Congratulations to Ross Shannon of Louisville, KY. He is the winner of the Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway 2009. Ross’ entry number (#559) was randomly selected this morning, so he will be receiving my ten favorite books of the year as well as a copy of Holy Subversion and an ESV Study Bible.

Thank you to all who participated in the Giveaway and Merry Christmas!

All of these books could be yours! Today, it is my pleasure to announce the second annual Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway.

For the next ten days (Dec. 15-25), you have the opportunity to register to win all ten of my favorite books this year. Plus, an ESV Study Bible and a copy of my forthcoming book, Holy Subversion. That’s $240 worth of books! (Click here to read about last year’s winner.)

#1. SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 1859-2009 – Greg Wills
#2. UNFASHIONABLE – Tullian Tchividjian
#3. DEEP CHURCH – Jim Belcher
#4. THE CASE FOR LIFE – Scott Klusendorf
#5. THE GOD WHO SMOKES – Timothy Stoner
#6. ADOPTED FOR LIFE -Russell Moore
#7. MANHUNT – James Swanson
#8. COUNTERFEIT GODS – Tim Keller
#9. WHY WE LOVE THE CHURCH – Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck
#10. THE GOD I DON’T UNDERSTAND – Christopher Wright

How to Register for the Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway

1. You must be a subscriber to my blog via email or RSS. (See the sidebar, upper right-hand column to subscribe. I also have a Twitter account if you prefer to follow me that way.)

2. Send me an email, letting me know that you are a subscriber. Include your name and shipping address.

3. On December 25, I will randomly select one person who will win the ten books and ESV Study Bible.

* BLOGGER BONUS *
If you have a blog and would like to increase your chances of winning, add my blog to your sidebar and send me an email with a link to your blog. I will add your name to the list twice. If you also write a post about this Giveaway, I will add your name to the pot a third time.

Articles

• Why Low Expectations Cheat Our Church Members
• How Should You Handle Criticism?
• The Little Graces
• 10 Words to Add to Your Vocabulary
• Evangelical Approaches to Roman Catholicism
• The Ironies of the “Church is Lame” Crowd

Book Reviews

• Going Rogue: An American Life – Sarah Palin
• The Lost World of Genesis One – John Walton
• Christless Christianity – Michael Horton
• Book Notes: Bright-Sided / Leading with Confidence / Fool Moon Rising
• Patron Saints for Postmoderns – Chris Armstrong
• Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music – Greg Kot

Interviews

• Jim Belcher Responds to Critics of Deep Church
• ESV Study Bible Turns 1: An Interview with Justin Taylor
• Evangelicals and Catholics on Holy Ground: 4 Questions for Chris Castaldo

Blogging

• Some Changes Coming to Kingdom People

Gospel Definitions

• Steve Timmis

New Endorsements for Holy Subversion

• David Dockery
• Collin Hansen
• Nick Perrin
• Radu Gheorghita

Prayers

• O Lord, Your Word…
• Scotty Smith’s Gospel-Soaked Morning Prayer
• Prayer of Praise
• Charles Simeon’s Thanksgiving Prayer
• Lancelot Andrews’ Thanksgiving Prayer

Trevin’s Seven

• 11/6/09
• 11/13/09
• 11/20/09

Notable Items from Novembers Past

• Are Short-Term Mission Trips Worth the Trouble? (Nov. 25, 2008)
• The Fundamentalist Survival Mechanism (Nov. 6, 2007)
• Time to Get Real about “Getting Real” (Nov. 15, 2006)

Articles

• Seminary Online, On-Campus or By Extension? The Benefits and Drawbacks of Each
• I’m Afraid to Share My Faith
• Won’t a Good Moral Life Get Me to Heaven? Why Your Answer Should Be “Yes”

Book Reviews

• 1959: The Year that Changed Everything - Fred Kaplan
• Counterfeit Gods - Tim Keller
• Tell the Truth – Will Metzger (Summary, Reflections)
• Sacred Friendships – Robert Kellemen &  Susan Ellis
• Uneasy in Babylon: Southern Baptist Conservatives and American Culture - Barry Hankins
• They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45 – Milton Mayer

LiveBlogging from the “Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism” Conference at Union University

1. Ed Stetzer: “Denominationalism – Is There a Future?”
2. Jim Patterson: “Reflections on 400 Years of Baptist Movement”
3. Hal Poe: “The Gospel and Its Meaning”
4. Timothy George: “The Faith, My Faith, The Church’s Faith”
5. Duane Litfin: “The Future of American Evangelicalism”
6. Ray Van Neste: “Pastoral Ministry in SBC Life”
7. Robert Smith: “The Church’s One Foundation”
8. Mark DeVine: “Emergent or Emerging”
9. Danny Akin: “The Future of the SBC”
10. Michael Lindsay: “Denominationalism in a Changing America”
11. Jerry Tidwell: “Missions and Evangelism”
12. David Dockery: “So Many Denominations…”
13. Panel Discussion
14. Nathan Finn: “Passing On the Faith”
15. Albert Mohler: “Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism”

Interviews

Interview with Dr. Marvin Olasky, editor of World magazine

• From Marxism to Christ
• Politics in the Pulpit and the Future of “Compassionate Conservatism”
• On Journalism and Biblical Objectivity
• Reading Habits & Future Writing Projects

Blogging

• Kingdom People Reader Survey

Theology

• Michael Horton’s extensive review of N.T. Wright’s Justification

New Endorsements for Holy Subversion

• J.I. Packer
• Albert Mohler
• Dr. Russell Moore
• Paul Negruț

Prayers

• The Penitent Pastor
• A Covenant Prayer
• A Prayer to the Vine of God
• A Prayer for Suffering Children

In the Blogosphere

• 10/02/09
• 10/16/09
• 10/23/09
• 10/30/09

Notable Items from Octobers Past

• Top Ten Moments of the Reformation (October 31, 2007)
• Is Your Small Group Open or Closed? (October 28, 2008)

Articles

• The Trinitarian Gospel: Why We Need All Three Parts
• Why Should I Believe in Original Sin?

Book Reviews

• The Shack – William Young
• Deep Church - Jim Belcher
• Just Do Something! – Kevin DeYoung
• Southern Baptist Identity – David Dockery, editor
• You Are the Treasure that I Seek – Greg Dutcher
• Do Hard Things – Alex & Brett Harris
• Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: 1859-2009 – Greg Wills
• Baptists and the Bible – Russ Bush & Tom Nettles

Series on Evangelism and Ichabod Spencer

• Timely Truth: Ichabod Spencer’s Approach to Evangelism
• Evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses in Spencer’s Evangelism
• Implementing Spencer’s Evangelism in a Postmodern World

Interviews

• The Emerging Church: In Retrospect – Interview with Robbie Sagers

Devotional Thoughts

• Walking and Talking Evangelism

Gospel Definitions

• Gospel Definitions (All)
• Gospel Definitions (PDF Format)
• Jim Belcher
• Danny Akin
• Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
• J.I. Packer

New Endorsements for Holy Subversion

• Christian George
• Tom Schreiner
• Marvin Olasky
• Michael Bird

Prayers

• A Prayer for Students
• Help Me Love What I Ought
• You Are My Health
• Rouse Us Daily By Your Words

In the Blogosphere

• 9/4/09
• 9/11/09
• 9/18/09
• 9/25/09

Notable Items from Septembers Past

• Great American Preachers and Sermons: An Interview with Larry Witham (Part 1) – September 2008
• A History of American Preaching: An Interview with Larry Witham (part 2) – September 2008
• I Love Revelation, but Eschatology Scares Me (September 25, 2007)

Articles

• On Books and Blurbs
• Why Calvin is More Biblical than Some Calvinists
• Weighing the Pro’s and Cons of Twitter

Book Reviews

• Unpacking Forgiveness – Chris Brauns
• Manhunt – James Swanson
• Your Jesus is Too Safe – Jared Wilson
• How to Give Away Your Faith - Paul Little (Summary, Reflections)
• Are You the One Who Is to Come? – Michael Bird
• The Politics of Abortion – Anne Hendershott

Interviews

• Jesus as Messiah: An Interview with Michael Bird

Romanian Baptist forum on SBC “Rebaptism”

• Introduction
• “Rebaptism” – Diagnosing the Problem
• On the Baptism of Small Children
• On Catechism Before Baptism

Devotional Thoughts

• You Can Be Like Andrew
• Called to Be God’s People

New Endorsements for Holy Subversion

• Dr. Michael Wittmer
• Dr. Danny Akin
• Dr. Gregg Allison
• Tullian Tchividjian

Prayers

• Remove Our Idols and Hindrances, Lord
• Tear Down My Dearest Idol
• May We Know You More Clearly
• Cleanse Us from Our Offenses
• You Are My Righteousness

In the Blogosphere

• 8/7/09
• 8/14/09
• 8/21/09
• 8/28/09

Notable Items from Augusts Past

• The King James Only Controversy – August 7, 2007
• The Top Five Theologians in Christian History – August 23, 2008

I have more than a hundred blogs represented in my RSS feed through Google Reader. But only twenty-one receive a spot on my side-bar. I thought today might be a good day to explain who’s who on the blogroll, and why I recommend you frequent these blogs as well.

PASTORS AND SCHOLARS

Tullian Tchividjian
Tullian’s pastoral blog often contains excerpts from his books and sermons. I love the passion he has for the gospel and for preaching truth.

Scot McKnight
A world-class New Testament scholar who is  unafraid to pose hard questions, tackle controversial topics, and engage those who may disagree. JesusCreed is one of the most popular Christian blogs on the web.

Ben Witherington
A seasoned scholar at Asbury Seminary who writes about a wide range of topics (including movies).

Mark D. Roberts
Mark is a blogger with a pastor’s heart. Plenty of food for thought. Even when I disagree with Mark, I admire his charitable spirit and the wisdom that comes from his experience.

Michael Kelley
Michael Kelley works as an editor for LifeWay’s young adult curriculum, Threads. He is also a great Sunday School teacher and an insightful writer. Wise beyond his years and well worth reading.

Children’s Ministry Blog
Tony Kummer’s terrific resource for children’s ministers. Lots of good give-aways, and good commentary on Sunday School and VBS curriculum.

BLOGS THAT MAKE ME THINK

Darryl Dash
Darryl specializes in giving his readers brief posts that get you thinking. (Not to mention he was able to interview Tim Keller.)

Gospel-Driven Church
Jared Wilson excels at pointing his readers to the gospel. His posts are fueled by gospel-driven passion and skillful writing. Look for his new book soon.

Internet Monk
The curmudgeon of the evangelical blogosphere, excuse me – “post-evangelical” blogosphere. Michael Spencer’s posts are often uncomfortably personal. Love him or hate him, he always leaves you with food for thought. Regardless… you can’t ignore him.

BLOGS THAT CONNECT ME TO GOOD CONTENT (AND BOOKS)

Justin Taylor
If I was stranded on a deserted island and only had one blog, this would be the one. Not primarily because of Justin’s own writing (which is itself terrific), but because of the great content he points me to daily. Truly, one of the best of the best.

Zach Nielsen
Zach is the first person to give me the nickname “T-Wax.” No wonder. The name of his blog is one of the most creative on the web: Take Your Vitamin Z. In your “daily dose of z blogorrhea,” Zach passes along interesting quotes and links, together with good commentary.

Tim Challies
Known as the world’s foremost Christian blogger, Tim excels in reviewing books, writing online essays (that people actually read!) and linking to other interesting sites on the web.

Tony Reinke
An avid reader like myself, Tony is a humble blogger who wishes to share the truths he is discovering as he reads and writes and seeks to serve the Lord.

CULTURAL COMMENTARY

Albert Mohler
Great commentary on current events. Mohler stays on top of cultural developments in the United States and then speaks to the issues with Christian concern. (I wonder if he ever sleeps.)

Scriptorium Daily
A mix of politics, culture and religion. Always great commentary and interesting perspectives.

SOUTHERN BAPTIST BLOGGERS

SBC Voices
Begun by my friend Tony Kummer and now hosted by another friend, Matt Svoboda, SBC Voices is a blog aggregator that connects Southern Baptists in the blogosphere.

Baptist21
A collaborative effort among several young Southern Baptists, this blog is about being distinctively Baptist in the 21st century. Always good insights and lots of truth to chew on.

Bart Barber
Bart is a rare voice within the world of SBC politics. A voice of sanity in the midst of heated rhetoric that keeps the differing perspectives of SBC life from truly communicating. He asks good questions and does so in a civil manner.

Between the Times
Put Danny Akin, Bruce Ashford, Nathan Finn, J.D. Greear, Ken Keathley, David Nelson and Alvin Reid in a room together, and this is the blog you get. Terrific insights from these Southeastern faculty, as well as pastoral application.

Russ Moore
Our “Fundamissional Dean” at Southern Seminary. Dr. Moore asks great questions and gives biblical answers. Furthermore, I am convinced that Russ Moore has no rival when it comes to creative titles for blog posts, sermons, and lectures.

Ed Stetzer
Ed is the big, lovable fuzzball of the SBC. Firm in his convictions, yet open to changing methodologies. His blog is like a monthly magazine that you read over the course of the month. Terrific insights, interviews, and commentary.

So there they are… the blogs on my sidebar. Take some time to check out the content. If you have some favorite blogs you believe I should add to this list, leave a comment to let me know.

How to Preach the Sermon on the Mount by Memory

Interview
Marvin Olasky on the future of World Magazine

Book Reviews
The Case for Life – Scott Klusendorf
A Community Called Taize – Jason Brian Santos
Evangelicals Engaging Emergent – Various
As We Forgive - Catherine Clair Lawson

Book Summaries

Graeme Goldsworthy’s According to Plan
Introduction
Summary (Part 1)
Summary (Part 2)
Strengths
Some Questions for Further Thought

Show Them No Mercy: Four Views of God and Canaanite Genocide
Introduction
One Way of Dealing with the Canaanite Conquest
Other Ways of Dealing with the Canaanite Conquest
Personal Reflections on the Canaanite Conquest

Quotables
Wanted: More Heavenly-Mindedness – John Piper
Pope Luther 
Abortion and White Supremacy
Mark Driscoll on Little-World Negatives

Devotional Thoughts
Light of the World

Missions
Arrival in Romania
Sunday in Romania
Final Days in Romania
Pictures from Our Trip to Romania

Prayers
A Prayer for Missions
A Prayer of Basil the Great
Hosanna! A Prayer for Salvation
In Evil Long I Took Delight
Pentecost Prayer

In the Blogosphere
5/01/09
5/15/09
5/22/09
5/29/09

Notable Items from the Archive
Earth Day or Easter? Mother’s Day or Pentecost? - May 2008
Conversations with a Roman Catholic – May 2007

Lately, I have been thinking of this blog as a sort of magazine spread out over the course of a month. Perhaps it will be helpful to provide a month’s worth of contents in one post. So… I hope to provide a monthly summary of Kingdom People at the end of each month from this point on. Here is the summary for April.

BOOK REVIEWS
Unfashionable – Tullian Tchividjian
Lost and Found – Ed Stetzer
Introducing Paul – Michael Bird
Lost in Transmission? What We Can Know about the Words of Jesus - Nick Perrin
Fasting – Scot McKnight
The God I Don’t Understand – Christopher Wright
The Gospel of the Kingdom – G.E. Ladd
Godology – Christian George
W.H. Whitsitt: The Man and the Controversy – James Slatton

INTERVIEWS
Michael Bird on Having a Fresh Encounter with the Apostle Paul
Ed Stetzer on his new book, Lost and Found
Nick Perrin on the reliability of the Gospels
Trevin Wax on “Echoes of Babel”

CULTURE
American Idol: Well, At Least I Had a Good Time

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
Let My People Go!
Jesus is God’s Answer to Our Cry
Go Deep
Easter Means that Our Coffins Will Not Stay Closed
Blessing, Praying, Forgiving

QUOTABLES
Jesus Wants the Rose! – Matt Chandler
The Paradoxical Cross – Michael Bird
Bonhoeffer on Brotherhood
John Updike’s Seven Stanzas on Easter
Death Has Been Defeated – G.E. Ladd

GOSPEL DEFINITIONS
Michael Patton
Roger Nicole

PRAYERS
A Prayer for Humility
Palm Sunday
Help Us Die Daily

IN THE BLOGOSPHERE…
In the Blogosphere – 4/24
Akin’s Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence
In the Blogosphere – 4/17
In the Blogosphere – 4/10
In the Blogosphere – 4/3

NOTABLE ITEMS FROM THE ARCHIVE
My interview with N.T. Wright on Surprised by Hope (April 2008)
Raising “The Resurrection” from the Dead (April 2007)

Congratulations to Jordan Thomas of Memphis, TN. He is the winner of the Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway 2008. Jordan’s entry number (#269) was randomly selected this morning, so he will be receiving my ten favorite books of the year as well as an ESV Study Bible.

Thank you to all who participated in the Giveaway and Merry Christmas!