Doug Phillips: Hey, I’m No Theologian…

Doug Phillips posted a terrific article about the importance of theology. Here are a few snippets:

We are all theologians.

Whether or not we think about God and his will, etc., in ways that are faithful to his Word substantially determines whether or not we will relate to Him in ways that are actually pleasing to Him (cp. Col. 1:9-11). Are we the kind of worshipers he actually seeks and wants? (Jn.4:22-24).

Authentic spiritual transformation is dependent on increasingly bringing our thinking (and ‘theologizing’) increasingly in line with Scripture. We are transformed, Paul says, by the renewing of our mind. And our Lord says that sanctification occurs in connection with the truth – the truth of God’s Word.

Read the whole thing.

HT: Kevin DeYoung

Advance09 Session MP3s Online

Not able to make it to Advance this week? Enjoy the sessions from your iPod.

Download them here.

How Tim Keller Found Manhattan

The cover story for this month’s Christianity Today profiles Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian. Here’s the intro:

When Tim Keller came to Manhattan in 1989, New York City had a well-deserved reputation as a snarling, scary place. Violent crime, drug dealing, and other urban pathologies had weakened or chased off many of the faithful. While a barely perceptible renewal was under way, it seemed as if the few remaining orthodox Protestants were huddled together in historic buildings. All of Keller’s formal pastoral experience had happened in a small, blue-collar town in Virginia.

Yet today, almost 20 years later, he steps onstage before a packed auditorium at Hunter College on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. His church, Redeemer Presbyterian, has five crowded Sunday services in three rented locations—Keller dashes between them—with an average total attendance of 5,000. The service at Hunter is the largest, the “tourist service.” (For many years, Redeemer deliberately avoided publicity, but word has spread lately, and Keller estimates that hundreds of out-of-towners show up each Sunday.) Well over 2,000 people—mainly young whites and Asians you would expect to be sleeping off a late Saturday night—have come to this morning’s service.

Read the rest at ChristianityToday.com

In case you missed it

Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

The Challenge: What Have I Learned? What did 40 days without podcasts and theology books teach me?

Book Review: Love or Die Reviewing a wonderful book on the need to return to the love we had at first.

Made in the Image of God: Wisdom, Emotions and Morality A look at how humanity images God through our thoughts, emotions and morality

The Persevering Prophet: My Heart is Sick! Jeremiah addresses the source of human depravity: The heart.