Posts by Todd Pruitt

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"Let us be a different breed of people"

Todd Pruitt
Mar 17, 2011
From a sermon preached by John Piper on Romans 2:6-10 : I feel such a burden for us as a church to swim against the tide of almost every current in our culture. More and more and more, America is a nation given over to play. The industries of play are huge! Houses are built today with entertainment...

"Jesus Wept" by Makato Fujimura

Todd Pruitt
Mar 17, 2011
I am really wanting a copy of Crossway's The Four Holy Gospels illustrated by Makato Fujimura. The above painting is Fujimura's attempt to capture something of the Bible's shortest verse - "Jesus wept" (Luke 13:34). You can read his reflections on the text and this particular work HERE .

In my place condemned he stood...

Todd Pruitt
Mar 17, 2011
At the 2008 Together for the Gospel conference R.C. Sproul delivered an extraordinary message on the nature of Christ's atonement as anticipated through the Old Testament sacrificial system. It is a powerful antidote against the current trend to deny the substitionary atonement of Jesus. The...

Good Books from Tim Chester

Todd Pruitt
Mar 17, 2011
Westminster Bookstore is offering two excellent books from Tim Chester for only $15 (42% off!). I highly recommend both Delighting in the Trinity and From Creation to New Creation .

Resources on Hell and Universalism

Todd Pruitt
Mar 16, 2011
Check out these helpful resources from Monergism. Also, take time to read this article by Robert Reymond which utterly refutes the idea of inclusivism.

Heaven and Hell

Todd Pruitt
Mar 16, 2011
The latest edition of The White Horse Inn features a discussion with Kevin DeYoung about Heaven and Hell. Take a listen HERE . Also read this post by Michael Horton regarding Rob Bell's most recent denials of the biblical teaching about hell.

Sunday's Sermon

Todd Pruitt
Mar 16, 2011
On Sunday I preached part 8 in our series God's Great Story: How the Gospel Changes Everything . It is entitled "The Life-Giving God" and can be listened to or downloaded HERE .

Conversation and Clarity...

Todd Pruitt
Mar 16, 2011
"At some point, people need precision in our thinking. Provocation has its place. Ambiguity serves a purpose. But the work of the preacher is to present the gospel in an open statement of the truth (2 Cor. 4:2). Sooner or later people in the media, people in the hospital bed, people in the pews...

"Amending the Gospel"

Todd Pruitt
Mar 15, 2011
Rob Bell has been making the rounds. He's been on Good Morning and America and on MSNBC with Martin Bashir. What is fascinating is the clarity that Mr. Bashir seems to possess concerning Rob Bell's project. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg-qgmJ7nzA]

The Bigger Issue...

Todd Pruitt
Mar 15, 2011
That's right, we're still on the same topic. The bigger issue with denying hell as Rob Bell does in Love Wins... Okay, okay, I know he says he believes in "hell" but he is using a radically different dictionary. For Bell, hell is not the just punishment of a holy God poured out on the unrepentant...

Love, Justice, and the Power of a Good Narrative

Todd Pruitt
Mar 15, 2011
Mike Witmer has an excellent post demonstrating the problem with Rob Bell's promo video for Love Wins . You see, many folks will view that video (or read the book or hear Bell speak) and be persuaded, not because of the truthfulness of the position but by the power of the narrative. Several years...

Reviews of "Love Wins"

Todd Pruitt
Mar 14, 2011
Kevin DeYoung and Denny Burk have posted their reviews of Rob Bell's Love Wins. I strongly encourage you to read both reviews. They are models of thoughtful engagement and sound theology. Kevin's Review HERE . Denny's Review HERE . Denny Burk also references Richard Mouw's review of Love Wins. Dr...

God's Punitive and Retributive Silence

Todd Pruitt
Mar 12, 2011
There is a sense in which the church owes a debt to heresy. Don't misunderstand. We should never be thankful for false teaching which leads God's people astray. False teachers are clearly condemned in Scripture. But we also know just how easily sound doctrine devolves into a kind of dead orthodoxy...

What's Next for Harold Camping?

Todd Pruitt
Mar 11, 2011
Does this mean Harold Camping will repent and romove himself from the airwaves on May 22, 2011?

The New Birth

Todd Pruitt
Mar 11, 2011
On Sunday I am preaching on the miracle of the new birth from John 3. This evening I found some wonderful words from Warren Wiersbe which are in his commentary on 1 Peter, Be Hopeful : This miracle [the new birth] all began with God: we were chosen by the Father (Eph. 1:3-4). This took place in the...

Just Cause for Optimism

Todd Pruitt
Mar 11, 2011
It strikes me that, amid all the hype and hoo-hah this week surrounding a certain author, we need to remember that promise. Teachers -- true and false -- come and go; they have done so for centuries, and few have made any lasting mark, let alone those who write paperback potboilers. But the church...

New Resources from TGC

Todd Pruitt
Mar 10, 2011
Gospel Coalition Booklets , D.A. Carson & Tim Kellor (ed.)

Tim and Carl on "Love Wins"

Todd Pruitt
Mar 10, 2011
Tim Challies has written a helpful review of Rob Bell's new book Love Wins . A God who would allow people to go to hell is not a great God, according to Bell, and the traditional belief that He would is “devastating … psychologically crushing … terrifying and traumatizing and unbearable” (pp. 136-7...

Sunday's Sermon

Todd Pruitt
Mar 9, 2011
On Sunday I preached part 7 in the current series God's Great Story: How the Gospel Changes Everything . It is entitled "The Incarnate God" and can be listened to or downloaded HERE .

"Ashamed of hell"

Todd Pruitt
Mar 9, 2011
“Many in the church today have universalism simply as a hope. Though they may not preach it dogmatically, they don’t eliminate the possibility that all will be saved in the end. We may call them the ‘wishful universalists.’ I have been told numerous times that there are many ‘closet universalists’...

Not orthodox enough for Zondervan?

Todd Pruitt
Mar 9, 2011
When Zondervan says you do not fit within the parameters of their mission, you know you're in trouble. Zondervan (along with IVP) pretty much defines broad margin, big tent evangelicalism these days. Large publishing houses like Zondervan are also very fond of books that sell (imagine that!). That...

"No Doctrine Stands Alone"

Todd Pruitt
Mar 8, 2011
The latest controversy over the doctrine of hell has raised the larger of issue of Christian doctrine in general. It is no surprise that there are certain doctrines, not least of all the gospel itself (1 Cor 1:18ff) which offend modern sensabilities. The project of liberal theology since...

Doubt as a badge honor...

Todd Pruitt
Mar 7, 2011
The latest flap over Rob Bell's views of hell and salvation have raised once again the post-modern infatuation with doubt and uncertainty. Even as post-modernism has largely been consigned to the intellectual trash bin, the emergent kids still think it is cutting edge. "We're into questions, not...

Rob Bell on Good Morning America

Todd Pruitt
Mar 6, 2011
Thanks to Denny Burk for linking to Rob Bell's appearance on Good Morning America. The story features a tweet posted from Josh Harris which gets to the point: “There’s nothing loving about preaching a false gospel.” The report also features Al Mohler representing the historic, orthodox consensus: “...

Not only our liberty but our duty...

Todd Pruitt
Mar 4, 2011
"One thing is clear to us, we cannot be expected to meet in any union which comprehends those whose teachings on fundamental points is exactly the reverse of that which we hold dear. Cost what it may, to separate ourselves from those who separate themselves from the truth of God is not alone our...

For the book lover...

Todd Pruitt
Mar 4, 2011
From The Book Surgeon HT: Tim Challies

Evangelicalism and the rise of secularization

Todd Pruitt
Mar 4, 2011
On Wednesday I was able to attend the annual Gaffin Lecture Westminster Theological Seminary. Al Mohler was the speaker and his lecture was entitled: "On the Other Side of Complexity: Christian Conviction in the Late Modern Age." It is an academic lecture, not a sermon so don't expect a long string...

Abomination

Todd Pruitt
Mar 3, 2011
I have posted this before but it is worth hearing again: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s]

"Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors."

Todd Pruitt
Mar 3, 2011
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9dpmp_-TY0]

"Whoever finds his life..."

Todd Pruitt
Mar 3, 2011
Thanks to my wife for calling my attention to this stunning interview . Near the end of the interview Reiko Rizzuto reflects on what would have happened if she had returned to her family. She would have done "that thing that I didn't want to do, which was give up my life...for someone else." What...

Understanding Hell

Todd Pruitt
Mar 3, 2011
Worth Reading... Hell Under Fire , Morgan & Peterson ed. What is Hell? by Morgan & Peterson Hell on Trial by Robert Peterson Heaven and Hell by Edward Donnelly

Hell and the Glory of God

Todd Pruitt
Mar 3, 2011
Jim Hamilton asks the question, "Would Rob Bell rob God of glory?" The question is appropriate for anyone who dismisses the biblical doctrine of hell. Dr. Hamilton writes: If there’s no hell , God can’t be trusted because he doesn’t keep his word and therefore doesn’t do justice, and if there’s no...

"The Organized Heart"

Todd Pruitt
Mar 3, 2011
The newest release from Cruciform Press sounds like an interesting one: The Organized Heart: A Woman's Guide to Conquering Chaos . From the Publisher: The fight against chaos is universal, whether it be the outward chaos of disorder and frenzy or the inward chaos of fear and self-criticism. Even if...

A dangerous place to be a Christian...

Todd Pruitt
Mar 3, 2011
Afghanistan continues to be a place where it is dangerous to be a Christian. It is particularly dangerous to convert from Islam to Christianity. Such a conversion carries with it a death sentence. Those who do convert know that they are potentially laying down their lives. Thanks to Denny Burk for...

Nine Marks Journal

Todd Pruitt
Mar 3, 2011
The Latest Nine Marks Journal is available. The theme of this issue is the relationship between the church and the parachurch. • J. Mack Stiles, Nine Marks of a Healthy Parachurch Ministry . A longtime parachurch veteran lays out nine things that should keep a parachurch ministry faithful to the...

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Todd Pruitt
Mar 1, 2011
Thanks to Justin Taylor for posting a remembrance of Lloyd-Jones who died 30 years ago today. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPhtyC3GsjM]

Sunday's Sermon

Todd Pruitt
Feb 28, 2011
On Sunday I preached part 7 in our series God's Great Story. It is entitled The All-Wise God and is taken from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Psalms. You can listen to or download it HERE .

I know. I know. But you really ought to read this one...

Todd Pruitt
Feb 28, 2011
Kevin DeYoung has written what is the most helpful post I have read on the controversy surrounding Rob Bell and the promotion of his new book. You ought to read it when you get a chance. In case you are wondering why I have been posting on this, the answer is easy: Rob Bell has influence. He is an...

Men used to be willing to die for the truth...

Todd Pruitt
Feb 28, 2011
The dust up over the promotional materials for Rob Bell's newest book has been interesting. Justin Taylor has been excoriated for expressing (in a relatively gentle way) his concerns over Bell's clear compromises with Biblical truth. That criticism reflects what seems to be the new mainstream of...

More on Rob Bell's new book...

Todd Pruitt
Feb 27, 2011
Some other thoughtful guys have weighed in on Rob Bell's forthcoming book Love Wins : Denny Burk Justin Taylor Kevin Deyoung Joshua Harris Trevin Wax

The Propriety of Public Rebuke

Todd Pruitt
Feb 25, 2011
In a recent interview by the Dean at Point Looma Nazarene College Rob Bell responded to Mark Driscoll's pronouncement that Bell is a heretic: Nelson: Time Magazine, a year or two ago, called you the next Billy Graham. And then you’ve got a pastor at another Mars Hill church calling you a heretic...

Al Mohler at Westminster

Todd Pruitt
Feb 25, 2011
Al Mohler will be giving the Gaffin Lecture at Westminster Theological Seminary on Wednesday morning March 2 at 10:30 in Rust Auditorium. If you are in the Philadelphia area please try to attend.

Rob Bell sets himself against God...

Todd Pruitt
Feb 25, 2011
So, we've known for a while that Rob Bell was going to release a book denying the doctrines of Hell and the final judgement. It's a sentimental message that will certainly resonate with many contemporary evangelicals who cannot cope with any notion of exclusion. These are the same folks who loved...

The error of assuming error

Todd Pruitt
Feb 24, 2011
B.B. Warfield the great biblical scholar and defender of the Bible's inerrancy challenged skeptics to give the New Testament the same benefit of the doubt that secular texts were given: It is not enough to point to passages difficult to harmonize; they cannot militate against verbal inspiration...

Worth the read...

Todd Pruitt
Feb 24, 2011
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/15397101 w=400&h=225] "The Gospel & Personal Evangelism," Mark Dever from 9Marks on Vimeo . The Gospel and Personal Evangelism [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/15401892 w=400&h=225] "What Does God Want of Us Anyway?" Mark Dever from 9Marks on Vimeo . What Does God...

Just for Fun

Todd Pruitt
Feb 24, 2011
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFnuP9niRUg] HT: Tim Challies

Enforcing Laws, Defending Marriage...

Todd Pruitt
Feb 24, 2011
In what can only be described as a cynical political move, the Obama Administration informed Congress that they will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA]. That means that any challenge to DOMA in the courts will not be countered by the Administration even though the President and...

A clash of worlds in Iowa

Todd Pruitt
Feb 23, 2011
It seems odd that anyone would have to explain why it is inappropriate for a boy to wrestle a girl. But such is the world in which we live. You have probably heard about the Iowa high school student Joel Northrup who graciously refused to wrestle a female student in a state tournament. In what can...

Always Preach the Gospel

Todd Pruitt
Feb 23, 2011
Non-Christian listeners need instruction in the truths of Scripture, particularly concerning Christ and his redeeming work, if the preacher’s call to “believe” is to be meaningful to them. Christians likewise need instruction in the truths of Scripture, if preaching is to achieve its objective to...

Do you own your job?

Todd Pruitt
Feb 23, 2011
A thoughtful yet direct post from Douglas Wilson on whether or not Christians should support collective bargaining: Just a quick note about "collective bargaining." The real question for those who would understand the nature of unions is the question of ownership. Say there is a particular job at...