Why is Batman Making So Much Money?

C Michael Patton @ http://www.reclaimingthemind.org reflects on the interesting phenomenon that is Batman: The Dark Knight. The facts:

not only had the largest grossing opening weekend of all time (just over $158 million) but had also been the fastest movie to $300 million (beating out Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Man’s Chest)

With this, he asks: "Why is Batman making so much money?"

Part of his analysis:

In the character of The Joker, our culture looks into the mirror and sees what it is becoming. Nihilism is what it is sometimes called. Nihilism is the anti-philosophy of a world that has no hope, no motives, no standards, and no values. The Joker is the Nihilist who believes in nothing, cares for nothing, and pursues nothing. At one point The Jokers says, “I have no plans. I am like a dog chasing a car. I would not know what to do if I caught it.” There is no rationalism because there is no such thing as order, reason, or ends that create purpose. It is just the moment, and the moment is ruled by randomness.

Our postmodern culture may see itself in the character of The Joker. Like a person who has not seen his face in many years, we are going to the mirror to take a look.

Is our culture nihilistic like The Joker? This is a good question that I cannot answer. What I can say is that we have been heading in that direction for quite some time. John Hannah calls this age the “age of despair.” The Joker is the next step. It is when the despair turns to apathy and we are what we are and we don’t care what we become. With the deconstruction of morals, truth, knowledge, revelation, and the like, is it any surprise that so many people are going to look in the mirror?

Minimizing Christianity to the Glory of God

C Michael Patton @ http://www.reclaimingthemind.org looks at the various views on living the Christian life. In this he notes the various approaches of:

Minimalist

One who sees Christianity as a system of belief that only recognizes the least common denominator. In other words, let’s just find out what all those who call themselves Christian believe and say that this is true Christianity and then let’s not talk about anything else. Talking about what divides, well . . . divides. And division is bad, bad, and double bad. Therefore, let’s just all get along.

Maximalist

One who seeks unity only with those with whom there is maximal agreement. Any disagreement, no matter how small it is perceived to be, does not take away from its importance. All issues are equal, or at least close to it.

Centrist

One who seeks unity by finding areas of compromise. Taking the dialectical method, opposing positions are rarely correct, but the truth is found in a compromised center.

Centralist

One who starts with the center of Christianity and believes that it provides the anchor from which all other conversation will find its ground. A centralist is focused on the most important elements of the faith so that the other issues can be seen in light of the perspective it provides.

In this he considers:

What is the “center” of the faith?

Here are some differences between the four positions:

Maximalist: Let’s find all denominators.
Minimalist: Let’s find the least common denominator.
Centrist: Let’s create a new denominator that is somewhere in the middle.
Centralist: Let’s find the most important denominator.

Maximalist: We will militantly divide over all issues since all issue are of equal importance.
Minimalist: Issues that people disagree upon unnecessarily divides, therefore, let’s not discuss disagreements.
Centrist: Let’s all move more toward the middle ground, then we can get along.
Centralist: If we are united around the centrality of Christ, let all other issues find perspective in this agreement.

Maximalist: The truth is in the maximum.
Minimalist: The truth is in the minimal.
Centrist: The truth is in the middle.
Centralist: The truth is in the central.

Maximalist: Approach to Church history: All traditions that do not completely agree with us are anathema.
Minimalist: Approach to Church history: Find the minimal areas of agreement and form a new tradition.
Centrist: Approach to Church history: Use the dialectical method understanding history as a stepping stone to the evolution of truth.
Centralist: Approach to Church history: Find the central areas of agreement and recognize this commonality.

Maximalist: Non-essentials = essentials (there is no such thing)
Minimalist: Non-essentials = non-importance
Centrist: Non-essentials = everything
Centralist: Non-essentials should be put into their relative positions of importance to the degree that they affect the central issues.

In a quick summary:

Centralizing Christ to the Glory of God? Absolutely. By definition, when we center on the person and work of Christ, God will be glorified.

Empty apart from God

Nathan Busenitz @ http://www.sfpulpit.com, has an excerpt from his new book, Reasons We Believe: Fifty Lines of Evidence that Confirm the Christian Faith. The article is regarding the fact that life without God is meaningless

Echoing the words of Franklin, Christian theologian Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., explains what the rich and famous of our world often learn the hard way:

The truth is that nothing in this earth can finally satisfy us. Much can make us content for a time, but nothing can fill us to the brim. The reason is that our final joy lies “beyond the walls of the world,” as J. R. R. Tolkien put it. Ultimate beauty comes not from a lover or a landscape or a home, but only through them. These earthly things are solid goods, and we naturally relish them. But they are not our final good. They point to what is “higher up” and “further back.” [Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Engaging God’s World (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 6. ]

From the summary:

In other words, they point to God. As the famous church father Augustine prayed, “O Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”[Augustine, Confessions, translated by Henry Chadwick (New York: Oxford, 1992), 145 (8.7.17); 3 (1.1.1). Cited from Cornelius Plantinga, Engaging God’s World, 6.]

God created us for a purpose. When we deny His existence, we simultaneously deny the purpose for which He created us. Thus, to deny God is to embrace despair and hopelessness. On the flip side, to embrace God is to discover the source of hope, satisfaction, purpose, and fulfillment. In the words of philosopher Blaise Pascal: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”[Blaise Pascal, cited from The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations, compiled by Mark Water (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000), 407.]

"God's Design For Family Life" - Conference - Oct 3-4th

From http://www.tbs.edu/:
"God's Design For Family Life" - Conference - Oct 3-4th The Toronto Baptist Conference hosted by Jarvis Street Baptist Church and Toronto Baptist Seminary will be held October 3-4th, 2008. Featuring Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace to You, Daniel Akin, President and Professor of Preaching & Theology of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina, Michael A.G. Haykin, adjunct professor of TBS, and Kirk Wellum, interim principal of TBS.

The conference schedule is as follows:

Friday, October 3

3:00-4:30 pm
The Church as Family - Michael A. G. Haykin and Kirk Wellum

7:00 pm
Family Life in the 21st Century - Phil Johnson

Saturday, October 4

9:00-10 am
Biblical Marriages in a Broken World (Part One) - Daniel Akin

10:45-11:45 am
Cultivating Spiritual Development in Family Life - Phil Johnson

1:30-2:30 pm
Biblical Marriages in a Broken World (Part Two) - Daniel Akin

Toronto Baptist Conference Bulletin Insert
October 3rd - 4th, 2008 Bulletin Insert Download PDF

Copies of the brochure may be requested by contacting the school - by phone (416) 925-3263, e-mail (inquiry@tbs.edu) or regular mail.

This important conference will challenge you to consider once again how the Bible can transform our lives, our homes and our churches. If you cannot attend, we covet your prayers for God's blessing on each session.

Leaving Christianity for all the Wrong Reasons

C Michael Patton @ http://www.reclaimingthemind.org discusses theological reasons why people leave Christianity.

Theological Reasons: Casualties by Friendly-Fire

Thesis: We have the tendency, left without theological discipleship and accountability, to make God into who we think he ought to be. When that version of him fails, it is not as if the true version has failed, but only the version we created. Therefore, we have not really left God in a proper sense, but we have left the God we made. Sure, this God may be called “Jesus” and he may have died on a cross for our sins, but, for some people, these form secondary characteristics that are not foundational.

He then discusses:

The “My will be done” type of God named “Jesus”

The personal promise maker God named “Jesus”

The “I am primarily concerned about your success and stability” God named “Jesus”

The “I am about your glory” God named “Jesus”

The “Jesus” who said the world was flat

How To Live a Miserable Life

Irish Calvinist posts some fascinating articles on:

How To Live a Miserable Life Part 1

1. Try to Repay Jesus for the Cross

2. Neglect the Bible

3. Neglect Prayer

How To Live a Miserable Life Part 2

4. Be Selfish

5. Go to a church that does not preach expositionally

How To Live a Miserable Life Part 3

6. Resist Biblical Correction

7. Neglect Service in the body of Christ

8. Neglect Evangelism

How To Live a Miserable Life Part 4

9. Deny the Sovereignty of God

10. Think that every Christian must look and act like you

Alexander Solzhenitsyn: 1918-2008

John Piper @ http://www.desiringgod.org has a touching remembrance in life of yesterday's death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn who died at the age of 89.

No one did more than Solzhenitsyn to expose the horrors of the failed communist experiment in Russia. Hitler’s purge would pale, if such things could pale, when compared to ten times the carnage in Stalin’s gulags.

After his imprisonment in the Russian gulag of Joseph Stalin’s “corrective labor camps” Solzhenitsyn wrote:

It was granted to me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience: how a human being becomes evil and how good. In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts.... That is why I turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to the astonishment of those about me: “Bless you, prison!” I...have served enough time there. I nourished my soul there, and I say without hesitation: “Bless you, prison, for having been in my life!” (The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956, Vol. 2, 615-617)

Piper concludes:

O that I would be done with murmuring against my tiny prisons. Lord, grant me greater faith to live in the coming day when I will say, “Bless you, all hardship and pain! You have cut me off from the death of prosperous idolatry again and again.”

See also:

Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Friend of Truth in the Face of Evil

Solzhenitsyn: Jeremiah Is Dead Only To This Age

"One Word of Truth Will Outweigh the Whole World" - The Death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Solzhenitsyn dead at 89

Father Raymond J. De Souza on the legacy of Alexander Solzhenitsyn: He taught that freedom must have a purpose

Jeremiah at Harvard

Gulags: Then and Now

Should You Pass on Bad Reports?

Justin Taylor @ http://theologica.blogspot.com reports on a recent discussion with Tim Keller and David Powlison regarding biblical wisdom and guidelines on speech and relationships.

May the Lord help each of us to have truth-in-love speech that is always gracious, salt-seasoned, gentle, respectful, peaceful, and edifying (Col. 4:6; Eph. 4:15; 1 Pet. 3:15; Rom. 14:19)

They discuss:
Should You Pass on Bad Reports?


What Does James Say about Passing Along Bad Reports?

Humble yourselves before the Lord.
Brothers, don’t slander or attack one another.
(James 4:10-11)

The verb “slander” simply means to “speak against” (Gk. kata-lalein). It is not necessarily a false report, just an “against-report.” The intent is to belittle another. To pour out contempt. To mock. To hurt. To harm. To destroy. To rejoice in purported evil. This can’t mean simple disagreement with ideas—that would mean that we could never have a debate over a point. This isn’t respectful disagreement with ideas. James warns against attacking a person’s motives and character, so that the listeners’ respect and love for the person is undermined. “As the north wind brings rain, so slander brings angry looks” (Prov. 25:23). Everybody gets upset at somebody else: slanderer, slanderee, slander-hearer.

What Does the Book of Proverbs Say about Receiving Bad Reports?

He who covers over an offense promotes love,
but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
(Proverbs 17:9)

The first thing to do when hearing or seeing something negative is to seek to “cover” the offense rather than speak about it to others.

• Start by remembering your own sinfulness. "All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord" (Prov. 16:2).
• Then remember that there is always another side. "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him" (Prov. 18:17).
• Third, what should you do if you are close enough to the situation to be involved AND you think the injustice or matter is too great or grievous for you to ignore? For starters, notice that you only really need to know something if it touches your sphere of life and relationships. In that case, you should do what will help you to express God’s call upon you to speak Ephesians 4:29 words of wise love.
  

When Should You Go?

Galatians 6:1 says we are to go when a person is caught in a trespass.

How Should You Go?

Galatians 6:1 says we are to restore gently and in humility, bearing all the fruit of the Spirit.

Who Should Go?

Galatians 6 says you—plural—who are spiritual should go to the straying one. That both defines how you should go and it calls for multiple people to get involved.

Why Should You Go?

In both Galatians 6 and Matthew 18 the goal is to restore the person and to re-establish sin-broken relationships. You are working to restore people both to God and to others.

Conclusion

In summary, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the principle is this. If you hear bad reports about other Christians you must either cover it with love or go to them personally before speaking of it to any others.

• The first thing to do is to simply suspend judgment. Don’t pass on bad reports.
• The second thing to do is “cover” it in love, reminding yourself that you don’t know all about the heart of the person who may have done evil—and you know your own frailty. Don’t allow bad reports to pass into your own heart.
• The final thing to do is go and speak to them personally.

How to Spend a Day Alone

John Ortberg @ http://www.buildingchurchleaders.coml has suggestions on how to spend a day alone. He lists:

8:00–9:00 a.m.
Prepare your mind and heart, take a walk or do whatever will help you set aside concerns over other tasks. Try to arrange your morning so you can be in silence from when you first wake up.

9:00–11:00 a.m.
Read and meditate on Scripture, taking time to stop and reflect when God seems to be speaking to you through the text.

11:00 a.m.–noon
Write down your responses to what you've read. Speak to God about these.

Noon–1:00 p.m.
Lunch and walk, reflecting on the morning.

1:00–2:00 p.m.
Rest or nap.

2:00–3:00 p.m.
Think about goals that emerge from the day.

3:00–4:00 p.m.
Write down these goals and any other thoughts in a journal. You may want to do this in the form of a letter to God.

What Do You Mean “God is Sovereign”? Four Options

C Michael Patton @ http://www.reclaimingthemind.org covers four options relating to views on the Sovereignty of God.

1. Meticulous sovereignty:

This position holds little or no tension with regards to the human will and the divine will.

God is actively controlling everything.

Adherents: Hyper-Calvinists and some Calvinists

2. Providential sovereignty:

This position holds much tension with regards to human will and divine will.

God is in control of everything.

Adherents: Calvinists and some Arminians

3. Providential oversight:

This position holds much tension with regards to human will and divine will.

God could control everything, but only controls some things.

Adherents: Arminians and some Calvinists

4. Influential oversight:

This position holds little or no tension with regards to the human will and the divine will.

God could control everything, but decides only to influence.

Adherents: Open Theist Arminians and some Arminians

Here are some charts that might help.

Introduction to Presuppositionalism

Ian Clarey @ http://ruminationsbythelake.blogspot.com covers an Introduction to Presuppositionalism. He deals with: '

Defining Apologetics

Presuppositionalism: A Beginning

Presuppositionalism: Some Basic Tenets

Antithesis

Point of Contact

Authority

Transcendental Argument

Bob Kauflin on the Human Voice in Congregational Worship

2008 Desiring God National Conference Speaker Interview: Bob Kauflin

Just Too Soft?

Let's look at these two examples of how believers should stand up and let themselves be heard against that which is an abomination in the eyes of our Lord.

5 Dangers for Young Men - J.C. Ryle

Mike Anderson @ http://theresurgence.com covers 5 Dangers from Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle

1. Pride

2. Love of Pleasure

3. Thoughtlessness

4. Contempt of Religion

5. Fear of Man's opinion

Links________________

Check out 'Do Hard Things'
Read 'Don't Waste Your Life'
Listen to Men and Masculinity by Mark Driscoll

Ties That Bind

John MacArthur @ http://www.sfpulpit.com reviews the are non-negotiables, that if yielded, a local assembly ceases to be a church. Here are five foundational truths that distinguish all authentic churches.

A High View of God

The Absolute Authority of Scripture

Sound Doctrine

Personal Holiness

Spiritual Authority

A church must understand that Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15) and that He mediates His rule in the church through godly elders (1 Thess. 5:13-14; Heb. 13:7, 17).

Hebrews 13 says to submit to those over you in the Lord, for they watch your souls. Follow their example. Paul says to “recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake” (1 Thess. 5:12-13).

Rebooting Your Prayer Life

Joe Thorn @http://www.joethorn.net has some helpful tips on rebooting your prayer life. He lists:

1. Properly define prayer.
John Bunyan

Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God hath promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the church, with submission, in faith, to the will of God.

Clearly defining what prayer is helps to both guide and evaluate our praying.

2. Schedule time for extended prayer.

3. Learn a method of prayer.
ACTS model

• Psalm (a different Psalm each time I pray)
  This is helpful as it draws my focus to God’s character and work, sets my mind and heart in a direction where I can work through the rest of this method.
• Adoration
  Praising God for who he is, what he has done. It is a focus on his glory. The Psalms are particularly helpful here, and this aspect of prayer is very dependent on having a well developed theology.
• Confession
  Spend time considering, confessing and crucifying sin.
• Thanksgiving
  Thank God for his provision, care, promises etc.
• Supplication
  Our pleading with God for our and others specific needs.

4. Create cues to prompt you throughout the day.

5. Master the short prayer.

Why Psychologists Aren't Hired As Lifeguards

Pragmatism: Trend or Trap?

John MacArthur @ http://www.sfpulpit.com considers pragmatism and asks if it is just a current trend or a trap. He notes:

I have witnessed the birth and growth of menacing trends within the church, several of which have converged under what I would call evangelical pragmatism — an approach to ministry that is endemic in contemporary Christianity.

What is pragmatism? Basically it is a philosophy that says that results determine meaning, truth, and value — what will work becomes a more important question than what is true. As Christians, we are called to trust what the Lord says, preach that message to others, and leave the results to Him. But many have set that aside. Seeking relevancy and success, they have welcomed the pragmatic approach and have received the proverbial Trojan horse.

He then overviews:

Recent History

The Down-Grade Controversy

The Effects of Pragmatism

First, there is in vogue today a trend to make the basis of faith something other than God’s Word.

Second, evangelical pragmatism tends to move the focus of faith away from God’s Son.

Third, today’s Christianity is infected with a tendency to view the result of faith as something less than God’s standard of holy living.

20 Fallacies By Evolutionists, Part 1 of 5 (Mike Riddle)

Mike Riddle explains 20 ways evolutionists use to create an illusion that their faith is a fact. School students are exposed to these techniques everyday, while sitting in their science classrooms, listening to so called "facts" without substance. If students were a manufactured product, the schools would be sued for product liability.

www.answersingenesis.org

The First Church of Second Life

Angie Ward @ www.blog.christianitytoday.com asks the question: What is the role of Real Christianity in a Virtual World. Some of her observations:

There is another life beyond this one: a realm where one’s role on earth is a distant memory, where inhabitants have new bodies and can fly anywhere they like. It sounds a bit like heaven. But it’s not. It’s cyberspace.

What is "Second Life"

Second Life is—well, for the uninitiated, it is hard to explain. Some call it a game, but in reality it is ultimate virtuality: a virtual, 3D, online world that is continually created and updated by its residents. Originally introduced to the public in 2003 by the company Linden Lab, Second Life now boasts over a million members from around the world.

These members, 50,000 or more of whom are online and “in-world” at any given time, create their own names and “avatars” (virtual identities with infinite combinations of customizable human and nonhuman “looks”) that can own merchandise and property (bought with real U.S. dollars) and interact with any anyone else in-world via Second Life chat or instant messenger. Residents can walk, fly, or teleport to various destinations, including lush beaches, raucous dance clubs, trendy restaurants, seedy strip joints, bustling malls—and churches.

As of this writing, there were around 100 churches listed in Second Life. Some were obviously created as a joke (The Church of Apathy), but dozens of others advertise legitimate doctrine, membership, and church functions. But why would anyone start a church in a place that isn’t real?

The Problem:

Because, for many of its residents, Second Life is real; more real—to them, at least—than their real-world existences. Some members spend entire days in-world at one time; they make friends, go to school, party, play, and sometimes even derive more income from their virtual enterprises than from their real-world ones. This is either cause for great alarm, or great opportunity for ministry.

How one Second Life Church started:

Second Life resident “Emmanuel Hallard” believes the latter, and started the Christian Church of Second Life two and half years ago. “I felt that Jesus’ saying, ‘Go into all the world’ included Second Life,” explained Hallard, who in his “First Life” is Lee Wilson, a minister, author, and actor who works for the Family Dynamics Institute, a nonprofit marriage and family ministry located outside of Nashville.

Wilson/Hallard chose his Second Life first name, Emmanuel, because it means “God with us.” “When I first joined Second Life I wanted that message to go with me—that God is everywhere,” he said. “We can’t hide from Him in the dark, in a voting booth, or in a virtual world.” The Nashville minister says he spends around 10 hours per week in Second Life, communicating with his church’s 1,000 members, developing the church “property,” leading Bible discussions, talking with church visitors, and exploring new areas of the world. The church also has a donation box and accepts gifts that go toward the purchase of new property and the Second Life land ownership fee of $30 per month.

Other Second Life churches function in a similar manner, offering Bible studies and discussion groups. Some hold special events based on the liturgical calendar, such as Easter gatherings and special prayer services.

The Problem:

“Second Life in general lets you experience freedom you might not have in your everyday life,” explained Wilson/Hallard.

And the freedom to be and do anything you want in-world is a two-edged sword. “Slappy Yering,” another Christian who has spent significant time in Second Life, has observed the darker side of this freedom.

Yering, a church planter and telecom employee in his First Life, used to spend 8 to 16 hours per week in Second Life. He originally joined to get closer to a couple in his church that was very quiet in real life, but spent a lot of time in-world. “In the game they were just crazy,” Yering explained. “The couple worked at a virtual strip club. He was a DJ and she was a dancer, and they owned a house in-world. Most of the time I was there, we were talking about life. I was a counselor to these people who had trouble dealing with each other in the real world.

“It was kind of a fun thing,” Yering continued “You could be whoever you wanted and do whatever you wanted—no responsibility, because it’s just a game. But that’s the dangerous part. It crossed a line. The couple eventually divorced. They should really have never been married in the first place, but the game accelerated their downfall.”

What's the verdict:

So, what is Second Life? A colossal time waster, a harmless (albeit elaborate) diversion, or evil escapism? From my own experience, the Second Life world is difficult to learn, yet potentially addicting. The virtual world is completely unreal, yet totally real at the same time. Dangers lurk, yet opportunities abound. What is the appropriate approach for a Christian? On the one hand, Scripture warns us of spending time in futile pursuits; on the other, we are to spread the Gospel to the unreached, using whatever means possible.

For a brief glimpse of a Second Life church experience, check out this video, produced by Craig Groeschel's LifeChurch.tv.