The Functional Centrality of the Gospel

Perhaps the most helpful session of the Gospel Coalition is not online (yet?). I did find however that he did a talk by the same title in 2005 which is available on the Sovereign Grace Website. I post that here for you for your mutual edification. I'm not yet sure if he uses this diagram but I'll post it for a visual just in case. If I get more time I'll post more on this.

The Doctor on Homiletics

Lastly, and only lastly, Homiletics. This to me is almost an abomination. There are books bearing such titles as The Craft of Sermon Construction, and The Craft of Sermon Illustration. That is, to me, prostitution.

Preaching and Preachers, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, pg. 118-119

Gotta love the doctor. How true is this.

The Chief End of Preaching

What is the chief end of preaching? I like to think it is this. It is to give men and women a sense of God and His presence. As I have said already, during this last year I have been ill, and so have had the opportunity, and the privilege, of listening to others, instead of preaching myself. As I have listened in physical weakness this is the thing I have looked for and longed for and desired. I can forgive a man for a bad sermon, I can forgive the preacher almost anything if he gives me a sense of God, if he gives me something for my soul, if he gives me the sense that, though he is inadequate himself, he is handling something which is very great and very glorious, if he gives me some dim glimpse of the majesty and the glory of God, the love of Christ my Saviour, and the magnificence of the Gospel. If he does that I am his debtor, and I am profoundly grateful to him. Preaching is the most amazing, and the most thrilling activity that one can ever be engaged in, because of all that it holds out for all of us in the present, and because of the glorious endless possibilities in an eternal future.”

Martin Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 98

"Jesus Wants the Rose"

Self-Sanctification

Frustration as a result of self analysis is usually a clear evidence of "self-sanctification."

John Dyer's Original Language Reader Site

John Dyer, a DTS guy and friend of Joey Woestman, is the creator of this new tool. Basically this is designed to help you learn Greek/Hebrew without punting and resorting to the glosses. It looks really cool. Check it out.

How it works:

1. Go to http://bible.johndyer.name/
2. Enter the reference you need
3. Select only the features you need to read
4. Print and read

His explanation on his blog.

Finally Alive

This is a very important book by John Piper. Whether or not you track with him 100% on Christian hedonism, this book is a must read. It is staggering to consider how neglected the topic of regeneration has been when we consider its importance for the church. Piper does a fantastic job tracing the doctrine through scripture. He answers the questions: What is the new birth? Why must we be born again? How does the new birth come about? What are the effects of the new birth? How can we help others be born again? Pick this book up and read it. Every pastor should.

D.A. Carson says,

I cannot too strongly celebrate the publication of this book. Owing in part to several decades of dispute over justification and how a person is set right with God, we have tended to neglect another component of conversion no less important. Conversion under the terms of the new covenant is more than a matter of position and status in Christ, though never less: it includes miraculous Spirit-given transformation, something immeasurably beyond mere human resolution. It is new birth; it makes us new creatures; it demonstrates that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. All the creedal orthodoxy in the world cannot replace it. The reason why ‘You must be born again’ is so important is that you must be born again."