Here is a good quote from A. W. Tozer on preachers and hearers. This would be a good one to reflect on in preparation for Sunday morning worship.

When considering a pastor the average church asks in effect, “Is this man worthy to speak to us?” I suppose such a question is valid, but there is another one more in keeping with the circumstances; it is, “Are we worthy to hear this man?” An attitude of humility on the part of the hearers would secure for them a great deal more light from whatever size candle the Lord might be pleased to send them.

When a man or woman becomes worthy to hear, God sometimes talks to them through very unworthy media.

God will speak to the hearts of those who prepare themselves to hear; and conversely, those who do not so prepare themselves will hear nothing even though the Word of God is falling upon their outer ears every Sunday.

Good hearers are as important as good preachers. We need more of both.   (A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous)

Mark Dever over at Together for the Gospel contends that the gospel is the real front line for evangelical Christians. After reflecting on Evangelicals and Catholics Together, (and joking about Calvinists and Arminians Together), Dever makes the following great point:

The real front line is not between Calvinist evangelicals and Arminian evangelicals. It is between those who are lost in their sins and those who have been saved by God’s sheer grace in Christ. Here, there is much togetherness in the Gospel by evangelical believers. 500 years ago Rome warned us that we Protestants would continue to split into countless groups, if we split with them over this. Well, 500 years of history have passed, and the verdict is in resoundingly. Rome was wrong. The Gospel is clear . . . the good news about the Holy God who sent his Son to die and be raised for the justification of sinners. And that we experience God’s forgiveness and new life through faith alone in Christ alone. We don’t need a bishop in Rome or anywhere else to tell us this. We don’t need a world-wide organization. We just need the Holy Spirit, the Bible and the faithful teaching of this gospel by any one of thousands of congregations around the globe faithful to this gospel.

The Gospel is the real front line. And the Gospel is what all of us evangelicals are really together for. Whatever conference we may go to.

Gator golf. An 11-foot, one-eyed alligator grabbed a Florida golfer by the arm while he was retrieving his ball from a pond on the sixth hole. The golfer was taken to the hospital but not seriously injured. The pond has a “Beware of Alligator” sign posted. That’s what I call a water hazard.

Wrong pocket. A pickpocket got more than he bargained for when he tried to pick the pocket of 72-year old Bill Barnes of Walker, Michigan. Barnes is a former marine and Golden Gloves boxer who is retired after 20 years as an iron worker. When Barnes felt the hand in his pocket, he grabbed the pickpocket’s wrist and started throwing punches. The store manager also helped, and together they subdued the pickpocket until police arrived.

Surplus hearts. “Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured in anticipation of the casualties resulting from the invasion of Japan. To the present date, all the American military casualties of the sixty years following the end of World War II — including the Korean and Vietnam Wars — have not exceeded that number. In 2003, there were still 120,000 of these Purple Heart medals in stock. There are so many in surplus that combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan are able to keep Purple Hearts on-hand for immediate award to wounded soldiers on the field.” (Wikipedia: Operation Downfall)

From last week’s Christian Post:

The ”Jesus” film – the most translated and widely distributed film in history – announced Tuesday that it is on the verge of reaching its 1000th translation.

As one of the most effective evangelism tools with more than 6 billon viewers globally over 28 years, the “Jesus” film has been seen and translated far more times than top Oscar-winning films such as “Gone With the Wind,” “The Sound of Music,” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

When the 1,000th translation milestone is reached, the one million primarily Ho speaking people in India will be able to hear the Gospel story in their “heart language.” Already through the film more than 200 million people have accepted Christ as their Savior . . .

The Seed Company, part of the Wycliffe Bible Translators family of organizations, partners with the JESUS Film Project to translate the Book of Luke and a script for the film in two to three years . . .

The film is often shown in remote, third-world locales using a makeshift screen and portable projector – often drawing an audience of first-time movie watchers. The “Jesus” film team said it plans to continue translation of the film well beyond its 1,000 mark, focusing on languages with more than 100,000 speakers.

Update: 1000th translation completed as of August 10, 2007 (Mission Network News)

Mr. Dawntreader has another excellent post today in his series of articles on the book, Science & Faith: Friends or Foes? by Dr. C. John Collins.

Whereas quantum mechanics and chaos theory both suggest randomness in the world, the Bible reveals a sovereign God who is in control of the universe. So how does one reconcile the findings of quantum mechanics and chaos theory with a sovereign God?

My own hunch – and it is not much stronger than that – is that quantum mechanics is a model, and that it shows what the world acts like at its lowest level; but that we may well have reached the limits of our ability to know things with more precision than quantum mechanics allows.

But in any case quantum mechanics in itself . . . does not undermine the traditional Christian picture of the world with knowable natural properties behaving in a predictable and understandable way, under the rule of a wise and holy Creator. This is true for at least two reasons.

First, however spooky quantum theory may sound, it is highly mathematical: and this shows that the world is still intelligible, since that is just what mathematics is for.

Second, we experience the world at a much larger scale than the one quantum mechanics describes. And at this level, “ordinary physics” – Newton’s laws and all that – describes everything quite well. So we experience the world at a level that combines the tiny quantum effects, and all the goofiness gets washed out. (Collins, Science & Faith, p.223)

Mr. Dawntreader then goes on to discuss chaos theory using weather as an example.

It is terribly difficult to predict weather. There are simply too many factors. The initial condition is far to difficult to measure. The output is nonlinear. Weather is therefore a chaotic system. Hence we use predictions based on probability instead of knowing exactly what will happen based on natural laws.

Does this undermine a biblical worldview?

Hardly. This is nothing more than a math problem that is too difficult for us to solve at present. Nothing more, nothing less. If we could precisely measure the initial conditions and every single factor, we could precisely say what tomorrow’s weather would be.

In conclusion, neither quantum theory or chaos theory presents a serious challenge to a biblical worldview.

I encourage you to read the full article at the Dawn Treader site.

Related post: God’s Providence and Scientific Investigation

The Desiring God $5 book sale has started. I was just over at the site and not only are all the books on sale for $5 each, so are their study guides and Bibles. These guys are going all out! You can even pick up an ESV hardcover, Classic Reference Edition (list $24.99) for just $5.

Update: Well, the ESV hardcover, Classic Reference Edition was on sale for $5 earlier today, but it looks like that offer is no longer available. You can still get the paperback, Life Discovery Edition for $5 though. Also, here’s an update from the Desiring God blog: “If the store is working slowly for you, please consider continuing your order a little later. There’s a rush this morning, but the sale goes through Thursday at midnight so there is plenty of time to get your order in.”

The online sale is two days only – Wednesday and Thursday, June 27 and 28. Click here for book recommendations.

Here is a graph showing the chances of a man winning an argument while dating, during engagement, and then after marriage.

I don’t know. I tried to convince my wife that this is true, but she said, “No way!” so I guess she must be right.

HT: Bradley Wright

Pastor Mark Roberts is posting a number of excerpts from his new book, Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Roberts studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. As a pastor and New Testament scholar, Roberts wears both hats well in providing this readable and well-reasoned defense of the reliability of the gospel documents.

Here are some of the questions Roberts addresses in his book:

• Can we know what the original Gospel manuscripts really said?
• Did the evangelists know Jesus personally?
• When were the Gospels written?
• What sources did the Gospel writers use?
• Did early Christian oral tradition reliably pass down the truth about Jesus?
• What are the New Testament Gospels?
• What difference does it make that there are four Gospels?
• Are there contradictions in the Gospels?
• If the Gospels are theology, can they be history?
• Do miracles undermine the reliability of the Gospels?
• Do historical sources from the era of the Gospels support their reliability?
• Does archeology support the reliability of the Gospels?
• Did the political agenda of the early church influence the content of the Gospels?
• Why do we have only four Gospels in the Bible?
• Can we trust the Gospels after all?

When I was in college I read a similar book by F.F. Bruce called, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? which greatly increased my understanding and strengthened my confidence in the New Testament texts. Bruce’s book became somewhat of a classic on the topic, and I expect Roberts’ book will help a whole new generation come to grips with the reliability of the Biblical gospels.

World’s ugliest dog. Meet Elwood, the world’s ugliest dog. The 2-year-old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix, who placed second in last year’s contest, was crowned the world’s ugliest dog on Friday, June 22. Elwood is also known for his uncanny resemblance to aliens Yoda and ET. “I think he’s the cutest thing that ever lived,” said Elwood’s owner, Karen Quigley. Really? Then why did you enter him in the world’s ugliest dog contest?

Global cooling. From the Canadian Financial Post: “Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments.” Maybe it’s supposed to get hotter before it gets colder? (HT: Instapundit)

Pastor-comedian wanted. A newly forming church in Edmond, OK is looking for a pastor-comedian. “The idea is to use humor and comedy to bring people to Christ. With the right Pastor we plan on becoming a rapidly growing mega church soon. We are thinking the church will be called Comedy Hour and be open Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.” The only qualification listed under job requirements is “must be very funny.” No, I am not applying.

Tomorrow and Wednesday (June 27 and 28), all books at the Desiring God online bookstore are on sale for only $5 apiece. I have benefited greatly from John Piper’s writings over the years and would highly recommend his books to you. Here are some of my favorites:

• Desiring God – a classic book on glorifying and enjoying God
• God’s Passion for His Glory – a challenging read but one of the best books I read in the last ten years; Piper helps unfold Jonathan Edwards’ masterful work on why God created the world
• Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood – a comprehensive look at the biblical texts and issues relating to male and female roles in the home, the church and society
• A Godward Life – short, meaningful devotions on a variety of life topics
• A Hunger for God – the best book on fasting I have read
• The Supremacy of God in Preaching – great book on preaching
• Let the Nations Be Glad – great book on missions

Do you have any favorite John Piper books? Feel free to echo any of these recommendations or add some of your own in the comments section.

I am enjoying reading Mr. Dawntreader’s articles on the book, Science & Faith: Friends or Foes? by Dr. C. John Collins. Dr. Collins is an Old Testament professor at Covenant Theological Seminary. He has his undergraduate and first graduate degrees in engineering from MIT, and a Ph.D. in lingusitics from the university of Liverpool. He is also an expert in Hebrew.

I especially liked this article on the topic of God’s involvement in this world and its effect on science.

In theological terms, this falls in the area of study called providence. How involved is God in the natural world? If he is heavily involved, does it make the study of science pointless?

Collins unpacks God’s involvement in the world by stating the classic Christian understanding of God’s providence. God created real things with real properties (i.e. natures) each with the possibility of causing things. God ceased creating but goes on maintaining and governing. That is, he keeps his creation doing what it is supposed to be doing …

This raises a question. Does God do everything?

In a sense, yes. In a sense, no. God directly governs this world. His purposes are holy, wise and thoroughly good; and he sees to it, that in the end, his purposes stand. The reason the laws of physics work is because God keeps them working day after day. They serve his purpose. So God is directly involved in all of creation daily. However, God created a universe with a web of cause and effect and things that have natures … and one of the properties of those natures is to cause things. In that sense, God did not write this blog post. Mr. Dawntreader did …

Is it still possible for Christians to study and learn about the natural world if God is so involved in it? Of course it is, and we should learn as much as we can. In fact, it is because God sustains this world and gives it order that forms the basis and foundation for studying it.

I encourage you to visit the Dawn Treader site to read the full article, plus the earlier articles on the book as well. This looks like an excellent book on science and faith, and I have added it to my “books to read” list.

Related post: The Bible is to Theology as Creation is to Science

Yesterday’s message was the tenth in the Doing Church Together series from the book of 1 Timothy. The message was called, Caring for Each Other in the Body of Christ, taken from 1 Timothy 5:1-16.

1 Timothy 5:1-16 – 1 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. 14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
16 If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need. (NIV)

The main idea of the message was that we should care for each other in the body of Christ. Here is a brief recap of the message:

The church is the body of Christ, and the members of the body must care for each other. If the church does not take care of its own, it has ceased to function as the church. Paul was especially concerned with the widows at Timothy’s church. But there are some general principles we can draw from Paul’s instructions that will help us learn how we may better care for each other in the body of Christ, too.

(more…)