ESV Bible Atlas

The Crossway ESV Bible Atlas has been released in the US. Details – and links to a 45 page preview – at Between Two Worlds.

Updated 9Marks website

The 9Marks website has been updated recently. New sections include Answers for Church Members and Answers for Pastors. Well worth a look.

Sinclair Ferguson on Preaching

In March, Sinclair Ferguson (Minister at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina) gave the 2010 den Dulk Lectures on Pastoral Ministry at Westminster Seminary in California.

In this talk linked below (56MB mp3 file), he speaks on “The Pastor and his preaching”. Very sobering – and encouraging – for preachers.

Link via Unashamed Workman. Other lectures on this page. (h/t Faith by Hearing.)

The best App for your iPad

Another wonderful free resource from Crossway – the ESV for iPad.

What is the Gospel?

The Southern Baptist Seminary has posted a 4 minute video entitled “What is the Gospel?”.

Reminiscent of both Two Ways to Live and Why Theology?, you may well find uses for it.

Vimeo members (free subscription) can download it as a 350MB/720p video file (link on lower right hand column). h/t Justin Taylor.

(They also have a neat video promo for their School of Church Ministries.)

Andy Naselli’s thumbnail guide to ‘Keswick theology’

Andy Naselli’s book, Let Go and Let God? A Survey and Analysis of Keswick Theology, published by Logos Bible Software, is now out.

If you’ve wondered what ‘Keswick’ second-blessing theology was, Andy gave a good summary for Kevin DeYoung last week. (Note: The modern Keswick Conventions are very different.)

The Spirituality of Emerging Adults

Dr Christian Smith, author of Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults, was interviewed on a recent episode of The White Horse Inn.

Very interesting insights into the world of young adults in the US – with application to Australia too.

Details here (look for May 16, 2010), and audio here.
(Photo: University of Notre Dame.)

Resources from the PCQ

The Presbyterian Church of Queensland has a useful collection of resources – both audio and PDF files.

Among them is a challenging talk by Dr. Bruce Winter on ‘Paul’s Worldview expressed to the Corinthians’. (Part 1 – part 2 not online.)

Worth checking out.

Girls Gone Wise: reviewed

“I read a lot of books targeted for Christian women. Many, if not most of them, will include a token mention of the gospel: a page and a half (if that) ABC explanation followed by “Pray this short prayer and you’re in the family of God.” Blech!

I counted two separate times in which Kassian explains the gospel, not as “by the way, here’s what Jesus did for you,” but within the context of the chapter. She begins with the holiness of God and ends with repentance and faith. Yes, she actually describes repentance. She even differentiates justification and sanctification. Folks, I just don’t see much of that in books written by women for women, and I appreciate it when I do.”

– Leslie Wiggins reviews Mary Kassian’s Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild – at Discerning Reader.

New resources at BeThinking.org

The UCCF’s BeThinking apologetics website has some new resources. Worth having a look.

Bryan Chapell on Young, Restless, & Reformed

Bryan Chapell, from Covenant Theological Seminary, was interviewed by Ligon Duncan on the phenomenon of the new Reformed movement, and the Acts29 church planting network. Helpful background on what’s happening in the US.

It’s a 64MB mp3 file. (h/t Justin Taylor.)

The Good News We Almost Forgot

“The Good News We Almost Forgot is Kevin DeYoung’s attempt to introduce the Heidelberg Catechism to a new generation. And it seems that at a time when so many people are describing themselves as “Reformed” it is worthwhile looking to the historic roots of the Reformed tradition. Though the catechism was published almost 450 years ago, it remains relevant. The gospel it professed at the time of the Reformation is the very gospel we treasure today.”

– Tim Challies reviews the book. Get it from Reformers Bookshop or Moore Books.

Related: More Catechesis, Please.

John Newton to Richard Johnson

John Newton to Richard Johnson (first Chaplain to New South Wales):

“I have not been disheartened by your apparent want of success. I have been told that skillful gardeners will undertake to sow and raise a salad for dinner in the short time while the meat is roasting. But no gardener can raise oaks with such expedition.

You are sent to New Holland, not to sow salad seeds, but to plant acorns; and your labour will not be lost, though the first appearances may be very small, and the progress very slow. You are, I trust, planting for the next Century.

I have a good hope that your oaks will one day spring up and flourish, and produce other acorns, which, in due time, will take root, and spread among the islands and nations in the Southern Ocean.”

– Craig Schwarze, who is researching Richard Johnson, posted this on his website. There’s another great quote from John Newton here.

Music from The Village Church

The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, has graciously made available online their new kids album, “Jesus Came to Save Sinners” – for free download.