By Greg Gibson

The New Calvinists
This is not your grandparent’s Calvinism! A good analysis of the new Calvinsts, followed by some interesting discussion. The New Calvinism Considered by Jeremy Walker

Schreiner: Salvation Promises and Warnings Harmonized
“I have argued in this book that the warnings and admonitions in the Scriptures have a particular function. By them believers are warned against departing from Christ and the gospel. If they do apostatize, then they will face final damnation….It is by means of taking the warnings seriously that the promise of our salvation is secured.” Assurance, Perseverance, and the Warning Passages of Scripture by Justin Taylor

“One of the most difficult issues in reading the scriptures is explaining the tension between warning passages and texts that promise assurance.1 On the one hand, the warning passages, such as are found in Hebrews, James, or Revelation 2-3, are incredibly severe, even frightening. They seem to warn believers that if they abandon the faith, continue to do what is evil, and fail to persevere until the end, the only prospect is eternal judgment and hell. On the other hand, the texts on assurance, such as John 10:28-30, Romans 8:28-39, and Philippians 1:6, seem to guarantee that God will continue the good work that he has started in believers, and he will see to it that those whom he has elected to salvation will make it to the end…for I am persuaded that the scriptures do teach unconditional election, and that God’s electing and sustaining grace is such that his sheep will never perish. They never perish precisely because they listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice which effectively admonishes and warns them lest they fail to follow him and perish.” Perseverance and Assurance: A Survey and a Proposal by Thomas Schreiner

“’Once saved, always saved.’…But is that the central theme of the New Testament’s teaching on perseverance?…Schreiner continually points the reader back to the Bible, the cross and Jesus’ perfect righteousness to answer the objections to his view of perseverance. Thirdly, this view of perseverance gives the warnings found in the New Testament their teeth back, while at the same time granting comfort and assurance to the believer. The warnings are shown to be one of God’s tools to keep us running the race and fixing our eyes on Jesus.” Run to Win the Prize by J.J. Sherwood

10 Evangelism Starter Questions

“1. When you die, if God says to you, “Why should I let you into Heaven?”, what would you say? Are you interested in what the Bible says about your answer?
2. If you were to die tonight, where do you think you would spend eternity? Why? Are you interested in what the Bible says about this?
3. Do you think much about spiritual things?
4. How is God involved in your life?
5. How important is your faith to you?
6. What has been your most meaningful spiritual experience?
7. Do you find that your religious heritage answers your questions about life?
8. Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs? If what you believe were not true, would you want to know it? Well, the Bible says…
9. To you, who is Jesus?
10. I often like to pray for people I meet; how can I pray for you?” Ten Questions to Ask to Turn a Conversation Toward the Gospel (HT:9M) by Don Whitney

3 Numerical, Gospel Errors
“Graham Cole notes that there are three ‘ways to spoil the gospel’”
1. addition
2. subtraction
3. disproportion” Three Ways to Spoil the Gospel by Andy Naselli

The Victorious Life Defeated
Perfectionism, Higher Life, Victorious Life, Deeper Life, Abundant Life, and Spiritual Christians: What do these views of sanctification all have in common? They give the unregenerate false assurance, rely on spiritual experiences, view sanctification as instant instead of progressive, and lead to pride for the “haves” or frustration for the “have nots.” KESWICK THEOLOGY: A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF THE DOCTRINE OF SANCTIFICATION IN THE EARLY KESWICK MOVEMENT by Andy Naselli

Typology Defined in One Sentence
“Typology: The idea that persons (e.g., Moses), events (e.g., the exodus), and institutions (e.g., the temple) can—in the plan of God—prefigure a later stage in that plan and provide the conceptuality necessary for understanding the divine intent (e.g., the coming of Christ to be the new Moses, to effect the new exodus, and to be the new temple)” .Defining Typology in One Sentence by Justin Taylor

34 Bible Software Programs
16 New Bible Software Tools and Methods
5 Commercial Bible Software Programs
6 Free Downloadable Bible Software Programs
7 Free Online Bible Software Programs
New Ways to Study the Bible by Tyndale House

Bible Translated Into Every Language in 15 Years
“A Christian endeavor of almost 2,000 years could be substantially completed by 2025. Protestant translators expect to have the Bible — or at least some of it — written in every one of the world’s 6,909 spoken languages…Portable computers and satellites get the credit for speeding things up by about 125 years….About 2,200 languages remain without a Bible. About 350 million people, mostly in India, China, sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, speak only these languages. Working on this “to-do” list are about 6,600 career and short-term missionaries with training in the Bible and linguistics.” Bible translators hope to have every language covered in 15 years by The Denver Post

90% of Southern Baptists Unregenerate?
“Although the Southern Baptists claim 16,228,438 members, on average only 6,184,317 people (guests and non-member children included), a number equal to only 38% of the membership number, show up for their church’s primary worship meeting (usually Sunday morning)…In the average church you can cut the 38% Sunday morning attendance by about two-thirds or more when counting those interested in a Sunday evening service…the number of Sunday evening attenders was equal to only 12.3% of the membership (in churches that had an evening meeting)…And remember that the numbers of those attending include many non-member children and guests, often making up a third of the congregation’s main meeting attendance. When all factors are considered, these figures suggest that nearly 90% of Southern Baptist church members appear to be little different from the ‘cultural Christians’ who populate other mainline denominations…We might reverse some of our proclivity to continue as normal if we introduced our preachers more accurately in our evangelism meetings and convention settings. Try using this introduction: ‘Here is Brother ______, pastor of a church of 10,000 members, 6400 of whom do not bother to come on a given Sunday morning, and 8600 of whom do not come on Sunday evening. He is here to tell us about how to have a healthy, evangelistic church.’ It might be better to ask a man to speak who shepherds 100 members, all of whom attend with regularity and all of whom show signs of regeneration—a man who, in the last year, has baptized 5 people who stick” Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination by Jim Eliff

Charles Darwin’s Wife: His Mental Problems From Guilt
“Darwin’s many psychological or psychologically influenced physical health symptoms included severe depression, insomnia, hysterical crying, dying sensations, shaking, fainting spells, muscle twitches, shortness of breath, trembling, nausea, vomiting, severe anxiety, depersonalization, seeing spots, treading on air and vision, and other visual hallucinations…The physical symptoms included headaches, cardiac palpitations, ringing in ears (possibly tinnitus), painful flatulence, and gastric upsets,,,Others, including Darwin’s own wife, argued that his mental problem stemmed from guilt over his life’s goal to refute the argument for God from design” (GG: Beware how the author redefines sin as mental illness and psychiatric disorders. God’s Word is sufficient for our mental problems.) Was Charles Darwin Psychotic? A Study of His Mental Health by Jerry Bergman, Ph.D.