Justin Taylor's Blog, page 364

Don't Call It a Comeback!

Here is more information on the new book edited by Kevin DeYoung, Don't Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day, published by Crossway with the Gospel Coalition imprint.

Foreword (D. A. Carson)



Introduction: All Grown Up and Nothing to Say (Kevin DeYoung)

Part 1: Evangelical History: Looking Forward and Looking Back

1. The Secret to Reaching the Next Generation (Kevin DeYoung)

2. The Story of Evangelicalism from the Beginning and Before (Collin Hansen)

Part 2: Evangelical Theology: Thinking, Feeling, and Believing the Truths That Matter Most

3. God: Not Like You (Jonathan Leeman)

4. Scripture: How the Bible Is a Book Like No Other (Andy Naselli)

5. The Gospel: God's Self-Substitution for Sinners (Greg Gilbert)

6. New Birth: "You Must Be Born Again" (Ben Peays)

7. Justification: Why the Lord Our Righteousness Is Better News Than the Lord Our Example (Jay Harvey)

8. Sanctification: Being Authentically Messed Up Is Not Enough (Owen Strachan)

9. Kingdom: Heaven after Earth, Heaven on Earth, or Something Else Entirely? (Russell Moore)

10. Jesus Christ: The Only Way and Our Only Hope (Tim Challies)

Part 3: Evangelical Practice: Learning to Live Life God's Way

11. It's Sometimes a Wonderful Life: Evangelicals and Vocation (Ted Kluck)

12. Social Justice: What's God Got to Do, Got to Do with It (Darrin Patrick)

13. Homosexuality: Grace, Truth, and the Need for Gentle Courage (Eric Redmond and Kevin DeYoung)

14. Abortion: Why Silence and Inaction Are Not Options for Evangelicals (Justin Taylor)

15. Gender Confusion and a Gospel-Shaped Counterculture (Denny Burk)

16. The Local Church: Not Always Amazing, but Loved by Jesus (Thabiti Anyabwile)

17. Worship: It's a Big Deal (Tullian Tchividjian)

18. Missions: The Worship of Jesus and the Joy of All Peoples (David Mathis)

Endorsements

"I absolutely love this book! First, each chapter solidly tackles a critical component of our Evangelical faith and practice. Second, the authors demonstrate not only a strong grasp of God's Word, but also of the perspective of church history, which is sadly lacking in most contemporary books. Third, these guys write tight, making every sentence count, so even though it packed with truth, the book is a quick read. . . . I am so proud of these brilliant, godly men, and after you've read their book, you'll understand why Don Carson and I deeply believe in their ministries."

—Rick Warren, Pastor, Saddleback Church

"It brings this aging man great joy to see a rising generation address contemporary questions with theologically informed answers. These are the right guys, on the right topics, at the right time."

—C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries

"Sometimes I wonder how I could have spent my entire life in the church, safely ensconced in the evangelical subculture, and yet have such a difficult time articulating the essence of significant biblical concepts and convictions that I claim to have built my life upon. And I don't think I'm alone. Don't Call It a Comeback is more than just a primer for the young and uninitiated; it is essential reading for all who want to make sure they are clear and convinced on the things that matter most."

—Nancy Guthrie, Bible Teacher; author, The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament

Crossway's Commitment to the Free Use and Development of the ESV Bible into All Technologies

I appreciated this little booklet by Crossway President Lane Dennis, who explains the vision behind the principle that "when any significant new technology becomes available, we want to be there with the ESV Bible—free from day one."

Darrin Patrick and John MacArthur

Here is a gracious, helpful reply by Darrin Patrick to John MacArthur's misunderstanding of a quote from his book Church Planter.

I think this paragraph in particular is worth highlighting:

When I misunderstand or am misunderstood, I want to quickly ask, "What is God teaching me?" And, He is teaching me through Dr. MacArthur's critique.  For that, I am very thankful!  For those of you who have been quick to be critical of Dr. MacArthur, please remember that we all need to be corrected from time to time.  Also, ALL of us who are younger need to give a careful listen to the concerns of seasoned pastors, many of whom have forgotten more than we might ever know.

The Best Old Testament Commentaries You've Never Heard Of

Well, that blog title may be a little exaggeration. But at the very least, not enough people are familiar with the works of Dale Ralph Davis, teaching elder at Woodland Presbyterian Church and former Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, MS).

Richard Pratt has said that "There is no more gifted expositor of the Old Testament in our day than Ralph Davis."

I've begun using his OT commentaries lately as a devotional guide to help me think through the text and apply them to my life. And in the process, I'm getting a very good education on slowing down to observe the text carefully and to see the author's literary intentions and theological applications. There is a Kidner-like quality in his writing that cuts to the heart of the issue.

Here are his commentaries, including a book on how to preach from OT narrative texts:

Joshua: No Falling Words
Judges: Such a Great Salvation
1 Samuel: Looking at the Heart
2 Samuel: Looking on the Heart
1 Kings: The Wisdom and the Folly
2 Kings: The Power and the Fury
The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life: Psalms 1-12
Micah
The Word Became Fresh: How to Preach from Old Testament Narrative Texts

You can listen to a number of his sermons here.

Pilgrims On the Way in the Drama of Doctrine

This quote is worth reading slowly and carefully:

This volume attempts to draw a circle (the street map) by closely attending to the broad and sweeping landscape of biblical theology (the topographical map).

The goal is doctrine that can be not only understood, clarified, and articulated but also preached, experienced, and lived as "community theater" in the world today.

So let us attend together to the greatest drama ever staged—to a script whose performance draws us in, not as the the original characters themselves (as the masters of modernity would have it)—yet also no longer as mere spectators (like unscripted players)—but as a growing cast of pilgrims making their way together behind their royal Redeemer in a procession to the City of God.

—Michael Horton, Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims On the Way (Zondervan, 2011), p. 32.

Does God Get Disappointed in Believers When We Disobey?

David Powlison answers (correctly, in my view):

How the Supreme Court Enabled the Philadelphia House of Horror to Go Unregulated

Clarke Forsythe—author of the excellent book Politics for the Greatest Good: The Case for Prudence in the Public Square, and whom I interviewed here about Roe v. Wade—has a good article in The Weekly Standard explaining how the actions of the Supreme Court severely discouraged regulating abortion clinics.

An excerpt:

Philadelphia's clinic conditions and lackadaisical approach to regulating clinics are the direct result of the "fine print" in Roe.

Because the Justices who decided Roe foolishly believed that abortion had few risks and that doctors should have complete discretion to decide how to do abortions in the first trimester, they basically said that state and local officials can't regulate in the first trimester, when 90 percent of abortions are done, and that they can try in the second trimester—if they dare.

But the Justices then empowered the federal courts and attorneys for abortion providers to thwart every effort by public health officials to regulate.

Here's his conclusion about the inevitable cycle that we'll continue to see:

The problem is that the Court is a passive institution. It dictated this public health vacuum and now can't do anything about it.  It can't regulate. It can't fill the vacuum it created.  It can only wait on lengthy and expensive cases to get appealed to the Court, and it has imposed conditions that inhibit any case from getting to the Court.

If the history of the past 38 years is replayed in Philadelphia, as it has been in Chicago and other major cities, the current furor will die down, some legislative body might pass new regulations, the ACLU or the Center for Reproductive Rights will file suit, the federal courts will strike down the regulations, the state will use tax dollars to pay attorneys fees to the clinics, the papers will turn a blind eye, and the case will never get to the Justices.

You can read the whole thing here.

A Conversation with Robert P. George

Albert Mohler talks with Princeton Professor Robert P. George on the process of moral change in society.

An Interview with J.R.R. Tolkien

Some interesting footage here from a 1968 BBC program, with Tolkien walking around Oxford and talking about his books from his office.

(I've tried my best to cut out the clips of Oxford students pontificating at length about the books!)

Jesus's Least Popular Promise?

Followers of Christ want to be like Christ.

And Jesus promised that if you want to be like him, you will be treated and viewed as he was.

It occurred to me recently that there may be an implicit premise in some forms of Christian cultural engagement that believes we can do an end-run around this clear promise of Jesus:

"You will be hated by all for my name's sake. . . . A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. . . . If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household." (Matt. 10:22, 24-25)

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19)

By God's grace we will win some to Christ. Some who are both "in" and "of" the world will be called by Christ to remain "in" but "not of"—to be transformed and not conformed to the world. We seek to be salt and light so that some who are worldly will become those of whom the world is not worthy. But I don't see a way around Jesus's promise that at the end of the day, being hated is part of what it means to follow and look like Jesus.

For another angle on this theme, see John Piper's recent meditation on 1 John 3:1, including this observation: "If the world rejected Jesus, the perfect manifestation of love, then there are times it will reject us, precisely because our message and manner are getting close to Christ's."