Against Nothingness

I worked in a coffee shop for part of today. While I was there I witnessed an elderly man teaching English to a Korean woman. Before he left, he stopped to ask my opinion on laptops. He has been considering buying one for some time, and wanted my opinion. I didn't, and don't, even know his name.  Kristina says I have 'one of those trustworthy faces.' I think people need to look closer.  Hannah is getting sick today; she was very cuddly, very needy, and she sat still for several long periods of time. She wanted to go straight to bed, have her warm milk, and have me sing 'her song' several times. Her song, when it's me she is asking, is 'Amazing Grace.'  Someone found my blog today by entering "Mark Driscoll Vampire" into Google. I am 9th on the list of hits for this search string. I wonder what that person was looking for.  Back in the fall I had started to feel like I was running out of good books/authors. Since then I have 'disco...

Tony Campolo, Stories That Feed Your Soul . Regal, 2010. 224 pgs.  Yes, this books is exactly what the title claims: a collection of stories meant to 'feed your soul' (what a strange image once you think about it). 117 stories from Tony Campolo; funny, interesting, inspiring, boring, very short, short, and shorter these stories cover a huge gamut.  Campolo divides these stories according to eight themes he finds in Romans 8: Freedom from Condemnation, The New Life in Christ, Intimacy with God, The Call to Rescue Creation, Living with Hope, Praying in the Spirit, God's Plan for Us, and The Assurance We Need.  Campolo choose to organize them this way because he has found Romans 8 to be a rich and fruitful chapter in his own life, and reflecting on the themes therein is something he wants others to do as well.  As a whole, this book was enjoyable. Campolo has done a decent job selecting stories and he is not bad at drawing lessons from them. Of course, some of the...

Jonathan Lunde .  Following Jesus, the Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Covenantal Discipleship (Biblical Theology for Life) . Zondervant, 2010. 312 pgs.  Introduction I seem to be reviewing quite a few books on discipleship this month. "The Invitation" by Greg Sidders  was the first; a fine simple introduction to the subject. Then came "The Gospel Commission" by Michael Horton ; a not so fine book. The more I think about it the less I like it, and not because Horton is a reformed theologian, but because I think he has missed the point.  Now, in comes a third in Jonathan Lunde's addition to the "Biblical Theology for Life" series. So far, the series stands at two volumes; this one, and " The Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church's Mission " by Christopher Wright. I have to say that the first book was incredible and the second book, the subject of this review, does not disappoint. I have gre...

No, this is not a post on church politics. It is, instead, a post on national politics as they enter/and become part of a church. I will also say in advance that this has nothing to do with my opinions on the political parties involved in what follows, nor on the individuals as politicians (i.e. this is not intended to speak to their leadership abilities, governmental policies, etc.) My focus is, rather, primarily on the church and on theology.  Two incidents have precipitated these thoughts.  Firstly, a long-standing member of our church is campaigning to be elected MP. A week or two ago, he was introduced to the congregation in this capacity. The church leadership was very careful and very clear about what was, and was not, going on: we are not encouraging our members to vote one way or another, we are not endorsing any political party of candidate (to the point that they never even mentioned what party he was running for); instead, we want to pray for and over the leader...

Robert White. Chasing the Wind . Word Alive Press, 2011. 120 pgs.  Chasing the Wind  explores, through the lens of Ecclesiastes, three key aspects of human life: meaninglessness, futility, and frustration. More specifically, the meaninglessness of wisdom, work, and wishes; the futility of desires and deeds; the frustration of toils, treasures, and terminations (gotta like the alliteration going on there). I know, it sounds strange to say that we are going to focus on the key areas of meaninglessness, futility, and frustration. But what did you expect from a book focused on Ecclesiastes? Furthermore, these are, in fact, key areas of human experience. That we do our best to ignore and pass over them, from Monday at work to Sunday at church, does not change the fact that make up a large part of our common human experience.  White begins each section with a verse from Ecclesiastes and a short story. He then moves on to share personal stories and details from his life to i...

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. What follows are some of my favorite readings from this retreat. The Start; The Destination The Easy Road The Path Steep Hill Break in the Middle More Steep Hill The End is in Sight The View, the Reward More View, More Reward

" If we wish to make the best use of people, places, and things, Then we're going to have to deal with a law that reads about like this: as the quality of use increases, the scale of use ( that is, the size of operations) will decline, the tools will become simpler, and the message and the skills will become more complex. That is a difficult law for us to believe, because we have assumed otherwise for a long time, and yet our experience overwhelmingly suggest that it is a law, and th'at the penalties for disobeying it are severe." - Wendell Berry " what are people for" pg 114 Berry's Standards for technological innovation 1. The new tool should be cheaper than the one replaced. 2. It should be at least as small in scale as the one it replaces. 3. It should do work that is clearly and demonstrably better then the one it replaces. 4. It should use less energy than the one it replaces. 5. If possible, it should use some form of solar energy, such is...

" You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know; but the God in whose power is your very breath, and to whom belong all your ways, you have not honored." - Daniel 5:23b " A powerful superstition of modern life is that people and conditions are improved inevitably by education... We think it ordinary to spend 12 or 16 for 20 years of a person's life and many thousands of public dollars on education - and not a dime or a thought on character." - Wendell Berry " what are people for" pg 26 " Deliver us, we beseech thee, in our several callings, from the service of mammon, that we may do the work which thou givest us to do, in truth, in beauty, and in righteousness, with a singleness of heart as thy servants, and to the benefit of our fellow man." - ibid. pg 101

God is so vastly wonderfule, so utterly and completely delightful that he can, without anything other than himself, meet and overflow the deepest demands of our total nature. - A.W. Tozer "The Pursuit of God" pg 39 " Faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving  God." - ibid pg 81 " Let a man sanctify the lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act. All he does is good and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For such a man, living itself will be a priestly ministration. As he performs his never so simple task, he will hear the voice of the seraphim same, ' Holy, holy, holy, is the lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.'" - ibid pg 118

"The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless. Faith may now be exercised without a jar to the moral life or embarrassment to they adamic ego. Christ may be received without creating any special love for him in the soul of the reciever. The man is saved, but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God. In fact, he is specifically taught to be satisfied and is encouraged to be content with little. The modern scientist has lost god amid the wonders of his world. We Christians are in real danger of losing God amidst the wonders of His word." - A.W Tozer "The Pursuit of God" PG. 13 " Oh god, I've tasted thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more . I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. Oh god, the triune god, I want to want thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me the glory, I pray, that's so ...

The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom. - Sun Tzu We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction. - Douglas MacArthur No, I am not really going to write about tactics or war. I am talking about a religious retreat. That is, taking some time away from my regular daily routine to take part in intensive rest, prayer, reading, fellowship, and communing with my Lord and Savior, my God and King.  This is an activity I need to do regularly, and I am blessed to work at a church which encourages us pastors to take a retreat day once a month. I am also blessed to be part of a denomination, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, which organizes an annual 3.5 day long retreat for us youth pastors.  So, I am off to RockRidge Canyon today.  Mostly, I want to ask you to please pray for my family as Kristina ...

Michael Horton . The Gospel Commission: Recovering God's Strategy for Making Disciples . Baker Books, 2011. 320 pgs.  Michael Horton is concerned. He is concerned that evangelical Christians are suffering from 'Mission Creep.' That is, that we are giving up our focus on the mission God has given us, becoming distracted by other activities, and losing our clear and biblically founded grasp on the truths which God has given us with regards to the gospel commission (Matthew 28:18-20).  One might justly sum up this entire book as an extended theological commentary on the great commission. Horton divides his book into three sections: The Great Announcement, The Mission Statement, and The Strategic Plan. In the first of these, Horton seeks to help us understand the gospel message, especially by placing it in it's full biblical context. "The Great Announcement" is, in fact, an excellent summary of the work of scholars such as N.T. Wright, Christopher Wright, and ...

Welcome to the blogosphere love! You look a bit dazed; was the trip here long and tiring?  Well, I, and we, are glad you are here. And I an assure you, honey, that you are going to have a great time here! Wink Wink!                                        By now you ought to wonder what I am talking about, yes? Of course you do! I know exactly how curious a bunch you are! First, the obvious: Kristina has started a blog. "Mommy's Monkeys" . Not only has she started a blog, but she has pre-populated it with posts so that now that she has 'gone public' there is already a bit of history on her site. That also means there are several good posts for you to go and read . But, you ask, why would you read them? I am glad you asked, because that takes us to my second point.  Second, the soon to be obvious: Kristina's blog is about being a mother, and about our family. If you have...

Karen E. Dill.  How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Seeing Through Media Influence . Oxford University Press, 2009. 320 pgs.  This is a book about the massive impact that TV, Movies, Video Games, and Music has on all of us, whether we know it or not.  Karen Dill begins by explaining the psychology of media. Most importantly, she shows that it does affect us, despite the fact that most people believe they are immune. This is called the "third person effect."  The 'third person effect' is the phenomenon that almost all people believe that other people  are influenced and affected by media exposure, but they personally are not. Clearly, this is logically impossible and nonsense, but we convince ourselves anyway.  With this established, Dill spends a chapter each exploring the following issues, relating serious scholarly studies in each instance: media violence, race and gender, social learning (focused on beauty and domestic violence), advertising a...

It was then that I realized that I was wishing for something I never thought I would wish. I wished she would cry.  It was a couple of nights ago and I was putting Hannah to bed. I, myself, was very tired. The night before had been the 30Hr Famine at our church, and while I didn't stay all night I did lose a lot of sleep. Meanwhile, Hannah was as energetic as ever.  We read our books and got ready for bed, and then I held her in my lap, radio on, while she had a bottle. In that position, she decided to get goofy. Suddenly everything was funny.  I scratched my face:  "Hehehe, Daddy doing?"  "I'm scratching an itch."  "Hannah scatch it!" I adjusted my sitting position: "Heheh, Daddy tickle!" Everything I did was funny, and I just wanted her to go to sleep. From experience I know that when Hannah gets goofy she usually needs extra time to cool down, and so I was looking at a long 'night night time.' From experience I also know ...

Wendell Berry.  Life Is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition . Counterpoint, 2001. 176 pgs.  Wendell Berry is a poet, novelist, essayist, and farmer. He has consistently worked and written in favor of traditions over the new and rejected the notion that the modern, progressive, way is always better. In this essay Berry takes particular issue with " Consilience" by E.O. Wilson. Berry does so because he sees Wilson as a representative of modern superstition in the form of faith in human progress and knowledge and the belief that our best hope lies in placing all things under the hegemony of the natural sciences.  One by one, Berry cogently and powerfully argues against materialism, imperialism, and reductionism. "To reduce the mystery and miracle of life to something that can be figured out is inevitably to enslave it, make property of it and put it up for sale." Berry argues that we must evaluate our choices, behavior, and technology with a foc...

"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" John 13:35 What is a disciple? What characterizes, differentiates, identifies, and defines Christians? What are we known for ? I know a lot of generalizations, false statistics, and self-depreciating comments on this subject get thrown around in the church (to get a good perspective, read this ). However, I still want to ask if we have taken John 13:35 seriously enough.  The question isn't whether or not we are known best for our love. Good question, but not one for this post. The question isn't whether or not we are the most loving. That is not even a good question.  The question is whether or not this command from Jesus has penetrated our theology, our understanding of mission, the life of our church, or our own life. Read the passage in John 13 again. 'A new command, to love one another (fellow disciples), to love them as as Christ loved them.' Paul understood. Look at Gal...

Greg Sidders.  Invitation, The: The Not-So-Simple Truth about Following Jesus . Revell, 2011. 160 pages.  Jesus called his disciples with a simple invitation: "Follow Me." He calls us the same way. What many find, as they set out on this journey, is that a simple invitation quickly becomes incredibly difficult to follow. Greg Sidders is one of those people. A person for whom the 'red letters' became something to avoid.  In The Invitation , Sidders invites readers to go deeper into their obedience to this command. He explores what Jesus is calling us to, what discipleship is, and why it is more than worth giving up everything to follow Jesus. Set out in thirteen chapters with a study guide in the back, The Invitation  is a formulaic Christian living book (Step 1: Begin each chapter with personal story. Step 2: See what the bible has to say about the issue. Step 3: Bring the point to the reader) designed to offer an introduction to, and encouragement in...

One quarter of 2011 has now passed us all by. I hope you used it well . Top Posts of March 2011 1. "Love Wins" By Rob Bell  - Controversy wins again I suppose.  2. Regent Summer School  - I am glad this post was the second most popular. I know it is because of links on Regents web pages, but still, if any post is to be popular then I am glad it is this post which points people to a good place.  3. Controversy Rages On - Indeed...  Obviously I didn't learn anything from my top posts that I didn't already learn last month.  However, despite none of them being in the top 3, I was able to follow through on my promise to review other books.  Some of the highlights, in my own mind (regardless of what the number of hits might say!) were: "To Change the World" by James Davison Hunter  - a must read if ever there was one.  "Is God a Moral Monster" by Paul Copan - An excellent handling and exploration of very difficult questions.  "A...