Author Archives: Clark Bunch

Taking a Stand: Sproul, MacArthur

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Ligonier Ministries West Coast Conference will take place in June in Seattle. R.C. Sproul, founder of Ligonier, will lead the event with John MacArthur headlining as well. They will address biblical authority, the resurrection of Jesus and the exclusivity of Christ. Evangelicals will be called upon to take a firm stand against an increasingly hostile culture. Sproul sites the “new atheists” as having more boldness than ever before because they know the culture is already on their side.

“Christians in our day and in our world and in our culture have to disabandon themselves of this idea that we are living in the cradle of a Christian culture,” he said. “We are not. We are living in a culture that is not simply indifferent to the Christian faith but it is actively hostile.”

This is a preview; read the full article here, via Christian Post.

The Read and Share File

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Here’s what I’ve been reading:

What if revival broke out in your town… at the church down the street?  What if you were out of town for a few months on a mission trip, and revival started under the guest preacher?   9Marks suggests that we Pray for Revival – at the other guy’s church.  

At Believing God Today: To Gospel or Not to Gospel Part I
To Gospel or Not to Gospel Part II

NEWS – Abortion, birth control and gay marriage ranked lowest on issues of importance to registered voters, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. What issues ranked highest?  The economy, jobs and the deficit, in that order.  No surprise there; if you want to hurt Americans, hit them in the pocket book.  More of this story at Christian Post.

The Desiring God blog shares 15 Tips on Blogging from John Newton.  Perhaps you recognize John Newton as the writer of Amazing Grace.  Did he really offer tips on blogging, 400 years ago?  In a manner of speaking.

Here is the Al Mohler post that everyone is talking about.  Paul Wilkinson (Thinking Out Loud) explains Why Al Mohler Should Retire; Jeff Dunn (Internet Monk) writes on Al Mohler’s Problem with Grace.  Suddenly all my problems seem smaller.

This just in: Tall Skinny Kiwi does not live in a commune.

Is Mitt Romney a Christian?

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Is Mitt Romney a Christian?  Are Mormons Christian?

Many others have already posted on this.  Here’s the article that got me thinking.  My issue has less to do with Romney’s faith than with the significance of a candidates faith when considering a president.  But first things first.

Are Mormons Christian?  The short answer is yes, but it comes with a lot of baggage to unpack.  Mormons, who would prefer to be called Latter Day Saints or LDS, read the Bible and believe in Jesus Christ.  Anyone worshiping Christ is a Christian in that sense.  As a believer in Christ, Romney falls in that classification.  But that’s not all Mormons believe. Continue reading →

The Religion of Atheists

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Modern atheists are more than people that do not believe in God, or that in fact there is no god.  Becky Garrison, in her book The New Atheist Crusaders, described an almost ironic religious fervor of atheists to spread their “faith.”  Thursday, May 3,  is either the National Day of Prayer or the National Day of Reason, depending on how you look at it.  (click image to link to Christian Post)

The National Day of Prayer dates back all the way to 1775 when the founding fathers ask American colonists to pray for the formation of the new nation. Continue reading →

Leon Brown Responds to Common Objections to the Gospel

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I don’t have a “Watch and Share File” but take a look at this.  Leon Brown wrote an article listing three common objections people have to receiving the Gospel.  In a sit down interview he discusses those objections and lists practical responses.

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I’m listening to Leon Brown and thinking about the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus was not thinking about the number of baptisms he could list or the number of contacts he could report making.  His ministry wasn’t about sheer numbers as much as it was about changing people’s lives; real people that he cared about.  Jesus sometimes argued with religious leaders, but he didn’t really waste a lot of time on them.  He was more likely talking to tax collectors and prostitutes, touching lepers, preaching the Gospel to the poor, or explaining the kingdom to the working class.

There’s a lot of wisdom in the things Leon Brown says, but notice also how he carries himself and the mind set with which he approaches sharing the Gospel.  He is sowing seeds rather than trying to win a debate about how everyone else is wrong.  This is some of the most practical apologetics I’ve heard in a long time.  Let me blunt:

We should all listen to this guy and share the Gospel the way he does.

*I’m not the first blogger to link this.  Props to Paul Wilkinson and the Wednesday Link List.

The Read and Share File

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This is Read and Share File #10.

James said to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  Paul Wilkinson reports on on blogging vs. doing.

The purpose of sharing what I read is that some things are said better than I could have.  Carley Evans at Grace Partakers has this to say about Growing Into Christ.  And says it well.

2 Timothy 4:3 describes a time when people will no longer endure sound teaching; sound doctrine in the King James.  Reformed Baptist Fellowship has done an excellent job with this post, and a few other bloggers have already linked to it.  All I can add is to say that Paul told us so.

And now for something completely different.

So much of God’s wisdom and Christ’s love cannot be expressed because of the limitations of the English language and our own finite minds.  Scripture relies on analogy, metaphor, symbolism, parables, and… poetry.  David was a lyricist and musician, and his son Solomon had a knack for prose himself.  Moses claimed to be slow of tongue, but at least twice he led the Hebrews in song.  Sometimes we don’t know how to pray or what to pray, but we are told to pray without ceasing.  At times we groan in the Spirit.  Most of what I share on this site is based on scriptural teaching and preaching, but as beings created in God’s image one  of his many gifts is creativity.  Some people think in poetry rather than paragraphs.  Captive Free is always in the blogroll; please read Little Lost Girl by Garment of Praise.  

Theater as a Metaphor for Life

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When I say theater I mean actors on a stage.  Watching a movie in a crowded room with a sticky floor is not the metaphor for life I’m thinking of.  

Imagine sitting down to watch a play.  The set looks great.  The costumes are wonderful.  It becomes clear very quickly that the actors have put in the time rehearsing scenes and memorizing lines.  But there is so much more going on that you – the spectator, the audience – do not see.  Backstage there are props and furniture pieces that haven’t come out yet.  There are people scurrying around in quiet darkness so as not to be seen or heard from the house.  There are people in the wings changing costumes and make up, and others in the booth controlling lights and sound.  The director may be sitting in the audience unnoticed while the stage manager runs around making sure everything happens that should happen.  During a scene with two people sharing a dialog, there could be 30 others working frantically on whatever is about to happen next.  If all goes well, what the audience sees is only what they mean for you to see. Continue reading →

Glorious Day!

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It is a glorious day.  Celebrate the Resurrection!

The tomb is empty.  Death, hell and the grave have been conquered, what more do we really have to fear after that?  Paul wrote that if we die with Christ we will also be raised with him.  Happy Easter.

Prophetic Words: An Easter Sermon

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Genesis 22 tells the story of the sacrifice of Issac.  Well, Isaac wasn’t really sacrificed but it was a close call.  The point of the story is that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, thus passing his test of faith.  As they were going up the mountain, Isaac notices they have wood and fire and actually asks his dad about not having a lamb.  Abraham says “God will provide himself the lamb.”  (Gen 22:8)  After he was stopped – at the last possible moment – from sacrificing his son, he saw a ram caught by the horns in a thicket.  That lamb was slain as an offering of thanksgiving.  But did Abraham really know?  He reasoned that Isaac’s birth had itself been a miracle, and if God chose he could restore Isaac to life.  Now think about Jesus on the cross, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  Recall Abraham’s words: God will provide himself the lamb.  Truer words were never spoken. Continue reading →

El Shaddai

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“Though your Word contained the plan,
they just could not understand;
your most awesome work was done
through the frailty of your son.”