The Week-est Link, August 8, 2008

1. Check out this really interesting-looking discussion on the pastor-theologian.

2. An oldie but a goodie: ten questions on preaching for Tim Keller. Must-read. Keller on preaching = does not get much better.

3. The Henry Center gets some love. Thanks, Unashamed Workman (and great blog, by the way). Check out those Scripture and Ministry lectures: there are some dynamite talks.

4. A rap about Martin Luther? Believe it!

5. More love for the Henry Center. We're grateful for such kind exposure.

6. A nice read on "renewing the culinary culture". Thanks, Salvo blog (bookmark this one!).


--Have a great weekend, all.

The Week-est Link, February 15, 2008

1. Karis Community Church recently hosted New Testament scholar Tom Schreiner for a series of lectures on Jesus. Check out this link to listen to the talks. They sound quite interesting and personally profitable. Dr. Schreiner is a man of great gifting and great humility. It's rare to find those qualities mutually existing in one person, but they do in him.

2. Newsweek Magazine recently profiled Manhattan pastor and church planting guru Tim Keller. Go here to read the article. The author gets a number of things wrong, but it's interesting that this piece represents a pretty respectful portrayal of an evangelical. Keller's thoughtfulness and humility have sowed good seed in New York.

3. Criswell College radio host Jerry Johnson recently discussed my friend Greg Gilbert's recent 9Marks blog/manifesto on an overemphasis on good music in the current among many evangelicals. Here's the link. I would have liked to hear Greg say a few more words about the importance of evangelical pursuit of good music, but I think he makes some very good points in his original post on the 9Marks blog. It's important in correcting things, though, that we take care not to over-correct. Greg wouldn't want to do that, and neither would I.

4. Speaking of good music, here's a great track by one of my favorite bands, Postal Service, called "Clark Gable." It's a beautiful mix of male and female voices, and it has a melancholy feel that is accentuated by the driving beat. Good tune.

Have a very nice weekend, all.

The Week-est Link, February 8, 2008

1. I have to confess, I'm a little surprised that Mitt Romney dropped out of the race for President yesterday. I thought that he had a change to take the Republican nomination, and I wasn't opposed to that happening. Now it looks like McCain will get the nod (or, already has gotten it, sort of). I'm not terribly excited about this (shades of Bob Dole, anyone?), but McCain should draw moderates, and that should help him if Hillary wins the Democratic bid.

2. A treasure trove of Tim Keller sermons. If you have some free time, take a couple of hours and listen to as much Keller as you can. He is textually insightful, eminently interesting to listen to, and culturally aware. There are few preachers out today who are more interesting and edifying to listen to. (HT: Justin Taylor)

3. This post by CJ Mahaney covers the Super Bowl, but it represents a great resource for men struggling to keep sports in proper perspective. After a number of years in a community dominated by men, I can readily say that this is one of the primary struggles of young men today. We live in a sports-saturated society, and many of us struggle to keep sports in the category of "hobby" or "occasional pastime," instead situating them in "almost-constant diversion." Read CJ and be informed, instructed, and edified. He is a great example of a normal Christian person who nonetheless thinks theologically about everything. I love that. (HT: Josh Harris)

4. More material on thinking theologically about sports. Why is it the Covenant Life guys (from Maryland) are the only ones doing this? Why do so many Christians write about the same things, things that people know something about, and neglect the things that people struggle hugely with? There's a massive imbalance in our contemporary literature--it's far too skewed to theological rehearsal and out of touch with the issues many Christians struggle with, things like sports. I seek to address this imbalance on this humble little blog, and I'm glad others are doing the same. We need more! (HT: Sovereign Grace)

Have a great weekend, everyone.

A Theology of Ambition: Biblical Considerations, Pt. 1

I'm going to give you several different texts to think about in relation to my topic. Today and tomorrow, we do a study of biblical material. After that, we synthesize the material.

1. Gen. 1:26-28 the call to take dominion
2. 1 Chron. 4:10 Jabez's bold prayer
3. 2 Chron. 1:7-13 Solomon's ambitious prayer for wisdom
4. Nehemiah an example of godly ambition
5. Matthew 28:18-20 the call to take spiritual dominion
6. 1 Cor. 10:31 life as an exercise in biblical ambition
7. Hebrews 4:16 the invitation to pray with boldness

These texts should not and must not be understood as the only texts that speak to my topic. They are not. However, these texts when taken together give us a bare framework by which to begin to understand the Bible's view of ambition. With that said, we proceed to look at what this framework is and what it means for us as Christians. We will work quickly through these texts, and you can think of more on your own (and suggest them in the comments, if you would).

The call to take dominion over the earth in Genesis 1 is fundamentally a call to theological ambition. Those who think that ambition has little place in the Christian life find an opposite ideal in this first chapter of the Bible. From the beginning, God intended man to subdue and rule over his environment. It is clear from the lack of instruction recorded in this text that God did not spell out all the details of this dominion-taking. Rather, he left it to Adam, His vice-regent, to figure out what needed to be done and to do it. Such action necessarily includes an aggressive mindset that seeks to glorify God through action pleasing to God. The race of men, then, was not created to be passive and weak, but to be active and strong, assessing their domain, ruling over their territory, glorifying God by virtuous, godly action.

It's silly to pass up all the examples of Old Testament believers who acted ambitiously for God's renown, but time and space is limited. So we skip ahead to the much-discussed Jabez. Now, let me say a word here. Bruce Wilkinson took the whole Jabez thing a bit far, if you ask me, but I still think he had a point (one made by men like Spurgeon well before prosperity theologians). His point was this: Jabez was spiritually ambitious. Wilkinson was no genius in understanding this, but he was right. Jabez prayed that the Lord would bless him. The Lord did bless him. Jabez had a desire to glorify God through a blessed life. God answered this desire. We could take this text and run, but we should not do so. Instead, we should simply make the point that God rewarded Jabez's spiritual ambition, and leave things there. Clearly, it is no terrible thing--far from that, it is a good thing--to be spiritually ambitious before the Lord.

The story of Solomon is the same. Solomon made an incredible request of God, that he be given incredible wisdom, and God gave it to him. God was not displeased with such a bold request. The biblical picture of God is not that which many of us hold in our minds, a miserly, angry, bitter father who despises giving out blessings. No, the biblical picture of God is that He often graciously rewards the seeker and gives them the righteous desires of their heart. Solomon's desire was righteous--this is a crucial point--and thus God granted his request. The Lord does seem to be like the great leader Alexander in a story I've heard Tim Keller tell. One of Alexander's generals made a very bold request of his lord, asking him to finance an extravagant wedding ceremony for his child. Upon hearing the request, Alexander's right-hand man urged Alexander to cruelly discipline such a boorish man. Alexander demurred, and instead granted the man's request. His reasoning? The man, by his massive request, showed that he thought Alexander to be a man of massive means. Thus his plea, so far from dishonoring Alexander, actually honored Alexander in the extreme. So it is with us when we ask God for great things. A right sense of ambition, one devoted to the Lord, shows just how great we think our God to be.

Preaching We Need: Scroggins on Forgiveness

This last part of the "Preaching We Need" mini-series comes from one of Southern Seminary's finest preachers, Dr. Jimmy Scroggins. The dean of Boyce College, the undergraduate school of the seminary, Scroggins is a born preacher and a personal friend. He possesses the winsomeness, the sharp mind, and the masculine force necessary to construct and deliver a powerful sermon. Without fail, he makes good on his abilities. I find that his sermons usually drive a single point, though from different angles, as if Scroggins is hammering the listener with gospel truth from all angles. He's a good one to listen to when you know you need a talking to, a wake-up call.

To listen to this preacher, go here, and click on the "Chapel Message (Romans 12:14-21)" link.

I was personally struck by Scroggins's plain and powerful appeal to forgive. There is such a need for clear, easily applicable preaching. In fact, the more preaching I listen to, the more I am convinced that the best preachers don't attempt to make eight different applications, as many young guys like myself do. The best preachers often drive home a single point, just one, that the reader cannot help but think about and apply. That's an encouraging thought, actually, for a young preacher. Perhaps you don't need to come up with eight original, homespun application points. Perhaps you need to unearth the thrust of the passage, the passage's point, and then drive it home in the minds of your hearers. I challenge you to try just that in your next sermon. Take all your effort, all your exegesis, and shoot it like an arrow at your target--the heart. I would guess that your preaching will be better remembered than if you had done otherwise.

Very quickly, I want to go back to yesterday's links and encourage you to listen to the third sermon of the Keller links. If you do not listen to the other two, that's okay. The third is worth its weight in gold. Keller has such a keen understanding of the psychology of sin. He makes the point that all sinners, like Jacob in Genesis, are seeking to find their happiness and fulfillment in something besides God. He then ties it all back to Christ, though he does so on such a fine point, with such homiletical artistry, that you almost miss it. For those seeking to learn how to preach all of Scripture from a Christocentric viewpoint (and it is my contention that this should be all of us), you can find no finer teacher than Keller. He is a master of making the point of the text as given to its original hearers, thus discovering the truth it reveals about God and man, and then making the point as it relates to Christ. He does all this with such elegance and skill that one can almost miss his adeptness. But then, that is the mark of a master, is it not? To make the difficult look simple? Most of us, I would venture to say, excel at the converse.

Sermons We Need: Tim Keller on Gospel Transformation

One of the most insightful preachers around is Manhattan's Tim Keller. Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Keller specializes in communicating the gospel in a winsome, relevant, understandable, and perceptive way. The three sermons below will give you a good introduction to his preaching and to his understanding of the gospel. Don't fear--though a member of the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) denomination, Keller does not often preach for more than 40-45 minutes.

• Smashing False Idols: Gospel Realisation (mp3)
• Smashing False Idols: Gospel Communication (mp3)
• Smashing False Idols: Gospel Incarnation (mp3)

I found these sermons at the Monergism website and wanted to pass them along to you. One of the best points Keller makes--and one that not enough Christians recognize--is that the gospel is not about looking good and being acceptable to those around us. The gospel is about personal transformation such that we worship Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. This foundational concept is best expressed in Keller's simple gospel formulation: "I am accepted, and therefore I obey," which contradicts the formulation seemingly believed by so many professing Christians: "I obey, and therefore I am accepted." Keller's articulation of this simple but profound theological concept has changed the way I think about the gospel, and it will do the same for you if you mull it over and compare it with scriptural teaching.

We need this preaching because too many of us have grown up alternating between Christ-centered and man-centered theology. What do I mean by this? Simply this: we believe intellectually that we are saved by grace, but we live as if we were saved by works. Now, I am not an antinomian. There is a huge place in Christian doctrine for concerted effort and purposeful activity. With that said, though, too many of us deny by our lives what we know in our minds. We think that being a Christian is all about doing certain things, about avoiding the really heinous sins and doing the commonly considered righteous practices. We lose sight of the cross and the personal transformation it brings. We thus come to view our faith as an exercise in presentation. Rooted as we are in a community of Christians, we attempt to look good. Our faith has now become a matter of show, and thus our spiritual life consists of avoidance on the one hand and performance on the other.

This shift stifles true, humble, self-denying, appearance-killing Christianity. It causes parents to worry far more about how their children's lives look to other adults than they do about how God views their children's hearts. Such people are far more concerned with public relations than they are with humble orthodoxy. That is to say, where these adults might acknowledge the spiritual lostness of their children, ask others to pray for them, and work not to correct the signs of unbelief but to lovingly address the heart, they instead paste a smile on their faces, respond chirpily when asked earnestly how their family is doing, and try to pretend the problem doesn't exist. Such a lifestyle, of course, inevitably results in moments of explosive tension between parents and child, because said lost child is making the parents look bad, and this, not the child's unbelief, is somehow the worst possible scenario for these appearance-obsessed parents.

This is a very, very dangerous scenario. It is one that occurred and occurs in many Christian homes as the result of parents who are saved but who have lost sight of the true nature of sin and the power of Christ's work. For such Christians, we must offer preaching like Keller's, preaching that rightly diagnoses sin and rightly addresses it by holding out the love of Christ as contained in the cross and resurrection, a love given not to change appearances and cover flaws, but to altogether transform appearance-obsessed, sin-hungry men and women into worshipful, humble, honest followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.