The Bible Is Not About You

Collin Hansen at the Gospel Coalition blog shares one of my favorite extended clips from one of my favorite pastor/teachers:

To whet your appetite for the 2011 national conference—They Testify About Me: Preaching Jesus and the Gospel from the Old Testament—I wanted to share this clip from Tim Keller’s address at the inaugural 2007 conference. Heath McPherson, a gifted artist himself, mixed Keller’s words with music and paired it with drawings by Gustave Dore. All together the video tells a powerful story of what the Bible is basically about.

Many Paths to Heaven?

From AlbertMohler.com:

Are American evangelicals abandoning the exclusivity of the Gospel? A new report out from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life suggests that many evangelical Christians are, at the very least, badly confused about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As Cathy Lynn Grossman of USA Today reports:

Most American religious believers, including most Christians, say eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior, a new survey finds.

Of the 65% of people who held this open view of heaven's gates, 80% named at least one non-Christian group - Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists or people with no religion at all- who may also be saved, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

This most recent report, released today, clarifies a report issued earlier this year. That earlier report became the cause of some controversy because some researchers questioned the accuracy of the responses, since some of those surveyed may have confused other Christian denominations for other religions.

In releasing this updated report, the Pew Forum isolated the question and made it far more specific. Those who affirmed other ways of salvation were then asked to specify what they meant. As USA Today reports, the vast majority of those who affirmed other ways of salvation went on to specify "Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists or people with no religion at all" as valid options.

The report indicates that 52% of those belonging to churches and denominations that teach that Jesus is the only way of salvation reject that teaching.

Mohler was interviewed for the USA Today story:

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, calls the findings "a theological crisis for American evangelicals. They represent at best a misunderstanding of the Gospel and at worst a repudiation of the Gospel."

And:

Overall, the new findings are "an indictment of evangelicalism and evangelical preaching," said Mohler. "The clear Biblical teaching is that Jesus Christ proclaimed himself to be the only way to salvation."

Mohler sees behind the statistics the impact of pluralism and secularism in U.S. society and the challenge of facing family and friends with "an uncomfortable truth."

"We are in an age when we want to tell everyone they are doing just fine. It's extremely uncomfortable to turn to someone and say, 'You will go to hell unless you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus,' " Mohler says.

Washington's New Administration

This one's particularly for my brother, a Washington Redskins fan. This article speaks of the immense differences between former 'Skins coach, Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, and current rookie coach Jim Zorn. And then ...

Zorn and Gibbs do have this in common: They both love Jesus Christ.

“He is a biblicist,” said Seattle Seahawks chaplain Karl Payne, who has known Zorn for years. “In other words, if the book says it, you need to deal with it. He is far more concerned about being biblically correct than politically correct. He’s not ashamed of Christ.”

Zorn grew up in a family that thought Christianity consisted of doing good and attending church on Easter. As a high school junior, his perceptions were rattled when his girlfriend dumped him, citing the desire to date a Christian boy. Before long, Zorn started attending a Youth for Christ club.

“I realized I had no idea what Christianity was all about,” Zorn said. “I had a decision to make about the info I had. It wasn’t about saying it; it was about believing the info I had about Jesus and if he is the Messiah. I decided for Christ early in my senior year.”

Read the whole thing here.

Obama On Faith

Christianity Today has posted the full transcript of an interview that Cathleen Falsani did with then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama, as he was running for U.S. Senate. I found these questions & answers to be most interesting:

OBAMA:
I am a Christian.

So, I have a deep faith. So I draw from the Christian faith.

On the other hand, I was born in Hawaii where obviously there are a lot of Eastern influences.

I lived in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, between the ages of six and 10.

My father was from Kenya, and although he was probably most accurately labeled an agnostic, his father was Muslim.

And I'd say, probably, intellectually I've drawn as much from Judaism as any other faith.

(A patron stops and says, "Congratulations," shakes his hand. "Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Thank you.")

So, I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people. That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived.

And so, part of my project in life was probably to spend the first 40 years of my life figuring out what I did believe - I'm 42 now - and it's not that I had it all completely worked out, but I'm spending a lot of time now trying to apply what I believe and trying to live up to those values.

...

FALSANI:
Do you pray often?

OBAMA:
Uh, yeah, I guess I do.

It's not formal, me getting on my knees. I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. I think throughout the day, I'm constantly asking myself questions about what I'm doing, why am I doing it.

...

FALSANI:
Have you read the Bible?

OBAMA:
Absolutely.

I read it not as regularly as I would like. These days I don't have much time for reading or reflection, period.

...

FALSANI:
The conversation stopper, when you say you're a Christian and leave it at that.

OBAMA:
Where do you move forward with that?

This is something that I'm sure I'd have serious debates with my fellow Christians about. I think that the difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and prostelytize. There's the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven't embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they're going to hell.

FALSANI:
You don't believe that?

OBAMA:
I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell.

...

FALSANI:
Do you believe in sin?

OBAMA:
Yes.

FALSANI:
What is sin?

OBAMA:
Being out of alignment with my values.

...

FALSANI:
What are you doing when you feel the most centered, the most aligned spiritually?

OBAMA:
I think I already described it. It's when I'm being true to myself. And that can happen in me making a speech or it can happen in me playing with my kids, or it can happen in a small interaction with a security guard in a building when I'm recognizing them and exchanging a good word.

Read the whole thing here.

Bullwhip Guy

A couple of years ago I posted a link to Rob Bell's Bullhorn Guy Nooma video. At the time, I declined to comment on it. But I recently ran across this video, a satirical response to Bell's Bullhorn Guy video:

(HT: Vincit Omnia Veritas)

Surprised?

Interesting article in response to one I posted about just the other day (Adoption of Islamic Sharia law in Britain is 'unavoidable', says Archbishop of Canterbury):

Williams 'shocked' at Sharia row

The Archbishop of Canterbury is said to be overwhelmed by the "hostility of the response" after his call for parts of Sharia law to be recognised in the UK.

Friends of Dr Rowan Williams say he is in a state of shock and dismayed by the criticism from his own Church.

Are you kidding me? Dr. Williams, perhaps you're being criticized because you said you thought Sharia law would be a good thing, and you're not a Muslim. Or maybe that's just the twisted logic of my ignorant, American mind at work.

The article continues:

The BBC understands from sources who work on Christian-Muslim interfaith issues that Dr Williams has faced a barrage of criticism from within the Church and has been genuinely taken aback by how his words were received.

Islamic Sharia law is a legal and social code designed to help Muslims live their daily lives, but it has proved controversial in the West for the extreme nature of some of its punishments.

"Controversial"? "Extreme nature"? You really think imprisoning women for being in public with unrelated men, or for being raped and having the gall to speak up about it is "extreme" punishment? I don't understand how Sharia law is supposed to "help Muslims live their daily lives." No system of law helps anybody live their daily life, especially not Sharia law.

(HT: Riddleblog)

M-M-M-My Sharia!

Good news from the U.K. - "Adoption of Islamic Sharia law in Britain is 'unavoidable', says Archbishop of Canterbury:"

The Archbishop of Canterbury has today said that the adoption of Islamic Sharia law in the UK is "unavoidable" and that it would help maintain social cohesion.

Rowan Williams told BBC Radio 4's World At One that the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system.

He says that Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court. He added Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty".

Dr Williams said there was a place for finding a "constructive accommodation" in areas such as marriage - allowing Muslim women to avoid Western divorce proceedings.

Now, I'm not in favor of divorce, to say the least, but I'm really not in favor of a man being able to divorce his wife by repeating "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you." I'm not sure how that makes it better for women. (I won't even get into things like the American businesswoman arrested for being in a Riyadh Starbucks with an unrelated man.)

But I'm sure that Dr. Williams is right in asserting that adopting Sharia law "would help maintain social cohesion." Just ask how well encouraging Muslims to not assimilate has worked in other European countries - like the Netherlands (see Theo Van Gogh) or France, where "youth riots" in recent years certainly had nothing to do with radical Islam. (See also my post from last April about Bruce Bawer's book, While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within.)

(HT: Riddleblog)

Mark Driscoll on Joel Osteen

Faith & Football

I enjoyed this story about Jon Kitna, the Detroit Lions' QB:

...

Kitna is a fanatic for Christ, there's no question. He often prays on his way to the line of scrimmage, to calm himself. But it's clear to teammates that he sees God as more than a lucky rabbit's foot, which is why, while the vast majority of Lions prefer to keep their beliefs private, Kitna's public pronouncements don't grate on them. Posers and prima donnas splinter far more locker rooms than religion. And Kitna walks his talk without sanctimony. He doesn't drink or cuss.

The worst anyone can recall him saying on the field is "fudge." He says he has tithed at least 10 percent of his salary his entire adult life. That includes the time he spent as a teacher after a record-setting career at Central Washington. The donations got bigger when the Seahawks signed him as a free agent in 1996, and they continued to grow after stops in Cincinnati (where he was the league's 2003 Comeback Player of the Year) and, now, Detroit. "It's about production on the field and consistency off it," Kitna says. "What guys really have a problem with is inconsistency -- people who say one thing and do another. Hypocrites. Chameleons. My teammates learn pretty quick that this is who I am, every day and in every situation."

And the tests come constantly. Walking into the Lions' locker room a few days before the Vikings game, Kitna was greeted by silence. The Lions have three iPod docks that plug into their speaker system. But when someone began blasting Christian music, a tense standoff ensued. It was noted, loudly, that a majority of people in the room didn't want to listen to God rock. And so the speakers remained mute until Kitna arrived. "Everyone's music should be heard," he said, "or no one's." The Christian rock was resurrected, followed by a heavy dose of hip-hop.

"Learning about each other, understanding each other, compromising for each other -- that's what it's like in a good locker room," says Lions wideout Roy Williams.

"That's some real s... that went down with the music and Jon's response. And that's the stuff we never had around here in years past. Is that religion? I don't know. Jon talks to everybody, I know that. And the last quarterback we had didn't do that."

Last November, during a long flight home after another defeat, Williams asked Kitna if his cussing during games was getting out of hand. Kitna said he wasn't one to judge, then explained in a whisper how he hadn't always been so pious. In 1993, Kitna was drinking himself to oblivion four nights a week, shoplifting, brawling, cussing constantly and sleeping with, he says, "all different kinds of women" behind Jennifer's back.

Eventually she caught him in bed with another woman, which is when he decided to go back to church. He believes God removed those vices from his life with a snap of His mighty fingers. Ten months later, Jon and Jennifer were married. "I didn't feel pressure or like he was judging me," Williams says of his talk with Kitna. "Jon just said, 'If you ever want to go deeper, I'm always here.' I'm young; I have questions about religion and faith. He's a good guy to ask."

...

Bumper Sticker

On the way home today, I saw the following on a bumper sticker:

Have you forgotten about Jesus? Isn't it about time you did?

Just when I start to ask myself why people are so offended by Jesus Christ, I remember Paul's words to the Corinthians:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. - 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, ESV

Lord, thank you for opening the eyes of a fool like me, for removing my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. - Jude 24-25

Free Online Books

I am both amazed at and thankful for the resources at Desiring God. I listen to a couple of their podcasts, and occasionally search their website for various articles. This one might take the cake, though: a list of free online books, all in .pdf format. While I'm not a fan of reading an entire book on the computer, it's not so bad to read a section or chapter at a time, and it's an easy way to search back through books I've already read.

A Good Wait At The Dentist

I was at the dentist a couple of weeks ago, sitting in the waiting room. At my last couple of visits I hadn't really had to wait at all, so I thought I'd just sit there. But then I noticed there were several others in the waiting room with me, and a couple of them got called in while I was waiting. So I finally decided to cave in and look for a magazine. I moved to a different chair near an end table with a stack of magazines and picked up a sports magazine that I'd never seen before. It was "Sharing the Victory," which is a part of the ministry of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). The cover story was about one of my favorite baseball players, Atlanta Braves right fielder Jeff Francoeur. In it, I learned a lot about Francoeur that I hadn't known previously, including the fact that exactly one year before he made his Major League debut, he was sent to the hospital after being hit in the cheekbone by a 95 mph fastball while squaring around to bunt.

Some of the Q&A from the article (read the whole article here):

Jill Ewert: Obviously you’re passionate about impacting kids, and I know you do a lot of speaking for FCA. Why is that important to you?

Jeff Francoeur: FCA has always been special to me because I got saved [at a retreat] in Black Mountain, N.C., when I was a sophomore in high school. So, I go back every year to do the Winter Recharge with about 400 to 450 kids. It’s a lot of fun. And then I speak at two or three different banquets during the off-season.

I know when I was in FCA, I loved the chance to worship with other people I never knew were Christians. And I think through it you just develop friendships and the chance to grow with other people.

Ewert: Talking about guidance and accountability, one of the most recognized Christians in baseball in John Smoltz. Can you tell me how he’s helped you spiritually?

Francoeur: He helps me out so much. When I got called up in 2005, he took me aside and let me know who on the team were strong Christians I could learn from. That was great because, as a young guy coming up, you’re just trying to fit in. You see all these guys who have been on TV for years, and they’re your role models; but at the same time you have to stay grounded and know where you are spiritually so that you don’t fall. You have to set standards that you won’t sway from. And I think that’s what I’ve tried to do the last couple of years—just let the guys know where I stand with my faith. When you do that, it makes it a lot easier, and guys respect you more.

Ewert: Another veteran Brave, Julio Franco, also said in reference to your group of young players, “We’re raising them to be winners.” Based on what they’ve taught you and what you know about God, what does it mean to be a winner?

Francoeur: People always talk about winning and losing, and I think to be a winner means a couple different things. First of all, when you wake up in the morning you realize that the most important thing is your relationship with Christ. That’s first and foremost in anything. And then, that everything you do is for His glory. Sometimes in this game you can get so lost in doing things for yourself and being selfish. Nobody’s perfect. You like seeing your name up on the scoreboard, you like seeing people wear your jersey; but you have to remember that it’s God who has allowed you to do that. He’s put you in a great position to give the glory to Him.

Prayer

Yesterday I finished Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference, by Philip Yancey. Discerning Reader has a fair review of it, although the "In short" review is "Too many questions and not enough answers." That's one thing I like about Yancey - although I may not agree with him on some significant doctrine, he writes the way I think and he's not afraid of unanswered questions.

Here are some quotes/excerpts for your consideration:

Prayer forces me to catch sight of this my true state. In Henri Nouwen's words, "To pray is to walk in the full light of God, and to say simply, without holding back, 'I am human and you are God.' At that moment, conversion occurs, the restoration of the true relationship. A human being is not someone who once in a while makes a mistake, and God is not someone who now and then forgives. No, human beings are sinners and God is love." (p. 34-35)

I am overwhelmed by the vastness of God, the imbalance of any creature's relationship to such a being. "Since it is God we are speaking of, you do not understand it. If you could understand it, it would not be God," said Saint Augustine. We who barely comprehend ourselves are approaching a God we cannot possibly comprehend. No wonder some Christians through the centuries have felt more comfortable praying to saints or relying on intermediaries. (p. 48)

The main purpose of prayer is not to make life easier, nor to gain magical powers, but to know God. I need God more than anything I might get from God. (p. 56)

Sometimes, like the boy who asks his parents to solve a math problem while he plays video games, we ask God for things we should be doing ourselves. (p. 127)

In a letter Yancey received from "Susan":

I used to worry about falling asleep during prayer. Now, as a parent, I understand. What parent wouldn't want her child to fall asleep in her arms? (p. 149)

In persistent prayer, my own desires and plans gradually harmonize with God's. (p. 153)

When I am tempted to complain about God's lack of presence, I remind myself that God has much more reason to complain about my lack of presence. (p. 208)

Somehow we must offer our prayers with a humility that conveys gratitude without triumphalism, and compassion with manipulation, always respecting the mystery surrounding prayer. (p. 221)

---

[Abraham] Lincoln's attitude [during the Civil War] stands in stark contrast to the triumphalism that normally accompanies war. Lincoln accepted the terrible cost of the Civil War as a just judgment on the evil of slavery the nation had perpetrated: "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this might scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue unto all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword ... so still must it be said that 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'"

Moreover, Lincoln called for a spirit of reconciliation, not vengeance, as the war drew to a close: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." (p. 227)

---

C.S. Lewis observes:

"The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted. And if an infinitely wise Being listens to the requests of finite and foolish creatures, of course He will sometimes grant and sometimes refuse them. Invariable 'success' in prayer would not prove the Christian doctrine at all. It would prove something much more like magic.

"It is not unreasonable for a headmaster to say, 'Such and such things you may do according to the fixed rules of this school. But such and such other things are too dangerous to be left to general rules. If you want to do them you must come and make a request and talk over the whole matter with me in my study. And then--we'll see.'" (p. 234)

---

... prayed the British author John Baillie:
"Let me use disappointment as material for patience.
Let me use success as material for thankfulness.
Let me use trouble as material for perseverance.
Let me use danger as material for courage.
Let me use reproach as material for long suffering.
Let me use praise as material for humility.
Let me use pleasures as material for temperance.
Let me use pain as material for endurance." (p. 240)

---

Those of us who struggle with unanswered prayer dare not overlook an important theological truth about how God acts in this world today. The church is the body of Christ, and as such it does God's work. As Ronald Rolheiser expresses it, "A theist believes in a God in heaven whereas a Christian believes in a God in heaven who is also physically present on this earth inside of human beings. ... God is still present, as physical and as real today as God was in the historical Jesus. God still has skin, human skin, and physically walks on this earth just as Jesus did."

To pray "God, please help my neighbor cope with her financial problems," or "God, do something about the homeless downtown" is the approach of a theist, not a Christian. God has chosen to express love and grace in the world through those of us who embody Christ. (p. 243-244)

$5 Books

All the books available online at Desiring God's store will be on sale for $5 on Wednesday, June 27 & Thursday, June 28. If you've never read anything by John Piper before, check out the "Essential Piper" section. I've read and learned from Desiring God, Let the Nations Be Glad!, Don't Waste Your Life, and God Is the Gospel. I've read part of When I Don't Desire God, and have The Pleasures of God waiting in the wings. If you're up for some good meat, I'd recommend Desiring God. If you want something a little lighter in order to get a taste of Piper, I'd recommend Don't Waste Your Life. Or browse through all the books and see what's available.

While you're there, check out the resource library - there's a lot of good stuff there for free.

(HT: Desiring God Blog)

A Muslim Christian?

My sister sent me this story about an Episcopal priest who became a Muslim 15 months ago:

Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill.

On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest.

She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim.

How does that work? After all, there are significant differences between the Christian faith and the Muslim faith. Most of all their view of Jesus:

Christianity has historically regarded Jesus as the son of God and God incarnate, both fully human and fully divine. Muslims, though they regard Jesus as a great prophet, do not see him as divine and do not consider him the son of God.

Redding explains it this way:

"I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both."

Um, sorry, Rev. Redding, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way. You're an American by your citizenship, African by your ancestry, and woman by your gender. Those are three distinct categories. Muslim and Christian are in the same category of religion/faith, but are quite contrary to each other.

The programming director at the Al-Islam Center of Seattle, Ayesha Anderson, doesn't agree:

"Islam doesn't say if you're a Christian, you're not a Muslim. Islam doesn't lay it out like that."

Would Anderson say the same about the Jews, who are also considered to be "People of the Book"? Why is there so much Muslim vs. Jew and Muslim vs. Christian persecution? How do you explain much of the Middle East and places like Sudan?

Later on there are some more clues regarding Redding's beliefs:

She calls Christianity the "world religion of privilege." She has never believed in original sin. And for years she struggled with the nature of Jesus' divinity.

...

In March 2006, she said her shahada — the profession of faith — testifying that there is only one God and that Mohammed is his messenger. She became a Muslim.

...

She believes the Trinity is an idea about God and cannot be taken literally.

She does not believe Jesus and God are the same, but rather that God is more than Jesus.

She believes Jesus is the son of God insofar as all humans are the children of God, and that Jesus is divine, just as all humans are divine — because God dwells in all humans.

What makes Jesus unique, she believes, is that out of all humans, he most embodied being filled with God and identifying completely with God's will.

She does believe that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected, and acknowledges those beliefs conflict with the teachings of the Quran. "That's something I'll find a challenge the rest of my life," she said.

She considers Jesus her savior. At times of despair, because she knows Jesus suffered and overcame suffering, "he has connected me with God," she said.

...

Being Muslim has given her insights into Christianity, she said. For instance, because Islam regards Jesus as human, not divine, it reinforces for her that "we can be like Jesus. There are no excuses."

After reading that, Rev. Redding, I'd say you're definitely Muslim. If Jesus is not part of the Trinity, is not the Son of God, then His death and resurrection are meaningless, and He is not able to be the Savior.

Closed Minds At The Museum

Russell Moore writes about his family's visit to the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum:

My family attended the grand opening of the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum and I saw what I expected to see: closed minded propagandists who don't want any challenge to their narrow view of origins. But they weren't in the museum.

So we drove past the protesters and into a museum whose exhibits constantly reference both sides of the creation/evolution debate.

(HT: Tim Ellsworth)

New Attitude 2007

From Justin Taylor:

The New Attitude audio messages are all now available for free download (free registration required):

• Joshua Harris – Discernment
• Mark Dever – Discern Your Doctrine
• Albert Mohler – Discern Your Culture
• C.J. Mahaney – Discern Your Heart
• Eric Simmons – Discern the Graymatters
• John Piper – Discern What Pleases God: Himself
• John Piper – Discern What Pleases God: Personal Obedience
• C.J. Mahaney – Discern How to Apply

They write:

For the first time ever, we're offering all audio messages from this conference as free MP3 downloads. You can download them one by one or choose the download set of all eight messages. (In order to view these free downloads, you'll need to log in to our online store or follow the easy instructions to create an account.) In addition, an MP3 CD containing all conference sessions will be available for $12.00 next week.

Although the conference is over, the conversation on humble orthodoxy continues. Visit www.newattitude.org for blog posts, free downloads, and other resources to help you apply the truth of God's Word to your life.

God has used Piper & Mahaney to teach me a lot in the past 7 or 8 years, and I'm looking forward to listening to each of these messages.

All Things Ellsworth

Tim Ellsworth has some good stuff today:

• Evolutionists all aflutter about Creation Museum
• What Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback thinks about evolution
• Jacksonville Jaguar linebacker Mike Peterson hosting free football camp

Here's part of Brownback's op-ed piece in the New York Times (which I strongly encourage you to read in its entirety) in which he writes about evolution vs. creationism:

The heart of the issue is that we cannot drive a wedge between faith and reason. I believe wholeheartedly that there cannot be any contradiction between the two. The scientific method, based on reason, seeks to discover truths about the nature of the created order and how it operates, whereas faith deals with spiritual truths. The truths of science and faith are complementary: they deal with very different questions, but they do not contradict each other because the spiritual order and the material order were created by the same God.

People of faith should be rational, using the gift of reason that God has given us. At the same time, reason itself cannot answer every question. Faith seeks to purify reason so that we might be able to see more clearly, not less. Faith supplements the scientific method by providing an understanding of values, meaning and purpose. More than that, faith — not science — can help us understand the breadth of human suffering or the depth of human love. Faith and science should go together, not be driven apart.

...

Ultimately, on the question of the origins of the universe, I am happy to let the facts speak for themselves. There are aspects of evolutionary biology that reveal a great deal about the nature of the world, like the small changes that take place within a species. Yet I believe, as do many biologists and people of faith, that the process of creation — and indeed life today — is sustained by the hand of God in a manner known fully only to him. It does not strike me as anti-science or anti-reason to question the philosophical presuppositions behind theories offered by scientists who, in excluding the possibility of design or purpose, venture far beyond their realm of empirical science.

Creation Museum

Private Pigg at IowaVoice.com has a good post about the protests of the newly opened Creation Museum:

Why?

A museum that tells the Bible’s version of Earth’s history — that the planet was created in a single week just a few thousand years ago — attracted thousands to its opening as protesters rallied outside. The dozens of demonstrators argued Monday that the Creation Museum’s central tenets conflict with scientific evidence that the Earth is several billion years old. Overhead, an airplane pulled a banner with the message: “Thou Shalt Not Lie.”

Get a life. Why protest because somebody chooses to believe something different than you? They could open up a “socialism museum” in Berkeley and I wouldn’t be there. Wouldn’t waste my time. Does socialism “conflict” with historical evidence? Has it been proven worthless? Yes and yes. I still wouldn’t show up. If someone wants to believe it then so be it. Now, when it becomes a question of implimenting socialism, I’ll be out voting against it. But I won’t be protesting the opening of a museum. Museusm are for relics anyway, aren’t they?

I'm sure ISU's Dr. Avalos will be a frequent visitor.

Running The Asylum

A co-worker emailed me the following story. I'm glad he did, because I most likely wouldn't have found it in a million years. Steve Deace wrote this article for CycloneNation.com about new ISU football coach Gene Chizik wanting to hire a full-time chaplain as part of his football staff. This move is meeting resistance from Dr. Hector Avalos, the atheist religion professor at ISU. In case you missed that or thought that was a typo, I'll repeat it: Avalos is an atheist professor of religion.

What Mr. Avalos, and others like him, really fear is that Coach Chizik’s plan for a team chaplain may inspire a generation of young men wearing the Cyclone uniform to reconsider their eternal destiny, which will cause them to reconsider how to live their temporal lives on this planet. If they do that they may not vote the way folks like Mr. Avalos prefer, nor will they likely live the way folks like Mr. Avalos do. And when you’re of the mindset of a Mr. Avalos and are convinced that this life is all there is, you will fight to the grave for it.

This isn't an isolated crusade for Dr. Avalos. My friend Noah shared the story of Guillermo Gonzalez, an ISU science professor who was denied tenure. Gonzalez is an "Intelligent Design" advocate, having published a "pro-ID book The Privileged Planet," but does not teach ID in any of his classes. Still, after his book was published, Avalos called on ISU faculty to "denounce ID as non-science."

The two questions I can't get out of my head are: 1) Why is an athiest teaching religion, including courses about the Bible, the Old Testament, and the New Testament? 2) Why are so many so-called "open-minded" and "tolerant" people so intolerant and closed-minded when it comes to matters of the gospel and those who put their faith in the risen Christ?