Evolution's Partial Story

Tim Stafford:

In the story of evolution as we know it, there is no Eden. The world was never peaceful and perfect, free from death and pain. Rather the upward curve has been constant and gradual, always accompanied by death, which culls those creatures less than fit for survival.

Nor does evolution tell a story of Adam and Eve. The human race also has risen incrementally. Evolution suggests no story of atonement, for it knows nothing of personal responsibility, law, sin, shame or redemption.

The absence of such information in the story of evolution does not suggest to me [...] that we must throw out large parts of the Bible’s story. One learns different things from different sources—some things from science, some things from music, some things from the Bible. On purely empirical grounds, I would insist that sin is as reliable a fact as can be, even if evolution knows nothing of it. The same with beauty and truth and love—equally missing from evolution as Darwin traces it. Evolution knows of populations, not individuals. It could never chastise Cain for killing his brother. Murder is part of evolution’s mechanism of change. It would be a good thing, if evolution knew anything about “good.”

“Good” is not part of evolution’s story. Nevertheless good exists.

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Everybody Can Serve on Sundays

Colin Marshall shares ways an ordinary church member can serve the church on Sunday mornings:

Before the Service

• Read the passage in advance
• Pray for the gathering
• Greet newcomers (act like you are the host)
• Think strategically about who you should sit with
• Arrive Early

During the Service

• Sing with gusto (even if you can’t sing)
• Help with logistics (if there’s a problem, help fix it)
• Don’t be distracted
• Listen carefully
• Be aware of your facial expressions (you may affect others and discourage preachers)

After the Service

• Connect newcomers with others
• Get newcomers information
• Start a conversation about the sermon
• Ask someone how they became a Christian
• Stay late

If you were waiting for the senior pastor's permission to do any of these things, consider it granted. Oh, and by the way, our text for tomorrow is Genesis 4.

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You Can Change #23 (Chapter 3)

Tim Chester, in You Can Change:

It seems our first instinct when we want to change is to do something. We think activity will change us. We want a list of do's and don'ts. In Jesus' day, people thought they could be pure through ceremonial washing. Today it can be spiritual disciplines or sets of laws. I've tried these approaches. I've written out little rituals to perform every morning. I've tried to regulate my behavior with lists. Many of these things are good in themselves, and we'll discover the role they can play in helping us grow in holiness. But our rituals and disciplines can't change us. (42)

He comes down pretty hard on things like spiritual disciplines. Does this mean that he's against things like daily Bible reading and prayer? Are those practices really good for nothing?

Read this first section called "Trying to Change Ourselves" very carefully. Reread the paragraph I've quoted above. What Chester is arguing against is the notion that it is our efforts that brings about real change in our lives. This is not the grace of God, and because it is not of God, it is not effective.

But note that he does say that disciplines have a role. As he says, we'll be getting to that a bit later, but I think he is right to work very hard to clear the underbrush of our instinctive self-justification through works-righteousness.

Here's a quotation from Dallas Willard that captures this well:

Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.

Have you tried to change through your own efforts?

What did you do? How well did it work?

Creativity Is Rooted in Creation

Mike Cosper's fine essay on creation and creativity concludes with these words:

On a micro level, each of us has different tastes. On the macro level, cultures emerge in radical contrast with one another. The universal gift of creativity blossoms into a cultural mosaic, itself a reflection of God’s vast skill and imagination. The Scriptures give us an image for this variety. It’s one of all cultures—a spectrum of diversity—gathering around a singular object of worship—our enthroned Savior—worshiping not as a monolithic culture, but as every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Let’s keep the phrase “every tribe, tongue, and nation” in mind when we discuss creativity. Unlike God, who simultaneously embraces the beauty and integrity of snails and galaxies, we find it nearly impossible to find love for the unfamiliar, or for cultures that we see as beneath or above our position. The tendency to moralize our preferences, or to moralize the familiar in religious contexts, is almost a reflex. While some of the so-called worship wars can be attributed to theological issues, I think a vast majority of it was simply a matter of moralized and fiercely defended preference.

The result is a traditionalism that is hostile to the contemporary, a hipster church that is hostile to NASCAR references, or a Western-centric way of thinking about music and liturgy that believes Westernization is the goal of missions.

This is a key issue in the future for any conversations about art, culture, or creativity. Christians need to remember that creativity is simply a fact, and all churches embrace creativity in one form or another. Likewise, all churches are embracing some value related to beauty, creativity and aesthetics. What has often been said of theology is true of creativity too: It’s not a question of whether a Christian or a church will have creativity; it’s what kind of creativity they’ll have.

Remembering Reformation Day

From Ligonier Ministries:

On October 31st, we celebrate Reformation Day in honor of the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-five Theses to the door in Wittenberg and thus sparked a reformation.

But what did Martin Luther stand for? What did he believe? What can we learn from Luther and the Protestant Reformation? Could it happen again today? Find answers to these questions and more in these various resources, articles, and messages. In celebration of Reformation Day, we are also providing four free MP3 messages by Dr. Sproul on Luther and the reformation.

Free MP3 Downloads by R.C. Sproul

Right click on the links to save to your computer:

The Making of the Protestant Reformation (Part 1)
The Making of the Protestant Reformation (Part 2)

Martin Luther (Part 1) (From the series Heroes of the Christian Faith)
Martin Luther (Part 2)

Good News for Losers

This goes along well with the sermon from this past Sunday.

Michael Horton:

The gospel is good news for losers, that in fact we are all losers if we measure ourselves by God’s interpretation of reality rather than our own. The demand for glory, power, comfort, autonomy, health, and wealth creates a vicious cycle of craving and disillusionment. It even creates its own industry of therapists and exercise, style, and self-esteem gurus—and churches—to massage the egos wounded by this hedonism. When crisis hits, the soul is too effete to respond appropriately. We become prisoners of our own felt needs, which were inculcated in us in the first place by the very marketplace that promises a “fix.” We become victims of our own shallow hopes. We are too easily disappointed because we are too easily persuaded that the marketplace always has something that can make us happy.

*****

In the cross and resurrection, God does not explain the problem of evil to our satisfaction but actually overcomes it in a way that surprises and overwhelms us.

From A Place for Weakness: Preparing Yourself for Suffering

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You Can Change #22 (Chapter 3)

[Reminder: We are reading pages 41-47 in chapter 3 for our next small group meeting on November 7.]

“Please forgive me and set me free.” This is Tim Chester's prayer that opens chapter 3 of You Can Change. Does this brief prayer strike you as interesting in any way?

It made me realize how I usually think to pray the first part (“forgive me”) and neglect the second (“set me free”). However, this latter part is an important dimension of what God has done in us through Jesus Christ.

Look at Romans 6, especially these passages below:

Romans 6:6-7

⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Romans 6:15-23

¹⁵ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are not sin-free Christians (like sugar-free candy), but we are set free from being enslaved to sin. Perhaps I don’t need to pray “set me free” since Paul says we “have been set free,” but I think it’s clear that we need to pray, “Lord, help me to live like a man freed from sin, and as your obedient servant.” It’s not automatic.

How do you think focusing on forgiveness of sin but not freedom from sin might stunt our spiritual growth?

Why Care About Church Planting?

From an interview with Darrin Patrick:

What would you say to a comfortable evangelical church who has no vision for planting new churches? Why should they care?

They should re-read the book of Acts, because it is very clear that church planting is normative in the early church and is a necessary factor in revival.

Further, they need to consider the raw statistics that our country is becoming less and less Christian despite more and more mega-churches. There are more and more giant church buildings everywhere but more and more people who are not claiming any religious affiliation.

So they should go back to the Bible, to church history, and then look at the current reality. To the degree that we are able to plan gospel-centered, missional churches, to that degree will we see spiritual renewal and hopefully revival in our lifetime.

"We Believe the Bible and You Do Not"

Keith Mathison describes some of the ways he's heard people debate theology in an unproductive way by using this line: "We believe the Bible and you do not."

I don’t know about you, but as I reflect on it, I can recall numerous times when I’ve seen this “argument” in action in my own theological circles. When I was a dispensationalist, the common thought was that the difference between premillennialists and everyone else was fully and adequately defined by saying that premillennialists believed God’s Word regarding the millennium while amillennialists and postmillennialists did not. We believed what God said in Revelation 20. Amillennialists and postmillennialists did not believe what God said. Case closed.

When I was a Baptist, I regularly heard it said that Baptists believed God’s Word concerning believer’s baptism while others did not. As a Presbyterian, I’ve heard it said that Presbyterians believe God’s Word concerning the promises to the children of believers while the Baptists do not.

I’ve heard this line of argument used in disputes involving the Sabbath, the days of Genesis, theonomy, the gifts of the Spirit, church government, you name it. In every dispute over the meaning of some biblical text or theological point, it seems that someone eventually throws out some version of the line: “The simple fact of the matter is that we believe what God clearly says here and you don’t.” When both sides in a given debate do it, the result is particularly edifying.

*****

The fact of the matter is that people who believe equally in the authority and inerrancy of Scripture sometimes disagree in their interpretation of some parts of that Scripture. We know God’s Word is not wrong, but we might be. God is infallible; we are not. We are not free from sin and ignorance yet. We still see through a glass darkly. In hermeneutical and theological disputes, we need to make an exegetical case, and we need to examine the case of those who disagree with us. It proves nothing to make the bare assertion: “We believe the Bible and you don’t.”

Go here for the whole essay.

Six Things You Need to Know About Death

Gregg Allison offers "Six Things You Need to Know About Death":

1. Death is the gateway between the current earthly existence and eternal existence of either blessedness in the presence of the Lord or of misery and torment in hell (Matt. 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:5-12).
2. This gateway of death is unnatural, the result of sin and not part of the created human order. There is no hint in Scripture that God created Adam and Eve with the eventuality of death as the natural result of the aging process of their bodies. Rather, death was introduced into the human realm as a punishment for sin (Gen. 3:19; Rom. 5:12). The experience of death, therefore, is unnatural, even if it is universal.
3. Christians should view their own death as a homecoming, leaving their earthly body and going home to be with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Death, then, as the passage into their future life, is “gain” and means departing this life so as to “be with Christ,” which is “far better” (Phil. 1:21, 23). Christians do not need to fear death, because the evil one who holds everyone in fear of death has been defeated (Heb. 2:14-18).
4. While grieving deeply over the death of other believers (e.g., Acts 8:2; 20:37-38; Phil. 2:27), Christians should also rejoice with hope (1 Thess. 4:13), knowing that these Christ-followers are now in the presence of Christ experiencing his blessings, comfort, and rest (Rev. 14:13).
5. Such anticipation is not the case with the death of those who did not embrace Jesus Christ.
6. We nurture a steadfast hope for the complete defeat and disappearance of death, a future reality that will one day be realized through Jesus Christ. Then the church redeemed by its Lord will be able to cry, “Death is swallowed up in victory!” (1 Cor. 15:54-55).

City of Man

Here's an interesting conversation with the authors of a new book on Christians and American politics.

City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era from Madison Trammel on Vimeo.

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Cursed for Us

James Montgomery Boice:

In the final analysis, the greatest mercy of God is seen, not in God’s mitigation of our punishment, but in His taking the full curse of the punishment of our sin on Himself at Calvary, which is why Adam and Eve were not cursed. Did sin bring pain in childbirth? No pain is equal to that of Jesus who travailed in pain in order that He might bring forth many children into glory (Heb 2:10). Did sin bring conflict? Jesus endured even greater conflict of sinners against Himself for our salvation (Heb 12:3). Did thorns come in with sin? Jesus was crowned with thorns (John 19:2). Did sin bring sweat? He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Do we know sorrow? He was a ‘man of sorrows, and familar with suffering’, (Isa. 53:3). Did sin bring death? Jesus tasted ‘death for everyone’ (Heb 2:9). In short, Jesus took our curse as Paul says in writing to the Galatians: ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us’ (Gal 3:13). He became a curse so that we might be set free to live to God through Him.

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How Can God Be Good?

If pain and evil exist, then how can God be good? This was a question we tried to answer in the sermon this morning. Here's how it was treated in a recent book:

One common argument against the existence of God is the ubiquitous presence of pain and evil in our world. Modern thinkers often conclude that horror and injustice make the existence of a loving, all-powerful God implausible.

Interestingly enough, it is the last two generations of Europeans and Americans, generations that have experienced a radical decrease in suffering, that have struggled the most with the problem of pain, much more so than previous generations that experienced much greater suffering in general.

In Apologetics for the Twenty-First Century, Louis Markos holds that the reason for this shift dates back to the eighteenth century writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who philosophized that humans were inherently good. Until then, people had accepted pain and suffering as a result of the inherently sinful nature of man. “Because we misunderstand—or refuse to accept—that we are fallen, we imagine that we ourselves (apart from God) can eradicate evil and suffering through state-funded public education, universal health care, and free-market capitalism…we are left angry and bitter when we do not get what we think we deserve,” Markos says in chapter 15.

Arguments have been made that if God is all-powerful and all-loving, that he would do anything he wants and eliminate suffering. The philosopher Alvin Plantigna refutes these claims by pointing out that God does not do irrational things, i.e. make a square a circle or simultaneously give and not give us free will in order to combat suffering. Many scenarios exist by which God demonstrates his love and power by using evil for good. In this way, God ensures our free will and shapes us into the people that he would have us be.

All other arguments aside, we see in the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ a God who suffers for us and with us. He experienced full suffering himself on our behalf and is therefore a God who can truly empathize with our pain. While God does not promise that we will not suffer, he does promise to be with us when we do.

This modified excerpt came from the publisher's blog.

Peace Is Not the Proof

Haddon Robinson:

If we think about it, peace cannot be the proof that we’re in God’s will. If ever anyone was in God’s will, it was our Lord Jesus Christ. But the Bible tells us that just before His crucifixion, Jesus, sweat great drops of blood. With strong cries and tears He asked that, if possible, this cup be taken from Him (Luke 22:41-44). At that moment Jesus fulfilled the will of His Father in Heaven, but if these are the marks of a man at peace, it’s certainly a strange kind of peace.

Look at a contrasting example. If ever anyone was out of God’s will, it was Jonah. God commanded Jonah to go to Ninevah, which was to the north and to the east. But Jonah, the reluctant prophet, immediately headed to the south and to the west, and boarded a ship sailing out into the Mediterranean. After the boat put out to sea, a tremendous storm arose, and the pagan sailors were terrified.

But Jonah didn’t worry – - he was asleep in the lower deck of the boat. He had peace, perfect peace, i the midst of the storm. Yet the prophet was completely out of the will of God.

These accounts of Jesus and Jonah demonstrate that inner peace cannot signal whether or not we are in God’s will, Scripture simply does not hold up such a theory.

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Dominion as Destruction or Responsibility?

Francis Schaeffer:

Fallen man has dominion over nature, but he uses it wrongly. The Christian is called upon to exhibit this dominion, but exhibit it rightly: treating the thing as having value itself, exercising dominion without being destructive. The church should always have taught and done this, but she has generally failed to do so, and we need to confess our failure . . . By and large we must say that for a long, long time Christian teachers, including the best orthodox theologians, have shown a real poverty here.

This was taken from a post on humankind created in the image of God and with dominion over nature, titled "World Domination"-- read the rest here.

A Man Bent Over

Colin Smith provides insight to understanding sin and the work of the gospel in our lives.

A Man Bent Over from The Orchard Evangelical Free Chu on Vimeo.

The Amount Which I Use

Alexander MacLaren:

Let me always remember that it is not the amount of religious knowledge which I have, but the amount which I use, that determines my religious position and character.

[Note: I might say "reflects" rather than "determines", but the larger point stands.]

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"Packed" Prayers

I'm no liturgist, but there are some good things to be mined from old liturgies, creeds, and such. Here's a good example from Tim Keller:

Years ago when I wanted to become more skillful in public prayer, I was fortunate to come across the collects of Thomas Cranmer, the writer of the original [Anglican] Book of Common Prayer. The “collects” (the stress is on the first syllable) that Cranmer wrote were brief but extremely ‘packed’ little prayers that tied together the doctrine of the day to a particular way of living. They were prayed by the minister on behalf of the people, or prayed in unison by the whole congregation.

As I have read them over the years they have brought me two great benefits. First, they have given me a basic structure by which I can compose good public prayers, either ahead of time, or spontaneously. Cranmer’s collects consist of 5 parts:

1. The address - a name of God

2. The doctrine - a truth about God’s nature that is the basis for the prayer

3. The petition - what is being asked for

4. The aspiration - what good result will come if the request is granted

5. In Jesus’ name - this remembers the mediatorial role of Jesus

See this structure in Cranmer’s famous collect for the service of Holy Communion:

1.Almighty God

2.unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid,

3.cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit,

4.that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name,

5.through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

See how the prayer moves from a doctrinal basis (why we can ask for it) to the petition (what we want) to the aspiration (what we will do with it if we get it.) It is remarkable how this combines solid theology with deep aspirations of the heart and concrete goals for our daily life.

He later gives some further examples:

Blessed Lord, who has caused all holy Scripture to be written for our learning; grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of thy holy word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of eternal life, which thou hast given us in our savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Almighty God, who dost make the minds of all faithful men to be of one will; grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise, that among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may be surely fixed where true joys are to be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God, which hast prepared to them that love thee such good things as pass all man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we loving thee in all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve, pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid and giving unto us that which our prayer dare not presume to ask; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou does command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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You Can Change #21 (Chapter 2)

Here are the main points within the final section of chapter 2 in You Can Change (35-36):

Let’s sum up our motive for change: to enjoy the freedom from sin and delight in God that God gives to us through Jesus. I want to highlight four things arising from this definition.

First, growing in holiness is not sad, dutiful drudgery. It’s about joy.

Second, change is about living in freedom.

Third, change is about discovering the delight of knowing and serving God.

Fourth, becoming like Jesus is something that God gives to us.

Do you remember how Tim Chester said that we need to see God's prescription for change as good news? Now it's starting to sound like it.

This is a better way than our usual paths of performance and begrudging drudgery, it it not? Pray for the eyes to see this, for the appetite for this kind of discipleship and devotion to Christ.

As Jesus promised, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." (Matthew 5:6)

See you at small group tomorrow night!

One Step Closer to Christ

Here's how Chris Castaldo describes the outreach ministry at his church:

Evangelism is the activity in which the entire church prayerfully and intentionally relies on God in sharing gospel love and truth, in order to bring people one step closer to Jesus Christ.

If you go here, you can read his elaboration on each phrase of this definition. I'll include the final section below.

One step closer to Christ. Of all the points I’ve made so far, this is the one about which I am most passionate. Sometimes when we think about evangelism, we define it by a particular method. For many of us, it’s the crusade approach made popular by D.L. Moody or Billy Graham. Accordingly, we think of evangelism as a full-blown gospel presentation that begins by explaining the human problem of sin and culminates in an invitation for one to receive Christ.

I don’t know about you, but most of my gospel encounters don’t allow for a full-orbed sermon. In a crusade, the goal of the evangelist is to clearly present the entire message and urge someone to make a decision. However, if you define all of evangelism in that way, what happens when you only have two minutes to talk to a colleague beside the water cooler during break? How do you witness to the checkout person in the supermarket, or to a family member who knows what you believe and is utterly disinterested in hearing any more sermons? The answer is—you don’t. You don’t say a thing. We can’t share in that kind of way without completely alienating ourselves; therefore, we don’t share at all. The outcome is the same as hiding our lamp beneath the proverbial table.

We need to learn how to gradually plant seeds of gospel truth that help people incrementally move one step closer to Christ. Evangelism should not be strictly limited to a comprehensive presentation of the “full delmonte” (i.e., everything there is to say about salvation) culminating into a Billy-Graham-like invitation. We need to view the incremental efforts of seed planting, which we perform in the course of natural relationships, as not only a legitimate form of evangelism but also a critical method among our friends and loved ones.