Today’s Quote (8/28/08)

John Bunyan, All Loves Excelling: “Most men deal with God as if he were not wise; as if he either knew not the wickedness of their hearts and ways, or else knew not how to be even with them for it: When alas! he is wise in heart, and mighty in power; and although he […]

Today’s Quote (8/27/08)

From one of my all-time favorite books, The Pursuit of Holiness (Jerry Bridges): We cannot escape the fact that God hates our sins. We may trifle with our sins or excuse them, but God hates them. Therefore every time we sin, we are doing something God hates. He hates our lustful thoughts, our pride and […]

Holiness and coke machines

It wasn’t quite like hitting the lottery, but to a five-year-old, it was close. My daughter and I had stopped to pick up a couple items from the grocery, and on our way back to the car, we stopped at the coke machine to make a selection. Orange was the choice of the day. I […]

Women in the pulpit

This morning I listened to the Jackie Roese’s (pronounced “Reese”) sermon, “Fight for the Heart of Our King” at Irving Bible Church this weekend. This was the much-discussed event in which a woman was allowed to preach at this church which has long been opposed to such an event. [Aside: I also found on the […]

Rick Warren and the Presidential candidates

On August 16, Rick Warren and Saddleback Church hosted a pair of one-hour interviews with each of the Presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama. If you missed it, you can still see the video, or read a transcript. Additionally, the answers of each question by the candidates have been placed side-by-side for an easy […]

Now that the Olympics are over

The Olympics are now over. Just 18 months until the next Olympics, and soon the hype, er, preparation will begin for the Vancouver winter games. As the games have progressed, a few random thoughts went rolling through my brain at various times. And I either write them down now, or will for 1-1/2 years hold […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/24/08)

This morning we spent 45 minutes thinking about four verses concerning the topic of the holiness of God. And one sermon will now become two sermons as we will finish the passage next time. Two sermons about holiness as it relates to God. Is not everyone aware that God is holy? What more needs to […]

What’s wrong with the (American) church?, Pt. 2

This morning I posted my comments on “What’s wrong with the (American) church?” My comments were posted before I saw the morning newspaper and before I was greeted by this headline as I prepared my breakfast: “Woman’s turn in pulpit at Irving Bible Church brings buzz, beefs.” When I saw the headline, I stared in […]

What’s wrong with the (American) church?

What’s wrong with the American church? For all the good that God has seen fit to do through us, as I look at the landscape of churches around me, I tend to be more sad than glad. I guess I’m not the only one. In a recent blog post, John Piper interacts with an article […]

Thinking about God’s holiness — and mine

This week, in preparation for Sunday, I’ve been thinking about the holiness of God. And that lead me to peruse (I didn’t have time to re-read the entire book) my favorite book on that topic, The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul. And I again came across my favorite statement about what holiness looks […]

Getting ready for Sunday???

What are your expectations for this Sunday morning? Have you begun to prepare your heart to worship the Living God along with your brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you long to sing in unified tones to exalt the risen Christ? Have you prepared through prayer and confession to pray as one voice and one […]

Ten shekels and a shirt — a sermon worth hearing

A couple years ago, a friend sent me a link to a sermon entitled “Ten Shekels and a Shirt,” by a pastor/missionary named Paris Reidhead. I was unfamiliar with the sermon or the pastor, but found the message to be very challenging. This week, I listened to the sermon again, and was challenged afresh over […]

Books, the internet, reading, and thinking

A couple years ago, I read Iain Murray’s classic biographical work on Jonathan Edwards. As I put the book away, I remember being struck at the depth of thinking produced by Edwards. A couple brief stories. Murray recounted that Edwards would often go on journeys by means of the common mode of transportation of that […]

Why a study of God’s attributes is important

We are now three sermons into a series on the attributes of God. Why study about God? Why spend 45 minutes each Sunday just thinking about one aspect of God’s character? Is there really that much that is important that can be said about God? In the past week, I’ve come across two statements that […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/17/08)

Two quotes about God’s immutability that didn’t make it into the sermon yesterday: “One of two things causes a man to change his mind and reverse his plans: want of foresight to anticipate everything, or lack of foresight to execute them. But as God is both omniscient and omnipotent there is never any need for […]