Sermon from July 24 - A Trustworthy Word

The last sermon in a series in the Gospel of John, finalizing over a year and a half plumbing the depths of this rich Gospel, which shows us the reality of Jesus, the nature of his Kingdom and how we become a part of it. This final sermon is a look at the last words John wrote about the validity of his testimony concerning Jesus. It has implications on how we understand the Bible and the trustworthiness of this eyewitness.

Sermon from July 17- Peter's Restoration

Click on the title to hear my sermon from John 21:10-19 in a series on the Gospel of John.

Book Review - "Reformation" by Carl Trueman

A Review of “Reformation” by Carl R. Trueman
By Todd D. Baucum
This is an explosive book. Trueman who teaches at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, argues for the ongoing relevance of the theology of the Reformation for the 21st Century. Coming out of the conservative orthodox box of the Reformed tradition, one would expect Trueman to flaunt the enduring values of the 16th Century Protestant movement. Against the onslaught of opinions that such arguments are passé and our ecumenical dialogues have matured beyond those issues, there have been many rejoinders that the Reformation is here to stay. The conservative benefactors of Reformed theology have made their case over issues of justification by faith and the authority of the Bible. Trueman is not simply offering another rebuttal of this type. His contribution in this short book is of another category. He goes deeper and aims not so much at those on the outside, as those who wear the badge of ownership in this history. Watch your sacred cows, as Trueman takes aim.
He is orthodox and not seeking a progressive agenda to ply down the rough edges of Luther and Calvin into a palatable vanilla flavor. Yet, neither is he another conventional critic offering just another predictable tirade against liberals and sacramentalist. Trueman is in the true sense a radical, and here are the cogent and winsome ravings of a radical who loves and just as important, understands the history of the Reformers and its practical relevance for today.
Moral verses Theological ReformationThe book begins with Trueman underscoring the central difference between the Protestant Reformation and those in the Roman Church who wanted the reformation of morals and the spiritual life. “…the Catholic Reformation focused on practical, moral abuses; it did not seek to reform the theology of the church.” The irony of all that is that now the typical evangelical Christian is now focused more on these “practical and moral” issues than the deeply important theological ones which were at the core of the Reformation. Trueman is not one to simply see the 16th Century without historical context; neither does he hold up the Reformers as idols to bow down to. Hence he writes, “Idolatry, the cult of the saints, and uncritical deference to the authority of tradition are not things from which Protestants are immune (pg.37).
A Theology of SufferingThe second major theme Trueman develops is Luther’s theology of the Cross, which he laments, was neglected by later Reformers. It is this area of theology and preaching that postmodern evangelicals are so glaringly superficial. Here the Cross centered theology of Luther and the understanding of the Gospel in the context of suffering and redemption is radically opposed to all forms of “theologies of glory”. Our pulpits are full of the later and we seldom here about the former, giving us an inadequate view of how God works to bring redemption through humility, weakness and suffering. This cuts the grain of our culture and sadly our evangelical preaching. Trueman names the idols of our day, such as morphing “free market capitalism” into a spiritual value of pragmatism; “the gospel as therapy” and the selling of the gospel for “entertainment”. These soul sicknesses are draining the life out of the evangelical church. We preach and sing about a victorious king who has saved us, but forget his kingdom is one of following the way of suffering.
The Centrality of the WordThe book ends with a reminder of the enduring importance of the written Word of God even in our digital, image driven age. This is an important part of the book because Trueman makes clear and plain an issue that has become so debated in recent decades that people think the issue is settled. We just pick sides. Trueman states the importance of the Bible, the way it is misunderstood and how to avoid the confusion. Here is a sample of one of his winsome quips: “..Scripture does not just contain God’s word, it is God’s Word. This does not mean that it replaces Christ anymore than a love letter replaces my wife” (pg. 75).
The last section is advice for pastors and insights for training pastors. Personally, I find this part very insightful into the mind of a theologian training future ministers. Twice in the book he mentions the evangelical biblical scholars from Moore Theological College in Australia. Men like Goldsworthy have had a profound influence on me in my reading the Bible. I hope such biblical thinking of that nature infiltrates the evangelical church. It leaves me hopeful, that is, if such advice is more than just wishful thinking.

Reformation by Trueman

Carl Trueman, who teaches historical theology at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, has written a helpful treatise on the ongoing relevance of the Reformation. Here is an excerpt from the book (just published by Christian Focus), and will follow up with a review - very soon.

"Corrupt belief and practice went hand-in-hand, and the one could not be reformed without the reformation of the other. This was something which the Catholic Church of the time never seemed to grasp. We must beware of those who always paint the Catholic Church of the sixteenth century in unremittingly dark colours. It was certainly in a state of great theological confusion, and it certianly tolerated a large number of moral abuses; but it also contained many men who wished to see the corruption within its ranks cleared up. There was indeed a Catholic Reformation which sought to purge the Church of the corrupt and dishonest. But there was one fundamental difference between the Catholic Reformation and its counterpart which came to be known as Protestantism: the Catholic Reformation focused on practical, oral abuses; it did not seek to reform the theology of the church. This is why the Protestant Reformation was so important: it sought to address the theological foundationns of the church and to reform the whole, root and branch." (pg. 21-22)

In other words, people like Erasmus wanted the church to reform in morals, Luther and Calvin saw it needed a reform in theology. Of, course in reality it was more complex than that, but it is an essential point of departure. More to come....

Fred Sander's "The Deep Things of God"

There is a great need today for evangelical Protestantism to recapture the full implications of the doctrine of the Trinity for all of life. Fred Sanders does a wonderful job of providing a readable and profound reflection on this vital and all encompassing truth. Read from the intro:

From the Introduction
“The Trinitarian theology that drives evangelical experience, however, is to be found deep down, underneath each of the half-dozen strengths that are characteristic of evangelical Christianity. In fact, each of the strengths is inherently Trinitarian and can only be explained by reference to the way evangelicals experience the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We read the Bible as if these inspired words carry the voice of the living God, or when we pray to the Father in the name of the Son, or when we testify about Jesus in the power of the Spirit, we are always encountering a Trinitarian reality. This book is an excavation into the ground of each of these practices, digging deep into each until we find the Trinitarian gold buried beneath them. Above all, since the gospel is itself so Trinitarian that the Trinity simple is the gospel; salvation in Christ is an immersion into a Trinitarian reality. When it becomes evident that the factors which most clearly mark evangelicals as evangelicals are also the most elaborately Trinitarian, it will also become evident that the people of the gospel are the people of the Trinity.” Pg. 21

My Response to Rob Bell's book - A limerick

There has been a good deal written in response to Bell. Since I cannot add any further theological, biblical critique than what has been offered, here is a little limerick I wrote:

There once was a man named Bell
He wrote a book about hell.
Of things uncertain and unclear he did tell.
People wondered and then thought well,
If this is true why do I worry pell-mell?
All good people go to heaven not hell
This is how Bell makes it sell.