In his own words, Sam Storms says,
“I am an Amillennial, Calvinistic, charismatic, credo-baptistic, complementarian, Christian Hedonist…”
I’m currently reading his Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative. When I’m reading someone for the first time, I like to learn as much about that person as possible–so I decided to visit samstorms.com, and the above is what I extracted.
“Black theology opens up for the theology of the whites the unique chance to free itself from the constitutional blindness of white society, and to become Christian theology. If we listen seriously to the stories of blacks, if we try to understand black theology, we begin to see ourselves and our own history through the eyes of the people who have suffered and are still suffering under our culture and our church. The person who has incurred guilt can no doubt admit his guilt, but only his victims know what suffering his injustice has caused. So we only become free of our own blindness if we see ourselves through the eyes of our victims and identify with them, because it was with them that the Son of Man already identified himself (Matthew 25). White Christians should not, one day, have to ask unsuspectingly, ‘Lord, when did we see you black?’ Christ lies before their door as a black. Black theology makes our own task clear in the struggle against the evils of racism, which oppress both the victims and the perpetrators, even if in different ways.
But people who are personally involved with black theology are also asking whether to describe blacks only as victims of the ruling whites does not fixate them on the whites in a way that has negative consequences. Black people in America are more than merely descendents of the black slaves. They have also brought into America their own culture and their own forms of religion. So whenever black people in America remember who they are, this brings to the surface their rich culture, even though in many cases it has been suppressed.” (Experiences In Theology: Ways and Forms of Christian Theology, emphasis added, source)
As a black man, living in North America, and who continues to witness the evils of racism, I do appreciate this piece from theologian Jurgen Moltmann. Though he is not black, he does speak to the black experience with intelligence and accuracy.
Moltmann appears quite sensitive to the black experience inside and outside of the church–an experience that is real indeed.
“That our idea of God corresponds as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried understand the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God.” –A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, emphasis added
Whenever there is a tragedy–untold devastation and the loss of human lives, resulting in unspeakable pain and grief–God and his goodness are put on trial. We hear things like, “Where was God?” “If he is indeed good, why couldn’t he have done something in all his goodness to either prevent or redirect a tornado that killed over 50 people, including children, in Moore, Oklahoma?”
1. As a follower of Jesus and a serious student of Scripture, I do affirm God’s goodness. It is who God is–he is good.
2. I also see the need to distinguish between moral evil and non-moral evil in the world. In other worlds, evil and suffering that are the results of human actions (for example, the recent shootings in Newton, CT) and non-human actions (for example, the tornado that passed that wreaked havoc on Moore, Oklahoma).
3. Isaiah 45:15 speaks of God hiding himself. In other words, not every purpose of this benevolent God is known by mere mortals like us. We are often left with questions in the light of the fact that God has revealed himself as being truly good.
4. But why would a good and loving God allow evil and human suffering in his creation? I’m aware that this is not an easy question to answer, especially when it hit home.
As a follower of Jesus, when I look at Scripture and all the evil and human suffering around me, while I too wrestle with these questions, I must affirm the goodness of God and declare that all his deeds are righteous.
I may not understand it all, but when I look at Jesus, the goodness of God embodied, to redeem fallen creation and rid the world of evil and suffering, my ultimate hope is in the fact that God is putting the world’s wrongs to right.
“GOD BLESS TEACHERS… a teacher in Moore, Oklahoma finds one of the students in his class, that he thought he’d lost in today’s tornado.” (Source: Curt Autry NBC 12)
To date, 51 are dead, which includes 7 children. Many more are still missing. For the people of Moore, Oklahoma, loss is real. There is unspeakable grief. And there is that pain of uncertainty.
Oklahoma is prone to tornadoes. In fact, the area hit by this deadly tornado is known as Tornado Alley. This is tornado season.
This was expected. But again, this was NOT expected: the excruciating pain. The loss. The unspeakable grief. The human carnage.
And what IS expected are the questions from the survivors of Moore, Oklahoma: Why God? Where was God? Why would God allow such a devastating and deadly tornado? These and other questions like them are expected.
But we must NOT blame God.
And neither must we think that God cannot use what has happened in Moore, Oklahoma, for his glory, in bringing consolation, healing, restoration, and so on.
Yesterday I was part of a group of over 100 men and women celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. Prior to eating the Lord’s Supper on this particular Monday, I had only done so on a Saturday evening and Sunday, for obvious reasons.
When the administrator got before us and read the words of institution from Matthew 26 and then said we were going to celebrate it together, I said to myself, “This is new. But I like it.”
So we celebrated the Lord’s Supper on a Monday.
“For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written, are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.” (Institutes I.VI.I, emphasis added)
For John Calvin the underlying principle which unified everything the holy Scriptures teaches is what he called “the knowledge of God.”
By “the knowledge of God,” for Calvin the Bible was more than a revelation about God. It was also God’s revelation of himself in order that his creatures may come to know and serve him.
The following is a repost from here:
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The Story: The finances of Christians who tithe are generally healthier than the finances of those who do not, according to a new study.
The Story: A new 5-year constituency study released by the State of the Plate gives an inside look at the financial, giving, and spiritual practices of 4,413 people who donate 10% or more each year. According to the Christian Post, researchers compared tithers to non-tithers using nine financial health indicators, and found that tithers were better off in every category. “The weird thing is, a tither looks at that and says to himself, ‘Well I’m better off because I give.’ A non-tither looks at that and says, ‘Oh, they give because they’re better off,’” said Brian Kluth, the founder of the study.
The Takeaways: Some of the more interesting findings from the study include:
• 77% of those who “tithe” give 11%-20% or more of their income, far more than the baseline of 10%.
• 97% make it a priority to give to their local church.
• 70% “tithe” based on their gross income, not their net.
• 63% started giving 10% or more between childhood and their twenties
• Tithers carry much less debt than most people and are financially better off than Christian non-tithers—80% of “tithers” have no unpaid credit card bills; 74% have no car payments; 48% own their home; and 28% are completely debt-free.
• What keeps non-tithing Christians from giving: 38% say they can’t afford it; 33% say they have too much debt; and 18% said their spouse does not agree about tithing.
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Why should this surprise Bible-believing and obedient Christians?
In an address to mark Pentecost Sunday attended by more than 200, 000 people, Pope Francis warned the Roman Catholic Church “to not close on itself…, urging the faithful to be open and present in a new and changing world.”
“Newness always makes us a bit fearful, because we feel more secure if we have everything under control,” Francis said in his homily in front of a packed St. Peter’s Square, adding that change can bring fulfillment. (emphasis added, read entire post here)
Yes, given the significant of Pentecost in redemptive history, marking the descent on the Holy Spirit to empower the church to be witnesses in an ever-changing world, what the Pope has to say should be heeded even by evangelicals.
Theological Word of the Day
