Back Porch Confessions

Peter, Gomer & me.

As our year of studying the Book of Matthew comes to a close, we are studying the Passion Week. I should be working on my lesson right now, actually. But I'm not. I'm musing instead.

After Peter betrayed Jesus for the third time, one of the gospels says that Jesus - in the hands of his captors -turned and looked at him; a dramatic moment in an intense love story.

What was Jesus thinking as he watched his best friend deny their relationship? Can a sovereign God be disappointed, if already knowing the outcome? Can he be angry - if he is on his way to complete the greatest act of mercy in the history of the world? Can he be sad - or would that be feeling sorry for himself? Did he, in an act of cruelty, make eye contact to sink Peter further into his depths of repentant despair?

We were asked last week to answer the question: "What do you think Jesus feels when he looks at you?" I spent some time asking myself the questions above. And I can't believe he's disappointed. I can't believe he's angry or cruel or feeling sorry for himself or me. What I see is Hosea.

Hosea, waiting faithfully for Gomer to get it right - knowing that she won't fully get it right until the eternal restoration. I see him standing there, waiting for the time when I can stop screwing around and we can be together, forever.

Southern Baptist Research

The Southern Baptist Convention is in decline according to new research by LifeWay (an SBC entity).

I posted some info on my blog.  Check it out and leave comments here.  I want to know your take on this.  It seems that there will be a scattering of opinion due to the fact that we have people who are pro and anti denomination that read this.

posted by Brad

Christians and Culture

I posted a link to an article yesterday about Christinas and chulture by Jonathan Dodson.

Later in the afternoon, I went to Starbucks and was studying when a girl came in that I knew from Pompano High School.  She is catholic.  She taught confirmation classes and even recently was a teacher to one of the "baristas" at that particular starbucks.  When I asked her about it, she told me that she has been teaching Sunday School at her church for several years.  Then she goes on and on about how she doesn't believe in organized religion and that Jesus, Yahweh, and Allah are the same.  Most of what she said comes a desire to be (or sound) enlightened.  It was funny at how all of these arguments were following the same path as many teenagers I have dealt with in the past who wanted to run their own lives and their rebellion was often against the oppressive regimes of religion (which in some things I found myself agreeing).

I do think it is good for Christians to think critically about culture. I also think that Christians should work hard at earning the right to ask culture to think critically about Christians. At least give them right reasons not to like you.   

Attractional and Incarnational

Some thoughts on attractional and incarnational ministry.

posted by Brad

Why Such Waste?

How many of us have ever thought/said, "I can't believe that church is spending XX Millions of dollars on a new sanctuary!  They could wipe out poverty in a small nation with that kind of money!"? 

Don't worry my hand is raised with you.  Now read this:

Matthew 26:6-13

⁶While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, ⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

    ⁸When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. ⁹"This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor."

    ¹⁰Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

So I ask - Are we doing the same thing as the disciples?  Do Jesus' words here in V. 10-13 speak to us as well?

What the woman (Mary - according to Luke) was doing was spending a lot of money (some commentaries say a year's wages) to glorify Christ.  If a church is doing the same thing by building a larger sanctuary then should we be saying: "Why this waste?"

Also - the disciples excuse for their judgment of Mary was: V.9 "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Just as ours above: "They could wipe out poverty in a small nation with that kind of money!"  So then - when we look at our own lives - how much are we giving to the poor?  Is a years wages or XX millions of dollars to much to give to Christ? 

Just a thought...

Posted by Matt 

ESV Study Bible

Just in case you don't have your bloglines linked to any cool pastor blogs, I wanted to let you know that the website for the new ESV Study Bible is now online.  It is going to be available sometime this fall (projected for October).

I have been using the ESV for about 6 years.  While in college and seminary, I used the New American Standard Bible because it was more of a literal "word for word" translation (as compared to the more "idea paraphrase" of the NIV) in updated English.  Since the ESV has come along, I have appreciated it for the same reasons and yet it is a little easier to read. 

My recommendation for this particular study Bible is because the team that put this together is one of the greatest scholarship teams to come along in quite some time.  The list of editors is below and you can go online to check out the overall contributors.  While having the Word of God in a literal, readable form, the ESV Study Bible will have:

Primary Features:

• 25,000-plus notes—focusing especially on understanding the Bible text and providing answers to frequently raised issues.
• Over 50 articles—including articles on the Bible’s authority, reliability, and interpretation; on biblical archaeology, theology, worship, prayer, and personal application.
• Over 200 full-color maps—created with the latest digital technology, satellite images, and archaeological research; printed in full color, throughout the Bible.
• 200-plus charts—offering key insights and in-depth analysis in clear, concise outline form; located throughout the Bible.
• 80,000 cross-references—to encourage easy location of important words, passages, and biblical themes.
• More than 40 new full-color illustrations—including historically accurate reconstructions of the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, Solomon’s temple, Herod’s temple, the city of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time and throughout the history of Israel, and many more.

The following people comprise the Editorial Oversight Committee, which developed the concept, selected the 93 contributors, and provided general oversight and final approval of the content and design of the ESV Study Bible.

Executive Editor

Lane T. Dennis

Ph.D., Northwestern University

Chair of the ESV Translation Oversight Committee, President, Crossway Books and Bibles

General Editor

Wayne Grudem

Ph.D., University of Cambridge

Research Professor of Bible and Theology, Phoenix Seminary

Theological Editor

J. I. Packer

D. Phil., University of Oxford

Professor of Theology, Regent College (Vancouver, Canada)

Old Testament Editor

C. John Collins

Ph.D., University of Liverpool

Professor and Chair of the Old Testament Department, Covenant Theological Seminary

New Testament Editor

Thomas R. Schreiner

Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary

James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Project Director, Managing Editor

Justin Taylor

B.A., University of Northern Iowa

Associate Publisher, Crossway Books and Bibles

posted by Brad

umm...

First, read:

The Sheep and the Goats

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Matthew 25:31-46

Now, answer:

Is it possible to be righteous through Christ, without helping "the least of these"?

Stuff Christians Like

This is really. 

www.stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com

Obvious play off from Stuff White People Like (and I think he actually mentions that in a post).

#133 and #136 made me laugh, though I haven't read them all.

posted by Brad

The Things We Miss

As to not duplicate myself - Please click HERE

Posted by: Matt

The Preservation of Scripture

posted by: chet

*EDIT* In his comment, Loren brought my attention to an online article by Daniel Wallace addressing the question of how evangelicals can claim inerrancy when they do not even have the original Biblical manuscripts.  I have that article now linked at the end of this post.

 

This weekend here on campus we had our annual Point-Counterpoint Forum.  This year the two sides, Bart Ehrman from UNC and Dan Wallace from DTS, debated the textual reliability of the New Testament.  Both sides, as well as the other speakers from all over the place, gave me a lot to think about regarding our scriptures and ideas of inerrancy.  Dan Wallace, who was taking the "conservative" position, made an interesting point that I've been thinking about today, using a quote from C.S. Lewis' book Miracles.  Here's the quote:

"The moment (a miracle) enters (Nature's) realm it obeys all her laws.  Miraculous wine will intoxicate, miraculous conception will lead to pregnancy, inspired books will suffer all the ordinary processes of textual corruption, miraculous bread will be digested.  The divine art of miracle is not an art of suspending the pattern to which events conform but of feeding new events into that pattern."

Wallace used this idea as a reason why he does not hold to a preservation theory for scripture.  And I'll say that this viewpoint seems to have way less fiery hoops to jump through than maybe some other views of inerrancy. 

So what do you think?  Are we ok with this idea or do we need to hold on to another model of biblical inerrancy?  And what's at stake here?

Daniel Wallace - Inerrancy and the Text of the New Testament