Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Practical Theology

The Reason for Sports and a Dispen-sensational Thriller

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I got double-Klucked last week:

  1. Ted Kluck. The Reason for Sports: A Christian Fanifesto.  Chicago: Moody, 2009. 154 pp. 13-page sample PDF.
  2. Ted Kluck, Zach Bartels, E. L. Duncan, and Brad Atchison. Beauty and the Mark of the Beast: A Dispensensational Thriller. Lansing, MI: Gut Check, 2012. 173 pp.

Kluck beast

When I saw Ted’s blog post about Beauty and the Mark of the Beast, I thought it was a spoof.

strogbow

It’s not a spoof. Clarification: Ted and company really did write a “dispen-sensational thriller” about Tim Tebow (err, “Ted Strongbow”). The book, however, is a spoof. It’s crazy. [Read more…] about The Reason for Sports and a Dispen-sensational Thriller

22 Mistakes Pastors Make in Practicing Church Discipline

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Jonathan Leeman, “Appendix: Mistakes Pastors Make in Practicing Discipline,” Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus (9Marks; Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 139–40:

Pastors sometimes make the following mistakes regarding formal church discipline.

  1. They fail to teach their congregation what church discipline is and why they should practice it.
  2. They fail to practice meaningful membership, which includes (1) teaching people what membership entails before they join; (2) encouraging casual attenders to join; (3) carefully interviewing everyone who wants to join; (4) giving regular oversight to all the flock; and (5) maintaining an up-to-date membership list that accurately reflects who is present at the weekly gathering. [Read more…] about 22 Mistakes Pastors Make in Practicing Church Discipline

Why, Where, and How Do We Draw the Line?

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The current issue of Tabletalk is on “Drawing the Line: Why Doctrine Matters.”

These two articles are particularly worth reading:

  1. DeYoung, Kevin. “Where and How Do We Draw the Line?” Tabletalk 36:7 (July 2012): 13–14. (Also on Kevin’s blog.)
  2. Trueman, Carl R. “Why Do We Draw the Line?” Tabletalk 36:7 (July 2012): 21–22.

DeYoung suggests and explains “seven steps we ought to pursue in establishing doctrinal boundaries”: [Read more…] about Why, Where, and How Do We Draw the Line?

Free New Book Edited by Kevin Bauder

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This book is available for free in PDF and Kindle formats:

Kevin T. Bauder, ed. Heart, Soul, Might: Meditations on Knowing and Loving God. Minneapolis: Central Seminary Press, 2012.

“It is a collection of poems, prayers, and essays in devotional theology or, if you prefer, theological devotion” (p. iii).

The authors are the faculty of Central Seminary in Minneapolis. More info here.

There are 38 articles: [Read more…] about Free New Book Edited by Kevin Bauder

Voting as a Christian

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These two books are shortened versions of Wayne Grudem’s larger book Politics :

Cf. my coauthored review of Grudem’s book Politics.

Some Kevin DeYoung MP3s

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I’ve recently listened to several MP3s by Kevin DeYoung, and they’ve all been outstanding:

Two lectures on preaching at Westminster Theological Seminary (November 2011)

  1. How Can a Biblical Sermon Be So Boring? Part 1: The Case for Clarity, Specificity, and Authenticity
  2. How Can a Biblical Sermon Be So Boring? Part 2: The Case for Ingenuity, Spontaneity, and Authority

Two sermons and an interview from the NEXT conference (May 2012)

  1. The Church and Friendship
  2. The Church and Holiness [focus on the conscience]
  3. A Conversation Between Friends | interviewed by C. J. Mahaney

A sermon and a panel discussion at T4G (April 2012)

  1. Spirit-Powered, Gospel-Driven, Faith-Fueled Effort [video]
  2. Contextualization: Lost in Translation? [video] | panel

A sermon series on 2 Peter (March–November 2010)

Covenant Eyes

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This is a guest post by Joe Tyrpak, one of my accountability partners.

I use Covenant Eyes on my desktop and laptop computers, and I agree with Joe that it is outstanding accountability software.

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Fighting Lust, Inviting Accountability, Using Covenant Eyes

Fighting lust is an all-out war. Even though it’s not the only front on which the battle is fought, one crucial strategy for fighting lust is accountability. And even though the Internet is not the only place where a guy struggles with temptation, Internet accountability is one of the most crucial aspects of accountability today. [Read more…] about Covenant Eyes