Due to winter weather, I am away from my desk and Puritan book.  However, there is one Puritan Thinker that is not included in the book but is worth noting.

John Penry  (1559 - May 29, 1593), is said to be Wales’s most famous Protestant martyr.  Because of his lack of withdrawal from the church of England he is not always considered a Puritan, but due to his conviction of Puritan type thought he was charged with sedition by the queen of England and hanged in 1593.  He was considered an ordinary preacher and few of his writings have survived, but a note to his wife and daughters from his dungeon cell is worth noting.

When John Penry, four hundred years ago, sat in his dungeon in the Tower of London the day before his execution he wrote a letter to his wife and the four little children. He left the four girls a Bible each and he then gave his love to his wife, and he signed the letter from her “husband for a season and her eternal brother.”    (Sermon by Geoff Thomas)

Our desire must to be to cling so loosely to the things of this earth and so tightly to the things of eternity.

Webster’s defines “tradition” as “the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication,” or “a mode of thought or behavior followed by a people continuously from generation to generation,’ or “a set of such customs and usages viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the present.”

The English word “tradition” comes from the Latin verb tradere, which means “to hand down.” Actually, the Latin word contains both a prefix and a root. The prefix is trans, which means “over,” and the root is dare, which means “to give.” So the term literally means “to give over.” The same combination of prefix and root is found in the Greek word for tradition, which is parodosis.

I stress this for two reasons. The first is that we clearly see the link between the idea of tradition and the idea of a gift. To pass wisdom from one generation to the next is to transfer a vital and beautiful gift. The second is that the passing on of knowledge and wisdom in the form of tradition is a crucial biblical concept.

Because Jesus uttered sharp rebukes to the scribes and Pharisees for replacing the truth of God with the traditions of men, we sometimes draw the invalid inference that Jesus opposed all tradition. That was not the case. Though He repudiated the supplanting of the Word of God by human tradition, He never attacked or denied the virtue of the divine tradition, the things of God for the people of God for all time. We also speak of the apostolic tradition, which is passed on to all generations of the church. In fact, it may properly be said that the New Testament contains the apostolic tradition and that the Bible as a whole contains the divine tradition.

Romans 2

12For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

The question of the law is much debated today. Is the law still relevant? On both sides of the argument I believe it is admitted that the law is active prior to conversion. It is a schoolmaster (Gal 3:24-25) that shows us what we do wrong in the sight of God that demands Christ’s sacrifice. When it is considered this way, we must acknowledge that there is a definite change after Christ, but can what was wrong before Christ now be permissible or right after Christ? If so how? Sin is defined or determined by the character of God and therefore what falls short before Christ, should still fall short after Christ. If an action, attitude, or thought failed to bring God glory prior to conversion, then shouldn’t we conclude that it would fail to bring God glory even more after conversion? The role of the law no longer brings condemnation, but it becomes a delight. It is no longer over us, but it is in us.

Tyler has begun wanting to pray for meals. Usually the prayers include something they are thankful for and a need from the church. I have become a little concerned about Tyler lately. The problem could be one of two things: his mother is a buckeye or the recent Super Bowl run by the Colts. Regardless, he now wants to give thanks for football every time he prays. I thought little boys from Indiana were only supposed to give thanks for basketball!

I want to start a new posting each Tuesday, well at least most Tuesdays. A friend recommended a new book, “Meet the Puritans” by Joel Beeke (thanks Tim) and I have been reading it bit by bit. With the comment in the Miami paper about churches wanting to disconnect themselves with the Puritans in order to be relevant, I hope this will show the great legacy that many of these men left. This week: Thomas Adams.

Although he is not strictly a Puritan, his theology was in vein with the Puritans. When he left his first church his people said the following about him:

He behaved himself soberly in his conversation, painfully in his calling, lovingly amongst his neighbors, conformable to the orders of the church, and in all respects befittingly to his vocation.

Beeke later states, “He was a powerful preacher, a much-quoted writer, and an influential divine. Prominent leaders in the church and state…were among his friends…Like the Puritans he craved careful observance of the Sabbath and was deeply hostile to Rome, the Jesuits, and the papacy, as well as to idleness, over-indulgence in worldly pleasures, and conspicuous consumption in all its forms.”

When you look at the first quote by his church and then the description of his life and practice, it appears he was involved in community, relevant, and at the same time Puritanical, or holy. He held strongly to convictions and theology and yet was loving. He had a standard for holy living and was still influential. The negative about the Puritans appears to be their withdrawal from society and not their piety and holy living. This is a lesson that we must learn, to be in the world and yet not of the world.

Watch the first video by ColdPlay, a group those crazy teenagers love these days.

Anyone else view this as a bit of a pity song? Reminds me of several Garth Brooks songs from my high school days.

Now watch the same song:

(HT:SM)

Take on any different meaning? I know pain is pain, but I think many times we just don’t have a broad enough perspective on life. There are many lessons here, but I will only draw a few.

We need to value the elderly more. This includes trying to appreciate their difficulties. I think they may be the most difficult because many times they face death all day long. They are not dealing with pain that will be overcome with a greater joy tomorrow.

I was also drawn to a moody radio DJ that was trying to convince the listeners that the American Church is being persecuted. Whatever persecution we face is limited if persecution at all. This DJ was speaking of how the minority rights groups were persecuting the church by lobbying for their special needs rights. Is the governement persecuting us? Is the NFL persecuting the church? I don’t think they like the church, but persecution seems to belittle what those in China and Islamic countries are going through. Let us be reminded to pray for those who are truly hurting.

We need to keep our eyes off ourself as often as possible. We are too drawn to fall into pity parties. It is not good for man to be alone, or maybe even in a support group with only people that have his or her particular problem. We need well rounded relationships, different age groups, different kinds of people. And we need to be serving others needs in that group of relationships.

I caught part of the Dan Patrick show on ESPN radio today when going back and forth to work. He was discussing a case between a church and the NFL. As many churches do, this particular church was hosting a Super Bowl party with a large projection screen TV. The NFL has stepped in and stopped the party from taking place. I guess it is illegal to host a party with any screen larger than 55″ in a public place, even if you don’t charge admission.

It is interesting how this debate has developed. I am not suggesting this is how it came about in this particular church, but in the church in general over time. The church notices it’s own people are not coming, so they call off the service. Then the pastor of evangelism decides to piggy back on all of the NFL’s marketing and make their church relevant. Here are a few quotes from the Miami Herald from a few days ago:

Pastors say they are seizing on the event to recruit new members and market themselves as culturally relevant, laid-back revelers rather than buttoned-down puritans.

”It allows the church to show the gospel in action,” said Daryl McCray of Mission Miami, a coalition of South Florida churches that has been recruiting volunteers to work at the NFL Experience, which starts today at Dolphin Stadium and runs through next Saturday.

I really would like to hear how having a Super Bowl party shows the gospel in action. Anyway, This debate has moved from the church saying, no this is the Lord’s Day (Funny thing is Dan Patrick even said the NFL should not step in because this was after all the Lord’s Day) we should not watch football, the Lord’s Day stopped being a big issue so we moved to, No we should not replace worship with a football party, now Super Bowl parties are fairly accepted and we have moved to the NFL having to step in and say, no you should not mix church and the NFL. Obviously the NFL is more concerned about money than God, but maybe we should stop and listen.

And before I finish typing this, while wearing my Manning Jersey, GO COLTS!