In a culture that dismisses faith as unreasonable, can Christians remain confident that the Bible is both reliable and relevant? Is the gospel still good news?
If you can get to Sydney in July this looks great.
Author Archives: Sam Freney
→ Masterplan
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Ben Pakula, talking about his upcoming album, with my current favourite sentence on the internet:
Masterplan is a biblical-theology rock opera.
Ben is a musician who teaches deep theological truths from the Bible through the medium of heavy rock music.
[Masterplan] is designed as the kind of thing to listen to on long (or short) car trips, especially for kids who like crazy music, and kids who are ‘too cool’ for kid’s music generally.
→ An open letter to Sam Harris
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Dave Macca:
Dear Mr Harris,
I was encouraged by a friend to watch your lecture on Death and the Present Moment at the recent Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne. Your topic is very close to home for me, as I’ve been battling a stage 4 adenocarcinoma of the lung for the past 6 months. I understand it was also especially pertinent for you, and many in your audience, following the death of your good friend, Christopher Hitchens. Your lecture has provoked me to consider a number of issues and to write a few words in response.
The whole thing is a great read, as is the rest of Macca’s site.
(h/t Sandy Grant)
→ Grief—a forgotten apologetic
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Many of our friends and family—and us, I suspect—don’t think about death a whole lot. So when someone close gets cancer, or a friend has a miscarriage, we’re caught off-guard.
Nathan W. Bingham reflected on this recently:
There are many reasons why ignoring grief and the pain of life is bad. Not the least of which is that we’d be faking it. And faking it is antithetical to Christianity. Christianity is all about getting real with God. Real about who you are and your sin. Real about who He is and His holiness. Real about the only way to reconcile the two: through Jesus Christ. Too many Christians are being crushed as church has become a show room for success stories instead of a hospital for the hopelessly helpless.
However, today I want to consider another reason ignoring grief is a bad idea: pain and grief is an apologetic for the faith. Not apologetic in a literal sense of being a defense of the faith, but:
- a tool to confirm the truthfulness of Christianity,
- a reality best explained by Christianity,
- and a bridge to give us an ear for sharing Christianity.
→ Raising gospel-centered children
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Luma Simms:
If we stop to consider the motivations of our hearts—what is driving us as parents—we can gain important insight into the discipleship of our children. The driver behind gospel-centered discipleship is the glory of Christ. The driver behind child-centered discipleship is the glory of our children, and by extension, our own glory. In order to understand my own motives, I’ve learned to ask myself: Do I want my children to know God, to rest in the person and work of Christ, to have their many, many sins washed in the blood of the Lamb, and to eternally glorify Him? Or rather do I want my children to be “good,” to scrupulously avoid sin and follow biblical injunctions, to avoid bad consequences in this life?
(h/t Jean Williams)
→ Speech
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In the Bible, James says that ‘anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect’ (James 3:2). Does he seriously expect that? He reckons that a person who speaks that well could ‘keep their whole body in check’. He seems to picture someone with absolute self-control.
But who’s like that? Our speech bubbles up from so many different emotions and circumstances. How could you seriously expect ‘perfect’ speech from anyone?
Short-but-fascinating post on the complexity of wise speech, and if you can make it (to Sydney) it sounds like a great night of discussion.
→ Growing faith: Ten tips for going to church with your family
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Christine Jensen:
Growing up in a family that didn’t go to church, I was determined when I married for ‘church’ to be the centre of our family. Of course, this was idealistic, and there were many moments when I thought it would have been easier to stay at home.
I hadn’t realised that this goal of mine wasn’t as easy as it sounded. I wanted my children to go happily, for church to be a delight to all family members. But this does not always happen. We certainly had a revolt on our hands for a couple of years, by a couple of teenagers who simply did not want to go to a Bible Study on Friday nights in addition to one on Sunday afternoons with church to follow! I know that we should just go to church come what may as we want to meet the Lord, but are there any tips we can share about creating a positive attitude to what is a pretty important activity?
→ “A traditional institution”
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From The Australian:
The main lobby group promoting gay marriage yesterday distanced itself from polyamorists demanding to be included in the proposed reforms, saying marriage involving more than two people would undermine a traditional institution.
→ Context is your friend
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Context is important: in this post by Robert Jones we’ve got both an interesting example of using God’s word to talk through hardships in life, along with a look at what the ‘good’ is in Romans 8.28.
→ Spoiler alert
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Your favourite character dies in the end.
But trust me, it’s still a good story.
→ What shall I preach on next?
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John Percival at Unashamed Workman asks 7 questions during the process of deciding on the broad shape of a preaching program—useful thoughts for anyone putting together a teaching series, whether it’s a congregational preaching programme, a youth group series, what to look at together in a small group/one-to-one/etc.
→ A debating trick gone wrong?
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In a recent audio podcast from Freakonomics called “Soul Possession” they talk to a Christian guy who in debating atheists would try to buy their soul, since they placed no value in it… and also to the guy who took him up on his offer.
It gets bogged down a bit in the middle as they run away with the idea a bit, but it’s an interesting discussion: is this a rhetorical move gone awry, or a useful discussion to have?
→ Why do our churches seem so different
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Kevin de Young:
Have you ever been talking to a pastor or someone from another church and it seems like you should be kindred spirits. The person you meet is obviously a warm-hearted, sincere Christian. They don’t have a problem with any of the doctrines you mention as precious to you and your church. They don’t affirm liberal positions on major theological questions. They nod vigorously when you talk about the Bible and prayer and church planting and the gospel. And yet, you can’t help but wonder if you are really on the same page. You try to check your heart and make sure it’s not pride or judgmentalism getting the best of you. That’s always possible. But no, the more you reflect on the conversation and think about your two churches (or two pastors or two ministries) you conclude there really is a difference.
And what is that difference?
Read the 10 things he highlights here.
Links
You may have noticed some slightly different posts over the last couple of days. We’re adding a fairly regular link section here, highlighting something of interest elsewhere.1 The title of the post will have an arrow (→) in it, and clicking on it will take you directly to the external link, whether it’s an article, audio link, video, or something else. If you’re looking at the site, the posts are styled slightly differently too. (more…)
→ A talk on gender
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A thought-provoking talk from Andrew Errington on gender, given to the Christian group at Sydney University:
In fact, what we see here, I think, is a practice that is in a profound sense one of freedom. This may seem ridiculous, but I believe it is true, and indeed, at the heart of what the Christian vision has to offer. Because what we see here is a way of life that is anchored in the profound security that comes from knowing you have been loved and accepted, and that your future is eternally secured; and that is therefore able to act without fear in the midst of a broken and distorted world. In the face of threat and terror, the wife here is able to not give in to a simplification of the meaning of her sex in terms of outward appearance, but also not reject her sex as unimportant, but to acknowledge the goodness of her husband’s authority. And the husband is able to see his wife as a partner in prayer and an equal in the kingdom without her becoming a threat, so that his strength becomes an opportunity not for selfishness, but for love.
Read the whole thing.