March 4, 2010

Why Do You Desire To Know and Preach God’s Word?

Consider the words of Richard Baxter:

“Hard studies, much knowledge, and excellent preaching, if the ends be not right, is but more glorious hypocritical sinning. The saying of Bernard is commonly known: ‘Some desire to know merely for the sake of knowing, and that is shameful curiosity. Some desire to know that they may sell their knowledge, and that too is shameful. Some desire to know for reputation’s sake, and that is shameful vanity. But there are some who desire to know that they may edify others, and that is praiseworthy; and there are some who desire to know that they themselves may be edified, and that is wise.’”

I may be revealing my ignorance, but who is the Bernard that Baxter quotes?

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December 13, 2009

'Tis the Season for Images of Christ

It’s that time of the year again when Christians (and even some non-Christians) get out and display nativity scenes and / or send cards with nativity scenes depicted on the front. Furthermore, amongst all the television classics that are often screened at this time there is likely to be several that have a man with a beard claiming to be a depiction of the Son of God.

In light of this, The Wittenberg Door recently reminded their readers of The Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 109:

Q: What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment?

A: The sins forbidden in the second commandment are . . . the making of any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of creature whatsoever . . .

Sadly, the second commandment is largely forgotten (or worse, rejected) across the broad spectrum of Christendom today.

Rev. Danny Hyde recently wrote a book on the subject entitled, In Living Color: Images of Christ and the Means of Grace. Although I’ve not read the book yet (please feel free to buy me a copy) it does come highly recommended and I very much appreciated this video interview conducted with him on the subject of his book.

I’d encourage you all to seriously consider the command of the Lord in Exodus 20:4, then watch this interview and read this book. Let’s not “jump the eschatological gun” as Hyde says in his interview.

Update: If you’re interested in children’s Bible’s that don’t have images of Jesus in them Jason Smathers recommends two such Bibles.

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October 29, 2009

John Owen’s “The Mortification of Sin” Audio Download

Thanks to Lane Chaplin I’ve discovered that John Owen’s classic book “The Mortification of Sin” is now freely available to download in audio format.  It is a large download and I’ve yet to inspect the quality; however, head over to LibriVox and check it out.

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October 9, 2009

Laughing at the Sober Confession of Sin

As I type this I am absolutely flabbergasted and really do not know what to say (or type).

Recently, John Piper spoke at the American Association of Christian Counselors and began his message confessing the reality of his own sinfulness and his insecurities.  To my shock (and to Piper’s) the audience burst into laughter again and again.  When I played the clip to my wife it took much convincing for her to finally accept that this wasn’t an edited clip.

You can listen to the recording here, or you can read some further reflections and quotations supplied by Justin Taylor.

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September 7, 2009

Can I preach against my own sins?

via vimeo.com

Dr. David Murray of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary provides another great little video answering the question, “Can I preach against my own sins?”

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