The Gospel Coalition

Orphan care is more than just adoption. At the heart of orphan care is grace – grace that flows from Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, that reconciles us to God, that we extend through the care of orphans and others. Joining me today is pastor and professor, Tony Merida, co-author of the new book Orphanology: Awakening to Gospel-Centered Adoption and Orphan Care (New Hope, 2011). 

Trevin Wax: In the past decade, it seems like evangelicals have suddenly woken up to the orphan crisis around the world and have begun taking steps toward adoption, improving orphanages, and opening homes to foster care. One of the interesting points you bring out in Orphanology however is that orphan care is not new to evangelicalism. In fact, it’s a thread we see running way back. What does our history look like in this area?

Tony Merida: Wow! Where to begin? We could actually go way back. Paul tells us of God’s sovereign plan saying,

“He [God] predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” (Eph. 1:5).

Before the world, God already had adoption in his redemptive plan! That’s why I laugh when people ask, “What’s up with this new adoption emphasis?” I like to respond with, “New? You call before the foundation of the world new? Taco Bell is new.”

Related to our care for the fatherless, I would actually go back to the doctrine of imago dei in Genesis. Our view of human beings affects how we view them and care for them. If we believe that all people are created in God’s image, then they are worthy of dignity, value and love.

As the story of Scripture unfolds, we see how God has a particular concern for the fatherless, the widow and the sojourner, and commands his people to show this concern as well. In fact, it is interesting that God refers to himself as “father to the fatherless.” (Ps. 68:5). Think about that. What is God like? One of the features of our God is that he is a father to the fatherless.

Later in the NT, we see James urging us to practice true religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father by visiting orphans in their affliction (1:27). This word “visit” is the same root word from which we get our word “pastor” from. James says that we should shepherd the orphan.

Trevin Wax: So you’re saying, we can trace this emphasis back to the Scriptures. But in the book, you also show that orphan care is a big part of evangelical church history as well.

Tony Merida: Yes. We have documented accounts from people like Aristitides who says that believers were known for (among other things) looking after the orphan. Others tell us that Christians were known for taking unwanted children which were often left in trash heaps. In a day where human life was not valued (like ours), it was the believers who were known for caring for the little ones.

Fast forward to the Great Awakenings and you see guys like George Whitefield raising money to build an orphanage in Georgia. Later, the mighty Spurgeon builds in orphanage, and some of these children later attended the pastor’s college. Then there is George Mueller, living by faith, displaying Christ’s love to hundreds of orphans. These are just a few samplings in history of people who proclaimed the Gospel in word and practiced good deeds of mercy to the fatherless.

Trevin Wax: That brings us to today. Why do you think we’ve seen a resurgence of orphan care in the past few years? Obviously, this issue goes back to the Bible and has been prominent throughout evangelical history (as you’ve pointed out), but the current resurgence seems to be a response to many years of little attention given to this issue. Any thoughts as to why we’re seeing so many people involve themselves in this movement today?

Tony Merida: First, I would point to what seems to be a resurgence of interest in theology in general among the rising generation. For example, my friend David just taught from 6:00pm-midnight on soteriology to thousands of people at Secret Church. There he covered doctrines like propitiation, substitution, adoption, and many more.

This sort of interest in biblical theology and God’s grace in salvation has led to an understanding of mercy ministry. As important as the doctrine of creation is as a motivator for mercy is, the doctrine of redemption is greater. Once people begin to realize that they have received from Jesus the opposite of what they have deserved, they will then begin to show grace and compassion to anyone in need. So, I think the better our understanding of grace and gospel, the greater our level of concern will be for those in need.

Once people see that “they themselves” were the orphan until God adopted them, they were the sojourner until God welcomed them, they were the widow until Christ became their bridegroom – once they see this, their lives are impacted.

Trevin Wax: Do you think that another reason might be the ease of communication and travel?

Tony Merida: Absolutely. Globalization and the internet have opened our eyes to the need. Even though people still do not understand the vastness of the orphan crisis, at least there is some measure of accessibility to news about this reality.

Further, people in my generation view the world as their neighbor. Traveling to Africa isn’t as big a deal today as it used to be. There have been times that I have been talking to students about the orphan crisis and I’ll notice they are already looking up prices for plane tickets on their iPhones!

Likewise, the internet has made possible a new wave of theological and missional development through podcasts and online teaching. People in years past may have rarely heard any preacher other than the one in their home church. And if he never mentioned orphan care, then they could have spent their whole lives never dealing with it. Today, however, people generally listen to more preachers/teachers than before. So, if you visit John Piper’s website, for example, you will find over 40 pages about adoption and orphan care. Or, if you listen to Rick Warren for any period of time, you will hear him talking about it as well.

Trevin Wax: What about the snowball effect? I know dozens of people who have adopted children or who have been involved in the orphan crisis at a personal level. How does personal example persuade people to get involved?

Tony Merida: Once people actually see children adopted, see pastors coming to church with their ex-orphans, go over to visit their friends who just got back from Uganda with a new little one, then it hits them emotionally. They see that the orphans are not a cause; they are people. And once they hold an ex-orphan, play catch with an ex-orphan, it rocks their world.

The old adage of “success breeds success” seems to be happening right now. Even though I wouldn’t call what we’ve done as “successful” (we still have 130,000 in U.S. foster systems ready to be adopted!), we have seen a growing movement, which has in turn created more movement. The more “successful” examples people see, the more adoptions we will see.

Trevin Wax: One of things I like about Orphanology is that you deal holistically with the orphan crisis. This book is not just about adoption, though adoption certainly plays a key role. You also address the institutional side of orphanages, the foster home situation, and the need for transitional assistance for orphans who read adulthood. Why is it important for us to see the big picture when we think about orphan care?

Tony Merida: Because the orphan crisis doesn’t have one simple solution. We like simple solutions. But this is a complex matter.

For instance, adoption isn’t the only solution for solving the orphan crisis (though we need to adopt more kids!) for the simple reason that many orphans are not available for adoption because of the country in which they live. In this case, we need to learn how to care for the fatherless through mission trips, partnerships, and ministries that help kids when they transition out of the orphanage.

Just today, I talked with a church member who has started a non-profit ministry designed to help kids work in a business once they transition out of the orphanage. Those are the types of things we need to learn how to do well. The future for un-adopted orphans is not bright. The majority of them, in many countries, end up in a life of crime and prostitution.

So, we want to say, “do something.” What can you do?

• Are you a business man? Help these kids in the Dominican Republic start and maintain a business.
• Are you wealthy? Help these parents financially adopt these children.
• Are you not in a position to adopt? Then will you consider being a foster parent?

Ministry to the fatherless involves a variety of activities that we can do as the diverse body of Christ.

Trevin Wax: How we keep the orphan care movement from running out of steam? There’s so much to do that many Christians might get overburdened by the need.

Tony Merida: I think we must keep telling people that ultimately everything we do is for the glory of God, not the immediate, observable impact that we see.

I remember hearing Alistair Begg tell a story about his early days as an assistant minister before he came to the States. On one particular occasion, he and the senior minister were visiting a senior care facility. Begg asked him about why they should make these visits since most of the people were unable to mentally engage due to their age and physical situation. The senior minister said that he was missing the point. Ultimately, they were making these visits and doing these Bible studies as unto Christ Himself, not for those in the facility – for as often as we have done it unto the least of these, we have done it unto Christ.

I remember that story had a great impact on me as Begg shared it so transparently and eloquently. I could see how someone may look at the orphan crisis and say, “What’s the use? The problem is too big.” Or, “Who am I? What can I do?”

Let’s not miss the point, everything we do in the name of Jesus, on behalf of Jesus, because of Jesus – matters. We must keep driving this point home. This will keep us from losing hope, growing discouraged, and living man-centered, results-driven lives. In other words, we can keep the movement going by staying true to the Scriptures and keeping our motivation Christ-centered.

Beyond this, we need to keep telling the story of life-change, keep writing books, keep preaching on the doctrine of adoption and orphan care, keep starting new ministries, and keep influencing influencers – and all of this in a spirit of prayer for God’s help.

Trevin Wax: You are one of the people who is doing that well, Tony. Thank you for your book and for joining me in this conversation!

Interesting review of Mark Twain’s autobiography:

Clemens did not want redemption, which is why his humor has such a stiletto edge to it, and why, in the end, he could not be as totally transparent as his autobiographical models demanded. What Clemens wanted was innocence, and he was enraged at having it stripped away.

Thomas Reese - The Hidden Exodus: Catholics Becoming Protestants

People are not becoming Protestants because they disagree with specific Catholic teachings; people are leaving because the church does not meet their spiritual needs and they find Protestant worship service better. Nor are the people becoming Protestants lazy or lax Christians. In fact, they attend worship services at a higher rate than those who remain Catholic. Catholics who became Protestant also claim to have a stronger faith now than when they were children or teenagers. Thus, both as believers and as worshipers, Catholics who become Protestants are statistically better Christians than those who stay Catholic. We are losing the best, not the worst.

Speaking of an exodus from Catholicism, some are heading to Eastern Orthodoxy. Rod Dreher has an interesting take on why people are interested in the Orthodox:

The main reason why Orthodoxy is so attractive to converts, at least to this convert, is its seriousness about sin. I don’t mean that it’s a dour religion – it is very far from that! – but rather that Orthodoxy takes the brokenness of humankind with appropriate seriousness. Orthodoxy is not going to tell you that you’re okay. In fact, it will require you to call yourself, as St. Paul described himself, the “chief of sinners.” And Orthodoxy is going to tell you the Good News: Jesus died and returned to life so that you too might live. But in order to live, you are going to have to die to yourself, over and over again. And that will not be painless, and cannot be, or it’s not real.

Tullian Tchividjian: Up and Out, Not In

The gospel causes us to look up to Christ and what he did, out to our neighbor and what they need, not in to ourselves and how we’re doing. There’s nothing about the gospel that fixes my eyes on me. Any version of Christianity, therefore, that encourages you to think mostlyabout you is detrimental to the faith-whether it’s your failures or your successes; your good works or your bad works; your strengths or your weaknesses; your obedience or your disobedience.

Mike Wittmer has done evangelicals a great service. He has penned an easy-to-read, thoughtful, and charitable response to Rob Bell’s controversial book, Love Wins. Wittmer is a professor at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and has written books like Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough and Heaven Is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God.

This new book, Christ Alone: An Evangelical Response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins, is a tour-de-force, brilliant in its critique and gracious in its tone. I’ve always admired Mike Wittmer’s willingness to genuinely listen to the questions and concerns coming from people of differing theological persuasions. When the Emerging Church discussion was taking place, Wittmer readily admitted weaknesses and errors within evangelical theology that need to be corrected. But he never veered from his reliance on the authoritativeness of Scripture and the centrality of the gospel.

So now, Wittmer enters into the fierce debate over Love Wins in order to express his significant concerns about Rob Bell’s theology. Readers of Wittmer’s response will discover that the issues at stake are not just about hell and the afterlife. Theology is connected. He writes:

Theology, or our understanding of God, is more like a sweater than a smorgasbord. We can’t logically walk up to the Bible buffet and load up on the teachings we like while skipping the ones we don’t: give me an extra helping of love but hold the stuff about wrath. Instead, our beliefs about God and the Christian life are intertwined like the strands of yarn in a cable-knit sweater. When we tug on one, the others tend to come, too. (2)

Wittmer’s goal in this book is to help the reader understand the biblical and theological issues at stake. He also wants readers to embrace or reaffirm the traditional perspective on these matters. Unlike Bell, Wittmer is clear:

“The traditional, evangelical story about God and salvation is the only story in which God truly loves, and it’s also the only story in which he self-sacrificially wins.” (4)

Christ Alone is divided into ten chapters, each of which corresponds (roughly) to the main ideas of Love Wins. One of the ways that Wittmer makes his case is by asking the kind of questions about Bell’s theology that Bell asks about evangelical thought. The difference between the two books is not just the theology expressed, but also the tone in which the discussion takes place. Bell openly mocks the traditional view, caricaturing evangelicals and making snide comments about those who hold to such belief. Wittmer, however, interacts with Bell’s arguments in an evenhanded, charitable way that is certainly firm, but never mean-spirited.

The result is that Wittmer ably models how to engage in theological debate, even as he distinguishes error from truth in Bell’s work. This book offers sound advice that goes beyond the debate over Love Wins and is applicable to anyone who wants to wisely study the Scriptures. Here are some examples:

• “If you sense that as you answer your theological question your reach exceeds your grasp, there is a good chance you are talking about God.” (12)
• “Better to believe that God is all-powerful and all-loving and wrestle with evil than to weaken one aspect of God to make room for evil.” (14)
• “Our hopes are only as strong as the reasons we have for holding them.” (23)
• “Speak when the Bible speaks and remain quiet when the Bible is silent.” (30)

Then, there are the moments where Wittmer turns the tables on Bell’s argumentation. Whereas Bell worries that a traditional view of hell leads to a skewed vision of God, Wittmer worries that Bell’s theology leads to cynicism about God’s character. Here are questions to ponder:

• “Why would a God who ‘loves’ enough to empty hell want to frighten people now with numerous warnings that sound like hell lasts forever?” (22)
• “If the appalling mutilation of Rwandan children was comparable to hell, then why would Jesus say that it is better for us to mutilate ourselves than to be cast into hell?” (51) Response: ”Jesus’ ‘shocking images of judgment’ make sense only if Jesus was warning about a real and shocking judgment.” (52)

Wittmer also points out troubling inconsistencies and logical flaws in Love Wins:

• “According to Bell, when evangelicals say that God gives humans the freedom to reject him and then live with the consequences of those actions, the result is a ‘devastating’ and ‘psychologically crushing’ God who is impossible to love. But when Bell’s God gives people freedom to reject him and then live with the consequences, ‘love wins’?” (73)

Wittmer’s biggest problem with Love Wins is not Bell’s views on heaven and hell. (In fact, in the chapter on heaven, Wittmer sympathizes with Bell’s robust vision of a renewed earth, a subject that Wittmer has written extensively about.) No, the big problem is what Bell does with our view of God, sin, and grace.

Of God:

“Love Wins attempts to make our judgment about God rather than about us. Rob Bell effectively puts God on trial.” (124)

“If there is no looming threat of wrath and hell, then there is little for God to do except be generally kind to everyone. That may be nice, but the Bible wouldn’t say that this God is love.” (146)

Of sin:

“If we say that a loving God would never send anyone to hell forever, we are already assuming that no one deserves to stay there.” (57)

“[Bell] never indicates that God himself is rightly offended and wrathful toward our rebellion.” (88)

Of grace:

“Jesus’ death on the cross is an act of love only if it actually accomplishes something.” (95)

“[Bell] never mentions that we might need special, redemptive grace, either to choose what is right or to be saved.” (92)

Christ Alone is a terrific response to Love Wins. Mike Wittmer has carefully evaluated Bell’s interpretation of Scripture and has written a response that is full of pastoral wisdom and biblical insight.

Amazing resource for $6.99! Credo House recently added the Theology App on the iTunes App Store.  It has all 60+ hours of The Theology Program videos plus all their powerpoint slides and workbooks.  More than $699 worth of stuff for just $6.99. Details here.

Owen Strachan reviews an important new book by Gabe Lyons, The Next Christians:

While we need always to consider attempts to think freshly and creatively about the gospel, we must also remember that the euangelion is at its core a moral, spiritual and legal message. It does not come to us as a static proposition; rather, it announces to us that we have a crisis on our hands, a crisis of the worst kind, for God requires perfect righteousness and we have none.

Here’s a thoughtful critique of Counterfeit Gospels by Derek Ouellette. I appreciate this review for the way Derek graciously probes some distinctions between our positions. In response, I’d like to clarify that when it comes to the atonement, I am not pitting atonement theories against each other. Making the case that penal substitution underscores all the others does not mean that I am discounting Christus Victor. On the contrary, my goal was to provide a robust, multi-faceted view of the atonement in my chapter on “The Gospel Announcement.”

Generous Charis:

It is striking that Christ’s life and death on our behalf is described as a generous gift to us. Paul’s calling as an apostle, and our calling to serve in the church today, is a generous gift. Paul chose to start most of his letters with a prayer for God’s generosity and peace. I do not think often enough of God as a generous God, a gift-giving God, a God who is characterized by his beneficence. Yet he is.

Do we need to “defend” the gospel?

Surveying a variety of sermons online, blog posts, and recent books (mine included!), one might get the impression that evangelicals are so worried about the future that we have gone into all-out “defense” mode when it comes to the gospel. The true gospel is under attack. The good news of Jesus Christ is being maligned, altered, watered down, adjusted, or outright denied. We must defend the gospel that has been entrusted to us!

There is certainly biblical precedent for thinking of the gospel as something to defend. Jude tells us to “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” The Apostle Paul claims that God planned for his time in prison to be “for the defense of the gospel.”

But the general picture we see in the Scriptures is that the gospel is on offense. The gospel is described as powerful and explosive – unstoppable even. In all our talk about defending the gospel, it’s possible that we might think of the good news as fragile and vulnerable. God forbid! Defending the gospel isn’t like trying to keep a precious vase from breaking. It’s more like running in front of a bulldozer saying, “Clear the path. The gospel is coming through.”

So we do defend the gospel – in the sense that a strong proclamation of the gospel will always be seen as a defense against weak or errant proclamations of the gospel. And yes, we are called to recognize attacks on the gospel and be on guard as soldiers in a cosmic battle.

But we do not defend the gospel, if our idea of defense implies that our bungling of things might forever ruin the message upon which Christ has promised to build His church.

The gospel has a life of its own. It is the very power of God. It does not need to be shielded, as if its potency was dependent upon our protection. We fool ourselves if we imagine that we are the mighty protectors of a vulnerable treasure. Au contraire, it is we who are weak and frail and need to be empowered by the gospel.

It’s the gospel that defends us. The unstoppable gospel is what stops the mouth of Satan our accuser, and says, “Leave them alone. They’ve been purchased by blood.” The gospel is what seems like foolishness to the world and yet continues to be believed by millions of people in every generation. It’s the gospel that comes to us, “as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing.” (Col. 1:6).

The gospel is like kudzu that just won’t go away. People try to stomp it out (persecution), trim it back (watered-down doctrine), or spray it with weedkiller (heresy), but the vine just keeps on growing. Defending the gospel? It’s more like unleashing the gospel.

So take heart. The gospel is unstoppable!

Moody is providing a way for my blog readers to help get the word out about Counterfeit Gospels and enter a drawing for an iPad2. Wish I could enter my name too!

Check out Conrad Mbewe’s review of the Africa Bible Commentary:

I must not detract from the contribution that this commentary is poised to make towards the growth of evangelical Christianity in Africa. There will be a few areas where we must certainly beg to differ with the authors of the various articles, but it would be sad if for that reason we threw away the baby with the bathwater. We must be grateful that the general position of this commentary is healthy and biblical.

Interesting. The verses most quoted on Twitter and Facebook after the news of the death of Osama bin Laden.

What a world we live in! Twitter user unknowingly reported the bin Laden attack:

By early Monday in the United States, the online deluge for the man who also runs a small coffee shop was just beginning. As his tweets were discovered, the online messages and media requests began.

“Uh oh,” Athar wrote. “(N)ow I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it.”

Here are some good resources you should be aware of:

• Audio from the “Read the Bible for Life” conference with David Platt, George Guthrie, and Michael Card. All four plenary sessions and the panel discussion are now available.
• BibleMesh hosted three panel discussions at The Gospel Coalition. The audio and video from this event is now online.
  - What I have learned after years of preaching Christ in the Old Testament
  - Getting to Know the Bible Personally as One Grand Narrative
  - How to Teach Children and Youth the Gospel Story

In his sermon at the Gospel Coalition, Matt Chandler made a statement that knocked me between the eyes: “When we take the talents God has given us to glorify Him with, and instead glorify ourselves, we are blaspheming.” What a convicting word! I shudder at the thought of having all-too-frequently “served the Lord” as a way of attracting attention to myself or my abilities.

Since TGC, I’ve been praying that the Lord would enable me to see His glory in a way that roots out my innate self-centeredness. One way He has been exposing the pride in my heart is in the area of humor and humility.

As Christians, we should be delightfully unimpressed with ourselves, right? But too often, we are quick to judge, quick to take offense, quick to defend our honor – all because we believe that we deserve honor and glory.

When we go the way of pride, we usually leave humor behind. Or, we may maintain a sense of humor, but it’s sarcastic and biting, focused on maligning others.

I just finished reading Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan. The book details the assassination attempt in 1981 that nearly claimed President Reagan’s life. What impressed me most about this event was not the secret service details or the decisions made by the hospital staff, but Reagan’s demeanor during a time of personal crisis.

Here you have the most powerful man in the world – overseeing a world on the brink of nuclear disaster, about to undergo an operation that may end badly – and yet he exudes warm confidence and self-deprecating humor. Within the context of the horror, Reagan’s humor is disarming. Critics might think he was disengaged from reality. But the people around him claim that Reagan’s humor was merely the expression of a deep-rooted humility.

You have probably heard what Reagan said to the doctors before going into surgery, “I hope you are all Republicans.” Or you might recall what the president said when his wife, Nancy, arrived at the hospital. Reprising a famous remark made by boxer Jack Dempsey after he lost the heavyweight championship in 1926, Reagan said, “Honey, I forgot to duck.”

But those are not the only one-liners that came from Reagan that day. When he was unable to speak because of his breathing tube, he scribbled lines on paper for the nurses:

• “All in all, I’d rather be in Phil.,” he scratched a near quotation of a famous crack by the comedian W.C. Fields.
• My personal favorite: “Could we rewrite this scene beginning about the time I left the hotel?”
• At one point, he quoted Winston Churchill’s famous line about how there was “nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.”
• When the conversation turned to California, he reached for the clipboard and wrote, “Send me to L.A. where I can see the air I’m breathing.”
• And this: “If I had this much attention in Hollywood I’d have stayed there.”

Even more impressive than Reagan’s sense of humor was his modesty. As the doctors hovered over him, discussing his precarious situation, the president politely interrupted: ”I don’t mean to trouble you, but I am still having a hard time breathing.”

Trouble you? If anyone had the right to ask for special treatment, it would have been Reagan. But the president did not assume rights. He simply wasn’t impressed with himself. He was genuinely modest about his accomplishments. He deflected credit for success by mentioning the good people he had around him. The secret service agents said he never treated them like hired help.

Regardless of your opinion of Reagan’s politics, surely we can learn from this man’s humor and humility. And as we reflect on his example, we find that humor and humility are often related. Think about it. When you are most concerned about yourself, your rights, your desires, your status, you don’t laugh very much. Neither do the people around you.

Pride is a joy-killer. It shrivels smiles. It spreads sullenness. And fighting always follows.

Pride distorts our view of reality. We take ourselves too seriously to laugh at ourselves. We feel too indispensable to take a break from our work. We’re too important to allow others to have unflattering impressions of us.

But then – one glimpse of the glory of King Jesus exposes all this absurdity for what it is. It’s embarrassing, really. We act like gods, when in comparison to the glory of God, we are mere ants jockeying for prestige. We’re like candles, boasting about our light, when in reality, we’re outside in broad daylight. Jesus outshines us all. The only way to get over ourselves is to get into Christ.

C.S. Lewis writes:

The point is, God wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble – delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are.

Lewis learned the lesson well. Terry Lindvall writes in Surprised By Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis:

Laughter is a divine gift to the human who is humble. A proud man cannot laugh because he must watch his dignity; he cannot give himself over to the rocking and rolling of his belly. But a poor and happy man laughs heartily because he gives no serious attention to his ego….Only the truly humble belong to this kingdom of divine laughter…Humor and humility should keep good company. Self deprecating humor can be a healthy reminder that we are not the center of the universe, that humility is our proper posture before our fellow humans as well as before almighty God…

The Missional Manifesto:

Our purpose is to encourage and bring clarity– to encourage believers to live missional lives and to clarify what we mean when we use the term “missional.”

These are the People in Your Blogohood:

Gone is the heyday of scintillating conversation and good ol’ fashioned scrums in blog comment threads, but these folks are still around in some forms and fashions. Here are the people you meet when you’re walking down the street of the Christian blogosphere…

Michael Bird advises us not to think in terms of either-or when it comes to God’s justice as retributive or restorative:

We do not have to choose between retributive and restorative schemes of divine justice. The righteousness that brings judgment also fills the universe with God’s shalom for. For “the fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isa 32:17; cf. Ps 85:10; Isa 9:7; Heb 12:11). There can be no reconciliation without recompense otherwise the disorder, destruction, and decay of evil prevents peace from lasting. The incarnation and the cross achieve both: juridical judgment and relational peace wrought in the atonement.

John Piper on Turning 65:

So at 65, I am still gagging at the pictures of leathery old sunbathers on white shores and green links. For fifteen years, I have thrown hundreds of senior mailings in the recycle bag unopened. Not that I am opposed to saving $0.79 on lunch at Perkins. Just don’t try to sell me heaven before I get there. There is too much hell left to fight.

Most merciful Lord Jesus, we come to your throne of grace today on behalf of our friends and neighbors in the Midwest and Southern states of America. The devastation after the tornados and flooding is both widespread and deep. Many have lost loved ones, homes, and businesses. Many begin today in distress, shock and trauma. The entire infrastructure of some communities has been destroyed. Here our cry for mercy and prepare us for loving to your glory.

It’s because of your great love for us, Jesus, that we care. It’s because you laid down your life for us that we will lift up our prayers, load up our cars, and take up our tools to fulfill the royal law. It’s the royal law because you are the King of glory and grace, Lord Jesus. To know you is to follow you into this crisis. To love you is to serve our neighbors, to shoulder their burdens and to share our goods, not just our words.

Jesus, we especially pray today for children who have been traumatized by this crisis. Bring your calming presence to bear by your Holy Spirit, through parents and friends, and by gifted care-givers. Extend your tear-wiping hand through your servant people.

We pray for city officials and civil servants, and for government and community leaders. Grant them wisdom and strength. We ask that power, water and communication services be restored quickly. Reveal the sovereign reach of your merciful and mighty hand, as you superintend the events of the next hours and coming days.

Jesus, we pray for Christians and churches planted right in the middle of this hard providence. Over-supply them supernatural strength and gospel-love to care for their neighbors. Write great stories of redemption and mercy in the coming months. May the gospel become beautiful and believable to many—as burdens are born, people are loved, tree limbs are cut, trash is hauled off, meals are shared, money is given, homes rebuilt.

And show us our part, show me my part. We will not shut our hearts to our neighbors because you open wide your heart to us, Lord Jesus. So very Amen, we pray, in your powerful and tender name.

- Scotty Smith