Here’s my review of this very helpful commentary.
Category Archives: Bible and Theology
The Cross from a Distance: Atonement in Mark’s Gospel
Here’s my review of Peter Bolt’s excellent book.
What Is Prophecy and Has It Ceased?
As Paul is describing the activity of prophets in 1 Corinthians 14:29–30, he writes, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.” From this statement, we know that (1) prophecy is revelatory because Paul refers …
Invitation to the 2006 Northbrook Conference
Dear Saint, Have you ever wondered what it means that as a believer in Jesus you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit? If we think on this for a moment, it is beyond what we have even dared to dream—God dwells in those of us who believe. Does this have cash value in your life? …
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Why Are Emergent Pastors Reading N. T. Wright?
A friend of mine recently pointed out to me that N. T. Wright’s book, The Challenge of Jesus, is on the Emergent Village reading list. Why are Emergent pastors reading N. T. Wright? Well, besides the fact that Wright is a great writer and this is a very engaging book, Emergent pastors often critique traditional …
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Genesis 3:15: The Protoevangelion
I’ll never forget hearing Tommy Nelson argue that the first promise of the Gospel comes in Genesis 3:15. Nelson pointed out that when the text speaks of the serpent’s head being crushed, it says “He will crush your head,” and I remember him saying something like, “that’s a singular, masculine pronoun, ultimately pointing to Jesus.” …
Can Women Be Elders?
I really hope that people aren’t looking to weblogs for answers to questions like these, but since many probably are, I think it’s worthwhile to respond to a series of questions that came up in the comments section of a previous post. I think that someone wrestling with these issues should ask themselves this question: …
Schreiner on Preaching and Biblical Theology
The latest issue of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology is out from Southern Seminary, and Tom Schreiner has a great essay on Preaching and Biblical Theology. He gives crisp explanations of what Biblical Theology is and how it should inform our preaching. He also diagnoses the challenges we are facing with precision and love, …
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What Is Baptism and Is It Worth Dying For?
In one of the best sermons I’ve read in a while, Eric Schumacher explains what Baptism is and why it’s worth dying for. This is a must read.
Luther on Baptism
According to this quote, Martin Luther sounds like a good Baptist!
Confession of Sins in Worship
I was recently asked about why we always have a time for confession of sins in worship at Redeemer. Dr. Mohler gives a great exposition of the necessity of this in Part Three of his series on worship.
When God Is Small People Are Too
My friend Denny Burk’s post on whether embryonic stem cell research is murder prompted me to ponder this situation. Why should we be concerned about the destruction of these embryonic stem cells? After all, don’t women miscarry fertilized eggs all the time? They do: often fertilized eggs do not implant in the lining of the …
Al Mohler Used to Be An Egalitarian
Read how and why his mind changed here.
Baptism, Church Membership, and “Together for the Gospel”
Baptism and church membership go together. Baptism symbolizes that a person has been baptized into Christ Jesus, specifically, into his death (Gal 3:27; Rom 6:3). It is faith that unites us to Christ (Gal 3:26; Col 2:12). Baptism is a picture of this union with Christ, as it shows that what has happened to Jesus …
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Why Don’t Baptists Commune with Presbyterians?
In a recent comment a friend of mine raised the issue of whether the requirements for membership in the local church ought to be the same as the requirements for membership in the universal church. I take this to mean: we think that someone is saved if they make a profession of faith and show …
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David Wells on Evangelical Pastors
As he describes one of the chapters of No Place for Truth, David Wells writes, . . .the pastorate has become proffessionalized, . . . the central function of the pastor has changed from that of truth broker to manager of the small enterprises we call churches. To the extent that this tendency has taken …
History, Pastors, and Ministry Philosophy
In his brilliant book, Democratic Religion, Prof. Dr. Greg Wills details the way that Baptists in the South used to do church discipline and gives an account of why things changed. One of the main reasons that discipline declined among Southern Baptists was that they shifted from focusing on Bible and theology to focusing on …
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Baptism, Baptist History, and Church Membership
Both Dr. Mohler and Justin Taylor have posted today on the direction John Piper has led Bethlehem Baptist Church on the issue of Baptism and Church Membership. Mohler mentions that some allege that Calvinism may lead Baptists away from believer’s baptism. Baptist history can help us here. Tom Nettles (The Baptists, 138–42) describes how the …
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The Greatest Danger Facing the Church
Is probably not what most of us expect. We expect some sort of direct challenge from without, something like The Da Vinci Code. But I think the greatest danger that we face is from within, and I think it comes from well meaning pastors. How could well meaning pastors pose the greatest threat to evangelical …
Prayer of the Month
The Lord blessed me with a good idea the other day, and perhaps it will bless you as well. I decided to pick a New Testament prayer and try to pray through it every day of the month. This will probably lead to the memorization of the text, which never hurts, and I hope that …