books

“The Glory of Rescuing Sinners, Not Removing Satan”

December 7, 2009, by No comments yet

Check out this excerpt from Seeing And Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper (download the whole book as a .pdf file for free here).

The title of the chapter is “The Glory of Rescuing Sinners, Not Removing Satan“:

Now without sin and law to condemn and accuse and oppress us, Satan is a defeated foe. He is disarmed. Christ has triumphed over him, not by putting him out of existence, but by letting him live and watch while millions of saints find forgiveness for their sins and turn their back on Satan because of the greater glory of the grace of Christ.

It was a costly triumph. But God’s values are not so easily reckoned. If God had simply terminated Satan, then it would not have been so clear that God is both stronger and infinitely more to be desired than Satan. God wills for His glory to shine forth not only through acts of physical power, but also through acts of moral and spiritual power that display the beauty of His grace with lavish colors. To take sinners out of Satan’s hands by virtue of Christ’s sin-bearing sacrifice and his law-fulfilling obedience to the Father was a more glorious victory than mere annihilation of the enemy.

Religion Saves – Review

August 1, 2009, by No comments yet

A few weeks back, I shared my excitement about a new book, Religions Saves, and Nine Other Misconceptions.

I wrote a few posts since then, talking about individual chapters (1 and 2), but today I’m excited to be on the official blog tour. So, here’s my overall review of the book (and please forgive me if any of this seems repetitive to you):

What do birth control, humor, calvinism, grace, sex, faith and works, dating, the emergent church, and the regulative principle have in common?

Well, ask pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church to write a chapter on each topic, put them together, and you’ve got Religion Saves, and Nine Other Misconceptions.

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Religion Saves: Humor

July 7, 2009, by 7 comments

I had a great time hearing all your thoughts on the birth control discussion last week!

Now it’s time to move on to chapter 2 of Religion Saves – And Nine Other Misconceptions.

In this chapter, pastor Mark Driscoll tackles the 8th most popular question:

Why do you make jokes about Mormon missionaries, homosexuals, trench coat wearers, single men, vegans, and emo kids, and then expect these groups of people to come to know God through those sermons?

Just like last time, I’ll write up a bit on the chapter, but before I do, I want to ask you:

When you think of the Bible, do you think of humor? Why or why not?

What is your favorite example of humor in the Bible?

Ready? Go…

Religion Saves: Birth Control

June 25, 2009, by 21 comments

As I mentioned in the introduction, Religion Saves + And Nine Other Misconceptions addresses the top nine questions submitted and voted on by people around the country.

Each chapter is dedicated to a question and pastor Mark’s answer, and they go in backwards order.

So, chapter one addresses the ninth most popular question:

There’s no doubt the Bible says children are a blessing, but the Bible doesn’t seem to address the specific topic of birth control. Is this a black-and-white topic, or does it fall under liberties?

Last week, I asked you all to share your thoughts on this comment, and boy did you come through!

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Religion Saves: Intro

June 23, 2009, by 3 comments

Look what came in the mail yesterday!

The awesome folks at Crossway and RE:LIT were kind enough to select our dinky little blog here for a free copy of Mark Driscoll’s newest book, Religion Saves – And Nine Other Misconceptions.

One condition: I have to review it here and tell you what I think.

This is a lot like telling a kid that he can have a piece of candy, but only if he promises to eat it, so I’m quite happy to oblige.

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