Thursday, September 28, 2006
Acts 17:26
"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
ARDOR AND ORDER
I am hearing Christian leaders increasingly say that the contemporary church landscape is as bleak and barren as it was centuries ago on the eve of the Reformation.
Worldliness and doctrinal chaos abound in much of American church life today. Sound doctrine is out and entertainment is in. Fad-driven Christianity seems to be the order of the day.
Sound teaching is not the only pressing need, however. One can be as orthodox as the day is long, but what does it profit without a personal relationship with the living God? How crucial it is for Christians to be in a vital relationship with God in Christ--to be able to say with Paul of old, "I want to know Christ."
God is the rewarder of those who earnestly (not casually!) seek Him. It is also imperative that we hold on to and proclaim sound biblical doctrine. God's people should be characterized by spiritual ardor and biblical order.
May these dangerously exciting times find us seeking hard after God (Hebrews 11:6), even as we watch our life and doctrine carefully (1 Timothy 4:16). Let us wholeheartedly commit to knowing God’s Word and the God of the Word!
Worldliness and doctrinal chaos abound in much of American church life today. Sound doctrine is out and entertainment is in. Fad-driven Christianity seems to be the order of the day.
Sound teaching is not the only pressing need, however. One can be as orthodox as the day is long, but what does it profit without a personal relationship with the living God? How crucial it is for Christians to be in a vital relationship with God in Christ--to be able to say with Paul of old, "I want to know Christ."
God is the rewarder of those who earnestly (not casually!) seek Him. It is also imperative that we hold on to and proclaim sound biblical doctrine. God's people should be characterized by spiritual ardor and biblical order.
May these dangerously exciting times find us seeking hard after God (Hebrews 11:6), even as we watch our life and doctrine carefully (1 Timothy 4:16). Let us wholeheartedly commit to knowing God’s Word and the God of the Word!
Monday, September 25, 2006
Yikes, Are You A Heretic?!
Click on the link below (if you dare!) and take a test to determine whether your beliefs line up with orthodox Christianity. http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=131773PSALM 33:10-11
"The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations."Friday, September 22, 2006
WHAT PRAYER IS ... AND ISN'T
This article will surely challenge some presuppositions about prayer! Let me know if you agree or disagree with the author. Check it out: http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2006/09/what-prayer-is-and-isnt.htmlFriday, September 15, 2006
REFORMED THEOLOGY
I really like these words from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis (the church John Piper pastors). The words come from the church's statement on Reformed theology, which the Bethlehem Church staff wholeheartedly affirms.
"Our own struggle makes us patient with others who are on the way. We believe that all the wrestling to understand what the Bible teaches about God is worth it. God is a rock of strength in a world of quicksand. To know him in his sovereignty is to become like an oak tree in the wind of adversity and confusion. And along with strength is sweetness and tenderness beyond imagination. The sovereign Lion of Judah is the sweet Lamb of God."
PROSPERITY THEOLOGY
Click on the following link to learn more about how prosperity theology is affecting/infecting so many churches in our time. http://albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=772
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
QUOTABLE QUOTATIONS
"Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive." --C.S. Lewis
"Always forgive your enemies--nothing annoys them so much." --Oscar Wilde
"Judging from church attendance, heaven won't be packed with men." --Anonymous
"A Christian is a keyhole through which other folk see God." --Robert E. Gibson
Monday, September 04, 2006
ARRESTING WORDS
I encountered these arresting words in the September issue of Christianity Today. They come from an article about the Christian writer Dallas Willard.
"We're afraid to follow Jesus, because then we'd have to die and rise with him. We'd have to mortify our old self with its 'fondest lusts,' as Jonathan Edwards described them. Then we'd have to vivify Jesus' excellent virtues in their place. The truth is, we're mildly attracted to Jesus' virtues, but we're strongly attracted to our vices."
Wow, that is powerfully perceptive and spot on.
