Classic

Hilarious, as always.

He Didn't Sweatt the Details

I finally got around to seeing what all the kerfuffle was about (and to finding an opportunity to use the word "kerfuffle").

Last month, at a regional FBFI conference, Pastor Dan Sweatt of Berean Baptist Church ranted (one could hardly call it "preaching") about the mass defection of young preachers from the ranks of fundamentalism (read: fundamentalist circles approved by the IFB pantheon) toward conservative evangelicalism as represented by men like MacArthur, Piper, et al.

This message was particularly significant to me, as I was reared in fundmentalist, independent Baptist circles. And I, too, have begun to identify more with the preaching ministries of John MacArthur, Alistair Begg, and others. I made the move because fundamentalism absolutely refuses to police itself. Fundamentalism, as a movement, has no problem with shepherds who have mutton on their breath. At the same time, in MacArthur, James Kennedy, et al I sensed a love and compassion for people and a commitment to careful expository preaching -- something else sadly lacking in those hailed as heroes of fundamentalism. So, it sounded like Sweatt was going to tell my story.

And he did, though not, I would guess, in the way he intended to. His talk (I refuse to call it a sermon) consisted of a heterogeneous blend of personal anecdotes (of which he was the hero, or into which he somehow inserted himself regardless of the point of the story), quick head-bobs at prooftexts, fawning devotion to men that he SHOULD identify as hirelings but instead venerates, and red-faced invectives against other Christian leaders.

And, of course, he manages to work in some Calvin-bashing as well. Good times.

Here's a news flash for ya, Dan-o -- that is EXACTLY why I fled your camp, never EVER to return. You represented, on that platform, everything that is wrong with fundamentalism, everything that drives thinking people away. Everything from your mistreatment of Scripture, to your gross misrepresentation of Calvinism, to your internally inconsistent critiques of anyone who falls outside your self-erected boundaries of orthopraxy -- all of this drives us away. In a nutshell, we're leaving fundamentalism because the guys being allowed to drive fundamentalism are jerks.

I'm not going to bother with an item-by-item reply to the nonsense that was belched out at that conference. Others have devoted time to that task. For a detailed (and much more level-headed) rebuttal of Sweatt's offal, see this article from Central Seminary's Kevin Bauder (HT: John Piper).

But the bottom line, for me, is this: until fundamentalism does a better job of repudiating this sort of behavior, my prayer is that more and more young preachers leave. I am GLAD to hear of empires crumbling, of indoctrination centers closing. It's a GOOD sign. Until fundamentalism discovers a love for real expository preaching and a hatred of eisogetic spleen-venting, until fundamentalism discovers a love for people and a hatred for numbers-oriented pragmatism, until fundamentalism discovers that holiness is defined by Christ-likeness, not activity . . . then the best thing for the body of Christ would be for fundamentalism to continue to shrink into irrelevance.

And, if you're going to interact with any theological discussion, Danny Boy, you need to stop playing for cheap amens and Sweatt the details before you speak.

Credit to the Unaccredited

As I watch this bailout debacle unfold, partcularly with regard to the automakers, I realize something: this is why so many Christian schools were absolutely right to fear accreditation. Just ask 25% of Chrysler's dealers who are fighting for their lives -- some of whom are being threatened with closure despite successful, profitable sales records.

Balanced Soteriology

Came across this quote from Spurgeon in studying for Sunday. Yet another evidence that expository preaching brings a unique balance that will be lacking in topical "preaching":

"Our conviction is, that Arminian theology, to a great extent, makes God to be less than he is. The professors of that system have come to receive its doctrines, because they have not a clear
understanding either of the omnipotence, the immutability, or the sovereignty of God. They seem always to put the question, “What ought God to do to man who is his creature?” We hold that that is a question that is never to be put, for it infringes the sovereignty of God, who has absolute right to do just as he wills. They ask the question, “What will God do with his promises, if man change his habit or his life?” We consider that to be a question not to be put. Whatever man doeth, God remaineth the same and abideth faithful, though even we should not believe him. They put the question,’ What will be done for men who resist God’s grace, if in the
struggle man’s will should be triumphant over the mercy of God?” We never put that question: we think it blasphemous. We believe God to be omnipotent, and when he comes to strive with the soul of man, none can stay his hand. He breaks the iron sinew, and dashes the adamantine heart to shivers, and ruleth in the heart of man as surely as in the army of the skies.
A right clear apprehension of the character of God we believe would put an end to the Arminian mistake.
We think, too, that ultra-calvinism, which goes vastly beyond what the authoritative teaching of Christ, or the enlightened ministry of Calvin could warrant, gets some of its support from a wrong view of God. To the ultra-calvinist his absolute sovereignty is delightfully conspicuous. He is awe-stricken with the great and glorious attributes of the Most High. His omnipotence appals him, and his sovereignty astonishes him, and he at once submits as if by a stern necessity to the will of God. He, however, too much forgets, that God is love. He does not make prominent enough the benevolent character of the Divine Being. He annuls to some extent the fact, that while God is not amenable to anything external from himself, yet his own attributes are so blessedly in harmony, that his sovereignty never inflicted a punishment which was not just, nor did it even bestow a mercy until justice had first been satisfied. To see the holiness, the love, the justice, the faithfulness, the immutability, the omnipotence and the sovereignty of God, all shining like a bright corona of eternal and ineffable light, this has never been given perfectly to any human being, and inasmuch as we have not seen all these, as we hope yet to see them, our faulty vision has been the ground of divers mistakes. Hence hath
arisen many of the heresies which vex the Church of Christ.
Now, my brethren, I would have you this morning look at the way in which our Lord Jesus Christ regards God: — “Father, Lord of heaven and earth.” If you and I cannot know the Almighty to perfection, because of His greatness and of our shallowness, nevertheless let us try to apprehend these two claims upon our adoration, in which we owe to God the reverence of
children, and the homage of subjects."

I Can't Wait!

Okay, so I know it's been a while since I've shouldered my way onto the Tokyo commuter train that is the blogosphere, but I got an email today that warrants a quick post:

My very-most-favoritest Christian musicians have released a new CD. Be sure to listen to clips and order one of these for your music library. Check them out here.