One of the biggest challenges of the Christian life is the struggle to believe. If we really believed that God answers prayer, then we'd pray more. If we really believed that God wants what's best for us, then we'd be more obedient. And if we really believed that God's Word changes us, then we'd be more faithful in reading it. One of the ways that God seems to grow our faith is through amazing demonstrations of His power. By showing us that cataclysmic change is possible, He encourages us to keep pursuing incremental change in our lives. This week God encouraged me through the incredible transformation of a Japanese murderer, named Tokichi Ishii.
One of my summer projects is a review of first year Greek in preparation for a second year Greek course I need to take in the fall. The problem with the ‘review’ is that the first time I studied Greek was close to twenty years ago and so it pretty much feels like I’m starting from scratch. The textbook I’m using was written by John Gresham Machen, the founder of Westminster Seminary, and originally published in 1923. Reading about Machen’s life recently, I was moved by the profound impact that his mother had on him, and the crucial parenting principles she embodies.
On Saturday morning, Andy Lundy spoke at our Men’s Breakfast on the theme of moral purity. He dealt with the topic from a number of different perspectives but just as he got started someone asked an insightful question, “Could you give us a definition of pornography, because I’m not sure everyone in the room will otherwise understand what you’re talking about?” It was a helpful reminder to me that our culture keeps moving the line when it comes to morality, and no more so than in the area of sexuality. Andy shared that what used to be considered soft core pornography is now mainstream and what used to be considered hard core pornography is now entry-level soft-core pornography, with modern hard core pornography stretching boundaries of violence and degradation that were previously unthinkable. Anything that is sexually stimulating regardless of whether it’s in a novel, music video, store front advertisement, or movie is pornographic and has an impact on a Christian’s morality.
There’s something refreshing about a business executive who is completely honest. Even so I was a little taken aback by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ honesty in describing his business plan. I first read of his comments in an article by Tim Challies, but many others are discussing it. Like many CEOs, Hastings is often questioned about the competition. And Netflix’s video streaming service is now facing direct competition from a similar service from Amazon. Hastings downplays the competition from Amazon however. He sees sleep as his main competition. That’s right, I said sleep! Listen to how he responds to the ‘threat’ of competition from Amazon.
Yesterday, I had my ordination council. It’s kind of like a bar exam for a pastor. It doesn’t make me a pastor but it licences me as one. Thankfully, after three hours of gruelling questions from a room full of visiting pastors, I was recommended for ordination and am now taking care of some of the paperwork toward finalizing everything. There will be an ordination service at Grace in the coming weeks. I was asked many questions about all kinds of areas of theology and pastoral ministry. There was one question that is often asked of candidates that didn’t come up though, “What is a baptist?” Could you answer that question?
