The Lent Challenge

My Challenge

This year I want to challenge myself to read the 4 stories of Jesus as told by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament during the 40 days. I have a simple plan to follow that includes daily reading (sans Sundays). It’s a simple plan and not difficult. Most days I’ll read 2 or 3 chapters.

Your Challenge

I want to challenge everyone to join me in this reading. It’ll help keep me accountable to it also. Whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic, or Martian, why not take up this challenge also?

The Lent Challenge.

Right now I’m following the MCheyne reading plan for reading the Bible in a year, but I may go ahead and take the challenge as well.

John Piper on Being Mocked

The work of Muhammad is based on being honored and the work of Christ is based on being insulted.

Being Mocked: The Essence of Christ’s Work, Not Muhammad’s.

John Piper has a short essay on his site about how differently Christians and Muslims deal with mockery.

Part of it:

If Christ had not been insulted, there would be no salvation. This was his saving work: to be insulted and die to rescue sinners from the wrath of God.

Philip Ryken at Reformation 21 has an addendum:

John Piper's short essay is surely the most profound thing that can be said about the current uproar.  But there are some other, lesser, points to be made.  One is that blasphemy is a foreign concept in our secularized culture.

 

"Missed it by 10 points"

Your results:
You are Jean-Luc Picard

Jean-Luc Picard 80% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 70% Spock 65% James T. Kirk (Captain) 60% Geordi LaForge 55% Beverly Crusher 50% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 50% Data 47% Chekov 45% Will Riker 45% Worf 40% Deanna Troi 40% Uhura 25% Mr. Sulu 25% Mr. Scott 20%

A lover of Shakespeare and other fine literature. You have a decisive mind and a firm hand in dealing with others.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz
(HT: Rev. Mike)

(Holds up finger and thumb 1 inch apart) It’s probably good for my humility to know I’m that close to being expendable.

Between Two Worlds: Biblical Illiteracy 101

Anyone see a problem with the Scripture quote in the banner of this website for a United Church of Christ Church?

Between Two Worlds: Biblical Illiteracy 101.

Well, at least now we can see the real source of “prosperity gospel.”

 Update: The Bible quote (from Luke 4:7 quoting Satan) has been dropped from the church's banner.

Five Factor Personality Test

I’m not sure how accurate it is, but it has 5 factors so it’s probably Reformed.

 

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have low extroversion. You are quiet and reserved in most social situations. A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you. You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people. Conscientiousness: You have medium conscientiousness. You're generally good at balancing work and play. When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done. But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it. Agreeableness: You have medium agreeableness. You're generally a friendly and trusting person. But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism. You get along well with others, as long as they play fair. Neuroticism: You have medium neuroticism. You're generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic. Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy. Your life is pretty smooth, but there's a few emotional bumps you'd like to get rid of. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

The Five Factor Personality Test

BlogJet Recommendation

Since I started writing here I have tried several different tools: Blogger’s own interface, Qumana, Performancing, even Flock. Last month I broke down and purchased Dmitry Chestnykh’s tool BlogJet.

My reason for doing this was simple: it was the only one that worked on a consistent basis. Qumana would hang when posting (usually the article would be posted, sometimes it wouldn’t) and several others would have intermittent post failures. BlogJet is the only one that has worked every time. I have even gone so far as to turn on the “delete file after posting” option.

It could be argued that I should expect it to work more often, it’s the only one of the packages that comes with a price tag. But the price is well worth it (even to someone with my pay check.)

FIDE-O: Coming to Calvinism: A Personal Testimony - Part 2

Becoming a pastor is what eventually helped me to come to Calvinism. How? Because I was committed to biblical exposition, I began preaching through books of the Bible. But, there were a few books that scared me. Why? Because of a number of tough theological issues I couldn't resolve, like predestination and election vs. the free agency of man (ever heard of that one?). I ignored the "P" and "E" words and those books in the Bible that tended to use them. That’s why I came to Calvinism rather early in my pastorate. There aren’t many books that do not use those intriguing words. But I was very fearful of a few books that seemed to camp on them. Romans terrified me. Ephesians was smaller, so it merely made me nervous. But, I thought that I should deal with the issues and settle it in my mind, so I began an exposition of Ephesians.

FIDE-O: Coming to Calvinism: A Personal Testimony - Part 2.

Bret raises an interesting question we all have to ask ourselves? Are there any parts of the Bible I shy away from because they disagree with my beliefs and the doctrines I hold as true? If so, I have to reconsider my beliefs and doctrines. After all, if I disagree with the Bible, it’s more likely to be right than me.

John Piper on Why William Tyndale Lived and Died

Thomas More’s criticism of Tyndale boils down mainly to the way Tyndale translated five words. He translated presbuteros as elder instead of priest. He translated ekklesia as congregation instead of church. He translated metanoeo as repent instead of do penance. He translated exomologeo as acknowledge or admit instead of confess. And he translated agape as love rather than charity.

Always Singing One Note—A Vernacular Bible: Why William Tyndale Lived and Died.

Piper’s article on why William Tyndale translated the Bible into English shows how reinterpreting 5 words in Scripture: “… undercut the entire sacramental structure of the thousand year church throughout Europe, Asia and North Africa. It was the Greek New Testament that was doing the undercutting.”

White Horse Inn - Romans Revolution (4) - Self Help Salvation

Random notes from the White Horse Inn episode Self Help Salvation.

Self Help Salvation

• “Fire and Brimstone” sermons have been replaced with self-improvement sermons. The message is friendlier, but the same.
• The natural religion of America is Pelagianism. We are self-sufficient; all we need is a little help.
• Bonhoeffer: America is Protestantism without the Reformation.
• American Protestantism is Roman Catholicism without the robes and incense.
• Like RC, Evangelicals have their own sacraments that are “man-to-God.”
• Many modern sermons aren’t any different from secular motivational speakers.
  There’s really good advice in them, but there is no Jesus.
• It’s better to have the truth of scripture than what is taught in church today:
  What is taught: We just need to love God and each other with all our hearts and strength.
  What is not taught: We can’t do it.
  What is not taught: Because of Jesus, our failure won’t send us to hell. (This is what makes the gospel “good news.”)

Common Evangelical Beliefs

• Regeneration comes after faith.
• God is love, so there is no wrath to worry about. All we really have to do is wake up to the fact that we are loved by God.
• 66% of Evangelicals believe “God helps those who help themselves” is in the Bible.
• Personal activation of the Holy Spirit (through decisions for Christ and personal prayers) are the Evangelical sacraments (sources of grace), replacing the Roman Catholic belief that grace comes through the church.
• Evangelicals misunderstand how the Covenant of Works work:
  They believe that God wants, not perfect obedience, but our best effort. (Or at least the intention of our heart.)
• Sin isn’t my problem, stress is. Jesus becomes my battery for energizing me in stressful situations.
  In the Bible, the only time we see stress is when Jesus caused it.
• Protestant fundamentalism: The Bible’s authority is based on Law, not on the fact that it points to Christ.
• Not the gospel: “God loves you anyway.”
  Gospel: “God loves you in Christ.”
• “I sin every day, but I am no longer a poor miserable sinner.”
• Pragmatism rules: “Whatever works for you.”
• Pragmatism rules: Larger congregations = greater truth.

Update: RC Sproul has an essay entitled “The Pelagian Captivity of the Church” that can be read on the Modern Reformation web site, or downloaded as a PDF from Monergism’s web site.

Skip the controversy and read the book

Dr. Kooistra told the assembled group,

“There have been three books in each of the last three centuries that have drawn more people to the mission field than any others. They are Life & Diary of David Brainerd, by Jonathan Edwards; Life and Letters of Henry Martyn, by John Sargent; and The Shadow of the Almighty, by Elisabeth Elliot. Jim Elliot was heavily influenced by the book on Henry Martyn’s life, who in turn had his life changed by reading the story of David Brainerd.”

JD Wetterling: Skip the controversy and read the book.

Wetterling points to a documentary version of the movie End of the Spear called Beyond the Gates of Splendor.

Tips On Memorizing Scripture

Chris Meirose has a pointer to a scripture memorization strategy by Baptist minister Andrew Davis. My own experience with smaller portions of the Bible bears out what Dr. Davis says: it is easier to memorize large parts of the Bible if they are related. (A 40 verse Psalm is easier to remember than 40 verses from different chapters or books.)

I haven’t tried memorizing a full book of the Bible yet. To be honest, my scripture memorization has dropped off a lot lately. Maybe it’s time I renewed the effort.