Sola Conference

The five "Solas" stand at the heart of Reformation Christianity and they will be the theme of a conference in Michigan this December. I look forward to attending the Sola Conference in Lansing on December 6th and 7th, and sitting under the teaching of a great group of speakers.

Heikkinen and DeYoung (the conference's organizers) speak about it in the video below:



Check it out here, register by July 31 for only $45, and I'll see you there! The schedule is as follows:

Friday, December 6, 2013 

9:00 – 1:00: Preconference Track for Pastors & Church Planters

2:30 – 4:00: Session 1 – Sola (Noel Heikkinen)
4:30 – 5:30: Session 2 – Ad Fontes: Why Going Backward Is the Best Way to Go Forward (Kevin DeYoung)
7:30 – 9:00: Session 3 – Sola Fide (Matt Chandler)

Saturday, December 7, 2013

8:30 – 9:30: Session 4 – Sola Gratia (Leonce Crump)
10:00 – 11:00: Session 5 – Solus Christus (Stephen Um)
11:30 – 12:30: Session 6 – Panel Discussion
3:00 – 4:00: Session 7 – Sola Scriptura (Albert Mohler)
4:30 – 5:30: Session 8 – Soli Deo Gloria (John Piper)

A Word for Preachers...Chandler on Proclaiming Gospel Reconciliation

"Thinking about gospel reconciliation in concentric circles, we are reconciled first to God in Christ, then to one another in covenant community, and third to what God is doing in the renewal of all creation. To put it another way, think of the gospel as a stone landing in a pond. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are the cause of many ripples; they are the epicenter of God’s work in the world. The first ripple is our personal reconciliation to God. The second ripple establishes the body of Christ, as we are reconciled to each other. The third ripple is the missional posture of the church as we mobilize to proclaim the fullness of reconciliation in the gospel. In essence, we are reconciled to reconcile."

Matt Chandler
The Explicit Gospel

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...Matt Chandler on Church as a Hobby

"(N)obody can really attend church as though it's a hobby; to do so does not reveal partial belief but hardness. The religious, moralistic, churchgoing evangelical who has no real intention of seeking God and following him has not found some sweet spot between radical devotion and wanton sin; he's found devastation. The moralism that passes for Christian faith today is a devastating hobby if you have no intention of submitting your life fully to God and chasing him in Christ."

Matt Chandler
The Explicit Gospel

Wednesday's* Words of Wisdom...Matt Chandler on Gospel-Centeredness

Oops! I didn't post this yesterday. But "Thursday's Words of Wisdom" just isn't quite as catchy...

"(A)ll your church attendance, all your religious activities, your Sunday school attendance medals, your journals, having a "quiet time," reading the Scriptures -- it's all in vain if you don't have Christ. When you read (1 Corinthians 15:1-7; Galatians 1:6-9; Galatians 2:20-3:5 and Philippians 3:4-9) together, you get a feel for his attack on the Christian, moralistic, therapeutic deism of his day. We are saved, sanctified, and sustained by what Jesus did for us on the cross and through the power of his resurrection. If you add to or subtract from the cross, even if it is to factor in biblically mandated religious practices like prayer and evangelism, you rob God of his glory and Christ of his sufficiency."

Matt Chandler
The Explicit Gospel

The Explicit Gospel

Not sure if you've heard about it yet, but I wanted to alert you to a new book by Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson entitled The Explicit Gospel. I've not read it yet, but Matt and Jared are two guys who love the gospel and love to proclaim it, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this book as soon as it becomes available this month! Check out the short video below to get a feel for the book.

Ministry Transitions

Many woke up this morning to news of two transitions involving among prominent church leaders:

1) The elders of Bethlehem Baptist Church are presenting Jason Meyer to the congregation their candidate for Associate Pastor for Preaching and Vision. The expectation that Meyer will become John Piper's eventual successor as the church's senior pastor. Click here for an update on Piper's transition which was posted at Desiring God.

2) In other news, Mark Driscoll announced that he will be replaced as the president of the Acts 29 church planting network by Matt Chandler. As part of this transition, Acts 29 will be moving its headquarters from Seattle to Dallas. Driscoll's Mars Hill Church will remain a part of the Acts 29 network.

Matt Chandler: God is for God

Recently Matt Chandler preached at Elevation Church in North Carolina. If you've heard about it, likely it was due to some mild controversy that followed. Having listened to the sermon, I frankly am not exactly sure what the source of the controversy was. What I am sure of is this: This is a fantastic, Christ-exalting sermon that you will blessed to listen to.

David & Goliath: A Gospel-Centered Approach

Trevin Wax posted the following video from Matt Chandler and The Gospel Project dealing with the difference between a moralistic approach to the Bible and one that is gospel-centered.  Far too often, Chandler suggests, we see the Bible as being primarily about us, when it is really to be understood as being primarily about God and what he has done in history to accomplish his purposes.

I remember sitting in a seminary class when I was first exposed to this truth. It was revolutionary. I had always thought the message of David & Goliath was essentially, "David trusted God and slew his giant. If you trust in God like David did, you can slay your giants too." As Chandler points out though, this is to miss the point of the story altogether, shifting the focus off of God and onto us.  In essence Chandler points out how much better it is to understand the story as follows:

There is one who is the anointed king of God's people, born in Bethlehem. One who, though not the most impressive physically, was chosen by God to shepherd his people.  This shepherd-king not only does battle with the giant who threatens the very existence of the people of God, but he slays this giant.  And even though the people of God have not done a single thing to accomplish this -- they have contributed NOTHING to it -- they get to share in the spoils of their champion's victory just as if it were their own...because it is, by the gracious provision of God.

The Underestimated Gospel

Mark Dever and Matt Chandler discuss how the Gospel is often underestimated.

How is the gospel underestimated today? - Mark Dever from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

The Gospel, Mission, and the Church

At this year's Gospel Coalition Conference, Moody hosted a discussion between Matt Chandler, Kevin DeYoung, Jonathan Leeman and Trevin Wax on Gospel, Mission, and the Church.  At almost an hour, it is a little longer than most of the things I post here, but it is, in my opinion, a conversation that helps us greatly in the definition of our categories.



(HT: Timmy Brister)

Grace for Both Brothers

When I was growing up, I learned the story of The Prodigal Son in what I suppose was the traditional fashion.  That is to say, the message of it was that God loves sinners, even the most vile of sinners, and his love for them is not conditioned on their behavior, but is rather a matter of free grace.  A wonderful message indeed.

In the last ten or fifteen years, I've heard the story told in a slightly different way.  It adds a much needed twist to it, rightly realizing that the story Jesus tells in Luke 15:11-32 is actually a story of two lost sons, not just one.  While the younger son was clearly lost in his sin, his older brother is equally lost in his self righteousness.  What we need is neither religion/moralism nor irreligion/relativism, but the gospel.  Tim Keller does a wonderful job of describing this in his paper, The Centrality of the Gospel.

As Henri Nouwen points out though in his wonderful book The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, we need to take care that we don't respond to this story by seeing the younger brother as the "good guy" who gets it and the older brother as the "bad guy" who doesn't.  Rather, what we need to do is see in ourselves our own tendencies to be like both the younger brother and the older brother.  And then we need to flee to Christ, for his grace is sufficient for both situations.

Matt Chandler had what I thought were some great thoughts on showing grace toward both brothers.  You can click here to download the MP3 audio file.  It's well worth the four minutes it takes to listen to it.

(HT: Vitamin Z)

Training in Godliness vs. Irreverent, Silly Myths

Matt Chandler demonstrates the difference between training in godliness as opposed to irreverent, silly myths (1 Timothy 4:7).


(HT: Justin Taylor)

Fulfill YOUR Ministry

Matt Chandler with a great reminder for young pastors...



(HT: Vitamin Z)