September 28, 2006
John Piper's latest book available for free
What Jesus Demands From the World is available here as a free PDF. (6.3 Mb)
(HT: Justin Taylor)
September 27, 2006
Mark Driscoll (and company) coming to town
Well, its less than 48 hours until I need to pick up Mark Driscoll from the airport for the Desiring God National Conference. I have the distinct honor of hosting him during his stay in the Twin Cities. So you won't be hearing from me for a few days. Check out Tim Challies live-blogging at his website this Friday through Sunday if you are unable to attend the conference.
The Great Divide? Faithfulness vs. Relevance
This summer Mark Dever wrote an incisive post on "assumptions and pursuits" that included this quote:
I think the most basic practical division among evangelical pastors today may be between those who pursue faithfulness and assume relevance and those who pursue relevance and assume faithfulness.
The Together for the Gospel gang has now expanded on this theme in an article jointly written by Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler, and C. J. Mahaney. It apparently is a compilation of posts from this past summer. Each writer weighs in on the question of how pastors should think about pursuing relevance versus faithfulness.
Dick Morris Debunks President Clinton
You've probably heard President Clinton losing his cool in his interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News. Now, former Clinton advisor Dick Morris provides a line-by-line rebuttal of a portion of Clinton's tirade.
(Morris was also on Hannity and Colmes this week, discussing this matter.)
Mark Dever Interview
Tim Challies interviews Mark Dever.
September 26, 2006
Fantastic Story - "Big Mike"
The NY Times ran a lengthy (10,000-word), compelling story of a young man named Michael Oher, whose prospects in life seemed bleak until a Christian family and high school invested in him for great good. I only skimmed it, but found it very encouraging.
HT: Justin Taylor and Hugh Hewitt
September 22, 2006
Text of Tim Keller's 9/11 address
A while ago I posted on Tim Keller addressing 9/11 victims as well as dignitaries (e.g., President Bush) on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Well, Pastor Keller's son Michael has posted the text of the eight-minute sermon -- as transcribed by members of the White House. Keep in mind that this message was given at an interfaith memorial. I echo Michael's astute remark:
"While many others would have used the pulpit in front of so many political figures to espouse either their own political views, or some well meaning yet ill-timed altar call type message- [Keller] focused on those suffering and in pain and tried to speak to them in their loss of their loved ones with the message that there is a God, the God, who knows exactly what it feels like and can therefore relate to them in their pain."
(HT: Worship.com)
CT Calvinism cover story --- now on-line
The cover story on the resurgence of Calvinism (summarized here) is now available for free on-line. There is also a short summary of Calvinism.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
September 21, 2006
Kostenberger & Maken (again)
The tennis match between Dr. Andreas Kostenberger and Debbie Maken continues with this post by Dr. Kostenberger.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
Disclaimer: Marni and I finally moved this past Saturday and are living in boxes. I have not yet had the time to read the latest post by Maken or Kostenberger. I merely link them here for the sake of those who have been following the discussion.
September 20, 2006
Muslim Outrage at the Pope's Regensburg Message
Ever since I started to hear the buzz about Muslim outrage regarding the the speech given by Pope Benedict XVI on September 12 in Regensburg University (Germany), I was hoping to see an articulate Christian response. Here is an outstanding essay by Pastor John Piper on how Christians should respond to Muslim outrage at the Pope's speech about violence and reason.
September 19, 2006
Tim Keller addresses President Bush (and others)
On the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Pastor Tim Keller was asked to address to deliver the sermon at an ecumenical prayer and remembrance service. The NY Times report of the event can be found here, but I could not find the sermon available at the Redeemer Pres website.
Update: Thanks to the worship.com folks for pointing out to me that the text of the message is available on Pastor Keller's son website. See this post for a link.
Important technological breakthrough
OK, this really isn't "culture" or "theology," but it is really cool. Intel and UC Santa Barbara appear to have made a breakthrough in the photonics - silicon integration pursuit going on for many years. Here is the story in the NY Times.
September 18, 2006
Gender Differences in Drive to Marry
Feminist indoctrination at secular college campuses nationwide have not ameliorated God-given longings for marriage and family on the part of many (if not most) women. The journal Sex Roles is a self-described "Interdisciplinary, behavioral science journal with a feminist perspective [which] publishes original research reports that illuminate the underlying processes and consequences of gender role socialization, gendered perceptions and behaviors, and stereotypes." Nevertheless, in September 2005 this journal published an article by Dr. Judith Blakemore, Carol A. Lawton and Lesa Rae Vartanian entitled, "I Can't Wait to Get Married: Gender Differences in Drive to Marry." The Abstract of the article reads:
In this study we examined a new construct—the Drive to Marry (DTM). Young single men and women (149 men and 246 women) rated their desire to get married and completed measures of their valuing of marital, parental, and occupational roles; concern about others' views of them; and feminist attitudes. We found that women had a higher DTM than did men. In both genders, DTM was predicted by the value of parental role and by concern about others' views of them. In women, DTM was also predicted by traditional attitudes toward gender roles, and there was a trend for women who valued the occupational role to have a lower DTM. Conservative women, women who valued the parental role, and women with a higher DTM were also more likely to want to use the title “Mrs.” and to adopt their husband's surname.
The somewhat progressive, pro-family group World Congress of Families offers the following commentary on the article:
The increasing age of first-marriage among women might suggest that women today have become more like men in their interest in settling down, marrying, and starting a family. But a study of college students by psychologists at Indiana-Purdue University in Fort Wayne reveals that young women remain - even after a generation of feminism - significantly more motivated to marry than young men.
The article is not freely available, but I have e-mailed Dr. Blackmore to see if she might send it to me for posting. It'd be interesting to compare Dr. Blackmore's findings to the (more conservative) American Values report Hooking Up, Hanging Out and Hoping for Mr. Right: College Women on Mating and Dating Today.
September 17, 2006
Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism?
Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? by Wayne Grudem has just become available by Crossway. In this 272 page book, Wayne Grudem expresses his concern that evangelical feminism, or egalitarianism, is becoming the new path by which evangelicals are being drawn into theological liberalism. Crossway has generously allowed us to view a considerable portion of the book for free. The book also ships this week from Amazon.
Related post: Evangelical Feminism and Liberalism
What Jesus Demands of the World
The fruit of a significant portion of John Piper's sabbatical will soon be generally available. Here is the book's description
[HT: Justin Taylor]:
The four Gospels are filled with demands straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ. These demands are Jesus’ way of showing us who he is and what he expects of us. They are not the harsh demands of a taskmaster. For example, the demand that we come to Jesus is like the demand of a father to his child in a burning window, “Jump to me!” Or like the demand of a rich, strong, tender, handsome husband to an unfaithful wife, “Come home!” What Jesus demands from the world can be summed up as: “Trust and treasure me above all.” This is good news!
In What Jesus Demands from the World, John Piper has gathered many of Jesus’ demands from the four Gospels. He begins with an introduction that puts the demands in a redemptive-historical context, then concisely examines each demand. The result is an accessible introduction for thoughtful inquirers and new believers, as well as meditative meat for veteran believers who want to know Jesus better.
The book can be ordered now, and will be shipped by the end of the month.
Contents can be found here.
Crossway has also generously provided this excerpt:
September 14, 2006
Young men, singleness and marriage
Boundless webzine, a division of Focus on the Family to single twentysomethings, has published an article I wrote about my own experience with "the gift of singleness" (or lack thereof). The issue has been previously discussed on this blog and elsewhere, but this article has a bit more of an "autobiographical touch." As always, comments are welcome. (It is my first essay of this flavor.)
For your information: The Boundless editors assigned the title "Get Married, Young Man."
September 12, 2006
Resources regarding Elders/Deacons
This past weekend Pastor John Piper gave a five-hour seminar on Biblical Eldership. Afterwards, a friend of mine who is involved at another church asked me about resources discussing how to transition from a deacon-led ecclesiology to one that gives proper emphasis to elders and deacons working together, each in different spheres. That got me thinking about resources regarding elders and deacons.
The first that came to mind is the classic Biblical Eldership by Alex Strauch (assigned reading for Piper's seminar). Strauch has also dealt with the subject of deacons in his The New Testament Deacon: The Church's Minister of Mercy. Strauch takes the view that the office of deacon is only open to men. Other conservatives find female deacons acceptable.
Strauch takes a Brethren position regarding a plurality of elders. For a friendly review (and occasional critique) of Strauch, see this assessment by Paul Alexander. Alexander has co-written The Deliberate Church (a very good book) with Mark Dever (the Executive Director of Nine Marks Ministries). Regarding elders, Dever has written a very helpful pamphlet entitled By Whose Authority: Elders in Baptist Life. He takes the view that local church congregations benefit by having both a senior or lead pastor, and a plurality of elders, all in the context of congregationalism (the view that the final authority for a local church lies in the congregation).
Related: Alex Strauch - Leading with Love
September 11, 2006
How the Gospel Changes Christians
Steve Childers is President of Global Church Advancement, an international ministry that provides training, consultations, and resources for church planters, pastors and missionaries throughout the world. Here's a great article he wrote which unpacks how ongoing repentance (turning heart affections away from idols) and faith (turning heart affections to Jesus Christ) results in the gospel transforming Christians into being more spiritually-minded and Christ-like. John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Tim Keller and others are cited.
(HT: Mary-Margaret Parker)
September 10, 2006
Does God want you to be rich?
David Van Biema AND Jeff Chu of Time Magazine write an engaging cover story on the resurgence of prosperity theology among evangelicals. The authors claim the (aberrant) teaching has spread beyond its Pentacostal base:
"In a Time poll, 17% of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61% believed that God wants people to be prosperous. And 31%—a far higher percentage than there are Pentecostals in America—agreed that if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money."
The theory proposed is that Prosperity Theology fell upon hard times in the 1980s with the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals. But it reemerged in a format specifically calibrated for the common man, with the heavy self-help emphasis of men like Joel Osteen--a "Prosperity Lite" teaching, some would claim.
"Gone are the divine profit-to-earnings ratios, the requests for offerings far above a normal 10% tithe (although many of the new breed continue to insist that congregants tithe on their pretax rather than their net income). What remains is a materialism framed in a kind of Tony Robbins positivism. No one exemplifies this better than Osteen, who ran his father's television-production department until John died in 1999. 'Joel has learned from his dad, but he has toned it back and tapped into basic, everyday folks' ways of talking,' says Ben Phillips, a theology professor at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary."
The Time writers do a good job of showing how prosperity thinkers attempt to build their theology from passages such as Malachi 3:10: "Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need."
The article talks a lot about Osteen but also mentions T.D. Jakes' Potter's House in south Dallas as well as Creflo Dollar's World Changers near Atlanta. Happily, I do not think Osteen is conveyed in a positive light. Toward the end of the article, they say: "And Osteen's version [of Prosperity Theology].....may strike some as self-centered rather than God centered."
As detractors of Prosperity Lite, Rick Warren, Ben Witherington, Ron Sider, and Michael Spencer are all mentioned if not quoted. The point is made that critics of prosperity thinking can be found among conservative and progressive evangelicals. But more space is devoted to pastors who advocate prosperity thinking, at least some degree, with details of their philanthropy also discussed. For example, Houston's Methodist megapastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, who gave the benediction at both of George W. Bush's Inaugurals, recently oversaw the building of Corinthian Pointe, a 452-unit affordable-housing project that he claims is the largest residential subdivision ever built by a nonprofit. Most of its inhabitants, he says, are not members of his church.
On a whole, I found the article fair and balanced, though I would have liked to see someone like a John Piper quoted. Piper has written eloquently on evangelicalism's capitulation to worldliness in loving God's gifts more than The Giver in God is the Gospel (among other works). Though the article left me feeling embarrassed, I am thankful for the sober reminder of the way many in our culture view evangelicals. Read the whole thing (only members can log in). If you don't subscribe to Time, here is a summary from CNN writers (who are under the same management as Time-Warner).
Update: Dr. Albert Mohler weighs in on the issue.
Marks of manhood & Growing up without Dad
Here's a great article by Dr. Albert Mohler on distinguishing features of manhood. His remarks can also be read in terms of a reply to the age-old question: When does a boy become a man?
And here's an excellent article by Thabiti Anyabwile on growing up without a father.
September 08, 2006
Memorizing Scripture
Here's an outstanding essay by John Piper on the value of memorizing Scripture.
September 07, 2006
Honest to God Radio
Tonight I had the honor of enjoying a 45-minute conversational interview with Josh Weidmann of Honest to God radio. Josh is a man with a passion to reach young people with the message of Christ. He is the Director of High School Ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel. Josh is also a popular youth speaker at camps and conferences around the country. We had a great time discussing With One Voice, which Josh had just read. I'll post a link to the interview later on if its made available on the Internet.
Honest to God is on the air at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays and 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays on WMBI, 90.1 FM, the radio ministry of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL.
Has God Failed?
Last May I completed one of my all-time favorite classes. It was an exegetical course on Romans 9-11 conducted by The Bethlehem Institute (the vocational elder training program of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN). It seems that all the great themes of the Christian faith (not to mention some of the most controversial doctrines!) are in Romans 9-11. The doctrine of divine election (Rom 9:1-29), the relationship between God's law and what it means to become righteous (Rom 9:30 - 10:13), the remnant of Israel and its relationship to Gentile believers (and related end-times issues). It's all there in three marvelous chapters! And I had the privilege of diving deep into the Greek text, with the expectation of being able to sight read those three chapters.
All that to say that it's pretty awesome that the latest issue of Modern Reformation focuses on Romans 9-11, and that they've made a few articles available for free.
There is also that interview with Jerry Walls (a philosophically articulate Arminian) that I previously mentioned, and what sounds like an interesting Calvinism and Arminianism: At-a-Glance chart.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
Yet another free (on-line) book
It is becoming more common for Christian publishers to put books on-line to make them more generally available to readers. For example, God is the Gospel, by John Piper, comes with a free PDF upon purchase (if you buy it from Crossway).
Another example of an even more generous offer is Wayne Grudem's wonderful (and massive) tome Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth. It is available in its entirety for free as a PDF courtesy Multnomah.
Tonight I learned that Andy Farmer's excellent book The Rich Single Life is available as a free PDF. Andy is a pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Philadelphia, PA, where he has been on staff since January 1993. His primary responsibilities include pastoring the single adults and overseeing the music and worship ministry of the church. His book is an excellent read on how to maximize one's single years to the glory of God and the development of one's soul.
(HT: Chizadek)
September 06, 2006
Amazing Hurricane Photos - But, yes, we are in Kansas
Perhaps someone e-mailed you photos recently in light of the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Here's a link to some photos someone sent me, which are extremely impressive, but turn out not to be authentic Hurricane Katrina photos, but rather typical shots of intense tornados in Nebraska and Kansas. (Click on the images to enlarge them.)
(HT: Paul Chara)
Free Stuff
Tim Challies a la carte today highlights some free music and a free book:
1. Jars of Clay latest album is available as free streaming audio either here or here (the second may be more appropriate for FireFox).
2. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is giving away John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life. Justin Taylor adds: "You can only request one copy online, but if you want a few more than that, you can call 1-877-2GRAHAM. (It'd be nice to offer a small donation to help cover the cost of shipping if you do that.) After September 30 it will be off the website, but you can still call and get your free copy as long as they have them in stock."
September 05, 2006
Directory of Reformed Conferences
If you haven't seen it yet, Tim Challies has put together a great Directory of Reformed Conferences for 2007, with a look ahead to 2008 as well.
September 04, 2006
The Atonement and Marriage
Speaking of the benefits of marriage, here is an outstanding reflection from Pastor Ligon Duncan on the connection between Christ's substitutionary death on a cross and Paul's injunction (in Ephesians 5) that husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church.
Vocation Day
Gene Veith invites us to join the historic Christian tradition of co-opting pagan holidays by giving them Christian meaning.
Veith suggests we transform "Labor Day" into Vocation Day in observance of the Doctrine of Vocation:
God has called us to our work, as a means of love and service to our neighbors. And He works through our callings to provide daily bread to all of His creation. And we are to live out our Christian faith in our various callings--in our work, yes, but also in our family vocations and in our cultural vocations. So getting a little break from work, having a cook out with our families, taking part in the cultural observances are all fitting ways to honor and to celebrate how God chooses to act through human beings, through us.
For more solid teaching on the much-neglected doctrine of vocation, see Veith's excellent book God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life.
Update: Al Mohler also offers some insightful thoughts on approaching both labor and leisure as gifts of God.
September 02, 2006
Andreas Kostenberger's book
I was very grateful to receive a copy of Dr. Kostenberger's book God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation in the mail this week. From my brief perusal of the work thus far and my reading some of the endorsements offered by J.I. Packer, John Piper, Kent Hughes, Mary Kassian, Mark Dever, Russell Moore, Gordon Hugenberger, Wayne Grudem, Daniel Block, Paige Patterson, Ligon Duncan III, Bruce Ware, Tom Elliff, Robert Yarbough, Tom Schreiner, Randy Stinson, Bob Baker, and Richard Hove, I can already tell this is a book I wish I had read when it came out in 2004. The breadth of coverage (Kostenberger does not avoid controversial topics such as divorce, homosexuality, contraception, infertility, child discipline, and male headship) coupled with Dr. Kostenberger's credentials as a respected New Testament scholar make the book a worthy read for all of us who are wrestling with these issues, and especially those of us involved in teaching others (whether live or over the blogosphere).
I just thought I'd give this brief description for those of you who may have read Dr. Kostenberger's posts on the gift singleness and my subsequent open letter, to which Dr. Kostenberger graciously commented. As he suggested, I plan to read his chapter entitled "Undivided Devotion to the Lord: The Divine Gift of Singleness." My receiving this book is quite timely, not just because of our recent interaction, but also because in early August I completed a draft of a 1200 word article for a Christian publication. I am glad to have the opportunity to better understand Dr. Kostenberger's perspective as I complete my article. I will link to the article when it is published. Please note, however, that this article was not (and is not) envisioned as a "response" to Kostenberger.
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