What They're Saying 07.27.11

Justin Taylor and Kevin DeYoung on Effeminate Men

From Kevin DeYoung: 'Let me suggest three general principles that should guide our discussion of biblical manhood: (1) We must be aware of which way the cultural winds are blowing; (2) We need to be careful we don't equate our preferred type of masculinity with Biblical manhood; (3) Most importantly, Christians must affirm and teach and model that men and women are different - biologically, emotionally, relationally.' From Justin Taylor: 'In light of Mark Driscoll’s comments about effeminate worship leaders, Kevin DeYoung suggests some wise counsel on moving an important discussion forward. If I could recommend a couple of complementary (no pun intended) resources, I’d suggest John Piper’s What’s the Difference? and Randy Stinson and Dan Dumas’s A Guide to Biblical Manhood.'

Tim Challies Writes About Simple Living

'We are drowning in stuff and drowning in options. Somewhere along the way, many of us find it all overwhelming and overbearing. Somewhere along the way, all of these choices are making us miserable... We can pile up all the stuff we want here on earth, but we can’t take it with us. But we could still live our lives miserable, always wondering what could have been. The endless choice we face may be the mark of our culture’s prosperity but the evidence is proving that it just makes us miserable. It seems to me that endless choice makes for endless discontent.'

Mike Wilkerson on Amy Winehouse, and What Going to Rehab Won't Fix

'Those of us whose sin has not yet consumed us should not be too quick to judge Amy. For her, sin's pace was intense, and its end came quickly. But the sin in your life and mine works the same way. Maybe slower, like some poison dripped over a lifetime, but the sin we tolerate always pollutes, always corrupts, always disintegrates what God created good, and—if not stopped—always ends in death. Amy's death seems all the more tragic for the loss of such a talented artist. But in fact, sin's effect is always tragic: every person is created in the image and likeness of the Creator, and to corrupt one's self and wreck the lives of others is in some sense to desecrate Another's masterpiece.'

Michael Horton and White Horse Inn on Anders Breivik, 'The Enlightenment Fundamentalist'

'But for anyone interested in the facts of the case, the secularist narrative has lost its [Christian Terrorist] poster-boy. In an on-line manifesto, Breivik makes it clear that he is not a “fundamentalist Christian.” He prefaces one comment with, “If there is a God…” and says that science should always trump religion. So in terms of religious convictions, he sounds more like Richard Dawkins than Jerry Falwell. Yet, unlike Dawkins, Breivik pines for the “good ‘ol days” of Christendom, especially the crusades. “Regarding my personal relationship with God, I guess I’m not an excessively religious man. I am first and foremost a man of logic. However, I am a supporter of a monocultural Christian Europe…"'

Old Uncle John MacArthur Gives Us, the Young Reformed Movement, Some Helpful Advice: 'Grow Up.'

'If I could impress on Young, Restless, Reformed students just one word of friendly counsel to address what I think is the most glaring deficiency in that movement, this is what it would be: "Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature" (1 Corinthians 14:20). I'm very glad the ranks of YRRs are growing numerically. Many good things about that movement are full of promise and potential. In order to fulfill that potential, however, this generation of Reformers desperately needs to move past the young-and-restless stage. Immaturity and unrest are hindrances to spiritual fruitfulness, not virtues.'