Today’s Quote – Sovereignty (Pink)

A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God: [The sovereignty of God is] the exercise of His supremacy.…God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, none can hinder Him. Divine sovereignty means that God is God in fact, as well as in name, that He is on […]

One more thought about genealogies and history…

In writing the previous post about genealogies, I came across the following statement from John Piper. It is a reminder not only of the sovereignty of God over the course of our individual lives (our genealogies), but over the course of all history: The past is a record of setbacks and how people coped with […]

Why genealogies?

We are in the midst of about 10 days of reading through the book of First Chronicles. Reading through endless lists of names that are difficult to pronounce for the English-speaking tongue and without having any references to any story to the majority of those names makes one wonder: just why does God list these […]

Today’s Quote – Sanctification (Hughes)

Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe: Muggeridge beautifully says, “Christianity, from Golgotha onwards, has been the sanctification of failure.” Peter, the great rock, rose from the rock heap of failure. Our failures bring us face to face with the weaknesses and inadequacies that lie within, so that God’s strength can be made perfect in […]

Sunday Leftovers (7/12/09)

Though we would rarely verbalize it this way, at times our actions and attitudes reflect a doubt that God is able to sanctify and change us: “That’s just the way I am — I’ve always been that way, and I always will be that way.” Such an attitude reflects a doubt in the wisdom of […]

Today’s Quote – Strength (MacArthur)

John MacArthur, The Pillars of Christian Character: “Spiritual strength for believers is essentially an attitude of courage, and it includes such virtues as courage of conviction, courage to be uncompromising, courage to confront error and false doctrine, and courage to face intimidation and persecution and still remain true to what is right. A strong Christian […]

Today’s Quote – Knowing God (Packer)

J. I. Packer, Knowing God: Knowing God is more than knowing about Him; it is a matter of dealing with Him as He opens up to you, and being dealt with by Him as He takes knowledge of you. Knowing about Him is a necessary precondition of trusting Him, but the width of our knoweldge […]

Book Review: Just Do Something

Title: Just Do Something Author: Kevin DeYoung Publisher: Moody Publishers, 2009; 128 pp. $10.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): On my shelves and in my files are numerous books, pamphlets and articles on the topic of the will of God. Yet I recently acquired this book, Just Do Something, to augment my collection. Admittedly, the prime reason […]

Sunday Leftovers (7/5/09)

When I was a child, growing up in my parent’s home, it was not uncommon for Dad to ask me to pray for something in the evening, and often it might be for missionaries. To my recollection, my prayers would invariably be something like this —”Dear God, please bless all the missionaries (in the whole […]

Today’s Quote – Hardening (Piper)

John Piper, Contending for Our All: One great hindrance to holiness of the Word is that we are prone to preach and write without pressing into the things we say and making them real to our own souls. Over the years words begin to come easy, and we find we can speak mysteries without standing […]

Book Review: Why We’re Not Emergent

Title: Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be) Authors: Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck Publisher: Moody Publishers, 2008; 256 pp. $14.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): Just when I thought, “do we really need another book on the emergent church?” I visited another church recently. It’s not an emergent church. But it’s also not […]

Book Review: Splitting Heirs

Title: Splitting Heirs: Giving Your Money and Things to Your Children Without Ruining Their Lives Author: Ron Blue Publisher: Northfield Publishing, 2008; 224 pp. $14.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): You may have more money to leave to your heirs than you think. And leaving them less than they may think is equitable is probably better for […]

Sunday Leftovers (6/28/09)

It is human nature to break promises. Governments make and break promises. Advertisers and politicians make and break promises. Employers and employees, preachers and church members, parents and children, husbands and wives, and friends and relatives all make promises to each other which often are broken. Some are made with the best of intentions, and […]

Today’s Quote – Suffering (Mahaney)

C. J. Mahaney, Humility: True Greatness: Those who know true joy in the midst of suffering are those who recognize that, in this life, our suffering is never as great or as serious as our sins. As Jonathan Edwards wrote, “How far less [are] the greatest afflictions that we meet with in this world…than we […]

Today’s Quote – Graduation (Hendricks)

Howard Hendricks (answering the question, “Do you have any words of wisdom for our graduates?”): Don’t believe your press reports. It bothers me that many students go out and are successful, which is the beginning of their failure. They believe that it’s them, when it’s not. This is why I would say to someone, ‘Use […]