As most of you all probably know by now, 2009 is the 500th anniversary of the magisterial Reformer John Calvin’s birth. Many significant and substantial books, articles, and conferences have been issued and planned and will continue for the next year. Among the multitude of books that have been published to honor Calvin, and more importantly, Calvin’s triune God, is this little gem written by John Piper, John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God. The book is comprised of seven chapters and an appendix on …

The panel of Christ the Center recently hung out with Lane Tipton and talked with him about Cornelius Van Til’s Trinitarian theology. You can listen here. Lane did an outstanding job of explaining the relationship between the Trinity and theology as it was found in the writings of Dr. Van Til. This was, of course, also the subject of Dr. Tipton’s doctoral dissertation and certain articles.

This is a beautiful sermon about our exalted Savior Jesus Christ:

HT: Josh
Here is the link to an outdoor concert in Philly where Shai Linne performed! Here is a longer video.

In case you did not know, Desiring God has 46 English titles by John Piper online for free. You can find and download a PDF copy of any of them here. This is a great blessing for those of us who do not have unlimited funds for book buying. I hope you all will make good use of this resource. There are also several in other languages as well.

The amazing thing about Scripture is that it provides so much comfort and instruction by way of example. When Christians are put through trials, or called to suffer, they are not alone. This is one of the primary reasons the writer of Hebrews wrote about the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11. We so often think about Hebrews 11 as the chapter that commends faith that leads to obedience. And while this is certainly true, the entire context is one of testing and trials and obstacles in which faith is …

Rick Philips has done it again! He has provided a very thoughtful and well argued analysis of the problems concerning Rick Warren’s prayer at Barak Obama’s inauguration. You really should read this.

Here is the latest Christ the Center interview. The panel talked with Stephen J. Nichols about his book Jesus Made in America. This was, far and away, the most lively Christ the Center interview.
Dr. Nichols gave us a summary of the book and the panelists interacted with him about the prevalent American Evangelical temptation to make Jesus over in our own image or into the image of some ideal far removed from his Biblical context. The group looked at how Jesus was understood by the Puritans in New …

Jay Adams has posted some thoughts on what the New Testament has to say about guarding against false teaching. You can read it here. The only reference I would only add to the list he provides is Ephesians 4:11-16.

Noel Weeks’ volume The Sufficiency of Scripture provides some very helpful guidelines in regard to the multi-variant issues that arise during the hermeneutical process. Weeks deals with such issues as cultural “Contextualization,” “The Human Element of Scripture,” and “‘Rabbinic’ Exegesis in the New Testament.” When he comes to explain the dangers surrounding the trend to emphasize cultural contextualization–a contextualization centering on the belief that “the fundamental concepts, ideas, and themes of Scripture are shaped by the culture within which the Scriptures were given(76)”–Weeks gives two examples to illustrate …

Did Jesus act at one time in His human nature and at another in His Divine? Is this the way we can reconcile the words of and about our Lord in the Gospels when they seem to contradict one or the other essential attributes of the human or Divine nature? Paul Helm seeks to give (or you might say ‘not to give’) an answer to this all important question. You can read his thoughts here.

You have to watch this video.

HT: Ed Stetzer

The Institute for Nouthetic Studies has a new blog. Jay Adams (or in the words of C.J. Mahaney, ‘Jay-let’s-get-right-to-the-point-Adams’) is featured on it. Knowing Jay’s writing ministry, this blog looks like it will have some excellent posts in the days ahead.

Here is the link to the latest Christ the Center interview. This is the second time that we had the privilege of sitting down with Darryl Hart. The panel sat down with Darryl to discuss his book Deconstructing Evangelicalism. Hart points out that Evangelicalism actually is an umbrella term used to unite conservative Christians from different traditions. There never has been a generic Evangelical. The panel discussed the different senses of the word “Evangelical” and noted that the use of the word today in America is more …

RTS has an annual John Reed Miller Lecture Series. In 2005 they hosted Sinclair Ferguson. Dr. Ferguson gave a series of lectures on preaching Christ and preaching the Gospel. The lectures he delivered were:
Preaching ChristReaching Our StandardsUsing our Grids

Here

Gino Curcuruto is the winner of our John Owen Giveaway. I would be remiss if I did not mention that Derek Thomas was just one number off of the random drawing. Sorry Derek! I guess Seminary Professors don’t get all the free books after all.

Here.

Here is the final list of D.A. Carson sermons and lectures. Again, many thanks to P.J. Tibayan for the hard work of gathering these into one place. Some of the titles over at God is Greater Than All are left off since many of the same lectures are given at different locations:
My Lord and My God (John 20:24-31)Streams of Living Water (John 7:37-39)The Pastor as Son of the Heavenly Father(2008 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors)The Pastor as Son of the Earthly Father(2008 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors)The Pastor as Father of His …

Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church in Highland Village, TX, has started the Dwell Deep blog.

Matt is a very gifted, bold, and biblical preacher whose teaching on church planting can be found at the Acts 29 Website. You can also listen to Matt’s sermons here. A few of Matt’s other sermons are online. They include:
Gravity: The Weight of Pastoring and the Knowledge of ChristPreaching the Gospel in the Center of the Evangelical WorldVision of a Church PlanterQ & A with Matt Chandler and John PiperInterview with Matt ChandlerAdvise …

I have just listened to an excellent lecture by D. A. Carson on the training of future Evangelical scholars. This just goes to show that I do, in fact, read posts by my colleagues here at Feeding on Christ. Carson points out in this lecture (an ETS address going back to the 90s) that there is a need to bring together the various theological disciplines which have been fragmented for various and sundry reasons over the past hundred plus years and there is a need to bring together …

Here is the link to the most recent Christ the Center interview. We had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Philip Graham Ryken about his doctoral dissertation Thomas Boston as Preacher of the Fourfold State.In this interview Dr. Ryken explains the significance of Boston as a preacher, theologian and pastor with regard to his sermons on the fourfold state of man (i.e. man in the state of innocence, man in the state of nature [corruption], man in the state of grace, and man in the state of glory or condemnation). …

Here is the second list of D.A. Carson sermons gathered together by P.J. Tibayan:
Revelation 4Revelation 5Revelation 12Revelation 13 part 1Revelation 13 part 2Revelation 14Revelation 21-22:6Matthew 11:2-19Vision of a Transcendent God Part 1Vision of a Transcendent God Part 2Is the Emergent Church BiblicalOutgoing Imperatives for World MissionThe Cross and Christian Ministry (Acts 17:16-34)Rumors of Resurrection: Is the Jesus of the Bible the Jesus of History?Home Amid the Wounds: Was Jesus a Dying God or the Death of DeathDoubtThe Reliability of the NT Part 1The Reliability of the NT Part 2The Emergent …

Thanks to the diligent work of P.J. Tibayan most of the free D.A. Carson sermons and lectures have been gathered together in one place. Here is the first of 3 lists of all the audio P.J. has posted links to over the last two years:
Trials and Temptations (James 1).2 Samuel 7Isaiah 6Genesis 39Revelation 12 (Aberystywth Conference 1995)Revelation 13:1-10 (Aberystywth Conference 1995)Revelation 13:11-18 (Aberystywth Conference 1995)Revelation14 (Aberystywth Conference 1995)John 3:1-15 (Aberystywth Conference1992)John 6 (Aberystywth Conference 1992)John 1 (Aberystywth Conference 1992)John 11 (Aberystywth Conference 1992)Making Sense of Suffering Session 1Making Sense of …

Here is the link to all the Christmas sermons John Piper has preached over the past 28 years. I would recommend that everyone listens to at least this one.

The latest addition to the Reformed Expository Commentary is a real gem. This series continues to impress me as I work my way through the various volumes. I use them for personal worship as well as for Bible study and sermon preparation. The Incarnation in the Gospels is unique in that it is a topical study rather than a commentary on one book in particular. As the reader should be able to tell from the title, this book concentrates on Christmas season sermons. While I …

Phil Ryken has just written a post, over at Ref21, vindicating his position on women and deaconal ministry. You can read it here.
For those interested, I did make a point to defend Phil on the Bayly blog a few months back since I was at the special Saturday meeting of the Philadelphia Presbytery which was called to consider how to proceed on the request of Liberty Church and their involvement in this matter. While Tenth has women involved in their mercy ministry they do not ordain them to the office …

One of the best things about having entire years of Sinclair Ferguson’s sermons online is the fact that there are many excellent Christmas messages. Below you will find all the Christmas messages Dr. Ferguson preached at First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, SC.:
A Troubling Visitor (Luke 1:5-25)This is His Body (Luke 1:26-32)Around the Manger:Shepherds (Luke 2:1-20)Around the Manger: Jesus (John 1:1-18)Around the Manger: Mary (Luke 1:26-38)Exodus II (Matthew 2:13-23)An Angel’s View of Christmas: What Angels Long to See (1 Peter 1:1-12)Prepared in Ancient History (Matthew 1:1-17)A Teenager’s Christmas (Luke 1 & …

Paul Helm has a new post out for December entitled “Incomprehensibility Made Man.” In typical Helm-like fashion it is a philosophical meditation–this time, on the Incarnation of the Son of God.