Devotional/Study

I am beginning a devotional study of Reformed Theology with my daughter. The study will be a intro to Reformed Theology. I chose a book by RC Sproul.

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.



I was reading J. I. Packer's book Concise Theology and he wrote something that really hit home with me. It was in the chapter Humanness (page 71) which dealt with what it means to be human and man's role as the image bearer of God:

"The statement at the start of the Bible (Gen. 1:26-27, echoed in 5:1; 1 Cor. 11:7; James 3:9) that God made man in his own image, so that humans are like God as no other earthly creatures are, tells us that the special dignity of being human is that, as humans, we may reflect and reproduce at our own creaturely level the holy ways of God., and thus act as his direct representatives on earth. This is what humans are made to do, and in one sense we are human only to the extent that are doing it."

It made me think, "How well am I being "human" in the sense that Dr. Packer is speaking of?" The answer is I am not doing very well. I unceasingly fail to reproduce the holy ways of God.

May God grant me the ability to reproduce His holy ways.

RC

Machen's Zombie Halloween

"This is the great thing that even a bit of knowledge of history gives to anyone looking at the Emerg* crowd and all the wannabes and spin-offs and penumbrae. They present themselves as deep, nuanced, cutting-edge pioneers, when all they are for all the world are Machen's zombies. Machen (and his fellows) killed those errors dead eighty years ago; but here they are again, shambling about in search of fresh brains to devour."

Dan Phillips

The Gospel

"A Substitute has appeared in space and time, appointed by God Himself, to bear the weight and the burden of our transgressions, to make expiation for our guilt, and to propitiate the wrath of God on our behalf. This is the gospel."

R.C. Sproul

H.T.  Of First Importance

The Sweet Taste of Syrup

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“They enjoy breakfast more than the testimony of their salvation.”

John Calvin on the sometimes worldliness of his congregation on Sunday morning.

H.T.  Kevin DeYoung

The Gospel in 5 Minutes

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.


H.T. Triablogue

God's Story vs. other gods' stories

H.T.:  Take Your Vitamin Z

Mohler Speaking the Truth Regarding Homosexuality

What is the Great Commision?

Keller Generous Justice Interview

DG Interview with Tim Keller regarding his new book Generous Justice.

In Christ Alone!

Saved From Who

"That we are shocked by the idea that we are saved from God reveals two crucial shortcomings in our understanding. We fail to understand who God is, and we fail to understand who we are. Our view of God is too low, and our view of mankind is too high".

- R.C. Sproul, Saved From What?, p. 27.

H.T.  Take Your Vitamin Z

Saving Leonardo

I am really excited about Nancy Pearcey's new book  You can learn more about her at The Pearcey Report.  Tim Challies posted:

"In Saving Leonardo, best-selling award-winning author Nancy Pearcey (Total Truth, coauthor How Now Shall We Live?) makes a compelling case that secularism is destructive and dehumanizing."

Looks like a good resource.

Is she right?

"The column by Kathleen Parker is yet another signpost of the current age and the worldview of the secularized classes. In their view, what evangelicals believe about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is just out of bounds and embarrassing.

But, she tells her readers, don’t worry — younger evangelicals are going to put that belief far behind them.

Is she right?"

Dr. Mohler commenting on an article by Kathleen Parker entitled 'The quest to sort out competing and comparable religions.'

Is she right? 

Who Needs Doctrine?

“When you say, ‘I don’t care about doctrine, it’s how you live that matters,’ you are ironically promoting the doctrine of justification by works. You are proposing that what God really wants is a good life. The response can be similar when someone claims that it doesn’t matter which religion you belong to, because all religions are alike and no one should be held to a particular doctrine of God. Yet that assumes that God is not holy, and that He does not hold people responsible for how they live. In other words, to say, ‘no one should be held to a particular view of God’ is to assume and promote a particular view of God. To say, ‘doctrine about God doesn’t matter’ is itself a statement of doctrine about God – and therefore it does matter! So Martyn Lloyd-Jones concludes: “It is no use your saying, ‘We are not interested in doctrine; we are concerned about life’; if your doctrine is wrong, your life will be wrong.“

... Tim Keller

H.T. Renewing Thoughts

Grace - Non Flammable

[Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace?, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 45.]

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods' appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace.

After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law -- each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional.

And Another Thing

 * Be at peace with one another. Mk. 9:50

* Wash one another's feet. Jn. 13:14

* Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Jn. 13:34

* Love one another with brotherly affection. Rom. 12:10

* Outdo one another in showing honor. Rom. 12:10

* Live in harmony with one another. Rom. 12:16

* Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. Rom. 15:7

* Greet one another with a holy kiss. Rom 16:16, 2 Cor. 13:12

* Wait for one another. 1 Cor. 11:33

* Comfort one another, agree with one another. 2 Co. 13:11

* Through love serve one another. Gal. 5:13

* Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Gal. 6:2

* Bear with one another in love. Eph. 4:2

* Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Eph. 4:32

* Address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Eph. 5:19

* Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph. 5:21

* Do not lie to one another. Col. 3:9

* Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. Col. 3:13

* Teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. Col. 3:16

* Encourage one another. 1 Th. 4:18 , Heb. 10:25

* Encourage one another and build one another up. 1 Th. 5:11

* Always seek to do good to one another. 1 Th. 5:15

* Exhort one another every day. Heb. 3:13

* Stir up one another to love and good works. Heb. 10:24

* Do not speak evil against one another. Jas. 4:11

* Do not grumble against one another. Jas. 5:9

* Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another. Jas. 5:16

* Love one another earnestly from a pure heart. 1 Pe. 1:22

* Keep loving one another earnestly. 1 Pe. 4:8

* Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Pe. 4:9

* Serve one another. 1 Pe. 4:10

* Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. 1 Pe. 5:5

* Greet one another with the kiss of love. 1 Pe. 5:14

* Love one another. 1 Jn. 3:11, 1 Jn. 3:23, 1 Jn. 4:7, 1 Jn. 4:12, 2 Jn. 1:5

H.T.  The Z Man

Preaching and Teaching

Team Pyro first turned me on to the preaching and teaching of S. Lewis Johnson.  You should give it a look.  It is quite edifying.

Kinda Christianity

Frank Turk of the Pyromaniacs wants you to purchase the new book 'Kinda Christianity.'

"I bring it up because I wrote the forward, and because we get more readers here at TeamPyro on Wednesday than Zach gets at his blog in any given year, and because Ted and Zach need your help. They want this thing to go completely viral, completely "The Shack". Except in a wholly-orthodox and Gospel-centered way. And maybe as Oprah's book of the month."

NOT WHAT MY HANDS HAVE DONE

"By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2: 8-9

 

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;

Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.

Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;

Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

 

Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;

Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.

No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;

No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

 

I praise the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;

And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.

My Lord has saved my life and freely pardon gives;

I love because He first loved me, I live because He lives.

 

Horatius Bonar, 1861

 

H.T.  Reformation Ink