Absolutely free: The best deal this season

30 November 2008 TBLeave a comment

I am not a shopper by nature. I love to buy things. I love to go out, find that thing, purchase it and bring it home. But for some, the joy of finding it and finding it a good price almost surpasses the giving. Those are the shoppers. I am related to people like this and I love them.

But this is something that is such a great deal that both the shopper and the purchaser can be completely happy with it. Imagine getting something that will make you completely happy and satisfied for the rest of your life. For nothing. And, if you tried to buy it, you couldn’t afford it because it costs too much.

Yet this is precisely what God offers to us through Jesus Christ. It’s salvation. What did it cost God? Only the most precious thing to him, his son Jesus, who he loves more than anything. What did it cost Jesus? Everything. His life, his close relationship with his father. What does it cost you and me? Nothing. But it is ours for accepting it and believing Jesus is who he say he is.

In the Bible, in Romans 5:8, it says that God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There are no deserving people who receive this gift, only needy people who realize their need. I’m a needy person. And, because I know I got this gift even though I didn’t deserve it, I don’t want to act like I did deserve it. I want you to have this gift, too. I will guarantee you that there is nothing you get this Christmas that will make you as happy or satisfy you as much. Not even close.

Things break, wear out, get old, lose their appeal, become too small, get lost, don’t fit like they used to, get eaten, are spent and need to replaced. The joy is temporary. Salvation in Jesus will save your life (for eternity) and give you a joy that cannot be lost, no matter what happens in this life. I know too many things in this life that make what is supposed to be a happy time an unhappy time for too many people.

This is different. Jesus talked about what he offered and its worth when he said: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44) It’s an offer we all have before us. No one is excluded.

What do you say? Do you want to get something really worth having this year?

Spiritual Gifts in the Body of Christ

18 November 200818 November 2008 TBLeave a comment

The Holy Spirit is like a bodybuilder for the Body of Christ.

The Rev. Mark D. Roberts has been blogging a series about spiritual gifts in the Body of Christ. For those of you unfamiliar with who he is, Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifacted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas.

About the series, Roberts writes: Little is more important for the health and growth of the body of Christ than the power of the Holy Spirit manifested in what we call spiritual gifts. Through such bits of grace, the Spirit builds the body of Christ. In fact, it wouldn’t be too far off the mark to say that the Holy Spirit is a bodybuilder. … Like a committed bodybuilder, the Spirit invests years–indeed, millennia–of effort to help the church grow to perfection. Of course ultimate perfection won’t come this side of the eschaton. But, in the meanwhile, the Spirit molds the church, using members of the church–people like you and me–in the process.

HT: Andrew Jackson

In short: Eagerly awaiting a Savior, not a president

7 November 20089 November 2008 TBLeave a comment

While many breathlessly await the ascendancy of Barack Obama, there’s this: the Indelible Grace folks have a collection of songs that focus on Jesus called “Your King Has Come.” While this may look to some like a bunch of songs focused on Christmas, it is actually much more.

. Your King Has Come

Free John MacArthur sermons

6 November 20086 November 2008 TBLeave a comment

You can now download the sermons of John MacArthur for free. For those who are unsure of who John MacArthur is, this is his bio from the Grace to You Web site:

Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God’s Word, John MacArthur is a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969. John and his wife, Patricia, have four grown children and fourteen grandchildren.

John’s pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in Australia, Canada, Europe, India, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly 2,000 English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, audiotapes, and CDs by John MacArthur. In thirty-six years of ministry, Grace to You has distributed more than thirteen million CDs and audiotapes.

John is the president of The Master’s College and The Master’s Seminary, and he has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one thoroughly biblical and practical. Best-selling titles include The Gospel According to Jesus, The Second Coming, Ashamed of the Gospel, Twelve Ordinary Men, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient.

HT: Between Two Worlds

Reformation Day: Something worth celebrating on Oct. 31

31 October 2008 TBLeave a comment

While the great majority of you out there will consider this day Halloween (and it is), there also may be some of you who are aware that it is also Reformation Day which, in the grand scheme of things, is much more important and good to know.

What is Reformation Day? Well, from a point of strictly definition, it is:

Reformation Day is an important liturgical festival that is celebrated by Lutherans and Christians of many Protestant denominations. It commemorates Dr. Martin Luther’s posting of his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. This act triggered the movement in world history known as the Reformation. While the historical date for the observance of Reformation is October 31st, most churches celebrate it on the last Sunday in October.

But more importantly, Reformation Day marks the rediscovery of the truth of the Gospel. As Herman Sasse puts it in “Here We Stand”:

It is not, therefore, the return to the Scriptures in itself which makes the Reformation of the sixteenth century one of the great and unique events of church history. The nature of the Reformation must be sought, rather, in the particular kind of return to the Bible….How often has the church been reformed ‘according to God’s Word’!…[T]he…Reformation, in its essential nature, is nothing else than a rediscovery of the gospel….

The rediscovery of the Scriptural truth concerning the justification of the sinner by grace alone, through faith alone, is nothing less than the rediscovery of the Gospel. For, if this truth is forgotten, the Gospel must be interpreted as a system of morals or as a theory of religious metaphysics. Consequently, this discovery constitutes the reformation of the church. It revealed once again that truth by which alone the church lives.

For the church does not live by morals, by the knowledge and observance of God’s law. Nor does it live by religion, by lofty experiences of the divine and an awareness of the mysteries of God. It lives solely by the forgiveness of sins. Hence reformation does not consist, as the late Middle Ages believed, and has even been believed in wide circles of the Protestant world, of an ethico-religious correction, of a moral quickening and a spiritual deepening throughout the church. It consists, rather, according to its own peculiar nature, of the revival of the preaching of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake….

The [Reformation] understanding of the Scriptures, we say, came as a result of this rediscovery of the Gospel. At all events, it has been the conviction of the [Reformation] that the sola scriptura is conditioned by the sola fide, that a real return to the Scriptures was made possible only by a new understanding of the Gospel. It is in this sense that the Apology to the Augsburg Confession speaks of Justification as “the chief topic of Christian doctrine…which is of especial service for the clear, correct understanding of the entire Holy Scriptures, and alone shows the way to the unspeakable treasure and right knowledge of Christ, and alone opens the door to the entire Bible.” This view alone guards against the false, legalistic conception of the Bible as a law-book ….[T]he Reformation was a renovation of the church brought about by the rediscovery and renewed proclamation of the pure doctrine of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

HT: Stand to Reason

Daily Bible reading plans now as podcasts

29 October 2008 TBLeave a comment

All the English Standard Version (ESV) daily reading plans are now being offered as podcasts. Or, if you don’t want to wait for a podcast to arrive but would like to listen on your own, you can buy the ESV in a download to put on your iPod or MP3 player. Either way, you need to get into your Bible — for your own good.

The evil of 9/11 and spectacular sins against God

11 September 2008 TBLeave a comment

John Piper's latest book is Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ — John Piper's latest book is "Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ"

On this day, seven years ago, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon and crashed another into a Pennsylvania field. More than 3,000 people died that day in an openly evil act. Our nation’s history was dramatically altered on that day.

With the thought of evil on my mind, I became aware that John Piper’s new book “Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ” has now been released. This is what it says about the book at the Desiring God Web site:

What does the fall of Satan reveal about Christ’s glory? How does Adam’s sin magnify our Lord? How does the glory of Jesus shine through in Judas’ betrayal? How is the honor of Jesus at stake in the sin and evil, the suffering and the calamities and the wickedness, which abound in the world today? In this book John Piper seeks to provide a biblical perspective on God’s sovereign and righteous governance over even the sinful acts of men. History’s greatest sins do not thwart God’s purposes to save his people and glorify his Son; they fulfill them. And being grounded in this hope is the key to “Christ-exalting strength in calamity and Christ-exalting courage in conflict.”

We see indescribably evil things happen each day in our world. There is no escaping it. When we think of these things we may wonder how God can allow it and, if so, how does it fit into his plan. John Piper recently explained what he hopes to accomplish with the book:

The aim of this book is not to meet felt needs, but to awaken needs that will soon be felt, and then to save your faith and strengthen your courage when evil prevails.

And, even though the events of Sept. 11, 2001, are receding into history, I think none of us who lived through that day will ever feel we are free from the presence of evil. And, for that reason, it would be good to understand the purpose of God in “spectacular sins.”

ALSO SEE: How Sept. 11, 2001, proved 10 truths about God’s sovereign love

Was C.S. Lewis an open theist?

10 September 2008 TB2 Comments

No, but there are some scholars who would argue that. How well do we know the man considered perhaps the greatest Christian of the 20th century? Lewis once said: “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but by it I see everything else.”

We would do well to better understand this man, who is familiar to many — Christian or not — through his many popular writings. His insight into Christianity and his way of communicating it is unique. Brad Mercer, the senior pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, Miss., is lecturing on the life and works of C.S. Lewis at the First Presbyterian Church in Kosciusko, Miss. Mercer is currently pursuing his doctorate in Lewis studies. The church has graciously made his lectures available online.

Thinking about India and religious violence

9 September 20089 September 2008 TBLeave a comment

The Dalits make up 25 percent of India's population and are the poorest caste in Hinduism. They face severe discrimination and oppression. — The Dalits make up 25 percent of India's population and are the poorest caste group in Hinduism. They are severely discriminated against and oppressed.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention that I’m not always thinking about elections and hurricanes. In fact, this is something I’ve been watching and praying about lately. This was from a report in The Guardian from Aug. 31:

Thousands of terrified Indian Christians are hiding in the forests of the volatile Indian state of Orissa after a wave of religious ‘cleansing’ forced them from their burnt-out homes with no immediate prospect of return.

A mob of Hindu fundamentalists rampaged through villages last week, killing those too slow to get out of their way, burning churches and an orphanage, and targeting the homes of Christians. Up to 20 people were reported dead, with at least two deliberately set alight, after the murder of a Hindu leader last Saturday provoked the violence.

In some districts, entire villages lay deserted, abandoned by Christian populations who would rather shelter in the forests than return to face the risk of death. Some villagers attempted to return to their homes yesterday despite threats of further violence.

But Christian leaders who had spoken to those who have fled said that even among the trees they were not safe. Some of their tormenters have pursued them, trying to finish the job.

While the portion of the story above indicates the killings are in response to the killing of a Hindu leader the week before, the story goes on to say that Maoist guerrillas have in fact claimed responsibility for the killing. Still, there is tension between the groups:

Underlying the violence is a long-simmering dispute between Hindus and Christians in the state over the conversion of low-caste Hindus to Catholicism. The success of the Christian churches has fuelled resentment among hardline Hindus. The Vatican has condemned the violence. Most of India’s billion-plus citizens are Hindu, while just 2.5 per cent of them are Christians.

With that in mind, I would like to point out a resource that I use called Global Prayer Digest. From its site, the Global Prayer Digest:

(I)s a unique devotional booklet. Each day it gives a glimpse of what God is doing around the world, and what still remains to be done. Daily prayer for that still-unfinished task is at the heart of the Adopt-A-People movement. Condensed missionary stories, biblical challenges, urgent reports, and exciting descriptions of unreached peoples provide a digest of rich fuel for your own times of prayer for the world.

The Global Prayer Digest is a key tool in a movement to help fulfill Christ’s commission to make disciples of all the peoples of the earth. This movement involves a daily discipline of learning, praying, and giving to help reach the world’s nearly 9,000 ureached people groups. Unreached peoples are those groups which do not yet have a strong church in their own cultural and social setting.

This month’s guide is on the Dalits of India. They are the poorest caste group in India and face severe discrimination. In the story above, many of those are from this group. Each day GPD has a prayer topic related to that month’s guide. It is a valuable resource and one that I would encourage anyone who calls himself a Christian to explore. As it says on the site, “when man works, man works, but when man prays, God works.”