Straight Out of SWBlogTS Host Change

UPDATE:

Starting this Friday Straight Out of SWBlogTS will be hosted at Straight Out of the SWBTS Blogosphere by another a group of folks more capable than I.

My goal for Straight Out of SWBlogTS was to highlight the positive work and interesting thoughts of current SWBTS student and faculty/staff bloggers. May the weekly updates at their new host reflect well on the seminary - it's dedicated faculty, hard working staff and developing student-theologians - and our beautiful Triune God.

ORIGINAL POST:

Straight Out of SWBlogTS (pronounced Swibits - the log is silent) is a weekly overview of interesting blog commentary from current students and/or professors who are enrolled or on faculty/staff at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The first installment is slated for this Friday, August 3rd.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed by student and/or faculty/staff bloggers are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SWBTS, any employee thereof or the author of this blog.

NOTE: If you are a student and/or faculty/staff member and would like to be included in the blogroll from which the content for Straight Out of SWBlogTS is taken, please email me your name, degree seeking/position and blog url. If you want to be removed or not included in the blogroll please email be your url and a removal note. No anonymous blogs will be accepted.

What's the Greatest Danger Facing the Church?

Jim Hamilton's take is that it "is from within...from well meaning pastors."

How could well meaning pastors pose the greatest threat to evangelical churches today?

Do they deny the truth?

No, the pastors who pose the greatest threat to the church today will all confess belief in the right things. They will say they believe in the authority and inerrancy of the Bible, that Jesus saves, and even that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

So how can these guys who mean well and make the good confession pose such a threat to the church?

His advice for our avoiding a psychologyzing shepherd "who will harm the church by turning Christianity into the American religion of self help therapy"...

1. Look at the biblical qualifications for men in the ministry (1 Tim 3:1–7; Tit 1:5–9), and ask pastoral candidates direct questions about whether they meet these qualifications.

2. Since the feature that most distinguishes the qualifications for an elder (pastor) from the qualifications for a deacon is that the elder be “apt to teach” (1 Tim 3:2), pay close attention to his teaching.

3. Based on what you have heard of his preaching, ask yourself these questions:...

4. Ask direct questions about what he understands pastoral ministry to be about:...

• Check out The Greatest Danger Facing the Church

Has the Father Given You Eyes to See and Ears to Hear?

But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear (Deut 29:4).

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun (Eccl 11:7).

Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house (Ezek 12:2).

And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” Mark 8:23

Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! Luke 10:23

as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” Romans 11:8 (Show me Romans 11)

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Revelation 3:18 (Show me Revelation 3)

• Read Ched's helpful commentary on Mark 8 and Why Jesus Healed the Blind Man Twice.

8 Reasons Why I Can't Share My Faith

I promised my wife that I would not post any more YouTube embeds on my blog. So, I'm forwarding you to one that I found on a friend's site. It's called 8 Reasons Why I Can't Share My Faith.

It's entertaining to say the least.

ChristCentric Spittin' God-centered Lyrics

Welcome to SWBTS Quincy, aka Q-Dog.

Quincy is part of ChristCentric, a group reforming hip-hop by the transforming truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sale: WTS Best of Biblical Theology

Up to 55% off. Sale ends August 14th.

According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible by Goldsworthy, Graeme $22.00 $12.10	Central Themes in Biblical Theology: Mapping Unity in Diversity (Paperback) by Scott J. Hafemann and Paul R. House (Editors) $29.99 $16.49	Far as the Curse Is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption by Williams, Michael D. $17.99 $8.10	From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race (New Studies in Biblical Theology Vol 14) (Paperback) by Hays, J. Daniel $22.00 $12.10
God's Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible (Paperback) by Roberts, Vaughan $12.00 $6.60	Goldsworthy Trilogy (Paperback) by Goldsworthy, Graeme OT 141: 70% $12.99 $8.44	Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament (Paperback) by Wright, Christopher J. H. OT 223: 100% $16.00 $8.80	New Dictionary of Biblical Theology: Exploring Scripture's Unity & Diversity (Hardcover) by Alexander, T. Desmond OT 113: Recommended $50.00 $27.50
Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation (Hardcover) by Vos, Geerhardus ST 313: 30% $29.99 $16.49	Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses by Poythress, Vern S. $18.99 $8.55	Symphony of Scripture: Making Sense of the Bible's Many Themes (Paperback) by Strom, Mark OT 131: 100% PT 173: See Syllabus $14.99 $7.50	Temple and the Church's Mission:

You'll Have to See It To Believe It

The title may be misleading, because if you've attended church for very long, you probably have seen it.

Without further ado, from the church I attended during High School and shortly after college.

• Bible Boot Camp.
• Update: Playdoh was passed out before the speech as an object lesson.
  

In one of the videos, during the music portion of the event, one of the electric guitarists was wearing a coconut bra! Fortunately they took the video down. I don't have conclusive evidence as to why, but I have reason to think that they were tipped off that a coconut bra had no place in a service where people gather to worship the Triune God.

Question 1: Is this type of sermon what you are accustom to in your church?

Question 2: What is right or wrong about this approach to "preaching"?

Book Recommendation - When Sinners Say I Do: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage

Here's a look at the table of contents:

Chapter 1 - What Really Matters in Marriage
Chapter 2 - Waking Up With the Worst of Sinners
Chapter 3 - The Fog of War and the Law of Sin
Chapter 4 - Taking it Out for a Spin
Chapter 5 - Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
Chapter 6 - Forgiveness, Full and Free
Chapter 7 - The Surgeon, the Scalpel, and the Spouse in Sin
Chapter 8 - Stubborn Grace
Chapter 9 - Concerning Sex
Chapter 10 - When Sinners Say Goodbye

Recommendations

“I read this book on marriage and this an honest impression of mine—it blew me away. I was very glad to write the foreword to this book because it was probably one of the most honest looks at the joys and struggles of marriage, a marriage between two flawed people who are living in a fallen world who are the sons and daughters of a faithful God. You’re selling yourself short if you don’t read this book. Don’t read it only if you’re married. Everyone should read this book because it has so much to say about the struggles that happen when sinners live near sinners; and how God rescues us by His grace and gives us the possibility of having good rlationships...This is the best book on marriage I have ever read.” - Paul D. Tripp, President of Paul Tripp Ministries and Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary

“Dave Harvey skillfully exposes the real root of most marriage problems – each spouse is still a sinner. But he doesn’t leave us to wallow in our sin. He shows the way out through the ongoing power of the gospel. This book will be helpful for any married couple whether they’ve been married five weeks or fifty years.” — Jerry
Bridges, author of The Pursuit of Holiness

“Dave Harvey not only offers a biblical diagnosis of marital strife, but prescribes the cure as well - the gospel. When Sinners Say "I Do" provides clarity in conflict, hope in despair, and points the way to a joy-filled, God glorifying marriage." — C.J. Mahaney, author of author of Humility

How to Grow a Church Without God

Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
By Ray Baumann

I have spent many hours figuring out how to grow churches. I recently found some old notes that I had taken at a conference some years ago. To my surprise, I had an outline for success that was void of a Savior even being involved. Back then I focused on what attracted people to church. This is what my list read:

1. “Leadership is key.” This will be my number one way to grow the church without God. Thinking back, I would say that if I had a board comprised of wealthy businessmen, I’d have a great foundation for growing a church. You need resources to reach the community and what better way than to have many resources at your fingertips?

2. You want to create an oasis at church; let’s take a few ideas from Starbucks. Starbucks created a community of coffee drinkers. Starbucks is less about coffee and more about a place to commune. That is what you want to reproduce on Sunday; a place where people want to gather.

3. Next, your church has to offer something others don’t. You have to ask yourself who is your target audience. Find out what your audience wants and give it to them. This includes the type of music, programs, length of service and other variables. You want people to know that all of their needs can be met at church.

4. Spend money on logo and website design. You have to out market the church down the street. Mass mailings, newspaper ads and website traffic are key.

5. Advertise in the phone book, at movie theatres and during school programs. Call the media every time you have an event to get free publicity.

6. Be creative with your presentations. Be sure to utilize all of the latest technology for your cool short video illustrations. To get the full effect, you must have video projectors and plasma TVs. Lighting is also essential to set the mood during services.

7. Don’t let anyone come to church and leave without getting their information. You have one chance to make a first impression. When you have a visitor they must be greeted and shown around the facility and introduced to other church members. Giving them a free gift, like a thumb drive with the church’s information preloaded, is a nice gift.

8. Always be planning for your next event, whether it is an Easter egg hunt or Christmas drama. Every two months something big must be occurring to create excitement.

9. Have sermons focused around life issues such as parenting, managing money, eating right, getting along with others and making the best of your life.

10. Network. If you are going to grow a church, people must know who you are. Make it a routine to eat at the same places frequently. Always be involved with whatever is happening in the community.

Wondering About the Purpose Driven Church or Your Best Life Now?

If you've ever wanted a second opinion on the best selling books by Rick Warren (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate) Purpose Driven Church or the Purpose Driven Life check out here and here respectively.

If you are wondering about Joel Osteen's Your Best Life Now see here. Here's a preview of the review to whet your appetite.

Someone might legitimately raise the question why we are reviewing this book. After all, the pattern here at 9Marks has been that we review Christian books.

I suppose we must be branching out now, because Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now is decidedly not one of those. Open the book to any random page, and you will likely find some mention of God or even a reference to Scripture. Yet that is just window-dressing.

When you wring the book out, what you end up with is nothing more than the soggy old self-help pop-psychology that people have been lapping up for a generation—with the word "God" thrown in every once in a while for good measure.

Is the Holy Spirit You Believe in Divine?

Often our claimed "orthodox" pneumatology (doctrine of the Holy Spirit) finds itself subordinating the Holy Spirit into a lesser being (we'll still call Him divine though - and please don't use the pronoun "it" for the Spirit) who functions as a helper to the greatest beings, the Father and the Son. Now, we're quick to claim that the Holy Spirit is God, but functionally worked out, His divinity comes up lacking.

Have you ever thought of the Holy Spirit as "the sum of all that Christ purchased for man" (Edwards, Discourse on the Trinity, Yale: 136)? If you, like myself, have found yourself struggling over how to begin appropriately thinking of the personhood and the role of the Holy Spirit, let Jonathan Edwards pour affection and worship for the Holy Spirit over your heart and mind.

Just a quick note...neither Jonathan Edwards nor anyone else will exhaust the mystery of the Trinity, but this doesn't mean we can't think right thoughts about Him and rightly worship Him.

Our dependence is equally upon each in this affair: the Father appoints and provides the Redeemer; and himself accepts the price and grant the thing purchased; the Son is the Redeemer by offering up himself, and is the price; the Holy Ghost immediately communicates to us the thing purchased by communicating himself, and he is the thing purchased. The sum of all that Christ purchased for man was the Holy Ghost. Gal 3:13-14, he was "made a curse for us...that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." What Christ purchased for us, was that we have communion with God in his God, which consists in partaking of the Holy Ghost as we have shown. All the blessedness of the redeemed consists in their partaking of Christ's fullness , which consists in partaking of that Spirit which is given not by measure unto him. The oil that is poured on the head of the church runs down to the members of his body and tho the skirts of his garment (Ps. 133:2). Christ purchased for us that we should have the favor of God and might enjoy his love; but this love is the Holy Ghost. Christ purchased for us true spiritual excellency, grace and holiness, the sum of which is love to God, which is but only the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the heart. Christ purchased for us spiritual joy and comfort, which is in a participation of God's joy and happiness; which joy and happiness is the Holy Ghost, as we have shown. The Holy Ghost is the sum of all good things. Good things and the Holy Spirit are synonymous expressions in Scripture. Matt. 7:11, "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" The sum of all spiritual good which the saints have in this world is that spring of living water within them, which we read of, John 4:10-15; and those rivers of living water flowing out of them, which we read of, John 7:38-39; which we are there told means the Holy Ghost. And the sum of all happiness in the other world is that river of water of life which proceeds out of the throne of God and the Lamb, which we read of, Rev. 22:1; which is the river of God's pleasures and is the Holy Ghost; and therefore the sum of the gospel invitation is to come and take the water of life (v. 17). The Holy Ghost is the purchased possession and inheritance of the saints, as appears, because that little of it which the saints have in this world is said to be the earnest of that purchased inheritance (Eph. 1:14, II Cor. 1:22 and 5:5). 'Tis an earnest of that which we are to have a fullness of hereafter. The Holy Ghost is the great subject of all gospel promises, and therefore is the Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13)....All our good is of God the Father; 'tis all through God the Son; and all is in the Holy Ghost, as he is himself all our good. God is himself the portion and purchased inheritance of his people. Thus God is the Alpha and the Omega in this affair of redemption.

Thank you Holy Spirit for binding my heart to the Triune God.

Independence Days

1. 2nd Birth, Regeneration, Reborn, Christian Birthday, when I got saved, the day I was justified by God, through Christ's imputed righteousness and the other names we may attach to the time when the Holy Spirit brought us into union with the Father and the Son.

God gave us independence or freedom from the sting of death, power of Satan, the curse of the law to be fulfilled for righteousness, idolatry of self and gave us independence or liberated us to justification by Christ's righteousness, fulfill the law out of our enjoyment of the Father and the Son by the Spirit not to gain righteousness, union with the Triune God and with other believers, an on and on we could go.

2. The Second Coming of Christ

When Christ frees us once and for all from the remnant of original sin that so wages war on our desires for enjoyment of God, and frees us to perfect loving, eternal union by the Spirit with our Triune God and all His children of every tribe, tongue and nation. There will no longer be tears of loss, for we are all found in Him.

There will be no more dark nights of depression, for the Light of God will fill all in all. We will not have faith in the products of sin, but a joy in GOD so intense that there will only be desires for Him. The slain Lamb standing will be exalted forever. The Father who governs His children with hesed (covenant loyalty) will be extolled eternally. And, the Spirit who keeps GOD's people in union with Him will be praised from age to age.

Glory in HIM today for your independence from self and independence to live in HIM.

NOTE: I consciously did not include "the rapture", aka the "secret coming". Also note that the great trumpet sound will coincide with the Second Coming.

False Prophets: What Should We Do with Them?

In the November/December 2002 issue of EndTimes Magazine, this man claimed that Saddam Hussein was the AntiChrist, Apollyon (Greek) or Abaddon (Hebrew) in this article.

Here we have the sun being hidden by the smoke, attack helicopters described as locusts coming out of the smoke, and a king over them by the name of the destroyer — and Saddam’s name literally means "the destroyer."

What are the odds that the Bible would call this king by his actual name? At what point can we no longer say, “This is a coincidence?" If we were reading an Iraqi Bible, it would say, "They had a king over them called Saddam."

My point in referencing this man and his teaching is to say:
1. Yes, false prophets exist.
2. What should we do with them in cosideration of this verse?

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22, ESV)