I have to admit after the little dust up concerning the concert that will be happening at my church I had considered canceling. After all, I’d rather spend a Friday night at home with my wife and son, and I’m sure there will be plenty of people who feel that the building is the church and I’ll end up getting an earful. But after seeing the reaction Ingrid received from the band and its fans I realized that I couldn’t do it. Its obvious that Ingrid has made these guys feel extremely unloved, and canceling will only reinforce that idea. So in the name of loving my neighbor, which includes this band, and their fans (not to mention the kid organizing it all) the show must go on.

On an unrelated note I will point out that Ingrid has reported that the organizer is a member of my church. That is not true. While I realize she was given bad information and wasn’t maliciously doing so, this is another example of sloppy reporting that could have easily been corrected with a simple email to me.

It all began with Tim Challies writing a book on discernment. Justin Taylor wrote a short blurb announcing it. In the comments following it Steve Camp opined:

My only prayer for Tim is that he is young, theologically immature, and untested in handling God’s Word. He also began writing this book by polling his own blog readers in helping him define what discernment is. That is a true sign of insecurity, lack of knowledge, and “a tell” that he really isn’t well-versed on this subject.

Tim Challies wrote a response in which Phillip Johnson of Team Pyro wrote:

It’s a fine book. (Even though you stepped on my toes in a couple of places.) And if people who haven’t even read the book are questioning whether a layperson like you (best known for being a Berean) has a right to write about the basic principles of discernment—well, in my mind that’s simply proof of how appallingly short of true discernment the church today is, and how desperately needed your book is.

BTW, I especially appreciate this from Phillip Johnson as Challies was the principle author in the blogosphere writing against Johnny Mac’s view that God does everything for the sake of his own glory. It shows the ability to put aside past disagreements in order to write in a fair minded way.

Edit: Oops, I mixed up BW3 with Tim Challies, somehow. Apologies all the way around. Still, admirable of Johnson to stick up for Challies.

“I think if we were given the Scriptures, it was not so that we could prove that we were right about everything. If we were given the Scriptures, it was to humble us into realizing that God is right, and the rest of us are just guessing.”