Eschatology Today

Inaugurated Eschatology: (n.) The wonderful already-but-not-yet tension and reality of redemption. Read the theological reflections of Pastor Jay and others around him below. This is a great place to dialog about the beauties of the Gospel!

Whither Wheaton? Reflections Part 1

I have thought long and hard about putting a dog into this hunt. I may regret this later. But, while not so much provoked, I feel inspired to respond to what has come to be quite a discussed article written by a classmate of mine from Wheaton College, Dr. Andrew Chignell entitled Whither Wheaton?, which now has its own website if you are curious to read it. It is an articulate, thoughtful, yet overtly critical analysis of the last chapter of Wheaton under the current and outgoing president, Dr. Duane Litfin. Andrew and I never met, but I remember him. He was known as one of the more intellectualy gifted students Wheaton had seen in some time, along with another classmate, yet another faculty child. I remember respecting his intellect and I recall some pieces written during our students days already reflecting the disquiet in his recent article.

Let me begin with an important disclaimer: Dr. Litfin is my father in law. "Wow, hold on!", you say. Well, this of course puts me at a bias, doesn't it? But, isn't everyone? Isn't Andrew at a bias? The profs he interviewed? The sympathetic alumni who have commented on the blog (some of whom are good friends)? Look, apart from well reasoned, researched, longstanding, and important thinking by Chignell and others who represented his concern in his article, you better believe there is a lot, a lot, of viscera in all of this. There is a lot of emotion, and that comes out in this article. It is not even tucked away well. But, as a proponent of attempted objectivity and belief in sufficient objectivity, let me offset my relationship to Dr. Litfin and all the emotion I too bring a bit with some other important data points that my help my voice, given my perspective. I grew up in a post-Christian Marin County, CA. I am bi-racial. I transferred to Wheaton from UC Berkeley, having never attended a Christian private school until Wheaton. I am a curious bystander, in many respects. Put another way, I don't really have a lot of the experience of the "evangelical bubble" and that "frustrated evangelical/post-evangelical-but-still-orthodox" thing going on in the voice of Chignell and the many grads who have affirmed his article (a probably minority, though)and from which the theo-ideology that is the basis of its interpretations and conclusions stem from, at least in part. Yes, there is an objective debate over pedagogy, educational philosophy, community feel, institutional mission, etc, and yet all of those still stem from the deeper root system of theo-ideology and the ever deeper issue of the human heart. I am not immune, and yet nor am I a wealthy, white, male, who grew up in Grand Rapids and blindly ticks of the R section on a voting ballet (no offence GR! Love you, too!).

So, let me just begin by saying that I want to reflect on several points of this situation - and to draw attention to that fact - there are several points. There is involved in all of this: theo-ideology, community dynamics, leadership, integrity, sociology, and the human heart - indeed that may be the most imporant reflection, while the most subjective and seemingly off point to Chignell et al. But, I am a pastor and it is my lovingly subversive and apocalyptic mission to keep things coming back to the heart.

In all of this I want to ask these questions (and ones that still apply to Wheaton and are not delimited to the church): How could the gospel have been lived out better in Wheaton's history and in the community voice of Chignell's piece? What of love? What is the most important part of Wheaton's mission that is so worth it, that it is worth looking cheesy, lame, and vilified if it were to defend it, even from among its own, even if done with great love and forbearance? So, we being a series of reflections...

Deep Reflections on the Holy Spirit

Rob Banister Report: The Holy Spirit from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

Praying for New Inclinations

Wow! It has been a looonnnggg time since I last wrote. That is due to a long story. Can't go into details now, but the lessons, growth, and theology I am learning in the course of this story will makes its way, carefully and prudently, into future, hopefully more frequent, posts.

But for now, a word on how to pray for your sanctification. I am reading through WGT Shedd's Dogmatic Theology, a work this American Reformed theologian wrote in the late 19th century. A fairly under-known, but very good treatment of Reformed dogmatics. In his chapter on Anthropology Shedd distinguishes between the inclination and the volition within man. The inclination is the fundamental root wiring, if you will, of the human person. Inclination is the bedrock, pre-volitional leanings of the human heart. The inclination is therefore not something chosen, per se, but something that is as it is in light of our condition as fallen people and/or redeemed people. We cannot reach down and change inclination. Volition, on the other hand, is the expressions or surfacings of inclination. However, volitions can go against the grain of inclination, from time to time. For example, a drunk who is inclined as a drunk (addicted) can refuse a drink, say during the beginning of the day, so he can perform well at work, be lucid, and keep his reputation and job. But, upon returning home he begins to pour his drinks, until his stupor is back, and he passes out into yet another night of sleep. This is the 'high functioning' drunk. His bedrock is inclined toward addiction, but he can control it in light of his other purposes in life. His volition is always being pulled at, but he can break this tractor beam in light of other priorities that are not utterly assailed by his addiction. Inclination = bedrock, out of our power, inborn, pre-volitional. Volition = surface desires, can be manipulated by us to some degree, can vary.

What is the pastoral point here? It is this: when you pray for your sanctification, make sure you are asking for your inclinations to change. Often we pray for and thus seek to act upon our volitions. So, we abstain from pornography, or eating dysfunction, or gossip, or consumerism, or gluttony, or messing around with our girlfriend/boyfriend, for a while. But, then we fall. We can fall hard. It was as if sin went away, in order to crouch in the shadows and pounce on us with greater force than before. Why? Because we focused on our mere surface desires and actions. We did not focus on root desire.

So, in our prayers and our behavior, how do we do this? One, pray for God to change you at your pre-volitional, heart inclinations. Ask him to change whatever it is in the deepest part of you that causes you to have weakness in sexual, relational, vocational, etc, areas of your life. Modern, secular psychology says it is important to identify those specific and deep seated issues. You may be able to do that, and it generally is always helpful. But sometimes you don't know why you are so whacked in sin. But God does. So ask him to work whether you can identify your pathologies or not. Either way, you are accountable and God is powerful. Second, in your prayers and your thinking, you must focus on the gospel. It is the gospel that will change you at that level. Selfishness can make your will conform do to certain 'moral' things. That is why we have the so-called good non-Christian. They do exist. But they live by a strong ability to manipulate their surface desires due to self exaltation not the power of God. Why do rich movie stars go to Haiti or Africa to help the weak, feed the poor, and fight for better HIV meds? Love? Really? Maybe there are hints of it in there. But, probably more for self medication vis a vis their guilt, and probably for self exaltation,ie pride. But, true good works are never the result of reshuffling the deck of our volitional cards. True good works are the reordering of our very inclinations because of the work of God's Spirit applying the gospel in us. That is transformation, not just behavior modification.

You want to be more humble? Then believe the gospel more. You want to stop fornicating? Then trust Jesus more. You want to be able to eat a plate of food in peace? Let Christ take your guilt. You want to be able to be honest before men and stop spin-doctoring your image? Let Jesus be your true identity.

So, our daily choices are important. But, it is our root inclinations that God is most concerned about, and only he can work there. So, pray for that, keep that central in how you follow Jesus, and always focus on the gospel!

Raising Purity

A friend of mine has recently published a book on things I like to talk about too, namely: sexuality, dating, and relationships. Gerald is a keen thinker, very astute Biblically, and I think this book will really get your cogs turning on the need for purity, having a Biblical theology of sex, and thinkig about what dating is all about. This will be great for you right now and someday for you as a parent raising a child to worship God in their romantic and sexual wiring.

Here is a blurb and a link:

"Do they know? Do you? Many young people today are confused about the Bible's perspective on sex, dating and relationships. Should they give dating a chance or kiss it goodbye? What exactly is sexual purity, and how far is too far, anyway? Perhaps our children don't know the answers to these questions because we as parents are uncertain ourselves.
In this ground-breaking book, Gerald Hiestand provides objective, biblical answers to these vital questions, and unfolds a paradigm-shifting view of relationships and purity that challenges the basic assumptions of our Christian sub-culture. Touching on a wide range of subjects, Raising Purity is sure to help parents and children think clearly, biblically and practically about the God-ordained purpose of human sexuality."

http://raisingpurity.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Raising-Purity-1-2-Chapters1.pdf

Manuscript Preachers - Just When You Thought You Had the Trump Card!

Many men who defend on principle the use of a full manuscript to preach from use Jonathan Edwards as a case in point of a brilliant, model pastor-theologian from which we should be careful to part ways with in terms of ministry principles. In particular, he is often cited as a preacher who read his sermons, word for word, in a weak voice, for over an hour. Check out this interesting factoid by my good friend Stephen Witmer, a pastor-theologian in his own right, out in New England, from his blog last week.

On Thursday we drove to Yale University and had the amazing privilege of visiting the Jonathan Edwards Center (meeting there with Adriaan Neele and Ken Minkema) and then going to the Beinecke Library to see some of Jonathan Edwards' original works. Of the several things we saw, the most amazing was the manuscript of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, perhaps the most famous sermon in American history. I have read it multiple times before and it is a great, God-centered sermon -- not the terrible sermon portrayed in so many modern high school classes. Amazingly, we were allowed to touch the tiny, palm-sized manuscript and turn its pages. One of the things I learned for the first time in this visit was that Edwards preached this sermon multiple times in multiple locations. I saw a small piece of paper the size of an index card on which he had jotted the main points of the sermon to help him remember them. This reminder card was used when he had preached the sermon before and simply wanted a reminder as he preached it again, rather than preaching from the original manuscript.

Now, this does not mean you have to preach from notes or extemporaneously, but just wanted us all be honest that this is much more about preference than a theological principledness.

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

If you are like me, from time to time, or a lot of the time, you struggle with contentment. Maybe contentment is tied to your job, or your talents, or to your relationships, or maybe even to your spiritual maturity...maybe all of the above and more.

I few months ago I heard about this little puritan work, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, written by one of the lesser known puritan pastors, Jeremiah Burroughs. I stole a copy from a cohort and started to read it (I guess I should read about the 8th commandment next?). I'm only in the third chapter, but I have found Burrough's thoughts a spot on treatment of what discontent is and how the gospel combats it. If you struggle with being content, I recommend this very insightful little book. Burroughs really gets at the heart of the matter. The message is simple and, if embraced, not only does one find growth in the area of contentment but what the gospel provides once you really start to apply it to all of life...abundant joy.

http://www.amazon.com/Rare-Jewel-Christian-Contentment/dp/B002NEEWJQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255638059&sr=8-1

My Son is a Charismatic or My Joy in Peter's Joy in His Redeemer

My son has become a charismatic. He believes that, while particular in the frequency and character of manifestations vis a vis special ages and points in redemptive history, that the Holy Spirit's work to make the presence and power of Jesus known is as real and as categorically broad as it has ever been, including the miraculous, the prophetic, and joy producing. While not an essential of charismatic theology, he is also wired in such a way that he wants to physically move in response to Biblical truth in the musical praise of the Father, through Jesus, in the Spirit's strength.

In a chapel at the classical Christian school he attends, it was relayed to us that during a worship song Peter was closing his eyes and raising his hands. My wife asked Peter about this. Peter said: "Mom, we were singing about lifting Jesus' name up high, so I was, you know, like, lifting his name up. My praise was being lifted up to God." Rebecca continued to ask if he had seen anyone do this before. He had (thanks Nathan and Danielle!!), but it was clear that Peter owned his posture of praise. Rebecca and I are charismatics with a seat belt, or open but cautious, however you want to spin that. We are not cessationists by Biblical conviction. By temperament, we are not uber-charismatics, but it seems as Jesus more fully rules our hearts, I am observing, that we are becoming more-truth-oriented-and-Jesus-anchored-emotional-and-physical in our responses and actions toward God in worship and life. Peter seems to have gotten a head start in life.

Our response: caution and release. First, we caution him to be sensitive to his community. Whether because of unhealthy stodginess or proper silence and stillness, Peter needs to be sensitive in his forms of worship so as to complement the whole, not bombard it. Second, we want to unleash him to praise God in the fullness of his emotions and his very being as long as it is a response to truth, to the person of Christ, and is edifying to those around him. In fact, friends, it brings me the most joy to know my son loves to exalt God with all that is within him. What greater joy can a parent have? I know no other.

So, my son might end up being a charismatic - maybe one of those Sovereign Grace guys or Acts 29. I probably won't (probably...we'll see). But, I am so proud of him and I find that joy in me is produced by his joy in His redeemer. That is the way God intends it. We are all to find joy in one another's joy in our Redeemer. That is a true pursuit of joy.

We'll see how Ellie, Ethan, and Reid turn out. I'm sure we'll have a more buttoned up Presbyterian come out of this family, too. As long as he or she is aflame with God, then my joy will continue to deepen.

So, if your child ends up being a charismatic, at least in temperament, praise God yourself! If they are also Reformed and prize the local church, then, friend, you can go ahead and ask God to rapture you...you've seen your life's work accomplished.