summer reading...

As many of you head home for the summer, or even as you stay in town, you are more than likely going to have some extra time on your hands. Let me encourage you to use those moments wisely. Before you know it, the fall will be here with work and school and VFC and papers and finals and everything else that goes with it. Seize your summers to grow in godliness and the Word!

One recommendation is to read Mark Dever's new book, "The Message of the New Testament". This book walks thru an overview of all 27 books in the NT. Imagine coming back to school next fall with a clear grasp of each book of the NT. Incredible! Or, you could come back with 2700 hours of Xbox College Football under your belt, and an additional 15 pounds from all the twinkies you ate (not that this won't happen while you read?).

Let me highly recommend you go ahead and plan out what you would like to read. Don't wander into the summer with no clue and no plan. As I once heard someone say, "If you fail to plan, plan to fail." Profound.

Here is an excerpt from Mark Dever's introduction to his book:

"The New Testament tells the story of how all the promises made in the Old Testament were actually kept. And as we understand what God is doing in the grand scheme of history, our own disappointments and hopes will begin to fall into perspective."

"The first question that must be addressed concerning the New Testament is, did the deliverer whom God promised in the Old Testament actually come? The New Testament answers that Old Testament question with a resounding yes! And he is not just an ordinary human deliverer, he is God come in the flesh. The one and only Son, Jesus, perfectly displayed the Father, so that God's people might know him and be delivered from their sins. The New Testament squarely focuses on Christ. He is the heart of it all. He is the center of its message."

Enjoy.

Together for the gospel....

this week, I'll be at this conference listening to John Piper, CJ Mahaney, RC Sproul, John Macarthur, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and Al Mohler. I know, I know, sounds pretty rough.

Tim Challies will be live blogging from the conference with updates, notes from messages, etc.... You can follow the action live by going here.

Also this week is the final VFC of the school year. We'll be hearing from some of our interns for next year! And, Saturday is our End of the Year Bash, featuring the band Ballroom Dancing and a ton of other exciting activiities. Come check it out 2-10 at the church building.

Hope you have a great week!

Charles H. Spurgeon...

I have stated before that Mr. Spurgeon is my historical hero. I'm not sure how everyone having a "historical hero" got started, but I suspect C.J. Mahaney is somewhere at the root of it. Anyway, now that I have one, I hope that everyone gets one because it rocks. Let me appeal to you to go ahead and make Spurgeon yours.

I just began reading a new series of sermons done by Spurgeon titled "Majesty in Misery." It was put together by banner of truth and all the sermons are "hand selected sermons by Charles Spurgeon on the passion of Christ." That is the line that sold me on these books. Spurgeon on the cross is where he is the best!

Let me wet your appetite for these sermons with a few quotes (I'm only 3 chapters in, so these quotes are some of my favorites so far):

"I charge you by Gethsemane, my brethren, if you have a part and lot in the passion of your Saviour, love him much who loved you so immeasurably, and spend and be spent for him."

"The world is sick, it grows worse: and the physician says that its malady has come to a climax, it is a case of kill or cure. There was a crisis in the world's disease, and that crisis was when Christ died; his death was the turning point, the hinge of the world's history...the cross of Christ was the hinge of the world's history."

"A Christ-rejecting world is a doomed world; may none of you belong to that world."

"Christ on the cross has become the great magnet attracting men to himself."

"Christ is the centre of mankind."

"Let us not have convulsed religion, but let us have stongly fixed principles, knowing what we have to do, and why we do it, and then, like the Saviour, let us go forward, expecting difficulty, expecting loss, expecting ridicule, but willingly facing it all for his dear sake, as he, on his part, endured even the cross for our sake."

More to come later.

thanks for stopping by, but leave....

If for some reason you have stopped by my blog (which you have if you are reading this), please immediately check out the Together for the Gospel blog. It is the one blog I try to keep up with each week. The discussion between this four men is an education on biblical fellowship, a gospel-centered life and ministry, and how to encourage each other daily.

Enjoy.

evangelism and gender...

Randy Stinson, executive director of the council on biblical manhood and womanhood, did an article on why gender issues are important to our evangelism.

Here is a link to the article.

And here are his main points.

Title: The Connection Between Evangelism and Gender Issues

1. Standing for the truth in any area is essential to Christian integrity and gospel witness.

2. Living out biblical principles of proper gender relationships demonstrates the wisdom and goodness of God’s design

3. The manner in which we love one another demonstrates our position as children of God. (1 John

4. Church planting and evangelism is affected by a proper understanding of gender

5. Pastoral leadership and gender issues affect evangelism

6. The encroachment of theological perversions will continue to erode the family and the church if we do not continue to contend for the truth.

I would encourage you to check out their website and to read some of their material. I think it's very important in our culture where the roles between men and women are quickly being blurred.

Enjoy.

religion in US...

I love maps. I really do. I have often spent hours looking over maps of the US, national parks, interstate systems, etc...

Maybe that is why I found this website fascinating. It has maps of the US with different religious views. I think you will see why "southern" and "baptist" often go together. You can check it out here.



Enjoy.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

dominoes?

This is a funny post I read on World Magazine.

Maybe we should start a VFC annual domino tournament.

"ESPN's domino theory
With poker coverage saturating the cable airwaves, networks are looking to cash in on the next big sports programming trend. ESPN believes it will be dominoes. A member of a New York dominoes club says, "We always thought of it as a game to pass the time, but it does have all the elements people love: the competition, the trash-talking, the color, and it's old school."

what is the gospel?

CJ Mahaney posted recently on the Together for the Gospel blog about the gospel and the greatest threat to the gospel. I consider this a MUST READ for everyone. His quotes, book recommendations, and wisdom are unbeatable. Please, Please, Please, even if you are a person who never reads links that people post, PLEASE read this post by CJ.

You can read it here!

He quotes Jeff Purswell defining what the gospel is: "“The gospel is the good news of God’s saving activity in the person and work of Christ. This includes his incarnation in which he took to himself full (yet sinless) human nature; his sinless life which fulfilled the perfect law of God; his substitutionary death which paid the penalty for man’s sin and satisfied the righteous wrath of God; his resurrection demonstrating God’s satisfaction with his sacrifice; and his glorification and ascension to the right hand of the Father where he now reigns and intercedes for the church."

The rest of the post is just as good.

For more of CJ on the gospel get "Living the Cross Centered Life".

Enjoy.

Three Dead Guys...

Who Will Rock Your Face Off (TDGWWRYFO...for short). This is the second year we have done this series at VFC. Last night, Jonathan Oldacre, 3-year intern with VFC, did a stellar job speaking on John Owen. I was affected by Jonathan's passion for the gospel, his love for communing with God, and the wisdom he has from spending much time with his Savior.

I wanted to give you some resources if you would like to learn more about John Owen.

First of all, the book he recommended by Kris Lundgaard is called, "The Enemy Within". This is a great introduction into Owen's teaching on the doctrine of sin.



There is also a website which has tons of Jown Owen writings for free. Surprisingly, it's johnowen.org.

Here is John Piper's message on John Owen (written out), that Jonathan mentioned several times last night. Piper titled it, "The Chief Design of my Life - Mortification and Universal Holiness".

Finally, here is a place that you can purchase Owen's book "Communion with God". This is a part of a great series called "Puritan Paperbacks". If you would like to read puritan writings, this is a great resource.

One of the reasons I love this series at VFC, is I love introducing college students to writings and teachings from men like John Owen. John Owen's writings have impacted thousands of Christians, pastors, leaders, etc... It is definitely not an easy read, but the time you invest working your way thru his writings will pay off, I promise.

Enjoy.

VQ videos....

On the VFC website, we have posted all the short videos from the VQ talent show. They are hilarious. You can watch them here. My favorite one is "random movie". And I quote, "You know what, the only thing I'm guilty of is caring too much." Classic.

Also, this Sunday is the LT interest meeting. I love this meeting. If you are interested in serving on the VFC Leadership Team next year, come out this Sunday 7-9 p.m. in the VFC room.

Peace.