Gospel Living

John Piper posted a new Taste and See article (HT: Cent ), and if you keep up-to-date on the whole Mark Driscoll fiasco(es), you will find it interesting. The passage: 1 Corinthians 7:3-5. By contrast, consider the controversial Mark Driscoll message he delivered at Destiny Church in Edinburg, Scotland, during the Sunday morning service November 18, 2007. This was the sermon that reportedly made John MacArthur lose his appetite (and launch his own controversial response [ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 ]). There are two lessons that jump to mind from Piper's presentation. Piper : "[This counsel] does not give either spouse the right to demand certain sexual acts from the other that he or she does not want to give. It is more complex than that. " Compare this to what Driscoll had to say based on the Song of Solomon: Driscoll : [Referring, from the pulpit, to oral stimulation] Jesus Christ commands you to do so. . . . And ladies, let me assure you of this. If you...

This is apparently Wolverine's problem. Everyone thought it was mental manipulation, but the reality behind Professor X's solution was to enact a no-caffeine policy at the mansion, calming the berserker into a more manageable mutant. I guess people will cross-market anything. Of course, I don't see a dispenser for an orange mocha frappuccino, the well-known cure for all ills and ailments: UPDATE: Speaking of "X-men" and "Zoolander," Cyclops (James Marsden) played the cameo role of John Wilkes Booth. (HT: My wife :) ) Watch the eyes. They glow when light hits them.

John MacArthur answers the question , "What besides preaching and studying is the pastor’s responsibility?"  The key-point summary: Shepherds Are Rescuers Shepherds Are Feeders Shepherds Are Leaders Shepherds Are Protectors    

John Hagee's new book is nothing short of heretical, good intentioned as it was. I'm glad to see Dr. Brown take a stab at it: Files From Toni: JOHN HAGEE REFUTED By Dr. Michael L. Brown (HT: Triablogue )

I'm running my AC for the first time this year, and I left some lights on for half the night. How do you celebrate Earth Day? (Okay, I'm not really being wasteful. I can't afford the bills! Plus, good stewardship and all that.) Fred Butler posted some biblical resources for dealing with this high holy day. A brief article by John MacArthur: Do we have a responsibility to care for the environment? A longer message John gave specifically addressing environmentalism and the global warming hoax. The End of the Universe, Part 2 Before his death, Michael Crichton became one of the most outspoken critics of global warming and man-made climate change. He devoted a number of speeches on the subject that are outstanding. He was not a Christian as far as I know, but his notoriety as a popular novelist and Hollywood player gave his message a platform lesser known folks could never gain. His most notable speech, and probably the one that earned him the reputation as being a g...

This is part of an ongoing series examining Wolfgang Simpson's "15 Theses" . If you have not done so, you may click here in order to read the first part. 2. Time to change the system. If we are to assume that the current way we do church is flawed, then Thesis #2 goes without saying. Simpson writes, In aligning itself to the religious patterns of the day, the historic Orthodox Church after Constantine in the 4th century AD adopted a religious system which was in essence Old Testament, complete with priests, altar, a Christian temple (cathedral), frankincense and a Jewish, synagogue-style worship pattern. ... [U]ntil today nobody has really changed the superstructure. It is about time to do just that. There is a general consensus among believers with some knowledge of church history that Constantine the Great represents a flawed Christianity. That consensus is somewhat warranted, as Constantine was not someone you would want as pastor of your church. Coming from a pa...

Today is Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura (יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה; "Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day" [ Wp ]). It is a national holiday for Israel, signed into law by PM David ben-Gurion on 27 Nisan back in 1951. This is a seperate occasion than the International Holocaust Remembrance Day , remembered this year on 27 January. For that day, I posted two blog articles entitled "Christians and the Holocaust" ( Part 1 | Part 2 ). The Holocaust teaches us several lessons as believers: Human depravity, a condition we each share, can justify the worst of acts. Tyrants can manupilate Christians through a few propaganda pictures of him worshipping and a few choice "Christian" terms. Xenophobia, eugenics, and hyper-patriotism has no place in the pulpit. The Gospel should direct how we deal with the hurting and must be our primary message. There are several more lessons the Holocaust teaches that you are free to add below. UPDATE: David Neff at Christia...

    20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.     22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass      and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers,      and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. —1 Peter 1:20–25 εὐαγγελίζω  

A 32-year-old man with a wife and two children discovers he has a brain tumor. Does your church have something to offer him?

This past Friday, Todd Friel had the opportunity to interview Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything . Friel took an interesting approach with Hitchens, choosing to ask conscience-oriented questions rather than engaging in any apologetic discussion. In fact, Hitchens makes several passing comments to which, in the course of any similar interview, the Christian host would be expected to respond. Instead of responding, Friel just trucks through his questions. The highlight of the interview comes with the final question. Friel: Sir, is it possible that the reason you rage so much against God is because you just want to live your own autonomous way, living any way you want to, any lifestyle you prefer, without being accountable to your Creator? Hitchens: I think that’s highly probable, yes. Classic demonstration of Romans 1:18-32. Wretched Radio posted a segment of the interview , which I post first. Someone else posted the full interview i...

HT to Justin Taylor for pointing out the importance of this day in history: 488 years ago, April 17-18, Martin Luther stood trial at the Diet [formal assembly] of Worms [a small town on the river Rhine in present-day Germany). (It's properly pronounced, I believe, something like "DEE-et of Voerms," not "DIE-et of Wirms.") On the 17th Luther was asked whether certain writings were his and if he would revoke them as heretical. He asked for time to compose his answer--he prayed for long hours and consulted with friends, and returned the next day to give his famous answer. You can see some extracts from his response--or watch below the scene from the 2003 movie, Luther :

Sorry that I haven't been blogging much lately, but I've been a bit under the weather. Speaking of weather, to get things rolling again, here is a short video to keep in mind the gathering storm for people with a biblical worldview: (HT: Russ )

We have two major celebrations—Christmas and Easter. The two are vitally interwoven, as the reason Jesus came that Christmas morn is proclaimed in the Resurrection. In this second part of two-part series concerning Christ's humanity, consider whether it was important for Jesus to be a real person rather than a fictional ideal. If you haven't read part one, you can do so here . _________________________________________ The importance of His humanity for us Paul Enns writes, “ Christ came in the ‘likeness of sinful flesh’ …. He did not come in the mere likeness of flesh—then He would not have been truly human ….” [1] Christ’s literal presence in first-century Palestine is vital to the Christian faith. If he did not come in flesh, then the hope of Christianity evaporates. The Old Testament expected a man, not a distant, impersonal deity. He was the Victor coming as the seed of the woman (see Gen 3:15). He was, in the classic Christmas verse of Isaiah 9:6, a “ child … born...

Why do we call it "Good" Friday when something so bad happened? (HT: Eric Magnusson via Facebook)

As we approach Good Friday and Easter, we have ample cause to think of Christ's humanity. Along those lines, I wanted to share a short paper I wrote for a theology class. I hope you can find it useful. _________________________________________ It has become a fad among pop-atheists and agnostics to deny the reality of Jesus Christ’s existence. Documentaries such as “The God Who Wasn’t There” [1] explore the possibility that “Jesus” was a spiritual message, not a historical person. Likewise, Zeitgeist, [2] which the filmmakers have provided free, [3] argues that Jesus is just another avatar myth and states “ there are very high odds that the figure known as Jesus, did not even exist .” In an interesting discussion on “The Infidel Guy” radio program [4] (which began on the supposed corruption of the New Testament), Dr. Bart Ehrman (who disbelieves in the orthodox view of Jesus) was forced to defend the position that Jesus Christ existed. [5] These attacks are not unique, ...

IHatetheMedia.com posted a few of their favorite results from a Google search for "Obama" and "poster:"

Russ at Pond'rings examines two questions: I s it permissible for a Christian to defend himself? If it is permissible, what level of force is permissible under what circumstances? Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

I was pointed to Wolfgang Simpson's “15 Theses” of house churches. In responding, I thought it best to look at each thesis of the article and dissect them. I hope this series will be helpful. Here is Simpson's opening paragraph: God is changing the Church, and that, in turn, will change the world. Millions of Christians around the world are aware of an imminent reformation of global proportions. They say, in effect: “Church as we know it is preventing Church as God wants it.” A growing number of them are surprisingly hearing God say the very same things. There is a collective new awareness of age-old revelations, a corporate spiritual echo. In the following “15 Theses” I will summarize a part of this, and I am convinced that it reflects a part of what the Spirit of God is saying to the Church today. For some, it might be the proverbial fist-sized cloud on Elijah’s sky. Others already feel the pouring rain. There are a few concerns within this interesting paragraph. First, ...

A White House aide to Hillary says earth is topped off .  We have reached the maximum occupancy that God posted on a mountain somewhere, and we're going to have problems if the interplanetary fire marshal stops by.  Are you ready for the scary part of the story? "We need to continue to decrease the growth rate of the global population; the planet can't support many more people," Fedoroff said. In 2012, we'll cross the 7 billion mark .  Okay, I'm horrible at math, but let's see if we can come up with some solutions that don't require us to implement China's communist birthing policies. Let's say the population will be so dense in 2012 everyone will have to live in a 35-square-foot sized cubicle . Multiplying those cubicles by 7 billion people brings us to 245,000,000,000 square feet .  Let's make that more meaningful. If there are 27,878,400 square feet in a square mile, and we divide them into the number of square feet taken up by ...

Update: April Fool's Day!    I hate the day. ________________________________________ Well thump my pumpkin, this looks impressive : Two of the biggest Christian actors are slated to star in a film about two of the 20th centuries most prominent Christian writers. Actors Kirk Cameron ( Growing Pains, Left Behind , and Fireproof ), and Mel Gibson ( Lethal Weapon , Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ ) are slated to star as CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien in an upcoming still  untitled movie. I don't know about calling Gibson a Christian actor, but still.  One thought that pops into mind is that both Cameron and Lewis spent time as professing atheists.  And Tolkien, like Gibson, was Catholic, right? Other names attached to this film are Reese Witherspoon as Edith Tolkien, and Kirk Cameron’s real life wife, Chelsea Noble as Joy Davidman. Ironically, two actors who have already portrayed characters created by both men will also have major roles in the film. S...