National Geographic blows it again
When I was growing up in the 1960s, my mother had a subscription to the National Geographic and I regularly perused its issues. It had a reputation as recently as the 1980s for a high degree of accuracy and the avoidance of sensationalism. Some time between then and this decade something went awry. …
– New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg. (Photo: Denver Seminary.)
Paralysed Speakers and Hearers – John Stott
Even those who no longer see any particular merit in preaching would probably agree that it is not what it was. Many of those who value it would say that it is in a state of steep decline, and to recall a few notable names from the past would appear to confirm this. Of course, styles have changed, the world has changed. But are we not missing out? Are we not in danger of losing a basic ingredient of a living church? …
– John Stott, as published in CrossWay, 1981. Read his brief article, as a PDF file, courtesy of Church Society. (Photo: Langham Partnership.)
What if Starbucks marketed like a church? A parable.
Of course, your church won’t be like this – but this video provides plenty of food for thought. Richard Reising, with a background in marketing, produced it to show how not to welcome visitors.
See the video on YouTube – and read Richard’s comments at his new Beyond Relevance blog.
Thinking about preaching
Colin Adams in Edinburgh shares what he finds helpful about his senior pastor’s preaching…
“Peter Grainger is the current Senior Pastor of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, the 18th in its history. It has been an immense blessing for me to work under him for almost six years. Peter’s preaching has not only taught me many biblical truths. Sitting under his expository messages has probably been more influential in developing my own preaching style than anything else.…”
– Read it at Unashamed Workman.
Verbal Aspect & all that jazz in Biblical Greek
Con Campbell’s new book, Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek, is now available.
He recently wrote several blog posts on it at Zondervan’s Koinonia blog: part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5
Here’s a list of scholars endorsing the book.
(Thanks to Justin Taylor.)
Robert Gagnon on Homosexuality and the Bible
In this 28 minute video from Pure Passion, Robert Gagnon answers some common objections about homosexuality and the Bible. Very helpful.
Watch it on Vimeo via Between Two Worlds.
Gospel Coalition media archive
“The Gospel Coalition has recently revamped its website, and it now holds 8,480 audio files and 842 video files. This archive has very nice topic and speaker indexes, and categories of sermons, Q&A, conference messages and interviews. This is a motherload of materials.”
– Thanks to Faith by Hearing for the tip.
John Calvin – free audiobook
This month’s free audiobook from ChristianAudio is a reading of John Calvin’s “Of Prayer and The Christian Life”.
Use the code NOV2008 at the checkout.
The mp3 files are around 160MB – available free until the end of November.
The most important issues in this election
Where is your trust in this world? Where is your allegiance? John Piper speaks very helpfully on what’s really important as the US elections loom.
It’s a 4 minute video at Desiring God.
Designing for Christmas
Christmas is not far off – how will your church advertise what’s on?
There’s the Create Conference on November 15.
And as well, Phil Campbell at Mitchelton Presbyterian Church in Brisbane, shares his church’s Carols flier – and other good ideas – at Design4Church.
The key doctrine of Justification
Mike Reeves chats with John Piper about the subject of justification – for the UCCF’s Theology Network.
There’s a very helpful stress on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.
It’s a 17MB mp3 download – from this page.
The Manifesto of the Reformation
The Manifesto of the Reformation
Luther vs. Erasmus on Free Will
The clash between Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus over the issue of free will is “one of the most famous exchanges in western intellectual history”…
Read the article by Lee Gatiss (editor of The Theologian) via the PDF file here (direct link).
Reformation Day
It’s Reformation Day, and over at the Sola Panel, Sandy Grant has posted links to some useful resources.
See also our post from earlier this week.
Traditions Old and New
In the Reformation the leaders of the day had to work out what to change and what to retain. With some things it was easy, because the need to change screamed out. But falling for the temptation to change everything led to some terrible follies and abuses.
It was the wisdom of Thomas Cranmer, which guided the Church of England through the Reformation changes. He did not accomplish all that he wanted to do. However, in 1549 he laid down some principles upon which he was working…
– Phillip Jensen wrote in last weekend’s Cathedral newsletter.
True Woman conference audio online
Audio and text files of the talks given at the 2008 True Woman Conference, held in the Chicago area earlier this month, are now online.
Speakers include Mary Kassian, Joni Eareckson Tada and John Piper.
The talks are available at True Woman.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…