Month: June 2007

The Bible, Baptists, and Beer

Christianity Today has an article {with extra links} about the situation “brewing” among some Baptists…

My thoughts on drinking alcohol always come down to the fact that John the Baptist abstained but Jesus didn’t! I guess everyone falls somewhere between, but the core issues must be 1} Don’t get drunk 2} Don’t force ideas/thoughts that cannot be backed up definitively by Scripture 3} Don’t drink cheap beer, if you’re gonna drink…

More From Ligonier

While Desiring God is wrapping up their $5 Piper book sale, Ligonier Ministries has a book sale going as well. Not of the $5 variety, but certainly there are some good deals.

Ligonier/Reformation Trust will also be releasing in January 2008 2 books:

“Contending For the Truth” by John MacArthur, Al Mohler, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and Ravi Zacharias.

John MacArthur, Al Mohler, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and Ravi Zacharias join forces to refute the claims made against the biblical worldview and to arm believers for the cogent presentation of orthodox Christianity.
Taken from Ligonier Ministries’ 2007 National Conference, these lectures will equip believers to answer the false claims of postmodernism, naturalism, and our culture’s other atheistic theories.

Also, the 2nd installment of Steve Lawson’s series, “A Long Line of Godly Men” {volume #1 is Foundations of Grace} is scheduled for next January- “Pillars of Grace.”

Dr. Steven J. Lawson continues his Long Line of Godly Men series, which began with Foundations of Grace, published in 2006. In this volume, Dr. Lawson begins a joyous survey of church history, showing that the teaching of the doctrines of grace was not a minority report but that it found a steady stream of proponents even in some of the darkest centuries.

The Truth of the Cross

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R.C. Sproul has a new book coming out in next month called, “The Truth of the Cross.” Here’s a brief description:

Dr. R.C. Sproul surveys the great work accomplished by Jesus Christ through His crucifixion—the redemption of God’s people. Dr. Sproul considers the atonement from numerous angles and shows conclusively that the cross was absolutely necessary if anyone was to be saved. Opening the Scriptures, Dr. Sproul shows that God Himself provided salvation by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross, and the cross was always God’s intended method by which to bring salvation. The Truth of the Cross is an uncompromising reminder that the atonement of Christ is an absolutely essential doctrine of the Christian faith, one that should be studied and understood by all believers.

Also, check out these “shout outs” by some respected scholars!

“The Truth of the Cross is the best book on the cross I have read. It is a ‘must’ for every church library and a book that I will give away many times to friends. This is so because it is sober (i.e., it contains historically informed reflections on salient biblical texts), sensible (i.e., it is well-argued), simple (i.e., it holds the reader’s attention through grabbing illustrations and even a seventh-grader can its substance), and spiritual (i.e., it comes from a heart set ablaze by the Spirit).”
— Dr. Bruce K. Waltke, Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary

“The cross stands at the very center of our Christian lives. Still, many Christians are confused about the heart of the gospel, for many deviant views are in the air. R.C. Sproul blows the fog away in this wonderfully clear, theologically profound, and pastorally rich work. Learn afresh or anew what God has accomplished in the cross, so that you will boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ.”
— Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner, Professor, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“The gospel is a message of good news that something extraordinary has happened. At the heart of that message is that Jesus, God the Son incarnate, has atoned for the sins of all His people, turning away the righteous wrath of God. The gospel is a cross-shaped message. Sadly, in our day, this message is being re-shaped into other forms, and the results are not happy. We can give thanks for this volume by R.C. Sproul, however, because in it he steps into the breach once more to provide a clear, concise, and thoughtful case for the biblical and historic Christian gospel of the cross.”
— Dr. R. Scott Clark, Associate Professor, Westminster Seminary California

Sounds promising!

9 Marks News: July/August

The latest 9 Marks newsletter is available at the 9 Marks website.

The focus this time around is on the Gospel. Here’s what’s available on the website, or you can read it in pdf format here.

The Therapeutic Gospel
The therapeutic gospel limits itself to giving people what they want, instead of calling for a change of what they ultimately want.
By David Powlison

Brian McLaren and the Gospel of Here & Now
This emerging leader is alright on the “already,” but neglects the “not yet.”
By Greg Gilbert

Satanism, Starbucks, and Other Gospel Challenges
The medium is the message, and theologian David Wells says the gospel message is increasingly compromised by “relevant” methods.
A 9Marks Interview with David Wells

Leaving Home, Returning Home
This biblical theology of the Fall identifies precisely why a gospel is necessary.
By Michael Lawrence

The Devil’s Favorite Domino—the Penal in Penal Substitution
Here’s why the penal in penal substitution is all precious, and why the devil always topples it first.
By Jonathan Leeman

Gospel Coalition Travelogue
A report from the frontline of Carson and Keller’s Gospel Coalition Conference.
By Michael McKinley

Book Review:
The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views
edited by James Beilby and Paul R. Eddy
Reviewed by Greg Gilbert

EXPLAINING THE “GOSPEL” TO NON-CHRISTIANS?
A Pastors’ and Theologians’ Forum

We asked a roundtable of pastors and theologians how they would explain the gospel universally and how they would explain it in their neighborhood.
Answers from Peter Adams, Greg Gilbert, Liam Goligher, Michael Horton, Michael Nazir-Ali, Frank Retief, “Ed Roberts,” Mack Stiles, and Adrian Warnock

Book Review:
Simply Christian
by N.T. Wright
Reviewed by Andrew Davis

Book Review:
The Gospel According to Starbucks
by Leonard Sweet
Reviewed by Byron Straughn

Book Review:
Soul Cravings
by Erwin McManus
Reviewed by Jonathan Leeman

GOSPEL MEDITATIONS
Third Mark of a Healthy Church MEMBER: Gospel Saturated
One pastor’s six tips for church members on remaining gospel centered.
By Thabiti Anyabwile

Good Friday Meditation: A Fitting Crown
Stop and listen to the Bible’s story of thorns and discover why such a crown was fit for the King of kings.
By Michael Lawrence

AUDIO—LEADERSHIP INTERVIEWS
Evangelism and the Gospel with Will Metzger
posted: 6/1/2007
Author and evangelist Will Metzger, who helped shaped Mark Dever’s understanding of evangelism, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to evangelism today.

Sugar Creek Movie

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My friend Jay Cotten’s new movie “Sugar Creek” is being released to DVD on July 24th. It looks like a good film. Go buy/rent and support new emerging directors! Somebody’s gotta replace the Spielbergs and Lucas’ someday…

You can watch the trailer here.

Visit the website here.

Here’s a description:

It is 1889. Adam Stanton is in a dark box, alone. He is being dragged across earth and stone, the sound is maddening… on and on. He has no idea of how long he’s been here. But suddenly, the dragging stops. He hears the approaching footsteps, the chimes of spurs against dirt. Then an axe is dragged across the lid, heavy metal against wood. With a loud crash, and the first light his blinded eyes have seen, Adam hears words that will haunt him for the next three days, “Come and see.”

With a hard push, Adam lifts the lid, breaking it free of the nails. He rises, squinting, a sore back. There is no one there. But then he sees them… five other boxes, coffins, surrounding his. Confusion and fear set in, and why are his feet bare?

What Adam doesn’t know… there is a legend, a dark horseman, who brings in men who have lived past their time. He pulls his victims into the valley in coffins and hunts them for three days. The locals fear him as a henchman for ol’ sleuth foot, and the legend says, if you help the one he’s hunting… the shoeless man, he will kill you as well.

Adam meets a strange cast of characters on his journey. One by one, they all fall before the Horseman.

As Adam slowly discovers his connection to this dark rider, he is found by a lost missionary, Christine. Through her help and the Horseman’s wrath, Adam will learn that you can’t escape the past. Some terrible things are never forgotten and need to be redeemed… and the worst possible sin is to do nothing at all.

Here’s Jay’s thoughts about his film:
“Sugar Creek is a low budget film, unlike anything you have ever seen. Part fairy tale/morality tale. Part Horror/ Western. The story of Adam, as he is hunted by a mysterious Horseman through a valley where men do hateful things because they’ve had hateful things done to them, is the story of revenge and redemption, and the irony in between.
The filmmakers chose to break barriers and combine elements from all genres to tell a complete story, fun and commercial, yet artistic and meaningful. Director James Cotten affectionately calls it my Disney movie from hell, claiming that the ride is shot and presented in a fun package, where you can’t believe what you’re laughing at.

I tried to shoot things in a light, over the top, manner, with a whimsical musical score, where the violence and hate you’re watching seems to not be taken too seriously, Cotten says, not until we want you to.”

Jesus In Primetime

Dallas Seminary will be sponsoring a conference this fall: Jesus In Primetime

Jesus In Primetime
Was Jesus a prophet or a good man? Is the Resurrection true? Why are there only four gospels?
Today the media is fueling public interest in such questions, and as church leaders, we must be informed and prepared to address these questions.
Join us in an interactive day with that nation’s top theologoical experts and premier media professionals as we delve into what’s “news” about Jesus and why it matters to the church.

Monday, October 29, 2007
Speakers: Dr. Darrell Bock, Dr. Dan Wallace, Dr. Ben Witherington, Peggy Wehemeyer-Woods, Dan Ankerberg, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Dr. Larry Moody, Dr. Mark Bailey
Location:
Fellowship Bible Church Dallas
Registration Fees:
$85 per person
$75 per person/groups of 10+ (registering at same time)
$25 DTS staff, faculty, students
Registration closes Friday, October 19th at 4:30 p.m.
Please contact Alicia Messer for more information or to register over the phone at 214-841-3698.

A Snippett Concerning Muller

I’m reading A.T. Pierson’s book, George Muller of Bristol, and here’s a snippet from the book about Muller {whom I admire and have been heavily influenced and shaped by}:

This man– from his seventieth to his eighty-seventh year– when most men are withdrawing from all activities, had travelled in forty-two countries and over two hundred thousand miles, a distance equivalent to nearly eight journeys round the globe. He estimated that during these seventeen years he had addressed over three million people; and from all that can be gathered from the records of these tours, we estimate that he must have spoken, outside of Bristol, between five thousand and six thousand times. What sort of teaching and testimony occupied these tours, those who have known the preacher and teacher need not be told. While at Berlin in 1891, he gave an address that serves as an example of the vital truths which he was wont to press on the attention of fellow disciples. We give a brief outline:

He first urged that believers should never, even under the greatest difficulties, be discouraged, and gave for his position sound scriptural reasons.

Then he pointed out to them that the chief business of every day is first of all to seek to be truly at rest and happy in God.

Then he showed how, from the word of God, all saved believers may know their true standing in Christ, and how in circumstances of particular perplexity they might ascertain the will of God.

He then urged disciples to seek with intense earnestness to become acquainted with God Himself as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and carefully to form and maintain godly habits of systematic Bible study and prayer, holy living and consecrated giving.

He taught that God alone is the one all-satisfying portion of the soul, and that we must determine to possess and enjoy Him as such.

He closed by emphasizing it as the one, single, all-absorbing, daily aim to glorify God in a complete surrender to His will and service.

In all these mission tours, again, the faithfulness of God was conspicuously seen, in the bounteous supply of every need. Steamer fares and long railway journeys; hotel accommodations, ordinarily preferred to private hospitality, which seriously interfered with private habits of devotion, public work, and proper rest– such expenses demanded a heavy outlay; the new mode of life, now adopted for the Lord’s sake, was at least three times as costly as the former frugal housekeeping; and yet, in answer to prayer and without any appeal to human help, the Lord furnished all that was required.

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism

Mark Dever has a new book coming out, to be released September 11th, 2007- The Gospel and Personal Evangelism

Here’s a description:

Evangelism is not only misunderstood, it is often unpracticed. Many Christians want to share the gospel with others, but because those Christians don’t grasp the fundamentals of witnessing, they feel intimidated and incapable of sharing the truth of the gospel.

Yet those believers fail to recognize that God has already established who and how we are to evangelize. In The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Dr. Mark Dever seeks to answer the four basic questions about evangelism that many Christians ask: Who should we evangelize? How should we evangelize? What is evangelism? Why should we evangelize? In his answers Dever draws on New Testament truths and helps believers apply those truths in practical ways. As readers understand the fundamentals of evangelism, they will begin to develop a culture of evangelism in their lives and their local churches.

Family Driven Faith

Voddie Baucham has new book out that’s just been released, Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God

Here’s a description:

More teens are turning away from the faith than ever before: it is estimated that 75 to 88% of Christian teens walk away from Christianity by the end of their freshman year of college. Something must be done.

Family Driven Faith equips Christian parents with the tools they need to raise children biblically in a post-Christian, anti-family society. Voddie Baucham, who with his wife has overcome a multi-generational legacy of broken and dysfunctional homes, shows that God has not left us alone in raising godly children. He has given us timeless precepts and principles for multi-generational faithfulness, especially in Deuteronomy 6. God’s simple command to Moses to teach the Word diligently to the children of Israel serves as the foundation of Family Driven Faith.

This bold book is an urgent call to parents–and the church–to return to biblical discipleship in and through the home.

Leader Formation

Thought I’d let you all know about Leader Formation International, a ministry headed up by Bill Lawrence, Senior Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Ministries and Adjunct Professor of Doctor of Ministry Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. Looks like he has some great resources on discipleship and leadership.

Also, if you are a pastor, I’d highly recommend his book Effective Pastoring. Unfortuantely, I was unable to take any of his classes during seminary, but I’ve heard nothing but great things about him. His book has excellent insights for shepherding a congregation.