R. Albert Mohler Jr.'s Blog, page 384

Genesis 6:11-7:24

The Briefing 12-06-13

1) Nelson Mandela: One of the most significant figures of the 20th Century

Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s Liberator as Prisoner and President, Dies at 95, New York Times (Bill Keller)

2) 80th Anniversary of Prohibition’s repeal

80 Years Ago Today, Prohibition was Repealed, Time to End the War on Drugs, Huffington Post (Derek Rosenfeld)

3) Church of Sweden elects first female arch-bishop

Antje Jackelen elected Sweden’s first woman archbishop, BBC

4) Abortion rights are not only defended, but celebrated

The Briefing 12-05-13

1) Would higher minimum wage really lead to the greatest human flourishing? No one really knows.

Obama throws support to minimum wage movement in economy speech, The Guardian (Paul Lewis)

 5 Facts About the Minimum Wage, Pew Research Center (Drew Desilver)

2) After over ten years, the legalization of prostitution in Germany has spun out of control

Germany to Ban ‘Flat-Rate’ Sex Offers in Brothels, The Telegraph (Associated Press)

French Prostitution Crackdown Wins Parliamentary Vote, The Financial Times (Adam Thomson)

3) Legal challenge to same-sex marriage ban in Utah

Federal judge to hear arguments in Utah same-sex marriage case, The Salt Lake Tribune (Brooke Adams)

4) Church of England  can “bless” same-sex weddings, but cannot celebrate or perform them

Church should allow blessings of gay relationships, CofE report says, The Guardian (Sam Jones)

5) At $4 million for 30 seconds, Super Bowl ads are sold out

 Super Bowl Ads Are Super Sold Out, TIME (Courtney Subramanian)

 

 

A Theology of Action: Owen Strachan on “Risky Gospel”

One of the most lamentable symptoms of today’s emotionalist Christianity is its tendency to inaction. We can trace this symptom to any number of causes, and most of them are theological. Many Christians suffer from warped understandings of the will of God, of the nature of true discipleship, and of the character of the Christian life. Tragically, throughout their lifetimes many church members and nominal Christians never actually do anything of significance for Christ and his kingdom. Owen Strachan not only laments this fact, he intends to do something about it. With fresh energy and keen insight, he offers a vibrant vision of the Christian life in Risky Gospel, just released in the past few days.

He confronts “mystical, fearful Christianity” head-on and, as he explains, this means a living discipleship that is rooted in a heart and mind transformed by Scripture and leads to strategic deployment for the Kingdom of Christ. As he asserts, this means not living fearfully. To the contrary, it means living a life of Gospel risk-taking. Owen talks about risky faith, risky identity, risky spirituality, risky family life, risky work, risky church, risky evangelism, and risky citizenship. With incredible honesty, he also describes risky failure. Many of those who have been used of God for the greatest work of the kingdom have been failures in the eyes of the world. As he explains:

So this is what the concept of gospel risk does for you: it frees you. It positions you to see life with fresh clarity. You’re released from the tyranny of small expectations. You’re loosed from the chains of fearing what others think of you. In point of fact, their opinions pale in comparison to God’s. You’re freed from the endless cycle of brand management. It’s not your reputation among fellow sinners that gives you happiness; it’s being a child of God.

Risky Gospel is filled with biblical truth, saturated with wisdom, and targeted right at the heart of weak, indecisive, emotionalist, inactive spirituality—and at every false gospel. This book would serve as a great Christmas gift for young Christians, and it is well-timed for the challenges all Christians now face in our risky world.

Owen Strachan is assistant professor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College and Executive Director of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. He is a brilliant young scholar and teacher. I should know, because he served as one of my research assistants and interns several years back. He was kind to dedicate this book to me. I am proud to commend this book to you.

I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/albertmohler.

Owen Strachan, Risky Gospel (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013).

The Briefing 12-04-13

1) New York State Supreme Court to decide if chimpanzees are legal persons

Chimps should be recognized as ‘legal persons,’ lawsuits claim, CNN (Holly Yan and Mayra Cuevas)

2) Act of Desperation: Democrats overthrow filibuster to preserve abortion rights

Abortion Cases in Court Helped Tilt Democrats Against the Filibuster, New York Times (Jeremy W. Peters)

3) Is 2013 the ‘gayest year in gay history’?

How 2013 Became the Greatest Year in Gay Rights History, NPR (Alan Greenblatt)

4) Big News: Study finds men’s and women’s brains are wired differently

Men and Women’s Brains are “Wired Differently,” BBC

The Briefing 12-03-13

1) The capitalization of same-sex marriage: Hawaii revenue to jump by $217 million

Same-Sex Weddings Begin in Hawaii, USA Today (Associated Press)

An Iowa chapel taps into the growing but shifting gay marriage business, St. Louis Post Dispatch (Doug Moore)

2) Banks take advantage of legalization of same-sex marriage

Banks move to offer wealth advisory services for same-sex couples, Financial Times (Camilla Hall)

3) Why is it easier to believe in God than evolution? To believe in evolution, we must deny the obvious.

7 Reasons Why It’s Easier for Humans to Believe in God Than Evolution, Mother Jones (Chris Mooney)

The Briefing 12-02-13

1) As much as the President needs to deal with domestic issues, the world presses itself upon us

China Raises Stakes in Air Standoff, Wall Street Journal (Jeremy Page)

2) Can rap and the Gospel go together?

Thinking about Thinking about Rap — Unexpected Thoughts over Thanksgiving, AlbertMohler.com

3) Never to late to try and make justice real – Scottsborro Boys pardoned posthumously

Alabama Pardons 3 ‘Scottsboro Boys’ After 80 Years, New York Times (Alan Blinder)

 

Thinking about Thinking about Rap — Unexpected Thoughts over Thanksgiving

Over the past few days the evangelical community has been talking about the kinds of things you would expect — the meaning of Thanksgiving, the turn to the Christmas season, the fact that some stores were opening on Thanksgiving Day and the various issues of the season. And then came rap. Out of the blue, when least expected, the topic changed to rap and the Gospel. Over the last few days a great deal has been written and said, sparked by a panel discussion at an evangelical conference in which rap music was dismissed as unworthy of evangelicals and of the Gospel.

I recognize the arguments made by the panelists. I am tempted to make them myself. In fact, I have made them myself … in my head. I know the arguments well. Form matters when it comes to music, and the form of music is not incidental to the meaning communicated. The biblical vision of music grows out of the union of the good, the beautiful, and the true in the very being of God. That union of the transcendentals means that Christians should seek only those musical expressions that best combine the good, the beautiful, and the true.

In other words, Johann Sebastian Bach. In my view, Bach got it just about right, even almost perfect. His music is an exhilaration of proportion and purpose in which form and message are precisely, intentionally, even magnificently combined. Bach is never far from me, especially when I am working and particularly when I am writing. I should acknowledge Bach in my books. Karl Barth listened to Mozart, and I love Mozart’s music (at least, most of it). But Mozart is a genius in a way that Bach was not, and genius can easily get in the way of musical art. Add to this the fact that Mozart’s worldview was seriously flawed. That explains why his magnificent but unfinished Requiem Mass in D Minor is so moving, but so unsatisfying. Beethoven’s pantheism and Enlightenment sensibilities do not ruin his music, but they do make his incredible music rather inaccessible for Christian worship.

Bach, on the other hand, is perfect. It is also important to know that Bach was a servant of the Lutheran Reformation. In his brilliant new book, Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven, conductor John Eliot Gardiner affirms that Bach saw himself extending the musical theology of Martin Luther, with the glory of God as his supreme purpose and the task of music “to give expression and added eloquence to the biblical text.” So we should just end the development of church music and Christian musical artistry with Bach.

But there is a problem with this proposal. Bach was writing music that was understandable to the culture of his day, and not just to the elites. As a matter of fact, many among the elites did not like his music, accusing Bach of using crude structures, lowly themes, and of borrowing from unworthy musical sources. And then there is the issue of his pounding music as found in his famous organ works. Those pedal sequences in his toccatas are jarring to the senses and physical in reception and impression. Hardly appropriate for use in church and the service of the Gospel.

And the people who would argue now about the unworthiness of rap music often think of Bach as the quintessential Christian musician. As I said already, I have made many of the same arguments myself. In my head. Thankfully not in public. Am I holding back?

No, I allow myself those arguments in my head when I want to absolutize my preferences and satisfy myself in the righteousness and superiority of my own musical taste and theology. The problem for me is that my theology of music will not allow me to stay self-satisfied on the matter, and by God’s grace I have not made arguments out loud that would violate that theology.

Rap music is not my music. I do not come from a culture in which rap music is the medium of communication and I do not have the ear for it that I have for other forms of music. But I do admire its virtuosity and the hold that is has on so many, for whom it is a first and dominant musical language. I want that language taken for the cause of the Gospel and I pray to see a generation of young Gospel-driven rappers take dominion of that music for the glory of God. I see that happening now, and I rejoice in it. I want to see them grow even more in influence, reaching people I cannot reach with music that will reach millions who desperately need the Gospel. The same way that folks who first heard Bach desperately needed to hear the Gospel.

The good, the beautiful, and the true are to be combined to the greatest extent possible in every Christian endeavor, rap included. I have no idea how to evaluate any given rap musical expression, but rappers know. I do know how to evaluate the words, and when the words are saturated with the Gospel and biblical truth that is a wonderful thing. Our rapping Gospel friends will encourage one another to the greatest artistic expression. I want to encourage them in the Gospel. Let Bach’s maxim drive them all — to make (their) music the “handmaid of theology.”

Bach’s English Suite No. 3 in G Minor is playing as I write this. It makes me happy to hear it. But knowing that the Gospel is being taken to the ears and hearts of new generation by a cadre of gifted young Gospel rappers makes me far happier.

I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/albertmohler.

John Eliot Gardiner, Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.)

The Briefing 11-27-13

1) Foundations of religious liberty not found in Constitution – just recognized there

Supreme Court to Take Up Obamacare Contraception Case, CNN (Bill Mears)

Justices Will Hear Contraception Challenge to Obamacare, USA Today (Richard Wolf)

2) Biggest questions about Newtown not answered in report and cannot be answered apart from God

Sandy Hook report offers chilling details about school shooter, Los Angeles Times (Tina Susman)

The State’s Findings on Newtown, New York Times (Editorial)

3) The commercialization of Thanksgiving: 1 in 4 people plan to start shopping on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving shopping a sacrilege for some, USA Today (Jere Downs)

The Dirty Secret of Black Friday ’Discounts’, Wall Street Journal (Suzanne Kapner)

4) Don’t reduce thankfulness to something you can schedule on the calendar

The First Thanksgiving and the Task of the Historian – A Conversation with Robert Tracy McKenzie, Thinking in Public

The Briefing 11-26-13

1) Contraception Mandate likely headed to Supreme Court matters for all of us, not just Hobby Lobby

Court Confronts Religious Rights of Corporations, The New York Times (Adam Liptak)

2) Will same-sex marriage split the United Methodist Church? 

Among Methodists, Schism Over Gay Rites, The Boston Globe (Lisa Wangsness)

Methodist pastor who officiated at gay son’s wedding is suspended for 30 days, Washington Post (Michelle Boorstein)

3) Church of England to recognize female bishops and debating recognizing same-sex parents

A church divided, World Magazine (Thomas Kidd)

Church of England synod vote ‘paves way’ for female bishops, BBC

4) More babies aborted than born. Russia responds by banning abortion advertisements.

Russia bans abortion advertisements, Reuters (Ian Bateson)