Catching Up

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I want to update you on a few things concerning the blog and life.

One of my main goals with the blog over the last few months has been to only blog when I want to, and to keep from encouraging comment threads that end up wasting my time.  For the most part I've stuck with that idea and it's made the blog an extension of my life rather than a power over my life.  I haven't been writing much of my own thought lately, not much in terms of original content.  But I'm okay with that right now.  I hope that will change soon, but it has to mesh with what I'm doing in my local church.

Dsc_0014 We went to visit my parents after church on Sunday.  I've mentioned before that my Mom has cancer.  Last week they found out the chemo is working and shrinking the cancer.  It's hard to say what that will mean for the next few weeks or months, but it's the first piece of good news we've had since she was diagnosed.  Thanks to all who are praying.  The picture is of my mom and sister.  My sister colored her hair, my mom (who is losing her hair) is wearing a Halloween wig.

I'm halfway through preaching Colossians and loving it.  It's just what I need, and I'm thankful to God for what I'm learning.  I hope our church is getting the same thing.  The one thing I haven't done much of lately is listen to sermons.  My wife and I used to listen to a sermon together on Monday mornings.  I would be in my office and she would be working on the house.  But I moved my home office to our basement so we are disconnected.  I miss those mornings listening together to guys like Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll or Tim Keller.

My sons and I are really enjoying the football season so far.  The Bears are exceeding all expectations and look like they are equipped to go the distance.  The Monsters of the Midway are monsters again.  Beware!

Have you enjoyed a good cigar lately?  Why not?  I've been learning a lot about cigars lately and have enjoyed one or two.  Delightful.  Pick up this one, or maybe this one.

Last let me mention some things I've been enjoying lately.  Richard Lovelace's book, Renewal as a Way of Life, has been a great encouragement so far.  A very thought provoking book.  Ray LaMontagne's new CD, Till the Sun Turns Black, is good.  iMonk's podcast has been a nice diversion.  So has Writers on Writing. 

By the way, the iTunes 7 upgrade sucks for Windows users.  Then they put up a fix (7.0.1) which merely sucks less.  Distortion.  If you haven't upgraded, stay where you are for now.

McKinley @ Catalyst

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One of the many conferences I wanted to attend this year was Catalyst.  Rick McKinley, pastor of Imago Dei in Portland, is one of the speakers I wanted to see.  Out of Ur has some thoughts on the "lab" McKinley led at Catalyst...

"As pastors, we are tempted to build the church," [McKinley] said. "So wesend out postcards to targeted Zip codes and we promote church programs." But that misses the point, he argued. "Our job isn’t to build the church. We’re supposed to BE the church, and build the kingdom." He emphasized that the kingdom is to be experienced NOW, on earth, as Christians exemplify godly living, but he also pointed out, as the recent school shootings demonstrate, that the kingdom is also "not yet." God’s kingdom won’t be realized in its fullness as long as such sin characterizes our world.

[...]

"The best expression of the church is NOT what happens on Sunday morning. It’s what happens in the world during the week. And that’s not something you can market."

His most provocative statements focused on the Christian’s calling to love their neighbors, even if those neighbors don’t respond to Christ or clean up their act. He told of his church’s messy efforts to love those with addictions, mental illnesses, and other conditions that aren’t easily cleaned up.

"We’re not called to change people’s behavior; we’re called to love them whether they change or not. It’s up to God to change them."

Driscoll & Piper Email Exchange

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Mark Driscoll posts (with permission) his email exchange with John Piper after speaking at the Desiring God conference.  It puts to rest the idea that Piper and Driscoll are at odds, as has been the discussion on the web.  From Piper's last email to Driscoll, after Driscoll asked if he could post their email exchange online...

...tell the world that, I wouldnot have .001 seconds hesitation in having Mark Driscoll come back tomorrow to our church or our conference. I LOVE being on the same team and consider my self a learner in your presence more than a counselor.

Loving Our Neighbors

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Renewal_way_of_lifeLove for our neighbors...like love for ourselves, involves something vastly more significant than the meeting of individual needs.  It involves God's reaching out in us and through us to build a kingdom, a sphere of rulership, in which his will is done in the fallen world as it is in the sinless heavens; in which cruelty and disorder and the distortion caused by sin are supplanted by love, order and righteousness.  Loving obedience to God produces much more than individual goodness, respectability and the alleviation of suffering.  It builds the kingdom of heaven.

Richard F. Lovelace in Renewal as a Way of Life, p. 40.

Desiring God: Keller and Driscoll

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Challies has posts with content from the Desiring God conference messages (mostly relaying content in his own words) of Tim Keller...

There has to be a lifelong process of realizing the wonder of thegospel. Religion gives you control which is why it's so popular. Religion is "I obey, therefore I'm accepted." The gospel is "I'm accepted, therefore I obey."

...and Mark Driscoll...

John Calvin was not just a contender but a contextualizer, so we must redeem what it means to be a true Calvinist. When persecution happened in Europe, people flocked to Geneva. Calvin trained them and then sent them out to share the gospel. If you are a true Calvinist you are not just a contender, but also a contextualizer.

9Marks & The Missing Keller

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9Marks Ministries (Mark Dever) has a new set of articles up about the "missional" church (see left side of their homepage).  Jonathan Leeman's article, "What in the World is the Missional Church?," is most prominent and includes history, quotes and thoughts from Guder to Stetzer.  You may find his article and others at 9Marks worth reading, and at least an honest attempt of baptist reformed types who desire to understand "missional."

An obvious problem with Leeman's article is that he didn't even mention Tim Keller.  Keller is a reformed conservative (as is 9Marks & Dever) and so discussing Keller should have been essential, and maybe even central to this article.  On top of that, missional thinkers admit they owe much to Keller's writings, sermons, conference messages and local church example.  So in my mind, regardless of some of the thoughtful things Leeman says, missing Keller is missing  "missional."  It's disappointing.

ESV Bible Turns 5

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EsvThe English Standard Version of the Bible (my Bible of choice) turns 5 years old in a few days.  Congrats! 

Today, the ESV is available in more than one hundred formats, has seen nearly 3 million copies distributed worldwide, and is reaching the world in creative and strategic ways. ESV General Editor J. I. Packer recently stated, “I find myself suspecting very strongly that my work on the translation of the ESV Bible was the most important thing that I have done for the Kingdom, and that the product of our labors is perhaps the biggest milestone in Bible translation in the past fifty years or more.”

[...]

The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible is an essentially literal Bible translation that combines word-for-word precision and accuracy with literary excellence, beauty, and readability. Believing that every word of the Bible is inspired by God, the translators of the ESV sought to be transparent to the original text so that the reader could see the structure and meaning of the original as clearly as possible. For more information on the ESV Bible, visit www.esv.org.

Mom Update

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Dsc_0010I'm really not going to go into much detail on the blog about my Mom and her situation with cancer.  I'm not going to keep giving regular updates or anything.  But I did want to mention a couple of things since so many of you are praying.  Thank you so much for your comments and prayers.  And thanks to those of you who felt compelled to post on your blog about my mom.  It's very encouraging to me, and to her.

Dsc_0011 Mom started chemo last Monday, but then went to the emergency room two different times in the following days with shortness of breath.  From that we found out the cancer in her lungs (originating from breast cancer) is spreading very rapidly.  It was another major blow in a couple of weeks of being pummeled with bad news.  So we left Friday afternoon and spent Friday night and Saturday with my Mom and Dad (they live 2 1/2 hours away).  We just needed to see her and hug her and let them know we are there to talk or listen or laugh or whatever.  It was very good for us, and I think good for her too.

Second round of chemo was yesterday and we are still hopeful that it will work and the cancer will shrink and allow her to live for a handful of years.   Please pray for that.

Most of all pray that Mom and Dad would find great courage and faith in a time of many doubts and struggles.  Pray that they would be confident in God's goodness and trust in the Cross of Christ.

My Mom does pop by here now and then and I've tried to be careful in what I've shared.  I'm going to close the comments because I don't want to encourage a conversation or questions about her cancer for her to see.  If you have something you would like to say or ask, please email me.  Thanks so much friends.

Misery, err, Missouri

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Ugh.  I'm sick of the same regurgitated, unsubstantiated arguments against the "consumption of beverage alcohol."  But I'm not surprised.  Here's an article by the Executive Director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, David Clippard.  My favorite part...

All of the new church starts that the Missouri Baptist Convention hasany part of supporting are required to sign and agree to a no-alcohol covenant. This covenant has been fully supported by all our church planter pastors. For this we are grateful.

Keller vs. Piper

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D.J. Chuang puts his life in danger when he posts "Why I Like Keller More Than Piper."  Okay, not really.  It has little to do with comparing the two.  But it's a good post on the reasons why D.J. (I think he speaks for many) likes Keller a lot.  Here's his points, but please read his whole post for his quotes and explanations.

  1. He is unassuming.
  2. He graciously preaches the Gospel clearly and compellingly.
  3. His preaching is accessible and edifying to both non-Christians and Christians.
  4. He allows us to see that the writers of the past and present are both relevant to life and faith today.
  5. He is authoritative without being authoritarian.
  6. He believes that doctrines are important and actually shows how it matters.
  7. He is fair and honest.
  8. His passion for the cities of the world reflects the City of God.
  9. He is respectful of other’s convictions, preferences, and callings.
  10. He encourages people to think out the implications of their faith.
  11. He speaks to the heart of the matter.
  12. He deconstructs and reconstructs.
  13. He teaches the Bible in a refreshing culturally engaging way.
  14. He reads and comments on blogs.

Keller & Driscoll: Desiring God Videos

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Tim Keller & 9/11 Remembrance Message

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Michael Keller has provided a transcribed version of Tim Keller's "Sermon of Remembrance and Peace for 9-11 Victim's Families", given on September 10th, 2006.  It's a "must read," and I've included the full text below as well.  The White House transcribed it and sent it to the Keller's because Bush (who was present) asked Karl Rove for a written copy. 

Michael's intro to the sermon...

Below is a sermon that particularly resonates with me on multiple levels. First, it is a sermon delivered by dad to 9/11 victims’ families and national dignitaries (Bush, H. Clinton, Bloomberg, Pataki, Giuliani, etc) about suffering and what they can do with their very personal suffering that still exists. It impacted me because I saw concisely in the sermon the power the resurrection has to those suffering. Secondly, it was a sermon given at an interfaith memorial (8 min long) and therefore as a student currently studying presentation to multiple audiences, I was impacted at both the kindness he had towards the “resources” of other faiths, but also the honesty and clarify that he still spoke from his own convictions. This is the way, to affirm others, and still not lose the distinct Gospel voice that we deem as so powerful in today’s society. Lastly, it impacted me because while many others would have used the pulpit in front of so many political figures to espouse either their own political views, or some well meaning, yet hopelessly ill-timed, alter call type message- dad focused on those suffering and in pain and tried to speak to them in their loss of their loved ones with the message that there is a God, the God, who knows exactly what it feels like and can therefore relate to them in their pain. Way to go dad.

Below is the transcribed version of the sermon done by individuals at the White House who also apparently liked it.

-Michael

Here's the full sermon text...

SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE AND PEACE
FOR 9-11 VICTIMS’ FAMILIES
Ground Zero/St Paul’s Chapel Tim Keller
Sep 10, 2006      

As a minister, of course, I’ve spent countless hours with people who are struggling and wrestling with the biggest question - the WHY question in the face of relentless tragedies and injustices. And like all ministers or any spiritual guides of any sort, I scramble to try to say something to respond and I always come away feeling inadequate and that’s not going to be any different today. But we can’t shrink from the task of responding to that question. Because the very best way to honor the memories of the ones we’ve lost and love is to live confident, productive lives. And the only way to do that is to actually be able to face that question. We have to have the strength to face a world filled with constant devastation and loss. So where do we get that strength? How do we deal with that question? I would like to propose that, though we won’t get all of what we need, we may get some of what we need 3 ways: by recognizing the problem for what it is, and then by grasping both an empowering hint from the past and an empowering hope from the future.

First, we have to recognize that the problem of tragedy, injustice and suffering is a problem for everyone no matter what their beliefs are. Now, if you believe in God and for the first time experience or see horrendous evil, you rightly believe that that is a problem for your belief in God, and you’re right – and you say, “How could a good and powerful God allow something like this to happen?”

But it’s a mistake (though a very understandable mistake) to think that if you abandon your belief in God it somehow is going to make the problem easier to handle. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from Birmingham Jail says that if there was no higher divine Law, there would be no way to tell if a particular human law was unjust or not. So think. If there is no God or higher divine Law and the material universe is all there is, then violence is perfectly natural—the strong eating the weak! And yet somehow, we still feel this isn’t the way things ought to be. Why not? Now I’m not going to get philosophical at a time like this. I’m just trying to make the point that the problem of injustice and suffering is a problem for belief in God but it is also a problem for disbelief in God---for any set of beliefs. So abandoning belief in God does not really help in the face of it. OK, then what will?

Second, I believe we need to grasp an empowering hint from the past. Now at this point, I’d like to freely acknowledge that every faith - and we are an interfaith gathering today – every faith has great resources for dealing with suffering and injustice in the world. But as a Christian minister I know my own faith’s resources the best, so let me simply share with you what I’ve got. When people ask the big question, “Why would God allow this or that to happen?” There are almost always two answers. The one answer is: Don’t question God! He has reasons beyond your finite little mind. And therefore, just accept everything. Don’t question. The other answer is: I don’t know what God’s up to – I have no idea at all about why these things are happening. There’s no way to make any sense of it at all. Now I’d like to respectfully suggest the first of these answers is too hard and the second is too weak. The second is too weak because, though of course we don’t have the full answer, we do have an idea, an incredibly powerful idea.

One of the great themes of the Hebrew Scriptures is that God identifies with the suffering. There are all these great texts that say things like this: If you oppress the poor, you oppress to me. I am a husband to the widow. I am father to the fatherless. I think the texts are saying God binds up his heart so closely with suffering people that he interprets any move against them as a move against him. This is powerful stuff! But Christianity says he goes even beyond that. Christians believe that in Jesus, God’s son, divinity became vulnerable to and involved in - suffering and death! He didn’t come as a general or emperor. He came as a carpenter. He was born in a manger, no room in the inn.

But it is on the Cross that we see the ultimate wonder. On the cross we sufferers finally see, to our shock that God now knows too what it is to lose a loved one in an unjust attack. And so you see what this means? John Stott puts it this way. John Stott wrote: “I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the Cross. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?” Do you see what this means? Yes, we don’t know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, but we know what the reason isn’t, what it can’t be. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us! It can’t be that he doesn’t care. God so loved us and hates suffering that he was willing to come down and get involved in it. And therefore the Cross is an incredibly empowering hint. Ok, it’s only a hint, but if you grasp it, it can transform you. It can give you strength.

And lastly, we have to grasp an empowering hope for the future. In both the Hebrew Scriptures and even more explicitly in the Christian Scriptures we have the promise of resurrection. In Daniel 12:2-3 we read: Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake….[They]… will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and…like the stars for ever and ever. And in John 11 we hear Jesus say: I am the resurrection and the life! Now this is what the claim is: That God is not preparing for us merely some ethereal, abstract spiritual existence that is just a kind of compensation for the life we lost. Resurrection means the restoration to us of the life we lost. New heavens and new earth means this body, this world! Our bodies, our homes, our loved ones—restored, returned, perfected and beautified! Given back to us!

In the year after 9-11 I was diagnosed with cancer, and I was treated successfully. But during that whole time I read about the future resurrection and that was my real medicine. In the last book of The Lord of the Rings, Sam Gamgee wakes up, thinking everything is lost and discovering instead that all his friends were around him, he cries out: "Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead! Is everything sad going to come untrue?"

The answer is YES. And the answer of the Bible is YES. If the resurrection is true, then the answer is yes. Everything sad is going TO COME UNTRUE.

Oh, I know many of you are saying, “I wish I could believe that.” And guess what? This idea is so potent that you can go forward with that. To even want the resurrection, to love the idea of the resurrection, long for the promise of the resurrection even though you are unsure of it, is strengthening. I John 3:2-3. Beloved, now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope purify themselves as he is pure.” Even to have a hope in this is purifying.

Listen to how Dostoevsky puts it in Brothers Karamazov: “I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world’s finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, of the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, of all the blood that they’ve shed; and it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify what has happened.”

That is strong and that last sentence is particularly strong…but if the resurrection is true, it’s absolutely right. Amen.

Driscoll Updates Ministry in Seattle

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Driscoll_1Mark Driscoll has a nice, long post on what's happening in his life & at Mars Hill.  It's an interesting post with a look at a few people who are throwing stones at him, the growth issues they face at Mars Hill as well as the number of people they have in various recovery groups, and stuff he is writing. 

Whatever you think of Driscoll, it's good to keep up.