Theolatte
Nothing goes better with a steaming latte than an engaging discussion about theology and philosophy. Sit down with your favorite caffeinated beverage and peruse the thoughts of a pseudo-intellectual.
Et Cetera
Plain Christianity
August 17th, 2010
The following is an excerpt from the book Plain Christianity published in 1960 by J.B. Phillips. The book is a summary of a series of radio lectures Phillips gave for the Australian Broadcasting Commission. He was a pastor in London during WWII. It was during this time that his disappointment with young people’s lack of biblical literacy led him to produce personal paraphrases of the New Testament. C.S. Lewis was supportive of his work.
What we human beings really need, if we’re ever to know God at all, is to see Him ‘focused’ in a form that we can understand. He must ’speak our language,’ as it were, if we’re ever to have a hope of understanding the Character of Anyone so vast and so complex.
This is exactly what He has done. God did deliberately focus Himself in a human being when He became a man in Jesus Christ. ‘The word became flesh,’ wrote St. John long ago; which is another way of saying that God expressed Himself in a human being.
It is, of course, a terrific thing to believe. I haven’t much use for people who say, “oh, you mean the Incarnation,’ and let it go at that. It doesn’t seem as if they’d really sat down and thought what a staggering thing it is to believe that God in all His greatness and wisdom and splendor should deliberately stoop to become a human baby. I confess it takes my breath away.
But once you do believe it, really believe it, the rather wonderful things happen. First, you know now by looking at Jesus Christ what the eternal God is really like. you can read in the Gospels and understand for yourself what He is trying to do in this world, and what sort of people He wants us to become. You can begin to see the meaning behind the plain and obvious happenings of everyday life. In fact, once you accept Jesus Christ as the true Character of God expressed in human history you can begin to learn the real ‘facts of life.’
A Natural Disaster
August 12th, 2010
There are ultimately only two basic views of reality. The first allows for metaphysics and the second is limited to mere physics. Another helpful way of describing these contrasting categories is to call the first a supernatural worldview and the second a natural one. One person believes in the existence of God while another declares it impossible.
The Apostle Paul refers to both categories in Galatians 6:7-8
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Paul says that all who invest only in the physical world, only in the flesh, will receive their reward from nature. Those who invest in metaphysics, to the Spirit, will receive their reward from God. Both views represent paths with predetermined destinations. One leads to corruption while the other leads to life.
It is interesting that a purely natural worldview leads to corruption. Even the law of entropy teaches us that this is true. Nature is moving away from something (a beginning) towards an end. One does not have to look far to find scientists who recognize that the earth has both a beginning, as well as, an inevitable end. The earth is not able to indefinitely sustain life. To only invest in this world is most certainly to result in disaster.
Conversely, those who invest to the Spirit will receive life. Jesus posed this truth in the form of a question, “What does is profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” If one rejects the idea of anything immaterial, of any reality of a soul, then to lose it would be of little consequence. It is, after all, already lost – or that is to say it never existed to begin with. However, if man is more than just matter plus environment, if man has a soul, then this would be a great loss indeed.
I don’t wish here to present arguments for the reality of metaphysics based on beauty, morality, or human longing. Neither do I seek to present a theological basis for the exclusivity of Christ as revealed and vindicated by the Spirit. While I believe both are important, I simply want to emphasize the biblical notion of two paths. One is natural leading to corruption. The other is supernatural leading to life.
As Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” On another occasion Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” Jesus made it clear that the natural road is broad and is traveled by the multitudes. The way to life is found only through Christ. Herein the spiritual road is said to be quite narrow and its passengers few.
The real question is which road are you on?
“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” – CS Lewis
“We have said we must be fond of this world, even in order to change it. We now add that we must be fond of another world (real or imaginary) in order to have something to change it to.”
-GK Chesterton
Confessions of a Coffee House Evangelist
July 23rd, 2010
If I ever stopped drinking coffee I would have to completely rebrand myself. From my blog title to my Twitter updates, coffee is an ever present theme in my life. Ironically, in the providence of God, I have the opportunity to preach the gospel in a coffee shop every week.
Three things I love about preaching in a coffee house:
1.) Preaching in a public setting provides random contacts with people who wouldn’t go to a typical church.
We get to meet a lot of people who wander into the coffee house, since it stays open for business during our worship service. While there are some disadvantages, like the noise generated from the blender while they make iced drinks, I love the interaction with the customers.
2.) Preaching in a public setting keeps you from being preachy.
When you have customers either walking through during our Bible study, sitting and listening in, or even just leaning at the counter trying to figure out what we are doing…it is impossible to “preach to the choir” in a context like this. I once had a young man who was in the back of the coffee shop working at a computer stand up and begin walking towards me as I discussed the fundamental flaws of a naturalistic worldview. At first he seemed potentially aggressive, but later appeared interested. At one point I looked down to read a Bible passage and when I looked back up he had walked out the back. I’ve never been accused of being overly stuffy or academic in my presentation style, but if it were a problem it would certainly be knocked out of me in this context.
3.) Last, and probably least, I get to drink coffee while I preach.
Sometimes I ask questions to initiate dialogue with the audience. Sometimes I ask questions to provide a brief interlude to take a sip of my cappuccino. All kidding aside, there is something fundamental to the idea of food and fellowship. Something magical happens as we sit in a relaxed setting with beverages in hand. The New Testament calls it fellowship. Every Thursday evening we get a foretaste of an eschatological fellowship and a future meal. This public context prevents some of the formalities that often inhibit authentic fellowship.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Back to the Future
July 11th, 2010
One Twitter aficionado recently pointed out that the future date used in Back to the Future was 2010. I missed that detail when I watched Michael J. Fox in the SciFi comedy years ago. Their prediction of flying cars was certainly off mark. Hopefully we will get those sometime in the next decade along with our gravity-defying skateboards.
The title “Back to the Future” is compelling though. There is a perennial pull towards the past for anyone who wants to progress into the future. I just finished an article for a LifeWay magazine encouraging teenagers to read Christian classics. I was more than happy to take the writing assignment because I love to read old books.
When I say I love to read old books, I mean it. While I like my iPad, I would rather read my first edition, dusty, time-worn copy of A Grief Observed than to scan over it in a digital format. I like the smell of old books. I like the feel of worn pages. More importantly, I value the wisdom of the past. On a recent trip to a Tennessee bookshop I discovered a signed first edition G.K. Chesterton book with a newspaper clipping of his visit to Nashville in 1921 and a ticket from the event where he was speaking (all tucked inside the back cover). Not a bad find for $14.95.
Writing the LifeWay article made me reflect on a few points of encouragement for developing the discipline of reading older works:
1.) It reminds us that our situation in life is not all that unique.
You can read about temptation from John Owen, heresy from G.K. Chesterton, or complete surrender from A.W. Tozer. There is nothing new under the sun, and the most recent book on any given topic isn’t always the best. Don’t equate new with better. Don’t get rocked over by new philosophies and emerging liberal theologies. They are neither entirely new, nor altogether unique. For every New Kind of Christianity offered to us today there is an Orthodoxy to be read from the past. Stay balanced. I’ve heard it said that for every book you read written by a living author, you should read an additional one by a dead author. That’s good advice.
2.) It challenges us to do great things for God in our day.
It’s impossible for me to read Pilgrim’s Progress without thinking of John Bunyan in a cold 17th century prison cell. I’m unable to read the poetry of Isaac Watts without considering that his beliefs kept him out of Oxford and Cambridge and landed him in prison on more than one occasion. With all due respect, you will read very little about how to Have Your Best Life Now in works from the past. You will, however, read a great deal about sacrifice in service of the cross.
3.) It focuses our attention on eternal issues.
I recently read a book entitled “Beyond Agnosticism” from the early 1920s. At times I felt like I was reading something out of a recently published bestseller. However, there were a couple of chapters where the author gave great detail to issues that seemed of much lesser significance. With a little historical context one is able to discern between the issues of grave importance and the more preferential ones. Reading classics can help you emphasize eternal issues by discerning from those that are of only passing value.
I hope you are planning on going back to the future. Your faith will be edified, your service encouraged, and your knowledge expanded. You might even come across a rare find on your quest to acquire a little vintage wisdom from the classics.
Ode to Dog Vomit
June 30th, 2010
Proverbs teaches us that words fitly spoken are like apples of gold in settings of silver. I’m not sure how this beautiful categorization relates to the eleventh verse of Proverbs 26:
“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”
(Proverbs 26:11)
Gold and silver are precious commodities used to commemorate achievements and celebrate relationships. They are of great worth.
In contrast, when we repeat our foolishness we are likened to a dog returning to its vomit. Nothing can turn my stomach more than the word “vomit.” It conjures up the worst of mental images, sounds and smells. Perhaps a more euphemistic term would be better. I guess a rose by any other name is still a rose.
The metaphor stops short because the idea is that a dog returns to its vomit to consume it. Sometimes I’m convinced the master Proverb collector was a youth pastor. This illustration has all the call signs of a youth camp sermon.
Disgusted? Then you get the point.
Don’t repeat your foolish mistakes.
Ask God for the grace to advance in your spiritual life.
Be wise. Avoid dog vomit.