"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment is a truly important work-one that should be required reading not only for church leaders, but for all sober-minded laypeople as well."

John MacArthur (From the Foreword)

"If you were more discerning you’d probably buy this book. If you do read this book, you will be! This book on discernment is simple, clear, well-written and well-illustrated...

Mark Dever

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October 2006 Archive

Reformation Day Symposium (10/31/06 - 34 Comments)
Today is Reformation Day, the day we celebrate the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. October 31 stands as the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. Luther, when he did this, surely had no apprehension of just how significant an event this would be. And yet this act now stands as a defining moment in history, a moment which marked a point of no return....

The T in TULIP - Part 1 (10/30/06 - 39 Comments)
Yesterday morning my pastor preached on Romans 12-13 under the heading of "Cross-Centered Authenticity." Though I missed much of the first half of the sermon walking the halls with a fussy baby, I returned in time to hear the end of the first (and longest) point and the final four points. I am glad I heard at least the summary of the first point, for it is a critical one. The pastor spoke of how...

Teach Me To Live What You Say (10/29/06 - 8 Comments)
Some time ago, my pastor posted on his blog asking if anyone could identify the author of a song called "Teach Me To Love What You Say." We sang the song in church this morning and I noted that it is still marked with "Author and copyright information unknown." So I guess he never tracked it down. It is a sweet song and one the children seem to enjoy singing a great deal. Do you...

DVD Review - The John Bunyan Story (10/28/06 - 4 Comments)
The Torchlighters video series is a series of animated DVD's dedicated to "Highlighting the honor, integrity and life-changing experiences of those well-known and little-known Christian men, women and children who in response to God's call, dedicated their lives to a life of whole-hearted commitment and passionate service to Jesus." It is a production of Christian History Institute along with International Films and Voice of the Martyrs. The first in this series was The Jim Elliot...

Can We Rock the Gospel? (10/27/06 - 87 Comments)
The thesis of this book is made abundantly clear on the cover. A young man, jamming on an (unplugged) electric guitar, towers over a Bible which lies face-down, trampled and forgotten underfoot. Can We Rock the Gospel? According to the John Blanchard and Dan Lucarini, no, we cannot. "The authors make no secret of the fact that we count ourselves among those who are offended by rock music in God's service and are truly perplexed...

The Folly of Solomon (10/26/06 - 20 Comments)
It's no secret around here that I love the book of Proverbs and consider it my "home page" in the Bible. I work through it at least once every year and always benefit from doing so. And while I love Proverbs and envy the wisdom of Solomon, the man who wrote the bulk of the book, I find something almost terrifying about his life. Whenever I consider Solomon, I am faced with the question of...

Halloween Blogspotting (10/25/06 - 26 Comments)
In the last few days, a good number of bloggers have chosen to discuss the always-difficult topic of the Christian response to Halloween. Because I jumped the gun a little and posted about this topic earlier this week, I thought I would, in my best imitation of Phil Johnson, and using Google's Blog Search feature, do a Halloween Blogspotting, linking back to those who linked my article on the subject. I'm sure others have discussed...

Recently Read (10/25/06 - 13 Comments)
As I read books, I tend to jot down interesting or important quotes. I realized that I had collected a few of these recently and thought it would be interesting to share them with you. So here are four quotes from four books that caught my attention. The first quote is from God's Bestseller, a biography of William Tyndale written by Brian Moynahan. The author, comments about Thomas More's bloodlust when considering heretics. More thought...

Book Review - God's Bestseller (10/24/06 - 13 Comments)
God's Bestseller is the second biography of Tyndale I have read this year and one of only a few produced in recent decades. Written by Brian Moynahan, the subtitle provides a glimpse of the author's emphases: "William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the English Bible--A Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal." Less-scholarly than David Daniell's William Tyndale: A Biography, God's Bestseller is also more readable, as evidenced by the Mail on Sunday's endorsement which...

Halloween Fast Approaches (10/23/06 - 46 Comments)
Halloween is fast approaching, and I am beginning to see articles on this always-popular topic in the blogosphere. I wrote about this for the first time last year and thought I would follow that article with a similar one, but one that is hopefully a little more developed as I've had another year to think about this issue. This topic was been discussed last year on an email discussion list in which I participate. One...

King for a Week - Historia Ecclesiastica (10/22/06 - 2 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 (in theory) 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...

I Don't Need A Boyfriend (10/21/06 - 65 Comments)
I was talking with my father this morning, and the conversation turned to John Eldredge. I told dad about Eldredge's newest book (it has, after all, recently hit store shelves and I had just copied my rather negative review to Amazon.), The Way of the Wild Heart and how Eldredge seems to be heading to new heights in his strange theologies. I mentioned that Eldredge is now convinced that God is sending him love notes...

Friday Ramblings (10/20/06 - 19 Comments)
I want to take an opportunity to thank those of you who have been praying for me on Fridays as I attempt to write The Discipline of Discernment. I look to Fridays with equal excitement and dread--excitement to be working on the book and dread that I will end the day downtrodden and feeling like I just can't make this book work. There have been times when I've felt, almost literally, picked up while struggling...

Review - Logos Bible Software (10/19/06 - 19 Comments)
This review is appearing in the current edition of the Journal of Modern Ministry (edited by Dr. Jay Adams). You can view the Journal's site here. Though I am still relatively young, I am old enough to remember libraries that relied upon card catalogs. In the days before computers were used to index and organize nearly everything, research was often quite difficult. The primary difficulty researchers faced was finding sufficient resources, often a long and...

Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is) (10/18/06 - 22 Comments)
Two of the first books I ever reviewed dealt with the topic of sexual purity. One of these books, Every Man's Battle by Steve Arterburn, stands out in my mind and the review I wrote continues to generate emails even several years later. The main teaching of his book is the concept of "bouncing" the eyes. What this means is that when a man sees something that is sexually tempting he is to immediately divert...

A Reformation Day Symposium (10/17/06 - 54 Comments)
October 31, just two weeks from now, will mark the 489th anniversary of the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church at Wittenburg. In so doing he struck a match, beginning a fire that quickly spread throughout Europe and throughout the world. Having become increasingly disillusioned with the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and in particular the sale of indulgences, Luther wrote his Theses to try to...

Book Review - Blah Blah Blah (10/17/06 - 30 Comments)
In the Introduction to her book Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey discusses the burgeoning Christian interest in the topic of worldview. "Just a few years ago, when I began work on that earlier volume [How Now Shall We Live?], using the term worldview was not on anyone's list of good conversation openers. To tell people that you were writing a book on worldview was to risk glazes stares and a quick change in subject. But today...

The Church and its Dirty Laundry (10/16/06 - 21 Comments)
Blogs have provided a unique platform for a great many people. As blogs have gained some degree of credibility beyond the blogosphere, members of the mainstream media often turn to bloggers for opinions. A lot of bloggers, despite losing confidence in the mainstream media, still consider a mention in a major magazine or newspaper to be the holy grail of blogging. In recent months, I have often been approached by media outlets, ranging from CNN...

Album Preview - All I Owe (10/15/06 - 4 Comments)
Matthew Smith is the "Indelible Grace guy. He is the man behind Indelible Grace Music, which has brought us four albums featuring new recordings of old hymns. These are among my favorite albums and they are equally appropriate to times of worship as they are to just good listening. Smith has, at long last, released his own full-length album, All I Owe. The album features ten songs, only one of which has been featured on...

The Top 50 Books (10/14/06 - 4 Comments)
You may have had opportunity by this time to browse through Christianity Today's "The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals." "These are books that have shaped evangelicalism as we see it today--not an evangelicalism we wish and hope for. Books that have been published since World War II--not every book in the history of Christianity. Books that over the last 50 years have altered the way American evangelicals pray, gather, talk, and reach out--not...

Redefining Arminianism (10/13/06 - 124 Comments)
I thought it would be interesting to contrast two books I have received in the past weeks. The first quote is from Steve Lawson's Foundations of Grace which I wrote about a couple of days ago. In this quote he contrasts Calvinism and Arminianism: Never have two systems of thought been more polarized. The first system, Calvinism, is a God-centered, Christ-exalting way of viewing salvation. God alone is the Savior and, thus, God alone is...

Defining Discernment (10/12/06 - 40 Comments)
There seems to be a great deal of disagreement about how we ought to define the word discernment. A quick Google check reveals a wide variety. One says it is "perception of that which is obscure" and another says "the ability to feel or perceive something with the use of the mind and the senses." Several definitions revolve around decision making, saying discernment is "prayerful reflection and discussion before taking a major decision" or "discovering,...

A Long Line of Godly Men (10/11/06 - 10 Comments)
Yesterday, after much anticipation, I received the first book in what promises to be an outstanding series. Foundations of Grace, by Steve Lawson is the first of five volumes in Lawson's forthcoming series A Long Line of Godly Men and only the second title published by Ligonier's new publishing division, Reformation Trust Publishing. The purpose of the series is to prove that the doctrines of grace are not the invention of synods, councils or theologians,...

Be Imitators of Me (10/10/06 - 7 Comments)
When I find a topic I'd like to write about for this site, but am not quite ready to write about it now, I often jot down a brief outline of what an article might look like and save the file to my desktop. I tend to invest some time in thinking about the topic and, within a few days, write out a full article. Sometimes, though, I just can't seem to make an article...

A Canadian Thanksgiving (10/09/06 - 9 Comments)
Today is Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. Unlike our friends in America, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October. Where the American Thanksgiving has a storied history and ushers in the holiday season, we Canadians really have no idea why we celebrate this day that ushers in the Fall season. Thanksgiving comes when the leaves are entering the height of their glory and the air is just beginning to turn crisp. The last of the season's produce...

Evaluating Ministry (10/08/06 - 12 Comments)
When doing research for my book last week, I came across some wise words of John MacArthur that seemed appropriate to share in the Lord's Day. These are taken from his commentary on 1 Corinthians. A caring minister of Christ cannot be insensitive to the feelings, needs, and opinions of his people. He should not try to be. A sincere word of appreciation after a sermon is encouraging, and reflects spiritual concern and growth in...

The Nativity Story (10/07/06 - 10 Comments)
You know, I really don't know how I missed this one. I guess I just don't get out to the movies enough (or don't pay close enough attention to what's new and upcoming in the theatres). Apparently, in December of this year, New Line Cinema will be releasing The Nativity Story, a film chronicling, well, the story of the nativity. "The film follows the life of the Virgin Mary and Joseph over the two-year period...

By Our Books Shall We Be Known (10/06/06 - 27 Comments)
Dr. Mohler posted an article this morning that grabbed my attention. I had something else I had wanted to say today, but have chosen instead to interact a little bit with Mohler's article. Mohler writes about an essay that appeared in a recent edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education (the essay, sadly, is only available to those with a subscription to The Chronicle). Written by Jay Parini, who is a poet and a professor...

Thursday Miscellanea (10/05/06 - 27 Comments)
Every now and then I like to collect a few miscellaneous thoughts and compile them into a post, rather than trying to write an article about each of them. Today is one of those times, so bear with me as I ramble for a few moments. Roaring? Yesterday Mark Driscoll posted an email exchange that involved himself and John Piper. At one point Driscoll wrote "As a result of your correction of me there is...

Cracking Down on Bloggers (10/04/06 - 29 Comments)
Yesterday's edition of USA Today published an article entitled "Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites" and subheaded "Those attacked online are filing libel lawsuits." Written by Laura Parker, it details an increasing number of lawsuits launched by companies and individuals against bloggers. It begins by discussing Rafe Banks, a lawyer in Georgia, who became involved in an ugly dispute with a client over how to defend him. The client, David Milum, fired...

Desiring God Conference Reflections (10/03/06 - 54 Comments)
After eating a delicious meal of soda crackers chased by warm, flat ginger ale, I've been able to crawl off the couch for a few minutes to get some writing done. I wanted to be sure to spend a few minutes reflecting on the Desiring God Conference before the memories began to fade. I fear that what I will remember most clearly about this weekend is the food poisoning I managed to contract just before...

Down and Out (10/02/06 - 32 Comments)
This wasn't quite how I had imagined my homecoming from the Desiring God conference. In retrospect, I guess ordering the shepherd's pie at Brit's in downtown Minneapolis was where I went wrong. By the time I reached Milwakuee on the first leg of my trip home I was feeling a bit "off." By the time we reached the Toronto airport, I figured I was in trouble. By the time I got back to my home...

DG06 - Session 6 (10/01/06 - 9 Comments)
This morning we come to Sunday morning worship and the final session of the 2006 Desiring God National Conference. John Piper will lead us in a message entitled "The Supremacy of Christ and Joy in a Postmodern World." I have not yet had a chance to edit this, so you're getting it as-is for now! I won't be in front of a computer again until I get back to Toronto this evening. As with D.A....

DG06 - Session 5 (10/01/06 - 2 Comments)
D.A. Carson will lead tonight's session, the second to last at this conference. He will speak about "The Supremacy of Christ and Love in a Postmodern World." Carson began by reading all of the seventeenth chapter of John (a passage commonly known as Jesus' High Priestly prayer). My generation, he said, was taught to sing "what the world needs now is love sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of." This...