Is Experience a Reliable Guide to Truth?

In a recent blog post at Stand To Reason Blog (STR), Brett Kunkle reflects on these comments given by Brad Pitt in an interview given to Parade Magazine:

"I thought you had to experience things if you want to know right from wrong. I'd go to Christian revivals and be moved by the Holy Spirit, and I'd go to rock concerts and feel the same fervor. Then I'd be told, 'That's the Devil's music! Don't partake in that!' I wanted to experience things religion said not to experience."

Brett writes,

"Pitt demonstrates the liability of an experience/testimony/personal story as justification for religious belief. Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying experience is an unimportant thing in our justification. I'm just saying it's not the only thing...But as Pitt reveals, experiences alone can be a poor guide for determining the truth or falsity of our religious beliefs."

The entire interview with Brad Pitt is worth reading, as he reflects on a life of fame, faith, and his search for truth.

Christian Counterculture

I took this great post from Douglas Groothuis' blog:

In John Stott's commentary to The Sermon on the Mount, he speaks to the need for "Christian counterculture." The way of Jesus is not that of the fallen world. Stott's book was written in the late 1970s, when the idea of counterculture had some salience (even if it also had some pejorative connotations).

But do we have any sense of "Christian counterculture" today? One wonders. The pressures of conformity are massive, given mass and niche media. Biblical illiteracy is high; biblical behavior is low. Christians are far too much like everyone else when they should be different.

What is required to be a Christian counterculture? Here is a short list to provoke thought and action.

1. Biblical knowledge (Psalm 119).
2. Spiritual disciplines: prayer and fasting in particular. See John Piper, A Hunger for God.
3. The restoration of the doctrine of calling. See Os Guinness, The Call.
4. Media awareness: how they often deaden us to biblical priorities for purity and spiritual power.
5. The courage to go against the crowd for Christ (Luke 16:15).
6. Accountability and community.
7. Careful, studied biblical preaching (1 Peter 4:11).
8. Repentance concerning materialism and consumerism. See Francis Schaeffer's sermon "Ash Heap Lives" in No Little People.
9. A greater concern for the world Christian movement, not just what Christians in America are doing. See P. Jenkins, The Next Christendom.
10. More sensitivity to the realities of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18). See Gary Kinnaman, Winning Your Spiritual Battles.

We must be against the world, for the world, under the Lordship of Christ (1 John 2:15-17; Romans 12:1-2). Otherwise, the salt has lost is savor.

Tim Keller in Newsweek

Check out this article in Newsweek on Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

Is There Such Thing As a Postmodern in the E.R.?

There's a bit of truth in the common statement, "There's no such thing as a postmodernist in the emergency room!" Consider this clip from the television show "ER": "I want a real chaplain, who believes in a real God, and a real Hell!"

Can There Be Bondage in Seeking God's Will?

According to Mark Dever, many Christians place themselves in bondage by waiting to "feel" God's direction in their life concerning major life decisions. They waffle back and forth due to uncertainty as to whether their feelings are right or wrong or even from God. Dever exhorts us to always turn to Scripture, which is "NEVER wrong."

Read his entire article here.

Resources on "Grace"

Upon receiving several requests for resources on the topic of "grace", I've decided to post a few of my favorite authors.

First of all, I would suggest anything by Bryan Chapell. He is a very gifted Bible teacher, and does as good a job as anybody in blending strong theological concepts with practical and relevant application.



I enthusiastically endorse anything written by Jerry Bridges. He is most well-known for his book Pursuit of Holiness. When it comes to applying the disciplines of grace, I do not know of any modern author that compares. (I'm not sure why, but publications from the early nineties commonly donned nauseating fluorescent jackets. Don't let it scare you away!)



I have only recently come across Steve Brown by way of my brother. He is a former pastor and adjunct prof at Reformed Theological Seminary who is very candid and self-deprecating. Some have accused him of peddling "cheap grace", but he actually falls into a camp commonly referred to as "simple faith". His books are intentionally low on theological language, but abound with relevant application. You can also listen to "Scandalous Freedom" podcasts here.



If you have any comments or suggestions, let me know!

Rules for Cultural Engagement

Joe Thorn gives us six rules for cultural engagement. Here is an excerpt from his preface:

Redeeming what is broken/lost is the direct application of the gospel to the culture in which we live. It answers the questions, “What does the gospel say to our broken marriages and homes; our selfishness and materialism, our prejudice and racism? What does the gospel say to the emptiness of personal religion and the bland spirituality held by the masses?” When we begin to answer this question, not in theory, but directly as it relates to our communities, we are seeing God in Christ redeem what is broken and lost.

Things That EVERY Man Should Know.

Popular Mechanics recently published a list of twenty-five things that every man should know. Here are a few of my favorites:

3. Rescue a boater who has capsized
4. Frame a wall
5. Retouch digital photos
9. Navigate with a map and compass
13. Fillet a fish
18. Mix concrete
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle
23. Paddle a canoe
25. Extend your wireless network


Unless you spent your weekend filleting a fish on the shore of a nearby lake while cleaning your bolt-action rifle just before you jumped in to save a capsized boater, who (lucky for him) needed his wireless network extended -- your manhood, and mine, are in serious jeopardy! Which got me to thinking...

There is little argument that the "feminizing" of our culture has caused the pendulum to swing in the extreme direction when it comes to defining what a man really is. Men have embodied both apathy and brutality, while at the same time losing their sense of responsibility and chivalry. Our posterboys for masculinity include the guys from "Jackass", mixed-martial-arts fighters, and fantastic heroes that can only be found on big screens and in video games. After all, what male wouldn't want to Die Hard like John McClane? In the end, however, our definition of manhood, though it might embrace some element of true masculinity, ultimately becomes skewed and imbalanced. I fear this cultural imperitive has carried over into our churches.

We have become a "Wild At Heart" men's culture in the church. Our men's conferences, retreats and literature are increasingly calling men to embrace the chest-thumping, vine-swinging, princess-saving, risk-taking man that God created them to be. We eat tons of meat, play war-games and violent sports, and relentlessly bathe one another in sarcasm while calling it constructive encouragement. One may ask, "What's wrong with that form of masculinity?" My answer -- NOTHING! As long as such a definition does not become the only definition of masculinity, for then the pendulum will have swung too far to one extreme when a Biblical balance should be our goal. We have been made in the image of God, who is both kind and severe; full of holy wrath and holy love. We see Jesus Christ, the God-Man turn over tables and gently take children unto Himself; both angry and grief -stricken over the hypocricy of the Pharisees. Jesus was bold and humble; rebellious (toward the religious establishment) and submissive (to the will of the Father); outspoken and silent; joyful and tearful. Moreover, Jesus came to serve. This was the mode of the mission of the perfect Man (Mark 10:45; John 12:5, 13:34). We would be wise to matriculate in His school of masculinity.

Fasting from Technology, Part 2

Joe Carter wrote a great article encouraging us to consider a "Techno Sabbath". Here is an excerpt:

"Why not take an info-techno Sabbath this weekend? No doubt your synapses will scream from the perceived dehydration. After drinking from the firehose of information a day without info tech will seem like a year long drought. But by unplugging the god of Technology you might just find something new in the pause a still small voice sharing the information that truly matters."

Read the rest of the Joe Carter's article.

Fasting from Technology, Part 1

Mark Driscoll has brought to light a major issue that so many of us take for granted: the control of technology in our lives. He writes:

I know in years past I too have been guilty of these same digital sins against God, my family, and my own well-being. Now that I see it as a sin that destroys silence, solitude, fellowship, prayerful listening, and meaningfully and attentive friendship, I am deeply convicted that there is a new spiritual discipline of fasting from technology to be mastered. In this way, we can enjoy the life and people that God puts in front of us rather than ignoring them while we peck away with our thumbs and chat about nothing, which in the end is rarely as important as the people we are ignoring all around us. [Read his full article here]

I find it ironic (and somewhat convicting) that I am creating this post on my computer, with the television blaring on one side of me, and my son sleeping on the other. I appreciate Mark's honesty in addressing what has become an epidemic in our culture. For fifty years or more, technology has replaced the dinner table as our primary means of entertainment and community in the home. Christian men and women alike, often to the neglect of their God-given responsibilities to family, have become addicted to these "sleeping pills" (as John Piper calls them), and are pulled into a fantasy world of crime dramas, reality television, and sports. As the pressures of high-paced American life push down on our shoulders, we run to find an escape in television and internet. All day, people require and request things from us. Always taking...and then taking more -- until we have nothing left to give. The friendly confines of HDTV and high speed internet offer a place where we can "check out", so that nothing more is required of us. Not from our bosses...our employees...our church...or our family. We are left alone, with endless options to feed our insatiable appetites for solace and spectacle, while numbing us to the mission for which God has redeemed us.

I understand this feeling well. I am a recovering techno-holic. Rarely was there a time when my television or radio was not on. I often would not be watching or listening to anything in particular. They served as background noise, because the thought of sitting in silence is unbearable. All day long, our ears and minds are polluted by noises and voices. Maybe we become dependent on them because it relieves us from our fear of loneliness. There is comfort in background noise, since it assures us that we are not alone. Perhaps there is truth in the old cliche, "silence is deafening". If we were to fast from our technology, we would be left alone with the one thing that requires the most of us: our conscience. It will indict us and force us to deal with reality. They tell us of our shortcomings, faults and sins, and consequently our need for God. And God will require something of us.

The last thing we need in our hectic life is more requirements.