I was glad to see that an alumni from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary won the Christianity Today Book Award. His name is Kevin DeYoung and he blogs here. The book is entitled: Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion.
You can listen to an interview with him here.
Is it always inspiring to see graduates from GCTS do great things for the Kingdom of GOD! PTL!
It is also great to see someone loving the Church and writing about that love!
As a co-pastor at an English Ministry – I try to read a few books on preaching per year, in the hope that my preaching will slowly improve.
I recently picked up a funny and instructive good by T. David Gordon (I am pretty sure he taught me Intermediate Greek at GCTS – even though I remember falling asleep in some of his classes from my early shifts at UPS 
): Why Johnny Can’t Preach.
[This is an useful book for any pastor - I just don't see how you could pass this one to your pastor without more or less sending the message that he can't preach ].
There are many insights in this book – I will limit this post to his section on “The Annual Review” (pp. 33-34):
“My final argument to prove that preaching is in bad shape today is the annual review – or, to be more exact, its absence. Almost no churches conduct an annual review of the pastoral staff [this is certainly true in Romanian Baptist churches...]…I believe it is absolutely essential for any professional to have an annual review of his labor. Those of us who teach are reviewed; those who work in business are reviewed. Every other realm of labor recognizes the importance of an annual review, in which strengths and weaknesses can be assessed as a means to a more fruitful service in the future…
So why don’t churches routinely conduct annual reviews of their ministers? Because ministers don’t want to be told that their preaching is disorganized , hard to follow, irrelevant, and poorly reasoned; [TRUE - I certainly don't want/like to be told that...] and because churches do not want to insult their ministers or hurt their feelings.
Therefore, I suggest that the very absence of annual reviews stands as glaring proof that preaching is so bad today that no one – neither the preacher nor the hearer – can tolerate the thought of how painful it would be to provide an honest assessment.”
Hard to argue with T. David Gordon on this one. I am convinced that an annual review of my preaching would hurt…but I believe that it would be for my good and that of the congregation!
Like Abraham (or like the bedouins) – we have been travelling for the past few weeks. Seoul-Beijing-LA…and now Phoenix, AZ. We learn and see new things almost every day, with no chance whatsoever of getting a sane schedule for ourselves or the children. By God’s grace we manage, and we enjoy very much seeing many of our dear friends and family.
We are on our way to North Carolina where we will be spending a good part of the Sabbatical [Sabbatical is misleading! ]. So, much of our trip is still ahead…New Mexico, Oklahoma City (visiting a beloved cousin)…Nashville (yes Dani we are coming, prepare the fattened [better the 'lean'] calf) etc.
It is exciting and tiring to travel at the same time, and there are new things to see, old friends to reconnect with, and new friends to make.
I wonder what Abraham’s life was like. I know that it was certainly slower and more predictable, despite the lengthy travels.
If there is no coherence to this message, it is because there is no coherence to my days…2 small boys in the same room (right now they are intentionally crowding in the same bed ), various errands to run,…I better sign out before the house burns (Isaiah got out of the portable bed and is waving a match before my eyes!)!
The fall semester is drawing to a close here at Torch Trinity. Given the situation, I do have a bit of time to return to blogging.
Many good posts have been posted out there. As usually when I try to catch up with the good stuff in the field of Old Testament and Hebrew, I went to John Hobbins’ website.
It is well worth taking a look at his post dealing with key definitions in ancient Hebrew poetry.
I am also looking forward to read and comment on his post on diachrony in ancient Hebrew.
ENJOY and LEARN.
Anyone who has had any contact with Christians living in Muslim countries knows that the Christians who dare to stand for what they believe have a very hard time. This ‘hard time’ depends on the Muslim country, as some are more open (e.g. Jordan, Indonesia etc.) than others (Saudi Arabia etc.).
Here is the case of a Christian brother from Egypt. His name is Hani Nazeer. Unfortunately, (and this is also typical, especially for Evangelical Christians) he is hated by both Islamists and “Christians”, as the article states:
“Hani is in between the hate of the Islamists and the hate of the Christians,” he said. “The Islamists of course are against him, and the church [leadership] is against him, so he’s being badly squeezed between the two.”
Let’s pray for Hani that he remains strong in his faith, and that many will come to faith through his witness!
Pastor Chris
As a Romanian-American, I am happy that Romanian-born Hertha Müller won the Nobel prize for Literature.
Now I would like to read her books, especially the ones written in Romania. She was born about 50 km from where I was born.
As a Romanian- American I am puzzled that Obama won the Nobel prize for Peace.
The following quote from Bill Kristol captures something of both of these events rather well – :):
“News flash — Sarah Palin will be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. No one has read her book yet, but there are a lot of people who are excited about it and inspired by the thought of it, and so they will retract the prize from that Romanian and give it to her.”
Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. After all – I am really happy that Hertha won it!
Chris
A recent discussion about the last things (eschatology) by John Piper, Sam Storms, Doug Wilson, and Jim Hamilton can be found here .
I am not sure how to insert this script…?
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So everywhere we are determined and defined by Him who breathed into us his breath and called us by our name. And when all grows silent and empty about us, when we are restless and lost in a gloomy maze, when we cry out in the dark and none seems to answer, let us remember the saying of Pascal:
I would not seek thee, O God, if thou hadst not already found me. Even my restlessness and my longing show me that thou art at work upon me.
Or we can pray: If in the madness of my passion and the wild commotion of my life I forget thee, do not thou forget me.
God is always greater than our faith, because the breath of His Spirit is stronger than the dust of the earth. And with this certitude one can live.
Truly this is something you can live by.
If I know this, then I know the theme, the point of my life; then my life can succeed.
[From How the World Began - by Helmut Thielicke, pp. 85-86]
Since Yom Kippur is around the corner (starts at sundown the 27th), a post on this is appropriate.
See the information below from Hebrew Online on Yom Kippur. For some useful clips on the Yom Kippur War (1973), see this.
Yom Kippur (יוֹם כִּפּוּר, Day of Atonement) is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. On this day, G-d seals our fate for the coming year. The Torah commands us to spend this day fasting and praying for G-d’s forgiveness and a good year.
In Israel, this day feels very special – the businesses are closed, there are no vehicles driving in the streets and no broadcasting on the radio or TV; many people, dressed in white walk to and from synagogues, and children enjoy the empty roads by riding bicycles.
