Einstein, God & Humility

Several weeks ago on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart, my boys and I were able to do one of our favorite things on such trips- slip away to the book aisles! On this occasion I had the opportunity to thumb through Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Einstein. I was particularly intrigued to find a chapter titled, “Einstein’s God.” I later checked out the book from a library and read with much interest this chapter. Einstein was of course a Jew and never professed faith in Christ. However, he was convinced that the orderliness of the universe demonstrated the design of a deity. Isaacson wrote of the impact on Einstein of this belief in God:

“For Einstein, as for most people, a belief in something larger than himself became a defining sentiment. It produced in him an admixture of confidence and humility that was leavened by a sweet simplicity. Given his proclivity toward being self-centered, these were welcome graces. Along with his humor and self-awareness, they helped him to avoid the pretense and pomposity that could have afflicted the most famous mind in the world.” 385

If the belief in a fairly impersonal, deistic concept of God had such a humbling effect on an incredibly gifted, non-Christian scientist, why doesn’t knowledge of the redeeming work of Christ produce more humility in less brilliant, Christian pastors like us? Far too often pastors are marked by more knowledge of God but less evidence of His grace than is suggested in this quote. Far too often “pretense and pomposity” are words associated with Christian leaders. Let us ponder the greatness of God that we might see his glory and our smallness, and find joy in both.

James Stewart and the Missionary Church

Those who have read this blog for some time will know of my appreciation of James S. Stewart, the prominent Scottish preacher and New Testament scholar (previous posts). I am currently working on an encyclopedia entry on Stewart, and have come across another great quote. In his book on preaching, Heralds of God, Stewart stated:

“no church is anything more than a pathetic pietistic backwater unless it is first and fundamentally and all the time a world missionary church.”

Well put! As pastors we must see to it that the task of world evangelization stays front and center in our churches.

Amend ETS

Denny Burk (Criswell College) and I have been working on a proposal to amend the constitution of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). Recently I commented on my proposal from 2001 for a more ‘evangelical’ doctrinal statement. Denny has taken this suggestion and has done the lion share of the work in putting together a formal proposal we plan to submit at the annual meeting in November. We have launched a website (www.amendets.com) with the proposal, our rationale, FAQ’s and a blog where we will continue the conversation. We want to further the conversation, invite response and hopefully gather support for the amendment.

Helping Parents

One of the important things we must do in pastoral ministry is to encourage gospel-driven parenting. Churches know that families around us are in shambles, and people are looking for help. Sadly, though, people are too often looking for a magic silver bullet, “5 Steps to Change Everything.” What is needed, and what we must provide, is the demonstration of how the gospel speaks to and must shape all areas of life. But again, people too often think of the gospel simply as what you believe to be saved. This is the result of defective teaching over the years. The whole of our pastoral labors is showing ourselves and our people how the gospel is to shape everything we do. Much could be said here, but for now let me just mention two resources.

First, I have recently commented at my blog on Children’s literature on a book entitled Hints for Parentswhich embodies this gospel oriented approach. You can see the comments here and here.

Second, one summer at our church we took our Wednesday nights to watch the Shepherding Your Child’s Heart video series and to discuss it (the book is also excellent). All our adults are together on Wednesday nights in the summer so we showed it to the whole group. Some in that group have children, some have children who are grown and gone, some have never had children and quite a few were unmarried. However, we (pastors) made the point that if we were really to engage in one another’s lives we all needed to think through an issue like this whether we applied it as a parent, grandparent, nursery worker, future parent or an encourager to parents. The material is excellent, and I would highly recommend it. Our experience as a community was also excellent and I would commend this idea to you as well.

What Is a Healthy Church?

Mark Dever has released an updated version of his popular booklet, “9 Marks of a Healthy Church.” The updated edition is titled What is a Healthy Church? And is in the form of a little hardback (similar to many Mahaney titles). I really like this format and this tool continues to be extremely helpful in introducing people to conversations about church health. I could not tell what all has been adjusted in this edition, but overall this format seems like it would be more layman friendly. I do not mean to suggest something negative about the previous editions, but I think more laypeople will pick this one up and see it as something for them. It will be a great resource to have available in bulk at your church.

Here are some thgins that I think are new since the last edition I saw (at least). First, Dever now divides his 9 marks into essential (expositional preaching, biblical theology, biblical understanding of the good news) and important marks. This is helpful. There are also to “Quick Tips” pages titled “If You’re thinking about leaving a Church” and “How to find a good church.” These are very helpful brief application points. I think there is even more in this edition about not seeking personal preferences but looking for biblical essentials.

This is a great tool and I am grateful for Dever and Crossway for making it available.

Packer on Baxter’s Directory

The following lengthy quote is from J. I. Packer’s introduction to Richard Baxter’s Christian Directory.. The task of writing an encyclopedia entry on Baxter has given me opportunity to delve some more into the man who in the eyes of many embodies the oversight of souls. This quote provides a great contrast between the pastoral teaching of Baxter and much of what passes for instruction today.

“From this standpoint it is possible to see clearly the difference between the ‘how-to’ books that today’s evangelicals write for each other and the ‘how-to’ teaching of the Directory, which is so much wiser and digs so much deeper. Our ‘how-to’s’ – how to have a wonderful family, great sex, financial success, in a Christian way; how to cope with grief, life-passages, crises, fears, frustrating relationships, and what not else – give us formulae to be followed by a series of supposedly simple actions on our part, to be carried out in obedience to instructions in the manner of a person painting by numbers or activating a computer. Wisdom in role-play is all; ‘heart-work’ hardly comes into it. This wisdom is in Baxter, too, though usually in a more sober, searching, shrewd form than we superficial moderns attain to; but his ‘how-to’s’ are regularly concerned with the ‘heart-work’ that is involved in doing what has to be done with the glory of God as your goal, and love and compassion for the needy other as your motive, and a passion for holiness as your driving desire, and a vivid sense of spiritual conflict keeping you humbly distrustful of yourself, and constantly watchful against Satan’s devices, and deeply dependent on Christ every moment. Only a little thought about the models of godliness set forth in the Psalms and the moral teachings of the Epistles is needed to convince one that Baxter and the Puritans were right to zero in on the ‘heart-work’ of right action, and that our generation has been terribly wrong to neglect it. Had we remembered that what makes good works good, according to the Scriptures, is a right form, fixed by law and wisdom, allied to right desires, fixed by the gospel, we might have been spared the egocentric, zany, simplistic, degenerate, half-magic-spell type of evangelicalism which is all that the world sees when it watches religious TV or looks directly at the professedly evangelical community. Such evangelicalism neither honors God nor blesses man. Back to Baxter! would make a good and healthful motto for the Christian leadership of our time.”

Baxter and the Dangers of Pride

I am convinced that one of the major problems in contemporary American Christianity is pride. I think this is the case in the workings of my own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. We so easily cave to the allure of the praise of men. Early we learn that the way forward is to lavish human-centered praise, and we learn to gauge our progress by the amount of exuberant praise received. I need often to be reminded of the Bible’s rebuke of such ways, and historical examples help me.

It is said that after Richard Baxter received a letter full of praise to him, he responded by writing, “I have the remainders of pride in me; how dare you blow up the sparks of it?” While we need not be unkind to those who wish to express appreciation, we can learn from this example of “self-watch” (Baxter’s term). I would dare say that today you are more likely in the circles of church leadership to be rebuked (or ignored, overlooked) for failing to express enough praise than for fawning.

Let us be quick to give appreciation and thanks, but let us be measured and not exaggerated. Love for our brother will call for us to encourage him with thanks, but it will also call for us to be careful about kindling the sparks of arrogance that lie within his heart just as within ours.

Family Driven Faith, Review

Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God, Voddie T. Baucham, Jr.
(Crossway, 2007), hb., 222 pp.

I finished reading this book this weekend and really enjoyed it. My primary overall reaction was, “This book more than any other I have read expresses what my wife and I aspire to for our family.” This book can be of a lot of help to a lot of people.

If you have heard Voddie any time in the last few years you have probably heard some of the material in this book. It is great now to have all of this (and more) in book form. He stresses the role of parents in discipling their own children, the importance of the husband-wife relationship for the children, and the value of children (in contrast to our culture). With these themes he stresses the importance of family worship and the importance of fathers taking the role in teaching their children about God. He powerfully contrasts this with typical priorities among fathers. He encourages having and raising children without being legalistic about how many and how soon we should have them. He talks about how churches fail to help by sustaining the idea that parents need not disciple their own children. There is much of value here and our people (particularly fathers) will gain much in reading this book.

My wife and I came to some of these same conclusions during our time in Scotland. As we prepared to return to a more hectic pace of life in the US we discussed how to maintain what had become important to us. We called it being “family-centered.” Our family, not job or ministry or activities, would be the center of life for us. We wanted our home culture to be the primary culture for our children. By making our home strong and healthy we would be enabled to reach out effectively. But keeping the home central would mean saying no to any number of good things. We continue to struggle to do this well, and this book was a renewed encouragement to me. I found myself being more diligent to look for ways to demonstrate love to my wife, and I was rejuvenated in our efforts in family worship.

Two areas will probably be points of debate concerning this book: schooling and church structure. Voddie is very positive about homeschooling (as am I) but he clearly states that he is not saying this is what all Christians must do. I was glad to see that. Secondly, he advocates having no nursery or any children’s classes at church. This is what is done at his home church in Texas. I, too, am not satisfied with the typical overly segregated church settings. Therefore I appreciate the sentiment. However, I still see a place for a nursery and for children’s classes. At our church we have Sunday School classes for children through age 11. At age 12 a child goes into the adult class with his parents where we cycle through a four year cycle covering systematic theology, church history, bible overview, and the practical outworkings of the faith. Thus Sunday School provides another format for parents to disciple their teenagers as they discus what is going on in class throughout the week. Younger children have their own classes intended to aid parents in their discipleship. Also we have a nursery during corporate worship. We encourage parents to bring their children into the service at 4-5 years of age.
Voddie is careful not to demand churches follow his model exactly but calls for us to consider ways to encourage families in their roles. I wholeheartedly affirm that goal, though we differ in how we go about it.

I hope many people will read this book.

Missionary Determination

Here are two other related quotes from The Greatest Century of Missions.

“Missionary service demands dedication, determination and discipline – and these qualities are basically rejected by the television generation.” (p. 127)

“CMS Missionary at Uganda, Alexander Macay, when 27 years old, expressed the singleminded determination common to 19th century volunteers: ‘I want to remind the committee that within six months they will probably hear that one of us is dead. But . . . when that news comes, do not be cast down, but send someone else immediately to take the vacant place.’” (p. 128)

Brothers, we must teach, commend, and exemplify this spirit.

Paton and the Cannibals

As promised, here is a quote from The Greatest Century of Missions.
In describing the determination of the 19th century missionaries, Hammond relates this great exchange from John Paton.

“Amongst many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument was, ‘The Cannibals! You will be eaten by Cannibals!’ At last I replied, ‘Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms’.” (133)

Yes! I find myself wishing to have such quick wit, and then more importantly yearning to be marked by such clarity of purpose.

Greatest Century of Missions, review

Peter Hammond. The Greatest Century of Missions. Cape Town, South Africa: Christian Liberty Books, 1982. pb. 146 pp.

I read this book over Christmas break and have been waiting since then to post something about it. It is such a good book, I have kept putting off writing “until I could really do it justice.” Well, that time may never come so here is an attempt.

This is a dynamic discussion of missions, well-written and crafted to inspire, motivate and challenge. This is not dry, abstract discussion. This is moving sermonic book.

The overall point of the book is to ask what inspired the great missionary thrust of the 19th century so that we might seek to have another such bold advance today. He briefly lays out the evidence for the claim that the 19th century was the greatest century of missions (Carey, Livingstone, etc.). Then he first notes three key, common characteristics of missionaries at this time:
1. Sacrifice and Service- He makes the point that they saw sacrifice and hardship as simply part of the call, and therefore willingly endured things which are hard for us to imagine today. Hammond here chastises our pursuit of comfort.

Hammond writes: “A mission organisation wrote to David Livingstone asking: ‘Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to send other men to join you.’ Livingstone replied: ‘If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.’” (p. 6)

2. They were interested in body, mind and soul. They were not simply seeking professions of faith, but they sought to see the gospel transform all of society. He points to Carey as an example as he sought not only to start churches but to set up schools and to effect local laws.

3. They had an eschatology of victory. He basically is referring to post-millenialism. They expected to see the gospel change the world, instead of expecting the world to deteriorate as so many today do. In the end I am not convinced of post-millenialism, but we ought to learn something about expecting to see the gospel advance instead of the overly pessimistic expectation sometimes produced by certain brands of pre-millenialism. The hope of victory is what drove these pioneers of the past onward, what convinced them that any sacrifice was worth it.

He quotes William Carey- “. . .We are neither working at uncertainty nor afraid for the result. . . He must reign until Satan has not an inch of territory!” (p. 8)

Later (chapter 5) he makes the argument that Reformed theology (particularly the sovereignty of God in salvation) is what empowered this great mission advance.

All of these are useful points. The best part of the book though is recounting of missionary examples. Some you probably have heard of before, but having them all in one “well told” source is great. This would be a good book to hand to people to challenge them to think more seriously about our obligation to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This is long enough for now. So I will post some further quotes in subsequent posts.

God Pursuing Sinners

Last month I was privileged to preach on Luke 15, one of my favorite texts, at our church. This is such a rich and amazing text. It reminds us that God is indeed “rich in mercy” (Eph 2), that God is the great evangelist, pursuing sinful people like us in spite of us. It is amazing to see that God rejoices in the salvation of sinners! Why should he choose to be pleased with rescuing us? Then the text is bracketed with rebuke of the self-righteous, challenging us to consider whether we are as interested in reaching the lost as God is.

Here are a few excerpts from my pondering of this text:

God rejoices over the salvation of the lost. Do you? Does it move you?
If we can see people saved and be unmoved something in desperately wrong.
If we can fail to see people saved and be unmoved something in desperately wrong.
...
Before moving on to the next parable let me pause here to say to those here today who are not converted. Do you realize that the Creator, the One who made you, against whom you have rebelled, who does not need any of us, that He is today seeking to save people like you. Will you reject such a gracious offer from God? Children who do not have new hearts- How about you?
...
Believers: Remember the pigsty! Can you still smell it? The only reason you ever left it is that the Father, the great shepherd came and found you. Then he received you with this kind of joy
...
The Self-Righteous Brother
This is the jab at the religious leaders. While the father rejoices over sinners restored these only think of themselves and their supposed righteousness.
The question for us is not: “Have you ever abandoned the Father and run off to the far country.” Rather the question is whether you realize and can admit that you have. Some people’s sin is more obvious than others, but we have all abandoned the father. This son rebels against the father by not joining in His joy. Is this you?
Are you worried about not being recognized appropriately for you godliness or your service?
Do you fail to join in the joy of the Father over people being restored, souls rescued?

Probably most of us would not identify ourselves with this readily, so let me probe it further. What leads one to such a self-righteous position. Perhaps any number of things, but pride must be one of the key traps. Beware the allure of spiritual pride! Do you glory in your grasp of biblical or theological truths? Are you fond of speculative talk and debate? Then beware. Flee from the snare of pride, by facing squarely this sophisticated pig pen and confessing that your ‘high falutin’ ponderings are merely dressed up pig food. Cry out with Paul, ”God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of Christ.”

The Table
It is entirely fitting that our examination of this passage lead us to the Lord’s Table. Just as the Father in this parable, representing God, beckons his son to the Table (the feast), so we are invited today. This is the feast given for all of us sinners who repent. This is why we will be received by the Father. As this text makes clear this Table is not for those who are confident in their own self-righteousness. No, such people are forbidden. Rather it is for those who know they have gone off to the far country. It is for those who are all too familiar with the pig pen, indeed perhaps the stench still lingers. It is for such people who have nevertheless repented and come to the Father.

You can access the audio here.

Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart, Review

Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart , John Ensor
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007), pb., 160 pp.

I just finished reading this great book, and our church is working on getting copies for our book table at church. I have seen Ensor’s first book but have not been able to read it yet. Now, I am keen to do so, because he really has a way with words and he uses them to communicate sound truths.

This book deals with the issue of male/female relationships. It seems to me that the first audience in view is singles and the secondary audience is married people. Both groups can benefit from this book. Ensor writes with conviction and passion, frank and to the point. He does not pull any punches. He speaks out of the experiences of ministry leading a crisis pregnancy center. I found myself thinking, “I like this guy!” This is a book to have on hand to give away because it could be of great help to people in a number of situations.

Here are some quotes to illustrate some of his points as well as his style.

“It is one thing to act foolishly – to be a simpleton – when buying a used car. It is another when it comes to matters of the heart. The stakes are infinitely higher. Failure here means weeping into tear-stained pillows through sleepless nights. It means hot flashes of shame. It means spiritual incapacitation when it comes to things like prayer and worship.” (p. 12)

“I have talked to teens who, unfortunately, listened attentively in their sex education classes and now in their twenties, sit astonished in the discovery that there is no condom for the heart!” (p. 19)

“Hormones and oxytocin bond us to those with whom we share a bed, but what it means to love beyond merely making love does not come from chemistry; it comes from theology. It comes from parenting. It comes by learning.” (p. 44)

“Models of good marriages are books in clothes. The church was my library.” (p. 58)

“Women lack confidence in their desire to be a wife and mother. It is acceptable as a side dish, but should it be the main dish, something must be wrong with them. Men who want to do the right thing toward women are now unsure if it is okay even to open a car door for them.” (p. 59)

The Faithful Preacher, Book Review

The Faithful Preacher, Thabiti Anyabwile
(Crossway, 2007), pb., 191 pp.

I have not yet finished reading this book, but after reading the first sermon by Lemuel Haynes, I knew this is a keeper and one to commend to the readers of this blog.

In this book Anyabwile briefly introduces three pioneering African-American pastors and then gives us a selection of their sermons. The very first sermon in the book is an ordination sermon on Hebrews 13:17! This is a key text in my mind on pastoral ministry (hence the name of this blog), but I do not find it much discussed these days. This sermon on this text is incredible- searching, weighty, powerful- ingredients often missing but sorely needed in pastoral ministry today.

Appropriate to his text, Haynes expounds powerfully the need to fulfill our calling in view of the account we will one day give directly to God. As much as I talk about this verse, I desperately need exhortations like this sermon. Here are a few quotes:

The goal of preaching:

“It is the design of preaching to make things ready for the day of judgment . . . . We are fitting men for the Master’s use, preparing affairs for that decisive court.” (p. 29)

“When he studies his sermons, this will not be the inquiry, ‘How shall I form my discourse so as to please and gratify the humors of men and get their applause?’ but ‘How shall I preach so as to do honor to God and meet with the approbation of my Judge?’ This will be his daily request at the throne of grace. This will be ten thousand times better than the vain flattery of men. His discourse will not be calculated to gratify the carnal heart; rather he will not shun to declare the whole counsel of God.” (p. 32)

If we would heed this we would not be worried about giving a good performance and there would be no interest in downloading the sermons of others. I think much less time would be given to the frilly silliness so often seen and we would be in earnest to simply know what the text says and how to explain that to our people.

The importance of oversight:

“They who watch for souls as those who expect to give account will endeavor to know as much as they may the state of the souls committed to their charge, that they may be in a better capacity to do them good . . . . when they see souls taken by the enemy, they will exert themselves to deliver them from the snare of the devil.” (p. 33)

This aspect has been mentioned often here, but it is refreshing to hear yet one more faithful pastor from our past remind us that we must know our people and watch over them. The distant “preaching head” approach simply will not cut it.