Yes, I read the blog of cap stewart. Recently Cap linked to this article.
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001306.cfm
Go and read it. It is an article that answers the oft asked question by single guys, "How do I know if she's the one?" Read the flippin' article ok? It really challenged me in the way I think about girls and marriage and dating and well, all those things that are related. Yeah.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Blue Like Jazz part 2
Ok, so this will be a bit shorter, I just needed to qote this for all you Sovereign Grace folk. He is talking about romance.
"Elsewhere in this quandary is my friend Josh. When I first moved to Oregon I was befriended by this vibrant kid who read a lot of the Bible. Josh was good-looking and obsessed with dating, philosophies of dating, social rituals, and that sort of thing. He was homeschooled and trained to believe traditional dating was a bad idea. I travelled with him around the country and introduced him at seminars he would conduct on the pitfalls of dating. He wrote a book about it, and it hit the bestseller's list. No kidding. A couple of years later he moved to Baltimore and got married. I called him after the wedding and asked him how he got to know his wife without dating. He said they courted, which I took to mean he had become Amish. But he explaining courting is a lot like dating without the head games. He and his wife are also very happy."
The only thing I want to point out is that Josh Harris did date, and it was conviction stemming from his own relationships (well, and the Bible) that truly caused him to take his position, and not the training that he got from being homeschooled, (although that might have been there.)
But, anyways, I think I am going to become Amish.
"Elsewhere in this quandary is my friend Josh. When I first moved to Oregon I was befriended by this vibrant kid who read a lot of the Bible. Josh was good-looking and obsessed with dating, philosophies of dating, social rituals, and that sort of thing. He was homeschooled and trained to believe traditional dating was a bad idea. I travelled with him around the country and introduced him at seminars he would conduct on the pitfalls of dating. He wrote a book about it, and it hit the bestseller's list. No kidding. A couple of years later he moved to Baltimore and got married. I called him after the wedding and asked him how he got to know his wife without dating. He said they courted, which I took to mean he had become Amish. But he explaining courting is a lot like dating without the head games. He and his wife are also very happy."
The only thing I want to point out is that Josh Harris did date, and it was conviction stemming from his own relationships (well, and the Bible) that truly caused him to take his position, and not the training that he got from being homeschooled, (although that might have been there.)
But, anyways, I think I am going to become Amish.
Blue Like Jazz
I am reading a book right nowBlue Like Jazz that I had heard a lot about and wanted to read it primarily because I had heard a lot about it. Funny how that works. But something has surprised me about this book.
I like it.
Well, most of it at least. There are quite a few weaknesses, and I'm not done with the book yet, (there's around 100 pages left, so I might still get really ticked about something. Well, actually I already have gotten really ticked about something, and I'll talk about it later, but I have been very very surprised about how much of this book I have liked.)
Here's a quote that was the last thing in the world I expected from this book that I had heard was pretty much a postmodern EC type of book.
"A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of the church in America - about the postmodern church. He says the neew church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don't think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing."
This sounds more like something I would expect to hear at New Attitude than something I would read in Blue Like Jazz. But it's there. Page 111 if you don't believe me.
Now, this new respect for the book does not lead me to totally recommend it. He says this on evangelism.
"He [Rick, his pastor] didn't really see evangelism, or whatever you want to call it as a target on the wall in which the goal is to get people to agree with us about the meaning of life. He saw evangelism as reaching a felt need."
This is what gets me red in the face. The gospel is not a solution to a felt need, it is the solution to an actual need, which may or may not be felt by whomever the person you are reaching to. We are to present the gospel to people not to get people to agree with us about the meaning of life, or to meet a felt need, but oh so much more! We are to preach the gospel because we love people and want to see their sin covered by the blood of Christ. We love them and do not want them to haveto stand on their own righteousness, because they will fail. We love them so we tell them about this way that has ben opened up to them in the incredible love of God.
The gospel is fuzzy in this book. I would endorse this book whole-heartedly if the gospel were moved from fuzzy to clear. Even that great quote above on page 111, the author does not make it very clear what the gospel is. Here is a gospel presentation he gives a little later in the book.
He is having a conversation with an non-Christian college student during an outreach (a really cool one at that) but this dialouge ensued.
"You said earlier that there was a central message of Christ. I don't really want to become a Christian, you know, but what is that message?"
"The message is that man sinned against God and God gave the world over to man, and that if somebody wanted to be rescuedout of that, if somebody for instance finds it all very empty, that Christ will rescue them if they want; that if they ask for forgiveness for being part of that rebellion then God will forgive them."
"What is the deal with the cross?" Jake asked.
"God says the wages of sin is death," I told him. "And Jesus died so that none of us would have to. If we have faith in that them we are Christians."
This presentation isn't great, but it isn't really wrong either. I mean there isn't a mention of the law, and only a very slight implication of God's justice by saying that he will forgive you. (Which implies that otherwise he won't,) and he never explained why Jesus' death makes it so that we don't have to die. But it at least you get most of the basics, asking for forgiveness to God for your sin will get you rescued because of the death of Christ. I guess that works.
I like it.
Well, most of it at least. There are quite a few weaknesses, and I'm not done with the book yet, (there's around 100 pages left, so I might still get really ticked about something. Well, actually I already have gotten really ticked about something, and I'll talk about it later, but I have been very very surprised about how much of this book I have liked.)
Here's a quote that was the last thing in the world I expected from this book that I had heard was pretty much a postmodern EC type of book.
"A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of the church in America - about the postmodern church. He says the neew church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don't think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing."
This sounds more like something I would expect to hear at New Attitude than something I would read in Blue Like Jazz. But it's there. Page 111 if you don't believe me.
Now, this new respect for the book does not lead me to totally recommend it. He says this on evangelism.
"He [Rick, his pastor] didn't really see evangelism, or whatever you want to call it as a target on the wall in which the goal is to get people to agree with us about the meaning of life. He saw evangelism as reaching a felt need."
This is what gets me red in the face. The gospel is not a solution to a felt need, it is the solution to an actual need, which may or may not be felt by whomever the person you are reaching to. We are to present the gospel to people not to get people to agree with us about the meaning of life, or to meet a felt need, but oh so much more! We are to preach the gospel because we love people and want to see their sin covered by the blood of Christ. We love them and do not want them to haveto stand on their own righteousness, because they will fail. We love them so we tell them about this way that has ben opened up to them in the incredible love of God.
The gospel is fuzzy in this book. I would endorse this book whole-heartedly if the gospel were moved from fuzzy to clear. Even that great quote above on page 111, the author does not make it very clear what the gospel is. Here is a gospel presentation he gives a little later in the book.
He is having a conversation with an non-Christian college student during an outreach (a really cool one at that) but this dialouge ensued.
"You said earlier that there was a central message of Christ. I don't really want to become a Christian, you know, but what is that message?"
"The message is that man sinned against God and God gave the world over to man, and that if somebody wanted to be rescuedout of that, if somebody for instance finds it all very empty, that Christ will rescue them if they want; that if they ask for forgiveness for being part of that rebellion then God will forgive them."
"What is the deal with the cross?" Jake asked.
"God says the wages of sin is death," I told him. "And Jesus died so that none of us would have to. If we have faith in that them we are Christians."
This presentation isn't great, but it isn't really wrong either. I mean there isn't a mention of the law, and only a very slight implication of God's justice by saying that he will forgive you. (Which implies that otherwise he won't,) and he never explained why Jesus' death makes it so that we don't have to die. But it at least you get most of the basics, asking for forgiveness to God for your sin will get you rescued because of the death of Christ. I guess that works.
Christmas in July?
Well, not exactly. I have doing some thinking lately about what our role as Christians should be in our culture. Sometimes I don't think we act as we should. The biggest question I have always had, (and should probably address it to someone like Al Mohler,) is what is the role of a Christian in a sinful society supposed to be?
Christians are active in society. Sometimes it is in an ardent defense of Biblical principles, like the stance being taken by conservative Christians against gay marriage. Other times it is of a more ridiculous nature, like the outrage over having a greeter at Target tell you "Happy Holidays" during the month of September. In both cases, so far, the Christian point of view has been respected by the government, (at least the federal gov.) and many of the retailers went back on their PC policies due to the stir Christians created. My question is, should we be making this kind of stir?
As far as the gay marriage issue, I think we should because we are a democracy, and essentially our form of government is that the people get what the people want. Since we are part of the people, we should make our voice heard. But in the retail world? Should we chastize a retailer because they made their greetings more PC to try to avoid ofending a Jewish customer? I don't really think so. However, the specific instances aren't really what I am concerned about.
We, as Christians, go around a lot, and tell people what they should do. We are trying to hold unregenerate sinners to life underneath a Biblical worldview. They don't like it, and Christianity then comes off looking like a judgemental system built up on a series of do's and don't's.
We should be trying to reach a sinful culture with the gospel. This comes through conversion of individual hearts to believe in Christ and His sacrifce on the cross for our sins. Then this person will live righteuosly. (Well, at least they will try not to sin.) This is the goal.
Does Christian legislation accomplish anything for the Kingdom? The church in the day of the apostles grew under persecution by Roman emporers who were doing anything but promoting godly living through their influence in their cultures. The church has grown to close to 100,000,000 strong in communist China where there is certainly no restraints on the government ot promote righteous legistlation. Over there they have government encouraged abortion, and penalties for having more than one child. Here, Christians would be up in arms about that, but is that doing anything to prevent the gospel from spreading? No!
Perhaps grief is appropriate for the children in China, but that nation that murders its infants is also where the most rapid expansion of the Kingdom of God is happening in the world today. I don't believe that we should sit down and let our government get as immoral as possible, but at the same time Christians need to realize that ultimately, whether or not America endorses gay marriage is irrevlevant. (Imagine that, a secular government in a secular nation passing a secular law. It shouldn't be surprising.) What matters is whether or not souls are coming to Christ. We are to be lights in our culture, not laborers trying to force our culture to be beacons of light. It just won't work.
Christians are active in society. Sometimes it is in an ardent defense of Biblical principles, like the stance being taken by conservative Christians against gay marriage. Other times it is of a more ridiculous nature, like the outrage over having a greeter at Target tell you "Happy Holidays" during the month of September. In both cases, so far, the Christian point of view has been respected by the government, (at least the federal gov.) and many of the retailers went back on their PC policies due to the stir Christians created. My question is, should we be making this kind of stir?
As far as the gay marriage issue, I think we should because we are a democracy, and essentially our form of government is that the people get what the people want. Since we are part of the people, we should make our voice heard. But in the retail world? Should we chastize a retailer because they made their greetings more PC to try to avoid ofending a Jewish customer? I don't really think so. However, the specific instances aren't really what I am concerned about.
We, as Christians, go around a lot, and tell people what they should do. We are trying to hold unregenerate sinners to life underneath a Biblical worldview. They don't like it, and Christianity then comes off looking like a judgemental system built up on a series of do's and don't's.
We should be trying to reach a sinful culture with the gospel. This comes through conversion of individual hearts to believe in Christ and His sacrifce on the cross for our sins. Then this person will live righteuosly. (Well, at least they will try not to sin.) This is the goal.
Does Christian legislation accomplish anything for the Kingdom? The church in the day of the apostles grew under persecution by Roman emporers who were doing anything but promoting godly living through their influence in their cultures. The church has grown to close to 100,000,000 strong in communist China where there is certainly no restraints on the government ot promote righteous legistlation. Over there they have government encouraged abortion, and penalties for having more than one child. Here, Christians would be up in arms about that, but is that doing anything to prevent the gospel from spreading? No!
Perhaps grief is appropriate for the children in China, but that nation that murders its infants is also where the most rapid expansion of the Kingdom of God is happening in the world today. I don't believe that we should sit down and let our government get as immoral as possible, but at the same time Christians need to realize that ultimately, whether or not America endorses gay marriage is irrevlevant. (Imagine that, a secular government in a secular nation passing a secular law. It shouldn't be surprising.) What matters is whether or not souls are coming to Christ. We are to be lights in our culture, not laborers trying to force our culture to be beacons of light. It just won't work.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
An observation
You know, I've discovered something.
As a blogger, when you go three or four weeks between posts, people stop reading.
Oh well.
It's getting kinda lonely here at The Blog of Steele.
And I don't really have any good post ideas.
Well, actually, if anyone is curious and would like a copy of the book Blue Like Jazz, I can get one to you for free. I have access to around 30 of them.
That's about all for today.
As a blogger, when you go three or four weeks between posts, people stop reading.
Oh well.
It's getting kinda lonely here at The Blog of Steele.
And I don't really have any good post ideas.
Well, actually, if anyone is curious and would like a copy of the book Blue Like Jazz, I can get one to you for free. I have access to around 30 of them.
That's about all for today.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
That which makes me cry
Yesterday I read this account from Hudson Taylor. (Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China. You should know who he is. Knowing about Jim Elliot but not knowing who Hudson Taylor is, is like knowing all about Derek Jeter, but asking "Who?" when someone mentions Babe Ruth.) It is from Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret which is his biography. Well, anyways, when I read it yesterday, I cried. I stopped reading, opened the book up today, read it again, and cried again. I thought, "I should blog about this," looked down, read it again, and cried again. Eventually I got past it, and 10 pages later I started to think about it, and, surprisingly, started to cry.
So what is this story that causes me to tear up so much? Well, here it is.
"Last week I was at Taiping. My heart was greatly moved by the crowds that literally filled the streets for two or three miles, so that we could hardly walk, for it was market day. We did but little preaching, for we were looking for a place for permanent work, but I was constrained to retire to the city wall and cry to God to have mercy on the people, to open their hearts and give us an entrance among them.
Without any seeking on our part, we were brought into touch with at least four anxious souls. An old man found us out, I know not how, and followed me to our boat. I asked him in and iquired his name.
'My name is Dzing' he replied. 'But the question which distresses me, and to which I can find no answer, is - What am I to do with my sins? Our scholars tell us that there is no future state, but I find it hard to believe them... Oh, sir, I lie in my bed and think. I sit alone in the daytime and think. I think and think and think again, but I cannot tell what is to be done about my sins. I am seventy-two years of age. I cannot expect to finish another decade. "Today knows not tomorrow's lot," as the saying is. Can you tell me what to do with my sins?'
'I can indeed' was my reply. 'It is to answer this very question that we have travelled these thousands of miles. Listen and I will explain to you what you want and what you need to know.'
When my companions returned, he heard again the wonderful story of the cross, and left us soothed and comforted... glad to know that we had rented a house and hoped to soon have Chinese Christians distributing Bibles and Christian literature in that city."
What sweet providence! How amazing of God! He brought a man all the way from England to tell this seventy-two year old man the answer to the very question that had been haunting his soul. What mercy that God would give this man such insight to see that his sins are a problem and that there is a future state, and that he has a problem! I praise God for moment like this.
But accounts like this also grab hold of my heart like very little else can. There are men like this man alive today. There are people that have never heard the gospel, people who no one within 100 miles of them has EVER heard the gospel. Who could a seventy-two year old man in Bhutan ask this question to today? Or in Saudi Arabia? Or in the sothern half of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia? Or in the Maldives? Or in Laos? Or in Tibet? Or in Iran? Or in any othe rplace in the world with little to no active Christian presence?
Sometimes we can think that because guys like Yesupadam are in India, and that there are now nearly 100 million christians in China that somehow the world no longer has places that cannot be evangelized by people native to that area. But where are the native believers in so many Muslim and Buddhist countries of North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia? Many areas have some, but even more of these areas effectively have no witness. Which brings up a very important point. IF THERE ARE NO LOCAL CHRISTIANS, THERE ARE NO LOCAL EVANGELISTS.
Missionaries are still needed. Someone has to go.
Lord Jesus, I want to go, send me.
So what is this story that causes me to tear up so much? Well, here it is.
"Last week I was at Taiping. My heart was greatly moved by the crowds that literally filled the streets for two or three miles, so that we could hardly walk, for it was market day. We did but little preaching, for we were looking for a place for permanent work, but I was constrained to retire to the city wall and cry to God to have mercy on the people, to open their hearts and give us an entrance among them.
Without any seeking on our part, we were brought into touch with at least four anxious souls. An old man found us out, I know not how, and followed me to our boat. I asked him in and iquired his name.
'My name is Dzing' he replied. 'But the question which distresses me, and to which I can find no answer, is - What am I to do with my sins? Our scholars tell us that there is no future state, but I find it hard to believe them... Oh, sir, I lie in my bed and think. I sit alone in the daytime and think. I think and think and think again, but I cannot tell what is to be done about my sins. I am seventy-two years of age. I cannot expect to finish another decade. "Today knows not tomorrow's lot," as the saying is. Can you tell me what to do with my sins?'
'I can indeed' was my reply. 'It is to answer this very question that we have travelled these thousands of miles. Listen and I will explain to you what you want and what you need to know.'
When my companions returned, he heard again the wonderful story of the cross, and left us soothed and comforted... glad to know that we had rented a house and hoped to soon have Chinese Christians distributing Bibles and Christian literature in that city."
What sweet providence! How amazing of God! He brought a man all the way from England to tell this seventy-two year old man the answer to the very question that had been haunting his soul. What mercy that God would give this man such insight to see that his sins are a problem and that there is a future state, and that he has a problem! I praise God for moment like this.
But accounts like this also grab hold of my heart like very little else can. There are men like this man alive today. There are people that have never heard the gospel, people who no one within 100 miles of them has EVER heard the gospel. Who could a seventy-two year old man in Bhutan ask this question to today? Or in Saudi Arabia? Or in the sothern half of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia? Or in the Maldives? Or in Laos? Or in Tibet? Or in Iran? Or in any othe rplace in the world with little to no active Christian presence?
Sometimes we can think that because guys like Yesupadam are in India, and that there are now nearly 100 million christians in China that somehow the world no longer has places that cannot be evangelized by people native to that area. But where are the native believers in so many Muslim and Buddhist countries of North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia? Many areas have some, but even more of these areas effectively have no witness. Which brings up a very important point. IF THERE ARE NO LOCAL CHRISTIANS, THERE ARE NO LOCAL EVANGELISTS.
Missionaries are still needed. Someone has to go.
Lord Jesus, I want to go, send me.
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