2010-01-04

Clint recommends Grant Horner’s Bible reading plan (he’s a prof at Masters’ College). It’s A 10-Chapter-a-Day Bible Reading Plan!

Piper looks at the example of the round-about forgiveness of Job’s three friends (when Job’s prayer was heard), and points out that it’s not that they just need to patch things up with Job before prayer/worship will be heard (cf. Matt. 5:18-23). Rather, it’s that God has ordained that the prayers of some people will be received for the guilt of others. Part of the reconciliation process is the vertical intervention of Job, not just horizontal. God wills to do some things in answer to prayer that He wants to do but will not otherwise do. We should be diligent to pray for others whose prayers may themselves may not be received for unknown reasons. We may be the appointed means of someone escaping otherwise inescapable folly. The Strange Way God Arranges to Forgive

Challies: “You may have heard about the ax-wielding Muslim who tried to kill infamous Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. He was at home caring for his granddaughter when a man broke in seeking to kill him. This part blew my mind: "He did not have time to collect the child from the living room before locking himself into a 'panic room', a specially fortified bathroom." So he ran to the bathroom to save his life and left his five year-old grand daughter out there with a terrorist? Unbelievable!” A La Carte (1/4)

DeYoung comments on the lofty ambitions of those aspiring to ministry, and how these tend to wane. He cites an explanation, wherein the church becomes a ‘religious cushion’ – the pastor is permitted to become a ministerial superstar, if the pastor does not really call on them to disturb their preChristian lifestyles. The church is reduced to a society of mutual reinforcement and cushion against the pains of life. And it is in those moments of leeway in the pulpit when the pastor is tempted to push the church in this direction. He –preaches against every sin but his own, he sounds prophetic, everyone likes the passion, but in reality things are going quite wrong. A pastor must be aware of the sin permeating the church, but above all, be aware of his own sin and delight in the Saviour. “Without a real hatred of our real sins, including the pastor’s own people-pleasing and the congregation’s status quo seeking (and the conspiracy between the two), and a real love for our really risen Lord, we will turn the church from pillar and power to fluffy pillows.” Religious Cushioning

Creation.com writes that life only comes from life, contra what evolutionists keep telling us, noting that a sardine can seems to be a far better environ than Darwin’s warm pond, and yet life never spawns out of it. Life does not simply pop up out of nowhere around us. “Now, I’ve never seen a ‘primordial’, and I’ve never come across a recipe for primordial soup, but I’m sure there’s less chance of a ‘primordial’ jumping out of primordial soup than there is of a tomato growing out of tomato soup.” The true source of life is God, the only One who has life in Himself. http://creation.com/origin-of-life-and-sardines

Challies posts a letter to an atheist, explaining what he means when he says that he is a Christian, and his thoughts on whether Christians and atheists can work together (which he says will always have some level of difficulty, even if there are social causes they could collaborate on). He concludes with this question: “I would be interested in hearing your take on the role and the acceptability of evangelism or proselytization. While Christians are known for their work and perhaps with their obsession in spreading their faith, in recent years atheists are making strides in this area. As it becomes increasingly socially acceptable to be an atheist, we find atheists interested in spreading what they believe (or do not believe). How do you feel about proselytizing? Should we both be free to proselytize or should we both just keep private what we believe (or again, what we do not believe)?” Letters to Luke (II)

Mounce posts a story where he makes the suggestion that a person choose a church not based on meeting her own needs, but rather on her ability to meet its needs. Maybe a food bank will meet your needs better. But maybe it’s time to learn the really important lessons of the Christian walk – that at the throne Jesus will ask if we cared for his disenfranchised children. Dangerous Compassion (Monday with Mounce 55)

Patton discusses the idea that a homosexual can be saved but that this salvation guarantees a change of lifestyle within a short period of time. i) Homosexuality is a terrible sin (Scriptures provided), but it’s not outside the carnality of the believer. ii) Those who do not struggle with homosexuality may not understand the power of that particular temptation. iii) Sinful bents seem to get the better of Christians at one time or another. Homosexuality isn’t different. iv) When it comes to justification, we must not put homosexuality in a different category than other sin (though not all sins are equal). v) The question seems to be, ‘Can sinners be Christians?’ at the end of the day. vi) While homosexuals can and many times do have victory over their particular bent, this won’t necessarily always happen. Some sins remain as nagging webs. vii) This is like the ‘easily ensnaring sin’ of Hebrews 12 (unbelief, in context of the subject of the book, which is expressed in ‘the sin of the hour’). It could be the case that a homosexual becomes entangled in his sin. viii) Paul still seems to consider the ‘fleshly', immature, not-doing-so-well Corinthians as generally being washed and sanctified; in Paul’s thought, Christians are named in Christ, not by their sinful bent, even if that bent entangles them. This does not make their sinfulness any less severe, but it does say that Christ’s redemption, in Pauline theology, has redeemed the sinner, while still in a sinning state. ix) We also all have our justifying bents, attempting to minimize sin. Homosexuality isn’t categorically different than sin in general; so while the Spirit should be there, and our hearts should be changing, attempting to justify a sin isn’t necessarily indicative of a lack of justification. “Having said all this, we all need to recognize the utter sinfulness of sexual perversion. Homosexuality is a sin, and a terribly destructive one at that. But we need to be careful and gracious with those who struggle with this sin, understanding that the struggle against sin is in the plight of us all.” Can Homosexuals Be Christian-

A.W. Pink wrote: “There are many today who talk about the love of God, who are total strangers to the God of love. The Divine love is commonly regarded as a species of amiable weakness, a sort of good-natured indulgence; it is reduced to a mere sickly sentiment, patterned after human emotion. Now the truth is that on this, as on everything else, our thoughts need to be formed and regulated by what is revealed thereon in Holy Scripture.” So, from the Scriptures, the love of God is uninfluenced; it is eternal; it is infinite; it is immutable; it is holy; it is gracious. THE UNFATHOMABLE LOVE OF GOD...for those who have ears to hear

Here’s a set of convicting tweets. One that caught my eye: “If I’m not prepared to jeopardise a friendship so that I can tell others about Christ, I can be fairly certain I won’t give up my life.” Some New-Year Conviction

Another example of the tenacity of the Roman Catholic claims of unity. Internet Inquisition Goes After Distinguished Roman Catholic Scholar, 10 Years To Late

Here’s a useful looking article (it’s PDF): Do Modern Versions Change Key Doctrines-

“The only hope for social networking sites from a business point of view is for a magic formula to appear in which some method of violating privacy and dignity becomes acceptable.” The Magic Formula for Making Social Networking Sites Profitable

Ascol has a short note on the hardships of some of his acquaintances in their ministry in hard places. 18 years ago today, he was released from captivity

Turk points to a set of slides that paint a different picture than the mainstream media on global warming, CO2, and an emissions trading scheme. Leon Ashby Slides

Hays responds to Fr. Kimel, who claims that the Bible does not function as the external Word upon which faith relies, saying that because the Scriptures weren’t written to us personally, therefore they cannot function like, say, baptism, which is an ‘inescapable item in your history’. i) Does this also apply to the church fathers, papal encyclicals, and conciliar decrees? ii) Getting a tattoo is also an inescapable item in your history; that’s not relevant. iii) Romanists often try to prooftext the efficacy of baptism using certain baptismal promises; assuming the Romanist interpretation is correct, then Kimel’s objection means that their extrapolation is wrong, since Catholics can’t directly and personally appropriate the baptismal promises of Scripture since they weren’t for them individually.  Promises, promises!

Piper makes the interesting point that ‘Our various disciplines and spontaneities are Christian to the extent that they are an overflow of our confidence that God is already 100% on our side.’ The Gospel rules out neither spontaneity or discipline. Piper explains how faith in the Gospel will lead the Christian to the discipline of planned private prayer. As our Lord, we gladly do what He tells us; as our Treasure, we are eager to get more of Him; and as our Saviour, we know that we go in prayer, not to purchase, but to receive. Praying in the Closet and in the Spirit

T-fan posts a number of translations of a key text from Aquinas on the primacy of the Scriptures. Aquinas on the Primacy of Scripture - a Word of Clarification