Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Andy Naselli

Formalist and Hypocrisy Taking a Shortcut

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Taken from John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come (edited by C. J. Lovik; illustrated by Mike Wimmer; Wheaton: Crossway, 2009), 60. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. [Cf. my review.]

Taken from John Bunyan, Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress (edited by Oliver Hunkin; illustrated by Alan Parry; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 42. [Cf. my review coauthored with my wife.]
[Read more…] about Formalist and Hypocrisy Taking a Shortcut

The Pilgrim’s Progress for Children (and Adults)

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My family loves John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Charles Spurgeon read this classic over one hundred times. It’s a pity that many Christians today have not read it even once. Here are some versions we enjoy:

1. Pictorial Pilgrim’s Progress, illustrated by Joanne Brubaker (Chicago: Moody, 1960).

  • It’s excellent for young children because there is a picture on every page, and the text is simple and straightforward.
  • The Kindle version includes all the illustrations.
  • The book is especially meaningful to me for reasons that are evident in the below correspondence I had with my former pastor, Mike Bullmore:

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[email from me to Mike Bullmore on 6/7/2010]

Dear Mike,

I’m in the process of cataloging my print and electronic library, and I just entered this book in my database:

Bunyan, John. Pictorial Pilgrim’s Progress. Chicago: Moody, 1960.

I opened it up and reread what I wrote on the inside cover:

I read this very book to Michael after he relapsed. He loved to look at the pictures as I read and explained Bunyan’s outstanding allegory. Now Michael is at the glorious end of his difficult journey, and I look forward to seeing him again in the celestial city!

Andy
4/25/2002

A little background:

I’m the second of seven children . . . . In December 1998 (during my freshman year of college), my family was shocked to learn that my youngest brother Michael, who was three years old at the time, had cancer—Stage IV Neuroblastoma. [Read more…] about The Pilgrim’s Progress for Children (and Adults)

Irresistible Grace

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Kenneth J. Stewart, Ten Myths About Calvinism: Recovering the Breadth of the Reformed Tradition (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011):

[T]he I in TULIP was actually a caricature of the position championed in the Synod of Dordt. Those who derided the Reformed idea of effectual calling or prevailing grace branded it “irresistible.”[n53] This is the kind of inside information that needs circulating. It should change popular Calvinism’s use of TULIP.

[n53] The “I” of the acronym T-U-L-I-P, far from encapsulating Dordt’s intended emphasis, actually relays the protest of the Dutch Remonstrants against early seventeenth-century Calvinism in a way dependent on Jesuit writers of that time. How is it possible that irresistible, a term intended to besmirch and caricature the concept of a grace that eventually prevails over all opposition, has been taken up and championed by those it was meant to portray unfavorably? See Anthony Hoekema, Saved by Grace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), pp. 104–5.

“Irresistible” is not an unredeemable term (I love singing “Grace irresistible drew me“!), but it’s not my first choice because it is so easily misunderstood. [Read more…] about Irresistible Grace

Pastor-Scholars and Scholar-Pastors

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John Piper and D. A. Carson teamed up on April 23, 2009 to address “The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor.”

(I live-blogged the event, and audio, video, and manuscripts are available.)

Now it’s been updated as a 124-page book:

John Piper and D. A. Carson. The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry. Edited by Owen Strachan and David Mathis. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011.

 

 

Gospel Meditations for Men

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Last year my wife blogged about Gospel Meditations for Women by Chris Anderson and Joe Tyrpak.

Chris and Joe wrote a corresponding booklet for men that’s available starting today (in time for Father’s Day if you order soon).

Applying the gospel never gets old because we always need it. These fresh meditations serve men well.

More info:

  • order ($2.50 for 1-9 copies, $2.25 for 10-50, $2 for 51+)
  • sample PDF
  • more info (including endorsements by Phil Johnson, Sam Horn, and Milton Vincent)

Leisure

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Mat Stribling, an elder at my church, served us well with his talk entitled “Rescuing Leisure from the American Dream.”

Here’s the outline:

Introduction: Defending Leisure’s Necessity

I. Definition: What is Leisure?

A. Work-Play Continuum

B. Three-part Definition

  1. Time: discretionary
  2. Activity: intentionality
  3. Purpose: enrichment

II. Problems: Identifying Some Issues with Leisure

A. Axis of Error

B. Five Problems in Leisure [Read more…] about Leisure

iPad Resources

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I shared some iPhone resources in January 2010, and now I’m ready to share some iPad resources.

I bought an iPad 2 when it came out in March (32 GB, black, Wi-Fi only), and I’m glad I did. Here are some resources that may help you use the tool more efficiently.

1. iPad Apps

The iPad comes with several built-in apps, and over 65,000 apps are available through the iTunes Store.

Here’s a screen-shot of my apps (in addition to the built-in apps) as they appear in iTunes (click on the image to enlarge):

1.1. My Favorite Reading Apps

There are many other useful apps that I’ve chosen not to use for various reasons (e.g., PIM, news, sports). I use my iPad primarily for reading, and these reading apps are my favorites: [Read more…] about iPad Resources

Iain Murray on John MacArthur and Fundamentalism

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Iain H. Murray, John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2011), 77–78:

MacArthur has written of Fundamentalism moving apart in two directions after World War II:

One wing, desperate for academic respectability, could not resist the pluralism of the modern age. . . . Another wing of Fundamentalism moved in the opposite direction. They were keenly aware that an obsession with academic respectability had led their brethren to abandon the fundamentals. For that reason they distrusted scholarship or spurned it altogether. This right wing of the fundamentalist movement was relentlessly fragmented by militant separatism. Petty concerns often replaced serious doctrine as the matter for discussion and debate. [N. 9: Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern (Wheaton: Crossway, 1994), pp. 95-6.] [Read more…] about Iain Murray on John MacArthur and Fundamentalism