Cal.vini.st, is holding a drawing to give a away two copies of BibleWorks 8! I’ve used previous versions, and it is powerful tool for digging into the Bible in the original languages. Many thanks to Nathan Bingham for making available this opportunity!
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Jan
14
2009
Evangelicals and Spiritual FormationPosted by eutychus in Beaver Baptist Church, Books and Other Reading, Discipleship, PastoralReclaiming the Mind Ministries has performed a valuable service in posting papers presented at meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society. The library appears to represent meetings from 2001 to 2005 only, but that still represents hundreds of papers on topics ranging from systematic theology to biblical exegesis to church history to christian counseling and more. As a pastor I am concerned with making disciples at Beaver Baptist Church, and I am interested in the relationship between spiritual formation and the disciple-making ministry of the church. It turns out that there is a spiritual formation interest group in ETS, and the site has 12 papers on the subject of spiritual formation (the site says 15, but some are double-counted). One of the papers that I have found to be helpful is “New Wine in Old Wineskins? The Relationship of Evangelical Thinking on Spiritual Formation and Theological Models of Sanctification” (html, or download the .pdf file here), by Steven Roy, who teaches practical theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In this paper, Roy compares the approaches to spiritual formation of two evangelical scholars: Dallas Willard as described in his book, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God, and Bruce Demarest, represented by his book, Satisfy Your Soul: Restoring the Heart of Christian Spirituality. These approaches (which turn out to be fairly similar) are compared to three evangelical models of sanctification: (1) The Reformed or progressive model, which holds that progress in sanctification occurs over the course of the believer’s life, and which is never complete in this life; (2) the Wesleyan model, which holds that entire sanctification is possible, coming through a crisis experience, subsequent to regeneration; and (3) the Keswick model, which holds that the believer, through a crisis experience, comes to surrender to the work of the Spirit, resulting in a breakthrough, or turning point in sanctification, although entire sanctification is not the result. Roy observes that there is an affinity between the spiritual formation view approach (of both Willard and Demarest), and the Reformed model of sanctification, because there is a common emphasis on lifelong, gradual progress, and because they both are synergistic, that is, they both emphasize cooperation with the grace of God. Roy assesses strengths and weakness in each author’s approach to spiritual formation, and in general is quite positive about benefits of spiritual formation movement in evangelicalism. He concludes:
Jan
09
2009
Overview of the “Emerging Church”Posted by eutychus in Books and Other Reading, Church & Society, Church LifeThe “emerging church” has been attracting a lot of attention for a number of years now. Unless one is willing to do a lot of reading (and I don’t care to), it’s hard to get an idea of what the movement is about. Mark DeVine, who teaches history and theology at Beeson Divinity School, has been following the movement. He is a contributor to a forthcoming book on the movement, and you can download a draft of his chapter titled The Emerging Church: One Movement–Two Streams. I found it very helpful: he concurs with some critics such as D. A. Carson, but notes that Carson has evaluated just one part of the movement. DeVine identifies a “doctrine-averse” wing and an “doctrine-friendly” wing to the movement. DeVine finds much to appreciate in the “doctrine-friendly” wing. If you’re wondering what this “emerging church” thing is all about, this could be a could place to find out.
Jan
08
2009
A Helpful Introduction to the Old TestamentPosted by eutychus in Beaver Baptist Church, Biblical Theology, Books and Other ReadingOn Sunday evenings at Beaver Baptist Church I am teaching a survey of the Bible. I got the idea from The Story of a Kingdom, a survey of the Bible using principles of biblical theology. The author, Jonathan Gibson, credits a number of books on biblical theology, including Graeme Goldworthy’s According to Plan, William Dumbrell’s The Faith of Israel, and Tim Chester’s From Creation to New Creation, all of which are excellent. You can particularly tell the influence of Goldsworthy. The only shortcoming for my purposes is that his course is designed for students of English as a second language, thus the lesson outlines are somewhat simple. So I decided that I would supplement the lessons with my own reading. One resource that I have found to be quite helpful is book that I feel deserves a wider reputation: Yesterday, Today and Forever: The Continuing Relevance of the Old Testament , by Larry Helyer. It is not a comprehensive survey, but it treats a number of key periods in the OT and key themes. The Table of Contents will give you the idea:
This post hardly qualifies as book review, since I am currently reading chapter 5 on the Exodus. But I can testify to the book’s helpfulness. For example, in chapter 2 on the Creation, Helyer has a very even-handed discussion of the various approaches to the issue of Genesis chs. 1 & 2 and modern science. (For the record, I am an “Old Earth Creationist”). I like a number of his charts and tables, which I have utilized in my handouts, and each chapter has a useful bibliography for further study. Helyer is familiar with the scholarly literature, and yet incorporates it with a very accessible style. It’s a book I will recommend to anyone wanting to get a grasp of the Old Testament.
Jan
07
2009
What Are Spiritual Gifts?Posted by eutychus in Biblical Theology, Books and Other Reading, Discipleship, PastoralYesterday, on the way home, I started yet another book: What Are Spiritual Gifts? Rethinking the Conventional View, by Kenneth Berding, professor of New Testament at Talbot Theological Seminary. Berding challenges what he calls the conventional view:
Berding claims that nearly all discussions about the spiritual gifts begin without defining from scripture what a spiritual gift is. That is, all spiritual gifts are assumed to be abilities that are supernaturally given by the Holy Spirit. Here Berding describes an alternative understanding:
Berding asserts that this is not a charismatic vs. non-charismatic issue in that both parties believe that spiritual gifts are abilities given by the Holy Spirit, it’s just that they disagree on whether the Holy Spirit still gives miraculous gifts, such as speaking tongue, prophecy, etc. [p. 29] In arguing for the ministry-assignment view, Berding concedes that some ministries such as prophecy, but not all ministries, would have required a supernatural enablement. [p. 34] Berding argues that in Paul’s usage of the Greek word, charisma, every usage of the word can fit the concept of ministry, and that in a number of cases, that is the only viable meaning for the term. The heart of the book, chapters 5 through 14, lay out Berding’s argument, but I have only read through chapter 7. There are a number of practical implications if this view is correct. For one, there would no longer be any need for believers to seek to discover just what gift or gifts they have been given by the Holy Spirit. The believer merely need to seek where God would have him minister. This could come in the form of some sort of inner confirmation by the Spirit, but it would also be informed by the believer’s identification of needs in the church, and wise counsel from others. In addition, one would not be limited by the lists of so-called spiritual gifts found in Ephesians 4:11, Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; and 12:28-30. They would be taken as a representative, and not exhaustive, list of ministries. [p. 49] I know that in my own preaching and teaching I have emphasized that every on has a spiritual gift that they need to put to use in the kingdom work of the local church. But I have not been helpful in showing how our church members are to identify those gifts. I’m beginning to think that I should modify that to say that every believer has been called to at least one ministry in the local church. I think it would be easier to give guidance to those who respond to such exhortations and who want to know what to do next. As mentioned yesterday, I’m reading Calvin’s Institutes, and finished his Preface to the Reader last night. I’ve begun reading through the Bible (English Standard Version), using a one-year plan called The Daily Reader. (HT: Peter Mead of Biblical Preaching). What stands out about this plan is how they have arranged the Old Testament and New Testament Readings:
You can download a pdf file of The Daily Reading Plan, if you’re interested. Last month at the Desiring God blog, I read John Piper’s recommendation of Leif Enger’s novel, Peace Like a River. I ordered a copy, which arrived last Friday. I’ve been reading it at bedtime, and I’m about halfway through it. It’s well written and it’s a compelling story. Finally, a man in our congregation is reading John Owen on Overcoming Sin and Temptation, in the edition edited by Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor (Kapic wrote his doctoral dissertation on Owen at the University of London). The book is an updating of three of Owen’s works: Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers; On Temptation: the Nature and Power of It; and Indwelling Sin. He invited me to read it and discuss it with him, so I ordered it and it arrived yesterday. This morning I read Kapic’s introduction while commuting on the bus to work. It provided a nice sketch of Owen’s theology of sin and sanctification, and also whetted my appetite to immerse myself in Owen’s writings. Here’s an sample in which Kapic discusses Owen’s insight that we must consider each individual’s personality in detecting how it is subject to sin and temptation:
Jan
05
2009
Reading Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian ReligionPosted by eutychus in Books and Other Reading2009 being the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, there is a wealth of resources pertaining to Calvin and his writings appearing in print and on the internet. This website has inspired me to finally read the entirety of the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1,734 pages, including indices): Blogging the Institutes. You can get a reading schedule from them that will take you through the Institutes in one year, with readings running Monday to Friday. They also have a fine ensemble of bloggers, so I don’t plan to blog about my readings, although you never know. Today is the first day, and it starts out with Calvin’s opening remarks to the reader, which are only 3 pages.
Sep
23
2008
The local church as a “house of prayer”Posted by eutychus in Church Life, Pastoral, Pastoral CareJohn Botkin is the pastor of Bangor Baptist Church in Michigan, and a friend from seminary days. He’s posted an article titled Becoming a House of Prayer and talks about a chapter on prayer he has written for an upcoming book on pastoral ministry. You can download a copy of the draft of his chapter here. I’ve downloaded and read the chapter, and I think it’s very well done. I was challenged to be faithful in my own work of prayer as a pastor, and to lead our church to be a house of prayer. John’s article also contains some helpful suggestions for doing both of these things. Recommended, and not just for pastors.
Sep
19
2008
Speaking the unspeakablePosted by eutychus in Church Life, Discipleship, Evangelism, Pastoral, SBC MattersI’m not always in agreement with Internet Monk, but often he says things that are not only true, but need to be said. In a post titled Evangelism Won’t Cure It, Michael Spencer identifies a perennial source of self-deception among Southern Baptists, namely, that the problem of decline in the SBC would be reversed if only we would become more evangelistic, and therefore, what the SBC needs is an evangelistic campaign that everyone needs to get on board with. Read the whole thing, but here is how Spencer wraps it up:
Sep
17
2008
Are we preaching a “prosperity gospel”?Posted by eutychus in Church Life, Discipleship, Pastoral CareMichael Spencer at Internet Monk, gave me food for thought with his post The “Real” Prosperity Gospel. It is one thing to denounce the “name it and claim it” theology that promises that we can have health and wealth if only we have enough faith to believe God for it. But Spencer responds to a commenter on his blog who suggests that those of us who reject the prosperity gospel often hold to a subtler form of it:
It’s the notion that, even if we are going through tough times, we can still be happy if we have Jesus Christ. That if we ever lose our joy, we are somehow poor Christians. We have to be careful not to teach, or give the impression, that if we are ever discouraged, sad or struggling, something is wrong with us or our faith. God calls us to cast our cares and anxieties upon Him, He doesn’t promise that cares and anxieties with be absent from the lives of faithful believers. |
"Eutychus" by Elizabeth Slovan


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