25 Truths about Preachers
At Unashamed Workman, Colin Adams has some reminders and encouragements for preachers, drawn from 2 Timothy.
Possible first-century fragment of Mark’s Gospel discovered
“In 2012, Dan Wallace dropped a bombshell during a debate with Bart Ehrman. Ehrman had pointed out that our earliest copy of Mark’s Gospel is dated 140 years after the gospel was first written. It’s a point often made by critics to show the unreliability of the New Testament. Wallace then revealed that he had knowledge that a first century copy of Mark’s Gospel had been discovered. …
LiveScience.com has a report today verifying Wallace’s claims about work being done on a fragment of Mark’s Gospel that appears to be from the late first century”
– Denny Burk has a little more on Daniel Wallace’s 2012 claim.
And some cautionary thoughts from Justin Taylor
“Let’s think critically and wait to see the published results. Until then, debating the details won’t get us very far.”
and Peter Williams, Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge.
(Photo: Dr. Daniel Wallace at Dallas Theological Seminary.)
Refugees weather winter
“As Iraqi Christians from the Nineveh Plain spend their first winter away from their homes, conditions are becoming extreme.
Relief organisations moved thousands out of camps into rented accommodation.
In Mosul, one of the towns they left behind, conditions have grown desperate…”
– Read the latest from SydneyAnglicans.net, and give to The Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid here.
Why can’t the voice of Christians be heard?
“So, it has come to this! For more than 1,500 years, Christianity has formed and undergirded the public law of this land.
Now, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice, by disciplining Richard Page JP, have declared war on even residual notions of the faith having any place in our legal processes…”
– Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali comments on the disciplining of a British magistrate.
Related:
Is glorifying God a hate crime now? – Russell Moore on the firing of Atlanta’s Fire Chief.
“Now, I don’t expect the American people to enroll in Sunday school en masse to understand biblical references (although we’d be glad to have you).
I do expect that when we are castigating and caricaturing and firing each other that we will do so with at least some inkling of what we’re talking about.”
Unbroken — a true story of God’s grace
The film Unbroken is now in the theatres.
At Desiring God, read the story of God’s grace behind the story told by the movie. (Photo: Desiring God.)
See also this 28 minute video from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Related: Jolie on making Unbroken in Australia – ABC News.
‘Christian publishing long overdue for reformation’
“More than two years ago, I wrote an article titled “The Burpo-Malarkey Doctrine,” critiquing the insanely popular I-Saw-Heaven-and-Here’s-What-It’s-Like genre of Christian best sellers. We posted that article on the Grace to You blog in anticipation of a revised and expanded edition of John MacArthur’s The Glory of Heaven…”
– Phil Johnson writes about the fuss concerning The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven.
Related:
What did you see while you were in heaven? – Adam Ford. (h/t Tim Challies.)
‘The Boy Who came back from Heaven’ recants story – ACL.
Worthy of double honour — Expository advocating
“Paul was telling the truth when he said that preaching the gospel is folly, but he also says, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” (1 Cor 1:27).
A commitment to expository preaching takes a firm belief in the power of God’s Word and a humble recognition that the God-appointed means of preaching is better than whatever impressive or efficient model we might devise. God will build his church through expository preaching, and it takes a committed fool to believe it and do it…”
– encouragement from the Southern Blog.
We do not listen to Jesus in prayer
A sermon bite from William Taylor at St. Helen’s.
‘The Boy Who came back from Heaven’ recants story
The ‘Boy who came back from Heaven’, Alex Malarkey, has aparently released a statement recanting his story and calls to repentance those who profit from it:
“Please forgive the brevity, but because of my limitations I have to keep this short.
I did not die. I did not go to Heaven.
I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough…”
Read it all at Pulpit and Pen. (Photo: Pulpit and Pen.)
What will Christian retailers who have been selling these kinds of books do?
On similar books:
Heavenly Tourism – Tim Challies (2012)
How real is the book ‘Heaven is for Real’? – John Piper
Life’s a Journey – Alex’s mother’s blog.
Justin Peters’ radio programme, 14 April 2014.
Update:
“Tyndale House, a major Christian publisher, has announced that it will stop selling “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven,” by Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin Malarkey.”
‘An Excellent Documentary on Exodus’
Both Andy Naselli and Joe Carter draw attention to an upcoming documentary on Exodus. Each of them has a link to the trailer.
The murders at Charlie Hebdo: are we really Charlie?
“It feels like we are at war. Doesn’t the flood of reaction to the mass murders at Charlie Hebdo, especially over recent days, look like a drawing-together before a common enemy? The ‘I am Charlie Hebdo’ mantra implies unanimity, a very clear sense of ‘us’: this was a war-crime by ‘them’ against all of ‘us’. …
But who is the ‘us’ and who is the ‘them’?…”
– Mike Ovey in London writes this opinion-piece on the Oak Hill blog.
Authentic Christian ministry
In the latest Preaching Matters from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, William Taylor speaks about authentic Christian ministry in the context of preaching from Acts.
It’s a 10 minute video.
Using Charlie Hebdo to attack Christianity
“You could almost hear the collective groan throughout the Western World: “Oh no, here we go again,” as reports came in of yet another massacre done in the name of militant Islam.
Without even reading the newspapers you know that the responses will be the same – people demonstrating in solidarity, governments and columnists telling us not to demonize all Muslims and a general sense of outrage being exploited by various right wing groups.
All understandable. However I have been surprised by another aspect that shows a more complex and worrying side to our society…”
– David Robertson (Minister at St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee) is currently in Oz. He shares his observations of some responses to the Paris terrorist attack.
World Watch List 2015
Open Doors USA has released its 2015 World Watch List.
Food for prayer.
Theological extremism in a Secular age
“One of the fundamental problems among Western elites is that they cannot understand a theological worldview – particularly the theological worldview of Islam. Being basically rational and secular in their own worldview, Western elites find it almost impossible to understand the radical actions taken by Islamic terrorists…”
– Albert Mohler looks at the motivation for the attacks in Paris, and notes that there is no warrant “for Christians to enter into any kind of irresponsible and intentionally offensive form of satire”.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…