Why is stoning not just a death penalty?

What do you think? Is the time of death, a chance to anhiliate ones identity, to the point of beyond recognition?

The incredible healing power of sleep.

From a lecture John Piper gave on Charles Spurgeon, in 1995.

"There were early days when I would work without regard to sleep and feel energized and motivated. In the last seven or eight years my threshold for despondency is much lower. For me, adequate sleep is not a mater of staying healthy. It is a matter of staying in the ministry. It is irrational that my future should look bleaker when I get four or five hours sleep several nights in a row. But that is irrelevant. Those are the facts. And I must live within the limits of facts. I commend sufficient sleep to you, for the sake of your proper assessment of God and his promises."

CH Spurgeon on bravery!

“You are not generally satisfied with the bare necessities of life, you desire to possess its comforts and luxuries. I will commend you if you carry this into spiritual things. Do not be content merely to be saved, merely to be spiritually alive; ask to be valiant for truth. I should feel it a great honor, I hope, to be the commonest soldier, if called upon to defend my country. But I must confess I should not like to be in the ranks always. I should like at least to be made a corporal very soon, and a sergeant as soon as possible; and I should grumble wonderfully much if I could not rise to rank among the commissioned officers. I should like to be found doing my very best.”

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), III:665.

A plea from a woman at the outskirts of my church

I think most churches have someone like this. A little socially off, non-reciprocating on friendship, they come every Sunday but during fellowship you don't really want to talk with them, because they just vent into some issue that just happened to be on their mind. There is one such woman in our church, I will call her Amy, and tonight I just learned she had a really tough child-hood, with abusive parents, and having had many friends who had backgrounds in drugs, there might have been some heavy drug use in her past. Sometimes she's not the most coherent.

After having a conversation about her not having any friends in the church, and about how she currently doesn't want any friends, she said something I'll never forget. "People don't listen to me with their heart, they listen to me with their head. The head can be full of judgement toward someone, I think I am very misunderstood here. I wish I was just more listened to by their hearts instead." Amy, you are right on!! I was listening to a heart plea from a woman who was living at the fringes of our church. I think she is at a place where she neither wants in on the economony of the body of Christ, nor does she want to leave. She's just been hurt! Both from her past, and current judgements placed on her by our brothers and sisters.

Here are some points I'd like to make about these kinds of people.

1. Everybody has a longing to be a part of a family, so include them. They may be that token outsider, that no one talks to. Sacrifice your image, your social comfort, and reach out.

2. Realize everyone has a past. There are reasons for the way people are, and someone may need help maturing through a struggle. Who cares if they're heretical, if they're in church, they're in the right place.

3. Listen with your heart. Spare the corrections, spare the judgements. They may know themselves they don't have all the doctrines figured out, and they're not looking for a professorial lesson from you, but rather a heart to heart conversation. There is a time for rebuke and a time for correction. When a person is starving for water, they don't need to train for a marathon.

4. Pray for them! Satan doesn't usually attack people who have their lives all figured out. If Satan is a predator, which he is, he's going to go for the weak minded, the already injured, and the deeply hurting. These are the ones who are susceptible to attacks the most. Pray for them!

Top list of important sermons and books worth reading

Again, Justin Tayler, VP of Editorial at Crossway, has come up with a list of articles, sermons and books that have influenced these great leaders of our time. Perhaps, read a couple, enjoy!

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A few days ago I was thinking back to a few classic sermons and essays that have made a significant impact on my own thinking and ministry. They are the sorts of pieces that can get lost in the shuffle in the midst of book recommendations, classic and contemporary. For example, a few that came to mind were:

Thomas Chalmers, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection”
Jonathan Edwards, “The Excellency of Christ”
B.B. Warfield, “The Religious Life of Theological Students”
B.B. Warfield, “The Emotional Life of Our Lord”
So I thought it might be helpful to ask some pastors and theologians what they would recommend as sermons or essays that have had a special impact on them, or that they would seriously urge students and pastors to consider reading.

I’m thankful for all of the responses. I’ve tried to add as many links as possible to free versions online:

Bryan Chapell

J.I. Packer, “What Did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution”
Francis Schaeffer, “A Day of Sober Rejoicing”
Thomas Chalmers, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection”

Graham Cole

“The Martyrdom of Polycarp“
Adolphe Monod, Adolphe Monod’s Farewell to His Friends and to His Church [note from JT: I just received from Amazon this print version and wouldn't recommend it. It's a typographical nightmare. If anyone is interested in scanning and editing a clean version of it, drop me a note and we'll try to get a free version available online.]
B. B. Warfield, “Imitating the Incarnation“

Mark Dever

Jonathan Edwards, “A Farewell Sermon“
Dever also mentioned three books:

Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress
Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry

Kevin DeYoung

John Piper, “Boasting Only in the Cross” (Passion OneDay 2000 sermon)
C.S. Lewis, Introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation
J.I. Packer, Introductory Essay to John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
Jonathan Edwards, “Heaven, a World of Love“
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “What Is Preaching?” (included in Knowing the Times)
J. Gresham Machen, “What Is Christianity?” (in Selected Shorter Writings)
J. Gresham Machen, “History and Faith” (in Selected Shorter Writings)
J. Gresham Machen, “What Is the Gospel?” (in Selected Shorter Writings)

Stephen J. Nichols

J. Gresham Machen, “The Good Fight of Faith“
Jonathan Edwards, “The Most High, A Prayer-Hearing God“
John Chrysostom, “Homily 21, On Ephesians 6:1-4“

Ray Ortlund

Francis A. Schaeffer, “The Lord’s Work in the Lord’s Way“
C. S. Lewis, “Three Kinds of Men“
Martin Luther, Letter to Jerome Weller, in Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, edited by T. G. Tappert, pages 84-87.
Jonathan Edwards, on spiritual pride, in “Thoughts on the Revival,” in Works, I:398-403.

John Piper

C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory” (first sermon in the book by that title)
C.S. Lewis, Introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation
J.I. Packer, Introductory Essay to John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
Jonathan Edwards, “A Divine and Supernatural Light Immediately Imparted to the Soul“
Martin Luther, “Justification by Faith” (Luke 16:1-9) in The Protestant Pulpit, ed. by Andrew Blackwood
Charles Spurgeon, “The Minister’s Fainting Fits“
Charles Spurgeon, “The Blind Eye and the Deaf Ear“
Geerhardus Vos, “The Scriptural Doctrine of the Love of God“

David Powlison

B. B. Warfield, “Imitating the Incarnation“ (“The last page and a half offers the most riveting description of the goal of Christian living that I’ve ever read.”)

Fred Sanders

Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man
Athanasius, “Letter to Marcellinus on the Reading of the Psalms“
Lancelot Andrewes, Private Devotions

R.C. Sproul

Jonathan Edwards, “A Divine and Supernatural Light“
This section of Luther’s last sermon at Eisleben

Carl R. Trueman

R. V. G. Tasker, “The Biblical Doctrine of the Wrath of God“
Martin Luther, “Two Kinds of Righteousness“
George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” [the most brilliant statement (and example) of clear prose—something which pastors and theologians need to grasp.]

Bruce Ware

R.C. Sproul, Lecture on “The Locus of Astonishment” (A brief summary is available here. For a similar talk, listen to “When Towers Fall.”)

Donald Whitney

Charles Spurgeon, “The Minister’s Fainting Fits,” from Lectures to My Students.
Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on “The Eternal Name,” from Ps. 72:17, no. 27 (New Park Street Pulpit), May 27, 1855 PM
Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on “Baptismal Regeneration“
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “‘But God’: The Christian Message” (Ephesians 2:4)

Corban: A brief study of the only occurance

This is a word that occurs only once in the entire Bible. Scholars know it is a Hebrew word that received no translation into Greek. This is just a quick exploration into this word, and its implication on the passage in which it appears, Mark 7:11.

Definition: The word describes anything dedicated to God, and therefore not available for ordinary uses. The utterance of it was held to constitute a binding vow, and the fulfillment of a vow was regarded by the Pharisees as of deeper obligation than the duty even to parents. See Matt. 15: 5 and Mark 7: 11, where it appears that the Pharisees misused the opportunity of dedicating their material possessions to God, in order to avoid responsibility to care for their parents.

One commentary suggests that pharisees developed this responsibility shedding tradition from a couple of Old Testament commandments found in Leviticus and Numbers.

Leviticus 27:14-15 This chapter talks about dedicating things to the Lord. In verses 14-15 it talks about dedicating ones house to the Lord; a priest would appraise it, deem it worthy or unworthy of being dedicated ("No broken shacks please Levi, c'mon") to the temple.

Numbers 30:1-2 This chapter talks about vows, and specifically it says in verses 1-2 that if a man makes a promise or vow, he must do it. No exceptions.

Lets put it all in context and lets see how this might go down. Moshe wants to dedicate his house to the Lord. Moshe has parents still who are of old age and will need assistance next year. He doesn't want to take care of his folks, so he gets the priest to approve his house to be dedicated to the Lord, so that it is now "corban", dedicated solely to the use of the temple and no other. Now Moshe on a good conscience can say, "Well, I made a vow to the Lord, and I have to keep it....sorry Mom and Dad."

Like some pastors and leaders today, they are comissioned to be shepherds and care for their flock, but don't even care for their own family at times. This is backwards, and you get a good feel on what Jesus' sentiments are for the pharisees, who live by such flagrantly disrespectful traditions. These are the same people who Jesus calls a family of vipers and children of Satan.

Here is Mark 7:9-13, for you to read with this new knowledge of corban.

"You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, "Honor your father and mother; and 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' But you say, 'If a man tells his father or mother, 'Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban (that is, given to God) - then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the Word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do."

Do we understand the heart of things, presented in the word of God, so as to be careful not to make our own traditions today (examples being perhaps, swearing by the KJV, living in alegiance to a form of Christian nationalism, or even slight as allowing doctrines of the church slowly replace the heart of the gospel in our lives)

Unbelief: The Failure to Think

Because I've been reading a lot of Martin Lloyd-Jones lately, I need re-post from Tim Challies blog.

Faith according to our Lord’s teaching in this paragraph, is primarily thinking; and the whole trouble with a man of little faith is that he does not think. He allows circumstances to bludgeon him. . . .

We must spend more time in studying our Lord’s lessons in observation and deduction. The Bible is full of logic, and we must never think of faith as something purely mystical. We do not just sit down in an armchair and expect marvelous things to happen to us. That is not Christian faith. Christian faith is essentially thinking. Look at the birds, think about them, draw your deductions. Look at the grass, look at the lilies of the field, consider them. . . .

Faith, if you like, can be defined like this: It is a man insisting upon thinking when everything seems determined to bludgeon and knock him down in an intellectual sense. The trouble with the person of little faith is that, instead of controlling his own thought, his thought is being controlled by something else, and, as we put it, he goes round and round in circles. That is the essence of worry. . . . That is not thought; that is the absence of thought, a failure to think.

-Martin Lloyd-Jones

Top 10 books to read on culture!

Again this is a post from one of my favorite bloggers, who works at one of my favorite publishers!

Ken Myers’s Mars Hill Audio is one of the best resources for intelligent conversation about books and culture. Here are ten books he recommends for a better understanding of culture:

Five “Thinner” Books

1. C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man (1943)
2. Wendell Berry, Life Is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition (2000)
3. Colin Gunton, Enlightenment and Alienation: An Essay Towards a Trinitarian Theology (1985)
4. George Parkin Grant, English-Speaking Justice (1985)
5. Richard Weaver, Ideas Have Consequences (1948)

Five “Thicker” Books

6. John McWhorter, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care (2003)
7. Jacques Barzun, The Use and Abuse of Art (1974)
8. David Thomson, The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood (2004)
9. Julian Johnson, Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choice and Musical Value (2002)
10. Langdon Winner, Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought (1977)

Here is the original article

The incredible beauty of choice!

What a beautiful thing choice is! Isn't it? I was just thinking about two things recently; morality police in Iran, and the love that my wife shows me. One is totally volitional and the other forced and coerced!

If the sole way I felt loved by my wife was for her to make me my favorite meal that she makes, and I stood behind her and like a puppeteer forced her hands to make the meal I wanted. "Stir my little puppet stiiirrr!" It was not what she desired to make, but what I wanted her to make, so I forced her. She did not make it out of love, she had no choice. I forced her to make it, and so it was not love, not even remotely. This is where the beauty of choice comes in and makes everything worth it! Somewhere in the heart, in the deep mechanical caverns where things like epistemology and morality is digested, comes a sweet fragrance. A fragrance that sweetens most outcomes of the persons choice, a fragrance as unique as every person. Every cross-roads we encounter, every problem we must process, and every hurt we must mend, is followed by a choice, whether for the best or for the worse. That depth of mystery from which a choice boils up, is unique to each person, and is one of the core dimensions that make up our personality.

It is to our complete awe that it is God who gave us this! He is the one who at great risk to himself, gave us the freedom of choice. He very well could have made us robots, and just recognize him and love him for who He is. But a robot cannot do that, they cannot behold Glory, and so actuate a process of beholding Him, realizing His worth, and choosing to love Him. It was at great risk to himself that God gave us this freedom, with the risk that our eyes that were made to behold Him, would become distracted or self-centered eyes, and not behold Him, and so not realize Him, and would not be able to choose Him.

It is my guess that maybe, aside from sending Christ to die on the cross, the hardest moment for God would have been when he breathed the freedom to choose into our being. As infinite as He is, and able as he is to in one moment (for he is outside time) to consider eternity future, and see those would not choose Him. In His sovereign wisdom, he allowed some the ability to truly express their love and worship to Him, thus magnifying God and His glory, while also cutting off the only chance some humans would have had in escaping hell (but that's totally a "what if..." question, He knew before the creation of the world whom He would choose, and to be honest I'm not entirely comfortable with what was said in the last paragraph, just thinking really in this last bit...care to comment?)

It is a beautiful thing to be able to choose! Choose well!

Words and God: Inseparable!

Again I'm referencing another blogger, Justin Taylor VP of Editorial of Crossway. I've enjoyed his works immensley and wanted to share his latest blog. A brief excerpt from the book he co-authored with John Piper. Also i can't resist as a Linguist...I love words!!


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