Reading a book does not imply that I agree with the books, condone it, like it, or recommend it. Keep visiting the site, as I hope to publish reviews of my readings along with select quotes from each book as I finish it and digest its contents.
I need to write. If I don’t write, I don’t think that I think--at least not thoroughly. Thus this blog is simply an outlet for me to think. My goal is to be thinking about those things and only those things that are in line with Philippians 4:8.
Review: LiquidAUX iPod/iPhone Remote Control for Your Car
I have fallen in love with the Kensington LiquidAUX. It is ingeniously
designed and is an inexpensive option for safely using your iPod while
in the car. If you want the aesthetically most pleasing solution to
integrate your iPod and iPhone controls into your car stereo, this is not
it. This device is specifically designed for the individual, like
myself, who had their iPod sitting on the seat next to them or on the
dashboard, connected to their stereo via an auxiliary input or cassette adapter.
So contrary to some reviews, an aux-in on your car stereo is not
mandatory for use, making this device usable in older cars with a tape
deck and newer cars with the aux-in port.
In my mind, the primary benefits of using the LiquidAUX instead of
simply manually controlling your iPod while in the car are two-fold: 1)
Safety, 2) Ease of use.
Safety: I consider myself a pretty competent multi-tasking driver,
but even still anything that keeps my hands on the steering wheel and
my eyes on the road has to keep me safer. My wife has pointed out that
I swerve a little less and keep a more consistent speed - signs of not
being distracted - since using this device.
Ease of use: The LiquidAUX wireless remote that is mounted on the
steering wheel has four buttons: Play, back, forward, and shuffle. The
first three are obvious and any remote would be lacking without it; but
the fourth, shuffle, is my favorite. In the car, I love to use shuffle
to listen to random songs from either my entire collection or one of my
playlists. Often I find myself reminded of an album that I love or
haven't heard in a while. I wish I could take shuffle off and finish
the album. To do that on the iPod, I would have to go into the settings
menu, then take shuffle off (at least five seconds with my eyes on the
iPod and not on the road). That's what the shuffle button does with one
click. If you get to an album you want to keep listening to, hit that
button, and you will continue on that album or artist. Then when you're
sick of it and want the shuffling to continue, hit the button again,
and off you continue on random again. All of this without even touching
your iPod. So the LiquidAUX provides safety and convenience. Of course,
you are still able to control your iPod the "old-fashioned way" while
connected to the LiquidAUX...just make sure you do it at a red light
.
The box comes with a charger device that connects from the
cigarette lighter (DC Power) to your compatible iPod (basically
everything but a shuffle) or iPhone. There is a small wireless remote
control (battery included) that mounts to your steering wheel for easy
ability to control your iPod without being distracted from driving.
Finally, the charger device has a 3.5mm output to connect to your cars
auxiliary in (an extension is included in case your aux-in is further
than a few inches from your cigarette lighter.
My car does not have an aux-in so I was concerned that I would not
be able to use this device. But the headphone jack on the iPod still
outputs audio even while under the control of the LiquidAUX, so I am
able to connect to my stereo using a cassette tape adapter. This does
make for quite a few wires, however: 1) From charger to iPod, 2)
charger to aux-in port, 3) iPod to cassette-adapter (only if you don't
have aux-in on stereo). This would be my number one foreseeable
complaint. But these are also features that make the LiquidAUX not
confined to a single car. Take it with you in a rental car on vacation,
use it in a friend's car on a road trip, or swap it between your
vehicles. I could not be happier with the LiquidAUX; it is engineered
excellently to do that for which it was designed.
Keywords: ipod
Memorize Romans 6 (ESV) to Song with Kami Mueller
Kami Mueller, in response to encouragements that our entire church body memorize Romans 6, wrote 5 excellent songs containing only the text of Romans 6 from the English Standard Version. She performed the songs at a recent Grace Bible Church service. Hopefully soon we'll get studio recordings of them (please, Kami ). You can download the tracks here:
Keywords: esv,memorize,romans_6
John Newton on Being Gracious in Controversy
Excellent gospel-informed advice from John Newton that I must read, consider, and live by whenever in controversy:
As to your opponent, I wish, that, before you set pen to paper against him, and during the whole time you are preparing your answer, you may commend him by earnest prayer to the Lord's teaching and blessing. This practice will have a direct tendency to conciliate your heart to love and pity him; and such a disposition will have a good influence upon every page you write.
If you account him a believer, though greatly mistaken in the subject of debate between you, the words of David to Joab, concerning Absalom, are very applicable: "Deal gently with him for my sake." The Lord loves him and bears with him; therefore you must not despise him, or treat him harshly. The Lord bears with you likewise, and expects that you should shew tenderness to others, from a sense of the much forgiveness you need yourself.
In a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now. Anticipate that period in your thoughts; and though you may find it necessary to oppose his errors, view him personally as a kindred soul, with whom you are to be happy in Christ for ever.
But if you look upon him as an unconverted person, in a state of enmity against God and his grace, (a supposition which, without good evidence, you should be very unwilling to admit,)
he is a more proper object of your compassion than your anger. Alas! "he knows not what he does." But you know who has made you to differ. If God, in his sovereign good pleasure, had so appointed, you might have been as he is now; and he, instead of you, might have been set for the defence of the Gospel. You were both equally blind by nature. If you attend to this, you will not reproach or hate him, because the Lord has been pleased to open your eyes, and not his.
Gnostic Empire Strikes Back by Peter Jones - A Review
Peter Jones claims in The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age that the seemingly divergent modern phenomena/movements are really related. They are related to each other and all have common themes found in one of the first heresies to attack the church from within: gnosticism. The seemingly divergent modern phenomena include: 1. skewing of gender roles (militant feminism, homosexuality, etc), 2. increase of new age religion (eastern religions, mysticism, yoga, goddess worship, all in one, you are god, spirituality), 3. environmentalism (nature worship, deification of mother nature and natural selection, militant environmentalism), and 4. political correctness (tolerance of all religions/viewpoints except orthodox Christianity). Written in 1992, I am amazed at many of the insights that have proven themselves to be even more true over the last 16 years.
The book reads like a call to arms. Jones uses urgent, apocalyptic, the sky-is-falling language that can, I found, at times make the book difficult to get through. However, that language is consistent with his thesis: "[T]he New Age has a coherent agenda, orchestrated from a diabolical center, moving and reproducing ineluctably, like algae in a lake." (p. 97). He cites example after example of how these seemingly disconnected New Age/gnostic positions have begun quietly and subversively to enter the church. He writes to Christians who claim to believe that the Bible is God's true word, to Christians who view Jesus as Creator God who came physically to earth to die for the sins of His people and who rose from the dead. He writes to alert them that this orthodox position is being attacked from within, from multiple disparate groups that when analyzed with an eye to history (understanding long-'dead' gnosticism), we realize are remarkably related.
This 112-page book is well-documented with about 200 reference footnotes in six chapters. This book will serve well those who believe in the basic tenets that unite conservative "Christendom," both evangelical and catholic. It will alert those who may have been unaware of just how large and influence the New-Age-culture has had even on their own thinking to the danger.
Jones uses the example of frogs who don't jump out of a pot if it is heated slowly to a boil. For those who were unaware of the heating water, this may be the impetus needed to make them jump out and be alert, guarding their heart and doctrine from this threat. This has certainly been the book's effect on me; I have an increased awareness of just how pervasive this new gnosticism has become. However, The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age is certainly not an exhaustive treatment of the subject, nor is it designed to persuade those who have already bought into the lies of the New-Age movement to see the error of their ways. It may very well do this, but the tone of the book will probably turn adherents off to Jones, making them unable to hear his words. Nevertheless, for Christians living in the United States, I echo the recommendations from the back cover: "I recommend this work" - RC Sproul. "These findings throw a flood of light on a dark subject" -Jay Adams. "Jones demonstrates in a thorough and engaging way that the New Age is not new at all...the church desperately needs to hear Professor Jones's call for a clearer comprehension of truth."
It's eerie to watch what Peter Jones was talking about prove just how mainstream it has become as evidenced in this excerpt from Oprah. So much of what Jones talks about is demonstrated right here. It is for this reason I recommend that Christians read this short book:
Keywords: gnosticism,new_age,review
Nine Inch Nails Helping Me Concentrate While Reading Even the Bible: Ghosts I-IV
Without a word on the entire 4-disc album, Ghosts I-IV is an excellent instrumental album, ranging in feel from gentle and smooth and hard and grating. Unlike much in the ambient, industrial, instrumental genre, you won't find yourself annoyed by the predictable and repetitive. Rather, the more you listen, the more you will enjoy it. Each piece has a photo as the album art which was the The quality of the music and the recording is superb, best discerned by enclosing yourself in some high-quality headphones. At the price, you will be hard-pressed to find a better musical value.
I would never describe myself as a Nine Inch Nails fan, not in the least, but I have found hours of enjoyment in these cds while reading. I find that my reading retention and length of concentration is increased while listening to instrumental (wordless) music. Apart from classical and a few standout ambient releases (the genre is mostly junk floating in a sea of even more repetitive junk with a few excellent pieces here and there. So this is a very nice, enjoyable, and unexpected find from a guy (Trent Reznor) who I never would have thought to have gone to to help me concentrate while reading the Bible and other books.
For five bucks for almost two hours of music, you'd have a hard time passing this up. Still not sure? You can download the first of 4 cds for free at ghosts.nin.com.
"You Cannot Minister Well to Someone You Do Not Know" -Tripp
"[T]he most personal and important parts of our lives fly under the radar of our typical relationships in the body of Christ. We live frenetically busy lives with activity-based friendships, punctuated only be brief conversations with each other...
"...We tend to have permanently casual relationship that never grow into real intimacy. There are things we know about each other, but they fool us into thinking that we know the human beings who live within the borders of those details...Think about it. Most of the conversations you had today were mundane and rather self-protective...We are skilled at newsy but personally protective conversations...
"...We must not let ourselves become comfortable with the casual, where ministry is limited to offering general principles that would fit anyone's story. The genius of personal ministry is that it is personal. It can take the grand themes of the Great Story and apply them with utter specificity to the particulars of an individual's life. Personal ministry is not preaching to a very small congregation. It is the careful ministry of Christ and his Word to the struggles of heart that have been uncovered by good questions from a committed friend. This means that effective, God-honoring, heart-changing personal ministry is dependent on a rich base of personal information. You cannot minister well to someone you do not know."
The ESV Study Bible just released a preview of the study Bible to be released in October of 2008. I'm very excited for this study Bible as it looks like it will be (and has been verified to be by literally everybody who has previewed it) the ultimate study Bible; an all-new, high-quality, thorough, and helpful study Bible. I encourage you to download and browse the introduction (Best intro I have ever read in a study Bible) and first few chapters of Revelation. You will probably want to buy it after you do. You can find out more info at esvstudybible.org and preorder it at Amazon. You will get free online access to the study Bible when you purchase a physical copy.
Review: Keeping the Heart by John Flavel
Puritan John Flavel (1630-1691) in
Keeping the Heart (originally
titled: A Saint Indeed
or The Great Work of a Christian Opened and Pressed)
has proven to be a steady and timely friend to me over the last year.
This book has been a near constant companion during that time and I
have made my way through it a number of times. I suppose that I am
familiar enough with the book now to write a review so that others
may be encouraged to spend time with this heart-shepherding work as
well; however, I in no way do I feel that I have mastered its
contents or the practice of them. I am convinced though that this
book will prove to me to be a lifelong companion whose true worth I
could only underestimate.
Using
Proverbs 4:23 (“Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flow
the springs of life.”), Flavel creates a treatise designed for all
professing Christians. The aim is that the contents of the heart be
laid bare, so that sin which is present is seen as sin and dealt with
as a believer should and that the heart be guided to be pure in its
devotion and affection for God. He does this, not with law, but by
constantly pointing the believer to God's grace as the grounds and
means for his sanctification. Flavel is not content to merely convey
information, rather, with each point he carefully takes aim at your
very soul and deftly fires shot after gospel-saturated,
God-glorifying shot. Make sure you read this book slowly and
prayerfully, allowing each purifying blow to have its full affect on
your heart.
The
treatise is basically broken down into four sections:
“What
keeping the heart presupposes” (Six statements describing what is
basic in keeping the heart).
“Why
keeping the heart is a great business” (Six statements and their
exposition explaining why the life of a Christian should be
described as a life of “keeping their heart”)
“Special
seasons for keeping the heart” (104 specific pieces of advice
particularly tailored for 12 seasons of life in which special
diligence is necessary to guard the heart)
“Uses”
of means in keeping the heart (Examples and guidelines on using
information, exhortation, direction, and consolation in the keeping
of the heart).
Keeping the Heartis a work that is difficult to navigate without seeing the “big
picture” of what Flavel is setting out to do. I therefore recommend
you acquire a copy that includes the “Outline” by Maureen Bradley
(The Soli Deo Gloria edition includes this). Each of the statements,
seasons, or uses alluded to in describing the structure of the work
has many subpoints underneath it. I would recommend in your reading
that you decide to either read one statement/season/use at a time
(roughly 10 pages a piece, although they vary dramatically), or to
use it devotionally in much smaller chunks by reading one subpoint at
a time. After your first time through the work, you will then be able
to quickly navigate to the heart-shepherding help that is particular
to your struggle or circumstance.
You
will be well-served to read Keeping the Heart,
working through the 17th
century language (Flavel is not nearly as difficult as many other
Puritans and the Soli Deo Gloria edition has helpfully modernized
spelling, formatting, and grammar) and work diligently to guard your heart with the help of this proven guide.
Keywords: flavel,review
Gospel Perspective in Trials
More than anything else I could ever
do, the gospel enables me to embrace my tribulations and thereby
position myself to gain full benefit from them. For the gospel is the
one great permanent circumstance in which I live and move; and every
hardship in my life is allowed by God only because it serves His
gospel purposes in me. When I view my circumstances in this light, I
realize that the gospel is not just one piece of good news that fits
into my life somewhere among all the bad. I realize instead that the
gospel makes genuinely good news out of every other aspect of my
life, including my severest trials. The good news about my trials is
that God is forcing them to bow to His gospel purposes and do good
unto me by improving my character and making me more conformed to the
image of Christ.
Preaching the gospel to myself each
day provides a lens through which I can view my trials in this way
and see the true cause for rejoicing that exists in them. I can
embrace trials as friends and allow them to do God's good work in me.
God Doesn't Keep a Facebook Page: Multi-tasking & Inattentiveness
Al Mohler writes a great piece, "The Challenge of Attention in the Digital Age," in which he observes that our attention is so diluted in this digital age that we may be missing the truly important and resulting in intellectual neglect. He writes,
Join the revolution and refuse the seductions of the mind-numbing allure of all things digital -- at least long enough to think a great thought, hear a great lecture, enjoy a quality conversation (with a real, live face-to-face human being), listen to a great sermon, visit a museum, read a good book, or take in a beautiful sunset.
People who cannot maintain mental attention cannot know the intimacy of prayer, and God does not maintain a Facebook page. Our ability to focus attention is not just about the mind, for it is also a reflection of the soul. Our Christian discipleship demands that we give attention to our attention.
As I write this, I have iTunes on (music has been playing continuously all day), I stumbled upon the article taking a quick break from John Frame on Apologetics, the NBA Finals are on a small screen in the corner of my second monitor, I just received a text message on my cell phone, a notification letting me know that 3 new emails are in my inbox, I have 5 tabs open on Firefox including Google Reader and Facebook, and Libronix is open on the 2nd monitor to offer quick reference for verses and books referenced in my apologetics texts.
I often feel what Al Mohler is talking about. The very technology that allows me to quickly gather information on many topics and facilitates my studies so that I spend more time reading and thinking and less time flipping through books, can be the very thing that keeps me from thinking deeply about anything. In order to combat this, I have found that at night before I go to bed, I must open Libronix on the screen, close all my other windows on the computer, and even sometimes disable my wireless adapter in order to offer me uninterupted time reading God's word, meditating, and praying.
Back to my multi-tasked studies...I should probably close some windows.
Blog Back Online
After a couple days of server issues, it looks like my hosting company has restored the files which were accidentally deleted in a server change. A few blog posts are missing, but nothing too drastic. So if you deleted my rss feed from your blog reader you can put it back.
And finally, to make this test post nice to look at, here's a recent pic of my daughter:
More Pics of My Daughter
Pics from Elianna's birthday! Elianna means "My God Answers", and o how He has! What a blessing she is! Please pray for her with us and thank God with us.
Elianna Joel Hantla: Born 5/17/2008 at 7:17 AM weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces and measuring 20 inches. Check this post for links to pictures, videos, and slideshows as they become downloaded from cameras.
Right now I only have this montage put together by my wife's aunt Sara (thanks Sara). More will be coming shortly:
Resources for Fighting Sin In Light of God's Grace
On Sunday at church, Smedly Yates, while preaching on Romans 6:12-14, suggested that we should put together a list of helpful resources on fighting sin in light of God's grace. Here's my list in no particular order:
Overcoming Sin & Temptation by John Owen (ids. Kapic & Taylor) (WTS | Amazon)
When I Don't Desire God by John Piper (WTS | Amazon)
Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices by Thomas Brooks (WTS | Amazon)
The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges (WTS | Amazon)
I pray that this list serves you well as you slowly, prayerfully, and dependently work your way through the books on it.
Keywords: grace,sin
Bill Cosby on Natural Childbirth
Bill cosby has helped us know better what to expect in the coming days or weeks as it looks like we will soon be going through "natural child birth":
Part 1:
Part 2:
Keywords: birth,cosby
Free Music from Sovereign Grace Ministries
Continuing the free-stuff theme for todays' posts: Sovereign Grace has two excellent tracks available for free download:
"I Have a Shelter" from their brand new Come Weary Saints CD is available for free download. You can get the whole cd for $9. By the way, they've discounted the price of their mp3 album download from all their previous albums to only $6. Want physical copies? They're now offering free media mail shipping. Thank you, Sovereign Grace, for making your resources so accessible.
In order to let you learn how the prepub program works and how to purchase digital books for you Libronix Digital Library System, logos is offering a free book on prepub: How to Write: A Handbook Based on the English Bible. I have no idea if it is any good or not, but it's free, and it'll let you learn how the process works.
Some other prepubs you'll probably want to get in on to help send them into development and to save money include:
I recommend you get any music you download through a service that gives you mp3s that are DRM-free. My favorites for this include Amazon and payplay.fm. Basically, if you can avoid it, don't use iTunes as your tracks are in a less compatible format and many are crippled to only work on apple products.
Consider For Your Homepage
When you start up your browser, what comes up? Consider using a resource that I just created as your page. I created it for myself and friends as a well organized, image-based homepage having just about every site on it that I normally go to. The idea is that when I start up the browser it won't be so distracting as to distract me from my original point. It will keep me from hand-typing the URL's that I generally go to. So surf over to hantla.com/home and see if you think it would be useful.
If you love it and will use it but want some icons replaced, send me 43x43 pixel images for each one you want replaced as well as the URL you want it pointing to, and I will consider making you your own version of the page.
Keywords: homepage
Limited Atonement & God's Love
"It is necessary for believers to understand the special nature of God's love for them. 'The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me' (Gal 2:20), is not a statement that gives security to all. To deny the special love of GOd, and to believe that Christ loves all men equally, is to suppose that Christ has done no more for those the Father has given to him than for mankind at large. But if CHristians are no more loved than those who will finally be lost, the decisive factor in salvation becomes, not God's grace and love, but somethin in them, and their perseverance becomes dependent upon themselves. To widen the atonement, and to speak of it only in terms of general love, is to take away its saving power. The believer in Christ needs to know that the love which embraces him is eternal, almighty, and immutable. It does not hang upon his faith for it went before faith."
ChristianAudio's free audiobook for May 2008 is Martin Luther: In His Own Words. Simply add the download option to your cart, enter May2008 as the coupon code when you're checking out, and download it for free.
Keywords: free
Review: The Cross He Bore by Frederick Leahy (5/5 Stars)
With only 83 pages and 13 chapters Leahy's The Cross He Bore is pregnant with
thought-provoking and soul-humbling truth that caused me often to just
cry out as a beggar to God in awe, in love, in gratefulness, and in
humble pleading for faith and grace.
Basically
what Leahy does in this book is walk the reader through Christ's last
hours on earth, His Passion. Dealing in 13 chapters with different
aspects and scenes from those hours, the divinity of Christ and His
humanness are both kept sharply in focus. The sin of mankind both for
which Christ was dying and the sins of those who directly took part in
His murder are not deminished, but neither is the fact that "It was the
will of the Lord to crush him" that it was the Lord who "has put him to
grief" (Isaiah 53:10).
I recommend that you read this book in a
quiet place with little destraction with your Bible by your side. Read
it one chapter at a time and then sit and re-read, and pray. Let the
Spirit take you back to the foot of the cross where you gaze up at your
only hope, the King of the universe hanging in misery, damnation, and
ultimately victory. Look at the cross he bore and realize that with
such a high price to secure our salvation, anything that we hope to add
or to repay will only be an insult to His gift, diminishing its value
and His glory. Let the Spirit take you to the foot of the cross where
you realize who we are, we are all beggars.
Disobedience always involves the acceptance of atheism, whether so stated in words or merely acted on in life (there is no significant difference between denying God's existence and acting as if God does not exist)
Frame, J. M. The doctrine of the knowledge of God
p. 59
A Slain Lamb
Even without the temple Jewish "priests" recently sacrificed a passover lamb. A glimpse at the death and the spilling of the blood of a single lamb helps one visualize just what a bloody affair the law called for in the sacrificial system. The youtube video below only shows the preparation, the full video at sourceflix shows the entire process including the draining of the blood.
Hebrews 10:1-14 Christ’s Sacrifice Once for
All
10 For since the law
has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these
realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered
every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have
ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no
longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is
a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Consequently, when Christ came
into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6in burnt offerings and sin
offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7Then I said, ‘Behold, I have
come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
8 When he said above, “You have
neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt
offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),
9 then he
added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in
order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily at
his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away
sins. 12 But
when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at
the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool
for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are
being sanctified.
I Need You; You Need Me
In an open letter that every believer should sign and read, the Irish Calvinist reminds us how to ensure that our time together is for God's glory and our good:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I need you. I need you to help me. I need you to live your life in such a way that it intends to draw my attention to the glory and greatness of our God. I beg you not to sleep in tomorrow morning but instead to get up and read your Bible. Discover afresh the beauty of God in the sacred text. Dwell upon his faithfulness to his own promises. Muse upon his glorious gift of grace in the salvation of sinners like you and me. Write the Word of God upon your own heart so that it produces reverence for God.
Also, I urge you to spend time on your knees in prayer. And whatever you do, don't fall asleep, don't let your mind wander; don't stop praying until you start praying. Drive yourself into humble submission before the great and infinite reservoir of grace that you might find help in your neediness.
As you leave and go about your day, please preach the glories of the gospel to yourself. Tell yourself afresh of the glorious gift of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ, that incarnation of holiness and love; hear again the words of John the Baptist, "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1.29) Watch him obey the Law in your place, see his perfection in both speech and in deed. Hear him say afresh, "I always do what is pleasing to my Father" (John 8.29). Watch him march resolutely to the cross to purchase our redemption. See him pray for his executioners, evangelize his fellow cross-bearers, gasp for breath, commission his disciple, proclaim it is finished, and then give up his life. See him here and marvel. But don't stop here! Run with the disciples to the tomb and stoop with them and see, see ‘the linen cloths by themselves' and you too come away ‘marveling at what had happened' (Luke 24.12). Rejoice at the reality of the living Savior who has given his life to vindicate the glory of God and rescue a people for himself.
Now as you leave, sing the doctrinal praise along with Paul "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 1.3ff) in tune with Peter with "joy inexpressible" (1 Pet. 1.8).
And now believer, come and talk to a Christian like me and tell me something. Tell me something eternal (Ps. 92.8)! Give me something for my soul (Matt. 4.4)! Tell me what impresses you about Christ (Matt. 8.27)! Tell me of the gospel's power (Rom. 1.16)! Tell me of Christ's success as a high priest (Heb. 7.27)! Tell me of his impending return (Matt. 24.30)! Tell me of the divine purpose in trials (Jam 1.3-5)! Tell me the perseverance of the saints (Jude 24)! Tell me of the ultimate success of the church (Matt. 16.18)! Tell me God's gracious work in your life (2 Cor. 3.18)! Tell me of the purity and power of the word of God (Ps. 19.7ff)! Tell me of how you are praying for me (Col. 1.9ff)! Please...I need you to do this. My heart needs to hear continually of why Christ is so great (2 Pet. 1.12). So please Christian, don't forget to tell me. Please...be a good friend (Heb. 3.13ff). And by the grace of God, I will return the favor to you.
Your brother in the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Debbie (Review: LiquidAUX…): Jake, you are one crazy reviewer. Who could possibly pass up a quick click on the Amazon.c… Matt Kellso (Nine Inch Nails H…): I gave them a shot. Nope…I had it on shuffle and found myself turning the radio down when … Debbie Mellberg (Review: Keeping t…): Man, Jake! God had given you an uncanny gift for digesting a book and provoking directed i… Aimee (More Pics of My D…): Where have I been? I thought she was due in June. Anyhow, CONGRATS!! She is gorgeous (and l… Brandon (Review: The Cross…): I will find this article to be very informative
www.trinityfoundation.org/PDF/147.. Tara (Announcing: Elian…): Congrats you guys! She’s beautiful! Sarah Martin (Announcing: Elian…): How Wonderful! Thanks so much for all the photos. That hair is just SCREAMING for a little … Leslie (Announcing: Elian…): Congratulations!! Sarah Martin (Bill Cosby on Nat…): Uh, Sorta ; ) I love those clips! tim (Free Audiobook: M…): Thanks, buddy.
. It is ingeniously
designed and is an inexpensive option for safely using your iPod while
in the car. If you want the aesthetically most pleasing solution to
integrate your iPod
.
). You can 
that the seemingly divergent modern phenomena/movements are really related. They are related to each other and all have common themes found in one of the first heresies to attack the church from within: gnosticism. The seemingly divergent modern phenomena include: 1. skewing of gender roles (militant feminism, homosexuality, etc), 2. increase of new age religion (eastern religions, mysticism, yoga, goddess worship, all in one, you are god, spirituality), 3. environmentalism (nature worship, deification of mother nature and natural selection, militant environmentalism), and 4. political correctness (tolerance of all religions/viewpoints except orthodox Christianity). Written in 1992, I am amazed at many of the insights that have proven themselves to be even more true over the last 16 years. 
In an open letter that every believer should sign and read, the 