Defending The Faith

The Gathering question series (What is Truth? Who is Jesus? Is there only one Way to God?) Has prompted some good discussion concerning God-centered apologetics. Here are some good resources to get you headed in the right direction, when sharing your faith. Next week pastor David will be leading the discussion, answering the question Who is Jesus? Be there and bring a friend!



The Battle Belongs To The Lord
K. Scott Oliphint

An excellent call to defend the faith from a God-centered perspective, which will constantly lift your thoughts to the think about the greatness of God.










Every Thought Captive
Richard Pratt

The most simple manual on how to do God-centered apologetics.









Always Ready
Greg Bahnsen


Basic Training in learning how to defend the faith. An easy read but a weighty classic on apologetics.

Moore On The Church

Here is another sermon/lecture by Dr. Russell Moore on the church.

You can hear all of his lectures at the 2005 Criswell Lectures here.

Love Is In The Air

I guess its that time of the year! Back to school time and Spring, bring with them the pursuit of soul mates. For some reason or another it seems, during these seasons more than others, we are constantly quizzed on our view of relationship, dating, and pursuing marriage.

Just so you guys don't think my answers are totally crazy, I found someone else who, for the most part, agrees with me. Michael Lawrence, an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church has written an excellent article on the issue of marriage. The article is titled, "Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend!"

While the article is directed at men, the ladies will also be able to deduce some pratical wisdom. The article deals with the selfishness that usually characterizes this issue. Lawrence gives good advice on how to ask the right questions and seek the right things when pursuing a wife.

While I have not read much on the rest of the website, you can access the article here. Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend

As I read the article, I was reminded that much of your frustration in finding a wife could be avoid by remembering to apply the gospel to your relationships with potential mates. Lawrence puts it this way:

The problem of course is that as a single Christian man, not only are you going to marry a sinner, but you are a sinner as well.

From a consumeristic perspective, no woman on this planet is ever going to perfectly meet your specifications. What's more, your unexamined requirements for a spouse are inevitably twisted by your own sinful nature. The Bible reminds us that though our marriages are to be pictures of the gospel relationship between Christ and the church, none of us get to marry Jesus. Instead, like Hosea, we all marry Gomer; that is to say, we all marry another sinner, whom God intends to use to refine and grow our faith in Jesus.

Dr. Moore On Baptism And The Church

When is comes to baptism and the church, college students (even Christian college students) for one reason or another seem to be the most confused. Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, offers clarity on this issue in a sermon he preached at Ninth and O Baptist Church in Louisville.

Listen here. Baptism, The Church, and the Glory of Christ

Also check out Dr. Moore's blog and other resources from the
The Henry Institute

THE TREASURE PRINCIPLE

Lifestyle changing! I am sure all of you are enjoying our study through The Treasure
Principle by Randy Alcorn. Its a wonderful call to begin a new lifestyle of giving with eternity in mind. It calls for us to examine closely our checkbooks. It demands that we use eternal wisdom with every puchase. It should cause us to budget with a strategic game plan to give. Not just give, but sacrificially give. Such a lifestyle is completely freeing!

This week I was blessed by the following section on page 59 of chapter four, where he vividly descibes the freedom in sacrificial giving, freedom that comes from an acknowledgement of the Lordship of Christ over our money. Alcorn writes,

The act of giving is a vivid reminder that it's all about God, not about us. It's saying I am not the point, He is the point. He does not exist for me. I exist for Him. God's money has a higher purpose than my affluence. Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and a greater agenda. Giving affirms Christ's lordship. It dethrones me and exalts Him. It breaks the chains of mammon that would enslave me.

As long as I still have something, I believe I own it. But when I give it away, I relenquish control, power, and prestige. At the moment of release the light turns on. The magic spell is broken. My mind clears. I recognize God as owner, myself as servant and others as intended beneficiaries of what God has entrusted to me.