9Marks Journal Online

9Marks is the ministry of Pastor Mark Dever and the Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Justin Taylor's blog has a link to the latest issue of their online journal. I also highly recommend Dever's book, "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church" (published by Crossway).

Christian Reflections on Black History Month

Here's a link to a good post from John Piper's "Desiring God" ministry regarding Black History Month.

Parable of the Lost Son(s)

Here's a link to Pastor Tim Keller's remarkably wise and perceptive sermon on what is normally called the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:1-2, 11-32). Part of Keller's distinctive insight in this sermon is his treatment of both 'younger brother lostness' and 'elder brother lostness.'

Evangelism and the Clash of Worldviews

Here is an excellent essay from Don Carson (based on Acts 17) regarding the necessity of taking the clash of worldviews seriously as we seek to present the Gospel.

Connecting Education and Culture

Tullian Tchividjian's blog provides a link to a thoughtful discussion regarding connecting (Christian) education and culture.

Do People of Different Religions Worship the Same God?

Justin Taylor has a new post on his blog that deals with this question, including a summary of significant discussion that has been going on among Christian leaders.

I added some thoughts of my own ("DP") in the comment section.

The Kingdom of God

from the Gospel Coalition statement:

We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. Good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace.

Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God.

Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God.

The kingdom of God, already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation. The kingdom of God is an invasive power that plunders Satan’s dark kingdom and regenerates and renovates through repentance and faith the lives of individuals rescued from that kingdom. It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God.

Critique of Willow Creek...

This Christianity Today editorial critiques Willow Creek Church for its "disturbingly low view of the church" and the flawed methodologies that arise from this.

Here are some excerpts:

Our ongoing concern about seeker-sensitive churches is not their willingness to change church culture so that it is not a needless stumbling block to the unchurched. We're only troubled when such churches uncritically accept the metrics of marketing culture, and let consumer capitalism shape the church's theology.

The study's answer suggests a disturbingly low view of the church: It concludes that the dissatisfied need to realize that "much of the responsibility for their spiritual growth belongs to them" (emphasis in the original). And "We [at Willow] have to let people know early on in their journey that they need to look beyond the church to grow" (emphasis added).

But according to the apostle Paul, the church is where each one is given a gift "so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:12–13).

For Paul, solid spiritual growth cannot be found "beyond the church," but only in its midst. The study rightly says, "Our people need to learn to feed themselves through personal spiritual practices." Unfortunately, the study fails to hint that these spiritual disciplines are intrinsically grounded in the ongoing life of the church. This implicit dualism (between private and corporate spiritual growth) suggests something different from Paul's view that it is in the body of Christ that we are joined together to "grow up into him who is the Head" (Eph. 4:15).

"The Case for Civility"

Here's an interview of Os Guinness about his new book, "The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It"

Tim Keller Interviewed

Tim Keller is interviewed in "First Things" (a journal of religion, culture and public life). I found the article edifying and interesting for all kinds of reasons, as Keller talks about his new book, his ministry, and the church that he pastors.

Evidences of Authentic Salvation

In this sermon John Piper teaches from 1 John about the characteristics of people who have truly been born again.

"Buried Hope or Risen Savior?"

Another very helpful post by Justin Taylor, related to recent claims of 'discoveries' of the bones of Jesus (and his 'family'), etc., and to the larger issue of "popularly driven archaeology."

Hymns of Isaac Watts

Here's a sample from The Christian Classics Ethereal Library -- the hymns of Isaac Watts

Notice the Scripture references at the heading of each of these hymns. And then notice how faithfully Watts presents the truths of the Scripture passage in the lyrics of the song. (We need more contemporary composers today who share this same commitment and adopt this same wise and faithful approach!)

HYMN 32
C. M.
Strength from heaven. Isa. 40:27-30.

Whence do our mournful thoughts arise?
And where's our courage fled?
Have restless sin and raging hell
Struck all our comforts dead?

Have we forgot th' almighty name
That formed the earth and sea?
And can an all-creating arm
Grow weary or decay?

Treasures of everlasting might
In our Jehovah dwell;
He gives the conquest to the weak
And treads their foes to hell.

Mere mortal power shall fade and die,
And youthful vigor cease:
But we that wait upon the Lord
Shall feel our strength increase.

The saints shall mount on eagles' wings,
And taste the promised bliss,
Till their unwearied feet arrive
Where perfect pleasure is.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Here is a link to an exceptional resource, the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (from Calvin College).

"The mission of the CCEL is to build up the church by making classic Christian writings available and promoting their use."

The Gospel and Sanctification

"By his sanctifying grace, Christ works within us through faith, renewing our fallen nature and leading us to real maturity, that measure of development which is meant by "the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). The Gospel calls us to live as obedient servants of Christ and as his emissaries in the world, doing justice, loving mercy, and helping all in need, thus seeking to bear witness to the kingdom of Christ. At death, Christ takes the believer to himself (Phil. 1:21) for unimaginable joy in the ceaseless worship of God (Rev. 22:1-5)."

-- from "THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST: AN EVANGELICAL CELEBRATION" COPYRIGHT 1999 BY THE COMMITTEE ON EVANGELICAL UNITY IN THE GOSPEL, P.O. BOX 5551, GLENDALE HEIGHTS, IL 60139-5551