Because Hurricane Katrina has been overshadowing the news, some of you may not be aware of the horrible ordeal we endured in Los Angeles last week. Most of the city suffered from a blackout that lasted one whole hour. But is the mainstream media covering this? No! I had to read about the tragic details in a circulating e-mail by Joshua Gates (I suspect it is this Joshua Gates, although I have not been able to confirm this in the confusion of the aftermath of this catastrophe). I've copied his entire article below–I knew you would all want to be informed (please excuse the understandably raw language of some of the victims). I've been dealing with the grief okay, but my officemate is still suffering from the loss of his TiVo.
Hollywood Power Outage Sends City Into Chaos.
No electricity for 26 minutes. 'This is our Tsunami.'
By Joshua Gates, Actor, Photographer. Victim.
LOS ANGELES, CA, September 12, 2005 – Horror and disbelief swept through the greater Hollywood area this afternoon as a minor power-outage turned the city into a virtual war zone and local residents struggled to deal with the devastating aftermath.
The outage struck at 1:35 PM, during L.A.'s busy afternoon coffee and Pilates rush hour. Traffic lights fell dark, local gyms and sushi restaurants were without power for nearly 30 minutes and many businesses were illuminated only by the light of the sun and its blistering 78 degree heat. “It was horrible,” said out of work actor and voice-over artist Rick Shea. “I was in a Jamba Juice on Melrose when it hit and the blenders simply shut down. A woman lunged for my Berry Lime Sublime an after that, well, it got pretty ugly.”
In the ensuing panic, local radio stations broadcasted conflicting reports as to exactly which local businesses would be offering relief supplies. Almost 100 people flocked to the Starbucks at Santa Monica and La Brea only to find helpless baristas, no hot coffee and a totally meager selection of baked goods.
“My mother is 83 years old and we heard on the radio that this Starbucks was going to be up and running. If she doesn't get a venti Arabian Mocha Sanani, I don't know what's going to happen to her, I really don't.” said Lucinda Merino of Los Feliz.
To make matters worse, those few people who did manage to get coffee were further thwarted by a total lack of artificial sweeteners on site. “Sugar in the Raw? Are you frigging kidding me?,” sobbed avid salsa dancer, Enrique Santoro. “I'm on the South Beach Diet and my insulin levels are going to go crazy if I use this. Why isn't the rest of the country doing something?”
Deteriorating conditions will force authorities to evacuate the thousands of people at local Quiznos, movie theaters and upscale shopping centers, including the The Beverly Center, where a policeman told CNN unrest was escalating. The officer expressed concern that the situation could worsen overnight after patrons defaced multiple “So You Think you Can Dance” posters, looted a Baby Gap and demanded free makeovers en masse at a MAC cosmetics store during the afternoon.
At least 2,000 refugees, a majority of them beautiful, will travel in a bus convoy to Beverly Hills starting this evening and will be sheltered at the 8-year-old Spago on North Canon where soft omelettes with confit bacon and Hudson Valley foie gras was being airlifted in by The National Guard.
Honorary Mayor of Hollywood Johnny Grant told a group of embedded reporters at a Koo Koo Roo Chicken restaurant on Larchmont that, “The scope and scale of this disaster is almost too much to comprehend. Local carwashes are at a stand-still, the tram tour at Universal Studios has been on hold for almost an hour now and I've been waiting for a rotisserie leg and thigh with a side of green beans for upwards of 15 minutes. This truly is our Tsunami.”
“We want to accommodate those people suffering in the Beverly Center as quickly as possible for the simple reason they have been through a horrible ordeal,” Grant said.
“We need water. We need edamame. We need low-carb bread,” said Martha Owens, 49 who was one of the thousands trapped in the Beverly Center when the escalators stopped moving. “They need to start sending somebody through here.”
Along miles of coastline, the power simply surged, causing writers to lose upwards of a page of original screenplay material, causing Direct TV service to work only intermittently and forcing local residents to walk outside and look helplessly at the Pacific from their ocean view decks. “I can hardly begin to put this experience into words,” said longtime Two and a Half Men writer John Edlestein. “I was just getting into my rhythm and making some real headway on a scene where Charlie Sheen parties with a busload of female volleyball players when my Power Book crapped out. I have nothing. Simply, nothing.”
Delivering his weekly radio address live from the White House, President Bush announced he was deploying more than 7,000 additional active-duty troops to the region. He comforted victims and praised relief workers.
“But despite their best efforts, the magnitude of responding to a crisis over a disaster area this sunny and trendy has created tremendous problems,” he said. “The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in the Hollywood Hills, and that is unacceptable.”
(HT: Bobbie Frega–thanks, Bobbie!)
Posted in Amy's Posts, Main Page, Miscellaneous 
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The Left in this country seems to fear religious people. This week, Senator Feinstein expressed her concern at John Roberts' Senate hearings, saying that the atrocities of the Nazis reminded her of how dangerous it is for governments to acknowledge religion. In Peter Sprigg's article, “Sen. Feinstein Plays the Nazi Card,” Sprigg comments on the irony of this fear:
Sen. Feinstein's analogy actually works directly against the point she was trying to make. The Nazi regime does not illustrate the dangers of mixing religion and politics. Instead, like its evil mirror image the Soviet Union, it illustrates the dangers of stripping all claims to religious truth from the public square–leaving the state itself supreme in power, unchecked by transcendent values.
It's no coincidence that atheist governments killed over 100 million people in the last century. Sprigg notes:
Calling the United States “one nation under God” is not a statement of arrogance, as many seem to assume. It is, instead, a statement of humility–a way of acknowledging that even as “the world's only superpower,” we remain under higher authority.
When the state is the ultimate authority, only power and might decide right and wrong, and the people are at the mercy of the whims of those in power. When human rights are created by the state, you can bet that, soon, some humans will be “more equal than others.” Only by acknowledging a higher standard and authority–an authority to which it is ultimately accountable–can a state be kept in check. (Please note that the higher authority must be a good one. Obviously, submitting to the god of the terrorists who demands gruesome violence against nonbelievers will not help the people of any country.)
As Western governments move further toward secularism and lose the philosophical underpinnings of their current systems, you will see more and more tyranny. Unfortunately, people like Sen. Feinstein who don't see the truth of this will continue to try to prevent the oppression of Americans by eradicating all traces of religion from the public square, thereby helping to create the very society they fear.
Posted in Amy's Posts, Culture, Main Page, Politics, Religion (General) 21 Comments »
September 15, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton
closeAuthor: Roger Overton
Name: Roger Overton
Email: rogeroverton@hotmail.com
Site: http://ateamblog.com
About: Roger Overton is currently pursuing a Masters degree at Talbot School of Theology. He has addressed various churches, schools and youth camps throughout the United States. Roger was co-editor of The New Media Frontier (Crossway, 2008) and God and Governing (Wipf & Stock, 2009).
Roger can be emailed at rogeroverton@hotmail.com.See Authors Posts (570)
Hands down, the blog post of the week to read is John Mark Reynolds' Church Rides at Disneyland. JMR runs through the list of Disneyland rides noting why denomination would favor each one.
Want some free John Piper MP3s?
Of course you do! Monergism.com is giving away 60 sermons and teachings
by Piper for FREE! All you have to do is pay for shipping. The set
includes a seminar on TULIP, 51 sermons on Romans 7 & 9, and a
lecture at Wheaton on Missions. They also ship quickly- I already
received mine. (HT: Because I Said So)
Phil Johnson wrote an excellent post on why some Scriptural truths are weightier than others.
Jeff Wright warns us of a book by Tony Jones- Read, Think, Pray, Live. “It is my belief that this type of material is nothing more than
rebadged paganism in Christian garb and as such is harmful to the
church.” It's a long review, but it's worthwhile reading.
A new blog is starting today- A New Kind of Conversation.
It features contributors such as Brian McLaren and Myron Penner, and
the plan is to eventually form a book out of it. This should be
interesting.
My new vice these days is Orbitz Games.
Most of the time when I go to check the weather a pop up appears with
an Orbitz game for me to play. They're fun little games, and now
they're all collected on one site. Yay for cheap entertainment.
Posted in Main Page, Miscellaneous, Roger's Posts 7 Comments »
Dietrich Bonhoeffer points out in Life Together that the measure of our time alone with God is not whether or not we have an “experience,” but whether or not the Word of God sinks deeply enough into our souls to change our hearts and our actions.
Bonhoeffer insists that everything we do must be centered on the Word of God. Prayer, worship, and meditation on Scripture are all designed to help us speak, understand, and be shaped by the Word. Those who are not serious about this purpose–who are only seeking a spiritual experience–will end up with a superficial relationship with Him. But those who see the absorption of the Word as the main purpose of time alone with God will find themselves truly changed.
The true quality of our time alone with God will be revealed, according to Bonhoeffer:
Every day brings to the Christian many hours in which he will be alone in an unchristian environment. These are the times of testing. This is the test of true meditation and true Christian community…This is the place where we find out whether the Christian's meditation has led him into the unreal, from which he awakens in terror when he returns to the workaday world, or whether it has led him into a real contact with God, from which he emerges strengthened and purified. Has it transported him for a moment into a spiritual ecstasy that vanishes when everyday life returns, or has it lodged the Word of God so securely and deeply in his heart that it holds and fortifies him, impelling him to active love, to obedience, to good works? Only the day can decide.
I love the practical nature of Bonhoeffer's writings.
Posted in Amy's Posts, Main Page, Religion (General) No Comments »
We could learn everything there is to learn about apologetics, and it would mean nothing if we kept it to ourselves. There's a purpose for learning the things we learn. I suspect that many of you who love apologetics first became interested in the subject because you were struggling to answer the questions of your friends and family who don't know Jesus. It was your love for Jesus, your love for your friends, and your desire to bring them together–to see your friends fulfilled in Him–that started you digging through books. Your joy in what you found there was completed–even increased–when you returned to your friends and engaged them in conversation about God and truth.
I also suspect that for many of you, somewhere along the way you began to focus more and more on simply learning the information. You turned your eyes away from the people you were trying to reach, and became absorbed with the information itself. This is understandable. Truth is beautiful, attractive, exciting. Unfortunately, it doesn't remain this way if we don't give it the proper outlet and allow it to fulfill its purpose.
I can say I suspect this of you because I find myself in this place from time to time. The whole enterprise of learning apologetics loses something when we don't put it to practical use. The motivation of love for the lost quietly disappears, and the subject becomes less and less interesting. When the purpose of apologetics is not fulfilled–when we don't use the information to touch the lives of others where they are confused and needing answers, when we don't allow God to work through us after we have prepared extensively for Him to do so, the joy of apologetics doesn't last.
I want to encourage you (and myself) not to forget your first love of communicating truth to the people who need it, knowing the joy of being used by God to reach others.
My friend, Dwayna, runs a ministry called Lighting the Way in Venice Beach and knows something about this joy. She has a booth on Ocean Front Walk on the beach among the psychics, the tarot card readers, the atheists, the Hindus, and the homeless. She answers the questions of tourists, works to develop relationships with all the vendors, feeds the homeless, and has incredible stories. Her work is difficult, but rewarding.
I wrote this post today specifically because Dwayna needs some help, and I want to let those of you who are in the Los Angeles area know about this opportunity. Dwayna is planning to move to Boulder, Colorado to expand her ministry to that city, and she's looking for someone to take over her booth in Venice Beach and/or the one in West Hollywood. She's also looking for some volunteers to come occasionally to help man either of these booths. Maybe you have a couple of friends who would like to join you once a month or once every couple of months on a Saturday, answering seekers' questions.
If any of you are looking for a chance to use your apologetics gifts, I encourage you to look over Lighting the Way's website (see the mission statement here) and take a look at Dwayna's blog to get a better idea of what her ministry entails (here's one example). If you're interested in helping out, please contact Dwayna.
For those of you who don't live in Los Angeles (or Boulder!), there are plenty of other opportunities all around you. May you all make the most of your opportunities today!
Posted in Amy's Posts, Apologetics, Main Page 4 Comments »
September 9, 2005 Posted by Roger OvertoncloseAuthor: Roger Overton
Name: Roger Overton
Email: rogeroverton@hotmail.com
Site: http://ateamblog.com
About: Roger Overton is currently pursuing a Masters degree at Talbot School of Theology. He has addressed various churches, schools and youth camps throughout the United States. Roger was co-editor of The New Media Frontier (Crossway, 2008) and God and Governing (Wipf & Stock, 2009).
Roger can be emailed at rogeroverton@hotmail.com.See Authors Posts (570)
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If there’s one thing that Calvinists are especially not good
at, it’s explaining themselves in a way in which non-Calvinists could possibly
understand them. This is one reason why it took me some time to become a
Calvinist- none that I’d talk to bothered to articulate the “Doctrines of
Grace” in a way that made sense to my Arminianist ears. Richard Mouw cites an
example of this played out in the movie Hardcore. A pious Calvinist,
Jack, is waiting in the Las Vegas airport with Niki, a pagan prostitute. They
begin to discuss what Jack’s beliefs are and he expounds on the great truths of
the Canons of Dort summed up in TULIP. Niki is bewildered and Jack simply says,
“Well, I admit it’s a little confusing when you look at it from the outside.
You have to try to look at it from the inside.”
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This scene in the Las Vegas airport sets the stage for
Richard Mouw’s book. There are at least two problems with the way Calvinists
represent themselves to the world, including other Christians, according to Dr.
Mouw. The first is the expression of doctrine and the general inability to
explain Calvinist theology. “I believe that TULIP, properly understood,
captures something very central to the gospel. And I want to bring that gospel
to Niki and her kind.” (14) The second problem is more along the lines of
character. “I must also say up front that it isn’t just in our conversations
with unbelievers that I find many Calvinists lacking in gentleness and respect.
I even find these qualities missing in Calvinists’ interactions with other Christians.
Indeed, Calvinists are often not very gentle and respectful when debating fine
points of doctrine with fellow Calvinists.” (15)
Dr. Mouw first sets the stage by noting why he considers
himself a “Calvinist” and how he became one. In chapter 3, “Mere Calvinism,” he
summarizes the famous five points so as to show exactly what Calvinism teaches.
In the following chapter Dr. Mouw zeros in on “L”- limited, or particular,
atonement. He explains why this doctrine, though he believes it, is left on his
“theological shelf,” only to be utilized when necessary.
Chapter 6 deals with the problem of God’s sovereignty and
evil. Dr. Mouw’s solution is that while “God ordains/permits everything that
comes to pass, we don’t simply have to accept that fact. We can complain
to God rather vigorously about the things we have a hard time accepting.” (51)
Following this he makes the case that we aren’t simply elected; we are elected
to something- to be agents of God’s sovereign rule. He saw this played out in
his life as he recognized Christ as Savior, Lord, and King through different
stages in his life.
The teachings of Abraham Kuyper are the focus of chapter 7.
Dr. Mouw argues here that we are to be public Calvinists. While we will not
succeed in “Christianizing” the world, we should adhere to the Christian
worldview and seek to transform our culture according to it. He then deals with
the commons accusation that the God of Calvinism is stingy about whom He saves.
In Chapter 9, Dr. Mouw shares a number of encounters he had on his own journey
through the Las Vegas airport. In reflecting on how he might have responded in
one of his encounters, he envisions his Dutch grandmother quoting the First Question
and Answer of the Heidelberg Catechism.
Jake’s mistake, according to Dr. Mouw, is that he quoted
from the Canons of Dordt instead of Heidelberg. His reasoning echoes a lecture
he attending by Louis Berkhof who said that Heidelberg asks us to speak existentially.
In speaking of our only comfort it speaks of man personally instead of
generally. Dr. Mouw concludes in chapter 11 with some reflections on where
Calvinists can learn from others on improving their character.
The questions this book raise are central to many of the
issues surrounding why I left an RCA church earlier this year. The questions
are the right ones to ask, like, “what does Calvinism have to say to our
present world?” However, the church answered these questions by “shelving” all
of their Calvinist and Reformed theology with the exception of infant baptism.
As this is an issue close to my heart, I was encouraged to find some helpful
suggestions for interacting in our world without shelving my Reformed theology
in Dr. Mouw’s book.
I do take exception with the idea that we should shelve
limited/particular atonement. Perhaps we should shelf some of our terminology,
but the doctrine itself is so key to the Gospel that I cannot imagine shelving
it without feeling that I’ve compromised the entire message in some way. I also
had trouble, though less so, with the idea that we should complain before the
throne of God. If I had a child who complained in the way Dr. Mouw describes, I
would discipline him immediately. These ideas, as Dr. Mouw would put it, make
me nervous.
There were far more things in the book, however, that I
found insightful and enjoyable. I went to my first catechism service last
Sunday (no other church I’ve attended has ever offered one) and I’m already
hooked on the Heidelberg. I think the perspective it takes, in as much of it
that I’ve studied, is much more helpful in articulating Reformed beliefs in a
common vernacular than the often misunderstood TULIP of Dordt.
Overall I found Richard Mouw’s personal engagement of
the issues to be heartening. His repeated quotes from men like Spurgeon,
Kuyper, and Warfield added richness to his already insightful points. In
general, Dr. Mouw’s suggestions for communicating Calvinism in contemporary
culture with gentleness and respect are much needed within the Reformed
community. Unfortunately, those who need to read this book the most will likely
prematurely dismiss it as watered-down theology. This is a loss not just to
them, but to those they interact with, as they’ll miss out on the many positive
insights offered here. Regardless, my hope is that it will be taken seriously
and be read by Calvinists as well as those who’ve been offended by them.
Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts 10 Comments »
After my post on The God Who Wasn't There, Revevangelist asked if I would address the accusation made in this movie that Jesus never existed. I haven't yet seen the movie (although I hope to in the next couple of weeks), so I can't respond to the specific arguments at this time, but I can give a couple of general pieces of information that might be helpful.
I compiled the facts below from Gary Habermas's book, The Historical Jesus. For these reasons and more (including both biblical and non-biblical reasons), there are very few scholars who attempt to argue that Jesus was simply a legendary character created decades after his supposed life, death, and resurrection.
· Cornelius Tacitus, the well-known and respected ancient Roman historian who lived in AD 55-120, records in his great work, the Annals, the fact that Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the great fire that occurred in Rome around AD 60. Tacitus goes on to explain who Jesus was and how and where Jesus was executed. This is an extraordinary piece of information. Though Christianity began in Jerusalem (an amazing fact in itself, since those who lived in Jerusalem were in a position to know for a fact whether or not Jesus had existed), a mere three decades after Jesus there was such a large number of his followers that they had spread as far as Rome–and there were enough of them to get even the emperor's attention! To understand how unlikely it is that such a thing could happen if Jesus had never actually lived, imagine the following scenario: Suppose you decide you would like to start your own religion, so you invent the story of an amazing man named Hobart. You head off for Los Angeles and start proclaiming that a few years earlier, Hobart had–in that very city–done countless miracles and caused such an uproar that, eventually, the city officials got involved and held a public execution; but then Hobart–amazing as he was–rose from the dead. How many followers would you get? You would be lucky if you got one! Everyone in Los Angeles would remember perfectly well that no such man had existed and none of those things had taken place. You would never gain enough followers to get any sort of movement started. Such a plan is obviously ridiculous and doomed to failure. And yet, to claim that Jesus never existed, one would have to assume this very scenario occurred successfully in first century Jerusalem–a city with significantly fewer people than Los Angeles!
· Tacitus was not the only ancient historian to discuss the existence of Jesus. Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote about Jesus around AD 90-95. In addition, Roman historian Suetonius (c. AD 120) and The Talmud (Jewish oral tradition and commentaries compiled AD 70 to 200) both refer to Jesus as a real, historical person. Just as one wouldn't question the ability of an historian living today to know about the existence of President Roosevelt, so it is also probable that all these ancient historians, writing just as near to the time of Jesus, were correct in their assessment that Jesus did, in fact, exist.
· Even more impressive than the evidence of the ancient historians is the pre-biblical creed recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. This creed states that Jesus was crucified to pay for our sins, he died and was buried, and then he rose from the dead on the third day and was seen by eyewitnesses. It's clear from the style and wording of the creed that it did not originate with Paul, the author of 1 Corinthians. In fact, it's generally accepted–even among skeptical, non-Christian scholars–that Paul received this creed from someone else in Jerusalem between only two to eight years after Jesus' death! (See The Risen Jesus & Future Hope, pp. 17-19 for details on how this creed was dated.) Since the creed was already established when Paul received it, we know it was formulated even earlier; and the beliefs would, of course, pre-date even the creed, bringing us back to the time of the crucifixion itself. Regardless of whether or not the claims about Jesus in this creed are true, it's unreasonable to believe that such a creed would be created and accepted in Jerusalem right at the time of Jesus if he never even existed.
Posted in Amy's Posts, Apologetics, Main Page 10 Comments »
September 5, 2005 Posted by Roger OvertoncloseAuthor: Roger Overton
Name: Roger Overton
Email: rogeroverton@hotmail.com
Site: http://ateamblog.com
About: Roger Overton is currently pursuing a Masters degree at Talbot School of Theology. He has addressed various churches, schools and youth camps throughout the United States. Roger was co-editor of The New Media Frontier (Crossway, 2008) and God and Governing (Wipf & Stock, 2009).
Roger can be emailed at rogeroverton@hotmail.com.See Authors Posts (570)
This review was dug up from the lost files of the A-Team Blog. Through all the chaos of the interview, it never got posted…
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As my recent interview with Richard Abanes has made clear,
there is a lot of controversy surrounding Rick Warren and the Purpose-Driven
Life ministries. Richard Abanes takes aim at the critics in his new book Rick
Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him.
He begins with an introduction to some of the positive
impact PDL has had, including helping a woman effectively handle being
held hostage in her own home. Then Richard Abanes transcribes his interview
with Rick Warren. Warren was asked about that start of his ministry,
his P.E.A.C.E. plan, postmodernism, and orthodoxy. While maintaining the
personal aspect of their friendship throughout the interview, Richard managed to
ask Warren some of the tough questions that have been asked by critics.
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The rest of the book is broken up into six chapters. The
first two chapters offer the biographical background of Rick Warren and the
beginnings of his ministry. I have not read George Mair’s “unauthorized”
biography of Warren, and though Richard doesn’t state so, I suspect these
chapters are meant to correct the false information in Mair’s book. Chapter
Three positively presents Rick Warren’s views on theology and church ministry,
based largely on the huge database of Warren’s sermons made available to
Richard for his research.
Chapters four through six deal more directly with the
specific criticisms against Warren. Richard goes point by point through
arguments using sound reasoning and Warren’s own material to dissolve the
problems.
For the most part, Richard’s research on what he deals with
is thorough and well done. With the exception of at least one critic (Greg Koukl), I
think he handled the critics fairly. In most cases, I think he effectively
answered the criticisms that he attempts to deal with. That being said; there
are some criticisms that Richard didn’t deal with- specifically in the areas of
Scripture and of the 40 Days of Purpose church program. The book leaves the
impression that there are no outstanding criticisms left to deal with, when in
fact there are and they’ve been completely ignored.
Being a member at Saddleback, Richard Abanes provides a very
personal and stimulating look into the life and ministry of Rick Warren. It is
a quick, yet substantive read. Through studying this issue and reading
Richard’s book, I feel as though I’ve met Warren and had some (but certainly not all) of
my concerns about PDL dealt with. My hope is that those who’ve hurled
accusations against Rick Warren (often in an un-Christ-like manner) will read
and take seriously the work that Richard’s done. I hope as well that Warren
will correct some of the mistakes he’s made in his use of Scripture and
presentation of the Gospel.
Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts, Theology No Comments »
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