“Our differences are enough to separate some of my friends—your brothers and sisters in Christ—from you. And perhaps to separate them from me, now that I’m publicly speaking to you. And I don’t want to minimize either the sincerity or the seriousness of some of their concerns (things like: humor, worldliness, pragmatism, authority).
But I perceive some things in common which outweigh our differences—which the Lord Jesus shall soon enough compose between us, either by our maturing, or by His bringing us home. I long to work with those, and count it a privilege to work with those whom My Savior has purchased with His blood, and with whom I share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I perceive that we have in common the knowledge that God is glorified in sinners being reconciled to Him through Christ. This is not taught by other religions, nor clearly by the ancient Christian churches of the East, or by Rome, by liberal Protestant churches, by Mormons, the churches of Christ, or by groups of self-righteous, legalistic, moralistic Christians. And not only do we together affirm the exclusivity of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone—we agree on the sovereignty of God in life and salvation, the regenerate nature of church members, the importance of church membership and discipline, the baptism of believers alone, the priorities of expositional preaching, and evangelism, the importance of authority and a growing appreciation for the significance of complementarianism. These are not slight matters. And they only fire my desire to encourage you and cheer you on, until you cross that finish line that the Lord lays down for us.”
In our home we regularly rise up and call my wife, Karalee, “blessed.” It’s biblical and usually happens at the close of our dinners (with increased frequency and volume after pizza). The kids and I raise our hands to the sky and yell, “BLESSED!!!” And then repeat several times and waive our hands as if we were all participating in the wave. Usually we cry out “BLESSED!” four times before being hushed.
I’m thinking of this practice because I’m reminded tonight of my precious wife of almost 10 years. Today Carolyn Mahaney wrote an encouraging little piece about my wife (and posted a picture of “my girls”). What a joy to find a wife who willingly relocates her home and family without complaint. What a precious wife! Thanks Carolyn for this post. I am reminded how infrequently I thank her. So Karalee (if you’re reading this and not changing a diaper), I owe you some “blesseds!”
I try, but cannot imagine, a greater job in the world than following C.J. Mahaney and capturing his life and wisdom. Now about one month into the job I’m reminded of God’s grace (”no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has preparedforthosewho love him”).
Through means of external coercion, today I posted at the Sovereign Grace Blog with a little tidbit about my current position and especially why I seek to emulate one nineteenth-century man, George Offor.
So this–to answer some of your comments–is why TSS has slowed a bit. But I’ll be back soon. Carl Trueman’s newest title is in the mail (and I’m never silent when reading Dr. Trueman). And coming up soon we will have a blog exclusive to announce some major news in the publishing world. Stay tuned.
Stephen Smith serves as both editor of the ESV blog and Crossway’s Director of Information Services. This past weekend he presented a lecture at the BibleTech08 conference in Seattle on “The ESV and Bible Usability.” In his presentation he cited the Blank Bible “phenomena” started right here on The Shepherd’s Scrapbook. In his presentation he says,
The typical physical features of a Bible are familiar: its type size, physical size, layout, and binding. Also important are any extra features in the Bible—from maps to notes to cross-references. But just as important are things that people do to customize their Bibles. Some people buy a cover for their Bibles; some people decide to re-cover their Bibles; and some people want so much more space for note-taking that they take a printed Bible, slice off the binding, insert empty sheets of paper between the Bible pages, and rebind their Bible more to their liking. The result is what’s called a “blank Bible.” A number of people have created these Bibles; I like to link to them from the ESV blog because it shows how people can get really invested in their Bibles. I get the feeling that we’d value our Bibles a lot more if we had to assemble and bind them ourselves.
You can read more of Stephen’s presentation here, and download a PDF copy of his presentation slides (see slide 31).
And of course you can see our very own Blank Bible Index to find information (and motivation) to create one of these Bibles for your own use and growth.
Ligonier has begun posting the videos (yes, videos!) from the Together for the Gospel 2006 conference. Click here. … T4G ‘08 is coming soon. More information here.
I’ve already mentioned my anticipation for the forthcoming title, Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Moody, 2008). This is another book in 2008 pastors should buy and read.
Mostly I love this book for its clear-headed critique of the distinctives of emergent theology. One excerpt really makes this point. In light of the postmodern revel for all things relative, DeYoung uses the Hindu story of the blind men and the elephant to make a critical point of contrast.
“We may all be, by nature, like blind men touching the elephant without knowing whether what we are feeling is a trunk, tail, or ear. But what if the elephant spoke and said ‘Quit calling me crocodile, or peacock, or paradox. I’m an elephant for crying out loud! That long thing is my trunk. That little frayed thing is my tail. That big floppy thing is my ear.’ And what if the elephant gave us ears to hear his voice and a mind to understand his message (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14-15)? Would our professed ignorance about the elephant and our unwillingness to make any confident assertions about his nature mean we were especially humble, or just deaf?
Because of the emerging church’s implied doctrine of God’s unknowability, the word ‘mystery,’ a perfectly good word in its own right, has become downright annoying. Let me be very clear: I don’t understand everything about God or the Bible. I don’t fully understand how God can be three in one. I don’t completely grasp how divine sovereignty works alongside human responsibility. The Christian faith is mysterious. But when we talk about Christianity, we don’t start with mystery. It’s some combination of pious confusion and intellectual laziness to claim that living in mystery is at the heart of Christianity” (37-38).
Related: This quote reminds me of Mark Dever’s words from the T4G blog: “The humility we want in our churches is to read the Bible and believe it–everything God has said, dogmatically, and humbly! It is not humble to be hesitant where God has been clear and plain.” Read more.
Recently I had the honor of reading Collin Hansen’s Young, Restless, and Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey With the New Calvinists (Crossway). Hansen is an editor at Christianity Today. From my perspective, the book reads like the reader is riding shotgun as Collin travels around the country in search of discovering the far reaches of the emerging Calvinism so obvious among large groups of young Christian men and women.
The book does not set out to answer the question: “Where’d all the Calvinists come from?” But it does document the rise in a fascinating and engaging way and looks closely at the major figures and movements and how they shape the theology of the next generation of Calvinists.
Read it for the details. Read it to discover the influences among young folks. Read it it to hear stories of how individuals have been transformed by the doctrines of grace. Read it for the descriptive perception of the author. If you watch for new and excellent books, this one by Collin Hansen is a must-read coming your way in 2008. Due out April 30th from Crossway.
Hello from Maryland, to all you faithful (and very patient) TSS readers. Today I draw attention to a new edition of Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening, which is perhaps the best written and most popular devotional in church history.
The new edition from Crossway appears in a multi-colored, Truetone (leather-like) cover. The editions break Spurgeon’s classic into two volumes, Morning by Morning and Evening by Evening. It’s nice to have two volumes since (as my wife noted) morning and evening reading are often completed in different areas.
As for the edited text of this version, the biblical texts are replaced with the ESV and the editing was completed by Alistair Begg who writes, “most of the changes are minor and will go largely undetected”. This edited version of the text was originally published in 2003 as one hardcover volume.
Overall, the volumes are very attractive and will make for a great gift idea for around $26.00. Consider snagging a set for your own devotional reading, too.
Here are some photographs of the unboxing to give you a glimpse of what to expect from the new Crossway edition. Click for larger views.
Each January I see promotions for the New Attitude conference and each June I hear stories of lives transformed at the conference. But to date I’ve never attended. Well that looks to be a string of defeats that will be coming to an end this year. And you should consider the conference and encourage the young folks in your churches to consider. It’s intended to minister to young adults and young couples. Everything you need to know about the conference can be found here. The conference runs between May 24-27 in Louisville and speakers include Piper, Mohler, Harris and Mahaney.
Sitting under the preaching ministry and leadership of Joshua Harris is one of the great benefits to now living in Gaithersburg. Sunday, my family and I were treated to the first in a several part sermon series titled “Old Paths,” pastor Harris’ new sermon series through the prophetic book of Jeremiah.
If you’ve been reading TSS you know I want to better understand and apply the Old Testament (see our books of the year 2007). And so Sunday as I learned about Jeremiah, it occurred that pastor Harris was actually modeling something of Old Testament hermeneutics. If you struggle to understand the connections between the Old Testament and our contemporary lives and culture I would recommend this opening message. I believe this sermon models how we interpret and understand the ancient prophets in our world today. Listen for Jeremiah, listen for wisdom, but listen hermeneutically, too.
The new Relevant magazine features a full-page mug of Rob Bell on the cover. Flip to page 64 and the article opens with these words:
“It’s estimated that every week, more than 10,000 people pack into Mars Hill Church [not to be confused with Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church], a growing congregation tucked into a nondescript former mall in Grand Rapids, Mich. What happens in this icy corner of the Midwest every Sunday morning impacts more than just the surrounding metropolis; its weekly service has become a major force that is influencing the global direction of the world’s largest religion.”
This globe-sweeping-rage hyperbole is not unfamiliar to Bell. Media outlets continue to paint the emergent movement as innovative and fresh, a culturally relevant means of correcting all the fatal wounds we evangelicals have inflicted upon the church (in this article Bell says the American idea of church is “an absolute total failure”).
But others keeping up with the emergent writings and speaking tours are not so easily convinced of the pessimistic Bellancholy attitude, nor are they sharing the giddiness over the rage. And this is simply because many are not convinced the emergent ideology is as crisp and relevant as pushed in the media. In fact in many ways―some may wish to cover their eyes now―the emergent distinctives may less resemble fresh baked postmodernism and more appear like moldy modernism!
This, at least, is the conclusion of Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. The two have completed a forthcoming title, Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be (due out from Moody on April 1, 2008). The book is a discerning, witty, and well-written attempt to make concrete the public distinctives from contemporary emergent leaders. It’s a helpful step in identifying the contours and concerns of the movement.
While I don’t agree with everything they say, it’s one of the better books I’ve read in a while and I think it will be a book especially helpful for pastors trying to discern the strengths and weaknesses of the emergent movement. (There are a few strengths.) Within broad criticism, the authors are careful to distinguish various leaders.
But what I found especially helpful was DeYoung’s perception that this overall “emergent” movement reflects modern theology we’ve seen come and go. DeYoung, a pastor and Gordon-Conwell grad, puts it well:
“The biggest irony about the emergent church may be just this: For all their chastisement of all things modern, they are in most ways thoroughly modern. Many of the leading books display a familiar combination of social gospel liberalism, a neo-orthodox view of Scripture, and a post-Enlightenment disdain for hell, the wrath of God, propositional revelation, propitiation, an anything more than a vague moralistic, warm-hearted, adoctrinal Christianity. … The emergent church may not be identical with the theological modernism of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries, but many of the similarities are striking.
… The preference for ethics over doctrine, the reservations about God’s wrath and judgment, the perceived need to retranslate the Christian faith for a new time, the devaluing of propositional truths, the chastisement of firm doctrinal boundaries, the understanding of missions as social compassion and not conversion – these are all impulses of the modern world. So are the broad tolerance of general religious sentiment that is lacking in specificity and definition, the unwillingness to assert the Bible’s complete truthfulness, the downplaying of original sin, and the direct appeals to bettering the world apart from the call to repentance and be born again.
As emergent leaders talk of the boogeyman of modernism in conservative evangelicalism, it needs to be pointed out that he lurks within their own house, too, not as a creature hidden under the bed here or in a corner there, but as their own shadow, standing next to them, in the dark perhaps, but always there. There is nothing new under the sun, just the same shadows in different places across the centuries” (pp. 160, 165-166).
Or to put it another way: If Rob Bell is relevant, J. Gresham Machen is relevant.
But most importantly, Why We’re Not Emergent will give readers a greater appreciation for the Gospel and its centrality to the church. There can be no ministry faithfulness where the Gospel is not found at the center.
Preachers will have their faith boosted in the transforming power of Scripture, and the church will be challenged with Revelation 2-3 to re-read the ancient letters that define ministry faithfulness.
“If we had to distill our advice for the emerging church into one sentence, it would be this: Listen to all the churches in Revelation. Emergent leaders need to celebrate all the strengths and shun the weaknesses of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 – and admit that Jesus’ prescription for health is more than community, authenticity, and inclusion” (239).
Just from the creative element, this book will capture your attention. For example, the authors compare emergent ideology with the official beliefs of the Unitarian Universalist Association (178). And there are some unforgettable lines, too. For example, “For every fundamentalist who loves the Bible more than Christ, I’m willing to bet there is one emergent Christian who honors the Bible less than Christ did” (81). Or “In the postmodern world of spiritual journey, authenticity and sincerity have become the currency of authority, and dysfunction, inconsistency, and idiosyncrasy are worn as badges of honor” (35).
DeYoung and Kluck have written an excellent response to the emergent concerns and the globe-sweeping-rage hyperbole being flung around. Why Were Not Emergent is a book to add to your reading list.
Although he’s barely 30-years old, Tom Brady is the quarterback for the undefeated New England Patriots (16-0). Life seems to be going well for him. This year he set the NFL’s single-season touchdown pass record and you can add this season to his already stuffed trophy case. All before the age of 30, Brady won three Super Bowl rings, two Super Bowl MVP trophies, named to the Pro Bowl several times. Even a bulleted summary list of his accomplishments on the football field extends for pages! He dates supermodels and has a contract in the millions, the things you would expect for a man some are saying may be the greatest in NFL history.
But after I started to assemble a series on Ecclesiastes, a keen TSS reader pointed me to a pre-Christmas interview Tom Brady gave on 60 Minutes. You can watch the interview here. During this clip―and it’s hard to determine the context―Brady makes the following statement:
“Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what is.’ I reached my goal, my dream, my life. I think, ‘God, it’s got to be more than this.’ I mean this isn’t, this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be … I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I’m trying to find.”
We can praise God that Tom Brady would humbly and publicly admit (at some level) to the emptiness of life. And to do it on national television is startling, too. I don’t think I would have the courage to say this. Brady clearly understands the harsh reality of this world that meaning and fulfillment cannot come through our accomplishment because we never will amass accomplishments enough. The vanity and emptiness of life are inescapable.
So please pray for Tom Brady. Let’s pray that he would find true rest and life and hope and fulfillment in the forsaken One who died a bloody death under the most profound and horrible experience of emptiness. And Pray for Walt Day, who I believe is still the chaplain for the Patriots and a man with a background at Campus Crusade. Pray that God will give him the wise words of eternal wisdom to share.
May we all, through Ecclesiastes, discover that “meaninglessness is the mother of meaning.”
I’m sure this will not interest many of you, but a U2 concert is now headed to the cinema in 3D. More here and here. This is pretty amazing technology that appears will be changing the way movies are filmed, produced, and viewed.
“If you find me short in things, impute that to my love of brevity. If you find me besides the truth in anything, impute that to my infirmity. But if you find anything here that serves to your furtherance and joy of the faith, impute that to the mercy of God bestowed on you and me. Yours to serve you with what little I have.” John Bunyan (Works, 1:336).
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“In the cross of Christ, as in a splendid theater, the incomparable goodness of God is set before the whole world. The glory of God shines, indeed, in all creatures on high and below, but never more brightly than in the cross, in which there was a wonderful change of things—the condemnation of all men was manifested, sin blotted out, salvation restored to men; in short, the whole world was renewed and all things restored to order.” John Calvin
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Welcome to Miscellanies [formerly The Shepherd's Scrapbook] a blog serving sinners who seek their daily food in the Cross of Christ. Our goal is provide thoughts on Cross-centered living, theology, preaching and pastoral ministry. We review books considered excellent, announce new books that look interesting, and encourage biblical discernment with both. All of this should fuel our pursuit of the Cross. [Meet the winners of our book of the year awards: 2006 winner and the 2007 winners.]
Email: crede.ut.intelligas AT mac.com
Stay on top of the latest posts by subscribing to the RSS feed.
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Current reading …
Robert Louis Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought
Michael Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (3rd ed.)
F.F. Bruce, The Spreading Flame: The Rise and Progress of Christianity from its First Beginnings to the Conversion of the English
Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms: 73-90, Boulding trans. (vol. III/18 )
Colin Duriez, Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life
Do-it-yourself Blank Bible. Of all the books we promote, none compare with God’s Word. We pursue the Cross as God opens His Word to us. In this anticipation, we encourage you to make your own blank bible like Jonathan Edwards.’ Building a blank bible shows both a commitment to serious, life-long reflection and the anticipation of God’s illuminating Spirit. To date, over 15,000 readers have accessed the Blank Bible Index.
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FREE book! What is God saying to us? How can we know Him? I wrote a little book — Come Unto Me: God’s Invitation to the World — to answer these questions. You can download the book as a PDF and you can read more about the background of the project here.
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Humble Calvinism.Early this year we started a series on Humble Calvinism, a study through John Calvin’s Institutes. Especially noteworthy is Calvin’s experiential sensitivity to the contours of godliness. Join us as we continue learning humble and holistic Calvinism as Calvin intended. See the Humble Calvinism series index here.
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The Puritan Study. The Puritans were Cross-boasters. So how do we use the wealth of Puritan literature in our personal devotions and expositional studies? Our series on building and using a Puritan Study answered this important question. For more see the full Puritan Study series index.
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Who am I? My name is Tony Reinkebut call me “chief of sinners.” For 22-years I hid from God in self-righteous religious ‘faithfulness’ until my stubborn heart was subdued by God’s sovereign grace (Eph. 2). In one moment, after a sermon by Paige Patterson in Lincoln, NE on Luke 18:9-14, I perceived the Gospel as the great exchange, and by God’s grace I released my self-righteousness to cling to the saving righteousness of Jesus Christ. That day I recognized I was a sinner playing the part of the Pharisee. It was the day I was reborn. Now nothing is more precious than knowing Christ — the God-man who died for me and gave me His righteousness in place of my sinfulness (Phil. 3:7-9). Pursuing further up and further into the Cross has become the center of my life and this blog is intended as a place to share this pursuit.
Educationally, I graduated from Bellevue University in Omaha, NE with a degree in Liberal Arts. Theologically, I’m an autodidact under the wise direction of a local church. I’ve been married for 10 years to my best friend, Karalee (a more gifted writer and blogger than myself) and we have three precious kids, a majority of whom are named after dead preachers. Last year I was interviewed by Joshua Sowin about life, books and reading (if you want more info)
God has given me the rare privilege and joy of serving as personal assistant to C.J. Mahaney (if you really want to learn from blogs, navigate away from this sorry one and check out what C.J. is saying on his.)
Misc stuff you don’t need to know but will read because you’re bored and surfing the Internet to kill time anyway: My nicknames include any variation of The Scribe, T-Scribble, Scribs, Big Blog Daddy, Big Honkin Blogdaddy, Big Blog Papi, T-Rex, Blogzilla, and Scribola (take your pick). Curtis Allen calls me by the name Tone Capone. Do I look like an Italian mobster? Here’s my mug.
Email/comments. I’m grateful for your readership and would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment on any post to get in touch. Depending upon time restraints I usually respond to email. You can email me at: crede.ut.intelligas AT mac.com .
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My book wishlist. Hopefully one day these valuable books will be added to my library. All from the The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Yale editions) …
Vol. 10: Sermons and Discourses ( 1720-1723 )
Vol. 14: Sermons and Discourses ( 1723-1729 )
Vol. 19: Sermons and Discourses ( 1734-1738 )
Vol. 25: Sermons and Discourses ( 1743-1758 )
Vol. 17: Sermons and Discourses ( 1730-1733 )
Vol. 22: Sermons and Discourses ( 1739-1742 )
Vol. 13: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 1-500 )
Vol. 18: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 501-832 )
Vol. 20: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 833-1152 )
Vol. 23: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 1153–1360 )
Vol. 15: Notes on Scripture
Vol. 8: Ethical Writings
Vol. 21: Trinity, Grace, and Faith
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Princeton Cemetery. I don’t know how I did it, but in the Spring of 2006 I convinced my wife and kids it would be fun to spend the day at Princeton cemetery. Princeton is famous for its school and less famous for its rich evangelical history. I took several photographs at Princeton Cemetery (where Edwards, Hodge, Warfield and the Alexanders are buried). These photos always remind me to be Cross-centered.
“Our differences are enough to separate some of my friends—your brothers and sisters in Christ—from you. And perhaps to separate them from me, now that I’m publicly speaking to you. And I don’t want to minimize either the sincerity or the seriousness of some of their concerns (things like: humor, worldliness, pragmatism, authority).
The new Relevant magazine features a full-page mug of Rob Bell on the cover. Flip to page 64 and the article opens with these words:
especially helpful for pastors trying to discern the strengths and weaknesses of the emergent movement. (There are a few strengths.) Within broad criticism, the authors are careful to distinguish various leaders.
