Francis Beckwith helpfully links to this piece on the logical problems in Stephen Hawking's claims about gravity and the non-existence of God. The author is a Catholic (which may distress the staff of the National Catholic Reporter) but the argument is not, I think, restricted in its usefulness to those in communion with Rome.
How Can I Glorify God on the Job?
(Author: Tyler Kenney)
This is the last question from the Ask Pastor John Live session we recorded earlier this year. Due to Pastor John’s leave, we will not be rolling out any more new episodes for at least the rest of this year. Search all previous episodes.
Podcast subscribers, stay tuned for more information about our forthcoming “Everything Video” podcast.
John Piper says you don’t have to be ordained to be a minister. Watch or listen to him explain. Scroll down to read an edited transcript.
The following is an edited transcript of the audio.
Would there be any specific counsel you would give a business person about glorifying God in their work?
You must have heard a talk I gave earlier today. I gave a talk to the Christian businessmen’s group downtown today on how to glorify God from 8 to 5.
The first thing I want to say is that I totally believe in secular work, meaning non-church work. We are all ministers, we are all priests—priesthood of the believer. I’m not drawing that kind of distinction. I’m just saying, as far as the office goes, your priesthood may be at a computer company, or in nursing, or as a doctor, or in carpentry or whatever. And my priesthood happens to be in pastoring.
So I’m totally there, and I believe the Bible says we should be staying generally where we are. Only if God leads in a clear way should we leave the job we are in when we are saved.
So the counsel I would give is to seek to do your work in such a way that Christ looks more important than your work. Seek to make and use money in such a way that Christ looks more important than money. Seek to have relationships with people in the work place such that Christ is more important than those relationships.
Now, that doesn’t imply that relationships go down in effectiveness and importance. It means, in fact, that they go up! Because if Christ is infinitely precious to you, you will now have resources for the relationships and for the work that you wouldn’t have had otherwise, if those relationships were god.
If they are god, you are drawing strength from them and eventually people are going to feel that. “You are using me. You may be really really interested in me, and you may want to spend time with me. But I’m starting to feel drained by you.”
Whereas, if Christ is all, and he sends you into that relationship with resources, then the feel should be, “I like being around you because you are ministering to me. You are not taking from me.”
So whether it is people, whether it is money, whether it is activities, we do them all. We are very good at them. We should be creative and industrious and excellent in all of our work in order to adorn the gospel and do it in a way that Christ is shown to be more valuable than any of those things.
The chapter in the book Don’t Waste Your Life called “Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5″ is where I’m getting all that stuff.
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I tried to save the things I made
Well, it’s been ages since my last link roundup – so here are some notable things from around the web:
James K. A. Smith with a eulogy for Clark Pinnock
And a eulogy for Donald Bloesch (whose books made a big impression on me when I was first getting…
Lashing Out at God in Prayer
Some of the people in the biblical narratives seem to bargain with God. For instance, Hezekiah reminds God of what a good king he has been. Is it proper to pray in this fashion?
Scripture is brutally honest with us, revealing the faults and vices of th…
Man: A Little Perspective
(Author: Tyler Kenney)
Pun intended.
This is probably my favorite thought/quote from Blaise Pascal. Except perhaps his quote on happiness.
What is man in nature? A nothing compared to the infinite, a whole compared to the nothing, a middle point between all and nothing, infinitely remote from an understanding of the extremes . . . equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. . .
Let us then realize our limitations. We are something and we are not everything. Such being as we have conceals from us the knowledge of first principles, which arise from nothingness, and the smallness of our being hides infinity from our sight.
Our intelligence occupies the same rank in the order of intellect as our body in the whole range of nature.
Limited in every respect, we find this intermediate state between two extremes reflected in all our faculties. Our senses can perceive nothing extreme; too much noise deafens us, too much light dazzles; when we are too far or too close we cannot see properly; an argument is obscured by being too long or too short; too much truth bewilders us.
—Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 61-63 (emphasis mine)
I love this quote because it reminds me of how humble I should be about what I think I know. It’s also good to keep in mind as I prepare for our conference theme this year.
Praise God that he has not left us lost in the middle. He has spoken. And what is more, he has entered in.
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Say it ain’t so! (Rodney Trotter)
Rupert Murdoch using his media empire to deny that God created the universe? I assume he’s no relation to the gentleman of the same name who owns Fox News, the unbiased TV channel of Christian choice? Some mistake here, surely, boys?
B21 Resource Recommendation: Greek and Hebrew Alphabet
Check out two entertaining resources on the alphabets in the Biblical Languages.
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary student Michael Graening performed a Hip-Hop song to Kanye West’s “Heartless” working through the Greek Alphabet. You can find the MP3 through Justin Taylor’s blog.
In addition, Dave Kulp and Matt Howell wrote a Hebrew alphabet Hip Hop song when they were students at RTS-Charlotte. The song was sung and produced by Matt Howel. The MP3 is also available at Justin Taylor’s blog.
Throw the Fishing Pole Away
When I was a kid, my older brother used to take me fishing. He loved it…I hated it. It was incredibly lifeless, especially when the fish weren’t biting (which was most of the time). I think I’m too ADD for fishing.
Pe…
Tope Koleoso on corporate prayer
Yesterday I spoke about how Terry Virgo and Tope Koleoso are both great at promoting books. Today I want to highlight another aspect that they both in my view stand out in, and it is one that is even more important. This is their commitment to prayer, and corporate prayer in particular. Prayer is [...]
The ESV Bible Atlas
A few weeks ago I received an ESV Bible Atlas, a brand new product from Crossway. I had meant to review it, but for some reason found it difficult to do so. The reason may be that I’ve never spent any significant amount of time reading a Bible atlas before and this means that I’ve got little reference for comparison. Of course I know that such an atlas is a valuable companion to anyone seeking to study the Bible, and especially the Old Testament.
So let me tell you about some of the features of this atlas, all of which are plenty impressive, even if I don’t know how they stack-up against the competition. According to the publisher’s description:
Capitalizing on recent advances in satellite imaging and geographic information systems, the Crossway ESV Bible Atlas offers Bible readers a comprehensive, up-to-date resource that blends technical sophistication with readability, visual appeal, and historical and biblical accuracy.
All the key methods of presenting Bible geography and history are here, including more than 175 full-color maps, 70 photographs, 3-D re-creations of biblical objects and sites, indexes, timelines, and 65,000 words of narrative description. The atlas uniquely features regional maps detailing biblically significant areas such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Italy, and Greece. It also includes a CD with searchable indexes and digital maps, and a removable, 16.5 x 22-inch map of Palestine.
This carefully crafted reference tool not only sets a new standard in Bible atlases but will help ESV readers more clearly understand the world of the Bible and the meaning of Scripture.
The Atlas contains:
- 175 full-color maps
- 70 full-color photographs
- 3-D re-creations of biblical objects and sites
- Indexes
- Timelines
- 65,000 words of narrative description
Let me say a word about its structure. Part 1 contains an introduction and overview to the biblical world; Part 2 takes a look at the historical geography of the biblical world, which is to say that it looks at the Bible from one historical era to the next; Part 3 turns to the regional geography of the biblical world and looks to the biblical lands region by region; and Part 4 contains appendixes, indexes and timelines. When I think of an atlas I think of book that contains only maps. Simple, right? This atlas contains far more than that. It weighs in at 350 pages and is jam-packed with information.
Already I’ve found the Atlas useful in family devotions. We have been reading 2 Samuel and have found a few occasions to look up maps, buildings or diagrams. It would have been very useful when we were in Exodus, reading about the Ark and Tabernacle. I also anticipate that it will come in handy as I study the Old Testament on my own; it is always difficult to keep separate in my mind all the regions, nations and cities and I know that Atlas will help with all of these things.
Overall, the ESV Bible Atlas seems to be a very valuable reference and one that will benefit any individual or family. But don’t just take my word for it. Here is what Wayne Grudem says (and you know he is far more qualified to pass judgment than I am): “A remarkably beautiful and rich resource for historical, geographical, and archaeological background material that will deepen our understanding of each section of the Bible and increase our appreciation of the Bible’s amazing historical accuracy.”
You can get yourself a copy at Westminster Books or Amazon. If you want to give it a trial run, you can access 45 pages of it at this link.
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