The devil’s sage advice to his apprentice in C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters:
What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of what I call ‘Christianity And.’ You know–Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychical Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform…Substitute for the faith itself some Fashion with a Christian colouring. Work on their horror of the Same Old Thing. The horror of the Same Old Thing is one of the most valuable passions we have produced in the human heart–an endless source of heresies in religion, folly in counsel, infidelity in marriage, an inconstancy in friendship. (quoted by Michael Horton in Always Reformed: Essays in Honor of Robert Godfrey)
Romans 8:28
Friday, November 19, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
A Great Quote From Richard Baxter
“Unpardoned sin will never let us rest or prosper, though we be at ever so much care and cost to cover it: our sin will surely find us out, though we find not it out. The work of confession is purposely to make known our sin, and freely to take the shame to ourselves; and if ‘he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy,’ no wonder if ‘he that covereth them shall not prosper.’ If we be so tender of ourselves, and so loath to confess, God will be the less tender of us, and he will indite our confessions for us. He will either force our consciences to confession, or his judgments shall proclaim our iniquities to the world.” Richard Baxter The Reformed Pastor
Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28
Monday, April 5, 2010
Christianity is.........
American style Christianity can't be what Paul had in mind when He wrote:
"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:8-11 ESV)
Can it?
Romans 8:28
"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:8-11 ESV)
Can it?
Romans 8:28
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Danger of Forgetting
I have just began reading THE GREAT EXCHANGE by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington. The foreword was written by Sinclair Ferguson, and in it he wrote of the similarities the Church of Luther's day has with the western Church of today. Here is an excerpt from the foreword:
"The church of the Middle Ages was marked by several obvious characteristics. There was a strong emphasis on influence and power. One index of this was the way in which church leaders sought -- and gained -- social and political leverage and enjoyed having a voice at the table of the affairs of this world. Another was the rise of what we call 'megachurches' (which they called "cathederals"). Here well-known and influential pastors (whom they called "bishops") exercised great influence in their society. The model to which young ministers were encouraged to aspire was not faithfulness to the gospel, but success. In these churches the "quality of worship" was thought to be outstanding (stunning acoustics, magnificent musical performances beyond the ordinary). It was also a world where the image dominated the Word, where people -- so it was thought -- would not listen to preaching, and so drama became the order of the day, whether in the colorful liturgy of the services or in the famed medieval mystery plays. And, to some degree, if one wanted health, wealth, and (especially eternal) happiness, these, too, the church could provide, for it had men who possessed charismatic gifts. Indeed, from the extraordinary power in their hands one could receive forgiveness, and from them, or at least from objects they possessed, one could seek even physical healing.
But something was sadly absent from all of this, as Luther, who was once part of the whole system well knew. The true message of the cross was lacking, and it's true meaning obscured."
I find Sinclair Ferguson's insights to be rather profound and the comparisons of the modern western church to the church of Luther's day to be convicting. The modern church in the west has forgotten it's church history, and thus we are repeating it's errors from days gone by. It looks cooler and is more cutting edge, but it's as empty and void of the true gospel as any Catholic liturgy ever could be.
Romans 8:28
__________________
"The church of the Middle Ages was marked by several obvious characteristics. There was a strong emphasis on influence and power. One index of this was the way in which church leaders sought -- and gained -- social and political leverage and enjoyed having a voice at the table of the affairs of this world. Another was the rise of what we call 'megachurches' (which they called "cathederals"). Here well-known and influential pastors (whom they called "bishops") exercised great influence in their society. The model to which young ministers were encouraged to aspire was not faithfulness to the gospel, but success. In these churches the "quality of worship" was thought to be outstanding (stunning acoustics, magnificent musical performances beyond the ordinary). It was also a world where the image dominated the Word, where people -- so it was thought -- would not listen to preaching, and so drama became the order of the day, whether in the colorful liturgy of the services or in the famed medieval mystery plays. And, to some degree, if one wanted health, wealth, and (especially eternal) happiness, these, too, the church could provide, for it had men who possessed charismatic gifts. Indeed, from the extraordinary power in their hands one could receive forgiveness, and from them, or at least from objects they possessed, one could seek even physical healing.
But something was sadly absent from all of this, as Luther, who was once part of the whole system well knew. The true message of the cross was lacking, and it's true meaning obscured."
I find Sinclair Ferguson's insights to be rather profound and the comparisons of the modern western church to the church of Luther's day to be convicting. The modern church in the west has forgotten it's church history, and thus we are repeating it's errors from days gone by. It looks cooler and is more cutting edge, but it's as empty and void of the true gospel as any Catholic liturgy ever could be.
Romans 8:28
__________________
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Second Worst Day of my Life
Two years ago today the doctor gave us the terrible news that my dad's cancer was not only back, it was terminal. Five days later he was in heaven (that was the worst day of my life BTW). I miss him terribly and wish everyday that I could talk with him, and get his advice on any number of subjects. Life doesn't soften it's blows, but those blows are softened by God's grace and the hope that is particular to those who are the children of the most High God.
Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)