John Piper Tweets

UPDATE: HT to Kevin Sauder for this video:

At our staff meeting this week, we were discussing how to use social media in a Christ-exalting way.  As is often the case, we remembered that John Piper had gone before us on this issue. 

In June 2009, he posted a blog in which he described his take on social media and his decision to tweet.  His original post can be found here: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/why-and-how-i-am-tweeting

Below are extensive excerpts from his post:

I see two kinds of response to social Internet media like blogging, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and others.


One says: These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it. So boycott them and write books (not blogs) about the problem.

The other response says: Yes, there is truth in all of that, but instead of boycotting, try to fill these media with as much provocative, reasonable, Bible-saturated, prayerful, relational, Christ-exalting, truth-driven, serious, creative pointers to true greatness as you can....

Now what about Twitter? I find Twitter to be a kind of taunt: “Okay, truth-lover, see what you can do with 140 characters! You say your mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things! Well, this is one of those ‘all things.’ Can you magnify Christ with this thimble-full of letters?”

To which I respond:

The sovereign Lord of the earth and sky

Puts camels through a needle’s eye.

And if his wisdom see it mete,

He will put worlds inside a tweet.

So I am not inclined to tweet that at 10AM the cat pulled the curtains down. But it might remind me that the Lion of Judah will roll up the heavens like a garment, and blow out the sun like a candle, because he just turned the light on. That tweet might distract someone from pornography and make them look up.

I’ve been tweeting anonymously for a month mainly to test its spiritual and family effects on me. In spite of all the dangers, it seems like a risk worth taking. “All things were created through Christ and for Christ” (Colossians 1:16). The world does not know it, but that is why Twitter exists and that’s why I Tweet.

Pastor John is correct. It is exactly this ability to see the God-glorifying potential in so many things that encourages me about his minstry.  Our church will do well to emulate Pastor John as we employ the venues available to us!

Adoption is the Antithesis of Abortion

Sunday, I argued that adoption is the antithesis of abortion. Everything that adoption is, abortion is not. Abortion destroys a family; adoption creates a family. Abortion squanders life; adoption redeems life. I also contended that it is not enough for one who is “pro-life” to be against abortion. We must also create a competing vision for how the world should be. We must be pro-life and present adoption as an ideal for a society that must sometimes deal with what to do for unwanted children.

In his blog today (http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/01/24/in-his-own-words-a-radical-pro-abortion-president/) , Al Mohler notes that President Obama’s statement Saturday to mark the observance of Roe v. Wade did little to dispel the notion that he is more radical in his pro-abortion views than his campaign rhetoric suggested. Obama’s final sentence was this:

“And on this anniversary, I hope that we will recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”

This logic, as I mentioned Sunday, is deeply troubling. It ignores the central issue at stake: what are the rights of the baby in the womb. It instead focuses only on the perceived benefits—or potential benefits—to the mother and father.

On Mother Jones’ website, there was an article posted about a pro-life attorney. One comment on the story caught my eye:

“I can tell you right now that if I were to get my girlfriend pregnant (accidentally, of course) I wouldn't even have to think about it. I've still got 3 years of University left, and my current girlfriend is JUST starting her career. There is no way I can support a child, and with the field she's going into, a child will destroy her career at this point in time. If we brought a child into the world it will be a meager minimum wage existence plagued by all the problems that come with low income families.”

Though stated more crudely, this is the same argument that President Obama is making and the same argument Nazi eugenicists made. The destruction of some life protects people’s rights to pursue whatever future they have envisioned for themselves.

The mind-numbingly obvious response, of course, is: what about the future of the aborted child?

Praying for the Protection of Life for the Glory of God,


Pastor Daniel

New Year Predictions

Recently, Pat Robertson made his annual predictions for the coming year.  The bottom line: “It’s going to be another good year for CBN [his ministry], but a tough one for the world.” 

Many well-meaning but, frankly, gullible believers have been scared by Robertson’s doom and gloom scenarios in the past and 2011 is no exception.  

There’s nothing wrong with making guesses for what might happen in the coming year.  The problem is that Robertson claims that God is the one who is making these predictions.  For example, he famously claimed God had told him that in 2008 a major U.S. city would be destroyed.  That didn’t take place, unless God was speaking metaphorically about the Giants beating the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.  But New England really refers to a region instead of a city, so I think Robertson missed that one (and many others).

I’ve seen several news articles and blogs rightly take Robertson to task for his wild predictions.   My concern with Robertson is both practical and theological.  How does his “prophetic” word undermine the confidence in Scripture of those who follow him?

In Deuteronomy 18, God commands the people to put to death those who claim to speak a word in God’s name and lie.  How will they know if the prophet is lying?  “when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”

I don’t know what will happen in 2011.  Neither do you.  And neither does Pat Robertson or any other religious figure who claims to have a word from God.  What I do know is that Scripture offers us the hope that whatever God has in store for us, we can endure it through the grace of God working within us.  May we as believers have that confidence for the coming year!

Cyber Parents

This week, Whitney and I were talking to a woman who has opted out of the digital world. She closed down her Facebook account and feels that she is better off. “It’s awkward sometimes,” she admitted, “I don’t know as much about what is going on in people’s lives.”

It has caused her to be more committed to developing real, non-virtual relationships. “We’re going to be facing a whole wave of children with communication disorder,” she lamented. As children tweet and text their way through life, the ability to handle face to face communication will diminish.

Not all people will reach the same conclusion as our friend, but all believers should think carefully about why and how they interact with our cyber culture.  Our friend, fortunately, was savvy enough to realize the potential dangers of the digital world.  Many parents are clueless when it comes to the allure and danger of the cyber world. 

Dr. Mohler has some excellent insights into the problems parents face in his article, “The Dangerous Worlds of Analog Parents with Digital Teens.” http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/12/08/the-dangerous-worlds-of-analog-parents-with-digital-teens/

Deceit in the Evangelical World

How would you feel if you found out that your favorite Christian book was written not by the famous name on the front cover but rather an editor at the publishing company? The practice of using ghostwriters in Christian publishing has been far more common than widely known over the past few decades.


In 2002, Randy Alcorn wrote an article entitled, “Scandal of Evangelical Dishonesty,” which can be found here: http://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Feb/25/scandal-evangelical-dishonesty/. In the article, he tackles the sensitive issue of deceit in the evangelical community and cites several examples of areas in which Christians seem comfortable with a certain level of deceit.

For instance, did you know that sometimes charitable organizations that help children actually pay Christian celebrities to mention them at concerts? Alcorn writes:

A disturbing recent fundraising development is purchasing celebrity endorsements of charities given at conferences and concerts. A speaker or musician gives an appeal for a ministry’s child sponsorships. For every child sponsored as a result of the appeal the performer receives $25 to $50. (In the secular world, this is called a kickback.)….

I have no problem with a ministry presenting its vision to a speaker or group and then asking them to pray about calling attention to their cause. I have major problems with offering them a percentage of “the take” (the offering). Unless this is done with full disclosure, unless clear verbal or printed recognition is made of this financial arrangement, the offering is a deception. Anything less than full disclosure to potential donors constitutes fraud. Such arrangements will inevitably promote abuse, and sometimes lead to public scandal. Consider the temptation to overstate or misrepresent needs or to speak with artificial enthusiasm for the poor, while thinking of the larger kickback they will get for doing so. Our enemies dish out enough temptations without us dispensing them to our friends. Think of a Christian speaker appealing to people to give to starving children, knowing what the audience doesn’t—his personal wealth will increase directly in proportion to what he says and how convincingly he says it.

Regarding ghostwriting, he distinguishes between collaboration and ghostwriting, which is “when the actual writer’s name is not on the cover, or when a person’s name is on the cover…who did little or nothing to write the book.”

Alcorn is right to be concerned. The evangelical community, perhaps enamored by the lure of fame and popularity, is willing to look the other way on many practices that in the secular field would be unthinkable. One day I received an email from someone suggesting that I listen to a "great message" given by a pastor of a mega-church that was about a theology of adoption. I went to a church’s website and as I listened to the message, I realized that this was a message that I had given at a conference! Illustrations from my message had been changed to make it more the speaker’s own, but my name was never cited as the original source of the material.

I don’t believe the pastor who did this had wicked motives. I like to think that he was simply unaware of proper ways to cite where material came from. (Most annoying, given his natural charisma and fine speaking voice, I think he delivered the message better than I did.) His possible unawareness that he was doing anything unethical, however, is a byproduct of an evangelical culture where we have lax standards for transparency. It is my fear that these lax standards stem from an infatuation with wanting the esteem of men.  We fear honesty and desire prominence.

Jesus has this warning for those of us who desire the approval of men:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4 ESV)

Holiness

During Sunday’s sermon, I mentioned J.C. Ryle’s book Holiness. There have been only a handful of books that have been more influential in my life than this book. For those who would like to purchase it, I believe the church has a few copies or it can be found online in its entirety here: http://www.gracegems.org/Ryle/holiness.htm.

It was published in 1879 and yet remains extremely relevant. Controversies over anemic doctrine and slothfulness in our pursuit of holiness are not something birthed in our modern age. Ryle laments, “I have had a deep conviction for many years that practical holiness and entire self-consecration to God are not sufficiently attended to by modern Christians in this country.” He is writing to those living in England in the 19th century, but could just as well have been writing to us.

He continues: "Yet sanctification, in its place and proportion, is quite as important as justification. Sound Protestant and Evangelical doctrine is useless if it is not accompanied by a holy life. It is worse than useless; it does positive harm. It is despised by keen-sighted and shrewd men of the world, as an unreal and hollow thing, and brings religion into contempt. It is my firm impression that we want a thorough revival about Scriptural holiness…."

These are strong statements, but I believe Ryle is correct. Sanctification is important and sound doctrine is useless unless accompanied by a holy life. Neglect of holiness is a stain upon the church.

There are many gems found throughout even the introduction to the book as he gives some glimpses into the themes he will be covering in its pages. For instance, he addresses those who believe one can simply “Let Go and Let God” (a slogan still seen in many Evangelical churches and retreat centers today).

Ryle responds: "…is it wise to teach believers that they ought not to think so much of fighting and struggling against sin, but ought rather to "yield themselves to God," and be passive in the hands of Christ? Is this according to the proportion of God's Word? I doubt it…. But, on the other hand, it would not be difficult to point out at least twenty-five or thirty distinct passages in the Epistles where believers are plainly taught to use active personal exertion, and are addressed as responsible for doing energetically what Christ would have them do, and are not told to "yield themselves" up as passive agents and sit still, but to arise and work. A holy violence, a conflict, a warfare, a fight, a soldier's life, a wrestling, are spoken of as characteristic of the true Christian. The account of "the armor of God" in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, one might think, settles the question."

And in the remainder of the book, Ryle issues his call to spiritual arms, to engage in the first of one’s life…the struggle for holiness. It is our goal at Bethany Community to engage in that fight as well with similar ardor.

A Quick Update

Dear Bethany Community Church,

Just a quick note today to encourage you to consider two opportunities provided by the Bethany Fellowship of Churches in the coming months.

The first is “A Community Christmas.” The past two years, Bethany Baptist and Living Hope have joined us on this side of the river at Five Points Washington. But this year, each church will be holding a concert in their own community. In one sense, it’s sad to have fewer people from the other churches join us at Five Points. At the same time, in years past we have been quite constrained by space. This year, we have a great opportunity to fill up the seats in the theatre with family and friends in the community who may not have a church home.

Please take advantage of this and invite your friends to a Community Christmas on December 10th at Five Points Washington!

The second opportunity is the “Engage” conference in January. This is a competition for high school students. It gives them the chance to really make their faith their own as they either prepare for the apologetic section of the competition or the preaching category. For more information, contact Joey Holland at joey@bethanycentral.org.


By His Grace,

Pastor Daniel