Snow Day 2009

Thought this should go on the blog for posterity. We will enjoy looking back on this in years to come.

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Enjoy Shai Linne, Hazakim, Stephen the Levite and others on Lamp Mode's latest FREE release. Pass it on!

Good reminder by Steve Lawson

Piper article about Mary

This article sets the record straight on the veneration of Mary.

The veneration given to Mary in the Roman Catholic church is beyond what is warranted by the New Testament. In fact, it is astonishing how little we see of Mary in the New Testament. Let us honor her unique motherhood. Let us count her blessed as the mother of our incarnate Lord. But let us not put her on a pedestal that neither she nor Jesus would have approved of.

After she turns up with the disciples praying in the upper room in Acts 1:14, she is never mentioned again in the New Testament. This is astonishing to anyone who thinks that the veneration of Mary was an essential part of early church life. It was not important enough to be mentioned in any of the New Testament books after Acts.

In fact, in the one place where Paul comes close to mentioning Mary, he chooses not to, and simply speaks of generic “woman”: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman” (Galatians 4:4).

And when she is mentioned in Acts 1:14, she is “Mary the mother of Jesus” and listed alongside “his brothers.” This inclusion of the brothers has the effect of minimizing any emerging elevation of Mary as having significance only in being the mother of Jesus, rather than the mother of his brothers as well.

Please read the entire article here.

Nothing But the Blood

I got a comment on my blog (on this post about the Curse Motif), so I'm celebrating with a follow-up blog here. To provide more reading on penal substitution, please start with Mark Dever's article, then enjoy other prominent theologians talk about this glorious doctrine.

• Mark Dever's article in Christianity Today
• Dr Greg Bahnsen - Penal Substitution
  
• C.H. Spurgeon - Our Suffering Substitute
  
• Brian Schwertley - The Atonement of Jesus Christ

More importantly than these of course is the Scripture itself.

• Isaiah 53:6 - "the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
• Isaiah 53:12 - "yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."
• Romans 3:25
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 - "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
• Galatians 3:13 - "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us -- for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree."
• Hebrews 10:1-4

It has been suggested that the atonement/curse/penal substitution is negative, hateful. Quite the opposite. Knowing what God reveals about His plan for salvation of sinners is about the happiest doctrine you can ever know!

My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
-It Is Well With My Soul by Horatio Spafford

Thanksgiving thoughts

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There is no pressure in present-giving (and receiving), delicious food is plenteous, and football is on the TV and in the back yard. Family get-togethers are great, and fellowship is rich. But this Thanksgiving I want to be sure that I am most thankful for the God who gives--not the gifts He gives!

In that spirit, here are some words from John MacArthur and a young preacher from Countryside.

Rekindling the Gratitude - John MacArthur
The Thanksgiving season is a wonderful time to heighten your sensitivity to the blessings bestowed by God. Thanksgiving grabs your attention, shakes the cobwebs loose, and reminds you of all God's most precious gifts. That's one reason Thanksgiving has always held such a special place in my heart. It rekindles in me the kind of God-centered gratitude that our Lord demands and deserves—the kind that should readily be on our lips year round.

To help stimulate that kind of deeper gratitude, my family has adopted a Thanksgiving tradition we've found extremely helpful. Each year after our Thanksgiving meal we gather in our living room and simply recite the blessings of God that have touched our lives. One by one we circle the room, each one of us expressing our gratitude to God for His many physical and spiritual blessings.

Allow me to share with you just five blessings that deeply touch me every year and prompt me to thank God. Perhaps it'll catch and you'll be able to rekindle your gratitude!

You're Saved and You Know It
No work of God's is more beyond my comprehension yet closer to my heart and more worthy of gratitude than salvation. Before coming to know Christ, each of us lived in a self-imposed prison. Guilty, condemned, spiritually blind, and with no means to pay our debt, our destiny was one of eternal separation from God.

But Christ not only rescued us from the power and penalty of our sins, He also lifted us to a place of blessing. He delivered us from punishment and brought glory. He took away the threat of hell and gave us the hope of heaven. He dismissed us from divine wrath and brought us a divine benediction. One hymn writer put that unfathomable transaction like this:

In wonder lost, with trembling joy, We take the pardon of our God; Pardon for crimes of deepest dye, A pardon bought with Jesus' blood, Who is a pard'ning God like Thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?

We sing of salvation. We talk of salvation. Salvation is the essence of Christianity. Thanking God for saving us should be the unceasing occupation of our lips—only a stone-cold heart could offer anything less.

Read the rest of the article here.

JD Summers (CSide) kicked of November with this message, and it still echoes in my brain and heart as we look to Thanksgiving tomorrow. JD asked, "What is it that you are most thankful for?" Stop and answer that before reading. JD went on to say that your answer to this reveals what is most important to you. Is it God or is it His gifts? God is the Gospel.

Finally, Jim Elliff has some practical ways we can honor God on Thanksgiving.

May the Lord richly bless you all with His mercy and grace!

Curse Motif Video

I have found a new website that is a real blessing: Recover the Gospel. They have a video that is worth sharing. It includes a condensed version of RC Sproul's 'Curse Motif' sermon from the T4G Conference of 2008. This sermon, listed on my sermon favorites (right panel), can be downloaded here. Please check out this video, though, and meditate on the glorious doctrine of penal substitution and what that means for sinners like us who deserve the wrath of the One and Only, Almighty God.