Young, Restless, Reformed - Christianity Today Magazine

'n Insiggewende artikel in Christianity Today oor die opkoms van die Gerefermeerde teologie in Amerika - veral onder die jonger geslag.

Nothing in her evangelical upbringing prepared Laura Watkins for John Piper.

"I was used to a very conversational preaching style," said Watkins, 21. "And having someone wave his arms and talk really loudly made me a little scared."

Watkins shouldn't be embarrassed. Piper does scare some people. It's probably his unrelenting intensity, demanding discipline, and singular passion—for the glory of God. Those themes resound in Desiring God, Piper's signature book. The pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis has sold more than 275,000 copies of Desiring God since 1986. Piper has personally taken his message of "Christian hedonism" to audiences around the world, such as the Passion conferences for college-age students. Passion attracted 40,000 students outside Memphis in 2000 and 18,000 to Nashville earlier this year.

Not all of these youth know Piper's theological particulars. But plenty do, and Piper, more than anyone else, has contributed to a resurgence of Reformed theology among young people. You can't miss the trend at some of the leading evangelical seminaries, like Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, which reports a significant Reformed uptick among students over the past 20 years. Or the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, now the largest Southern Baptist seminary and a Reformed hotbed. Piper, 60, has tinged the movement with the God-exalting intensity of Jonathan Edwards, the 18th-century Puritan pastor-theologian. Not since the decades after his death have evangelicals heaped such attention on Edwards.

Reformed theology often goes by the name Calvinism, after the renowned 16th-century Reformation theologian John Calvin. Yet even Edwards rejected the label, saying he neither depended on Calvin nor always agreed with him. Still, it is Calvin's followers who produced the famous acrostic TULIP to describe the "doctrines of grace" that are the hallmarks of traditional Reformed theology: Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints. (See "It's All About God.")

Already, this latest surge of Reformed theology has divided Southern Baptist churches and raised questions about the future of missions. Its exuberant young advocates reject generic evangelicalism and tout the benefits of in-depth biblical doctrine. They have once again brought the perennial debate about God's sovereignty and humans' free will to the forefront.

The evidence for the resurgence is partly institutional and partly anecdotal. But it's something that a variety of church leaders observe. While the Emergent "conversation" gets a lot of press for its appeal to the young, the new Reformed movement may be a larger and more pervasive phenomenon. It certainly has a much stronger institutional base. I traveled to some of the movement's leading churches and institutions and talked to theologians, pastors, and parishioners, trying to understand Calvinism's new appeal and how it is changing American churches.

The Little Movie that Could

'n Gemeente wat 'n fliek maak? Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, VSA het - en dit word binnekort in die hoofstroom teaters vrygestel.

When Alex Kendrick said he wanted to make a movie, most people thought he was nuts. Kendrick, pastor of media at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, had enjoyed making movies and staging plays ever since he could remember, but churches just weren't supposed to make movies.

But Kendrick, with the help of the Sherwood congregation, did it anyway, and Flywheel was a hit, first in Albany. Since its debut at the Albany theater three years ago, the film sold 36,000 on DVD, and the church has received more than 2,000 phone calls, e-mails, and letters from people the film had touched.

"It just blew us away, because it didn't make sense that this little tiny movie starring local actors could do something like that," says Kendrick.

Recognizing God's blessing on their efforts from the lives that had been changed through Flywheel, Kendrick began to ask God for a plot for a second movie. With his brother, Stephen, Alex developed a plot about a high school football coach whose team mired in a long losing slump, whose job was on the line, and whose home life only made matters worse. Facing the Giants was born.

This time, the Kendricks prayed for a widespread theatrical release and aimed to shoot the film in high definition. They prayed for $100,000, and support poured in. More than 500 people from the church donated their money, time, and talent to the picture.

NG Kerk ‘moet Moslems nadoen’

Neel Jackson se berig oor Harald Pakendorf se toespraak by die NG Kerk se Lentekonferensie.

’n Bekende politieke ontleder het gister ’n Moslem-hulporganisasie aan die NG Kerk voorgehou as ’n voorbeeld van wat dié kerk in Suid-Afrika moet doen.
Mnr. Harald Pakendorf het tydens die NG Kerk se lentekonferensie in Pretoria dié kerk uitgedaag om soos die hulporganisasie Gift of the Givers betrokke te raak by nood in die samelewing.
Dié organisasie is gewoonlik een van die eerstes om te help ná groot rampe in Suid-Afrika of in die buiteland.
Pakendorf het verwys na ’n brand wat eergistermiddag honderd plakkershutte in Alexandra, Johannesburg, vernietig het en gesê die dominees moes eintlik daar gewees het om mense te help pleks daarvan om na hom te kom luister.
Hy het gesê hoewel hy weet daar is uitreikaksies in gemeentes, wens hy die NG Kerk wil ’n groot gekoördineerde aksie begin soos die opheffingsprojek van Afrikaners in die 1930’s.
Pakendorf het die kerklui aangemoedig om te help bou aan die diverstieit in die land. Hy het egter gemaan teen dié soort klem op diversiteit wat Afrikaners altyd as ’n afsonderlike groepie beskou aan wie niemand anders hulle later steur nie.
Pakendorf het ook gesê Afrikaners moet toegee dat hulle op groot skaal drooggemaak het in die land. Hulle het ’n volk se bestaan hoër laat geag as geregtigheid en nie gebly by die waarheid om só te regeer as wat jy regeer wil word nie.
Hy dink nie mense besef watter sielkundige gevolge daar is by baie mense as gevolg van dit wat Afrikaners in die verlede gedoen het nie.

Allan Boesak weer terug in die moderatorstoel

Allan Boesak is as moderator van die Kaaplandse streeksinode van die Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk verkies.

Twintig jaar nadat hy tot moderator van die destydse NG Sendingkerk se algemene sinode verkies is, het dr. Allan Boesak weer ’n moderatorstoel ingeneem.
Hy is op die Kaaplandse streeksinode van die Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk in Belhar tot dié amp verkies. By verlede jaar se algemene sinode het Boesak die moderatorskap misgeloop en is hy tot assessor verkies. Sy terugkeer na die moderatorstoel in dieselfde sinodesentrum in Belhar kom nadat Boesak ’n aantal jare in die kerklike wildernis was ná sy egskeiding, terwyl hy ’n kortstondige politieke loopbaan gevolg het en toe hy van diefstal aangekla en tronk toe gestuur is.
Die 60-jarige Boesak het gister gesê sy verkiesing is vir hom iets besonders. Hy het aan die sinode gesê dat dit nie net die verkiesing van ’n moderator was nie, maar die terugverwelkoming van ’n seun van die kerk.
Die sinode het dit gister boonop gevier dat die belydenis van Belhar presies 20 jaar gelede deur die Sendingkerk as vierde belydenisskrif van die kerk aanvaar is.
Met versoening wat een van die kernsake van dié belydenisskrif is, was Boesak gister ook opgewonde oor die eerste rondte gesprekke oor kerkeenheid deur die sinode.
Die sinode het gepraat oor die vraag oor watter soort kerk hulle wil wees en daar was instemming met die gedagte dat die VGK in die proses van eenwording offers sal moet bring en bereid moet wees om die eerste tree te gee.
Hoewel daar nog geen besluite geneem is nie, het hy gesê hy kan nie voorsien dat die sinode ’n ander koers sal inslaan as wat die kerk se algemene sinodale kommissie gedoen het nie. Saam met Boesak het die sinode vir ds. Lukas Plaatjies (assessor), dr. Mary-Ann Plaatjies-Van Huffel (aktuarius) en ds. Avril Rust (skriba) tot die moderatuur verkies.

‘Dominees moet kerk uit sy winterslaap red’

'n Berig van Neels Jackson oor Johann Symington se toespraak by die Lentekonferensie van die NG Kerk.

Dominees moet geestelike wysgere wees wat mense in ’n ontmoeting met God bring as hulle die kerk uit sy winterslaap wil red.
Dít was ds. Johann Symington, direkteur van kommunikasie van die NG Kerk, se boodskap gisteroggend by dié kerk se lentekonferensie in Pretoria.
Volgens Symington is hy gevra om te praat oor die lente in die bediening, maar dit lyk eerder of die kerk in ’n winterslaap is.
Hy het gesê dis nie weens ’n gebrek aan probeer dat dinge verkeerd geloop het nie.
Hy het vertel van ’n Europese predikant wat al die truuks in die boek probeer het – van gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid en kleingroepe tot mistieke en charismatiese opsies – maar sy kerk het bly leegloop.
Symington het gesê hedendaagse mense leef in ’n materiële paradys, maar hulle is ongelukkiger en eensamer as ooit. Hulle besef al hoe meer dat geld hulle nie gelukkig maak nie.
In dié omstandighede behoort die kerk met mense oor God te praat. “Kerke blom daar waar die hoofsaak is dat ’n ontmoeting met God sal plaasvind,” het Symington gesê.
Hy het ook daarvoor gepleit dat die kerk op kreatiewe en verbeeldingryke maniere oor God praat.
As ’n dominee op die preekstoel klim, moet hy nie net die uitlêer van ’n Boek wees wat ’n droë preek bring nie. Hy moet ’n towenaar wees. Hy moet mense laat proe hoe soet God is, het Symington gesê.

Villains of the Vatican : Mail & Guardian Online

Nog 'n bydrae tot die Moslem-debat wat deur Benedictus XVI se opmerkings ontketen is.

Popes have only officially been infallible since 1870. The tradition, however, stretches back much further, and is part of Catholicism’s eternal efforts to depict its leader as a holy man with a hotline to heaven; someone who is head and shoulders -- in matters of faith and morals -- above the rest of us, as we fall prey to secular whims, sexual urges and the blandishments of the devil.

So each new incumbent is, in theory, as good as hand-picked by God. Which, unfortunately, means that even God himself is not infallible. For some of the men he has anointed have, like Benedict XVI, a habit of saying or doing the wrong thing, especially when it comes to their relationships with other faiths.

The most controversial pope of modern times was Pius XII, who took over in 1939 and was labelled “Hitler’s pope’’ by those who accuse him of turning a blind eye to reports of the Holocaust. He did so, they claim, in the firm belief that it was better for the church to sup with a dictator who killed six million Jews than it was to condemn him and risk seeing him replaced by “godless’’ communists. Try as it might, the Vatican has still not managed to find a decent gloss to put on Pius’s actions, though, like his 19th-century predecessor Pius IX, who described Jews as “dogs who bark in the street’’, he is on the fast track to canonisation.

Islam and other things troubling Benedict XVI : Mail & Guardian Online

'n Bydrae van Moslem-kant op die opmerkings van Benedictus XVI oor Islam tydens sy onlangse toespraak by Regensburg in Duitsland.

Pope Benedict XVI’s lecture at the University of Regensburg, coming soon after United States President George W Bush rushed to rechristen the war against “Islamic fascism”, raises serious concerns about what some of the world’s most powerful actors think about Islam.

The pope’s lecture is worthy of reflection, both for its content and its wider implications for global dialogue. He made some debatable statements about Islam, and I am referring not only to the conclusion of the “erudite” Emperor Manuel II Paleologus that Prophet Muhammad’s distinctive message was “evil and inhuman”. People all over the world have rightly rejected the sentiment expressed in this two-line condemnation of Islam.

The central argument of the lecture was devoted to the urgency of reinserting the positive role of religion in modern culture. But the pope proposed to do this by turning attention to a medieval synthesis of reason and religion that has been lost in modern society through what he called the de-Hellenisation of Christianity. The Hellenic roots were lost through the Reformation, liberal theologies and, last but not least, de-Europeanisation. Boiled down, Benedict’s argument is that most of the modern legacy of Christianity has to be jettisoned.

Islam should have little to do with this very European and very Christian angst. One would expect the statements about Islam to be unnecessary and redundant. A close look at the speech, however, reveals that Islam takes shape as the extreme antithesis of the pope’s vision. Islam is not discussed for its own demerits, but for the counter-foil that it creates for a Catholic statement about modernity, the history of the church, and Europe.

A shrewd and ruthless pope : Mail & Guardian Online

'n Agtergrond artikel oor die kontroversie wat Pous Benedictus XVI se opmerking oor die Moslem geloof veroorsaak het en die gevolge daarvan.

Only 18 months into his papacy and already Pope Benedict XVI has stirred up unprecedented controversy. As the explanations and apologies pour out of the Vatican -- and thousands of Catholic churches around the world -- the questions about what exactly this man intended by quoting a 14th-century Byzantine emperor’s insult of the Prophet Muhammad have only multiplied.

Some say this was a case of naivety, of a scholarly theologian stumbling into the glare of a global media storm, blinking with surprise at the outrage he had inadvertently triggered. The learned man’s thoughtful reasoning, say some, has been misconstrued and distorted by troublemakers, and the context ignored.

But such explanations are unconvincing. This is a man who has been at the heart of one of the world’s multinational institutions for a very long time. He has been privy to how pontifical messages get distorted and magnified by a global media. Shy he may be, but no one has ever before accused this pope of being a remote theologian sitting in an ivory tower.

On the contrary, he is a determined, shrewd operator whose track record indicates a man who is not remotely afraid of controversy. He has long been famous for his bruising, ruthless condemnation of those he disagrees with.

Senior Catholic theologians such as the German Hans Kung are well familiar with the sharpness of his judgements.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US Anglicans consider gay bishop

The Episcopal Church in America, which sparked conflict when it appointed a gay bishop, faces more new controversy as it prepares to select a new bishop.
One of the six candidates being considered as the new head of Newark diocese is an openly gay priest.

Correspondents say if the US Church chooses Canon Michael Barlowe it will worsen a split with conservative Anglicans who say homosexuality a sin.

African clergy are already considering a split with the American Church.

Canon Michael Barlowe has been in a gay relationship with another priest for the last 24 years.

GODSDIENS PERSPEKTIEF: Ietsisme vir Christene groot uitdaging

Johann Symington se rubriek in Die Burger.

DIT wil voorkom of dié wat gedink het dat hulle die laaste kluit op die graf van godsdiens gegooi het, moet ligloop. Godsdiens spook weer in die hart van al hoe meer gesekulariseerde Westerlinge.

“Die 20ste eeu was, teologies gesien, een van die goddelooste eeue in die geskiedenis van die mensdom en daarom, humanitêr gesien, katastrofies,” skryf Wolfram Weiner, oudredakteur van die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung en tans hoofredakteur van die Switserse maandblad Ciccro. Daar is ’n groeiende heimwee na God. “Die terugkeer van ’n re­li­gi­euse bewussyn word oral bespeur. God is weer daar.”

Weliswaar nie terug in die kerke nie. Terwyl lidmaatgetalle taan, is daar die tendens om eerder afskeid te neem van die idee van ’n “persoonlike God” soos dit in die Christendom geglo word, maar vas te hou aan “iets” wat nie gedefinieer kan word nie, maar wat beteken dat in die afskeid van die ortodoksie tog iets oorbly van ’n minimale vorm van geloof.

Die Nederlanders het ’n woord vir dié verskynsel. Hulle noem dit “iets­isme” – ’n ietsie van alles, maar niks in volle maat nie. Dit is meer as die nietsisme (waarin ’n mens in geen religieuse verskynsels glo nie) of die klassieke agnostisisme of die apatiese relativisme, en staan positiewer teenoor die idee van godsdiens.

Dit is dalk ook iets meer as die soloreligie, waar afskeid van die geloof geneem is, maar die verlange bly knaag. Die misterie is sterker as die dogma.

TIME.com: Does God Want You To Be Rich? -- Sep. 18, 2006 -- Page 1

'n Voorblad-storie in die nuutste TIME vra hierdie vraag ...

When George Adams lost his job at an Ohio tile factory last October, the most practical thing he did, he thinks, was go to a new church, even though he had to move his wife and four preteen boys to Conroe, a suburb of Houston, to do it. Conroe, you see, is not far from Lakewood, the home church of megapastor and best-selling author Joel Osteen.

Osteen's relentlessly upbeat television sermons had helped Adams, 49, get through the hard times, and now Adams was expecting the smiling, Texas-twanged 43-year-old to help boost him back toward success. And Osteen did. Inspired by the preacher's insistence that one of God's top priorities is to shower blessings on Christians in this lifetime--and by the corollary assumption that one of the worst things a person can do is to expect anything less--Adams marched into Gullo Ford in Conroe looking for work. He didn't have entry-level aspirations: "God has showed me that he doesn't want me to be a run-of-the-mill person," he explains. He demanded to know what the dealership's top salesmen made--and got the job. Banishing all doubt--"You can't sell a $40,000-to-$50,000 car with menial thoughts"--Adams took four days to retail his first vehicle, a Ford F-150 Lariat with leather interior. He knew that many fellow salesmen don't notch their first score until their second week. "Right now, I'm above average!" he exclaims. "It's a new day God has given me! I'm on my way to a six-figure income!" The sales commission will help with this month's rent, but Adams hates renting. Once that six-figure income has been rolling in for a while, he will buy his dream house: "Twenty-five acres," he says. "And three bedrooms. We're going to have a schoolhouse (his children are home schooled). We want horses and ponies for the boys, so a horse barn. And a pond. And maybe some cattle."

"I'm dreaming big--because all of heaven is dreaming big," Adams continues. "Jesus died for our sins. That was the best gift God could give us," he says. "But we have something else. Because I want to follow Jesus and do what he ordained, God wants to support us. It's Joel Osteen's ministry that told me. Why would an awesome and mighty God want anything less for his children?"

"Prosperity" first blazed to public attention as the driveshaft in the moneymaking machine that was 1980s televangelism and faded from mainstream view with the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals. But now, after some key modifications (which have inspired some to redub it Prosperity Lite), it has not only recovered but is booming. Of the four biggest megachurches in the country, three--Osteen's Lakewood in Houston; T.D. Jakes' Potter's House in south Dallas; and Creflo Dollar's World Changers near Atlanta--are Prosperity or Prosperity Lite pulpits (although Jakes' ministry has many more facets). While they don't exclusively teach that God's riches want to be in believers' wallets, it is a key part of their doctrine. And propelled by Osteen's 4 million--selling book, Your Best Life Now, the belief has swept beyond its Pentecostal base into more buttoned-down evangelical churches, and even into congregations in the more liberal Mainline. It is taught in hundreds of non-Pentecostal Bible studies. One Pennsylvania Lutheran pastor even made it the basis for a sermon series for Lent, when Christians usually meditate on why Jesus was having His Worst Life Then. Says the Rev. Chappell Temple, a Methodist minister with the dubious distinction of pastoring Houston's other Lakewood Church (Lakewood United Methodist), an hour north of Osteen's: "Prosperity Lite is everywhere in Christian culture. Go into any Christian bookstore, and see what they're offering."

The movement's renaissance has infuriated a number of prominent pastors, theologians and commentators. Fellow megapastor Rick Warren, whose book The Purpose Driven Life has outsold Osteen's by a ratio of 7 to 1, finds the very basis of Prosperity laughable. "This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?", he snorts. "There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire?"

Christianity, politics: pastor says nothing wrong - The Swazi Observer

Natuurlik moet Christene polities betrokke wees, sê hierdie kerkleier.

WHEN the saints go marching into politics the wicked shall run for cover.
This was evident at the Mbabane Alliance Church during a breakfast meeting held on Saturday at the church building.

The theme of the day was ‘Being a Good Christian Politician in the 21st Century’.

Host pastor Reverend Johannes Mazibuko told the congregation that the Holy book stated that everyone rejoices when a righteous person was elevated because he cares about the needs of the poor, contrary to what obtains with the wicked.

“Everybody weeps when the wicked are promoted for they do not care about what happens to the less privileged,” he stated.

The church had invited South Africa’s Mpumalanga Province Member of Parliament Mabhuza Ginindza as guest speaker. Reverend Mazibuko also told church members that, as a congregation, there was nothing wrong with them fully participating in politics.

Reasons cited were that a human being was a mixture of components comprising of, among others, the spirit and flesh.

“As a church we have a responsibility to ensure church members are satisfied in all sectors,” he said.

Reverend Mazibuko acknowledged that if anybody talked about politics, people’s eyebrows were raised.

However, he stressed that politics affects a person’s day-to-day life.

He stated that every situation was determined by politics.

Mazibuko, therefore, emphasised on the need for people to be educated in order to avoid ignorance and understand the role and impact of politics in their lives.

Pope warns of tuning out Christianity

Die moderne wêreld se wetenskap en tegnologie is nie genoeg om die samelewingsprobleme van die dag op te los nie, sê die Pous. Hy is tans op besoek aan sy geboorteland.

MUNICH, Germany - Pope Benedict XVI rebuked his fellow Germans and other Western societies Sunday, saying they often shut their ears to the Christian message and insisting that the modern world‘s science and technology alone cannot combat AIDS and other social ills.

It was the second day of a pilgrimage to his Bavarian homeland, a six-day trip filled with nostalgic meaning for Benedict as well as for his liberal flock in Germany.

"Hearts must be converted if progress is to be made on social issues and reconciliation is to begin, and if — for example, AIDS is to be combatted by realistically facing its deeper causes," Benedict said.

"Put simply, we are no longer able to hear God — there are too many different frequencies filling our ears," Benedict told the crowd, which stood quietly shoulder-to-shoulder on a field on the outskirts of Munich, where he served as archbishop from 1977 to 1982.

Vroom kerkleiers nie langer geduld

Stephan Joubert se rubriek in vanoggend se Beeld.

Keiser Konstantyn is volgens baie mense die groot bevryder van die Christendom. Hy het aan die begin van die vierde eeu een nag ’n droom gehad van ’n kruis en ’n stem het wat vir hom sê: “Oorwin in hierdie teken.” Toe begaan Konstantyn ’n groot fout. Pleks dat hy die kruis op sy soldate se harte geverf het, het hy dit op hul skilde aangebring. Toe word die kruis onherroeplik ’n magsimbool van diegene met die verkeerde wapens in hul hande!

Vir die eerste Christene was die kruis ’n skokkende simbool van nuwe lewe en diensbaarheid.