BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too...

The wisdom of Solomon in splitting the baby...

(David) Reading through 1 and 2 Samuel recently it struck me that Solomon's decision to cut the baby in two to resolve the dispute between the two prostitutes wasn't an act of immediately divine inspiration, but rather the product of wisdom gained at his father's knee--and perhaps from his father's mistake.

The "endlessly lovely" Ayn Rand...

(Tim, w/thanks to Phil M.) Apostasy is the greatest of all tragedies. When unrepented, it leaves a soul beyond the blood of Jesus Christ.

Yet even in apostasy, there are comedies that appear, providing us hope the tragedy may not be quite as tragic as it thinks itself. Take, for instance, this phrase from a recent announcement of conversion to atheism by a member of Indelible Grace, the PCA's house praise band. In his denial of the Faith, this man refers to "the endlessly lovely Ayn Rand."

The endlessly lovely Ayn Rand? Surely he jests...

Avatar: "All creation groans..."

(Tim) A friend writes: "These are actual quotes from people who have seen Avatar":

QUOTE: After reading though all 50 pages and debating if I should say anything, I have decided that I will step up. I too have felt...different after watching Avatar. When the last scene finished it felt like I woke up from a wonderful dream. At first I was excited and full of energy but then I started to realize that none of it was real and that I would never be able to visit Pandora or the Na'vi. I have been feeling rather down every since and not much seems to make it feel better, I just hope that it will leave in time. I am somewhat relieved to see that I am not the only one. It was embarrassing for me to feel this way about a movie when no one else around me felt the same. I constantly think about the movie wherever I am, and doing so just makes everything seem so gray and sad. As dorky as this sound there have been times where I just want to cry ><

QUOTE: do you guys also get the thoughts of sucidal? i dont mean to sound creepy or emo...

The Gospel according to James (Cameron)...

Avatar is Cameron’s long apologia for pantheism — a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world, (leading us to) collapse distinctions at every level of creation.

                                         -Ross Douthat in the New York Times

(Tim, w/thanks to Mick) About twenty-five years ago, Mary Lee and I took in Dustin Hoffman's Tootsie with a sister and brother-in-law. The movie infuriated me, but my loved ones thought I was psycho. "It was funny!" they announced triumphantly.

Yes, yes; of course. But the meat sandwiched between the humor was toxic.

"The message was sex doesn't matter until body parts touch," I said. "The only time there's anything yucky about Hoffman playing the woman is when his body is about to be touched by the man who likes her. Which is to say, the only barrier left to the complete normalization of homosexuality is body parts that still don't quite fit together. Androgyny has carried the day except in bed."

Of course I convinced no one. Overreacting I was. Couldn't see the joke. Taking life just a little bit too seriously.

But that night I had a vision of the tsunami about to wash over us...

Loveless, bland, and left behind...

Jesus said: "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. (Matthew 5:13).

(Tim) Explaining to a friend the other day that I've found Roman Catholics writing about almost anything other than the five solas of the Reformation infinitely more interesting and helpful than Protestants, I lamented the inability of Reformed men to go against the flow. Why is that?

We went against the flow in the Reformation; and for years after, critical thinking under the Word of God belonged to us. But now, the only ones doing good critical (and often Biblical) thinking about ethics and war, sex, medicine, politics, art, demographics, culture, fertility, and the list goes on are almost exclusively Roman Catholic. About the only thing Protestants, and particularly Reformed Protestants, today are able to think about in an interesting way is how best to trim the coin of the doctrines of Scripture in such a way as to lower the hurdle barring entry to the Church for pomos who hate light, authority, meekness, humility, and truth. All our creativity goes toward church growth. Which is to say, all our creativity goes toward perfecting the idolatry Vernon Grounds warned against when he pointed out that the evangelical world worships at the altar of "the bitch goddess of success."

Show me any evangelical who's written on the place of vampire flicks in the sodomization of the Western world as...

But it's really his sin, too...

(Tim) This from a godly mother repenting of the sins of her feminist youth. As I see it, she was so much older then, she's younger than that now. Anyhow, she reports this conversation between her children as she read to them:

"After hearing the Grimm's tale "The Fisherman and His Wife" (about a discontented wife and an emasculated husband) my four-year-old daughter said, "She does NOT have a gentle and quiet spirit, does she? I don't think she loves Jesus at all." Then my eight-year-old son replied, "but it's really his sin too, because he isn't telling her NO to all the silly things she wants!"

Brian McLaren exposed by a Stupak question...

(Tim, w/thanks to Kamilla) Christians who voted for Barack Obama and now support centralized government health care normally are great supporters of that Emergent businessman, Brian McLaren. You can warn them away from him, but they persevere in their adulation because he speaks their language as no one else. As one woman put it to me, he answers the questions of my heart.

McLaren has been quite influential in getting such naifs to support Barack Obama while convincing themselves that he (Obama) is pro-life. In other words, that he opposes abortion. Well, maybe not actually "opposes"--that may be taking it a bit too far. It might be better to say that he wishes he opposed abortion. Or maybe better yet, that he wishes others thought of him as opposing abortion.

Maybe best to say that sometimes, very late at night, he admits to himself that he wishes "those people" would have fewer abortions. But then, what's a poor boy to do?

Anyhow, as I said, McLaren is the guy that seduced them all to board this ship and now, courtesy of Brian's grandpa, Jim Wallis, we know precisely how opposed to abortion McLaren isn't.

Historical markers along the path of sexual perversion...

(Tim, w/thanks to James) Thinking beyond the obvious, those who have trained themselves in discernment will see where the wickedness of our culture will lead us and our children in the coming years. Seeing the mile markers that have flashed by, the trajectory before us will be clear.

First, the church embraced fornication; then it was on to divorce and sinful remarriage. Next came the weekly consumption of soft pornographic television shows in our families' living rooms, followed by the ubiquitous secret viewing of internet pornography by the church's sons and husbands.

On the other side of the sexual divide, women wanted relationships and children so we stopped blushing at the mention of artificial insemination and single parent adoption. It became perfectly respectable for women with little prospect of marriage to choose to become mothers...

Just one more savage wolf...

(Tim, w/thanks to David L.) What if a pastor were to take seriously the Apostle Paul's warning to the Ephesian elders:

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood?

What if he were to read the Apostle Paul's prediction concerning what was about to happen in the church of Ephesus and assume this is also happening in his church right now?

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. (Acts 20:28-31)

Would he test himself? Would he ask the Holy Spirit to reveal whether he himself is a hireling, or a good shepherd? Would he be on the alert? Would he look around for savage wolves? For false shepherds speaking perverse things in order to draw away disciples for themselves?

Would he wonder whether anyone in his own congregation could fairly describe his ministry as a "night and day" work of ceaselessly admonishing each of his sheep with tears?

Brothers, the church has always been under attack from both savage wolves and hirelings. And it's the failure of hirelings not to think about who the savage wolves are...

Christ Church Ministerial Conference: Elijah's mantle...

(Tim) Stephen and Sebra Baker and Mary Lee and I had an excellent time at the Christ Church Ministerial Conference last Thursday and Friday. The conference's subject was "Sexual Orthodoxy" and the MP3s should soon be available from Canon Press.

Make sure you listen to Doug on "The Politics of Fruitfulness" and his son-in-law, Ben Merkle, on "Sentimentalism and the Feminine Ethos." Doug does a good survey of the growing, worldwide birth dearth, following up with the Scriptural doctrine that children are a blessing from the Lord. This cultural critique is needed across the Reformed church, today, where money and degrees are chosen over children. Ben's talk is a helpful reminder of the necessity of letting boys be boys so they may grow up to be leaders (with a particular emphasis on the church). I found all the talks helpful, but thought these two were standouts.

Everything in Moscow isn't the life of the mind, though, and our meals with Doug and Nancy, their children and grandchildren, were a great joy as we see God providing for the leadership of the Church through coming generations. Like the rest of Doug and Nancy's progeny, keep your eyes on Ben. He's a young man married to a strong and prudent wife, Bekah; their children are well-disciplined and happy; and it's obvious God has given him great wisdom. At this point, Ben's plans are to serve in the Academy (meaning New St. Andrews). Spending time with Ben and Bekah, though, I found myself jealous for their gifts to be used in the pastorate.

Then again, what do I know, anyhow?

Summing up, every time we have an opportunity to spend time in Moscow, with Doug and Nancy, their children and grandchildren, and the other members of the CREC/Christ Church/Canon Press/New St. Andrews team, we're reminded our Savior's rule is "by their fruit ye shall know them." Godly homes and families? Living faith? Biblical discernment? Humility? The complete absence of materialism or chest-thumping?

Honestly...

The PCA should have resigned from the NAE a long time ago...

(Tim) Earlier this afternoon as a member of Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America, I received the following letter from the stated clerk of our denomination, Dr. Roy Taylor. As background to the present controversy, readers should know that a number of PCA pastors and elders are not pleased with our denomination holding membership in the National Association of Evangelicals due to the increasingly liberal commitments of its leaders and their high profile public policy statements.

Here at Baylyblog, we've been careful to document this drift: see here, here, here, here, and here. Now, once more, the NAE is flexing its muscle in Washington D.C.--purportedly in our behalf. But this time, it's our own Roy Taylor who is largely claiming responsibility for the statement.

Compared to our readers here at Baylyblog, I'm guessing that I tend to be more liberal than most of you on the issue of immigration.

Still, I repeat: it's time for the PCA to resign membership in the NAE.

Here then is Roy's response to the criticisms he's received for what he and his NAE friends said to the civil authority in our name on this subject of immigration. Yes, I doubt Roy would agree that's what happened...

Derek Webb again...

(Tim) By the way, yesterday Herr Professor Doctor Jürgen von Hagen brought us the Word of God at Church of the Good Shepherd. His text was the Rich Fool and it's context, Luke 12:16-34. Concerning the statements there, "he began reasoning to himself" and "I will say to my soul," Juergen made the point that Scripture does not commend a man talking to himself.

This occurred to me watching Derek. Eyes closed, all alone, singing. He appears to be completely entranced with his own music and himself.

* * *

By the way, the sermon is well worth your time. If you're within driving distance, we have a number of men who would be delighted to preach for you--including Pastor von Hagen. Just send me an e-mail with your location and proposed date.

Derek Webb goes with the flow... like, finally...

(Tim, w/thanks to Craig) So Derek's trying to say something about something, and he's feeling quite self-righteous about what it is, precisely, he's trying to say. Thing is, when Dylan had his Christian phase, you didn't need a degree in jive talk to get it. His words were clear.

To get Derek's message, though, you might have to do peyote or sniff glue.

On the other hand, we could try just assuming that what Derek's trying to get across is the same kind of crowd-pleasing rhetoric daily featured on the oped pages of the New York Times. Derek is tired of going against the grain and has decided to turn and go with the flow, instead.

My friend Craig says Derek's video is "self-involved," bearing a message of "sexual sedition." I think he's right and that's how Combat Queer Online took it. Reporting on what they saw as Derek's new direction, Christianity Today said...

Peeping Pams...

(Tim) Here's a picture from Michael. Not sure if he agrees with it, but I do. There can be some good uses of these tools, but the vast majority of what I've seen is not good at all. Talk about false intimacy--this stuff is pornography for women--and men who wish they were and are becoming...

So, how much does God want you to know and tell? And what are the sins encouraged by knowing and telling too much?

Brian McLaren bloviating his shame...

(Tim) Three or four of you have now sent me notification that Emergent Church leader Brian McLaren is observing the Muslim holy days of Ramadan this year. Joining with them in their daily fast/feast cycle, McLaren makes this promise in behalf of himself and all those following him in his folly:

We will seek to avoid being disrespectful or unfaithful to our own faith tradition in our desire to be respectful to the faith tradition of our friends.

Good readers, when you and your pastor start to refer to our only Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Only Begotten Son of the Father as "our own faith tradition," your soul is in peril and you need to get out of that church and find a true Christian church where your own soul, as well as that of your wife and children, will be guarded--not sold for fame and fortune. Do it quickly.

But back to His Pomposity: McLaren has a bunch of reasons for turning towards Mecca and he's spreading all of them across the known world. If you think of the Emergent Church leaders as publicity hounds...

"Joy and purpose and passion and pleasure and enthusiasm and hope and joy..."

(Tim, w/ thanks to Craig) Several years ago at the Acts 29 Lead Pastors Conference in Boulder, I heard Mark Driscoll talk about the irony of being invited to preach in the Crystal Cathedral and being embraced by its founding pastor, Robert Schuller.

Why would they want bad-boy Mark when they know he's going to punch them in the face with the Word, right?

Mark talked to sixty of us or so about how he'd not back down or compromise. He'd give it to them straight and see what happened. Robert Schuller posed no threat to his integrity.

So I was interested to be sent a link to his sermon given this past Lord's Day at the Crystal Cathedral. But before preaching, the prince of positivism, Robert Schuller, did a short interview to elicit Mark's credentials for speaking to his cosseted congregation in behalf of the Holy Spirit:

Robert Schuller: Your church has how many members?

Government healthcare means cruelty, oppression, and murder...

For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.  - Psalm 125:3

(Tim) Government funding always means more government control. Always. And today, that cannot possibly be good news.

More government control will lead to less compassion (for single mothers, for instance), responsibility (for single fathers, for instance), justice (for unborn children, for instance), mercy (for the homeless, for instance), truth (for children educated in government schools, for instance) and freedom for citizens forced to foot the bill for government's aborting those very virtues her subjects hold dear.

This is the reason compassionate, responsible, just, merciful, and truthful Americans are joining Libertarian ranks in droves. They've read Paul Johnson's Intellectuals and learned that the sort of leaders profiled by the New Yorker and the NYTimes Magazine will talk about love for the people and national compassion while demonstrating an astounding selfishness in their own personal lives.

Need I list examples?

Hillary Clinton of It Takes a Village fame? Her husband, Bill? The latest entrant into the race for that moral squalor called the Office of Governor of the State of New York, Rudy Giuliani? Our resident global-warming prophet safely ensconced in his carbon-spewing mansion (except when he's flying in his carbon-spewing coporate jets), Al Gore?

Democrats won this last election by hoodwinking young and middle-aged "Christians" who had been softened up to the deception by years of being inoculated against all discernment by ear-scratchers like Rob Bell and Brian McLaren. Their pastors had turned them into easy marks for Barack Obama's lies.

But among those who saw through President Obama's lies...

I've been corrected: Redeemer's session meetings are not men-only...

(Tim; For greater clarity, I've split this post into two, so a couple of the comments are missing some of their context)

In another post, I made the statement that Redeemer's session meetings are male-only. Quickly, I received an e-mail correction with this information that, for several years, Redeemer's session has had a woman in attendance at their meetings whose presence and privileges there appear, for all practical purposes, identical to those of Redeemer's assistant pastors. (I'm unaware of any rubric put in place to make some sort of formal distinction between them.)

In the exchange with the e-mail correspondent, I also found out that, during Lord's Day worship, half or more of Redeemer's pastoral prayers (scrupulously called "Prayers of the People") are given by women; half or more of Redeemer's Scripture lessons (maybe scrupulously called "Readings of the People" to distinguish them from pastors) are read by women; and half or more of those serving the Lord's Supper at Redeemer (maybe scrupulously called "waiters" to distinguish them from elders) are women...

Why God's blessings but not His judgments?

(Tim, w/thanks to Mark K.) John Piper has put just the right point on the presence of God's holiness and wrath in this present world. Here's his blog post on the rogue tornado that struck the Lutherans meeting in Minneapolis at the very hour they were to undertake the legitimization of sodomy.

Read the comments and you'll find John excoriated for making such a boringly Biblical point. Why are insurance companies permitted to call earthquakes and floods "acts of God" while pastors are denied this privilege? No pastor dare open the mind of God in notorious judgments, and yet he is expected to open the mind of God in blessings and may lose his job if he refuses.

"God has blessed America with peace within our borders, and the greatest prosperity the world has ever seen; God bless America, now and always. Amen."

We've all heard a superabundance of such statements made by believers and pastors without a single protest that "this or that pastor claims to know the mind of God in speaking of God's blessings."

Who would ever object to the specific declaration of God's blessing? I've never heard anyone claim God's blessings are inscrutable.

But His judgments? Oh my, yes.

When it comes to blessings and grace and mercy, men speak with omniscience concerning God's will and agency, but when it comes to God's judgments, somehow everything becomes inscrutable and the man who dares to interpret those "acts of God' is a monster.

We all need to read Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana, or The Great Works of Christ in America, Book VI, titled, "A Faithful Record of Many Illustrious, Wonderful, Providences, Both of Mercies and Judgments on Divers Persons in New England--In Eight Chapters."

Professional wrestling drama in the PCA big top...

"In fact, right now, I’m in a denomination where only men should be deacons and therefore that’s what I believe….and I mean…. that’s what I hold to…and that’s what I support and I don’t…... I do very little in the way of trying to undermine people’s belief on that."

- Tim Keller explaining that everyone watching him and his church and presbytery's actions for years, now, have misunderstood their significance. Completely misunderstood their significance. Things are not at all what they seem. Not at all.

(Tim) The debate between Tim Keller and Lig Duncan at the PCA General Assembly last month was a professional wrestling match with the conflict carefully scripted to produce no pain or danger. The room was packed with 750 commissioners and their wives, but if anyone showed up hoping for the appearance of consciences and convictions, they were disappointed: there there was none of this, "Here I stand; I can do no other; God help me" sort of thing.

Some of the statements documented here should have been met with raspberries or guffaws.

So, why give the exchange broader distribution?

Well, I'm hopeful those who weren't there will be scandalized. And, seeing the words in black and white, some who were there will realize they should have been scandalized and it's not to their credit they weren't.

This stuff is totally awful and the fact that no one said so is simply an indication of the hankering after fame and success that sells tabloids and woman church officers, alike...

"Liars at least acknowledge that it matters what is true..."

(Tim, w/thanks to David B.) Shortly after posting on the charade-posing-as-debate-over-woman-officers-in-the-PCA, I opened an old e-mail from David Baker and read this one-paragraph review of a book that might have arrived in the nick of time. We're at a kairos in our denomination, and before we go whole hog for submergent contextualization, we ought to give Harry Frankfurt's latest work a chance. Here's a description:

One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody some good...

(Tim, w/thanks to Scott) Being profoundly color blind, I've known it's not always a deficit. Here's a good article on the sexes, their senses and sense utilities (ahem) documenting what I've long known; that the ill wind of colorblindness does indeed blow us some good.

The story's told that, during the Second World War, the RAF had a small group of pilots they noted were quite good at spotting camouflage. When they looked into the matter, they found the thing this group of pilots had in common was that they were all color blind and had memorized the color charts to get into the RAF.

As the article puts it, "'Dichromads do better at tasks where color acts as a distraction,' in situations where spotting camouflaged objects is important, for example."

Register now for ClearNote's "Standing in the Gap" conference...

(Tim) We're looking forward to hosting a number of you for the first annual ClearNote Fellowship conference, Standing in the Gap, to be held here in Bloomington two weeks from now, July 10-12. If you haven't done it yet, please register now and we'll look forward to meeting you and your children.

Online registration is available. And here's a PDF of the conference brochure for you to download. Message titles include, Who Will Stand?; Fight or Flight--True or False Contextualization; Cheap Grace; and Worship Wars.

We plan a refreshing time of fellowship, teaching, food, and worship. The whole family is welcome--we'll be child-friendly but we'll also provide childcare.

I hope you'll register now and join with us for the weekend.

If you'd like more information, please e-mail (Mrs.) Ali Trout at churchoffice at shepherdchurch dot com. Or, give her a call, Tuesday through Friday, at (812) 825-2684.

The necessity of self-criticism...

(Tim) There's an excellent online community called the Puritan Board (just to the left) where discussions have been carried on, recently, concerning a couple posts, here. Predictably, The longest discussion focused on the Complaint filed against Metro NY Presbytery after their recent adoption of a position contrary to the PCA Book of Church Order--namely, approving the practice within her bounds of withholding ordination from male deacons and affirming male and female deacons serving together in diaconal ministry without sexual distinction.

The apologist for Redeemer's practice frequently posting here under the name "Mason" has been active in the discussion there, also, but with a somewhat different posture. You don't need to be a member of the Puritan Board to read the comments and I encourage our readers to note the common sentiment expressed that Metro NY, Redeemer, and other churches, presbyteries, and elders taking similar positions may need to be questioned concerning their practice.

More interesting to me, though, is the discussion recently put on ice by the Puritan Board's moderators because it was getting warm. Started by a man who posts under the nom de plume, Pergamum/MacDaddy, he wrote:

Article about the PCA

---

Is this a good article, bad article, accurate, inaccurate?

BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too...: The demographics of the PCA: Follow the money...

__________________
Pergamum

Interesting discussion, and a couple noteworthy things:

First, even reformed men seem to have fallen into the pomo trap of thinking they can reason while avoiding generalizations...

Woman deacons and the PCA: Bryan Chapell, Joe Novenson, and Tim Keller...

(Tim) From all the facts surrounding Metro New York Presbytery's recent formal approval of unordained male and female deacons serving together in her churches, without sexual distinction, what's the most noteworthy detail?

That the presbytery was informed that Teaching Elders Bryan Chapell and Joe Novenson, in agreement with TE Tim Keller, also did not think the presbytery should overture General Assembly with the proposal.

Woman deacons and the PCA: reading Tim Keller between the lines...

(Tim) In the article he wrote for the PCA's denominational magazine byFaith, Tim Keller gave his rationale for supporting... Well, exactly what?

Actually, he spent his entire article making elaborate arguments for what our Book of Church Order already permits.

Surprised?

Well, read what he wrote for national consumption and you'll see what I'm saying. Tim says he doesn't want women ordained to the diaconate.

So what's the big deal?

I'll let you in on a little-known fact not mentioned in the article: Tim and his session refuse ordination to the male deacons of their church.

Throw in that small fact and Tim's writing for the denominational magazine takes on an entirely different significance. Throw in that large fact and we realize the significance of Redeemer's mantra, their operative rule about all things sexual:

A woman may do anything a non-ordained man may do.

Since a woman may do anything a non-ordained man may do, they stopped ordaining deacons.

So now, as Deacons, women and men are both free to do the same things. Or, as unordained Deacons, women and men are free to do the same things. Or, as members of the Diaconate Team, women and men are free to do the same things. Or...

Whatever.

Wouldn't it have been helpful if Tim's article had mentioned the fact that Redeemer no longer ordains their male deacons?

Think about it: female deacons can do anything male deacons can do.

That is, after you've stopped ordaining your male deacons.

A breach with the Church fathers combined with no work of contextualization...

"Women at Redeemer will be free to use all the gifts, privately and publicly. There are no restrictions on (women's) ministry at all." -Keller/Redeemer

(Tim) In what was billed as a debate, but turned out to be more a love-fest between Tim Keller and Lig Duncan in the PCA's deniminational magazine byFaith, Tim gave his rationale for something approximating his church's practice of woman deacons. If readers take Tim's piece at face value without comparing this public argument with what Tim writes and does in his local church, everything will be muddied and obfuscation will win. The obfuscation may be unintentional or inadvertent, but it will win.

Thus it is that the article must be interpreted in the larger context of Redeemer's structure, words, and actions.

The operative rule at Redeemer with regard to all things sexual is, "A woman may do anything a non-ordained man may do." So the working out of Redeemer's theology of sexuality is that women at Redeemer are allowed to teach and exercise authority over men everywhere and always except from the pulpit Lord's Day morning and in any way reserved for the elders as they exercise something they call "teaching authority." But whatever this "teaching authority" is, it's not when women teach Scripture to men because that precise thing they explicitly allow:

"In a nutshell, our position is this: whatever a non-ruling elder male can do in the church, a woman can do. We do not believe that I Timothy 2:11 or I Cor.14:35-36 precludes women teaching the Bible to men or speaking publicly. To 'teach with authority' (I Tim.2:11) refers to disciplinary authority over the doctrine of someone. For example, when an elder says to a member: 'You are telling everyone that they must be circumcised in order to be saved--that is a destructive, non-Biblical teaching which is hurting people spiritually. You must desist from it or you will have to leave the church.' That is 'teaching authority'--it belongs only to the elders. Thus, women at Redeemer will be free to use all the gifts, privately and publicly. There are no restrictions on ministry at all...

Lucas Weeks on AIDS in Africa, particularly Uganda...

(Tim) Four years ago, Lucas Weeks wrote a paper on AIDS in Africa for a class he was taking at Indiana University. He focused particularly on the politicization of the issue and some of the success one nation, Uganda, had achieved in protecting the public health of her citizens. But of course no one wanted to know about the reason for Uganda's success because it demonstrated the immutable glory of God's Law.

Recent crud on Her.minutiae prompts me to make Lucas' paper available here for any interested in this issue. Lucas' parents are lifelong missionaries to Africa, focusing particularly on the same country his grandparents served as missionaries which in the past has been known as Congo or Zaire, but now is called the Democratic Republic of Congo.

To Mary Lee's and my joy, Lucas is now our son-in-law, married to our youngest daughter, Hannah. Currently a second-year student at ClearNote Pastors College, I hope you enjoy his paper. As you read, please keep in mind Lucas wrote this back in 2005.

A meditation for the middle of Holy Week...

(Tim) Too many hop, skip, and jump through the Christian year, from Palm Sunday to Easter to the Fourth of July to Christmas. Even among those who are more observant, though, almost none of us include the cleansing of the Temple, the cursing of the fig tree, and the condemnation of the elders, stated clerks, and pastors in our Holy Week festivities.

So, dear souls, why did the religious leaders hate Him so? Why did they spend a night suborning perjury? Why did they hound Him to death? And what occupied Jesus' time between the cries of "Hosanna to Son of David" and these, a few days later: "His blood be upon us and upon our children! Crucify him!"?

Earlier today, a comment was posted elsewhere on this blog that included this statement:

I simply think we need to be careful before generalizing a particular trait to an entire class of people. Categories are useful for us humans, but I don't think God sees us in those terms...

To which I responded with a comment that, by private e-mail, a reader requested I post here on the front page. So here it is, my own meditation for the middle of Holy Week:

Dear (Reader),

There's truth in what you write, but the minority report is stunning...

Faithful are the wounds of a friend...

(Tim) Yesterday, our text was Matthew 27:1-10, the account of Judas' repentance and suicide. What a terrible end he chose!

Then, this morning, I read the following meditation Michael Foster put up on Facebook and I got thinking about Judas, again. Judas was paid handsomely to betray Jesus and did so by kissing him. The Apostle Paul resisted Peter to his face. Two men and two public actions that shouldn't be hard to interpret. Yet Judas was our Lord's enemy and Paul was Peter's friend. Appearances are deceiving, aren't they?

Here's Michael's helpful post...

Snoring in the gap...

(Tim) Back when Dad (Joe Bayly) was serving as Executive Director of Christian Medical Society (now Christian Medical and Dental Society), he sent me a copy of the following editorial from the September, 1970 issue of California Medicine, the journal of the California Medical Association. I've referred to this editorial in prior posts, but never run the editorial itself.

It might help readers understand David's and my commitment to push Christian medical professionals hard in matters of life and death if they knew that, in my files, I have copies of a series of letters between C. Everett Koop and Dad immediately following Dad's assumption of the leadership of CMS.

In the first letter, Dad tells Koop that he intends to lead CMS to adopt an anti-abortion position as official policy. On that basis, then, Dad appeals to Koop to restore his membership in CMA.

Prior to then (1979-80), CMS had refused to take a stand against abortion and Koop had resigned in protest...

Read Edwards for yourself...

(Tim, w/thanks to Jake) For a number of years, Yale's been hard at it putting the works of Jonathan Edwards online, freely available for hoi polloi who can no longer afford the critical edition now running around $110 per volume . It's an ill wind that blows nobody some good, though, and I suspect the high price of the hard copies is part of the reason all of us are now able to search the volumes online. So I'm happy.

Don't allow anyone else to give your Edwards to you. When I was at seminary in New England, I took a course in Edwards' works under Richard Lovelace. One night (it was a small evening seminar), I well remember coming to the session with great anticipation, having read a good portion of Edward's harder truths that week. But then, Dr. Lovelace started the class with a statement to the effect that "Here, Edwards goes a little bit off the deep edge, engaging in his well-known penchant for negativity."

Yes, yes; that's the problem with Edwards. He's so negative you get an ulcer reading him. What we need today is something positive that people can relate to; something that will give people hope and not lead them into despair.

Well, if you've read Edwards, you know that there are few men in the history of the Church who are more...

A few reasons why gambling dishonors God...

(Tim) Many believers gamble, some in the stock market, others playing bingo or the lottery, and still others in casinos. So posting this from David Wegener, our Africa correspondent, is no exercise in a well-worn public policy debate, but rather a pastoral warning to me, you, and every believer. Thank you, David, for passing this on.

* * *

We got some new books for the Theological College of Central Africa library, recently. Now they are being processed to go into the collection and I was reading one of them this morning. The book is, John H. Leith, 2001, Pilgrimage of a Presbyterian: Collected Shorter Writings, ed Charles E. Raynal, Louisville: Geneva Press. On pages 208-13, there's a short article he wrote in 1956 titled, "Gambling--What's Wrong with It?." Here's a summary:

1. "Gambling encourages the belief that a man can enjoy the advantages of a prosperous society without making a significant contribution to that society."

2. "Gambling arouses false hopes and gives little in return."

3. "Gambling is parasitic by nature. It creates no new wealth and performs no useful service. At best, it merely redistributes wealth from ... the many ... to the few."

4. Gambling is an attempt "to escape responsible work..."

President Obama: "Meet the new boss, same as..."

(Tim) Here’s the truth. Obama is the oppressor of children, born and unborn. But since his skin color is black, we can’t believe he’d oppress anyone. So we come out with all this blather about other social justice issues equally commanding our attention as Christians. Our goal, of course, is to obscure the fact that abortion absolutely dwarfs the death toll of all other forms of oppression around the world combined. That’s combined, brothers and sisters!

Why, just in these United States alone, since the bloody decision, Roe v. Wade, was issued, our nation has torn limb from limb, leg from torso, body from mother’s womb, over fifty million—50,000,0000—of our little children.

This number is so large that it makes Africans' Rwanda, Asians' Pol Pot, and Europeans' Hitler look tame by comparison. The only bloody oppressors who are even close to slaughtering the numbers we have slaughtered by our own national, systemic, bloody, oppressive, enslaving child-murders are Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong.

But, get this: If instead of talking about the death toll in our nation alone, we consider the international death toll from child slaughter through the murders we call “abortions,” then we’re talking about one Joseph Stalin every year. That’s well over 50,000,000 children slaughtered EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

It’s disgusting for otherwise educated and thoughtful men to seek to legitimize their conniving at this great bloody oppression that defines our nation by sniveling about systemic poverty and education and secondhand smoke and carbon emissions and AIDS.

If men who claim to know the Triune God want to vote Democratic; if men who claim to know the Triune God and have faith in Jesus Christ have black skin and want to vote for another man with black skin; we’d all be better off if they’d have the courage of their prejudices and admit them... You know, something like, “I’m afraid of not appearing progressive enough.” Or “I’m afraid my congregation would have my hide if I didn’t speak up for the brother.”

An open letter to African brothers in Christ on the occasion of Obama's Inauguration...

(Tim; this from and by Rev. David Wegener of Ndola, Zambia)

* * *
This is an open letter from an American Reformed Christian living in Africa to my African Christian friends on the occasion of the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the U.S.A.

20 January 2009

Dear African Christian Brother:

I would ask you to pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ in the church in America, particularly for those who believe in the complete truthfulness of Scripture.

I’ve just begun a new term at the college and one of the courses I teach is a survey of church history. Last week we learned about Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, who was asked to curse Christ or die. The old man replied, “for 86 years I have served Him and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Minutes after making this good confession he was burned alive... We also read about Blandina, a slave girl who endured indescribable tortures before being killed for her faith. In a few weeks we’ll study Athanasius, who was exiled from his pastorate five times because of his faith in our triune God and his willingness to stand alone against the world for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.

John the Baptist's moral performance narrative...

(Tim: This from and by Eric Wilson)

Scene: Children sitting in the marketplace...

Aaron: As exciting as it's been to see and hear of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, I could hardly be more disappointed in John the Baptist, lately. I just don’t understand what he was trying to do.

Bartholomew: Really, it’s not that surprising. He always struck me as caught up in the "moral-performance narrative"...

Simple tests for Christian slander...

He who conceals hatred has lying lips, and he who spreads slander is a fool. (Proverbs 10:18)

(Tim) This afternoon, I was talking with a man who was describing how a young couple had been alienated from their church, in large part because of a bad report they heard from a couple who had left that church to escape the discipline of its elders. And yesterday, I heard a similar report from a couple who had been subjected to their church leadership repeating evil and malicious words against another church, while every indication was that their leaders had never spoken personally to those they were attacking. "Lying lips" and "he who spreads slander" are constants in pastoral ministry, and always have been. Thus the Apostle Paul writes:

 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. (Ephesians 4:31)

Man leaves church angry and bitter at church's leadership for their correction or rebuke of him. He's accepted into another neighboring church without question. Yet he's not content to have left his former church. From bitterness, he slanders it to anyone who will listen--starting with his new pastor, church board, and members.

But maybe it's not slander at all, right? Churches do abuse people and you can't be too careful guarding against church popes and dictators who oppress the souls under their care. So how do you know when you're listening to slander and when the bad report is actually true?

A few simple tests will make things clear.

First, ask the person badmouthing their former church whether he has been formally disciplined by that church...

Right here in Kinsey City...

(Tim, w/thanks to many) Looks like Indiana, and now Bloomington, are becoming watchwords for crimes against humanity. First, we had Christmas gift certificates offered by the bloodthirsty wretches of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, legal tender for anything Planned Parenthood offers--including baby slaughter. Now, Live Action Films has released this video showing the counselling minor children get here in Bloomington, at the abortuary our church members picket faithfully, year after year.

What? Can it really be true that child-murderers will help cover up the statutory rape of a 13-year-old by a 31-year-old man? Horrors!

Planned Parenthood here in Bloomington just announced they've suspended the film's villain pending their own internal investigation. Child-murderer is suspended pending investigation of allegations she covered up statutory rape. What a precious piece of hypocrisy...

Wilson vs. Hitchens...

(Tim w/thanks to Lucas) No, not that Hitchens, sillies; this one. Watching this trailer for a soon-to-be released documentary of the debate last year between Doug Wilson and purported atheist, Christopher Hitchens, I thought back to a conversation I had with longtime Village Voice columnist, ACLU board member, jazz expert, and one of the two or three best essayists against euthanasia, infanticide, and child-slaughter in our land, Nat Hentoff. He was in Madison for a speaking engagement and, being active in Presbyterians Pro-Life at the time, I asked Mr. Hentoff if he'd be open to an invitation to debate an abortion advocate at our Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly?

Quickly, he said "Yes," but then inquired, "Why would you want me?"

I responded that I thought he'd be perfect because he'd speak from the same presuppositional basis as our denominational leaders.

Another part of our conversation that sticks in my mind was Hentoff saying, "Every atheist should be pro-life because life's all we have."

Obama, Bell & McLaren: Some people are being fangoriously devoured by gelatinous monsters...

(Tim, w/thanks to David L.; and if you want to understand the title, watch the cartoon on the second page) Half the professors at the PCA's Covenant College believe our President-elect, Barack Obama, is a Christian.

Yes, he's a Christian in the same way Rob Bell and Brian McLaren are Christians. Or maybe I should say he's a pastor in the same way Rob Bell and Brian McLaren are pastors.

Don't tune me out, here...

The morning after...

(Tim) Natalie is a longtime friend of the Bayly family--particularly our eldest daughter, Heather. This afternoon, Heather forwarded this e-mail she received from Natalie earlier today, and I asked Heather if Natalie would permit my posting it? Natalie was fine with it. I appreciated very much what she had to say and thought it would strengthen our readers, also. So here are the post-election thoughts and feelings of a young Christian wife and mother named (Mrs.) Natalie Calhoun.

* * *
I'm feeling pensive and sad this morning. It has less to do with who won the election, though I am disappointed in that result. It has much more to do with who voted for him. Perhaps I was naive to believe that people I respected in college, who, I thought, shared my world view, would think the same as me. But I don't understand this wave of young Christian people who supported and voted for Obama. I really want to understand.

I have heard a lot about social justice with regard to this election. I'm for justice. I'm for taking care of "the least of these". I believe that "true religion is taking care of widows and orphans." What I can't get over is the complete disregard for the value of life that is represented by Obama and how a Christian can support that...

The practical atheism of Christians who vote for the Democratic Party...

(Tim, w/thanks to James) On this Election Day, here's an artifact of history from the editors of Touchstone, a Christian magazine I subscribe to and recommend. Originally run in 2003, this editorial is more pertinent today than it was five years ago. If you read nothing else, be sure to read the last two paragraphs...

Practical atheism revisited

Last week I came upon an editorial I wrote during the 2003 political season which seems to me even more applicable now. Today I would add that whatever one thinks about Senator Obama's plans for using government power to take money from those who have more of it and give it to those who have less, the social control which must be gained to make such things come to pass has never boded well for Christians in the countries where it has happened. The Gentiles, even--or perhaps especially--the religious ones, have not changed their opinions about people who regard them as morally unclean, nor will they fail to punish them for it when they gain sufficient power. What concerns them, I believe, is not so much that the poor be enriched, but that the middle classes be brought as low as possible by confiscation of their ethically significant wealth...

Barack Obama Rocks XXIII: Pomo politicians, profs, and preachers...

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside." (1 Corinthians 1:17-19)

(Tim) Here are some thoughts about the state of our civil compact as we approach Election Day. And, following the political stuff, I make a stab at some applications to those who identify themselves as the prophetic voices of the Emergent Church. If your patience wears thin with the political part, buck up and finish it because it forms the perfect backdrop to grow in our understanding of the goals and strategy of church leaders today who have woman deacons, talk a lot about the city and contextualization, and have a staff member titled "Associate Pastor for Art, Weird Glasses, and Chai." First, then, let's look at the political scene...

David Wells is a reasonable person...

(Tim, w/thanks to Jake) Day after tomorrow, my former prof, David Wells, will give a chapel lecture at TEDS titled, “How, Then, Should We Preach to Postmodern Persons?”

As a teaser question to get people interested, Dr. Wells was asked, "What is a postmodern person?"

He responded:

“Postmodern is how we are speaking about our current cultural mood.  While in some ways we become more and more modern—more technological advances, more information, more medical breakthroughs, and more things—in terms of a world-and-life view, we are adrift. The old Enlightenment paradigm with its belief in unaided, naturalistic reason, human potential, and the prospect of progress have all collapsed.  In the way we think about our lives, we are not modern but postmodern because we think about ourselves differently from what was true up though the 1960’s.”

Leaving everything else aside, did you notice the one absolutely glaring thing about Wells' lecture?

Submergent men innoculate souls against the Gospel...

(Tim) It's hard reading the old guys. Think about Jonathan Edwards preaching any of his sermons to his flock in Northampton--any sermon at all, just pick one. In those days, the church wasn't a thinly sliced part of the town's demographic. Being reformed didn't mean smoking cigars, drinking single malts, keeping one eye on the Dow Jones and the other on the R. C. Sproul video. Rich and poor, young and old alike sat under Edwards' preaching and understood him.

Today, even pastors who spend our lives working with words are challenged just trying to read Edwards. If we'd been there to listen to him, the sermon's length, vocabulary, logic, and the prominence of biblical terrors would have left us stupefied. We would have left the church-house shaking our heads and clucking our disapproval.

The old guys require the reader to be literate and to have a heart knowledge of the Word of God. But who has the patience for such work today? And what congregation would put up with it?

Submergent wolves know this...

Peddling the Word of God...

For we are not like many, peddling the word of God... (2 Corinthians 2:17a)

(Tim, w/thanks to Jeff) You couldn't make this stuff up, could you? One company's peddling an "Illuminated" Bible that "looks more like a gossip rag you'd find in a dentist's office than a Bible... (and) features intense pictures of violence and death around the world along with the people who are working to find solutions for many of today's problems."

Intense pictures of violence and death? Maybe it has color images of aborted children's body parts next to a photo of Judie Brown, Joe Schiedler, or Justices Thomas, Scalia, or Roberts?

Not missing a beat, Zondervan's released a Green Bible that "highlights more than 1,000 verses about the earth in soy-based green ink" and contains "essays by religious leaders and other resources on eco-justice." The Green Bible's editor, Michael Maudlin, reports that environmental concerns are "a big part of the Christian agenda today, especially among the youth."

Also, this: "Matthew Sleeth, a doctor who's been pushing fellow evangelicals to go green in recent years, writes in his introduction to the Green Bible that the biggest problem in the world is that the planet is dying."

Over seventy million babies slaughtered each year by medical ghouls and the mothers and fathers who paid them, but bad doctor Sleeth breathlessly reports the imminent death of the planet itself. Or maybe I should say, "the planet herself."

Critique of Pastor Keller's promotion of woman deacons, part 1: His advocacy in its larger context in his congregation...

(Tim) Over on byFaith's site, Tim Keller gave his rationale recently for Redeemer's practice related to woman deacons. This is the first in a series of posts critiquing Tim Keller's article. (Here are installments one, two, three, four, five, and six.)

What's interesting is not so much what Tim wrote, but what his readers commenting beneath his piece said and didn't say. Or what they considered and what they didn't consider in weighing his claims and arguments.

Tim Keller's article must be interpreted in the larger context of his ministry at Redeemer. Only then will it be understood properly. The operative rule at Redeemer with regard to all things sexual is, "A woman may do anything a non-ordained man may do." So the working out of Redeemer's theology of sexuality is that women at Redeemer are allowed to teach and exercise authority over men everywhere and always except from the pulpit Lord's Day morning and in any way reserved for the elders as they exercise something they call "teaching authority." But whatever this "teaching authority" is, it's not when women teach Scripture to men because that precise thing they explicitly allow.

When Tim Keller claims to hold firmly to Scripture's Creation Order of sexuality, those weighing his claim should know that the actual implementation of that Order in his church would be unrecognizable to any previous generation of Christians...

Solidarity, clinical sterility, shame, and condemnation...

(Tim) Speaking of what words to use to refer to a certain type of sexual immorality, I don't remember leaving a comment on this blog where someone used the word David Lehr mentions in one of his recent comments, but I don't question David's accuracy. For myself, I prefer the word 'sodomy' and would be pleased for those who comment to avoid other terms, whether 'bugger' or 'gay.'

'Gay' because it's a word expressing solidarity with an oppressed people group and there's no hint of shame or condemnation. Souls who believe in the plenary verbal inspiration of Scripture--that it's every word of Scripture that's inspired, not simply the concepts those words convey--should desire to speak as Scripture does.

Those complaining here about a lack of love and gentleness in the comments and citing Scripture to make their point are, by their arguments, agreeing that Scripture is the standard for our words. Would they, though, take a confessing Christian to task for using the word 'gay?'

They ought to. 'Gay' says all the wrong things and none of the right ones...

Covenant College faculty members take courageous stand...

(Tim, w/thanks to Dave) Last week, a friend in Florida wrote to call my attention to an article detailing the results of a political survey of the faculty at Covenant College, the school affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America. (Students were polled, also.)

Conducted by the school's Director of Institutional Research, Kevin Eames, the survey received responses from 47 faculty members. Here's what Covenant's administration wants prospective students and their parents to know about these faculty members:

Eighty-eight percent of Covenant's faculty have doctorates or terminal degrees, earned from such institutions as Oxford, Stanford, Yale, and the University of Chicago. Our professors regularly involve students in their research activities.  In fact, many students actually help edit books that their professors are writing.

The administration goes on to describe faculty members as "passionate about teaching and sharing their Reformed faith in a setting that sharpens the intellect and encourages increased awe of our sovereign God." Then, by way of reassurance, Oxford and passion are anchored by the declaration that "all faculty members subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith."

So, what might doctorates from Yale and Stanford, combined with a passion for the reformed faith and the Westminster Standards, lead these men and women to profess to our children about Christ's dominion in these United States and our own confession of that faith in this election year?

Asked, "Do you believe John McCain is a Christian," 33 of the 47 faculty members responding said either "No" or "Not sure." This seems safe since I read just last night that Senator McCain has never received Christian baptism. Likely not one of those faculty members questioning Senator McCain's Christian faith knew that, though.

Still, my concern is certainly not to prove Senator McCain's Christian faith, to get others to agree that he's sincere in his Christian profession, or leastwise to write this post to the end that even one reader will decide to vote for him or the Republican party. Such concerns have not entered my mind.

But on to Senator Obama. Different candidate, same question: "Do you believe Barack Obama is a Christian?" Twenty-one faculty members are definite in their response with five answering "No" and sixteen "Yes."

What ocular disease has led sixteen of our best and brightest to say for the record among students they are paid to lead into a greater knowledge of Christ's Lordship over all the earth that a man who unabashedly promotes baby-slaughter and sodomite marriage is certainly a Christian? If Senator Obama is a Christian, Robert Mugabe is born again and Jean Paul Sartre was a strict subscriptionist Presbyterian pastor.

Or, put another way...

"Discernment was discouraged"...

(Tim, w/thanks to David) Evangelicals hate discernment. To hate discernment is to hate truth. God's Word is truth.

But evangelicals love God's Word, right? Evangelicals love truth.

These thoughts upon the occasion of this article announcing the divorce of Lakeland revivalist, Todd Bentley. Charisma magazine's editor, J. Lee Grady, admits Bentley's failure has serious implications for the entire pentecostal/charismatic movement. Here's an excerpt from Grady's mea culpa...