Monday, May 31, 2010

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Worship Christ this Lord's Day ...

Psalm 66:1-4 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; 2 Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious. 3 Say to God, "How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You. 4 "All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name." Selah....

Thursday, May 27, 2010

God atones for sin — in the OT!

Anyone who knows his Jewish scriptures well understands that God appointed Levitical priests to offer sacrifices to "atone" for sin in the OT (just peruse through the pages of Leviticus 16 to see this). Last night I preached on Psalm 65 at church and found myself drawn to verse 3.Text:דִּבְרֵ֣י עֲ֭וֹנֹת...

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

our consumer mentality way of going about 'church'

Soong-Chan Rah writes:"How easy it is for an American Christian to finding the right church the way we approach buying cereal at the local supermarket? We're looking for all the right ingredients and rejecting churches because they don't have our style of worship, our style of preaching, or our type...

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

"Be killing your sin or your sin will be killing you" — a primer on the power of sin

This Sunday I preached on 1 Samuel 15 and how Saul disobeyed God and refused to put Agag and all the Amalekites do death—as the Lord had commanded. After swiftly progressing through the chapter, we finally arrived at v.33 where it reads: "Samuel hacked Agag to pieces." I think the NIV totally misses...

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Humble Christians Repent of Their Sin Rather Than Shifting the Blame to Others...

Matthew Henry wisely remarks (referring to Saul's blame-shifting in 1 Sam 15:15, 21):"Those that are willing to justify themselves are commonly very forward to condemn others, and to lay the blame upon any rather than take it to themselves. Sin is a brat that nobody cares to have laid at his doors. It is the sorry subterfuge of an impenitent heart, that will not confess its guilt, to lay the blame...

Friday, May 21, 2010

if you're not gripped by God's Word when you preach then bank on it—no one else will be gripped by it either.

Gordon Fee writes:"Remember: Sermon preparation without personal encounter with the Word and without prayer will probably lack inspiration; and sermons preached by those who have not themselves sat in awful silence before the majesty of God and His Word will probably accomplish very little" (Gordon...

having proper English grammar IS important when you preach.

Those who knew me in high school affirm that I should not be the guy to give English grammar advice, but here it goes. I often hear preachers use grammar incorrectly when they speak of applying texts to you and I (it should be "you and me").Consider some of the following phrases. Should it be...1. Pastor Bob and me decided to start a new series... or Pastor Bob and I decide to start a new series...2....

Thursday, May 20, 2010

P-R-A-Y ... How do you respond when people talk 'behind your back'?

As you know I'm preaching through the book of Psalms and last night I taught on Psalm 64. The psalm marvelously reveals David's (prayerful) response to his enemies who secretly plot verbal attacks against him. David proffers a fitting model for us to glean from when the time comes and we're viciously...

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

know the gospel. preach the gospel. live the gospel.

From Charles Spurgeon:"The hearing of the gospel involves the hearer in responsibility. It is a great privilege to hear the gospel. You may smile and think there is nothing very great in it. The damned in hell know. Oh, what would they give if they could hear the gospel now? If they could come back...

does God hear the prayers of nonChristians?

No. Scripture is replete with texts clearly stating that the only way to God the Father is through Jesus Christ. Period. No other way is acceptable. Not only does this include salvation but it also includes coming before the Father in prayer.Last night I preached on evangelism and how it is imperative for the Christian to have a burden for the lost and share the gospel with unbelieving friends, family,...

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Paul's growth in humility.

One interesting note revealed in the Pauline letters is that his humility seems to go deeper as he senses his own unworthiness as he continues in Christ's ministry. I've heard it said from many men older and much wiser than myself that the longer a man is in ministry the humbler that man becomes. Often...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

off we go.

Snatching the wife for a couple of days in the (almost always) perfect weather in San Die...

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

you find contentment when you are satisfied with the glory of God.

From John Piper:The deepest longing of the human heart is to know and enjoy the glory of God. We were made for this. "ring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth ... whom I created for my glory," says the Lord (Isaiah 43:6-7). To see it, to savor it, and to show it—that is why we exist. The untracked, unimaginable stretches of the created universe are a parable about the inexhaustible...

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

a conviction—a belief that seizes a man.

When man holds opinions, it is a belief. But when the beliefs hold a man, it is a conviction. How many of us really have convictions. I mean, full fledged, biblical convictions? We all hold convictions about certain things—family issues, political viewpoints, religious ideologies, relational issues. The man of God, however, must hold firm convictions that nothing, no one, ever can destroy. The believer...

The wisdom of God in the salvation of God for the people of God.

Tonight I’m preaching on the radical reconciliation between Jew and Gentile in the body of Christ. Paul interrupts himself after v.1 (which he doesn’t pick up again till v.14 in his prayer) with a lengthy parenthetical remark on his stewardship to make known the mystery of Christ.If I employ verbal...

Monday, May 10, 2010

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

has your head knowledge become heart affection?

From a Christian brother...Even great familiarity with the Bible does not guarantee understanding of it, as I can testify from my experience of theological education at a liberal seminary. My New Testament professor carried a Bible as well thumbed as that of a believing Biblicist, but it had apparently done him little spiritual good. He told us of how he had become involved in New Testament...

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Illumination of the HS when the believer reads the Scriptures, part II

So here is another excellent quote from Fred Klooster on the illumination of the Holy Spirit and how it is inextricably tied with heart-understanding. Read it, and then read it again to make certain you didn't omit anything:The internal testimony of the Holy Spirit is a heart-rooted conviction that Scripture is the authoritative Word of God. Similarly, the continuing process of biblical interpretation...

Inclusio that is rhetorically important that some English versions omit.

In Psalm 62:7 David writes:עַל־אֱ֭לֹהִים יִשְׁעִ֣י וּכְבֹודִ֑י צוּר־עֻזִּ֥י מַ֝חְסִ֗י בֵּֽאלֹהִֽים׃Translation: In God is my salvation and my glory; the Rock of my strength and my Refuge is in God.The original contains an inclusio that some English translations omit—אֱ֭לֹהִים...אֱ֭לֹהִים (God...God)....

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Holy Spirit's role in the believer's biblical interpretation...

This week for my New Testament course, the topic of study is the Holy Spirit's role in our Bible interpretation. I'll be blogging periodically regarding my thoughts on this important aspect of hermeneutics. But to begin, I appreciate what Bernard Ramm notes as he speaks with reference to 2 Cor 4:3-4:The...

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Saturday, May 1, 2010

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity—Ephesians 2.18

Ephesians 2:18, we read:Greek Text: ὅτι δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἔχομεν τὴν προσαγωγὴν οἱ ἀμφότεροι ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα.Translation: That through Him [Christ, Χριστοῦ [v.13]) we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.A wonderful reality from Ephesians 2:18 is that the Trinity is clearly seen as we...
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