I used to follow football avidly but much less so in recent years. But this headline from Drudge caught my eye and the article that followed cheered me greatly. It has generated within me much greater interest in the Superbowl than I had before.
"I want to be a pastor in a high school," Foles said Thursday. "It's on my heart. I took a leap of faith last year and signed up to take classes at seminary. I wanted to continue to learn and challenge my faith. It's a challenge because you are writing papers that are biblically correct. You want to impact people's hearts."
Foles is part of a team that has a strong Christian brotherhood. MVP contender Carson Wentz has been outspoken about his faith and many players spend a lot of time together in prayer, studying the Bible and sharing devotionals.
Foles was one of the study leaders during his first stint in Philadelphia and has become a go-to source for younger guys. Left guard Stefen Wisniewksi also plans to become a pastor after his career ends.
"Guys like Nick and Wis can spit out scripture all day and it's awesome to take in that knowledge," said special teams ace Kamu Grugier-Hill.
Foles is passionate about helping students find their way and plans to use his experiences to inspire and encourage them. . . .
He was spectacular against Minnesota in the NFC championship, tossing four touchdown passes in a 38-7 win.
Foles - not Tom Brady - has the highest passer rating in postseason history for quarterbacks who've thrown at least 75 passes. Foles has completed 72 of 96 passes for 793 yards, with five touchdowns and no interceptions in three games for a 116.4 passer rating. . . [more. . .]
Foles' quarterback career has been marked with a great deal of inconsistency. I am hoping (and praying) that Sunday will prove a good day.
Keller pastors Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. He is known for his thoughtful sermons which attract a large and varied audience. He has lectured at Google on three occasions that I am aware of (here, here, and here), as well as at Oxford and other universities. Keller is also a prolific author. Just before Christmas New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof published an interview with Keller titled, "Am I a Christian, Pastor Keller?" I think it really good, both the questions and answers, and commend it to you.
(Note: I have blogged about Tim Keller several times. Simply google "Muddling Toward Maturity - Tim Keller" for a list of posts.)
Kathryn Jean Lopez interviews David Limbaugh (Rush Limbaugh's brother) and a writer of no mean consequence) whose latest book is The Emmaus Code. Limbaugh tells Lopez:
"This is the book I wish I’d had when I first became a Christian and was eager to read everything I could on the Bible and theology to accelerate my learning curve and make up for lost time. It is an Old Testament primer of sorts, with an emphasis on its Christ-centeredness. It summarizes every book of the Old Testament and shows how each one specifically points to Christ."
Some of Limbaugh's other books include Jesus on Trial: A Lawyer Affirms the Truth of Christianity (2014) and Persecution: How Liberals are Waging War Against Christianity (2004).
I appreciate greatly Kirsten Powers' reflections on the power of Christian faith to affect radical change in the believer's heart attitude towards those who murder beloved family members. She writes:
When Christians are in the news, it's usually because they have done something wrong — they've gotten on the wrong side of a culture war or cheated on their wife, or worse. What the world rarely gets to see is the powerful grace that flows from a deep faith predicated on the belief that we are all sinners in need of forgiveness.
The family members of those slain at Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church bore witness to this central tenet of Christianity last week as the nation gasped in awe. "I forgive you," one after another told the stone-faced and unrepentant alleged killer, Dylann Roof, at his bond hearing.
Tweeting about the incredible scene, National Review writer Charles C. W. Cooke noted, "I am a non-Christian, and I must say: This is a remarkable advertisement for Christianity." Thankfully, the circumstances requiring forgiveness don't always involve the murder of a loved one. But sometimes they do.
Continue reading "KIRSTEN POWERS - FORGIVENESS IN CHARLESTON STAGGERS THE WORLD" »
Dallas Willard, professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California, spoke at Stanford University in 2002 on the topic Nietzsche vs. Jesus. I found his talk intriguing. Willard treats Nietzsche respectfully, offering a helpful explanation of Nietzsche's historical context, and the way his perspective on "truth" now predominates in the culture of our day. Against Nietzsche Willard contrasts Jesus and Christ's way of discovering genuine truth and reality. The talk is nonpolemical and offers much to ponder. Go here.
Dallas Willard passed away in 2013 after teaching at USC from 1965 to 2013. He left behind an influential body of work. I have read several of his books and go back from time to time in order to better digest and internalize his thought. Willard offers fresh vocabulary. He replaces traditional terminology such as "disciples of Christ" with "apprentices to Christ." Some of his books include:
The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God
The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives
Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ
Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge,
Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with Christ.
A book published after his death is The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus.
Justin Taylor does a marvelous job supplying background and Scriptural allusions in Wesley's great hymn "And Can It Be." Taylor writes:
According to the editor of "The Oxford Edition of the Works of John Wesley" (Oxford: Clarendon, 1975-1983, vol. 7), “And Can It Be” was written immediately after Charles Wesley’s conversion (May 21, 1738). Wesley knew his Bible well prior to this time, but had not yet experienced assurance of new birth or the fulness of grace in his life.
The editor also that it was probably this hymn, or “Where Should My Wond’ring Soul Begin?” that was sung late on the evening of his brother John’s Aldersgate Street conversion just three days later on May 24.
John Lawson, in "A Thousand Tongues: The Wesley Hymns as a Guide to Scriptural Teaching" (London: Paternoster, 1987), says this “is perhaps the best known and best loved of all the Methodist hymns associated with the conversion experience.”
Wesley begins the first stanza by expressing amazement over the love expressed in God the Son dying for him; it is a mystery that we who caused his death now benefit from it.
In the second stanza, Wesley calls for adoration at the incomprehensibility of God’s love and mercy in this sacrifice.
In the third stanza, Wesley recounts the infinite grace and mercy of Christ’s love and humility in the incarnation, death, and finding of lost sinners.
Now in the fourth stanza, Wesley turns his attention to the bondage of his own sin and the freedom he found in Christ.
Finally, he explores the results of Christ’s amazing and merciful work: there is no condemnation for those made alive in Christ and clothed in his righteousness; rather, there is bold access to the throne as we have the right to claim the eschatological crown.
Using and adapting the notations in the reference works cited above, I have sought to identify probable biblical allusions (in the KJV) that probably implicitly or explicitly informed Wesley’s wording and concepts in this great hymn:
Continue reading "CHARLES WESLEY'S GREAT HYMN "AND CAN IT BE"" »
No individual has had a more profound effect on my thinking than C.S. Lewis. In saying that, I realize I am but one of thousands of people who gladly say the same. Michael Gerson, former speech writer for George W. Bush, penned a good piece on Lewis today. It sparkles. I urge you to click through and read it. In the course of his article he links to Lewis's essay "The Poison of Subjectivism," a profound short essay which I have reread many times over the years. Gerson titles his piece, "C.S. Lewis, our guide to the good life."
- John Stonestreet of Breakpoint has penned several excellent pieces on Lewis and his writings this week. Check out "Narnia's Got it All: The World According to C.S. Lewis." For the audio: Listen Now | Download
- Stonestreet interviewed author and Lewis aficionado, Professor Joe Rigney, who explains "How to Live Like a Narnia." It's a 24 minute audio interview. Listen Now | Download Rigney wrote "Live Like A Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis's Chronicles.
My own previous posts on Lewis can be found here: http://muddlingtowardmaturity.typepad.com/my_weblog/c_s_lewis/
Note: Breakpoint has been featuring C.S. Lewis all week:
From VirtueOnline:
by Rick Warren
http://pastors.com/piers/
Sept. 18, 2013
Piers, Rick, and Kay
After teaching How to Get Through What You're Going Through" for the past eight weeks, Kay and I felt it was time to grant the first media interview since Matthew's death. We chose CNN's Piers Morgan Live because it offered a full-hour for us to share our thoughts, rather than just short sound bites.
What happened in the taping surprised us all. Several members of the tech/camera crew were in tears, hugged us, and told us that their lives had been profoundly impacted by the experience. Piers Morgan was unusually sensitive to the moment, allowing us all the time we needed without interruption. At lunch, Piers shared that it was the most moving interview he's ever done.
In kindness, the CNN team came to us, taping the interview at our Acts of Mercy family foundation office. In our conversation, we discussed:
What it was like to parent a child who battled mental illness all his life.
What it has been like to grieve our son's suicide as public figures.
Mental illness, depression, guns, grief, and God.
What needs to change in our culture, including removing the stigma from mental illness.
How to support the mentally ill and the families who care for them.
How our faith has been tested and has grown stronger.
How we get our sins forgiven, purpose for living, and home in heaven through Jesus.
The overwhelming love we've received from our church family and others.
How God gives us HOPE in our darkest days.
The interview was raw and real. The CNN crew and our staff watched almost breathlessly. For an entire hour, you could've heard a pin drop, everyone was so riveted by what God was doing through the conversation.
I wanted to take an opportunity to pass along some of the most significant things we were privileged to say, and I would welcome your feedback on the interview.
The Six Stages of Grief
Rick:
Well, you know, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross did this thing, this thing called the four stages of death and dying and I actually think there are six. And we've been watching ourselves go through this back and forth now for several months.
I think the first stage is shock. And for us, shock still happens. For at least the first month, I kept waiting for Matthew to come in the door... I just couldn't believe that it happened. It was so sudden. And then you move from shock to sorrow, sadness, and this profound sadness that comes into your life. Then you move to what I call struggle and that's all the "why" questions. Why now? Why this? Why me? Why Matthew?
Then you move to a stage I call surrender. I wrote in my journal one day, I later tweeted it, and said, "I'd rather have all my questions unanswered and walk with God than not walk with God and have all my questions answered." But there is a struggle. And finally, I just have to surrender, so I'm not going to know. I'm not going to know all these answers.
And then you move to what I call sanctification which is the change that takes place in you. And then service. And service means I think God wants us to use our hurt. And one of the reasons we decided to do this interview with you is maybe we could help some other people.
On Losing Matthew
Kay:
I've said almost from the first moment that we learned that, "We're devastated but we're not destroyed." And when people ask that question of, how are you, there's no good answer.
And so, I finally just settled on, "I'm terrible but I'm OK." In other words, we're going to survive and someday, we'll thrive again. It's the worst thing that could ever happen.
Grief is Good
Rick:
I have cried every single day since Matthew died, but that's actually a good thing. Grief is a good thing. It's the way we get to the transitions of life. And I find, if I don't cry, then I stuff it.
When I swallow my emotions, my stomach keeps score. If I don't talk it out to my wife, to God, to friends, then I'm going to take it out on my body. And so, as guys, men, we don't do grief very well. It's not an easy thing for us because we don't like the negative emotion.
But actually, grief is a good thing. Grief is the way we get to the transitions of life and that's been helpful to me.
Choosing Joy
Rick:
We were sobbing. We were just sobbing. The day that I had feared might happen one day, since he'd been born, and the day that I prayed would never happen, happened. And I remember, as we stood in the driveway, just embracing each other, and sobbing. And Kay was wearing a necklace - you're wearing it today - that had the words of a book she wrote a year ago called Choose Joy.
And she held it up and it said, "Choose Joy." And in my mind I thought, "Are you kidding? How can I choose joy in this worst circumstance of my life?" But we - even in that moment, we were trying to say, "We're not in control but we do have a greater hope and we do have a source of joy that isn't based on our circumstances." And it was a holy moment.
Mental Illness
Rick:
Piers, any other organ in my body can get broken and there's no shame, no stigma to it. My liver stops working, my heart stops working, my lungs stop working. Well, I'll just say, "Hey, I got diabetes. My pancreas or my adrenaline glands, or whatever," but if my brain is broken, I'm supposed to feel bad about it. I'm supposed to feel shame. And so, a lot of people who should get help don't.
Piers:
It's hard to imagine. All that I've researched on this, with you and your family and Matthew, it's hard to imagine anyone who suffers from this kind of illness, who's had more love and support from their family, from a wide circle of friends, who's had more treatment from the so called experts, more institutionalized moments, everything you could imagine, and yet still it wasn't enough to save him.
Kay:
Well, if you look at the risk factors of what puts people at risk for suicide, Matthew had almost none of the risk factors. He had a great, as you say, a loving family, he had the access to care, he had friends. He had everything... The main risk factor for him was mental illness and he had that.
The Support of Saddleback Church
Rick:
I was overwhelmed by the love of our people. Kay and I had given 33 years to this church. And I felt like they all gave it back at the moment. It was just a very tender moment for me as a pastor. I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death with thousands of people. I have walked, I've stood at bed sides and seeing lots of people take their last breath. I have been there for those people for 33 years. And they were there for us when we needed them most.
Questioning God's Plan, but Never Questioning God
Rick:
I never questioned my faith in God. I question God's plan. There's a big difference. I know God is a good God. Nothing can shake that from my life. I know God is a loving God. The question is - it's like my children, my children have never doubted that they - that I love them but they sometimes doubt my wisdom and they don't think I've made the right decision. Not everything that happens in the world is God's will. Everything that happens in the world God allows, he permits but because it couldn't happen without his permission but we live in a world where there are free choices and if I chose to do wrong, I can't blame God for that. So God isn't to blame for my son's death. My son took his life. It was his choice and if I chose to go out and get drunk and get in a car and I was in an accident, killed somebody, I can't blame God for that.
Kay:
You know as Rick said it's not - our faith is currently what's got us - that foundation what's gotten us through and it's solid and strong but I have to tell you that, you know, before - I have something I want to show you. There's this box that it was given to me a few years and I - It's got the word - it's a marble box and it's got the word Hope on it and ...
It's my Hope box and I filled it with verses that gave me comfort, that gave me encouragement, verses that just kept my faith really strong before Matthew passed away and everyday I would sit and I would read these verses and that morning after we had been to his house the night before and I was pretty certain that he had taken his life. I got up that morning and I opened my Hope box and I went to these verses one more time and then after that I didn't open it for a month. I couldn't and then I started to think, so where do I go from here? What you'd do when your hope has been crashed and the only way I now how to rebuild it is to go back to my faith and to God's word and this time, I started putting verses in that give me Hope for the future like there's this amazing verse that it's 1 Corinthians 15:43 it says, "Our bodies are buried in brokenness but they will be raised in glory, they are buried in weakness but they will be raised in strength."
And so every time when I go to the cemetery, I quote that verse because, you know, what Matthew's body was broken, that gun broke his body and he was buried in brokenness but he's going to be raised in glory. He was buried in weakness. I think Matthew you were buried in weakness you will be raised in strength. So the struggle has been not in the living that God exists, not that God is evil because God is good.
But I have this other little tiny pot when there's questions I can't answer like did Matthew think of us before he pulled the trigger? Did he - was there any moment in which he suffered? Why after all those years of prayer and effort did he die? All these things that I have no answers for and I put them in this little pot, it's my mystery pot so here's my Hope box and my little mystery pot and so everyday I almost, I fill it with another question that I can't answer. But what I know to be true is that God will answer those questions. They will be answered and my hope is very certain.
A Closing Word of Hope
Kay:
It's so important that people know no matter how desperate, they're despaired, there is hope. There is - and not to give up, not to give up.
Source: CNN Transcripts
Many churches have already done so. Mine has. But it makes me uneasy. To dispense with hymnals entirely means serious deprivation and a cutting off from the rich history of the church. To me "Contemporary" quite often means "superficial," quite often "ignorant," and sometimes "arrogant." It says "our generation has it right" and previous ones were all wrong. Not so. Justin Taylor links to John D. Witviliet's "10 Reasons Why Hymnals Have a Future," an article worth pondering.
Me: Read the article for an expansion of each point. As I was growing up, I found myself playing hymns on the piano and embibing the words and music that have stuck with me to this day. I am blessed. Those who have grown up with hymns have a rich theological fare hard to come by today.
Witviliet concludes:
In summary, hymnals are a good resource, not the only good resource. And they may not be even the best single resource for every one of these functions. But for overall value, it’s pretty hard to beat a single book that does so many things at once:
Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola make some often overlooked observations in their new (2012) book, Jesus: A Theography:
"When Luke wrote his gospel, he referred to the twelve disciples with the shorthand phrase 'the twelve.' But he also used another shorthand phrase: 'the women" or 'some women':
The Twelve were with him, as well as some women: Mary called Magdalene; Joanna, the wife of King Herod's cupbearer; Susanna; and many others. They provided for them out of their resources." [Luke 8:1-3]
And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid." [Luke 23:55}
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.' [Acts 1:14]
"Jesus and His disciples were not beggars; discipleship did not equal destitution. Jesus and the Twelve had financial backers who supported the ministry, many of whom were women. In fact, they had sufficient funding not only to warrant a treasurer but to elicit Jesus' insistence that His and the disciples' taxes be paid to Rome.
Some readers of this blog will be familiar with the extraordinary work of Edith and Francis Schaeffer in the founding of the L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. Their son, Frank, subsequently left the evangelical faith and wrote a number of novels and memoirs which were quite unkind to his parents. So I was surprised to learn from watching a live-streamed appearance of Ravi Zacharias at Princeton earlier this week that Frank Schaeffer published an extraordinary tribute to his mother, March 30, 2013 in the Huffington Post, the day she died. Such a glowing tribute to a mother has rarely been equalled. At the very end, he wrote "You won, Mom. I believe." I'm not sure exactly what that means, and I look forward to learning more.
An excerpt:
I trust my mother's hope-filled view of death because of the way Mom lived her life. Mom first introduced me to a non-retributive loving Lord who did not come to "die for us" to "satisfy" an angry God but came as a friend who ended all cycles of retribution and violence.
Mom made this introduction to Jesus through her life example. Mom was a wonderful paradox: an evangelical conservative fundamentalist who treated people as if she was an all-forgiving progressive liberal of the most tolerant variety.
Mom's daily life was a rebuke and contradiction to people who see everything as black and white. Liberals and secularists alike who make smug disparaging declarations about "all those evangelicals" would see their fondest prejudices founder upon the reality of my mother's compassion, cultural literacy and loving energy. . . .
And another:
Besides a loving God and her steadfast support for the arts -- even when she disagreed with some of my writing -- here's who else my mother introduced me to: Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Haydn, Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Handel, Schumann, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Verdi and Vivaldi. She made them my friends. They are still my friends and companions and I have made them my children's and grandchildren's friends too. And that is my tribute to her example.
He goes on to list great painters and great authors, and writes further of his mother:
Here's what my mother showed me how to do by example: forgive, ask for forgiveness, cook, paint, build, garden, draw, read, keep house well, travel, love Italy, love God, love New York City, love Shakespeare, love Dickens, love Steinbeck, love Jesus, love silence, love people more than things, love community and put career and money last in my hierarchy of values and -- above all, to love beauty. I still follow my mother's example as best I can and I have passed and am passing her life gift to my children and grandchildren not just in words but in meals cooked, gardens kept, houses built, promises kept, sacrifices made, and beauty pointed to. . . .
He concludes (it's a much longer tribute than these quotes would suggest and filled with fascinating details):
I'll miss her voice. I learned to trust that voice because of the life witness that backed it up. I know I'll hear her voice again. You won Mom. I believe.
Books By Edith Schaeffer:
Continue reading "FRANK SCHAEFFER'S TRIBUTE TO HIS MOM, EDITH SCHAEFFER, DEAD AT 98" »
I have not followed the debate about the Shroud of Turin very closely, supposing like many others that it had been dated to around the 14th century. The latest tests, however, indicate that it dates from between 280 BC to 220 AD. For those wanting an update on current dating, the New York Post has printed a useful article.
. . . The shroud is a 14-foot rectangular woven cloth that bears the faint image of a crucified man, both front and back. The man has all the wounds suffered by the biblical Christ at the crucifixion, including the crown of thorns, the scourging, the nailed wrists and feet and the wound in the side.
Barely visible to the naked eye, the genuine image was revealed only accidentally, in 1898, when Italian photographer Secondo Pia was allowed to photograph the shroud for the first time. In developing the negative plates, Pia discovered to his shock and amazement that the reversed image on the cloth was now fully visible.
Since then, the shroud has been an object of veneration for some and an object of derision for others.
The case for its authenticity was dealt a serious blow in 1988 when, after much wrangling with the Vatican, a team of scientists was permitted to snip off and destroy for radio-carbon testing a small piece from a corner of the shroud. The results, announced with great fanfare, seemed to prove that it dated only from 1260-1390, and thus couldn’t be real.
But questions quickly arose about the piece of fabric that had been tested. Critics said the results were inaccurate, because the piece of cloth was not an original part of the shroud, but a repair and reweave done after it sustained some medieval fire damage.
The latest results seem to bear them out. A team from the University of Padua, based on infrared radiation analysis, has determined that the shroud dates from the period 280 BC to 220 AD — i.e., right at the time when Jesus is said to have lived. . . . [more. . .]
I saw the conclusion of a Ravi Zacharias live streaming appearance this evening in New Jersey. Near the conclusion Ravi referred to the story told in the Kingston Trio song, "Desert Pete." I remembered the song -- at least somewhat -- and decided to look it up on YouTube. And now for your listening pleasure I present: "Desert Pete"
For those who don't know what "priming the pump" means, here's a gentleman who explains it:
And here's Norman Rockwell's painting: "Winter Morning" in which a young boy "primes the pump."
And here's someone's creative depiction of "Desert Pete":
"Give, and it will be given to you.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together,
running over, will be put into your lap. For with
the measure you use it will be measured back to you."
- Luke 6:38
Potemra writes:
Lent is, paradoxically enough, a joyful time in New York City, because it tends to feature some of the world’s very best performances of sacred choral music. Tonight offered one such, the New York Philharmonic’s rendition of Bach’s Mass in B Minor. It is my opinion, and not mine alone, that this is the greatest work by history’s greatest composer; and the Philharmonic and its associates did an excellent job of traversing it. Among the featured soloists were celebrated mezzo Anne Sofie von Otter and soprano Dorothea Röschmann (I don’t follow the music world closely at all, so I hadn’t heard of her before; she has a great voice, and the pictures of her do not do justice to her physical beauty).
The B Minor Mass reminds me vividly of how true Ratzinger’s remark of many years ago really was: There are as many ways to God as there are people. Picture a packed house at Lincoln Center, enraptured by a theological document composed when the Roman Empire still existed. The central section of a full Mass setting is devoted to the Nicene Creed, a traditional summary of the basics of the Christian faith, and Bach spent part of his final years on earth working on precisely this section of the Mass. How many people in that auditorium endorsed each of the exactitudes specified in that document? How many would have been agitated by the word “filioque” — which once split Christendom in two? How many paid attention to the words at all? And yet the work speaks to all of them, because the God who is beyond words is in the music every bit as much as in the words.
I find myself recommending G.K. Chesterton's "St. Francis of Assisi" to people from time to time, and with the new pope taking the name Pope Francis, it is perhaps more timely than ever for us to re-study the life of the original St. Francis. I can think of no more delightful introduction than G.K. Chesterton's biography. It's a slim, easy read and available in various editions. If you want to save money, you can read it free on the internet. Here's one source: http://archive.org/stream/francisofassisi00chesuoft#page/n9/mode/2up
* Previous posts on Chesterton:
G.K. Chesterton: Unfailing in Wit, Wisdom, and Sanity
Justin Taylor writes:
"What a fascinating and instructive and encouraging interview, as Marvin Olasky talks with Rosaria Butterfield about her memoir, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into Christian Faith."
This is, indeed, a fascinating interview. I know it's long (about an hour), but it will be time well spent.
You can read a sample here. Justin Taylor goes on to quote Carl Trueman:
"This autobiography is the launchpad for numerous sophisticated reflections on the nature of life, faith, sexuality, worship, education and other matters. As one would expect from a lover of nineteenth century literature, the book is also beautifully written with many a well-turned sentence; and as one would expect from someone schooled at the highest levels in critical theory, it eschews simplistic pieties for stimulating analyses of both Christian and non-Christian culture.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I do not agree with everything she says; but I did learn from everything she wrote. It deserves the widest possible readership."
Follower of Christ. Husband of one, father of three. Elder at New Covenant Bible Church. VP of Editorial at Crossway. More…
Jan
18
2013
What a fascinating and instructive and encouraging interview, as Marvin Olasky talks with Rosaria Butterfield about her memoir, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into Christian Faith.
You can read a sample here.
Carl Trueman writes:
This autobiography is the launchpad for numerous sophisticated reflections on the nature of life, faith, sexuality, worship, education and other matters. As one would expect from a lover of nineteenth century literature, the book is also beautifully written with many a well-turned sentence; and as one would expect from someone schooled at the highest levels in critical theory, it eschews simplistic pieties for stimulating analyses of both Christian and non-Christian culture.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I do not agree with everything she says; but I did learn from everything she wrote. It deserves the widest possible readership.
In particular Carl highlights her discussion of sexuality:
Her treatment of sexual sin and gender politics is fascinating and so much more sophisticated than the kind of simplistic drivel which passes for discussion in evangelical circles. Chapter Two, ‘Repentance and the Sin of Sodom’ along with her accounts in Chapter Three of talking to students at Geneva College about sexuality, are worth the price of the book. Every pastor should read these chapters and take her analysis to heart.
TimChallies tells a moving story: (HT: Justin Taylor)
Doug Nichols is a friend of mine through the Internet. He is the Founder and Director of Action International Ministries and in that role he travels all over the world promoting missions and evangelism. He emails me often and from all parts of the world with words of encouragement. He closes almost every email by saying, “Let me encourage you with this” and then shares a Scripture passage. I love it.
It was a long time ago, in the summer of 1966, that Doug was working for Operation Mobilization and was stationed in London during their big annual conference. He was assigned to the clean-up crew. One night at around 12:30 AM he was sweeping the steps at the conference center when an older gentleman approached him and asked if this was where the conference was being held. Doug said that it was, but that just about everyone had already gone to bed. This man was dressed very simply and had just a small bag with him. He said that he was attending the conference. Doug replied he would try to find him a place to sleep and led him to a room where about 50 people were bunked down on the floor. The older gentleman had nothing to sleep on, so Doug laid down some padding and a blanket and offered a towel for a pillow. The man said that would be just fine and that he appreciated it very much.
Doug asked the man if he had been able to eat dinner. It turns out that he hadn’t eaten since he had been travelling all day. Doug took him to the dining room but it was locked. He soon jimmied the lock and found some cornflakes and milk and bread and jam. As the man ate, the two began to talk. The man said that he and his wife had been working in Switzerland for several years, where he had a small ministry that served hippies and travellers. He spoke about his work and spoke about some of the people he had seen turn to Christ. When he finished eating, both men turned in for the night.
Doug woke up the next
morning only to find out that he was in big trouble. The conference
leaders came to him and said, “Don’t you know who it was that you put on
the floor last night? That’s Francis Schaeffer! He’s the speaker for
this conference! We had a whole room set aside for him!”
Doug had no idea that he was sleeping on the floor next to a celebrity, that he had told a man to sleep on the floor who had a profoundly important ministry. He had no idea that this man had helped shape the Christian church of that day, and really, the church of our day. And Schaeffer never let on. In humility he had accepted his lot and been grateful for it.
That is just a tiny little glimpse into a man’s life. Francis Schaeffer lived for 72 years and this little story consumed less than half of one of the 26,000 days of his life. But it tells you a lot about the man. I think it tells you as much about the man as his public ministry does. A book may proclaim that he is brilliant, but a story like this proclaims that he is humble. A speech in front of thousands may proclaim that he is a great philosopher, but the story tells us that that he is godly. There is so much we can learn about a person from those little otherwise-forgotten moments. It’s not only the great things a person does that make the man, but the small things.
When Doug tells the story he offers an application that has helped him. Not many of us can have the intellect of Francis Schaeffer; not many of us will ever have his abilities or his wisdom. But what we can do is reach out to others and minister to them with godly humility.
Me: I love this story. Years ago I met Doug Nichols. He's authentic and humble, too. I know OM life, and can imagine the setting of this story. As for Francis Schaeffer, like so many others, I owe him a huge personal debt. Encountering his person and works dramatically enlarged and deepened my own understanding of the Gospel and it's relevance to all of life. Schaeffer started a spiritual and intellectual revolution that changed the face of evangelicalism.
Justin Taylor offers the following resources:
The year 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984). It is difficult to think of an evangelical figure in the 20th century who so seriously engaged the philosophies and ideologies of the secular world and set them over against the Christian worldview than Francis Schaeffer.
But Schaeffer was no ordinary evangelical. The man wore knickers and knee high socks when he lectured, sporting not only long hair but a goat’s-chin beard! Most importantly, Schaeffer did not fear man, but feared God. Not only did he engage secular worldviews, but he confronted his fellow evangelicals, even rebuking them for doctrinal concession and compromise.
As many have observed, it is not an overstatement to say that the Schaeffers transformed, reshaped, and in many ways reformed American evangelicalism. Those writing in this new issue of Credo Magazine are proof, each writer bearing testimony to how Francis Schaeffer has made a monumental impact on how we understand and articulate the Christian faith and life in the world of ideas. Contributors include Bruce Little, William Edgar, Bryan Follis, and Stephen Wellum, and many others.
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