Mark Overstreet

Reach me at www.moverstreet.com

moverstreet — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:18:58 +0000

From here on out you can find me over at the following address:

www.moverstreet.com

‘Typhoon No. 5 Campaign’ expels 100+ Missionaries from China

moverstreet — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:40:43 +0000

In a bold move, the Chinese government has executed the largest expulsion of foreign missionaries in recent memory. In 1954, the Chinese Communist government expelled all foreign religious workers after taking power in 1949. Since then, China has refused to recognize international missionary status. As a result, many missionaries work in education or corporate sectors to stay in China.

Working in Xinjiang, Beijing, Tibet, and Shandong, the operation, code name “Typhoon No. 5″ was an effort to silence mission activities before the Beijing Olympics next year.

Pray for those who work diligently to spread the gospel there.

Read the article here.

Search for pastor over at First Baptist Dallas

moverstreet — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:01:04 +0000

Larry McLaughlin, pulpit committee chairman, explained this morning in an all-services announcement that they had reached a decision. While the name won’t be announced until Aug. 5., the candidate will preach August 12 at First Baptist Dallas “in view of a call,” blogophiles and reporters are already launching.

Read the article from Sunday’s DMN.

International Call to Repent: Missions must remain Biblical

moverstreet — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 13:37:41 +0000

Chris Wright, International Director of Langham Partnership International and Chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group, has warned that the world church must become more “biblical” or else risk “a betrayal of the gospel”.

The spirit of his address is summed in his conclusion: “We need repentance and renewal in the church, as well as renewed passion for world mission. Otherwise, we may become as the Lausanne Covenant put it, ‘a stumbling block to evangelism…a betrayal of the gospel.’”

Wright serves under world renowned theologian and evangelist John Stott, and he has a unique link between the Langham Partnership International and the Lausanne movement. Stott is the the founder and honorary president of Langham Partnership as well as serving alongside Billy Graham at the first Lausanne Congress in 1974.

Read the press here on the theology work group and the future of missions.

Raising Boys and Girls: Books that Build the Family

moverstreet — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:20:22 +0000

In a previous post, I mentioned the recent release of the Dangerous Book for Boys, and now I want to recommend several other titles that can make your home, backyard, and weekend far more exciting for your kids and you, without the TV.

First, I have no girls, but Mom, so I’ll recommend the girls’ book first, American Girls Handy Book: How to Amuse Yourself and Others. Its filled with low tech entertainment for girls, from May-baskets to homemade fireworks, and it will not disappoint.

Now to the boys. Since I have already mentioned books like this in the past, I’ll jump right in:

Second, The Field and Forest Handy Book: New Ideas for Out of Doors. This book is authored by the founder of the Boy Scouts of America, Daniel Beard.

Third, The Boy Mechanic: 200 Classic Things to Build, this book will teach you and your son to build like a man. From the editors of Popular Mechanics, this book includes all sorts of gadgets that will keep the boys busy, without TV or PSP.

If you know of another book that helps out in the backyard, let me know.

Evangelicals, Charismatics, and Muslims Meet in Egypt

moverstreet — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:27:41 +0000

In a summit at the Egyptian embassy, a select group of men from Christian and Islamic causes gathered to discuss the future of the Christian-Islamic relations. Benny Hinn organized the meeting, which included Ralph Reed, Jonathan Falwell, Richard Cizik, Joshua Youssef, Ron Godwin, Gordon Robertson, son of televangelist Pat Robertson; Paul Crouch Jr., son of Trinity Broadcasting Network founder Paul Crouch Sr.; German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke; former NAE President Don Argue; and Vernon Brewer, president of the Forest, Va., relief organization World Help.

Muslim interests present included representatives from Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Kuwait, Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt and the Arab League, the umbrella organization that unites their cause.

Meeting behind closed doors, the group released few statements to-date, except that Cizik will organize another meeting soon.

The Wash Times covered the event.

Dr. Harold O. J. Brown, R.I.P.

moverstreet — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:20:35 +0000

Joe Brown, professor and evangelical leader, went to be with the Lord on Sunday night, July 8, 2007. He was a powerful preacher, influential teacher and leader, and man of God that led one of the earliest effective pro-life movements in the post-Roe v. Wade era.

Click here for his Obituary.

Click here for his RTS faculty page.

Click here for the bio and c.v. of Dr. Brown.

Education

Harvard University
- A.B. in Germanic studies and biochemical studies
- Ph.D. in Reformation studies (History)
Harvard Divinity School
- B.D. in Theology
- Th.M. in church history

Additional studies/honors:

University of Marburg, German
University of Vienna, Austria
Winner of Fulbright and Danforth scholarships

Ministry

Ordained at Second Congregational Church in Beverly, MA
1975 Co-founder with Dr. C. Everett Koop of the Christian Action Council, now Care Net
1983-1987 Pastor of Evangelical Reformed Church in Klosters, Switzerland

Teaching Positions

1971, 1975 Visiting professor, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
1976-1983 Associate professor of systematic theology, TEDS
1987-1998 Forman Chair in Theology and Ethics, TEDS
1998-present John R. Richardson Professor of Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary
1998-present Professor emeritus of biblical and systematic theology, visiting professor, TEDS.
Professor of theology and human rights, International Seminar on Jurisprudence and Human Rights (Simon Greenleaf School of Law), Strasbourg, France.
Teaching positions held in Basel, Switzerland and Yeotmal, India

Other Positions

Director of the Center on Religion and Society at the Rockford Institute
Editorial staff-member, Human Life Review
Contributing editor, Christianity Today
Contributing editor, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture
Editor, Religion and Society Report
Theological Secretary, International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
Member, Stewards Enclosure of the Henley Royal Regatta
Member, Harvard Club of New York City
Member, American Theological Society
Member, Turnerschaft Saxonia Marburg

Awards

1989 Faculty Member of the Year, TEDS
Many others, especially for his pro-life work

Published Works

Numerous articles over 40 years for National Review, Eternity, Themelios, Human Life Review, Christianity Today, Touchstone, the Times (London), Boston Herald, Chronicles, and many others.
Author of over 9 books including
- Protest of the Troubled Protestant (1969)
- Christianity and the Class Struggle (1970)
- Death Before Birth (1977)
- Reconstruction of the Republic (1977)
- Before the Crash: A Biblical Basis for Economics (1978)
- War: Four Christian Views (1981)
- Heresies: The Image of Christ in the Mirror of Heresy and Othodoxy from the Apostles to the Present
- Man & State: Religion, Society, and the Constitution (1989)
- Sensate Culture (1996)

Areas of Expertise

Systematic theology
Right to life issues
Ethics (esp. medical and family values)
Journalism
Public Affairs
Political Philosophy

Family & Personal

Wife, Grace
2 children
Resided in Charlotte, North Carolina
Enjoyed crew, skiing, and mountaineering
Coached crew at Harvard
Member of Swiss Alpine Club and American Alpine Club

Boys must be boys

moverstreet — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:30:34 +0000

Is you know a boy that can tell you what PSP, PS2, and X360 stand for but has no idea how to tie a bowline, clovehitch, or a hasty harness, then you need to spend a few dollars on him and buy him a book. Not just any book, but the Dangerous Book for Boys. There are several additional titles that carry similar themes, including one for girls, and you must start somewhere.

I have used these books with my 3 sons for some time now, and every day is an adventure, but these books are not written for the disengaged dad. Get ready to build forts, hew canoes, design booby traps, and get ready to release a hearty roar or rumble with you kids.

Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, reviewed the book on his blog in late May. He also uses it at home with his family.

Also, The Weekly Standard reviews it this month, and the review alone is worth the purchase price of the book.

If you are a father, hope to be one some day, or know a dad in need of some chest-thumping with his sons, get the book–you’ll be glad you did.

Watch the trailer for the book here.

Take the quiz: What’s your Theological Worldview?

moverstreet — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 10:40:22 +0000

In this quiz, you may find an interesting answer to the questions, “Who’s your favorite Theologian?” In this quick survey, a computer determines your theological worldview by compiling your answers to a few easy-response questions. For example, “The Bible is supremely authoritative.” Answer simply from 1-5, ranging from “disagree” to “agree.” In just a few minutes, you will make history, or at least have fun trying.

Take the Theologian quiz now.

07/07/07 – The Best Part of the Best News that the World has ever Heard

moverstreet — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 12:00:31 +0000

Through over 63 years in evangelical ministry, J. I. Packer has written, preached, and led many to think deeply about theology, the cross, and how Jesus changed the world. In this reflection, he looks back over decades of powerful ministry and contends for the center of the gospel – penal substitutionary atonement. He begins, “One’s belief about the atonement is bound up with one’s belief about the character of God, the terms of the gospel and the Christian’s inner life, the intensity of the debate is understandable.”

During the firestorm of the Reformation, Luther asked the question, “How may a weak, perverse and guilty sinner find a gracious God?” J. I. Packer argues that “real Christianity only really starts when that discovery is made.”

He closes with one of my favorite hymns: The Church is and will always be at its healthiest when every Christian can line up with every other Christian to sing P. P. Bliss’s simple words, which really say it all:

Bearing shame and scoffing rude
In my place condemned he stood,
Sealed my pardon with his blood-
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!