Blog on the Lillypad
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
 | Catching Up with the Mail
Ramping up my new Apple Computer has taken up a lot of time (and I'm still not finished!) lately, and so I've put that on hold until the three new book releases are ready. I just got some words of praise from Don Elbourne on the first section of 31 Days of Grace, and I've signed on two new test readers to give me comments and suggestions. 31 Days of Grace is a daily devotional/workbook designed to help believers learn and appreciate the depth of the doctrine of reconciliation with God in Christ. So many preachers rely on manipulating people by guilt and shame, and so many people are scarred by abusive churches that a better understanding of the righteousness we have in Christ will help them. |
I have a few new e-mail friends who are communicating with me from different churches. One of them observes that Fundamentalism is dying, and recent efforts at reforming it or rebuilding it are too little, too late. Probably. But, he and I agree, God's people are not dying out. I've mentioned this before: human beings like to define themselves by names, and then they have to defend those names. Over time, the names by which they have defined themselves become as important as the reason they took the name in the first place. So when Christians call themselves Fundamentalists to define themselves as separate from liberals, well and good. But when we start to defend the term Fundamentalist for its own sake, because that is what we are, then the crucial issue of Christ becomes secondary to what we have defined for ourselves.
Let Fundamentalism pass so long as God's people still cling to Christ in righteousness and truth. After all, a large portion of Fundamentalism is so ignorant of Scripture and so disobedient to it that the name itself is a deception. But those of us who are His and are under the watch and care of Christ still hear our Master's voice. We don't need the titles we define for ourselves.
Another e-mail friend writes to encourage me:
I only found your blog a few days ago. I have truly appreciated it. I especially like the Secret Radio story. I am anxious to read more as it gets posted. Your writing style is sweet. I wish I had your command of the language....I was aware of the existence of places like HAC [Hyles-Anderson College] but we are not in their circle. So the details of the events were news to me but not surprising. Thanks very much for the organized way you lay out the information.
And another fellow and his wife who have done some work for Moody Press and have also written some thought-provoking and scholarly articles are planning on making their way down to North Carolina in November. We are trying to get our schedules reconciled so that we can meet for dinner or lunch.
On the flip side, I got a letter today from an IFBx who is a pastor, sending me a URL for a small and unknown Baptist web board, warning me not to advertise SECRET RADIO there. What do these guys do, sit up at night worrying about SECRET RADIO? What scares them so much? I guess you'll have to read SECRET RADIO to find out, but once again I am left puzzled by the sheer obsessiveness of these people.
