The Choice, The Treasure: Calvinism and the Language of Believing

calvininsignia.jpgWhen I first encountered Calvinism in a Southern Baptist Church, it was with several of my church members criticizing the use of the public invitation. Particularly, they objected strongly to my use of any appeal to “decide” or “choose” in any way.

[I generally avoid the use of the public invitation in the way I experienced it growing up. I have written three major essays on problems with the public invitation. Leave Your Seat; Leave Your Sin Parts 1, 2 and 3. Nonetheless, I do believe that if the Gospel is rightly proclaimed and manipulation and false assurance are avoided, a public invitation can be appropriate and even helpful. I remain convinced that Baptism is the profession/confession of faith scripture calls for, but I am not unalterably opposed to all invitations or instructions to seekers. I’ll be glad to discuss this more in the comments section as I have time.]

These good Calvinist friends looked at any use of the words “decide” and/or “choose” as dishonoring to the sovereignty of God and misrepresenting the depravity of human beings. We can’t “decide” or “choose,” they would say, and it was wrong of me to ever ask anyone to “make a decision” or to “choose” the gospel.Continue reading “The Choice, The Treasure: Calvinism and the Language of Believing”

Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

2007-02-19-hamilton-mug.jpgUPDATE: 4:37 p.m. As good as promised….even with the out.

Tomorrow is opening day in Cincinnati, in case you didn’t know. So here’s a baseball post.

Sometime tomorrow afternoon, I’m going to tear up at a baseball game. It’s a certainty.

I’m going to tear up because of a moment that is going to happen in Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, in the opening game between the Reds and the Cubs. (Boooo. Hisss.)Continue reading “Tomorrow. Tomorrow.”

Riffs: 3:31:07: “The People Formerly Known As The Congregation” or Why Some Christians Are Not On Your Ego Trip This Time Around

beale.jpgMy friend Bill Kinnon is one of those people who, by most reasonable assessments, shouldn’t be in church. He got ahold of a bad one, got burned and you can still feel it in posts like this one: The People Formerly Known As The Congregation.

It’s a Must Read. So go do that. Then come back.

There are millions of Bill Kinnons who don’t know how to say it. Some of them are still in the same church, waiting for things to get better, but this is what they are feeling inside.

You can fault Bill’s post a dozen ways, but let’s be honest, shall we? (And I am freshly reminded this week of how little Christians value honesty about themselves.) This church growth driven, entrepreneurially generated, ego-enhanced pastor led movement to conquer the world through more and more megachurches really sucks.Continue reading “Riffs: 3:31:07: “The People Formerly Known As The Congregation” or Why Some Christians Are Not On Your Ego Trip This Time Around”

Recommendation: “I’m OK- and You’re Not”

oknot.jpgUPDATE: Here’s the whole and entire introduction to this book.

In I’m Ok– And You’re Not, John Shore has a big idea. Jesus gave the Christian movement two major pieces of instruction: The Great Commission to reach all people with the Gospel and the Great Commandment to love one another. In Shore’s opinion, American evangelicals have saturated our culture with the facts of the Gospel to the point that non-Christians are often filled with astounded dread that we keep telling them Jesus died for their sins and they must believe the Gospel to be saved. If that is the case, then Christians need to stop being annoyingly repetitive communicators (i.e. pressure sales, manipulation, rudeness, etc.) and start showing love, respect, concern, friendship and compassion to the non-Christians (“Normies”) they know.

That this premise will make a lot of pastors mad says volumes, doesn’t it?

Shore is a humorist whose work is more comedic than Donald Miller, and his appeal to Christians is more direct. Shore is preaching and teaching under the comedy, and he’s very effective as a critic and motivator. Shore turns evangelism upside down and engages in just enough hyperbole to effectively make the point. Readers of this web site will recognize many of the same critiques I’ve made in posts like Wretched Urgency. The problem in evangelism isn’t what we think. The information is there; the credibility of the Christian community isn’t.Continue reading “Recommendation: “I’m OK- and You’re Not””

Blogging from “Worship and Arts” Part 3

157683669x.jpgI’d like to thank Campbellsville University for hosting this conference. It’s been great and I hope they have many other similar events.

At his third session on “Lament,” Michael Card spoke about Jesus the Lamenter. These are a few thoughts I wrote down in my notebook as I listened.

Scripture reading: Isaiah 53. Then he read an essay from the new book, “The Hidden Face of God.”

At his uncle’s funeral, Card never heard what he most needed to hear: Blessed are those who weep.”Continue reading “Blogging from “Worship and Arts” Part 3″

Blogging from “Worship and Arts” Part 2

trauma-lament.jpgI want to run through some of the highlights of Michael Card’s teaching sessions on “The Lost Language of Lament.” These are all short summaries from my notebook.

On 9-11, Calvin Seerveld called Michael and said, “See….you have no songs to sing.”

The language of Lament is the lost language of worship, and that loss leaves many people with no language for their experience.

At the end of his life, Van Gogh painted a church without a door. This is the experience of many people. They cannot find a way into the faith in God they once had. (Van Gogh was a minister for a while, known for his compassion for Belgian miners.) The faith was once there, but now there is no way in.Continue reading “Blogging from “Worship and Arts” Part 2″

Blogging from “Worship and Arts” Part 1

p1120677.jpgI’m going to try and blog the conference a bit.

(Thursday morning, 9:09 a.m.) I’m at the “Worship and Arts” conference sponsored by Campbellsvile University. (Actually at a local church) Small crowd. Michael Card is the main teacher. John Mark Macmillan- who I’ve never heard of- is leading worship. He brought a band. It’s pretty obvious to me from the projections I’m seeing that the theme of the conference- “Lament: Passion and Praise In A Minor Key”- is going to be reflected in some of the worship songs. An immediate departure from the usual “happy clappy” start ups. One lyric said “I don’t need a fairy tale god who lives in a book.” Now we’re talking.Continue reading “Blogging from “Worship and Arts” Part 1″

Riffs: 3:24:07: A “Post-Christian” Confessional at The Parish

pic_house-cards.jpgBHT fellow Tom Hinkle reposts this confessional piece from a blogger at “The Parish.” If you want to read 1) the TR version of where the emerging church is going or 2) my opinion of what much of evangelical fundamentalism is producing, then this is your piece. It’s a rant, it’s honest, it’s harrowing, it’s a mixed bag, but it needs to be read.

A few thoughts:Continue reading “Riffs: 3:24:07: A “Post-Christian” Confessional at The Parish”

“…but some doubted.”

reddoubt.jpegUPDATE: John at Confessing Evangelical adds to this discussion.

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:16-20, English Standard Version Bible

The Bible can be amazing.Continue reading ““…but some doubted.””