The Corona Virus Is A Result Of The Fall

This is a good article posted on the TGC US Edition, from a couple of weeks ago. Kevin DeYoung responds to Daniel Harrell's baffling piece that was published in "Christianity Today", on March 17th.  

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/the-coronavirus-is-a-result-of-the-fall/

Here is solid response to a different article on the topic, this one by N.T. Wright in Time Magazine, that has some problematic assertions. 
"Christianity Offers No Answers About the CoronaVirus. It's Not Supposed To".

-Response by Owen Strachen in "Reformanda"

https://www.reformandamin.org/articles1/2020/4/1/nt-wright-is-wrong-christianity-offers-answers-and-hope-amidst-the-coronavirus-pandemic

The New Birth - Sermons by Norvin T. Jones

We just celebrated with my father-in-law, Norvin T. Jones and his wife, Betty Jo, along with some of the family, his 95th birthday, at the Villa Maria Nursing Home in Mulvane Kansas, on Feb. 22nd. He served in the US Air Force in Italy during WW2, was a Pastor, Bible school professor and teacher, and lived in both the US and Canada. Here is a link to two sermons, "The New Birth, Part 1 and 2, that he preached at Foothills Baptist Church near Hardy AR, on May 7, 1995. They are taken from the sermon series "The Gospel of John".  

The New Birth Part 1
The New Birth Part 2

God’s Wonderful Faithfulness Through 5 Very Difficult War Years 1940 – 1945

 This is from some memoirs that my Mom wrote in 1997, about her experiences as a young women, going through the 2nd World War years in the city of Utrecht in the central part of The Netherlands. She also went to stay in a safer place, Groningen, near the North Sea, for a short while, with a Dutch Reformed pastor and his wife. She had a remarkable life and after the war, she came to Canada by boat, knowing no one, to marry her sweetheart who had helped to liberate her homeland. They were married in 1947 at First Baptist Church in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.

           God’s Wonderful Faithfulness Through 5 Very Difficult War Years 1940 – 1945                    -by Anneke Thompson            

It was May 10^th, 1940. Our family woke up early on that beautiful morning to the sound of many airplanes going over our house. Our neighbour across the street was out in his pyjamas standing on top of the roof, looking through his binoculars. “Those are German warplanes”, he shouted. There had been threats of war for a while as some European countries were taken over already by that mighty German army. As we turned on the radio that morning, we heard the bad news that our small country was being invaded by this great army. German soldiers, some in Dutch uniforms had parachuted down and there was terrible fighting and confusion. Next thing we knew, there was a fierce battle being fought and at one point burned pieces of paper came down on our city which was in the center of Holland. The big harbour city of Rotterdam had been bombed. The whole inner city with it’s beautiful old churches and majestic buildings was destroyed. Soon after, we discovered pamphlets dropped out of airplanes with the message on them, “you people capitulate or surrender or else your city with over a half million will be bombed also”. This was a very frightening thing hanging over our heads. Then on May 14^th, which was our Mom’s birthday, and always a special day in our family, the news came that our dearly beloved country had surrendered to the enemy. What was a small army going to do against such a superpower?

First there was relief that the shooting and bombing had stopped, but with the passing of each year, life became more and more difficult. All of a sudden, people would disappear, especially men and boys from 16 years of age and up. Many of our supplies which were so carefully looked after, were hauled away. During the First World War, 1914 – 1918, Holland had been a neutral country and people were saved (spared) from the terrors of war and destruction. So, when dark clouds were gathering in Europe in Sept. 1939, Holland was preparing for another time of self-sufficiency and neutrality, but this was not to be, at this time. Supplies started to become scarce, as the enemy had taken much of our goods away. I remember very vividly seeing bombs sailing over our house and dropping a distance behind us where there was an important railway centre. One week this happened three times in a row at exactly the same time each day, about 5:30 P.M. We were all at home and stood in the hallway with our arms around each other, praying that we as a family would be spared. The noise of these bombardments were ear shattering, but thank God none of these many bombs hit our home. One hit on a canal behind us and the mud that splashed in all different directions also covered our house. When these attacks subsided we thanked our Heavenly Father for His protection over us during this ordeal.

For a family of 5 children (some of us in our teens) there were many fears and anxieties to cope with. But we had our faith in God and we had each other and were often encouraged by our loving and God-fearing parents.

One of our beloved school teachers who had hidden an allied soldier who had parachuted from a plane was discovered by the German soldiers. Without any questions asked this teacher was shot and killed right in his house where they found the paratrooper.

Then there were the Jews, some of which were our good neighbours and who did well in their businesses, who, all of a sudden mysteriously disappeared. We never knew what happened to them until after the war when it was discovered that these innocent people were hauled away to Germany in boxcars. There they were gassed and burned in the ovens. Some of these people were of very high calibre and outstanding people in the community. Why were they destroyed? They were Jews and Hitler hated the Jews.

My girlfriend and I on several occasions rode our bikes to the north part of the country to buy trade wares to trade for food. At one time my friend had rubber water hoses as tires on her bike and I had wooden tires as one could not buy regular tires for bikes. My friend’s hoses came off soon after we started our trip and then she rode on the rims of her bike. The wooden tires were bumpy and noisy. At one time, going across the country, war planes were shooting at us and we had to hide in trenches along the side of the road. Coming home from these expeditions one time we had to go through a tunnel. The tunnel was very dark and our bikes were very heavy with food that we had bought and traded. Just when we were almost through, my bike capsized and everything spilled on the ground in that dark tunnel. To make matters worse at the end of the tunnel were enemy soldiers inspecting the people that came through. We picked up as much as we could of our scattered goods and these men probably felt sorry for us and they let us through.  This to us was a miracle of God who had watched over us. Angels were watching over us and they brought us home safely after a very adventurous and dangerous journey.

Many people worked underground, which of course was very risky. One day on one of the highways a motor car with German officers in it was shot at and some GIA”s were killed instantly. It seemed this was an action by the underground people. The punishment was extremely severe. As it happened close to the small town of Putten, all the men, 16 years and older were rounded up and killed. This left only the women and children in that town and there was great sorrow. The last year of the war which was definitely the hardest, the people who worked for Netherland railway went on strike and that was a real blow for the Germans. My Dad was an inspector for the railway warehouses and many along with him were fearing for their lives. A second cousin of ours had made a hiding place in our home for my Dad to disappear if necessary. So many nights we took turns staying up, watching out to see if trucks with soldiers would be in our streets looking for strikers. Then we would have a short time to warn our Dad, and to help him disappear into his hiding place.

To go out of your house after sunset was a no-no. So night after night everyone stayed put unless you wanted to risk your life. Everything was in darkness, no street lights or any kind of light so the allied air forces did not know where the cities were, I remember doing a lot of handwork such as knitting, crocheting, while our Dad read stories to us. We were all together then and that’s all  mattered in those days.

Bad things did not last forever and our hopes of being delivered by the Allied Forces never faded. It was exactly five years after Holland was invaded that deliverance came in 1945. What joy to see our liberators, men who from far away countries who came to set us free. How thankful we were first of all to our God, our Heavenly Father, who sent these men to us. They also had risked their lives to set us free, though many thousands of these young men died on foreign soil. They gave up their lives to set us free.  This reminds me of the perfect One who gave his life to set each and every one of us free so that we can have everlasting life, if we surrender our all to Him.

Fairly shortly after the war was over, I called on some friends and they wanted me to meet some Christian Canadian soldiers.  These same fellows also started to hold fellowship meetings in one of the buildings in our city. My brother, who went to one of these meetings asked me if I would go with him to hear these people speak and witness. I agreed to go and I can tell you I was impressed to say the least. These Canadian men who had gone through so much and watched many of their comrades die on the battle field, were witnessing for their Lord in a strange country. One of these young men was Percy. He was so handsome in his uniform! To make a long story short, that was the beginning of a romance that has lasted close to 50 years. When Percy left Holland in the fall of 1945 to go back to England, we were not sure if there was ever the possibility of seeing each other again. We were not married then and there were still many travel restrictions. Then the letters started coming, first from England. In one of those letters was a beautiful celluloid bookmark with golden letters printed on it which read: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31, What truth there was in this scripture verse. We just trusted if it was God’s will, we would be together again sometime in the future and that this would surely happen. The correspondence went on for over a year. Many blue airmail letters arrived. In those days an airmail letter from Canada would arrive in Holland in 4 or 5 days.

-written in 1997

The SBC and the Broader Evangelical Community

October 4, 2016 by Andy Naselli Leave a Comment

This is a fascinating new essay:

Collin Hansen and Justin Taylor. “From Babylon Baptist to Baptists in Babylon: The SBC and the Broader Evangelical Community.” Pages 33–49 in The SBC and the 21st Century: Reflections, Renewal, and Recommitments. Edited by Jason K. Allen. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2016.

Their thesis is that (a) evangelicals need Southern Baptist conviction and (b) Southern Baptists need evangelical experience. They show that by examining four overlapping pairs of Southern Baptists:

1. Southern Baptist by Name, Evangelical by Reputation: Carl F. H. Henry and Billy Graham
2. Educational Pioneers Inside and Outside the SBC: David Dockery and Timothy George
3. Southern Baptist Tried and True: Albert Mohler and Russell Moore
4. Baptists for World Evangelism: Matt Chandler and David Platt

Four excerpts:

1. During his lifetime Henry was known more as pioneer of the postwar neoevangelical movement than as a Southern Baptist churchman. … For most of his life, he was a prophet without honor in his chosen denomination …. (p. 36)
2. While serving on faculty with Henry at TEDS, New Testament scholar D. A. Carson served as a carrier for an important letter from Henry to Mark Dever, a Cambridge University student completing doctoral studies on the Puritan theologian Richard Sibbes. Henry wanted Dever to be considered as pastor of his home congregation, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, a couple blocks from the Supreme Court building. Dever would assume the role of senior pastor in 1994, and his subsequent influence as an evangelist, preacher, networker, writer, and ecclesial theologian has extended far beyond the SBC. (p. 37)
3. To illustrate just how much conservative Southern Baptists owed to the broader evangelical movement led by Graham and Henry, consider the schools from which Mohler recruited his new faculty: TEDS, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (cofounded by Graham), Dallas Theological Seminary, Taylor University, and Wheaton College. Mohler and other Southern Baptist conservatives could never have reformed their convention without help from fellow evangelicals. (p. 37)
4. Mohler faced pressure to turn the school into a mainstream evangelical seminary. Some professors lobbied for uniformity on inerrancy but latitude on gender roles. In other words, they wanted a school like Beeson, TEDS, or Gordon-Conwell. (p. 41)

                      http://andynaselli.com/the-sbc-and-the-broader-evangelical-community

2012? - The Bible, and The End of the World

Prophecy scholar and author of many books on the subject, Mark Hitchcock, was invited to speak at Credo House of Parchment and Pen blog about the Hollywood movie coming out before Christmas, entitled "2012", and the supposed end of the world. This adventure movie directed by Roland Emmerich stars John Cusack and Amanda Peet and has a plot that has to do with the alignment of the planets predicted by the Mayans and apocalyptic disaster.
Mark has a new book out on the subject with a Biblical perspective and below is a video where he speaks out about it.

Mark Hitchcock - 2012, The Bible, and the End of the World from Michael Patton on Vimeo.

Is a World Government Coming?

My sister-in-law posted this video, "Obama Poised to Cede US Sovereignty" on Facebook.

On October 14, Lord Christopher Monckton, a noted climate change expert, gave a presentation at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN in which he issued a dire warning regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty which is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009.

This is a call for prayer for America and the World!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6uSUuF22zo

The Case For Life

Jusin Taylor has a link to a new web-site that makes an excellent case for the pro-life position. Its based on the premise that there is only one over-riding issue and the debate turns on one key question. The commentary is from Life Training Institute and its at "The Case For Life".

Separation of Church and Sports?

Why are some elitist sports reporters like Sam Cook from the Fort Myers Fl News-Press and columnist Tom Krattenmaker from USA Today so offended by Heisman trophy winning Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow? What many Christians admire about Tim next to his extraordinaire talents on the football field is his zeal for Christ and for his altruism and passion and his big time involvement in evangelism and world missions. Back in July I posted an article here on Tim Tebow, entitled "A Man on a Mission" which shows how amazing his life story really is. Now, in recent days he has been slammed for his stand on the exclusivity of Christ as the only way to God and salvation. He wears his faith on his sleeves (or should I say on his eye-black) and this is his ministry in the sports world and I say "Yay, go for it Tim, all the way in football and evangelism!

Denny Burk has posted an article on this on his web-site along with many other Christians in the blogosphere. Below is Denny's article:

Tebow's Narrow Religion
Tom Krattenmaker has taken a whack at Tim Tebow in a recent article for USA Today. He complains that Tebow’s conservative Christianity has afflicted sports culture in general:

“Jesus’ representatives in sports aren’t just practicing faith. They are also leveraging sports’ popularity to promote a message and doctrine that are out of sync with the diverse communities that support franchises, and with the unifying civic role that we expect of our teams.”

The problem, Krattenmaker argues, is that Tebow’s brand of religion is too narrow and exclusive for pluralistic American sports fans.

“Tebow does his missionary trips to the Philippines under the auspices of his father’s Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association. The Tebow organization espouses a far-right theology. Its bottom line: Only those who assent to its version of Christianity will avoid eternal punishment. The ministry boldly declares, ‘We reject the modern ecumenical movement.’ . . . The Bob Tebow organization is working at cross purposes with the majority of Americans — indeed, the majority of American Christians — and their more generous conception of salvation.”

Krattenmaker also alleges that Tebow’s Christianity is abusive to non-Christians:

“This exclusiveness sometimes morphs into a form of chauvinism and mistreatment of non-Christians. Witness the incident with the Washington Nationals baseball team in 2005, when the Christian chaplain was exposed as teaching that Jews go to hell. Then there was the New Mexico state football team, which was the target of a religious discrimination lawsuit in 2006 after two Muslim players reported being labeled ‘troublemakers’ and were kicked off the team by their devoutly Christian coach. The case was settled out of court and the students transferred.”

What are we to make of Krattenmaker’s charges? Are Krattenmaker’s complaints valid? In short, the answer is no. Here’s why.

Tim Tebow didn’t invent the idea that Jesus is the only basis for eternal salvation. That idea is the 2,000 year old teaching of the Christian church. Jesus himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). The apostles taught this as well saying that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Tebow is no innovator on this point. He’s merely holding forth the ancient faith in hopes that others might come to Christ. If that’s too narrow, then so be it. Culture may change, but the gospel doesn’t. Faithful Christians must never trim their theological sails to accommodate the prevailing winds of a godless culture.

That is what makes Krattenmaker’s examples of “mistreatment” appear pretty lame. The Christian message is not that “Jews go to hell,” but that everyone apart from Christ will go there—including Jews, Baptists, Muslims, and all others who do not know Christ. There is no singling out of any particular group. Every person is spiritually destitute apart from faith in Christ. Krattenmaker makes it sound like conservative Christianity singles-out Jews for persecution. That is simply not the case.

At the end of the day, Krattenmaker’s problem is not with Tebow, but with Christ. Christ is the world’s true King to whom we all owe our allegiance. Christ was crucified and raised to provide forgiveness and eternal life for humanity in rebellion against Him. That’s the message that offends Krattenmaker. This should be no surprise, for unbelievers often find Jesus to be “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8). Krattenmaker is tripping all over the stumbling stone, Jesus. Nevertheless, God’s arm is not too short to save. I’m living proof of that. I hope and pray that somehow Krattenmaker might be too.

Read Al Mohler's post "Time to Separate Church and Sports? A New Agenda Takes Shape"

Check out "A Separation of Church and Sports?" by Kevin DeYoung

Evangelicalism and The Gospel Coalition

Subsequent to my last post on the subject of evangelicalism I would like to post a good, objective video on it from The Gospel Coalition entitled "What does Evangelicalism look like in America today?" with Mark Dever, D.A. Carson, Phil Ryken and C.J. Mahaney.

An Evangel-less Evangelicalism

I have sometimes struggled with how to describe my "religious views" in the profile section of social networking sites. I have used the term "evangelical" because I think it describes and puts one amongst a broader group within the "body of Christ" than just one denomination. Now in North America it seems that it has become so broad that many are claiming the term and fewer and fewer people understand the history behind and can define the meaning of it. I certainly would not claim to be "fundamentalist" anymore because the meaning of that has changed so much too and the same thing is happening with "evangelical" but going in the opposite direction. In the online dictionary Wikipedia, "evangelicalism" is defined as follows:
Most adherents consider its key characteristics to be: a belief in the need for personal conversion (or being "born again"); some expression of the gospel in effort; a high regard for biblical authority; and an emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

That is actually pretty close, as the word "evangel" comes from a Greek word meaning "good news" or "Gospel". It is that we all were lost in sin and Jesus Christ the true God , true man took on Himself the whole penalty and guilt of our sin that we could have eternal life through faith in Christ alone and his atoning work on the cross.

Now this past week Rob Bell from Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids MI does a quite notorious interview in the Boston Globe where he redefines "evangelical" to suit his own preferences. The interview is with Michael Paulson, the Globe's religious reporter who entitles it "Bell aims to restore true meaning of evangelical."

I had thought that probably the label "follower of Jesus' would be a good one to adopt but if you read the whole Boston Globe interview it seems that Bell is redefining that also. With him it is more about man renewing the creation than about Jesus renewing the heart.
Below is what Phil Johnson from Team Pyro wrote about the interview and Bell's answers:

"Performance Artist"
See, this kind of stuff is why I keep saying the historic meaning of the word evangelical will probably never be recovered. (You might want to read The Boston Globe's religion section and then come back here. The rest of this post will be more relevant if you have the full context.) I do agree with Rob Bell about one thing. (Quick. Somebody wash my mouth out with soap. Please.) He's right when he points out that the way the secular media usually employ the term evangelical—as a synonym for religious right-wing politicos—is a misnomer. Bell says, "For many, the word has nothing to do with a spiritual context." Well, yeah, OK. I suppose that's part of the problem. More precisely, the term evangelical has been systematically evacuated of any reference to its historic doctrinal roots. People today therefore feel free to assign it any meaning they fancy—religious or non-religious. Practically everyone in the world of popular religion now claims to be "evangelical" in one sense or another. That includes not only old-line Moral Majority types who think the Republican Party agenda is gospel truth; hip middle-class Willow Creekers who couldn't care less about either doctrine or politics but just want to be entertained; crypto-Socinians like Bell and McLaren; crass socialists like Jim Wallis and Sojourners; heavily politicized left-wing wingnuts who think Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, and Al Franken are all good medicine—or whatever. In fact, listen to Bell's own cockamamie claim about what the term properly describes:
"I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That's a beautiful sort of thing."
So is that what Bell considers "a spiritual context," or did he already forget what he had just been saying about how the term became politicized and corrupted in the first place? Hmmm.

An interviewer at The Boston Globe evidently wondered the same thing. He tells Bell, "I'm struck by the fact that I don't hear a lot of explicitly religious language, or mentions of Jesus, from you."Bell's answers to that question and others in a similar vein are instructive. Among other things, he admits, "I have as much in common with the performance artist, the standup comedian, the screenwriter, as I do with the theologian. I'm in an odd world where I make things and share them with people."

One thing is clear: Bell himself is no true evangelical in any historic sense of the term. The Boston Globe's headline ("Bell aims to restore true meaning of 'evangelical'") is exactly backward. Bell has no agenda to "restore the true meaning" of the term evangelical, much less encourage a revival of true evangelical belief. In fact, Bell has made a career of attacking historic evangelical convictions—laying siege to the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, the wrath of God against sin, the authority and
perspicuity of Scripture, the necessity of the virgin birth, the coherence of
the biblical testimony about the Resurrection, the exclusivity of Christ, and
whatever other historic Christian doctrines Bell finds politically
incorrect.

In fact, if you have the stomach to read the complete version of The Boston Globe interview, don't miss Bell's arrogant skepticism about the sovereignty and omniscience of God: "For a lot of people, dominant questions center around, 'Why is this happening? Why me? Why now?' Unfortunately, the religious voice often enters into the discussion at an inappropriate time—'God just planned this.' Really? Your God planned this, not mine."

If any popular figure "in the evangelical movement" (or on its copious fringe) deserves the label "heretic," it is Rob Bell. The guardians of evangelical politeness don't like that kind of candor, but when a secular newspaper like The Boston Globe is publishing pieces implying that the best, most promising alternative to right-wing civil religion is a mish-mash of Open Theism and performance art—and that whatever "evangelicalism" is, it must be one or the other of those two abominations, it's time for people with historic evangelical convictions to speak up clearly and make the biblical message heard again.

Other responses to the interview:

Jared Wilson from "The Gospel-driven church" blog : "A Rant: Rob Bell and an Evangel-less Evangelicalism" Click HERE

Todd Pruitt of 1517: "Rob Bell finds himself in the weeds again" Click HERE

"Give Me Jesus" - Fernando Ortega

Here is a tune that will stick with you and most importantly it's about the One who sticks closer than a brother. Jesus certainly was that for Ruth Graham, wife of Billy Graham. "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" Proverbs 18:24


Fernando Ortega - "Give Me Jesus" from Adamson.TV on Vimeo.

Worship: Passing the Baton

Bob Kauflin, from Sovereign Grace Ministries, reflects on passing worship to the next generation. He takes some comments from a track and field coach, about the relay race, to offer four points:

The race is about the baton, not the runners.
The relay brings out the best in every runner.
Practice until the handover becomes instinctual.
The baton exchange should occur at very close to maximum speed.

At WorshipGod09:From Generation to Generation, I gave the last message on The Future of Worship, based on Ps. 78:1-8. The previous messages had dealt mostly with the biblical values of worship we want to pass on to future generations - the nature of God, the importance of the heart, the role of leadership, the significance of the local church, and more. The question I asked in my message was: What do we need to keep in mind as we seek to transfer these and other biblical values of worship to the next generation?

In preparing for the message I came across some comments from Nigel Hetherington,the Scottish National Sprints and Hurdles coach. He described what is most important for runners in a relay race to remember. A number of his recommendations relate directly to how we pass on the biblical values of worship from one generation to the next.

The race is about the baton, not the runners.

If you run without the baton, no matter how fast you’re running, your race is in vain. For worship leaders, the baton is the gospel. The gospel - Jesus’ substitutionary death for sinners that reconciled us to God - must always inform everything we pass on. It is the gospel that transforms our dead works into acceptable offerings (1 Pet. 2:5) and draws our attention to the glory of the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 5:6-10).

The relay brings out the best in every runner.

Oddly enough, a properly-trained 400 meter relay team will post a time that is faster than the four runners’ combined 100 meter times. We will serve our churches better and pass on biblical values more effectively if we’re more conscious of those running before and after us. Bryan Chappell, in his excellent book Christ-Centered Worship, says:

We should not ignore the wisdom of church forebears just because it’s old, or automatically reject it just because we didn’t’ think of it. We consider the history because God does not give all of his wisdom to any one time or people (16).

Practice until the handover becomes instinctual.

Athletes must learn to trust one another. Rather than looking back, the outgoing runner should be trained to respond to a ‘hand’ command. Both runners are looking ahead, but it’s the responsibility of the previous runner to make sure the baton is passed. If I’m part of the “passing” generation, I want to be sure that I’m not always looking back to what’s worked for me or the practices that I’m most comfortable with. I want my eyes on what
God might be doing in the future, and make sure the next generation really
catches what’s most important.

The baton exchange should occur at very close to maximum speed.

The incoming athlete should not be overstretched, or he will be off-balance when making the exchange. The outgoing runner must focus on reaching full speed and only put his hand back when he receives the ‘hand’ command. This means that we must intentionally stay close to and learn from generations before and after us.

The Legacy of Asaph: Learning to Sing in the Same Room HERE

Music, Singing and Missions Today

From Desiring God Ministries and John Piper:
"Declare His Glory Among the Nations" June 29, 2008

Marking the Watershed

It has been exactly a year now since I was in South Korea and I have such wonderful memories of our time there and also of our three day trip that our son's new in-laws took us on to the east coast and in the Taebaek mountains of the northeastern part of the country. While we were there we visited L'Abri Fellowship, a Korean branch of the Christian retreat ministry started by Dr. Francis Schaeffer and his wife, Edith, originally when they lived in Switzerland. We were treated to a delicious meal by the hosts, Inkyung and KyungOk, a wonderful Korean couple, missionaries, who had spent some years in Britain, so were quite fluent in English. Also, there were some young Korean pastors who came for the meal, a Bible study and discipling. They were from surrounding towns in the mountains, from small local churches, carrying out a difficult ministry amongst a predominantly Buddhist population.

Yesterday, I was thinking about the watershed issues of Christiandom and within evangelicalism and I found a great article on it. What better man would there be to define the term, watershed, than Francis Schaeffer, who lived in the Alps of Switzerland for seven years and was a great Christian theologian and philosopher? The article is from a book, he wrote 25 years ago and it's pretty applicable for today.

A Watershed
by Francis Schaeffer

Not far from where we live in Switzerland is a high ridge of rock with a valley on both sides. One time I was there when there was snow on the ground along that ridge. The snow was lying there unbroken, a seeming unity. However, that unity was an illusion, for it lay along a great divide; it lay along a watershed. One portion of the snow when it melted would flow into one valley. The snow which lay close beside would flow into another valley when it melted.

Now it just so happens on that particular ridge that the melting snow which flows down one side of that ridge goes down into a valley, into a small river, and then down into the Rhine River. The Rhine then flows on through Germany and the water ends up in the cold waters of the North Sea. The water from the snow that started out so close along that watershed on the other side of the ridge, when this snow melts, drops off sharply down the ridge into the Rhone Valley. This water flows into Lac Leman — or as it is known in the English-speaking world, Lake Geneva —and then goes down below that into the Rhone River which flows through France and into the warm waters of the Mediterranean.

The snow lies along that watershed, unbroken, as a seeming unity. But when it melts, where it ends in its destinations is literally a thousand miles apart. That is a watershed. That is what a watershed is. A watershed divides. A clear line can be drawn between what seems at first to be the same or at least very close, but in reality ends in very different situations. In a watershed there is a line.

A House Divided

What does this illustration have to do with the evangelical world today? I would suggest that it is a very accurate description of what is happening. Evangelicals today are facing a watershed concerning the nature of biblical inspiration and authority. It is a watershed issue in very much the same sense as described in the illustration. Within evangelicalism there are a growing number who are modifying their views on the inerrancy of the Bible so that the full authority of Scripture is completely undercut. But it is happening in very subtle ways. Like the snow lying side-by-side on the ridge, the new views on biblical authority often seem at first glance not to be so very far from what evangelicals, until just recently, have always believed. But also, like the snow lying side-by-side on the ridge, the new views when followed consistently end up a thousand miles apart.

What may seem like a minor difference at first, in the end makes all the difference in the world. It makes all the difference, as we might expect, in things pertaining to theology, doctrine and spiritual matters, but it also makes all the difference in things pertaining to the daily Christian life and how we as Christians are to relate to the world around us. In other words, compromising the full authority of Scripture eventually affects what it means to be a Christian theologically and how we live in the full spectrum of human life.

-Chapter 2 from The Great Evangelical Disaster (Crossway Books, 1984)

Read the whole chapter HERE

L'Abri Fellowship International HERE and L'Abri newsletter HERE

Four Great Quotes on Idolatry

Here is a good reminder on idolatry and I know I definitely need this brought to mind for myself. It comes from Tullian Tchividjian, pastor of New City Church and also, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale FL.

Four Great Quotes On Idolatry
Posted August 21st, 2009 by Tullian Tchividjian

“It is the normal state of the human heart to try to build its identity around something besides God.” Soren Kierkegaard

“Spiritual pride is the illusion that you are competant to run your own life, achieve your own sense of self worth, and find a purpose big enough to give you meaning in life without God.” Tim Keller

“Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped.” St. Augustine

“An idol is anything we trust in for deliverance in the place of Jesus and his grace.” Scotty Smith

By the way, idolatry is not just a problem for non-Christians; it’s a problem for Christians too (read 1 John 5:21). We Christians are also guilty of trusting in something–or someone–smaller than God to give our lives meaning and significance. We look to our achievements, our reputation, our relationships, our strengths, our place in society, our
stuff, our smarts, our good looks, and on and on it goes.

So, let’s not make the mistake of thinking the above quotes don’t apply to Christians. They do. What are your idols? What are you trusting in other than Jesus to gain acceptance and approval–to give your life meaning and to make life worth living?

How Did We Get The Bible?

It seems that there are a lot of skeptics out there these days saying that The Bible was just written by men and not God inspired since it didn't drop out of the sky from heaven. That's an excuse in their minds not to believe it. Others are claiming that what we have today is not what was originally written by the authors.

If you're looking for a good introductory answer to this question on the Bible's origin (in 12 pages), here's a helpful presentation by Matt Harmon, delivered at the No Doubt Apologetics Conference in Indianapolis last week as posted on Justin Taylor's blog.

Just as a side-note, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other artifacts of the period are on display at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto until January 3, 2010. Becky and I saw the exhibition when we were there almost two months ago and for the most part we found it helpful apologetically and quite instructive.

Impressive 12 Year Old Acoustic Guitarist Prodigy from Korea

Sungha Jung from South Korea. His web-site is at http://sunghajung.com/xe/home

Sungha Jung (Born in South Korea on September 2, 1996)

Hi, I'm Sungha Jung from South Korea. My dream is to become a professional acoustic fingerstyle guitarist.

I had been watching my dad play the guitar for awhile before I finally jumped on it myself three years ago.

Currently, I am taking drum lessons and teaching myself fingerstyle guitar.
I used to not have tabs for the music that I played in my videos.
I just listen and pick them up directly from the sound source in
videos available on the internet.
However, recently, I have started playing with original tabs whenever they are available to me by courtesy of the authors. My old guitar is custom made by Selma to fit my body size, and on it, Thomas Leeb wrote "Keep on grooving to my friend."

As of Jan. 1st, 2009 Lakewood acts as sponsor for my guitar officially. I'm very grateful to those prominent guitarists who have had a great influence on my guitar playing. I'll continue to study them and learn more about interpretation of music and various playing techniques. My daily practice routine lasts for one to two hours when school is open, but I play up to three hours a day during the school breaks. It usually takes me two to three days to practice and videotape a new piece but sometimes up to a week for more difficult ones.

Last, but certainly not least, I can't thank Ulli Bogershausen enough for being my musical inspiration.

Randy Alcorn on Suffering and Evil

Last week a rather lengthy interview of Randy Alcorn by Andy Naselli, guest blogger on "Between Two Worlds", was posted on the subject of suffering and evil. It's about a new book that Randy has written that will be coming out next month. It attempts to deal with a most difficult issue and judging from other books that Randy Alcorn has written and the amount of comprehensive research that he does usually, (i.e. - 25 years on his book, "Heaven"), it should be interesting to see his insights on it. We certainly won't know all the answers until that day when our faith will be made sight! This is part of it from Andy Naselli:

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching biblical truth and drawing attention to the needy and how to help them. He has authored over thirty books ranging from popular theological works to best-selling novels and children's books. His most recent book addresses what is probably the most difficult theological issue: the logical and emotional problems of evil:

If God Is Good . . . : Faith in the Midst of Suffering
and Evil.

Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Multnomah,forthcoming on September 15, 2009. 528 pp. Also available as an abridged audiobook and unabridged download.

"One hundred percent of the royalties from this book will be given to promote good, oppose evil, and relieve suffering around the world."

Interview with Randy Alcorn on Suffering and Evil

1. There are dozens of useful books on "the problem of evil." (Last year I recommended twenty-two of them [pp. 8-10], and you told me then that you had already read all but two from that list.) These range from books that focus on weighty theological and philosophical arguments to others that are preoccupied with giving pastoral care. What is your view of the books on this subject that are already out there?

I've read about a hundred substantial works (plus countless articles) on the problem of evil and suffering, ranging from the biblical and theological to the philosophical, pastoral, and experiential. Many of these don’t hold to a biblical perspective, but a number do. Some of the biblically sound books aren’t well written, but others are wonderful, including works by Carson, Piper,Bridges, C. S. Lewis, Henri Blocher, Michael Card, Ken Gire, Michael Horton,Peter Kreeft, Peter Hicks, and Joni Eareckson Tada. Even many Sinclair Ferguson fans are unaware of his out-of-print but excellent Deserted by God? Yet all these books are remarkably different. (And no, I don’t agree with everything in all of them, e.g., Kreeft comes to mind!)

The ways in which the books overlap are quite helpful and don’t feel at all redundant. While every biblically oriented book on the subject will share a common core, citing some of the same Scriptures, there are very different ways to develop this subject. And remarkably different styles and emphases. You can watch five movies about family conflict without feeling redundancy. The same subject matter, but very different setting, characters, events, and relationships. And different actors and directors who bring their own unique voice to the theme. So with books.

By the way, since BetweenTwo Worlds is one of the few blogs I read regularly (I see and welcome those notifications via Twitter when there’s a new post), I know the readers of this blog are book lovers. So I’ll say this. If people were going to read only two books about evil and suffering, it would be a tough choice, but I would recommend to them "How Long, O Lord?" by D. A. Carson and "When God Weeps" by Joni Eareckson Tada and Steve Estes. These books share the same biblical and Christ-centered orientation, and both are full of sound and robust theology; but they are substantially different in content, tone, and style. They complement each other beautifully.

2. What distinct contributions does "If God Is Good" make to the existing body of books on this subject?

I labor hard on research and writing, and I made a commitment years ago never to waste my time writing a book if anything remotely close to what I wanted to write was already out there. But the more I studied the subject over the past two years, the more convinced I became that there was much I wanted to say, and in a particular way, that had not been said in one book.

I shaped the book to have a very distinctive approach and feel. I did this with my earlier books Money, Possessions and Eternity (a biblical and practical theology of money) and my big book Heaven (much of which is a biblical theology of the New Earth, then moving to imaginative aspects based on my biblical understanding). I sought in both books to say not just what had already been said, but what hadn’t been said, and to do it in a way that might reach readers who would normally not pick up a big book full of theology. In fact, If God Is Good is filled with theology, but my desire is to reach both those who love theology and those who can and need to learn to love it, and see loving it as part of loving God.

The structure of "If God Is Good" is reflected in its Table of Contents. Those familiar with other books on the subject will see some of its distinctives.

One distinctive is its scope. I write a lot of nonfiction, including many short books that deal with small subjects or with big subjects in a small way. But occasionally I sense God leading me to set aside a few years to research and write on a subject in a more comprehensive way. This applies to the two books I mentioned above, as well as ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments.

At first, I envisioned doing a short book on evil and suffering, built around a presentation on the subject I had done on a secular college campus, and later a modified one at my church. But because my book Heaven had surprised the publisher and the booksellers through its sales, it seemed to have proved that people were willing to read 500 pages full of Scripture and theology. This helped me decide to tackle a subject of such weighty and immense proportions as the problem of evil.

I freely admit that in the process of research and writing I was continually aware that it was beyond me to pull this off, just as I had realized with the Heaven book and one of my novels (Dominion, which features an African American character in an African American context, and here I was, the writer, a white guy from the suburbs). But when you realize that apart from Christ you can do nothing, the continuous sense of dependence on the Holy Spirit yields benefits in your own walk, and hopefully in the book itself.

Distinctives of If God Is Good are reflected in many of the individual chapters, including the one on the health and wealth gospel, which has permeated the theology of countless Christians in churches who consider themselves not to embrace prosperity theology. It’s like a cancer that quietly eats up and takes over a Christian worldview and leaves people dismally unprepared for suffering. They are set up to feel let down by God, who appears to have not kept his promises that we’ll be preserved from suffering in this life (promises, of course, that He has not made). As I say in the book, any faith that leaves us unprepared for suffering is a false faith that deserves to be lost. By God's grace, we must turn away from the idols of false worldviews and turn to the true Christ of Scripture,not the false Christ of our fallen imaginations.

Read the whole interview HERE

Emergency Landing: An Unforgettable Experience from Randy Alcorn

Subsequent to the story I last posted, about the tragic event in Kenya with AIM AIR, I've decided to post another story about an aviation incident that occurred twenty years ago today, but with a much happier ending. This story comes from Randy Alcorn at Eternal Perspectives Ministries and it's about an event that happened to him and his daughter while he was in Alaska speaking at a missionary conference.

This story again brought back memories of a similar event that my brother-in-law related to us some years ago. He was flying by himself in a New Tribes Mission plane in Mindanao in the Philippines and had just taken off when an oil line on the engine broke. He was able with God's help to make a silent and safe landing.

Randy Alcorn actually has a video of when almost the same thing happened while he was in a plane near Palmer Alaska.

Twenty Years Ago Today: Rescued in Alaska

Today is the twentieth anniversary of an unforgettable experience.

In 1989, I’d spoken at a missionary conference in Palmer, Alaska. Afterward, we were headed north to Galena, on the Yukon River, by small plane. My ten-year-old, Karina, and I were flying with our missionary friend, Barry Arnold, and his daughter, Andrea, also ten. Nanci and our daughter Angie were leaving with the rest of Barry’s family an hour later in another plane, tak­ing a different route.

Well into the flight we were cruising over a beautiful waterfall at three thousand feet, when suddenly the engine lost power. We saw smoke. Realizing that there was no oil pressure, Barry had to shut off the engine, which looked like it was about to burn. Suddenly we were descending rapidly in a rough mountain pass where there was no place to land. It looked like we wouldn’t make it.

Read the entire story HERE

AIM AIR Accident- Request for Prayer

Missionary pilots put their lives on the line just about every day and we as a family certainly were made aware of that when my brother-in-law was a pilot in the Philippines for 15 years and we saw pictures and heard about all that he did. They constantly need our prayers. Yesterday there was an accident in Nairobi, Kenya where an Africa Inland Mission Air pilot was killed and two passengers were injured. Please pray for the pilot's family and for those who were injured and their families also.

AIM AIR Accident- Request for Prayer
August 02 2009

An accident occurred on August 1, with an AIM AIM Cessna 206. It occurred around 2:30PM (EAT) near the Nairobi Wilson Airport. There were four people on board; AIM AIR pilot Frank Toews, AIM AIR mechanic Ryan Williams and two Americans. At this time there is still medical evaluation being done but this is what we know: The two passengers have some broken bones, minor burns, cuts and bruises. They are both being kept in the hospital for treatment and further evaluation. Ryan Williams' injuries currently include a fractured pelvis, multiple contusions and some significant burns. However, his prognosis is good and he is receiving good medical attention in Nairobi. Frank Toews, the pilot, did not survive the accident and has gone to be with the Lord and Savior whom he loved dearly and served well.

Please pray with us, specifically for the timely return for health of those who are injured, their families, and particularly for Frank's wife and 4 children as they trust God for strength and comfort during this difficult time.

We are trusting God, with all of you, to show Himself to be good, even beyond our expectations and understanding of what good could mean, in a situation like this.

Denny Dyvig -
AIM AIR General Manager

Story on AIM AIR web-site and CNN
See AIM AIR ministry Video- Click HERE or below