audience than Iron and Wine. With a divider like the island's electric-fence security system, I want my religion over here and my entertaining sci-fi over there, never the twain to meet.

But in a world where polar bears roam the tropics, this doesn't seem a realistic option. And it probably shouldn't be. Last night's Lost pulled religious (primarily Catholic) themes into the mix again, and I started to settle into it, realizing that this show is all about that twilight zone between the real and imaginary, the sacred and the secular, the bizarre and highly mundane. It pushes us into those uncomfortable places, and perhaps therein lies its brilliance."

Bill Clinton, the Calvinist

This is funny. Irish Calvinist reports on something Bill Clinton said recently:

Bill Clinton: "'I’m too much of a Calvinist. If I don’t work everyday I get nervous.'

Now, if there was ever a title that was universally misunderstood it is Calvinism."

Check out the video

Best Oscar Speeches

Well, the Oscars are Sunday night and I know at least one person who will be watching.

Paste magazine recently listed their top 10 most memorable Oscar acceptance speeches.

Where's $819 billion going?

This chart is helpful look at the specific places where Obama's $819 billion economic stimulus plan will go.

(HT:Tim Challies)