I already linked this on twitter/facebook, but I really think this is a helpful summary of the gospel, so I’m posting it here as well.
Archives For October 2012
My daughter recently began violin lessons, and her mother and I are very excited about this. She has actually wanted to play for a while, much to my delight, and she has a fantastic teacher whose enthusiasm, skill, and creativity mesh together to make my daughter even more into it than before (if that is possible). Of course there is some of the beginner squeaking and scratching going on, but I can honestly already imagine the sounds growing solid, maturing, filling out, glowing warm and vibrant off the strings, singing high haunting notes, resonating through the wood, filling my home.
Anyone who has played violin or has any interest in violin music knows or has heard that the most famous, most coveted violins in the world have the name Stradivarius. I don’t really know much at all about violins, but I have heard the name Stradivarius. Though the rightful preeminence of these violins is disputed by some, the name alone has become short hand for excellence, quality, and a legacy of beautiful sound. Because of the weight of glory that follows the name, many studies have been done both to the materials the instruments are made of and built with as well as various analyses of the sounds they make. While there doesn’t seem to be any conclusive results from these investigations, the legendary status lives on. Continue Reading…
Hey look, everyone, now there’s a nifty little Canon Press banner over there on the side bar. There’s a great sale going at the present, and well, you should always check back for new books and great deals. Christmas shopping anyone?
With the Reformers, we confess that Jesus comes to us in the Word and in the Sacraments. The gospel is proclaimed and read, the gospel is poured and sprinkled (or you might get dunked in it), and now we come to eat and drink the gospel.
In the providence of God this means that we basically have a trinity of expressions of Jesus. Jesus comes in the word, Jesus comes in the water, and Jesus comes at the table. Just as in God, the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit each point to the other, giving glory to one another, so too, in the Word and Sacraments. The Word proclaimed points to the water, you were washed in and the bread you eat, and the wine you drink and the people eating and drinking around you. The Water points to the Word that proclaims the promises of forgiveness to you and to your children, and the table that proclaims the death of Christ until He comes.
And likewise, this table points you back to Jesus in His Word and Jesus in the Water. This table reminds you of what God has already spoken to you: you are justified, you are righteous in Jesus, and this table reminds you of what God has already spoken over you: His own name has been placed on you. You’re part of His family, and so look around you: these are your people. You belong here at this family table because you belong to Jesus. Continue Reading…
Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are God, and there is no other. You know from the beginning all the way to the end. And this is because You are the One telling the story. You are the Author and Perfector of this world. You are the One who spoke light out of darkness. You are the One spoke life out of the grave. You are the One who called to us in our sin and guilt. You are the One who spoke our names and woke us up and breathed Your Spirit into us. You are the One who breaks the spells of wicked men, the prognosticators and wizards of every generation. You are the One who raises up the beaten down. You are the One who raises up the broken and forgotten. You are the One who remembers the poor and the needy. You are the One, and there is no other.
Who do we have in heaven but you? To whom will we cry out except to you? There is no other god, no other lord. We have no other Master; we have no other King.
And so, Father, we come before you now, your children, your little ones, because we know that unless we come as children, we cannot come at all. And so we come with our wandering attention spans and hungry bellies and skinned knees. We come with our cheeks smeared, and we come with imaginations and hopes and stories that we long to know the endings to. We come in faith because our Older Brother is Jesus whom you crowned with glory and honor and majesty and dominion forever. You have given Him a Kingdom that will never end, a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, a Kingdom that cannot be destroyed, a Kingdom that will fill the earth, a Kingdom that will give water to the thirsty and bread to the hungry, a Kingdom full of justice and mercy for the orphan and the widow and the immigrant. Continue Reading…
When we say that we are evangelicals, one of the things we are proclaiming is that we believe in reformations. The first reformers in the Protestant Reformation were called evangelicals, and so we align ourselves with them. But the larger point is that we believe that this is how God intents to get this project done. And this project is the restoration of all things, the renewal of all things, the rebirth of the whole world, the whole universe, the new creation. But all reformation begins in the heart; all renewal, all rebirth begins when the Holy Spirit changes a slave of sin into a free man, when the Holy Spirit breathes on a man made of dust and lights him up, making him a man made of Spirit.
One of the great glories of the Protestant Reformation was the insistence on the centrality of freedom. Christ came proclaiming liberty to the captives, and that wasn’t just a Sunday School slogan. The point was that if Jesus set somebody free, they were really free. When Jesus proclaims forgiveness, it echoes into economies and politics and science and technology and medicine. This is because the gospel is the proclamation of the Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Jesus is reformation for the world. Continue Reading…
We gathered here for war. We have been summonsed by our King: You are His nobles, His princes, His lords and ladies; You are His hosts, His armies, His lieutenants and captains and infantry. You have been in the fray this week. You have faced enemies, you have faced giants and dragons and sins and pain. You may be coming off of a week of victories; you may be coming off of a week of failures. You may be coming off of a week of a few of both.
But the wonderful thing is that here, now, in this place as God calls us each by name and all of us by His own name, and we call upon Him as our God, our Lord, our Master, our King, as He invites us to lift up our hearts to Him, He lifts us up to Himself, the Spirit lifts us up into His very presence, and we are invited to wage war on sin and death and Satan and all evil in a way that far surpasses anything you might imagine, in a way that far surpasses what you’re able to do during the week. Continue Reading…
I’m a casual person. Ask my wife. Ask my friends. I sort of have to decide to get worked up about stuff. I like hanging out. It’s pretty easy for me to get goofy, be silly, and go into clown mode. I like having fun. I like my people having fun too. I’m laid back. I want people to be comfortable, to be at ease, relaxed.
But turns out casual, relaxed, and laid back didn’t make the fruits of the Spirit list. There’s probably a bit of overlap in there. Peace is calm, collected, but peace can also be militant and bold. Joy can certainly include happiness and fun, but it doesn’t have to. Self-control and gentleness have their laid back sides, but that’s not all there is to them.
And then combine casual and laid back with sinful hearts, sinful habits, sinful tendencies, and there’s no shortage of laziness, cowardice, and disrespect wound through any number of situations. It’s easier, more comfortable not to confront someone in their sin. It’s simpler, less messy to not get off the couch and discipline the child who needs it. So it’s lazy and cowardly. But it’s also ultimately cruel.
Douglas Wilson taught me years ago that etiquette and manners are just love in the trifles, love in the little things. But informality can be oppressive. Casual can be tyrannical. Continue Reading…
Ok, Justin Bieber is actually some form of soft porn. Justin Bieber is the swimsuit issue in the grocery store checkout line. And yes, I realize that porn is a buzz word. It’s a bit over the top. I’ve taken to using it as a multi-purpose slur of various trends I’ve noticed here and there in the broader reformed, evangelical world. And some have wondered if I’m just blowing hot air. If it’s so elastic to include both Eastern Orthodox icons and Justin Bieber as well as pictures of nekked people, has the word ceased to mean anything?
Well let me try to assure you that I’m not smoking anything illegal, and I don’t have to do any sort of rhetorical acrobatics to pull off the connections. I believe fornication (from whence the word “porn” originates) is just a straightforward biblical category of sin and idolatry that pastors and all Christians are charged to attack, destroy, and burn to the ground. But let me get a running start here:
First off, let’s settle the fact that we are in a culture war. And in order to be in a culture war we must have at least two things: we must be asserting a culture, proposing one, cultivating one, and on the other hand, we must be throwing grenades, tomatoes, and generally giving other false, idolatrous cultures our most enthusiastic and slobbery raspberries. And to be clear, this means people are going to get hurt. You can’t bust out “culture war” rhetoric, and then whine when there’s smoke in the air and someone next to you catches shrapnel in the leg. That’s what a war is, people. This isn’t an excuse for being nasty or vengeful; but it means we can’t sit on the sidelines checking our hair in the mirrors. So for example, if I say that I think Sufjan Stevens is basically a limp-wristed poser with security issues who writes mediocre poetry set to trendy indie rebel tunes (as I think is the case), some of my friends will show up with pitch forks and some of them might think I’m attacking them. But I’m not. (Did you catch that? I’m not!) I’m actually attacking that version of culture, that version of a Christian culture, that version of masculinity, that version of popular/folk aesthetic values. I’m actually not even attacking Mr. Sufjan directly either. I’m challenging his version of the world, the way he’s telling the story, the picture he’s painting and asking us to buy, support, defend, celebrate. No thanks, Mr. Sufjan. But I do occasionally listen to his music (and I don’t become violently ill). Continue Reading…
We have said that this table is to be a model for our tables, but it might occur to some of you that this table is different. For example, we say that this table is for all those who have been baptized and are walking with Jesus, not just anybody. At times, the elders have barred people from this table for refusing to repent of sin, and we pray for those individuals regularly, pleading with God to soften their hearts that they would come back and join us at this table again. That would seem to be different than our home tables. You probably don’t have a list of people who have been excommunicated from your home tables! But while it’s correct to point out that our tables are not synonymous in this regard, they are still analogous.
For one thing, there is an open invitation to this table. If you aren’t baptized, we warmly invite you to trust in Jesus and be baptized and join us. On the flip side, as we give particular energy and emphasis to our calling to be ministering to our neighbors and friends through hospitality, through meals together, following the example of Jesus, we are not just inviting neighbors and friends to eat with us. We are inviting them to Jesus. We are inviting them to be baptized, to repent and believe, and follow Christ. Continue Reading…
