"We should read old books" - John Piper
In a recent posting by John Piper on how he decides which books to read, he ends by saying this...
I don't think we ought to be reading new books all the time. I think we should read old books. And then the question is whether time and history has proven them. There are some books that have been around forever, and they are, generation after generation, witnessed to as being very shaping to people's lives. So I think we should constantly be exposing ourselves to those classics and not always reading the latest thing.
So I recommend reading 1) things that relate to the passions of your life, 2) recommendations from people that are responsible and that you respect, and 3) time-proven, classic, deep works on various issues.
What are two or three classics that you would recommend to just about anyone?
The Bible, the most proven and most useful book, should be in your reading list every day.
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Everybody, I think, who can read English can benefit from working their way through that. In my own life I put The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards very high up the list. And for those with a really strong theological bent, The Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards. [Some other] massively influential books in my life:
Bondage of the Will, by Martin Luther.
Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin.
The Mortification of Sin and Communion with God by John Owen.
My Sin Makes Me Worry If I am Really Saved
Once in a while I will receive an email like the following from someone who is worried that some sin they have committed may have crossed the place of no return to God's favor.
Visitor: Even after I was sealed for the day of redemption, I still have sinned against God. I continue to fight addicting sin(s), and though most of the time I defeat the sin, sometimes I foolishly give in to it. I'm so sorry that I have given in to foolish and sinful lusts, and all I want to do is to cast away those actions forever, and to be forgiven, and sin no more. But I don't know if I am saved anymore, because I have really been scared that my repentance is not true, because I have again sinned, and that God has cast me away. Please help me, because I am very scared. I want to be forgiven and be different.
Response: Your sin is not greater than Christ's grace and work. Having been united to Christ, the Spirit of adoption can come to you no more with a Spirit of bondage and fear because in Christ you no longer stand in your own sins, merit or performances, but are clothed in His righteousness. Becaue of Jesus you are already on the other side of justice and it can no longer have you (Rom 8:1). No condemnation for you in Christ for the full justice of God has been satisfied. Christ's once for all sacrifice means there is no longer necessary a sacrifice for sin year after year (as in Leviticus) but now His atoning work is sufficient for all time for you before God. Remember, you can neither attain, nor maintain, your right standing before God. You never did and never will, for sin cannot disolve the covenant which God has graciously granted you in Christ. Now as always, our only hope is Jesus Christ. When God justified you, He did not then, and does not now, look at you but rather, at the covenant He made with you in Christ. Consider, when God made the covenant of grace with Abraham, God made Abraham sleep and God himself walked through the divided animals and so promised to take on Himself the punishment if Abraham did not fulfill his side of the covenant. And so it was, the seed of Abraham (that's us) all failed to keep the covenant and so God Himself came in the flesh to fully bear up the punishment we justly deserve for not keeping our side of it. Jesus Kept it for us. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves, from our side. We are justified for His sake, not for anything God sees in us or will see in us.
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Are We Trusting Gov't for Social Justice
The weak, the fatherless and single women are especially vulnerable to being overpowered by the faceless arbitrary powers around them, especially in our present fragmented society. The defenseless are subject to the greatest creulty. And while the law of the land usally does something to protect the weak, it does so imperfectly. In fact it woefully falls short in what must be done to help and without any personal touch. That is where the church comes in since the government cannot substitute sufficiently. Just as God has freed us from our captivity from the savages of sin and given us great dignity so we are to treat the weak and helpless. The government can never really substitute for a father and likewise the church should consider these things when it go out to help others, to be a father to them. Do not simply rely on a government bureaucracy to take care of these things for you. Our personal involvement in them will make a much greater impact in their lives than a system for their good.
The fatherless are without someone who was intended to be in their lives. There was no one there to point the way, to nurture, protect and provided for them. Do not simply count on your tax money to help from a distance but get involved with the most vulnerable in your community. The weakest among us are due the greatest protection and consideration by the caring community. In Deut 14:29 & Isa 1:17 the law required that the fatherless orphan be looked after and needs taken care of, that is, their physical and spiritual well being. In this our Lord is glorified as what we do for them we do for Him.
The Emergent Church and the Gospel
The gospel is not about any merit I have on my own, but is based upon Jesus' merit alone. It is not what we have done for Jesus, but what Jesus has done for us (Rom 5:19, 2 Cor 5:21, Phil 2:8). In the covenant rainbow sign with Noah, God says He "remembers" never to flood the world this way again, so likewise in the covenant in Christ's blood, God "remembers" not to treat us as we justly deserve for our sins. The mystery of God has been made manifest in the Person and work of the Son, who frees the prisoners, gives sight to the blind, breaks loose the chains and changes hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. We were taken captive to do Satan's will and could not escape until Christ set us free. In other words, Christ, in His cross work, does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He lived the perfect life that we should have lived and died the death we should have died, in order to free us so that we might then proclaim His excellencies, make known his gospel and spread justice and mercy to the poor.
But this is not what many of the the most notable characters in the Emerging church (e.g. McClaren, McManus, Bell) mean when they use the term “gospel”; for Christ, in their view, did not come so much as a Savior, who delivers us from His just wrath, but rather, came to make us "Christ followers". Jesus came as a moral example of how we might live, treat one another, and form communities. But as has been repeatedly shown throughout the testaments, this is a recipe for failure. In Romans 3:20 the Apostle teaches that the purpose of the law was not so much to show us how to live (although it was that too), but more to reveal our moral inability and hopeless bondage to sin apart from the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Some major voices in the emergent church are saying they want a relationship with Jesus and not doctrines, but we must ask which Jesus do they want to have a relationship with? If words mean anything it appears they want a relationship with a moralistic Jesus of their own imagination. They want to believe that God is pleased with us because of what we do ... that He is pleased with us if we join HIm in being active in crusades against social ills such as corporate greed, global warming, racism and poverty. That doing this is what the Gospel is all about. But as good as some of these things might be, God is not pleased with them if they do not come from faith in Jesus Christ as a Savior first, not as a mere example for us to follow. For instance, Jesus revealed His sinlessness and our moral impotence in the face of it. and thus our need for His mercy. But McLaren and many of the other emergent church leaders trumpet their belief that the gospel is more about ethics than the work of Christ on our behalf. They appeal to bettering the world around us as a task that is opposed to and more pressing than seeing our own rebellion and poverty, which prove our need for reconciliation to God through the life, death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. This unbiblical bifurcation of orthopraxy and orthodoxy, and foundational preference for the former, is just plain contrary to the Christian gospel.
Kingdom Expansion in SE Asia
The following is a recent enounter my missionary friends had in SE Asia.
"I have been healed so many times by the Buddhist monks, but the demon
spirits keep coming back. It doesn't really work like I thought. I don't
care who I pray to, I just need healing. "
These were the desperate words I heard 1 month ago from my next door
neighbor, Ihsan. After praying for she and her family for 4 + years, I knew
the time was finally right to introduce her to Jesus, and that only He had
the power to heal what was plaguing her.
Book Review: Justification and Regeneration, by Charles Leiter
Synopsis: Dealing with the two major aspects of man's sin problem before God – objective guilt and moral corruption – and the two major aspects of the redemptive work of Christ that overcome these problems, Justification and Regeneration, by Charles Leiter, is a book that explains in clear, simple, and eminently biblical terms the very heart of the gospel. Its value can scarcely be overestimated, in a day when the true gospel has been all but forgotten in much of Evangelicalism, and many believers struggle to live a truly Christian life in spite of widespread confusion and ignorance as to what constitutes the foundation of Christianity. To anyone who may be discouraged by a seeming lack of progress and real substance in his walk as a believer, in spite of a ready familiarity with all the emphases and strategems of American Evangelicalism, I enthusiastically say, “Read this book!”. It may be the most important book you read this year or for many years.
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Images of the Savior (5 -- Noah's Ark)
The Kingdom of God, composed as we have seen of all those who had placed their faith in God's promise of a coming Seed who should deliver them from sin and the Serpent, began to grow greatly from its small beginnings, when it was represented only by Adam and Eve and the first martyr, Abel. For soon after Abel had given his life for his testimony of faith, God added another seed to Eve, namely Seth, to strengthen her faith, and through whom he should continue the line from which she still hoped the Messiah should come. From Seth, God was in fact pleased to cause his Kingdom to continue, and whenever she began to be in any desperate straits, or on the brink of extermination, he blessed her with whatever grace she needed to survive and persevere. For first of all, we find the first report of a great revival among God's people in the days of Enosh, the son of Seth (Genesis 4:26). We must suppose that at this time the Church had grown very cold and hardhearted, as she has done many times throughout her history; but rather than let her love grow entirely extinct, God sent his Spirit to stir up the hearts of his people to call upon the name of the Lord. This is the first of what would soon become very many times of corporate revival, such as those in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29-31) and Josiah (2 Chronicles 34-35), or much later, those now known as the Reformation of the sixteenth century, and the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century after Christ.
epistemic hubris
Have you heard this from someone recently? That "WE CANNOT KNOW, with certainty, what God has revealed, so anyone who thinks he does is proud or arrogant? We must, rather, they say, embrace God as mystery?" I don't know about you but I have heard this more than once in the past few weeks. In light of this shouldn't we be asking ourselves the following questions so we can, at least, maintain a degree of intellectual honesty:
Is not this assertion that "we cannot know" itself a dogma with affirmations and denials? Is not this itself a statement of knowledge? Is "we cannot know with certainty" not itself an assertion of KNOWLEDGE (a dogmatic assertion) as THE WAY to interpret Scripture? Whether conscious of it or not, this is what is called "double-talk" and those who believe this are doing the very thing they claim to despise, even in the very speaking of it. Its like Oprah stating on national television that it is arrogant to think Jesus is the only way, and then turning around and telling us the ONLY WAY is to believe that all religions lead to the same God. Is this not itself an arrogant claim ... a claim which must have a bird's eye view of knowledge to state it with such certainty.
The Apostle Peter said, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God"(1 Pet. 4:11). Fact is, it is unavoidable to make any statements without making some kind of affirmation or denial. To claim no one can know about revealation with certainty is itself a claim to know how God operates with certainty. Where does the Scripture itself say that humility is characterized by taking what has God revealed to us (Deut 29:29) and saying we cannot understand it or cannot make statements with certainty, such that we much view all Scripture a total mystery? But this is not how God defines humility. Real humility is to think our thoughts after God, rather than impose our own thoughts on the text. True humility is to see ourselves in light of the glory and majesty of God. By this we become undone and recognize who we are before God and man. By this be come face to face with our own spiritual bankruptcy before God and thus understand that we are clearly no better morally than anyone. We have nothing in ourselves to recommend to God. Salvation by grace ALONE then, understood properly, should teach us that we have nothing to boast in, save in God's mercy alone in Jesus Christ. We are only beggars leading other beggars to bread. ANY BOAST then is contrary to the gospel of grace. True Christianity, according to Paul, is to worship in the Holy Spirit, glory in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. That our salvation is ALL of Christ. This is something God has revealed to us with certainty. If I have a conviction that only Jesus can save, not my self-effort effort, then this kind of certainty will make us the polar opposite of proud.
Those calling for epistemic humility tend the same ones who reject these central Christian doctrines described above which undo us and glory in Christ alone in favor of praxis, as if the two could be separated. But I would argue that by rejecting Biblical teaching such as Sola Gratia/Solus Christus, our praxis just becomes another form of moralism, which does not differentiate Christianity from any other religion. So it should be evident that this very way of defining arrogance and humility is itself broken and contradictory. Does not God define hubris as those who trust in praxis (works) rather than in Christ ALONE? That means Christ for our all in all, the Author and Perfector of our faith, who unites us to Himself that we might live. If Jesus Christ is not central to one's belief (not as a moral example, but as a Savior) then we have not understood even the very basis of Christianity and traded it for a philosophy.
Disintegration: Worshipping the True God in the Wrong Way
In the preamble to the Commandments God asserts, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). The relationship that God has established with us, freeing us from bondage, is the basis from which we can now serve him and serve others. Our law-keeping flows out of this new gracious, familial relationship that God has initiated. Obedience to the covenant occurs after we are made members of the covenant; obedience, in other words, is the result of being joined in union with Christ; This means that our obedience neither initiates nor maintains that relationship, since Christ's work is sufficient for us both now and forever. We obey because we are saved, not saved because we obey.
I have to emphasize these points because we need constant reminding of them lest we invert the order of the gospel. Today we are going to focus in on the third commandment which teaches us that we are not to misuse the name of our God. We select this commandment because in our individualistic age it is easy to forget that God is sovereign and, therefore, we cannot worship God anyway we choose. Moses read the third commandment as follows:
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
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An African-American Vision in the PCA
HT: Anthony J. Carter
The Eternal Treasure of the Unshakeable Kingdom
KINGDOM DISCIPLESHIP 101:
THE ETERNAL TREASURE OF THE KINGDOM
LUKE 12:13-34
REV. CHARLES R. BIGGS
In today’s text from Dr. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples more on what it means to live our lives in light of who God is, his character, and his revealed Kingdom (as we learned in our last sermon on Kingdom Discipleship 101: Knowing God). As Christians, our treasure is located in heaven with Jesus Christ.
Now I realize that the title of the sermon today ‘The Eternal Treasure of the Kingdom’ may sound like the subtitle to an Indiana Jones adventure movie. That is not all that accidental! As with adventure or fantasy movies such as this one and with other classic stories, there is man’s search or attempt at attaining riches here in this present world (that we all identify with)- -only for the treasure and riches to be stolen or lost through foolishness (I think of Treasure of the Sierra Madre).
This “search for treasure story” is an archetypal or model kind of story that all can relate to because of an inherent desire all humans have for permanence and security. This “search for treasure story” is one we learn throughout Scripture as well: Man seeks and searches all his life to build a kingdom and live with lots of riches, but at the end he either loses the riches, or he dies (and then they do him no good).
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon called this “vanity” or “meaninglessness” or “chasing after the wind”.
Now many of us do not perhaps get involved in formal search parties to the end of the world for “lost pirate gold” or diamonds, or seek to move westward in an attempt at a great gusher of black gold.
We are tempted to live in this life as if there were no accountability to God with regard to what he has given to us. We are indeed tempted to live as if our possessions could never rust, perish or be stolen, and we are tempted to live like this because we seek permanence and security as those made in God’s image. When we do not have the permanence and security that we think we should have, we grow anxious, worried and insecure.
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Online Survey
A Christian group is seeking to collect data through an online survey. If you have time to take part in a 3 minute survey on the relationship between Christian doctrine and personal experience click here.
The Minister's Idols
"I submit, however, that buildings, bodies, and budgets often eclipse Word, sacrament, and discipline because this is often how congregations and ministers define themselves. It is hard to say who started it, whether ministers value those things because congregations do, because those are the sorts of things for which they are rewarded by the congregation or vice-versa. Ultimately it does not matter why we do it. What matters is that we do it. These are the status symbols that we covet: a growing budget, increasing attendance, and a bigger building. These are the idols that shape the program-driven church. These are the gods that drive the liturgy of the church-growth movement. These gods offer a covenant of works: do “this and prosper.” They promise tangible rewards to those who serve them faithfully. ." - R. Scott Clark
The Gospel and Pastoral Ministry
Recently, having heard John piper's amazing lecture/sermon given during T4G, my first thought about it was that John Piper is not deconstructioning the Text but it has deconstructed him ... it has gripped and taken hold of him and he was just being used as an instrument to proclaim it. Then today when I saw this quote by Andrew Purves, I thought it expressed this sentiment quite well:
Romans 6:17
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were entrusted…
Andrew Purves, Reconstructing Pastoral Theology (pg. xvi)
Paul does not have it backward. One might think that doctrines are to be entrusted to believers, but believers are entrusted to doctrines, meaning by this the reality of God in Christ for us. It is the gospel that possesses ministry, not ministry that possesses the gospel. ...[T]he actuality of the gospel is the basis for the possibility of our ministry. It is not Jesus Christ who needs pastoral work, it is pastoral work that needs Jesus Christ. Just as faith lives not by human effort, but solely by the grace of God in, through, and as Jesus Christ, and through our incorporation into his life, so also ministry must be understood to be built not upon human striving for growth, well-being, and health but upon the grace of God which is understood now as a participation in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, on earth, in heaven, and as the one who will come again. The focus of pastoral theology, then, is on God’s extrinsic grace in Jesus Christ, on the gospel that is verbum alienum, a Word from beyond us, and to which gracious Word and to that Word alone pastoral theology and pastoral practice must submit in order to be faithful to the gospel.
Images of the Savior (4 -- The Life of Abel)
Very soon after God had made his first promise to mankind that he would send a Deliverer, he began to advance his redemptive design along several different lines, all of which would eventually culminate in the advent and work of the promised Seed, and his gathering together in himself a multitude of people, whom he had undertaken to bring back to God. This era of redemptive history is characterized by a series of highly notable firsts, which would set the stage for the promised coming of salvation by putting in motion those forces which should prepare the way for the coming of the Seed, and ultimately bring about the fullness of time in which God should finally send him; and also, they whisper ahead of time the way in which this Savior, when he had finally come, should go about his work of saving his people. Of these firsts, one of the most significant is the life of Abel, the first man born twice, which we will look into in due time; but for now, let us mention a few other notable circumstances that God had already brought about.
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An Apology from Dr. Tim Keller
Dr. Keller makes a public apology! 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, "... but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;"
The word "defense" here is the Greek word apologia, from which we get the English word "apology". Historically, the word apology refered to giving a reasoned defense of a position held.
I am fairly new to the ministry of Dr. Keller but became something of an instant admirer after watching his lecture at the Veritas Forum defending the Christian faith. I encourage you to watch it to sharpen your own skills in defending the faith. It is also something useful to point non-christian friends towards as a discussion starter. - John Samson
Together for the Gospel Approved Book List
Each of these books were carefully selected for the Together for the Gospel '08 book store. Specifically, Al Mohler, CJ Mahaney, Ligon Duncan, and Mark Dever reviewed a larger list of books from several publishers; if any one of the four crossed out a title out, the book did not make it on the final list. Of the books included, the four men do not claim to endorse everything in every book, but every book is one they believe pastors should know about and will find useful in their ministries.
See List Here(.pdf)