If only for the stunning nature of the statistics, I would encourage you to read the first two chapters of The New Shape of World Christianity. You can download them free here in pdf format.
If you find these two chapters interesting, the rest of the book may interest you as well.
Well, since Christmas is fast approaching, I think a Christmas-focused post is appropriate. I’ve always enjoyed Christmas, and since Camp is old enough now to know what is going on to some extent, Rebecca and I are really trying to figure out what traditions are helpful for our family and what might need to be thrown out. I was wondering if any of you guys had given this any thought. What things do you do with your family to celebrate Christ? Are there traditions that you believe are spiritually neutral that you love to include within your family anyway? What are some things that you try to stay away from?
Rebecca and I are reading a Christ-focused devotional with Camp every night leadning up to Christmas next to our beautifully lit Christmas tree. Also, although we aren’t banning everything Santa from our house, we’ve decided to keep Santa pretty low-key. We’re not really brining him up unless someone else does. What about you guys?
Its not often than you come across advice from two highly respected and godly men on the same subject in the same day. But today was an exceptional day…
Here’s some advice from Tim Keller for young pastors.
And here is some advice from JI Packer for new pastors:
“You have three priorities: teach, teach, and teach. Evangelical churches are weaker than we realize because we don’t teach the confessions and doctrine. Set new standards in teaching. Understand the word catechesis, and practice that art.”(you can find the rest of the great article this came from here)
We’ve probably all learned by know that asking questions is one of the best ways to learn.
When you are reading/studying the Bible (whether during your daily devotion, sermon prep, studying to teach, etc) what questions do you ask to help you learn from the text?
I’m guessing we all approach our reading and study a bit differently, so I’m hoping we can glean some helpful insights from each other here!
So we’ve seen the parents’ responsibility and the fact that all education is religious. Now we get to the point. What is Wilson arguing for?
Contrary to what you might expect he is not arguing for homeschooling (see the comments on #2 for one reason why). Instead he is arguing for a private school with a classical and Christian curriculum. I’ll limit this post to answering the question ‘what is a classical education?
What is Classical Education? Some of you may be wondering what a classical education is. As I mentioned before, Sarah was familiar with it before we met, so it’s something I heard about several years ago but only recently read about in any depth. A classical education is divided into three categories: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Prior to the grammar stage the focus in on literacy. Then grammar stage begins with lots of memorization. In the logic stage involes logic (obviously), analyses, and learning through questioning. In the final stage, rhetoric, students are trained to bring together all the information they have learned and present it reasonably and persuasively. This is only the most basic introduction. For a better introduction, see here. Those familiar with child development may be interested in how these three stages fit the with how children develop. For that I point you to Wilson’s book.
Additional features of a classical education include an emphasis on Latin (and possibly Greek) and interaction with ‘the Great Books.’ The goal is not just for students to learn, but for them to learn how to learn and to develop a love for learning.
That sure beats preparing for the next TAAS test (or whatever their calling it now), don’t you think?
The idea of adoption is not something I had honestly considered before a year ago. It was something I found intriguing and beautiful, but never something I thought myself or my family would participate in. But I’ve been able to watch a family go through the process of an international adoption after completing a domestic adoption and it has stirred my heart tremendously.
The primary reason is how much I see the gospel in the midst of these adoption stories. A family choosing to make a fatherless orphan part of their family, that once they become adopted it’s as if they were a member of the family the whole time. It seems like a gut-wrenching and difficult process for all who adopt internationally as they develop a bond with their child despite being thousands of miles away.
The picture above is a piece of merchandise sold by 147 Million Orphans an organization created by two moms who met in the adoption process. It’s the estimated number of orphans in the world. If the evangelical church chose to make it their mission to display a God who is a Father to the fatherless through participation in the adoption process in some form or fashion, it could adopt and care for all of these orphans.
It’s a huge step to take on a number of levels, whether it be dealing with birth parents or raising a multi-cultural family, but as I watch videos of parents returning home with their children, my heart is stirred to be a part of God’s ministry of reconciliation in a physical display of God’s mercy in adoption. Amber and I have and continue to actively discuss God’s desire for our family.
Have you and your family considered adoption? Why or why not? Does your church have an adoption culture? Do you see adoption as a mandate from God that Christians should do to care for orphans? These are the questions our church asks as they develop an adoption and foster care network to support families through this process spiritually, emotionally, and financially. I’d love to know what you all think about adoption.
On a recent date night, we found ourselves at Barnes and Noble checking out the latest in popular Christian reading, partly for comedy and partly for educational purposes.
I stumbled across “The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University” which is the story of Kevin Roose, a Brown University journalist student who chooses to go undercover as a Christian at Liberty University. I read the first 20 pages at Barnes and Noble and was hooked, Roose is engaging as an author and documents the entire process of choosing to leave Brown, informing his quaker, liberal parents that he intends to go to the moral majority hotbed of Lynchburg, Va, home of the lead Christian conservative Jerry Falwell.
I borrowed the book from a friend and will likely buy it to keep. I’m about half way through the book and I find it absolutely fascinating. I knew nothing about Liberty University, Jerry Falwell’s “Bible Boot Camp” that sports a 46-page code of conduct with regulations that would make Chris Osbourne proud, including no kissing and a 3-second hug limit. It also sports a culture that makes me wonder if my time in the A&M Christian bubble was really a semester at Liberty U.
He chooses to be covert about his belief and we watch him wrestle with stereotypes that are being destroyed (Christians are angrily plotting political ploys for Republicans) or unfortunately confirmed (homophobic hatred). It’s fascinating to me to see what he enjoys, that he admits to wrestling with the faith he came to merely observe and not be changed by. He acknowledges a joy in these people he lives with and a surprise at their knowledge of pop culture.
He takes theology, learns about Calvinism/Armenianism, OT survey, joins the Thomas Road Baptist Choir and participates in anything that might be “Christian”. It’s refreshing to see an encouraging side of fundamentalism at times, one that doesn’t mind the legalistic structure of liberty, but also doesn’t embrace it as Bible, yet also discouraging to see certain aspects of southern Christianity (racism in interracial dating, homophobic hatred, etc.) still lingering in the midst of southern baptist culture.
I don’t know the outcome yet, whether he comes to faith in Christ, but the journey is fun, filled with sarcastic jabs at easy targets in cheesy Christianity and descriptions of The Way of the Master evangelism as he goes to Daytona Beach for a Spring Break Beachreach. I’m wrestling with how to process and view this book, wishing he would speak up about the discrepancies he sees in Christianity and dying to know the ending. It’s been a refreshing view of fundamentalist Christianity from an outsider and I love it.
I would definitely recommend it to Christians and non-Christians alike as my co-workers are insanely curious about why a Brown student would ever consider Liberty and what he must think while being there. For Christians it’s a reminder that our Christianese is unnecessary and often alienates people unnecessarily, as well as being a nice look into the mind of non-believer as he observes the Christian faith and practice. For non-Christians, I think it will take them on the same journey that he takes, dispelling ideas or beliefs about how Christians are, while being forced to ponder the reality of Christ.
For my birthday, one of the gifts my sweet wife gave me was the recently released Collision DVD feturing Christopher Hitchens and Doug Wilson.
I had been looking forward to it for quite some time, perhaps months. And I must say I was not disappointed. Its edgy. Its engaging. The music is excellent. The debate is lively, intelligent, and witty.
Check it out for yourself.
what would it be and why?
Do the hard work and narrow it down to one.
The idea of Sabbath is something that has been on our hearts as a family for over a year and a half. With Amber and I both serving heavily at the Austin Stone, we knew to survive as Christians our weeks had to change, so we set apart Saturdays as our sabbath as a family.
There would be no preparation for teaching the next day, no college ministry or Get Trained ministry events, no email, no engineering, etc. It made a world of difference to our weeks that many describe as busy, but we felt as if we had more time than we ever had before. I could only attribute this to the practice of Sabbath.
Unfortunately over that time, we morphed the intention of sabbath into mere inactivity rather than being filled through enjoying the Lord. We did activities as a family that would refresh us physically and mentally, but neglected the spiritual side of Sabbath, both individually and as a family.
Two Sundays ago, I taught our college leaders on Sabbath and it was quite convicting to see God’s passion for Sabbath from Creation to Christ’s first coming and even the final Sabbath of Christ’s return. The verse that impacted me most is found in Mark 2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” This verse just testified to me God’s grace and blessing that He knew us so intimately to design a day of rest and restoration for us.
Then Hebrews 4 challenged me immensely in regards to seeing the Sabbath as a proclamation of trust and hope in Christ’s return and reign as King where the final Sabbath rest will commence. The next challenge is to rightly apply it myself and my family.
This past weekend, we enjoyed a great Saturday morning, time in the Word for Amber and I individually, time in the Jesus Storybook Bible for Calvin and Eli and good discussion about the story. We then spent the rest of the morning at the park, it was very refreshing, but we didn’t carry it through the rest of the day. It’s challenging to set aside an entire day for Sabbath rest as a family.
So I ask you, what does Sabbath look like for you and your family? For those who are married, how do you provide Sabbath rest for your wife?
Lee Wilson
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