Discuss Theology

Alistair McGrath still rules the field with his quote:
“If Wright is right then Luther was wrong.”

I was with Dr. Christy Wilson only 6 weeks before his death. We ate Korean food together in Colorado. He reminisced about my student days at Gordon-Conwell under his tutelage. What a legend and what a heritage he has left behind. I wonder how much of the history of Afghanistan is directly linked to his shaking the dust off of his feet as he stepped onto an airplane, leaving there [permanently] in the early 1970’s–shaking the dust off of his feet as a testimony against them. As well, I was in attendance with Dr. Ralph Winter at a conference in Wheaton, not long before his death, seated next to him listening to Steve Saint. Saint called for commitment all the way to death at the end of his brief discussion. Of course, Winter stood up. All heaven rejoices because both Winter and Wilson are with them up there right now among all of the other good and faithful servants who have gone before them. I am not sure we really understand who we lost when we lost those two.

That is how the ad in Christianity Today reads. I wonder how NT Wright would answer Martin Luther?

Yale’s President on European Universities
By Charles Halton on Sunday, 7 June 2009 at 9:15 pm
There will be more competition for American universities [coming from Asian schools]. Europe, I think, has fallen by the wayside.

Philip Jenkins at Penn State would certainly agree with that assessment, at least in theological education.

Music is a part of the kingdom of God. It makes sense that a young worship leader from Conway, Arkansas would win. Congratulations brother.

I heard Gordon-Conwell OT prof. in Europe last week. He soke about NT Wright’s new book on justification. Petter mentioned that the future of the Protestant church is at stake with Wright’s understanding of justification. He compared the contemporary circumstance to the night the Titanic hit the iceburg.

Here are Ten good books I have thought about or read in the last 2 months:

1.Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, and Robert B. Cialdini
2.The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright by John Piper 3.Right With God: Justification in the Bible and the World (World Evangelical Fellowship Series) by D. A. Carson
4.By Faith Alone: Answering the Challenges to the Doctrine of Justification by Gary L. W. Johnson, Guy P. Waters, David F. Wells, and Cornelis P. Venema
5.The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South by Philip Jenkins
6.The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
7.Teach Your Child How to Think by Edward de Bono
8.Methodical Bible Study by Robert A. Traina
9.What Do I Do Now?: Dr Fosters 30 Laws Of Great Decision Making by Charles Foster
10.My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas

Look at these numbers for state and government pension short falls:
Pennsylvania Pension Funds Inform State Lawmakers of $28 Billion in Losses

US Corporate Pension Plans Lost $445 Billion in 2008

Tennessee’s Public Employee Pension System Lost $5 Billion in Past Six Months

New Mexico’s Public Pension Funds Need Increased Contributions After $5 Billion in Losses

Washington State’s Taxpayers Owe $5.9 Billion to Oldest Public Employee Pension Plans

72% of New York City Firefighters Who Retired Since 2004 Are Collecting Disability Pensions

Detroit’s Public Employee Pensions Lost More Than $2 Billion

Tough Choices for Colorado’s State Workers After $13 Billion Pension Fund Loss

Virginia’s Pension Fund Loses $13 Billion

Down by $80 Billion, CalPERS Charts New Course for Investment Mix

US Companies Face $109 Billion Pension Tab in 2009

State Pension Funds $865 Billion Loss Means New Hires Get Less

Kentucky Pension Plan Funding Gaps Grow to $30 Billion

Big 3 Pension Fund Shortfall Has Grown to $41 Billion, Warns PBGC

California’s $48 Billion Unfunded Health Care Liability for Retired State Employees

New Jersey’s $130 Billion Pension Under-funding, a Problem Too Large to Ignore

Public Employee Pension Funds Paid Out a Record $168 Billion in 2007

Social Security: Our National Ponzi Scheme

Global Pensions Lost $5 Trillion in 2008

Canada’s Corporate Pension Plans Take a Pounding, Falling 28% in 2008

This is a great statement from Charles Colson on doctrine.

Put this in your browser
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/april/10.72.html

2 Timothy 3:16 informs us that “God breathed” the Scriptures. This is is picturesque. It is as if God held up blank pages and literally breathed the words out onto the pages of the Bible. That is a very high view of Scripture. I believe thaat.