The Grace of God in the Bible

A sentence for each book of the Bible saying how God showed His grace: Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology: The Grace of God in the Bible:

There is always a danger of squeezing the Bible into a mold we bring to it rather than letting the Bible mold us. And, there could hardly be more diversity within the Protestant canon--diverse genres, historical settings, authors, literary levels, ages of history.

Men, Will You Vow to Lead?

Despite me linking to some criticism of Driscoll, I thought this was quite good: Men, Will You Vow to Lead? | Mars Hill Church:

Towards the end of this Sunday’s sermon, I challenged the husbands in the room to stand up and take a vow that they would lead their family well. I then asked them to each pray over his wife, to serve her Communion, and to worship together holding hands.

Church advertisement banned, claim to insult Atheist’s intelligence

A church poster in South Africa was removed due to its offence: Church advertisement banned, claim to insult Atheist’s intelligence:

The Rivers Church in the Sandton suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa were asked to remove a billboard that read, “An atheist is a man who believes himself to be an accident,” according to Daily Mail.

The billboard features the picture of a man who appears deep in thought, with his hands on his temples and an empty skull.

Download Bloodlines for Free

Another new Piper book for free: Download Bloodlines for Free - Desiring God:

Bloodlines is one of the most autobiographical books I have written. It tells my story from racism to the path of redemption. I preached on the theme of Bloodlines yesterday to mark Martin Luther King weekend. The title of the message was “From Bloodlines to Bloodline.” I argued that God is calling his people to move from the alienation of many bloodlines to the reconciliation of the single bloodline that began on the cross of Christ

Warning Passages Ahead: Brief Response

In Hebrews are there two types of faith, or two types of people? Jesus Creed » Warning Passages Ahead: Brief Response:

Notice that the author says the audience has an “initial experience of the gospel” and then later says they “were never true believers.” I agree with the first but the last category is imposed from without on the basis of other conclusions, namely that if one does not have perseverance one never really had genuine faith. This is the QED, and it doesn’t work to assume this stance in order to explain one’s view. There are two kinds of people, not two kinds of faith. There is one kind of faith: faith. Some will persevere and some won’t. One faith, one kept and one discarded.

Sexual Obedience Outside Scripture

This paragraph stood out for me: Sexual Obedience Outside Scripture:

"For example, the apostle Paul says nothing about video-recording a marital sex act on your cell phone. This is because he wrote to the Ephesians, to the Galatians, and not to the Idiots. If he were writing to the Idiots, he might have felt constrained to mentioned it. Oh, no, you might reply, feeling a little stung by my insensitive use of the word Idiot with an upper case I, you are your wife are being "very careful." Very careful. I see. So careful that when you both die in a car wreck nobody is going to go through your effects?"

Following Up on the Jesus/Religion Video

Looks like the poetry guy and DeYoung are now friends. That is a good resolve: Following Up on the Jesus/Religion Video – Kevin DeYoung:

"Thanks for your email. It confirms my impression of you—humble, sincere, a real love for God and the gospel. I can’t remember ever receiving such a teachable response to criticism. I’m grateful for you and your courage in taking time to write me a note. Really grateful.

I know that criticism can be hard. You are probably getting it from right, left, and center, from Christians and non-Christians. I’m sure you are getting a lot of affirmation too, and that presents its own challenges. I tried to my write my post as a friend, not as a hater. I am rooting for you, not against you. I wanted to approach this like Acts 18:26. Thank you for receiving it in that spirit…."

28 Bible studies for free

This looks like a pretty good resource (pdf 1.3mb) from the guys at OpenUpTheBible.com: http://www.openupthebible.com/upload/samples/time-with-god.pdf

Does Jesus Hate Religion? Kinda, Sorta, Not Really\

I like DeYoung, but I am not sure if he needed to write so much ripping into this guys poem. I'm sure if I tried to write a poem it wouldn't have the accuracy DeYoung would want: Does Jesus Hate Religion? Kinda, Sorta, Not Really – Kevin DeYoung:

The strengths in this poem are the strengths I see in many young Christians—a passionate faith, a focus on Jesus, a love for grace, and a hatred for anything phony or self-righteous. The weaknesses here can be the weaknesses of my generation (and younger)—not enough talk of repentance and sanctification, a tendency to underestimate the importance of obedience in the Christian life, a one-dimensional view of grace, little awareness that our heavenly Father might ever discipline his children or be grieved by their continued transgression, and a penchant for sloganeering instead of careful nuance.

Packer on Why We Should Meditate on the Four Gospels More than Any Other Book

Packer suggests the Gospels are the best books on earth: Packer on Why We Should Meditate on the Four Gospels More than Any Other Book – Justin Taylor:

We should think, rather, of the theology of the epistles as preparing us to understand better the disciple relationship with Christ that is set forth in the gospels, and we should never let ourselves forget that the four gospels are, as has often and rightly been said, the most wonderful books on earth.

Visual Theology - The Order of Salvation

Quite a good image: Visual Theology - The Order of Salvation | Challies Dot Com:

Today I’ve got an infographic for you, and one that I is going to kick off a series called “Visual Theology”—an attempt to display theology using a combination of words and pictures.

Learning from Christopher Hitchens: Lessons Evangelicals Must Not Miss

Mohler lists 5 things we should all learn from Hitchens. These again highlight why I thought he was the best of the four horsemen: AlbertMohler.com – Learning from Christopher Hitchens: Lessons Evangelicals Must Not Miss:

With all that in mind, how can I claim that evangelical Christians should learn from Christopher Hitchens? Well, consider these lessons

Real Marriage

The cynic in me thinks "is this a sermon series or a good advert (or direct way of selling their new book)?" http://marshill.com/real-marriage:

This is a sermon series about Jesus—and what he has to say about marriage through the Bible

The Seven Deadly Websites

If websites were called their sin name: "The Seven Deadly Websites" by Jeff Rosenberg and Caldwell Tanner - CollegeHumor Article

The return to religion

Although Church attendance in England has dropped dramatically, it seems now it is rising again. Some people tell me as modernisation/development incenses then religion decreases, that is just not true (see South Korea): The return to religion - Telegraph:

This figure could be larger, but it is still enormous, far more than the number who attend football matches, often assumed to be Britain’s favourite weekend activity. But church people tend not to be as newsworthy as footballers. Their Christian values stand at an angle to the brash, thrill-seeking, instant consumer culture that has become dominant in Britain over the last half-century.