Fall is when the work of FrancisSchaefferStudies begins to pick up and we are still working through a huge back log of video, so I thought it would be good to give you an update of various projects and events that we will be working on to bring you up to date. Here is a list:
Soundword/L'Abri Conference Videos - We still have many more to release, but we are working through them!
FSS Fall Class - In just a few short weeks we will be starting a study on Art and the Bible, so watch for updates on this!
Schaeffer Scholars (.com/.org) - We are launching a new site that will highlight the story of Schaeffer scholars, starting with the most prominent from L'Abri. We will launch this in stages throughout the end of 2014 and through 2015, and beyond.
Think It Through Conference, Oct. 17th - Dan will be speaking at the Think It Through Apologetics Conference in Manhattan, KS on "Why Every Apologist Needs to Read Francis Schaeffer." We are hoping to record this lecture.
St. Louis L'Abri Conference, Oct 18th - We hope to make it to St. Louis the next day, to cover the "To Walk Humbly with your God – True Spirituality in an Age of Counterfeits" conference.
Previous Class Video - We have a ton of class video footage that we will soon begin to release, from previous classes.
Scholar Sites - FSS is assisting some of our favorite Schaeffer scholars with some personal/ministry web sites! We are very excited about releasing these!
The FSS Studio - We have started work on an internal studio for video and production. This will allow us the means to create video more readily and produce much more valuable content. Watch for more information on this soon!
FrancisSchaefferStudies.org Phase 3 Redesign - FrancisSchaefferStudies.org will also be undergoing an upgrade to allow for new features. Watch for more on this as well!
Thanks for following along with us on social media and your support with prayers. As you might know, we do all of these projects and work as a free service to the Francis Schaeffer community. We fund ourselves in these endeavors by doing additional technical work to support the needs of the projects. Your continued prayer is much appreciated! Again, watch for updates as we work through our fall schedule.
Dr. Schaeffer, in this vintage lecture from 1983 (project info), deals with the matter of terminology and connotations. How often have we seen the Biblical Christian characterized and marginalized in our culture? Yet, how often have we seen the very believers who supposedly hold such positions, abuse the terminology as well? In the eyes of our culture, the Fundamentalist is often defined by both real and perceived legalism. Likewise, the later term Evangelical, is often characterized by a salesman salvation, lack of intellectual standing, moral hypocrisy, and what may be construed as purely negative political views.
Names like these, have not only become buzz words for slander, but their stereotypes have also remained a feature in the church and a model for many, even under criticism. Schaeffer warns us not to live up to the stereotypes as the world defines them, but to be the type of Christians that stand for change that the world truly needs. A change that demonstrates Truth. Truth that demands loving confrontation, but honest truth nonetheless, with a spirituality not based on a false pietism.
This video is from the 1983 L'Abri Conference in Atlanta recorded by Soundword Associates. The lecture, is one that Schaeffer previously had given on May 11, 1983 in Minneapolis at the Evangelical Press Association Convention. A transcript of this lecture is available here: http://edmontonbpc.org/wp/2012/02/names-and-issues-by-francis-schaeffer/
We have released this video in it's full form with the rather lengthy Q&A intact, as Dr. Schaeffer's answer to the questions are perhaps even more valuable than the lecture itself, which many already know of. It is our plan to release these in smaller segment forms in the future, so watch for these! May you be stirred by this powerful lecture!
One of the most wonderful highlights of rediscovering these old Soundword L'Abri conference videos is the significant messages that capture the core thought of L'Abri in such concise ways. They show, yet again, how revolutionary these concepts actually are, even now. In this, our third release, Dick Keyes chooses five significant points to cover that display the hallmark notions of L'Abri. While these may be common to those familiar with L'Abri, many may yet be new to these concepts. Here they are, but I ask you to please take time to watch the 15 minute video to get more context from the excellent observations for Mr. Keyes:
Christianity as Truth
The Reality of the Super-Natural / The Necessity of Prayer
The Humanness of Spirituality / Engaging the Mind in Spirituality
Living in the Shadow of the Fall
The Lordship of Christ in the Whole of Life
The reason why I request you watch the video, even if you are familiar with these concepts, is that one will quickly note in hearing of these five points of emphasis is that we may likely be nudged to ask ourselves, "How have we done in conveying these notions?" Ask yourself these questions:
Have we done enough to dispel the myths of the efficacy of the cold, dead, casual, lukewarm, Christianity that views Christianity as some sort of disconnected belief system not connected with us personally in reality?
Have we emphasized enough a spirituality that is connected with reality, that engages both the heart and mind and is capable of igniting our passions for worship, service and life?
Have we conveyed the real realities of what it means to live in a fallen world instead of the weak plastic platitudes of the false-pietism of abusive legalism or it's counterpart of all-inclusivism?
Have we plumbed the depths of the truest definitions and understandings of Christianity? Have we truly considered what the Lordship of Christ in the whole of life actually means?
To our shame, as Christians, perhaps these notions have remained in many respects simply L'Abri points of emphasis, even though they are truly Christian concepts. As Dick Keyes identifies in the video,
...these [ideas] are not
something we have a corner on, they are the property of the whole
Christian Church, but we do find that they are peculiarly under-emphasized
today.
This begs the question, "Why?" Why, some 30 years after the filming of this lecture, are these still notions of L'Abri ideas and not the part of the emphasis of the church as a whole? Even with international exposure and popularity, Dr. Schaeffer still remained frustrated that these paraphrases of the classic Christian faith that he had been preaching much of his life, were largely not being grasped and employed. Much analysis can be done to historically isolate the misguided failures and entanglements of modern Evangelicalism. Yet, we must consider that righting a large ship might just start with thousands of small adjustments and not one swift unanimous turn. The turn should involve highlighting and teaching the most valuable truths of the Christian faith, which is, itself the answer to the dilemma the world finds itself in. L'Abri has never taken a posture of arrogance, or postured itself against other groups, but has consistently strived to proclaim the truth in a fallen world, helping as many as will listed. To their credit, this has also served to preserve the message, a message balanced in truth and love. As we press on, we also must continue to proclaim truth, being true to our risen Lord, in spite of the error we see both in and outside the church.
As you watch this video, think about these things, ponder how you can bring about reformation and revival.
Without much fanfare, a month ago, we quietly released the second of the Sound Word L'Abri Conference Videos. This time we were privileged to release Edith Schaeffer's lecture on Common Sense Christian Living (Nehemiah). The lecture is on the last chapter of her book entitled Common Sense Christian Living.
Edith mentions in the first portions of the video that the book is based on a film series by the same title. This films are now rare and hard to find, but was reportedly a five part series divided into the following sections: Part 1. & 2.) Continuity in Family. 3. & 4.) What is Real Spirituality? 5.) What is Prayer. The book is organized differently but expands on that content.
The book release and this lecture take place in the early part of 1983 in which Edith Schaeffer was 68 years old. The last chapter of the book, that Edith reads from and discusses in this lecture, is entitled "Sensible Balance in Building and Battle" and speaks in regard to the example of Nehemiah.
The story of Nehemiah is of course the return of Israel to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the walls wherein the Israelites found themselves performing the dual task of rebuilding for the future and fighting off those trying to thwart their efforts. I can think of very few illustrations that so parallel and typifies the life of the Christian in a post-Christian world. For while we seek to rebuild and reform culture, we often find ourselves battling on every side, with forces who wish to tear down. While the illustration is not literal, in the sense that we are not doing physical battle, we are however to strive to apply Christian principles, and resist the ungodly spirit of the age. At times we feel torn between building and battling, but both must be our task. We must have a true basis of spirituality and foundation in Christ or else we might find ourselves in despair, seeing only losses and not seeing the spiritual victories that are won amidst even the darkest of circumstances, and being true to the truth of scriptures and our savior's message of hope.
Edith here speaks with much wisdom, to relevant matters to Christians in our time. How do we live the Lordship of Christ in the whole of life, when our culture is categorized by many, including Francis Schaeffer, as post-Christian?
There was another age in which war was constantly on the church's doorstep, while the church was trying to reform, and that was the Protestant Reformation. For this reason, I think one possible summary for the book, might be "Common Sense Cultural Reformation."We hope you will enjoy the video and take this very relevant message to heart!
It's hard to believe that francisschaefferstudies.org is three years old, and that so much has happened in such a short amount of time. Within just three years we were blessed to be able to put on our first mini-conference called The Francis Schaeffer Centennial honoring Schaeffer's 100th birthday, recorded several live events, taught four Schaeffer semester classes, created our first documentary (for the Francis Schaeffer Collection at SEBTS), interviewed eight scholars for the Francis Schaeffer Legacy Project and created over 50 videos. Thousands have visited the web site in both it's early and revised form and we have had over 30,000 views on the blog. Social media, particularly Facebook has really taken off, where the fan page has 1700+ followers and the group has over 500 members. Some of our proudest achievements have been ones that are more dear to our heart; historical preservation. We have been blessed to find and recover numerous historical documents and items in our acquisitions project that have been digitized and shared with other Schaeffer organizations. We can only stand amazed at all that has happened and are so thankful for all that God has provided and the many friends we have met along the way. We are thankful for you all!
In three years our goals have been to accomplish three things:
To Be a Resource: To be a fan site and resources for the promotion and study of the works of Francis and Edith Schaeffer.
For the Next Generation: To assist in passing the works of Francis &
Edith Schaeffer to the next generation and make their thought and
teaching more accessible for general inquiry.
To Provide a Service: To be a service to the Francis Schaeffer and L'Abri community.
Our primary foundations have really been three core principles:
Honoring Leadership Biblically: To be mindful of the Biblical principle of leadership and the instruction to "Remember
your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the
outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7
ESV)
Preserving Legacy:To be careful to be mindful of the legacy of Francis and Edith Schaeffer and preserve their history and message as closely as possible.
Total Lordship: To effectively communicate the Lordship of Christ in the whole of life, which was the foundational principle of the Schaeffer's message.
Our goals for the coming year are to build on our three goals and stick to our primary motivations. Our list of projects for the future is as full as the list of accomplishments God has allowed. We continue to praise God for His provision, as His hand as been evident in every step of this work. We hope that you will join us in prayer and follow along as we continue to provide this free service.
