This week the blog is sponsored by Burke Care. Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. Psalm 119:74 With the year ending, we were recently invited to a small gathering about 30 minutes away from where we live. We met the usual traffic delays getting to…
Today’s post is sponsored by Christian Focus Publications. For centuries, Baptists have published confessions of faith as formal statements of their beliefs. Chief among these is the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. This doctrinal statement is a spiritual treasure trove worthy of our fresh attention. In a new study, edited by Rob…
May the God of love and peace be with you on this fine day. (Yesterday on the blog: No Unfinished Sculptures) The Gifts of This Age Point Us to the Age Still to Come Jared Wilson: “What Jesus is saying is that marriage is meant for this age to point us to the reality of…
Here’s a single sentence from Paul Martin’s pastoral prayer that I think is worth pondering. Praying specifically for our Premier (think Governor if you’re American) he prayed, “Help us to pray for him more than we complain about him.” Ouch! Methinks many of us have some repenting and praying to do… Today’s Kindle deals include…
I’ve put together a little mini-series on family, and have shown first that God created family and second that God created family as a means of carrying out his will. In today’s article I want to show that God also created family to picture his truth. Here is what I mean: God uses family as…
A La Carte is a daily collection of news, headlines, and curiosities from around the web. I hope you enjoy it! Here’s what we’ve got for today: Red Flags Jamie Brown lists a few of the red flags a worship leader should watch out for. Iain Murray and John MacArthur (Video) Iain Murray and John…
It’s a fair question for the Arminian to ask: How can you preach the free offer of the gospel when you believe in a limited atonement? How can you preach the “whosoever” of John 3:16 if you cannot be certain that Christ’s atonement was for every person? How can you say, “Turn to Christ and…
God’s people had rejected God’s prophet. For many years, Samuel had served the nation of Israel. Though his sons had proven wayward, he himself had remained faithful. He had served well. He had spoken the words of God to the nation. He had appointed judges to govern them. But still the day came when the…
Those who pay attention to the Kindle deals won’t find anything new today. Stay tuned on Monday as there are some price drops scheduled for then. In the meantime, here are some articles to read and videos to watch: How Black and White Christians Do Discipleship Differently This is very, very interesting. “When it comes…
There are few areas of the Christian life where there is a wider gap between what Christians want to do and what Christians actually do than in this area: memorizing Scripture. We all know that we should, we all have some appreciation of the benefits, and we would all love to be released from the…
My Favorite Picture – I really enjoyed this article: “Last week I was overwhelmed – again. It was deja vu from two years ago. All those hallways and galleries and glass cases and tiny spotlights. It doesn’t take long for me to get lost in the varied and sometimes loose interpretations of art at The…
Questions matter. They can help you to grow deeper in your knowledge of the truth and your love for God—especially when you’re dealing with the harder doctrines of the Christian faith. But questions can also be used to obscure the truth. They can be used to lead away just as easily as they can be…
It was a dreary December day in the city of Tsingteh when John and Betty heard a rumor that Communist soldiers were drawing near to the city. The Communists were battling for control of the country and, of course, hated Christians or anyone else who would bring Western influence to their country. At the time…
As you know, I have been reading a lot of R.C. Sproul’s books lately, as part of a project I am working on. A few days ago I went through an older title, The Character of God. There I found these words, speaking of the depth of God’s love and the fact that it is…
This morning I stumbled across the first few pages of Alexander Strauch’s Leading with Love. He begins this book by telling a story from the life of Dwight L. Moody. He tells of a time that the evangelist Henry Moorhouse was asked to preach at Moody’s church every night for a week. To everyone’s surprise,…
Guest blog by Andrew Lindsey Congregational singing: “Redeemed, Redeemed.” Introduction of Dr. Allen by Dr. Jerry Vines. Dr. David Allen: Quote of John 3:16. Argument against Limited atonement quoting only Calvinists. What two things do these men have in common?(Long list of theologians including Calvin, Bullinger, Ursinus, Bunyan, Edwards, Hodge, Strong.)A: They are all Calvinists,…
Special signing by an FBCW member, “Gentle Savior, Lead Me On.” Dr. Vines introduced by Johnny Hunt. Dr. Vines has previously preached John 3:16 on August 26 of this year in a chapel service of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS). That previous sermon can be heard HERE. Having listened to Dr. Vines’ sermon from…
Thanks to Tim Challies for the opportunity to report on the John 3:16 Conference for Challies.com. I registered for the John 3:16 Conference at First Baptist Church Woodstock, GA (FBCW) about 45 minutes ago and have been looking for an Internet connection since then. I do not know if I will have connectivity from the…
Today marks the beginning of the John 3:16 Conference. Sponsored by Jerry Vines Ministries, the conference allows some of the Southern Baptists Convention’s foremost pastors to respond to the growing presence of Calvinistic theology in the Convention. “Did Jesus die on the cross for every person? Are believers eternally secure? Can grace be resisted? These…
This marks the third interview I’ve completed with artists involved in various disciplines. I first interviewed Max McLean about performance art and then Makoto Fujimura on his abstract art. Today I turn to photography and interview Lukas VanDyke, a photographer I have met at several conferences. Lukas is an exceptional photographer and I enjoyed his…