Justin Taylor's Blog, page 356
February 21, 2011
Tim Keller's "King's Cross": 60% Off (Limited Time)
The folks at WTS Books got so excited about the content of Tim Keller's latest book, King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, that they decided to sell the first copy for each customer at a 60% off of the retail price. Additional copies after that will be at 45% off. The extra discount ends February 28.
The hardcover retails for $25.95, so this means you can get the first copy for $10.38, and copies after that for $14.27. The sale happens automatically when you add the books to the cart.
A few observations about the book itself:
(1) Conventional wisdom suggests that an author pick a specific target audience. Aiming at too many types of readers simultaneously usually ensures an unfocused book. Keller somehow manages to pull off a book that could be read profitably by both pastors and new believers—and even unbelievers might want to listen in and to consider the life of Jesus. It's unique in that regard.
(2) This book began as an expository sermon series on the Gospel according to Mark, and it makes a nice transition from the original oral form of delivery. It does not read like a transcript. At the same time, it has some of the connectivity and intimacy of a spoken address. This isn't easy to describe—much less pull off—but Keller and his team have done it well.
(3) More than his other books, this one helps to establish (in my mind at least) the connection between Keller and C. S. Lewis. It wouldn't be fair (or true) to say that Tim Keller is the 21 century's C. S. Lewis. Keller is better in many ways; Lewis in others. But both men cannot help but use illustrations in a compelling, illuminating, creative, faithful way. Both men are always very fine students of the "existential perspective" (to use John Frame's terminology). They are not only students of the Word but students of the world. They think deeply about what makes people tick and how to speak truth into lives of hopeless despair.
Those are a few thoughts—none of which really get at the content of the book per se. But I'm happy to recommend this latest book from Keller's keyboard. I think it will help a lot of people not only understand the book of Mark, but more importantly the Jesus behind it and in it.
For some excerpts, see my previous posts:
Why Jesus Said the Little Girl Was Sleeping Instead of Dead
Jonah and Jesus
What Kind of Religion Is This?!
Smartphone Apps: Fighting Fire with Fire
Why should we think of the Facebook app threatening the Bible app? Why not the Bible app threatening the Facebook app, and the email app, and the RSS feeder, and the news?
Resolve that today you will press the Bible app three times during the day. No five times. Ten times! Maybe you will lose control and become addicted to Bible! Again and again get a two-minute dose of life-giving Food. Man shall not live by Facebook alone.
I'm serious. Never has the God's voice been so easily accessible. The ESV app is free. The OliveTree BibleReader app is free. And so are lots of others. Let the Bible threaten your focus. Or better: Let the Bible bring you back to reality over and over during the day.
You can read the whole thing here.
February 19, 2011
Pray for Sayed Musa: Afghan Christian Set to Be Hanged within Days?
The Daily Mall and others are reporting on Said (or Sayed) Musa. Earlier I had posted a link to his letter from prison describing sexual and physical abuse. Here's the new report:
An Afghan physiotherapist will be executed within three days for converting to Christianity.
Said Musa, 45, has been held for eight months in a Kabul prison were he claims he has been tortured and sexually abused by inmates and guards.
Mr Musa, who lost his left leg in a landmine explosion in the 1990s, has worked for the Red Cross for 15 years and helps to treat fellow amputees.
He was arrested in May last year as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy following a crackdown on Christians within Afghanistan.
He claims he was visited by a judge who told him he would be hanged within days unless he converted back to Islam.
But he remains defiant and said he would be willing to die for his faith.
He told the Sunday Times: 'My body is theirs to do what they want with.'
You can also read the Compass Direct News report, which begins:
An Afghani amputee in prison for his Christian faith since May will face a judge this Sunday (Nov. 21) without legal representation or knowledge of the charges against him, according to local sources.
Denny Burk suggests that if you have Twitter, you post one of the following:
Mr. President, speak wisely and boldly, in private if necessary, for Said Musa, imprisoned in Kabul. http://dsr.gd/ezR3jW @BarackObama
Mr. President, please persuade the Afghan govt. not to execute our brother Said Musa. http://bit.ly/bQ5RLQ @BarackObama Prov. 24:10-12
February 18, 2011
Conscience Clause for Health Care Workers Rescinded
Albert Mohler:
In other words, the Obama administration is now ready to use the coercive power of the state to force medical personnel to perform acts they consider to be morally wrong and unhealthy for their patients. One obvious implication of this is that the state now finds it necessary to force medical professionals to do what they by conscience do not think is right. Allowed to act by conscience, these medical professionals clearly would not do what the state now requires them to do.
Just imagine how our nation's founders would consider such a tyrannical trampling of individual conscience by the power of the state. From a Christian perspective, this should serve as a clear alarm for those who suggest that it is paranoid to believe that the state will use similar force to require other acts against conscience. The logic is right here for all to see, and only the willfully blind can deny what this new policy means.
You can read the whole thing here.
The Songs of a Nation: Born This Way (so Raise Your Glass, All You Fireworks)
The Scottish politician Andrew Fletcher wrote in 1703 that he knew a very wise man who once said, "if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation."
With that in mind, it's helpful to read Fred Sander's thoughts on what's going on with the songs "Firework" by Katy Perry, "Raise Your Glass" by Pink, and "Born this Way" by Lady Gaga.
Abortion, Philadelphia Law, and the Supreme Court
Even though I've done by best to read up on abortion law in the United States, I have to admit that I was confused about the grotesque case of Kenneth Gosnell, the late-term abortion/infanticide doctor in Philadelphia. Reports indicated that the late-term abortions were prohibited by this Philadelphia law—even though the Supreme Court functionally allows for late-term abortions for any reason. That law amazingly bans abortion beyond the 24th week except for when a "physician reasonably believes that it is necessary to prevent either the death of the pregnant woman or the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman."
This is not the same sort of loophole language found in Roe combined with Doe. Hence my puzzlement.
As usual, Matthew Franck provides a very helpful explanation of where this law came from, how it was designed to provoke a legal confrontation, and how it creates a serious dilemma for the right-to-abortion side:
This provision was added to the state's Abortion Control Act in 1989, under Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr. And according to a former Casey aide with whom I spoke, the prohibition on third-trimester abortions, with its very tight exception, was written precisely in order to bring about a confrontation with the on-demand abortion regime the Court created in Doe. If the state prosecuted a post-viability abortion at 24 weeks or later, the Supreme Court might be forced either to clarify that it really endorsed abortion at any time for any reason as a matter of constitutional right — or to step back from Doe's broad language and say that the right to life of the unborn has some weight, at least after live birth is possible.
But in 22 years, not one prosecution has occurred under this provision of Pennsylvania law. Until now. In the Gosnell prosecution, Philadelphia district attorney R. Seth Williams has a choice. Does he go forward with the 33 counts of "illegal late-term abortion" (a fraction of the actual number of such abortions Gosnell performed, but all that can be solidly proven under a two-year statute of limitations) — as well as the eight murder charges? Or does he quietly drop them?
And if he does charge Dr. Gosnell with illegal abortions as well as murder, abortion-rights advocates such as NARAL and Planned Parenthood have a choice. Do they continue to agitate for the regime of abortion on demand that they've been defending for 38 years? Do they fold this particular hand, and concede that some abortions occur too late to be permitted at all? There is danger for them in this. If a viable unborn child has a right to life, what about the one just a week or a day shy of viability? And the one just a bit younger than that?
Abortion-rights advocates will be right to sense that the stakes are all or nothing. But do they want Dr. Kermit Gosnell to be the face of the legal order to which they have devoted their energies for four decades?
Clarifying the Bible and Reading It for Life: Two Recommended Tools
George Guthrie writes:
More than 50 percent of people who come through our [church] doors on a regular basis only read their Bibles occasionally, perhaps one or two times per month, if at all. Even more sobering, only 37 percent of those who attend church regularly say that reading and studying the Bible has made a significant difference in the way they live their lives. Only 37 percent.
Guthrie continues:
As a professor at one of the top Christian universities in the country, I have seen the effects of this trend on my students. They are exceptionally smart and deeply committed to Christ and the church. Yet, many fail very basic biblical literacy tests, neither knowing the Bible's stories, nor grasping how the grand story of the Bible fits together. Fewer than one in 10 of them have received any training from their churches in how to read and/or study the Bible effectively. And if these cream-of-the-crop kids are in that situation, where are the folks who sit in our pews?
To strengthen biblical literacy, here are two recommended resources to consider:
Clarifying the Bible: A DVD Presentation to Make Sense of It All
.Here's a description:
Clarifying The Bible is a DVD presentation with an accompanying study book. In less time than it takes to watch the average movie you will be introduced to the Bible like never before. Each copy of Clarifying The Bible includes a one hour and 45 minute DVD presentation that takes viewers on an exciting journey from Genesis all the way to Revelation.
The study book is divided into two major sections, Section I: DVD Notes and Section II: Notes for Further Study. Use Section I for your first viewing of the DVD presentation. Pop in the DVD, watch at our own pace, and use this section to take your initial set of notes. Then use Section II for further study. This section contains much more information related to each portion of the presentation. You can work through this section of the book either with or without the DVD presentation.
Each copy of Clarifying The Bible includes:
A DVD presentation taking viewers on a one hour and 45 minute journey through the Bible.
A helpful study book detailing information about the DVD presentation and notes for further study.
This is something worth considering for a Sunday School class, small groups, individuals, or families.
George Guthrie's Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God's Word (B&H, 2011).
In the style of Lee Strobel's interviews with various scholars, Guthrie traveled around the country to sit down with experts on how to read biblical history, biblical narrative, wisdom literature, the gospels, the letters, etc. It's a down-to-earth approach filled with great content.
They are also producing resources for a whole-church campaign to read through the Bible together with help from Guthrie and friends. More info here.
These resources are gifts to the church. Combined, I think they could help a lot of folks get oriented to the storyline of Scripture and become equipped to read the Bible better, for life.
Ending Taxpayer Funding of Abortion
From Douglas Johnson's testimony before a committee of the House of Representatives:
Two bills currently under consideration in Congress address the issue of federal funding of abortion: the Protect Life Act (H.R. 358) and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 3).
The Protect Life Act would repeal and repair the abortion-expanding components of the Obamacare law.
The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act would enact a permanent, government-wide prohibition on funding of abortion and health plans that cover abortion, in all federal programs.
The Protect Life Act would also enhance the legal protections for health care providers who do not wish to participate in providing abortions.
Anyone who thinks that the million-plus Americans that walk among us today because of the Hyde Amendment constitute a "tragic result," should oppose these two bills. Those who think otherwise should support them. If these bills are enacted, the lifesaving effects already achieved through the Hyde Amendment will be multiplied—and that is a goal that our organization regards as the furthest thing from a tragedy.
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