Horton on the Importance of Passing on the Faith

The following excerpt from Michael Horton's The Gospel-Driven Life ought to be pondered by every parent, pastor, children's pastor, youth pastor, and church:

Christian homes and churches are the only institutions in which our children will learn to find themselves in God's story. When they are united more by the trends of pop culture than by the faith and practice of the whole church in all times and places, our youth become victims of our sloth. We should not be surprised that over half of those reared in evangelical homes and churches today do not join or even attend a church regularly when they go off to college. If we are going to see our children grow up into Christ instead of abandoning the church, our spiritual life at home and in the church must incorporate them into the teaching and fellowship of the apostolic faith. They can find "ministry opportunities" through United Way, the Peace Corps, or Habitat for Humanity. They can find friends at the fraternity or sorority. They can find intellectual stimulation in class. And they can find a sense of meaning and purpose in their vocations. If their home churches exchanged the ministry of preaching and teaching the apostles' doctrine for a variety of ministries and activities that they could find legitimate versions of in the world, then it is difficult to come up with a reasonable answer when they ask, "Why do I need the church?"

--Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World

Horton on Semper Reformanda

Michael Horton explains the origin (and confusion) of the much used Latin phrase, semper reformanda, in this month's "Pro Ecclesia" section of Tabletalk. Read it here.

Faith in Christ, Not Faith in Faith

From Michael Horton's new book, The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World:

[T]he weakest faith faith clings to a sufficient Savior. Faith itself does not save us from judgment any more than the quality of one's confidence in the lifeguard is responsible for being rescued from drowning. It is the rescuer, not the one rescued, who saves. In fact, it is in the very act of rescuing that a victim finds himself or herself clinging to the rescuer in confidence. I have yet to see a headline like, "Drowning Victim Rescued by Superior Clinging." It is always the lifeguard who is credited with the rescue. It is on account of Christ that we are justified, through faith, and not on account of our faith itself.

Horton's Sequel to Christless Christianity

You may remember me mentioning a few months ago that Michael Horton was working on a sequel to Christless Christianity to be published this October. Well, that sequel, The Gospel-Driven Life, can now be pre-ordered through Westminster Bookstore for only $10.99 (45% off).

Here is the publisher's description of the book:

In his well-received Christless Christianity Michael Horton offered a prophetic wake-up call for a self-centered American church. With The Gospel-Driven Life he turns from the crisis to the solutions, offering his recommendations for a new reformation in the faith, practice, and witness of contemporary Christianity. This insightful book will guide readers in reorienting their faith and the church's purpose toward the good news of the gospel. The first six chapters explore that breaking news from heaven, while the rest of the book focuses on the kind of community that the gospel generates and the surprising ways in which God is at work in the world. Here is fresh news for Christians who are burned out on hype and are looking for hope.

To read a few sample pages, click here.

Calvin on Christ as the Focal Point of the Whole Bible

Calvin believed that all of Scripture pointed to Christ - and, specifically, to Christ's death and resurrection for sinners: "Whenever we take the sacred books [of Scripture] into our hands, the blood of Christ ought to occur to our minds, as if the whole of its sacred instruction were written therewith" (Four Last Books of Moses III:320). In his Commentary on Corinthians, he wrote, "All the wisdom of believers is comprehended in the cross of Christ" (1:74). Further interpreting Paul, he adds, "There is no tribunal so magnificent, no throne so stately, no show of triumph so distinguished, no chariot so elevated, as is the gibbet on which Christ has subdued death and the devil" (Commentary on Philippians-Colossians, 191).

-- Taken from Michael Horton's article, "Is Calvin Still Relevant after 500 Years?", in the June/July 2009 issue of Modern Reformation

Michael Horton on the Gospel-Driven Life

Michael Horton's newest book, The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World, which serves as a follow-up to Christless Christianity, will not be released until October. But you can hear lectures that form the content of this new book now.

He spoke on this subject at the Spring Theology Conference of the Reformation Society of Oregon, and they have graciously made the MP3s of his lectures available. Click here to download them.

The Right Kind of Tolerance

It is certainly no secret that the chief virtue of postmodernism is tolerance - a tolerance that Christians often (and rightfully) criticize. But in the most recent issue of Modern Reformation, editor-in-chief Michael Horton, argues that there is a right kind of tolerance that we must celebrate in order to be genuinely and distinctly Christian. He says we must be "culturally tolerant" but never theologically tolerant.

We have to stop thinking in terms of "our Judeo-Christian culture" and acknowledge the value of political pluralism and toleration. And then we can talk about the unique, non-negotiable, and true claims of the gospel. In other words, we must be culturally tolerant of other religions (including secularism), but theologically and spiritually intolerant of assimilating Christian faith and practice to the idols of our age.

--Michael Horton, "Final Thoughts"