Free New Sovereign Grace Album: How Sweet the Sound

Covenant Life Church (of Sovereign Grace Churches) recently had a hymn-sing night which was recorded. They have released it into an album called How Sweet the Sound and are giving it away free at noisetrade if you tell 5 friends about it. Use the widget below to get the album.

 

Keywords: free,music

Review: Michael Logozar - Coming Into View (Get it FREE through Noisetrade)

I have had Michael Logozar's album Coming Into View for only a few days and have played it a half dozen times. It is an all-instrumental piano album. For 48 minutes and 10 tracks, Logozar manages to play in a soothing and diminished manner that doesn't have the annoying triteness of the relaxation, new age piano albums. Logozar is content to be silent and let a note simply ring and capable of complex interludes.

I have a very difficult time reading or studying without music in the background, and the constant struggle is to find something that will not become distracting in itself, isn't boring, and can simply fade into the background. Coming Into View is certainly one of the best that I have found for this purpose.

Best of all, you can get the album for free by letting a few friends know about it through NoiseTrade. Use the widget below to get the free album.

Keywords: free,music

Free Audiobook! Calvin: Of Prayer and the Christian Life

John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is replete with teaching on prayer, and HovelAudio has excerpted many of these sections and recorded them into a four-and-a-half hour audiobook entitled Calvin: Of Prayer & the Christian Life. Listening to Calvin write about prayer will help you to pray and to understand and treasure prayer. It may also whet your appetite to read more of Calvin's Institutes, which is very readable. Best of all, IT'S FREE for the month of November. As you check out, enter the code NOV2008, and you can download it at no cost.

 

Keywords: audiobook,free

Carbonite Online Backup Saved the Day Once Again

 

Thank God for Carbonite! I have had Carbonite online backup software installed on my computer for two years now. In that time I have had two catastrophic computer failures (practically all data lost from the hard drive) and yet I have not lost any of that data.

A couple days ago I was working away and poof computer turned off and won't turn back on. I had been working on a Microsoft Word file in minutes before my computer's death, had downloaded an album from iTunes that morning, and had scanned and then shredded some important financial files hours earlier. I just loaded Carbonite onto the laptop that I'm using while I wait for the old one to be repaired. Carbonite had been backing up everything in the background and to my delight all of those files (and everything else from the old computer, all 254 GB of it) was backed up. I just downloaded the Word file I had been working on and am able to continue working right where I left off and am able to restore any or all of the files that I want thanks to Carbonite.

Carbonite is basically a piece of software that works in the background uploading everything (using encryption) that the user specifies to be backed up to Carbonite's servers. So whether my computer crashes or my house burns down, my data is secure. For $50 a year, Carbonite offers unlimited backup of any in-computer hard drives (they won't back up external hard drives). If you look at the reviews on Amazon, there are a large number of people who have complaints about Carbonite. As I view them based on my experience with the software and the company, these are all based on the users misunderstanding of how to use the software. So if you use Carbonite, beware that it will not automatically back up all files or file types. For example, movies and .exe files are not automatically backed up, but will be if you tell the program to (this is because most .exe files with the exception of installers won't function apart from the entire program installation so it is not helpful to back this filetype up). However, if you right click on a movie and tell carbonite to back up this file type from now on, they will be backed up. You can likewise tell Carbonite to back up everything within a directory by right clicking on the directory.

Once Carboniteis installed a colored dot appears on each file telling you whether or not it will be backed up and whether it has been backed up yet or not. After you install, I simply recommend that you check your various document types to make sure that Carbonite knows that you want to back it up (by right-clicking on the file). I understand people's frustration, but this is all pretty clear as you read the documentation. 

In summary, I am a very very very very happy user of Carbonite who is currently enjoying the benefits of his $50/year subscription. I have all my files even from minutes prior to the computer crash. That is the test of a good backup utility. Carbonite passes with flying colors. I haven't found a single file that I needed that wasn't backup up.

Before & After Photos...Putting Things in Perspective

The photo on the left? My daughter before birth.
The photo on the right? My daughter after birth.

What changed? Location, level of development, and type of dependence on her mother. And that is sufficient in the mind of one the two presidential candidates to justify the murder of the one on the left but not the one on the right.

Like my wife says in her brand new blog, abortion makes or breaks my vote. There are many important issues in this and every election, but none so important to elect a man who would vote consistently (100% of the time) to enable and further the murder of babies.

Keywords: abortion,elianna

Matt Kellso Puts Things In Perspective; I Cried

Read what brought me to tears this morning as I read it. My friend, Matt Kellso, does a good job of putting things in perspective with a glimpse into a very painful season of his life.

Ten Reasons Why It's Wrong To Take the Life of Unborn Children

John Piper offered the following in 1989 which should be considered very carefully by all who are contemplating just how big of a deal pro-choice vs. pro-life is in this political election:

(read more...)

Keywords: abortion

New Book: Job by John Piper

Job by John Piper

Keywords: job,piper

FREE! Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards

For a limited time, in celebration of Jonathan Edwards' 305th birthday, Logos is giving away the Libronix version of A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections for free. When you checkout, use the coupon code: EDWARDS to get it free.

While you're at it, you can pre-order the 2-Volume Works of Jonathan Edwards. You'll save money ordering it now rather than after it's available. Piper's God's Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards and A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards are available for 40% off with the coupon code: PIPER-EDWARDS.

HT: Gons

Keywords: edwards,free,libronix,logos

Proving Your Salvation In the Local Church

My friend Matt Kellso who has a very good looking blog, was gracious enough to get out of bed at 1:00 AM this morning while listening to a Dever sermon to type this quote out to remind you and me of the importance of the local church:

"[1 John 3:14-16 teaches] 'We know that we have passed from death to life, how, because we love our brothers. Anyone that does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is, Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers....[And 1 John 4:20 says] If anyone says, I love God, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother who he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.' This is how you can know, do you want to know that this new life that you have is real?

I got a great idea. I got it from the Bible. Commit yourself to a local group of saved sinners. Try to love them. Don't just do it for 3 weeks. Don't just do it for 6 months. Do it for years. And I think you'll find out. I think others will too. Whether or not you love God. The truth will show itself. That won't save you, it's only the death of Christ that saves you. HE ALONE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. But if He really is OUR righteousness. If we really do love him, who we have not seen. It will show itself by us loving those that we do see and that we are committed to regularly [gathering]."

Timothy Brindle: Killing Sin

I have been loving Timothy Brindle's second album Killing Sin, for many months now. You know a cd's gonna be good when it's

• based on mortification of sin making frequent use of John Owen
• Tracklist looks like a collection of Puritan sermons and books including: "Pressing Into the Kingdom" (Edwards), Power of the Holy Spirit (Ryle), Sinfulness of Sin (Venning), Preciousness of time (Edwards)
• Sample John Piper Sermons
• Encourages us to greater holiness by pointing us to Christ

Brindle has given us a great gift in Killing Sin. For 16 tracks, he describes sin as wickedly detestable and Christ as utterly desirable. From Sinfulness of sin: "Sin is any thought that's not morally pure, sin is loving anything else more than the Lord, sin is breaking his laws, breaking his commands, sin is hatred for God, it's blatantly satanic." Sin is revealed for the disgusting thing that it is, often likened to excrement. But Brindle recognizes that revealing sin for what it is is not sufficient. Romans 6 is often referenced, proclaiming that we are to kill sin and not sin because Christ has already freed us from the dominion of sin and made us His slaves to righteousness. So each song is filled with gospel promises. The joy of obedience to Christ is proclaimed as superior pleasure to endulging in sin. Sin is to be fought and we are to press into the kingdom, not by being perfect, but by "rocking [Christ's] righteousness as our banner." The album reveals Brindle's deep knowledge of the Bible's teaching regarding sin, salvation, and sanctification. He effectively takes the heart-changing biblical theology of the Puritans and makes it memorable as he sets it to rhyme and rhythm.

If you are unfamiliar with gospel/holy hip-hop, I recommend you first go get Shai Linne's Atonement and let him preach the gospel to you. And then get Brindle's Killing Sin. I praise God for Timothy Brindle and the effect that this cd has had on me in my battle to kill sin in me:

Pressing Into the Kingdom: "Rocking righteousness as my banner"

The Humility of Christ

The Excellency of Christ: "This is the ultimate remedy against sin and temptation-namely knowing, enjoying, and worshiping Jesus Christ and his many excellencies"

Let's Kill Sin:

The Sinfulness of Sin:

Apologetics for the Glory of God by John Frame (Review)

I have read almost a dozen apologetics texts over the last year, and in my estimation, Apologetics for the Glory of God by John Frame should be the first book you read on the subject. Let John Frame guide you as you learn the particulars of apologetic argument from other apologists. John Frame describes what principles should be guiding the use of any evidence or line of reasoning as the apologist seeks to reason with the nonbelieving skeptic. Frame's apologetics would rightly be characterized as presuppositional in nature; he is not shy to be aligned with Cornelius Van Til. However, for those who think that a presuppositional apologetic eschews evidence, you will be pleasantly surprised. I recommend that any reader of Apologetics for the Glory of God get a copy of Frame's masterpiece Doctrine of the Knowledge of God as frequent reference is made to it and you will find ideas hinted at fully expounded in that larger volume. All of Frame's thinking is influenced by his tri-perspectival way of looking at things (which DKG goes into much detail), where he realizes the helpfulness of considering truth from different angles. His apologetics is no different; the perspectives into which he breaks the apologetic task (and the chapters of the book) are:

1. Apologetics as Proof
2. Apologetics as Defense
3. Apologetics as Offense

Classical apologists seek to find commonground between the believer and the nonbeliever and work from there to convince the skeptic of the plausibility of existence of the God of the Bible; therefore, the classical apologist argues, the Bible is not the appropriate place to start in apologetic encounters. The presuppositionalist argues on the other hand, that the unbeliever is acting in rebellion to God as manifested by his desire to think autonomously and place himself as the ultimate criterion of truth. The apologist should not encourage this thinking; neither should the apologist adopt it. The skeptics basic heart commitment is that Jesus is not Lord; the apologists basic heart commitment is that Jesus is Lord. "Our argument must be an exhibit of that knowledge, that wisdom, which is based on the 'fear of the Lord,' not an exhibition of unbelieving foolishness. Therefore apologetic argument is no more neutral than any other human activity. In apologetic argument, as in everything else we do, we must presuppose the truth of God's Word....Even if neutrality were possible, that route would be forbidden to us" (p. 9).

There is no common ground apart from mutual knowledge of God of which Romans 1:19ff way. The thing that the apologist is most sure is true is that which God has told him in the Bible. Therefore, the apologists argument will be based on Scripture. Frame writes, "The preacher-apologist is to present the word...to expound it, to apply it to his hearers, to display its beauty, its truth, its rationality. [He] seeks to combat the unbeliever's false impressions and present to him the word as it really is. It is to this testimony that the Spirit also bears witness" (p. 17). This does not mean, however, that natural evidences or rational argumentation are out of line, just that they must be submitted to Scripture, "The obedient Christian apologist will show the unbeliever the various ways in which nature reveals God, without claiming neutrality and without allowing the use of non-Christian criteria of truth" (p. 25). The main attack against this line of reasoning is that it is circular; the teachings of the Bible are true because the Bible is true. We must recognize the truth of this statement but recognize that every system of thought is circular when it seeks to defend its ultimate presupposition: the Bible, reason/logic, sense-experience, relativism, or otherwise.

Frame spends the rest of the book working his presuppositional line of reasoning out as it relates to proving Christianity to be true, defending Christianity's truth, and attacking the irrationality of all other belief systems. Frame includes very little actual argumentation, with the exception of the problem of evil in the world. He admits this. His goal in this book is to provide the framework into which all other arguments or lines of reasoning will fit, and he does so masterfully. It is for this reason that I recommend that you read Frame before any other apologists, because fit into this framework the apologist can use any true line of reasoning or evidences (whether it comes from a presuppositionalist or not) and use it in a way that recognizes Jesus and not man as Lord.

Finally, the book ends with an exceptional transcript from a faux dialogue between Frame and a man on an airplane where Frame demonstrates how each item he has discussed throughout the book might work itself out in actual apologetic discussion with a real life person.

I do not recommend that Apologetics to the Glory of God is the only apologetics book you read, but I do recommend that it is the first. When you are finished, I recommend you move on to Busenitz's Reasons We Believe and/or Pratt's Every Thought Captive.

Keywords: apologetics,frame

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Nicholas Carr asks, "What is the internet doing to our brains?" in a very insightful aticle in the Atlantic. He notices that same thing that I notice, "Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle."

He ties this into the type of reading that we are encouraged to do as we surf the web, quickly skimming for the content and moving on. It isn't necessarily a worse way to read, just a different way; it is strengthening different muscles than are strengthened when you sit down and thoughtfully digest and interact with long chunks of reading.  But those muscles need to be strengthened as well; I think that's why we have such a difficult time reading older writers, especially the Puritans, who would take a long time to make their point, but put more thought, support, and explanation into it than any modern editor would ever allow. 

Anyway, the article looked really interesting, but how would I know, I got bored and surfed away after a few minutes....then I decided that my brain needed a workout, and I pushed through and finished it, skimming only once or twice. A recommended read to make you think about the way that you read and think.

Review: Financial Shock by Mark Zandi

Financial Shock is a timely read in in light of today's economic crisis. It has served me well in educating me as to the behind-the-scenes causes of the financial shock that we are all feeling. Dr. Mark Zandi, chief economist and cofounder of Moody's economy.com, gives simple and helpful advice on how to avoid/mitigate the damages of the next bursting bubbles. He ably identified time and time again that "Americans aren't as smart about money as we should be. Financial illiteracy was a fundamental cause of the subprime financial shock" (p. 236). This book, which is imminently readable, will go far to help educate any member of the public who spends the time to read it.

He begins the book with a very simply yet insightful summary of the recent history that led to the perfect storm. The remaining chapters go into detail on each one of the players. The book is full of helpful charts that convey simply pertinent information without confusion. Zandi is a master at making the complex understandable, at defining terms, and writing for the layperson (but I have no doubt that this would be helpful for the well-versed as well). Finally, although he misjudged the state of the market writing, "the worst of the crisis appears to be over," (published in July '08), he does give 10 "policy steps" based on all that he's written to help us fix this problem and to avoid or mitigate the damamges of bubble bursts in the future. This list will help you get a flavor for what he writes about in the previous chapters (don't worry if you don't understand the terminology - I didn't either - but if you read the book you will):

1. Adopt a voluntary mortgage write-down policy
2. Establish clear mortgage lending rules
3. 3. License mortgage brokers
4. 4. Expand data collection
5. 5. Reform the fractured foreclosure process
6. 6. Invest in financial literacy
7. 7. Modify mark-to-market accounting
8. 8. Raise financial transparency and accountability
9. 9. Overhaul financial regulation
10. 10. Pay attention to asset bubbles.

If I could summarize Financial Shock, it would be: Simply Helpful. Simple, but not Simplistic. And although it is writing about a scandal, it is not scandalous. History is used more to help us learn lessons than to point fingers. I have learned much from this book. It has given me the basis to digest most of what I'm reading in the paper and hearing on the news.

On a similar note, I found this roller coaster animation plotting housing prices exceptionally enlightening in regards to the financial state we find ourselves in (HT JT):

The Design of Sin Is Domination & Death

The design of sin lies not in the particular temptation, but to make it a means to obtain dominion over the soul. And the consideration hereof should keep believers always on their guard against all the motions of sin, though the matter of them seem but small, and the occasions of them such as are not like to return; for the aim and tendency of every one of them is dominion and death, which they will compass if not stopped in their progress. 

This dominion of sin is that which we have here security given us [true believers] against. Though it will abide in us, though it will contend for rule by deceit and force, yet it shall not prevail, it shall not have the dominion.And this is a case of the highest importance unto us. Our souls are, and must be, under the rule of some principle or law; and from this rule our state is determined and denominated. We are either “servants of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness,” Rom. 6:16.

John Owen
Works of John Owen vol 7
A Treatise On the Dominion of Sin & Grace
p. 507

Keywords: owen,sin

All of Grace By Spurgeon for Free

Praise God for ChristianAudio. Each month they give away a free downloadable, high quality audiobook. This month they are giving away Spurgeon's All of Grace. This is actually the second time that they are giving away this book. It was originally made available in November of 2006 and I have listened to it a couple times since and have found it an excellent audio-book type book. It is an excellent book for seasoned Christian, new Christian, or non-Christian as Spurgeon spends the entire book speaking of how all in the life of a Christian must be and is of grace and only of grace. To get the book, simply add it to your cart at ChristianAudio, check out, enter the coupon code OCT2008, download and enjoy.

Keywords: audiobook,free,spurgeon

Review: Amazon Kindle for Christians

After one month and a dozen books of using my new Amazon.com Kindle, I can recommend it most enthusiastically. The Kindle is basically an electronic book reader with wireless connectivity. Using Amazon's Whispernet (powered by Sprint EVDO), the Kindle can download full text of books, subscribe to receive digital editions of periodicals or blogs, receive emailed digital texts, and browse the web. Everybody who has seen my Kindle is immediately impressed by the amazingly easy-to-read screen, called electronic paper, which displays a very high quality grayscale viewable in both lowlight and direct sunlight situations. The search function allows basic searching for terms within all of your loaded books or online. The onboard dictionary allows lookup of full definitions with etymology of most common words.

Pros

• Super easy to read screen in all lighted conditions
• Always connected to internet wherever Sprint has service; (makes up for high cost of device)
• Perfect for reading text-based webpages
• Long battery life (days when wireless is disabled)
• Easy to turn on/off; easy to enable/disable wireless (switch at back)
• Amazon or Mobipocket converter will convert HTML & Microsoft Word documents to be readable.
• PDF texts are able to be converterted but often lose formatting
• Mp3 player and Audible Audiobook player (either through speaker on back or through headphones)
• Easy to navigate with huge Next page, Previous Page, Back buttons. Very simple navigation; grandparents in their 70's have used it without problem and minimal introduction.
• QWERTY keyboard easily allows typing/notetaking easily exported to computer
• Comes with nice leather carrying case
• Easy to "clip" sections of text for export to computer

Cons

• No native pdf document support (conversion often destroys formatting)
• Easy to accidentally push the navigation buttons
• No backlight (can purchase clip on light which works well)
• Battery life only about 12 hours with internet enabled
• Web browser very limited in formatting capabilities/unable to work with complex pages

Kindle for Christians

The above comments are not unlike most of the other thousands of reviews of the Kindle. My primary concern is for Christians, especially for Christian leaders. Is it easy to read the Bible on the Kindle? Are new Christian releases available on Kindle? What about the books published in the last decades? What about older works, public domain? The following is a brief summary, I will be blogging much more extensively on this topic in the upcoming weeks and months and going into more detail.

Bibles

I have downloaded and used a few translations of the Bible. They are all plagued by the same problem. The Kindle doesn't show you what chapter of a book you are on, so it is easy to get lost and difficult to check what book or chapter you are in. They all have common navigation scheme: Navigate to the books via the table of contents. Then the superiorly formatted ones (ESV, NASB, & NIV) let you click on links to navigate to the appropriate chapters (I can usually find a verse in these versions in under 15 seconds). (NET & KJV) make you click next page until you get where you are trying to go (this can take a very long on the order of minutes if the verse is later in a book) In summary, the Kindle is not very effective as a look-up-stuff Bible, but excellent in any translation to read straight through a book of the Bible or to read a long section.

Modern Christian Books

Crossway and some other publishers are releasing their books in Kindle format, downloadable in under a minute by navigating on the Kindle to the Kindle Store or by ordering online at the Kindle Store. It seems like most new books are being released digitally. However, books published in years past are only slowly making their way onto the Kindle, and most (but not all) of these are the doctrinally deprived best-seller types. I will be releasing recommended Kindle reading in the coming weeks and months. Additionally many authors release their books digitally for free and these are easily converted to Kindle format and read. Some of these authors that do this are John Piper, Frame & Poythress, and some from Sovereign Grace. Similarly Crossway often will email you a pdf of the physical books that you buy direct from their site.

The best part of reading digitally is that many of the best books available are public domain. Christian CLassics Ethereal Library, Gracegems, Spurgeon.org, Google books, and others are great to get digital texts which you can then paste into a Word document or pdf and send it to your Kindle, or you can browse some of the texts directly on the web-browser on the Kindle.

I have a very extensive digital text collection in Libronix and as I am studying, if I find something that I want to read later when I'm not at the computer screen, I have found myself pasting it into a Word Doc and emailing it to my Kindle to read later. It has made my Libronix Digital Library much more useful to me.

Commentaries

I have not found many commentaries for sale for use in Kindle, however, I have found myself during my study times on Libronix pasting the commentary sections that I want to read in more detail into Word and sending it to my Kindle. There are many public domain commentaries that are available online that the Kindle user can take advantage of. Overall, however, the Kindle is not a good standalone reference tool as it is very slow to navigate section to section (as discussed in the Bible section above). My opinion is that the Kindle is best used to read large sections and not flip around within a resource as is done in a reference book.

Blogs

Most blogs have pretty complicated formats; Kindle does not do well with this. As far as I know, Kindle has no way to read RSS feeds; so I have not found any easy way to read blogs effectively on the Kindle. Amazon does have an option to serve blogs to your Kindle at a cost if the blog chooses to participate. This may be the future of blog reading on Kindle, but I hope that soon there will be an easy way to read simple RSS feeds on the Kindle.

Overall, I highly recommend the Kindle for all who love to read. I have loved mine and find myself using it for hours and hours almost each day.

Keywords: kindle

We Are All Very Committed and Gifted Self-Swindlers (Quote: Paul David Tripp)

Sin lives in a costume; that why it's so hard to recognize. The fact that sin looks so good is one of the things that make it so bad. In order for it to do its evil work, it must present itself as something that is anything but evil. Life in a fallen world is like attending the ultimate masquerade party:

• Inpatient yelling wears the costume of a zeal for truth.
• Lust can masquerade as a love for beauty
• Gossip does its evil work by living in the costume of concern and prayer
• Craving for power and control wears the mask of biblical leadership
• Fear of man gets dressed up as a servant heart
• The pride of always being right masquerades as a love for biblical wisdom

Review: The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul

In The Truth of the Cross, R.C. Sproul effectively communicates the truth of the cross, its significance, its necessity, and its accomplishments. The Truth of the Cross is a short little book packed with doctrine related to the cross (with a focus on substitutionary atonement), a topic that no Christian can spend too much time thinking about rightly. R.C. Sproul's aim throughout the 10 chapters of the book is to ensure that the reader correctly understands what transpired at the cross, why it was necessary, and what God accomplished there. He makes extensive use of church history, historic Christian philosophers and theologians, (Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm, Luther, & Calvin), philosophy, and logic. Sproul, as usual, is excellent at taking complex statements and whittling them down so that they seem simple. I do wish, however, that the book was more Scripture-packed and that Sproul's appeals were based more explicitly on Scripture than on logic. It seems that Sproul's modus operandi is to demonstrate where his reformed theology logically directs his thinking on an issue. Then he may point to Scripture to show how his position is not at odds with Scripture. This seems backwards to me and is my concern with Sproul and underlies all of the areas of disagreement/caution that I have with this book (On pp 159-161, Sproul's need to teach that Jesus the man and not Jesus God was crucified at the cross seems to be more theologically driven than textually driven and is a good example of this observation as not one verse is cited or interacted with to defend his position, Acts 20:28 & 1 Cor 2:8 would have been nice). Nevertheless, this book is an excellent devotional treatise on cross of Christ that does make frequent use of Scripture. It served me well as I slowly read it, wondering anew at the amazing love of this Holy God who would crush His Son in my place and give me His righteousness to free me from Hell and to reconcile me to Him.

The first few chapters were written to demonstrate to the reader that the atonement was absolutely necessary if man were to have any hope to come to God. Sproul writes, "If we are defective in understanding the character of God or understanding the nature of sin, it is inevitable that we will come to the conclusion that an atonement was not necessary" (p. 15). It is not merely enough to know the facts of the cross, we must know the meaning of the facts, he says, otherwise we will miss the significance of the cross (p. 102). Sproul does a masterful job at simply and understandably laying out this significance. In summarizing what he has taught, at the end of the book, Sproul writes, "[The cross] is not an afterthought or an attempt to correct a mistake. Rather, from all eternity, God determined that He would redeem for himself a people, and that which He determined to do was, in fact, accomplished in the work of Jesus Christ, His atonement on the cross."

In the face of many modern heresies, such as New Perspective on Paul, postmodernism, and Open Theism, that attack the very significance of the cross and are being embraced by many in evangelical circles, Sproul's book is well-timed and well written. We would do well to read it, recognize the truth of the cross, and guard ourselves from believing these gospel-attacking wolf-doctrines dressed in academic sheep's clothing. We would do well to sit at the foot of the cross everyday and recognize the importance of the doctrines that first brought us life and are meant to sustain us through our Christian life. For these ends, you will be served well by Sproul's The Truth of the Cross.

Purchase at Westminster Books
Purchase at Amazon.com

"Earn This" Lesson On the Cross from Saving Private Ryan

In the final battle scene from the World War II film, Saving Private Ryan, mortally wounded Captain John H. Miller whispers his last words into Private James Ryan's ears: "Earn this," he says between agonal breaths before he slumps his head, his task complete. His task was to find private Ryan and bring him home, a mission of mercy planned to give his mother some solace after she hears that three of her four sons died on the field. Miller and his specially picked squad end up completing their task, at the cost of most of their own lives; yet they successfully complete their mission, to bring Private Ryan home alive.

In the final minutes of the movie, after Miller's passionate imperative, "Earn this," the camera cuts an elderly James Ryan standing over Miller's grave. Tears in his eyes, Ryan speaks to the departed Miller at his grave saying, "Everyday I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge; I've tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that that was enough. I hope, that at least in your eyes, I earned what [you] have done for me."

Miller and his group of men sacrificed much for Private Ryan. They died so that Ryan could live. Their deaths for Private Ryan were not based on anything good in Private Ryan; it was a mission of mercy. Picking up on these themes, I heard a sermon shortly after the movie's release in which the preacher showed the clip and said that this gives us a glimpse of what Jesus did for us. Then with dramatic pause he asked each of us in the crowd, "Have you earned it? Do you live life the best that you can so that in God's eyes He will say you have earned what He did for you?" Then he dismissed everyone. I wanted to stand up and scream, "No! No! You've missed the point!"

This is precisely NOT the message of the cross. Jesus' death is completely different. Jesus died precisely so that we didn't have to earn it.

Just like private Ryan remembered his saviors' deaths every day, we must daily remember our Savior's death. But Jesus said something far different hanging on the cross than Captain Miller said on the bridge. Miller said, "Earn this." Jesus said, "It is finished." In essence, "I just earned what you never could and must not now try." When you remember the cross do you remember Christ's words? We must remember the cross and if you remember the cross rightly you will never try to earn anything. If Christ died for you, he died to earn you that which you never could earn. If you could have earned, Jesus wouldn't have had to die (c.f. Gal 2:21).

Just like Ryan's memory of those who died for him affected his day to day life, so your memory of the One who died for you must affect your day-to-day life. But the motive for it affecting you must be completely different. To try to earn Christ's death through your good works or righteous life is to ignore the true meaning of all the Jesus did there as he died. On the cross, Jesus bore the wrath of God that you and I deserve and Christ's righteousness was applied to us (2 Cor 5:21). We have earned and can earn nothing but Hell. Precisely because we can't earn heaven by our own righteousness, Christ died to give us His.

If you look at the cross and try to earn it, Christ didn't die for you. That's not faith; that's works. Repent.

Rather, recognize Christ's finished work, and trust that it is sufficient to reconcile yourself to God. Christ's death purchased us out of the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:13-14). There is nothing left that you have to do. So now live like the new creature that God has made you, not to earn the cross but because of what the cross has earned for you.

Let's change Ryan's words spoken at the gravestone and say, from the foot of the cross, "Everyday, I think about what you said that day on the cross, 'It is finished.' I now live my life as one forgiven and freed from sins. I could never do enough, and I praise you that Christ has made me righteous in your eyes."

Keywords: atonement,cross,gospel

Fellowship as a Smallgroup

I have a deep desire for deeper fellowship within my smallgroup. Many relationships that I have within my group are the deepest I know, but some are regularly superficial. How do I remedy this? Spending time together is certainly part of the answer?  Like C.J. Mahaney says in the quote below, "Social activities can create a context for fellowship, but they are a place to begin - not a place to remain." So as I plan the social activities in which I desire fellowship to occur, I must remember that hanging out, being friends, and having fun is not fellowship. We must push through in the midst of those activities to true fellowship - not formalism, religiosity, fakeness, or spirituality. If I spend the afternoon  with you, fellow Christian, no matter what we are doing, I want to leave with a fresh understanding of and passion for God. I desire that that would be the effect of an afternoon (or smallgroup meeting) spent with me.

The depth of our personal relationship with God determines the degree of fellowship possible with each other. Thus, in order to know true fellowship, one must maintain a passionate relationship with and experience of God. Perhaps that is why biblical fellowship is so rare.

Fellowship is not just another word for social activities. I really enjoy watching the Washington Redskins or Baltimore Orioles with my friends. This can be a healthy part of small-group life…but it isn’t fellowship. And you don’t have fellowship talking about the latest opinion from Rush Limbaugh or Jesse Jackson, either. Social activities can’t be equated or confused with fellowship. They are distinctly different. Nothing compares to the fellowship we enjoy when we worship together, study and apply Scripture together, encourage and correct each other, and communicate to one another our current experience of God. Nothing. Social activities can create a context for fellowship, but they are a place to begin—not a place to remain.

When I spend an extended time with another Christian, my main desire is that we know fellowship. I want to hear of his relationship with God, and how God is revealing himself to him. I want to communicate my current experience of God as well, and impart a fresh passion for God.

Is that your desire? If someone spent an afternoon with you, would he or she leave with a fresh understanding of and passion for God? If not, you need to change. With this definition of fellowship in mind, consider your small group. Are you experiencing fellowship? How much time do you spend in the meetings talking about your current relationship with God? When you meet together outside the meetings, how often do your conversations revolve around God’s work in your life? If you are relaxing together more than you're relating together spiritually, you're not enjoying true biblical fellowship - and you have something to look forward to.

C.J. Mahaney
Why Smallgroups (Free PDF Download)
pp. 11-12

Keywords: fellowship,smallgroup

Reading according to CJ Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, & Josh Harris

I finally got a chance to listen to the third installment of the Sovereign Grace Leadership Interview podcast. The three speak in a pastoral way to pastors to help them to prioritize the practice of reading in their own care of their souls. It is great advice that is applicable for all, not just pastors; in fact, it may be advice that is most overlooked by non-pastors. I highly recommend the Christian reader of this blog, stop reading this blog, and download this installment (and all installments) of the Leadership Interview Podcast.

Most of the books recommended can be found linked here,

Also, while thinking on the topic, you must surf over to T4G blog and read some of the great posts there on reading that are designed to be read in order:

• Al Mohler: Some Thoughts on the Reading of Books
• Mark Dever: An Apostolic Agenda
• Ligon Duncan: Checking In
• CJ Mahaney: A Passion for Reading & Learning
• Al Mohler: Responding to Readers on Reading
• Ligon Duncan: Pastors Studying & Reading 1 (7 total)
• CJ Mahaney: A Plan for Reading & Study

I hope these resources serve you well, convince you of the importance of reading, and motivate you to make the necessary adjustments in your schedule in order to reflect this priority. It certainly has renewed my motivation in this regard.

Keywords: reading

Free Commentary for Libronix (Matthew, Mark Cornerstone Biblical Commentary)

I have another freebie. For a limited time, you can get a digital version of Cornerstone Biblical Commentary Series' commentaries on Matthew (by David Turner) and Mark (by Darrel Bock) for free. Just go it the product page and then checkout using the coupon code: CORNERSTONE

First add the book to your cart, then add the coupon code to the field on the lower left, then click proceed, enter credit card info (you will not be charged; don't be thrown off by the total on the right, it'll go away on the next screen.), click proceed, verify that the total is $0.00, click submit order, and finally download your resource. You have to have Libronix installed first. Check the product page to tell you how to install the free software (the software is free but resources are not. I recommend you purchase one of the libraries).

Keywords: free,libronix,logos

God Sings Over Me (Piper Quote)

On Zephaniah 3:17, Piper writes,

God does not do you good out of some constraint or coercion. He is free! And in his freedom he overflows in joy to do you good. He exults over you with loud singing.

Can you imagine what it would be like if you could hear God singing? Remember that it was merely a spoken word that brought the universe into existence. What would happen if God lifted up his voice and not only spoke but sang! Perhaps a new heaven and a new earth would be created. God says something almost just to that effect in Isaiah 65:17-18,
Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth ... I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

When God spoke at the beginning, the heavens and the earth were created; perhaps at the end, the new heavens and the new earth will be created when God exults over his people with loud singing.

When I think of the voice of God singing, I hear the booming of Niagara Falls mingled with the trickle of a mossy mountain stream. I hear the blast of Mt. St. Helens mingled with a kitten's purr. I hear the power of an East Coast hurricane and the barely audible puff of a night snow in the woods. And I hear the unimaginable roar of the sun 865,000 miles thick, one million three hundred thousand times bigger than the earth, and nothing but fire, 1, 000, 000 degrees centigrade, on the cooler surface of the corona. But I hear this unimaginable roar mingled with the tender, warm crackling of the living room logs on a cozy winter's night.

And when I hear this singing I stand dumbfounded, staggered, speechless that he is singing over me. He is rejoicing over my good with all his heart and with all his soul (cf. Jeremiah 32:41)!

John Piper
"Pleasure of God In the Good of His People"
Found in Piper Sermon Manuscript Library for Libronix

Keywords: gospel,piper,quote

A Baby Preaching: Less Content; Less Error; More Excitement!

In what was described by his brother as a "powerful move of God" a baby, the son of the preacher, takes the mic and begins to "preach". It is far better than what the congregation was used to and better than much of what you'd find on TBN:

Slightly less content
Much less error
Equal or greater emotional rise.

Amen! Sad, huh? This just reinforces how grateful I am for the expository preaching I am blessed with each week.

HT: Thabiti

Keywords: baby,preaching,video