Friday Food For Thought

Some tasty morsels I've chewed on recently:

Bryan Loritts, "Portrait of a Diverse Church" (Bible Study Magazine, Mar/Apr 2016):

"Something in you has to be discontent with just a multiethnic sanctuary -- you've got to want a multiethnic dinner table."

David Powlison, "Straight Talk":

"Jesus never said a pointless word to other people. He was never just marking time or keeping things that matter at arm's length. He always engages the important matters. he never just describes, analyzes, and complains about what's wrong. His conversations always go somewhere helpful. Jesus speaks life-giving words: candid, constructive, relevant, and redemptive. And one of the constructive things Jesus talks about is helping us to assess the quality of what we talk about. 'The mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart' -- either good or evil (Matt 12:34)."

Tim Keller, Galatians For You (53):

Galatians 2:14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ...

"Literally, Paul says that he was 'not ortho-walking with the gospel'. (The prefix ortho means to be straight--so we go to an orthodontist to straighten out our teeth.) ...

This gospel has a vast number of implications for all of life. It is our job to bring everything in our lives 'in line' with the thrust, or direction, of the gospel. We are to think out its implications in every area of our lives, and seek to bring our thinking, feeling, and behavior 'in line'. 

Christian living is therefore a continual realignment process—one of bringing everything in line with the truth of the gospel."

Some Thoughts on Transgender Trends

First, a "thought experiment" with Kevin DeYoung.


Second, a good word of caution from John Piper (found here):

I think we should spend most of our creative energies on constructing in our minds and in our hearts and in our families great and beautiful and glorious alternative visions of reality than the ones we are being offered by the world. If we give most of our time to bemoaning and criticizing the world for acting like the world, our vision of God and his glorious future for his people will become smaller and smaller, and that could be a greater tragedy than the one we are living in.

What Does Trump's Rise Say About America?

Dane Ortlund is the executive vice president of Bible publishing at Crossway and a gifted scholar and author. I admire him and have benefited from his ministry more than once. I stumbled upon his blog today and read this post (dated March 1):

Imagine the following scenario. Trump ... steps up to the podium ... takes off his obnoxious red Make America Great Again hat. He pauses, looking down, somber. Here's what we hear.

I have something to say.

I've made a horrible mistake.

This election process has finally caught up with me and has revealed to me what my whole life is about.

I went into this election really believing that I wanted to make America great. I realize now all I have really wanted--the campaign underneath the campaign--is to make Trump great. I thought I wanted America to win. I see now that all I really want is for Trump to win. I'm grateful for your kind support. But I see now I don't deserve it.

I know my supporters may not like this. But I can't take it anymore. Enough is enough. I am thoroughly ashamed of myself. So what I want to say is: I would like to ask for the American people's forgiveness. If they withhold it I can't blame them. But I have to ask you all to forgive the folly, the bombast, the self-exaltation, the fierce resistance to correction, the pride. I've been wrong.

I have considered quitting the campaign, but I do for now plan to continue. And I have resolved: no more yelling, no more lying, no more name-calling, no more hate-mongering, no more elitism-nurturing, no more boasting, no more question-evading. Yes, this nation is in a downward spiral, but now I see that I and people like me have been leading the way...

And so on.

So implausible as to be laughable, I know. But my question is: How would the millions who back Trump respond?

We know how they would respond. We know because as the outrageously immoral and self-inflating statements from Trump have piled up since last June, his support has not waned. It has increased. We therefore know that those supporting Trump are not doing so because they see him as morally exemplary. In the meantime he remains opaque on his actual positions and how he would accomplish his big promises. We therefore also know that they are not supporting him on account of superior tactics in his policies.

One can only conclude that they like him--including these so-called evangelicals--because of who he is. Because of the bombast, not in spite of it.

They want a man like Trump in charge. They want the big talk, the egotistical claims, the elitist mindset. His supporters aren't overlooking these things for the sake of other virtues in him or his policies. These anti-virtues are themselves what attract Americans.

We therefore know how Trump supporters would respond to such a speech. While true evangelicals would celebrate his recovered moral sanity, his present supporters, including the so-called evangelicals, would howl.

Such penitence would not be a step forward, in their minds. It would be a step backward. It would be the loss of what they crave in a president. 

As Trump has gotten haughtier and haughtier the past 8 months, his support has, inexplicably, grown. Do we really not see that if he were to become humbler and humbler, his support would decrease?

If so, then the problem is not Trump. It's Americans. The bombastic, haughty candidate in this election just happens to be Donald Trump. It could be any self-aggrandizing billionaire and the results would look the same. The problem isn't Trump. It's us. Trump is simply a big golden mirror showing Americans, showing Republicans, showing alleged evangelicals, what they really love. 

Many are questioning whether Trump is mature enough for our vote. I would question whether we are mature enough to cast it.

Dad Versus The Internet - Who Wins?

One more for the dads (and sons). Kudos to Gillette for this ad:

How Do You Spell 'Dad'?

Father's Day was last Sunday, but better late than never. Better yet, this one fits always. Dads (and sons and daughters and moms), watch and be encouraged:

Follow Up On Romans 14-15

As I said on Sunday, Romans 14-15 has much broader application than alcohol. Nevertheless, as a "disputable matter" (often hotly disputed!), Paul provides important wisdom and guidance on the subject. If you want some more helpful, thought-provoking insights on Christians and alcohol, check out these two chapel talks by Joe Rigney, Assistant Professor of Theology and Christian Worldview at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, MN.

Part I:


Joe Rigney – On Alcohol, Part 1 from Bethlehem College & Seminary on Vimeo.

Part II:


Joe Rigney – On Alcohol, Part 2 from Bethlehem College & Seminary on Vimeo.

Remember Jesus Christ!!!

If you need a serious shot of gospel grace in the arm of your faith, you've got to listen to this message by Shai Linne. He preached it this past Sunday at Immanuel Church in Nashville, but he pastors here, in Philly. If you don't come away from this one encouraged, you better check your pulse.

By the way, don't let the poor audio quality put you off. It's worst at the beginning and improves as the sermon progresses. If your browser doesn't support the audio player embedded, you can go here to listen.

Together For The Gospel

Hey Bethel Family,

Go HERE to see where Pastor Tyler and I will be this week. You can sign up for access to the livestream if you'd like to listen in on/watch any of it. If you miss it, he media should also be available a few weeks after the conference is over.

Please pray for us. Pray for the speakers. Pray for everyone attending, that God would do some serious soul-shaking work in our lives. Pray that there will be powerful ripple effects in the churches and communities represented; waves breaking on the shores of eternity from the stones tossed in the pond this week.

The Difference Between Hospitality and Entertaining

Jen Wilkin unpacks the difference in a really helpful way over on The Gospel Coalition website. Here's a taste to whet your appetite:

• Entertaining is always thinking about the next course. Hospitality burns the rolls because it was listening to a story. 

• Entertaining obsesses over what went wrong. Hospitality savors what was shared. 

• Entertaining, exhausted, says “It was nothing, really!” Hospitality thinks it was nothing. Really. 

• Entertaining seeks to impress. Hospitality seeks to bless.

Read the whole thing.

"Why Porn Kills Sex"

Russell Moore has an excellent post here, in response to this week's Time Magazine cover article.

One excerpt:

...Why does it seem that pornography ultimately kills sexual intimacy? There are, to be sure, many psychological explanations. Pornography desensitizes one to sexual stimuli, feeds the quest for endless novelty, and creates a script of expectations that does not, and cannot, meet up to the real dynamics of personal relationship. But I think there’s more afoot here.

... Pornography kills sexuality because porn isn’t just about sex and because sex isn’t just about sex.

Read the whole thing.