by Stephen Rodgers

Well hello again! This week proved to be relatively light on links, which turned out to be a bit of blessing considering how busy it was personally. I think part of that was due to a lot of bloggers and writers being at T4G, and the fact that I’m still ever-so-slightly behind on my reading. And so, without further ado, this weeks links are…

• Kevin DeYoung has a FANTASTIC series on dealing with disappointment in the church. Whether you’re a pastor, elder, member, or visitor, this is the must-read link of the week. Be sure to check out part one, two, and three. (WEB)
• The folks over at Desiring God have launched a Chinese language website. My first inclination was to shrug and move on, but then it occurred to me that I have a LOT of brothers and sisters who know people who speak Chinese! So this is probably relevant to your interests. (WEB)
• Piper continues to be a bit of a hot topic even as things are winding down. Voddie Baucham has a list of things to learn from his leave of absence, and Phil Johnson weighs in on the invitation to Rick Warren. Both are worth careful reading and reflection. (WEB)
• I thought this was very interesting. An editorial examining the life and behavior of Pontius Pilate. (WEB)
• And for your missions-related link of the week, I present to you: the Difficult Death of Adoniram Judson. Are you praying for our church family in Tucuman and Ostrava? Now would be a good time to start. (WEB)
• Tim Challies is trying to take over the world. This week he’s announced that he’s starting a friends of the blog program, entering into the world of e-publishing, and starting a podcast series. If you read a lot of Challies, then at least one of these announcements is probably interesting for you. (WEB and MP3)
• Thom Rainer had an interesting article on the Seven Characteristics of Highly Evangelistic Christians. Title similarities notwithstanding, I liked it better than Covey’s book. (WEB)
• And here’s a question for you…what happens when you mix up sermon excerpts and hip-hop music? This happens. And considering how inexpensive they are (free!) they should take over your MP3 player. (MP3)

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome back to another edition of Weekly Links. I’m going to do everything I can to keep this shorter than last week, although I am going to tack on a series at the end of the post for those who are interested in something with a little more continuity. And here we go!

• In honor of Easter, I can’t remember if I’ve posted this or not, but if you haven’t seen/heard this version of Matt Chandler’s “7 Miles”, then you are missing out! (VIDEO)
• While some of the heat seems to be dwindling, a number of blogs are still going back and forth over John Piper’s decision to invite Rick Warren to this years Desiring God conference. Douglas Wilson (VIDEO) and Tim Challies (WEB) weighed in this week with their opinions.
• Speaking of (over)reactions, Jared Wilson is occasionally a bit of a controversial guy, but this seems odd to me. Back in January, Jared posts a note on how “the gospel frees you to chill the heck out.” Almost three months later, Justin Taylor finds it, and throws it up on his blog, which promptly launches a comment war. Both Justin and Jared drop in to clear things up, and Kevin DeYoung offers some helpful observations. (WEB)
• In case you missed it, TGC launched a new website called TGCReviews which is dedicated to all things books: reviews, excerpts, interviews with authors and the like. (WEB)
• And in something of a decidedly less scholarly direction, the free book this month from Christian Audio is Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff. (MP3) Acuff can be really funny, and some of his observations are uncomfortably spot-on, but not all of his subject matter is for all age groups. Exercise a little discernment around young children unless you want to field the question, “Mommy, what does it mean when the man says he was “bounced out of town like a superball?””
• Over at the Koinonia blog, Bill Mounce tackles the question of translating Titus 1:6 and the requirement for elders regarding their children. (WEB)
• The interview series over at the Resurgence continues with Michael Horton’s Advice to the Young Reformed. (VIDEO)
• Now this will scare the seminarians! Over at the Head Heart Hand blog, David Murray walks us through a “normal” week of pastoral ministry. (WEB)
• And over at the Straight Up blog, Pastor James MacDonald answers the question “What Should a Mother Church Consider When Planting Churches?” (VIDEO)

Ok, that’s actually it for the week. See? I can be brief! But for those of you who want more…

As promised, here is a recent series by Phil Johnson over at TeamPyro, based on a sermon he gave at the Shepherd’s Conference this year. (If you want to hear the sermon, you can get it from their website in either audio or video format).

• First, check out this excerpt from the sermon if you haven’t listened to it already (and discover why I might be getting a shirt that says “Brothers, We Are Not Figure-Skaters.”
• Introduction
• Watch Out
• Stand Firm
• Man Up
• Be Strong

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Alright, it’s Friday again, and that means another batch of links. However, I’d like to take just a moment and remind you that it’s Good Friday. And because of that, I’d like to share a few links specifically to that end. I know that the “fun” stuff is farther down, but let’s just take a moment to really reflect on the cross:

• God Is Mocked (WEB)
• Christ on the Cross (WEB)
• The Scream of the Damned (VIDEO)

Also, before you panic because there’s so many other links, don’t worry: a lot of them are very brief. So without further ado…

• The “Know Your Heretics” series over at the Resurgence continues with an article about Apollinarius. (WEB)
• And the interview series with Michael Horton continues, this time with the question of “Why is the Resurgence of Reformed Theology Encouraging?” (VIDEO)
• So the big news in the blogosphere this week is the Christian Science Monitor article on the return of Calvinism. Personally, I never got the memo that it went away, but I do like their reference to the popularization of “Home Depot theology.” I’m going to have to use that one. (WEB)
• Ok, people are going to start thinking that I get a kickback for each Resurgence link I post, but really I don’t. One of the Mars Hill Church bands is offering a free album. (MP3)
• So John Piper is again the name on everyone’s tongue, this time due to the announcement that he has invited Rick Warren to speak at the Desiring God conference. I’m not sure why everyone is noticing this now, since this is actually old news. Recently, Piper explained his choice, but needless to say, opinions vary quite a bit.
• And the other big news involving John Piper is that he will be taking an extended leave of absence. Christianity Today already weighed in on the issue, as did Mark Driscoll’s wife.
• Switching gears to eschatology (as everyone glares at me for giving them topical whiplash)…over at the Head Heart Hand blog, David Murray has made a free e-book available dealing with the four major eschatalogical positions (WEB), which you can download here (PDF). He’s also made videos for three of them: amillennialism, post-millennialism, and pre-millennialism. (VIDEO) He acknowledges his own bias in the book, but does fair job of representing each position for the most part. Plus, he has a fun Scottish accent.
• Switching gears again to the subject of missions, I thought you might enjoy these comments from David Livingstone and William Carey/Andrew Fuller. (WEB) Also, it seems that it’s getting easier than ever to get a handle on the logistical end of a short-term missions team. (WEB)
• Switching gears again to apologetics…Douglas Wilson reminds us all what I’ve been telling the apologetics class since day one. (WEB) Also, did you know that a lot of the l’Abri materials were online for free? Personally, I’m especially excited about the Francis Schaeffer section. (MP3)
• Closing in on the end here, if you’re looking for something to read on the subject of pastoral ministry, I’ve found Brian Croft’s blog to be consistently good. (WEB) And if you just want to see how one father struggles with living it, you really should check out Wrestling with an Angel. (WEB) Both will do a wonderful job of making you complain less and pray more…or at least that’s what happened to me.
• And last but certainly least, I don’t think this is what people had in mind on the subject of religious freedom. (WEB) And I say that as a man who has admitted that he spends more time than he should thinking about lightsabers.

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

So I’m going to try something slightly different this week. I’m going to frontload maybe half a dozen articles and videos at the top of this post, and then highlight a couple of series that you might have missed or should keep an eye on below that. Enjoy!

• Tullian Tchividjian (who has the second-hardest name to spell, behind Thabiti Anyabwile), gets us started by reminding us to beware of seven counterfeit gospels. (WEB) (HT: Paul Tripp’s book)
• Also at the TGC blog, they have an interesting article on what Christians can do to develop a heart for missions, other than going on a short-term missions team. (WEB) (HT: Miriam Adeney from this book)
• Zac Smith (VIDEO) is living out John Piper’s warning. (WEB)
• Kevin DeYoung has something for you to remember if you’re asked to lead the church in prayer. (WEB)
• God is simple. By the way, I started this week never having heard of Herman Bavinck; kept noticing him mentioned, and now I’m addicted. Funny how God does that. (WEB)

So that brings us to the series part of the post. First up, the guys over at TeamPyro did an apologetic series called “Redneck Atheism” in which they dealt with a number of popular anti-theist memes. I would recommend this series as a survey of Biblical apologetics and confronting the culture of today. Each article deals with one or more popular objections to Christianity, which I’ve included in parenthesis. Yes, I can see for #5 that it’s quite redundant (WEB):

1. “Unquestioning Christians” and Atheistic Bluster (Introduction)
2. Redneck Atheism (Monotheism and Evolution)
3. Is Christianity Really Polytheism (Polytheism)
4. Whence “Redneck” Atheism (How Did The Series Get Its Name)
5. Prayer (Prayer)
6. Science vs. Enthusiasm (Science)
7. Biblical Ignorance (Uninformed Christians)
8. The Hypocrisy of Secular Humanism (Moral Contradiction)
9. I Doubt It (Agnosticism/Conclusion)

Over at the Resurgence, they’ve got two interesting series going on. The first is a series of interview with Michael Horton, Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California (VIDEO):

1. What Is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism?
2. Why You Can’t “Be” the Gospel
3. What We Should Learn From the Mainline Denominations
4. Is the New Perspective on Paul Dangerous?

The second series just got underway, and deals with famous heretics of church history (WEB):

1. Pelagius
2. Arius

(Actually, on a side note, since we’re talking about TeamPyro and heresy, Phil Johnson once told me (and a lot of other people, since he preached a couple sermons on the topic), that almost all false doctrines fall into one of five heretical archetypes: legalism, gnosticism, Pelagianism, Arianism, or Socinianism. You can download his sermon series on that topic for free.) (MP3)

Alright, that’s plenty for this week. See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Sorry that the post is a few hours late this week…I blame the Single’s Retreat and my own laziness in not doing laundry in a more proactive fashion. But enough about that…on to the links!

• So it seems like it’s been a very Proverbs month for some people, including former LBC member (and my friend) Tia Han, as well as Tim Keller. (WEB) If you get them mixed up, Pastor Keller is the taller one.
• Since I should probably put all the multi-link points near the top, Grace to You did a two-part series untitled “Fundamental Doctrine, Says Who?” which can be found here and here. (And they still haven’t fixed their RSS feed, and they continue to ignore my emails…just saying…if you know someone who does their tech support…). Over at Justin Taylor’s blog, he had a post in a similar vein. (WEB)
• Over at the Resurgence, they’ve wrapped up their interview of RC Sproul, but they have started a new series in which they interview Michael Horton. This week, they ask him what evangelical Christians should learn from mainline denominations. (VIDEO)
• Speaking of the Resurgence, they’ve started another new series called “Know Your Heretics.” This should be interesting; first up: Pelagius. (WEB)
• I’m not much of an iTunes guy, but I know a lot of people are. So you should be VERY excited that Westminster Seminary is now on iTunes. (AUDIO) And if you’re in my class, please notice that there’s a class by Cornelius Van Til. Not about him, by him. Have fun.
• Ok, this is really interesting stuff. Over at the Koinonia blog, Bill Mounce answers the question of “Where did John 5:4 go?” (WEB)
• Over at the Boundless blog (I think they changed their name again, I can’t keep up), they discuss the impact of the Tim Tebow Superbowl commercial. That’s definitely worth reading and reflecting on.
• On a more musical note (heh…that’s a pun, get it? “Musical note?” I’m so hilarious…), the Getty’s are having some kind of massive St. Patrick’s Day sale through the end of the month. (MUSIC)
• Speaking of St. Patrick, Russell Moore jotted down a few thoughts on What Evangelicals Can Learn From St. Patrick. (WEB) It has nothing to do with green beer, thank the Lord.
• And I had a few more, but I’m out of space, so let’s close with this quick video update from Matt Chandler regarding his condition. (VIDEO)

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Alright, there’s a lot of good stuff this week, so I’ll just jump right in. Besides, there’s really no chance of exhausting all of it, so we’ll save some for a rainy day.

• Let’s kick this off with a bang. Here’s a two-minute excerpt from Phil Johnson’s message at Shepherd’s Conference. (VIDEO) It was memorable, to say the least.
• Since this seems to be a rather popular topic at our church these days, you might want to check out Kevin DeYoung’s response to the question, “How do I seek God’s will in who I marry?” (WEB)
• Here’s another one for all of us: God watches what you Google. (WEB)
• Speaking of popular topics…Hey! Pre-Sem guys! (And Pre-Sem teacher!) The speakers from the Shepherd’s Conference briefly discuss the importance of seminary. (WEB)
• Did you know that Pastor Patrick’s daughter has the same name as Thabiti Anyabwile’s daughter? Me neither…but you’ll learn that and more if you watch this 7-minute video that first takes the customary tour of his office, but concludes with the most awesome baptismal tank I’ve ever seen. (VIDEO)
• Pastor James Macdonald discusses five common distortions of the Gospel in our day. (WEB)
• Pastor John Piper addresses the question of “What happens to infants who die?” (VIDEO) And speaking as someone who just read it, if you want a longer and more detailed treatment on the topic, you can’t go wrong with this book. (WEB)
• Douglas Wilson has some great thoughts on what it means to be critical. (WEB)
• I don’t know too many politicians or diplomats who talk like this. (WEB) But I wish I did. Wow!
• Alright, Russell Moore tackles his next biblical counseling question by answering the question “How Much Do I Need to Know About My Potential Spouse’s Sexual Past?” (WEB) By the way, I’m really enjoying his series on Christian ethics, and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the topic.
• It would seem that preachers must preach. Even a brain tumor couldn’t stop Matt Chandler. And for that, we are grateful. (VIDEO)
• I understand the pastor who blogs over at Irish Calvinist was at the Shepherd’s Conference. It’s articles like this one that really make me wish I could have met him. (WEB)
• Let’s close with a two-fer for Pastor John. First, here’s some one-stop-shopping for information about one of his theological heroes. (WEB/VIDEO) And last but not least, I repeat, NOT LEAST, I am thankful that I have a pastor who takes this to heart. (VIDEO)

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Alright, so I’m up in Los Angeles at the Shepherd’s Conference, and I’m slightly desperate to get some sleep before the sermons tomorrow, so forgive me if my scintillating commentary is a bit on the light side this week (and all God’s people said “amen!”).

• First of all, christianaudio.com has some great free books this month: The Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer and 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die by Piper. You can hit the link for the codes to get them for free.
• Over at the Gospel Coalition blog, there’s a great article on how to react when a once-besetting sin pops up again, causing us to question whether we are “over it” or not.
• If you missed any of the tours of pastor’s libraries and studies, you can hit the link here for the great ones.
• Jared Wilson has a good post on what it means to blaspheme your idols.
• And last but not least, the fine folks at TeamPyro are doing a series I blogged about last week entitled “Redneck Atheism.” You can find the first two installments here and here.

I’ve got a couple of links to videos that I’d like to post, but I haven’t had a chance to check them out myself yet, so I may do that over the weekend once I get back to San Diego. Considering they deal with two different pastors that I admire, I’m hoping that they pan out and I can give you a little bonus post this weekend.

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Alright, insincere apologies in advance and all that, but this is going to be a rather lengthy version. Normally I aim for 8-10 links, but since you got a break last week, I’m allowing myself 15-20. Hey, you’ve got all weekend to read them right? Now you know what I do when I’m jetlagged and wide awake at 3am…

And if you’re thinking you’ll never make it through those, trust me, there’s a picture near the very end that you don’t want to miss.

• First up, Wayne Grudem’s son Elliot has put together an FOF-esque study program using his father’s Systematic Theology. If you’re interested in checking it out, you can find it here. (Website, with PDF downloads)
• Next, the folks over at Mars Hill had a very interesting series entitled “What Do You Live For?” They explore a number of problems not according to their symptoms, but rather according to their root cause as “worship disorders.” I thought it was quite interesting and thought-provoking, and you can check out parts one, two, and three. (Website)
• Continuing our whirlwind tour of the offices and studies of several pastors, this week we get a sneak peek into the study of RC Sproul. (Video)
• Andy Naselli offers his notes and the audio from a Q&A session where John MacArthur answered the question, “How would you approach a congregation trapped in years of legalistic tradition?” The answer may surprise you. (Website and MP3 download)
• The more I read David Powlison, the more I really like the man. He recently offered a critique of the popular book “The Five Love Languages” which can be found here. (PDF) Additionally, there’s an introduction to the article as well as a response from Powlison to people who were not happy with his analysis. (Website)
• Back in the spotlight again, Brian McLaren has a new book. The review have, well, not been kind. In particular, Kevin DeYoung offers a compassionate, but absolutely devastating review. The folks over at STR chime in as well. And the hits just keep on coming. (Website)
• Jared Wilson has a message for Christians everywhere, but particularly for those in or pursuing ministry. He culminates in a rather violent but Biblically-sound image. (Website)
• DA Carson has a short article on the benefits of expository preaching. It’s only two pages, and you get to see DA Carson with a mustache, so read it! (PDF)
• The folks over at CREDENDAagenda have a great article on what it means to live out the Christian life in it’s totality, including your knowledge. If you struggle with the idea of being a Christian in ALL areas of your life, this article will challenge and inform you. (Website)
• Over at Randy Alcorn’s blog, he has an account regarding Spurgeon’s worst sermon. Whether the account is apocryphal or true, the principle is valid. (Website)
• Same blog, different article. And I think I’ve posted this before, but it’s just too good. In a debate with a liberal theologian, anti-theist Christopher Hitchens defines a Christian in astoundingly clear terms. (Website)
• Pastor James Macdonald has an article with the intriguing title of “Holy Indifference: Learning to Say “I Don’t Care.” (Website)
• And over at TeamPyro, Frank Turk has a fantastic article on the sovereignty of God. Or has he puts it, the biggest problem with Calvinism is Calvinists. Your going to need to read the article to find out exactly what that means. (Website)
• Speaking of TeamPyro, I saw this and started drooling. I’m looking forward to this big time. (Website)
• On a more hilarious note, I’ve wanted an excuse to post this for a long time. I still don’t have one, but I’m going to post it anyways. (Image)
• Yes, there’s a good explanation. (Website)
• And finally, on a more serious note, RC Sproul has two very short articles dealing with Calvin’s rules of prayer, which you can find here and here.

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

I’m in the Czech Republic this week, and between below-freezing temperatures, a rather minor bout with cold symptoms, fellowshipping with the church here, misbehaving internet, and some fabulous adventures, the Weekly Links is going to be rather puny this week. I just didn’t have the time, or the bandwidth (literally) to do more. I’ll try to make up for the lack of quantity by making it inversely proportional in terms of quality.

Enjoy.

That is all. Back next week.

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Ah, the wonders of modern technology! By the time that most of you read this (unless you are so enamored with the Beacon that you just hang around when the articles post at 1am), I will be on a plane, flying into below-freezing temperatures and snowfall measured in “meters.” Whatever those are. But since Beacon 3.0 is setup to continue posting articles even if my plane crashes, you get the (drumroll please)…Weekly Links!

• So let’s start off with what we weren’t able to get to last week. Over at TeamPyro, Phil and Dan ask, “Can You Be Humble and Certain at the Same Time?” They follow up the original article with two more, which you can read here and here.
• Meanwhile, over at the 9Marks blog, there’s a fantastic list: 10 Tips for Short Term Missions.
• Speaking of missions, this question comes up in the prep class every year. But in case you’ve ever wondered, “Does Predestination Make Evangelism a Waste of Time?” Voddie Baucham discusses it on his blog.
• This is a different approach than what we’re currently doing in class here at LBC, but in case you’re interested, Dr. William Lane Craig has a free 30-page essay in which he discusses 5 Arguments for the Existence of God.
• Over at his blog, Dan Phillips celebrates the anniversary of a miracle.
• Last week we got to see Al Mohler’s study library. This week, the video stalking continues and we get to check out Ligon Duncan’s office and study. (VIDEO)
• This blew me away. Continuing the theme that this is a missions-heavy week, I wanted to show you this video of missionary Michael Oh. I’d never heard of him before this week, but now I can’t get his words out of my head. Trust me, if you only check out one thing in this post, make it this video. It’s 12 minutes well spent. (VIDEO)
• And last but not least, Tim Keller has an insightful article on The Big Issues Facing the Western Church. It’s a bit more sociological than you might be used to, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Pro Rege