Contend Earnestly Remix Tape 2008

For my younger readers the above picture is what we used to call a "tape." Long gone are the remix tapes and such, and now we have "Playlists" and MP3's. But, for this year I want to throw it back to give a remix of Contend Earnestly this past year. It has definitely been a busy year and also at times controversial. But, what would Contend be without being controversy? It is interesting the people that read my blog. It is definitely a hodgepodge of people. I have pastors, missionaries, atheists, Arminians, Calvinists, tree huggers, democrats, republicans and yes, I even have cult members that check in once in a while. Oh yeah, shout out to my Aussie readers.

This year has been busy and one that I won't forget for a while. At times I love blogging and at times I hate blogging, but in the end I am like a fat kid with cake, I can't get enough. Who cares if I don't like the flavor, I can't stop forcing it down my throat. This post is all about the remix of 2008. The highs and lows of the blog that you probably either hate or love, and you have definitely been made fun at times. You have either laughed or posted a comment anonymously and went off at me. Which just makes me write more about you that makes others laugh.

I had a lady at my church, whom I love to mess with and she loves to mess with me (she reads the blog) and she told me that one of my posts she was really wanting me to make a misstep so she could blast me, but I didn't. I asked her, "what bugs you, cause I will make sure I post on that next time." I just like messing with people to get them to think. That is probably the number one reason that I blog and I hope that is the reason you keep checking in. Just to see, "What will Seth write that will challenge my thinking on the theological implications of my life?"

You might agree, you might disagree, but I hope you never come to this blog without getting pushed to make you think about your convictions. That is my desire. I don't care if we agree, I just hope you can have a defense biblically for why you are convicted about certain things.

So, to give you a reminder of where we have been this year, let's take a look:

Probably the number one thing that this blog has ever contributed and is hopefully going to get published is the 10 Steps to Become a Legalist. Guaranteed you have been offended at some point while reading these. I still have the 10th step to get to and the conclusion so if you haven't been offended, you either need to read them again, or I will try my best to get you with the last two posts on the subject. I have received many emails, comments, etc. on these posts and have enjoyed writing on the subject because I used to be, and continue to be, a legalist in certain areas in my life.

Another thing that completely hit off the charts was the live blogging I did at the Resurgence Conference which then lead to MacArthur making comments against contextualization that were absurd and lead to a world wide blog war against MacArthur, Busenitz and Phil Johnson. Like most things, it was edifying to work through the issues, too strong at points and just plain funny on other points.

I definitely covered a wide variety of subjects this year. From smoking, boring preachers, contemporary Christian "music", divorce, politics, etc. But, the two that definitely brought the most attention was harsh language and calling James White a hypercalvinist.

I still stand by my posts on harsh language and the video that Paul Tripp did for the Desiring God Conference this year. Much was said, much was debated, but I was right and most of what others said against it was crap. We learned further that Steve Camp is headed down the proverbial road to crazyville and taking his clones with him. Sad where he has headed on this road. But, you know what they say, if you believe you are a leader and you turn around and no one is following you are just out on a long walk. So, I hope he has fun trying to continue to bash Tripp, Piper and Driscoll on this matter. But, I hope that he goes at it alone.

The second one was calling James White a hypercalvinist. Strange what happens when you use those words. What is interesting is we saw what kind of guy he is. He challenged me on his radio show, made some pretty crass remarks, asked me to prove my point, which I did, and he never followed up. He seems to like to do this. He calls people out and doesn't follow up, which is disheartening. I know he moved on to deal with others that made similar remarks, but if his challenge wasn't serious I wish he would have just left my blog out of it. Oh well, you know what they say, any publicity is good publicity. I guess this "young man" who hasn't read any of White's books (?) will stay anonymous (I wonder why he has a double standard with Turretinfan?) and just keep blogging about things that are over my head. I am sure that James White will want to debate someone on the subject, as that is the only way to make him happy: to have a debate. We should debate sometime on why debating doesn't really get anywhere but usually ends up just tearing each other up.

It has definitely been a fun year with more to come. I hope you keep reading and challenging my convictions and conclusions. And know that if you comment anonymously I will poke fun at you because you are probably from my church. So what have we learned this year on Contend?

We have learned that God's desire is for us to edify each other with harsh words because we are all in some way legalists, but God desires for us to all love him.

So, my conclusion for 2008?

Shut up and quit being a legalist. Oh yeah, God loves you. Even you, you cult leader, trying to lead my readers astray. You know who you are.

Til next year. Have a good one.