New 9Marks Material on Conversion

The new 9Marks eJournal is out, and as usual it offers much to chew on. In lieu of discussing it, I will list the contents below and encourage you to give them a read.  It’s on conversion, and I think it looks great.

• The Beauty of Conversion

  By Jared WilsonHow beautiful art thou, O Conversion? A smitten man counts the ways. Read more >

• His Arm Is Strong to Save: A Trajectory of Conversion in America

  By Owen StrachanHistorical changes in America’s doctrine of conversion show up in all sorts of interesting places. Read more >

• Conversion and the Story of Israel

  By Thomas R. SchreinerThe New Testament doctrine of conversion doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s anticipated in the Old Testament story of Israel. Read more >

• Conversion in the New Testament

  By Thomas R. SchreinerThe promise of redemption becomes a reality in the New Testament—a reality that includes a new covenant, a new exodus, new hearts, and a new creation. Read more >

• Conversion, God, and the Whole Self

  By Stephen J. WellumConversion is absolutely necessary for salvation. Why? Because of what our problem is, who God is, and what the gospel demands. Read more >

• The Corporate Component of Conversion

  By Jonathan LeemanDoes your doctrine of conversion include the body of Christ? If not, it may be time to rethink it. Read more >

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  Book Review: Revival and Revivalism

  Reviewed by Bobby Jamieson“How did we get here?” is a question that is always relevant and often illuminating. Yet contemporary evangelicals don’t ask it as often as we should. In his book Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism, 1750-1858, Iain Murray tells a story that helps explain how evangelicals—Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and more—got to where we are today. FROM REVIVAL… Read more >

• Conversion and your Church’s Architecture

  By Jeramie RinneHere’s what one pastor learned through a blocked building project about the link between doctrine and practice. Read more >

• The Underestimated Pastoral Power of a Proper Doctrine of Conversion

  By Jonathan LeemanConversion unleashes the power of a new creation life, which is the power our people need. Read more >

• How “Belonging before Believing” Redefines the Church

  By Michael Lawrence“Belonging before believing” is an attractive and seemingly effective idea, yet it fundamentally redefines the church. This article offers a better, more biblical way. Read more >

• Concepts of Conversion in the Inner City

  By Shai LinneFrom the Nation of Islam to mainline churches to the beginnings of a theological rebirth, this article canvasses concepts of conversion in the inner cities of America. Read more >

• Testimonies of the Underestimated Gospel

  9Marks asked all the T4G plenary and break-out speakers and panelists to provide us with a one sentence answer to this question: What were the human means and instruments of your conversion? Read more >

• Six Ways to Give Your People False Assurance

  By Michael McKinleyMany people in our churches have a firm but unfounded belief that they are genuinely converted. Here are six ways pastors contribute to that problem. Read more >

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  Book Review: Finally Alive

  Reviewed by Zach SchlegelThe last time I visited my hometown, I received a history lesson from an old family friend at the dinner table. She told us how two churches in our town had multiplied into six over the past fifty years. That might sound like a pretty impressive church planting strategy for a town of 2,000 people, at least until you discover that all this “growth” was due to a number of church-splits. The splits were the result of bitter feuds between families, a stubborn refusal to forgive, and quarrels exploding well beyond the walls of the church. Read more >

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  Book Review: Gospel Clarity: Challenging the New Perspective on Paul

  Reviewed by Nicholas Piotrowski“When will it become clear to the geocentrists?” So asks N. T. Wright in his book Justification, likening those who hold the “old perspective” on Paul’s gospel to anyone who insists that the sun revolves around the earth because that’s what they see looking up in the sky (Justification, 95). THE COPERNICAN ANGST OF N. T. WRIGHT Read more >

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  Book Review: 40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law

  Reviewed by Nicholas PiotrowskiI expect that many Christians might not think that a book with the title 40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law would be that helpful for their daily Christian lives. After all, the lawis not the most enticing subject. Further, we are “not under the law” as members of the new covenant, right? Well-known and widely-respected New Testament scholar Thomas Schreiner would beg to differ. Read more >

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  Book Review: How Sermons Work

  Reviewed by Aaron MenikoffMurray wants the church to benefit from the faithful preaching of the Word of God. You can tell just by looking at the callings he’s pursued as listed on his blog, “Leadership for Servants”: he identifies himself, in order, as a follower of Christ, a preacher of the gospel, and a Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And before joining a seminary faculty he served as a pastor in Scotland. Read more >