Month: April 2007

How To Get Your Soul Happy In The Lord

I’m reading a biography on George Mueller right now {A.T.Pierson’s}, so I thought I’d post this infamous quote of Mueller’s:

“It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished…

Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as a habitual thing, to give myself to prayer after having dressed myself in the morning. Now, I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed…

The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God, searching as it were into every verse to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of public ministry of the Word, not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon, but for the sake of obtaining food for my soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to supplication; so that, though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer. When thus I have been for a while making confession or intercession or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it…

By breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart.”

George Muller, Narratives

{HT: Fellowship of the Living and the Dead}

Good-bye Starbucks!

It’s official. I am counting down the days in which I will forever leave Starbucks behind! I have worked for this company for over 10 years. In many ways it has been a blessing {stock, relationships, ministry opportunities, free coffee!, etc} but I am ready to move on. After all, that’s why I went to seminary. This is what I’ll be doing now…

Meredith Kline {December 15, 1922 — April 13, 2007}

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We are sad at the passing of Meredith Kline, a well respected seminary professor and author. Though never having studied under him, I have greatly profited from his ministry, especially his works from this website dedicated to him.

For over half a century, Dr. Kline, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, served as a professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary (in Philadelphia), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Seminary California. He received his B.D. and Th.M. degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia) and his Ph.D. degree in Assyriology and Egyptology from Dropsie College.

F.F. Bruce on the Ending of Mark {and More!}

For those interested, I found an article that F.F. Bruce wrote on the ending of the gospel of Mark. You can read it here. Any thoughts on this topic? I am of the persuasion that it is a late addition and should end with verse 8 with the women fleeing Jesus’ empty tomb scared and bewildered. I think Mark chose to end his gospel so abruptly in order to leave his audience with the same feeling: What are you gonna do with this Jesus who was raised from the dead? Will you follow Him?

What are your thoughts?

Also, for those who love F.F. Bruce, Rob at Biblical Studies.org.uk has received permission to post 30 articles by the late scholar. There’s some GOLD by Bruce at theologicalstudies.org.uk

Happy Birthday, Zechariah!

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I can’t believe that our firstborn turned 8 years old today! Wow, time flies by…This is a birthday prayer for Zech, our
orange-headed {he insists that his hair color is not red, but orange…and he’s right!} avid reading, exercise-loving, lizard-catching, snake-hunting, hyper, Ninja Warrior!

1:1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1

Zech, as your name implies, may you remember Yahweh all the days of your life and love Him with your heart, soul, mind, and strength! And may you pursue Him with the tenacity and drive with which you hunt down reptiles!

Ninja Warrior Is The Best Show On T.V. Since Seinfeld

THIS IS A SPOILER! IF YOU LOVE “NINJA WARRIOR” BEWARE!

Recently my boys and I have discovered the amazing show, Ninja Warrior. It is a 4-stage obstacle course filmed somewhere in Japan, Korea, etc somewhere. We are obsessed with this show! It airs each evening on the G4 channel. Now, its a ritual each evening. Even our 16 month old loves Ninja Warrior {not surprisingly, my wife does not understand our fascination with this sport/show}.

This video is a snapshot of our favorite competitor, Makoto Nagano. To really appreciate the beauty of this show, you have to watch all the stages as the 100 competitors quickly decline to just a handful. This video is all Makoto from one Ninja Warrior competition. However, this is not the format of the show as it appears on G4. On G4, there are subtitles and you see other competitors as well.

My boys have a Ninja Warrior course now set up in our backyard. Tomorrow, if its not too muddy, we are heading over to a nearby school to do Ninja Warrior on the monkey bars and slides.

Did I mention that we are obsessed with this show? Not since Seinfeld’s prime have I looked forward to a television program or recorded one so voraciously…

Salsa Explosion: The Sound of Fania Records

Don’t know if you like salsa music, but if so, this is THE compilation to get: Salsa Explosion-The Sound of Fania Records is available at your local Starbucks or online at Hear Music. Founded in New York City in 1964, Fania Records provided a vital outlet for the musicians of the Latin music landscape. This compilation documents the salsa revolution from the 60’s to the 70’s and beyond. This is getting current play in my iPod…

Only One Way To Heaven?

Crossway Books has a ton of new books on the horizon. Start saving your money!

“Only One Way?: Reaffirming the Exclusive Truth Claims of Christianity” with chapters by Richard D. Phillips (Editor), David F. Wells, Peter R. Jones, Philip Graham Ryken, J. Ligon Duncan, D. A. Carson. You can read it online here. Just scroll down a ways and you’ll find the chapter divisions.
Here’s a description: Six respected authors instruct and encourage readers on the validity of the Bible’s teaching that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

And Mark Dever has a new book coming out in June called, “What Is A Healthy Church?“.

Here’s a description:
What is an ideal church? While many Christians may never have considered that question, they probably have some preconceived idea of the perfect church in their minds. Yet they often have no clue what the ideal church looks like or how it works in our society.

Author Mark Dever reveals the key characteristics to a healthy church: expositional preaching, biblical theology, and a biblical understanding of the gospel. Dever then challenges believers to develop those characteristics in their churches. By following the example of New Testament authors and addressing both the pastors and members of churches, Dever challenges all Christians to do their part in maintaining the local church. What Is a Healthy Church? offers timeless truths and practical principles to help all members fulfill their God-given roles in the church.

Voddie Baucham also has a book coming out in June, “Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God.”

Here’s a description:
This bold book is an urgent call to parents–and the church–to return to biblical discipleship in and through the home.

J.I. Packer’s “Praying the Lord’s Prayer” is coming in June.
Description:
Praying is a problem for many people. Christians often go through the motions of prayer because it is expected of them, but they are often left wondering, “Did God hear me? Does he even care?”

In his book Praying the Lord’s Prayer, an excerpt from Growing in Christ, J. I. Packer presents a powerful truth: prayer is a natural activity between the Heavenly Father and his children. As Packer works through each phrase of Christ’s pattern of prayer, readers will begin to grasp the basic principles and guidelines of prayer. As readers apply the truths of this book to their prayer lives, they will experience intimate communication with God and will strengthen their own conversations with their Father in heaven.

Randy Alcorn and Ron DiCianni (Illustrator): “Tell Me About Heaven” Coming in June.
Description:
Ten-year-old Jake struggles to understand his grandma’s death. But as he spends two weeks at his grandfather’s home, he is able to receive answers to his questions about Heaven.

As Jake and Grandpa fish, watch the stars, and take long walks, Grandpa shares what the Bible says about the reality and beauty of Heaven. As Jake learns the truth about Heaven, he begins to better understand and accept his grandmother’s death.

As readers uncover the truths in the dialogue between Grandpa and Jake, they will better appreciate the home that awaits all who place their faith in Christ.

Sam Storms gives us, “Signs of the Spirit: An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards’s “Religious Affections” in July.
Description:
Jonathan Edwards’s treatise Religious Affections is widely considered the most important and accurate analysis of religious experience ever written.

Unfortunately, many well-intentioned readers sit down with Religious Affections, only to give up in frustration over Edwards’s lofty style and complex argumentation.

For this reason Sam Storms, one of evangelicalism’s experts on Edwards, has attempted to bridge the gap between how Edwards said what he did in the eighteenth century and how he might say it today. In Signs of the Spirit he articulates the substance of Edwards’s arguments in a more understandable way. The point is not to “dumb down” Jonathan Edwards but to make his work accessible to a wider audience.

This volume will serve those both in and outside the academic realm as valuable preparation for, or as a companion guide to, a reading of Edwards’s Religious Affections.

Martin Lloyd-Jones’ study in Acts continues with, “Compelling Christianity” in July.
Description:
Acts 8 chronicles some of the highs and lows of the early church. While believers mourn the killing of Stephen and Saul ravages the church, the gospel is being proclaimed to the Samaritans, and many are coming to faith in Christ. In reading about these events we find many issues that lie at the heart of the gospel—the new birth, the work of the Holy Spirit, the purpose of Christ’s death, and more.

In Compelling Christianity, Martyn Lloyd-Jones continues his Studies in the Book of Acts with a look at these central issues. He shows readers that the most pressing problems of his time—such as the Vietnam War—as well as those of our time are addressed by the gospel message because it addresses humanity’s root problem, sin. It is a permanently relevant message that is just as compelling today as it was to the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eunuch who heard it—and believed it—two thousand years ago.

He Was Raised For Our Justification!

“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

Romans 4:16-25

Collide Festival

The Collide Festival is scheduled for June 7-9 in Sherman, Texas. Here’s a list of speakers, artists, etc:

Michael W. Smith
Skillet
Thousand Foot Krutch
Building 429
Mercy Me
Jeremy Camp
Jars of Clay
Chris Rice
David Crowder
BarlowGirl
The Afters
Derek Webb
Ayisha Woods
Sanctus Real
By the Tree
downhere
Family Force 5
Falling Up
KJ-52
Matthew West
SpecialD
Records
Even Isaac
Disciple
Echoing Angels
Roads to Rome
needtobreathe
After Edmund (Slanted)
Robert Pierre
Pocket Full of Rocks  

Justin Lookadoo
James Ryle
David Nasser

You can find more info, directions, etc, etc, here.

Providence

Here’s a quote from the book I’m reading for my “Puritan of the Month” for April:

“It is evident, from the Scripture doctrines of divine providence, that God brings about every man’s lot, and all the parts of it. He sits at the helm of human affairs, and turns them about in whatever way he lists. “Whatever the Lord pleased, that He did in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep places. ” There is not anything whatever befalls us without his overruling hand. The same providence that brought us out of the womb, brings us to, and fixes us in the condition and place allotted for us, by him who “has determined the times and the bounds of our habitation. ” It overrules the smallest and most casual things about us, such as “hairs of our head being all numbered;” a “lot cast into the lap. ”

Thomas Boston, Crook in the Lot: A Puritan’s Understanding of That Thorn In Your Side

Bib Sac

The April-Jue 2007 edition of Dallas Seminary’s Bibliotheca Sacra {Bib Sac to many of us!} has some interesting articles:

No, Not Yet: The Contingency of the Kingdom Stanley D. Toussaint and Jay A. Quine
Is Faith a Gift of God or an Exercise of the Human Heart? René A. Lopez
Joseph in Pharaoh’s Court Richard D. Patterson
Yahweh versus the Canaanite God’s: Polemic in Judges and 1 Samuel 1–7 Robert B. Chisholm Jr.
The Literary Structure and Purpose of Hosea 1–3 Charles H. Silva
The Adoration of God the Creator David L. MacLeod
A Critique of the Preterist View of the Temple in Revelation 11:1–2 Mark L. Hitchcock

This is a great theological journal. You can stay on top of recent sholarship and the book reviews are priceless! Save some money, save some time and read a book review! For info on ordering Bib Sac, click here.

Convergent Conference

Southeastern will also be hosting the Convergent conference this fall, September 21-22. The conference will focus on sifting questions about the emergent church through the sieve of Scripture and combine the best practices of traditional and emergent churches. Among the speakers will be Marc Driscoll and Ed Stetzer. Yes, hopefully, this audio will surface for free too!