ReformationUnderway

Unless you've been under a rock for the last three weeks, you know about the Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman suggesting, during a PGA tournament broadcast, that if Tiger Woods' young challengers wanted to beat him, they might need to gang up on him and "lynch him in a back alley." Tilghman apologized on-air and in person to Tiger, and was subsequently suspended from her work as lead commentator for the Golf Channel's PGA Tour coverage.

The following week, trade publication GolfWeek put a photo of a noose on their cover to highlight their coverage of the flap, leading to the dismissal of the publication's editor.

I regard Tiger as a class individual. He handles himself with amazing aplomb when I consider the number of demands he must have on him, and the number of people and causes who must be clamoring for his time and support. Woods has been oft-criticized by the NAACP crowd for his reluctance (or perhaps downright unwillingness) to make a public statement on every issue or story that comes up involving race relations. This expectation has to wear on him. The most recent episode saw a number of black leaders criticizing Tiger because his only public reaction was a statement issued by his agent indicating that Tilghman had apologized, they were long-time friends, and it was a "non-issue."

With his return to PGA Tour competition this week, it was inevitable that Tiger would be pressed by the media on his reaction to the controversy. This article was among the many written after Woods' media sesson on Wednesday. One quote from Tiger stood out, and gave me a fresh glimpse of what makes him able to function at a high level (the very highest level) within his sport:

I know there are people who want me to be a champion of all causes, and I just can't do that.

Woods indeed was wired and raised in a way that prepared him to have singular focus for the task at hand, no matter what distractions surround him. This is an admirable quality. Oh, that I had such an ability to remain focused on the glory and purposes of God...

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Golf, Tiger Woods, Tilghman

I am involved in organizing the 2008 Nashville Conference on the Church and Theology, coming up Feb. 8-10.



The conference is hosted by the church to which I belong, and features as speakers: Professor D. A. Carson; Dr. Steve Lawson, Pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church of Mobile, AL; and widely-read blogger and author Tim Challies. Matthew Smith, from the Indelible Grace hymn projects, will be leading worship during most of the Saturday sessions. This promises to be an absolutely fantastic time of worship and instruction. It's not too late to register!

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Doctrine, NCCT08, Conferences, Emerging Church, Ecclesiology

I posted on Saturday concerning a Wall Street Journal article on church discipline. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor and pastor Hershael York writes concerning this article that he was interviewed by the WSJ reporter. However, after spending twenty-plus minutes on the phone with the reporter, and referring her to a man who had been disciplined by York's congregation, his interview didn't make it through the editing process. What York has to say is interesting:

So when the WSJ reporter called me, I explained its biblical basis, its practical application, and its obvious benefits. I reasoned that, if sin is indeed harmful, the cruelest thing we can do is leave someone in it. Confrontation must always be motivated by a sense of compassion and a desire for reconciliation. Then, to prove the point, I gave her the name and number of a man whom our church disciplined. His testimony is that he would not even be alive today had we not dealt with him as we did. Within the past week Ms. Alter called and interviewed this man and he told her the whole fascinating story.

He goes on to say,

All of her examples of discipline are negative. She did not include a single example which she portrays in a positive light. For this reason neither Buck Run (the church York pastors) nor I are mentioned in this article because we had nothing but positive things to say. Even the subject of our discipline says the action was not only deserved, but necessary and restorative. Not one word of that testimony is included.

Read York's account of the interview and the resulting article.

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Church, Doctrine, Church Discipline

I posted this elsewhere, so I'll just link to it here. Phil Johnson interviewed John MacArthur on the Emerging Church. Few are as plain-spoken as John MacArthur - it's well worth your time to read.

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Doctrine, Emerging Church, John MacArthur

Nothing demonstrates leadership the way firm, sure decisions do. Right? And the next sure sign of leadership is to mock those in similar positions who make the opposite decision from your own!

Get a load of this guy. So, you pastor a church in Atlanta, Georgia. There's winter weather in the area, and some churches, as of Saturday morning, had already cancelled Sunday services. Not MY church, he exclaims in his blog. "Unless a blizzard comes, we are having church just like normal. If a blizzard comes, we are still having church."

That was at 10:59 am Saturday. Fast forward four hours and twenty-one minutes:

Due to the weather we will NOT be having church services on Sunday, January 20th. The weather channels are all predicting temperatures dropping well below freezing tonight which could lead to the possibilities of black ice on the roads. As much as we would love to have church and worship together, we are not willing to risk the safety of those who call Revolution home.

Some say that a good leader is one who makes a great second decision, so cut Gary Lamb some slack. Besides, he cites several justifications for the change of direction. The first one should tell everyone that THIS is the MAN you want to follow into the battle! Why is canceling services the right move? Yes, this is a direct quote: "Barry Manilow canceled his concert in Atlanta tonight."

Then there's the third post (9:38 pm) on this topic, in which Gary continues to question himself publicly for deciding to call off church.

Thank you Gary Lamb for brightening my Saturday evening!

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Church Leadership, Snowed Out

Friday's edition of the Wall Street Journal carried an article in its Weekend Journal section on church discipline. The article primarily focuses on a divisive case from a small, independent Baptist congregation in rural Michigan. The article is available from the Journal's web site, at least temporarily. Read it here.

The practice of church discipline, when practiced, is usually based on the application of Matthew 18:15-20.

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst. (NASB)

The church in which I am a member does practice church discipline according to this passage. The process is always overseen by the elders who govern the church, and the pastor does not have the authority to remove someone from the fellowship apart from the agreement of the elders, and it is doubtful that the elders would take such a step unless they were unanimous in the conviction that breaking fellowship was necessary. In more cases than not, the sinning brother or sister repents of their transgressions and is restored to full fellowship before it ever comes to the point of bringing their sin before the congregation. That, in fact, is the goal of the entire process; not to make a spectacle of a sinner, but to restore them to fellowship with God and with the Body of Christ. There have been only a couple of instances over the last 15 years or so in which someone was removed from our fellowship because of an unwillingness to repent of a besetting sin.

Does your church practice church discipline according to this passage? How is it handled?

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Church, Doctrine
Church Discipline

What can I say? I'm an Aggie, so when I saw this, I just had to pass it along... Coming soon to a Missions Conference near you!



"Whaddaya MEAN you wanna paint the sanctuary?!?"

Gig'em!

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Evangelism, Missions

Dan Phillips, he of TeamPyro, has a very interesting post today recounting his encounter last weekend with a pair of Mormon missionaries. Based on his account, I wonder if the Mormons aren't slipping in the preparation of missionaries? In my experience, they are typically very well "catechized" (if I may borrow that term) in the doctrines of the LDS church. Have you encountered Mormon missionaries who seemed as poorly prepared for responding to elementary questions as the two Dan describes?

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Evangelism, Mormonism, Mormons

Jonathan Leeman, at Church Matters blog, continues his series on Willow Creek's REVEAL program.

Part 5

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Philosophy of Ministry, REVEAL, Willow Creek

I count him as a friend, and he's got big news. Erik Raymond, the Patriots fan behind the blog Irish Calvinist, and an Associate Pastor at Omaha Bible Church, has been given a new charge by the elders of OBC. He will be the lead pastor of their new OBC | South Campus. You can read Erik's thoughts on the new work here.

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Missions, Church Planting

I saw today the notebook computer that I'll be buying if I get a new one this year. The new Apple MacBook Air is a super-thin, three-pound ultra-portable computer. Looks like the perfect notebook to drop in your bag for a business trip, or to download digital photos on an extended vacation. The 13" screen size is not too shabby when you consider how light the thing is.

There's one going on my wishlist, for sure.

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Apple, MacBook Air

A few years ago, noted pollster George Barna published a book, entitled Revolution, in which he argues in favor of Christians freeing themselves from the traditional church, and living their lives as "Revolutionaries." The premises in the book were based on a horrific hermeneutic. (For example, in a portion of the book in which Barna sets out to survey what the Scriptures say about the church, he mentions only a series of passages in the book of Acts. There is no mention of anything in an epistle that has to do with the church. Now, if you have READ the epistles of Paul, or James, or Peter, or John, you know that there are a few mentions of the church and how the church is to function within the New Testament epistles.)

Well, it seems that Barna is back to strike another blow on this nail. He has a new book, which I have not yet seen, titled Pagan Christianity. I have read some reactions from those who had advanced copies of the book. (The book is not shown as available currently on amazon.com, so it has either sold out there, or hasn't made it into their warehouse quite yet.) I've also read some Q&A published by Barna's co-author on the new book, Frank Viola. Before you ask how I can attack the book without having seen it, note that I'm not doing that. I am asking a question about something Frank Viola said in his Q&A.

I was in the institutional church for thirteen years. During that time, I was part of about a dozen different Protestant denominations and five different parachurch organizations.

Tell me, do you think that having been in a dozen denominations and five parachurch organizations all during a thirteen year span qualifies one as an informed critic of their practices?!? Was he with any one church/denomination long enough to evaluate the fruit of the pattern of ministry they practiced? I think not!

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Church
Pagan Christianity