|
Energy Fears, Survivalists, Our Message, & Q&A |
|
|
|
Written by Paul Dean
|
|
Monday, 02 June 2008 |
|
“Convinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare. The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years…One woman declared, “"I was panic-stricken. Devastated. Depressed. Afraid. Vulnerable. Weak. Alone. Just terrible.”
No one knows what the future holds in terms of prosperity or decline. At the same time, the Lord has filled the earth with resources for human beings to mine and make use of for His glory. He has given us a mandate to subdue the earth and occupy it until He comes.
The kind of fear that grips survivalists is that of those who have no belief in God or in the world to come. They have a one-world-only view: this world. Having the knowledge that God has provided resources would certainly be comforting. Knowing that this world is not our home would be freeing. Regardless of what happens, the believer will end up with Christ. Rational preparation for adverse circumstances is biblically wise but panic has its ground in a completely different worldview.
Ultimately, Christians have something to say to persons trapped in such a devastated, depressed, fearful, vulnerable, weak, and lonely state. There is a God who is in charge of all things and He has promised to work all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). He has also promised a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:13). There is no need to panic. At the same time, we ourselves then should be “looking forward to these things” and we should “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless (2 Pet. 3:14).” I don’t like rising gas prices. But neither have I lost one second’s sleep over the issue.
On today’s edition of “Calling for Truth,” we’ll start the conversation with the issue of fear and the peace that we have in Christ. Note also that its “Q&A Friday.” We’ll see where the callers take us. Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Thursday, May 29, 2008 |
|
|
|
Written by Kevin Boling
|
|
Thursday, 29 May 2008 |
|
Together For Adoption
On today’s “Calling For Truth” Radio Program we will discuss the theology and practical application of Adoption.
Our guests on the program today include:
Dr. Joel Beeke, President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and Pastor of Heritage Reformed Congregation
Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he also serves as Executive Director of the Henry Institute.
Each of these men shares a common bond… they are all passionate about the subject of Adoption.
During our discussion today we will ask Dan to give us an update re: the goals and objectives of “Together For Adoption”. The last time we spoke with Dan was on February 29th, 2008, when Caedmon’s Call and Derek Webb brought their Overdressed Tour to Southside Fellowship in Greenville, SC for an evening concert. After concert costs were covered, all of the proceeds from ticket sales went to benefit Carolina Hope Christian Adoption Agency’s new Ethiopia program.
Additionally, we will ask Dr. Beeke about his new book, “Heir of Christ – The Puritans on Adoption”. Here is a brief statement from the publisher: “The Puritans have gotten bad press for their supposed lack of teaching on the doctrine of spiritual adoption. In Heirs with Christ, Joel R. Beeke dispels this caricature and shows that the Puritan era did more to advance the idea that every true Christian is God’s adopted child than any other age of church history. This little book lets the Puritans speak for themselves, showing how they recognized adoption’s far-reaching, transforming power and comfort for the children of God.”
Also, Dr. Moore is currently writing a book about Adoption (scheduled to be available next spring). We will ask him to elaborate on what specific aspects of the adoption issues he will be addressing in the book.
To listen to the program, click on the words “Read more”
Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 |
|
|
|
Written by Kevin Boling
|
|
Wednesday, 28 May 2008 |
|
The Shack – This Old Heresy
On today’s “Calling For Truth” Radio Program, we will speak with Author and well-known Internet Blogger, Tim Challies (www.challies.com). Tim is currently attending and live-blogging the Banner of Truth Ministers’ conference in Harrisburg PA. The conference is being held on the campus of Messiah College. The speakers at the conference include, Iain Murray, Rick Phillips, Ian Hamilton, David Troxel and David Campbell.
During our interview with Tim today, we will ask him to give us a brief update re: the conference and then we will switch gears and discuss a review Tim recently post of the very popular book “The Shack”. Tim has written, and provided (you can download it for free HERE) a very helpful resource entitled “A Readers Review of the Shack”.
On his blog, Tim comments, “In January of this year I released a review of William P. Young’s The Shack. Since that time the review has been read tens of thousands of times (and no doubt many times more than that at Amazon where it has been voted on 700+ times and has generated almost 100 comments). I continue to receive two or three emails every day either thanking me for the review or expressing anger that I could have given it a negative review. This book is a phenomenon.
Despite the book’s popularity among Christians, believers are divided on whether this book is biblically sound. Where Eugene Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver says it “has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim Progress did for his,” Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary says, “This book includes undiluted heresy.” While singer and songwriter Michael W. Smith says “The Shack will leave you craving for the presence of God,” Mark Driscoll, Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle says, “Regarding the Trinity, it’s actually heretical.”
During the program today, we will ask Tim to summarize his review.
Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
The Death of Christianity & Culture: But God! |
|
|
|
Written by Paul Dean
|
|
Tuesday, 27 May 2008 |
|
A massive religious shift has occurred in Britain. From the Times Online: “Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation, research published today suggests. The fall - from the four million people who attend church at least once a month today - means that the Church of England, Catholicism and other denominations will become financially unviable. A lack of funds from the collection plate to support the Christian infrastructure, including church upkeep and ministers’ pay and pensions, will force church closures as ageing congregations die. In contrast, the number of actively religious Muslims will have increased from about one million today to 1.96 million in 2035.”
Obviously, there is a tragedy in such a paradigm shift in light of the Christian influence upon Britain for so long. The sad reality is that such a religious shift follows a predictable path from orthodoxy to liberalism in the churches to the loss of faith in the culture and indeed the hallmarks of that culture itself.
A few questions come to mind? What of America then if the path is predictable? Is it time to panic? What is God up to? What can the church do? Of course, God is sovereign and can do what He wills and we have great hope in that reality. At the same time, we have a responsibility. Knowing that God is in control gives us the confidence we need to fulfill that responsibility. Let’s put it this way, as we often do, the church simply needs to be the church.
On today’s edition of “Calling for Truth,” we’ll talk about the death of Christianity and culture, but, then inject some hope into the mix by affirming the truth from God’s perspective. Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Denominationalism, Ecumenism, etc. |
|
|
|
Written by Paul Dean
|
|
Monday, 26 May 2008 |
|
Join Paul and Kevin for a fast paced discussion that bounces from one topic to the next. The broad issues include Denominationalism, Ecumenism, Calvinism, Arminianism, and Religious Liberty.Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
TBA |
|
|
|
Written by Paul Dean
|
|
Monday, 26 May 2008 |
|
TBA...Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Friday, May 23, 2008 |
|
|
|
Written by Kevin Boling
|
|
Friday, 23 May 2008 |
|
The Latest Christian News
Steven Curtis Chapman Daughter Dies
Related Note: Next Thursday, May 29th scheduled to speak with Dan Cruver, Dr. Joel Beeke and Russell Moore re: Adoption. Joel Beeke has written a new book “Heirs with Christ – The Puritans on Adoption” forward by Dan Cruver
The President Speaking at Furman
“Who’s Intolerant Now” Article in Greenville Journal
Are Women Called To Be Pastors?
To listen to the program, click on the words "Read more" Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Thursday, May 22, 2008 |
|
|
|
Written by Kevin Boling
|
|
Thursday, 22 May 2008 |
|
The Path To Purpose
 Ten years ago, William Damon’s book, Greater Expectations, shocked and influenced our educational community by challenging the then-prevailing tendency to overindulge our children. Now, he returns to the youth development debate with “The Path To Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life”. Damon makes the much-needed case for the primary importance of purpose in raising and educating today’s youth by compelling us to look at how kids are developing today and why so many of them end up stalled in their emotional and intellectual maturation.
Drawing on the results from a four-year study, the book investigates why so many young people are “failing to launch”—living at home longer, lacking career motivation, and struggling to make a timely transition into adulthood. Some have high aspirations but no realistic plans for fulfilling them, and others have been active in a number of pursuits but have found no reason to commit to any of them. Many of these “adultolescents” have been primed for success, achieving straight As, high SAT scores, and Ivy League educations, but when it comes time for them to enter the real world, many flounder and are apathetic, disengaged, or cynical.
The Path To Purpose takes readers inside the minds of these drifting kids and exposes the depth of their confusion and mental anguish about what they should do with their lives. The book also offers compelling portraits of young people who are thriving with purpose in today’s world, and reveals, from the results of studying those thriving young people, nine key methods that parents and all adults should employ to cultivate the sense of purpose needed to provide a positive direction in a young life.
Based on extensive interviews with highly purposeful young people, Damon identifies and explains how to apply these nine key methods, which played an important role in the lives of each of the highly purposeful youth he studied in-depth, in ways that help children discover a genuine life purpose without being domineering, such as:
Listen “closely for the spark, then fan the flame”
Introduce children to potential mentors
Discuss with them your own “callings”—the purposes that have directed your own life
Encourage an entrepreneurial attitude
Teach them how to pursue their highest aspirations in a realistic and practical manner
Stress long-term achievement instead of short-term horizons
Damon demonstrates that if we guide our children down the “path to purpose” according to these precepts, we can help them find their own meaningful, engaging life pursuits and enable them to make their successful transitions to adulthood. (Adapted from the publisher)
On today’s “Calling For Truth” Radio Program we will speak with Dr. Damon about “The Path To Purpose – Helping Our Children Find Their Calling In Life”.
To listen to the program, click on the words “Read more”
Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 |
|
|
|
Written by Kevin Boling
|
|
Wednesday, 21 May 2008 |
|
Cinematic Theology
Have you ever wondered how Jesus might have told his parables in twenty-first century America? How would the characters have been portrayed? What modern cultural elements would have proved central? Well Compass Cinema has put together a DVD Series intented to do just that.
Modern Parables: Living in the Kingdom of God is an original Bible study curriculum designed for people who like movies and is just the first in a planned series of film-driven studies on the parables of Jesus. The films are geared towards use for youth groups, small groups, evangelism or even home schooling curriculum. Volume 1 features six of Jesus’ parables, told anew through film and set in a contemporary context. The 12-lesson study combines cinema and theology in short dramatic films that exegete (or explain) Jesus’ parables. In other words, just watching the films helps teach the historical, grammatical, contextual and interpretive elements in the parables. Modern Parables lets people grasp the parables at an immediate, gut level. This emotional immediacy enables them to engage the Bible in a powerful and compelling new way.
After reviewing DVD’s Tim Challies commented in his review, “"The films are entirely suitable for family viewing and, in fact, once we watched the first, my children pretty well demanded that we watch the rest. So we watched all six of them in an evening and spent right up until bed time discussing what the parables mean and asking why Jesus would share those stories. As the films began to play my children would suddenly grasp the story, remembering it from the Bible, and would find themselves absorbed in them.”
Carolyn McCulley added in her review, “In short, I like the variety of uses these videos offer--they are ideal for starting fruitful discussions with young children, initiating spiritual discussions with non-Christians, and giving your own Bible study a fresh take.”
The components in the kit include:
The Application Videos explain how the parables can be applied to our day-to-day lives. They are taught by insightful pastors representing different denominations.
The Director's Commentaries explore how cinema and theology were uniquely wedded in each of the films. When paired with the 6 bonus lessons found in the Teacher's Guide, they provide a unique insight into the way cinema provides new perpectives on our lives in God's Creation.
The Teacher's Guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to teach each lesson of Modern Parables. It also includes extensive background material on the parables and the theology of Biblical application.
The Student Book contains the actual Biblical study materials in 12 in-depth chapters on the parables. Each chapter is based on some of the best modern parabolic scholarship and is written in an engaging, easy-to-follow style. There are also six parallel tables that show the many comparisons between the parable film and the original text.
The Teacher's Prep CD is a series of 5-minute audio overviews on each lesson. They are intended to be listened to in the car or on a digital player just prior to teaching the class to help remind the teacher of the most important points.
To listen to the program, click on the words “Read more”
Write Comment (0 Comments) |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Audio 
