God’s hears some prayers of unbelievers

A few days ago, I was reading a debate on whether God hears the prayers of an unbeliever. Here is the kind of prayers from an unbeliever that the Lord hears and answers: Tom Martin Testimony on Vimeo on Vimeo. Let this also serve as a guide for our own praying for the unsaved! HT: […]

Grab bag

Found around the internet in the past week — C. J. Mahaney blogs about “The Pastor and Personal Criticism.” But it’s not just pastors who need to understand the role of criticism in their lives (to produce wisdom and maturity). We can all benefit from the criticism we receive: If we could mature in wisdom […]

The meaning of Christmas

Looking for a way to introduce the topic of Christmas to your unbelieving family and friends? This video may be a good conversation starter: [HT: Justin Taylor] You might also consider a list of questions that Don Whitney has provided to stimulate spiritual discussion at Christmas gatherings.

Grab bag

A few things spotted on the web that have caught my interest of late: I’ve been thinking more about the relationship between social justice and evangelism lately. Here is a brief video interview with John Piper on the topic. The Gospel Coalition has several brief articles on the same topic of social justice and evangelism […]

Is it possible to be culturally cool and still effective for Christ?

Phillip Jensen asks Mark Dever the question, “How do you see the culture affecting us negatively?” Most helpful statement: “We can’t fall prey to the lie that we’re going to figure out a way to follow Jesus with there being no cost. We’re not going to figure out a way that people are not going […]

What are the odds?

I received this from our missionary in France. The conclusion might be a little surprising.

Sunday Leftovers (6/27/10)

Okay, I didn’t preach on Sunday, but appreciating what Jack said about missions and evangelism, these two statements came to mind in the past couple of days (one is an expansion of a quote he gave in his message): All of the early Christians were missionaries. They did not leave the evangelistic task either to […]

An exhortation to evangelize from an unlikely source

This video has been on the internet for a couple of years, but it is worth watching again. Penn Jillette is no believer, but he is right about what he says about evangelism — “how much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize?” Watch the video:

Every man is a missionary

Thinking about the spiritual gift of evangelism as I was preparing for Sunday’s sermon on Eph. 4:11-12, I came across this statement from Thomas Chalmers, who reminds us that spiritual gift or not, obedience to testify to the gospel of Christ or not, every individual is still a missionary: Every man is a missionary, now […]

Worship and missions

In what may be the best paragraph to begin a book on missions, John Piper writes this: Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the […]

Book Review: Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ

Title: Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton Author: John Piper Publisher: Crossway, 2009; 126 pp. $17.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): In college and seminary I had very little affinity for history or biography. Now I naturally […]

The reluctant evangelist

Are you reluctant to evangelize? You’re not alone. And Mark Dever’s book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, has been written to help you. He talks about the book to The Briefing.

Book Review: John Calvin

Title: John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology Editor: Burk Parsons Contributors Include: Jay Adams, Jerry Bridges, Sinclair Ferguson, Michael Horton, Steve Lawson, John MacArthur, Philip Ryken Publisher: Reformation Trust, 2008; 257 pp. $19.00 Recommendation (4-star scale): This year, in honor of the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth, I have focused more […]

Grab Bag

I few ideas and items that have passed through my mind in the past few days: I have been listening to the audio from the recent Resolved Conference. While the conference is designed for college students, the messages are appropriate for everyone. This year’s conference addressed the topic of sin, and the messages are particularly […]

Recent conference audio

I have recently listened to the majority of the audio from two recent conferences; both of these sets are worth hearing. The Bethlehem conference featured Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, addressing the topic of evangelism (which was also the topic of a recent book by Dever). The Sola conference addressed the reformation […]