Lewis on Liberalism

Theological liberalism, that is.

"All theology of the liberal type involves at some point - and involves throughout - the claim that the real behaviour and purpose and teaching of Christ came rapidly to be misunderstood and misrepresented by His followers, and has been recovered or exhumed only by modern scholars."

-C.S. Lewis

How Do We Get Peace?

Do you want peace?

Of course you do. Everyone wants peace. It's not just a great thing, it's one of the "fruit of the Spirit" — a mark of maturity and authenticity in a Christian's life.

So why do so few of us have it? We simply don't know how to get it.

John 14-16 is a very interesting passage full of all kinds of important ideas. It also contains an unusual statement by Jesus.

He starts by telling them some hard things:

"In my Father’s house are many rooms. ... I am going there to prepare a place for you.

"Before long, the world will not see me anymore...

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.... If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.

"[A] time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

"In a little while you will see me no more... I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices."

Then Jesus makes this surprising statement:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace."

Jesus is leaving them, and they will be mistreated and will mourn while the world celebrates. This is supposed to bring them peace? How does that work?

I think this statement cracks the code: "I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you."

Mourning and being persecuted will not bring them peace. Knowing that they're going to mourn and be persecuted will not bring them peace.

Knowing that Jesus knows what's going to happen, has a plan, and has it all under control will bring them peace.

And it will for you, too. A big God makes it easier to ride out the trials of life.

So "in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord." "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Free Audiobook

One of these days I need to do a real review of RC Sproul's classic The Holiness of God. I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you haven't read it, you need to.

And a free audiobook makes that inexpensive and easy.

It's available free this month at ChristianAudio.

Review: Adopted for Life

In Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches, Russell Moore has two things he wants to tell you about adoption:

1) If you're a Christian, you've been adopted into the family of Christ.

2) Because of that, you should be more open to the idea of adopting strangers into your family.

These two themes are weaved together throughout the book as he explores the theology of our adoption in Christ, the biblical mandate to take care of orphans, the changes local churches can and should make in regard to teaching about both, and the actual process and struggles of adoption — told through his own story of adopting two little boys from Russia.

Don't worry that he's going to say you must adopt a child. He doesn't. But he does tell you that you could do it if you really wanted to. He also says it's not as bad as you think. And he gives ways people can help in this area without actually adopting a child themselves.

If you only read the book to get his teaching on our adoption in Christ, it would be well worth your time.

But the world is full of little children who have no hope for the future unless people like you and me decide to love them and make them ours just like God the Father did for us. It is the embodiment of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Give him a chance to convince you.

If you are interested in this book, Christian Audio.com is offering the audiobook for free through the end of February 2011. You can listen to it on the way to work or while you do chores. (Hey, no money commitment, no time commitment, how can you say no?)

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27).

Rating: 4 stars — highly recommended

The Insanity of Adoption

In my bio it says, "I'm married with 2 kids and no free time — so, of course, I've got a blog."

Lately I've had even less free time. While work has slowed down (maybe too much), home life has picked up. Besides the usual chores and such, my eldest is in first grade and is struggling learning to read, so she's been the focus of every evening for a while. Our lives are chocked full, with few moments to ourselves for our own hobbies or interests.

So we're adopting a couple more kids.

Are we out of our ever-loving minds? Yeah.

Is it going to be hard? Certainly. Isn't everything worthwhile?

And this is certainly worthwhile. In fact, it's probably more worthwhile than you think. The idea of adoption is the core of Christian theology, but it's also the Christian life encapsulated.

Adoption is...

The gospel in miniature — choosing to love someone you have no obligation to.

Loving Jesus by loving "the least of these."

"Pure and faultless" religion.

Spiritual warfare — opposing the prince of this world who desires to see people left in a hopeless state.

Embodying the Kingdom by giving a home to the fatherless and food to the hungry.

Evangelism — What better way to share the gospel with someone than to bring them into your house and life?

And it's taking care of kids who have no one else.

It's also opposing social Darwinism, living out what we believe. As Alexander Sanger put it,

"Adoption is counter-intuitive from an evolutionary vantage point .... Adoption requires a person to devote time and resources to raising a child that is not genetically related."(1)

Exactly. It makes no sense from a materialistic point of view (in either sense of the word), but it makes all kinds of sense from an eternal perspective.


(1) Quoted in Adopted for Life by Russell Moore.