Preach to yourself the gospel
From Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ classic work, Spiritual Depression:
“Have you realised that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc.
Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. …”
– read the rest of the excerpt on Psalm 42, at Gospel-driven Church.
Biblical Authority in Evangelicalism
After reading this week’s piece by Charles Raven on ‘Rowan Williams and Revelation wrapped up’, readers may find this article on Biblical Authority helpful –
Written by Lee Gatiss and published in Churchman in 2006, it’s entitled “Biblical Authority in Recent Evangelical Books” and has just been made available online in PDF format (direct link) by Church Society.
Living with the Underworld
Next month, the Equip Book Club looks at Peter Bolt’s very helpful book, Living with the Underworld. In preparation, they’ve published a short interview with Peter.
– at the Equip Book Club.
How do you use Greek in the pulpit?
“Before the ESV was available, I used another translation that was a little freer in its translation philosophy. There were two Sundays in a row where I had to correct its interpretation to make what I thought was the true point of the passage. After the service a new Christian came to me and asked, ‘Can I not trust my Bible?’ Ouch!
So here is one of the big no-noes from the pulpit. Do not correct the English Bible. Ever! Never say, ‘the translators got this wrong.’ The damage you can do to a person’s trust in Scripture is unimaginable. …”
– Read Bill Mounce’s wisdom on the way forward at Zondervan’s Koinonia blog. (h/t Challies.com)
Christian Life Conference 2009: Name Above All Names
Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis ran its Christian Life Conference last Friday to Sunday with the theme “Name Above All Names”.
Scottish-born pastors Alistair Begg (pictured) and Sinclair Ferguson spoke and the audio is now available online, thanks to Second Presbyterian.
Alistair Begg serves at Parkside Church near Cleveland, Ohio, and previously pastored churches in Scotland. Sinclair Ferguson serves at the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina – and has worked with the Banner of Truth and at St George’s-Tron Church in Glasgow. (h/t Between Two Worlds.)
Why don’t we just quit preaching?
“Considering the widespread popularity of engaging anecdotes and vivid vignettes, wouldn’t it be more effective to simply tell a few captivating stories on Sunday Morning? And why think specifically about expositional preaching — that brand so often associated with excruciating boredom and half-empty pews? In our fast paced society of sports tickers and sound bite infotainment, can we really expect anyone to have the patience for a serious exposition of an ancient text?”
– The NineMarks website has some excellent resources for expository preaching. It’s the first the ‘nine marks’of a healthy church as promoted by Mark Dever.
What can I pray for my Pastor’s preaching?
Colin Adams at Unashamed Workman shares ten helpful guidelines for prayers for those who labour in preaching.
Why Join a Small Church?
If you don’t already attend a small church, what would you say if someone you didn’t know admonished you that you ought to attend a small church? Would you seriously entertain the thought? …
– Reviewer Mark Tubbs recommends John Benton’s Why Join a Small Church? at Discerning Reader.
(The book is available through Moore Books.)
The definitive D. A. Carson sermon resource
“The Gospel Coalition is now the home of 443 sermons by Don Carson, all available for download free of charge. The search tools at the Coalition site are better than most. …
We have to thank Andy Naselli, Ben Peays and Ryan James for collecting, tagging and uploading all this Carson goodness.”
– Todd Shaffer at Faith by Hearing.
See the entire collection at The Gospel Coalition.
CMS NSW 2008 Annual Dinner talk
CMS NSW has posted online the video of Steve Etherington’s talk given at last year’s Annual Dinner. He spoke about ‘the Intervention that matters’. Very challenging.
The open Bible in England — F.F. Bruce
“When William Tyndale, as John Foxe tells us, uttered his dying prayer at the stake at Vilvorde on 6 October 1536, ‘Lord, open the king of England’s eyes’, he could not have known that his prayer was already beginning to be fulfilled.
Twelve months earlier, a complete English Bible had been printed on the Continent (probably at Cologne, the setting of the first and abortive attempt to print Tyndale’s New Testament ten years before). This English Bible, the work of Tyndale’s associate Miles Coverdale, was largely dependent on Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament, the Pentateuch and Jonah …”
– Church Society has republished this 1988 Churchman article by F.F. Bruce (PDF file direct link).
What to think of the NOOMA videos
Rob Bell’s NOOMA videos feature excellent production and are wildly popular – but what do they actually teach?
At 9 Marks, Greg Gilbert has written a three part review. If your youth group is using NOOMA, the review is essential reading.
“Once you get past the razzle-dazzle of the videos’ style and really listen to what Bell is saying, you start to wonder if maybe they’re not so good after all. Watch the videos with a discerning eye, and certain questions start nagging you: What’s the cross for again? Why did Jesus die? How do you become a Christian? Hold on—did he just say that everyone has the Spirit of God living in them already? Jesus has faith in me? I am the gospel?”
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. (Nooma video covers image: 9Marks.)
Blogging the Institutes
Graduates of Moore College will long remember that reading through John Calvin’s Institutes was a requirement of their course. Asked about the reason for the requirement, former Principal Broughton Knox wryly quipped that it was so students would finish at least one book while at College!
Last month, the team at Reformation21 began ‘blogging through the Institutes’ to challenge others to read this key Christian document. It’s a big challenge!
Ligon Duncan writes – “Why should you read through Calvin’s Institutes with the lads here at ref21 as we blog through this work every weekday of 2009? Ten reasons:
1. Because it the most important book written in the last 500 years.
2. Because it is foundational for every Reformed systematic theology ever since.
3. Because Calvin was the best exegete in the history of Christianity…”
Follow Reformation21’s Blogging the Institutes here.
Preach or Perish: a Review
ACL President Dr Mark Thompson reviews Preach or Perish, edited by Don Howard –
There is a quite vigorous and exciting debate about preaching taking place in Sydney at the moment. All the participants are convinced of the importance of preaching. They know how critical effective preaching is to the life and growth of Christian congregations. Yet there seems to be a widespread sense of a need to lift the standard of preaching across our city in order to honour our Lord and edify his people.
On the one hand, dry and disengaged literary studies are boring the socks off some congregations. It feels as if pages are being read from a commentary with little concern about how this part of the Bible addresses life as a follower of Christ in the twenty-first century. On the other hand, the life-giving word of God can be so easily swamped by the repartee of the Christian entertainer. The skill of the preacher becomes the focus of attention rather than the power, love and holiness of the God whose word he dares to speak.
Every preacher I know wants to preach better and there is no end to the list of people who want to tell us how. Yet few combine a commitment to handling the Bible responsibly with a concern to communicate effectively as consistently as the contributors to this new book edited by Donald Howard. Donald is known as a trainer of preachers, a pastor concerned that God’s people are built up in faith by the effective application of the word of God to the lives of real people. He is just as disturbed by trite story telling and moralising and as by undigested and poorly communicated profundity. And he is a long-standing member of the ACL!
This collection of brief essays by preachers who have given their lives to helping men and women come to faith — and more, to grow in maturity in faith — through hearing and responding to the word of God, is full of wisdom and help for preachers of all ages. It demonstrates yet again that it is not only the latest internet gurus who know what makes good preaching and what hinders it. Theology and practice come together in an extraordinary way which will challenge old preachers and set good patterns for young ones.
With contributions from the editor, John Chapman, Peter Jensen, Marcus Loane, Donald Robinson, Kel Richards, Dudley Foord, David Cook, and many others, readers are treated to insights into preaching from preachers who have honoured Christ and served his people, not just in a short burst of popularity, but consistently over many years.
If you want to improve your preaching or improve your appreciation of preaching and all that it involves, you’ll benefit from reading this book. It is worth learning the lesson that good principles are lasting principles. I warmly commend it.
Mark D Thompson.
(“Preach or perish – Reaching the hearts and minds of the world today”, edited by Donald Howard, is available from MooreBooks for $25.)
ESV Bible Reading plans
If there’s one thing most of us need to work on in 2009, it’s reading the Bible more regularly and systematically.
The people at ESV.org have assembled a helpful range of Bible Reading plans and made them available in a range of formats.
Want to be reminded each day of the passages to read? Want to receive it by e-mail? Read it on your iPhone? Even the Book of Common Prayer’s lectionary (in ESV) is available.
See ESV.org for details. (Hat tip to Justin Taylor, who has links to even more plans.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…