A grand ol' time with Tim Keller

When: Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
Cost: Open to the public and free of charge

Why does God allow suffering in the world? How could a loving God send people to Hell? Why isn't Christianity more inclusive? How can one religion be "right" and the others "wrong"? Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God?

If you or your friends ever struggled with any of these questions, you won't want to miss this event.

As the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, Timothy Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced doubts skeptics bring to his church as well as the most important reasons for faith. His book, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, peaked at #6 on the New York Times Bestseller List. In his book, Dr. Keller "addresses each doubt and explains each reason, using literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and reasoning to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth."

Join the CCO in welcoming Dr. Timothy Keller to the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland, situated between the campuses of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 22, 2008. The event is free of charge, so bring your friends-skeptics, believers, cynics, and doubters alike!

For more information about this event, click here, or contact Scott Calgaro, Director of Conferences & Events, CCO (scalgaro@ccojubilee.org or 412.363.3303 x109).

T4G

In 19 hours I, Tim Hopper, Griff Price, and Dr. Paul Schaefer, depart for the Together for the Gospel Conference in Louisville, Kentucky (otherwise known as Southern Baptist Mecca). 3 days jampacked with solid teaching, biblical preaching, and fellowship. I am not planning on blogging in my time there, but pictures, notes, and stories will dominate this blog until my wedding (less than 3 weeks away).

reading brochure

Here is the recommended reading brochure for Christ Presbyterian Church (The ARP church plant here in Grove City) that I worked on a few weeks ago. It will be on the CPC website, along with sermons and other goodies.

thoughts?

"In the MTV generation truth and honor means nothing, money and noise means
everything... Parents relive their childhood through their child." Charles Whiley in my Family class today speaking on modern youth culture.

Books I want to read

Thinking about creating a home and gearing up to do that in just under 5 weeks is very daunting and I am inadequate - a sure sign that I need (desperately) God's grace.

A few books I want to read are:
"When Sinner's Say 'I Do'" [Jen currently is reading it, I'll go at it once she is done]

Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition [a review of which can be found at Drew Goodmanson's blog]

to reread - Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change, Helping People in Need of Change (have not touched this since biblical counseling 101 2 years ago)

And just for kicks - The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship

[First I have to finish others first]

Life and Links

The past few weeks have been intense, with wedding planning and all the little details that go with my senior year. Tomorrow I get the pleasure of hearing the Beggster at Harbison Chapel in the morning and evening for our Christian Life Conference. I know many friends who are coming from around the area and some peers parents are coming as well. A grand time indeed.

City Journal - good academic perspective on urban living

Wired Magazine - fun and odd columns on our perpetual culture

instructables - you have to see it to know what I mean

Sam Desocio is the new assistant pastor at City Reformed (PCA) in Pittsburgh

Smalltime presbyterian confessionalism annoys me

Joe Thorn's ministry paradigm on 1 page of paper

Abraham Piper on why pastors should blog

Tim Keller interview with ByFaith (PCA Mag) and with Monergism
[personal note: I am reading his the reason for God and it is excellent, highly recommend it]

Over the years several men shown love and care to me through giving me various books. Anthony Selvaggio gave me both of his (The Prophets Speak of Him and What does the Bible say about Marriage), Nathan Eshelman gave me Beeke's Meet the Puritans (with a John Hancock in it), Kent Butterfield gave me Keller's Ministries of Mercy. Yesterday another was added to this list. Matt Filbert gave me the Redeemer Church Planter Manual (by Keller) and Coaching Urban Church Planters. (by the Redeemer Church Planting Center). As I was perusing them today, I saw my lack of gratitude towards these men for their kindness. Selvaggio's Marriage book and Keller's book on Mercy Ministry are milk and meat for my reading diet.

I am sure Filbert's kind gifts will be too.

I'm Engaged

A week and a few days ago Jennifer agreed to be my wife. It happened on Valentine's Day (what a sap) at Olive Garden in Pittsburgh. If you want more details than that I will tell ya. Yesterday, while visiting my best bud family in Cleveland, I was told that Jen is too good for me. So true, God is very gracious.

Is it right to plant a church in an area where there are other healthy, reformed churches? I was asked this question earlier today, when a friend approached me, asking for my counsel and thoughts on the matter. I want to throw my thoughts out there and ask for criticism.

Assuming that the church planted was presbyterian in nature and the others in the area were as well, of differing denominations, I would have no problem with that. For the following reasons: It is proven that the best way to reach the lost is by planting churches, they are the most active in evangelism and building community. No church is perfect, the idea that one church got it right is wrong and sinful. People have different needs, and can every church reach and minister to every situation. No, of course not. We must remember, that while we are little popes with prideful hearts that want everything to be our way, Christ is King and pastors are only his stewards of flocks. Some flocks are in the same area, some are not. Elders must remember that other churches in the area have the same king, and not compete for turf.

In the end. If the goal is to "win souls" I vote yes. If the focus is to intrude on another persons ministry just because they have one. Thats wrong and sinful.

WTS Pictures

This here is the Westminster Bookstore. I should have taken pictures of the massive stockpile that they have, but I failed.









Here is Machen Hall- which houses the administrative offices. And where my friend Leah works.












The periodical section of the Library... very nice collection.

My day at Westminster, Philadelphia

Yesterday Jen and I made the trek from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to visit Westminster Theological Seminary, where our good friend Andy Stapleton goes, and his wife, Leah, works. I spent 5 hours basking in the teaching of Poythress, Trueman and Tipton. I sat in their classes, Hermeneutics, Medieval Church, and Doctrine of Salvation 2 (Applied), respectively. With a brief tour of the campus, pictures will be posted on Monday, along with visiting the growing Westminster Bookstore. (I got In Christ Alone by Ferguson, Christian Apologetics by Van Til, and Making the Lord's Prayer Your Own, by Philip Ryken; Jen got How People Change). It was a good visit, since it was the first day of the semester I got a glance of the academic rigor of the seminary from the various syllabi and readings contained therein.

A good quote from Poythress,
"The Bible is a dangerous book. Look at the hardening of Pharoah's heart. Later Joshua calls the people to choose this day who they will serve. They chose the course of sin and idolatry. We choose everyday when he decide to pick up the Word, or leave it on the shelf. All of our study must be based on the Word and reliance of the Spirit."

More to come as I reflect on my time here.

The best conference on the planet.... T minus 73 days

It is official. Today I booked my room and in 73 days myself, and 3 lovely cohorts of mine, are venturing to Louisville, Kentucky. A lovely 7 hour drive from Pittsburgh. In order to attend the Together for the Gospel Conference, featuring: John Piper, RC Sproul, John MacArthur, Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, CJ Mahaney, and Mark Dever. The topic is the Cross and Christian Ministry.

It will be a blast.
Can you feel the excitement?
3 days with marvelous teaching, 2 nights with 3 sweet dudes (including my advisor- Schaefer), 14 hours worth of driving, listening to Sons of Korah/indelible grace, missing classes for a good cause.

the sessions are:

Ligon Duncan: Sound Doctrine – Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry: A Joyful Defense and Declaration of the Necessity and Practicality of Systematic Theology for the Life of the Church

Thabiti Anyabwile: Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church

John MacArthur: The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability

Mark Dever: Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology

R.C. Sproul: The Curse Motif of the Atonement

Albert Mohler: Why Do They Hate It So? The Doctrine of Substitution

John Piper: How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice

C.J. Mahaney: Sustaining a Pastor's Soul

books on godliness for 2008

Ever since I read Living the Cross Centered Life, it has been my goal to live a gracious life. But boy is it easy to be distracted from that "holy task." With the aid of my trusty Moleskine journal this year, I am setting out on a venture to study from seasoned saints to learn, and by God's grace, to live a grace-filled life. This is going to be my reading focus for 2008. The first read will be and currently is, The discipline of grace by Jerry Bridges.

I find Bridges to be a solid author who has written much over his life on Christian spirituality. For this reason I am also going to read:
The Practice of Godliness
Transforming Grace
Trusting God
Growing Your Faith

Also:
Sinclair Ferguson's In Christ Alone (Reformation Trust, 2007). It looks amazing.
JI Packer's Knowing God (A classic that I am told that I must read every year) and Praying
John Piper's Desiring God, Battling Unbelief, God is the Gospel, and 50 reasons why Jesus Came to Die
Tim Lane and Paul David Tripp's How people Change and Relationships a Mess Worth Making
The Transforming Community: How the Gospel informs Church Discipline by Mark Lauterbach

C. John Miller's The Heart of a Servant Leader and A Faith Worth Sharing

I hope to get several of these books from the WTS Bookstore when I am out there in 2 weeks (I am looking forward to this visit). The list is purposefully short as I will have to finish my last semester at Grove City.

Christian Liberty, Church Wear, and Voting

I have a pet peeve. That peeve is when Christians demand other brothers and sisters in Christ to do something that is not mandated by Scripture. I am a firm believer of Christian liberty and I rejoice that the writers of the Westminster Confession included an entire chapter to this subject. I know a few people who would say that drinking is a damnable action, I know others who will say that if you don't dress up for church you are not showing God respect. I personally wonder where that thought ultimately leads... would you say you are a better Christian than they for dressing up? is there pride? Those are things for me to talk about with my dear friends who tell me to dress up more for church.

But here is the idea I ponder, does the Bible tell us how to vote? Does Christian liberty apply to how believers vote?

I have read an account by Anne Rice, a Catholic and a novelist who is a pro lifer, yet is supporting Hillary Clinton. Rice believes that abortion will be overcome through the democratic party, she also affirms that she finds the Democratic party to coincide with Gospel teaching. My experience this summer at Light of Life, working with Christian democrats, makes me understand this. Though I ultimately disagree. (If I need to explain this more, I will do my best to share how I comprehend an idea in the comments.)

Another professing Christian, a PCA minister, Lee Irons, makes an argument for Barak Obama because he does not see abortion as the pivotal issue for elections. Instead it is foreign policy. I get that, but I ultimately disagree.

Some men and women who blur the distinction between being a republican and being a Christian. Recently Franky Schaeffer alluded to the fact that his father fought against such an idea, but when others shout Francis' name in their approval. (think A Christian's Manifesto)

I am going to leave it there. I know saints exist who disagree with me in saying that voting is a gray area. I have loved ones who are not single issue voters, but I am. Yet, I must focus on is who the person is before the creator of this universe. I must recognize that they are a child of Grace, called by God, the father himself, and clothed in Christ's blood. That is how I must see them, and speak to them, and love them. We must also ask what is God's agenda for this relationship?

Our testimony to a hurting world depends on such love and grace. As DA Carson winsomely puts it,

We must not stand on our rights. As long as defending our rights remains the lodestar that orders our priorities, we cannot follow the way of the cross. This sort of self denial is easy enough to admire in other believers. One can formulate all sorts of interesting theological lessons deriving from Paul's treatment of what to do about meat that has been offered to idols. But the power of this position of principle becomes obvious only when we are called upon to abandon our rights. (The Cross and Christian Ministry, pg. 129)

Please leave a thought.

Westminster Theological Seminary is really growing on me over these past few months. For starters they have Carl Trueman there - very good writer and discerning historian. I greatly appreciate his perceptive writing. Also they have professors following in the footsteps of Harvie Conn, Van Til, all the while emphasizing the eternal word and redemptive history. And to top it off, WTS finally redid their website. And it looks good.

Specifically I admire their Biblical Counseling (Christian Counseling Education Foundation) and their new Gospel and Culture Project.

Why I am not a (Capital C) Catholic

I am a catholic because the church is universal. The Reformed Protestants are not the only believers professing Christ, which is the only basis for salvation. I am not a Catholic for the Vatican teaches salvation by works. Luther, Calvin, and the myriad of reformers correctly saw the need for gospel revival and reformation within Rome. Christ did not preach that he came to give grace infused with the keys of the kingdom (which Rome teaches are given to the church), nor is salvation given through the sacraments. Christ builds the church, not us. The bride grows in grace by Christ’s grace alone.

M. Horton offers advice to those who would consider leaving the protestant realm (traditionally evangelical) to Rome (traditionally not evangelical)

Here’s how I would counsel such a person: Start with the gospel. The gospel creates and sustains the church, not the other way around. If the Evangelicalism familiar to you has been a constant stream of imperatives—moral exhortation, whether in rigid and legalistic or warm and friendly versions—the antidote is not to follow different rules for attaining justification, but a constant, life-long, unremitting immersion in the good news that Jesus Christ’s obedient life, death, and resurrection are sufficient even to save miserable Christians.

That is what the Reformation was all about, and it is why we need another one, even in Protestantism as much as in any other tradition. If our salvation depends on anything done by us or even within us by the Spirit, then our situation is hopeless.

[Between Two Worlds]

Around the web this weekend.

-- the new edition of Reformation21 is now up
(Phil Ryken on justification and our union with Christ; Trueman on the priorities in ministry; and sweet book reviews.)

-- watching sports for the glory of God
[Irish Calvinist]

-- the value of hanging out
[Between 2 Worlds]

-- Tim Keller being at the Evangelist Conference in Britain

-- John Frame on Christ and Culture

Books, devotions, epistemology, and God speaking

Yesterday I received a box of books from Amazon. Due to Sam's recommendation awhile back I bought Missionary Methods: Pauls or Ours?, I also got a book for leadership development, and finally Let's Study Hebrews by Hywel Jones.

I am currently reading Hebrews for my devotions and I do better, well I learn more about the message and text when I have an older saint next to me, who I can listen to at my own pace. Hebrews is a great book and I look forward to delving into the the message of how Christ is my apostle, my high priest, and the one who I must continue to put my trust in. (think endurance).
Recently the subject of epistemology is on my mind. Scattered throughout the days the question of, "How do I know this?" springs to my mind. And in the introduction of Hebrews is a beginning of an answer, and it is awesome.

"In these last days, He has spoken to us by his son...."

The idea that God has spoken to us, and still speaks to us through Christ is awesome and daunting. The Scriptures are where God put forth His word to be written down for our edification and growth to be more like Him. It is awesome, because in one sense we still think in enlightenment categories and terms. That God, who is up there (transcendent) speaks to us down here. While God is transcendent, He is also immanent. Scripture conveys the teaching that He is omnipresent and is among us. It is a beautiful truth that needs more thought and consideration.

if anyone has thoughts on epistemology let me know or sermons and lectures that I can listen to

A student at Grove City, Nate Mucha, will have his art on display now till November 10th. He is the author of Four Seasons and the Seven Deadly Sins (of which I am a fan). If you are unfamiliar with his work, you can check out his website here.

He studied under Dr. Joshua Drake, who is married to a native of Scotland. Has a sweet dog named Hector, and loves theology over a cup of tea. He is my kind of guy.

Hope you enjoy the show

Sons of Korah

For years I have been a fan of a few Aussie Brothers, The Sons of Korah.





PS they sing psalms