Archives: sam-freney

The devil made me read it?

Review

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Silencing Satan: Handbook of Biblical Demonology

Sharon Beekmann and Peter Bolt.

Wipf and Stock, 2012, 234 pp.

The Sam Freney who first came to know Christ was an arrogant young man in late high school, thoroughly self-assured, and convinced of the rightness of Western modernism and the superiority of reason above any kind of mysticism or kooky spirituality. In other words, a pretty typical white Anglo-Saxon Australian teenage male. (I like to think I’ve changed since then, at least a little. At minimum, I’m not a teenager any more.) (more…)

→ Hell-raiser

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Tim Challies reflecting on Christian leaders who slide into gross moral or theological failure:

Did it begin with becoming a professional Christian instead of a man who communed with God day-by-day? Did it begin with allowing doubt to become a virtue and belief to become a liability? Did it begin with a desire to read the wrong books, to listen to the wrong preachers? Somehow, over months and years, he drifted away from the truth, he began to believe and then teach the lies. And then he followed those lies and celebrated them and destroyed his ministry.

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→ The joy of sects

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Carl Trueman reflecting on how the English Anglican Synod’s rejection of women bishops is being cast as cultural suicide:

One of the key failures of the currently trendy Christian cultural engagement movement is that it takes the questions which the culture is asking too seriously. We often assume that it is the answers which the world gives which are its means of avoiding the truth. In actual fact, there is no reason to assume that the very questions it asks are not also part of the cover-up. ‘Answer my question about women’s rights or saving the whale’ might simply be another way of saying, ‘I don’t want you to tell me that my neglect of my wife and children is an offence to God.’

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→ Why People Hate the Sermon on the Mount

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This is a bit of a down-the-rabbit-hole reference: Andy Naselli tracked down a paper by Virginia Stem Owens that Tim Keller quoted in a sermon at TGC. It’s a fascinating insight into the effects of biblical illiteracy on those hearing Scripture:

Beyond that, however, I find it strangely heartening that, except for the young man who found the Sermon on the Mount a guide to good manners, the Bible remains offensive to honest, ignorant ears, just as it was in the first century. For me, that somehow validates its significance. Whereas the scriptures almost lost their characteristically astringent flavor during the past century, the current widespread biblical illiteracy should catapult us into a situation more nearly approximating that of their original, first-century audience.

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Editorial: Our blind spot

Editorial

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As you may already know, money doesn’t buy you happiness.  Professors Alan Krueger and Daniel Kahneman explain:

The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory. People with above-average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense, and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities.1

The ‘happiness threshold’ in the US seems to be about $12,000-15,000 per year. Any less than that really means living hand-to-mouth, which is understandably quite stressful. Earning above that threshold, however, is not strongly correlated with more happiness. In fact, people who earn less than $20,000 are often happier and more satisfied than those earning more than $100,000. (more…)

→ Seven cautions for eager polemicists

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Kevin DeYoung on fighting:

I am not against polemics. It is a necessary virtue for Christians in so far as Christianity believes in the immovability and central importance of truth. Where would the church be today if Athanasius, Augustine, and Luther eschewed polemics? Christians must be willing to enter the fray and engage in controversy if they are to be faithful in a fallen world.

I also know there are many dangers with polemics. I see them in myself and can spot them (more easily, sadly) in others.

All seven are worth reading.

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→ There’s more to Bible reading than… being on your own

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Interesting reflection from Arthur Davis on the ‘Quiet Time’:

Of course, there’s a place for personal Bible reading — and the Church has a rich heritage of contemplative practice that goes way back before mass-produced Bibles appeared. But there is no good reason to expect private reading to be the most important way of accessing the Bible.

Reading the Bible with others is not just acceptable. It’s great. The Bible is a library of community documents crying out to be accessed in all sorts of social ways.

So let’s change the question: What would it look like if we actively treated the Bible as inseparable from community?

What do you think?

h/t @Nathan Campbell

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→ Preaching matters

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Here’s a new resource from St Helen’s Bishopsgate, an evangelical church in the middle of London:

Preaching Matters is a monthly video series designed to equip, encourage and inspire those who teach God’s word. Each month we sit down with preachers and ask what they have recently been thinking about and preaching on.

The series will include video interviews with, amongst others, William Taylor, Andrew Sach, Phillip Jensen, and David Cook. The first couple of videos up on the site are some behind-the-scenes type chats with William Taylor on Luke, and Charlie Skrine on 1 Corinthians and celebrity preachers, with updates out the first Monday of each month. Interesting food for thought.

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→ A barrier to honesty

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Tullian Tchividjian on ‘accountability groups’ that wind up focussing on our own struggles with sin more than our saviour:

Setting aside the obvious objection that Christ settled all our accounts, once for all, such groups inevitably start with the narcissistic presupposition that Christianity is all about cleaning up and doing your part. These groups focus primarily (in my experience, almost exclusively) on our sin, and not on our Savior. Because of this, they breed self-righteousness, guilt, and the almost irresistible temptation to pretend, or to be less than honest. Little or no attention is given to the gospel. There’s no reminder of what Christ has done for our sin—cleansing us from its guilt and power—and of the resources that are already ours by virtue of our union with Him. These groups thrive, either intentionally or not, on a “do more, try harder” moralism that robs us of the joy and freedom Jesus paid dearly to secure for us. When the goal becomes conquering our sin instead of soaking in the conquest of our Savior, we actually begin to shrink spiritually.

 

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XV: the Bible in 15

Life

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If you’re anything like me, setting aside a time to read God’s word each day is an inexplicable challenge. I want to, but it keeps getting squeezed out by less important things. But let me ask you this: do you have any points in your day where you have just 15 minutes spare? Sitting on a bus, waiting in a queue, stealing a quiet moment while kids eat lunch? (more…)

Live light in 25 words

Everyday Ministry, Life

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You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. (1 Pet 1:23)

The Bible Society Australia have identified that only a relatively small number of Australian Christians engage with God on a daily basis—they claim 1 in 5. For people who love the God of Word, this is more than a little disappointing.1 (more…)

→ When Ministry Becomes a Mistress

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Dave Kraft:

Ministry idolatry is becoming increasingly widespread, reaching epidemic proportions. It is showcased at network and denominational gatherings, where the focus and conversation is often not about Jesus, but about us and what we are accomplishing and achieving. Leaders discuss the latest poster children for ministry success and their methods so we can all emulate them, buy their books, and attend their “how we did it” seminars and conferences.

“Idolatry creep” sneaks up on you because you can easily and quickly justify it by saying that everything you do is for the Lord, believing your motives are pure. We recognize this in businessmen who work obscene hours while insisting they do it all to benefit the family, when in reality it’s all about them.

Leaders must guard against ministry becoming a mistress. A mistress is someone who takes the place that only your wife should occupy. Ministry must never take the place of Jesus himself in your heart and in your values. As 1 John 5:21 says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” The New Living Translation says, “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.” Our hearts are idol factories, and ministry, for many leaders, is the king of idols.

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→ True Holiness Befriends Sinners

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Thoughtful and practical reflections from David Mathis:

The pursuit of holiness may keep you from bad company. But have you ever considered that it might also lead you to keep some pretty bad company?

Jesus is our litmus test of lived-out holiness. He is the Holy One of Israel in human flesh. His life serves as the best answer key for what divine holiness looks like when reflected in humanity. And they rightly called him “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 11:19).

So what are we to do with a God-man who associated with the most blatant nonbelievers of his day?

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