An Advent Reading: Our Father's World

Underlying what some take as mere coincidence or simply human activity, God's sovereign hand ordains all things...including the socio-political circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth 2,000 years ago. Barbara Reaoch wrote,

Only God has power so great as to create all the circumstances of Jesus’ birth just as He said. Caesar Augustus’ military power appeared to control the census that took Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. But only God’s universal power could create historic events so Jesus was born from the lineage of King David in Bethlehem, exactly as the inspired prophets declared centuries before.

Everyday Prayer is a blog posting daily Advent readings (like the above) this December.

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday is not until November 8, 2015. But everyday is a day where we, as adopted children of God, are to care for orphans and widows in their affliction (James 1:27). Adoption is etched into our family permanently since we adopted one of our children - we love God's purposes in adoption!

In 2013, David Platt explained the heart behind Orphan Sunday - we worship God, the Father to the fatherless. We post his short presentation, as we were recently reminded of how the church's call to adoption is a parable of our spiritual adoption in Christ.

Together for the Gospel En Français!

A thrilling new development for the French-speaking world...

On Oct 21st, D.A. Carson, a French-speaker himself having been born in Quebec, announced that the The Gospel Coalition launched a French-language website.  This now puts many resources in the hands of French-speakers all around the world!

Excerpted from Carson's announcement:

We are merely providing the technical support; the French-speaking editors control the content. They do not propose to simply translate English resources into French. Instead, they hope to highlight and assist the French-speaking church by producing and distributing thoughtful, faithful resources from a variety of sources, including materials they write themselves.
Two men in particular have been and will be instrumental in guiding the Évangile 21 initiative (which is the name given to the Euorpean French version of The Gospel Coalition; the Quebec French organization is called Sola). Aurélien Lang, who currently serves at the Foyer Evangélique Universitaire de Grenoble, will oversee the site while Mike Evans, director emeritus of l'Institut Biblique de Genève, will serve as publication manager. Joining them on the editorial team will be Matthieu Giralt (graphics and video) and Fadi Akl (technical assistance and conference registration). Lang and Evans will oversee a growing group of translators and collaborators committed to the sufficiency of Scriptures and the doctrines of grace. On the background and need for the site, Evans remarks:

In 2012, Don Carson, John Piper, and Henri Blocher were the keynote speakers at a conference held in Geneva based on the theme of gospel-centered ministry. Ever since we have been under pressure to launch a website and continue with regular conferences. We are aware of a keen and increasing sense of interest among the new generation of Christian leaders for resources that will inform and stimulate gospel-centered ministry. It's taken time to get everything on course because we're dependent on the enthusiastic commitment of volunteers. Our debut is modest, but we are aiming to progressively increase the content of the Évangile 21 site in the coming months.

HT: Thanks, Mom!

694 Free Theological Journals Online

This pdf listing of 694 different free theological journal is compiled by the American Theological Library Association. Overwhelmed yet?

Game Plan for Life: New Study Bible Published

Released Sept 2012. Based on the NIV. Notes by Joe Gibbs. Super Bowl rings. NASCAR Cup trophies. Written by a Joe for the "average Joe." I'm not a fan.  But mainly because of the weak, misleading, and sometimes entirely incorrect theology in Joe's articles!

Here's their blurb:

This is your Playbook for life. In life, you're going to get tackled, intercepted, or end up in the wall. So how do you prepare and be ready when life slams you unexpectedly? Maybe your struggle is with your finances, your relationships, your job, or perhaps you just hope to gain understanding of some of the basics about God, salvation, and what your purpose is in life. If so, the Game Plan for Life Bible, NIV will reveal God's perspectives in these areas in a practical, engaging way and provide the tools you need to create a solid, God-honoring game plan for your life. The notes that lead you to the Bible's answers on your toughest questions are based on a national survey that former NFL coach and current NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs commissioned. This research targeted the everyday life issues that men struggle with most. He may have Super Bowl rings and NASCAR Cup championship trophies to his credit, but Coach Gibbs believes that, by turning to the Bible in times of failure and adversity, he has learned about true success. Written specifically for the 'average Joe', Joe Gibbs' notes will enlighten, encourage and inspire you as you strive to build a game plan for your life. Features:* Key articles from well-known experts on the areas of God, creation, finances, relationships, career, vocation and other topics of interest to men.* Devotions from Joe Gibbs that help you to learn from the Coach himself.* Character studies of Bible characters who actually followed God's Game Plan---and how you can follow it, too.* Book introductions for every book of the Bible.* Subject guide, reading plans, key questions and answers tied to the major articles, and other study helps in the end matter allow readers to deeply engage with God's word. 'Winning the game of life is like winning in NASCAR or the NFL---if you don't have the right game plan, you won't succeed. Like a lot of guys, I tried many 'game plans.' None led me to true success and a couple ended in disaster. Not until I turned to the Bible did I gain the insights of God's game plan for my life and experience true, eternal success. Written for the 'average Joe' like me, I'm convinced the Game Plan for Life Bible will help you if you're serious about developing a successful game plan for your life.'

Old Testament Guide in French

Released last month at Excelsis (below).  Matthieu Richelle taught an Old Testament exegesis class that we took at Vaux-sur-Seine and did a phenomenal job.

Btw, I have found Matthieu's blog incredibly helpful (in French, of course).

Another of his books was released this past January, 2012, on archaeology, La Bible et l'archéologie. If you know French and work in exegesis, in the coming years, you will want to become familiar with Matthieu's work. Now, the problem is getting a hold of his books as I have not been able to locate them easily (they are not currently sold at amazon.com, for example).

To Weep Properly

From "Day by Day with the English Puritans," March 20th:

Christians should not be excessive in worldly sorrow; they should weep as if they did not weep. Then  this reproves those that can mourn for every cross that befalls them, but yet cannot shed a tear for any sin they commit. Many complain of small inconsiderable troubles and affliction, but yet never complain of their sin and corruptions; these never trouble them, nor come near their hearts...When you mourn for worldly crosses, then weep as if you wept not; but when you mourn for sin, mourn as much as you can.

Introducing Some Francophone Author-Theologians

Jacques Blandenier
Samuel Bénétreau
Jean Calvin
Lydia Jaeger 
Alfred Kuen
Christophe Paya
Dany Pegon
Sylvain Romerowski

Tennent on ATR and Christ as Ancestor

African Traditional Religion Defined in 3 Tiers

1. ATR generally embraces a three-tiered religious system. At the highest tier is a Supreme Being, who oversees the entire cosmological system. For many Africans, this Supreme Being is a distant, vague, deus otiosus…
2. The focus of the religious life in Africa is normally the second tier of power, which is inhabited by a pantheon of various divinities. This pantheon often includes nonhuman divinities as well as various divinized ancestors, whose earthly ancestry and descendants are known…
3. The third level is the earthly tier, which is where various expressions of ritualized power take place to maintain harmony, balance, and order…[embracing] a wide range of religious functionaries including traditional healers, herbalists, chiefs, and priests…

Jesus as Ancestor

               

Many African lay-people and theologians began to see the image of ancestor as a bridge rather than a barrier to the expansion of the gospel in their continent. There are several nonnegotiable aspects of Christ’s work and person that Africans felt the ancestor image could uniquely help explain, including the relation of Christ’s humanity and deity, Christ’s role as the sole and final mediator between God and humanity, and the risen, exalted Lord’s role as head of the church, the redeemed community. (Tennent, pp.122-126)

Some Biblical Evidence

• The logos [word] became flesh and dwelt among us – John 1:14
• There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus – 1 Tim 2:5
• Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him – Luke 20:38
• He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation – Colossians 1:15
• For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers – Romans 8:29

Pobee on the Humanity of Jesus

On account of his humanity, Christ’s Ancestorship is linked with Adam. This fact renders Christ a member of our race and gives his Ancestorship a transcendental connotation in virtue of which it transcends all family, clanic [sic], tribal or racial limitations. (in Nyamiti, Christ as Our Ancestor, 27)

 

The Importance of "Connecting": ATR and Translation

Wilfred Fon and Karl Greber wrote an article on ATR (i.e. African Traditonal Religion) in Cameroon a few years ago, and I cite here 2 paragraphs explaining some of how this intersects with Bible translation.

As we were translating the first portions of the New Testament into Lamnso’ the translators needed to decide on what Lamnso’ terms to use for translating such biblical terms as angel, devil, demon and the various activities of demons or evil spirits. So I organized a workshop for Christian leaders in which we sketched the way the Nso’ people traditionally view the spirit world and attempted to relate this to the view of the spirit world as revealed in the Bible. We soon found that even the most experienced Christian leaders were not always sure how to relate the cultural phenomena to the biblical picture. On the whole, the church had bypassed the task of interpreting the cultural picture from the biblical per-spective, leaving Christians to determine for themselves how to relate to the various traditions of their culture. The Lamnso’ term the churches had tradition- ally used for demon means literally “evil breath”. This is a literal translation of the Greek term for evil spirit. However, it is not a name of any one of the spirit beings known to the Nso’ traditionally. As a result, the biblical accounts about demons and their activities did not connect with the experiences of the Nso’ people in their daily world in which they deal with different spirit phenomena. During the workshop a cultural term for demon was proposed. This term was tested over several years and found to be much more relevant. It was then used in the final draft of the New Testament. 

However, proper terminology alone is not sufficient. It must be accompanied by a conscious effort of the church to teach Christian discernment and to equip the Christians to live victoriously in their culture that is permeated with fear of the spirit world. This entails teaching the biblical resources for spiritual warfare and ministering to the spiritually oppressed. It was this vision for the church which I started to share whenever I was approached over the years to speak to Cameroonian Christian workers about cultural issues in [Christian living]. 

Read the whole thing. 

BBC Article on Cameroon's CBTS

The Lord has indeed been faithful to CBTS (Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary), and a member of a recent short-term teaching trip there from Bethlehem Baptist Church wrote this week's article on the seminary.  The article highlights Bethlehem's connection to the seminary; by some of this history and the people involved, God had used to draw us to the country. The seminary is located in Ndu in English-speaking Northwest Region. A short sample:

God has been faithful in preserving the long, mutually beneficial relationship between Bethlehem and CBTS. Since Pastor John spoke at CBTS in Spring 1985, then-Bethlehem-pastor Steve Roy was sent to teach at the school for a year in 1986, and current-Bethlehem-pastor Tom Steller was sent to teach for a year in 1990. 

God has been faithful to CBTS in providing equipped and trained faculty over the years. Through our partnership, Wilfred Fon, Amos Nchuoji, and Philemon Yong came to the U.S. to pursue PhDs and returned to teach at the school. Presently, Dieudonné is pursuing a PhD after having completed his studies here at Bethlehem. 

Additionally, global partners Tim & Amy Moline just arrived on campus this August as Tim joins the faculty of the school. We have been laboring together for the sake of the gospel in Africa—over 25 years of partnership with a steady stream of our people going to work with CBTS. (See Pastor Tom’s Star article from August 19, 1991, “An Update on the Cameroon Connection.”)

Holiday in Cameroon Today!

The Assumption of Mary, which is nowhere in Scripture but nevertheless part of Catholic dogma since 1950, teaches that Mary the mother of Jesus ascended into heaven. Our Cameroonian Catholic friend plans to attend mass in the morning, but he indicated that there were no important public events planned. And despite this being a national holiday, he told us that many people will still be working their jobs.

 

How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind

Thomas Oden argues that the Christian Africa of more than a thousand years ago gave to world Christianity its intellectual formation in at least 7 ways:

1. Birth of European university was anticipated within African Christianity
2. Christian historical and spiritual exegesis of Scripture first matured in Africa
3. African thinkers shaped the very core of the most basic early Christian dogma
4. Early ecumenical decisions followed African conciliar patterns
5. Western forms of spiritual formation shaped through African monastic discipline
6. Neoplatonic philosophy of late antiquity moved from Africa to Europe
7. Influential literary and dialectical skills were refined in Africa

Additionally, he argued that the history of the Christian church involved the African South educating and teaching the very best of the North (contrary to popular thought today):

In the period of its greatest vitality, the first half of the first millennium, the African intellect blossomed so much that it was sought out and widely emulated by Christians of the northern and eastern Mediteranean shores. Origen, an African, was actively sought by the teachers of Caesarea Palestina. Lactantius was invited by Emperor Diocletian (245-313) to be a teacher of literature in his Asian palace in Bythinia. Augustine was invited to teach in Milan. There are dozens of similar cases of intellectual movement from Africa to Europe - Plotinus, Valentinus, Tertullian, Marius Victorinus, and Pachomius among them...The Christians to the south of the Mediteranean were teaching the Christians to the north. Africans were informing and instructing and educating the very best of Syriac, Cappadocian, and Greco-Roman teachers. (p. 28)

Abebe Bikila on Trials and God's Sovereignty

Since we are in the adoption process from Ethiopia, we are learning some about Ethiopian culture as well.  We mentioned before about Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian runner who won Olympic gold twice in the 60s and then encountered a life-changing accident that left his legs paralyzed.

According to Krise and Squires' book, Fast Tracks: The History of Distance Running, Bikila said in a 1983 interview about his car accident:

Men of success meet with tragedy. It was the will of God that I won the Olympics, and it was the will of God that I met with my accident. I accept those victories as I accept this tragedy.

Related Links:
Ethiopian Culture: The Athlete

Attending a Seminary Class Tomorrow

Vaux-Sur-Seine, the largest evangelical seminary in France we have been told (and one well-known by many African pastors), teaches decentralized courses once a month in a city near us, and we plan to take their Practical Theology class Saturday.  We're excited about this, and the possibility of taking classes there either full time or by distance, in order to work on French more academically.

Milestone and a Discovery: Calvin in French

Language changes over time. I discovered some French changes when I began reading Calvin's 1554 French translation of his own book (he originally wrote it in Latin 1536).  

When John Calvin translated his magnus opus The Institutes of the Christian Religion into French, he regularly used, for example:
1) snake-like 'f' for today's French 's' (like in 'Chrestienne,' title below)
2) 'v' for today's French 'u' (like in 'un,' line 6 below)
3) 'y' for today's French 'i' (like in 'vraye,' line 2 below)

Baumgartner translated Calvin's Latin text into French in 1888. Compare the changes:
1) no more snake-like 'f' for 's'
2) no more 'v' for 'u'
3) still occasional use of 'y' for 'i' (like 'vraye,' line 3 below)

For an English comparison, notice the occasional use of the snake-like 'f' for todays 's' in this 1739 George Whitefield letter and in 1758 Jonathan Edwards' Original Sin.

To do for Chris: Find a more recent translation in French of Calvin's Institutes.

Thanksgiving Preparations in France

Today, I was putting together questions and answers regarding the origins of Thanksgiving for our festival here in France in a week.  And I discovered that Eric Metaxas had written a children's book about Squanto, the Native American who helped the pilgrims in the 1620s.  Some very fascinating stuff, as he mentions in this CNN interview below!  In God's sovereignty, Squanto:

• had been enslaved by British trade ships (early 1600s), 
• lived in England for a few years and learned English, 
• returned to America to find his tribe decimated by the diseases Europe had brought to America, 
• was 'adopted' by and helped out the pilgrims in his tribal home in 1621.

Who is Eric Metaxas?  He has written for Veggie Tales, Chuck Colson, and Times Magazine; wrote definitive biographies on William Wilberforce and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Also, Justin Taylor interviewed Eric and posted on his Thanksgiving book.