Stop Dating the Church – Josh Harris

Josh Harris writes well of the importance of the local church and why membership (involvement) matters. But, there were a number of areas that he didn’t even bother to talk about. In his defense, I ask, “How much can someone really say in 120 pages of double spaced ‘Prayer of Jabez’ style book?” Not much, but that’s part of the problem with books like these. They think they accomplish great things, but they really havn’t said much at all. Though Harris’s primary audience is not those with a theological education, I find it tragic that most people who need to read a book with the message of this book won’t be helped by it. The kinds of questions, problems, and objections to “doing church” that many have are not addressed by Harris. Thus, those who question the traditional model of a local church with an ecclesiology of “being the church” have already formed their opinions of what a local church is, and what it is for. Unfortunately, Harris doesn’t even begin to talk about these kinds of issues, even though he does occasionally concede that there are faults in churches. But, by not mentioning them in specific, nor advising the disillusioned on how to go about making a difference, he misses a tremendous opportunity to reach a generation which needs to be connected with the local church, but hesitates because the church has nothing to offer them. So want me to get involved? How? You want me to be on the sanctuary decoration committee? How, exactly, is that making a difference for the Kingdom of God? Not that it’s wrong, but is this really the need of the hour? Christians today want to get involved in a way that really matters, and we’re afraid to release them into ministry. My solution? Educate and equip them for the work of ministry, and then turn them loose to shake the very foundations of hell.

(more…)

I know that I have been out of touch for awhile.  My 83-year-old grandmother recently passed away.  Her passing has caused me to reflect quite a bit about my faith.

My grandmother, who we affectionately called Annee, was a devout Roman Catholic.  Let me take a moment here to acknowledge that what the Roman Catholic church formally teaches is different than what many people who claim to be Catholic profess to believe.  I had numerous conversations with my grandmother about the nature of the Gospel.  She followed the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, and therefore believed that salvation is provided through Christ’s work alone, and she even went so far as to confess justification by faith alone.  We both were happy to fellowship around these great tenants of the Christian faith.  However, she maintained a belief in Sacramental theology concerning the entirety of salvation (beyond the forensic aspects of justification).  That is, salvation, when thought of in a more holistic fashion to include repentance, regeneration, sanctification, and glorification, is a work of God in which we, human moral agents, participate in a synergistic fashion.  To put it simply, she believed that salvation is by grace alone, and that justification is by faith alone, but salvation (the entirety) is not by faith alone, but is by grace alone.  Hence, grace is meted out to believers by God the Father, through the work of the Son, as the Spirit prompts us to appropriate the grace given via good works.

(more…)

Pierced by the Word - John Piper

Life as a Vapor – John Piper

These are two books that need to be commended, not commented on. Thus, I want to recommend these two short volumes to anyone who has discovered the devotional value of theology. Piper blesses his readers with short, daily nuggets of truth that are saturated with Scripture, theologically relevant, and practical for daily life. I hope that I can learn how to take doctrinal thoughts and boil them down simply and make them as practical as Piper has done in both of these books. Since they are both broken into 30 daily meditations, let me encourage everyone to pick one or both of them up and add them to Scripture reading and prayer as part your daily devotional routine. The change of pace really helped me out, and spurred me on towards love and good deeds. Most importantly, Piper’s constant reminders that God is the Gospel left me hungering and thirsting after God and His righteousness more and more. This is the kind of theology that the Church needs to see more of, and the kind which I find very beneficial to both professional theologians and interested laymen. To despise this type of doctrine is incredibly foolish, not to mention detrimental to healthy Christian development. Thanks be to God for Dr. Piper’s work.

The Present Future – Reggie McNeal

Six Tough Questions for the Church. What a subtitle!! I have found these questions next to impossible. In fact, they are so hard to deal with that I’ve spent the last month figuring out how to write a review of this book! Though I finished reading this book long ago, I just can’t succinctly put my thoughts together. The truth is, I’ve read and re-read many chapters trying to be fair to the author and not misrepresent him, not to mention truly understand what he’s getting at. All in all, this book, perhaps more than any other, has helped me sort through the good, the bad, and the ugly of what “postmodernizing” the faith will do to Christianity. The kinds of questions that I’ve thought through as a result of reading this book have been challenging, at times discouraging, eye-opening, and, ultimately, encouraging as I consider everything that I’ve learned by reading various books and articles about the Emergent movement, both friendly and hostile criticism.

(more…)