On the A-Team Blog I came across a post today which explained how one of the guys blogging there had started a new blog called By Whose Authority that would try to foster communication between Protestant and Orthodox Christians.
This may be an interesting blog to check out especially for those of us ministering in countries where the majority of Christians consider themselves "Orthodox".
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Best Gospel Posts of the Week
Here are the best blog posts I have come across this past week. I have decided to break them up into two groupings- 1. posts which focus mainly on understanding the gospel and/or Jesus since He is the center of the gospel and 2. posts which focus on how to live out the gospel.
Understanding the Gospel
Understanding the Gospel
- How Do You Maintain Your Desire for God?
- Keller: The Gospel is Both One and More Than That
- Ray Ortlund's Gospel Manifesto
- Repentance from Dead Works follow-up one and two
- The God-Centered-ness of Your Salvation
- The Man Delusion (with apologies to The Matrix)
- Whatever Happened to Hell?
- Why is the Gospel Good News?
- Beyond Charity - The Gospel
- Do You Really Use Your Bible as Much as You Ought
- Learning from the Joker
- Learning from the Little: Who Does Jesus Want You to See?
- Our Gospel
- The Beauty of the Gospel
- The Gospel Surprises
- The Subculture of Christianity
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
It's About the Cross Music Video on Vimeo
I put my music video "It's About the Cross" on Vimeo because the videos on their site are a lot better quality that any other video website. Check it out for yourself.
It's About the Cross from William Anderson on Vimeo.
It's About the Cross from William Anderson on Vimeo.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Gospel-Focused Websites
Here are some good websites (not blogs) that I have come across that focus on explaining the gospel and/or applying the gospel to life now. In this list the focus is not on websites that only proclaim the gospel of which there are many good ones.
As I have stated before I don't necessarily agree with everything I link to on this blog but as best as I can tell they seem to be orthodox in doctrine from an evangelical perspective and contribute to knowing, understanding and living the gospel.
I haven't taken the time to check out the "True Gospel of Jesus Christ" website very closely but I am intrigued by it. I'd be curious to know what others think of it. If you know of any other gospel oriented websites like these please let me know. Remember they have to be "good".
I also have a gospel website in Romanian and English that I am working on to explain the gospel. What is up on the site now is temporary but I hope to start working on developing it a lot more in the near future. At the bottom of the homepage is a link to download a 33 page detailed explaination of the gospel with Bible verses. It is broken down into six sections: 1. Eternity Past, 2. Creation, 3. The Fall, 4. Redemption, 5. Restoration, and 6. Eternity Future. You can check out the English version here. The name of the site is despreisus.ro which means "about Jesus".
Thoughtful comments are appreciated but please keep them short, focused on the post at hand and to the point. If you have something to say that is long then put it on your own blog and put a link to it in the comments. I check the comments before they are posted so be sure to speak the truth in love or they will be rejected.
As I have stated before I don't necessarily agree with everything I link to on this blog but as best as I can tell they seem to be orthodox in doctrine from an evangelical perspective and contribute to knowing, understanding and living the gospel.
I haven't taken the time to check out the "True Gospel of Jesus Christ" website very closely but I am intrigued by it. I'd be curious to know what others think of it. If you know of any other gospel oriented websites like these please let me know. Remember they have to be "good".
I also have a gospel website in Romanian and English that I am working on to explain the gospel. What is up on the site now is temporary but I hope to start working on developing it a lot more in the near future. At the bottom of the homepage is a link to download a 33 page detailed explaination of the gospel with Bible verses. It is broken down into six sections: 1. Eternity Past, 2. Creation, 3. The Fall, 4. Redemption, 5. Restoration, and 6. Eternity Future. You can check out the English version here. The name of the site is despreisus.ro which means "about Jesus".
Thoughtful comments are appreciated but please keep them short, focused on the post at hand and to the point. If you have something to say that is long then put it on your own blog and put a link to it in the comments. I check the comments before they are posted so be sure to speak the truth in love or they will be rejected.
Best Gospel Posts of the Week
Here are the best blog posts on the gospel that I came across this past week. I encourage you to be gospel focused and Jesus centered. This is the only way to live the life God wants for us.
- Approaching God
- Becoming Gospel-Loving: Christ Died...
- Gospel Identity
- Israel's Story in the Bible
- Ortland: Reduced to Jesus Only
- Power to Forgive
- Review of "Do I Know God" by Tullian Tchividjian
- The Power of the Cross
Friday, July 18, 2008
Corruption in Romania
You can see a seven and a half minute news video on corruption in Romania here. Below is what is posted about the video on YouTube:
Corruption is part of daily life in Romania, with almost half of Romanians admitting to paying bribes. Now the EC is putting increasing pressure on the Romanian government to end bribery. It's almost become compulsory. "They no longer mention it, you know what's expected." Some officials struggle against the rampant corruption but it often results in their dismissal. It's an ongoing battle between the politicians exploiting corruption and those fighting it. But following a push from Europe a number of high profile politicians have been charged, to the delight of Romanians. "People want to see convictions."
Please pray for God to bring justice and change in Romania.
Corruption is part of daily life in Romania, with almost half of Romanians admitting to paying bribes. Now the EC is putting increasing pressure on the Romanian government to end bribery. It's almost become compulsory. "They no longer mention it, you know what's expected." Some officials struggle against the rampant corruption but it often results in their dismissal. It's an ongoing battle between the politicians exploiting corruption and those fighting it. But following a push from Europe a number of high profile politicians have been charged, to the delight of Romanians. "People want to see convictions."
Please pray for God to bring justice and change in Romania.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Download Baby Dedication Video
I uploaded the video of the Sunday service with the baby dedication so you can download it if you want here.
Monday, July 14, 2008
e-Sword Now Web-Based Plus Other Good Sites
I couldn't sleep tonight so I thought I would check out the web. I found out from Real Christianity Blog that e-Sword is now also available as a web-based program in addition to being free software that you can download to your PC. I think e-Sword is a great Bible study resource. It is the main Bible study program I use and I highly recommend it. You can find the web-based version here. Check it out and let your friends know as well.
You need to register in order to select which resources you want to use. For now it is not as good or as complete as the desktop version but I am sure it will improve over time and my guess is that it will eventually have things not available or possible with the desktop version. This new web-based version is especially great for those who have Mac's.
Here are some other Bible study websites worth checking out:
You need to register in order to select which resources you want to use. For now it is not as good or as complete as the desktop version but I am sure it will improve over time and my guess is that it will eventually have things not available or possible with the desktop version. This new web-based version is especially great for those who have Mac's.
Here are some other Bible study websites worth checking out:
- BibleGateway
- Blue Letter Bible
- eBible
- Bible.org - where you can find the NET Bible
- Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words
- Web Bible,net
- YouVersion - Web 2.0 website that enables community and collaboration
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Baby Dedication - July 6, 2008
Last Sunday we had a baby dedication. The video includes some of the worship, communion and the dedication of Mirela Johnson.
Best Gospel Posts of the Week
Below are links to the best blog posts on the gospel that I came across this past week (IMHO). It doesn't mean I agree with everything but I appreciate when someone writes something that makes me think or helps me to see something more clearly from other people's perspective.
I don't think it is wise to only read stuff that you agree with as there is a danger in becoming "in bred". We all have bias based on our culture and what we grew up with. In addition, we have the deceitfulness of sin which deceives all of us from seeing truth clearly.
Oh Lord, give us grace to truly know and live the truth of the gospel!
I don't think it is wise to only read stuff that you agree with as there is a danger in becoming "in bred". We all have bias based on our culture and what we grew up with. In addition, we have the deceitfulness of sin which deceives all of us from seeing truth clearly.
Oh Lord, give us grace to truly know and live the truth of the gospel!
Saturday, July 05, 2008
At the American Soldiers Memorial on July 4th
Freedom is Not CheapHere I am at the Memorial to the 378 American soldiers who died in Romania during World War II. The memorial is located in Cismigiu Park which is the oldest park in Bucharest. On the left side the wording is in English and on the right it is in Romanian. It expresses the deep appreciation of the Romanians for the ultimate sacrifice these Americans made fighting for the freedom of Romania. Until I came across this memorial I never knew that any American soldiers had been in Romania during World War II.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Studying 1 John
On Sundays this summer we are going through 1 John and on Wednesdays we are doing an interactive/inductive Bible study based on what was taught on the Sunday before.
If you are interested you can listen or download the audio of the sermons. We have translation so the sermons are in both Romanian and English. Click here to see the web page in Romanian and here to see the web page in English. Soon we will also add the Word documents for the questions to the study on Wednesdays.
For me what has stood out so far is:
I think it is very easy to get discouraged about one's actual practice of "love" and I am sure Satan is always there trying to help along that discouragement. But like the law what should happen when we realize that we don't love like Jesus is that we should go to Him as He is the only one who can help us.
Here are some articles on blogs I have come across this week that talk about love. I really enjoyed reading and thinking about what Craig Johnson wrote on the Cafe Biblia Blog. Sometimes I think I don't have what it takes to really love but that is a lie as Michael Spencer makes clear in his article "Got Everything?".
Enjoy!
Pursuing an Excellent Way of Life, Part 1 - Cafe Biblia Blog
Pursuing an Excellent Way of Life, Part 2 - Cafe Biblia Blog
Studying How Jesus Loved - The Assembling of the Church Blog
Got Everything? - Jesus Shaped Spirituality Blog
If you are interested you can listen or download the audio of the sermons. We have translation so the sermons are in both Romanian and English. Click here to see the web page in Romanian and here to see the web page in English. Soon we will also add the Word documents for the questions to the study on Wednesdays.
For me what has stood out so far is:
- The need to walk in the light- to obey the Word and be real, not hiding one's sin or putting on a religious facade to cover up one's weaknesses, to live a life of continual confession and repentance.
- The importance of staying in constant and continual fellowship with Jesus.
- To be motivated by the hope of what we will one day become to get rid of sin in our lives.
- That love is the fruit that shows we are children of God- that is, living a life of sacrifice and denial of self in order to seek God's best for those whom He puts across our path.
I think it is very easy to get discouraged about one's actual practice of "love" and I am sure Satan is always there trying to help along that discouragement. But like the law what should happen when we realize that we don't love like Jesus is that we should go to Him as He is the only one who can help us.
Here are some articles on blogs I have come across this week that talk about love. I really enjoyed reading and thinking about what Craig Johnson wrote on the Cafe Biblia Blog. Sometimes I think I don't have what it takes to really love but that is a lie as Michael Spencer makes clear in his article "Got Everything?".
Enjoy!
Pursuing an Excellent Way of Life, Part 1 - Cafe Biblia Blog
Pursuing an Excellent Way of Life, Part 2 - Cafe Biblia Blog
Studying How Jesus Loved - The Assembling of the Church Blog
Got Everything? - Jesus Shaped Spirituality Blog
The Best Story - A New Gospel Presentation
Here is a presentation of the Gospel I came across the other day that uses the paper napkin technique. What is interesting is that it starts with people's concern for the world and the environment and leads them to understanding why things are such a mess, that being sin against God. I think it does a pretty good job of presenting the Gospel but I would be interested in your thoughts.
The Best Story can be found on the website PleaseConvinceMe.com and you can download video, audio, PDF and PowerPoints of it at the bottom of the page here.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
A Look at the Past
During my birthday party I showed everyone some of my photos thru the years so they could have a good laugh, especially about my long hair. As time goes by I look forward more and more to getting my permanent home and getting rid of this temporary tent.
35th Birthday Party?
Actually my 53rd but the ladies of our church switched it since I am young at heart. After church Sunday we had some cake and ice cream to celebrate my birthday and I received two large plants for my apartment as presents.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)