Jeffrey D. King

Slaves for Christ

Jeff — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:32:14 +0000

John MacArthur says, “Being a slave of Christ may be the best way to define a Christian.”

Part 1:

Part 2:

David Platt, Radical

Jeff — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:58:17 +0000

First, from the outset you need to commit to believe whatever Jesus says. As a Christian, it would be a grave mistake to come to Jesus and say, “Let me hear what you have to say, and then I’ll decide whether or not I like it.” If you approach Jesus this way, you will never truly hear what he has to say. You have to say yes to the words of Jesus before you even hear them.

Then second, you need to commit to obey what you have heard. The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response. In the process of hearing Jesus, you are compelled to take an honest look at your life, your family, and your church and not just ask, “What is he saying?” but also ask, “What shall I do?”

David Platt, Radical

Jeff — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:49:11 +0000

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of these eager followers of Jesus in the first century.… What if we were told to hate our families and give up everything we had in order to follow Jesus?

This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that makes our closest relationships look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.

But we don’t want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. So we rationalize these passages away.

David Platt, Radical

Jeff — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:41:36 +0000

Unfortunately, Jesus didn’t have the personal evangelism books we have today that tell us how to draw the net and close the sale. Instead Jesus told him one ting: “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

What was he thinking? Jesus had committed the classic blunder of letting the big fish get away. The cost was too hing.

Yet the kind of abandonment Jesus asked of the rich young man is at the core of Jesus’ invitation throughout the Gospels.

David Platt, Radical

Jeff — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:26:09 +0000

Jesus apparently wasn’t interested in marketing himself to the masses. His invitations to potential followers were clearly more costly than the crowds were ready to accept, and he seemed to be okay with that. He focused instead on the few who believed him when he said radical things. And through their radical obedience to him, he turned the course of history in a new direction.

David Platt, Radical

Jeff — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:20:51 +0000

Soon I realized I was on a collision course with an American church culture where success is defined by bigger crowds, bigger budgets, and bigger buildings. I was now confronted with a startling reality: Jesus actually spurned the things that my church culture said were most important.

Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:07:10 +0000

Here is where we must begin just like Jesus. I will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by men at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don’t live to see it. Seen this way, thought, it becomes a big decision in the ministry. One must decide where he wants his ministry to count — in the momentary applause of popular recognition or in the reproduction of his life in a few chosen men who will carry on his work after he as gone. Really it is a question of which generation we are living for.

Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:59:44 +0000

Most of the evangelistic efforts of the church begin with the multitudes under the assumption that the church is qualified to conserve what good is done. The result is our spectacular emphasis upon numbers of converts, candidates for baptism, and more members for the church, with little or no genuine concern manifested toward the establishment of these souls in the love and power of God, let alone the preservation and continuation of the work.

Surely if the pattern of Jesus at this point means anything at all it teaches that the first duty of a pastor as well as the first concern of an evangelist is to see to it that a foundation is laid in the beginning upon which can be built an effective and continuing evangelistic ministry to the multitudes.

Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:50:26 +0000

It would be wrong, however, to assume on the basis of what has here been emphasized that Jesus neglected the masses. Such was not the case.… In every way possible Jesus manifested to the masses of humanity a genuine concern. These were the people that He came to save — He loved them, wept over them, and finally died to save them from their sins. no one could think that Jesus shirked mass evangelism.

…

But Jesus would not play to the galleries. Quite the contrary. Repeatedly He took special pains to allay the superficial popular support of the multitudes which had been occasioned by His extraordinary power. Frequently He would even ask those who were the recipients of His healing to say nothing about[.]

Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:48:38 +0000

Jesus devoted most of His remaining life on earth to these few disciples. He literally staked His whole ministry upon them.…

Why? Why did Jesus deliberately concentrate His live upon comparatively so few people? Had he not come to save the world?…

The answer to this question focuses at once the real purpose of His plan for evangelism. Jesus was not trying to impress the crowd, but to usher in a Kingdom. This meant that He needed men who could lead the multitudes. What good would it have been for His ultimate objective to arouse the masses to follow Him if these people had no subsequent supervision nor instruction in the Way?

Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:35:54 +0000

One cannot transform a world except as individuals in the world are transformed, and individuals cannot be changed except as they are molded in the hands of the Master. The necessity is apparent not only to select a few laymen, but to keep the group small enough to be able to work effectively with them.

Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:14:51 +0000

It all started by Jesus calling a few men to follow Him. This revealed immediately the direction His evangelistic strategy would take. His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow.… Men were to be His method of winning the world to God.

The Consequences of Ideas

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:36:43 +0000

R.C. Sproul provides a systematic overview of the history of philosophy from the Christian perspective. This is first of 35 parts:

Here is the complete study guide for the course. The entire series may be purchased in the Ligonier Store.

Remembering Costly Grace

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:10:40 +0000

Saying Goodbye

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:57:53 +0000

As Francis Chan leaves his church, he shares his heart with the congregation in this series of messages:

Surrender:

The Holiness of God:

Salvation:

The Purpose of Your Life:

Love God Love People:

The End:

Francis Chan Starts Over

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:42:10 +0000

Francis Chan works up the courage to obey God.

Demonstrating Faith

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:18:00 +0000

Part of pastoring is

11Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

— 1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)

">living as an example. I don’t know of a better modern day example of this than Pastor Britt Merrick when facing his daughter’s cancer. Give me faith like this:

And here is Britt discussing his daughter’s first relapse:

Homosexuality and the Church Today

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:06:46 +0000

A discussion of the Christian view of homosexuality by Chuck Bomar at Cornerstone Church.

A Conversation: Tim Keller, John Piper, D.A. Carson

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:58:34 +0000

Tim Keller touches on Costly Grace a few times.

A conversation in 6 parts:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

The Meaning of Marriage

Jeff — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:48:36 +0000

Timothy Keller visits Google’s New York, NY office to discuss his book “The Meaning of Marriage”.