Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

gospel

Keller on the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness

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This booklet is (apparently) a sermon on 1 Cor 3:21–4:7:

Timothy Keller. The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness: The Path to True Christian Joy.  Chorley, England: 10 Publishing, 2012. 46 pp.

(The 24-page sample PDF includes half the booklet.)

Why do people do the bad things they do?

  1. The traditional answer is that people do bad things because they have too high a view of themselves. That is, they are proud and need a lower view of themselves.
  2. The contemporary answer is that people do bad things because they have too low a view of themselves. That is, they lack self-esteem and need a higher view of themselves.

Keller argues that Paul’s “approach to self-regard” utterly differs from both the traditional and contemporary answers (p. 12). [Read more…] about Keller on the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness

Tim Keller’s “Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City”

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centerThis book comes out early next month:

Timothy Keller. Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

It’s large (9.4 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches) and long (400 pp.).

The book is a strategic manual for developing a church’s theological vision. I read the introduction carefully and read the rest more quickly. It’s obvious that Keller has thought deeply about theological vision for a long time.

This graphic shows how important theological vision is (p. 19):

vision

(Tim Keller drafted TGC’s theological vision for ministry.) [Read more…] about Tim Keller’s “Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City”

15 Gospel-Centered Questions to Ask

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Jonathan K. Dodson,“Gospel-Centered Questions to Ask,” appendix 1 in Gospel-Centered Discipleship  (Re:Lit; Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 155–56 (formatting added):

Here is a list of questions to help you cultivate gospel motivations.

Questions 11–15 are taken from Sam Storms’s book A Sincere and Pure Devotion to Christ.

See . . . forty-five more questions in David Powlison’s list of “X-ray Questions.”

  1. What do you desire more than anything else?
  2. What do you find yourself daydreaming or fantasizing about?
  3. What lies do you subtly believe that undermine the truth of the gospel?
  4. Are you astonished with the gospel? [Read more…] about 15 Gospel-Centered Questions to Ask

When Satan Tempts Me to Despair

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I love how Christian replies to Apollyon when they face off in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. After Apollyon accuses Christian of a series of sins, he basically replies, “You’re right. But I’m actually even worse than that.” That disarming statement sets up the death blow:

Apollyon accused,

  1. “You almost fainted when you first set out, when you almost choked in the Swamp of Despond.
  2. You also attempted to get rid of your burden in the wrong way, instead of patiently waiting for the Prince to take it off.
  3. You sinfully slept and lost your scroll,
  4. you were almost persuaded to go back at the sight of the lions, and
  5. when you talk of your journey and of what you have heard and seen, you inwardly desire your own glory in all you do and say.”

[Christian replied,] [Read more…] about When Satan Tempts Me to Despair

Six Videos and Related Resources

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When Alex Crain asked me some questions about Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism back in April, he also asked six other questions:

1. What is the gospel? How can God save me?

Related:

  1. “The Definition of the Gospel” (a talk I gave at a conference on April 8, 2011). Outline (3-page PDF).
  2. D. A. Carson. “The Biblical Gospel.” Pages 75–85 in For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present and Future. Edited by Steve Brady and Harold Rowdon. London: Evangelical Alliance, 1996.
  3. ———. “The Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:1–19).” May 23, 2007. Text, audio, and video available. (A lightly edited manuscript of a sermon preached at The Gospel Coalition’s conference in Deerfield, IL.)
  4. ———.  “What Is the Gospel?—Revisited.” Pages 147–70 in For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper. Edited by Sam Storms and Justin Taylor. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.
  5. Greg Gilbert. What Is the Gospel? IX Marks. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.  (Foreword by D. A. Carson. Small, short (127 pp.), clear.)
  6. Milton Vincent. A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love. Bemidji, MN: Focus, 2008.  (Cf. my review.)

2. Are Mormons Christian?

Related:

  1. Ron Rhodes, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism),” in The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2631–32.
  2. The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 9:2 (Summer 2005) [Read more…] about Six Videos and Related Resources

Sympathetic Evangelicalism

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Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 15–19 (numbering added):

[Th]e most strategic decision we ever make is the decision of what to emphasize.

Evangelicalism has always been concerned to underline certain elements of the Christian message.

  1. We have a lot to say about God’s revelation, but we emphasize the business end of it, where God’s voice is heard normatively: the Bible.
  2. We know that everything Jesus did has power for salvation in it, but we emphasize the one event that is literally crucial: the cross.
  3. We know that God is at work on his people through the full journey of their lives, from the earliest glimmers of awareness to the ups and downs of the spiritual life, but we emphasize the hinge of all spiritual experience: conversion.
  4. We know there are countless benefits that flow from being joined to Christ, but we emphasize the big one: heaven.

Bible, cross, conversion, heaven. These are the right things to emphasize. But in order to emphasize anything, you must presuppose a larger body of truth to select from. . . . [Read more…] about Sympathetic Evangelicalism

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)