Redwall

Redwall by Brian Jacques

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Just finished reading this book to the kids. They loved it. It is quite well-written, though the plot was pretty predictable. Delightful additions abounded, though: the hero reconciles bitter enemies along the way. The story upholds and honors courage, enterprise, effort, heritage, defending the weak, and more. Well worth the read.



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Faith only in Jesus

"Human reason has the law for its object, thinking, 'I have done this; I have not done that.' But faith in itself has no object but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, given up to death for the sins of the whole world. It does not say, 'What have I done? In what have I offended? What have I deserved?' It says, 'What has Christ done? What has he deserved?' He has redeemed you from your sin, from the devil and from eternal death."

Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians. Crossway, 1998: pg 71-72.

Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb

[On the Triumphal Entry - Matthew 21]

This is the first part of the establishment of the feast of Passover. When Jesus enters Jerusalem, Passover is 4-5 days away. And these verses tell Israel to choose a lamb for the Passover 4 days before it. When Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly, one thing all Israel had on their minds was that they had to pick out their lamb for sacrifice. Jesus' entrance at this time is not just a king coming to His city. He is not just a prophet condemning sin and injustice. He is also a priest offering an unblemished lamb to Israel – take me for your sacrifice. Each Communion celebration we give thanks to God for giving us an unblemished sacrifice.

3/6/11

What God regards

Psalm 51:17 - "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O God, You will not despise."

God despises sin and will not look upon it. When we try to hang on to our sin and still act religious, God will not hear us the prophets say. But when our hearts are broken, our spirits contrite over our sin, God does not despise. He deals with us kindly.


3/6/11

Jesus: the Only Way to God

Jesus, the Only Way to God: Must You Hear the Gospel to be Saved? by John Piper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Piper wrote this book to demonstrate to the reader the necessity of missions to yet-unreached lands. If people believe that the “innocent” natives who have never heard the Gospel will not be condemned, they will not have a compelling motive for evangelizing them. Piper writes to convince us that conscious faith in the name of Jesus is required for salvation.

Overall this was a good book. Piper makes a convincing case that unreached people are condemned and without excuse. They need to hear about Jesus. Simply seeking the truth is not sufficient, because the name of Jesus must be claimed. This is a powerful impetus to evangelize and seek out the seekers in any tribe or nation.

I think Piper makes an error in his assessment of Cornelius, though. He judges Cornelius to be lost before Peter preaches Christ to him, seeing his situation as identical to an unreached heathen. But Cornelius was a god-fearer with much knowledge of God. He lived during the unique transition from Old to New Covenant, when I believe fearers of the God of Israel were saved if they hadn’t yet heard of the Messiah, Jesus. I don’t think this disagreement changes my basic appreciation for his argument above, though.


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Just So Stories

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The title says it all. I haven’t even read the Jungle Book, so I didn’t know what to expect. These short stories for children that explain the origin of things are “so-so.” Very orally based, there is a cadence and hum to them that strikes the fancy. The content leaves a little to be desired, though, unless I’m just grown too old to enjoy imaginative children’s literature. This is possible.


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Noteworthy public self-correction

I found this apology by Josh Harris on behalf of his pastoral team to his church to be very compelling.

Check it out. It is long, but a great example of church leadership, seems to me.

Apparently this is part of a bigger shake-up (near scandal) in this group, of which I know nothing. I just thought this statement was well done.

My view of international politics

in case anyone is interested, is pretty much summed up by this guy.

Touches on
- just war theory applied to Iraq and al Qaeda
- proper posture toward the nation of Israel, as Americans and Christians
- the threat of Iran, North Korea and China
- how to relate to China (the Germany of 100 years ago)

Gregor the Overlander

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Heard about this one from a friend, and daughter read it in a day. Pretty good story with a virtuous yet realistic hero the young reader can relate to. Compelling but not classic. Parts a bit violent/disturbing. Not sure we'll bother with the rest of the series.



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Fighting sin

You have to have something that pushes the desire for sin OUT. External programs or methods might work short-term, but what about after that?

Build up inward desire for the Lord that doesn't leave much room or opportunity for sinful desires to foster. Spiritual zeal needs to push out sinful desire. You don't remove sin so you can then become spiritual. Think of a scale with two weights on two sides. The weight of "love for the Lord" must grow bigger than the opposing weight of "sinful desire," to tip the scales.

To change the picture. It's like being in a desert without water for 2 days, then coming to an oasis and scooping water into your mouth a few drops at a time to get a drink. This is fighting sin in your own strength. There is a cascading waterfall a few steps away to stand under (receive God's grace, repent to Him, pray, meditate on the Word).

Like wisdom, this zeal is something to ask God for and wait for, more than something you can gin up on your own. You don't make the water. But this isn't an excuse for laziness. You can go stand where it's falling, and look up.

"Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it" - Psalm 81:10.

Fourth of July, redux

So, yes, I'm way behind, but this is a really good perspective on celebrating the Fourth of July with mixed feelings about our great-but-losing-many-freedoms nation.

The Williams of Orange

My vacation back to my homeland of Overisel, Michigan revived an interest in my deeper roots. I spent some time with my family tree, and read a children's book on William of Orange. It made for interesting reading, but was weak on connecting the history together.

I've been doing more digging, especially since a conversation Sunday where my ignorance of my own history was again on display. Germany had Luther. France had Calvin. Scotland had Knox. Who is the hero of my homeland, the Netherlands? Well, William of Orange, but who was he?

Well.

There were THREE Williams of Orange, and the first and third were prominent Dutch nobility who fought for Protestantism in their lands. The first fought Philip of Spain in the 1560s to 80s. The third was a descendant (but not grandson) of William the Silent. He fought Louis XIV of France, which gave him enough prestige in England that he was invited by Parliament to take the crown from his own Catholic uncle, James II.

So William became William III of England as well as being William III of Orange. He later married Mary, his own cousin, daughter of James. This couple founded the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, a short drive from where I live.

Going back a bit, the region of Orange was in Southern France, only about 100 square miles. It eventually fell back to France's dominion, but lives on in spirit through the color, which is found in the flags of the Netherlands, Ireland, City of Albany, NY, Syracuse University, and New York City. Each of these use the orange to note their Dutch heritage.

And there you have (some of) it.

Was southern slavery okay?

Several of my friends have been disturbed by Doug Wilson's alleged position on southern slavery, or lack of wisdom in talking about it.
You might not agree with everything he says here, but hopefully it clears up misunderstandings of his position and motivation for addressing it.

What is your view of Southern slavery from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

Curing Souls

The following is my own summary of a paper by David Powlison, "The Cure of Souls."

The world of Christian psychology is fraught with name calling and mudslinging today. Christian counseling is still coming into its own as a self-aware and mature "movement." We find two parties to the debate. As labelled unhelpfully by each other, they are psycho-bashers and psycho-heretics. Psycho-bashers call themselves Biblical, and say that Scripture is sufficient so we should reject secular psychological models or theories. Psycho-heretics call themselves Christian counselors, and see value in those theories, but believe evangelical faith is needed to make them whole and workable. Jay Adams is a leading example of the first; Larry Crabb of the second.

These two perspectives have developed over the years, and each shares elements of the other - this is a spectrum of views, not a black and white line. Still, the summary above outlines two opposing answers to the question: what is the role of secular theories in Christian counseling?

Good verses following vacation

First thing in devotions I read on first day back:

"Arise and work! Yahweh be with you!.... Set your mind and heart to seek Yahweh your God."

1 Chronicles 22:16, 19