The Gospel Coalition

The Principles of Evangelicalism
What does evangelical mean on evangelical lips? It is an umbrella word, covering and connecting belief, spirituality, purpose, and action, both personal and corporate. The quadrilateral account of evangelicalism as biblicist, cross-centered, conversionist, and evangelistic has gained wide acceptance in recent years. I myself profile evangelicalism in terms of six belief-and-behavior principles, thus:

1. Enthroning Holy Scripture, the written word of God, as the supreme authority and decisive guide on all matters of faith and practice;
2. Focusing on the glory, majesty, kingdom, and love of Jesus Christ, the God-man who died as a sacrifice for our sins and who rose, reigns, and will return to judge mankind, perfect the church, and renew the cosmos;
3. Acknowledging the lordship of the Holy Spirit in the entire life of grace, which is the life of salvation expressed in worship, work, and witness;
4. Insisting on the necessity of conversion (not of a particular conversion experience, but of a discernibly converted condition, regenerate, repentant, and rejoicing);
5. Prioritizing evangelism and church extension as a life-project at all times and under all circumstances; and
6. Cultivating Christian fellowship, on the basis that the church of God is essentially a living community of believers who must help each other to grow in Christ.

“The City of God is a place where the inhabitants love people and walk on gold; the city of man is a place where the inhabitants love gold and walk on people.”

St. Augustine

For those who are not familiar with the Trinity Forum, let me introduce you to it. It is a Christian think tank in Washington D.C. originally founded by Os Guinness. They are doing some remarkable things when it comes to “engaging leaders with the great ideas in the context of faith for personal and societal renewal.” The Executive Director is my good friend and former RTS President Luder Whitlock. Check them out.

In response to my post a few days ago, A Small List of Good Books , some have asked me to provide a smaller list of books geared more specifically toward helping a young Christian grow in their understanding and application of the Christian faith. Here are 12 that come to mind immediately:

Christian Basics by John Stott

Do I Know God? by (I’m almost ashamed to say it but here it goes) Tullian Tchividjian

The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul

Knowing God by J.I. Packer

The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges

The Contemporary Christian by John Stott

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Designed for Dignity by Richard Pratt

Living the Cross-Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney

Engaging God’s World by Cornelius Plantinga

Creation Regained by Albert M. Wolters

Desiring God by John Piper

Some of these are a bit more challenging than others, but I would strongly recommend that any new believer who is serious about growing in the Christian faith take two years to read each and every one of these books carefully. If you do, you’ll be glad. And when you’re done with these, come back and I’ll give you more. May God richly bless you as you read.

The Bible makes it clear that God’s people face three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil. This means that Rick Warren is NOT our enemy. For those of you who proudly bash Rick Warren, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I used to take pride in my critique of Rick Warren. Both of his books, The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life have some glaring weaknesses. But they have some strengths too: they are not wholly devoid of truth. Let me be very clear: It is NOT Reformed (much less Christian) to glean truth, beauty, and goodness only from Christians who are Reformed. In fact, because of the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc) firm belief that “all truth is God’s truth” we should glory in truth wherever it is found–yes even when it is found in books written by Rick Warren!

But it’s not Rick Warren’s books or Rick Warren’s church that impress me. It’s Rick Warren. I’ve met him and he is a genuinely humble guy (it’s easy to critique a person that you’ve never spent time with). In an Evangelical world where financial and moral integrity are becoming increasingly hard to find amongst its leaders, Rick Warren is above reproach. He doesn’t take himself too seriously (we could all learn from him on this point) and he’s actually geting his hands dirty serving the common good of humanity. I’m not bad at theologizing about cultural transformation. But I have a long way to go to catch Rick when it comes to actually transforming this present world into the world to come. Rick Warren is doing more to bring God’s Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” than most of us. He may not be a Calvinist theologically, but he certainly puts many of us Calvinists to shame when it comes to being a Calvinist practically: caring for widows and orphans, helping the poor and sick, and humbly serving those in need. He’s doing more good than harm for the Kingdom and if you love the King, that should make you happy. I say all of this because I ran across a hepful article that he recently wrote. It’s entitled Six Worldviews You’re Competing Against.

I hope that you will be more inclined to pray for Rick than you are to critique him. Critiquing him (or anybody else, for that matter) is beneficial where and when he misses the mark (either personally or theologically). But if you find more joy and satisfaction in critiquing him where he is wrong than you do in praising God where he is right, than you need to repent. I know, because I had to. Enjoy this helpful article.

Here is an excellent article by my friend Mike Glodo from RTS Orlando. This article originally appeared in Modern Reformation magazine but is here reprinted in Reformed Perspectives online magazine.

Mike rightly notes that “apart from the church, there is no salvation.” Read the article to see what he means. This is the article that God used to propel me toward pastoral ministry as I had my heart set on becoming a seminary professor.  Thanks Mike!

I just finished a frustrating conversation with two very sweet Jehovah’s Witness ladies who came knocking on my door. We talked for about 25 minutes. I don’t think they knew when they came knocking that they were knocking on the door of a Presbyterian minister. They were a bit shocked when I got my Bible and turned the tables so that I was now “witnessing” to them. Anyway, we need to be praying for these people. They are clearly decieved and in need of God’s saving grace in Christ.

I was once again reminded that we need to be prepared to answer their questions and to raise objections. We need to know what we believe and why we believe it. Lives are at stake if we don’t. Here is a helpful guide that will benefit us in understanding what they believe and how to engage them. Check it out. Don’t be caught offguard.

Check out this brief video interview with Chuck Colson on God and Government.

In response to my post on the need to read good books, I was asked by one new believer if I could recommend some good books to begin reading. Below is a list of some books (categorized) that really helped me out as a young Christian. My hope and prayer is that God would use some of these to help you the way he used them to help me. 

Spiritual Disciplines
E.M. Bounds, “Power Through Prayer”
John Piper, “A Hunger for God”
Donald Whitney, “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life”
T.M. Moore, “The Disciplines of Grace”
Matthew Henry, “A Method for Prayer”

Devotional
J.I. Packer, “Knowing and Doing the Will of God”
Arthur Bennett, “The Valley of Vision”
Charles Spurgeon, “Morning and Evening”
John Piper, “A Godward Life” (Book 1 and Book 2)
J.C. Ryle, “Expository Thoughts on the Gospels” (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

Church History
Earle E. Cairns, “Christianity Through the Centuries”
S.M. Houghton, “Sketches From Church History”
Bruce L. Shelley, “Church History in Plain Language”
James Eckman, “Exploring Church History”
Kenneth Scott Latourette, “A History of Christianity” (Vol. 1 and 2)
Justo L. Gonzalez, “The Story of Christianity”

Introduction to Theology
J.I. Packer, “Concise Theology”
J.I. Packer, “Knowing God”
Thomas Watson, “A Body of Divinity”
Bruce Milne, “Know the Truth”
Sinclair Ferguson, “Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction”
R.C. Sproul, “Essential Truths of the Christian Faith”
R.C. Sproul, “Chosen by God”
James Montgomery Boice, “Foundations of the Christian Faith”
Michael Scott Horton, “Putting Amazing Back Into Grace”
John Piper, “The Pleasures of God”
D. James Kennedy, “Truths that Transform”

Christian Living
J.C. Ryle, “Practical Religion”
J.C. Ryle, “Holiness”
John Piper, “Desiring God”
J.I. Packer, “God’s Plans for You”
J.I. Packer, “Rediscovering Holiness”
Jerry Bridges, “The Pursuit of Holiness”
Jerry Bridges, “Discipline of Grace”
Jerry Bridges, “The Gospel for Real Life”
C.J. Mahaney, “Living The Cross Centered Life”
Joshua Harris, “Stop Dating the Church”

Basic Bible Study Helps
Tremper Longman, “Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind”
Tremper Longman, “Making Sense of the Old Testament”
Alec Motyer, “The Story of the Old Testament”
John Stott, “The Story of the New Testament”
R.C. Sproul, “Knowing Scripture”
Philip Comfort, Ed., “The Origin of the Bible”

Evangelism and Missions
J.I. Packer, “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God”
John Piper, “Let the Nations Be Glad”
Will Metzger, “Tell the Truth”
John Stott, “Christian Mission in the Modern World”
Joseph Alleine, “An Alarm to the Unconverted”

Other authors I would highly recommend as you get started would be C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Os Guinness, Nancy Pearcey, Charles Colson, John Frame, and Ravi Zacharias. Also, read the footnotes and endnotes in these books for further direction on who and what to read.  Enjoy…

Many years ago now, a friend of mine from India reminded me that “leaders are readers and readers are leaders.” It has been years since my friend said that to me and I still believe he is right. Since then I have finished both college and seminary and I have taken his advice to heart, not only by becoming a voracious reader, but by “putting my money where my mouth is”, so to speak, in the building of a personal library. I have often told people that the primary tool God has used in my life to make me more like Jesus, other than private and public worship, has been the reading of good books. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-12, that God has given to his church “apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, and for building up the body of Christ.” Reading good books by solid, godly, and reputable teachers is indispensable to the life of faith and Christ-centered discipleship.

Tim Challies has posted 10 helpful tips on how to read more and better. Check it out here. I especially echo what Tim says here about the need to be an interactive reader. Use a pencil and underline key phrases and sentences when you read. Make notes in the columns. Never sit down to read without a pencil in hand. C.S. Lewis once said, “The best way to read [a book] is with book in lap, pen in hand, and pipe in teeth.”  Enjoy, but go easy on the tobacco!