“The first element of evangelism is opening a person’s eyes, that is, his desires, his sense of need. This is not done with the gospel.”
Chapter 1 of Jim Wilson’s new book, Taking Men Alive: Evangelism On The Front Lines. Available December 1.
An excerpt from a new book, Metropolitan Manifesto, by Rich Bledsoe.
Institutions say they want change, but this is at best a schizophrenic desire. Change requires pain and nobody wants pain.
“The Forbidden Chapter” in the Tanakh
Did you know that there’s a “forbidden chapter” in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible)? What’s been hidden from us all these years? It’s changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jewish people! Watch till the end for a surprising twist!Posted by Medabrim in English on Friday, July 24, 2015
“As always, the beauty of the arrangement is breathtaking. It is historical narrative, poetry, legal Covenant and high symbolism all at once… It consists of three Cycles which recapitulate the triune ‘Garden, Land, World’ architecture of the Creation and the Tabernacle.”
The fifth major cycle takes us to the end of the Covenant pattern, from the Covenant Sanctions to Covenant Succession. In the Old Testament, this concerned handing Covenant authority to the faithful of the next generation. It was the blessings of Jacob upon his sons (Garden), and Moses passing the baton of headship of Israel to Joshua (Land). This time, the inheritance was not the Garden Sanctuary of Moses [1] nor the Land of Canaan, but the entire World. Thus, it is no accident that in both cases, in that of Joshua and that of the disciples, He said, “I am with you.” A battle lay ahead.
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Comedian Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) shares his experience of meeting a witnessing Christian.
Here’s some wisdom for witnessing from Chris Wooldridge (reposted with permission):
I have recently been reading Cornelius Van Til’s “Christian Apologetics” and it has really got me thinking about how the Church ought to be interacting with the world on some of today’s hot topics. I think all too often we are prone to affirming certain parts of the secular worldview without properly considering the consequences. So here are five things which the good Christian apologist should never agree with the secularist about. There are probably many others, but here are just a few. Continue reading
Presbyterians and Baptists have a long history of working together. As is God’s way, any new endeavour must take the past into account but not be bound by it. This is a guest post by my friend Matt Carpenter.
The questions surrounding the origins and necessity of denominations have been discussed at great length and I don’t intend on bringing them up here. But it doesn’t mean we have a license to continue without giving it another thought. This isn’t another call for lip-quivering ecumenism. Fellow soldiers in God’s army can learn a lot from one another and the two groups I currently have in mind are Baptists and Presbyterians. Traditionally they have shared a lot in common.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
This passage (or pericope?) retraces the Covenant pattern, which is also played out in the flow of the history of Israel. We’ll have a look at the structure of the passage and then I want to discuss the significance of the literary placement of “every tongue.”
WARNING: Weird ahead.
[This post has been refined and included in Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.]
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From Steve Jeffery’s blog:
This kind of thoughtful analysis is just one of the many reasons why Don Carson is such a blessing to the church, and one of the many reasons why he will be remembered when the impact of other – perhaps noisier – men has faded.
Here’s one particularly striking extract:
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Dennis Prager recently had a lot of good things to say about the Ten Commandments, highlighting the stupidity of the West in its hurry to tear them down and remove any trace of them.
Bible Matrix blog
