mynameisrush.com
A Theological Weblog

July 4, 2009

“Today is a day to LIKE our country and LOVE our God.”

Featured Updates

Post: Gospel in the Drive-thru
For most Christians, the greatest hindrance to evangelism is not lack of gospel or Bible knowledge, but a want for knowing practically “how to” engage another person in gospel-centered and spiritually productive conversation. I have written previously on here that one of my goals in evangelism training is to, by the grace of God, advance our ability to share the gospel with “anyone, anywhere, anytime.” In this post, I hope to move ever so closer to that goal by laying out the volley of dialog in a recent drive-thru window…

Post: 3 Reasons to Believe in Christ
If you are considering the claims of Christ, there is no doubt the question “why?” has passed through your heart. “Why should I believe in Christ?” This is the appropriate question, for faith in Christ is a matter of the heart and it is from the heart that the “why?” questions spring. So, why ought you to believe in Christ? I would like to propose 3 reasons…

Post: A Desire for Significance
Every so often, there is a surge within the Church. At times these surges illuminate God’s glory and fame. From the heavens strikes a flash of divine lightning which sets the church ablaze. The fire burns with the brightness of revival and worship. Other times, there are surges which darken and quench. In this case, the surge comes not from above and outside the church, but from within. The current courses through and short circuits the ministry. Empowered by man-made wisdom, earthly motivation, and shallow rhetoric, this latter surge flashes bright for a moment, but in the end proves vain and conceited…

Blogroll Updates

Biblical Theology

• John Owen on Stirring the Mind to Contemplate the Glory of Christ28 June 2009, 2:26 pm
  In his treatise "Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ," John Owen offers six "directions" for stirring up the minds of believers to contemplate the glory of Christ (chapter 4):Let us get it fixed on our souls and minds, that this glory of Christ in the divine constitution of his person is the best, the most noble, useful, beneficial object that we can be conversant about in our thoughts, or cleave unto in our affections.Our second direction unto the same end is, that we diligently s...
• CT Article on Tim Keller8 June 2009, 9:16 am
  Christianity Today recently posted a lengthy profile of Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City. It helpfully sketches the origins of this influential church in NYC and provides a window into how Keller approaches ministry in the largest city in the United States....
• Luther on the Dangers of a “Perfect Record”27 May 2009, 6:00 am
  In re-reading Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton, I was amused by Luther's comments on the dangers of an impeccable religious record. As counsel to his overly scrupulous friend Melancthon, Bainton says that Luther suggested "that one sin is needed as medicine to cure another. An unblemished record engenders the worst of all sins, pride. Hence a failure now and then is conducive to humility. But the only sins which Luther actually recommended as record spoilers were overeatin...

• Ellis Island, Lady Liberty and Ground Zero30 June 2009, 10:18 pm
  by Tim Lane Recently my wife and I visited New York City. We took the train to get there and I always love the experience when I come out from under the ground beneath Madison Square Garden and emerge on the streets of one of the most incredible cities in the world. You are struck by the beauty of the city; the magnificent buildings, the hum of city noises and the people. On this particular visit, Barbara and I met some friends and did a tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. After that...
• Behind the Scenes of Crossroads17 June 2009, 9:30 pm
  by Ed Welch In Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave (2001), I tried to identify the basics of a theology of addiction.  I was thinking primarily of counselors, pastors, addiction’s group leaders – people who wanted to see more of Scripture’s depth as it applied to the thorny, complex problems of addictions.  I was certainly thinking of addicts themselves, but I knew that they would have to be highly motivated and already committed to change for the book to be helpful to them. I was imagini...
• "Want to See Pictures of My Grandchildren?"3 June 2009, 9:18 pm
  Ed Welch's Grandchildren "Hi, my name is Ed. Do you want to see pictures of my grandchildren?" No one wants to be a cliché—unless you are a grandparent. The moment it happens there must be some kind of neurological circuit, latent in us all, that, once triggered, emits a standard behavioral package: you are compelled to show pictures to whoever makes eye contact with you, you have the gift of baby interpretation that allows you, and no others, to hear your designated grandparent name in eve...

Challies Dot Com

• Books I Didn't Review4 July 2009, 2:52 pm
  I guess this is going to become a regular feature around here--a list of some of the books I didn't review. The fact is that I receive far more books than I could ever read and that I read more books than I could review. Yet many of these are perfectly good books--excellent books even--that deserve some kind of a mention. So this allows me to draw attention a few of the ones I just couldn't get to, whether good or bad (Click here for a previous roundup). First off, here are a few titles I read ...
• Free Stuff Fridays3 July 2009, 10:56 am
  It's Friday and that means I've got another Free Stuff Fridays for you. This week's sponsor is Shepherd Press, a name I'm sure most are familiar with. "Shepherd Press is committed to provide God's people with solid biblical books and materials. ... At Shepherd Press we look for materials that ... will enable us to identify the idols of the heart that pollute our service to Christ, keeping us mired in confusion, unable to obey God. They will also encourage us that we can "do all things through ...
• Monitoring Mohler (II)3 July 2009, 10:30 am
  A couple of weeks ago I said that I was Monitoring Mohler (so to speak), reading through his entire suggested summer reading list. At that point I had read The Unforgiving Minute, With Wings Like Eagles, Hunting Eichmann and World War One. Since then I've read several of the other titles on this list and thought I'd check in. Number five on the list was Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton. Mohler says, "Horse Soldiers is a story that demands to be told and Stanton tells it well. No one reading this ...

AlbertMohler.com – Blog

• A Governor, a King, and the Tragedy of Adultery2 July 2009, 5:24 am
  The sad spectacle of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford continues to dominate the headlines as further revelations add one bizarre twist after another to the governor’s tale of adultery, deceit, and the consequences of sin. With every passing day, pressure mounts for the governor to resign. As the revelations unfold, his leadership credibility is further [...]...
• Richard Dawkins Jumps The Shark30 June 2009, 4:47 am
  News out of Great Britain indicates that Richard Dawkins, perhaps the world’s most famous living atheist, is setting up a summer camp intended to help children and teenagers adopt atheism. As The Times [London] reports: “Give Richard Dawkins a child for a week’s summer camp and he will try to give you an atheist for life.” The [...]...
• The Assurance of Things Hoped For29 June 2009, 5:01 am
  THE ASSURANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR: A LIVING STEWARDSHIP FOR THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AND THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President Delivered June 24, 2009 at the Service Commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the Seminary’s Founding I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ as we join together to commemorate and to celebrate the sesquicentennial [...]...

Institute for Nouthetic Studies Blog

• Clay Pots or the Treasure Within?4 July 2009, 2:44 pm
  Paul couldn’t have said it more clearly when he wrote We have this treasure in clay pots so that the surpassing greatness of its power may be God’s and not ours.                                                                      2 Corinthians 4:7 It’s interesting that after finding the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were preserved in clay pots, we came to see all the more clearly [...]...
• Memorizing Scripture?3 July 2009, 10:04 am
  There aren’t many who can. “Can what?” Can use the Scriptures when they need to. “You mean when there’s a question or a problem that he needs God’s input to solve?” Exactly. “Why do you think that is?” Because people have not been taught how to locate the helpful passages that they need at the moment. “I can see that. But what [...]...
• Controversy in the New Testament2 July 2009, 11:07 am
  Sometimes it may seem that we spend too much time refuting falsehood. All of us are chagrined at the preponderance of error both within and without the Church. We may write off those who attempt to combat it and set forth the truth in clarity over against it as “heresy hunters.” The term is used [...]...

The Village Church : From Our Pastors

• A thrilling life of vanity30 June 2009, 2:00 pm
  I have tried to “moonwalk” a thousand times. I used to think the “Thriller” video was the coolest thing ever…and a little scary. I might have owned a red leather jacket with a bunch of zippers. In the third grade, I performed a moving rendition of “Beat it” for the school talent show and brought [...]...
• Biblical Sex Series, part 5: Pleasure29 June 2009, 9:50 am
  “Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!” – Song of Solomon 5:1b We have been looking at the biblical purposes for sex in this blog series. First, we discussed the need for a biblically informed view of sex in part 1. In the next installment, we talked about the various misconceptions about God and sex. [...]...
• Biblical Sex Series, part 4: Procreation24 June 2009, 11:51 am
  I have asked Carl Brower, our Director of Preschool Ministries, to write this post. He is a frequent contributor to the preschool blog which is a great resource for parents of little ones. Carl is a faithful pastor who takes the call to commend the works of the Lord to the next generation [...]...

Reformation Theology

• As We Celebrate4 July 2009, 4:37 pm
  As we celebrate the great freedom we have in our country today, please remember the victims of a horrific attack against Christians in Pakistan that has left over a hundred houses vandalized and eleven people acid-scarred - see here....
• Book Review: A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel, by John Colquhoun4 July 2009, 4:32 pm
  Having never before read any of John Colquhoun's considerable output, and only having, for that matter, a very sketchy idea of his place and significance in Reformed history, I was eager to get into what I thought could not but be his most important work, a treatise on the sum of biblical revelation, considered under the headings of Law and Gospel; but if I was eager beforehand, my enthusiasm only grew from the first page and on. “How,” I wondered, “did so insightful, meticulous, and appli...
• The Vital Necessity of Knowing the Power of Truth in our Own Experience4 July 2009, 3:42 pm
  When engaging theological opponents, we need an approach that takes in view the people we are dealing with. This means showing kindness to the person in error.This means showing compassionate understanding, while at the same time being in prayer for them that God would open and soften their hard hearts. But it also means skillfully exposing and correcting their doctrinal error. The great Puritan John Owen wrote a refutation of the theological errors found in the Racovian Catechism called Vindic...

TheResurgence

• Darrin Patrick Interviews Ed Stetzer2 July 2009, 1:00 pm
  Watch Darrin Patrick, lead pastor of The Journey and vice president of Acts 29, interview leading missiologist and friend of the Resurgence Ed Stetzer in the video below: Note: If you're reading this in a feed reader, the embedded video above may not show. Click through to the site to see the video. Vintage Church: In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more. <!--break-->...
• Men: Bucking the Trend, Part 22 July 2009, 3:00 am
  Masculinity Reclaimed Series: Click | View Series Corporate Worship Is it possible for men to come into a Sunday worship service and reflect: "Now this is a masculine environment?" I reckon it is, but you have to be intentional to get there. Some of our songs lend themselves to a masculine response, and they should be chosen over others. I'm talking about songs full of objective truth that help guys know what they're singing about. As for songs that subjectively express our love or our longing ...
• My spring was crazy1 July 2009, 3:21 pm
  The past month has been very busy and people have had a lot of questions about various projects so here is the update: Religion Saves On Shelves Now My newest book is out on shelves now. Entitled Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions, the book is based on the sermon series that I preached at the beginning of 2008. The series was inspired by 1 Corinthians, in which Paul responds to a series of questions from people in the Corinthian church. I decided to do something similar by preaching a...