Church Times - Evangelise among other faiths, don’t ‘sell’, says report

Josh has pointed out this article on how the Anglican church thinks it is a good idea to evangelise

Church Times - Evangelise among other faiths, don’t ‘sell’, says report:

They recommend an approach to sharing the gospel which “proclaims gladly and openly the uniqueness of the work of God in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ”, but which “forbears from making ultimate judgements about others, always preferring to leave that to the loving mercy of Christ.

“In this approach, sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone is not an exercise in the selling of a product in a competitive market place of religions or philosophies, it is proclamation.”

This view is echoed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in their foreword...

You can download the 47 page report (with 199 paragraphs) here.

Jesus Didn't Die On a Cross

Jesus Died on a Tree Trunk? | The Atlantic Wire:

The crucifixion is apparently under review. In his doctoral thesis, newly graduated Swedish theologian Gunnar Samuelsson argues that the cross Jesus supposedly died on may not actually have been a cross. He explains in an interview with DRadio Wissen, a German station: 'the New Testament said that Jesus died some way on something called a staurus ... that's a Greek name for a cross or a pole or something ... I call it an execution device only to be [distinguished] from the common notion that it must be a cross, because it mustn't be a cross--it could be a pole, for instance, or a tree trunk, or something else.'

Jesus did not die on cross, says scholar - Telegraph:

...the Bible has been misinterpreted as there are no explicit references the use of nails or to crucifixion - only that Jesus bore a 'staurus' towards Calvary which is not necessarily a cross but can also mean a 'pole'.

Lloyd-Jones on Thinking and Faith

Lloyd-Jones on Thinking and Faith :: Desiring God:

The Bible is full of logic, and we must never think of faith as something purely mystical. We do not just sit down in an armchair and expect marvelous things to happen to us. That is not Christian faith. Christian faith is essentially thinking.

That is the every essence of faith. Faith, if you like, can be defined like this: It is a man insisting upon thinking when everything seems determined to bludgeon and knock him down in an intellectual sense.

Advance10: Audio and Video

Another conference has posted their audio and video: Advance10: Advance The Church - Hopefully there will some file download links soon so you don't need your browser to listen/watch them

Life before Google

Funny: Daily Vowel Movements: Life before Google

Against All Gods - TGC Reviews

This looks like it could be a good book: Against All Gods - TGC Reviews:

They assert that the surge of New Atheism is also a good thing because it is forcing discussion of religion back into university life. These attacks are happening largely in the academy, pushing the sacred back into the secular

Their belief is that in thoughtful, uninhibited discussion of the issues, the truth can and will emerge as it forces New Atheism to move from offense to defense. As Christians are able to press their worldview with the truth, New Atheism ideology will crumble.

SMBC Preaching conferences

I heard Kirk Patston talk at a Katoomba Easter Convention on Ecclesiastes and would be happy to hear him talk again from the Old Testament: SMBC Preaching conferences : Anglican Church League, Sydney, Australia

Matt Chandler on Talking at other conferences

This is Chandler latests update on how is he going with fighting his brain cancer, and this in this one he talks about speaking at other conferences and Rick Warren at this years Desiring God conference and the consequence of being on a public stage.

Week 16: Video Update from Matt Chandler

Requisite Tools for a Pastor

Requisite Tools – Kevin DeYoung:

But what must a pastor do? That’s the subject of this post.

In other words, let’s assume the first two C’s are in good shape (Character and Convictions). What is required by the third C–Competence?

Kevin's points are:
1. A pastor must be able to teach.
2. A pastor must be able to relate to people.
3. A pastor must be able lead.
4. A pastor must stay relatively organized or surround himself with those who can do this for him.
5. A pastor must pray.

Tripp and Glenn: "The Pastor and Pleasure"

Looks like some good free talks on the pleasure of God, Sex, Food, Money and the Local Church: Tripp and Glenn: "The Pastor and Pleasure" :: Desiring God

Meet the New American Family, Digitally Deluged

AlbertMohler.com – Meet the New American Family, Digitally Deluged:

In an accompanying article in The New York Times, Tara Parker Pope asked a chilling but revealing question: “Has the high-speed Internet made you impatient with slow-speed children?” Does that question not arrest you on the spot?

The research indicates that people who are highly invested in digital involvements are less empathetic, less attentive, less patient, and less able to remember something as basic as a conversation.

Die With Your Boots On

This is a good, quick overview of how the apostles died: Die With Your Boots On | TheResurgence:

You're either going to go out like Judas or Jesus—that's how your life is going to end. You're going to go out like Jesus, faithful to the end, whatever the cost, or you're going to go out like Judas, prematurely, tragically, rebelliously, shamefully.

If you were going to get crucified, would you stop calling yourself a Christian?... Andrew replied, [and this is an amazing line] "I would not have preached the honor and glory of the cross if I feared the death of the cross."

We're in a day where we get a lot of come-and-see. There are free sermons on the Internet, classes, training, Christian music, radio stations, radio preachers, church events, mass crusades, services, small groups. It seems, Lord God, like there are more come-and-see opportunities than any people have ever been offered in the history of the world.... [But] I pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit on us as a people that we wouldn't just be a come-and-see people, that we'd be a go-and-die people.

Missional church

Acts29 have a good article with lots of quotes about What is Missional?

In some essays on missional churches I find myself quoting some 9marks articles such as:

eJournal : What in the World is the Missional Church? | 9Marks

eJournal : What is the Missional Life? | 9Marks

The Church in England

In May Al Mohler posted on A Preacher Is Arrested in Britain

C.J. Mahany now quotes Mark Dever about an experience he had in England before that event, from Old Atheism:

I was stopped this past February in Heathrow airport when I was trying to go over to London to speak. I had been invited to preach there by Church of England Church, an established church in the UK in the middle of London. When I got to Heathrow, new laws had been passed. They wouldn’t let me in. I waited 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, while they asked me more and more questions. What exactly would I be saying? Finally they let me in, but with cautions…

Christianity, tolerance, and Rodney King

dangerous idea: Christianity, tolerance, and Rodney King:

A lot of believers, as well as unbelievers, think that there is a great deal at stake in this whole business of religion. Given that so much is at stake, isn't it a little misguided to implore people to accept a Rodney-King-style political correctness: 'Can't we all just get along?'