Today Tonight Interviews Michael Guglielmucci

For those of you who are familiar with Michael Guglielmucci’s story Today Tonight has recently interviewed Guglielmucci on the unfortunate news concerning his lie.  For those of you who have not come across this news click here and here to read a couple of articles on the story.  Please pray that the Gospel of Christ would be displayed anew in this mans life and that true healing would come about. 

For those who have been inspired by the song “Healer” the message of the lyrics still hold true that Christ is our only healer and might I say beyond the physical body (Titus 2:11-14) regardless of this sinful event.  It still amazes me how God can still communicate truth even through the depravity of man’s sinful acts.

(HT: Symphony of Scripture)

Suffocating Pride

“Preaching the gospel to myself each day mounts a powerful assault against my pride and serves to establish humility in its place. Nothing suffocates my pride more than daily reminders regarding the glory of my God, the gravity of my sins, and the crucifixion of God’s own Son in my place. Also, the gracious love of God, lavished on me because of Christ’s death, is always humbling to remember, especially when viewed against the backdrop of the Hell I deserve.”

- Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians (2008), 27-28.

(HT: OFI)

WordPress Sermons Plugin

ESV Blog:

The Ephesians 4:14 blog has released a WordPress Sermons Plugin. It lets you upload and search for sermons from your church by preacher, service, tag, series, and more. You can embed video or audio of the sermon right in your post, and the plugin uses the ESV API to display the relevant passage while someone is listening to the sermon.

This plugin is a great idea and a great use of technology. If you use WordPress as the backend for your church’s website, you should definitely check it out. If we’d change anything, we’d probably make entering the sermon’s Bible passages less structured: provide a text box and let people enter the passage references freeform. Then use queryInfo to extract the relevant passages.

GodBlogCon 2008

A Brief Comparison between Logos Scholar’s Library and BibleWorks 7

Terry Delaney, a student at Southern Seminary and has given a brief comparison between BibleWorks 7 and Logos Scholar’s Library. 

Said at Southern:

I have recently reviewed both the Logos Scholar’s Library and BibleWorks7 (BW7) and have heard many say that they prefer one software system over the other for various reasons. After having reviewed both of them, I thought it would be good to offer a comparison of what I have found and open it up for discussion amongst the readers here at Said.

There is nothing technical about this; I am simply offering what I found to be the strengths and/or weaknesses to the two programs as well as a comparison of the add-ons each offers. In many ways, this was a lot like comparing apples to oranges because each program is geared for a different person. Unless otherwise noted, I am comparing the two products as base products.

Read the whole post here.

Be sure to check out his reviews on both of them below:

Software Review: LOGOS Bible Software

Software Review: BibleWorks7

Top 10 Pet Peeves About Worship Leaders

I ran across this on Steve McCoys site.  This list was compiled to answer the question, “What is the biggest gripe you have about something a Sunday worship leader does?”   While there is no biblical basis for most ”pet peeves” I found many on this list to be quite amusing and interesting.  Please remember that this list is subjective.  Click here to check it out.

Monergism Revamps MP3 Library

Monergism is probably one of my top resources when it comes to audio lectures and sermons.  It is a treasure trove of MP3s and Monergism has done us all a huge service by providing all these MP3s in one page and might I say conveniently catergorized.  Check it out here.

Does God answer the prayers of unbelievers?

Grace to You gives at least 15 reasons why God might not answer every prayer.  Click here to see them.

The 2nd Annual Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies Conference August 25-26, 2008 **MP3s**

Although I was not able to attend this conference I was hoping for MP3’s to be made available, which I was pleased to find out were posted online just recently.  This years conference was centered on “The English Baptiststs of the 17th Century.”  I have copied and pasted the line up below.

Monday, August 25

9:00 AM An Opening Word (MP3)
Dr. Michael Haykin (Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies)

9:10 AM Plenary Session 1: “The English Calvinistic Baptists of the 17th Century—An Overview” (MP3)
Dr. Malcolm Yarnell (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)

10:25 AM Plenary Session 2: “John Spilsbury and the Beginning of the Baptists” (MP3)
Dr. Tom Nettles (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

11:40 AM Plenary Session 3: “Hanserd Knollys (1599-1691) and the Interpretation of Revelation” (MP3)
Dr. Barry Howson (Heritage Theological Seminary)

2:45—3:25 PM Parallel Session 1:

• Room A: “Henry Jessey (1601-1663): His Life and Thought” (MP3)
  Jason Duesing (PhD candidate, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)

• Room B: “‘A Poor and Despised People’: Abraham Cheare and the Calvinistic Baptists at Plymouth.” (MP3)
  Dr. Jeff Robinson (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

• Room C: “Baptist Associations in the 17th Century” (MP3)
  Dr. Stan Fowler (Heritage Theological Seminary)

3:35—4:15 PM Parallel Session 2:

• Room A: “Benjamin Keach’s Doctrine of Justification” (MP3)
  Tom Hicks (PhD candidate, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

• Room B: “The Role of Metaphor in the Sermons of Benjamin Keach” (MP3)
  Chris Holmes (PhD candidate, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

• Room C: “Turks, Jews, & God’s Plan for His People: Hanserd Knollys’ Understanding of Abraham’s Other ‘Descendants’ ” (MP3)
  Dr. Dennis Bustin (Atlantic Baptist University‎)

8:30 PM Plenary Session 4: “The Importance of Baptist Confessionalism” (MP3)
Dr. Albert Mohler (President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

Tuesday, August 26

8:45 AM Plenary Session 5: “The Strange Case of Thomas Collier” (MP3)
Dr. James Renihan (Dean, The Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies)

11:30 AM Plenary Session 6: “Benjamin Keach and the Protestant Cause Under Persecution” (MP3)
Austin Walker (Pastor, Maidenbower Baptist Church, Crawley, UK)

2:20 – 3:00 PM – Parallel Session 3:

• Room A: “Thomas Wilcox and his A Choice Drop of Honey from the Rock Christ” (MP3)
  Dr. Stephen Yuille (Toronto Baptist Seminary)

• Room B: “Hercules Collins and The Temple Repair’d: Baptists and Theological Education” (MP3)
  Steve Weaver (PhD candidate, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

3:10 – 3:50 PM – Parallel Session 4:

• Room A: “The Prison Epistles of Thomas Hardcastle” (MP3)
  Dr. Peter Beck (Charleston Southern University)

• Room B: “17th Century Baptists and the Perseverance of the Saints” (MP3)
  Jay Collier (PhD candidate, Calvin Seminary)

4:00 PM Plenary Session 7: “William Kiffin (1616-1701)—His Life and Thought” (MP3)
Dr Larry Kreitzer (Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford)

5:00—5:10 PM A Closing Word (MP3)
Dr. Michael Haykin (Director, The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies)

(HT: Steve Weaver)

Paul Tripp: What Makes Bad Language Bad?

**Warning**  Offensive language contained in this video.

Piper on Joy, Tragedy, and Despair

John Piper:

Soren Kierkegaard said, “When the age loses the tragic, it gains despair.”

This sounds profoundly right.

The elements of life that make tragedy possible are the same as the ones that fight off despair. For tragedy to be real there has to be something hugely precious, and there has to be the capacity to feel a great emotion. When these are both present, tragedy can happen.

Despair is the horrible blankness that settles over us when nothing is seen as precious anymore and there is no capacity to feel it anyway.

As great as our tragedy may be, if we feel it to the full, it is a sign that the weapons against despair are still in place.

Often the gifts of God come in strange pairs. “It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29).

Poythress on “Kinds of Biblical Theology”

Jim Hamilton:

Vern Sheridan Poythress’s essay, “Kinds of Biblical Theology,” which appears in the most recent issue of Westminster Theological Journal (70.1 [2008], 129-42) is available online here.

Here are the article’s subtitles:

I. History of the Expression ‘‘Biblical Theology’’
II. Vos’s View of the Relation of Biblical Theology to Systematic Theology
III. Murray and Gaffin on the Value of Biblical Theology for Systematics
IV. The Reverse Influence of Systematic Theology on Biblical Theology
V. Distinct Foci in Kinds of Biblical Theology
VI. Biblical Theologies of Individual Authors and Books
VII. Global Restructuring of Systematic Theology?
VIII. Difficulties about Restructuring

An Urgent Call for Church Planting in the U.S.

Check out this amazing video on why the need for church planting is still great in the United States.

(HT: Z)

MacArthur on Gambling

Five Reasons Why Gambling is Wrong (John MacArthur):

1. Because it denies the reality of God’s sovereignty (by affirming the existence of luck or chance)

2. Because it is built on irresponsible stewardship (tempting people to throw away their money)

3. Because it erodes a biblical work ethic (by demeaning and displacing hard work as the proper means for one’s livelihood)

4. Because it is driven by the sin of covetousness (tempting people to give in to their greed)

5. Because it is built on the exploitation of others (often taking advantage of poor people who think they can gain instant wealth)

For the full sermon discussing these five points in detail, click here.

Also check out MacArthurs post where he discusses the topic of Christians and the lottery.

Israel to Display the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Internet

The New York Times:

In a crowded laboratory painted in gray and cooled like a cave, half a dozen specialists embarked this week on a historic undertaking: digitally photographing every one of the thousands of fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls with the aim of making the entire file — among the most sought-after and examined documents on earth — available to all on the Internet.

(HT: JT)

Witherington on Rob Bell’s Jesus Wants to Save Christians

Ben Witherington gives a preview of Rob Bell’s upcoming book due out in October.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians, by Rob Bell and Don Golden, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), $19.99 (224 pages) Due out in October.

Ben Witherington:

It is thus with some excitement that I recently discovered that my friends at Zondervan had sent me a pre-pub copy of Jesus Wants to Save Christians (and boy do many of them need it!), which as it turns out, is a good faith attempt to articulate a specific theology for our post-modern situation, articulating what the author’s call a New Exodus perspective. New Exodus theology is of course not totally new, though it will be new to many in the blogosphere, and in the Introduction our authors acknowledge right off the bat an indebtedness especially to the work of Professor Tom Holland who teaches Biblical Theology at Wales Evangelical School of Theology, and has focused in his writings on the Pauline corpus (e.g see his Contours of Pauline Theology). Thus we could say that Bell and Golden are attempting to turn some of that Welsh grape juice into vintage wine in this little book, or perhaps we should envisage the process the other way around, since Holland’s is the more technical scholarly work, and this book more the distillation and clarification. But let the buyer beware— anyone brave enough to take on and milk the All American sacred cows of greed and sex are bound to get to some other nice little non-controversial golden calves like ‘Christians and politics, or Christians and war’, or Christians and social justice, or Christians and the oppressed and the poor– right? Right.

Reach the whole post here.

Gospel Coalition Videos

Andy Naselli has made mention of some recent Gospel Coalition videos that have just been uploaded.  You can check them out here.

ESV Promotional Video

I have not purchased my copy yet but I am looking forward to purchasing one in the near future.  From what I’ve seen this is probably one of the most thorough study bibles ever put together.  You can check out the actual site by clicking here.  For those of you who are not familiar with this study bible the site will explain a little more and will provide you with some sample pages.

(HT: Josh Harris)

2008 Baptist Hymnal

Isaiah Six has recently posted a review on the new Baptist Hymnal:

The Southern Baptist Convention typically publishes a new hymnal every fifteen or sixteen years. The last Baptist Hymnal was published in 1991 and the one before it was published in 1975. So we’ve been expecting a new version for some time. This summer, LifeWay Worship released the latest edition and here’s my conclusion: Stop what you’re doing, call whoever you need to call at your church and start raising funds to purchase this hymnal. Seriously. Mike Harland and his team have provided the church with an incredible resource that combines the rich tradition of historical hymnody with modern worship songs.

Greg Pittman then goes on to break down the hymnal through the outline below.  Click here to read the entire post.

• Theological Importance
• More Songs
• Additional Resources
• Online Tools
• Conclusion

(HT: Bryan Lopez)

9Marks e-journal for Sept/Oct 2008 on Family and Parenting

The latest e-journal is now available at 9Marks.  Centering on family and parenting topics discussed range from the decision to take your family overseas on the mission field to recommendations for children’s books.  Below is the table of contents.  You can access the PDF here.

FAMILY & PARENTING
Wanted: Kingdom Families

Embedded Portraits: A Theological Vision for Families

Part 1: Why Families Matter to God
Part 2: How Families Minister to the
Church and the World
Part 3: Raising Boys vs. Raising Girls

Book Review: Family Driven Faith
By Voddie Baucham Jr
Reviewed by Michael Lawrence

Book Review: Practicing Hospitality
By Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock
Reviewed by Adrienne Lawrence

Learning to Multiply

39 Lessons, 20 Tips and 10 “Don’ts” For Parenting

Favorite Children’s Bibles

MISCELLANEOUS BOOK REVIEWS
Book Review:
Gracism: The Art of Inclusion
by David A. Anderson
Reviewed by Ken Jones

Book Review:
Multicultural Ministry: Finding Your Church’s Unique Rhythm
by David A. Anderson
Reviewed by Juan Sanchez

Book Review:
Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church: Mandates, Commitments and Practices of a Diverse Congregation
by Mark DeYmaz
Reviewed by Benjamin Wright

John Piper: Abortion is about God

 

(HT: Alex Chediak)

35 Reasons Not to Sin by Jim Elliff

Christian Communicators Worldwide has produced a new blog that you may want to add to your google reader.  The blog is a colaborative effort of four individuals who are on staff at CCW.  For those of you interested in CCW below is their mission statement.  I would encourage to check out the site as it has quite a few resources that you might find helpful for your ministry.

CCW Mission Statement:

Christian Communicators Worldwide exists to propagate God’s Word through preaching and publishing, and to visibly demonstrate the life of trust in order to transform lives and reform churches.

35 Reasons Not to Sin by Jim Elliff:

1. Because a little sin leads to more sin.
2. Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
3. Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
4. Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
5. Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
6. Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
7. Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
8. Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
9. Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
10. Because my sin saddens the godly.
11. Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
12. Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
13. Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
14. Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
15. Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
16. Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
17. Because my sin may influence others to sin.
18. Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
19. Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
20. Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
21. Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
22. Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
23. Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
24. Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
25. Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
26. Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
27. Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
28. Because my sin is adultery with the world.
29. Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
30. Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
31. Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
32. Because to sin is not to love Christ.
33. Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
34. Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it’s own.
35. Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

New 9Marks Interview with Os Guinness

Mark Dever interviews Os Guinness about his life, Francis Schaeffer and more.  His discussion on Schaeffer is particularly interesting.  Click here to download and listen.

To listen to sermons and lectures from Os Guinness you can check them out here.

New Biblical Theology Blog

Jim Hamilton:

Today marks the launch of a new biblical theology blog. I’ll be collaborating with Desi Alexander, Mike Bird, and Steve Dempster. Here’s the blog’s purpose: “For the glory of God, in service to the church, this blog exists to promote the study and discussion of biblical theology’s history, methodology, aims, achievements, developments, direction, and points of contact with other approaches to the study of the Bible.”

Other contributors may be added later, but for now we’ll be posting together at Biblical Theology. In the initial post the contributors are introduced: “Posting from Ireland, Scotland (by an Australian), Canada, and the United States, we are excited about the international character of this blog, and we hope it will serve you well. We seek to know God in Christ by the power of the Spirit as revealed in the Bible.”

An interview with John Frame on the Problem of Evil

Andy Naselli has posted an interview with Dr. John Frame on the problem of evil. Below is question number three from the interview. Click here for the entire post.

3. People often think that the logical problem of evil is a problem primarily for theists. Would you say that it is at least equally problematic for atheists? Why?

In order to formulate the problem, atheists have to use the concepts “good” and “evil,” which make no sense in their system. If good and evil are just names for our feelings of approval or descriptions of the pleasure that comes from various events, then there is no reason to assume that God would produce only good and avoid all evil. So, as some have said, if believers have a problem with evil, unbelievers have a problem with both good and evil. For on the unbelieving view, there is neither good nor evil in an objective sense. Still, it is legitimate, I think, for atheists to question whether the Christian faith is consistent within itself. Whatever the unbeliever may think about good and evil, he has a right to ask how the Christian concept of good and evil is consistent with the Christian view of God.

How a Husband Should Lead

Thabiti Anyabwile breaks down a portion of Voddie Baucham’s sermon towards husbands entitled, “What He Must Be (Marriage by Design).”

1. Must lead in love
2. Must lead in the Word
3. Must lead in righteousness
4. Must lead in selflessness
5. Must lead in intimacy

Click here for Anyabwile’s thoughts on each one in particular #4.

Groothuis on 3 Elements of the Moral Life

Below are are at least three dimensions that Doug Groothuis points out concerning the moral life. Check out his post and leave a comment if you have any thoughts on the matter.

1. Moral evaluation: attempting to determine moral states of affairs in the world.
2. Moral affect: orienting oneself to feel the proper emotions given a successful execution of (1)
3. Moral agency: acting in the world according to knowledge (1) and proper feeling (2).

Paul Tripp on the Maturity of Silence

I’m Back….

Sorry it has taken me so long but I am officially back and will start posting again this week. My wife and I are now officially Louisvillians. My first day of class is today and I am a little nervous considering I’ve been out of school for a couple of years nevertheless I have been waiting to start back up for a while. God has been exceeding kind to Jess and I by making the transition to Louisville as smooth as it has. We are looking forward to our new life together here and joining Immanuel Baptist Church again.

I have posted a link to our photos and a video of our wedding for family and friends and anyone else who is interested. Sam Stroud took our photos but gave us the rights that is why we were able to post them on flickr for anybody wondering. The wedding trailer was put together by our videographer. It is a little dramatic just to give you a little warning. We didn’t know what to expect. The music sounds like something out of a Batman soundtrack but we enjoyed nonetheless. A big thank you to my father-in-law who provided us with such a wonderful wedding.

Pictures –>http://flickr.com/photos/29456512@N07/2755966184