Well, Mark's away in Italy now, and I still haven't answered his question about Ridderbos (though I will), but right now I want to tell our T4G friends a little more about the recently unveiled T4G mystery guest.

Thabiti Anyabwile our "surprise" speaker for T4G ‘08 is a dear friend. He is perhaps no stranger to many of you, because of his preaching/speaking, blogging and book-writing. Thabiti has recently spoken at a number of major national ministers’ conferences (including the 2007 Desiring God Pastors’ Conference and the 2007 Twin Lakes Fellowship), he authors a superb blog called Pure Church, and he has also recently authored two books that are already making quite a splash.

The first one is called The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Pastors (and has a foreword by John Piper), and was just published by Crossway this year. This volume unearths hidden treasure for all ministers who would be faithful today from the lives of three outstanding African-American pastors from the past, who teach us, by precept and practice, what faithful ministry entails. As the Crossway site puts it: "Lemuel Haynes (1753–1833) reminds pastors that eternity must shape our ministry. Daniel A. Payne (1811–1893) stresses the importance of character and preparation to faithful shepherding. And Francis J. Grimké (1850–1937) provides a vision for engaging the world with the gospel."

The second book is still forthcoming, and is provocatively entitled: The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Accommodation, with a foreword by the outstanding historian Mark Noll (IVP, 2007). The title contains the thesis, which is documented by Thabiti across the years of his survey of prominent African-American theologians over the course of American history.

Thabiti (which is pronounced "tha-BEE-tee" - with the last syllable dropping off kind of like a "ty" at the end of a word like treaty) is a former elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He is now the senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. He is a devoted Christian husband and father. Kristie is his loving wife,