Deep Church?

Posted on October 1, 2009 by bkingr

Kevin DeYoung takes a good long look at Deep Church by Jim Belcher.

As you know, Kevin wrote his own book about the emerging church movement, so he knows whereof he speaks.

he approached this new book with trepidation:

I am always skeptical of “third way” books anyways. Usually, the “third way” is basically the same as one of the other two ways, only a little nicer. In this case, I was expecting the third way to be emergent-lite with a less caustic attitude toward evangelicals. But actually Belcher was just the opposite. He is an evangelical–a traditional evangelical I would argue–who seems sound in his theology (he is a PCA minister after all), but wants to be non-traditional in a few ways. If I were titling the book I would call it “Why I’m Not Emergent, But I Like Many of the Emergent Folks and I Want to Do Church Differently Too.”

But he was surprised by it and liked it more than he thought he would.

Evaluation
As you can see, there is much to affirm in these chapters. Belcher understands the issues well and clearly rejects the worst of the emerging movement. His church sounds like a good church, and Belcher (whom I never met) strikes me as an honest, thoughtful, irenic pastor. I agreed with much more in this book than I thought I would. As a part of the PCA, Belcher is not only tied to the Great Tradition, but to the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition. As such, I imagine our theology is quite similar. We are on the same team. My agreements with him outnumber my disagreements.

Nevertheless, I have a few critiques for Deep Church. Let me mention four, each in the form of a question.

Go over to Kevin’s place and read those four questions as well as the rest of the review. Good stuff.

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death to self-righteousness

Posted on September 30, 2009 by bkingr

the Gospel ends self-righteousness.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0g-s4Qhtyk&hl=en&fs=1&]

ht to Timmy Brister

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two on suffering

Posted on September 29, 2009 by bkingr

first courtesy of Vitamin Z we get this comforting bit that we will never be able to fully explain the problem of evil but that we can trust God anyway:

So how do Christians explain the problem of evil?

The reality is, we can’t provide an exhaustive theodicy or explanation of the existence of evil.  Our minds cannot fully fathom “why.”

But, in his recommended book, Return to Reason, Kelly Clark, explains why Christians need not feel intellectually compromised if they cannot explain the existence of evil.  Here is how he concludes the discussion.

The Christian theist need not be troubled by is his ignorance of a theodicy.  This ignorance is not insincere, questionable or obscurantist.  Rather, it is quite consistent with his theistic beliefs.  The Christian theist will believe that God has a good reason for allowing evil, although  he does not know what it is or know it in any detail.  He believes that God has a good reason because of God’s redemptive incarnational revelation.  It is not rationally incumbent upon the theist to produce a successful theodicy; the theist, in order to be rational, must simply believe that God has a good reason for allowing evil.  A God who shares in our pain, who redeems our sorrows and our shortcomings, who wipes away ever tear, is surely a good God. (page 89).

and then Halim Suh is making plans. He is thinking about what he wants his friends to tell him when suffering comes in his life. It is so very helpful to have right theology and right thinking about suffering firmly in place in your mind before the suffering hits. before the cancer diagnosis, before the layoff, before the horrible accident etc. etc. Here are some of Halim’s prospective advices to himself. Go read the rest.

Yesterday in our book group, we were discussing suffering. Honestly, I haven’t endured a lot of suffering, yet, in this life. Especially not the tragic, life-changes-in-a-moment kind of suffering. But, only the Lord knows if it is coming. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would want people to tell me if I do go through a crisis – and these are things that I think I would need to hear:

Tell me that there is a God in heaven, who made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. Remind me that my crisis, my suffering, is not a surprise to Him, and that it has not happened outside of His control. Tell me that my God has a purpose in everything – my suffering included. Remind me that He is the God who sees everything – not one thing has ever escaped His attention. He sees me now.
….
Tell me that there is a Savior that suffered – a lot more than I can ever imagine. No matter how much suffering I am enduring, remind me that Jesus suffered so much more, infinitely more. Tell me that He can comfort me because He knows my pain. He knows my suffering. Tell me that my Jesus is there.

Tell me that God loves me with a fierce love – the kind that rips open seas, that drowns armies, that throws hailstones from heaven, that shuts up lions’ mouths, that saves from consuming fires, that heals the lame, that feeds the hungry and that conquers death. Remind me that my God loves me like that. And that this God doesn’t change, nor does His love for me change. So, if He has ordained suffering in my life, He is still loving me – although I may not see it or understand it.

Halim is one of the staff at Austin Stone Community Church.

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Body metaphor

Posted on September 29, 2009 by bkingr

Randy Alcorn posts an excerpt from Philip D. Kenneson’s Life On The Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999). I agree that we should probably all spend some time thinking a bit about what Kenneson says here:

This [the church as a body] is only one important lesson that reflecting on the metaphor of the church as the body of Christ might teach us. Given the rampant individualism that pervades much congregational life, the contemporary church in this country would do well to reflect seriously on this metaphor. For example:

Bodies are wrongly understood if their parts are considered to be in some way more fundamental than the body itself. The parts exist to serve the well-being of the entire body, a well-being in which each part participates and facilitates to the extent that it looks beyond its own immediate welfare.

Bodies are wrongly understood if they are regarded as conglomerates of parts that have their own integrity apart from the body. No one would mistake a severed finger on the sidewalk for a body. Such a condition is not only a problem for the part but a problem for the entire body.

Bodies are wrongly understood if their parts are considered to have unmediated access to the head. Each body part facilitates and participates in vital connections to the head, yet none can sustain this connection to the head alone.

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this is also amazing

Posted on September 28, 2009 by bkingr

this is also amazing, but in a different way. surely at some point people will get really sick and tired of being hectored by someone who thinks they know better than everybody else. surely? Doesn’t he realize this country has a system of local school districts that run and pay for schools?

WASHINGTON — Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

“Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas,” the president said earlier this year. “Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom.”

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

“Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

How out of control is the modern conception of central government power when the President thinks it is ok to casually suggest that the schools whose utilities are paid for by local property taxpayers should be open on weekends? no skin off his nose, is it?

Just wow. this little example here has it all in one package: arrogance, condescension, out of control aggrandizement of absolute power and we all get stuck with the bill.

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this is amazing

Posted on September 28, 2009 by bkingr

everybody has seen this already, but the man is amazing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-FjJzslb6Y&border=1&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

HT to Ed Morissey.

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emerging church conversation

Posted on September 27, 2009 by bkingr

Here is an interesting interview by Trevin Wax of Robbie Sagers about the emerging church. Trevin is a blogger and Robbie is a PhD student and special assistant to Dr. Russell Moore.

Robbie has contributed a chapter to Evangelicals Engaging Emergent: A Discussion of the Emergent Church Movement (B&H, 2009).

here is a bit of the interview, but take some time to go read the whole thing.  very interesting stuff:

Trevin Wax: What will the long-range impact of the Emerging Church be on evangelicalism?

Robbie Sagers: That’s a very good question, and I think that only time will tell what – if any – lasting impact the emerging church movement will have on evangelicalism.

Part of that uncertainty is due to the somewhat shifting nature of evangelicalism itself; after all, what is an evangelical? (A question for another day, perhaps!)

Regardless, these last months certainly do seem to have indicated the demise of the emerging church movement, at least in terms of comparing it to the furor surrounding the movement in recent years. After all, fewer books are being published by self-identified emerging church adherents, less conferences planned, Emergent Village has been disbanded, and some of the movement’s key leaders are now deeply entrenched not primarily in the churchper se but rather in national politics–or, at least in one case, running for political office themselves.

I can tell you what I hope the long-range impact of evangelicalism will be. My hope is that conservative evangelicals, after having endured from some segments of the emerging church movement a challenge to doctrinal orthodoxy and orthopraxy, will avoid the temptation to a more-doctrinal-than-thou mentality that can be destructive to the soul. False teaching should be pointed out, yes, and corrected when possible. And there certainly is a place, biblically speaking, for sharp language in pointing out wolves among sheep. But such words should be spoken not with triumphalism, but rather with sobriety, in love.

Instead, I hope that evangelicals will discern humbly, through the lens of the Scriptures, those weak spots that led to some emerging church adherents’ exploitations of certain aspects of evangelicalism in the first place.

HT to Dr. Moore who adds:

Sagers is also correct to note that the criticisms of traditional conservative evangelical theology and spirituality and missiology is often on target in its diagnosis, if not always in its solution. American evangelicalism is indeed too captive to a story-less rationalism in both its academy and in its pulpits, just in different ways. The academy often seeks to replace mystery and paradox and narrative with syllogisms, true enough. Have conservative evangelicals in recent years often ignored issues of poverty, social justice, and the stewardship of the earth? Without a doubt. And evangelical churches often seek to replace story and water and bread and wine with principles, programs, ideas, and “worst of all” products to be bought and sold.

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friday fotoes

Posted on September 25, 2009 by bkingr

these cool mornings feel very fallish. loving the change after a very long, very hot, very dry summer.
morning grass in autumn

capitol renovations are on the horizon. soon this will be covered up with scaffold.
capitol dome

Sunflower at 300mm

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Logos Bible software

Posted on September 24, 2009 by bkingr

I mentioned Logos in passing the other day as my preferred Bible software to use on my laptop. I have been using it for at least 10 years and I love it.

When I originally moved to Mac OS back in 2007, Logos didn’t have a Mac version so I had to buy Parallels and a copy of Windows XP just so I could install Logos and keep using it. That setup has worked very well.

However, now Logos has a Mac version and it should be very nice indeed. (I haven’t bought it yet, but I did use the alpha test versions along the way)

Here is Michael Patton’s fairly thorough review of the Logos software. and here is the part of that review with which I completely agree:

Commentaries and Reference Library: I have basically quit buying DVDs because I can just get all of my movies on Amazon.com and use my Roku player to watch them. That way I don’t have to worry about losing them or worry that they get scratched. Well, it is the same thing with Logos and my commentary and reference library. I don’t buy the paper version any more. I only get them on Logos. That way I never have to worry about them. As well, it is such a blessing to be able to pull up a passage of Scripture and have dozens of commentaries available at the click of the mouse. Yes, there are many books that you would not want to read digitally. At least I don’t like to read digitally. But when it comes to reference works, you need a quick and easy way to reference them efficiently. Logos is the way to go.

To save space: There are certain collections such as the Nicene Ante-Nicene Church Fathers that are too large for most offices. Logos helps to save space. We are moving to a digital world. Start now or you will be sorry later.

Not only does it save space, but it makes all the commentaries much more useful. The global search function allows you to research a passage in the Bible or a topic across every single volume in your library. You can then look at the relevant portions of every book to thoroughly investigate the passage or topic. So much faster and more accurate than finding everything manually.

Here is what Michael says about the search feature:

Searches: With Logos, you can search your entire library for a key word or phrase. Theentire library! This is so valuable. When you are searching to see what the early church fathers said about the Lord’s supper or a particular passage, just type in your key words and hit search.

I love Logos. Like PocketBible, I have assembled a pretty good sized library of books in it and this software makes those books incredibly useful. I am sure that other Bible Software programs work well too, but Logos is where I have invested in a library and I know that it is fantastic.

I am not getting anything from either of these companies for talking about them. They are just what I use and love and thus want to recommend.

HT to vitamin Z.

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Aaron Ivy – Worship Band

Posted on September 24, 2009 by bkingr


Aaron Ivy – Worship Band, originally uploaded by Doug Klembara.

Here is Aaron Ivy at Kyle Field in Aggieland. Doug Klembara (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougklembara/) took this picture and some others. He estimates the crowd at 7K.

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accountability for rejecting Christ

Posted on September 23, 2009 by bkingr

here is John Piper’s illustration of the difference between moral inability and legal inability and why a person can be held accountable for rejecting Christ even though they can’t choose Christ on their own accord.

Give it a listen and see what you think of the argument.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzRdS_tdmAU&hl=en&fs=1&]

HT to Reformation Theology

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acting like teenage kids

Posted on September 22, 2009 by bkingr

never forget that the crowd running the show in Washington truly deeply believes that they are smarter than you and care more than you do about things.

from Drudge here is exhibit A in the condescension lalapalooza:

SecChu_art_257_20090921154709.jpg

Energy Secretary Chu: A teaching moment (AP)
When it comes to greenhouse-gas emissions, Energy Secretary Steven Chu sees Americans as unruly teenagers and the Administration as the parent that will have to teach them a few lessons.
Speaking on the sidelines of a smart grid conference in Washington, Dr. Chu said he didn’t think average folks had the know-how or will to to change their behavior enough to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
“The American public…just like your teenage kids, aren’t acting in a way that they should act,” Dr. Chu said. “The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is.” (In that case, the Energy Department has a few renegade teens of its own.)

aren’t you glad that your betters are willing to teach you?

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alarmed by bad news?

Posted on September 22, 2009 by bkingr

Iain D. Campbell posts a devotion form Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotional book on Psalm 112:7.

Excellent reminder from CHS:

“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.”

Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?

Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?

Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God’s high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

emphasis added.

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guilt and forgiveness

Posted on September 22, 2009 by bkingr

R.C. Sproul, Jr. on Cornerstones and Stumbling Blocks.

Here is the opening paragraph, but go read all of it:

Why do the wicked flee when none pursue? Guilt. Why do we by nature exchange the glory of the Creator for corruptible things? Guilt. Why do the nations rage, and the rulers take counsel together? Guilt. Why do the sheep know their Master’s voice? Forgiveness. Why do the redeemed worship in Spirit and in truth? Forgiveness. Why have we been made into a royal priesthood, and a holy nation? Forgiveness. Eschatologically, what separates sheep and goats is eternity in heaven and eternity in hell. Here in the not yet, what separates us is living today in heaven and living today in hell.

he throws in an interesting comparison between the way the world views Jon and Kate v. the way it views the Duggars as well. Do you buy it?

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global warming

Posted on September 21, 2009 by bkingr

if there is something about which the world has been certain (at least certain far left precincts of the world), it is that global warming is occurring and that it is man caused. the proposed remedy has been to wreck our economies and teach people to be satisfied with a lesser standard of living.

what if either of these things isn’t true? what if the earth isn’t warming as rapidly as feared by Al Gore? What if what warming that is occurring is natural and not anthropogenic? Then the left’s environmental club against capitalism would be rather less fierce wouldn’t it?

check this out:

Forecasts of climate change are about to go seriously out of kilter. One of the world’s top climate modellers said Thursday we could be about to enter one or even two decades during which temperatures cool.

“People will say this is global warming disappearing,” he told more than 1500 of the world’s top climate scientists gathering in Geneva at the UN’s World Climate Conference.

“I am not one of the sceptics,” insisted Mojib Latif of the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at Kiel University, Germany. “However, we have to ask the nasty questions ourselves or other people will do it.”

Few climate scientists go as far as Latif, an author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But more and more agree that the short-term prognosis for climate change is much less certain than once thought.

but, never fear, they still know what is going to happen long term. it is just the short term that trips them up. trust them.

But some of the climate scientists gathered in Geneva to discuss how this might be done admitted that, on such timescales, natural variability is at least as important as the long-term climate changes from global warming. “In many ways we know more about what will happen in the 2050s than next year,” saidVicky Pope from the UK Met Office

is the warming man-caused? or natural? some of each? how much?

truthful answer is idk. but neither do the people studying it.

Latif predicted that in the next few years a natural cooling trend would dominate over warming caused by humans. The cooling would be down to cyclical changes to ocean currents and temperatures in the North Atlantic, a feature known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

Breaking with climate-change orthodoxy, he said NAO cycles were probably responsible for some of the strong global warming seen in the past three decades. “But how much? The jury is still out,” he told the conference. The NAO is now moving into a colder phase.

and the models that they use to predict such things are unreliable because of built in biases in the programming.

In candid mood, climate scientists avoided blaming nature for their faltering predictions, however. “Model biases are also still a serious problem. We have a long way to go to get them right. They are hurting our forecasts,” said Tim Stockdale of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in Reading, UK.

The world may badly want reliable forecasts of future climate. But such predictions are proving as elusive as the perfect weather forecast.

almost sounds exactly like what another fellow used to say who was much maligned for saying it.

any time our self appointed guardians start preaching to us about our lifestyle wrecking the planet, remember that meteorologists can’t even get close to an accurate seven day forecast. Heck, they can’t even get today right this morning.

Nature is shown daily to trump their forecasting models on the short term.

Now climatologists are being forced to agree that the models have missed their medium term prediction.

But never fear, they know they have the long term correctly predicted and we must take drastic action now to save the planet.

trust them. don’t ask questions. just trust them and pay your cap and trade taxes cheerfully.

HT to Kevin

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II Timothy 3:12

Posted on September 20, 2009 by bkingr

II Timothy 3:12 says “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”. Do you believe that? Do you believe that all means all and that persecution really means persecution? Really?

here is a John Piper quote from Vitamin Z:

“Obedience in missions and social justice has always been costly, and always will be. In the village of Miango, Nigeria, there is an SIM guest house and a small church called Kirk Chapel. Behind the chapel is a small cemetery with 56 graves. Thirty-three of them hold the bodies of missionary children. Some of the stones read: ‘Ethyl Armold: September 1, 1928-September 2, 1928.’ ‘Barbara J. Swanson: 1946-1952.’ ‘Eileen Louise Whitmoyer: May 6, 1952-July 3, 1955.’ For many families this was the cost of taking the Gospel to Nigeria. Charles White told his story about visiting this little graveyard and ended it with a tremendously powerful sentence. He said, ‘the only way we can understand the graveyard at Miango is to remember that god also buried his Son on the mission field.’

And when God raised Him from the dead, He called the church to follow Him into the same dangerous field called ‘all the world’ (Mark 16:15). But are we willing to follow? In Ermelo, Holland, Brother Andrew told the story of sitting in Budapest, Hungary, with a dozen pastors of that city, teaching them from the Bible. In walked an old friend, a pastor from Romania who had recently been released from prison. Brother Andrew said that he stopped teaching and knew that it was time to listen.

After a long pause the Romanian pastor said, ‘Andrew, are there any pastors in prison in Holland?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘Why not?’ the pastor asked. Brother Andrew thought for a moment and said, ‘I think it must be because we do not take advantage of all the opportunities God gives us.’ Then came the most difficult question. ‘Andrew, what do you do with 2 Timothy 3:12?’ Brother Andrew opened his Bible and turned to the test and read aloud, ‘All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.’ He closed the Bible slowly and said, ‘Brother, please forgive me. We do nothing with that verse.’

We have, I fear, domesticated the concept of godliness into such inoffensive, middle-class morality and law-keeping that 2 Timothy 3:12 has become unintelligible to us. I think many of us are not prepared to suffer for the gospel. We do not grasp the truth that God has purposes of future grace that he intends to give his people through suffering. We can speak of purposes of suffering because it is clearly God’s purpose that we at times suffer for righteousness’ sake and for the sake of the Gospel. For example, ‘Let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.’ (1 Peter 4:19, 3:17 and Hebrews 12:4-11).

To live by faith in future grace we must see that the suffering of Gods people is the instrument of grace in their lives.”

– John Piper, Future Grace

emphasis added.

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the Ministry of Meekness

Posted on September 19, 2009 by bkingr

Continuing to read Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we arrive on pages 95-97 at his description of the ministry of meekness that Christians owe to one another:

Only he who lives by the forgiveness of his sin in Jesus Christ will rightly think little of himself. He will know that his own wisdom reached the end of its tether when Jesus forgave him. He remembers the ambition of the first man who wanted to know what is good and evil and perished in his wisdom……Because the Christian can no longer fancy that he is wise he will also have no high opinion of his own schemes and plans. He will know that it is good for his own will to be broken in the encounter with his neighbor. He will be ready to consider his neighbor’s will more important and urgent than his own.
……
Finally, one extreme thing must be said. To forego self-conceit and to associate with the lowly means, in all soberness and without mincing the matter, to consider oneself the greatest of sinners. This arouses all the resistance of the natural man, but also that of the self-confident Christian…..There can be no genuine acknowledgment of sin that does not lead to this extremity. If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all. My sin is of necessity the worst, the most grievous, the most reprehensible. Brotherly love will find any number of extenuations for the sins of others; only for my sin is there no apology whatsoever. Therefore my sin is the worst. He who would serve his brother in the fellowship must sink all the way down to these depths of humility.

emphasis added

compare this to Jesus speaking to his disciples in Mark 10:

42 q And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles r lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But s it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, [4] 44 and whoever would be first among you must be t slave [5]of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but u to serve, and v to give his life as a ransom for w many.”

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photo phridai

Posted on September 18, 2009 by bkingr

rain and cool brought out the wildflowers (new header picture)
wildflowers

sunrise last week
sunrise yesterday

and williamson county fall league ball has begun
McNeil v. Pflugerville

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PocketBible for iPhone

Posted on September 17, 2009 by bkingr

I have been using Laridian’s PocketBible software on my PDA then phones for a long long time. I used it on my old Handspring Visors, my Treo300 phone, my Treo600, my samsung PPC6500 (windows Mobile), and even on my Windows computer. For powerful Bible software on the go, it has been a dream. Lots of good selections on Bibles and other books to purchase. Very well integrated. just a dream. Love it.

The only drawback to getting an iPhone was losing my PocketBible software. For almost 2 years, I haven’t had it. Other solutions that became available when the Apple App Store became a reality were not nearly as good. The web based subscription that Laridian devised was ok, but not nearly good enough.

(by the way, Logos is the way to go for desktop bible software. I have also been using it for years on Windows and Mac computers. Again user friendly, intuitive, lots of books. Tom Ascol’s review of Logos for Mac is here.)

finally Laridian has released (been approved by the Apple Store) PocketBible for iPhone. I cannot adequately express how happy this makes me. I messed with it for a good long while last night and I can report to you that it is very nicely done. functionality is fairly intuitive. All of the Bibles and books that I had previously purchased were easy to access and download. (I did have some trouble because the Laridian servers were getting hit pretty hard yesterday, but I succeeded in downloading everything to the phone).

I feel like my old friends are back in my shirt pocket where they belong.

anyway, the price is free for the software and some free (noncopyrighted) books. Give it a go. See if you don’t like it.

Laridian press release with link:

PocketBible has been approved for sale on the App Store. Depending on where you live, it might be available already. Search the App Store for PocketBible or try this link.

Of course, PocketBible for the iPhone will work with all of your PocketBible books and Bibles. And here’s the best news — it’s FREE!

Yes, you can download and install PocketBible for no cost on the App Store!

Naturally, you can add additional books and Bibles to your PocketBible library and use them with PocketBible for iPhone. Simply select the Order Form link above. Once you’ve made your purchase, launch PocketBible on your iPhone or iPod touch and select the Menu button, then “Add / Remove Books”. Enter your customer ID (or email address) and password to download books directly into PocketBible!

PocketBible for iPhone requires OS 3, so if you’ve not yet updated your iPhone or iPod Touch to this latest version of the operating system, you may want to do that soon.

Posted in bible, tech | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

spiritual leadership

Posted on September 16, 2009 by bkingr

John Piper’s article on spiritual leadership is a treasure trove of extremely valuable information.

I found this bit on marks of a good teacher especially interesting since I have spent a lot of time teaching.

9. Able to Teach

It is not surprising to me that some of the great leaders at Bethlehem Baptist Church have been men who are also significant teachers. According to 1 Timothy 3:2 anyone who aspires to the office of overseer in the church should be able to teach. What is a good teacher? I think a good teacher has at least the following characteristics.

  • A good teacher asks himself the hardest questions, works through to answers, and then frames provocative questions for his learners to stimulate their thinking.
  • A good teacher analyzes his subject matter into parts and sees relationships and discovers the unity of the whole.
  • A good teacher knows the problems learners will have with his subject matter and encourages them and gets them over the humps of discouragement.
  • A good teacher foresees objections and thinks them through so that he can
    answer them intelligently.
  • A good teacher can put himself in the place of a variety of learners and therefore explain hard things in terms that are clear from their standpoint.
  • A good teacher is concrete, not abstract, specific, not general, precise, not vague, vulnerable, not evasive.
  • A good teacher always asks, “So what?” and tries to see how discoveries shape our whole system of thought. He tries to relate discoveries to life and tries to avoid compartmentalizing.
  • The goal of a good teacher is the transformation of all of life and thought into a Christ-honoring unity.

But the whole thing is well worth a read and a reread. His bits on a leader needing to be Restless, Intense, Articulate and a Hard Thinker were also quite good. :->.

HT to Justin Taylor.

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David Powlison on marital intimacy

Posted on September 16, 2009 by bkingr

fascinating talk from David Powlison on marital intimacy. Part 2 below about transparency in small groups about struggles is critically important. making prayer requests that are personal, real, and humbling is extremely important. If you are part of a group where the culture says that it is not ok to not be ok, then you need to find another group where you can be real even when you aren’t ok.

Part 1
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNzlTcRie3U&hl=en&fs=1&]

Part 2
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVwZqQUI84s&hl=en&fs=1&]

Part 3
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq5miRdBW3Q&hl=en&fs=1&]

HT to Justin Taylor

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ripple effects

Posted on September 15, 2009 by bkingr

I saw this interesting and strangely haunting story yesterday on one of the ripple effects of the worldwide economic downturn.

Here, on a sleepy stretch of shoreline at the far end of Asia, is surely the biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history. Their numbers are equivalent to the entire British and American navies combined; their tonnage is far greater. Container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers – all should be steaming fully laden between China, Britain, Europe and the US, stocking camera shops, PC Worlds and Argos depots ahead of the retail pandemonium of 2009. But their water has been stolen.

They are a powerful and tangible representation of the hurricanes that have been wrought by the global economic crisis; an iron curtain drawn along the coastline of the southern edge of Malaysia’s rural Johor state, 50 miles east of Singapore harbour.

Go read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1212013/Revealed-The-ghost-fleet-recession.html#ixzz0RAhSPKP8

Very interesting stuff

The 'ghost fleet' near Singapore. The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies

The 'ghost fleet' near Singapore. The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies

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Got to thinking about eyes

Posted on September 14, 2009 by bkingr

Yesterday after I posted about Joel Osteen and his blurb about his forthcoming newest book, I got to thinking.

What I was thinking about is how the worldview he is promoting is completely foundationally skewed. It is exactly backwards.

Here is part of what he says:

Instead, your declarations should be: I am closer than I think. I can raise this child. I can overcome this sickness. I can make this business work. I know I can find a new job.

Take your dreams and the promises God has put in your heart, and every day declare that they will come to pass. Just say something like, “Father, I want to thank you that my payday is coming. You said no good thing will You withhold because I walk uprightly. And I believe even right now you’re arranging things in my favor.”

and the phrase in my head was “if the eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Here is that phrase in context:

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

19 x “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where y moth and rust [5] destroy and where thieves z break in and steal, 20 x but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 a “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 a but if b your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 c “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God andd money. [6]

do you see it? two ways to look at the world. two types of eyes with which to view the world.  The healthy eye is spiritual, realizing that better and more lasting possessions come later, in heaven.  The bad eye is temporal, thinking that here in this world is the place to stockpile treasure.  The former is light, the latter is dark.

what about these eyes?  why that metaphor?

Here is John Piper on the topic:

So the flow of thought would go like this: Don’t lay up treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in heaven. Show that your heart is fixed on the value that God is for you in Christ. Make sure that your eye is good not bad. That is, make sure that you see heavenly treasure as infinitely more precious than earthly material treasure. When your eye sees things this way, you are full of light. And if you don’t see things this way, even the light you think you see (the glitz and flash and skin and muscle of this world) is all darkness. You are sleepwalking through life. You are serving money as a slave without even knowing it, because it has lulled you to sleep. Far better is to be swayed by the truth—the infinite value of God.

and here is John MacArthur:

If our eye is bad, however, if it is diseased or damaged, no light can enter, and the whole body will be full of darkness. If our hearts are encumbered with material concerns they become “blind” and insensitive to spiritual concerns. The eye is like a window which, when clear, allows light to shine through, but, when dirty, or bad, prevents light from entering. Poneros (bad) usually means evil, as it is translated here in the King James Version. In the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) it is often used in translating the Hebrew expression “evil eye,” a Jewish colloquialism that means grudging, or stingy (see Deut. 15:9, “hostile”; Pr 23:6, “selfish”). “A man with an evil eye,” for example, is one who “hastens after wealth” (Pr 28:22). The eye that is bad is the heart that is selfishly indulgent. The person who is materialistic and greedy is spiritually blind. Because he has no way of recognizing true light, he thinks he has light when he does not. What is thought to be light is therefore really darkness, and because of the self-deception, how great is the darkness! The principle is simple and sobering: the way we look at and use our money is a sure barometer of our spiritual condition. (MacArthur, J: Matthew 1-7 Macarthur New Testament Commentary Chicago: Moody Press)

Do you see where I am heading? Joel Osteen writes about Your Best Life Now and It’s Your Time. The Bible says that our best life is yet to come in eternity with Jesus. The Bible says that our time is yet to come.

here, see for yourself(tent=earthly home=physical body):

Our Heavenly Dwelling

5 For we know that if k the tent that is l our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, m a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent n we groan, longing to o put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on [1] we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal p may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, q who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that r while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for s we walk by faith, not t by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we u would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to v please him. 10 For w we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, x so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

so, is your eye healthy or diseased? do you chase after wealth and security on this earth or do you emphasize laying up treasure for yourself in heaven?

do you really believe that your treasure in heaven is “better and more lasting possessions” than anything you can accumulate here?

32 But recall the former days when, after r you were enlightened, you endured s a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being t publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For u you had compassion on those in prison, and v you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had w a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has x a great reward.36 For y you have need of endurance, so that z when you have done the will of God you may a receive what is promised.

In closing, here is some advice from Pastor Piper:

So if you are emotionally drawn more by material things than by Christ, pray that God would give you a good eye and awaken you from the blindness of “the bad eye.”

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more prosperity gospel

Posted on September 13, 2009 by bkingr

back to vitamin z for an update on Joel Osteen’s newest book.

check it out:

So, Joel Osteen sent us an email yesterday to let us know about his new book, It’s Your Time. Joel wanted us to know that we could achieve our dreams with his new book. That was the subject line, seriously.

Here’s more encouragement from Joel O.:

Get your hopes up. Raise your expectations. Expect the unexpected. In challenging times, it may be hard to see better days ahead.

You may feel as though your struggles will never end, that things won’t ever turn around.

This is exactly the moment when you should seek and expect God’s blessings.

It’s your time to declare your faith, to look for God’s favor and to give control of your life to Him so that you can find fulfillment in His plans for you!

Joel Osteen

here’s more disgusting bilge from the toothy spewer of sewer:

God wants to breathe new life into your dreams. He wants to breathe new hope into your heart. You may be about to give up on a marriage, on a troubled child, on a lifelong goal. But God wants you to hold on. He says if you’ll get your second wind, if you’ll put on a new attitude and press forward like you’ll headed down the final stretch, you’ll see Him begin to do amazing things.

Tune out the negative messages. Quit telling yourself: I’m never landing back on my feet financially. I’m never breaking this addiction. I’m never landing a better job.

Instead, your declarations should be: I am closer than I think. I can raise this child. I can overcome this sickness. I can make this business work. I know I can find a new job.

Take your dreams and the promises God has put in your heart, and every day declare that they will come to pass. Just say something like, “Father, I want to thank you that my payday is coming. You said no good thing will You withhold because I walk uprightly. And I believe even right now you’re arranging things in my favor.”

When you’re tempted to get down and things are not going your way, you need to keep telling yourself “This may be hard. It may be taking a long time. But I know God is a faithful God. And I will believe knowing that my payday is on its way.”

Whenever life grows difficult, and the pressure is turned up, that’s a sign that your time is near. When lies bombard your mind. When you are most tempted to get discouraged. And when you feel like throwing in the towel. That’s not the time to give up. That’s not the time to back down. That’s the time to dig in your heels. Put on a new attitude. You are closer than you think.

God promises your payday is on its way. If you’ll learn to be a prisoner of hope and get up every day expecting God’s favor, you’ll see God do amazing things. You’ll overcome every obstacle. You’ll defeat every enemy. And I believe and declare you’ll see every dream, every promise God has put in your heart. It will come to pass.

emphasis added.  Our “payday is on its way?”  are you kidding me?  check out Matt Chandler right quick, “But you don’t put God in your debt. I know this because really really faithful men in the Scripture have it go really really bad for them.”

Do you believe the witness of scripture or do you believe the spewer of sewer with the big toothy smile?

what does God say in the Bible about our payday?  That we have earned the payment/penalty/wages of death:  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If we were to get our “payday” we wouldn’t enjoy it very much.

now just for comparison with the O man, go check out the last 6 or 7 verses in Hebrews 10.

Or, better yet, look for a minute at I Peter 4:12-19

12Beloved, do not be surprised at(A) the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice(B) insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad(C) when his glory is revealed. 14(D) If you are insulted(E) for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory[a] and of God rests upon you. 15But(F) let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or(G) as a meddler. 16Yet(H) if anyone suffers as a(I) Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God(J) in that name. 17For it is time for judgment(K) to begin at the household of God; and(L) if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who(M) do not obey the gospel of God? 18And

(N) “If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”[b]

19Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will(O) entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

could the contrast be any more stark? What Joel Osteen is spewing is a lie from the Liar himself.

As Z says it is damnation with a smile:

What you preach is not Christianity. It’s motivational, positive sounding legalism. “Just follow these rules and you’ll be set” is essentially your message. This is not the gospel. As Michael Horton says, this is “law light”. Sounds good and very nice, but is just as damning. It’s damnation with a smile.

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the mechanics of a D&X

Posted on September 13, 2009 by bkingr

courtesy of Vitamin Z here is the deposition testimony of Dr. Carhart from the University of Nebraska about the particulars of his method of abortion.

Just read it, if you can, but I warn you that it is deeply disturbing.  This must stop.  there is more at the link above if you really want to see it.

Question: Are there times when you don’t remove the fetus intact?

Carhart: Yes, sir.

Question: Can you tell me about that, when that occurs?

Carhart: That occurs when the tissue fragments, or frequently when you rupture the membranes, an arm will spontaneously prolapse through the oz. I think most…statistically the most common presentation, we talk about the forehead or the skull being first. We talked about the feet being first, but I think in probably the great majority of terminations, it’s what they world call a transverse lie, so really you’re looking at a side profile of a curved fetus. When the patient…the uterus is already starting to contract and they are starting to miscarry, when you rupture the waters, usually something prolapses through the uterine, through the cervical os, not always, but very often an extremity will.

Question: What do you do then?

Carhart: My normal course would be to dismember that extremity and then go back and try to take the fetus out either foot or skull first, whatever end I can get to first.

Question: How do you go about dismembering that extremity?

Carhart: Just traction and rotation, grasping the portion that you can get a hold of which would be usually somewhere up the shaft of the exposed portion of the fetus, pulling down on it through the os, using the internal os as your counter-traction and rotating to dismember the shoulder or the hip or whatever it would be. Sometimes you will get one leg and you can’t get the other leg out.

Question: In that situation, are you, when you pull on the arm and remove it, is the fetus still alive?

Carhart: Yes.

Question: In that situation, are you, when you pull on the arm and remove it, is the fetus still alive?

Carhart: Yes

Question: Do you consider an arm, for example, to be a substantial portion of the fetus?

Carhart: In the way I read it, I think if I lost my arm, that would be a substantial loss to me. I think I would have to interpret it that way.

Question: And then what happens next after you remove the arm? You then try to remove the rest of the fetus?

Carhart: Then I would go back and attempt to either bring the feet down or bring the skull down, or even sometimes you bring the other arm down and remove that also and then get the feet down.

Question: At what point is the fetus…does the fetus die during that process?

Carhart: I don’t really know. I know that the fetus is alive during the process most of the time because I can see fetal heartbeat on the ultrasound.

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