Pro Regno boekrak: neem en lees – 24 Mei 2012

1. Sending en missionêr wees

In die lig van die GKSA se Omkeerstrategie wat ‘n sterk klem plaas op om ‘missionêr’ te wees, is dit belangrik om die geeste te onderskei in die saak.  Hier is ‘n artikel wat daarmee help:

Missional or Mission ? 

“One of the new buzz words in the evangelical world today is missional. We need not necessarily be suspect of this word because some use it to mean what the old word mission meant, namely to make disciples, to proclaim the gospel of Christ crucified, calling people to faith in Christ, and helping them grow in their faith, to become responsible members of Christ’s body. If this is the way church leaders use the word missional, then fine. No problem.

However it is clear from the reading I have done that many use missional to mean anything we may do in the church to help people. It goes like this, “We need to be a presence in our community, to redeem our culture, to bring to bear the kingdom of God in our city.” We now hear lots of talk about bringing Shalom to our cities, to work for social justice. No doubt this is a popular concept today. Besides, who can be against helping the poor with job training, of working to help immigrants learn English, of teaching inner city children to read, of “meals on wheels” programs for the elderly!

Many young people have a social conscience, not unlike the Baby Boomers of the 1960’s. The evangelical church of the 1960’s was indeed largely silent on social issues, like the Civil Rights movement; and many evangelicals today have recaptured a social conscience. ”

Lees hier verder …

2. Jesus and the Age of the Earth

“⁵ En Jesus antwoord en sê vir hulle: Vanweë die hardheid van julle harte het hy vir julle hierdie gebod geskrywe,  ⁶ maar van die begin van die skepping af het God hulle man en vrou gemaak.  ⁷ Om hierdie rede sal die man sy vader en moeder verlaat en sy vrou aankleef,  ⁸ en hulle twee sal een vlees word, sodat hulle nie meer twee is nie, maar een vlees.”

Lees meer oor hierdie verse en die kwessie van die ouderdom van die aarde hier …

Sien ook aan die einde van die artikel hoe dwalinge aangaande die kenosis-leer gebruik word om die onfeilbaarheid van die Skrif en Jesus Christus aan te val.

3. Biologos se ontwyfelbare geloof in teistiese evolusie

“While the existence of theistic evolution is certainly not new, I have been struck by the degree to which it is promoted with evangelistic zeal by Biologos.  The goal of this organization is not just that theistic evolution would be viewed as an “allowable” view amongst Christians, but that theistic evolution would be seen as the only viable choice for believing Christians.  This trend is evident in the most recent Biologos newsletter which provided a recap of the March 20-22, 2012 Biologos conference entitled Theology of Celebration III (hosted by PCA pastor Tim Keller @ Redeemer NYC).

According to the newsletter, this conference was designed to expose an area of “deep concern” for the church.  What is this area of “deep concern”?   It is simply this:  “That almost half of America’s protestant pastors hold or strongly lean toward a belief in a universe less than 10,000 years.”  In other words, the deep concern of this conference is that most evangelicals take the Genesis account as straightforward history and thus reject the billions-of-years-old universe required by evolution.   What should be done about this crisis?  According to the newsletter, conference participants left with an “urgent desire to bring about change” and a desire that “the church will be impacted.”  In essence, Biologos is on a quest to rescue the church from non-theistic evolutionists.”

Lees die res van dr. Michael J. Kruger se artikel hier …

Sien ook Bylogos webblad van dr. John Byl in antwoord op Biologos se geloof.

4. Die PCA se verklaring aangaande skepping en evolusie

“In spite of the fact that these declarations are less well-known, this certainly does represent the mind of the overwhelming majority of PCA elders. They do not demand a specific stand on the length of the creation days, but they also clearly rejects theistic evolution, evolutionary ancestry of Adam, and macroevolution.”

Sien die verklaring hier …

5. Opgestaan artikels deur Ferdie Mulder

Luister/kyk na Ferdie se gesprek met prof. Richard Baucham oor sy boek ‘Jesus and the Eyewitnesses’ hier

6. Tatoo’s of nie ?

“Younger Christians often want to shout ‘every square inch’ along with the Kuyperians until, apparently, we start considering the inches of their skin,” Anderson write in a related blog post. “Then the exercise is apparently reduced to legalistic jockeying, an attempt to see who can become the most restrictive while ignoring all those verses about God caring about the heart.” He notes that the debates over tattoos offer a chance to consider how evangelicals think about ethics, without “people throwing us over for being heretics.” But ultimately, the debate is important because the topic is important: “Tattoos will continue to matter,” says Anderson, “because bodies matter.”

Sien die gesprek wat hier daaroor gevoer word.

7. Nuwe boek oor die belangrikheid van die kerk as instituut

Met die groeiende tendens van ‘n ‘Christless Christianity’ en kort op sy hakke ‘n ‘Churchless Christianity’, is dit goed om kennis te neem van die volgende boek:

In Defense of the Church Institute, prof. David E. Engelsma

“The statement in Article 28 of the Belgic Confession that all believers are “in duty bound to join and unite themselves with” an instituted church that has the three marks of the true church has proved to be controversial in North America and Europe. Engelsma’s recent book, Bound to Join, addresses the doctrine of church membership and has received criticism from both expected and unexpected critics.

This book answers those critics, defending the doctrine of church membership and demonstrating that love for the universal, invisible church invariably expresses itself by love for the manifestation of this church in the church institute. This book also examines the “house church” movement and the claim by such men as Harold Camping that the church age has ended.

This book is a must-read, especially for those who have read Bound to Join!”