Do dead saints praise the Lord? The Psalmist says that they don’t. Read for yourself from Psalm 115:17-18: The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence; But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD! For those of us grew up in churches that teach about saints praising God in the afterlife, this text can come across as quite a jolt. It reads as if departed saints are just dead. No praise. No afterlife. Just dead.
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Challies’ Disagrees with Piper about Christianity’s “Masculine Feel”
Tim Challies offers a counterpoint to John Piper’s claim that Christianity has a “masculine feel.” Challies writes: John Piper sparked quite a storm with his biographical message on the “frank and manly” J. C. Ryle. One of his conclusion was that Christianity is meant to have a masculine feel to it… I find that I do not agree. For those of you who are given to over-reaction, just breathe—I am allowed to disagree and I’m sure Piper is just fine with people disagreeing. If you don’t have a category for charitable disagreement on secondary matters, you need to develop one! I still love the man, but want to offer an…
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Kevin DeYoung’s Lectures on Preaching
When I was in seminary, Dr. Howard Hendricks used to tell us what he thought about preachers who wanted to make the Bible relevant. He thundered, “The Bible’s not irrelevant! You’re irrelevant!” What he was trying to tell us also applies to preachers who desire to mitigate what they find boring in the Bible. The Bible’s not boring! You’re boring! The point is that as communicators we should strive to have a delivery that serves and reflects the message we wish to preach. And boring sermons say in a non-verbal way something profoundly untrue about God’s word.
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Complementarianism or Patriarchy? What’s in a name?
Rachel Held Evans recently made a splash with a blog post suggesting that complementarianism is merely patriarchy masquerading under a less offensive name. Her post generated a good bit of discussion not only on her blog but on Scot McKnight’s as well. Evans is riffing on remarks that Russell Moore recently made about complementarians who are big on gender orthodoxy but not so much on orthopraxy. Here’s how Moore expressed his concern, “What I fear is that we have many people in evangelicalism who can check off ‘complementarian’ on a box but who really aren’t living out complementarian lives.” Evans agrees with this statement and then offers three reasons why…
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Jerry Vines Interacts with Mohler on Soteriological Statement
For those following the conversation among Southern Baptists about soteriology, you will want to note Dr. Jerry Vines’ recent contribution to the discussion, “It’s Time To Discuss the Elephant in the Room.” Among other things, Dr. Vines offers a rejoinder to the impression that the “Traditional” statement is semi-pelagian. You’ll want to read the entire statement and observe in particular this conciliatory note:
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Mohler Responds to the “Traditional” Baptist Statement
Albert Mohler has responded to a recent statement issued by a group of Southern Baptists about the doctrine of salvation. Mohler’s essay is direct and generous. It takes the drafters’ concerns seriously and answers substantively. It’s a clarion call to unity around the BF&M. In short, it’s statesmanlike, which is exactly what we need right now. He writes,
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Win a Free Copy of BibleWorks 9
BibleWorks is having a contest and will give away free copies of their software to two lucky winners. This is the best Bible software on the planet for those working in a PC environment, and it would be worth your time to take a shot at winning. Here’s the info from the BibleWorks website:
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Steel in My Spine and Fire in My Belly
The sermons you are about to hear put steel in my spine and fire in my belly almost 20 years ago when I was in college. At the time, I was still cutting my teeth theologically and was wrestling mightily with the studied claims of theological liberalism. The sermons were like an oasis of truth, and they proved to be epoch-making for me. Here I heard for the first time about the bankruptcy of liberalism, the inerrancy of the Bible, the job-description of the pastor, and the necessity of perseverance. The messages meant the world to me then, and they still do now. The preacher is Tommy Nelson, pastor of…
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Hamilton Responds to Köstenberger on Biblical Theology
Andreas Köstenberger’s most recent JETS editorial characterizes Jim Hamilton’s book God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment as a “hybrid” of biblical and systematic theology. Köstenberger writes: It should be noted that Hamilton’s brand of Biblical Theology is in fact a hybrid of Biblical and Systematic Theology—Hamilton calls the two disciplines “equal tools”—and takes its cue from both theologians such as Jonathan Edwards and direct study of biblical texts (3) Hamilton takes issue with this description of his methodology in some extended remarks on his website. Hamilton writes: In sorting through the Bible’s themes to determine which one the biblical authors consider to be ultimate, the distinction Jonathan Edwards makes between…
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John Calvin on Divorce
“They who, for slight causes, rashly allow of divorces, violate, in one single particular, all the laws of nature, and reduce them to nothing. If we should make it a point of conscience not to separate a father from his son, it is still greater wickedness to dissolve the bond which God has preferred to all others.” –John Calvin’s commentary on Genesis 2:24