Archive for April 18th, 2008
The Gospel Trust Panel Discussion MP3
Friday, April 18th, 2008The audio for the 2008 Band of Bloggers panel discussion, “The Gospel Trust,” is now available.
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Piper on the Goal of Our Salvation: John Piper, in his book Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, writes, “The Father has eternally enjoyed ‘the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature’ (Heb. 1:3) in the Person of his Son. Seeing and savoring this glory is the goal of our salvation. ‘Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me’ (John 17:24). To feast on this forever is the aim of our being created and our being redeemed.” HT :: OFI
Powlison on the Width & Depth of the Gospel: In his book, Seeing with New Eyes, Powlison writes, “The gospel of Jesus Christ is as wide as human diversity and as deep as human complexity.” HT :: OFI
Thomas Brooks on Being "His": In his book, Heaven on Earth, Puritan Thomas Brooks writes, “I am His by purchase and I am His by conquest; I am His by donation and I am His by election; I am His by covenant and I am His by marriage; I am wholly His; I am peculiarly His; I am universally His; I am eternally His.” HT :: Of First Importance
Pulpit Mag on the Gospel to Children: Pulpit Magazine asks, “How can parents explain the gospel to their children without toning down the commands of Scripture?” Some things parents should consider when sharing the gospel to your child include: 1. Remember that repetition and restatement are especially helpful. 2. Use Scripture and explain it clearly. 3. Understand the inherent danger in any outline or prefabricated presentation 4. Finally, remember that the issues in salvation are the same for a child as for an adult. For more, read the entire article.
Buzzard on Making It to the Cross: Justin Buzzard asks, “In your regular reading of God’s Word, are you regularly making it to the cross?” He explains: “If you don’t make it to the cross, you’ll make your Bible reading and your relationship with God about your performance rather than about Jesus’ performance. You’ll gravitate away from the gospel and towards religion. Anxiety and fear will take the place of confidence, joy, and rest. Legalism will replace freedom. If your eyes don’t catch a glimpse of the cross as you turn the pages of Scripture, you’re likely to spend much of your day staring at yourself, wallowing in endless introspection, rather than staring at your Savior, delighting in his costly love.” Catch the entire article here.
Cruver on God's Story of Adoption: Listen to Dan Cruver give an address on “God’s Story of Adoption” (MP3) at the Adoption and Orphan weekend.
Trueman on the Ministerial Priorities: In the latest Reformation 21 issue, Carl Trueman asserts, “The priority of the minister is . . . to immerse himself in the word, to know the gospel inside out, and to communicate that gospel with care, clarity, love, and force.” Read the entirety of this excellent article.
Keller on the Gospel as A to Z of Christianity: An excerpt from Tim Keller from the 2006 Desiring God National Conference: We never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more “advanced.” The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s of Christianity, but it is the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom.
Anyabwile on Humbling Truth: Thabiti Anyabwile writes over @ NA blog: What matters isn’t what we know or who we know. It’s Who knows us. And isn’t it a tremendous wonder that knowing the sinfulness of our sin, the smallness of our being, and the imperfection of our knowledge that God would condescend to know us? This is why truth, especially the truth about God, humbles the person who finds it.
McKinley on Seeing the Gospel: Rick McKinley, pastor of the Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon, writes in Leadership Journal: “I guarantee there isn’t a homeless person in Portland who couldn’t tell you the gospel verbatim. They’ve had to listen to it three times a day to get a sandwich. They’ve heard about Christ, but they haven’t seen Christ. Who will sit next to them while they panhandle, who will enter their world? I’ve had friends doing that for 15 years. That is seeing the gospel.”
The Bible on the Doctrines of Grace: Monergism has provided a PDF containing nice lists of Scripture references pertaining to the doctrines of grace.
Patrick on Gospel and Culture: Acts 29 provides a message by Darrin Patrick of The Journey Church on Bringing the Gospel into Culture (MP3).
Challies on The Gospel Trust: God has given us the gospel in trust. He has deposited it to our account and expects that we will guard this priceless, precious treasure. God has entrusted to us something of infinite worth and unsurpassed beauty. He has not left us to our own devices, but he has provided for us the Holy Spirit, that with his help we may be faithful in guarding the gospel of Jesus Christ. Spiritual discernment allows us to keep the gospel central and allows us to see and guard against error. Spiritual discernment is absolutely crucial to the one who would understand and heed the gospel. Nothing less than the gospel is at stake. Read the entire excerpt from Challies’ upcoming book.
Ascol on Gospel-centered Crisis: Ascol asks, “How will American Christians respond to a deadly pandemic? Will we clamour for the vaccine without regard for our neighbors? Will we be terrorized like those who have no hope?” The time to prepare for tragedy is before it strikes. The way to prepare is to drink deeply from the wells of God’s grace in the Gospel. Knowing and delighting in Jesus sets us free from the tyranny of death and dying. And it empowers us to show the way of liberty to those who are held captive to such fears. Read the whole thing.
Frame on Christ and Culture: Justin Taylor points us to a nice article written by John Frame regarding Christ and Culture (Word doc).
Keller on Gospel Realisation, Communication, and Incarnation: Tim Keller recently spoke at the Evangelists Conference on “Smashing False Idols” in a three-part series of messages: Gospel Realisation, Gospel Communication, and Gospel Incarnation (all MP3s).
The audio for the 2008 Band of Bloggers panel discussion, “The Gospel Trust,” is now available.
Get the latest Band of Blogger updates by RSS feed!
