cultureshock

Life and Busyness...

Life has been busy since I last posted. Rudi & Mildred Heinze left to go home last week on Tuesday morning. We had an awesome time with Rudi - the top two pictures show Rudi and Kitty taking a wonderful walk on the beach at 7:00pm. I was leading the 7:00am Mens Breakfast Bible Study Tuesday morning on John 6:43-71; then I had to prepare for the sermon today and an Adult Education Class on the Theology of Rowan Williams. So, after Church today we hit the local Irish Sports bar to have a meal, watch some football, and to have a couple pints of Guinness and kick back for a little while!!

This Morning Spent With John Calvin & Thomas Cranmer

Rudi lectured this morning on John Calvin and Thomas Cranmer. These were quite simply superb. Those present were captivated and at the end of the Cranmer lecture - there was not a dry eye in the house!!!

This evening the staff took Rudi and Mildred out for dinner. Another very special time - wonderful!

If you want a taste of what we got this morning go HERE and listen to a similar lecture Rudi gave at Oak Hill, my old Seminary.

Canon Dr. Rudolph W. Heinze

 Rudi Heinze has a Phd from the University of Iowa and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Concordia University. He is a priest in the Church of England and a Canon of the Diocese of Port Sudan. He has taught at the University of Iowa, Ohio State University, Concordia University and the University of Illinois. He spent twenty years in England where he was on the staff of Oak Hill College in London and served as Lecturer in Church History, College Dean and Vice Principal. He also taught as a visiting lecturer at Cambridge University. In addition he wrote and presented three programs for BBC Television on the Early Church.  He has published three books and numerous scholarly articles. His most recent publication is a study of the 16^th Century Reformation entitled Reform and Conflict. While in England he served as honorary curate of the parish of St. Peters London Colney in the Diocese of St. Albans.

and....

He was my Church History lecturer...

and...

He is speaking at my church this weekend and preaching Sunday. Tonight was quite simply awesome. If any of you live in my area and did not come to hear him - then quite frankly you're mad!

A Christian Directory by Richard Baxter

My youth miniser / former intern gave me this as an ordination gift . The product description says:

A Christian Directory is a comprehensive survey of practical theology. In it, Richard Baxter instructs Christians on a host of issues that they face in life. He gives directions for ordering one's personal life before God, performing duties in family relationships, fulfilling responsibilities within the life of the church, and living uprightly in relation to public officials and one’s neighbors. This book does a masterful job in combining the principles of communion with God and the specifics of obedience to God. No Puritan work on applied theology has approached the popularity, scope, or depth of this treatise.

This is the first of four volumes written by Baxter in the 1600's when he was in prison!! They are being republished and the content is over 900 pages (small type and each page is two columns!). It really is quite remarkable. I want to share with you a quote, found on page 434 (left column!). It is in the context of advice on marriage:

If you cannot quickly quench your passion, yet at least refrain your tongues; speak not reproachful or provoking words: talking it out hotly doth blow the fire, and increase the flame; be but silent, and you will sooner return to your serenity and peace. Foul words tend to be more displeasure. As Socrates said when his wife first railed at him, and next threw a vessel of foul water upon him, "I thought when I heard the thunder, there would come rain."

Simply awesome!!

Some of The Worst Preaching I Have Ever Heard... part 2

I have just heard Sue Lingerfelt of Overcoming Faith Ministries preach using Romans 6. She was preaching on how to get a husband using Romans 6. Just plain, bad exegesis. Another example of some of the worst preaching I have ever heard. Does Christian TV do ANY good? Maybe, but 90% of what I hear I think damages the Church and Christian witness today.

Solomon Among The Postmoderns by Peter Leithart

Leithart tackles postmodernism through the eyes of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. His basic thesis is that Ecclesiates is postmodern - it agrees with much of the postmodern position. But Leithart argues that Solomon speaks the language of postmodernism not to affirm it but to emphasize that the world is built to force us to live by faith - that while the world may seem 'confusing now' there is a God who will make all things clear.

Much of the book is a critique of postmodern thought - which I find intensely boring (having read too many christian postmodern books) but Leithart's connection of postmodernism to Solomon is interesting.

God and Government: An Insider's View On The Boundaries Between Faith And Politics by Charles Colson

My appreciation for Charles Colson began by accident. A while back I ordered, in error, Colson's book The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters . I read it and instantly liked his style and his content. 

This book tackles the subject Colson is most famous for. Having been special counsel to President Nixon, and having served time in jail for the Watergate coverup, Colson is in a unique position to talk about faith and politics. Colson's strong faith comes out very strongly in this book, which is part historical, part novel and part analysis. Colson spends a large part of the book talking in historical context of politics and faith. He looks at William Wilberforce and how christian politicians have effected change. When examining world war II Colson shows some skill at creative writing.  However the real analysis of the book comes in part four, which alone is worth the cost of the book. There he lays out the dangers of Christians in politics - the difference between political power and kingdom power - the differences in principles of the worldly power and Jesus' kingdom as well as the danger of the church becoming political. His analysis is very similar to Greg Boyds excellent A Myth Of A Christian Nation: How The Quest For political Power Is Destroying The Church. However, Colson's final conclusion departs from Boyd - Colson advocates Christian's in politics. He advocates the involvement of the church in thinking through the issues while being aware of the dangers and enticements which comes with power. 

If you are a Christian and interested in politics then this book, along with Boyd, is a must read. Both outstrip in every department Wallis' God's Politics which I think is very weak compared with Colson and Boyd. A very good read!!

Justification And The New Perspectives On Paul: A Review And Response by Guy Waters

This is a very thorough treatment of the New Perspective on Paul (NPP). Waters takes you through the whole theological journey of the beginnings of NPP, the rejection of the reformation teaching on Paul, Paul's view of the Law and soteriology. He looks at how the NPP began to take shape with Bultmann,Kasemann & Stendahl. He shows how EP Sanders developed the NPP, and how Dunn and now N.T.Wright have taken it forward. The key for the NPP's popularity of course is N.T. Wright. A popular writer, scholar and until recently strong evangelical, the NPP has been strongly advocated by Wright. Waters shows the weaknesses and dangers in following Wright's theology.At the risk of oversimplifying the issue, the NPP teaches that legalism was not a problem with NT Judaism and that Jesus, in the Gospels, and Paul in his Epistles were not arguing against legalism. They were arguing against those who were trying to make distinctions between Jew and Gentile by observing things like the sabbath, dietary laws and circumcision. The church is re-defined as a covenant community which one enters by faith and kept in by works.  While interesting this is a heavy book - detailed and in-depth, which would make it heavy going for most laymen. 

Some Of The Worst Preaching I Have Ever Heard...

Please do not misunderstand me - what I am about to say i say not to judge the eternal destiny of this person - only God knows truly the heart of John Francis, but I have to say that the sermon I watched on TV today was probably the very worst I have seen or heard - and I say that as a preacher and Bible teacher. I would be ashamed to have preached the message preached at that meeting. Very sad!

Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists by Colin Hansen

OK, I admit it - I was a little disappointed in this book. However, I really can't explain what I was expecting in reading it. Hansen, a Christianity Today Editor has traveled the country speaking to the major figures on Calvinism, as well as students and others, to find out WHY reformed theology is once again popular. The book speaks with John Piper, CJ Mahaney, Al Mohler, Joshua Harris and Mark Driscoll, while also explaining some theology behind  Calvinism. Young people are coming to understand and believe in the doctrines of Grace and making unlikely people their heros - I.E. John Piper, a grandfather, is becoming an icon figure for the new, young, calvinist!! Interesting interviews with some interesting people - but thats about it.

A Blast Of A Time...

 

   Yesterday we went and visited with some friends. My friends family has a cabin in the middle of 1000 acres of forest (yes - they own the forest as well). While there we decided to take the Rhino, all terrain jeep out for a ride. It was fun - until we got lost!! 1000 acres of forest and trees kinda look the same. This jeep can go through small trees and over almost anything. It was a ton of fun - even when it rained and we got wet! A great way to spend an afternoon - and by the way - I LOVED driving this thing - I WANT ONE!!!

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception by Scott McClellan

Scott McClellan was Bush's press secretary from 2003-2006. He was press secretary through the CIA Operative leak as well as Katrina and obviously the Iraq war.

This book is a 'set the record straight' account. McClellan's affection and loyalty to Bush does come across strongly. He believed in Bush - which was why he joined his staff when Bush was governor of Texas. There is a sense that for McClellan he had high ideals and hopes serving Bush. But this book shows that too often, Politics requires that you leave your ideals on the battlefield of compromise and disappointment. McClellan was forced to compromise his ideals in what he said to the press - his loyalty for Bush meaning that his own reputation and credibility was shredded in order to say what the White House wanted him to say.

This is not a stunning tell all book - but a measured account of why he did what he did. To some extent you get the impression that this is the explanation he wanted to give the press corps from the briefing room, but couldn't. An interesting book.

Stockmarkets

Well, I have been watching the rollercoaster which has been the worlds financial markets over the past few weeks. Disaster is often a word that has been used in this context. But is it a disaster. Again, at the risk of exposing my ignorance, (go easy on me Tim!!!) - is this not really the expected adjustment in the market which would inevitably happen. A Stockmarket cannot ( and maybe should not) keep going up indefinitely - should it? Adjustments are a part of the market, aren't they?

Officiating At My First Wedding

I did my first wedding as a priest yesterday. In fact I was a stand in priest. The couple, from Virginia, were getting married at Pawley's Island Chapel, about 11 miles away. Their own priest could not do the wedding due to a family emergency. I got a phone call asking if I could do it - and so I did. It was a great time!

ESV Study Bible

Well, its here - I got a copy of the ESV Study Bible this afternoon and from first look it does not disappoint. It looks very impressive. It's our plan to give every student being confirmed an ESV Study Bible.

Right or Wrong?

What do you think to this quote:

Cultural interpretation and reflection are leadership responsibilities. A leader unwilling or unable to do good cultural reflection will put the church on a trajectory towards obsolescence.

A Couple Pictures From My Ordination

Physicians of Souls by Dr Peter Masters

The next installment from the writings of Dr Peter Masters, current pastor of The Metropolitan Tabernacle in South London. This book argues that the Church has lost the vital ministry of weekly evangelistic preaching. Dr Masters does NOT define weekly evangelistic preaching as the inclusion of the gospel in a message - he defines it as devoting a weekly sermon solely to an evangelistic sermon - that is 52 sermons a year devoted to a purely evangelistic message. The book is devoted to unpacking this view point - how does a preacher prepare such messages - what effect it has on a church (i.e. encouraging the church to be a working church - members inviting friends every week to hear an evangelistic sermon).

Not, I think, Dr Masters best book - but as usual it is provocative - and I certainly do think that regular, evangelistic sermons need to be preached in our churches, and I agree with Dr Masters that for members of the church to sit through 52 evangelistic sermons is not a bad thing - they will certainly understand the gospel message roughly.

Of course Dr Masters puts some important boundaries to this type of ministry. It is a gift to preach 52 different evangelistic sermons - different sermons which emphasizes different areas, and delivered in different ways.

I Celebrated My First Communion Today

Well, today I celebrated my first communion as a priest at the 9:00am service. It went well, even though I was nervous. An amazing time!!

Who Gets to Narrate the World?: Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals by Robert Webber

We finished reading this book with our men's Wednesday Morning Breakfast Book Club. I think that this is one of Webber's last books before he passed away.

This is a small book which argues that Christianity has forgotten its narrative - not the 'God saves me' narrative but the wider, "God is for the world" narrative. He argues that the lack of a global focus means the world is now being narrated by others - and more dangerously for Webber - it is in danger of being narrated by Islam. Physically, Islam is out growing christianity - the birth rate for christians is 2.2 children and decreasing while the Muslim birth rate is 3.8 children per couple and increasing.

Webber argues strongly that we are in a post christian world and we as the church must rediscover our 'grand' narrative and engage the world with it - if we don't another narrative will.

A useful book.