To bless God (Eph. 1:3) does not mean that we contribute anything to the person of God; He is God whether we bless Him, honor Him, acknowledge Him or not. To bless Him means to give thanks and to pronounce Him as being ever worthy of our praise and worship. To bless God is to […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (4/19/09)Lewis Sperry Chafer, Chafer’s Systematic Theology: As all these blessings indicated, salvation is a work of God for man, not a work of man for God. What a Christian experiences is what God’s love has prompted Him to do for those who had no merit before Him but who are now recognized in the merit […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Spiritual Blessings (Chafer)John MacArthur, A Tale of Two Sons: The typical sinner wants out of the morass of sin, and his first instinct is to devise a plan. He will work off his guilt. He will reform himself. But such a plan could never succeed. The debt is too great to repay, and the sinner is helpless […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Gospel (MacArthur)This morning I caught up on some blog reading (I only check them sporadically these days). Here are a variety of links that I found interesting and beneficial: Al Mohler, “The Delay of Marriage and the Decline of Church Attendance” Al Mohler, “The Real Population Threat” “How to Pray for Joni Eareckson Tada” (and many […]
Read More Grab bagJohn Calvin, in Let Christ Be Magnified: The Word of God teaches so clearly, that it enlightens at the first glance. It must penetrate to the very bottom of your hearts. It is not enough to feel a few slight stings and pricks; you must be wounded, pierced through and through by the Word; and […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Scripture (Calvin)A few years ago, I began subscribing to Christian History & Biography magazine. Each issue of the quarterly journal (about 32-48 pp. per issue) dealt with one single topic — a prominent person in church history (e.g., Martin Luther, or C. S. Lewis), a movement (e.g., the Puritans), or an event (faith in the Middle […]
Read More Listen to some history?Many years ago, a friend loaned me a book and said, “I just picked this up — I think you would really appreciate it. Let me know what you think.” I was not long into the book, Henry Morris’s The Long War Against God, before I found myself fighting the urge to grab a highlighter […]
Read More What makes many atheists afraid of atheismTitle: Church History: A Crash Course for the Curious Author: Christopher Catherwood Publisher: Crossway, 2007; 224 pp. $12.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): I wanted to like this book — I really wanted to like it a lot. And it has its strengths. But in the end, its strengths are also its weaknesses. A book like […]
Read More Book Review: Church HistoryTheodore Cuyler, God’s Light on Dark Clouds: Never has [God] promised us an easy road or a smooth road, or such a road as our selfishness may select. He never consents that the flock shall decide as to the lot in which they shall be pastured, or over what deep hills he shall conduct them, […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Trials (Cuyler)Theodore Cuyler, God’s Light on Dark Clouds: Heaven will have no ‘moving day’. No longer shall we be pulled away from associations which we love, and sent off into strange and uncongenial places. When you and I, brother, have packed up at the tap of death’s signal-bell, we shall never be obliged to change our […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Heaven (Cuyler)Title: Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Author: Alexander Strauch Publisher: Lewis & Roth, 2008; 99 pp. $9.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): A few weeks ago I preached a message on Revelation 2:1-7 — the Ephesian church’s loss of love for Christ. A couple days after the message, a friend said to […]
Read More Book Review: Love or DieJohn Piper, in Preaching the Cross: God did not ordain the cross of Christ or create the lake of fire in order to communicate the insignificance of belittling his glory. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant human beings are the loudest shouts under heaven that God is infinitely holy, […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Cross (Piper)Michael Horton, We Believe: Recovering the Essentials of the Apostle’s Creed: Every time we worship, we should be self-consciously committed to the ministry of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Remarkably, even in heaven the majestically enthroned Son is the slain Lamb. We never outgrow the cross. We never get beyond the need […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Cross (Horton)Charles Spurgeon, The Power of the Cross: But herein is a wonderful thing. The Lord Jesus has lost no influence by having been hanged upon the tree. Rather, it is because of His shameful death that He is able to draw all men unto Himself. His glory rises from His humiliation; His adorable conquest from […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Cross (Spurgeon)J. N. D. Anderson: Jesus Christ: the Witness of History: All the references to the empty tomb come in the Gospels, which were written for Christians who wanted to know the facts. In the public preaching, to those who were not yet convinced, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, there was an insistent […]
Read More Today’s Quote – Resurrection (Anderson)
