Todd Engstrom

Category: theology

  • Multisite Church

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    Todd Engstrom
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    I just finished reading through the new 9 Marks Journal on Multisite church.  I thought it was a fantastic and balanced presentation of arguments both for and against the concept.  Ed Stetzer dialogued through the basic objection most have to multisite here, and I’m also asking a similar question. The article by Jonathan Leeman titled…

  • The Reason for God | Chapter 4

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    Todd Engstrom
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    I just finished chapter 4 last night, which wrestles with the challenge of the church perpetrating so much injustice in the world.  Keller approaches the question in a couple different ways: He addresses the common argument that Christian nations have been responsible for war, genocide, slavery, destruction of culture, and a host of other evils. …

  • Reading “The Reason for God”

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    Todd Engstrom
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    I’ve found myself needing to repent of my lack of reading actual books as of late, so I’ve got a few things on the docket I want to read.  I just picked up and started Tim Keller’s The Reason for God, and I must say it’s a good read.  Although the concepts aren’t mind-blowing, Keller…

  • The New Calvinism | TIME

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    Todd Engstrom
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    Time has added “New Calvinism” to its top 10 ideas changing the world right now. Although the article leaves a bit to be desired in how it paints the basic foundations of the Reformed faith, it highlights the growing influence in Evangelicalism that the Doctrines of Grace are having. As a person transformed by these…

  • Deep Thoughts from Graeme Goldsworthy

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    Todd Engstrom
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    This may be the single most awesome paragraph I have read in a long while from a sheer depth of thought. So, the long and the short of it all is that somehow the biblical theologian and the dogmatic theologian are both confronted with the same unavoidable “chicken and egg” dilemma of the question of…

  • The Ontological and Systematic Roots of Biblical Theology

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    Todd Engstrom
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    As our small group has been studying through Systematic Theology together (this is round 3 of me teaching), some new thoughts have arisen as I consider doctrines.  One that was particularly interesting was the result of teaching revelation, and having a very significant thought that related to this quote, which captures the challenging portion of…

  • Scriptural Election: The Third Way

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    Todd Engstrom
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    I found this article as I was preparing for my teaching on the doctrines of salvation, and particularly on election.  The quote below is very insightful Thesis 23: We must affirm that God creates what he elects rather than that he selects out of what exists. Israel is called into existence. Election is tied to…

  • Consumerism and the Church

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    Todd Engstrom
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    A great quote from David Wells: Churches which preserve their cognitive identity and distinction from the culture will flourish: those who lose them in the interests of seeking success will disappear. In our churches we may have made a deal with postmodern consumers but the hard reality is that Christianity cannot be bought. Purchase, in…

  • The Holy Spirit and the American Church

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    Todd Engstrom
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    Just read thought provoking post at Church Planting Novice discussing history of the early church and the comparative deficiency in the American church of demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit. Give it a read and see what I had to say in response.

  • Old Stuff – Biblical Individualism Redux

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    Todd Engstrom
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    Number 7 ———————- From Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship, Chapter 5 (Discipleship and the Individual): “Through the call of Jesus men become individuals…It is no choice of their own that makes them individuals: it is Christ who makes them individuals by calling them. Every man is called separately, and must follow alone.” and “He (Christ) stands…

  • Cultural Mandate and Renewal

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    Todd Engstrom
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    I enjoyed these challenging thoughts from the 9Marks blog on the Cultural Mandate specifically as they pertain to the Christian’s and the Church’s engagement in culture making/redemption.  As a result of The Austin Stone’s Fall 2008 Vision Series, I have been wrestling a lot with these concepts, and have enjoyed learning a variety of different…

  • unChristian 2

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    Todd Engstrom
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    Chapter 2 presents some of the research findings about the perceptions of outsiders toward believers (the terms “evangelicals” and “born again Christians” are used), and breaks down the rest of the book on the lines of six general themes:  hypocritical, too concerned with converts, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. “The primary reason outsiders feel…