Thee Cartwheel Galaxy NASA/JamesWEbb
“Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs; we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed, and love of power.” P. J. O’Rourke
Dear friends.
Today, I learned my mother, who survived surgery for broken bones, had a massive infarct in her right brain and multiple small infarcts throughout her brain. There is little hope for any long-term improvement. I am making some difficult decisions and am not in a blog-thinking mood. So, I will link to others who have been thinking. Please pray I will make thoughtful decisions that my mother would have approved.
Blessings to all, and grateful for the hope of eternity.
The Gospel Coalition Conference is about getting accepted to get in on the book sales.
It appears the TGC conference is upon us. Here is a recent post: Packing for TGC23? Leave Room for Discounted Books.
For book lovers, however, the exhibit hall holds a special attraction. This year’s conference bookstore will feature over 3,400 books and resources from more than 45 publishers. There’ll be featured areas for TGC speakers’ books, best-selling Bibles, Spanish titles, and gospel-centered resources for children and parents. Many of these will be at deep discounts.
Save room in your luggage to carry some of these books home. Or, if you prefer, 10ofthose is offering shipping so you can have your new resources sent directly to your home.
I hear they run around getting the books autographed.
Did Dane Ortlund spiritually abuse a church staffer?
When we last left Dane Ortlund, we were questioning “Who is he?” in Will the Real Dane Ortlund Stand Up? Is He Gentle and Lowly or Authoritarian and Pastorcentric?
He is best known for his well-received book: Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. This book received over 10,000 5-star ratings. It is described on Amazon:
Pastor Dane Ortlund Explores Jesus’s Heart to Reveal His Tender Love for Sinners and Suffers
Christians know that God loves them, but can easily feel that he is perpetually disappointed and frustrated, maybe even close to giving up on them. As a result, they focus a lot―and rightly so―on what Jesus has done to appease God’s wrath for sin. But how does Jesus Christ actually feel about his people amid all their sins and failures?
This book draws us to Matthew 11, where Jesus describes himself as “gentle and lowly in heart,” longing for his people to find rest in him. The gospel flows from God’s deepest heart for his people, a heart of tender love for the sinful and suffering.
These chapters take us into the depths of Christ’s very heart for sinners, diving deep into Bible passages that speak of who Christ is and encouraging readers with the affections of Christ for his people. His longing heart for sinners comforts and sustains readers in their up-and-down lives.
Although I have not read the book, I have heard it discussed as a book that has helped many people. So when I read the following tweets by Ortlund. I experienced some cognitive dissonance. It is easy to write about the love of Jesus for sinners. It is another thing to share it with others. He seems to blame people for their frustrations, leading them to leave the church. Since he is the pastor of a church currently in the news, I might have suggested that he quote from his book instead of revealing his frustrations with people in the church. Is he speaking about the people in his own church?
Well, it appears the answer may be found in these two audio interviews at The Roys Report..
Dane Ortlund Whistleblower Speaks Out on Workplace Bullying (Part 1)
Dane Ortlund Whistleblower Speaks Out on Workplace Bullying, Part 2
Will Jerry Falwell ever go away?
Looks like Jerry and his brother are not seeing eye to eye. It is the SBC version of Prince Harry versus Prince William. Jerry Falwell's Legal Battle With Liberty University—And His Brother—Escalates.
The ongoing legal battle between Liberty University and Jerry Falwell Jr. has taken yet another twist, with the disgraced former president of the school alleging misconduct by its board of directors and attempting to ban the university from using images of his late father.
...The lawsuit pits the Falwell brothers against each other. Jerry Falwell Jr. alleges that his brother, Jonathan Falwell, betrayed the family trust by siding with the university against him in regard to the trademark and is doing so for personal gain — and that Jonathan Falwell convinced their sister to have Jerry Falwell removed as a co-trustee of the family trust. He also says the school rescued Thomas Road Baptist — where Jonathan Falwell succeeded their father as pastor — from financial ruin and that this brother hides how much money he gets from the school.
“Upon information and belief, Liberty and Jonathan have colluded to avoid publicly reporting additional income that Jonathan receives from Liberty, whether directly or indirectly, in the form of contributions to TRBC,” the complaint alleges.
Dee, may God give you the clarity and peace to make the decisions that you must make.
Praying for you and your family, Dee…❤️
Praying for those hard decisions, God will guide.
Praying also…
I have a New Testament autographed by the founders of the Gideons. Probably worth no $$$, but the resources inside are priceless.
They weren’t very shrewd businessmen, because instead of discounting their resources, they just gave them away!
“Many of these will be at deep discounts.”
Now that we have AI capable of writing books and producing gospel-centered resources and biblical content, the gospel-centered leader will soon have much more time on his hands for attending conferences, or even taking gospel-centered round the world vacations! The possibilities are mind-boggling. @pastormark Driscoll hired a whole team of humans to produce content in his name. Not only was this expensive and time-consuming, but they in turn relied on an outside company with humans who took shortcuts, and soon plagiarized material was going out as if pastormark wrote it. Bots, OTOH, can eliminate all these problems. They could quickly scan all pastormark’s content and create new improved content, even with visions and anecdotes and paranoia and cussing which sound just like the real thing. They could even “get the gospel right”. He’d just want to try to delete the preexisting plagiarism first. Of course, with the exponential increase of resources, the discounts are likely to deepen dramatically.
“Will Jerry Falwell ever go away?”
A bad penny always turns up.
Words fail me, Dee. I’m sorry.
You have my ear, if you want it, as long as you want it, any time.
You have blessed Beth and I. If somehow, we can serve you, please, please do tell us.
I will tell Beth about this after I get home.
Saying a prayer for you, Dee.
Praying for God’s wisdom and comfort for you Dee.
My thoughts are with you and your family.
Praying for your emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well being as you walk through this valley.. it’s tough.
Philippians 4:7. “ And the peace of God , which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.”
Dee, the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Prayers for you and your family.
Nope, he’s like a dose of the clap.
Dee, I’m praying for your mother, for you, and for all who love your mother and care for her.
Praying for you and your mom and the decisions to be made in the days ahead.
Son A accuses son B of denigrating the name of father C, the segregationist (read predestinarian) material dialectician (read influencer, who was very big in Britain). Son A fulfils the very preaching of their father (the children’s teeth were set on edge).
In ch 11 on indirect communicating in On Kierkegaard and Truth pubd 2012, Paul Holmer points out that Kierkegaard, who was a licenced preacher and had to supervise others’ sermons, argued that (slight style shortening, and my comments in []):
“the moral and religious efficacy lies in the receptor, the subject who receives the sentence [on moral and / or spiritual matters]. The skill of the communicator is to occasion [in the strict sense] the response in the subject, the movement in subjectivity [in the listener’s own time and space] by the use of a neutral objective sentence. To impute to conversations, lectures and sermons immediate and direct moral values is to mistake both the provinces of morality and religion and that of language. This is the confusion of categories noted repeatedly”
and
“When cognitive objects [i.e subject matter] relate to the subjective life and when what is conceived must be appropriated and enacted, communication becomes artful. There the reflective process must not allow two subjects to fuse or coagulate into objectivity, for one man’s disinterested communication must be so stated as to heighten interest and passion in another, but not directly. To do so directly would be to stimulate and cause. The trick is not to be another’s telos, but to let the telos arise in the other person. There must be knowledge first. It must be so stated as to occasion a double reflection: a thought, and the passion to become what the thought pictures. That is all that one person can [out of honesty] do for another in areas of most significance.”
Holmer’s and Kierkegaard’s phrases need careful reading so I apply my “private interpretations”; e.g re. “occasion” which means nothing more dramatic than be in the right place at the right time (B Russell in one of his earlier, better phases understood this too). The manner of catalysing is left between Holy Spirit and those hearing.
“Who shall believe, if they didn’t receive distinctly?”
An excellent work of Kierkegaard’s which I read first hand (I can’t remember why I gave it away) is On Irony, with many helpful explanations of Plato (classical Greece was dangerous) (The Sunken Kingdom by Peter James, 1995 also shows the same thing).
i .
I mean that Jerry Jr embodies what predestinarian influencing looks like. He seems obliquely honest somehow (their dad having already cost him all he has).
Moral: if dad was loud (read a nexus of codependency), they should have both chosen a different trade from dad’s two trades.
ii .
In second quotation, first sentence, before “artful” insert as my comment:
“becomes [i.e ought to become] artful”
You and your mother are in my prayers.
Praying for God’s wisdom and peace for you and your family.
Dee, I am so sorry to hear this news.
Sorry to hear about your mother and best wishes.
‘Contentment isn’t about the restaurant, it’s about me’.
A very simple test is whether a denomination considers any fall in attendance to be related to its prolific abuse. If they ignore it, they’re failing to apply this principle to themselves.
Many churches still think the reason they’re continually in court and the press is something to do with society and not their prolific abuse and cover up.
I met a guy with special need the other day on y regional train. And this morning we were taking it at the same time again. After I said something, he smiles with such a big smile and said as a matter of fact: To be with the LORD. It was so powerful. And I thought about you Dee. Such a comfort !
Praying for you and your mom Dee.
“This year’s conference bookstore will feature over 3,400 books and resources from more than 45 publishers. There’ll be featured areas for TGC speakers’ books, best-selling Bibles, Spanish titles, and gospel-centered resources for children and parents. Many of these will be at deep discounts.”
I hope the “deep discounts” means TGC NeoCal books have run their course. I’m seeing more Piper books for a quarter at yard sales now. That may be another good sign that the NeoCal movement is winding down.
When TGC says “gospel-centered”, they really mean New Calvinism-centered. Their books are reformed indoctrination, pure and simple … very little to do with ‘the’ Gospel.
For a quarter huh?
That tells you (generic you) a lot right there.
May the lord Jesus comfort you. Having passed through the last days of my father, nothing else works.
Bob
One of the used bookstores here in Nashville have free “reject” books that they would not take in trade or for sale. They are usually located in a large bin at the front door where people can have at them for nothing. Saw a few Piper books last time and one of Mohler’s. We have hope!
Dee, you are a wonderful daughter….. the best of the best.
I hope things turn out better than expected with your mom, and I hope you are at peace with whatever decisions you have to make.
Max,
Tell ya what, Max; you give me a quarter and I’ll give you a box of matches to burn those books with…….
Oooooo, toasted marshmallows, anyone ??
Dee, I am so sorry to hear about your mother. This is a rough time–I know, my mother has been on in-home hospice for almost five months. Please be gentle with yourself as you make these decisions. Take comfort and counsel from your family and close friends. Don’t carry the burden alone. Pour yourself out to God and you will hear the still small voice. I will be thinking of you during this time.
God bless you and your family with peace and contentment at this difficult time. I am sorry.
I’ve grown disillusioned with the Christian book industry over the last few years as I’ve slowly come to realise that it is more of an industry than a source of inspiration and encouragement for Christians. You’ll probably realise from the comments I post here that I love Church history, the writings of the early Fathers and that, above all, the writings and history of the Reformation, Puritans and Covenanters. I was introduced to them as a teenager by one of our inter church members who met for prayer and Bible study every week. We were a diverse group – Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Anglicans (high and low), Apostolic and AoG – and we had wonderful fellowship, and still do.
So my go to publisher for many years was Banner of Truth and I just loved their commentaries, Collected Works of Puritans, Southern Presbyterians, Scottish Presbyterians. There was real spiritual depth to them and I benefited immensely from them. Then a few years ago they started updating Calvin’s works (for example), introducing new translators and something was immediately lost. Gone was the pastoral warmth of the older ministers, there was an emptiness and jarring language that didn’t communicate any of the sense of the words. I wrote to them a couple of times about their connection with Mr Chantry Jr as his scandal unfolded and got a bland reply. I’ve always known about the US connection as BoT was founded in part by an American millionaire’s money and that American authors featured in some of their paperback works. But today it seems to be influenced from that side of the pond than here.
About 30 years ago I came across Dutch Reformed writers and that too became a favourite source of inspiration. People like Herman Witsius, Wilhelmus à Brakel, from the Second Reformation, and more modern writers as Herman Bavinck, van Genderen and Cornelis Velema and Joel Beeke of Reformation Heritage Books. Over time I noticed that some of the RHB books were rehashes or amalgamations of their other books, sometimes as much as 40%, and in my view this amounted to being paid twice for the same work. I also noticed the hype involved in promoting new publications, which I fell for. At Christmas I bought John Trapp’s five volume “Commentary on the Old and New Testament” after it had been advertised as “John Trapp’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, a classic Puritan exposition of Scripture, combines explanation of the text, articulation of doctrine, discussions of controversies, and clarification of cases of conscience. Full of colorful paraphrases and captivating illustrations, Trapp’s pithy style makes him highly quotable and a handy resource preachers” and endorsed thus – “Trapp is my especial companion and treasure; I can read him when I am too weary for anything else. Trapp is salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar, and all the other condiments. Put him on the table when you study, and when you have your dish ready, use him by way of spicing the whole thing.” – Charles Spurgeon”
It is the worst commentary I’ve ever read. It was more a “look how clever I am” than “Thus saith the Lord” I can only surmise that Spurgeon liked him because he liked a good laugh.
The last straw came last week when I bought “Theology for Ministry:How Doctrine Affects Pastoral Life and Practice”I bought this P&R book because the title sounded interesting and it was dedicated to a theologian I have admired for many years, Sinclair Ferguson. I’m about 200 pages into it and so far the only writers who have stuck to the brief are a couple of Scottish and Irish theologians who I know, and Philip Ryken. Additionally there are 21 endorsements from the following authors – Joel Beeke, D A Carson, Kevin DeYoung, Ligon Duncan, S Donald Fortson, Michael A G Haykin, R Kent Hughes, Dennis E Johnson, Tim Keller, Robert Letham, Peter A Lilliback, I er Martin, StephenJ Nichols, Joseph V Novenson, Dane Ortlund, Vern Poythress, Harry L Reeder III, Derek W H Thomas, Paul Wells, Luder Whitlock, Charles M Wingard.
The contributors are – Alistair Begg, William R Edwards, R Carlton Wynne, Douglas Kelly, Ian Hamilton, Michael McClenahan, John McClean, David B McWilliams, Lane G Tipton, David Gibson, Philip Graham Ryken, John C A Ferguson, Cornelis P Venema, Paul D Wolfe, Philip S Ross, David Strain, W Robert Godfrey, Mark A Garcia, A Craig Trohel, Chad Van Dixhoorn, Daniel Strange, Michael Horton, Willliam Edgar.
A veritable who’s who of Reformed Theology.
But I have three questions – Why the need for such a book? Why accept such a book? Why thank the Acquisitions Manager of P&R publishing?
It all goes against the idea of humble, self-effacing service in the Lord’s name and kind of makes a mockery of “take up your cross and follow me”.
Sorry for the rant and feel free to bin it because of its length.
Very encouraging!
“If this teaching or movement is merely human it will collapse of its own accord” (Acts 5:38 Phillips)
Which is a fancy way of saying “It has a FINITE life cycle.”
I could have told you that twenty years ago.
Just on the basis of Christianese Fiction (especially the Christian Apocalyptic that substitutes for F&SF). All One-Note Propaganda. Jack Chick Tracts without the graphics, Christianese Counterfeits of the real thing.
The Christian Industrial Complex runs on marketing savvy to pull in the cash. It is indeed an industry! Book promotion is one of the best gimmicks they have to get in your pocket. Believers are used and abused since the Christian Industrial Complex has very little to do with the Kingdom of God. You’ll find little spiritual inspiration and encouragement coming from this industry. Some have called it the Jesus Racket.
Lowlandseer,
Beware of Crossway Publishers … they are all things New Calvinist.
Nancy2(aka Kevlar),
LOL!!!!
The question.
Is there such a thing as new public revelation post NT?
BTW, the Vatican website publishes everything FREE online.
There are Kingdom servants who do not charge for the gifts they bring from the Holy Spirit to the Church.
Does the Holy Spirit ever give gifts to the church and the middleman, the giftbearer, then charges a fee or builds a dynasty?
There are Kingdom servants who take a vow of poverty.
Thanks Ava. I’ve wandered through the archives since the 1970s long before they were online. There’s just so much out there that doesn’t cost a penny.
Lowlandseer,
Not a single woman in the bunch. There’s not a single Puritan, Reformed or Presbyterian woman you’d read? Seriously, it’s as if we don’t exist. Y’all can’t seriously expect to continue through the 21st century with this treating women as second class.
Which is one of the big reasons why their religion will die out as the century (21st) moves on.
It’s not sustainable, just as their fathers found out with slavery.
Muslin, fka Dee Holmes,
You and Muff are wrong in your assumptions. There are women , some of whom I’ve read and none of whom I treat as second class citizens. And it’s wishful thinking that “their religion” will die out soon. “Y’all” need to take the time to do your homework before making sweeping, inaccurate statements.
I’d be very interested to know which women authors you recommend. It’s fairly obvious that the field is dominated by men.
And don’t forget the Christian romance novels, many of which, for some strange unknown reason, feature Amish heroines. Ack, gaaa, gag me with the proverbial spoon.
No need to apologize, Lowlandseer — at least, not from my perspective. 🙂
You wrote:
I’m so sorry the reading that you love is now being so distorted, Lowlandseer 🙁 ….slowly taken away a bit at a time….hopefully you can find reading that you love, without having to read through more books that aren’t like the ones you love.
….I’m intentionally omitting quoting other parts of your comment, Lowlandseer….perhaps other TWW readers can also empathize with what you wrote, only they haven’t (for any number of reasons) written how they feel. 🙂
My apologies, Lowlandseer, if my comment seems unsympathetic to you….although it doesn’t look like it, my emoticon at the end of that sentence is the one that is shedding a tear.
AKA “Bonnet Books”.
“When I pick up a book set in Amish country, I want to read about the Amish. NOT what wome Evangelical THINKS the Amish are like.”
And romance novels in general can get problematic all by themselves. Easy to slip into “P*rn for Bored Housewives”, and sine they have RL backgrounds they are more capable of pulling you into their fantasy world than straight fantasy. Just ask the people of Forks, WA some 10-15 years ago. Augmented Reality vs Virtual Reality.
In the meantime we all witness swhat happens when you combine a quare peg, a round hole, and a sledgehammer:
“YOU’LL FIT!”
SMASH!
YOU’LL FIT!”
SMASH!
YOU’LL FIT!”
SMASH!
I stand corrected.
They won’t die out if they change their tunes with regard gender issues in the church.
researcher,
Thank you for your comforting words. I wrote it the day after I’d been told that I’ve probably suffered a t.i.a. In my eye and I’m waiting to undergo further tests to confirm this one way or another. I don’t relish the idea of reducing my reading but I’m grateful for all the benefits and lessons I’ve been given from such faithful men (and women) up until now. In my view, the current state of the Church is down to its failure to walk in the old paths and its desire to remove the old landmarks to accommodate the world, aided and abetted by a book industry that peddles profit and celebrity before humility and faithfulness. Truly they “speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord” (Jer 23:16). So thank you again.
Lowlandseer,
As an example of how far things have fallen, this is from the TGC’s Trevin Wax on 28th September and particularly note Tim Keller’s comment.
– “ But there’s always the danger of having a prophetic voice without a prophet’s heart. When this happens, we sound less and less like Jeremiah, passing on the Lord’s command through tears (“Return, you faithless children!”) alongside the corresponding promise of mercy (“I will heal your unfaithfulness,” Jer. 3:22). Instead, we look more like Jonah—happy to rail against the culture and the coming destruction of our enemies, only to pout at the thought of God actually redeeming anyone (Jonah 4:1–3). “Jonah enjoyed preaching wrath,” Tim Keller comments. “He did it with glee, not tears, because he couldn’t wait for God’s hammer to fall on them.”
Contrast that with the words of Rev Hugh Martin in his commentary “The Prophet Jonah: his Character and Mission to Nineveh” in 1866. (Banner of Truth)
“ We have said that none but a soul of heightened spiritual dutifulness would have been open to the risk of being perplexed by the idea that suggested itself to Jonah. Holy zeal for the honour of God in a very singular crisis and movement of His government; great fear lest, sparing Nineveh after the unmitigated threatening, God might be regarded as a changeable God; fear, not at all for himself, but fear lest his God might be misjudged; these things weighed with his anxious heart, as on none but a regenerated heart could they practically have weighed at all. Yet even in these circumstances, and amidst gracious desires of the most self-denying and self-forgetting kind, his own ideas ought to have been all trampled underfoot; and he ought simply and immediately to have gone to “Nineveh, that great city, and cried against it,” believing that, without his anxiety and without his aid, Jehovah could vindicate His own character in His own way. Unquestioning obedience to God is, therefore, most emphatically taught in this passage. Leave all things to Him. Let His word of command be enough for thy duty–His word of promise enough for thy faith. Whatsoever more thou shalt in any case seek shall turn out thy thorn and thy trouble. But the word of the Lord is very pure: therefore let His servants love it (Psalm 119: 140).”
It is a marvellous commentary that throws into sharp relief the paucity of thought and shallowness of exposition of these modern day “prophets”.
So sorry to hear this, Lowlander. I pray the tests indicate only a temporary thing that will pass soon.
It’s been a long time since I heard a pastor/preacher/prophet genuinely weep over the condition of the church and churchgoers. Lord knows they all have enough to weep about these days.
I’m so sorry, Lowlandseer….I know what it’s like to have to reduce one’s reading, although mine only was (and sometimes is) temporary.
As Max wrote in his reply to you about your t.i.a.: So sorry to hear this, Lowlanderseer. I pray the tests indicate only a temporary thing that will pass soon.
I can see what you mean about the difference, Lowlandseer. I was surprised to read the comment by Tim Keller about Jonah: “He did it with glee, not tears, because he couldn’t wait for God’s hammer to fall on them.”
I think Tim Keller completely missed the point — Jonah was NOT feeling glee, at least not the way most present day people usually use or define the word “glee”. I think the commentary by Rev Hugh Martin was much more accurate.
What happened in Forks, Washington? I’m all ears under my bonnet! Thanks in advance!
Lowlandseer,
Thank you for the warnings.
ALL the Twilight fangirls (including aging TwiMoms) descended on the town in a mass pilgrimage, doing fangirl things. There were even Tour Buses full of TwiTards.
You see, Forks (the setting of Twilight) was a real town in WA. And all the geography and landmarks and settings (like Forks High School and the Rez outside town) were real. So in the Fangirl mind, the entire trilogy was REAL.
A fully-fictional town/school/res would have established a distance between the real world and that of the paranormal romance for bored housewives. Instead, the “Augmented Reality” made the fantasy elements more easy to mistake for reality. And a lot of bored housewives jumped right in all the way and didn’t want to come out. In there quest for the REAL Sparkling Eddie, they were insufferable to the locals who actually lived there.
I have long maintained that a RL background/setting in fantasy (such as you get in contemporary-set Romance potboilers) makes it easier to “live in a fantasy world” than a flt-out fictional setting; even Tim Powers’ “Secret History” fantasy novels are set in a past around real historical events (NOT the present) to keep that distance between Fantasy and RL.