The Truth will Set you Free

"I believe all religions are the same."

2012-01-30T05:16:00.000-05:00

Listen in as Ray Comfort shares the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Cat down on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA.

John Piper - How God gives peace on earth

2012-01-27T03:55:00.000-05:00

A Savior Is Born! Glory to God, Peace to Man
Luke 2: 1-20

The Greatness of Being a Slave (Mark 10:35-45) John MacArthur

2012-01-26T03:51:00.001-05:00

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/41-54

Open your Bible to Mark chapter 10 verses 35 through 45, next to the last section in chapter 10 and tonight we'll wrap it up in the final section. This message in verses 35 to 45 may seem a little bit like an echo because our Lord is working on communicating a very important spiritual truth to His disciples and they are fighting against it, resisting what He is endeavoring to teach.

We really would almost start our understanding of this section by going back to chapter 9 for a moment and verse 33. Still at the end of the ministry in Galilee, they came to Capernaum. He was in the house and He began to question them...what were you discussing on the way? But they kept silent for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. "Sitting down He called the Twelve and said to them, 'If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.'"

Just a few weeks ago when we talked about that, and it's just a few weeks later in the life of our Lord and His disciples as they are about to enter in to Jerusalem for His death and resurrection that the subject is addressed again. And I hate to tell you, but this won't be the last time either. The subject will come up during the Passion Week. It will still be on their minds when they are at the Last Supper, the night of our Lord's betrayal. Luke 22:24, "There arose a dispute among them as to which of them was regarded to be the greatest. And He said to them, 'The king of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors, but it is not this way with you that the one who is the greatest among you must become like the least and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table, but I am among you as one who serves.'"...

Slaves for Christ, Pt. 2 (John MacArthur)

2012-01-25T03:49:00.000-05:00

We're going to turn to a subject in the New Testament that as I think about it is largely ignored and overlooked. And I've been made aware of that in recent months. It was not too many months ago that I was flying on one of those jumbo jets from Los Angeles to London, in the process reading a book that dealt with the issue of slavery in the New Testament time and in the New Testament text. It set me thinking in all kinds of directions. I actually finished the book on the flight I was so rapt in my attention to this particular theme.

Being a slave of Christ may be the best way to define a Christian. We are, as believers, slaves of Christ. You would never suspect that, however, from the language of Christianity. In contemporary Christianity the language is anything but slave language. It is about freedom. It is about liberation. It is about health, wealth, prosperity, finding your own fulfillment, fulfilling your own dream, finding your own purpose. We often hear that God loves you unconditionally and wants you to be all you want to be. He wants to fulfill every ambition, every desire, every hope, every dream. In fact, there are books being written about dreams as if they are gifts from God which God then having given them is bound to fulfill. Personal fulfillment, personal liberation, personal satisfaction, all bound up in an old term in evangelical Christianity, a personal relationship. How many times have we heard that the gospel offers people a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

Slaves for Christ, Pt. 1 (John MacArthur)

2012-01-24T03:44:00.000-05:00

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/80-321

We're going to turn to a subject in the New Testament that as I think about it is largely ignored and overlooked. And I've been made aware of that in recent months. It was not too many months ago that I was flying on one of those jumbo jets from Los Angeles to London, in the process reading a book that dealt with the issue of slavery in the New Testament time and in the New Testament text. It set me thinking in all kinds of directions. I actually finished the book on the flight I was so rapt in my attention to this particular theme.

Being a slave of Christ may be the best way to define a Christian. We are, as believers, slaves of Christ. You would never suspect that, however, from the language of Christianity. In contemporary Christianity the language is anything but slave language. It is about freedom. It is about liberation. It is about health, wealth, prosperity, finding your own fulfillment, fulfilling your own dream, finding your own purpose. We often hear that God loves you unconditionally and wants you to be all you want to be. He wants to fulfill every ambition, every desire, every hope, every dream. In fact, there are books being written about dreams as if they are gifts from God which God then having given them is bound to fulfill. Personal fulfillment, personal liberation, personal satisfaction, all bound up in an old term in evangelical Christianity, a personal relationship. How many times have we heard that the gospel offers people a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

Bible Review: "The Names of God Bible"

2012-01-23T15:18:00.000-05:00

"The Names of GodBible" (NGB) uses "God's WordTranslation" (GWT) as its base text. This is a relatively newtranslation from 1995 employing a translation method they describe as “closestnatural equivalence” to express the meaning of the original text. Thisphilosophy focuses on what the translators define as readability with an aim tomirror the structure common to our everyday day English, using grammar andpunctuation that they feel contemporary readers would be most familiar with.

GWT is essentially a dynamicequivalent translation that is too interpretive for word for word study.Conceptually this seems strange for a Bible that aims for greater specificityindicating the names of God in their original languages throughout. Forfeitedis an accurate word for word translation for more of a thought for thought. Theindividual authors writing style and choice of words is sacrificed. What ismost lacking are the theological wordsthat would enable meaningful short hand discussion. Gone are words such as covenant, grace,justify, repent, resurrection and righteousness. These are serious omissions.Gone as well is the clear teaching of the doctrine of justification byreplacing the translation of all of the different Greek words behind"justify," "righteousness," "reckoned,""imputed," "accredited," and "propitiation" withone catch-all word, "approval."

People can be seriously misleadby inaccurate translations of verseslike James 2:24 that read:"You see that a person received God's approval because of what he does,not only because of what he believes". There is a radicalmisrepresentation of Justification by faith alone when one is promised Gods"approval based on what one does in such places like Rom. 4:16,20, 9:30,32, 10:6, 11:20,Gal. 3:22, 5:5; and Heb. 11. The result is misrepresenting justification as the"cause" instead of the "medium" through which saving faithcomes.

Beyond the dangerous misrepresentationsin the translation, NGB indicates more than 10,000 occurrences of at least 121names (or titles of God) such as Yahweh, El Shadday, El Elyon, and Adonay. They state that this purpose is "to helpreaders connect with the Hebrew roots of their Christian faith and experience adeeper understanding of God's character". To do this the names arehighlighted in brown ink to stand out within the biblical text.

Yet, there are instances wherethe original renderings are not clear enough. Such an example includes the GWTrendering of “Lord of Hosts” (‘YahwehSabaoth’). As ‘hosts’ could accurately be described as a reference toangelic beings, i.e. the hosts of heaven, GWT has chosen to translate thisphrase “Lord of Armies,”. Unfortunately, there are no explanation that thesearmies are the armies of heaven and not the armies of men which can lead tosignificant misunderstanding.

Ann Spangler developed the Name pages, bookintroductions, Calling God by name sidebars and topical prayer guide. Helpfullistings include an alphabetical list of names and titles of God, pronunciationguide to these names and titles, names of God reading path system, topicalprayer guide, table, and fast track reading plan for the names of God, as wellas a name index and general reading plan.

The Names of God Bible is helpfulas a reference tool to quickly see the names of God and explanations forfurther insight, but the Bible as a whole is not very useful as either a studytool providing word-for word-precision, not as a study Bible having much of theneeded basis background commentary or helpful study additions. Theintroductions to each book are brief. Absent are links like maps, concordances,and other common reference tools.

Product Information

Format: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 1760
Vendor: Revell
Publication Date: 2011

Dimensions: 8.50 X 5.75 X 2.00 (inches)
ISBN: 080071931X
ISBN-13: 9780800719319

"Bible has been providedcourtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of BakerPublishing Group".

Sermon Audio: Genesis 2:18-24. "What's a Family For?"

2012-01-23T10:41:00.000-05:00

http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzMjczMzMxMzA*MDMmcHQ9MTMyNzMzMzEzNDU2NSZwPTEzNjgyMSZkPSZnPTEmbz1hNTM*OTVlY2UwMzM*YWNjOTNl/NGE1Yzg4OGIxZDJmZSZvZj*w.gif" />http://sermon.net/swf/ma.swf" quality="high" width="290" height="65" name="mpp" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="poid=119806026&d=http://www.sermon.net/" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">>

Series : Genesis
Scripture : Genesis 2:18-24

God specifies the purpose of a family in the Genesis account through: 1)The Problem (Genesis 2:18-20), 2) The Provision (Genesis 2:21-23), and 3) The Portrait (Genesis 2:24) of what a Family is for.

John Piper - Serve each other in marriage

2012-01-20T06:05:00.000-05:00

"Lionhearted and Lamblike: The Christian Husband as Head, Part 1"
Ephesians 5:21-33

Death and Life Are in the Power of the Tongue

2012-01-19T06:14:00.005-05:00

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, says Proverbs. Early on in the marriage, Grace shared a secret with Pastor Mark from her past. As he confesses, his response to her was not biblical, loving, or gracious, and his words often brought death and not life in the marriage. Subsequently, Pastor Mark's heart became bitter and in his preaching, he adopted a harsher, more chauvinistic tone, for which he repents and asks forgiveness.

This clip is excerpted from the sermon "New Marriage, Same Spouse," part 1 of Mars Hill Church's Real Marriage sermon series, based off the book of the same name by Pastor Mark and Grace Driscoll. It was preached by Pastor Mark at Mars Hill Downtown Bellevue and released on January 15.

Watch the full sermon here: http://marshill.com/media/real-marriage/new-marriage-same-spouse
For more on the Real Marriage book, campaign, and tour, visit:
http://pastormark.tv/campaigns/real-marriage

When Your Spouse Has Been an Assault Victim

2012-01-18T06:13:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, after 18 years together, Pastor Mark learned for the first time that Grace had been a victim of sexual assault in a previous relationship—although she had never identified herself as a victim and connected her story to the reality of what had happened to her. It was devastating to hear and at the same time explained the root cause of much of the barriers to friendship and intimacy they had in their marriage.

This clip is excerpted from the sermon "New Marriage, Same Spouse," part 1 of Mars Hill Church's Real Marriage sermon series, based off the book of the same name by Pastor Mark and Grace Driscoll. It was preached by Pastor Mark at Mars Hill Downtown Bellevue and released on January 15.

Watch the full sermon here: http://marshill.com/media/real-marriage/new-marriage-same-spouse
For more on the Real Marriage book, campaign, and tour, visit:
http://pastormark.tv/campaigns/real-marriage

Why Did Pastor Mark and Grace Write Real Marriage?

2012-01-17T11:12:00.000-05:00

Pastor Mark and Grace led by example, writing a book that openly and honestly examines their own sin and God's redemption in their own marriage.

This clip is excerpted from the sermon "New Marriage, Same Spouse," part 1 of Mars Hill Church's Real Marriage sermon series, based off the book of the same name by Pastor Mark and Grace Driscoll. It was preached by Pastor Mark at Mars Hill Downtown Bellevue and released on January 15.

Watch the full sermon here: http://marshill.com/media/real-marriage/new-marriage-same-spouse
For more on the Real Marriage book, campaign, and tour, visit:
http://pastormark.tv/campaigns/real-marriage

Sermon: "Forbidden". Genesis 2:18-24

2012-01-15T21:44:00.001-05:00

The brief account of God's direction to Adam in the garden of Eden as recorded in Genesis 2:15-17 is instructive to us in establishing a dominion mandate for every generation that has followed him, In this account we see: 1) God's Commission (Genesis 2:15), 2) God's Commandment (Genesis 2:16) 3) God's Caution (Genesis 2:17)

Audio & text link:
http://www.sermoncentral.com/contributors/matthew-kratz-sermons-37284.asp

Why the Bible Is Our Highest Authority

2012-01-13T06:18:00.000-05:00

We've all got someone or something that is the highest authority in our life, and sometimes that's the three-pound brain between our ears. At Mars Hill, our authority is the Bible, and we begin with the assumption that it is always truthful—not that that means it's a book that's always easy to understand.

This clip is of Pastor Mark preaching at Mars Hill Portland, and is excerpted from the sermon, "All Things to All People," a road trip led by Pastor Mark through a handful of Mars Hill churches as he preaches out of 1 Corinthians 9 on what it means to be church's devoted to God's mission to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations.

Watch the full sermon here: http://marshill.com/media/gods-work-our-witness/all-things-to-all-people

For more on the authority of the Bible, check out the sermons "Trial and Scripture" from Trail series preached out of 1 and 2 Peter,http://marshill.com/media/trial/trial-and-scripture or "Revelation: God Speaks" from the Doctrine series http://marshill.com/media/doctrine/revelation-god-speaks .

John Angell James - Do you Indeed act, as you Pray?

2012-01-12T06:17:00.000-05:00

John Angell James Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PLE50E39BA700E815A

John Angell James (1785-1859) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and writer.

He was born at Blandford Forum. After seven years apprenticeship to a linen-draper in Poole, Dorset, he decided to become a preacher, and in 1802 he went to David Bogue's training institution at Gosport in Hampshire. A year and a half later, on a visit to Birmingham, his preaching was so highly esteemed by the congregation of Carrs Lane Independent chapel that they invited him to exercise his ministry amongst them; he settled there in 1805, and was ordained in May 1806. For several years his success as a preacher was comparatively small; but he became suddenly popular in about 1814, and began to attract large crowds. At the same time his religious writings, the best known of which are The Anxious Inquirer and An Earnest Ministry, acquired a wide circulation.

James was a typical Congregational preacher of the early 19th century, massive and elaborate rather than original. His preaching displayed little or nothing of Calvinism, the earlier severity of which had been modified in Birmingham by Edward Williams, one of his predecessors. He was one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance and of the Congregational Union of England and Wales. Municipal interests appealed strongly to him, and he was also for many years chairman of Spring Hill (afterwards Mansfield) College. He was also an ardent slavery abolitionist, and is portrayed in the huge canvass depicting Clarkson's opening address at the world's first International Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840, in the National Portrait Gallery, London. He died in Birmingham.

A collected edition of James's works appeared in 1860-1864.

John Angell James - Do you Indeed act, as you Pray?

Book Review: "Engage: A Guide to Creating Life-Transforming Worship Services "

2012-01-11T15:27:00.003-05:00

Engage: A Guide to Creating Life-Transforming Worship Services
Nelson Searcy (Author), Jennifer Dykes Henson (Author), Jason Hatley (Author)

Engage was created to address several things the authors saw as difficulties in modern worship. From the weekly cycle of worship planning, their summary from the back cover begins: "No matter how great Sunday's worship service was, there's always another Sunday lurking at the end of the next week that must be planned. Church leaders often fall into ruts, working on automatic pilot just trying to get things together, which does not allow for much creativity or focus on designing services that lead to transformation for those involved in them".

Built in to that objective are two significant assumptions: there should be creativity in worship and people are the primary designers of it. I suspect that the authors would highly agree with the first and strongly disagree with the second. The reason why I stated the second assumption is due to the structure of the book. Since there is no development of a biblical foundation of worship, the reader moves right to current practice evaluation and creativity.

Notice how this is going to be achieved, once again from the back cover: "Engage is a step-by-step, stress-free guide to planning worship services that allow for and foster true life change. Comprehensive in scope, Engage provides teaching pastors, worship leaders, and volunteers with the tools they need to work together to develop and implement a worship planning system that improves communication, enhances creativity, and honors Jesus every week".

Once again within these statements, there are important assumptions, one being that planning worship should be "stress-free". Without going into an extended exposition of worship here, should there not be some "stress" in approaching worship where one considers their sin, repents of it and desperately clings to Christ? Should not even the process of worship itself come from some blessed "stress" of joyful praise, to heart wrenching lament? Notice what is seen as the solution to the challenge of weekly worship planning: "The key to getting out of the tailspin and cooperating with God to do church at a higher level can be summed up in one word: planning" (p.11). Off and running, if the participant has not totally surrendered to God and is biblically rooted in engaging God, this can be a dangerous assumption.

All these important considerations aside, Engage tries to achieve their objectives in four parts. The first section deals with determining Your Philosophy of Worship. When the chapter begins with a quote from Cicero on philosophy, this did not strike me as a healthy place to start a discussion on worship. The authors suggest using the acronymn WORSHIP: W = 'Work as a Team', O = 'Outline Your Preaching Calendar', R = 'Repentance is the Goal of Worship', S = 'Sunday Matters', H = 'Honor God through Excellence', I = 'Invite People to Take the Next Steps', P = 'Planning Honors God'. The closest thing that the reader can hope for in terms of biblical exposition is a bracket noting "see Isaiah 6 for additional study on how repentance follows true worship"(p.35). Sure, repentance is needed for worship, but should the goal not be for people to genuinely ascribe Worth to God, ie "worth-ship"? To begin with the end in mind is a good tool in planning worship, and asking questions like what do we want people to know/feel/and do when they leave (p.39), are helpful to consider but perhaps our first questions should not what do the people want, but what does God expect and want from us?

Introductory concerns aside, the authors indeed put many helpful planning ideas and examples in their work. Frequently, in each section of the book, the reader is encouraged to visit the ministry site www ChurchLeaderInsights.com/Engage, to examine and discuss the concepts further. I found this approach quite helpful over the standard foot/endnote method to delve further into topics of the readers interest.

The second section deals with the preaching calendar. The authors begin their section with a warning: "...people forget the majority of the information they hear from a communicator within twenty-four hours" (p.51) Without having a citation of these "numerous studies", I would charge that there is a difference between having a listener quote points in a message and have an internal conceptual change. Isa 55:10-11 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, [11] so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it (ESV).

Furthermore, I believe the authors misunderstand the primary objective of preaching: "You stand in front of your people on Sunday mornings for one reason and one reason only; to connect God's truth to real life in a way that leads to radical transformation" (p.53) But God's truth already connects to real life (2 Tim.3:16-17). Our job as preachers is to accurately expound and explain the word of God to help people see how this is so (2 Tim.4:2). My heart was relieved in the direction on page 59 to preach the whole counsel of God (Acts20:27) and how a preaching calendar can help ensure this by focusing too much on our "favorite" topics. Although generalized, the authors note particular times of the year with the frequent patterns of attendance and types of topics that could correspond to such times. They suggest a balance of attraction, growth and balance.

The third section deals with planning and conducting worship services. The planning of a message series over particular time horizons is deal with followed by three general types of worship formats. The "simple worship order" structures singing, video, teaching, testimony and offering. The "split worship order" structures video, music, drama, message followed by the same. Finally, the "salsa worship order" has video, music, video, message followed by the same. Some helpful requirements close the formats, including: high accountability, punctuality, excellence and conversation. I would have loved a whole chapter on excellence itself. The following chapter includes an inverted triangle of each potential creative element in order of potential impact. This is highly debateable with a scary suggestion to "think outside the box (p. 122). If that box is scripture, I would not suggest it. Chapter eight shows how all this can work together with a trial run. As idealized as this is, you would need some committed worship team to spend quite a few hours each week and a lot of work ahead of time to accomplish this. Finally, chapter nine concludes with an interesting quadrant of four options to diagnose your current engagement level in the process with suggestions to improve communication and role clarification.

Finally, the fourth section deals with evaluating and improving worship services. It certainly made sense to work on roles and communication before undertaking this. The warning of not playing the "blame game" from the previous chapter really comes in to play. Although I think a biblical context for evaluation and correction would have been helpful, the general tone is gracious. Simple questions like: "what went right/wrong, what was missing or confusing" can be insightful. I would take caution in many of the overally planned elements that the authors suggestion that might restrict Spirit lead diversions. The direction to "keeps things upbeat" (p.180) is certainly shallow. There are times of joy, conviction, direction, lament etc. It can't all be upbeat.

The appendices give a sample preaching, planning calendar, sample order of services, communication template for Pastor to Creative Team, meeting notes, message research schedule and example.

In conclusion, this is a very focused book. There are a lot of other elements of worship, like music selection, instrumentation, worship team building and homiletics, seem to be deliberately not address. This book can be a helpful tool to consider some new aspects of worship, but I fear without a framework that is grounded in scripture with a clear God-glorifying objective always front and center, the planning of preaching or worship may be more personally driven than Spirit led.

Rating: 3 stars of 5.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Baker Books (Oct 1 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0801072174
ISBN-13: 978-0801072178
Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14 x 1.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 272 g ( )

John MacDuff - Almighty Guidance

2012-01-11T06:16:00.003-05:00

John MacDuff playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=229C974C428D7BE8

John MacDuff - Almighty Guidance

Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

A Scottish Preacher (1818—1895)

"For sound doctrine, presented Scripturally
and devotionally, with its application to the
Christian life, you cannot go beyond MacDuff."

"MacDuff writes popularly, yet he is by no
means shallow. For an hour's pleasant and
holy reading, commend us to MacDuff!"
—Charles Spurgeon

All Things Possible (Mark 9:14-29) John MacArthur

2012-01-10T06:13:00.000-05:00

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/41-45

All right, let's open the Word of God to the ninth chapter of Mark's gospel. Mark chapter 9, and we're going to be covering a fairly lengthy portion of Scripture, contrary to the normal procedures here. Amazing, sometimes it's very brief, sometimes it's longer, depending on the nature of the text.

This is Mark chapter 9, beginning at verse 14. And rather than me read the text, I'm going to let the story unfold because it is a really fascinating story. But suffice it to say, there is a statement in the story to which I would direct your attention, and it's in verse 23, "All things are possible to him who believes." In response to that, in verse 24, "I do believe, help my unbelief." This is about faith. This is about believing. In fact, it is a lesson on the power of faith, a lesson on the power of faith...

Genesis 1:1-5. "Creation"

2012-01-09T09:59:00.000-05:00

ThroughGenesis 1:1-5, we see the answers to: 1) Who Created What? (Genesis 1:1), 2) Where did God Create? (Genesis 1:2), 3) How did God Create? (Genesis 1:3), 4) Why did God Create? (Genesis 1:4), 5) When did God Create? (Genesis 1:5)

Oswald Chambers - The Boycott of Mediocrity

2012-01-06T09:39:00.000-05:00

Oswald Chambers - The Boycott of Mediocrity

Oswald Chambers playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=10F140787559EB2B

Luke 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

My Utmost For His Highest, his best-known book, has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and remains in the top ten titles of the religious book bestseller list with millions of copies in print. It has become a Christian classic.

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) was born July 24, 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland. Converted in his teen years under the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, he studied art and archaeology at the University of Edinburgh before answering a call from God to the Christian ministry. He then studied theology at Dunoon College. From 1906-1910 he conducted an itinerant Bible-teaching ministry in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

In 1910, Chambers married Gertrude Hobbs. They had one daughter, Kathleen.

In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham, London, where he lectured until the school was closed in 1915 because of World War I. In October 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt (near Cairo), where he ministered to troops from Australia and New Zealand as a YMCA chaplain. He died there November 15, 1917, following surgery for a ruptured appendix.

Although Oswald Chambers wrote only one book, Baffled to Fight Better, more than thirty titles bear his name. With this one exception, published works were compiled by Mrs. Chambers, a court stenographer, from her verbatim shorthand notes of his messages taken during their seven years of marriage. For half a century following her husband's death she labored to give his words to the world.

You Know You Need to Change—But How?

2012-01-05T04:47:00.001-05:00

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Sinners assume they can't change, religious people assume they can change themselves, and spiritual people want to change but open themselves to any spiritual force or power to do so, including the demonic. You do need to change and you do need another power to change you, but it must be the power of the Holy Spirit—which is what empowered Jesus' life.

This clip is excerpted from the sermon "Receive Power" part #4 of our current sermon series, God's Work, Our Witness. It was recorded at Mars Hill Church Albuquerque in New Mexico and released online January 1, 2012. 

Watch the full sermon here: http://marshill.com/media/gods-work-our-witness/receive-power

Claiming to Be Wise, the Atheists Become Fools - Tim Conway

2012-01-04T06:24:00.002-05:00

Romans 1:18 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

John Piper - Ultimate self denial isn't biblical

2012-01-03T06:22:00.000-05:00

If a Grain of Wheat Dies, It Bears Much Fruit
John 12:12--26

John Piper - Not 'your best life now'

2012-01-02T06:21:00.000-05:00

If a Grain of Wheat Dies, It Bears Much Fruit
John 12:12--26

The resolutions of Jonathan Edwards.

2012-01-01T06:11:00.005-05:00

Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (1722-1723)

“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.
Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.
1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad’s of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.
2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.
3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.
4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.
5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.
7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.
9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.
10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.
11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances don’t hinder.
12. Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.
13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.
14. Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge.
15. Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger to irrational beings.
16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.
17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.
18. Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.
19. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.
20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.
21. Resolved, never to do anything, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him.
22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power; might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.
23. Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God’s glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th Resolution.
24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.
25. Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it.
26. Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find do abate my assurance.
27. Resolved, never willfully to omit anything, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.
28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.
29. Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept.
30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.
31. Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is
perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.
32. Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that in Prov. 20:6, “A faithful man who can find?” may not be partly fulfilled in me.
33. Resolved, always to do what I can towards making, maintaining, establishing and preserving peace, when it can be without over-balancing detriment in other respects. Dec.26, 1722.
34. Resolved, in narration’s never to speak anything but the pure and simple verity.
35. Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.
36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it. Dec. 19, 1722.
37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and wherein I have denied myself: also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec.22 and 26, 1722.
38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord’s day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.
39. Resolved, never to do anything that I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or no; except I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.
40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.
41. Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.
42. Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1722-23.
43. Resolved, never henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God’s, agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12. Jan.12, 1723.
44- Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. Jan.12, 1723.
45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan.12 and 13.1723.
46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eve: and to be especially careful of it, with respect to any of our family.
47. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peace able, contented, easy, compassionate, generous, humble, meek, modest, submissive, obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable, even, patient, moderate, forgiving, sincere temper; and to do at all times what such a temper would lead me to. Examine strictly every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5,1723.
48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or no; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.
49. Resolved, that this never shall be, if I can help it.
50. Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.
51. Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.
52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.
53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.
54. Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723.
55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. July 8, 1723.
56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.
57. Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether ~ have done my duty, and resolve to do it; and let it be just as providence orders it, I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty and my sin. June 9, and July 13 1723.
58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May27, and July 13, 1723.
59. Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July ii, and July 13.
60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4, and 13, 1723.
61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723.
62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty; and then according to Eph. 6:6-8, do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man; “knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.” June 25 and July 13, 1723.
63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. Jan.14′ and July ’3′ 1723.
64. Resolved, when I find those “groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those “breakings of soul for the longing it hath,” of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 119:20, that I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be wear’, of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
65. Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance; according to Dr. Manton’s 27th Sermon on Psalm 119. July 26, and Aug.10 1723.
66. Resolved, that I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.
67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what good I have got by them, and what I might have got by them.
68. Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.
69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723.
70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak.”

How to forget the past

2011-12-30T06:09:00.002-05:00

Many Christians live their lives with no rear view mirror because of misunderstanding the application of Philippians 3 which teaches us to 'forget what lies behind'. The calling is not to ignore our past but to work with Jesus through out past.

This sermon was preached as part of the 'Rebels Guide to Joy' sermon series at Mars Hill Church Seattle. To hear the entire sermon please visit http://www.marshillchurch.org/sermonseries/philippians/week_08.aspx

How not to pray

2011-12-29T06:01:00.000-05:00

Jesus teaches that we're not to pray like religious people. We don't need to carry a prayer rug around with us and face east when we do. We just talk to our Dad.

This clip is taken from the sermon The Lord's Prayer, and can be found in full at http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/pray-like-jesus/the-lords-prayer

What Have You Stopped Praying About?

2011-12-28T06:56:00.000-05:00

This clip is taken from the sermon "John the Baptizer's Birth Prophesied," preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll at the Mars Hill Church Ballard campus in Seattle, Washington, on September 27, 2009. It is the 2nd sermon in our sermon series, "Luke's Gospel: Investigating the Man Who Is God."

To watch the full sermon, visit: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/john-the-baptizers-birth-prophesied

Jesus: The Eternal Word (John 1) John MacArthur

2011-12-27T06:08:00.000-05:00

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1--2)

The concept of the Word (logos) is one imbued with meaning for both Jews and Greeks. To the Greek philosophers, the logos was the impersonal, abstract principle of reason and order in the universe. It was in some sense a creative force, and also the source of wisdom. The average Greek may not have fully understood all the nuances of meaning with which the philosophers invested the term logos. Yet even to laymen the term would have signified one of the most important principles in the universe.

To the Greeks, then, John presented Jesus as the personification and embodiment of the logos. Unlike the Greek concept, however, Jesus was not an impersonal source, force, principle, or emanation. In Him, the true logos who was God became a man—a concept foreign to Greek thought.

But logos was not just a Greek concept. The word of the Lord was also a significant Old Testament theme, well-known to the Jews. The word of the Lord was the expression of divine power and wisdom. By His word God introduced the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 15:1), gave Israel the Ten Commandments (Ex. 24:3--4; Deut. 5:5; cf. Ex. 34:28; Deut. 9:10), attended the building of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 6:11--13), revealed God to Samuel (1 Sam. 3:21), pronounced judgment on the house of Eli (1 Kings 2:27), counseled Elijah (1 Kings 19:9ff.), directed Israel through God's spokesmen (cf. 1 Sam. 15:10ff.; 2 Sam. 7:4ff.; 24:11ff.; 1 Kings 16:1--4; 17:2--4., 8ff.; 18:1; 21:17--19; 2 Chron. 11:2--4), was the agent of creation (Ps. 33:6), and revealed Scripture to the prophets (Jer. 1:2; Ezek. 1:3; Dan. 9:2; Hos. 1:1; Joel 1:1; Jonah 1:1; Mic. 1:1; Zeph. 1:1; Hag. 1:1; Zech. 1:1; Mal. 1:1).

John presented Jesus to his Jewish readers as the incarnation of divine power and revelation. He initiated the new covenant (Luke 22:20; Heb. 9:15; 12:24), instructs believers (John 10:27), unites them into a spiritual temple (1 Cor. 3:16--17; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21), revealed God to man (John 1:18; 14:7--9), judges those who reject Him (John 3:18; 5:22), directs the church through those whom He has raised up to lead it (Eph. 4:11--12; 1 Tim. 5:17; Titus 1:5; 1 Peter 5:1--3), was the agent of creation (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2), and inspired the Scripture penned by the New Testament writers (John 14:26) through the Holy Spirit whom He sent (John 15:26). As the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ is God's final word to mankind: "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son" (Heb. 1:1--2).

Then John took his argument a step further. In His eternal preexistence the Word was with God. The English translation does not bring out the full richness of the Greek expression (pros ton theon). That phrase means far more than merely that the Word existed with God; it "[gives] the picture of two personal beings facing one another and engaging in intelligent discourse" (W. Robert Cook, The Theology of John [Chicago: Moody, 1979], 49). From all eternity Jesus, as the second person of the trinity, was "with the Father [pros ton patera]" (1 John 1:2) in deep, intimate fellowship. Perhaps pros ton theon could best be rendered "face-to-face." The Word is a person, not an attribute of God or an emanation from Him. And He is of the same essence as the Father.

Yet in an act of infinite condescension, Jesus left the glory of heaven and the privilege of face-to-face communion with His Father (cf. John 17:5). He willingly "emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.... He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:7--8).

John's description of the Word reached its pinnacle in the third clause of this opening verse. Not only did the Word exist from all eternity, and have face-to-face fellowship with God the Father, but also the Word was God. That simple statement, only four words in both English and Greek (theos en ho logos), is perhaps the clearest and most direct declaration of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ to be found anywhere in Scripture.

Charles Spurgeon Sermon - Joy Born at Bethlehem (Part 3 of 3)

2011-12-26T06:02:00.000-05:00

Charles Spurgeon Sermon - Joy Born at Bethlehem (Part 2 of 3)

2011-12-25T06:01:00.000-05:00

Charles Spurgeon Sermon - Joy Born at Bethlehem (Part 1 of 3)

2011-12-24T06:57:00.006-05:00

Charles Spurgeon Sermon - Joy Born at Bethlehem (Part 1 of 3)

Charles Spurgeon Sermon playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CDB844A9113F938C

Sermon text: http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/1026.htm

Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 January 31, 1892) was a British Reformed Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers." In his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to around 10,000,000 people, often up to 10 times a week at different places. His sermons have been translated into many languages. Spurgeon was the pastor of the New Park Street Chapel in London for 38 years. In 1857, he started a charity organization called Spurgeon's which now works globally. He also founded Spurgeon's College, which was named after him after his death.

Spurgeon was a prolific author of many types of works including sermons, an autobiography, a commentary, books on prayer, a devotional, a magazine, and more. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. Arguably, no other author, Christian or otherwise, has more material in print than C.H. Spurgeon.

Greg Koukl - Messianic Prophecies

2011-12-23T06:56:00.003-05:00

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason discusses Messianic prophecies. For more information, visit http://www.str.org.

Other Prophecies that show that Jesus is the Messiah? With Dr. Michael Brown.

2011-12-22T06:49:00.000-05:00

With Special Guest Dr. Michael Brown of askdrbrown.org

Is Jesus Christ the Messiah of Isaiah 53? With Dr. Michael Brown

2011-12-21T09:49:00.000-05:00

With Special Guest Dr. Michael Brown of askdrbrown.org

Sermon Outline: "Peace on Earth" Isaiah 52 7-10

2011-12-17T16:55:00.000-05:00

1) The Peaceful Reign (Isaiah 52:7)

· Romans 10:8-17

2) ThePeaceful Return (Isaiah 52:8-9)

· Isaiah 49:9-13

3) ThePeaceful Reveal (Isaiah 52:10)

· Psalm 98:1-3

Sermon Outline: "Rejoice in the Lord" Psalm 97:1-12

2011-12-10T21:42:00.000-05:00

1) Let the Earth be Joyful (Psalm 97:1–6)

Isaiah 49:1-6

Romans 3:21-22

2) Let the People be Joyful(Psalm 97:7–9)

Isaiah 11:1-5

3) Let the Righteous be Joyful(Psalm 97:10–12)

Psalm 30:1-7

Urgent letter from Dr. Charles McVety for the Citizens of Ontario

2011-12-10T08:41:00.000-05:00

Last week Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty siezed the opportunity to write his radical six gender sex education in the new ant-bullying law. Everyone agrees that bullying is a serious threat to children and must be combated with strong, stiff programs and penalties. Children’s lives depend on it. Unfortunately the Premier is using everyone’s good will to advance his agenda.

The Anti-bullying Bill 13 uses the force of law to make teachers in both Public and Catholic to:

· Teach Radical Six Gender Curriculum - Equity and Inclusive Education

Bill 13 Section 2. (1) Paragraph 29.1 of subsection 8 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted: equity and inclusive education

29.1 require boards to develop and implement an equity and inclusive education policy, and, if required by the Minister, submit the policy to the Minister and implement changes to the policy as directed by the Minister;

· Support Homosexual Clubs in all Public and Catholic Schools

Bill 13 Section 9. Board support for certain pupil activities and organizations

303.1 Every board shall support pupils who want to establish and lead,

(a) activities or organizations that promote gender equity;

(b) activities or organizations that promote anti-racism;

(c) activities or organizations that promote the awareness and understanding of, and respect for, people with disabilities; or

(d) activities or organizations that promote the awareness and understanding of, and respect for, people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, including organizations with the name gay-straight alliance or another name.

· Force Churches Renting School Property to Follow Province’s Radical Agenda.

Bill 13 Section 7 (2) Agreements with third parties re use of schools

(3.1) If a board enters into an agreement with another person or entity, other than a board, respecting the use of a school operated by the board, the board shall include in the agreement a requirement that the person or entity follow standards that are consistent with the code of conduct.

It is egregious to impose, with the force of law, this bizarre social engineering experiment on Ontario’s children under the pretence of protecting children from bullying. There is no proof that forcing all schools, Public and Catholic, to teach this material and host gay clubs will stop bullying. This guise doesn’t hold water with standard pedagogical practices. Our schools don’t have to teach the intricacies of every element of difference to combat bullying. Teachers don’t need a 219 page curriculum guide extolling the virtues of being short, overweight, Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other identifying factor. They simply need to combat bullying.

Think of the millions of small, innocent children who will be subjected to this agenda if we do nothing. Last year tens of thousands of parents spoke out, the Premier heard our cries and cancelled a similar program.

Please act to protect children and do the following:

1. Call Premier McGuinty at 416-325-1941

2. Send Premier McGuinty an email by clicking here. A copy will be sent to every Ontario MPP.
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL YOUR MP(If this doesn’t work with your system go to www.stopcorruptingchildren.com and click on Email Premier McGuinty)

3. Sign the Petition at www.stopcorruptingchildren.com

Please make your voice known. If not you, then who? If not now, when?

I want to thank you for protecting children from this hostile, confusing, radical experiment.

Merry Christmas and May 2012 See Protection for Children.

Dr. Charles McVety

President, Institute for Canadian Values

Link Bill 13 http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet=&BillID=2549

Link to Equity and Inclusive Curriculum http://word.ca/TDSB%20Equity%20%20Inclusive%20Curriculum%20-%20See%20page%2010%20!.pdf

Should I Marry Someone Because of Outward Beauty? - Paul Washer & Tim Conway

2011-12-09T06:43:00.000-05:00

If your a young person and thinking about marriage, then please hear this clip and don't make a wrong turn and pursue outward beauty, instead of pursuing someone who fears the Lord.

MP3: http://illbehonest.com/Should-I-Marry-Someone-Because-of-Outward-Beauty-Paul-...

Greg Koukl - Final Judgment?

2011-12-08T06:42:00.000-05:00

Taken from Greg Koukl of "Stand to Reason" who discusses the purpose of the Final Judgment.
For more information, visit http://www.str.org.

Why God Allows Suffering

2011-12-07T06:40:00.000-05:00

Richard Baxter - Time-Wasting Thieves

2011-12-06T04:00:00.000-05:00

Richard Baxter - Time-Wasting Thieves

Colossians 4:5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

Ephesians 5:16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Richard Baxter playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=353D9FC6791C59E2

Richard Baxter - English puritan divine (1615-1691) was a prominent English churchman of the 1600s. He was a peacemaker who sought unity among Protestants, and yet he was a highly independent thinker and at the center of every major controversy in England during his lifetime.

Born in Rowton to parents who undervalued education, Baxter was largely self-taught. He eventually studied at a free school, then at royal court, where he became disgusted at what he saw as frivolity. He left to study divinity, and at age 23, he was ordained into the Church of England. Within the Anglican church, Baxter found common ground with the Puritans, a growing faction who opposed the church's episcopacy and was itself breaking into factions. Baxter, for his part, did his best to avoid the disputes between Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and other denominations, even convincing local ministers to cooperate in some pastoral matters. "In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity," he was fond of saying.

The interest in cooperation was not due to a lack of conviction. On the contrary, Baxter was opinionated in his theology, which was not quite Separatist and not quite Conformist. Among his more than 200 works are long, controversial discourses on doctrine. Still, he believed society was a large family under a loving father, and in his theology, he tried to cut between the extremes. He eventually registered himself as "a mere Nonconformist" ("Nonconformist" was a technical term meaning "not Anglican"), breaking with the Church of England mainly because of the lack of power it gave parish clergy.

Baxter also found himself as a peacemaker during the English Civil Wars. He believed in monarchy, but a limited one. He served as a chaplain for the parliamentary army, but then helped to bring about the restoration of the king. Yet as a moderate, Baxter found himself the target of both extremes. He was still irritated with the episcopacy in 1660, when he was offered the bishopric of Hereford, so he declined it. As a result, he was barred from ecclesiastical office and not permitted to return to Kidderminster, nor was he allowed to preach. Between 1662 and 1688 (when James II was overthrown), he was persecuted and was imprisoned for 18 months, and he was forced to sell two extensive libraries. Still, he continued to preach: "I preached as never sure to preach again," he wrote, "and as a dying man to dying men."

Baxter became even better known for his prolific writing. His devotional classic The Saints' Everlasting Rest was one of the most widely read books of the century. When asked what deviations should be permitted from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, he created an entirely new one, called Reformed Liturgy, in two weeks. His Christian Directory contains over one million words. His autobiography and his pastoral guide, The Reformed Pastor, are still widely read today.

Greg Koukl - Trust or Faith?

2011-12-05T03:59:00.004-05:00

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason discusses why he prefers the word "trust" to "faith". For more information, visit http://www.str.org.

True Forgiveness

2011-12-02T03:50:00.000-05:00

We cannot ask God to forgive us and refuse to forgive other people. Are you withholding forgiveness for someone? If you do, you're denying someone what was freely given to you. That's hypocritical and sinful, and we have no right to do so.

This clip is from the sermon "Kiss the Feet," preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church Ballard in Seattle, Washington on November 20, 2011. This is the 100th and final sermon in our sermon series on the Gospel of Luke.

To watch the full sermon, visit:
http://marshill.com/media/luke/kiss-the-feet

True Repentance

2011-12-01T03:48:00.000-05:00

Do you really repent? Do you only talk to God about other people's sin but not your own? Jesus commands us to preach repentance, and parents need to model it for their children so that there's a culture of repentance in the house.

This clip is from the sermon "Kiss the Feet," preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church Ballard in Seattle, Washington on November 20, 2011. This is the 100th and final sermon in our sermon series on the Gospel of Luke.

To watch the full sermon, visit:
http://marshill.com/media/luke/kiss-the-feet

The Gospel

2011-11-30T03:56:00.000-05:00

We murdered the beloved Son, Jesus Christ. His blood is on our hands. And the gospel, the good news, is that then the Father looks at us and says, "If you will take that kind offer from my Son, I'll adopt you into my family called the church. I'll give you my name, the family name of Christian. And I'll call you my beloved son as well."

This clip is taken from the sermon "The Father of a Murdered Son," preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll at the Mars Hill Church Ballard campus in Seattle, Washington, on July 10, 2011. It is the 82nd sermon in our sermon series on the Gospel of Luke.

To watch the full sermon, visit http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/the-father-of-a-murdered-son

Yes, Use Words When You Preach the Gospel

2011-11-29T15:47:00.000-05:00

"Preach the gospel, and when necessary use words"? No. Use words. Jesus commands us to tell everyone about him, because everyone needs to know him.

This clip is from the sermon "Kiss the Feet," preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church Ballard in Seattle, Washington on November 20, 2011. This is the 100th and final sermon in our sermon series on the Gospel of Luke.

To watch the full sermon, visit:
http://marshill.com/media/luke/kiss-the-feet

Sermon Outline: "The Blessed Hope": Titus 2:11-14

2011-11-26T21:23:00.001-05:00

1) SalvationFrom the Penalty of Sin (Titus 2:11),

2 Timothy 1:8-10

John 3:14-20

2) SalvationFrom the Power of Sin (Titus 2:12)

1 John 3:7-10

3) SalvationFrom the Presence of Sin (Titus 2:13)

2 Timothy 4:1-8

4) SalvationFrom Possession by Sin (Titus 2:14)

1 Peter 2:9

Romans 6:17-22

Other Prophecies that show that Jesus is the Messiah? With Dr. Michael Brown

2011-11-25T04:34:00.009-05:00

With Special Guest Dr. Michael Brown of askdrbrown.org

How Do We Detect Design in Nature? With Wiliam Dembski

2011-11-24T04:33:00.007-05:00

Special Guest William A. Dembski answers the question "How do we detect design in nature?"

Why can I trust the Bible? With Frank Turek

2011-11-23T04:32:00.005-05:00

Special Guest Dr. Frank Turek brings a quick and concise answer to the question "Why can I trust the Bible?"

Book Review: "The Road to Missional: Journey to the Center of the Church" by Michael Frost

2011-11-22T10:31:00.000-05:00

The need for this work is summed up well in theintroduction by Alan Hisrsh:He sees a disturbing trend where "the term missional is now beingappropriated at a massive rate. But so very often this is being done withoutthe foggiest idea of what it actually means and the impact that it should haveon our thinking and practices" (p.11). "When everything becomesmissional, then nothing becomes missional. This book speaks directly into thatsituation" (p.12).

Michael Frost sees his task as "an attempt to reclaim the word'missional' from the grips of conventional churches bent on finding a newbuzzword to meet the annual fixation for something new and 'relevant'".

He spends a great deal of time describing what amissional Church is and his not. A missional church then, is a church that realises this Missio Dei and has a"wholesale and thorough reorientation of the church around mission"(p16). “Mission is both the announcement and the demonstration of the reign ofGod through Christ. "It is our automatic response to God's reign and rule, proven through Christ, revealed through the Spirit. Therefore,any collective of believers set free from the disorder of this present age, whooffer themselves in service of the mission of their God to alert people to thenew unfolding order of things, can rightly be called a missional church."(38)

To contrast, he makes it clear that mission is not primarily concerned with churchgrowth. It is primarily concerned with the reign and rule of theTriune God. If the church grows as a result, so be it.” (p24). It "is notabout evangelism, It is not about sending, but being sent. Missional is likeslow cooking, where disciples incarnate deeply within the communities they arein or called to be in. No quick fix. No rush to pile up numbers of conversions.No snappy 'four spiritual laws.' " (46).

Since he recognizes that God reigns and rules through Christ,whatever you do that alerts people to the fact of the rule of God, ismissional. The strength and problem with many of these contrasts is that thereis a lot of room for action. While he affirms this action by both ‘announcementand demonstration’ (p35) almost all the focus and the examples are on‘demonstration’. It would be best to look elsewhere for much of the "announcement" or content of themessage. Although Frostquotes quite extensively from various missional authors, his treatment of theScriptural message of the "announcement" is infrequent. You need togo though twenty-five pages before the first text is cited. Interesting Biblical treatment such as "The Cross asMetaphor/Paradigm" (p. 90ff) are few and far between. Taking concepts likethe incarnation by quoting The Messagethat "The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood"(Jn. 1:14) is so offensive, that his argument for moving into the neighbourhood(proximity) (p. 123) is undermined.

The missional approach often seems to be livingout a "lordship" of Christ'sself-sacrificial life, but it is often notcareful in what it advocates. One, for example sees a renewal of"monastic practices-confession, repentance, Bible reading, prayer..."(p.79). Calling these spiritual disciplines "monastic" contradicts a missional connection with thecommunity. Likewise, the trend to define one's self on what you don't do (don'tdrink/smoke/gamble/hang out with people who do) sounds more like old school"fundamentalism" than "pietism".Yet, I would agree with Frost that this kind of spirituality "outsourcesthe need to do the daily work of keeping in step with the Spirit of theGod" (p.85). Again a good point is made with a poor choice of terms:"Church people worry that theworld might change the church, Kingdom people work to see the church change theworld" (p.103). Perhaps using a term like "religious" would havebeen preferable for Christ came to establish a"church", or called out people for Himself to be agents of HisKingdom.

There seems to be a very "grass roots" feeling to the workof mission. Things like structure, leadership, doctrinal standards andaccountably are woefully lacking.Seeing congregations "led by humble men and women" (p.79) perhapseven hints at the author's desire for "egalitarian" leadership.

I found myself laughing in chapter four on"triumphant Humiliation" in the description of false persecution that some feel: "Maybe when your neighborignores you, it's not because he hates the light of the Lord that shins fromyou. Maybe he just thinks you're a jerk. Maybe we get most of the rejection wedo because, well, we deserve it" (p.83). This is a much needed wake upcall for contemporary Christianity.

Frost missed a great opportunityto take his Christocentric Kingdommodel in dealing with the topic of peacein chapter five. His treatment of reconciliation, justice and beauty only findsmeaning through the cross. Understanding how the work of Christenables reconciliation, justice and beauty truly informs these concepts. His treatmenton "beauty" is so weak, that it is essentially without meaning. Yet,he did give biblical elements of reconciliation and justice. The contemporaryfacts for these things provides a useful link of doctrine and need.

Frost' conclusion wisely sums up his point.The main point in "The Road to Missional" is simply this: "becomingmissional is not about making congregations more appealing for a newgeneration; rather, becoming missional is about equipping and releasing peopleto be the church in their neighborhoods, regardless of what style of worshipthey prefer of the size of the congregation. Becoming missional is all abouttapping into the missio Dei in order to be a foretaste of the reign of God in Christ.This is rooted in the cross and God's shalom. And do, becoming missional is notsimply a matter of language or programming ' it is a never ending process and a'calls it followers to the disciplines of sacrifice, service, love, and grace;and a mission that delights in beauty, flavor, joy, and friendship" (146).

Yet, it does no good to try to do the"mission" of Christ and not proclaim His words whiledoing do. Our message may counteract our methods. This work is helpful insuggesting ways to live out the message of Christ. Yet, I fearwe may quickly forget and get side-tracked if we do not continue to learn aboutthe person and words of Christ in order to check our actionsto His mission.

Rating: 2.5 stars of 5.

Product Details

Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Baker Books (Oct 1 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0801014077
ISBN-13: 978-0801014079
Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 227 g

"Book has been provided courtesyof Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite booksellerfrom Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

How Do We Deal with Doubts? With Mike Licona

2011-11-22T04:30:00.006-05:00

Special Guest Dr. Mike Licona returns and answers the question "How does a Christian Deal with Doubts?"

How Do We Suffer Well? With Gary Habermas

2011-11-21T04:29:00.003-05:00

With Guest Gary Habermas

Sermon Outline: "Called But Not Chosen": Matthew 22:1-14

2011-11-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

1) The Invitation Rejected(Matthew 22:1–6)

Deuteronomy 7:6-11

2) TheRejecters Punished (Matthew 22:7–8)

Isaiah 44:28-45:7

3) TheNew Guest Invited (Matthew 22:9–10)

Romans 9:25-26

4) TheIntruder Expelled (Matthew 22:11–14)

Isaiah 61:10-11

We're 1st Century Christians Delivered from Suffering? With Gary Habermas

2011-11-18T06:49:00.001-05:00

With Special Guest Dr. Gary Habermas.

Does the Bible Always Promise Escape From Suffering? With Gary Habermas

2011-11-17T06:47:00.000-05:00

With Special Guest Dr. Gary Habermas.

Should Christians Be Surprised by Suffering? With Dr. Gary Habermas

2011-11-16T06:46:00.005-05:00

From the National Conference for Christian Apologetics and interview Dr. Gary Habermas. The question for this episode is "Should Christians be surprised by suffering?"

What is the Fine-Tuning Argument for the Existence of God? (William Lane Craig)

2011-11-15T06:01:00.000-05:00

http://reasonablefaith.org - The fine tuning argument is simply summarized in this new episode by guest Dr. William Lane Craig.

Grab a copy of Dr. Craig's new book "On Guard" to learn more about this and other arguments on how to defend your faith with reason and precision.

Recommended Book: http://www.amazon.com/Guard-Defending-Faith-Reason-Precision/dp/1434764885

One Minute Apologist Interview with William Lane Craig (playlist):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4BA3DD694EE87E80

Related:
More on the Fine-tuning argument here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9A91B68D2FB071C1

Leibniz's Argument for the Existence of God? (William Lane Craig)

2011-11-14T06:03:00.005-05:00

http://reasonablefaith.org - Special Guest Dr. William Lane Craig returns with an explanation of Leibniz's argument for the existence of God.

Grab a copy of Dr. Craig's new book "On Guard" to learn more about this and other arguments on how to defend your faith with reason and precision.

Recommended Book: http://www.amazon.com/Guard-Defending-Faith-Reason-Precision/dp/1434764885

One Minute Apologist Interview with William Lane Craig (playlist):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4BA3DD694EE87E80

Sermon Outline: "Victorious in Christ": Revelation 2:1-7

2011-11-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

1) TheChurch (Revelation 2:1)

Acts 19:11-19

2) TheCommendation (Revelation 2:2–3, 6)

Acts 20:28-31

Galatians 6:1-10

3)The Concern (Revelation2:4)

2 John 1:1-8

4) TheCommand (Revelation 2:5)

Mark 4:21-25

5) TheCounsel (Revelation 2:7)

1 John 5:4-5

Remembrance Day 2011: Canada Remembers

2011-11-11T06:09:00.002-05:00

This November, Canadians from coast to coast to coast will come together to mark Veterans' Week.

At hundreds of ceremonies and events, we will remember and recognize the sacrifices and accomplishments of our veterans those of past missions and conflicts, and those who are still returning home today.

So, how will you remember?

What is the Kalam Cosmological Argument? (William Lane Craig)

2011-11-10T06:58:00.005-05:00

http://reasonablefaith.org - Hear special guest Dr. William Lane Craig walk us through the Kalam Cosmological Argument.

Grab a copy of Dr. Craig's new book "On Guard" to learn more about this and other arguments on how to defend your faith with reason and precision.

Recommended Book: http://www.amazon.com/Guard-Defending-Faith-Reason-Precision/dp/1434764885

One Minute Apologist Interview with William Lane Craig (playlist):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4BA3DD694EE87E80

Related:
Defending the Kalam Cosmological Argument:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=916E17EE70E98A68

Argument Ad Hominem ? (William Lane Craig)

2011-11-09T06:57:00.004-05:00

http://reasonablefaith.org - Dr. William Lane Craig explains the fallacy of argument "ad hominem".

Grab a copy of Dr. Craig's new book "On Guard" to learn more about this and other arguments on how to defend your faith with reason and precision.

Recommended Book: http://www.amazon.com/Guard-Defending-Faith-Reason-Precision/dp/1434764885

One Minute Apologist Interview with William Lane Craig (playlist):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4BA3DD694EE87E80

The Genetic Fallacy (William Lane Craig)

2011-11-08T06:54:00.005-05:00

http://reasonablefaith.org - Can you invalidate someone's belief by showing how someone came to hold it? Hear special guest Dr. William Lane Craig explain the genetic fallacy.

Grab a copy of Dr. Craig's new book "On Guard" to learn more about this and other arguments on how to defend your faith with reason and precision.

Recommended Book: http://www.amazon.com/Guard-Defending-Faith-Reason-Precision/dp/1434764885

One Minute Apologist Interview with William Lane Craig (playlist):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4BA3DD694EE87E80

We're 1st Century Christians Delivered from Suffering? With Gary Habermas

2011-11-07T06:47:00.007-05:00

With Special Guest Dr. Gary Habermas.

Sermon Outline: "The Time of God's Favor" Isaiah 49:8-16

2011-11-05T18:53:00.002-04:00

1) God's Covenant(Isaiah 49:8-10)

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Revelation 7:9-17

2) God's Care(Isaiah 49:11-14)

Isaiah 42:10-12

3) God's Compassion(Isaiah 49:15-16)

Jeremiah 31:20-24

James Smith - My Friend, I Know Not What Your Trouble May Be

2011-11-04T06:30:00.000-04:00

James Smith playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=096D74E48C1F1243

James Smith was a predecessor of Charles Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel in London from 1841 until 1850. Early on, Smith's readings were even more popular than Spurgeon's!

From "Daily Bible Readings for the Lord's Household"

The habit of laying up a text of Scripture in the morning, to be meditated upon while engaged in the business of this world through the day—is both profitable and delightful. It is as a refreshing draught to a weary traveler!

James Smith - My friend, I Know Not What Your Trouble May Be

James Smith - Our Sins Forged the Nails

2011-11-03T06:27:00.002-04:00

James Smith playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=096D74E48C1F1243

Luke 23:33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

James Smith was a predecessor of Charles Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel in London from 1841 until 1850. Early on, Smith's readings were even more popular than Spurgeon's!

From "Daily Bible Readings for the Lord's Household"

The habit of laying up a text of Scripture in the morning, to be meditated upon while engaged in the business of this world through the day—is both profitable and delightful. It is as a refreshing draught to a weary traveler!

James Smith - Our sins Forged the Nails

James Smith - Our Great Lesson

2011-11-02T06:24:00.000-04:00

James Smith playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=096D74E48C1F1243

James Smith was a predecessor of Charles Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel in London from 1841 until 1850. Early on, Smith's readings were even more popular than Spurgeon's!

From "Daily Bible Readings for the Lord's Household"

The habit of laying up a text of Scripture in the morning, to be meditated upon while engaged in the business of this world through the day—is both profitable and delightful. It is as a refreshing draught to a weary traveler!

Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Job 36:22 God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?

James Smith - Our Great Lesson

John Newton - He is my Beloved

2011-11-01T06:11:00.000-04:00

John Newton playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F44544DEAD10B5D2

John Newton - (1725-1807), Evangelical divine and hymn writer

Newton was born in London July 24, 1725, the son of a commander of a merchant ship which sailed the Mediterranean. When John was eleven, he went to sea with his father and made six voyages with him before the elder Newton retired. In 1744 John was impressed into service on a man-of-war, the H. M. S. Harwich. Finding conditions on board intolerable, he deserted but was soon recaptured and publicly flogged and demoted from midshipman to common seaman.

Although he had had some early religious instruction from his mother, who had died when he was a child, he had long since given up any religious convictions. However, on a homeward voyage, while he was attempting to steer the ship through a violent storm, he experienced what he was to refer to later as his "great deliverance." He recorded in his journal that when all seemed lost and the ship would surely sink, he exclaimed, "Lord, have mercy upon us." Later in his cabin he reflected on what he had said and began to believe that God had addressed him through the storm and that grace had begun to work for him.

For the rest of his life he observed the anniversary of May 10, 1748 as the day of his conversion, a day of humiliation in which he subjected his will to a higher power. "Thro' many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'tis grace has bro't me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home." He continued in the slave trade for a time after his conversion; however, he saw to it that the slaves under his care were treated humanely.

In 1750 he married Mary Catlett, with whom he had been in love for many years. By 1755, after a serious illness, he had given up seafaring forever. During his days as a sailor he had begun to educate himself, teaching himself Latin, among other subjects. From 1755 to 1760 Newton was surveyor of tides at Liverpool, where he came to know George Whitefield, deacon in the Church of England, evangelistic preacher, and leader of the Calvinistic Methodist Church. Newton became Whitefield's enthusiastic disciple. During this period Newton also met and came to admire John Wesley, founder of Methodism. Newton's self-education continued, and he learned Greek and Hebrew.

He decided to become a minister and applied to the Archbishop of York for ordination. The Archbishop refused his request, but Newton persisted in his goal, and he was subsequently ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln and accepted the curacy of Olney, Buckinghamshire. Newton's church became so crowded during services that it had to be enlarged. He preached not only in Olney but in other parts of the country. In 1767 the poet William Cowper settled at Olney, and he and Newton became friends.

Cowper helped Newton with his religious services and on his tours to other places. They held not only a regular weekly church service but also began a series of weekly prayer meetings, for which their goal was to write a new hymn for each one. They collaborated on several editions of Olney Hymns, which achieved lasting popularity. The first edition, published in 1779, contained 68 pieces by Cowper and 280 by Newton.

Among Newton's contributions which are still loved and sung today are "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," as well as "Amazing Grace." Composed probably between 1760 and 1770 in Olney, "Amazing Grace" was possibly one of the hymns written for a weekly service. The origin of the melody is unknown. Most hymnals attribute it to an early American folk melody. The Bill Moyers special on "Amazing Grace" speculated that it may have originated as the tune of a song the slaves sang.

Newton was not only a prolific hymn writer but also kept extensive journals and wrote many letters. Historians accredit his journals and letters for much of what is known today about the eighteenth century slave trade. In Cardiphonia, or the Utterance of the Heart, a series of devotional letters, he aligned himself with the Evangelical revival, reflecting the sentiments of his friend John Wesley and Methodism.

In 1780 Newton left Olney to become rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, St. Mary Woolchurch, in London. There he drew large congregations and influenced many, among them William Wilberforce, who would one day become a leader in the campaign for the abolition of slavery. Newton continued to preach until the last year of life, although he was blind by that time. He died in London December 21, 1807. Infidel and libertine turned minister in the Church of England, he was secure in his faith that amazing grace would lead him home.

John Newton - He is my Beloved

James Smith - Poor in Self / Rich in Jesus

2011-10-31T21:20:00.000-04:00

James Smith was a predecessor of Charles Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel in London from 1841 until 1850. Early on, Smith's readings were even more popular than Spurgeon's!

From "Daily Bible Readings for the Lord's Household"

The habit of laying up a text of Scripture in the morning, to be meditated upon while engaged in the business of this world through the day—is both profitable and delightful. It is as a refreshing draught to a weary traveler!
James Smith playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=096D74E48C1F1243

Book Review of " CLOSE ENOUGH TO HEAR GOD BREATHE"

2011-10-31T21:19:00.004-04:00

Book Review of " CLOSEENOUGH TO HEAR GOD BREATHE: The Great Storyof Divine Intimacy"
By: Greg Paul
Thomas NelsonPublishers
Published 2011
Price: $15.99 US

In "Close Enough to Hear GodBreathe", we are told that we will "encounter a rich message that recounts the story of a God who hasbeen inviting all of humanity, and each individual, into his tender embracesince time began". "The message that I want people to hear isthis," the author states, "I think it's very clear that the wholemessage of scripture, and the whole message of the human life, is that God issaying to you, 'You are my child. I love you and I'm pleased with you'."It is a book that he sees dealing with "love, faith and belonging"

The author, Greg Paul describes the book as "general theology couched in stories".It is a collection of family storiesincluding ones about Paul's four grown children,his family and ministry at the Sanctuarystreet mission and stories from scripture. Paul, certainly brings his captivatingexperience into the writing of this book. He describes Sanctuary as "a ministry where thewealthy and poor share their experiences and resources daily and care for themost excluded people in the city, including addicts, prostitutes, the homeless,and gay, lesbian, and transgendered people".

His experiencewith difficult circumstances has certainly affected his writing style. Paulsays that the world we live in conditions us against believing that we areunequivocally loved by God—or in fact that we could be unconditionally loved by anyone. "They are very stridentvoices and we hear them all around us: in our work places, in our families, ontelevision. Voices who seek to define us for their own benefit. Equivocalvoices who tell us 'You're good if you do this. You're bad if you do somethingelse.' Driven by someone else's profit motive, a thirst for power, neediness.We get conditioned to think God will only love us if we do what he requires.".Unfortunately this "unconditional love" does not bode well with thenecessity of repentance. His statement that "my Father does see me as verygood" (p. 39) here and elsewhere do not really wrestle with our bondage tosin and need of redemption. We are "very good" in terms of being in Christ,but this must be explicitly stated, else we are left with a very erroneousmisunderstanding.

Further on this: "The voices that my peoplehave heard—the people who are part of my core community—are voices who say 'Youwere beaten or raped because you're bad, and that's all you deserve.' The last thing they need to hear is thatthey are a dirty, rotten sinner on their way to hell. Because whether ornot they understand that theologically, they already feel it in their bones."What they need to hear is the same thing you or I need to hear. That Godsays, 'You are my child, and I love you, and I delight in you.' "If peoplebegin to hear that, it's an incredibly healing word to them. It's the onlyhealing word.". Yet, the message of the cross is that we all deserve God'swrath. But the grace of God is extended for those who believe. I would disagreethat people already "feel it in their bones" that they are sinners.Although some of the most difficult situations that Pauldeals with most likely have a very desperate outlook, if you were to ask mostpeople, they would respond that they believe they are basically good.

He has an interesting approach to scripture: "The idea that reading scripture can bean intimate experience is something that's been nagging away at me for a longtime," he says. "I've become more and more convinced that the wholegig—whether you're leading a church, or raising a family, or dealing withstreet level people—the whole thing is about intimacy with Jesus".Unfortunately this "intimacy" does not seem to extend to too much biblicalinteraction.

The promise is that "the reader learns to hear the voice of Godspeaking in the ordinary events and relationships of life, as well as in thebroad, deep current of Scripture". If this were the case it would havebeen a captivating read, but Scripture isnot presented forthrightly. The author claims that "reading the Bibleought to be like putting ones head on Gods chest. Close Enough to Hear GodBreathe will help readers do just that. And when they do, they'll hear himwhisper, You're my child, my love, my pleasure". Yet, the reader is leftto read scripture on their own time for "Close Enough to Hear GodBreathe"only indirectly refers to Scripture. The best you might get is which chapter ofa book a reference is from. When Biblical characters are referred to, how theyexactly "heard from God" is not really explored.

For the format of the book, don't expect muchexplanation from the chapter titlesin the Table of Contents, for they are vague and do a poor job of linking withthe overall theme. Chapter six, isas good as any for showing the overall format. Entitled “Hammer and Nails”, Pauldescribes a time where he was renovating his house and his son, who was five-years-old,wanted to help. Paul gave his son a hammersuitable for a child and let him pound nails into boards, while Paulhimself worked on the renovation. Paul’sson was so interested and so intent on his “work”, and while they weren’texactly productive, it was such a pleasure for Paulto share these things with his son. Paulgoes on in the chapter to parallel this story to God letting us helpHim with his work, and how we are like children compared to how God would dothings.

As toughing as this story is, his"theological" discussion around this story was so misrepresentative,I am quite surprised that the publisher let it go. Paulcompletely misstates what Reformedtheology is. He states that Calvin started"his famous TULIP theological system with the letter T- T for total depravity...I just think histheological system starts too late, essentially ignoring the foundational valueof the creation story" (p.55). A first year theology or history studentwould tell you that the TULIP was an abbreviation in response to Arminianchallenges. Reformed theology starts the story with the Glory of God and Hispurposes in election, which is well before creation. Paul seems completely ignorant of Reformedtheology and this misrepresentation should not have been allowed to pass by thepublisher.

Yet, there are occasional insightful treatments,like his treatment of redemption. He distinguishes how someone"deems" something to have a judgment on his and to then"redeem" to render a new judgement (p.104). He ties entomologicaltreatment to popular media, and situations in Job, and Galatians. What I foundfascinating, was his previous critique of Calvinin having a flawed system yet Paul completelymisses the great Romans 8 chain of salvation.

The book includes a readers guide but it doesn’t make much reference to Scripture sodon’t expect to find a full blown Bible study guide. I wish this book hadbeen more practical and hands on in it’s approach for hearing from God. This isnot a book I would recommend if you’re looking for Biblical instruction onintimacy with God. The readers guide would have had a better use as applicationpoints set in or at the end of each chapter. The many theological flaws and lackof any real Biblical treatment will misdirect someone to actually be"Close Enough to Hear God Breathe". Avoid this book at all costs.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group

Book Review: What is the Mission of the Church?

2011-10-28T23:19:00.000-04:00

DeYoung, Kevinand Greg Gilbert.What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of SocialJustice, Shalom, and the Great Commission. Wheaton, Ill. Crossway, 2011, 288pp. Review by Matthew Kratz*.

"Mission creep"is a topic primarily discussed in military operations, but very applicable forthe battle that the Church is called to undertake (1 Tim. 1:18). There are many things that the Church can do.There are many things that the Church should do. For centuries, often heateddebates have dealt with doctrines like the Gospel, Kingdom, Church, Missionand a myriad of other topics applied to a such diverse fields as evangelism,discipleship, community, politics, and requests for assistance.

In the midst of a debate that has often generatedmore heat than light, Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert have done some careful examinationof the central mission of the Church with remarkable Biblical clarity in theirnew book, What Is the Mission of the Church?

Thebook is divided into three parts: “Understanding Our Mission,”“Understanding Our Categories,” and “Understanding What We Do And Why We DoIt,” with part two being the bulk of the book.

Understanding Our Mission

DeYoung and Gilbertmake the reasonable assumption that their present audience is primarilyChristian (p. 15) and begin with the central question of: “What is the missionof the church?” Acknowledging that this is not strictly a biblical word as anoun (p. 17), yet a verb of dealing with one being sent. It implies that one isspecifically sent to do something and therefore, not everything. That this is aparticular assignment is an important distinction for it frames the terms ofreference in the arguments to come. With a prayer for humility, understandingand pastoral approach, the authors present their thesis at the end of chapterone, stating, “We will argue that the mission of the church is summarized inthe Great Commission passages…We believe the church is sent into the world towitness to Jesus by proclaiming the gospel and making disciples of all nations”(26).

In chapter two, the authors begin theirexegetical treatment of various biblical texts dealing with commission. In thisexamination they critique other views that take certain passages as paradigmaticfor our understanding of the church’s mission, which certain other authors havetaken above all others and unnaturally limited the mission. Putting it alltogether with questions of who, why, what, where, how, when and to whom? (p..59), DeYoung and Gilbert show how we must askthese important questions of biblical texts in order to understand exactly whatthe mission is.

Understanding Our Categories

Section two begins with chapter three showing howthe topics of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation relate to mission. Chapter four highlightshow those who take either a too "narrow" or too "wide"consideration of Gospel, have muddied the understanding of mission (p.93)through either dilution or reduction (p.111). Chapter five discusses how the kingdom of God relates to mission. Periodically,DeYoung and Gilbert summarize their argumentcombining their various examinations. Here they summarize what they examined inthis section by saying that the kingdom of God is "God's redemptive reign,in the person of his Son, Jesus Messiah, which has broken into the present evilage and is now visible in the church" (p. 127). They explain how the kingdom will be finallyand fully established, and how one gets into the kingdom. Section two concludeswith an discussion of social justice, dealing with various passages that touchon loving one's neighbour, sin, responsibility, justice, kindness, humility,generosity, and faith shown through works. Always applying what is discussed,chapter seven ties all these complexities of determining a biblical theology ofwealth, poverty, and material possession to what the authors admit they haveyet to specifically define in "social justice" to such obvious yetpolitical incorrect moral obligations of proximity priority (p. 183). Chaptereight concludes with a discussion of the New Heavens and the New Earth with the"cultural Mandate" (p. 208). The terms of reference are brilliant inany discussion of continuity/discontinuity.

Understanding What We Do and Why We Do It

Part three sums up the book as the authorshelpfully discuss important distinctions such as duties of individualChristians versus duties of the institutional church looking at why and how wedo good. What then is ourresponsibility? DeYoung and Gilbert present aquote from Gilbert J. Gresham Machen:

"The responsibility of the church in thenew age is the same as its responsibility in every age. It is to testify thatthis world is lost in sin; that the span of human life—no, all the length ofhuman history—is an infinitesimal island in the awful depths of eternity; thatthere is a mysterious, holy, living God, Creator of all, Upholder of all,infinitely beyond all; that he has revealed himself to us in his Word andoffered us communion with himself through Jesus Christ the Lord; that there isno other salvation, for individuals or for nations, save this, but that thissalvation is full and free, and that whoever possesses it has for himself andfor all others to whom he may be the instrument of bringing it a treasurecompared with which all the kingdoms of the earth—no, all the wonders of thestarry heavens—are as the dust of the street. An unpopular message it is—animpractical message, we are told. But it is the message of the Christianchurch. Neglect it, and you will have destruction; heed it, and you will havelife." (p.248).

DeYoung and Gilbertfollow-up Machen's quote with these words: "It is not the church’sresponsibility to right every wrong or to meet every need, though we havebiblical motivation to do some of both. It is our responsibility, however—ourunique mission and plain priority—that this unpopular, impractical gospelmessage gets told, that neighbors and nations may know that Jesus is theChrist, the Son of God, and that by believing, they may have life in hisname." (p. 249).

This summary and the epilogue are worth the priceof the book itself. When the "floodgates open" in a dialogue betweena seasoned Pastor and typical "missional" concerns, DeYoung and Gilberteffectively wrap up their previous theological considerations in helpfulpastoral concerns. If all this was not helpful enough, the general andscriptural index enable this work to be a reference that will bode well in anyconsideration of mission.

Summary
Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert provide a careful, practical, biblicalexegetical treatment of social justice, peace and the great commission in aconsideration of what is the mission of the church.

*A copy of this book has been graciously providedby Crossway to enable this review.

Parents, Discipline Your Children - Tim Conway

2011-10-25T06:59:00.000-04:00

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. - Proverbs 13:24

Greg Koukl - Nonsensical Distractions

2011-10-24T06:58:00.005-04:00

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason discusses whether Christians should spend time on nonsensical distractions. For more information, visit http://www.str.org.

Does God Learn from Our Prayers?

2011-10-21T06:16:00.000-04:00

What is the Ontological Argument? (William Lane Craig)

2011-10-20T06:02:00.005-04:00

Listen as special guest Dr. William Lane Craig explains the Ontological Argument.

Grab a copy of Dr. Craig's new book "On Guard" to learn more about this and other arguments on how to defend your faith with reason and precision.

Recommended Book: http://www.amazon.com/Guard-Defending-Faith-Reason-Precision/dp/1434764885

One Minute Apologist Interview with William Lane Craig (playlist):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4BA3DD694EE87E80

Related:

Defending the Ontological argument: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=48F0C019551ADD08

Are Religious Pluralists Particularists? (William Lane Craig)

2011-10-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

Are Religious Pluralists Particularists? Watch to hear what Dr. William Lane Craig has to say and grab a copy of Dr. Craig's new book "On Guard" to learn more about this and other arguments on how to defend your faith with reason and precision.

Recommended Book: http://www.amazon.com/Guard-Defending-Faith-Reason-Precision/dp/1434764885

One Minute Apologist Interview with William Lane Craig (playlist):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4BA3DD694EE87E80

Related:

Is One True Religion Possible?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynLFH7hVbm4

Dr. William Lane Craig - Problem Of Evil (5/5)

2011-10-18T06:58:00.004-04:00

Part 5 of 5. The Problem Of Evil.

Adapted from the "Reasonable Faith" podcast by the same name.

http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Dr. William Lane Craig - Problem Of Evil (4/5)

2011-10-17T06:57:00.000-04:00

Part 4 of 5. The Problem Of Evil.

Adapted from the "Reasonable Faith" podcast by the same name.

http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Sermon Outline: "The Season of Celebration": Nehemiah 8:1-12

2011-10-15T19:16:00.000-04:00

1) The Communication (Nehemiah 8:1–6)

Nehemiah 7:73

1 Timothy 2:1-8

2) The Clarification (Nehemiah 8:7–8)

Acts 8:26-35

3) The Celebration (Nehemiah 8:9–12)

Deuteronomy 16:11-12

Dr. William Lane Craig - Problem Of Evil (3/5)

2011-10-14T08:57:00.000-04:00

Part 3 of 5. The Problem Of Evil.

Adapted from the "Reasonable Faith" podcast by the same name.

http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Dr. William Lane Craig - Problem Of Evil (2/5)

2011-10-13T08:55:00.003-04:00

Part 2 of 5. The Problem Of Evil.

Adapted from the "Reasonable Faith" podcast by the same name.

http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Dr. William Lane Craig - Problem Of Evil (1/5)

2011-10-12T06:19:00.000-04:00

Part 1 of 5. The Problem Of Evil.

Adapted from the "Reasonable Faith" podcast by the same name.

Why I hate religion - Mark Driscoll

2011-10-11T08:33:00.000-04:00

Pastor Mark Driscoll explains the differences between religion and redemption. For more messages and information go to www.marshillchurch.org

Argument of Evil & Suffering Against the Existence of God? (William Lane Craig)

2011-10-11T06:17:00.000-04:00

Sermon Outline: "5 Reasons to Give Thanks": Psalm 103:1-5

2011-10-08T17:52:00.000-04:00

1) Give thanks for God Himself(Psalm 103:1)

Jeremiah 33:11

2) Give thanks for God's Benefits(Psalm 103:2)

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

3) Give thanks for God's Forgivenessand Healing (Psalm 103:3)

2 Samuel 12:13-23

4) Give thanks forGod's Redemption, Love & Mercy (Psalm 103:4)

Psalm 16:9-11

5) Give thanks forGod's Satisfaction & Renewal (Psalm 103:5)

Isaiah 40:29-31

2 Corinthians 4:16

John 11:25-26

Greg Koukl - God's Knowledge

2011-10-07T04:34:00.000-04:00

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason discusses the nature of God's knowledge. For more information, visit http://www.str.org.

A.W. Tozer Sermon - "Needing God PLUS Something Else is the Trouble with Us"

2011-10-06T06:45:00.006-04:00

A.W. Tozer playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=66987CD6E419E258

If you have read or heard classic "deeper life" Christian authors and/or preachers, i.e. Watchman Nee, Andrew Murray, A.B. Simpson, Leonard Ravenhill, then you will quite likely find this sermon by A.W. Tozer very edifying. May you be blessed.

Hailing from a tiny farming community in western Pennsylvania, his conversion was as a teenager in Akron, Ohio. While on his way home from work at a tire company, he overheard a street preacher say: "If you don't know how to be saved... just call on God." Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preachers advice.

In 1919, five years after his conversion, and without formal theological training, Tozer accepted an offer to pastor his first church. This began 44 years of ministry, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), a Protestant evangelical denomination; 33 of those years were served as a pastor in a number of churches. His first pastorate was in a small storefront church in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Tozer also served as pastor for 30 years at Southside Alliance Church, in Chicago (1928 to 1959), and the final years of his life were spent as pastor of Avenue Road Church, in Toronto, Canada. In observing contemporary Christian living, he felt that the church was on a dangerous course toward compromising with "worldly" concerns.

In 1950, Tozer received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Wheaton College. It was May 1950, when Tozer was elected editor of the Alliance Weekly magazine, now called, Alliance Life, the official publication of the C&MA. From his first editorial, dated June 3, 1950, he wrote, "It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that." In 1952, he received an LL.D. degree from Houghton College.

Among the more than 40 books that he authored, at least two are regarded as Christian classics: The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. His books impress on the reader the possibility and necessity for a deeper relationship with God.

Living a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle, he and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, never owned a car, preferring bus and train travel. Even after becoming a well-known Christian author, Tozer signed away much of his royalties to those who were in need.

Tozer had seven children, six boys and one girl. He was buried in Ellet Cemetery, Akron, Ohio, with a simple epitaph marking his grave: "A. W. Tozer - A Man of God."

Prayer was of vital personal importance for Tozer. "His preaching as well as his writings were but extensions of his prayer life," comments his biographer, James L. Snyder, in the book, In Pursuit of God: The Life Of A.W. Tozer. "He had the ability to make his listeners face themselves in the light of what God was saying to them," writes Snyder.

A.W. Tozer Sermon - "Needing God PLUS Something Else is the Trouble with Us"

Letter from & Response to the National Post

2011-10-05T15:30:00.001-04:00

From: Douglas Kelly [mailto:douglaskelly@nationalpost.com]
Sent: October-05-11 2:57 PM
Subject: National Post Ad

Thank you for your valued feedback on the issue of the advertisementfrom the Institute for Canadian Values. I’d like to further explain theNational Post’s position and actions.

As Publisher, I am responsible for the content in our newspaper andwebsite. That content includes editorial and advertising. Like editorial, adshave to meet a standard of accuracy and fairness. The ad from the ICVfailed to meet that standard. The headline reads: “I am a Girl. Don’t teach meto question if I’m a boy, transsexual, transgendered, intersexed or twospirited.’’

Nowhere in the Toronto District School Board curriculum are studentstaught to ask themselves this question. The ad was misleading and should nothave run.

However, we should have the debate as to whether transsexual awareness shouldbe taught to young students, or at all. We should have the debate as to whetherthe course materials and approach are appropriate. We should have the debate asto whether parents have the right to remove their children from these classes.

The National Post will have this debate this weekend through a reportedanalysis of the issue and op-ed contributions from both sides. We are notlimiting free speech. Far from it.

The National Post more than any newspaper in this country is willing tocover topics and entertain opinions that are ignored by the mainstream media.We have given voice to all sides on issues such as abortion and privatehealthcare and freedom of speech. The National Post has been a leading criticof the many excesses of human rights commissions.

I trust you will continue to recognize the unique role that the NationalPost plays in the Canadian media landscape. In the months and years to come,other critical issues will be tackled. I hope you continue to be part of thatconversation. Please reconsider your decision to cancel your subscription.

Thank you,

Douglas Kelly
Publisher
National Post

My Response:

Dear Mr. Kelly;

Thank you for taking the time to explain the NationalPost's actions. Without debating the content of the curriculum, the legitimacyof debate or the right of the editorial board to change their minds on runningads or commenting, where the editorial board went beyond the bounds of decency isin their action of " donatingthe proceeds from the advertisement to an organization that promotes the rightsof lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people". A newspaper shouldnot be in the business of taking the advertising money from an organizationthat places an ad and directly support the cause objected to in the ad itself.Not only is this not a good business practice but objectionable from a principleof ethics. It is specifically on this basis that I cannot in good consciencefund your lobbying efforts. This is not the role of a newspaper. On this ethicalfinancial ground I cannot continue to support this reversal of role from theprevious good dialogue that the National Post has stood for.

Respectfully;

Matthew Kratz

Infant death ruling stirs abortion debate

2011-10-05T06:24:00.000-04:00

19-year-old Katrina Effert gave birth to a boy in her parents' basement after a secret pregnancy, strangled him with thong underwear and tossed his body, wrapped in a towel, into a neighbour's yard in Wetaskiwin, Alta., the Court of Appeal of Alberta last week sentenced her to time served for improper disposal of a body. The ruling on the disposal charge, which spared her the remaining two weeks of a three-month sentence

Human life has become cheap in Canada. The next step on the abortion trail has now been legitimized. A lack of courage from politicans, and apathy from the Canadian public has led to this. "Canada is one of the very few countries in the world that, for the last nearly 25 years, has had no regulation of abortion, even in relation to the third trimester," Madame Justice Joanne Veit said at Effert's sentencing hearing last month. "At a minimum, this reflects the lack of consensus. In my view, it also reflects the fact that while many Canadians undoubtedly view abortion as a less-thanideal solution to unprotected sex, to unwanted pregnancy, Canadians generally understand, accept, and sympathize with the onerous demands pregnancy and child birth exact from mothers, especially mothers without support."

I have a low view of public morality, but is this actually the case in Canada. Have we slid so far? Speak up Canada. The elderly are next.

Book Review: Everything the Bible Says About Heaven

2011-10-04T11:43:00.001-04:00

Compiledby Linda Washington

Reviewedby Matthew Kratz

Everything the Biblesays about Heaven, claims to have: "every scriptural reference to heaven...carefully collected and organized. When necessary, brief but clearexplanations are provided, using insights gathered from trustworthycommentaries". For the reader, the offer is to: "find comfort and peace in the truthabout heaven, straight from the Word of God".

Withthe compiler's name noticeably absent from the cover, it is clear that theobjective was to try to present as much a Biblical picture of heaven aspossible. The effort must be commended in trying to present an unbiasedcompilation, yet in noting various viewpoints as coming from"scholars" yet not cite who these are, when important interpretativeviewpoints are presented, the salient points of understanding our relationshipwith heaven is often more confused than clarified. It is when we can see achain of salvation, linking the doctrines together that we come to a coherentsystematic theology.

Withsix short chapters, "What the Bible says about Heaven" is concise. Iappreciate how the compiler started her task with the present picture of howfar we have slid from the classical full orbed view of Heaven to a myopic, boringmisrepresentation. From a classic view that influenced art of all sorts, thecommon understanding is but a caricature.

Chapterone starts with a summary of OldTestament visions of Heaven. The weakness of this presentation isimmediate. Each scriptural quotation is from a different translation. Goingfrom more literal (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NASB, NKJV, ESV, HCSB) to dynamic (NIV) toparaphrase (NLT, NCV, AMP, God's Word) our examination of the various passageson heaven do not lend themselves to like comparisons. The compiler immediatelyruns into trouble when she deals with passages on which she must acknowledgecover either the "millennial rule" (p. 26) or "MillennialKingdom of Christ" (p. 27) or heaven itself. When this is presentedwithout explanation, the reader can be confused as to exactly what this istalking about.

Movingon to Chapter two, with New Testamentvisions of Heaven, I appreciate that the compiler shows how herpresentation is no mere factual listing but one on whom the Biblical author hasgone to "prepare a place for those who trust him to lead them there"(p 32). The presentation is very Christocentric and focusing on Salvationhistory. It deals with issues of persecution, vows, sin, evil, authority,angels, false teachers, judgement, inhabitants of heaven etc. Interpretativeoptions are presented in general summary form. When we get to importantdistinctions, like levels of heaven (p. 46) no real explanation is given.

Chapterthree on "Heaven in the Book of Revelation" begins quite well. We now have important terms like"apocalyptic literature" (p. 51) defined. The aim of the book ofRevelation, signs, symbols, and numeric references are highlighted. Thecompiler even deals with the various interpretative options and other biblicalreferents on passages like Rev. 12. (p. 60). This is some of the best work inthe book. An explanation of the New Heavens and New Earth is strangely absent.

Chapterfour is cryptically titled "Between heaven and Earth" chronicling the various visionsand audible presentations from Heaven. The compiler deals with Old Covenantbeliefs, raptures (Enoch, Elijah), visions, and important terms in summary fashion (Hades,Gehenna, "the grave", Paradise, "the depths"). Passages dealings with spiritualwarfare, transfiguration, rapture, and Christ's descent (1 Pt. 3) are also addressed.

Chapterfive, "Answers from Heaven" goes back and explores thepronouncements from Heaven in greater detail. The final chapter: "WhoWill God to Heaven?" is an excellent place to conclude this study.This presentation deals with topics of judgement, the general call, the Kingdom of Heaven, stewardship, law fulfillment and belief. Unfortunately,the book format shows its limitations in this chapter. The referent to"the plan of Salvation" (Jn. 3:16) iswoefully inadequate. After showing the danger of judgment, there is no realexplanation of what belief or repentance is. The reader might be left with theunderstanding if he or she merely understands these scriptural texts and is a"good steward" they will go to Heaven.

"Everything the Bible Says about Heaven"is a good general reference dealing with scriptural passages on Heaven and therelated elements that intersect with it. With a little greater precision inretiling the chapters, keeping a consistent Bible translation and a littlegreater explanation of the concepts, a second edition could be a quite useful,pithy introduction to Heaven and the people from whom it will mean eternallife. I hope a scriptural and topic index will be included to enable this to bequite a helpful quick reference.

Price:	$9.99 US
ISBN:	978-0-7642-0896-6
ISBN-10:	0-7642-0896-9
Dimensions:	5.5 x 8.5
Number of pages:	112
Carton Quantity:	112
Publication Date:	Aug. 11
Formats:	Paperback

http://www.bakerbooks.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=0477683E4046471488BD7BAC8DCFB004&nm=&type=PubCom&mod=PubComProductCatalog&mid=BF1316AF9E334B7BA1C33CB61CF48A4E&tier=3&id=1296DBDA148F41A2856E72579B96F741

"Bookhas been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-MartinCommunications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker PublishingGroup".