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Showing posts from March, 2008

Pray for Zimbabwe: Election on March 29th

In a previous post , I relayed the horrible situation dealing with  Zimbabwe's economy.  The presidential election will be held tomorrow, and anything could happen.  The hope is that a civil war will not break out.  We put our trust wholly in the Sovereignty of God, and we affirm the words of Daniel: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings ; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding."   (Dan 2:20b-21) This recent article from the BBC may be helpful as you pray over the Sovereign Lord's appointment tomorrow.  Yes, He is sovereign, yet we are still responsible for our action/non-action!   It is a sad thing when the bride of Christ is numb to the suffering in the world.  May she weep over the terror in the world, but may the tears shed not be shallow.  They must be tears of action and compassion.

Interview with Tim Keller

I came upon this interview that Monergism.com held with Tim Keller and felt it to be very interesting and useful. Tim Keller is author of The Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism . He is also pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York. In the interview, he addresses: His method of evangelism in preaching. His view of sanctification Books to help train people in apologetics. How he approaches the skeptics questions. Various ways to approach specific questions from skeptics. This one is particularly useful. The interview can be found here .

"Good at Math": What Counts?

Recently, I was asked “What does it mean to be ‘good at math’?” I thought it through, and here is an edited response. Even if you don't like mathematics, it is a good exercise to go through for anyone. What does it mean for someone to be good at what you do? There are a few points that I would address in being “good at math”: The proficiency of the student in the narrowest sense of mathematics , The student’s reasoning ability in dealing with philosophical arguments , and The religious motivation behind the student’s study. At the most superficial (disregard the negative connotation) level, being “good at math” is about knowing the language of mathematics. The student who is good at math will begin to have both a competency with the tools of mathematics and an intuitive understanding (a “gut feeling” if you prefer) of what will work. These appeal to those situations where the student sees a theoretical result developing from the material and where the student models mathematic

Why the Father loves the Son: The Ground of Our Salvation

"For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." John 10:17-18 _____________________________________________________ We have approached Easter this year. We will gather in congregations to remember the ground of our salvation. The New Testament resounds with importance of the resurrection. It is unavoidable: if you want to understand the depth of your salvation, you must have a theology of the resurrection . Paul states, "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us" (Romans 8:34). "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished

Holiness and Incarnation

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. John 1:1-5,14,17 The Holiness of God Moses asks God for His name (Exodus 3:13). The name God gives Moses will speak to the very character of God. I am sure Moses was very curious as to what God would say. And what does God say? “I AM WHO I AM.” Well, that’s odd. You and I would never say that. And that is exactly right. God cannot say, “I am like ___________.” There is no point of reference outside of Himself to which God can point and say, “There, look at that, I’m

Reason for God: Tim Keller addresses Google

I have been waiting to watch this video! Thanks to Reformissionary for posting it.

Easter, Too Much for Children?

Russell Moore draws our attention to a perplexing situation arising between a church and the publisher of the Sunday school curriculum. I encourage you to read the letter that the publisher sent to try to explain the removal of the crucifixion and the resurrection from their preschool lessons.

Feeling the Divine: Holy Jealousy

“I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.” 2 Corinthians 11:2-6 Reading Too Quickly The first thing we read here is that Paul feels a divine jealousy. We sometimes read too quickly through our Bibles and don’t linger. There is something mysterious in this first sentence. What does it mean to feel a divine jealousy? To know the answer to this qu

Resurrection Realities

For the Christian, a theology that exults over the resurrection of Christ is crucial. As we approach Easter, God has been building up my theology of the resurrection of Christ and its connection with the resurrection of the believer. It is with great joy that I can refer you to John Piper's newest Taste & See Article: Let These Results of the Resurrection of Jesus Revive Your Passion for His Supremacy Over All Things .

Zimbabwe & Prayer

A BBC News article from July 2007 states, "In Zimbabwe's case, the near-5,000% annual rate of inflation means that a loaf of bread bought today is about 50 times more expensive - in cash terms - than it was a year ago. And prices are continuing to accelerate, in some cases doubling in weeks - or even, on occasion, days. Wages, on the other hand, are nowhere near keeping up. One correspondent recently told the BBC News website that one candle can cost twice the daily official government wage for a farm worker, while the price tag for a single banana is 15 times what she paid seven years ago for a four-bedroom house. " A more recent article from CNN from March 5, 2008 observes that $1(US) = $25,000,000 (Zimbabwe) . That is absolute insanity. The article goes on to say, "Currency dealers said uncertainties ahead of elections scheduled March 29 and the world's highest inflation of 100,500 percent led holders of hard currency to hang on to their money at the same

The Consummation of All Things and a Memory

There are those memories that you hope God allows you to keep. You hope that they are held by His sovereign will in your heart to be cherished. For me, there is a collection of some of my most treasured memories, namely evening conversations with my momma. God provided Lois and Eunice for Timothy, and He blessed me with Sadie and Kathy. Through many evening conversations in my childhood, my momma taught me the beauty of Christ, the majesty of God, and the suffiency of the Scriptures. Our conversations were not the typical ones that mothers and sons have. We talked theology over a glass of tea or a Coke. My earliest memory of these conversations is of momma "reading to me about heaven." -- or should I say "weadin' to me about heaven"? I couldn't say my r's (among other things). As far as I can tell, it was what my momma read to me at this request that has been the most foundational. My momma read to me out of Revelation 20-22 in these instances. These p