The Theology of Calvin . . . and Hobbes (Research)

 

Some Rantings and Ravings from Someone Who’s Been in Christian Ministry for a Long Time! (Part 2 of 2, I Promise!)

We’re ranting and raving here for a few minutes.  There are so many concerns that I have, especially for the next generation.  I hope I don’t come across like the old curmudgeon to the right, but these are matters that are really critical.

What got me thinking about these issues is the conference I just attended.  I’m actually writing this before the conference, but, Lord willing, it will (did) take place and I will do (did) an okay job of speaking on the topic “Anti-Intellectualism Isn’t Spirituality.”  The conference took place at Emmaus Bible College February 6-7 and was called the “Christian Ministry Seminars.”

My last message in my four-part series expressed some of these concerns that I am summarizing here and in the earlier post of the same title (Feb. 18th).  Permit me to share just a few more of my “issues”:

(1)  I’m concerned that young believers get into the battle and do good work on an intellectual basis.  This means reading books that challenge the Christian faith (what I call “Boiling Books”, i.e. books that boil your blood before you get through the preface).  If we only read the books we agree with, we will not learn the questions and issues an unbelieving world has with the gospel.  “Doing good work” on an intellectual basis involves good study skills, critical thinking, and solid research.  Believers of the next generation need to work hard in what are called the “primary” sources, rather than get all their information from secondary sources.  Primary sources are the original documents of a writer or thinker, not what others have said or written about him or his position (secondary sources).  So, if one is going to challenge the abandonment of the gospel by someone like the late Chuck Templeton (at one time Billy Graham’s best friend and an evangelist), one needs to read Templeton!  His Farewell to God as well as his An Anecdotal Memoir would be the first place to start (before one reads Lee Strobel’s interview of Templeton in The Case for Christ).  Does that make sense?  Sometimes Evangelicals are guilty of reading only what others have said about a person’s beliefs — and not that person himself.

Suggestion:  Start small.  Begin a blog and take on some topic with which you want to engage.  Be positive toward the writer and gracious toward what they have written.  But point out the weaknesses in their argument or position as you formulate your response from a biblical perspective.

(2)  I’m also concerned with how many of us view life in general.  My generation frowned on such activities as going to the movies, roller skating (it was dancing on wheels, unless you fell a lot like me), and visiting museums (a waste of time — one ought to be reading his or her Bible).  Today’s generation, it seems to me, doesn’t give those issues a second thought (which is good), but doesn’t hesitate to go to (or download) just about any movie (some are downright diabolical), learn and sing the lyrics of just about any contemporary song (have you analyzed the words in songs by Lady Gaga or Beyonce?), or attend any play just because the critics said it was good.  If you’ve never been tempted to walk out of a movie theater, turn off your TV in disgust, or ask for your money back at a play, check your Christian pulse.  You might be dead.

Suggestion:  There’s a better way than the legalism of my generation and the libertarianism of today’s young people.  I believe Mike Witmer has articulated that better way in his book Becoming Worldly Saints.  Christians are to enjoy God’s good creation (I Tim. 6) and not become or be known as anti-world.  We should live in biblical freedom!

(3)  I’m also concerned with how many of us look at the local church.  It seems that for many today the local church is a big bother.  We go through the motions; we serve when we have to; we give when we must. Instead of seeing the church as the one thing that Jesus is presenting building, we tolerate it as our Sunday activity and as a gathering place with other Christians.  I’m not surprised that one of Philip Yancey’s books is entitled Church: Why Bother?  We must move from thinking of the local church as a place we must be to a place we get to be.

The church in Acts focused on four priorities, according to Acts 2:42 —  “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”  Here’s my final list of questions:

1.  Are you truly “devoted to” the local church? How do you or I show that?

2.  How concerned are we about biblical doctrine/truth?  Do we see theology only as the domain of elbow-patched, sweater-wearing academics who debate how many angels can sit on the head of a pin?  Or are we committed to knowing, enjoying, and defending the truths of God’s Word?

3.  Do we really understand “fellowship”?  Perhaps we all need a primer on something as basic as FRIENDSHIP!

4.  We must constantly ask, are we truly worshiping the Lord?  Or are we just keeping the machinery going?

5.  I have so much to learn — and to practice — when it comes to the issue of prayer!  I commend you to my post back on January 9th when Dr. Roy King talked about the three prayers we all ought to pray everyday!

So much for my rantings and ravings.  Any you wish to comment on?

 

Time for a Great Cartoon (learning from dad)

You gotta’ love Calvin’s dad! He’s a lot brighter than he lets on. There seems to be a strategy behind how he answers his son’s many questions.  Calvin’s conclusion — “I should just look stuff up in the first place” — appears to be precisely what his dad wants him to come to — do your own research!

We all have questions — and sometimes our laziness simply demands that others tell us what to think.

One of the reasons I love biblical Christianity is that it challenges us to search out our own answers — in Scripture and in God’s world.

What are you researching for yourself?

 

Time for a Great Cartoon! (homework!)

Got any “dumb” assignments you’re working on? Part of being a healthy Christian, it seems to me, is having topics you want to explore in God’s Word.

I’ve been working my way through the book of Psalms. I also have several workshops to prepare for Emmaus Bible College’s “Iron Sharpens Iron” conference May 21-24, 2015.  Here are my topics with brief explanations:

Topic #1- “Hearsay or Heresy?  How Do You Tell the Difference?”  Christian leaders are commanded to silence false teachers (Titus 1:11).  How do we know that we are not simply assassinating the character of fellow believers with whom we disagree on distinctive areas of doctrine?

Topic #2- “The Top Two Areas of Theological Attack:  Sharon Baker on Christ’s Atoning Work and Eternal Hell.”  A review and discussion of Executing God and Razing Hell.

Topic #3- “Ten Steps the Local Church Should Take to Handle Heretics.”  Paul warned the Ephesian elders that out of their own number savage wolves would arise, not sparing the flock (Acts 20).  Here’s how proactive leadership can practically pursue truth with and for God’s people.

 

Time for a Great Cartoon! (research!)

Do you enjoy doing research?  Somehow in our educational process, many people loathe research, investigation, study of a subject in-depth.  One of my favorite courses that I teach at Columbia International University Seminary and School of Ministry (we have very large bumper stickers) is called “Theological Methods and Issues.”

In that course students can tackle any issue, any problem that they wish to research.  I have had some outstanding papers written on topics like homosexuality, racism, the role of women in ministry, the lost virtue of modesty, etc.

I’m presently grading that course online — and will be finishing my grading over the next week or so.  I’ll try to pass on some of the better papers on this blog (with students’ permission, of course).

Questions:

1.  What topic would you want to investigate if you took the time to do so?

2.  What are the steps you would take to begin to tackle that topic?

 

DIVORCE! Another student paper . . .

One of the courses I taught this semester is entitled “Theological Methods and Issues.”  This was a weekend course, meaning that it met one weekend a month for four months.  We discussed all kinds of theological topics and the students produced two major research papers.  One was on a cultural issue (such as gun control in North America); the other on a global issue (such as theological factors in global poverty).

Some of the papers were outstanding and I’ve encouraged the students to seek publication.  I will be sharing some of those papers on this blog.

Please take the time to read these papers.  You will be challenged and encouraged in your walk with Christ!

The second paper I’m posting is on the volatile issue of DIVORCE.  [Bear in mind that my posting these papers does not necessarily mean I agree with their conclusions.]  Please click on the underlined word below to read this paper; feel free to post your comments which I will pass on to the student researchers.

DIVORCE —

 

A Call to LAMENT!

One of the courses I taught this semester is entitled “Theological Methods and Issues.”  This was a weekend course, meaning that it met one weekend a month for four months.  We discussed all kinds of theological topics and the students produced two major research papers.  One was on a cultural issue (such as gun control in North America); the other on a global issue (such as theological factors in global poverty).

Some of the papers were outstanding and I’ve encouraged the students to seek publication.  I will be sharing some of those papers on this blog.

Please take the time to read these papers.  You will be challenged and encouraged in your walk with Christ!

The first paper I’m posting is on the biblical topic of LAMENT.  What is the place of mourning, expressing our sense of loss, pleading with the Lord for His intervention, in our culture?  Please feel free to post your comments which I will pass on to the student researchers.

LAMENT!