vassal of the King

Here are three excellent blogs I read today that I will post for you to check out. I'm not gonna even try to blog today after reading these three excellent blogs. First, Chuck Lawless, of Southern Seminary, has a fabulous post today imagining if he were Satan and how he would attack Christians today. You can read the whole post here . It's excellent and sobering. Second, Michael Patton has a very helpful post (with a picture!) of proper exegesis (that is, biblical interpretation). This is a clip to wet your appetite (and hopefully convince you to read the whole post!): The problem with the “What-does-it-mean-to-you” approach is that it is purely subjective. It turns the Scripture into a wax nose that can be shaped into what ever our our current situation demands. The Bible becomes subjective magic book through which we serve as mediums to its message. It does not matter what it means to you. It does not matter what it means to you. It matters what it means. Yes, there are var

Today I had a great opportunity -- to preach at church. I found great joy in studying Acts 1 all week and unveiling some of its truth to God's people this morning. As I studied I was confronted with the glories of Christ, the ascension of Christ and the guarantee of his return, the absolute necessity of bearing witness of Christ not only globally but also locally in every life situation that we may find ourselves in, and finally, the need to be absolutely committed to Christ. In a nutshell, here was my outline of Acts chapter 1. I wanted to reveal three essential characteristics of an on-fire Christian: 1. We must be witnesses for Christ (1-8) 2. We must be watching for Christ (9-11) 3. We must be committed to Christ (12-26) I trust God and know that He used His Word to accomplish His sovereign will. He sure did His work (still in progress) in my life this past week in my study.

According to Diane Mapes with CNN.com this is so. She notes in her lengthy article : For many couples, spats are a necessary evil, something to endure or avoid (for the sake of the kids!). But new research at the University of Michigan shows that hashing out marital disagreements is actually good for your health. It's squelching anger, especially when you feel you've been wronged, that's dangerous. She continues by noting: A study published in January followed 192 married couples in Michigan from 1971 to 1988 and found that those who kept their anger in when unfairly attacked did not live as long as those who expressed their anger, says lead study author Ernest Harburg, Ph.D., an emeritus research scientist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health and psychology department. "We're all interested in longevity," says Harburg, who's studied the health effects of spousal sparring for over 30 years. "We watch our diet, we exercise. Now

If you are a visitor to this blog and are wondering where I've been the last few days, I want to inform you that Elizabeth and I are moving down to the Valley closer to church and seminary to our church parsonage. You can pray: That the move goes smoothly. That we continue to cultivate solid and deep friendships with people in our church. That I continue to keep up with all the schoolwork requirements (4 major semester papers due in the next three weeks). That Elizabeth finds a new job in the Valley in the next few weeks. That I preach with boldness and accuracy as I have quite a few opportunities to preach in coming weeks (at church and the rehab. center). Thanks for your prayers, Blessings.

This is a helpful article on the physical pain and suffering of our Lord just hours before He was crucified. It is sobering and, at times, hard to read - but very helpful. Oftentimes the word "crucifixion" can become rote and, even, meaningless because we are so accustomed and familiar with the term. If that is the case with you, then read this article here on crucifixion from a medical standpoint. Acts 2:24 24 "And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death , since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

I've been to cold places before, but this was a little too cold for my liking. I guess since I've been in LA my blood has really, I mean really thinned out! In fact, you can see just how cold it was by the fact that the river at the bottom of the falls was absolutely frozen solid. Regardless, we had a great time together. We also had Tim Horton's donuts - which is a must if you go into Canada or near the Canada border!

Yesterday in my Psalms class at seminary we sung through Psalm 74. Isaac Watts has some great lyrics (17 stanzas!) on this psalm (some are from the text and others are more, shall we say, interpretive). At any rate, we sang this song to the familiar tune of " O God Our Help In Ages Past :" 1 Will God for ever cast us off? His wrath for ever smoke Against the people of' his love, His little chosen flock? 2 Think of the tribes so dearly bought With their Redeemer's blood; Nor let thy Zion be forgot, Where once thy glory stood. 3 Lift up thy feet and march in haste, Aloud our ruin calls; See what a wide and fearful waste Is made within thy walls. 4 Where once thy churches prayed and sang, Thy foes profanely roar; Over thy gates their ensigns hang, Sad tokens of their power. 5 How are the seats of worship broke! They tear the buildings down, And he that deals the heaviest stroke Procures the chief renown. 6 With flames they threaten to destroy Thy children in their nest;

Luke 19:37-40 37 And as He was now approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, 38 saying, " Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest !" 39 And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." 40 And He answered and said, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"

Dan Wallace, of Dallas Theological Seminary , was featured on the Dallas News today. Here is a clip of what he said (you can also read the whole thing here ): Armed with high-tech cameras and computers, Daniel B. Wallace travels around the world to photograph New Testament manuscripts that are many centuries old. The pages are often fragile and the writing may be faded. His work assures that the treasured contents will be preserved. Photos by BRYAN WESEL/Special Contributor The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts works to preserve the contents of age-old pieces, such as the Codex Vaticanus B, from the sixth century. His goal is to photograph 1.3 million pages of Greek New Testament manuscripts – a project he expects to take until 2020.

I am doing research for a paper proving exegetically that the righteousness of Christ is imputed (reckoned or credited) to believers at the moment of salvation. Here are some quotes from the great John Calvin that are pertinent to this topic (the numbers at the end correspond to the reference in his Institutes ): “It was superfluous, even absurd, for Christ to be burdened with a curse, unless it was to acquire righteousness for others by paying what they owed.” (1:532) – 2.17.4. “Paul commends God’s grace in this respect: for God has given the price of redemption in the death of Christ [Rom 3:24]; then he bids us take refuge in Christ’s blood, that having acquired righteousness we may stand secure before God’s judgment (Rom 3:25)” (1:532) ** “For the righteousness found in Christ alone is reckoned as ours. Surely the only reason why Christ’s flesh is called “our food” [John 6:55] is that we find in him the substance of life” (1:533) 2.17.5. **This is justification according to Calvin:

I found this to be helpful and wanted to share it with you. It's Piper's " Guidelines for writing NT Research papers ." Not only is this pertinent to academic papers but also to sermon preparation. Even those in full-time ministry who don't "write a 25-page" research paper, when you prepare for sermons you probably do just as much work as those writing this sort of paper. People say, what do you do all week if you're a Pastor? The best answer is to tell them, the preacher prepares 2-3 25-page research papers (if you preach 2-3 times a week). Then see what their response is! :=) Hope this is of help! Blessings.