Keller in Newsweek

Not surprisingly, Newsweek got several essential facts wrong in its profile of Tim Keller, the articulate and influential pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Nevertheless, I have to at least give the newsmagazine "style points" for recognizing the fact that Keller has broken the mega-church mold--and that his new book from Dutton, The Reason for God simply cannot be ignored.

On the Nightstand

Spurgeon's Lectures

For several years on Friday afternoons, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great "prince of preachers," addressed the students of his Pastor's College (founded in 1857 to train young men for evangelistic, pastoral, and parish ministry). Quite a few of the talks were published and made famous as Lectures to My Students. It has long been a mainstay in my library and I have read it again and again over the course of my life and ministry. Some of the omitted lectures were collected separately in The Art of illustration; still others in Commenting and Commentaries. Those too, I have long found to be invaluable.

But amazingly, a complete and unabridged, single-volume edition of the lectures has never been published. Until now, that is. Thanks to Banner of Truth, transcriptions of all the talks have finally been brought together in a beautiful, newly-typeset, smyth-sewn, hardback volume. A century and a half after they were first delivered, the lectures are as profound, powerful, and pertinent as ever. This is must-reading for all pastors and teachers.

What I'm Reading

Grace and Covenant

“We do not often enough contemplate our salvation in the form of a covenant—yet, it is so represented in Scripture. From the beginning of God’s dealings with men, covenant is set forth as the relation in which He and the people who are peculiarly His own are made to stand with each other. It is well for us to look more upon this, to dwell more on this—the very condition and state of the matter between Christians and our God—so that instead of the vague and loose and general views that take no real or practical hold of a man, we are able to precisely and distinctly understand the things which the great God of Heaven and Earth has bound Himself to do for us, and to what, on the other hand, He has bound us. Instead of this faith of ours floating before the eye of our mind in the form of a slight, shapeless, shadowy imagination, we can clearly apprehend it as an express and definite plan, both of what God is engaged by promise to do for us, and to what we are engaged by promise in return. Comprehending this covenantal overture of mercy is the means by which we may know the greatness of an amazing grace.” Thomas Chalmers, 1847

He Said What?

According to a BBC News story, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the adoption of certain aspects of Islamic Sharia law in the Britain is "unavoidable."

Rowan Williams, the titular head of the worldwide Anglican communion, asserted that the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens "do not relate to the British legal system." Indeed, he argued that adopting parts of the Muslim law code would actually "help maintain social cohesion." According to Williams, the argument that "there's one law for everybody" is actually "a bit of a danger."

His comments come just a month after the Bishop of Rochester suggested that non-Muslims might soon "find it hard to live or work" in some areas of England.

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Friends and Foes Alike

The current issue of the City Journal has a fascinating article by James Q. Wilson about why most Liberal Jews don't really like the Evangelical Christians who really like them.

Substantial and Dependable

"When all visible evidences that He is remembering us are withheld, that is best. He wants us to realize that His Word, His promise of remembrance, is more substantial and dependable than any evidence of our senses." C.G. Trumbull

"Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused." C.H. Spurgeon

"Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things." Andrew Murray

A Flitting Thing, A Lasting Thing

Opinion is a flitting thing
But truth, outlasts the sun;
If we cannot own them both,
Possess the oldest one."
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

God's Megaphone

"Our blessings rarely arrest our attentions. Our adversities almost always do." Tristan Gylberd

"Does God want us to suffer? What if the answer to that question is 'yes'? The fact is, I don't think that God particularly wants us to be happy. I think He wants us to love and be loved. He wants us to grow up. You see, we are like children who think that our toys bring us all the happiness there is, and that our nursery is the whole wide world. But something has to drive us out into the world of others, and that thing is suffering. Put simply, pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. We are like blocks of stone from which the Sculptor carves a form. The blows of His chisel which hurt us so much are what make us perfect." C.S. Lewis