2009 Banner Report: Day Two

Photo: Sinclair Ferguson speaking at a past Banner conference.

Day two (Wednesday):

Morning:

Sinclair Ferguson, Senior Minister at First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, SC spoke on "Union with Christ: Gospel Foundations."

His text was Colossians 3:1-17. He began by quoting Calvin as saying that all Christ has done for us is no use to us if we are outside of Christ. He then noted the rarity of conferences that focus on the doctrine of union.

He also pointed to the ethics of this doctrine: "Shame on me, if I should ever think of a fellow believer as not being in Christ." You can preach through books of the Bible and not preach Christ. Where are the books in the Pastor’s study on Christ?

He focused on the basic structure of apostolic teaching on union as seen in Colossians 3. He noted:

1. A grammar of union.

2. A chronology of union. "Christ will not come in glory unless he comes with all those who are united to him."

3. A geography of union. "Never seek mortification without vivification." He later added that one should not dare read John Owen’s work of mortification without also reading him on the glory of Christ.

4. A rhythm of union.

From structure he moved on to substance, asking, "How rich is your exposition of Jesus Christ? How much do you read and think about Christ?"

The second morning session was Chad Van Dixhorn, Associate Minister of Grace OPC near Washington, DC who gave a short talk on "Pastoral Theology of John Chrysostom."

The third morning session was Ian Hamilton, Pastor of Cambridge Presbyterian Church, Cambridge, England on "Calvin the Pastor." Taking Philippians 3:7-16, he spoke of Calvin as a pastor noting that his first love was for "the fickle, feisty, flock" at Geneva.

He noted seven features of Calvin’s pastoral ministry:

1. Jesus is the primary Shepherd.
2. Christ animates ministry.
3. The pastor takes on the servant spirit of the chief Pastor.
4. Preaching and teaching of the gospel is the primary ministry.
5. The importance of pastoral visitation.
6. He never wearied of telling his people to get out of themselves and into Christ. He quoted Rutherford: "For every one look at self, take ten looks at Christ."
7. Served out of the overflow of his own union with Christ, with (a) an endearing humanity; and (b) a sense of his own weakness.

Afternoon:

The first session was again Van Dixhoorn on Chrysostom. To be honest, I skipped this one in favor of the bookroom.

The second session was "Calvin the Teacher" by Jonathan Watson, General Editor for the Banner.

He began with Calvin’s dying words that he had taught and interpreted the Scriptures faithfully.

He then used a three-fold division on the duty of pastors with application to Calvin’s life:

1. They are to be instructed.
God placed men in Calvin’s path who taught him the gospel and the Reformed faith.

2. They are to hold onto the faith.
He traced the struggles Calvin encountered in Geneva, including personal abuse. Some named their dogs "Calvin" to mock him; some abbreviated his name as "Cain"; others shouted and made rude noises while he preached. "On a good day he reckoned 1 in 10 in Geneva were converted; on a bad day, only 1 in a 100." Still, he persevered.

3. They are to teach sound doctrine.
Calvin was not a cold and clinical theologian but a passionate preacher and teacher. He preached through books of the Bible. His sermons were about 30 minutes in length, and he preached without notes. His sermons were simple but clear and vivid.

Evening:

Begg again spoke on "Persuasive Preaching." He took Acts 25:23-26:32 as his text and worked through the following outline:

Background.
Consider the scene (25:23).
Paul as religious prodigy (26:1-8).
Opposition and persecution (26:9-11).
Divine intervention (26:12-18).
Explanation (26:19).
An interruption (26:24).
Application (26:27). He noted Paul’s winsome engagement designed to persuade.

JTR

2009 Banner Report: Day One

Photo: Steeple of Hostetter Chapel at Messiah College where the Banner meetings were held.

I attended the Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference at Messiah College in Grantham, PA this past week, Tuesday-Thursday (May 26-28, 2009).

We left in the rain Tuesday morning. In our group were Howard A., Ron P. and John C. from JPBC. We also had Ron’s friend Ray who had come down from Maine and Pastor Rob Stovall who had come up from Suffolk.

There were c. 320 men there for the conference, around 80 more than were there last year. This year’s theme was "A Godly Heritage" with a tilt of the hat to Calvin’s 500th birthday. The messages, however, did not rigidly tie in to the theme and speakers had freedom to address various topics.

Day one (Tuesday):

Afternoon:

The first message at 3:30 pm was by Mark Johnston, Minister of Grove Chapel in London. His text was Hebrews 13:7-8. He began by asking whether we could justify any conference that would focus on Calvin, since Calvin would have been mortified by such attention. He answered that we can do this only if (1) we do it honestly; (2) we do not place men on a pedestal.
Focusing on Hebrews 13:7, he said we were to remember great men of the past, because:

1. They give us encouragement to persevere.

2. They give us a model of faith and life.

3. They help lead us to Christ (focus on v. 8). "These leaders did not lead their followers to themselves but to Jesus."

Evening:

The evening message was presented by Alistair Begg of Parkside Church, near Cleveland, Ohio. He was to have spoken on the book of Job but he changed topic to "Persuasive Preaching."
He took 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 as his text, noting that Paul faced human opposition and divine compulsion.

He noted three peculiar challenges:

1. The personal challenge. We are naturally fearful and inhibited, and we use this as an excuse.

2. The cultural challenge. The only person whom our culture teaches us to fear is the one who wants to persuade us.

3. The theological challenge. Quoting John Murray, he noted that Reformed men can display "a conspicuous awkwardness … in the free offer of the gospel." He cited Matthew 11 as displaying the balance between sovereignty (vv. 25-27) and responsibility (vv. 28-30).

He offered anecdotes to each of these challenges, urging preachers not merely to announce the possibility of salvation but salvation itself.

After the evening meeting, first time attendees were invited to the book room for a special talk and offered discounts with Sinclair Ferguson. I had my chance to do this last year with Iain Murray but was glad others in the group got to enjoy it.

JTR

Mallory Dunn Fan Club

UVA Today recently ran an article featuring participants in the AccessUVA plan that included JPBC's own Mallory Dunn. Mallory just graduated from UVA. She professed her faith in baptism and became an active and vital member at JPBC during her students days. She has been a rich blessing to our fellowship. She served as a Rainbow House intern with us last summer and will be back this year too. We're proud of her!!!

JTR

Exposition of Jude: Part 16 of 25

Note: This is a series of occasional verse by verse expositions of Jude. An archive of this and past commentaries may be found at the "Jude Exposition" label below.

Jude 1:16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

Jude continues to dismantle the façade that the false teachers have constructed. He exposes their true identity in a rapid series of five vivid descriptions:

First, they were "grumblers." This word might also be translated "murmurers" (so it is in the AV). One lexicon defined this word as a "habitual grumbler." It calls to mind the grumbling and complaining of the Israelites in the wilderness. Numbers 11:1 says, "Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused." Like the grumblers of old, these men are actually lodging their complaints against God Himself.

Second, Jude says they were "complainers." This appears to repeat the same sentiment expressed in the first description above. Jude’s double mention of this fault certainly adds emphasis to the flaw. One lexicon defined this word as meaning one "dissatisfied with life." We all know the kind of person who enjoys bursting the bubble of enthusiasm. He is never satisfied with others. For this person the church is always half empty rather than half full. As Joel Beeke has noted, pessimism is really a subtle form of pride. The one who complains wants to appear above the fray. He takes no positive action but revels in dismantling the efforts of others. In the back of his mind, he thinks, "I could have done much better, if only I had tried."

Third, these men "walk according to their own lusts." "Walk" is a picturesque way of describing how they choose to conduct or live their lives. They are self-centered. They are driven by their inordinate desires. They do not have Christ or his body at the center of their lives. Instead, they are like the ones Paul describes in Philippians 3:19 "whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is their shame—who set their minds on earthly things."

Fourth, "they mouth great swelling words." This phrase in Greek literally reads: "Their mouth speaks boastful things." Note that these false teachers have a perverse unity in evil. They speak with one mouth. They do this, however, not to praise God but to toot their own horn. These men were apparently impressive public speakers, effective communicators, and skilled rhetoricians. All this is rubbish, however, because it is not used to the glory of God but to the glory of men. There is a warning here to the true church. Do not be fooled by style. Look at the substance. A man may speak well, but does he speak about the gospel? Remember that Paul’s opponents said his letters were "weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible" (2 Corinthians 10:10). The power of the message is often wrapped in the weakness of the messenger.

Fifth, they were "flattering people to gain advantage." A literal rendering of this phrase might be "marveling at [men’s] faces on account of gain." In other words, they are sycophants. They are out to win friends and influence people. They tell people to their faces what they want to hear in order to win their favor and take advantage of them. Beware the teacher who never offers you any sting or correction, but who only feeds you self-indulging compliments.

Reflections:

• Are you a "habitual grumbler"?
• What is the spiritual danger of constant complaining?
• Are you pursuing Christ or your own lusts?
• Contrast Jude’s descriptions of false teachers with what should characterize the life and ministry of a true teacher or of any genuine believer?

JTR

Song of the Week: "Arise, My Soul, Arise" at Banner of Truth

I am looking forward to attending the Banner of Truth Ministers' Conference at Messiah College in Grantham, PA next week. The conference features stirring sermons, books, and conversation. The singing of psalms and hymns in the chapel with a couple hundred gospel ministers and elders is also encouraging. Here's the singing of "Arise, My Soul, Arise" at last year's conference. If you look hard you might see me and Howard A. on the far left side.



JTR

Luke 10:1, 17 and the Traditional Text of Scripture

The Question: Did Jesus send out seventy (traditional text) or seventy-two (modern critical text) disciples in Luke 10:1, 17?

The traditional text, as reflected in translations like the AV and NKJV, reads "70." The modern critical text’s use of "72" is an example of an unnecessary change in the traditional text.

I. External Evidence:

The pivotal question is the inclusion or omission of one word, duo. Include the word, and it reads "72." Exclude the word, and it reads "70."

1. Greek manuscripts that include duo (Luke 10:1):

P75 B (Vaticanus) D (Bezae) 0181

In addition, this reading is supported by a few Old Latin manuscripts, the Sinaitic Syriac, the Curetonian Syriac, the Sahidic, and a single Bohairic manuscript. In the Church Fathers, it is found in some manuscripts of Origen (d. 254 AD) and in Adamantius (c. 300-350 AD).

2. Greek manuscripts that exclude duo (Luke 10:1):

Aleph (Sinaiticus) A C L W Theta Psi family 1 (1, 118, 131, 209, 1582) family 13 (13, 69, 124, 174, 230, 346, 543, 788, 826, 828, 983, 1689, 1709) and the Majority of extant manuscripts.

In addition, the traditional text is supported by the Syriac Peshitta, the Syriac Harclean, and the Bohairic. It is also supported by quotations in the Church Fathers including Irenaeus (2nd cen. AD); Clement (c. 95 AD); and Tertullian (c. 220 AD).

3. Evaluation:

One will notice that the two manuscripts most prized by modern critical scholars are divided in their reading. Vaticanus supports the non-traditional reading and Sinaiticus the traditional reading. There are only four Greek manuscripts that support the non-traditional reading.

The external evidence appears overwhelmingly to support the traditional text of Scripture. Metzger, however, can somehow say, "The external evidence is almost evenly divided" (this and all other quotes below are from Bruce Metzger, ed. A Textual Commentary on the New Testament [UBS, Corrected ed., 1975]: pp. 150-51). The attestation to the traditional text is ancient and widespread.

II. Internal Evidence:

Metzger notes that "The factors that bear on the evaluation of internal evidence are singularly elusive." He adds that although the majority of the six man UBS committee decided to include duo, they enclosed the word in square brackets "to indicate a certain doubt that it has a right to stand there."

A minority report is attached from Kurt Aland. He notes that the examples of "70" in the OT is "overwhelming; there are always 70 souls in the house of Jacob, 70 elders, sons, priests and 70 years that are mentioned in chronological references to important events." Meanwhile, the number "72" appears just once in Numbers 31:38 in reference to the number of cattle set apart for sacrifice. On Aland’s reading, however, this is what makes it all the more "astonishing" that the "72" reading occurs at all in Luke 10:1, 17. He attributes the "70" reading to "ecclesiastical normalizing." Thus, he argues that the number in question "should be printed without square brackets."

Aland accepts "72" as the more difficult, and thus the preferred, reading. There are, however, several very plausible explanations as to how this reading might have developed. One common solution that is offered concerns the listing of 70 nations in the Hebrew text of Genesis 10 and 72 nations in the LXX text of the same passage.

Another relates to Numbers 11. The sending out of the 70 in Luke 10:1 echoes Moses’ choice of "the seventy men of the elders of Israel" in Numbers 12:16. The spirit that had rested on Moses falls on these men, and they prophesy (v. 25). In Numbers 11:26, however, there is mention of two men, Eldad and Medad," who were "among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle." It is conceivable that some traditions had assumed there were "72" elders rather than "70" based on a misreading of Numbers 11. This interpretation then could have come to be applied to the company of those sent out by Jesus in Luke 10:1, 17.

The strong external evidence, along with a plausible explanation of the internal evidence, leads us to affirm the traditional reading. What Aland dismisses as "ecclesiastical normalizing" we see as divine preservation of the correct reading to maintain a reliable text for the church. The early believers eventually rejected the reading of "72" as spurious. There is no compelling reason to abandon the traditional reading of "70."

III. Survey of English translations:

What do the various English translations do with Luke 10:1, 17? As one would expect those that self-consciously follow the traditional text (AV, NKJV) read "70." It is surprising to find, however, that not all translations that follow the modern critical text read "72."

One translation that does follow the modern critical text is the NIV (1984). The NIV reads "seventy-two" in Luke 10:1 and adds in a footnote, "Some manuscripts seventy." Given the evidence, it would be more appropriate to have such a note read something like, "The vast majority of ancient Greek texts reads seventy, although four Greek texts read seventy-two."
Several modern versions choose to depart from the modern critical Greek text here and to retain the traditional reading. The NASB (1995), though generally following the modern critical text, here reads "seventy." Likewise, the Holman-Christian Standard Bible (2003) also reads "seventy" with a note stating, "Other mss read 72."

More curious are the translation choices in the RSV stream. The RSV (1952) retains the traditional reading of "seventy," adding in a footnote, "Other ancient authorities read seventy-two." The NRSV (1989) likewise preserves the traditional reading of "seventy" with the same footnote as the RSV. The ESV (2001), currently being promoted as a replacement for the NIV in the evangelical church, departs from the RSV and NRSV but duplicates the NIV by reading "seventy-two" with an identical accompanying note adding, "Some manuscripts seventy." The same critique applied to the NIV note above is appropriate to the ESV note here.

It is clear that even many scholars and translators who accept the modern eclectic text of the New Testament, realize that the weight of the evidence for departure from the traditional reading of Luke 10:1, 17 is suspect. The NIV and ESV, however, abandon the traditional reading headlong. Oddly enough, the "evangelical" translations are the ones that promote innovation, while the "liberal" ones (e.g., NRSV) perpetuate the traditional reading.

JTR

Your mind is like a garden

In the "Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church" Sunday School track last week the topic was "Why Learn in the Church?" In the course of the conversation the class discussed the command to love God with our minds (Mark 12:30) and Don Whitney’s analogy of the mind as a garden (in Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church [Moody, 1996]): pp. 183-84):

Loving God with all your mind means loving Him with what you mentally initiate. Your mind is like a garden. The things you mentally initiate are the plants you purposely put in your garden, the things that you go out of your way to bring into your mind. A wise person will turn to the place where Holy Scripture is proclaimed so that the truth can be planted in his mental furrows. Further, you can receive not only biblical teaching from godly men and women within the church, but also experience counsel on seeding your mind with Christian biography, theology, spiritual classics, tapes, music, etc.

You also express love for God with your mind by what you mentally cultivate. Both weeds and good plants will grow in your thought-patch. If you want a successful garden you must learn to cultivate the right plants. Otherwise you’ll have a tangled overgrown confusion.

One way to till the right plants, that is, to develop the thoughts and thought-patterns that grow in God-loving ways, is to learn in a place that continually cultivates Godward thoughts. The church does that…. If you aren’t learning in the church you are certainly cultivating mental weeds that choke out love for God.

Third, you love God with you mind by what you mentally tolerate. You don’t want to permit anything and everything that wanders or sneaks into the garden of your gray matter to remain. Just as you’d try to keep certain birds, rabbits, and other animals out of your backyard garden, so you shouldn’t tolerate harmful things in your mind. You show your love for God by what you refuse to think about as well as by what you do think about. The truth of Scripture learned in the church will stand guard against those enemies that would ruin your garden…. God wants us to devote our minds to things that increase the harvest of our love for Him, and learning in the church helps us do that.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: Evangel article for 5.19.09.

Calvin's Motto

2009 is the 500th anniversary year for the birth of John Calvin (1509-64). Calvin’s personal motto was: Cor Meum Tibi Offero Domine, Prompte et Sincere ("My heart I offer to you, O Lord, promptly and sincerely."). His crest or seal, dating from the mid-16th century, showed a heart with an open hand, with the motto underneath. The seal was bookended with the letters I and C—which could be taken to stand for Ionnes Calvinus or Iesus Christus or both.

I think one of the most insightful things about Calvin’s character was the fact that when he died he left orders to be buried without a tombstone. There was no gaudy funeral or flowery eulogy. The Geneva Register simply recorded four days after his death, "Calvin went to be with God May 27 of the present year." Joel Beeke reflects, "Shaping this longing for obscurity was Calvin’s sincere desire that only God be glorified" ("The Soul of Life": The Piety of John Calvin [Reformation Heritage, 2009]: p. 1.

JTR

Friday Bible Study with CCCC

Photo: Pastor Beine leads the opening of the Friday evening Bible study at CCCC.

Last Friday evening, I had the opportunity to lead the Bible Study at the Charlottesville Christian Church of Charlottesville which meets at JPBC. I taught on Romans 1:18-21. My interpreter was a UVA student named "Paul" who eagerly told me how he came to believe in Christ after his family immigrated to Virginia when he was 16 years old. It was a good time of fellowship.

JTR

Bridges on the Minister's Avoidance of Worldliness

In Charles Bridges’ (1794-1869) classic work on The Christian Ministry (Banner of Truth, 2006 [1830]) he lists the minister’s conformity to the world as one cause for inefficiency in ministry. He quotes from "Cecil’s Remains":

I fell into a mistake, when a young man…in thinking that I could talk to men of the world on their own ground, and could thus win them over to mine. I was fond of painting, and so I talked with them on that subject. This pleased them: but I did not consider, that I gave them consequence to their pursuits, which did not belong to them; whereas I ought to have endeavored to raise them above these, that they might engage in a higher. I did not see this at the time, but now I see it to have been a great error (p. 118, n. 3).

What a contrast from what most of us hear today! We are encouraged to relate to the cultural pursuits that capture our people. For the word "painting" above we could insert:

Movies
Sports
Technology
Politics
Finances, etc.

Bridges will have none of that. "Would the Levitical high-priests have descended from their sacred elevation of immediate intercourse with God, to participate in the frivolities even of decorous worldliness? And why should we, under a more spiritual dispensation, be less separate, or our standard less heavenly?" (p. 118).

JTR

The Duties of Parents

Jacobus Koelman (1632-95) was a Dutch pastor and prolific Christian writer. His best known book was a treatise titled The Duties of Parents in which he instructs parent on how to disciple and nurture faith in their children. Here are a few of his exhortations to parents:

33. Accustom your children at an early age to be still and reverent when there is praying, singing, or Scripture reading in the family. Let them know that you greatly value it if on those occasions they sit still and do not speak or do anything.

34. Take your children to church at an early age, even though they do not yet understand anything. Accustom them to the service of God and to the holy worship services—to sit still and to be silent. Let it not be too much trouble for you to take your children along with you, just as in olden times the Israelites took their children along with them to the solemn rites of religion. Do not permit them to sleep, to play, or to speak to you in church. Do not give them anything to eat in church, but when they come out of the church with you, then give them something if they sat still….

36. Teach them to read, and send them to school that has a pious schoolteacher, male or female, with whom the children learn godliness and the first principles of religion. In addition, ask the schoolmaster or schoolmistress to keep a special eye on your children. If you are able, pay them something extra for their concern and effort. But also if you are poor, you must send your children to school so that they learn to read and write, for it is most useful and necessary for them to be able to read Holy Scriptures and good books. Besides, it is an important means of enabling them to be well instructed with a view to their salvation. This may not be neglected by any parents who seek what is good for their children. However, if the schools are very bad (as they usually are), then teach them yourself to spell and to read, and encourage them if they learn well and take pleasure in it….

38. Let them learn the Lord’s Prayer by heart, and tell them that the Lord Christ has prescribed that prayer. Also, explain, insofar as it is possible, what those words mean. However, do not let them pray that prayer every time but only now and then. It would be better to let them use a few words from that prayer in your own prayer, the prayer with which you lead them in prayer, insofar as they can understand that.

Source: Jacobus Koelman, The Duties of Parents (Baker Academic, 2003): pp. 49-50.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: Evangel article May 12, 2009.

More on the Collapse

I was in Roanoke yesterday to speak at the Society for the Preservation of Baptist Principles and Practices meeting at Plantation Road Baptist Church. They had asked me to speak on "The Coming Evangelical Collapse," offering a review and analysis of Michael Spencer's article of that title (see this post).

I noticed today that Kevin Swanson did an interview with Spencer on his Generations Radio program.

JTR

Follow Ups

Two follow ups on past postings.

First, regarding the Baptist Banner article (April 2009) post on Calvinism, the most recent issue (May 2009) does include a good response by Eric Greene. The editor says it is the first of several such responses. We'll see if the one I wrote makes it into a later issue.

Second, regarding the post on the special isuue of the 9 Marks eJournal on multi-site, Ed Stetzer has posted a response to the issue that is worth reading.

JTR

Without Excuse

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Romans 1:20 AV).

Paul says that we ought to be able to look around at the created order and know that there is a God. One commentator on this verse observed, “There is enough evidence of God in a flower to lead a child as well as a scientist to worship him. There is sufficient evidence in a tree, a pebble, a grain of sand, a fingerprint, to make us glorify God and thank him” (James Boice, Romans, Vol. I, p. 143). One Old Testament counterpart to Romans 1:20 is Psalm 19 which begins: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork” (v. 1).

One look into the human heart; one look into human culture; one look at the created order, ought to awaken in us a knowledge that there is a God. It should not awaken mere theism. But we ought to know the triune God of the Bible. We ought to know Christ. But, again, the problem is that sinners suppress this truth. They say they do not have enough evidence. They say they cannot know for sure. Or, perhaps, worst of all, some are oblivious to his existence.

In the last statement in v. 20 Paul declares: “they are without excuse.” The Greek word used here (anapolgetos) is the root for the English words “apology” and “apologetics.” They have no apologetic against God’s condemnation. God’s wrath against those who reject the gospel is not unjust. They have broken his law and his righteous character demands that his holy wrath be satisfied.

Imagine a man who is driving along in his car. He is speaking on his cell phone and eating his lunch, and he does not notice the signs that warn him to slow down as he approaches a construction zone. He then does not notice the signs that instruct him to change lanes for his own safety, and he hurtles through a barrier striking and killing a worker. As the police pull him from his car and place him under arrest, he protests, “Wait. You can’t do this to me. I didn’t see the signs. I didn’t know I was breaking the law. How can you possibly hold me responsible for my actions.” And they would say to him, “No. I am sorry my friend. You are without excuse and you must stand before the judge and give an account for your actions.”

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: Evangel article for 5.5.09. The devotion above is adapted from last Sunday’s morning message on Romans 1:18-23.

Song of the Week: Psalm 98

It looks like some families got together on a Sabbath afternoon to sing praise to God. Enjoy!

What's Wrong With "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes"?

A local organization that aims to prevent sexual assault of women sponsors an annual event in Charlottesville called "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" (part of a national event). They ask men to put on women’s shoes and walk a mile on the Downtown Mall to raise awareness about sexual assault.

Local media usually covers the walk and includes plenty of pictures of men wearing women’s shoes.

What’s wrong with this event? Well, we could begin with the whole not so subtle promotion of cross-dressing. This practice is forbidden in Deuteronomy 22:5: "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God." It seems odd that an agency dedicated to eliminating sexual assault would sponsor an event that essentially promotes (even subtly) a sexual fetish (men dressing in women’s clothing). Sadly this is par for the course for a society saturated with sexual titillation and line crossing. The irony is apparently lost on event organizers.

More to the point, the underlying message is that sexual assault of women would be reduced if only men would sympathize more with women. In other words, things would be better if men could only act more like women. This is one of the fatal fallacies of the feminist movement. In truth, women are most protected from exploitation and abuse not when men act like women, but when men act like godly men. Men were designed to be self-sacrificial defenders of their wives, children, and homes, just "as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her" (Eph 5:25). This is the high ideal to which men need to be called, and it does the most good for our wives and daughters.

JTR

Baxter Article in "9 Marks eJournal"

The May-June issue of the 9 Marks eJournal is a whopper special edition over a year in the making on the topic of the "Multi-Site Church Movement." It includes an edited version of an article I wrote titled, "Richard Baxter and the Multi-Site Movement." To learn more about 9 Marks look here. To listen to a previous talk I gave critiquing multi-site look here.

JTR

Exposition of Jude: Part 15 of 25

Note: This is a series of occasional verse by verse expositions of Jude. An archive of past commentaries can be found under the label "Jude Exposition" below.

Jude 1:15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

This verse is a continuation of the thought began in v. 14. The Lord will come at the end of the ages "with ten thousands of His saints" (v. 14). What will be the purpose of his coming? He comes to "execute judgement on all." Paul also says, "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Rom 14:10). This is not something believers have to fear, because we will be covered by the righteous life of Christ (2 Cor 5:21). The focus of this verse is particularly upon the Lord’s judgment of the wicked: "to convict all who are ungodly among them."

One word stands out in the English translation. It is repeated four times. That word is "ungodly." In the traditional Greek text of this verse, the adjective "ungodly" (asebes) appears twice, the noun "godlessness" (asebeia) appears once, and the verb "to act in an ungodly manner" (asebeo) also appears once. The wicked are in essence "ungodly." They have committed actual "ungodly" deeds. The have lived in an "ungodly" way. They are "ungodly" sinners.

Jude stresses the radical nature of man’s depravity. There is no naïve talk here of a "spark of divinity" in man. Our nature has been corrupted by sin. Apart from God’s transforming grace, we do not seek God. We do not understand God. We do not love God. As Paul notes in Romans 3: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God" (vv. 10-11).

As we have heard so often in this brief letter, Jude is warning the false teachers and those who have been duped by them that they must one day stand before Christ and give an account of their lives and doctrine. If they have spoken out against Christ, there will be a time of reckoning. Here is one more gracious plea for them to turn away from sin and toward Christ.

Jude is also encouraging the believers to remember the justice of God. Even if it seems that the wicked have the upper hand in this age, one day all things will be set right. The Lord has said, "Vengeance is mine" (Deut 12:19; cf. Rom 12:19).

Reflections:

• Why do believers not have to fear the final judgment?
• Why does Jude stress the word "ungodly" in this verse?
• How would this verse serve as a warning to the wicked?
• How would it serve as an encouragement to believers?

JTR

In Memoriam: Brian Hamrick

I got a call from a Pastor friend last Saturday evening telling me that our mutual friend Brian Hamrick had passed away at age 33. Brian leaves behind a wife, Katherine, and two young sons, Nathan (4) and Luke (1).

Brian was a native of Richmond, Virginia and attended Southwestern Baptist Seminary. I got to know him while he was serving as Pastor of the Fairfields Baptist Church in Burgess, VA in the Northern Neck. He was also part of the Evangelical Forum.

We printed an excellent article from Brian on the subject of church discipline in the summer 2006 Evangelical Forum Newsletter titled "If there is sin, what then?" (look here on pp. 44-52). It was adapted from a sermon he had preached in April 2006 at the annual meeting of the Rappahannock Baptist Association. He also did an article on our 2005 Evangelical Forum meeting for the Founder's blog. I recall when he told me he was moving to Florida to become pastor of the First Baptist Church of Clewiston, I told him that this was really going to be a loss to those of us who had been so encouraged by his fellowship in Virginia and in the Evangelical Forum.

Tom Ascol has offered some insightful reflections on Brian's death on his blog. Tom describes a visit with Brian:

I visited with Brian last Sunday night during one of his more difficult times. I read Augustine's favorite Psalm to him (Psalm 32) and before we prayed, he said, "Tom, I want you to know that I am ready for whatever the Lord has for me. If He heals me, I am ready. If not, I am ready for that, too. It's OK." His grip was as strong as his faith and I left encouraged by the obvious display of God's grace in his life. I grieve over our loss.

I remember Brian as a big, tall (he stood 6' 6''), handsome, articulate, intelligent, warm, and able young man. He loved the Lord, He loved his family. He loved the local church. I don't know all the circumstances of his death. Just a few weeks ago he was in the pulpit. He had some intestinal surgery. He developed sepsis. And now he has gone to be with the Lord. His death is a reminder that no man knows his time. It also brought to mind the last verse of "Soldiers of Christ, in Truth Arrayed":

We meet to part, but part to meet

When earthly labors are complete,

To join in yet more blest employ,

In an eternal world of joy.

A funeral service will be held at 11 am on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at FBC-Clewiston, Florida. A memorial serivice will also be held on at 2 pm on Friday, May 1, 2009 at Huguenot Road Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia.

JTR

Sermon of the Week: R. Scott Clark on "Raiders of the Lost Art"

I have been listening to this series of talks from R. Scott Clark of Westminster Seminary in California titled, "Raiders of the Lost Art."

Clark describes what he calls Q.I.R.C. (Quest for Illegitimate Religious Certainty) and Q.I.R.E. (Quest for Illegitimate Religious Experience).

He speaks from a self-consciously “reformed” perspective. For Clark “reformed theology” is more than mere acceptance of the five points of Calvinism or predestination, but it is a more all-encompassing doctrinal and ecclesiological system. Baptists, therefore, cannot be truly “reformed.” He laments the fact that so many Presbyterian and Reformed churches are no longer truly “reformed” in theology and practice.

Among many provocative ideas, he challenges uncritical adoration of those like Jonathan Edwards and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones who stressed evidence of external private religious experience. According to Clark, this undermined the classical Westminster emphasis on the ordinary means of grace (e.g., The question to ask a person in spiritual examination is not “Have you been doing your daily quiet times and personal devotions?” but, “Have you been attending the morning and evening worship services on the Lord’s Day in your local church?”).

Clark also affirms the regulative principle in worship. This includes singing only inspired texts in worship. The final talk is a thoughtful defense of the second service on the Lord’s Day afternoon or evening.

The talks:

1. Lost in America, Part 1: The Quest for Illegitimate Religious Certainty;

2. Lost in America, Part 2: The Quest for Illegitimate Religious Experience;

3. It's a Wonderful Life: The Joy of Being Confessional;

4. High Noon: The Regulative Principle Rides Again!;

5. The Big Night: Whatever Happened to the Second Service?

JTR

Song of the Week: Psalm 103:12-14

Here is Psalm 103:12-14 to the DUKE STREET tune:



JTR

Luther on Romans

While he was still an Augustinian monk, Martin Luther began a series of lectures on Romans at Wittenberg on November 3, 1515 that continued until September 7, 1516. By the fall of 1517 he had posted his 95 theses that launched the Protestant Reformation. It was his study of Romans that God used, in large part, to set this revival in motion.

Luther’s commentary on Romans, which came from those lectures, begins with these words:

This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest Gospel, and is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes (source: Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans [Kregel, 1954]: p. xiii).

JTR

Yet more "60 Seconds in the Word"

I recorded a few more of our "60 Seconds in the Word" spots last week. These will run three times each weekday through the end of May on AM 1260/FM 94.1:

Invitation to JPBC

The New Calvinism

Do you know the Creator?

Have you lost money recently?

Do you seek to be holy?

I am one of his fingers

JTR

The Economy and Protestantism

My morning routine usually includes listening to NPR while having coffee and reading the paper. I recall Cal Thomas' quip that every morning he reads the Bible and the New York Times, so he can see what both sides are up to. We also tend to get into family discussions about items on the news (though I frequently mute NPR stories favorable to things like "same gender marriage"). What is really nice to hear is when the children can discern bias in an NPR report!

The children have picked up on the fact that nearly every other item on the news these days relates to the economy. So, they have taken to ascribing the cause of every ill in life to the economy. Example: "Why haven't you done your chore yet? The economy. Why is the bike tire flat? The economy." Of course, they have also taken to ascribing the solution to every problem as "Protestantism" (I have indoctrinated them well!). Example: "How were you able to do so well on your math test? Protestantism." Smiles.

JTR

Sermon of the Week: Malcolm Watts' Sermons Addressed to a New Church

Malcolm Watts, Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Salisbury, England, preached this series of four messages during the weekend in which the Arann Reformed Baptist Church of Dublin, Ireland constituted. I listened to them last week while taking my morning and evening walks on the beach. These are challenging sermons on the doctrine of the local church:

Part 1: One Heart, One Way (Jeremiah 32:39)

Part 2: Can Two Walk Together? (Amos 3:3)

Part 3: Coming In and Going Out (Acts 9:28)

Part 4: I Will Build My Church! (Matthew 16:18).

JTR

Newsweek on the Decline and Fall of Christian America

As a follow-up to "The Coming Evangelical Collapse" post, you might read the Newsweek cover story from last week with the feature article, "The End of Christian America" by Jon Meacham. The article notes the relatively steep statistical decline of those in the US who self-identify as Christians (down ten percentage points from 86% in 1990 to 76% today). Are we seeing the beginnings of a post-Christian, secular America? Meacham writes:

There it was, an old term with new urgency: post-Christian. This is not to say that the Christian God is dead, but that he is less of a force in American politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory. To the surprise of liberals who fear the advent of an evangelical theocracy and to the dismay of religious conservatives who long to see their faith more fully expressed in public life, Christians are now making up a declining percentage of the American population.

JTR

Like riding a bike...

We have been enjoying the week at Topsail Island, NC. I have spent quite a bit of time this week working with four year old Isaiah on bike riding. This has got to be one of the most satisfying things that a Dad ever gets to do. How neat is it to give your son a push and watch him wobble off on his own!

Then, you watch him get steadier and stronger.

Till he's an old pro...

...proud and confident in his achievement.

It doesn't get much better for a Dad.

JTR

Mark Commentaries

I finished a Sunday morning series through the Gospel of Mark a few weeks ago. Every once in a while someone will ask what I read to prepare. The key reading, of course, is the text itself. When I am preaching a series through a book, I usually read sequentially through at least two or three commentaries. I try to read at least one older commentary and one or more modern ones. For Mark, I read Matthew Henry's commentary. I also read William Hendriksen's Mark (Baker, 1975) and Edmund Hiebert's The Gospel According to Mark: An Expositional Commentary (Bob Jones Press, 1994). I was really helped by all of these both to understand and to preach the text of Mark. At the beginning of the study I was also reading James A. Brooks' Mark (B&H, 1991) in the New American Commentary series, but I did not find it be of much spiritual or homiletical help, so I dropped it. The longer I am in the preaching ministry, the less useful I am finding newer commentaries that focus on dialogue with contemporary scholarship. As with so many things, the older are often better.

JTR

Song of the Week: Psalm 103:1-11

This is a great version of Psalm 103:1-11. JPBCers will likely sing it as one of our upcoming "Psalms of the month."

"Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it."

Another excerpt from last Sunday's sermon from Psalm 69:

At the end of Psalm 69:4 Jesus (the Messiah) says, "Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it."

Think about that and just apply it to the Ten Commandments:

The man who never had any God above God had to suffer for our blasphemy.

The man who never made a graven image had to suffer for our idolatry.

The man who never took the Lord’s name in vain had to suffer for our profanity.

The man who never desecrated the Lord’s Day had to suffer for our Sabbath-breaking.

The man who never dishonored his human mother or any rightful human authority had to suffer for every instance in which you and I were dismissive of our parents or rejected the rightful human authority that was placed over us.

The man who never took a human life, had to suffer for all the murders, and abortions, and angry outbursts of humanity.

The man who never committed adultery had to suffer for every unchaste thought that we have ever had.

The man who never stolen had to suffer for the restoration of every act of theft.

The man who had never uttered a lie or falsehood had to suffer for every outright lie, half-truth, and piece of gossip that has every crossed our lips.

The man who never coveted and who was the most contented person who ever lived had to suffer for our restless and discontented hearts.

Here’s the thing this Psalm should shake us into realizing. Jesus did not die for some set of hypothetical sins of corporate humanity. He did not die for the sins of everyone else. He died for my sins.

JTR

We cannot touch the bottom of our sin

Here's an excerpt from last Sunday's (4/5/09) sermon "A Song of Suffering" from Psalm 69 (you can also listen to the sermon here):

Psalm 69 begins with the graphic visual image of a man on the verge of drowning to death: "Save me O God! For the waters have come up to my neck" (v. 1). He is like a man tied to the shore, and the tide is coming in. The water is rising, and he is about to be plunged beneath the waves. I think one of the earliest and most innate human fears is that of drowning. David seizes on that primal fear to describe the depth of his spiritual struggle.

In v. 2 the metaphor shifts a bit as if he is a man thrown down into a well. He sinks into the deep mire "where there is no standing." In other words, now we are to imagine him thrown into such a slimy pit that he cannot touch the bottom. "I have come into the deep waters, where the floods overflow me" (v. 2). In v. 3 we learn that the tears of the sufferer have added to the flood. He has cried so much that he is dehydrated and his throat is parched.

What this psalm remind us is that Jesus came to save men from such a hopeless state of despair. We cannot touch the bottom of our sin. Even the best of men are capable of the worst of things.

Anselm of Canterbury in the eleventh century said, "You have not yet considered the weight of sin."

John Calvin said among other things that "according to the constitution of our nature, oil might be extracted from a stone sooner than we could perform good works." In another place, Calvin said that no man knows even as much as 1% of his sin.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones said: "When a man truly sees himself, he knows that nobody can ever say anything about him that is bad."

Joel Beeke said that "we are active ‘sin-aholics’ by nature."

Jesus did not come to merely stand on the sideline and casually toss us a life preserver. No, he jumped into our experience alongside of us. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

He did not come to be a sinner but to be tempted in all points even as we are. He came to be despised by sinful men. This is our condemnation that the light was in the world but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil (John 3:19). His enemies were more than the hairs on his head (v. 4). His enemies were a countless throng. They number every single human being who has ever lived. Apart from God changing our hearts we do not love Christ. Still, he came to enter fully into our experience and to be among us for the glory of God.

JTR

German homeschooling family seeks asylum in US

Photo: Uwe Romeike works with two of his children in Morristown, TN.

This story about a German family who has come to the US seeking the freedom to educate their children at home is a reminder of the liberty we now enjoy, by God's grace, in this country.

JTR

New B-ball coach at UVA

The big buzz in sports circle around C-ville this week has been the hiring of Tony Bennett from Washington State as head basketball coach at UVA. Someone pointed out to me last night that Bennett was featured in a Baptist Press article back in 2008.

JTR

Note on the text of Matthew 6:13b

A follow up on a point raised last night at JPBC on the external evidence for the doxology of the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:13b): "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." The doxology is omitted in modern translations like the RSV, NIV, and ESV. The ESV footnote explains, "some manuscripts add" v. 13b.

What is the ancient attestation to this text and how early is it?

E. F. Hills (see his discussion in KJV Defended, pp. 146-50) says, "almost all the Greek NT manuscripts" include the doxology. He notes it is in codices W (4-5th century) and Sigma and Phi (both 6th century). My copy of the UBS 3rd corrected edition also lists codices K L Theta Pi and family 13 among others.

Hills adds that it is also in an early Christian work called the Apostolic Constitution (4th c.) and is cited by Chrysostom (345-407 AD) and Isidore of Pelusium (370-440 AD).

The earliest testimony to the doxology in Greek, however, is found in the Didache, an early Christian writing usually dated to the first half of the second century (see Didache VIII.2). It is also well attested in the ancient versions including Old Latin and Syriac (Peshitta, Harclean, and Palestinian).

The key external evidence against it is summed up by Hills: It "is omitted by by Aleph B D S and by six minuscule manuscripts. It is also omitted by all the manuscripts of the Vulgate and by nine manuscripts of the Old Latin. And certain Church Fathers omit it in their expositions of the Lord’s Prayer."

Conclusion: The doxology has credible, ancient attestation in the traditional text of Scripture and should be included in the canonical text of Scripture.

JTR

Why Johnny Can't Preach

I enjoyed listening to this conversation on "Christ the Center" about David Gordon's new book, Why Johnny Can't Preach (P & R, 2009). His thesis: We're too dependent on the visual rather than the spoken word.

Winter 2009 EFN Online

The "Winter" 2009 issue of the Evangelical Forum Newsletter has been posted online just before the ending of March (!). Bonnie will have her JPBC volunteer office minions send out the print copies this week. Thanks for all her labor in doing the EFN!

This issue includes:

An editorial on "The New Calvinism" (p. 1).

An article on "Limited Atonement" (part 4 of 6 in our Doctrines of Grace series) (pp. 2-8).

An article by Rob Stovall on "Revival and the Regulative Principle in 2 Chronicles 29" (pp. 9-10).

Book reviews of D. A. Carson's Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor (Crossway, 2008) and Faith Cook's Troubled Journey (Banner, 2004) (pp. 12-14).

And a Pardosis article from Andrew Fuller on reconciling apparently contradictory passages on the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man (pp. 15-17).

JTR

NPR on Quiver Full

Photo: The Swanson family of Shelby, Michigan featured in the NPR report.

Yesterday's "Morning Edition" program on NPR featured a report on the "Quiver Full" movement among some conservative Christians (you can listen and read it here). It is certainly interesting to pick up on the wonder in the reporter's voice at folk who see large families on small salaries not as a burden but a blessing. You can also hear the alarm in this segment:

"They speak about, 'If everyone starts having eight children or 12 children, imagine in three generations what we'll be able to do,'"Joyce says. " 'We'll be able to take over both halls of Congress, we'll be able to reclaim sinful cities like San Francisco for the faithful, and we'll be able to wage very effective massive boycotts against companies that are going against God's will.' "

JTR

"The Green Bible" and the problem with Bible packaging

In last Sunday's message on Josiah's rediscovery of the Book of the Law in the temple (2 Kings 22-23), I noted the ubiquity of Bible translations and versions and the niche marketing of Bible "products." I quoted from this CNN article "Repackaging the Bible" about the Green Bible (with NRSV text):

Consistently the best-selling book on the planet, publishers are constantly repackaging it to lure new audiences.

Harper One in October released the Green Bible, looking at the Bible through the lens of the environment. In an effort to keep it true to its eco-conscious motif, it was printed in the United States on recycled paper with soy ink, and has a sustainable linen cover. "It is still printed on paper though," conceded publisher Mark Tauber, who said a digital format would be greenest.

Tauber said publishers were hoping to capitalize on the growing trend in Christian circles of eco-theology and creation care. The Green Bible is filled with essays from across the theological spectrum as a companion to the text.

Former Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote the forward while Brian McLaren, a popular progressive author and pastor, and N.T. Wright, the staunch conservative theologian, contributed essays. Anytime the text mentions something about the environment, the letters are printed in green, similar to how some Bibles print the words of Jesus in red.

I also noted that the problem with those who push for so many modern Bible translations is that they think the reason people do not read and cherish the Bible is simply because it is not packaged in a format that they can understand. No, the problem is much deeper than that. As Paul said, the problem is that our sinful tendency is to suppress the truth of God. You don’t have to urge a converted man to read and cherish God’s Word. You also don’t have to convince him that its doctrines are worth believing and its ethics are worth practicing.

JTR

Sermon of the Week: David Silversides on Christian Blogging

I ran across this message the other day by David Silversides of the Loughbrickland Reformed Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland on "Internet Blogging and the Christian." It's worth a listen.

JTR

"Was Jesus a Racist?" ABP article crosses line

There’s been some dust kicked up at the moderate news service ABP over an opinion piece article titled "Was Jesus a Racist?" written by Migual De La Torre back on February 23, 2009. In the article De La Torre looks at Jesus’ conversation with the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 and turns it into a naïve political commentary on the treatment of illegal aliens. More disconcerting that the eisegesis and very poor hermeneutics, however, is the heterodox Christology the article puts forward. In De La Torre’s reading, Jesus was a racist, and the woman was his teacher. He concludes: "And thanks to her, Jesus’ ministry was radically changed." And: "Her remark shocked Jesus into realizing that faith was not contingent on a person’s ethnicity."

The article set off an appropriate flurry of protest in the posted comments (worth reading). De La Torre responded with a follow up last Wednesday (March 18, 2009) with another article titled "Why I am a Heretic?" in which he defends himself as heroic heretic fighting the status quo and pushing the boundaries of interpretation. He even makes Jesus out to be a heretic: "Although I am no Christ, I follow in his footsteps with all my heart and mind, using his own form of heresy as my model."

I was also struck by this statement in the article: "We Christian heretics believe the Word of God is inerrant." That comment shows just how emptied of meaning the whole concept of "inerrancy" has become among self-professing evangelicals. Even social gospel liberals who have abandoned orthodox conceptions of Christology are inerrantists!

Maybe some in moderate Baptist churches will read these articles and the comments posted on them and wake up to what is really being promoted in moderate Baptist theological circles.

JTR

More babies, but fewer marriages

An AP article reports that the US is currently experiencing a baby boom (something attested to in our JPBC nursery which is overflowing at present!). That's the good news. The bad news is that 40% of those children were born to unwed mothers (as the article puts it, "a wedding band made increasingly little difference in the matter"). What will be the social repercusions of this? Here's how the article begins:

ATLANTA – Remember the baby boom? No, not the one after World War II. More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than any other year in the nation's history — and a wedding band made increasingly little difference in the matter. The 4,317,119 births, reported by federal researchers Wednesday, topped a record first set in 1957 at the height of the baby boom.

Behind the number is both good and bad news. While it shows the U.S. population is more than replacing itself, a healthy trend, the teen birth rate was up for a second year in a row.

The birth rate rose slightly for women of all ages, and births to unwed mothers reached an all-time high of about 40 percent, continuing a trend that started years ago. More than three-quarters of these women were 20 or older.

JTR

Closing Reflections on Mark's Gospel

Last Sunday I preached the 52nd and final message in our Sunday morning expositional series through the Gospel of Mark. The first message in the series was preached on September 16, 2007. As I conclude the series, I thought of five things that this study of Mark impressed on me:

1. The focus on the gospel. The first words of the book are, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (1:1). Among the final words are the Great Commission: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (16:15). In between these two book-ends is the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.

2. The centrality of the cross. I remarked several times in the study that Mark has been called "a passion narrative with an extended introduction." This Gospel reminds us of the centrality of the cross work of Christ in our faith. Maybe the key verse of the Gospel is found in Mark 10:45: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

3. Jesus is our great prophet, priest, and king. I was struck by how Jesus is presented as a prophet who predicts things that will happen from where his disciples will celebrate the Passover (14:13-16) to his second coming at the end of the ages (13:26-27). He is a perfect priest who is also the perfect sacrifice offered to God. He is the king whose coronation is in humiliation. As Peter confessed, "You are the Christ" (8:29).

4. The continuity and harmony of the four canonical Gospels. In reading Mark, I was often comparing Matthew, Luke, and John. I was reminded of God’s wisdom in these four distinct witnesses, all of which aim to bring the hearers to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that believing we might have life in his name (John 20:31-32).

5. The reliability of the traditional text of Mark including the ending of the Gospel. This study of Mark gave me opportunity to think again about issues related to the text of Scripture and to reaffirm that the ending of this Gospel is Markan, inspired, and canonical.

Mark has been a faithful companion and teacher over the past year or so. I know I am the better for this study, and I pray it has been a blessing to our body.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: Evangel 3.17.09

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

One more news story that caught my eye from the news links at sermonaudio.com. Check out this article by Michael Spencer on "The Coming Evangelical Collapse." He begins with this prognostication:

Oneida, Ky. - We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I'm convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.

Is this just gloom and doom? Read the rest of the article. Many of his observations seem to me on target as to why he thinks this will happen, including the failure of the church to educate its young people in an orthodox form of faith. Among his other predictions: The "emerging church" will be a flash in the pan that will disappear from the evangelical landscape; "Aggresively evangelistic fundamentalistic churches will begin to disappear"; and many will give up on "political engagement" in favor of deeper discipleship.

In the end he does not see this as a necessarily bad thing. In his view evangelicalism doesn't need a "bailout" but a "funeral." I definitely don't see eye to eye with him on all his observations. He sees the future of "evangelicalism" surviving among charismastics, in home-churches, and in non-denominationalism (obviously revealing his own bias and preferences). Still, he provides some good food for thought on the weak state of the evangelical church.

JTR

NC judge orders homeschooled children to return to public schools

I saw this news story the other day linked at sermonaudio.com about a North Carolina judge's order that three homeschooled children be returned to public schooling. Sadly, the case involves a dispute between parents who are divorcing. The mother is a Christian who desires to homeschool her children. The father is concerned about her religious slant and the fact that his kids aren't getting "mainstream science." By all accounts the children are academically above grade level, content, and thriving. So, why does the Dad's conscientious objections take precedence over the mother's? Is this a case of religious discrimination?

JTR

Time Magazine on The New Calvinism

The latest issue of Time Magazine includes a cover article on "Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now."

Number three on the list is "The New Calvinism."

David Van Biema writes:

If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard "The Old Rugged Cross," a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of "Shine, Jesus, Shine." And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are...well, hark the David Crowder Band: "I am full of earth/ You are heaven's worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity."

Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin's 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism's buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism's latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination's logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time's dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision.

Calvinism, cousin to the Reformation's other pillar, Lutheranism, is a bit less dour than its critics claim: it offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness (or home foreclosure!), by a logic we may not understand but don't have to second-guess. Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by "glorifying" him. In the 1700s, Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards invested Calvinism with a rapturous near mysticism. Yet it was soon overtaken in the U.S. by movements like Methodism that were more impressed with human will. Calvinist-descended liberal bodies like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) discovered other emphases, while Evangelicalism's loss of appetite for rigid doctrine — and the triumph of that friendly, fuzzy Jesus — seemed to relegate hard-core Reformed preaching (Reformed operates as a loose synonym for Calvinist) to a few crotchety Southern churches.

No more. Neo-Calvinist ministers and authors don't operate quite on a Rick Warren scale. But, notes Ted Olsen, a managing editor at Christianity Today, "everyone knows where the energy and the passion are in the Evangelical world" — with the pioneering new-Calvinist John Piper of Minneapolis, Seattle's pugnacious Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler, head of the Southern Seminary of the huge Southern Baptist Convention. The Calvinist-flavored ESV Study Bible sold out its first printing, and Reformed blogs like Between Two Worlds are among cyber-Christendom's hottest links.

Like the Calvinists, more moderate Evangelicals are exploring cures for the movement's doctrinal drift, but can't offer the same blanket assurance. "A lot of young people grew up in a culture of brokenness, divorce, drugs or sexual temptation," says Collin Hansen, author of Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists. "They have plenty of friends: what they need is a God." Mohler says, "The moment someone begins to define God's [being or actions] biblically, that person is drawn to conclusions that are traditionally classified as Calvinist." Of course, that presumption of inevitability has drawn accusations of arrogance and divisiveness since Calvin's time. Indeed, some of today's enthusiasts imply that non-Calvinists may actually not be Christians. Skirmishes among the Southern Baptists (who have a competing non-Calvinist camp) and online "flame wars" bode badly.

Calvin's 500th birthday will be this July. It will be interesting to see whether Calvin's latest legacy will be classic Protestant backbiting or whether, during these hard times, more Christians searching for security will submit their wills to the austerely demanding God of their country's infancy.

JTR

Calvinism and SBC

Calvinism continues to be a flashpoint of controversy in SBC circles. Christianity Today has an article reporting on recent rumours that SWBTS is about to purge five pointers from its faculty.

Here in Virginia, the Baptist Banner's lead article in its March 2009 issue, What Should "Southern Baptist" Have to Do with "Calvinist"? is a broadside against Calvinists in the SBC written by Elmer Towns of Liberty University. Several folk have asked me about writing a response to this article. I have done so and hope to have it published or posted somewhere soon.

JTR

Even More "60 Seconds in the Word"

We have eight more "60 Seconds in the Word" spots that are running on local radio AM 1260/FM 94.1:

What is your foundation?

The most sobering place

The Hiding Place

How do you have peace?

Why do men reject Christ?

Do you have regrets?

Do you pray?

Do you struggle with sin?

You can listen to all past "60 Seconds in the Word" episodes here.

JTR

The Great Commission in Mark

Mark 16:15: "And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’"

All the Gospels agree that among the last things that the risen Jesus did on earth was commission or send out his disciples. There is a centrifugal quality to the Christian life, an outward focus. Jesus did not tell his disciples:

"Go into a monastery and pray."
Or, "Go withdraw from the world and look deep within yourselves."
Or, "Go build a wall around yourselves and have nothing to do with anyone who does not believe in me."

No, he says, "Go into all the world…." This is even more amazing when you consider that Jesus was saying this to a group of Jewish men who at this point considered it taboo even to have table fellowship with Gentiles.

Notice three important things about this commission:

First, the Biblical method is preaching. What is preaching? Preaching is a man in Christ standing to speak from the Word of God about the things of God in order to draw together and edify the people of God.

Preaching is the preferred method of Biblical ministry.

Second, the Biblical message is the gospel. The word "gospel" means "good news." It refers to the "good news" about what God has been pleased to do in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Third, the Biblical mandate is universal. They are to go and preach the gospel "to every creature." The gospel is to be preached without discrimination to every single human being as God’s unique image bearers within the creation.

The apostles were not only to go to their fellow Jews, but to all nations.
They were not only to go to men, but also to women.
They were not only to go to the adults, but also to the children.
They were not to go to the elite, but also to the lowly.
They were not only to go to the wealthy, but also to the poor.
They were not only to go to the educated, but also to the illiterate.
They were not only to go to those whom they deemed most likely to respond, but also to those they deemed least likely to respond.

There is a universal mandate for this gospel preaching ministry.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: Evangel article 3/10/09.