March 10, 2010
Q&A with C.J. Mahaney on Manhood Issues
An array of excellent, practical instruction for young men (14-19) and husbands/fathers alike on matters pertaining to manhood, humility, servant-leadership, wisdom, and character cultivation:
Q&A on Biblical Masculinity from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.
The books CJ mentions are:
1. Derek Kidner, Proverbs
2. Ed Welch, When People Are Big and God is Small.
3. John Ensor, Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart.
4. John Piper and Wayne Grudem, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
HT: JT
March 07, 2010
Loving God With All Your Mind
Gene Veith, in Loving God With All Your Mind (pp. 150-151):
[Jesus] tells us to love God with “all” our mind. In other words, everything the mind is capable of doing is to be devoted to loving God. It would seem then that if your mind can spin out complex mathematical calculations, you are to love God in mathematics. If your mind can plan a business, design a building, analyze a novel, understand a philosophical problem, or imagine a story, you are to love God in your planning, designing, analyzing, understanding, or imagining. When Jesus says “all” the mind, He is claiming every mental faculty we have.When He says “all your mind,” He is applying this claim in a very personal way. Not everyone has the same ability. Someone who is physically handicapped may not have the same physical “strength” that a star athlete does. That does not matter. Whether it means serving God from a hospital bed or from an Olympic pavilion, both are called to love God with all of their strength. In the same way, “all your mind” encompasses a wide range of talents and abilities. Some minds are gifted in the sciences, some in the arts. Some minds are oriented to academia and higher education; some are interested in more mundane spheres. No one set of talents is better than any other, and every calling is equal before the Lord. The point is, whatever our calling, God demands all that we can do and all that
we can think.The whole educational and intellectual enterprise, for a Christian, should be caught up in the desire to love God “with all your mind.” The whole process of curiosity, questioning, and discovery can be a journey, full of wonder and praise, into the mind of God, who created everything. Whatever can be studied, whether human nature or the physical universe, is what it is because God willed it and made it. To uncover the hidden laws that govern matter, to disclose the patterns of subatomic particles, to discover how human beings grow and interact, to discern an underlying pattern in history or in astronomy—all of these amount to nothing less than discovering God’s will.
March 06, 2010
John Piper: When Should a Doctrinal Difference Make You Leave a Church?
A good word:
March 05, 2010
David Powlison: The History and Context of the Biblical Counseling Movement
This looks like a fantastic, meaty (432 page) resource for pastors and counselors, and those in training to serve in those vocations. Powlison is highly qualified to write such a book, having (years ago) written a Ph.D. dissertation on Jay Adams and his contribution to the emergence of the biblical counseling movement. If you're not familiar with it, Powlison gives both praise and some constructive critiques of Adams' emphases with regard to the Bible, counseling, and the emotional life in general. Another place to get a good introduction to David Powlison is the three lectures he gave at the 2001 Desiring God Pastors Conference, available for free audio download.
Here's a brief video introduction to The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context from Dr. Powlison himself:
March 04, 2010
John Piper on the Consideration of God's Love
At a chapel message at Westmont College last week John Piper gave a repackaging of an old idea (for him). He explains:
I used to ask, How is it loving for God to make so much of himself and do everything for his glory? Now I ask: Why does God reveal his love for us in such a way that it turns out to be for his glory?Check it out:Or: I used to say: Do you feel more loved when God makes much of you or when he frees you to enjoy making much of him? Now I say, “Why does God make so much of us in a way that winds up making much of him?”
March 03, 2010
Gene Veith on Immorality Often Preceding "Intellectual" Apostasy
It is often the case that moral decline paves the way for the intellectual abandonment of the Christian faith. In Loving God With All Your Mind, Gene Veith unpacks a common observation:
A young man is raised in a Christian home and has some measure of belief in Christ. He then becomes involved in some sort of overt sin. This can be any sin—pride, covetousness, addiction, dishonoring of parents, worldliness. It is often a sexual sin. He has the honesty and presence of mind to realize that this favorite sin is incompatible with the Christian faith. He has the moral sensitivity to experience guilt.There are two ways he can respond. He may repent of the sin and turn to Christ to receive full and free forgiveness. Or he may hold on to the sin, treasure it, and refuse to give it up either overtly or emotionally. He starts to center his life around the sin, to seek from it consolation, help, and escape, to find in it, in effect, the
meaning of his life.But what about the guilt? If he is not interested in repenting and being forgiven, then there is only one way to end the torment: to reject whatever it is that brands his life as evil. If what I am doing is not really wrong, then I can “feel good about myself.” If there is no objective standard of right and wrong, I can do as I please. If there is no God, then I am not a sinner.
At this point, the “pretexts” are discovered. There are many reasons not to believe in God. They become extremely persuasive to someone who does not want God to exist. The arguments with the most force become those that turn one’s own moral failures against the Judge, so that the person’s own sinfulness is projected onto God Himself: “I can never believe in God because He allows so much evil in the world.” God becomes imagined not as the source of good, but as the source of evil.
February 28, 2010
Dr. James Dobson Says Goodbye (for Now)
Tobin Grant of Christianity Today shares some of the details regarding Dobson's transition from Focus on the Family. This past Friday the 26th was Dr. Dobson's last broadcast:
In addition to the many goodbyes, Friday's broadcast also discussed the details of Dobson's new ministry. Family Talk, like Focus on the Family, will be based in Colorado Springs and will feature a new radio show focusing on family issues and public policy. Dobson will share the hosting microphone with his son, Ryan, and Focus radio producer LuAnn Crane.Read the whole thing.Both Dobson and Focus leaders emphasized that the ministry will not be competition with Focus on the Family and noted that Focus on the Family gave Family Talk one million dollars to get it off the ground.
February 25, 2010
A Look Inside R.C. Sproul's Office
R.C. Sproul - Study Video from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.
February 24, 2010
Albert Mohler on the Challenges of Islam
A very informative, meaty lecture by Dr. Albert Mohler on the topic of "Developing A Christian Response To The Challenge Of Islam." Mohler spells out the history and distinctives of Islam, as well as the challenge that a growing Islamic movement represents to the Christian church today. Mohler explains that both Islam and Christianity are inherently "missionary movements" (i.e., they seek a greater number of adherents).
Interestingly, Dr. Mohler recently returned from a series of meetings with Islamic religious leaders in Istanbul, Turkey. He describes his efforts to explain the concept of sin to those leaders.
HT: JT
Do Hard Things -- A Follow-Up
Alex and Brett Harris have written a follow-up to their phenomenal book Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations
"In a culture of low expectations, non-stop entertainment and short attention spans, teenagers Alex and Brett Harris provide a voice of reason and a stirring exhortation to productive action in the name of Christ. As a university professor, I am not unaware of the Gen Y propensity to demand more recognition for less effort and to associate self-esteem with mere being rather than for actual accomplishment. Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low ExpectationsTheir new book, entitled Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are
, is sure to be similarly helpful. Here's the publisher's description:You want to do hard things.
But you don’t know where to start.
You are changing the world around you.
But you are tired and burned out.
You feel called to do the extraordinary for God.
But you feel stuck in the ordinary.
Do Hard Things inspired thousands of young people around the world to make the most of the teen years. Now Alex and Brett Harris are back and ready to tackle the questions that Do Hard Things inspired: How do I get started? What do I do when I get discouraged? What’s the best way to inspire others? Filled with stories and insights from Alex, Brett, and other real-life rebelutionaries, Start Here is a powerful and practical guide to doing hard things, right where you are.
Are you ready to take the next step and blast past mediocrity for the glory of God?
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Recent Posts
- Q&A with C.J. Mahaney on Manhood Issues
- Loving God With All Your Mind
- John Piper: When Should a Doctrinal Difference Make You Leave a Church?
- David Powlison: The History and Context of the Biblical Counseling Movement
- John Piper on the Consideration of God's Love
- Gene Veith on Immorality Often Preceding "Intellectual" Apostasy
- Dr. James Dobson Says Goodbye (for Now)
- A Look Inside R.C. Sproul's Office
- Albert Mohler on the Challenges of Islam
- Do Hard Things -- A Follow-Up