Saturdays With Cash
Posted: June 6, 2009 Filed under: Just for Fun 1 CommentWhen you’re weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I’m on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found, Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.
When you’re down and out, When you’re on the street, When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you. I’ll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pain is all around, Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.
Sail on silvergirl, Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend I’m sailing right behind. Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind. Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind.
The Prayer of the Lord by R. C. Sproul
Posted: June 5, 2009 Filed under: Book of the Week, R.C. Sproul, Reformation Trust Leave a commentFrom Ligonier: What is the Lord’s Prayer? In The Prayer of the Lord, Dr. R. C. Sproul writes, “Jesus’ intent was to give His disciples a model prayer, an example to follow, one that would teach them transferrable principles for conversation with God.” In short, Christ gave the Lord’s Prayer to teach His disciples about prayer, and Dr. Sproul, in his trademark fashion, brings out many of the truths Christ intended for His followers to learn. Readers will learn how not to pray, then will be led into a deeper understanding of such topics as the fatherhood of God, the kingdom of God, the will of God, the nature of sin and forgiveness, the dangers of temptation, and the cunning of Satan. The final chapter includes questions and answers on various aspects of prayer not covered elsewhere in the book, and the appendix addresses the difficult question of the relationship of God’s sovereignty and prayer. The Prayer of the Lord is an eye-opening journey, one that reveals new vistas in familiar terrain. 
Retail $15.00 | Ligonier’s Price $12.00
Hardcover 5.5 x 8 | 144 Pages
ISBN 1-56769-118-8 | Released May 2009
Order Here for $12.00
Table of Contents and Sample Chapter
High-Res Image: Front Cover | Back Cover
About the Author Dr. R. C. Sproul is the founder and president of Ligonier Ministries, and the minister of preaching and teaching at St. Andrew’s in Sanford, Fla. He is the author of more than sixty books and served as the general editor of The Reformation Study Bible. Dr. Sproul is renowned for his ability to communicate deep, practical truths from God’s Word.
My Thoughts: If you are looking for a short little book that is to the point on the Lord’s Prayer R.C. Sproul’s newest little title goes through it line by line. Dr. Sproul goes through the model of Christ example in how we believers are to pray to our Father. My Favorite part of the whole book is chapter one dealing with, “How Not to Pray.” The chapter deals with: Avoiding Hypocritical Practices, A Facade of Hypocrisy, Avoiding Pagan Practices, and Praying to a God Who Already Knows.
In a day and age that Christians can often try to pray like they are some “holy-roller” or show themselves as if they know more then the guy next to them in their prayers, Dr. Sproul starts by showing exactly what not to do before dealing with Christ example in what to do. No matter for the young convert in learning how to pray, or the seminary student that studies all day, the book is a great reminder of the example from Scripture that christ has given his church to follow.
You Can Pre-order Thabiti Anyabwile’s New Book at RHB for 50% OFF Today Only!
Posted: June 4, 2009 Filed under: Profiles in Reformed Spirituality, Reformation Heritage Books, Thabiti M. Anyabwile Leave a commentPre-order for 50% OFF only today!
May We Meet in the Heavenly World: The Piety of Lemuel Haynes
Thabiti M. Anyabwile
Paperback, 152 pages
Page size: 4.5 x 7 inches
Retail Price: $10.00
RHB Price: $7.50
Pre-order Price Today Only: $5.00
ISBN 978-1-60178-065-2
Available: June 30
In “May We Meet in the Heavenly World”, Thabiti M. Anyabwile introduces us to the New England preacher, Lemuel Haynes (1753–1833). Through both the biographical essay and the selections from Haynes’s writings, readers are sure to perceive an Edwardsian sense of spirituality that ever lived in view of eternity. Well acquainted with difficulties, suffering, and death, Haynes’s ministry was infused with the unfailing hope of heaven.
Commendations
“This well chosen selection from Lemuel Haynes’s writings represents a significant part of the earliest African-American engagements with the Reformed theological tradition. In that tradition Haynes and his black contemporaries, both American and British, found a language of justice and inspiration that allowed them to criticize slavery and racial prejudice, and to offer a Christian vision of a free society. “May We Meet in the Heavenly World” can be recommended to students of Christian theology and of American history.”
—John Saillant, author of Black Puritan, Black Republican: The Life and Thought of Lemuel Haynes, 1753–1833
About the author
Thabiti M. Anyabwile is senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. He has a strong professional and academic background in community psychology, with special interest in the history and development of the African American church. He is the author of The Faithful Preacher, What is a Healthy Church Member?, and The Decline of African American Theology. Pastor Anyabwile and his wife, Kristie, have three children.
For other books in the Profiles in Reformed Spirituality series, click herehttp://www.heritagebooks.org/bookstore/catalog/index.php?cPath=222_448
Are You a Young Calvin Scholar?
Posted: June 3, 2009 Filed under: Calvin 500 Leave a commentPart of The Calvin500 Tribute Conference in Geneva during July (schedule posted here), will feature an afternoon session devoted to papers presented by Young Calvin Scholars. To present a summary of a paper at the Geneva Conference on July 8, 2009 in the afternoon, the paper (5,000-7,500 words) must meet the following qualifications:
- Must be submitted electronically in English to David Hall
- Must be submitted by June 12, 2009
- Must be in MS Word format
- Must be an original work by a registered participant that is attending the conference already
- Must be under 45 years of age
- Must have at least a Masters degree in related studies (M.S., M.A., M.A.R., M.T.S., M.Div., Th.M.)
- Must focus on some topic addressed by John Calvin, using Calvin as a primary source
Prizes will be awarded, and recognition will be given in the published volume of Proceedings from the conference. Prizes are as follows:
- First Prize $300
- Second Prize $150
- Third Prize $100
Professors, advisors, and participants are asked to spread the word and encourage some of our best young Calvin scholars to attend and present their work.
Since I reach all of the following, I decided to give it a shot. Below is a link of the paper that a friend and I wrote. I’ll be sure to write a post here in the next month letting you know if I made it or not. I’m hoping for the best, but you can read and see for yourself if I have a shot.
Calvin’s Practical View of Adoption: Its Privileges and Duties
What does it mean? The Sabbath was made for Man…
Posted: June 2, 2009 Filed under: Sabbath 2 CommentsWhat does it mean when Christ said in Mark 2:27-28, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
If the Sabbath in the Old Testament was focused on the plan of redemption, the key events and people that played apart of it, then how does the New Testament practice of this take place for the church today?
If the Old Testament church practice was to look at the grace that God had gave to his people in the past, then how does the New Testament church today look at the grace on the Sabbath today?
If the Old Testament church looked on the Sabbath at how God was dependable for them, then how does the New Testament church do the same today?
If the home was mainly were the Old Testament church observed and practice the Sabbath, then how and where does the New Testament church observe and practice this today?
If the Sabbath’s main focus was on the family in the Old Testament, then what is the main focus of the Lord’s Day for the assembly of the church in the New Testament?
“Christ took the Sabbath in the tomb with him, and on Resurrection day refocused it to the Lord’s Day.” — Thomas Watson
How has the Sabbath/Lord’s Day refocus your life? or should I ask, Does it at all?
Read further: Matthew 12, Mark 2, & Luke 6
The Beauty of God’s Kingdom – Part 4
Posted: June 1, 2009 Filed under: The Beauty of God's Kingdom Leave a commentI had started a 4 part series on The Beauty of God’s Kingdom about two-weeks ago, before I was interrupted by a series (Don’t Bash the Man Called Cash) which took over most of last week on Johnny Cash and Gospel-Centered Living. Before this post, there were three others in dealing with the topic.
Part 1 The Beauty of God’s Kingdom in Hebrews 12
Part 3 was An Acceptable Kingdom
And for Part 4, The Beauty of God’s Kingdom is that you serve A Consuming God. The beauty of God’s Kingdom is that His fire, judgment, and wrath will consume all those that are not a part of the gospel.
The reason we serve the kingdom of God in awe is because of the fear of what we know lies in the very character and hand of almighty God. To think that we could be in the place of never knowing Christ, or never being part of this unshakable kingdom, should bring us to our knees in adoration of whom we serve on a daily basis. This is not a game or some joke, or even just a mere story written by some random writer; we are talking about the creator of the universe. This is why the writer of Hebrews ends this chapter by showing the importance of recognizing who our God is, bringing forth the most severe warning in the whole book of Hebrews. Those who do not know the gospel, do not know God, and do not live in the unshakable kingdom have only the force of God awaiting them. The God of Sinai – whom none could approach – is the same God of Zion. The judgments and wrath that poured out among the people of the golden calf awaits those that make idols in the same way today.
In other words, if you are not under the grace of God, you are damned because nothing but the wrath of God waits for you. Wrath abides on your head, and unless you see Christ, see your mediator, and repent and come to the fountain of blood which is offered to all, there will be no mercy for you. God does not tolerate other gods. And other gods aren’t just physical statues – gods are anything you serve besides the one true God. So, whether you serve yourself, your sin, your wants, your money, your greed, your lusts, your pride, your self-pity, or any god of doing whatever it may be that your flesh wants, the almighty God will not allow any before Him. They are completely shakable and have no part in the gospel kingdom.
There is another angle to this, which is vital to speak of, because some of you may be sitting here today and you know the gospel and are part of the unshakable kingdom, but you still struggle in areas which don’t allow you to live in reverence or awe as you ought to. You may struggle with debt that seems too large, bills too high, unruly children, unsaved family, difficult work, never-ending housekeeping, taxing studies, great worries, deep agony, depression, hurt… and you wish that Christ would come and shake what needs be, and take home what is His as soon as possible.
For those who feel this way, I want to say this:
I am going to end this message where I started – and that is exactly what you have do also. You have to end where you started – that is, Jesus Christ. He who gave you everything you have, will finish everything for you. God shows Himself as a consuming fire so that you can enjoy His good news and enjoy His work in awe. God, this consuming fire, did not spare His Son, but sent Him to the cross. He poured out His wrath – this consuming fire – upon His Son so that you can benefit now and for eternity. But even more than benefiting for ourselves, we benefit for the glory of God. We remember that the God of the law is the God of the gospel; the God of Mount Sinai is the God of Mount Zion; and because of His mercy His people enjoy new mercies every morning, so that we live daily in reverence and awe for Him. Someday, the person who mocked the gospel, who did not come to Christ, who refused the cross, will receive the consuming fire of God. But the one for whom Christ laid down His life in the front lines of the fire of God, that person lives for Him. He didn’t give us the gospel benefits in this kingdom for us to walk around and boast in ourselves, and he didn’t give them for our own self-gratitude. He gave them to make His own name known… to make known His fame and His glory, so that the world may see His holiness among all the nations, so that more will come from the farthest ends of the earth and proclaim, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”
Gospel-Centered Musings 