Southern Baptists, Evangelicals and the Future of Denominationalism

Posted by Ray on 7 July 2009, 3:26 pm

This Fall, October 6-9, Union University will host a major conference on the theme, “Southern Baptists, Evangelicals and the Future of Denominationalism.” I referred to this conference in passing previously, but now the conference website is up with details and registration. The conference is timed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Baptist movement and …

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Ministry in Zimbabwe

Posted by Ray on 7 July 2009, 7:43 am

One of the young men at our church, Mike Evans, is serving as an intern this summer at Central Baptist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe and is chronicling his experience at a blog, “Entrusted With the Gospel.” I am finding his reflections encouraging and challenging so I wanted to pass it along. The following is from …

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Bond on Calvin Tour

Posted by Ray on 6 July 2009, 10:21 am

Douglas Bond, whose books my family particularly enjoys, is leading a tour of key places in the life of John Calvin in honor of the 500th anniversary of his birth. Bond is journaling the tour at his blog complete with photos and video. He has recently written a fascinating historical novel on the life of …

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A Shepherd’s Prayer

Posted by Ray on 4 July 2009, 8:03 am

I have mentioned previously here the new church start, Grace Community Church. After their first official meeting as a church, Chad Davis, one of their pastors, sent this prayer to the congregation. I asked permission to post it here as an example of praying Scripture for your people. Scripture (especially Paul’s prayers) provide us great …

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Tolkien’s Roverandom

Posted by Ray on 4 July 2009, 7:28 am

Roverandom, J. R. R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin, 1998), hb.., 106 pp. [various editions available] Ages 7+ This is a fun story to share with your children. It is not a grand epic like Lord of the Rings but a light-hearted story Tolkien spun for his own children. The introduction in this edition is nice because …

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A Minister’s Confession

Posted by Ray on 3 July 2009, 7:15 am

From Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions: God, I know that I often do thy work without thy power, and sin by my dead, heartless, blind service, my lack of inward light, love, delight, my mind, heart, tongue moving without thy help. I see sin in my heart in seeking the …

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Wilson on Authoritative Preaching

Posted by Ray on 2 July 2009, 7:02 am

Here is another excerpt from Wilson’s A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking. Here he is critiquing our current culture’s view of humility and arrogance. “We see the same thing in the conflict between biblical and modern theories of preaching. The biblical preacher is a herald, a steward. He has …

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Doug Wilson on the Wisdom Needed for Giving Sharp Critique

Posted by Ray on 1 July 2009, 7:41 am

I have my disagreements with Doug Wilson (baptism for example). But I have my agreements as well and they are many. I really like reading his material because he will at least give you something worth disagreeing with! You will not be bored and where he sees truth he will press it with fervor. I …

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Tolkien, Read Books Above You

Posted by Ray on 30 June 2009, 11:47 pm

I recently came across a great comment from one of J. R. R. Tolkien’s letters (written in April 1959). Tolkien is advocating reading books with more difficult books to children rather than confining the reading to easier books. Tolkien states: “A good vocabulary is not acquired by reading books written according to some notion of …

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Public Sin Should Cause Us to Beware

Posted by Ray on 30 June 2009, 7:00 am

There has been a lot of conversation about the revelation that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford had been having an affair. I think one of the most important thing those of us at a distance should do in these situations is to take them as warnings to ourselves. The most recent newsletter from Shepherd Press …

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Oversight of Souls

by Ray Van Neste

Archive of entries posted by Ray