An Old Kind of Christian

2008-08-20T18:04:00.006-04:00

Purpose Driven Death Missions Conference

Here is the description of the conference (it looks amazing):

To Every Tribe Ministries is pleased to announce that
Dr. John Piper will be the featured speaker along with our own David Sitton, founder of TETM and another speaker soon to be determined.

The Purpose Driven Death Mission Conference aims:

1. To make much of Christ for the Romans 15:20 regions of the world
2. To challenge believers to pursue the privilege of radical mission to
unreached peoples
3. To pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out harvesters

Online registration is now open - www.toeverytribe.com

Plan to join us for this national conference and please pray for TETM as we
continue to take our strategic place in taking the gospel to the unreached.

May the Lord move quickly to save sheep and establish churches in the
hard to get to, least reached places!

Missionary suffering, even martyrdom itself, is part of the strategy that God
intentionally employs to advance the gospel. The Lord sometimes uses the death
of his disciples for the swifter extension of the Kingdom of God into hostile regions.

Risking our lives for the gospel is where we experience the joy of knowing Christ in
the fellowship of his sufferings. A death for the gospel is a Purpose-Driven Death.

David Sitton, President
To Every Tribe Ministries

2008-08-08T11:38:00.004-04:00

Advice for Young Christian Leaders: An Interview with Wayne Grudem by Mark Driscoll

Here is a snipet from the interview:

I asked him which doctrines he would encourage young Christian leaders to devote themselves to studying as they prepare for what potentially lies ahead theologically. He said that for such a weighty question he would prefer to thoughtfully craft an answer, but did give two recommendations in the moment:

1. Scripture — He said that every issue ultimately hinges on one’s view of the inerrancy, authority, and truthfulness of Scripture in every way. He encourages all young Christian leaders to make sure that deep within them is a love for and trust in every word of Scripture as God’s perfect revelation to us.

2. Authority — He said that he sees authority as a pervasive problem in our culture. As we talked, it became clear that what he meant is that people profess to be Christians yet refuse to submit to God’s authority, including Scripture, and people God has ordained to be in loving authority, such as godly parents and pastors.

He summarized his points by saying that he aspires for Christians to believe whatever God says and obey whatever God commands.

For the complete interview go here.

HT: Justin Taylor

2008-08-04T17:24:00.000-04:00

Facebook in Reality

A real reality check!

2008-08-04T17:09:00.002-04:00

Jesus, Be the Center by Michael Frye

May you alone be what we live for Jesus, not self; by your grace and for your glory, Amen.

Jesus be the center
Be my source be my light Jesus
Jesus be the center
Be my song Jesus

Be the fire in my heart
Be the wind in my sails
Be the reason that I live

Jesus Jesus
Jesus be my vision
Be my help
Be my guide Jesus

2008-08-04T17:02:00.002-04:00

When It's All Been Said and Done by Robin Mark

God, may this be true of my life and everyone who reads this. In Jesus name, Amen.

When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth?
Did I live my life for you?

When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I have done
For love's rewards
Will stand the test of time

Lord, your mercy is so great
That you look beyond our weakness
That you found purest gold in miry clay
Turning sinners into saints

I will always sing your praise
Here on earth and in heaven after
For you've joined me at my true home
When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone.

2008-07-15T16:39:00.004-04:00

Review of N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope by Professor Thomas Schreiner

See his very helpful 9 Marks review here.

HT: Kerux Noemata

2008-07-15T13:47:00.002-04:00

12 Sins We Blame on Others

Desiring God has this insightful post here.

HT: Julian Freeman

2008-07-15T10:07:00.005-04:00

Faithful Anglican Protests During Gene Robinson's Sermon

Openly gay US bishop Gene Robinson was forced to halt a sermon at a west London church after being called on to repent. You can watch the video here.

May God give more young people courage like this young man to stand up for truth and for the gospel. I am thankful for this young man: for his faithfulness, his boldness, his love for Christ, his love for the church, and his love for the truth.

HT: Challies

2008-07-03T13:25:00.002-04:00

God is Not Dead Yet

William Lane Craig writes an article in Christianity Today on how current philosophers argue for God's existence here.

HT: Justin Taylor

2008-07-03T13:20:00.003-04:00

Recommended Reading by William Lane Craig on the Existence of God

Christianity Today posts his list here.

HT: Justin Taylor

2008-07-02T17:37:00.003-04:00

Tim Keller on the Importance of Hell

See the article here.

HT: Tullian Tchividjian

2008-07-02T16:34:00.004-04:00

Quote of the Day: The Power of God's Word

Martin Luther said:

I simply taught, preached, wrote God's Word: otherwise I did nothing. And when, while I slept or drank Wittenberg beer with my Philip and my Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a Prince or Emperor inflicted such damage upon it. The Word did it all.

R. Kent Hughes, "Preaching: God's Word to the World Today" in The Coming Evangelical Crisis (Chicago: Moody, 1996), 96.

May we live, think, walk, pray, meditate, teach, preach, on this Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) the rest of our lives. Amen!

2008-07-01T13:41:00.003-04:00

Fighting Covetousness by Looking to Others?

In his latest Taste and See, John Piper has a helpful meditation on this topic here.

2008-06-17T13:18:00.001-04:00

Recommended Summer Reading by Tim Keller

This excellent list is avaliable here.

2008-06-15T18:17:00.004-04:00

Which Jesus?

I am now at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary ready to study Greek for the next two months. I guy just called my new GCTS friend and asked about how to answer people who ask: "how we can trust the gospel accounts of Jesus when there are so many other "gospels" out there?" (e.g. the Gospel of Thomas). Here is an excellent, readable, and comprehensive short article by Dr. Craig Blomberg called "Jesus of Nazareth: How Historians Can Know Him and Why it Matters." It is something that you can give to those who ask, and better yet read it for yourself.

2008-06-03T19:25:00.002-04:00

What Preaching Is

David Wells in his new book The Courage to be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers and Emergents in the Postmodern World says the following concerning preaching:

"Preaching is not a conversation, a chat about some interesting ideas. It is not the moment in which postmoderns hear their own private messages in the biblical words, one unique to each one who hears, and then go their own way. No! This is God speaking! He speaks through the stammering lips of the preacher where that preacher's mind is on the text of Scripture and his heart is in the presence of God. God, as Luther put it, lives in the preacher's mouth.

This is the kind of preaching that issues a summons, which nourishes the soul, which draws the congregation into the very presence of God so that no matter what aspect of his character, his truth, his working in this world is in focus, we leave with awe, gratitude, encouragement, and sometimes a rebuke. We have been in the very presence of God! That is what great preaching always does" (page 230)

HT: Matt Harmon

2008-06-03T17:09:00.004-04:00

Ministry Can Be Dangerous to Your Spiritual Health

Tim Keller has an eye opening article on this subject in the Reedeemer Report (March 2007). I especially like his point that one can "mistake the operations of your spiritual gifts for the operation of spiritual grace in your life" (page 1) the danger being that:

we can look to our ministry activity as evidence that God is with us, or as a way to earn God’s favor and prove ourselves. If our heart remembers the gospel, and is rejoicing in our justification and adoption, then our ministry is done as a sacrifice of thanksgiving —and the result will be that our ministry is done in love, humility, patience, and tenderness. But our heart may be continuing to do the same self-justification it has always done—seeking to control God and others by earning and proving our worth—through our ministry performance (page 4).

For more Tim Keller Resources and links to articles such as these go to this site.

2008-06-03T12:48:00.002-04:00

Messages from the Dwell Church Planting Conference

Here's the audio from the 2008 Dwell Conference in New York:

Dwelling with Non-Christians (Darrin Patrick)

Dwelling in the Gospel (Tim Keller)

Dwelling thru the Text (Mark Driscoll)

Persuasion (Tim Keller)

Dwelling in the Text (Mark Driscoll)

Dwelling in the Cross (C.J. Mahaney)

Dwelling in the Kingdom (Ed Stetzer)

Dwelling Incarnationally (Eric Mason)

HT: Justin Taylor

2008-06-02T23:43:00.001-04:00

How to Read 500 Books a Year

This is how D.A. Carson does it.

HT: Unashamed Workman

2008-06-02T23:39:00.003-04:00

Wise Thoughts for Young Pastors by Iain Murray

Here are six points from veteran pastor Iain Murray directed especially at young pastors:

1. It has been the practice for many ministers to be away from the routine and to look closely at our lives in the light of eternity. This is a valuable practice—taking a day per month or a few days per year.
2. Watch your own temperament. If you love being out and about you probably need to be in your study more; if you love to be in your study you may need to be out and about more.
3. Read the best books and only the best and read them with a pencil in your hand or with some other system so you can recall even years later what you’ve learned.
4. Be sure you do not let emails and web sites control your priorities.
5. We need very carefully to avoid losing time on controversies. Sometimes it is necessary but most often it is not.
6. Do not “see” in your churches what you cannot change. In most churches there are things we’d like to see changed but that we can’t change. Sometimes it is good not to see such things—to just ignore them. It is better not to see a disputable matter that can disrupt the whole church.

HT: Unashamed Workman

Update: Tim Challies summarizes the whole message by Iain Murray in which the above is from here.

2008-06-02T23:33:00.002-04:00

Should We Make the Gospel Larger?

You may be surprised by Mark Dever's response, but I think that he is right.

2008-06-02T17:57:00.003-04:00

Just for Starters

I have just started going through a Matthias Media Bible study called Just for Starters with some young believers at the Drop-in that I run. It is excellent for discipling new believers and for brushing up on the basics. As we were studying Romans 5:8-9:

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God (ESV).

I had never noticed before the difference between salvation and justification. Justification is being declared right with God in the present and salvation is being saved from the wrath of God on the last day.

I highly recommend you do it with a friend (but if you do, also purchase Preparing Just for Starters; they are all available at the Matthias Media store).

2008-06-02T17:32:00.003-04:00

The Shack

There has been a lot of discussion and talk of the recent spiritual/theological novel called The Shack by Canadian William Young (no, I have not read it yet). I have heard many different perspectives on the book by people who love God.

Here is a comprehensiveness and thoughtful review by Canadian Tim Challies (you can print it out and give it to people).

Here is a recent news article in USA Today.

HT: Justin Taylor

2008-05-31T23:03:00.007-04:00

Keeping Up Your Greek

If you have done a year of Biblical Greek at Bible College, University, or Seminary and have lost it or would like to keep it up, Lee Irons has advice on reading through the Greek New Testament year by year and has also prepared a one year calendar for doing it. He also has put together syntactical notes on the Greek New Testament, which you can get to by scrolling down this page until you see the heading “Greek New Testament.”

Commenting on reading through the Greek New Testament, Jim Hamilton says the following:

He is also putting together syntactical notes on the Greek New Testament, which you can get to by scrolling down this page until you see the heading “Greek New Testament.”
If you decide to read through the Greek New Testament, be careful. The things in that book got most of its authors killed, and when people have taken it seriously in the history of the church, crazy things like the Reformation have happened and some folks even got themselves burned at the stake.
The Greek New Testament is decidedly unsafe. If you embrace it, you will be hated (see John 15:18-20). To paraphrase Lester De Koster: there it is, throbbing on your desk, the living word of God.

HT: Jim Hamilton

2008-05-31T13:00:00.002-04:00

How to Waste Your Theological Education

Here are 45 ways to do so. This was very convicting for me. I am gulity of many of these. God, please forgive me. In Jesus name, Amen.

HT: Justin Taylor