Friday Ramblings (06/30/06 - 52 Comments)
A Discovery: Bob Cornuke and his Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (B.A.S.E) Institute claim to have found Noah's Ark. This is not the first time the ark has been found. Neither is it the first time Cornuke has claimed to find a biblical site or artifact. Styling himself as a real-world Indiana Jones, he has previously claimed to have found the Real Mt. Sinai (I reviewed a DVD account of this discovery) and anchors from...
Claiming Superman (06/29/06 - 45 Comments)
Superman Returns has hit the theatres, bringing the long-awaited return of the Man of Steel to the big screen. And as this movie hits the screen, opening to lukewarm but generally positive reviews, it seems that at least a couple of groups are intent on claiming Superman as their own. Superman is Jesus Christ. Maybe not really Jesus Christ, but certainly a Christ-like figure. A type of Christ perhaps. It's obvious, isn't it? During a...
Counterfeit Detection (Part 2) (06/28/06 - 11 Comments)
I wrote yesterday about my experience at the Bank of Canada as I was taught to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit currency. As promised, today I will provide a few brief applications, though I still have much to think about and reflect upon. I do intend to write more formally about this subject at a later time. I went to this meeting looking particularly for parallels between spiritual discernment and the task of discerning counterfeit...
Counterfeit Detection (Part 1) (06/27/06 - 18 Comments)
"Federal agents don't learn to spot counterfeit money by studying the counterfeits. They study genuine bills until they master the look of the real thing. Then when they see the bogus money they recognize it." I can't count the number of times I have read quotes similar to that one, taken from John MacArthur's Reckless Faith. It seems that whenever an author wishes to discuss discernment, he mentions federal agents and the method they use...
Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport (06/26/06 - 8 Comments)
Richard Mouw's inspiration for the name Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport came from the film Hardcore, directed by Paul Schrader, an ex-Calvinist. In this film, Schrader presents Jake Van Dorn, a pious Calvinist played by George C. Scott. In one scene, Jake sits in an airport in Las Vegas while trying to track down his daughter, who has gotten involved in the pornography business and is reported to be in Vegas. He has enlisted...
Book Review - Fighting For Dear Life (06/26/06 - 19 Comments)
Already more than a year has passed since Terri Schiavo died. Though her story is well known and was the subject of near-constant media coverage, I will repeat the most important points. In 1990, Schiavo, then 26, collapsed in her home and experienced both respiratory and cardiac arrest. She was in a coma for 10 weeks and was subsequently diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). Her husband Michael was determined to preserve...
Family Worship (06/25/06 - 11 Comments)
Matthew Henry once wrote regarding family worship, "Here the Reformation must begin." If we are to experience the fullness of God's blessings and are to be as faithful to Him as we can be, we must begin with the family, the very building block of God's kingdom. This is something that was understood by the first and second generation Dutch-Canadian Christians among whom I grew up. Every meal was begun with prayer and every meal...
I'd Like My City Back, Please (06/24/06 - 20 Comments)
It's a beautiful day in Toronto. Though it's a little bit overcast, it is still warm and bright. It's an almost perfect day to take in a ballgame. And, in fact, that was my plan. Once or twice a season I like to take my son down to the Rogers Center to watch the Bluejays play and today seemed ideal. The weather is great, so the roof of the stadium should be open, and yet...
Credo (06/23/06 - 56 Comments)
I believe in the Bible, that it is clear, complete, sufficient, true and without error. It says what it means. I do not demand that God speaks to me apart from it. I'm not waiting for still, small voices in my head or trying desperately to find God's will through random circumstances. I read, He speaks, I obey. Or I try anyways. I believe in the God of the Bible. I believe in a God...
Book Review - Mayflower (06/22/06 - 2 Comments)
The decision that I would read Mayflower, a book that has made its way nearly to the top of the New York Times list of bestsellers, took only as long as was necessary for me to understand that it dealt with the Puritan pilgrims who arrived on the shores of American in 1620. Though the story of the arrival and early struggles of this group of immigrants is now the stuff of legend, I know...
What It Means To Be Reformed (06/21/06 - 48 Comments)
Every year or so I find myself crawling back to a definition of the word Reformed that I first wrote up a couple of years ago. I find it worthwhile to revisit this every twelve months or so. With the amount of reading and studying I do in a year, I feel it is interesting to turn to this definition to see what I would change and what I would refine. I also find it...
Highway 5 (06/20/06 - 17 Comments)
We were blessed to have my parents spend this weekend at our home. They drove here from Atlanta on Friday and left again bright and early this morning. It was their first time seeing our new house and, more importantly, seeing their new grand-daughter. Because my dad is only truly resting when he is hard at work, I asked him to help me with several projects around the house. These were either projects that I...
For Worship Leaders (06/19/06 - 32 Comments)
It was about six years ago that Aileen and I first moved to Oakville. We realize now that we were backwards in our decision to move, for we moved first and looked for a church second. If, in the future, it becomes necessary that we move again, we will seek a church first and a house second. When we arrived in Oakville, we went searching for a God-glorifying church. Our search took us through several...
Hell's Bells 2 (06/18/06 - 51 Comments)
Many years ago, when I was in my mid-teen years, I made the decision to stop listening to mainstream rock music and to turn instead to Christian music. Until that time I had been listening to whatever was on the radio. I had quite a few tapes and had once had a whole collection of those old vinyl 45's. While I was usually not interested in music that was blatantly anti-God, I did listen to...
William Tyndale: A Biography (06/17/06 - 2 Comments)
William Tyndale is a hero of mine. If you have read this site for any length of time, you already know this, for just a few weeks ago I reviewed a DVD that featured an interview with David Daniell, a prominent Tyndale expert. Having watched this DVD presentation, and being intruiged by Daniell's knowledge of his subject, I knew I would have to read his biography of William Tyndale. Considering the importance of his contribution,...
King For A Week - Together For The Gospel (06/16/06 - 5 Comments)
King for a Week is an honor I bestow on blogs that I feel are making a valuable contribution to my faith and the faith of other believers. Every week (or so) I select a blog, link to it from my site, and add that site's most recent headlines to my left sidebar. While this is really not much, I do feel that it allows me to encourage and support other bloggers while making my...
Truth and Authority on Larry King Live (06/16/06 - 9 Comments)
Dr. Albert Mohler was a guest on Larry King Live last night as a member of a panel that was to discuss the topic of homosexuality within the church. King gathered quite a large and interesting panel that included: Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church; Reverend Jo Hudson, pastor of the United Church of Christ's Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, Texas, one of Texas's largest predominantly gay churches; Andrew...
Dr. Mohler To Be On Larry King Tonight (06/15/06 - 2 Comments)
Dr. Mohler just posted on his blog to say that he will be a guest on the Larry King Show tonight at 9 PM EST. "I am scheduled to discuss the issue of homosexuals and the Christian ministry on tonight's "Larry King Live" show, on CNN at 9:00 e.d.t. Other guests are to include Andrew Sullivan, Bishop Frank Griswold, Bishop Gene Robinson (the first openly-homosexual bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA), and the head of...
Salvation Belongs To The Lord (06/15/06 - 7 Comments)
I have a good selection of systematic theologies on my bookshelf. They range from the very readable to the almost hopelessly complex. Some of the authors are clearly very knowledgeable but have not been blessed with the ability to easily communicate that wealth of knowledge. Others are great communicators but, unfortunately, do not have as great an understanding of theology. Sometimes, though, these gifts come together in the form of a person who both knows...
Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God (06/14/06 - 58 Comments)
There has been a good bit of talk in the blogosphere over the past couple of weeks about the election of a new President of the Southern Baptist Convention. As you no-doubt know, there are many who have been seeking to build bridges between the Calvinist and Arminian factions within the Convention. Monday's "debate" between Paige Patterson and Al Mohler was an indication of the willingness of men on both sides of the divide to...
My Beastly Article (06/13/06 - 33 Comments)
Sometimes I am tempted to think that I enjoyed blogging more back in the days when nobody read my site. Of course those are mostly moments when I am feeling sorry for myself and the thoughts are not worth entertaining. After all, if no one read this site I wouldn't get nearly as many opportunities to liveblog some really amazing conferences. And I really enjoy those conferences. Now that I have written a great deal,...
Pocket Guide to the Bible (06/13/06 - 5 Comments)
The Pocket Guide to the Bible is, according to the subtitle, "a little book about the big book." It is the third in a series of pocket guides written by Jason Boyett, the first two being The Pocket Guide to Adulthood and The Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse (my review). Like its predecessors, this is a book that is intended both to convey information and provide entertainment (if by entertainment we understand puerile, frat-boy humor,...
The Beast of Revelation (06/12/06 - 101 Comments)
Every now and again I receive an email, often as part of a group mailing addressed to a wide variety of the most-read bloggers, asking me to use my site as a platform to post or provide comment on a particularly inflammatory issue. I got one of those emails today, this one from Andy Jackson of "SmartChristian" fame. Andy noticed that Ken Silva, one of the writers at the "Slice of Laodicea" blog, quoted Robert...
Amazing Grace, The History And Theology of Calvinism (06/11/06 - 11 Comments)
Who could have thought that a presentation of Calvinism lasting nearly four and a half hours could keep me at rapt attention? Actually, I suppose most people who know me wouldn't be too terribly surprised. Amazing Grace - The History And Theology of Calvinism is an examination of the doctrines of grace, produced by The Apologetics Group. It is hosted by Eric Holmberg and is a collage of interviews, historical readings, Scripture and drama. It...
Book Review - All Nations Under God (06/10/06 - 2 Comments)
In earlier reviews I have mentioned my increasing and generally well-founded suspicion of books that have been self-published. The internet has made it possible for just about anyone with a few thousand dollars (and sometimes even less) to produce a book that looks both legitimate and professional. Yet hard experience has shown that often these books display a distinct lack of professionalism as they are sometimes replete with spelling mistakes and poor grammar. Many of...
Book Review - Singing and Making Music (06/09/06 - 9 Comments)
Paul Jones, organist and Music Director at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia is, by all accounts, a very talented individual. He was privileged to serve alongside James Boice (who once said "Paul is everything I ever prayed for in a music director") and now works closely with Philip Ryken in serving one of America's foremost Presbyterian churches. Singing and Making Music, subtitled "Issues in Church Music Today" is Jones' attempt to distill and share some...
Reflections on Reading (06/08/06 - 37 Comments)
As you might imagine, I receive a good deal of email from people who read this site. More often than not I am glad to receive these emails and to respond to them. Communication with readers has proven to be a tremendous challenge and encouragement to me, for which I am exceedingly grateful. Probably the most common questions I receive deal with the subjects of books and reading. It seems that I have established a...
The Nature of Blogging (06/07/06 - 44 Comments)
I have been chipping away at this post for two weeks. And in reality I have been thinking about it for far longer than that. And yet what I bring you today is really quite pathetic. I have been unable to formulate clear, biblical wisdom on this topic. And so I am going to present it to you regardless, hoping that your input and discussion will be able to make plain what is still cloudy....
A New Career (06/06/06 - 8 Comments)
I spent nearly my entire young life attending Christian schools. From the first grade all the way to the eleventh, there was only one year that I did not attend a Christian school. During these formative years I did not only attend schools where I was taught God's Word, but I also attended Catechism classes, Sunday school and everything else churches have to offer young people. In my younger days the teachers used to enjoy...
Gospel Worship (06/05/06 - 8 Comments)
Only a Puritan could write a full book, 300 pages, expositing a single verse of Scripture, or more accurately, a portion of a single verse of Scripture. And only a Puritan could do it successfully. In Gospel Worship Jeremiah Burroughs (1599 - 1646) does just that. Recently reprinted by Soli Deo Gloria Publications (a division of Ligonier Ministries), Gospel Worship seeks to instruct the reader in worship that is worthy of God. Burroughs takes as...
Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed (06/04/06 - 6 Comments)
It is said that, during World War Two, the village of Le Chambon in southern France was the safest place in Europe. It was this small village where Andre Trocme, a Protestant pastor, charged his church and his entire village with the task of protecting refugees, and primarily the Jewish refugees who were fleeing Nazi oppression. The story of this man and, to a lesser extent this village, is told in Lest Innocent Blood Be...
John Frame on Doubt and Assurance (06/03/06 - 12 Comments)
A couple of months ago I wrote about the Emerging church and suggested that a movement which celebrates doubt is a movement which Christians should not be eager to join. I suggested that this movement (or conversation, as they prefer) values doubt over assurance, seeing doubt as being somehow more humble and godly than assurance. Over the past week or so I have been reading John Frame's Salvation Belongs To The Lord (look for a...
The Cure For Envy (06/02/06 - 9 Comments)
It is healthy, I think, to reflect at times upon the evil of my heart. This seems like a terribly negative thing to do, but I believe it is an important discipline of my spiritual life that I seek to discover where evil lurks within my heart. There are some areas in my heart where, through God's grace, sin has been routed, pushed back. There are certain temptations that are no longer temptations and certain...
The Story of Joseph and Judah (06/01/06 - 6 Comments)
My wife has a bad habit of forgetting what she has requested for her birthday and Christmas. We celebrated her birthday just a few weeks ago and, upon opening a study guide for the book of Ephesians she looked a little bit surprised. I had to remind her that she had asked for just such a guide. Unfortunately, as with so many similar books, it proved to be a little bit disappointing. It went through...
