Gospel Living

Here's how it was, according to Be Not Surprised : Mark Driscoll kept his word and crashed the Strange Fire Conference, handing out free copies of his book A Call to Resurgence with James MacDonald watching from the car.  Grace Church security confronted Driscoll and offered to help him carry his books back to his car. Driscoll instead offered the lot to security as a gift to Grace Church, but then claimed on Twitter that they confiscated them. Both Driscoll or MacDonald stopped at the conference on their way to their own conference to supposedly instruct attendees to " act like men ." And that, in short order, is why conferences calling us back to the Word of God like Strange Fire are so necessary. UPDATE, 23 OCTOBER: Aw, the footage.  What a shame:

There are few debates within the church liable to hurt more feelings than whether the miraculous spiritual gifts belonged to the NT Apostles or to the whole church.  Those who believe the former are called "cessationists" because, to some degree, they believe the gifts ceased in the first century.  Those then who believe the latter are, of course, "non-cessationists" or "continualists." The debate devolves quickly into name-calling and un-Christian behavior in general.  Some cessationists cite the most bizarre examples like the antics of Todd Bentley as the normative, demonic practices of each and every non-cessationalist church. On the other hand, a few non-cessationists lob grenades called "cold intellectualism," "Holy Spirit haters," and one preacher's claim that "cessationism is worldliness" and akin to atheism . Ouch. Alright, debates of real value tend to shed tears (sometimes they shed more than that, as the...

Dear reading pastor, I hope you consider the following in your next church service: (HT: The Resurgence

The issue is not doctrine. He stands firm on all orthodox beliefs and then some. The issue is not necessarily his associations, as he blasts both his Emerg* left and seeker-sensitive friends (we can and should remain friends with those with whom we disagree). The issue isn't even so much style . I know there are Christians who feel a suit and tie make one sanctified. I know there are believers who have strong convictions about the worship service. Personally, I probably stand more in the middle (I don't have such strong convictions on the matter, but then again, a pastor should make more of an effort than a tee-shirt), but these are areas where, to an extent, we can disagree with grace. The issue is language and attitude. Because of the blessing of being where I am, I get to hear much of the back-story of the exchange between MacArthur/Johnson, Piper, and Driscoll. It's not my place to post that story here. Yet, I will say this: there is a disconnect between what ...

Entertaining and thoroughgoing, Driscoll engages topics largest in the minds of Mars Hill in Religion Saves . Driscoll takes as inspiration for this book the letter of 1 Corinthians, where Paul addressed questions Corinthian believers pondered. Using technology such as web and text messages, Driscoll preached a sermon series that became the basis for this contemporary piece. As a piece of literature, the book is engaging. Driscoll's style keeps the reader's attention by providing a masterful mixture of facts, confrontation, anecdote, debate, and humor. It resonates with the contemporary mind while providing research from a plethora of resources. The reader is considered in this work, not mere argumentation, and helpful applicatory sections give the book a worthy price. As a theological treatise - and that is what this book becomes in the end - it is well researched. From questions ranging from birth control to the Emerging (Emergent?) movement, it becomes an essential rea...

HT to Reformed Baptist for this audio: Yesterday Jonathan Christman posted the above audio at his blog , where he has been tracking the debate that has arisen regardng appropriate speech for pastors. He reports that the audio is from the 2009 Basics Conference that took place on May 11-13 at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio. In it, John declares his agreement with MacArthur with regard to the proper interpretation of the Song of Solomn and what makes for appropriate speech for pastors, but he disagrees with MacAthur's apparent view that such problems should automatically disqualify Driscoll from pastoral ministry.

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...