A La Carte (August 9)
There’s yet another solid list of Kindle deals to explore today. We’re spoiled!
(Yesterday on the blog: If I Was the World’s Only Christian…)
Complementarianism, the regulative principle
I really appreciate much of what Stephen says here about the regulative principle, complementarianism, and our tendency to conflate elements and forms.
Songs of Suffering: A Short Film Featuring Joni Eareckson Tada
You may enjoy this short film fearing Joni Eareckson Tada.
Give Him Your Acorns
Brianna’s illustration is a really good one!
Bored with Christianity?
“I love starting new books: the new beginnings, the crisp pages, the fresh ideas that I cannot wait to dive into. There is something about the weight of a large tome which tempts me to tackle a big reading project. But as much as I love starting books like this, I do have a problem finishing them.” What is true of our reading can also be true of our faith.
Why Did My Life Have to Be Hard?
Mark Talbot: “If you were to ask me what I take to be among Scripture’s most comforting passages, my answer may surprise you: Psalm 90 and Ecclesiastes.”
Thoughts on Becoming a Pastor (Again)
Jared Wilson shares some thoughts on becoming a pastor (again).
Flashback: We Must, We Can, Bloom for Him
No matter what unfolds around us and no matter what is done to us, we are able to bloom for him—to display the truest love, the greatest gentleness, the highest reaches of Christian character.
The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty at the first. —Adrian Rogers
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The Music Is Simply a Mockery
We tend to think the issues in our churches are contemporary issues that we alone have had to contend with. Yet when we read voices from ages past, we are often reminded that many issues come and go, rise and wane. This is the case with the music we sing at church. At some points the church is (rightly) focused on enabling the amateur voices in the pews and at other points (wrongly) focused on prioritizing the professional voices in the choir or band. This was of some concern at the end of the 19th century as evidenced in this little snippet from De Witt Talmage. Like him, when I hear many of today’s worship bands, “I would prefer the hearty, outbreaking song of a backwoods Methodist camp-meeting.”
In many of the churches of Christ in our day, the music is simply a mockery.
I have not a cultivated ear nor a cultivated voice, yet no man can do my singing for me. I have nothing to say against artistic music. The two or five dollars I pay to hear Miss Thursby or Miss Abbott or any of the other great queens of song is a good investment. But when the people assemble in religious convocation, and the hymn is read, and the angels of God step from their throne to catch the music on their wings, do not let us drive them away by our indifference.
I have preached in churches where vast sums of money were employed to keep up the music, and it was as exquisite as any heard on earth, but I thought at the same time, for all matters practical, I would prefer the hearty, outbreaking song of a backwoods Methodist camp-meeting.
Let one of these starveling fancy songs sung in church get up before the throne of God, how would it look standing amid the great doxologies of the redeemed? Let the finest operatic air that ever went up from the church of Christ get many hours the start, it will be caught and passed by the hosanna of the Sabbath-school children.
I know a church where the choir did all the singing, save one Christian man who, through perseverance of the saints, went right on, and afterward a committee was appointed to wait on him and ask him if he would not please to stop singing, as he bothered the choir.
As the French say, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” The more things change, the more they stay the same. -
Health, Wealth, and the (Real) Gospel
Wherever the true gospel makes inroads, we can be sure that false gospels will follow close behind. Wherever the true gospel begins to win the hearts of men, we can be sure that false gospels will begin to compete with it. And sure enough, one of the most attractive, most deceptive, and most pernicious of today’s false gospels is the one known as the “prosperity gospel.” The prosperity gospel promises that those who love God will inherit not only the eternal riches of heaven, but also the temporal riches of this world—health, wealth, and every kind of earthly prosperity. It originated in the United States, made vast inroads in North America, and then traveled far beyond so that no continent and no country is untouched by it.
This gospel of health and wealth is the subject of a new book by Sean DeMars and Mike McKinley: Health, Wealth, and the (Real) Gospel: The Prosperity Gospel Meets the Truths of Scripture. The authors approach the subject from different angles, DeMars as one who was once drawn in by it and who attempted to claim its every promise, and McKinley as one who has merely been wooed by it and counseled others through it. Together they write for two audiences: those who belong to churches that faithfully embrace the true gospel of Christ Jesus but who may have friends or family members who have been drawn into the false gospel of prosperity, and those who know or suspect they belong to a church that advocates it. For both audiences they want to ensure they know how to identify this false gospel and, at the same time, how to identify the true message of the Bible and the true promise of the Christian faith. “If prosperity gospel teachers aren’t teaching what Jesus taught, then we absolutely cannot afford to coddle them or tolerate their message. In the end, you should judge everything you hear and read (including this book!) by the truths of Scripture. We intend to make the case that the prosperity gospel is a dangerous lie that must be exposed and resisted.”
And that is exactly what they do in the book’s seven brief chapters. DeMars and McKinley first expose the heart of the prosperity gospel by describing its four common teachings: that God wants to bless us materially, that God wants us to speak with power, that God does not want for us to suffer, and that God wants us to live the victorious, prosperous life. After describing and briefly countering these teachings, they show how the prosperity gospel misuses the Bible by reading it through a man-centered perspective, by taking verses out of context, by confusing the covenants, by reading proverbs as promises, and so on. In chapter three they address promises of health and happiness and in chapter four the promises of wealth. In both cases they show how a proper understanding of Scripture radically contradicts the claims of the prosperity gospel.
To this point the book treads fairly familiar ground, but in the final three chapters it takes some unique and interesting directions. Chapter five asks whether TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) viewers go to heaven, which is a clever way of asking whether people who adhere to the prosperity gospel—and those who teach it—are actually saved. “It’s certainly possible,” they say, at least for those who adhere to it, provided they have been saved by grace through faith. After all, even true believers can be warped by false doctrine. Chapter six asks whether we should pray or do other forms of ministry with those who teach it and chapter seven encourages introspection by showing how those who are theologically astute—and even those who hold to reformed theology—can succumb to soft forms of the prosperity gospel. “Perhaps the best way to keep the arms and tentacles of the prosperity gospel from wrapping themselves around our hearts is to continually remind ourselves of the goodness and beauty and strength of our God. He alone has the power and wisdom and authority to determine the course of our lives. And He alone has the love and goodness and kindness that deserve our allegiance.”
With the prosperity gospel now extremely popular and still possibly ascendent, it is crucial that we know how and why it differs from the true gospel and that we equip ourselves to help those given over to it. Health, Wealth, and the (Real) Gospel serves this purpose well. It is a book you’ll benefit from if you read it yourself and a book you should be prepared to distribute to others. May the Lord use it to rescue his people and purify his church!Buy from Amazon
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Weekend A La Carte (November 6)
May you know the Lord’s blessings as you honor and serve him this weekend.
I am wondering if I have any readers who live in Zurich or Malta. If so, would you mind getting in touch?
As Saturdays go, this is an exceptional one when it comes to Kindle deals.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Christian Case for Bitcoin and Blockchain)
Can You Hear the Congregation Singing?
“Congregational singing — which includes the one who sings like it’s an American Idol audition and the one who can’t find the right key — is the most heavenly sound you’ll hear on earth. Because of this, it’s important to find a church that has congregational singing. It ought to be a priority when looking for a church home.”
No Flock, No Shepherd
This article coincided well with my devotions yesterday (which took me to John 10): “Sheep stink and they stand really close to each other. They don’t all look the same, but they all have similar inclinations. All sheep lack an ability to lead themselves anywhere safe. That’s why they need a shepherd, so they don’t go astray and get picked off by a wolf.”
Billions of Unnoticed Gifts
“Why the extravagance? Why does God give us billions of gifts every second (even the chance to marvel at a myriad of strange insects) when most of us won’t end up seeing the majority of them? Why is God so spendthrift?”
The Value of a Secure Identity
There are some helpful reflections here on the matter of identity.
Beware of Stoical Dangers
Christians are sometimes called to “do what we have to do and get through it. However, “gritted teeth Christianity is not Christianity, for mere external obedience has never been the Christian’s obligation.”
Beauty in the Eye
“The whole discussion of beauty in art was much simpler before technology. ” That’s an interesting notion…
Flashback: How Many Children Should We Have?
The decision I make ought to be right for my family, but I have no business making a decision on behalf of someone else and then despising or condemning them.It is the students of the Bible, and they alone, who will find it a weapon ready in hand in the day of battle. —J.C. Ryle