Friday, September 28, 2007

When Sin Looks More Enjoyable Than God: A Sermon by Francis Chan

This message has deeply impacted my life.


For more on Francis Chan see here.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Scandal of World A

Presently, more than 70% of Christian effort and ministry is directed at people who already profess to be Christians, while less than 5% of our total missionary activity is focused on those who have never once had a chance to hear about the good news of the Gospel. This is the scandal of World A. To learn more about the shape and response to this scandal, visit "The Scandal of World A."

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Christianity in China

John Piper in his latest Taste & See letter, talks about the spread of Christianity in China, and how it started with one faithful man named Robert Morrison. He challenges us that we can not measure the significance of our life and labour for Christ in our own life time, and says that "None of us is indispensable to the great cause of Christ."

He also links to a four part video series avaliable online for free called "The Cross: Jesus in China" produced by Chinese documentarian Yuan Zhiming. He interviews many of the leaders of this revival. Go to ChinaSoul to watch.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

A Wake Up Call to Canada: Mark Driscoll Speaks to the Evangelical Church

Please watch this video or listen to the audio from reFocus 2007, and prayerfully ask what God would have you do.


After you have watched it, also prayerfully consider going to reFocus 2008 featuring Bruce Ware, D.A. Carson, R. Kent Hughes, David Short, and John Neufeld.
New Perspective on Paul Discussed and Critiqued in Christianity Today

Dr. Simon Gathercole senior lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen and recently appointed as a lecturer at the University of Cambridge has written an excellent article in Christianity Today explaining and critiquing the NPP. See the article here.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Entertainment: The Gospel of Avoidance

I know that this has often been true in my own life:

“… In our entertainment-saturated culture we find another kind of gospel, however — the gospel of avoidance. And this gospel is about putting our faith in distractions. We use entertainment to save ourselves from the pain of our lives. Unlike the real gospel, though, the ‘good news’ of entertainment doesn’t truly save us from our problems. It only masks them, helps us repress them. Keeps us from becoming the men God created us to be.

Rather than going to the cross, many of us take our wounds to our computers, TVs or game consoles and say, ‘Here, you take them.’ And all these technologies oblige … for a time. At some point, though, we have to press the off button, go to class and face the challenges of the world outside our entertainment bubble. What do we do then? Distract ourselves to such a degree that we haven’t got the time to ponder what’s really going on in our lives?

That’s the gospel of avoidance. And for too many of us, it’s our only saving grace. …”


- Matthew John, Entertainment: The Gospel of Avoidance

Thanks to The Shepherd's Scrapbook for the quote.

Quote of the Day: Martin Luther

“Learn to know Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him, and say, ‘Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and given me what is yours. You have become what you were not so that I might become what I was not.’” - Martin Luther

Thanks to The Shepherd's Scrapbook