Total Solar Eclipse

On July 22, 2009, Asia will experience a total eclipse. It will be longest eclipse this century. This is amazing. I wish I could afford to see it in person.

Iron Sharpens Iron: ERIC C. REDMOND: SOVEREIGN GRACE & THE BLACK CHURCH

I just heard on the Iron Sharpens Iron blog that Eric C. Redmond was on the webcast discussing how Reformed theology affects the Black church. I grew up in the Church of God In Christ, the largest black denomination on earth, and so I find this very interesting. I've pasted the information from the Iron Sharpens Iron blog below in its entirety.

MP3 Available Here


ERIC C. REDMOND, author, sought-after theologically Reformed conference speaker and founding pastor of Reformation Alive Baptist Church in Temple Hills, MD, a new church plant in the suburbs of Washington, DC, will address the theme: "SOVEREIGN GRACE & THE BLACK CHURCH".

Pastor Redmond served as the Second Vice-President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2007 to 2008, and has served as the Theology Editor for "NAAF Outlook: Newsletter of the African American Fellowship of the SBC". He has also served on the Trustee Board of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary . He is a gifted expository preacher and teacher of God's Word. A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary , his passion is to see lives transformed by growing in love and understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Redmond’s ministry emphasis lies in expositional preaching and teaching of the Scriptures, development of godly male leadership, and the cultivation of Biblical community within the local church. He has a burden to encourage academic theological studies at research levels among young African-American church leaders, and to see the rearing and sending of African-Americans into international missions work.

Pastor Redmond's book, "Where Are All The Brothers?: Straight Answers to Men's Questions About the Church", is one of Pastor Redmond's attempts to help strong men give Christ a second look by addressing some of their modern day concerns. He also contributed to "Glory Road: The Journeys of 10 African-Americans into Reformed Christianity".

Currently, Pastor Redmond also serves as an Assistant Professor of Bible & Theology at Washington Bible College in Lanham MD . He feels a burden to reach all generations for Christ, so that a generation yet unborn might be raised up to know and love God. On his blog, "A Man from Issachar", Pastor Redmond again attempts to point his readers to Christ through an examination of current events.

Pastor Redmond and his wife Pam will have been very happily married for 18 years this July. They have five children – Charis (17), Chloe (15), Candace (11), Calvin (9), and Codell (8) – and they reside in Lanham, Maryland. The heart of the Redmond’s ministry partnership is strengthening families.

A controversial and refreshingly honest article by Pastor Redmond that is highly recommended, "Living Soli Deo Gloria Under Obama", may be read here.

Pastor Redmond was also one of eight featured speakers at a special event of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals: "The Sovereignty of God Conference", held this past June in Haledon, New Jersey.

Iron Sharpens Iron: ERIC C. REDMOND: SOVEREIGN GRACE & THE BLACK CHURCH

Is the Universe Designed? William Lane Craig MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315

I admire William Lane Craig a great deal. He does a masterful lecture giving evidence why it's perfectly plausible that the Universe is designed and refutes all the major objections by unbelieving Scientists and philosophers that the God of the Bible did it. I don't agree with all that Dr. Craig teaches but He nails it on the Resurrection and on the Intelligent Design of the universe.

Is the Universe Designed? William Lane Craig MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315

Does Faith Make Sense In An Age of Science?

Brian, from the Apologetics 315 blog, has tweeted a very interesting article from
Thinking Christian. It is a lecture in which the question is asked: Does Faith Make Sense In An Age of Science? It is well demonstrated that it does make sense. And the interesting thing about the lecture is that a lot of myths surrounding the relationship between Christianity and science are debunked. Things that I thought that were true that aren't. For example there is no reference to European in Medieval times believing that the earth was flat until Washington Irving's work in the early 19th Century. Dates and documentation are expertly cited. The idea is also developed that Christianity is necessary for science as we know it today...not sufficient cause for science to develop but essential. You can download or listen to the lecture at Thinking Christian.

Bible Defended: Moses' Authorship of the Torah

It has come to my attention that some people don't believe that the tradition that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible is true. Their reason? Well it breaks down to two contentions:

1. The stories were passed down orally and written down later on. Some say during the Babylonian exile. Makes sense? No, this theory does not jive with what the Bible itself says or what the historical record shows. I have two Reasons why I say this.

Had the Torah been codified I think that at least part of it would be written in Aramaic which was the exiles spoke in during captivity. Recall that parts of Ester and Daniel are in Aramaic. However the whole Torah is in Hebrew.

The words of the Torah predates the exile. When the "Books of the Law" were found during the renovations of the first Temple during the time of King Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:14-33). If the Torah was not written down before the Exile, what was they reading?

2. The other contention is that because Deuteronomy describes Moses' death, he could not have written the Torah. There is a Christian response and a Jewish response that I think that works either way. Some Christians believe that someone completed Deuteronomy after Moses died. This does not mean the Torah is not divinely inspired. It's perfect because it came from God. The other reasoning comes from Jewish teaching. They suggest that Moses wrote the passage about his own death in tears. Doesn't bother me because Moses was a prophet and why couldn't he write about his death before he died and be completely right on the details?