I recently received an email asking if our church would be willing to promote a local celebration of the feast of St. Francis where people could bring their animals (both pets and stuffed animals) to be blessed. Now to be clear, this is not something we either practice or believe to be scriptural, still, it begs the question (pun intended), what does the bible have to say about our pets. As we should with everything in life, let's think biblically about this issue.

To help us do that, the following comes from an article entitled "Will Snooper Be in Heaven: St. Francis, Eschatology, and a Theology of Creation" by Dr. Mike Milton, President of Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, North Carolina...

Those of you who know our family will understand why I felt it necessary to share the following article posted this morning on www.albertmohler.com

The development of prenatal diagnostic technologies presents a constellation of moral issues -- with the diagnosis of Down syndrome front and center. Over the past several years, a marked decrease in the number of babies born with Down syndrome has been both observed and widely reported. This decrease can be traced directly to the decision to abort after prenatal diagnosis.

As Science Daily reports, a new leading article to be published in Archives of Disease in Childhood points to developments in the near future that will likely increase the diagnosis of Down syndrome [DS] during pregnancy. "New tests expected to be introduced next year will offer a simple blood test that poses no risk to the fetus and delivers a definitive diagnosis of one of more of the genetic variants of Down syndrome -- trisomy 21, translocation, or mosaicism," the journal reported.

The development of these new tests will almost surely make the practice of prenatal screening for Down syndrome more widespread. At present, the available tests pose some risk to the fetus and are invasive. The new tests expected next year are based on simple blood tests.

The new research is based on work by Dr. Brian Skotko, a clinical genetics fellow at Children's Hospital Boston. Skotko, who has a sister with Down syndrome, asks this haunting question: "As new tests become available, will babies with Down syndrome slowly disappear?"

His research reveals deeply troubling trends. Between 1989 and 2005, births of babies with Down syndrome decreased by 15 percent. As Science Daily explains, "In the absence of prenatal testing, researchers would have expected the opposite -- a 34 percent increase in births -- due to the trend of women waiting longer to have children; known to increase the chances of having a baby with Down syndrome."

As a follow up to last weeks post, "Who Needs the Church", I thought I'd share an excerpt from a review on the best selling book "The Shack". It is a book that deals with very weighty issues like suffering, the Trinity and the role of the church as an institution. Perhaps you've read it and would like to share your perspective in the comment section below. For now though, here are some thought provoking comments on the book from author Trevin Wax:

"My biggest problem with The Shack is its portrayal of God. I understand that the book is a work of fiction, not a theological treatise, and therefore should be treated as fiction. But the main characters are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are actual Persons. To portray God in a manner inconsistent with his revelation to us in Scripture (and primarily in Jesus) is to misrepresent living Persons.

When people put down The Shack, they will not have a better understanding of the Trinity (despite the glowing blurbs on the back cover). They will probably have a more distorted view of God in three Persons.

The Positives

To be fair, I found a few things I liked about The Shack. Here are the positives:

1. The story doesn’t sugarcoat evil. It takes sin and suffering seriously.

2. The book focuses upon God meeting us in our suffering. God is not absent in our pain. When someone is in the deepest of grief and despair, God often makes himself most present.

3. The book shows the need for a personal encounter with God. Christianity is about communion with a personal, relational God.

Now to the negative aspects of The Shack:

1. A very low view of the institutional church.

The following comes Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, authors of the new book Why We Love the Church (http://www.welovethechurch.com/)

Here's what Bono, Oprah, and the guru speakers on PBS won't tell you: Jesus believed in organized religion and he founded an institution. Of course, Jesus had no patience for religious hacks and self-righteous wannabes, but he was still Jewish. And as Jew, he read the Holy Book, worshiped in the synagogue, and kept Torah. He did not start a movement of latte-drinking disciples who excelled in spiritual conversations. He founded the church (Matt. 16:18) and commissioned the apostles to proclaim the good news that Israel's Messiah had come and the sins of the world could be forgiven through his death on the cross (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:14-36).

For almost two millennia, it was axiomatic that Christians, like, actually went to church (or at least told other Christians they did). From Cyprian to Calvin it was believed that for those to whom God "is Father the church may also be Mother." But increasingly Christians are trying to get more spiritual by getting less church.

Take a spin through the religion section at your local bookstore. What you'll find there is revealing - there are "revolutionary" books for stay at home moms, teenagers, and Christian businessmen. There are lots of manifestos. And most of the books about church are about people leaving the church to "find God." There are lots of Kerouacian "journey" stories, and at least one book about the gospel according to Starbucks. It used to be you had to overthrow a country to be considered a revolutionary, and now, it seems, you just have to quit church and go pray in the woods.

We've been in the church our whole lives and are not blind to its failings. Churches can be boring, hypocritical, hurtful, and inept. The church is full of sinners. Which is kind of the point. Christians are worse than you think. Our Savior is better than you imagine.

While praying for His followers in John 17 Jesus says in v.20 "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word…" In other words, I am not just praying for these disciples who are here with me but I am also praying for those who will believe in me in the future.

These are the people who Jesus was referring to in John 10:16 when He said, "I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd."

The question is how will these people come to believe in Him. As we know, Jesus isn’t going to be around for much longer after this prayer. So how will these future believers come to know about/trust in Him? Again, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me... (and now notice how)

"...through their word...”

Now think about this for a minute. How was this small little movement of unlikely and at times cowardly disciples going to grow? How, for that matter, did Christianity get to be where it is at today considering its humble beginnings? Answer: it was through the words that these men preached.

Look at an example of this Acts 4:1-4:

As they (that is Peter/John) were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

It wasn’t by way of brute force or through a slick marketing campaign, it was through the preaching of the gospel that God began to build His church. The point is that preaching is the means through which God has chosen to save people and lead them into faith in Christ.

Romans 10:14-17

Last Sunday we looked at our desire as a church to cultivate genuine biblical community. As a body of believers we long to be a community that comes together regularly with one heart, mind and voice to praise and to glorify our one God. And when it comes to corporate worship, music plays a significant role, for better or for worse. But as we've said before, our main concern here should not be style but rather content, words and lyrics that are centered on the Person and work of God. As Sinclair Ferguson writes in his book A Heart for God...

"The foundation of worship in the heart is not emotional 'I feel full of worship' or 'The atmosphere is so worshipful'. Actually, it is theological. Worship is not something we 'work up' it is something that 'comes down' to us, from the character of God."

This means that our worship music needs to be thoroughly saturated with deep biblical truths. Truths that teach us about who God is and that leads us to a deeper appreciation and love for what He has done for us in Christ. As it says in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

Here, in my opinion, is an excellent example of this:
http://www.myspace.com/austincitylifeworship

You can download a free copy of this CD when you recommend it to your friends, read the full story for details...

Only if believers struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive....But even as believers should learn to look for reasons behind their faith, skeptics must learn to look for a type of faith hidden within their reasoning. All doubts, however skeptical and cynical they may seem, are really a set of alternate beliefs....Every doubt...is based on a leap of faith.

The only way to doubt Christianity rightly and fairly is to discern the alternate belief under each of your doubts and then to ask yourself what reasons you have for believing it. How do you know your belief is true? It would be inconsistent to require more justification for Christian belief than you do for your own, but that is frequently what happens. In fairness you must doubt your doubts. My thesis is that if you come to recognize the beliefs on which your doubts about Christianity are based, and if you seek as much proof for those beliefs as you seek from Christians for theirs--you will discover that your doubts are not as solid as they first appeared.

Taken from the introduction to Tim Keller's book...

http://www.thereasonforgod.com/

Let me know what you think.

200 years ago, a British politician named William Willberforce chose, in the face of ridicule and persecution, to stand up and speak out against the evils of the slave trade. To be sure, this was not your typical politician. Wilberforce was not motivated by fame, power or money but by a deep concern for justice and for seeing the gospel transform his country.

"The grand object of my parliamentary existence" Willberforce once said, "is the abolition of the slave trade. Before this great cause all others dwindle in my eyes, and I must say that the certainty that I am right here, adds greatly to the satisfaction with which I exert myself in asserting it. If it please God to honour me so far, may I be the instrument of stopping such a course of wickedness and cruelty as never before disgraced a Christian country."

In Canada today, with approximately 100,000 abortions a year and absolutely no laws in place to even begin to regulate them, we are faced with an even more pressing social issue. The question is, what are we as the church or as individual Christians doing about it? Are we willing to speak the truth in love on this issue?

Proverbs 24:11 calls us to "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; to hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter." Are we willing, like Wilberforce, to stand in the face of social and political opposition and boldly yet graciously speak up for the lives of the unborn?

Here is an excellent example of this from Dr. John Piper...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O68MByaMVdM

And another from a twelve year old Toronto girl...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOR1wUqvJS4&NR=1

Finally, here is an excellent book on the topic...

http://www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/the-case-for-life.php

What are your thoughts/perspectives on how best to address this issue?

The sermon this past Sunday was about our desire as a church family to be totally dependent on God in prayer. Turning away from our anxiety and coming to Him with everything, big and small, offering specific, sustained and submissive prayers. Prayers that acknowledge His sovereign care over us. Prayers that trust in His wisdom and timing. In other words, we are not coming to God with our demands in order to ask him to do what we want done. Instead in prayer we are called to submit ourselves, to submit our agendas and our needs to God’s will. "Thy will be done."

I mentioned an acronym (A.C.T.S.) to help guide or give structure to our prayers. Adoration (praising God), Confession (of sins), Thanksgiving and Supplication (asking God to supply our needs and hear our requests).

Here is another very helpful set of principles for effective prayer from the book "Practical Prayer" by Derek Prime.

1. We must be in fellowship with God: Reconciled to God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. We must be obedient to God: By putting away sin, by maintaining right relationships with others, and by striving to abide in Christ.

3. We must depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on our behalf: We pray in His name.

4. We must exercise faith: Believing prayer has the assurance that we may receive beyond all our asking.

5. We must be ready for action, for faith and works go together: Having prayed, we must be the instruments on occasions by means of which God answers our prayers.

6. We must honestly desire God’s will to be done and His name to be glorified.

7. We must pray with sincerity: God has no time for hypocrites who make a lot of show without reality in their hearts, but He promises to be near those who call upon Him in truth.

What do you think about any or all of these?

First off, let me say thank you to everyone who has left a comment on the blog. I really appreciate your feedback, great thoughts and reflections, as I said in the first post, the goal of this exercise is to spark both biblical thinking and online discussion/dialogue.

This past week our church's worship committee met and among other things a decision was made to review/audit the songs and hymns we sing in the Sunday morning service. The two main criteria being singability and content... whether or not a certain chorus or hymn is well suited for congregational singing, but more so whether it is biblical/God-centered. In other words, the measure of a good worship song is not so much about style as it is about substance.

With this in mind, here is a very thought provoking quote aimed at eliciting your (gracious) feedback...

"The great hymns of the church are on the way out. They are not gone entirely, but they are going and in their place have come trite jingles that have more in common with contemporary advertising ditties than the psalms. The problem here is not so much the style of the music, though trite words fit best with trite tunes and harmonies. Rather it is with the content of the songs. The old hymns expressed the theology of the Bible in profound and perceptive ways and with winsome memorable language. Today’s songs are focused on ourselves. They reflect our shallow or nonexistent theology and do almost nothing to elevate our thoughts about God. Worst of all are songs that merely repeat a trite idea, word, or phrase over and over again. Songs like this are not worship, though they may give the church-goer a religious feeling. They are mantras, which belong more in a gathering of New Agers than among the worshiping people of God."

- James Montgomery Boice