Fear and Trembling

I finished the book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan (Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook, 2008) . The book is a strong call to the kind of Christian discipleship that can change a person’s life and change our world for the better. (See also the website associated with this book for information and supplemental videos and other materials.) This book is a strong call to the life of obedience that necessarily follows faith in Christ. But anytime a strong call to discipleship and obedience is issued, it can be misunderstood. I wanted to post a quick look at the underlying assumption of the book: the grace of Almighty God as demonstrated in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. This grace is the righteousness of God that is earned for us in Jesus and credited to us through faith ( Romans 3:21-31 ). Our constant and consistent sin against a Holy God is a source of guilt and shame among Christians. Chan describes the problem and provides help: S...

I finished a book a few weeks ago by Michael Horton called Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 2008). The book is intended to diagnose and describe formidable problems facing the evangelical church in the U. S. In blogging terms, the book is a ‘rant,’ but it’s a powerful one. (Horton promises a “more constructive sequel “ to propose solutions (p. 27), and I look forward to that book.) Horton applies his keen, analytical mind in a devastating critique of a church that consumes a “regular diet” of “do more, try harder.” The book resonates with me as I have endured this many times. I have sat through sermon after sermon of “weekly calls to action” instead of the clear and simple statement of the gospel of salvation apart from my own works. (17) I have found much of what our Southern Baptist churches do to be vulnerable to Horton’s pointed criticism. He says of our theologically vacuous teaching that it “is not profound e...

I am going to break my own rule in this one instance and place a political quote on my blog. I do so only because I think this issue does have moral implications. You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. - Dr. Adrian Rogers, Pator, Bellevue Baptist Church, Lived 1931-2005