Gospel Living

Dr. Paul Plew serves as the Director of Choral Activities and chairs the impressive music department at The Master's College .  He also leads worship at Santa Clarita Baptist Church .  His ability is outstripped only by his love for God, and he recommends the following songs for us. If you find a song you don't know or would like to know more about its history, search it on Cyber Hymnal . The Top 70 Hymns You Should Know *Indicates Top 20 (in no particular order) From the 2005 BIB363 Worship TMC class syllabus *Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee  Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing *Praise to the Lord, the Almighty  *O Worship the King  *Immortal, Invisible  *A Mighty Fortress is Our God  *The God of Abraham Praise  Great is Thy Faithfulness  Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah  *O God, Our Help in Ages Past  This is My Father’s World  I Sing the Mighty Power of God  *All Creatures of Our God and King  *O For a Thousand Tongues  Jesus the Very Thought of Thee  *Ma

That's the story WorldMag reported on April 19.  "Cynthia's Choice" began with the abortion regime RU-486, but ended with a healthy child.  Head over and read the incredible story .  (HT: My loving wife) From page two of the article: Christian’s story has a good ending, but many others don’t. Nearly 200,000 pregnancies in the United States less than nine weeks along ended in medical abortions in 2008, the last year for which data is available. Few women realize the RU-486 process can be reversed once begun.  Delgado hopes to change that. His clinic set up a website last September, AbortionPillReversal.com , with a hotline to give women information on the progesterone treatment and connect them to local doctors willing to give the shots.

What does it mean to be one with Christ?  I recommend this helpful chart that Andy Naselli posted to help us understand.

The sons of Aaron…offered strange fire before the LORD…and fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them. —Leviticus 10:1–2 In case you've missed the buzz, the announced 2013 Truth Matters Bible Conference has been stirring the hornet's nest.  John MacArthur contended for years against the charismatic chaos erupting in Evangelical circles.  Now, prior to the release of his new updated book on the subject, Strange Fire , his church will host a conference by the same name that exposes the present dangers of the movement.  Obviously controversial, this challenging conference will call us to consider whether our worship finds its grounding in Scripture, or in the experiences and traditions of men.  MacArthur anticipates criticism by answering whether his questioning something that benefits others is a loving act: Here's the release: The Lord calls His people to honor Him, to treat Him as holy. Leviticus 10 pictures the consequences of not

Admit it: you've wondered, but have been too afraid to ask.  Clouds and harps and endlessly pew-sitting... what does the Bible really say about heaven? Randy Alcorn answers this question over at Ligonier . Related Post: " What Heaven is Like "

The Domain of Truth completed its week-long series on biblical counseling and the Christian's concern of psychology.  I recommend it, especially if you are unfamiliar with the differences between "Christian counseling" and the more biblical brand, or if you trust life's problems to the hands of a certified psychologist or psychiatrist. Choose Biblical Counseling Not Psychology: Part 1 Choose Biblical Counseling Not Psychology: Part 2 Depression Poem Pre-courtship Counseling: Seven Relationship Questions Courses: Pastoral Counseling Course by Dr. Stuart Scott Marriage and Family Counseling Course at The Master’s Seminary by John Street Westminster Theological Seminary’s Professors on Biblical Counseling Book Reviews: Review: One Nation Under Therapy by Christina Hoff Sommers, Sally L. Satel Review: Freud by R.J. Rushdoony Book Review of “Out of the Blues: Dealing with the Blues of Depression & Loneliness” by Wayne Mack I lift up my eye

( Part 1 | Part 2 ) The first two posts of this series form an important foundation: we must rely on the truth the Holy Spirit revealed to us through His Word, lest we grow arrogant and embrace bold deception in the name of God.  If we lean on our own understanding of how God operates, we will fall.  If we grow unsatisfied with the Bible and seek words and visions, we invite spiritual destruction. Indeed, the light of Proverbs 30:6 dispels our confusion:     Do not add to his words,         lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. In total, we said we must avoid Bethel because it is spiritually dangerous, and we said there are two reasons for that.  The first reason we examined in length last week, that it promotes false doctrine , and we looked at the heretical teachings streaming from the pulpit to computers and MP3 players near you.  If you have not read at least that post, please do so now, because we now turn to the second of these reasons. Second, Bethe

This shocking admission confirms the angst of so many.

Teaching little ones to cook can be so much fun:

One rapper's gutsy video captured the attention of the Christian webs.  "Fal$e Teacher$" dares to name names in an attempt to warn fellow believers of the proponents of the prosperity gospel; the dollar signs being an appropriate commentary in itself. Among those Shai Linne targets are Joel Osteen, T. D. Jakes, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Paula White, Fred Price, Kenneth Copeland, Robert Tilton, Eddie Long, Juanita Bynum, Paul Crouch... you know, the TBN crew. Linne raps: "Don't be deceived by this funny biz, if you come to Jesus for money, then he's not your God, money is! Jesus is not a means to an end, the Gospel is He came to redeem us from sin, and that is the message forever I yell! If you're living your best life now you're heading for hell!" My,my, Shai, this is good. Seven-minute video on why Shai Linne wrote and raps "FAL$E TEACHER$". dsr.gd/12vZgGx — John Piper (@JohnPiper) April 7, 2013 (HT: CP ) Here's the

Wretched posted a meme befitting the " Last Call for Altar Calls " post:

Abused to no end in worship services, should the altar call fall by the wayside?  Do they harm or help? 4/10/13 Update: Wretched posted a meme befitting this post:

( Part 1 | Part 3 ) In the previous post , I argued that doctrine is not only unavoidable, the Holy Spirit wants us to grow in our knowledge of biblical doctrine.   Even so, I understand the many Christians who, burned by those intellectuals whose convictions were buried in seminary, believe avoiding deep theological study is the best salve for the injured soul.  They believe that you can feed only your intellect or your spirit, seeking a moving experience that is not necessarily meaningful, and missing the fact that God created both in union. As such, some of today's most popular teachers and preachers proceed with that foundation; books and sermons promising bigger and better experiences create many celebrity pastors.  However, upon this foundation a house of theology must reside, inside which a Christians find a spiritually environment that is not up to biblical code.  We will see this with our case in point --- Bill Johnson --- as we examine what doctri

Whether you are searching for a church, or you want to pastor a church according to God's will, you need to note the distinguishing marks of a good shepherd.  On the GTY Blog , John MacArthur posted a series to help us with just that. Every Pastor's Job Description Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Faithfulness Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Selflessness Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Integrity Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Reverence Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Edification John MacArthur on the Heart of a Shepherd You can hear the rest of “The Pastor as a Parent” here .

Captain Jean Luc Picard Sir Patrick Stewart brings order to Sesame Street: In case you were woefully ignorant of the Star Trek universe, Stewart played the captain of the twenty-fourth century star-ship, Enterprise.  "Number One" was the character's affectionate title for his second-in-command, often accompanied with the command, " make it so ."  It's not as funny if it has to be explained, though. :)

Imagine with me: what does John Lennon of the Beatles have to do with your personal relationship with Christ?  This movie is for every Christian in America.

Historically, pastors exercised a special responsibility in the care of people's souls.  In the past century, though, these leaders have increasingly trusted "trained" practitioners to deal with difficult issues within the Christian community such as depression and broken marriages.  Yet, any spiritual person wielding the Word of God can pierce through these troubles and get to the heart of the matter. Carey Hardy gave a helpful session at the 2013 Shepherds' Conference in this regard.  Listen as he explains the core of biblical counseling: MP3 Download .

You want a good starter Bible for your young reader, but the shelves at the Christian bookstore boast a plethora of choices.  How can you sort out the Christ-exalting from the campy?   The Redeemed Reader helps us out: Choosing Your Child’s First REAL Bible: Some Considerations Sorting Out the Children’s Bible Market

JC Ryle (1860-1900) must have been taking his charismatic pills, because, as AM notes , he waxed prophetic with this message: The consequences of this widespread dislike to  distinct biblical doctrine  are very serious. Whether we like it or not, it is an epidemic which is doing great harm, and especially among young people. It creates, fosters, and keeps up an immense amount of  instability  in religion. It produces what I must venture to call, if I may coin the phrase, a  ‘jelly-fish’ Christianity  in the land–that is, a Christianity without bone, or muscle, or power. A jelly-fish, as everyone who has been much by the seaside knows, is a pretty and graceful object when it floats in the sea, contracting and expanding like a little delicate transparent umbrella. Yet the same jelly-fish, when cast on the shore, is a mere helpless lump, without capacity for movement, self-defense, or self-preservation. Alas! it is a vivid type of much of the religion of this day, of which th

( Part 2 | Part 3 ) Doctrine and theology: sour words in the ears of many today, and with good reason.  Knowledge can puff up (1 Cor 8:1), inflating otherwise well-meaning Christians with hot air.  You probably even know someone seemingly more concerned with crossing the "t" in theology than showing the love of the cross.  Yet, God designed our hearts and minds to grow in doctrine ( instruction or teaching ), and we can't go far in our Christian walk without it.  Consider Jesus, who employed sound doctrine when His proper understanding and application of God's Word defeated Satan's temptation (Mt 4:1-11; Lk 4:1-13).  He also chastised the poor doctrine or teaching of the leaders of Israel, saying, "Have you not read" (Mt 12:3, 5, 19:4, 22:31; Mk 12:10, 26; Lk 6:3).  He equated knowing Scripture to knowing the power of God (Mt 22:29).  His Great Commission includes the directive to make disciples and to teach them (Mt 28:18-19).  As such,