Category Archives: Theology

2008-06-13 The Brief

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. . . . I said no more posts on politics and here I am in the same week doing another post on politics.  Honestly, I have written so much on this lately because I feel that the church has lost her mission (II Corinthians 10:3-5).  Below are two series of posts one by John MacArthur, at Pulpit Magazine, and the other by Phil Johnson, at Pyromaniacs.  I am posting these not to correct the churches understanding of politics, although I think these posts will serve well to do that, but to call the church to repent of her folly and reclaim her mission.

John MacArthur

Phil Johnson

A Missionary God

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“The Living God is a Missionary God” by John R. W. Stott is a fantastic article detailing the theme of mission in Scripture.  The article is very short and provides two discussion questions at the end.  I would appreciate it if you would be willing to read the article, answer the two questions, and then share any other thoughts you have concerning the article.  The article is the first chapter in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader, which I would recommend to anyone who wants to gain a serious understanding of missions.  You can also check out the Perspectives website for more information.

2008-05-30 The Brief

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Blogroll

Eric Bryant did an interesting post a while back entitled Why Homophobia is So Gay.  I think he offers some good insight into how we should handle what I expect to be an inevitable norm, not just in America but globally as well.  As for me I think we need to start thinking beyond constitutional amendments if we hope to engage this and a host of other issues that are on the horizon.  I have not listened to the sermons that his post links to, although if I ever have the time, which I doubt, I will listen to them and post my thoughts here.

Derek Brown has done a fantastic post detailing How to Waste Your Theological Education this is a must read for all who are currently attending or plan to attend seminary.

Ed Stetzer (also here) discusses technology in the church and has some good insights as well as some great questions for discussion in his recent post Technolochurch.

 

Israel

First Things has an interesting and incredibly lengthy article entitled Zionism for Christians.

Just for Fun

Condoleezza Rice joins the Kiss Army.

Simply Amazing

Outlining Philippians

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Last year I began to study through Philippians and really slacked off during the school semester.  I am trying to get back in the habit of the consistent study and translation of Scripture and I spent most of the day outlining the book of Philippians.  Below is the outline I have settled on, which I hope proves as fruitful for your own study as I hope it will for mine.

I.          Prologue (1:1-2)

II.         Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer (1:3-11)

            A.        Thanksgiving for Their Partnership in the Gospel (1:3-8)

            B.        Prayer for Their Spiritual Maturity (1:9-11)

III.        Paul’s Joy in the Advancement of the Gospel (1:12-26)

            A.        Through His Situation (1:12-14)

            B.        By Others Regardless of Motive (1:15-18b)

            C.        In His Bodily Witness (1:18c-26)

IV.       Exhortation to Live Worthy of the Gospel (1:27-2:18)

            A.        Stand Firm amidst Suffering (1:27-30)

            B.        Serve Humbly like Christ (2:1-11)

            C.        Shine as Lights in the World (2:12-18)

V.        Paul’s Plans Concerning His Companions (2:19-30)

            A.        Timothy (2:19-24)

            B.        Epaphroditus (2:25-30)

VI.       Miscellaneous Exhortations (3:1-4:9)

            A.        Towards Righteousness in Christ (3:1-4:1)

            B.        Towards Unity (4:2-3)

            C.        Towards Joy and Confidence in the Lord (4:4-7)

            D.        Towards Dwelling and Acting upon Truth (4:8-9)

VII.      Paul’s Joy and Continued Thanks (4:10-20)

            A.        In Divine Contentment (4:10-13)

            B.        For Godly Partnership (4:14-20)

VIII.     Conclusion (4:21-23)

2008-04-20 The Brief

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Together for the Gospel

The conference ― T4G ― was amazing and I hope to have some of my reflections on each session up within the next week.  For those of you who enjoy live blogging, sorry I type too slowly for that.  In the mean time Sovereign Grace Ministries has been kind enough to post the MP3s online for free download so please take the time to listen to each of the conference sessions below.

·         01 Ligon Duncan – Sound Doctrine – Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry

·         02 Thabiti Anyabwile – Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church

·         03 John MacArthur – The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability

·         04 Mark Dever – Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology

·         05 R. C. Sproul – The Curse Motif of the Atonement

·         06 Albert Mohler – Why Do They Hate It So? The Doctrine of Substitution

·         07 John Piper – How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice

·         08 C. J. Mahaney – Sustaining a Pastor’s Soul

Science

The University of Cambridge has just published the complete works of Charles Darwin online.  These works were previously available only to a select few have been published for the world to see.  This is the largest collection of its kind and contains everything from his original sketch of evolution to personal letters and photographs.

Theology

Pastor Joe Thorn, of Redeemer Fellowship, has created a phenomenal paradigm for his church entitled The Table, The Pulpit and The Square.  You can read his description and view the paradigm in his post The Full Paradigm.  I have e-mailed him and the other documents mentioned in The Table, The Pulpit and The Square will be posted online soon, so keep looking for them on his blog and I will provide links to them here.