Spitzer’s Targeting of Crisis Pregnancy Centers

I suppose I should suppress my schadenfreude at the current woe’s of New York governor Elliot Spitzer, but as governor, and previously as attorney general, Spitzer was an enemy of the right to life of the unborn.  See this Wall Street Journal blog piece on Spitzer’s support of “women’s health.”  What a wretched euphemism!  As attorney general, Spitzer prosecuted crisis pregnancy centers accusing them of false advertising.  Schadenfreude or not, I say good riddance!

Sermons Updated

The sermon series “Life in the Community of Faith: The Pastoral Epistles” has been updated on the Sermons page at the Beaver Baptist Church site.  The series is now complete through March 9, 2008.

My Growing Distrust of Environmentalist Claims

People who are devoted to the enviromentalist movement seem unable to understand why people reject what appears to be obvious evidence of problems like global warming.  For me the problem is that enviromentalists seem to buy into claims that are not supported by the evidence or naively accept certain claims as being scientifically established.  One example is the claim that plastic shopping bags are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of wildlife.  This article from the Times of London reveals that this claim is based upon “flawed science and exaggerated claims.”

Does it ever occur to the people that generate these kinds of “scientific” claims that they are harming their own cause?  Or do they not care as long as they further their environmentalist agendas?

I am increasingly concerned over the enviroment, sustainable agriculture, etc.  But this kind of carelessness and/or dishonesty makes it hard for me to commit my time or money to the environmentalist movement.

Contra Legalism

Today I discovered a new (to me, that is) weblog named Against Heresies by Martin Downes.  The latest two posts are on subject of legalism (here and here).  Well said, and sure to be quoted in some future sermon by Eutychus.

Sermons Updated

The sermon series “Life in the Community of Faith: The Pastoral Epistles” has been updated on the Sermons page at the Beaver Baptist Church site.  The series is now complete through January 2008.

Ancient-Future Church

Christianity Today has an in-depth and insightful article on the Ancient-Future Church movement: “The Future Lies in the Past.”  The author, Chris Armstrong, attended the 2007 Wheaton Theology Conference which had as its theme “The Ancient Faith for the Church’s Future.”  The article provides a helpful introduction to the movement: its orgins in the 1970s; its key figures including Robert Webber, Thomas Oden, Thomas Howard (who, famously, later converted to Roman Catholicism), Peter Gilquist (who moved to Eastern Orthodoxy), and Richard Foster; and  the problems that the movement attempts to correct, as well as potential ways it can get things wrong.

My own interest in the movement came about in the 1980s,  when I was invited to attend services at St. Joseph of Arimathea, an Anglican church in Berkeley, Calif.  It appealed to me aesthetically: I enjoyed the Gregorian chants, the peaceful atmosphere, the simple, traditional architecture of the sanctuary, the liturgy (although I could take or leave the use of incense, as well as the vestments).  Theologically, however, I had too many differences: I could not accept infant baptism, I felt it promoted too great a clergy-laity distinction, most importantly, I objected to its sacerdotalism (the belief that a priesthood is needed to intercede between people and God).

Later I became acquainted with Touchstone magazine (at the 2000 Wheaton Theology Conference, incidentally) in which conservative Christians from the mainline Protestant denominations, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy as well as Evangelicalism write on matters of common concern.  It attempts to be a forum of “mere Christianity,” a phrase borrowed from the book of the same title by C. S. Lewis, the “patron saint” of the magazine.  I also became interested in the writings of Robert Webber, particularly Ancient-Future Faith.

I don’t know how the insights of the ancient-future church movement can fit in with what we are doing at Beaver Baptist Church.  On occasion I like to include reciting the Nicene Creed in order to emphasize our unity with all Christians throughout the ages and the world today.  I have also introduced the practice of spiritual disciplines, which are of course not limited to the ancient-future movement.  We also incorporate a couple of elements from the “church calendar” such as having Maundy Thursday or Good Friday services during Holy Week.  These aspects of traditional worship have been positively received, or at least tolerated at our church.

In general, Southern Baptists are likely to be unreceptive to this kind of traditional Christian worship, although the SBC is large enough to have a diversity in worship styles.  For example, Sojourn Church in Louisville, Kentucky uses elements of ancient worship.  The Baptist Church of the Redeemer in Houston, Texas is also incorporates a liturgical style.

Spiritual Homecoming

We’re on vacation for two weeks, the first half of which will be in Louisville where we will see much of our family. 

We also got to visit our old church family at Clifton Baptist Church.  It was a refreshing time for us.  We saw–if only far too briefly–many of our old friends.  The service was wonderful, Bruce Ware preached on Psalm 116 on the subject of Thanksgiving.  The music, led by Chip Stam, was beautiful.  It was good for me to see a fresh example of what I hope to see develop at Beaver Baptist Church.

It makes me think of how, on the one hand, it is good to have a vision for the church, ideally directed by Scripture.  On the other hand, I want to be directed by the Holy Spirit, to avoid subtly substituting my idea of what this church should be for God’s intention for this church.

Yet, I mustn’t be afraid to lead.  I could easily fail to move forward because of indecision.  This quote from Thabiti Anyabwile helped me to see this truth:

And we cannot be afraid to lead. There may be 1,000 things we must be sensitive to, but we must resist the paralysis that comes from over-analyzing and tea leaf reading. Leadership is as much an act of faith as prayer. We must trust that God is at work in our leadership of the church, and that He will providentially rule in our prayerful efforts.

The moment I read that quote I saw that was an area in which I am weak.  This past year is one in which I had to learn a lot about leadership–the hard way.

Doxoblogy: TULIP For Dummies

I liked this. It was simple: Doxoblogy: TULIP For Dummies

Hey, who is he calling a dummy?

Students Flock to Seminaries, but Fewer See Pulpit in Future – New York Times

This New York Times article: Students Flock to Seminaries, but Fewer See Pulpit in Future – New York Times (HT: R. Albert Mohler) looks at the phenomenon of seminary graduates either deciding not to enter pastoral ministry, or entering seminary with other goals in the first place. The reporter spoke to administrators and graduates of Candler School of Theology at Emory University (United Methodist), Auburn Theological Seminary in New York, and an official from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

My question is, how representative is this sampling? Not in a pure statistical sense, but how can you get a feel for what is happening in seminaries without inquiring what is happening in the Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and three other large evangelical seminaries, Dallas Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The last time I checked, the four largest SBC seminaries and the three seminaries just mentioned make up seven of the ten largest seminaries in the U.S.

The only mention of evanglical Christians was this: “Students who are evangelical Protestants, meanwhile, often end up at advocacy groups, sometimes called parachurches, which have defined the priorities and solidified the influence of conservative Christians.” That is not an accurate definition of “parachurches,” which includes far more than advocacy groups.

Reading this article just confirmed my belief that the mainstream media still doesn’t get evangelical Christianity in America, and doesn’t even want to try.

Things I wish I had known before becoming a Calvinist

There are things you should know before becoming a Calvinist (hat tip: Rick Ritchie): The Mechanical Contrivium: Trivia about Calvinism