Posts by Todd Pruitt

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I highly recommend Carl Trueman's excellent (and brief) ebook The Real Scandal of the Evangelical Mind . If you are a pastor, ministry leader, or elder in a non-denominational church Trueman's book will be especially important for you to read. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmLpLocn4Js...
Scott Oliphint's excellent book on apologetics is now available for $5 at WTSbooks. Too often Christians rely on worldly weapons to wage spiritual warfare. Publisher's Description: Hoping "to get us to open our Bibles again when we think about apologetics," K. Scott Oliphint probes six Scripture...
The Schaeffer Institute has recently released the troubling statistics of a research project among pastors. Thabiti comments on these findings in a very helpful and sobering post: This past Lord's Day, I had the privilege of preaching 1 Timothy 5:17-20. "The elders who direct the affairs of the...
"I'm not a genius." - Harold Camping You can read the entire article HERE . In case you were wondering, "the world will be destroyed" on October 21, 2011. I hate that because Autumn is my favorite time of year.
It seems that the former Bishop of Durham has been living under a proverbial rock. He just cannot seem to find anyone but those silly Americans who cares about questions of Hell and judgment. It seems that the Rev. Wright travels in fairly parochial circles. When asked recently about Hell, Wright...
On Sunday I preached part 14 of our series God's Great Story . It is entitled "The Judging God" and can be listened to or downloaded HERE .
Check out the audio HERE .
With the well known errors of Harold Camping fresh on our minds it may be helpful to read up on what reliable biblical scholars have written about the end times. Here are some excellent titles for you to check out: The Bible and the Future by Anthony Hoekema Christ and the Future by Cornelis Venema...
Harold Camping claimed that the Bible "guarantees" that Christ would rapture his people this day by 6:00 pm (beginning at the International Date Line). He claimed that the surface of the earth would be littered by the bones and other remains of the dead as all the graves on the planet would be...
Well tomorrow is the big day. I was listening to a "Camping-ite" today on a national radio program. At the end of the interview I noticed that my face hurt from being in a constant cringe for almost 45 minutes. The man was a deeply sincere fellow and quite articulate. Unfortunately he has given...
On Sunday I preached part 13 in the series God's Great Story . It is entitled "The Transforming God" and is focused on the New Testament epistles. You can listen to or download it HERE .
I'm looking forward to the following titles: Reformation: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow by Carl Trueman John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock by Iain Murray Welcome to the Story by Stephen Nichols
Thanks to Thom Rainer for this moving letter . You are my pastor. You are not perfect. You get frustrated like everyone else. You don’t always say exactly what you should say. You do indeed make some mistakes. On that reality you readily agree. But your imperfections are often magnified in the...
Kevin DeYoung has posted a helpful article on how churches ought to evaluate themselves. He draws on a conversation he had with the pastor of a declining church. The pastor attributed his church's decline on the fact that their music and liturgy were historic rather than contemporary. But DeYoung,...
I am eagerly awaiting the delivery of my copy of John Collins' new book Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? Dr. Collins is both a man of science (trained at MIT) and a Hebrew scholar. He teaches at Covenant Theological Seminary and has been an important voice in the discussion about the relationship...
Is it appropriate to apply the word "incarnation" to mere men? I have been uneasy for some time about the use of the term "incarnational" to our attempts to make Jesus known. I see no warrant from Scripture to apply this term to our evangelism or ministries of mercy. John Starke over at the Gospel...
It is not a new tactic. Liberal theologians and denominations tend to separate Jesus (as they choose to understand him) from the rest of Scripture. And so if there is anything in Scripture which they believe is out of step with Jesus then they will dismiss that portion of Scripture. Needless to say...
I cannot more highly commend to you the work of John Dickson. A pastor and evangelist, Dr. Dickson is also a scholar of ancient history. He is also one of my favorite preachers. Simply put, if you see his name on it, get it. One of his most recent project is a documentary on the life of Jesus which...
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoSiPII1QLI&w=460&h=292] HT: Trevin Wax
Robert Godfrey, church historian and President of Westminster Seminary California has written a series of helpful articles shedding light on Harold Camping's history and strange approach to biblical interpretation. "The End of the World According to Harold Camping" •Part 1 •Part 2 •Part 3 •Part 4 •...
I have attended the Basics Conference for eight years. The reason I return every year is because it is always well worth attending. I must say that this year was exceptional. Along with Alister Begg the speakers were John Dickson and Rico Tice. If you are unfamiliar with either Dickson or Tice I...
Recently Drs. Carl Trueman and Greg Beale of Westminster Seminary spoke at the annual Clarus Conference in New Mexico. The theme was "Scripture: God Speaks." G.K. Beale •“The Effects of Meditating on God’s Word” (Ps. 1) •“How to Guard the Good Deposit of Scripture” (2 Tim. 1:13) •“The Centrality of...
I am attending the Basics Conference at Parkside Church this week. I have attended this conference every year, save 2010, for eight years. The content is always outstanding and the mood restful. Above are a few pictures of the village of Chagrin Falls. The red brick building is my favorite...
Doug Wilson has a helpful post summing up his thoughts on the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. To those who would question the justice of assissination from a biblical perspective, Wilson answers: 1. Assassination is not necessarily an ungodly tactic. Ehud was a righteous judge in Israel, and he...
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/23187138 w=400&h=225] Tim Keller - Interview Session #3 from Vintage21 Church on Vimeo .
No one like criticism. Even when the criticism is legitimate or at least partially legitimate the sting is very real. For pastors this is especially true because so much of our work depends on being liked. The reality is intensified because of the amount of criticism that many pastors receive. In...
From John Newton: Give me leave to ask pastors: What would you do if you did not find yourself occasionally poor, insufficient, and stupid? Are you aware of what might be the possible, the probable, the almost certain consequences, if you always found your spirit enlarged, and your frames lively...
"When a church forfeits its doctrinal convictions and then embraces ambiguity and tolerates heresy, it undermines its own credibility and embraces its own destruction." - From an article by Al Mohler
Michael Wittmer is a guy I trust. His book Don't Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough is well worth reading. He also posted a series of effective responses to Brian MacLaren's tragic book A New Kind of Christianity . Now Wittmer has released a full response to Rob Bell's Love Wins...
And the abuses abound! Don Carson has written a helpful article for the latest issue of Themelios . Carson writes: Several years ago I wrote a fairly restrained critique of the emerging church movement as it then existed, before it morphed into its present diverse configurations.1 That little book...
The following are the posts/articles that I found most helpful in considering how Christians can think biblically about the death of Osama Bin Laden: John Piper Kevin DeYoung 1 Kevin DeYoung 2 Christopher Morgan Michael Horton Carl Trueman
The short answer is "Yes!" Take time to check out the latest 9Marks ejournal . The theme this month is church membership. Is it biblical? What does membership mean? What are the costs of meaningless membership? Is Church Membership Biblical by Matt Chandler Joining a Church the Ancient Way by...
Obviously, universalism has been getting quite a lot of attention lately. This is largely a good thing. It is why some orthodox theologians speak about our "debt to heresy." Heresy tends to rally the orthodox. It prompts the faithful to reexamine their doctrine and recover neglected points of truth...
On Sunday I preached part 12 in our current series: God's Great Story . It is entitled "The Nation Building God" and deals with the birth of the church. You can listen to or download the sermon HERE .
Christians are offering up various opinions on the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. Some are rejoicing as they point to such texts as Romans 13:3-4. Others are appealing to such texts as Ezekiel 33:11 to mourn his death. Are these contradictory positions? How do we rightly rejoice in the justice...
The growth of theologically conservative churches and the corresponding decline of liberal churches has been the occasion of a lot of speculation over the years. Even sociologists have offered opinions. The findings usually suggest that people can't deal with the thoughtful subtleties and...
The deadly combination of unchallenged liberal presumptions and casual intimidation of dissenters is probably at its worst in the most prestigious universities, which set the tone for the rest of the country, on this issue as on many others. But in all except the most resolutely religious colleges...
I'm loving this book !
On Easter Sunday I preached part 11 in our series God's Great Story . It is entitled "The Death-Defying God" and can be listened to or downloaded HERE .
I recently read with interest an article by Donald Miller in which he blames "teachers and scholars" for the divisions within evangelicalism. He is almost certainly wrong. Miller makes a classic error in pitting "practitioners" against teachers and scholars. His argument runs something like this:...
In an article posted today at the White Horse Inn Michael Horton makes the case for the Resurrection of Jesus as a necessarily historical event. Read it HERE . Look forward to seeing many of you in the morning. He is risen indeed!
No. Read more about it HERE .
When I was serving as a youth pastor in Oklahoma I took a group of high school seniors to one of the early Passion conferences in Austin, TX. What I was unprepared for was the message that would be preached by John Piper. His message to some 6,000 students was not how to date in college or how to...
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ms-gxEOtLA&w=460&h=375]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAyHhFjx4PM&w=460&h=375]
Okay, so I continue to think about Carl's post on mega-conferences with famous pastors. His warnings about a party spirit and idolatry of certain personalities will always be relevant and important. That said, I am less persuaded with his suggestion that the content of a conference is what matters...
So Carl Trueman is a bit of a cynic. This is not to criticize the man. I count Carl as a friend. What is more, Carl is the first to acknowlege his tendency toward cynicism. He is a Brit after all and our friends from across the pond consider cynicism to be a virtue. Still, Carl is fun over lunch...
In reading Love Wins there are times when I cannot help but almost feel sorry for Rob Bell. Almost. His use of the Scriptures is either incompetent or purposely misleading. But I don't know when the last time was that I read a book which was guilty of so many fallacies in biblical interpretation...
I've been trying to figure out an excuse to buy Crossway's beautiful collector's edition of the Gospels . It is illustrated by renowned artist Makoto Fujimura. I generally appreciate representational art. But Fujimura's work is extraordinary. It is luminescent. It defies description. What is more,...
There are uninformed individuals who hold that the doctrine of the Bible's inerrancy is an invention of "Old Princeton" (Warfield and the Hodges); the fruit of modernist categories. This is simply not true, of course. The following two statements are from Augustine, the 5th century Bishop of Hippo...