Eschatology... good listening

Admittedly I'm not often too keen on John Piper. Christian brother, etc. Still, he often seems a little too polemical and acerbic (that might be a bit of an overstatement... but then again I really like N.T. Wright).

All that to say I really enjoyed listening to a two-hour podcast where he moderated a discussion on the three dominant millenial views. If interested click here.

Idolatry II

Just finished reading David Powlison's "Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair." It's a great article that provides a coherent and biblical understanding of much of human motivation. I am left with a few questions regarding how far he develops the theme of idolatry as it relates to human motivation (feel free to ask me what I'm referring to in the comments, don't want to spend the time here).

But I whole-heartedly recommend it. If interested, download it here.

Idolatry

Tim Keller and others have done us a great service in helping us to understand sin, not primarily as doing 'wrong' things, but rather making 'good' things 'ultimate' things. As a Youth Pastor I have profited from this approach to sin, not only personally but also with regard to teaching. I regularly have High Schoolers sense that they are making something 'good' (usually sports) into something 'ultimate.'

Even better than how accessible it is is how true it is. When you turn something 'good' into something 'ultimate' then you walk a path of destruction and depression. This is well articulated by Chris Lukezic, a professional runner who has just recently retired. Here's how he words it:

"I think the year that I had my best races, so many things were going on in my life that running was just something that I was doing. It wasn't everything to me. And I really built running in to my entire world, which became a detriment. If there's anything I can blame, it's myself for making running such an important aspect of my life - making it way too important. And that really hurt me, because when I had a bad race, I took everything so personally."

Whether Christian or not, he explains the reality of what happens when a 'good' thing becomes an 'ultimate' thing.