Finally, A Reformed Theolgian Speaks in the Panhandle

I had what I consider the privilege to hear Dr. Carl Trueman give four lectures on Martin Luther this weekend in Amarillo.  Dr. Trueman is the Academic Dean and Professor of History and Historical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

Dr. Trueman is a gifted story-teller and fascinating speaker. We rarely get this caliber of reformed speaker here.  The Texas Panhandle is the heart of arminian theology (hey, TX is the state that produced Joel Osteen...to our shame).  There aren't any reformed seminaries in this area, and the only ones I know of down-state are extensions of bigger seminaries.  So it is a rare treat to have someone of Dr. Trueman's ability here.

Funny anecdote:  I gave Dr. Trueman one of my Wayland pens I had printed up with Luther's slogan, simul iustus et peccator.  He seemed to like it and told me it would end up on his, 'Luther artifacts' shelf in his office.  I find that funny, in a good sort  of way.

He has all the skills necessary to become a 'celebrity pastor'.  I don't think he'll be pursuing that pedigree, though.

What We Need (Obscure Lectures)

I just ran across a set of three talks given by Sinclair Ferguson at a Desiring God conference way back in 1990.  It was on universalism, by the way, which is a hot topic right now...probably a lot hotter than it was in 1990.  There was no way to know about these talks other than finding them by chance.

What we need- a web site that lists links to all these 'lost' talks by good folks like Dr. Ferguson, and like Carson/Dever/Piper/Sproul/Chandler/Keller/Tchividjian/Horton/Ortlund/and-so-on.  I almost never get to hear any of these things live, and can usually only find stuff if it's on a particular person's (or his ministry's) web site.  These talks that get put in obscure places are effectively lost except to those who put them there.

Any of you who read this blog (not many, I know!) and can get the word out to the YRR blogger types please do so.  I'd love to have a way to access these hard-to-find talks, sermons, and conference messages.  These messages are too valuable to lose in the vast expanses of the internet.

Today is Reformation Day!

Today may be Halloween to many, but to me it is Reformation Day.  Those of us who celebrate it commemorate the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenburg in 1517.  While the events of the start of the protestant reformation are many and diverse, most accept this event as the impetus that started it all.

Here is the best concise explanation of the ramifications of that event on our culture and the church today (from Ligonier Ministries, of course).

Splintering in Neo-Calvinism

I've been taken aback recently by several comments I've read on blogs, and maybe more so by a particular blog and the direction it has taken.   The comments that have bothered me have had to do with those in reformed churches calling many folks in the, "young, restless, and reformed" (YRR) movement illegitimate with respect to being reformed.  There are two important considerations that are not being taken into account by these people- (1) their definition of 'reformed' isn't shared or known by those new to the doctrines of grace, and (2) they don't understand how much damage their attitudes can do in those who are new to the doctrines of grace.

First, look at the flap over John Piper's invitation to Rick Warren to speak at Bethlehem's national conference.  No, Rick Warren isn't reformed, nor even a proponent of the doctrines of grace, but the way Piper has been treated by some in the blog world has been truly mind-boggling.  They are attacking him as if he'd denied the faith itself.

Second, look at the popular Internet Monk blog.  The founder of the blog, Michael Spencer, recently died of cancer.  The person (or people) who took over the blog have turned it into a cheerleading platform for evolution.  It is supposed to be a reformed blog, but it is rivaled only by Hitchens and Dawkins in its fervor for evolutionary origins of humanity.

Michael Horton posted on the White Horse Inn page, just today, a blog which helps to clear up some of this confusion.  At least, it will if enough people read it.  Now, Horton has made some comments in the past that (in my mind) put him in the group calling YRR folks illegitimate.  His work, particularly Christless Christianity and Gospel-Driven Life have been very influential on me, so I was certainly bothered by his apparent attitude.  The new blog today has cleared up some of my concerns by clarifying some of what he has said.  Getting the 'big picture' is always a good idea, and Horton has helped with that by his latest post.

I hope the YRR movement can come together better on some of these issues before too many 'seekers' of the doctrines of grace are driven away by the in-fighting.  There are huge differences between reformed ecclesiology and Calvinistic soteriology/christology.  Some in the reformed churches seem ready to cast out all those who believe in the doctrines of grace and support the solas of the reformation unless they also adopt covenant theology in its entirety.  I don't think that's a wise choice.  Horton has advocated calling the movement of non-reformed adherents to the doctrines of grace, "Calvinistic evangelicalism".  I don't know if that's the best choice, since 'Calvinism' has been given an unfortunate baggage of derision by the Arminian movement, but if it keeps the splintering to a minimum, I'll take it.