A question… Is this picture Law or Gospel?

I saw this over on the MockingbirdNYC blog and it gave me pause.

What kind of faith possesses a group of people to come together and say “Let’s take the bones of everyone who has died in this church and monastery over the last several hundred years and make them into a mosaic of the cross for our church door so that on the last day when Christ returns and we are resurrected, this place will become a living temple.”?

They took the very detritus of death and in faith and hope made a sign pointing to Christ and the resurrection.

Think about that for a minute.

May the Lord grant us faith and strengthen it to be like that of our forefathers.

Our friends at MockingbirdNYC have a couple of great posts.

The first one is about Axl Rose of Guns and Roses fame and his upbringing in a Pentecostal Church. Yeah, we find that totally fascinating.

http://mockingbirdnyc.blogspot.com/2009/04/wisdom-of-w-axl-rose-pt-1.html

The next one is about a young man who transfers to Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in an effort to try to understand Evangelical Christians. The book he is writing will be worth checking out.

http://mockingbirdnyc.blogspot.com/2009/04/rooses-ruse.html

“I will be the Bridge to carry you across. In one moment you will come out of death and the fear of hell into yonder life. For it is I who paved the way and the course. I walked and traversed it Myself, so that I might take you and all My followers across. All that is necessary is that you un-hesitatingly set your foot on Me, wager boldly on Me, go cheerfully and happily, and die in My name.” — Luther on Jn. 14, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”

Christ did it ALL—lived the perfect life, drank the full cup of the wrath of God and went to the cross in your stead, rose from the grave on the third day and freely imputes His perfect life and perfect works to you.

He died for the sins of the world.

And you can not out-sin the cross.

He is risen indeed, Allelujah!

We wanted to wish all our readers and customers a blessed Feast of the Resurrection, and let you know it is our fervent prayer that you all are part of or find congregations that feed you with the Gospel every week. Keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to spread the Good News of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection on your behalf.

God’s peace.

Our second podcast is a little less formal than our first one. This time you’ll get to hear just us NRP founders (Ted and Pat) discuss a few things regarding our founding and the state of the church.

The audio quality of this one is a bit better, but I think we’re starting to get the hang of it. I did notice a couple small issues, but we’ll get there.

Near the end, Pat mentions a contest which refers to a recent blog entry, “Gird Up Your Loins Like A Man.” To win that contest and receive a free t-shirt, help Pat get the information from the video in that blog entry and be the first to post it in this podcast’s comments. Once we’ve verified the track, the shirt’s yours! We need to know the artist, track title and album.

Intro and wrap up music is by Josh Garrels in his Over Oceans album. All music is from track #9, Good Friday, which we thought was appropriate considering we recorded it on Good Friday, 2009.

We also got our feed issues worked out. Once we get our iTunes link running, I’ll provide that here as well. For now, though, you can subscribe to our podcasts using this address:

http://www.newreformationpress.com/blog/podcasts/feed/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Today is Good Friday, the day Christ died for the sins of the world, becoming sin so that we may have eternal life. He has taken the sins of the world upon himself, drinking the entire cup of His Father’s wrath so that we may be redeemed, taking the entirety of those sins to the cross so that we might be saved from sin, death and the devil.

We here at NRP hope you are able to hear of Christ’s sacrifice for you today or tonight so that you may hear of how you have been freed from the shackles of sin and given the unbelievable gift of eternal life with the Lord God, our Father.

Gird up your loins like a man…

- God
Job 38:3

Like this man?…

This has to be one of the top five feats of human courage in history. I was stunned when I watched it, and wonder how come I had never heard of it until recently. Truly we are fearfully and wonderfully made. No other earthly creature would ever attempt such a thing, or could even conceive of it. Truly God has set us above the beasts of the fields and the birds of the air. I am humbled.

Captain Joe Kittinger went on from these exploits to Project Stargazer, and later three tours of duty flying fighter aircraft in the Vietnam war. His third tour was as commander of the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron. In 1972 while leading this squadron he was shot down in aerial combat over North Vietnam and was taken prisoner. He spent eleven months in the notorious Hanoi Hilton and was tortured.

After being repatriated in 1973 he was promoted to full Colonel. He retired from the military in 1978.

The guys over at MockingbirdNYC just finished their conference on grace. They have posted the MP3s and accompanying documents for free on their site. This is amazing stuff, especially the segments on grace and addiction, grace and marriage, and grace in literature.

Check it out here:
http://mockingbirdnyc.blogspot.com/2009/03/conference-mp3s.html

We’ve been contacted by a few of you about an issue with our phone number not working. We’ve been able to track down the problem with our phone system and you can once again reach us at our phone number – (303) 502-5277. I apologize if you’ve tried to call us recently and did not reach NRP. Our email, on the other hand, is continuing to work so of course you’re also free to contact us there, too, if you wish.

Thanks for your support and we look forward to hearing from you!

“always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15)

Our good friends at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana are holding a conference very soon addressing the subject of Christian apologetics. Given the list of speakers, I expect this to be a very valuable event which you simply won’t want to miss, if at all possible.

The campus is a Lutheran institution, but please don’t let that dissuade you if you don’t happen to be Lutheran. This is a very important subject for all Christians—one not being taught or discussed nearly enough right now—and rarely is there an opportunity to see it tackled by such talent as has been assembled for this event.

Take a look at the promotional video and the PDF file of the details of the event.

The conference is on May 1-2 (about a month from now) and if you have the inclination and the ability, please don’t miss it.

Here is some more description from the pamphlet:

Integral to the task of Christian witness in a secular and pluralistic culture is the ability to articulate and defend the truthfulness of the Gospel. Concordia Theological Seminary is, therefore, pleased to offer “Contending for the Faith in the Twenty-First Century.” The goal of this conference is simple: to encourage and equip Christians for the task of “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for the reason for the hope among us” (1 Peter 3:15). Presentations will be made on a variety of topics from atheism to Islam as well as historical, contemporary, and the practical considerations of Christian witness. Attendees can expect to leave the conference with greater confidence, understanding, and insight into the nature and task of Christian witness in the public sphere.