Tedashii--Blacklight

This post is to let those of you who like Christian Hip-Hop know that Tedashii has released a new album called "Blacklight." I have not listened to the entire album, so I can't post a full review of its content, but if it is anything on the whole like the song "Need it Daily," (one of the pre-released songs) it ought to be a good one. Check it out. Enjoy!!

Tedashii--Blacklight

Biblical Manhood (Pt. 8)

Hip-Hop Weekend--Jovan Mackenzy (Pt. 3)

This is the final post featuring Jovan Mackenzy in a Hip-Hop Weekend. Today's video is not an official video, but it is of my favorite song off of Jovan's new album Strangers and Pilgrims entitled "God Man." Jovan's theology is straight, and this song is just proof of it. Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Jovan Mackenzy (Pt. 2)

This is the second post in Hip-Hop Weekend featuring Jovan Mackenzy. Today's video is of Jovan's song "I Need You" off his new album Strangers and Pilgrims. Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Jovan Mackenzy

This week's Christian Hip-Hop Weekend features one of my favorite new artists (not new in the sense of new to the industry, but new in the sense that I just found out about Jovan's music around Christmas last year...)--Jovan MacKenzy. Today's video is called "Heresy" and it's off Jovan's album "The Narrow Road."

This song drew Jovan a lot of criticism because he "names names" in this song, although I'm not sure how acting like the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John qualifies one to be criticized so highly. Enjoy!!

Biblical Manhood (Pt. 7)

Biblical Manhood (Pt. 6)

Biblical Manhood (Pt. 5)

Still... Catching Up (Back to the Blog Pt. 2...)

Ok, so I seriously underestimated my finals week work-time. This left me with no time whatsoever to play catch up on my blog. Therefore, I'm going to continue catching up over the next several days (weeks?) and hope that I can get caught up as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience! Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Flame (Pt. 3)

This is the final post in a Hip-Hop Weekend featuring Flame. Today's video is of one of my favorite hip-hop songs of all time, "Joyful Noise" off of his album Our World Redeemed. Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Flame (Pt. 2)

This is the second post in a Hip-Hop Weekend featuring Flame. Today's video is of his song "Goodness to Repentance" off his album Our World Fallen. Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Flame

This week's Christian Hip-Hop weekend is featuring Flame. Flame is another Gospel-centered, theologically deep rapper (should there be any other kind?). Today's video is of Flame's song, "Hold On" off of his album Our World Redeemed. Enjoy!!

Biblical Manhood (Pt. 4)

Biblical Manhood (Pt. 3)

Biblical Manhood (Pt. 2)

Biblical Manhood

Today's post begins a series of eight posts (interrupted by those pesky weekend posts...) on Biblical Manhood by Voddie Baucham. Voddie's ministry is dedicated to teaching men and women (particularly men) about how to raise their families according to Biblical standards. This audio series is dedicated to teaching men what true Biblical masculinity really means. Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Lecrae (Pt. 3)

This is the final post in a Hip-Hop Weekend featuring Lecrae. Today's video is not an official music video, but a lyric video of his track "New Shalom" off of his new album Rehab. Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Lecrae (Pt. 2)

This is the second video post in a Hip-Hop Weekend featuring Lecrae. Today's video is of his song "Background" off of his new album "Rehab." Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Lecrae

This weekend's featured Christian Hip-Hop artist is Lecrae. If you know anything about Christian Hip-Hop, then you have heard of Lecrae. Most of his content is theologically deep, and yet geared toward us "common folk." Today's video is the first hit track off his album Rebel, "Don't Waste Your Life." Enjoy!!

"But God..."

Today's post is a link to a book review of Casey Lute's new book But God. This book exposes the two words "at the heart of the Gospel." It is a good book review which seems to be a really good book. Check it out. Enjoy!!

How To Love Your Wife

Today's post is a link to an article from Brian Croft at Practical Shepherding. It is entitled "What Might be a Surprising Way to Love Your Wife?" In this article, Pastor Brian reveals what his wife's response was to the question of how he could make her feel appreciated and loved.

I am posting this article because my wife's response to this same question (worded slightly differently) was almost exactly the same. I'm thinking that these two women aren't the only two who would respond in this manner, so I'm posting this for the husbands who might need a little encouragement in a way that they can show their wives appreciation and love. Enjoy!!

Up and Out, Not In

Today's post is a link to Tullian Tchividjian's blog at the Gospel Coalition. The article is called Up and Out, Not In. In this post, Tullian encourages us to look to upward to God and outward to others for support and growth in the Christian life. As Tullian says, "[True spirituality], in other words, not introverted, but extroverted—it doesn’t take me deeper into me; it sends me away from me. Real spirituality is forgetting about yourself, washing your hands of you." Enjoy!!

Inerrancy

This is a Discussion Board post I wrote on Biblical inerrancy. Enjoy!!

Biblical inerrancy is a hotly debated topic within the Christian church. Some claim that the Bible may be inerrant only pertaining to matters of “faith and practice”[1] Others claim that the Bible need not be inerrant at all—because the Bible was written by fallible men, it must contain errors in certain matters. Finally, there are those who claim that the Bible is completely inerrant, as it pertains to the original documents written. This is the position to which I would subscribe. I believe that the Bible, as it pertains to the original manuscripts, is without error as it relates to all matters of life—not simply to “faith matters.” The Bible is the Word of God, “breathed out by God,” according to 2 Timothy 3:16. Peter says that, “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21 ESV) If God’s character is that of truth, as Jesus says in John 17:17, “your word is truth,” (ESV) then the Words which would be “breathed out by God” could not be false. God’s Word cannot be untruthful in any matter, because God is unchangingly truthful. P.D. Feinberg notes, “In John 10:34-35 Jesus says that Scripture cannot be broken and so is absolutely binding. While it is true that both passages emphasize the Bible’s authority, this authority can only be justified by or grounded in inerrancy. Something that contains errors cannot be absolutely authoritative.”[2] The Word of God is without error because God’s character is without error, and cannot change. The matters which may appear to be false about the Bible will inevitably be shown to be true, given enough time. This has been shown throughout history, both scientifically and archaeologically. Men may misinterpret the Word of God as being false, but the Bible itself never speaks falsely, and can be trusted in matters concerning every area of life, not just “faith and practice.” I am further convinced (although not as authoritatively) by the historical argument for inerrancy. If the Christian church has been convinced of the inerrancy of the Bible since the earliest days of the Church (as evidenced by Augustine) and throughout its history (as evidenced by Calvin and Luther), then it seems rather arrogant to assume that the 20^th and 21^st century church would suddenly discover contradictions and errors that brilliant men of the past (i.e. Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Edwards) had not already thought through. This doctrine has been taught implicitly throughout church history, and should be defended in the modern context explicitly and voraciously.

---

[1] Feinberg, P. D. "Bible, Innerancy and Infalibility of." In Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, by Walter A. Elwell, 156-159. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001. 156

[2] Ibid, 157

Hip-Hop Weekend--Trip Lee (Pt. 3)

This is the third installment in a Hip-Hop Weekend featuring Trip Lee. Today's song is "Come Close" which features Flame and Sho Baraka. Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Trip Lee (Pt. 2)

This is the second post in a Hip-Hop weekend featuring Trip Lee. Today's video is of Trip's song "Real Vision." Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Trip Lee

This weekend's featured Christian Hip-Hop artist is Trip Lee. Trip Lee is a member of the Reach Records squad, and his music is theologically deep while still presenting messages which are understandable to everyone who listens. Today's video is of Trip Lee's song "The Invasion (Hero)," which is one of the clearest presentations of the Gospel in musical form that I have ever heard.

Managing Time

Managing Time is something many people, including myself, struggle to do well. God has only given us 24 hours in each day, and there are endless tasks which need to be accomplished within those 24 hours.

Joe Thorn published an article on his blog entitled Rebuilding a Healthy Schedule. I found the practical points in this article very helpful in establishing a healthy workload. I hope this is able to help you in your attempts to make the most of every day which God has given you. Enjoy!!

Different Ways to Study Theology

This is a Discussion Board post I wrote for my Systematic Theology class regarding the different ways in which we can study theology. Enjoy!!

Systematic theology, as defined by B.A. Demarest, “begins with the totality of biblical revelation and extra-biblical truth, provisionally respects the development of doctrine in the church’s history, draws out the teachings of Scripture via sound grammatical, historical, and cultural exegesis, orders the result into a coherent whole where the interrelatedness of its parts is evidenced, and relates the results to the life and witness of the Christian community.” (Elwell, 1162) The study of systematic theology takes a look through Scripture as a whole, and picks out (via proper exegesis) verses which apply to specific major doctrines within Scripture. These include Scripture, the Doctrine of God, Man, Sin, Christ, Salvation, the Church, and Last things. (Erickson, 24) These studies can relate to other means of theological study in different ways.

In Biblical theology, the Scripture passages themselves are drawn out via the text. When exegeted correctly, Systematic theology and Biblical theology can be very similar. As Erickson notes, “systematic theology of the right kind will be biblical theology.” (26) Systematic theology drawn out from the text of Scripture, therefore, will relate very easily to Biblical theology concepts.

In historical theology, doctrine is studied through looking at both Church history and various theologians within Church history (i.e. Calvin, Luther, Augustine). Systematic theology can also be understood to be similar to historical theology. Systematic theology deals with specific Biblical doctrines, and historical theology takes a look at how these doctrines have been handled throughout the history of Christianity and by various theologians.

Philosophical theology does much to inform systematic theology. It can inform theology by providing the substance of theology, defending theological arguments, and looking critically at the ideas and arguments for theological positions. (Erickson, 29) While philosophy should not be used as a judge standing over theology, it can be a valuable resource when it comes to establishing the truthfulness of theological statements and concepts.

Personally, I think that systematic theology is the most important type of theology. I think that systematic theology sets forth Biblical truth through a very coherent system of thought which deals with all of the major Bible doctrines—and several other minor ones by implication. In the future, I think I will mainly stick with this form of theology, because it allows me to judge each text by the Bible as a whole. I would certainly be interested, however, in seeing how each of these other types of theology applies to studying specific Bible passages.

Catching Up (Back to the Blog...)

Well, as all 3 of you may have noticed, there has been a severe lack of bloggage going on over the past 2 weeks or so. I apologize for this failure on my part to keep up on the "Challies Challenge" I started at the beginning of the year. However, I do want to have a post for the whole year, so I am going to back-post from April 20 until yesterday's post over the next day or so. I wanted to post this so as to not "cheat" and act as if I posted on these days. So, I'll hopefully be caught up as of tomorrow, and until then, please have fun checking out the posts I will have up by the end of the night. Enjoy!!

You've Got an "A" (Tullian Tchividjian)

Today's post is a link to an article from Tullian Tchividjian's blog at the Gospel Coalition entitled You Have an "A". It speaks very well of the accomplished work of Christ on our behalf and our subsequent eternally constant right standing before God. Enjoy!!

Hip-Hop Weekend--Shai Linne (Pt. 3)

This is the final post of the weekend featuring rapper Shai Linne. Today's song doesn't really have any video, but it is still worth a listen to, as it chronicles the stories of various martyrs throughout church history. Enjoy!!