love the morning

Today was the first real sun in a few days. I love it.

fight update status

For anybody interested in the status of the current internecine warfare in the SBC between Calvinists and Anti-Calvinists, Timmy has a chronological timeline with links. For those of you that don’t care, don’t click. It is fascinating to me to see the approach to conflict on display here. It is also fascinating to me to [...]

mark dever on the Gospel

here is Mark Dever on the good news of the Gospel. hat tip to Ramblin’ Pastor Man

what she said

I was disgusted to hear on the news yesterday that a 34 year old man died in a Black Friday rush at a Wal Mart in New York. What a spectacle. What an illustration of this country’s complete decadence. Here are Julie Neidlinger’s thoughts on the matter. I really like the way she puts it. [...]

ouch, from the Onion

ouch! go take a look at this from the Onion and wince. It is satire, so maybe a little over the top, but too close to home on too many fronts. What I’m trying to say is, don’t let the actions of a vocal few color your perceptions about what the majority of us are [...]

church tradition metaphor?

how about old couch? was great when it was new 20 years ago, but now it isn’t. can’t get rid of it because of all the wonderful memories associated with it. metaphor courtesy of Andy Stanley, via CataBlog

Happy Thanksgiving

happy Thanksgiving to everyone. In spite of the recent economic crisis, we continue to live in one of the most blessed nations in the history of the world. God, in his sovereignty and to praise of his glorious grace, has allowed this nation to prosper in a material way far beyond any previous nation’s prosperity. [...]

Update to Why the ESV.

Bryon has posted on his blog about alleged misinformation that I have in my “why the ESV” post. I certainly want to be accurate and to communicate clearly. It sounds like Bryon’s fuss is more with Crossway and/or Good News Bible Publishers. All I can go on is what they say since I was not [...]

what is community?

I have been struggling with what a christian community should really be for almost six years now. Acts 2:42 says that the first church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to prayer, to fellowship and to the breaking of bread. that seems simple enough, except that there aren’t any more apostles around and we don’t [...]

why talk about money at church

Todd Hiestand has some thoughts about why it is important to talk about money at church. Here is his list. Go read his post for discussion under each item. I’ve become convinced that the church needs to get better at talking about money clearly, passionately and even prophetically. So, here are some reasons why I’m [...]

note to self

here is the Ikonograph describing how he preaches the Gospel to himself. this sounds eminently edifying. Preaching the gospel to myself has served to encourage me in my putting to death the deeds of the flesh, as well as cementing the truth of the one and only, true gospel. Here are a few of the [...]

you gotta close your eyes

a helpful reminder about what is really important. (hint: it ain’t widescreen flat panel T.V.) hat tip to Vitamin Z

do you know God?

when I put up posts like this and this, I wonder if people have the same struggle that I have had over the years from time to time. that struggle is to find myself learning a lot about our triune God, but not really getting to know Him. Other times, there is passionate intimate fellowship, [...]

another presentation of the Gospel

here is another (more traditional) presentation of the Gospel accurately. hat tip to Timmy Brister who has another “shocking message” posted on his blog. Go spend another hour over there for that one.

syncretism

Thanks to Al Mohler, I ran across this story from the Leaf Chronicle. Syncetism is the reconciliation/fusion of opposing belief systems. the Leaf Chronicle story talks about Christians using eastern meditation in their devotions. Like many churchgoers in the Bible Belt, Kristy Robinson teaches Sunday school with her husband and helps prepare communion at their [...]

Gospel presentation

I have been speaking about the necessity of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is an excellent example of a no punches pulled presentation. hat tip to Timmy Brister.

friday feautaux

a couple of macros. and a sepia of Daniel checking his pictures

another Dan Allender quote

Reformissionary has posted another Dan Allender quote from Leading with a Limp. Clearly, I am going to have to get this book. Paul calls leaders not merely to be humble and self-effacing but to be desperate and honest. It is not enough to be self-revealing, authentic, and transparent. Our calling goes far beyond that. We [...]

the result of knowing Christ

here is the result of KNOWING the Jesus described below. when you KNOW the sovereign supreme Jesus intimately well, then you can calmly reject pardons that would keep you from burning at the stake if you would only reject that knowledge. Read this from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and think about what your reaction would [...]

we must KNOW this Christ

this is the Christ we must know: parting question. does the supremacy of Christ recited here give you comfort? or does it provoke some other emotion? Just asking. hat tip to Vitamin Z

Voddie Baucham

who knew? he seemed so normal. So passionate about the gospel. wow. Just can’t ever tell about some people. Here let him tell you himself: However, neither of these constituted fatal infractions. I co-sponsored an education in 2004, but preached at the SBC in 2005. I stood against Y[outh]M[inistry] for years and while many were [...]

a word from Mark Driscoll

here is a word from Mark Driscoll: If you look at porn, have looked at porn, or know someone that looks at porn—download this book, print it out, and read it. This book is now available to download and print as many copies as you like. It’s short and should be cheap to print. We’ll [...]

now for something different

this is cool. and it is supremely, to use Jonah Goldberg’s word, nerdtastic.

shoot the wolves

Many of you may remember Mark Driscoll’s talk at the Desiring God National Conference this year. Item number three in that message is that we have a responsibility to shoot the wolves. As I mentioned here, shooting the wolves means to publicly call out false teachers before they have a chance to harm the flock. [...]

Questions at church?

I don’t watch the show Desperate Housewives so I only have a passing familiarity with it or its characters. But thanks to the Vision Navigator, I saw this clip and it struck a chord with me. watch this right quick (excuse the mild expletive) parenthetically, do you get the impression that this was the most [...]