I spoke on men, women and ministry in October 2009 at a conference in sydney. This is a link to the talks.
I've started thinking about preaching on James at dpc...
Not always a Carl Trueman fan, but this article on the pastoral implications of the New Perspective in Paul was good food for thought. www.reformation21.org
John Piper on Worship...who would have thought?
a fair bit of this I've blogged already in bits, but here is the report..
Some simple ideas on how to make the most of your opportunities...take from an article by John Dodson at Resurgence. (Slight changes and trim down...mainly I've removed that stupid word missional.)
It can only be that God begins in a small way, at one single place in the world. There must be a place visible, tangible, where the salvation of the world can begin: that is, where the world becomes what it is supposed to be according to God's plan. Beginning at that place, the new thing can spread abroad, but not through persuasion, not through indoctrination, not through violence. Everyone must have the opportunity to come and see. All must have the chance to behold and test this new thing. Then, if they want to, they can allow themselves to be drawn into the history of salvation that God is creating. Only in that way can their freedom be preserved. What drives them to the new thing...
From Easter Monday Craig & Cathy Tucker will be away for 2 and a half weeks in the USA. Craig is being sent by Presbyterians in Sydney to attend the Gospel Coalition conference in Chicago, and to network with church planters in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.You can follow what is happening on the website.
Had a great morning at Trinity Grace Church on the West Side (10:30am on the Upper West Side).
Although I went to visit Trinity Grace in the morning, and Redeemer in the evening it probably makes sense to talk about Redeemer first. Redeemer 6pm gathering meets at Hunter Auditorium NYU. About 1000 people, hard to know. Redeemer has 3000 attending each Sunday.
What an amazing place. Charimatics with Reformed Theology, big and central reformed theology. Al Stewart said: "You have to visit Sov Grace while in the states". So I did. And it was well worth it. Although to squeeze it in I had to hire a car, drive 200 miles on the wrong side of the round for the first time from Philadelphia, almost hit a low flying duck on the interstate, and do the return trip in the same day.
John Piper put his finger on the key issue at this conference last night when he suggested that most American Evangelical preachers "Hover Over the Text" rather than "Expound the Text".
heard tim keller, john piper, philip ryken, ligon duncan & mark driscoll expounding 2 timothy.
Listened to Time Keller on MSN being interviewed about Christianity in the US. One of the many interesting things was the observation that historically, evangelical christianity in the US is a bluecollar movement. So as the US becomes more a uni-graduate culture Christianity's traditional base is in sharp decline.
A great book for showing you how to thoughtfully answer these questions is the recent book by Tim Keller "The Reason for God". The first half of the book deals with seven common questions about Christianity. The second half seeks to provide a gospel outline.
Eight years ago I came to New York to look at the ministry of Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. In many ways New York is a city out of step with the rest of the USA, especially when it comes to the gospel. The USA is still generally a church-going nation where evangelical Christianity (of a kind) is strong. Not so in New York. Especially among Manhattan‘s almost 2 million people, the most densely residential city in the world, made up of predominantly young professions in finance, IT, marketing, advertising and the arts; the gospel has made little impact.
Blogging is a messy business. This is where I intend to put stuff that comes out of my head from now on. Things from the several other places I've been posting might gradually make it across here.
A great way to start thinking about your questions with Christianity and learning how to answer other people’s questions. How about this for an 8 week program: Why not get 8 people in your home group to each take a week each to research and present an answer...?
In the holidays I went with my family to 3C at Oxford Falls.