Westminster Seminary Classes on iTunes!!!

I've known for a while that Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia has been working on getting some of its classroom audio on iTunes for free download. For quite a while I've been making use of Reformed Theological Seminary and Covenant Seminary's free classes, and Westminster would be a welcome addition, in my mind. Well, yesterday I did the search at the iTunes store, and found MANY classes available for free download. I nabbed two different counseling classes with lectures by Powlison, Welch, etc, a New Testament class by Moises Silva, apologetics by Van Til, and others. I'm not tech-savvy enough to know how to link to iTunes stuff, so I'll tell you how to search: 1) open iTunes store; 2) type in 'Westminster' in the search box; 3) when the results come, find iTunesU on the top left side and it will open the Westminster Seminary lectures. It's easy to download invidual lectures or whole classes (click on 'get tracks'). A few years ago, listening to Keller and Clowney's RTS class entitled 'Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World' was VERY helpful in shaping my preaching. I look forward to more from the boys at Westmin!

The Gospel Song - Animated Video

This is my kids' favourite worship song, and the oldest is a visual learner. I can't wait to show it to them!



HT: JT

Why does the KJV have more verses than my NIV?

Some helpful info on where our Bibles came from, by Justin Taylor (quoting Daniel Wallace):
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Have you ever wondered why modern translations of the Bible don’t have certain verses found in the King James Bible? This can be a sensitive pastoral issue, especially in some regions of the United States.

I occasionally get requests for recommended resources on how to respond, and thought I’d pull together a few popular-level pieces in this post.

Here is New Testament scholar Daniel Wallace:

The Greek text which stands behind the King James Bible is demonstrably inferior in certain places. The man who edited the text was a Roman Catholic priest and humanist named Erasmus. He was under pressure to get it to the press as soon as possible since (a) no edition of the Greek New Testament had yet been published, and (b) he had heard that Cardinal Ximenes and his associates were just about to publish an edition of the Greek New Testament and he was in a race to beat them. Consequently, his edition has been called the most poorly edited volume in all of literature! It is filled with hundreds of typographical errors which even Erasmus would acknowledge.

Wallace highlights two examples, starting with Revelation 22:

In the last six verses of Revelation, Erasmus had no Greek manuscript (=MS) (he only used half a dozen, very late MSS for the whole New Testament any way). He was therefore forced to ‘back-translate’ the Latin into Greek and by so doing he created seventeen variants which have never been found in any other Greek MS of Revelation! He merely guessed at what the Greek might have been.

Tim Hawkins: Things You Don't Say to Your Wife

Last night a friend told me about a Christian comedian who is actually funny. I thought that impossible, but you tube has proved my friend shockingly right! My wife and I got a kick out of this one especially. We're heading away on vacation tomorrow night, so enjoy this funny for the next few weeks!

Lecrae - The Personal Testimony of a Christian Rapper

Blame it on the 80's. And the early 90's. I'm a really white guy who likes rap music as a genre. I grew up on the Beastie boys and (I hate to admit this), MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice and Ton Loc and Young MC and House of Pain and Run DMC. One year before I became a Christian I was at a Beastie Boys concert at Maple Leaf Gardens. The 1995 Ill Communication Tour was a lot of fun, even from the top row in the old Gardens. But when I became a Christian I turned my back on rap. The lyrics were (and still are) generally repulsive. Admittedly I still know many of those old songs by heart, but if I get one in my head I find myself amazed at the sinful content of most of those songs. Sure, there were 'Christian rap artists' around in '96 but I didn't find any that sounded authentic. It was kind of a 'Gaithers meets the Beastie Boys' sound, and in my head it simply didn't work (even as a white boy from Oshawa). Recently a few friends pointed me to Lecrae Moore and I was immediately suspicious. How could a Christian sound good and be faithful to the Lord. But I was amazed at what I heard. Lecrae is a new favourite for both my wife and I. His lyrics have a depth of theology and he is very talented musically. When I saw this short video of his personal testimony I grew to appreciate him even more. Take a look and be edified!

When the Gospel Came to Angola Penitentiary

Here is a copy/paste of a blog post from Desiring God:
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On August 20 at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, we're hosting the premiere of a brand new Desiring God film titled Don't Waste Your Life Sentence (now available for pre-order).

The Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, LA, is the largest and historically one of the bloodiest maximum-security prisons in the USA. In 2009, Desiring God and John Piper were invited to Angola to learn about prison life, hear from men who have been radically changed by the gospel, and minister to many of the 5,000 inmates.

Don't Waste Your Life Sentence confronts you with the realities of inmates who, though their lives appear to have been wasted, often have a greater grasp on eternity than those on the outside.

Here's the trailer:

Malcom Gladwell - What We Can Learn From Spaghetti Sauce

This is in the 'just for fun' category. I really enjoy reading Malcom Gladwell. He has written four books, and I'm half-way through my fourth! I guess you could call him a cultural observer. Often, his observations border on the frivolous, but still, they are entertaining, and more importantly, he helps me to see the world in a different light. Below is an 18 minute video that is vintage Gladwell, bordering on frivolity, his main point is a bit off, but it's just plain fun!