Gospel Living

We have here every instance of “gospel” in the New Testament; that is, below is each verse containing εὐαγγέλιον ( euangelion —noun) and εὐαγγελίζω ( euangelizo— verb) —in T e c h n i c o l o r ! Matt 4:23—And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. Matt 9:35—And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. Matt 11:5—the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. Matt 24:14—And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matt 26:13—Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole wor...

I'm a big believer in online buying; as a student, I've saved several hundred dollars in books going through internet sells. Well, we're looking to buy another car right now, so the wifey and I were browsing the wasteland.  On Craigslist, we came across a couple of ads that seemed to be too good to be true ( first red flag ).  These folks replied to my inquiries with a level of detail that an average person would likely  exclude ( second red flag ).  The vehicles were each out-of-state, and the sellers offered to pay for shipping ( third red flag ). Craigslist posts: How to recognize a vehicle scam attempt on CL: Shipping a vehicle to you  is suggested by seller eBay Motors   or another intermediary is specified by seller Payment by   Western Union   or a  money wire  is requested Price is unusually low   (fraction of blue book value) If you see these tell-tale signs, flag ad as "prohibited" and avoid Off...

Apologetics 315 found a series of lectures by one of my heroes: Wheaton Colleg e has an online archive of resources - which includes a large collection of lectures by the late   Francis Schaeffer . The list can be   found here  (or broader index here ), but here are a few that may be of apologetic interest: •   Christian Apologetics •   Christianity & Science •  Intellectual Proof & Faith •  Modern Man & Epistemology •  On the Problem of Evil & the God of Love part 1   |   2 •  The Inspiration of Scripture •  The Question of Apologetics •  Basic Philosophical Questions •   and lots more here...  

One of the most confusing areas for students of God's Word is how the NT writers read and apply OT citations.  Some have even wondered if the Holy Spirit moved them to reinterpret  certain passages, a sort of divine act of eminent domain. Dr. Micheal Vlach has entered into the blogosphere, kicking things off with discussion on this very topic .  Go ahead and subscribe to his feed to find out more on this subject as well as many others coming in the future that have made his   TheologicalStudies.org such a good resource for all of these years.

Why, whatever do you mean? (HT: Dan Phillips )

The name of this blog is " Pisteuo ," a Greek word that simply translates "I believe."  Well then, what should we believe?  Michael Horton explains: (HT: CRN )

It's that time of year again, and here is what next month's pastors' conference will have for you: ( Schedule | Register ) General Session Speakers: Nathan Busenitz Rick Holland Phil Johnson Steve Law John MacArthur Al Mohler Tom Pennington Seminar Topics and Speakers: Seminar Session #1 The Forgotten Field—Evangelizing the Community Alex Montoya—Worship Center Counseling with Care—Ministering to the Fainthearted John Street—J360 Preparation and the Powerful Pulpit—Consecrating your heart before you preach Jerry Wragg—J270 Youth Forum—Questions and Answers on Youth Ministry Kelly Wright, Austin Duncan, Rick Holland—J70 The Marks of Godly leadership—Effective Leadership Lessons from I Corinthians Carey Hardy—J370 Home Field Advantage—Training Men for Ministry in Your Local Church Chris Mueller—Gym Radical?—The Mystique of the Modern Day Monk Jon Rourke—Chapel Seminar Session #2 The Mandate for Godly Leadership—Leading the Saints Richard Mayhue—J360 Grace Advance—Pro...

(HT: Graph Jam )

On the Oprah Winfrey Network or "OWN," as in, whoever falls for it has been pwned . To see previous Pisteuo posts on Todd Bentley and his antics, click his label below.

From  http://www.williamhaslam.org/ : The Rev William Haslam was an English country parson whose story is told in two autobiographical volumes - 'From Death into Life' and 'Yet not I'. One Sunday in 1851 following a period of deep conviction of sin, Haslam ascended into the pulpit of Baldhu church near Truro with the intention of telling his congregation that he would not preach again to them until he was saved and to ask them to pray for his conversion. However, when he began to preach on the text 'What think ye of Christ' he saw himself as a Pharisee who did not recognise that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. At that moment, the Holy Spirit breathed new life into him and the effect was so obvious and marked that a local preacher who was present stood up and shouted 'the Parson is converted' and the people rejoiced 'in Cornish style'. Others were also converted on that day , including members of his own household, others fled f...

(HT: Justin Taylor )

We have God's Word in our hands, so it is paramount that we approach it as His message to us .  Yet, it's tempting to use it as a means to prove a point, even when we have the best intentions at heart.  Instead, when we teach it, we must be slaves to what the Spirit has for us in the text. (HT: Christian Research Net )

Three cards, cause I love you *this* much: For the rest of you, many of whom are not as cheap as I am and will actually buy their spouses the print editions, go ahead .  Some of us don't need paper to express our feelings.  We have chocolate. (HT: TheDailyWhat

(HT: Ray Fowler )

Just in case you are still wowed by email or still think "LOL" is funny: (Click for larger image, lol) (HT: Digitizd )

(HT: Graph Jam )

Check out this short post from Justin Taylor : Tim Keller, writing in his new book   King’s Cross   (on the Gospel of Mark), looks at how saying “I’m unworthy” can sometimes function not as a plea for deliverance but as a form of pride: There are two ways to fail to let Jesus be your Savior. One is by being too proud, having a superiority complex—not to accepted his challenge. But the other is through an inferiority complex—being so self-absorbed that you say, “I’m just so awful that God can’t love me.” That is, not to accept his offer. Keller goes on to quote from John Newton’s letter to a very depressed correspondent: You say you feel overwhelmed with guilt and a sense of unworthiness. Well, you cannot be too aware of the inward and inbred evils you complain of, but you may be (indeed you are) improperly controlled and affected by them. You say it is hard to understand how a holy God could accept such an awful person as yourself. You, then, not only express a low opinion of...

I know this video is a few months old, but besides the shock value, I think it is one of the best arguments for churches to loving reach out to college students with gospel of the living and true God. This young, Jew-hating advocate has a sin problem that she must repent of, just like the rest of us.  Just like David Horowitz, before we cheer too loudly for him. Let us not forget that the answer here is not a better politic, but a Truer Word. (HT: DefCon )

Between Dan Brown, Zeitgeist, and the similar barrage from the "new atheists," some Christians are still wondering whether the Christian message was indeed unique.  Is the gospel simply the product of the popular religious sentimentalism of its day? HT Apologetics 315 : In this four-part audio series, apologist   Lenny Esposito of   Come Reason Ministries   unpacks the question: Did Christianity Steal from Mystery Religions? Lenny responds to the charge that "There were many resurrected messiahs in ancient religions," "Christianity ripped off other faiths," and the like. Did Christianity Steal from Mystery Religions? Part  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  Audio ( link bundle here ) Check out the  Come Reason podcast here . Enjoy.

Here's the sermon I preached this morning from Leviticus 20:7-8.  We examined two truths from the passage about Israel’s call to be holy in order to understand how it applies to us in light of the Gospel: Holiness is Separation Unto God (v. 7) Holiness is Life in Light of God (v. 8)

Joel Osteen not only used the word "sin," he seemed to model biblical authority and even state the taboo truth: homosexuality is sin . He didn't do so in a mean way (which didn't keep activist groups from their over-the-top comments), but he said it in no uncertain terms. That's (the model of biblical authority) what we are looking for in him, and for that, we say, bravo.

Anyone who has seen me watch TV claims I'm hypnotized, but this one is a little bit stranger (specifically, 1:46 in): Dr. Oz Talks About Cancer Myths: MyFoxLA.com (HT: Christian Research Net )

(A caution: one naughty word used at the beginning... yes, by the pastor.) Mike Porter over at A&OMin posted a good response to the video about the starvation of Christ's sheep and Perry Noble's general attitude.  I agree with it, and recommend that short read to you. On the one hand, I appreciate what Noble might be getting at in this vid, because I have been often tempted (especially in my earlier ministry) to want the "deeper" stuff with little regard for application.  Similarly, I've met folks who have heads full of religious knowledge but have no clue about what they would call "the basic stuff."  So, I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt there. On the other hand, he claims to say this to everyone.  I hope that is not true.  Porter is right; honest Christians desire more, growing thirstier the more they drink.  With the current famine sweeping American churches dry of the Word, I weep to imagine a hurting lamb being turned a...

While I don't condone this method, you've got to admit that it's super effective: (HT: Failblog )

Lifehacker posted this chart to help you with your financial decisions (HT: Digitizd ) (Click for larger image)

This admonition from MacArthur was delivered at a TMS chapel service, but it is worth a listen for all of God's leaders: Audio only, MP3  (right-click to save and download, left-click to stream)

The teaser: The video description: A short snippet of footage of the debate between Christian Apologist James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries and Atheist David Silverman who is now president of American Atheist's founded by Madelyn Murray O'Hair. This debate was GREAT and was recorded in HD with audio taken directly from the sound board so it doesn't sound hollow. The check-it-out-and-buy-link .

A couple of years ago, I posted an interview between Todd Friel and the then-18-year-old Harris brothers on the release of their book.  It's great to see them still writing and "conference-ing," encouraging teens to raise society's expectation-bar: