Tim Keller on New York's Banning of Churches

"Statement on NYC School's Decision to Ban Churches

I am grieved that New York City is planning to take the unwise step of removing 68 churches from the spaces that they rent in public schools. It is my conviction that those churches housed in schools are invaluable assets to the neighborhoods that they serve. Churches have long been seen as positive additions to communities. Family stability, resources for those in need, and compassion for the marginalized are all positive influences that neighborhood churches provide. There are many with first-hand experience who will claim that the presence of churches in a neighborhood can lead to a drop in crime.

The great diversity of our city means that we will never all agree completely on anything. And we cherish our city’s reputation for tolerance of differing opinions and beliefs. Therefore, we should all mourn if disagreement with certain beliefs of the church is allowed to unduly influence the formation of just policy and practice.

I disagree with the opinion written by Judge Pierre Leval that: “A worship service is an act of organized religion that consecrates the place in which it is performed, making it a church.” This is an erroneous theological judgment; I know of no Christian church or denomination that believes that merely holding a service in a building somehow “consecrates” it, setting it apart from all common or profane use. To base a legal opinion on such a superstitious view is surely invalid. Conversely, I concur with Judge John Walker’s dissenting opinion that this ban constitutes viewpoint discrimination and raises no legitimate Establishment Clause concerns.

A disproportionate number of churches that are affected by this prohibition are not wealthy, established communities of faith. They are ones who possess the fewest resources and many work with the poor. Redeemer has many ties with those churches and their pastors, and our church community invests time and resources to assist them to be good neighbors in their communities.

Let them be those good neighbors. I am hopeful that the leaders of New York City and the legislators of New York State will see the value of a society that encourages all spheres of culture—the church, government, education, business, etc—to work together for human flourishing.

Dr. Timothy Keller
Senior Pastor
Redeemer Presbyterian Church

The Susan Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood

See Russell Moore's article in Christianity Today about the Susan Komen Foundation's backtracking on Planned Parenthood last week.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=95231

Ten Reasons Why God Loves Muslims and You Should, Too

The following are from Zane Pratt's class notes from his lecture last Tuesday.

"Reasons I Love Muslims, And You Should, Too

1.      Muslims are human beings, made in the image of God

2.      Muslims are among the tribes, tongues, people and languages of earth, and Jesus redeemed people with His blood from every tribe etc

3.      Muslims are among the tribes etc of earth, and there will be people from every tribe etc worshiping God around His throne at the end of time

4.      Muslims are our neighbors, and we are called on to love our neighbors as ourselves. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, this explicitly includes people who are religiously wrong.

5.      Some Muslims are our enemies, and we are commanded to love our enemies, pray for them, and do good to them.

6.      Being an enemy of Israel did not exclude anyone from redemption, even in the OT. Ruth was a Moabite, God redeemed Nineveh

7.      Muslims are no more resistant to the Gospel than anyone else. Dead is dead.

8.      Danger is no reason whatsoever to disobey the Great Commission, or any other command of God.

9.      God is calling Muslims to salvation more abundantly now than any other time in history.

God loves Muslims, and so should you!"

--Zane Pratt (2012 A.D.)

Always in God's Sight Lovely

"He that believeth on him is not condemned." If we are not condemned, then at no time does God ever look upon his children, when they believe in Christ, as being guilty. Are you surprised that I should put it so? I put it so again; from the moment when you believe in Christ, God ceases to look upon you as being guilty; for he never looks upon you apart from Christ. You often look upon yourself as guilty, and you fall upon your knees as you should do, and you weep and lament; but even then, while you are weeping over inbred and actual sin, he is still saying out of heaven, "So far as your justification is concerned, thou art all fair and lovely." You are black as the tents of Kedar—that is yourself by nature; you are fair as the curtains of Solomon—that is yourself in Christ. You are black—that is yourself in Adam; but comely, that is yourself in the second Adam. Oh, think of that!—that you are always in God's sight comely, always in God's sight lovely, always in God's sight as though you were perfect. For ye are complete in Christ Jesus, and perfect in Christ Jesus, as the apostle puts it in another place. Always do you stand completely washed and fully clothed in Christ. Remember this; for it is certainly included in my text."

--Charles Spurgeon, “None But Jesus”

"Does Jesus Hate Religion?"- Jefferson Bethke, Kevin DeYoung, and David Brooks

Jefferson Bethke's "Why I Hate Religion but Love the Church" went viral a few weeks ago and now has 18 million hits on YouTube. In the following link, Kevin DeYoung asked us to watch the video, then responded gently and critically.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2012/01/13/does-jesus-hate-religion-kinda-sorta-not-really/

In the follow-up post, with Bethke's permission, DeYoung posted some of the friendly exchanges between the two of them, highlighting Bethke's humble teachability. 

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2012/01/14/following-up-on-the-jesusreligion-video/

As a testimony to how big this story has gotten, New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote the following column narrating the saga and drawing lessons from it. Note, Brooks is not a Christian, and some of his advice reflects that orientation. His description of the story is respectful, however. I link it mainly as a testimony to the publicity the story has received, as well as to give an outsider's view into our Christian interactions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/opinion/brooks-how-to-fight-the-man.html?_r=1&ref=davidbrooks

Jefferson Bethke

Kevin DeYoung

David Brooks

Worth More than My Measly Opinion

I think I'm going to start posting a photo (or portrait if he or she lived before the age of cameras) of the person I'm quoting, just so we can see and appreciate who we're listening to. I may get tired of doing this later, in which case I'll quit doing it.

"Once, a few years ago at a youth convention, a lovely young lady came earnestly to talk with me. She asked me what I thought about a certain matter in sexual ethics. I answered her with the most careful biblical reading and ethical nuancing I had gained in years of training.

She responded, “Well, I just wanted to know your opinion.”

“That wasn’t my opinion,” I replied. “If I had given you my opinion, it would have been the opposite because I really would like to escape these biblical truths and say what pleases everybody. I tried to tell you as faithfully as I could what all my studies have discerned God is saying. That’s much more sound, more reliable, more eternally true than my measly opinion.”

She looked at me in shock. How could anyone question the importance of personal opinion? How could anyone give an answer different from her own private feelings? Is there really such a thing as public truth?

Yes, there is. And truth’s name is God."

--Marva Dawn, Talking the Walk (quoted on Trevin Wax's blog) 

 

Kevin DeYoung on T.D. Jakes and The Elephant Room

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2012/02/01/seven-thoughts-on-the-elephant-room-and-t-d-jakes/