two on suffering

first courtesy of Vitamin Z we get this comforting bit that we will never be able to fully explain the problem of evil but that we can trust God anyway: So how do Christians explain the problem of evil? The reality is, we can’t provide an exhaustive theodicy or explanation of the existence of evil.  [...]

II Timothy 3:12

II Timothy 3:12 says “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”. Do you believe that? Do you believe that all means all and that persecution really means persecution? Really? here is a John Piper quote from Vitamin Z: “Obedience in missions and social justice has always [...]

law/gospel

iMonk goes on a rant about law preaching versus gospel preaching that is both entertaining and informative. take a look. In other words, it’s an unmitigated disaster unless the Gospel is heard louder, longer and much clearer than anything else. I’d really like to apologize to anyone- and there are a lot of these people- [...]

New Piper book, free pdf

zach points out that the new John Piper book with missionary stories is available free for download. DG Blog: John Piper’s new book Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ is now available for download. Get it for free. Read an interview by JT with John Piper concerning this book. here is the direct link to 128 pages [...]

oh, I’m much worse than that

I love this bit of self-deprecation and reliance on grace from Martin Luther as updated by Carl Trueman. This is some good stuff. …..it has been brought to my attention over the last years that I am the hapless lackey of right-wing Christian America, the ruthless dismantler of everything good and virtuous at Westminster Theological [...]

self-righteousness is no respecter of persons

courtesy of vitamin z, I ran across Tullian Tchividjian’s excellent post on the double reach of the disease of self-righteousness. good stuff. Now, it’s very interesting that in the Bible it’s always the immoral person that gets the Gospel before the moral person. It’s the prostitute who understands grace; it’s the Pharisee who doesn’t. It’s [...]

Zach is thankful for Mark Driscoll

Zach of Vitamin Z is thankful for Mark Driscoll. Most people know that Mark is known for his strong push for men to act like Biblical men. Sometimes I feel that this crosses the line and could give people the impression that he believes a real man has to be a fist pounding, beer drinking, [...]

Emerging Church: RIP?

C. Michael Patton has written an obituary for the emerging church after 15 years. It got some cries out, made some very good points, called for changed [sic], and then died. Its leaders are disappearing or have disassociated themselves from the movement. Publishers won’t even entertain books with this title. Those, like myself, who were [...]

mute math

Vitamin Z has posted Mute Math’s new video “Spotlight.” Z also has a quote about how it was made. Pretty cool. and of course, my favorite Mute Math is “Typical.”

that Newsweek cover story

Newsweek has a cover story on “the End of Christian America.” here is an optimistic bit from the article: Let’s be clear: while the percentage of Christians may be shrinking, rumors of the death of Christianity are greatly exaggerated. Being less Christian does not necessarily mean that America is post-Christian. A third of Americans say [...]

church

Mike Leuken wonders about our default approach to thinking about our church. “I am dissatisfied” was identified as a barrier to spiritual growth. Of those surveyed, 17 percent expressed some degree of dissatisfaction with their church; over half of these came from the most advanced stages of maturity. The greatest source of dissatisfaction was the [...]

listening

listening is a skill that must be consciously cultivated. Like Vitamin Z says, listening well displays humility and is essential for leadership. luckily, Gavin Ortlund has posted 20 qualities of good listeners to provide some guidance to us as we seek to develop this skill. here are some of them to give you the flavor: [...]

hard to face but real

Ok, there is an event that occurred that has to be faced even though it is horrible. Benjamin linked to the news story in his comment to this post. The quick summary is that a woman went to have an abortion of a 23 week old baby. The clinic messed up. A live baby girl [...]

public v. private

Carl Trueman has some some thoughts on the economic trouble that Playboy is in and why this might not be the good news you would think it would be. very interesting. here is a tease: The mainstreaming of pornography, and the rise of amateur web pornography, witnesses not simply to the insatiability of the fallen [...]

Will and Power

like I said, when you refuse to submit to God’s way, what you are left with is will and power. What do I want and how do I find a way to get it. Check this out. I love it when the implicit gets made explicit. At least then we all know where we are. [...]

Performance v. Grace

Here is a diagnostic test from Tim Chester to use in order to determine if your community is based on performance or grace: Is your community a community of performance or a community of grace? Try these diagnostic tests … Communities of Performance                          Communities [...]

John Piper on abortion

Here are Piper’s top ten reasons on why it is wrong to take the lives of unborn children: 1. God commanded, “Thou shalt not murder” (Exodus 20:13). 2. The destruction of conceived human life — whether embryonic, fetal, or viable — is an assault on the unique person-forming work of God. 3. Aborting unborn humans [...]

Al Mohler on the babies

here is Al Mohler’s take on the babies. Go read all of it. I can understand the fatigue and the sense of frustration. On the other hand, we have witnessed a growing respect for life as ultrasound technologies have opened the womb to view. We have seen the Supreme Court allow that some abortion procedures [...]