Comments on: Postcards To A Young Theologian 2

By: jfred

jfred — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:58:28 +0000

There’s hope! The Men’s Weekend I just attended for a PCA Church retreat featured a speaker promoting the theme of “Simplicity” as espoused by Richard Foster. I’m sure that Foster is dismissed by many Reformed types for being a lib and a mystic, but he’s got some important things to say to all believers. Foster and Dallas Willard could help many TR’s to “restore the joy of their salvation.”

By: Michael Spencer

Michael Spencer — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:55:08 +0000

Touche’.

Read Finney, with my enthusiastic blessing. You got me.

By: panhandle

panhandle — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:13:18 +0000

“At times, I am stunned by the responses of some on the internet to merely READING and complimenting books by authors who disagree with their own group, or for raising questions and criticisms that the group itself ought to be raising constantly”

Hmmmmm, this from the man that responded to a previous post (http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/guess-who-on-john-316) with simply “Finney must be avoided at all costs”. Because, of course, we have nothing to learn from authors whom we disagree with do we?

By: coderforchrist

coderforchrist — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 20:04:42 +0000

For various reasons, I’ve been considering leaving my (very much non-Reformed) SBC church, and have been visiting different churches. I’m generally hesitant to tell people that I’m looking at/visiting other churches, because they’re usually non-Baptist churches, and almost everyone that I have told has had an immediatly negative, knee-jerk reaction to that news. For example, my girlfriend and I visited a nearby Presbyterian church some time ago because they were having a Christmas cantata service, and some of my friends from work went there (this was well before I had even entertained the thought of leaving my current church). Afterwards, we met some friends from our church at a restaurant, and they asked why we hadn’t been at service that night. When we told them we’d visited the Presbyterian church, one girl immediately, in a rather nasty tone, asked, “Why?” And that was another Protestant church; imagine what happened when we visited an Orthodox church, and, even worse, liked it.

Of course, this sort of thing doesn’t exactly make someone want to discuss these things with people at church, since one pretty much expects the response to be the same, and therefore, it’s easier to simply avoid the controversy. However, to some others, this reluctance is evidence that I “realize” that I’m doing something wrong, and I’m trying to hide it out of guilt. Of course, that doesn’t exactly make me more willing to discuss the doubts I’m having…

By the way, this is a large reason for any bitterness you may have noticed in my posts (assuming you read them of course ).

On a positive note, I want to thank you for all the times you’ve put in words what I’ve not been able to. It’s also good to know that the problems I see aren’t just me.

By: eaglejohn

eaglejohn — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 18:02:51 +0000

You have delivered the correct punch. Guilt is not the same as coviction. It seems like many churches feel like behavior, by whatever means, is the important thing. That is why I love the “fruit of the Spirit” list. It deals with heart issues that result in behavior…not just a behavor list. It saddens me to see people feel like they are too damaged for church or Christianity. Thanks!

By: Steve Sensenig

Steve Sensenig — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 11:16:12 +0000

What about guilt when one finds themselves suddenly agreeing with more of what the Internet Monk writes? hehe

Well said, Michael. I have learned some of these lessons the hard way, and some of them I am still learning.

God bless,
steve

By: TheBlueRaja

TheBlueRaja — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 06:57:19 +0000

Excellent series of posts here, Michael. An important question to ask in our preservation of individual growth, especially as it relates to theology, is how tradition should constrain our explorations and what boundaries must be reinforced. Certain aspects of Paleo-Orthodoxy resonate with me precisely because they take the role of tradition seriously. I feel as though I understand the impulse for gatekeeping among the cantankerous reformed – I even affirm its importance. I think for me, personally, the problem is more one of anxiety than guilt, since defining appropriate boundaries remains such a vexing task.