A good friend of mine (yes I have some) recently emailed me to talk about the developing story of Dr. Craig Venter and the creation of synthetic life. At a press conference Thursday, Dr. Venter described the converted cell as “the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is a computer.” Here is an excellent overview of the story by Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Seminary...

The cover story of the June 2010 edition of Scientific American presents “12 Events That Will Change Everything.” Those events include human cloning, an asteroid colliding with the earth, a worldwide pandemic, and the creation of synthetic life. Each of the twelve proposed events is evaluated in terms of likelihood. The article on the creation of synthetic life ranks the probability of that event as “almost certain.”

Consider that a case of an argument made too late. Just days ago, Dr. Craig Venter and his associates announced the achievement of the first synthetic life form, a bacterium with DNA sequenced entirely by computer — a human-designed life form.

The international media have seized upon the news, published officially in the journal Science. In rather clinical language, Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, described the achievement. The journal explained that Venter and his associates “describe the stepwise creation of a bacterial chromosome and the successful transfer of it into a bacterium, where it replaced the native DNA. Powered by the synthetic genome, that microbial cell began replicating and making a new set of proteins.”

During our trip to Cleveland for the Basics Conference we had a lot of great theological discussion. One of the things that came up was the issue of free will and one of the books we were given at the conference was Martin Luther's "Bondage of the Will". Coincidence? I think not.

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?"

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

John 8:31-36 (ESV)

Someone recently shared the following quote with me:

"A free will is not the liberty to do whatever one likes, but the power of doing whatever one sees ought to be done, even in the very face of otherwise overwhelming impulse. There lies freedom indeed." - George MacDonald

This is an interesting quote from a very interesting man. Still, I’d want to clarify what we mean by free will and where it comes from. Are we born with it or is it something we are given in and through Christ? I believe scripture, and Jesus in particular in the passage above, is very clear in teaching us that because of the fall we are all born as slaves to sin... our intellect, our desires and our will. It is only when Christ redeems us that we are...

I recently had the privilege of attending my second annual Basics Conference with Alistair Begg and Sinclair Ferguson at Parkside Baptist in Cleveland. I took five men from the church with me and we had a great time of fellowship, conversation and listening to some very powerful preaching. Here is what one of the guys had to say about it...

"This past week I was at a pastor’s conference that is aptly titled Basics. The point of this conference is to bring pastors and lay leaders together to hear about, and be encouraged in exegetical preaching. At the core of this exegetical preaching is first and foremost the preaching of the gospel and the centrality of the cross. I share this because on the way home from the conference (a nine hour drive with 5 other men) we had an opportunity to discuss many different topics including the impact of the gospel in our lives. What God really showed me as an area of needed change in my life was that all ministries must be an extension of the cross. In stating this it sounds like an obvious statement, but the fact is that many of us take it for granted that the gospel is central to what we do. We assume that the gospel is central but in reality it has been forgotten."

Now I think part of what he is saying here is that the church can do a lot of very good, even very biblical things but still miss the gospel. For example, a church that preaches holy living or right biblical practices without being rooted in the gospel can come across as being too harsh. Likewise, a church that focuses too much on personal experience and a better life without centering that in the gospel will be too soft. So what's the answer?

Sure it may not be a major victory or even a firm stance taken by our "conservative" government that will immediately lead to significant change in the law, but at least it is something. At least it is a step in the "right" direction...

"Canada will not include abortion in its G8 maternal health initiative," reports Deborah Gyapong of the Canadian Catholic News, "despite pressure from Opposition parties and foreign governments."

"Canadians want to see the foreign aid money used for things to help save the lives of women and children in ways that unite the Canadian people," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said April 27 in response to a question from Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff who accused the government of reversing Canada’s 25-year-old “consensus” on the issue.

“We understand that other governments, other taxpayers may do something different,” Harper said. “We want to make sure our funds are used to save the lives of women and children and are used on the many, many things that are available to us and, frankly, do not divide the Canadian population.”

Ignatieff told journalists after Question Period “that position, we think, is a step backward for Canada, for women and for international maternal health.”

While hosting a meeting of G8 development ministers in Halifax, Development Minister Bev Oda said April 27 other countries may identify their own priorities, but “Canada’s contribution will not include abortion.” During a recent meeting of foreign ministers in Canada, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Minister David Miliband said any initiative must include abortion.

The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) and the Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) praised the government’s sticking to its initial focus on maternal and child health. The government has faced continued pressure from Opposition parties to include abortion in the plan.

Scripture calls us not to be "conformed to this world" but instead to be "transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Rom 12:2). Part of this involves developing a biblical worldview. What does this mean? It means that everyday we need to allow God's word (not the world) to transform what we value and treasure, how we see and think about the things around us, all the while leading us to a deeper level of discernment and integrity. This spring we are inviting men to come together for a weekend (June 25-27) in order to help us do this more consistently.

As such, we have invited Tim Challies (www.challies.com) to come and speak about his forthcoming book on how we as men can "Live Virtuously in a Digital World". For more information on the retreat itself follow the link on the right of this page. For now though, to give you a better idea of what it's all about, here is a brief description by the author.

"The book's working title is The Next Story. I'm really pleased with the title, but it does have a downside in that it is remarkably difficult to pronounce (try saying it out loud). It is a book about technology in general and digital technology in particular. Even the least technical among us are being pressed from all sides by technology. Like it or not, we rely upon it in unprecedented ways.

Many people feel that they are analog creatures in a digital world. Christians are beginning to awaken to this reality and are trying to think critically and biblically about many new realities brought about by technological developments. Yet, there are few helpful and sympathetic voices for those who wish to do so but have no idea how. I'm hoping to fill this gap, creating a book that will help Christians think well about technology. I do not intend to discuss Facebook and Twitter and whatever will be big and popular next month. I want to discuss technology in the bigger picture so that the book will be applicable today, tomorrow and ten years from now."

Last week USA Today reported the following story:

When it comes to incriminating videos these days, the one of Bruce K. Waltke might seem pretty tame. It shows the noted evangelical scholar of the Old Testament talking about scholarship, faith and evolution. What was incriminating? He not only endorsed evolution, but said that evangelical Christianity could face a crisis for not coming to accept science.

"If the data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult ... some odd group that is not really interacting with the world. And rightly so, because we are not using our gifts and trusting God's providence that brought us to this point of our awareness," he says, according to several accounts by those who have seen the video. Those words set off a furor at the Reformed Theological Seminary, where Waltke was — until this week — a professor.

You can read the rest of the article here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-04-09-IHE-evangelical-endors...

In response to this, here is part of what I believe to be a very helpful and, for the most part, very gracious article by Prof. Carl Trueman:

The recent comments by Professor Bruce Waltke, to the effect that Christianity risks becoming a cult, or at least being perceived as a cult, unless it embraces evolution, have provoked a storm of comment, pro and con. I do not wish to address Professor Waltke's comments directly; for the record, I have always enjoyed his writings (and found them helpful). He is a scholar and gentleman, and when Professor Waltke speaks, I listen, even when I disagree. Thus, what I want to reflect on here are not Professor Waltke's well-known and long-standing views on origins but the questions surrounding the claim that a Christianity which rejects evolution really does risk becoming a cult, and, if so, whether that is something about which we should worry.

My wife and I spent the day yesterday in the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario with our daughter Emma for an exploratory heart cath to check her pulmonary pressures. We are very thankful that the results came back positive, that her levels are lower than expected, and we want to thank you all for your prayers, thank the doctors and nurses for their work and most importantly thank the Lord for His sovereign care! For those of you who don't know, Emma had open heart surgery two years ago at which time she was also given a pacemaker.

All of this is a continual reminder to me of something much deeper... that our primary problem as sinners is not behavioral but an issue of the heart. As Jeremiah 17:9-10 tells us , "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 'I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.'" A difficult diagnosis to be sure, but one that we should not avoid or deny! Here is what JC Ryle has to say about it...

The first of these two verses contains a very strong saying, and one which the world in general is not at all disposed to believe. "The heart is deceitful above all things," says our text. "I deny it," says the unconverted man. "To be sure, my heart is very careless and very thoughtless, but it is an honest heart after all." "The heart is desperately wicked," says the text. "Nothing of the sort," replies the sinner. "I know that I neglect the means of grace very much, and perhaps I do not live as I ought to do, but I am sure I have a good heart at the bottom." "Who can know it?" asks the text. "Know it!" we are told: "why, we do not pretend to be such saints as you want men to be, but at any rate we do know our own hearts, we do know what our faults are."

I've just recovered from a horrible bout with the flu... an entire week of aches, congestion and fever. The good part is that through it all I ended up losing 10 lbs! But for some reason, my wife was mad at me when I told her this. Maybe it's because I didn't do anything to lose that weight... I didn't have to work hard at it.

Mark Moring, managing editor of Campus Life, shares a story about a father who was skeptical of his teenage son's new found determination to build bulging muscles. One day he followed his teenager to the store's weight-lifting department, where they admired a set of weights.

"Please, Dad," pleaded the teen, "I promise I'll use 'em every day."

"I don't know, Michael. It's really a commitment on your part," the father said.

"Please, Dad?"

"They're not cheap either," the father said.

"I'll use 'em, Dad, I promise. You'll see."

Finally won over, the father paid for the equipment and headed for the door. After a few steps, he heard his son behind him say, "What! You mean I have to carry them to the car?"

You see the problem for many of us is that we want it all for nothing: we want to be physically fit and lose weight without having to exercise, we want to be filthy rich by winning a lottery, we want to turn the channel without having to get out of our chairs. This is the kind of society we live in… a world of instant gratification and if something takes long and involves lots of effort than we try to avoid it at all costs.

Unfortunately, things are not all that different in the church! There are thousands of Christians who want to experience meaningful, deep and rich spirituality without having to put the necessary time and effort in what we call the spiritual disciplines. But the truth is scripture tells us that being a Christian is hard work, it is not an easy road to travel.

The following prayer entitled "The Precious Blood" is taken from a collection of prayers I use when I do my devotionals called "The Valley of Vision".

Blessed Lord Jesus,

Before thy cross I kneel and see
the heinousness of my sin,
my iniquity that caused thee to be
‘made a curse’,
the evil that excites the severity
of divine wrath.

Show me the enormity of my guilt by
the crown of thorns,
the pierced hands and feet,
the bruised body,
the dying cries.

Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.

Infinite must be the evil and guilt
that demands such a price.

Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
born in my birth,
alive in my life,
strong in my character,
dominating my faculties,
following me as a shadow,
intermingling with my every thought,
my chain that holds me captive in the
empire of my soul.

Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,
the air supply breath,
the earth bear my tread,
its fruits nourish me,
its creatures subserve my ends?

Yet thy compassions yearn over me,
thy heart hastens to my rescue,
thy love endured my curse,
thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.

Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths
of humiliation,
bathed in thy blood,
tender of conscience,
triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.

A good reminder from Dr. Russell Moore...

To our shame, most evangelical Protestants tend to think of Saint Patrick as a leprechaun. As we watch the annual drunken parades and pop-culture consumerism of the March holiday, no one could seem more removed from biblical Christianity than Patrick. And yet, Patrick’s life was closer to a revival meeting than to a shamrock-decorated drinking party named in his honor.

In his volume, St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography, Philip Freeman, a professor of classics at Washington University in St. Louis, lays out a compelling portrait of Patrick, the theologian-evangelist. In accomplishing this, Freeman attempts to reconstruct Patrick’s cultural milieu—that of a world that had “ended” with the fall of Rome in 410 A.D. This collapse of Roman power had unleashed savagery in the British Isles, as thieves and slave-traders were unhinged from the restraining power of Caesar’s sword. Patrick’s ministry was shaped by this new world, not least of which by Patrick’s capture and escape from slavery.

Freeman helpfully retells Patrick’s conversion story, one of a mocking young hedonist to a repentant evangelist. The story sounds remarkably similar to that of Augustine—and, in the most significant of ways, both mirror the first-century conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Freeman helpfully reconstructs the context of local religion as a “business relationship” in which sacrifice to pagan gods was seen as a transaction for the material prosperity of the worshipers. Against this, Patrick’s conversion to Christianity was noticed quickly, when his prayers of devotion—then almost always articulated out loud—were overheard by his neighbors.