Are we still responsible for sins for which we may be genetically predisposed?

Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds quotes these helpful words from Tom Schreiner at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky–

“Even if some sins could be traced to our genetics, it would not exempt us from responsibility for such sins. The Scriptures teach that all human beings are born into this world as sons and daughters of Adam, and hence they are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3).   Read more

What would you want on your tombstone?

What is the resurrection to you? What part does it hold in your thinking?

NSW Moderator of The Presbyterian Church, Chris Balzer, wrote this for the Presbyterian magazine, Pulse:

–––––

“A few months ago a friend and I ‘discovered’ the graveyard at Sofala NSW.

From my perspective, the most interesting inscription on a tombstone was this:

The dust of Vestry Walker, who slept in Jesus 28th August 1875, waits here (until) the morning of the first resurrection.

If you call yourself a Christian, would you be pleased at the thought that your relatives might use similar words on your tombstone? I would.

What theological insight those relatives of Vestry Walker had! Can you see the theology?   Read more

God’s power in our weakness

“I wonder whether the provision of MP3s of sermons of great preachers now available everywhere is in danger of creating another Corinthian problem for our churches…”

– Over at SydneyAnglicans.net, Bishop Robert Forsyth has a good point – see what he has to say here. (Download the mp3 file.)
Photo: Russell Powell.

Of Earthquakes and End Times

“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.” (Mark 13:7-8 TNIV)

Not long after the 2004 tsunami that devastated Indonesia and neighboring countries, a document was circulating on the internet, purportedly showing a dramatic rise in earthquakes in recent years and using that to fuel fervor that Christ’s return was imminent. …

– New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg puts earthquakes in their Biblical context. (Photo: Denver Seminary.)

Brothers, We are not Figure-Skaters

Tempted to go soft on proclaiming the Bible? Encouraging words in this 2’25” video clip from Phil Johnson at Grace Community Church in California.

The Phantom Menace: Territorial Spirits and SLSW

Church Society has just republished a very helpful ten-year-old article by Melvin Tinker on popular notions of ‘spiritual warfare’.

“The aim of our spiritual warfare is not to disarm principalities and powers, which Christ has already done (Colossians 2:15). That is why he is seated above every rule and authority and why in principle Christians are seated with him in complete security (Eph 2:6). The objective of spiritual warfare is to ‘stand’.”

It’s available as a PDF file from their website.

On related topics, see also Peter Bolt’s Living with the Underworld (Get copies from Reformers, Moore Books) and Christ’s Victory over Evil (Moore Books, Reformers).

Liverpool’s Muddy Waters flow towards Africa

“The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd James Jones, has today shown just what a liability the Church of England is becoming to the rest of the Anglican Communion. Liverpool stands to the north of the estuary of the great Mersey River, now cleansed and restored to life after the pollution of the industrial age, but its spiritual waters are being sadly muddied.

In his Presidential Address to the Liverpool Diocesan Synod, Bishop Jones argues that the Church of England and the Anglican Communion should embrace diversity and accept that those who believe homosexual relationships are morally wrong and those who believe that, within a ‘stable and faithful relationship’, they are right can enjoy a peaceful co-existence.

He is of course by no means the first bishop of the Church of England to put this argument forward, but this is a significant moment because he is a prominent evangelical. …

But what is particularly arresting about the Bishop of Liverpool’s address is its scope. It presents a vision which does not stop at the boundaries of his own diocese. His plea is ‘that the Church of England and the Anglican Communion must allow a variety of ethical views on the subject as in this Diocese we do’ and he adds ‘This is I believe the next chapter to be written in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. It is the chapter that is already being written in our Partnership in Mission with the Diocese of Virginia and with the Diocese of Akure in Nigeria.’”

– from Charles Raven’s latest commentary (6th March 2010) at SPREAD.

Read the bishop’s Presidential Address.

See also:

Commentary from John Richardson – “Bishop James Jones and the challenge to unity”

“The number of traditionalist clergy in the Diocese of Liverpool may be large or small, but they must surely be waking up this morning with troubled consciences. The Bishop has declared not only his own position but, ostensibly, that of his diocese as being one which accepts diversity on sexuality.”

Peter Ould also weighs in – “Why James Jones is Wrong”

(Photo: Diocese of Liverpool.)

William Taylor on good preaching, bad theology, training pastors and more

In the latest 9Marks leadership interview series, Mark Dever speaks with William Taylor, Rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate in London.

It’s a fascinating interview covering, among other things, being an evangelical in the Church of England, the New Testament’s emphasis on the substitutionary atonement, and NT Wright. Worth listening.

Rico Tice on why the Resurrection matters

Here’s a very useful 14 minute evangelistic video with Rico Tice, co-author of Christianity Explored. He starts off by drawing six familiar boxes on a piece a paper…

It was produced for A Passion for Life, the [UK] “nationwide initiative that is drawing together local evangelical churches to plan a fantastic variety of missional initiatives culminating in Easter 2010”.

While this particular video is not able to be downloaded (it’s available on DVD in the UK), you could think of other ways to use it, since embedding is allowed – and the URL also could be passed on.

Pornography = Despair, Jesus = Hope

Keep an eye out for these Outreach Posters around Sydney (March 2010) – there may be opportunities for helpful conversions about the One who is our Hope.

Permanence before Experience — The wisdom of Marriage

In the current Southern Cross Newspaper (March 2010 – available in Sydney churches from this Sunday), Jeremy Halcrow writes about cohabitation versus marriage (page 13).

On the same topic, Albert Mohler writes, “many young adults … do not know that what they are actually doing is undoing marriage”.

J I Packer blows the whistle

Dr J I Packer:

“In the sixteenth and seventeen centuries, the Reformers – the Puritans – the evangelicals, seemed to know their Bible backwards. They could quote it, appropriately, and apply it, in relation to just anything that came up in conversation. We simply aren’t like that. And yet we think we’re being loyal to the Reformational heritage. I want to blow the whistle here.”

On this week’s White Horse Inn broadcast (‘Grounded in the Gospel’, February 28 2010), J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett, discuss their soon-to-be-published book Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old Fashioned Way.

The challenge to us is – Are we actually catechising the people in our churches?

Worth listening, and then prayerfully considering what to do. (Image: Anglican TV.)

Why I am Orthodox

Would you call yourself ‘Orthodox’? Rhys Bezzant, at Ridley College in Melbourne explains why he insists on using that label for himself –

“I am an Orthodox Christian. In a place like Melbourne, calling myself Orthodox could of course easily be misunderstood: people might think I mean Greek or Russian or Serbian Orthodox. Calling myself Orthodox is however more than tracing an ecclesiological line back to Eastern Europe.  Read more

Recycled lies in time for Easter

ACL President Mark Thompson writes –

“We’ve become quite used to sensationalist denials of central Christian truths at Easter…

No surprise then that Philip Pullman should time the release of his new book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2010) for Easter this year. …

Christians have absolutely no need to be concerned that these suggestions are being rehearsed yet again. The recent historical work of Richard Bauckham, Paul Barnett and John Dickson all demonstrate that the evidence moves entirely in the opposite direction…”

– Read Mark’s full post about the same old tired assertions.

Wired for Intimacy

Tim Challies reviews Wired for Intimacy.

“Much has been written in recent years about pornography. But new to store shelves is a book that is different from all the others, at least all of the other books targeted at a Christian audience. William Struthers’ Wired for Intimacy looks not primarily to the heart but to the brain. He shows how the male brain is hard-wired for intimacy and relationships and how pornography affects the male brain…

Wired for Intimacy is a book we need. With pornography increasingly reaching epidemic proportions, this book helps us understand it at a whole new level. And it calls us to deal with human sexuality in a way that acknowledges all of its dimensions—moral, ethical, psychological, spiritual and physical. I give Wired for Intimacy my highest recommendation.”

– The book is not widely available in Australia just yet, but Moore Books has some copies for $22.95.

Related:
Review by Albert Mohler.
‘Anti porn posters and DVDs’ – Eternity newspaper on the coming poster campaign from Outreach Media.

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