The Advent of Humility

Innumerable Christmas devotionals point out the humble circumstances of Jesus’ birth—among shepherds, in a crude stable, with a feed trough for a bassinet. When Jesus himself tried to summarise why people should take up the yoke of following him, he said it was because he was meek and humble (Matt. 11:29).

Seldom, however, do we explore the full implications of how Jesus’ radical humility shapes the way we live our lives every day. …

– Tim Keller on humility – at Christianity Today (just before Christmas). (h/t Between TwoWorlds)

Communicate Jesus

Helpful new Sydney-based website from Steve Kryger. Ideas and resources “to help churches and Christian ministries as they seek to communicate Jesus”.

Worth seeing – at communicatejesus.com

Can a Christian deny the Virgin Birth?

Can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? This question would perplex the vast majority of Christians throughout the centuries, but modern denials of biblical truth make the question tragically significant. …

The great quest of liberal theology has been to invent a Jesus who is stripped of all supernatural power, deity, and authority.

– Al Mohler provides an overview of modern attacks on the virgin birth.

Memorising Scripture – An Interview

“The name Ryan Ferguson may be familiar to some of the readers of this site. Ryan has appeared at a couple of conferences where he has recited long passages of Scripture. I first saw him at WorshipGod ‘06 where he dramatically recited all of Hebrews 9 and 10 (though he had memorized the entire book).

I recently got ahold of Ryan and asked if he would answer a few questions about memorizing Scripture. I trust this brief interview will serve to encourage you either to begin memorizing passages from the Bible or to press on in your conviction that you ought to.…”

– Tim Challies interviews Ryan Ferguson. (See also these earlier posts.)

Ambassadors for Christ

“You know, this is a matter of common honesty. The great apostle says elsewhere, ‘I am an ambassador for Christ.’

What is the business of an ambassador? Is it to voice his own opinions? Is it to say what he thinks? …

– encouragement from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones – at Reformed Voices.

Latest Themelios now online

The December 2008 edition of Themelios is now available – courtesy of The Gospel Coalition – in PDF, html or iPaper formats.

Get it here.

How to play piano in church

“Most of us start off life as classically trained solo pianists. So when we turn up to church and are asked to play from chord charts, and improvise, and play in group, we often don’t know where to start.

So we are proud to present a free set of video piano lessons designed to cover everything you need to get yourself up to speed on chords, improvisation and playing in a band.”

– Garage Hymnal’s Andy Judd with a resource for aspiring church musicians that’s worth checking out.

Christianity and the Tolerance of Liberalism

Brand new from The Latimer Trust in the UK:

Christianity and the Tolerance of Liberalism: J.Gresham Machen and the Presbyterian Controversy of 1922–1937 by Lee Gatiss.

At the beginning of the last century a more liberal way of interpreting Christianity began to grow in popularity. Traditional believers in many denominations are currently reaping the fruit of a failure to heed the stark warnings about liberalism given at that time by American theologian J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937). Much of what happened in the Presbyterian Church of which he was a part will sound eerily familiar to Anglicans today.

This book examines key battlegrounds in the conflict between conservative, liberal, and so-called ‘moderate’ Christians in the early 20th Century – training for ministry, the denomination’s attitude towards money, and competing notions of mission.

Machen’s principles eventually led him to leave both his seminary and his denomination to create new institutions. But did Machen get it right about how to combat liberalism? Even while we acknowledge his theological insight, should we also be wary of repeating his mistakes?

Lee Gatiss is Associate Minister of St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate in the City of London and Editor of The Theologian: The Internet Journal for Integrated Theology at www.theologian.org.uk.

The book can be ordered from The Latimer Trust.

What should evangelicals believe?

The question of the week on The Guardian ‘Comment is Free: Belief’ blog is, “What should evangelicals believe? What must an evangelical think and do to make him or her worthy of the name?”

My reply, the first of what will be five for the week, is here.

– John Richardson helpfully contributes to public debate in the UK.

Observing Evangelicalism with Don Carson

Mark Dever asks Don Carson about the highs and lows of the evangelical landscape in this 73 minute interview recorded in June and released last week by 9 Marks.

Original Sin and Justification by Faith

Back in 1953, the Rev Broughton Knox, who was in the UK for his doctoral studies, gave a lecture at the Oxford Conference of Evangelical Churchmen. His topic? Original Sin and Justification by Faith.

The text was published in Churchman – and Church Society has just republished it on their website as a PDF file.

Thinking about The Big Day in?

ACC coverage map Connect09 will be launched at 10:00am on Sunday February 8th 2009 with a telecast featuring music, videos, and an address from Archbishop Peter Jensen.

Churches wanting to view (and project) the live video will be able to stream it over the web.

A simpler solution may be to receive it through the The Australian Christian Channel – either via cable TV – or via free-to-air Standard Definition digital TV on Digital Forty Four (broadcast on UHF channel 35 from Gore Hill).

For details on Digital Forty Four, including their coverage map, see their website. (Prior testing with equipment in place is a very good idea.) See the Connect09 website for more.

Mark Dever on the difficulty of doing evangelism as a Pastor

In anticipation of their forthcoming Pastors’ Conference, the people at Desiring God have posted online some helpful short video clips of Mark Dever and John Piper.

Mark Dever on the difficulty of doing evangelism as a Pastor can be seen here – and the list of all the clips is available at Desiring God.

Preaching to the heart

Last week, Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, spoke at a preaching conference at Oak Hill College in London. His topic? Preaching to the heart.