New Tribes of the Internet Age
Writing in The Times, Fleur Britten tells of a class of ‘Digital Nomads’ who dwell in coffee shops and wherever wireless hotspots are found. These new workers are a professional class that needs no office and have nothing but a digital address. …
The Digital Natives and Digital Nomads also represent a significant missiological and evangelistic challenge for the Christian church. …
– on reaching the world of today with the gospel – from SBTS President Al Mohler.
Concerning Preaching
Could it be that the devil considers the best strategy to seduce evangelicals away from the power of true biblical proclamation is actually to focus their attention and energies on preaching more and more?
– William Philip, now Minister at The Tron in central Glasgow, wrote this paper for the Proclamation Trust when he was their Director of Ministry.
Read the paper here – and see what other resources Proc Trust has on offer.
The Reason for God – Tim Keller
Why does God allow suffering in the world?
How could a loving God send people to Hell?
Why isn’t Christianity more inclusive?
How can one religion be ‘right’ and the others ‘wrong’?
Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced doubts skeptics bring to his church as well as the most important reasons for faith. In his new book, The Reason for God, he addresses each.
See the book’s website at www.thereasonforgod.com.
Episcopal confusion in San Joaquin
“In December of 2007, the convention of the Diocese of San Joaquin voted to remove any constitutional link between itself and the Episcopal Church and affiliate instead with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone… It was not, however, a clean break. Some seven of the diocese’s 47 congregations clearly elected – with no particular surprises here – to remain connected to TEC and therefore sever their relationship with Bishop Schofield and the departing/departed convention. …”
– Commentary in the Midwest Conservative Journal over confusing legal questions around the ‘Special Convention’ to be convened in the Diocese of San Joaquin today by the Presiding Bishop.
See also the website of the ‘reconstituted’ TEC Diocese of San Joaquin.
Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor
I must admit, once I started Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor, I could barely put it down. This has to be one of the most challenging and yet encouraging books I have read in quite some time.
As far as biographies go, this one was unlike any other biography I have ever read. …
Read this review of Don Carson’s book about his Dad.
Why the Global Anglican Future Conference is Necessary
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Communion Office, Middle East bishops, Episcopal Church liberal bishops, Church of England liberals and some 25 Church of England evangelical bishops wish that the June meeting of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in the Middle East would either evaporate, or, at a minimum, be little more than a prelude to the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury. …
– Opinion from David Virtue on VirtueOnline.
Biographical sketch of D.A. Carson
Professor Don Carson spoke at Moore College in Sydney yesterday. Andreas Köstenberger writes, “While many know D. A. Carson for his mind and his impressive scholarly writings, fewer people know the heart that produces those works.”
Professor Köstenberger (Professor of New Testament at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) has written a helpful biographical sketch of Don Carson – available as a PDF file.
(Thanks to Between Two Worlds for the link.)
Christianity vs. Liberalism
What are the main differences between classical vs. liberal approaches to the Christian faith? In the 1920s, J. Gresham Machen argued that these two perspectives were, in reality, two completely different religious systems. Was he right?
Dr. Michael Horton and friends at The White Horse Inn broadcast are continuing their discussion on “Christless Christianity”. Very helpful.
(Preachers: How clear is the gospel you preach at funerals? Are you preaching a liberal ‘gospel’?) Listen to this week’s episode at The White Horse Inn.
On a related topic, Al Mohler asks, “Has the Notion of Sin Disappeared?”
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
To answer the question of Jesus’ resurrection from a historical standpoint, we must first determine what facts concerning the fate of Jesus of Nazareth can be credibly established on the basis of the evidence …
A useful summary by William Lane Craig on Baptist Press.
See also SBTS President Al Mohler’s column on “Must One Believe in the Resurrection to be a Christian?” –
Now, [Deepak Chopra, the New Age president of the Alliance for a New Humanity] writes as one who knows he is “someone outside the Christian faith,” but what makes his point so interesting is that it is almost precisely the argument made by liberal Protestant theology – that it is enough to believe that the Apostles experienced a special consciousness of the risen Christ.
Spurgeon on Preaching Christ
“I believe that those sermons which are fullest of Christ are the most likely to be blessed to the conversion of the hearers. Let your sermons be full of Christ, from beginning to end crammed full of the gospel. As for myself, brethren, I cannot preach anything else but Christ and His cross, for I know nothing else, and long ago, like the apostle Paul, I determined not to know anything else save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. …”
Advice from C. H. Spurgeon, via Between Two Worlds.
The Intensity of Christ’s Love and the Intentionality of His Death
The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was intentional. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us. It was love. “When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Every step on the Calvary road meant, “I love you.”
– a meditation from John Piper.
Silly Rabbit, Easter’s Not for Kids
No cross this Easter for some US Sunday School lessons –
“In order to be sensitive to the physical, intellectual, and emotional development of preschoolers, First Look has chosen not to include the Easter story in our curriculum. Instead, we are focusing on the Last Supper, when Jesus shared a meal and spent time with the people He loved. We have made this choice because the crucifixion is simply too violent for preschoolers. And if we were to skip the crucifixion and go straight to the resurrection, then preschoolers would be confused.”
Read the story by Russell Moore at the Resurgence.
Lambeth: To Go or Not To Go II: Tips for Take-overs
There have been two significant responses elicited by recent developments within the Anglican Communion. I would like to analyse what has been said – and left unsaid – and where it’s all heading.
The first response is that of the Statement by the Province of SE Asia. I begin, though, with the second, the Reflections of Bishop Mouneer Anis on the Joint Standing Committee where he shared with the world his bleak perspective on the future of the Anglican Communion. …
Opinion-piece by Dr Lisa Severine Nolland on Anglican Mainstream.
The Anglican Debacle: Roots and Patterns
“The first thing to note about the crisis the Anglican Communion is facing today is that it has been coming for a very long time.
I remember almost twenty years ago reading an article by Robert Doyle in The Briefing entitled ‘No Golden Age’.1 (It’s shocking that it is actually so long ago!)
The gist of the article was that the idea of a golden age of Anglicanism, in which biblical patterns of doctrine and practice were accepted by the majority, is nothing but an illusion. …”
Read the full text of ACL President Dr. Mark Thompson’s paper delivered at the Sydney ‘Lambeth Decision Briefing’ at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, Friday 14th March 2008.
The Sydney Lambeth Decision Briefing
Audio and PDF files of Friday’s Lambeth Decision Briefing called by Dean Phillip Jensen, and held in the Chapter House of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, are now available, courtesy of SydneyAnglicans.net.
All very helpful in understanding the crisis facing the Anglican Communion.
The topic of the briefing was – ‘The Lambeth Decision: Refining or Redefining Anglicanism?’
The mp3 audio and PDF files will open in new windows.
Phillip Jensen – Are there limits to fellowship? (70 min / 24MB) – PDF file.
Mark Thompson – The Anglican Debacle. (30 min / 11MB) – PDF file.
Robert Tong – Doing the Lambeth Walk. (21 min / 7 MB) – PDF file.
Russell Powell – What is GAFCON all about? (7 min / 2.4MB) – PDF file.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…