This is an excellent critique and response to the atheist blasphemy challenge. Enjoy and you might need to reference an online dictionary if you are not that familiar with philosophical terminology. 🙂
Category Archives: Testimonies
Christian Audio Free Monthly Download
Each month christianaudio.com gives away a premium audiobook download for free. The way our Free Audiobook of the Month program works is like this: we give away one audiobook download each month totally free. The audiobook we give away is available for free only once – ever.
Use the coupon code OCT2007 to redeem this month’s free audiobook download from christianaudio.com
Here is some information about the audio book…
“Brainerd’s spirit was on fire for God, on fire for souls. Nothing earthly, worldly, selfish came in to abate in the least the intensity of this all-impelling and all-consuming force and flame.”
— Edward M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer
Though he was orphaned at age fourteen, repeatedly struck with debilitating illnesses, and unfairly expelled from college, Brainerd allowed nothing to deter him from serving God wholeheartedly. He traveled thousands of miles by horseback across treacherous terrain to preach the gospel to remote Indians. His calling required a rugged man—he even slept outside in the cold without cover—yet he constantly displayed a gentle and meek love for people entirely different from himself. Their benefit ultimately brought about his early death at the age of twenty-nine. Like an invigorating shower, the listener will be rejuvenated by Brainerd’s life-giving devotional insights, refreshing clarity of purpose, and heartwarming preaching. This book offers not only a captivating story, but an uplifting buoy for those who are weary, distant, or discouraged.
The God Delusion Debate
I just finished listening to “The God Delusion Debate” that was live broadcast on Moody Radio. The debate was between two Oxford professors, Dr. John Lennox and Dr. Richard Dawkins. I don’t know if any of you heard about it, or maybe some of you actually listened to it… either way, I think the main thing I want to mention about this debate are the closing remarks by Richard Dawkins. Dawkins said (roughly in my own summary of his words), that Dr. Lennox (the Christian in the debate) said so many great things about science and the universe, and that Dr. Lennox even presented a beautiful picture of a deistic god that tuned up the universe with laws and properties, but then all of a sudden, Dr. Lennox moved past his understanding of science and God’s natural laws built into the universe, to telling us dogmatically about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and God’s demand that we believe such a thing. Dawkins went on to say that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is “so trite, so unworthy” of the universe that there is no reason for anyone to trust in it especially in light of Darwinian Evolution.
After hearing Dawkins’ closing statements, I make this connection… My Sunday school class has been studying Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. While listening to the radio tonight, it came to me vividly that Richard Dawkins personifies what Paul said about the gentile view of the Gospel of Jesus Christ… Paul said in 1 Cor. 1, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Tonight, Richard Dawkins said that the resurrection was foolish in light of the world’s evolutionary wisdom and that it is basically intellectually weak of anyone to believe such a thing. Simply astounding and yet so revealing that the Apostle Paul really did understand what he was talking about when he wrote that letter the Church at Corinth!
Dr. Lennox did an excellent job and I encourage anyone who has a chance to listen to it in the future to make an effort to do so. (You can purchase a CD here) I believe that everyone will all be encouraged and enlightened and better able to understand the New Atheism that is being preached by its ministers, such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. For anyone interested in some good online debate, I would direct you to the debate at Christianity Today between Pastor Doug Wilson and Atheist Christopher Hitchens. You can read all the debate entries at this web page.
May God be glorified as His foolishness and His weakness is proclaimed throughout the world to all peoples! Amen!
Two years go by like “that”!
I am amazed at how fast time goes by. I also know that I don’t post anything much about my personal life… But today marks the day that my wife and I were joined together in a marriage covenant before God and all our family and friends. Two years ago, on October 1, 2005, I married Kerry Lyman… now Kerry Lyman Jones! 🙂
I just wanted to say to everyone that I could not have found a more perfect and godly woman who fits me beautifully! Thank you, Baby, for loving me! I love you more and more as each day goes by! You are my dream come true!!
God is so faithful to us!!!
For anyone interested, here are some photos for everyone to enjoy…
Michael Bird on Piper’s “The Future of Justification”
Justin Taylor has posted another blurb on Piper’s book from Michael F. Bird. Here is the blurb:
“Biblical commentators since Augustine have struggled with how to understand the relationship between justification by faith and judgment by works. The advent of the New Perspective on Paul has further heightened this tension in recent days with several authors such as N. T. Wright placing more stress on the role of a transformed life as the basis of justification at the final judgment. In light of this, John Piper provides a constructive and critical engagement with the work of N. T. Wright, and Piper convincingly shows that justification, in its present and future tense, is anchored exclusively in the work of Christ and not in our obedience nor in works inspired by the Holy Spirit. Piper’s case possesses exegetical rigor, theological acumen, and pastoral sensitivity. Piper invites us all to marvel at the glory, the magnificence, and the grace of the God who justifies the ungodly through faith in his Son. This book is not a rehearsal of old dogmas, nor a polemical rant, but it is a fresh articulation of the gospel that Paul preached and it is written with a conviction and verve that will inspire young and old preachers to faithfully set forth the whole counsel of God to their flock.”
Michael F. Bird
New Testament Lecturer, Highland Theological College, Scotland
Author of The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification and the New Perspective
Mark Dever and Al Mohler don’t get it
Today, I received an E-mail from Enjoying God Ministries by Sam Storm. It is entitled “Piper, Grudem, Dever, et al, on Baptism, The Lord’s Supper, and Church Membership (just how “Together for the Gospel” are we?)“. I am reposting the entire E-mail below, but first some comments…
I fully agree with the thoughts of Sam Storm on the situation that he is addressing regarding the “Together for the Gospel” conference. Though I believe that John Piper holds an untenable view regarding his view of baptism and church membership, I at least admire the fact that he desires to be consistently inconsistent through this whole “Together for the Gospel” project by desiring to practice all the conclusions that this meeting would have for his Baptist convictions. Let me clarify…
John Piper wants to work towards a greater unity for the universal Church that supersedes denominational boundaries. In doing this, he has put aside some of his Baptistic convictions (this is how he’s being inconsistent) and begun to work together with other ministers who believe and preach the same Gospel, yet are not rightly baptized (according to Baptist views). Since he has started down this road, he has taken part in the above noted conference that seeks to bring Gospel preaching ministers, both paedobaptist and credobaptist, together under the same banner of ministry and worship. With this background information I would now like to clarify where the title of my post is going…
Mark Dever and Al Mohler just DO NOT get it. If you read the article below by Sam Storms it will deal sufficiently with their position and what is wrong with it. How can Dever and Mohler even start to take part in this kind of conference with such sectarian points of view? I just don’t see how it is possible! If they are not willing to take communion with their paedobaptist brothers, then they are just as Landmarkist as any of the other historic Landmark Baptist that has ever lived. But I thought most Baptists today were past the times of Landmarkism? And if most Baptists are past their Landmark heritage, then all of us who are Baptists must call for a new paradigm when thinking about Church Membership and the Sacraments/Ordinances and the unity of the broader, visible Church of the living God. Please read Sam’s E-mail below to get the full picture of what I’m talking about.
I would love to hear your comments on this, so please leave them!
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
————-
Where’d all these Calvinists come from?
Mark Dever has finally finished his series on answering the question above. It’s very interesting and thought provoking. Below you will find the top 10 reasons that have spurred on the Calvinistic resurgence over the past several years. Read them and let’s discuss!
1 ) Charles Spurgeon
2 ) Lloyd-Jones
6 ) Presbyterian Church in America
7 ) JI Packer
8 ) RC Sproul and John MacArthur
9 ) John Piper
10) The rise of secularism and decline of Christian nominalism
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
[HT: Unashamed Workman]
Biblical Theology and Children
Here is a CD of songs for teaching your children the entire story of the Bible. Michael F. Bird highly recommends it for those who are weary of the same old songs that didn’t really paint the ENTIRE picture of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Here is what he had to say over at his blog:
“As a Father with two small children I am constantly challenged as to how best to impart a Christian worldview and a knowledge of Scripture into my kids. The odd Bible story here and there and a stack of memory verses can help, but getting kids aware of the Bible story-line as a whole is a lot harder. How do ya take these gorgeous little one’s from Crayons to Creation, Christ and the Consummation? Well, one good resource that I use is a Kids CD called: King, the Snake, and the Promise which tells the Bible story-line in song form from Genesis to Revelation. If you are weary of “Father Abraham had many sons”, then check out this resource. It comes with the Mike Bird four star seal of approval. It is available in Australia from Koorong (see the Link).”
Why Did the Bridge Collapse?
Most of you have seen the new reports and seen the raw video footage of the bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsing into the river and killing many people who were driving across it. Though the details of why the structure collapsed in a material sense are not known, we do know why the structure collapsed and why it is that so many people were killed and injured.
For those of you who do not know what I’m referring to, please listen to John Piper’s message overlaid on the video footage from their video team that went out last night after the bridge collapsed. His ministry and church are within only a couple of minutes of where the bridge collapsed and several of the people who work for Desiring God drove across that bridge ever day.
Pray for their ministry and that they will have great opportunities to share this message and the reality of God’s love for this sinful place in the coming days and months of recovery and reconstruction that will take place right in their home town.
Early Testimony for the New Testament
Here is a good video on why we can trust the New Testament documents by Dr. Frank Turek:
