BLOG MIGRATION

As part of a new venture with some friends from seminary this blog will be moved to the online community: www.truebaptist.org

You can find my new blog at the site at the following web address:

http://kenny.truebaptist.org

I look forward to seeing you there...

Post Conference Wrap Up...

Well, the conference came and went and after having some time to reflect on the sessions and overall theme of the conference, I have realized some profound truths. First, Western civilization owes a great debt of gratitude to the man John Calvin and more importantly to the God who gave him to the world. Second, Calvin is very likely one of the most misunderstood figures in history, church or world. Third, the legacy of Calvin is one of compassionate concern for the people of God far more than theological debate. Fourth, Calvin was far from perfect, a man with many sins, and a man well acquainted with suffering. Fifth, Calvin would have been perfectly happy for us to forget his name and focus more on Jesus Christ who is the supreme de nu mont in the theater of God as recorded in the script of Holy Scripture! Guess those are my five points of Calvin from the conference...

Check out full recaps of the conference as well as pictures and full audio and video of the conference messages at the conference site: www.TheaterofGod.com or www.DesiringGod.org

I will be attending the Desiring God National Conference this weekend. I am so looking forward to the discussion of Calvin and hearing great speakers.

John Calvin saw the world as a theater where the glory of God is always on display. This conference will show how the vision of God that Calvin lived and taught is relevant in all our lives for the parts we play in God's drama.

Speakers

Obamacare and the Rhetoric of the Elite (Congress)

I have been listening to the debate about healthcare for months now and have been reluctant to enter my two-cents...but here is my best effort. I think the thing that many are missing in this debate is not whether it is our desire that everyone should have access to healthcare, but whether or not Obamacare is the way to achieve this goal.

I know very few right-wingers who themselves would dare to say that they don't want everyone to have healthcare coverage...but they may disagree on how to achieve this. It is like well meaning left leaning individuals agreeing that the world is probably better without Saddam Hussein in power and yet disagreeing that the war in Iraq was the right way to act. The truth is, almost no one in the United States goes completely untreated by emergency rooms and clinics...because we already have laws to protect the uninsured. Do they get every treatment imaginable? No...but they are treated in much the same way any Universal Health Care system works...they are triaged according to need and then given the care necessary. It is also true that of the 40 million or so people without coverage, a great many of them are either between jobs (and will be getting new insurance soon) or not getting coverage even though they could afford it.

I agree, the system needs radical fixes...every child in America should be covered because we shouldn't punish kids because their parents are poor or irresponsible; we should keep and upgrade current laws that protect those who simply cannot afford healthcare to make sure they are treated with dignity and respect and given the care they need; we need to radically examine the glut of frivolous lawsuits that come down the pipe raising the cost of malpractice insurance and thereby raising the cost of healthcare; we need to allow more, not less, competition in the marketplace by allowing people to shop across state borders for coverage that might better serve them; we need to allow competition on prescription drugs by legalizing Canadian and British/French/German medicines into our marketplace. All of these things can be done within the system while not placing such a high demand on a government that, whether run by right or left, has driven Medicare into insolvency, Medicaid to the point of bankruptcy, Social Security into major debt, and Cash for Clunkers, the Post Office, and the list goes on. As is so often the case, the right scares old people and the middle class up with propaganda against "evil liberals" - while the left scares the young and middle class down with propaganda about "right-wing racist nutjobs"; all because our political system has become about getting and keeping power for those who have it.

A Quiet Circumvention of Morality -- Women in Combat

Dr. Mohler writes about women being involved in combat situations in the U.S. military. “From a Christian perspective, the concern about women in combat goes far beyond the pollsters’ questions. If we truly believe that God created man and women for different but complementary roles and shows his glory in the faithfulness of men as primary protectors and women as primary nurturers, the entry of women into combat roles is an open rejection of God’s purpose.”

Click Here for the full article

A Quiet Circumvention of Morality -- Women in Combat

Dr. Mohler writes about women being involved in combat situations in the U.S. military. “From a Christian perspective, the concern about women in combat goes far beyond the pollsters’ questions. If we truly believe that God created man and women for different but complementary roles and shows his glory in the faithfulness of men as primary protectors and women as primary nurturers, the entry of women into combat roles is an open rejection of God’s purpose.”

Click Here for the full article

David Sills on Twitter...

Who is the most godly Christian you know? Do you know anyone whom the New Testament would commend as an example for twenty-first century Christians? Is it one of those we consider to be the Christian superstars? Nope, not for me either. Although we are told to imitate Christ, it seems that some modern Evangelicals have exchanged the biblical expectations and guidelines for their own – even as they judge the secular world for having done the same. Consider Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the Suffering Servant, our Teacher and Model for this life and the next. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and also the meekest example of humility and holiness. Can you honestly imagine Him walking the talk of many modern ministry-heavyweight-wannabe’s?

Like many of you, I reluctantly entered into the world of virtual social networking, primarily swayed by the argument that it would be a good way to stay in touch with friends and family. However, reading the Facebook updates and Twitter tweets that inundate the web through the day makes me suspect that their primary purpose is self promotion. Increasing numbers of Christians seem to be in a race to plaster their names across the Internet along with any clever thoughts that pop into their heads during the day. Does anyone really believe that these men just spontaneously decide to tweet or update that their wife is the greatest thing since night baseball, makes the best tacos, is a Supermom, or is a Proverbs 31 woman? Especially when they sound so remarkably similar to other tweets that just appeared from their colleagues? Perhaps I am just suspicious by nature, but I wonder whom they are really trying to convince or impress? I mean, honestly.

If we really concentrate, we might possibly be able to imagine a world where it would be okay to let our closest friends and family members know what we are eating tonight, what we are listening to, or relate something funny that we just saw. But many of the nervous Twitterers and frequent Facebookers have thousands of people in their networks. Could there be a crowd of several thousand people that really needs to know whether or not you are going to make this flight and how you feel about that, or what you and your wife will do on your date-night this week? Don’t get me wrong, I think we need to celebrate the achievements of our brothers and sisters, even beyond our close friends and family, and give honor and congratulations to the deserving. But where is the Christian virtue of humility?

Someone has said that humility is not thinking less of yourself, just thinking of yourself less. Enter Twitter and Facebook. Humility used to guide believers to wait and let others praise them and not do it themselves. The heroes of yesteryear who reluctantly received the crowd’s adulation have been replaced with shameless personal promoters who peddle their self-made brand to as many as possible by all means possible—under the guise of social networking. I will admit that these folks seem to be larger than life superstars with all the news that’s fit to tweet, if it’s all true, but seriously, all this genuflecting is making my pants baggy.

It seems that many of them have begun to believe their press clippings and book blurbs. It seems that many followers and “friends” have been sucked in, too. Recently, a ministry super leader tweeted about a speech he had made and folks began to chime in to congratulate him on his wisdom, citing sound bites from “his” speech that were well-known quotations from past Christian leaders. Sadly, there was no correction of the mistaken attribution. The only sounds were the echoing accolades, “one greater than Moses is among us.”

Even sadder is the growing number of young men and women who are wannabe’s. They actually seek counsel regarding how they can create and promote their personal brand. One young student recently asked me how often and what topics of his life he should tweet. Really?

Remember Jesus? I have tried to imagine Jesus tweeting and sending Facebook updates like many that I see.

“Just healed a blind man.”

“Lunching today with chief tax man in Jericho @Zacchaeus.”

“Walked on water this evening, disciples amazed I could calm a storm. lol.”

“Fed 5,000 men and their families with a boy’s lunch today.”

“Washed the disciples feet. Being intentional to exercise and model humility.”

“Check my reviews from the crowds last Friday. #Jerusalem”

Yet again, I see the vast gap between what I know about me and what I know about Jesus. I too have occasionally fallen into the pattern of tweeting every thought that flitted through my head and shared good news that was really more of a way to brag about how great or show how clever I am. I hope that the painfully slow progressive sanctification of my life has reached a level where I can put that to death and edify others, glorify Christ, and seek first His kingdom and righteousness.