There's Beauty in the Bellow

Strong paedobaptist covenantalists frequently talk about the corporate nature of God's covenant(s) and the Bible's style. Unless the speaker/writer is directly addressing an individual (Ahab, Mary, Hezekiah, Philemon, or Yahweh for example), most of the "you's" in Scripture are plural. Paedobaptists argue that credobaptists overlook this corporate nature and read the Bible too individualistically: Credos just can't help it: it's wired into their theological DNA. If credobaptism only originated with the anabaptists, or the First and Second Great Awakenings (I know, that's a really broad swath of history) -- then maybe individualism is intertwined into the credo baptist position. That doesn't mean that it has to be. After all, we are learning that we can improve upon our physical genetic material -- say, diet and exercise can diminish a strong genetic tendency towards heart disease. I've been memorizing Psalm 139 and have just started verse 1...

Why work for diversity in the Church? I've seen this question posed a couple times. Partly out of concern for tokenism, partly out of concern for creating a new legalism. As I see it, there are three major reasons for seeking diversity and racial reconciliation: coming to terms with our own history, a vision for maturity in the American church, and the Eschatological Church. Reckoning with our own history (especially the SBC) I don't remember where I got this observation (I think it was Tim Mackie), but here it is: In chapter nine of the book of Daniel, Daniel offers a prayer of repentance for Israel's past sins -- the corporate sins that culminate in the Babylonian exile that contextualizes the book. Daniel has acted uprightly in every dilemma presented him, so why should he have to repent for others? It's a strange idea for our autonomous age. The Southern Baptist Convention broke off from the American Baptist over the preservation of slavery. Chattel slavery as...

Stop trying . You really should. What freedom can your own forgiveness really grant you? What meaning does it have anyway? Are you God? You make up your own moral code, you violate it, and now you find your own remission inadequate. Funny, isn't it? That you are enough to determine your own truth but not enough to keep it or clean up your failures? Psychopaths, for the record, are chillingly good at forgiving themselves My college pastor had this to say: when you confess your sins to God and you still carry guilt -- confess your unbelief. You might not like the sound of that, but I'll tell you: it sure gets you off that merry-go-round of confession and guilt. When you pray the words of that desperate father: I believe; help my unbelief! You remember how gracious Jesus was to that poor man and how He went and healed the child. Confessing your sins, even in private to all-knowing infinite God, is frightening. It's frightening to see yourself. Maybe your sins are small, bu...

We just came back from a week in California, where we visited the peerless Monterey Bay Aquarium. Conservation is a frequent theme of the aquarium: every exhibit makes some plea to consider how one's personal choices affect the health of the oceans. It's a persuasive appeal in the presence of so many beauties. Why not give up a reliance on ugly plastic bags and bottles if they are hazards to majestic sea turtles and sunfish? The Aquarium's stance isn't merely political. It participates in rehabilitation and care for injured wildlife as well as research. Part of its facilities inhabit an old canning factory and is situated on Cannery Row: a reminder that once upon a time, fishing defined its existence. Conservation became a necessity when overfishing took down an industry. The aquarium doesn't demonize seafood lovers: it passes out fliers listing the seafood choices of Good, Better, Best, and Avoid. (Many of which overlap with the recommendations for pregnant and...

I recently came across an article warning that The Bible Project has an insufficiently robust explanation of the Atonement. ( The Bible Project: Brilliant but Flawed ) I love  the Bible Project. The visuals are nice but I really love the depth and clarity of their content. Really, I prefer the podcasts. I appreciated the criticism because heretofore I've not seen any. And for all its perfections, it must  have some flaws. The author of the article ended by saying that he would not recommend TBP at all. I wouldn't go so far as that. But this instance was a good reminder as the Church deals with a new series of scandals: do not follow any one leader or thinker slavishly. Tim Keller believes in Old Earth Creationism. C.S. Lewis was an open theist. Greg Bausen had rather too large an ego. Martin Luther had some unsavory sentiments (antiSemitic if I remember correctly). Charles Spurgeon had some exegetical problems. Wayne Grudem might have some problems explaining the Trinity. ...

The royal wedding (or sort-of sub-royal) is old news but I want to add my little 2 cents to the non-gushing side of things. Bishop Michael Curry made quite a stir with his sermon. The Americans have been raving about it. I noticed a line featured on the cover the People special wedding edition. It seems that most of the "love" is simply patriotic fervor because Curry is American. There are plenty of churches in America where similar sermons are given -- perhaps with less flair -- with little publicity. Hillsong, for example. I'm pretty sure that exact sermon gets trotted out every so often. Maybe Bieber finds it inspiring. It should be noted that Bishop Curry smooshed together all the various kinds of love into one amorphous mass. He spun the Song of Songs as puppy love; it had as much depth as a Beatles song but four times as long.  It had little in common with the mighty unquenchable love that Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of. He did happen to mention Jesus. There...

So now I'm here: married to a credo-baptist who is crowned with the fruits of the Spirit and who possesses a warm and generous heart. We attend an SBC Reformed Baptist church. I had to receive believer's baptism before I could join. And from my solid upbringing, church membership is a vital ingredient for spiritual maturity. As I started spending more time with Baptists, I started wondering why Presbyterians (of a certain sort at least) seem to continually harp on baptism -- even to the point of implying that Baptists can't fully grasp the Gospel because they don't subscribe to infant baptism. My Baptist husband and friends seem somewhat bewildered by the vehemence over paedobaptism. Michael Bull over at Bully's Blog has been invaluable at pointing out something so simple, I can't believe I overlooked it: Baptism is not the new covenant equivalent of circumcision, because the "circumcised," transformed   heart  is the sign of the new covenant. It a...