Monday, February 26, 2007

A Spot of Blogspotting, Updates and News ...


What better way to wile away the morning hours of a night shift when all is quiet than to dive into the rich, deep, awesome Christian blogs that are out there? I must confess I have been robbing myself by not searching more fervently for the gold that is there! So here goes:


Ern Baxter on MP3!

For those friends who have followed my story and this site for a while, you will appreciate what a big deal this is. I have successfully mastered the procedure for getting my dusty Ern Baxter audiotapes onto MP3! So over the weekend I have been recording non-stop and can now offer the following ministry messages on MP3 to anyone who would like them.





Enjoy!

Dr John Piper at Phoenix Seminary with Professor Wayne Grudem.

For any like-minded fans of these two scholarly, passionate, gifted academics like me, the idea of them being together in any forum is enough to make ones mouth water. Well it is now available on DVD and mine is on order! Here's the information:

"The Happy Necessity of God-Centeredness in the Pastor's Feeling, Thinking, and Preaching

Man-centeredness pervades our world. Even in the church, a gospel is often preached that makes man the focus and puts God at the edge. People become God and he becomes their lackey. Into this context, the Bible levels a radical challenge to feel, think, and preach with absolute God-centeredness.

In these three messages from the 2006 Phoenix Seminary Pastors Conference, John Piper preaches to preachers, urging them to lead in a way that keeps God where he belongs – the center. Also featured is an hour of Q & A with John Piper and Wayne Grudem".

I think this DVD is going to be a gold-mine of information, motivation and a must-have in any personal theological library. We in the UK especially seem starved of men such as Piper and Grudem in the present spiritual climate so this DVD will be like manna from heaven.

John Piper on Prayer.

I sent Terry Virgo a copy of Ern Baxter's awesome sermon, "Ditch Diggers Revival" and made reference to how stirred I was by his book, "The Tide is Turning". Terry has the unique gift of being able to respond warmly and graciously to someone like me while probably being one of the busiest church fathers around in the world (a gift not many church leaders seem to have). Terry is one of the few heroes of mine who seems to be able to make a passing comment that can just reach out and grab one. Writing about the upcoming "Together on a Mission 2007" he said,

"Let's pray fervently for God to visit us in power".

We cannot simply passively wait! So John Piper's "Desiring God" blog has provided a gem of a tool that will be helpful for any who are ready to join in with Terry's fatherly urge. One of the Desiring God team wrote about a recent seminar that Piper held at Bethlehem Baptist Church on prayer and they have provided a 35 page document of notes, examples and comments that Piper used in his address.

It's here.

Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce

Another gem from John Piper! For many years Piper has demonstrated his gift of being a biographer at his Bethlehem Conference for Pastors. I love collecting the "Swans are not Silent" sets that are such an inspiration. So it is clear that Wilberforce had slightly bigger impact on Piper that some of the other men he has studied because he has written a short book on Wilberforce's amazing life - one of battle through adversity and glorious triumph by the grace of God. Want to change the world for the glory of God?
It is available online here to read.

The Days Are Coming!

Prophet Jon Cressey has expanded his wealth of resources into a new blog; "The Days are Coming" - prophetic encouragement for weary hearts. And encouragement it is! Take a load of this;


Feeling tired and worn out like me? It's the kind of stirring encouragement that you need to read and hear!

And Finally a Report on the Newfrontiers Student Worker Day!

My friend Luke is back writing with a vengance and it is great! His reports are here:





The final thought from Luke which I also agree wholeheartedly with:

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I absolutely LOVE this site! What a rich treasure chest of amazing wealth you have amassed. I want you to know that we appreciate your work so much and it is not for nothing. Seeds are being sown by the vision of Dr Baxter that will in time reap awesome fruit.

God's richest blessing on this work.

Dan Bowen said...

Thanks that's really kind. I've had a really low week this week just gone wondering what on earth I am doing and whether it is really worth it. So to get a kind comment like this is worth it's weight in gold.

Peter Day said...

Excellent, Dan. All these are truly an amazing wealth of resources.

It is encouraging to see how the Lord is knitting together so many different streams among the people of God - John Piper and Terry Virgo stirring the people of God to prayer.

And I thank God so much that the Ern Baxter spoken word is now coming onto the Web. God is honouring your dilgence and I pray that there would be much fruit from it!

Anonymous said...

I am amazed at the rich links you have gathered together here. Particularly interested in the sessions at Phoenix Seminary!! Wow!! Perhaps you would like to transcribe the Q and A sessions with Grudem and Piper for us? I think that will be very interesting to hear what they have to say.

Here's a moan though and I mean it in the best possible way.

WHY IS IT LEFT TO AN AMERICAN TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY ABOUT A GREAT BRITISH HERO OF THE FAITH???

That isnt to criticise Piper at all - thank God for him! But does no other Brit have the expertise and moreover the PASSION to delve into these things?

Come on church in the UK!! Get moving!!

Anonymous said...

Why don't you like Sam Storms anymore? Why has he fallen from favour? Is it because he dedicated his latest book to C J Mahaney?

jul said...

I always find anonymous comments so interesting.

Dan Bowen said...

I think the fact that they remain safely anonymous allows us to learn more about them through that fact rather than what they rant about ...