Heaven is the dwelling place of all good men and the absence of every sort of misery. We will be blessed there with an indescribable abundance of good things for the body and the soul and the possession of God. All our desires will be satisfied. Our husband Jesus Christ will consummate all our hopes.
Archive for July 2011
The Glory of Heaven Must Powerfully Motivate Us to Godliness
Sunday, July 31, 2011Augustine’s Sociology: Only Two Types of Societies
Friday, July 29, 2011The following quote is a good summary of Augustine’s City of God: And the kingdom of death so reigned over men, that the deserved penalty of sin would have hurled all headlong even into the second death, of which there is no end, had not the undeserved grace of God saved some therefrom. And thus [...]
Adam and Eve Follow-Up: A Dialogue between Kevin DeYoung and Jack Collins
Thursday, July 28, 2011As I noted here last week, I have contacted Dr. Collins regarding my review of his book, Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? Dr. Collins has replied, and I have asked his permission to publish his reply here. I have not yet heard back from him. In the meantime, I thought the following exchange between [...]
Husbands and Wives
Friday, July 22, 2011“Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.” — Martin Luther HT: Patrick’s Pensees
Dr. Collins responds to the review of his book
Friday, July 22, 2011Dr. Collins has replied to my review of his book, Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?: I should not go into great detail here, but I would simply like to observe that I consider the reviewer, whom I do not know, to have been mistaken in her presentation of my arguments, and in her interpretation [...]
Summer Sabbatical
Wednesday, July 20, 2011Dear friends, I have decided to take a summer sabbatical from blogging. This does not mean that I will not post at all. It means that my blogging will be much more irregular. Everything is fine. I’m just taking a break. I plan on posting regularly again in September. Your friend, Wes
Eve out of Adam’s Side
Tuesday, July 19, 2011“[Eve] was not made out of [Adam’s] head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side, to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” — Matthew Henry HT: Patrick’s Pensees.
Faith and New Obedience
Tuesday, July 19, 2011“It is also false that faith and new obedience are one and the same thing. I own that faith is a virtue or grace, commanded by the law of God and that a believer, by his very believing obeys God. I likewise confess that we are to look upon nothing as a true and living [...]
Can Theistic Evolution and an Historical Adam Be Reconciled?
Monday, July 18, 2011By Rachel Miller Many people on both sides of the evolution debate believe that theistic evolution and an historical Adam cannot be reconciled. However, Dr. C. John (Jack) Collins disagrees. In his latest book, Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?, Dr. Collins, Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary, explains how theistic evolution and [...]
Returning the World’s Love
Sunday, July 17, 2011“When the world smiles on us and favors us, it has enormous power to draw our hearts away from God toward worldly things (2 Tim. 4:10). We are so wordly minded by nature that when the world is well disposed toward us, we can hardly restrain ourselves from loving it in return.” — Willem Teelinck
It Is Not My Faith in Christ That Saves Me
Sunday, July 17, 2011The following is an essay by Charles Spurgeon from his Morning and Evening: “Looking unto Jesus.” –Hebrews 12:2 It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of [...]
Genesis 1–3: A Purely Historical Account
Friday, July 15, 2011The Lutheran Theologian David Scaer has an excellent treatment in the Concordia Theological Quarterly on why Genesis 1–3 should be considered “a purely historical account.” In the article, he explains the differences between a historical and a symbolic account. Then, he goes on to apply that criteria to the specifics of Genesis 1–3. He writes: [...]
Jürgen Moltmann & Liberation Theology
Thursday, July 14, 2011Johann Tangelder was a Reformed minister in Canada. He wrote regularly. You can find his articles here. I thought the following was a good summary of the trends in modern theology. Tangelder noted that there is a tendency to focus on this life and the social structures to the neglect of the future life. He [...]
Free Press or Internet Repression?
Wednesday, July 13, 2011What do we do about the internet? Some people want to have a General Assembly discussion about how we use the internet. I do not mind such a discussion, but I do not think it is as necessary as some in the PCA do. The internet is just another form of communication, and the difficulties [...]
Setting Our Minds on Heaven
Wednesday, July 13, 2011I often find it difficult to think on heaven like I should, to really make it my goal, and to seek it as my true homeland. Wilhelmus à Brakel provides some great words that I have found very helpful. First, he gives a great description of heavenly glory for our meditation: One ought to focus [...]
Balancing Our Perspective on Adam & Eve
Tuesday, July 12, 2011On this web site, we have tried to represent the importance of Adam and Eve for our theology. I thought it might be helpful to get an alternative view. N.T. Wright reminds us once again that we Americans should be less concerned about these issues and put much more emphasis on implementing Jesus’ agenda in [...]
Keller: “Noah’s flood … was a regional flood”
Monday, July 11, 2011One of the hot debates over how to interpret Genesis is what to make of Noah’s flood. Is it myth or history? Was is worldwide or local? Here is Tim Keller’s answer: In order to be true to my own principle, I won’t bother you with information about the different views of the flood. Let me [...]
South Sudan Free at Last with Many Challenges Ahead
Monday, July 11, 2011One positive development in the world scene this past year was the formation of South Sudan as a new nation. It officially declared independence on July 9, 2011. J.H. McDonnell describes the events that led to South Sudan’s declaration of independence: July 9, 2011 was actually the second time the people of South Sudan have [...]
The Glory of Biblical Worship
Sunday, July 10, 2011TE Ryan McGraw, a PCA Pastor near Myrtle Beach, SC, has written a helpful article on the beauty of biblical worship. He concludes with six practical recommendations for experiencing the glory worship: We must neither formulate our public worship for the non-believer or for the believer, but for God only. The question of importance is [...]
From a Garden to a City?
Saturday, July 9, 2011Carl Trueman has written an article over at Reformation 21 about the current urban focus. Here is an excerpt from the article: One thing Paul and I did discuss was the current nonsense about cities being special which so dominates the popular evangelical imagination. Not that cities are not important: as areas where there are [...]