Dever on Conversion and Evangelism

Last October, Mark Dever spoke on ‘Conversion and Evangelism’ at Boyce College, on the campus of the Southern Baptist Seminary.

The 18 minute talk is a 6.2MB download. The end of the talk is cut off, but the message is a straightforward reminder of the necessity of conversion.
(h/t Faith by Hearing.)

Unconsciously recasting the nature of gospel ministry

“Back in Jerusalem, in the early days of the Christian church, the apostles devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word of God (Acts 6:4). Later, the apostle Paul dedicated himself to proclaiming the crucified Christ (1 Cor. 2:1-5) and spoke insistently of his prayers for those with whom he had shared the gospel (Phil. 1:3-11; Eph. 1:15-23; 3:14-18; etc.) This was the pattern of ministry that Paul commended to those to whom he gave responsibility among the churches (1 Tim. 4:11-16). …

In an era when some fear their backs are against the wall and that we must do everything in our power to arrest Christianity’s slide into oblivion, the temptation to rework this classic understanding of Christian ministry is felt keenly…”

– Mark Thompson reflects on the not-so-subtle pressures to change the nature of gospel ministry.

2010 Reform National Conference

Continuing our links to resources you may find helpful, the 2010 Reform National Conference was held at the High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire last October. The theme was ‘The counter-cultural church’.

Talks and other downloads are available from Reform.

Pastoral moves — latest 9Marks eJournal

Looking for a new minister?

Ministers, are you thinking of moving? Or wondering about staying?

The latest eJournal from 9Marks addresses these questions and gives some wise counsel.

Pastors Going
Leave Your Church Well
Prepare the Church for the Next Guy
Book Review: Handle That New Call With Care

Pastors Coming
What’s Wrong With Search Committees?
What’s Right About Elders?
What Not to do when You’re the New Guy
You Might Have the Wrong Candidate If…

Tips for an Interim Pastor
Pastors Staying
Staying to the Glory of God: One Preacher’s Death Wish
Staying for the Glory of God: The Sibbes, Simeon and Stott Model

All this and more at 9Marks.

Think! 2010 Desiring God conference

The 2010 Desiring God National Conference (“Think!”) was held last October. All the audio and video (large files!) is at the Desiring God website.

Todd Shaffer at Faith by Hearing recommends all the talks, with just one slight hesitation. See what you think.

The Christian Worldview as Master Narrative

“Even as the Bible begins the story with creation, it immediately moves to an explanation of what has gone wrong. Again, such an account is required of every worldview, and every philosophy of life must provide some explanation for why human beings are as we are and why we act as we act.

The Bible directs those who asked this question to the Garden of Eden and to the event we know as the Fall…”

– Albert Mohler on the Bible’s unique view of our world.

Euthanasia: The Patient and the right of ‘Advance Directives’

“Dr Megan Best suggests that while Christians believe that we are not free to take the life of another person, this does not mean that we must prolong life at all costs. Nor does it mean that the patient has no rights to cease treatment or give directions about their last days of life…”

– Dr Trevor Cairney at the Centre for Apologetic Scholarship and Education has some very helpful resources from palliative care doctor Megan Best at the Just in CASE blog.

The Authorised Version? – GAFCON and the Anglican Ordinariate

Charles Raven:

“It is sadly ironic that on the first day of the year which marks the 400th anniversary of King James’ Authorised Version of the Bible, which has had such a profound impact on the English speaking world, three Church of England bishops were received into the Pope’s Anglican Ordinariate in Westminster Cathedral.

The fact that the Ordinariate is described as ‘Anglican’ while having no authorization from the Church of England or the wider Anglican Communion is a reminder of just how bold a stroke this is. There are now two fundamentally different forms of Anglicanism in England itself, one of which is part of the Church of Rome…

A GAFCON sponsored mission in England would be an ‘authorised version’ of the Ordinariate because while not part of the Church of England, it would be indisputably Anglican in both faith and order.”

– Read all of Charles Raven’s latest opinion-piece at SPREAD.

(Photo of Pope Benedict during his visit to Westminister Cathedral last year.)

Churchman article on Bishop J C Ryle

“Well-wishers sent him an ornately embroidered cope and mitre, but he returned them, saying he ‘had no intention of making a guy of himself’, and another gift of a pastoral staff was graciously, but firmly declined: ‘No staff for me, if you send me a staff I shall lock it up in a cupboard and never see it again. A Bishop wants a Bible and no staff.’…”

– Church Society has republished Eric Russell’s 1999 Churchman article on Bishop J C Ryle. Available here as a PDF file.

The Pursuit of Holiness – free audiobook

The free audiobook from Christian Audio for January 2011 is Jerry Bridge’s The Pursuit of Holiness. Grab it here.

Stott on Charles Simeon

In November 2004, at Taylor University in Indiana, John Stott delivered a 33 minute introduction to Charles Simeon. The video was recently uploaded to Vimeo.

On preaching, Stott quotes Simeon: “Does [the sermon] uniformly tend to humble the sinner, to exalt the Saviour, and to promote holiness?”

(h/t Justin Taylor, who also has some useful links.)

Narnia Invaded

Writing before the release of the most recent film, Steven D. Boyer looks at the Hollywood interpretation of the Narnia books.

“If there is a possibility that Lewis was right—even a bare possibility—then this loss of the original Narnia, this domestication of Aslan, is distressing indeed. It signals nothing less than an invasion by a foreign and hostile power.

The creators of this ‘new improved’ Narnia have taken the single element in Lewis’s tales that twenty-first-century viewers most need to be instructed in, and they have recast it so that it contributes to the error rather than correcting it.”

– In the November–December edition of Touchstone.

Biblical inerrancy

“I have long wanted to write a serious piece on the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. Recently I was given the opportunity to do so through an invitation to contribute to a volume essays, The Bible and the Academy: Critical Scholarship and the Evangelical Understanding of Scripture in the 21st Century, edited by James Hoffmeier and Dennis Magary and to be published by Crossway in 2011.

I do not intend to reproduce the article here but instead simply to outline its argument…”

– ACL President Mark Thompson writes at Theological Theology.

Accordance for iOS

Those who use Accordance 9 Bible software may be interested to know that it’s now available for the iPhone and iPad. It’s a free app, and if you already have purchased modules, they can be used. Details here.

Mark’s Gospel performed by Max McLean

Looking for something worthwhile to watch on New Year’s Eve?

Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds points out that the video of Max McLean performing The Gospel According to Mark is available in its entirety on YouTube, thanks to the Fellowship for the Performing Arts Theater Company.

See at all here – you can see the entire Gospel performed in about 90 minutes. Well worth your time.

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