Engaging Culture

Jonathan Dodson (a Gordon-Conwell grad and a visitor to King of Grace.) has some helpful thoughts on engaging culture.

Six Ways to Engage Culture

In a recent interview, singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright surprisingly remarked: "We're so obsessed about debunking Bush in this country that we don't spend time on any other subjects. That's a little depressing." Wainwright's point is that many Americans neglect a whole range of cultural issues, often neglecting political engagement for finger-pointing.

What's more depressing is that many Christians are just as guilty of this charge as non-Christians. As a result, there are few citizens who think through cultural issues critically, and even fewer who think them through redemptively. Here are six ways to promote critical and redemptive engagement with culture.

1. Engage culture prayerfully. I'm not suggesting that we should actually bow our heads and recite a prayer before reading a newspaper or book, watching TV or a movie, or going shopping, though that certainly wouldn't hurt. Instead, we are to live life and engage culture in a spirit of dependence upon God; we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). We should approach culture just as we should approach all things: prayerfully.
   
   
   What should we pray? We should thank God for the gift of culture, confessing that all cultures contain truth, beauty, and virtue, asking Him to help us recognize and rejoice in these good gifts, which come down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). Alternatively, all cultures also disdain truth, beauty, and virtue. Thus, we are dependent upon God to enable us to recognize and reject those things that are harmfully false, ugly, and immoral. By asking God to give us the perspective of His Spirit, "the Spirit who searches out all things, even the depths of God" (1 Cor. 2:10), we can begin to discern between the things which are true, beautiful, and good and the things that are false, ugly, and evil.




2. Engage culture carefully. When approaching any given issue, from parenting to politics, we all have our biases. In order to engage culture well, we must strive to avoid the paths of both the sectarian and the secularist, of both blind rejection and uncritical acceptance. This will require careful investigation into the issues we face, taking the opposing view seriously and weighing its merits. Make a habit of hearing both sides of an issue before you baptize your opinions. Be slow to speak and quick to listen (James 1:19).




3. Engage culture biblically-theologically. Why hyphenate biblical and theological? Why not just say "think biblically"? Well, the plain fact is that the Bible does not explicitly address most cultural issues. It does not tell you who to vote for, which school to go to, what movies to watch, whether or not you should date, whether or not to abort your baby, or how to respond to cloning. Instead, the Bible offers theological principles which we can appropriate in order to form opinions and convictions about cultural issues. For instance, there is no verse in the Bible that reads: "Thou shalt not have an abortion." However, the Bible does inform us that God is the author of life and that to take human life is murder, which is prohibited by God. The circumstances surrounding abortion can be complex. A mother's life may be threatened if the life of the baby is not taken. The Bible does not say, "Preserve the mother's life." However, there are principles and practices in Scripture that can help us make wise decisions about cultural and ethical dilemmas.
   
   

   The problem, however, is that we often start with cultural assumptions about what is right, beautiful, and good and go to the Bible to prove them. Instead, we need to bring cultural questions about what is true, good, and beautiful to the Bible, reflect on them theologically and then prayerfully, and carefully form our opinions. Don't begin with cultural convictions and end with biblical proof-texts; end with cultural wisdom by beginning with biblical-theological reflection. Start with the biblical text and reflect theologically on cultural issues. Move from Text to Theology to Culture, not the other way around.




4. Engage culture redemptively. Strive to connect your theological reflections regarding culture to redemption. We can redemptively engage culture in two ways: practically and positionally. To practically redeem, identify what is broken, what is in need of redemption, and take restorative action. Ask yourself questions like "How can I bring the gospel to bear on this issue?" or "How can I restore, forgive, or reconcile in this situation?" For example, if you come to the conviction that abortion is ugly and immoral, think about how you can help those who are suffering from the devastating affects of abortion. Don't just debate others. Volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center. Learn how to counsel mothers. Don't become self-righteous and inactive; practice your cultural convictions. Live them out redemptively.
   
   

   Our practice should flow from our position in Christ. Our actions ought to reveal our redeemed identity, not form our identity. Consider the danger of mistaking your newly-formed habits for who you are. For instance, do you think of yourself now as an environmentalist or as a citizen of Zion with an environmental conscience? Do you draw significance from being a "pro-lifer" or from being new creation in Christ Jesus? Ask yourself, "Am I confusing my practice with my position?" or "Am I finding my significance in what I do instead of who I am in Christ?" Guard yourself from subtly allowing cultural convictions to take the place of your identity in Christ. Ground your identity in the gospel and your practice will be more redemptive and more honoring to the Lord.




5. Engage culture humbly. Recognize that you have much to learn from a given culture. Read, converse, and reflect on cultural issues with a teachable heart. Ask God to shape your convictions through whomever or whatever He wills. Avoid proud dogmatism and cultivate humble conviction. Don't put others down who believe differently from you. Consider others more important than yourself without surrendering your convictions. Yet, be willing to revise your opinions through a process of Text-Theology-Culture.




6. Engage culture selectively. Realize and embrace the limitations of your own time, experience, and interests. Spend your time wisely. Don't sacrifice time with God, church, or family in order to become more culturally savvy. Everyone has been created differently, to live a unique life. Make the most of your experience by redemptively engaging culture, but try to avoid making the experience of others your own. There are too many issues in the world for you to become an overnight expert on Christ and culture. Be selective about what you engage.

Summarizing the Six Ways

When engaging culture prayerfully, we depend on the wisdom that comes from the Spirit who searches out all cultures, who can enable us to recognize and rejoice in what is true, beautiful, and good, and reject or redeem what is false, ugly, and immoral. As a result, engaging culture can become an act of communion with God. Relying on the wisdom of the Spirit will also mean careful investigation of cultural issues, being critical of our own biases while maintaining an open ear to the arguments of others. However, we're not left to navigate the turbulent waters of our culture with only prayer and reason. God has given us his Word, a divine and authoritative Text from which we can glean wisdom and theological principles to engage culture.

When wrestling with issues, we must be careful to bring questions, not assumptions, from our culture to the Word, following a pattern of Text-Theology-Culture. This biblical-theological engagement with culture should always lead to redemptive action, restoring what is ugly and immoral from our position as accepted children of God, citizens of Zion. In turn, we can engage culture humbly and selectively, recognizing our limitations and rejoicing in our unique opportunities to engage the world around us.

Finally, try to practice these six ways of engaging culture not just as an individual but in community. To put a spin on Rufus Wainwright's words: Only when the Church in this country becomes obsessed with glorifying God in all things will we critically and redemptively engage our culture on all kinds of subjects.

(thanks to Justin Taylor!)

Thinking Biblically About Facebook

Some excellent thoughts on Facebook from Pastor Justin Buzzard. (adapted from his notes.)

Thinking Biblically About Facebook

9 Potentially Negative Uses/Dangers of Facebook

1. The trend of using status updates to complain
2. Measuring your worth/identity by number of Facebook friends/Facebook interactions. - Facebook measurements are opposite of gospel measurements
3. Greater concern over forming Facebook (virtual) friends rather than real friends
4. Diminishment of face-to-face time with people/enjoying and working on real relationships. - Disengaging from face-to-face time with people to check what's going on in your Facebook world
5. Dual identities - Being someone online who you’d never be in person
6. Hurting and excluding others (intentionally or unintentionally) - "Favorite friends" application. - Not being invited somewhere. - Without this technology you wouldn’t have known, or at least wouldn’t have known in the same way. - “Is he talking about me?. - “She wrote on her wall, but never writes on mine…"
7. Facebook and online life can make you more distracted, changes how you think/attention span
8. Can tempt you away from your calling/work- Your heart isn’t engaged in something great and big, but constantly distracted by silly little status updates ("I'm chewing gum") and Wall writings…
9. Thinking about yourself more than you already do. - You weren't created to think about and focus on yourself. Facebook can tempt you to become a more self-focused person than you already are.

6 Ways to Love God and Love Others Through Facebook

1. Can get back in touch with old, far-away friends in an easy way, showing them how you’ve been changed by Jesus.
2. Can use Facebook as an extension of face-to-face relationships/can be used to enhance time with people. - Get to know people better/better love and care for people when you're with them because through Facebook you know more about who they are and what’s going on in their life
3. Can use Facebook to think about yourself less and others more. - Facebook can be a tool for getting outside of yourself/your problems
4. Can use Facebook to sharpen/discipline what you do with your time. Status updates and built in accountability
5. Can use Facebook to quickly announce/make great things happen: events, face-to-face time. - Instead of taking 45 min. to call 10 people to come over for a spontaneous evening of fun and fellowship, use Facebook
6. Can use Facebook to influence other people for Jesus. Create a new culture with your status updates: use to influence, love, encourage, teach, and challenge people towards greater love for God and other people.

(thanks to Justin Taylor.)

Meaningful Marriage Advice

Another brilliant video from Get In Here Ministries.

Get In Here Ministries

Here is a ministry with a unique approach.

Enjoy!

A Letter to President-Elect Obama

My wife composed this letter to President-elect Obama. I think it reflects a Godly appeal and prayer for our new president.

May God move the heart of our future president to protect the lives of those who are defenseless.

Dear President-Elect Obama,

Today I shed tears of joy, along with hundreds of thousands of Americans, for the great victory of your election. The significance of this moment cannot be overstated. Our African-American friends have been oppressed and cast aside for generations in this country of ours. Now, may the shame be completely wiped away and may the glory that this nation represents and strives for become a reality for more and more of our once silenced citizens.

I confess I did not cast my vote for you. Not because you failed to inspire me with your speeches, because you did. Not because you do not impress me with your leadership and vision, because you do. I cast my vote for another based upon my concern for another segment of our society which is downtrodden and cast aside, the weak, the innocent; the unborn.

Mr. President-Elect, I pray that your heart would be burdened as well to do all in your power to encourage the life that is even now forming in many to come to fruition, to share in this great moment in our nation’s history. We all know the times are difficult and no one will escape the trials at hand. Just as this is true, so is the gift and privilege we have to live it. May the millions of unborn get this chance as well. May the virtue of responsibility reign as mothers choose to carry the fruit of their wombs to term, to give the gift of life to another. I ask, President Obama, that you would prayerfully consider your pay grade since indeed it has now risen at this moment in our history. May you be the champion of all those who are weak yet share the same right to life.

May God bless you and your beautiful family.

A Prayer for the Election

Here is a prayer for this election by John Piper. Please read this and pray it!

May God make his people shine throughout this election and all that follows.

God Bless,

Paul

A Prayer for the Election
November 3, 2008 | By: John Piper
Category: Commentary

Father in heaven, as we approach this election on Tuesday, I pray

1) that your people will vote,

2) and that they will vote with a sense of thankfulness for a democratic system that at least partially holds in check the folly and evil in all our hearts so that power which corrupts so readily is not given to one group or person too easily;

3) that we would know and live the meaning of

* being in the world, but not of it,
* doing politics as though not doing them,
* being on the earth, yet having our lives hidden with Christ in God,
* rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s;

4) that we would discern what truths and values should advance by being made law and which should advance only by the leavening of honest influence;

5) that your people would see what love and justice and far-seeing wisdom demand in regard to the issues of education, business and industry, health care, marriage and family, abortion, welfare, energy, government and taxes, military, terrorism, international relations, and every challenge that we will face in the years to come;

6) and above all, that we will treasure Jesus Christ, and tell everyone of his sovereignty and supremacy over all nations, and that long after America is a footnote to the future world, he will reign with his people from every tribe and tongue and nation.

Keep us faithful to Christ’s all important Word, and may we turn to it every day for light in these dark times.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Pastoral Reflection on This Election

Listen to Pastor Piper as he wisely and biblically reflects on this election.

Here is the outline (thanks to Justin Taylor.)

1. Womanhood
2. Race
3. Abortion
4. Prophetic perspective
5. Sovereignty of God
6. Gospel

Obama's Abortion Extremism

Robert George of Princeton University recently commented:

"Sen. Barack Obama's views on life issues ranging from abortion to embryonic stem cell research mark him as not merely a pro-choice politician, but rather as the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to have ever run on a major party ticket."

Read the full article here: Obama's Abortion Extremism

When is it Acceptable for a ''Pro-Life'' Voter to Vote for a ''Pro-Choice'' Candidate?

I found this article via Justin Taylor. I think it is a persuasive argument to allow a candidate's stance on abortion to significantly influence our vote. Check it out and consider how to best vote in this election.

When is it Acceptable for a ''Pro-Life'' Voter to Vote for a ''Pro-Choice'' Candidate?
by Gerard V. Bradley of the Witherspoon Institute

Please know that I am not endorsing any political party or particular candidate and would encourage every person to vote for the candidate who will accomplish the greatest good - both in the short term and in the long term. I choose to speak to this issue because of the radically different views the two candidates have on abortion and the huge implications of this election on this particular issue. There are few political issues that would motivate me as a pastor to speak on political issues publicly - this is one of them.

I pray you consider your vote carefully. I will do all I can to protect your freedom to vote your conscience without coercion or regret.

Between Two Worlds: What Is the Freedom of Choice Act?

(This is an extremely important moral issue to consider in this election. Please review this post, Between Two Worlds: What Is the Freedom of Choice Act?, by Justin Taylor carefully as you consider how to vote. I am not committed to any political party and consider many issues a matter of wisdom, precedent and political philosophy and not clear biblical commands. Nevertheless, we must be responsible Christian citizens when it comes to explicit moral issues such as this proposed legislation. - Pastor Paul)


As many know, Senator Obama told Planned Parenthood in 2007 that “the first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.”


But how many of us know what the "Freedom of Choice Act" (hereafter FOCA) entails?

Here's an attempt to explain what this would mean.

It's important to note at the outset that this congressional statute is often presented as codifying Roe v. Wade. Hence, if Roe was ever overturned, FOCA would prevent things from changing. While this is true, FOCA goes far beyond this.

The 2007 version of FOCA (for the House bill, see H.R. 1964; for the Senate bill, see S. 1173) includes the following provision:

A government may not

(1) deny or interfere with a woman’s right to choose –

(A) to bear a child;
(B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability; or
(C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or

(2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.

Section 6 adds:

This Act applies to every Federal, State, and local statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, policy, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or implemented before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.

The section highlighted above in bold italics means that FOCA, if passed, will accomplish two things:

1. it would invalidate all current and future statutes, ordinances, regulations, administrative orders, decisions, policies, or practices--at any level of government--that regulate or restrict abortion in any way;
2. it would mandate taxpayer funds to be used at the state and federal level for abortion services (not to do so would discriminate against the "rights" of abortion set forth in the bill).

The National Organization of Women says that FOCA "would sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws, policies." Planned Parenthood says FOCA "would invalidate existing and future laws that interfere with or discriminate against the exercise of the rights protected."

What are some of these state laws? The Family Research Council has complied the following list:

• All 50 states have abortion reporting requirements
• 46 states have conscience-protection laws for individual health-care providers
• 44 states have laws about parental notification
• 40 states have laws restricting late-term abortions
• 38 states have bans on partial-birth abortions
• 33 states have laws requiring counseling before an abortion
• 16 states have laws about having ultrasounds before an abortion

One of the states that has had FOCA-type acts on the books since 1991 is Maryland. The result of eliminating all restrictions and regulations, unsurprisingly, is that the Maryland rate of abortion has risen while the national rate of abortion has fallen.


Some people reading the Freedom of Choice Act notice that is says a woman has a "right to choose" "to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman" (my emphasis).

A surface-reading of FOCA (which is seeking to codify Roe v. Wade) might suggest that there is a meaningful, legitimate restriction on late-term, post-viable abortions, namely that abortions are allowed only in cases where a woman would die or be physically harmed. But this simply isn't true.

Roe v. Wade was handed down on the same day as Doe v. Bolton, and Justice Blackmun said they were to be read together. Doe defines maternal health to include virtually any factor: "emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age." The effect is abortion on demand--abortion for any reason.

So to summarize this act--which again, Barack Obama has promised to sign as his first order of business in the White House--abortion on demand will become codified, all regulations and restrictions will be stripped away, Christian hospitals and physicians will not have a choice regarding the performance of abortion (since their accrediting agencies are approved by the federal government), teenagers will not have to tell their parents about an abortion, and prolife taxpayers will be forced to pay for abortions at any stage of the pregnancy for any reason.

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Gospel Renewal

I attended a seminar by Tim Keller this week. It was very helpful and refreshing! Dr. Keller communication style is lucid, conversational and brilliant. Even more important, he is one of the most articulate advocates of gospel centered living. He gave us a ton of excellent notes on Gospel Renewal in the church. I just wanted to pass on one excellent quote he had from Richard Lovelace. Dr. Lovelace influenced Tim in his understanding of gospel centeredness. Hope you enjoy this quote!

"Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives… Many… have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for their justification… drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude… Much that we have interpreted as a defect of sanctification in church people is really an outgrowth of their loss of bearing with respect to justification. Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons… Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce, defensive assertion of their own righteousness, and defensive criticism of others. They come naturally to hate other cultural styles and other races in order to bolster their own security and discharge their suppressed anger."

Richard Lovelace
The Dynamics of Spiritual Life (IVP, 1979), 101.

I also highly recommend CJ Mahaney's book, The Cross Centered Life, for more on this key truth.

Holy Sonnet on God's Love

Another great sonnet from D.A. Carson. I found this one at "nosuch library book" blog.
(Anyone know where I could get this out of print book of sonnets?)

Enjoy!

To grasp how wide and long and high and deep
This love of Christ, experience it when
Mere knowledge bursts its categories, then
Escape the fragile flame of language, reap
The richest crop salvation brings, and heap
Up memories of a sea of love, again
Yet again cascading o'er us---men
Can know no other bliss so rich and deep.

Lord God, in love you have established us,
And rooted us in soil no less fine:
Not single plants exposed to every gust
Of wind, but all the saints drink love sublime.


Make me to know---a creature hewn from sod---
The measure of all fullness found in God.

Don Carson, Holy Sonnets of the Twentieth Century

Holy Sonnets on Hell

I found these sonnets by D.A. Carson today. May they motivate us to run to Christ our only Savior from such a fate and may they motivate us to run to our friends who don't know Christ and love them in his name and speak the truth in love.

Go, bury death in limousines: dispel
Inevitable death in transient mirth,
Acquire toys and earthly wealth from birth;
Pursue position, luxuries, and tell
Your mortal colleagues of your virtues; sell
Your future for the present; measure worth
In prominence, and seek the highest berth;
Send flowers, and do not think of death and hell.
    Appalling folly, attitude perverse—
    Before the one great certainly, to play
    The ostrich and ignore hard facts, or worse,
    Transform the corpse by euphemism’s play.
Still more: as surely as a mortal dies,
His certain death portends the great assize

There are no friends in hell: the residents
With zeal display self-love’s destructive art
In narcissistic rage. The better part,
The milk of human kindness, no defense
Against a graceless world, robbed of pretence,
Decays and burns away. To have a heart
Whose every beat demands that God depart –
This is both final curse and gross offense.
    So not that metaphor’s inadequate
    A fearful mask that hides a lake less grim;
    Relentless, pain-streaked language seeks to cut
    A swath to bleak despair, devoid of him.
This second death’s a wretched, endless thing.
Eternal winter with no hope of spring.

Taken from D.A. Carson, Holy Sonnets of the Twentieth Century, Baker, 1994.

What is the Gospel?

There is an excellent conversation going on at 9-Marks about "What is the Gospel?". This is such a vital topic for us as believers. Really the answer to this question will determine who we are and what we do as God's people. A bad answer will produce bad fruit and perhaps even spiritual death for our churches. A right and biblical answer will be life and fruit for us and our churches. Check out the first installment from Greg Gilbert below and then go to 9-Marks to read more.

September 17, 2008

What is the Gospel?---There Are Really Two Conversations Going on Here, Not Just One

by Greg Gilbert

Let me offer a thought that might help us to see a little more clearly through this huge conversation about what the gospel is and whether some people are too narrow or too broad in their understanding of it.

It seems to me that the two major camps in this conversation—those who say the Gospel is the good news that God is reconciling sinners to himself through the substitutionary death of Jesus (call them “A”) and those who say the gospel is the good news that God is going to renew and remake the whole world through Christ (“B”)—are largely talking past one another. In other words, I don’t think the As and the Bs are answering the same question. Of course both of them say they’re answering the question “What is the gospel?” and thus the tension between the two different answers. But I think if we pay close attention, we’ll see that they are actually answering two very different and equally biblical questions.

Those two questions are these:

1. What is the gospel? In other words, what is the message a person must believe to be saved? And
2. What is the gospel? In other words, what is the whole good news of Christianity?

When an A-person hears the question “What is the gospel?” he understands it to mean “What is the message a person must believe to be saved?” and he answers it by talking about the death of Christ in the place of sinners, and the call to repent and believe.

When a B-person hears the question “What is the gospel?” he understands it to mean “What is the whole good news of Christianity?” and he answers by talking about God’s purpose to renew the world through Christ.

You can understand why there would be tension between the two. If you answer question (1) by talking about the new creation, people are understandably going to say that your answer is too broad and that you are pushing the cross out of its central place. When people in Scripture asked the question “What must I do to be saved?” the answer they received was to repent of sin and believe in Jesus—not something about the coming new creation.

Yet it’s also true that the Bible sometimes (even often) talks about “the gospel” in terms of the new creation. So to answer question (2) by only talking about Christ’s death in the place of sinners, and to say that everything else is by definition not-gospel (but merely implication), is indeed too narrow. That would be to say that promises such as the resurrection of the body, the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile, the new heavens and new earth, and many others are somehow not part of what the Bible holds out as the “good news” of Christianity.

What we need to understand is that neither of these two questions is wrong, and neither is more biblical than the other. The Bible asks and answers both of them. Sometimes it says that “the gospel” is that message which a person must believe in order to be forgiven of sin—and that, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, is the message that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was raised on the third day. Other times the Bible uses the word “gospel” to refer to the whole complex of promises that God intends to keep through Christ, such as in Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4, and Acts 13.

Once we acknowledge all that, and once we realize that we aren’t all answering the same question when we say "The gospel is . . .", I think we’ll be able to avoid some of the tension in the conversation. Not only so, but it seems to me that we’ll then be able to understand more clearly why the Bible uses “gospel” in both a broad and a narrow sense, and how those two senses fit together.

And that in turn will help us understand why (and this is important) the New Testament puts pastoral and evangelistic priority on the narrow sense—and why it expects us to do the same.

But that's another post.....

Go to http://blog.9marks.org/2008/09/what-is-the-g-1.html for more!

Sane Faith

David Powlison has been writing some fantastic articles for "Boundless" webzine, a publication of Focus on the Family. I believe these articles are life-changing. I've enclosed a portion of the first article below. You'll want to go to the website for the whole thing.

David Powlison has made a huge impact on how we at KGC understand gospel-centered living and biblical counseling. I believe David takes the theological wisdom of the Puritans, tempers it where needed with biblical insight and delivers us a down-to-earth biblically-faithful Christ-centered approach to Christian living. (A note of interest - David has roots in our area - he lived in Newton, MA, went to Harvard and served for some time at McClean Hospital in Belmont. He is a wonderful humble man - I got to sit down with him some years ago.)

Please read the articles slowly - perhaps just one a day or one a week over the next month or so. Take time to think about what David is saying. Get your bibles out and examine the articles in light of the word of God. Pray about it. And then think about how to live in light of these truths.

Enjoy!

Garrett, 23, is a recent college grad. When some little thing frustrates him or he doesn't get his way, he explodes in anger. It goes way over the top. In college he was an episodic binge drinker, but he's started to drink regularly and heavily over the past year. The effects of alcohol in him are unpredictable. Sometimes booze mellows Garrett out, but most times it lowers his threshold for volatile hostility. In addition to his growing drinking problem, he routinely turns to online pornography for a "fix." His friends don't know about that, but they fear for his future, wondering if he will self-destruct with his drinking and violent temper.

Official diagnosis and current street wisdom? "Garrett suffers from intermittent explosive disorder (IED) and is an addictive personality — and Garrett is all about Garrett, and has control issues, big-time."

Sarah, a 29-year-old single woman, has become increasingly preoccupied with her looks, her calorie intake, and her exercise regime. She often "feels fat," at 5'9" tall and weighing only 103 pounds, She's relentless in her activities and self-care, competitive, always trying to prove herself. Her roommates and family have become more and more concerned. Sarah seems joyless, and has been detaching herself from normal social interactions. She seems nervously self-preoccupied most of the time, so she has little time, energy, or attention for anything or anyone besides herself.

Diagnosis and current wisdom? "Sarah has anorexia — and she's a perfectionist with low self-esteem."

Lise, 32 and married, with a toddler, has felt down ever since she had the baby. Lise has had a tendency to wallow in self-reproach ever since childhood, but lately it's gotten worse. She's mired in loops of self-condemning thoughts, endlessly rehearsing and bemoaning her faults, both real and imaginary. She has developed elaborate "quiet time" rituals that help her feel some sense that her life is OK. She never feels like God loves her. Her husband worries that Lise's ritualistic habits and "sticky thoughts" about personal failings interfere with her ability to raise their child. Her brooding casts a pall over their relationship, too. The simplest question — "How was your day?" — often turns into a dark spiral of complaint and despair. He walks on eggshells: "What can I do? What can I say?"

Diagnosis and current wisdom? "Lise has a case of clinical depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) — and she sets impossible standards for herself."

Chandra, 21, a senior in college, has battled intense anxiety feelings ever since adolescence. She gets tongue-tied if she's put on the spot in a social interaction. She increasingly avoids social situations, and only goes to gatherings or events if she has a friend with her to run interference and carry the ball conversationally. She hasn't been out on a date since a couple of ill-fated attempts in high school when she "almost had a panic attack" trying to figure out what to talk about. Chandra medicates her anxiety with daytime TV, Netflix and chocolate ice cream.

Diagnosis and current wisdom? "Chandra suffers from social anxiety disorder — and she's shy, gets glued to the tube, and needs her chocolate fix."

Do you recognize any of your friends in these people? I do. Do you recognize something of yourself in any of their problems? I do, too.

And do you also notice how each diagnostic label simply takes what we already know and then restates it in quasi-medical-sounding language? The actual experiences of life-lived get turned into a depersonalized "condition." Problems get viewed exclusively as something a person "has," rather than the array of things a person feels, thinks and does.

It's curious. The labels don't actually add any information to what we already know. Yet they somehow alter the entire way we perceive a person. They even alter how people perceive themselves. The story and the struggle get lost in translation.

Hold onto that thought, and we'll come back to it later. First we're going to climb into the story and the struggle.

See http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001827.cfm for more.

Great Prayers to a Great Christ

A quote from EM Bounds via Jeff Haavisto this morning - may we ask great things from a great Christ for His great
purposes!

The faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers itself on a powerful Person. Faith in Christ's ability to do and to do greatly, is the faith which prays greatly. Thus the leper lay hold upon the power of Christ. "Lord, if Thou wilt," he cried, "Thou canst make me clean." In this instance, we are shown how faith centered in Christ's ability to do, and how it secured the healing power.

Taken from the book The Essentials of Prayer by E.M. Bounds 1835-1913

A Great Devotional!

I have been using "For the Love of God" by DA Carson in my morning devotionals for some time. It is a devotional commentary that follows the Robert Murray M'Cheyne bible reading plan. It is a fantastic way to let the word of God abide in you. I recommend the two-year plan that follows two of the four readings per day. If you are ambitious try the four readings a day plan.

Check out this excerpt from today's commentary on Ezekiel 14:

"To set up idols in the heart is to seperate oneself from the living God (14:7). ... That danger is no less treacherous today than in Ezekiel's time. Somehow we manage to adhere to our creedal profession, but if anything goes wrong our undisciplined rage shows tha we maintain little real trust in the living God; our secret idol is comfort and physical well-being. We attend church, but rarely do we pray in private or thoughfully read the Word of God. We sing lustily at missionary conventions, but have not shared the Gospel with anyone for years. And deep down we are more interested in our reputation, or in sex, or in holidays, than we are in basking in the awesome radiance and majesty of God. Meditate on 14:8, and ask for forgiveness adn grace to become more consistent."

Wow! This meditation convicted me and caused me to run to Christ for forgiveness and fresh power to love Him first.

I think you will find many other insights to spur you on in this excellent devotional commentary. If you are interested read the excerpt below from the Christway Media site and subscribe to or purchase "For the Love of God".

Enjoy!

Now more than ever, the need to read the Bible, to understand the big picture of its storyline, and to grasp the relevance this has for your life is critical. Join with us as we follow Donald Carson's Bible-reading plan one day at a time though email. (We hope you'll be enticed to purchase the two volumes.)

"For the Love of God" Used by permission of the publisher, Crossway Books, a division of Good New Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187.

To subscribe send an empty email to: christwaymedia-join@associate.com

That You May Believe! Our Series in John

We just finished our series in the gospel of John entitled "That You May Believe: The Signs and Sayings of Christ". What a rich time of learning about our wonderful Savior and finding fresh faith and fresh life in His name!

John 20:31 sums up the purpose and , I trust, our experience of this series: "but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:30-31, ESV)

Here is a summary table of our series listing the 7 signs and 7 sayings we looked at along with key memory verses. Enjoy!

Signs	Verses
The Wedding Miracle Sign 1, John 2	"and [he] said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him." (John 2:10-11, ESV)
The Sick Son Sign 3, John 4	"When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death." (John 4:47, ESV)
The Sabbath Healing Sign 4, John 5	"How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44, ESV)
The Five Thousand Fed Sign 5, John 6	"Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6:35, ESV)
The Blind Man Sign 6, John 9	"Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”" (John 9:39, ESV)
Lazarus Raised Sign 7, John 11	"Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”" (John 11:25-26, ESV)
Jesus’ Resurrection Sign 2 & 8, John 2 & 20	"Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”" (John 20:27-29, ESV)

I Am Sayings	Verses
The Bread of Life I Am 1, John 6	"Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6:35, ESV)
The Light of the World I Am 2, John 8	" Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”" (John 8:12, ESV)
The Good Shepherd & The Door I Am 3 & 4, John 10	"So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." (John 10:7, ESV) "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me," (John 10:11, 14, ESV) "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand." (John 10:27-29, ESV)
The Resurrection and the Life I Am 5, John 11	"Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”" (John 11:25-26, ESV)
The Way, The Truth & The Life I Am 6, John 14	" “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" (John 14:1-2, ESV) "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, ESV) Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. " (John 14:9b, ESV)
The True Vine I Am 7, John 15	“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:1,5, ESV)
The I Am I AM of I Am's #8, John 8	"Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”" (John 8:58, ESV)
	Other key verses
The Word was God	" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1,14, ESV)
The New Birth	"Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”" (John 3:3, ESV)
The Ripe Harvest	"Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." (John 4:35, ESV)
The Promised Spirit	" On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”" (John 7:37-38, ESV)
The Summary	" Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:30-31, ESV)

A Wonderful VBS

We had an exhilirating and exhausting VBS week July 7-11. We are so so thankful for God's blessing on our "Friendship Trek" VBS!

It was a huge success with almost 60 children attending and learning that Jesus is our “Forever Friend”. The message of the good news of Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord and friend resonated throughout the entire week. The kids were very excited about what they were learning and doing and we believe the families were greatly blessed. A number of parents told me their hildren were so excited in telling their parents what they were learning each day.

We are thankful for the partnership of First Church of Christ, Bradford. We pray God's continued blessing on our friends as they know and walk with Christ, our "Forever Friend".

To our church family and all our friends at FCC Bradford and the greater Haverhill community, thank you so much for your hard work and prayers for our VBS. Thanks for your partnership in bringing this Christ-centered VBS to the children and their families! May everyone remember Jesus Christ, our true "forever friend"!

Let Us Never Forget

Here is a quote from my friend Jeff. He took this from JC Ryle and personalized it. Enjoy!

"Let me never forget this part of my Lord's character. Christ's loving-kindness to me never changes, and never fails. It is a deep well of which I will never find the bottom. It began from all eternity, before I was born. It chose, called, and quickened me when I was dead in my trespasses and sins. It drew me to God and changed my character, and put a new will in my mind, and a new song in my mouth. It has borne with me in all my waywardness and shortcomings. It will never allow me to be separated from God. It will flow ever forward, like a mighty river, through the endless ages of eternity. Christ's love and mercy was my plea when I first began my journey. Christ's love and mercy will be my only plea when I cross the dark river and enter home. Let me seek to know this love by inward experience, and prize it more. Let it constrain me more continually to live, not to myself, but to Him who died for me and rose again."

Adapted from "Expository Thoughts on the Gospels", Luke 5:17-26, by J.C. Ryle, 1856, Baker Book House, 2007, p. 144

Zion Bible College in Bradford!

We are pleased to welcome the new students moving into Bradford as part of the relocation of Zion Bible College from Barrington, Rhode Island to the historic campus of Bradford College.

Bradford College has a glorious heritage of Christian education dating back to the second great awakening. Ann Hasseltine Judson was educated here. It was next door where the first American Foreign Mission Board was started June 27, 1810. It is a great joy to see this heritage continued by Zion Bible College as they reoccupy the formerly vacant campus. May God greatly bless and prosper them in Christ-centered education and grant them an great and lasting heritage!

We hope we might have some opportunity to serve Zion students and faculty as they relocate to the Haverhill area.

God Bless!
Pastor Paul

A Book as Word Art

I found out about a cool program from Justin Taylor's blog. It's called Wordle. It shows the most prevalent words in any selected text in a collage.

Check out these examples:

The Gospel of John - ESV:


Romans - ESV:



This is one I did from Pilgrim's Progress:


The Psalms in Hebrew:















Great way to capture a book!

Marriage Book Reviews

As you probably can tell, I spent some time at the 9Marks site this morning. Lots of great articles, reviews and excellent biblical discernment. A number of folks have asked me about recommended books for marriage. My personal favorites are "When Sinner's Say 'I Do'" by Dave Harvey, "Sex, Romance and the Glory of God" by CJ Mahaney and "Love that Lasts" by Gary and Betsy Ricucci. I also think every husband needs a kick in the pants type book. "Reforming Marriage" by Douglas Wilson helped me that way.

Check out the comparison chart to learn the strengths and weaknesses of select marriage books.


Check out the full 9Marks article with reviews here.

30 Practical Ways For Pastors to Love Their Wives & Families

I got this from the 9Marks Website – great stuff for pastors and for any husband. I was very affected, freshly convicted and graciously inspired by this excellent list. Enjoy!

30 Practical Ways For Pastors to Love Their Wives & Families

Compiled by several pastors

The demands of pastoral ministry can be tough on the pastor’s wife and family. Not only do they tempt him to neglect his family, they can leave him void of good, creative, meaningful ideas on how to love and serve them.

Pastor, we cannot help you with the temptation to neglect them, other than exhort you to flee this temptation—Christ hasn’t neglected you, has he?! But perhaps we can help you with several practical ideas to help motivate you to love and serve your wife and children more effectively. Here they are:

IN RELATION TO YOUR FAMILY...

1. Take the initiative and establish a plan for family worship. Then follow the plan! (Don Whitney encourages “brevity, regularity, and flexibility” in family worship.)

2. Come home at the exact time you say you will be home; and prepare your heart to serve your family, not be served.

3. Take responsibility for your children’s education and discipline—don’t leave it to your wife to figure out.

4. Share with your wife and kids some of the good things that are going on in the church, and then thank them for helping to make that possible.

5. Use every hour of your vacation time. And take a vacation that does not involve extended family; restrict it to just your wife and kids.

6. Take a two week vacation.

7. Diligently guard your days off.

8. There are times when it seems like you have to choose whether to be a good dad/husband or a good pastor. Good pastors choose to be good dad/husbands.

IN RELATION TO YOUR WIFE…

9. Get up early and have your quiet time, so that you can take the kids in the morning while your wife has her quiet time.

10. Give her flowers and a hand written card when she least expects it.

11. Regularly schedule a date night and take the initiative on logistics, i.e. organize the baby-sitter, make reservations, and have a plan.

12. Make sure you know her favorite restaurant, meal, flowers, ice cream flavor, and movie.

13. Schedule a weekly time where you watch the kids and your wife gets out to do whatever she wants—not errands. When you can, give her a whole day off from the kids.

14. Decide together with your wife how many evenings you will be gone and honor what has been agreed upon.

15. On Sundays, leave for church a few minutes early to stop and get your wife her favorite coffee drink.

16. Ask your wife over a romantic dinner areas she wants to see you improve.

17. Take your wife to an encouraging conference.

18. Plan regular out-of-town personal retreats for just you and her. Plan time on your retreat to write down all the evidences of grace you see in one another’s lives and then share them with one another. Later, spend time writing down your hopes for ways you want to grow as husband and father over the coming year (she doing the same for herself) and then share them with one another.

19. Respect and seek her opinion on things concerning the church.

20. Go for long walks.

IN RELATION TO YOUR CHILDREN…

21. Have deliberate one-on-one time weekly with each of your children, probably to include playing, reading scripture, or praying.

22. Date your daughters.

23. Leave the church at church so dad can be dad at home.

24. Take a child with you on visits or short term trips.

25. Ask your children questions that allow you to shepherd their hearts, such as these (these questions were posted by Justin Taylor, and were originally devised by Pastor Rich Gamache of Sovereign Grace Fellowship)

* In your own words, what is the gospel?

* Is there a specific sin you’re aware of that you need my help defeating?

* Are you more aware of my encouragement or my criticism?

* What’s daddy most passionate about?

* Do I act the same at church as I do when I’m at home?

* Are you aware of my love for you?

* Is there any way I’ve sinned against you that I’ve not repented of?

* Do you have any observations for me?

* How am I doing as a dad?

* How have Sunday’s sermons impacted you?

* Does my relationship with mom make you excited to be married?

* (On top of these things, with my older kids, I’m always inquiring about their relationship with their friends and making sure God and his gospel are the center of those relationship. And I look for every opportunity to praise their mother and increase their appreciation and love for her.)

26. Take an interest in what your children enjoy doing.

27. Read to them. Buy books they will enjoy. Take them to the library.

28. Sing with them.

29. Pray for them and with them.

30. Be careful not to put them in the spotlight at church (stop using them for every other sermon illustration!).

Contributors (all pastors): Bret Capranica (San Jacinto, CA), Brian Croft (Louisville, KY), Bob Johnson (Roseville, MI), Michael Lawrence (Washington, DC), Mike McKinley (Sterling, VA), Deepak Reju (Washington, DC), and Jeramie Rinne (Hingham, MA)

© 9Marks

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by 9Marks.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: © 9Marks. Website: www.9Marks.org. Email: info@9marks.org. Toll Free: (888) 543-1030.

ESV Study Bible

Hey guys,

I am very excited about the new ESV Study Bible coming out in October. This should be a study bible to keep for a lifetime. Not only is it based on a translation we have come to know and thoroughly enjoy but is now adds the following features and more:

• Over 20,000 notes.
• Over 50 articles aimed at key topics
• 200 color charts.
• Many new illustrations.
• Access to the free online ESV Study Bible.
• Contributions from 95 respected evangelical scholars including Andreas J. Köstenberger , Barry G. Webb , Bruce Ware, C. John Collins, Daniel B. Wallace, Darrell Bock, David Powlison, Doug Oss , Frank Thielman , Gordon Hugenberger, Gordon Wenham, Grant Osborne , Iain Duguid , J. I. Packer, John Piper, Leland Ryken, Mark Dever, Marvin R. Wilson, Peter Gentry, R. Kent Hughes, Raymond C. Ortlund Jr, Scott Hafemann , Thomas R. Schreiner, Timothy Tennent, Vern Poythress, Walter C. Kaiser & Wayne Grudem.

Check out these sample pages:

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

If you like it, you can pre-order. There is a special deal for Sovereign Grace Ministries folks.

Check it out and enjoy!

Serving the Church Overseas

We showed a video at church this Sunday on the work of "Gospel Translations".

Gospel Translations is working as a team using a "wiki" approach in translating many excellent biblical and theological works from English into a growing list of languages including Armenian, Boko, Cebuano, Chinese, Dutch, Ewe, French, German, Hungarian, Igbo, Korean, Luo, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu & Yoruba!

This is so exciting! What a wonderful opportunitiy to serve our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world with the excellent resources we all enjoy!

Check out their introductory video here:

The Glorious Ones

"As for the saints in the land, they are the glorious ones, in whom is all my delight." Psalm 16:3 (NIV)

Over the past month and a half I have been away from my office almost 14 days and I have been out of the King of Grace pulpit three Sundays. I am experiencing the "Rip Van Winkle" syndrome. Rip Van Winkle was away for 20 years (due to a very long nap) and returned home to find himself very confused and disconnected from the community and family once very familiar to him. I feel a bit like Rip some times after being away from home.

There is no better place to be in the whole world than around God’s precious people, particularly the ones you're called to as part of a local church family. They truly are the excellent ones. They are chosen ones so precious to God that he gave His Son for them. They are the regenerate ones, washed in the precious blood of Christ, counted righteous in the perfect God-man. They are the glorious ones who share in the Holy Spirit and eternal life. They are the ruling ones who will reign over all creation under Christ in the new heaven and earth. They are the lovely ones full of the love of Christ. They are my brothers and sisters and my friends. They are knit together with me by love into this local church body.

The rich and famous of this world have nothing on these folks. The leaders of the world don't compare to them. They are indeed God’s rich and famous. And to be around them is my amazing privilege.

I’m glad to be back home

My church family at a fireside gathering.

It's Only Just Begun

When the betrothed one is married to her beloved, the wedding day is not the end of it all; the putting on of the ring is the beginning, not the end. And so, when we believe in Jesus, we are saved, but we must not idly feel that "it is all done now." No, it has only begun. The life of dependence, the life of faith, the life of obedience, the life of love, the life of union has now begun, and it is to be continued forever.

Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892 via Jeff Haavisto

Gospel-Centered Parenting

I spoke at Grace Community Church this past Sunday. My good friend and overseeing pastor, Aron Osborne is the Senior Pastor of this church. They’ve invited me to share on “Parenting Teens: An Epic Adventure in Gospel-Centered Living”. This is certainly an area in which I have much to learn! I was glad to serve them by speaking on this topic. You can access the message here.

Preparing for this message brought fresh conviction on some areas I need to grow in as a parent. Peg and I have been discussing them and bringing some course corrections to our parenting. Thank God for fresh conviction and instruction from His word!

My preparation also made me aware that there are folks who are hungry for good gospel-centered parenting instruction and examples. So I put together a short list of resources. Please check them out and enjoy the life-changing fruit that God will give you as you depend on him in applying these truths!

God Bless,
Paul

1. Age of Opportunity – A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens – Paul Tripp
2. Shepherding a Child’s Heart – Tedd Tripp
3. Parents, Teens, and Reasonable Expectations – Grant Layman
4. Gospel- Centered Parenting – CJ Mahaney
5. Gospel Centered Parenting on the Web – Numerous Resources Here!

Expulsive Power of a New Affection

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15

"A moralist will be unsuccessful in trying to displace his love of the world by reviewing the ills of the world. Misplaced affections need to be replaced by the far greater power of the affection of the gospel."

Taken from the sermon The Expulsive Power of a New Affection by Thomas Chalmers 1780-1847 via Jeff Haavisto

Take a look at this excellent truth expounded in Thomas Chalmers sermon. Understanding this will change your pursuit of Christlikeness!

God Bless,
Paul

Together for the Gospel

Well, we had a fantastic week at Together for the Gospel 08. Thank God for this wonderful conference, the men who lead it and the 5000+ church leaders who participated in it.

Jeff Haavisto, Phil Lowther, Chris Knowles and I attended and were very encouraged by the excellent teaching, fantastic fellowship and wonderful corporate worship. We came back really jazzed. May God prosper us in these truths to give away what we received!

Bottom line lesson for me: By God's Grace Keep the Gospel Pure and It Will Keep Us for God, His People and His Purposes in love, joy and all the fruit of the Spirit.

Check out the messages here:

T4G 2008

Tuesday April 15 - Thursday April 17, 2008
Kentucky International Convention Center | Louisville, KY

Session I Ligon Duncan - Sound Doctrine – Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry | Play Now|Download

Session II Thabiti Anyabwile - Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church | Play Now | Download

Session III John MacArthur - The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability | Play Now | Download

Session IV Mark Dever - Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology | Play Now | Download

Session V RC Sproul - The Curse Motif of the Atonement | Play Now | Download

Session VI Albert Mohler - Why Do They Hate It So? The Doctrine of Substitution | Play Now | Download

Session VII John Piper - How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice | Play Now | Download

Session VIII CJ Mahaney - Sustaining a Pastor's Soul | Play Now | Download | |

The Insanity of Doubt

What I am telling you is that it easier for us humans to believe and trust in everything else than in the man Christ, who alone is all in all, and more difficult for us to rely on Him in whom and through whom we possess all things.

Taken from the sermon that Martin Luther preached on the fourth Sunday in Advent 1532 from my friend Jeff Haavisto

A Reader's Hebrew Bible

Zondervan has come out with a Readers Hebrew Bible. I plan to get one asap. Check out this post from Justin Taylor on this:

Here's some more information (and an offer at the end):

Ideal for Hebrew students and pastors, A Reader’s Hebrew Bible saves time and effort in studying the Hebrew Old Testament. By eliminating the need to look up definitions, the footnotes allow the user to read the Hebrew and Aramaic text more quickly, focusing on parsing and grammatical issues. A Reader’s Hebrew Bible offers the following features:

• Complete text of the Hebrew and Aramaic Bible using the Leningrad Codex (minus critical apparatus)
• Shaded Hebrew names that occur less than 100 times
• Footnoted definitions of all Hebrew words occurring 100 times or less (twenty-five or less for Aramaic words)
• Context-specific glosses
• Stem-specific glossed definitions for verb forms (Qal, Piel, Hiphil, and so forth)
• Ketib/Qere readings both noted in the text and differentiated appropriately
• Marker ribbon

Featuring a handsome Italian Duo-Tone™ binding, A Reader’s Hebrew Bible is a practical, attractive, and surprisingly affordable resource.

Page Count: 1680

Size: 7.2 wide x 9.9 high x 2.1 deep in. | 183 wide x 251 high x deep 53 mm
Weight: 3.26 lb | 1477 gms

Available: March, 2008
Publisher: Zondervan

To see some sample pages, click here.

And here's an offer from Zondervan for readers of this blog: they will send a complimentary copy ($49.99 retail) to the first five people who (1) post a link to the Amazon page for A Reader's Hebrew Bible, (2) agree to write a blog review about the book after receiving it, and (3) email chris (dot) fann (at) zondervan (dot) com.