Upsurge of Reformed Theology

Kyle:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/september/42.32.html

Regarding Mark Dever’s church in D.C.:

“I visited Capitol Hill Baptist in January. The church kicked off with Sunday school, which really should have been called Sunday seminary. Class options included a survey of the New Testament, spiritual disciplines, and a systematic theology lesson on theories of the Atonement.

Such rigor can be expected from a church led by Dever, who earned a Ph.D. from Cambridge studying the Puritans. He embodies the pastoral theologians who are leading young people toward Reformed theology. He has cultivated a church community in the Puritan mold—unquestionably demanding and disciplined. And the church attracts a very young crowd. Its 525 members average 29 years old. Dever mockingly rejected my suggestion that they aim to attract an under-30 crowd. "Yes, that's why we sing those hymns and have a [55-minute] sermon." Dever smiled. "We're seriously calibrated for the 18th century."

On youth ministry:

"The young people I talked to want churches to risk disagreement so they can benefit from the deeper challenges of doctrine. Joshua Harris said years after he graduated from high school, he bumped into his old youth pastor in the grocery store. The pastor seemed apologetic as they reminisced about the youth group's party atmosphere, focused more on music and skits than Bible teaching, Harris said. But the youth pastor told Harris his students now read through Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology.

Rich: Sounds exciting...but let me be critical for a moment. Knowledge doesn't equal spiritual transformation anymore than having a good time singing and dancing. Have you come across any reports on what folks are doing with all this information? Of course, I have not read the website attachment you sent that may shed light on this area. :-)

Shane: "Dedichotomization" should be our overarching theme.

Jon: Okay Shane, What did you say? Remember any word over 8 letters it too big for me
to understand. So what should our theme be?:) Thanks for the clarification and I am not joking!
As for Kyle's first e-mail...I agree with Rich in that there needs to be a heart change with the info that is coming into their minds. If we have all the knowlege in the world but our hearts aren't changed what's the point of it? There needs to be a mix of theology that is intermixed with action and heart change; a bit of faith in action--my boy James talks about this in chap 2.

Shane: I was kind of joking, but there's also some truth behind desiring to find middle biblically supported ground that doesn't gravitate towards the ever present dichotomies (e.g., Calvinism or Arminianism, Left or Right, Answer A or Answer Z) that we create when trying to explain or understand our infinite God by our finite minds.

Kyle: And CT has something to say about the "middle ground" too...geez, who are these guys?
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/february/32.46.html
Key quotes: "Yet doctrines aren't "dispensable" because they provoke controversy...
We jettison 'nonessential' theology at our own peril...Rather than providing a path to church unity, avoiding theological distinctives often just leads to superficiality."

Shane: ...and here's another thing in all seriousness. The one quote below was preceded by a sentence that explains why CT said what they did. "Yet for many, fear of DIVISIVENESS has cut them off from the riches of the church's cloud of witnesses. Rather than providing a path to church unity, avoiding theological distinctives often just leads to superficiality."

My concern is not with divisiveness; it is w/ arrogance and ignorance. Arrogance in the sense that one camp says to the other camp, "I'm right and your wrong," and ignorance in the sense that some of these controversial theological positions are realistically so difficult to get your hands around, yet we think in our infinite knowledge that understanding them and standing behind them is akin to first grade elementary math. Obviously I'm painting an extremely negative take on this matter, but there is some merit in acknowledging our humanness and HUMBLY taking a stand for either a particular traditional belief, some middle ground belief, or a remarkable
Spirit led revelation. Ok, apparently I had something to say. If nothing else is on the upsurge,
at least our dialogging is!!

Kyle: Shane, you would be happy to read these guys thoughts...but we won't let you
be their executive pastor. http://www.newattitude.org/humbleorthodoxy/

Jon: I know that we are all having fun with this, but what is the purpose again of the blog? I have received about 15 e-mails in regards to this stuff. Shouldn't we be talking about this stuff on the blog so that we don't forget it all:) Just a thought. Looking forward to seeing you three when we get back in two weeks.