Cream of blog 1.25.12
January 25, 2012
Here are some links worth reading and thoughts worth thinking…
- Sobering words from John Piper: 15 things to consider about abortion.
- From Reformed Theological Seminary: Tinker, tailor, soldier…pastor: how two Cold War foes became pastoral friends.
- Two hundred million girls are “missing.” A new documentary, It’s a Girl! The Three Deadliest Words in the World, explores the systematic gendercide taking place in India, China, and other areas of South Asia. Watch the trailer.
- Tim Challies releases the second in a series of helpful, visual graphics explaining basic frameworks of systematic theology. This is one is a visual graphic of the attributes of God. The first in the series was on the ordo salutis.
- Chris Koelle, artist and member of Downtown PCA in Greenville, South Carolina (pastored by my friend Brian Habig), has been creating a graphic novel adaptation of the Revelation. It is delivered through an app called “The Book of Revelation App” for iPad and iPhone. Here is Tim Challies’ interview with Chris.
Cream of blog 12.5.11
December 5, 2011
The age-old curse is breaking
April 25, 2011
An Easter poem by C. S. Lewis, appearing in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume III: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950-1963(HarperSan Francisco, 2007), p. 955. The poem is from a June 1958 letter to Francis Turner. It’s not the kind of thing that could stand on its own, but for echoes of Narnia and a vision of the cosmic significance of the resurrection, it’s good Easter reading.
Lords coeval with creation,
Seraph, Cherub, Throne and Power,
Princedom, Virtue, Domination,
Hail the long-awaited hour!
Bruised in head, with broken pinion,
Trembling for his old dominion,
See the ancient dragon cower!
For the Prince of Heaven has risen,
Victor, from his shattered prison.Loudly roaring from the regions
Where no sunbeam e’er was shed,
Rise and dance, ye ransomed legions
Of the cold and countless dead!
Gates of adamant are broken,
Words of conquering power are spoken
Through the God who died and bled:
Hell lies vacant, spoiled and cheated,
By the Lord of life defeated.Bear, behemoth, bustard, camel,
Warthog, wombat, kangaroo,
Insect, reptile, fish and mammal,
Tree, flower, grass, and lichen too,
Rise and romp and ramp, awaking,
For the age-old curse is breaking.
All things shall be made anew;
Nature’s rich rejuvenation
Follows on Man’s liberation.Eve’s and Adam’s son and daughter,
Sinful, weary, twisted, mired,
Pale with terror, thinned with slaughter,
Robbed of all your hearts desired,
Look! Rejoice! One born of woman,
Flesh and blood and bones all human,
One who wept and could be tired,
Risen from vilest death, has given
All who will the hope of Heaven.
Thomas Brooks on prayer
February 8, 2011
From Thomas Brooks (Works 2:256):
God looks not at the elegancy of your prayers, to see how neat they are;
nor yet at the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are;
nor yet at the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are;
nor yet at the music of your prayers, nor yet at the sweetness of your voice, nor yet at the logic of your prayers;
but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are.
One space or two?
January 17, 2011
It’s time to go public with this, thanks to a recent piece on Slate.com by Farhad Manjoo on why you should never, I repeat, never put two spaces between a period and the beginning of the next sentence. I was taught to do the two-space thing in high-school typing class in the early 1980′s. I learned sometime in the last decade that two spaces were unnecessary because of the way that word processors and printers devote space to small or thin lettering. What Manjoo’s article taught me is that the two-space rule was an aberration in the history of typography. It was the advent of the manual typewriters and its letter-spacing limitations that brought the two-space rule into the picture. Prior to that, standard typography was one-space. I should have known that with all the old books and reprints of old books on my library shelves.
Happy 400th, King James Version!
January 17, 2011
On this day in 1604, King James appointed 54 scholars to produce a new English translation of the Bible. The result 7 years later: the KJV. The more accurate and official name is the “Authorized Version.” I prefer to call it the AV simply because I had giving such a wicked fool of a monarch as James I such good press!
The AV gets a lot of bad press. The archaic “thee” and “ye” pronoun forms are…well, archaic. The English language has changed over the last 400 years, and thus some of the expressions are odd. But no one should deny the sheer beauty of the language. I still contend that it is easier to memorize than many of the contemporary translations. Although I use the ESV in daily reading and in my preaching and teaching ministry, the AV is an old, dear friend, not an enemy. It was the version of my earliest Bible memorization. As long as I retain the faculties of memory, Ephesians 4:32 will come up in my mind as “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” The newer versions just don’t stick like that. A friend and I are currently memorizing the entirety of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, and I keep running across the same phenomenon in efforts to memorize chapter one.
Allen Yeh has written a short tribute to the AV at Scriptorium Daily. It’s worth reading.
What you wear matters
September 29, 2010
From The Resurgence, part of a short post entitled, “What You Wear Matters.”
5 Scriptural Principles For What You Wear
- Understand that clothes communicate something about those who select and wear them. Christians should dress sensibly, being conscious of their selection in clothing.
- Avoid ostentatious clothes that draw attention to one’s status of wealth and privilege.
- Dress modestly, not sensually, avoiding seductive clothes that draw attention to one’s sexuality.
- Dress properly, using good judgment and avoiding clothes that associate the wearer with rebellion and evil.
- Spend wisely and fittingly on clothes, guarding against purchasing so as to overtax one’s budget and considering what is appropriate in light of personal, family, church, and world needs.
Clearly, these principles apply as much to men as to women. Even the clothes Christians wear should confirm their profession of the gospel.
Read the entire post here by clicking the link above.
Your garden hose is too small
June 14, 2010
Great post from Pastor Dave Dorr of Cincinnati, Ohio on how you can’t handle a house fire by yourself…and how you can’t handle the guilt and power of sin by yourself either:
Recently a firefighter in our church was told by one of his colleagues that belief in Jesus was for weak people. I found that ironic coming from a firefighter.
I have a fire hydrant in our side yard. I have never looked at the fire hydrant and felt any shame. I drive by a firehouse every day. I never think, “If this community didn’t have weak people than we would never need firehouses.” Every month when I pay my property taxes, which go towards financing fire departments, I never get angry at myself, thinking, “if I could just handle fire myself I wouldn’t have to write this check.”
Imagine a person whose house is on fire. The fire is raging out of control and the fire truck pulls up, sirens blaring. The person runs out of his house in a rage and says, “How dare you come to my house and think that I can’t handle this fire myself! Firefighters are for weak people, not for me.”
What would you think of someone like that? Insane.
We know that fire departments are for “weak” people because a power exists that we simply can’t deal with on our own: fire. Actually, we admire firefighters because they are people who have committed themselves to take on the power of fire at personal expense.
Christians are weak in the same sense that a community is “weak” for having fire departments. They are people who acknowledge that a power exists that they can’t confront and live — the holiness of God. This, however, is not cause for shame, because there was one man who dealt with that power at personal expense, on a cross. And, as every firefighter can admit, when someone is rescued from the flames, they’re not thinking about their weakness; they’re overjoyed that someone would risk it all to save them.
Original post here.
Reading list: parenting with a future hope
May 17, 2010
FPC Kosciusko recently hosted Covenant Values Weekend, featuring Dr. John Kwasny, director of Christian education and children’s ministry at Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church in Ridgeland, Mississippi. You can download the content of his lectures at fpckosciusko.org.
John also provided attendees with a recommended reading list. Titles are available from good Christian book outlets:
General parenting:
- Gospel-Powered Parenting by William P. Farley
- Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp
- Instructing a Child’s Heart by Tedd & Margy Tripp
- Duties of Parents by J.C. Ryle (pamphlet)
- Your Family, God’s Way by Wayne Mack
- Teach Them Diligently: How to Use the Scriptures in Child Training by Lou Priolo
Parenting Teens:
- Age of Opportunity by Paul Tripp
- The Space Between by Walt Mueller
Anger Problems:
- The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo
Catechism/Family Devotions
- Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade
Cream of blog 10.05.11
May 11, 2010
A few blog posts worthy of your time
- Kevin DeYoung on that feeling of perpetual guilt you may have.
- Kevin DeYoung on questions we should ask when people are disappointed with the church. (part one, two, and three)
- Got a “Swagger Wagon”? You might want one after watching these two videos.
- And another thing: Is your worship contemporvant? Let these guys show you how to fix that.
- Jonathan Dodson on 5 reasons you may not be seeing spiritual growth.
