Loved this…
HT: Mark Meynell
Archive for March, 2008
Good Friday and The Passion
Check out this video, it’s an in-house production by Mars Hill to publicise their Good Friday services, it’s quite graphic, so if you’re a bit squeamish at the sight of blood (well it’s not real blood) then don’t watch it. At the production level it’s awesome, really powerful visually and says it better than words, I’m impressed that any church (even a ‘mega church’) can produce something so professional. Actually, the video is a little bit weird, but it’s well done nonetheless…
I saw on BBC IPlayer last night the first episode of BBC’s The Passion… I thought it was pretty good, both generally as a TV production and in being reasonably true to the gospel accounts. Part 2 tonight, BBC1, at 8.30pm.
Interview with Mark Driscoll
Terry Virgo (well his son, Joel) is currently interviewing Mark Driscoll in the run up to his visit to the Brighton Conference in July, there’s a few parts coming slowly.
Also, I put the wrong link down for the Text and Context talks… click the image below. Still waiting for the Q&A sessions.
Keller, Google, GBC and UCCF
So anyway, a few updates on Tim Keller’s new book, ‘The Reason for God’…
Firstly, TK is on a book tour and he got to speak at Google… they run an event called Authors@Google where authors come in and plug their books… this was supposed to be the best attended ever, with around 150 Google employees coming to listen to TK and do a Q&A. A guy called Justin Buzzard was also there and blogged about it…
Secondly, you can now buy the book in the UK, possibly this is the only, or at least one of the few places that you can get it… and that is from the Good Book Company. It’s the bargain price of £12, or if you have a UCCF Student Card, that’ll be £9! I’m going to get a copy, although I’m secretly hoping this plug along with a little business proposition will persuade GBC to send me a free copy – hey if you don’t ask you don’t get, right?
UPDATE
…also, Tim Challies, ‘The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment‘ is available, same price.
…and Bish thinks I should get a free copy of the book, review copies for bloggers – a good idea!
Text and Context
You can now download the most of the audio and video from the Text and Context Resurgence conference. I didn’t stay up till stupid-o-clock every night to watch them live, so this is good! I’m looking forward to watching the Q&A with John Piper which is reported to be excellent…
Mark Driscoll is a Jackass
Abraham Piper’s blog has this classic bit of audio on from Matt Chandler where he calls Driscoll a jackass and a jerk… in love.
I discovered Chandler a while back through recommendation by Driscoll, he leads a church in Texas called Village Church, I’ve been listening to him the last couple of days on ‘Being a Man’ and ‘Being Salt and Light’, two 3-part sermon series. I’d highly recommend.
Stand with Packer
Let me ask a question… have you heard of Michael Ingham? I’m guessing probably about 40% at most of the people reading this will have. Second question (if you answered yes to the first one), before he started causing trouble by having gay weddings and such had you heard of Michael Ingham? We’re probably down to 5% or less now…
Third question, for everyone… have you heard of Jim Packer? I’m guessing we’re at 90% plus now… that’s because this man has actually contributed something positive to the Church. And it’s not going to be up at 90% because all the people who read this blog come from a similar theological persuasion (although that’s probably true), but I’ve met Anglicans, Baptists, Charismatics, non-Denominationalists, Emergents, Free Churchers, (can’t think of a G)… Liberals, Pentecostals… who’ve all heard of, and at the very least respect Packer, and more likely will speak of how his writings have been of great help to them.
You may or may not know that there’s some rumblings going on in the Anglican church, particularly with stuff going on in the USA and Canada… essentially it’s all about Liberal Bishops denying the authority of Scripture, and the recent outworking of that has been the appointment of practising homosexual Bishops, women Bishops and the blessing of gay marriages. Anyway, Packer and others thought it better to have some oversight (Bishop = overseer) from some Bishops who are actually Christians and actually believe the Bible… their Bishop (Michael Ingham) didn’t like that and wants to remove their licence to be a Vicar. Justin Taylor gives a better explanation here.
Packer and David Short (another vicar facing his licence being removed) have put their thoughts into a DVD and on Youtube, you can see them here… See this one below – Who’s leaving who?
Also, you can see some videos made by Ingham, these make me quite sad, Packer says it makes him “sick”. These videos show some fairly clueless supporters of the Diocese along with the biblically inept Bishop giving some answers… the first thing that makes me sad is the way he misinterprets then along with the audience laugh at Leviticus 20.
Second thing that is sad is that they’re greedy, they’re worried about loosing land and buildings, that seems more of a concern than repairing the schism.
How does the Cross reveal God?
What characteristics of God do we see at the cross?
- Mark 15 - judgement, relationship
- Rom 3:25-26 – generous, justice, patience
- Rom 5:6-11 - love, wrath, reconciliation
- Col 1:13-15 - forgives, gives life, triumphed over powers
- 1Cor 1:23-24 - wisdom, power
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
What is justice? How is God just?
What does atonement mean? What does this tell us about God?
Who were we? Who are we? What are we offered? How do we receive?
How can we pray in light of the cross? (1Cor 1-2?)
Why do we read the Bible?
All-time best seller… not Stephen King, JK Rowling, Philip Pulman… but a by God
The Facts
66 books, but really only 1
Around 40 authors, but really only 1
Written in 3 languages
Written over 1500 years
- It’s true
The Bible agrees with itself
The Bible says it’s true
Thousands of copies and early manuscripts
Archaeology agrees with the Bible
Other books agree with the Bible: Josephus, Tacitus
- It’s from God
2 Timothy 3:16… “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
2 Peter 1:11… “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
- It’s all about Jesus
Luke 24:44… “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
The Centre of History, Centre of the Bible
Why read about Jesus?
Josephus… Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.
Col 1… “He is the image of the invisible God”
John 14:9… “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”
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