Preparing for Passion Week Worship

A simple thing to do to prepare your mind and heart for worship during the Passion week is to read the gospel accounts of the story on a daily basis. Event by event, word by word, confrontation by confrontation, day by day, you will be presented with the essential character and purpose of Christ. The […]

The Gospel and the Good Value of Guilt

John Owen (called by John Piper “the greatest Puritan Theologian”) writes the following concerning the good role of guilt in mortifying sin: Bring thy lust to the gospel, not for relief, but for further conviction of its guilt: look on him whom thou has pierced, and be in bitterness. Say to thy soul, ‘What have […]

Additional communion thoughts

In preparation for communion, I often like to read a chapter out of a book on the cross, or an article that I have previously harvested from a magazine or journal. This week a friend gave me an article that I will undoubtedly read multiple times again. Russell Moore (“The Red Cross of Jesus” — […]

Sunday Leftovers (3/25/07)

All men thirst for God. They know they are thirsty — that they need something to satisfy their deepest desires — but they know not that their thirst is for God. This leads them to drink all manner of worthless and detrimental water. In Finding God in Unexpected Places, Philip Yancey recounts the following story […]

What John Piper thinks about television

What John Piper thinks about television is what believers needs to think and believe about television. The television itself (the plastic case and the electronics inside it) is amoral. Those who produce the products (both shows and commercials) that will be aired on that television are largely immoral. Which is why Piper says, There are […]

Sunday Leftovers (3/18/07)

While Scripture has a high view of Scripture, the goal of acquiring knowledge of Scripture, meditating on Scripture and listening to sermons is not the mere accumulation of more knowledge. The goal of Biblical instruction is not just more knowledge. Rather, true Biblical instruction and knowledge will culminate in people and in a church that […]

Sunday Leftovers (3/4/07)

There is a simple reason why Jesus says, “Do not judge according to appearance…” (Jn. 7:24). Because we are prone to being impressed with the superficial. For the same reason that foods that have much attraction and little substance and sustenance (read: candy bars, fast food burgers, chips and dip, and bubble gum), we are […]

Preparing for Hearing a Sermon

I have been carrying in my Bible for several years a statement by J. I. Packer [Quest for Godliness] that is excellent preparation for Sunday worship: We must never, therefore, let our Sundays become mere routine engagements; in that attitude of mind, we shall trifle them away by a humdrum formality. Every Sunday is meant […]

Two more resources

The appearance of new and helpful resources regarding “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” is happening probably by the minute on the internet. So I will attempt to refrain from offering daily updates. However, two additional resources came to my attention today that I think are helpful: “Tales From the Crypt: Do we have the bones […]

.mp3 audio

I have a small .mp3 player (512 MB) that I keep loaded with sermons only (and one music album for when my daughters are in the car with me). And I listen to several of those sermons (usually 5-8) per week. Even with a short commute (12-15 minutes), with the commute and lunch and various […]

Thoughts on “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”

If it is close to Easter, it must be time for an attack on Christ, the cross, or the resurrection. And so it is. This Sunday, Discovery Channel is airing “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” in which the claim is made that a tomb in Jerusalem has been discovered in which the bones of Jesus […]

Sunday Leftovers (2/25/07)

I have been deeply encouraged as I have prepared for communion and the sermon this week. I have read and perused more books and articles than I normally do, and have found many Biblical encouragements. For instance, I found myself thumbing through J. I. Packer’s Knowing God (it’s been far too long since I picked […]

Amazing Grace, Newton and Wilberforce

My family and I rarely go to see movies in the theater; we may make an exception in the next week or two. Today “Amazing Grace,” the story of William Wilberforce is opening in theaters nationwide. If you are interested in knowing about the philosophy of the filmmaker, read the speech given by Michael Flaherty, […]

These Inward Trials

These Inward Trials I asked the Lord, that I might grow In faith, and love, and every grace; Might more of His salvation know, And seek more earnestly His face. I hoped that in some favoured hour At once He’d answer my request, And by His love’s constraining power Subdue my sins, and give me […]

Listening to the Giants

When I purchased my first good camera in college (35mm film and everything), I determined that if I could get one or two, or perhaps three excellent pictures from each roll of film that it would be money well spent. I’ve taken a somewhat similar approach to books — if I can find two or […]