See you in Seattle, Pastor John MacArthur?

Driscoll gives his account at Strange Fire and offers MacArthur a chance to speak at his conference: See you in Seattle, Pastor John MacArthur? | The Resurgence:

"As you may have heard, I dropped by your recent Strange Fire conference. I happened to be in the area speaking at an Act Like Men conference in Long Beach. I intentionally came during a break so as not to interrupt the sessions, and I met some great people.

Seven salvations

Good comic about the difference between decisions and disciples: Adam4d.com - Seven salvations

Paul's Teaching on Women: Cultural or Transcultural

Perhaps a helpful overview of the issue by someone undecided: Paul's Teaching on Women: Cultural or Transcultural | Candid Christianity:

I admit that I am undecided in the matter. The egalitarian and complementarian present two compelling, opposing views. But if I had to choose today, I’d say the complementarian response to the egalitarian is unconvincing for a couple of reasons.

Atwill’s Cranked-up Jesus

You know it's a bad history about Jesus when Richard Carrier won't even touch it: Atwill’s Cranked-up Jesus | Richard Carrier Blogs:

Joseph Atwill is one of those crank mythers I often get conflated with. Mythicists like him make the job of serious scholars like me so much harder, because people see, hear, or read them and think their nonsense is what mythicism is. They make mythicism look ridiculous. So I have to waste time (oh by the gods, so much time) explaining how I am not arguing anything like their theories or using anything like their terrible methods, and unlike them I actually know what I am talking about, and have an actual Ph.D. in a relevant subject from a real university.

A Friend of Sinners and No Friend of Sin

Nice soundbite at the end: A Friend of Sinners and No Friend of Sin – Kevin DeYoung:

No one in the history of the world has been more inclusive of the broken hearted than Jesus. And no one has been more intolerant of the impenitent. A friend of sinners and no friend of sin.

He At Least Knew

Argument of miracles based on the character of Jesus: He At Least Knew | Blog & Mablog:

“Jesus professed to work miracles; he cannot by possibility have been deceived on the subject; and so, either he did work miracles, or he was a bad man. Against his character all the objections to miracles must shatter, like surf against the rock. And this is not arguing in a circle; not proving the miracles by Christ, and Christ by the miracles. The concurrence of the two makes it easy to account for both; the denial of the miracles necessitates conclusions more improbable than the miraculous” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 183).

School Rules Are Not the Answer

Nice quote at the end: School Rules Are Not the Answer | Blog & Mablog:

A good disciplinarian can rid a school of the demon of disorder. But unless the Spirit of God fills in the vacancy, the demons of self-righteousness, seven times worse than the first one, will come back to haunt the place.

All Lewis Conference Media Now Available

I always like the DG conferences and how they give their content away for free: All Lewis Conference Media Now Available - Desiring God:

"Our recent national conference dove deeply into the life, heart, and influence of Lewis, celebrating all we’ve learned through him and asking the hard questions of his writing. It’s a collection of talks that offers a big, thorough look at Lewis — his God, imagination, books, theology, friendships, worship, and more.
Please enjoy and share all the audio and video below free of charge."

Ancient Confession Found: 'We Invented Jesus Christ'

Seems legit... well not really. Even Bart Ehrman would take aim at this: Ancient Confession Found: 'We Invented Jesus Christ':

American Biblical scholar Joseph Atwill will be appearing before the British public for the first time in London on the 19th of October to present a controversial new discovery: ancient confessions recently uncovered now prove, according to Atwill, that the New Testament was written by first-century Roman aristocrats and that they fabricated the entire story of Jesus Christ. 

Does God (Really) Desire All to Be Saved?

New book by Piper, and you can download the pdf for free: Does God (Really) Desire All to Be Saved? - Desiring God:

"Finding the answers is like climbing Mount Everest. Not everyone is up for the climb, but we believe it can be done, and there are guides to help if you want to make the attempt. John Piper offers himself as a Sherpa of sorts for the steep climb in his new little book, Does God Desire All to Be Saved?"

Am I Still Crazy Busy?

DeYoung has some good reflections on busyness (I will probably read his book - one day): Am I Still Crazy Busy? – Kevin DeYoung:

"So in the midst of this internal reflection and self-diagnosis, what practical steps have I taken to be less crazy busy?  Have things actually gotten better? Several things come to mind, in no particular order."

Adoption Story - David Platt

A nice clip by David Platt on Adoption: ▶ Adoption Story - David Platt - YouTube:

The Bibliographical Test Updated

There is a neat table in this article with the new revised number of ancient manuscripts: The Bibliographical Test Updated - Christian Research Institute:

For example, although apologists rightly claim that there are well over five thousand Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, they have reported the number of manuscripts for Homer’s Iliad to be 643, but the real number of Iliad manuscripts is actually 1,757.

Although there has been an increase in the number of non–NT ancient manuscripts, nothing has changed regarding the applicability of the bibliographical test. Even Homer’s Iliad, which has seen the greatest manuscript increase, is still dwarfed by the NT, which has more than three times the Greek manuscripts as the Iliad.

Destroy all churches in Gulf, says Saudi Grand Mufti

Imagine if some Western leader (church or secular) said a similar thing about mosques in their own county: Destroy all churches in Gulf, says Saudi Grand Mufti - Culture & Society - ArabianBusiness.com:

"The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has said it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region,” following Kuwait’s moves to ban their construction."

A Polecat in a Hollow Tree

Interesting take on things: A Polecat in a Hollow Tree | Blog & Mablog:

The irony is that the mistake Wright makes about first century Jews, R.C. makes about the Reformed, and the valuable insight that Wright offers pastorally about some of the tight-shoed Reformed, he declines to apply to first century Jews. In short, R.C. judges the Reformed tradition by the paperwork, and first century Jews by the heart. Wright judges the Reformed by the heart, and judges the first century Jews by the paperwork. It is enough to make you go huh.

Halloween: Trick or Treat?

A great spoken word on Halloween by Glen Scrivener: Halloween: Trick or Treat? on Vimeo:

"While Halloween can often be a time associated with ghosts, devils and darkness, this video is designed to share the good news that Jesus is the light of the world!"