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Weekend reading (3/24)

Weekend Reading

No, Easter Isn’t Pagan, Either

Luke Harrington:

Let’s start at the beginning, though. We’ve all heard the most popular theory that gets bandied about this time of year by the usual cadre of atheists, neo-pagans, and fundamentalist Christians, the one about how the word Easter is actually derived from Ēostre, the name of an ancient pagan goddess of spring and fertility, who was associated with bunnies and eggs. (To which, no doubt, most of her congregants would respond, “What do bunnies and eggs even have to do with a fertility goddess? We’re really losing track of the true meaning of Ēostre.”) None of that is actually true, though. Or, at least, there’s close to zero evidence for it.

Bill Hybels Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Former Willow Creek Leaders

Oh dear.

Life Has Not Been Easy

Tim Challies:

I can’t say life has been particularly easy in recent weeks, and too often I’ve found myself complaining about some of the circumstances I am in. Some of these are related to my health and my inability to type as often or as painlessly as I’d like, some are related to the fatigue that comes with this worldwide project I’ve taken on this year, some are related to people I interact with on a regular basis. Whatever the circumstance, I face the temptation to grumble. And in the face of such temptation, I’ve found it helpful to revisit some counsel I’ve received in the past. Here are some ways I’ve had to speak truth to myself.

Getting Comfortable with the God of the Bible who Makes me Very Uncomfortable

Rob Tims:

While I am more comfortable with the awesome, creative work revealed in Genesis (to say nothing of His relentless pursuit of sinful people like Jacob), it doesn’t take long for me to rub a “theological blister” when God makes a concerted effort to display His might at the expense of an entire nation (I am speaking of the plagues in Exodus 7 and following). It’s an incredibly uncomfortable thing to read what God is capable of. It’s quite disconcerting to not be able to fit God into a perfectly organized theological construct.

Clint Pressley on Leadership Qualities for Gospel Centrality

Yep.

 

The Simple Reason Why So Many Christians are Miserable

Kevin Halloran:

According to Jesus, there is a link between our obedience and our joy. We experience the joy of Christ when we abide in His love, but this abiding requires whole-hearted obedience.

Since joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), this makes sense. We are to live by the Spirit and not quench the Spirit by breaking God’s laws (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Our Spirit-given joy dries up when we quench the Spirit through disobedience.

Three things we are learning about forgiveness

A favorite from the archives:

One of the things we’re working with our children on is the concept of forgiveness—how to ask for it and how to offer it. My oldest typically does the begrudging, sullen, “Sorry…” thing and tries to leave things at that. My middle one is very honest and when you ask if she’ll forgive you says, “I’m not sure, I have to think about it.” And for the moment, Hudson remains a quasi-sociopath. Because, well, he’s two.

But talking with my kids about forgiveness is tricky, in part because it requires me to check my own heart on how I approach it—do I withhold forgiveness as long as possible? Do I do anything that cheapens it?

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Links I like (1/18)

Links I like (2018 edition)

Lord, Help My Stupidity

Jeff Medders:

When the Bible talks about stupidity, it’s not merely addressing book-smarts or street-smarts, I.Q. or knowing lots of information about a lot of things. You can be really smart and still be super stupid. Knowing the superfluidity factors of quantum mechanics pales in comparison to knowing how to live wisely before the Lord.

When God is addressing our stupidity, he’s talking about our lack of wisdom—a kink in our walking in holiness before the Lord.

You Can’t Have Ethics Without Stories

Russell Moore:

Russell Kirk spoke of this as the shaping of the “moral imagination.” Stories, rightly told, shape us, almost always unconsciously at first. We vicariously are delighted or surprised or disgusted or outraged. It’s not just that we cognitively connect the dots but that, at some level, we actually experience these things. That power can be used in terrifying ways—see the use of Germanic volk myths in the rise of Hitler—or in life-giving, redemptive ways.

When Our Heroes Don’t Live Up to Their Theology

Thomas Kidd:

For someone who specializes in 18th-century history, the question of slavery is an ever-present problem. As an evangelical, I deeply admire the work of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, but I can’t get around the fact that they both owned slaves.

What do we do about flawed historical heroes like these? Christians are hardly unique in having to deal with the issue; it’s also an American problem and a human problem. It’s American in the sense that America was founded on the fundamental tension between liberty and slavery. Thus, we have a panoply of historical heroes in America (George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Robert E. Lee, and many more) who were also slaveowners.

Dead Heroes Tell No Tales

Aaron Earls:

We recognize the inherent dangers in quoting someone still living to support your ideas.

They could change their mind, say something idiotic to destroy their credibility, or explain how your quoting of them misunderstands their point. In other words, they could stop being useful to us.

We like our heroes dead and their quotes out of context. That way we can sand off rough edges that are abrasive to us and our preconceptions.

I Would Never Write a “Thank You” Note to Cancer

Michael Kelley:

It happens around this time every year now. It’s part of our regular family rhythm, so much so that it doesn’t mean as much to us as it used to. Today is the day our son, Joshua, visits the Survivor’s Clinic for childhood cancer survivors.

Joshua was diagnosed with leukemia when he was two, and we walked through three and a half years of chemotherapy treatments with him. Those were hard years. Years of hair loss. Of painful sores. Of all night stints in the hospital. But looking back on those years now, they were also the most formative years of our lives.

After 950 years, major artwork returns to England

This is pretty neat:

The Bayeux Tapestry may leave France for the first time in 950 years, as the country considers loaning it for display in Britain.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce the historic loan at a meeting with UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday.

The artwork depicts the Battle of Hastings and the events leading up to William the Conqueror’s Norman conquest of England in 1066. Embroidered onto a series of 20-inch-tall linen panels, it concludes with the death of King Harold and the retreat of his army.

Never make peace with death

A favorite from the archives:

Meaning, simply, nearly 40 percent of the world’s population can have an abortion at any time, for virtually any reason. And it’s most likely paid for by your tax dollars. In fact, Canada, where I live, has no standing abortion law whatsoever, despite several failed attempts to place limits over the last 30 years (here’s a timeline of abortion laws in Canada for those interested).

All but one of the major political parties in this country are staunchly pro-abortion. One of these parties requires all of its members of parliament to vote in line with this stance on any bill being considered, regardless of personal conviction. But its not as though the remaining major party is pro-life; they simply allow party members to vote according to conscience.

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Weekend reading (1/13)

Weekend Reading

Moralism is Not the Gospel (But Many Christians Think It Is)

Albert Mohler:

The seduction of moralism is the essence of its power. We are so easily seduced into believing that we actually can gain all the approval we need by our behavior. Of course, in order to participate in this seduction, we must negotiate a moral code that defines acceptable behavior with innumerable loopholes. Most moralists would not claim to be without sin, but merely beyond scandal. That is considered sufficient.

The Beauty of Conversion

Jared Wilson:

To many, the Christian doctrine of conversion appears anything but beautiful. They say it’s coercive—“No one will force their beliefs on me!” Or it’s offensive—“Who are you to say that what I believe and how I live is wrong?”

In those senses, of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The most important thing about doctrine is not whether it’s ugly or beautiful, but whether it’s false or true. That said, the true doctrine of Christian conversion is just plain beautiful.

When Was Acts Written?

This is interesting stuff from Darrell Bock.

Sanctification and God’s Rambunctious Children

Margaret Bronson:

We are, like my children, desperately needy and utterly dependent upon God, not only to meet our needs but to sustain our faith and grow us into spiritual adulthood. We are called to be Christ-like, but that does not happen at the moment of conversion! Like my children, we need to be teachable, aware of our spiritual child-likeness. This is necessary in our relationship with God. The painful process of making mistakes and learning from them is a long, unpredictable dying to self. By nature we want to be great instantly at this “Christianity thing,” and if we can’t, we pretend that we are to ourselves, to our friends, and even to God. But God knows the state of your heart. He is not fooled, and His expectations for your sanctification are inseparable from the slow slog of reality.

You are NOT like Christ; until you are glorified, you will fail.

It Doesn’t Get Any More Personal

Mark Galli:

I was sitting outside the library at the University of California at Santa Cruz when two other students walked by complaining about Christian faith in the crucifixion of Jesus. As a young Christian with an interest in working with my cohorts to evangelize the campus, I turned my head to hear more. I don’t remember much of what they said except the exclamation of one of the women: “Dying on a cross—it’s just so disgusting.”

3 Spiritual Reasons to Do Something You’re Not Good At

Michael Kelley:

This is a hard thing for us, especially as we grow older. We don’t like to look foolish. And we know at this point in our lives where we are likely to succeed and where we may fail. And, typically, it’s less fun to fail. So why do this?

You (yes, you) really do need an outside perspective

A favorite from the archives:

One of the many dangers of social media is the temptation to say something before you’ve thought it out. A snarky comment or a genuinely witty remark are occasionally the fruit; more often, the result winds up being something, well… unwise. I almost had a moment like that last week. Fortunately, my wife tends to be sitting next to me whenever I’m preparing to send out a tweet. Because she sometimes has a better sense of—how do I put this?—feeling than me, she usually can tell pretty quickly whether something is going to cross the line from funny to offensive.