On a More Serious Note

I have noticed something as I have done a bit of surfing through the blogeshere. There appear to be a lot of blogs written by young, apparently very earnest and sincere guys. Most of them are pretty young (my age and younger which makes sense considering we are talking about cyberspace) and they are writing from what appears to be a primarily Reform perspective. A lot of them have been strongly influenced by the ministries of men like John Piper and R. C. Spoul. These men in turn have been strongly influenced by the the Reformers (Martin Luther and probably to a greater extent John Calvin) and also Puritan writers and preachers (the creme-de-la-creme being Jonathan Edwards). I can understand the attraction. Piper and Sproul and others like them are intelligent, articulate, and godly teachers and apologists. I have benefitted from reading them and am glad there are men like them out there. In turn I believe we also owe a lot to the theological heavyweights of the past.

Having said this, I do have some concerns. I can't help but wonder if at times some of the appeal of this particular theological bent is as much intellectual as it is spirtual. It involves a lot of complicated arguements and deep thought. Sometimes I wonder if the simplicity of the Gospel gets obscured in all the scholarly jargon. There also at times appears to be a bit of spiritual smugness, a sense in which some of these well meaning young scholars think they have discovered a sphere of truth that the rest of us haven't been insightful enough to find. A final concern is that it seems that they have a huge dependence on their human mentors. When I read them it appears they quote Edwards more than they quote the Apostle Paul.

In 2 Timothy 2:15 it say, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth." Later in chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 it says "All Scripture is inpired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adaquately equipped for every good work." As we study and seek God's truth, by all means let's see what insights we can glean from godly and wise men both past and present but lets not neglect to rely even more on what the Scripture simply says for itself .

You Might Be a Fundamentalist if....

With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy (this is just for fun so please don't get all defensive)

1. You refer to the NIV as the Nearly Inspired Version.

2. You not only know what flannelgraph is but can identify it by its smell.

3. You're afraid that listening to the Gaithers might appeal to your flesh.

4. You just polished off two long johns and four cups of coffee in the pre-Sunday Scool fellowship time but you don't drink or smoke because your body is the temple of the the Holy Spirit.

5. You think your girlfriend's new coulots make her look hot.

6. You favorite author is Jack Chick.

7. Your mental image of Jesus has Him wearing a white robe with a blue sash.

8. You think John MacArthur is just too darn liberal.

9. Your upset by the fact that I just said darn.

10. You look for hidden 666 symbols in bar codes when you pick up products at the store.

Feel free to add your own in the comments log.

I Promise to Be a Better Blogger

Ok, ok.... I know I haven't posted in ages but since my readership is able to be counted on one hand it isn't like I have been disappointing too many people. I will do better.