Pastor Al recently purchased a number of copies of this wonderful little booklet and gave me one. It’s based on a lecture delivered at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, on behalf of the Homiletical Society by J.C. Ryle (who Spurgeon called “an evangelical champion . . . One of the bravest and best of men.”)

What a great (and quick!) read. As the title suggests, it is a very persuasive appeal for preachers to strive at being simple in our preaching. Not “simplistic” or childish, but to avoid complexity that tends to encumber the message with clutter that works against clarity.

Ryle makes his case under 5 headings:

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Spread Truth Ministries have just released an excellent resource called “The Story”.  It’s a 12-page tract (booklet) in a very striking and contemporary design that gives a good, accurate presentation of the gospel. It would be really great one to order and hand out in October as part of our “31 Day S.O.S. Challenge”.

But in addition to the printed version, Spread Truth are making “The Story” available for FREE in an electronic format which you can embed straight onto your blog or web page (check it out over on the right hand side of THIS blog right now.) Not only that, but they provide full tracking so that you can see how many people are reading it on your site.

What a great, easy way to preach the gospel from your site! You can set it up in minutes.

Check out the promotional video below, then sign up for a free account at Spread Truth Ministries and get your embed code.

Phil

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My copy of this much anticipated DVD finally arrived in the mail Friday. It was worth the wait.

Go Stand Speak: The Forgotten Power of the Public Proclamation of the Gospel is about the too often neglected evangelistic method of open air preaching. In many quarters of the church today this DVD will unfortunately go down like a lead balloon. There is a widespread inocculation against all forms of confrontational evangelism; “soft-sell” is the order of the day. Add to this the common idea that our generation is somehow uniquely different from all that have gone before (in spite of the fact that every single generation in history has believed this about themselves).

So let’s just understand up front that this DVD is not likely to outsell “Your Best Life Now” any time soon. But if, by God’s grace, it can be used to stir the hearts of even a few more to join the ranks of faithful street witnesses, it will be a great blessing and of eternal value. I thank God that these ranks ARE swelling today. God has been raising up an extraordinarily vibrant and robust movement to once again faithfully proclaim the gospel.

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I became acquainted with Martin Murphy recently through a couple of online exchanges, including comments he left right here on this blog. Martin has more than 20 years experience as a pastor and teacher, and holds degrees in Bible and Divinity from Columbia and Reformed Theological Seminary. He and his wife live in South Alabama.

Not every competent pastor or seminary graduate can write. Martin can!

I bought a copy of his new book “The Essence of Christian Doctrine”, and as I started to leaf through it I was immediately struck by it’s style. It does not pretend to be a magnum opus on systematic theology. (We probably have enough of those.)  It is clearly written for a more popular audience, bringing a good summary of sound Christian doctrine in a thoroughly engaging and readable style.

This book would be a great introduction to theological reading for any young person, and it would make an excellent small group Bible Study curriculum. The seasoned pastor will find immensely helpful material here in preparing to preach doctrine in terms that a whole congregation can grasp quickly.

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This peculiar story was picked up by Wretched Radio earlier this week. A group calling themselves VHEM, or “The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement”, (we have no idea how large the membership is … one hand or two?), have launched a website espousing a philosophy of, yes, “Voluntary Human Extinction”. Yup, snuffing ourselves out.

You can check out their website for yourself at www.vhemt.org

What are the tenets of this philosophy? They claim to present “an encouraging alternative to the callous exploitation and wholesale destruction of Earth’s ecology.”

In their own words:

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Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be), by Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008.

OK, it’s time to admit it … My name’s Phil, and I have been a “Way of the Master Radio” junkie. (All together now: “Hi Phil”)

I’ve been used to getting the podcast every day and listening in my car while driving. It’s an excellent program, hosted by Todd Friel, promoting sound theology, sane discernment, and passionate evangelism. We would have some disagreements on peripheral issues of the faith (perpetuity of some spiritual gifts, etc) – but on the essentials of the nature of God and His salvation plan … united! Great stuff.

It pains me to say it, but I feel a lot more affinity with Todd & Co than I do with many of today’s pentecostal and charismatic preachers who have abandoned the gospel of the New Testament. Traded it in for man-centered craziness.

WELL … as of December 1st …
the show is no more! (At least – not by the old name.)

Aaaaargh!

BUT the good news is that it has been relaunched under the new name “Wretched Radio” which aligns it with the Family Net TV Show “Wretched”. Both shows are hosted by Todd Friel.

Phew!

If you haven’t tuned in yet, I highly recommend it. CLICK HERE to visit their web site. You can download a sample segment. If you want the archive of daily podcasts, plus access to all the TV programs, and some other great privileges, you can sign up to be a member very inexpensively. Well worth it!

Enjoy!

Phil