The Anatomy of Repentance

Two things emerge from Calvin's ruminations on the matter:

1.) It is within the province of piety to implore God for forgiveness and spiritual restoration through the employment of the totality of the faculties of our souls even when His covenant promises assure us of such benefits, as this is a recognition of the utter deplorability of our sin and His holiness.

2.) As human beings, we are creatures of our physical senses, and are naturally of the disposition to waver in faith. Therefore, God has mercifully and graciously provided us with physical signs and seals of His favor and fatherly love, communicated through the Sacraments. Read the rest HERE

Gospel Presuppositions

Anne Rice Hasn’t Betrayed You

The Judaizers: Know Your Heretics

The Judaizers were teaching that God still required everyone to observe certain rituals and statutes in order to be accepted by him as Father.
Paul, in recounting his confrontation of Peter before the Judaizers, gives us an insight into the teaching of this group (). Apparently, the Judaizers were attempting to force Gentile Christians to live under the regulations of the Mosaic Law.
They are also called the "circumcision party" (), because one of the specific elements of the Law that the Judaizers were forcing the Gentile Christians to live by was the practice of circumcision.
Peter had withdrawn himself from eating with Gentile Christians, fearing the opposition that would come from the Judaizers. Eating with Gentiles would have rendered Peter ceremonially unclean under the Old Covenant, by breaking an important element of the Mosaic Law. However, Paul said Peter's conduct was "not in step with the truth of the gospel" (). Read it all HERE

Warfield’s “Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith

The Myth of Free Will

Blessed Are the Intolerant

No one today would advocate putting false teachers to death, an event unique even in the biblical record. However, the New Testament is abundantly clear that God’s people have nothing in common with the followers of false religions. The apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers…. What part has a believer with an unbeliever?…Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord’” (2 Cor. 6:14-15, 17).
Today almost any form of biblical separation has fallen on hard times, partially due to abuse but increasingly due to the tolerant mood of the moment. As a result, rather than seeing our divine mandate as taking the gospel to the lost and calling men and women out of the domain of darkness and into Christ’s Kingdom (Col. 1:13), many within the church spend their time trying to find common ground with those who teach falsehood. Some examples would be helpful. Read the rest HERE

Devaluing Dads, Discrediting the Father

Good and Bad Reasons for Leaving a Local Assembly

Good Reasons for Moving On—The Four P’s
1. Providential moving
2. Planting another church
3. Purity has been lost
4. Peace of the church is in jeopardy due to my presence

Possible Reasons for Moving On – The Three S’s

1. Spouse
2. Special Needs
3. Special Gifts

Reasons Often Used Which are Insufficient

1. Children’s Ministry
2. Buzz
3. Youth Group
4. Church has changed
5. New Pastor
6. I’m Not Being Ministered to
7. Music
8. There are others… Read all the details HERE

J. I. Packer and the Evangelical Future

D. Bruce Hindmarsh describes Packer’s habit of retrieving riches from the past for the purpose of renewing the present as “the Robin Hood character of [his] public ministry.” Following the example of C. S. Lewis, who made an impression upon Packer during his days as a student at Oxford, this “retrieval and renewal” model rejects chronological snobbery in favor of timeless wisdom. Thus, during the same years that Catholic ressourcement theologians were digging into their past, Packer began raiding the castles of seventeenth-century Puritans, redistributing their riches to the impoverished masses of evangelicals. The wealth of Packer’s redistribution is fully on display in an appendix containing a comprehensive bibliography of his written works, beginning in July of 1952.
Reformed Theology. The doctrines of grace are central to Packer’s mind, beginning with his exegetical method, which is particularly sensitive to covenantal impulses in the canon. Accordingly, in Packer’s view, “the Old Testament should be read through the hermeneutical spectacles that Paul (Romans and Galatians), Luke (Gospel and Acts), Matthew, and the writer to the Hebrews provide.” Read the rest HERE

Why You Should Read the Puritans

What should be a Pastor’s Motto for his Local Church Ministry?

Christ & Culture Revisited

Since 1951, the starting point for discussions of the church’s relation to culture, or the Christian’s relation to culture, has been H. Richard Niebuhr’s book Christ and Culture. The five paradigms surveyed in that book (Christ Against Culture; Christ of Culture; Christ Above Culture; Christ and Culture in Paradox; and Christ the Transformer of Culture) shape the contemporary discussion in many ways. But are Niebuhr’s categories sufficient? Are they mutually exclusive ways of understanding the relationship between the church and culture? Should different approaches be taken depending on whether one lives in eighteenth-century England or twenty-first-century Saudi Arabia? What do we mean when we speak of “culture” anyway? These and many other related questions are discussed by D.A. Carson in Christ & Culture Revisited (Eerdmans, 2008). Dr. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois and is the author of numerous academic articles and more than forty books, including commentaries as well as works on biblical, theological, and cultural issues. In this book, he brings years of biblical reflection to bear on the subject at hand. Read the rest HERE

A Primer on Antinomianism

Frightened Men Fearing the Lord

Calvin on the Church Growth Movement

I am convinced that the vice behind much of the "seeker-sensitive" and "church-growth" movements is impatience. The natural human impulse is to want results—and to want them now! So we dream up ways and means to make the "church experience" palatable to the unregenerate, instead of breaking their hearts with the Law and providing the remedy through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The failure to make people understand their true condition before God, not in the level of their "felt needs," needs that are perceived through the filter of the carnal mind, but in the relationship of the Creator who demands His image to be perfectly represented in the only creature who bears it, effectively closes the door to the good news—the news that God has made a way, through His Son, for His demands to be spotlessly met in man if only man would know who this Son is, believe in Him, and trust Him for the solution to the problem—for if the problem is a lack of self-esteem, a lack of leadership, a lack of success, then only a false gospel will suffice.

Calvin thus speaks the truth:

"And, therefore, though some may murmur, and others scorn, and others slander, and though many differences of opinion may arise, still the preaching of the Gospel will not be without effect; so that we must sow the seed, and wait with patience until, in process of time, the fruit appear" (John Calvin, Commentary on John — Volume I (Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classic Ethereal Library), John 7:31). Underdog Theology

A Wolf Will Sooner Marry a Lamb than a Sinner Would Love God

Confessions of a (Former) Romance Novel Addict

Matthew Smith - My Lord I Did Not Choose You

Baptism in History, Part 1

 What did those with close exposure to the Apostles teach? In The History of the Church, written in the 4th century, Eusebius relates this story:

When the tyrant was dead [Diocletian, A.D 96], and John [the Apostle]…used to go when asked…sometimes to appoint bishops, sometimes to organize whole churches, sometimes to ordain one person of those pointed out by the Spirit…. [He] finally looked at the bishop and indicating a youngster he had noticed, of excellent physique, attractive appearance, and ardent spirit, he said, ‘I leave this young man in your keeping’…. [T]he bishop accepted him and promised everything…the cleric took home the youngster entrusted to his care, brought him up…and finally gave him the grace of baptism.²

If the implications of the details of the story are correct, this boy was selected by John from those in the church. He was in this church, noticed (presumably pointed out by the Holy Spirit) by the Apostle John and raised by a bishop who had some relationship with the Apostle. Even though he was present in the church and raised on John’s order, he received baptism only after he was “brought up.” Read the rest HERE

How Comfortable Is Your Church?

I opened the door to a freshly painted, warmly decorated church foyer. It was my first time in this rural church of less than two hundred members. People were talking together in small huddles. Some were laughing; others were listening with concern. They greeted each other with hugs. They seemed comfortable and at home with one another.
I made eye contact with a few and smiled. Some looked away; some smiled back, but none left their group of friends to greet me. I took a bulletin from the table and walked into the sanctuary…alone.
The sanctuary was beautiful. Soft music created a worshipful atmosphere. I walked half way down the aisle and sat on the end. People began to fill the pews around me. Several excused themselves to step over me, but no one talked to me. Soon the room was filled, but I felt alone.
For over a year, I attended twenty different churches with similar scenarios. I was an undercover pastor’s wife, disguised as a visitor. My mission: to observe. I chose to accept this mission in order to help my husband lead our new church family ten hours away. Dave was already there, but due to a flat housing market, I stayed in our old town trying to sell our house for almost three years. With many Sundays free, I seized the opportunity to visit other churches. Read the rest HERE

Confused about Catholicism, Part 4

Beyond the general contradiction between the Bible and Catholic teaching on justification are the specifics along the way. In Catholicism, water baptism (usually of infants) takes away original sin on the soul.4 Yet the Bible is clear that the gospel which saves the soul (1 Cor 15:1-4) does not include water baptism (1 Cor 1:17). Thus, to participate in the practice in the Roman Church is to depart from biblical teaching. In Catholicism, penance is practiced as a precondition to communion. Simply understood, penance is doing something good to make up for something bad, usually in the form of repetitious prayers using a rosary. Certainly, restitution is a good thing. If a man steals from his neighbor, he needs to make things right by his neighbor. The idea of penance in the Catholic Church, however, is not the same and is sometimes substituted for the concept of repentance. Read the rest HERE

Paul’s Instruction Re: False Teachers and Sound Doctrine

Below is a survey of Paul’s comments to Timothy and Titus:
“…stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.  These promote controversies rather than God’s work–which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about our what they so confidently affirm.” (1 Tim. 1:3-7)
“Some have rejected these [faith and good conscience] and so have shipwrecked their faith.  Among them are Hymanaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1:19b-20).
Deacons “must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Tim. 3:9). Read the rest HERE

The Snare of Beauty — Flashpoints of Our Obsession with Attractiveness

Imperfect Faith and Perfect Sacrifice

The Christ of the Prophets

Robertson explains that the call of the prophets involved the mediation of God’s Word to God’s people. They were not to bring their own message. He also provides a helpful explanation of the criteria for distinguishing between true and false prophets. In two of the most important chapters of the book, Robertson explains how the biblical covenants and the Mosaic law are related to prophecy, showing that the prophets were sent to remind the people of their covenant obligations to the Law and to warn them of the consequences of disobedience. The prophets were covenant prosecutors, calling the people to faith and obedience.

Having established the nature of prophecy and the calling of the prophets themselves, Robertson turns to look at the historical setting of the prophets. He notes that the contents of the prophetic books centered primarily on two events of enormous significance in Israel’s history: the exile and the restoration. In chapter 8, Robertson examines the messages of those prophets who ministered in the eighth century B.C., namely, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Isaiah, and Jonah (The dating of the ministries of Joel and Obadiah are uncertain, but Robertson concludes that they were both eighth-century prophets and discusses them in this chapter). Chapter 9 is devoted to the prophets who ministered during the seventh century B.C. Here he looks at the writings of Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah. Read the rest HERE

Preaching that Rejects the Gospel enforces Legalism and Lusts after Self-help.

Steps to Grace-Driven Marriage

How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World

There are hundreds of books on the Reformation, but if one coming to the subject for the first time were looking for the best place to start, he would be hard pressed to find a better introduction than Stephen J. Nichols’ The Reformation (Crossway, 2007). For those who find history difficult, Nichols’ style of writing is a breath of fresh air. He does not fill page after page with dry lists of names and dates. Instead, his gift is the ability to draw readers into the lives of the people about whom he writes, allowing us to see these great historical figures, warts and all.

Nichols’ book features eight short chapters, each containing numerous illustrations. As is the case in many Reformation histories, the chapter topics of Nichols’ book are devoted to the various “branches” of the Reformation. Thus, there are chapters devoted to Luther and the reformation in Germany, Zwingli, the Radical Reformers, Calvin, and the English Reformation. However, unlike some books on the Reformation, Nichols also includes chapters on the Puritans, and on significant women of the Reformation. Read the rest HERE

C. H. Spurgeon’s Attitude Towards Thomas Manton

Andy Naselli on Keswick Clarifications

Balancing Three Elements of Church Leadership

Inerrancy of the Bible: An Annotated Bibliography

Worship in Spirit and Truth

Compact Explanation of Presuppositional Apologetics

“Being confident of these things, a truly Reformed apologetic must begin from the presupposition that the living and true, triune God speaks to him with absolute authority in infallible Scripture. His reasoning then finds its only legitimate function as a servant or tool of God’s word, rather than its judge. Following God’s Word, the Christian receptively reconstructs the created facts of the universe about him with a view toward both fulfilling the cultural mandate and being conformed to the image of his Savior by the power of Christ’s Spirit; hereby he glorifies God and enjoys Him forever..." Read the rest HERE

What is the Covenant of Redemption?

Hard to Believe? Biblical Authority and Evangelical Feminism

Jesus, All For Jesus - Robin Mark

What Questions Should Christians Ask about Global Warming?

How can God be Sovereign and Man still be Free?

Does Preaching Style Guarantee Ministry ‘Success’?

So here is a statement. Now, granted, you can only use 140 characters in a tweet. But it looks like this one has been carefully worded and even capitalized so as to make the point. And further, it is a tight summary of the type of thinking that has filled Rick Warren’s books. (so I don’t think I’m off base in writing this post–see also here).

Here’s the quote:

A church stays small when a pastor uses an outdated preaching STYLE.God called u for today’s hearers,not 500 or 50 yrs ago. (Rick Warren, permalink)

I really think this encapsulates the thinking of many in evangelicalism today. And if he is right, then we had better be careful with our style. After all, our impact depends on it. Read the rest HERE

Jesus Christ : The Theme of Scripture

Preaching Like Calvin

Christians & Government

Salvation That Leaves a Man Wedded in Sin is a Lie

Evangelical Bunko Artists How I Learned the Hard Way that Pious Gullibility Is No Virtue

Is Calvinism Biblical? (Part 1, Total Depravity)

Ideas Have Consequences: A Partial Paraphrase and Review of Modern Fascism by Gene Edward Veith

Be Acquainted With Thine Own Heart

Are You Acquainted With the Throne of Grace?

Patrick Soohkdeo on The Islamisation of the West

In an article on The Islamisation of the West Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo of the Barnabas Fund writes,

Governments and the public must be made aware of the danger of allowing Islamist activists to take over Muslim organisations and claim to represent all Muslims. The excessive demands of Islamists must be rejected, along with their blaming of host societies for all the difficulties faced by Muslims. It is important that democratic Western societies do not give up their hard-won heritage of equality before the law, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. It must also be made clear that tolerance must work both ways and that threats of violence are unacceptable. Muslim communities must try much harder to isolate and expose Islamists who reject integration and the violent radicals among them.

For Christians the growing Islamisation of the West can be seen as both a challenge and an opportunity to sharpen our thinking and renew our evangelism. As we Christians see Muslim zeal, commitment, and willingness to sacrifice, we should be driven to repent, to pray for revival and act boldly for God in this generation. We need to stand firm on our Biblical foundations, beware of compromises and reach out in love to Muslims, offering them the Gospel of salvation in Christ.

See here for the whole article (PDF).

7 Counterfeits of Repentance

1. Religious Repentance
2. Pagan Repentance
3. Worldly Sorrow
4. Mere Confession
5. Blame Shifting
6. Minimizing
7. Excuse Making

Read the rest HERE

PREACHING CHRIST ALONE

BRIAN DOERKSEN - THE RIVER

J.I. Packer on Why We Need Inerrancy

Sola Scriptura: Our Only Foundation

Essential Inerrancy

Contextualization vs. representation

When Justification Is Marginalized

His Face Bound with a Linen Cloth

Confused about Catholicism, Part 3

The biblical evangelical does not dismiss church tradition and church authority as if they have no role to play in life. Paul told the Thessalonians, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us” (2 Thess 2:15). Here the idea of tradition in the sense of apostolic teaching is clear. From the vantage point of our historical moment, we are talking about biblical teaching. It just does not include the concept of “Roman” authority and centrality. In addition, Paul commands Titus, who apparently serves as a church emissary from the apostle, to “rebuke with all authority” (Titus 2:15). Elders are to be obeyed according to the author of Hebrews as they minister the Word of God to their flocks (Heb 13:7, 17). However, there is no passage of Scripture which actually conveys the notion of a global network of bishops headed up by one man who mediates the interpretation of this word. Read the rest HERE

Why I Am Not an Arminian

When Dutch Calvinists and Arminians squared off against one another in the early part of the seventeenth century, the Calvinists won the opening battle. The controversy, however, soon spread beyond the borders of the Netherlands. Now, four hundred years later, the conflict continues, and in terms of numbers alone, Arminianism is clearly winning the war for the hearts and minds of professing Christians. Today, Calvinists are a small minority. But why the debate in the first place? Is it really that important?

Many professing Christians today would say that the debate between Calvinism and Arminianism should be put to rest, that we have more important things to think about. Robert A. Peterson and Michael D. Williams disagree. In their book, Why I Am Not an Arminian (IVP, 2004), these two authors not only explain what Arminianism is, they demonstrate how it is biblically, theologically, and philosophically unsound and why it must be rejected by those concerned to be faithful to the teaching of Scripture. Read it all HERE

John Frame’s First draft of “The Doctrine of the Word of God”

Video Games, Idols, and Your Child’s Heart

Video games are one of the most influential and time consuming recreational activities in our society today. On average gamers spend 18 hours per week playing video games. This extensive time investment is reflected in the money invested in video game consoles and software. In 2009, $19.7 billion was spent on video games worldwide, $2.6 billion more than was spent on movies in both box office ticket sales and DVD sales combined.* Many parents are surprised to discover that video games generate more profit than Hollywood.

What this all means is that few children escape the influence of video games, and the temptation to idolatry.

So how can parents lead their children in such a media-crazed world? Read it all HERE

Law and Love Indistinguishable

Some people maintain that the “law of love” has replaced even the moral commands of Jesus and that our only rule is to “love our neighbor as ourself.” They quote Paul: “The one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does not wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).

Some people understand Paul to say that the New Testament principle of love has replaced the Old Testament principle of law. Whereas the Jewish nation in the Old Testament lived under a number of specific moral laws, the church in the New Testament has “come of age” and now lives by the higher principle of love. Since love must be voluntary and cannot be compelled, so the thinking goes, love and law are mutually exclusive. Read the rest HERE

God’s Plan To Save His People

Confused about Catholicism, Part 2

Roman Catholics and evangelicals agree on the nature of God. At the most basic level, both view God in the sense of classical theism. What is meant by classical theism is that there is one Creator God2 who is personal, transcendent, and immanent. Note the following declaration from the Vatican I council (1869-70) which is still official church dogma:

The holy, Catholic, apostolic Roman Church believes and professes that there is one true and living God, the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth. He is almighty, eternal, beyond measure, incomprehensible, and infinite in intellect, will and in every perfection. Since he is one unique spiritual substance, entirely simple and unchangeable, he must be declared really and essentially distinct from the world, perfectly happy in himself and by his very nature, and inexpressibly exalted over all things that exist or can be conceived other than himself. read the rest HERE

Psalm Eleven: If the Foundations Be Destroyed, What Can the Righteous Do?

Contextualization Without Compromise By Tullian Tchividjian

Advance10: Contextualization without Compromise by Tullian Tchividjian from Vintage21 Church on Vimeo.

HT: Truth Matters

The Crisis of Evangelical Christianity

What the Law Requires From Us is Freedom From the Law -- Put Your Dancin' Shoes On!!!

Robin Mark- When its All been Said and Done

Randy Alcorn On Sinless Perfectionism

Sinless Perfectionism from Randy Alcorn on Vimeo.

HT: Truth Matters

Confused about Catholicism, Part 1

One of the greatest shocks in the history of the Evangelical Theological Society occurred in May 2007 when the president of the organization, the respected Francis Beckwith, resigned his position and membership because he had become a Roman Catholic.1 Beckwith, currently Associate Professor of Philosophy and Church-Studies at Baylor University (traditionally a Baptist school), had left the Catholic church when he was fourteen years old and was now returning to his roots after many years in evangelical churches.

The official response from the ETS Executive Committee was cordial, thanking Beckwith for his past work for the society, but highlighting the necessity of a parting of the ways largely because “we wholeheartedly affirm the distinctive contribution and convictional necessity of the work of the Evangelical Theological Society on the basis of the ‘Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety’ as ‘the Word of God written and…inerrant.’” Read the rest HERE

The Devil’s Drug To Lull Thousands into a False Peace

Charles Finney, Ergun Caner & Fundamentalism

Finney’s manipulation consisted of the “artful, unfair, and insidious” control of the emotional state of his hearers in order to bring about a “decision” which was anything but. We make decisions when we decide to take a certain course of action, generally after thoughtful consideration. Finney’s “decision” had nothing to do with thought. His hearers were whipped into a terror over the thought of hell. This sudden emotional state was a work of Finney’s art, and he knew how to mold it into a decision to follow God. He utilized every form of pressure to bring about the desired end.

Over the years evangelists have learned that other emotions can be equally well utilized to bring about a decision. Various moral crusaders have capitalized upon a manufactured sense of outrage, while missions promoters have made an equally good use of pity. Often these tactics are aimed at producing a donation, but there is no reason why they cannot be turned to the purposes of Finneyite evangelist as well.

Any emotion will do, provided that the speaker can stoke that emotion into flames and that he has the skill to turn it in whichever direction he chooses. Read the rest HERE

Spiritual Depression and Work

Pastoring Women: 9Marks eJournal

War Against Sin by Engaging the Whole Person

The Institutes of the Christian Religion

There are a very small number of books other than the Bible that have affected the course of history. One thinks immediately of books such as Nicholas Copernicus’ Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica, Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species, Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, or Albert Einstein’s Relativity. There are also a small number of books that have profoundly influenced the history and thought of the church. One might think, for example, of Augustine’s City of God, Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, or Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. Among the few books that have shaped the course not only of church history but also of world history is John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. Read the rest HERE

Pietistic Goofiness: How Keswick Theology Nearly Destroyed J.I. Packer