Book Review - Theologizin' Bigger, Trey Ferguson Lake Drive Books

 

We are all familiar with the axiom, "walk a mile in their shoes". When we observe the cultural battles and conflicts, it seems that it is a principle that is well-known but practiced less and less. As far back as I can remember, God has put opportunities in my path that caused me to get out of my comfort zone. I believe my life is richer for it. 

As it relates to this book, I can remember hosting a prospective seminary student for a visit when I worked at my alma mater in the early 2010s. He was a former professional athlete, a fairly young African-American man who lived just close enough to consider studying at our school. When the topic of who and what our program studied, I remember him listing off a number of pastors and scholars he looked up to. And honestly I didn't recognize any of them. I had visited Black churches and was aware of the general diversity of the American Church. But it was then I realized there was a part of American Christian theology I was wholly unfamiliar with. And my life was poorer for it.

That awareness of my own gap in my theological foundation is part of what drew me to this book. I came across this author on Twitter last year after friends I follow retweeted some of his posts. I have found Trey's humor interesting and theological arguments compelling. 

I'm not always convinced to go as far as he does but I highly value the different perspective he gives. And he pulls no punches and avoids no sacred cows. Read this book or even just his social media posts and you will be challenged to look differently at faith, the Bible, and the world around us.

For me, the penultimate example of this is his chapter "The Church Gotta Pick One" in which he questions whether his readers are striving more after the American Dream or the Kingdom of God.

Two other big ideas resonate with me from this work. I'll summarize them in my own words and hopefully do them justice. 

1. One consistent theme he draws from is the opportunity we have to live in the freedom God provides in Christ. The ways he defines how we might actually "live" in that freedom will stretch us. We'll be uncomfortable and compelled to embrace a counter-cultural path that will force us to face just how ingrained our 'culture' is. 
2. Second, he encourages us to embrace our imaginations to live redemptively in the world we live in. If we do have the Spirit of God in us, our lives won't be cookie-cutter or formulaic. They can be spiritually creative and imaginative. It will also lead us to transforming practical action in our lives.

Those are a couple of my big takeaways but overall I found the book to be engagingly written, with intriguing illustrations that support his points (unsurprisingly, he is a pastor of course). His statement on pg. 157 may encapsulate the book while also serving as a goal to aspire to develop more and more in my own life:

"I am a Christian because the story of Jesus contains truths that have transformed the way I view the world."

Amen. 

King David and the King of Pop: What 1-2 Kings can teach us about God's favor and the flawed people upon whom it rests (Part 3)

Last month, I led a breakout session at our denomination's annual national conference. Below is my presentation that was inspired by the 1-2 Kings commentary I co-authored. I am breaking the entire presentation up into three parts, to give emphasis to each kind of flaw and flawed leader. This is the third and final section.

Solomon and Hezekiah were both faithful at times but had their failures exposed and received judgment in undeniable ways. The later King Manasseh represents a third category of flawed leaders.

Manasseh is different in that he does not even pretend to follow the Lord. Despite that fact, by many metrics, he was a very successful ruler. The son of Hezekiah, Manasseh’s reign stands out because reigned as king for fifty-five years. That’s the longest reign recorded in the OT – he was king for a record amount of time, even though 2 Kings depicts him as wicked and unfaithful. 1-2 Kings lists numerous other wicked kings whose time was cut short because they failed to follow God. So what gives with Manasseh? 

Part of the answer is that Manasseh stands as an example of how bad spiritual leaders can sometimes thrive by all appearances. His legacy can teach us that God won’t always eliminate wicked leaders swiftly. 

The one truth we can count on though is that it is devotion to the Lord that is the only measuring stick for success that matters. Short-term prosperity is appealing, and worldly measurements may attract praise. But God is using a different rubric. And anyone serving in leadership of God’s people does well to follow it. Mark Driscoll is currently leading the second megachurch of his career. But there are enough red flags from both ministries to warn us against following, platforming, or supporting him as a spiritual leader.

One additional postscript on King Manasseh. While 2 Kings 21 paints a stark and clear picture of his wickedness, 2 Chronicles 33 offers a parallel account that notes how Manasseh repented of his evil ways after being deposed the Assyrians. It also states that he was actually restored to his throne late in life. The history of 2 Kings points to Manasseh greasing the skids for God’s national judgment on his people, while Chronicles offers the Manasseh as an example of true repentance.

So which is correct, Kings or Chronicles? The narratives compel us to answer “both”. Thanks to having a fuller picture of his life in Chronicles, Manasseh offers us a bonus lesson about how we often must live with the complexity of evil and good that can be found in one’s legacy.

And that complexity can remind us of our first lesson from Solomon. That because leaders can be brazenly immoral but ultimately humbled and repentant – we shouldn’t idolize any one leader or movement or harshly condemn them in judgment, as if we have divine knowledge of their hearts or divine insight into their whole story.

Conclusion

 As a child of the eighties and sports enthusiast growing up, one of my first personal heroes was the great NBA legend, Larry Bird. He was an all-time player: 3 straight MVPS, 3 NBA championships, and he was from Indiana just like me.

Imagine my excitement as an eight-year-old visiting the library and picking up a sports encyclopedia that included a short biographical feature on my favorite player. I ate up every detail about his background, college career, work ethic, accomplishments on the court.

Now also imagine my shock, when me - the baptized, church-going naïve young Christian - is reading this book and I come across this paragraph praising Bird for being such a down to earth regular guy, ‘Who loves nothing more than to have a beer while having a good time with this buddies.’

My poor innocent conscience was fractured. “What? He likes to drink alcohol? You mean Larry Bird might not be a good church-going Christian like me?”

Let’s put aside the fact that I had this assumption that Christians didn’t drink. All of a sudden this pure view of the world had changed. In my own sort of way, I had to think through how I viewed my heroes and the world at large.

Looking back, I realize that’s a simplified version of a more complicated process I want to offer us as we continue to wrestle with the tension of looking up to spiritual heroes who might get unmasked as wretched sinners. What are we to do when it happens to our favorite author, musician, preacher? What happens when it is our mothers or fathers?

Do we dismiss offenses as no big deal? Automatically condemn and angrily pile on with the mobs? And how are we to reconcile God’s apparent favor blessing these ministers and ministries that have such significant problems?

God’s temporary blessing is not an unqualified and eternal stamp of approval.

If God’s favor rested only on perfect and upstanding people, he never would have gotten anything done in history – except with Jesus. God’s grace - common and specific - is by definition undeserved and his divine ways often bless and use people whose sins make our stomachs churn. God’s overall eternal assessment starts with the heart and one’s devotion to God and his revealed will.

Additionally, we must carefully discern between what is flagrant sin and what is foolishness when we are assessing our fallen heroes.

Our heroes will fail, fall, and disappoint us in one sense or another. Flagrant sin must be seriously confronted and the ripple effects must be seriously dealt with. Sexual abuse must be reported to authorities not secretly addressed as an “internal matter”. Unrepentant misbehavior that takes the form of emotional abuse, harshness, or arrogance must be confronted and penalized if it continues.

Flagrant sin will have serious consequences. And to the extent that we can enact those consequences, we should do so with conviction. Our actions will vary depending on how close we are to the situation of course but we should seek serious penalties for serious infractions, that is biblical justice.

Actions we take may be as basic as unfollowing on social media, unsubscribing to podcasts or discarding their books. It may be more significant of course. We may see fit to personally warn others of the truth or personally enact the biblical restoration and confrontation process. When flagrant sin is revealed by those in our own churches or ministries, removal and restitution should be part of the process in the aftermath. Personal restoration and repentance should be high priorities, but professional reinstatement is generally unwise. As Tim Keller said, “To forgive someone who wronged you does not mean you have to immediately trust him or her. Trust has to be re-earned.” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/tim-keller-forgive/

Foolishness must also be directly addressed, and its victims likewise cared for. Better accountability and guardrails will be needed. If humility and repentance are evident in the offending party, we can move forward optimistically that the foolish errors have led to learning opportunities.  But it is a fine line. On one hand, Christians and Christian organizations are often overeager to identify sorrow for repentance and rush restoration in cases that do not warrant it (See Carl Lentz). We should remember that sorrow for being caught is not the same as godly repentance. Let’s also remember that restoration of fellowship doesn’t necessarily mean restoration to leadership.

On the other hand, foolish actions should not permanently disqualify a leader from ever leading again. Caution and discernment should guide any decision making. Patience and time should be important factors in these situations.

In all cases we would do well to pray for restoration and repentance and any actions we might take should have keep those goals in mind. And in all cases we need to remember that only our wonderful, merciful Savior is worthy of our total allegiance. Only Jesus embodied the perfect King, coming as a servant to seek and save the lost.

Whether we are talking about King Solomon or the King of Pop or some other fallen hero, we can help resolve the confusion of these situations if we do the important work to discern whether they are guilty of flagrant sin or foolishness.

-        Don’t ever make an idol out of anybody.

-        Realize foolishness can tarnish a legacy but won’t always ruin it.

-        Remember that devotion to the Lord is the only measurement of success that really matters.

Faith and Doubt

I am 41 almost 42 years old. 

I've read the Bible since I was a kid and have seriously studied it since I was 17. And still there are times where I go, "Hmm, never seen that before."

The latest example came this week as I prepped for my sermon on the aftermath of the resurrection, in Matthew 28 - appropriately one week after Easter.

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Did you catch that? "they worshipped him; but some doubted." 

It is no secret that the disciple Thomas doubted (see John 20) and his story is instructive on its own. But this implies there were more "doubters". And Thomas' account is actually more about disbelief. The term used here is about uncertainty, hesitation, and being unsure. Without splitting too many hairs, these comments are not about unbelief-related doubt but about confusion-related doubt.

And who can blame them? They'd just been through a roller-coaster of a week, filled with hopeful celebrations and the starkest of traumas. The "too-good-to-be-true news" turns out to be real and they worship. Some clearly are still trying to process it all and have genuine doubts - unsure about what it all means, what has happened, and what is to come.

The incredible thing about this part of the story is Jesus' response. We know he graciously warns Thomas about "unbelief" but in this description regarding these doubts, he offers something different. He does not rebuke them for denying him (looking at you Peter) or abandoning him in the Garden (looking at the other 10 of you). He reassures them by focusing them on his supreme authority and empowering them for their mission: 

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

One takeaway from this new observation is that faith and doubt can go together. Some view doubt as an enemy or the opposite of faith. It is as if we must have all the answers to all the questions or we aren't right with God. I don't think so. I think doubt/uncertainty is inherent to faith. Like the father seeking healing for his son in Mark 9:24, we will honestly say sometimes "I believe, but help my unbelief". 

Jesus isn't threatened by our hesitations, confusion, or for that matter our unbelief. He offers us himself -  the supreme King of the Universe - not to give us all the answers, but to encourage us that he's in control. He has a purpose for us and he will be with us. 

There will always be an element of ambiguity to life of faith in Jesus. There will be things we don't know, can't know, and will never know. He will take care of that stuff - and take care of us. And he will welcome our struggle with doubt even if it gets mixed in with our worship. 

Our human nature won't like the tension of faith and doubt. If we turn it over to Jesus, we can learn to live with it.

Sermon Snippets

I always try to "practice what I preach" but yesterday offered a perfect opportunity to test that out.

My sermon passage was Hebrews 4, which largely focuses on entering "God's rest". We all love our rest - who doesn't love a nap?

In context, "God's rest" is more than a nap of course. He references it in relation to the entering the Promised Land in the Exodus (4:1-2,9-10). But also connects it back to Genesis 2 when God finished his creating our world (4:4). He also implies that it is something we can experience or discover today (4:7). Some have seen it as our reward of heaven when we die, others believe it to be God's full realization of his Kingdom at the end of the ages. Others define it as a state-of-being we believers can enjoy now (See Guthrie's NIV Application Commentary on Hebrews, pg. 151-155)

So what is it? Which of those options best captures what "God's rest" is?

It may be a combination of all of them in reality. God's rest will ultimately be established in the New Heavens and New Earth (Revelation 21-22). And except for the last generation, we will all have to experience death ourselves before we see that day.

And yet, Jesus promises "abundant life" in the here-and-now to those who follow him (John 10:10). Our burden of sin is relieved by faith in Christ. Our never-ending pursuit of significance is eliminated when we understand how Christ transforms our identity and has determined our significance. In that sense, God's rest can be experienced in the present. 

With this latter point in mind, I tried to enjoy some of God's blessings and "rest" yesterday. The day started with worship - and worship has always been part of God's Sabbath design. But beyond that - with the sun shining and a young family at home - God's rest looked a lot like this:

Steaks on the grill, marinated with my own special sauce concoction. I overcooked the a little, but sides of veggies and a baked potato made for a filling meal. Time with the boys and the wife was fun, if not also chaotic as it can be with two toddlers. Time for a nap did open up, which felt good. Some NBA All-Star basketball to end the night? Sure, I'll take it.

It wasn't a perfect day necessarily. It was a good day though. 

Enjoy the "rest" God provides. And be sure to heed the message of Hebrews 4, which is, be sure find that "rest" through obediently trusting God's Word. 

 

Home Worship 5/10/20

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html (video will post by Sunday afternoon)

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. What specifically can the "strong" in faith do that the "weak" cannot - 14:2-3, 5-6?
2. What are Paul's specific commands to each side of the issue - 14:1-4,13; 15:1,7?
3. What are non-essential issues of our day that Christians often get hung up on?
   
4. What kinds of sacrifices does Paul ask the strong to make in 14:19-23?
   
5. Who is the example to follow - 15:3-6?

Worship Songs

Devotional Guide

Monday - Romans 14:1-12

Tuesday - Romans 14:13-23

Wednesday - Romans 15:1-13

Thursday - 1 Corinthians 8

Friday - 1 Corinthians 9

Saturday - 1 Corinthians 10

Book Blog

We live in an era of polarization. Realities are black or white. Opinions are either/or. Especially with politics, there is no room for nuance or middle ground. Beliefs must be strong one way or the other. 

There are lots of problems with this aspect of living in America in 2019, particularly for the Christian. Why for us as Christians? Because often times, the Word of God offers us a third way that is different than one of the extremes.

Russel Moore captures this in his book Onward, which is my final book I'm featuring in this "Book Blog" series.

Moore begins with the well-founded and well-researched premise that America is increasingly departing from it's long-standing Christian influence. He then outlines in ten chapters how we as Christians ought to biblically respond to the changing culture around us. 

The aspect that I appreciate the most about his book is how specifically he addresses very relevant topics. Issues that are often politicized to death, including: religious liberty, immigration, social justice, being pro-life, and biblical family values. And this is all done within a context of urging Christians to rediscover and maintain their focus on God's Kingdom and God's values. This is how he points to a third way, rather than falling back to Republican or Democrat talking points. 

This book was published in 2015 and the "hot-button" topics it focuses on have only become more and more significant within our culture's consciousness. So much so, that reading it in 2017, I was surprised how prescient it was. To me, it was prophetic much in the way I found A.W. Tozer to be prophetic.

His call for Christians to embody God's love, grace, and "convictional kindness" with boldness and confidence is very much needed if we are to live into the mission of the Kingdom as followers of Jesus. Thus, it has become one of my favorite books of the past few years.

I hope you've enjoyed this little series and maybe even been encouraged to read some of these selections. 

Book Blog

Life got busy last week, so I skipped a blog post. But we are back this week with a best seller that was made into a prestigious Hollywood film. 

Unbroken is the biography of Louie Zamperini, a world-class athlete turned WWII hero turned...well many other things.

Laura Hildenbrand authored this work, following her award-winning Seabiscuit. It's subtitle touts the his life as a tale of resilience and redmeption - words that often get thrown around flippantly in our day and age. Zamperini's life defines those terms however. 

When his bomber crashed in the Pacific, he survived not only the crash but 47 days floating in the ocean. He was found and captured by the Japanese Navy who shipped him off to a POW camp. His experiences as a POW are harrowing and the movie spends most of it's time on these years.

The story is so astounding that it almost seems too incredible. But Hildenbrand's research and sourcing back up these astonishing events. 

What the movie couldn't do justice to was the post-war life Zamperini led. The book transparently describes how Louie struggled to adapt to normal civilian life when he came home. Eventually his wife convinced him to attend a Billy Graham crusade, where he gave his life to Christ.  Zamperini devoted himself from that time forward to serving others, living until the ripe old age of 97.

After the book had come out in the early 2010's, I first heard of him and this book when my employer, Grace College brought him in to speak. I waited to read Unbroken for a couple years and ended up reading most of it on a plane ride to the Philippines. It made the 16+ hour flight go quicker given Hildenbrand's engrossing style and Louie's incredible story. This is a book that teaches us so much about perseverance, redemption, and even forgiveness. 

Don't be intimidated by the book's size, it is story well-worth the time to invest in.

Music Mondays

Last week, I spent an unusual amount of time in a car with two other pastors, traveling to the annual national meeting for the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). A good recap is here, but the TL;DR version is that we drove 14+ hours to Providence, Rhode Island to expand our theological horizons, eat a lot of food, and pick up some valuable ministry resources.

There was nothing that inspired me to do a Music Monday per se, but I did run into a Grace prof who I consider a friend. He has recently been touting an up-and-coming artist(s) on his Twitter. And as it turns out, he's doing so for good reason. 

This is Caroline Cobb (with Songbird & Strings) with a song that packs every single line with beautiful theological truth. Be sure to watch to the end for 'behind the song' insight by the artist.

Honestly, after a busy week filled with deep conversations and deep theological topics, this earnest, simple, Jesus-focused song hits the spot.

Music Mondays - Faith in Tension (Part II)

Last week we began a countdown of the best modern Christian songs that express the tension of our faith.  Ok, they're really just my favorites but whatever.

The rationale and scoring system were detailed last week so I won't go over them again. Instead, let's jump right into the top 5 songs that honestly communicate the paradoxes and tensions of following Christ.

5. "Something Beautiful" - Needtobreathe

 (Total - 23. CT: 7, TD: 9, SQ: 5, Bonus: 2)

I remember liking this song upon hearing it for the first couple times. But I often don't always "catch" all the lyrics. When I figured out the part of the chorus that says, "I know that I'm in reach, 'cause I am down on my knees", it instantly became a favorite of mine and I realized this was a band that I needed to become more familiar with. The rest of the song explores the riskiness of faith with the metaphor of drowning, but that singular line gets me every time. Bonus points for the vocals and also sneaking in the band's own name into the song. 

4. "What If I Stumble?" - dc Talk

(Total - 23.25. CT: 10, TD: 7, SQ: 4.25, Bonus: 2)

The opening verse is the most startlingly-honest lyric written since Robert Robinson penned verse 3 of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". I know people who've toured the CCM circuit. My parents had a modest music/evangelistic ministry, traveling a lot when I was younger to different churches. The tension of performing versus ministering is a very real one. Even for a pastor that struggle is real...and then to consider what would happen if we faltered - heavy stuff. And this is at the band's peak of fame and popularity too! This live performance may be my favorite of all time - any genre any song any band. Great harmonies and tremendous use of modest vocal talent (with the exception of Michael Tait) to create a stellar performance.

Music Mondays - Faith In Tension

One of the most valuable things I learned in seminary was that we must hold some seemingly opposite spiritual truths in tension. 
God is a God of love but also justice. 
God is fully sovereign but allows his creatures the freedom of choice.

Our modern, Western minds can't always handle that. But to the Middle Eastern perspective, it is totally normal that two things that do not really fit together can both be true.

This reality combined with some CCM radio listening inspired me to compile a list of Christian songs that reflect this 'faith in tension'.

A couple notes (feel free to skip if you just want to get to the songs):

• I decided to to stick to recent music only. To fish in a pool that considers all of Christian hymnody would be too much of an undertaking for the purposes of this author and his blog.
• I also decided to stick to Christian music.  There are some worthy options from those who don't identify as followers of Christ, but I wanted to keep the focus on Christians who are dealing with the tensions in their/our faith.
• I used my own rating system to rank the songs. I had three categories: Clarity of Tension, Theological Depth, and Overall Song Quality. I rated each song on Clarity of Tension (CT) on a scale of 1-10 based on how well the song communicated the tension or paradox it described. Theological Depth (TD) was also scaled 1-10 based on how significantly it grappled with heavy theological issues. Overall Song Quality (SQ) was only rated between 1-5 because I didn't want my musical preferences to get in the way too much. I also added a Bonus rating (0-2) as a sort of miscellaneous category to help break ties and account for additional aspects of each song.

We'll break down my top ten over the next two weeks. 
Here's #10-#6:

10. "Trust in You" - Lauren Daigle

 (Total Score - 20. CT: 8, TD: 8, SQ: 4, Bonus: 0)

Her voice carries this song, but don't underestimate the lyrics. A commitment to faith even if God doesn't work things out how we desire or hope? That's textbook Faith in Tension.

9. "Even If" - MercyMe

(Total - 20.5. CT: 9, TD: 7, SQ: 3.5, Bonus: 1)

This is a new song that got me thinking about this whole idea. It's like if "Blessed Be Your Name" and "What if I Stumble" - both songs on this list - had a baby song. Honest and real. It would probably have a higher score if it wasn't being overplayed on Christian radio right now. Bonus for a direct allusion to Daniel 3. 

Music Mondays

My most recent Music Monday selections have related to my sermon series through the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. 

One that quickly came to mind from yesterday's message on Habakkuk was this song from Bethel Music:

Habakkuk is a book expressing confusion at the work of God. "How could he let his people go on in their sinfulness?" "How could a Holy God use a wicked empire to punish a people more righteous than they are?"

In the end, God shows up. He reveals his greatness and majesty and it satisfies Habakkuk, who to paraphrase the end of the book concludes, 'even if my present circumstances are more wasteland than oasis, through it all my eyes are on you and it is well with my soul.'

Habakkuk and this song both challenge us to embrace the proper spiritual perspective. We are called to embrace the view that even if our problems seem overwhelming, we can trust in our Great and Awesome Creator.

This 'story-behind-the-song' clip is worth checking out too.

Music Mondays

No one likes a hypocrite. Unfortunately, hypocrisy is one of the common reasons Christians turn off those who are outside of the faith. Hypocrisy and failing to live according to God's will were major issues the prophet Micah highlighted as he served as God's mouthpiece. 

It's a shame that the people of God haven't eliminated their tendency to be hypocrites. Thankfully that's where God's grace comes in. Since humanity is sinful, there will always be some measure of failure when it comes to practicing what we preach. 

This week's selection for Music Monday centers on a theme which Micah specifically condemned his contemporaries for. Especially in chapter 3, Micah calls out the leaders for exploiting their positions for their own benefit. All-Star United, a late-nineties Christian rock band, cornered the market on sarcastic-but-true themes and with 'Smash Hit' call out all those who use Jesus to further their own personal gain - much like Micah.

The impetus for us is to be faithful and consistent, resisting the temptation to use our advantages for selfish reasons.

Answering Criticism of the Bible

Several months ago, I planned to preach on the basics of biblical interpretation in a sermon called "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth", which I did yesterday.

It is interesting how the timing works with something like this, because last weekend I discovered the latest Newsweek magazine cover story was on basically the same subject. Now if you were to read this article and compare it to my sermon, you would quickly discover they each coming from opposite points of view.

If you are new to these issues, or new to the Christian faith, that article may seem to bring up some troubling questions and inconsistencies about what we call 'God's Word'. It certainly tries to make the case that no one with serious intelligence would take the Bible as fully true and totally sufficient for life and doctrine. 

And while I think it makes some unfair arguments that ignore the complete scope of the issues, I do think it is good for Christians to interact with these criticisms and be ready to properly respond to them. So I am interrupting my semi-regularly scheduled posts on music to offer responses to the various points the article makes. 

Before getting into the specifics, let me preface it all with this:

I grew up in a conservative, Bible-believing family that went to a church of the same ilk. After attending a public high school, I went to a conservative, evangelical college majoring in Youth Ministry and minoring in Biblical Studies before attending the same school's well-renowned seminary where I completed a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry. Given all of that background, nothing in this article is new to me. At one point or another, I had studied and interacted with everything that article brings up. The author paints a picture of evangelicals as having our heads buried in the sand when it comes to these supposed 'weaknesses' of Scripture. Undoubtedly some of us do, but any Christian college and seminary education worth its salt will consider and evaluate opposing arguments, studying them in depth. 

And that is more than I can say for this article.

But let's weigh these criticisms and evaluate their validity.

1. Much of the first quarter of the article deals with issues of textual criticism and transmission of the text (i.e., "translations").  When I first started reading, I was afraid they were going to ignore the transmission process altogether, but the author does describe how the Bible was passed down from generation to generation by scribes copying the Word.  The article undersells the care given to the process and the accuracy that was sought and attained. Yes there are many 'variations' in the the copies of Scripture we have today and we do not have the originals. But what the article fails to recognize is that there is 98% agreement between all of the copies we have.* And no variant puts any serious theological issue in doubt. And when there are variants in play, most cases involve clear evidence which favors why one option was picked over another.
   And the examples the author uses are flimsy when investigated in depth.
   • I would have to Luke 3 more closely, but given my general knowledge of these issues I would guess that Luke 3:16 uses "answered" not because of a scribal mistake, or a 'missing question' , but because it fits with the previous verse and it fit ancient Greek writing styles. 
   • John 7:53-8:11 is widely recognized by evangelical Christian scholars as not part of John's original book - and most good study Bibles include notes like this to explain:
     There is considerable doubt that this story is part of John’s original Gospel, for it is absent from all of the oldest manuscripts. But there is nothing in it unworthy of sound doctrine. It seems best to view the story as something that probably happened during Jesus’ ministry but that was not originally part of what John wrote in his Gospel. Therefore it should not be considered as part of Scripture and should not be used as the basis for building any point of doctrine unless confirmed in Scripture. (ESV Study Bible)
   • The issue with Mark 16 is essentially the same, with most Bibles providing similar commentary that describes how some manuscripts have the verses, some do not. They are left in the text because they are consistent with the rest of Scripture.
     
     
     If you've made it this far, keep reading after the jump for further response to the major points the article asserts.
     
     

Sermon Snippets

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6 belongs in a select group of Bible verses whose content is clear, practical, and fundamental to the Christian faith. 

Proverbs 1:7 teaches us that wisdom starts with fearing the Lord. Here in chapter three, we learn that the wisest among us are those trust the Lord and not themselves. 

It is completely natural to seek independence and the ability to make our own decisions. It is completely natural to rely on our own expertise and abilities to navigate the myriad of situations life throws at us. 

It is completely natural, but completely foolish. First of all, no matter how gifted we are or how well organized our plans are, it is God's will that is going to be established (19:21). His plans are the ones that work out. 

While it is not completely natural, it is completely essential that we give our plans over to God and surrender to what He wants (16:3-4). 

Pray and submit your plans, desires, and dreams to the Lord. Lean on him for the help you inevitably need. I've heard some critics say that faith is a 'crutch'. Faith in God isn't a crutch, it's a wheelchair. Our trust must be total, unreserved, and all-encompassing.

Music Mondays - Inspired by Genesis

In an effort to catch up a little bit, to where we are in our sermon series, I'm including two songs this week. One is an older traditional hymn, the other is from the early 80's - a time when contemporary worship was developing, but hadn't quite taken hold in most churches.
The hymn relates to Genesis 3 while the second song relates more to Genesis 4-5.

While Genesis 3 describes the Fall of Humanity, this song is about Faith providing us victory. How does the song relate? Adam and Eve's failure at its core was a failure to trust God and it plunged all of mankind into a depraved state for the rest of history. The only hope out of this position of spiritual death is faith. Faith truly is the victory!

After the Fall, mankind is pictured as slipping into a downward spiral, especially with Cain and his descendants (Gen. 4). But Seth is born as a third son to Adam and Eve and his descendants begin to "call on the name of the Lord" (4:26). In other words, they choose a path of devotion and faithfulness to God rather than the destructive path of Cain's family. The paths remain a choice each of us must face - as Joshua would later say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:15).

Music Mondays: Songs that Teach us Stuff

A couple weeks ago, our worship team led us in singing the popular hymn, "Faith is the Victory".  It matched well with the message from Galatians 2 about how we are freed through our faith in Christ. It is a tune that is very typical of hymns of previous generations. It has a slow pace to it, mixed with notes that I don't find all that easy to sing. Yet it has a theme that is repeated consistently throughout - that we find victory through our faith in Christ.

Reading 1 John 5 in my devotions this morning, I was reminded of the clear biblical basis behind this classic.

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"  1 John 5:4-5

I like what Glen Barker says about this verse in his commentary:

"Our being born of God is God's act on our behalf, the event through which he moves to overcome the world...By faith we now have access to what was once accomplished by and through the appearance of Jesus on earth."

Gaebelein, Frank E., J. D. Douglas, Walter C. Kaiser, Leon Morris, Donald W. Burdick, Edwin Blum, Glenn W. Barker, Edwin Blum, and Alan F. Johnson. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. With the New International Version of the Holy Bible, Hebrews--Revelation Volume 12 Volume 12. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Pub. House, 1981. pg. 349.

We can experience God's victory over sin, death, and evil through our faith in Jesus Christ. "O, glorious victory that overcomes the world!"