On Old, Dead Theologians

I came across this article, by Justin Taylor, on why we should read old, dead theologians (as the title obviously suggests!). The article is an interview with Justin. Check it out here. Also, check out Justin's blog here

Quotes...

"You can be young, passionate about Jesus Christ, surrounded by diversity, engaged in a postmodern world, reared in evangelicalism, and not be an emergent Christian. In fact, I want to argue that it would be better if you weren't."

Kevin Deyoung (pg 15), Why We're Not Emergent.

A New Arrival...

The book, pictured to the left, arrived today. I started reading it tonight and so far it is great! You should check it out. Check out the site for the book here. Yes, it is available from Inspire Books and Gifts!!

Young, Restless and Reformed

Some very wise counsel here. Have a read at it.

H/T: Justin Taylor

Blank Bible Project...

Check out this series of posts on The Shepherd's Scrapbook blog. It is a list of instructions on how to take apart a bound bible and rebind it again with inserted blank pages for note-taking. It looks like a brilliant project. I keep re-reading them wishing I was handy with things like this or that there was someone else willing to do it and I could join in! Any takers?

Spirit Empowered Preaching

There is a brilliant interview, with a man called Arturo Azurdia, on the Exiled Preacher blog. Check it out here. I particularly enjoyed the excerpt that is quoted below. Thanks for this interview!

GD: How may we seek God's empowering presence in preaching?

AA: Firstly, we need to connect our preaching purpose to that of the Holy Spirit’s purpose. His aim is to glorify Jesus Christ through the means of the Scriptures—the Christocentric Scriptures. Therefore, I must be resolutely wedded to His intention in the sacred text: explaining the text in its context, applying the text as was originally designed, and displaying its inner-canonical connections which will lead me to Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we need to pray for that which only the Spirit can supply: potency to transform the human heart.

Thirdly, we need to be willing to suffer. Why? Because the apostolic pattern seems to indicate that God’s power is perfected in weakness. Are we willing to be weak so there are no competitors for glory when God does what only He can do?

Beyond this, of course, we must remember that Spirit is sovereign. “The wind blows where it wishes.” Anything that smacks of a formula is sure to quench the Spirit rather than arouse His empowerment. This is the occupational hazard of the Christian ministry.

Gospel in a sentence...

"Jesus Christ, the Son of God crucified, is the Wisdom of God, by which the love of God can save sinners from the wrath of God, and all the while uphold and demonstrate the righteousness of God."- John Piper.

H/T: PureChurch (Thabiti Anyabwile)

Modesty...

Over the last number of days Tony Reinke has been adding excerpts from C J Mahaney's chapter in the forthcoming book "Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World". They have now put all the posts into one downloadable PDF file. Check it out here.

The Man of Faith... (Abraham Pt1)

A cursory reading of the New Testament, especially in Romans 4 and the book of Galatians, reveals that there is a man called Abraham who is a man of great importance in God’s redemptive plan. But who is he? Where did he come from? What can we know, and learn, about him?

Abraham appears as Abram at the end of Genesis 11 with only but a line of introduction. In verse 27 we read “Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot.” The remainder of Genesis 11 then tells us that Abram took for himself a wife called Sarai (v29); that Sarai was barren and could have no children (v30); Abram’s brother Haran died (v28); Abram’s dad, Terah, took Abram, and the family, and left Ur for the land of Canaan but settled in Haran (v31); and the closing verse, v32, of Genesis 11 tells us that Terah, Abram’s dad, dies in Haran. That’s some of the family background.

On to the journey: Today a lot of people continually move house. Their goal, or desire, in moving is to find the ideal home, or better location, or more practical space. The list can go on. In our day, to move house carries stress, i.e. getting all papers signed, arranging mortgages, making sure the chain doesn’t break down in the buying process. To move back in Abram’s day, however, would have been a different story. The stress wouldn’t have been in mortgages or buying chains but in gathering together every possession, animal, servant and moving without the aid of moving companies, shipping companies, or handy airlines, especially in the case of a long move. So, why did Abram and his entire family move?

Acts 7v2-4: "And he said, "Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3and said to him, ‘LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME INTO THE LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.’ 4”Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.”- So the God of glory appeared to Abram and told him to go!

Why Abraham? Isaiah 51v2: "Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was but one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him"

So, Abram moved because God called him, commanded him to move and gave him His Word and promise. Let’s think about it! God called Abraham while he was one (Isa 51v2), with no children and, humanly speaking, unable to have children because Sarai was barren. In my mind that is obstacle number one to leaving to go on a mad journey- the promise being something that seems impossible! The second obstacle was leaving to go to a land that you don’t even know the name of (Acts 7v3). So, Abram get up and go somewhere you don’t know to receive a promise that, to your mind, is impossible! What had Abram got? The Word of the God of glory!

Here is the clincher for me though! Joshua 24v2: "Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods." Before all this happened his family were deep in idol worship! They weren’t even God worshippers! What must have the appearance of the God of glory done to Abram to cause him to go on such a journey of faith? To bring him to the point of willing obedience and a simple trusting in the Word of God ? What a God! His simple appearance and display of Himself, causes a man’s tight grip on idols to loosen and his life’s direction and allegiance to be totally altered. That appearance changed everything for Abram. What about for you and me? Has the God of glory revealed Himself to you? Have you loosened your grip on your idols? Are you walking in obedience to His Word and calling clinging to it for our hope?

A Great Quote...

"To think that this head shall wear a crown; that these poor fingers shall strike the harp-strings of everlasting song; that this poor lip which now faintly tells the wonders of redeeming grace, shall join with the cherubim and seraphim and rival them in melody. Is it not too good to be true? Does it not seem sometimes as if the very greatness of the thought overwhelmed our faith? But true it is; and though to great for us to receive it, it is not too great for God to give."

Spurgeon.

Check it out...

While I have my break in work, I thought I would add a few good resources that I have come across in the last week or so.

Firstly, Joshua Harris has posted an article he has written, for the Tabletalk magazine, on the theme of mentoring. As someone truly convinced of the need, and biblical model, of mentoring I enjoyed the article. Check it out here.

Secondly, I have been reading some books by R Kent Hughes recently and have found them to be of incredible challenge and encouragement. So, having been blessed by his writing I searched the internet for some audio messages. To my surprise, and great gain, I found alot of his and some other notable pastors/teachers. Check them out here.

Thirdly, and finally, I came across a cracker site called the Shepherd's Fellowship. It is an amazing site. It does require registration to have full access and use of the site, but registration is a free and simple process. Once registered you have full use of the forums, download of messages and much more. Check it out here.

Cafe Vic-Ryn@ Home

For a lot of people reading the blog you will know that I work at the House of Vic Ryn. For those of you who don't, hi, I work at the House of Vic Ryn. It is a developing retail complex situated on the Moira Road heading out of Lisburn. Check out a previous post here. Anyway, the point in the post is to inform you that the very tasty, and always worth a visit, Cafe Vic-Ryn is opening a take-away unit which is located upstairs, in the Vic Ryn complex, in the mall. A place to order your meals, desserts, and other treats and take them home for enjoyment in your own surroundings. A great help if organising a dinner party when short on time, as a treat for family after Sunday lunch to enjoy a Cafe Vic-Ryn lemon meringue (mmmm!!), or for any other reason you can possibly find an excuse to treat yourself for. The Cafe puts alot of laborious effort into preparing the food and it shows in the taste! Check it out! And if you happen to be coming, be sure to drop in down the hall and see us at Inspire Books and Gifts.

A review with a difference....

Tony Reinke has posted over at the Sovereign Grace blog on a new album release titled "Atonement". Now the genre isn't really of my taste, as it is rap, but he has posted a track from the album, on the blog, for you to have a listen. Although not my genre, the lyrics were absolutely great! Check it out here. As well as a recommendation there are a few comments that the author felt challenged on regarding the rap artists passion to carry knowledge of truth into work and practice. All in all it's worth a look!

The album is called "Atonement" and the artist is Shai Linne. You can download tracks, or full album, in iTunes.

God of this city...

I downloaded a few tracks from the latest Passion album, titled "God of this city". Here are some of the words from the track "Beautiful Jesus", sung by Kristian Stanfill:

"Beautiful Jesus,
Beautiful Saviour,
Nothing is greater,
Brilliant creator,
Friend of mine"

Brilliant! You can preview and download the tracks, or full album in iTunes.

Of course I believe...

I was chatting to a guy in the shop today and conversation gravitated towards thoughts he has for a message he is preaching on Sunday. It was in the context of the children of Israel and specifically related to their times of wavering and unbelief. He then turned to me, with total sincerity, and said, "listen it isn't just those guys that had the problem! Peter sank because of unbelief and we can too!" Something to think through, "Peter sank because of unbelief and we can too." Where are your eyes fixed? Are you starting to waver and sink? My hope is built on nothing less than...- what? Replace the dots and be honest.

Why do we preach the gospel?

I was preaching, quite recently, on the theme "why do we preach the gospel". Part of the message asked the question "What is the gospel?" from 1 Cor 15v1-4. The second section dealt directly with the question "Why do we preach the gospel?". Here are the ten reasons I gave. They have been challenging me a lot in thinking of how I live with others and communicate the gospel to them, and if I really consider what is at stake or not or if I strive to talk with them about Jesus!

1. Because Jesus commanded us to (Mark 16v15). As it is a command we will give an account as to our response (2 Cor 5v10).

2. Because it's God's chosen means (1 Cor 1v21; Rom 10v14, 17). As it is God's chosen means we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5v11-19).

3. Because it is the only good news (John 14v6).

4. Because God longs for his people to be saved (2 Pet 3v9).

5. Because the judgement and wrath of God will come upon all unbelievers (Zephaniah 1v14-18, John 3v18). Knowing this reality, our response should be to communicate the good news of the gospel (2 Cor 5v11).

6. Because Jesus is coming and after that it will be too late (Matt 24v14).

7. Because the love of Jesus compels us (2 Cor 5v14-15).

8. Because the advantage must be taken now as more difficult days are ahead (2 Tim 4v2-5).

9. Because we represent Christ in His absence (2 Cor 5v20).

10. Because the Lamb is worthy to receive the reward of His sufferings (John 17v1-5).

Confession

C. J Mahaney has a great, and very challenging, post on confessing sin. It is an article you must check out.

Read it here.

What Should I Do Next?!

Mark Dever has posted a helpful article over at the Together for the Gospel blog. Check the post out here.

Unstoppable...

Found this clip ages ago but when I told others to look for it they were unable to find it. So, here it is. It's quite the break from the norm.

How Do You Pronounce That?

I was listening to a sermon today by Thabiti Anyabwile, check out his blog here. The sermon was titled, "The Glory of Pervasive Holiness in the Life of a Pastor", you can read, stream, or download the message here. The message, as a whole, was very challenging and I may post more at some stage, realistically maybe not though. Two quotes stood out and brought conviction and challenge. Both things that I knew already but did me well to be reminded of. Here they are:

"judgement begins in the household of God."

"See the exhaustive perfection of God's holy judgement."

The challenge? God's judgement will begin with us, as Christians, and that His judgement will not miss anything about anybody! The reminder that the God of the Bible isn't a passive God who lacks wrath, justice, power or authority. To know this truth should be causing us to live in light of it, knowing that God expects us to live to the fullest for Him and that one day we will be held to account for the life that we have lived. Listen to the message.

Thabiti Anyabwile is the pastor of First Baptist Church, Grand Cayman. Check the site out here.