5 IDEAS - AN INTRODUCTION TO LABRI - DICK KEYES - 1984 SOUNDWORD LABRI CONFERENCE VIDEO

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:

1. Christianity as Truth
2. The Reality of the Super-Natural / The Necessity of Prayer
3. The Humanness of Spirituality / Engaging the Mind in Spirituality
4. Living in the Shadow of the Fall
5. 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:

1. 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? 
2. 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? 
3. 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?
4. 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.

SOUDWORD SCHAEFFER VIDEO PROGRESS

Work continues on the Soundword L'Abri Conference videos and we are over half way through the capture process! We are already making some major discoveries that are sure to stir up interest. Some of these are just a greater realization of what we are working with. However, others are more significant in relation to understanding Schaeffer's thought.


Note: if you are just finding out about the video project read this related post.

Firstly, as we anticipated, we are finding that there is slightly more content that was originally described on the labels. In the case of one of the Introductions to L'Abri tapes we found, for example, we also had material from L'Abri workers such as Dick Keyes, Richard Winter, Hank Hervormddussen of Dutch L'Abri and Udo Middelmann. So we were really overjoyed to see these "young men" speaking on the work of L'Abri.

Dick Keyes

Hank Hervormddussen

Dr. Richard Winter

Udo Middlemann

Yet, the other category of findings are in relation to common questions asked in regard to Schaeffer even today. These come out in the Q & A segments, where Schaeffer fields these questions. Here are just a couple:

1. Is Schaeffer a Reconstructionist? You'll be able to hear him answer this question in his own words!
2. How is Schaeffer's apologetic different than Cornelius Van Til? Schaeffer fields this question as well.
3. What should we do to evangelize our culture and stand for truth? What role does spirituality have in this? (Note: That Schaeffer's lecture was in relation to politics.)  Schaeffer's answer is pretty much a lecture within itself... and we can tell you that you will not want to miss this one!

Next Steps?

Our plans are to begin to release a few of the more significant segments such as the ones mentioned above and then release items in both larger portions and also the full un-cut videos that have been selected by our Facebook Group.

However, some of the Q & A content is so substantial, that we have decided to launch a new project called Schaeffer FAQ, in which we answer common questions we are regularly asked about Schaeffer with video from Schaeffer himself.

Expect some more immediate small segment releases shortly!

Providence!
Dan Guinn