My Soul Still Hangs Her Hopes on Thee

Dangers of Every Shape and Name
William Cowper, 1731-1800

Dangers of every shape and name
Attend the followers of the Lamb,
Who leave the world's deceitful shore,
And leave it to return no more.

O Lord, the pilot's part perform,
And guide and guard me through the storm;
Defend me from each threatening ill;
Control the waves; say, "Peace! Be still!"

Amidst the roaring of the sea,
My soul still hangs her hopes on Thee;
Thy constant love, Thy faithful care,
Is all that saves me from despair.

No Squishy Love (Part 2)

Timothy George has written a follow-up article, No Squishy Love (Part II), in response to all of the reactions from his previous First Things column, No Squishy Love, which was about the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s decision not to include "In Christ Alone" in its new hymnal.

I really did not intend to ignite a theological firestorm when I wrote my On the Square column, “No Squishy Love.” I simply pointed out that the committee preparing a new hymnal for the Presbyterian Church (USA) had voted to omit the much loved hymn “In Christ Alone,” because of its offending line, “Till on that cross as Jesus died / The wrath of God was satisfied.” I tried to place this decision in a wider historical context. But then “No Squishy Love” went viral, generating thousands of comments and spin-off articles not only on the Internet and in religious publications but also in USA Today, The Washington Post, and even The Economist! What’s going on here?

As a general rule, I do not respond to book reviews or blog chatter, but all this holy hullabaloo has prompted me to add a few comments to my original statement.

Read the entire article here. 

Biblical and Theological Foundations of Worship

During Sunday evenings in September, we at First Baptist Church will be having a teaching series on The Biblical and Theological Foundations of Worship with guest speakers Paul Clark, David Dockery, Chris Mathews, and Ben Mitchell.  Each session will begin at 5:00 PM.  The schedule and topics are below:

September 8      Dr. Paul Clark, "Worship Renewal and Music Ministry"

September 15    Dr. David Dockery, "The History of Worship"

September 22    Dr. Chris Mathews, "Selecting the Songs We Won't Sing"

September 29    Dr. C. Ben Mitchell, "The Gospel and Worship" 

Audio will be made available on the church website for those unable to attend.   

His Wounds Deserve Our Praise

Christ's Atoning Wounds
M. Justin Wainscott, © 2009

That sacred stream which ever flows,
Flows from the Savior's wounds,
Does in the souls of saints compose
Sweet, Christ-exalting tunes.

So let the saints in chorus flood
This place with songs of praise;
And sing of Christ's redeeming blood,
And marvel at His grace.

The precious wounds of Christ above -
His hands, His feet, His side -
Stand as a witness of His love
For us, His ransomed bride.

Those wounds which paid our sinful debt
Remove all grounds for pride;
For God's requirements all were met
When Christ our Savior died.

So let us boast in Him alone,
And in the wounds He bears;
Since He who sits on heaven's throne
Those sacred scars still wears.

And when before that throne we stand,
And on our Savior gaze;
We'll truly come to understand,
His wounds deserve our praise.

Russell Moore on NPR's "Here & Now"

On Wednesday, NPR's "Here & Now" interviewed Dr. Russell Moore, the new president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and talked with him about specific issues and the current state of the church. 

To read highlights of the interview or to listen to the sixteen minute conversation, click here.

Steve Jobs, A Flawed but Fascinating Figure

I recently finished reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, which I found to be a fascinating read.  While Jobs is certainly no model of Christian faith or virtue, he is an intriguing figure and a prime example of the Lord's common grace.  His list of technological accomplishments is long, and his visionary leadership (though flawed because of his temperament) is unquestionable. 

To give you just a taste of Jobs and his legacy, I've provided some quotes from the book below.

"History will place [Jobs] in the pantheon right next to Edison and Ford." (Isaacson)

"Like a pathfinder, he could absorb information, sniff the winds, and sense what lay ahead." (Isaacson)

"Some leaders push innovations by being good at the big picture. Others do so by mastering details. Jobs did both, relentlessly. As a result he launched a series of products over three decades that transformed whole industries:

• The Apple II
• The Macintosh
• Toy Story and other Pixar blockbusters
• Apple stores
• The iPod
• The iTunes Store
• The iPhone
• The App Store
• The iPad
• iCloud
• And Apple itself, which Jobs considered his greatest creation."

Pam Kerwin, marketing director at Pixar, on his compelling charisma: "He was so weirdly charismatic that you almost had to get deprogrammed after you talked to him."

His wife, Laurene, on his complex personality: "Like many great men whose gifts are extraordinary, he's not extraordinary in every realm. He doesn't have social graces, such as putting himself in other people's shoes, but he cares deeply about empowering humankind, the advancement of humankind, and putting the right tools in their hands."

How the iPhone was created: "Jobs and his team became excited about the prospect of building a phone that they would want to use. 'That's the best motivator of all,' Jobs said." (Isaacson)

 "The reason Apple can create products like the iPad is that we've always tried to be at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts." (Jobs)

Jobs, in his own words, on why Apple is so successful: "My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products. Everything else was secondary. Sure, it was great to make a profit, because that was what allowed you to make great products. But the products, not the profits, were the motivation."

Jobs, on always looking forward: "Some people say, 'Give the customers what they want.' But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, 'If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, "A faster horse!" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page." 

To purchase Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, click here.     

Saints, From Hence Your Comfort Draw

Hark! the Voice of Love and Mercy
Jonathan Evans, 1749-1809

Hark! the voice of love and mercy
Sounds aloud from Calvary;
See, it rends the rocks asunder,
Shakes the earth, and veils the sky:
“It is finished!” “It is finished!”
 Hear the dying Savior cry.

“It is finished!” O what pleasure
Do these precious words afford;
Heav’nly blessings, without measure,
Flow to us from Christ the Lord:
“It is finished!” “It is finished!"
 Saints the dying words record.

Finished all the types and shadows
Of the ceremonial law;
Finished all that God had promised;
Death and hell no more shall awe:
“It is finished!” “It is finished!”
 Saints, from hence your comfort draw.

Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs,
Join to sing the glorious theme;
All in earth, and all in heaven,
Join to praise Emmanuel’s Name;
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glory to the bleeding Lamb!

Pride Lamented

Oft Have I Turned My Eyes Within
Samuel Stennett, 1727-1795

Oft have I turned my eyes within,
And brought to light some latent sin;
But pride, the vice I most detest,
Still lurks securely in my breast.

Here with a thousand arts she tries
To dress me in a fair disguise,
To make a guilty wretched worm
Put on an angel's brightest form.

She hides my follies from mine eyes,
And lifts my virtues to the skies;
And, while the specious tale she tells,
Her own deformity conceals.

Rend, O my God, the veil away,
Bring forth the monster to the day;
Expose her hideous form to view,
And all her restless power subdue.

So shall humility divine
Again possess this heart of mine,
And form a temple for my God,
Which He will make His loved abode.

Sermons Are Not for Liking

Tim Challies reminds us that Sermons Are Not for Liking:

Today I want to share a lesson I’ve learned that applies primarily to those of us who listen to preaching (as I do, most Sundays, since I am not an every-Sunday kind of preacher). Here’s the lesson: Sermons are not for liking. Sermons are for listening, they are for discerning, they are for applying, but they are not for liking. You don’t get to like or dislike a sermon. We tend to ask questions like, “So how did you enjoy the sermon today?” It is just the wrong question to ask.

Read the entire post here to see exactly what he means.

*I appreciate one of our church members making me aware of this article.

The Tyranny of Things We Do Not Need

We Who Prayed and Wept
Wendell Berry

We who prayed and wept
for liberty from kings
and the yoke of liberty
accept the tyranny of things
we do not need.
In plenitude too free,
we have become adept
beneath the yoke of greed.

Those who will not learn
in plenty to keep their place
must learn it by their need
when they have had their way
and the fields spurn their seed.
We have failed Thy grace.
Lord, I flinch and pray,
send Thy necessity.

--Taken from Collected Poems of Wendell Berry (1957-1982)

Our Best Sacrifice

O God of Mercy, Hear My Call
Isaac Watts, 1674-1748

O God of mercy, hear my call,
My loads of guilt remove;
Break down this separating wall,
That bars me from Thy love.

Give me the presence of Thy grace,
Then my rejoicing tongue
Shall speak aloud Thy righteousness,
And make Thy praise my song.

No blood of goats nor heifers slain,
For sin could e’er atone;
The death of Christ shall still remain
Sufficient and alone.

A soul oppressed with sin’s desert,
My God will ne’er despise;
A humble groan, a broken heart,
Is our best sacrifice.

No Squishy Love

In Timothy George's current First Things article, he reflects on the decision by the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Committee on Congregational Song to exclude from their new hymnal the modern hymn, "In Christ Alone," by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. 

In his 1934 book, The Kingdom of God in America, H. Richard Niebuhr depicted the creed of liberal Protestant theology, which was called “modernism” in those days, in these famous words: "A God without wrath brought man without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross." Niebuhr was no fundamentalist, but he knew what he was talking about. So did Dietrich Bonhoeffer when he named the kind of mainline religion he encountered in 1930s America: Protestantismus ohne Reformation, “Protestantism without the Reformation.” 

Sin, judgment, cross, even Christ have become problematic terms in much contemporary theological discourse, but nothing so irritates and confounds as the idea of divine wrath. Recently, the wrath of God became a point of controversy in the decision of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song to exclude from its new hymnal the much-loved song "In Christ Alone" by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.  The Committee wanted to include this song because it is being sung in many churches, Presbyterian and otherwise, but they could not abide this line from the third stanza: "Till on that cross as Jesus died/the wrath of God was satisfied." For this they wanted to substitute: "…as Jesus died/the love of God was magnified." The authors of the hymn insisted on the original wording, and the Committee voted nine to six that "In Christ Alone" would not be among the eight hundred or so items in their new hymnal. 

Read the rest of the article here.

But Grace Has Set Me Free

Let Worldly Minds the World Pursue
John Newton, 1725-1807

Let worldly minds the world pursue,
It has no charms for me;
Once I admired its trifles too,
But grace has set me free.

Its pleasures now no longer please,
No more content afford;
Far from my heart be joys like these;
Now I have seen the Lord.

As by the light of opening day
The stars are all concealed;
So earthly pleasures fade away,
When Jesus is revealed.

Creatures no more divide my choice,
I bid them all depart;
His name, and love, and gracious voice,
Have fixed my roving heart.

Now, Lord, I would be Thine alone,
And wholly live to Thee;
But may I hope that Thou wilt own
A worthless worm, like me?

Yes! though of sinners I’m the worst,
I cannot doubt Thy will;
For if Thou hadst not loved me first,
I Thee had hated still.

Tools of Truth

From the "Quodlibet" section of the July/August issue of Touchstone:

One of the most frustrating things about being a Christian is that we are not allowed to fight the devil with his own tools. We cannot lie and cheat when we're up against liars and cheaters. We're obliged to give the devil his due, and go about the slow and so often apparently fruitless task of undoing the destruction his vandals have done so quickly and easily: analyzing, explaining, and placing the truth against lies in appeals to ears that so often are deaf - ears we at first thought wanted the truth, but in the end do not. No shortcuts, quick fixes, or sleights of hand are allowed here, no rhetorical tricks or playing to the gallery. This work requires patience and is a trial of faith, but it has a great temporal reward in the enjoyment of a conscience clear of the accusation that we have become what we hate.

--S.M. Hutchens

"Love for a Bible Not Read: A Call for Biblical Literacy"

Al Mohler calls for the church to wake up to the danger of biblical illiteracy in this Southern Seminary Magazine article, "Love for a Bible Not Read: A Call for Biblical Literacy."  It's fairly brief, so I've posted the entire article below:

While America’s evangelical Christians are rightly concerned about the secular worldview’s rejection of biblical Christianity, we ought to give some urgent attention to a problem much closer to home: biblical illiteracy in the church. This scandalous problem is our own, and it’s up to us to fix it.

Researchers George Gallup and Jim Castelli put the problem squarely: “Americans revere the Bible — but, by and large, they don’t read it. And because they don’t read it, they have become a nation of biblical illiterates.” Researchers tell us that it is worse than most could imagine.

Fewer than half of all adults can name the four Gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples. According to data from one research group, 60 percent of Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments. Americans may demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in the courthouse, but they seem unable to remember what exactly they are.

According to 82 percent of Americans, “God helps those who help themselves,” is a Bible verse. Those identified as born-again Christians did better — by one percent. A majority of adults think the Bible teaches that the most important purpose in life is taking care of one’s family.

One poll indicates that at least 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. Another survey of graduating high school seniors reveals that more than 50 percent thought Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. A considerable number of respondents to one poll indicated that the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham. We are in big trouble.

How can a generation be biblically shaped in its understanding of human sexuality when it believes Sodom and Gomorrah to be a married couple? Many who identify themselves as Christians are similarly confused about the gospel itself. An individual who believes that “God helps those who help themselves” will find salvation by grace and justification by faith to be alien concepts.

Christians who lack biblical knowledge are the products of churches that marginalize biblical knowledge. Bible teaching now often accounts for only a diminishing fraction of the local congregation’s time and attention. The move to small group ministry has certainly increased opportunities for fellowship, but many of these groups never get beyond superficial Bible study.

This really is our problem, and recovery starts at home. Parents are to be the first and most important educators of their own children, teaching them the Word of God. Parents cannot franchise out their responsibility to the congregation, no matter how faithful it may be.

Churches must recover the centrality and urgency of biblical teaching and preaching.

We will not believe more than we know, and we will not live higher than our beliefs. The many fronts of Christian compromise in this generation can be directly traced to biblical illiteracy in the pews and the absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches.

This generation must get deadly serious about the problem of biblical illiteracy, or a frighteningly large number of Americans — many church members included — will go on thinking that Sodom and Gomorrah lived happily ever after.