Tag: article

The Real Saint Nick

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

We’re one week away from Christmas, and the Santa questions will start coming thick and heavy for Christian parents. For those of us who love Jesus, what are we to do with Santa?

Well, Mark Driscoll recently wrote an article for The Washington Post’s “On Faith” column about Santa, and he offers some practical advice.

‘Tis the season . . . for parents to decide if they will tell the truth about Santa.

When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: (1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.

Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don’t feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.

So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.

We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children….

[Read the entire article]

Driscoll goes on to give the history of the true Santa Claus. Did you know that he was an actual bishop who at one time was imprisoned for his faith in Christ and may have even defended Christ’s Deity in the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325? I encourage you to read the entire article and consider giving your children a history lesson on the real Saint Nick this Christmas.

The following articles may assist in providing a biographical sketch of ol’ Kris Kringle.

[HT: Shaun Tabatt]

Deacons: Shock-Absorber Servants

~ Bob Hayton

Nine Marks Ministries, has a new e-journal up. The topic is deacons. I read through the articles and thought everything was very helpful.

Here’s an interesting quote. But you’ll want to go read the whole thing. The articles are fairly short but cover a lot of ground.

According to the New Testament, a deacon is two things: a shock-absorber and a servant.

Deacons are shock-absorbers: the seven men chosen by the church in Jerusalem to care for widows, who seem to be precursors to deacons, were chosen to preserve unity at a time when botched administration was creating fissures in the church (see Acts 6:1-7).

And deacons are servants: their very name means servant, and their precursors in Acts 6 were chosen to handle the practical needs of the church. That way, the apostles could devote themselves to leading the church through prayer and the ministry of the Word….

Elders lead ministry, deacons facilitate ministry, the congregation does ministry. That, I believe, is the New Testament model, and that biblical clarity in deacons’ role and function is invaluable for promoting peace and unity in our congregations. [from the article by Jamie Dunlop, associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist]

Home Depot Theology: “You Can Do It. We Can Help.”

~ Bob Hayton ~ 8 Comments

I was struck by one line of a very good article in The Christian Science Monitor this weekend. The story highlights the “new Calvinism” which is on the rise today, and focuses on Mark Dever’s church, Capitol Hill Baptist in Washington, D.C. The contrast between a biblical, Calvinistic ministry and the prevailing “Home Depot theology” of evangelicalism today could not be painted more starkly. I encourage you to read the article as it will be a blessing and encouragement to you.

Here are a few snippets:

Today, [Calvin’s] theology is making a surprising comeback, challenging the me-centered prosperity gospel of much of modern evangelicalism with a God-first immersion in Scripture. In an age of materialism and made-to-order religion, Calvinism’s unmalleable doctrines and view of God as an all-powerful potentate who decides everything is winning over many Christians — especially the young…

…

Much of modern Christianity preaches a comforting Home Depot theology: You can do it. We can help. Epitomized by popular titles like Joel Osteen’s “Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential,” this message of self-fulfillment through Christian commitment attracts followers in huge numbers, turning big churches into megachurches…

…

More broadly, the Calvinist revival reflects an effort to recast the foundation of faith itself. From conservative evangelical churches to liberal new-age groups, the message of much modern teaching is man’s need for betterment. Not New Calvinism; its star is God’s need for glory. And the gravity of His will is great: It can be denied, but not defied.

Many conservative Christians who dislike some of the doctrinal emphases of Calvinism have to at least be happy that a more biblically-based ministry model is catching on today. Give the article a read and let me know what you think. Feel free to comment on the “Home Depot theology” descriptor too. Doesn’t that just describe exactly what is wrong with the seeker-sensitive, market-driven Christianity that evangelicalism is promoting?