Month: September 2011
-
Speech and salvation 2: Shut your mouth
From The Briefing: This is the second post in a series about gospel speech. Read part 1 here. “I’m not good enough!” Maybe you think that you’re not qualified to speak the gospel to people because you’re not godly enough. If you feel this way, then you’re absolutely right and you’re absolutely wrong at the same…
-
Luther On Law
This is an astonishingly profound and helpful summary of Luther’s understanding of the significance of God’s “Law”. I commend it especially to preachers. A warning though: Don’t try to read it on the run. You need some time and space to digest it properly. Luther On Law – Jono Linebaugh. PS Jono is a former…
-
Speech and salvation 1: Are all Christians commanded to evangelise?
From The Briefing: Does God command every individual Christian to evangelise? Or is evangelism just a job for specially gifted individuals? If you’ve been a Christian for a while, it’s likely that these questions have popped into your head from time to time. You might remember an initial burst of enthusiasm for Jesus at some time in…
-
“Jesus did not die on cross, says scholar”?
From The Briefing: This headline, or something like it, appeared around the globe on news sites last year (e.g. The Telegraph, CNN’s religion blog, and others). The story was also picked up (and embellished) by various blogs. Before you check out the links, let me ask you: What’s your gut reaction when you read a headline like that? Are you…
-
The faithfulness that matters
From The Briefing: “In ministry, what matters is faithfulness, rather than results.” If you’re involved in any kind of gospel ministry, you’ve probably heard this kind of sentiment expressed by others; perhaps you’ve even uttered it yourself. I actually agree with the statement wholeheartedly. However, I think it’s very important to clarify exactly what we…
-
Pet food, pornography, and the law
From The Briefing: One lazy afternoon in 1999, travel writer Bill Bryson discovered a shop that sold pet supplies and pornography.1 It was at the far end of the main street of an unassuming Australian country town called Young. The front of the shop contained rather mundane supplies of flea powder, fish flakes, and other…
-
Jedi masters and the body of Christ
From The Briefing: I’m about to use Yoda as a model for Christian love. If you haven’t seen the Star Wars movies, you’ll probably be mystified by what I’m about to say. This is not the article you’re looking for. Our home group recently spent a few weeks discussing Christian love. We were focusing on…
-
Paul and the Law by Brian Rosner – free download of lecture series
Brian Rosner’s Annual Moore College Lectures on Paul and the Law are now available for download (MP3 and PDF) at the Moore College site. I expect it’ll be well worth listening to. Overview Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God Five Lecture Series “Circumcision is nothing”: The Puzzle of Paul and the Law “Not under…
-
In praise of holiness
From The Briefing: I’ve just read an article that I agree with, but can’t relate to. The article, by Carl Trueman, is about the problems with hagiographies (a hagiography is a ‘saint-biography’: an account of somebody’s life that treats them as a hero of holiness and leaves out the naughty bits).1 He argues that hagiographies…