World Magazine on The Da Vinci Code

I have not been teaching in depth regarding the Da Vinci Code controversy, but the conversations that we have been having about Gnosticism and the authority of Scripture have been fascinating. Some of you wanted some resources, so I have linked to the recent articles that World Magazine has published on the book/movie. Here are the articles:
Onward Gnostic Soldier by Marvin Olasky
The Da Vinci Phenomenon by Gene Edward Veith
The Da Vinci Code by Andrew Coffin
Busted Blockbuster by Gene Edward Veith
The Puzzle of Life by Gene Edward Veith

There is another article that is related to this controversy that you should also check out, especially if you are interested in learning more about Gnosticism:
Return of the Cainites by Gene Edward Veith

The Slippery Slope re:Abortion

You should read this column by Kathleen Parker. I do not agree with every thing that she says - but she is correct in that abortions around the world are becoming less restrictive and being used more for convenience sake than ever before.
May God change our hearts to value life and honor Him above all things.

Comfort

comfort(Merriam-Webster): Function: noun
1 a: strengthening aid : ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT b: consolation in time of trouble or worry : SOLACE
2 a: a feeling of relief or encouragement b: contented well-being
3 : a satisfying or enjoyable experience
4 : one that gives or brings comfort
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After thinking more about the article on adoption (see previous post) I am aware of the amazing fact that God knows me (all of me - good, bad, and ugly), still hears my prayers and evens answers them. I am amazed that He cares enough to have a plan for my future and that He is in control of that plan. I am amazed that He is committed to His glory - and that is good for me (more than anything else in the world).
So often I am like Russell Moore (see the article on adoption - especially the 4th paragraph) - I am frustrated because nothing seems to be "working," while all the time God has a plan that He is working out for me that is greater than I could ever ask for or imagine. That is comfort.

Adoption - Don't Miss This

I talk about adoption alot... in a theological sense. I have never been adopted in an earthly sense, nor have I adopted, but my spiritual adoption is very real. The Father, who was my enemy because of my sin, has made me His child - adopted me into His family - and made me His own.
Read this -- you'll see what I mean.

[HatTip: Justin Taylor]

Longing for THIS to be the cry of my heart!

Gracious Lord, incline thy ear;
My requests vouchsafe to hear;
Hear my never-ceasing cry;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Wealth and honor I disdain,
Earthly comforts, Lord are vain;
These can never satisfy:
Give me Christ, or else I die.

refrain:
All unholy and unclean,
I am nothing else but sin;
On thy mercy I rely;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost freely save the lost;
In thy grace alone I trust.
With my earnest suit comply;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost promise to forgive
All who in thy Son believe;
Lord, I know thou canst not lie;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

-- "Christ, Or Else I Die"
Taken from the Gadsby Hymnal # 737
Words - William Hammond, 1719-1783

You can listen to a sample of the Red Mountain folks singing these lyrics at this link.

God's Book of Grace

Sorry that I have been gone from the blog for a while. I'm trying to get back into it. Here are some profound and encouraging words from John Bunyan regarding the Holy Scripture:

God’s book of “grace” is just like his book of nature; it is his thoughts written out. This great book, the Bible, this most precious volume is the heart of God made legible; it is the gold of God’s love, beaten out into gold leaf, so that therewith our thoughts might be plated, and we also might have golden, good, and holy thoughts concerning him.

Have you ever been accused of being too "Atonement-centered"?

HERE is a link to an article by Mark Dever, a pastor in Washington, D.C. In this article he addresses the fact that our only hope in this life and for all eternity is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins - thereby rescuing us from eternal death.

There is nothing more important to the Christian that the cross of Jesus Christ. I am writing this on Good Friday. The past two weeks have been very busy for me (as you can tell by the fact that I have ignored this blog completely) - but the fact that we are celebrating Easter this weekend and focusing on the death of Christ TODAY reminds me that all the busyness of life is worth it. I have the privilege of being employed to inform & remind people that they need a Savior and that THERE IS ONE! That is why Good Friday is so GREAT! God became flesh and died in my place simply because He loved me. The agony that He suffered on the cross and the brutality of crucifixion tempt us into thinking that this day should be full of mourning, but Sunday reminds us that His death was not fatal! It is only because of the fact that He died and rose again that we have any hope. He did those things - and that's what makes Good Friday so great.

Mark Dever finishes his article with these words (and I encourage you to follow the link above and read the entire article):

In C. J. Mahaney's new book, Living the Cross Centered Life (Multnomah, 2006), he shares with us his advice to his young son, Chad. "This is what I hold out to my young son as the hope of his life: that Jesus, God's perfect, righteous Son, died in his place for his sins. Jesus took all the punishment; Jesus received all the wrath as he hung on the Cross, so people like Chad and his sinful daddy could be completely forgiven." Like Chad, we would do well to accept our guilt and admire God's grace, to let the Holy Spirit encourage us by the Savior's self-denying love to follow his example, and to savor God's love to us in this almost incredible sacrifice.

Have a Great Friday - and Happy Easter!

[HatTip: Justin Taylor]

Learning From History...

Click HERE to read the article that we talked about in SS this morning. [HatTip: WorldMagBlog]

Remember that while we are thankful that God has seen to keep our church faithful to Him and to the Bible, we must continue to depend on Him and constantly remind ourselves of the Gospel which teaches us that we are ALL sinful and in need of a Savior - and that we have One, Jesus Christ.

If you are interested in Presbyterian church history, here are a few items to check out:

• I Am Reminded by Kennedy Smartt - This is a first-hand account of the beginnings of the PCA by one of the men that was there from the beginning. (This book is in our church library.)
• A BRIEF HISTORY of the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA -- from the PCA Website.
• The Wikipedia page on the PCA -- has some good links about the PCUS and other history.
• Living History of the Presbyterian Church in America, by Jerry Kornegay - this item is available from the PCA Historical Center.
• On Being Presbyterian by Sean Michael Lewis -- This is a new book that is still on my "need-to-read" list, but the author is a church history professor at Covenant Theological Seminary.

Good News On A Monday Morning!

“When God is your Father, He never stops being your Father. To put it in theological language, not only is your justification (being saved) by grace, your sanctification (becoming more like Christ) is by grace too. The trouble is that most Christians think they’re saved by grace but grow by sweat. Many of us believe that when we were saved, God took our slate filled with sin and rebellion and wiped it clean. That’s a lie…Listen! God took our slate and He broke it in pieces and threw it away. He does not deal with His family by keeping track on a slate of how we are doing. The slate is irrelevant because of the blood of Christ.” Steve Brown, When Being Good Isn’t Good Enough

This quote came to me this morning via Graced Again. You can sign up for regular words of encouragement at their website.

Resources

The sermon from Sunday on adultery and lust may have you looking for resources for yourself or someone else. Here are some ideas:

Setting Captives Free - free online courses on a myriad of addictive issues such as sexual purity, food issues, substance abuse, and gambling from a God-centered perspective.

Books I recommend:
Sex is Not the Problem (Lust Is) by Joshua Harris - a great, Christ-centered, easy-to-read resource for anyone wanting to understand the problems that sexual sin pose.

Sex and the Supremacy of Christ edited by John Piper & Justin Taylor - broader in scope than Josh Harris' book. The chapters are based on lectures given at the Desiring God Conference in 2004. It also comes with a DVD of John Piper giving his two lectures - good stuff!

Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle - general advice for young men, including how to keep your hearts pure from pride and the love of pleasure. Good for men of all ages.

The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard - a re-writing of John Owen's Indwelling Sin for modern readers. It's great concerning the power of our sinful nature and how sin is defeated in our hearts. Highly recommended.

The Room

I am preparing to preach on Matthew 5:27-30 this Sunday. This is the passage on Adultery and Lust. As I was reading, I came across this short story by Josh Harris. We all have need for repentance and forgiveness regarding our lustful hearts -- as well as sins of an infinite variety. This story reminds us of our hope.

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features save for the one wall covered with small index-card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endlessly in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I Have Liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one.

And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match.... (Continue reading by clicking HERE.)

A Baptism Prayer

When we baptized Amelia and Luke a few weeks ago Anna sang this hymn during the offertory. It is a baptism hymn which serves as a prayer for our children. It's beautiful and I encourage you to use it as you pray for our covenant children – no matter their age!

Gracious Savior, gentle Shepherd,
Our little ones are dear to Thee;
Gathered with Thine arms and carried
In Thy bosom may they be
Sweetly, gently, safely tended,
From all want and danger free.

Tender Shepherd, never leave them
From Thy fold to go astray;
By Thy look of love directed,
May they walk the narrow way;
Thus direct them, and protect them,
Lest they fall an easy prey.

Let Thy holy Word instruct them:
Fill their minds with heav'nly light;
Let Thy love and grace constrain them,
To approve whate'’er is right,
Take Thine easy yoke and wear it,
And to prove Thy burden light.

Cleanse their hearts from sinful folly
In the stream Thy love supplied;
Mingled streams of blood and water
Flowing from Thy wounded side;
And to heav'’nly pastures lead them,
Where Thine own still waters glide.

by Jane Leeson, 1842

The God of Grace

I was reading, praying and preparing for my sermon this morning and came across the following prayer in "“The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions."” If you have not gotten your hands on this collection of prayers I encourage you to do so --– it'’s incredible. We are using part of the following prayer as our preparation for worship this Sunday, but I thought you would benefit from reading the entire prayer.

O God of grace,
Teach me to know that grace precedes, accompanies,
and follows my salvation; that it sustains the redeemed soul,
that not one link of its chain can ever break!

From Calvary's cross, wave upon wave of grace . . .
reaches me,
deals with my sin,
washes me clean,
renews my heart,
strengthens my will,
draws out my affection,
kindles a flame in my soul,
rules throughout my inner man,
consecrates my every thought, word, work,
teaches me Your immeasurable love.

How great are my privileges in Christ Jesus!
Without Him I stand far off, a stranger, an outcast.
In Him I draw near and touch His kingly scepter!
Without Him I dare not lift up my guilty eyes.
In Him I gaze upon my Father-God and friend!
Without Him I hide my lips in trembling shame.
In Him I open my mouth in petition and praise!
Without Him all is wrath and consuming fire.
In Him is all love, and the repose of my soul!
Without Him is gaping hell below me, and eternal anguish.
In Him its gates are barred to me by His precious blood!
Without Him darkness spreads its horrors before me.
In Him an eternity of glory is my boundless horizon!
Without Him all within me is terror and dismay.
In Him every accusation is charmed into joy and peace!
Praise be to You for grace, and for the unspeakable gift of Jesus!
"The Valley of Vision" is published by The Banner of Truth.

The Epitome of Sad

Justin Taylor posted the following yesterday on his blog:

This has to be one of the saddest stories I've read in a while. The BBC reports that a woman in Scotland sought to abort her twins. Unbeknownst to the mother or to the doctors, one of the babies survived the attempted murder. So now the mother is suing the hospital for compensation, seeking damages for the "financial burden" of raising the child.

"I have got a child now that I wasn't planning to have and I believe the hospital should take some responsibility for that," she said.

"They should have known, or at least warned me, that I might still be pregnant when I left. It has totally changed my life and my parents' lives.

(My emphasis.)

"I still don't know if, or what, I am going to tell Jayde when the time comes. Maybe when she is nine or 10 I will sit her down and explain it to her."

Try to imagine that conversation. Then weep at the depravity. Then realize that we would act in such a murderous, self-centered way but for the grace of God. May we cling to the cross, and cry out to God for both mercy and justice. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

I agree.

Piper on Not Wasting Your Cancer

"Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, 'Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord'(Hosea 6:3). "
-- John Piper

This quote is from an article that Piper wrote on the eve of his cancer surgery. You can read the entire article here.

Keller on Becoming a Christian

"We are not converted by faith in God in general or a spiritual experience of some vague sort or by subscribing to doctrinal truth in general. We are converted, spiritually reborn, when (a) we hear the work of Christ expounded to us, so that (b) we are awakened and convicted that we have been seeking to complete ourselves through our own work, so we (c) transfer our trust from our works to Christ's work." -- Tim Keller

Out of My Bondage (Jesus, I Come)

This past Sunday we discussed briefly the fact that Jesus’ healing ministry ultimately served the purpose of revealing to people that He possessed the power to meet their eternal needs as well as their earthly needs. Our greatest need is that we are sinners who need a Savior -- and our broken bodies, relationships, finances, etc. serve to remind us of that fact.

We sang a hymn a few weeks that expresses the rescuing nature of Christ’s saving work. This hymn was written in 1887 by W.T. Sleeper -- it is still true today.

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus, I come; Jesus I come.
Into Thy freedom, gladness and light, Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of my sickness into Thy health,
Out of my wanting and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself, Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of my shameful failure and loss, Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross, Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of earth’s sorrows into Thy balm,
Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress into jubilant psalm, Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of unrest and arrogant pride, Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into Thy blessed will to abide, Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
Out of despair into raptures above,
Upward forever on wings like a dove, Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of the fear and dread of the tomb, Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into the joy and light of Thy home, Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of the depths of ruin untold,
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
Ever Thy glorious face to behold, Jesus, I come to Thee.

May we all run to Jesus!

Luke, The Young One

Here is Luke -- not content to let his big brother get all the attention.
Luke will be 8 weeks old tomorrow.
I'm very curious to see what his personality will turn out like but, there is one thing we know -- HE IS CUTE! (and I am biased!)

Andrew, The Clean One

This is Andrew. Andrew is 22 months old. Andrew loves to be clean.

Andrew cannot stand to have anything on his hands (except ketchup & chocolate, which he likes to lick off) or his clothes or the table around his plate... Sometimes I wish that he would just go jump in a mud puddle (and I know the day is coming when I will probably beg him to be clean). Sometimes I call him "little Monk"!

As much as Andrew loves to be clean, lately he has not been enjoying actually taking a bath. Oh, he loves getting in the tub and playing in the water. It's the scrubbing part that he actually has come to dislike. Andrew loves the appearance of being clean, but the process to get there is what seems unpleasant at times.

I am like that as well. I love the appearance of holiness and I am really good at appearing holy on the outside. While I long to be really clean I hate going through the process of getting there. Being holy often means giving up things that I would like to hang on to (even though I know better). Being holy means admitting that I have messed up, offended people, done stupid stuff or hurt those that I love.

When God moves me through the process of being made clean it means having to admit that I am dirty. That is not pleasant, but it is necessary. Without acknowledging the need for cleansing and submitting myself to being made clean, I will never get there. The good news is that God is committed to my holiness -- to the point that He sent His Son to be holy for me and to become dirty for me, so that I could be found clean.
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"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." -- Matthew 23:25-28 (ESV)

Piper Books for FREE!!!

You probably know by now that John Piper is my favorite author.
Many of his books are available on-line for free! You can read them here.
I would recommend starting with Desiring God, although Don't Waste Your Life is an easier (and shorter) read.
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I personally like to have a book in my hands as I read. It is easier on my eyes and I take notes and write comments in the margins and all over the page. Al Mohler writes in this post at the TFG blog that we need to "learn to have a conversation with the book, pen in hand." I agree -- it helps me learn!