One day in the spring of 2002 I returned home from a long day on campus. I was in the midst of my first year as campus director at Illinois State University with CRU.
I was tired.
In my mailbox was a little package and inside was a book entitled, Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller. I hadn’t ordered this book, it just arrived.
The next day I sat outside a coffee shop and read.
I kept reading.
I kept reading.
I finished the book in one sitting.
I read it again.
What I discovered afresh in Blue Like Jazzwas clear call to gospel living. I realized that I had become more about convincing people of a worldview and winning an argument than I was about introducing them to Jesus.
This book re-introduced me to radical grace.
God used it to change my life.
The gospel stopped being “Jesus and…” and became a clear call to Jesus himself. Legalism quickly became a thing of the past and in the pages of the Bible I finally saw freedom to live life joyfully.
God used Blue Like Jazz to awaken my soul to the joy of grace, freedom, and life with Jesus. On April 13 a movie adaptation of the book hits screens. I hope that God will use it to begin conversations about these very things.
Two questions are left with me from this weekend. First, do I have room in my life for a baby in a cave or a rambunctious three year old? Second, will I Christmas all year or will I forget until next year?
Fairy Tales which are glimpses into our cultural psyche. They paint pictures of deeper bits of reality. ABC’s Once Upon a Time paints an interesting picture:
The town of Storybrooke is under a curse. The people there do not know who they really are because of the curse. There is one woman and a little boy who know the truth. The woman, the Evil Queen is doing everything in her power to conceal the truth. The little boy, proclaims the truth about the curse and the people’s real identities. The town thinks him crazy.
My 10 year old son said, “Dad, this is just like the gospel.”
At the end of every year people write their evaluation blog posts. Kevin DeYoung has produced his where he critiques the Young, Resltess, and Reformed (YRR) “movement”. I want to take a moment and give my own critique. I would encourage you to read his post to get a bit of background and also take note of his helpful suggestions.
I think Kevin is correct in his critiques. I would however add one and that is of dogmatic clarity. I think Kevin might argue that he holds to a similar critique when he argues for folks to go deeper into their ecclesiastical traditions. I am arguing here for something a bit deeper and more specific.
Whenever conversations about YRR come up there are three terms that are used almost interchangably: Evangelical, Calvinist, and Reformed. It’s as if to be truly Evangelical one must be a Calvinist and to be a Calvinist means that you are Reformed. These words actually h
old specific meanings and while they are connected, they are by no means to be equated.
To be an Evangelical means, in its most simplest terms, that one believes in the Trinity, that the Bible is the authentic and authoritative word of God, and that to be reconciled with God one must trust in the atoning work of Jesus. To be a Calvinist, in its simplest terms, means that one holds to the soteriological position outlined in TULIP (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints). To be Reformed means that one holds to covenantal theology as outlined in the Westminster Confession of Faith.
What are the hallmarks of the Reformed faith beyond a Calvinist understanding of soteriology?
First, it is covenantal. There are only two covenants, that of works and that of grace. The covenant of grace is revealed organically through history. This means that the Scriptures are a unified whole without discontinuity.
Second, this leads to two distinctions practically. The first is a federal form of government, often times called “presbyterian” because it is built through a connectional system of representative elders. It also holds to paedobaptism because children are clearly included in the covenant community in Genesis and are never stated to be excluded.
This means that to be Reformed is very different from being a Calvinist. Calvinism is a part of being Reformed but it does not equate. The same can be said of evangelicalism. A Reformed believer, necessarily is evangelical, but it does not go both ways.
I think that we need to begin to more clear about who we are talking about as “Reformed.” Many Calvinist Baptists are equated with being “Reformed”. This makes the dogmatic waters muddy. Michael Horton and John Piper hold to very different positions on key issues. Why? Because Horton is Reformed and Piper is not, he is decidedly Baptist. Their differneces are good and healthy because they hold to different perspectives on the Scriptures. While they are in the same camp, these brothers do not share a tent.
Where do we go from here? I think that we need to let the YRR label go. It is not properly descriptive. It’s time to clarify the positions that are being held to because they matter. These variety of positions will further the conversations that need to happen. If we can understand that there are real differences between Baptists and Presbyterians and Non-Denominationals and whoever else we will be able to have real conversations about real issues.
I am thankful for Calvinist brothers and sisters of other traditions. But we have very real differences and those differences provide fertile ground for learning, growth, and development. In the name of unity we must not set aside our real distinctions but we must embrace them and allow the distinctions to draw us closer. When this happens, it will be evidence of maturity within the movement.
Unity in diversity ought to be the hallmark of the New Calvinist (the appropriate label for the shift)movement. Not a muddy murky sudo ecumenicalism that does not take one another seriously.
There aren’t many Christmas movies as good as Elf. It’s hilarious and it is also poignant. Like most other Christmas movies related to Santa Claus the issue at the center is belief, or the lack thereof. One of the best moments is when Buddy finds ou that Santa is coming to the Mall…
This scene has been in my mind for a few days now. I keep thinking about it’s illustrative purposes for me as a follower of Jesus. Buddy’s excitement is overwhelming and full of passion. It is clear that he loves Santa and that he desperately wants others to know him too. Look what happens when he finds out that the real Santa isn’t at the mall…
These two clips paint a picture that ought to challenge us as Jesus followers. We do not know an omniscient, legalistic, elf. We know the God of the universe. We know the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Isaiah 9:6 describes Jesus this way,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upont his shoulder, and his name shall be calledt Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Buddy the Elf loves Santa for who he is, he defends his honor, and desires for people to know the real Santa. When we think about Jesus too often we are afraid what people will think of us. Often times we shy away from challenging wrong understanding of who he is at the risk of offending others.
I want to love Jesus the way that Buddy loves Santa.
Christmas is about telling stories and sharing traditions. I love hearing the Bride share stories with the Princess as she passes on the traditional sugar cookie baking. It is absolutely beautiful!
The picture is from the front page of the Detroit News website. Two shootings, one day, two different parts of the country.
The question that I see in my Twitter feed is simple: What’s wrong with the world?
The answer to that question is simple too: We live in a sin soaked world that is broken.
Does that answer sound trite? It’s not. You see living in a sin soaked world means that we should be surprised when good things and not the bad. We typically think of sin as a simple moral act of doing wrong.
Sin goes much deeper though.
It corrupts everything it touches. It makes all things broken.
Do you notice that we are appalled?
Think about it, we live in a world where we are surrounded by brokenness the way a fish lives in water, and yet we are shocked by these kinds of things. I think that’s because we experience the common grace of God on a moment by moment basis. This means that we experience the fact that God is with holding most of the evil in the world.
Occasionally evil is allowed to occur.
When it does we are shocked.
When it does we ask questions and we doubt.
We pray.
We think.
C.S. Lewis wrote in The Problem of Pain, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Pain is the result of evil.
Evil is the reult of sin.
What do we do with sin?
Nothing.
It’s been dealt with for us. Jesus, lived, died, and resurrected to deal with sin, the results of failing to live in covnenantal relationship with God. He is the culmination of the story of God’s people where we find redemptive grace and reconciliation.
Today’s shootings are a reminder that we live in a broken and sin soaked world. They are a reminder that we need to deal with this sin. They are a reminder that we need to be in relationship with grace soaked redemptive God who is speaking through pain.
I am a Daddy of a Princess. She is the apple of my eye. I love her desperately and want more than anything to protect her and keep her from crying. When I look around the world and see the standard of beauty that she is expected to live up to it makes me sick. Below is a great video that gives significant wisdom and insight.
If you know a female of the species, you should watch it.
In our community at Grace Chapel we are currently studying through the Revelation of John. It’s a fascinating letter that challenges believers to remain faithful and true to the gospel until Jesus returns. A significant piece of the message is that the follower of Jesus will experience suffering. Life will not be all roses and puppies.
I have experienced suffering only as a child. My parents divorced when I was nine and that was painful. My grandmother, Mimi, died suddenly in a car accident the summer after my freshman year in college.
Those things were hard.
Now as an adult, who is a parent, and a pastor, I am learning that the admonitions about suffering in the Scriptures are real. This week God has seen fit to enroll Amy and I into Suffering 099.
It’s a remedial course. No credit given.
The frustration that comes from the deep seated selfishness that is present within me is ugly. Thankfully we are only dealing with pneumonia. It will pass.
Here’s to the hope of suffering well in the small so that when the big comes along we are ready to honor King Jesus in the midst of it.
There are few shows that speak to the human condition as regularly and poignantly as Fox Television’s Fringe. The most recent episode, “Wallflower” is a parable on the human need to be known.
Spoiler Alert — If you have DVR’ed the episode stop reading and come back.
The Fringe team has to investigate mounting murders around Boston. Murders that are apparently being done by an invisible man. They find that there is a man, Eugene, who has a rare genetic disorder that has made him invisible. He has figured out how to take people’s pigment from them so that he can be visible.
Eugene had gone through his entire life with nobody seeing him.
Could you imagine? Never being seen.
Alive, but not seen.
We all desire to be seen. Every kid at every sporting event, play, or performance scans the crowd looking for Mom and Dad. They want to be seen. My home reverberates with, “Daddy, watch this. Mommy, watch this.”
To be seen is hardwired into us.
Why do you think social media is so powerful? It helps us to be seen.
I love that Jesus tells us that he sees us and he notices us. He promises that God cares. We are not invisible and never will be. Because the one we can’t see, sees us.
It’s crazy when you begin to self reflect. I don’t recommend it. It’s not very much fun. You begin to grab hold of some things that you take for granted or take lightly and find that you need to change.
I love change.
I love changing other things.
I hate changing me.
Do you want to hear a confession? I truly enjoy social media. One night I was a Tigers playoff game and bantering back and forth with a number of friends on Twitter. It added to my enjoyment of the game.
It was all out “there”.
Last night a few of us started talking about Twitter. A comment was made that has stuck like a “splinter in the brain” and brought some of my self reflection full circle.
He said, “You guys put so much stuff out there it’s really hard to find what’s valuable.”
As a pastor, there is one thing I know, words matter. I desperately want my words to count and to have meaning. I want them to have purpose. Everything I do is all about words. When I started to write a blog I thought about why I blogged.
I have never thought about why I social media’ed.
So, here’s the deal, the way I use social media needs to change. That witty banter on Twitter? It’s going to disappear from the public forum. It will find its way into Direct Messages. Twitter is all about interaction. So there will still be some @-tweeting but only when it counts, when there is something to be gained by doing it. The posts will be fewer because what I put out there needs to have meaning. Typically, they will be connected to larger posts at Tumblr/Posterous.
Facebook? I will probably continue to use it the way I have been. Which is post things about my family, links, and various ministry related things.
What about Goole Plus? That’s been a different beast all along. I am not sure yet.
Foursquare? Is there value in people knowing when I check in? Nope. I will moving to Forecast and use it when I want it to be publicly known where I am going to be and for a purpose.
My hope is that when someone looks at my feed on Twitter, my timeline on Facebook, or my series of posts that they will quickly and easily find something of value and meaning.
As one of my favorite blog’s title reads, “Less Clutter, Less Noise”.
This is an image from an article that just hit my news stream and I am sure that it will begin to pop up in more and more places.
It’s one of those that picks up steam. It’s embarrasing and frustrating.
It begs a bigger a question…
What is the gospel?
Scot McKnight has done a great job exploding the Gospel myth that he refers to as “The Plan of Salvation”. The myth is that the Romans Road or the Four Laws are the “Gospel”.
News flash: They aren’t.
The Gospel is big and broad. It is the all encompassing story that makes sense of all other stories. Pay attention this Advent season. You may just hear the Gospel.
