I just got back from my meeting with Ligon Duncan.  Unfortunately I walked out with more questions than answers.  Conversation takes so much more time than it seems like it should, and before I knew it our time was up.

But for those interested, here are the ways Dr. Duncan responded to my questions, to the best of my memory: (more…)

This Wednesday I will have the privilege to sit down with Ligon Duncan (otherwise known as Notorious L-I-G) and ask him some questions related to paedobaptism.  I was baptized as an infant at his church (although he wasn’t a minister there at the time) and have been considering being baptized as a believer.  The following are the questions I’ve been able to come up with that are particularly important to me.  Are there any others I should ask?

The following questions are posed from the viewpoint of a paedobaptist just to make the questions simple (ie using the word “rebaptism” when the credobaptist would of course hold that I haven’t been baptized in the first place).

• I am considering being rebaptized because, as best as I can understand the teaching of scripture on baptism, I think my previous baptism as an unregenerate infant was invalid.  What counsel do you have for me?
• How serious is the decision to be rebaptized if the original baptism might have been valid?  Does it do harm to the gospel and if so in what way and to what extent?  Is it sinful to be rebaptized if remaining in the current state goes against conscience?
  • If a member of your church was rebaptized, would it be an occasion for church discipline?
• What is baptism?
  • Why were John’s disciples rebaptized?  (Acts 19:1-7)
  • What was the purpose of John’s baptism?  Did it have any covenantal meaning?
  • If a man, who had no family connections to the church, was baptized and later came to the conviction he had not been saved at the time of his baptism, would it be right or wrong for him to be rebaptized?  In other words, what are the necessary requirements for a valid, covenantal baptism.  How does this relate to the rebaptism of John’s disciples?
• I have heard Reformed theologians say that the children of believers are members of the new covenant.  Is that your position and if so what do you mean by members?
  • How do you resolve the problem Paul was wrestling with in Romans 9: namely, the “people of the promise” are often not the recipients of the promise?  How has God kept his promise to the members of the covenant who are not saved?
• Scripturally, what is the most convincing argument to you either in favor of paedobaptism or against credobaptism?
• If I understand correctly, the parents who are members of your church are given the option not to have their children baptized.  Is this true?
  • How do you counsel parents who have a hard time deciding or disagree?
• I attend a church that desires me to be rebaptized.  In the future I hope to either attend the Bethlehem Institute or the Sovereign Grace Pastors College.  I would assume they would want me to be rebaptized as well.  At what point does a person who finds these matters difficult to resolve simply submit to the elders of his church and those who are his spiritual leaders?
• Under what circumstances do you recommend rebaptism and why? (Baptism performed by heretical churches, etc.)
• Is there anything you would recommend for me to read?

The following is taken from John MacArthur’s Ashamed of the Gospel (see it on Google books).

Charles Finney was born in 1792 in Connecticut but lived most of his childhood in Oneida County, New York. His parents were not Christians, and Finney grew up largely ignorant of Christian doctrine. He remembered no preaching or gospel witness in that part of New York (which he called “a wilderness”) — though the historical records indicate there was at least one strong evangelical church in the community.

The religion Finney remembered as a child was, he said later, “of a type not at all calculated to arrest my attention.” (more…)

How Our Suffering Glorifies the Greatness of the Grace of God

John Piper doing what he does best:  preaching on missions and the dangers of wealth.

The full sermon is available at the Desiring God website.

When: Tue Apr 21 – Thu Apr 23, 2009
Where: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
Speakers: Bryan Chapell, DA Carson, John Piper, K Edward Copeland, Ligon Duncan, Mark Dricoll, Phil Ryken, Tim Keller, Ajith Fernando
Website: Entrusted with the Gospel: Living the Vision of Second Timothy

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When: Mon Apr 6 – Tue Apr 7, 2009
Where: Gaithersburg, MD
Host: Sovereign Grace Ministries
Website: Sovereign Grace Leadership Conference

More information forthcoming…

These are some really great clips from a Q&A with Paul Washer.  In these clips he addresses calling on God through prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, how to witness faithfully, and the relationship of apologetics to evangelism.  The full video is available at sermonaudio.com.

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HT: Lane’s Blog