Justin Taylor Weighs In On The Elephant Room

The key word for him? Wisdom. Wisdom in the planning and in the approach on the part of the people involved. Time will tell if they were wise or not, but Taylor hits the nail on the head when he writes:

But I think the whole thing could have been better if conceived in a different way. 

The Elephant Room could have achieved virtually of the same results, perhaps better ones, without any of the negative relational repercussions and doctrinal confusion. 

How? By holding the conversations offline.

Read the whole post HERE

Election Day!

Well here we are. I'm sorry if I haven't been on here lately. I've been busy on the new site New Reformation. (Join today!) On another note, I just want to say two things: Go vote. And go pray. Pray that God will guide this process, that we will vote wisely, and no matter who wins tomorrow, that we can get back to the business of the country. Thanks again for all your support.PS:

Triablogue has some cool thoughts for you voting in California.

Fusion!

Here is something Mark Driscoll has written. I thought it wise to share. Read it and weep.
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In my years of pastoral ministry I have worked very hard to not be political. I believe that my job as a pastor is to preach and teach the Bible well so that my people make their decisions, including their voting decisions, out of their faith convictions.

This election season which has dominated the cultural conversation for many months has been particularly insightful regarding the incessant gospel thirst that abides deep in the heart of the men and women who bear God’s image. Without endorsing or maligning either political party or their respective presidential candidates, I am hopeful that a few insights from the recent election season are of help, particularly to younger evangelicals.


First, people are longing for a savior who will atone for their sins. In this election, people thirst for a savior who will atone for their economic sins of buying things they did not need with money they did not have. The result is a mountain of credit debt they cannot pay and a desperate yearning that somehow a new president will save them from economic hell.

Second, people are longing for a king who will keep them safe from terror in his kingdom. In the Old Testament the concept of a peaceable kingdom is marked by the word shalom. In shalom there is not only the absence of sin, war, strife, and suffering but also the presence of love, peace, harmony, and health. And, this thirst for shalom is so parched that every election people cannot help but naively believe that if their candidate simply wins shalom is sure to come despite sin and the curse.

The bottom line is obvious to those with gospel eyes. People are longing for Jesus, and tragically left voting for mere presidential candidates. For those whose candidate wins today there will be some months of groundless euphoric faith in that candidate and the atoning salvation that their kingdom will bring. But, in time, their supporters will see that no matter who wins the presidency, they are mere mortals prone to sin, folly, and self-interest just like all the other sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. To help extend naïve false hope as long as possible, a great enemy will be named and demonized as the one who is hindering all of the progress to atone for our sins and usher in our kingdom. If the Democrats win it will be the rich, and if the Republicans win it will be the terrorists. This diversionary trick is as old as Eve who blamed her sin on Satan rather than repenting. The lie is that it’s always someone else’s fault and we’re always the victim of sinners and never the sinner.

Speaking of repentance, sadly, no matter who wins there will be no call to personal repentance of our own personal sins which contributes to cultural suffering and decline such as our pride, gluttony, covetousness, greed, indebtedness, self-righteousness, perversion, and laziness. And, in four years we’ll do it all again and pretend that this time things will be different. Four years after that, we’ll do it yet again. And, we’ll continue driving around this cul de sac until Jesus returns, sets up his throne, and puts an end to folly once and for all.

In the meantime, I would encourage all preachers to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and repentance of personal sin. He alone can truly atone for our sins. He alone can deliver us from a real hell. He alone is our sinless and great King. And, he alone has a Shalom kingdom to offer.

Lastly, for those preachers who have gotten sidetracked for the cause of a false king and a false kingdom by making too much of the election and too little of Jesus, today is a good day to practice repentance in preparation to preach it on Sunday. Just give it some time. The thirst will remain that only Jesus can quench. So, we’ve still got work to do….until we see King Jesus and voting is done once and for all.

Flashback Friday's: Tuesday morning edition

Yeah I was sick to sorry about that folks. HEre are some gems.
Why I hate religion-Mark Driscoll



The Shack-Why Mark Driscoll hates it and you should too.


American Idolatry-Mark has a few things to say about it from a missions perspective. (I think)

Martin Luther "The Devil can kiss my @$$"

In light of the fact that Mark Driscoll will be preaching at the Desiring God conference on harsh language (the theme is the power of words and the wonder of God) the good people at Contend Earnestly found some pretty interesting quotes by Martin Luther. Among them are:

Luther advised people to "tell the Devil to kiss my ____"

He repeatedly said that if the Pope should send him a command to appear before him: "I shall _____ upon his summons"

He said that the monks are "the lice placed by the devil on God Almighty's fur coat"

When trying to explain how far God is or is not the author of evil, he says: 'Semei wished to curse, and God immediately directed his curse against David. God says, "Curse him not and no one else." Just as if a man wishes to relieve himself I cannot prevent him, but should he wish to do so on the table here, then I should object and tell him to betake himself to the corner.'"

My all time favorite is his response to Rome about their use of Aristotle's thoughts on reason. Luther exclaimed, "Reason is a whore."

He also mentioned, "When I (the Pope-a--) bray, hee-haw, hee-haw, or relieve myself in the way of nature, they must take it all as articles of faith, i.e. Catholics."

His defense?

What think you of Paul? Was he abusive when he termed the enemies of the gospel dogs and seducers? Paul who, in the thirteenth chapter of the Acts, inveighs against a false prophet in this manner: "Oh, full of subtlety and all malice, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness." I pray you, good Spalatin, read me this riddle. A mind conscious of truth cannot always endure the obstinate and willfully blind enemies of truth. I see that all persons demand of me moderation, and especially those of my adversaries, who least exhibit it. If I am too warm, I am at least open and frank; in which respect I excel those who always smile, but murder.

You can go to Contend Earnestly to get their take on it. It's pretty good stuff. I might add that here is Mark Driscoll being interviewed on harsh language for the Upcoming Desiring God conference. ( I wish I could go!)


And John Piper on the subject as well.


Where do I stand? I agree with them. There is a way to go too far, and there is this spirit of not going far enough. So, to give an answer: Do I believe in hell? Hell Yeah!!!!

Burn Your Plastic Jesus!!!!!!

Wow. This is so old school pentecostal (assuming they really will burn a plastic Jesus). Mark Driscoll (who else?) is going to be teaching in Australia next week at a huge event called "Burn Your Plastic Jesus". The event will be held at a huge arena in Sydney. About 5,000 people are expected to show up. Keep the event in prayer. I might add, I hope they really do burn down a bunch of Jesus Junk. It would be very funny.

Mark Driscoll in Sydney: revealing interview

While in Australia, Mark Driscoll got interviewed by the Sydney Anglican Network. Here's the 23 minute interview. His views on spirtual gifts, church service and culture are pretty revealing and I might add, cool.



So how should we do church? What role does research play? Something to think about.

Death by Love

All I can say is wow. i can't wait to read this book. For more info go to the Re:Lit page

Mark Driscoll in London: Sermon on Missional Churches

Well, I haven't talked about Mark for a while. However, he's been to London recently and preached messages and worked with the Reformed/Charismatic New Frontiers Churches. HERE You can hear some of the messages. The message On The Missional Church is the message I listened to first. It's very informative. So a few questions. What kind of Church is yours?
1. A Mirror-reflecting your culture
2. A Parasite-taking from culture and giving nothing back
3. A bomb Shelter-staying away from the world
4. A City Within A City-The city of God. In other words, a counter culture.
I think his best idea is about getting rid of missions departments so that the entire church can be missions minded. His other idea is that we must all be well informed theologian and apologists. Even your 5 year olds must be on fire about church planting and missions. Wow. Listen and let me know what you think. (I have to admit, he talks about getting rid of Sunday School....ehhhhhhh.......how are they going to become better theologians and apologists without the extra time to go in depth in the time Sunday School affords? Maybe small groups?)
One more: FOR THOSE OF YOU SLEEPING AROUND MARK SAYS: Jesus Has a BRIDE not a girlfriend he sleeps with. If you're sleeping around, your preaching a false gospel.

A few more nuggets I picked up: media is a sermon with a message it wants to convert you to, preach the gospel often, multiple campuses, save money for church planting etc...