Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Paul Washer asks "How Do You Know?"



"If you do not have a new relationship with sin, then you do not have a new relationship with God."

Paul Washer's ministry is HeartCry Missionary Society.

Go.

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John Calvin on Prayer

Commenting on the prayer issued by the psalmist in Psalm 118:25: “Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success!” John Calvin offers this insight:

“Instructed by their example, let us not fail to pray ardently for the restoration of the Church, which, in our day, is involved in sad desolation. Besides, in these words, we are also informed that Christ’s kingdom is not upheld and advanced by the policy of men, but that this is the work of God alone, for in his blessing solely the faithful are taught to confide...God can, indeed, of himself, and independently of the prayer of any one, erect and protect the kingdom of his Son; but it is not without good cause that he has laid this obligation on us, as there is no duty more becoming the faithful than that of earnestly seeking for the advancement of his glory.”
May I also seek to advance His glory through prayer among and for the nations.

John Calvin, Calvin's Commentaries, Volume VI, Psalms 93-150, trans. James Anderson (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, rpt 2007), p. 396

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Monday, November 19, 2007

Free Download - Your Choice of 10!





An extra offer this month from our friends at Christianaudio.com

Greetings!
Each year at Thanksgiving we like to do something to say "Thank You" to you, our customers. This year we got a little carried away. We asked some of the best publishers who provide audio content at Christianaudio.com to participate in our offer. The result is that you have a choice of any one of ten audiobooks for free. These are all premium audiobooks. It's a wonderful offer. Now this year we can say thank you to you, and also thank you to all the publishers who participate in this offer. That's a lot of thanks!

Browse the selection of audiobooks that you can receive for free. And also take time to click on the links that will take you to the websites of the publishers who joined us in this offer. They have many more wonderfully thoughtful books for you to enjoy.
You will need to enter coupon code THANKS2007 to begin the free download process.

Just in case you were curious, here is the one that I chose from the list:















Also, if you have not already taken advantage of ChristianAudio's Book of the Month for November, Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards, I would highly recommend it to you as well. You will need to enter coupon code NOV2007 at the checkout. Hurry, this offer will end at the end of the month.

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Monday, November 12, 2007

DH Williams on Teaching Christians

"We too often assume potential church members already know the fundamentals of their faith, whereas in reality they are usually incapable of explaining the basics of “the pattern of sound teaching” (2 Tim 1:13). This need for equipping cannot be displaced in favor of simply giving one’s own testimony any more than to say a personal experience of the faith can be substituted for a reasonable grasp of that faith. If it is the case that the church, as the apostle phrased it, "is the pillar and foundation of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15), then ecclesiastical leadership must not shirk from the critical and time-consuming job of imparting Christian truth or catechizing those who profess to be a Christian. Nothing can replace the formation of a theologically and biblically literate people. Nothing is more essential."

D. H. Williams, Retrieving the Tradition & Renewing Evangelicalism: A Primer for Suspicious Protestants (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1999), p. 77-78
I am still not sure whether or not I agree with Williams’ overall thesis in his book (to be determined by the end of the week), but his position on the doctrinal fidelity of the church being maintained in order to produce many generations of biblically astute congregants can not be denied. Without this “Tradition” as he calls it, we would not be who we are or believe what we believe.

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