Brian McLaren’s new book

Kevin DeYoung thoroughly (pdf 12 pages long) reviews all ten premises of Brian McClaren’s new book A New Kind of Christianity here. Kevin’s describes his approach at the outset: I want to be fair with McLaren. I want to understand his ideas and evaluate them based on their merits. If I misunderstand a point or [...]

the Holy Crap must go

Walter Russell Meade lays down his marker. its a good read. I especially like this bit, but the whole thing is good: The Christian churches in the United States are in trouble for all the usual reasons — human sinfulness and selfishness, the temptations of life in an affluent society, doctrinal and moral controversies and [...]

Verge 2010

I wasn’t able to go to Verge 2010 last week, but I watched quite a bit of the streaming video. It was some amazing stuff. Many of the thoughts and beliefs with which I have been struggling for the last seven years were echoed from the stage. just amazing. In particular, two things that I [...]

age segregation

interesting story from Mollie Hemingway about voluntary age segregation in churches and its unforeseen effects. number one on the list; no funerals. “Cool! Your church has funerals,” a friend recently said after I told him about attending one for a fellow parishioner at my church. My friend attends one of those churches that meet in [...]

AP story on Matt Chandler

the Associated Press has a story on Matt Chandler and his battle with brain cancer. On Twitter, Matt says: Associated press article on our battle with cancer…pray it moves people toward the gospelhttp://bit.ly/bvGzYG and here is a clip from the story, but be sure to read it all (UPDATE: here is a longer version of [...]

Amos Story

new video released from Aaron Ivey. Aaron is one of the worship leaders at the Austin Stone. He released an album last year Between the Beauty and the Chaos Aaron and his wife Jamie embarked on the adoption of brother and sister Amos and Story from Haiti about two years ago. late last year, the [...]

Matt Chandler update

here is a video from Matt Chandler giving an update regarding his treatment and status. HT to numerous people on twitter.

house churches

here is Lisa Miller of Newsweek talking about house churches in the U.S.  fascinating short read. Now, says David Kinnaman, president of the Barna research group, many Christians are expressing “disappointment that the congregational models have become so consumeristic.” “House church”—also called home church, simple church, or organic church—is “the new expression of hippie Christianity,” [...]

How to change your mind

Joe Carter has a foolproof prescription for changing your mind and worldview in 2010. Dare you to try it. Dare you. here is a hint of background: One day I ventured to ask him how he had become possessed of the experience, when he replied, “By reading the epistle to the Ephesians.” I was surprised, [...]

a little biblical archeology

here is a little biblical archeology for your reading pleasure this holiday weekend. How December 25 Became Christmas here is the beginning of a fascinating disquisition. The Bible offers few clues: Celebrations of Jesus’ Nativity are not mentioned in the Gospels or Acts; the date is not given, not even the time of year. The [...]

Les Lanphere

I found Les Lanphere’s blog through Twitter (@llanphere). He has been doing a series showing God’s sovereignty in everything and especially in salvation in each non-Pauline epistle of the New Testament in order to show that this doctrine is not something that only Paul writes about. Interesting stuff. I would also recommend three posts of [...]

Piper talking to Chandler

Here is a four part interview that John Piper did with Matt Chandler. Well worth a listen/watch. Part 1 – Chandler tells his story up to about 20 years old. Part 2 – More on Chandler’s story, through becoming a pastor. Part 3 – Chandler’s thoughts on being a pastor, a Calvinist, and a Complementarian. [...]

new calvinism in the Christian Century

Kevin DeYoung has some thoughts about this article. here is one paragraph from the article: Moreover, the New Calvinism displays considerable diversity. African-American rapper Curtis “Voice” Allen is known for his distinctively Calvinist lyrics (“I been exposed to bright lights, the doctrines of grace, I’m elected, imputed perfected . . . Cuz nothing can stop [...]

Banging the Drum

Francis Chan continues to bang the drum. This man really fires me up. Have you read Crazy Love yet? you should. here are a couple of bits from his article, but go read the whole thing. [In starting Cornerstone Church] I simply followed what other churches in America had done. I didn’t even think twice [...]

Matt Chandler

Matt Chandler’s surgery to remove a mass from his frontal lobe begins in about 20 minutes. Be in prayer for him during the surgery and for a complete recovery. Here is a post from Matt going into surgery about the things for which he is thankful. The beginning: The last seven days have been some [...]

manhatten declaration

An interesting controversy has cropped up in an unexpected place. The Manhatten Declaration is circulating for signatures. Kevin DeYoung has a thorough and balanced explanation of the controversy, including why there is a controversy and the positions of both sides. here is his position: So where do I stand on The Manhattan Declaration? Well, I [...]

cooperation

Timmy Brister posted an extended discourse yesterday on cooperation between Calvinists and Arminians that is well worth your time. This morning, Timmy’s senior pastor, Tom Ascol, followed up with a quote from Charles Simeon that is too good not to repeat. Charles Simeon is talking about himself as a young calvinist minister meeting the elderly [...]

African Aid

Keving DeYoung takes a look at Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo. Kevin says the book is: “a short, pungent, provocative book.” The thesis is simple and controversial: aid is the problem, not the solution. “In the past fifty years,” she writes, [...]

six flags over Jesus

compare and contrast this to this. here is an excerpt from the first one: Q: What can the church expect to gain from all the changes? A: The transformation of our campus will dramatically increase First Baptist’s ability to minister to our city. It will make room for hundreds or even thousands more worshipers and [...]

This is the end of the line for the prosperity gospel

I wish that I could embed vimeo videos. you have got to see this 8.5 minute clip from The Global Conversation. It might make you sick, but you must watch it. The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo. after watching that, don’t you hate the prosperity gospel as much as John Piper does? [...]

speaking ill of others

Nathan Finn posted some great advice from Charles Simeon regarding what to do when hearing someone tell you a bad report about another person: This sage advice comes from Charles Simeon, the great 19th century Anglican evangelical: 1st – To hear as little as possible what is to the prejudice of others. 2nd – To [...]

new First Things blog

there is a new blog in the fold at First Things. It is Evangel. Headed up by Dr. Russell Moore and written by him and several others including Justin Taylor and Joe Carter. Looks like a good one to check out.

30 years

speaking of Justin Taylor, you have got to check out his post about John Piper’s call to the ministry 30 years ago if you haven’t already. The picture is worth the trip over this link. but the testimony is good too. The decisive night of wrestling was on Monday, October 14, 1979—30 years ago today. [...]

The only real question for believers

Matt Carter finished up the Blueprint series at Austin Stone Community Church yesterday. Please download all 5 of these messages and give them a listen. At the beginning of yesterday’s message, Matt asked the only question really worth asking for believers. “Are we going to live the watered down version of Christianity that we’ve defined [...]

Driscoll in Austin

Mark Driscoll started the Austin Song of Solomon conference yesterday evening. It was an excellent way to spend a Friday evening with my lovely wife of 20 years. Tim Hawks the pastor of Hill Country Bible Church kicked off the festivities by welcoming everyone to the church. Mark spoke for the next couple of hours. [...]