The Gospel Coalition

Tim Keller’s book The Reason For God will be out in February. Tim was kind enough to send me a copy about three weeks ago and it’s excellent. My hope and prayer is that God will use this book to give Tim a public platform with the secular media. He is an able and winsome defender of the Christian faith.

Anyway, he just sent me some of the blurbs (endorsements):

“Tim Keller’s ministry in New York City is leading a generation of seekers and skeptics toward belief in God. I thank God for him.”                                                                                                                                                               -Billy Graham

“Keller mines material from literary classics, philosophy, anthropology and a multitude of other disciplines to make an intellectually compelling case for God. Written for skeptics and the believers who love them, the book draws on the author’s encounters as founding pastor of New York’s booming Redeemer Presbyterian Church…[The Reason for God] should serve both as testimony to the author’s encyclopedic learning and as a compelling overview of the current debate on faith for those who doubt and for those who want to reevaluate what they believe, and why.”
-Publishers Weekly

“Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”
-Christianity Today Magazine

“Unlike most suburban megachurches, much of Redeemer is remarkably traditional.  What is not traditional is Dr. Keller’s skill in speaking the language of his urbane audience…Observing Dr. Keller’s professorial pose on stage, it is easy to understand his appeal.”
-The New York Times

“With intellectual, brimstone-free sermons that manage to cite Woody Allen alongside Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Keller draws some 5,000 young followers every Sunday.  Church leaders see him as a model of how to evangelize urban centers across the country, and Keller has helped ‘plant’ 50 gospel-based Christian churches around New York plus another 50 from San Francisco to London.”
-New York Magazine

Read all about it here.

“The Church’s manner of speaking the truth must not be alligned to the techniques of modern propaganda but must have the modesty, the sobriety, and the realism which are proper to a disciple of Jesus.” Lesslie Newbigin

I’ve been in pastoral ministry long enough to know that divorce is a sticky, complicated issue. But God hates it. Plain and simple. I hate it too. I’ve watched way too many men, women, and children suffer as a result of “seperating what God has joined together.” In a post a couple of days ago, my friend and fellow pastor here at New City, Paul Manuel, said:

C. S. Lewis, in The Four Loves, speaks about falling in love as diving, and staying in love as swimming. The two things are very different and require different muscle movements. Rather than learning the new skill of swimming, modern people are stuck on the thrill of diving again and again into new pools.

Grown men and women in the modern world seem to be incapable of keeping vows, and the next 10 generations are going to suffer terribly for this unless the church stands up and makes a difference by being different.

The sad thing is, that Christians are not modeling much difference from the world when it comes to staying togeher. They’re getting divorced as quickly as non-Christians are. And while this used to be frowned on in the Church, it is starting to gain widespread acceptance. This is both sad and tragic–and horribly self-centered. This article highlights the debate between Christians on the issue of divorce in the church.

Parenting is no easy task. I have three kids: Gabe (12), Nate (10), and Genna (6). Like every other parent, I want what’s best for my children. I want them to grow up loving God more than they love anything else. I want them to grow up hungering for God, thirsting for God, longing for God, more than they hunger and thirst and long for anyone else. Is there a way that parents can guarentee this for their children? I’m afraid not. But, at the same time, God has provided us with helps and guidelines which can show us how to point our children in the right direction. 

This article by Vern Poythress is a great help. It is filled with practical wisdom and insight. I hope it serves you well.

The December 3rd issue of Time Magazine asks this question. They contend that science is capable of providing an answer. Interesting. You can read it here. Part of developing a Biblical world and life view is comparing what the Bible says to what the world says. Read this critically and let it sharpen you.

And here you can take Time Magazine’s morality quiz.

I’ve had this interview with Os Guinness in my favorites since my seminary days. Reading through it again tonight made me realize once again why I’ve kept it there.

Here is one of my modern-day hero’s, John Piper, up to his ‘ole greatness again.

Here’s a great article by David Powlison on our culture’s fascination with, and pursuit of, physical beauty.

“Affliction is the school in which great virtues are acquired, in which great characters are formed.” Hannah More

O Lord, help me to believe this today!