• Rachel Jankovic has a post about 10 ways to love your kids.

Reading

• This thought from John Piper (via Tony Reinke’s blog) on reading is great.

Foreign Policy

• The title of this article from Foreign Policy says it all, Obama administration using loophole to quietly sell arms package to Bahrain. And this is despite the fact that even Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has admitted “that Bahrain’s government continues to commit human rights violations”. According to the update at the end of the article, the administration appears to be slightly backtracking on this one, although this plan has not been totally repudiated–but merely “paused” because of apparent backlash.

Theology

• Ian Clary has a great post called Luther Dipped, showing some severe problems with Luther’s view of baptism. I love the quote “he was a good Reformer, but he was not an exegete”. So true!

• “To the worldly man this is an utter paradox; but Christians understand it. It is not meant that we are to look on afflictions, considered simply by themselves, as a ground of joy. This is impossible; it is opposed to the very constitution of our nature…Christians would be glad if the ends of afflictions could be gained otherwise; but seeing that, according to God’s infinite wisdom, this bitter medicine is needed to conquer the disease of sin, we are enabled by His grace to accept it meekly and thankfully, and, amid the natural suffering, to have, according to the measure of our faith, composure of spirit, or even great joy, in contemplating the blessed result of tribulation.” – Robert Johnstone
• “When he bids us to count it all joy, it is the same as though he had said, that temptations ought to be so deemed as gain, as to be regarded as occasions of joy. He means…there is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy. And thus, he not only commands us to bear adversities calmly, and with an even mind, but shews us that this is a reason why the faithful should rejoice when pressed down by them. ” – John Calvin
• “God tries the graces of his people; not that he might know them, for he is not ignorant of them, but that they might be made manifest to others…many are the afflictions of the righteous; through much tribulation they must enter the kingdom; it is a great fight of afflictions which they endure, as these believers did; their trials came from different quarters; they were persecuted by their countrymen the Jews, and were distressed by the Gentiles, among whom they lived; and their indignities and reproaches were many; and their sufferings of different sorts, as confiscation of goods, imprisonment of body, banishment, scourgings, and death in various shapes…not by chance, nor altogether at an unawares, or unexpectedly; but they fell into them through the wickedness and malice of their enemies, and did not bring them upon themselves through any crime or enormity they were guilty of: and when this was their case, the apostle exhorts them to count it all joy, or matter of joy, of exceeding great joy, even of the greatest joy; not that these afflictions were joyous in themselves, but in their circumstances, effects, and consequences; as they tried, and exercised, and improved the graces of the Spirit, and worked for their good, spiritual and eternal, and produced in them the peaceable fruit of righteousness” – John Gill
• “James is referring to a unique fullness of joy the Lord graciously provides for you when you willingly, and without complaint, endure troubles, while trusting Him. You can trust in the promise and goodness of our Lord-that’s how you can view trials as a welcome friend.” – John MacArthur

1. He co-sponsored PIPA in the U.S.
2. He is also the primary sponsor of the Johnson-Shelby Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012, which “Requires the Administration to devise a comprehensive strategy and report to Congress on how best to assist Iran’s citizens in freely and safely accessing the Internet, developing counter-censorship technologies, expanding access to ‘surrogate’ programming including VOA’s Persian News Network, and Radio FARDA inside Iran, and taking other similar measures.”

Interesting how things work out, eh?

[HT: Jason Ditz]

1. J.R.R. Tolkien by Mark Horne
2. One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
3. Too Much Stuff! by Robert Munsch
4. Murmel, Murmel, Murmel by Robert Munsch
5. I Have To Go! by Robert Munsch
6. Put Me in a Book! by Robert Munsch
7. 12 Challenges Churches Face by Mark Dever
8. Sonnets from the Crimea by Adam Mickiewicz
9. The Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald
10. The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction by Terry Givens
11. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
12. A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
13. Roxana by Daniel Defoe

Method and Message

• “All through the book of James you get the feeling that there’s the undertone of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is almost the primary teacher, as James articulates his lessons. In many ways, then, James is a practical commentary of application of the Sermon on the Mount. And his goal, by the way, is the same as that of Jesus, to convince his audience that their religion and their religious profession and their religious activities will not benefit them at all unless they manifest true godliness from the heart.” – John MacArthur in a sermon on James

• “James provides clear, practical instruction throughout the letter. This is why so many people love this book. Of course, that is why so many people avoid it as well. We want practical advice…the kind that agrees with what we already think. But James is not concerned about telling us what we want to hear. No, he lines up one truth, and then he lines up another; and then, having his listeners just where he wants them, he delivers a third hard-hitting truth right to their situation with all the force of the first two points behind it.”  – Mark Dever in The Message of The New Testament

• “The Epistle of James is one of the most exciting parts of the New Testament. It has hard-hitting punch and a reality-oriented attitude that catch readers unaware and astound them, while also offering them practical guidelines for life.” – Peter H. Davids in the New International Bible Commentary

• “[James] is a book which is rich in spiritual dynamics. It will be motivating and sobering in its message. It is a book of faith, a book of promise and a book of warning.” – John Stevenson, PCA Pastor

• “The apostle wrote it upon the same reason, to wit, to prevent or check their misprisions who cried up naked apprehensions for faith, and a barren profession for true religion. Such unrelenting lumps of sin and lust were there even in the primitive times, gilded with the specious name of Christians. ” – Thomas Manton in his exposition on James

• “You will notice, just perusing this letter, that this letter is about ethics. To be more specific, it’s about Christian living. It is a very practical letter, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy letter to read. It’s very easy to understand, but James is so plainspoken that he steps on our toes. And we need that. We need God, by His divinely inspired word, to step on our toes, to enter into our comfort zone, to make us uncomfortable with our sins, to convict us of it and to spur us on to righteous living. And that is precisely what this little book does. It is a moral exhortation. It is an exhortation to Christian living not only as individuals but also in our light in the community, in the family of God.” – From a sermon preached J. Ligon Duncan at Faith Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Missouri in 2002

Authorship

• “There are many proofs that the epistle was written by the author of the speech in Acts 15:13-21—delicate similarities of thought and style too subtle for mere imitation or copying…There are, besides, apparent reminiscences of the Sermon on the Mount, which James may have heard personally or at least heard the substance of it. There is the same vividness of imagery in the epistle that is so prominent a characteristic of the teaching of Jesus.” – A.T. Robertson in Studies in the Epistle of James

• “In 1:1 the author identifies himself as ‘James, the servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.’” – Daniel Wallace in James: Introduction, Outline,and Argument

It Is Neglected

• “[James] has been a neglected book, for ever since Luther called it an epistle of straw lacking the wheat of the gospel…, Protestants in general have struggled with the work. The result has been that the work has been pushed aside” – Peter H. Davids in the New International Bible Commentary

In Defense of James

• “There are also at this day some who do not think [the Epistle of James] entitled to authority. I, however, am inclined to receive it without controversy, because I see no just cause for rejecting it.…Though he seems more sparing in proclaiming the grace of Christ than it behooved an Apostle to be, it is not surely required of all to handle the same arguments. The writings of Solomon differ much from those of David; while the former was intent on forming the outward man and teaching the precepts of civil life, the latter spoke continually of the spiritual worship of God, peace of conscience, God’s mercy and gratuitous promise of salvation. But this diversity should not make us to approve of one, and to condemn the other.” – John Calvin in his commentary on James

• “The objections against [James] are of no weight, which are taken from the seeming disagreement between the Apostle Paul, and the writer of this epistle, concerning the doctrine of justification; and from his calling the law the perfect law of liberty, and insisting so much on the doctrine of works; all which will be  seen to be agreeable to the other parts of Scripture, and easily reconciled with them; nor is there anything in it unworthy of an apostle and an inspired writer. ” – John Gill in his commentary on James

• “[James] hath a just title to our respect and belief, and [James] should be received in the church with the same esteem and reverence which we bear to other scriptures.” – Thomas Manton in his exposition of James

I think these thoughts are helpful in approaching the Epistle of James.

• “At all events, Canada must be ours [say those who support the war]; and this is to be the sovereign balm, the universal panacea, which is to heal all the wounds we have received…This is to…secure the liberty of the seas hereafter…The conquest of Canada has been represented to be so easy as to be little more than a party of pleasure. We have, it has been said, nothing to do but to march an army into the country…and the Canadians will immediately flock to it and place themselves under our protection. They have been represented as ripe for revolt, panting for emancipation from a tyrannical Government…the mere sight of an army of the United States would immediately put an end to all thoughts of resistance, that we had little else to do only to march…This subject deserves a moment’s consideration”

[Quotes from Samuel Taggart, Massachusetts Congressman and Presbyterian Pastor, in a letter published in the Alexandria Gazette on June 24, 1812.]

It is to be expected therefore, that in the Word of God there shall be found the principles…which possessing Divine authority, shall carry with it the assurance of its sufficiency for the ends aimed at, and of its suitability to the requirements of the Church in every age.” – Robert Johnson

• Ian Clary as posted links to audio from a church history conference Carl Trueman spoke at in Calgary Grace Church in Calgary, Alberta. Clint Humfrey also participates. I have only listened to two of the talks, but so far so good!
• Kevin DeYoung has a great short post about the importance of nuances in our theology. I think it is contains a very valuable corrective to common pitfalls if we take the things he says to heart.

Reading

• This post, How To Read, is probably worth reading.

Foreign Policy

• Thing’s aren’t looking so great in “liberated” Libya
• This article on Time World asks Obama some hard questions on Afghanistan
• This chart shows how American injuries/deaths have increased in Afghanistan during Obama’s time in office.

Technology

• Google has released Google Public Alerts. Looks like a good tool for crisis weather conditions!

• “Christians must be careful thinkers, especially those who teach other Christians how to think.”
• “[W]e ought to avoid the mistake of making the Bible fit our grid instead of allowing for complementary scriptural ideas to work side by side.”
• “Almost every doctrinal error starts with the desire to affirm or to protect some important doctrine.  But without careful thinking and delicate nuances, working hard to avoid one mistake will simply lead us to another.”

In particular, the point about falling into “the mistake of making the Bible fit our grid” is, I believe, a prominent pitfall in our day of multimedia where we can instantly hear tons of presentations and read tons of perspectives with little investment. I think this is true because it is easy to hunt out resources that match our particular grid. Nobody is going to argue the abundance of resources is wrong, but it does make certain pitfalls more pronounced.

I think as we see the Church discussing hotly disputed areas, we need to be particularly careful that as we build up our understanding of the scriptures that we genuinely allow at least two corrective “checks” to be constantly in the back of our mind.

1. Am I taking an otherwise valid Biblical emphasis and over-extending it?

2. Am I allowing one part of a valid Biblical tension to flatten my reading and interpretation?

I’m not saying that these are easy questions or we will always have immediately easy answers. I’m just saying that the Church as a whole would profit if we all would do our best to be constantly coming back to them.

Here are some interesting stats (though not necessarily drawn exclusively from that particular image).

Regarding U.S. military overseas:

• Number of independent countries recognized by the State Department: 195. Number of countries with U.S. Armed Forces stationed there: 150.
• U.S. Armed Forces stationed in Italy: over 9,000.
• U.S. Troops overseas: approximately 500,000
•  Number of U.S. military bases around the world: 700-1000.
• Number of bases in Afghanistan: 400
• Percentage of U.S. share of world military spending:43%

Regarding Israel’s enemies

• According to Global Fire Power, Israel’s military strength exceeds that of Iran, Germany, Pakistan, Italy, Egypt, France, and Japan.
• Running some math on Global Fire Power’s numbers. Israel spends 138 times more per square kilometer on defense than Iran does.
• Israel spends about 6.3% of its GDP on the military, Saudi Arabia about 11%. Iran spends 1.8%. Syria spends 4%.
• Number of nuclear weapons Israel has: Unknown, but likely between 75–200. Number of nuclear weapons Iran: None, but allegedly working on their first one for possibly over 30 years.

In light of these figures, import questions to ask are:

1. Is this  (U.S. military sprawl) sustainable in light of the current economic and geopolitical climate?
2. At what point does overseas military over-extension become a threat to national defense rather than an aid to it?
3. Why is Iran portrayed in American foreign policy coverage as being an existential threat to Israel (and to some degree even a threat to the U.S.)?
4. At what point does a militarized country (such as Israel) become self-sustaining and no longer needs U.S. aid?