Ascend the Hill: Rock of Ages

Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill thy law's commands
Could my zeal no respite know
Could my tears forever flow
All for sin could not atone
Thou must save, and thou alone

Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to the cross I cling
Naked, come to thee for dress
Helpless, look to thee for grace
Foul, I to the fountain fly
Wash me, Savior, or I die

--Augustus Toplady (1740-1778)

What's the Purpose of the Psalms?

Calvin:

Although the Psalms are replete with all the precepts which serve to frame our life to every part of holiness, piety, and righteousness, yet they will principally teach and train us to bear the cross; and the bearing of the cross is a genuine proof of our obedience, since by doing this, we renounce the guidance of our own affections, and submit ourselves entirely to God, leaving Him to govern us and to dispose of our life according to His will, so that the afflictions which are the bitterest and most severe to our nature become sweet to us because they proceed from Him.

In one word, not only will we find here general commendations of the goodness of God which may teach people to repose themselves in Him alone, but we will also find that the free remission of sins, which alone reconciles God toward us and procures for us settled peace with Him, is so set forth and magnified, as that here there is nothing wanting which relates to the knowledge of eternal salvation. 

--John Calvin, 'Preface to the Commentary on the Psalms,' in Elsie McKie, ed., John Calvin: Writings on Pastoral Piety (Paulist, 2001), 58

Theology and Scripture

In the opening pages to his volume on justification, Dutch theologian G. C. Berkouwer (R.C. Sproul's doctoral supervisor) says that

theology is occupied in continuous attentive and obedient listening to the Word of God. . . . The word of theology has too often witnessed to itself rather than to the living Word of God. It has too often been articulate without first being attentive. When this has been so, theology has invited reproach—and deserved it.

 --G. C. Berkouwer, Faith and Justification (Eerdmans, 1954), 9

What Philosopher Ever Saw This?

Luther: 

Show me a single mortal in the whole universe, no matter how just and saintly, to whose mind it would have ever occurred that this should be the way of salvation to believe in him who was both God and man, who died for our sins, who rose and sits at the right hand of the Father. What philosopher ever saw this? Who among the prophets? The cross is a scandal to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles. 

--as quoted in Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Hendrickson, 2009; repr.), 257

Walk With Me

Before I ever heard Tim Keller say "You're accepted, therefore obey" Whitecross was beating that gospel drum. Fifth grade baby. Recognize.



My blood has cleansed you
You sins are remembered no more
So come on
Walk with me

A Hateful Delusion

Spurgeon, The Sword and the Trowel, 1876:

Consciousness of self-importance is a hateful delusion, but one into which we fall as naturally as weeds grow on a dunghill. We cannot be used of the Lord without it leading to dreaming of personal greatness, thinking ourselves almost indispensable to the church, pillars of the cause, and foundations of the temple of God.

We are nothing and nobodies, but that we do not think so is very evident, for as soon as we are put on the shelf we begin anxiously to enquire, 'How will the work go on without me?' As well might the fly on the coach wheel enquire, 'How will the mails be carried without me?'

--Charles Spurgeon, as quoted in Iain Murray, Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism: The Battle for Gospel Preaching (Banner of Truth, 1995), 20

The title to the editorial in which Spurgeon wrote this was: 'Laid Aside: Why?'

How Not to Begin Academic Articles on the Bible

A few opening lines from an essay by N. T. Wright on Paul:

I am aware that fresh interpretations of Paul, including my own, have caused controversy in evangelical circles, and particularly Reformed circles. My own name has been linked with proposals that have been variously dismissed, scorned, vilified, and anathematized. . . .

From time to time, correspondents draw my attention to various Web sites on which you can find scathing denunciations of me for abandoning traditional Protestant orthodoxy, and puzzled rejoinders from people who have studied my work and know that I am not saying what many of my critics suggest. . . .

It is blindingly obvious when you read Romans and Galatians--though you would never have known this from any of the theologians discussed in other essays in this volume--that virtually whenever Paul talks about justification, he does so in the context of a critique of Judaism and of the coming together of Jew and Gentile in Christ. As an exegete determined to listen to Scripture rather than abstract my favorite bits from it. . . .

And the bit that really makes me cringe--

Like America looking for a new scapegoat after the collapse of the Cold War and seizing on the Islamic world as the obvious target, many conservative writers, having discovered themselves in possession of the Pauline field after the liberals tired of it, have looked around for new enemies. Here is something called the New Perspective; it seems to be denying some of the things we have normally taught; very well, let us demonize it, lump its proponents together, and nuke them from a great height. This has not made a pretty sight. Speaking as one of those who are regularly thus carpet bombed. . . . 

--N. T. Wright, 'New Perspectives on Paul,' in Justification in Perspective: Historical Developments and Contemporary Challenges (ed. Bruce McCormack; Baker, 2006), 243-47

A few thoughts.

1. On the spectrum of conservatives who engage with Wright, I would place myself quite far on the 'appreciative' side of that spectrum. I have quoted him positively several times on this blog, such as here. Tons of wisdom and clarity in his stuff. Puts the whole Bible together in amazingly helpful ways. Etc etc etc. Much more to be said here.

2. Wright is unfairly caricatured. And I too am ready to see it stop. I come from the world of conservative American Presbyterianism, and the blogs are scathing. Downright mean. Methinks that when Jesus said that 'on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak' he didn't mean 'every careless word except those typed out on blogs' (Matt 12:36-37).

3. And yet there is a deep irony is Wright's last paragraph in the quote above. He grieves over his critics lumping him together with other New Perspective advocates. Yet in doing so Wright himself lumps together all his critics in just as unfairly a fashion. Like a dad yelling at his kid to never yell.

4. The impugning of motives in that last paragraph is horrid. What an awful example for younger scholars. 

5. Either you believe God is one day going to vindicate you publicly before all your accusers, a la many of the psalms or 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, or you do not. If you do, you will not feel the need to preemptively get a head start on that vindication process. Wright's immature complaining in passages like the above is a reminder to us all that when publicly misrepresented it is always the way of wisdom to err on the side of silence. Gentle correction of some publicly stated untruth about us may indeed at times be called for. But when we do so let us do it calmly, without exaggeration, soothing rather than stoking the flames of controversy and emotions, and without a tone of licking our wounds.

6. On a strictly pragmatic level, Wright's bemoaning is counterproductive. It makes his overall writing programme less compelling and convincing, not more. He had the same victim tone in his 2010 ETS lecture on justification.

7. I continue to benefit from Wright's work and I eagerly anticipate much more, as the Lord gives him strength.

Patience in Ministry

Zack Eswine:

Most of us have trained for pastoral ministry as if the “game speed” of the pastorate requires a quantity of results all at once. We’ve learned languages in thirteen weeks, skimmed books in thirteen minutes and mastered divinity in six semester bursts of adrenaline, reddened eyes, missed time with wife and kids and breath that both smells and depends upon coffee or mountain dew. Many of us also find ourselves in organizational ministry structures that likewise measure our daily ministry output on this same value of doing the most amount of work in the least amount of time for the biggest amount of influence.

We are prepared for a “game speed” that values results large and fast only to find that most days require our patience and our ongoing presence among unfinished people whom we can neither fix lightly nor heal quickly.

Mary Kassian: "Sometimes the most missional thing a mom can do is to say 'no' to outside opportunities and focus on being a mom"

The conclusion to Mary Kassian's wise review of Helen Lee's The Missional Mom (Moody, 2011), in a recent Themelios:

The Missional Mom emphasizes the “missional” part and neglects the “mom” part. To be fair, I don’t think this was Lee’s intent. But I had the uneasy feeling that a mom who picks up the book because she’s experiencing difficulty in parenting might get the message that she just isn’t doing enough: she needs to add “social activism” to the top of her staggering “to-do” list, even if that means bumping the needs of her children down a couple notches.

One story in particular made me feel uneasy and wonder exactly what Lee was encouraging moms to do. She shares the story of a female physician who left her nursing baby for three weeks, went on a work/missions trip to Africa, and had the opportunity to nurse an infant there. Lee concluded that God brought this lactating mom “to the right place at the right time” because a white woman nursing a black child “demonstrated a profound expression of racial harmony.” Lee assured readers that this story would certainly inspire the physician’s daughter someday, “even as it encourages those of us who also long to spread the fragrance of Christ in the world” (p. 148).

I’m not convinced.

I don’t see how leaving your nursing baby to travel half way around the world to nurse someone else’s baby is somehow more “missional” than staying home to nurse your own. Admittedly, there may be details of the story of which I’m unaware, but to uphold this as a model of a missional mom is questionable. It implies that a mom ought to put the needs of others (or her desire to self-actualize/ exercise her gifts) before the needs of her children. It also implies that looking after our own children isn’t nearly as “missional” as looking after other people’s children.

I’m all for women living out their motherhood in light of the Great Commission, being intentional about ministry, and engaging in the lives of others in appropriate ways in the various seasons of life. Lee’s book challenges moms to be missional. I just wish it had affirmed that when a woman has young children, they are an important part of her mission—and that sometimes, the most missional thing a mom can do is to say “no” to outside opportunities and focus on being a mom.

Step Aside Justin Bieber

This is a real ballad.