Dr. Hans Boersma teaching Systematic Theology C under the sun during the summer time. Yeah, that's me sitting on the far left.

I am lucky to have just finished my 4.5 year long journey at Regent, completing my MDiv and graduating at the end of this month on April 29th. However, I don’t think learning will stop from here. Having such a great school in my backyard, I think I will continue taking courses every now and then.

Now for those of you who are far away, have you ever considered spending a 1-2 week vacation in Vancouver (which is voted the best place to live in the world numerous times) during this summer, while you take some classes from world-class theologians and think about God and His Kingdom all day? If so, please come and be my guest. Here are a few words from Regent:

Regent College offers a tremendous range of one or two week courses during their summer session. Classes are taught by some of the foremost evangelical scholars of our day – like Alister McGrath, Bruce Waltke, Marva Dawn and Chris Wright – in the areas of theology, art, missions, spirituality, history, Bible studies, church leadership, marketplace theology and much more. If you’re pursuing a graduate degree, some of these courses may well transfer over – and not just in theology or Biblical studies. If you’re considering a career or vocational change, some of these courses will help you sort through those issues. If you’re simply seeking personal enrichment this summer in one of the world’s most liveable cities, come check us out. See http://summer.regent-college.edu for more course details, registration info, free audio and video of lecturers, and much more.

I recommend these courses:
Marva Dawn – Pastoral Care for Those who Suffer (May 16-20)
Christopher Wright – God’s Word, God’s World, and God’s Mission: Reading the Whole Bible for Mission (May 9-13)
Gordon T. Smith – Spiritual Discernment (May 23-27)
Alister McGrath – Truth, Beauty, and Imagination: Christian Apologetics in a Postmodern Context (Jun 27-Jul 1)
Bruce Waltke – The Psalms (Jul 25-29)

Related posts:

1. Regent Summer School

Things are moving very fast and there will be an upcoming inaugural conference in March 21-22, 2011, called Discerning Contemporary Culture: Challenges & Christian Ministry in a Permissive Age, co-sponsored by

• Regent College Anglican Studies Program
• Carey Theology College & Carey Institute
• Hudson Taylor Centre for Chinese Ministries at Tyndale University College & Seminary
• Vancouver Chinese Evangelical Ministerial Fellowship (溫哥華華人教牧同工團契)

There are some top-notch speakers and scholars invited, including J. I. Packer (Regent), James Houston (Regent), David Pao (Trinity Evangelical), Brian Stiller (Tyndale), Warren Lai (Tyndale) and more.

I always believe there is no way to do ministry and arrive at the right praxis without first doing serious theological reflection. This is the chance to pick the best minds to understand how to do Chinese ministry in a Canadian context.

For those in Vancouver or even in the east coast who are interested in this, please help spread the word.

Related posts:

1. 120 Years of Good Shepherd

“……this is surely not a creedal issue, and such an action violates the preservation of Christian unity and catholicity which is grounded in matters of confessional orthodoxy, and which flounders when matters of a relatively secondary nature are inappropriately elevated. The creedal matter here is that God created the universe and humans, and the secondary matter is how He may have done so.”

“Do we insist as a faculty at Regent that all must hold to this to teach here? This would be to exalt a non-confessional issue as a ground for unity in a manner that mitigates against the apostolic appeal for unity which is based on foundational, Trinitarian essentials (Ephesians 4:4-6).”

Right on. Dr. Hastings said everything I wanted to say and exactly how I wanted to say it (but better). Read the rest of his post here.

Related posts:

1. Bruce Waltke’s Forced Resignation

I have taken Old Testament Theology from Waltke himself, and I am certain he is a man of integrity, who upholds the authority of Scripture, yet also intellectually rigorous and open to arguments that are sound and reasonable. I can’t help but question: Irrespective of whether his view is right or wrong, how essential is this to the gospel? Is it demonstrative that Waltke has given up the authority of the Scriptures and his belief in the centrality of Christ’s salvation? When has anthropogenesis elevated to the category of essential confessional doctrine?

Earlier I wrote an essay for my History of Christian Doctrine class, exploring Philip Melanchton’s understanding of adiaphora (i.e. non-essential matters in faith). I quoted a line from Charles Arand who said: “we should not conclude too quickly that adiaphora means anything goes as long as it does not contradict our theology… Nor should we conclude too quickly that every situation or every controversy requires that we enter into status confessionis.” I am more and more convinced that the distinction between essentials and non-essentials is necessary, because history tells us that we humans do have a natural tendency to enter into confessional warfare easily, entrenching ourselves in fixated positions and eliminating all others who disagree with us.

Alister McGrath also expressed in his book, Evangelicalism & the Future of Christianity, that one of the darker sides of evangelicalism is its apparent “dogmatism”, specifically understood as “a refusal to allow disagreement or doubt.”^[2] He further writes:

“All Christians can agree on the need to defend what is of vital importance to the Christian faith. Yet often issues of relative importance are blown up beyond any sense of proportion, forcing evangelicals to defend themselves to each other when they ought to be proclaiming the gospel to the world. The demand to ‘defend the gospel’ too often turns out to be ‘defend my rather rigid version of the gospel.’”^[3]

“Individual evangelicals owe the movement as a whole the responsibility of taking each other seriously, wherever Scripture permits more than one reading, just as they are obliged to defend evangelical truth wherever this seems to be under threat. But it needs to be realized that evangelicals are free to differ on matters of secondary importance. The escalation of such disputes serves no useful purpose, and it ultimately marks a serious lack of evangelical maturity and judgment.”^[4]

We evangelicals really need to come up with a clear understanding of what consists of essential doctrine, hold fast to that, and not let any secondary issues creep up and destroy our unity, which is exactly what the enemy wants. Otherwise, we’ll be expecting another Thirty Years War all over again. I thought we have learned enough from history already……sigh. Well, I’ll end with this motto that I find worth contemplating time and again: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.”

I hope Bruce Waltke feels peaceful to what’s happening to him. Maybe he can consider coming back to Regent =)

1. Refer to Francis S. Collins’ The Language of God p.199-201 for a definition of theistic evolution.
2. Alister McGrath, Evangelicalism & the Future of Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 143.
3. Ibid., 144-5.
4. Ibid., 148.

RegentAudio.com

You just have to create a free account and start checking out these tracks priced at zero dollars.

Free stuff is always good, eh?

Related posts:

1. Regent Summer School

You can also see me in the middle of the clip. Don’t think that I was not paying attention. I was just busy typing notes on my computer =P

What Dr. Stackhouse is talking about in this lecture is that, when people talk about the significant points of Jesus’ life and ministry, most people (especially evangelicals) usually come up with four:

1. Incarnation
2. Crucifixion
3. Resurrection
4. Return (to judge the world)

The problem with this view is that Jesus may seem to be taking an extended sabbatical, while the Holy Spirit takes over things on earth until he returns. It is also missing crucial points in Jesus’ ministry. The proper view should have seven, not four, points:

1. Incarnation
2. Inauguration
3. Crucifixion
4. Resurrection
5. Ascension
6. Governance — and Intercession
7. Return

The Inauguration is important because it signifies the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God and Jesus’ role as the Messianic King. The Ascension is important because it initiates the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7), but that doesn’t mean Jesus is at rest. He is continually doing his ministry in the world through the Spirit. Jesus has become Lord and he is continually governing the cosmos and the church, interceding for all as the High Priest, until his final return.

So why is there a need to learn or study theology?

You miss 43% of what Jesus is doing if you don’t. That’s why.

Related posts:

1. No more privileged

常常聽到「拓展神的國度」這句說話，自己也不經意地常在禱告中使用，自覺有更宏大的天國觀，總好過只顧著堂會四塊牆內的事那般狹窄。但最近上 Darrell Johnson 的課堂，對「神的國」這個觀念進行深入的神學反省時，才發覺這句說話實質上是有點問題的。

新約福音書和書信裡面，連接著「神的國」(Kingdom of God) 的動詞，按我用英文聖經粗略的數算，頻率如下：

1. inherit/be given/belong/receive – 13 次
2. come / waiting for – 12 次
3. enter – 10 次
4. proclaim – 9 次
5. see – 2 次

第一個觀察：神的國就像承受產業一樣，是被施予，而不是爭取回來的。第二，耶穌出來傳道，第一句說話便是：「日期滿了，神的國近了。你們當悔改，信福音！」神的國是不斷逼近我們似的，就像一支軍隊慢慢進軍入城一樣，人應當戰戰兢兢地等候迎接它的來臨。第三，耶穌就算提到要「進入」神的國，其實他的重點是我們事先必需要在心志行為上願意作出重大的改變，去迎合神的國的新規則，而這正是悔改的意思。第四，路加/使徒行傳最常用的詞句是 “proclaim the kingdom of God”，意表著神的國是要去宣揚的。希臘文「福音」 (gospel) 這個字是 euaggelion。根據 TDNT 神學字典的解釋，它並非一個專用宗教術語，反而是一個非常獨特的軍事專用詞，意表：”a messenger running or riding on a horse across the hills, coming back from battle, declaring to the city victory over enemies”. 這証明路加用 “proclaim” 這字去形容宣揚一個大好的喜訊是比較準確的選詞。

所以，我們可以謙卑地「承受神的國」，也可以戰兢地「等候神的國來臨」。對於那些猶豫的，也可以決擇放棄那很難放低的，行窄路「進入神的國」。作傳道的，也可以「宣揚神的國來臨」的喜訊。但由始至終，聖經裡面都沒有丁點兒影子叫我們去努力「拓展神的國度」，彷彿神的國好像一個國際企業，上帝很想趕快進軍中國市場一樣，卻又無力，而需急 call 大量人手，sales 好 marketing 也好，總之要他們幫手拓展一個未開發的市場一般。

錯了。上帝並不需要我們為祂「拓展」祂的國度。神的國度、神的統治 (reign of God)，自耶穌的來臨已經不斷壓逼地來到這個世界，正所謂：”the in-breaking of the eschatological kingdom, from the future into the present”. Darrell Johnson 說，無論我們喜歡與否，接納與否，神的國正不斷逼近。它的逼近也不期然會為這個世界帶來相當的張力 (tension)。而這張力，只有在我們願意順服退讓於神的國 (give way and realign to the kingdom of God) 才能夠得以消化 (relieved)。

所以，讓我們不要再自告奮勇，整天想著怎樣「為神」作大事，怎樣「為神」開拓新領域了。
我們要做的，並不是 “expand the kingdom of God”，而是 “yield to the in-breaking of the kingdom of God”。
我們不阻著神做事，可能已經算是幫了一個大忙。
就讓我們細心聆聽觀察上帝正在世上幹什麼，只求我們成為合用的器皿，配合祂的心意，成就祂親自要作的大事，這就夠了。

記得，主禱文是這樣開始的：

我們在天上的父：願人都尊你的名為聖。
願你的國「降臨」；願你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上。

延伸閱讀：
Announcing the Reign of God by Mortimer Arias
The Trinity and the Kingdom by Jurgen Moltmann
Jesus and the Kingdom of God by G.R. Beasley-Murray

Related posts:

1. 天國願打願挨乎!?
2. Johnson and Newbigin

A story is told of Victoria, who was to be Queen of England in the 19th century, that she had a nanny, who is a very good nanny in that she repeatedly told young Victoria that she was destined to be Queen of England, that one day she would be Queen. And at one point, the girl said to her nanny: “Is it true? Will I one day truly be Queen of England?” And her nanny said: “Yes, you will.” At which point, Victoria responded by saying: “Then I must begin now to act like a queen.”

Often when we approach the question of our identity or answering to the question of “Who are you?”, we tend to find the answer in the past or present. Some may say that I am who I am because I had such an upbringing and such experiences, i.e. I am largely defined by my circumstances. This is a common view in the realm of psychology and social sciences. Some may say that I am who I am because I made certain decisions in the past and I continue to make decisions that define who I am at every moment, i.e. I construct my identity and destiny. Hence the saying: I choose/buy/consume, therefore I am.

But rarely do we approach this from an eschatological viewpoint, finding our identity in our future destiny. As Christians, since we are destined to be risen glorified saints meant to participate in the eschatological community of the new heaven and new earth, we therefore are able to live out our future identity in the present, in community and in holiness, for which the Holy Spirit is continually shaping us for that potentiality and ushering us into that vision of the Kingdom. Just like what I mentioned in my last post: the true identity of the bulb planted in the soil is not what it seems to be now, but the beautiful tulip flower it will become.

Therefore, our identity is not dictated by our regretful past or our present ambivalent choices, but by the future destined and promised by the loving God. That is how we can be liberated to run towards the finishing line with confidence and with no regrets (Phil. 3:13-14).

I hope to talk more about this in my church’s upcoming TAGGED camp ~ Finding Your Identity.

Note: Stanley Grenz describes this as the “ontological priority of the future”, which I think came from Wolfhart Pannenberg‘s eschatological theology. Correct me if I am wrong.

Last Tuesday, we listened to Over the Rhine and a sermon written by Kasemann, sang a hymn, and listened to Gordon teach us the final verses of John’s vision. Then his daughter got up and told us that we had just heard his final lecture as a teaching professor.

Gordon Fee, one of the greatest New Testament scholars on pneumatology (theology on the Holy Spirit), have just announced to rest from his teaching career indefinitely. If you don’t know him, he’s one of the committee members who helped translated the NIV and TNIV bible, and also strongly advocated for gender equality in biblical translation.

I regret so much for not having at least audited his course on Revelations at Regent this semester. I guess what I will miss the most is his signature thunderous exhortations in his lectures, which have always kept me alert and awake. Luckily I’m still studying under his diciple Rikk E. Watts. Know what? He’s just as loud. Ah, Pentecostal preachers……