Gospel Living

Sola Scriptura by Nathan Busenitz When Christ Confronts Tradition 2017 Shepherds' Conference  MEDIA LINKS:   MP3 Nathan Busenitz Cornerstone | Elder MORE SERMONS

He Emptied Himself: A Study of the Kenosis of Christ Mike Riccardi | 2017 Shepherds’ Conference This is one of the best presentations I've heard in a while concerning the relationship between Jesus's human and divine nature.  In many quarters, there're growing misunderstandings concerning the Kenosis or "emptying" of Christ in Philippians 2:7.  He lost none of His deity on earth.  MEDIA LINKS:   MP3  /  PDF Mike Riccardi GraceLife | Elder Local Outreach | Elder MORE SERMONS

Steven Lawson preached in the twelfth session of the 2017 G3 Conference.  His topic was, "The Reformation Was a Recovery of the Gospel." NOTE:  All content of the G3 Conference is protected under copyright law.  You can share content, but we ask that you place a link back to the G3Conference.com website or YouTube.com channel when you share.

But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22  For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” … 24  And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” … 27  And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28  and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. We’ve been seeing the depth of sin in the Herod’s household, including the unlawful marriage between Herod Antipas and Herodias.  John the Baptist highlighted this sin and called them to repentance.  Herod knew it was the word of a true prophet (v. 20) but never repented; Herodias hated John and sought his lif...

14  King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15  But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16  But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” King Herod I was appointed by Rome, so he wasn’t “born king of the Jews” (cf. Mt 2:2).  After he died in 4 BC, Rome appointed one of his sons tetrarch over Galilee, “King” Herod Antipas.  The Herods held their power tenaciously, having no reason to believe God would protect their position. Moreover, Antipas, like the rest of us, was a sinner, only with power.  As we’ll see in vv. 17–18, he’d stolen his brother’s wife for himself.  He eventually executed John the Baptist (vv. 19–29).  He was a man given over to his desires, and we see the guilt eating away at him as he hears abo...

As we don't have a Wednesday study from last week, here is the first session of the G3 Conference.  Josh Buice preached this session on the subject, "Doctrines Worthy of Death and Scripture Worthy of Preaching."

Daniel 11  | Cornerstone Church of Savannah | Shaun Marksbury | 20 December, 2016 Good morning, church! We're doing something different today, so we'll be in Daniel 11. Why did God give this prophecy? The Jews alive during that time would be comforted and have complete confidence that the prophesied Messiah was coming; we indeed find Messianic expectations high in the first century during the time of Jesus. Verse 35 reveals the main point, though—“so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.” Much like He would do through John the Baptist, God is making the way straight centuries in advance. So, we’re calling this message “Four Hundred Years of Preparation,” and we have Christmas on the horizon. http://cornerstonesavannah.org/ Video: Audio:

I was talking to a church member this week who was troubled that a family member viewed the Holy Spirit as a force.  While reading the Nicene Creed, I was struck afresh by the early church's view on God the Spirit. The Nicene Creed, originally penned in AD 325, was amended in 381.  The whole creed is as follows: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;  And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and si...

Happy Independence Day!  This is the day when we remember phrases written in the Declaration of Independence, like: "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Freedom from tyranny - such a novel idea.   Well, here's a bit of fun from the recent past to rekindle the waning patriotic fire.  A few years ago, I taught an American History class.  I'm copying from a January 12, 202 post to those students: This morning we started with a video.  That video has a long story, so stay with me as we move through pop culture and then back to American history.  If you stayed up to watch the New Year's ceremonies, you may have seen the celebration in Disney World in Orlando, FL.  One Republic played a song called "Too Late to Apologize," a song about a guy breaking up with a girl (kinda a sad song for New Year's, huh?).     Well, Timberland got ahold of the song awhile back and remixed it,...

One the one side, progressives claim the founders of the United States as heroes of secular thought.  On the other side, Christian reconstruct these same founders as champions of the faith.  What is the truth about the framers of the American Constitution? Dr. Gregg Frazer, professor of history and political studies at The Master's College, approaches this issue as a conservative Evangelical but with the precision required of a historian.  He wrote The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution and spoke at the 2014 Shepherd's Conference on this topic: ONE NATION UNDER GOD   Today's Church and the Shocking Truth About the Founding of America  Mar 6, 2014 | Download as mp3 .

As American Christians as well as saints the world over ponder the most biblical answers to racism and injustice, this day affords us reflection on one of the greatest proponents for justice.  Though we might not agree with every tenet of his beliefs, his words still echo the universal truths God ordered in creation.  On April 19, 1961, King challenged Southern Baptist seminarians to end segregation, nearly a hundred years after the Civil War resulted in largely segregated Baptist congregations and conventions.  Though so many years passed, maintaining the societal and traditional status quo seemed more comfortable than developing the counter-cultural, contra mundum mindset that God calls Christians to have.  You can listen to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Julius B. Gay Lecture here and his lecture to a Christian ethics class here . (HT: AlMohler.com ) Sadly, if King and other blacks were allowed to enroll in white, conservative seminaries, their message would hav...

Truth Remains is a ministry which travels to churches and conferences with original copies of English translations, allowing Christians access to the pages soaked in martyrs' blood.  They've now also placed a free, four-part documentary on their website reciting the history of the English Bibles.  Out of Darkness; The Story of the English Bible  is a four-part mini documentary, produced by Truth Remains, that tells the story of God's careful preservation of Scripture through the centuries. The men who gave their lives to translate the Bible into English are not household names, yet the bloody price they paid fueled the Reformation and shaped the modern world, enabling countless Christians to enjoy the privilege of owning and studying God's Word in English. Listen to David Parsons, John Glass, Dennis Swanson, and Nathan Busenitz tell one of the greatest stories in church history. You can watch the documentary on its website , where you can also learn of ...

How the Zwickau Prophets Influenced Church History http://www.gty.org/Blog/B130702 Most Christians have heard of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers. But there is good reason why you have probably never heard of their contemporaries, the Zwickau prophets. In the following two videos, R.C. Sproul and Steve Lawson explain who they were and why they left no lasting legacy. The principle of Sola Scriptura—Scripture alone—lies at the heart of the Protestant Reformation. Rejecting the pope as God's voice on earth required that there be a true and superior authority on which Christians could depend. Replacing the pope with someone else who claimed direct revelation from God would have only served to perpetuate the original problem. The scope and extent of the Reformation legacy, still felt today, is primarily due to the Reformers' unshakable commitment to God's unchanging revelation found in the pages of your Bible. A major objective of the Strange Fire con...

How the Zwickau Prophets Influenced Church History http://www.gty.org/Blog/B130702 Most Christians have heard of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers. But there is good reason why you have probably never heard of their contemporaries, the Zwickau prophets. In the following two videos, R.C. Sproul and Steve Lawson explain who they were and why they left no lasting legacy. The principle of Sola Scriptura—Scripture alone—lies at the heart of the Protestant Reformation. Rejecting the pope as God's voice on earth required that there be a true and superior authority on which Christians could depend. Replacing the pope with someone else who claimed direct revelation from God would have only served to perpetuate the original problem. The scope and extent of the Reformation legacy, still felt today, is primarily due to the Reformers' unshakable commitment to God's unchanging revelation found in the pages of your Bible. A major objective of the Strange Fire con...

R.C. Sproul on The Montanists and the Nature of Special Revelation http://www.gty.org/Blog/B130611 The charismatic movement is a recent development in the history of the church, but its distinguishing belief is not. The idea of modern prophets who receive special revelation from God is nothing new. In the following video, R. C. Sproul discusses the Montanist movement of the second century. As he explains who the Montanists were and what they believed, consider the parallels between that movement and twenty-first-century charismatic theology. New revelation is old news. And whether intentional or not, it always amounts to an assault on the sufficiency of Scripture. The early church fathers properly brought biblical truth to bear on the errors of the Montanists in their day. In the same way, the Strange Fire conference is a necessary biblical response to the many errors that plague the modern charismatic movement. For more information about Strange Fire, please visit our...

Steve Lawson on Cessationists and the Reformers http://www.gty.org/Blog/B130604 Steve Lawson is a dedicated student of the Reformation and the great Christian men behind it. His understanding of modern church trends is heavily informed by his knowledge of the theological wars that have been waged throughout church history. And the crucial battles fought by the Reformers in the fifteen hundreds provide valuable lessons in assessing the twenty-first-century church landscape. In the following video, Lawson points out the common ground that contemporary cessationists share with the Reformers of five hundred years ago. The Strange Fire conference will provide a much-needed response to the extrabiblical revelation synonymous with the charismatic movement, and will affirm the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. For more information about Strange Fire, please visit the conference website. http://www.tmstrangefire.org In anticipation of the sold-out Truth Matters' Str...

Dubbed the "Scope's Monkey Trial," its story causes many to imagine repressive, Christian yokels standing against free speech and progress.  Perhaps you read about it or saw its story on Broadway or in the theater; perhaps it was not faithfully communicated to you. Joe Carter at T4G remembers the 88th anniversary of The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes by listing nine things you should know about the trial .  In short, his points are: Inherit the Wind was an anti-anti-Communist play. The trial was a publicity stunt. Scopes wasn't a martyr--he was a co-conspirator. Darrow wasn't the first choice. Bryan wasn't the lead prosecutor - and he knew the defendant. The prosecution's "Bible expert" believed in the day-age theory. Teaching evolution . . . and eugenics. The defense wanted to lose the case. The ruling was reversed, but no one wanted to retry the case.

Was it a sin for the colonies to declare their Independence from the king?   Last year's post from Pastor Jesse Johnson may help those who might have struggles of conscience during the upcoming holiday.

One of the worst blights besmirching American pulpits is the online degree.  With that in mind, biblically sound institutions indeed post free resources featuring theological heavy-weights who love the Lord.  Thus, many Christian leaders lacking the ability to attend a quality seminary scour the web for the good, hoping to gain the knowledge they need for daily ministry. Maybe that describes you, and perhaps you missed something really good.  No, it's not an e-ordination, but it will build your ability in and love for the Bible.  Seminary professor Nathan Busenitz announced the launch of this goldmine of online training that is indeed free: Earlier this month, The Master’s Seminary launched its Theological Resource Center (TRC) — an online hub for ministry-training resources. Because many pastors around the world will never be able to attend seminary in the United States, the TRC extends the resources of TMS and its partner ministries t...

Just FYI.  Read the title: And this book was mild in its application, unlike his later work: