John Calvin: "A Man of His Time for All Times"

Collin Hansen, of "Christianity Today," interviews W. Robert Godfrey, author of a new, popular-level biography, "John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor."

The Puritans Regarding Worship

The Puritans prayed:

"Glorious God, it is the flame of my life to worship Thee, the crown and glory of my soul to adore Thee, heavenly pleasure to approach Thee. Give me power by Thy Spirit to help me worship now, that I may forget the world, be brought into fullness of life, be refreshed, comforted, blessed.

"Give me knowledge of Thy goodness that I might not be over-awed by Thy greatness; give me Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God, that I might not be terrified, but drawn near with filial love, with holy boldness; He is my Mediator, Interpreter, Branch, Judge, Lamb; Him I glorify, in Him I am set on high.

"I am pardoned through the blood of Jesus--give me a new sense of it, continue to pardon me by it; may I come every day to the fountain, and every day to be washed anew, that I may worship Thee always in Spirit and Truth."

(Valley of Vision: Worship)

Philip Yancey on Authentic Worship

'Christianity claims a unique place among the world's religions. Our faith tells of a God before whom the strongest saints took off their shoes, bowed down, fell on their faces, repented in dust and ashes. At the same time it tells of a God who came to Earth as a baby, who showed tender mercies to children and the weak, who taught us to call him "Abba," who loved and was loved. God is both transcendent and immanent, the theologians say. God inspires at once awe and love, fear and friendship.

'To most moderns, however, a sense of awe comes with the greatest difficulty. We have domesticated angels into stuffed toys and Christmas ornaments, made cartoons of St. Peter at the gate of heaven, tamed the phenomenon of Easter with bunny rabbits, and substituted for the awe of shepherds and wise men cute elves and a jolly man dressed in red. Almighty God gets nicknames like 'The Big Guy' and 'The Man Upstairs.'

'An article in the February 2005 issue of this magazine addressed one of my pet peeves. How did it happen that the word worship became synonymous with music? For several months my church went on a hunt for a "worship pastor," and a parade of candidates auditioned with their guitars and backup groups. Some of them prayed, yes: 'Lord, just, you know, really be here tonight with us, just let us know you're here.' None showed much knowledge of theology, and assuredly none led us toward anything like awe. Worship today means loudly filling every space of silence.

'I welcome the sense of celebration and joy apparent in much recent music. Yet I wonder what we are missing when we seek to reduce the distance between creature and Creator, a distance expressed so eloquently by Job, Isaiah, and the psalmists. John, the disciple Jesus loved, who had lain against Jesus' breast, records in Revelation that he fell at his feet as though dead when Jesus appeared in full glory...."

-- excerpted from Philip Yancey's "Christianity Today" essay, "A Bow and a Kiss"
© 2005 Christianity Today. May 2005, Vol. 49, No. 5, Page 80

Gospel Motivation and Real Change

“All change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart. Faith in the gospel re-structures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting.”

- Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God (new York, NY: Dutton, 2008), 121.

posted at "Of First Importance"

Carl Trueman on the "Rubbish" That's Polluting the Church Today

In a recent essay, Carl Trueman pulls no punches in his assessment of the 'rubbish' that's corrupting evangelicalism today, both in academia and in weekly worship:

Here is just an excerpt:

"...What are surprising, therefore, are accounts of services where the theology is supposedly orthodox but the content is sheer trivia. If God is awesome, sovereign and holy; if human beings are small, sinful, and lost; if Christ died and rose again by a most miraculous and costly act of grace, then this should impact the way things happen in church. This is not to argue for a one-size-fits-all-my-way-or-the-highway approach to church. Context and culture are important; but what is expressed through the idioms of particular cultural manifestations of the church should be awe, reverence, and, above all seriousness - not a colourless and cold miserable seriousness but a fitting amazement at the greatness of God and his grace.

"A church service involving clowns or fancy dress or skits or stand-up comedy does not reflect the seriousness of the gospel; and those who take the gospel seriously should know better. Frankly, it is more appropriate to liberal theology which does not take the gospel, or the God of the gospel, seriously. Serious things demand serious idioms. I heard recently of a church service involving dressing up in costume and music taken from a Tom Cruise movie. Now, if I go for my annual prostate examination, and the doctor comes into the consulting room dressed as Coco the Clown, with `Take my breath away' from Top Gun playing in the background, guess what? I'm going to take the doctor out with a left hook, flee the surgery, and probably file a complaint with the appropriate professional body. This is serious business; and if he looks like a twit and acts like a twit, then I can only conclude that he is a twit...."

You can read the entire essay here.

John Stott on Preaching the Word and Worship

"The church needs constantly to hear God's Word. Hence the central place of preaching in public worship. Preaching is not an intrusion into it but rather indispensable to it. For the worship of God is always a response to the Word of God."

--from John Stott, "The Bible: Book for Today" (Leicester: IVP, 1982), p. 57.

The Engle Scale of Evangelism

Here is the Engle Scale of Evangelism that Pastor Neil described in our "Loving the Lost" teaching series in the evening service.

Authentic Conviction of Sin

Ray Ortlund provides some helpful counsel about how you can tell the difference between the Holy Spirit convicting you of sin and Satan accusing you about a sin:

"He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment." John 16:8

". . . the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down . . . ." Revelation 12:10

How can I tell the difference between the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and the accusing attacks of Satan?

Some thoughts:

1. The Holy Spirit puts his finger on a specific sin I have committed, something concrete I can own and confess, but the accusations of Satan are vague and simply demoralizing.

2. The Holy Spirit shows me Christ, the mighty Friend of sinners, but the devil wants me spiraling down into negative self-focus.

3. The Holy Spirit leads me to a threshold of new life, but the devil wants to paralyze me where I am.

4. The Holy Spirit brings peace of heart along with a new hatred of sin, so that I bow before Jesus in reconsecration, but the devil offers peace of mind with smug relief, so that I fold my arms and say, "There, that's over with."

5. The Holy Spirit helps me to be so open to God that I allow him to control the conversation, but the devil tempts me to take off the table certain questions I just don't want God to talk to me about.We are thankful for our dear Friend, the Holy Spirit.

HT: Justin Taylor

Michael Horton on the Heresy Taught by Joel Osteen

Michael Horton presents an important, Biblically-wise critique of the ministry of Joel Osteen.

It's important for us to consider that while Osteen's ministry and teaching may be an extreme example, many megachurches (and smaller churches too) have fallen for the same fundamental errors when it comes to understanding the true nature and mission of the church.

Elsewhere, Horton describes this as 'moralistic, therapeutic deism.' This article provides an important warning that many, many pastors, "worship leaders," and churches need to take seriously.

Here is just an excerpt:

"A TIME story in 2006 observed that Osteen's success has reached even more traditional Protestant circles, citing the example of a Lutheran church that followed Your Best Life Now during Lent, of all times, 'when,' as the writer notes, 'Jesus was having his worst life then.' Even churches formally steeped in a theology of the cross succumb to theologies of glory in the environment of popular American spirituality. We are swimming in a sea of narcissistic moralism: an "easy-listening" version of salvation by self-help.

"This is what we might call the false gospel of 'God-Loves-You-Anyway.' There's no need for Christ as our mediator, since God is never quite as holy and we are never quite as morally perverse as to require nothing short of Christ's death in our place. God is our buddy. He just wants us to be happy, and the Bible gives us the roadmap....."

Michael Horton: "The Gospel-Driven Life"

Justin Taylor gives a helpful preview to this new book by Horton, available this Fall.

Horton recently spoke on the themes of this book at the Spring Theology Conference of the Reformation Society of Oregon. Here are the MP3s:

The Front Page God
The Promise-Driven Life
Feasting in a Fast Food Food World
Question and Answer

HT: James Grant

Boldness in Prayer

“The wonder of the high priestly ministry of Christ lies not just in where he is, but in who he is. Where he is we may boldly go; he has opened the way to the sanctuary of heaven and the throne of grace. Prayer enters where God dwells. But the boldness of our approach rests on who he is. We know him because he has first known us, and knows us still in all our helplessness and need.”

- Edmund P. Clowney, The Biblical Theology of Prayer
posted at "Of First Importance"

"Loving the Lost" -- Connect

In our evening services we've been doing a special series on 'loving the lost' with a focus on praying, connecting and sharing (that is, sharing the Gospel).

Here's a good blogpost from Jonathan Dodson on ways to 'connect' with non-Christians.

Dorothy Sayers on the Doctrine of Hell

“[T]here seems to be a kind of conspiracy, especially among middle-aged writers of vaguely liberal tendency, to forget, or to conceal, where the doctrine of Hell comes from. One finds frequent references to the ‘cruel and abominable medieval doctrine of Hell’ or ‘the childish and grotesque medieval imagery of physical fire and worms . . . ‘ But the case is quite otherwise; let us face the facts. The doctrine of Hell is not ‘medieval’: it is Christ’s. It is not a device of ‘medieval priestcraft’ for frightening people into giving money to the church: it is Christ’s deliberate judgment on sin. The imagery of the undying worm and the unquenchable fire derives, not from ‘medieval superstition,’ but originally from the Prophet Isaiah, and it was Christ who emphatically used it. . . . [O]ne cannot get rid of it without tearing the New Testament to tatters. We cannot repudiate Hell without altogether repudiating Christ.”

~ Dorothy Sayers, “Introductory Papers on Dante“
posted at "The Big Picture"

The Ultimate Motivation for Evangelism and Missions

“If God desires every knee to bow to Jesus and every tongue to confess Him, so should we. We should be ‘jealous’ for the honor of His name—troubled when it remains unknown, hurt when it is ignored, indignant when it is blasphemed, and all the time anxious and determined that it shall be given the honor and glory which are due to it.

"The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God), but rather zeal—burning and passionate zeal—for the glory of Jesus Christ.

"Only one imperialism is Christian, and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty Jesus Christ, and for the glory of his empire or kingdom. Before this supreme goal of the Christian mission, all unworthy motives wither and die.”

—John Stott, The Message of Romans (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 53
posted at "Of First Importance"

Free Audio and Video from Westminster Seminary Archives

(via Justin Taylor)

Some of the best audio resources available are from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. In the past they've been available for a price. But now, if you register, you can have free access to their entire audio and video archive.Classic and contemporary teachers include:

E.J. Young
Cornelius Van Til
John Murray
Edmund Clowney
Sinclair Ferguson
Richard Gaffin
Vern Poythress
Darryl Hart
Willia Edgar
David Powlison
Ed Welch

Etc.

HT: James Grant