Amazon removes transgender book

If memory serves, about 10-12 years ago Westminster Bookstore emailed their customers a message. I don’t remember the particulars (nor could I find it in my email), but the gist went something like this:

All bookstores face a serious challenge as an enormous chunk of book sales go to one online seller, Amazon. Amazon can sell books cheaper than your average bookseller because they’re not just a bookseller but a provider of so much more. They noted that book buyers have the freedom to buy books at the best rate, but Westminster provided a warning: if all book buyers go to one store for their books, that bookstore has enormous power. That one bookstore can, if they like, remove books they don’t like.

It appears the Westminster warning has come true. Ryan Anderson, a prominent and persuasive voice for traditional views of human sexuality, recently wrote a book focusing on the transgender movement entitled, When Harry Became Sally. As of this week, that book has been removed from Amazon (you cannot find it new, used, or from third party sellers on Amazon).

Ryan Anderson has written about the controversy at First Things.

The religious fervor that accompanies LGBTQ talk is a curious thing. For a good treatment of why questions of sexuality are connected to such deeply held convictions about reality, life, the body, and our purpose, check out Carl Trueman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (which, as of today, is still available on Amazon).

Moving forward by looking back

James Smith, citing photographer Sally Mann, observes that rowers face backward while rowing forward.

Smith goes on to say that his book, On the Road with St. Augustine, asks readers to take a similar posture.

Smith says:

“This book you are holding is an invitation to posture like that: to move forward by looking back, to make progress by considering ancient wisdom. To get in a boat headed for a new future, looking back to Augustine on the North African shore as a landmark to orient us” (xiii).

Of course, Smith’s point applies not only to St. Augustine, but to any consideration of the works, thought, and writings of those who’ve gone before us. The rower is a helpful image for the important work of reading those who’ve gone before in an effort to “keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds,” as C. S. Lewis says.

Ray Ortlund: Gospel Doctrine + Gospel Culture = Power of God

For Ray Ortlund, there are two necessary ingredients for the power of God to be unleashed in the Church: gospel doctrine and gospel culture. For those more mathematically inclined, you could think of it like this:

Gospel doctrine + gospel culture = power of God at work in the Church

Conversely...

Gospel doctrine – gospel culture = hypocrisy

...and...

Gospel culture – gospel doctrine = fragility

These two ingredients (gospel culture and gospel doctrine) are essential to the church's vitality. Where one of these ingredients (or both) are absent, you have a failing church. Another way to say it: When the gospel message (doctrine) works its way into the hearts of a congregation, it will begin working itself out of that congregation (culture). This is because the Gospel doesn't stay put – it is on the move!

If you’ve been burned by a church, chances are one of these two pieces were missing. Of course, it takes a work of the Spirit to empower a congregation to fire on both gospel cylinders. By God’s grace, churches strike the balance: having good, beautifully presented Gospel doctrine that yields a decidedly Gospel culture.

For more on this, see Ray Ortlund’s The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014).

Talking Church and Church Planting on Pittsburgh Radio

I had an opportunity to talk Church and church planting on The Ride Home with John and Kathy today.

The interview touched upon an article I recently wrote on the topic (see post below). The interview begins at approximately the 1:10:45 mark of the show.

Messianic Politics ... GUEST Stephen Mansfield Allegheny County council considers a hair amendment?! Piercing a Hole in the Heavens ... GUEST Casey Shutt ... is pastor of King's Cross Church in Oklahoma City Why Is It So Hard to Read My Bible These Days? ... GUEST Megan Hill ...

Job's Dialogue with God

A couple of weeks ago I preached on 2 Peter 3. The passage deals with the judgment of God - a big topic! As part of the sermon, I referred to God's dialogue with Job (You can find it all in Job 38-42; it's breathtaking). 

Following the sermon, someone suggested I check out this song (a song I had not heard before), which is based on the Job dialogue. Here’s a video of the song with nice imagery and the lyrics printed (all brought to you by Kessid Creative ;-) )

 


Whether it's Coronavirus or something else, there's no shortage of suffering in this world, along with the doubts, confusion, and questions that inevitably follow the suffering. I've always loved the Job dialogue because it situates things for us. The God who exquisitely designed creation has also masterfully architected all of history, and it is all for the good of his people. How that works, I do not know. How could I? (after all, where was I when God stretched the measuring line of creation?) 

But God is in charge and he loves us as demonstrated through his own suffering for us on the cross - an incident which (by the way) made absolutely no sense as it unfolded in real time but in hindsight is the hope of the world and a powerful demonstration of God's love.

Peter and Seeing the World right Amidst Coronavirus

 
upside down peter.JPG

G.K. Chesterton once said regarding the upside down crucifixion of St. Peter that it “was a time when Peter saw the world as it really is: with the clouds like hills, the stars like flowers, and every man hanging by the mercy of God.”

In other words, Peter’s suffering brought perspective. That’s what suffering can do. It helps us to see the world better. A global pandemic can be revelatory, reminding us of how weak we actually are. After all, the world, the flesh, and the devil are out to destroy. Sometimes this destruction hits in the form of war, famine, addiction, and, yes, even disease and pestilence. The novelty of this virus is breaking down the “buffers” that modern conveniences, mass food production, and modern medical technology bring, which gives us perspective.

Now that our lives have come to a strange and screeching halt, what do we see? What perspective do we gain? For starters, it’s important to remember that the Coronavirus is not the primary problem. Sin is. Sin is the problem behind the problem. Perhaps you hear the word “sin” and think the term outdated. It’s not; in fact, it may be just the term we need in order to better understand our world. Cornelius Plantinga inked 200 pages just summarizing sin (and I recommend you read it), so it’s not an easy term to define, but here’s one stab: “Sin is disruption of created harmony and then resistance to divine restoration of that harmony” (Plantinga, Not the Way Its Supposed to Be, 5). The harmony of the world has been disrupted and this disruption extends even to the microscopic, including bacteria and, yes, viruses.

There's a single answer to this problem of sin: Jesus. Turn to the one and only “Mighty Fortress," Jesus Christ. He is our hope and refuge. And a new world order is being established with Christ as King. His Kingship we’re told will ripple through creation bringing everything into his submission, even rogue microbes. And when Christ’s Kingship is fully consummated, the world will be as it should. Lions will lay with lambs, toddlers will play over snake holes, tools of destruction (swords and spears) will be beat into tools of cultivation (plowshares and pruninghooks), and global flourishing will ensue.

King Jesus is exalted, seated at the right hand of the Father. He’s withholding his judgment so that we can experience his mercy and the infinite blessings of his Kingdom. We have a choice: we can turn in repentance and faith to Jesus and be swallowed up in his love or we can reject him and be swallowed up in his judgment - those are the options before us. What will you do?