Here, There and Back Again
November 6, 2009
Here are some interesting items online!…
Desiring God Holiday Sale. ‘Tis the season! Start your holiday shopping with some edifying resources from John Piper at great bargains.
Increase in depression and suicide among pastors. Totally sobering. This is why the Holy Spirit inspired verses like Hebrews 13:17. This is why Christians should love their pastors and pray for them rather than criticize and gossip about them.
“The Day I Went to Church.” An Aussie describes his first visit to a local church. Oh, let’s reach out to visitors in love Bethel Grace! Thanks for the link, Donovan!
Free Tim Keller Sermons. Pastor Tim Keller, of Redeemer Prespyterian Church in New York, has recently made his sermons available free of charge. Awesome resource!
A smorgasboard from around the web
June 26, 2009
It’s been a busy week, and I haven’t had a chance to post anything. I have come across several good posts on-line though, and since I don’t know which to link to, here’s a smorgasboard of good stuff from around the web (as usual, I found most of this stuff thanks to Tim Challies and Justin Taylor!):
- John Piper wrote a thought-provoking post entitled, “Why I Don’t Have a Television and Rarely Go to Movies” . This post also includes a wonderful example of humbly confessing sin.
- Keith and Kristen Getty have released a new album of modern, celtic-style hymns. Their lyrics are saturated with Scripture and their music is beautiful! You can listen to samples and/or order the CD here.
- Sovereign Grace Music has released another children’s album entitled, To Be Like Jesus. Read about it here.
- Tim Challies asked John Bell, pastor of New City Baptist Church in Toronto, to share about his experience sharing the gospel with the gay community in his city. It is well worth reading – to help us think biblically about homosexuality, and to help us in God-honoring evangelism and church life. There is also some very interesting discussion in the comments, especially involving a number of men who struggle with homosexuality but turn from it because of their commitment to Christ. Read this post here.
- If you’re compiling a summer reading list, you might find these 2 posts from David Powlison to be of interest. Powlison is a bilical counselor, professor, and author, and he spent some time this week discussing some of his favorite literature with CJ Mahaney. You can read part 1 here, and part 2 here.
- What does Kurt Warner, a Christian who plays quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, like most about being a professional football player? His very encouraging answer is here.
Blessings…
~Donovan
World Vision Experience: AIDS
June 1, 2009
Bill Ankerberg, Whittier Area Community Church:
“I want to let you know about the “World Vision Experience: AIDS,” a free exhibit that will open your eyes to the AIDS crisis in Africa. This amazing walk-through village takes you on a virtual journey to Africa, where you’ll walk in the steps of a child affected by the AIDS crisis. The interactive exhibit features a stirring audio tour combined with captivating photography that will transport you to the heart of Africa. You’ll gain a completely new perspective on the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time: AIDS.
God has richly blessed our work in Malawi with the building of the children’s clinic, but a visit to this exhibit will help you understand the challenges a child faces in Africa today.
Here are the hours and dates the exhibit is open on our campus:
Saturday, May 30: 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 31: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Monday-Thursday, June 1-4: 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Friday & Saturday, June 5 & 6: 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 7: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
I encourage you to visit the website, HERE for more information and to reserve a time to visit this FREE exhibit so you won’t have to wait in line! You can also just come, tickets and reservations are not necessary.”
To watch a brief promotional video, click here.
For directions and more information, click here.
I’m not sure when I’ll be going yet, but I definitely plan on checking this out.
~Donovan
HT: Loydene Wilcoxson
Wisdom About Angels and Demons
May 26, 2009
“The folks at Westminster Bookstore have helped set up a remarkable website with serious reflections on the kinds of scientific and religious questions raised by the Dan Brown blockbuster Angels and Demons.
It’s the kind of place you could send your unbelieving friends who have questions.”
~Donovan
“Ida” – the missing link?
May 22, 2009
Pretty strong words, aren’t they?
The author of this article thinks otherwise though, and he’s not a Creationist. Chris Beard, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, calls all the fuss “unbridled hoopla”. Though I disagree with some of his conclusions (because I don’t believe in Darwinian evolution), I appreciate the honest evaluation that Ida is not the so-called “missing link”. Read Beard’s article here.
~Donovan
HT: Justin Taylor (yet again)
Has Christian America Come to an End?
May 21, 2009
Mark Driscoll, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, recently wrote an interesting article by this title for Fox News. Read it here.
~Donovan
HT: Justin Taylor
This column from the New York Times is interesting, and I think it hits the nail on the head. Read it here.
~Donovan
HT: Justin Taylor
Adopted For Life Book Review
May 11, 2009
Russel Moore’s much anticipated and widely endorsed book, “Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches“, has just been released.
It might be easy to write off a book like this one, assuming that it only has relevance to families who are actually considering adopting a child. But Moore’s ambition goes beyond asking young families to adopt orphaned children. “In this book I want to call us all to consider how encouraging adoption—whether we adopt or whether we help others adopt—can help us peer into the ancient mystery of our faith in Christ and can help us restore the fracturing unity and the atrophied mission of our congregation.” As Moore explains, “The gospel of Jesus Christ means our families and churches ought to be at the forefront of the adoption of orphans close to home and around the world.” It is the gospel that calls us to adopt but it is also the gospel that teaches us how to understand adoption. In fact, “as we become more adoption-friendly, we’ll be better able to understand the gospel.” And so this book is for anyone and everyone.
Read Tim Challies’ full review here.
I’ve ordered a copy and look forward to reading it.
~Donovan
Amazing story: Pro-life Pastor chooses jail time
April 29, 2009
A few minutes later, another man walked over to Hoye’s bunk and jabbed his finger at a newspaper he was holding. “This you?” he said, eyeing Hoye skeptically.
Hoye peered at the Oakland Tribune headline: “Anti-abortion pastor chooses jail.”
“Yeah, that’s me,” he said.
In the next moment, the inmate was striding up and down the length of the cell, announcing, “Hey, he don’t have to be here! He turned down probation! He doing straight time for what he believed in!”
Read the full story here – it is well worth your time.
~Donovan
HT: Tim Challies
James MacDonald on Brian McLaren
April 3, 2009
James MacDonald:
“I do not view Brian as an ‘erring weaker brother,’ worthy of sympathy or olive branches, but rather as a dangerous false teacher who repackages mainline liberal theology. (Have the past 50 years not been adequate to see how liberal theology empties churches and damns souls?)
More dangerous still is that McLaren packages his false teaching and denials of Scripture as solutions to some of the excesses currently plaguing evangelicalism—the danger being his winning over of young people who have legitimate complaints about the current church, but who lack the discernment to see that his solutions are often unbiblical even when his critiques are fair.”
In the rest of his blog post, James MacDonald explains why he believes McLaren is teaching error, and whay he believes it’s biblical to name such people publically. Read it here.
~Donovan
HT: Tim Challies
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