If you read or still want to read Total Church by Tim Chester, get excited about his next book Gospel Change (endorsed by Tim Keller). See a promo video here. See my posts on Total Church here.
Tag: tim keller
Preaching Influences: Nelson, Robinson, Quicke, Driscoll, & Keller
After being out of a week-to-week pulpit for about two years, I have been forced to rethink and redevelop homeletical rhythms. In trying to develop these rhythms I have re-listened to a few preachers from my past—I have been fortunate enough to sit under some great preaching: Tommy Nelson, Haddon Robinson, Michael Quicke & John Piper, as well as soak up influence from Tim Keller.
All of these experiences have been formative in different ways. One thing I have learned is that I am none of these men, nor will I ever have such preaching stature, but that has not kept me from trying to learn how to preach the Scriptures better. Here are a few more things I have learned from them:
- Tommy Nelson – explain the word of God clearly and push it into the crevices of life.
- Haddon Robinson – organize your sermon around a central idea and restate it repeatedly and differently
- Michael Quicke – cultivate communion with the Trinity during the sermon writing process, relying on the Spirit
- Mark Driscoll – always ask “why or how do I/we resist the message?”
- John Piper – preach the argument of Scripture, with God at the center, and bank on the promises of God.
- Tim Keller – preach to the heart, not the will, and be culturally literate, always keeping the non-Christian in mind. Raise the problem of application and solve it with the solution of the gospel.
Keller and Taylor on Secularism and Religion
In reference to cultural division in the U.S., Tim Keller makes the claim in his book, The Reason for God, that: “the population is paradoxically growing both more religious and less religious at once.” (xv) He provides primarily anecdotal data to support his assertion. There is no doubt that the spade of recent books on atheism, coupled with the strength of the “evangelical vote” would seem to indicate that there are clear camps of religious and anti-religious thought; however, is it overreaching to say that both secularism and religiosity are on the rise? If both are on the rise, what is the cause for this increase?
In A Secular Age Charles Taylor parses secularism a bit finer. He acknowledges two primary conceptions of secularism and suggests a third. First, secularism is religious retreat from public space (no Ten Commandments on the courthouse lawn, public prayer in school, temples that mix commerce, politics and religion). Second, the decline of belief and religious practice (self-explanatory). The third way Taylor suggests we conceive of secularism is “new conditions of belief; it consists in a new shape to the experience which prompts to and is defined by belief..” (20). As a result, we end up with a cultural climate that is “spiritual but not religious.”
It would appear that Taylor and Keller are describing similar phenomenon, I wonder how Taylor would respond to Keller’s admonition that both believer and skeptic embark on a journey of greater doubt? Keller writes:
Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts—not only their own but their friends; and neighbors;. It is not longer sufficient to hold beliefs just be cause you inherited them. Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive…But even as believers should learn to look for reasons behind their faith, skeptics must learn to look for a type of faith hidden within their reasoning. All doubts, however skeptical and cynical they may seem, are really a set of alternate beliefs.
I’ve yet to have read Taylor’s explanation of the conditions for an increase in secularism that allows for the flourishing of religion. He does tip his hat to humanism as a viable worldview as a catalyst for the “new secularism”; however, that will have to wait for a post to come.
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