Desiring God Conference: Francis Chan on Prayer

Don't watch this if you want to stay the same. Don't watch it unless you want your life to be ruined in a good way. Francis Chan convicts my socks off because he always brings me back to the reality of God. Too often we move off the basics to master some complicated theological point, but those basics are colossally amazing. This video so greatly makes me want to be a man of prayer; Chan's example and exhortation drives me to the Father, to Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit!

The Word: 1 John 1:1-4

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life - the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us - that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 


This is my first blog entry that deals solely with a text of Scripture. I am actually quite nervous because I know that teachers will be judged more strictly, though I don't know exactly how that is going to work itself out. I feel inadequate; I feel the weight of my sin; I feel the seriousness of the task. All I can ask is that you would read prayerfully, and it is my hope that constantly your eyes would be drawn away from what I have written and to the bolded Word of God. 

Journey with Jack: Mere Christianity (Some Objections)

Chapter 2 of "Mere Christianity" seeks to answer objections to the idea of the Moral Law as it was established in Chapter 1. A potential objection: "Isn't what you call the Moral Law simply our herd instinct and hasn't it been developed just like all our other instincts?" 

Journey with Jack: Mere Christianity (The Law of Human Nature)

I am currently in a class at Kennesaw State University with a liberal professor who has launched a not-so-subtle attack on the idea of truth. I, of course, want to humbly and courageously speak the words God would have me to speak to her and to our class as a whole. For any who read this, prayer would be greatly appreciated.

There are a couple of ways I want to work on protecting and preparing my mind, especially within such a skeptical, humanist atmosphere. I want to, first and foremost, keep myself tethered to Scripture, letting its words shape me, flatten me, and transform me. Second, I want to read from great defenders of truth. In my readings I find few greater or more creative or more insightful defenders of truth than CS Lewis.

When I visited Nicole (my fiance) most recently, I retrieved a collection I had lent her, "The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics", and I began re-reading "Mere Christianity". This is one of those books that I started reading a while back, would get through a couple of chapters, and would then put it down for six months. I'd then pick it up again, read back to that point, and go a few chapters further. This happened several times, as I chipped away, bit by bit. For those unfamiliar with him, C.S. Lewis is not exactly light reading. He is not as dense as some, like John Owen or Edwards in places, but he requires concentration. That concentration pays off, though.

Pickin' Piper's Brain: Think (2)

One of John Piper's favorite theologians is mid-eighteenth century New England pastor Jonathan Edwards. While Edwards is primarily - and regrettably - known only for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", he is considered by some (like Christian historian Mark Noll) to be perhaps the greatest thinker America has seen. The second chapter of Piper's book "Think" deals with the implications of Edwards' vision of the Trinity for the life of the mind.