Desiring God has asked listeners to help them select the best of John Piper’s sermons so that they might feature them in the Desiring God app. They are asking not only for the sermon title, but also for a brief testimony of how God used the sermon to impact your life. I’m going to offer my response in this space. For me, there are three messages that stand out. They are messages that proved to be spiritual watersheds in my own life, and they are still impacting me today. “Did Christ Die for Us or for God?” Passion ’98, Austin, TX – January 1, 1998 I first heard John Piper…
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The Lord of the “Already” and the “Not Yet”
Dr. Brian Payne, professor of Christian Theology and Expository Preaching at Boyce College, preached one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard in Southern Seminary’s chapel. It’s just good, solid biblical exposition. You can watch it above, listen below, or download audio here. [audio:http://www.sbts.edu/media/audio/fall2012/20121016-payne.mp3]
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Why Abortion Is the Most Important Issue in This Election
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — On Nov. 6, America will go to the polls and elect the next president as well as members of the House and Senate. In advance of this vote, most Americans believe that the chief issue facing the country is the ailing economy. I want to make the case that this thinking is wrong-headed and that the transcendent issue of this election is abortion. The current law of our land excludes from the human community a whole class of human beings — the unborn. Right now, under the regime of Roe v. Wade, it is legal in our country to kill unborn human beings at any stage…
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PLNTD Conference | Gospel Leadership (25% off)
From Timmy Brister: ——— Healthy church leaders in local churches are vitally important. In three weeks, the PLNTD Network is hosting a conference in Nashville focusing on cultivating gospel-driven leadership. On the weekend of Nov. 2-3, Ed Stetzer and Trevin Wax will address this important topic, namely how the gospel shapes church leaders as well as how to forge a distinctly gospel-driven philosophy of leadership. Whether you are a seminary/college student, pastor, church planter, or small group leader, this focused time of training will provide instruction and encouragement for anyone wanting to train, equip, and send out gospel-driven leaders to reach our communities for Christ. Alongside the main sessions, there…
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It’s okay to fight against homosexuality
Christy McFerren shares her gut-wrenching testimony in a recent post at the online Prodigal Magazine. The story is gut-wrenching because she has experienced powerful attractions to other women throughout her life, yet she has never given in to a homosexual identity. In fact, her whole testimony is aimed to communicate that it’s okay to fight if you’re a homosexual. It took her years to come to this conclusion, but that is where she ended up. For me the most powerful part of her testimony is in the following lines. Pay special attention to the underlined portion:
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What is an evangelical?
I am glad that Rachel Held Evans is stoking a conversation about the meaning of “evangelical.” Evans says that she herself is an evangelical, yet she defines the term in a way that can only be described as radically revisionist. I daresay that very few would recognize her definition as anything approaching what evangelicals have historically held. We all know that defining the term ‘evangelical’ can be controversial, but many observers still look to David Bebbington’s quadrilateral as a helpful outline of the defining characteristics of evangelicals.
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Younger Evangelicals Are Not Going Liberal
Joe Carter argues against the meme that says younger evangelicals are trending more liberal than their parents. Highlighting a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, he shows that younger evangelicals have not abandoned the conservative political convictions of their parents. His concluding observations are right on the money: Since evangelicals tend to put strong emphasis on the authority of the Bible, it shouldn’t be surprising that they do not support a party whose platform is, on several issues, diametrically opposed to Biblical principles. What is surprising is that such as large number of evangelicals have embraced the naïve idea that voting for a party that endorses abortion-on-demand, same-sex…
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John MacArthur Rebukes Democratic Platform
I’ve been following John MacArthur’s ministry for many years now. He is not—by any stretch of the imagination—a political preacher. In fact, he steers clear of politics in his preaching because he believes it to be a distraction from the preacher’s primary responsibility—preaching the word of God. So it is worthy of note that MacArthur has recently included remarks in a sermon that address politics. I could write an excerpt here, but you’ll probably benefit more from hearing it from the man himself. You can download the audio here or listen below. [audio:http://www.gty.org/media/audioblog/AB_90-448_1.mp3] (HT: Dan Phillips)
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Christianity Today’s 50 Women To Watch
The cover story of the October issue of Christianity Today is a list of “50 Women You Should Know.” Sarah Pulliam Bailey writes that these are women who are “profoundly shaping the evangelical church and North American society.” It’s an interesting list that includes both evangelicals (like Beth Moore) and non-evangelicals (like Rachel Held Evans). The list also includes women who you wouldn’t normally find on the Christian speaking circuit—women like Bethany Hamilton (surfer), Condoleeza Rice (former Sec. of State), and Michelle Bachmann (politician).
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Paul’s Rebuke of Red-Letter Christians
Paul really had the Corinthian church’s number. He knew all about their issues, and he never shrank back from getting in their face when they needed it. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, he chastises the Corinthians for dividing themselves into factions based on their devotion to different teachers. He writes: