Saturday Shot
For this week’s Saturday Shot, check out this growing collection of great pictures.
10 Conclusions About Expository Preaching
Adrian Warnock brings his expository preaching series to a close with 10 Conclusions About Expository Preaching. I think Adrian’s 10 points are right on.
Picture Project
After spotting this picture/post of me and my son with the Jesus Storybook Bible, Dan Cruver has started up what I think is a truly great, gospel-centered picture collection project. Click here to check out what my son and his Bible inspired.
Lost Boy
Last Thursday at 20s we had the privilege of having Michael Kuany (pictured), one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, share with us his story of suffering and salvation. My favorite part of the evening came when I asked Michael how he’s handled/healed from all the horrific violence, tragedy, and unspeakable suffering he’s witnessed through the years and Michael replied, to paraphrase, “Jesus suffered, life on this earth is temporary, and one day I will be with Jesus and experience no more suffering…that’s how I handle it.” I thought that was a pretty solid answer.
Gospel Growth
Yesterday I preached a sermon on the great sanctification passage, Philippians 2:12&13, entitled Gospel Growth. If you’d like to give it a listen, click here.
Planet Earth
Did any of you catch Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth mini-series that began last night? Last night the first 3 of 11 episodes aired and I found the footage to be exactly as advertised–amazing, stunning–like nothing I’ve ever seen before. If you didn’t catch last night’s episodes, you can catch the next 3 episodes next Sunday night. As you watch you’ll be reminded afresh of what an incredible Creator we have.
Preaching Is Like Giving Birth
I think it was Ian Pitt Watson who once said that writing a sermon is like giving birth–sometimes the labor is short and sweet, sometimes the labor is long and difficult. This week I had a long and difficult labor with Philippians 2:12&13. Fortunately, the labor is over now and I’ve got some time to rest before I present this newborn to the congregation on Sunday morning.
Geocoding the Bible
Um, this is amazing. Some folks at OpenBible.info have used Google Earth to "geocode" the Bible–to satellite map every book of the Bible, noting each location mentioned in Scripture.
(HT: ESV blog)
Father & Son Bible Time
My son likes to hang with me while I read to him from his new Jesus Storybook Bible.
Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification
The late, great Dr. John Murray once said that the most important book on sanctification that he ever read was Walter Marshall’s, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification. I can see why John Murray said that. I’m just 4 chapters into Bruce McRae’s newly released, updated version of Marshall’s masterpiece on gospel-driven sanctification (which was first published in 1692) and this is already the best book I’ve ever read on the topic.
315 years after its original publication, I believe that Marshall’s thesis is as important and urgent as ever–that Christians grow in obedience to Christ by the power of the gospel, not by their own strength. I’ve found that most all Christians agree on justification by faith, but that very few Christians realize that our sanctification is also by faith. Marshall’s book is a clear, winsome, and persuasive articulation of the gospel-centered nature of sanctification.
Perhaps the best way that I could persuade you to get your hands on this book is by listing the chapter descriptions found in this book. One great feature of the book is that the table of contents lists, not chapter titles, but a brief description of the subject of each chapter. Reading these descriptions should hopefully grip your interest and show you why this is an important book for the church today. Here’s a list of the chapter descriptions:
CHAPTER 1: God in his law calls you to live a holy and righteous
life. In order to do this, you first have to learn the only possible
way you can live a holy life.
CHAPTER 2: You have to receive certain qualifications to keep the
law of God. There are four qualifications for living a godly life which
you must receive from God: 1) Your heart has to be freely willing to
live a godly life, 2) You have to be assured that you are forgiven and
reconciled to God, 3) You have to be sure of a happy, eternal future
with the Lord, and 4) You have to have sufficient strength both to will
and to do what God calls you to do.
CHAPTER 3: You receive the qualifications to enable you to keep the
law of God out of the fullness of Christ, through fellowship with him.
In order to have this fellowship, you must be in union with him. You
must be in Christ, and Christ himself must be in you.
CHAPTER 4: The Gospel is the way the Holy Spirit brings you into
union with Christ, and into fellowship with him and his holiness.
Through the gospel, Christ enters your heart and gives you faith. Faith
is the way you actually receive Christ himself, and all his fullness,
into your heart. Even this faith is a grace of the Holy Spirit. When
you have faith, you believe the gospel with all your heart. When you
have faith, you believe in Christ, as he is revealed and freely
promised to you in the gospel, for all his salvation.
CHAPTER 5: You cannot live a holy life, no matter how hard you try,
if you still have your old nature. In order to live a holy life, you
have to receive, by faith, a new heart and a new nature, through your
union and fellowship with Christ.
CHAPTER 6: If you try to obey the commands of Christ in order to
earn your salvation, and to gain assurance of your salvation, you are
seeking salvation by the works of the law. You are not seeking your
salvation through faith in Christ, as he is revealed in the gospel. If
you try to earn your salvation by your true obedience, you will never
succeed.
CHAPTER 7: Do not think that your heart and life have to be changed
from sin to holiness in any measure before you are allowed to trust in
Christ for salvation.
CHAPTER 8: Make sure that you seek holiness of heart and life in its
proper time. You can only live a holy life after you have come into
union with Christ, have been justified, and have received the Holy
Spirit. Once you have received these blessings, seek holiness by faith
with all your might. It is a crucial part of your salvation.
CHAPTER 9: In order to sincerely keep the law of God, you must first receive the comfort of the Gospel.
CHAPTER 10: If you are going to obey the law out of the comfort of
the Gospel, you must have complete assurance of your salvation. You
obtain this assurance by believing and receiving Christ into your
heart. Therefore, confidently believe in Christ without delay. Be
assured that when you believe in Christ, God will freely give you a
personal relationship with Christ, just as he has promised.
CHAPTER 11: Believe in Christ without delay! Then, continue to build
up your faith. When you do this, you will build up your relationship
with Christ more and more. You will also be empowered to live a holy
life.
CHAPTER 12: In order to obey the law of God, earnestly live by your
most holy faith. Do not walk according to your old nature, and do not
put into practice anything that belongs to your old nature. Walk only
according to the new nature you received by faith, and live the
lifestyle of your new nature. This is the only way to live a holy and
righteous life–as much as is possible in this present life.
CHAPTER 13: Now that the Holy Spirit has renewed you, God calls you
to live a holy life. To live this obedient life, you must continue to
believe in Christ and walk in him by faith. To live this life of faith,
God calls you to diligently use all of the means of grace he has given
you in his Word.
CHAPTER 14: I have been telling you up to this point that you must
seek to live a holy life by believing in Christ, and by walking in him
by faith. If you are going to do this, you must understand why living
by faith in Christ is so important and beneficial to your soul.
