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New Collection of Wendell Berry Poems Is Worth a Look
I picked up two copies of The Mad Farmer Poems, one for myself and one for my favorite fellow Berryphile, my colleague Don Whitney. This edition is a beautiful large volume with engravings by illustrator Abigail Rorer. My favorite work in the collection is Berry's poem "Some Further Words," which includes these lines:
Read My Fish: Surrendering Our Freedoms to Follow Our Christ
Rights are important. I'm glad for the Boston Tea Party and Rosa Parks. Often, though, our rights talk is about much less than social justice. It's often about personal prerogative. As followers of Christ, we know, though, that we're more than just a collection of our individual, personal rights. The call of Jesus means walking away from some things, including our craving to cling to some of our personal freedoms. Yesterday at Highview, I preached on this call to walk away from some of our personal freedoms. In Matthew 17:24-27, the Spirit shows us something of the Christ-life in the most ordinary of circumstances: the paying of a bill. You can listen to the audio of "Read My Fish, Some New Taxes: Surrendering Our Freedom to Follow Our Christ" here.
Should a Minister Preach the Funerals of Unbelievers?
Some of the saddest moments of my ministry have been in funeral homes, preaching for people I didn't know. Early on in ministry, I became the "go to" minister for a local mortician when one of his deceased passed away with no religious affiliation. I've seen almost empty chapels, with no one to do the eulogy but me. And I've seen full chapels of family members who clearly hated the deceased. I had one deceased woman's daughter tell me there was nothing positive she could think to say about her mother, nothing at all, except that she did feed the birds in her backyard. Do I think it was biblically acceptable to preach those funerals? Yes. Would I do it again today? Yes. A funeral is an entirely different matter than a wedding. A wedding is about the near future (near meaning the next thirty to seventy years or so). A funeral is about the past, and about the ultimate future (the resurrection from the dead). A wedding is the witnessing of vows, the calling together of a covenant between two persons. A funeral doesn't call any reality together. It commits the body of the dead to the earth and awaits the resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
Should a Minister Officiate at the Weddings of Unbelievers?
A couple, both of whom I cared about, asked me to officiate at their wedding. Neither of them were followers of Jesus. It was a torturous quandary because I wanted an ongoing relationship with them, as an inroad to the gospel. This couple wasn't in disobedience to the Word of God. This wasn't the "unequal yoking" of a believer to an unbeliever. That would have been an easy decision, since the Scripture forbids it as sin. Marriage though, unlike baptism and the Lord's table, is a creation ordinance, given to all people (Gen 2:23-24). It is good for unbelievers to marry rather than to live in immorality. It's good for them, for their children, and for society as a whole. If I'd been in another Christian communion, I guess I could have called my Bishop. I'm a Baptist though. I was the bishop. I called several pastors I know. One told me he marries virtually whoever asks, provided it fits with his schedule, but he saves the "really nice" ceremony for those who are believers. Another told me he routinely married unbelievers, as a means of sharing the gospel with them in premarital counseling. I went away from these conversations depressed. It seemed to me there was something trivializing about these conversations, trivializing of both marriage and the call to preach. Now, a dozen years later, I find that this question, should a minister officiate at the weddings of unbelievers, remains one of the most pressing questions for young ministers. So many have asked this question, that I've decided to put my counsel in print and say to young ministers what I wish someone had said to me. No.
Kingdom First: How the Reign of Christ Transforms Our Lives, Our Churches, and Our World In the pre-World War II era, those opposed to war in Europe dubbed themselves "America Firsters." They argued that "foreign entanglements" overseas would divert the loyalty of Americans from their own land and their own Constitution. Their opponents, of course, argued (I think rightly) that "America First" merged instead into an "America Only" attitude that endangered the world and, ultimately, America itself. We hear an awful lot these days about the Kingdom of God, and rightly so. Jesus himself calls us to seek first the Kingdom and God's righteousness, even before such primal necessities as food and clothing (Matt 6:25-34). Often, though, the Kingdom is defined in decidedly boring terms... another denominational program, another political slogan, another campaign for more private devotional times or community improvement projects. The Kingdom of God, though, is an explosively veiled inbreaking into the present world order of the reign of Jesus himself as emperor of the cosmos. It ought then to change the way we see ourselves, and our place in this age and in the one to come.
Southern Seminary and the ESV Study Bible  I received in the mail yesterday sample selections from the upcoming ESV Study Bible, and was proud to note that a number of faculty members here at Southern Seminary were involved in this project.
New Testament scholar Thomas R. Schreiner, who serves as one of my associate deans here in the School of Theology, served as the New Testament Editor for the ESV Study Bible. Duane A. Garrett contributed the notes for the Book of Proverbs, John Polhill wrote the study notes for the Book of Acts, and Professor Schreiner wrote the notes for the Books of Luke, Romans, 1 and 2 Peter, and Jude. The ESV Study Bible also includes numerous articles on various topics, and several faculty members contributed to the project in this way. Mark Dever, the chairman of the board of trustees at Southern Seminary, wrote the article, "God's Plan for Salvation." Professor Schreiner wrote articles entitled, "The Theology of the New Testament" and "Reading the Epistles," Peter Gentry wrote an article on "The Septuagint," Gregg R. Allison wrote an article on "The Bible in Christendom: Roman Catholicism," and Bruce Ware contributed two more articles: "The Bible in Christendom: Liberal Protestantism" and "The Bible in Christendom: Evangelical Protestantism." James M. Hamilton, Jr. was also consulted on New Testament charts and timelines.
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Anyone who knows me well knows that I love the work of Wendell Berry. I was thrilled to see a new collection of Berry's "mad farmer" poems published by Counterpoint Press. 
Johnny Cash once said that he believed the First Amendment to the Constitution gave you the right to burn a flag, and that the Second Amendment gave him the right to shoot you if you tried to burn his. I don't agree with his interpretation of either amendment, but one could fill days and days with arguments about the precise rights granted by the writings he mentioned, and their limits. 
In the 
Early in my ministry, I found myself staring at the ceiling for hours each night, night after night. I had a decision to make, and I didn't know what to do. | Bible Preaching |
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Mon, October 06, 2008
Ortlund's Mullins Lectures Last week we here at Southern Seminary had the great privilege to host Dr. Ray Ortlund to deliver the annual Mullins Lectures on preaching. You can now download and listen to his three addresses on decide (1 Cor 2:1-5), desire (1 Thess 1:2-5), and delight (2 Cor 12:1-10). (Robert E. Sagers) Fri, October 03, 2008 Southern Baptists and Sarah Palin Last night nearly 70 million people tuned in to watch the highly anticipated vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin. Meanwhile, Dr. Moore was quoted in yesterday's issue of The Tennessean, saying: "'I think that the most exalted and glorious calling that a woman can achieve is that of wife and mother,' he said. 'I would not see any higher calling.'" (Robert E. Sagers) Thu, October 02, 2008 On "Reborns," And it's Not What You Might Think... Last night, a documentary called, "My Fake Baby" detailed a company specializing in incredibly lifelike dolls--called "reborns"--some of which come with veins, a rising chest, and an artificial heartbeat. Though some are purchased (for up to $4,000) as collectibles, many are purchasing these dolls, in the words of one mother, "because they satisfy [my] maternal instinct, without all the carrying on and mess." What might this say about the way many view the prospect of new life, and how might we cultivate in our churches a mentality that celebrates children as blessing? (Daniel L. Patterson) The Twelve Tribes of American Pollitics Justin Taylor reports: "A fascinating survey out today from Beliefnet and John Green (of the Bliss Institute at University of Akron). Called The Twelve Tribes of American Politics (the first one was in 2004), it is based on the National Surveys of Religion and Politics. 'The premise: most political reporting acted as if there were two groups – the Religious Right and Everyone Else.' Their analysis divides the population into 'twelve tribes.'" (Phillip Bethancourt) Wed, October 01, 2008 Don't Judge a Book (Author) By Its Cover? Leading up to tomorrow's vice presidential debate, pundits analyze the prior debate performances of Sarah Palin. Yet, the bigger controversy swirls around moderator Gwen Ifill who is authoring a book entitled "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." Does this create a conflict of interest for her role in the debate? (Phillip Bethancourt) Tue, September 30, 2008 Pastors and Political Endorsements A group of churches organized by the Alliance Defense Fund got what they hoped for today after several pastors endorsed presidential candidates from the pulpit on Sunday : "A church-state separation group filed complaints Monday with the Internal Revenue Service against six churches whose pastors either endorsed or made pointed comments about political candidates from their pulpits Sunday in defiance of federal tax law." (Phillip Bethancourt) The Writing on the Wall Your one (and perhaps only) chance to put the Bible in your own words: "To mark the 30th anniversary of the NIV, which has sold 300 million copies worldwide, publisher Zondervan launches a campaign today to create the unique edition, which will include its 31,173 verses, each handwritten by a different person." What do they do if you have bad handwriting? (Phillp Bethancourt) Mon, September 29, 2008 Could Science Replace Religion? This question is what inspired Jonathan Keats to build a temple for scientific worship (opened this week) called The Atheon, "complete with with stained-glass windows patterned after cosmic microwave background radiation and a liturgy based on the sounds of the Big Bang." The temple is designed to offer an alternative to theocentric religions and "make faith rational." While such a building may seem novel, is the question itself all that new? How might this inform the way we engage the culture and share the gospel? (Daniel L. Patterson) "Upon This Rock" Conference Audio Rapid Fire readers may be interested in hearing the audio of the lectures presented at a recent conference at Southwestern Seminary entitled, "Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church," audio which can be accessed here. (Robert E. Sagers) Devouring Books Last week Daniel Patterson alerted us to "sanctified shredding." Here's some more sanctified shredding--shredding cheese, that is. Philosopher Stephen H. Webb, author of Good Eating and a man who has served as a guest on the Albert Mohler Program, lists his five favorite books on food here. (Robert E. Sagers) |
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• Palin pick divides Baptists • Obama risking pro-life backlash • The right's Wrights • Jeremiah Wright & conservatives who preach like him • Faith healer Todd Bentley called a fraud, false teacher • SBTS prof: McLaren 'Serpent-sensitive' |
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