The Web Site and Blog of Pastor Chris Brauns
Cornelius Plantinga in his highly recommended, Engaging God’s World (page 7):
Our “inconsolable secret,” says C.S. Lewis, is that we are full of yearnings, sometimes shy and sometimes passionate, that point us beyond the things of earth to the ultimate reality of God. And summer mornings on which we awaken to “stabs of joy” are clues that this is so.
See also, “Feeling Down at the end of Christmas Season” and
Our church currently has a project going to install a ramp to make it more accessible – - a project that I heartily endorse. However, after seeing the below, I realize that there are churches that are far less accessible.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable sights in France, a chapel perched on a volcanic plug. This is the Rock of Aiguilhe, on the edge of the town of Puy en Velay, in the Auvergne. The Chapelle Saint-Michel has stood there for 1042 years, since Bishop Gothescalk had it built in 962 on his return from a pilgrimage to Santiago del Compostella in Galicia. In 1955 workers found relics under the alter that had been there since it was built.
HT: Stephen Altrogge
Wise words from Tim Challies.
Justin Taylor offers a sobering post for long term churches:
Sean Lucas, drawing on some of the lessons he is learning while researching the history of the First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, MS, writes:
As part of the research work that I’ve been doing, I’ve tracked down various churches that are mentioned in biographical sketches or represented in various events. Just today, for example, I tried to find information about Point Breeze Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh (where Harold Ockenga ministered); Central Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga (where Wilbur Cousar pastored); United Presbyterian Church in Wheeling, WV (where John Reed Miller served for a time) and Central Presbyterian Church in Jackson (where R. E. Hough pastored). What do these congregations have in common? They were all thriving, large, significant churches, pastored by conservative, talented men: and they no longer exist today.
Now, the reasons why these churches no longer exist are as various as the congregations themselves. Still, as late as the 1950s, they all were thriving congregations; and if congregational death can happen to these congregations, it can happen to my congregation and to yours. God’s mercy has been evident in the fact that FPC Jackson, a downtown church, has continued to thrive and prosper even as the city of Jackson, Mississippi, has changed several times through the decades.
But it would only take a generation for a church to show signs of decay: perhaps a. . .
Read the rest here.
John R.W. Stott died this morning and I am pausing in the midst of a busy day to be thankful for him. From where I type this in our small town in Stillman Valley, IL, I can look over onto my shelves and see my well worn copy of John R.W. Stott’s commentary on Acts. I keep his commentary on Romans at home. And then I consider how many others Stott has influenced in far greater ways. I thank the Lord for such gifts to the church .
Allen Yeh has written a nice tribute to God’s grace in giving John Stott to the Body of Christ. If you know little of Stott, perhaps take a moment to read it.
See also thoughts from:
Tim Challies:
Norway has experienced a nightmare—3 hours of abject terror. On Friday afternoon, right around 3:30, thirty-two year-old Anders Behring Breivik ignited a bomb outside government offices in Oslo, killing at least 7. As the bomb exploded, he was on his way to Utoya Island, about 20 miles from Oslo, the location of a youth camp run by a political party. Dressed in a police uniform, he asked to address the group (there were some 700 people at the camp) before opening fire on them. He killed at least 86, gunning them down in cold blood. By 6:30 PM Breivik was in police custody, having taken almost 100 lives in 3 short hours. In the meantime, the eyes of the whole world had shifted to Norway and millions were wondering just who would do something like this, and why.
Within hours of the event, news headlines were proclaiming that this was the work of a Christian fundamentalist or extremist. The Atlantic splashed this headline on their site: “The Christian Extremist Suspect in Norway’s Massacre.” The Washington Post said, “‘What we know is that he is right wing and he is Christian fundamentalist,’ deputy police chief Roger Andresen said Saturday morning at a televised news conference. ‘We have not been able to link him up to an anti-Islamic group.’ He said that the suspect had not been arrested before, and that police were unsure if he had acted alone.”
Was this the work of a Christian? Was this terror consistent with a man who claims to be a follower of Christ? Many believe that it is.
The declaration that Breivik is a Christian seems to have come largely from his Facebook profile where he assigned himself the labels “Christian” and “Conservative.” That was enough for many people, and especially for those with an anti-Christian agenda. Frank Schaeffer immediately jumped online and said, “I told you so!”, writing on his blog, “In my new book ‘Sex, Mom and God’ I predicted just such an action. I predicted that right wing Christians will unleash terror here in America too. I predict that they will copy Islamic extremists, and may eventually even make common cause with them.” Carl Trueman gets it right when he says:
If a man doesn’t hesitate to use his parents’ sex lives to get a cheap laugh and sell a few books, one should not be surprised if he sees yesterday’s events in Norway as a great opportunity for puffing his own prophetic insights, trying to flog a few more copies of his own recent book and demonstrating that the Left too can have as tenuous a grip on logic, evidence and argument as Glenn Beck (who would ever have thought there was link between Tim Keller, Bill Edgar and religious terrorism?). Yes, you guessed it, Frank Schaeffer has done it again. Just goes to show that every cloud has a silver lining — if you are sufficiently self-absorbed, that is.
How are we, as Christians, to understand this event? . . .
Read the rest here.
Thom Rainer (President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources) reflects on the race of life:
When my son, Art Rainer, began work on the book we co-authored, Simple Life, he spent a good bit of time in a cemetery.
That’s right. A cemetery.
He found a cemetery near his home in Boca Raton, Florida, and simply walked from grave marker to grave marker. Listen to his simple explanation for this strange type of research.
“I came to this cemetery to gain perspective. I could not think of a more inspirational location than to be surrounded by those whose earthly story had come to an end. If they could, what would they tell us? Now that their lives are over, what wisdom would they want to pass on? What were their regrets? Where did they get it right? Though the sands of time in my life’s hourglass are still running for me, with every breath I breathe, I am moving toward my physical closure.
“My body will become like theirs.
“On each grave marker is a dash between two years. The dash is time, and that is where we are, in our dash. And before there is some year placed on the other end, we need to figure this thing out.”
The Dash Hits Home
This past week was tough. My older brother, Sam Rainer, had open heart surgery. The surgery went well. The road to recovery looked great. But two days later he had a stroke.
As I sat next to him in the intensive care unit, I reflected about our family. Our parents died years ago. Our sister died as an infant. In our original family, it’s just the two of us. And there he was with a newly repaired heart dealing with the aftermath of a stroke in the intensive care unit.
The dash got really rough for him this week. . .
Read the rest here.
On an online news article tells how Norway’s Kasper Ilaug responded to a call saying that nearby young people were in grave danger. Christian brothers and sisters, we have also received a desperate phone call. Will we respond like Kasper Ilaug?
Kasper Ilaug had been sitting in his cabin on Norway’s Storoya Island when a friend contacted him to say that something terrible had happened following the bomb blast in Oslo and that he must use a nearby boat to help rescue people from Utoeya.
‘I thought he was joking with me,’ he said.
But determined to do what he could, he grabbed his iPad, mobile and put on a bright yellow jacket with a red helmet and ran down to and 18ft fishing boat before heading off in the direction of Utoeya island, north west of Oslo.
Within minutes he had reached the shore and spotted a number of children hiding behind the rocks and crouching behind trees.
‘We saw some youngsters laying there and waving to us. They were terrified,’ he said. Most of them, dressed in nothing but bathing suits, were shivering from the cold and quickly clambered into the boat.
‘I then got this text message from one of my friends that said there’s a lunatic out there shooting people,’ he told CNN news.
Making three trips in total, at one point he spotted a group of youngsters behind some rocks.
‘I tried to wave to them and to get their attention, but I didn’t get a reponse. I thought maybe they are still in shock or laying behind that rock for shelter.’
Rescue workers set up camp across a lake and opposite the small island of Utoeya
At least 84 people have been killed in the devastating attack on Utoeya island
However he soon realised they had been killed by the suspected gunman Anders Breivik, 32, who had been on a rampage, calling over his victims before opening fire on them.
Breivik killed 84 people at the summer political youth camp which was organised by the country’s leading Labour Party.
Victims described how they could hear his boots crunching on the ground as he sought out his victims and wearing what appeared to be a police uniform.
Mr Ilaug said several of the people he rescued told him that a policeman has opened fire on them.
‘I think I made three trips, they were so grateful. One girl started crying.
‘We’re just 4.7 million people. Nothing much happens here. Even in catastrophic situation like this, we keep calm.
‘I’m just an ordinary Norwegian people. I expect that other Norwegians would do the same thing for me in a similar situation.’
Of course, we have not received a phone call. Rather God has spoken to us in His Word. The situation of lost people is as desperate at that of those on the island in Norway. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. The wages of sin is death. And not everyone who thinks he or she is going to Heaven is.
The Good News has been entrusted to us. We have a mission.
Sure the guy has a gun. Yet, as Luther contended, the mission is worth the risk! Don’t get sidetracked with petty issues. Let’s get in our boats and go.
Dr. Mike Wittmer:
Many of us have been saying for some time that the normalization of homosexual marriage will inevitably open the door to the state’s acceptance of polygamy. Proponents of gay marriage typically scoff and say we’re silly for making such a slippery slope argument. Well, not anymore.
In an op-ed in today’s New York Times, Jonathan Turley argues that the same civil liberties that enable homosexuals to marry must also allow for polygamous relationships. He’s right.
If framed in terms of rights and freedoms, then of course homosexuals and polygamists have the right to freely marry however many of whichever gender they choose. A polygamist man would be free to marry two men and three women if he chose and they were agreeable.
But what if the debate is not really about rights and freedoms but about nature? If marriage is by nature the covenantal union between one man and one woman, then . . .
Read the whole thing here.
Read endorsements for Unpacking Forgiveness here.
Click here to order Unpacking Forgiveness.
“. . . Chris Brauns has done a magnificent job in helping us understand the true nature of biblical forgiveness. Every Christian will profit from reading and applying this book.” Jerry Bridges.
“ . . . Unpacking Forgiveness is an engaging, convicting but emphatically encouraging treatment of this hugely important (and sometimes mindbogglingly challenging) part of life. Dr. Brauns writes from the standpoint of a faithful, wise, experienced and caring pastor . . .” Ligon Duncan, First Pres, Jackson, MS
A Brick in the Valley
