What angels know

One of the things we talked about in the Systematic Theology class a few weeks ago was angels, including what they are, how they function, and what they know and don’t know. Writing about good angels in today’s blog, John Piper notes that it is clear angels are not omniscient — that they are always […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/31/08)

J. C. Ryle offers two questions to help believers determine the significance and weight of holiness in their lives: (1)…let me ask everyone who may read these pages, Are you holy? Listen, I pray you, to the question I put to you this day. Do you know anything of the holiness of which I have […]

Today’s quote (8/31/08)

Paul Wells, Cross Words: the Biblical Doctrine of the Atonement: Among the momentous events of history that come and go, buried in the sands of the past, [the cross] holds the fascination of eternal newness. When the dramatic events woven into the tapestry of time are consigned to the pages of the history books, or […]

Today’s Quote (8/30/08)

Oswald Chambers, The Highest Good: The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.

What to do when happily married

“What do you do when you are happily married?” The question isn’t “how do you become happily married?” but “since you are happily married, what should you do?” Why, prepare for a divorce, of course. At least that is the logic of Ellen Tien, in her essay “She’s happily married, dreaming of divorce.” [The original […]

Today’s quote (8/29/08)

J. C. Ryle, Holiness: When people talk of having received “…a blessing” and of having found “the higher life,” after hearing some earnest advocate of “holiness by faith and self-consecration,” while their families and friends see no improvement and no increased sanctity in their daily tempers and behaviour, immense harm is done to the cause […]

Today’s Quote (8/28/08)

John Bunyan, All Loves Excelling: “Most men deal with God as if he were not wise; as if he either knew not the wickedness of their hearts and ways, or else knew not how to be even with them for it: When alas! he is wise in heart, and mighty in power; and although he […]

Today’s Quote (8/27/08)

From one of my all-time favorite books, The Pursuit of Holiness (Jerry Bridges): We cannot escape the fact that God hates our sins. We may trifle with our sins or excuse them, but God hates them. Therefore every time we sin, we are doing something God hates. He hates our lustful thoughts, our pride and […]

Holiness and coke machines

It wasn’t quite like hitting the lottery, but to a five-year-old, it was close. My daughter and I had stopped to pick up a couple items from the grocery, and on our way back to the car, we stopped at the coke machine to make a selection. Orange was the choice of the day. I […]

Women in the pulpit

This morning I listened to the Jackie Roese’s (pronounced “Reese”) sermon, “Fight for the Heart of Our King” at Irving Bible Church this weekend. This was the much-discussed event in which a woman was allowed to preach at this church which has long been opposed to such an event. [Aside: I also found on the […]

Rick Warren and the Presidential candidates

On August 16, Rick Warren and Saddleback Church hosted a pair of one-hour interviews with each of the Presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama. If you missed it, you can still see the video, or read a transcript. Additionally, the answers of each question by the candidates have been placed side-by-side for an easy […]

Now that the Olympics are over

The Olympics are now over. Just 18 months until the next Olympics, and soon the hype, er, preparation will begin for the Vancouver winter games. As the games have progressed, a few random thoughts went rolling through my brain at various times. And I either write them down now, or will for 1-1/2 years hold […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/24/08)

This morning we spent 45 minutes thinking about four verses concerning the topic of the holiness of God. And one sermon will now become two sermons as we will finish the passage next time. Two sermons about holiness as it relates to God. Is not everyone aware that God is holy? What more needs to […]

What’s wrong with the (American) church?, Pt. 2

This morning I posted my comments on “What’s wrong with the (American) church?” My comments were posted before I saw the morning newspaper and before I was greeted by this headline as I prepared my breakfast: “Woman’s turn in pulpit at Irving Bible Church brings buzz, beefs.” When I saw the headline, I stared in […]

What’s wrong with the (American) church?

What’s wrong with the American church? For all the good that God has seen fit to do through us, as I look at the landscape of churches around me, I tend to be more sad than glad. I guess I’m not the only one. In a recent blog post, John Piper interacts with an article […]