Get the story here.
It is a long post, but definitely worth the read.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
John Piper Goes Gangsta'
One of my first blog posts contained a picture of John Piper the Mercenary. Well, looks like he is at it again...
I'm starting to think he is faking the whole conservative Baptist thing. Get the whole story here.
I'm starting to think he is faking the whole conservative Baptist thing. Get the whole story here.
Signing Bibles: The Apex of Christian Celebrity?
I've only seen this in person a few times, and I am just not sure what to think of it. In fact, I am really rather confused by the whole idea of it. I know that the "Celebrity Culture" exists across the Christian landscape and that it has only become more rampant since the Internet has grown.
Nationally, many Evangelicals consider Rick Warren to be "America's Pastor". In fact, considering his global influence some even refer to him as the Pope of Evangelicalism. While I think that is a ridiculous idea, many Christians treat him as the end-all be-all of Christian leadership. How did he get to this point? He sold a few influential books, most notably the Purpose Driven Church & Purpose Driven Life, grew a massive church, and probably most important was the use of The Purpose Driven Life in the kidnapping of Ashley Smith a few years ago. He is a perfect example of a Christian Celebrity. Evangelical pastors want to be him, and many Evangelicals want to follow him. The question is, are they following his love for Jesus, or his celebrity?
It seems that we have brought this on ourselves. Has John Piper become the Michael Crichton or Tom Clancy of the Christian world? Do we buy his books because his name is on it, or because we expect to be shown the wonders of God and the joy of following Jesus? It would seem that Dr. Piper intends the second, but I wonder sometimes if we really buy the books he writes for that reason. Maybe it's a little of both. I can definitely see that in myself a little, and I recognize the danger of it.
Why is it dangerous? The only celebrity in Christianity is God. He is the only one who deserves to be famous. I fawn over certain authors as much as the next person, and I would like to think that it is all because of what they write, but I would be dishonest in saying so. How many of us have gone to conferences and have purchased a book because we recognize the author but in the meantime we pass over many diligent and helpful saints who are not as well known? I have. How many of us have gone to conferences for the speakers and just convince ourselves that we like the theme of the conference as well? I have done that too. However, even with my own motive issues, those books and conferences have proven invaluable. The question I suppose I need to always ask myself is, "Am I buying this book or going to this conference because I want to bring more glory to God?" There can be many motives that seem good, but blot out that "Glory Motive". Where do your motives lie when a new book comes out, or when your denomination holds a conference? Is it because of the celebrity factor or because you want to glorify Christ?
So this brings me to the point about signing Bibles. I have seen men I respect do this and it just seems strange. A recent story about J.I. Packer sums it up well:
It seems to me that J.I. Packer has the right idea. Something about asking a preacher you admire to sign your Bible just reeks of the Celebrity Culture. Granted, as some of you know I had my picture taken with some of the speakers at T4G. Honestly, most of my reasoning was because I wanted to get my picture taken with someone I greatly respected. I wanted to have that memory. And seriously, if C.H. Spurgeon were walking around and you had a camera, you know you would want your picture taken too. Regardless, even in my desire to have that memory, I think that I promoted the Celebrity Culture in Christianity.
All in all, I'm not sure I agree with signing Bibles, but at the same time it isn't a deal breaker for me. With all of the writing of books and great conferences out there the Celebrity Culture is inevitable. I see it nationally, and I even see it in the group of churches I belong to. Oddly enough, many of the old dead guys that we all love to read so much never gained fame or prominence until hundreds of years after they died. Maybe it should still be that way.
So what do you think? Should church leaders sign Bibles or not?
***DISCLAIMER: I must say that I believe many of our national leaders to be pursuing the gospel first with no thought to their own fame or celebrity, but it would appear that some toss their weight around more than others...
Nationally, many Evangelicals consider Rick Warren to be "America's Pastor". In fact, considering his global influence some even refer to him as the Pope of Evangelicalism. While I think that is a ridiculous idea, many Christians treat him as the end-all be-all of Christian leadership. How did he get to this point? He sold a few influential books, most notably the Purpose Driven Church & Purpose Driven Life, grew a massive church, and probably most important was the use of The Purpose Driven Life in the kidnapping of Ashley Smith a few years ago. He is a perfect example of a Christian Celebrity. Evangelical pastors want to be him, and many Evangelicals want to follow him. The question is, are they following his love for Jesus, or his celebrity?
It seems that we have brought this on ourselves. Has John Piper become the Michael Crichton or Tom Clancy of the Christian world? Do we buy his books because his name is on it, or because we expect to be shown the wonders of God and the joy of following Jesus? It would seem that Dr. Piper intends the second, but I wonder sometimes if we really buy the books he writes for that reason. Maybe it's a little of both. I can definitely see that in myself a little, and I recognize the danger of it.
Why is it dangerous? The only celebrity in Christianity is God. He is the only one who deserves to be famous. I fawn over certain authors as much as the next person, and I would like to think that it is all because of what they write, but I would be dishonest in saying so. How many of us have gone to conferences and have purchased a book because we recognize the author but in the meantime we pass over many diligent and helpful saints who are not as well known? I have. How many of us have gone to conferences for the speakers and just convince ourselves that we like the theme of the conference as well? I have done that too. However, even with my own motive issues, those books and conferences have proven invaluable. The question I suppose I need to always ask myself is, "Am I buying this book or going to this conference because I want to bring more glory to God?" There can be many motives that seem good, but blot out that "Glory Motive". Where do your motives lie when a new book comes out, or when your denomination holds a conference? Is it because of the celebrity factor or because you want to glorify Christ?
So this brings me to the point about signing Bibles. I have seen men I respect do this and it just seems strange. A recent story about J.I. Packer sums it up well:
"After I had my my book signed, many more pressed him. He signed books as he answered questions. The insight he provided into the Puritans in those few minutes still have a lasting impact on me. During the conversation, a young man (my age) approached Packer with a newly purchased ESV Bible (of which Packer was a general editor). Excitedly, he asked Packer to sign it and handed it to him. For a few moments Packer held the Bible in his hands, and quietly returned it to the young man. He said, "Son, this is God's book. If you want it signed you will need to ask him." - Josh Gelatt (Ephemeros blog)
It seems to me that J.I. Packer has the right idea. Something about asking a preacher you admire to sign your Bible just reeks of the Celebrity Culture. Granted, as some of you know I had my picture taken with some of the speakers at T4G. Honestly, most of my reasoning was because I wanted to get my picture taken with someone I greatly respected. I wanted to have that memory. And seriously, if C.H. Spurgeon were walking around and you had a camera, you know you would want your picture taken too. Regardless, even in my desire to have that memory, I think that I promoted the Celebrity Culture in Christianity.
All in all, I'm not sure I agree with signing Bibles, but at the same time it isn't a deal breaker for me. With all of the writing of books and great conferences out there the Celebrity Culture is inevitable. I see it nationally, and I even see it in the group of churches I belong to. Oddly enough, many of the old dead guys that we all love to read so much never gained fame or prominence until hundreds of years after they died. Maybe it should still be that way.
So what do you think? Should church leaders sign Bibles or not?
***DISCLAIMER: I must say that I believe many of our national leaders to be pursuing the gospel first with no thought to their own fame or celebrity, but it would appear that some toss their weight around more than others...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Mark Driscoll's "A Book You'll Actually Read"
Looks like Mark Driscoll has written a few more books, and each one is only 96 pages long! Click here to watch an overview video.
This series is available for pre-order and will be released on June 30th, 2008. They've made it possible to embed the introduction videos, so here they are for your viewing pleasure.
Also, if you want to have some fun, play all the videos at the same time (after watching each one first). I just did this and it made me laugh. Four Mark Driscoll's talking at the same time may just be someone's worst nightmare. If that's you, my apologies...
This series is available for pre-order and will be released on June 30th, 2008. They've made it possible to embed the introduction videos, so here they are for your viewing pleasure.
Also, if you want to have some fun, play all the videos at the same time (after watching each one first). I just did this and it made me laugh. Four Mark Driscoll's talking at the same time may just be someone's worst nightmare. If that's you, my apologies...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
2008 Reading List
With the Desiring God Conference approaching in September, I thought it would be wise to look at all of the books I own, establish which ones I haven't read, and read those before I buy more books at the conference. Since I already have so many books to read, it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy more, but then again, that's part of the fun of going to a conference. It would be like going to Disney World and coming back without a t-shirt or mouse ears.
So in lieu of the conference, I have compiled a list of books that I own that I have not yet read. On a side note, my wife was watching me write down the titles of all my books and in the most loving way said, "Are you writing down the books you haven't read? That's going to be discouraging..."
Yes, yes it is. Overwhelming even. I don't plan on reading all of these by the conference, although that would be a fun goal. These are the books that I plan on reading for the rest of 2008. God help me.
This list is in no particular order.
Eusebius
The History of the Church
John Stott
The Cross of Christ
Basic Christianity
The Incomparable Christ
David Powlison
Seeing With New Eyes
Jeremiah Burroughs
Gospel Fear
Gospel Worship
A Treatise on Earthly Mindedness
The Excellency of a Gracious Spirit
R.C. Sproul
The Truth of the Cross
The Holiness of God
Chosen By God
Scripture Alone
Mark Dever
What is a Healthy Church
The Gospel and Personal Evangelism
Al Mohler
Culture Shift
Thabiti Anyabwile
The Faithful Preacher
John Piper
The Future of Justification
Battling Unbelief
Brothers We Are Not Professionals
Don't Waste Your Life
Future Grace
A Hunger for God
Let the Nations Be Glad!
The Pleasures of God
What Jesus Demands from the World
John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus
David Wells
The Courage to Be Protestant
DA Carson
Christ and Culture Revisited
Bob Kauflin
Worship Matters
John Bunyan
Pilgrim's Progress
John Foxe
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Thomas a Kempis
The Imitation of Christ
John Owen
Overcoming Sin & Temptation
Burk Parsons
Assured By God
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Preaching and Preachers
CH Spurgeon
Lectures to My Students
Sam Storms
Pleasures Evermore
Noel Piper
Treasuring God in Our Traditions
John Wesley
The Journal of John Wesley
Packer/Dever
In My Place Condemned He Stood
De Young/Kluck
Why We're Not Emergent
Dever/Duncan/Mohler/Mahaney
Preaching the Cross
Jeffrey/Ovey/Sach
Pierced for Our Transgressions
Williams/Cooper
If You Could Ask God One Question
Tice/Cooper
Christianity Explored
Piper/Taylor
A God Entranced Vision of All Things
Various
Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching
(By the way, the image above is not my bookshelf. I found this image here: www.joeclipart.com/blog/archives/photo/)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Mark Dever: Exposition of Ezekiel 37:1-14
I have been meaning to post this for some time, and since my posts have been sparse lately I thought I would go ahead and post this now. When I went to Louisville for the Together for the Gospel conference, I had the pleasure of hearing Mark Dever give a chapel message at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The message was a simple exposition of Ezekiel 37:1-14 and it was just filled with the gospel. It was the first time that I had ever seen Mark preach, and to be honest, I wasn't really sure what I thought of the guy. In fact, my thoughts of him were mostly negative.
To be clear, those thoughts had nothing to do with his theology, but his personality, or rather, what I assumed his personality was from hearing him on the 9marks website. Friends, I could not have been more wrong about Pastor Dever. The message was clear, humble, and loving. His expostion was precise and helpful and as I said before, the message made a bee-line to the cross. Enjoy and be edified friends!
Consequently, I almost wonder if Mark Dever is becoming one of my favorite teachers in the church. While we don't agree on everything, I appreciate his ministry much more now than I did before the conference in April. The message that he gave at T4G was very helpful, thought provoking, and most likely caused the greatest stir in pastor's hearts and minds about their treatment of the gospel in ther home churches. For that, I am thankful for Mark and I find his writings and ministry to be a great and worthwhile resource to the universal church body. Please take a moment if you haven't and visit the 9marks website, and subscribe to their newsletter. Great stuff.
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