Prayer and Practical Atheism

Mike Wittmer posts a devotional today on the topic of prayer.  In it he makes reference to the fact that renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens is dying of cancer.  Hitchens reportedly has said that if others so desired, they could offer up their prayers for him, but that as long as he "remained in his right mind," he would "not be taking part in that."

The point of the devotional is that Hitchens has hit on something profound here: prayer (either its presence or absence) is the proof of faith (or the lack thereof).  This has much to do with the fact that prayer is, by definition, an act of humility and trust: admitting that I can not accomplish what I need accomplished, and believing that God can.

Mike concludes,

We may say that we believe in God, but if we can make it through our day without prayer then we are pretty much like Hitchens.  Let’s repent of our practical atheism and carve out time to talk with God.  Ask him for whatever you need, and when you receive it, give him thanks.

You can read the whole post here.

In Support of the Institutional Church

These days it is increasingly fashionable to bash "the church."  In Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, the lament is voiced, "Community is hip, but the church is lame.  Both inside the church and out, organized religion is seen as oppressive, irrelevant, and a waste of time.  Outsiders like Jesus but not the church.  Insiders have been told they can do just fine with God apart from the church."

Today though, Jared Wilson offers up a helpful piece reminding us of the biblical support for the institutional church:

1. The New Testament presumes church governance

2. The New Testament commands church discipline

3. The New Testament designates insiders and outsiders in relation to the church

4. The image of "the body" presumes unified order

5. The New Testament churches had recognizable structures. The apostles sent their letters to somebody

6. "Spirit-filled community or institutional organization" is a false dichotomy that presumes the Spirit is powerless against institution

7. Logically speaking, there is no such thing as "no institution" except chaos or anarchy. Every community made up of people is institutional to some degree

8. That institution is not eternal is not grounds for jettisoning it. Marriage isn't eternal either.

9. The subjection of kings and nations presumes institutional subjection to Christ and therefore that God works in, with, and through institutions

10. No one in 2,000 years has successfully cultivated an enduring institution-less expression of the local church

Read the whole post here.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

"It is indeed true, that we are justified in Christ through the mercy of God alone; but it is equally true and certain, that all who are justified are called by the Lord, that they may live worthy of their vocation.  Let then the faithful learn to embrace him, not only for justification, but also for sanctification, as he has been given to us for both these purposes, lest they rend him asunder by their mutilated faith."

--John Calvin, Commentary on Romans, pg. 294.

Be True To Your School

The Beach Boys once sang, in all of their brilliant harmonies, "Be True to Your School."  It can not be debated; I have heeded this command.

I still follow my high school's football and basketball teams as closely as I can from 568 miles away.  I have read about them in the online edition of my hometown's newspaper, exchanged text messages with friends and family members while they were at games, watched games streamed live on the internet and even once upgraded my TV package so that I would have the station that was carrying a game in which my high school was playing.  As a matter of fact, the color scheme of this blog is inspired by the orange and black of the Webster Groves Statesmen.

I still show the same type of support for my college as well.  Each Saturday during football season, you're sure to find me decked out in my Mizzou black and gold, watching the game if the Tigers happen to be on TV, or listening to the radio broadcast online if that's the best I can do. More Saturdays than I'd like to admit have been made or ruined on the basis of a Tiger football game.

As much as I am committed to my high school and college though, I am perhaps even more enthusiastic in my support of my other alma mater.  I have often told others that my three years at Covenant Theological Seminary provided me with a foretaste of heaven.  Thanks to both the teaching in the classrooms and the atmosphere that is cultivated, an ethos of grace pervades the campus.

Dane Ortlund captured my thoughts perfectly when he recently wrote about Covenant:

Every institution is filled with nothing but sinners. We are fallen, and our schools reflect that. And when I left three years ago, the school's overall sin-meter dropped considerably. But the norm is for institutions, even seminaries, to contain islands of grace amidst an ocean of self. Covenant is the only school I've ever set foot on that contains, in the mercy of God, islands of self amid an ocean of grace.

I shake my head with wonder at God's kindness to this institution.

Covenant recently released a number of faculty videos on YouTube that help communicate what makes Covenant so special.  I've included four below from some of the professors who had a particular impact on me.

President Obama Comments on His Faith

Much has been made of President Obama's religion.  In spite of his unwavering self-designation, one recent survey found that only one in three Americans identifies him as a Christian.  In light of this fact, I found the video below quite interesting. 

In my opinion, there is much that President Obama gets wrong in what he has to say here.  In the midst of all of it though, in the thirty seconds from 2:20 to 2:50, he gets one thing (and I might add, the most important thing) quite right.  Please leave your comments as I'd love to hear your thoughts.



(Please forgive the short commercial at the beginning of the video. I don't know how to make it disappear.)

The Grace of God in All of Scripture

I saw a wonderful post yesterday from fellow Covenant Theological Seminary alum Dane Ortlund.  In it he states,

(C)ertain motifs course through the Scripture from start to end, tying the whole thing together into a coherent tapestry--kingdom, temple, people of God, creation/new creation, and so on. Yet underneath and undergirding all of these, it seems to me, is the motif of God's grace, his favor and love to the undeserving. Don't we see the grace of God in every book of the Bible?

He then begins to demonstrate the prominence of grace in each of the Bible's 66 books:

Genesis shows God’s grace to a universally wicked world as he enters into relationship with a sinful family line (Abraham) and promises to bless the world through him.

Exodus shows God’s grace to his enslaved people in bringing them out of Egyptian bondage.

Leviticus shows God’s grace in providing his people with a sacrificial system to atone for their sins...

I recommend that you click here to see the whole list. It truly is an impressive homage to the grace of God.

Friday Fun...Toupée Exchange

Nothing is quite as funny as a straight man who can't keep it together.  To see what I mean, check out this classic sketch from Bob Newhart and Dean Martin.

How to Encourage Your Kid to Leave the Church

I read a great blog post today by Scott Linscott addressing the fact that so many young adults are leaving the Church.  In it he offers the following suggestions for those who want to do all they can to make sure their kids join the ranks of those who are apathetic about faith:

1. Put academic pursuits above faith-building activities.
2. Chase the gold ball first and foremost.
3. Teach your kid that the dollar is almighty.
4. Refuse to acknowledge that the primary motivating force in kids’ lives is relationship.
5. Model apathy in your own life.

There are subpoints beneath some of these and a whole lot of good explanation on them all.  If you're a parent, I'd encourage you to check out his whole post here.

(HT: Craig Dunham)

When Everything Just Works

In his book Not the Way It's Supposed to Be Cornelius Plantinga Jr. writes:

The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom.  We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies.  In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights.  Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.

This is the type of existence we are created to live.  Compared to this beautiful functionality though, our lives and our world are a complete wreck.  This has come about as a result of sin and Creation's subsequent Fall, and is a fact with which we are all far too familiar.

Today at his blog Head Heart Hand, David Murray posted a fun video.  He prefaced it by speaking of how a recent trip to a scrapyard left him depressed as the crushed and broken down cars which had once been so beautiful and so functional reminded him of the fallen condition of the world in which we now live.  He goes on to say...

My spirits were lifted yesterday though when my son pointed me to this video (below). What precise perfection! It reminded me of how integrated the original creation must have been, and how everything must have run so smoothly.

And it also made me hope and long for the day when God will take our scrappy lives and world and make all things new. And everything will "just work."

Mid-Michigan Conference on Reformed Theology

The Seventh Annual  Mid-Michigan Conference on Reformed Theology is scheduled for October 30, beginning at 10 am.  This one day conference is held by the congregation I serve, Calvary Presbyterian Church in Flint, Michigan.  We are extremely pleased to announce that our speakers this year are Dr. Joel Beeke and his fellow professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Dr. David Murray.

The theme of this year's conference is  "Reformation Family Living in the 21st Century."  In his two talks, Dr. Beeke will address The Puritan View of Marriage and The Puritan View of Child Rearing.  Dr. Murray's talks will focus on What John Knox Would Say to Our Families Today and God's Technology in Our Famililes. The day will be capped off with a Q&A time with both men.

The cost is extremely reasonable with an early registration fee (before October 15) of $12 per person with children living at home attending for free.  There will be a hot lunch served at the church for an additional $5 per person which promises not only to be delicious, but will serve as a wonderful opportunity to fellowship with other conference attendees.

Click here to get a brochure, and feel free to send me an email with any questions you might have at Pete@CalvaryPresbyterianChurch.com.

Discerning God's Will For My Life

Have you ever been faced with a major (or not so major) decision and been paralyzed with fear that you might not rightly discern "the will of God," and in the process, you might be relegated to a life that is somehow less than the best life God has planned for you? If so, I have the following two pieces of advice:

1. Read Kevin DeYoung's great little book, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will.
2. Watch the this short, very helpful video.

(HT: Challies)

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

"What distinguishes Christianity at its heart is not its moral code, but its story; a story of a Creator who, although rejected by those he created in his image, stooped to reconcile them to himself through his Son. This isn't a story about the individual's heavenward progress, but the recital of historical events, of God's incarnation, atonement resurrection, ascension and return, and the exploration of their rich significance. At its heart, this story is the Gospel, the good news that God has reconciled us to himself in Jesus Christ."

Michael Horton

Book Review: Your Jesus Is Too Safe

Perhaps the most important question we will ever be asked is the one which Jesus posed to his disciples in Luke 9:20: “Who do you say that I am?”

Against the backdrop of all sorts of inadequate responses, Jared C. Wilson offers twelve appropriate answers to Christ’s question in Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior.

Early on, Wilson makes the point that, “No message has been more used and exploited and appropriated than Jesus Christ’s.” In this book he speaks out against these perversions of the gospel in an effort to present a truly biblical Christ.

It is definitely written for a popular audience and he regularly injects humor into his writing. Some may find this style to be irreverent; I just found it to be fun. For instance, I don’t know which I liked more: the fact that he referred to Mark’s account as “the Die Hard of the Gospels,” or the fact that he followed it with a footnote asking the reader if they were angry yet.

That being said, it is not just a fluffy, feel-good book. That is precisely the kind of message that Wilson is trying to counteract. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, Wilson makes sure we do not lose sight of the Cross, nor of the blood that washes us clean of our sin. And while light-hearted at times, the book is heavily grounded in Scripture. I didn’t count, but Wilson included what must have been hundreds of footnotes referring the reader to the various biblical passages to which he was alluding.

I have long enjoyed Wilson’s blog at www.gospeldrivenchurch.com. I can truly say I enjoyed this book as well.

Beware the Pharisee Within

This morning I was reading through the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14. In it Jesus speaks of two men who went up to the temple to pray. One of them was a pharisee, who had quite scrupulously attended to all of the finer points of the Law. As he prayed, he boasted about his personal piety and thanked God that he was not like other (sinful) men such as extortioners, adulterers, and even the tax collector.

Meanwhile, we are told that the tax collector would not even lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast in sorrow and cried out to God, “Be merciful to me, a sinner!” Jesus goes on to inform us that it was this man who went away justified and he concludes his story with this admonition: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So what was my reaction to this? My mind immediately went to some of the less than humble people I know, people who I think are like the pharisee. I prayed for them that God would change their hearts and help them to better understand their own sinfulness and, in light of that, that they might better understand the beauty of God’s grace.

Then I realized the irony of the situation. Here I was, essentially being the pharisee myself. My first response to one who sinfully thought of himself as being better than others was to sinfully think of myself as being better than others. How deeply rooted is my sinfulness, how utter and complete is my brokenness that upon reading the teachings of my Lord, my immediate response would be the exact opposite that it should be?

As embarrassing as it was, I am still thankful for these two points of takeaway I have from this experience:

1. May I always remember to apply the lessons I learn in Scripture first to myself.


2. Thanks be to God, whose grace is (somehow) greater than all my sin…even when I miserably fail to do number 1.

Islamic Terrorists and Crazy Americans

In the wake of the overhyped Qur'an-burning (non-)story, Mark Shea offers a little bit of perspective for all of us via this helpful diagram:

Draw your own conclusions.

(HT: Vitamin Z)

Eat Pray Love

I read an interesting blog post over the weekend from Justin Taylor. In it, he interacts with a review by Ross Douthat of the movie Eat Pray Love.

Many will recognize this movie starring Julia Roberts from the previews. Perhaps even more are familiar with it thanks to Oprah Winfrey's endorsement and enthusiastic support of the book.

Let me say this right off the bat: I have not seen the movie. I have not read the book. I haven't even read the original review.

Apparently though Douthat makes the statement that the main theme of the movie is, as stated by its main character, “God dwells with me, as me.” In response to this, Douthat offers this quote from G.K. Chesteron:

Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within. . . . That Jones shall worship the god within him turns out ultimately to mean that Jones shall worship Jones. Let Jones worship the sun or moon, anything rather than the Inner Light; let Jones worship cats or crocodiles, if he can find any in his street, but not the god within.

I'm curious to see if anyone else out there who has read the book or seen the movie has any thoughts to add to this discussion.