Grampa

In my mind I’m still 17. From this picture the truth is obvious – I’m actually a grampa. The cute one is Elaine Victoria.

Truth Is Still Truth – Libronix Downloads

Thanks to Mike at TMS Alumni for directing us to some great, free, books for Libronix – my favorite Bible Study software. The libronix downloads at Truth Is Still Truth includes John Gill, John Owen and more. Worth looking at if you are a Logos Bible Software user.

The Way I see it…

 Irish Calvinist has some insight about what could be wrong with a popular Christian pastor’s thoughts on a Starbucks cup? It really comes down to the the “J-word” – i.e., “Jesus.” A young man we are interviewing for a position on our youth team said much the same thing this morning as he spoke to our High School students. Most people will let you say lots of things about God, but if you say something about Jesus it just might bring some strong words and feelings. I’m reminded that we really do need to make it clear that the God of whom we speak is Jesus … the one who rose from the dead, the one who said he was the only way to heaven, the one in whom we must believe.

Na – Humble Orthodoxy

Apparently Na – Humble Orthodoxy is not an entirely new web destination but rather a redesign of an old one related to Sovereign Grace Ministries. Thanks to Tim Challies I stumbled across this well designed and interesting site commited to, as they put it: Truth. Lived out. With humility. Much more about them, in their own words, can be found here.

God Glorified in the Nobodies

Long ago in a church far away I first heard John MacArthur preach on the topic of the person that God uses. This article in Pulpit Magazine, God Glorified in the Nobodies took me back to that Sunday night sometime around the middle of 1970. It was the first time I really believed God could use me … a nerdy kid with little in the way of social skill or anything else. God’s grace and humor is truly amazing. But when it is all said and done it is obvious that the ministry is done only by Him.

Hard Words from John Stott

Ten years ago I had the privelege of taking a 3 month sabbatical. During that time we visited a number of different churches in several different states, but the most interesting visit was to First Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, mainly because the speaker for the morning was none other than pastor-theologian John Stott. I just came across my notes from his sermon in which he somewhat randomly spoke to issues he saw developing in the church at the end of the 20th century (1996). I think his concerns are possibly more valid ten years later. See if you can discern his concerns from these quotes.

The church seems to have a pussycat ministry where we stroke people with what they want to hear until they purr. We become quite popular when we implement it

It is not possible to be popular and faithful at the same time.

The only way to self-discovery is self-denial. You find yourself by losing yourself – in Christ.

Discipleship today (at least in the church) tends to be a veneer of piety over paganism.

How to Annoy People and Ruin Your Faith

11 Things to Make Everyone Dislike You and Shipwreck Your Faith  

Microsoft Codename Max

I stumbled across Microsoft Codename Max a new Beta software program from the folks down the road in Redmond. At first it seems to be merely another photo organizer and browser with a couple of twists on presentation, but there’s a newsreader for RSS feeds that is really quite nice. No, it won’t change your life, or bring you closer to God, but it was a nice diversion this evening!

30 Readers?!

I just checked my stats page at WordPress. It looks like I am now averaging 30 readers. Then again, I could be reading the stats wrong and it is the same five checking in 6 times a day! Anyway, I hope some of the things that strike me as interesting or wierd or challenging also make others think a little.

I also joined Technorati in a completely narcissistic attempt to pump up my numbers.

Technorati Profile

Pulpit Magazine Online

Pulpit Magazine is now available to the general blogosphere. It began as an online magazine primarily for pastors who were members of the Shepherds’ Fellowship which is “a ministry to church leaders who are committed to the purity of the Gospel, the inerrancy of Scripture, and a biblical philosophy of ministry.”

This is the only place online (that I know of) where John MacArthur weighs in with his writing. John is one of the great Bible teachers, with whom I had the privelege of serving for 14 years. He has continued to be a model and a mentor from afar. I appreciated his insights here on the difference between “what a passage means” and “what this verse means to me.”

The editors explain their intent: “Instead of just limiting Pulpit Magazine to pastors, we now want to make the contents of Pulpit accessible to everyone. And, instead of posting a group of articles every eight weeks, we now plan to post one new article every weekday. We also hope that our readers (meaning you) will interact with the articles, and that profitable discussions will result from what is written.” I’m looking forward to joining in. Read more about Pulpit Magazine and contributors here.