Emerg_n_

Do you know the difference between "emerging" and "emergent"? I found this post (actually an excerpt from another blog) over at Church Matters, the 9Marks blog.

Reviewing Humble Orthodoxy, Week 2

Title: The Story: Understand the Storyline of the Bible
Speaker: Mark Dever
Session: Main Session #2, Na06
Date: May 28, 2006

I’ll be honest and say that out of all of the New Attitude messages from 2006, I’ve always found this one to be the most difficult to draw particular application points from. There a couple of reasons for this. As can be seen by the fact that Mark Dever provided an overview of the whole Bible instead of preaching from one particular passage, this session served chiefly as a foundation for the rest of the conference. By showing the importance and relevance of all of Scripture, he ensured that no one would walk away from the conference thinking that the following sessions (on the cross, on evangelism, or on the Holy Spirit, for instance) were disjointed. By establishing that all of the Bible comprises one storyline, he paved the way for understanding the unity of the particulars presented in the following sessions. Also, since there were some attendees at the conference who were not very familiar with the Bible, and who perhaps had believed the Old Testament to be unrelated to the New Testament, this teaching would have been instrumental in their furthering their understanding of the purpose and the unity of God’s Word.

Main Text
The Whole Bible

A Brief Outline
The Old Testament:
1. A Particular History
2. A Passion for Holiness
3. A Promise of Hope
The New Testament:
1. Christ
2. God’s Covenant People
3. The Renewal of all Creation

Other Points

• Sincerity is no guarantee of wisdom.
• The Old Testament is the context for understanding the revelation of Christ in the New Testament.
• To understand the Old Testament, we must understand not only the particular history of Israel, but also God’s passion for His holiness.
• We understand the stories about God better if we better understand God’s character.
• The seriousness of the sacrificial system showed the seriousness of sin, and that forgiveness could only come through an atoning death.
• The riddle of the Old Testament: Exodus 34:6-7.
• We shouldn’t love the Bible apart from the Person it reveals.
• The Bible is here to show us Christ so that in Him we will see the focus of our hopes and the center of our satisfaction.
• Many people limit their hopes to only things which they think they can promise to themselves, but we Christians have always had a hope in something that we could never bring about by ourselves.
• Jesus’ resurrection was the firstfruits, the first of many to come.
• The ruins of our own cherished plans are often the first steps toward the true good that God has for us.

Some Application Questions

• In my daily reading of the Bible, and particularly of the Old Testament, am I seeking to better understand the passage's context in the whole Bible, or only viewing the stories as interesting bits of history?
• When I read verses such as Exodus 34:6-7 in light of what Christ has done, am I amazed anew at the mercy of God?
• Is my love for God’s Word based on its being God's self-revelation?

One Thing That Has Stuck With Me
The idea of seeing the Old Testament as “promises made” and the New Testament as “promises kept.”

One Thing I Re-learned By Re-listening
The statement that stories are made up of propositions, which is especially important for us as Christians to remember as we try to reach a post-modern culture.

Discussion

• What are one or two things that you learned in listening to this teaching?
• If you were re-listening to it, what are some ways that God has used this teaching in your life over the last two years?
• Also, feel free to give suggestions on the focus and format of these posts.
• Finally, as great as it is to be able to talk about this online, talk about it personally with people you know. Use it as an opportunity to share with each other what God is teaching you, and how He has given (and is giving) you the grace to apply it.

This was Week 2 in the fifteen weeks of reviewing humble orthodoxy, leading up to New Attitude 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky on May 24-27. Listen to “Understanding the Storyline of the Bible” for free.

Next Week: The Life: Applying the Gospel to All of Life (Mike Bullmore)

Background on this series: Humble Orthodoxy

Reviewing Humble Orthodoxy, Week 1

Title: The Truth: Rediscovering Humble Orthodoxy
Speaker: Josh Harris
Session: Main Session #1 (Na06)
Na06Date: May 27, 2006

There are so many ways I could go about blogging through these teachings. I won’t, however, be attempting to provide a full transcript—not only because it would be a lot of work, but also because that simply isn’t my aim in doing these posts. I’m hoping that you will be able to listen for yourselves—and if not, that the pieces I do post will pique your interest, and encourage you to take the time to listen. Mainly, I want to facilitate discussion.

I may change the format if another one seems that it would be better, but my plan right now is to provide an outline of the main points and write out other key thoughts and application questions. One unique aspect of blogging now—one or two years after initially hearing the teachings—is that it affords the opportunity to look back at how these teachings have (or haven’t, but should have) had a lasting impact upon the way I think and live.

Main Text
2 Timothy 2:14-26

Some Opening Thoughts
Josh identified three common errors that we, as Christians, tend to make in our attitude toward God’s word.

• Mistake #1: We react, in our decisions, to something besides God’s Word (specifically, what the past generation didn’t do right).
• Mistake #2: We easily cross the line from trying to reach our culture to trying to impress our culture.
• Mistake #3: We totally ignore our culture.
  

A Brief Outline
What does it for us to be a generation approved by God?
1. We must handle the truth faithfully (v. 15)
2. We must live the truth personally (vv. 20-21)
3. We must represent the truth humbly (vv. 24-26)

Other Points

• The greatest temptation of every generation of Christians is to, often in subtle ways, move away from the central message, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• We must not only defend the truth from outward attack, but from inward apathy.
• We need to hold to the truth, not because of how it makes us feel, but because it is God’s truth.
• We too often treat truth more as a personal accessory, instead of as a life-defining reality.
• Truth that is divorced from personal practice is hypocrisy.
• If we want to be useful vessels, we must make sure that our lives are defined by truth from God’s Word.
• Truth must always be lived.
• If we represent the truth in pride, people will react to our attitude rather than to the truth itself.
• “It is not humble to be hesitant where God has been clear and plain.” (Mark Dever)
• We need a humble orthodoxy.

Some Application Questions

• Is my love of the truth because it’s God’s truth, and I want to see His truth transform people, or is it about me being right and proving myself right on any given issue?
• Do I treat the Gospel more as play-doh (something to be to be shaped in a cool new way), or a precious diamond (something to protect so that it’s truth can shine out for all to see)?
• Have I grown comfortable with my current level of godliness?
• Who’s approval am I living for?
  

One Thing That Has Stuck With Me
The emphasis on the truth being God’s truth. I like to study theology, and I know that truth is from God. Too often, however, I can be guilty of desiring to learn primarily for the furtherance of my own knowledge.

One Thing I Re-learned By Re-listening
The three mistakes that Josh outlined near the beginning of His message. As he said, it’s so easy to swing toward each of them.

Discussion

• What are one or two things that you learned in listening to this teaching?
• If you were re-listening to it, what are some ways that God has used this teaching in your life over the last two years?
• Also, feel free to give suggestions on the focus and format of these posts.
• Finally, as great as it is to be able to talk about this online, talk about it personally with people you know. Use it as an opportunity to share with each other what God is teaching you, and how He has given (and is giving) you the grace to apply it.

This was Week 1 in the fifteen weeks of reviewing humble orthodoxy, leading up to New Attitude 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky on May 24-27. Listen to “Rediscovering Humble Orthodoxy” for free.

Next Week: The Story: Understanding the Storyline of the Bible (Mark Dever)

Humble Orthodoxy

New Attitude 2008 is still almost four months away, but I have an idea that will make that time seem much shorter. More importantly, it is also a great way for those of us who will be attending to prepare our hearts for what we will hear. (Not that you have to be attending to benefit. If you won't be there, keep reading, and join in anyway.)

New Attitude is an annual singles conference put on by Sovereign Grace Ministries since 1999. After taking 2005 off, New Attitude (Na) came back in 2006 with the theme of Humble Orthodoxy, "a commitment to believe, live, and represent biblical truth with humility." In 2007, the Humble Orthodoxy emphasis continued, with a focus on discernment. Those two conferences contained 15 main session sermons (from Josh Harris, C.J. Mahaney, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, John Piper, Mark Bullmore, Jeff Purswell, and Eric Simmons) all of which have since been made available for free download. The emphasis on Humble Orthodoxy is back again this year. The focus? The Word of God.

Maybe you've never listended to the Humble Orthodoxy messages. Maybe you heard them at the conference and haven't relistened to them. Maybe, like me, you downloaded them and relistened to them--last summer. Here's my plan.

This week (February 10-16), download and listen to "Rediscovering Humble Orthodoxy," Josh Harris' opening message from Na06. Pull out the old notes. Make new ones. Ask God how you can apply the teaching. Thank Him for ways that He has already enabled you to do so. Listen to the next message in the series each week over the following 14 weeks, and you can finish the week before Na08, ready to head off to Louisville to hear more.

I'm hoping to blog briefly on what I've listened to each week. Feel free to join in the discussion. But even better than joining an online discussion, enjoy Biblical fellowship by talking with people you know about what you're learning.

FREE download of the Na06 main sessions

FREE download of the Na07 main sessions

February's Quote to Ponder

"People no longer confessed their beliefs, but they only believed their confessions."
--Herman Bavinck, The Certainty of Faith