Presenting Academic Papers

For any interested in presenting academic papers in the near or distant future, I thought this might be a helpful link to catalogue.

Wright Responds

Curious about what Wright thinks about Carson, Piper, and Moo? All that and more here.

(HT: Jim Hamilton)

Keller on Contextualization

This is hands down the best thing I've heard on contextualization so far. Tim Keller audio from Covenant Seminary: Part 1 and Part 2. These two are must listen to's.

Gathercole and Williams on the NPP

If you haven't seen it yet, the latest 9 Marks Interview is with Simon Gathercole and Pete Williams, both Cambridge boys now, formerly of Aberdeen. The topic? The New Perspective on Paul. Both of these guys a great scholars and typically handle the issues in a balanced and fair way, and you can count on the fact that they've done there homework. Gathercole did his PhD under Dunn and dealt with the topic too, which always heightens the interest.

Dever on Evangelism and the Gospel

Justin Taylor has posted links to some free Sovereign Grace MP3's of Mark Dever that have led to his most recent publication on evangelism. If you've ever listened to Dever, talked with him or read what he's written (and I've been blessed to do all 3) you'll know he is a gifted "evangelist" (gosh I hate to use that term) who's incredibly sensitive to the Spirit's moving. Good stuff I wanted to link to for my own benefit.

ETS Online AND Searchable

Ok, HT to Justin Taylor (who's been HT'd here enough times that I'm not going to even make it a hyperlink) who in turn has HT'd Phil Gonz (see taylor's page for an HT to him). Bottom line is: I wanted to be able to find this one again without having to save it to my favorites. So, here it is - hundreds of ETS papers online, categorized and searchable.

Lectures on Biblical Theology

While 50% of my posts are already hat tips to Justin Taylor, Mike Bird and Scot McKnight, this ones was just too good to pass up. Creation to New Creation: An Introduction to Biblical Theology is 16 lectures by David Peterson of Oak Hill College that will fill the hefty lacuna some of you may have experienced in your academic studies.

And since I'm hat tipping Taylor already, those of you in Chicagoland ought to keep in mind JP will be speaking on Campus at Wheaton. Apparently "double barrell" was already booked elsewhere....Bruno, shame you for not getting the word out :-)

A Prayer List for your Pastor

Scot McKnight recently listed some statistics about pastors that would and probably should be easily converted into a prayer list for your pastor. Scary stuff.

Piper Online

Justin Taylor has helpfully pointed out here that all of the workshops Piper offers at Bethlehem now have all the audio and class notes online. I'm sure it's old news in the blogosphere by now, but I still thought it was worth linking to here.

Philosophy of Ministry and the Gospel Coalition

While I know every student of the Scriptures and aspiring teacher/preacher/theolgian/exegete/etc ad naseum is supposed to develop their own philosophy of ministry, I've given serious consideration in recent days to jettisoning mine. Why? Because I read the Gospel Coalition's Theological Vision for Minstry. Yeah, I admit anything with the word coalition in it sounds pretty cheesy, but the substance of this document is outstanding. Sure you might nit pick with fine points here and there, but as for me an my house...

If you're interested in hearing some of these points developed a little more thoroughly, I reccomend going to the Resurgence Podcasts and listening to everything and anything Tim Keller. I've been doing that anyway and when I read the Theological Vision for Ministry stuff, I thought "Hmmmm...this sounds awfully (or should I say delightfully) familiar." Keller stuff is all over this document...and that's a good thing. I also added the Gospel Coalition to my links in the side bar with the same disclaimer.

More Driscoll Audio

I found these six lectures posted various places on the web, but first on Kevin Cawley's blog (who's background pic alone might make you want to move to Vancouver). I believe they're from the Acts 29 Bootcamp for church planters and Driscoll is addressing the Church, Gospel and Culture. I found them fascinating and insightful for a perspective on a culturally engaging approach to pastoral ministry (happy Baylor? I got around the HT :-)

Interview with Driscoll

Mike Corley interviews Driscoll regarding the contours of his life and ministry. Though the interviewer sounds like and employs some fundie ideology (listen for the catch phrases) overall Driscoll's responses are gracious and interesting.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

More on Bad Words and Foul Language

This time it is what you think. Much conversation has taken place in the last few years about cussing Christians, particularly in relation to the emerging church conversation. I've neglected posting links in the past, primarily because I was too lazy. However, this time I decided not to pass up the opportunity. Here's a link to some thoughts by Tall Skinny Kiwi (an EC guy himself) on Offensive Language: I Think my Mother Taught Me.

(HT: Jesus Creed)

Barth Blog Conference

Kind of a pre-conference conference (prepping the blogosphere for the upcoming conference at Princeton) you can enjoy what may very well be the first conference hosted in the blogosphere. All that and Karl Barth - interesting stuff! Read it here and add it to your google reader list.

(HT: Faith and Theology)

The Serenity Prayer

Now that's a blog post I thought I'd never pen. I came across the full serenity prayer tonight on someone elses blog and I thought I'd post it here for several reasons: 1) I really needed it (albeit for different reasons than it's original context) 2) I never knew who wrote it 3) I never heard more than the first paragraph. I always thought the first paragraph was a bit stoic and fatalistic (not to mention cheesy). Though I've been accused of being both (or all three technically) it was still too much for me, but set in it's full (dare I say canonical) context, it definately takes on new significance (meaning?). Here it is:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

–Reinhold Niebuhr

Almost sounds a bit Christian Hedonistic...

(HT: iMonk)

Beale on Romans 9

If you didn't see this last week on Justin Taylor's blog, you may want to see this article on Romans 9 -- it may very well be one of the best things to come out of the '80s. Now I know after the Kostenberger debacle, I said I'd never post a link again until I'd read it; however, I think I can get away with this exception for 2 reasons: 1) Beale's a great exegete and I know his general disposition towards things reformed 2) Towards the end of the essay I read this sentence: "The results of this study lend support to the idea that there is an equal ultimacy or parallel between election and reprobation in terms of unconditionality." If that's the conclusion, the exegesis MUST be great :-)

Just What I Need

Want to read Freakonomics or The World is Flat or any other well know bestsellers, but don't have the time? See if there's a summary on Wikisummaries, free online book summaries in the Spirit of Wikipedia. Perfect for readers like me :-)

Pastoring vs. Professoring

I know this is a"dilema" I've wrestled with and continued to wrestle with and one that I think is not all that uncommon for seminarians. Of course, the ideal is the both/and, but McKnight has given some helpful thoughts on the topic here.

Ode to Google Reader: A Psalm of Repentence

Okay, so maybe this reads more like prose than poetry, but if you're reading more than three blogs even semi-regularly and you're not using Google Reader....you're in sin. And I'm just barely joking - probably about 99% serious (it violates Paul's command regarding redeeming the time :-) Now I admit I have been the chief of sinners in this field, having ignored and put off the admonitions and confrontations of many a blogging friend whether the rebuke came in the form of personal testimony (on their blog) or private conversation. Nevertheless I publically repent in sackcloth and ashes and hereby testify urging anyone out there to flee the wrath to come and get thee hence to Google Reader (that is if I'm not the last blogger to make the switch).

Work Smart, Not Hard

This advice was given to me at one of my first jobs and has stuck with me ever since. If you haven't seen this already, Danny Zacharias has gone a long way in pointing out some great ways to implement the internet to do just that in The Wired Scholar. Still not convinced? Are you sick of typing bibliographies and too cheap to buy citation? I am (and was) and for once procrastination has paid off - one of the tools Zacharias points out is OttoBib. All you have to do is input the isbn number (which you could always find online) and....presto...it generates a bibliographic entry for you in either MLA, APA or most importantly Turabian. And that's just one of the tools....

(HT: Mike Bird)