2011 Sola Conference

Registration is now open for the Sola Conference at Countryside Bible Church. This fifth conference on the sola themes of the Reformation will be held Feb. 11-13 and address the topic Soli Deo Gloria — “to the glory of God alone.” The speakers this year include: John MacArthur, Richard Phillips, Bruce Ware, and Jerry Wragg. […]

It’s Christmas Day

Another poem from Christina Rossetti to stimulate your thoughts toward Christ this Christmas morn: Christmas Day A baby is a harmless thing And wins our hearts with one accord, And Flower of Babies was their King, Jesus Christ our Lord: Lily of lilies He Upon His Mother’s knee; Rose of roses, soon to be Crowned […]

Since Christ has been born…

A few years ago, pastor Sam Crabtree filled in the blanks to the statement, “What Would Not Be if Jesus Had Not Been.” Reading that contemplation and pondering some additional related thoughts then led me to consider the statement, “Since Christ has been born…” Here are the Biblical realities that we, as believers, experience because […]

Book Review: The Case for Christmas

Title: The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger Author: Lee Strobel Publisher: Zondervan, 2005; 96 pp. $9.99 (print), $1.99 (e-book) Recommendation (4-star scale): Lee Strobel was a journalist who rejected Christ. His hatred was such that he decided to prove once-and-for-all that Christ was not who He […]

It’s Christmas Eve

Christina Rossetti wrote some wonderful Christian poetry. Here is one that is fitting for this day: Christmas Eve Christmas hath a darkness Brighter than the blazing noon, Christmas hath a chillness Warmer than the heat of June Christmas hath a beauty Lovelier than the world can show: For Christmas bringeth Jesus, Brought for us so […]

Love God and do what you will

I have long appreciated Augustine’s statement about the will of God: “Love God and do what you will.” Many years ago I made that statement in a sermon and a young college student responded to me by email and said, “If I do what I want I will end up in sin.” To which I […]

A retro Christmas

My family has long questioned my propensity for saving items past what seems to be the life of usefulness of the item(s) in question. My “collections” of ties, sweaters, t-shirts, cassette tapes, school papers, magazines, screws and the like have all been questioned. But this evening, one assortment of saved items has turned into a […]

The meaning of Christmas

Looking for a way to introduce the topic of Christmas to your unbelieving family and friends? This video may be a good conversation starter: [HT: Justin Taylor] You might also consider a list of questions that Don Whitney has provided to stimulate spiritual discussion at Christmas gatherings.

Sunday Leftovers (12/19/10)

There is a tendency, both culturally and in the church, to disconnect the infant Jesus from the crucified Christ. Too many want to insulate the babe in the manger from the God-Man who cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Yet there is no meaning in Christmas without a […]

The preciousness of Christ

I am now reading Octavius Winslow’s 18th century work, The Precious Things of God. Yesterday I came across this statement, which is a fitting reminder for the Christmas season: Other objects often lose their attraction, their desire to interest, or their power to charm us, by the lapse of years; but Jesus is that glorious […]

Don’t perplex your mind

For the past three months, we’ve been growing in our comprehension of the will of God and how we are to make decisions in relation to it during our Sunday School hour. A couple of days ago, I came across this statement from Jonathan Edwards (“The Reality of Conversion”) that reaffirms what Lee was teaching […]

A father’s role

When I was in seminary, I had a professor who regularly would abbreviate or even forgo the Greek lesson for the day and offer some form of pastoral advice. One day, the advice went this way: “When you get in a church, spend your time with men. Be a man’s man and work to build […]

Grab bag

A few things spotted on the web that have caught my interest of late: I’ve been thinking more about the relationship between social justice and evangelism lately. Here is a brief video interview with John Piper on the topic. The Gospel Coalition has several brief articles on the same topic of social justice and evangelism […]

Two pictures of God’s grace

How vast is God’s grace and how shall we describe it? Two pictures from my Bible reading this morning demonstrate the amazing grace of God, the first from Isaiah: “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money […]

Sunday Leftovers (12/12/10)

After preaching on the story of the angel’s appearance to Zecharias (Luke 1:5-25), I came across two resources about that story. The first is Jon Bloom’s contemplation of what the first conversation between Zecharias and Elizabeth might have been when his tongue was finally loosed to speak again. Jon also notes the theme of grace […]