Biblical Theology from Tim Keller

A great excerpt from Tim Keller...

Proving God?

I just read this article discussing whether proof of God would in fact destroy Christianity.

It seems that the author has made a few errors. Firstly, he seems to misunderstand the role of free will in Christianity. He says that for God to in effect 'prove' himself would violate the laws of free will. But it would seem to me that instead free will would be upheld in people's choice whether to believe still or not.

But more importantly he has missed the point that God has sent direct evidence of his existence in Jesus. Rossano uses the concept of an engineered and signed package from God, where in actual fact we have a living and true representation of God, in Jesus.

Its interesting to read the some of the comments on this article though (all 3068 of them!) As always a controversial topic.

Imitation

A great post from Justin Taylor...

BTW

Its been a while since my last post. Exams, study, ...

I will try and get back into some sort of rhythym now.

BOOST

Last Friday I spoke at BOOST. It was the first time I'd been and I wasn't too sure what to expect.

I've got to say though, I was surprised and encouraged by the night. It was a lot of fun. There were around 25 people there (me being the oldest), from different backgrounds, not just church kids.

There was great energy and enthusiasm and a lot of fun. And they were keen to hear the bible. I spoke on John 6 about 'Real Jesus' and even though I went for longer than I should it still went down well, and they were still paying attention (I think).

On the whole, a good night, and I look forward to the next one!

Youth Group names?

We're trying to rename or at least re-logo our youth group at the moment. Thinking up names is really hard. I googled it (as you do) and found this website. But 12,371 is too many to browse through!

I'm leaning towards 'Mirror' (or something like it), as in; We reflect Christ to the world (or similar). There's then possibility for someone more artistic to do a cool logo.

Hopefully someone creative has a stroke of genius.

Seriousness of Sin

Look on him whom you have pierced, and let it trouble you. Say to your soul, 'What have I done? What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on! Is this how I pay back the Father for his love? Is this how I thank the Son for his blood? Is this how I respond to the Holy Spirit for his grace? Have I defiled the heart that Christ died to wash, and the Holy Spirit has chosen to dwell in? HOw can I keep myself out of the dust? What can I say to the dear Lord Jesus? How shall I hold up my head with any boldness before him? Do I count fellowship with him of so little value that, for this vile lust's sake, I have hardly left him any room in my heart? How shall I escape if I neglect so great salvation?
What shall I say to the Lord? His love, mercy, grace, goodness, peace, joy, consolation - I have despised all of them! I have considered them as nothing, that I might harbour lust in my heart. Have I seen God as my Father, that I might provoke him to his face? Was my soul washed that there might be room for new defilements? Shall I seek to disappoint the purpose of the death of Christ? Shall I grieve the Holy Spirit, who sealed me unto the day of redemption?
Allow your conscience to consider these things every day.

- John Owen (in 'You Can Change' - Tim Chester (p.137-138))

Review: Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God

Apart from having a really long title, this book by Gordon D. Fee had some really excellent things to say.

I'm not going to say that it was the easiest book to read. At times it was a little dense and dry, but not enough to stop me from recommending it.

Fee basically attempts to cover all aspects of Paul's Spirit theology throughout his letters. Discussions range from the nature of the Spirit, to the work of the Spirit both at conversion and ongoing in the life of a believer, to some of the controversies surrounding the gifts.

Fee writes from the viewpoint of a Pentecostal, which he makes clear in the book. However he does write from a fairly objective point of view and there was little that I would disagree with (at least from memory).

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to find out more about the nature and work of the Holy Spirit.

Review: Culture Making

Well I've finally finished this book. I'd have to say that on the whole it was a good and interesting read.

I think the strong points of this book are in it's discussions of culture and how culture is made and by who, including the first problem of what culture is.

However, I was a little disappointed by the lack of practical suggestions or applications that were made at the end of the book. There were some, and I appreciate the fact that since culture is such a huge thing and so hard to influence that it is hard to nail down, but it is hard not to be a little disappointed.

I think I would recommend this book. Certainly the discussions on culture are very interesting and thought provoking. I wouldn't make this book though a highest priority on your reading list, unless you are particularly intersted in the area.

Pentecost Sunday

Next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday and I have the privilege of being allowed to preach.

In preparation I've been studying the day of Pentecost in some depth and trying to work out what its all about. It's struck me now that there is so much more going on here than I've ever thought.

We have fulfilment in the promises of the prophets regarding the coming of the Spirit, restoration in the removal or reversal of the curse of Babel in the sign of tongues (or languages).

We have promises and potential as the tongues illustrate the global mission of the church. There is the gift of the Spirit given to the disciples, allowing them to preach with power, and then given to the converts, bringing them together as the community of believers. We have the beginning of the church.

So its a huge occasion, full of meaning and significance. The only question is how to fit it all into a sermon, or at least do it justice, in less than 25 minutes!

My first bluefin.

My first bluefin tuna. Not big as far as bluefin go, only 20-25kg but lots of fun. A great weekend down at Port Arthur. Can't wait to cook him up!

Old Hymns Remixed

Justin Taylor posted these remixes of Old Hymns on his blog.

I'm a real fan of the How Great Thou Art remix (maybe because I already love this hymn). Normally I'm not too into remixed hymns, but these are really good.

Missional Community

Just a couple of good articles from Tim Chester about being missional, and being a missional community.

Loving your neighbourhood

Missional through community

Great articles that help us think seriously about how we as a community can love those around us.

Long-term efforts

In the chapter of Culture Making (Andy Crouch) today that I was reading, Crouch makes some interesting points.

The one that stuck out to me was his point that it takes a long time and a lot of work to effect a lasting change. Spectacular events and short term programs have little long term effect, whereas persistent, patient, long term work results in long term good or change.

It struck me, because I think we need to work like this within the church and as Christians. Instead of putting all our effort into short term programs or once-off events, we should think long term - building relationships, working towards larger goals etc. This is not to say that once-off events are bad things, but we can surely increase their impact if we use them as culminations of long term processes.

For example, later this year we have a chance to hold a evangelistic jazz concert. Now according to Crouch, this is likely to effect little long term change. What if though, we were to make this event a culmination of a long term process? To start making non-Christian contacts now, to start having these discussions about Christianity now and over the next few months. Perhaps this way we can effect longer lasting change?

It is worth noting however, the flip-side of this rule: that is, it takes a long time to effect positive change (ie. create something good), but a negative change (ie. destroying something) can happen very quickly.

So we should be careful to not effect negative change, even through our smallest actions, and we should think long term when it comes to effecting long term positive change.

By the way, I'm really enjoying this book. I recommend it.

Highly effective evangelism?

An excellent article on the characteristics of effective evangelists.

I think that we can sometimes get out of the resposibility of evangelism by transferring it to the church corporate, and consequently when there is a lack of evangelism we get frustrated. Rainer sets us on the right course:

Sometimes we ask the question "What is my church doing to become more evangelistic?" But the better question is "What am I doing to become more evangelistic?"

Its good to note that prayer is the first point. Its better to let our life reflect it.

Tassie Beer

I'm a big fan of good beer, and good Tassie beer if its to be had. If you feel like supporting a local brewery, try out this place. Their Oatmeal Stout is particularly good. And its all brewed just out of Evandale.

If you're in Launie then you can buy it at the Thirsty Camel on Bathurst St. Enjoy!

Theology of Sin

This article by Cornelius Plantinga Jnr. on sin was recommended by the Gospel Coalition blog, and I'd like to recommend it to you.

Its a fantastic discussion and exploration of the topic of sin. Plantinga explores why we sin in extreme depth.

Its not the easiest to read, its a bit dense and quite long, but well worth the effort. Highly recommended.

Quote of the day

The gospel at its profoundest point stands in utter contradiction to human wisdom: God has redeemed our fallen race by means of the ultimate contradiction in terms, a crucified Messiah.

- Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God - Gordon D. Fee

Christians and Culture

I've finally started reading a book I picked up a couple of months ago - Culture Making by Andy Crouch. I guess one of the main reasons that I bought it was because of the endorsement by Tim Keller on the front - a minister in New York that I'm a bit of a fan of.

Crouch has so far defined culture as being 'what we make out of the world and the meaning we give it'.

He makes the interesting point that culture was even instituted by God in the beginning. Adam and Eve were created and sent to work in the Garden, using the raw material of nature and forming it, making the first artifacts of culture, adding meaning to what was around them.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this book, particularly to see what Crouch says about how we should interact with culture and how we should influence it.

mmm...

Good coffee.

Yesterday I bought some South American blend from the Oxfam shop ($6!! on special).

Delicious.

Purpose

Why start a blog??

Good question. I guess that I just feel that there is so much during the week that I read or find out that I'd love to be able to share with people. Hopefully this will give the opportunity to open that up to others.

I'll try and be regular about posting. I'm aiming for twice a week, hopefully no less than that. Here you can find out about me and what I'm doing week by week.