Luke 2:1–2,

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. . . .

The Lord — holy, sovereign, utterly independent — became incarnate in the person of Jesus. . . when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

So, who is Quirinius? That he was governor of Syria is obvious enough. But this is such an apparently insignificant detail. What purpose does this serve in holy Scripture? Well, Quirinius was a real person, a real governor over a real Syria in a real world in real space and time. And God really stepped into this.

Here's one way to think about the chronology of the New Testam…

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Both BBC News and Aljazeera have written recently about the tremendous growth and increasing influence of the evangelical church in China. The news is no surprise, especially to those who have been observing and writing about it for a while; but the fact that it is making headlines internationally is a good reminder to the global church of our ongoing need to know the welfare of our own Body.

According to The Lausanne Movement’s recent analysis of five separate sources, the number of Christians in China (Protestant and Catholic) is somewhere around 100 million. Compare this to the estimated 2.3 million in 1920, and marvel at what the Lord has done.

Among today’s 100 million Chinese Chris…

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Pastor John, from Genesis 2:

This is a call to stoop down and to take the responsibility to be a leader—a servant leader in the various ways that are appropriate to every different relationship to women. It's a call to us men,

that we should take the risk of getting egg on our faces;

that we should pray like we've never prayed for help in this tremendous responsibility;

that we should be in the Word more than we ever have been to know what God expects of us;

that we should plan things more than we do, and be intentional and thoughtful and less carried along by the mood of the moment;

that we should be disciplined and ordered in our lives;

that we should be tender-hearted and sensitive;

…

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Charles Spurgeon:

The child, in danger of the fire, just clings to the fireman, and trusts to him alone. She raises no question about the strength of his limbs to carry her, or the zeal of his heart to rescue her; but she clings. The heat is terrible, the smoke is blinding, but she clings; and her deliverer quickly bears her to safety. In the same childlike confidence cling to Jesus, who can and will bear you out of danger from the flames of sin.

A Friendly Talk with Seekers Concerning Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

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Recent posts from "They Still Speak" —

• Luther on God and His Gifts (Martin Luther)
• "If You Are Thirsty, Come and Drink" (C. S. Lewis)
• Jesus Is Our All-S…

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John Piper recently gathered with a group of urban pastors and church leaders in Minneapolis to speak on his newest book, Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.

Partnering with Here's Life Inner City, the event was hosted by Pastor Billy Russell and Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. Pastor Russell opened up the evening by sharing a little about his story on the "other side of racism." Pastor John's message begins at the 10:20 mark of the video:

Download the audio and video of the event.

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Recent posts on Bloodlines —

• One Way to Glory in the Cross
• America — Not as Mature as We Should Be
• Bloodlines: Race, Cross. . . and Your Local Church

From Prayer —

Nothing seems to be too great, too hard, or too difficult for prayer to do. It has obtained things that seemed impossible and out of reach. It has won victories over fire, air, earth, and water.

Prayer opened the Red Sea. Prayer brought water from the rock and bread from heaven. Prayer made the sun stand still. Prayer brought fire from the sky on Elijah's sacrifice. Prayer turned the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. Prayer overthrew the army of Sennacherib.

Well said Mary Queen of Scots, "I fear John Knox's prayers more than an army of ten thousand men." Prayer has healed the sick. Prayer has raised the dead. Prayer has procured the conversion of souls. "…

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Money is a great ministry killer. Look at what happened to Israel’s spiritual leaders from top to bottom.

The heads of Jacob give judgment for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets practice divination for money;
yet they lean on the Lord and say,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us? (Micah 3:11)

And what is so shocking — and relevant — is that they had not forsaken the talk of “leaning on the Lord.” They quoted Proverbs 3:5–6 (“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.”) They talked it. They protested, “The Lord is in our midst.”

Yet they were working for money.

Brothers, build safeguards against this in your soul and in your syst…

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Darrin Patrick, pastor of the Journey Church in St. Louis and author of Church Planter, will join us at our 2012 Conference for Pastors January 30 to February 1.

Scott Anderson, executive director of Desiring God, interviewed Darrin on Church Planter last year when the book was released. In this clip from the interview Darrin talks about the societal epidemic of ban ("not a boy, not man, somewhere in between") and calls churches to challenge and equip the men of their congregations:

Darrin's topic at the Conference for Pastors is how to be and build men for the mission of the local church. Registration is now open.

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Recent posts for the 2012 Conference for Pastors —

• …

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Born this day in 1898 was one Clive Staples Lewis. His friends called him Jack. We know him as C. S. Lewis. He died just shy of 65 years old on November 22, 1963, the same day as John F. Kennedy's assassination.

And what treasures did Jack pen in his lifetime, among them the Narnia series and many even more significant.

John Piper paid tribute to Lewis in his biographical address "Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul." Here's the key insight from Lewis:

[Jonathan] Edwards said, “God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in.” So the glory of God is displayed when we rejoice in it. Lewis says exactly the same thing even more clearly. In his book on…

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Pastor John:

The essence of lukewarmness is the statement, "I need nothing." The lukewarm are spiritually self-satisfied. To find out whether you are among that number, don't look into your head to see if you think that you are needy; rather, look at your prayer life. It doesn't matter what we think in our head, the test of whether we are in bondage to spiritual self-satisfaction is how earnest and frequent and extended our prayers for change are.

Do you seek the Lord earnestly and often in secret for deeper knowledge of Christ, for greater earnestness in prayer, for more boldness in witness, for sweeter joy in the Holy Spirit, for deeper sorrow for sin, for warmer compassion for the lo…

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