Tom Nelson

See it at: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=308000099269136&id=100001774462767

Being a Better Blog Commenter

from Justin Taylor See it at: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/03/29/being-a-better-blog-commenter/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+between2worlds+%28Between+Two+Worlds%29

The Whole Point

“Jesus did not come in order to try to save the world, if the uncooperative world would only let Him. He came to save the world; He will be satisfied with nothing less than a saved world. That was the whole point” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 127). See it at: http://www.dougwils.com/Chrestomathy/the-whole-point.html

The Satanic Ideology of Photoshop

“Rather than celebrate these creations as they are, as their Maker made them, we want to transform them into something else. Something made flawless with human hands or something ageless and unaffected by the Fall. Something that, this side of Eden and apart from the Resurrection, will never be.” See it at: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/03/28/the-satanic-ideology-of-photoshop/

The Title vs The Task of Teaching

1 Tim 1.5-7: "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good consciecne and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."

My friend made two observations about this passage First, the drift into dubious theological disuccion is here describe as moral in origin: these characters have swerved from a pure heart, a good consciene, and a sincere faithl that is why their theology is so dreadful. Second, their desire is not to teach but to be teachers. There is an important difference here: their focus is on their own status, not on the words they proclaim. At most, the latter are merely instrumental to getting them status and boosting their careers.

Thus, what concerns me most is that students may simply desire to be teachers. If that is their motivation, then they have already abandoned a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, and their theology, no matter how orthodox, is just a means to an end and no sound thing.

-Trueman, Fools Rush In: Where Monkeys Fear To Tread, 32.

‘A Universe From Nothing,’ by Lawrence M. Krauss

I can’t say that I understood it all, but I enjoyed it. See it at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/a-universe-from-nothing-by-lawrence-m-krauss.html?src=tp&smid=fb-share

God-Centered Sacraments by Robert Letham

See it at: http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/god-centered-sacraments/

The lost boys of America… – BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too…

from BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too… See it at: http://www.baylyblog.com/2012/03/the-lost-boys-of-america.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo+%28BaylyBlog%3A+Out+of+our+minds%2C+too%29

Eating the Apple – Reformation21 Blog

“When Steve Jobs died last year, it was as if a messiah had left the earth yet, when his c.v. is examined, it contains no cure for AIDS, no effective treatment for cancer and no answer to world poverty. He designed cool looking computers, snazzy cell phones and juke-boxes of a size that can be [...]

The Emergence of Fun Morality

from Justin Taylor See it at: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/03/16/the-emergence-of-fun-morality/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+between2worlds+%28Between+Two+Worlds%29

NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter

wait a minute… what? See it at: http://www.amazon.com/NIV-Lessons-Life-Bible-Reflections/dp/0310950813/ref=s%20r_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1331667848&sr=8-3

An Introduction to the New Testament

Intro to NT, Carson and Moo only $3.99 See it at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S1LWQM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dietofbookwor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000S1LWQM

No Ordinary Marriage: Together for God’s Glory

“No Ordinary Marriage explains how a marriage is intended to glorify God. Dr. Tim Savage writes not in a spirit of condemnation, but rather of encouragement as he paints a picture of what marriage is really meant to be. In reading this book, Sheryl—my wife of nearly 36 years—and I found ourselves challenged and inspired [...]

Test

Test

The heart of Blogging

This is what blogging is all about.  Being inspired. Entering conversation. Contributing to the discussion.  

Calvin vs. cheap grace... - BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too...

from BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too...

See the whole thing @ http://www.baylyblog.com/2012/03/calvin-vs-cheap-grace.html?utm_source=feedbu...

The Theological Commons Digital Library

from Justin Taylor

See the whole thing @ http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/03/12/the-theological-c...

The Bible Made Impossible or the Church Made Implausible? A Review of Journeys of Faith - Reformatio

"Foremost is the failure of evangelicalism to provide its former sons with historical roots. That is inevitable, given the trans-denominational and even anti-ecclesiastical aspects of the movement. Increasingly, conservative American evangelicalism looks like one of those rotten boroughs in Victorian England: essentially it is run by those who have the charisma, the connections and the media savvy to decide who gets to represent the movement, and what and who gets shunted into the outer darkness. This is often combined with an eclectic and historically eccentric set of interests and priorities (Sacraments? Who cares? Complementarianism? You better believe it!). No wonder those who want to connect to historic Christianity find it frustrating."

See the whole thing @ http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/03/the-bible-made-impossible-or-t.php

Discipleship 101: How to Disciple a New Believer | Justin Buzzard

"Most believers have never been intentionally discipled and most believers have no clue how to go about discipling a new believer."

Here is a simple and helpful suggestion.

See the whole thing @ http://www.justinbuzzard.net/2012/02/15/discipleship-101-how-to-disciple-a-ne...

A God Encounter

I don't know about you, but I like to keep my worship music and my theology separate.

See the whole thing @ http://www.withoutwalls.org/blog-news-updates/special-events/181-a-god-encoun...

QuietWrite

One of my favorite places on the internet.

See the whole thing @ http://www.quietwrite.com/

African voices respond to hyper-popular Kony 2012 viral campaign - Boing Boing

Stop and think?

See the whole thing @ http://boingboing.net/2012/03/08/african-voices-respond-to-hype.html?utm_sour...

Sanctus

2-12_Missa_syllabica_IV._Sanctus.mp3
Listen on Posterous

Holy, Holy

Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory

Check Me Out

The Egocentric Predicament by Kelly Kapic

"Who is the center of your life? Is your answer Jesus, or is it your children, your friends, or your spouse? What if I told you that the answer to that question is you? And what if I said that is okay?"

See the whole thing @ http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/the-egocentric-predicament/

One Dash, Two Dash, Hyphen, En Dash

En Dash, Em Dash, and Hyphen | CuteWriting
http://cutewriting.blogspot.com/2008/06/en-dash-em-dash-and-hyphen.html

Just in case you were wondering.

En Dash, Em Dash, and Hyphen

Read the Whole Book.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/24926085 w=400&h=225]

The Whole Sweep Of Scripture from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

Morality of Knowledge

We are in the constant pursuit of figuring out our world. As infants we explore our world from our backs tracing the shapes and colors of everything that passes before our eyes. As children we put our hands in everything and we put everything in our mouths. The learning never ceases. We discover more and more of God's creation. The nature of our experimentation becomes more technical as the questions we seek to answer become more complex. Stumbling through our own wilderness of ignorance, we fiercely accumulate information is our efforts to dominate the world around us. We seek to define it, understand it, and eventually master it. We have done well. It seems like humanity is prevailing in its struggle

Yet in all of this we have forgotten that we are not the first minds to come into contact with the world we live in. As I reread portions of Dr. Frames Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. He reminds me again of the Biblical impossibility of neutrality or objectivity. Everything that exists exists because it was part of God's plan. He created it for a specific purpose and function within the cosmos and His redemptive work. The heavens and the earth exist to display His glory.

Like an explorer who plants the flag of his nation in a far away uninhabited land, only to be greeted by the military of people who happen to live in this far away uninhabited land, we foolish claim to discover, define, and give meaning to what only exists because it first existed in the mind of God. As we interact with the world around us we have two options. Do we seek to thinks Gods thoughts after him or do we seek to exclude his role? To do the former is to humbly submit ourselves to our creator and the Lord over all things. To do the latter is a rejection of his lordship in favor of independence. God has spoken. He created everything and shines the light of understanding into this creation. A refusal to listen, or worse, a rejection of his Word, is rebellion and defiance against a God who has graciously revealed Himself to us. 

 

Everyone Has a Story

You know what their problem is. It is obvious and they are not hiding it. Maybe they have turned liberty into license. Maybe their convictions regarding dating and romance remind you more of the library's policies regarding book loans than Paul's exhortations on purity. Maybe they are a contentious, proud, and single-without-a-relationship-in-sight proponent of paedo-baptism. While some might try to accuse you of being judgmental, you are made even more confident of your conclusion with every interaction. Besides, the contents of their heart are freely regurgitated on facebook for all to see.

Is this you? It is often me. Recently, while a speaker was addressing the issue of loving the "unlovelies," he made the observation that knowing someone's story colors our response to their shortcomings. How many times how you made a strict judgment of someone, only to meet their parents and say to yourself, "I see where he gets it from." Or formed a strong opinion against an overtly flirtatious youth and wondered why her parents didn't train her better; only to later learn that her father is not involved and there is revolving door of her mother's boyfriends coming into her home. It is safe to assume that everybody probably has a story. These stories do not justify license, looseness, or arrogance, but it might just reposture your heart for love and patience. Each of them is just as much a victim of sin as they are a perpetrator of it. Each of them are just as much in need of forgiveness and renewal as they are in need of healing and deliverance. They need a loving patience that sees their sin, offers them the hope of a holistic salvation, and lovingly bears with them. They need from us exactly what Christ offer to us.

 

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"For God So Loved" said the JW

A couple of Jehovah Witnesses came by my home earlier this week. They opened the conversation by showing me an article in the most recent Watchtower magazine on Armageddon. It provided a great entry point into the topic of the Holiness of God. After pressing the point of our guilt and discussing the just and holy response of God to punish the guilty; I asked them to explain to me what hope they have that God's wrath will not consume them at Armageddon. They were not able to provide an answer. As we continued to talk around this question, one of them stopped as said, "But John 3.16 says that God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus" and "The Bible says that God is love."

Though they probably didn't realize it, they were moving in the right direction. They are exactly right. If we take the message of the holiness and justice of God seriously, we have nothing left but to do but to throw ourselves on the love of God in cross of Christ. Unfortunately for my conversation partners, this was too much. Responding in disbelief, one said, "You are telling me we don't have to do any to be worthy of salvation?"

It is ironic that those who preach a gospel of that depends on our performance and ability to please God to receive salvation, would flee to God's love when confronted the implications of God's holiness and their sinfulness. I am expecting them to come visit again. I hope they have been thinking about our conversation as much as I have. 

On 5 Pastoral Concerns related to Modern Prophecy

Recently a blog post addressed pastoral concerns over the contemporary practice of fallable prophecy. His tone is respectful. He concerns are directly linked to quotes from one of the more famous and respected proponent of modern fallable prophecy: Dr. Grudem. And he makes it clear that his purpose is not to address his theological and exegetical issues, but the implications of this position on church.

He lists five concerns. 

1. The practice of infallable prophecy makes it difficult to identify and refute false prophecy.

2. Placing this prophecy category of subjective guidance removes an objective means to determine its legitimacy. 

3. Insisting on ongoing prophecy practically undermines the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture.

4. It has the potential to bind consciences and lead to abuse.

5. It cheapens the true gift of prophecy in the Old and New Testaments.

In my judgment, those who open the door to modern-day prophecy not only do harm to the biblical text, they also open themselves up to all sorts of theological and spiritual danger. In so doing, they needlessly put themselves and their congregations at risk. (Full Post)

I am sympathetic with concerns he identifies. Those of us who defend modern prophecy as described by Dr. Grudem should be mindful of the potential abuse, misuse, and misunderstanding of the practice within their churches. However, I wonder if the concerns are anything new. Would these not also be valid concerns for non-apostolic, non-canonical prophecy during the early days of the church? I will have more to say on this in a later post.