Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

A Personal Update

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My last “personal update” was in June 2008. Once again, I’ve lost track of whom I’ve told what at this transitional time, so this post should fill in some gaps.

1. Family

Jenni and Kara (4/23/2010)

Jenni is an outstanding homemaker and mom, and she’s loving it! Shepherding Kara Marie, who turns two in June, has taught Jenni and me a lot about God and ourselves. She lives up to her first name by bringing us joy, and we love watching her develop. God has gifted her with a mind that loves to learn: by the time she was twenty months old, she could recognize 1-10, knew the entire alphabet including the sounds of each letter, and was speaking in four- or five-word sentences. We’re probably typical first-time parents, but we think she’s pretty bright.

And I’m almost officially old. I turn thirty in May.

2. School

I defended my first PhD dissertation on July 17, 2006, and two weeks later Jenni and I moved into a one-bedroom apartment on the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School so I could work on a PhD in New Testament. Nearly four years later, we’re still here. The program is rigorous, but by God’s grace I . . . [Read more…] about A Personal Update

Internet Pornography: The God of Truth and the Lies of Porn

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Mike Salvati, the youth pastor at my church, addressed the men at our church last Saturday morning on “The God of Truth and the Lies of Porn.” This 68-minute MP3 begins with a man’s testimony followed by Mike’s talk.

Mike presented “seven biblical truths to keep you from being lied to, from clicking and sinning against your great, holy God!” Here’s the outline:

1. Intimacy (sexual intimacy in particular) is God’s good gift (Gen 2:24-25; Prov 5:15-23; Heb 13:4).

  • How has pornography distorted your understanding of God’s good gift of sexual intimacy?
  • What is one way you can cultivate relational intimacy with your wife?
  • When was the last time you thanked God for your wife?

2. Porneia is in you (Mark 7:20-23; James 1:14-15).

The God Who Is There

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Coming this July:

D. A. Carson. The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010.

  • Leader’s Guide:
  • The chapters correspond to Carson’s fourteen-part overview of the Bible that he presented to Bethlehem Baptist Church in February 2009.
  1. The God Who Made Everything
  2. The God Who Does Not Wipe Out Rebels
  3. The God Who Writes His Own Agreements
  4. The God Who Legislates
  5. The God Who Reigns
  6. The God Who Is Unfathomably Wise
  7. The God Who Becomes a Human Being
  8. The God Who Grants New Birth
  9. The God Who Loves
  10. The God Who Dies—and Lives Again
  11. The God Who Declares the Guilty Just
  12. The God Who Gathers and Transforms His People
  13. The God Who Is Very Angry
  14. The God Who Triumphs

This resource will serve the church well because it simultaneously evangelizes non-Christians and edifies Christians by explaining the Bible’s storyline.

Update on July 29, 2010: Audio and video are available.

Related:

Carson on the Trials of Biblical Studies

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In The Trials of Theology: Becoming a “Proven Worker” in a Dangerous Business (ed. Andrew J. B. Cameron and Brian S. Rosner; Fearn, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2010), D. A. Carson contributes a chapter entitled “The Trials of Biblical Studies” (pp. 109–29).

Marsden on Edwards

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This weekend I listened to the audiobook of George Marsden’s 160-page A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards (Amazon | WTS Books). It’s considerably shorter than Marsden’s 640-page Jonathan Edwards: A Life (Amazon | WTS Books).

Marsden is a good writer and superb historian. Edwards is a remarkable man and God-intoxicated theologian. Good combination. Time well spent.

Subject Index for Carson and Woodbridge’s Letters Along the Way

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Many thanks to Matthew Hoskinson for serving us by preparing a two-page subject index to this book:

D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge. Letters Along the Way: A Novel of the Christian Life. Wheaton: Crossway, 1993.

More info:

Take a moment to scan the subject index, and don’t be surprised if it makes you want to read the book.