Seminary for the Rest of Us

As some of you know, I have been attending the Academy at our sister church, Christ Reformed in Anaheim, over the past few months. Since I'm a normal working stiff, I have neither the time nor the money to attend seminary, so this is the next best thing (and, probably, a great bit less stressful than seminary, too). And, best of all, they're kind enough to offer this to the public for a nominal ($5) suggested donation.

Hey, what else did you think a happenin' bachelor like me would be doing on a Friday night?

Anyone who is interested in enriching their lives by digging deeper into God's Word should come down on Friday nights (or, if you are outside of Southern California, you can download the lectures here) and be blessed by the lectures and enjoy the fellowship of us fellow theology geeks over coffee afterwards.

As you can see in the picture above, Pastor Kim was kind enough to arm me with his Case for Amillennialism at this last week's Academy session so that I could be prepared to counter the recent blogospheric bru-ha-ha over the pre-mill/a-mill eschatology debate. My own library, while formidable, didn't include any volumes devoted to the subject (while being touched on, in briefer treatments, in the various systematic theology tomes I own). He even was willing to sign his propaganda for me. So now my copy of the book has the much-coveted Second Blessing. Perhaps even physical healing and financial blessing will result just from reading it.

Ken Samples, pictured below, is a scholar and a vice-president at Reasons to Believe, as well as being a licensed exhorter in the URC at Christ Reformed Church. He is currently finishing off his section on Augustine. Be sure to download the audio if you've missed the past sections. Next up will be Dr. Riddlebarger lecturing on the New Perspective on Paul. I'm sure he won't have anything controversial or provocative to say about that sort of business.


Category: Theoblogia

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A Wine Connoisseur Reviews His Church's Communion

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Acts 2:42

...the Lord's Table should have been spread at least once a week for the assembly of Christians, and the promises declared in it should feed us spiritually.

John Calvin

My church, Ontario United Reformed Church, celebrates the Lord's Supper every Sunday, as do most of the churches in Classis Southwest of the URC. And if your church doesn't celebrate weekly communion, I must say that it really ought to. So be sure to pester your elders and sow seeds of division until it does.

OK, just kidding about that last bit. But you can find solid reasons here, here, here, and here for biblical support of weekly communion.

My fellow congregant and friend Charles, coming from an Anglican background, suggested that we switch to the Common Cup for our communion (where all of the congregants receive wine from the same chalice). I responded that I'd just be happy if we used a bigger cup so that it didn't seem like we were taking paltry sips of medicine from the small 1/4 ounce plastic cups. Not enough to get anyone drunk, mind you, but enough so that it is a real drink (along with a corresponding portion of bread), to reflect the fact that Christ and His Gospel truly nourish us, and that His blessings are not paltry tokens or meager portions for our soul.

When I started attending Ontario URC, I noticed that the wine used in the communion was a particularly tasty, sweet wine. Now, contrary to the title of this post, I'm not really a wine connoisseur. I'll drink red wines (usually cabs, pinot noirs, or port) sometimes, but I'm a much bigger fan of British ales during the course of a normal meal. And I'll take a single malt Scotch over even the best port to finish off the evening after a meal. [Incidentally, our Pastor Adam rejected my proposal to replace the communion wine with single malt Scotch. While not disagreeing with it's merits, he was pretty sure the consistory wouldn't approve. Darn.] Anyway, I was pleased enough with the taste of our communion wine and so inquired as to what we were using. Turns out that we use Manischewitz, a Jewish-made "kosher" wine made of concorde grapes.

So I went ahead and picked up a whole bottle at the grocery store some time back. Hey, it was only $4, so why not? I wondered if it'd be a good wine to try in a normal quantity in a normal wine glass over a meal. My evaluation is that Manischewitz has all of the subtlety and complexity of cotton candy, and, come to think of it, was roughly as sweet as cotton candy. I'll say that it is a good drink, but notice that I didn't say it is a good wine. It is far too sweet to have this in any normal quantity as you would a real wine. And even a lower-grade dessert wine (like sherry or port), which can be nearly as sweet, has far more body, complexity, and character than this stuff. A real wine connoisseur probably wouldn't use words like "bouquet", "tannic", "tart", "balanced", or any of the usual descriptors in a sober review of Manischewitz. Phrases like "remeniscent of Hi-C" and "aftertaste hints of Kool-Aid" would be more appropriate.

Category: Theoblogia

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Islamic Apologetics

I had the privelege of spending six weeks in London in the year 2000 doing campus ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ (there's a long story behind that). One of the more fascinating things for me was interacting with Muslims, and it was during that experience that I dug into understanding Islam and learning to present an apologetic defense of my Christian faith against Islamic claims.

During that time, I not only read books on Islam and interacted with Muslim students, but I spent some time visiting a mosque and, most compellingly, spent time at Speaker's Corner at Hyde Park in London (pictured above). There, politicians and religious advocates of every stripe would draw crowds, giving speeches on ladders or soap boxes. That included various Christians preaching the Gospel against Islam, interacting with Muslim critics and hecklers yelling from the audience. And Muslims had their own "preachers" up on their soap boxes as well. And, although this was a pre-9/11 world, these fanatics were just as fiery as the "spirited" folks you see today on TV.

I had the privelege of getting to know a man who is and was by far the best apologist preaching the Gospel at Speaker's Corner, an American named Jay Smith. He had a booming, rapid voice, was a master of rhetoric, had a quick mind, and knew Islam and the Quran like the back of his hand. He always drew a large crowd of both Christians and Muslims, as he polemicized against Islam and effortlessly responded to objectors from the crowd. It was fascinating to watch him work a crowd.

Much of his ability to do this sort of work week in and week out stemmed from his doctoral studies on the origins of the Quran at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He was kind enough to take time out from his schedule over the course of a few weeks to talk with us would-be missionaries about Islamic apologetics. He encouraged us to talk and debate with people at Speaker's Corner which, while initially intimidating, was for me a marvelous exercise in learning to interact with unbelievers, answering their objections and giving reasons for the hope of the Gospel in a public context. On some occassions, I even had sizeable crowds form around ME as I talked to Muslims at the Corner. Amazing times.

After leaving London I lost track of Jay. His website, while being an excellent resource, hasn't been updated in years from what I can tell. I heard that he had earned his PhD and had debated Shabir Ally shortly thereafter.

So I was just delighted when, just last week, Team Pyro brought to my attention the fact that Jay Smith is not only alive and well (a legit question considering the death threats Jay's received over the years) but that he has been posting short apologetic videos on YouTube here. These videos are simply excellent and give good, concise apologetic presentations aimed at Muslims. He's been making quite a splash in the internet world with these (garnering "response" videos, thousands of comments, and hundreds of thousands of viewers), and I highly recommend that anyone with an interest in Islamic apologetics check them out.

Category: Theoblogia

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