I’ve moved –

 www.blackcoffeereflections.com

Got my own domain, learning some basic stuff, we’ll see.

Tim Keller interviewed by Christianity Today

Well who doesn’t love Tim Keller?  Keller is probably the most confident speaker that I still liked after listening to him.  Not sure what it is, but I get him.  Though I wish he appreciated some of the values of the emergent conversation, I see his some of his values as almost parallels (You would expect someone like me to say that wouldn’t you?).

Anyway, he was interviewed on Christianity Today’s site and here are some highlights.  Full article here.

Also check out his new book The Prodigal God.  (Yep, that’s two this year.  He’s suddenly like Ryan Adams or something).

Are the doubts that believers face the same as the doubts that unbelievers face?

It’s your society that gives you the doubts. If you go to the Middle East and ask people what makes Christianity implausible, they’re not going to say, “Because there can’t be one true religion.” They’re going to say, “Because of how oppressive America has been as a Christian nation, and if you look at their culture, it’s lascivious and debauched.”

If you ask Americans, “What makes Christianity implausible to you?” they’re not going to say, “Your popular culture is filled with sex and violence.” They will say, “How could there be one true religion?” …

… I do think a lot of Christians — because they don’t understand the grace narrative — get out into the world and find it very tough to navigate. I think it’s because they don’t understand the gospel, not because they can’t answer all the theological questions.

 

You reject marketing apologetics like, “Christianity is better than the alternatives, so choose Christianity.” Why?

Marketing is about felt needs. You find the need and then you say Christianity will meet that need. You have to adapt to people’s questions. And if people are asking a question, you want to show how Jesus is the answer. But at a certain point, you have to go past their question to the other things that Christianity says. Otherwise you’re just scratching where they itch. So marketing is showing how Christianity meets the need, and I think the gospel is showing how Christianity is the truth.

C. S. Lewis says somewhere not to believe in Christianity because it’s relevant or exciting or personally satisfying. Believe it because it’s true. And if it’s true, it eventually will be relevant, exciting, and personally satisfying. But there will be many times when it’s not relevant, exciting, and personally satisfying. To be a Christian is going to be very, very hard. So unless you come to it simply because it’s really the truth, you really won’t live the Christian life, and you won’t get to the excitement and to the relevance and all that other stuff.

Many Christians say that the rationality of Christians’ faith is not the obstacle for unbelievers; they reject Christianity because of what they see as bad behavior and toxic attitudes.

There are always three reasons people believe or disbelieve: the intellectual, the personal, and the social… 

 

——–

There’s more like why he doesn’t include intelligent design as an argument from creation and more cultural insight. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Francis Collins – Q Conference – Session 3

Session 3 with Francis Collins was a little more controversial.  Again, we sat in round tables of 10 so whispers were easy to hear.  Not to insult your intelligence, but in case you don’t know, Dr. Collins is the chairman of the Genome Project, author of The Language of God, a devout believer, debates Richard Dawkins on NPR regularly, but does not hold to conservative Christian views of origins.  Frankly, he wasn’t very specific of his position.  One of his points was to leave the audience unsettled with theirs. 

He discussed how science and faith are not enemies stating, “Regardless of what we have heard from the atheistic horsemen, we do not have to choose between the two.” 

I was proud of that because I’ve been teaching my students that for years.  In fact, back when I was in 4^th grade and heard of the Big Bang Theory and how that threatened the teaching of Creation, I immediately asked the teacher, “Why couldn’t God create the big bang …” The budding theistic evolutionist trajectory was quickly squashed when I entered youth group.  Today, I am certain that God is sovereign and that not even Francis Collins can figure it out.

Back to Collins, he showed 2 pictures – one of spiritual (stained glass window) and the other – DNA view along its axis which resembled each other.  Cool although the skeptic in me couldn’t help but think this was a little gimmicky for a world class intellectual.  Fortunately the next slide was not Jesus in the nucleus but his point was to segue how the spiritual world and the material one intersect.  It got everyone’s attention.

Collins was not raised in a religious home, his parents did not criticize religion but did not promote it.  He was an agnostic throughout college and then in med school, he was touched by the faith of those in hospital beds.  A woman asked him what did he believe and he did not have an answer, he researched it, found CS Lewis and continued his journey. 

The most unsettling moment (and this would come up in various conversations I had with people) was when he showed a slide of the human chromosome and the chimpanzee’s.  I am paraphrasing but he said the key difference was with the one part in the middle that has  a something mysterious in it while the chimp has two parts but not this particular thing (sorry I didn’t get what it was he said) inside it.  It’s here where they split.  He said something to the effect of it is possible that they had been the same until a certain point in time when God pre-ordained/pre-programmed/pre-something or other to split and create a new species.  Again, this was the unsettling moment.  He mentioned in passing literal meanings of Genesis 1, quoted Augustine, and Chesterton, and asserted his faith in the Almighty God.

Again, each Q speaker only had 18 minutes and his “big point” was, “science and Religion are not incompatible … God cannot be threatened.”  Some attendees were as upset as if he had just slapped their wives and ran out the door.  As for me, maybe their view deserved it.  So the possible lessons are don’t marry your theology or don’t marry an ugly wife, or be smarter then Francis Collins or maybe keep your theology open-handed and maybe your wife won’t get slapped by Dr. Collins.

Props to Apex Community Church

A while ago, I posted that Cedarville College was lame for uninviting Shane Claiborne. Apex Community Church in Dayton had invited him so the disappointed Cedarville students could hear him.  Thought it was cool that they posted the audio on their site.  If I am ever exiled to live on Ohio, I’d worship here. 

Charlten Heston passed away

 

“Moses is Dead. Ben Hur Too.” – this was the lame title that  Christianity  Todaygave it.

 Generally I appreciate CT’s stuff  but this seemed a little insensitive.  Come on CT, you’re classier then that.

 Speaking of classy though, Mr. Heston had some.  May his family  experience God’s comfort and peace.

 For whatever reason, I have fond childhood memories of Heston           yelling at Pharaoh to “Let my people go!”.   

 

What I am giving up for post-Lent

I gave up coffee for Lent and alcohol during Holy Week.

In addition, I read through the gospels during Lent and made an effort to reflect during my quiet times on how I can live more missionally.

Now, Lent is over.  Coffee is in my mug and I’ve enjoyed a beer or two since and I am reflecting on these fasts. 

 Never will I forget the pastor who gave up cursing for Lent.  If you know me, this is one of my favorite stories.  I remember him yelling at me for something trivial and cursing in the heat of the moment.  As he was calming down, he got reagitated and yelled at me for upsetting him to the point that made him break his Lenten vow (which had been broken several times by then).  I being, frustrated and now confused, retorted by stating that I didn’t understand the purpose of his vow in the first place.  What did it mean? Was he going to drop the F-bomb on Easter Sunday.  Imagine him saying at the Easter Service, “The Lord Has Risen!  F — yeah!”

Then there are the vows that give up something they don’t really love.  The idea is to sacrifice something important to you.  So it’s in that spirit, that I have compiled a list of things that I am going to give up post-Lent. 

I will continue to not watch the 700 Club.

I will continue to not watch American Idol. 

I will roll my eyes every time I hear the names Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, and John Hagee.

I will suppress my gag-reflex when I hear the name Pat Robertson. 

Can Hitler be considered a leader?

In seminary we are answering an assigned question via blackboard on whether or not Hitler could be considered a leader.

Guilty of some shock-value here is some my first post:

 

My spidey-sense suspects an ambush from Dave (the professor), but going with the conventional definition) of a leader, Hitler would qualify.   I grew up on comic books so I feel I have an advantage here.  When a character attained some kind of super-power he/she had a choice to become either a hero or villain.  (Watch the first Spiderman and memorize his hero creed, “With great power comes great responsibility.”)

But I see our conventional definition of ‘leader’ as an amoral one.  And we need to rely on adjectives to describe the leadership. 

In fact, I would like to take it a step further and suggest that Hitler was an exceptional leader.  Not in terms of morality, of course, but in terms of influence.  Consider this:  he takes such an evil idea, promotes it by propaganda justified by a booming economy, has soldiers (and citizens) perform and justify terrible acts against their natural human conscience, all because he ordered them too and it takes the most powerful armies on the planet to stop him from taking over Europe.  This is exceptional leadership.

Yes, he preyed on the greed, selfishness, and fears of his followers.  Indeed he was a liar, manipulator and monster but he was leading many for his cause. 

We as pastors get frustrated that we can barely move people in the right direction for the best of reasons they not already agree with but claim is the most important cause of all!  I find myself a embarrassed after thinking about this. 

 

 

 

Chuck Colson, Free Speech & the Beijing Olympics

I like 60% of Chuck Colson’s ministry.  Yep, I just did an analysis.  It took me all the time it takes most people to make up statistics, which according to the bureau of fraudulent statistics, is 4.2 seconds (which was also the fastest time at the NFL Combine.  Not sure what the connection is but why am I going to spend anymore time arguing with made up numbers). That said, this breakpoint post was great.  I can’t believe it, I’m outraged! And I am boycotting someone or something sometime soon!   Here’s some of it: 

“The Olympic committee, back in 2001, said choosing Beijing would be a catalyst for change in China. It “may help to liberalize a country,” said the committee’s vice president, Thomas Bach of Germany. But that will not happen when, as the London Daily Mail puts it, you “kow tow” to the host country, and you tell athletes to keep quiet—which is exactly what is happening.To comply with the international Olympic Charter, Britain’s Olympic athletes are being forced to sign contracts promising they will not say anything about China’s human-rights abuses. If they violate the contract, athletes will find themselves on a plane headed home. The contract could mean that an athlete “who witnesses someone being mistreated on the way to a stadium” could not talk to colleagues about it. And they would have to “exercise self-censorship” on blogs and e-mails.  And while U.S. athletes may speak freely—they cannot do so at any official Olympic venue or press conference. Come on.  

Read the entire article here.  Chuck even gives a shout-out to Spielberg.  

Reflecting on the new Pew Forum Study

Like other bloggers, I am intrigued by the new Pew Forum Church Study. 

What struck me the most was that “more than 40 percent of respondents told pollsters that they had changed their religious affiliation since childhood.”  This makes a great deal of sense to me. 

Many people I know who grew up in traditional upbringing end up at a non-traditional church post-college.  I’ve seen evidence of the opposite as well in those that grew up in relaxed, seeker-sensitive congregations looking for something “deeper” in liturgical-type churches. 

To me, this is part of the reactionary way of life.  But I am not convinced that the reaction is always from guilt, anger or frustration.  Sometimes I think it comes out of a need for balance and a reaction against the idea of “organized religion”

The need for balance and the fact that churches have not made that great of a case that this is where you should be to worship God.  The case that is usually made is, “Come and act like us.  Oh and face this direction while singing these songs.  Oh and make this face when you sing, it looks more sincere …”

Though I am a pastor, I am not worried (I’m a man of faith for crying out loud! .  It isn’t the worst thing if some churches shut down.  My hope is that healthier thinking gatherings and congregations will rise up and this will be the next reaction, coming and worshipping in church because we used to not have one. 

In the meantime, you’ll have to tolerate a lot more doomsday and the sky is falling types of sermons/books/conversations.  I’ve heard people say things like, “Well it makes sense.  People can’t stay married to the same person all their lives, they can’t stay in the same church either”.  It’s a little trite since none of us remember making eternal vows to any one local congregation.  No offense but you usually hear these types of sentiments from middle-aged traditional people who are clinging to hold on to whatever is left of that “old time religion”.  Brother, put down the VHS.  Welcome to the world of Blu Ray. 

You can read all you want about the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life here. 

Derek Webb and the story behind Wedding Dress

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve been catching up on Derek Webb’s podcasts. He talks about the story behind Wedding Dress on Podcast 12.  Check it out here.

 I won’t ruin the story and chances are you have said and felt similar things that he describes, but it’s reasons like this why I appreciate this guy.