It Was a Very Good Year

Almost universally 2016 seems to be regarded by many in the broader culture as a very bad year. There were shootings and terrorists. There was a contentious election that offered Americans two dreadful choices. Peoples' lives fell to pot. There was a war in Syria that seemed to be less of a war and more of a holocaust. The list goes on. People seem to universally be ready to bid 2016 goodbye. I feel a little guilty I suppose, but I'm not quite ready to throw 2016 onto the trash heap of history.

As I write this post, I am listening to Frank Sinatra. And all I can think is that everybody else is wrong and Frank is right. It was a very good year. Of course, Frank is only right by accident the same way even a broken clock is right twice a day. For Frank a very good year was

Blue-blooded girls
Of independent means
We'd ride in limousines
Their chauffeurs would drive
When I was thirty-five

Personally, it was a very good year, but not because of girls and chauffeurs. I can only speak for myself, and perhaps for my family, but as this year ends I want to end it striking a note of gratitude and not of grumbling.

The time from when we were called to Pearl Presbyterian Church until now has been a whirlwind and filled with personal blessings. Not only do we have a church family that loves us and puts up with my odd fashion sense, preaching foibles, and clearly expanding waistline, but they seem to get me. The other day I was preparing to teach a Wednesday night Bible study and forgot I was wearing my converse sneakers with my dress pants and blazer. My wife said something about it, and one of our parishioners said, "Oh we knew what we were getting when we called Adam." It wasn't an insult in the slightest and I appreciated hearing it. It was the sound of someone who gets me.

Our family feels very loved by this congregation. Not only did they turn out in large numbers to help us move, but we have been welcomed into their homes, shared many meals, spent time over the holidays with their families, and become a part of their lives.

Materially, we have been blessed. We have our first ever home. After 16 years of marriage, my wife lives somewhere that she can paint the walls, hang up shelves, tinker with the landscaping, and customize to her heart's content. We have always lived in places where we couldn't have animals, and so my family now has a new kitten named Winter. She is soft and cuddly, but she scratches me and bites me a lot, and so our relationship is complicated.

In many ways, and on so many levels, this was a year of massive changes and improvements for our family. My wife is realizing that maybe she has a real gift for not only decorating her own home but also helping others to decorate their own houses. My children are all learning to deal with being in public school. I am learning what it is to be not only a preacher, but also a pastor (sure to be a long process, as my parishioners will tell you).

It wasn't all smooth sailing and salty sea air, though. January to July of this year was, without a doubt, the most stressful, difficult, and trying season I've ever personally endured. Once the last semester of seminary came, everything went from abstract and hypothetical to real and consequential. Our search for a new church home sent us on multiple flights to Chicago (our childrens' first time seeing skyscrapers in person). We traveled to the Tennessee countryside, and to the muggy swamplands of Georgia. At every stop we asked ourselves the very real question, "Could we see ourselves here? Could this be the place for us? Will this be our home?" (These can be exhausting questions if you consider them very seriously each time.) And of course, there is the added pressure of knowing that the churches are asking themselves similar questions about us. Travel took its toll on me physically, and it was a very difficult time. I experienced so much anxiety that I often found myself thinking I might need to see a doctor.

Looking back on this year I realize how much faithlessness and fear was intermingled with this season. Anxiety, paranoia, wondering what we would do if we didn't find a place to minister... all of these thoughts plagued me during half of 2016. Someone looking in from the outside might say, "Well Adam that doesn't sound like a very good year. Spending half of the year realizing how faithless and fearful your heart is sure sounds like a bad year to me."

Of course, we don't often see or feel it, but seasons like that are really a gift. It's one thing to acknowledge the providence of God. It's one thing to acknowledge and believe that you have been called by God to serve as a pastor. It's another thing to put those two realities - your calling, and God's providence - together and hold them in your heart and really believe them such that you can rest and sleep knowing that his plan is good and that his call is true. The reason this season was a gift was that, among other things, it exposed sin. There was no other way for this to be done! My family and I had to be tested, tried, and troubled so that the dross could rise to the surface. If I had sought a church and had something lined up in May as soon as I graduated I guarantee you I would have gone into a church situation as a smug new graduate, ready to lecture and teach, but lacking in tenderness toward those who struggle.

Instead, God saw fit to tenderize me over a period of six months, to show me my own heart, to let me be stung by the barbs of my own fear, even in the face of the promise that God truly does ordain and control whatsoever comes to pass (Eph. 1:11).

If you feel that 2016 was a very bad year, I won't try to persuade you that you are wrong. It may have seemed pretty awful. But I would encourage you to ask if God was using the darkness to purge you or show you your own sin. Often giving our children what they want is the worst thing for them. God used this season to show me that fear and failure can be sanctifying in the life of his people when met with repentance and pleading for divine grace. It was a painful year, but by the help of the Holy Spirit, God turned it into a very good year.

Adam's 10 Favorite Albums from this Year

It is customary, at the end of the year, for people to list their ten favorite albums that were released in the previous year. I enjoy this custom, but prefer to revise it slightly. I'm going to be listing my ten favorite albums that I listened to the most this past year. These albums could be from this year (most are, actually) but they could also be from another time as well.

Without further ado...

10. The Dig Soundtrack, by Michael Land

Nobody knows about this. It was the soundtrack to a computer game that came out when I was a teenager that I fell in love with. Earlier this year I discovered that someone posted an MP3 of the soundtrack on an obscure website and have rejoiced endlessly. I know hipsters like to share obscure music. I'm not sure you get much more obscure than this. So there...take that!

This album isn't just obscure. There's more to it than that. It's a beautiful electronic soundtrack that is ambient and at the same time otherworldly. I cannot listen to this album without feeling like another world may be just outside my study window.

9. Everything and Nothing, by Hammock [Apple Music]

This is an album that is very beloved by me. I love Hammock and have listened to Marc Byrd's music even back when he was in the Christian band Common Children. Now that he is making beautiful ambient/orchestral music, I listen to everything this band puts out..

8. The Wilderness, by Explosions in the Sky [Apple Music]

I never get tired of the music these guys produce. To me, this album is just different enough from what has come before that it feels like growth without alienating me.

7. Integrity Blues, by Jimmy Eat World [Apple Music]

This is a great comeback album for a band that I haven't listened to for years. This strikes me as unexpectedly mature music from a band that I had written off a decade ago.

6. Blade Runner Soundtrack (25th Anniversary), by Vangelis [Apple Music]

Ever since I first heard this soundtrack and got my hands on it, I've never stopped listening to it.

5. Every Open Eye, by CHVRCHES [Apple Music]

If you're looking for crystalline electro-pop music perfection, I'm not sure there's a better place to look than CHVRCHES. This new album is exactly what I had hoped a sophomore album from this band would be.

4. No Man's Sky: Music for an Infinite Universe (Soundtrack) by 65daysofstatic [Apple Music]

The game No Man's Sky may have been a massive disappointment, but that doesn't mean that the soundtrack was a dud. As a matter of fact, it turned out to be the best part of the game, as well as one of the best parts of 2016.

3. God's Highway, by Sandra McCracken [Apple Music]

This is among my favorite albums from 2016. A collection of Scripturally based songs that I have found tremendously good for my soul. I have found rest by listening to "Be Still My Soul." I have found great joy in being reminded that God is "Steadfast" while listening to this album.

2. Skeleton Tree, by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds [Apple Music]

This is an album that was forged in the depth of great pain as Nick Cave wrote it in the aftermath of his own son's tragic death. It is clear that Cave has struggled over questions of the goodness of God and the immortality of the soul. "I called out, I called out/Right across the sea/But the echo comes back empty." This is mourning of the first and most honest order.

1. Westworld: Season 1 Soundtrack, by Ramin Djawadi [Apple Music]

I am not recommending the TV series. I am, however, HIGHLY recommending this soundtrack. As someone who is always looking for interesting, quasi-ambient music to play while I work on sermons, this soundtrack is quite the treat. String quartet and piano renditions from artists such as Radiohead, The Cure, Radiohead, Amy Winehouse, Soundgarden, and Radiohead delight the senses and bring pleasure to the soul. Yes, this soundtrack is filled to the brim with Radiohead covers.

Sin is Irrational

It is human for us to want to make sense out of the worst of human actions. Almost every time there is a public shooting, pundits begin to ask: why did he do it? People start to hope that some holy grail diary will be found that will just say everything: how they planned it, what they hoped to accomplish, and most importantly: why?

If we cannot find a reason for why they did this thing, but the evil was especially heinous we will often conclude that the person was “sick” or “disturbed.” Why do we do this? Is it because deep down we think that sin can be made sense of? It isn’t that mental health problems aren’t real, but even average people with not a modicum of medical experience will begin to give evaluations of this person. They will say things like “that person is sick,” or “what a psychopath” or “this person is obviously crazy.” There are lots of reasons for this sort of response, but I think foremost among them is a desire to separate this person from us – from our own group. There is a comfort in declaring someone else "sick." We like to think that we would never do such a thing or that if we did it is because something broke inside of us that normally works.

But of course, all of these analyses presume something: that there are times when sin makes sense, or sin can be made sense of. There is this underlying assumption that if we only knew everything, this shooting would make sense, or we would know why this or that person left their spouse and children. The presumption is that this big stuff doesn’t make sense, but maybe the “little” sins can be made sense of – at least we can understand why someone would do those, right?

But even the “smallest” sins don’t make sense, and this is what we need to get into our heads. Sin doesn’t make sense, not in the smallest sense. If you go back to Adam and Eve and you were to look at their situation, the decision to eat the apple was just as “sick” as the wife who leaves her family so she can do meth in the trailer park with an abusive man. That first sin – “small” by our own standards today – makes as much sense as a guy shooting up a movie theatre full of people.

If sin really made sense as a cost-benefit value proposition, it would be reasonable for us to ask “why?” every time that it happens. If you had asked that woman who left her husband, in a clear-headed moment whether she thought it was a good idea to do the drug meth she would hopefully have said “no.” And if you had asked her if she wanted to lose her family she would hopefully have said “no.” And if you had asked her if she would like to never see her children again so that she could live in a meth-induced catatonic stupor while her body wasted away, she would surely have said, “Never!” If you had asked her, “do you wish to be under the wrath of Almighty God” and she were to answer rationally and truthfully she would have said, “Please no! I would never want that!” As we all would - if sin were rational

Adam and Eve were well aware of the results of their sin and yet they did it willfully. They had been told that the wages of sin is death (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23). And they also understood that they would be under God’s wrath when they sinned (hence they hid from him). And so if you asked the man and his wife, “Why?” they would have appealed to their appetite, but not to their sense of logic or reasoning. Logic and reason were completely against the sin of taking the fruit that had been forbidden.

Death and separation from God are still the consequences of sin, and yet we still do it. The wrath of God against sin hasn’t gone away. It still doesn’t make sense for our belly to be our god instead of Yahweh, and yet on a daily basis we continue to make irrational decisions that are personally destructive and which incur the wrath of God. But we still do it, don’t we?

No, sin cannot be made sense of. Sin is literally irrational.

Why No #JusticeForGators?

It would be difficult to argue that June was a good month for Orlando, Florida. From the horrible and nearly unimaginable evil committed by an ISIS-loyal terrorist, to the two-year-old child who was taken by the alligator in the lagoon at the Magic Kingdom, it was a month with a lot of bad news and very few bright spots. It is the sort of month that leaves all God-fearing people crying out for justice and the consummation that will come with Christ’s return.

The reaction to the alligator attack is of particular interest, because it is a nearly identical situation to what happened with Harambe the gorilla about two weeks before. In that event you may remember that a small defenseless child also stumbled into the habitat of a dangerous creature. In that event also the child was attacked. The difference is, of course, that in this instance the child’s life was tragically taken by the dangerous creature before something could be done about it, and in the other instance the gorilla was shot in order to save the child.

In the aftermath of the Disney alligator attack five alligators have been found in the lagoon and killed. Because the outcry on behalf of Harambe was so loud, I was certain we would hear animal rights activists demanding #JusticeForGators… speaking of the “murder” of these majestic, once endangered creatures as if it had been their brother or their uncle. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case. A Twitter search for #JusticeForGators yields only an animated GIF of a child riding on the back of one of these lovely, hilarious, and not at all dangerous animals.

What accounts for the selective outrage? I suspect it is because, on the one hand, people have forgotten that only a few years ago these very animals were listed as an endangered species. It was only 1987 when the USFWS declared the alligator as “recovered” as a species. But that analysis assumes, rather charitably, that the public are somewhat rational, but simply forgetful.

On the other hand, I suspect that there are some creatures that are simply easier to anthropomorphize and imagine that they are your pet or your friend. When people saw Harambe, they didn’t see a one ton meat tank that could crush a coconut with its bare hands – they saw their hairy uncle (including the grey back hair). Cecil the lion was a deadly, dangerous predator whose species has terrorized humans living in the regions of Africa that they inhabit, but at least films like The Lion King gave them a humanized portrait of what the animal could be seen as (if they squinted right). But what of the gator? Well, the friendliest portrait we’ve seen of alligators is the crocodile who ate Captain Hook’s hand. No wonder no one is asking for #JusticeForGators! Perhaps what alligators, as a species, need is their day in the sun – a Lion King equivalent so that the capricious sentiments of the American public can be emotionally maneuvered into defending another killing machine as if it was their favorite pet.

I am not anti-alligator, nor am I anti-gorilla. I am, however, pro-sanity and pro-consistency. Until I see protestors outside Disney demanding that someone answer for the “murder” of these slimy, scaly, terrifying, majestic creatures, I will continue to wonder whether there is a species-ist selectivity among people who think that animals and humans are morally equivalent.

Trinity Controversy Omnibus

[Updated 7/8/16]
(*) = Essential Posts.

Earlier today I found myself trying to explain to a friend what has been happening in the Reformed world in terms of the latest discussions regarding the Trinity and the Eternal Functional Subordination of the second person of the Trinity. The trickiest part about explaining it to him was keeping all the different posts straight. In order to help out both myself and anyone else who is either trying to keep up, or get caught up I have compiled (chronologically) this list of links which I believe to be helpful to anyone who is interested. I plan to keep this updated as things progress. This will be an ever evolving post. The earlier entries are articles that have laid the groundwork for where we find ourselves now, and they are certainly relevant. As readers pass along more information and relevant pieces of information I will add them to the timeline, so this list may be worth checking in on periodically.

2004
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, September 2004
"Toward a Biblical Model of the Social Trinity: Avoiding Equivocation of Nature and Order" by J. Scott Horrell
http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/47/47-3/47-3-pp399-421_JETS.pdf

2006
Book: Jesus and the Father, by Kevin Giles
https://books.google.com/books?id=ACwJIt_bpn4C

2013
International Journal of Systematic Theology, April 2013
"The Obedience of the Eternal Son" by Scott Swain and Michael Allen
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijst.12009/full

"'Eternally Begotten of the Father' An Analysis of the Second London Confession of Faith’s Doctrine of the Eternal Generation of the Son" by Stefan T. Lindblad
http://s3.amazonaws.com/churchplantmedia-cms/arbca_carlisle_pa/2013-eternal-generation-of-the-son---full.pdf

2015
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society:
*"Eternal Functional Subordination and the Problem of the Divine Will" by D. Glenn Butner, Jr.
https://www.academia.edu/11771377/Eternal_Functional_Subordination_and_the_Problem_of_the_Divine_Will

May 22, 2015
Rachel Miller:
https://adaughterofthereformation.wordpress.com/2015/05/22/continuing-down-this-path-complementarians-lose/

Review of One God in Three Persons by Steve Holmes
http://steverholmes.org.uk/blog/?p=7507

May 31, 2015
Alistair Roberts:
https://alastairadversaria.wordpress.com/2015/05/31/the-eternal-subordination-of-the-son-social-trinitarianism-and-ectypal-theology/

June 1, 2015
Response to Holmes' Review by Fred Sanders
http://scriptoriumdaily.com/generations-eternal-and-current/

May 28, 2015
Rachel Miller:
https://adaughterofthereformation.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/does-the-son-eternally-submit-to-the-authority-of-the-father/

June 3, 2016
*Liam Goligher:
http://www.mortificationofspin.org/mos/housewife-theologian/is-it-okay-to-teach-a-complementarianism-based-on-eternal-subordination#.V1syV_krIuU

June 6, 2016
*Liam Goligher:
http://www.mortificationofspin.org/mos/housewife-theologian/reinventing-god#.V1syRfkrIuV

June 7, 2016
*Carl Trueman:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/postcards-from-palookaville/fahrenheit-381

June 8, 2016
Michael Bird:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/06/the-coming-war-nicene-complementarians-vs-homoian-complementarians/

June 9, 2016
*Bruce Ware's Response:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2016/06/god-the-sonat-once-eternally-g.php

*Carl Trueman's Rejoinder to Ware:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/postcards-from-palookaville/a-surrejoinder-to-bruce-ware

*Wayne Grudem's Response:
http://cbmw.org/public-square/whose-position-on-the-trinity-is-really-new/

Carl Trueman's Rejoinder to Grudem:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/postcards-from-palookaville/a-rejoinder-to-wayne-grudem

Mark Thompson:
http://markdthompson.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/ers-is-there-order-in-trinity.html

Michael Bird:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/06/more-on-the-calvinist-complementarian-divide-on-the-trinity/

*Denny Burke:
http://www.dennyburk.com/a-brief-response-to-trueman-and-goligher/

Jeff Waddington:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2016/06/some-thoughts-on-the-current-c.php

June 10, 2016
John Calvin/Carl Trueman:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/postcards-from-palookaville/a-guest-post

Mark Jones:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/1517/why-did-the-son-become-incarnate-because-he-submitted#.V1roHfkrIuU

Darren Sumner (for a Barthian's perspective):
https://theologyoutofbounds.wordpress.com/2016/06/10/some-observations-on-the-eternal-functional-subordination-debate/

*Mike Ovey:
http://oakhill2.ablette.net/blog/entry/should_i_resign/

Scott McKnight
(read the comments section, especially for interaction between Alistair Roberts and McKnight):
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2016/06/10/the-battle-rumbles-along/

June 11, 2016
Mark Jones:
http://newcitytimes.com/news/story/gods-will-and-eternal-submission-part-one

Steve Hays:
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2016/06/fahrenheit-381.html

*Donald Macleod:
http://www.donaldmacleod.org.uk/dm/subordinationism-out-of-the-blue/

June 12, 2016
Michael Bird:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/06/even-more-on-the-complementarian-calvinism-debate-on-the-trinity/

Steve Hays:
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2016/06/gender-and-trinity.html

June 13, 2016
*Michael Bird/Michel Barnes:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/06/patristics-scholar-michel-r-barnes-weighs-in-on-the-intra-complementarian-debate-on-the-trinity/

*Michael Bird/Lewis Ayres:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/06/patristics-scholar-lewis-ayres-weighs-in-on-the-intra-complementarian-debate/

Todd Pruitt (Reflecting on Barnes/Ayres):
http://www.mortificationofspin.org/mos/1517/barnes-and-ayers-weigh-in#.V16rRPkrIuU

Andrew Wilson (a nice article summarizing the issues):
http://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/submission_in_the_trinity_a_quick_guide_to_the_debate

Owen Strachan:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thoughtlife/2016/06/the-glorious-godhead-and-proto-arian-bulls/

Aimee Byrd:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/housewife-theologian/a-plea-to-cbmw

Derek Rishmawy:
https://derekzrishmawy.com/2016/06/13/on-trinitarian-controversy-why-its-not-always-terrible-and-how-to-go-about-it/

Denny Burke:
http://www.dennyburk.com/the-obedience-of-the-eternal-son/

*D. Glenn Butner, Jr.:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2016/06/eternal-submission-and-the-sto.php

Fred Sanders:
http://scriptoriumdaily.com/18-theses-on-the-father-and-the-son/

Mark Jones:
http://newcitytimes.com/news/story/eternal-subordination-of-wills-nein

June 14:
*Liam Goligher Responding to Mike Ovey:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/housewife-theologian/dr-liam-goligher-responds-to-dr-mike-ovey

Carl Trueman:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/postcards-from-palookaville/motivated-by-feminism-a-response-to-a-recent-criticism#.V2C6ZvkrIuU

Paul Helm/B.B. Warfield:
http://paulhelmsdeep.blogspot.com/2016/06/warfield-on-trinity.html

Mike Ovey:
http://www.credomag.com/2016/06/14/can-michael-bird-read-my-mind-alas-it-seems-not-mike-ovey/

Mark Jones:
http://newcitytimes.com/news/story/biblicism-socinianism-and-arid-scholasticism

June 15:
Alistair Roberts:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2016/06/the-eternal-subordination-of-t.php

Andrew Moody:
https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-ordered-godhead-1

Michael Bird (response to Fred Sanders):
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/06/fred-sanderss-18-theses-on-the-father-and-the-son/

Mark Jones:
https://calvinistinternational.com/2016/06/15/propositions-questions-fred-sanders-trinity/

June 16:
Darren Sumner:
https://theologyoutofbounds.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/what-is-the-immanent-trinity-a-clarification-for-the-eternal-subordination-debate/

Caleb Lindgren (Christianity Today):
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/june-web-only/gender-trinity-proxy-war-civil-war-eternal-subordination.html

Matthew Barrett:
http://www.credomag.com/2016/06/16/better-late-than-never-the-covenant-of-redemption-and-the-trinity-debates-matthew-barrett/

John Stevens:
http://www.john-stevens.com/2016/06/are-we-all-heretics-now-reflections-on.html?m=1

June 17:
Mike Riccardi:
http://thecripplegate.com/making-sense-of-the-trinity-efs-debate/

Alistair Roberts:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2016/06/the-eternal-subordination-of-t-1.php

Mark Jones:
http://newcitytimes.com/news/story/subordination-in-the-pactum-and-the-irony-of-ess

June 18:
Keith Johnson:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/is-the-eternal-generation-of-the-son-a-biblical-idea

June 20:
Andrew Moody:
https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-ordered-godhead-2

Wayne Grudem:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2016/06/another-thirteen-evangelical-t.php

Owen Strachan:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thoughtlife/2016/06/wayne-grudem-critiques-liam-golighers-historical-theology/

Mark Jones:
http://newcitytimes.com/news/story/wayne-grudems-historical-theology

Liam Goligher:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/housewife-theologian/a-letter-to-professors-grudem-and-ware#.V2mJ-1d8XzI

June 21:
Carl Trueman:
http://www.mortificationofspin.org/mos/postcards-from-palookaville/once-more-unto-the-breach-and-then-no-more-a-final-reply-to-dr-grude

Michael Bird:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/06/update-on-the-complementarian-trinity-debate/

Luke Isham:
http://thinkingofgod.org/2016/06/subordination-dust-observations-complementarian/

June 22:
Wyatt Graham:
http://thecripplegate.com/the-complementarian-trinity-debate-a-summary-of-its-beginning/#more-88886

June 23:
Christopher Cleveland:
https://mereorthodoxy.com/trinitarian-controversy-inevitable/

Mark Baddeley:
https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-ordered-godhead-3

June 24:
Christ the Center Roundtable Discussion of the Trinity Controversy:
http://reformedforum.org/ctc445/

Jamin Hübner:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2016/06/24/subordinationism-some-major-questions/

Carl Trueman:
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2016/06/the-ecumenical-consequences-of-the-peace

June 25:
Matthew Crawford:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/06/matthew-crawford-clarifying-nicene-trinitarianism-with-cyril-of-alexandria/

June 28:
Albert Mohler:
http://www.albertmohler.com/2016/06/28/heresy/

Carl Trueman (response to Mohler):
http://www.mortificationofspin.org/mos/postcards-from-palookaville/a-reply-to-dr-mohler-on-nicene-trinitarianism#.V3NPtbgrIuW

Ian Hamilton:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2016/06/the-trinitarian-debate-some-re.php

Liam Goligher:
http://www.mortificationofspin.org/mos/housewife-theologian/on-the-word-heresy#.V3ULa7grIuV

June 29:
Bobby Grow:
https://growrag.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/maximus-the-confessors-response-to-the-efs-in-the-trinity/

June 30:
Matt Emerson:
https://secundumscripturas.com/2016/06/30/an-attempt-to-arbitrate-the-trinity-debate/

July 1:
Lewis Ayres:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/07/lewis-ayres-on-the-meaning-of-nicene-orthodoxy/

July 4:
Bruce Ware:
https://secundumscripturas.com/2016/07/04/knowing-the-self-revealed-god-who-is-father-son-and-holy-spirit/

July 5:
Mark Jones:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/postcards-from-palookaville/a-fulfilled-prophecy-and-another-guest-post-from-mark-jones#.V3xvZbgrIuU

Liam Goligher:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/housewife-theologian/we-cannot-but-speak#.V3xvTrgrIuU

July 6: 
Mark Baddeley:
https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-ordered-godhead-5

Andrew Wilson:
http://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/complementarianism_in_crisis

July 7:
Todd Pruitt:
http://www.alliancenet.org/mos/1517/lets-all-be-nicene#.V35Rq6JQSvR

Darren Sumner:
https://theologyoutofbounds.wordpress.com/2016/07/07/the-heart-of-the-matter-for-eternal-subordination/

July 8:
Bruce Ware:
https://secundumscripturas.com/2016/07/08/an-open-letter-to-liam-goligher-carl-trueman-and-todd-pruitt-ontrinitarian-equality-and-distinctions-guest-post-by-bruce-ware/

A Letter to My Wife After Four Years of Seminary

Dear Arryn,

Five years ago when we were convinced of God’s call you agreed gladly and willingly to move to Jackson. You packed up all of your possessions. You packed up your children. You said goodbye to countless friends. You said goodbye to stability. You said goodbye to smooth roads (literally and metaphorically). You said goodbye to good customer service, to cool crisp breezy weather, and a nice big quiet front yard with birds chirping outside the window. You said goodbye to a cozy hometown where you could walk a block over to go to the bakery or a restaurant and a neighborhood where you felt you could walk around with your kids whenever you wanted. You said goodbye to clean air and water. You said goodbye to living near family. You said goodbye to a loving church family. You said goodbye to familiarity.

In a word, to pursue God’s call on our lives, you said goodbye to your life as you knew it. You died to yourself. Aside from Christ himself, you are the greatest model of dying to yourself that I’ve ever seen, and you do it over and over on a daily basis. I see you up close, and with a lot of people when you see them up close your admiration diminishes. I feel the exact opposite about you. The more I know you, the more I see your life, the more I observe you day in and day out, the greater my esteem for you becomes. To me, you are a hero.

For me, seminary has been a dream. Something I hoped about, fantasized about, dreamed about, for nearly 17 years. Two years after God planted this calling and desire in my heart I met you. It took 11 years together for us to get to a place where, as a family we were ready to move to Jackson for this. These last four years, with a couple of painful and difficult exceptions, have been everything I hoped seminary would be. God has used this time to prepare me, I believe, to pursue the call that I’ve sensed since I was just a 17 year old kid. In a word, seminary could not have been a better experience for me. I saw so much, learned so much, grew so much, and developed so much.

However, every day while I’ve been in class learning…every day when I’ve gotten to meet some theological hero…every day when I’ve been able to study and grow and work and write…you have been dying to yourself.

And your daily dying never stops. Whether it’s working multiple part-time jobs (taking up huge chunks of your week)…whether it’s homeschooling children who do NOT want to learn…whether it’s preparing a healthy meal for your family at the end of a long day when you’ve already been working at the clothes closet…whether it’s giving up your Saturday mornings every week so that you can clean Phil and Ginger’s house…whether it’s taking care of a whiny husband who can’t even handle a little cold…whether it’s the two years you spent on the WIM cabinet…whether it’s trying to corral four children in a little church with no nursery or anyone to help you keep them in line (all so that I can preach)…whether it’s driving a horribly crummy car that doesn’t even have a working driver’s side door lock or properly working rear door…whether it’s getting up at night with little ones who have nightmares because you know if it was me I’d never be able to get back to sleep…whether it’s the numerous challenges that every Christian faces, like living daily before the face of God and spending time with him…

You have died to yourself for the sake of me, for the sake of our children, for the sake of the Lord’s call on our family and on our lives. You have a level of honesty and integrity that I hope to aspire to. In a matter of days I will be receiving my Master of Divinity degree, and we will prepare to go to the church where God would have us serve. But you deserve an award that is more prestigious, more honorable, and that conveys my gratitude.

I believe that without exaggeration it can be said of you: “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.”

With all my Love,
Adam

We'll Figure This Out Eventually

I appreciate much of what Matthew Tuininga has to write and have read his work on the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms for years. His most recent post for Reformation 21, called "Rightly Defining the Spirituality of the Church," is commendable for what he identifies as what is often an abuse of the two kingdoms doctrine by those who are actually not consistently applying it. However, I believe that Tuininga’s proposed solution is a poor corrective:

Until advocates of the doctrine of the spirituality of the church (not to mention advocates of two kingdoms theology) come to grips with the social implications of the spiritual gospel they will not be able to make the necessary distinction between inappropriate meddling in civil and political affairs (which they rightly criticize) and the church's responsibility to proclaim the full scope of the gospel, with all of its social implications (which duty they avoid).

So Tuininga lays the blame for the abuse of spirituality of the church doctrines at the feet of those who are apparently in denial of what he says are the social implications of the gospel. He doesn’t seem to have a clear definition of “social.” On the one hand he almost seems to use the term to refer to any interpersonal interaction, but no two-kingdom or Spirituality of the church advocate that I know of is going to argue that the Gospel doesn’t change the way people live together. Instead, I take Tuininga, when he uses the word “social” to be “relating also to those outside of the Church.” Assuming that I’m working with a definition of “social” that Tuininga would find amenable, what are the social implications of the gospel? Well, Tuininga gives a few examples:

While Christ refused to take up the work of a lawyer or a civil judge in order to arbitrate a legal dispute over property (Luke 12:13-14), for instance, he had a lot to say about the way his disciples should handle their property (Luke 12:33; Cf. Acts 2:45; 2 Corinthians 9:7), demonstrate hospitality (Luke 14:12-14; Matthew 25), and reach out to various marginalized groups (Luke 5:30-32; 7:37-48; 14:12-14). While he insisted that his disciples may not use violence as do the political kingdoms of this world (John 18:36), he required them to recognize the authority of Caesar by paying taxes (Matthew 22:21), and he called them to exercise a distinctly different model of leadership (Luke 22:25-27). Likewise the Apostle Paul urged believers not to sue one another in the courts (1 Corinthians 6:7), but that did not stop him from requiring integrated worship and fellowship among Jews and Gentiles (Galatians 2) any more than it stopped James from condemning the practice of segregating worship between rich and poor (James 2:1-7). And this is to say nothing about the many things Christ and his apostles taught about social relations ranging from government and labor relations to marriage and parenting, all in light of the transforming impact of the gospel.

For the sake of clarity and simplicity, let me offer bullet-point summaries of the various social implications of the Gospel, according to Tuininga:

• The Gospel speaks to how disciples should handle their personal property.
• The Gospel speaks to how disciples should be hospitable.
• The Gospel speaks to how disciples should “reach out to various marginalized groups.”
• The Gospel speaks to how disciples should submit to the authority of the government.
• The Gospel speaks to how disciples should lead one another.
• The Gospel speaks to how disciples should treat one another in law-courts.
• The Gospel speaks to how disciples should ethnically be brought together in worship.
• The Gospel speaks to how disciples should treat one another despite economic class.

When one looks at this list, there is one thing that is glaringly absent: there is not one example of the New Testament telling the Church to speak to secular people about how to live or to the government about how to function. Every single one of these things is an instruction for the Church and for Christians, and many of them are predicated on believers’ union with Christ.

Based on the above list, the reader is able to understand what “the social implications of the spiritual gospel” are for the Church, but what are “the social implications of the spiritual gospel” for the person who does not love Jesus or who doesn’t belong to the church? For example, Paul cares a great deal about racial reconciliation within the Church, but is there any sense in which the dividing line between Jews and Gentiles has been torn down if someone isn’t united to Christ?

In the end, Tuininga’s solution leaves more questions than answers. For example:

• Apart from calling unbelievers to repent and trust in Christ, what does the Gospel have to say to those who are outside of Christ?
• What, exactly, are the political implications of the Gospel?
• What particular policies or laws must the Church advocate?
• Is there any distinction between the function of the Church and the role of an individual believer in society?
• What, exactly, is meant by “social” and “political”?

For a post called “Rightly Defining the Spirituality of the Church,” I am left scratching my head. The article seems to leave things more nebulous and less defined. If I were to propose my own solution to the social confusion Tuininga observes, it would be fourfold:

a) A clear understanding of what “The Gospel” is.
b) A clear understanding of what “The Church” is.
c) A clear understanding of what is meant by the term “social.”
d) A clear understanding of what the mission of the Church is.

All four of these things are severely lacking in current debates over the Church’s role in society, and as long as they are undefined there will continue to be confusion, a lack of clarity, and a pattern of parties talking past one another.

Book Review: The Lord's Supper as a Means of Grace by Richard Barcellos

I have been eager to read Richard Barcellos’ book The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace: More Than a Memory for a number of years. It’s a pity it took me this long to get around to it, because I found it a great benefit to my own understanding of the Lord’s Supper and even a blessing to my soul. It is true that there are more comprehensive books on the subject of the Lord’s Supper from a Reformed perspective (Hughes Oliphant Old’s book Holy Communion in the Piety of the Reformed Church, weighing in at 900+ pages comes to mind). In contrast, however, to the thorough, historically oriented approach of Old, Barcellos’ book is short, nimble, and to the point. Rather than a hulking and intimidating juggernaut, Barcellos’ little book operates more as a special forces team intent on accomplishing one task, and I think it succeeds at that task. What that means is that Barcellos’ book is a book that I believe any pastor should feel comfortable sharing with their parishioners.

Barcellos’ readers do not have to wonder what the book is trying to accomplish; they need only read the cover. The title is repeated numerous times throughout the book, leaving no doubt what Barcellos intends to argue for. In the current evangelical context it is the overwhelming opinion of the day that the Lord’s Supper is only a meal of remembrance (though it is certainly that — 1 Cor. 11:24). But Barcellos argues that there is more to the Lord’s Supper than a pointing to the past. The Lord’s Supper also embodies elements of the present and future work of Christ (34). Instead of a past remembrance, Barcellos says, the Lord’s Supper is something God does. He quotes Bavinck to this effect: “Of primary importance in the Lord’s Supper is what God does, not what we do. The Lord’s supper is above all a gift of God, a benefit of Christ, a means of communicating his grace” (Bavinck Reformed Dogmatics, 4:567).

Barcellos spends the entire book making the case that “the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace through which Christ is present by his divine nature and through which the Holy Spirit nourishes the souls of believers with the benefits with the benefits wrought for us in Christ’s human nature which is now glorified and in heaven at the right hand of the Father” (103). This is Barcellos’ whole argument that he spends the book pressing upon the reader. This clear purpose lends the book a sense of laser focus.

Barcellos’ case begins with what he says is “the most explicit text in the New Testament…on the nature of the Lord’s supper as a means of grace” (104) — 1 Corinthians 10:16: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” Barcellos spends time arguing that Paul is doing something more than adding meaning to a memorial meal; he is arguing that the meal effects the present enjoyment of the benefits of Christ’s work on behalf of the believer.

This leaves a legitimate question, which Barcellos turns his attention to: how does God do this? How do believers receive the benefits of Christ’s work by partaking of the bread and the cup? He rejects (for biblical reasons which he enunciates) an ex opere operato understanding of the Lord's Supper. There is nothing in the elements themselves that bring the Lord's Supper to effect. And so how does God work through the Lord's Supper? To answer this he turns his attention to Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Barcellos offers a rigorous exegesis of the passage. He concludes that the work of redemption take place as a Trinitarian effort, but the benefits are brought to the believer through the work of the Holy Spirit. “Through the Lord’s Supper, communion with Christ and the benefits of his blood and body take place. This communion is effected by the Holy Spirit, the bearer of blessings from the Father because of the work of the Son. This is how the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace” (70). This really is the central claim of the entire book, and the remainder of it is focused on buttressing it.

Barcellos strengthens this claim by arguing (based on Eph. 3:16-17) that because prayer is also a means of grace and that “since prayer is offered during the Supper, our Father sends the Spirit in answer to prayer and he blesses the Supper producing further communion between the Redeemer and his people on earth” (105).

Among the most enjoyable parts of this book is Barcellos’ discussion of the practical implications of understanding the Lord’s Supper as a means of grace. First, he says, this implies that we do more than simply remember Christ’s work. There are past, present, and future dimensions to the Lord’s Supper that are simply not enjoyed in a memorialist understanding of the Supper.

Secondly, Barcellos says, the Lord’s Supper isn’t only to be characterized by a grim funereal atmosphere. Instead, he says (based in a very brief discussion of 1 Cor. 11:28) that “though seriousness and reverence and awe are certainly appropriate, joy and hope ought to have their place as well because we are feasting upon Christ, further tasting that the Lord is good, and being helped along as pilgrims in a foreign land…The Lord’s Supper is a joy and hope-inducing ordinance. It gives us renewed confidence that our sins are forgiven, that Christ is ours and we are his, and an expectation of more of Christ to come” (110).

Third, he argues that the frequency of the Lord’s Supper really ought to be frequent. If, in fact, this is a means of grace, why don’t we observe it as frequently as the other means of grace (prayer and the preaching of the Word)? Put another way, Barcellos asks why we resist observing the other means of grace as infrequently as many do the Supper? He offers some answers of his own, but even the question itself gives readers something to ponder for themselves.

Barcellos’ final practical implication is that the Lord’s Supper’s connections with the past, present, and future means that pastors ought to point these dimensions out when administering the elements. The Lord’s Supper is a looking back to Christ’s sacrifice for his people. It is a present enjoyment of the benefits of redemption. It is also a foretaste of what Christ will usher in with the age-to-come. Partaking of the Lord's Supper by faith really is an all-encompassing, existential, and eschatological experience. Pastors should drive this reality home more often.

Among this book’s strengths are its focus, its refusal to get side-tracked, and its commitment to first and foremost reflect the Scriptural teaching on the Lord’s Supper. Barcellos is careful to spend a chapter showing that his position is also reflected in the Reformed confessions. He wants his readers to know that his view is no theological novelty. Ultimately, if there was only one book I could point a busy neophyte to, it would probably be this book because of its brevity (it is only 114 pages long), its focus, its Scriptural rigor, its Reformed confessional commitment, and its clarity.

I Give You Permission to Cry Over This Video Game

You’ve probably never played a game like That Dragon, Cancer. In fact, it definitely feels denigrating to call it a “game.” It’s really difficult to explain That Dragon, Cancer. The game was made by Ryan and Amy Green, and it was a project that began while their son Joel was going through cancer treatments. You can read about their story in many places (I hope you will do so), and there is even a documentary airing on PBS later this year about their family’s journey.

A few things you might be interested to know is that the Greens are Christians, and as you move through the game you play games with little Joel, you experience beautiful moments of light, but you also share in their hurt, in their fear, and their fight for faith and hope in God in the midst of hopelessness. The game portrays in a very authentic way the prayers and fears of very real human beings. There are no caricatures here. There are no stereotypes here. This is a game about real Christian people going through a real experience, and you are there with them almost every step of the way. In that sense, this game is almost an empathy simulator.

I am usually a stoic. My wife has probably seen me cry only a handful of times in 15 years of marriage. This game gave me my first real cry (very cathartic) in a long, long time. It happened sporadically throughout the whole game, but it really happened near the end of the game. Most of the time you believe this is a game about Ryan and Amy, about their grief and pain. But somewhere near the end, after Joel’s death there is this scene that they call “Picnic at the Edge of the World” and there is this moment where little Joel is sitting in the bow of the row boat, approaching the other shore, staring expectantly. The boat moves slowly. The stars are shining down and reflecting off of the water. You sit behind him in the boat and you see his little legs tucked under him as he stares at the other shore in anticipation. It is an utterly transcendent moment. It is something I have imagined for myself since I was a teenager who began to contemplate the reality that I too would someday die, pass from this realm into the next. And yet in this moment in the game, you realize this really is not the story of Ryan or Amy. No, this is Joel’s story. This is Joel’s journey. And the story has always been about his short journey in this life. A journey that was troubled and painful nearly from the very beginning.

It’s in this moment with Joel in the bow of the boat that I stopped for a moment thinking about Joel. I was suddenly thinking of my own two little ones, Titus and Tish. We lost them years ago, and if they were alive today they would be over a decade old now. A twin boy and girl. Sometimes I can see them running, holding hands, and playing. They’re there, but I can’t see their faces. I have to imagine it. But in this instance I was reminded that they had taken the same journey Joel was taking — two covenant children, beloved by believing parents, known for so short a time in this life, now watching from the other side, expectant, with an enlarged capacity for joy and made holy by the God who knit them together in their mother’s womb. Awaiting Mom and Dad’s arrival. I was struck with a sense that I will be there with them some day. As David said of his own child after the Lord took him, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Sam 12:23).

But not yet. And here I am now, crying, wiping away tears, not at all feeling silly for crying at a video game. For me, That Dragon, Cancer was less of a video game and more of a transcendent reminder that death is coming for all of us, and overjoyed to know that Christ has given us full entree to think of That Dragon as a toothless, ultimately defanged enemy.