March 2012

Weekend A La Carte (3/31)

A Suicidal Craze - John Piper discusses the folly of the lottery. He said it well in a tweet: “Can you picture Jesus playing the lottery?” In this article he says, “There are at least seven reasons you should not gamble with your money in this way -- and should tell your congressmen not to support it.”

Amazon’s New Robots - This is amazing! “Amazon announced recently that they bought a company named Kiva for $775 million. In cash. Kiva makes robots for fulfillment warehouses, of which Amazon has many. When I heard this news, I was all, robots are cool, but $775 million? But this short video on how the Kiva robots work made me a believer…”

What a Writer Owes a Reader? - “As readers, do we have a right to act as if a writer owes us something? I think we do, but not in the way that we most often make the claim. As readers we are not owed something we like or with which we agree. But writers do owe us something,a whole combination of somethings, in fact.”

The Life We Long For - James Hamilton writes about Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road, a very, very powerful book.

If you live in Souther Ontario, you may be interested in two conferences coming our way: Simeon Trust will be in Mississauga from May 2-4 while Gospel Coalition will be here from May 29-31.

A home with no head is a disaster, one with two is a monstrosity. —John Blanchard

Reviews I Didn't Write

I love writing book reviews and I love reading them. Since I cannot possibly read and review all of the interesting books out there, I've decided to put together some occasional round-ups of reviews written by other writers. Here are a few notable links I've collected over the past few weeks.

The World-Tilting Gospel by Dan Phillips - review by Douglas Wilson. “Phillips begins with the facts of creation and sin, moves on to God’s plan of redemption for us, discusses what justification and regeneration mean (and why they are important), and then concludes with a detailed and very helpful discussion of sanctification and Christian living. If there are any pastors who are looking for a good introductory book for new Christians and/or new members, this book ought to be on their short list. For any older Christians who are mentoring younger ones, this would also be a good book to read together.”

The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Jerry Bridges - review by David Steele. “Bridges continues his winning ways in his newest book, The Transforming Power of the Gospel. The foundation of his approach is the holiness of God. Building upon this sure foundation, Bridges carefully constructs a framework that accurately reflects the gospel - a gospel that truly transforms lives.”

Bloodlines by John Piper - review by Jeffrey Waddington. “This is a wide-ranging and searching volume that addresses a perennial problem. At the end of the day, the only satisfactory answer to racism is the reconciling blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the integrating ministry of the Holy Spirit that glorifies God the Father. When we are reconciled to the Father by the Son through the Spirit, this spills over into reconciliation with our fellow human beings. Piper does not pretend to have offered the last word on this subject. But it is a powerful word.”

Journeys of Faith by Robert Plummer, et al. - review by Carl Trueman. “Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of this book is the passion with which the authors write. Those whose idea of theological conversation is simply to assert the relative nature of all truth, or at least all of your truth, will find themselves irritated on almost every page. The contributors to this book believe in truth and, refreshingly, believe it so strongly that they think they have each moved to positions that are better - more true - than those they once held.”

Loving the Way Jesus Loves by Phil Ryken - review by David Murray. “You will come away from his book softened, mellowed, calmed, entranced, even inspired, and all by an eloquently stunning exposition of love. As you read, you gently and enjoyably swing between praise: ‘Thank you, Jesus, for loving me like that!’ to prayer: ‘Help me, Jesus to love you; and to love like you.’ Or I could easily conceive of an unbeliever reading it and praying, ‘Lord Jesus, please love me like this.’”

Free Stuff Fridays

Free Stuff Fridays
This week's Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Harvest House Publishers. As [almost] always there are five prizes to win and each prize is comprised of several books. Each of the five winners will receive:

What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him is a book I read recently and one I enjoyed a lot. In my review I said “What this book offers is interesting, helpful, mature reflections on what it means to be a man, to be a husband, to be a father. These are the little pearls of wisdom that too few men bequeath to their sons. This is manhood at its best, not some pathetic Eldredge-like counterfeit, but manhood grounded in the gospel and reflecting Jesus Christ.” 

According to the publisher “In What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him, author Byron Yawn offers vital input many men wished they had received during their growing-up years. This collection of 30 simple principles will help men to Identify and fill the gaps that occurred in their upbringing; Benefit from the hard-earned wisdom of others so they don't make mistakes; Prepare their own sons for the difficult challenges of life.”

Giveaway Rules: You may only enter the draw once. Simply fill out your name and email address to enter the draw. As soon as the winners have been chosen, all names and addresses will be immediately and permanently erased. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes Saturday at noon.

Note: If you are reading via RSS, you may need to visit my blog to see the form.

A La Carte (3/30)

Rescued - I didn’t cry while reading this article. I just had something in my eye. Honest. “When I was just a little girl, like a wee little thing, I had a different mom and dad. And they were kind to me, but they had hurts and they had addictions and they didn’t know how to take care of themselves, much less a wee girl and her little brother.”

Goodnight Moon - A strange and unexpected article, this. “For all the years that I had been reading Goodnight Moon to some child or another, I had been picturing its author as a plump, maternal presence, someone like the quiet old lady in the rocking chair whispering, ‘Hush’.” The truth is quite surprising.

Greater Than Our Hearts - In honor of the birthday of Charles Wesley, Matthew Smith is offering a Wesley track as a free download. Get it today because tomorrow will be too late!

United Families Dividing Churches - I find this article a kind and helpful introduction to and critique of the Family Integrated Church movement. 

A Currency Without Currency - Canada is getting rid of the penny. Do you see how progressive and cool we are?

Pilgrim’s Progress for Kids - Over at Redeemed Reader you can now download A Children’s Guide to The Pilgrim’s Progress.

Keeping Up to Date with Greek - I forgot almost all my Greek years ago, but I have it on good authority that many others try to keep it up. This article deals with the subject.

Begin early to teach, for children begin early to sin. —C.H. Spurgeon

Charles Wesley

Charles WesleyToday is the 224th anniversary of the death of Charles Wesley, one of history’s most well-known and best-loved hymn writers. His contributions to the English-speaking church are remarkable, which becomes apparent when you read the introduction to his brief biography at ChristianHistory.net:

He was said to have averaged 10 poetic lines a day for 50 years. He wrote 8,989 hymns, 10 times the volume composed by the only other candidate (Isaac Watts) who could conceivably claim to be the world’s greatest hymn writer.

Of these nearly 9,000 hymns, you’ll likely recognize “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” and “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” along with many others.

Duke Divinity School has done the hard work of putting together an organized collection that provides a “standard for scholarly study and citation.” The collection is organized by date of publication in PDFs that seek to match the original published resources. Each PDF also includes an editorial introduction about the resource.

Another online source for Charles Wesley hymns is, of course, CyberHymnal.org. Though this site only lists 265 of his hymns, each page gives you the option of playing a MIDI file of the tune, which is nice if you’ve forgotten (or want to learn) the melody. Once you’ve done that, you may want to search iTunes or Amazon to find a better version of the song.

Keep Reading →

A Tale of Two Valleys

Reading Classics Together
Today we continue reading John Bunyan’s classic work The Pilgrim’s Progress, and we arrive at the fourth stage of his journey. Last week Christian looked to the cross and had his burden fall from his back. And now his journey begins anew; the difficulties have only just begun.

Discussion

The fourth stage of Christian’s journey is a tale of two valleys. As he journeys toward the Celestial City, he needs to pass through the valley of Humiliation. It is here that Christian meets Apollyon, the first great enemy he will face. Apollyon is the accuser who reminds Christian of all the sin he has committed and who tries to convince him that he cannot be forgiven for such sin. I love how Christian replies. After being reminded of all his sin he essentially says to Apollyon, “You don’t know the half of it! I am far worse than that.” And then he pleads the grace of God.

All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful, and ready to forgive. But besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country, for there I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince.

Christian’s dependence on the grace of God enrages Apollyon who responds by attacking him. The battle is long and fierce, but Christian uses the spiritual armor God provides to protect himself and to do battle. I have recently preached through Ephesians 6 so appreciated this part of Bunyan’s book in a new way.

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A La Carte (3/29)

Keeping Priorities in View - “Bible scholar Don Carson cautions us about parental hypocrisy by recalling the enduring impact of his parents' prayerful example.” This is a beautiful article.

The Kokomo Krusade - I loved reading this short anecdote from the life of James Montgomery Boice. “Like a call from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, back when I was a young pastor years ago the secretary of  James Montgomery Boice, the famous pastor whom I had never met, called and asked if I would like for Dr. Boice to preach for us in Kokomo.  I could not believe it then, so perhaps you do not believe me now.  So here's the story.”

Are Your Sermons Too Long? - Denny Burk shares some wisdom from Charles Spurgeon.

The View - “Recently a Texas judge upheld a law that requires a woman to be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion. His decision was discussed on The View and Joyce Behar and Barbara Walters made the following stunning statements…”

Christian Book Awards - Christian Book Awards tend to be as unhinged from reality as every other awards, but they’re still interesting. ECPA has just released its list for 2012.

Unexpected Joy - Watch it!

Prayerfulness is Calvinism at its best. It is a simple, open, honest declaration in the presence of God of total helplessness. —Martin Holdt

Visual Theology - To the Glory of God

Visual Theology
This Visual Theology series of infographics has now visited the ordo salutis, the attributes of God, the books of the Bible, Philippians 4:8, the genealogy of Jesus Christ and the Trinity. Today’s graphic is a visual representation of one of my favorite texts: Philippians 2:5-11. This text challenges us to grasp the extent to which Jesus went in glorifying his Father.

While the infographics will always be free for you to download, I have also opened a store where you can buy prints of each of them. They are all professionally printed in a variety of sizes and are suitable for display. (Visit the store today and you’ll see a few coupon codes that can bring the prices down.)

(Click on the thumbnail to see the complete infographic)

To the Glory of God

Visual Theology Store

If you are after a high-res version, you can have it here in JPG format. Please feel free to download, copy, email, share, or print the graphic; I just ask that you don’t sell it.

If you have other ideas for theological infographics, please feel free to leave a comment. Several more are already in development.

The Essential D.A. Carson

I happen to know two people who have read the complete written works of D.A. Carson—at least everything that is publicly available. This takes some dedication, considering that Carson’s bibliography includes 62 books, 257 articles and 115 reviews.

I recently interviewed the two of them, trusting that they would be able to give us an introduction to Carson’s works and help bridge the rest of us into the ones that are most important and most accessible. Andy Naselli is a former student of Dr. Carson’s who lives in South Carolina and now serves as Dr. Carson’s Research Manager. John Bell lives in Toronto, Ontario and is pastor of New City Baptist Church.

How has reading the works of D.A. Carson benefited you on a personal level?

Andy: He has helped me love God and my neighbor better by understanding his Word better. His example motivates me to consecrate my life to God by using the theological disciplines as a good steward of God’s manifold grace (1 Pet 4:10).

John:

  1. Through my reading of Carson the Lord has blessed me with a more biblical understanding of who God is and what he accomplished in the death and resurrection of his Son. This glorious knowledge has spread to every area of my life and ministry.
  2. Having read the works of Carson, I more clearly see the sinfulness of sin, the holiness of God, and the salvation-historical necessity of the propitiatory cross work of Jesus. Sin angers God. The bible tells us God responds to sin with personal wrath because sin is rebellion against him; it’s cosmic anarchy; it’s an outrageous display of creaturely autonomy; our sin is an attempt to de-god God, to kick over his royal throne; sin is idolatry. Through Carson, the Lord has taught me that sin is first and foremost vertical—it is against the Holy One himself. God is the most offended party by my sin, not other humans (whom I sin against on a horizontal level). And because he is holy, God must punish sin. This controls how I understand and preach the cross.
  3. Through Carson, I have a much clearer understanding the christological, salvation-historical unity of the bible’s storyline, which means as a preacher I more accurately handle the word of truth. 
  4. One of the functional non-negotiables of my Christian life and ministry is the inerrancy of scripture. The Lord used Carson’s writings to answer the many, many skeptical questions I had on this front. As a result, the members of New City Baptist have the very highest view of scripture: that’s what they are hearing from their pastor.
  5. Finally, I have a biblical understanding of suffering and evil, though I am young enough not to have experienced much of it for myself. Evil, suffering and death is consistent with a biblical worldview, and as a Christian that worldview is to be my own. The Lord has used Carson to prepare me for evil, suffering, and death by opening up the scriptures and explaining to me what they say. In turn, I am able to preach these truths to my people.

What do you see as D.A. Carson’s most important contributions to contemporary evangelicalism?

Keep Reading →

A La Carte (3/28)

John Piper’s Successor - “The Bethlehem elders are announcing to the congregation their candidate for Associate Pastor for Preaching and Vision and, God willing, John Piper’s eventual successor as the church’s senior pastor. Jason Meyer, 36-year-old Assistant Professor of New Testament for Bethlehem College and Seminary, is the elders’ recommendation for congregational consideration and vote at a special May 20 all-church meeting.”

Gratefulness for Your Spouse - Brian Croft: “ I have discovered a wonderful antidote when especially young married couples lose sight of the gratefulness all Christians should have in the joy of Christian marriage and instead try to nitpick their spouse with an ungrateful heart.”

If You Were a Missionary - “I had a great visit with a church member recently. In our discussion he hit on a point that I believe many Christians have a burden for. Essentially he was concerned with intentionally integrating Christ in all that he does, in particular his work environment.”

For the City - For the City: Proclaiming and Living Out the Gospel by Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter is on sale in Kindle format for $2.99.

When Is it Right to Argue? - When is it right to argue with referees or officials? 

He who obeys sincerely endeavors to obey thoroughly. —Thomas Brooks