Galatians says much about the Fatherhood of God, but not everything. One more truth that is found elsewhere is this: God loves and is (and always will be) “well-pleased” with His Son (2 Pt. 1:17); we are in His Son (Eph. 1:17; Col. 2:20) — therefore He loves us with a Son-like love! The pleasure […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (6/15/08)Since my sabbatical I have slowed down on my “leisure” reading and on writing some book reviews. However, I have come across two book reviews of books I’ve recently read that I’ve found very helpful, but haven’t had time to review myself. So here they are: John Piper, The Future of Justification (review) Milton Vincent, […]
Read More Some book reviewsAs I was reading again in Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy earlier this week, I came across these two sentences in his chapter on God’s holiness: Until we have seen ourselves as God sees us, we are not likely to be much disturbed over conditions around us as long as they do not get […]
Read More Holiness — or the lack thereofIt’s finally summer. I realize that the first day of summer officially is June 20 this year (at 6:59 CDT, to be exact). But school is out. It’s June. It’s hot. And my lawn has already stopped growing. It’s summer. And that got me thinking. I have three months of summer ahead of me, roughly […]
Read More A summer opportunityIn light of my post from earlier this morning, and the discussion at the Bible Institute class last night, this post from John Piper on patience and trust when tested by God’s sovereignty is more than appropriate. He tells the story of theologian B. B. Warfield — Benjamin B. Warfield was a world-renowned theologian who […]
Read More Trust in God’s sovereignty testedAs I reflected on last night’s study, along with the tension of covering much material far too quickly, I believe I left some confusion about the sovereignty of God. So let me attempt to un-muddy the waters for you. When we speak of the sovereignty of God, we are saying that God is in control, […]
Read More A few more thoughts about God and His holinessWhy is substitutionary atonement so important? Two reasons — one theological and one applicational. For the first, J. I. Packer offers a summary definition of the atonement in his article, “Sola Fide: the Reformed Doctrine of Justification”: This is the characteristic doctrine of the Reformation concerning the death of Christ. It was an act of […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (6/8/08)A couple more thoughts after last night’s study of the attributes of God — No, we didn’t get finished with the notes, but I’m okay with that, even if it means that we won’t be able to cover some other things in as much detail at the end of the summer. There is nothing more […]
Read More A few more thoughts about God’s attributesYesterday, Christine Wicker wrote an interesting piece published in the Dallas Morning News entitled, “The Great Evangelical Decline. The basic theme of the piece is that evangelicals are not as prominent in America as published reports indicated (i.e., there aren’t really as many believers in America as most people suppose). That’s something I’ve been suggesting […]
Read More The Decline of EvangelicalismI’m thinking about changing my blog address. You are on the new page. The old page is at Blogspot. Would you let me know what you think? Is one easier to navigate than the other? Both have features that I prefer; neither have all the features I want. Hmmm. What thinkest thou?
Read More Thinking about a blog changeCommunion is remembrance and celebration not only of what Christ has accomplished already at the cross, but also an anticipation of what will yet be fulfilled completely. Thinking about the themes concerning the cross we have already talked about the last several weeks, that means: we recall His work of salvation and anticipate salvation from […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (6/1/08)A few more thoughts (from people who said it better than me) about the Bible (these are “leftovers” from the theology Bible Institute class last night): “I am a Bible-bigot. I follow it in all things, both great and small.” [John Wesley.] “Contemporary evangelicalism has been beguiled and sabotaged by a ruinous lack of confidence […]
Read More A few more thoughts about the BibleIn his most recent sermon, “Songs that Shape the Heart and Mind,” John Piper notes the variety of emotions that are contained in Psalms — one of the reasons that we are all drawn to them, whether glad or sad: One of the reasons the Psalms are deeply loved by so many Christians is that […]
Read More Why we like the PsalmsSunday afternoon I began reading a book I bought about a month ago — Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ. The author, Stephen Nichols, is attempting to trace the history of American thought towards Jesus Christ and how that thinking was heavily influenced by contemporary […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (5/25/08)A few minutes after posting the quotation from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, I received this short, but helpful blog entry from John Piper, “What Does God-Centered Mean?”
Read More More on being God- and Christ-centered
