Limited Atonement in the Bible, Doctrine, History, and Ministry

Andy Naselli draws attention to “a concise and helpful new book on a controversial issue: Lee Gatiss. For Us and For Our Salvation: “Limited Atonement” in the Bible, Doctrine, History, and Ministry. London: Latimer Trust, 2012.

– Read more here.

Should we pray to the Spirit?

“People often ask their pastor – “Is it right to pray to the Spirit?” I wonder – do you have an answer? Do you have a practice in your own prayer life? …”

– Adrian Reynolds at The Proclamation Trust shares some thoughts and a prayer from The Valley of Vision.

The Dark Night in Denver — groping for answers

Albert Mohler reflects on the tragic events in Colorado –

“The Fall released human moral evil into the cosmos, and every single human being is a sinner, tempted by a full range of sinfulness. When someone does something as seemingly unthinkable as this, we often question how anyone could do such a thing. …” – Read it all here.

Related, an opinion-piece on movie violence written in 2008 – ‘Our attitude to violence is beyond a joke as new Batman film, The Dark Knight, shows’.

The Gospel and its Proclamation

Dr Barry Newman has been blogging on the meaning of the word gospel.

“The gospel is so extraordinary and proclaiming it so much an imperative that I thought it would be a good idea to produce a blog series reminding ourselves of what the New Testament says about the gospel and its proclamation. Furthermore it may prove to be informative to see how these two Greek words are used outside of the New Testament, say, up until the end of the 1st century A.D. There are indeed some interesting differences between New Testament usages and the way the words are used in the Greek literature external to the New Testament.”

He’s just completed the series, and all of the posts can be downloaded as a single PDF file. Well worth downloading and reading.

Three lessons from crisis and decline in the mainline denominations

Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School in Alabama, draws three lessons from the crisis in TEC and other denominations –

“1. There is an intrinsic connection between spiritual vitality and theological integrity.
2. The continuing saga and approaching collapse of mainline denominations should prompt us to pray.
3. Evangelicals have no room to boast or gloat over the ‘sickness unto death’ in the mainlines.”

– full article at The Gospel Coalition.

Understanding Islam

The White Hose Inn broadcast recently featured a two-part interview on ‘understanding Islam’. Michael Horton interviewed Islamic specialist Adam Francisco. Worth hearing. Part 1. Part 2.

Free eBook on Sanctification

Desiring God has made available a free eBook on Sanctification – including three sermons on the topic from John Piper.

A measure of security in an insecure world

“Australians, Field Marshall Thomas Blamey commented about the time of the outbreak of WW2, were like gazelles playing on the edge of a jungle, completely oblivious to the dangers all around. He spoke those words in the shadow of the greatest threat Australia had ever faced.

Things are not that critical as I write but I think we Australians still take for granted something that it has cost generations of Australian Servicemen and Women in peace and war a great deal to protect. That is the security that we are so inclined to take for granted. …”

– Geoff Webb, Principal Chaplain Army, writes about security – both temporal and eternal – at Defence Anglicans.

Pokies: Who cares?

“I remain sickened by the tragedy upon tragedy caused by poker machine gambling. What needs to happen for our political leaders to act in compassion on this matter? State Governments gamble life and lives away through their support of poker machine gambling – often deceptively referred to as ‘gaming’ [Oh, Please!].…”

– Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower pleads with political leaders to act.

What Ails the Episcopalians

“During the day, legislators … discussed such weighty topics as whether to develop funeral rites for dogs and cats, and whether to ratify resolutions condemning genetically modified foods. Both were approved by a vote, along with a resolution to ‘dismantle the effects of the doctrine of discovery,’ in effect an apology to Native Americans for exposing them to Christianity. …”

– The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the Episcopal Church and its General Convention.
(Photo: Episcopal News Service.)

Where ‘mercy ministry’ fits into the church

The latest 9Marks Journal – on Where Mercy Ministry fits into the Church – is now available for download.

The Perfect Saviour: Key themes in Hebrews

Dr. David Peterson draws our attention to an important new book.

(Get a copy.)

Lightning strikes

“Apparently York University was hit by lightning last week. In and of itself, that fact may be of minor meteorological interest; but given that the General Synod of the Church of England was meeting there to discuss the possibility of ordaining female bishops, some have turned it into a matter of major theological interest. …”

– Iain Campbell at Reformation21 writes about the nature of God, the status of the Bible, and the willingness of the church to hear.

Making sense of Scripture’s ‘inconsistency’

“I find it frustrating when I read or hear columnists, pundits, or journalists dismiss Christians as inconsistent because ‘they pick and choose which of the rules in the Bible to obey.’

Most often I hear, ‘Christians ignore lots of Old Testament texts – about not eating raw meat or pork or shellfish, not executing people for breaking the Sabbath, not wearing garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what you want to believe from the Bible?’…”

– Tim Keller looks at the relationship of the Old Testament to the New. (h/t Tim Challies.)

Getting to grips with the ‘God-particle’

“If you have studied a lot of physics, then you may understand your photons from your bosons and your leptons from your quarks. And you might be able to understand with ease what such things tell us about our universe.

But for those of us who struggle with physics and want a little assistance when it comes to engaging with our non-Christian friends on this subject, here are some helpful words from the Gospel Coalition…”

– Helen Thorne writes at The Good Book blog. (Image: phdcomics.com)

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