A La Carte (November 30)
As is the custom in December, Westminster Books has all ESVs at 50% off. That includes Journaling Bibles; Study Bibles; Children and Youth Bibles; Premium and Heirloom Bibles; Scripture Journals; and so on.
Today’s Kindle deals include the excellent When Helping Hurts along with commentaries on Romans and James.
(Yesterday on the blog: When You Poke God in the Eye)
“Among the many theological ailments that can strike in Reformed churches, ‘Reformer’s Syndrome,’ is one of the more troublesome. What is ‘Reformer’s Syndrome,’ you ask?” J.V. Fesko explains.
Meanwhile, Wes defends Reformed theology against a charge of stupidity. And as he does so, he explains a key theological distinction. “Do Reformed preachers not see the stupidity of telling people not to rely on their works while also saying genuine faith produces good works? It just seems like double-speak to avoid being labeled Catholic or Arminian.”
“Whenever the biblical authors describe a woman as barren, you can rest assured she won’t be barren for long. The reason for this confidence is the pattern of God’s reversal of the state of barrenness.” Mitch Chase looks at all of the OT women who are described in this way.
Sam Emadi calls on Christians to stop using name-calling with their theological opponents. “If you’re prone to use name-calling with theological opponents, consider three passages in Scripture and how they address our unhealthy culture in evangelicalism of pejorative labeling.”
Nick McDonald is deep in the book writing process and from that perspective offers 10 quick, random, helpful thoughts.
Kyle Borg: “Almost two weeks ago, as I was winding down from a week of work, I got a phone call from a member of the church. Within seconds I knew this was a serious phone call. The dad on the other end said: ‘It’s my son. I think he drowned. He was unresponsive when they pulled him from the water, but the ambulance got him breathing again. We need prayer.’”
As you battle sin, listen for God’s affirming voice and look for success. God is for you and loves to help you put your sin to death. It is his delight. He will speak peace to your soul.
Nothing more pleases, honors, and glorifies Christ than the confiding trust, the expectant confidence, and the child-like faith of those to whom He has given every cause to trust Him with all their hearts.
—A.W. Pink
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A La Carte (February 20)
Grace and peace to you today.
There is a long list of Kindle deals for you to look over.
Yesterday on the blog: (A Prayer That God Would Save Our Children)
Revival and Bad Theology
“When revival hits, should we expect all the participants to have all their theological ducks in a row and align with our particular shibboleth?” Here’s one take on it. (See also: Asbury, Revival, and Christian Cynicism? and Why It’s Good to be Skeptical of the Asbury Revival.)
A Life-Giving Brain Cancer
“In July of 2022, I was diagnosed with a tumour in the left frontal lobe of my brain; what doctors termed the eloquent, dominant brain. … Six months later, I am glad to have completed active treatment, and excited for a second future. In fact, I’ve never been happier or felt more blessed than I do right now, and I’m eager to share with you why.”
Gender War, Technology, and De-Centering the Self
“It seems to me that the capacity to believe you could be wrong about something—in other words, the capacity to cultivate humility—is greatly strengthened by genuine encounters with other people, and is greatly weakened through the absence of such encounters.”
Why are some demons only able to be cast out “by prayer”? (Mk. 9:29)
Sinclair Ferguson answers an interesting question.
What Is Presbyterianism?
What is Presbyterianism about? This article explains its distinctives.
Nine Characteristics of the Great Old Testament Revivals
This is a helpful list of characteristics of revivals in the Old Testament.
Flashback: Learning to Stand
These are the six pieces of the spiritual armor we need for this spiritual battle: truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation and the Word of God…This armor is God’s gift to each Christian, sufficient to wage and to win this battle.Satan’s chief device of temptation is to attack the truth of God. —R.C. Sproul
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How We Worshipped on One Sunday in August
From time to time I like to share one of our worship services from Grace Fellowship Church. In that vein, here is how we worshiped on one summer Sunday morning. This week’s cast of characters included John (a pastoral assistant) as the service leader, Allie as the lead worshiper, Dwight as the elder who prayed and read the sermon text. I preached. The band was comprised of piano, violin, and guitar. The various elements of the service are in bold with the name of the person who led the element in parentheses. Items in quotes represent roughly what the person said to the congregation. Items not in quotes are explanatory. The entire service took approximately 90 minutes.
Welcome and Call to Worship (John)
“Because God is both all-powerful and full of love, the Psalmist calls on us to turn to Him: ‘Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us’ (Psalm 62:8). The Triune God is a refuge to His people. Let’s begin our worship of GOD by calling on Him—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—to help us praise Him as we pour our hearts out to Him.”
Singing (Allie)“Come Thou Almighty King”
Corporate Reading (John)
“One of the many ways God provides us refuge is by giving us His Word. Our Bibles. Please read out loud with me these words of praise to God for His comforting and consoling and counseling Word.” (Together we read Psalms 119:129-136 from the CSB.)
Singing (Allie)“How Firm a Foundation”
Complementary Text Reading (John)
“Once a year, Israel’s High Priest was to enter the Holy Place in the temple to make atonement. This day was called Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement. Listen carefully as I read of this day.” (John read Leviticus 16:29–34)
Prayer of Confession (John)
John used the fact that God decreed an annual Day of Atonement for Israel to lead the congregation in a prayer of confession for their sins.
Word of Assurance (John)
“The Psalmist wrote: ‘For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you’ (Psalm 86:5). If you have called upon the powerful and loving God to forgive you in Christ, be assured he has done it. You are forgiven, because he is so loving.”
Singing (Allie)“O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus”
“Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me”Pastoral Prayer (Dwight)
Dwight led the pastoral prayer and prayed for a number of matters pertaining to the life of the church.
Scripture Reading (Dwight)
Dwight read the text for the sermon—Hebrews 4. He prefaced his reading by saying, “This is what holy Scripture says” and ended it by saying, “This is the word of the Lord” to which the church responded with “Thanks be to God.”
Singing (Allie)“I Know That My Redeemer Lives”
Sermon (Tim)
I preached a sermon titled “The Heart of Christ in our Weaknesses” with the outline “Jesus Knows, Jesus Cares, Jesus Helps.”
Singing (Allie)“Jesus Strong and Kind”
Commission & Benediction
John called the church to live out the truths we had encountered in the service, then said, “Receive this blessing of the Lord from His Word: ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’” -
A La Carte (April 12)
This is just a reminder that a lot of my articles are professionally translated and made available in Spanish. You can find the complete collection at es.challies.com.
Joe Carter provides one of his helpful FAQs to explain some of what’s going on within the SBC. “The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, is embroiled in a heated intramural debate over the designation of women in ministry.”
That’s a valid question, isn’t it? Is God always pleased with Christians?
Join us on October 16-18 for The Missionary Conference, commemorating the 500th anniversary of William Tyndale’s English Bible translation. Gain a biblical understanding of and involvement in world missions, exploring key questions and challenging the pragmatic mindset that has infiltrated evangelicalism. Hear from John Piper, Brooks Buser, Sinclair Ferguson, and many others. (Sponsored)
“Good growth for a church is slow and steady, the whole body growing together. Sudden influxes of people are like grafting a branch onto a tree. Doable (and as a Gentile I am such a graft onto Israel’s tree: Christ), but difficult and requiring more skill than watching it weather the sun and storms while providing water and pruning.” This principle applies to individuals as well.
Kristin has some sound counsel. “It is profitable to take personal inventory, paying close attention to your life’s surroundings. Are your relationships, systems, and work robust and God-honoring? I am not suggesting that healthy things are easy, but are their roots strong, abiding in Christ and ordered by Scripture? If something seems off, investigate.”
This is both sad and strangely fascinating.
Trevin Wax: “An overemphasis on human worth will make grace expected: Well, of course God sent his Son to save us. We’re so worthy, after all! Go in that direction and repentance is unnecessary. Why wouldn’t God save you? An overemphasis on human depravity will make grace powerless: I’m nothing more than a worm and will never amount to anything. Go in that direction and repentance is impossible. Why would God care?”
In theology we make a study of God—of his works and of his ways…And as we study our God we find there is blessing in the macro and the micro, in the whole and in the parts.
Self-serving needs are not meant to be satisfied; they are meant to be put to death.
—Ed Welch
