A La Carte (February 15)
May the God of love and peace be with you today, my friends.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Music of Heaven)
When Activists Do History
This is really interesting: “There exists today a growing trend among historians that represents a significant departure from the traditional scholarly approach to writing and teaching history. This trend involves the merging of history and activism to form essentially an entirely new genre which is part historical narrative and part advocacy. As a genre, it might be referred to as ‘pop history,’ but perhaps a more technical title would be activist historiography.”
Can We Speak with Angels?
John Piper answers.
Sending Love
This is a sweet article about Christian encouragement. “The most potent acts and words of encouragement spring from the well of love found in Christ. And the most satisfying and soul-quenching examples of love, big and small, also point back to Him.”
A Common Face
“One of the best things my church’s women’s ministry does is to have someone share their testimony at our events. I am often stunned at what I hear from the ordinary women around me – women who quietly go about their everyday lives while harboring beautiful, compelling stories of God’s mercy. Why do we pander and scramble to hear the famous, successful and beautiful people speak, when God’s glory is just waiting to be displayed by the sisters and brothers around us?”
How to Argue Against Gender-Transition Interventions for Children
Joe Carter offers one way to argue against gender-transition interventions for children.
Mansions for Homeless Souls
“The closer we follow Jesus, the more we realize this world is not our home.” That’s so simple, but so true.
Flashback: Has the Bible Been Preserved For Us Today?
Though the Scriptures have passed through countless scribes and many forms— from papyrus to paper to phone— you can be confident that the Word you read today is the very Word that was breathed out by God and written by the prophets and apostles.
The horror of a guilty conscience is in itself the beginning of hell’s torments. —William Perkins
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Why R.C. Whispered Instead of Shouted
It was still the early days of what came to be known as the New Calvinism or the Reformed Resurgence. The Together for the Gospel Conference had been formed in 2006 and now, in 2008, was gathering for the second time. The four founders were joined again by guests John Piper, John MacArthur, and R.C. Sproul (and, for the first time, Thabiti Anyabwile). R.C. Sproul led the conference’s fifth session and spoke on “The Curse Motif of the Atonement.” He preached one of those sermons that is still being discussed long after the event and even long after his death.
The conference summarizes Sproul’s sermon in this way: “Drawing deeply upon the imagery of the Old Testament, RC Sproul richly meditates on the implications of what Jesus suffered on the cross and what he saved us from. Bearing the weight of the curse is either placed upon individuals or freely upon the Holy One who took it from us. Jesus became cursed, so that [we] could be counted righteous in Him.”
I was there that day and, like so many others, found myself completely transfixed by this sermon. I had listened to plenty of Sproul prior to this time and had read some of his most noteworthy books like The Holiness of God. Yet even though the man and the message were familiar, I still sat in rapt attention, both recoiling at the horror of what I was hearing and worshiping at the beauty.
The crescendo of the whole message came in the final two minutes. Sproul was contemplating what happened between the Father and the Son when all of our sin was placed upon Jesus and when he faced the Father’s wrath. He explained it like this: “It was as if there was a cry from heaven—excuse my language but I can be no more accurate to say—it was as if Jesus heard the words ‘God damn you.’ Because that’s what it meant to be cursed, to be damned, to be under the anathema, of the Father.”
In the years since, I have often contemplated what made this message so powerful. And in watching and rewatching it, I am convinced that it was a combination of substance and style—of preaching that accounted not only for what was said, but also for how. Part of what made the message so powerful, and what made this crescendo so powerful, is that R.C. whispered instead of shouted.
I have often been struck by the intensity with which many preachers deliver their sermons. Many preachers are aware of the importance of preaching and humbled by the fact that it falls to them to convey deep truths to an expectant people. It is no small thing to stand in a pulpit and preach the Word. Aware of this fact, preachers seem to bring messages that are intense from beginning to end. That intensity is often expressed in volume. If we were to create a little graphic showing the vocal range of a preacher with a whisper at the bottom, a normal speaking voice in the middle, and a shout at the top, many preachers would deliver the majority of their sermons entirely in the top half of the graphic—occasionally in a normal speaking voice, but mostly at an elevated volume. When they need to pack an extra punch, they get louder and perhaps even shout. But they only ever employ the top half of their vocal range.
I’m struck that Sproul took the opposite approach. Throughout this message, he delivers many of the most important lines in the lower part of his vocal range, and often at a bare whisper. He leans toward the audience and the audience responds by leaning toward him, straining to hear. He slows the tempo and lowers his voice to speak many of his most important lines. (See also this clip from 40:00 – around 41:30)
This is a powerful rhetorical technique that few preachers use at all and few use more effectively than Sproul. It is dramatic without being melodramatic, performative without being manipulative. It complements powerful truths with skillful technique. It’s compelling and potent. And, for many preachers, completely untried. It’s my conviction that most preachers would have shouted these lines rather than whispered them. And it’s equally my conviction that this would have proven less effective.
And so I guess my encouragement to those who preach is to draw some lessons from Sproul. He has long been commended as not only the Reformed world’s best teacher in his day but also as one of its master communicators. And I’m convinced that a key part of his skill was his delivery, and particularly, his willingness to employ not only a part of his vocal range, but the whole of it. He put great care into not only the content of his messages, but also the delivery. He had mastered not only the art of preparing a sermon, but also the craft of delivering it. We’d all do well to learn from him.
(Further to this sermon, see “How R.C. Sproul Blessed the Church by Preaching the Curse” in my Great Sermon Series.) -
She Died Too Soon
It is engraved on many tombstones, inscribed in many cards, expressed in many obituaries: He died too soon. She was taken before her time.
Of all the mysteries in this universe, few are more perplexing than the mystery of God’s sovereignty over life and death. Why do some live to so advanced an age while others barely live at all? Why are some who display such promise taken before they can deploy their gifts? Why does God call some early to heaven who surely could have done so much good on earth? Why God, we ask? Why?
I’m quite sure that June is the best of the year here in Southern Ontario. The spring rains have given way to spring sun. The perennials that laid dormant through the long winter have burst out of the warming ground and the annuals that awaited the final frost have now been planted and begun to thrive. Yet because we have not yet reached the summer’s full heat, the grass is still unwithered and the lawns unscorched. The world is resplendent with every hue of green, every shade of red, yellow, and blue.
No one in this neighborhood gives more attention to her garden than Aileen. Her garden is her studio, her canvas, her gallery. She has designed it purposefully and tends to it carefully.
Some of the flowers in her garden sprang up when there was still snow on the ground. They bloomed quickly and beautifully, a foretaste of warmer days to come. And then they faded and were gone for another year. Some of the flowers waited until there was a long succession of warm afternoons before they began to stir and to push their shoots above the ground. And some of the flowers have yet to be seen as they await even warmer days, perhaps late in the summer or even early in the autumn. When the rest of the plants have already waned, these will provide a final splash of color before the snows return.
Whether these flowers bloom early or late, whether their blossoms last for a few days or for the whole summer, they each have their purpose, for they have each been planted by the hand of an expert gardener. This is true even of the ones that make only the earliest or only the briefest appearance. Their beauty is no less beautiful because of its brevity. Their role is no less important because they are the first to fade. In fact, we treasure those flowers all the more, for we know that our enjoyment will be short-lived.
The most beautiful gardens are the ones that are planned with the greatest skill and tended with the greatest care. And if we should give such attention and commit so much love to something as simple as a garden, shouldn’t we trust God to give even greater attention and even greater care to people crafted by his hand and made in his image? Shouldn’t we trust him to number the length of their days? Shouldn’t we trust him to know whether their purpose is to bloom for days or for decades? Shouldn’t we trust him to know how and when each will best display divine beauty?
The early flowers in our garden are every bit as beautiful as the late flowers, the ones that bloom for a day as wondrous as the ones that bloom for a summer. They are every bit as precious in our eyes, and surely in God’s as well. And so, too, the human beings that appear to die too soon or who seem to be taken before their time. These too can only have been planned to perfection by the mind of God. These, too, can only have fulfilled the purpose he assigned to them. These too, are precious in his sight. -
Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2021 Deals for Christians
While there are many places you can go today to find deals on electronics and other big-ticket items, I like to provide a place for Christian retailers to make their deals known to Christians who are trying to kick-start their Christmas shopping (or to just buy great resources at significant discounts). I will update this list regularly throughout the weekend, so you may want to return to a few times. Be sure to check back on Monday for Cyber Monday deals.
Amazon
There is, of course, a massive sale at Amazon that spans pretty well every category. I was hoping for some significant Kindle deals; while there are quite a number of general market deals, there are not a lot of Christian books discounted today.
Westminster Books
Westminster Books is offering up to 83% off some books and a free ESV Scripture Journal with any purchase. You’ll find the Preaching the Word Commentary NT set at 60% off, the ESV Gospel Transformation Study Bible at 58% off, Ligonier’s A Field Guide to False Teaching half off, etc.
10ofThose
10ofThose is offering up to 77% discounts on a curated list of titles which encompasses resources on the Christian life, illustrated children’s books, Bible studies, devotionals, and more. My newest book, Knowing and Enjoying God, is 60% off. Anyone who spends over $50 will also receive a pair of ESV Scripture Journals (James and Hebrews) for free.
Answers in Genesis
Answers in Genesis has everything discounted by 25% with coupon code BFR21. Select items are up to 80% off. They also have certain other items you can add to your cart and receive for free with any qualifying order.
Banner of Truth
Banner of Truth has quite a number of deals on their always-excellent books and sets. See also their Christmas sale.
Christian Book Distributors
Christian Book Distributors has tons of stuff on sale today—books, Bibles, study Bibles, and so on. The ESV Study Bible is 64% off in hardcover or leather; the ESV Reader’s Bible in softcover is all of $5.49; Dane Ortlund’s Gentle and Lowly is half off; the single-volume of edition of C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy is all the way down to $7.99; etc.
Christian Focus
Christian Focus has quite a number of items discounted in that 40% range.
Compass Classroom
Compass Classroom has their material (video-based curriculum) discounted by up to 50%.
Crossway+
Crossway+ members can get 40% off the amazing Heirloom ESV Bibles.
Getty Music
Getty Music is offering 20% off all physical goods and 40% off all downloadable goods.
Ligonier Ministries
Ligonier Ministries is having a special $5 Friday with a lot of great products set at $5 (and many others heavily discounted).
Logos
Logos is offering lots of good deals, including significant discounts on commentaries, collections, and other resources. The Focus on the Bible commentary series is 70% off; the NIGTC is 58% off; Boice’s commentaries are up to 73% off. Additionally, they are offering 15% off Logos 6 Legacy Libraries (or 25% off if you own Logos 9).
Media Gratiae
Media Gratiae has deals on some of their videos: Puritan, The Church, Behold Your God, and so on.
Missional Wear
Missional Wear has select products at up to 50% off, plus all items marked as in-stock and shipping now at 15% off using code CHALLIES15. That includes Shirt Deals, Stocking Stuffers, Drinkware, etc.
New Growth Press
New Growth Press has select titles at 40% off with coupon code BLACK40. They include titles by Ed Welch, Marty Machowski, and others.
Reformation Heritage Books
Reformation Heritage Books has a pretty good-sized collection of books discounted by 50% or even more. A number of them are commentaries or other reference works.