One of my seminary professors, Dr. Carl Trueman, offers some excellent insights into the recent Ted Haggard affair. It's a somewhat lengthy commentary, but worth the time to read it. A church historian, Trueman applies some lessons from ancient church history (that's right!) to help us understand not just the dynamics of this particular man's fall into scandal, but the dangerous nature of church leadership itself.
Trueman's thoughts on what makes popular Christian leaders both so powerful and vulnerable at the same time are especially incisive. I recommend this article to you.
Here it is:
http://www.reformation21.org/Counterpoints/Counterpoints/278/vobId__4684/.
And, while you're at it, take a minute to look at the main website: www.reformation21.org. An excellent source to have on the web!
In the wide spectrum of Christian faith and practice, my church - the Presbyterian church - belongs to that part known as the Reformed tradition. Reformed churches are so called mainly because they trace their theology and practice back to the Reformation.
The only problem with the label “Reformed” is that it means different things to different people. For many Christians, “Reformed” is equated with the five petals from our favorite flower, "TULIP" – Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, Perseverance of the saints.
As much as I love these teachings, and believe they are Scriptural, to limit the Reformed tradition to five bullet points is misleading. The Reformers and their heirs had a far more comprehensive understanding of biblical teaching, and the life that flows from it, than this.
Which is why I’m glad that Dr. Horton has written the book that he did, “God of Promise”. Horton’s aim in the book is to explain what is really a better summary of Reformed theology. And that is, covenant theology. As he puts it, “Reformed theology is synonymous with covenant theology” (pg. 11). I’m glad Horton wrote this book not because I’m overly concerned about the purity of labels, but because I believe the evangelical church today could use a strong dose of Reformed teaching, both in her doctrine and in her practice.
Horton not only explains what covenant theology is all about, but unpacks many of its important implications. First, he defines and describes what the Bible means by the term “covenant”. He relies heavily on the insights of scholars who have studied extrabiblical covenants from the ancient Near East to help define the kinds of covenants we find in Scripture. He then builds on that discussion to affirm and describe the basic structure of covenant theology with its pre-Creation covenant of redemption between the members of the Trinity, the covenant of works between God and Adam, and the covenant of grace between God and Christ, and all those who belong to Christ. At the risk of oversimplification, essentially the first is God’s plan to redeem a people for Himself, the second is the way of eternal life that was first offered to Adam, that is, perfect obedience (thus, “works”), and the third is the new way of attaining eternal life after the fall, faith in Christ (apart from works, hence, it is by grace).
Horton’s overall explanation of covenant was helpful (with this caveat: he could have simplified it by relegating much of the text to the endnotes). I’m not as convinced as he is that the covenant at Sinai, including the Ten Commandments, should primarily be considered a republication of the covenant of works (and thus, abrogated by the new covenant in Christ). While I agree that this underlines the fact that justification is a matter of grace and not of law-keeping, I’m not sure how to square this understanding of the law with his own very good explanation of the place of the law in the Christian life in the last chapter.
Maybe Horton’s most valuable work in the book is to spell out the implications of such an understanding of God’s dealings with his people. For example, covenant, since it is by nature God’s dealings with a group of people, is a powerful antidote to the individualism in today’s church. Horton especially does a good job of showing how the Lord’s Supper, as a covenant ratification ceremony, has a lot to do with the community of believers and less to do with the individual Christian’s participation in it. Other implications of covenant theology include our understanding of the church and the world, the nation of Israel, the place and function of the law in the life of the Christian, eschatology, and the efficacy of the sacraments as real means of grace.
These are the very aspects of Reformed theology and life that are obscured when we see the Reformed tradition as nothing more than an affirmation of God’s sovereignty in salvation. It is that, of course, but it is also a comprehensive understanding of how we, as God’s covenant people in this sin-cursed but good creation, are to think and live to the honor of our Creator and Redeemer God.
Horton has many good things to say and a number of helpful insights. The only problem is that sometimes the book is difficult to follow. His flow of thought was at times jumpy and unclear. It made for tough going in places.
The subtitle is “Introducing Covenant Theology,” but it doesn’t always read as an introduction. For example, in the space of 3 pages he uses the following technical words with little or no explanation: “pericope”, “shekinah”, “deus nudus”, and “semi-eschatological age” (pgs. 141-143). Too many of these words and the average reader will give up, thinking he’s gotten in over his head.
My hope is that someday this book will be rewritten as a true introduction. Covenant theology is too rich and valuable for just a few Christian folks (and in the big picture, at least in this country, Reformed people are just a smattering after all) to hoard it all.
We had a very relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving Day today. My parents, "Gran" and "Papa Paul" to their grandkids, joined us this year for the holiday.
For the past several years, we have prepared two turkeys for Thanksgiving. Robyn roasts one in the oven and I cook one on the grill. We did the same this year.
As for the meal itself, everything was delicious as it should be. We had grilled turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry chutney, brown rice stuffing, asparagas casserole, green beans, banana bread, and pumpkin cheesecake and pecan pie for dessert. A true feast!
This morning before I put the bird on the grill, I roasted the last of some green coffee beans Robyn had given me a while ago as a present. I over-roasted the beans a tad, which made the coffee a little bitter. But, there is nothing like coffee made from fresh-roasted beans. Also before the main feast, we had a brunch with waffles and apple sauce.
We also watched some T.V. today. This morning we caught the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Then after the big meal, it was "Pollyanna" on DVD.
That was Thanksgiving Day at the Johnsons'. The best part of the day, except of course for the food, was just to have the time off from our usual responsibilities and work (although Robyn didn't get much of a break from cooking!).
Yesterday, Robyn's mom e-mailed me and asked me to compose a Thanksgiving Day prayer that she could read before their family meal in Wisconsin. Here is what I wrote:
Almighty God and Father in Heaven,
On this day of thanksgiving, we bow our hearts before you to bless and praise your holy name.
You alone, O Lord, are the source of all good and the giver of every good and perfect gift.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, both for those here today, and for those who are gathered elsewhere.
We thank you for the health and strength you have given to us. When you have withheld these blessings from us, we thank you that you are the God of all comfort who is able to bear us up and encourage our hearts in times of suffering.
We thank you for your faithful provision of our daily bread. We thank you for this Thanksgiving Day meal before us, and for the hands that have prepared it.
We thank you for the freedom you have given us in this land to serve and worship you without fear of persecution, and we thank you for the sacrifices of those men and women who have been called to protect this freedom.
Most of all, we thank you for every spiritual blessing you give to your people in Jesus Christ your Son. As we enjoy the countless blessings you give to us during this earthly life, may we never fail to seek that greater blessing of eternal life that is found only in Him.
We lift up to you this prayer of thanksgiving in name of the One and Only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
With Thanksgiving Day in mind, I preached on Luke 17:11-19 this past Sunday morning. In this passage, Jesus heals ten lepers but only one, a Samaritan, returns to Christ to give him thanks. The main point of my message was that wherever there is true faith and trust in Christ, there will also be heart-felt thanksgiving to him for his mercies. The Samaritan showed his faith in giving thanks to Jesus. In response to his exuberant thanksgiving, Jesus confirms him in his faith by saying, "your faith has saved you" (v.19). In response to the good news of the death and resurrection of Christ to save us from our sins, the question that presses upon us is not just, "Do I believe this gospel?", but also, "Do I give thanks to God for this gospel?".
That was the jist of my message on Sunday morning. But another thought occurred to me as I was reflecting on the passage. It is interesting that Jesus tells all ten men to "Go and show yourselves to the priests" (v.14), when one of them is a Samaritan. I am no expert on the religious and social circumstances of Jesus' day, but I do know that Samaritans were not part of Israel's religious life. For that reason, I would think that a Samaritan would not go to the Jewish priests for inspection of his (now-healed) leprosy as the Jews would have done.
If that is the case, perhaps the Samaritan's going to Christ rather than to the priests is a subtle testimony to the truth that Christ is the new Priest and the new Temple. The Samaritan is one step ahead of the Jews in his understanding of the times. Although it was Christ who commanded the lepers to go to the priests, it would not be long before the function of the Israelite priesthood would be fully taken up by him in his mediatorial work before God on behalf of sinners. The Samaritan, in anticipation of this, goes not to the current priests of the old covenant but directly to the One who would soon establish himself as the High Priest of the new covenant (Heb. 8).
Robyn and I, like all parents of young children, face the challenge of trying to channel, suppress, or somehow control the enormous amount of energy that our kids possess. Recently I've tried a new tactic: jogging with Meredith, our 5-year old. We've gone jogging three times so far, each time for 15 minutes. I've been impressed with how well she does, but then again, it shouldn't be surprising that this girl who can talk and fidget non-stop for hours should be able to jog for 15 minutes. The results have been good, so far. Last night she actually went to sleep at bedtime. Of course, she complains about the running, but I think deep down she really enjoys it! At least I know I do.
The day after Meredith, our first child, was born, the doctor deadpanned, “Now all you’ve got to do is raise her.” The intense labor and delivery was over, but the real challenge of being parents was just beginning. Here we had a precious little girl, and I was her father! Now, Lord willing, we are going to have our fourth child and third daughter in March (somehow, we also produced a son). Being a dad to my son doesn’t seem nearly as intimidating as being a dad to my daughters. For that reason, when I saw an ad in World Magazine for a book called “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters – 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know,” I figured I’d give it a try.
The author is a pediatrician, Dr. Meg Meeker. Her fundamental aim is to encourage fathers to make the necessary effort to provide the kind of leadership, authority, and love that daughters need from their dads. Anyone committed to a biblical view of the family, especially of the importance of the father in the life of the children, will not quarrel with Dr. Meeker’s basic point.
In the book, Dr. Meeker paints a very scary picture of our culture, one that seems almost designed to destroy the lives of girls and young women. Sexual images are ubiquitous, driving home the point to girls that their primary value lies in their bodies and appearance. Moral relativism has replaced whatever Christian ethic may have kept teenage sexual activity in check. The result of all this is that our nation’s girls are being devastated by the consequences of our culture’s promotion of boundary-free sex: from STD’s to depression to just plain confusion about how to live in this world. The statistics and studies that Dr. Meeker cites are eye-opening. About the worst thing we can do for our daughters is let the culture be their primary teacher about who they are, what they are to believe, and what they are to do. Yet that is what is happening.
The good news is fathers are able to shape their daughters hearts and minds like no one else can. A dad is a hero in the eyes of his daughter. She craves his love and attention. A daughter will one day look for a husband that is like her father. A father can teach his daughter modesty, and humility, and how to serve others rather than herself. I was thankful to be reminded of all these truths. Most helpful was the simple but profound truth that, as a dad, I occupy a huge place in the minds of my daughters. Dr. Meeker puts it this way: “Realize who you are to her.”
“Strong Fathers” certainly isn’t written from a strong biblical world-and-life perspective (though Dr. Meeker will probably sound like a fundamentalist to some who don’t question our culture’s confused understanding of family). In fact, the most disappointing chapter for me was “Teach Her Who God Is”. It almost sounded as though she was saying: “Give her God – it doesn’t really matter which one – and she will be a healthier and more well-adjusted person.” Is that really why we worship and serve God – to make our families better and happier? Of course not, but that is the kind of utilitarian approach to religion Dr. Meeker seems to endorse in the book.
Despite that, though, there is much value here. If you are a Christian father of daughters, your goal, more than anything else, is to communicate truth to your girls about their Heavenly Father. If you read her book with some discernment, and keep in mind the biblical principles that underlie her basic points, Dr. Meeker has much help to offer those dads who have been given the precious but daunting call to be a girl's father.
Each year our family sends out a Thanksgiving letter to family and friends, in order to convey our greetings and report on the previous year's happenings. We've done a "Thanksgiving" letter instead of a Christmas letter, because we wanted both to focus on giving thanks to God for his goodness to us, and to beat the rush and get our letters out before the madness of the holiday season.
Here is the letter that we are sending out this year:
Johnson Family Thanksgiving Letter - 2006
This year we can sum up our news quickly: 1. the kids are getting bigger, 2. we are adding a new baby girl to the group in March, 3. we had a very trying and sad week in April when Robyn’s grandmother died and we suffered a miscarriage, and 4. our favorite baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals, won the World Series!!
Rather than rehearsing all the details of our lives the past year, we thought you’d enjoy hearing from the kids. These are quotes that Robyn recorded throughout the course of the last twelve months, starting in December of 2005.
December. Sander wore cute Dockers (from Aunt Maryan) with a little belt to church the other day. I was commenting on how sweet he looked when Meredith said, “Yeah, he’s like a dwarf… he looks like an adult, but he’s little…”
January. Yesterday Meredith was telling me that Maggie wasn’t doing something I told her to do. I told Meredith, “That sounds like you are being proud.” She said, “I’m not proud, I’m WONDROUS- because I’m wondering why Maggie would do that.”
February. The other day we overheard Meredith tell Maggie, “Take your grubby hands off that!” – oops, where did she learn to talk like that?
March. Today we were out to lunch at a restaurant and I took the girls to the
bathroom. In the area outside the restrooms there was a wooden box sticking
out from the wall that to any of us would have obviously been for a pay
phone in the old days. Maggie’s generation isn’t so familiar with such
things; she pointed at it and asked, “What is that for? (no pause for an
answer) Can we put Sander in it?”
April. We enjoyed watching Sander this afternoon. We had some special cookies together to celebrate Easter and didn’t make the kids sit at their seats to eat them. Sander, even though he’s been walking for a few weeks now, still has a pretty cute gait. He looked like he was thoroughly enjoying his freedom walking back and forth from the dining room, down the hall and back again, cookie in hand. At on point, part of the cookie in his hand broke off and landed on the floor. To fix the problem, he put the part of the cookie that was still in his hand on the floor and picked up the dropped portion to eat it. Then he grabbed the first piece off the floor again and resumed his pacing.
May. The other day we were talking about how long we had to wait for the induction to take effect when I was in labor with Maggie. Scott said, “Yeah, it took Maggie so long to come out. We kept waiting and waiting and we wondered if she would ever come out and if she did if she was going to be late for everything the rest of her life”. So Maggie blurted out, “I couldn’t find my way!”
June. This morning the kids and I went on a stealth mission to get a Father’s Day present for Scott while he was at a church meeting. On the way home Meredith said, “We’d better hide the Borders bag because Daddy might guess what it is if he knows that’s where we bought it.” Later, at lunch time Scott asked Maggie to pray before we ate. Maggie prayed, “Heavenly Father thank you that we could go to Borders this morning to buy Daddy a Father’s Day present”. You can imagine the reaction!
July. After receiving a spanking from Scott, Meredith turned on him saying, “I don’t get it. The Bible says that love is not rude and spankings are rude.”
August. Meredith was just playing a game of animal basketball, where you try to throw little stuffed animals in a plastic hoop-like bin. The ones that didn’t make it in I would throw back in her direction. At one point I called her attention to one I’d tossed back saying, “Meredith, there’s a monkey under your knee.” Very matter of fact, she replied, “I know, the silly ass!” I had heard that phrase on her Peter Pan book on tape and was just waiting for it to surface, but it still knocked me over with laughter the way it came out.
September. Scott took Maggie to the mall with him for an errand this afternoon. After they had walked for a while Maggie asked, “Daddy when are we going to sit down and rest our tired bodies?”
October. Today is the day Sander will throw away his pacifier (He calls it a “gowie” – who knows why!). We’ll see how it goes. These are Meredith’s comments on the matter: “I think Sander thinks his pacifier has a love affair for him.” And, “I’m going to miss Sander’s little shout of delight when he gets his gowie”
We hope this gives you a taste of the in-home entertainment we are blessed to have in our children!
Our family has so much for which we are thankful. Through the good times and challenging times, God has been faithful to sustain us and provide for us. We are especially thankful for the life He has given us in Christ – “thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
We wish you and your family the very best for the holiday season this year, and for the coming New Year!
I recently just finished reading the seventh and last book of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” I started the series earlier this year for a couple of reasons. First, the movie version of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” had come out a few months before. In the midst of the Narnia craze I heard over and over how good the books were. Secondly, I had read some C.S. Lewis works before and liked his writing. So, although I have never been a big fan of fantasy literature, I decided to give them a try.
Since then, I discovered an even better reason for reading the books. It gives me something to talk about with my five-year-old daughter, who is a huge Narnia fan. Her favorite, of course, is “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” She almost has the lines from the movie memorized, which means I don’t recommend watching it with her if you haven’t seen it yet.
I started with the first book, “The Magician’s Nephew.” At first I didn’t really enjoy it that much. It was a little slow, and I wasn’t sure what the point was. But the more I read, the more I found myself being taken in by the stories. Like I said, I’m not much for fantasy. But what drew me into the stories was the deeper theological meaning always lurking just under the surface.
Of course, some of the meaning is quite obvious. For example, Aslan’s death for Edmund’s transgression, and his rising to life again, are clear and powerful re-tellings of the gospel message: Christ’s death and resurrection for sinners. But there are to be found so many more subtle theological statements throughout the books. Just to give one example, I love Lewis’ portrayal of the civilized but cruel Calormen people in “The Horse and His Boy.” They are powerful, efficient, and masters of gaining and maintaining control over their people. But they are terrible poets! Lewis doesn’t come out and say they are terrible poets, but he gives us a sampling of some of their “poetry”: ‘Application to business is the root of prosperity, but those who ask questions that do not concern them are steering are steering the ship of folly toward the rock of indigence.” Their poetry seems to be an expression of their soullessness. They have no sense of beauty, no appreciation for a transcendent reality that poetry seeks to convey. Rather, they are wholly earth-bound, people of this world, both masters of the world and yet at the same time slaves to it. Could this be Lewis’ assessment of man in the world without God – essentially de-humanized and spiritually dead?
Another feature of the Chronicles that I came to appreciate is the unembarrassed moral clarity that existed in Narnia. The evil characters were evil, and the good ones were good. “Old-fashioned” values such as chivalry, bravery, and self-sacrifice are abundantly on display. There is very little irony and sarcasm in Narnia. Maybe this is partly because they are stories meant for children, and children want their ethics and morals clear and simple. But is there more than that? A cynic may say that Lewis is being hopelessly naïve in his picture of a world in which there is only good versus evil, and you are on one side or the other. But what if the world of Narnia is a bit closer to reality than we realize? What if there is a “another world,” like Narnia, in which a cosmic battle is taking place between all that is good and all that is evil, and there is no gray areas in between? The Christian knows that there is such a world, and it has much more to do with what goes on in this messy world of ours than we ever realize.
Finally, I admire Lewis’ imagination. He communicates Christian truth, not with propositional statements, but with word pictures. I wish I had more of that kind of imagination, especially in my preaching. I can tell you something about the majesty and goodness of Christ that is true to Scripture. But far more effective is Lewis’ depiction of the glory of Christ when he writes about Aslan. Mr. Beaver is asked if Aslan is safe: “Safe?...Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
The category is "theology and golf". This blog will be heavy on the "golf", and light on the "theology". If I think of something theological to add, I'll do it.
My kind and generous mother-in-law and her husband bought me a gift certificate for two rounds of golf for my birthday this past August. Yesterday I finally used it and played a round. The course is called the "Jimmie Austin Golf Course" and it is the official course of the University of Oklahoma.
Now, I've lived in a few places where the people were crazy about their local sports team. St. Louis is a baseball town - yes, they have NFL and NHL franchises, but the city really belongs to the Cardinals. Lexington, KY is home to the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Nothing is more important to Lexingtonians than UK basketball. But I've never seen anything like it here in Norman. Sooner football is just huge here. Think of how much water means to a fish. That's how important OU football is to Norman. A friend who visited in February couldn't believe that the Norman Transcript's lead sports story each day was about Sooner football. In February!
The Jimmie Austin Golf Course is a golfing monument to Sooner Football. The various tees are not "Championship" and "Men's", but "Boomer" and "Sooner." The carts are all painted crimson. Each one has the number of a former Sooner great. I drove #35, Billy Vessels. Since he was a Heisman Trophy winner, there was a little picture of the Heisman Trophy on the front of the cart. The pro shop can sell you any golf accessory you could want with on "OU" label on it. After a good shot, I half expected to hear the band start up "Boomer Sooner" and see the "Sooners Wagon" roll across the fairway!
All of which makes it a fun course to play - it's hard to imagine there are many like it. And, it is a beautiful course; I'm looking forward to redeeming the other half of the gift certificate and playing it again.
I wish I could say I shot well, but I didn't. Let's just say this - I got more than a touchdown on a few holes!
The big news with the Johnson family these days is the impending arrival of baby Johnson number 4. The due date is March 13th. And, just a few weeks ago, we found out that "it" is a "she". Much to our surprise, actually. Because of how this pregnancy felt (lots of morning sickness, just like with Sander), we thought for sure it was a boy. But, thanks to the wonder of ultrasound technology, we now know she is a girl.
The funny thing is that we spent hours trying to decide on a boy's name that we both liked. We settled on a girl's name in a matter of minutes but figured since it was going to be a boy, it was a moot point. That just goes to show the danger of assuming.
Anyway, we are both delighted God has given us another girl and can't wait to meet her in March. I'd love to tell you her name but it is our policy to keep the name a secret until the baby is born.