Arjay's Weblog

Dr. David F. Wells

Several weeks ago I listened to a 2-part lecture by Dr. David F. Wells at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary on Emergent Spirituality.  What an absolutely fantastic lecture this was.  Dr. Wells is the Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.  Dr. Wells explains very clearly how postmodernism and the so-called Emergent church are not something new, but rather are the culmination of years of Enlightenment thinking.  It took the entire 20th century to get us where we are today.

"...it is not a spiritual renewal like that of the First and Second Great Awakenings earlier in our church life in America.  Those spiritual renewals established Christian truth and Biblical orthodoxy, and this new spirituality at best is indifferent to Biblical truth and very often hostile to it."     Dr. David Wells

And just yesterday I finished listening to an interview of Dr. Wells by Todd Wilken of Issues, Etc.  on Christianity and Postmodern Culture.  That interview was excellent as well. 

NOTE ON PODCASTING:  I work for a bank in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan and every day I walk approximately one-quarter mile each way from my parking spot to the office.  Last summer I bought an iPod Mini and has that thing been a blessing!  I can download MP3 files like some of those linked below and redeem time that would have normally been wasted.  And you needn't spend that much on an MP3 player.  The way I use it, I put 3 or 4 messages on the thing, listen to them, delete and repeat!  No need for a full 4 or 20 gigabytes of storage.  Just a tip in case you're in the market for one.

Back to Dr. Wells.  This morning I noticed that Reformation 21, the blog site of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals has as their January Feature, a roundtable discussion of Dr. Wells and his work by Ligon Duncan, Philip Ryken and Carl Trueman. 

I bought Wells' No Place for Truth about a year ago and it was an excellent book.  His latest book, Above All Earthly Pow'rs looks to be excellent as well.

Below are links to all the stuff I've managed to ramble on about!  :-)))

Grace and peace,

R.J.

Lecture on Emergent Spirituality at SBTS
Look for 2 downloads, one on Nov. 9 and one on Nov. 10

Issues, Etc. Interview of Dr. Wells
Look for 2 separate files on December 12th.

Reformation 21 January Feature

David Wells:  An Appreciation from the Land of Braveheart

 

Satan's Micro Minions

Interesting story here from today's Wall Street Journal. 

Satan's Micro Minions
Is Radio Frequency Identification a Tool of the Antichrist?

Rape of the Marlboro Man

David Kupelian of WorldNetDaily has an excellent column here about the hot propaganda piece, Brokeback Mountain. 

What I found more interesting than the attempt by homosexual advocates to use art to manipulate the masses is the fact that in our media-saturated culture, it goes on all the time and most folks never even realize it.  The searing of the conscience doesn't hurt if you do it slowly enough, over a long period of time.  Yet the damage is eventually done and a nation that once honored God finds itself accepting - even embracing - those things that were once not even spoken of in polite company.

R.J.

'Brokeback Mountain':  Rape of the Marlboro Man

Todd Wilken Interviews Michael Horton

Michael Horton and Todd Wilken are a couple of my heroes.  Listening to either of these guys is always a treat for me and when the two get together, it's great stuff.

Todd Wilken is the host of Issues, Etc. , a Lutheran (Missouri Synod) radio program which does some excellent interviews on a regular basis.  Mike Horton is a professor at Westminster Seminary California in Escondido,  and the co-host of The White Horse Inn broadcast.

I recently listened to Wilken interview Horton on the subject of American evangelicalism and sprinkled throughout the interview are snippets of another interview of Ted Haggard, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals.  Just after listening to the discussion I found myself wondering if Mr. Haggard even understands or has for himself, saving faith.  This thing is truly amazing!  And if the president of the NAE is in this condition, what of the millions who attend "evangelical" churches every week in this country?

Below are links to the interview.  There are more free downloads at The White Horse Inn and Issues, Etc. sites as well.

As they say at the White Horse Inn, "Know what you believe and why you believe it."

R.J.

Interview with Dr. Michael Horton on American Evangelicalism

Windows Media Streaming Audio
Downloadable MP3

KFUO's Issues, Etc.

The White Horse Inn

Jesus Not Welcome in U.S. Military

Over the past several years I have become increasingly convinced that the spirit of oppression that left the former Soviet Union when that federation disintegrated has found itself a new home here in the United States.  The kinds of regulations that Soviet kids used to live under are now the regulations in our schools; don't mention a god, do not teach even the theory of creation or a creator.

And just this week we see our own government acting like the former KGB.  I am very certain that none of our founding fathers would approve of any domestic surveillance of the citizenry without first obtaining a warrant from a duly-authorized court of law.  Those honorable men threw off oppression and tyranny to have liberty, and we like fools invite tyranny and oppression in the name of "peace and safety".  The trouble with those who fail to learn from history is that they are destined to repeat it.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."       Benjamin Franklin

Amendment IV to the U.S. Constitution
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Article 52 [Religion]
(1) Citizens of the USSR are guaranteed freedom of conscience, that is, the right to profess or not to profess any religion, and to conduct religious worship or atheistic propaganda.  Incitement of hostility or hatred on religious grounds is prohibited.
(2)  In the USSR, the church is separated from the state, and the school from the church.

I believe something on the order of a Kristallnacht is coming to the United States.  No nation can systematically remove all references to God - who most surely founded this nation by His providence - and expect things to merrily continue on as they have for over 200 years.  I believe we will most certainly see troubles in this country that most cannot even imagine.

With that said, here's a story about how our government, the government of the United States of America, is placing pressure on military chaplains to stop using the name of Jesus in prayers.

R.J.

Military Chaplains Told to Shy from Jesus

Will Your Heart Be Closed for Christmas?

Paul Proctor hits the nail on the head here.  Good stuff.

R.J.

"And remember also that it's not just the megachurches that are closed for Christmas this year; it is the hearts of all those who have hypocritically claimed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior; and only by hearing His Voice and answering His knock, will they again be opened."

"Unfortunately, at many of our churches this year, no one will be around to open the door and receive Him or anyone else."

Will Your Heart Be Closed for Christmas?

Paul Proctor Archive

Gettin' All Ryled Up

About a year ago I subscribed to a great publication called Christianity Yesterday.  It's a great magazine that is "...dedicated to the furtherance of the Gospel through the publication of historical Christian literature that has practical relevance to the Church today."

In the latest edition, the Christian Biography is of John Charles Ryle.  Here is a brief excerpt from J.C. Ryle on The Remedy for Today, followed by a couple of links to other Ryle material on the net.  This was written in 1868:

"Wherein do evangelical churchmen fall short of their great predecessors of the last century?  Let us look this question fairly in the face.  Let us come to particulars.  They come short in doctrine.  They are neither so full, nor so distinct, nor so bold, nor so uncompromising.  They are afraid of strong statements.  They are too ready to fence, and guard, and qualify all their teaching, as if Christ's gospel was a little baby, and could not be trusted to walk alone.  They fall short as preachers.  They have neither the fervor, nor fire, nor thought nor illustration, nor directness, nor holy boldness, nor grand simplicity of language which characterized the last century.  Above all, they fall short in life.  They are not men of one thing, separate from the world, unmistakable men of God, ministers of Christ everywhere, indifferent to man's opinion, regardless who is offended, if they only preach truth, always about their Father's business.  They do not make the world feel that a prophet is among them, and carry about with them their Master's presence, as Moses when he came down from the mount.  I write these things with sorrow.  I desire to take my full share of the blame.  But I do believe I am speaking the truth."

J.C. Ryle Tracts

The J.C. Ryle Collection

More on Electromagnetic Pulse

Frank Gaffney has a new book out that discusses this.   There's an interesting little video  here. 

Nuke Over U.S. Could Unleash Electromagnetic Tsunami

"And, what if the attacker could be reasonably sure that the United States would not know who was responsible for such a devasting blow?"

"In an instant, an invisible radio frequency wave is produced - a wave of almost unimaginably immense intensity, approximately a million times as strong as the most powerful radio signals on the earth.  The energy of this pulse would reach everything in line of sight of the detonation.  And it would do so at the speed of light."

I'm no longer a dispensationalist, thanks primarily to Kim Riddlebarger's excellent book titled, A Case for Amillennialsim.  I used to read the newspapers side-by-side with the Bible and try to figure out end times stuff.  Primary in that searching was what was going on with Israel and the Middle East.  While I don't think we can use events in that region of the world to predict Christ's return, it is still very interesting to me that Israel has begun to prepare its forces for a strike upon Iran's nuclear production facilities which, according to IDF sources, will occur before March of 2006. 

Just this past week, Iranian president and Senior Nutjob Mahmoud Ahmedinijad stated that the nation of Israel should be moved to Europe and he also made comments inferring that the Holocaust may have never happened.

Watching Israel deliver a world-class smackdown to these insane madmen will be fun to watch.  They probably won't get the green light from George "Islam is a religion of peace" Bush, but that's the beauty of it.  They do what needs to be done regardless of world opinion.  The church could learn from Israel's modern example in warfare. 

Iran recently launched its own satellite and has entered into a billion-dollar agreement to buy surface-to-air missiles from Russia.  Israel can't wait and we will wake up one day very soon to learn that brave men and women from the Middle East's sole democracy have delivered a body-blow to these Muslim fanatics, and we should be grateful.

Here's another interesting piece that gives more insight into the crazy beliefs of the Iranians.

R.J.

Mohler on Theological Education

A great article here by R. Albert Mohler, the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Looking forward to part two.

Theological Education that Transforms - Part One

Great Piece by Michael Horton

Gnostic Worship
by Michael Horton

"We see this in the modern world, where light technique has shoved aside heavy truth, and where pragmatism, an intuitive, immediate "flash of insight" way of problem-solving, is valued over wisdom, an accumulated wealth of insights from the family, the church, and books from those who have long since passed from this world. It is a lightness and rootlessness that is apparent in the replacement of neighborhoods with planned tracts of homogeneous, quickly erected, cheap homes with imitation marble, brick and other light and inexpensive replicas of heavy things. It is seen in the superficiality of our conversation, in the suspicion of tradition, institutions and authority."