Theology

Driscoll Apology

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Remember the whole Mark Driscoll and Brian McLaren exchange a while back?  Remember how Driscoll took shots at McLaren and Doug Pagitt?  Driscoll now apologizes.

A godly friend once asked me an important question: “What do you wantto be known for?” I responded that solid theology and effective church planting were the things that I cared most about and wanted to be known for. He kindly said that my reputation was growing as a guy with good theology, a bad temper, and a foul mouth. This is not what I want to be known for. And after listening to the concerns of the board members of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network that I lead, and of some of the elders and deacons at Mars Hill Church that I pastor, I have come to see that my comments were sinful and in poor taste. Therefore, I am publicly asking for forgiveness from both Brian and Doug because I was wrong for attacking them personally and I was wrong for the way in which I confronted positions with which I still disagree. I also ask forgiveness from those who were justifiably offended at the way I chose to address the disagreement. I pray that you will accept this posting as a genuine act of repentance for my sin.

Gospel & Gospel Messengers

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It's 1:02am and once again I'm up late because God has been working on me.  This is getting to be a habit.  I'm going through a lot of soul searching these last few months and especially these last few weeks.  I regularly feel compelled to read Scripture, and not just like having a 'quiet time,' but really searching and meditating beyond my normal reading.  I'm also praying differently.  I'm listening more.  I'm waiting more.  I'm quiet more.  I don't say any of that to say I'm doing something great spiritually.  I've found that the more I'm quiet and listen, the more I sense my own pride and sin and cluttered mind and life. 

Most of my thoughts and meditations have been on the Gospel.  And the more I meditate on the Gospel (in full, or in part) the more I realize how much of the Gospel I miss in Scripture for my idolatry over principles.  I can't explain this idea well yet, and please don't push me on it, but I'm growing more convinced that the pragmatics we teach and try to live are less about Scripture and more feeding our need to accomplish our own sanctification.

Now I'm not denying that the Scriptures are thoroughly practical.  They certainly are.  But it's so easy to make the practical seem exciting and the Gospel to seem too basic and elementary.  It's easier to feel the excitement of the mission more than the excitement of hearing again the Gospel that calls us to mission.

Anyway, that's what my mind has been chewing on.  A HUGE help in this meditation has been the sermons of Tim Keller.  Yeah, I know, I talk about Keller a lot.  But if there is anything I can say with certainty about Keller, it's this: when I hear Keller I hear the Gospel and not Keller.  And whatever issue he is dealing with, he is always dealing primarily with the Gospel. 

Yeah, I know this seems elementary.  But I always find my way to preach sermons that include the Gospel rather than being the Gospel.  When I hear sermons I tend to try to extract practicals rather than know Jesus.  It's an enticing trap.

So, in that vein, I highly recommend Tim Keller's sermon on Luke 10: Messengers.  I've listened to it a couple of times in the last few weeks, and it's one of the best examples I know of to show how to talk about something practical (our mission) while really just feeding us the Gospel.  Enjoy. 

Keller Resources Page

Blue Like the 9th Commandment

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Joe Thorn has pulled out his 9th Commandment trump card on some of the chatter about so-called "liberals."  Sounds like this has a few Blue Like Jazz reviewers names all over it.  Here's a teaser, but don't miss the whole thing...

Recently some men have been accused of being “liberal” theologians.Vague generalizations are being made, people are not quoted, sound argument is not made, but naked assertions and accusations are released in an effort to warn others to stay away. “That guy is a liberal in evangelical clothing!” My trouble is that in some cases these accusations amount to unrighteous distortions of the truth. And I have to say, I am grieved.

[...]

Am I the only one who’s going to say it? This is sin. Having a platform or a big mouth necessitates responsibility, clarity and charity. What I have seen lately is at best zeal without knowledge, or worse it is lying. Either way, it breaks the ninth and hurts the church.

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The carelessness of it all amazes me. Watson explains that men who would never steal another’s goods don’t think twice about robbing a man of his reputation.

The Resurgence of Resurgence

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DriscollFrom Mark Driscoll...

The elders at Mars Hill Church, which I founded in 1996, have always been a big-hearted, kingdom-minded team of godly men who have given over 10 percent of our general budget to help church planters since our inception. Now, they have also agreed to give even more money to serve the greater church by launching The Resurgence ministry. This includes paying for the development of a massive website that will include thousands of free articles, audio and video podcasts, film reviews, music reviews, book reviews, and more. It also includes freeing up one of our elders, Gary Shavey, to serve as director of The Resurgence, and recently hiring Jon Krombein as the full-time content manager for the forthcoming website.

To kick The Resurgence off with a bang, we will launch the new website this spring, Zondervan will release my next book Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church in early May, and we will be hosting the Reform & Resurge Conference 2006 at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Below I’ll introduce each of the main speakers and give some reasons why you will not want to miss this event.

Dana Gioia Audio: Artists as Reconcilers

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Dana Gioia (a guy) is one of my favorite living poets.  He spent 15 years in business, eventually becoming a Vice President of General Foods.  He would write at night and on weekends until he left business in the early 90's to be a full-time writer.  I've been reading him for a couple of years.  I think anyone even remotely interested in the arts and the work of redemption should read his fantastic essay "Can Poetry Matter?".  You can find several of Gioia's poems online as well.

Gioia was a speaker at the February IAM (International Arts Movement) conference, Artists as Reconcilers.  You can find his keynote address for free on iTunes.  Just search for "Artists as Reconcilers" and you will get their podcast.  If you become a member of IAM for $40 a year you will have access in a few weeks to all the conference talks from Dr. Miroslav Volf, Nancy Pearcey, Betty Spackman, Rev. Ian Cron, Rev. Tom Pike, and Makoto Fujimura (the founder of IAM).

Keller: Informational vs Experiential Preaching

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The "informational" view of preaching conceives of preaching as changing people's lives afterthe sermon. They listen to the sermon, take notes, and then apply the Biblical principles during the week. But this assumes that our main problem is a lack of compliance to Biblical principles, when (as we saw above) all our problems are actually due to a lack of joy and belief in the gospel. Our real problem is that Jesus' salvation is not as real to our hearts as the significance and security our idols promise us. If that’s our real problem, then the purpose of preaching is to make Christ so real to the heart that in the sermon people have an experience of his grace, and the false saviors that drive us lose their power and grip on us on the spot. That’s the "experiential" view of preaching (Jonathan Edwards.)

Tim Keller in "Ministering in the New Global Culture of Major City-Centers, Part II"
Other Tim Keller Resources

Derek Webb-Donald Miller Chat

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PiercingDon't miss the Derek Webb and Donald Miller online chat tomorrow night. 

Joining the conversation is a sure ticket to becoming a theological liberal repackaged with a goatee.  If you are a girl, it will take a pretty significant piercing to equal goatee status.  Yes!  You can be a liberal too!  Try throwing something into your eyebrow, tongue, nose, or lower lip.  You didn't know liberalism was this easy, did you?  Lucky I'm here for you.

Keller: Ministry in Global Cities Pt. III

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Tim Keller continues his thoughts on ministry in world cities with his newly released article "Ministry in the New Global Culture of Major City-Centers Part III."

City-center churches should have as equal as possible emphases on: a)welcoming, attracting, and engaging secular/non-Christian people; b) character change through deep community and small groups; c) holistically serving the city (and especially the poor) in both word and deed; d) producing cultural leaders who integrate faith and work in society; and e) routinely multiplying itself into new churches with the same vision. There are many churches that major on one or two of these but the breadth, balance, and blend of these commitments is rare in a church. Nevertheless, this balance is crucial for ministry in city centers.

Here are the links to Part I and Part II, and Part IV is coming soon.  Also stop by my Tim Keller Resource page.

Jesus Kegs for the Thirsty

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Christ planned to attract people to himself through the transformed lives of his people.  It's understandable that we feel chafed by what media giants say about us and the things we care about, and that we crave the chance to tell our own side of the story.  It's as if the world's ballpark is ringed with billboards, and we rankle because we should have a billboard too.  But if someone should actually see our billboard, and be intrigued, and walk into the door of a church, he would find that he had joined a community that was just creating another billboard.

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Culture is not a monolithic power we must defeat.  It is the battering weather conditions that people, harassed and helpless, endure.  We are sent out into the storm like a St. Bernard with a keg around our neck, to comfort, reach, and rescue those who are thirsting, most of all, for Jesus Christ.

Frederica Mathewes-Green in "Loving the Storm-Drenched," (now online) Christianity Today, March 2006, p 39.  Pick up a copy.

Coppenger and Blue Like Jazz

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Joe Thorn has a great response to Mark Coppenger's all too typical (and not all that thoughtful) take on Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz.

I have to say I am disappointed with the review. Not because it iscritical of BLJ, but because it seemed to superfically critique the book. It often boiled down to judging Miller’s motives, rather than engaging his ideas.

Look, I am less interested in defending Miller, and more interested in a real interaction with another’s words. Like with everyone I read Miller says things that I don’t like. But he also says some things that are true and very timely. Maybe there isn’t just a faddish love for the book; maybe there is also a faddish reaction against it.

If you have not read the book or heard the critque be sure to give each a try. Just be discerning with both.

Listen to Coppenger's talk.

Driscoll: Church, Gospel & Culture

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From Kevin Cawley, the audio from the first Acts29 Boot Camp has been resurrected.

I consistently get emails in response to my Missional Ecclesiology readers guide asking if I'm aware of any sermons/conference lectures that treat these issues in a systematic fashion. Beyond the excellent A29 Boot Camp sessions (2005) and the (forthcoming) A29 2006 Boot Camp sessions, the only real source I'm aware of is, to my knowledge, no longer accessible on the internet. It is an old (the first?) church planting boot camp at Mars Hill. I got another email today asking the same question, and so I decided to upload these sessions in hope that others will benefit from them as I have.

The sessions below are some of the best comprehensive teaching I have heard on the theological foundation of the church and a practical implementation of a missional ecclesiology. I downloaded these sometime in late 2000 or early 2001...

Church, Gospel, & Culture part 1
Church, Gospel, & Culture part 2
Church, Gospel, & Culture part 3
Church, Gospel, & Culture part 4
Church, Gospel, & Culture part 5
Church, Gospel, & Culture part 6

Spurgeon on Church Planting

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My buddy Kevin Cawley has a great Spurgeon quote up today.  It's helpful for church planters, but should be just as encouraging for any Christian and church.

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” John 12:32

Come, ye workers, beencouraged. You fear that you cannot draw a congregation. Try the preaching of a crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour; for this is the greatest “draw” that was ever yet manifested among men. What drew you to Christ but Christ? What draws you to Him now but His own blessed self? If you have been drawn to religion by anything else, you will soon be drawn away from it; but Jesus has held you, and will hold you even to the end. Why, then, doubt His power to draw others? Go with the name of Jesus to those who have hitherto been stubborn, and see if it does not draw them.
 
No sort of man is beyond this drawing power. Old and young, rich and poor, ignorant and learned, depraved or amiable — all men shall feel the attractive force. Jesus is the one magnet. Let us not think of any other. Music will not draw to Jesus, neither will eloquence, logic, ceremonial, or noise. Jesus Himself must draw men to Himself; and Jesus is quite equal to the work in every case. Be not tempted by the quackeries of the day; but as workers for the Lord work in His own way, and draw with the Lord’s own cords. Draw to Christ, and draw by Christ, for then Christ will draw by you.