Mark has a new book out on the subject with a Biblical perspective and below is a video where he speaks out about it.
Mark Hitchcock - 2012, The Bible, and the End of the World from Michael Patton on Vimeo.
Mark Hitchcock - 2012, The Bible, and the End of the World from Michael Patton on Vimeo.
On October 14, Lord Christopher Monckton, a noted climate change expert, gave a presentation at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN in which he issued a dire warning regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty which is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009.This is a call for prayer for America and the World!
Tebow's Narrow ReligionRead Al Mohler's post "Time to Separate Church and Sports? A New Agenda Takes Shape"
Tom Krattenmaker has taken a whack at Tim Tebow in a recent article for USA Today. He complains that Tebow’s conservative Christianity has afflicted sports culture in general:“Jesus’ representatives in sports aren’t just practicing faith. They are also leveraging sports’ popularity to promote a message and doctrine that are out of sync with the diverse communities that support franchises, and with the unifying civic role that we expect of our teams.”
The problem, Krattenmaker argues, is that Tebow’s brand of religion is too narrow and exclusive for pluralistic American sports fans.
“Tebow does his missionary trips to the Philippines under the auspices of his father’s Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association. The Tebow organization espouses a far-right theology. Its bottom line: Only those who assent to its version of Christianity will avoid eternal punishment. The ministry boldly declares, ‘We reject the modern ecumenical movement.’ . . . The Bob Tebow organization is working at cross purposes with the majority of Americans — indeed, the majority of American Christians — and their more generous conception of salvation.”
Krattenmaker also alleges that Tebow’s Christianity is abusive to non-Christians:
“This exclusiveness sometimes morphs into a form of chauvinism and mistreatment of non-Christians. Witness the incident with the Washington Nationals baseball team in 2005, when the Christian chaplain was exposed as teaching that Jews go to hell. Then there was the New Mexico state football team, which was the target of a religious discrimination lawsuit in 2006 after two Muslim players reported being labeled ‘troublemakers’ and were kicked off the team by their devoutly Christian coach. The case was settled out of court and the students transferred.”
What are we to make of Krattenmaker’s charges? Are Krattenmaker’s complaints valid? In short, the answer is no. Here’s why.
Tim Tebow didn’t invent the idea that Jesus is the only basis for eternal salvation. That idea is the 2,000 year old teaching of the Christian church. Jesus himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). The apostles taught this as well saying that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Tebow is no innovator on this point. He’s merely holding forth the ancient faith in hopes that others might come to Christ. If that’s too narrow, then so be it. Culture may change, but the gospel doesn’t. Faithful Christians must never trim their theological sails to accommodate the prevailing winds of a godless culture.
That is what makes Krattenmaker’s examples of “mistreatment” appear pretty lame. The Christian message is not that “Jews go to hell,” but that everyone apart from Christ will go there—including Jews, Baptists, Muslims, and all others who do not know Christ. There is no singling out of any particular group. Every person is spiritually destitute apart from faith in Christ. Krattenmaker makes it sound like conservative Christianity singles-out Jews for persecution. That is simply not the case.
At the end of the day, Krattenmaker’s problem is not with Tebow, but with Christ. Christ is the world’s true King to whom we all owe our allegiance. Christ was crucified and raised to provide forgiveness and eternal life for humanity in rebellion against Him. That’s the message that offends Krattenmaker. This should be no surprise, for unbelievers often find Jesus to be “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8). Krattenmaker is tripping all over the stumbling stone, Jesus. Nevertheless, God’s arm is not too short to save. I’m living proof of that. I hope and pray that somehow Krattenmaker might be too.
"Performance Artist"
See, this kind of stuff is why I keep saying the historic meaning of the word evangelical will probably never be recovered. (You might want to read The Boston Globe's religion section and then come back here. The rest of this post will be more relevant if you have the full context.) I do agree with Rob Bell about one thing. (Quick. Somebody wash my mouth out with soap. Please.) He'sright when he points out that the way the secular media usually employ the term evangelical—as a synonym for religious right-wing politicos—is a misnomer. Bell says, "For many, the word has nothing to do with a spiritual context." Well, yeah, OK. I suppose that's part of the problem. More precisely, the term evangelical has been systematically evacuated of any reference to its historic doctrinal roots. People today therefore feel free to assign it any meaning they fancy—religious or non-religious. Practically everyone in the world of popular religion now claims to be "evangelical" in one sense or another. That includes not only old-line Moral Majority types who think the Republican Party agenda is gospel truth; hip middle-class Willow Creekers who couldn't care less about either doctrine or politics but just want to be entertained; crypto-Socinians like Bell and McLaren; crass socialists like Jim Wallis and Sojourners; heavily politicized left-wing wingnuts who think Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, and Al Franken are all good medicine—or whatever. In fact, listen to Bell's own cockamamie claim about what the term properly describes:
"I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That's a beautiful sort of thing."
So is that what Bell considers "a spiritual context," or did he already forget what he had just been saying about how the term became politicized and corrupted in the first place? Hmmm.
An interviewer at The Boston Globe evidently wondered the same thing. He tells Bell, "I'm struck by the fact that I don't hear a lot of explicitly religious language, or mentions of Jesus, from you."Bell's answers to that question and others in a similar vein are instructive. Among other things, he admits, "I have as much in common with the performance artist, the standup comedian, the screenwriter, as I do with the theologian. I'm in an odd world where I make things and share them with people."
One thing is clear: Bell himself is no true evangelical in any historic sense of the term. The Boston Globe's headline ("Bell aims to restore true meaning of 'evangelical'") is exactly backward. Bell has no agenda to "restore the true meaning" of the term evangelical, much less encourage a revival of true evangelical belief. In fact, Bell has made a career of attacking historic evangelical convictions—laying siege to the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, the wrath of God against sin, the authority and
perspicuity of Scripture, the necessity of the virgin birth, the coherence of
the biblical testimony about the Resurrection, the exclusivity of Christ, and
whatever other historic Christian doctrines Bell finds politically
incorrect.
In fact, if you have the stomach to read the complete version of The Boston Globe interview, don't miss Bell's arrogant skepticism about the sovereignty and omniscience of God: "For a lot of people, dominant questions center around, 'Why is this happening? Why me? Why now?' Unfortunately, the religious voice often enters into the discussion at an inappropriate time—'God just planned this.' Really? Your God planned this, not mine."
If any popular figure "in the evangelical movement" (or on its copious fringe) deserves the label "heretic," it is Rob Bell. The guardians of evangelical politeness don't like that kind of candor, but when a secular newspaper like The Boston Globe is publishing pieces implying that the best, most promising alternative to right-wing civil religion is a mish-mash of Open Theism and performance art—and that whatever "evangelicalism" is, it must be one or the other of those two abominations, it's time for people with historic evangelical convictions to speak up clearly and make the biblical message heard again.
Other responses to the interview:
Jared Wilson from "The Gospel-driven church" blog : "A Rant: Rob Bell and an Evangel-less Evangelicalism" Click HERE
Todd Pruitt of 1517: "Rob Bell finds himself in the weeds again" Click HERE
At WorshipGod09:From Generation to Generation, I gave the last message on The Future of Worship, based on Ps. 78:1-8. The previous messages had dealt mostly with the biblical values of worship we want to pass on to future generations - the nature of God, the importance of the heart, the role of leadership, the significance of the local church, and more. The question I asked in my message was: What do we need to keep in mind as we seek to transfer these and other biblical values of worship to the next generation?
In preparing for the message I came across some comments from Nigel Hetherington,the Scottish National Sprints and Hurdles coach. He described what is most important for runners in a relay race to remember. A number of his recommendations relate directly to how we pass on the biblical values of worship from one generation to the next.
The race is about the baton, not the runners.
The Legacy of Asaph: Learning to Sing in the Same Room HEREIf you run without the baton, no matter how fast you’re running, your race is in vain. For worship leaders, the baton is the gospel. The gospel - Jesus’ substitutionary death for sinners that reconciled us to God - must always inform everything we pass on. It is the gospel that transforms our dead works into acceptable offerings (1 Pet. 2:5) and draws our attention to the glory of the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 5:6-10).
The relay brings out the best in every runner.
Oddly enough, a properly-trained 400 meter relay team will post a time that is faster than the four runners’ combined 100 meter times. We will serve our churches better and pass on biblical values more effectively if we’re more conscious of those running before and after us. Bryan Chappell, in his excellent book Christ-Centered Worship, says:
We should not ignore the wisdom of church forebears just because it’s old, or automatically reject it just because we didn’t’ think of it. We consider the history because God does not give all of his wisdom to any one time or people (16).
Practice until the handover becomes instinctual.
Athletes must learn to trust one another. Rather than looking back, the outgoing runner should be trained to respond to a ‘hand’ command. Both runners are looking ahead, but it’s the responsibility of the previous runner to make sure the baton is passed. If I’m part of the “passing” generation, I want to be sure that I’m not always looking back to what’s worked for me or the practices that I’m most comfortable with. I want my eyes on what
God might be doing in the future, and make sure the next generation really
catches what’s most important.The baton exchange should occur at very close to maximum speed.
The incoming athlete should not be overstretched, or he will be off-balance when making the exchange. The outgoing runner must focus on reaching full speed and only put his hand back when he receives the ‘hand’ command. This means that we must intentionally stay close to and learn from generations before and after us.
Yesterday, I was thinking about the watershed issues of Christiandom and within evangelicalism and I found a great article on it. What better man would there be to define the term, watershed, than Francis Schaeffer, who lived in the Alps of Switzerland for seven years and was a great Christian theologian and philosopher? The article is from a book, he wrote 25 years ago and it's pretty applicable for today.
Read the whole chapter HEREA Watershed
by Francis Schaeffer
Not far from where we live in Switzerland is a high ridge of rock with a valley on both sides. One time I was there when there was snow on the ground along that ridge. The snow was lying there unbroken, a seeming unity. However, that unity was an illusion, for it lay along a great divide; it lay along a watershed. One portion of the snow when it melted would flow into one valley. The snow which lay close beside would flow into another valley when it melted.
Now it just so happens on that particular ridge that the melting snow which flows down one side of that ridge goes down into a valley, into a small river, and then down into the Rhine River. The Rhine then flows on through Germany and the water ends up in the cold waters of the North Sea. The water from the snow that started out so close along that watershed on the other side of the ridge, when this snow melts, drops off sharply down the ridge into the Rhone Valley. This water flows into Lac Leman — or as it is known in the English-speaking world, Lake Geneva —and then goes down below that into the Rhone River which flows through France and into the warm waters of the Mediterranean.The snow lies along that watershed, unbroken, as a seeming unity. But when it melts, where it ends in its destinations is literally a thousand miles apart. That is a watershed. That is what a watershed is. A watershed divides. A clear line can be drawn between what seems at first to be the same or at least very close, but in reality ends in very different situations. In a watershed there is a line.
A House Divided
What does this illustration have to do with the evangelical world today? I would suggest that it is a very accurate description of what is happening. Evangelicals today are facing a watershed concerning the nature of biblical inspiration and authority. It is a watershed issue in very much the same sense as described in the illustration. Within evangelicalism there are a growing number who are modifying their views on the inerrancy of the Bible so that the full authority of Scripture is completely undercut. But it is happening in very subtle ways. Like the snow lying side-by-side on the ridge, the new views on biblical authority often seem at first glance not to be so very far from what evangelicals, until just recently, have always believed. But also, like the snow lying side-by-side on the ridge, the new views when followed consistently end up a thousand miles apart.What may seem like a minor difference at first, in the end makes all the difference in the world. It makes all the difference, as we might expect, in things pertaining to theology, doctrine and spiritual matters, but it also makes all the difference in things pertaining to the daily Christian life and how we as Christians are to relate to the world around us. In other words, compromising the full authority of Scripture eventually affects what it means to be a Christian theologically and how we live in the full spectrum of human life.
-Chapter 2 from The Great Evangelical Disaster (Crossway Books, 1984)
Four Great Quotes On Idolatry
Posted August 21st, 2009 by Tullian Tchividjian
“It is the normal state of the human heart to try to build its identity around something besides God.” Soren Kierkegaard
“Spiritual pride is the illusion that you are competant to run your own life, achieve your own sense of self worth, and find a purpose big enough to give you meaning in life without God.” Tim Keller
“Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped.” St. Augustine
“An idol is anything we trust in for deliverance in the place of Jesus and his grace.” Scotty Smith
By the way, idolatry is not just a problem for non-Christians; it’s a problem for Christians too (read 1 John 5:21). We Christians are also guilty of trusting in something–or someone–smaller than God to give our lives meaning and significance. We look to our achievements, our reputation, our relationships, our strengths, our place in society, our
stuff, our smarts, our good looks, and on and on it goes.So, let’s not make the mistake of thinking the above quotes don’t apply to Christians. They do. What are your idols? What are you trusting in other than Jesus to gain acceptance and approval–to give your life meaning and to make life worth living?
Sungha Jung (Born in South Korea on September 2, 1996)
Hi, I'm Sungha Jung from South Korea. My dream is to become a professional acoustic fingerstyle guitarist.
I had been watching my dad play the guitar for awhile before I finally jumped on it myself three years ago.
Currently, I am taking drum lessons and teaching myself fingerstyle guitar.
I used to not have tabs for the music that I played in my videos.
I just listen and pick them up directly from the sound source in
videos available on the internet.
However, recently, I have started playing with original tabs whenever they are available to me by courtesy of the authors. My old guitar is custom made by Selma to fit my body size, and on it, Thomas Leeb wrote "Keep on grooving to my friend."
As of Jan. 1st, 2009 Lakewood acts as sponsor for my guitar officially. I'm very grateful to those prominent guitarists who have had a great influence on my guitar playing. I'll continue to study them and learn more about interpretation of music and various playing techniques. My daily practice routine lasts for one to two hours when school is open, but I play up to three hours a day during the school breaks. It usually takes me two to three days to practice and videotape a new piece but sometimes up to a week for more difficult ones.
Last, but certainly not least, I can't thank Ulli Bogershausen enough for being my musical inspiration.
Last week a rather lengthy interview of Randy Alcorn by Andy Naselli, guest blogger on "Between Two Worlds", was posted on the subject of suffering and evil. It's about a new book that Randy has written that will be coming out next month. It attempts to deal with a most difficult issue and judging from other books that Randy Alcorn has written and the amount of comprehensive research that he does usually, (i.e. - 25 years on his book, "Heaven"), it should be interesting to see his insights on it. We certainly won't know all the answers until that day when our faith will be made sight! This is part of it from Andy Naselli:
Read the whole interview HERERandy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching biblical truth and drawing attention to the needy and how to help them. He has authored over thirty books ranging from popular theological works to best-selling novels and children's books. His most recent book addresses what is probably the most difficult theological issue: the logical and emotional problems of evil:
If God Is Good . . . : Faith in the Midst of Suffering
and Evil.Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Multnomah,forthcoming on September 15, 2009. 528 pp. Also available as an abridged audiobook and unabridged download.
"One hundred percent of the royalties from this book will be given to promote good, oppose evil, and relieve suffering around the world."
Interview with Randy Alcorn on Suffering and Evil
1. There are dozens of useful books on "the problem of evil." (Last year I recommended twenty-two of them [pp. 8-10], and you told me then that you had already read all but two from that list.) These range from books that focus on weighty theological and philosophical arguments to others that are preoccupied with giving pastoral care. What is your view of the books on this subject that are already out there?
I've read about a hundred substantial works (plus countless articles) on the problem of evil and suffering, ranging from the biblical and theological to the philosophical, pastoral, and experiential. Many of these don’t hold to a biblical perspective, but a number do. Some of the biblically sound books aren’t well written, but others are wonderful, including works by Carson, Piper,Bridges, C. S. Lewis, Henri Blocher, Michael Card, Ken Gire, Michael Horton,Peter Kreeft, Peter Hicks, and Joni Eareckson Tada. Even many Sinclair Ferguson fans are unaware of his out-of-print but excellent Deserted by God? Yet all these books are remarkably different. (And no, I don’t agree with everything in all of them, e.g., Kreeft comes to mind!)
The ways in which the books overlap are quite helpful and don’t feel at all redundant. While every biblically oriented book on the subject will share a common core, citing some of the same Scriptures, there are very different ways to develop this subject. And remarkably different styles and emphases. You can watch five movies about family conflict without feeling redundancy. The same subject matter, but very different setting, characters, events, and relationships. And different actors and directors who bring their own unique voice to the theme. So with books.
By the way, since BetweenTwo Worlds is one of the few blogs I read regularly (I see and welcome those notifications via Twitter when there’s a new post), I know the readers of this blog are book lovers. So I’ll say this. If people were going to read only two books about evil and suffering, it would be a tough choice, but I would recommend to them "How Long, O Lord?" by D. A. Carson and "When God Weeps" by Joni Eareckson Tada and Steve Estes. These books share the same biblical and Christ-centered orientation, and both are full of sound and robust theology; but they are substantially different in content, tone, and style. They complement each other beautifully.
2. What distinct contributions does "If God Is Good" make to the existing body of books on this subject?
I labor hard on research and writing, and I made a commitment years ago never to waste my time writing a book if anything remotely close to what I wanted to write was already out there. But the more I studied the subject over the past two years, the more convinced I became that there was much I wanted to say, and in a particular way, that had not been said in one book.
I shaped the book to have a very distinctive approach and feel. I did this with my earlier books Money, Possessions and Eternity (a biblical and practical theology of money) and my big book Heaven (much of which is a biblical theology of the New Earth, then moving to imaginative aspects based on my biblical understanding). I sought in both books to say not just what had already been said, but what hadn’t been said, and to do it in a way that might reach readers who would normally not pick up a big book full of theology. In fact, If God Is Good is filled with theology, but my desire is to reach both those who love theology and those who can and need to learn to love it, and see loving it as part of loving God.
The structure of "If God Is Good" is reflected in its Table of Contents. Those familiar with other books on the subject will see some of its distinctives.
One distinctive is its scope. I write a lot of nonfiction, including many short books that deal with small subjects or with big subjects in a small way. But occasionally I sense God leading me to set aside a few years to research and write on a subject in a more comprehensive way. This applies to the two books I mentioned above, as well as ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments.
At first, I envisioned doing a short book on evil and suffering, built around a presentation on the subject I had done on a secular college campus, and later a modified one at my church. But because my book Heaven had surprised the publisher and the booksellers through its sales, it seemed to have proved that people were willing to read 500 pages full of Scripture and theology. This helped me decide to tackle a subject of such weighty and immense proportions as the problem of evil.
I freely admit that in the process of research and writing I was continually aware that it was beyond me to pull this off, just as I had realized with the Heaven book and one of my novels (Dominion, which features an African American character in an African American context, and here I was, the writer, a white guy from the suburbs). But when you realize that apart from Christ you can do nothing, the continuous sense of dependence on the Holy Spirit yields benefits in your own walk, and hopefully in the book itself.
Distinctives of If God Is Good are reflected in many of the individual chapters, including the one on the health and wealth gospel, which has permeated the theology of countless Christians in churches who consider themselves not to embrace prosperity theology. It’s like a cancer that quietly eats up and takes over a Christian worldview and leaves people dismally unprepared for suffering. They are set up to feel let down by God, who appears to have not kept his promises that we’ll be preserved from suffering in this life (promises, of course, that He has not made). As I say in the book, any faith that leaves us unprepared for suffering is a false faith that deserves to be lost. By God's grace, we must turn away from the idols of false worldviews and turn to the true Christ of Scripture,not the false Christ of our fallen imaginations.
Twenty Years Ago Today: Rescued in AlaskaRead the entire story HERE
Today is the twentieth anniversary of an unforgettable experience.
In 1989, I’d spoken at a missionary conference in Palmer, Alaska. Afterward, we were headed north to Galena, on the Yukon River, by small plane. My ten-year-old, Karina, and I were flying with our missionary friend, Barry Arnold, and his daughter, Andrea, also ten. Nanci and our daughter Angie were leaving with the rest of Barry’s family an hour later in another plane, taking a different route.
Well into the flight we were cruising over a beautiful waterfall at three thousand feet, when suddenly the engine lost power. We saw smoke. Realizing that there was no oil pressure, Barry had to shut off the engine, which looked like it was about to burn. Suddenly we were descending rapidly in a rough mountain pass where there was no place to land. It looked like we wouldn’t make it.
Story on AIM AIR web-site and CNNAIM AIR Accident- Request for Prayer
August 02 2009
An accident occurred on August 1, with an AIM AIM Cessna 206. It occurred around 2:30PM (EAT) near the Nairobi Wilson Airport. There were four people on board; AIM AIR pilot Frank Toews, AIM AIR mechanic Ryan Williams and two Americans. At this time there is still medical evaluation being done but this is what we know: The two passengers have some broken bones, minor burns, cuts and bruises. They are both being kept in the hospital for treatment and further evaluation. Ryan Williams' injuries currently include a fractured pelvis, multiple contusions and some significant burns. However, his prognosis is good and he is receiving good medical attention in Nairobi. Frank Toews, the pilot, did not survive the accident and has gone to be with the Lord and Savior whom he loved dearly and served well.Please pray with us, specifically for the timely return for health of those who are injured, their families, and particularly for Frank's wife and 4 children as they trust God for strength and comfort during this difficult time.
We are trusting God, with all of you, to show Himself to be good, even beyond our expectations and understanding of what good could mean, in a situation like this.
Denny Dyvig -
AIM AIR General Manager
The man on the other end of the line is calling from the Philippines. He has taken time from his missionary work to reply to a reporter's e-mailed questions. Now Bob Tebow has a question of his own: "Have you heard the story of Timmy's birth?"
Even if you have, it's worth hearing from the mouth of his father: "When I was out in the mountains in Mindanao, back in '86, I was showing a film and preaching that night. I was weeping over the millions of babies being [aborted] in America, and I prayed, 'God, if you give me a son, if you give me Timmy, I'll raise him to be a preacher.'" Not long after, Bob and Pam Tebow conceived their fifth child. It was a very difficult pregnancy. "The placenta was never properly attached, and there was bleeding from the get-go," Bob recalls. "We thought we'd lost him several times." Early in the pregnancy Pam contracted amebic dysentery, which briefly put her in a coma. Her doctors, fearful that medications they had given her had damaged the fetus, advised her to abort it. She refused, and on Aug. 14, 1987, Pam delivered a healthy if somewhat scrawny Timothy Richard Tebow.
"All his life, from the moment he could understand, I told him, 'You're a miracle baby,'" Bob recalls. "'God's got a purpose for you, and at some point I think He's going to call you to preach.'I asked God for a preacher, and he gave me a quarterback."The Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association web-site
"It's a good line, and a welcome injection of levity from a man who takes his religion very seriously. But it's fast becoming obsolete. Having covered Tim for three years, I would say he's the most effective ambassador-warrior for his faith I've come across in 25 years at SI.
"In her opening address to the Episcopal Church's recent General Convention, the Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the church's presiding bishop, made a special point of denouncing what she labeled "the great Western heresy"—the teaching, in her words, "that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God." This "individualist focus," she declared, "is a form of idolatry."And also:
In all of this, however, the presiding bishop would discover an important nuance. We evangelicals never downplay the importance of individuals—as individuals—coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. We never say that an individual's very personal relationship to God is not important. What we do say is that individual salvation is not enough.
........Call that "individualism" if you want. But for us not only is it not heresy, it is at the heart of what it means to affirm the gospel of Jesus Christ."
The Gospel
"There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the Gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the Gospel to you when they tell you, 'you can have a purpose to your life', or that 'you can have meaning to your life', or that 'you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.' All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the Gospel.If you still have some questions about this please read the excellent post by Dan Edelen from over at Cerulean Sanctum blog from a week ago. I think it is helpful and the link is below.
The Gospel is called the 'good news' because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness – or lack of it – or the righteousness of another. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the Gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith – and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him – and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity."
R.C.Sproul-
Albert Mohler: Reading Bruce Gordon's massive new work on John Calvin, whose 500th birthday is today. http://bit.ly/owo5Z
John Piper: CALVIN: WHY WE EXIST: “Set before [man], as the prime motive of his existence, zeal to illustrate the glory of God."
The best 128 page biography of John Calvin only $2 just today at Desiring God. The first one I ever read. http://ow.ly/gZ9T
Tom Ascol: Happy Calvin's birthday--one benefit of being in Indonesia...we get it first
Jason Smathers: Reading Calvin the Evangelist, thanks @hereiblog for the link: http://bit.ly/2qknkJ
Paul Edwards: How different the church would be today were it not for 500 years of John Calvin. In honor of his 500th birthday I say, "Soli Deo Gloria!