New Year - New Direction

Well it's now another new year!

I am now living in Texas so I can be here to help my mother!
Currently in the process of looking for a job.

I am also currently reading two excellent books:

Why I Am Not An Arminian by Robert A. Peterson and Michael D. Williams
Election and Free Will by Robert A. Peterson

The authors both teach at Covenant Theological Seminary (CTS for short) in St. Louis.
CTS is a seminary part of the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America).
I will review them when I'm finished reading them. I'm about half-way through both.

I really liked CTS it has a good location and the campus is very attractive. The book store is really good too.

I am hoping to post in the new year more like I used to.

Grace & Peace

Quote for Today

"The whole tragedy today is that the Christian Church is moving
ponderously, slowly, heavily, while the world is in the grip of the devil. She
is setting up committees to investigate the problems, and commissions to examine
various situations, and calling for reports, interim and final, to be produced
in a year, or perhaps several years, which will then be considered. And she is
doing this while the world is on fire, and people are going to hell, and the
devil is rampant everywhere!"

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

This is even more true today!!

Verses for Today

I have been reading Timothy Keller's new book Counterfeit Gods and I am reminded of these verses.

"15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:15-17"

In our current world this is something that we must fight on a daily basis. If we just buy that new car, or house or whatever then we will have made it and be happy. A lie right from the pit of hell.

As the song says "our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness". Our life is Jesus Christ. Everything we need is in Him. If we have put our hope or trust in anything else it is our idol.

May all of His children continue to fight the fight of faith daily. We are only Pilgrims passing through this world.

Grace & Peace

Reading 2 Peter 2 Today

I just had to post this. This is an excellent reminder of the World we live in today.

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³ And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

¹⁷ These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilement's of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. 2 Pe 2:1-3 and 17-22"

May the Lord help each of us to discern the wolves in sheep's clothing!!

SDG

Status

So sorry that it's been so long since I have posted.

I'm still alive and kicking.

I have started back to school so I have been a little busy. I am going online and I have a class every 5 weeks. I have a paper due in a couple of weeks along with the class work. It's not too bad but it keeps me really busy!

David

Current Reading

I have been reading The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard.

The sub-title is Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin.

This is a small book but it is really excellent. I am reading it very slow.

I would suggest that everyone read this book. It's very readable it's very applicable to every christian.

I'll post a more detailed review when I am finished.

Hatred of Sin

“Work in your hearts a hatred of sin… If a man had killed your friend, or father, or mother, how would you hate him! You would not endure the sight of him, but follow the law upon him. Send out the avenger of blood with a hue and cry after thy sin; bring it afore God’s judgment seat, arraign it, accuse it, spit on it, condemn it and thyself for it, have it to the cross, nail it there, if it cry I thirst, give it vinegar, stretch the body of sins upon his cross, stretch every vein of it, make the heart strings crack; and then when it hangs there, triumph over the dying of it, show it no pity, laugh at its destruction, say, Thou hast been a bloody sin to me and my husband, hang there and rot. And when thou art tempted to it [sin], and art very thirsty after the pleasure of it, say of that opportunity to enjoy it, It is the price of Christ’s blood, and pour it upon the ground. … Shall I live upon that which was Christ’s death? Shall I please myself in that which was his pain? Shall I be so dishonest, so unkind, as to enjoy the pleasure for which he endured the smart?”

Thomas Goodwin

Today's Gospel

The problem with the gospel that is presented today is not that God cannot save anyone unless it is presented correctly. That is not the case at all God does the saving and God can use whatever He pleases.

The Problem is the non-regenerate! They are told since they prayed a prayer or walked down an aisle they are saved. That is actually the lie right out of the pit of Hell. The devil wants folks to believe they are saved. That way they really won't think about it too much and just go on living their sinful life of sin and believe they are bound for Heaven. They are not concerned with their sin after all they are just as good as everyone else.

The true Christian is VERY concerned about their sin. They long for the day that they will sin no more and be able to totally live for Christ in sinlessness. We are only saved by the mercy and grace of God!!

Praise be to God and Glory to Him FOREVER!!!

SDG

Spiritual Warfare

Here is a quote from John MacArthur's - The Jesus You Can't Ignore.

"The core truths of Scripture are always under attack. Scripture itself clearly teaches that the main battleground where Satan wages his cosmic struggle against God is ideological. In other words, the spiritual warfare every Christian is engaged in is first of all a conflict between truth and error, not merely a competition between good and wicked deeds. The chief aim of Satan's strategy is to confuse, deny, and corrupt the truth with as much fallacy as possible, and that means the battle for truth is very serious. Being able to distinguish between sound doctrine and error should be one of the highest priorities for every Christian - as should defending the truth against false teaching."

I have really been enjoying our study in Sunday School on the Gospel. How is the Gospel presented in scripture? How does the Gospel presentation in scripture compare against most of the Gospel presentations today?

SDG

What is the Gospel?

As some of you know, my Sunday school class has been studying the question: What is the Gospel according to the New Testament?

The book "A Price For a People: The Meaning of Christ's Death" by Tom Wells is very excellent. I would recommend this book highly. It's short (100+ pages) but it is excellent!

I have also started reading "Learning Evangelism From Jesus" by Jerram Barrs. Professor Barrs teaches at Covenant Theological Seminary here in Saint Louis.

In the future I plan on reviewing both books here.

SDG

Mark Driscoll

I am just shocked and appalled at MD's sermon on the Song of Solomon!!
It's so fowl and pornographic that I can't even quote anything from it.

I am actually even more shocked that the paper for the Missouri Baptist Convention actually quoted parts of his sermon in their newspaper. Not to make light of this gross error of exposition but from now on I think I'll just refer to MD as the Larry Flint of the Pulpit (yes it's that bad).

How a pastor who claims to be Reformed can preach that kind of filth and give that kind of interpretation of the Song of Solomon is just beyond me.

I believe that MD needs to pay a little more attention to the last verses of Revelation. I am just wondering how long God will let him get away with it. It is hurting the cause of Christ.

Grace & Peace

The Gospel Message

Well we continue to study the Gospel presentations in the New Testament.
All of them vary. When Jesus presented the Gospel it depended on the individual as to how he dealt with the person. It is pretty much the same with Peter and Paul.

If we compare the Gospel messages with the Gospel message of today it would seem that Jesus, Peter and Paul made a glaring omission. Where is the "God loves you" in their messages?

It seems that in today's message that is the first thing an unbeliever is told.
This admission actually presents some problems. How will a person be fully convicted of their sin? People need to see their sinfulness and that they need a Savior because of God's wrath against sin. The problem is that a lot of folks have heard that "God loves them" a lot in their lives. They have heard very little if at all about God's hatred of their sin and that they will be judged for it.

It's oh we are all basically good people. How could God send anyone to hell, He loves us?

We must go back to the real Gospel message.

Grace & Peace

Truth or No Truth?

It is said today that there are no truth claims and no absolutes.

I'll pass over the fact that such statements are in themselves absolute statements.

My concern is that these statements are made but yet no one really considers the implications of such statements.

Without truth there is no faith. Which leaves us all with no hope. There is then no purpose in life.

In this state society as a whole essentially breaks down. There is no reason for anything if there is no truth. If there is no truth then how can math, science or anything else mean anything?

Many people are running around in life with no hope and no purpose. It's actually quite easy to see this in people. They put their hope in all kind of things. Money, Fame, Position, Possessions

and it's all still emptiness.

God did not create us to live life without Truth or Hope!

Hebrews 11:1 says:

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

The Truth is that man makes these statements so that mankind will not have to face it's own depravity. If the sinfulness and depravity is acknowledged then it becomes clear very quickly that mankind needs a remedy for it's sinfulness. Of course mankind only acknowledges it's sinfulness due to the working of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel then becomes something that is full of hope and purpose for each of our lives.

We must live our lives for God's Glory which is the real purpose of our lives as Christians.

SDG

John Newton

Well Bro. Bobby I have started reading John Newton. I have almost finished Vol 1 of the Biography on George Whitfield.

I love reading about these great men of God. It is clear that God chose John Newton. Newton enjoyed living in sin until God begin to deal with him. Which is how it is with all of us (some more than others as in Newton).

Grace and Peace

Effects of Television

I have taken a short break from reading about Whitfield. I am reading Why Johnny Can't Preach - The Media Have Shaped the Messengers by T. David Gordon. Wow you really need to run out and buy this one to read.

Here is some quotes related to my post title.

"Only by televised news; own silly standards could someone spend ten to fifteen minutes on a matter of public interest and consider this to be "in-depth" coverage. Nothing of public importance can be covered in ten minutes; few important matters can even be adequately introduced in ten minutes. A culture that reads can consider what is significant because reading takes time to apprehend. But a culture that is accustomed to commercial interruptions every six or seven minutes loses its ability to discuss significant matters because it has lost the patience necessary to consider them."

"To illustrate this principle ... I decided a couple of years ago to attempt to begin to understand the Vietnam conflict and its effects on our nation. So I decided, as an introduction, to read about five books. ... So I read those five books and believe that I got a general, basic orientation on a matter in our history that few of us could understand very clearly while we were going through it. Anyone who reads normally assumes that you need to read a minimum of three to five books just to get a general introduction to a subject. But the time I spent in my little five book introduction to this matter would have translated to the longest television documentary Ken Burns has ever done! As a medium reading cultivates a patient lengthy attention span, whereas television as a medium is impatient. One is therefore suited to what is significant; the other merely to what is insignificant."

Pastor what was the name of that book you had? How to Read a Book? I think I need to read it to ensure that I am reading as I should!

Grace & Peace

True Ministers

I have been reading the biography of George Whitfield.

I have also been thinking a lot about his time versus our time in history.

It's time to say something controversial: we need to make sure that the ministers of the faith are truly saved as best we can.

The bible says we will know the good from the bad by the fruit produced!! There seems to be a bit of bad fruit in our pulpits today. Just hear what is being proclaimed from some of the pulpits today! Why are we not preaching Christ and Him crucified and raised from the dead? You know the Gospel that God calls His ministers to preach? Spurgeon and Whitfield thought that you could never preach too much about Christ.

Christ must surely be grieved by what is being proclaimed!

I thank God that He has also provided us with a number of Very faithful ministers who proclaim the truth in season and out of season.

May God call even more faithful ministers to tend His sheep!! (as well as preach to the Lost)

SDG

Ann Coulter article about George Tiller (late-term abortionist)

She drives some very bad people, nuts. But when Ann Coulter is good, she's very, very good. And in 49 million to 5, she's very very good!

Check it out!

Calvin's Institutes

As some of you know I have been reading through Calvin's Institutes this year. So here is a good quote from the Institutes.

"God has divided his law into two parts, which contain the whole of righteousness,  as to assign the first part to those duties of religion which particularly concern the worship of his majesty; the second, to the duties of love that have to do with men.

Surely the first foundation of righteousness is the worship of God. When this is overthrown, all the remaining parts of righteousness, like the pieces of a shattered and fallen building, are mangled and scattered. What kind of righteousness will you call it not to harass men with theft and plundering, if through impious sacrilege you at the same time deprive God's majesty of it's glory? Or that you do not defile your body with fornication, if with your blasphemies you profane God's most holy name? Or that you do not slay a man, if you strive to kill and quench the remembrance of God? It is vain to cry up righteousness without religion. This is as unreasonable as to display a mutilated, decapitated body as something beautiful. Not only is religion the chief part but the very soul, whereby the whole breathes and thrives. And apart from the fear of God men do not preserve equity and love among themselves. Therefore we call the worship of God the beginning and foundation of righteousness. When it is removed, whatever equity, continence, or temperance men practice among themselves is in God's sight empty and worthless."

Grace & Peace

Back in the routine

Well I'm starting to get settled here in St. Louis. I've moved into my apartment and am slowly but surely getting my stuff put up.

I am also getting back into my reading again. I'm finishing up the first volume about George Whitefield. I'm also reading Bavinck's first volume of Reformed Theology.

I have discovered that Covenant Theological Seminary in located here. They also have courses online that can be taken for free. I have driven by it several times. 

I am starting to really like it here!

Pastor, I have downloaded your latest mp3's from church. I will be listening to them soon. 

I'll begin my search for a new church home the next Lord's day.

Grace & Peace

P.S. the Lord willing I'll be coming back down to Nashville on June 6th. (To hopefully pick up the rest of my stuff.)

My First Week

I don't really know where to begin. Through everything the Lord has been there each and every step of the way. I have been absolutely humbled by everything that the Lord is taking care of!

He is everywhere. The Lord has truly blessed this process.

Within the next week or so my new apartment will pretty much have all of the furniture that it needs (all of it will have been given to me). It's just too numerous to mention all of the big and little things He is providing.

My mother has even been surprised about all that has happened. It is clear to the both of us that I am right where He wants me to be at this time. I am looking forward to see what He has in store for me here in the future.

I will be moving into my apartment tomorrow. I will hopefully post some more over this  holiday weekend.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

SDG!!!