Abortion. Poverty. Pornography. More than thirty years ago religious conservatives and liberals began fighting these and other problems head on. These past few decades have seen the popularity of groups such as the Moral Majority and The Christian Coalition that support numerous religious politicians and  make even more promises. After all the potential for success, why is it that these social problems persist? How is it that evangelicals have been so ineffective at changing the political and social landscape of the United States in a positive way?

Based on a conference put together by Trinity Law School, God and Governing brings together theologians, politicians, law professors and cultural critics in order to examine some of the root causes of evangelical political failure over the past thirty years.

Contents:

Foreword: Charles Colson

Introduction: Roger N. Overton

Chapter One: Why Being Good is So Political by David F. Wells

Chapter Two: The Travails of Evangelical Politics by Paul Marshall

Chapter Three: The Golden Triangle of Freedom by Os Guinness

Chapter Four Lessons on Fleeing Temptation by Patrick Nolan

Chapter Five: The Future of Virtue and Statesmanship in Pagan America by Vishal Mangalwadi

Chapter Six: The Failure of Evangelical Political Involvement by Dallas Willard

Chapter Seven: Practical Ways Forward by Donald McConnell

Chapter Eight: A Trinitarian Model for Political Duty by Stephen Kennedy

God and Governing will be published by Wipf and Stock under their Pickwick Publications imprint as part of their Princeton Theological Monograph Series. Look for it around the end of 2009.

A friend of mine recently asked if I think church attendance is necessary for Christians. Below is my response. I’m sure more could be said, but this isn’t meant to be a theological treatise.

I think the Christian life can be looked at in two inter-related ways: 1) Glorifying and enjoying God 2) Becoming more like God. One of the primary ways we glorify and enjoy God is by becoming more like Him (sanctification) and in order to become more like Him we must seek His glory and enjoy His goodness and beauty.

Within the context of these aims, the fellowship of the body of Christ is a necessity. It is not just commanded, but also explained in Hebrews 10- “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” The whole passage is about our assurance of faith, and encouragement between the saints is seen as a vital part of that. Elsewhere we see that church provides for the use of spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12, 1 Pet 4:10), accountability (1 Peter 5, Hebrews 13:17), and general love between believers (John 10:34, 17:20-21). These commands are meant to be followed within the body of Christ, and are typically neglected by those who cut themselves off.

There’s no such thing in the Bible as a “Lone Christian.” The letters in the New Testament are either to whole churches, or to leaders about churches. The expectation is that Christians will be meeting together regularly, and thus there is no instruction for those who do not.

I don’t think God has a checklist wherein He marks every Sunday we fail to attend. His concern, I believe, is about our heart in the matter. Why is it some have broken fellowship with others He has redeemed? The only explanation for someone who regularly excludes themselves from the gathering of the saints is sin- be it pride, selfishness, or whatever. Ironically, those are heart issues that are often confronted when people live in genuine community with other believers.

Dallas Willard makes a related point in the forthcoming book God & Governing, “People sometimes ask me why, since I’m such a “profound thinker,” I’m still involved in church. I sometimes reply, “Well, the Bible says you’re supposed to love your enemies and you’ll find a few there.” I mean to be humorous, of course, but I sensed some recognition out there as I say that. Actually, however, that’s what the church is. It’s a place where you can get really mad at people and not run off and leave them. It’s a place where anger and contempt can be unlearned. It’s a place to learn the deep things of a fellowship in Christ that lovingly endures disagreement, anger and injury. “Churchmanship” in that sense is important. It’s vital. It’s in God’s plan and nothing is going to take the place of it. The church is intended to be a school of love.”

The bottom line is that if we’re genuinely seeking after God and seeking to become more like Him, we will desire to be in community with His people, even when it’s difficult. If we lack that desire, then it’s likely that we are no longer seeking after God.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

Earlier today a hacker took over most of my online identity. I believe they started at www.rogeroverton.com, which was a Drupal-based site. They took out my content and put in a link to a virus. (I have since removed the entire site.)

Using the password from my website, they proceeded to take over my Facebook and Hotmail accounts, and changed the passwords. On Facebook, they deleted all of my picture albums and put pornographic images on my profile. When Amy posted a comment on my wall to warn others that my account had been hacked, the hacker began sending her inappropriate messages.

On Hotmail, they began sending messages to everyone on my contact list telling them to visit my site, where the link to the virus was. They also started deleting my emails (more than 600 of them).

Thankfully, when I got home I was able to quickly get back into my accounts through password recovery options and clear out the garbage that had been posted. I don’t believe anything inappropriate was on my profile for more than 40 minutes or so, though it did take Facebook awhile to cycle the updates out of their news feeds.

The obvious, immediate question is why would someone do something like this? What’s the point of hacking into someone’s accounts and posting inappropriate content? There may be a number of reasons, including total depravity. But there is one particular reason that was given by the hacker. They left me a note in my hotmail account. Among other things it said, the hacker called me a “stupid f**ing religious faggot.”

So as best as I can tell, the motivation for all of this is that I am an outspoken Christian. When I read that, I immediately thought of the promise that we would be persecuted because of Christ, and I take great joy in that. I have many shortcomings, and there are times I wonder about the quality of my witness. But apparently there are those in the world who have identified me with Christ and one person in particular who decided to take their hatred of Him out on me.

I have lost my website (a site I was never satisfied with), my Facebook photo albums, 3 or 4 Facebook friends, a pile of email I probably didn’t need and a few hours of sorting through the damage. All in all, it could have been much worse. Those things can be dismissed and/or replaced. What I have gained is of great value- a better understanding of the importance of web security, and (more importantly) a deeper sense of joy in my affiliation with Jesus the Christ.

PS- If you run a Drupal based website, take extra care to protect your password files.

Each of the synoptic gospel accounts begins in a rather historical, matter-of-fact way. One begins with genealogy, one with a brief prophecy and John baptizing in the wilderness, and one with an explanation of how historical it is. The Gospel According to John is profoundly different and the difference runs through more than just his account of the gospel, but also his letters and apocalypse.

In some sense, the other writers said simply, “This is about Jesus. Here’s what happened…” John couldn’t do that. He couldn’t simply say Jesus and go about his narrative. The incursion of God into humanity must have demanded a far more dramatic introduction:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world…” (John 1:1-9)

It’s not until verse 14 that the reader is told that this Word was the Son of God, and not until verse 17 that He’s identified as Jesus. Perhaps that sweet name is not the most important thing about Him.

John did something similar at the beginning of his first letter. Again, he could not simply mention Jesus without expressing a grand vision of what he meant when he spoke of Jesus:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:1-5)

By the way, in case you missed it, John saw Jesus with his very own eyes! He only had to mention it four times. (Erik Thoennes did a great job of addressing this in his sermon on the passage.) So many years later, John still maintained the excitement of having seen God incarnate. He not only saw God, but touched Him and heard from His lips a great message. The message? God is light.

Perhaps even years later, John saw Jesus again. But again, John couldn’t just say he saw Jesus…

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long rode and a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as the snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in the furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” (Rev. 1:12-16)

Sometimes I wonder if those who doubt the same person wrote each of these documents have actually read them. There are a number of similarities, but one especially stands out: God is light. I don’t think any other biblical author speaks to God as light as often as John. In his account of the gospel we learn that darkness cannot overcome this light, and similarly in John’s letter we are told there is no darkness in it at all. Furthermore, in Revelation, Jesus is described as “white as snow” and as “the sun shining in full strength” (neither of these have darkness either).

What would lead a man to speak so dramatically of someone in this way? Who could sustain this man’s interest, excitement, passion, devotion, and adoration for some sixty years? What thought could send this man into a frenzied abundance of joyful recollections, theological metaphors, and zealous praise? I fear that too often I speak of Jesus as theological and historical fact, but not often enough as magnificent light and creator of all things. Father, inspire us, as you inspired your beloved disciple, to speak not so simply about your Son; but fill us with such awe and wonder that we cannot contain it,

We've been digging into 1 John at Grace EV Free and I highly recommend Dr. Thoennes's sermons thus far:

1/11/09: The Word Came and Changed Everything

In the first part of the book, Gibson entertains nine objections to his thesis that all Old Testament laws are cancelled. These include the notion that the Ten Commandments are the eternal “moral law” of God, that Christ did not come to abolish the law, that there is only one covenant of grace, and that all scripture is God-breathed and useful. The second part of the book provides eight reasons why Gibson believes all Old Testament laws have been cancelled. They include the claim that the Decalogue is the foundational document of the Old Covenant, that the law cannot be divided, that the Jerusalem Council did not require obedience to the law from gentiles, and that the Decalogue had an historical beginning and end.

Part three moves on to the second part of Gibson’s thesis; that all New Testament laws are for our obedience. He responds to antinomian arguments that we’re not under law, but under grace and that the only law is love. He then provides four reasons why Christians must obey the New Testament laws. He cites the mere presence of hundreds of commands given after the cross, points out the sin is lawlessness, and focuses on the praise the Bible has for the law of Christ.

The book’s conclusion centers on the issue of sanctification. Gibson argues that sanctification must by Christ-centered instead of law-centered. At the end of the book are two appendices. One considered that objection that New Covenant Theology allows for beastiallity and incest and the other offers thirteen ways we should still use the Old Testament.

All Old Testament Laws Cancelled makes many good arguments based on the Bible, and these good arguments make the book a worthwhile read for those familiar with the debate. However, I believe there are at least two significant problems with the book, and these are reflected in the title. It really should be “All Old Covenant Laws Fulfilled.”

 The first problem is that Gibson is not persuasive that all Old Testament laws are cancelled. In Genesis 9:6 God gives a law against murder to Noah. This law is clearly pre-Sinai and therefore not part of the Mosaic Covenant. Jesus is the priest of a “better covenant” according to Hebrews, not a better testament. Hebrews tells us that with a new priest there is a change in the law and the old covenant is obsolete. Gibson fails to show how a law (such as Gen 9:6) in the same testament as a particular covenant (such as the old covenant) is subject to the same conditions as laws actually given within that covenant. His logic would lead us to expect God to flood the earth again since His promise to Noah is in the Old Testament and must have been cancelled by Christ.

The second problem has to do with “cancelled.” We journey into dangerous territory when we replace biblical terminology. The Bible never refers to the Old Covenant (or Testament) laws as cancelled. Instead, Christ is described as having fulfilled the law and prophets. Christ being born in Bethlehem did not cancel the prophecy that He would be born there- His birth fulfilled it. Changing the terminology in this way does something to Christ’s vicarious death on our behalf. Christ’s fulfilling the law for us is far more valuable and precious than if He were to simply cancel the law. Cancellation often implies incompleteness, and there is nothing incomplete about Christ’s work on the cross.

The authors estimate that in 2005 Christians (who are church members) in the United States had a collective total income over $2 trillion, but they only donated less than 4% of their income. “If American Christians were to give from their income generously—not lavishly, mind you, only generously—they could transform the world, starting right away.” (11) If these same Christians gave 10% of their income, another $46 billion would be available to help people around the world. The authors provide many pages of examples of how this money could be spent effectively.

In the second chapter a number of facts are offered in an effort to reach explanations for the lack of generosity. The first is that 20% of all American Christians do not give a single penny to any church or charity. Next, of those who do give, they give very little, between 2-4%. Another fact presented is that despite the massive growth of average income, American Christians give proportionally less today than they did 80 years ago.

Given these facts, as well as several others, the authors propose nine hypothesizes to explain why American Christians don’t give more. These explanations include high living costs, unperceived needs, distrust, ignorance about what their traditions teach, and failure to make giving a routine practice. They “test” each hypothesis against the evidence they’ve gathered for this study.

The fourth chapter provides anecdotes from interviews with pastors and church goers on the subject of financial giving. Many of the responses they gathered corresponded with the statistical information they provided earlier. These interviews help the reader understand the information from a more personal perspective. In the fifth chapter, the authors provide the results of an “experiment” they conducted during the interviews- they generated responses to a hypothetical situation where 10% giving became a requirement for church membership. Only 7% said they would begin tithing, while 76% they would not tithe at all.

The book conclude with six explanations for the lack of generous giving by American Christians: 1) America’s culture of mass consumption 2) Pastors’ fear of discussing money 3) Ignorance of Christian teaching about financial giving 4) Mistrust for leadership or organizations 5) Lack of conversations about money among Christians 6) Failure to adopt routine methods for giving. The authors provide more than a dozen ideas for how leaders can lead Christians to lead more generously. Appendices provide summaries of various denominational teachings on giving, data sources, and statistical charts.

Overall Passing the Plate is a convicting and interesting book. It’s disappointing to see how little American Christians actually give out of their income, and it’s challenging to see what could be done if we gave only 10%. While I think the conclusions are accurate and helpful, the authors repeatedly explained that more research needed to be done on particular points. Given how often they excused themselves from providing a conclusion for this reason, one might expect them to do more research before writing this book. However, most of these points were not central to their case. Passing the Plate is a very worthwhile read, and I would recommend it to church leaders who feel inadequate when dealing with financial issues.

I’ve been a fan of the English Standard Version for many years. I currently own 7 print editions for various purposes, one of them being the Study Bible. Our regular readers know that I’m not typically a fan of doing innovative things with the Bible, such as producing “green” or “emerging” versions. However, taking the best study Bible ever produced and making it available on my cell phone- I’m all for that!

OliveTree Bible Software has done this. “The ESV Study Bible on your mobile device includes all text, features, notes, images, and supplemental materials of the print version, plus the easy interface of BibleReader and and the convenience and portability of handheld use.” I should make it clear that I’m reviewing the software for my Blackberry Curve. Every brand of phone is different and users will encounter different experiences depending on their phone. There are even some navigation features I don’t have because I’m on Blackberry.

Installation:

The process for installation isn’t simple, but it’s also not too challenging. First, the user is required to download the free BibleReader software that is phone-type specific. This software is essentially the browser through which the user can view the ESV Study Bible as well as other OliveTree products (some are free!). Then, the user must purchase and download three ESV files to the computer and transfer them to their Blackberry via USB. Once everything is in place, BibleReader should recognize the Study Bible as part of the library and make it available for use.

Functionality:

The three files are the ESV, ESV notes, and ESV Study Bible. When the user clicks on “Library,” each of the files or volumes appears. This can be a bit confusing, since in print form it’s all one book. By clicking on the ESV, the user is directed to the Bible. Annotations are present throughout the text and when clicked take the user to the notes volume. However, I haven’t found a way to access the Study Bible from within the basic ESV volume. The user must go back to the “Library” option and find the volume there. This lack of integration is a bit frustrating, but may be a limitation of the Blackberry OS. Maps and charts are available from the Study Bible’s Table of Contents, but they too are not integrated with the text. So if the user is reading about the Ark of the Covenant, they may have no idea that there is an illustration available.

The software has a thorough search feature that can be defined to the whole Bible or just one testament, and can search exact phrases or partial variations. There is an “Advanced search” option, but when I’ve clicked it a message tells me the option is not supported with this book. I don’t really mind, since the basic search options are more than satisfactory for a cell phone. There are also preference options available to change the fonts, colors, scrolling methods and QWERTY shortcuts.

Support:

Like most new software, there are bugs to be worked out. When I first installed the software, the search feature would not work. I had a couple different error messages that I reported on the OliveTree message boards. The staff there is quick to respond and very helpful- looking through a few of the posted issues will attest to this. I also noticed that after this problem occurred, all of my Blackberry actions slowed down. I uninstalled BibleReader and my Blackberry went back to normal. It took about a week for the problem to be resolved. An updated version of BibleReader was released. After I downloaded it, everything worked as it seems it should.

Overall, the ESV Study Bible software by OliveTree is very worthwhile. For those who have held the Study Bible, it’s a lot of weight to carry. To have all of that information in my pocket is extremely valuable. I expect that other cell phone platforms are better, such as the iPhone, but there really isn’t much more I could ask for on my Blackberry.