New DVD Series Takes You to the Front Lines of Spiritual Warfare

Here is a preview of Dispatches from the Front, a new DVD series which offers an up-close look at what missionaries and pastors are doing in regions that have been traditionally hostile to the gospel of Christ.


Extended preview:


Dispatches from the Front is available from Westminster Books.

This Week in Calvinism - June 8, 2012

• A Muslim has a few questions for Calvinists.
  
  
• 2nd Corinthians in 42 tweets.
  
  
• The recent statement from SBC leaders regarding Calvinism even has Arminian Roger Olson weighing in.
  
  
• While a recent Barna Group survey indicates there is no resurgence in Calvinism, some pastors believe otherwise.
  
  
• What is Calvinism? Drawing from the Canons of Dort, Mike Bergman paints a picture of classical Calvinistic soteriology.
  
  
• John Piper's letter to a 13-year-old on how to delve deeper into the Bible.

Proverbs 18:19

(from the Bureau of Communication)

Pelagianism in the SBC?

One has to wonder when some of the biggest names in the Southern Baptist Convention signed a statement containing the following:

We deny that Adam's sin resulted in the incapacitation of any person's free will or rendered any person guilty before he has personally sinned.

This has raised some serious concerns. John Aloisi writes:

Doctrinal statements mean something. And those who sign them should be very careful lest they end up affirming something contrary to Scripture. The authors of this recent statement claim to be putting forth the understanding of salvation held by the "vast majority" of Southern Baptists. I can only hope they are mistaken in this claim. In addition to disagreeing with the apostle Paul on the issue of original sin, the authors and signers have also staked out a position opposed to the original doctrinal statement of the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1858, the charter statement of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary required all professors to adhere to the Abstract of Principles. Article six of the Abstract affirms that Adam's descendants stand "under condemnation" before they become "actual transgressors." In other words, it affirms that humans are born guilty and liable to condemnation prior to the act of sinning. Apparently, a number of Southern Baptist leaders believe that the Abstract of Principles now lies outside the bounds of the "Traditional Southern Baptist" understanding of salvation.

It would appear some in the SBC are not only ignorant of scripture, they are ignorant of their own history.

Great Bible Reading App for Your Mobile Device

It's simply called ReadingPlan. You can download it and start at any time and progress at your own rate. Here are just a few of the features:

• It can be linked with your favorite Bible app. Clicking on a particular reading will automatically take you to that passage.
  
  
• Your progress can be synced with multiple devices.
  
  
• You can archive your own progress, allowing others to track their own plan on one device.
  
  
• It lets you switch from one reading plan to another without having to start over.
  
  
• Best of all, it's free.

I just downloaded and used it this morning. It's simple, and it works.

This Week in Calvinism - June 1, 2012

(Updated June 2, 2012)

• Rev. Tom Bower laments the rise of a "new fundamentalism," including Calvinism, which he thinks is causing the rapid fading of Christianity in America. Personally, I think it's those like Rev. Bower who seek to "live out a healthy balance between the personal gospel and the social gospel." Last I checked, there was only one gospel. But, then again, I'm one of those "new fundamentalists."
  
  
• Is Calvinism Islamic?
  
  
• When the Bible speaks of things happening in eternity past, such as God choosing us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), we tend to read passages like that too literally. This, according to Jerry Shugart, is the root error of Calvinism. Once we abandon the clear language of scripture, we are free to interpret in a way that fits our theological presuppositions. "Therefore," Shugart writes, "it could be said that God chose us for salvation before the foundation of the world and it could also be said that God did not choose us for salvation until we believed." I must admit, that's a new one to me.
  
  
• The SBC has A group of current and former Southern Baptist leaders have released an official statement regarding the issue of Calvinism, entitled "A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God's Plan of Salvation."
  
  
• David Hankins weighs in on what the SBC they had to say.

Pastor Sent to Prison for Advocating Spanking

I will admit up front that I know nothing about Aleitheia Bible Church or Pastor Philip Caminiti. I had never even heard of them before reading that Caminiti was sentenced to two years in prison for teaching that spanking is biblical.

Yes, this happened in America. Madison, Wisconsin, to be exact.

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi wanted to send a message that "child abuse" would not be tolerated. "What is important to me," she said, "is there was and continues to this day no expression of remorse or repentance for the consequences of those actions, or what the whole chain of events has led the family and the community through."

Again, I will confess to being ignorant of all the facts in the case. Is it possible that there were instances in which parental discipline may have gone too far? Yes, I suppose it is. But keep in mind that the imprisoned pastor was never charged with abusing a child. His "crime" was instructing parents in his congregation to spank their children.

As far as I can tell, no crime was ever committed. Wisconsin law states: "Reasonable discipline may involve only such force as a reasonable person believes is necessary. It is never reasonable discipline to use force which is intended to cause great bodily harm or death or creates an unreasonable risk of great bodily harm or death." I guess it all depends on what a particular court deems "reasonable."

I was reminded of something my own pastor, John Piper, once said about spanking: "I just think spanking is really healthy for children. It is a measured deliverance of a non-damaging act of mild pain that makes the child feel the seriousness of what he's done. It is not beating. It is not abuse. There is a clear difference. The very word "spank" exists because there is such a thing as a loving way to whop a child on his behind or his chunky thigh."

Spanking is "really healthy for children"? There are many people out there who would have a difficult time trying to wrap their minds around that concept. "He's saying parents should hit their children! How barbaric!" Nonsense.

We are designed in such a way that pain actually serves to protect our bodies. The pain a child feels when touching a hot stove keeps his hand from becoming badly burned. Likewise, a quick swat on the bottom can help a disobedient child avoid even worse consequences associated with sinful behavior.

This is a very important issue, and what has happened in Wisconsin should concern Christians everywhere. What many fathers and mothers consider to be a normal, biblical part of parenting could be reason enough for the state to tear them away from their children and throw them into prison.

But, then again, this is a nation that has little use for scriptural truth. What else would we expect?

This Week in Calvinism - May 25, 2012

• Did you know that 1 Timothy 4:10 actually destroys Calvinism? I didn't either.
  
  
• Mark A. Rathel is writing a series of 12 articles this year on the Calvinism-Arminianism debate. The fifth, covering the Calvinist doctrine of particular atonement, is now online.
  
  
• Thomas Booher, blogging at The Tulip Driven Life, shares the eight messages/books that have most impacted his theology.
  
  
• By understanding the ground rules of biblical interpretation, you too can avoid being "converted to the errors of Calvinism."
  
  
• Arminians with itchy trigger fingers had better watch out. Doc Spurgeon is marshal in these here parts.
  
  
• Download for free John Clover Monsma's 1919 book What Calvinism has done for America.

This Week in Calvinism - May 18, 2012

• Biblical Calvinism should evoke a passion for lost souls.
  
  
• The theme for Desiring God's 2012 National Conference is Act the Miracle: God's Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification.
  
  
• How to backslide in nine easy steps.
  
  
• The book of 1 Corinthians in 40 tweets.
  
  
• Read more.

How to Lovingly Rebuke False Teachers

UPDATE: Pastor Scott Rodriguez gives the full story behind the video.

This Week in Calvinsim - May 11, 2012

• The enemy of Southern Baptists is neither Calvinism nor Arminianism, but polarization. Come on, guys. Can't we all just get along?
  
  
• Bobby Grow thinks Calvinism is here to stay in America.
  
  
• Tim Challies with six bullet points on preaching.
  
  
• Introducing the updated Desiring God app for your mobile device.

This Week in Calvinism - May 4, 2012

• Calvinist pastor Chris Roberts has introduced a resolution for consideration at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting seeking unity in spite of theological differences.
  
  
• Greg Forster, author of The Joy of Calvinism, has written a series of articles on evangelicals in politics for Public Discourse. (part 1, part 2, part 3)
  
  
• Relevant features a "debate" on Calvinism in the form of interviews with Michael Horton and Roger Olson.
  
  
• I appreciate an article critical of Joel Osteen as much as the next guy, and this article in Salon makes some pretty good points. But was it really necessary to attack Calvinism in the process? The author writes: "Osteen's serene depictions of God's eternally uptending designs for the fates of individual believers are a sort of inverted Calvinism. Where the Puritan forebears of today's Protestant scene beheld a terrible, impersonal Creator whose rigid system of eternal reward and punishment dispatched many an infant and solemn believer to the pit of damnation, Osteen's God is an intensely personal presence, guiding believers out of pitfalls into inevitable glory and joy — not so much a raging Patriarch as a genial cruise director." That kind of ignorance lends little to journalistic credibility.
  
  
• The gospel shines brighter through the lens of the doctrines of grace.

This Week in Calvinism - April 27, 2012

• Steve Hays asks, "Is Roger Olson pretentious?"
  
  
• The Kentucky Baptist Convention will sponsor a conference on Calvinism in August to take an "objective look at today's most discussed theological issue."
  
  
• Jordan Hall is skeptical.
  
  
• According to Derek Ouellette, "Calvinism offers about as much security to the believer as full blown Pelagianism!"
  
  
• John Piper discusses his future at Desiring God.
  
  
• Seven ways to pray for your prayer life.

Chuck Colson Remembered

This Week in Calvinism - April 20, 2012

• Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan, thinks that what the Calvinist resurgence needs to show more of "is an earnest commitment to global missions."

• Is Calvinism anti-missionary? Absolutely not, but more can be done. "At very least," writes Kenneth Stewart, "this is no time for evangelical Calvinists to be resting on the bare historical record of how our convictions have, in past, promoted missionary sacrifice; we must demonstrate that these same principles are operative now."

• Contemporary environmentalism's greatest religious debt is owed to...Calvinism?

• Anti-Calvinist crusader Kerrigan Skelly isn't interested in discussing his so-called "refutation" of Calvinism. I asked a couple of questions and was banned from posting anything further on his YouTube page.

• How people see Calvinists.

• Would Arminian Martin Glynn ever worship a Calvinist God? Yes, but he wouldn't like it.

• Books Tim Challies didn't review.