BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too...

Pics and housekeeping...

(Tim) Some of you saw my mistake earlier this morning, when a picture of David and me was riding roughshod over much of the first page. I could explain how it happened, but who cares? I'm sorry for my mistake.

That said, you'll see that David and I have aged. We're five years older than we were when the last pic was taken by our dear friend, Dr. Bob Forney, and it seemed vain to leave our younger faces and physiques up when what you saw was not what you'd get. So now we're more honest. Please note that David's svelte and I'm not. This is one of the many things I envy him for (but of course, never sinfully).

I want to thank Jessica Major for our new blog photo, as well as this photo of our mother, Mary Lou Bayly. A longtime family friend, Miss Major also took a number of other excellent photos at the most recent Bayly wedding when Miss Hannah Marie Bayly (our fourth of five) and Mr. Lucas Weeks did plight their troths.

On another theme, if you want to communicate with me on any serious subject, would you please send me an e-mail rather than going through Facebook? It's important for me to keep searchable copies of all correspondence, and I prefer to do this in my e-mail program rather than Facebook. My e-mail address is tbbayly at gmail dot com.

"And certainly the man was fat..."

(Tim) Reading through the weighty discussion of sloth, gluttony, sanctification, and metabolism, I was reminded of one of my favorite poems posted here last March. Here it is once more:

Teddy Bear

by A. A. Milne

A bear, however hard he tries,
Grows tubby without exercise.
Our Teddy Bear is short and fat,
Which is not to be wondered at;
He gets what exercise he can
By falling off the ottoman,
But generally seems to lack
The energy to clamber back.

Now tubbiness is just the thing
Which gets a fellow wondering;
And Teddy worried lots about
The fact that he was rather stout.
He thought: "If only I were thin!

Continued problems with TypePad's spam filter...

(Tim) Dear readers, we continue to have problems with TypePad's spam filter rejecting legitimate comments. So please do this for us: If you post a comment but don't see it up on the blog, please send me an e-mail letting me know about it. If it was caught by the spam filter, I'll see if I can't post it myself.

Thanks for your patience.

R. C. Sproul on "the myth of influence"...

(Tim) Responding, I believe, to the inclination of pastors to avoid the biblical doctrine of election in their teaching and preaching work, Calvin points out that all Scripture is God-breathed, and therefore profitable. Those who avoid any doctrine Scripture reveals are denying the profitability of that doctrine for the souls under their care.

Brothers, think of the many doctrines we avoid. Do we really know better than the Spirit of God what is profitable to those whose watch-care has been entrusted to us? Are we wiser than God? Should each generation produce a Bible with the texts most suited to its day intact and all others excised?

But of course, the irony is that the doctrines we cut out today are precisely those must suited to the battle that rages around us. For twenty years, now, I've tried to get pastors to preach and teach on the biblical doctrine of sexuality--all to almost no avail. Too controverted. Too controversial. Too compromised in my personal life. Too cowardly.

Twelve years ago, I spoke with R. C. at a conference in Chicago. Lamenting the unwillingness of men to take a stand against neutered versions of Scripture, R.C. said something I've often thought of since...

Thank you, Ben...

(Tim) The past couple of days, my son-in-law, Ben Crum, worked for hours trying to fix some of the problems we've been having on this blog. The most tenacious one finally yielded to his attack this morning and we now have clear indicators at the bottom of comment pages telling readers if there's a second page of comments; and if there is, how to get there and back.

You may wonder why this wasn't simple?

Thanks for your patience...

(Tim) We've all noticed the problems around here, lately. Comments have been pulled by the spam filter and I've tried my best to assure those hitting this wall that it's nothing personal. If it helps, comfort yourselves that this past week I myself had a comment rejected by the spam filter--and this, I believe, while I was signed in as one of the two blog owners!

But there have been other things, too...

Can anyone help with TypePad?

(Tim) Currently, once our comments get past fifty under any post, a tiny indication is given in the form of this symbol:

»

If anyone knows how to beef this up to something easier to find and note, I'd be grateful. But be forewarned that we use Advanced Templates, so the normal box under "Feedback" cannot be used for the change.

Also, is there any way to override the fifty limit on comments per page?

Thanks. If you can help, please e-mail me at tbbayly at gmail dot com and we can trade phone numbers.

Housekeeping, continued: "If anyone thinks himself to be religious..."

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. (James 1:26)

(Tim) "Sherman, the other day you let fly a comment here that was one of the most personally offensive comments I've seen on this blog. Immediately I pulled it and wrote you to explain why it was inappropriate--just in case you were clueless concerning the damage your words would do to the woman concerned.

But your comment was returned with a fatal error: turned out you'd chosen not only to withhold your last name, but you hadn't used a real e-mail address, either.

Sir, until you write me personally from your real e-mail address, signing your real first and last names, you may not comment on this blog. Our rules require everyone, but particularly those who attack others personally, to sign their real first and last names and to use genuine e-mail addresses.

Of course, beyond those rules David and I have, there is the rule of the Holy Spirit found above, from James.

Would you all please be gentle with your brothers...

(Tim) Friends, TypePad is the software that serves this blog and they have an automatic spam filter that's been wreaking havoc with us the past couple of weeks. It's always been somewhat quirky, leading some to conclude that I'm carrying out a personal vendetta against them through it, but that's simply not the case. More recently, though, TypePad updated their software and I'm coming to wonder if our present problems aren't the result of that update. You know, bleeding edge and all that.

It may seem like I should be able easily to correct matters, but I can't...

Our apologies...

(Tim) There are times when comments are eaten up by TypePad's spam filter and we don't notice for several days. Sorry to those of you who sometimes get your comments eaten by the machine. Almost always, if we decide to pull or prohibit a comment, we'll communicate our decision to your e-mail address directly.

I apologize to several of you whose comments I just found in our spam queue. I've cleared them, but they won't show up in the left column because the comments list there works by date and time, and the comments the spam filter blocked from posting were from three days ago.

If you're having trouble getting a comment up, please e-mail me at tbbayly at gmail dot com and I'll see what I can do. Thank you for your understanding.

Sleepers awake...

(Tim) If you've read Augustine's Confessions you'll remember his debating the moral status of dreams. Fascinating part of one of the best books I've ever read. More Post-It notes stick out of my copy of the Confessions than any other book in my library, whatever that tells you.

Speaking of dreams, here's a shocker: As best I can tell, a dear friend of mine went to sleep an unbeliever, had a dream, and awoke to find childlike faith in Jesus Christ at the center of a heart that, prior to bedtime, had been vegan, feminist, pro-abort, hardshell, God-hating. Actually, as I think of it, I know two souls who, when they became believers, recounted dreams that had been the critical step in coming to faith.

Speaking of dreams, again, my present wife is the most wonderful wife I've ever had. That's a pic of us with our eldest, Heather, outside married student housing at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary back in about 1981 or so...

Letters to the editor and a certain faculty member at Covenant College...

(Tim) Blogs live in a weird world. On the one hand, posts can be responded to immediately in the comments section at the bottom of the page. On the other hand, posters can't live their lives responding to the comments unless the blog is all they do. Over 12,500 comments have come in to this blog in the past two and a half years and readers know it's not unusual for a single comment to run into the thousands of words.

Think about it this way...

Aunt Elaine remembered: Secretaries brawling at the World Trade Center...

(Tim) Some of you know that until December of this past year when she went to be with the Lord, my Dad's sister, Elaine Bayly, lived with us. She arrived in August of 2001, just days before the bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. What most of you don't know, though, is that Aunt Elaine spent a number of years building the World Trade Center. Mary Lee and I will always associate this day with Aunt Elaine's arrival as a blessing in our home, and remember her reaction to the bombing.

Aunt Elaine spent about seventy years living in the same apartment on Parsons Blvd. in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens. For a number of those years she worked as a secretary at Tishman Construction, project manager of the construction of the World Trade Center.

Aunt Elaine was personal secretary to the number one and number two men at Tishman on that project. Abe Levine was the second in command and here's his account of some of Aunt Elaine's work there--including the day two of her secretaries got into a brawl.

It's quite funny to think of wee little Aunt Elaine trying to figure out what to do. She was under five feet tall and weighed so little we sometimes had to tie her down to her dinner chair if our ceiling fan was on during dinner. Joke...

Ground rules, again...

(Tim) It's time once again to remind our readers that David and I have a rule that any comment critical of another person and posted here must be signed with the first and last name of the writer and a real e-mail address where he may be contacted. Thank you for your understanding.

A Bolt of lightning...

(David Wegener) Day Six (August 20): Lightning Strikes Twice in the Same Place

Women's 400-meter Hurdles: Won by the favorite Melaine Walker (Jamaica). The USA was expected to go 2-3 behind Walker, but got only the silver medal.

Women's Hammer Throw: Won by Aksana Miankova (Belarus), setting a new Olympic record of 76.34 meters and beating the favorite, Yipsi Moreno (Cuba).

Men's Pole Vault qualifying: Several stars, who have vaulted over six meters, did not qualify for the finals. Unfortunately, the best in the world for the last two years, Brad Walker (USA), was one of them, as was the snake handler, Jeff Hartwig. Tough break for them and the American team.

Men's 200 meters: Well, what can I say. Enough has been said about Usain Bolt not only winning the gold but breaking Michael Johnson's record that was once considered unbreakable. To give a little perspective...

A Beijing 2008 Olympic Games track and field primer...

(Tim) Realizing how many of us are boycotting the Olympics because of the persecution of Christians and other crimes China commits against her people, I also realize this is something believers can differ over and both sides hold their convictions quite sincerely. My daughter, Michal, is boycotting; my daughter-in-law, Heidi, is not. My friend, David Wegener, is a missionary to Zambia and subscribes to some exotic track and field publication, so the Olympics for him are like the Super Bowl and World Series all wrapped up in one. Today, he sent me the following post and I trust those of you dear friends who are boycotting will not spit on me for sharing it with those who aren't.

* * *

Men’s 100 meters: Tough call. Tyson Gay would have been the favorite but he injured his leg in the 200-meter race during the U.S. Olympic Trials. He says he has recovered fully but I think it’s disinformation. The two Jamaicans, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell are now the favorites. I’d go with Powell.

Men’s 200 meters: My favorite would have been Gay but he didn’t make the team in this event, falling to the track with a hamstring injury at the Trials in Eugene. Usain Bolt will win. He is tall and can unwind better in this longer event, even though he recently set the world record in the 100 meters, breaking Powell’s record...

THE BOX BASH: You and your children are invited!

(Tim) Church of the Good Shepherd is having a grand opening this Saturday, July 12th, and we're calling it The Box Bash. (Here's the web site--beautiful work, Ben!) Here's our ad:

Come to the Box Bash!

A community carnival and concert for everyone, festivities will begin at  3 PM. There will be a free dinner at 6 and a free concert at 7. Fun for Everyone!

Free food, a live concert with the Good Shepherd Band, the Dunk-a-Pastor Dunking Booth, Dangerous Boys Shooting Gallery, Face Painting, Wii Knockout, Horseshoes, Free-Throw Shootout, the Baker Boys' Double-Jeopardy Trivia Challenge, and so much more!

It's all happening at Church of the Good Shepherd, 2501 South Endwright Road (across from Karst Farm Park).

The concert will feature our own Good Shepherd Band, including live covers of Cake, Radiohead, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

COME ONE, COME ALL!

How to choose a church...

Out of the kindness of our church and her elders, Mary Lee and I are away on a two-week study leave for me to work on completing a book tentatively titled, How To Choose a Church: Lessons from the Apostolic Church in Jerusalem. Dear Mary Lee has suggested I post a short excerpt and ask for your prayers for the completion of the work, and that it would serve the Church well. So would you please pray for this work?

Maybe it would be good to mention that most of the posts, but particularly the last two--on divorce and remarriage, and why David and I still call ourselves "evangelicals"--were written some time ago and, since then, have been awaiting posting.

Here's the preface...

Christian father, how will your son fill his time during summer vacation?

(Tim, w/thanks to Taylor) Son Taylor just sent me a link to this article from ESPN about spelling bee wiz, Samir Patel. It's an endearing portrait. I particularly appreciated this statement by his professor of government, Lou Bradizza, and thought Christian parents ought to think this way...

Mary Lee's E-mail address...

(Tim) This afternoon, we sent an E-mail out with my wife, Mary Lee's, new E-mail address. Knowing some friends will have been missed, here is her new address: maryleebayly at gmail dot com.

Check out Bike Bubba's blog...

(Tim) Until just now, I'd not checked out "Bike Bubba's" blog. If you're the same, don't waste a minute--go there now. And if you're a bike-lover wanting a good financial rationalization for purchasing at $10,000 bike, run there now. Here's a teaser from one of his (Bert Perry's) posts, "Completely Missing the Point:"

Evidently, Paul McCartney had a luxury hybrid car FLOWN to him halfway around the world to avoid waiting for its delivery via ship, using something like 6000 gallons of jet fuel to do so. I don't think I can think of a better picture of a limousine liberal, with the possible exception of Al Gore and his private jets and 10000 s.f. mansion using 10x the energy of an ordinary home.

A personal note concerning my E-mail address...

(Tim) For well over a decade, now, I've maintained the same Earthlink E-mail address. For several years now, though, I've used a Gmail address and had my Earthlink mail forwarded to that address. Now, it's time to stop paying Earthlink (and the Scientologists) a monthly fee for that forwarding. So if you're a friend or relative and you might want to E-mail me, would you please change my E-mail address to tbbayly at gmail dot com? Note, it's tbbayly--not tbayly. Thanks.

An apology...

Dear readers,

In the past couple of weeks, David and I have been asked a number of questions concerning the pastoral implications of things we've written. And although I've intended to respond to some of those inquiries, time has passed and few of them have been addressed. Further, it's now clear they won't be if they haven't been already. Please forgive us.

But if truth be told, it's likely we won't respond to most criticisms or questions--not because we're cantankerous or rude (although we can be), but because we have other demands that keep us from it.

David and I trust you will be understanding in this. Further, we thank those of you who have been so helpful in answering many of these questions with godly wisdom yourselves. That blessing has heartened us in this work.

With love,

Tim (and David)

Speaking of taxes, a question...

Does tax software work well for pastors, too?

For years I've used B. J. Worth's excellent book and forms to file my taxes. In my judgment, there's no better source for pastors and church treasurers to get tax information concerning the intricacies of pastors' withholding, the proper filing of forms, the keeping of records, how to deal with business expenses, etc.

Until now, I've never trusted tax software to handle the complicated tax policies the IRS applies to pastors. But I'd like to switch to software so I'm wondering if any of you use tax software to file? If so, has it handled pastor's taxes well, or do you have to tweak it to get it to do things right?

Thanks for the help, dear brothers.

Easter worship and a big feast: You are invited!

(Tim) All the people of Church of the Good Shepherd invite those of you within driving distance of Bloomington (who are not a part of a Bible-believing church) to come and join us for worship tomorrow morning.

It's Easter--the day of greatest joy in the Christian year--and it would make our day even more joyful if you would join us for worship and a real big feast set to start at Noon. In fact, if you can't make it for worship and you'd like to come just for the feasting, do it! We'd love to have you. Don't bother bringing anything--there's more than enough already and you and your family or friends won't go hungry. We promise.

If you're curious what the feel of worship is here, tomorrow's service will begin with the traditional Easter greeting, then we'll sing "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today." We'll confess our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed, sing "Crown Him with Many Crowns" and "Because He Lives."

There will be two Scripture readings from 1Corinthians 15 and Matthew 28 as well as a shorter sermon for children and Bob Dylan's "In The Garden" (from his Saved CD.) The main Bible preaching/sermon will be on the glory of Jesus Christ and it will be titled, "God Highly Exalted Him" from Philippians 2. Afterwards, worship will come to an end with "We Will Dance" and, just prior to the feast, a congregational sing-along of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus...

Yes, Easter is very early this year...

(Tim, from Robert) Easter this year is Sunday March 23, 2008. As you may know, Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20th).

This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Jews used to identify Passover, and it's the reason Easter moves around on our Roman calendar.

Easter can be one day earlier, on March 22nd, but that's pretty rare.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will see the rest of our lives. And only the most elderly have seen it this early. You'd have to be at least 95 years old. None of us will ever see it earlier.

The next time Easter will be this early (March 23rd) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913.

The next time it will be a day earlier, on March 22nd, will be the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was March 22nd was 1818.

Gimme a break...

(Tim) I'll be out of town for the next week and a half with no easy internet connection, and therefore unable to keep up with comments. I've written a few things that will be posted automatically on set dates. Lord willing, see you all around Easter. May God bless you all.

Steve Jobs revisited...

If you haven't listened to the Steve Jobs speech, trust me and do it. And when you're done listening to it, here's the transcript.

While we're on the subject, run through these fifteen pages of Jobs' interview with Fortune and you'll learn more about leadership than you would reading church growth books nonstop for a month.

Finally, if you want to know the man's failures...

Steve Jobs on God's eternal decrees, love, and death...

(Tim, w/thanks to Peter) The man who introduced me to Macs almost twenty-five years ago just passed on a link to a video of Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, summing up his life philosophy during his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University. Trust me, it's fascinating. And in an unbiblical way, quite biblical. Slightly improved, his three points could be:

• God is sovereign; trust Him.
• In work and love, follow your heart.
• Live as a dying man among dying men.

What if our preaching were characterized by such simplicity, humility, and zeal?

Larry Norman's unlikely connection to the American Chesterton Society...

(Tim) For readers who share our love for G. K. Chesterton, I have it on good authority that the late Larry Norman was once married to Pam Ahlquist, older sister to the president of The American Chesterton Society, Dale Ahlquist; and it was Mr. Norman who introduced his brother-in-law to Chesterton, thus starting him down the road to Rome.

Luke Hankins reads his poetry tomorrow tonight...

(Tim) Our very own Luke Hankins is reading his poetry tomorrow night, Thursday (thanks, David), at Monroe County Library, downtown on Kirkwood Street (for those of you without children). Luke hails from Asheville, North Carolina, and is pursuing the MFA here at IU. Support Luke in his calling tonight, if you're able.

Gettysburg's Evergreen Cemetery...

(Tim) This afternoon while making arrangements for Aunt Elaine's burial, I learned some things about Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. David and I have made several trips to the cemetery, usually in conjunction with our attendance at the Banner of Truth Ministers Conference held each year at Messiah College. So when we're in the area, we tour the battlefield and visit the cemetery. There are two Bayly family plots there...

And a patridge in a pear tree...

(Tim, with thanks to Robert) Performed here at IU back in 1998, here's Straight No Chaser's take on "The Twelve Days of Christmas." You can buy the DVD here.

Purchasing for a church?

(David) Buying church equipment is rarely fun. Quick purchases are usually expensive purchases. If not expensive, then quality typically suffers. You can buy $20 tables and chairs at Sam's Club, but they may not survive more than a few seasons. Or you can buy from an online retailer which publishes established prices but though quality is often higher, so too is price.

The best route for purchases of church equipment almost alway involves quotes. Getting quotes takes time, but it insures the best price. It also brings the expertise of knowledgeable salespeople to bear.

If you're buying equipment for your church take a look at saveyourchurchmoney.com. If you can afford the time to go through the quotation process you'll find it worthwhile. And the owner of this site is a personal friend who's committed to saving churches money.

Join us for a Christmas sing-a-long...

This Friday evening, December 7th at 7:00 pm, Church of the Good Shepherd is hosting our first annual Good Shepherd Band Christmas Sing-a-long! I'm told it's to include upwards of 50 musicians and covers everything from Bach, to Latin jazz, to Sufjan Stephens (whoever that is). If you're within driving distance from Bloomington, then you and your vocal chords ought to come check it out. I guarantee you won't have a chance to experience anything like it again  ...until next year, that is.

And afterwards, there will be lots of Christmas cookies to eat, as well as loads of good fellowship amid Christmas cheer. Come one, come all!

Messiah Sing-Along this Sunday at Christ the Word

(David) If you live in the Toledo area--a chunk of real estate ranging from Ann Arbor in the north to Findlay in the south--join us for Christ the Word's fourth annual Messiah Sing-Along this Sunday evening, December 2, at 7 PM.

Christ the Word's Associate Pastor, Andrew Dionne, along with his team of musicians, are building a Sing to rival the best between Chicago and New York--and it's unique in that its accomplished performers are all professing believers in Christ.

Each year has seen an advance in the Messiah. This year an audience support chorus will be added. Next year, who knows? Perhaps an instrumental ensemble to complement the piano and organ.

For more information on the Messiah Sing-Along see the web site here. For those planning to attend, scores are available free of charge for the use of those who don't own a score.

Soloists for the Messiah Sing include:

Anacortes, Washington...

(Tim) Noting that someone in Anacortes, Washington, is reading the blog through Verizon, I'm guessing he's sitting waiting for the ferry to take him somewhere in the San Juans, or over to Victoria. Is that you, Don?

And while we're talking about identities, let's do a little housekeeping.

A few minutes ago, I noticed someone was reading David's post, "Is it enough...," through an anonymizer. While recognizing there are some extraordinary circumstances when anonymizers serve a legitimate function, I suspect this is not such a case. So I repeat myself.

Brothers, I appeal to each of you to make your internet activity as public as possible. The Holy Spirit warns us that evil men shoot from the shadows, love darkness, and refuse to come into the light where their deeds may be seen and judged. So then, it's sanctifying to allow others to see our IP address.

Also to sign comments with our full names.

I'm being swallowed by Boa constrictors, feet first...

(Tim) Well, now that I've put up the world's best shoelace site, welcome to the showlaceless future.

We're spending a couple days with our dear friends, Ken and Sue Scudder, here in Edmonds, Washington, and they introduced us to the invention of Sue's brother, Gary, that may well make shoelaces obsolete--at least in competitive sports where Velcro won't do. It's called the Boa System and it replaces shoelaces with very thin wire and a knob on the back of the shoe that's turned to tighten the shoe's grip on the foot.

Kent had a pair of The North Face Men's Endurus XCR Boa shoes that were too narrow for his size twelve foot. They fit me perfectly, so we'll leave bearing a gift of a pair of shoes with Boa Technology for closure.

FootJoy golf shoes, Shimano cylcing shoes, Vans, Head, Rossignol and nine other brands of snowboard boots,  wakeboard, snowmobile, hockey, ice skating, inline, hunting, and equestrian shoe brands have all started selling shoes that use Boa Technology. Buy a pair of The North Face Men's E50 Boas now and pay some Royalties to Sue's brother.

Greetings from First Christian Reformed Church in Lynden, Washington...

(Tim) This Lord's Day morning, my dear friend, Robert Woodyard, will be installed as the pastor of First Christian Reformed Church here in Lynden, Washington--the oldest CRC congregation west of the Mississippi River. For the past fifteen or so years, Robert, his wife, Phama, and their five sons have been in Oklahoma City where Robert served Our Lord's Community Church, a congregation of the Reformed Church in America. During this present search, David and I had hoped Robert would be called to a PCA congregation, but the Lord had other plans.

Given the battles over sexuality within the Christian Reformed Church the past two decades, when I first heard of First Church's interest in Robert, I was concerned. But as things developed, it became clear First Church is one of the faithful CRC congregations still committed to the authority of Scripture despite the majority of the denomination having voted to repudiate God's command prohibiting woman exercising authority over man. In fact, it was partly because of Robert's commitments to honor the Word of God in this matter that First Church expressed interest in him.

Lynden is a Dutch community two hours north of Seattle and three miles south of the Canadian border. Surrounded by the Northern Cascades, on that rare day when the sun is shining Mount Baker's summit is visible ninety miles to the east...

Musing on my way to work....

• (David) On what planet does 25 years of failure translate into a paradigm for ministry? I keep seeing references on the internet to Bill Hybel's recent "confession" of Willow Creek's failure to raise up committed disciples. Whether that confession (prompted by the results of internal polling) is significant or not only the future will show. But in the meantime, what are we to make of those who suggest that this is important news for the American Church? Willow Creek's been passing itself off as a paradigm of modern ministry for decades. Now that they're admitting a small degree of failure we should suddenly listen to them? It's like making the ten spies who told the Israelites not to invade Canaan into oracles once they admit they were wrong. On such a basis Ahab becomes as worthy a messenger of God as Elijah. After all, Ahab repented. Elijah never had to. Shades of Eldridge Cleaver preaching at Wheaton Bible Church in the 70s enter the mind (yeah, it really happened). The only world where such news from Willow Creek amounts to squat is one that secretly worships the dog-in-heat goddesses of success and money.
• I fear that the replacement of dating with courtship across vast swaths of the Evangelical world has not been as successful in remedying the problems of modern pre-marital behavior as many would like to think--in fact, it sometimes seems to me that what we've accomplished has been the substitution of legalism for license. The problem is it's a vicious circle: legalistic narrowness ultimately leads back to license. The answer to license is not a program. The answer is Christian men behaving as true men, Christian women as true women, obedience to the Word--and recognition of the essence of marriage as a man leaving, a woman cleaving, the pair together bearing.... Parents, we need humility and faith in this process, not reliance on extra-biblical protocols which do little to keep our ungodly singles from sexual sin, but which often confuse and exasperate the righteous singles in our midst.
• It seems to me that a church which practices the "holy kiss" is probably freer from the temptation to unholy kissing than a frigid arms-length church.
• What's the essence of the seeker-sensitive heresy? Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:8 that "the Law is good if one uses it lawfully." It is possible to use the Law unlawfully. To preach the Law to the "righteous" is unlawful, Paul writes in 1:9, because law is given "for those who are lawless." The reverse is also true: proclaiming grace to the sinner without first preaching the Law is equally unlawful. The essence of the Evangelical, seeker-sensitive heresy is that it uses the Law unlawfully in both directions. It tells the sinner God has a nice plan for his life. It tells the righteous he must obey the Law. When Willow Creek ceases preaching do-goodism to the righteous and begins proclaiming God's Law to sinners, I'll believe they've repented of something beyond bad polling data. 

Almost, cut my hair...

(Tim) Back in 1971, I was a freshman at Columbia BIble College and, during fall break, I attended Bill Gothard's Seminar in Basic Youth Conflicts held in Washington D.C. Since I was a CBC student, I had very short hair. It was part of their stringent campus code that, among many other things, required a tie at dinner.

During the seminar, Mr. Gothard made an announcement just prior to a break one evening that he had a sheet of paper up front on the platform for any young man who "wanted God's will for his life concerning his appearance." My interest piqued, I went up and received this letter, "Six Observations Regarding Long Hair on a Fellow."

Back to the future...

(Tim and David) Despite the beauty of Glacier Park demonstrated in the photos we posted here last week, the most interesting picture to come out of our trip to Idaho was the one on the left taken at a 1961 Officer's Christian Fellowship conference at the Country School House in the Shenandoah Valley.

Jim Wilson, Doug Wilson's father, gave us this picture from that conference where he and Dad spoke. According to Mr. Wilson's notes on the back of the picture, the men in front (left to right) are ? (USNA), Don Hidy (USNA), Jim Prout (USCGA), and Bill Shoemaker (USNA). And in the back row are Jim Wilson, Joe Bayly, and OCF leader Cleo Buxton. While Dad and Mr. Wilson were speaking to future officers, 8-year-olds Tim and Doug were busy building dams across a Shenandoah stream.

It was a delight to spend an evening with the Wilsons during the course of the Christ Church Ministerial Conference. We were struck by the graciousness of Doug and Nancy, the warmth of Jim Wilson, and the faith of Nate and Heather Wilson and Luke and Rachel Jankovic.

A couple thoughts on the Wilsons for our readers...

Lord, teach us to number our days...

Midlife Crisis

We have reached mid life my wife and I
How can I tell, you ask?
It's not that we take our daily vitamins now,
Or that Ibuprophen has become more
Than an occasional indulgence.
It's not the loss of hair,
Nor its replacement elsewhere
In places more or less visible.
It's not that we can no longer hide
The steady fall of our youthful lines
To gravity’s irresistible force,
Nor that we would rather sit
Than run or even walk,
(Another surrender to gravity)...

Porn-free Conferences....

(David) One of the joys of internet correspondence is developing friendships with those you wouldn't otherwise encounter. Tim and I have known Kamilla Ludwig since the late 90s when we considered her a worthy opponent on the CBMW email list (which I moderated for several years before turning over to Bill Rivilian). It was thus a delight for Tim and me to renew our acquaintance with Kamilla on this blog several years ago. Her wise additions to this blog routinely brighten our days. As an example of her wisdom, consider this letter recently sent to the directors of the Evangelical Theological and Philosophical Societies:

I am not currently a member of ETS, though I will likely renew my membership next year, I won't be doing so this year.  I am not a philosophy professor and my primary reason for joining is to attend the annual meeting - which depends upon my interest in the conference theme and seeing the host city.

Absolutely priceless...

(Tim) If you want to have your heart gladdened while listening to maybe the greatest song of the twentieth century... Really, it's plum bootiful.

(Thanks, Carole.)

TypePad running on the iPhone...

(Tim) All you TypePad bloggers, here's a video of TypePad running on the iPhone. Now, if AT&T and Apple would just get it together to boot EDGE and give it 3G...

Catch Good Shepherd Band with Andrew Osenga Friday night in Nashville...

(Tim) Y'all remember from an earlier post that the Good Shepherd Band recently completed their first album, Sweet Rivers? Well, now they’re giving their first out-of-town performance—warming up the stage for Andrew Osenga (the mastermind behind Caedmon’s Call’s latest project Overdressed) as part of a college and career outreach effort for Faith Presbyterian Church of Goodlettsville, TN.

So, if you’re in the Nashville area this weekend and want to hear what these men have done with the likes of The Son of God Goes Forth To War, catch them for free here this Friday evening, Sept. 14th at 8:00 PM.

David's absence...

(by Tim) David's been absent because of a number of needs, personal and pastoral, demanding his complete attention. Of the personal variety, in a rousing game of capture the flag on Christ the Word's canoe trip last weekend, David's son, Ben, broke his leg. So Wednesday, Ben was put under and two titanium rods were inserted. He'll be in a cast for a few months. Other than that, all seems well.

Of the pastoral variety, if you appreciate David's teaching of the Word, please share with him "all good things" this weekend by praying for Him, the congregation he serves, and her officers. There have been a number of challenges, recently, some of which David has written of here...

Thoughts on Demon "Possession"

Things to remember about demons:

1. Their ubiquity: they are everywhere. Nature is filled with them. The idols of the nations are demons. Our battle is against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12)...

Nature is filled with them. James 3:15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. See also Paul’s complaint about his thorn in the flesh. 2 Corinthians 12:7 So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.

The idols of the nations are demons. Paul compares true religion to false in 1 Corinthians 10:21-22 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? See also Revelation 9:20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.

False teachers are allied to demons. 1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. See also 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2. There is both voluntary and involuntary servitude to demons. Voluntary is idolatry and occult practice. Involuntary is what the Bible refers to as demonization or having an unclean spirit.

3. Demonic influence is manifested in a variety of ways: muteness, throwing into the fire, paralysis, seeking the dead, fits of rage, feats of power, foretelling the future, a combination of both physical and mental symptoms, either separately or in conjunction with one another.

4. Demonic influence can wax and wane. In Saul's case the spirit comes and goes, in other cases it appears that the demons go quiescent at times.

5. Demonic influence is under God's control.

6. Demons and paganism are often thought to go hand-in-hand. There is little evidence to support this in Scripture--Scripture reveals great demonic activity in the heart of Pharisaical Israel, hardly a hotbed of paganism. Instead, what we find in Scripture is that demons are bolder and more recognizable in two specific situations: in the presence of the occult practices of animists and spiritists who more explicitly acknowledge the reality of demons AND in the presence of Christ and the ministry of His Word.

Shimei

Tim,

I was out for a bike ride minutes ago and praying as I rode. I thought about David's encounter with Shimei for a (very small) portion of the ride and decided to leave Mike's posts be--and all this before reading your post below.

I occasionally remove posts containing attacks on others which come from obviously false addresses (noname@nomail.com). But since Mike's address appeared real and he was attacking you and me, I didn't want to remove them given the possibility that: a) he is for real, and; b) God could want us to hear such criticism.

So I'll leave the posts from Mike that have come up till now, but without a private email confirming his real name and address I'll remove further posts from him--and all other such anonymous attacks, especially on others--in the future. I reserve the right to permit a few possibly anonymous attacks on you and me without allowing such attacks on others.

Your brother,

David