A Great Paragraph on God’s Macro & Micro Concerns

Luke Geraty —  May 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

Consider the following:

“Cosmic restoration—nothing less adequately describes God’s mission. In fact, God has committed himself not only to re-create his universe to its original, spectacular condition but also—as the Bible’s apocalyptic literature attempts to convey—to display added, inexpressible magnificence in the coming new heaven and new earth. The God of the Bible is a big God, and his mission is a big mission.

God’s mission also concerns micro needs and situations. What happens to an infant, an elderly woman, a child fending for his own in one of the world’s countless urban slums, as well as any nonhuman creature, big or small, falls within God’s deep love and concern. You and I are dependent on God as our provider, counselor, and king. It is in very personal ways that you and I serve God, participate in his mission, and experience his ongoing presence.” (from The Glory of God)

Thoughts?

In Quotes, Worship
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Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul, by Lars Kierspel

Luke Geraty —  May 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

Have you ever wanted a resource that you could easily turn to in order to get a detailed overview of specific details related to Pauline theology? Most of us are aware of Fee’s work on Pauline Christology and Pauline Pneumatology, but what about something a bit more broad? Where can one turn in order to understand Paul’s perspective on soteriology and eschatology while paying attention to the historical story-line of Paul’s life? Robert Reymond’s Paul, Missionary Theologian was an excellent step in that direction, but isn’t as comprehensive as some NT scholars and students will like.

Along comes Lars Kierspel with his latest contribution to the Kregel Charts of the Bible series, Charts of the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul. Like the other contributions in this series, it’s extremely user-friendly. The author covers four sections of Pauline issues:

  • Paul’s Background & Context
  • Paul’s Life & Ministry
  • Paul’s Letters
  • Paul’s Theological Concepts

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In New Testament , , , ,
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On John Piper’s Twister Tweet

Luke Geraty —  May 22, 2013 — 2 Comments

There’s quite the stir over a recent tweet that John Piper made:

I appreciate a lot of what Nate Pyle wrote. I think Piper’s tweet could certainly have been misunderstood, which is probably why Piper went on to remove the tweet and posted a more compassionate thought on the devastation experienced this past week. Pyle’s concerns about being sensitive are well worth your read, regardless of whether you are in the “neo-reformed” world or not. It’s far more constructive than what is found in Rachel Held Evan’s diatribe. I won’t even begin to point out the problems I have with her rant.

I was reading through some social media responses and saw that someone actually referred to Piper’s post as “ consistently cruel and unhelpful offerings” and other statements that addressed Piper as a “arrogant and insensitive” pastor. Others seem to think that Piper represents all Calvinists and, therefore, all are guilty of the same alleged “insensitivity.”

Perhaps I can share a few thoughts I have. They won’t probably mean much to some, but these are things that have been floating around in my head all morning…
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Correcting the Popular Notion that the Church was Born at Pentecost

Luke Geraty —  May 20, 2013 — 7 Comments

Scott Lencke has a good post up on why he doesn’t believe we should believe the popular idea that the church was born at Pentecost (Acts 2). Scott lays out some very good reasons why we should see God’s people through the lens of continuity rather than trying to divide Israel and the Church up. You’d do well to check out Scott’s thoughts.

In the charismatic world, I think you find a lot of preaching that tends to force very sharp distinctions between the Old Testament’s Israel and the New Testament’s Church. It’s common to hear things about people in the OT being saved by their works and people in the NT being saved by faith (I’ve blogged before why I totally disagree with that). There’s also a lot of preaching that tends to connects Acts 2 to the birth of God’s people, the Church, while almost completely ignoring God’s previous work in Israel. It’s almost as if some of the preaching I have heard reduces the Holy Spirit as being absent until Acts 2. This makes for some good “Pentecostal” preaching because you can then emphasize that the things that happened in Acts 2 can happen today, so get ready for Spirit baptism (at least that’s how these types of sermons come across).
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In Biblical Theology, Charismatic Theology, Ecclesiology, Israel , , , , , , ,
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Why Cities Matter, by Stephen T. Um & Justin Buzzard

Luke Geraty —  May 8, 2013 — Leave a comment

"Why Cities Matter"I recently worked through Why Cities Matter: To God, Culture, and the Church, written by Stephen T. Um and Justin Buzzard. Truth be told, I expected the book to champion the typical “big city equals big church equals effectiveness” type of thinking that’s heralded by some church growth thinkers. I’m assumed it would, once again, place cities at the forefront of all church planting and ministry efforts.

To my surprise, it didn’t rub me negatively! As many of you well know, I’m a huge advocate for a renewal of focus upon rural church ministry and rural church planting. I think many of the models and systems that are suggested for cities are often not as effective in rural communities or small churches. That’s why we find many pastors saying things like, “I tried so and so’s model and it just didn’t work here.”

The authors are clearly passionate about biblical revelation and being culturally aware. If I had to simplify the books main ideas, as I understood them, they would be as follows: Continue Reading…

In Reviews
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The Problem of Sin is Not the Purpose of the Gospel

Able Baker —  May 7, 2013 — 2 Comments

Spring is here and one of my favorite things to do is go after weeds with my weed eater. I hate pulling weeds. I also hate killing weeds with weed killer because it makes much of my yard brown, not green. Most of my yard is not actually grass. I will just say right up front that I am more interested in a green front yard than I am with a grass-weed distinction. I don’t have time for making sure my front yard is pure grass; but I have time to make weeds resemble grass. I basically maintain the color green so that my neighbors might think I’m somewhat responsible.

Similar to the way many would not be convinced that I am really dealing with my weed problem by cutting stems, I am not convinced that the purpose of the gospel is to save me or get me to heaven. I’m not convinced that the purpose of the gospel is even directed at sin in and of itself. Sin is simply the flowering head of evil. Our moral and natural problem as image bearers is not one of sin, but evil. I think The gospel’s first purpose is to comprehensively, ruthlessly and effectively address the problem of evil.
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In Gospel, Messy Church, Missional, Soteriology , , ,
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Practically Assessing “Revival”

Luke Geraty —  May 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

Revival!!Jonathan Edwards isn’t always known for being one of the most available theologians to read. People often find his writing style beyond the scope of “easy reading.” Yet there are numerous reasons why he’s still a huge benefit for the church. There is, of course, a renewed interest in Edwards and you’ll find that by the numerous volumes of scholarly literature covering his life and theology.

One of the helpful ways in which Edwards is still relevant today is through his thinking in his infamous Religious Affections. When the Great Awakening was in full swing, there were many critics and many advocates for what appeared to be a move of God. In all of my reading on revival, this is common. So how can we discern if a “revival” is a work of God? According to Edwards, there are some negative signs and some positive signs. Throughout these cautions and positive signs, I think Edwards intended for us to obviously be cautious but to be very careful to not resist or quench the work of the Holy Spirit. So what are these cautions and positive signs?
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In Messy Church, Pneumatology, Revival , ,
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Show Grace to the Fat People in Your Church

Able Baker —  May 2, 2013 — 3 Comments

That's one huge burger!Before I get to my thoughts concerning the issue of fat people and the church I should begin by making it clear that the bible is overwhelmingly against the lust of food and those who practice such wickedness. The activity of gluttony is a sin. (Phil. 3:19, Prov. 23:20-21, Prov. 23:2, 1 Cor. 3:16-17, Prov. 6:16-19) One needs to understand that gluttony is actually the result of two very simple things denying and disobeying God. Fat people are actually a perfect picture of what happens when God “gives them over” (Rom. 1:26-32) to their sin and unbelief. God “gives them over” so that they might experience the hopelessness of a life apart from Him. After this experience of being given over hopefully they will see their error, repent and turn to Him before it’s too late (1 Cor. 6:9).  So I want to make it clear that in no way do I condone the fat lifestyle.
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In Humor, Messy Church, Missional , , , ,
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Learning, Listening, & Engaging: My Interaction with Jehovah Witnesses

Luke Geraty —  April 30, 2013 — 9 Comments

Engaging Jehovah WitnessesToday I had a scheduled meeting with two Jehovah Witnesses (JW’s to save space) to discuss the Bible and our religious beliefs. A friend from the church I serve had been approach by them and invited me to come and to talk. I was excited to sit down and have a conversation with them and to learn about their views. I honestly don’t know much about JW’s and have only read a few books on them, but that was a number of years ago.

Anyway, I went into the discussion with several things I wanted to do:

  • I went to be a learner.
  • I went to ask questions.
  • I went to listen.
  • I went to begin a relationship.

Those were my intentions. I was thinking through having dialogue with James 1:19 (listening) and 1 Corinthians 13 in mind (love). Here’s what happened:
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In Apologetics , , , , ,
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A Political Rant Born From a Deeper Theological Conviction than “Americanism”

Luke Geraty —  April 23, 2013 — 10 Comments

American FlagMake no mistake, when it comes to politics, I am not left leaning nor “liberal.” Those terms are fast losing meaning, but when I think about social issues and politics, I know that I do not fall in line with many of the ideas that my Democrat friends suggest. I am not going to list all of them, but I will simply say that I believe that many of the “freedoms” and “rights” that Democrats advocate are, in fact, enslaving people. And I’m equally concerned that many in this left-winged contingent talk a lot about “equal rights” but clearly intend to silence any and all voices suggesting some form of morality that transcends what is decided by popularity. There is, as I see it, a concerted effort to silence any voice that suggests there is a Creator who has sovereign rule over all of creation. Christians are not the only victims of this too. It’s fast becoming popular to talk out of both sides of the mouth. One side says people need to be equal and allowed the freedom of expression and out the other side of the mouth are made statements to reduce any and all influence from Jews, Christians, and Muslims (and others). So please do not accuse me of being a “liberal” by what I am about to say.

I’ve seen several posts on social media advocating a picture as a “way forward” in terms of political policy. It looks like this:
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In Across the Web, Politics, The Kingdom of God , , , , , ,
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My Initial Thoughts on Theology, the Church, & Social Media

Luke Geraty —  April 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

Today I participated in a panel discussion at the Society of Vineyard Scholars’ annual meeting entitled, “Theology, the Church, and Social Media.” It was rather informal and we had some good dialogue that essentially proved that all of the participants essentially agreed on most issues (I think). We even learned that a man from Africa named Peter actually flew from Africa in order to hear our presentation… which was very humbling. At any rate, here are the thoughts that I shared:

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When this panel began discussing the different issues related to this topic, we acknowledged that we needed to provide some sort of definition of “social media” to kind of build upon. Being such technically precise and responsible scholars that we are, we turned to one of the most scholarly resources known to undergraduates – wikipedia. Wikipedia provides a starting point toward defining “social media”:

“Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.”[1]

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In Social Media, Technology, The Kingdom of God , , , ,
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Should a Formally Educated Pastor Serve Under a Less Educated Pastor?

Luke Geraty —  April 18, 2013 — 1 Comment

Education vs. ExperienceA friend of mine asked me the following question:

“Would you go work in a church under another pastor where you have a masters and he only has a bible college degree?”

I think this is actually a very important question. I think it’s entirely possible for pastors to serve alongside or even under the authority of another when they have more formal education. I actually think such diversity can be very healthy for the local church. Who wouldn’t want a pastor who has a graduate degree and a pastor who has years of experiencing both offering their gifting and abilities to the church?

Yet there are some obstacles that need to be considered. Before I would venture into this situation, I think some questions need to be asked:
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In Church Planting, Conflict Resolution, Leadership, Theological Training , , , , ,
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Flying to Anaheim for the Society of Vineyard Scholars’ Annual Meeting

Luke Geraty —  April 17, 2013 — Leave a comment

I was supposed to fly to Anaheim today for the Society of Vineyard Scholars’ annual meeting. But then a nice little ice storm shut down almost all flights heading west. So I ended up spending one more day in Minneapolis with my parents and will be getting on a plane at 6am.

Tomorrow afternoon I’m participating in a panel discussion called, “Social Media, Theology, and the Church.” I’m excited to share a few thoughts I have and then to learn from the other panelists.

The highlight will be seeing all of the wonderful people that I’ve developed relationships with and to hear some fine papers presented by different scholars in the Vineyard Movement. I’ll try and blog some reflections throughout the week.

In The Vineyard Movement , , , ,
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Dealing with People Who Don’t Listen: 5 Practical Ways to Demonstrate the Spirit

Luke Geraty —  April 9, 2013 — 4 Comments

5 Ways to Deal w/ Difficult PeopleWhen I first started pastoring, I was told by numerous people that it would take a number of years before people would respect my views. In many ways, the first few years of serving as a pastor is spent earning people’s trust. Can you be trusted? Will you be leaving soon? Are you really one of us or are you just someone who yells at us every week? Those are the types of questions initially running subtly through the minds of many people. So I just buckled up and focused on doing what I thought pastors do… pray, teach the Bible, answer people’s questions, and help where I could.

After a few years of being at Trinity Christian Fellowship, I noticed a peculiar thing happen. It took a few years for our church to actually start growing, but as new people started attending our church, I was their pastor. Yes, you read that right. I wasn’t their interim pastor or just their preacher, I noticed that I was a functional pastoral person in their life. They actually came to me with their problems and wanted counseling, as scary as that might sound. It was actually a bit overwhelming because it felt like it happened overnight. I went from spending all week studying my Bible and praying and having very little interaction with people problems to constantly hearing about broken marriages and relationship issues and parenting problems. And then, a little later, people who had been in our community for awhile transitioned from approaching me in a distant way to allowing me to pastor them too. These people, as I understand it, simply came to a place where they could trust me and understood that I was there to help.

But not everyone did and not everyone does.
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In Charismatic Theology, Christian Living, Conflict Resolution, Leadership , , ,
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D. A. Carson on Sale @ Logos!

Luke Geraty —  April 5, 2013 — Leave a comment

D. A. Carson won this year’s Logos March Madness. Many of his books are extremely cheap right now, so if you have Logos Software, you should pick some up. I highly recommend that everyone own copies of his Exegetical Fallacies, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Cor. 12-14, and his Pillar Commentary on The Gospel of John. These are some of the best books on the subjects addressed. You will not want to pass this by. You can save 75% off of his works!

You’ll also be pleased to find that you can save 50% off of N. T. Wright. I don’t know about you, but these are great savings!

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On Finding Quotes on the Resurrection for Easter…

Luke Geraty —  March 31, 2013 — Leave a comment

This past week I read a lot on the Resurrection. This time of year always gives me opportunity to turn afresh to books that I haven’t looked at for awhile. So I read a lot of books and articles on the subject.

I wanted to post a quote, today, on the Resurrection. But there were too many. I’d rather have you just purchase a copy of N. T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God and read for yourself. It’s such a fantastic book… not perfect, but not ignorable. So that’s my quote: Get Wright’s book. Bam.

Anyway, Happy Resurrection Day!

 

In Christology, New Testament , ,
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Devote Yourself to the Public Reading of Scripture, by Jeffrey D. Arthurs

Luke Geraty —  March 21, 2013 — Leave a comment

Many suggest that the modern church no longer values the public reading of Scripture. There are a variety of reasons for this, from a lower view of the authority, sufficiency, and value of Scripture to the sad fact that when the Bible is read, it is often read poorly. The very word of life (Phil. 2:16) is read in a way that suggests it is the word of boredom or, worse yet, the word of death.

Jeffrey D. Arthurs’ book, Devote Yourself to the Public Reading of Scripture, seeks to both address this and correct this by way of providing a helpful training resource for those who read Scripture publicly.

Arthur’s introduction illustrates the necessity of his work by stating that while the “Word of God is bread for our souls” and that “we are fed when we hear the Word well read,” the sad fact is that the public reading of Scripture is often done poorly. He goes on to write,

“Unfortunately, when it is not read well, listeners do not ingest it. Scripture reading is often the low point of an already lethargic service. Surveys of church members rank the public reading of Scripture as one of the dullest portions of the gathering.”

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In Preaching, Reviews, Scripture , ,
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Everyday Church, by Tim Chester & Steve Timmis

Luke Geraty —  March 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

Fair warning. I am a huge fan of just about everything that I read from Tim Chester. It’s borderline “fan boy” status. Some people like Piper or Driscoll or Warren or Stetzer a lot. I like Chester a lot. What he writes about the gospel and about community resonates in my soul.

So you should be not be surprised that I read his latest book, written with Steve Timmis, and loved it. Actually, I love Steve Timmis too.

Their new book, Everyday Church: Gospel Communities on Mission, is really a continuation of the gospel-centered missional community that they wrote about in their phenomenally helpful book, Total Church. You might remember that Total Church was one of the four church planting resources that I thought every planter should own.
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The Good News of the Kingdom Brings Transformation

Luke Geraty —  March 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

“The good news of the gospel is that the hostility of the heart toward God and disordered love toward others are transformed into new affections with a new disposition toward God and all that he desires for his creation.” (Anthony B. Bradley in The Kingdom of God, 230)

God, I pray that you would fill your people with your Spirit so that we would live out this new disposition towards God and his creation. May we please you in how we are transferred from a life of hostility to a life of peace. Amen.

In Conflict Resolution, The Kingdom of God
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Changing Views on Baptism Requires Deep Reflection

Luke Geraty —  March 12, 2013 — 3 Comments

There’s a really good blog by Gavin Ortlund at the Gospel Coalition titled, “Why I Changed My Mind About Baptism.” Ortlund lays out why he went from being an evangelical paedobaptist, affiliated with Presbyterians, to becoming a credobaptist. It’s quite fantastic because it raises the same issues I find in regards to continuity and discontinuity between the Old Covenant and the New. There are areas of continuity, but advocates of paedobaptism do not, in my opinion, handle the discontinuity well. You’d do well to read his blog.

 

In Baptism
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