“Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.’” (Acts 3:22)

Jesus Christ is called and appointed by God to be the great Prophet and teacher of the Church. The weakest Christians need not be discouraged at the dullness and incapacity they find in themselves. Christ is not only a patient and condescending teacher, but he can also, as he has often done, reveal that to babes, which is hid from the wise and learned (Mat 11: 25).

Yea, and such as you are, the Lord delights to choose, that his grace may be the more conspicuous in your weakness (1 Cor. 1: 26, 27). You will have nothing of your own to glory in; you will not say, as a proud wretch once said, “I and my God did this.” Jesus Christ will not divide the praise with any.

Well then, be not discouraged. Others may know more in other things than you, but you are not incapable of knowing so much as shall save your souls, if Christ will be your teacher. In other knowledge they excel you: but if you know Jesus Christ, and the truth as it is in him, one drop of your knowledge is worth a whole sea of their gifts. (John Flavel, The Fountain of Life)

by Richard Shin

Let’s get right to it, shall we?

• Coming on the heels of the Democratic National Convention, Dr. Albert Mohler explains to his readers the unprecedented difference of morality and liberty between the Democratic Party and the GOP in the upcoming election.
• Speaking of debate, Michael Horton shares some insight into what constitutes a good argument.
• Ray Ortlund, drawing from his late father’s example, pens an article on how to die well. “Dad gladly kept Christ as his personal center, moment by moment.  Even my dad’s dying and death were, to him, acts of worship.”
• Do you love to give rebuke? How about to receive it? Mike Riccardi over at the Cripplegate explains the necessity of giving and receiving rebuke. And then in his next article, he shares the motivation for rebuke.
• This one’s for the parents out there. How do you know when is the right time to baptize your children? Tim Challies offers some thoughts on the topic.
• Do you ever struggle with spiritual apathy? While addressed to a student, here are some good pointers for all of us.
• Well, this looks to be a fantastic film.

I hope you’ve enjoyed and learned some from these links. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Coram Deo

Now, moving past the more technical, the simple truth that the term “transcendental” communicates is that Christianity alone is true. Whenever we meet up with some position, theory, idea or concept that is opposed to Christianity, we need not be experts in those ideas; all we need to know, initially, is that if it is a non-Christian position, it is, by definition, false. It has the seeds of self-destruction within itself. Patient probing will often times uncover those seeds. Once uncovered, it is important to replace them with the imperishable seed of the Word of God (Luke 8:11; 1 Peter 1:23), which alone will not, because it cannot, self-destruct. (Scott Oliphint, “Transcendental Meditation”)

by Stephen Rodgers

Here are the weekly links:

• I hyped RefNet a while back as an app for app people, but I wanted to loop back around and point out that this is also available as a streaming radio station over the internet.
• The new issue of Tabletalk is out, and it focuses on the 12th century. For anyone interested in previous issues of Tabletalk that have focused on particular points in time, I’d direct you to the issues on the 4th century, 6th century, 8th century, 9th century, 10th century, and 11th century. For a chronological index of all digitally available issues, please see my index. There will be a quiz next week.
• There is also a new issue of the 9Marks eJournal out, on the topic of “Discipling in the Church.” I found it to be particularly helpful and would highly recommend it to you.  For a topical list of all 9Marks eJournals, see here.
• Since it’s a new month, there’s also a new free audiobook from christianaudio.com (The Brotherhood by Jerry B. Jenkins) and a new free resource for Logos users (Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts).
• This was depressing. If you need resources pertaining to evangelism, an easy place to start would be Mike Chon’s series on the subject, or my own excessively-long offering.
• Scott Oliphint is a little-known treasure, who doesn’t write books fast enough to keep me happy. However, I was thrilled to discover that he has apparently carved out a small little corner of the Reformation21 blog for himself.
• Russell Moore has an article in the Wall Street Journal (!) entitled Student-Loan Debt and the Future of Seminaries.
• And last but not least, SBTS put on a conference with some excellent messages on the topic of Strengthening Your Marriage In Ministry.

Pro Rege

Yet at the same time, because it is a democracy, there are things we ought to be doing to draw the line here and there, even if you understand the laws don’t finally engender justice. They might preserve it for a while. But finally they’re all broke, and you have to change the laws. There are things we ought to be doing. There are faithful things we ought to be doing…

But at the end of the day, if you can’t do it with compassion, and gently, and leave the doors open for evangelism, boy, you destroy everything. I think one of the devil’s tactics with respect to the church on the Right today is to make them so hate everybody else that at the end of the day they can’t be believed anywhere, not even the proclamation of the gospel. (D.A. Carson from his lecture on Revelation in 2005, quoted briefly here).

by Richard Shin

My, my… It has been another very busy week in the blogosphere. Shall we?

• Remember the video I linked last week on why the TGC is complementarian? Well, the discussion clearly did not end there. Carl Trueman, a leading figure in evangelicalism, was also curious as to why the TGC is unwaveringly complementarian but agnostic to the baptism and Lord’s Supper debate. And then Denny Burk responded with a defense here (with many links embedded in the article itself). And around the same time, Carl Trueman posted this. Justin Taylor also has a couple links here.
• Some call it the Young, Restless, Reformed (YRR) movement. Some call it the New Calvinism. Justin Taylor links to Mark Dever’s ten posts from 2007 that chronicle the rise of this movement, as well as a number of other helpful links. Tim Challies added his two cents on the Internet’s contribution and then Taylor came back with another two cents (that’s four).
• The term “gospel-centered” has become a household label for everything that we seek to do. But what does that mean? Jared Wilson links to four articles on what it means to be gospel-centered. I would like to point you particularly to Ray Ortlund’s article from 2010 and Joel Lindsey’s essay on gospel-centeredness and the missional church.
• “As we war against our own sinful anger, and seek to help others overcome theirs, it is critical that we distinguish between provocation and cause. The provocations are numerous. The cause of sinful anger is singular—it is always our heart.” Read the whole thing by Paul Tautges here.
• If you don’t already subscribe to Al Mohler’s blog, you’re really missing out. Every article he writes is insightful and a great blend of gospel and culture. You can find his thoughts on Richard Dawkins’ Clergy Project here.
• Dating’s always a hot topic,right? Well, here’s one mainly for the guys, but a great one for gals to reference as well. Guys, read carefully.

My goodness, that’s a lot, even after cheating with the multiple-articles-in-one-bullet-ness and articles linking articles linking articles. But hopefully they’re of interest to you and sharpening your mind. Hope you all have a good and safe Labor Day weekend!

The condition of Jesus Christ before his incarnation was a state of the highest and most unspeakable delight and pleasure, in the enjoyment of his Father.

He was not liable to any of those sorrowful consequences of that frail and feeble state of humanity, which he afterwards assumed. He was unacquainted with griefs; there was no sorrowing or sighing in that bosom where he lay.

He never underwent reproach and shame in that bosom, there was nothing but glory and honour reflected upon him by his Father, though afterwards he was despised, and rejected of men. His holy heart was never offended with an impure suggestion or temptation of the Devil. There were no hidings or withdrawings of his Father from him; there was not a cloud from eternity upon the face of God, till Jesus Christ had left that bosom.

All these things were new things to Christ; he was above them all — till for our sakes he voluntarily subjected himself unto them. (John Flavel, The Fountain of Life)

by Richard Shin

It was a busy week in the blogosphere. So, let’s get to it.

• This video by The Gospel Coalition explains the question: Why is TGC complementarian? In the article, a number of documents and articles are also referenced. I’d like to point you particularly to the one by Kathleen Nielson, who wrote “To My Egalitarian Friends”.
• Justin Taylor quotes the last sermon Steve DeWitt ever preached as a single man. At age 44, he has some wise words for young men and women in regards to sexual purity. You can find the sermon in its entirety at the bottom of that page.
• When you get guys like James White, Phil Johnson, Carl Trueman, and Mike Abendroth into one room and start talking unscripted, it’s bound to be good. Well, you can watch them do just that with the first episode of No Compromise Ever (shortened as “No Co Ever”) where they discuss the debacle of the Elephant Room 2.
• In case you didn’t know, Tim Challies has a series called Reading Classics Together where he takes various influential Christian books and read one with his blog’s readers, a chapter a week. As he is currently going through Disciplines of Grace by Jerry Bridges, he narrows in on chapter 3 which talks about preaching the gospel to yourself. Take a look and see what it means to do so.
• Paul Tautges shares six points on true piety (godliness) as summarized from Tom Hovestol’s Extreme Righteousness. In a completely separate post, yet not completely unrelated (like that?), he also summarizes three characteristics of righteous anger here.
• No matter how many articles there have been, I can always get a little more of Ray Ortlund. You can find his encouragement to the wronged here.

Like I said, it was a busy week. Chop, chop! Have a great weekend, y’all.

Coram Deo

Christian scholarship that lacks passion about the truth is not worthy of the name Christian to begin with. If dispassion and detachment are necessary attributes of scholarship, then I do not seek the appellation. I cannot comprehend dry faith, arid confession, or mere mental assent. A person who has only intellectual knowledge of the sufficiency of Scripture, but lacks a deep, abiding love of the Scriptures and an understanding of how their sufficiency is related to the gospel and to the assurance of salvation, is liable to be led astray by winsome words or the traditions of men. At the same time, a person who professes great zeal for the truth, but does not honor the truth by growing in knowledge of it, can be easily led astray. We need a balanced understanding of and love for the truth of sola scriptura. Divine truths command our undivided allegiance, and this love of divine truth is what I seek to encourage in your heart. (James White, Scripture Alone)

by Richard Shin

It feels good to be back, doesn’t it? I for one am glad that the hiatus is over. I hope these links are encouraging for your soul.

• To start us off, here’s a quickie, but valuable for those who seek to understand the narratives in the Old Testament. Julian Freeman compiled a list of ten guidelines one must keep in mind when trying to understand narrative portions of the Bible. This framework would be helpful, say, when trying to understand the Books of the Bible.
• Douglas Wilson categorizes workers into two types: makers and fakers. Read the article and if you find yourself in the faker camp, you need to step back and re-assess whether you are truly seeking to glorify God.
• Do you think preaching the gospel to yourself can replace Scripture-reading? I think many of us would tend to lean this way. David Mathis helps us understand why this has a short shelf life and one needs to do both: preach to yourself daily and soak in the Scriptures.
• Ray Ortlund (you saw this one coming) shares some wise words on obedience and leadership. You can check it out here.
• Just the words “doctrine of predestination” can make some people squirm in their seats. But for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, this doctrine is all-encouraging. BJ Stockman, guest blogger for Zach Nielson’s blog, helps us understand why.
• In response to dissidents of the doctrine of hell, Tim Challies has a short series on “The Holiness of God and the Existence of Hell.” You can find them in four parts: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.

I hope these articles energize you in your walk and are enough to keep you busy until next week. Have a great weekend everyone, and see y’all at the Luau!

Coram Deo

To a man who lives unto God nothing is secular, everything is sacred. He puts on his workday garment and it is a vestment to him. He sits down to his meal and it is a sacrament. He goes forth to his labor, and therein exercises the office of the priesthood. His breath is incense and his life a sacrifice. He sleeps on the bosom of God, and lives and moves in the divine presence.

To draw a hard and fast line and say, “This is sacred and this is secular,” is, to my mind, diametrically opposed to the teaching of Christ and the spirit of the gospel. Paul has said, “I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself” [Romans 14:14]. Peter also saw a sheet let down from heaven in which were all manner of beasts and four-footed creatures, which he was bidden to kill and eat, and when he refused because they were unclean, he was rebuked by a voice from heaven, saying, “What God hath cleansed that call not thou common” [Acts 10:15; 11:9].

The Lord hath cleansed your houses, he has cleansed your bed chambers, your tables, your shops, he has made the bells upon your horses holiness to the Lord, he has made the common pots and pans of your kitchens to be as the bowls before the altar, if you know what you are and live according to your high calling. You housemaids, you cooks, you nurses, you ploughmen, you housewives, you traders, you sailors, your labor is holy if you serve the Lord Christ in it, by living unto him as you ought to live. The sacred has absorbed the secular. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “All For Jesus”)

by Stephen Rodgers

Now that the hiatus is over, we’ve got a lot of good updates for you.  So just be aware that this particular Weekly Links is a little bit longer than usual.  Still, I’m completely sure that there is something in here that will benefit everyone.

New Resources

• As always, there’s a new free AUDIO book from christianaudio.com: The Disciplines of the Christian Life by Eric Liddell.
• And for anyone using Logos, the free resource for the month is B.F. Westcott’s The Epistle to the Hebrews.
• There’s a new edition of Tabletalk magazine, and this time the topic is “Eastern Spirituality.”
• Ligonier Ministries just launched a new app called “RefNet,” which is basically broadcasting sermons and news 24/7, including Renewing Your Mind with RC Sproul, “Alistair Begg at Truth For Life, John MacArthur at Grace to You, John Piper at Desiring God, Albert Mohler with The Briefing and Thinking in Public, and many others.”
• The latest edition of Themelios (37.2) is out. It clocks in at 263 pages, including 78 book reviews.
• I’m afraid I’ve let my monitoring of CredoMag slip a bit, but they have a new issue out focusing on Old Princeton. (It also includes a brief interview with Mark Dever for all you 9Marks fans). They have previous issues focusing on “Chosen by Grace,” “Make Disciples of All Nations,” “In Christ Alone,” and “The Living Word.” You can hit up their archives page for those.
• Last but not least, it’s come to my attention that there are some great resources at GTY that get overlooked. First, they’ve got a series of Q&A Sessions, and second, they’ve got a series of Study Guides. The fact that both of those have been indexed by scriptural reference make them surprisingly easy to use!

Articles and Updates of Note

• I’ve updated a few of the BOB articles, specifically 1 & 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, and Ezekiel to include some additional resources.
• The Cripplegate has an article congratulating Allyson Felix on her recent gold medal. Interesting trivia fact: I went to high school and did Track & Field with Allyson, and even as a freshman she was pretty much destroying almost all of us on the track. I’m happy that her discipline has paid off, and I’m even more pleased that she gives credit and glory to God in her accomplishments.
• Peter Leithart has an absolutely brilliant book review on William Cavanaugh’s The Myth of Religious Violence.
• Tim Challies continues his series on essential doctrines of the Christian faith on the topics of sin and righteousness.
• I found these talks on the conservative revolution at SBTS to be particularly interesting and encouraging. If you’re under the impression that Al Mohler has had an easy life, then you need to hear these.

Pro Rege

For if the history of the world clearly teaches us anything, it is this: that God has a quarrel with His creature. There is disagreement, separation, conflict between God and His world. God does not agree with man, and man does not agree with God. Each goes his own way, and each has his own idea and will about things. The thoughts of God are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Is. 55:8). Therefore the history of the world is also a judgment of the world…

The testimony of history to the justice of God is confirmed by the fact that mankind has always looked for, and still looks for, a lost Paradise, for a lasting bliss, and for a redemption from all evil that oppresses it. There is in all men a need for, and seeking after, redemption.

No matter how much effort makes the life of a man a pleasanter and richer thing, there lives in mankind a sense that all such progress and civilization does not satisfy for the deepest human needs nor rescue them from their worst distress. (Herman Bavinck, Our Reasonable Faith)

by Stephen Rodgers

As part of the irregular updates for the month of July, I wanted to make sure that you were aware of a few time-sensitive offers, along with the regular ones that are just plain awesome.

• The sermon audio for the last ever Resolved Conference is now available.
• I had overlooked this somehow, but it turns out the 9Marks multimedia site has a rather extension collection of interviews with a number of pastors and theologians.
• And speaking of 9Mark, the July/August edition of the eJournal is out, on the subject of Mercy Ministry in the Church.
• The July edition of Tabletalk is out, and it’s entitled Drawing the Line: Why Doctrine Matters.
• Logos’ free resource for July is Selected Sermons by George Whitefield.
• Christianaudio’s free audio book for July is Bryan Litfin’s fictional bestseller The Sword.
• Over at the Cripplegate, Jesse Johnson went to the trouble of reviewing an untold number of Bible-related apps and gives feedback on his three favorites.
• And last but not least, in addition to their older topical index, Triablogue now has a shiny new master index as well.

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Will being closed up to the power of God stifle evangelism? No! It will prompt the most needed activity of the hour–more prayer! Then it will send out preachers in confident zeal that the God who still raises the dead goes with them. And it will send sinners to their knees beseeching God to give salvation. (Walter J. Chantry, Today’s Gospel)

By Richard Shin

This week’s Weekly Links consists of some new but also some old. I have for whatever reason held on to these, and I unleash them for your edification now. Enjoy.

• John Starke from The Gospel Coalition interviewed Fred Sanders about his position as a Wesleyan and his thoughts on the Arminian-Calvinist debate. I welcomed what Fred had to say very much. Justin Taylor certainly appreciated it. And so did Denny Burk.
• Do you ever wonder about why Jesus didn’t know when his time was (Matt. 24:36)? Well, I believe C. Michael Patton does a great job of explaining the reason behind this seeming paradox.
• Monergism.com has a number of great free resources you can tap into in these formats: online, eBooks, MP3. We’ve shared this before, but I think it’s worth sharing again because there’s enough in there to last you years.
• Jared C. Wilson’s quote from his book Gospel Deeps (not out yet) is dead on. There’s something terribly wrong with us as Christians if we ever find ourselves bored or lazy.
• Kevin DeYoung pens his convictions on the difference between a “vibrant, robust Bible-believing church” and one that falls under the umbrella of “squishy evangelicalism.”
• Paul Tautges’ opening two sentences to his article‘s review (i.e. a bunch of quotes) of Tony Reinke’s Lit! on the importance of reading says it all: “A reading Christian is a growing Christian. A non-reading Christian is a shrinking one.”

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Coram Deo

Christ is not offered us merely as a Savior who does something for us, but he is offered us as Someone who, having done something for us, is himself the propitiation [Romans 3:25]. . . . It is not as if Christ handed you something and said, ‘Here is your redemption, here is your forgiveness,’ and then ran away, as a messenger hands a gift in at the door and the door shuts and away goes the messenger; he has done his job.  Not a bit of it!  It is Christ himself, the Worker, who comes to us himself.  It is Christ personally who is our salvation. . . . It is Christ himself, personally, who comes to us with all the efficacy, the fruit of what he has done, and is the propitiation for our sin. (William Still, The World Of Grace)

by Richard Shin

There is A LOT of stuff this week. And it’s ALL good.

• The Southern Baptist Convention–the biggest Baptist denomination in America–elected its first African American President, Fred Luter. This is quite significant because the denomination itself originally broke off on the wrong side of slavery. You can read an interview Joe Carter did with Fred Luter back in February here. And also Dr. Al Mohler’s reflection on the SBC here.
• Homosexuality is not on the down-low as it once used to be. John Piper has a series of short articles on homosexuality that you can find here.
• Stemming from Psalm 28:1-5, Paul Tautges challenges us to stop pretending and cry out to God about our anguish.
• Michael Horton from the White Horse Inn published a series of articles that I thought were helpful. He talks about.. a lot of things, including the Reformation, papal infallibility, conversion, Roman Catholicism, sola scriptura, and more. You can find them here, here, and here.
• Here, R.C. Sproul gives his thoughts on understanding the age of the Earth based on Scripture and based on natural/general revelation. Keith Mathison from Ligonier Ministries (of which R.C. Sproul is Founder and Chairman) has a weekly series on what the Reformed approach to interpreting Scriptures is. You can find the introduction here and scroll down to see a list of articles that have been published so far.

Ta-ta!

Coram Deo

We are saved, sanctified, and sustained by what Jesus did for us on the cross and through the power of the resurrection. If you add to or subtract from the cross, even if it is to factor in biblically mandated religious practices like prayer and evangelism, you rob God of his glory and Christ of his sufficiency. (Matt Chandler, The Explicit Gospel)

by Richard Shin

We have another great set of links for you to mull over this weekend.

• The Christian Counseling & Education Foundation just published the next issue of the Journal of Biblical Counseling. You can view it free until the next issue is published.
• The Cripplegate celebrated its first birthday. Look back on the ten most read posts in the past year. I particularly enjoyed the most read post, listed last at the bottom.
• Ken Currie from Desiring God challenges us to share the gospel even when it’s awkward.
• Glenn T. Stanton from the Gospel Coalition shares how fatherhood is the core of the universe. What is he talking about? Click through to find out.
• Ray Ortlund writes from Mark 6:35-37 about Jesus’ expressing his fullness through us. While every command in Scriptures demand our obedience, it also comes with His power.
• Rich Clark from the Gospel Coalition shares how we should respond to the video game crisis that is plaguing young men today.
• Peter Saunders shares twenty questions that atheists struggle to answer. These are good questions to ask atheists to challenge their worldview.

That’s it, y’all. Hope you have a joyous weekend.

Coram Deo