Archives For Practical Theology

Why You Should Not Be Dogmatic about All of Your Convictions: Lloyd-Jones on Silk Stockings, Baths, Radios, and More

Andy Naselli —  April 25, 2013 — 2 Comments

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of the greatest English preachers of the twentieth century, and I esteem him highly.

But when he was 24 years years old, he shared some convictions (i.e., firmly held opinions) in March 1924 in a way that I suspect he later regretted. This is instructive for the rest of us.

  • I cannot possibly understand a man who wears silk stockings or even gaudily coloured socks; rings, wrist-watches, spats, shoes instead of boots, or who carries a cane in his hand.
  • The modern method of installing a bath in each house is not only a tragedy but it has been a real curse to humanity. . . . Continue Reading…
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New Dispatches from the Front DVD: The Power of His Rising

Andy Naselli —  April 22, 2013

The newest film in the Dispatches from the Front series is episode 6: The Power of His Rising .

Trailer:

I love these DVDs because they widen my limited perspective on how God is working right now in other places in the world.

My family watched episode 6 a few weeks ago and loved it. It focuses on how a Christian family from South Carolina is spreading the gospel in a “closed” country in South Asia, gaining access with their business skills to operate an excellent coffee shop. Ingenious. Continue Reading…

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Administration : Faculty :: Shaft : Tip of the Spear

Andy Naselli —  April 11, 2013 — 1 Comment

abellIn a recent chapel message at Bethlehem College and Seminary, Jason Abell explains why administration is important.

Jason is BCS’s Vice President for Administration. I am so encouraged by this message and by the interaction I’ve had with Jason and others at BCS. (I’m eager to join the team in several months.)

I’ve witnessed some situations where the relationship between a school’s faculty and administration is unhealthy. Not good.

Jason closes with a provocative analogy that I hadn’t heard someone (let alone an administrator) apply to administration and faculty before:

administration : faculty :: shaft : tip of the spear

That is, Continue Reading…

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Don Whitney: How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian?

Andy Naselli —  April 4, 2013 — 3 Comments

Perhaps this book has flown under your radar. I just read it for the first time last month shortly after learning about it, and I’m surprised that I don’t recall hearing others recommend it before.

Donald S. Whitney. How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian? What the Bible Says about Assurance of Salvation. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1994. 153 pp.

Here’s an extended outline of the book (not including the application questions at the end of each chapter): Continue Reading…

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Joshua Harris’s New Book: Humble Orthodoxy

Andy Naselli —  April 2, 2013 — Leave a comment

humbleThree years ago I wrote this about Joshua Harris’s Dug Down Deep :

The last chapter on “Humble Orthodoxy” is best of all. If you read nothing else in this book, read at least its last chapter.

I’m glad that Josh has expanded that chapter into a little book:

Joshua Harris. Humble Orthodoxy: Holding the Truth High without Putting People Down. Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2013.

Josh’s basic thesis is that we must both (1) “care deeply about the truth” and (2) “defend and share this truth with compassion and humility” (p. 5). He rejects what he calls “arrogant orthodoxy” and “humble heterodoxy” (pp. 6–7).

The book is short. You can easily read the book in one sitting. It’s 83 pages, but it’s really just about 60 pages (the study guide starts on page 63), and the size is only 4.7 x 6.5 inches.

Some recommendations: Continue Reading…

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Follow-up on That Encouraging Word for Mothers of Young Children

Andy Naselli —  March 18, 2013 — 8 Comments

Last week I posted “An Encouraging Word for Mothers of Young Children.”

It generated some friendly push-back in the comments as well as on some other blogs (e.g., Jim Hamilton’s wife, Jill, responds here).

I agree with Jill.

But I wonder if some who read those quotes by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Don Carson may be missing the main (encouraging!) point: mothers with young children generally have less time for the type of Bible reading and study than they would have without young children. And that’s OK because God’s calling of wife and motherhood is high. That’s an encouraging thought, especially to mothers who are frustrated and/or bear a weight of unnecessary guilt. Those are the types of mothers of young children that this should encourage. Continue Reading…

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An Encouraging Word for Mothers of Young Children

Andy Naselli —  March 14, 2013 — 34 Comments

Martyn Lloyd-Jones once spoke with a group of medical students who complained that in the midst of their training and the ferocious work hours they really didn’t even have time to read the Bible and have their devotions and so on. He bristled and said, “I am a doctor. I have been where you are. You have time for what you want to do.” After a long pause he said, “I make only one exception: the mother of preschool-aged children does not have time and emotional resources.” Continue Reading…

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