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.
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.
B.B. Warfield (1851-1921), the great Princeton theologian of the late 19th and early 20th Century, wrote and published a small pamphlet titled, “A Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith,” (Adapted from Selected Shorter Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield, edited by John E. Meeter. Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1970, 407-410) in which he reduced the central truths of Reformed Theology to 13 points. As you read, you can see that Warfield relies heavily on the language of Scripture and the doctrinal formulations of the Westminster Standards in the articulation of these points:
1. I believe that my one aim in life and death should be to glorify God and enjoy Him forever; and that God teaches me how to glorify and enjoy Him in His holy Word, that is, the Bible, which He has given by the infallible inspiration of His Holy Spirit in order that I may certainly know what I am to believe concerning Him and what duty He requires of me.
2. I believe that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and incomparable in all that He is; one God, but three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier; in whose power and wisdom, righteousness, goodness and truth I may safely put my trust.
3. I believe that the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is, are the work of God’s hands; and that all that He has made He directs and governs in all their actions; so that they fulfill the end for which they were created, and I who trust in Him shall not be put to shame, but may rest securely in the protection of His almighty love.
4. I believe that God created man after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and entered into a covenant of life with him upon the sole condition of the obedience that was his due: so that it was by willfully sinning against God that man fell into the sin and misery in which I have been born.
5. I believe, that, being fallen in Adam, my first father, I am by nature a child of wrath, under the condemnation of God and corrupted in body and soul, prone to evil and liable to eternal death; from which dreadful state I cannot be delivered save through the unmerited grace of God my Savior.
6. I believe that God has not left the world to perish in its sin, but out of the great love wherewith He has loved it, has from all eternity graciously chosen unto Himself a multitude which no man can number, to deliver them out of their sin and misery, and, of them, to build up again in the world His kingdom of righteousness; in which kingdom I may be assured I have my part, if I hold fast to Christ the Lord.
7. I believe that God has redeemed His people unto Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord; who, though He was, and ever continues to be the eternal Son of God, yet was born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who are under the law: I believe that He bore the penalty due to my sins in His own body on the tree, and fulfilled in His own Person the obedience that I owe to the righteousness of God, and now presents me to His Father as His purchased possession, to the praise of the glory of His grace forever: wherefore renouncing all merit of my own, I put all my trust only in the blood and righteousness of Christ my Redeemer.
8. I believe that Jesus Christ my Redeemer, who died for my offenses was raised again for my justification, and ascended into the heavens, where He sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty, continually making intercession for His people, and governing the whole world as head over all things for His Church: so that I need fear no evil and may surely know that nothing can snatch me out of His hands and nothing can separate me from His love.
9. I believe that the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ is effectually applied to all His people by the Holy Spirit, who works faith in me and thereby unites me to Christ, renews me in the whole man after the image of God, and enables me more and more to die to sin and to live unto righteousness; until, this gracious work, having been completed in me, I shall be received into glory: in which great hope abiding, I must ever strive to perfect holiness in the fear of God.
10. I believe that God requires of me, under the Gospel, first of all, that, out of a true sense of my sin and misery and apprehension of his mercy in Christ, I should turn with grief and hatred away from sin and receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation; that, so being united to Him, I may receive pardon for my sins and be accepted as righteous in God’s sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to me and received by faith alone: and thus, and thus only, do I believe I may be received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
11. I believe that, having been pardoned and accepted for Christ’s sake, it is further required of me that I walk in the Spirit whom He has purchased for me, and by whom, love is shed abroad in my heart; fulfilling the obedience I owe to Christ my King; faithfully performing all the duties laid upon me by the holy law of God my heavenly Father; and ever reflecting in my life and conduct, the perfect example that has been set me by Christ Jesus my Leader, who has died for me and granted to me His Holy Spirit, just that I may do the good works which God has afore prepared that I should walk in them.
12. I believe that God has established His church in the world and endowed it with the ministry of the Word and the holy ordinances of Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and prayer; in order that, through these as means, the riches of His grace in the Gospel may be made known to the world, and, by the blessing of Christ and the working of His Spirit in them that by faith receive them, the benefits of redemption may be communicated to His people: wherefore also it is required of me that I attend on these means of grace with diligence, preparation and prayer, so that through them I may be instructed and strengthened in faith, and in holiness of life and in love; and that I use my best endeavors to carry this Gospel and convey these means of grace to the whole world.
13. I believe that Jesus Christ has once come in grace, so also is He to come a second time in Glory, to judge the world in righeousness and assign to each His eternal award: and I believe that if I die in Christ, my soul shall be at death made perfect in holiness and go home to the Lord; and when he shall return in his majesty I shall be raised in glory and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity: encouraged by which blessed hope it is required of me willingly to take my part in suffering hardship here as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, being assured that if I die with Him I shall also live with Him, if I endure, I shall also reign with Him.
And to Him, my Redeemer,
with the Father,
and the Holy Spirit,
Three Persons, one God,
by glory forever, world without end,
Amen, and Amen.
Preview of Crossway ESV Bible Atlas
June 17, 2010
You can take a virtual look at the new Crossway ESV Bible Atlas, by John D. Currid and David P. Barrett. It is due for release on June 30. If you are a map geek (I’m one) and want to know more about biblical history and the geography of the Ancient Near East, this looks like a must purchase. It would also be good for a church library purchase.
Capitalizing on recent advances in satellite imaging and geographic information systems, the Crossway ESV Bible Atlas offers Bible readers a comprehensive, up-to-date resource that blends technical sophistication with readability, visual appeal, and historical and biblical accuracy.
All the key methods of presenting Bible geography and history are here, including more than 175 full-color maps, 70 photographs, 3-D re-creations of biblical objects and sites, indexes, timelines, and 65,000 words of narrative description. The atlas uniquely features regional maps detailing biblically significant areas such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Italy, and Greece. It also includes a CD with searchable indexes and digital maps, and a removable, 16.5 x 22-inch map of Palestine.
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
Cross and criticism
March 23, 2010
Few things in life are more difficult to handle rightly than criticism. How hard it is to speak and to respond in a gospel-centered way. As a pastor, I am a frequent recipient of criticism–the constructive and the destructive, the accurate, the half-true, and the utterly false, the well-timed and the ill-timed, the gracious and the malicious–I have learned that how I respond reveals a lot about me. What do I do with my critics? Do I shrink them in my field of vision so that I no longer acknowledge them, regard them, pay any attention to them, share with them, or regard them as part of the family? Or do I inflate them in my field of vision so that I brood over their words and think about them constantly, see them as larger than they really are, give them control over my feelings and decisions, or allow them to lead me around like a bull with a ring in his nose?
I commend to you Alfred J. Poirier’s “The Cross and Criticism,” which appeared in the Spring, 1999, issue of The Journal of Biblical Counseling. Here’s an excerpt:
In light of God’s judgment and justification of the sinner in the cross of Christ, we can begin to discover how to deal with any and all criticism. By agreeing with God’s criticism of me in Christ’s cross, I can face any criticism man may lay against me. In other words, no one can criticize me more than the cross has. And the most devastating criticism turns out to be the finest mercy. If you thus know yourself as having been crucified with Christ, then you can respond to any criticism, even mistaken or hostile criticism, without bitterness, defensiveness, or blameshifting. Such responses typically exacerbate and intensify conflict, and lead to the rupture of relationships. You can learn to hear criticism as constructive and not condemnatory because God has justified you.
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? (Rom. 8:33-34a).
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it (Ps. 141:5).
Justin Taylor’s blog reminded me that yesterday marked 29 years since the death of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the best and most influential preachers of the 20th century. I first encountered the preaching of Dr. Lloyd-Jones through college friend Brian Habig, who had to wait a ridiculously long time for a Starkville Christian bookstore to receive a special order copy of the Banner of Truth paperback of Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ Evangelistic Sermons. I borrowed the book, read one sermon, returned it, and bought my own copy the next weekend in Jackson off the shelf of the RTS bookstore. During my last two years in college and the next couple of years after I devoured a number of volumes of his sermons (on Romans, Ephesians, on the Holy Spirit, on spiritual depression), the collection of lectures entitled The Puritans: Their Origins and Their Successors, and listened to recordings I borrowed from the Mount Olive Tape Library.
Below is a good ten-minute overview of his life and ministry:
For biographies, see the following from Iain Murray, his official biographer and former assistant:
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years 1899-1939
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Fight of Faith 1939-1981
- Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace
You can hear The Doctor preach online for free at Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recording Trust.
There is a fountain
February 25, 2010
A serious topic: NPR news is broadcasting a series entitled “Campus Rape Victims: A Struggle for Justice.” The stats are alarming: one out of five college women report being the victim of a sexual assault! My experience in campus ministry and as a local church pastor (including 4+ years in a large state university town) has given me more opportunities than I would like to face this ugly reality.
Despite efforts to curb these assaults over the last decade, there’s not much evidence of progress. Why? Simple answers include: victim shame, the haze of alcohol (it tends to reduce clarity about whether sex was consensual or not), the desire of the male to deny and cover up, and (very sadly) the fear in some leaders who worry too much about false accusations. Yes, people do lie. However, the ones who bear that cost are usually victims.
The shame felt by victims stays with them a long time. It hinders marital intimacy and oneness, as a victim often does not tell her husband about “what happened in college,” afraid that he would not marry her if he knew the truth. The victim feels like damaged goods and ends up feeling ruled by the shame.
As Christians, it’s not a question of if we will deal with such issues; it’s more a question of when. Most of us can present the gospel in a way that deals with sins for which we bear responsibility and guilt. While this is true and essential, we also need to speak clearly about the ways the gospel addresses sins that have been committed against us. You cannot repent of being abused, tortured, or raped; however, the blood and righteousness of Christ speak of cleansing and hope for shame and defilement. Your identity must be marked only by what Jesus Christ has done for you and no longer by what has been done by you or to you. The scriptural language of atonement, cleansing, washing and purifying speaks a powerful truth to such souls. Jesus’ sacrifice takes away sin and shame forever for those who trust him. It’s a simple truth, but, as John Owen would say, “exceedingly difficult to exercise faith upon.”
Mark Driscoll and Garry Breshears’ Death by Love: Letters from the Cross has a chapter which addresses this issue wonderfully.
Grace like manna
January 5, 2010
Eight or so years ago I went with an elder to visit an elderly widow on a blistering cold day (much like today). She had recently moved closer to one of her grown children and had been coming to our church with her family. On this get-to-know-you-better kind of visit, I knew what to expect. This elder and I had good teamwork in these situations. He is affable, warm, quick-witted. He sets a good, engaging kind of tone to these visits, and I bring the heavy artillery. I usually asked the question or made the comment that moved things from friendly chit-chat to more serious and spiritual directions. But on this day, I was surprised. The widow gave a clear and credible testimony of her faith in Christ. She said that frequently she thought about death. While she was not afraid to die, she said she was often afraid of dying. “I wonder sometimes if I have the strength and courage to face the process,” she said. 
Before I could formulate a response, the elder (usually the silent partner at this point in the conversation) spoke up and answered better than I could. “O you don’t have to worry about that. When you need that grace, the Lord will give it to you. You feel like you don’t have it right now, but you don’t need it right now. It’s like manna. It’ll be there.”
Reading Edward T. Welch’s Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest reminded me of that cold afternoon. In one chapter Welch teases out our specific fears of death: fears of eternity, fears of the way you might die, fears of hardship for loved ones, fear of the unknown, and fear of judgment. He addresses the second fear, fear of the way you might die, like my friend and fellow elder did that day. Let me share Welch’s version with you. Read the rest of this entry »
New courses from Third Millennium Ministries
December 29, 2009
Third Millennium Ministries has announced the completion of two new courses in their work to provide free seminary-level educational curriculum.
The Apostles’ Creed (click here for download information and list of instructors)
There are many denominations, divisions and theological disputes in the modern church. But despite these types of disunity, there is a common core of belief that all faithful Christians have affirmed throughout history. And for almost two millennia, this core of belief has been summarized in the Apostles’ Creed. This series explains the history and use of the Apostles’ Creed, as well as the details and significance of each of its articles of faith. The Apostles’ Creed is the first series in the Basic Christian Doctrine Course, and it aims to:
- Introduce viewers to the history and value of the Apostles’ Creed.
- Explain each of the doctrines listed in the Apostles’ Creed.
- Demonstrate the relevance of these doctrines to the modern church.
Building Biblical Theology (click here for download information and list of instructors)
Faithful Christians have always recognized the importance of the progress of biblical history, especially as it relates to humanity’s fall into sin and to God’s redemptive work. The discipline of biblical theology arose as a means to study this progress in responsible ways. Much like systematic theology, biblical theology organizes theological ideas in ways that increase our understanding of Scripture. But whereas systematic theology organizes its ideas according topics, biblical theology organizes its findings in historical periods or epochs. Used rightly, biblical theology is a powerful and helpful tool for interpreting and applying the Bible. Building Biblical Theology is the third series in the course Introduction to Theological Studies, and it aims to:
- Explain the history and justification of biblical theology.
- Describe the method and uses of biblical theology.
