John Owen website

My good friend Bill Davis went home to heaven on Monday. He was a lover of John Owen--a Puritan theologian who lived in the 1600's. By common consensus he is the weightest of the Puritans--being both a pastor and a theologian. I had read some of Owen's works before I met Bill, but he introduced me to him in a greater depth. Owen is not to be read casually, that is for sure. Bill had most of his writings, several volumes printed by Banner of Truth.

To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking “Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson

John Owen’s treatises on Indwelling Sin in Believers and The Mortification of Sin are, in my opinion, the most helpful writings on personal holiness ever written.
—Jerry Bridges

I owe more to John Owen than to any other theologian, ancient or modern; and I owe more to [The Mortification of Sin] than to anything else he wrote.
—J.I. Packer

There is constantly in Owen, even when we are in the thick of him (and some of his writing is dense indeed) a doxological motive and motif. If we can persevere with his style (which becomes easier the longer we persevere), he will not fail to bring us to the feet of Jesus.
—Sinclair B. Ferguson

Just a few weeks before his death, I had emailed Bill a new website devoted to Owens. He emailed me back with "Wow! Thanks!" May others benefit from from the work of John Owens as Bill did.

Teaching children about death and the gospel

Wise parents look for opportunities to teach their children valuable lessons. What better time to teach a child about life and death and the world to come than in the days and months following the death of a family member or a close friend. We should be so zealous for our children’s souls that we point them to real and lasting comfort in the Savior. Instruct them in godliness and in the eternal blessings of those who die in Christ. Teach them this verse: “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be not more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Rev. 21:4). Then read them this story written by Bishop J.C. Ryle in the nineteenth century from his book The Two Bears and Other Addresses to Children. [You may listen with your children to this book being read on line.

Beloved children, I am going to tell you something which, I hope, will make you remember this verse as long as you live. I am going to tell you of three places about which the Bible says a great deal. It doesn’t matter much what we know about some places; but it matters much to know something about these three places.

There is a place where there is a great deal of crying. What is this place? It is the world where you and I live. It is a world full of beautiful and pleasant things. The sun shining by day and the stars by night; the blue hills looking up to heaven, and the rolling sea ebbing and flowing; the broad quiet lakes, and the rushing restless rivers; the flowers blooming in the spring, and the fields full of corn in autumn; the birds singing in the woods, and the lambs playing in the meadows-all, all are beautiful things. I could look at them for hours and say, “What a beautiful world it is!” But still it is a world where there is a great deal of crying. It is a world where there are many tears.

There was crying in Bible times. There is crying now all over the world. Little babies cry when they want something or feel pain. Boys and girls cry when they are hurt, afraid or corrected by their parents. Grown up people cry sometimes when they are in trouble, or when they see those die whom they love. Wherever there is sorrow and pain, there is crying.

You have seen people come to church all dressed in black. That is called being in mourning. Some family member or friend is dead, and therefore they dress in black. Well! remember when you see people in mourning, somebody has been crying. You have seen graves in churchyards, and have heard that when people die, they are buried there. Some of them are very little graves, not longer than you are. Well! remember that when those graves were made, and little coffins were let down into them, there was crying.

Children, did you ever think why there is all this crying? How it first began? Did you ever hear how weeping and tears came into the world? God did not make crying - that is certain. All that God made was “very good.” Listen to me and I will tell how crying began.

Crying came into the world because of sin - it is the cause of all weeping, and tears, and sorrow, and pain upon the earth. All the crying began when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and became sinners. It was sin which brought pain and sickness and death into the world. Sin brought into the world selfishness, unkindness, arguing, stealing and fighting. If there had been no sin, there would have been no weeping; no sin, not crying. See now, my beloved children, how much you should hate sin. All the unhappiness in the world came from sin. How can anyone take pleasure in sin? Do not do that! Watch against sin. Fight with it. Avoid it and don’t listen to it. Say to yourself every morning, “Sin caused crying, and so I will hate sin.”

So, children, do not look for perfect happiness in this world; you will not find it. The world is a place where there is much crying and things do not always go pleasantly. I hear many boys and girls talking of pleasures they will have when they are men and women. I am sorry for them when I hear them talking this way. I know they are mistaken. I know they will be disappointed. They will find when they grow up, that they cannot get through the world without many troubles and cares. There are no roses without thorns. There are no years without dark and rainy days. There is no living on earth without crying and tears.

There is a place where there is nothing but crying. What is this place? It is the place where all bad people go when they are dead. The Bible calls this place hell. There is no laughter and smiling; there is nothing but weeping. There is no happiness. Those who go there cry night and day without stopping. They never go to sleep and weak up happy. They never stop crying in hell.

Beloved children, I am sorry to tell you that there are many people going to hell. It makes me sad to say these things, and I cannot bear the thought of boys and girls going to the dreadful place where there is nothing but crying. My heart’s desire and prayer to God for you is, that you may not go there. So I want to know some things which you must think about. List to my questions. do you love Jesus Christ? You ought to love Him. He died for your sins upon the cross that He might save you from hell. He died that your sins might be forgiven. Dear children, think about this! Be careful. If you do not love Christ you are not in the right way.

Do you try to please Christ? You ought to do this. In the Bible you may read that Jesus Christ said, “If you love me, do what I command.” Think about this. If you are selfish or tell lies or fight with others, you are doing what He says not to do. Be careful so that you do not go to t he place where there is only crying.

Do you say your prayers? You should do this. Ask God to take care of you and help you to obey. If you never pray, your heart will soon be full of mischief and sin. I once heard of a boy who was given a little garden full of flowers. But he did nothing for it. He never raked it or pulled out the weeks. After a few weeks there were many weeds, and the flowers died. Dear children, think about this and ask God to put His Holy Spirit in your hearts and protect you from the devil.

Do you read your Bible? You should do so. That beautiful book is able to save your soul and keep you from going tot he place where there is nothing but crying. I once heard of a little boy in Africa who was sleeping with his father outdoors, near a fire. He awoke in the middle of the night and saw a great lion close to him. The lion was about to pounce on him, but the little boy took a stick out of the fire and put it in the lion’s face, and drove him away. Dear children, think about this! The devil is like a roaring lion. You must read your Bible if you would drive him away. If you do not read your Bible you will be in great danger.

There is a place where there is no crying at all. What is this place? It is heaven - the place where all good people go when they are dead. There all is joy and happiness. There are no tears. Sorrow and pain and sickness and death are not there. Nothing is there that will cause you any grief. Schools will be closed; there will be no more work. Heaven is an eternal rest for the people of God. There will be no more sickness in heaven. people who live there will not say “I am sick.” They will always be well. There will only be strength and health forevermore. There will be no sin in heaven. There will be no bad tempers, no unkind words, no hateful actions. The devil will not be allowed to come in and spoil the happiness. There will be nothing but holiness and love forevermore.

Best of all, there can be no crying in heaven because the Lord Jesus Christ is there. Everyone who goes to heaven will see His face and be with Him forever. He will take you in His arms and wipe away all tears from your eyes. With Him there will be fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

Dear children, do you want to go to heaven? We cannot always live in this world. A day will come when we must die, like the old people who have died already. Children, would you like to go there when you die? Then listen to me, and I’ll tell you the way you must go.

First, you must have your sins forgiven and your hearts made new and good. The only One who can do this for you is Jesus Christ. He can wash away your sins because He died for sinners. He can make your hearts new by putting the Holy Spirit in them. He is the Way and the Door into heaven. He has the keys in His hand. If you want to go to heaven, you must ask Jesus Christ to let you in. Pray and ask Him to prepare a place for you in heaven, to put your name in His book of life, and to make you a Christian. Ask Him to forgive all your sins and put His Spirit in your hearts. Ask Him to give you grace to make you good while you are young, and good when you grow up, so that you might be safe while you life, and happy forever when you die. Children, Jesus will do all this if you will only ask Him. He has done it for many other children already. Do not be afraid to ask Him. He was very kind to children when He was one the earth; ask Him to be kind to you. Say to Him, “Lord Jesus, save me.”

And now, children, I have told you of three places. I have told you of a place where there is nothing but crying. I hope you will not go there. I have told you of a place where there is not crying. I hope you will go there. I have told you of a place where there is a great deal of crying. That place is the world in which you are living. Now I wll tell you the best way to be happy here.

The happiest people in this world are the ones who read the Bible often. They believe the Bible. They love Jesus Christ, and they try to obey what the Bible commands. No one is more happy than these people. They may become sick or go through troubles, but they are patient. They are happy because the Bible is their best friend. Children, remember my last words. The way to get through this world with the least possible crying is to read the Bible, believe the Bible, pray over the Bible, live by the Bible. If you go through life this way, you will have the least crying in this world. And best of all, you will have no crying at all in the world to come.

Whatever My God Ordains Is Right

As I grieve the loss of a precious saint, I am reminded of the words of the Samuel Rodigast who reminds us of the sovereignty of God which is the most comforting doctrine in Scripture:

What-e’er my God ordains is right;
His holy will abideth;
I will be still what-e’er He doth,
and follow where He guideth.
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall;
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

What-e’er my God ordains is right;
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path;
I know He will not leave me,
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

What-e’er my God ordains is right;
though now this cup, in drinking
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; yeah morn anew,
sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrows shall depart.

What-e’er my God ordains is right;
here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
yet am I not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me t here;
He holds me that I shall not fall,
And so to Him I leave it all.

The Christian's Bill of Rights

During my Sunday message I spoke in part on 1 Thessalonians 5:15 where Paul commands us not to repay anyone evil for evil. One common objection to this and other like passages are, "What about my rights?" Steve Camp has an excellent overview from Scripture of the Christian's "Bill of Rights."

Another RC link

I forgot to recommend James White's website which deals with more than just Catholicism. Excellent material! Worthy of a bookmark!

Is Roman Catholicism Really Christian?

The following links contain a motherlode of information on insights into Roman Catholicism which preaches another gospel:

• Scripture and Tradition
• Mike Gendron
• C.A.R.M.
• Monergism articles
  

What did John Paul II really believe?

Recently John MacArthur preached a message called "The Pope and and Papacy" which I highly recommend to you. In a portion of it, he talks about what Pope John Paul II really believed. Here is an excerpt from that message that documents what Pope John Paul II really believed and taught as the official representative of the Roman Catholic Church:

"There has been a lot of intense discussion in recent weeks about Pope John Paul II, his spiritual legacy in the Roman Catholic Church, and what he taught. Numerous evangelical commentators have portrayed him as a great spiritual leader whose errors were few and basically benign.

Even the secular media has shown an unprecedented interest in the passing of the pope and the selection of his replacement. Pundits and commentators on CNN, Fox News, and the major networks have all covered the changing papacy intensely. One question that has been raised or alluded to repeatedly is this: "Is the Pope in heaven?" Numerous people have asked me that question. I’m always tempted to reply: "Is the pope Catholic?"

After all, the pope was the number-one purveyor of Roman Catholic doctrine. The gospel he believed was no more sound than the gospel Rome has always taught. It is not the gospel of Scripture. Here are several significant areas where the pope’s teaching departed in significant and troubling ways from biblical truth.

On Mary:

After the death of his mother when he was eight, Karol Wojtyla developed an intense devotion to Mary. When he was made pope in 1978, he formally rededicated himself and his whole pontificate, to Mary. His extensive travel as pope was orchestrated around visits to numerous Marian shrines around the world. His example and his teachings motivated thousands of Roman Catholics to make Mary the primary focus of their prayers and devotion.

The papal crest of John Paul II was a simple coat of arms whose central feature was a large "M" for Mary. When he died, his coffin was also decorated with a large letter M. His personal slogan, which he had embroidered into all his papal robes, was "Totus tuus ego sum, Maria"—"I am totally yours, Mary."

"Totus Tuus ego sum." Those were, as a matter of fact, the opening words of his last will and testament. In the will itself, John Paul went on to say this:

"I place this moment [referring to the moment of his death] in the hands of the Mother of my Master: Totus Tuus. In the same maternal hands I leave everything and everyone to whom I have been connected by my life and my vocation. In these Hands, I leave above all the Church, and also my nation and all of humanity. "

… each of us has to keep in mind the prospect of death… . I too take this into consideration constantly, entrusting that decisive moment to the Mother of Christ and of the Church—to the Mother of my hope.

In notes included with his will, John Paul II quoted the words of a former Polish Cardinal, which he said had inspired him: "Victory when it comes will be a victory through Mary."

Anyone who closely followed the preaching of John Paul could see his intense devotion to Mary. In a message to the General Audience and published Wednesday, 7 May 1997 by the Vatican, John Paul said, "The history of Christian piety teaches that Mary is the way which leads to Christ."

When an assassination attempt on the pope failed in May of 1981, he credited Mary with saving his life. On the anniversaries of the assassination attempt in 1992 and 1994, he made special pilgrimages to the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in order to offer ceremonial payers of thanksgiving to her.

A book of selected quotations from John Paul II about Mary was compiled and published, titled John Paul II's Book of Mary. The ad copy inside the book says the book is for people "who seek a deeper relationship with Jesus and his Mother." The Table of Contents consists of a list of titles the pope applied to Mary. They include:

• Gate of Heaven
• Mediatrix of All Graces
• Mirror of Perfection
• Mother of the Church
• Mother of Mercy
• Pillar of Faith
• Seat of Wisdom

Here’s a sample of quotations from the book:

"Mary shares our human condition, but in complete openness to the grace of God. Not having known sin, she is able to have compassion on every kind of weakness [contrast that with Hebrews 2:18]. She understands sinful man and loves him with a Mother’s love. Precisely for this reason she is on the side of truth and shares the Church’s burden in recalling always and to everyone the demands of morality. (Veritatis Splendor, 120).

"For every Christian, for every human being, Mary is the one who first 'believed,' and precisely with her faith as Spouse and Mother she wishes to act upon all those who entrust themselves to her as her children. And it is well known that the more her children persevere and progress in this attitude, the nearer Mary leads them to the `unsearchable riches of Christ'" (Redemptoris Mater, 46).

According to the belief formulated in solemn documents of the Church, the "glory of grace" [referred to in Ephesians 1:6] is manifested in the Mother of God through the fact that she has been "redeemed in a more sublime manner" (Redemptoris Mater, 10).

As Christians raise their eyes with faith to Mary in the course of their earthly pilgrimage, they "strive to increase in holiness." Mary, the exalted Daughter of Sion, helps all her children, wherever they may be and whatever their condition, to find in Christ the path to the Father's house (Redemptoris Mater, 47).

Nobody else can bring us as Mary can into the divine and human dimension of the mystery [of the gospel]. (Redemptor Hominis, 22).

We can ... turn to the Blessed Virgin, trustfully imploring her aid in the awareness of the singular role entrusted to her by God, the role of co-operator in the Redemption, which she exercised throughout her life and in a special way at the foot of the Cross. (General Audience, 9 April 1997).

On salvation apart from Christ:

Pope John Paul II was a modified universalist. While he stopped short of saying plainly that he believed all people would eventually be redeemed, he used the expression "universal salvation" hundreds of times, and he often expressed uncertainty about whether any human beings would really spend eternity in hell. In a message to the General Audience on 28 July 1999, the pope said,

The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy….

Eternal damnation remains a real possibility, but we are not granted, without special divine revelation, the knowledge of whether or which human beings are effectively involved in it. The thought of hell—and even less the improper use of biblical images—must not create anxiety or despair… .

In an encyclical titled Redemptois Mater, the pope said,

The eternal design of God the Father, his plan of man's salvation in Christ...is a universal plan, which concerns all men and women created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen. 1:26). Just as all are included in the creative work of God ‘in the beginning,’ so all are eternally included in the divine plan of salvation, which is to be completely revealed, in the ‘fullness of time.’

In a 1995 message, he wrote,

Christ won universal salvation with the gift of his own life…. For those, however, who have not received the Gospel proclamation, as I wrote in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, salvation is accessible in mysterious ways, inasmuch as divine grace is granted to them by virtue of Christ's redeeming sacrifice, without external membership in the Church… It is a mysterious relationship. It is mysterious for those who receive the grace, because they do not know the Church and sometimes even outwardly reject her.

The encyclical mentioned in that quote, Redemptoris Missio, is full of universalist sentiments. In it, the Pope wrote that "followers of other religions can receive God's grace and be saved by Christ apart from the ordinary means which he has established"! Here are some other quotations from the same document:

The redemption event brings salvation to all, "for each one is included in the mystery of the redemption and with each one Christ has united himself forever through this mystery."

Just as "by his incarnation the Son of God united himself in some sense with every human being," so too "we are obliged to hold that the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in the Paschal Mystery in a manner known [only] to God." God's plan is "to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph 1:10).

Nonetheless, the pope said,

Salvation, which always remains a gift of the Holy Spirit, requires man's cooperation, both to save himself and to save others…

Thus he affirmed the efficacy of human effort in salvation, but not the exclusivity of Christ:

The universality of salvation means that it is granted not only to those who explicitly believe in Christ… . Since salvation is offered to all, it must be made concretely available to all. But it is clear that today, as in the past, many people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept the gospel revelation or to enter the Church. The social and cultural conditions in which they live do not permit this, and frequently they have been brought up in other religious traditions. For such people salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace … enables each person to attain salvation through his or her free cooperation…. Since Christ died for everyone, and since the ultimate calling of each of us comes from God and is therefore a universal one, we are obliged to hold that the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in this Paschal Mystery in a manner known [only] to God."

One of John Paul II’s best-known books, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, was an aggressive ecumenical and universalist manifesto. In it, he declared that Muslims worship the one true God (141); that Hinduism is another means of taking refuge in the one true God (80); that Buddhists have God’s help in reaching true enlightenment (80); that there is much that is holy and true in all false religions (81); and even animism can prepare a person’s heart to receive the truth of Christ (80). In short, he said, God helps every man create his own personal salvation (195), and the Holy Spirit is in every religion (80).

On the authority of Scripture:

Of course John Paul II, like all Roman Catholics since the council of Trent, flatly denied that Scripture is the supreme authority in all matters of faith, conduct, and doctrine. In the words of Vatican II, "The [Roman Catholic] Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed truth from the Holy Scriptures alone. [But] both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal feelings of devotion and reverence."

In other words, the Catholic Church itself claims an authority equal with Scripture, and since she insists her Popes and priests determine the true meaning of Scripture, the church has in effect set her own authority over that of the Bible.

The Pope claims to be the earthly head of the church—the vicar of Christ. And John Paul II claimed no less for himself. As pope, he arrogated to himself authority that belongs to God alone. That is why he felt free to reinterpret Scripture and abandon the plain sense of those texts that teach Christ alone is the way to heaven.

The exclusivity of Christ not the only clear teaching of Scripture John Paul steered the Catholic Church away from. In a message to the pontifical Academy of Sciences, on 22 October 1996, John Paul denied that there is any conflict between the theory of evolution and the Scriptures. He told the Academy: "It is important to set proper limits to the understanding of Scripture, excluding any unseasonable interpretations… . In order to mark out the limits of their own proper fields, theologians and those working on the exegesis of the Scripture need to be well informed regarding the results of the latest scientific research." He declared that "new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis."

In 1999, Pope John Paul had a meeting with Muslim leaders at the Vatican, during which he ceremoniously kissed a copy of the Koran.

During his reign, Pope John Paul II canonized at least 486 saints—more than all his predecessors combined. Some of the Cardinals who served under him were reported to have referred to his pontificate as a "saint factory."

One of John Paul’s earliest encyclicals was a 1979 document called Redemptor Hominis. In it John Paul described the gospel as a message about human dignity. He wrote, "Through Christ man has acquired full awareness of his dignity." "The Redemption that took place through the cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin." That language, all about human dignity and finding meaning in life, unfortunately echoes the diluted message that comes from too many evangelical pulpits these days. I am convinced that one of the main reasons so many evangelicals now reject the notion that the Roman Catholic Church is utterly apostate is because evangelicalism itself is largely apostate. Evangelicals’ understanding of the gospel declined just when Roman Catholic ecumenism was on the rise, and the messages coming from Rome and many evangelical circles are now virtually identical.

Never has reformation been more needed than now.

George Mueller: Being happy in a gracious God!

I have been blessed by John Piper's biographical presentation on George Mueller. The aroma of the sovereignty of God permeated his life. He believed that being satisfied in the sovereignty of God was a high priority. In his own words,

"According to my judgement the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press upon you, the Lord's work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life. This has been my firm and settled condition for the last five and thirty years. For the first four years after my conversion I knew not its vast importance, but now after much experience I specially commend this point to the notice of my younger brethren and sisters in Christ: the secret of all true effectual service is joy in God, having experimental acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself."

Mueller believed that knowing God is the key to being happy in God!

"The more we know of God, the happier we are. . . . When we became a little acquainted with God . . . our true happiness . . . commenced; and the more we become acquainted with him, the more truly happy we become. What will make us so exceedingly happy in heaven? It will be the fuller knowledge of God."

Therefore the most crucial means of fighting for joy in God is to immerse oneself in the Scriptures where we see God in Christ most clearly. When he was 71 years old, Mueller spoke to younger believers:

"Now in brotherly love and affection I would give a few hints to my younger fellow-believers as to the way in which to keep up spiritual enjoyment. It is absolutely needful in order that happiness in the Lord may continue, that the Scriptures be regularly read. These are God's appointed means for the nourishment of the inner man. . . .Consider it, and ponder over it. . . . Especially we should read regularly through the Scriptures, consecutively, and not pick out here and there a chapter. If we do, we remain spiritual dwarfs. I tell you so affectionately. For the first four years after my conversion I made no progress, because I neglected the Bible. But when I regularly read on through the whole with reference to my own heart and soul, I directly made progress. Then my peace and joy continued more and more. Now I have been doing this for 47 years. I have read through the whole Bible about 100 times and I always find it fresh when I begin again. Thus my peace and joy have increased more and more."

When he was seventy-six he wrote the same thing he did when he was sixty, “I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.” And the means stayed the same:

"I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the word of God, and to meditation on it. . . . What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God; and . . . not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts."

Mueller pleaded with Christians to find their ultimate satisfaction in God for this would glorify God and also free them to a radical, self-denying love for others. With earnestness of soul he wrote,

"My dear Christian reader, will you not try this way? Will you not know for yourself . . . the preciousness and the happiness of this way of casting all your cares and burdens and necessities upon God? This way is as open to you as to me. . . . Every one is invited and commanded to trust in the Lord, to trust in Him with all his heart, and to cast his burden upon Him, and to call upon Him in the day of trouble. Will you not do this, my dear brethren in Christ? I long that you may do so. I desire that you may taste the sweetness of that state of heart, in which, while surrounded by difficulties and necessities, you can yet be at peace, because you know that the living God, your Father in heaven, cares for you"

Abortion puts subsequent babies at risk

Chailles.com comments on "an interesting article about a French study which examined the link between abortions and subsequent premature births. The study found that a woman who has had at least one abortion is forty percent more likely to have an extremely premature baby in subsequent pregnancies than a woman who has never had an abortion. And of course a large percentage of extremely premature babies die in infancy or have serious health problems." Read more. . .

Trustworthy book reviews

If you want reliable reviews of the latest in Christian books, check out The Diet of Bookworms! Has reviews on the most popular [and not so good] Christian authors like Osteen, Warren, and Eldridge as well as some of the better ones like Mahaney, Belcher, and Joshua Harris, etc.

Phil Johnson joining the blogsphere

I'm looking forward to June 1st when Phil Johnson, executive director at Grace to You in California begins blogging. Phil is one of the keenest and most articulate spokesmen today for biblical Christianity. Read his blog regularly for current analysis of the latest trends in Christianity.

Is Christ Your All?

J. C. Ryle was a man who demonstrated "prophetic untimeliness" as Os Guisness calls it. He was a great preacher whose classic Holiness should be read widely by Christians today. Justin Taylor reminds us of a quote from his sermon "Christ is All":

"But alas, how little fit for heaven are many who talk of ‘going to heaven’ when they die, while they manifestly have no saving faith, and no real acquaintance with Christ. You give Christ no honor here. You have no communion with Him. You do not love Him. Alas! what could you do in heaven? It would be no place for you. Its joys would be no joys for you. Its happiness would be a happiness into which you could not enter. Its employments would be a weariness and burden to your heart. Oh, repent and change before it be too late!"

Read more of Ryle's sermons.

ABC News Special on "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ"

"I must respectfully suggest that those who are obsessed about the physicality of the resurrection don't really understand what they're talking about.”
--- Luke Timothy Johnson

“…I think Jesus was probably buried in a criminal's grave that would have been a large pit for a large number of people.”
--- Kathleen E. Corley

"I don't believe it was a physical resurrection exactly in the way we understand the body today – we have Jesus walking through walls…”
--- Karen L. King

These are all quotes from a 20/20 Special Report scheduled to air on Friday at 10 PM. It will feature some Christian apologists. Tune in for a spirit debated. [Thanks to Alan Shlemon for letting us know

Preaching the Gospel to our Children

What do you do as a parent when your children disobey you? How does the gospel of Jesus Christ impact the way we parent our children. Rob Wilkerson rightly calls us to point to Christ's obedience on the cross as substitution even when we discipline and admonish our children. When our kids disobey should we just preach to them about repentance, confession, Ephesians 6:1, and remind them of what happened to children in the OT when they disobeyed. Is there more to correction than this?

Defeating temptation by remembering to change

Justin Taylor's weblog has a great piece on how to defeat temptation in your life. A few weeks ago I preached that whenever we choose temptation in essence we are saying that we don't trust God. So I urge people to remember the promises of God in resisting the devil. Justin quotes Dave Powlison, a well-known and trustworthy biblical counseling leader.

Joel Osteen: Your Best Life Now!

At a conference I recently attended I met Daryl Wingerd, who along with Jim Eliff, is a shepherd in Kansas City, MO. Daryl recently wrote an on-line review of Joel Osteen's best-selling book Your Best Life Now. You can't walk into Barnes and Nobles without seeing copies of this "Christian self-help" book and it is flying out the door. This is not a book you want to buy and Daryl will explain why. Read the review and send it to your friends!

Modesty Matters

Pam Hardy at Grace Community Church in CA delivered a marvelous challenge on modesty. Her article demonstrates a great balance of speaking the truth in love with grace while avoiding legalism. She has done a great service to Christian ladies. I hope her article will gain wide circulation. "Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works." (1 Timothy 2:9-10, ESV)

The Believer's Provision in Christ

Paul writes, "For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come." (Ephesians 1:15-21, ESV). Our provision in Christ is so rich. Jonathan Edwards preached this deeply in a sermon called “The Portion of the Righteous” from Romans 2:10 which says to everyone who does good God will give glory, honor and peace.

"They have a foundation of unspeakable comfort and joy, because of their riches. They have true and infinite riches. They are the possessors and heirs of something real and substantial, and that is worthy to be called by the name of riches. The things they possess are excellent, more precious than gold and than rubies; all the desirable things of this world cannot equal them, and they have enough of it. The riches that they have given them of God are inexhaustible. It is sufficient for them; there is no end of it. They have a fountain of infinite good for their comfort, and contentment, and joy; for God has given himself to them to be their portion, and he is a God of infinite glory. There is glory in him to engage their contemplation forever and ever, without ever being satiated. And he is also an infinite fountain of love; for God is love, yea, an ocean of love without shore or bottom! The glorious Son of God is theirs; that lovely one, who was from all eternity God’s delight, rejoicing always before him. All his beauty is their portion, and his dying love is theirs, his very heart is theirs, and his glory and happiness in heaven are theirs, so far as their capacity will allow them to partake of it; for he has promised it to them, and has taken possession of it in their name. And the saints are also rich in the principle that is in them. They have inward riches which they carry about with them in their own hearts. They are rich in faith. Jam. 2:5, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?” They have the grace of God in their hearts, which is a most excellent treasure, and a good foundation of joy; for it is the seed of joy. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. And the seed that is sown in their hearts, is the grace of God there. That is a seed that, however it lies hid, will certainly in due time spring up, and put forth itself, and will bud, and blossom, and will bring forth rich fruit. These riches are the true riches. This is the good which God reserves for his friends. God distributes silver and gold and such like things among his enemies, because he slights them and regards them not. They are contemptible things in his eyes, as we throw husks to swine. But he has reserved better things for his children, of which no ungodly man, though a prince or monarch, shall partake. This is the ground which Christians have of peace and pleasure in this world. However, the saints cannot always take comfort, and do not always taste the sweetness that there is in store for them, by reason of the darkness and clouds that sometimes interpose. But though they may walk in great darkness for a long time, yet they are happy notwithstanding."

Praise God that He has given us everything we need for life and godliness and that we can rest in His provision!

Admonish the flock

A book that has impacted my life in ministry is entitled The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter. I remember reading that book several years ago and I still consult. He has some relevant admonition to pastors who are charged with giving instruction to the sheep (1 Thessalonians 5:12):

To preach a sermon, I think, is not the hardest part; and yet what skill is necessary to make the truth plain; to convince the hearers, to let irresistible light in to their consciences, and to keep it there, and drive all home; to screw the truth into their minds, and work Christ into their affections; to meet every objection, and clearly to resolve it; to drive sinners to a stand, and make them see that there is no hope, but that they must unavoidably either be converted or condemned—and to do all this, as regards language and manner, as beseems our work, and yet as is most suitable to the capacities of our hearers. This, and a great deal more that should be done in every sermon, must surely require a great deal of holy skill. So great a God, whose message we deliver, should be honoured by our delivery of it. It is a lamentable case, that in a message from the God of heaven, of everlasting moment to the souls of men, we should behave ourselves so weakly, so unhandsomely, so imprudently, or so slightly, that the whole business should miscarry in our hands, and God should be dishonoured, and his work disgraced, and sinners rather hardened than converted; and all this through our weakness or neglect! How often have carnal hearers gone home jeering at the palpable and dishonourable failings of the preacher! How many sleep under us, because our hearts and tongues are sleepy, and we bring not with us so much skill and zeal as to awake them!

The power of reading and sharing good books.

I have had many books given to me throughout the years, some of which have changed my life in one way or another. I would encourage you to read and to pass on books that impact your life for Jesus Christ. However, make sure the books that you give are biblically solid, God-exalting, and Christ-centered. Here are some great sources for such books:

1. Cumberland Valley Book Service
2. Grace Books International
3. Audobon Press
   

"A book by Richard Sibbes, one of the choicest of the Puritan writers, was read by Richard Baxter, who was greatly blessed by it. Baxter then wrote his Call To The Unconverted which deeply influenced Philip Doddridge, who in turn wrote The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. This brought the young William Wilberforce, subsequent English statesman and foe of slavery, to serious thoughts of eternity. Wilberforce wrote his Practical Book of Christianity which fired the soul of Leigh Richmond. Richmond, in turn, wrote The Dairyman’s Daughter, a book that brought thousands to the Lord, helping Thomas Chalmers the great preacher, among others." --Ernest Reisinger, "Every Christian A Publisher" Free Grace Broadcaster, Issue 51, Winter 1995, p. 18

So, read a good book, recommend some to others, and give a book as a gift!

Should we tell people to ask Jesus into their heart?

A very popular invitation in popular Christianity goes something like this: "And all you have to do to be born again is to ask Jesus into your heart." In fact, my wife was just completing a Bible study today where this sort of invitation was defended on the basis of Galatians 4:4. But here are seven excellent reasons why we should not be calling people to "ask Jesus into your heart." Instead, we should be calling people "to repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). (These come from Pastor Dennis Rosker of Duluth Bible Church in MN. Note: there are some deficiencies in his article including the absence of repentance in the gospel call of salvation. However, his main points are very well stated and demonstrate we should not be calling people to "ask Jesus into your heart.")

1. Don't ask Jesus into your heart because it is never found in the Bible.
2. Don't ask Jesus into your heart because it is not how one is saved.
3. Don't ask Jesus into your heart because it requires no understanding of the gospel of grace to do it.
4. Don't ask Jesus into your heart because it confuses the means of salvation with the results of salvation.
5. Don't ask Jesus into your heart because it either results in no assurance of salvation or brings a false assurance to people.
6. Don't ask Jesus into your heart because Revelation 3:20 doesn't teach it.
7. Don't ask Jesus into your heart because it doesn't clarify the condition of salvation--it confuses it--especially with children.