John Piper on Prayer

New Hillsong United CD out today

Hillsong United's new Cd, A_Cross//The_Earth: Tear down the Walls [Live], is now available. Follow the links to grab a copy:



Amazon: CD

Amazon: Mp3 Download (my preference)

For those of you that have already picked it up, what is your opinion so far? I am still going through my first play through but so far am really enjoying it. It has the now standard repeatable praise choruses that lodge themselves in your head for all time. I like it when they put out a Live cd of new tracks rather than a studio version. I can't wait to get the lyrics and go through and analyze the content.

Hillsong United will be in Atlanta tomorrow night, May 27. I wish I had known earlier so I could go.
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Scripture Passage for the week of May 25

Here is the passage of scripture that I will be memorizing this week for those of you who have joined me in challenging yourself to hiding the Word in your heart:

Ephesians 1:7-10
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Have a blessed week.

"Ok, before you read/watch/listen to this.."

Over at Stuff Christians Like (now available in our blogroll) there is a post up about the way Christians will give a disclaimer before recommending a movie or some other media to a friend that may contain questionable content. The topic is explored in a humorous way but it still challenged me to look at myself and it ended with conviction. I am very guilty of saying "If you can get passed the cussing...." or more often "I can't recommend you watch it, but [movie title] is AWESOME!" I'm sure we all have favorite movies, music, shows, and books that we desperately try to find some redeeming value in it then cling to that tiny shred of value for dear life rather than let it go. Hey, I'm there with you.

What do you cling to? Is this something you struggle with or are you more anything goes? Let us know in the comments if this is something you deal with. Related (and can of worms), how 'relevant' do you think a Christian should be, ie how caught up on the latest and greatest movies,music, shows, etc. no matter their edifying value?

Here is the beginning of the Stuff Christians Like post to lure you over:

I have a small dilemma.

A few weeks ago I thought about writing a list of songs and movies that I've been enjoying lately. But there was a song I wanted to put on the list that wasn't technically Christian. And by "technically Christian" I mean the f-bomb made a cameo in the second verse.

Continue reading by clicking here.

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Ralph Winter dies at 84

Ralph Winter was set free from cancer the night of May 20. He was 84.

I never met Ralph Winter but he still managed to profoundly affect my life. I have only heard him teach once via mp3 but he was still ultimately responsible for shaping a huge part of my worldview. How can these things be? To understand this, you have to know who he was.

Dr. Winter dedicated his life to missions. He had an above-average passion to see the unreached peoples reached and evangelized. To this end he founded the US Center for World Missions. Many great programs fall under the USCWM, but the one most that I am most thankful for is Perspectives.

Perspectives on the World Christin Movement is a nondenominational missions training and instruction course that teaches what missionaries and missions agencies are doing around the world, mission history, biblical foundations for missions, and then how to actually apply your passion. Most class sessions are taught by missionaries or agency representatives. The course book he compiled and contributed to is one of the most amazing books you could read on missions. It is a collection of articles written by many, many scholars and theologian and is even used for a lot of seminary mission courses. You can buy it used at Amazon.com for cheap.

God has laid a strong burden for missions on my heart but I really had no idea what opportunities there were or what was actually involved. Quick, what do you think a missionary is and what their life is like? What do they actually do? Can you work in missions without being a missionary? Is there a difference between evangelism and missions? Why should we go overseas when people are just as messed up here? How do you actually present the Gospel accurately to unreached people? The questions go on and on. When you really stop and think about it, most of us really don't know that much about missions. Perspectives serves to answer your questions and give a strong biblical foundation for making the Great Commission a high, if not the highest, priority in your life. You cannot take this class and not be changed.

Anyone that knows me knows that I will ramble on and on about Perspectives. This class would not exist if it was not for Ralph Winter. Now, his contributions to this world and missions is FAR more than just Perspective but that is just the way I was most directly influenced. He is well known for his presentation at Lausanne in 1974, served as a missionary, founded mission centers, and taught seminary. Below I've put some links that you can follow to find out more about him frompeople much better at writing than me. I have also added a few videos of him being interviewed. Although I am glad that he is no longer suffering the pain of his cancer, it is sad to know that he is no longer with us. I have no doubt, however, that his influence will be felt far into the future. It is sad to me that this great man died and so many Christians didn't even know he lived. My prayers are for his family and friends.

Ralph Winter's site

Wikipedia Page

John Piper's Tribute

The Christian Post






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A Scandalous Gospel

"If the gospel you believe and preach is not scandalous to the world, you are believing in and preaching the wrong gospel!"

Check out the sermon notes from Paul Washer's sermon "A Scandalous Gospel"

You can watch the entire sermon below:



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John 3:16

I found this video on the Defending Contending blog. It's about 20 minutes long, but I thought it was a good explanation of Arminians' favorite John 3:16. He gets a little "excited" at the end but overall, I thought it was good. And as always, discussion is welcome. :-)



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Adopted In

If you read my last post, you know that I have challenged myself to memorizing passages of scripture each week. This week's passage is Ephesians 1:3-6. I'm not just memorizing words, I meditate over the words as I repeat them over and over, and I pray that God will speak to me through that passage.

This week, one word really stood out to me; adoption. Verse 1:5 says "[In love] he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will." Why is the word adoption used there and in several other places? Why doesn't Paul just say we are sons through Jesus Christ? I think it's all in the meaning of the word.

Adoption is defined as taking [a child] into one's family through legal means and raising as one's own child. When I think of an ideal adoption in today's society, I picture a mother and father who takes a child into their home and makes them a part of their family. That family is not obligated to give that child anything, yet they give them love and care just as if they were their own child. It's a beautiful picture to me. In the same sense spiritually, we are that adopted child. Not only does God regenerate our spirit, and justify us through his son Jesus, he also adopts us into his family. We were not entitled to be sons and daughters of God. We were sons of wrath, yet God graciously opens his arms and calls us his own. We were not entitled to any inheritance. We were entitled to death, but yet God has given us the inheritance of eternal life and many other rich blessings. Through adoption, we are able to have a relationship with God as our Heavenly Father. That didn't have to be part of our salvation. Like I said we weren't entitled to it, but God bestowed upon us the gift of his fatherly love and granted us a place in his family. Do you see how important and how precious this should be to us?

I think the following section from Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology (pg 738-739) explains things well:

"Although adoption is a privilege that comes to us at the time we become Christians (john 1:12; Gal. 3:26, 1 John 3:1-2), nevertheless, it is a privilege that is distinct from justification and distinct from regeneration. In regeneration we are made spiritually alive, able to relate to God in prayer and worship and able to hear his Word with receptive hearts. But it is possible that God could have creatures who are spiritually alive and yet are not members of his family and do not share the special privileges of family members- angels, for example, apparently fall into that category. Therefore, it would have been possible for God to decide to give us regeneration without the great privileges of adoption into his family.
Moreover, God could have given us justification without the privileges of adoption into his family, for he could have forgiven our sins and given us right legal standing before him without making us his children. It is important to realize this because it helps us to recognize how great are our privileges in adoption. Regeneration has to do with our spiritual life within. Justification has to do with our standing before God's law. But adoption has to do with our relationship with God as our Father, and in adoption we are given many of the greatest blessing that we will know for all eternity. When we begin to realize the excellence of these blessings, and when we appreciate that God has no obligation to give us any of them, then we will be able to exclaim with the apostle John, 'See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.' (1 John 3:1)"

As you go about your week, think about what extravagant love God has poured out on us by allowing us to be adopted into his family. Don't take for granted the relationship you are able to have with your Heavenly Father.

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Your Word is a lamp unto my feet...

God's word is the most precious thing we have as Christians. It is the light by which we should live our lives. It is a two edged sword that we are to wield against the enemy. It is the meat by which we are to feed our souls. Seeing as how how important the Word of God is, I have challenged myself to start memorizing parts of it. I have chosen to start in Ephesians, and each weekend, I will post the passage I will be meditating on and memorizing the upcoming week. I want to challenge you as well to start hiding the Word in your heart. Here is the passage for this coming week:

Ephesians 1:3-6

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessin in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Rob Rufus - Grace vs Law

Right off the bat I'll go ahead and admit that not all of our readers will like Rob Rufus. If talking about the Holy Spirit makes you feel 'uncomfortable' you probably won't be down with Rob. If you don't believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and what that entails then you probably won't love him. If just hearing someone say the word 'glory' puts you on edge you might not be a fan. If you can get pass that (if it even bothers you, which it shouldn't otherwise you will have a hard time reading Acts [oh snap!]) then I would recommend checking him out. I think I've read that at least one point he was a Calvinist and I'm pretty sure he is what you would call a Charismatic Calvinist (yes, we exist). I can say that he puts heavy emphasis on the Word and knowing the Word and applying the Word. His two main topics of preaching tend to be grace and gifts. I don't agree with everything he says, but, then again, I don't agree with everything I've heard Piper, Washer, Driscoll, or anybody say.

Rob is pastor of City Church International in Hong Kong and studied under Terry Virgo, founder of Newfrontiers. You can find his sermon archive here (I recommend starting with A Special Series on Grace Part 1) and read Adrian Warnock's interview with him here.

I have been trying for a while to find a video with a good chunk of sermon but haven't really been able to find any that really capture it. Most of it is out of context or just super short. Here is a short video I found of him just speaking after a conference.



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The Mission field is coming to you

To quote Paris Reidhead slightly out of context, "Wake up, you sleepy Christians! Wake up!"




Here is on missions agency that works exclusively with Muslims:

Frontiers


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John Piper "Why Memorize Scripture?"

Paul Washer on false teachers and truth

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Always a fun conversation

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