Interview with incoming SBTS seminarian Isaac Johnson

I’d like to introduce you to Isaac Johnson, who blogs at Doulos Reviews and is also the newest member of our blog team.  Isaac’s dad is a long-time friend of mine.  I know it makes me sound old, but I remember when Isaac was born, so it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve known him his whole life.  He currently lives with his wife Jenny in Columbia, Missouri. Isaac has been accepted as a student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and will begin classes this fall.

Isaac, first tell me a little bit about you and your wife and what both of you are currently doing there in Columbia.

Where to begin! I’m 26 years old, born and raised in Sikeston, Missouri.  By the tremendous grace of God I was raised in a Christian home to loving parents who have remained together in marriage and have given me an incredible model of a godly life.  I was saved at an early age which is another tremendous blessing.  I graduated from the University of Missouri in 2005 with a bachelors in Human Development and Family Studies.

I met my wife on New Years Eve 2003/04 through mutual friends as she was pursuing her undergraduate in psychology at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.  She has also completed her Masters in Social Work at the University of Missouri.  Through His Word and experiences we’ve had and people who have blessed us, God has cultivated in us a heart for reaching the nations with the gospel. 

The Power of His Resurrection, The Fellowship of His Sufferings

God’s thoughts are not ours.  For example, we wouldn’t normally link power with suffering–but God does.  In fact, His power and wisdom are most clearly displayed in the abject weakness and foolishness of the cross of Christ (1 Cor. 1:18-24).

In Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter, Tim Keller offers a few thoughts on the resurrection of Jesus, and the unlikely connection between resurrection power and suffering, based on Paul’s words in Philippians 3:7-11:

Gianna Jessen and Jonah: Two lessons in God’s sovereignty

Lesson 1:  Gianna Jessen

Last year I posted a couple of videos of Gianna Jessen speaking in front of the Australian parliament.  I encourage you to go back and read that post and watch those clips, if you haven’t already.  They’re here.   You can read my reaction to her speech, and I would love to hear yours; comments are still open.  This time around, though, I want to point out something a little different than I did then.

What I want you to notice this time is that Ms. Jessen has an extremely high (and humbling) view of God’s sovereignty.  That’s most evident by the fact that she calls her physical disability (cerebral palsy)–which is a result of both a sinful choice and medical ineptitude (a botched saline abortion)–a gift from God.  And she not only calls her disability a gift from God, she radiates joy when she says it.  For her joy; for her humility; for her exalted view of Almighty God, I give thanks.

Lesson 2:  Jonah

I’ve heard a lot of people say that God never violates our free will.  I don’t believe that statement can be supported by Scripture.  In fact, I think there are many passages that flatly contradict it.

SBC politics and the local church

I seldom write about SBC politics.  There’s a reason for that.  At one level (to put it rather bluntly), I just don’t give a rip about denominational politics, even though I’m a member of a small Southern Baptist Church. I doubt that many–if any–of my readers care much about denominational politics, either.  (Correct me if I’m wrong.)

Here are some things I do care about:

• The glory of God
• The gospel
• Advancing God’s kingdom
• My family
• Sound doctrine
• My local church
• The eternal destiny of people all around me
• The poor and needy
• Orphans and widows
• Life
• Death

I could add quite a few more bullet points before “SBC Politics” would show up on that list.  Does that make me a bad Southern Baptist?  Maybe.  But that doesn’t bother me.

At another level, however, I actually do care about denominational business.  I care about it precisely to whatever extent it impacts, for better or for worse, the glory of God and the spread of the gospel; my family and my local church; and all of the other things on my list.

Ironically, though, the distinctly Baptist emphasis on the autonomy of the local church significantly minimizes the potential impact of denominational decisions on local churches. That’s why I care more about the reactions of local church leaders to the annual meeting than I do about the reactions of denominational leaders.

And that’s also why I’m thankful that my youth minister friend and my pastor have both said they’d like to share their reflections on the 2009 SBC Annual Meeting.  Watch for those posts… coming soon to a blog near you…

And then, it will probably be a long time before I write another word about the SBC.

Worship: A Cross-Centered Balance

The following quotations are from William P. Farley’s excellent book, Outrageous Mercy: Rediscover the Radical Nature of Christianity.

. . . all true worship is a response to God’s revelation. God initiates worship by speaking to us . . . Worship is not something that we fabricate or produce. God reveals some aspect of His moral beauty – His love, mercy, or holiness – and we respond with worship. In other words, to the degree that God communicates His proper nature to us we respond with worship. “Worship is dialogical,” notes Michael Horton. “God speaks and we respond.” (p. 166)

Where do we find the revelation that produces worship? The cross is the Bible’s greatest revelation of God’s goodness and mercy. In other words, the more we see God’s goodness and our bankruptcy at the cross, the greater our capacity for worship. God initiates worship by revealing Himself, and the cross is the pinnacle of all worship-inducing revelation. (p. 171)

Let us consider the worship of the Old Testament saints. 

Reflecting on the SBC Annual Meeting

What you’ve probably already heard

The 2009 SBC annual meeting is over.  Many of those who attended have already taken some time to reflect on the events of the last few days, and there will be a lot more written in the weeks ahead.  What I’ve read so far has been very encouraging.

The appointment of the Great Commission Resurgence Taskforce, consisting of Johnny Hunt, Ronnie Floyd (chairperson), Jim Richards, Frank Page, David Dockery, Simon Tsoi, Donna Gaines, Al Gilbert, J.D. Greear, Tom Biles, Danny Akin, R. Albert Mohler Jr., John Drummond, Harry Lewis, Mike Orr, Roger Spradlin, Bob White, Ken Whitten, and Ted Traylor, is by far the most significant development.  You can read about that (and more) by following the links below.

What you haven’t yet heard

All pastors should blog, don’t you think?  My pastor and another friend of mine

Team blogging

I recently announced the addition of Derek Ashton to my blog team.  In his first post here, Derek introduced himself.  Derek is a careful thinker and a good writer–I look forward to his contributions to this blog.  I also hope to add a couple of other members to my team in the coming months.

I’ve also joined Derek’s blog as a team member.  We both have firm convictions about the value of team blogging, as Derek explains in his latest post.  I’m thankful for Derek’s friendship, for the accountability he brings to me and to this blog, and for his partnership with me in the gospel, which is the primary focus of both of our blogs.

Here’s a picture of Derek, stolen from his post.  That’s him in the middle (and that’s me on the right).  P.S. – I’m kind of jazzed about getting to wear a virtual THEOparadox t-shirt in the picture. 

John Calvin: Lift your hands “for the glory and worship of God”

One of the series of posts that I most enjoyed writing and interacting with readers on was called “Dying of Dignity.”  As a young Christian over 30 years ago I often wondered why there was such a disconnect between passionate God-centered theology and passionate God-honoring praise and worship.

Apparently Presbyterian bloggers David and Tim Bayly have wondered the same thing.  In a recent post, Tim said “it’s about time reformed men realize the reason charismatics lift their hands and kneel in worship and modern presbyterians don’t is that somehow, somewhere, we lost our way and now think we’re honoring Scripture and our spiritual fathers when in fact we’re directly contradicting them.“

To back up that last statement, he provides a few rich quotes from John Calvin on the importance of lifting up hands and kneeling in prayer during public worship.

A Bad Heart and a Good God

One of my blog friends, Derek Ashton, and I recently decided to team up on our respective blogs.  My appreciation for Derek has grown immensely as we’ve gotten better acquainted in the last few months, and I highly recommend his blog, THEOparadox, where he will continue to write. In this post, he introduces himself.  Please welcome Derek Ashton to the ‘who am i?’ blog team.

I’d like to briefly relate a part of my journey with Christ . . .

As a young man studying in a Bible College, I had a decidedly low opinion of the American Church, and a profoundly high opinion of my own place in relation to it. Nowadays, it’s easy to see why I took such a severe and self-centered view of things: I hardly trusted God, and loved myself far too much. And due to my stubbornness, I didn’t know much about His great, merciful heart, or the blessings He gives us in fellowship with other believers. Frankly, I was a graceless, self-righteous moron.

More than 10 years have passed. These days,

BibleWorks Software Giveaway

Everyone likes giveaways.  To celebrate their first year of blogging, the guys at Cal.vini.st are giving away a nice bible study software package, BibleWorks 8, valued at $349.00.

The contest runs through July 12th, and anyone can enter.  Get all the details here.

Don’t tell the Bible what it can’t say

…a few more thoughts on embracing biblical paradox

Unless God has clearly told us what he will or will not do, it seems a little presumptuous (if not downright laughable) for flawed, finite beings like us to think we somehow intuitively know what the all-wise, all-powerful, transcendent God and Creator of the universe would or wouldn’t do.  In reality, our intuitions about God are marred by sin and limited by human nature, and therefore often unreliable.

A while back I came across a helpful comment by someone named India:

It seems to me that one of the surest ways to fall into theological error is to make an argument about what God would or would not do based on our own fallible conceptions of what a good God ought to do. After all, this is the same reasoning that leads atheists to reject God (because a good God wouldn’t permit evil) and universalists and annihilationists to reject the notion of hell (because a good God wouldn’t punish people eternally).

In a similar way, we should be cautious about making bold assertions that the Bible couldn’t possibly teach a certain doctrine, simply because we can’t imagine that it would.  John Piper said something that arrested me the first time I read my favorite book of his, The Pleasures of God:

My aim is to let Scripture stand–to let it teach what it will and not to tell it what it cannot say.

Wow.  How many times have I heard someone (in so many words) tell the Bible what it cannot say?  That sentence alone is worth the price of the book (and it’s nowhere near the best thing he says in it).  Piper continues:

For example, the statement, “God cannot choose individuals unconditionally and yet have compassion on all men,” is based on a certain kind of philosphical assumption, not on Scripture.  Scripture leads us precisely to this paradoxical position.  I am willing to let the paradox stand even if I can’t explain it.

Anyone, regardless of theological persuasion, can make this mistake.  Calvinists can make it.  Arminians can make it.  Those with Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or various Protestant backgrounds make it.  I can make it.  You can make it.

The bottom line is, we’re not as smart as we think we are.  Are we content to let the paradoxes of Scripture stand, even if we can’t explain them?

Randy Alcorn on embracing biblical paradox

Speaking of Charles Spurgeon…

…he’s one of those guys who continues to speak long after his death.  Many Christian leaders (and laymen) readily acknowledge their indebtedness to Spurgeon.  Take Randy Alcorn, for instance.

If you don’t already know who Alcorn is, I’d like to introduce him to you.  In fact, when you finish with this post, you might want to check out C.J. Mahaney’s recent four-part interview with Alcorn:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.  Before you run off, though, I’d like to ask you to spend a couple of minutes with me here looking at one particular aspect of Alcorn’s theology that has a distinct Spurgeon-esqe flavor.

Shamed (again) by Charles Spurgeon

“Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.”—1 Peter 2:7

That was Charles Spurgeon’s text for the first sermon he ever preached.  22 years later, and not feeling well, he decided to preach another message from that old familiar text, partially because of its unique significance to him.  I’m glad he did.

I say “I’m glad” with some trepidation, because when I first read these words I felt like someone had just punched me in the gut.  As Spurgeon begins to expound on this text (in his own inimitable way), he describes what it means for Christ to be precious to believers, and the effect that a deep love for Christ has on those who believe.  This was the paragraph that gut punched me.

…he who really has this high estimate of Jesus will think much of him, and as the thoughts are sure to run over at the mouth, he will talk much of him. Do we so? If Jesus is precious to you, you will not be able to keep your good news to yourself; you will be whispering it into your child’s ear; you will be telling it to your husband; you will be earnestly imparting it to your friend; without the charms of eloquence you will be more than eloquent; your heart will speak, and your eyes will flash as you talk of his sweet love. Every Christian here is either a missionary or an impostor. Recollect that. You either try to spread abroad the kingdom of Christ, or else you do not love him at all. It cannot be that there is a high appreciation of Jesus and a totally silent tongue about him.

Spurgeon never was one to pull punches, but I appreciate that.  Sometimes a good punch in the gut is just what I need.

So I am either a missionary or an impostor.  I love Jesus so much that I can’t stop telling people about him, or I don’t love him at all. I mentioned in an old post that I’ve often felt shamed by Spurgeon’s passion for souls.  Today, I’m shamed by his fervent love for Jesus.

Andrew Peterson: “Family Man”

This is a fairly unique music video of Andrew Peterson’s song “Family Man.”  According to one review, Family Man “finds the young songwriter reflecting on the sacrifices he’s made out of love for his wife and children, as well as the abundant blessings he’s received because of it.”  His musical reflections are then creatively illustrated throughout the video in a series of pencil drawings.  The effect is both heart-warming and heartening.

In addition to being a family man and an exceptional lyricist, Peterson is also an author.  If you want to know more about him, see the links just below the video.

Peterson blogs here and here.

An interview with Christian Music Today about six months ago.

Here are more interviews and music reviews.

The first two books in Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga:

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: Adventure. Peril. Lost Jewels. And the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree. (The Wingfeather Saga)

North! Or Be Eaten: Wild escapes. A desperate journey. And the ghastly Fangs of Dang. (The Wingfeather Saga)

The official website of Andrew Peterson

<a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400073847?ie=UTF8&tag=all4jesus&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1400073847″>On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: Adventure. Peril. Lost Jewels. And the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree. (The Wingfeather Saga)</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=all4jesus&l=as2&o=1&a=1400073847″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />

My youngest son on YouTube, doing what he does best (acting silly)

Still busy… busy, busy, busy… so here’s another video.  I like this one for obvious reasons.  It features my youngest son (then 8, now 9).  And, of course, there’s a story behind it.

My 18-year old daughter (the director) was watching YouTube videos of two guys lip-syncing to popular songs.  The guys went by the name of B&B Style, and their musical mime was very good and pretty funny.  This particular B&B Style video began with the song “Peaches,” which my son reprises (in his pajamas) in the video below.  Unfortunately, the audio for the B&B video has been disabled, but you may still be able to tell that my son is impersonating the B&B guy on the right, and the B&B guys are impersonating a group by the name of “The Presidents of the United States of America.”

In case you’re wondering,