Calvin Quote

"We may gather that man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols" (Calvin Institutes Vol. I Pg. 108).

Augustine Quote

"I could believe of him only what my vain imagination could picture" (Augustine Confessions Pg.86).

Spurgeon Quote

"Carry an appetite to God's house and you will be fed.
A notable preacher said: 'The hearer sometimes complains, there was no food for my soul,' when the truth is, there was no soul for the food" (Spurgeon Salt Cellars Pg. 110).

Augustine Quote

"Your mercy is forever, and you deign to make yourself a debtor obliged by your promises to those to whom you forgive all debts" (Augustine Confessions Pg. 83,84).

Memory Verse (1 John 5:3)

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (1Jn. 5:3).

Memory Verse (Romans 2:21)

"Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself" (Rom. 2:21a)?

John Calvin Quote

"Those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known" (John Calvin Institutes Bk.I Pg. 92).

Jeremiah Burroughs Quote

"When the Lord is bringing public calamity upon a people, He usually makes His 'buts' His exceptions....It's true, sometimes, that godly ones may be taken away in the judgments of a nation, but it is when God has some special work to bring about by their deaths....Lie at the goodness of the Lord to do with us what he pleases. It is for some great work that God has to bring about that yet is kept hidden from us. But this we must be confident of: God will have as much glory from their deaths as He would have had from their lives, and however the ways of God are so dark towards us for the present, yet there is a time when God will make His 'buts,' when there shall be known a difference between him who fears God and him who does not" (Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Fear73,74).

Book Review Gospel Fear

Jeremiah Burroughs' book Gospel Fear is a powerful treaties on the right disposition of a Christian's heart before God and his word. The positive response of a heart that comes under the hearing of God's word is that of a Godly fear and trembling, which in turn, so effects the heart that it melts from its natural state of hardness into tenderness. He contrasts the heart that has been changed such by the Spirit of God with that of a hard heart that awaits the judgment of God. Gospel Fear consists of seven sermons and is well worth the read. Burroughs makes the case and argument, i.e. that our hearts are to be hearts that melt before God, so powerful and compelling that one cannot help but to walk away from his subject matter with just such a heart that trembles before God. I am thankful for the puritan Jeremiah Burroughs for writing this book and Don Kistler for the publishing of it for my reading.

"Though the Lord has all the world where He is, and fills heaven and earth, yet the two great places where He keeps His court are in the highest heavens and in the lowest heart" (Jeremiah Burroughs Gospel Fear Pg. 119).

Advice for Pastors

There are three pursuits that one in spiritual leadership must take on wholeheartedly in order to know God more closely and minister more effectively. To be a pastor is to be a theologian. Out of all of scripture the study of the covenant is the most rewarding of all topics in the bible (second to this is the Kingdom of God). Indeed knowledge of the covenant of God is central to having a proper theology. So (1) be a covenant theologian. (2)Make christian fellowship and exhortation a reality. (3) Make yourself available to the people. Granted, there are times for the closet and withdrawing for spiritual replenishment, but do not fail to neglect the tending of your sheep. When pastors become so important that they cannot do ministry what are we to think of them? They have soared above their congregations and live with their heads in the clouds being able to reach none, but themselves, because of their lofty position. Come back down to earth you important pastors and minister to your people! In conclusion, in the working out of these three principles one will find that you know God more fully and intimately, his people are known by you, and you are known by both God and his people. Consider these scriptures:(Heb. 3:13; Lk. 24:28,29; Ps. 25:14).

Jeremiah Burroughs Quote

"A people may be in such a condition that all the reformation and all the repentance in the world shall not keep them from temporal affliction from the hand of God, in the sense of temporal evils....We see what sin is. It may make such a breach between God and us that, let us do what we can, it will not keep us from temporal afflictions here in this world" (Burrough Gospel Fear Pg. 71).

The Theology of Adoption

Here is a new post on the Worldview Ministries Blog.

Theologians and Philosophers

All are theologians and philosophers. Either we are good theologians or bad theologians. The same is true of philosophy. Either we are good philosophers or bad philosophers. The only bank for cashing our checks of knowledge is through The Bank of the Most High God. All other such checks are made of rubber, considered counterfeit, will bounce; nay are stolen currency and at last are nothing but IOU's owed in debt to The Bank of the Most High God. The bank of the Autonomy of Man is no bank at all but an unlawful money laundering racket.

Augustine Quote

"Fine style does not make something true, nor has a man a wise soul because he has a handsome face and well chosen eloquence...He seemed to them prudent and wise because he charmed them by the way he talked. ...None other than you is teacher of the truth, wherever and from whatever source it is manifest. ...Nothing is true merely because it is eloquently said, nor false because the signs coming from the lips make sounds deficient in a sense of style...Whether the words are ornate or not does not decide the issue.