The following was my favorite message I heard at this years Together for the [Underestimated] Gospel conference. I recommend it to you either in video or audio form. In this message David Platt seeks to show how divine sovereignty is the fuel of death-defying missions.
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Theology
Thomas R. Schreiner Refuting the Idea of Election (and Predestination) as Corporate as Opposed to Individual
While reading Thomas R. Schreiner’s “Does Romans 9 Teach Individual Election Unto Salvation? Some Exegetical And Theological Reflections” I ran across this subpoint in which he makes some good refutations against the concept of corporate election–the idea that God has elected to salvation a corporate entity (i.e., the Church) as opposed to individuals. I hope that you will find his argument thought provoking and beneficial.
To say that election involves the selection of one group rather than another raises another problem that warrants an extended explanation. Most scholars who claim election is corporate argue that personal faith is the ultimate and decisive reason why some people are saved rather than others. Calvinists, on the other hand, assert that faith is the result of God’s predestining work. But those who opt for corporate election think that they have a better conception of election than Calvinists, and at the same time they can maintain that faith is what ultimately determines one’s salvation. Now it seems to me that there is a flaw in this reasoning that is fatal to those who espouse corporate election. If God corporately elects some people to salvation, and the election of one group rather than another was decided before any group came into existence (9:11), and it was not based on any works that this group did or any act of their will (9:11–12, 16), then it would seem to follow that the faith of the saved group would be God’s gift given before time began. But if the faith of any corporate entity depends upon God’s predestining work, then individual faith is not decisive for salvation. What is decisive would be God’s election of that group. In other words, the group elected would necessarily exercise faith since God elected this corporate entity.
Ligon Duncan on God’s Sovereignty and Human Freedom
Ligon Duncan provides two quality video responses about a topic which always seems to be a hot issue among Christians: God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.
In the first video Duncan affirms that God’s sovereignty and human responsibility are not contradictory concepts but are assumed side by side in scripture. They are not mutually exclusive but are coordinate truths.
In the second video he defines human freedom (often called “free will”) from a correct understanding of the human condition in light of man’s utter sinfulness (total depravity).
Lake Lundgren Bible Camp, Summer 2011 – Get a Clue: God’s Word Has the Answers
The following four power points (see links below) are pedagogical aids from four out of the five messages[1] I presented at Lake Lundgren Bible Camp last summer when I was the Bible speaker for a youth week (upper elementary to lower junior high grade levels). The theme last summer was “Get a Clue: God’s Word has the Answers” based on the text 2 Timothy 3:16-17. When I was asked to speak for a week on this theme I determined to start off with a message on God’s Word itself, how we can trust it (an apologetic), and some basic doctrines concerning the Bible and how it was written (inspiration, inerrancy, preservation). After having laid that foundation, I presented a “three step method” of studying/reading the Bible: 1) read it, 2) understand it, and 3) live it. These four messages are for what the power points below were made. They probably won’t make entire sense to you at various points apart from hearing the actual messages. But I hope you might find browsing through them to be beneficial.
Day 1 – The Bible – God’s Very Word (Power Point)
Day 2 – Step 1 – Read It (Power Point)
Day 3 – Step 2 – Understand It (Power Point)
Day 5 – Step 3 – Live It (Power Point)
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[1]The fifth message I preached (chronologically the fourth message) was a presentation of the Gospel from Romans 5 primiarily. However, that message was presented at a campfire. So, sorry–no power point.
The Cross = My Infinite Worth? (John Piper)
Today I was reading in The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper and I ran across the paragraph below. This paragraph really seems to be just a side thought in Piper’s argument, but nonetheless, it caught my attention. Read it for yourself:
It horribly skews the meaning of the cross when contemporary prophets of self-esteem say that the cross is a witness to my infinite worth, since God was willing to pay such a high price to get me. The biblical perspective is that the cross is a witness to the infinite worth of God’s glory, and a witness to the immensity of the sin of my pride. What should shock us is that we have brought such contempt upon the worth of God that the very death of his Son is required to vindicate that worth. The cross stands in witness to the infinite worth of God and the infinite outrage of sin.
Kirk E. Miller 