See the helpful article here on mistakes to avoid when blogging as a pastor.
Against the Machine
Ellen Ullman (Washington Post) reviews Siegel’s new book, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob:
The author paints everyone he sees as a huckster, poseur, opportunist, hypocrite, liar or pornographer. He cannot admit it’s not all evil out there. Despite the junk shown on YouTube, the lies told on Facebook, the anonymous trash talk that passes for reader comments — despite all that, there is a generation that has been born to the Web and is finding its way through it. It does no good to brand them all as lazy makers of mash-ups and vapid self-displays. Siegel quotes Spinoza: “All things excellent are both difficult and rare.”
Read the whole article.
A Couple Big Books I am Enjoying
A Secular Age (Charles Taylor) : Taylor is a well-known philosopher with a penchant for secularism and religion. Instead of writing religion off, Taylor points out that secularism allows religion to flourish. This magisterial volume (896 pp) offers a range of interdisciplinary and historical insights on the nexus of religion and secularism. Though written by an academic, this volume is eminently readable.
The Message of the Old Testament (Mark Dever) : Dever (Ph.D) is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist and founder of Nine Marks Ministries. He has recently come alongside Acts 29 in support of church planting, one evidence of his commitment to combining academic skill with pastoral wisdom and ministry. Though this work is a collection of sermons on Old Testament passages and books, it summarizes major themes well. In the preface Goldsworthy cautions, most preachers are not gifted to preach these kind of sermons. This book is reacquainting me with the message of the OT while also offering an example of good writing that is engaging and biblically faithful.
Newsweek on Keller; Keller on Newsweek
Newsweek profiles Tim Keller.
The reporter writes about visiting Redeemer: “There’s nothing sexy here. There’s no rock band, no drop-down theater-size video screen, no 100-member gospel choir—just a few chamber musicians and a couple of prayer leaders to help the congregation along in its hymns. The crowd at Redeemer Presbyterian is overwhelmingly young, single, professional and—for lack of a better word—sober.”
Here’s the conclusion:
Like so many New Yorkers, Keller is a misfit. He’s a megachurch pastor who doesn’t like megachurches. He’s an orthodox Christian who believes in evolution. He emulates the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards and loves a good restaurant. He’s an evangelist who relishes the power of doubt. New York is the perfect home for such an idiosyncratic Christian: “I’m probably an overeducated guy who makes things too complicated for a lot of people,” he says. As it is for all New Yorkers, the question for Keller is whether he—or his vision—will ever be at home anywhere else.
(HT: Z)
Update: Tim Keller writes in with regard to the comments to this post:
We should be charitable to the writer on the issues mentioned. They are pretty minor. Yes, it isn’t my first book, but the last one was over 20 years ago. I don’t preach at all 5 services–I preach 4 and every week someone from the preaching team preaches the fifth one. I wouldn’t in the least style myself a new C.S. Lewis (who would want a new one when the old one is still so great) but she got that from publicity copy written by well-meaning people at Penguin. I wouldn’t want to characterize myself as another Rick Warren but she likes Rick and wouldn’t see that as a negative statement. I believe in the historicity of Gen 1-11 and Adam and Eve and I don’t believe in young earth-creation or six 24-hour day creation, but, as far as she’s concerned, that means I believe somewhat in evolution. She’s not used to the fine distinctions on these things we make inside the church. Also, I’ve never lived anywhere near Georgia (but maybe I’ve spent so much time in the airport it’s affected my accent!) And even the statement that my book disappointed her in comparison to my preaching is actually true—I’m a better speaker than writer, and always will me. That was more a compliment to the preaching than a criticism of the book.
Despite this list of nits to pick, it was an overall positive, even warm article, especially considering it comes from someone whose beliefs are so different. The writer clearly likes the church and appreciates the ministry in many ways. So I’m glad for her efforts.
HT:JT