Surprising Offense of Gods Love: Church Membership

Are you excited about the subject of church membership?  I didn’t think so.  Be warned, after you hear this discussion you will probably be eager to buy Jonathan Leeman’s book, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love.

Jonathan Leeman, Matt Schmucker, John Folmar and Mark Dever gather to talk about this book and the subject of church membership.

The consumeristic mindset, the multiplicity of options, and the worry of buyers remorse, hinders people from making commitments in everything from jobs, to spouses, to restaurants, to houses.  Commitment binds us. And in a culture where the maximization of short term pleasure is  a premium, binding commitments are threatening. Binding commitments are made to prevent individuals from living by caprice and fancy. They are freedom curtailing.  They are pleasure postponing.

Leeman, obviously, is pro church membership, and he, as well as the other participants,  makes a very strong case for church membership independent of church polity.

This is one discussion that is perhaps one of 9 Marks best, in my opinion.  I’ve ordered the book.

Surprising Offense >>>

8WTB 2010 Week 5

This week was one of my slowest, covering 185 chapters at almost 7 hours. I’ve been reading some material for my job, and my iPhone has made it possible for me to do that on the bus.  I’ve been reading numerous PDF documents as well as a couple of books via the fabulous Kindle application, along with Stanza.  I’ve been doing this since starting 8WTB, but this week had the most reading.

DAY 21
Psalm 49 to Psalm 83
Elihu’s rebuke of Job to the Psalm of Zion, the City of our God

DAY 22
Psalm 83 to Psalm 124
Elihu’s rebuke of Job to the Psalm of Zion, the City of our God

DAY 23
Psalm 125 to Proverbs 30
From a psalm about the Lord surrounding his people to the pressing of anger produces strife.

DAY 24
Proverbs 31 to Isaiah 16
From the woman who fears the Lord to an oracle about Moab

DAY 25
Isaiah 17 to Isaiah 32
From an oracle about Damascus to complacent women warned of coming disaster.

9 Marks Conference

Colin Adams has posted audio from a recent 9 Marks Conference held in Northern Ireland at Colin’s church.

I haven’t listened to the conference yet, but posting this because the audio will only be available for 60 days.

9 Marks Conference >>>

8WTB 2010 Week 4

This week I covered 168 chapters at about 8 hours and ten minutes.  So far I”m right on target with my estimate, being in the Psalms at the end of week 4.

DAY 16
1 Chronicles 11 to 2 Chronicles 17
From David anointed King to Jehoshaphat’s reign.

DAY 17
1 Chronicles 18 to Ezra 10
From Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab to the exiles guilt of intermarriage.

DAY 18
Nehemiah 1  to Job 6
Nehemiah’s prayer to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls to Job’s answer to his first foolish counselor Eliphaz.

DAY 19
Job 7  to Job 32
Job’s answer that life is hard and harsh to Elihu rebuking Job’s three friends.

DAY 20
Job 33  to Psalm 48
Elihu’s rebuke of Job to the Psalm of Zion, the City of our God

The Story of Matt Chandler

9 Marks Mark Dever interviews Matt Chandler about his life and ministry.  As to be expected, this is a terrific interview filled with a lot of helpful material. Matt talks at length about how he took his pastorate at the Village Church and began a ministry of church recovery (as opposed to church planting).

Matt made one insightful observation I’ve not heard before, and that is that the Christian church today is very much like the Anabaptists of centuries past, who popularized the idea “All I need is me and my Bible”.  This distorted individualism is very prevalent in the church today.

The Story of Matt Chandler >>>

8WTB 2010 Week 3

I worked from home one day this week, and also had a few other messages to listen to, but managed to listen through 86 chapters at about 7 hours and 10 minutes.

DAY 11
Worked from home — no commute.

DAY 12
1 Samuel 27 to 1 Kings 1
From David fleeing to the Philistines to Solomon anointed as King

DAY 13
1 Kings i2 to 1 Kings 18
From David’s instruction to Solomon to fleeing to Elijah killing the prophets of Baal

DAY 14
1Kings 19 to 2 Kings 15
From Elijah fleeing from Jezebel to the reign of Azariah in Judah

DAY 15
2 Kings 16 to 1 Chronicles 10
From the beginning of Ahaz’s reign in Judah to the death of Saul and his sons

Meet the Puritans with Joel Beeke

Joel Beeke’s book “Meet the Puritans” is a tremendous resource if you are a reader of the Puritans.  It’s a catalog and description of Puritan works organized by author, and gives information on latest printings of these works so that you can find them. It also includes historical tidbits and a number of good bio’s on various Puritans.

Beeke has been reading the Puritans since he was 14, and he now operates Reformation Heritage Publishers which reprints a vast catalog of Puritan writings that you will not find anywhere else.

The team at Christ the Center discusses “Meet the Puritans” with Joel Beeke.

Meet the Puritans >>>

8WTB 2010 Week 2

This week I got through 119 chapters, at almost 9 hours.

DAY 6
Numbers 27 to Deuteronomy 18
From the Lord appointing Joshua to succeed Moses when he dies to the Lord promising to raise up another prophet like Moses.

DAY 7
Deuteronomy 19 to Joshua 19
From instructions for cities of refuge to the dividing of the land of Canaan among the tribes at Shiloh.

DAY 8
Joshua 20 to Judges 4
From God instructing Joshua to establish cities of refuge to Ehud suppressing the Moabites bringing 80 years of peace to Israel.

DAY 9
Judges 5 to 1 Samuel 2
From the song of Deborah and Barak to Hannah giving birth to Samuel.

DAY 10
1 Samuel 3 to 1 Samuel 26
From the Lord calling Samuel to David sparing Saul’s life a second time in Gibeah.