Josh Harris has a message from Jesus to Brit Hume.  Read here.

Happy birthday Bob Kauflin!  He reflects on reaching the speed limit in years.  See here.

I loved this video!  What an amazing display of God’s rich grace and glory in all life! (HT: Z)

Non-human persons?  Really?  Mohler comments.

A few things that might interest you….

Stephen Nichols made me laugh this morning.

Time asks the question: “Can Megachurches Bridge the Racial Divide?”

Michael Patton is asking: “Can Homosexuals Be Christians?”  His answer may surprise you.

Tony Carter wonders “Is Balance a Four-Letter Word.” And he’s dragging Packer and Terry Johnson in on his side. I think he’s right.

We never feel Christ to be a reality until we feel him to be a necessity.

-Austin Phelps, quoted by Gordon Keddie in Preacher on the run: The Message of Jonah (Hertfordshire, England: Evangelical Press, 1986), p. 85

The Buzzard Blog is circling prey again. This time he’s giving some good thoughts in “3 Truths That Change Your Life.”

Fifteen Years of Faithfulness. It was a great treat to join the saints at CHBC this weekend to celebrate Mark Dever’s 15th year at the church and to give God thanks for all He has done there in that time. God in His kindness has sent 27 pastors to at least five countries from CHBC in 15 years. That’s not counting all the interns and staff persons who are faithfully serving in other ways. May the Lord greatly magnify Himself with more fruit and make all our ministries as fruitful in their own right. Here’s a post and video from one member. (HT: Gospel Coalition)

Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. A very funny, insightful, and educational look at the Confederate subculture of the South. Also a decent overview of some Civil War facts and fiction. I thought the war was over, but apparently it’s still being fought in some quarters. The title suggests the book might be mocking, but it turns out to be a rather warm outsiders (author Tony Horowitz is Jewish) look into what’s inside things like Civil War re-enactments, Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, and other such things. Very good read, including some provocative concluding chapters examining the current state of “race” relations in Civil War and Civil Rights battleground states.

Five Signs of a Struggling Church:

• We don’t emphasize Bible study anymore.
• We cut our outreach budget.
• Our church doesn’t change with the community.
• We don’t take risks.
• We don’t have a clear discipleship plan.

See the full article at Church Forward (HT: My World)

Michael Horton’s Top 5 Books on Calvin (HT: JT)

Six Things a Pastor Becomes When He Has a Close Walk with the Savior

• …he becomes known as a godly Christian first and foremost, and only secondarily as a capable pastor or preacher
• …he blesses the congregation by the vitality of his prayers
• …he preaches a Saviour he knows
• …he becomes a ‘worthy’ example to the flock
• …he strengthens the faith of his family who see that he loves Jesus as much in the home as he does in the holy-pulpit
• …he bears the weight of the ministry by bringing its burdens to Jesus

Thanks Colin.

Eight Outlines for Revelation 20

Ten Things You May Be Loving More Than Jesus (HT: My World)

Eric Redmond interviews Bryan Chappel about his forthcoming book, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice.

Colin posts a list pdf’s and audio of Bryan Chappel’s preaching classes here. [Link Fixed] Colin comments: “Much of what I’ve learned about the theory behind sermon-preparation is a series of lectures I listened to from Bryan Chapell. These introductory lectures give you an excellent starting point from which you can adapt your own approach. One thing I really like about Chapell’s homiletics course, is that it is a course on preaching taught by someone who can really preach! Amen?” Amen!

Matt Schmucker takes about six minutes to explain biblical church discipline on Moody Radio. Worth the listen.

Piper wrestles with the question: Should a pastor continue in ministry if he has an unbelieving child? (HT: JT) Feeling like he wants to take a crack at all the tough questions today, Piper also answers, “What should I do if my wife says she doesn’t love me?“

Some things I trust have benefitted my soul recently:

Mark Dever on “The Pastor and the Church”:
The Pastor
The Church

Don Carson:
The Flow of Thought in 1 Timothy 2
Is the Culture Shaping Us or Are We Shaping the Culture?
HT: Titus2Talk
A Holy Nation: The Church’s High Calling

Bob Kauflin:
The Fight for Joy (Psalm 42-43)

J. M. Stiles:
Getting the Big Picture (1 Cor. 9:18-27)

A good brief plea for heart and head in the Christian life.

Spurgeon: “We need pardon for doubting as much as for blasphemy.” See here.

Read how Hee Haw, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Dukes of Hazzard helped one man embrace racial reconciliation. I grew up on these shows, too. And we’re collecting The Andy Griffith Show on DVD along with The Jeffersons, The Cosby Show, Good Times and Stargate Atlantis.

A couple of things of note from perusing the blogosphere this evening:

Andy Naselli lists three ways to spoil the gospel: addition, subtraction and disproportion.

Also found this gem at Andy’s blog:

On November 20, 1998 in Orlando, Florida at the annual meeting and fiftieth anniversary of the Evangelical Theological Society, D. A. Carson and John Piper gave back-to-back hour-long plenary addresses to about 1,000 ETS members (mostly college and seminary professors):

D. A. Carson, “Training the Next Generation of Evangelical Scholars” (MP3)

John Piper, “Training the Next Generation of Evangelical Pastors and Missionaries” (MP3 l manuscript)

J.I. Packer reduces Calvistic soteriology to one point. HT: Buzzard.

Speaking of Justin Buzzard, Carolyn McCulley posts a bit of advice given to Justin by an older man in his church following the birth of the second Buzzard boy. It’s advice I need to hear and take to heart!

It’s been a while since I’ve been “around the blog”. There’s been a lot of great stuff out there, edifying stuff. Seems there have been a number of really good quotes posted. Thought I’d list links to a few.

Pyromaniacs quote Spurgeon on preaching with candor and personal application. See here.

Lig’ Duncan gets personal with Calvinists regarding controversies, courtesy of John Newton. See here.

Lig’s homie with the accent, Derek Thomas, sets the bar high with a quote from Bishop Howe on ideal gospel ministers. I plugged this once but thought it was challenging enough to link again. Here.

Colin quotes Keller on learning to preach well through practice. See here. Someone said to me it takes about 400-500 sermons before you’ve worked out who you really are in the pulpit. I know I’m still working on it.

JT quotes Mollie Hemmingway of the WSJ on a new study from Baylor University called “What Americans Really Believe.” The New Atheism leads to a new superstition. Good quote here.

What? Theology solves practical problems?! Indeed. JT via Lig via Donald Macleod in The Humiliated and Exalted Lord provides the quote. See here.

And if you’ve not had enough quotes, spend a season at Of First Importance. Too many good ones to choose from.