*** Quick Hits 02.01.06 ***

* Dale Van Dyke reviews the book Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Here is a small quote: "However, “Velvet Elvis” is not a healthy book and the emergent church movement it belongs to is not a healthy movement." * D.A. Carson defines elders @ IX Marks based on two basic texts: 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:-6-9. This is a transcript from a "talk" given at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. * Mortimer J. Adler writes "How to Mark a Book" which is timely especially given that the Spring semester has just kicked off! I must admit, I am a lover of the pen and highlighter! * Derek Thomas writes a response to the influence of the movie Brokeback Mountain and address three main issues: the agenda of tolerance, revisionism, and teenage confusion. * Keith Drury warns his students not to read George Barna's book Revolution. A quip: "Simply put this book is heresy. Not only is it classical doctrinal heresy but Barna enthusiastically recruits people to his imagined second reformation." * Steve Hays shares an interview by IVP on Craig Blomberg and his book The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel. I think this book, along with his previous work The Historical Reliabilty of the Gospels are essential reads for a student of the Bible. * James Spurgeon defends the local church (contra Barna) in his post "Church--Definitely Local." Phil Johnson follows up with his post, "The Devil in Designer Jeans." * Kim Riddlebarger reports of another church where pragmatism has gone wild. This church is posting sticky-notes about the church's "Grand Reopening" where they will be giving away a 42 inch Plasma T.V. or a Playstation. This church needs to get up with the other church who just gave away a $120,000 house on New Year's Eve. Looks like they've got some catching up to do. * Justin Taylor and Derek Thomas are sharing blogposts back and forth in a friendly discussion over credobaptism and paedobaptism over at the Reformation 21 blog. For those interested, this might be a worth reading. * Adrian Warnock interviews Mark Dever and includes discussion on the recent blog-debate on cessationism vs. continuationism. * Brian McLaren has responded to those who have responded to him about his initial comments about homosexuality on the Out of Ur Blog (did I just confuse you?). If not, here is his response. Oh, and Driscoll apologizes. Gotta go. School is back in session, and I am feeling the heat. Bedtime.