Last Thursday, I (Gary) was cruising through my day without much concern for the present nor the days to come. While at work in Denver, I got a call from my wife (who is 28 weeks pregnant) telling me that she was being taken to the hospital because she was in pre-term labor, and my world quickly changed. Three and a half days later, I am here sitting in a hospital on a Transformer-like chair/bed, looking at my sleeping-beauty of a wife who is, by God's grace, still pregnant with our little boy. The doctors are using all of their knowledge and resources to keep our little one inside his mommy's belly, and by God's grace, it is working. "By God's grace." What does that even mean? Well, it means more to me now than it did four days ago. God's sovereign grace was our only hope today, and it is our only hope for tomorrow. What will tomorrow bring? I'm not sure... hopefully the same as today, hopefully the baby will stay put... but I can't be sure. So, as I go to sleep tonight, how do I prepare my heart for tomorrow--a day when I will return to work near Denver while my sweet wife-with-child stays in a hospital bed in Fort Collins? Well, whatever happens tomorrow, I can be sure of this: that God's grace will be there to meet us as it has been for the past three days, and that, by God's grace, we will persevere. So, as far as I know, the only hope I have for truly peaceful rest tonight is by trusting in the God of all grace, who is the God of tomorrow.
Please pray for us, and especially for my wife (who will be in the hospital for at least a few more weeks or until our baby comes), that we would trust in this gracious, wise and sovereign God.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Big Picture
The big picture of redemptive history is one of our passions here at Planter's Post. We want to continually grow in our understanding of the grand story of God's work, identify and embrace our role in it, and hopefully help others put some pieces together as well.
For me (Jeremey), I can hardly overestimate the impact that men like Jonathan Edwards, John Piper, Graham Goldsworthy, and Greg Beale have had on me in this regard. Additionally, one of the most helpful teachers I have listened to is a man named Lee Irons, who is working towards his PhD at Fuller Theological Seminary. If you have the time, you may want to consider his series on the Kingdom of God called, "The Unfolding Mystery" (found here), which is highly influenced by the teachings of another personal hero of sorts, Meredith Kline.
We hope to post more on the topic of the Bible's big picture soon.
For me (Jeremey), I can hardly overestimate the impact that men like Jonathan Edwards, John Piper, Graham Goldsworthy, and Greg Beale have had on me in this regard. Additionally, one of the most helpful teachers I have listened to is a man named Lee Irons, who is working towards his PhD at Fuller Theological Seminary. If you have the time, you may want to consider his series on the Kingdom of God called, "The Unfolding Mystery" (found here), which is highly influenced by the teachings of another personal hero of sorts, Meredith Kline.
We hope to post more on the topic of the Bible's big picture soon.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Arguing God
Have you ever noticed that the biblical authors argue a lot? I'm not talking about Paul's throwdown with Barnabas (Acts 15:36-41). I mean the authors reason with the reader. When we pick up the Bible and start to read, the Holy Spirit does not bypass the brain and simply inject the knowledge of God into our being. Rather, he opens our eyes to see the beauty of Christ, who is revealed through the text of divinely inspired human writings. The wonder of it is that God almighty reveals himself through human language. Sometimes (especially in the epistles) we must follow the human writer's logic in order to understand what God has said in his word (e.g. just note all the logical transitions in Eph 1 - "just as" [v. 4], "unto the praise" [v. 6], "with a view to" [v. 10], "to the end that" [v. 12], "for this reason" [v. 14], "so that" [v. 17, 18], etc)...which is simply to say that when we read the Bible, we need to be good listeners and pay attention when others are speaking (i.e. writing).
In my opinion, there's no better tool for this exercise than Daniel Fuller's method known as Arcing. Take a look at www.biblearc.com and give it a try.
In my opinion, there's no better tool for this exercise than Daniel Fuller's method known as Arcing. Take a look at www.biblearc.com and give it a try.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
A Child's Heart, But a Grown Up's Head
OK, I can't resist. I have yet another great quote about the importance of thinking hard for the Christian...and yet again it has come my way via Nick Nowalk. I'll give this topic a rest for a while after this, but this one is simply too good to pass up.
"He wants a child's heart, but a grown up’s head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim…God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But, fortunately, it works the other way round. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened: one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself. That is why an uneducated believer like Bunyan was able to write a book that has astonished the whole world” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, pp. 77-78).
"He wants a child's heart, but a grown up’s head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim…God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But, fortunately, it works the other way round. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened: one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself. That is why an uneducated believer like Bunyan was able to write a book that has astonished the whole world” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, pp. 77-78).
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Can You Trust Your Bible?
I'm alarmed by the large number of television-taught people who are under the impression that the Scriptures have undergone significant distortion through centuries of interpretive translations at the hands of power-hungry church leaders. What most people don't realize is that a large number of dusty old manuscripts written in the 2nd to 4th centuries (100-400 A.D.!) are still in existence today, and that our English Bibles are translated directly from these source languages and documents. Despite what you may have heard, the process through which you received your English Bible is nothing like a 2000-year long game of "telephone." Our access to what was actually written is far more attainable than you may think. The time lapse between the autograph (the original composition) and the copies that we have discovered is, in some cases, similar to the distance between us and Lincoln's Gettysburg address. Does anybody really doubt that we have Lincoln's actual words?
A new contribution to this important field of study is Larry Hurtado's The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins. Professor Jim Hamilton's review concludes that, "This fascinating book should command the attention of all who are interested in questions of how the New Testament came into being, when the documents began to be recognized as Scripture, and what can and cannot be maintained on the basis of the actual manuscript evidence."
Read the entire review here:
HT: Justin Taylor
A new contribution to this important field of study is Larry Hurtado's The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins. Professor Jim Hamilton's review concludes that, "This fascinating book should command the attention of all who are interested in questions of how the New Testament came into being, when the documents began to be recognized as Scripture, and what can and cannot be maintained on the basis of the actual manuscript evidence."
Read the entire review here:
HT: Justin Taylor
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Me and My Bible?
According to Justin Taylor, "Only one book gives us undiluted truth — the whole truth and nothing but the truth." He's referring, of course, to the Bible, and I couldn't agree with him more. However, I also whole-heartedly agree with something else Taylor says: "if we use only this book, we may in fact be in disobedience to it" (emphasis mine). Why? Because, he argues, a "me and my Bible" attitude may mask a prideful presumption that we do not need the help of others in order to understand what the Bible means. Check out Taylor's full article, "A Teachable Spirit" in the June edition of Tabletalk for some healthy food for thought.
HT: Crossway Blog
HT: Crossway Blog
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Influencers
We all look at ourselves, others, the world, God, Scripture, etc. from a perspective that has been shaped by various factors throughout our lives. The way we view everything is affected by this lens through which we’re always looking—and from which we can never escape. Fortunately, that lens can and should be adjusted (and focused and corrected) as we renew our minds according to God’s Word. Sometimes even the way that we read the Bible and think about the Christian life needs to be challenged. In the course of my journey, God has used three men in particular to challenge my perspective and to strengthen my desire to be used by God in His mission for His glory:
John Piper – God used this man to give me a hunger for the supremacy of Christ and to teach me that a pursuit of God’s glory is simultaneously a pursuit of all satisfying joy! (Desiring God)
C.J. Mahaney – God drastically changed my life through C.J’s book The Cross-Centered Life. Here I learned that the cross is not merely something to be believed on for salvation, but the cross stands at the center of my daily battle against sin and my fight for joy in God.
Greg Beale – God used Dr. Beale to help me learn how to read the Bible as a majestic, inspired story about the Sovereign God who is on a mission to redeem the world for His glory and the eternal joy of His people. (See The Temple and the Church's Mission)
None of these men would want any attention drawn to themselves, but God has given each of them gifts that He has used to awaken my love for Christ and for His Glory, and for this, I am thankful.
To God be the glory!
John Piper – God used this man to give me a hunger for the supremacy of Christ and to teach me that a pursuit of God’s glory is simultaneously a pursuit of all satisfying joy! (Desiring God)
C.J. Mahaney – God drastically changed my life through C.J’s book The Cross-Centered Life. Here I learned that the cross is not merely something to be believed on for salvation, but the cross stands at the center of my daily battle against sin and my fight for joy in God.
Greg Beale – God used Dr. Beale to help me learn how to read the Bible as a majestic, inspired story about the Sovereign God who is on a mission to redeem the world for His glory and the eternal joy of His people. (See The Temple and the Church's Mission)
None of these men would want any attention drawn to themselves, but God has given each of them gifts that He has used to awaken my love for Christ and for His Glory, and for this, I am thankful.
To God be the glory!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
What is "Reformed" Theology?
I recently had a discussion with a friend who had virtually no idea what I meant when I said that I would consider myself essentially "Reformed." What was even more surprising was realizing that it was hard for me to concisely define it. Part of the reason is that there are some different opinions about how it should be defined, which means that it's probably better to think about it in terms of general trends rather than advocating a tight technical definition.
So here's my best shot at broad-brushing the basics of Reformed theology: By in large, Reformed theology seems to be marked with a heavy emphasis on the centrality of God and His agenda to be glorified. It has a very high view of Scripture, stresses the sovereignty of God, has an awareness of and a healthy respect for church history (e.g. Church fathers, creeds) - especially its own tradition (e.g. the "solas" of the Protestant reformation, the Puritans, etc.), and overall, has developed a relatively established theological system nearly synonymous with Calvinism (but not quite). A helpful and more elaborated attempt at a definition (it's still relatively brief) can be found at this blog post by Tim Challies. Take note of the helpful bibliography at the end, which is well worth perusing if you want to learn more.
So here's my best shot at broad-brushing the basics of Reformed theology: By in large, Reformed theology seems to be marked with a heavy emphasis on the centrality of God and His agenda to be glorified. It has a very high view of Scripture, stresses the sovereignty of God, has an awareness of and a healthy respect for church history (e.g. Church fathers, creeds) - especially its own tradition (e.g. the "solas" of the Protestant reformation, the Puritans, etc.), and overall, has developed a relatively established theological system nearly synonymous with Calvinism (but not quite). A helpful and more elaborated attempt at a definition (it's still relatively brief) can be found at this blog post by Tim Challies. Take note of the helpful bibliography at the end, which is well worth perusing if you want to learn more.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Dig Deeper
My friend Nick Nowalk passed on a great reminder from Jonathan Edwards, who warns us not to discourage those who suspect that there's always more light to be seen. Apparently some believed that it was arrogant for the New England Puritans to be thinking so hard about Christian spirituality. Thankfully they didn't fall for it (cf. Ps 1:2; Col 1:9-10).
“They…who bring any addition of light to this great subject, The nature of true religion, and its distinction from all counterfeits, should be accepted as doing the greatest possible service to the Church of God. And attempts to this end ought not to be despised and discouraged, under a notion that it is but vanity and arrogance in such as are lately sprung up in an obscure part of the world, to pretend to add anything on this subject, to the informations we have long since received from their fathers, who have lived in former times, in New England, and more noted countries. We cannot suppose that the Church of God is already possessed of all that light, in things of this nature, that ever God intends to give it; nor that all Satan’s lurking-places have already been found out.” (Jonathan Edwards, in the preface to Joseph Bellamy’s True Religion Delineated; cited in Conrad Cherry, The Theology of Jonathan Edwards: A Reappraisal, p. 4).
“They…who bring any addition of light to this great subject, The nature of true religion, and its distinction from all counterfeits, should be accepted as doing the greatest possible service to the Church of God. And attempts to this end ought not to be despised and discouraged, under a notion that it is but vanity and arrogance in such as are lately sprung up in an obscure part of the world, to pretend to add anything on this subject, to the informations we have long since received from their fathers, who have lived in former times, in New England, and more noted countries. We cannot suppose that the Church of God is already possessed of all that light, in things of this nature, that ever God intends to give it; nor that all Satan’s lurking-places have already been found out.” (Jonathan Edwards, in the preface to Joseph Bellamy’s True Religion Delineated; cited in Conrad Cherry, The Theology of Jonathan Edwards: A Reappraisal, p. 4).
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Happy-Go-Lucky
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Why Denver?
There are lots of reasons that Denver has emerged as the target zone of our church planting effort. Not only is Colorado the most probable location of Eden, but Denver is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., is presently the 24th largest city in the United States, and it is the largest (and arguably the most influential) city within a 600 mile radius .
In light of Denver's regional influence, we have targeted it as highly strategic location for establishing a launching pad for future church plants, and thus gospel proclamation in the broader Colorado area and beyond. Tim Keller explains why cities like Denver are strategic in the church planting effort:
"Wayne Meeks of Yale, in The First Urban Christians points out that Paul's missionary work was urban-centered. He went to population centers, and ignored small towns and the countryside. Christianity spread better in the urban Roman Empire than in the countryside. Why? 1) People in the city are less conservative, more open to new ideas. 2) Christian evangelists found that, in the city the gospel could spread faster into the influence centers -- law, politics, arts, etc., and into diverse national groups. By the year 300 A.D., over half of the urban populations of the Empire were Christian while the countryside was pagan ... The early church was urban. There is no intrinsic reason for urban people to be less religious, only less traditional" (Tim Keller and J. Allen Thompson, Church Planter Manual [2002], 46).
While I don't think that Jesus or Paul intended to "Christianize" the Roman culture of their day (recall that Jesus' kingdom is not of this world - John 18:36), the city was nevertheless a strategic place to communicate and demonstrate the gospel to society at large. It was a calculated decision to establish beachhead churches in the places that would make the largest news-spreading impact. Paul's motive was not ultimately cultural transformation (i.e. a Christian reformation of law, politics, and arts), but gospel proclamation for the sake of advancing faith-filled obedience to Jesus (Rom 1:5). This model inspires our vision to see a Bible-saturated spring of good news flowing from Denver throughout the region.
In light of Denver's regional influence, we have targeted it as highly strategic location for establishing a launching pad for future church plants, and thus gospel proclamation in the broader Colorado area and beyond. Tim Keller explains why cities like Denver are strategic in the church planting effort:
"Wayne Meeks of Yale, in The First Urban Christians points out that Paul's missionary work was urban-centered. He went to population centers, and ignored small towns and the countryside. Christianity spread better in the urban Roman Empire than in the countryside. Why? 1) People in the city are less conservative, more open to new ideas. 2) Christian evangelists found that, in the city the gospel could spread faster into the influence centers -- law, politics, arts, etc., and into diverse national groups. By the year 300 A.D., over half of the urban populations of the Empire were Christian while the countryside was pagan ... The early church was urban. There is no intrinsic reason for urban people to be less religious, only less traditional" (Tim Keller and J. Allen Thompson, Church Planter Manual [2002], 46).
While I don't think that Jesus or Paul intended to "Christianize" the Roman culture of their day (recall that Jesus' kingdom is not of this world - John 18:36), the city was nevertheless a strategic place to communicate and demonstrate the gospel to society at large. It was a calculated decision to establish beachhead churches in the places that would make the largest news-spreading impact. Paul's motive was not ultimately cultural transformation (i.e. a Christian reformation of law, politics, and arts), but gospel proclamation for the sake of advancing faith-filled obedience to Jesus (Rom 1:5). This model inspires our vision to see a Bible-saturated spring of good news flowing from Denver throughout the region.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
The McQuinn Story (in Brief)
Hola amigos y familia and friends-to-be! My name is Gary and my wife’s name is Jamie, and our baby’s name will remain anonymous… mostly because we haven’t named him yet… mostly because he isn’t born yet… he’s due Nov 9 (which isn’t approaching as fast as Jamie would like!).
Like Jeremey said in his post, we’ve moved out to Fort Collins, CO with the Houltons to prepare to plant a church in Denver sometime next year. I guess I should give a quick summary of our story. Jamie and I grew up in the same church (Countryside) in Olathe, KS. We both graduated from what is now known as Northland International University. It was early in my time at Northland when God put a passion in my heart to plant a church out West (for us Denver is west), and that passion has been growing ever since. Jamie and I got hitched in June of 2006 and then moved to Virginia Beach where I went to a seminary for a year before moving to Wheaton, IL where I got a degree in Biblical Exegesis. That’s where our story dovetails with the Houltons’. God has united our families around a vision to spread a passion for His glory (in Denver and beyond) through the proclamation of His excellencies in Christ. Please join us in praying that God would magnify Himself in Denver through our lives and His Gospel.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Where The Mission Meets the World
God is on a mission to captivate your soul with the splendor of Jesus. His glory is what fuels the Church’s resolve to make him known among the nations, and it’s the heartbeat of our vision at Planter’s Post. In everything we do, our ultimate aim is to stir up a deeply satisfied trust in the one true God through the proclamation of his excellencies in Jesus Christ.
To that end, Planter’s Post is a blog designed to offer reflections and updates from two church planters in the making who want to view the world through the lens of God’s mission. We have no intention of limiting our topics to ministry or theology (fear not, you can expect a healthy dose of these) because we also want to explore the everyday encounters that both Christians and unbelievers face in our society. Planter’s Post is a place where we can think about Jesus, and politics, and culture, and sexuality, and suffering, and entertainment, and…well, anything we want to. It’s a place to process life in this world from the perspective of the age to come. It's a place to keep you informed of where we are on the journey of faith and church planting. It’s where God’s mission meets the world we live in. That’s Planter’s Post.
To that end, Planter’s Post is a blog designed to offer reflections and updates from two church planters in the making who want to view the world through the lens of God’s mission. We have no intention of limiting our topics to ministry or theology (fear not, you can expect a healthy dose of these) because we also want to explore the everyday encounters that both Christians and unbelievers face in our society. Planter’s Post is a place where we can think about Jesus, and politics, and culture, and sexuality, and suffering, and entertainment, and…well, anything we want to. It’s a place to process life in this world from the perspective of the age to come. It's a place to keep you informed of where we are on the journey of faith and church planting. It’s where God’s mission meets the world we live in. That’s Planter’s Post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
