Dear Friends, 7 Things

To those who have recently commented and been rejected-

1) Thanks for reading the blog, you are always welcome.

2) I apologize for my weaknesses as a blogger. I am not always consistent in my policies as a blog manager.

3) I do reserve the right for having the last word because it is my blog. If you want the last word, start a blog, link the readers to it, and then you can have the right to the last word.

4) Many of you recent rejectees have been posting great questions about the differences between the Roman and the Reformed-catholic church in an old post. Thank you. I have pointed you to literature that will help you with your questions. Thus, to keep asking questions of which I have pointed you to answers is odd. I do not have time to answer your questions and concerns which would take some length to answer. A blog comment space is not sufficient all the time for such lengthy material, that's why books are written. And that is why I recommend literature. That has been the case ever since I started blogging. And FYI, I spend more time responding to more recent posts.

5) To keep order I also reject snotty remarks and solicitations (which have thankfully been few).

6) Thanks for your understanding. I am busy pastoral-intern and blogging is a luxury when I have the time.

7) As always I look forward to your thoughtful interactions with the material posted. Please keep comments to an appropriate length and please feel free to suggest literature on a given topic.

Blessings,
P-Chest

Why I blog

Even though I am not a pastor yet, here are six good reasons why I blog. Consider them.

The Floating City

Estranged. Are we just left as individuals in this life? That's how we were raised. We were given the respect to make our own decisions, or so the story goes. Human autonomy was given to us as a virtue. Our parents wanted to make sure we had choices. It was what they were told they didn't have. My generation thinks it was then born on an island. Left here to make the world anew. Alone by gift. Screaming for strangers. Adrift.

And I have often been so intrigued at the music and the beauty created by those who think the world is delimited. Other than it really is. I myself thought the same. I created out of the same well. The noise was a raft. going somewhere i thought.

Just such a sound is Radiohead. Yet for those with an eye for everything off main street. I felt obliged today to post about one of the most underrated, indie-sulk bands of our time. A band from St. Louis called The Floating City released the record "Entering a contest" in 2005. It had a profound impact on me. My band, Kite Pilot, played several shows with them around the midwest. We were weekend warrior tourmates. I remember we played a show here in Omaha and all went out afterwards to the village inn where I got a long chat with lead singer Gareth Schumacher. I think he is an extraordinary songwriter. He is a missionary kid from South Africa. He writes differently than most.

The Floating City disbanded. Gareth now lives in New York. He has a myspace here. He's solo stuff is different. I like the track "winter" here. We played it a lot in California during the winter.

Ive been thinking about the past. How we ought to love those in this generation. They need to see that the world connects. Its not pantheism. God is not the world. Everything is not holy. But our creator, who is creativity itself, has spoken to us. Shown that he is love in Christ. He always connects. He is about communion. He is one is essence and three in person. He is always seeking to bring us out of isolation and into communion with him and each other. The church is that broken, yet bride-in-progress, community. Where mercy and justice kiss. A people being healed from the serpent's poison. Gospel antivenom. It is the only truth. The gospel heals, and the gospel alone. Here is the exclusivity, Christ alone. Here is the grand and utter inclusivity, all who come to him will be saved. Drown the pride. Come to Christ and live. Not just beauty, but truth and beauty.

Back to Montagne?

Regular readers will remember that long ago I started a series blogging through Ray LaMontagne's genius record "Till The Sun Turns Black."

I want to get back to this. I have been listening to the second cut on the album titled "Empty" and have conflicting thoughts. Is this song about how even erotic and passionate love can leave one empty and estranged? Or, is this a break-up tune? Is the narrator recalling images of his previous relationship and lamenting about its demise? Or is he experiencing this country love and yet experiencing estrangement in the midst of love?

I love the song, and began to evaluate the lyrics in a critical way so as to enjoy it more. But I am stumped. I have an inkling, but want to throw it open to any Montagne fans who care...

OTR

Last night we had the privilege of seeing Over The Rhine play here in Omaha. It was a pretty surreal experience. Both the show itself and being at a show in Omaha, and being at a show where a whole distinct generation was present.

I felt like the bulk of the crowd was 1990's, evangelical, Christian music fans of the cornerstone fest variety, who caught the OTR buzz in the early 90's and then flocked to see OTR last night because the music has something to say about their past which can only inevitably lead to insights about the future. OTR has never played Omaha. Its about time.

A few random points:

1) The show would have been better at another venue, say Lauritzen Gardens, Slowdown, Keneko, Bemis, etc.
2) I talked to the owner of the club who said the Monday crowd was so impressive for OTR that they will likely bring them back, and consider another venue, even though he makes more money having shows at the club he owns and not elsewhere (the owner of the waiting room also is the co-bookie for 1% productions).
3) The old vigilantes of Love backing band was backing up OTR. Another throw back to the old school. Who remembers the Vigilantes?
4) Many younger congregants at Grace Reformed Church to whom I preached came up and greeted me at the show, perhaps suprised to see a preacher with a long island at a rock club..get used to it..
5) I don't think the promoters expected such a large crowd because I believe they are largely unaware of the cross-pollination that occured between the Christian underground music scene in the 90's and the secular alternative music scene of the same era.

At any rate, it was great to have a date night and see some great live music. I want to see this band put out a standards record. They have the jazz chops, she has the voice. I was a little dissapointed I didn't hear "If a song could be president." But alas maybe they played it near the end, we had to leave a little early to get home to the babysitter. I love Linford's stories. He needs a podcast. Whenever the band thing slows down, I hope he can do something with his childhood stories. He sure knows how to tell them.

It was a grand night indeed. I feel smokey and mesquite even the morning after. I am ready to play cards under a dim light blurred by cigar smoke with OTR crooning in the background about that schoolmaster nostalgia, who's in?

Is It Just A Cultural Thing?

The question came to me a few nights ago about whether Paul’s instruction found in the NT regarding church offices was culturally confined. In other words, were women excluded from being candidates for the office of elder simply because Paul was writing in a patriarchal society. Were Paul’s commands just a product of his own cultural situatedness?

I have heard this question raised a lot in recent years. In fact, many evangelical churches (such as many Methodist and Episcopalian churches) believe this argument is valid and thus ordain women to the office of elder. So this is surely a sensitive and important topic in our day. I thought I would post three reasons why I believe this argument is unsustainable, and thus that women are not eligible for the office of elder. I do not think the issue is decided by changing world contexts, but upon biblical principles.

First, this argument can lead to a slippery slope. If the qualification that elders be men is culturally bound, what other qualifications are mere reflections of the cultural milieu? Being hospitable? Being a recent convert? After all, hospitality was of greater value in first century cultures than in our contemporary culture, maybe elders should not exhibit this quality. Or better yet, what about sexual morality? Can elders be homosexuals? Some churches allow this. So where is the line drawn? The one who posits that Paul is merely writing within cultural parameters must then delineate those parameters from a twenty-first century perspective. That is an almost impossible line to tow.

Secondly, Paul grounds his argument for the role of women in I Timothy 2 in the creation order, not in first century ideas. I Timothy 2:12-13 says that, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” What follows is Paul’s qualifications of elders, which is an office of rule and ministerial authority in the church. Thus, Paul does not go to Athenian culture to ground his commands, but he goes to creation culture (i.e. the way reality is designed) and the way that God created the human race, and the role he gave to men and women at that time. Moreover, Paul says at the beginning of I Timothy that the following instructions are to be observed “in every place.” He never backs up to say “now only in this church should…”

Thirdly, Paul does not exhibit anywhere else in Scripture that he was wanting to work within cultural parameters to express and teach his doctrine. No, Paul actually went against the cultural grain on a lot of things in his day. He wasn’t afraid to do that.
As Mark Driscoll has pointed out, “Paul was frequently beaten for violating cultural norms of his day, such as ending the sacrificial system and not enforcing a host of Jewish cultural customs upon Gentile Christians, including circumcision, dietary restrictions, and festivals.” Driscoll goes on to state that if Paul would have observed cultural custom he might of lived a lot longer than he did and perhaps not have been beheaded.

So in conclusion, I do not believe this argument holds. Paul did not forbid women from the office of elder for cultural reasons but for theological reasons. I believe a lot of the people espousing this cultural argument are more influenced by the pervasive feminism of the past 50 years than they realize. A close examination of the text of Scripture shows that Paul’s commands on this issue are for churches in all times and places.

Jesus Among the Chicken Littles

I recently picked up a copy of the book by Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck called Why We Love The Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion. Yes, these are the same two gentlemen who wrote the very popular (at least amongst dorks like me) Why We Are Not Emergent by Two Guys Who should be. I did not read their first book though I heard from friends that it was a very solid critique of all things Emergent. This book piqued my interest a little more than the other, and on a recommendation from a friend here at our church, I picked up a copy.

In sequel like fashion, this book deals with those who are burnt out on Church, whether emergent or otherwise. It wants to address those who love Jesus but could do without his followers. Those who want to be “spiritual” but would rather forget about Christ’s body and bride for whom he died. Those who want relationship without rules, etc. you get the point. I think it is a very timely book seeing as I know many people who would fall into the main target audience. The guys mention four groups that make up this said target audience and they include: 1) The committed (those who love the church as well needing encouragement to keep on) 2) The Disgruntled (those in church who are disgruntled with it and perhaps considering leaving) 3) The Waffling (not much difference from 2 in my opinion) and 4) The Disconnected, or those not in church.

I just read up through the first two chapters and was engaged by the material so I thought I would comment. The first chapter is written by Kevin DeYoung who is a pastor in the RCA. It is titled “Jesus among the chicken littles.” The book as a whole seeks to address four reasons why people are disillusioned with the traditional or institutional church. Kevin deals solely with the first reason in this first chapter. And the first reason that people can get disillusioned from the church is what he calls the “missional” reason. This reason is summarized by the thought that, “church just doesn’t work anymore” and that the church is doomed if it does not change (thus “the sky is falling” chicken little reference in the title). In addition, Kevin mentions that many are claiming that the church has lost its mission. It has ignored a host of problems in society and is losing relevance.

I think Kevin offers some wise observation about the missional trend in evangelicalism here. First, he is quick to lend an ear to the missional critique of institutional church and wants the church to glean what it can from their concerns. I wholeheartedly agree. However, Kevin then turns to several concerns, believing that biblically we cannot accept everything that “missional” folks espouse these days entirely, hook—line—and sinker if you will.

He rightly notes that many in the missional movement reduce their concerns to one thing: community or global transformation. For starters, all Christians believe that the gospel has social implications. No megachurch or “attractional” church has ever denied that. Secondly, as the book states, most would probably agree that community transformation could be a good thing. Kevin then points out that we never really see Paul or Jesus talking about such things. I would agree. In fact, the 5000 that Jesus fed actually wanted Jesus to go to Rome and overthrow the corrupt empire ruling at the time. But Jesus said his Kingdom is not of this world. He was doing a miracle as a sign that the Kingdom of God was being inaugurated before their very eyes. The community that the NT authors were desiring to transform was the community of the church. “Foolish Galatians” rings a bell. Paul was speaking to the church at Galatia. Along with all the problems at Corinth, or the affirming words for those in Phillipi. It is the covenant community that is targeted. The Kingdom of God is otherwordly yet comes to us through word and sacrament, by which the Holy Spirit then uses those means to sanctify and transform Christ’s church. And this church, yes should be a fragrance of God to the world, and should adorn the doctrine of God by her good works. But Paul never harps at the Cretan church for failing to “redeem” the Gladiator culture, or the entertainment industry of the day. Jesus paid taxes to the regime that later had him crucified. If the gospel is about community co-ops and social justice then Christ failed. But alas, the gospel is the news that Jesus Christ lived for your righteousness and died for your sins, and the law in subservience to the gospel is repent of your sins and believe this news or be condemned to hell for rejecting this news. In summary, I think this book really has some solid critiques that I agree with of this current tendency in evangelicalism to be all about social welfare and thus abandon the church.

Secondly, Kevin thinks that biblically we must distinguish between the church’s calling and the individual Christian’s calling. Here to, I think he is right. Kevin writes, “without this distinction, the church gets overwhelmed and overburdened with good ideas.” Boy, how true. I believe many in the church have great ideas, outlets, and avenues whereby they want to express their love for Christ to their neighbor by doing x, y, and z. I would say, praise God, but take responsibility for your x, y, and z service, and when the times get tough, seek encouragement and consolation from the church, but don’t point fingers or ask the church as the church institution to pick up the slack and provide resources and sponsor cultural expressions of piety. Perhaps instead go to your fellow brothers or sisters in Christ and ask them for help. I think when these two callings get mixed it is very burdensome upon both the church leaders and the other congregants.

As the book states the kingdom of God is not primarily a new order of a this-worldly society. It is heavenly and otherworldly. And I would add that currently, being otherwordly has fallen out of style and being green and socially aware is the latest wave of an evangelicalism that has lost its confessional moorings, and will ride waves until it recovers the truth and beauty of the biblical doctrine that produced it.

One thing I think this first chapter could do that it does not do, is to interact more with the serious claims of the calvinistic social-transformationist agenda. Kevin doesn’t really do this. But given the popular nature of the book, this isn’t to be expected. Perhaps though, he could at least have dealt with Revelation 21 and the passage dealing with the kings of the earth and their nations bringing glory into the kingdom (perhaps referencing Isaiah 60) and how he understands that section of Scripture which some make out to mean that cultural work contributes to the final eschatological kingdom. At any rate, I digress.

This is an enjoyable read. I must admit that I am always skeptical about these sequel-series type things that evangelical publishers love to market (think the case for…fill in the blank). In fact the writers try to show in the first part of the book how they endeavor this book to be different from Why We’re not Emergent. Indeed, the book has a different purpose and theme. But I think it is too similar to their other work in the layout, style, and general thrust of presentation. But such is publishing. I bet that was hard to avoid. If you want to sell books, you have to do things a certain way sometimes. And I think the message of this book is very laudable and so I could only hope it gets in to many hands.

August, Omaha, Baby!

Well, our little boy Isaiah was baptized a couple of weeks ago. He is blessed to be a part of the visible church. We pray that he would embrace inwardly the promises shown to him outwardly in his baptism, and may we all improve on our baptism throughout our lives. The first and last picture shown above were taken on the Lord's Day he was baptized. He did great. When the pastor poured the water on he squeaked up a bit, but then went right back to sleep. As one of my professor's was fond of saying, some of the best events in redemptive-history took place while God's people were asleep (see Gen 15). I was reminded of that in thinking about Isaiah's baptism.

In other news, its August in Omaha. Its time for many nights on the porch, watching the storms roll through with a good record playing in the back, dreaming of the sea. We also have to get Isaiah some shots this month. We were told everyone cries for this. The doctor, the med student shadowing the doctor, the parents, and the baby. Sounds fun! Maybe I should sneek in some booze the help the medicine go down;)

Gary Kerr

All you Omahomies will appreciate this. But its freaking me out that everywhere I go in the city I am running into retired anchorman of channel 6 news Gary Kerr. What's the deal?! He drives a little tan 4-door toyota camery and I have passed him around town at least 4 times in the past week, he has the same look on his face as he did when he anchored the news, same hair too. Its just weird.

I am all...look honey, its Gary Kerr...just doesn't seem right...he was a good anchorman.

I used to run into Conor Oberst, now its just Gary Kerr. I think I am gettin' on in years...

Praise be to God!

As of this past Saturday I am now an officially licensed preacher of the gospel in the PCA! All glory and praise goes to our triune God!

It was indeed a long and grueling day, with morning examinations from the Candidates and Credentials Committee followed after lunch by me preaching a sermon and then being examined by the entire floor of the presbytery (my written exam having been approved as well). I had completely sweated down the back of my shirt by the time the exam was over. Praise God that the work of his church went forward this weekend at the Presbytery. I was charged to now be of good courage and boldness, being found approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).

Indeed, it is a very humbling thing to realize that the Lord uses sinful men to carry forth his word and to do his will. My theme verse for ministry is this: "Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor 3:4-6).

Praise be to God!