Kevin DeYoung's Blog, page 208

Andy Naselli on Confrontation

GUEST POST by Andy Naselli

It's no fun when Christians confront you about your sin even if they do so in a sensitive, grace-filled way. It can be worse if they do so insensitively and ungraciously. And it can be even worse if they insensitively and ungraciously confront you about sin that you're not guilty of.

But this short post is not about how to receive criticism. It's about how to confront others.

To make this less abstract, let's use this example: One Christian confronts another...

Preaching to the Whole Choir

I'm no expert in preaching, neither in its theory nor in the actual doing of it. But one thing I've learned is that there are different kinds of people in the congregation who need to hear different sorts of things. Obviously, no sermon can be all things to all people. We must stick with the theme presented in the text. We must preach withing our own personalities. Most of all, we must trust the Spirit to preach a better sermon to each heart than the one we deliver.

But still, there's wisdom i...

Monday Morning Humor

Ah, tis the season of the year for weddings.

Here's what you don't want to do if you are the pastor:

And while we're at it, here's a valuable lesson on not your locking your knees:

The Dangers of Delight and Denial

This is worth chewing on, from Christian ethicist Gilbert Meilaender:

Christians can, therefore, adopt and recommend no single attitude toward possessions. When they attempt to understand their lives within the world of biblical narrative, they are caught in the double movement of enjoyment and renunciation.

Neither half of the movement, taken by itself, is the Christian way of life. Trust is the Christian way of life.

In order to trust, renunciation is necessary, lest we immerse ourselves...

Jason Helopoulos on Good Reasons for Moving On

GUEST POST from Jason Helopoulos

"What right do you ever have to leave a church?" I can remember that question being asked by my ecclesiology professor in seminary. It is a good question and one that would benefit us all to wrestle with. As Kevin has recently pointed out on this blog, there is biblical warrant and there are practical reasons for entering into covenant through local church membership. Having entered into that covenant our breaking of it should never be done lightly. Clearly...

Andy Naselli on Hannah Whitall Smith's Unhappy Life

GUEST POST from Andy Naselli

A husband-wife team in the early 1870s immediately preceded the early Keswick movement: Robert Pearsall Smith (1827–98) and Hannah Whitall Smith (1832–1911).

Hannah is most famous for her book The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. Her book's essential message is Keswick theology: "entire surrender" or "entire abandonment" (i.e., "let go") and "absolute faith" (i.e., "let God").

But what most people don't know is that she and her husband had anything but...

Jason Helopoulos on Listening Pastors

GUEST POST from Jason Helopoulos

Let me begin with three disclaimers. First, I am a pastor (so I am speaking to myself). Second, I am a Presbyterian pastor (which means I spend a lot of time with other pastors whether I want to or not—and usually I do). Third, I love the men I serve alongside of in the pastorate (these are truly men to be held in double honor). So the critique I am about to offer comes from one who knows and spends a lot of time with other pastors and loves them.

It seems to...

Seven Passages on Social Justice (7)

It's been a long time coming, but here finally is the last of seven common "social justice" passages.

Here are the other six posts: Micah 6:8; Amos 5; Matthew 25:31-46; Jeremiah 22; Isaiah 58; Isaiah 1.

And here are some earlier posts on the same theme: Moral Proximity; Leviticus 19; Leviticus 25; the term social justice.

Now on to Luke 4:16-21.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And...

Monday Morning Humor

Apparently TomTom now offers its navigation instructions from Star Wars characters.

Darth Vader GPS recording session @ Yahoo! Video
HT: Norm Dufrin

Where Have all the Children Gone?

Here is a cool graph Michael Bell put together. I'll let you look at it, then explain what's going on.

This information comes from a 2008 Pew study. The top bar shows the percentage of Americans in the 2008 survey who indicated they were raised in the given religion. As you can see, a lot of people indicated that grew up Catholic or Evangelical. The Mainline bar is a bit smaller and None, Black Protestant, and Other are quite a bit smaller.

On the bottom you get the percentage of Americans who ...