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1. Church History can help us avoid bad theology.
2. We can learn from the greatest pastors & theologians of all time.
3. It can help us set/maintain traditional boundaries (History can serve as a great reference point for church related decisions we need to make in our time.)
4. Church History gives us broader perspective on the church, and reminds us not to be consumed with pessimism over the current problems faced by the church.
5. It’s exciting!
At the begining of 2008 I set a goal of reading 20 books by the end of the year.
Unless I do a lot of reading in the next two days I will fall just short of that goal at 19 books read. I was thinking of keeping my goal the same for 2009 when I read this article by Karl Rove in which Mr. Rove describes the reading contests that he had with President George W. Bush over the past three years.
The results he reports are as follows,
Year Books Read by Mr. Rove Books Read by Mr. Bush
2006 110 95
2007 76 51
2008 64 40
Though Mr. Rove won their competition three-years running, I think the amount that both men read is remarkable, especially in Mr. Bush’s case!
Keep in mind these books were serious books – I’m pretty sure they didn’t include anything by Dr. Seuss. (Most of the books listed were serious biographies and histories.)
Rove writes, “The reading competition reveals Mr. Bush’s focus on goals. It’s not about winning. A good-natured competition helps keep him centered and makes possible a clear mind and a high level of energy. He reads instead of watching TV. he reads on Air Force One and to relax and because he’s curious. He reads about the tasks at hand, often picking volumes because of the relevance to his challenges. And he’s right: I’ve won because he has a real job with enormous responsibilities. “
It’s easy to make excuses for not achieving our goals, or to avoid stretching our minds altogether. After all Life has many demands!
When I read this article I was both inspired challenged. If the President of the United States finds the time to read 95 books in a year I should be able to do more than 19!
Anyone up for a reading competition of our own in 2009?
If you are not aware, Tim Keller is the Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan (New York City, not Kansas). In 2001 he started a Church Planting Center that has planted over 100 churches since!
You may have heard of his book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism which was on the New York Times Best Seller List for quite a while. It is directed primarily toward the postmodern skeptic. Last August he released a follow up book, geared more toward the religious person called The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith.
I really enjoy listening to and reading Tim Keller’s solidly biblical, intelligent, fresh perspective. As intelligent as he is, he nevertheless communicates with great gentleness and is extremely down-to-earth. Unfortunately, these things don’t usually go hand-in-hand, but they are present in Pastor Keller’s teaching and ministry. I thank God for him, and for his ministry.
Whether you are new to Keller or are already a fan you may enjoy this treasure trove of free Keller articles and audio.
Enjoy!
Do we need faith or deeds?… Should I go to work or love my wife?… Should a person repent or be baptized?
These questions are all similar to the question I posed in my last post. I asked, “Do people need more information about God or more revelation from God?”
I’m about to say something really radical, so brace yourself….
We need both.
The answer to all of the above questions is YES.
Paul prayed that the Ephesian church saying, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Eph. 1:17-19) We need God to do a supernatural work in our hearts both to initially repent and turn to God, (John 6:44) and then later as Christ-followers to be able to know God more intimately. We absolutely need revelation! I pray this Ephesians 1:17 prayer regularly for myself and for those I minister to.
But this is not to say that we need no information. In fact long before writing his letter to the Ephesians (quoted above) Paul went to Ephesus and preached the Gospel to them. (information). Acts 19:8-10 says “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. [information]. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the hall of Tyrannus [more information]. This went on for two years so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. [a lot more information].”
Why didn’t Paul just skip all the preaching and just pray for the Ephesians to receive a revelation? Because they needed information.
Why don’t we just stop having church services with preaching, foundations classes, small groups and Bible schools? Because people still need life-giving information about God. If all people needed was revelation and no information, we might as well not do any of these things.
If we value the Biblical teaching and example, we will value both.
Information about God and revelation from God are both essential and work together, just as preaching the word to people and praying for people go together. They are not in opposition to each other, and we don’t have to choose between them. This either-or-mentality is often promoted by the way the issue is framed-with statements like, “We don’t need theology, we just need a spirit of revelation from God!”
Really? That may sound good, and get people spiritually hype and, yes, we do need revelation, but why put down theology in the process? We should not disregard one and exalt the other. But sadly this is exactly what happens, and from people of both preferences. Either revelation or information gets kicked to the curb and the other treated as the whole solution for humanity. Hyper-charismatics exalt revelation and disdain theology while other Evangelicals practically ignore the power of prayer and the supernatural work of God in opening up hearts through revelation.
Both are forms of a false antagonism between the heart and mind.
So, “Do people need more information about God or more revelation from God?”
YES.
Expelled the Movie
December 25, 2008 in Cultural Commentary, Video | 3 comments
I just watched Ben Stein’s 2008 documentary Expelled:No Intellegence Allowed which is all about how respected scientists who make any mention of Intelligent Design are being black-balled and more-or-less “expelled” from the scientific community.
American Professors have been denied tenure, had research grants revoked and even been fired simply for doing scientific research that supports Intelligent Design or even mentioning it in their college classroom.
The documentary was really well done and eye opening to just how entrenched darwinian thinking is within the American scientific community and just how far many are willing to go in order to silence opposing views. Ben Stein really tackled the heart of this issue and met with some of the most prominent spokespeople on both sides of the Darwinian Evolution-Intelligent Design debate, including Richard Dawkins.
I think every thinking American should take the time to watch this documentary. I have posted a preview trailer below if you are interested.
My wife and I rented it for 99 cents at our local red box which is in the entry way of Super WalMart. If you are not familiar with red box, it is basically a vending machine that vends movies. (GREAT concept!)
If you have never heard of this amazing invention, known as the red box, and wonder if there is one near you, visit the red box website and type in your zip code.