Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Event: The Promised King



The Promised King: Great David's Greater Son


THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT THE QUESTION OF WHO JESUS IS CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT QUESTIONS IN THE THEOLOGICAL ACADEMY.

At this year’s RTSF conference, T. Desmond Alexander will look at the theme of the promised seed in the Old Testament. He will unfold for us the promise of a divinely appointed king, through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. We will then see how this is fulfilled in Jesus, who is the promised Kingly Messiah.

Saturday, 18 March, Knighton Evangelical Free Church, Leicester.

Download the Booking form (PDF)

Monday, February 20, 2006

Blog-Review: The Message of the New Testament

An official beginningwithmoses.org review of this book will follow in the near future... but until then here's some thoughts on our current top recommendation...


The Message of the New Testament:
Promises Kept
- Mark Dever, (Crossway 2006).
Foreword by John MacArthur

This book is sure to become an essential resource for preacher in particular, but also for any Christian wanting to read the Bible. Its vital for us to read the Bible slowly, spending much time on the details.... but we also need to be able to read the detail in context.

There is a burgeoning market in Bible Overview books, a parade led by Graeme Goldsworthy, Vaughan Roberts and Tim Chester amongst others. Their work is vital to help us think about Biblical Theology.

All those brief overviews lack something however. And that is where Mark Dever steps in. This book steps into the void between detailed ongoing expositions of single books and Bible overview books. Dever invites to fly high and get a birds eye view. What a view!

This book is a write up of 28 sermons by Mark Dever taking one book of the Bible per sermon (plus one on the whole New Testament overview). These sermons have been delivered over the course of many years and must have been wonderful to hear.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Overview has the potential weakness of having too little detail and accuracy. This is not a weakness Dever has - he has clearly dug deeply into each book in his preparation and then put much care and attention into presenting that memorably and accessibly.

One of Dever's great strengths comes in his introductions to each sermon - his illustration and connection with the main theme of the book is exemplary. He then carefully handles the text of each book.

The danger of any book like this is that it might stop us from doing the careful work ourselves. That would be to misuse Dever's work. Rather it should drive us into the texts ourselves. And that is his intent. Having read through a book of the Bible a few times Dever's book comes into its own showing us some of the landmarks and helping us enjoy the view and sit humbly before God's word.

As we work our way towards understanding the the word of God more thoroughly this birds eye view of the New Testament, and the forthcoming Old Testament volume, are a great gift to the wider church. He demostrates a passion for God's word and a desire to help his congregation get to grips with God's word for themselves.

I hope that this book will be readily available in the UK in the near future. Until then I'm thankful to have this companion with me as I read God's word.

Download the Audio sermons

Friday, February 10, 2006

A New Kind of Generous

The writers over at Credenda Agenda are well known for their satire and sharp take on the world, theology, and all things evanjellyfluff.

But here's a review that breaks the mould somewhat - it's a generous review of Brian McClaren's A New Kind of Christian. It's written by Brendan O'Donnell and for every finger pointing at McClaren there's a few more pointing back.

(BTW, this current edition of Credenda is entirely devoted to the weather! Let me also recommend Ben Merkle's wonderful piece 'Snow'. The whole magazine is available online).