The Gospel Coalition

Mark [O']Driscoll writes on why St. Patrick was one of the greatest missionaries to ever live, and Russell Moore writes on what evangelicals can learn from Saint Patrick.

Moore also recommends Philip Freeman’s St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography:

This biography gives contemporary evangelicals more than a pious evangelist to emulate. It also reconstructs a Christian engagement with a pagan culture, in ways that are strikingly contemporary to evangelicals seeking to engage a post-Christian America.

Read both of their posts for more details.

R.C. Sproul Jr. lays out the problem:

Romans 13 tells us that we are to submit to those who are in authority over us. Those in authority over us claim that the Constitution is the highest law of the land. They then proceed to ignore its most straightforward requirements, treating it as what it is, a dead letter. Which leaves us with this question- are we to submit to the state that falsely claims to be under the Constitution, or are we to submit to the Constitution itself (or more accurately, our own interpretation of the Constitution)? How we answer that question will likely answer how we answer the question of the census.

Then the solution:

My conviction, informed by the collective wisdom of almost every Reformed Bible commentator, is that Romans 13 calls us to submit not just to government as it ought to be, but as it is. That means governments whose authority is on shaky grounds, as well as governments whose activity is on shaky grounds, if they are the ones in power, are to be submitted to, unless or until they command us to do what God clearly forbids, or forbid us to do what God clearly commands. The census is a nuisance. It is not authorized by the Constitution. It is one more fruit of the state’s self-aggrandizement, one more affectation to demonstrate that it is God. And I will be filling mine out. I’ve read the whole Bible and no where does God tell us, “Whatever else you do, be sure not to tell the state how many toilets you have.”

And some practical counsel:

When we are in trouble, when the state is actively abusing us, rather than merely annoying us, and where it yet touts its own procedures, of course we may and should avail ourselves of those procedures [i.e., Paul demanding a trial]. When, however, we are being merely annoyed, wisdom encourages us to go the second mile, to live as much as is possible in peace and quietness with all men. If you want to pick a fight with the state, don’t do it over insignificant data. Don’t do it over how many federal reserve notes they take from us. Do it over something significant. Fussing over such things to a state that sanctions and protects nearly 4000 murders each day seems to demonstrate a rather odd set or priorities. If we would take all the energy we spend on this issue and instead pray for liberty and justice for all, then we might one day again live in the land of the free.

You can read his whole post here.

Yes.

Thanks be to God.

HT: Challies

In answer to that question, I’ve found Erik Thoennes’s perspective to be thoughtful and helpful. The following is from his first essay on Doctrine in the ESV Study Bible.

The ability to discern the relative importance of theological beliefs is vital for effective Christian life and ministry. Both the purity and unity of the church are at stake in this matter. The relative importance of theological issues can fall within four categories:

1. absolutes define the core beliefs of the Christian faith;
2. convictions, while not core beliefs, may have significant impact on the health and effectiveness of the church;
3. opinions are less-clear issues that generally are not worth dividing over; and
4. questions are currently unsettled issues.

These categories can be best visualized as concentric circles, similar to those on a dart board, with the absolutes as the “bull’s-eye”:

Where an issue falls within these categories should be determined by weighing the cumulative force of at least seven considerations:

1. biblical clarity;
2. relevance to the character of God;
3. relevance to the essence of the gospel;
4. biblical frequency and significance (how often in Scripture it is taught, and what weight Scripture places upon it);
5. effect on other doctrines;
6. consensus among Christians (past and present); and
7. effect on personal and church life.

These criteria for determining the importance of particular beliefs must be considered in light of their cumulative weight regarding the doctrine being considered. For instance, just the fact that a doctrine may go against the general consensus among believers (see item 6) does not necessarily mean it is wrong, although that might add some weight to the argument against it. All the categories should be considered collectively in determining how important an issue is to the Christian faith. The ability to rightly discern the difference between core doctrines and legitimately disputable matters will keep the church from either compromising important truth or needlessly dividing over peripheral issues.

(Diagram copyright 2009 Crossway Bibles. Posted with permission.)

Another helpful resource on this is Albert Mohler’s A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity. Dr. Mohler distinguishes between first-order doctrines (a denial of which represents the eventual denial of Christianity itself), second-order doctrines (upon which Bible-believing Christians may disagree, but they create significant boundaries between believers, whether as distinct congregations or denominations), and third-order doctrines (upon which Christians may disagree, but yet remain in close fellowship, even within local congregations).

Finally, I’ve been helped by Michael Wittmer’s excellent book, Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough. He classifies Christian beliefs into  three categories: (1) what you must believe, (2) what you must not reject, and (3) what you should believe. He illustrates this as follows:

In a 2008 interview with Dr. Wittmer, I asked him to explain these categories:

These categories are my attempt to describe the relative importance of Christian beliefs, distinguishing between those beliefs essential for salvation and those essential for a healthy Christian worldview.

In the book of Acts, the bare minimum that a person must know and believe to be saved was that he was a sinner and that Jesus saved him from his sin. As Paul told the Philippian jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16:29-31; cf. 10:43). This is enough to counter the postmodern innovator argument that we can be saved without knowing and believing in Jesus.

But any thinking convert will inquire further about this Jesus. While he may not know much more at the point of conversion than Jesus is the Lord who has saved him, he will quickly learn about Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, deity and humanity, and relation to the other two members of the Trinity. Anyone who rejects these core doctrines should fear for their soul.

According to the Athanasian Creed, whoever does not believe in the Trinity and the two natures of Jesus is damned. However, since it seems possible for a child to come to faith without knowing much about the Trinity or the hypostatic union (this is likely not the place where most parents begin), I take the Creed’s warning in a more benign way—that we do not need to know and believe in the Trinity and two natures of Christ to be saved, but that anyone who knowingly rejects them cannot be saved.

The final category is important doctrines which genuine Christians may unfortunately misconstrue. I think that every Christian should believe that Scripture is God’s Word, know its story of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation, and know something about the nature of God, what it means to be human, and what Jesus is doing through his church. However, many people have been genuine Christians without knowing or believing these things (though their ignorance or disbelief in these facts significantly diminished their Christian faith).

Thus, I believe that every doctrine in this diagram is crucially important for sound Christian faith. And some are so important that we cannot even be saved without them.

Diagram posted with permission of Zondervan.

In the March/April issue of Preaching Magazine, Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. offers his annual suggestions of the top 10 books every preacher should read in 2010. The list doesn’t contain links, so I’ve added them below. (The books are in alphabetical order of the authors’ names.)

• Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, by Bryan Chapell (Baker Academic)
• The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future, by Robert Darnton (Public Affairs)
• Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion, by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Moody Publishers) [on sale for 60% off—i.e., $6—at Amazon]
• Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church, by Michael Horton (Baker Books)
• The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne (Matthias Media)
• Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches, by Russell D. Moore (Crossway)
• Ancient Word, Changing Worlds: The Doctrine of Scripture in a Modern Age, by Stephen J. Nichols and Eric T. Brandt (Crossway)
• Perspectives on Christian Worship: 5 Views, edited by J. Matthew Pinson (B&H Academic)
• Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults, by Christian Smith with Patricia Snell (Oxford Univ. Press)
• The Young and the Digital: What Migration to Social-Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future, by S. Craig Watkins (Beacon Press)

HT: Crossway Blog. They write:

. . .  In the expanded article found in the printed edition of Preaching Magazine pp 4-8, Mohler also recommends the following recent Crossway titles:

• The Gospel in Genesis: From Fig Leaves to Faith by Martyn Lloyd Jones
• Romans by R. C. Sproul
• Through His Eyes: God’s Perspective on Women in the Bible by Jerram Barrs
• Understanding English Bible Translation by Leland Ryken
• Christian Apologetics: Past and Present by Edgar and Oliphant
• Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods by Driscoll and Breshears
• Religion Saves: And 9 Other Misconceptions by Mark Driscoll
• Filling up the Afflictions of Christ by John Piper
• This Momentary Marriage by John Piper
• The Power of Words and Wonder of God edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor
• Big Truths for Young Hearts by Bruce A. Ware

Are you a preacher or a pastor? We’d love to give you a jump start on your 2010 reading list. Tell us about a Crossway title that you’ve already read that you would encourage other preachers/pastors to read and why. We’ll pick one winner at random on Friday 3/19 to receive the above listed book bundle (13 books)!

Go to the link if you’re interested.

Albert Mohler echoes my thoughts and approach exactly (though more eloquently):

I have refrained from extended comment on the health care reform bills—not because I do not have multiple concerns about the bills, but because I recognize that committed Christians can and will disagree over the political and policy issues involved. The trip-wire for me is the issue of human life. The current bill spells disaster when it comes to abortion. I cannot remain silent in this crucial moment where the sanctity of human life is at stake.

Read his whole commentary, where he quotes Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, who argues that the bill represents “the single greatest expansion of abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.”

Christopher Hitchens’s brother, Peter, has a new book coming out from Zondervan on May 1: The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith. I haven’t yet seen the book, but here’s a little preview:

HT: Doug Wilson

A free lecture, open to the public, at Wheaton College this Thursday night. Dr. Ferguson is in town for the Evangelicals and the Early Church conference.

D.A. Carson’s Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus is one of the most spiritually encouraging books I’ve read in quite a while. You can watch or listen to the original messages here.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Jesus, saying,  “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

Here’s an excerpt from the book, where Carson explores what would have happened if Jesus had taken them up on the challenge and came down from the cross.

This would be a pretty remarkable and convincing display of power, and the mockers would be back-peddling pretty fast. But in the full Christian sense, would they believe in him? Of course not! To believe in Jesus in the Christian sense means not less than trusting him utterly as the One who has borne our sin in his own body on the tree, as the One whose life and death and resurrection, offered up in our place, has reconciled us to God. If Jesus had leapt off the cross, the mockers and other onlookers could not have believed in Jesus in that sense, because he would not have sacrificed himself for us, so there would be nothing to trust, except our futile and empty self-righteousness.

But then Carson explores in deeper depth the meaning of their statement, “He saved others but he can’t save himself.”

The deeper irony is that, in a way they did not understand, they were speaking the truth. If he had saved himself, he could not have saved others; the only way he could save others was precisely by not saving himself. In the irony behind the irony that the mockers intended, they spoke the truth they themselves did not see. The man who can’t save himself—saves others.

One of the reasons they were so blind is that they thought in terms of merely physical restraints. When they said “he can’t save himself,” they meant that the nails held him there, the soldiers prevented any possibility of rescue, his powerlessness and weakness guaranteed his death. For them, the words “he can’t save himself” expressed a physical impossibility. But those who know who Jesus is are fully aware that nails and soldiers cannot stand in the way of Emmanuel. The truth of the matter is that Jesus could not save himself, not because of any physical constraint, but because of a moral imperative. He came to do his Father’s will, and he would not be deflected from it. The One who cries in anguish in the garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will, but yours be done,” is under such a divine moral imperative from his heavenly Father that disobedience is finally unthinkable. It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will—and, within that framework, it was his love for sinners like me. He really could not save himself.

On Andy Naselli’s recommendation I recently bought the DVD No Greater Love, and my wife and I watched it this weekend. It’s an explicitly Christian film, and it’s well done. It may not be perfect, but I think it represents a significant advance in Christian filmmaking, with a compelling story, good acting, and very good production values. A few of the minor characters came across as cheesy Christians—but hey, even that’s true to life!

Sometimes those of us who have an interest in Christianity and art have a built-in bias against the Christian message being explicit. I’m not sure exactly why that is. But I rejoiced as I watched this compelling story to see a film where  respect is shown for the gospel, the authority of God’s Word, the sanctity of marriage, and the love of a covenant community of Christians.

You can watch the first 30 minutes of the film online for free. You can watch the trailer online, too, but I wouldn’t recommend it, as it gives away much of the story. We found it more enjoyable to watch it not knowing the plot.

Again, it’s worth watching and spreading the word about this film. I can see small groups and couples having great discussions as a result.

Mike Wittmer reprints a letter he once sent evangelical financial guru Dave Ramsey, who is “unwittingly advising ministers to break the law.”

Wittmer writes to Ramsey:  “This has implications for the integrity of the minister and the testimony of Christ’s church.  What would people think, especially those outside the church, if they knew that the same pastor who preaches honesty, sacrifice, and love for Christ above all lied to the government in order to save money on his taxes?”

He didn’t receive a response to his letter.

The following is from Ramsey’s website regarding the issue:

QUESTION: John asks if he should opt out of Social Security if he’s a full-time pastor.

ANSWER: Pastors can opt out of Social Security on a religious basis.  Under the tax law you can be a conscientious objector.  God clearly tells us to manage our money well and Social Security is not a good money manager, so you have a viable reason for opting out of Social Security.

If you don’t put your money in Social Security, you have to do the following three things:

1.    You have to save for retirement.
2.    You have to get life insurance.
3.    You have to get long-term disability insurance.

You’ll have thousands of dollars more if you save this way.

Update: For those considering this issue for the first time, here is Russell Moore’s take on it.

For those wanting more details on the law, Continue

From the US Center for World Mission: “A 19″by 27″ poster reflecting updated statistics on the reached and unreached people groups of the world. This poster shows in chart form the extent of the gospel and the need of the world. It graphically illustrates the numbers of reached and unreached peoples in the Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, ethnic religious, and non-religious cultural groups of our world. This wall poster shows the great imbalance and the need of focusing on the yet-unreached people of the world. This is the completely revised version (4th edition) of a wall poster that has powerfully mobilized efforts toward unreached peoples for 30 years! A great addition to the offices of pastors, the bulletin boards of churches, dorm rooms and apartments of students, and the homes of laypeople everywhere!”

HT: JP

Here’s the new website, run by Doug Sweeney and Owen Strachan.

For those Edwardphiles out there, note a couple of upcoming lectures:

• Richard Muller (Calvin Theological Seminary) in the “New Directions in Edwards Studies” lecture series
  September 29th, 2010
• George Marsden (University of Notre Dame) in the “Jonathan Edwards and the Church” lecture series
  November 3rd, 2010

Tony Reinke has some very helpful notes from a lecture by Professor Richard Gaffin on various ways in which the NT looks at our union with Christ.

The audio for the Adopting for LIfe conference is now online.

One of the sessions I enjoyed the most was David Platt’s, where he shares some of their stories and walks verse-by-verse through the second chapter of Ruth. I was very encouraged by this good word.

You can listen to the audio of his session here.