May 2007

Resurrection Empowered Life – Raised With Christ

May 13, 2007

UPDATE – “Raised With Christ” is the title of my new book. Last Resurrection Sunday I ended with a quote from N. T. Wright which stated we were meant to be people of the resurrection. I think that phrase of his hints at what I mean by the resurrection empowered life. It is no accident [...]

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Why Do We All Like Jesus?

May 12, 2007

Mark Lauterbach (affectionately known as “Gandalf”) is at it again with another thought provoking post: A number of years ago we decided not to ask people if they were interested in the Bible, but to ask if they were interested in learning more about Jesus. In the times we have tried this direction, we find [...]

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BLOGDOM TODAY – Saturday Links

May 12, 2007

ScottyB is excited about evangelism following a talk by his pastor and provides a link to the mp3. Scotty says this: “Our senior pastor, Rich Richardson, preached at Covenant Life Church (Joshua Harris, C. J. Mahaney) in Gaithersburg, MD on the Sunday following the SGM 2007 Leadership Conference. If you ever feel discouraged in evangelism, [...]

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Terry Virgo Starts a Blog

May 11, 2007

Terry Virgo has started a blog. Although I’ve known about it for awhile, I waited until now to tell you about it. He has written his fourth post, and it seems that he’s got the blogging bug — already I’m enjoying his writings there greatly. Today’s post is entitled God on a Mountain. Speaking first [...]

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John Piper Friday – Romans and the Reason for the Atonement

May 11, 2007

As regular readers will know, I have been spending the last week giving a brief overview of the teaching of the book of Romans in connection with the atonement. I will continue with that next week, but I wanted to bring to your attention, if you are not already aware of it, Dr. John Piper’s [...]

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Blair Resigns as British Prime Minister

May 10, 2007

I have often said that one aspect of the American political system that is sensible is term limits for the president. It is no great surprise to anyone that Tony Blair has today announced his intention to resign as prime minister at the end of June. In so doing, he has achieved a rare thing [...]

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The Atonement – Romans 6-7 and Penal Substitutionary Atonement

May 10, 2007

When one discusses the atonement, one objection is that it is unjust for someone who is unconnected to us to die in our place. Paul seems to anticipate that objection, and in chapter 6 he makes plain that it is no mere “legal fiction” that has taken place. Because what God declares to be the [...]

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The Atonement – Romans 4-5 on Penal Substitutionary Atonement

May 9, 2007

Romans 4 elaborates on how it is faith that saves us. Without the cross being something truly efficacious in which to have saving faith, I can’t see how that can be true. The cross has done something — it is no mere demonstration! Romans 5 begins with “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, [...]

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Highlights of Challies Seminar at the Basics Conference

May 8, 2007

Here are some key thoughts from the seminar Tim is giving at the Basics Conference, currently ongoing at Alistair Begg’s church in Cleveland, Ohio. (HT Russell Smith)Tim begins his seminar by describing the way blogs communicate: Blogs are a more PERSONAL means of communication. The tone is informal and conversational, as opposed to books and [...]

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Out of Surgery

May 8, 2007

My knee operation has been completed. I have been told that they have successfully removed the torn cartilage that was sticking into the joint. Thanks for your prayers! I’m hopeful the recovery will be swift.

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The Atonement – Romans 1-3 and Penal Substitutionary Atonement

May 8, 2007

I have recently shared my own definition of Penal Substitutionary Atonement, as well as that given by the authors of Pierced For Our Transgressions. For the next few posts I will be giving a brief overview of some of the key passages in the Bible that help us to understand what Jesus accomplished on the [...]

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Please Pray for My Knee Surgery

May 7, 2007

Tomorrow I will be going under a general anaesthetic. I have had increasing knee pain since just before Easter. Turns out I have a tear in the posterior horn of my medial meniscus cartilage on my right knee (for all you medics out there). Anyway, I feel like a professional footballer having to have an [...]

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Lloyd-Jones Monday – Are We Pressing On To Know Christ?

May 7, 2007

In today’s MLJ Monday, the Doctor is urging us to not despise the experience God seeks to offer us. I have written a number of similar posts from his writings before, but I thought this one was well worth sharing — if only because it so strikingly challenges us today. “. . . in a [...]

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Atonement – The Angry God of the Bible

May 6, 2007

Over at Coffee and Bible, I came across this — the whole article is well worth a read. (HT Dave Bish) Penal substitution has to be “central” for me because I read my bible. That may sound like a ridiculously blank statement, so I’ll explain what I mean. When I read my bible, I am [...]

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N. T. Wright on Paul and the Resurrection Empowered Life

May 6, 2007

At the beginning of this series of “Resurrection Sunday” posts I bemoaned the relative lack of books on the subject. One of my readers was kind enough to remind me that, of course, N. T. Wright has written on the resurrection. I thought the following quote was definitely worth sharing with you: “For Paul, the [...]

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A Question From a Reader on Eating Blood

May 5, 2007

Every now and then a reader will send in a question for me. In the past some of them have led to months of blogging — I think in particular of the reader who asked, “What does a reformed charismatic church look like?” I now have received a question asked by a reader which I’ve [...]

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INTERVIEW – Liam Goligher on the Crisis in Evangelicalism, Part Four

May 3, 2007

UPDATE I have since also had filmed a video interview with Liam Goligher. This is the last post in my interview series with Liam Goligher. In previous posts we have addressed our distinctives, things that unite us, the atonement, and now to conclude, we will look at some very interesting comments Liam made about church [...]

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INTERVIEW – Liam Goligher on the Crisis in Evangelicalism, Part Three

May 2, 2007

In the first post of my interview with Liam Goligher we focused on the distinctives on which he and I differ. In the second post we discussed some important challenges facing the church today. We now turn to an issue which is never far from my blog — the atonement.Perhaps because it is most topical [...]

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Terry Virgo Preaches on Jesus’ First Miracle

May 2, 2007

We had a fantastic time at Jubilee last Sunday when the founder of newfrontiers came to preach — he preached on Jesus turning water into wine, and his sermon was entitled “The Embarrassment of Inadequacy“. I would strongly encourage you to download it and have a listen (you may need to right click and save [...]

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INTERVIEW – Liam Goligher on the Crisis in Evangelicalism, Part Two

May 1, 2007

In the first post of this interview with Liam Goligher we focused on the distinctives between our backgrounds. In this post we discuss important doctrinal challenges facing the church today which should prompt confessing evangelicals like Liam and myself to stand together. Tomorrow we will address the atonement and Liam’s book on the subject.To Liam, [...]

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