Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

THE APOSTLE PAUL'S LETTER TO TITUS, CHAPTER. 2: 11 - 14

These inspired words encapsulate the Gospel of Christ beautifully. They give identity, stability, hope, and meaning to our lives.  William Barclay offers a fresh translation which communicates the message particularly well.

11 For the grace of God has broken into history for the salvation of all men.  12 It is training us to renounce the life in which God is banished from the scene, and in which the world's desires hold sway, and in this age to live a well-ordered, upright and godly life, 13 while all the time we are waiting for our blessed hope to be realized, when the splendour of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ bursts upon the world.  14  He gave himself for us, to liberate us from all wickedness and to make us a people purified to be his own, and eager to live a noble life. 

JOHN LENNOX Q&A WITH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE FAROE ISLANDS

I enjoyed this Q&A very much.  I found it's slow pace agreeable and John Lennox's responses as helpful as ever.  I have blogged about Dr. Lennox in the past here, here and here.  Lennox teaches mathematics at Oxford University and is one of the foremost exponents of Christian faith today,   The sound comes on around the 28 second mark. 

 

CHRISTIAN ASTRONOMER HUGH ROSS QUESTIONS JOHN HAGEE'S "FOUR BLOOD MOONS" THESIS

In a two-part article, astronomer Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe Ministry expresses disagreement with Rev. John Hagee's perspective on the significance of "Four Blood Moons." 

Ross writes:

Popular Bible preacher John Hagee has authored a book and produced a movie by the same name, Four Blood Moons (in theaters March 23, April 9th). On the film’s website the San Antonio megachurch pastor states, “The heavens are ‘God’s billboard.’ He’s been sending signals to earth, and we haven’t been picking them up.” In part 1 of this series, as an astronomer I analyzed those “signals,” a series of four (tetrad) total lunar eclipses that supposedly ushers in prophetic activity ahead of the return of Christ. Now, as a student of Scripture and as one who believes in premillennial eschatology, I convey my primary, biblical criticism.

Blood Moons: An End-Time Sign? (Part 1 of 1)

Blood Moons: An End-Time Sign?  (Part 2 of 2)

JEREMY BEGBIE - THE TRINITY SEEN FROM A MUSICOLOGIST STANDPOINT

I am pondering this . . .  

 

NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR N.T. WRIGHT IN DIALOG AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY ON THE BIBLE

Last night before putting my hands in the dish pit to tackle a pile of dirty dishes (we have human dishwashers at our home!), I went to get my tablet to see if I might profitably feed my mind while doing the dishes.  I happened on an engaging dialog on the Bible featuring world famous New Testament scholar N.T. Wright and Harvard Professor of Philosophy Sean Kelly, a dialog moderated by Jay Harris, the Dean of Undergraduate Education and Professor of Jewish Studies  at Harvard.    N.T. Wright joins encyclopedic knowledge to gracious and entertaining verbal dexterity.  Professor Sean Kelly, for his part, displays disarming honesty and humility that I found quite winsome.  The opportunity to view dialogs like this on the internet would astonish previous generations and make them drool!

 

My previous blogs on N.T. Wright:

     N.T. Wright Interview on Life After Life After Death  (27 minutes)  (An interview occasioned by his book,  "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.")

     N.T. Wright: "After You Believe" (A Review)

     N.T. Wright --  Easter Ought to be an Eight-Day Celebration

See also:

     N.T. Wright Page - an uofficial web page dedicated to the works of N.T. Wright

     YouTube videos featuring N.T. Wright 

     Books by N. T. Wright

THREE TALKS BY TIM KELLER GUARANTEED TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Tim Keller is the pastor of 5,000 member Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.  He is, in my judgment, the most insightful, articulate and persuasive preacher in the world today.  Not only can he communicate to church people, he can also communicate to secularists and non-believers in down-to earth, compelling, reasonable, persuasive language.  I have posted three videos below, all delivered in secular settings.

The talk below on The Reason for God was delivered at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.  It draws on his book of the same title.  (Picture begins at the 9 second mark)

 

 

This video records Keller speaking at Google in New York City, this time invited to speak on the title of his book  - The Meaning of Marriage  (Picture begins at the 7 second mark)

 

-- "You Never Marry the Right Person" - an excerpt from Keller's book discussing one of the points in the talk

 

And finally, here is Tim Keller speaking in Cambridge, England on the subject of his book Counterfeit Gods. 

 

 Previous Tim Keller posts on this blog:

ELLEN HARMON WHITE - FOUNDER OF SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISM

LaVonne Neff reviews Ellen Harmon White: American Prophet and writes 

Adventists are everywhere: there are 18 million of them worldwide (and only 15 million Mormons). They have made major contributions to American culture: corn flakes, veggie burgers, so-called creation scientists. More important, at least to history buffs, White's story is the story of 19th-century America in microcosm.

 Me:  I was shocked to read there are more Adventists than Mormons, and that by quite a lot.  I wonder if that figure is accurate.  Read more of Neff's review...

N.T. WRIGHT INTERVIEW ON "LIFE AFTER LIFE AFTER DEATH"

N.T. Wright talks fast!  But everything he says is stimulating and worth hearing.  Wright is without doubt the most prolific and respected N.T. Scholar alive today.  No seminarian can study the New Testament without encountering N.T. Wright.   Here he offers an interview occasioned by his book,  "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church."

 

I have not yet read Wright's Surprised by Hope.   Fortunately, Jonathan Pedrone has left a valuable Amazon review which I think worth publishing here as well:

N.T. Wright has written another brilliant work echoing he previously published masterpiece on the resurrection [The Resurrection of the Son of God]. Wright's expounds on a Christian hope firmly rooted in the Biblical narrative that longs for new creation.

In a world where the radio orthodoxy of Christianity espouses a gospel of fire insurance, Wright correctly and articulates a gospel and hope for so much more than disembodied bliss. "God's Kingdom in the preaching of Jesus refers not to postmortem destiny, not to our escape from this world into another one, but to God's sovereign rule coming on earth as it is in heaven".

Our hope according to Wright is not "going to heaven when you die" but rather in life after life after death. We hope not for an escape from this earth, but to the glorious day when God will make all things new.

D.A. Carson: How Can We Reconcile the Old Testament God and the New Testament God?

ht: Justin Taylor

QUICK TAKES

  --  Kathleen Parker - To Defeat poverty, look to marriage   Negative rhetoric on marriage needs overcoming

  --  National Organization for Marriage - Stop this contempt for the constitution

  --  U.K. Guardian - Daughter of atheist parents wants to be baptized

  --  Andrew Spencer -What is the Prosperity Gospel?

  --  Denys O'Leary -  In Search of a Road to Reality  "The new cosmologies are not shedding much light, except on the sheer power of the human imagination."

THEOLOGICAL FORUM AT TRINITY EVANGELICAL DIVINITY SCHOOL (VIDEO)

February 3, 2010 | How and When Will All Israel Be Saved? A Theological/Missiological Conversation on Scripture, the End-Times, and Jewish Evangelism

Participants | Dr. Mitch Glaser (Chosen People Ministries); Dr. Douglas Moo (Wheaton College); Dr. Willem VanGemeren (TEDS); Dr. John Feinberg (TEDS)

Moderator | Dr. Richard Averbeck (TEDS)

On February 3, 2010, from 7pm-9:30 in ATO Chapel at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, the Henry Center, in conjunction with Chosen People Ministries, hosted a conversation entitled “‘All Israel’ and the Church: A Conversation on Scripture, Eschatology, and Evangelism”. Conversational partners included Dr. Mitch Glaser of CPM, Dr. Douglas Moo of Wheaton College, Dr. Willem VanGemeren of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Dr. John Feinberg of TEDS, and the moderator, Dr. Richard Averbeck of TEDS. The event was free and open to the public.

The following provided avenues for discussion:

In Romans 11 Paul makes the case that God has not cast off his people Israel, despite their rejection as a nation of Jesus, their Messiah. His final argument that God isn’t finished with Israel is that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:25-27). What did Paul mean and how will this come to pass? Who constitutes “Israel,” the biological seed of Abraham or his spiritual seed? Is the salvation in view spiritual, national, socio-economical, or all of these? Has this promise been fulfilled during the NT era by individual Jews and Gentiles turning to Christ and hence “filling up” the “all Israel?” Or is the promise to be fulfilled in the end-times at the return of Christ? If the latter, will only those biologically Jewish be saved, or will there also be a massive turning to Christ among the Gentiles? Whatever the answers to such questions, what are the implications for how Christians should understand the modern state of Israel? And, of most practical importance, how should one’s understanding of Rom 11:25-27 impact one’s attitudes toward and efforts in evangelizing Jews?

The event was webcasted live and live-blogged by the Center.

Part One | Video | Audio

Part Two | Video | Audio

DR. BEN WITHERINGTON III OFFERS A SHORT, PUNGENT INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL OF MARK

This overview of Mark's gospel is full of insight.  Dr. Witherington is one of the top New Testament scholars in the world today.  He teaches at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.

Previous blog posts related to the Bible:

FRANK VIOLA - RETHINKING PAUL'S "THORN IN THE FLESH"

AN INTERVIEW WITH CRAIG BLOMBERG ON JESUS AND THE RELIABILITY OF THE GOSPELS

The New Roman Roads: Technology and Bible Reading

ROBERT J. DECKER: "AN EVALUATION OF THE 2011 EDITION NEW iNTERNATIONAL VERSION BIBLE"

CANONICITY - WHICH ANCIENT BOOKS BELONG IN THE BIBLE?

TIM KELLER ON BIBLE INTERPRETATION: "OLD TESTAMENT LAW AND THE CHARGE OF INCONSISTENCY"

Dr. Ben Witherington - Jesus and Women

                           - click below for many more blog posts . . .

C.S. LEWIS -- HERE IS A ONE-STOP RESOURCE SITE

Here's a wonderful listing of C.S. Lewis quotes, bibliographies, and articles about C.S. Lewis.   How convenient and helpful!  And speaking of C.S. Lewis, here's a site that gives us an audio recording of C.S. Lewis speaking over the BBC using the text that would later become part of Mere Christianity.   The site also presents C.S. Lewis in his own voice reading the introduction to The Great Divorce.

Tilda Swinton played the White Witch in the latest movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.   In an interview she offers her perspective on how she sought to portray her character saying,

 It's not always necessarily the most frightening thing for small children to be shouted at.  Children shout and get hot themselves all the time, and in my experience it's actually a relief if you shout back at them.  Whereas the thing that's really unfathomable for children is a kind of coldness and emotional detachment; that's the thing they don't do.  So it occurred to me it would be more frightening to be faced with something really unaffectable.  You can't affect the Witch; you can't appeal to her; she's incapable of any compassion. Someone who gets angry is emotional; I thought it would be fun to shake up that stereotype.

Note:  I posted the above back on March 8, 2006.  Jennifer, an alert reader, wrote me that the first link was broken.  She supplied me with a link to the C.S. Lewis section of the Online University which I used as a replacement for the broken link.   Anyone interested in C.S. Lewis will find an incredible wealth of material at the Online University website.   Particularly astonishing to me is the availability of some of Lewis's full essays such as "Meditation in a Toolshed" (a must-read classic!!), "On the Reading of Old Books," "We Have No Right to Happiness" (posted on a Muslim Sunni website!), "De Descriptione Temporum," and a link to the additional following essays from God in the Dock: "Is Progress Possible? Willing Slaves of the Welfare State",  "Man or Rabbit",  "What are we to Make of Jesus Christ?"  There are still many more essays available!  Amazing!!

VIDEOS: WHEATON COLLEGE 2012 THEOLOGY CONFERENCE ON BONHOEFFER

The official title of the April, 2012 Wheaton Theology conference,  was "Bonhoeffer, Christ, and Culture."  Videos and mp3s of the presentations are available here.

A stunning Bonhoeffer quote I read years ago continues to challenge me:

“Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin.  Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin.” - from Life Together

CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!

I was awakened this morning at 6:20 by my sister proclaiming with a shout: "Christ is risen!"  I groggily replied, "He is risen indeed!"  We had slept a bit late and had to hustle to get to the Easter morning sunrise service by 7:00 AM, but we made it!  And with five minutes to spare!  And what a glorious service it was!  A young man, speaking from his wheel chair, spoke with power, conviction, and joy of the fact of Christ's resurrection and it's implications for us as individuals and the world.  At the end he sang a solo, Stuart Townend's song, "See What a Morning!"  I had not heard that song before, but love it, and feel confident it will become a classic.  I've posted it below.  Enjoy!  And be encouraged!  Let the message of Christ's resurrection ring out throughout the world!

 

DAVID BROOKS - THE KILLER THAT IS INSIDE EACH OF US

I came upon David Brooks' article "When the Good Do Bad" via Charles Colson's Breakpoint article, "The Line Between Good and Evil."  Both articles ponder the tragedy of Staff Sargent Robert Bales, the U.S. soldier who allegedly murdered 16 Afghan civilians, including women and children.

Both meditations are worth reading.  In their own way, they make similar points.  From Colson's article, I appreciated his recounting Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's profoundly true observation:

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart.”

And,

“This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil.”

This is the extraordinary insight germane to the Christian understanding of reality and the human heart.  David Brooks understands and accepts this perspective.  He begins his article saying,

A DEBATE ON THE CONTINUATION OF PROPHECY

I found listening to the debate (below) that Justin Taylor posted a great accompaniment to doing a pile of dishes.   It's an "intramural" discussion between two Christian men on whether, or to what extent, "prophecy" continues among Christians and within Christian churches today. Taylor introduced the video as following:

Below is an hour-long debate/discussion between Ian Hamilton (Cambridge Presbyterian Church; Cambridge, England) and Wayne Grudem (Phoenix Seminary, Arizona) on the role and continuation of prophecy in the church today. Adrian Reynolds moderated the discussion, which took place at Proclamation Trust‘s 2010 Evangelical Ministry Assembly (EMA).

EMA 2010: discussion about prophecy from The Proclamation Trust on Vimeo.

Me: Though I see all kinds of dangers, and potential for abuse, yet I think Dr. Wayne Grudem has the firmer argument when he speaks in favor of a continuation of prophecy, narrowly defined, and with the Scriptural safeguards he expounds.   My personal experience has been in churches which shy away from such practice.  I'm wondering if believers engaged in more regular and earnest prayer, the practice would be different.

AUDIO OF J.I. PACKER'S CLASSIC - "KNOWING GOD" - AVAILABLE FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME

What a wonderful opportunity to hear this wonderful classic read professionally!  You can download the audiobook for J.I. Packer’s Knowing God for free here.   (HT: Justin Taylor)

The print version of Knowing God is available here, and the Kindle version here.

DEFINITION OF AN "EVANGELICAL"

Readers of this blog probably already know the definition of an "evangelical Christian," but in case not, Justyn Terry, Dean and President of Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA, offers an excellent, clarifying understanding:

The word "evangelical" is used in many different ways these days, and there is much debate about its meaning. My preference is for J.I. Packer's six distinctives of evangelicalism, which are endorsed by John Stott and Alister McGrath, all three of whom are prominent evangelical Anglicans.

1. The supreme authority of Scripture for knowledge of God and as guide to Christian living.
2. The majesty of Jesus Christ as incarnate God and Lord, and the saviour of sinful humanity.
3. The lordship of the Holy Spirit.
4. The need for personal conversion.
5. The priority of evangelism for both individual Christians and for the Church as a whole.
6. The importance of Christian community for spiritual nourishment, fellowship and growth.

For an exposition of these points, see Alister E. McGrath, Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity, Inter-Varsity Press, 1995, ch. 2, "Evangelical Distinctives").

HARRY JACKSON: THE CHURCHES OF CAIN AND OBAMA

This article by Bishop Jackson will be an eye-opener for those unfamiliar with theology's powerful influence on economic, political, and social positions.   Jackson writes:

When Herman Cain began singing "Amazing Grace" at the National Press Club on Monday, some believed he was trying to distract attention from the sexual harassment charges that had surfaced against him. But, as he explained, "My faith is a big part of who Herman Cain is." In fact, though he's decided to campaign on his background in business, Mr. Cain is an ordained minister and deeply religious man.

Like President Obama, Mr. Cain belongs to a mostly black congregation with a black pastor. But that is where the similarities end. Stark differences between the political philosophies of these two men may be rooted in their profoundly different theological heritages. The churches both men are (or in the case of Mr. Obama, were) longtime members of are known for liberal activism, but with notable differences in their views of scripture.

MARTIN LUTHER AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

This Monday (October 31) is Reformation Day, commemorating and celebrating the Reformation. It takes place each year on the anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Door on October 31, 1517.

Justin Taylor has assembled a wonderful list of resources.  I am sorely tempted to copy his entire post as it is so terrific (includes two videos).  Go over there and see for yourself!

Earlier, Taylor posted:

From the BBC/PBS “Empires” series (which you can watch for free on Amazon Instant Video with Prime), here is the second part of their two hour feature on Luther. The commentary has a bias toward explaining his legacy in terms of individuals standing against authority, but it’s still a helpful piece giving an overview of some key points in his life:

GREAT GRACE

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Pet. 4:8)

“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” (Prov. 19:11)

A powerful scene from the 1998 film version of Les Miserable:

 

HT: Justin Taylor, who is responsible for the Bible verses also

AFRICA'S ESSENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

It's only been recently that I've become aware of the new scholarly fascination with tracing the neglected African roots of Western Christianity.  Thomas Oden wrote in 2007  How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind and has a new book in press, The African Memory of Mark: Reassessing Early Church Tradition.  Last fall Inter-Varsity Press conducted a fascinating interview with Oden.  More information, he says, is available at www.earlyafricanchristianity.com

In his five-star review of How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind," Amazon reviewer C. Stephens wrote:

Thomas Oden writes, "Christianity would not have its present vitality in the Two-Thirds World without the intellectual understandings that developed in Africa between 50 and 500 C.E. The pretense of studying church history while ignoring African church history is implausible." (10) Yet, in his book "How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind," Oden purports that for centuries Western intellectuals have in fact ignored or downplayed the momentous contributions of African Christians to church history and theology. According to Oden, today's Christian mind has its roots in the writings and teachings of the early church leaders from Africa, in the struggles of the early church martyrs from Africa, in the lives of the desert Fathers of Africa, and in the early Christians who fled Africa taking their faith throughout the  Mediterranean cities. Oden suggests that it is critical for contemporary African Christianity to learn of its prestigious heritage--to learn that Christianity is a vital, traditional African faith rather than a foreign imposition.

He writes, "The profound ways African teachers have shaped world Christianity have never been adequately studied or acknowledged, either in the Global North or South." (9) This is a story that Oden believes needs to be told throughout African villages and cities and must especially reach the African child. He believes it is a story best told fully by young African scholars. The story of African Christianity conveys extraordinary faith, courage, tenacity and intellect that must serve as inspiration and guides not only for African Christianity but for universal Christianity today.

RICK WARREN (OF "PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE" FAME) IN DIALOG WITH PASTOR JOHN PIPER

This 98 minute video interview reveals a great deal about Rick Warren, his mind, and his theology.  Yes, it's long, but it's worth watching.   John Piper carefully goes through Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life," a book which sold more copies than any other non-fiction book in history, excepting the Bible.   Piper introduces the video below.  These two men show themselves to be humble, serious servants of the Living God.  

Piper:

This 98 minute interview that I did with Rick Warren was recorded on May 1, 2011, during the Desiring God Regional Conference at Saddleback Church. It's the fulfillment of a commitment we made when Rick was not able to come in person to the Desiring God National Conference in Minneapolis in October, 2010.

The nature of the interview is mainly doctrinal. I read Rick’s The Purpose Driven Life with great care. I brought 20 pages of quotes and questions to the interview. You will hear me quote the book dozens of times. With these quotes as a starting point I dig into Rick’s mind and heart on all the issues listed below (with the times that they begin on the video).

My aim in this interview is to bring out and clarify what Rick Warren believes about these biblical doctrines. In doing this my hope is that the thousands of pastors and lay people who look to Rick for inspiration and wisdom will see the profound place that doctrine has in his mind and heart.

Rick is not known for being a doctrinal preacher. One reason for this is his intention to be theologically sound and practically helpful without using doctrinal or theological terms in his public ministry. Inside of Saddleback there is a greater intentionality about building biblical and theological categories into the people’s minds and hearts.

Near the end of the interview, with great respect and appreciation for the stewardship of influence that Rick carries, I exhort him and pray for him that God will make the final chapter of his ministry a deepening one, that leaves a legacy of biblical and doctrinal truth more explicitly and firmly in the minds and hearts of the generations that will follow him.

Rick and I are very different in methodological instincts and inclinations. I take almost the exact opposite approach in preaching—wanting to make the theological categories explicit and to show how I got them from the text. But then I am not even close to the fruitful evangelist that Rick is.

We both have chosen risky ways. There are pitfalls of short- and long-term unfruitfulness. But in the end we do not govern the impact of our lives. God does. We do what the Bible and our hearts call us to do. I believe Rick’s is a faithful heart. Listen to the clarity of his doctrinal commitments and hear the heartbeat of his love for Christ and those perishing without him.

Let this remarkable testimony of faith send you down into the Word of God for a deeper understanding of God and his ways. Here are the topics we tackle and when they begin on the video.

Introduction
3:29  The glory of God.
7:16  David Wells and the weight of God’s reality.
9:00  Would you write the book the same today?
12:00 The sovereignty of God.
18:47 How do you speak of God’s sovereignty in the presence of tragedy?
22:01 How do all things work for bad for those who reject Christ?
24:14 Do you hedge on Larry King?
27:00 Unconditional election.
30:18 The importance of eternity.
34:42 How do you conceive of eternity: in heaven, on earth?
38:53 What is the Gospel?
42:00 What did Jesus achieve on the cross?
43:40 Repentance.
50:50 Why don’t you call yourself a Calvinist?
53:09 Propitiation.
54:39 Prevenient grace.
1:00:01 Total depravity.
1:03:00 Hell.
1:09:10 Eternal destiny of those who never heard.
1:12:40 The extent of the atonement.
1:17:00 Do unbelievers always do the devil’s bidding?
1:18:40 Your view of the Bible.
1:22:40 Expository preaching and doctrinal depth.
1:28:10 Rick Warren’s sacred trust.

AUDIO FOR THE 2011 GOSPEL COALITION WORKSHOPS

I'm grateful to JustinTaylor for the post and the link:

Training the Next Generation of Pastors and Other Christian Leaders R. Albert Mohler, Jr. Mark Driscoll, David Helm, Don Carson, and Ligon Duncan

The Pastor’s Counseling Ministry David Powlison

The Gospel for Muslims Thabiti Anyabwile

Is Your Church a Safe Place for Sad People? Learning to Walk with Each Other Through Loss Nancy Guthrie

Old Testament Narrative: Letting the Literature Speak Kathleen B. Nielson

Women Teaching Women the Bible: A Suggested Model Jenny Salt

Justification Versus Self-Justification Ray Ortlund Jr.

Preaching a Christ to Whom We Can Come Colin Smith

Orphans and Adoption Russell Moore and Voddie Baucham

Power Through Weakness Tim Savage

Signs of Grace in Inner-City Church Planting Eric Mason

Gospel Faithfulness and Business Leadership in Tumultuous Times Bob Doll

Christianity Explored - A Biblical Strategy for Effective Evangelism in the Local Church Craig Dyer and Alistair Begg

ROUND 2

What Should a Local Church Look Like? Tim Keller, Crawford Loritts, and Mark Dever

Pastoring with Discernment: Applying the Gospel to the Hearts of Those You Serve C. J. Mahaney

Asian American Christian Thought and Theological History: Pastoral Implications for Diversity and Innovation in a Multiracial Church Stephen Um and Julius Kim

An Invitation to Hispanic Pastors and Would-Be Pastors Juan Sanchez

Humble Orthodoxy Josh Harris

Gospel-Centered Pastoral Leadership Sandy Willson

The Feminist Mistake Mary Kassian

Literary Beauty and Gospel Truth: Celebrating the Biblical Union Kathleen B. Nielson

Pure Desire: Gospel-Centered Morality in a Sex-Saturated Society Gary Inrig

Mixing Whites and Colors Without Making Them Run: Building Gospel-Centered, Intentionally Multicultural Churches John Mahaffey

‘They All Look Alike To Me’: The Implications of a Christ-Centered Identity on the Issue of Racial Reconciliation in the Church K. Edward Copeland

Writing Corporate Worship Music Keith and Kristyn Getty

ROUND 3

The Spirit-Filled Missional Ministry of Jesus Mark Driscoll

Trellis and Vine Tony Payne and Colin Marshall

Fostering a Praying Church Scotty Smith

The Genesis of Gender Mary Kassian

When Despair Invades Gospel Work: Learning from Elijah Paige Benton Brown

One-on-One Discipleship: Grass-Roots Church Growth Jenny Salt

Biblical Theology: What It Is and Why It Matters Stephen Um and Richard Lints

Substitutes for the Gospel: A Modest Critique of Modern Evangelicalism Erwin Lutzer

The Mission of the Church Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert

Leading Corporate Worship Music Keith and Kristyn Getty

Seizing Global Gospel Opportunities: Why and How You and Your Church Can Get Involved Michael Oh

Questioning Evangelism Randy Newman

The Heart of the Expositor Kent Hughes

RON DiCIANNI: PAINTING THE RESURRECTION

 

ANDREW PETERSON: "BEHOLD THE LAMB" ALBUM

I am enjoying the powerful songs written and performed by Andrew Peterson from his album, "Behold the Lamb."   During this Holy Week, I am especially appreciating Peterson's songs, "Passover Us" and "Behold the Lamb of God," both available for free listening at Andrew Peterson's website.  I learned about the album from Petar Nenandov who introduces the album well. 

"GLOBAL THEOLOGY IN EVANGELICAL PESPECTIVE" - AUDIO & VIDEO FROM WHEATON CONFERENCE

The 20th annual Wheaton Theology Conference concluded April 9, 2011.  The college has now posted video and audio of each lecture and Q&A as well.  I was privileged to attend this conference and came away with a broadened and deepened perspective on worldwide Christian faith.  I may well put up some additional posts related to the conference as I have occasion to re- listen to the lectures.

IS THE SABBATH STILL REQUIRED FOR CHRISTIANS?

Justin Taylor introduces  a new book from B&H Academic: Perspectives on the Sabbath: 4 Views, edited by Chris Donato. Taylor lists the contributors and the descriptions of their positions from the back cover:

Skip MacCarty (Andrews University) defends the seventh-day view, which argues that the fourth commandment is a moral law of God requiring us to keep the seventh day, Saturday, holy. It must therefore remain the day of rest and worship for Christians.

Joseph A. Pipa (Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary) backs the Christian Sabbath view. He reasons that every since the resurrection of Christ, the one day in seven to be kept holy is Sunday, the first day of the week.

Charles P. Arand (Concordia Seminary) upholds the Lutheran view that the Sabbath commandment was given to Jews alone and does not concern Christians. Rest and worship are still required but are not tied to a particular day.

Craig L. Blomberg (Denver Seminary) supports the Fulfillment view: since Christ has brought the true Sabbath rest into the present, the Sabbath commands of the Old Testament are no longer binding on believers.

(Taylor's blog post stimulated lots of useful comments).  Justin Taylor himself agrees with Blomberg and also cites Thomes Schriner's position in 40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law.  Of this book, Taylor says, I think it’s now the go-to book for an accessible introduction to all the major issues related to gospel and law, the role of law in redemptive history, application of the law today, etc. I could not recommend it more highly.

Taylor received permission from Kregel to reprint the entry for question #37, “Is the Sabbath Still Required for Christians?”

A PRAYER IN TIME OF [THEOLOGICAL] CONTROVERSY

From Justin Taylor's blog:

Even as we desire unity, there will be controversy within the church until Christ returns. Here is one wise way to pray when conflicts and divisions arise:

Gracious Father, have mercy on your children in disputes. We are sorry for any root of pride or fear of man or lack of insight that influences our stance in the controversy before us. We confess that we are not pure in ourselves. Even as we strive to persuade one another, we stand in need of a merciful Advocate. We are sinners. We are finite and fallible.

On both sides of the matter at hand, we take refuge together in the glorious gospel of justification by faith alone through grace. We magnify Jesus Christ, our Savior and King for all he has done to make us his own. We are a thankful people even in our conflict. We are broken and humble to think that we would be loved and forgiven and accepted by an infinitely holy God.

Forbid, O Lord, that our spirit in this struggle would be one of hostility or ill will toward anyone. Deliver us from every form of debate that departs from love or diminishes truth. Grant, Father, as Francis Schaeffer pleaded in his last days, that our disagreements would prove to be golden opportunities to show the world how to love—not by avoiding conflicts, but by how we act in them.

Show us, O God, the relationship between doctrine and devotion, between truth and tenderness, between biblical faithfulness and biblical unity, between standing on the truth and standing together. Let none of us be unteachable, or beyond correction. May the outcome of our dispute be clearer vision of your glory and grace and truth and wisdom and power and knowledge.

By your Spirit, grant that the result of all our arguments be deeper humility, more dependence on mercy, sweeter fellowship with Jesus, stronger love in our common life, more radical obedience to the commands of our King, more authentic worship, and a greater readiness and eagerness to lay down our lives to finish the Great Commission.

In all this, Father, our passion is that you would be glorified through Jesus Christ. Amen.

QUICK TAKES

- Housing Crash Hitting Cities Once Thought to Be Stable...   - e.g. Seattle "Few believed the housing market here would ever collapse. Now they wonder if it will ever stop slumping."

- Chuck Colson - Time for a Tech Fast: Reject Infobesity

- Chuck Colson - "Skins" and Teen Exploitation

- Michael Horton provides some notes from a recent conference call with evangelical leaders in Egypt.

- Justin Taylor at "Between Two Worlds" posts:

- Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”

Denny Burk on Lady Gaga’s new song which has already been played over 9 million times, in its first four days, on her YouTube page:

“Born This Way” is making a theological point. It contends that sexual orientation is an innate and immutable quality of the human condition—a trait that we are “born” with. Whether you are gay, straight, or whatever, God made you this way, and for that reason you should embrace it. Or as Gaga herself puts it, “I’m beautiful in my way ’cause God makes no mistakes. I’m on the right track baby. I was born this way.”

The message of the song drinks deeply of the “is-ought” fallacy—the idea that we can determine what ought to be by observing what is. The song’s message also flies in the face of the Bible’s depiction of a fallen creation. It is true that God created human beings in His own image and that as a result every single human has intrinsic value and worth (Genesis 1:26-27). It is not true, however, that God endorses every thought and intention of the human heart. We live in a Genesis 3 world in which humanity and the cosmos are fallen and compromised by sin. That means that some of our desires are misdirected—even some of the ones that we are born with. That we desire sin from birth is not a cause for celebratory anthems but an indication of just how desperate the human condition really is (Psalm 51:5; 58:3; Jeremiah 17:9).

NOTEWORTHY BOOKS OF 2010

Justin Taylor canvases a number of Christian leaders for their favorite new books published in 2010.  From Sam Storm's list I have chosen three to highlight:

God’s Battalions: the Case for the Crusades, by Rodney Stark (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009), 276 pp.

OK, here’s the book that actually came out in 2009. To be brief, Stark dismantles the long-held myth that “during the Crusades, an expansionist, imperialistic Christendom brutalized, looted, and colonized a tolerant and peaceful Islam” (8). Nothing, notes Stark, could be further from the truth. There’s no other way to say it: this superb historical treatment will challenge and, dare I say, change virtually everything you ever read or heard about the Crusades. It is beautifully written, meticulously researched, and persuasive.

Stark concludes his book with this brief summation: “The Crusades were not unprovoked. They were not the first round of European colonialism. They were not conducted for land, loot, or converts. The crusaders were not barbarians who victimized the cultivated Muslims. They sincerely believed that they served in God’s battalions” (248).

 The God Who Is There: Finding your place in God’s Story, by D. A.  Carson (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 232 pp.

Update 1/6/11 - The talks on which this book is based are available free in mp3 format here.  Ten minute video introductions by Carson (also free) are available at that same site.

You won’t find anything revolutionary or novel in this superb new book by Carson, but you will find an extremely helpful approach to understanding the flow of God’s purpose in biblical history. Carson begins with Genesis and ends with Revelation, demonstrating along the way the nature and ways of our God and how his people are to relate to him. This is a great book to give to a new Christian, or even a non-Christian who is curious about how the Bible fits together. As is typical with Carson, he writes with both clarity and depth.

Top Fifty Blogs by Theology Professors

I found a link to the list on Dr. Ben Witherington's blog.  A commenter was amazed that the list doesn't include Scot McKnight's excellent blog.  I'm amazed too.  I am unfamiliar with a great many of the "top fifty" listed.

N.T. Wright: "After You Believe" (A Review)

- Update - I am indebted to "Jim" who left a comment on this post linking to N.T. Wright speaking at Elmbrook Church last April on "After You Believe."  It's a wonderful talk which I highly recommend.  Click here.  For more of Wright's articles and talks, see the N.T. Wright Page.

- I love book reviews.  They introduce me to new books and new authors, and they offer critical evaluation of authors already familiar to me.   Bill Kynes' review of N.T. Wright's After You Believe  appears in the current edition of Themelios, a wonderful theological journal that helpfully (and wonderfully!) publishes its articles and book reviews online.  I found the discussion of "rule-based morality" particularly cogent.  Kynes writes:

What are we here for? What constitutes a “good life”? What does God want from us? N. T. Wright applies his considerable biblical acumen to these questions as he seeks “a fresh reading of the moral thrust of the New Testament” (p. 67). The book doesn’t set out to deal with ethical or moral questions or to offer a fine-tuned study of character traits. Rather, Wright looks at the big picture, the overall theological framework, for living the Christian life.

Wright’s biblical framework is decidedly teleological/eschatological: “The basic point is this: the Christian life in the present, with its responsibilities and particular callings, is to be understood and shaped in relation to the final goal for which we have been made and redeemed. The better we understand this goal, the better we shall understand the path toward it” (p. ix). This emphasis on God’s final redemptive purpose makes this book in some sense a sequel to Wright’s earlier work Surprised by Hope (2007), which sets forth the NT eschatological vision of resurrected believers populating the new heaven and new earth (versus the common conception of disembodied souls occupying an ethereal heaven). We are not only saved from sin; we are saved for a new purpose—to fulfill God’s design when he first created human beings in his image to have dominion over his creation. Knowing what we are made for is essential to our understanding of how we ought to live.

Dr. Sandy Richter - "The Epic of Eden"

Ben Witherington reposted on his blog a solid interview with Professor Sandra L. Richter on the relevance of the Old Testament.  After reading the excellent interview, I went to Amazon to investigate her book, The Epic of Eden:  A Christian Entry into the Old Testament.  I browsed the "search inside this book" feature and copied the following two insightful paragraphs.

On the Old Testament concept of the "love of God," and especially in Deuteronomy, Dr. Richter writes:  (my underlining)

William Moran wrote an important article “The Ancient near Eastern Background of the Love of God in Deuteronomy,” CBQ 25 (1963): 77-85  Here Moran demonstrated that the word love in ancient Near East treaty documents (and by extrapolation in the book of Deuteronomy) was political terminology having to do with covenant loyalty—not any sort of sentimental or emotional posture toward the covenant partner.  In light of this, consider Rom. 9:13: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”  Gallons of ink have been spilt over this passage!  Could the resolution to this difficult language perhaps be found in covenant terminology?  In other words, rather than this passage communicating that God has despised Esau and his offspring, perhaps ‘love’ and “hate” were intended to communicate something akin to: ‘Jacob I have chosen as Isaac’s heir and therefore heir to Abraham’s covenant; Esau I have not chosen as heir.'  Note 19. p. 240

 On the sacrifices brought by people in ancient Israel she writes:

 W.S. LaSor, D.A. Hubbard and F.W. Bush offer a helpful summary of the various categories of Mosaic sacrifice in Old Testament Survey, 2^nd ed (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), p. 83.  It is important to realize that out of the eight categories listed, only one involved the complete holocaust of the sacrificial victim.  In contrast to what most Christians typically imagine, the bulk of the sacrificed animal was normally returned to the worshipper so that he and his family might feast together in God’s presence.  In other words, the act of sacrifice was usually a time of joyous fellowship with one’s family and one’s God at the holy site.  These holy days were truly “holidays.”  In fact, throughout the law code of Deuteronomy, which is focused on proper worship of Yahweh at the central holy site, the repeated command is to ‘eat’ and to ‘rejoice’ in Yahweh’s presence (Deut 12:7, 12,18; 14:26; 16:11,14; 26:10-11; 27:7).  God was not interested in taking from these people the little they had; rather, he was interested in them bringing a portion of what he had given them into his presence so that he might enjoy their joy with them.”  (p. 250)

This reminds me of some pages I read years ago in C.S. Lewis's Reflections on the Psalms.  In chapter 5, "The Fair Beauty of the Lord,"  Lewis wrote:

CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY

I appreciated Chuck Colson's meditation on Christ the King Sunday and his further reminder that the first Sunday in Advent is only a week away.  Colson writes:

Our brothers and sisters in liturgical churches know that this Sunday is the last Sunday of the Church calendar. The new church year begins next week with the first Sunday of Advent.

As a fitting end to the year, this Sunday celebrates the feast of Christ the King. It is a reminder that the Son of God who humbled himself by becoming human and dying on the cross is King of King and Lord of Lords for all eternity.

DID THE EARLY CHURCH DECIDE RIGHTLY ON ONLY FOUR GOSPELS?

Some think a conspiracy arose to exclude a number of books that present a different perspective than that found in the four gospels.  Between Two Worlds offers the following post:

  D.A. Carson writes about Charles Hill’s new book Who Chose the Gospels? Probing the Great Gospel Conspiracy, just published by Oxford University Press:

For those willing to examine the documentary evidence, there is no better guide than this book by Charles E. Hill. Hill is meticulous, even-handed, careful to distinguish between historical datum and speculation—and a good writer to boot. Not many books that are so informed are such a pleasure to read.”

Dr. Hill recently had an article on The Huffington Post on this issue: “The Conspiracy Theory of the Gospels.”

Here’s an excerpt where he examines one conspiracy theory and the problem with it:

Proof is said to reside in the ancient papyrus documents which archaeologists have dug from the sands of Egypt over the past century and a quarter. The Christian books yielded up by the unbiased, ancient trash heaps are, we are told, mostly books which were excluded from the New Testament. This would seem to show that the four Gospels were once minority reports and that some popular alternatives have been suppressed by the “winners.” All I will say here is that the papyri have both less and more to tell us than this argument lets on.

The problem for the conspiracy theory is a man named Irenaeus. Irenaeus was crystal clear in his claim that the church, from the time of the apostles, had received just four authoritative Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and that all the others were bogus. This is just what we would expect from a fourth-century re-writer of history. The problem is that Irenaeus wrote in the second century, long before the conspiratorial rewriting of history is supposed to have taken place.

Does, then, the conspiracy approach to early Christian history, in either its popular or its academic forms, have it right? Should it bother anyone that those who stress so loudly that the winners wrote the histories are the ones now writing the histories? Let the reader judge . . . but also be aware of conspiracies.

Me: A commenter wrote:

In a related matter, there’s a detailed review/critique of Elaine Pagels’s book Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas over at ThirdMill.

These look like valuable resources to me.  It's always good to be aware of careful, factual, reliable argumentation.

Update 11/15/10 - Between Two Worlds posts:

From Craig Blomberg’s review of Chuck Hill’s Who Chose the Gospels?

People have frequently asked me what I recommend they read for a sane introduction to the formation of the New Testament canon, and I have regularly referred them to F. F. Bruce’s The Canon of Scripture, published by IVP in 1988. It continues to be an outstanding resource, but what about all of the revisionist theories of the last twenty years? Finally, we have an accessible work, delightful to read, yet painstakingly accurate, that debunks so much of the nonsense passing as scholarship in canon studies these days. 

THE FOUR BOOKS THAT SHAPED TIM KELLER

Click here.  (HT:  Kirk)

THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL AND BLACK CHURCHES

DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. writes:

Recent days have brought multiple allegations of sexual abuse against Atlanta megachurch Bishop Eddie Long. It would be premature to judge the truth of these allegations, but it is not too soon to weigh in on his opulent lifestyle. His fancy cars, expensive clothing and vast estate, all funded on a multimillion-dollar salary, are part of his act—pushing the so-called prosperity gospel on mostly African-Americans. Whatever Mr. Long has done in his personal life, his brand of theology has contributed to a troubling trend among black churches in America.  . . .

In light of today's weak economy, perhaps the prosperity movement should consider focusing on financial literacy, personal discipline and saving for the long term, rather than emphasizing supernatural possibilities. Depending on miracles as a financial strategy is a dangerous way to live. Churches can be effective in teaching people how to convert from a culture of borrowing and spending to a culture of saving and investing.

The teachings of Jesus include many principles that can foster personal success and financial well-being. For instance in Luke 15:28, Jesus is quoted: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" This serves as wise counsel for those who live above their means today. In other passages Jesus teaches that giving is superior to receiving, and that serving others was more important to being served ourselves. In Jesus's teachings Christians have sufficient content for financial guidance and prudent approaches to managing money.  [more . .]

THE HOLY SPIRIT'S FLOODLIGHT MINISTRY

I like this post from Justin Taylor.  Off hand, I can't think of a more vivid illustration of the work of the Holy Spirit.  Taylor posts J.I. Packer's words, and provides the photo.

J.I. Packer:

The Holy Spirit’s distinctive new covenant role, then, is to fulfill what we may call a floodlight ministry in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. So far as this role was concerned, the Spirit “was not yet” (John 7:39, literal Greek) while Jesus was on earth; only when the Father had glorified him (see John 17:1, 5) could the Spirit’s work of making men aware of Jesus’ glory begin.

I remember walking to a church one winter evening to preach on the words “he shall glorify me,” seeing the building floodlit as I turned a corner, and realizing that this was exactly the illustration my message needed.

When floodlighting is well done, the floodlights are so placed that you do not see them; you are not in fact supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained. The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief so that you see it properly. This perfectly illustrates the Spirit’s new covenant role. He is, so to speak, the hidden floodlight shining on the Savior.

Or think of it this way. It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder, on Jesus, who stands facing us.

The Spirit’s message is never,

“Look at me;

listen to me;

come to me;

get to know me,”

but always

“Look at him, and see his glory;

listen to him, and hear his word;

go to him, and have life;

get to know him, and taste his gift of joy and peace.”

—Keeping in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God, 2nd ed. (GR: Baker, 2005), p. 57; emphasis original.

ALBERT MOHLER: "THE INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE: THE FIFTY YEARS' WAR . . . AND COUNTING"

Mohler offers a useful overview of new challenges to the evangelical doctrine from within the evangelical camp.  (HT: VirtueOnline)

CLARK PINNOCK (1937-2010)

Justin Taylor writes:

Controversial Canadian theologian Clark H. Pinnock died on Sunday afternoon (August 15, 2010) at the age of 73. He and his wife Dorothy were members of Little Bethel Community Church, where the funeral service will be held.

In March of this year he had written to a couple of colleagues to explain why he was retiring from active theological work:

I want to inform you that I am now middle stage Alzheimer’s. I will not be able to do my writing etc. I am 73 years now, and I’ve enjoyed my biblical three score and ten. I am not bitter. I have had a good life. I’ll meet you over Jordan if not before.

You are free to make this news known.

With love,

Clark

Taylor offers an assessment of this evangelical theologian whose theological position kept moving, many would say, away from crucial Biblical positions.  Others would disagree.  In addition to his own assessment, Taylor points readers to Russell Moore's “Why Conservative Evangelicals Should Thank God for Clark Pinnock."

Me:  I count myself privileged to have sat under Pinnock for a semester during his more conservative years.  I found him gracious, humble, deeply engaged in pursuing truth, and a stimulating lecturer.  He was always honing his material, and fully open to class dialog.   I did not follow his later wanderings (though my dippings in his Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit I found vigorous and stimulating), but I have only fond memories of the man and great respect for his personal integrity.

I note one commentator to Taylor's blog wrote:

My first book was a sustained critique of Pinnock’s position on annihilationism (or conditional immortality). I sent it to him to make sure it was fair. He went further and gave it a glowing endorsement along with my other three endorsers of J.I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, and Dallas Willard.

Clark Pinnock blessed me with his generosity and humility!

Pinnock's endorsing a book that critiqued him doesn't surprise me.  It sounds exactly like the man I remember from so many years ago. 

Another person left this comment, which also does not surprise me:

The church he was involved with is a small, very missional and very evangelical congregation in a very poor section of town. Whatever his left-of-center views concerning God’s foreknowledge and the Scriptures, they didn’t keep him from being engaged in Kingdom work.

Christianity Today has an excellent, balanced article on Clark Pinnock.  (HT: David Virtue)  It concludes with these words:

While he was courageous in his ability to adopt new ideas and positions, Pinnock did allow that theological change has its painful aspects. "Not only am I often not listened to, I am also made to feel stranded theologically: being too much of a free thinker to be accepted by the evangelical establishment and too much of a conservative to be accepted by the liberal mainline."

C.S. LEWIS - "MERE CHRISTIANITY" and THE SIGNIFICANCE OF "DESIRE"

I am facilitating a Sunday morning discussion class on C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity."  In the process I came across a wonderful 60 minute audio introductory lecture to "Mere Christianity" by Boston College philosophy professor Peter Kreeft. 

Also, I was pleased to discover a helpful outline/summary of the book here.

One of my favorite chapters in Mere Christianity is Lewis's chapter on "Hope."  Here he touches on the theme that lies at the center of his life:  human desire and longing as a pointer to God and heaven.  We  experience it as "joy".  This feeling of longing and desire is what the Germans call "sehnzucht," which Louis Marcos explains as:

 a German word that means "longing" or "yearning."  Lewis often used it to signify moments in his life when he felt an intense, overwhelming desire for an indefinable, numinous "something" that was just beyond his grasp.  For Lewis, the reality of these moments of longing (he more often calls them simply, "joy") and the stubborn fact that he could find no object for them, either within himself or the natural world, proved to him that their source must be supernatural (a "proof" of the existence of God and heaven that is  generally referred to as the "argument by desire").  - From Louis Markos, Course Guidebook to "The Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis," published by The Teaching Company.

Perhaps Lewis's premier discussion of longing and desire may be found in his masterful sermon preached at Oxford University, "The Weight of Glory", which some regard as the best sermon of the 20th century.

Boston College philosopher Peter Kreeft dissects the subject in his internet article, "The Argument from Desire." He offers a longer discussion in his contribution to G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis: The Riddle of Joy, (a wonderful book for anyone interested in GKC or CSL).  Check also his audio lecture here.

Finally, I will simply add that I thoroughly enjoyed and profited from a book I read shortly after it was published in 1974, Bright Shadow of Reality: C.S. Lewis and the Feeling Intellect by Corbin Scott Carnell.  It is still in print, though with a revised subtitle: "Spiritual Longing in C.S. Lewis."  Highly recommended.

N.T. WRIGHT - "SIMPLY CHRISTIAN: WHY CHRISTIANITY MAKES SENSE"

Is there a better communicator than N.T. Wright?  Not many, I'm convinced.  The following 50 minute talk flies by, and what Wright says, stimulates and enlivens.  Dorothy L. Sayers, writing about conditions in England in 1949 said, "The brutal fact is that in this Christian country not one person in a hundred has the faintest notion what the Church teaches about God or man or society or the person."  (Creed or Chaos).  It's worse now, if that can be imagined, and the U.S. is about where England was in 1949.

My thanks to the Veritas Forum for permission to embed the lecture below.

GOLD FROM JUSTIN TAYLOR'S "BETWEEN TWO WORLDS" BLOG

No doubt there are many fine Christian blogs "out there" in cyberspace, and I wish I had unlimited time to benefit from many more than I do.  But for my money, the one blog that requires frequent visiting is Justin Taylor's Between Two Worlds.  Here's a sampling from recent posts:

- Free Audiobook: Tim Keller's Ministries of Mercy 

- Keith Getty on Writing Today's Modern Hymns  (I found this stunningly good)

- Thielman's New Testament Theology  (Seminary audio lectures with outline.  Amazing resource!) 

- Professor Peter Kreeft's audio lectures:

• 10 Uncommon Insights Into Evil from The Lord of the Rings
• Christianity in The Lord of the Rings
• The Language of Beauty

- D.A. Carson's "The God Who Is There" Video and Audio (MP3s for the 14 - part series here).

CAMARADERIE IN BOOK APPRECIATION

What a pleasure it is to discover a respected person thinking as highly of a certain book as you do!   Two experiences come to mind, the latest came just last night.  The first occurred at a C.S. Lewis conference in the South some years ago.  A professor of theology attending the conference mentioned in a personal conversation that he thought C.S. Lewis's book Miracles the finest piece of theology written in the 20th century.  "Wow," I said.  "You do?  It's been incredibly helpful to me, but I've never heard anyone else say the same."   This man had read a lot more theology than I had (an understatement), and to hear him rave about Lewis's book gave me delight and encouragement.

When looking at Alan Jacob's blog last night (which inspired a blog entry of my own), I noted his listing of the  books most important to him at ages 6, 10, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24, 30, 35, and 38.  His list makes fascinating reading, as one might suppose.  But here's the recommended book, and his comment, that especially grabbed me:

Age 35:  Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society.  If I could have every young and thoughtful Christian read one book, it would be this one. There’s no one quite like Newbigin — or perhaps it would be better to say that there have been few like him since Augustine: the bishop-missionary-theologian.

I found Newbigin's The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (published 1989) profoundly helpful myself.  In fact I  recommended the book to friends as well.  But to read Jacobs saying, "If I could have every young and thoughtful Christian read one book, it would be this one" -- that I found simply stunning!  It makes me want to go back and read it again.  It's rare to hear such high praise for any book.  And it would be a tough challenge to find a person more well-read than Jacobs. (See, for example, one of his latest books, Original Sin: A Cultural History).

WHEATON THEOLOGY CONFERENCE EXPLORES THE WORK OF N.T. WRIGHT

I had thought about traveling to this conference held back in April, but then I reconsidered, supposing I could save time and money by ordering the tapes instead.  You can imagine how pleased I was to discover (via Ben Witherington's blog) that the conference sessions had been videotaped and have now been posted on the internet.  So far I have listened/watched N.T. Wright's magnificent chapel message to Wheaton College students and Richard Hay's brilliant appreciation and critique of N.T. Wright's work.  I intend to make my way through the rest of the sessions as time allows.

For those new to the work of Professor (Bishop) N.T. Wright, it is perhaps enough to know that Wright is perhaps the foremost New Testament scholar of our day.  He has written massive tomes as well as numerous more popular books.  A page with links to articles and talks can be found here.  And below are the sessions from the theology conference at Wheaton.

Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N.T. Wright The 19th Annual Wheaton Theology Conference | April 16-17, 2010   To download an MP3 audio or MP4 video file, right-click on the download link and choose "Save Target As" on the popup menu. When viewing a Flash video, you may be prompted to update your Flash Player or to download and install the Adobe Flash Player.   Friday April 16 Richard Hays Knowing Jesus: Story, History, and the Question of Truth | 8:40a view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video Marianne Meye Thompson The Gospel of John Meets Jesus and the Victory of God | 9:30a view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video N.T. Wright Chapel Message | 10:30a view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat 'Outside of a Small Circle of Friends': Jesus and the Justice of God | 1:00p view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video Nicholas Perrin Jesus' Eschatology and Kingdom Ethics: Ever the Twain Shall Meet | 1:50p view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video Wright, Hays, Walsh, Keesmaat, Thompson, and Perrin Panel Discussion | 3:15p view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video N.T. Wright Jesus and the People of God: Whence and Whither Historical Jesus Studies and the Life of the Church | 7:00p view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video     Saturday April 17 Kevin J. Vanhoozer Wrighting the Wrongs of the Reformation? The State of the Union with Christ in St. Paul and in Protestant Soteriology | 9:45a view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video Jeremy Begbie The Shape of Things to Come? Wright Amidst Emerging Ecclesiologies | 10:35a view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video Markus Bockmuehl Did St. Paul Go to Heaven When He Died? | 1:00p view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video Edith Humphrey Glimpsing the Glory—Paul's Gospel, Righteousness and the Beautiful Feet of N.T. Wright view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video Wright, Vanhoozer, Begbie, Bockmuehl, and Humphrey Panel Discussion | 3:15p view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video N.T. Wright Paul and the People of God: Whence and Whither Pauline Studies and the Life of the Church | 7:00p view Flash video | download MP3 audio | download MP4 video

GOOD STUFF FROM WINTERY KNIGHT

As I have often urged, you really need to visit Wintery Knight on a regular basis.  Here are some recent posts that caught my eye:

Craig Evans vs. Bart Ehrman debate on the reliability of the gospels  (followed by invaluable related links)

John Lennox and Paul Davies debate about aliens and the origin of life.

William Lane Craig Discusses Calvinism and the Problem of Evil

Me: On the subject of Calvinism, Prof. Ben Witherington (a non-Calvinist) offers helpful comments. A robust discussion follows.  Also of interest is Witherington's November, 2005 Christianity Today article, "The Problem with Evangelical Theologies."

MARK DRISCOLL & GERRY BRESHEARS - "DOCTRINE: WHAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD BELIEVE"

I love it when  publishers offer free chapters to read online.  Such is the case with just-published Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears’s book, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe.  (I am in debt to Justin Taylor for his blog post from which I have derived the links included in my own post.) 

Here is a free 34-page chapter on worship from the book.  And here is a free 24-page chapter on resurrection.  (I scanned it and found it quite excellent and helpful).

You can read the table of contents online.  You can also check out the official website.   The book comes highly praised.  Professor John M. Frame writes:  "...There is much here to aid readers who have thought in the past that theology was too complicated, uninteresting, or irrelevant. This book is none of those things. It takes off on wings of eagles. . ."

J. I. PACKER ON "WHAT IS REVIVAL?"

Justin Taylor posts the following, which I think quite helpful:

Here is how J. I. Packer answers that question [What is Revival?] in his essay, “The Glory of God and the Reviving of Religion” in A God-Entranced Vision of All Things ^[1] (pp. 100-104):

Revival is God touching minds and hearts in an arresting, devastating, exalting way, to draw them to himself through working from the inside out rather than from the outside in.

It is God accelerating, intensifying, and extending the work of grace that goes on in every Christian’s life, but is sometimes overshadowed and somewhat smothered by the impact of other forces.

It is the near presence of God giving new power to the gospel of sin and grace.

It is the Holy Spirit sensitizing souls to divine realities and so generating deep-level responses to God in the form of faith and repentance, praise and prayer, love and joy, works of benevolence and service and initiatives of outreach and sharing.

What is the pattern of genuine revival? Packer suggests the following ten elements:

1. God comes down.
2. God’s Word pierces.
3. Man’s sin is seen.
4. Christ’s cross is valued.
5. Change goes deep.
6. Love breaks out.
7. Joy fills hearts.
8. Each church becomes itself—becomes, that is, the people of the divine presence in an experiential, as distinct from merely notional, sense.
9. The lost are found.
10. Satan keeps pace.

For more on revival, keep your eye out for the book coming out this Fall from ZondervanA God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir ^[2], by Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge.