Today’s Quote – Idolatry (Guinness & Seel)

Os Guinness and John Seel, No God But God: …idols will inevitably involve self-centeredness, self-inflation, and self-deception. Idolatry begins with the counterfeiting of God, because only with a counterfeit of God can people remain the center of their lives and loyalties, autonomous architects of their futures. Something within creation will then be idolatrously inflated to […]

On sermons and Super Bowls

I guess I should be paying more attention to the big game this evening. Or at least the ads. It seems that there is not just entertainment value in the commercial fare, but there is a sermon or two to be found in those messages. At least so thinks one pastor. Pastor Ken Diehm of […]

Sunday Leftovers (2/1/09)

God is a jealous God. And Joshua 24:19 states that He is not only a jealous God, but He is a holy God. God is jealous for holiness. That is, He loves and preserves holiness. He loves His own holiness, and He loves holiness in His people. That was the reason Joshua challenged people when […]

Today’s Quote – Worship (Frame)

John Frame, Worship in Spirit and Truth: …worship is honoring someone superior to ourselves. It is therefore not pleasing ourselves, but pleasing someone else. Immediately the question How can worship be made better? has a focus: better not primarily for ourselves, but better for the one we seek to honor. It may be that worship […]

Today’s Quote – Idolatry (Calvin)

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1.11.8): …man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.…Man’s mind, full as it is of pride and boldness, dares to imagine a god according to its own capacity; as it sluggishly plods, indeed is overwhelmed with the crassest ignorance, it conceives an unreality and an […]

Subscribe to this blog by email

Back when I started this blog, a friend asked if it would be possible to receive it by email. At the time I knew of no automated means to do that, and sending emails manually for each entry seemed too cumbersome to me, so there we were…. Today, as I was searching for an answer […]

Grab Bag

Good stuff I’ve seen while meandering around the internet this week: Justin Taylor offers an overview of a number of recent articles in World on abortion The lead article on abortion in World by Marvin Olasky. CCEF (Christian Counseling & Education Foundation) has a new website, with additional resources, including articles, a blog, and audio […]

Today’s Quote – Restoration (Sibbes)

Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed: When we find our souls at all declining, it is best to raise them up presently by some awakening meditations, such as the presence of God, of the strict reckoning we are to make,of the infinite love of God in Christ and the fruits of it, of the excellency of […]

Praying for your pastors

Every pastor is asked on a somewhat regular basis, “how can I pray for you?” Keith and I are no exception. Recently, pastor Ligon Duncan put together a list of seventeen things to pray for your pastor(s). Pray — That [your pastor] would know and love the living God, would have a saving interest in […]

Today’s Quote – Spirituality (Lawson)

Steve Lawson, The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards: [Jonathan] Edwards possessed a rare combination of Reformed theology, extraordinary giftedness, and fervent piety. However, it was this latter virtue — his true spirituality, marked by a fixed resolve — that positioned him to be used so mightily by God. Few have equaled his relentless pursuit of […]

Questions for Bible reflection

Thursday through Saturday serve as “days of reflection” on our church Bible reading plan. These may be days to catch up on missed readings; or, they may be an opportunity to think more deeply and broadly about some of the Scripture you have read in the past month. To help stimulate you in the process […]

Reasons for John MacArthur’s enduring ministry

On February 1, Grace Community Church will celebrate the 40th anniversary of John MacArthur’s pastorate there. In what he called a “pre-emptive strike,” he offered three sermons that provided the reasons for the success of this church: “Foundations of Grace, Part 1: The Glory of God” “Foundations of Grace, Part 2: The Lordship of Christ” […]

Today’s Quote – God’s Names (Bavinck)

Herman Bavinck, The Doctrine of God: …the names which we use in mentioning and addressing God are not arbitrary: they are not the mere inventions of our mind. Rather, it is God himself who in nature and in grace reveals himself consciously and freely, who gives us the right to name him on the ground […]

Book Review: This Momentary Marriage

Title: This Momentary Marriage Author: John Piper Publisher: Crossway Books, 2009; 180 pp. Recommendation (4-star scale): I suppose I own dozens of books on marriage, parenting, Biblical manhood, and the like. Not counting my counseling books, this topic accounts for something like 20 board feet of shelving in my library. I have preached lots of […]

Sanctity of human life

Thirty-six years ago this month, the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision, legalizing abortion in our country. Since then, somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 million babies have been aborted. What most Americans fail to realize, however, is that nearly that many are aborted every year worldwide. As great a problem as […]