Mar 6, 2011
Posted on Mar 6, 2011 in Church Planting, Prayer
How we should pray for church plants (or any church) from 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
- Pray for the gospel to bear fruit. v.3
- Pray for the gospel to bring understanding. v.4
- Pray that the gospel would be proclaimed with power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. v.5
- Pray for the gospel to be received with the joy of the Holy Spirit. v.6
- Pray for the gospel to spill out from us. v.8
- Pray that unbelievers would turn from serving idols to serving God. v.9
- Pray for both patience to wait for the return of Christ and boldness to proclaim Jesus, “who delivers us from the wrath to come.” v.10
Dec 7, 2010
Posted on Dec 7, 2010 in Book Reviews, Books
I have been working through The Theology of B.B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary. I thought this section in chapter 2 was helpful in defining apologetics.
A Right Definition of Apologetics
“Apologetics does not merely teach men how to defend Christianity; if it were only this, then it would belong to the discipline of practical theology. Nor does apologetics set out merely to vindicate Christianity in its various branches of thought, against opposing thought; if it were this, it would presuppose the faith it defends and, thus, properly take its place as the “culminating department of systematic theology.”
So, according to Warfield, apologetics is not merely defense or vindication but the establishment of Christianity.
The function, then, of apologetics is “to investigate, explicate, and establish the grounds on which a theology–a science, or systematized knowledge of God–is possible.” p.65
Theology is not:
- Science of faith or religion.
- Science of the Christian religion.
Rather, theology is the science of God, “in which case it deals with a body of objective facts, truth God has revealed about himself.”
What then, are these principal facts upon which Christianity is built? (p.66)
- The reality of its subject matter
- The capacity of the human mind to receive into itself and reationally to reflect this subject-matter
- The percipient and understanding mind.
Therefore, it is the role of apologetics to establish:
- The existence of God
- The capacity of the human mind to know him
- The accessibility of knowledge concerning him
But certainly, before we draw it [theology] from the Scriptures, we must assure ourselves that there is a knowledge of God in the Scriptures. And, before we do that, we must assure ourselves that there is a knowledge of God in the world. And before we do that, we must assure ourselves that a knowledge of God is possible for man. And, before we do that, we must assure ourselves that there is a God to know. Thus we must inevitably work back to first principles. And, in working thus back to first principles, we exhibit the indispensability of an “Apologetical Theology,” which of necessity holds the place of the first among the five essential disciplines.”
Dec 7, 2010
Posted on Dec 7, 2010 in Articles, Bible Study, ebooks, Resources
I’m writing a series of articles that will soon be published on another site about how Christians can use technology for deepening their bible study lesson preparation and small group leading, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, see this article today from USA Today about the google bookstore that concludes with this quote: “In July, Amazon said sales of e-books passed hardcovers. In a July interview with USA TODAY, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos predicted that e-books would outsell paperbacks — the publishing industry’s volume product — “in the next nine to 12 months. “It stuns me,” he said. “People forget that Kindle is only 33 months old.”"
I have said before that I think that ebooks are what most people will be using to consume books and media in the near future. As I prepare for this series, leave comments with how you are currently using technology (specifically e-readers) for your personal devotions and preparations for leading bible studies.
