As expected, there is a wide variety of internet comment on the WTS board's suspension of Old Testament Professor Peter Enns.  I would highlight Scott Clark's counsel to current students and the discussion taking place at Green Baggins.  Both of these, and most others, express sincere expressions of good will towards Pete Enns as a brother in Christ.  This I share and I will undertake in prayer for Pete, his family, and friends. 

Undoubtedly, this is not only a crossroads for Dr. Enns but I think it is something of a seminal event in our times.  The reason is that this really is not about the publishing of a single book, although those who publish controversial views obviously bring attention to themselves and the institution they represent.  The bigger issue has to do with a number of important questions, including the relationship of a seminary like WTS to the confessional churches it serves and to the academic profession of which it seeks to be a part. 

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus (Lk. 24:1-3). It’s a familiar tale that Christians like us insist is true on the most literal sense. But what’s the big deal? Would the bottom fall out of Christianity if the tomb actually contained the body of Jesus? The answer that Scripture gives is “Yes!” Everything about Christianity would fall apart if the tomb had not been empty.

I've been laid up with the flu the last few days, but I have tuned into the Barack Obama - Jeremiah Wright controversy, and have caught some of the internet banter commenting on it.  Mainly, three thoughts have occurred to me, dealing with Wright's anti-Americanism, Wright's racism, and Wright's use of the pulpit.

Why has it become almost taboo in reformed circles to have a conferences on eschatology? Cannot recall one in recent years. Is this in reaction to the bizarre?  The Greenville Eschatology conference mp3s and CDs are available, information can be found here. Kudos to GPTS for setting the agenda again.

Church visioning is a powerful tool that can help make leaders much more effective.  But since it necessarily focuses on things man can achieve, it has a dangerous tendency to secularize the church.  Therefore, in my opinion, church visioning is probably a good idea only for churches that are strongly established with an ordinary means of grace emphasis, but who need to pay more attention to their missional context. Also, I would suggest that a visioning process should be conducted only periodically so as to set some longer term trajectories for ministry aspirations. The document should be kept ready so as to offer its analysis to future decision-making (hiring decisions, budget priorities, etc.), and then the church should continue to focus on its God-given mission of serving the Kingdom of Christ through the God-given strategy of Word, sacrament, and prayer, with biblically-defined elders and pastors serving a biblically-shaped church. (See 2 Cor. 10:3-4, and 1 Cor. 1:21-2:2).