My son @michaelkellers posts here on my behalf (see pinned note). Founder of @redeemernyc. Co-Founder of @redeemerctc and @tgc. Loved New York City.
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Apr 4, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Last on Pandemic. In NYC early 2020 9.2% of every person who got Covid died, and 32% of all hospitalized with COVID died. The hospitals were overwhelmed. In Elmhurst body bags were in the street. NYCrs were not offended that year by restrictions and calls for vaccination.
In 2020 I had retired and didn't control the churches. COVID restrictions are not clear biblical mandates but rather prudential decisions to be made by a community using wisdom. NYC was an epicenter of sickness more than the rest of the nation.
Mar 15, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION 1) Are we justified—accepted by God—through the merit of our obedience to him (Legalism). No. 2) Are we justified freely by faith such that it doesn’t matter if we disobey him or not (Antinomianism). No. 3) Is the reality something in the middle,
..a combination, so we are justified through a combination of faith and obedience. (Semi- Pelagianism)? No. 4) We are justified by faith in
Christ’s obedience and work, apart from trust in any obedience of our own, but true saving faith always, necessarily produces a life of...
Feb 27, 2023 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
What do we do with the criticism we get on Twitter? A long thread:
1. The first response to criticism should never be instinctive rejection but to listen to see if we can learn from it. (Prov 12:15, 15:31-32) That’s what I try to do if and when I see it. /12. Far more often, however, internet criticism is not something we can learn from because it is either a) completely untrue or b) it is a genuine difference of opinion but expressed in the most vicious and cruel way, or c) it is strongly biased rather than fair-minded. /2
Feb 24, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Thread: On Mocking. Most mocking the basic idea of ‘diagonalization’ or ‘fourth way’ have not read the book or taken the time to engage. Mocking only plays to the prejudices of the crowd and reveals the lack of seriousness of the critique. amzn.to/3ZjMHg0
It's true, some ideas and people deserve to be scoffed at or mocked. It is not a sin to do so—even God
sometimes mocks (Ps 2:4). But to mock regularly, as a pattern of life, is to ‘sit in the seat’ of
mockers (Ps 1:1). By playing to the prejudices of the crowd, by belittling /2
Feb 16, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Thread: Secular Progressives market their view of sex and gender as an objective and universal truth that all people must adopt. They will not admit that it is instead an ideological construal based on a highly western and individualistic account of human nature. /1
While I listen respectfully to my Hindu neighbors about their beliefs, I do not need to embrace those beliefs in order to love, befriend, and respect them personally, and they don’t require that either, nor does our culture. /2
Feb 13, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Thread: I agree western culture is moving from a ‘positive’ view of Christianity to a ‘neutral’ to a ‘negative world’ stance against Christianity. This is not a new thought. The first thinker I know who addressed this was Abraham Kuyper over 100 years ago. /1
Lesslie Newbigin also wrote extensively about this change. The idea is-we are moving from a “Christendom” culture (positive world) to a liberal but still Christ-haunted culture (neutral world) to a very secular, hostile one (negative world). /2
Feb 8, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Thread: I am very excited about this venture and hope it will bring great fruit over time. A few have asked, "Why a new apologetics ministry based on the name of one individual?" There are actually two questions here. 1) Why something new? Apologetics by /1
...definition, is an application of truth to particular cultural contexts. This needs constant revisions because the culture is constantly changing, the questions morph, and society's imagination shifts. Each fellow selected can stand on their own and they do not need this center
Feb 6, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Thread about C.S.Lewis on the dangers of Nationalism. C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves, begins his discussion of “love of country” by saying “we all know now that this love becomes a demon when it becomes a god,” referring Nazism. But he doesn’t go to the opposite extreme and say /1
...that “[love of country] is never anything but a demon.” Instead, Lewis breaks down patriotism into several aspects. (1) The first kind is “love of home”—love of the landscape, of the types of people who live there, the sights, sounds, food and way of life. Lewis thinks /2
Feb 1, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Recently I did a thread on how I don't fit in on the Left politically. I also don't fit with those on the Right who call themselves “Christian Nationalists.” Even though there is a wide range of what this term means, in general, most of them are wrong /1
...and they do not take into account the sad history of state churches in Europe. Some definitions of CN are deadly wrong as they argue that Christians of different races and cultures should not inter-marry or sometimes even be close friends, which is in opposition to the /2
Jan 24, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
"I have heard many fellow Christians accuse you of being a liberal politically."
As the term has been used by the great majority of people in the last several decades, I am not politically liberal. I am not a supporter of a highly centralized, government-controlled economy
...or of taxes at the level of European socialist countries. I am pro-life. I am, of course, a major supporter of religious liberty, a term that the left now puts in scare quotes and a concept it opposes. Political liberals do not consider me politically liberal. So why have...
Jan 21, 2023 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
THREAD: 🧵OK, let's have a chat in light of the recent Twitter dustups about some of my posts to clarify some things.
1) Many of my tweets a) are quotes taken from my books and sermons—most from years ago, b) many are re-used every 1-3 years. Hence.../1
2) It is interesting that quotes I put out 3 years ago are seen as "evidence" I have changed. Clearly, the algorithms or the political climate have changed, not me.
3) My son Michael helps me with this account but as an editor and as a second opinion consultant-not as an author.
Jan 19, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
It’s fascinating that an exhortation I made all my life to people would be so controversial on Twitter. Never in my 50 years of ministry did anyone ever complain about it—they only thanked me for it. Some of the objections seem to be with the wording "there's nothing more 1/
...important” than reading the Bible through. Some say, "What about loving God or your neighbor?" These things inter-relate. How will you know how God defines “love” unless you read the Word? How will you be born again of the Spirit without believing in what the Word of God...
Jan 2, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
How did the Christian view change the world? "A friend of mine once told me that modern people think about slavery and say, "How could people have ever accepted such a monstrosity?" My friend said, "That's not the way histori- ans think.' They ask: 'Considering the fact it was /1
...universally believed by all societies that we had the right to attack and enslave weaker people, and since everybody had always done it, the real historical question is, Why did it occur to anybody that it was wrong? Who ever first had that idea?" He then answered his own /2
Dec 30, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Sadly, I don't see much healthy criticism on this platform. Instead of engaging an individual's arguments, we label them, so we don't have to engage them. CS Lewis coined a term for this called “Bulverism." He says, "The modern method is to assume without discussion that... 1/
...[my opponent] is wrong and then distract his attention...by busily explaining how he became to be so silly." The problem is we attack the person and not the arguments or reasoning. Lewis says we do this because it's easy-"all can play." He says, "For Bulverism is a truly... /2
Dec 1, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I wish secular people could see their most fundamental moral ideals come from the Bible (T.Holland), and without the biblical view of the universe, won't be sustained. I wish Christians could see the church has failed in profound ways to practice those ideals (C.Taylor).
Secularism is (1) not at all inclusive (2) not as rational as it claims to be. It (3) gives no definition of what is human, and provides no basis (4) for justice, (5) for social cohesion, (6) for future hope and (7) gives fewer resources to sufferers than any culture in history.
C.Taylor's kinds of secularism. (1) State: the government does not support any one religion (2) Personal: an individual doesn't believe in God (3) Philosophical: a whole view of reality--of knowledge, morality, society, history, identity--without God or a transcendent world.
Jul 23, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A general impression: Social media continues to lose credibility with people across the political spectrum as a place for content and thought. I don't believe it has the same clout that it had even two years ago. In general, it is not as reflective of the general population
as people thought. The ‘call outs’ on social media are losing steam and this is a good trend.
I say this despite the fact that there is a great deal of corruption and abuse inside corridors of institutional power, and it does indeed need to be confronted, challenged,
Apr 29, 2022 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
THREAD: I recently wrote about how churches should not destroy unity or fellowship over political differences. The replies show that many American Evangelicals have no coherent understanding of how to relate the Bible to politics. Here's the original tweet:
Here are two Biblical MORAL norms: 1) It is a sin to worship idols or any God other than the true God & 2) do not murder. If you ask evangelicals if we should be forbidden by law to worship any other God than the God of the Bible—they’d say ‘no.’
Apr 13, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Early Methodist questions for self-evaluation (abridged and modernized)
Have I –
1.Been diligent in private prayer? 2. Used stated hours of prayer [morning, noon, and evening]?
3. After any pleasure, immediately thanked God?
4.Been recollected [stayed aware of God’s presence] all day?
5.Been active in doing what good I could?
6.Been (whenever appropriate) cheerful, affable in everything I said or did?
Apr 8, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Life only has meaning/I only have worth if-
I have power and influence over others. (Power Idolatry)
I am loved and respected by X. (Approval)
I have this kind of pleasure, a particular quality of life. (Comfort)
I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of X. (Control)
I am highly productive and getting a lot done. (Work idolatry)
I am being recognized for my accomplishments, and I am excelling in my work. (Achievement)
I have a certain level of wealth, financial freedom, and very nice possessions. (Materialism idol- Col 3:5)
Apr 6, 2022 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Thread on why did we multiplied Redeemer into three (now five) congregations, rather than give the megachurch to a single successor? First, because megachurches have some design deficits. In general, they are poor places for formation and pastoral care due to their size.
In our current cultural moment that is a deadly problem because Christians are being more formed by social media than local Christian community. We need thick communities and the size of our churches factor into that.
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