Category Archives: Promotionals

New Testament Theology, Promotionals, Scripture Alone, Seminary, Systematic Theology, Theology

Biblical Arcing Method of Interpretation

John Piper says:

It was a life-changing revelation to me when I discovered that Paul, for example, did not merely make a collection of divine pronouncements, but that he argued. This meant, for me, a whole new approach to Bible reading. No longer did I just read or memorize verses. I sought also to understand and memorize arguments. This involved finding the main point of each literary unit and then seeing how each proposition fit together to unfold and support the main point. (Biblical Exegesis: Discovering the Meaning of Scriptural Texts, pg. 18, my emphasis)

If you want to learn this method of biblical interpretation (which works especially well in Pauline texts), there is now a website devoting to the art of biblical arcing.

[HT: JT]

Ecclesiology, Mp3s, Promotionals, Reforming, Theology

Building Healthy Churches – Conference Audio

This past weekend my church, Concord Baptist, in Chattanooga, TN, hosted a “Building Healthy Churches” Conference by 9 Marks Ministries. I encourage you to download the audio and listen through all the sessions so that you can help your church become a healthy, Gospel-centered church.

Here are the links re-posted below from the church web site:

Below is the audio from the 9 Marks conference held at Concord on October 17-18, 2008. At this conference, many church issues were examined through the light of scripture to help us discern this question: “What does a healthy church look like?”

[Right click and select “save as” to download them to your computer.]

  1. Session 1 – A Theological Vision :
    Churches that Display God’s Glory
    Matt Schmucker
  2. Session 2 – Preaching & Biblical Theology
    Michael Lawrence
  3. First Evening Q&A
    Michael Lawrence and Mark Dever
  4. Session 3 – Gospel, Conversion & Evangelism
    Mark Dever
  5. Session 4 – Membership, Discipline, and Discipleship
    Greg Gilbert
  6. Session 5 – Leadership, Membership, Discipline, and Discipline
    Mark Dever
  7. Session 6 – Covenanting Together
    Matt Schmucker
  8. Closing Session Q&A
Apologetics, Books, Creation, Evolution, Humanism, Intelligent Design, Mp3s, Promotionals, Protology, Science, Theology

Battle for the Beginning MP3 Audio by John MacArthur

Brian says:

John MacArthur‘s podcast on oneplace.com recently featured a series of talks entitled: The Battle for the Beginning. Although not reflecting the complete content of his series, this 20 part podcast covers the main material of his view of the Genesis creation narrative. Contrast his young-earth view with William Lane Craig‘s old-earth view (available on his podcast as well) in order to have a firm grasp of both angles. I found both the young-earth view and old-earth views very informative.

This batch will also be added to The Ultimate Apologetics MP3 Audio Page.

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |

12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Enjoy.

Conferences and Seminars, Lectures, Promotionals, Reforming, Theology, Videos

2008 National Desiring God Conference

The Power of Words and the Wonder of God

All the video from the conference is now online:

You can also read Dr. Piper’s message here. Abraham Piper provides this summary for us:

The way we talk can undercut the cross. This much is clear in 1 Corinthians (1:17; 2:1). But does all eloquence minimize the gospel? Does the pursuit of verbal impact necessarily preempt the power of Christ?

Both George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were eloquent, each in his own way. Did this “empty the cross of its power”? More than that, the Bible itself contains many portions that are nothing less than eloquent. How do we make sense of this?

A pointer is found in the context of 1 Corinthians. Here Paul makes clear that there is a kind of eloquence that exalts self and therefore cripples the cross. But this isn’t the only brand of eloquence. There’s another kind, a distinctly Christian eloquence, that humbles self and exalts Christ.

Our eloquence will never be the determining factor in causing someone to believe the gospel, but it still makes a difference. We can hope for at least 5 benefits from Christian eloquence:

  1. keeping interest
  2. gaining sympathy
  3. awakening sensitivity
  4. speaking memorably
  5. increasing power

[HT: Abraham Piper]

Anglicanism, Book Reviews, Books, Covenant Theology, Current Events, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Historical Jesus Debate, New Testament Theology, Promotionals, Reforming, Systematic Theology, Theology

The N.T. Wright Project

Some students from Princton Theological Seminary have started a research project for the purpose of studying the foundational works of theology by N.T. Wright. Here is their description of the project:

Rarely in the course of our seminary study do we have the opportunity to study theologians whose work is currently transforming the life of the church. Tom Wright is one such theologian, and a small group of us at Princeton Theological Seminary, together with one of our professors, Ross Wagner, have decided to spend this semester immersed in Wright’s work. We hope to carefully read some of his most foundational writings and to engage each other through this blog on the issues and ideas which emerge from this study. From time to time we will have guest authors from a wide spectrum contribute, and we also invite those of you in church, parachurch, or seminary communities to read and respond to our blog posts as a way of keeping this project closely grounded in the church today. Welcome and enjoy!

I encourage everyone to keep up with this blog, especially if you don’t have the ability to read Bishop Wright’s works in full by yourself. These students will be summarizing and analysing and discussing much of what he has written and I think we will all benefit from their work. May God bless this project!