ClarkeComments.com

Hello all:

I’m a little behind because I haven’t had easy access to a computer. I’ll try and catch up in the next day or so.

We have been commuting from Calabasis every day to the campus, because we registered two late and all of the rooms were already taken…and since I have both my four year old son and my wife in tow, things haven’t always been smooth or gone according to plan, but they have been fun.

We tried to make it to Richard Cherok’s lecture on Alexander Campbell, but missed it due to traffic. I ended up making it to Robert Hooper’s lecture of David Lipscomb, however. I had the chance to chat with Dr. Hooper for a few minutes before the lecture as we were both waiting outside the classroom while the previous lecture was wrapping up. Dr. Hooper’s lecture was very enjoyable, he talked about Lipscomb and how he is a man for our time today, which I very much agree with. Dr. Hooper announced near the end that his book Crying in the Wilderness: A biography of David Lipscomb, was going to be reissued next year, with a new introduction and some new chapters with current research. I’m excited about that and looking forward to getting a copy when it comes out.

After the lecture, I ended up having to spend a couple of hours working on Art History homework, so we missed the main lecture and several of the afternoon lectures. We made it back in time to hear Randy Harris give what he called an “unSermon” on “The Care and Feeding of Enemies.” The sermon was powerful…he started by reciting the Sermon on the Mount from memory, and then talked about why he couldn’t actually preach the text. Harris’ thesis was that man in incapable of loving his enemy, and that this can only be done with the love God through the Christian in the Holy Spirit. Harris rightfully asserted that without a deeper, biblical theology of the Spirit, we cannot truly understand or live the Sermon on the Mount. I wish my description of the sermon could give justice to what I heard.

After the keynote, I went to Bobby Valentine’s second installment on the Struggle for the Soul of Churches of Christ. Again, the lecture was excellent, and I learned alot more about our more recent history. On a side note, it seemed that throughout the week, I ran into Bobby Valentine every place I went, it appeared impossible not to, which was okay. I promise I wasn’t following you around, Bobby!

-Clarke

Hello everyone:

I am at the Pepperdine University Annual Bible Lectures this week.

We arrived a little late for the 1st nights Song Fest, but what we heard sounded wonderful. It is so great to hear a couple of thousand voices singing praises to God at once. The lecture “Turning the World Upside Down” by Donny McLaughlin was excellent. Don spoke on how the church must be a group of revolutionaries for the Kingdom of God. The message was right on, and very timely.

After the main lecture, I went to Bobby Valentine’s lecture “The Struggle for the Soul of Churches of Christ, 1884 - 1984. Bobby spoke about the Nashville Bible School Tradition versus the Texas Tradition, the personalities behind the approaches and the theology that they pushed. It was a great lecture and I am looking forward to hear the next. John Mark Hicks was unable to join Bobby as he is tied up on other affairs; I was sorry to miss him but Bobby did a great job solo.

I hope to have pictures to follow once I get back to Portland.

-Clarke

Clarke:

I bought a couple of books the other day; they were a present from my wife for Valentine’s day, which is quite amazing as she is always complaining that I have too many books!

The first book is God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology, by Michal Horton. The reason for my interest in and purchase of this book will become apparent in my next post that examines the Magisterium of Churches of Christ.

The second book I bought is The Mass of the Early Christians, by Mike Aquilina. Mr. Aquilina is a Catholic Apologist who is regularly heard on EWTN’s Catholic Answers Live. I listen to EWTN radio whenever my favorite Christian radio station plays music that doesn’t deserve to be aired…which in the last couple of months, has been quite alot. Quite a lot of the time Catholic Answers has quite contrived answers to the questions they recieve, but from time to time they do provide some great biblical insight. I bought Aquilina’s book because the Early Church Fathers hint of liturgical worship and hierarchy early in Church History, and while I’ve heard plenty of Catholic Eucharistic theology on the radio, I’m quite interested to read about it. I think it will be a fascinating read, and a good follow up to the book I’m reading right now, John Mark Hicks‘ Come to the Table: Revisioning the Lord’s Supper.

-Clarke

Hello everyone:

I finished up “Distant Voices” and I really enjoyed it….so, I picked up another of C. Leonard Allen’s (along with Richard Hughes, this time) books, “Discovering our Roots: The Ancestry of Churches of Christ.”

If you’ve not read this book, pick it up. It provides some really great backgound on Restorationist thought in Christianity that occured before our movement began and which had great influences on our movement.

The best irony I’ve found so far is that alot of our restorationist roots came from the Puritans…who were later known as Congregationalists….who later merged with some other churches and formed the United Church of Christ. Its quite amazing how belief changes over time.

-Clarke