Have you been watching the countdown on the TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL blog with great anticipation? http://www.t4g.org/blog/ The long awaited T$G Conference is next week. Hooray!!! (OOPS! I was typing capital letters and forgot to take my finger off the shift button when I typed the "4" in "T4G"… Why is the dollar sign located just above the number 4 on the computer keyboard? Hmmm……) In honor of this important occasion on the New Calvinists' calendar, here's a re-post of our June 11, 2009 article. We will have more commentary on "Together for the Gospel" tomorrow…
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Today, Christians around the world remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
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By now you’ve likely heard the news … John Piper plans to take an eight-month leave of absence to “reexamine his soul”. The story hit the blogosphere following Piper’s announcement at Bethlehem Baptist Church on Sunday.
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Yesterday, I had the privilege of listening, in church, to a panel made up of four scientists who happen to be Christians. They discussed their professions, how their faith impacts their science, and vice versa. All four proclaimed their sense of awe for God’s incredible creation and the complexity of the world He has made. Yet, all four of these Christians would be in serious trouble at my former church and in many others. All of them believed in an old earth and some form theistic evolution. Yet, as I listened to them, I could sense their passion for the Lord as well as their dedication to the Scriptures.
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We kick off this new feature in which we will answer and/or discuss difficult questions about the Bible. We are most interested in our readers’ input.
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The George Burroughs incident proves that the Salem Witch Trials were not just about superstition.
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“Ignorance of God and of ourselves is the great principle and cause of all our disquietments; and, this ariseth mostly not from want of light and instruction, but for want of consideration and application.”
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I ( Dee) have been surprised by the interest that has been generated by our look at the Puritans. I grew up in Salem, Massachusetts, and thanks to the Puritans, my hometown is known as “The Witch City”. Imagine your high school football team being known as “The Salem High School Witches”… Incredibly, when I was growing up the little black emblem of a witch riding on a broom was ubiquitous from gas stations to fabric stores. This emblem was “tongue in cheek” because if the truth be told, the supposed “witches” of Salem’s history were not purveyors of that black trade — not even close! Grievously, they were, as Curly of the Three Stooges might say, “victims of circumstance (which he pronounced soy kum stance).”
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Dee and I can hardly believe it! It was exactly one year ago TODAY that we published our very FIRST post on The Wartburg Watch. Most of you weren’t around way back then, so we thought we’d republish it. Here it is:
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THEY’RE BACK! The 21st Century Puritans are taking over the blogosphere in case you haven’t noticed. Puritanism is the lastest and greatest craze among those who label themselves as New Calvinists. Take a look…
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No investigation of the Puritans would be complete without focusing on J.I. Packer, who is fondly referred to as “The Last Puritan”. Even though he is advanced in age, Dr. Packer is a Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He earned the nickname because of his Puritan-focused scholarship, teaching, and writing over many decades. Packer’s influence has been important in Reformed circles, and he has inspired a new generation of Puritan-minded Christians.
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After almost half a millenium, the Puritans are now “hip”. It’s incredible how the New Calvinists have embraced Puritanism in recent years. Who were the Puritans? What did they believe? And how did the Puritans worship God? We will attempt to answer these questions in today’s post. It’s important to note that this article is not intended to be a treatise on Puritanism. We’re just skimming the surface of a topic about which volumes and volumes have been written. Please feel free to chime in with your personal knowledge of the Puritans.
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It should come as no surprise that the “New Calvinists”, who are attempting to build their 21st century “City Upon a Hill”, have been greatly inspired by another group of Christians who attempted such a feat in a new land around 400 years ago – the Puritans. Of course, the Puritans were inspired by their hero John Calvin, whose goal was to build a city upon a hill (inspired by St. Augustine’s City of God) in Geneva, Switzerland.
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This post was first published on December 11, 2009, as we wrapped up our series on Tullian Tchividjian and Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. After extensive research, we are convinced that Tullian “played it close to the vest”, withholding from the Pastor Search Committee and leadership his future plans for Coral Ridge, which are becoming more and more evident. In our opinion, this was not only deceptive but dishonest. Please be sure to read our concluding comments, which have been “penned” today.
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We first published this post on December 8, 2009, hence the Santa reference. However, we could now call it, Tullian’s Bringing a Secret Easter Basket to CRPC. TT has close ties to Sovereign Grace Ministries, and we provide proof for our statement. We wonder if TT planned to use SGM’s hyper-authoritarian strategies from the beginning. This would certainly explain some of the tactics he has used since “taking over” Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.
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Synopsis: This was first posted on December 7, 2009. It continues with TT’s interview with Christianity Today and ends with our assessment on how TT could have handled this situation differently, and perhaps, more thoughtfully.
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Synopsis: This was first posted on December 4, 2009. It continues with TT’s assessment of how conflict affects the church. In particular, it shows his affinity for Matthew 18. Matthew 18 is the verse used by pastors to disregard legitimate concerns expressed by members of a congregation. His response: Throw the bums out! Far too many pastors are using this passage of Scripture to squash dissension, which, if viewed through different lenses, can bring positive change to churches. Instead, the Coral Ridge Six founded a new church with hundreds of participants , indicating that the dissidents numbered far beyond the original six. Also, it appears that the Presbytery of South Florida thinks TT may have responded rashly.
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Synopsis: We first posted this on December 3, 2009. It describes the rapid development of serious conflicts between Tullian Tchvidjian and the congregation and the staff at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.
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Special note: We first posted this on December 2, 2009.We have not yet transferred our archives so we have decided to repeat these two blogs to give our readers background information which we feel is vital in understanding the unfortunate, and we believe somewhat avoidable, conflict at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church with Tullian Tchividjian at the head. We implore pastors, especially the hyper authoritarian kind to listen deeply to those they are called to serve.
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In light of the spirited discussion on the previous post, we have decided to look at a very interesting development in Tullian Tchividjian’s church situation. Then, over the next couple of days, we will highlight previous posts in which we dealt with the situation at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.
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“This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people.” CS Lewis
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A commenter who goes by the moniker “info” graced us with her presence at TWW this morning. Here’s what she wrote on Dee’s Hank Hanegraaff post:
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This issue is an emotional one for me. I became a Christian during an episode of Star Trek at the age of 17. This rather unorthodox conversion was followed by a period of intensive reading as well as active involvement in excellent churches. I learned about how to share my faith, the history of the faith, basic apologetics, missions, quiet times, etc. I actively participated in Bible studies. Due to my interest in history, I became well versed on the issues of the Reformation and the church in the Middle Ages. My former pastor, Pete Briscoe, asked me to teach a course on the Reformation while I was a member of his church.
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For those of you who have become familiar with C.J. Mahaney in recent years, you know him as the friend and colleague of the New Calvinists, namely, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and John Piper, among others. Adrian Warnock, who hails from London and blogs for Newfrontiers, acknowledges this change in Mahaney’s associations as follows:
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Are Christian conferences just an American phenomenon? Across the pond in jolly old England, Christian leaders can attend a conference that involves “teaching” and “worship”. This annual event held in Brighton is designed primarily for Christian leaders, but welcomes students and twenty-somethings. Incredibly, 5,000 delegates from 50 nations attend this annual conference.
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Our loyal readers remember our series on the Prosperity Preachers just last month, and we intended to keep them informed should any “breaking news” occur.
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We’ve added some new tools behind the scenes to fight the recent flood of SPAM. So for now comment moderation is off.
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Since Dee and I began our investigation of the “New Calvinists”, we have become increasingly concerned that this hot new theological movement may have a very serious downside, namely, hero worship. We are becoming extremely familiar with the leaders of this movement because their names and faces seem to be everywhere on the internet, among other places. You likely know them, too. Let’s begin with the Fab Four of “Together for the Gospel” aka T4G – Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, Mark Dever, and C.J. Mahaney, not to be confused with those whom we call the Fab Five (the Fort Lauderdale Five of the 1970s Shepherding Movement who were Bob Mumford, Derek Prince, Charles Simpson, Don Basham, and Ern Baxter).
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“That is why the church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. It is so easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects – education, buildings, missions, holding services…the Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men to Christ. to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose”. C.S. Lewis
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“The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” Mark Noll in The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind
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We are drowning in spam. We are moderating comments for a couple of days to see if that helps. Don’t worry. We will post all nonspam comments.
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We are moderating comments for a short time because we are drowning in spam. Don’t worry. We will post all non spam comments just give us a couple of hours. Sorry about this.
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Joshua Harris, C.J. Mahaney’s successor at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, has risen almost as fast in reformed circles as his mentor. Josh has learned how to play the SGM game well as he follows in C.J.’s footsteps. The first endorsement in Mahaney’s masterpiece Living the Cross Centered Life is written by Josh.
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My counterpart recently wrote a fascinating article on the contributions that Sovereign Grace Ministries, along with its fearless apostle, Mahaney, have made to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. This seminary is the flagship seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is also home to one of C.J.’s best buddies, the very reformed president, Al Mohler. A number of past and present SGMers have commented that they couldn’t understand these donations. Their primary reasons for concern are:
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The first time I ever heard the phrase “The Scream of the Damned” was on March 19, 2009, right around the time that Dee and I began our blog The Wartburg Watch. It absolutely INFURIATED me! How dare someone suggest that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ “screamed” on the cross and that He was ‘damned’, which means “condemned, especially to eternal punishment”. I believe “damned” is a sensational word that implies someone is being sent to hell. After reading C.J. Mahaney’s book Living the Cross Centered Life, I discovered that this ridiculous phrase originated with R.C. Sproul (see yesterday’s post).
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