The Week-est Link, February 22, 2008: Mohler, Carson, and One Powerful Song

1. Andy Naselli, a friend from TEDS and PhD student in New Testament (and D. A. Carson's research guy) blogs about the online history of Southern Seminary that I worked on a few years back. I'm linking to it here because Andy lays out the site's content in a really helpful way. If you've never looked at the site, I encourage you to--a number of us worked hard on the site to make it excellent. The seminary archivist, Jason Fowler, a personal friend, did terrific work in pulling it together, writing some content, and finding great photos for the various content pages.

2. This is a great article on how children's play has changed in the last few decades. The aforementioned Andy Naselli passed it on to me by email. Pretty depressing. I'm thankful that my parents strongly limited the amount of tv that my sister and I could watch. We were forced to use our imaginations, and we did. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are simple times in the backyard. How many kids--and Christian kids, shockingly--will never develop such memories?

3. Great Collin Hansen piece on the new book by New Testament scholars D. A. Carson and Greg Beale on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. There is such confusion on this subject. I attempt on my own little corner to push for healthy, full-canon biblical exegesis, but I am just a little fish--a minnow, perhaps. It's great to see a couple of sharks publish some meaty stuff on this important topic. Collin is also a TEDS student and is one of the best young writers around--make sure to get his new book when it comes out.

4. Future historian of eminence Matthew Hall blogs thoughtfully as ever about new studies in Mormonism. I'll have to think more about this before I comment, but it is interesting to observe the mainstreaming of Mormonism.

5. Al Mohler on a recent report of America's most sinful cities. His comments: "In reality, the whole world is a Genesis 3 world -- a fallen world inhabited by sinners. Sin is a universal problem and every single human being is a sinner. Put sinful humanity in close quarters, and sin inevitably multiplies." So true. It's fun to think about the morality of towns versus cities. Maybe a post for another day.

6. If you want to be edified and lifted up, you need to get this cd and listen to the song "Oh Lord Your Love." It is stirring and inspiring, and it never fails to direct my thoughts to the hope and joy that I have in Jesus Christ because of His death and resurrection on behalf of his church. Great work by Caedmon's Call.

Have a great weekend, all.

The Week-est Link, Jan. 4, 2008

1. A look at the Emergent Church movement by PBS. The video is 10:44 long. It's got some interesting material, and commentary from a Trinity Evangelical Divinity School professor, Don Carson. I'm hoping to take a class from him in coming days. The video shows us that the Emergent Church is a confused movement, a mishmash of practices from other religions combined with a dose of traditional Christian doctrine. The saddest moment: when a young woman at the weekly gathering says something to the effect of, "I've learned that we have questions, and we don't need to have answers." While it is true that Christians must embrace a mysterious providence at times (a point we must not fail to state), it is also true that by God's grace, we have found the One who is the Answer. HT: Josh Harris.

2. The results of the Iowa presidential caucuses. The short of it: Huckabee wins, Obama wins, and Hillary Clinton finishes third. I am not a huge fan of Huckabee, though I would like to see and hear more from him. Though I disagree strongly with his politics, I find Obama an arresting figure. He has that "it" factor that all great politicians possess, that ability to appeal to many people through a combination of poise, grace, populist communication, and a larger-than-life persona. See also the helpful commentary from Dr. Al Mohler (last paragraph especially).

3. A great soundtrack: Finding Neverland. The theme, in both its major and minor keys, is quite moving. The movie is a sad one, and the soundtrack captures the movie's mood nicely. Good driving or studying music.

4. An excellent piece by 9Marks writer and Virginia pastor Mike McKinley and Christians and coolness. McKinley makes a number of salient points that young Christians very much need to hear in the current day. Note that McKinley himself would be considered "cool" by many, as he has a bunch of tattoos. However, I publicly dispute his claim that he is the "resident cool guy" at 9Marks--who, I would query him, has a rap cd?

On that note, have a nice weekend.