While Kim and I were in New York this week we stopped by Strand Bookstore - if you’ve never been there, you need to go next time you’re in the city - and I came across this great find. It’s an out of print collection of Luther’s theology. It’s by no means exhaustive but it is a great collection of his writing on central topics like the bondage of the will, the preaching of the church, the missionary message of the church, the nature of God, the nature of man, and the person and work of Christ. The best comparison I can think of is that it is like his Table Talk meeting a systematic theology. It is out of print but you can still pick up a few used copies on Amazon.

While Kim and I were in New York this week we stopped by Strand Bookstore - if you’ve never been there, you need to go next time you’re in the city - and I came across this great find. It’s an out of print collection of Luther’s theology. It’s by no means exhaustive but it is a great collection of his writing on central topics like the bondage of the will, the preaching of the church, the missionary message of the church, the nature of God, the nature of man, and the person and work of Christ. The best comparison I can think of is that it is like his Table Talk meeting a systematic theology.

It is out of print but you can still pick up a few used copies on Amazon.

If you are a preacher of Grace, then preach a true, not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly. For he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here we have to sin. This life in not the dwelling place of righteousness but, as Peter says, we look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells… . Pray boldly-you too are a mighty sinner.

(Weimar ed. vol. 2, p. 371; Letters I, “Luther’s Works,” American Ed., Vol 48. p. 281- 282) 

What Evangelicals Don’t Know: The Bible & Salvation

The PEW Forum released a study last week looking at what Americans know about religion, their own and others. Aside from the prominently-circulated headline that apparently atheists and agnostics know more about religion than those who call themselves religious, there are some revealing stats from deeper in the report.

The Bible

For example, only 43% of mainline Protestants and 71% of Evangelicals can name the four Gospels.

Salvation

Only 28% of Evangelicals know that Protestant Christians believe in salvation by faith alone. Half of that number, 14%, of Mainline Christians know that. More than 80% of both groups know instead that Mother Theresa was Catholic. Historically, Evangelicals have been defined by a high view of Scripture and the centrality of the Gospel, Jesus’ death on a cross for our sins and resurrection to conquer satan, sin, and death. Yet, this study shows that large portions of Evangelicals can’t even tell someone what the four Gospels are (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) or that we are saved by faith alone in Christ alone. The truth is, many Evangelicals and most mainline Christians need the Gospel just as bad as non-believers. It simply cannot be assumed that just because someone is in your church or calls themselves a Christian that they are. Here are two practical ways we try to do communications in a way that points to Jesus - and thereby point to the authority of the Bible and God’s gift of salvation - here at Mars Hill Church.

  1. Make the distinction between a testimony and a biography. Whether you’re doing one in church, on a blog, or on video, having someone tell their story will either reveal the hero to be God or someone else. A testimony is a teaching piece, a mini sermon - an opportunity to explain what the Gospel looks like in someone’s life. God is the hero, not them.
  2. View all of your communication operations as supporting the pulpit, not isolated ministries. If your pastor is preaching through books of the Bible and all of the content you produce supports that, you’re communication will not only be unified, it will point to Jesus as the hero of the Bible (and of them).
Want to see how wonderful and creative my wife is?  Who else could make a Martin Luther cake for her husband?  (She drew him with a chopstick and then filled it in with frosting.)  I love her. Happy Birthday to me!

Want to see how wonderful and creative my wife is?  Who else could make a Martin Luther cake for her husband?  (She drew him with a chopstick and then filled it in with frosting.)  I love her.

Happy Birthday to me!

I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.
Martin Luther