John Piper: What Do You Think of Using The Internet To Find a Spouse?
Triablogue: Why I’m not a Calminian
Triablogue has a post today commenting on Craig Blomberg’s “Why I Am A Calminian” which quite nicely dismantles the idea of middle knowledge.
Find it here: Triablogue: Why I’m not a Calminian.
The Resurgence: Al Mohler and SBTS
Al Mohler is profiled at The Resurgence: The Reformed Resurgence: Al Mohler and Southern Seminary | TheResurgence.
R. Albert Mohler Jr. was too young to head the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He thought so. Everyone thought so. But the board was impressed by his youthful vigor and clear plan to restore the seminary’s confessional identity. He was only 33 years old when he assumed the presidency in 1993. Soon thereafter at least 96 percent of the faculty of the largest Protestant denomination’s flagship seminary’s left.
Calvin: still hot at 500 -Times Online
The London Times reports on the New Calvinists: Calvin: still hot at 500 -Times Online .
I Did Not Come To Abolish
Pharaoh had absolute authority. He was the law.
This is a sermon I preached July 15, 2009, during the 7 p.m. Wednesday service at Evangelical Church of Fairport, N.Y.
All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Audio: I Did Not Come To Abolish (Right-click on link to download audio)
Matthew 5:17-20
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
I Did Not Come To Abolish
When Jesus came onto the scene, beginning His ministry at the age of thirty, He must have seemed pretty radical. I mean, here was a man who had not been a rabbi, or a priest, or a scribe. Jesus had been a laborer, a carpenter’s son — just your everyday sort of guy. While I’m sure that people must have noticed something different about Jesus, that He was an exceptionally well-behaved boy — those things about His childhood that we don’t know, but that Mary treasured up in her heart — Jesus had lived a normal and relatively obscure life in a small town quite a ways off the beaten path. Read more
Concrete Work of the Spirit: Poythress
My course work at TNARS included an article by Dr. Vern Sheridan Poythress, “New Testament Worldview”, which is part of Revolutions in Worldview: Understanding the Flow of Western Thought (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2007). The following is quoted from pages 94 to 95:
Christ is the final revelation of God to human beings (Heb. 1:3). Therefore, he also is the final revelation of God’s righteousness and goodness. The moral goal for Christians is to be conformed to his image (2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:13–16, 22–24). This renewal also is closely associated with the Holy Spirit, who comes as the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:6–11). Paul’s contrast between “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” fulfills the Old Testament contrast between the way of life and of death, the way of wisdom and of folly (Prov. 6–9).
But in what concrete directions does the Spirit work? The New Testament puts love of God and love of the brothers at the center of its exhortations (Gal. 5:14; 1 Cor. 13; Heb. 13:1; 1 John). This love is an outgrowth of the Old Testament commands to love God and love neighbor (Matt. 22:34–40). Genuine love is not in tensio n with the commandments of God, but leads to fulfilling them (John 14:15; Rom. 13:8–10; Gal. 5:14). Love is deepened by the example of Christ’s love (John 13:34–35) and the empowering of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15–26).
Since God remains righteous in both Old and New Testament, the basic principles of Old Testament moral standards continue into the New Testament. Not only the basic principles but every detail finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God that Christ inaugurates (Matt. 5:17–20). But the way of fulfillment involves changes and displacement of what was temporary and shadowy, because it is superseded by the reality of Christ (Mark 7:19; Acts 15:9–10; Col. 2:16–17; Heb. 8–10).
New Testament ethics is also distinctive in its goal. The goal is honoring the name of Christ (Phil. 2:11). We look forward to a new heaven and a new earth in which God and the Lamb are central (Rev. 21:1–22:5). Our short-range tactics, as well as long-range strategy, should derive from our awareness that we are soldiers of Christ involved in spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10–20; 2 Tim. 2:3–4; Rev. 2–3). The New Testament presents us with this spiritual warfare, involving angels and demons as well as human beings, not merely to enlarge our understanding of the various kinds of beings in the world but so that we might reckon practically with the importance of our allegiance to our Commander and Chief. We are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:19) and pilgrims and sojourners on earth (Heb. 11:13– 16; 12:22–29; Rev. 7:13–14).
There are those who would reduce that “final revelation of God’s righteousness and goodness” to a set of codes or rules. The codes of the Old Covenant are part of the “temporary and shadowy;” what they reveal about Christ and the believer is the concrete of the New Covenant.
“For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6, ESV).
Gonzales: Giving Proper Due to the People in the Pew
Dr. Bob Gonzales, dean of Reformed Baptist Seminary, gets it exactly right in the first of his series: Giving Proper Due to the People in the Pew: A Biblical Defense of Lay-Ministry and Lay-Evangelism, Part 1 | RBS Tabletalk.
MacArthur: The Rape of Solomons Song
John MacArthur has addressed coarse and unseemly language in the pulpit, most specifically directing comments toward Mark Driscoll, in a four-part series ending in this Q&A:
The Rape of Solomons Song Part 4–conclusion
Dr. MacArthur writes in part:
One of the fundamental problems with this whole discussion is a refusal by many to acknowledge the crucial (and elementary) distinction between strong language and obscene language. …
Scripture condemns heretics in powerful, sometimes indelicate, terms (e.g., Galatians 5:12). But the Bible is never smutty, and the strong language in Scripture certainly doesn’t make profane language or filthy joking acceptable (Ephesians 5:4).
I’ve found myself defending Mark Driscoll often in discussions — online and in person — but not this time. MacArthur is right when he laments the effect this has on young pastors and students. Too many — and I fear this is a big problem among Acts 29 churches — try to out-Driscoll Driscoll in their dress, their speech, and their need to be perceived as hip. His effectiveness, and that of those who emulate or try to top him, is not measured by coolness. His effectiveness, and that of any preacher or evangelist, stems from a clear presentation of the Gospel.
Not all that Mark Driscoll does to reach the culture is wrong; most of it is right. And Driscoll is indisputably a gifted communicator. (I was particularly thrilled with his repeated emphasis on the Gospel on ABC’s Nightline.) However, Driscoll is in a specific place with a specific audience, and much of what he does interacts with that specific culture.
So … his approach is not appropriate everywhere.
And, as Dr. MacArthur points out, some of it is not appropriate anywhere.
Responsive Reiding: Warfare
My pastor at Evangelical Church of Fairport (N.Y.) is Reid Ferguson, who maintains a blog called “Responsive Reiding“. In addition to regular “Margin Notes” posts on Scripture — the things he writes in the margins on a nearly daily basis — he also has several posts on theological issues, some book reviews and some other personal observations.
I’m most grateful for his latest post, “Margin Notes: special ‘warfare’ edition“. I think you’ll be benefited by it, too. (I’m also most grateful for his preaching and teaching!)
You might also wish to check out some of his sermons.
Moses Wrote About Me: New NCT Resource Site
Michael W. Adams has been busy putting together his new site, Moses Wrote About Me, and launched it today.
He writes:
I’ve designed this site to be a resource for New Covenant Theology (NCT). NCT is a hermeneutic (a way of interpreting the Bible) that clearly shows how the Bible fits together because it is unencumbered by a pre-conceived system of theology that drives its interpretation in any one direction. NCT is free of any system of theology that would force it to interpret Scripture as that system demands, allowing NCT to interpret Scripture free from any pre-conceived theological bias.
I’m looking forward to checking out all the resources he has included on the site as well as following his blog and participating on the discussion board he has set up.
Subscribe to RSS Feed