Sermons We Need: Tim Keller on Gospel Transformation

Last updated on: November 7, 2007 at 9:00 pm By Owen Strachan

One of the most insightful preachers around is Manhattan’s Tim Keller. Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Keller specializes in communicating the gospel in a winsome, relevant, understandable, and perceptive way. The three sermons below will give you a good introduction to his preaching and to his understanding of the gospel. Don’t fear–though a member of the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) denomination, Keller does not often preach for more than 40-45 minutes. Smashing False Idols: Gospel Realisation (mp3) Smashing False... Read more

Preaching We Need: John Piper on Aging for God’s Glory

Last updated on: November 6, 2007 at 2:22 pm By Owen Strachan

“Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” (Proverbs 16:31) I want to take a few days this week and highlight a few messages that contain important truths, truths that the American church very much needs to hear. The first deals with a topic I occasionally bring up on this site: aging for God’s glory. Piper’s message was given at the 2007 National Pastor’s Conference sponsored by the parachurch imprint of Bethlehem Baptist, Desiring... Read more

Introducing the 2008 Band of Bloggers Event

Last updated on: November 5, 2007 at 1:57 pm By Owen Strachan

I have a special opportunity to let you know about a special event coming up this April in Louisville. The editors of Said at Southern, led by Timmy Brister, are hosting a lunch and panel discussion on Christian blogging called the “Band of Bloggers”. Here’s the blurb straight from Brister’s website: “With less than a month before the first Together for the Gospel Conference, I kicked around the idea of having a gathering of bloggers to fellowship together and talk... Read more

The Week-est Link, Nov. 2

Last updated on: November 2, 2007 at 7:23 pm By Owen Strachan

1. A fascinating and helpful interview with Dr. Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and SBC patriarch. A hat-tip to Dr. Jim Hamilton for the link. Hamilton posed a number of excellent questions to his boss, Dr. Patterson, and Patterson answered them with clarity and insight. The debate on contextualization waxes hot in the current day, and the SWBTS president weighs in helpfully, directing us to focus not so much on outward things but on the inward condition... Read more

The Incredible Gift of Adoption: A Personal Reflection

Last updated on: November 1, 2007 at 2:28 pm By Owen Strachan

I recently thought about the great power of adoption when reading a World magazine article (Bethany and I subscribe to World) from the most recent issue on the topic of huge, 14-child families. In reflecting on this piece, I am not attempting to tug your heartstrings, but to honestly share my personal thoughts on it. Adoption is an incredible gift to parents who cannot have children. It is such a difficult thing when couples cannot conceive. It is heart-wrenching to... Read more

The Supposed Evangelical Crackup, and New Areas of Focus and Ministry

Last updated on: October 31, 2007 at 5:04 pm By Owen Strachan

A recent New York Times article explores the changing public face of the evangelical political and social movement. I don’t agree with all of the article’s points, and I’m not sure evangelicalism is quite as divided and defeated as the author claims, especially because there is yet a good deal of time for Christians to sift out which presidential candidate they like and will support. (Good grief, we’re still a year away!) With the unnecessarily alarmist (and celebratory?) tone of... Read more

How Many Services Should a Church Have, Anyway?

Last updated on: October 30, 2007 at 1:46 pm By Owen Strachan

This is a controverted question in the current day. Following from yesterday’s discussion, there are a considerable number of churches today that cut out some of the traditional services–Sunday night and Wednesday night–in order to streamline the church and avoid cluttering the busy calendars of the members. Is this a positive development or a negative one? Well, let me first say that I personally have no problem with a church that has multiple weekly services, meaning the Sunday night and... Read more

Compelling Books: Thom Rainer’s Simple Church

Last updated on: October 29, 2007 at 2:35 pm By Owen Strachan

This is not a book review of Rainer’s 2005 text, Simple Church, but more a reflection based on the book. I will give you a quick summation before I leave you with my thoughts. Rainer, a church consultant and strategist and current president of the SBC publishing monolith Lifeway Books, writes with Eric Geiger, a pastor in Miami, to encourage pastors and church leaders to transition from a traditional, multi-layered, strictly hierarchical, unfocused style of church to a simple, streamlined... Read more

The Week-est Link

Last updated on: October 26, 2007 at 4:56 pm By Owen Strachan

With that title proudly worked out, I can now give you my weekly link roundup. 1. Provocative article by Thomas Sowell on whether prestigious colleges really deliver the education people think they do. There are of courses necessary nuances to Sowell’s argument, but his basic idea sounds right: oftentimes, prestigious institutions of great size offer a subpar education relative to smaller, perhaps less well-known, teaching-oriented universities. A good commentary on the insatiable appetite most of us Americans have for status.... Read more

When the Bell Fell Silent: The Church, the Parachurch, and Christian Witness to the American University, Pt. 4

Last updated on: October 25, 2007 at 1:15 pm By Owen Strachan

Do you have ambition? Do you have energy? Do you have a vision? If you are a young man, I want to ask you those three questions. You should answer them honestly. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not referring in these question to worldly ambition, energy, and vision. I’m talking about godly ambition, Godward energy, righteous vision. Do you have these qualities? If you don’t, are you developing them in yourself? Or do you simply evaluate yourself, find a lack of ambition... Read more