Two Things I’m Happy About

1. I don’t know many Alabama fans.
2. By the end, it wasn’t really a very taunt-worthy loss.

Well, that about covers it.

Melissa:

Sam, who made you?

Sam (translated):

God.

All things.

Own glory.

Now that we’re done with the catechism I guess we’ll tackle algebra.

Good Reading on the Finance Meltdown

I need a lot of help understanding economics. Still not sure exactly what Wall Street is. (Hopefully I’ll never run for president, because that will come back to haunt me.) So, for others in the same boat, here are some links to articles I’ve stumbled across (most through JT at Between Two Worlds) that explain what’s going on and how we got here.

• Al Mohler, A Christian View of the Economic Crisis
• Conor Friedersdorf, 5 Easy Pieces
• Drew Zahn, Guess Again Who’s To Blame… (Suggests, with credible links from the 90’s anticipating this problem, that government policies inducing mortgage lenders to lend to less-qualified minority homebuyers caused the lenders to make bad loans)
• David Kotter, Thinking Biblically About the Banking Crisis

My initial gut reaction was to oppose the bailout. Then I suspended judgment for a couple of days on the basis of realizing that I really don’t know what I’m talking about. Now after doing some reading, I’m back where I started, for a few reasons.

• It seems to me that the bailout is a massive step toward a government-run economy, which we’re already skewed toward anyway. As a free-market, less-government-is-almost-always-better guy, I don’t like that.
• From what I understand, the fallout from allowing more institutions to fail would be significant, but nowhere near the complete economic collapse of, say, the Great Depression. There would have to be some serious changes in how financial firms do things, and if you’re retiring in 5 years there could be trouble. But by and large, it would be companies that contributed to the credit bubble that would suffer the effects of the burst.
• Related to #2, the precedent a bailout sets is very bad. It says to investors: Go ahead, take crazy steps to try and make wild amounts of money, and get so big that you can make the case that the economy will suffer if you go down. Then the government will have to bail you out if you get in trouble. On the other hand, if some of these guys do crash and burn and the government lets it happen, it sends the message that you’re responsible for the consequences of whatever investing you do.

So that’s where I am. And it’s worth about what you paid for it (except for the good articles above).

Forgiveness (or, “The Heart of the Matter”)

Christian forgiveness isn’t a matter of forgetting that someone has wronged you, or pretending the offense doesn’t exist. It’s a matter of releasing the debt (like the king in the parable of the servants) and turning it over to God. Then he can decide whether to charge it to them or to Jesus. At any rate, the debt is no longer owed to you.

For this reason, reflecting on the greatness of our own sin can really help in the fight to forgive others. When we think about the infinite debt God transferred off of us, it becomes a little easier to transfer a (relatively) small debt off of someone else.

Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution

In his 2003 book The Lost Message of Jesus, Steve Chalke referred to the historic doctrine of substitutionary atonement as “a form of cosmic child abuse” (182). Not surprisingly, this touched off a firestorm among evangelicals, but it was just the latest, loudest, and most provocative example of a tendency since the late nineteenth century to shun this doctrine in favor of other less “violent” understandings of how the death of Jesus saves us.

The gospel really does hinge on the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement-the truth that Christ died on the cross as a sinless substitute, taking on himself the guilt and the punishment for our sin, so that we could be given his righteousness. This doctrine, of course, does not deny that there are other aspects of the atonement-Christ’s victory over the powers of death and hell, his demonstration of self-sacrificing love, and many more-but penal substitution is the foundation of all the other glories of the cross.

This is the burden of the book Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution. Jeffery, Ovey, and Sach (a professor and two students at Oak Hill Theological College near London) have compiled what will surely become the go-to resource for explaining and defending the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. At least, that’s the impression you get from reading the endorsements from D. A. Carson, John Frame, John Piper, Mark Dever, Thomas Schreiner, David Wells, Timothy George, C. J. Mahaney, Sinclair Ferguson, Tremper Longman, and about a dozen others. (Good grief!)

In all seriousness, this book is excellent, covering just about all the ground to be covered in a defense of substitutionary atonement. The first half presents the case for the doctrine from Scriptural, theological, pastoral, and historical perspectives. Appropriately, the section on Scripture is by far the biggest, and it is excellent, showing how the idea of penal substitution is a clear biblical category going at least as far back as the Passover. The exegesis of each passage treated is thorough and clear. The next largest section is that on history, with particular emphasis on the first few centuries of the church. This is important because the charge is often leveled that the doctrine of penal substitution didn’t arise until the Reformation or later, and that it flattened out other views of the atonement. The authors show that not only did early writers exposit the doctrine in detail, but they also referred to it casually while discussing other topics, showing the concept was familiar enough that they could make passing reference to it and expect their hearers to understand.

The second half of the book is devoted to answering the critics of penal substitution. This is handled by addressing specific objections grouped into several broad categories, including penal substitution and the Bible, penal substitution and violence, penal substitution and justice, and others. These categories each have several specific objections, most of which are answered in 2-3 pages. Whether you’re struggling yourself with some of the implications of this doctrine or looking for resources in talking to others, this second section has great material that’s laid out in an easy-to-navigate order, and the detailed table of contents makes it a quick resource.

Pierced for Our Transgressions is a tremendous resource. It shows the biblical foundations for this important doctrine, shows its significance in the Christian life, and gives great responses to common critiques. Most of all, it will cause you to rejoice (in great detail!) over our Savior, who has paid a debt for us that we could never pay ourselves.

Abortion and the Gospel

One of my seminary professors, the late Dr. Harold O. J. Brown, was also one of the fathers of the pro-life movement in America. He told the story of speaking decades ago on abortion, and noticing a woman on the front row abruptly leave. When he asked someone about it later, he found out that she had had an abortion, and his speaking on the evil of abortion had overwhelmed her. After that day, he never failed, when speaking on abortion, to quote 1 John 2:1: “If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,” and emphasize that no matter how grave our sin, there is forgiveness with God through faith in Christ.

I’ve been thinking– and therefore writing– about abortion a lot lately, and since that’s true I want to make it clear that I believe this. Abortion is a terrible evil, and is, like all sin, an offense against a holy God. But the same God who is infinitely holy, who is too pure to look at sin, has done what we cannot: he has bridged the gap between our sin and himself; he has provided for reconciliation through Jesus Christ. No sin– not abortion, not any other– is too bad for God to forgive.

If you’ve had an abortion, if you’ve encouraged someone to have an abortion, if you’ve performed abortions, know this: If you are in Christ, if you’ve repented before God and trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, then this is his word for you: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). Your sin has been taken away from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12); God chooses not to remember it any more (Isa 43:25). And if you haven’t trusted in Christ, all this is for you when you repent and believe in him. There is no sin, including abortion, that is too powerful for the blood of Christ to overcome it.

I oppose abortion “even” in cases of rape and incest.

This is one of the things that pro-abortion people like to say as though it’s terribly shocking: a pro-life person opposes abortion “even in cases of rape and incest.” This makes you an anti-choice zealot. (Actually, you can’t really be pro-life without being an anti-choice zealot. The only way to make pro-abortionists happy is to say you’re personally opposed to abortion but have no problem with Roe v. Wade. Which makes you a pretty sorry pro-lifer.)

What pro-abortionists don’t understand is that for us, “choice” is not the issue. Indeed, we don’t stand for a woman’s right to choose to have or kill her child, because we don’t believe that right exists. We are against abortion because it is the killing of a human being. If they understood this (and I’m not even asking that they agree– just understand what they’re disagreeing with!), it should not shock pro-abortionists to see that we (most of us) oppose abortion “even” in the case of rape and incest. Because the circumstances under which the child was conceived have no bearing on the humanity of the child.

Rape and incest are terrible, ghastly things. Those who commit those crimes should be punished severely, and the mothers should be surrounded with loving care (as they frequently are at crisis pregnancy centers, most of which are run by Christians). But the unborn child hasn’t committed any crime. And as horrific as the ordeal is, to add the trauma (and moral evil) of abortion will not, in the long run, make it better. It will punish an innocent party, and in most cases haunt the mother the rest of her life.

So yeah, I guess you would say I’m an antichoice zealot. Especially when it comes to “choices” that I don’t think are legitimate in the first place.

The Hope of Glory: 100 Daily Meditations on Colossians

Dr. Sam Storms has just accepted a call as pastor of Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City. He’s also taught at Wheaton, spoken at numerous conferences including several Desiring God ones, and written a number of books. His teaching ministry is Enjoying God Ministries, and their website is a great resource. Storms is a great example of a serious scholar with serious passion for Jesus-I recommend anything with his name on it.

He’s recently begun publishing some devotional books with short meditations on Scripture. The first is The Hope of Glory: 100 Daily Meditations on Colossians. (He has a similar volume, To the One who Conquers, on the letters in Revelation, and forthcoming ones on Psalms and 1 Corinthians.)

Many devotional books are long on fluff and short on Scripture, using a verse or two as a springboard for a fairly generic positive thought to start the day. That is most decidedly not the case with Storms’ book on Colossians. These are content-rich, Scripture-grounded, heart-reaching meditations that will challenge you to think about the implications of the text for your doctrine and life. Each chapter is about 4 pages, with good explanation and application of a verse or two. Storms’ passion for God and his careful handling of the text work together to create what is basically a devotional commentary on Colossians, which is an overlooked but powerful book.

This book-and the others in the series as they are published-would be a great resource to guide you in personal devotions, and a great addition to the family library.

Doctrine of the Christian Life

The Doctrine of the Christian Life is the third volume of John Frame’s projected four-volume series A Theology of Lordship. The first two volumes, Doctrine of the Knowledge of God and Doctrine of God, have won lots of praise, and the same is certain to be true of Christian Life. This book is vintage Frame. He has the kind of mind that comes along once a generation, but is very adept at explaining complicated material for the average reader. His writing is actually interesting to read. But for me, his greatest gift is that he’s an amazingly careful scholar. What I mean is that he seeks to go exactly as far as Scripture goes-no more and no less. And he’s willing to buck even his own Reformed tradition where he believes that it goes beyond the requirements of Scripture.

Doctrine of the Christian Life is, broadly speaking, an ethics book. It’s the kind of ethics book a Christian philosopher writes, which means he starts by asking very broad questions about how we should approach ethical questions, on what authority they can be answered, and the like. He briefly addresses non-Christian ethics before outlining a Christian ethical methodology. In my favorite section of the book, he goes through the Ten Commandments in great detail, covering related topics and hot-button issues as they relate to the Commandments. He then has a section on Christ and Culture, and a brief conclusion on growing in spiritual maturity.

This book weighs in at just over 1000 pages, so for most readers it’s not the kind of work where you start at the beginning and work your way through (although the time would be well spent). Much of the introductory material also wouldn’t interest the average reader, although again, the effort would be richly rewarded. The sections on the Ten Commandments and Christians in culture are incredible-exactly the kind of thing you’d like to have on your shelf as a for a good Christian take on a given ethics topic. Frame is especially good on bioethics, the Sabbath, and sexuality. But I have yet to read a section that I don’t think is great.

Make no mistake, this is definitely a thinking-man’s guide to Christian ethics. But it’s also immensely practical, and a great resource for believers who want to have all their thinking shaped by Scripture.

George W. Bush is Batman.

Novelist and screenwriter Andrew Klavan:

There seems to me no question that the Batman film ‘The Dark Knight’…is at some level a paen of praise to the fortitude and moral courage shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war.

You’ll have to take Melissa’s word for it, but I said the same thing the night we saw The Dark Knight.

If you– no, scratch that. No “if.” Just watch this video. Even Klavan’s rabbit trails are brilliant.