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. 

Book Review - Savoring Scripture, Andrew Abernethy IVP Academic

 

Right off the bat I should share in interest of full disclosure that I know the author of this book...maybe knew is a better term. To be honest we really don't know each other presently other than interactions on social media. I played basketball against him in college and with his twin brother during that time as well. We spent a week as counselors at a Christian camp one summer in college too. 

Clear as mud, right?

Andrew has gone on to distinguish himself in the academic world of Christendom. Proficient as a scholar, especially in the area of Isaiah and the prophets. 

Savoring Scripture (2022) is broader than that singular genre though. It aims to help its reader be a better student of the Word of God as a whole. As he states in the prologue, this is a book for any believer to learn "how to read the Bible".

Dr. Abernethy offers six helpful steps readers to better relate to Scripture and the Author behind it. They do not come off as rigidly formulaic, but he spends time developing each carefully enough where they separately be used to deepen our love for God and his Word. 

The steps work out like so:

• Posture: We need to evaluate our heart as we approach Scripture and make sure our attitude is one of humility and teachability. 
• Flow: Once a passage has been selected, we need to be sure we understand what's being said and what the main ideas that are being communicated.
• Context: Beyond the particular passage, we need to discern the setting of a passage both of the book and where the book and passage fit historically.
• Whole Bible: This step focuses our attention on how a passage connects to the redemptive arc of Scripture and how, even tangentially, it relates to Christ.
• Savor God: This is a devotional step where we meditate on what we've learned in the above areas and pray to God, considering what we learn about him in the process.
• Faithful Response: This final step assesses how we can apply what we learn from the passage. "What is God calling me to do in and through this passage?"

Going through this book, it fanned a flame in my own heart to break out of stale routines when it came to my own personal time with God's Word. There's a certain liturgy to these steps and I appreciate how each carries its own weight and importance in and of itself. They all build on one another of course too, but Abernethy has outlined a process that can be utilized in part and as a whole.

Kudos to him for authoring a work that can benefit any pastor, scholar, or beginning student of the Bible.

Friday Personal-News Dump

So it's been awhile since I blogged - over a month! Yikes, clearly I have a lot to learn about building my brand. Friday afternoon is a popular time for organizations and governments and teams to release 'bad news' in what's been dubbed a "Friday news dump", when you want to attract as little cultural attention as possible. This is not the case with these things, but the timing is what it is.

But to the question of the day, "What have I been up to?"

So glad you asked - quite a bit it turns out. Here's an update complete with pictures and fun extra stuff. Apologies for some of the formatting stuff, I don't have the time or expertise right now to make it perfect.

Center for Pastor Theologians Conference

In late October, I spent three days in Chicago attending the Center For Pastor-Theologians annual conference. They intentionally address topics each year that the American Church is wrestling with. This year's theme was on "Reconstructing Evangelicalism" and it featured a terrific line up of speakers. 

The experts they brought in represented a diverse spectrum - from Kristin Kobes DuMez to Gavin Ortlund to Russell Moore to Walter Kim. I am still pondering some of the insights that were shared. I haven't sat down to really figure out my own conclusions, but the gracious-yet-assertive discussions offered many convicting truths and views. 

As with most of these kinds of events, the fringe benefits matched the direct purpose of going. I thoroughly enjoyed my time interacting with my denominational friends and peers. As we continue to consider our "Brethren identity", this conference assisted in helping us understand our place and station within American evangelicalism. The additional fringe benefit of constant access to the book publishers was worth it too. I came home with a bag full of resources and commentaries purchased at a discounted rate.

Milford First Brethren Fun Fair

Halloween is kind of a big deal in Milford Indiana. We're a smaller farm community but the townspeople turn out for the various holiday events on the calendar. Every year I've pastored here, our church has hosted a Halloween Fun Fair in our gymnasium. Kids do the ring toss, corn hole, Plinko and other games to get pieces of candy. I've arranged the games to give a subtle Gospel presentation though I'm not sure it kids really notice it. We do give out Bibles as part of our Grand Prize table. It's a fun way to connect with our community and redeem the holiday (even if in a subtle small way). 

This year, a highlight was adding a Face Paint station which allowed my son to be both Capt. America (in costume) and Spiderman via his paint.

Grandma Guiley's Funeral

On the other end of the spectrum was the home-going of my last remaining grandparent. Grandma Sue was a wonderful grandma and beautiful light for Christ. We had family come in from all over the country and it was neat to reconnect with aunts, uncles, and cousins who I hadn't seen in year. 

I'm grateful for my grandma's legacy and encouraged that we were able to celebrate her life and witness well. 

Miscellaneous

I would like to mention that I'm serving as chaplain for the Grace Lancers men's basketball team for the fourth year. It's been a good start to the season with some clear indications God is doing things in the lives of these young men. They are good people and good players - currently #3 in all of NAIA!

Please pray for our one true freshman, Hagen, who has been diagnosed with cancer and will be undergoing some surgery and treatments within the next month. 

And as I've alluded to in past posts, I have been listening to the old CCM records I got from my grandma. Some future posts reviewing the albums will be forthcoming.

Tuesday Theology Thoughts - When Not to Take the Bible Literally (?!?)

It is one of those verses that has always left me unsettled. I've heard it taught to be 100% true at face value for here-and-now and I affirmed that for a long time. 

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted," - 2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV) 

Suffering and being persecuted for our faith in Christ is a common theme in the New Testament. See John 15:20, Romans 12:14, 1 Corinthians 4:12, the entire books of Acts and 1 Peter for starters.   

These passages cause my unsettledness to rise up in my gut like spiritual acid reflux because I look at my 42 years on this earth and I don't relate. I committed my life to Christ at the age of 4-5 and as long as I can remember have loved Jesus and wanted to live for him. I have not been persecuted. I have not had to suffer for Christ. 

Is something wrong with me? Am I not doing it right? Do I not desire to live a godly life enough? Was Paul wrong? 

All are questions that flash into my head as I try to figure it all out. I can't just dismiss 2 Timothy 3:12 as a verse out of context because there are so many others that imply the same thing. 

In preparing for this past Sunday's message on 1 Peter 3:13-22, I think an answer revealed itself that solves the interpretive tension (for me at least). And it all paid off by going back to the basics.

Whether you are interpreting, studying, or just reading the Bible, it is essential to remember that the Bible was written to people living in a world much different than ours. It was written for our benefit, but it's not a 1:1 proposition. 

There are differences to be accounted for. Principles to be discerned and applications to be made at the end of the process.

The differences to account for with 2 Timothy (or any of these other passages)?

• Christianity was a new emerging faith at the time 1 Timothy was written (likely early to mid-60's AD). 
• Christians were the cultural minority by a large margin.
• Christianity was drawing widespread suspicion and social hostility in the Roman Empire. Outright persecution of Christians was beginning to occur and would swell in the coming years thanks to Nero. 
• Christians faced the loss of their freedoms, livelihoods, social relationships, and even lives because they worshipped Jesus.

None of the above are true of the USA in 2022. 

Can we scour the headlines of the past twenty years or so and find some exceptions? I will grant that it is possible, but rare.

So I am now quite comfortable in concluding that suffering and persecution are not prescribed for us right now like it was then. Things could always change of course. 

And more importantly, while we may not have to suffer for Christ, we are called to other acts of obedience that may prove painful. We need to sacrifice for Christ for one. Our time, money, attention, priorities, and lifestyle are all things we are called to as disciples (Mark 8:34-38). Secondly, we need to surrender things in our lives for Christ like sinful habits and activities that hinder our spiritual progress (Hebrews 12:1-2). 

These things are not unrelated to suffering. I would compare them to this:

Surrender would be the outer ring. It is a voluntary decision to "suffer" in a sense. But it is not exactly what the NT speaks about when talking about trials, persecution, and suffering.

Sacrifices are also voluntary choices, but are often things we do or don't do in addition to the fundamental things we surrender to Christ when we are redeemed. These can be tough to commit to and experience but have a positive intent.

Suffering is the center of the target. These are specifically things we must endure that are not self-inflicted or personal choices. They come from the outside and are not thrust upon us for redemptive purposes or intentions by those directly involved. God does use them for good ends of course.

So when I encounter a passage like 2 Timothy 3:12 or 1 Peter 3:13-22, I should have enough humility to understand that this doesn't directly relate to me. It may apply to our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan or China but I should not totally equate my sacrifices to their sufferings. 

You may still be thinking, "But Lee, Paul says 'all' Christians seeking to live godly lives will be persecuted. Don't you take that literally? Doesn't the Bible mean 'all' when it says 'all'?"

Remember, he's writing to a particular audience at a particular time in history that is greatly different than today. 

Also take note that he does qualify to an extent in 3:13. 3:12 is not a finished sentence, Paul's full thought is,

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."  

He's not making a sweeping statement about the rest of history moving forward here. He is describing their current cultural climate and preparing Timothy to lead in it - see 3:14-4:5.

I find it rewarding when I can process through tensions I find in God's Word. I hope this all makes sense to you the intrepid reader who has made it this far. I may end up editing this later but I'd hope it might caution you from adopting the kind of "persecution complex" that is rampant in American Christianity today.

Tuesday Thoughts

It's been a rough summer for my blog. Given this is only the second post since May, I think it's beginning to feel neglected. 

So I thought to myself, what should I write about? 

• Reflections on my current sermon series? I mean I did manage to preach through 1 Peter 2:11-17 and the commands to submit to our governing authorities, no matter who's in charge. All done without infuriating my more politically-passionate congregants. Yay for small victories!
• Reactions to the latest evangelical leader "falling from grace"? I have some ideas, but not in the mood to share them to be honest. 
• Share news of the latest storm that hit us and try to make a spiritual metaphor out of trampolines hitting electrical poles? Nah, it's crazy and interesting, but not that amazing.
• Promote the publication of my commentary on 1-2 Kings? It's exciting and those books have surprising relevancy for today - but maybe another time.
• An update on the lessons I'm learning helping 5 churches through their pastoral transitions this summer/fall? Maybe sometime soon. 

Am I just creating a list on this page to come back to at a future date when I'm short of ideas? Yes probably. All of those things might be worth further elaboration. But today, I think I'll just give some shoutouts and praise to some fellow pastor friends.

If I wanted to mention all the pastors I know and have great respect for, the list would be super long. But these three stand out because they are like the kind of life-long friends with whom, though separated for a long time, you can still pick up where you left off before like there's been no absence at all. 

My guys Mike, Tim, and Cory fit that description. I don't have the same kind of relationship with each of them as the others but they do share some things in common. 

• They are all my age, probably all seen as "younger" pastors. 
• They are all like-minded people. I don't share the same theological convictions on every point with every one of them, but they are all teachable and willing to dialogue and learn. I try to be that myself and I appreciate that in them. 

To close, I'll just mention an example of why I'm thankful for each of them.

Mike - He pastors the church I grew up in and has shepherded it into a flourishing "mid-sized" church that has a renewed vision for how to impact its community, even as it is located a bit outside the city. We are good friends and accountability partners as well. 

Tim - I just ran into him a couple hours ago and we had a lovely conversation about serious (see second bullet point at the beginning of this post) and silly things (Henry Holsinger t-shirts).  We think alike and I try to emulate his posture towards people and ministry. I could hang out with him every day and be a much better pastor.

Cory - He has a young family that is going through the same adventures as we are. He also offers gracious pushback in discussions and recently offered needed insights on Biden's loan forgiveness orders (of all things). 

Shoutout to those guys and the encouragement they give me directly and also indirectly through their lives.

Stasis and Stagnation

Stasis is defined in Webster's as "a state of static balance or equilibrium". I've been thinking a lot about stasis recently. Mostly from my couch.

I just turned 42 yesterday and adding to that our two toddlers at home, I am realizing how the older I get the more comfortable I am being still and static.

And I'm realizing it takes a little extra effort to break up the stasis. 

I had a similarly aged friend tell me that many mornings it is tough for him to get out of bed, but once he does he's up and awake. I definitely relate to that but for me it also applies to the couch, during the day, or in the evening, when the kids are running all over the place an tearing up everything.

I don't want to be the dad who's always lounging around on his phone or watching tv, mostly ignoring his kids. People are constantly telling us that while this is a crazy time of parenting, "it goes by so fast" and we should "cherish it". And I do, we do. Sometimes. 

Other times I let myself get annoyed at their endless energy or constant inquiries. 

Much like my friend's morning routine, I am finding that my penchant for stasis can be easily overcome by a little willpower to just get up. By just putting down the phone and starting to interact, I find the energy and joy to play with my boys or pick up some of the mess they've made. 

Rest and stillness have their place in life. But there's a difference between stillness and stagnation. Balance is good, using it as an excuse for laziness is not. 

These kinds of lessons spur me on in other areas beyond our living room.  Motivation to exercise can start by just 'getting up' and making some time. And my faith walk can certainly slip into stagnation. But a little extra time a little more honesty with God can go a long way to building some positive growth and spiritual momentum.

And of course, just opening up my blog page and typing out some thoughts can start my first post in over a month. 

In whatever area of life you're static in, I hope you can find that little push to fight that stasis and get going.

Lament

Yesterday saw another mass shooting, this time in an elementary school. Within the last two weeks, we've seen elderly people of color gunned down in supermarkets and Asian-Americans attacked in their place of worship. Yesterday was kids and teachers in a school.

We grieve, as we should. 

We get angry, as we should. 

We search for answers, as we should. 

But something is missing. 

We do not truly lament as we should. 

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This past weekend saw the Southern Baptist Convention release it's third-party report on it's failures to properly address abuse over the past several decades. 

This past weekend saw another pastor admit to egregious immorality. This time it was in my hometown.

We grieve, as we should. 

We get angry, as we should.

We search for answers, as we should. But something is missing. 

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Lament, as I see it in the Scriptures, is an inner and outer wrestling with the reality of injustice, pain, sin, and suffering. Not necessarily all of those at once, but allowing one or more of those things to set in your spirit, languishing with the trauma and not brushing it aside or pretending it doesn't exist. 

Lament involves grief and anger and answers, but it is more than that. 

Lament is facing the consequences of idolatry head on (see Lamentations).

Lament is part of repentance and healing. And I would argue it is such a vital component of each that you cannot repent or heal without true lament. 

Lament is the choice to confront your broken condition and broken circumstances and ultimately turn to Jesus - not for an explanation or answers but for his presence. It holds back no questions and lets out all emotions. It doesn't worry if it is "proper" to vent, it just does. 

Lament is Jesus' groan of anger and sadness at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:33,38).

Lament is Jesus' weeping over Jerusalem as he approaches it before His Passion Week (Luke 19:41-44).

We in the West have trouble lamenting like this. Those families and communities affected will lament, they have no real choice. But lament should be the response of the rest of us too. 

Instead we try to move on quickly. We find excuses why we should and why things should remain the same. It is easier to pretend the problems don't exist. It is easier to pretend it is enough to address the symptoms rather than the disease. It is easier to believe that since no specific solution will prevent all of these tragedies that we have to give up trying to do anything to prevent some of these tragedies from repeating themselves in the future. 

We need to Lament. 

Lament will bring healing, repentance, and change. It will lead us to Jesus.

I use this blog to often feature music I appreciate and enjoy. Here's a song of lament that I happened to revisit last weekend, I think it can be instructive in its own way. 

Techne - How should Christians view technology?

It has been two weeks now since I attended the Center for Pastor Theologians annual conference in Oak Park, Illinois. The theme, as the title above infers, was to discuss and understand how Christians ought to view, utilize, and understand technology in this rapidly changing world.

There was a lot to process and many implications for various fields. I found the plenary and breakout sessions all to be very informative and interesting. I'm indebted the many speakers and presenters, including Dan Brendsel, Karen Swallow Prior, Charlie Dates, Felicia Wu Song, Joel Lawrence, Andy Crouch, Christina Bieber-Lake, and Jeff Hardin. The following take-aways originated with these highly-qualified and informed people.

I thought I'd share my biggest takeaways in no real order of importance:

1. It is probably helpful to differentiate between techne as a tool and modern technology. Humanity has always had tools of some sort - hammers, roads, writing utensils etc. But what marks are current era is how exponentially greater the quantity of power that has been harnessed and put into automated systems. This was a point made by Andy Crouch and essentially in boils down to the fact that we had used tech as a tool. Now we are tools of the "technique" system. I did find that there were differing views on this differentiation, but there is a common agreement that this pursuit for better and easier tech is driven by our innate desire for control and self-determination. 

2. Technology often invents problems that don't exist. And one of those developing problems is going to be that of our human identity. Clearly many cultures are already grappling with this from the aspect of sexuality. But as the digital and virtual worlds become mor eand more dominant, Christians especially will likely be confronted with issues they dealt with when gnosticism was a dominant world view. Our understanding of the "oneness" of the material and immaterial needs to be reaffirmed. And along these lines, it will be very important for the Church to clarify our mission potentially even showing the world a different way than one anchored to tech. We should be ready to highlight the longings of our souls that remain unfulfilled despite all the technological progress we are making.

3. Technology can be good and used in positive ways, but we must be keenly aware to its dangers too. Tech in general can really hinder our spiritual lives. It can reflect "the dark heart of man in an instant" as Charlie Dates said. It brings transparency in that sense. For pastors and ministers, it is especially crucial that we seek to be faithful rather than famous. Technology can also deceive, making good on its promises in the short-term, but never the long-term. It creates a sense of life being lived elsewhere. Life is lived on my Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook feeds and not in my actual physical context.This creates an obligation to technology that causes stress and forms it's own worship system. 

4. To balance out the above point, there are many practices we can embrace that will help us navigate this technological world wisely. Some I picked up on include:

• Embrace good technology. What would that be? Crouch defines it as any tech that serves, helps bring people together, and blesses others.
• Read. Dr. Prior made a good case for reading print and reading it contemplatively as a way to sharpen our brains and help better for our inner life.
• Intentionally design your living spaces with tech boundaries and create limits and routines that distance ourselves from our phones, tablets, and tv's. Something as simple as creating a family charging station where everyone puts their phones at night so they aren't waking up immediately to a screen.
• Demonstrate within our Christian communities the value and special nature of what the life with Christ is. The Eucharist (Communion to us low-church folks) was highlighted by more than one speaker as a regular observance that can be an oasis for our tech-saturated souls. One aspect that wasn't explicitly mentioned was fostering a spiritual environment where we are in tune with the Spirit.  But as we navigate this world, we need to recognize how it can numb us to experiencing true gratitude, to learning through suffering, and to receiving grace in the ups and downs of our lives.

This conference gave me a lot to think about and a lot to read (love the book tables!) and it confronted me with everyday ways I'm too tethered to technology. Good things to ponder and good reasons to seek God's empowerment to live like he wants me to live.

Music Mondays - Can a heretic still teach (or sing ) God's truth?

I came across this article over the weekend and there were parts I liked and others I didn't like. I agreed with some of it and disagreed with enough of it that I began formulating a response in my head that I realized would make a good Music Monday post.

Now I fully admit critiquing another's critique may be a low-brow approach in a form (blogging) that is already low-brow. But my aim is not to trash anyone's opinion. only to critically think through this issue - and do so within the parameters the author himself sets. Let me also admit at the top that I own 1 song by Bethel on iTunes ("You Make Me Brave") and I'm not sure our church has ever used their music.

To sum the article up, or just give you a TL;DR version, the author uses the following four questions to ultimately conclude that churches shouldn't use Bethel Music's worship songs*:

1. Are you examining everything you consume through the lens of God’s Word?
2. Does the song stand on its own, proclaiming the truth of God’s Word without explanation?
3. Is it possible to separate the truth being sung from the error of its associations?
4. Would using the song cause us to actively support an errant ministry?

*To be fair, the author doesn't explicitly write that Bethel Music should be avoided. But it is clearly implied.

I completely agree with the first two standards the author provides. It would be accurate to say that they are biblical criteria even. 

Here's why I believe the article fails to fully make it's point. The author provides no evidence that Bethel's music fails to meet the biblical standards in either of the first two areas. One would expect each of those four criteria to shed negative light on Bethel's worship music. Yet under the first two questions, no particular lyric and no songs are given to demonstrate the problematic nature of their worship music. There are nods towards questionable teachings in Bethel's church ministry but the author doesn't even hint that any particular song fails to line up with God's Word.

I am not convinced by the case the author makes for the third and fourth standards either. I believe they are worthy questions. But I am not sure they have as strong of a biblical basis, nor does the article convince me that Bethel Music disqualifies itself in these areas. 

The last question is the easiest for me. Someone can show me the CCLI receipts and prove me wrong, but if an individual church sings one or two of their songs a month, that is 12-24 a year. I doubt the royalties are very significant at that level. I'm sure there would be more egregious examples of this kind of "bad support" if we scrutinized the list of corporations that our retirement plans are invested in or if we evaluated moral quality of the Hollywood production studios we support when we go to the movies. 

With the case of question #3, the author actually makes a good argument for embracing music from Bethel earlier in the article. He cites three classic hymns from three different writers who each had problematic views on various doctrinal issues. Are we sure Bethel is more erroneous than those examples? We aren't advocating Luther's anti-Semitism when we sing "A Mighty Fortress" nor are we affirming all of Bethel's theology by singing their version of "It is Well". And how realistic is it for our people to leave our ministries to embrace with Bethel's questionable doctrinal beliefs as the author implies? What does that say about my church's ministry if my people are so easily swayed by a doctrinally-sound song authored by a theologically-questionable church? 

This gets us to a larger question. Can a heretic ever teach God's truth? Could they author a song that is truthful? 

I'm of the persuasion that all truth is God's truth. I will not seek out secular psychologists for discipleship principles, but I might seek out their observations for how to best deal with addicts or those dealing with mental health issues. A con man who leads revival services so he can fill his pockets rather than save souls can still be a vehicle through which the Spirit convicts hearts. The Bible is full of examples of less-than-worthy vessels being used to further God's Kingdom. He even uses a donkey to prophesy at one point!

In the end, I wonder if this concern over Bethel Music could be an example more like Mark 9:38-41 than Arius. Yes, I find the reports of their theological drifting to be troubling. Yes, I think some of their "spontaneous worship" tacked on the end of their live performances is likely planned and it is certainly not my style. But if there are no glaring doctrinal problems with their worship music and if their music library instead has Christ-honoring qualities - what is specifically wrong with using it for your own God-glorifying purpose? 

Book Blog

Last week, I shared a favorite book of mine that had connections back to my college and seminary days. This week isn't just one I read back in college, it was written by one of my professors. 

Plowshares and Pruning Hooks helped me understand biblical prophecy and apocalyptic literature in a much deeper way. Like Walter Bruggemann before him, Sandy carefully asks some relevant questions about the way we read prophecy in Scripture:

• What was the purpose of prophecy?
• How literally should we take these passages?
• Are we using a consistent hermeneutic?
• What does past fulfillment teach us about promises we're still waiting to be fulfilled?

I've gotten the sense that this book received criticism from some theological circles, but I know it has been widely affirmed in many others. 

Personally, I always found Dr. Sandy to be a humble, engaging, and encouraging teacher. He was more apt to ask us questions than feed us answers. Even if you differed with him, he was willing to listen and engage you. That is no doubt why I appreciate this book like I do, I know the heart behind it.

In the end, I highly recommend this somewhat obscure book for anyone interested in being better equipped to handle prophecy and apocalyptic parts of the Bible. 

Music Mondays - Manufacturing Controversy, it's Reckless.

Over the past several months, the worship song Reckless Love has climbed to the top of the charts and become a staple in the sets of many contemporary worship services.

The questions, criticisms, and controversy wasn't "manufactured" unnecessarily. People questioned whether the idea of God being reckless was a biblical idea. That's a legitimate question to ask on it's face. Analyzing the lyrics of the songs we sing is not a bad thing or a waste of time. 

The reason I'm featuring it in this ongoing series of "manufactured controversies" is that the answers were there the whole time. Relevant Magazine did a good job of running through the various issues of controversy and theology. The song itself defines it's meaning. Cory Asbury, the musician who penned this song, also gave a thoughtful and biblically-based explanation of the idea behind the song. I mean, why not go to the source if you have a problem with it? 

For some personal context here, I was triggered a bit by a blog that was shared on my Facebook timeline regarding this song. I can no longer find it, but it was authored by someone taking their task way too seriously (probably a lot like myself). It ended up using 800-1,000 words dissecting the song and the related biblical issues...all to conclude that the song was ok and it's good to take into consideration how an author/musician defines words and concepts. 

And in my mind I was like, "why?". Let's let art be art and give some creative license to faithful artists. I know that opens up for the possibility of heresy popping up. But the thing about our modern world is, we got plenty of heresy hunters that will sound the alarm plenty early before it's endangering the Church. Let's give more freedom to our creatives and let them (biblically) expand our imaginations about who God is and what He's done and doing for us.

Not really a Music Monday

At the end of this blog, I'll post a music selection for this week. But I wanted to feature something else this week. 

Last Friday I sent out a bunch of tweets regarding biblical interpretation and theological discussions. It seemed to be well received but because of the character limits and the format of Twitter, the entirety of my rant was hard to follow. 

So, thanks to one friend's suggestion, I'm posting it as a whole here. I am likely to add some short additions but I hope you enjoy and maybe even are provoked to think deeper on these things.

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I've been in ministry around 15 years with a M.Div that was 90+ credits. But the most helpful theological instruction I ever received was something I got early on in my first Systematic Theology class when I believe I was a freshman in college. What follows is from the late Dr. Dave Plaster.

There are levels of authority/certainty when it comes to asserting theological truth. To quote Dr. Plaster, "An understanding of where a statement rests in authority helps us to determine our attitude towards others who disagree with us."

"(The level) does not mean we do not hold various statements with conviction even when others disagree...but we should avoid a 'flat' theology which does not distinguish between levels of authority." These are the 6 levels:

1. Direct Statements of Scripture. These carry the greatest weight of authority. The plain statements of God's Word offer us doctrinal truths that should be non-negotiable. But let's be sure these essential truths are not interpretations.

2. Direct Implications from Scripture. These are very substantially established truths from Scripture but are implications (maybe even applications) and not always 100% directly stated in the Bible.

3. Probable Implications of Scripture. These are inferences drawn tentatively. Some evidence is probable but these are theological statements not totally provable from the Bible.

4. Inductive Conclusions from Scripture. This is where statements/beliefs come from the overall data of Scripture with lots of deducing. There is less direct Biblical evidence being employed.

5. Conclusions inferred from General Revelation. These involve assertions that come from nature, science, and non-biblical wisdom/knowledge. Dr. Plaster taught that if the clear Biblical truth is opposed to this "General Revelation", the Biblical position should be taken.

6. Outright speculations. These are theological statements that could possibly be derived from obscure references in the Word.

The early levels will have more direct ties to a lot of Scripture, but this will lessen the further down the continuum one goes. Also, we should hold firmly to Level 1 truths, but loosen our grip the further we go.

For example, I will never compromise on faith in Jesus Christ as God's way of salvation. That's Level 1. I would die for that. But I am not willing to risk my life on whether or not the Church will live through a 7 year literal tribulation in the end times. That is more a Level 4 (maybe 3) truth, mostly because there is plenty of biblical data for different viewpoints.
These levels are important to think through for a lot of other issues of course. When life begins, Human Sexuality, Creation vs. Evolution, the reality of Heaven/Hell, and Eternal Security are all popular hot-button topics that even people outside the faith engage in at times. These topics need to be viewed through the lense of these levels, even before we ardently defend our views on them.

I have seen more basic versions of these levels of interpretations - where core doctrine is differentiated from traditional dogma which is differentiated from personal preference. But I appreciate this more-specific lens through which to look at theology. We will better understand our own beliefs and better engage in discussions if we accurately assess what level our positions come from.

Good reminders for us all, thanks Dr. Plaster.

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As promised, here's a musical selection for anyone who has persevered this far. This song is directly connected to my sermon from Sunday, which was out of Isaiah 24-26.

It's by a well-known worship artist, Chris Tomlin but it is not one of his popular tunes. I fell in love with it off of his "Live from Austin Music Hall" album of 2004. The cool thing about it is that it features David Crowder and really improves on the original.

A tempo change in the live version plus addition of the lyric "Jesus, Lord and Savior" within the chorus were perfect ways to improve the song - at least in my opinion.

And the original studio edition:

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

I was doing some heavy reading today in a local coffee shop/bookstore. It was detailed church history that traced the development of some movements before our nation was even a country. 

This kind of study has it's place and it's interesting how doctrine has developed. You can start to wonder why people acted the way they did - and then you turn around and realize the more things change, the more they stay the same. 

So as I was reading in this area, over the speakers came the following song, which helps give balance and perspective. It's all gotta come back to Jesus.

Bonus Video:

I was a week early last week - Needtobreathe has come out with their official video for "Multiplied", enjoy: