The Gospel Coalition

Skye Jethani’s “10 Commandments of Scripture Interpretation”

A nutrition professor loses 27 pounds by his Twinkie diet:

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food. The premise held up: On his “convenience store diet,” he shed 27 pounds in two months.

15 ways to winterize your home

Does human morality arise from brain chemistry?

The model I favor employs a computer hardware/software analogy. Accordingly, the brain is the hardware that manifests human spirituality and the image of God. Meanwhile, the image of God itself is analogous to the software programming. According to this model, hardware structures—brain regions—support the expression of the various aspects of God’s image, such as moral judgment. Brain chemicals are the means to mediate the communication between neurons and, ultimately, the different brain regions. However, brain structures and biochemistry are not the source of moral judgments. Instead they are part of the physical apparatus and operations that make the expression of moral judgments possible.

The term “evangelism” gives many Christians the willies. We immediately think of canned presentations that seem stiff and unnatural. We are paralyzed by the thought of knocking on a stranger’s door and talking about Jesus.

In response to these images of evangelism, we promote the idea of “building relationships” before sharing the gospel. We call it friendship or relational evangelism.

I think this development is a healthy one. We don’t share the gospel apart from who we are as witnesses. The most effective evangelism takes place within the context of relationships where the life of the Christian is on display.

But sometimes, I wonder if our emphasis on relationships might cause us to turn all our focus to relationship-building and indefinitely postpone gospel proclamation. So someone asks you, “Are you sharing the gospel regularly?” and you think, Of course! I’m building a relationship with an employee at a coffee shop; I’ve got a friend who watches football with me; I’m getting to know the parents in my child’s preschool class.

Weeks and months (maybe even years) go by, and we’ve made friends, but no disciples. We still haven’t spoken about our Christian faith and what it means to trust in Jesus.

It’s true that effective evangelism usually takes place after trustworthy relationships have been built. But something is amiss when we can “get to know” people well over a period of months and never talk about Jesus.

A few months ago, I struck up a conversation with the father of one of the kids on my son’s T-ball team. We talked a little about his work, about his kids, about our community. I asked him why he had chosen our town. His answer? The church drew him here. They had wanted to raise a family in a small town with a good church. Several family members had recommended a particular church, and so they upped and moved here.

This guy had no idea I was an associate pastor at another local church. He didn’t even know I was a Christian. Yet within a few minutes of the conversation, it was clear that he was a believer and that his faith in Christ was central to his life. As I thought about that conversation later, I realized that it would have been impossible for us to form a lasting friendship without talking about Christ. His Christianity was so central to his identity that it could not go unnoticed or unmentioned.

In pastoral ministry, I have the same “problem.” Whenever I talk to a neighbor or strike up a conversation with a stranger, I usually am asked about my occupation. As soon as I mention that I’m a pastor, the relationship changes. The conversation shifts. (Things either go uphill or downhill from there.) But there’s no sense in hiding. What I do is connected to who I am. To form a good friendship with someone, my occupation has to be on the table.

I am all about building relationships and sharing the gospel within the context of those relationships. I’m not saying that every conversation has to end with an altar call. But it worries me when Christians can become “good friends” with non-Christians without revealing their Christian identity.

Waiting too long to talk about your faith is counterproductive. If I can get to know you well over the course of several months and yet never hear you speak of Jesus, then when you eventually do share the gospel, I will probably assume that Jesus is not very important to you.

On the other hand, when your Christian faith runs deep, Jesus has a way of making an appearance much sooner. Our identity in Christ should be such an integral part of our lives that it is impossible for someone to know us well without understanding how our Christian faith informs our lives.

So, yes. By all means, build deep relationships with unbelievers. But be up front about who you and are and what you believe. Don’t go in cognito in order to be a better witness. Let people see Christ in you and let them know Who it is they’re seeing.

My dad is now blogging. Here is a post with helpful Scriptural memorization techniques:

I have to admit that all this Scripture memorization is seriously cutting into my TV time! I’m really enjoying it, and I challenge you to prayerfully consider taking up the challenge, too. Here are some tips that I hope will help you. If you have some tricks and shortcuts that you would be willing to share, I’d love to hear from you.

The tunnel people of Las Vegas: How 1,000 live in flooded labyrinth under Sin City’s shimmering strip (HT)

“You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with”:

This quote has me thinking this morning.  Not so much about whether I’m just like the 5 people I hang with most; but why I don’t have a couple of people who need Jesus that are in my “fav 5″.

Thabiti Anyabwile:

Last week I took exception to the way some people equate abortion and slavery because I think the comparison is sometimes made without due empathy by people that are viewed with suspicion in certain communities.  The point of the post was not to say “don’t make the comparison.”  The point of the post was to say, “To make the comparison effectively you must know your audience.”

Appropriately so, a couple of the folks in the comment thread asked, “Well, how would you do it?”  I’m no expert, but I owe folks an attempt.  I’ve written below a short stump speech I might deliver to a predominantly African American audience were I a white speaker trying to win supporters for ending abortion.

In a recent Q&A with John Piper and Conrad Mbewe, Piper was asked a question about increasing division in evangelicalism between those who are Reformed and those who are not. Toward the end of his answer, Piper makes a good point about how love for the Bible can be a unifying factor for evangelicals who hold differing theological views:

I love this Book. I love this Book way more than the Institutes… or way more than Jonathan Edwards.

An Arminian who is a lover of this Book – and you can smell humility on that guy, an absolute submission to this Book – man, can I go a long way with that guy! I can talk to him all day long.

But if a Calvinist comes along who never quotes this Book, but just quotes Calvin – I don’t want to spend any time with him. I’m not interested. He’s just always blabbering away. He’s read some latest catechism or some latest book, and he’s on to this doctrine or that doctrine… I want to say: “Would you give me a verse?! Give me a verse. I just want to hear God come out of your mouth!”

In that sense, I hope that I’m a winsome person. If an Arminian says, “Look, I think that everything I say is in this Book.” I say: “Me too! Let’s talk! Let’s go to this Book together. Let’s worship the God we see in this Book.” It’s amazing how far you can go with those people.

Piper’s point about love for the Word being a unifying factor for evangelicals is important to note. It shows that the dividing lines in evangelicalism are not merely about particular doctrines (Arminian vs. Calvinist, charismatic vs. cessationist, Baptist vs. Presbyterian, etc.), but about the centrality of the Word.

Plenty of young Reformed guys thrive in non-Reformed churches as long as those churches clearly uphold and passionately proclaim the Word. The best of the young Reformed movement is not concerned with Calvinizing all evangelicals; they’re too busy proclaiming the gospel to the lost. What the young Reformed movement is reacting against is not Arminianism (or non-Calvinism), but a superficial treatment of Scripture that fails to dig deep and grapple with the big questions the Bible raises.

“What King James Wrought” – The Boston Globe on how the Bible continues to affect our speech:

In the past week or so, anyone following the news might have read that Jon Stewart is “a thorn in the side of politicians”; that Senator Harry Reid of Nevada won reelection “by the skin of his teeth”; and that people in the newspaper industry “see the writing on the wall.” That well-informed reader wouldn’t have been especially surprised to hear that these phrases all come from the same source, the Bible.

The webmaster for NarniaWeb.com got an early viewing of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

The final scenes of the film, especially Aslan’s country, are unbelievably good. The parting scene on the beach at Aslan’s Country was very moving. I spoke with one of Walden’s staffers after the show and he said that watching the audience during the final scene was amazing because everyone was wiping away tears as Reepicheep bids farewell. The visuals and dialogue on the beach of Aslan’s Country are some of the most beautiful and moving I’ve ever seen and a perfect emotional climax to the film.

A Lincoln photograph – and a Mystery:

There is no photograph of Lincoln from the day he was elected president – nor any of voters lining up to cast their ballots, nor of citizens hearing the results of a contest that would change their country forever. But I think I’ve found two – and they’re of Lincoln. Well, almost…

In his autobiography, President Bush is admitting some mistakes. Katrina is one example:

“It’s always my fault,” Bush added in regards to the incident that was later viewed as a massive communications debacle. “I mean I was the one who should have said, A, don’t take my picture, B, let’s land in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, C, let’s don’t even come close to the area. Let’s – the next place to be seen is in Washington at a command center. I mean, it was my fault.”

Lord God,
who has left us your holy Word
to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our steps,
give unto us all your Holy Spirit:
that out of the same word
we may learn what is your eternal will
and frame our lives in all holy obedience to the same,
to your honor and glory and the increase of our faith,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

- adapted from a prayer by Edward Dering (1540-76)

Julie Rose’s new translation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is terrific. On Saturdays, I am sharing some quotes worth pondering. This is the last collection. (See first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth posts.)

“The beautiful thing about great danger is that it brings out the fraternity of strangers.” (905)

“The mind expands when you are close to the grave; to be close to death makes you see things as they really are.” (924)

“The soul does not give in to despair without exhausting all possible illusions.” (946)

“Dawn wakes up minds just as it does birds…” (969)

“Everyone has noticed how swiftly a coin you drop on the ground rolls away and hides and how cleverly it makes itself unfindable. There are thoughts that play the same trick on us; they curl up on a corner of our brains and that’s that; they are lost; impossible to set memory on them again.” (988)

“To love beauty is to seek the light.” (1017)

” The degree of civilization is measured by the degree of imagination.” (1017)

“Daring to die will always moves other men.” (1025)

“When grace tackles wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an indefinable dawning in radiant old age.” (1094)

“A certain grace lingers on after a party has died.” (1137)

“Dying is nothing; what’s terrible is not to live.” (1490)

Seven links for your weekend reading:

1. Jared Wilson: We Praise What We Care About

2. Why Sex Ruins TV Romances

3. Doug Wilson has an interesting take on the Great Commission’s command to make disciples of all nations.

4. Tom Wright: Church of England should drop plans for women Bishops if major split would result.

5. Anthony Esolen: “I Confess, I Paid Attention to the Election”

6. This chart shows the number of verses and percentage of verses where the NIV2011 and NIV1984 are the same, when the NIV2011 kept the TNIV rendering, and when the NIV2011 has something completely new.

7. Caffeine can kill you. Time reports on a man who has died after overdose.

Gary Bredfeldt’s book Great Leader, Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership states a simple truth that has recently been buried under an avalanche of competing leadership strategies: great leaders are great teachers. The biblical vision for leadership concentrates on teaching as the main area in which the church leader should aspire if he is to lead effectively.

In a market full of books with dozens of differing strategies on leadership in the church, Bredfeldt’s simple thesis comes as a breath of fresh air. Leadership effectiveness is maximized by great teaching ability, which is why church leaders need to reclaim the biblical emphasis on teaching and preaching.

Bredfeldt surveys the landscape of leadership models currently popular in the church. The traditional models are hierarchical and heroic, focusing on the authority invested in a leader who has proven by his character his fitness to lead. Newer models trade authority for authenticity, focusing on relationships over structure (14).

Bredfeldt rightly argues that the biblical model does not force us into an “either-or” decision about these models. Instead, the Bible bases leadership in the teaching of God’s Word (15).

Bredfeldt’s emphasis on the importance of Bible teaching is refreshing, considering the number of books on Christian leadership that only give lip service to Bible teaching before diving into strategies culled from the top organizations in the business world. One only has to look at the greatest of biblical leaders to back up Bredfeldt’s point.

• Moses may have been a good leader in many respects, but his teaching is what has been passed down to us thousands of years later.
• David was a warrior, the greatest of Israel’s kings, and a skilled musician, but it was the teaching in his psalms that left the greatest mark on history.
• Ezra was a leader who made teaching the top priority and received God’s blessing because of it (40-42).
• Above all, Scripture tells us that “Jesus came, preaching…” (Matthew 4:17), inaugurating God’s Kingdom through signs, wonders, and his own death and resurrection, but also through his teaching ministry.

Bredfeldt correctly diagnoses one of the main problems in today’s church. Many churches so emphasize programs and activities that the pastor feels guilty for his time spent in study (32-34). The stressful demands of being the main leader of an organization like the church can eat away at the time needed to study and properly prepare for the spiritual feeding of the congregation.

Bredfeldt encourages pastors to do what they really want to do – teach and spend time studying the Word. Pastors are discouraged and unfulfilled because they are not able to accomplish their call: preaching and teaching (38-40)!

For biblical support, Bredfeldt points to Acts 6, the story of the apostles appointing deacons to help administer funds and services so that the apostles might continue teaching. This is just one of many passages that Bredfeldt could have chosen to show the biblical justification for his thesis.

Paul’s advice to Timothy contains many sayings that could be called “leadership advice,” but the command to always be preparing for preaching (2 Timothy 4:2) seems to trump the rest of his recommendations. Bredfeldt points out that Paul’s instructions to Timothy were not about devoting his time to developing mission statements, strategic planning, leading change, or managing conflicts (even though each of these is good and necessary). Timothy was challenged to give utmost importance to public preaching (1 Timothy 4:13) (38).

Bredfeldt has nothing against formulating a mission statement or discerning God’s vision for the church. But he criticizes a church atmosphere that downplays the significance of solid Bible teaching. Instead of including Bible teaching as just one item in a list of pastoral responsibilities, Bredfeldt claims that all pastoral responsibilities flow predominantly from the teaching ministry (59).

Bredfeldt also corrects a common misquoting of Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” While many leadership gurus use this verse as support for their emphasis on casting a vision for the church, Bredfelt correctly translates the verse, “Where there is no revelation (teaching), the people cast off restraint. (48)” The astute Bible reader can begin recounting biblical scenes of God’s people perishing even under “good” leadership when that leadership came at the expense of the prophetic word – the days of King Saul, the days of the judges, the Golden Calf escapade while Moses, the Teacher, was absent, etc.

One of the recurring themes in Great Leader, Great Teacher is Bredfeldt’s resistance to the Emerging Church emphasis on communally derived truth and its devaluing of propositional truth. Bredfeldt devotes an entire chapter to the twin dangers of cultural accommodation (manifested most clearly in the Emerging movement according to Bredfeldt) and cultural isolationism (a fundamentalism that loses all cultural relevance) (70).

Though Bredfeldt believes that cultural isolationism is also dangerous, he devotes only two pages to isolation, compared to the nine pages he gives to cultural accommodation. It is clear which ditch Bredfeldt believes is the more pressing threat – cultural accommodation.

But the readers most likely to resonate with Bredfeldt’s emphasis on Bible teaching are the ones who would probably tend toward an unhealthy isolationism. Surely this is a large enough group to warrant more than just two pages of warning. One thinks of the evangelical groups that continue to splinter and fracture over minor issues that have little bearing on the Christian mission in the world.

Great Leader, Great Teacher calls Christian leaders back to their God-given teaching roles. Bredfeldt’s book is a marvelous treatise on the need for solid, Bible teaching and a passionate plea for pastors to reclaim teaching authority as the burning desire of their hearts. Filled with powerful illustrations and sound Scriptural support, Great Leader, Great Teacher deserves to be on the shelf of every pastor’s library.

(This post was edited from a four-part series in June 2007.)

How dare you compare abortion to the Holocaust or slavery?!

Adolf Hitler and the Nazis decided that human persons who were of Jewish heritage were not actually human persons, but some kind of pest or rodent that needed exterminating.  Roe v. Wade pronounced that human persons who were in the first nine months of their human development were not human persons unless their mother decided they were. How can we not have learned our lessons about trying to redefine personhood?

This map gives you a feel for just how big Africa is. Look at all the countries that fit into the continent.

The evangelical left is disappointed in their lack of influence in Washington. Matt Anderson welcomes them to the club:

The real story, though, is that the evangelical left is waking up to the reality that after they were so heavily courted for their votes in 2008, they have been practically ignored by the ruling party.

Joe Carter on the Tea Party movement and its future:

We can expect to see the formation of a “Tea Party Caucus” within Congress as a substitute for what is really needed: every Republican supporting the full-spectrum of the conservative agenda. The last best hope is that Tea Partiers will recognize that they are part of a rebranding of the conservative label and not developing a distinct movement within conservatism.