2nd Halo-halo Huwebes

 The Problem of Information Overload

Sana may maligaw na kopya ng Amusing Ourselves to Death sa Booksale. Dalawampu't limang taon na ang nakalipas buhat nang unang ilathala ito, at hanggang ngayon ay pinag-uusapan pa rin tulad nitong panel discussion na ito na pinangunahan ni Albert Mohler. Nagpakita siya ng karunungan sa panayam na ito noong panahong bagong silang pa lamang ang Cyberspace. I think waht he said which begins at 4:48 is the highlight of the interview:

Charlayne Hunter-Gault: What images come to your mind when you think about what our lives will be like in the cyberspace?

Postman: Well the worst images are of people who are overloaded with information which they don't know what to do with, have no sense of what is relevant and what is irrelevant, people who become information junkies

Hunter-Gault: What do you mean?

Postman: Well the problem in the 19th century with information was that we live in a culture of information scarcity. And so humanity addressed that problem beginning with photography and telegraphy in the 1840's. We tried to solve the problem of overcoming the limitations of space, time and form. And for about a hundred years we worked on this problem and we solved it in a spectacular way. And now by solving that problem, we created a new problem that people have never exprienced before: information glut-- information meaninglessness-- information incoherence.

The Cry of Helpless Children

We cry 'Abba, Father' 

"Paul speaks here about Christian crying  'Abba, Father!'  The verb he uses is krazein, and in the New Testament it denotes a loud cry, often a cry or shriek of anguish (cf. Mk. 15:39, our Lord's cry on the cross; Rev. 12:2. a woman in childbirth). The picture is not that of a believer resting quietly in his Father's arms in childlike faith, but of the child who has tripped and fallen crying out in pain, 'Daddy, Daddy'. That cry is the mark of the presence of the Spirit of adoption, not least because it shows that in time of need it is towards our Father in heaven that we look."

Sinclair B. Ferguson

The Christian Life, page 100

"By their books we shall know them.

And by our books we shall be known."

"To a great extent, our personal libraries betray our true identities and interests. A minister’s library, taken as a whole, will likely reveal a portrait of theological conviction and vision. Whose works have front place on the shelves, Martyn Lloyd-Jones or John Shelby Spong? Charles Spurgeon or Harry Emerson Fosdick? Karl Barth or Carl Henry? John MacArthur or Joel Osteen?

"How serious a Bible scholar is this preacher? The books will likely tell. Are the books all old or all new? If so, the reader is probably too contemporary or too antiquarian in focus. Are the books read? If so, the marginalia of an eager and intelligent mind adds value to the book. It becomes more a part of us.

Is this person a Christian intellectual, feeding the mind and soul by reading? For too many pastors, the personal library announces, “I stopped reading when I graduated from seminary.”

When I think of my closest friends, I realize that I am most at home with them in their libraries, and they are most at home with me in mine. Why? Because the books invite and represent the kind of conversation and sharing of heart, soul, and mind that drew us together in the first place.

By their books we shall know them. And by our books we shall be known."

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

read the whole post here

Akanunot ya Man-Reunion Iray Mamasiken

May bagong bandang nabuo! (click here) It seems there's a bright future ahead for these young musicians... LOL! 

The report is that they have re-recorded the old songs, largely from the Greg X. Volz era. Nang ako'y magsimulang makinig sa Petra, panahon na ni John Schlitt kaya hindi ako pamilyar sa mga awit ni Volz. Sinusubukan kong makinig sa kanya at mahusay naman talaga si Lolo Greg.

Bukod sa album ay may tour pa sila ngayong 2010-2011. Siya nga pala, may live show pa sila sa TBN sa Nobyembre 20.

Sa Lahat ng mga Parents at Nangangarap Maging Parents: Reviewing Mohler's HOW NOT TO RAISE A PAGAN

This exposition of Deuteronomy 6 was delivered by the SBTS president to students of another seminary, SEBTS. Albert Mohler, being an expert on cultural and contemporary issues begins with a lament that by the time American students leave high school, they also leave the Christian home. And when they do, they manifest that they think not as Christians but as pagans.

He also observes that the media repaganizes not just the culture but the church as well. What is happening in the church is similar to Israel's experience of paganization-- that is when they imitated their pagan neighbors in religious practices such as idol worship .

Mohler reminds us that since the family is God's gift, it must be ordered with biblical priorities. And if we will not heed the word of the Lord, we would raise pagans by default.

From Deut. 6, he draws three points:
1. Doctrine
2. Diligence
3. Discipline

1. DOCTRINE- Deut 6:7 "and you must teach them to your children" (ESV)
The first priority for parents who do not want to raise pagans. The particular mode of teaching in view here is Didactive teaching-- one that has doctrinal content. The Shema of verse 4 is not just a declaration of monotheism but a declaration of monotheism as a matter of allegiance to draw them away from the gods of their pagan neighbors.

2. DILIGENCE- Deut 6:7-9 "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Biblical teaching for our children is not a once a year thing (Vacation Bible School); it is not a once-a-week thing (Sunday School). Parents should make the most of every oppurtunity to tech their children. If parents will not be diligent, other voices (TV, Internet, friends) will teach them.

3. DISCIPLINE- Deut 6:24 "And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day."
We must teach our children that violation of biblical teaching requires punishment.

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Other interesting things Mohler brought up is are:
i. the trans generational responsibility of a Patriach- a father must not not stop with his wife, children and grandchildren. Rather, they must look forward for the generations to come. If we will get it wrong in this generation, there will be devastating consequences for the generations that follow.

ii. When we will live differently from our non-Christian neighbors, our children will eventually ask why. We should tell them that we are different because we are a people that belongs to someone. We have been redeemed. He will judge our neighbors but we will be spared-- not because we are better than them but because we are saved by grace.

You can find the video here.
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