Gospel Living

Tripp’s book is more pastoral in his approach than Adams did in his Theology. Instruments demonstrates a softer hand, more concise English, and, as a result, a better read overall. His call is not dissimilar from Adams, but seems to be written for the average lay-person. In this, he achieves his goal to not present a paradigm where trained “professionals” accomplish discipleship and biblical counseling within the church, but one in which the whole body comes together for this task. The book breathes hope upon the believer. For instance, Tripp notes, “Even our suffering does not belong to us, but to the Lord” (153), getting our focus off ourselves. He continues, “A whole host of self-absorbed temptations greet us when we treat suffering as something that belongs to us.” Finally, he concludes by stating, “We are to weep loudly and mourn fully before him, knowing that true comfort can only be found at his feet” (154). No comfort or hope is found while we wallow in self-pity or ...

StudyLight.org has the texts of several Bibles. Here are a few comparisons. Genesis 1:1-2 In the bigynnyng God made of nouyt heuene and erthe. Forsothe the erthe was idel and voide, and derknessis weren on the face of depthe; and the Spiryt of the Lord was borun on the watris. ( 1395 Wycliffe Bible ) In ye begynnynge God created heauen & earth: and ye earth was voyde and emptie, and darcknes was vpon the depe, & ye sprete of God moued vpo the water. ( 1535 Coverdale Bible ) In the beginnyng GOD created ye heauen and the earth. And the earth was without fourme, and was voyde: & darknes [was] vpon the face of the deepe, and the spirite of God moued vpon the face of the waters. ( 1568 Bishops' Bible ) In the beginning God created the heauen and the earth. And the earth was without forme and voide, and darkenesse was vpon the deepe, and the Spirit of God moued vpon ye waters. ( 1587 Geneva Bible ) In the beginning God created the Heauen, and the Earth. And the earth was wi...

In researching a paper on English Bible translations, I came across a site that has scans of a 1611 KJV, page for page . It even has the original title page. Navigation is easy, and you can examine how the 1611 compares to the 1769 version most people carry. Note also how ornate the pages were, and you can get a sense as to the amount of time and care our spiritual forefathers put into the effort.

Dr. Farnell dropped his paper (docx format) and PowerPoint on the Evangelical community today at the  International Society of Christian Apologetics , and it is sure to make controversy resound when it lands. The trend within Evangelicalism over the past couple of decades has been to adopt ideologies that are classically defined as "liberal" -- embracing of a synoptic problem, searching for the "historical Jesus," and all that stuff lay people would think of when someone says, "Jesus Seminar." Of pertinent focus for this blog, there is no Gospel message if we cannot trust the four Gospels . Dr. Farnell  (see faculty page) , affectionately known as "Maximus" among his (frightened) students, dared to connect the dots between what Evangelical scholars are doing today and what mainline denominations were doing at the height of the modernist-fundamentalist controversy.  He asks, "Is history repeating itself?" and you will be doomed t...

A neighbor kindly gave our kids some toys.  When I saw them, I said, "I think robot hand wants some donuts." I was right. As a reminder, the new season (or, as they say across the pond, series ) of Dr. Who starts tomorrow.  It's bittersweet -- it's sad to see the TARDIS piloted by someone other than David Tennant, but this new guy seems to have some personality.  He has big Converse tennis shoes to fill.

Part 1   Part 2   Part 3 Part 4: __________________________________________________________ o review, Peter seems to be obsessed with the events surrounding the flood. He seems to believe that they teach something useful, something comforting to those in pain and trials. Is the flood important? If the flood account were not true, then these things would be of little consequence to hurting believers.  Moreover, we readers today would take even less solace in what Peter has to say. Poor Simon Peter, always with his foot in his mouth.  Right?  Not at all. We went a different route and did not study the angels, but let us turn to them once again.   If the flood is a real event in human history, and  if we can see the effects of it in the world around us, then the story of angels cohabiting with women is probably factual as well. If your view of the world is defined by Scripture, then you are thinking like Peter (or, the Holy Spirit) wan...

Part 1 can be found here.  And here is Part 2 . And here is Part 3: __________________________________________________ hen we look at relief maps of the oceans, they tell us of the home many of these flood waters found.  Water sloshed across continents, sliding into the present oceans and dug deep.  It would have taken quite some time for the continents to dry, and perhaps this massive runoff had something to do with the slowing of plates, leaving behind rivers, formations, and even earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamies, to as a result of the catastrophe.  Perhaps the change in the positions of the continents, opening the Atlantic Ocean, also opened the heavens to the fierce hurricanes that can form there.  More on that in just a minute. Some might ask about those horizontal stratas in the first picture of the Grand Canyon.  Don't those take millions of years to deposit?  Sure, at current rates, we can see a single line forming slowly, a...

Continued from Part 1 . _______________________________________________ hy did God flood the earth? For the purposes of this question, it is important to know that the group known as the "sons of God" in Genesis 6 is that group of fallen angels to which Peter refers. There is probably the same demonic group the people were trying to contact with the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. However, we cannot gloss over this: each and every person on earth had become wicked.   This is saying something, because Scripture already teaches that every person is a sinner, so (as I tell the youth when I teach them), this is bad x10!   EVERY thought of man’s heart was ONLY evil continually (Gen 6:5). As an aside, this is another concern for us and our view of the flood.  Scripture says that we are approaching a time like the days of Noah once again, and the Lord will intervene as dramatically as He did before -- only without water this time. His use of water last time was a...

I taught on Sunday on the question of Christ's descending after the crucifixion, based on chapters 5-7 of The Darkness and the Glory by Greg Harris ( listen to Dr. MacArthur's endorsement of the book ). I wanted to post the notes this week for two reasons.  First, it concerns a passage that is very controversial that will end up blessing your soul.  Second, I had already spent some time on the controversy of Genesis 6:1-4 (have I posted that controversy here before?), so this week I taught on the larger aspect of Genesis 6-8: the flood.  Many people said that was helpful for their perception of the world. Because of the amount of information I'm posting today, I'm breaking the lesson into parts. __________________________ n the study guide to the TDATG, Dr. Harris relates his love for this book in the study guide, noting that it is one of his “ life time study books ” (49). He also notes his study on a very controversial passage, 1 Peter 3:17–20, calling it a...

One word sums this text: hope. Basing his teaching on 1 Corinthians 10:13, Jay Adams delivers a divine word of encouragement to those currently caught in life’s trials. His tone is pastoral and his words are simple as he uses the few pages of this booklet to minister to his readers. This is in contrast to some of his other works you might be familiar with, such as A Theology of Christian Counseling and The Christian Counselor’s Manual . He applies theology with a soft hand, teaching the reader while going to great lengths to remain sensitive. The first chapter, “Excuse Me, Please,” demonstrates a desire to do more than lend a kind ear in counseling, for education is part of the discipleship process. Yet, as he moves through the book into more personal areas, his tone becomes progressively softer until the end, when he seems to take the reader by the hand and whispers, “Depressed, discouraged Christian, let me urge you to take God at His word” (29). Furthermore, this lesson ...

Happy Easter!  We remember this day that Jesus proved Himself through His victory over death!  We have peace with God through Him, and our hope stems from His resurrection.  Praise Him! If you are not currently in a church, or if this is one of the few Sundays a year that you attend, I (lovingly) encourage you to plug into a faithful church body in obedience to our Lord that you might benefit from the light and life of fellow believers.  As iron sharpens iron, so does a fellowship of believers cause each member to become fine tools in the hands of the Master Craftsman.  Use today as a starting point to build those godly relationships in your life. “Louis, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” As an aside, I'm going to be gone off the blog for a few more days because of the holiday (and because of some overdue school work... keep that between us), but I have some things lined up for later in the week.  Until then, God bless.