I just uploaded seven MP3s to the D. A. Carson archive. These are from the New Horizon conference held in Northern Ireland on July 18–24, 2009.

He preached a six-part series entitled “Enjoying God”:

• Part 1: Share Your Master’s Happiness (Matt 25:14-30) | MP3 | 43:01 min. | July 19, 2009
• Part 2: Rejoice to Suffer for the Name (Acts 5:41) | MP3 | 51:57 min. | July 20, 2009
• Part 3: He Loved Me and Gave Himself for Me (Gal 2:11-21) | MP3 | 56:33 min. | July 21, 2009
• Part 4: Rejoice in the Lord Always (Phil 4:4-20) | MP3 | 1:01:47 min. | July 22, 2009
• Part 5: Joy in the Triumph of Grace in Others (3 John) | MP3 | 1:03:33 min. | July 23, 2009
• Part 6: The Unqualified Joy of the God-Centered New Heaven and New Earth (Rev 21:1-22:5) | MP3 | 58:20 min. | July 24, 2009

And he gave a seminar:

• Proclaiming the Gospel and Performing Deeds of Mercy | MP3 | 59:14 min. | July 24, 2009

Cf. my summary of a similar lecture: “Carson on the Gospel and Social Action.”

That’s the title of a 40-minute sermon I preached on Matthew 8:23-9:8 yesterday morning at my church.

Here’s the outline:

1. Jesus has authority over nature (Matthew 8:23–27).
2. Jesus has authority over demons (Matthew 8:28–34).
3. Jesus has authority over sin and sickness (Matthew 9:1–8).

The text suggests at least five responses:

1. Stand in awe of Jesus.
2. Cling to Jesus.
3. Fear Jesus.
4. Trust Jesus.
5. Glorify Jesus.

I just uploaded a new MP3 to the D. A. Carson archive:

“The Rich Man and Lazarus” (Luke 16:19-31) | MP3 | preached on May 17, 2009 at College Church in Wheaton, IL

Last week I uploaded some new MP3s to the D. A. Carson archive:

• Interview at New Word Alive | MP3 | 4/3/2009

• Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14 in Hebrews 1 | MP3 | 4/24/2009
• Psalm 95 in Hebrews 3–4 | MP3 | 4/25/2009
• Genesis 14 and Psalm 110 in Hebrews 7 | MP3 | 4/25/2009

Audio from the ten plenary sessions at The Gospel Coalition’s 2009 National Conference is available here.

I benefited most from these five sessions:

• Session 1: Tim Keller: “The Grand Demythologizer: The Gospel and Idolatry” (Acts 19:21-41) [See notes.]
• Session 2: John Piper, “Feed the Flame of God’s Gift: Unashamed Courage in the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:1-12) [See Piper's manuscript.]
• Session 8: Panel Discussion: Tim Keller, John Piper, Ligon Duncan and Crawford Loritts (chair: Stephen Um)
• Session 9: Ligon Duncan, “Finishing Well” (2 Timothy 4:6-22)
• Session 10: Don Carson, “That By All Means I Might Win Some’: Faithfulness and Flexibility in Gospel Proclamation” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Video for all the plenary sessions and audio from the workshops are coming soon. (TGC’s website has shut down at least twice in two days because it has exceeded its bandwidth limit.)

Now available: MP3s of several sermon series by Eric Alexander (an ACE council member)

HT: Nicholas T. Batzig

I just uploaded twelve new MP3s to the D. A. Carson archive (listed here in reverse chronological order):

1. A Holy Nation: The Church’s High Calling (1 Peter 2:9-10) | MP3 | March 20, 2009 sermon at the 2009 Ligonier Ministries National Conference on the Holiness of God
   
2. How to Wait for Jesus (Matt 24:36-25:46) – part 2 of 2 | MP3 | March 1, 2009 sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis
3. How to Wait for Jesus (Matt 24:36-25:46) – part 1 of 2 | MP3 | February 22, 2009 sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis
   
4. Is the Culture Shaping Us or are We Shaping the Culture? | MP3 | Video | February 2, 2009
5. The Flow of Thought in 1 Timothy 2 | MP3 | Video | February 2, 2009 | more info here
   
6. On Books with D. A. Carson (Part 2 of 2) | MP3 | June 13, 2008 interview with Mark Dever
7. Evangelicals and the Church: An Authentic Unity (Part 2 of 2) | MP3 | 2000 lecture for Evangelical Ministry Assembly
8. Evangelicals and the Church: An Authentic Unity (Part 1 of 2) | MP3 | 2000 lecture for Evangelical Ministry Assembly
   
9. Workshop on Isaiah 6 | MP3 | 1996 lecture
   
10. Workshop on 2 Samuel 7 | MP3 | 1996 lecture
    
11. Workshop on Genesis 39 | MP3 | 1996 lecture
12. The Temptation of Joseph (Genesis 39) | MP3 | 1996 sermon

I just uploaded five new MP3s to the D. A. Carson archive:

1. TEDS Commencement Address (December 19, 2008)

• The First Thing to Do in Your Ministry (Deuteronomy 17:14-20)

2. UCCF Staff Training Conference (January 5-8, 2009)

1. Psalm 1
2. Psalm 2
3. Psalm 40
4. Psalm 110

I just listened to Rick Holland’s recent interview of John MacArthur, who reflects for over an hour about his last forty years of ministry at Grace Church (MP3 | transcript). Enjoyable and edifying.

Last Sunday afternoon D. A. Carson preached a sermon on 1 Timothy 1:1–20 for Josh Moody’s Installation Service at College Church in Wheaton: “The Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God.” The sermon is an adaptation of an address that Carson has given once or twice before on this passage, but it is considerably adapted at points.

On October 19, 2008, Tim Keller presented two lectures at Oak Hill College on “Preaching to the Heart”:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Here’s how Oak Hill College describes them:

Jonathan Edwards believed that the ultimate purpose of preaching is not only to make the truth clear, but also to make it real—affecting and life-changing. This is usually covered under the topic of “application”, though framing the subject in that way often results in a “tack-on” of practical advice after a dry, academic exposition.

How can we preach the text from first to last in a way that exalts Christ, changes heart motivations, produces wisdom and wonder, persuades the sceptical and results in real life change? In his two lectures, Tim Keller explores these challenges to the preacher.

I just saw this welcome announcement from the Shepherds’ Fellowship:

FREE SHEPHERDS’ CONFERENCE DOWNLOADS
All of the past sessions and seminars are now free to download.

Note: You’ll need to create a (free) Shepherds’ Fellowship account to access the free audio downloads.

My blog’s most popular post has been “D. A. Carson MP3s” (December 17, 2006). It’s a compilation of links to about 200 Carson MP3s. I updated it diligently through the beginning of 2008, but I stopped because I knew that it would soon become obsolete.

For about the last six months, I’ve attempted to compile a comprehensive collection of Carson MP3s so that they could be hosted on Carson’s page at The Gospel Coalition’s site. So far I’ve uploaded 443 MP3s (and some MV4s, too), and the plan is to add more as they become available. You can browse most of them in the “sermons” category. (If you know of any MP3s that are missing, please let me know.)

Here are some advantages to the Carson MP3s now hosted by TGC:

1. Price: They are all free. Previously ChristWay Media sold dozens of Carson MP3s for $1.50 each. Now those same MP3s are available at no charge from TGC site.
2. Number: Never before have so many Carson MP3s been available online. Many of them have not been available online previously. For example, I obtained CDs from Carson with his talks on them from conferences all over the world (including several in French).
3. Convenience: Never before have so many Carson MP3s been available online at a single website, and no user name or password is needed to download them.
4. Continuity: The MP3s are hosted by the same website. Maintaining my previous list of Carson MP3s was challenging because links would constantly change when websites were updated.
5. Labels: The MP3s are uniformly tagged with as much information as I could find (e.g., title, Scripture text, series, topic, date), and the format of the names of the MP3s themselves are also consistent (e.g., “20020619_Eph_2.11-22_community_and_the_cross.mp3″).

(Please feel free to share suggestions to improve this resource. The MP3s just went live, so we’re working through a few initial bugs at the moment.)

I’d highly recommend that you redeem the time and systematically and thoughtfully listen to these MP3s. I have profited immensely from them. Carson’s manner of speaking is just as articulate, thoughtful, and engaging as his publications. He exalts Christ by exegeting his words, tracing themes through the Bible’s salvation-historical storyline, addressing hot topics with clarity and nuance, and engaging and confronting bad theology as well as the culture.

Dr. Mike Bullmore delivered the annual Rom lectures on October 7-9, 2008 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School on “The Heart of Preaching and the Preacher’s Heart.” Q & A followed each of his three outstanding lectures:

1. Session 1: The Functional Centrality of the Gospel in Preaching | 42:56
2. Session 1: Q & A (beginning with responses from an M.Div. student, a Ph.D. student, and Pastor Lee Eclov) | 58:32
3. Session 2: The Five Greatest Heart Challenges in Preaching | 41:18
4. Session 2: Q & A (beginning with responses from Andy Naselli and Dr. Dick Averbeck) | 42:24
5. Session 3: A Passion for the Gospel (Philippians 1) | 38:15
6. Session 3: Q & A | 36:03

I was humbled that Dr. Scharf asked me to respond to Mike’s second lecture. Continue Reading »

This weekend D. A. Carson spoke at a conference on suffering at Omaha Bible Church:

1. Making Sense of Suffering – Part 1
2. Making Sense of Suffering – Part 2
3. Making Sense of Suffering – Part 3
4. Making Sense of Suffering – Part 4 (Gospel Reflections on Trials and Tribulations)

DAC also led a pastor’s session on “Preaching and Biblical Theology.”

HT: Erik Raymond

Related:

1. D. A. Carson MP3s
2. The Logical and Emotional Problems of Evil: This links to a handout that lists recommended resources on suffering, including this annotation:

* Carson, D. A. How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil. 2d ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006. [1. Outstanding, clear, practical, pastoral. The entire book rewards thoughtful reading, especially chapters 11–13. Chapter 11 condenses and updates the major argument of his Ph.D. dissertation completed at Cambridge University in 1975 and reprinted as Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspectives in Tension (2d ed.; Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2002).]

cross-posted at Justin Taylor’s blog

This summer my church, CrossWay Community Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has hosted a “Difficult Issues Series” on Wednesday nights, and last night I addressed this topic: “How Could a Good God Allow Suffering and Evil? A Biblical Approach to the Logical and Emotional Problems of Evil” (MP3 | Handout PDF).

The MP3 is about 75 minutes long (and it doesn’t include the Q&A that followed), and the handout is 10 pages. I am especially indebted to Drs. Carson, Feinberg, Frame, and Piper. Here’s the outline:

1. Introduction

1. What is evil?
2. What are some examples of evil that are (almost) universally outrageous?
3. What is the problem of evil?
4. Why must Christians address the logical and emotional problems of evil?
5. What are some challenges to solving the logical and emotional problems of evil?

2. What are some unbiblical/inadequate solutions to the logical-intellectual-philosophical problem of evil?

1. Evil is not real.
2. God is not all-powerful.
3. This is the best possible world, and evil is necessary for its perfection.
4. Evil is a result of peoples’ free will, so God is not accountable for evil.
5. Evil is necessary for people to mature (i.e., build character).
6. God is the indirect (not direct) cause of evil, so He is not accountable for evil.
7. God is above the law, so He can do what seems evil to other people.
8. Non-Christians have no right to question whether God is both all-powerful and all-good.

3. What does a biblical approach to the logical-intellectual-philosophical problem of evil include?

1. Bad things do not happen to good people; good and bad things happen to bad people.
2. The problem of evil is an argument for God, not against Him.
3. God is not obligated to explain the problem of evil to anyone.
4. God (not our sense of justice) is the standard for what He does.
5. God ordains and causes evil, but He cannot be blamed for it.
6. The logical problem of evil (including providence) involves mystery, requiring that Christians maintain doctrinal tensions in biblical proportion.
7. God uses evil for a greater good.
8. There was no problem of evil before the fall, nor will there be one in the eternal state.
9. God uses natural evil to illustrate how bad moral evil really is, and the right response is repentance.
10. The most significant problem of evil is the cross.

4. What does a biblical approach to the emotional-religious-existential problem of evil include?

1. People who are suffering typically are wrestling primarily with the emotional problem of evil (not the logical one).
2. Understand how people initially react to suffering.
3. You shouldn’t say certain things to people who are suffering.
4. You should do certain things to people who are suffering.

5. Conclusion

6. Recommended Resources

1. Books [23 resources]
2. MP3s [8 resources]

The handout includes a more detailed outline, and the recommended resources section asterisks the most highly recommended resources, hyperlinks to every author and resource, and ranks the level of difficulty of each resource.

Updates:

1. The address is condensed as a simple four-page essay for CrossWay Community Church’s Exploring Christianity outreach.
2. Reformation 21 reprinted this article in June 2009.
3. Related: “Do We Have a Free Will?” (which Reformation 21 reprinted in August 2009)

Here are links to a couple sermons I recently preached:

1. “Pray For Those In Authority (1 Tim 2:1-8)” (6-22-08)
   MP3 (48:13) | outline

2. “Does God Have Two Wills? Does He Want All People To Be Saved In One Sense And Not Want All People To Be Saved In Another Sense? (1 Tim 2:4)” (6-29-08)
   MP3 (45:26) | outline

The first is expositional, the second more theological (and heavily indebted to John Frame’s The Doctrine of God and John Piper’s “Are There Two Wills in God?”).

The latest 9Marks interview by Mark Dever is now available: “Fundamentalism and Separation with Mark Minnick: Pastor and Bob Jones University professor Mark Minnick presents the case for the Fundamentalist doctrine of separation.”

Related:

• 9 Marks interviews and Henry Forums
• Mark Minnick MP3s
• Minnick: “Theology Matters”

My pastor, Dr. Mike Bullmore, is currently preaching through 1 Corinthians, and this morning he finished a sensitive, insightful, pastorally wise exposition of chapter 7.

1. Marriage in God’s World (April 13, 2008)
2. A Oneness That Glorifies God (1 Cor 7:1–7) (April 20, 2008)
3. Glorifying God in Challenging Marital Situations (1 Cor 7:8–16, 39–40) (April 27, 2008)
4. To Marry or Not to Marry: Singleness and the Glory of God (Part 1) (May 4, 2008)
5. To Marry or Not to Marry (Part 2) (May 18, 2008)

Today’s sermon (#5 above) is particularly outstanding. Its target audience is older teenagers and their parents, but it is especially applicable to singles in their 20s, 30s, 40s, etc. Bullmore gives two reminders followed by five statements summarizing biblical priorities in preparing for marriage. Highly recommended!

Mike Bullmore’s preaching is like a combination of John Piper and C. J. Mahaney! More of his MP3s are available here, here, and here.

On April 24, 2008, Dr. Doug Sweeney and Collin Hansen discussed Hansen’s Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008). An MP3 of this discussion, sponsored by the Henry Center, is now available from the Henry Center’s media archive (MP3 | video).

I reviewed Hansen’s book in March for the forthcoming issue of Themelios (more on that later). Highly recommended!