A few things that I thought were particularly well-said at the biblical counselor training conference last weekend (due to limitations in my transcription skills, these may not be exact quotations): Biblical counseling discerns thinking and behavior that God wants to change. [Lance Quinn] There is a two-fold purpose in and for our lives: becoming more […]
Read More Well-said at the conferenceLast weekend we completed our first of three weekends of training in the Biblical Counselor Training Conference. All the audio for the conference (all ten sessions) is now available online. Lance Quinn also spoke twice on Sunday morning, addressing the topic, “When Affliction Comes” (Ps. 119) during Sunday School, and then providing a 15-point overview […]
Read More Conference updateHow much praise of God is “enough?” Will we praise morning, noon, and night? Will we praise in between each of those time slots of worship? The psalmist contemplates the worthiness of God to be praised — His ordinances are righteous — and concludes, “seven times a day I praise you” (119:164). He is not […]
Read More Seven times a day I praise YouTitle: Jesus: the Only Way to God Author: John Piper Publisher: Baker, 2010; 123 pp. $5.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): The gospel is always under attack. Recently I read this statement — from someone who for many years was considered to be in at least the same corridor of conservative evangelicalism, if not in the classroom […]
Read More Book Review: Jesus: the Only Way to GodSuffering is good. Now there is a statement that is sure to raise a few questions in the minds of most readers and thinkers. Yet the Scriptures affirm that the varied kinds of suffering endured by believers really are for their good and for God’s glory. A few examples: Suffering from sin teaches us the […]
Read More How suffering is goodThis week we finish reading the book of Job. The majority of the book contains the dialogue between Job and his three not-so-wise and not-so-comforting and not-so-biblical friends. They foolishly attempt to answer why a godly man like Job suffers (their faulty answer — “he’s not as godly as he thinks”). But in question after […]
Read More Suffering and worshipRecently found on the internet: “Do You See the Glory of God in the Sun? Spurgeon’s Battle Against Depression” (see also Randy Alcorn’s series on depression). Justin Taylor has some good thoughts about distinguishing between Christianity and Mormonism. At “Humble Beginnings” (audio) Tim Challies tells the story of pastor Jeff Anderson and a medium-sized church […]
Read More Grab bagJ. C. Ryle offers the following sober warning that idolatry is not something just practiced by unbelievers: It is not necessary for a man formally to deny God and Christ in order to be an idolater. Far from it. Professed reverence for the God of the Bible and actual idolatry are perfectly compatible: they have […]
Read More Idolatry possible for Christ-followersOur hearts are, because of the fall of man, naturally inclined to evil and sin and disobedience and rebellion against God. Yet in His grace, God works in the hearts of men to incline them in new ways to Him. We call this regeneration. It is God making a stony heart into a fleshly (sanctified […]
Read More The inclination of our heartsI have come across two statements in the last day that affirm the verses that I read from the Psalmist on Sunday morning. Affliction is good for the soul. It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.… I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that […]
Read More Affliction – good for the soulThis weekend we host the biblical counseling training conference. As part of that conference, Lance Quinn, who is a Fellow with NANC, as well as a member of the board of NANC will be teaching. Additionally, Lance has graciously agreed to teach Sunday School and preach for us next Sunday morning. This is a real […]
Read More Biblical counseling conference this weekendJohn Calvin has a fitting summary of the principles we spoke of this morning — how to build God-exalting and Christ-glorifying relationships: If anyone, therefore, appears before you who is in need of your kind services, you have no reason to refuse him your help. Suppose he is a stranger; yet the Lord has pressed […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers (9/12/10)In an article in The Journal of Modern Ministry a couple years ago, Lou Priolo offered a seven-fold definition of patience: Patience is the ability to accept a difficult situation from the Lord without accusing Him of wrongdoing or giving Him a deadline to remove it. Patience is the ability, while experiencing physical or mental […]
Read More Patience definedI read this statement in a magazine article today, and it echoes some of what I often say at funerals. In fact, the last sentence is virtually identical to what I have said many times: Death is ugly, and we cannot — indeed, should not — try to make it palatable or explain it away […]
Read More Death is uglyThe book of Job has long been of interest to Biblical readers for the question of theodicy (how can God be righteous if evil exists), the relationship between Satan’s activity and God’s providence, and the historicity of Job. Yet as one writer has noted, the bigger concern of the book than any of those questions […]
Read More Reading Job
