John Piper has been getting us all in the mood for his pastor’s conference next week by speaking about the gifts of the Spirit in short videos shared online. Today I want to share the one on healing. Here are some excerpts from it: “I dont see any reason that any [of the gifts] should in principle be eliminated from present experience, at least the possibility of God giving it at any time. So I would say, yes there is... Read more
John Piper has been sharing a series of short videos on him speaking about the gifts of the Spirit. The first was on tongues. I now want to share what he had to say on prophecy. Here are some excerpts to whet your appetite: “I have been significantly influenced by Wayne Grudem’s book on prophecy . . .I think our tendency is to despise what the New Testament treats as prophecy . . . Prophecy in the New Testament doesn’t... Read more
In a few days I will be braving the freezing cold of Minneapollis (or more likely sheltering inside all week!) to attend the Desiring God conference where my pastor, Tope Koleoso will be one of the main preachers. I hope to meet some of you there. Piper has released some video of him speaking about spiritual gifts. The first is on tongues, here are some extracts of what he says: “If you don’t talk about these things they tend to... Read more
I think it is no secret that I am a strong advocate of the use of social media in general, and blogs and Twitter in particular. A while ago I was asked to speak to a room full of pastors about the benefits and risks of social media at the Life in the Spirit conference. By the end of listening to this talk which you can download or listen to, perhaps you will feel ready to make the plunge and... Read more
How easy is it for us to become lop sided in our faith? The answer is very easy! One of the goals I have always had in blogging is to expose myself and others to people who might emphasize different aspects of the truth to us in order that we might grasp the full counsel of God. It is this idea that lays behind some of my “spectrum” posts (see for example my Arminocalvinist, Complementarian-egalitarian, and Charismatic – cessationist posts) Sometimes... Read more
I thought it might be a good idea to sometimes turn this blog over to you my readers to allow you to share ideas or resources. What I am wondering today is what books do you give to people who have either just made a response to the gospel or who seem at the brink of doing so. For today’s exercise I am not looking for books of apologetics that seek to answer the questions of unbelievers. Not am I... Read more
As regular readers will know I have been digging further and further back into the archives of this blog, so now it is time to share some highlights from back in 2007 which in Internet years is decades ago! I have already posted about 2012, 2011,2010, 2009, and 2008. I hope these posts give some sense of the journey that this blog has been for me. It is striking how certain themes are returned to, in some cases something that... Read more
I want to today introduce to my blog readership a new friend of mine, Stephen McCaskell. We have a top secret project we are working on together that will be revealed shortly! Getting to know him I have been impressed with his entrepreneurial spirit, and his enthusiasm that a new generation should be introduced to the prince of preachers. You can and should follow him on Twitter, join his Spurgeon Facebook page, read the Spurgeon quotes page he runs, as... Read more
If you are anything like me, January brings a re-examination of your financial priorities. It is a great month to look back, not just at the extravagances of Christmas, but at where your money was spent the whole year. We have been using iBank to help us in that process. This job of planing a budget for this year, and looking at how your money was spent last year can be both depressing and yet contain pleasant surprises! But, facing... Read more
There are simply no words that express adequately the appalling injustice that lies behind the report below. The Bible is full of instruction to care for the poor. It is full of warnings about how God will act in judgement if we neglect them. And full of promises about how he will come near to us if we will take pity on those who are oppressed. As just one example, in a chapter all about loosing the chains of the... Read more
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