A panel at Southern Seminary featuring Al Mohler, Jim Hamilton, Bruce Ware, Stephen Wellum, and Gregory Wills discuss Brian McLaren's new book, A New Kind of Christianity. The discussion is especially helpful as we approach Good Friday and focus in on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Click here to watch the video.

As many of you may know, this week is Holy Week. For those of you who didn't know, keep reading. Now, you may ask, what does that really mean? Is there something special about these seven days compared to all the rest of 'em? And actually, yes- there is! 

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday—the day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. This coming Sunday is Easter—the day Jesus rose from the grave. A lot happened throughout the course of this week in the life of our Savior, culminating in His crucifixion on Friday and His Resurrection on Sunday. As Christians, it's appropriate to set aside time to remember all of it. So instead of our regular "Friday Fun Night," we'd like to invite you to join us on Good Friday for something a little different.

Plan to come over to the home of Jake and Amanda Mentzel at 7pm on Friday night. Think of it as a time to get together and grow in our understanding of what Christ accomplished by His death on the cross. It will be a sweet time of fellowship with one another and you will leave strengthened. Holy Week only comes once a year, so don't skip out!

(by Lane Bowman)
 

My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 
making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding,
yes, if call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 
if you seek it like score updates and search for it as if predicting the champs...

...if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures...

... then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

My son, if you receive my words...

(by Forest Gafford)

A popular phrase around Bloomington says, “You can be good without God.” Thoughts might cross the Christian’s mind of how to respond to this claim. Of course, the best way to respond is with the truth. And a good way to present the truth in an understandable way is to demonstrate the pride and self-righteousness in those who make this proclamation. 

Naturally, people believe themselves to be good. They do not come to the assumption from nothing. They had legitimate warm feelings reading the IDS about relief efforts going to Haiti. Maybe they even did something so selfless as to donate money to the relief effort. They gave—what—$30? Of course, they would have given $50 but they spent the last bit of extra cash on a few drinks at the bar, and then went to see Avatar for the third time. And, you know, priorities are priorities. And they still felt good enough about their $30 sacrifice.

Of course, they never think about the fact that they loath their roommate and have not had a serious conversation with them since the first month of school. Ask how that relationship is doing and you may see their bi-polar tendency firsthand. They are all for saving lives down in a foreign country, but hate their neighbors. And they especially hate those who try to save lives right in the middle of Bloomington when they protest at Planned Parenthood. There is a severe disconnect with such people. They fail to understand what true goodness is.

Here is true goodness: true goodness is found in a man that gave up His life to save the helpless. He died to save the untouchables, the dirty, and the worthless. A good man is one that would be completely selfless and die for the innocent—or even better yet, the guilty. True goodness is that a man died for his enemy. Who are the enemies of this good man? They are those who say they don’t need Him. They are men who are self-righteous. Christ was the perfect good man that forgave those who hated Him.

Is God bad for sending people to hell? Let’s think about it. While men yelled at Him with hatred, what did God do? He died on a cross for them. They punched Him in the face and spat on Him. Still, He took their deserved punishment, for hating God’s Son. That is how good God is. When He was hated and we mocked Him, waiting eagerly to see Him die, He did. On the Cross Jesus said, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” He is good.

This is no different from today. God is patient, willing that all would come to repentance. Do you understand that Jesus has not returned yet so that some of those who hate Him might repent and be saved? Those who claim to be good without God hate God with raised fists. And yet God is patient and sends preachers to them so that they might repent and receive mercy.

Christian, remember this and tell people the true goodness of God. Proclaim the truth that there is no goodness apart from God. Call them to repent of hating the One that bears patiently with them even to this day. Tell them to turn from ingratitude and pride against the One that is more forgiving than all others combined. Proclaim that He is willing to forgive. Christ is merciful. He bears with all in patience at this very moment.

Jake Mentzel gives a talk on Ephesians 5:21-33 at The Fold.

(by Andrew Henry)

I was reading Jeremiah chapter 8 this morning over a bowl of granola, and was caught off guard by a portion of verse 8 that I had never noticed before. Granted, I haven’t spent a great deal of time poring over the prophet Jeremiah, which is a failing, because all of scripture is God-breathed and profitable, but I have read it before, and yet these few words had escaped my notice until today.

Jeremiah 8:8

How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.

Very briefly, here are the two thoughts that immediately popped into my brain upon reading this. 

First, these scribes were responsible for preserving and copying the Torah, the Holy Scriptures that God gave to the nation of Israel.  For Jeremiah to say that these men were destroying and perverting the law of God they must have been CHANGING what God had spoken to make it more palatable to themselves and the others around them.  This verse comes in the middle of a passage where Jeremiah is rebuking the whole nation for turning away from God, for rejecting His holy law, and for refusing to repent of their sins. These scribes were participating in turning an entire nation away from God by lying about God and what He has said. 

Jump ahead to modern times, when there are more Bible translations than you can shake a stick at, and ask yourself “is it possible that there are lying scribes here today?” Is it possible that there are Bible translations that turn God’s word into a lie?  Absolutely. The temptation to censor and update the Bible to remove all of the culturally offensive, insensitive, backwards, foolish, ignorant, superstitious things that God said is always present, and always strong. We have the privilege of bearing the shame of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which the world mocks and scorns. Do not be surprised to find that unbelievers hate the Bible. The world hated and killed Jesus, so it is only natural that they will hate God’s word, and those who love and believe it.

Second, the ability to lie with a pen isn’t limited to those who translate the Bible. There is no end to the books that are written claiming to represent God and his truth without bearing any resemblance to what the Bible teaches. Read everything critically. Don’t be a naïve young man or woman who wanders from idea to idea, gladly embracing the latest teaching or explanation of God and his word without carefully checking it against the Bible to see if the two things are of the same substance.