January 14, 2014

Lessons Learned from Our 2013 Symposium

By Clarke Morledge

So, What did we learn?Can you defend your faith when challenged by others? Our Veracity blog founder, John Paine, has been thinking about this question, courtesy of J.I. Packer. But what are some of the obstacles that you and your fellow Christians face when given the opportunity to defend one’s faith? I have been meditating on these type of questions lately, as our Facts & Faith Symposium wrapped up about six weeks or so ago in November, 2013.  I would like share some of the things that I have been learning.

Our Symposium, sponsored partly by Veracity over three nights (#1, #2, and #3), covered the topic of Creation and how Science and the Bible relate to one another. OK, hang on for a minute. I admit that I am a bit of a science-geek. This is no surprise, as I am a computer engineer, so it comes with the territory. I know that there are a lot of friends of mine who could care less about science. As long as they can use their iPhones and work the microwave oven, technologies that have been brought to us by the miracle of modern science, then that is just fine with them.

I get that. Not everyone can be totally into “science-ish” type stuff, and I am no expert either. I still can not figure out how to connect a DVD player to a television screen easily, so if you ask me to help you hook up your home theater system, I will just end up staring at the puddle of wires for as long as you did. So, please do not get disappointed if I act like I have no clue as to what is going on.

Because you know what? I do not have a clue.

That’s what Google and YouTube videos are for.

But you do not need to be a science-geek to talk about the God of the Bible with your neighbors, friends and family. Working through our own theology of what it means to say that God is our Creator, that we are created in His image, the question of how we are to view the problem of suffering, death, and evil, and that we are fallen and in need of healing is crucial to the journey of personal discipleship. Our contemporary world is built on the foundations of modern science, and that scientific outlook presents challenges to the Christian faith were not there a couple of hundred years ago. So, it is difficult to avoid these challenges.

However, here is the interesting part. Thinking about the relationship between Science and the Bible with respect to Creation is but one example of the type of work Christians need to be able to do in order to effectively communicate the Gospel to a world today that finds it easier to ask Google instead of God for the answers to their questions. I have come to learn that the “Creation issue” is merely a case study illuminating a larger set of issues. Here is what I have learned:

Continue reading

7 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Facts & Faith

January 11, 2014

J.I. Packer: That’s Not Good Enough

By John Paine

Right between the eyes.  From a Calvinist.

HT: Justin Taylor, Crossway

7 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Witnesses

January 9, 2014

The Calvinist: A Poem by John Piper

By Clarke Morledge

In the popular mind, the thought of a “Calvinist” conjures up thoughts of “predestination”, “horrible decree”, “hellfire and brimstone”, “condemnation”, and “rigid”. Basically, what you get is a sourpuss. Not a lot of fun and happy thoughts here, as “Calvinism” for a number of folks today gives Christianity a bad name.

I never thought that the power of a poem on video could viably challenge such as assessment. But I think I have found something that might do just that.

John Piper served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota for 33 years, and he is currently the chancellor for Bethlehem College and Seminary, and founder of DesiringGod.org. John’s theological hero is the 18th century colonial preacher, Jonathan Edwards, probably the greatest American philosopher ever…. and a Calvinist.

What gets me about Jonathan Edwards is that he was able to have this awesome, even terrifying, view of God’s majestic sovereignty on the one hand, as well as a tender, joyous fondness for the “sweetness” of God on the other. How was he able to put these two things together?

John Piper’s most popular book is Desiring God, Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, which is nothing more than a contemporary exploration of Jonathan Edward’s faith and thought. John wrote a poem recently, and he invited a few friends to add their voices to help him read the poem: D.A. Carson, R.C. Sproul, Alistair Begg, Thabiti Anyabwile, Matt Chandler, and Sinclair Ferguson.

This really surprised me. It may not change your view of a “Calvinist”, but it might give you some pause to ponder. I would like to know what you think.

Additional Resources:

Just in case you thought that Calvinism was on the periphery of the evangelical church these days, you might want to rethink that and look into the recent CrossCon student missions conference, held in Louisville, Kentucky, the last week of 2013. The Gospel Coalition posted a number of videos from this new missions conference, an event designed to mobilize a new generation of young college students. I recently talked to one of the 4,000 students who attended. It was quite an experience from the report I received.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Topics

January 7, 2014

Skip & Barbara Ryan: Hitting a Wall… and Coming Back

By Clarke Morledge

I only heard Skip Ryan preach once at Trinity Presbyterian Church. I was a college student back in those days about an hour away from Trinity, but I had friends who really loved Skip and they encouraged me to come visit and hear him preach. Trinity was one of the fastest growing churches in Charlottesville, Virginia. I could see why when I saw Skip in action.

Before long, Skip Ryan moved as he was asked to lead a new congregation in Dallas, Texas, that had split off from another church. Under Skip’s leadership, Park Cities Presbyterian grew from 1,500 to over 5,000 members in just about 14 years. Everyone was impressed with Skip’s performance.

Skip Ryan was a big hit.

Unfortunately, Skip’s success had become his own undoing. Underneath the performance-driven facade was a prescription pain-killer drug addiction. Over time, it isolated him from his family, his co-workers in ministry, his friends, and it eventually cost him his job.

Skip Ryan had hit a wall.

That was 2006.

Fast-forward to 2012: Years after hitting bottom after crashing into his wall, Skip Ryan was eventually restored back into ministry at Park Cities as an assistant pastor and he is closer now to his family than ever before.

Here at Veracity, we do a lot with Christian “apologetics”; that is, giving a reasoned defense for the hope that one has in Jesus Christ. But the most compelling case that can be made for the Christian faith is perhaps not some powerful illustration for the existence of God or some profound evidence for the historicity of Biblical claims. Instead, it is the demonstration of transforming grace in action through changed lives. Personal discipleship does not happen with out it. The story of Skip and Barbara Ryan is one of repentance and rescue, a window into God’s grace at work in Christian community. Let them tell their story.

[vimeo 45947083 w=500&h=281]

HT: Dave Thompson

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Witnesses

January 4, 2014

Why Me? (And Why That’s the Wrong Question)

By John Paine

“We live between Eden and Heaven. Sometimes, it’s going to hurt.”
Jim Davis, author of Why Me? (And Why That’s the Wrong Question)

One of the things I enjoy most about blogging is all the reading that goes with the job—particularly when I find a new blogger who has something original and insightful to say. There are a lot of bloggers who are curators of other people’s material, and there are the big-blog guys everybody reads (many of them are a team rather than an individual behind the keyboard), but if you’re willing to look a little deeper you can find some really wonderful voices in the blogosphere.

Why Me?Jim Davis is one of those voices (others include Dick Woodward, David Work, Walter Bright, Jason Ladd, Sandra Dimas and Maureen Moser, and our own Clarke Morledge).

Jim is a constitutional attorney from Birmingham, Alabama, a Bible study teacher, and a writer—he’s not associated with the Garfield comic strip (penned by another Jim Davis). What I appreciate most about his writing is that he always puts it on a level playing field. Like Clarke, he can see more than one side to an issue, and he keeps his eye on the big picture when others tend to let their emotions slant their thinking.

Jim has a new book, Why Me? (And Why That’s the Wrong Question), just released by Leafwood Publishers and available on Amazon. Jim asked me to review the final draft for his publisher, and I was happy to oblige with this review:

If knowledge is knowing the answers to questions, wisdom is knowing which questions are important and why.  Jim Davis brings a refreshing perspective to the topic of pain and suffering in Why Me? (And Why That’s the Wrong Question).  This book is packed full of wisdom and reality, and the topic is treated honestly—with biblical integrity, and with respect.  We should be preparing ourselves for pain and suffering now because it is inevitable.  Instead of focusing on answers (that only God can give), Jim focuses on the questions.  Readers will appreciate Jim’s voice; he has a gift for applying the Bible to a hurting world in a way that is insightful, comforting, and helpful.  I wholeheartedly recommend this book, both as a group study and for personal discipleship.  In Jim’s words, “We live between Eden and Heaven. Sometimes, it’s going to hurt.”

I told Jim when he asked for the review that I am no expert on pain and suffering.  I’ve been blessed with an exceedingly pain-free life. Exceedingly. But what I didn’t tell him is that the title of his book is an echo from a sad chapter of my family’s otherwise benign history. It was decades ago, but I can still hear my mother’s voice, saying those words (more than once). It was an honest question for her, as it is for so many people, but it was not the right question. This is an honest, insightful, comforting, and helpful book.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Topics