Round Up

Christianity as it was defined originally by Christ – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Has the Church Sold Its Soul to Consumerism? – The Evangelical church in the twenty-first century has in many ways absorbed the consumeristic mentality that is so prevalent in the culture. Churches approach worship as if they were selling a product and the attendee were the consumer. Since the product is up for sale, churches must show that their product is more entertaining than anything else the world has to offer.

The Most Christian Nation – Probably not your first thought.

Unjuggling – Just for fun.

Quote:

“Be very sure of this–people never reject the Bible because they cannot understand it. They understand it too well; they understand that it condemns their own behavior; they understand that it witnesses against their own sins, and summons them to judgment. They try to believe it is false and useless, because they don’t like to believe it is true. An evil lifestyle must always raise an objection to this book. Men question the truth of Christianity because they hate the practice of it.” – J. C. Ryle

Round Up

The Hollowing Effect of Sin – Evil does not usually make people incredibly wicked and violent – that would be interesting, and tends to wake people up. Rather, sin tends to make us hollow.

No Turning Back – The sun rises just before 6:30 A.M. in Bethany, the small village on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, just a mile and a half east of Jerusalem.

I Will Praise You In This Storm – On Monday afternoon around 4:00 a tornado 200-300 yards wide tore down Beech Ridge Road in Beaufort County, North Carolina, a peaceful rural road where I spent the latter part of my youth and still consider home.

How Do You Know I Am Wrong – “If I say, ‘A cooked egg is better than a raw egg. Would you reply, “You stated an opinion about eggs. You must believe in an objective standard of egg quality.”

Quote:

Whoever relies not on the providence of God, so as to commit his life to its faithful guardianship, has not yet learned aright what it is to live. On the other hand, he who shall entrust the keeping of his life to God’s care, will not doubt of its safety even in the midst of death. – John Calvin

Round Up

The Issue Of Faith – Amen!

Does God Harden Hearts? – 6 underlying questions and answers that make up this one question.

Overcoming The World Conference Videos – You can watch the entire conference free of charge, head on over.

Caring Enough – A thought provoking article in light of Mark Driscoll’s apology.

Quote:

I have always found it depressing to listen to the kind of people who, whenever you meet them, will always for sure tell you the story of their conversion many years ago. They tell you that story every time. I have known people do exactly the same thing with revival. There is always something about an initial experience that is remarkable and outstanding. And a time of revival is so amazing and wonderful that it is not surprising that people go on talking about it. But, if they give the impression that they have had nothing since that wonderful experience, that ever after they have been walking through a wilderness, and travelling through a desert, then it is absolutely wrong. Their idea of the Christian life is of a dramatic experience, perhaps at the outset, after which they just trudge along, living on the strength of that and partly keeping their eye turned backwards as they go forward. – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Round Up

Spiritual Schizophrenia – If I watched a video of your everyday life for the past six weeks, would I conclude that your faith shapes everything you think, desire, say, and do?

The Book of Job – The book of Job is not answering a theoretical question about why good people suffer.  It is answering a practical question: When good people suffer, what does God want from them?

You Are going to Die – You know, it’s possible that God’s plan for us is littleness. His plan for us may be personal failure.

How To Count It All As Loss – What does it mean to count everything as loss for the sake of Christ? What does it mean to renounce all that we have for Christ’s sake?

Quote:

As we preach the word of God, we must have our toes on the very brink of eternity.  For our voice may be the last voice that many will ever hear. – Steve Lawson

Round Up

Do You Feel Tension in the Christian Life – The Christian life can feel schizophrenic. But when we begin to fully understand that we are but pilgrims in this world, these tensions become avenues of sweetness rather than despair.

109 Sermons on the 1st Chapter of the Gospel of John – 109 Sermons on one chapter of the Bible, by The Doctor, no less.  Martyn Lloyd-Jones had a clarity of exposition about him that is not found in many preachers today.

Why Good Works Are Necessary for the Christian – Anthony Burgess (d. 1644) argued that while good works should never be construed as meritorious for our justification, they were still necessary as our duty on the way to final salvation.

They Do It Better Than We Do – Disciple-makers have decided to commit a minimum of 9-10 hours a week providing hands-on practical training. This commitment did not come with compelling arguments. The disciple-makers love it. They want to invest their time in the work.

Quote:

“In a broad sense the Old Testament was the economy of conviction of sin. The law revealed the moral helplessness of man, placed him under a curse, worked death. There was, of course, gospel under and in the Old Covenant, but it was for its expression largely dependent on the silent symbolic language of alter and sacrifice and lustration. Under it the glory which speaks of righteousness was in hiding.

In the New Covenant all this has been changed. The veil has been rent, and through it an unobstructed view is obtained of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And with this vision comes the assurance of atonement, satisfaction, acces to God, peace of conscience, liberty, eternal life.”

— Geerhardus Vos

Justification and Sanctification

Round Up

Remembering Jesus – Even as a new husband I know the importance of remembering my wedding anniversary. It wouldn’t quite cut it if on that day I did nothing special for my wife and only mentally acknowledged our anniversary. She wouldn’t say, “How thoughtful! I’m glad you didn’t forget.” You don’t remember your anniversary by stating the facts. She would rightly expect that the concept of remembering our anniversary involves a layer of activity, such as me writing a note or taking her on a date. We remember our covenantal promise as I pursue, cherish, and love her afresh like I vowed on our wedding day.

The Quest for Rest – Augustine’s Confessions is one of the great classics of Christian historical theological literature.  It is admired for its beauty of composition, its sophisticated literary construction, and its vivid and honest recollections of the life of its author. Some scholars would even say it began a new genre of literature. However, Augustine’s purpose in Confessions was not to masterfully write a new type of literature. Instead, he wanted to expose himself spiritually to his readers so they would learn from his example and find rest in worshipping God through the grace of faith in Christ.

The Immanuel Mantra – I’m a complete idiot, but my future is extremely bright.

Rise Early – William Law (1686-1761) was an English Puritan theologian best known for writing works in the category of practical divinity, a category to which we refer today as “Christian living” or “devotional literature.” His most famous work was a classic titled A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. In it, he argues strenuously that the best way for a Christian to begin his day is to rise very early and spent the first hours in prayer and Scripture meditation.

John Piper on our Glorified Bodies

A portion of John Pipers message using 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 as the text.