The Truth IN Context

Embed Audio

2011-07-27T22:29:00.002-05:00

I would like to embed audio of my sermons here but do not know how to do that. Does anyone know of an easy free way to do this? Leave me a comment.

Dragon Excerpts

2011-02-16T14:28:00.002-06:00

I am using Dragon Naturally Speaking to take notes for my Pastoral Counseling class. Today my wife came in and started talking to me, I forgot to sleep the mike, when I went back to work my notes had this in the middle of them.

a. I later got you want to hear that you are pretty good home cooking or what seven dollars $3.02 dollars will come on, after all the money he made his fame yesterday eight dollars for his haircut or even a diet red great to have that irony. Oh for how much he is as early about the hate and re transfers take you out of the house to go to surgery no post tomorrow Friday for a new government take over lunch at the OU where I'll attend affiliate in me okay okay, I read, so it would if he doesn't get a 4530 ministry accuracy should leave that he has to be kinky, Mike D. Blair yesterday with a thin denial discouraging they can't people have plans. So it was simply my knowing a picture. I hate my stomach when I don't have turns their own nursery homes to. Are you Andrew always do a matter of, you can go up

Oh well, back to work

Rick Warren

2010-10-08T11:30:00.001-05:00

Rick spoke at this years DGNC, I am still miffed as to why John Piper had him but he did. Much has been made of Rick's no show at the conference. Some say he did not want the pressure of having to answer direct questions from well-read reformed Christians. Personally I have no way of knowing the real reason Warren appeared via video message but this I do know. Rick Warren's character is above reproach. If he says he has persons close to him in need that require his presence in Southern California I believe him. As to his message, well, once a heretic.....

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I Live In An Interesting Place,,, Or Not!

2010-10-05T09:38:00.001-05:00

I am testing uploading a picture from my Android phone. This is a picture of an app on my iPad and shows just how interesting the place we moved to is.

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Tidying Up The Place

2010-10-03T14:22:00.002-05:00

I have been cleaning up the blog since it has been a couple of years since I paid it any attention. Yesterday I was cleaning up the blogroll, deleting old ones, looking for new ones to add, when I ran across a blog by a woman taking care of her parents, what are the odds?

I thought I would post about this and direct my readers, how ever few there be, her way. Go visit the blog and comment, I am sure she could use the encouragement. Find her here: Adventures In Eldersitting.

Hermeneutics Observation

2010-10-02T17:46:00.002-05:00

I am doing Hermeneutics as a directed study, which means since there are no lectures I have to read about 5000 pages. I don't care who you are that's a lot of reading. Currently I am reading "Let The Reader Understand" by Dan McCartney and Charles Clayton. I must say, being about two-thirds through the book, it is an excellent introduction to the discipline.

I used to swear by the NASB because it was the most literal of all the translations. I am not so wooden, get it, that's a pun, in my stance any longer. Having spent the last two years studying Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, not to mention English has opened my eyes to the fact that a wooden translation is not always the best. A couple of sentences in the book I am reading sumarize my paradigm shift beautifully. "A 'literal' translation is not 'more accurate' than an idomatic one. Quite the reverse; an idiomatic translation, if it is a good one, is much more likely to convey the exact meaning than a literal one."

Don't get me wrong, I still love the NASB and The Message still sucks but the NIV and the ESV often give a better sense of the original language than does the NASB. This is due to the fluidity of language and wood can not be fluid. Just an observation, go Wolverines!

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Are We As Crazy As The Liberals?

2010-09-30T20:04:00.001-05:00

I don't know why but I am following a liberal Presbyterian on Twitter. He is insane. He curses like a sailor, calls me and several others "fundieloons," and has compassion for everyone{except the "fundieloons"}, even celebrating their sin.

Over the past several days there have been some suicides of some teens who were apparantly homosexual. He is blaming the "fundieloons." Now there are those "conservative christians" who resort to vulgar language and have no compassion, I am thinking here of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist folk, but I think they are a small minority among conservatives and I loath being lumped in with them. I, as a conservative Christian, would treat these young ones as I would anyone living in unrepentant sin. With love I would point them to Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who lived the sinless life we never could, died the perfect sacrificial death to pay for our sins and rose again on the third day assuring us of eternal life. The gospel of God is strong enough to save even sinners such as these poor young men who felt they had no option but to take their own lives.

If I could talk with this liberal on twitter without him cursing me out or resorting to ad-hominem attacks I would ask him what is more loving, telling them there is escape from this sin in the gospel of Christ or telling them it is ok to live their lives in a sin that will condem them to hell?

Finally, the point I began this post thinking about is this. Are we as guilty of misrepresenting the liberals sometimes as they are of us? What say you?

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I Have A New Phone!

2010-09-28T16:52:00.000-05:00

My wife and I got new cell phones last week. We were due for upgrades and since her Centro was literally falling apart we went for the newly released Samsung Epic. I was going to get the new HTC Evo but the slide out keyboard and super amoled screen sold me on the epic. This is an adroid phone so now I just need Logos to put out their android app and all will be well in the world. They do have a Blogger app, which I am using now, so maybe I will get around to posting more often. One thing I don't like is the battery life on this thing,, gotta run now and charge my new phone, again.

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What Is Redemptive-Historical Preaching?

2010-01-11T08:22:00.003-06:00

I have had a couple of people comment on my previous post and ask what RH preaching is so I will try and explain it using as many monosyllabic words as possible. Basically RH preaching takes Jesus' words in LK 24:27 seriously, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."

The Bible is a Redemptive-Historical book. Gen. 1-3 informs us of the creation and fall of mankind. Gen. 4-Rev. 22 informs us of God's redeeming of fallen mankind. It is easy to find Christ and His work in the New Testament, but Christ Himself informs us the whole of the Old Testament is about Him as well.

Let me give an example. It is all too easy today to find someone preach the David and Goliath passage as moralistic. What do I mean by this? Well what you might hear is a sermon on "What are the giants in your life?" or "What are the smooth stones in your life that can help your slay the giants in your life?" The problem with this is the sermon is then centered on you, the listener, instead of Christ. David in this story is a type of Christ, a foreshadowing of the great deliverer to come. When David defeats the giant the Old Testament is preparing the people of God for the coming of Messiah. To make the listener live up to a type of Christ in David is just plain cruel, this is a burden no believer should have to endure.

In this story if one must identify with anyone it surely is the Israelites who stood around, afraid of the giant waiting until a deliverer finally arrived on the scene. We should be able to identify often with the people of Israel, miserable failures who are graciously delivered by a merciful God.

One accusation leveled against RH preaching is that it is against application. This is entirely unfounded. There is a small group who surely feel this way but the vast majority of Biblical Theologians do not. Biblical Theology and Redemptive-Historical for the most part go hand in hand. RH preachers most assuredly believe in application, as one of my former pastors said you have to make sure you answer the "So what," of the sermon. Meaning the listener in the pew is saying "so what," to the sermon until the pastor informs him.

The bottom line is this, a Christian sermon must be about Christ, not about the listener. Let me give two quick diagnostics you may use when listening to a sermon. The first is very simple, ask yourself "Did Christ have to die to make what is being said in this sermon true?" If the answer is no, you have not heard preaching, you have heard a lecture. The second is three parts but I find this one very helpful. 1)Is Jesus mentioned? Don't laugh you could go for months listening to Joel Osteen and not hear a thing about Christ. 2)If Jesus is mentioned, is He the subject of the verbs? Is He doing the action or is being acted on? 3)If He is mentioned and He is the subject of the verbs, what are those verbs? Is He making you happy, healthy, wealthy? Or is He suffering and dying on a cross for the redemption of the believers, and is He rising again on the third day assuring us of eternal life.

I hope this helps shed some light for some of you. I also want to say how delighted I am to have at least a couple of people reading this while my posting has been so terribly sparse. Feel free to ask any more questions if I have not lived up to expectations with this post.

In Christ,
Alan

The Skinny on Redemptive Historical Preaching

2009-12-27T20:14:00.002-06:00

There seems to be much misunderstanding down here in the deep south about RH preaching. It appears that few here consider this method of preaching worthwhile. I find that unfortunate because it appears that the reaction against this Biblical preaching method leads to some very suspect sermons.

First let me set the record straight, RH preaching is not against application. This comes from a small, vocal minority from the pacific north west that is against any type of application. I do not support this and most Biblical Theologians do not either. There are plenty of imperative verbs in the NT, that is undeniable, the only point of contention I have is that they flow naturally out of the indicatives. It is only in light of what Christ has done for us that we are able to do what the Lord commands.

Second let me say I have heard some very moralistic sermons here that encourage believers to "Dare to be a David" or "Don't be like Moses." The problem with these kind of sermons are that these historical characters are types of Christ's we are not to emulate. To be sure there are examples we should identify with, we just need to make sure we identify with the proper ones. We are not to see ourselves as David defeating Goliath, we should see ourselves as the Israelites who stood by and did nothing to defeat this foe but were delivered by the type of Christ David was.

I write this in light of a comment I received from a local pastor who seems very opposed to the RH method. He has offered to come have lunch with me and I look forward to this. I have come to respect this particular pastor from interaction I have had with him on a yahoo newsgroup I have been involved with since before I began attending seminary. That being said, Ken I look forward to spending time with you and learning from your years in the pulpit.

Logos is giving away Bibles!!!

2009-08-04T12:43:00.001-05:00

Logos is giving away 12 Bibles during the month of August and I just entered to win. Logos is the best Bible software on the market and they also have the best customer relations of any company I have ever dealt with, period.

Verse:
John 3:16; Jn 3:16; John 3

Keyword:
Salvation, Jesus, Gospel

With Operators:
AND, OR, NOT, â€œ â€

Online Bible by Logos

Add this to your site!

Some Quotes

2009-05-30T11:39:00.005-05:00

"My mom said she learned how to swim. Someone took her out in the lake and threw her off the boat. That's how she learned how to swim. I said,
'Mom, they weren't trying to teach you how to swim.' "
--Paula Poundstone

"Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography."
--Paul Rodriguez

"I'm always amazed to hear of air crash victims so badly mutilated that they have to be identified by their dental records. What I can't understand is, if they don't know who you are, how do they know who your dentist is?"
Paul Merton.

"I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time."
Steven Wright

Something Fun

2009-05-18T19:01:00.002-05:00

Ok, summer is here and I survived my first year of seminary. I hope to publish a few things this summer, some insights from seminary, things I have learned or whatever strikes my fancy. I thought I would share this video because deep inside me there is an artist struggling to get out. I played guitar in a couple of bands as a young pagan and always thought I wanted to be a rock star. This inner artist has never left me and I am always looking for interesting videos on the net and this is one. I know I probably don't have many readers left after taking nearly a year off but at least I can use this as a forum for speaking my mind and if anyone reads this I hope it will be enjoyed. I know I usually am hunting heretics or speaking on the finer points of divergence between the infralapsarian and the supralapsarian but just sit back for a few minutes and enjoy this. Btw, SG, did you catch the sample in there, if you did let me know.

Quote of the Day

2009-05-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

Once a man makes the conversion of sinners his prime design and all-consuming end and NOT THE GLORY OF GOD, he is exceedingly apt to adopt a wrong course. Instead of striving to preach the Truth in all its purity, he will tone it down so as to make it more palatable to the unregenerate. Impelled by a single force, moving in one fixed direction, his object is to make conversion easy; and therefore, favorite passages (like John 3:16) are dwelt upon incessantly, while others are ignored or pared away. It inevitably reacts upon his own theology; and various verses in the Word are shunned, if not repudiated. What place will he give in his thoughts to such declarations as, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jer. 13:23); "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw Him" (John 6:44); "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:14)?
He will be sorely tempted to modify the truth of God's sovereign election, of Christ's particular redemption, of the imperative necessity for the super-natural operations of the Holy Spirit.

Arthur W. Pink

Covenant Theology Final Tomorrow

2009-05-11T20:25:00.002-05:00

What is Covenant Theology?

Covenant Theology is the Gospel set in the context of God's eternal plan of communion with his people, and its historical outworking in the covenants of works and grace. Covenant Theology explains the meaning of the death of Christ in light of the fullness of the biblical teaching on the divine covenants, undergirds our understanding of the nature and use of the sacraments, and provides the fullest possible explanation of the grounds of our assurance.

Quote of the Day

2009-05-09T14:07:00.001-05:00

I found this on monergism.com, I am not sure who it is but it is very true!

"If we are not in covenant with God, we will never know him at all. And if we do not understand the importance of the covenants, we will not be able to make much sense of vast portions of the bible. What was it, in the simplest mode of expression, that Jesus shed his blood to accomplish? According to his own words at the last Supper, the significance of his death was summed up in one term, “New Covenant” (Matthew 26:28). If we do not understand covenant terminology, this will leave us at best with a very fuzzy understanding of the benefits of Christ's death; and if we do not understand the unity and organic connectedness of the divine covenants, we will miss the coherence of the bible, the unity of God's redemptive design, and the centrality of the Christ of the covenants, who is the bible's great hero."

Paul Washer

2009-05-08T12:19:00.001-05:00

I pray that one day I have half this mans boldness.

Another Quote

2009-05-06T19:15:00.002-05:00

"Have you ever noticed that most conferences on evangelism concentrate on methods and not on the message content?"
"There is too much moralizing in evangelical preaching and not enough magnifying of grace in Jesus."
--Will Metzger in "Tell the Truth."

Quotes Of The Day

2009-05-06T11:50:00.002-05:00

“It is my conviction that many who are presently disposed toward Dispensationalism would not be victims of the system if they were better acquainted and informed about the system and its history - its theological roots and the doctrinal errors it has spawned.”
--The Late Ernest Reisinger, Pastor Emeritus, Grace Baptist Church, Coral Springs, FL

"Dispensationalism has thrown down the gauntlet; and it is high time that covenant theologians take up the challenge and respond to them Biblically."
--Dr. Robert L. Reymond, author, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith

“The flawed system of theology known as Dispensationalism has had a negative influence on the Christian church over the last 150 years or so. The debilitating results of this errant theology needs to be corrected for the church of Christ to be about her work of fulfilling the Great Commission given to her by her Lord (Matthew 28:18-20).
--Dr. W. Gary Crampton, author, Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism & Arminianism

Seminary vs. The Blog

2009-04-17T10:06:00.003-05:00

I have discovered something as my first year of seminary comes to an end, those who are in seminary and still blog are letting something in their studies slip. I am not kidding, so many people tell me you can't do ALL the reading, yes you can, if you stop blogging. I may be a bit obsessive here but it can be done and since it is in the syllabus probably should be done. I hope to post a few over the summer but we shall see.

Logos Has A Cool Giveaway

2009-02-06T13:21:00.001-06:00

I know I have not posted in quite some time, Greek and Hebrew are keeping me very busy, but this is a great offer from Logos I just had to pass on. Not to mention it gets me another entry into the drawing:)

Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. Not only that, but they are also giving away five subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine and a copy of their Bible Study Library software! Enter to win on the Bible Study Magazine Mark Driscoll page, then take a look at all the cool tools they have to take your Bible study to the next level!

If Anyone Still Reads This

2008-12-11T21:13:00.002-06:00

The semester is over and I made it out alive, as a matter of fact I made it out with an A in Hebrew even though I was sick twice and missed several classes. I got a B in Greek translation and a C in Greek Exegesis, Hey I'll take it, Dr. Waters grades tough!

I got a new Palm Centro last weekend and am loving it. We switched to Sprint with their unlimited data plan and get live streaming NFL network 24/7. Yeah, I am the only one in the family who is loving that, but I AM loving that. I loaded up all of my Olive Tree software on Sunday and the free ereader and now have a library of several hundred books with me wherever I go. I love this thing, I thought the small keyboard and screen would be a pain but neither is true. The keyboard is amazingly easy to use considering the size and the screen, with the high-res, is easy on the eyes. I know many do not like the Palm OS but I am used to it and am kind of excited about the new OS coming out next year. I highly recommend the Centro.

Sex Talk In Church Is Wrong

2008-11-16T09:51:00.004-06:00

Nothing makes me more tired than these "new" sex talk from the pulpit. First I find them unnecessary. We have survived millenniums without them, and second some things are not to be publicized. This video disgusts me.

WOW!

2008-11-15T13:30:00.001-06:00

StrangelyDrawn Speed Painting - "Ray Charles" - Watch more funny videos here

What?

2008-11-15T11:36:00.003-06:00

We have heard of things like this before. I believe it was sometime in the 1930's in a land called GERMANY!

Shhh, Something Cool Is About To Happen

2008-11-15T10:58:00.000-06:00

Animusic

Should We Pray For Barack Obama?

2008-11-14T00:38:00.001-06:00

Of course we should, we must, we are instructed to in Scripture. But what is it we should pray for him?

Is Unbelief A Sin?

2008-10-25T13:25:00.001-05:00

HT: Truth Matters

Some Things Never Change

2008-10-19T00:34:00.000-05:00

By The Way, Don't You Dare Vote For Him!!

2008-10-17T17:38:00.002-05:00

Augustine On Speaking

2008-09-19T17:06:00.003-05:00

There are many today who ignore or downplay the importance of those who came before us. I was once trying to decide on which level of Logos software I would purchase and when I asked my pastor which I should buy and told him the main difference was the more expensive one had the 38 volume early church fathers, he told me save my money, I need not buy something I may only look at once or twice ever! I look at those volumes once or twice a week in a slow week now. If we forget where we came from how are we to know where we are going?

Now for Augustine:

"For eloquent speakers give pleasure, wise ones salvation"

Philip Schaff, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Vol. II, St. Augustin's City of God and Christian Doctrine. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 577.

Jesus Is My Friend?

2008-09-15T18:43:00.001-05:00

I don't even know where to start with this. I will leave it at this, Jesus is not our friend, he is our Lord and Saviour and Master. We will not sing silly songs to Him, we will bow down with fear and trembling and cry out "I am undone!"

The bad theology ought to be apparent. So enjoy, I guess.

My Digital Library

2008-09-12T20:23:00.005-05:00

I saw someone else put their entire Logos Library online and that inspired me to do the same. I know there may be one or two bibliophiles out there interested enough to read this entire list but be warned, there are 2938 titles here. If you are like me enjoy and feel free to comment on anything book related you like. I may update my Libronix wish list as Christmas gets closer.:)

Alan's Libronix Library

1 Corinthians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary
1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary
1890 Darby Bible
2 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary
A Body of Divinity
A BODY OF DOCTRINAL DIVINITY
A Body of PRACTICAL Divinity
A Box of Treasure
A Brief Instruction in the Worship of God
A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.
A Bundle of Arrows
A Call To Prayer
A Call To Radical Faith
A Call to the Unconverted, To Turn and Live
A Castaway
A Christian on the Mount
A Collection of Letters
A Demonstration of the Errors of a Late Book
A Description of Christ
A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography
A Dissertation on Divine Justice
A Divine Cordial
A Fourfold Salvation
A Good Start
A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament
A Guide to Fervent Prayer
A Help to Domestic Happiness
A History of American Christianity
A History of the Moravian Church
A Larger Christian Life
A Paraphrase Upon The Epistle of Paul to Galatians
A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life
A Serious Call To A Devout and Holy Life
A Short History of Monks and Monasteries
A Short Meditation The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles
A Study of Dispensationalism
A Syllabus of Studies in Hermeneutics
A Testimony of Jesus Christ
A Treatise on Good Works
ABC's of Evolutionism
Abide in Christ
The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament
Absolute Surrender
Absolute Surrender
Accountability
Acts: An Expositional Commentary
Aesop's Fables
Alarm to the Unconverted
Albanian Translation
All of Grace
All the Questions in the Bible
Alliterated Sermon Outlines
Alone With God
The Amarna Letters
Amazing Grace—366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions
America Looks Up
American Minute
American Standard Version
AMG Bible Illustrations
The Amsterdam Philosophy: A Preliminary Critique
An Appeal to All Who Doubt the Truths of the Gospel
An Ark for All God's Noahs in a Gloomy Stormy Day
An Earnest Ministry
An Exposition of Hebrews
An Exposition of the History of Christs
An Humble, Affectionate, and Earnest Address to the Clergy
An Introduction to Ecclesiastical Latin
Analytical Greek New Testament
Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament
Analytical Lexicon of the Syriac New Testament : Based on the SEDRA 3 Database of George Anton Kiraz
Ancient Egyptian Literature : Volume I : The Old and Middle Kingdoms
Ancient Egyptian Literature : Volume II : The New Kingdom
Ancient Egyptian Literature : Volume III : The Late Period
And the Angels Were Silent
Annotated Bibliography of R.C. Sproul's Works
Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross
Answering the Call to Evangelism (SFL)
Answers to Tough Questions
Ante-Nicene Fathers
Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 1
Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 2
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume I
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume II
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume III
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume IV
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume V
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume VI
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume VII
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume VIII
Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume X
Anxiety Attacked
Apocrypha of the Old Testament
Apocrypha of the Old Testament (Apparatuses)
Apologetics
The Apostolic Church
The Applause of Heaven
Applied Theology(S)
Applied Theology(T)
Appointed to Leadership (SFL)
Arabic Bible (Smith & Van Dyke)
The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land
Are We Mad Now to Pursue After Holiness?
Aristeas
Around the Wicket Gate, Spurgeon
Articles by A. W. Pink
The Articles of Cornelius Van Til
Ascent of Mount Carmel
Ashamed of the Gospel : When the Church Becomes Like the World
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 1
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 2
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 3
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 4
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 5
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 6
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 7
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 8
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 9
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 10
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 11
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 12
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 13
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 14
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 15
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 16
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 17
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 18
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 19
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 20
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 21
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 22
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 23
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 24
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 25
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 26
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 27
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 28
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 29
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 30
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 31
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 32
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 33
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 34
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 35
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 36
Ashland Theological Journal Volume 37
Assurance
Assurance
Authentein
Back To Bethel
Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
Baker New Testament Commentary: 1 Corinthians
Baker New Testament Commentary: 2 Corinthians
Baker New Testament Commentary: Acts
Baker New Testament Commentary: Colossians and Philemon
Baker New Testament Commentary: Ephesians
Baker New Testament Commentary: Galatians
Baker New Testament Commentary: Hebrews
Baker New Testament Commentary: James and the Epistles of John
Baker New Testament Commentary: John
Baker New Testament Commentary: Luke
Baker New Testament Commentary: Mark
Baker New Testament Commentary: Matthew
Baker New Testament Commentary: The Pastoral Epistles
Baker New Testament Commentary: Peter and Jude
Baker New Testament Commentary: Philippians
Baker New Testament Commentary: Revelation
Baker New Testament Commentary: Romans
Baker New Testament Commentary: Thessalonians
Baptism in the New Testament
Baptism: A Christological Work
Baptism: Christ Marks Us as His Own
Baptism: Its Purpose, Practice and Power
Barnes NT Commentary
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume I
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume II
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume III
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume IV
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume IX
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume V
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume VI
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume VII
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume VIII
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume X
Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament - Volume XI
Basic Questions on Alternative Medicine
Basic Questions on End of Life Decisions
Basic Questions on Sexuality and Reproductive Technology
Basic Questions on Suicide and Euthanasia
The Battle for the Beginning
Be Available
Be Comforted
Be Committed
Be Decisive
Be Determined
Be Holy
Be Obedient
Be Patient
Be Perfect
Be Satisfied
Be Skillful
Be Strong
Be What You Are
Beacons of the Bible
Becoming a Leader After God's Heart : A Study of 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England
Before the Face of God : Book Four: A Daily Guide for Living from Ephesians, Hebrews, and James
Before the Face of God : Book One: A Daily Guide for Living from the Book of Romans
Before the Face of God : Book Three: A Daily Guide for Living from the Old Testament
Before the Face of God : Book Two: A Daily Guide for Living from the Gospel of Luke
Beginning Biblical Hebrew
Being Holy, Being Human
Believer’s Bible Commentary
Bethany
Beulah Land
Beyond The Veil (SFL; Hebrews)
Bible and Spade (1972) Volume 1
Bible and Spade (1973) Volume 2
Bible and Spade (1974) Volume 3
Bible and Spade (1975) Volume 4
Bible and Spade (1976) Volume 5
Bible and Spade (1977) Volume 6
Bible and Spade (1978) Volume 7
Bible and Spade (1979) Volume 8
Bible and Spade (1980) Volume 9
Bible and Spade (1981) Volume 10
Bible and Spade (1982) Volume 11
Bible and Spade (1983) Volume 12
Bible and Spade (1987) Volume 0
Bible and Spade (1988) Volume 1
Bible and Spade (1989) Volume 2
Bible and Spade (1990) Volume 3
Bible and Spade (1991) Volume 4
Bible and Spade (1992) Volume 5
Bible and Spade (1993) Volume 6
Bible and Spade (1994) Volume 7
Bible and Spade (1995) Volume 8
Bible and Spade (1996) Volume 9
Bible and Spade (1997) Volume 10
Bible and Spade (1998) Volume 11
Bible and Spade (1999) Volume 12
Bible and Spade (2000) Volume 13
Bible Atlas Online
Bible Atlas Online (Sized)
Bible Book-Chapter
Bible Characters
Bible Characters - The New Testament
The Bible Exposition Commentary
Bible History : Old Testament
The Bible Knowledge Commentary
The Bible Reader's Companion
Bible Study Notes(S) by James Yu
Bible Study Notes(T) by James Yu
Bible Thoughts & Themes
Bible_sw
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia : with Werkgroep Informatica, Vrije Universiteit Morphology
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia : with Westminster 4.0 Morphology
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia : with Westminster 4.2 Morphology
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia—Morphologically Tagged Edition
Biblia Sacra Vulgata
BIBLICAL DOCTRINES (Volume II)
Biblical Ethics
Biblical Foundations for Small Group Ministry
A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar
Biblical Interpretation and the Church: Text and Context
Biblical Ministries Through Women (SFL)
A Biblical Theology of the New Testament
A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 91
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 92
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 93
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 94
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 95
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 96
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 97
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Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 109
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 110
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Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 137
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 138
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 139
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 140
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 141
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 142
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 143
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 144
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 145
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 146
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Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 148
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 149
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 150
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 151
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Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 153
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 154
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Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 156
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 157
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 158
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 159
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 160
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 161
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 162
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 163
The Big Book on Small Groups
Biography of Ruth Bryan
The Birth of the Planet Earth : And the Age of the Universe
Blessed Are Ye
The Body Dynamic
Body of Practical Divinity
The Book of Isaiah: Volume 1, Chapters 1-18
The Book of Isaiah: Volume 2, Chapters 19-39
The Book of Isaiah: Volume 3, Chapters 40-66
Book of Mormon
The Book on Leadership : The Power of a Godly Influence
Booklets and Pamphlets
Books of the Bible and Their Abbreviations
Building Your Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary
Building Your Church Through Counsel and Care
Building Your New Testament Greek Vocabulary 3rd Edition
But God
Buyers Guide
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS A
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS AA
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS AA Repeated Section
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS B
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS BB
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS Br
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS C
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS CC
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS D
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS DD
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS E
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS EE
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS F
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS F2
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS FF
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS G
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS GG
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS H
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS HH
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS I
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS J
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS JJ
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS K
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS KK
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS LL
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS M
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS MM
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS NN
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS PP
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS Q
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS R
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS RR
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS S
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS T
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS U
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS W
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS X
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS Y
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS Z
Called and Ordained
Called into Crisis
Calvary To Pentecost
CALVIN AND CALVINISM (Volume V)
CALVIN: COMMENTARIES
The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the Authorized English Version
Can God Bless America?
The Canopied Earth : World That Was
The Case for Calvinism
Cases of Conscience Resolved
Catechism Sermons
Catena Aurea - Gospel of Mark
Catena Aurea - Gospel of Matthew
Cebuano Translation
The Century of the Holy Spirit : 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, 1901-2001
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 1
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 2
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 3
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 4
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 5
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 6
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 7
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 8
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 9
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 10
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 11
Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 12
Champion of the Kingdom - The Story of Philip Mauro
Changing Lives Through Preaching and Worship
Charges and Addresses
Children For Christ
Chinese Union Version (Simplified)
Chinese Union Version (Traditional)
Choice Excerpts
CHOICE NOTES ON JOSHUA THROUGH 2 KINGS
Choosing My Religion
Chosen by God
Christ Altogether Lovely
Christ Altogether Lovely
Christ and Him Crucified
Christ and His People
Christ and the Christian in Temptation
Christ and the Jews
Christ In Isaiah
Christ In Isaiah
Christ in the Bible - 2 Corinthians
Christ in the Bible - Colossians
Christ in the Bible - Epistles of John
Christ in the Bible - Hebrews
Christ in the Bible - Isaiah
Christ in the Bible - James
Christ in the Bible - Jude
Christ in the Bible - Philippians
Christ in the Bible - Psalms
Christ in the Bible - Thessalonians
Christ in the Bible -- 1 & 2 Peter
Christ in the Book of Joshua
Christ in the Old Testament
Christ in the Old Testament
Christ Is Best
Christ Is the Life of Believers
Christian Apologetics
Christian Apologetics Journal Volume 1
Christian Apologetics Journal Volume 2
Christian Apologetics Journal Volume 3
Christian Apologetics Journal Volume 4
Christian Apologetics Journal Volume 5
Christian Behavior
Christian Ethics
Christian Fellowship
Christian Hope
Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century
Christian Living
Christian Living
Christian Love
Christian Progress
Christian Research Institute Journal Articles 1
Christian Research Institute Journal Articles 2
Christian Theistic Ethics
A Christian Theory of Knowledge
Christian-Theistic Evidences
The Christian's Secret of a Holy Life
The Christian’s Reasonable Service, Volumes I and II
Christianity and Barthianism
Christianity and Idealism
Christianity and Modern Theology
Christianity and the Enquiring Mind
Christianity on the Offense
A Christmas Carol
Christmas Sermon Notes on the Gospel Readings of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russias
Christologia
CHRISTOLOGY AND CRITICISM (Volume III)
Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. I
Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. I
Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. II
Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. II
Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. III
Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. III
Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. IV
Church Communion
Church Dogmatics, Volume 1: The Doctrine of the Word of God, Part 1
Church Dogmatics, Volume 1: The Doctrine of the Word of God, Part 2
Church Dogmatics, Volume 2: The Doctrine of God, Part 1
Church Dogmatics, Volume 2: The Doctrine of God, Part 2
Church Dogmatics, Volume 3: The Doctrine of Creation, Part 1
Church Dogmatics, Volume 3: The Doctrine of Creation, Part 2
Church Dogmatics, Volume 3: The Doctrine of Creation, Part 3
Church Dogmatics, Volume 3: The Doctrine of Creation, Part 4
Church Dogmatics, Volume 4: The Doctrine of Reconciliation, Part 1
Church Dogmatics, Volume 4: The Doctrine of Reconciliation, Part 2
Church Dogmatics, Volume 4: The Doctrine of Reconciliation, Part 3.1
Church Dogmatics, Volume 4: The Doctrine of Reconciliation, Part 3.2
Church Dogmatics, Volume 4: The Doctrine of Reconciliation, Part 4
Church Dogmatics, Volume V: Index, With Aids for the Preacher
Church Entertainments
Church History in Plain Language
The Church in the Bible and the World: An International Study
Clefts of the Rock
Clementine Vulgate
Clergy Couples in Crisis
Club of Queer Trade
The Collected Shorter Theological Writings
Collected Writings of W.E. Vine
Collection of Sermons (Spurgeon)
Come Let Us Reason: An Introduction to Logical Thinking
Come Unto Me
Comfort for Christians
Comfort for Christians
Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Commentary on Acts - Volume 1
Commentary on Acts - Volume 2
Commentary on Corinthians - Volume 1
Commentary on Corinthians - Volume 2
Commentary on Daniel - Volume 1
Commentary on Daniel - Volume 2
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
Commentary on Ephesians
Commentary on Ezekiel - Volume 1
Commentary on Ezekiel - Volume 2
Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians
Commentary on Genesis - Volume 1
Commentary on Genesis - Volume 2
Commentary on Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai
Commentary on Hebrews
Commentary on Hosea
Commentary on Isaiah - Volume 1
Commentary on Isaiah - Volume 2
Commentary on Isaiah - Volume 3
Commentary on Isaiah - Volume 4
Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations - Volume 1
Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations - Volume 2
Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations - Volume 3
Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations - Volume 4
Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations - Volume 5
Commentary on Joel, Amos, Obadiah
Commentary on John - Volume 1
Commentary on John - Volume 2
Commentary on Jonah, Micah, Nahum
Commentary on Joshua
Commentary on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 1
Commentary on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2
Commentary on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 3
Commentary on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians
Commentary on Proverbs (PBB)
Commentary on Psalms - Volume 1
Commentary on Psalms - Volume 2
Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3
Commentary on Psalms - Volume 4
Commentary on Psalms - Volume 5
Commentary on Romans
Commentary on Romans
Commentary on the Apocrypha of the Old Testament
Commentary on the NT from the Talmud and Hebraica
Commentary on the Old Testament
Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 1
Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 2
Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 2
Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 3
Commentary on the Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
Commentary on the Song of Songs
Commentary on the Westminster Confession
Commentary on Timothy, Titus, Philemon
Commentary on Zechariah, Malachi
A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments
Common Grace
Common Grace and the Gospel
Common Sense
Communist Manifesto
The Complete Guide to Bible Versions
The Complete Word Study Bible : King James Version
The Complete Word Study Concordance: Old Testament
The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament
The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament
The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer
A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament
Concise Theology
The Confession of 1967: Its Theological Background and Ecumenical Significance
Confession of Saint Patrick
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 1
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 2
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 3
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 4
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 5
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 6
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 7
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 8
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 9
Conservative Theological Journal Volume 10
Consider Jesus
Conspectus: The Journal of the South African Theological Seminary Volume 1
Conspectus: The Journal of the South African Theological Seminary Volume 2
Conspectus: The Journal of the South African Theological Seminary Volume 3
Constitution of the United States of America
Contemplations & Reflections
The Contemplative Pastor
Contemporary English Version
A Contemporary Evangelical Perspective on Roman Catholicism
The Context of Scripture, Volume One: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World
The Context of Scripture, Volume Three: Archival Documents from the Biblical World
The Context of Scripture, Volume Two: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World
The Cornelius Van Til Audio Library
Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 11: Matthew and Mark
Correspondence Between J. C. W. Löhe and C. F. W. Walther About the Fort Wayne Seminary
Creeds Walking in the Faith of Our Father
Creeds: What Are They All About
Critical Issues Commentary Vol. I
Critical Issues Commentary Volume I
Critical Issues Commentary Volume II
Critical Issues Commentary Volume III
CRITICAL REVIEWS (Volume X)
Croatian Translation
Cross of Christ
Cyprian, Donatism, Augustine and Augustana VIII: Remarks on the Church and the Validity of Sacraments
Daily Bread
Daily Fellowship With God
Daily Portions
Daily Study Bible Series: The Acts of the Apostles (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: Daniel
Daily Study Bible Series: Deuteronomy
Daily Study Bible Series: Ecclesiastes and The Song of Solomon
Daily Study Bible Series: Exodus
Daily Study Bible Series: Ezekiel
Daily Study Bible Series: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
Daily Study Bible Series: Genesis, Volume 1
Daily Study Bible Series: Genesis, Volume 2
Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of John - Volume 1 Chapters 1-7 (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of John - Volume 2 Chapters 8-21 (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Mark (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Matthew - Volume 1 Chapters 1-10 (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Matthew - Volume 2 Chapters 11-28 (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: I & II Chronicles
Daily Study Bible Series: I & II Kings
Daily Study Bible Series: I & II Samuel
Daily Study Bible Series: Isaiah, Volume 1
Daily Study Bible Series: Isaiah, Volume 2
Daily Study Bible Series: Jeremiah, Volume 1
Daily Study Bible Series: Jeremiah and Lamentations
Daily Study Bible Series: Job
Daily Study Bible Series: Joshua, Judges, and Ruth
Daily Study Bible Series: The Letter to the Hebrews (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Letter to the Romans (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters of James and Peter (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters of John and Jude (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to the Corinthians (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: Leviticus
Daily Study Bible Series: Numbers
Daily Study Bible Series: Proverbs
Daily Study Bible Series: Psalms, Volume 1
Daily Study Bible Series: Psalms, Volume 2
Daily Study Bible Series: The Revelation of John - Volume 1 Chapters 1-5 (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: The Revelation of John - Volume 2 Chapters 6-22 (Revised Edition)
Daily Study Bible Series: Twelve Prophets, Volume 1: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah
Daily Study Bible Series: Twelve Prophets, Volume 2: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
Daily Walking With God
Daily Words for Zion's Wayfarers
Danger Lines in the Deeper Life
Dangers Toils & Snares
Daniel The Beloved
Daniel: An Expositional Commentary
Darby Translation
Dark Night of the Soul
David King of Israel
David Shepherd, Psalmist, King
David, King of Israel
David: Shepherd, Psalmist, King
The Dead Sea Scrolls & Modern Translations of the Old Testament
The Declaration of Independence
Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth
Defending Your Faith
The Defense of the Faith—Abridged Edition
The Defense of the Faith—First Edition
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 1
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 2
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 3
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 4
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 5
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 6
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 7
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 8
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 9
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 10
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 11
Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions
Diagrammatical Analysis
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament)
Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament)
Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament)
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels
Dictionary of New Testament Background
Dictionary of Paul and His Letters
Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments
Dictionary of the Vulgate New Testament
Different by Design
Difficulties in the Bible
The Dinosaur Dilemma : Fact or Fantasy
Discerning the Obedience of Faith
The Dismantling of Evolutionism's Sacred Cow : Radiometric Dating
Dispensationalism
Divine Emblems in Genesis and Exodus
Divine Healing
Divine Healing: Is It Scriptural?
Divine Meditations
Divine Realities
Divine Service and the Mission of the Church
Diving For Pearls In God’s Treasure Chest
Doctrinal Theology
The Doctrine of God
The Doctrine of Justification
The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God
Doctrines and Covenants
Dogmatic Theology
Doubt & Assurance
Drawing Close to God
Drawing Near—Daily Readings for a Deeper Faith
The Dream That Would Not Die: The Birth and Growth of the World Evangelical Fellowship 1846-1986
The Dutch Articles of Cornelius Van Til
Dutch Statenvertaling
E4 Group Reference Library Overview Guide
E4's Naves Topical Bible
Early Church Fathers - Volume I
Early Church Fathers in Greek
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Eighth Invocavit Sermon
The Elements of New Testament Greek
The Elements of Preaching
Elijah, and the Secret of His Power
Elijah, and the Secret of His Power
Elzevir Textus Receptus (1624) With Morphology
Emmanuel
Emmaus Journal Volume 1
Emmaus Journal Volume 2
Emmaus Journal Volume 3
Emmaus Journal Volume 4
Emmaus Journal Volume 5
Emmaus Journal Volume 6
Emmaus Journal Volume 7
Emmaus Journal Volume 8
Emmaus Journal Volume 9
Emmaus Journal Volume 10
Emmaus Journal Volume 11
Emmaus Journal Volume 12
Emmaus Journal Volume 13
Emmaus Journal Volume 14
Empowering Your Church Through Creativity and Change
Encouragements to Patient Waiting
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations
The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volumes 1-3
The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 4
Engaging the Closed Minded
English Standard Version
Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon
Enhanced Strong's Lexicon
Ephesians - A Devotional Commentary
Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary
Epiphany Sermon Notes on the Gospel Readings of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia
The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary
Essays on Christian Education
Essays on the Social Gospel
Essential Truths of the Christian Faith
Esther the Queen
The ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament
The ESV English-Hebrew Reverse Interlinear Old Testament
Eternal Punishment
Eternal Security
Ethics for a Brave New World
Evangelical Christianity and the Environment
Evangelical Commentary on the Bible
Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology
Evangelical Love, Church Peace, and Unity
An Evangelical Response to Confessing the One Faith
Evangelical Review of Theology Index (1977-2000)
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 1, 1977
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 2, 1978
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 3, 1979
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 4, 1980
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 5, 1981
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 6, 1982
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 7, 1983
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 8, 1984
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 9, 1985
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 10, 1986
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 11, 1987
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 12, 1988
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 13, 1989
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 14, 1990
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 15, 1991
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 16, 1992
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 17, 1993
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 18, 1994
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 19, 1995
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 20, 1996
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 21, 1997
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 22, 1998
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 23, 1999
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 24, 2000
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 25, 2001
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 26, 2002
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 27, 2003
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 28, 2004
Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 29, 2005
Eventide at Bethel
Every Angel in the Bible
Every Man in the Bible
Every Miracle in the Bible
Every Name of God in the Bible
Every Prayer in the Bible
Every Promise in the Bible
Every Teaching of Jesus in the Bible
Every Woman in the Bible
Everyday Wisdom for Everlasting Life : A Study of Proverbs
Evidences of the Faith of God's Elect
Evolution At The Bar
Evolution At The Bar
Examination of the Teaching of Jesus
The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament
The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names
Exodus
Experiencing God’s Faithfulness in Judgment and Hope (SFL; Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel)
Exploring Church History
Exploring the Depths of Life and Love : A Study of Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon
Exposition of Genesis
Exposition of James, by Thomas Manton
Exposition of the Book of Solomon's Song Commonly Called Canticles
Exposition of the Entire Bible
Exposition of the Gospel of John
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (2 COR - REV)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (Acts)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, AND 2 KINGS Chapters I to VII)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (EZEKIEL, DANIEL, AND THE MINOR PROPHETS, MATTHEW Chapters 1-8)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (ISAIAH AND JEREMIAH)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (JOHN Chaps. XV to XXI)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (JOHN Volume 1 & 2)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ester, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (LUKE)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (MARK)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (MATTHEW Chaps. IX to XVII )
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (PSALMS)
Expositions of the Holy Scripture (ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS)
Expository Preaching Plans and Methods
Expository Thoughts
Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy
Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy: An Exposition
F. B. Meyer, A Biography
Faith Alone : The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification
Faith and Character
Faith and Mission Volume 1
Faith and Mission Volume 2
Faith and Mission Volume 3
Faith and Mission Volume 4
Faith and Mission Volume 5
Faith and Mission Volume 6
Faith and Mission Volume 7
Faith and Mission Volume 8
Faith and Mission Volume 9
Faith and Mission Volume 10
Faith and Mission Volume 11
Faith and Mission Volume 12
Faith and Mission Volume 13
Faith and Mission Volume 14
Faith and Mission Volume 15
Faith and Mission Volume 16
Faith and Mission Volume 17
Faith and Mission Volume 18
Faith and Mission Volume 19
Faith and Mission Volume 20
Faith and Mission Volume 21
Faith and Mission Volume 22
Faith and Mission Volume 23
Faith, Love & Hope; An Exposition of the Epistle of James
Faith’s Checkbook, Spurgeon
A Family Instructional Guide
Family Prayers
Family Sermons
Fearless Faith (SFL; Galatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians)
The Federalist Papers
Fifth Invocavit Sermon
Figures of Speech Used in the Bible : Explained and Illustrated
Find It Fast in the Bible
First Invocavit Sermon
First Love
First Targum to Esther
Five English Reformers
Five Musts of the Christian Life
Focusing on the Future (SFL)
Follow the Lamb
Following Christ
In the Footsteps of Faith
For Me and Thee
Forgiveness of Sins
Foundations for Creationism
The Four-Fold Gospel
Fourth Invocavit Sermon
Fox's Book of Martyrs
Fragment Targum, recension P, MS Paris 110
Fragment Targum, recension P, MS Paris 110 - Repetition of the Decalogue
Fragment Targum, recension VNL, MSS Vatican Ebr. 440, Nuernberg and Leipzig B.H. fol. 1
The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness
French Darby Translation
French Louis Segond Translation
Fresh Ideas for Administration & Finance
Fresh Ideas for Discipleship & Nurture
Fresh Ideas for Families, Youth & Children
Fresh Ideas for Preaching, Worship & Evangelism
From Grace to Glory
The Fulfilled Family
The Fulfilled Family
Galatians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary
Gems From the Psalms
A General Introduction to the Bible, Revised and Expanded
The Genesis Flood : Continents in Collision
Genesis, Volume 1: Creation and Fall (Genesis 1-11): An Expositional Commentary
Genesis, Volume 2: A New Beginning (Genesis 12-36): An Expositional Commentary
Genesis, Volume 3: Living by Faith (Genesis 37-50): An Expositional Commentary
Geneva Bible Notes (1599)
Gentle Thunder
George Whitefield's Sermons
German Luther Translation
Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, 2nd English Edition
Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament
Getting Together : A Guide for Good Groups
Gideon
Glasgow Pulpit Genesis Commentary
Glasgow Pulpit New Testament Commentary
Glasgow Pulpit Psalms Commentary
Gleanings From Elisha
Gleanings from Paul
Gleanings from the Book of Life
Gleanings from the Inner Life of Ruth Bryan
Gleanings In Exodus
Gleanings In Genesis
Gleanings In Joshua
Gleanings in the Godhead
Glimpses of the Truth as It Is In Jesus
Global Crossroads: Focusing on the Strength of Local Churches
Global Journal Volume 1
Global Journal Volume 2
The Glory of Heaven : The Truth About Heaven, Angels, and Eternal Life
Glory of the Trinity
Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
God Came Near
God in the Manger
God Is His Peoples Great Reward
The God of Hope—Sermons and Addresses
God the Son and Hermeneutics
The God Who Loves
God, Revelation and Authority
God's Inspirational Promises
God's Pilgrims: Their Dangers, Their Resources, Their Rewards
God's Way of Peace
God’s Way to Wholeness (SFL)
The Godhood of God
Golden Sheaves
The Good News Translation
Good Things Come in Small Groups : The Dynamics of Good Group Life
The Gospel According to Jesus
The Gospel According to St. Luke
The Gospel According to the Apostles
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John, Volume 1: The Coming of the Light (John 1-4): An Expositional Commentary
The Gospel of John, Volume 2: Christ and Judaism (John 5-8): An Expositional Commentary
The Gospel of John, Volume 3: Those Who Received Him (John 9-12): An Expositional Commentary
The Gospel of John, Volume 4: Peace in Storm (John 13-17): An Expositional Commentary
The Gospel of John, Volume 5: Triumph Through Tragedy (John 18-21): An Expositional Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom, (Matthew 1-17), Volume 1: An Expositional Commentary
The Gospel of Matthew: The Triumph of the King, (Matthew 18-28), Volume 2: An Expositional Commentary
Gospel Parallels—NRSV
Grace
Grace and Truth
Grace for the Moment
Grace Journal Volume 1
Grace Journal Volume 2
Grace Journal Volume 3
Grace Journal Volume 4
Grace Journal Volume 5
Grace Journal Volume 6
Grace Journal Volume 7
Grace Journal Volume 8
Grace Journal Volume 9
Grace Journal Volume 10
Grace Journal Volume 11
Grace Journal Volume 12
Grace Journal Volume 13
Grace Journal Volume 14
Grace Theological Journal Volume 1
Grace Theological Journal Volume 2
Grace Theological Journal Volume 3
Grace Theological Journal Volume 4
Grace Theological Journal Volume 5
Grace Theological Journal Volume 6
Grace Theological Journal Volume 7
Grace Theological Journal Volume 8
Grace Theological Journal Volume 9
Grace Theological Journal Volume 10
Grace Theological Journal Volume 11
Grace Theological Journal Volume 12
Grace Unknown : The Heart of Reformed Theology
Grace, God’s Unmerited Favor, Spurgeon
A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew
Grammar of Septuagint Greek
Grapes of Eschol
Graphic Scenes
The Great Debate Today
The Great Doctrines of the Bible
The Great House of God
Great Quotations
Greek (Modern) Translation
Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics - Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament
Greek in a Nutshell
Greek In A Nutshell
E4’s Greek Lexicon
Greek New Testament (Scrivener 1894)
Greek New Testament (Stephanos 1550)
Greek New Testament (Wescott-Hort)
Greek New Testament Insert
The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (Interlinear with Morphology)
The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (with Morphology)
The Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains
A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, Revised Edition
In the Grip of Grace
Growing in Christ
Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and Outreach
Growing Your Church Through Training and Motivation
A Guide to the Writings of Cornelius Van Til 1895–1987
Haitian Creole
Handbook for Spiritual Warfare, Revised
A Handbook on Deuteronomy
A Handbook on Ecclesiastes
A Handbook on Exodus
A Handbook on Genesis
A Handbook on Jeremiah
A Handbook on Judith
A Handbook on Lamentations
A Handbook on Leviticus
A Handbook on Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians
A Handbook on Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians
A Handbook on Paul's First Letter to Timothy
A Handbook on Paul's Letter to Philemon
A Handbook on Paul's Letter to the Colossians
A Handbook on Paul's Letter to the Ephesians
A Handbook on Paul's Letter to the Galatians
A Handbook on Paul's Letter to the Philippians
A Handbook on Paul's Letter to the Romans
A Handbook on Paul's Letter to Titus
A Handbook on Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians
A Handbook on Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians
A Handbook on Paul's Second Letter to Timothy
A Handbook on Proverbs
A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles
A Handbook on the Book of Amos
A Handbook on the Book of Daniel
A Handbook on the Book of Esther
A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk
A Handbook on the Book of Haggai
A Handbook on the Book of Job
A Handbook on the Book of Jonah
A Handbook on the Book of Joshua
A Handbook on the Book of Malachi
A Handbook on the Book of Micah
A Handbook on the Book of Nahum
A Handbook on the Book of Obadiah
A Handbook on the Book of Psalms
A Handbook on the Book of Ruth
A Handbook on the Book of Zechariah
A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah
A Handbook on the First Book of Samuel
A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter
A Handbook on The First Letter of John
A Handbook on The Gospel of John
A Handbook on The Gospel of Luke
A Handbook on The Gospel of Mark
A Handbook on The Gospel of Matthew
A Handbook on The Letter from James
A Handbook on The Letter from Jude
A Handbook on The Letter to the Hebrews
A Handbook on The Revelation to John
A Handbook on the Second Book of Samuel
A Handbook on The Second Letter From Peter
A Handbook on The Second Letter of John
A Handbook on the Song of Songs
A Handbook on The Third Letter of John
A Handbook on Tobit
The Handbook to Bible Study
Handbook to Prayer
Hard Sayings of the Bible
Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus
Hard to Believe Workbook
Harmony of Science and Scripture
Harmony of the Law - Volume 1
Harmony of the Law - Volume 2
Harmony of the Law - Volume 3
Harmony of the Law - Volume 4
Harper's Bible Dictionary
Hayford's Bible Handbook
He Chose the Nails
He Still Moves Stones
He That Is Spiritual
The Healthy Hectic Home
Heart Purity
Heart Talks
The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, CD-ROM Edition
The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament: Volume 5, Aramaic
Hebrew Bible Insert: A Student's Guide to the Syntax of Biblical Hebrew
The Hebrew Bible : Andersen-Forbes Analyzed Text
The Hebrew Bible : Andersen-Forbes Phrase Marker Analysis
E4’s Hebrew Lexicon
Hebrew Old Testament
Hebrew Syntax (Third Edition)
Help Heavenward
Helping Those Who Don’t Want Help
Heretics
Heritage of Great Evangelical Teaching
Hermeneutical Manual
The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
Hinduism And Buddhism - An Historical Sketch Volume 1
His Name Is Jesus (SFL; Matthew, Mark, Luke)
Historic Creeds and Confessions
Historic Creeds and Confessions
The Historical Jesus : Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ
History of Dogma
History of Dogma - Volume I
History of Dogma - Volume II
History of Dogma - Volume III
History of Dogma - Volume IV
History of Dogma - Volume V
History of Dogma - Volume VI
History of the Christian Church
History of the Christian Church
Holiness
Holiness
Holiness - The False and the True
The Holiness of God
The Holman Christian Standard Bible
Holy In Christ
Holy Spirit Power, Spurgeon
Hope Does Not Disappoint
Hospice of the Pilgrim
How to Choose a Bible Version: An Introductory Guide to English Translations
How to Get Into the Bible
How to Meet the Enemy
How to Read Your Bible
How to Study the Bible
How To Survive In a World of Unbelievers: Jesus’ Words of Encouragement on the Night Before His Death
How to Write: A Handbook Based on the English Bible
Human Nature in Its Fourfold State
Humility - The Beauty of Holiness
Hungarian Translation
I Never Knew That Was In The Bible!
Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible
Images of the Holy Land
The Imitation of Christ
Immanuel's Land
In Defence of the Faith
In His Steps
In Search of Spiritual Excellence
In the Beginning God
In the Eye of the Storm
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States
Index to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
Indonesian Translation (Bahasa Indonesia Seharihari)
Indonesian Translation (Terjemahan Baru)
Indonesian Translation (Terjemahan Lama)
Infant Baptism
Infant Baptism in Historical Perspective
Institutes of the Christian Religion
The Interlinear Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament
An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon
Intermediate New Testament Greek: A Linguistic and Exegetical Approach
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised
International Standard Version, New Testament
Interpretation of the Scriptures
Into the Womb of the Church Again
Introducing the New Testament
Introducing the Old Testament
An Introduction to Aramaic, Second Edition
Introduction to Biblical Counseling
Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective
An Introduction to Systematic Theology
An Introduction to the LDLS Edition of the CAL Targums
Introduction to the Works of Cornelius Van Til 1895–1987
Isaiah's Christological Exegesis
Israel
Issues, Etc. Dictionary of Theological Terms
Italian Translation
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
James: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary
Jeremiah Priest and Prophet
Jeremiah Priest and Prophet
Jerusalem and Athens
Jesus the Great High Priest
Jesus the Great Prophet to His People
Jesus, the Enthroned King
Jewels from James
João Ferreira de Almeida Edição Atualizada
John Bunyan and the Holy War
John Flavel, Life
John MacDuff Sermons
John the Baptist
John The Baptist
John Wesley's Notes One the Bible
Jonah
Jonah
Jonathan Edwards on Revival
Joseph - Beloved, Hated, Exalted
Joseph The Prime-Minister
Joseph: Beloved, Hated, Exalted
Josh McDowell's Handbook on Apologetics
Joshua and the Land of Promise
Joshua and the Land of Promise
Joshua: An Expositional Commentary
Jottings and Hints for Lay Preachers
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 1
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 2
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 3
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 4
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 5
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 6
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 7
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 8
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 9
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 10
Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume 11
Journal of Christian Apologetics Volume 1
Journal of Christian Apologetics Volume 2
Journal of Dispensational Theology Volume 10
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 1
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 2
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 3
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 4
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 5
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 6
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 7
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 8
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 9
Journal of Ministry and Theology Volume 10
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 9
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 10
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 11
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 12
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 13
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 14
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 15
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 16
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 17
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 18
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 19
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 20
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 21
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 22
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 23
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 24
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 25
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 26
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 27
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 28
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 29
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 30
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 31
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 32
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 33
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 34
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 35
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 36
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 37
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 38
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 39
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 40
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 41
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 42
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 43
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 44
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 45
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 46
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 47
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 48
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 49
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 1
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 2
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 3
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 4
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 5
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 6
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 7
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 8
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 9
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 10
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 11
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 12
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 13
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 14
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 15
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 16
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 17
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 18
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 19
Just Like Jesus
Karl Barth's Theology of Mission
The Key to Holiness, Spurgeon
Key to the Elements of New Testament Greek
Keys To The Bible's Treasures
Keyword Learning System
The King James Version Apocrypha
The King James Version
Kingdom Living (SFL; Romans)
Kingdom Partnerships for Synergy in Missions
Kingdom Power (SFL; Acts)
Kingdom Warfare (SFL)
KJV Bible Commentary
Korean Translation
La Biblia (Versión Reina-Valera De 1909)
Larger Supplements to the Second Targum to Esther
The Last Days According to Jesus
Latin Vulgate Translation
Latvian Translation
LCMS Theological Statement of Mission
Leaders
Leading Your Church Through Conflict and Reconciliation
Learn of Me
Learning From Luther How To Preach In Advent And Christmas
Learning to Lead
Lectures on Calvinism
LEGENDS OF BABYLON AND EGYPT IN RELATION TO HEBREW TRADITION
Lenten Sermon Notes on the Gospel Readings of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia
Let Your Sins Be Strong: A Letter from Luther to Melanchthon
Letters
Letters of Ruth Bryan
The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians (Revised Edition)
The Lexham Clausal Outlines of the Greek New Testament
The Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament
The Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament: Glossary
The Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament: Introduction
The Lexham Greek-English Interlinear New Testament
The Lexham Hebrew-English Interlinear Bible
The Lexham High Definition New Testament: ESV Edition
The Lexham High Definition New Testament: Glossary
The Lexham High Definition New Testament: Introduction
The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary
The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament
The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament: Expansions and Annotations
The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament: Sentence Analysis
Liberating the Leader’s Prayer Life
Libronix Digital Library System Help Manual
Libronix DLS Bible Analysis Addin Help
Libronix DLS Bible Puzzles Addin Help
Libronix DLS Bible Tools Addin Help
Libronix DLS Biblical Languages Addin Help
Libronix DLS Biblical People Addin Help
Libronix DLS Compare Parallel Bible Versions Addin Help
Libronix DLS Dictionary Lookup Addin Help
Libronix DLS Graeca/Hebraica Converter Addin Help
Libronix DLS Graphical Query Editor Addin Help
Libronix DLS Lectionary Addin Help
Libronix DLS Logos Bible Software Addin Help
Libronix DLS Logos Library System Addin Help
Libronix DLS Object Model Reference
Libronix DLS Original Language Tools Addin Help
Libronix DLS Personal Bible Study Addin Help
Libronix DLS Personal Book Builder Addin Online Help
Libronix DLS Power Tools Addin Help
Libronix DLS Pronounce Original Language Addin Help
Libronix DLS Remote Library Search Addin Help
Libronix DLS Sentence Diagramming Addin Help
Libronix DLS Syntax Tools Addin Help
Libronix DLS Timelines Addin Help
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
Life in the Kingdom (SFL)
Life in the Word
Life Lessons: A Glimpse of Glory: Studies on Christian Character
Life Lessons: A Thirst for God: Studies on the Lord's Prayer
Life Lessons: Book of 1 Corinthians
Life Lessons: Book of Acts
Life Lessons: Book of Ephesians
Life Lessons: Book of Genesis
Life Lessons: Book of Hebrews
Life Lessons: Book of James
Life Lessons: Book of John
Life Lessons: Book of Luke
Life Lessons: Book of Mark
Life Lessons: Book of Psalms
Life Lessons: Book of Revelation
Life Lessons: Book of Romans
Life Lessons: Books of 1 and 2 Peter
Life Lessons: Books of 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus
Life Lessons: Books of Ezra and Nehemiah
Life Lessons: Books of Ruth and Esther
Life Lessons: But Joy Comes in the Morning: Studies on Peace
Life Lessons: Embraced by God: Studies on God's Love
Life Lessons: God's Open Arms: Studies on Grace
Life Lessons: The Path To Greatness: Studies on Trials
Life Lessons: Touch of the Master's Hand: Studies on Jesus
Life Lessons: Waiting for Christ's Return: Studies on Hope
The Life of Christ
Life of David
Lifeviews: Make a Christian Impact on Culture and Society
Light on Life's Duties
The Limitless Love of Christ, Spurgeon
Living a Full Life : A Pictorial Interpretation of the Ten Commandments
Living Beyond the Ordinary (SFL; John)
Living Flame of Love
Living To Please God
Logos Deluxe Map Set
Logos Hymnal
London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689
Looking For The Saviour
Louis Segond
Love Life of the Lord
Love Worth Giving
Lovers Always
Lu Zheng Zhong Version (LZZ) - Simplified
Lu Zheng Zhong Version (LZZ) - Traditional
Luther and Justification
Luther's Little Instruction Book
Luther’s Commentary On Galatians
Lutheran Seminary at Ft. Wayne
The MacArthur Bible Handbook
MacArthur Bible Studies: 1 & 2 Peter
MacArthur Bible Studies: 1 & 2 Timothy
MacArthur Bible Studies: 1 Corinthians
MacArthur Bible Studies: 1 Samuel
MacArthur Bible Studies: Acts
MacArthur Bible Studies: Daniel
MacArthur Bible Studies: Ephesians
MacArthur Bible Studies: Galatians
MacArthur Bible Studies: Hebrews
MacArthur Bible Studies: James
MacArthur Bible Studies: John
MacArthur Bible Studies: Mark
MacArthur Bible Studies: Nehemiah
MacArthur Bible Studies: Revelation
MacArthur Bible Studies: Romans
MacArthur Bible Studies: Ruth & Esther
MacArthur Pastor’s Library on Counseling
MacArthur Pastor’s Library on Pastoral Ministry
MacArthur Pastor’s Library on Preaching
The MacArthur Study Bible
MacArthur Study Bible NASB
The MacArthur Topical Bible
MacArthur's Quick Reference Guide to the Bible
The Magnetic Fellowship
Major Bible Themes
Making the Most of Mistakes
Manalive
Maori Translation
The Marginalia of Targum Neofiti to the Pentateuch
Martin Luther's 95 Theses
The Master's Plan for the Church
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 1
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 2
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 3
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 4
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 5
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 6
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 7
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 8
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 9
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 10
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 11
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 12
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 13
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 14
Master's Seminary Journal Volume 15
Mastering Church Finances
Mastering Church Management
Mastering Conflict & Controversy
Mastering Contemporary Preaching
Mastering Outreach & Evangelism
Mastering Pastoral Care
Mastering Pastoral Counseling
Mastering Personal Growth
Mastering Teaching
Mastering the Pastoral Role
Mastering Transitions
Mastering Worship
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible
Measuring Up
Meditations on Ephesians
Meditations on EPHESIANS
Meditations on First Peter
Meditations on the Adorable Redeemer
Meditations on the Person, Work, and Covenant Offices of God the Holy Spirit
Meet for the Master's Use
Meltho Fonts User Guide
Memoirs of McCheyne
Memoirs of Thomas Boston
Memorials of Cecil Robertson of Sianfu
Memories of Bethany
Memories of Gennesaret
Memories of Olivet
Memories of Patmos
Men and Women of the New Testament
Men and Women of the Old Testament
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Quotations
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition)
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus
The Message
Michigan Theological Journal Volume 1
Michigan Theological Journal Volume 2
Michigan Theological Journal Volume 3
Michigan Theological Journal Volume 4
Michigan Theological Journal Volume 5
Midnight Harmonies
Milestones To Maturity (SFL; Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
Ministering in the Spirit and Strength of Jesus (SFL; 2 Corinthians, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus)
The Minor Prophets, Volume 1: (Hosea-Jonah): An Expositional Commentary
The Minor Prophets, Volume 2: (Micah-Malachi): An Expositional Commentary
Miracles and the Modern Mind: A Defense of Biblical Miracles
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous Articles by Philip Mauro
Modern Reformation Volume 1, 1992
Modern Reformation Volume 2, 1993
Modern Reformation Volume 3, 1994
Modern Reformation Volume 4, 1995
Modern Reformation Volume 5, 1996
Modern Reformation Volume 6, 1997
Money
The Moody Handbook of Theology
The Moral Foundations of Life
More Than a Calvinist
Morning and Evening
Moses and the Prophets
Moses The Law-Giver
Moses, The Servant of God
Moses, The Servant of God
The Murder of Jesus
Music, Youth, and Education
Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod
My Daily Prayer
My Utmost for His Highest
NEBRL User’s Guide
The Necessity of Prayer
Nehemiah: An Expositional Commentary
The Nelson Study Bible : New King James Version
Nelson's 3-D Bible Mapbook
Nelson's Bible Map Collection
Nelson's Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes
Nelson's New Christian Dictionary
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs
Nelson's Teaching Outlines of the Bible
Nelson's Topical Bible Index
Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts, Revised
Nestle Aland 26th Edition Greek New Testament Morphological Edition
Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 27th Edition
Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 27th Edition with GRAMCORD(TM) Greek New Testament Alpha Morphological Database
Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 27th Edition with GRAMCORD(TM) Greek New Testament Alpha Morphological Database and McReynolds English Interlinear
Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 27th Edition with McReynolds English Interlinear
Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 27th Edition, without Morphology
The NET Bible First Edition (Noteless)
The NET Bible
The New American Bible
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Chronicles
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Kings
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Samuel
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Thessalonians
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John
The New American Commentary: 2 Corinthians
The New American Commentary: Acts
The New American Commentary: Amos, Obadiah, Jonah
The New American Commentary: Daniel
The New American Commentary: Deuteronomy
The New American Commentary: Ezekiel
The New American Commentary: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
The New American Commentary: Galatians
The New American Commentary: Genesis 1—11:26
The New American Commentary: Hosea, Joel
The New American Commentary: James
The New American Commentary: Jeremiah, Lamentations
The New American Commentary: Job
The New American Commentary: John 1-11
The New American Commentary: John 12-21
The New American Commentary: Joshua
The New American Commentary: Judges, Ruth
The New American Commentary: Leviticus
The New American Commentary: Luke
The New American Commentary: Mark
The New American Commentary: Matthew
The New American Commentary: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah
The New American Commentary: Numbers
The New American Commentary: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon
The New American Commentary: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
The New American Commentary: Romans
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update
New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition
New American Standard Updated Edition Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
New Bible Atlas
The New Bible Commentary
The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition
New Century Version
New Chinese Version (Simplified)
New Chinese Version (Traditional)
New Dictionary of Biblical Theology
New Dictionary of Theology
The New Hermeneutic
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: Expanded Paraphrase of 2 Corinthians
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Book of Revelation
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle of James
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the Galatians
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the Hebrews
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the Philippians
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistles to the Thessalonians
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The First Epistle to the Corinthians
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Luke
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Pastoral Epistles
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Second Epistle to the Corinthians
New International Reader’s Version
The New International Version
The New King James Version
New Living Translation
The New Manners and Customs of the Bible
The New Modernism: An Appraisal of the Theology of Barth and Brunner
New Nave’s Topical Bible
The New Revised Standard Version
The New Strong's Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words
New Strong’s Guide to Bible Words
New Synthesis Theology of the Netherlands
A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith
The New Testament : An Expanded Translation
New Testament Exegesis and Research: A Guide for Seminarians
The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2005
New Testament Introduction
New Testament Introduction
The New Testament Milieu
New Testament Sermon Starters
New Topical Textbook
The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
New Years' Addresses
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. I
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. II
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. III
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. IV
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. IX
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. V
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. VI
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. VII
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. VIII
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. X
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. XI
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. XII
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. XIII
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. XIV
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume I
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume II
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume III
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume IV
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume V
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume VI
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume VII
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume VIII
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume IX
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume X
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume XI
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume XII
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume XIII
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Volume XIV
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2
No Condemnation in Christ Jesus
No Other God: A Response to Open Theism
No Wonder They Call Him The Savior
Noontide at Sychar
Not a Chance : The Myth of Chance in Modern Science and Cosmology
Novum Testamentum Graece
Novum Testamentum Graece (Tischendorf)
Novum Testamentum Graece, Varia Lectio (Tischendorf)
Novum Testamentum Graece: Apparatus Criticus
Novum Testamentum Graece: Prolegomena
The NRSV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament
Of Communion With God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Of God and His Creatures
Of Justification by Faith and Works
Of Temptation
Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers
Old Syrian Gospels: Codex Curetonianus
Old Syrian Gospels: Codex Sinaiticus
Old Testament Survey Series: The Books of History
Old Testament Survey Series: The Major Prophets
Old Testament Survey Series: The Minor Prophets
Old Testament Survey Series: The Pentateuch
Old Testament Survey Series: The Wisdom Literature and Psalms
On Keeping the Heart
On Loving God
On the Anvil
ON THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
On This Day
The Only Way to Happiness
The OpenText.org Syntactically Analyzed Greek New Testament
The OpenText.org Syntactically Analyzed Greek New Testament Glossary
The OpenText.org Syntactically Analyzed Greek New Testament: Clause Analysis
Origin of Species
The Original Star Wars : And the Age of Ice
The Origins Controversy : Creation or Chance
Orthodoxy
Our Daily Homily
Our Daily Homily
Our Daily Walk
Our God
Our Liberty in Christ
Our Sister Death
Our Sufficiency in Christ
The Outline Bible
An Outline of American Government
An Outline of American History
Outlines of Theology
Palms of Elim
The Pamphlets, Tracts, and Offprints of Cornelius Van Til
Paradise Lost
Paradise Regained
The Parallel Aligned Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture - Alexandrinus and Theodotion Variants
The Parallel Aligned Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture
Passing Faith's Tests With Love and Joy : A Study of James, 1&2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude
The Pastor’s Soul Volume 1: The Power of Loving Your Church
The Pastor’s Soul Volume 2: Pastoral Grit
The Pastor’s Soul Volume 3: Preaching With Spiritual Passion
The Pastor’s Soul Volume 4: Listening to the Voice of God
The Pastor’s Soul Volume 5: Leading With Integrity
The Pastor’s Soul Volume 6: Character Forged from Conflict
The Pastor’s Soul Volume 7: Deepening Your Conversation With God
The Pastor’s Soul Volume 8: Your Ministry’s Next Chapter
Pastoral Sketches
Pastoral Sketches
Pastoral Theology
Pathways to Pure Power (SFL; 1 Corinthians)
Patristic Exegesis as Ecclesial and Sacramental
Paul A Servant of Jesus Christ
Paul A Servant of Jesus Christ
Paul The Missionary
Paul's Song of Songs
Paul’s Doctrine of the Atonement
Peace for the Warrior
Peace, Perfect Peace
PEARLS
Pen Pictures
Pentecostal Sanctification
People I Have Met
People of the Covenant (SFL)
People of the Mandate
People of the Spirit (SFL)
Perfect Praise, Spurgeon
PERFECTIONISM VOLUME 1 (Volume VII)
PERFECTIONISM VOLUME 2 (Volume VIII)
Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul
Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant
Perspectives on the Word of God
The Peshitta
Peter - Fisherman, Disciple and Apostle
Philippians: An Expositional Commentary
The Pilgrim’s Progress
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the Romans
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to Mark
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to Matthew
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter of James
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter to the Ephesians
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letters of John
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letters to the Thessalonians
The Pillars of Christian Character
Pisgah View
Pneumatologia
Pneumatologia
Pocket Dictionary for the Study of New Testament Greek
Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics and Philosophy of Religion
Pocket Dictionary of Biblical Studies
Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms
Portuguese Translation
Possessing the Promise of God (SFL; Joshua, Judges)
Power Faith (SFL)
Power for You, Spurgeon
Power in Prayer, Spurgeon
The Power of Suffering
Power Through Prayer
Practical Christianity
Practical Religion
Practical Sermons
Practice of the Presence of God
Prayer : Basic Training
Prayer and Preaching
Prayer of Jabez
Prayer: The Voice of Faith
Praying in the Spirit (SFL)
Preaching the Word: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—To Guard the Deposit
Preaching the Word: 2 Corinthians—Power in Weakness
Preaching the Word: Acts—The Church Afire
Preaching the Word: Colossians and Philemon—The Supremacy of Christ
Preaching the Word: Daniel—The Triumph of God's Kingdom
Preaching the Word: Ephesians—The Mystery of the Body of Christ
Preaching the Word: Exodus—Saved for God's Glory
Preaching the Word: Genesis—Beginning and Blessing
Preaching the Word: Hebrews Vol 1&2—An Anchor for the Soul
Preaching the Word: Isaiah—God Saves Sinners
Preaching the Word: James—Faith That Works
Preaching the Word: Jeremiah and Lamentations—From Sorrow to Hope
Preaching the Word: John—That You May Believe
Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth
Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. 2—That You May Know the Truth
Preaching the Word: Mark—Jesus, Servant and Savior
Preaching the Word: Numbers—God's Presence in the Wilderness
Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven
Preaching the Word: Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom
Preaching to Convince
Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices
Present Truths or the Supernatural
Prevailing Prayer
Prisoner of Joy (SFL; Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon)
Profiting From the Word
Profiting From the Word
Promises And Beginnings (SFL; Genesis)
Prophecy
Prophecy and Typology
The Protestant Doctrine of Scripture
Psalms
Psalms, Volume 1: (Psalms 1-41): An Expositional Commentary
Psalms, Volume 2: (Psalms 42-106): An Expositional Commentary
Psalms, Volume 3: (Psalms 107-150): An Expositional Commentary
PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Apparatuses)
Psychology of Religion
The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Chronicles
The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Corinthians
The Pulpit Commentary: 1 John
The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Kings
The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Peter
The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Samuel
The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Thessalonians
The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Timothy
The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Chronicles
The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Corinthians
The Pulpit Commentary: 2 John
The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Kings
The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Peter
The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Samuel
The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Thessalonians
The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Timothy
The Pulpit Commentary: 3 John
The Pulpit Commentary: Acts of the Apostles (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: Acts of the Apostles (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: Amos
The Pulpit Commentary: Colossians
The Pulpit Commentary: Daniel
The Pulpit Commentary: Deuteronomy
The Pulpit Commentary: Ecclesiastes
The Pulpit Commentary: Ephesians
The Pulpit Commentary: Esther
The Pulpit Commentary: Exodus (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: Exodus (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: Ezekiel (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: Ezekiel (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: Ezra
The Pulpit Commentary: Galatians
The Pulpit Commentary: Genesis
The Pulpit Commentary: Habakkuk
The Pulpit Commentary: Haggai
The Pulpit Commentary: Hebrews
The Pulpit Commentary: Hosea
The Pulpit Commentary: Index
The Pulpit Commentary: Isaiah (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: Isaiah (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: James
The Pulpit Commentary: Jeremiah (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: Jeremiah (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: Job
The Pulpit Commentary: Joel
The Pulpit Commentary: Jonah
The Pulpit Commentary: Joshua
The Pulpit Commentary: Jude
The Pulpit Commentary: Judges
The Pulpit Commentary: Lamentations
The Pulpit Commentary: Leviticus
The Pulpit Commentary: Malachi
The Pulpit Commentary: Micah
The Pulpit Commentary: Nahum
The Pulpit Commentary: Nehemiah
The Pulpit Commentary: Numbers
The Pulpit Commentary: Obadiah
The Pulpit Commentary: Philemon
The Pulpit Commentary: Philippians
The Pulpit Commentary: Proverbs
The Pulpit Commentary: Psalms (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: Psalms (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: Psalms (Vol. III)
The Pulpit Commentary: Revelation
The Pulpit Commentary: Romans
The Pulpit Commentary: Ruth
The Pulpit Commentary: Song of Solomon
The Pulpit Commentary: St. John (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: St. John (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: St. Luke (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: St. Luke (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: St. Mark (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: St. Mark (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: St. Matthew (Vol. I)
The Pulpit Commentary: St. Matthew (Vol. II)
The Pulpit Commentary: Titus
The Pulpit Commentary: Zechariah
The Pulpit Commentary: Zephaniah
Purpose in Prayer
Quiet Talks About Jesus
R.C. Sproul's Chapters from Symposium Volumes
Race and Reconciliation (SFL)
Receiving or Refusing God's Glory : A Study of 1 & 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles
Reckless Faith : When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern
Redemption and Restoration (SFL; Ruth, Esther)
Rediscovering Expository Preaching
Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry : Shaping Contemporary Ministry With Biblical Mandates
Reformation and Revival Volume 1
Reformation and Revival Volume 2
Reformation and Revival Volume 3
Reformation and Revival Volume 4
Reformation and Revival Volume 5
Reformation and Revival Volume 6
Reformation and Revival Volume 7
Reformation and Revival Volume 8
Reformation and Revival Volume 9
Reformation and Revival Volume 10
Reformation and Revival Volume 11
Reformation and Revival Volume 12
Reformation and Revival Volume 13
The Reformed Pastor
The Reformed Pastor and Modern Thought
The Reformed Pastor and the Defense of Christianity & My Credo
Regeneration
Regeneration Or the New Birth
Religious Organizations and Movements
Remarkable Occurrences
Renewing Your Church Through Vision and Planning
Renewing Your Mind : Basic Christian Beliefs You Need to Know
Repentance
Report of the Cleveland Conference (1845)
Responsible Stewardship of God's Creation
Restoring and Renewing the People of God : A Study of Ezra & Nehemiah
Revelation (Bolender)
REVELATION AND INSPIRATION (Volume I)
Revelation: Four Views
Revelations of Divine Love
Revelations of Divine Love
Reveries and Realities
Review and Expositor Volume 70
Review and Expositor Volume 71
Review and Expositor Volume 72
Review and Expositor Volume 73
Review and Expositor Volume 74
Review and Expositor Volume 75
Review and Expositor Volume 76
Review and Expositor Volume 77
Review and Expositor Volume 78
Review and Expositor Volume 79
Review and Expositor Volume 80
Review and Expositor Volume 81
Review and Expositor Volume 82
Review and Expositor Volume 83
Review and Expositor Volume 84
Review and Expositor Volume 85
Review and Expositor Volume 86
Review and Expositor Volume 87
Review and Expositor Volume 88
Review and Expositor Volume 89
Review and Expositor Volume 90
Review and Expositor Volume 91
Review and Expositor Volume 92
Review and Expositor Volume 93
Review and Expositor Volume 94
Review and Expositor Volume 95
Review and Expositor Volume 96
Review and Expositor Volume 97
Review and Expositor Volume 98
Review and Expositor Volume 99
Review and Expositor Volume 100
Review and Expositor Volume 101
Review and Expositor Volume 102
Review and Expositor Volume 103
Reviews by Cornelius Van Til
The Revised Standard Version
Revival Incidents
Revival Sermons
RICHES
Right With God: Justification in the Bible and the World
Robert Murray M’Cheyne
Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences
Romanian Translation
Romans, Volume 1: Justification by Faith (Romans 1-4): An Expositional Commentary
Romans, Volume 2: The Reign of Grace (Romans 5:1-8:39): An Expositional Commentary
Romans, Volume 3: God and History (Romans 9-11): An Expositional Commentary
Romans, Volume 4: The New Humanity (Romans 12-16): An Expositional Commentary
Romans: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary
Russian Bible
Russian Version
Ruth The Gleaner
Sacramental Discourses
Safe in the Arms of God
Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians
Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians
Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon
Saint Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica I
Saint Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica II
Saint Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica III
Saint Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica IV
Saint Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica V
Salvation
Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology
Samuel the Prophet
Sanctification
Sanctification:By Grace Alone
Satan
Satan, A Defeated Foe, Spurgeon
Saved Without a Doubt
The Scripture Alphabet of Animals
Scrivener's Textus Receptus (1894) With Morphology
Search BDAG Help
The Second Coming, Spurgeon
Second Invocavit Sermon
Second Targum to Esther
Secret Power
Secret Societies
Secrets of Staying Power
Select Writings by Arthur W. Pink
Selected Articles from Tabletalk Magazine
Selected Hymns of Paul Gerhardt
Selected Quotations from Martin Luther
Selected Sermons of George Whitefield
Selected Sermons of St. Augustine
Semeia 1: A Structuralist Approach to the Parables
Semeia 2: The Good Samaritan
Semeia 3: Classical Hebrew Narrative
Semeia 4: Paul Ricoeur on Biblical Hermeneutics
Semeia 5: Oral Tradition and Old Testament Studies
Semeia 6: Erhardt Guttgemanns' Generative Poetics
Semeia 7: Studies in the Book of Job
Semeia 8: Literary Critical Studies of Biblical Texts
Semeia 9: Polyvalent Narration
Semeia 10: Narrative Syntax: Translation and Reviews
Semeia 11: Early Christian Miracle Stories
Semeia 12: The Poetics of Faith, Part 1: Rhetoric, Eschatology, and Ethics in the New Testament
Semeia 13: The Poetics of Faith, Part 2: Imagination, Rhetoric, and the Disclosures of Faith
Semeia 14: Apocalypse: The Morphology of a Genre
Semeia 15: Perspectives on Old Testament Narrative
Semeia 16: Perspectives on Mark's Gospel
Semeia 17: Gnomic Wisdom
Semeia 18: Genesis 2 and 3, Kaleidoscopic Structural Readings
Semeia 19: The Book of Job and Ricoeur's Hermeneutics
Semeia 20: Pronouncement Stories
Semeia 21: Anthropological Perspectives on Old Testament Prophecy
Semeia 22: Studies in Ancient Letter Writing
Semeia 23: Derrida and Biblical Studies
Semeia 24: Old Testament Interpretation from a Process Perspective
Semeia 25: Julius Wellhausen and His Prolegomena the History of Israel
Semeia 26: Narrative Discourse in Structural Exegesis: John and I Thessalonians
Semeia 27: Law as Literature
Semeia 28: The Bible and Feminist Hermeneutics
Semeia 29: Kingdom and Children: Aphorism, Chreia, Structure
Semeia 30: Christology and Exegesis: New Approaches
Semeia 31: Reader Response Approaches to Biblical and Secular Texts
Semeia 32: Tragedy and Comedy in the Bible
Semeia 33: Rene Girard and Biblical Studies
Semeia 34: Biblical Hermeneutics in Jewish Moral Discourse
Semeia 35: Social-Scientific Criticism of the New Testament and Its Social World
Semeia 36: Early Christian Apocalypticism: Genre Social Setting
Semeia 37: Social-Scientific Criticism of the Hebrew Bible and Its Social World: The Israelite Monarchy
Semeia 38: Apocryphal Acts of Apostles
Semeia 39: Orality, Aurality and Biblical Narrative
Semeia 40: Text and Textuality
Semeia 41: Speech Act Theory and Biblical Criticism
Semeia 42: Reasoning With the Foxes: Female Wit in a World of Male Power
Semeia 43: Genre, Narrativity, and Theology
Semeia 44: The Historical Jesus and the Rejected Gospels
Semeia 45: Thinking Biblical Law
Semeia 46: Narrative Research on the Hebrew Bible
Semeia 47: Interpretation for Liberation
Semeia 48: Reader Perspectives on the New Testament
Semeia 49: The Apocryphal Jesus and Christian Origins
Semeia 50: Paraenesis: Act and Form
Semeia 51: Text/History/Self in Structural and Poststructural Exegesis
Semeia 52: How Gospels Began
Semeia 53: The Fourth Gospel from a Literary Perspective
Semeia 54: Poststructuralism as Exegesis
Semeia 55: Early Christianity, Q and Jesus
Semeia 56: Social Networks in Early Christian Environment: Issues and Methods for Social History
Semeia 57: Discursive Formations, Ascetic Piety and the Interpretation of Early Christian Literature, Part 1
Semeia 58: Discursive Formations, Ascetic Piety and the Interpretation of Early Christian Literature, Part 2
Semeia 59: Ideological Criticism of Biblical Texts
Semeia 60: Fantasy and the Bible
Semeia 61: Women, War, and Metaphor
Semeia 62: Textual Determinacy, Part One
Semeia 63: Characterization in Biblical Literature
Semeia 64: The Rhetoric of Pronouncement
Semeia 65: Orality and Textuality in Early Christian Literature
Semeia 66: Ethics and Politics in the Hebrew Bible
Semeia 67: Transformations, Passages, and Processes
Semeia 68: Honor and Shame in the World of the Bible
Semeia 69-70: Intertextuality and the Bible
Semeia 71: Textual Determinacy, Part Two
Semeia 72: Taking It Personally
Semeia 73: "Reading With": Exploration of Interface Between Critical and Ordinary Readings of the Bible
Semeia 74: Biblical Glamour and Hollywood Glitz
Semeia 75: Postcolonialism and Scriptural Reading
Semeia 76: Race, Class and the Politics of Biblical Translation
Semeia 77: Bible and Ethics of Reading
Semeia 78: Reading the Bible as Women: Perspectives from Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Semeia 79: Rhetorics of Resistance: A Colloquy on Early Christianity as Rhetorical Formation
Semeia 80: The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Intertextual Perspectives
Semeia 81: Thinking in Signs: Semiotics and Biblical Studies . . . Thirty Years After
Semeia 82: In Search of the Present: The Bible Through Cultural Studies
Semeia 83/84: Slavery in Text and Interpretation
Semeia 85: God the Father in the Gospel of John
Semeia 86: Food and Drink in the Biblical World
Semeia 87: The Social World of the Hebrew Bible
Semeia 88: A Vanishing Mediator? The Presence/Absence of the Bible in Postcolonialism
Semeia 89: Northrop Frye and the Afterlife of the Word
Semeia 90/91: The Bible in Asian America
Send Me! Your Journey to the Nations
Septuagint - Brenton English Translation
Septuaginta: Morphologically Tagged Edition
Sermon About Predestination on Ephesians 1:3-6
Sermon at the Ordination of Bishops for the Mission Province of the Lutheran Church of Sweden
The Sermon on the Mount: (Matthew 5-7): An Expositional Commentary
Sermon Outlines
Sermons
Sermons
Sermons
Sermons
The Sermons and Addresses of Cornelius Van Til
Sermons and Articles
Sermons for All Seasons
Sermons of J.C. Philpot
Sermons on Communion Occasions
Sermons, on Several Occasions
Seven Myths About Small Groups : How to Keep from Falling into Common Traps
Seven Theses on Reformation Hermeneutics
Seventh InvocavitSermon
Shades of Grey
Sharing the Good News With the Poor
Shepherd Psalm
A Short Syntax of New Testament Greek
Shuar New Testament
Singing From the Heart (SFL; Psalms)
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Sins of the Body (Benguiat)
Six Hours One Friday
Sixth Invocavit Sermon
Sketches of Church History
Sketches of Jewish Social Life
Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ
Small Group Idea Book
Small Group Leaders' Handbook : The Next Generation
Smith's Bible Dictionary
So What- Systematic Theology 1 (Fa07)
So What- Systematic Theology 1 (Sp 07)
Some Lectures on the Elements of Christian Ethics
Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux
Some Secrets of Christian Living
Song of Solomon
SOUL HEIGHTS and SOUL DEPTHS
Soul Help
The Soul of Science
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 1
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 2
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 3
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 4
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 5
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 6
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 7
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 8
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 9
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology Volume 10
The Sovereignty of Grace: An Appraisal of G. C. Berkouwer's View of Dordt
Spanish Reina Valera
Spanish Sagradas Escrituras
Speaker's Sourcebook of New Illustrations
The Spirit-Filled Family (SFL)
Spiritual Growth
St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen
St. Thomas Aquinas
Standing Fast
Standing on Faith
The Star Book for Ministers
Starting (& Ending) a Small Group
Statementof the 44
Statenvertaling
Stephen Charnock Collection
Stephen's Textus Receptus (1550) With Morphology
Steps to the Blessed Life
STONES ROLLED AWAY
Strength for Today
Studies in Character of Christ
Studies in Dogmatics: Divine Election
Studies in Dogmatics: Faith and Justification
Studies in Dogmatics: Faith and Perseverance
Studies in Dogmatics: Faith and Sanctification
Studies in Dogmatics: General Revelation
Studies in Dogmatics: Holy Scripture
Studies in Dogmatics: Man: The Image of God
Studies in Dogmatics: Sin
Studies in Dogmatics: The Church
Studies in Dogmatics: The Person of Christ
Studies in Dogmatics: The Providence of God
Studies in Dogmatics: The Return of Christ
Studies in Dogmatics: The Sacraments
Studies in Dogmatics: The Work of Christ
Studies in Early Church History
Studies in Greek Thought
STUDIES IN TERTULLIAN AND AUGUSTINE (Volume IV)
Studies in the Christian Character
Studies in the Scriptures
STUDIES IN THEOLOGY (Volume IX)
Studies of the Portrait of Christ
Studies on Saving Faith
Successful Christian Parenting
Sunsets on the Hebrew Mountains
A Survey of Bible Doctrine
A Survey of Christian Epistemology
A Survey of Old Testament Introduction
Swahili New Testament Bible
The Swanson New Testament Greek Morphology (UBS 4th Edition)
The Swanson New Testament Greek Morphology (Westcott-Hort Edition)
Synonyms of the New Testament
Synonyms of the Old Testament
Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek
A Systematic Glossary to the Andersen-Forbes Analysis of the Hebrew Bible
Systematic Theology
Systematic Theology
Systematic Theology - Index
Systematic Theology - Volume I
Systematic Theology - Volume II
Systematic Theology - Volume III
Systematic Theology (Charles Hodge)
Systematic Theology [1878]
Systematic Theology by R. L. Dabney
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine
Tagalog Portion
Talk Thru the Bible
Targum Chronicles
Targum Job
Targum Job from Qumran - 11QtgJob
Targum Job from Qumran - 4QtgJob
Targum Jonathan to the Prophets
Targum Lexicon
Targum Neofiti to the Pentateuch
Targum Onqelos to the Pentateuch
Targum Proverbs
Targum Psalms
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to the Pentateuch
Targum Qohelet
Targum Ruth
Targum Song of Songs
Targumic Toseftot to the Prophets
Teach Us to Pray: Prayer in the Bible and the World
The Teacher's Commentary
The Temple: Its Ministry and Services as They Were at the Time of Jesus Christ
Tense Voice Mood
The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts
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A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition
Textus Receptus Strongs-Numbered Greek New Testament
The "Wretched Man" and His Deliverance
The Alter Service
The Antichrist
The Antichrist
The Anxious Enquirer After Salvation
The Apology of the Church of England
The Art of Divine Contentment
The Art of Manfishing
The Atonement
The Atonement -- In Its Relations To Law And Moral Government
The Attributes of God
The Authority & Power of the Word Upon the Heart
The Beatitudes
The Beauties of Thomas Boston
The Bells of Is
The Best Things Reserved Till Last
The Better Way
The Bible Book by Book
THE BIBLE PERIOD BY PERIOD
The Bottle
The Boy Jesus
The Bruised Reed
The Call and Challenge of the Unseen
The Call of Christ
The Cause of God and Truth
The Causes and Danger Of Slighting CHRIST and His GOSPEL
The Christian Father's Present to His Children
The Christian Professor
The Christian's Charter
The Christians Secret of a Happy Life
The Church in Earnest
The Church in Rome in the First Century
The Cloud of Unknowing
The Creed of Creeds
The Creeds of Christendom - Volume I
The Creeds of Christendom - Volume II
The Creeds of Christendom - Volume III
The Crook in the Lot
The Cross
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
The Deeper Christian Life
The Deeper Christian Life
The Deer and the Water-Brooks
The Deity of Christ
The Dialogues Between Humans, Academicus, Rusticus, and Theophilus
The Directory of the Devout Life
The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God
The Divine Comedy
The Divine Covenants
The Divine Inspiration of the Bible
The Divine Inspiration of the Bible
The Doctrine of Election
The Doctrine of Justification
The Doctrine of Justification
The Doctrine of Justification by Faith
The Doctrine of Man's Impotence
The Doctrine of Reconciliation
The Doctrine of Repentance
The Doctrine of Revelation
The Doctrine of Sanctification
The Doctrine of the Trinity
The Dominion of Sin and Grace
The Duties of Parents
The Early Years of Christianity: The Apostolic Era.
The Enduring Word Commentary Series (Gen-Deu)
The Enduring Word Commentary Series (Heb-Rev)
The Enduring Word Commentary Series (Isa-Mal)
The Enduring Word Commentary Series (Josh-Psa)
The Enduring Word Commentary Series (Mat-Acts)
The Enduring Word Commentary Series (Rom-Phn)
The Ephesian Letter Doctrinally Considered
The Epistle to the Philippians
The Essentials of Prayer
The Exalted Christ
The Filling of the Holy Spirit
The Foot of the Cross
The Fountain of Life
The Fourfold Gospel Commentary
The Fullness of Christ
The Future Tenses of the Blessed Life
The Gates of Prayer
The Gift of Suffering
The Glorious Lord
The Glory of Christ
The Glory of the Christian Dispensation
The Glory of the Redeemer
The God of All Comfort
The Godhood of God
The Godly Man's Picture
The Gospel in Deuteronomy
The Gospel in Exodus
The Gospel in Genesis
The Gospel in Leviticus
The Gospel in Numbers
The Gospel Is What Lutherans Care About
The Gospel of Healing
The Gospel of the King
The Gospel of the Kingdom
The Gospel of the Kingdom
The Gospel of the Spirit's Love
The Great Journey
The Great Parenthesis - The Mystery in Daniel's Prophecy
The Grounds and Reasons of Christian Regeneration
The Happiness of Drawing Near to God
The History of the Origins of Christianity
The Holiest of All
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Supper: A Taste of Heaven
The Hope of Israel
The Identity of the New Testament Text II
The Inner Chamber and The Inner Life
The Inner Life
The Innocence of Father Brown
The Intelligent Person's Guide to Greek
The Interior Castle
The Key to the Missionary Problem
The Kingdom in History and Prophecy
The Law and the Saint
The Law and the Saint
The Legends of the Jews
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
The Life of Elijah
The Life of Faith
THE LIFE OF GOD IN THE SOUL OF MAN
THE LIFE OF JOHN BUNYAN
The Life of Prayer
The Lights and Shadows of Spiritual Life
The Lives of Two Reformers and Three Puritans
The Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Table
The Louisiana State Lottery Company Examined and Exposed
The Lucado LifeWorks Library Quick Start Guide
The MacArthur LifeWorks Library Quick Start Guide
The Man of God
The Man Who Was Thursday
The Master's Indwelling
The Method of Grace in the Gospel Redemption
The Millennial Kingdom of Christ
The Mind of Jesus
The Ministry of Healing
The Ministry of Home
The Ministry of Intercession
The Ministry of the Gospel
The Ministry of the Spirit
The Mischief of Sin
The Modern Craze of Spiritualism
The Morning Watches
The Nag Hammadi Library in English
The New Life
The Night of Weeping
The Night Watches
The Nightingale Song of David
The Number of Man
The Old Man
THE ONE THING NECESSARY
The Pastoral Epistles
The Pathway of Promise
The Person of Christ: The Miracle of History. With a Reply to Strauss and Renan, and a
Collection of Testimonies of Unbelievers.
The Pillar in the Night
The Power of the Blood of Jesus
The Practical Believer Delineated
The Prayer Life
The Prayer of Jabez
The Prayer That Jesus Gave
The Preacher - Biography of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Precepts of the Word of God
The Precious Things of God
The Present Tenses of the Blessed Life
The Privy Key of Heaven
The Prophecies of the Old Testament, Respecting the Messiah
The Prophet of Fire
The Prophet of Hope
The Prophet of Hope - Studies in Zechariah
The Prophetic Parables of Matthew 13
The Redeemer's Return
The Redeemer’s Return
The Reformed Baptist Theological Review Volume 1
The Reformed Baptist Theological Review Volume 2
The Reformed Baptist Theological Review Volume 3
The Reformed Doctrine Of Predestination
The Reformed Pastor
The Reformed Pastor
THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS
The Rent Veil
The REVELATION of Jesus Christ
The Revelation of Law in Scripture
The Revelation of St. John, Vol. 1
The Revelation of St. John, Vol. 2
The Romance of M. Renan, and the Christ of the Gospels. Three Essays by Rev. Dr. Schaff and M. Napoleon Roussel.
The Rule of St. Benedict (1940 Edition)
The Saint of the Disruption
The Saints' Everlasting Rest
The Saints' Perseverance
The Sanctified Life
The Satisfaction of Christ
The School of Obedience
The School of Obedience
The Second Blessing in Symbol
The Secret of Guidance
The Secret of the Cross
The Self Life and the Christ Life
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermons of John Owen
The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross
The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation
The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation
The Shepherd and His Flock
The Sinfulness of Man's Natural State
The Soul's Pure Intention
The Soul's Wrestle With Doubt
The Sovereignty of God
The Spirit of Christ
The Spirit of Love
The Spirit of Prayer
The Spiritual Canticle
The Spiritual Watch
The Star of Bethlehem
The Star of Bethlehem
The State of the Church
The Story of Naaman the Syrian
The Sunday School Teacher's Guide
The Swiss Family Robinson
The Sympathy of Christ
The Temple—Its Ministry and Services
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments
The Thomas Nelson Bible Study Library Quick Start Guide
The Thoughts of God
The Throne of Grace
The Total Depravity of Man
The Tree of Life
The Trees of Pride
The True Christian
The True Vine
THE TWO COVENANTS
The Two Covenants and the Second Blessing
The Typology of Scripture
The Unique Christ in Our Pluralistic World
The Upper Room
The Way Into the Holiest
THE WAY INTO THE HOLIEST
The Way of Perfection
The Way to Divine Knowledge
The Weapon of Prayer
THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY AND ITS WORK (Volume VI)
The Wideness of God's Mercy
The Widow Directed to the Widow's God
The Wisdom of Father Brown
The Words of Jesus
The Work of Christ
The Work of the Holy Spirit
The Works of Flavius Josephus
The Works of James Arminius
The Works of James Arminius, Vol. 1
The Works of James Arminius, Vol. 2
The Works of James Arminius, Vol. 3
The Works of John Newton - Volume I
The Works of John Newton - Volume II
The Works of John Newton - Volume III
The Works of John Newton - Volume IV
The Works of John Newton - Volume V
The Works of John Newton - Volume VI
The Works of Jonathan Edwards - Volume 1
The Works of Jonathan Edwards - Volume 2
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 1
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 10
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 11
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 12
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 2
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 3
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 4
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 5
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 6
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 7
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 8
The Works of Thomas Boston - Volume 9
The Young Man Leaving Home
The Young Man's Guide Through Life to Immortality
The Young Woman's Guide Through Life to Immortality
The_Master's_Indwelling
Theologia Germanica
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
The Theology of James Daane
Third Targum to Esther
Thirdd Invocavit Sermon
This We Believe
Thomas Boston Sermons
Thomas Boston's Biography
THOMPSON CHAIN
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour
Thoughts for Young Men
Thoughts on the Love of Christ
Through All Generations
Through Fire and Flood
Thy Will Be Done
The Time Crunch
A Time Travel to the World of Jesus
Tithing
Titus: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary
To Be Near Unto God
To Die Is Gain
Today’s New International Version
Toward a Theology of Theological Education
Toward More Glorious Praise (SFL)
The Training of the Twelve; or, Passages Out of the Gospels, Exhibiting the Twelve Disciples of Jesus Under Discipline for the Apostleship
Translated from the Latin Vulgate
Translational Reference Index
Traveling Light
Treasury of David
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Tried By Fire
Trinity Journal Volume 1
Trinity Journal Volume 2
Trinity Journal Volume 3
Trinity Journal Volume 4
Trinity Journal Volume 5
Trinity Journal Volume 6
Trinity Journal Volume 7
Trinity Journal Volume 8
Trinity Journal Volume 9
Trinity Journal Volume 10
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Trinity Journal Volume 13
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Trinity Journal Volume 15
Trinity Journal Volume 16
Trinity Journal Volume 17
Trinity Journal Volume 18
Trinity Journal Volume 19
Trinity Journal Volume 20
Trinity Journal Volume 21
Trinity Journal Volume 22
Trinity Journal Volume 23
Trinity Journal Volume 24
Trinity Journal Volume 25
Trinity Journal Volume 26
True and False Assurance
True Evangelism
True Evangelism : Paul's Presentation of the First Five Steps of the Soul-Winner in Romans
Truth and Error
Truth for Today
The Truth War Study Guide
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception
Twelve Extraordinary Women
Twelve Extraordinary Women Workbook
Twelve Ordinary Men
Twelve Ordinary Men Workbook
Twelve Voices For Truth (SFL; Minor Prophets)
Tyndale Bible Dictionary
Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary
Typology of Scripture Volume 1
Typology of Scripture Volume 1
Typology of Scripture Volume 2
Typology of Scripture Volume 2
Ukranian Translation
Ultimate Issues
The Ultimate Priority
Uma New Testament
Una Perspectiva Evangelica Contemporanea Del Catolicismo Romano
Unchanging Truth in Changing Times
The Unity Factor
Unleashing God's Word in Your Life
Unpublished Manuscripts of Cornelius Van Til
Until The End of Time (SFL; Daniel, Revelation)
Urbanology: Reflections on Mission for the City
The Vanishing Conscience—Drawing the Line in a No-Fault, Guilt-Free World
Various Poems
Vertical Typology and Christian Worship
Vietnamese Translation
Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words
Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Topic Finder
Vine’s You Can Learn New Testament Greek!
Visual Survey of the Bible
A Voice in The Wilderness
Vol 9
Waiting On God
Walk, Conversion and Character of Jesus Christ Our Lord
Walking in the Spirit
Walther as Churchman
Wanderings of a Pilgrim
Warnings to the Churches
Warnings to the Churches
Webster's Bible
Weddings, Funerals, and Special Events
Welcome to the Family: What to Expect Now That You're a Christian
Welcome to the R.C. Sproul Digital Library
Welcoming the Saving Reign of God : A Study of Isaiah
Well-Intentioned Dragons
Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament (1881) With Morphology
Western Text of Targum Lamentations
The Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Larger Catechism
The Westminster Shorter Catechism
Westminster Theological Journal Volume 1
Westminster Theological Journal Volume 2
Westminster Theological Journal Volume 3
Westminster Theological Journal Volume 4
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Westminster Theological Journal Volume 50
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Westminster Theological Journal Volume 53
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Westminster Theological Journal Volume 64
Westminster Theological Journal Volume 65
Westminster Theological Journal Volume 66
Westminster Theological Journal Volume 67
Westminster Theological Journal Volume 68
Weymouth New Testament
What Does the Bible Say About
What the Bible Says About Parenting: Biblical Principles for Raising Godly Children
What's Wrong With the World
When Christ Comes
When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook of Bible Difficulties
When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations
When God Whispers Your Name
When It’s Time to Move
When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences
When to Take a Risk
Where Are Our Dead
Where to Find It in the Bible
Which Version?
Who Do You Say That I Am?
Who Wrote the Bible
Who's Who in Christian History
Who’s In Charge?
Wholly Sanctified
Why Do You Not Believe
Why Four Gospels?
Why Four Gospels?
Why Government Can’t Save You: An Alternative to Political Activism
Why I Am a Christian: Leading Thinkers Explain Why They Believe
Why One Way? Defending an Exclusive Claim in an Inclusive World
Why Should Our Pastors, Teachers and Professors Subscribe Unconditionally to the Symbolical Writings of Our Church?
Why Some Not Others?
Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament
Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament
Willing to Believe : The Controversy Over Free Will
Willmington's Bible Handbook
Willmington's Book of Bible Lists
With Christ in the School of Prayer
With Christ In The School of Prayer
With the Word Bible Commentary
Woman's Study Bible
Word Biblical Commentary on CD-ROM Quick Start Guide
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 1: Genesis 1-15
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 2: Genesis 16-50
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 3: Exodus
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 4: Leviticus
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 5: Numbers
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 6a: Deuteronomy 1:1-21:9, Second Edition
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 6b: Deuteronomy 21:10-34:12
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 7: Joshua
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 9: Ruth, Esther
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 10: 1 Samuel
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 11: 2 Samuel
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 12: 1 Kings: Second Edition
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 13: 2 Kings
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 14: 1 Chronicles
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 15: 2 Chronicles
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 16: Ezra, Nehemiah
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 17: Job 1-20
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 19: Psalms 1-50
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 20: Psalms 51-100
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 21: Psalms 101-150: Revised
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 22: Proverbs
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 23a: Ecclesiastes
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 24: Isaiah 1-33
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 25: Isaiah 34-66
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 26: Jeremiah 1-25
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 27: Jeremiah 26-52
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 28: Ezekiel 1-19
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 29: Ezekiel 20-48
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 30: Daniel
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 31: Hosea-Jonah
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 32: Micah-Malachi
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 33a: Matthew 1-13
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 33b: Matthew 14-28
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 34a: Mark 1-8:26
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 34b: Mark 8:27-16:20
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35a: Luke 1:1-9:20
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35b: Luke 9:21-18:34
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35c: Luke 18:35-24:53
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 36: John (Second Edition)
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 38a: Romans 1-8
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 38b: Romans 9-16
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 40: 2 Corinthians
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 41: Galatians
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 42: Ephesians
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 43: Philippians (Revised)
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 44: Colossians, Philemon
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 45: 1 & 2 Thessalonians
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 46: Pastoral Epistles
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 47a: Hebrews 1-8
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 47b: Hebrews 9-13
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 48: James
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 49: 1 Peter
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 50: Jude, 2 Peter
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 51: 1, 2, 3 John
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 52a: Revelation 1-5
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 52b: Revelation 6-16
Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 52c: Revelation 17-22
Word Pictures in the New Testament
Word Pictures in the New Testament
Word Studies in the New Testament
Words of Divine Comfort
Words of Wisdom, Spurgeon
Work-A-Day Sermons
Working For God
Works of John Bunyan
The Works of Josephus: New Updated Edition
The Works of Philo
The Works of Philo: Greek Text with Morphology
The World Factbook 1996
The World Factbook 2004
Worlds Apart: A Handbook on World Views
Worship: Adoration and Action
Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament
Yazoo Stories
Yemenite Text of Targum Lamentations
Young Men Exhorted to Come to Christ
Young's Literal Translation
Young's Literal Translation
Your Salvation

Augustine On The Sacraments

2008-09-12T17:16:00.002-05:00

"But at the present time, after that the proof of our liberty has shone forth so clearly in the resurrection of our Lord, we are not oppressed with the heavy burden of attending even to those signs which we now understand, but our Lord Himself, and apostolic practice, have handed down to us a few rites in place of many, and these at once very easy to perform, most majestic in their significance, and most sacred in the observance; such, for example, as the sacrament of baptism, and the celebration of the body and blood of the Lord. And as soon as any one looks upon these observances he knows to what they refer, and so reveres them not in carnal bondage, but in spiritual freedom. Now, as to follow the letter, and to take signs for the things that are signified by them, is a mark of weakness and bondage; so to interpret signs wrongly is the result of being misled by error. He, however, who does not understand what a sign signifies, but yet knows that it is a sign, is not in bondage. And it is better even to be in bondage to unknown but useful signs than, by interpreting them wrongly, to draw the neck from under the yoke of bondage only to insert it in the coils of error."

Philip Schaff, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Vol. II, St. Augustin's City of God and Christian Doctrine. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 560.

It Would Be Funny, If It Were Not So Sad

2008-09-03T19:15:00.000-05:00

HT imablogger

Seminary Is Keeping Me Busy

2008-08-31T13:48:00.002-05:00

I am bogged down with much work here in seminary. It is ok, it is work well worth doing as I am being prepared for ministry. I think I will try and post a few new videos exposing more of those who drag the name of Christ through the mud. Let's here it for the heretics, what would I do without them?

John Frame on Seminary

2008-07-31T01:49:00.001-05:00

Full Dr. John Frame Interview from GoingtoSeminary.com on Vimeo.

Praise The Lord!

2008-07-09T17:41:00.003-05:00

I have been living with pain in my right hip for almost a year and a half now. It had been getting progressively worse until I started physical therapy and seeing a Doctor of Osteopathy. These seem to have helped a bit over the last 2-3 months. I have seen 5 doctors and been more frustrated with this than anything I have had to go through in my entire life. Last Saturday I found a sample of something my mom used to use, it is called Biofreeze and we put it on my hip and it seemed to relieve the pain a bit. Lisa called a chiropractor here, my mom used to get it from her chiropractor, and we found one who was not open on Saturdays, apparently the phone number was his cell, but he agreed to go to his office and sell us a tube. I found this odd but chalked it up to "southern hospitality" and we drove over to his office about a mile from our new home. The doctor pulled into the lot next to us just minutes after we arrived. He got out of the car, looked at me reclined in the passenger seat, and said "You're in pain aren't you?" I said yes and he told me to get out of the car. We went into his office and he did some "voodoo" magic that consisted of my putting my right hand on different muscles and seeing if I could resist his pushing down my left arm, him mumbling to himself, getting out a cylindrical steel instrument that seemed to work on the same principal as a retractable pen, thumping me on the hip with it 3 or 4 times and then telling me to walk. I was dumbfounded, I could walk upright, without my cane and, most importantly, without pain!

It did not last long but I went back today for an appointment, he adjusted me, thumped me on the hip again with his cylindrical miracle instrument and I was pain free. I have to say I will be going back to this worker of God's true healing power until I am completely well, which he says will happen. He said his wife had the same thing, they are both chiropractors, for eight years before he ran across and article in a journal that introduced him to this wonder tool. All I can say is I was pretty sure we moved to Mississippi because I am called to preach the gospel, but I am absolutely sure I ended up at RTS because this 68 year old, semi-retired chiropractor happened to providentially practice a mile from the seminary. Praise the Lord for sure!

Welcome To Jackson Mississippi!

2008-07-07T23:24:00.004-05:00

My wife and I were on our way home from opening our account at a local Credit Union when we were inexplicably diverted from our road. So we turned around and went down to 80 and made our way to a street that would put us straight into the seminary grounds. As we were driving we noticed several police going in a couple of different directions after a police car passed us on our right while heading east on 80. The police car that passed us on 80 did not have its lights on, which did not strike us as unusual until this evening. After that car had passed us we saw at least 25 police cars with lights flashing, sirens going, and driving as fast as they could. When we made it back to the seminary we found out that a Jackson police officer had been shot less than a mile from the seminary by two men who had robbed a title office. As we sat here this evening discussing the day's events it occurred to me that the police car that passed us did not have its lights on and was driven by and African-American man without a hat, don't ask me why I noticed this I don't know, so I concluded it was one of the alleged perps, always wanted to say that, who had taken the downed officers car and made his way down to where we were and just a bit further south before he was apprehended. My wife was shocked at the realization. All my Greek prof could say was "Welcome to Jackson!" He also mentioned he had lived in California, Boston, Louisville, England, and Mississippi and by far Mississippi was the most foreign. More foreign than England!!! Yes indeed, welcome to Jackson Mississippi.

Must We Know The Original Languages?

2008-07-03T22:29:00.003-05:00

This question comes up time and time again in conversations I have had with various people. I think if you are going to pastor a church, it is non-negotiable. You will be the final word on the Word Of God for many, many people and if you cannot give a definitive answer you should not be in that position.

Let me give an example. We will look at Deuteronomy 24:5 in two of the more popular translations of the day.
First the NIV:
5 If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.

Now the ESV:
5 “When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken.

Look at the italicized part of both translations. Which one is it? Is the man supposed to make his wife happy or make himself happy? Now I know this does not impinge on any essential doctrines but still, if a congregant wants an answer and you can't provide one you will be doing those you are to shepherd a disservice.

Oh, you want to know which one is right? Ok, in this case the NIV happens to have it right. Now don't throw out your Reformation Study Bible and go out and purchase a Ryrie Study Bible, this is an exception rather than the rule. It appears the ESV just brought over an old error from the RSV. You will find the ESV right much more often than the NIV.

This is just the first of hopefully many lessons from "Things I Learned In Seminary." Hope this helps.

In Christ
Alan

I Meant No Offense

2008-07-02T18:24:00.006-05:00

So today we received a nice letter from First Pres. the church we attended last Sunday. It was very nice and Ligon Duncan even put a personal note in at the end, if I remember correctly he said something about reading the blog post. I have never written about someone and had them read it, so now I had to scramble to the computer to remember what I said. Okay, I know I would not say more but I almost feel obligated now, the sermon was very good. It was on Psalm 92, and there was plenty of application, it just, in my opinion, was not overtly a historical-redemptive sermon, the kind I have become used to from my pastors from Iowa and St. Louis. Boy do I feel like I am trying to take my foot out of my mouth. I guess this does give me and opportunity to lay out the diagnostic I use one more time.

It is three parts:

1) Is Jesus mentioned? Don't laugh you could listen to Joel Osteen for months and never hear the Lord mentioned once.

2) If He is mentioned, is He the subject of the verbs? Is He doing the acting or is He being acted upon? Does He drive the verbs?

3) If He is mentioned and is the subject of the verbs, what are those verbs? Is Jesus making you happy? Making you healthy? Making you wealthy? Or is He living a righteous life we can never live, suffering on the cross to pay for our sins and rising from the dead on the third day assuring us of eternal life?*

That's it, if the sermon you are listening to passes this little diagnostic you most definitely are listening to a Christ-centered, cross-focused sermon.

*Of course this time the attention garnered by this post makes it appear this is my diagnostic. I have posted this many times previously and this is the first time I did not give proper credit. This is a diagnostic developed by Todd Wilken and can again be heard on the Issues etc. radio show.

I Now Live In Jackson MS.

2008-06-30T10:08:00.002-05:00

It is Monday morning June 30th, the day summer Greek begins. I am not terribly worried about it as I have gone through the Greek Tutor and this should be mostly refresher for me. I am kind of excited to start meeting some folks, there are 33 enrolled in the Greek class, and I have not been feeling well since the move, my hip has really been hurting. My wife has been meeting lots of people and says they are all nice. We went to Ligon Duncan's First Presbyterian Church yesterday. I will not comment on it other than to say the sermon failed my diagnostic test. The people were great, many came to us and introduced themselves and we even met a couple who live in the same apartments we do here on campus.

I Used To Live In Cedar Rapids

2008-06-20T15:39:00.004-05:00

The devastation in Cedar Rapids is beyond belief. As I drove around town crossing the bridges that just days ago were under water I can't imagine what this town will be like when/if they recover. I have heard of at least three major employers that are reportedly not going to reopen leaving tens of thousands without work. I said last week I can't imagine the long-term economic impact of this flood but it is not going to be pretty. All I can say with just hours left here is praise the Lord we did not suffer as some have. It would have been emotionally incapacitating to loose everything a week before moving.

Now we are leaving tomorrow with whatever we can fit in our 17' truck. If you live here and are not busy at 8:00 am stop by and give us a hand. I will be gone most of the time, my wife has come up with some errand for me to run so I will not feel useless as I can't help load the truck. One of them will be to take the one cat we have not found a home for to the shelter. We do not want to do this but after contacting hundreds of people and not finding any takers we are left with no other choice. If you read this today and would like to keep this incredibly loving feline out of harms way please let me know as soon as possible.

I hope to be back to writing more regularly as we settle into our new home on the campus of Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS. I am sure my classes will give me plenty to write about so stay tuned.

I Live In Cedar Rapids

2008-06-13T23:18:00.002-05:00

Some of you may not be aware of this but I live, at least for another week, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I was watching the national news and the announcer said "Imagine if this were your hometown." I don't have to imagine it, I am living it. This is surreal, I can't comprehend how this is going to change this town for years to come. The economic impact is something I am not sure this town can absorb. It happened so fast at this point there has been only one reported death. I am very fearful of what will be found when the water recedes. Please pray for this town and all who are affected by this tragedy.

Where Do We Go From Here

2008-06-10T17:45:00.002-05:00

So I have been traveling for ten days and now we move in ten days and it seems like posting here has fallen down the priority list. I am not sure how much time I will have in the next couple of weeks and then again not sure what will become of this in the weeks following when classes begin. If you find this blog interesting and feel like encouraging me to continue, drop a comment on this post, it could well motivate me to continue. The hip is doing pretty well after all the travel and I am encouraged that I will be able to suffer the classroom.

Presbyterianism Pt. 4/ Catechism Q8

2008-06-01T21:51:00.002-05:00

There can, therefore, be no doubt that Presbyterians do carry out the principle that Church power vests in the Church itself, and that the people have a right to a substantive part in its discipline and government. In other words, we do not hold that all power vests in the clergy, and that the people have only to listen and obey.
But is this a scriptural principle? Is it a matter of concession and courtesy, or is it a matter of divine right? Is our office of ruling elder one only of expediency, or is it an essential element of our system, arising out of the very nature of the Church as constituted by God, and therefore of divine authority?

1. This, in the last resort, is, after all, only the question, whether the clergy are the Church, or whether the people are the Church. If, as Louis XIV. said of France, “I am the State,” the clergy can say, “We are the Church,” then all Church power vests in them, as all civil power vested in the French monarch. But if the people are the State, civil power vests in them; and if the people are the Church, power vests in the people. If the clergy are priests and mediators, the channel of all divine communications, and the only medium of access to God, then all power is in their hands; but if all believers are priests and kings, then they have something more to do than merely passively to submit. So abhorrent is this idea of the clergy being the Church to the consciousness of Christians, that no definition of the Church for the first fifteen centuries after Christ was ever framed that even mentioned the clergy. This is said to have been first done by Canisius and Bellarmine. 39Romanists define the Church to be, “Those who profess the true religion, and are subject to the Pope.” Anglicans define it as, “Those who profess the true religion, and are subject to prelates.” The Westminster Confession defines the visible Church, “Those who profess the true religion, together with their Children.” In every Protestant symbol, Lutheran or Reformed, the Church is said to be the company of faithful men. Now, as a definition is the statement of the essential attributes or characteristics of a subject; and us, by the common consent of Protestants, the definition of the Church is complete without even mentioning the clergy, it is evidently the renunciation of the radical principle of Protestantism—and of course, of Presbyterianism—to maintain that all Church power vests in the clergy. The first argument, therefore, in support of the doctrine that the people have a right to a substantive part in the government of the Church, is derived from the fact that they, according to the Scriptures and all Protestant Confessions, constitute the Church.

2. A second argument is this: All Church power arises from the indwelling of the Spirit; therefore those in whom the Spirit dwells are the seat of Church power. But the Spirit dwells in the whole Church; and therefore the whole Church is the seat of Church power.

The first member of this syllogism is not disputed. The ground on which Romanists hold that Church power vests in the bishops, to the exclusion of the people, is that they hold that the Spirit was promised and given to the bishops as a class. When Christ breathed on his disciples, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained”; and when he said, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”; and when he further said, “He that heareth you heareth me”; and, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world”; they hold that he gave the Holy Ghost to the apostles, and to their successors in the apostleship, to continue unto the end of the world, to guide them into the knowledge of the truth, and to constitute them the authoritative teachers and rulers of the Church. If this is true, then, of course, all Church power vests in these apostle–bishops. But, on the other hand, if it is true that the Spirit dwells in the whole Church; if he guides the people as well as the clergy into the knowledge of the truth; if he animates the whole body, and makes it the representative of Christ on earth. so that they who hear the Church hear Christ, and so that what the Church binds on earth is bound in heaven; then, of course, Church power vests in the Church itself, and not exclusively in the clergy.40
If there be anything plain from the whole tenor of the New Testament, and from innumerable explicit declarations of the Word of God, it is that the Spirit dwells in the whole body of Christ; that he guides all hits people into the knowledge of the truth; that every believer is taught of God, and has the witness in himself, and has no need that any should teach him, but the anointing which abides in him teaches him all things. It is, therefore, the teaching of the Church, and not of the clergy exclusively, which is ministerially the teaching of the Spirit, and the judgment of the Church which is the judgment of the Spirit. It is a thoroughly antichristian doctrine that the Spirit of God, and therefore the life and governing power of the Church, resides in the ministry, to the exclusion of the people.

When the great promise of the Spirit was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, it was fulfilled not in reference to the apostles only; it was of the whole assembly it was said, “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Paul, in writing to the Romans, says—“We, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having, therefore, gifts differing according to the grace given unto us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching.” To the Corinthians he says—“To every one is given a manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit.” To the Ephesians he says—“There is one body and one Spirit; but unto every one is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” This is the uniform representation of Scripture. The Spirit dwells in the whole Church—animates, guides, and instructs the whole. If, therefore, it be true, as all admit, that Church power goes with the Spirit, and arises out of his presence, it cannot belong exclusively to the clergy.

3. The third argument on this subject is derived from the commission given by Christ to his Church: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” This commission imposes a certain duty, it conveys certain powers, and it includes a great promise. The duty is to spread and to maintain the gospel in its purity over the whole earth; the powers are those required for the accomplishment of that object—that is, the power to teach, to rule, and to exercise discipline; and the promise is the assurance of Christ’s perpetual presence and assistance. As neither the duly to extend and sustain the gospel in its purity, nor the promise of Christ’s presence, is peculiar to the apostles as a class, or to the clergy as a body, but as both the duty and the promise belong to the whole Church, so also of necessity do the powers on the possession of which the obligation rests The command, “Go, teach all nations,” “Go, preach the gospel to every creature,” falls on the ear of the whole Church; it wakens a thrill in every heart. Every Christian feels that the command is addressed to a body of which he is a member, and that he has a personal obligation to discharge. It eves not the ministry alone to whom this commission was given; and therefore it is not to them alone that the powers which it conveys belong.

4. The right of the people to a substantive part in the government of the Church is recognized and sanctioned by the apostles in almost every conceivable way. When they thought it necessary to complete the college of apostles, after the apostasy of Judas, Peter, addressing the disciples—the number being about an hundred and twenty—said: “Men and brethren, of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed . . . and they gave forth lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” Thus, in this most important initiatory step, the people had a decisive voice. So, when deacons were to be appointed, the whole multitude chose the seven men who were to be invested with the office. When the question arose as to the continued obligation of the Mosaic law, the authoritative decision proceeded from the whole Church. “It pleased,” says the sacred historian, “the apostles and elders, with the whole Church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch.” And they wrote letters by them after this manner: “The apostles, and elders, and brethren (οι αποστολοι και οι πρεσβυτεποι και οι αδελφοι ), send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia.” Acts 15:22,23. The brethren, therefore, were associated with the ministry in the decision of this great doctrinal and practical question. Most of the apostolic epistles are addressed to churches—that is, the saints or believers of Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, and Philippi. In these epistles the people are assumed to be responsible for the orthodoxy of their teachers, and for the purity of church members. They are required not to believe every spirit; but to try the spirits—to sit in judgment on the question whether those who came to them as religious teachers were really sent of God. The Galatians are severely censured for giving heed to false doctrines, and are called to pronounce even an apostle “anathema” if he preached another gospel. The Corinthians are censured for allowing an incestuous person to remain in their communion: they are commanded to excommunicate him, and afterwards, on his repentance, to restore him to their fellowship. These, and other cases of the kind, determine nothing as to the way in which the power of the people was exercised; but they prove conclusively that such power existed. The command to watch over the orthodoxy of ministers and the purity of members was not addressed exclusively to the clergy, but to the whole Church. We believe that, as in the synagogue, and in every well–ordered society, the powers inherent in the society are exercised through appropriate organs. But the fact that these commands are addressed to the people, or to the whole Church, proves that they were responsible, and that they had a substantive part in the government of the Church. It would be absurd in other nations to address any complaints or exhortations to the people of Russia in reference to national affairs, because they have no part in the government. It would be no less absurd to address Roman Catholics as a self–governing body. But such addresses may well be made by the people of one of our States to the people of another, because the people have the power though it is exercised through legitimate organs. While, therefore, the epistles of the apostles do not prove that the churches whom they addressed had not regular officers through whom the power of the Church was to be exercised, they abundantly prove that such power vested in the people; that they bad a right and were bound to take part in the government of the Church and in the preservation of its purity.

A.A. Hodge, Charles Hodge and A.A. Hodge, The Confession of Faith : With Questions for Theological Students and Bible Classes, With an appendix on Presbyterianism by Charles Hodge. Index created by Christian Classics Foundation., electronic ed. based on the 1992 Banner of Truth reprint., 404 (Simpsonville SC: Christian Classics Foundation, 1996).

Q:How doth God execute his decrees?
A:God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism : With Scripture Proofs., 3rd edition., Question 8 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

Presbyterianism Pt.3/ Catechism Q7

2008-05-27T22:41:00.003-05:00

The powers therefore, exercised by our ruling elders are powers which belong to the lay members of the Church. What, then, are the powers of our ruling elders?

1. As to matters of doctrine and the great office of teaching, they have an equal voice with the clergy in the formation and adoption of all symbols of faith. According to Presbyterianism, it is not competent for the clergy to frame and authoritatively set forth a creed to be embraced by the Church, and to be made a condition of either ministerial or Christian communion, without the consent of the people. Such creeds profess to express the mind of the Church. But the ministry are not the Church, and therefore cannot declare the faith of the Church without the cooperation of the Church itself. Such Confessions, at the time of the Reformation, proceeded from the whole Church; and all the Confessions now in authority, in the different branches of the great Presbyterian family, were adopted by the people, through their representatives, as the expression of their faith So, too, in the selection of preachers of the Word—in judging of their fitness for the sacred office, in deciding whether they shall be ordained, in judging them when arraigned for heresy, the people have, in fact, an equal voice with the clergy. 38

2. The same thing is true as to the jus liturgicum, as it is called, of the Church. The ministry cannot frame a ritual, or liturgy, or directory for public worship, enjoin its use on the people to whom they preach. All such regulations are of force only so far as the people themselves, in conjunction with their ministers, see fit to sanction and adopt them.

3. So, too, in forming a constitution, or in enacting rules of procedure, or making canons, the people do not merely passively assent, but actively cooperate. They have in all these matters, the same authority as the clergy.

4. And, finally, in the exercise of the power of the keys, in opening and shutting the door of communion with the Church, the people have a decisive voice. In all cases of discipline they are called upon to judge and to decide.

A.A. Hodge, Charles Hodge and A.A. Hodge, The Confession of Faith : With Questions for Theological Students and Bible Classes, With an appendix on Presbyterianism by Charles Hodge. Index created by Christian Classics Foundation., electronic ed. based on the 1992 Banner of Truth reprint., 403 (Simpsonville SC: Christian Classics Foundation, 1996).

Q:What are the decrees of God?
A:The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. (Eph. 1:4,11, Rom. 9:22–23)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism : With Scripture Proofs., 3rd edition., Question 7 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Eph 1:4 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Eph 1:11 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Ro 9:22-23 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Presbyterianism Pt.2/ Catechism Q6

2008-05-26T11:41:00.002-05:00

"I. The first of these principles relates to the power and rights of the people. As to the nature of Church power, it is to be remembered that the Church is a Theocracy. Jesus Christ is its head; all power is derived from him; his Word is our written constitution. All Church power is, therefore, properly ministerial and administrative. Everything is to be done in the name of Christ and in accordance with his directions. The Church, however, is a self–governing society, distinct from the State, having its officers and laws, and therefore an administrative government of its own. The power of the Church relates—1. To matters of doctrine. She has the right to set forth a public declaration of the truths which she believes, and which are to be acknowledged by all who enter her communion—that is, she has the right to frame creeds or confessions of faith, as her testimony for the truth and her protest against error. And as she has been commissioned to teach all nations, she has the right of selecting teachers, of judging of their fitness, of ordaining and vending them forth into the field, and of recalling and deposing them when unfaithful. 2. The Church has power to set down rules for the ordering of public worship. 3. She has power to make rules for her own government, such as every Church has in its took of discipline, constitution, or canons, etc. 4. She has power to receive into fellowship, and to exclude the unworthy from her own communion.

Now, the question is, Where does this power vest? Does it, as Romanists and Prelatists affirm, belong exclusively to the clergy? Have they the right to determine for the Church what she is to believe, what she is to profess, what she is to do, and whom she is to receive as members and whom she is to reject? Or does this power vest in the Church itself—that is, in the whole body of the faithful? This, it will be perceived, is a radical question—one which touches the essence of things and determines the destiny of men. If all Church power vests in the clergy, then the people are practically bound to passive obedience in all matters of faith and practice, for all right of private judgment is then denied. If it vests in the whole Church, then the people have a right to a substantive part in the decision of all questions relating to doctrine, worship, order, and discipline. The public assertion of this right of the people, at the time of the Reformation, roused all Europe. It was an apocalyptic trumpet—that is, a trumpet of revelation, tuba per sepulchra sonans —calling dead souls to life; awakening them to the consciousness of power and of right—of power conveying right, and imposing the obligation to assert and exercise it. This was the end of Church tyranny in all truly Protestant countries. It was the end of the theory that the people were bound to passive submission in matters of faith and practice. It was deliverance to the captive; the opening of the prison to those who were bound; the introduction of the people of God into the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free. This is the reason why civil liberty follows religious liberty. The theory that all Church power vests in a divinely constituted hierarchy begets the theory that all civil power vests of divine right in kings and nobles; and the theory that Church power vests in the Church itself, and all Church officers are servants of the Church, of necessity begets the theory that civil power vests in the people, and that civil magistrates are servants of the people. These theories God has joined together, and no man can put them asunder. It was, therefore, by an infallible instinct the unfortunate Charles of England said, “No bishop, no king”; by which he meant that if there is no despotic power in the Church, there can be no despotic power in the State; or if there be liberty in the Church, there will be liberty in the State.

But this great Protestant and Presbyterian principle is not only a principle of liberty, it is also a principle of order—1. Because this power of the people is subject to the infallible authority of the Word; and, 2. Because the exercise of it is in the hands of duly–constituted officers. Presbyterianism does not dissolve the bands of authority, and resolve the Church into a mob. Though delivered from the autocratic authority of the hierarchy, it remains under the law to Christ. It is restricted in the exercise of its power by the Word of God, which bends the reason, heart, and conscience. We only cease to be the servants of men that we may be the servants of God. We are raised into a higher sphere, where perfect liberty is merged in absolute. As the Church is the aggregate of believers, there is an intimate analogy between the experience of the individual believer and of the Church as a whole. The believer ceases to be the servant of sin that he may be the servant of righteousness: he is redeemed from the law that he may be the servant of Christ. So the Church is delivered from an illegitimate authority, not that she may be lawless, but subject to an authority legitimate and divine. The Reformers, therefore, as instruments in the hands of God, in delivering the Church from bondage to prelates, did not make it a tumultuous multitude, in which every man was a law to himself, free to believe, and free to do what he pleased. The Church, in all the exercise of her power, in reference either to doctrine or discipline, acts under the written law of God as recorded in his Word.

But besides this, the power of the Church is not only thus limited and guided by the Scriptures, but the exercise of it is in the hands of legitimate officers. The Church is not a vast democracy, where everything is decided by the popular voice. “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (that is, of order), “as in all churches of the saints.” The Westminster Confession, therefore, expressing the common sentiment of Presbyterians, says: “The Lord Jesus Christ, as King and Head of his Church, hath therein appointed a government in the hand of Church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate.” The doctrine that all civil power vests ultimately in the people is not inconsistent with the doctrine that that power is in the hands of legitimate officers—legislative, judicial, and executive—to be exercised by them according to law. Nor is it inconsistent with the doctrine that the authority of the civil magistrate is jure divino. So the doctrine that Church power vests in the Church itself is not inconsistent with the doctrine that there is a divinely appointed class of officers through whom that power is to be exercised. It thus appears that the principle of liberty and the principle of order are perfectly harmonious. In denying that all Church power vests exclusively in the clergy, whom the people have nothing to do but to believe and to obey, and in affirming that it vests in the Church itself, while we assert the great principle of Christian liberty, we assert the no less important principle of evangelical order.
It is not necessary to occupy your time in quoting either from the Reformed Confessions or from standard Presbyterian writers, that the principle just stated is one of the radical principles of our system. It is enough to advert to the recognition of it involved in the office of ruling elder.

Ruling elders are declared to be the representatives of the people. They are chosen by them to act in their name in the government of the Church. The functions of these elders, therefore, determine the power of the people: for a representative is one chosen by others to do in their name what they are entitled to do in their own persons; or rather, to exercise the powers which radically inhere in those for whom they act. The members of a State Legislature, or of Congress, for example, can exercise only those powers which are inherent in the people."

A.A. Hodge, Charles Hodge and A.A. Hodge, The Confession of Faith : With Questions for Theological Students and Bible Classes, With an appendix on Presbyterianism by Charles Hodge. Index created by Christian Classics Foundation., electronic ed. based on the 1992 Banner of Truth reprint., 400 (Simpsonville SC: Christian Classics Foundation, 1996).

Q:How many persons are there in the Godhead?
A:There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. (1 John 5:7, Matt. 28:19)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism : With Scripture Proofs., 3rd edition., Question 6 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

7 For there are three that testify:

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, 1 Jn 5:7 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Mt 28:19 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Have You Heard Of 9 Marks?

2008-05-25T18:22:00.003-05:00

I happened across 9 Marks site today, I have heard of them, they do wonderful work in helping Churches. If you are not familiar with them 9 Marks is a reference to the 9 marks of a healthy church. What caught my attention today though was the first mark. The first mark of a healthy church is expository preaching. Do you know how many people would disagree with this? It boggles my mind to think of the number of churches out there that think mishandling the word of God does not qualify them for the unhealthy church heap. My pastor in St. Louis said once, "It is okay to preach a topical sermon now and then as long as you repent immediately afterward." Do you get it? Deciding what you want to preach about and then going to the scriptures to find support is exactly the opposite way of rightly dividing the word of Truth. That is where eisegesis becomes one's focus instead of exegesis. I simply will not understand those who do not understand that expository preaching is actually the only kind of preaching there is. If you are not preaching expository sermons guess what? You are not preaching.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q5/What Is Presbyterianism?

2008-05-24T22:31:00.003-05:00

I have realized that I have been prefacing these questions with comments and thought it might become difficult to preface 107 questions so I have decided to introduce each new question from now on with Charles Hodges' "What Is Presbyterianism." I felt these two fit well together so here is the first part along with the next catechism question, enjoy.

"Setting aside Erastianism, which teaches that the Church is only one form of the State; and Quakerism, which does not provide for the external organization of the Church; there are only four radically different theories on the subject of Church polity.

1. The Popish theory, which assumes that Christ, the apostles, and believers constituted the Church while our Savior was on earth, and that this organization was designed to be perpetual. After the ascension of our Lord, Peter became his vicar, and took his place as the visible head of the Church. This primacy of Peter, as the universal bishop, is continued in his successors, the bishops of Rome; and the apostleship is perpetuated in the order of prelates. As in the primitive Church no one could be an apostle who was not subject to Christ, so now no one can be a prelate who is not subject to the Pope; and as then no one could be a Christian who was not subject to Christ and the apostles, so now no one can be a Christian who is not subject to the Pope and the prelates. This is the Roman theory of the Church: A vicar of Christ, a perpetual college of apostles, and the people subject to their infallible control.

2. The Prelatical theory assumes the perpetuity of the apostleship as the governing power in the Church; which therefore consists of those who profess the true religion and are subject to apostle–bishops. This is the Anglican or High Church form of this theory. In its Low Church form the Prelatical theory simply teaches that there was originally a threefold order in the ministry, and that there should be now; but it does not affirm that mode of organization to be essential.

3. The Independent or Congregational theory includes two principles: first, that the governing and executive power in the Church is in the brotherhood; and, secondly, that the Church organization is complete in each worshipping assembly, which is independent of every other.

4. The fourth theory is the Presbyterian, which it is our present business to attempt to unfold. The three great negations of Presbyterianism—that is, the three great errors which it denies—are:

(1) That all Church power vests in the clergy;
(2) That the apostolic office is perpetual;
(3) That each individual Christian congregation is independent.

The affirmative statement of these principles is:

(1) That the people have a right to a substantive part in the government of the Church;
(2) That presbyters, who minister in word and doctrine, are the highest permanent officers of the Church, and all belong to the same order;
(3) That the outward and visible Church is, or should be, one, in the sense that a smaller part is subject to a larger, and a larger to the whole. It is not holding one of these principles that makes a man a Presbyterian, but his holding them all."

A.A. Hodge, Charles Hodge and A.A. Hodge, The Confession of Faith : With Questions for Theological Students and Bible Classes, With an appendix on Presbyterianism by Charles Hodge. Index created by Christian Classics Foundation., electronic ed. based on the 1992 Banner of Truth reprint., 399 (Simpsonville SC: Christian Classics Foundation, 1996).

Q:Are there more Gods than one?
A:There is but One only, the living and true God. (Deut. 6:4, Jer. 10:10)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism : With Scripture Proofs., 3rd edition., Question 5 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Dt 6:4 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

10 But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth quakes,
And the nations cannot endure His indignation.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Je 10:10 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q4

2008-05-24T08:12:00.003-05:00

I think I am becoming a master of giving false impressions. I do believe the catechism should be taught in the church, however, I did not mean as opposed to it being taught at home. It should be taught at home of course AND at the church. Imagine teaching your child at home the catechism questions and answers and delving into the scriptures with them explaining how we come to the conclusions we do and then on Sunday they have the opportunity to feel as if they accomplished something when in catechism class they get the answer right!

Q:What is God?
A:God is a Spirit, (John 4:24) infinite, (Job 11:7–9) eternal, (Ps. 90:2) and unchangeable, (James 1:17) in his being, (Exod. 3:14)wisdom, (Ps. 147:5) power, (Rev. 4:8) holiness, (Rev. 15:4) justice, goodness, and truth. (Exod. 34:6–7)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism : With Scripture Proofs., 3rd edition., Question 4 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Jn 4:24 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

7 “Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
8 “They are high as the heavens, what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?
9 “Its measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Job 11:7-9 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

2 Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Ps 90:2 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Jas 1:17 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Ex 3:14 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

5 Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Ps 147:5 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Re 4:8 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Re 15:4 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Ex 34:6-7 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

By The Way

2008-05-23T15:24:00.002-05:00

We are selling our home in Cedar Rapids. If any of you are interested in a 3 story, 5 bedroom house about 100 years old let us know. It's a great place to live and has plenty of room for expanding families. There is not much in the way of Reformed Churches in the area but the one we go to in Cedar Falls, about an hour north, is a great church.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q3

2008-05-23T12:20:00.005-05:00

I have to say after my last post that I am not against kids having fun. I don't even think I hinted at that. What I am against is replacing doctrinal training up of our children with fun. The kids at my church in St. Louis have more fun, and productively I might add, than most I have seen elsewhere. For the most part they are homeschooled, which I think breeds more intelligent, talented children than public schools. I have noticed this at both of my former churches in St. Louis. I am very impressed with the intelligence and talent of every homeschooled child I have encountered. I digress, modern evangelical churches in general, there are exceptions, do not train their adults in doctrine let alone their children. Along with catechizing the children these churches would be well served doing away with all their 13 week, prepackaged fluff books with a year studying Calvin's "Institutes," or Warfield's discourses. I suggest if you want a starting point try Machen's "Christianity and Liberalism." It is short but packed with theology as well as much content that, although written 80 years ago, is remarkably relevant to today's church.

Q:What do the scriptures principally teach?
A:The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. (2 Tim. 1:13, 2 Tim. 3:16)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism : With Scripture Proofs., 3rd edition., Question 3 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

13 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, 2 Ti 1:13 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, 2 Ti 3:16 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q2

2008-05-22T11:12:00.002-05:00

I failed in my last post to explain what a catechism is. A catechism is what Christians for centuries have used to train up their children in the faith. It seems to have mostly gone by the wayside in the modern evangelical church. It seems pastors today, and more specifically youth pastors, seem to have a better way of teaching youth. The way of the catechism has given way to attending rock concerts, playing broomball and seeing how much stuff can be crammed into a blender, drank and kept down. Now these things certainly will attract more kids to your youth events but they do nothing to teach the sacred doctrines of the Bible.

Q:What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A:The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, (2 Tim. 3:16, Eph. 2:20) is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. (1 John 1:3–4)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism : With Scripture Proofs., 3rd edition., Question 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, 2 Ti 3:16 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Eph 2:20 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, 1 Jn 1:3-4 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q1

2008-05-22T09:01:00.005-05:00

I have come to realize that many of my readers do not understand what a confession or catechism is. Many look down on them for various reasons and also I think many have never taken the time to even look at them. I am beginning a series today on the shorter catechism and will probably do a separate series on the confession as well. I urge you to read these with an open mind and look at them with the scripture proofs. Any questions will be answered. Read, enjoy, learn.

Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’ s chief end is to glorify God, (1 Cor. 10:31, Rom. 11:36) and to enjoy him for ever. (Ps. 73:25–28)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism : With Scripture Proofs., 3rd edition., Question 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, 1 Co 10:31 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Ro 11:36 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Ps 73:25-28 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Now This Is Exegesis!

2008-05-21T09:53:00.002-05:00

I mentioned exegesis and eisegesis in a previous post. Let me explain, exegesis is pulling the meaning out of the text, it is getting to the proper meaning. Eisegesis is putting onto the text a preconceived notion, making the text say what you want it to say. I have had much experience with the latter, we all have to some degree, we like to practice it, it is something we do without even realizing it. Now I had help from my church and the school I was attending but I have to say both institutions drove me to the scriptures until I got the hang of exegesis and then my world changed. This video is an example of precision exegesis, I hope you will watch and learn.

Hitting Nails On Their Heads

2008-05-20T22:07:00.003-05:00

I am so tired of arguing and debating with people to lazy to learn the rules of Hermeneutics or to understand exegesis takes work, eisegesis does not so they end up using the latter. I am tired of people who push the American Democratic mindset onto the Church of Jesus Christ who could not care less if we are Americans. I am tired of talking with people who are so arrogant as to say they just need their Bible and do not need creeds, confessions or to read any of the great theologians who have come before us. Why do I call them arrogant? Because what they are really saying is they are better suited to interpret the scriptures than Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Edwards et al.

What got me so worked up? You may ask. Well it was this video from James White. He is absolutely correct with everything he said and if we could get people to start teaching the Heidleberg Catechism or the Westminster Confession of Faith instead of 12 weeks "Seeking Him," or "7 Steps to Financial Freedom" the Church would not be in this mess it is in now.

One more note before the video. I once had a pastor who told me I did not need the "Early Church Fathers," because I might look at them only once or twice in my lifetime. I think that is indicative of a serious problem when a pastor thinks that way about the great men who laid the foundations of our faith. Once or twice in my lifetime? Are you kidding me? I now own them and look at them once or twice a day! Enough babbling, please watch this video and hear what he is saying.

HT:Truth Matters

Speaking Of Heretics

2008-05-20T21:35:00.004-05:00

I have never, and I mean NEVER, heard Rick Warren properly handle the Word of God. He rips verses out of context, uses selected versions that support his presuppositions or agendas and has never, that I have heard, preached the true gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners and resurrected on the third day. Do you really need more evidence? Well just in case you do here it is complete with commentary by Todd Friel pointing out the error of his ways.

HT:Truth Matters

So I Have Not Called Anyone A Heretic In Awhile

2008-05-20T14:36:00.005-05:00

I went to a church last weekend for a specific reason. It was not my church, but a church I had attended before and I know some who attend there as well. The sermon was on Mark 4:1-20. This man read the entire passage, you know about the seed and thorns and rocky soil and all, and then looked the congregation in the eye and told them that they need to stop being in the first three categories and stay in the fourth. Well if you have not gone to look up the passage yet let me help you out. This parable is about different people, not different categories we are in at different times. The first three groups that this pastor put believers in is made up of unbelievers. The last group are the believers. Do you know what it is called when one take the God-breathed scriptures and make them say something God did not intend for them to say? Do you know what it is called when one takes the gospel and makes it law? Do you know what it is called when one takes the good-news and turns it into good advice? Do you know what it is called when one takes indicatives and makes them imperatives?

IT'S CALLED HERESY!!!!!

We had one couple come up to us and the wife said "Wow, that sermon was really good for you to hear wasn't it?" I had no self-control at the time and told her in no uncertain terms, "It was horrible, he made the text say something it did not say." I then got ahold of myself and kept quiet the rest of the conversation. By the way, this was at a church that has "reformed" in their name. How utterly sad.

As an aside, we were at this church last year and they had a pulpit supply pastor preach the same text and do the same damnable job handling it.

Truth Withdrawal

2008-05-18T14:25:00.002-05:00

Ok, it's 35 days until we move to Mississippi and we are feeling the crunch. I am still going to PT 2-3 times a week and the DO twice a month. I am teaching myself Greek, about 2/3 done with that, and Hebrew, 1 of 14 lessons done. I know it sounds impressive that I am teaching myself but I am using a Greek and Hebrew tutor software along with help from a wonderful scholar living in England named George. He has helped quite a bit with some timely tips as I head down the stretch with Greek. So if you are suffering from withdrawal from my blog I do apologize and I think once we get moved and class begins I should have plenty to blog about.

Warfield On Renewal

2008-05-13T11:31:00.002-05:00

So my pastor, Stephen Oharek, preached on Titus 3 this week and boy was it timely. I will try and post this excellent sermon on my box later this week. After the sermon he asked for my opinion on the renewal mentioned in the passage, basically he wanted to know if he conveyed the fact that this is a single event in our past and not an ongoing process as some would contend. I thought he conveyed it well and without confusion. I happened across this article by B. B. Warfield today and thought it worthy of posting.

"The terms “renew,” “renewing,” are not of frequent occurrence in our English Bible. In the New Testament they do not occur at all in the Gospels, but only in the Epistles (Paul and Hebrews), where they stand, respectively, for the Greek terms ajnakaino>w (2 Corinthians 4:16, Colossians 3:10) with its cognates, ajnakaini>zw (Hebrews 6:6) and ajnaneo>omai (Ephesians 4:23), and ajnakai>nwsiv (Romans 12:2, Titus 3:5). If we leave to one side 2 Corinthians 4:16 and Hebrews 6:6, which are of somewhat doubtful interpretation, it becomes at once evident that a definite theological conception is embodied in these terms. This conception is that salvation in Christ involves a radical and complete transformation wrought in the soul (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23) by God the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 4:24), by virtue of which we become “new men” ( Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10), no longer conformed to this world (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:9), but in knowledge and holiness of the truth created after the image of God (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10, Romans 12:2). The conception, it will be seen, is a wide one, inclusive of all that is comprehended in what we now technically speak of as regeneration, renovation and sanctification. It embraces, in fact, the entire subjective side of salvation, which it represents as a work of God, issuing in a wholly new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 2:10). What is indicated is, therefore, the need of such a subjective salvation by sinful man, and the provision for this need made in Christ (Ephesians 4:20, Colossians 3:11, Titus 3:6).
The absence of the terms in question from the Gospels does not in the least argue the absence from the teaching of the Gospels of the thing expressed by them. This thing is so of the essence of the religion of revelation that it could not be absent from any stage of its proclamation. That it should be absent would require that sin should be conceived to have wrought no subjective injury to man, so that he would need for his recovery from sin only an objective cancelling of his guilt and reinstatement in the favor of God. This is certainly not the conception of the Scriptures in any of their parts. It is uniformly taught in Scripture that by his sin man has not merely incurred the divine condemnation but also corrupted his own heart; that sin, in other words, is not merely guilt but depravity: and that there is needed for man’s recovery from sin, therefore, not merely atonement but renewal; that salvation, that is to say, consists not merely in pardon but in purification. Great as is the stress laid in the Scriptures on the forgiveness of sins as the root of salvation, no less stress is laid throughout the Scriptures on the cleansing of the heart as the fruit of salvation. Nowhere is the sinner
permitted to rest satisfied with pardon as the end of salvation; everywhere he is made poignantly to feel that salvation is realized only in a clean heart and a right spirit.
In the Old Testament, for example, sin is not set forth in its origin as a purely objective act with no subjective effects, or in its manifestation as a series of purely objective acts out of all relation to the subjective condition. On the contrary, the sin of our first parents is represented as no less corrupting than inculpating; shame is as immediate a fruit of it as fear (Genesis 3:7). And, on the principle that no clean thing can come out of what is unclean (Job 14:4), all that are born of woman are declared “abominable and corrupt,” to whose nature iniquity alone is attractive (Job 15:14-16). Accordingly, to become sinful, men do not wait until the age of accountable action arrives. Rather, they are apostate from the womb, and as soon as they are born go astray, speaking lies (Psalm 58:3): they are even shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5). The propensity (rx,ye ) of their heart is evil from their youth (Genesis 8:21), and it is out of the heart that all the issues of life proceed (Proverbs 4:23, 20:11). Acts of sin are therefore but the expression of the natural heart, which is deceitful above all things and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). The only hope of an amendment of the life, lies accordingly in a change of heart; and this change of heart is the desire of God for His people (Deuteronomy 5:29) and the passionate longing of the saints for themselves (Psalm 51:10). It is, indeed, wholly beyond man’s own power to achieve it. As well might the Ethiopian hope to change his skin and the leopard his spots as he who is wonted to evil to correct his ways (Jeremiah 13:23); and when it is a matter of cleansing not of hands but of heart—who can declare that he has made his heart clean and is pure from sin (Proverbs 20:9)? Men may be exhorted to circumcise their hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16, Jeremiah 4:4), and to make themselves new hearts and new spirits (Ezekiel 18:31); but the background of such appeals is rather the promise of God than the ability of man (Deuteronomy 5:29, Ezekiel 11:19, cf. Keil in loc.). It is God alone who can “turn” a man “a new heart” ( 1 Samuel 10:9), and the cry of the saint who has come to understand what his sin means, and therefore what cleansing from it involves, is ever, “Create ( ar;B; ) in me a new heart, O God, and renew (vdæj; ) a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 [12]). The express warrant for so great a prayer is afforded by the promise of God who, knowing the incapacity of the flesh, has Himself engaged to perfect His people. He will circumcise their hearts, that they may love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul; and so may live (Deuteronomy 30:6). He will give them a heart to know Him that He is the Lord; that so they may really be His people and He their God (Jeremiah 24:7). He will put His law in their inward
parts and write it in their heart so that all shall know Him (Jeremiah 31:33, cf. 32:39). He will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in His statutes and keep his ordinances and do them, and so be His people and He their God (Ezekiel 11:19). He will give them a new heart and take away the stony heart out of their flesh; and put His Spirit within them and cause them to walk in His statutes and keep His judgments and do them: that so they may be His people and He their God (Ezekiel 36:26, cf. 37:14). Thus the expectation of a new heart was made a substantial part of the Messianic promise, in which was embodied the whole hope of Israel.
It does not seem open to doubt that in these great declarations we have the proclamation of man’s need of “renewal” and of the divine provision for it as an essential element in salvation. [356] We must not be misled by the emphasis placed in the Old Testament on the forgiveness of sins as the constitutive fact of salvation, into explaining away all allusions to the cleansing of the heart as but figurative expressions for pardon. Pardon is no doubt frequently set forth under the figure or symbol of washing or cleansing: but expressions such as those which have been adduced go beyond this. When, then, it is suggested [357] that Psalm li, for example, “contains only a single prayer, namely, that for forgiveness”; and that “the cry, ‘Create in me a clean heart’ is not a prayer for what we call renewal” but only for “forgiving grace,” we cannot help thinking the contention an extravagance, — an extravagance, moreover, out of keeping with its author’s language elsewhere, and indeed in this very context where he speaks quite simply of the pollution as well as the guilt of sin as included in the scope of the confession made in this psalm. [358] The word “create” is a strong one and appears to invoke from God the exertion of His almighty power for the production of a new subjective state of things: and it does not seem easy to confine the word “heart” to the signification “conscience” as if the prayer were merely that the conscience might be relieved from its sense of guilt. Moreover, the parallel clause, “Renew a steadfast spirit within me,” does not readily lend itself to the purely objective interpretation. [359] That the transformation of the heart promised in the great prophetic passages must also mean more than the production of a clear conscience, is equally undeniable and indeed is not denied. When Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-33), for example, represents God as declaring that what shall characterize the New Covenant which He will make with the House of Israel, is that He will put His law in the inward parts of His people and write it in their hearts, he surely means to say that God promises to work a subjective effect in the hearts of Israel, by virtue of which their very instincts and most intimate impulses shall be on the side of the law, obedience to which shall therefore be but the spontaneous expression of their own natures. [360]
It is equally important to guard against lowering the conception of the Divine holiness in the Old Testament until the demand of God that His people shall be holy as He is holy, [361] and the provisions of His Grace to make them holy by an inner creative act, are robbed of more or less of their deeper ethical meaning. Here, too, some recent writers are at fault, speaking at times almost as if holiness in God were merely a sort of fastidiousness, over against which is set not so much all sin as uncleanness, as all uncleanness, as in this sense sin. [362] The idea is that what this somewhat squeamish God did not find agreeable those who served Him would discover it well to avoid; rather than that all sin is necessarily abominable to the holy God and He will not abide it in His servants. This lowered view is sometimes even pushed to the extreme of suggesting [363] that “it is nowhere intimated that there is any danger to the sinner because of his uncleanness;” if he is “cut off” that is solely on account of his disobedience in not cleansing himself, not on account of the uncleanness itself. The extremity of this contention is its sufficient refutation. When the sage declares that no one can say “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from sin” ( Proverbs 20:9), he clearly means to intimate that an unclean heart is itself sinful. The Psalmist in bewailing his inborn sinfulness and expressing his longing for truth in the inward parts and wisdom in the hidden parts, certainly conceived his unclean heart as properly sinful in the sight of God (Psalm li). The prophet abject before the holy God (Isaiah vi) beyond question looked upon his uncleanness as itself iniquity requiring to be taken away by expiatory purging. It would seem unquestionable that throughout the Old Testament the uncleanness which is offensive to Jehovah is sin considered as pollution, and that salvation from sin involves therefore a process of purification as well as expiation.
The agent by whom the cleansing of the heart is effected is in the Old Testament uniformly represented as God Himself, or, rarely, more specifically as the Spirit of God, which is the Old Testament name for God in His effective activity. It has, indeed, been denied that the Spirit of God is ever regarded in the Old Testament as the worker of holiness. [364] But this extreme position cannot be maintained. [365] It is true enough that the
Spirit of God comes before us in the Old Testament chiefly as the Theocratic Spirit endowing men as servants of the Kingdom, and after that as the Cosmical Spirit, the principle of all world-processes; and only occasionally as the creator of new ethical life in the individual soul. [366] But it can scarcely be doubted that in Psalm 51:11 [13] God’s Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God’s holiness, is conceived in that precise manner, and the same is true of Psalm 143:10 (cf. Isaiah 63:10, 11 and see Genesis 6:3, Nehemiah 9:20, 1 Samuel 10:6, 9). [367] It is chiefly, however, in promises of the future that this aspect of the Spirit’s work is dwelt upon. [368] The
recreative activity of the Spirit of God is even made the crowning Messianic blessing (Isaiah 32:15, 34:16, 44:3, on the latter of which see Giesebrecht, “Die Berufsbegabung,” etc., p. 144, 59:21, Ezekiel 11:19, 18:31, 36:27, 37:14, 39:29, Zechariah 12:10); and this is as much as to say that the promised Messianic salvation included in it provision for the renewal of men’s hearts as well as for the expiation of their guilt. [369]
It would be distinctly a retrogression from the Old Testament standpoint, therefore, if our Lord — Himself, in accordance with Old Testament prophecy (e.g., Isaiah 11:1, 42:1, 61:1), endowed with the Spirit (Matthew 3:16, 4:1, 12:18, 28, Mark 1:10, 12, Luke 3:22, 4:1, 14, 18, 10:21, John 1:32, 33) above measure (John 3:34) [370] — had neglected the Messianic promise of spiritual renewal. In point of fact, He began His ministry as the dispenser of the Spirit (Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33). And the purpose for which He dispensed the Spirit is unmistakably represented as the cleansing of the heart. The distinction of Jesus is, indeed, made to lie precisely in this, — that whereas John could baptise only with water, Jesus baptised with the Holy Spirit: the repentance which was symbolized by the one was wrought by the other. And this repentance (meta>noia ) was no mere vain regret for an ill-spent past (meta>me>leia ), or surface modification of conduct, but a radical transformation of the mind which issues indeed in “fruits worthy of repentance” ( Luke 3:8) but itself consists in an inward reversal of mental attitude.
There is little subsequent reference in the Synoptic Gospels, to be sure, to the Holy Spirit as the renovator of hearts. It is made clear, indeed, that He is the best of gifts and that the Father will not withhold Him from those that ask Him (Luke 11:13), and that He abides in the followers of Jesus and works in and through them (Matthew 10:20, Mark 13:11, Luke 12:12); and it is made equally clear that He is the very principle of holiness, so that to confuse His activity with that of unclean spirits argues absolute perversion (Mark 12:31, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10). But these two things do not happen to be brought together in these Gospels. [371]
In the Gospel of John, on the other hand, the testimony of the Baptist is followed up by the record of the searching conversation of our Lord with Nicodemus, in which Nicodemus is rebuked for not knowing — though “the teacher of Israel” — that the Kingdom of God is not for the children of the flesh but only for the children of the Spirit (cf. Mark 3:9). Nicodemus had come to our Lord as to a teacher, widely recognized as having a mission from God. Jesus repels this approach as falling far below recognizing Him for what He really was and for what he had really come to do. As a divinely sent teacher He solemnly assures Nicodemus that something much
more effective than teaching is needed: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God” ( Mark 3:3). And then, when Nicodemus, oppressed by the sense of the profundity of the change which must indeed be wrought in man if he is to be fitted for the Kingdom of God, despairingly inquires “How can this be?” our Lord explains equally solemnly that it is only by a sovereign, recreating work of the Holy Spirit, that so great an effect can be wrought: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God”( Mark 3:5). Nor, he adds, ought such a declaration to cause surprise: what is born of the flesh can be nothing but flesh; only what is born of the Spirit is spirit. He closes the discussion with a reference to the sovereignty of the action of the Spirit in regenerating men: as with the wind which blows where it lists, we know nothing of the Spirit’s coming except Lo, it is here! (Mark 3:8). About the phrase, “Born of water and the Spirit” much debate has been had; and various explanations of it have been offered. The one thing which seems certain is that there can be no reference to an external act, performed by men, of their own will: for in that case the product would not be spirit but flesh, neither would it come without observation. Is it fanciful to see here a reference back to the Baptist’s, “I indeed baptise with water; He baptises with the Holy Spirit”? The meaning then would be that entrance into the Kingdom of God requires, if we cannot quite say not only repentance but also regeneration, yet at least we may say both repentance and regeneration. In any event it is very pungently taught here that the precondition of entrance into the Kingdom of God is a radical transformation wrought by the Spirit of God Himself. [372]
Beyond this fundamental passage there is little said in John’s Gospel of the renovating activities of the Spirit. The communication of the Spirit of John 20:22 seems to be an official endowment; and although in John 7:39 the allusion appears to be to the gift of the Spirit to believers at large, the stress seems to fall rather on the blessing they bring to others by virtue of this endowment, than on that they receive themselves. There remains only the great promise of the Paraclete. It would probably be impossible to attribute more depth or breadth of meaning than rightfully belongs to them, to the passages which embody this promise (John 14:16, 26, 15:26, 16:7, 13). But the emphasis appears to be laid in them upon the illuminating (cf. also Luke 1:15, 41, 67, 2:25, 26; Matthew 22:43) more than upon the sanctifying influences of the Spirit, although assuredly the latter are not wholly absent (Matthew 16:7-11).
Elsewhere in John, although apart from any specific reference to the Spirit as the agent, repeated expression is given to the fundamental conception of renewal. Men lie dead in their sins and require to be raised from the dead if they are to live
(John 11:25, 26); it is the prerogative of the Son to quicken whom He will (John 5:21); it is impossible for men to come to the Son, unless they be drawn by the Father (John 6:44); being in the Son it is only of the Father that they can bear fruit (John 15:1). Similarly in the Synoptics there is lacking nothing to this teaching, except the specific reference of the effects to the Holy Spirit. What is required of men is nothing less than perfection even as the heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48 — the New Testament form of the Old Testament “Ye shall be holy for I am holy, Jehovah your God,” Leviticus 19:2). And this perfection is not a matter of external conduct but of internal disposition. One of the objects of the “Sermon on the Mount” is to deepen the conception of righteousness and to carry back both sin and righteousness into the heart itself (Matthew 5:20). Accordingly, the external righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees is pronounced just no righteousness at all; it is the cleansing merely of the outside of the cup and of the platter (Matthew 23:25), and they are therefore but as whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones ( Matthew 23:27, 28). True cleansing must begin from within; and this inward cleansing will cleanse the outside also (Matthew 23:26, 15:11). The fundamental principle is that every tree brings forth fruit according to its nature, whether good or bad; and therefore the tree must be made good and its fruit good, or else the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt (Matthew 7:17, 12:33, 15:11, Mark 7:15, Luke 6:43, 11:34). So invariable and all-inclusive is this principle in its working, that it applies even to the idle words which men speak, by which they may therefore be justly judged: none that are evil can speak good things, “for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaketh” ( Matthew 12:34). Half-measures are therefore unavailing (Matthew 6:21); a radical change alone will suffice — no mere patching of the new on the old, no pouring of new wine into old bottles (Matthew 9:16, 17, Mark 2:21, 22, Luke 5:36, 39). He who has not a wedding-garment — the gift of the host — even though he be called shall not be chosen ( Matthew 22:11, 12).
Accordingly when — in the Synoptic parallel to the conversation with Nicodemus —the rich young ruler came to Jesus with his heart set on purchase (as a rich man’s heart is apt to be set), pleading his morality, Jesus repelled him and took occasion to pronounce upon not the difficulty only but the impossibility of entrance into the Kingdom of heaven on such terms (Matthew 19:23, Mark 10:23, Luke 18:24). The possibility of salvation, He explains, just because it involves something far deeper than this, rests in the hands of God alone (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 18:27). Man himself brings nothing to it; the Kingdom is received in naked helplessness (Matthew 19:21 ||). It is not without significance that, in all the Synoptics, the conversation with the rich young ruler is made to follow immediately
upon the incident of the blessing of the little children (Matthew 19:13 ||). When our Lord says, with reference to these children (they were mere babies, Luke 18:15), [373] that, “Of such is the kingdom of heaven,” he means just to say that the kingdom of heaven is never purchased by any quality whatever, to say nothing now of deed: whosoever enters it enters it as a child enters the world, — he is born into it by the power of God. In these two incidents, of the child set in the midst and of the rich young ruler, we have, in effect, acted parables of the new birth; they exhibit to us how men enter the kingdom and set the declaration made to Nicodemus (John 3:1sq.) before us in vivid object-lesson. And if the kingdom can be entered thus only in nakedness as a child comes into the world, all stand before it in like case and it can come only to those selected therefor by God Himself: where none have a claim upon it the law of its bestowment can only be the Divine will (Matthew 11:27, 20:15). [374]
The broad treatment characteristic of the Gospels only partly gives way as we pass to the Epistles. Discriminations of aspects and stages, however, begin to become evident; and with the increased material before us we easily perceive lines of demarcation which perhaps we should not have noted with the Gospels only in view. In particular we observe two groups of terms standing over against one another, describing, respectively, from the manward and from the Godward side, the great change experienced by him who is translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love ( Colossians 1:13). And within the limits of each of these groups, we observe also certain distinctions in the usage of the several terms which make it up. In the one group are such terms as metanoei~n with its substantive meta>noia , and its cognate metanme>lesqai , and ejpistre>fein and its substantive ejpistrofh> . These tell us what part man takes in the change. The other group includes such terms as gennhqh~nai a]nwqen or ejk tou~ pneu>matov, palingenesi>a, ajnagenna~n, ajpokuei~sqai, ananeou~sqai, ajnakainou~sqai, ajnakai>wsiv . These tell what part God takes in the change. Man repents, makes amendment, and turns to God. But it is by God that men are renewed, brought forth, born again into newness of life. The transformation which to human vision manifests itself as a change of life (ejpistrofh> ) resting upon a radical change of mind (meta>noia ), to Him who searches the heart and understands all the movements of the human soul is known to be a creation (kti>zein ) of God, beginning in a new birth from the Spirit (‘ gennhqh~nai a]nwqen ejk tou~ pneu>matov ) and issuing in a new divine product (poi>hma ), created in Christ Jesus, into good works prepared by God beforehand that they may be walked in (Ephesians 2:10).
There is certainly synergism here; but it is a synergism of such character that not only is the initiative taken by God (for “all things are of God,” 2 Corinthians 5:18, cf. Hebrews 6:6), but the Divine action is in the exceeding greatness of God’s power, according to the working of the strength of His might which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead (Ephesians 1:19). The “new man” which is the result of this change is therefore one who can be described no otherwise than as “created” ktisqe>nta ) in righteousness and holiness of truth (Ephesians 4:24), after the image of God significantly described as “He who created him” ( tou~ kti>santov aujto>n , Colossians 3:10), — that is not He who made him a man, but He who has made him by an equally creative efflux of power this new man which he has become. [375] The exhortation that we shall “put on” this new man ( Ephesians 4:24, cf. 3:9, 10), therefore does not imply that either the initiation or the completion of the process by which the “new creation” ( kainh< kti>siv ; 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15) is wrought lies in our own power; but only urges us to that diligent coöperation with God in the work of our salvation, to which He calls us in all departments of life (1 Corinthians 3:9), and the classical expression of which in this particular department is found in the great exhortation of Philippians 2:12, 13 where we are encouraged to work out our own salvation thoroughly to the end, with fear and trembling, on the express ground that it is God who works in us both the willing and doing for His good pleasure. The express inclusion of” renewal” in the exhortation (Ephesians 4:23 aJnaneou~sqai ; Romans 12: metamorfou~sqe th~| ajnakainw>sei ) is indication enough that this “renewal” is a process wide enough to include in itself the whole synergistic “working out” of salvation ( katerga>zesqe , Philippians 2:12). But it has no tendency to throw doubt upon the underlying fact that this “working out” is both set in motion ( to< qe>lein ) and given effect (to< ejnergei~n ), only by the energizing of God (o[ ejnergw~n ejn uJmi~n ), so that all (ta< pa>nta ) is from God (ejk tou~ qeou~ , 2 Corinthians 5:18). Its effect is merely to bring “renewal” ( ajnakai>nwsiv ) into close parallelism with “repentance” (meta>noia ) — which itself is a gift of God ( 2 Timothy 2:25, cf. Acts 5:31, 11:18) as well as a work of man- as two names for the same great transaction, viewed now from the Divine, and now from the human point of sight.
It will not be without interest to observe the development of metanoei~n , meta>noia into the technical term to denote the great change by which man passes from death in sin into life in Christ. [376] Among the heathen writers, the two terms metame>lesqai, meta>me>leia and metanoei~n , meta>noia , although no doubt affected in their coloring by their differing etymological suggestions, and although metanoei~n , meta>noia seems always to have been the nobler term, were practically synonymous. Both were used of the dissatisfaction which is felt in reviewing an unworthy deed; both of the amendment which may grow out of this dissatisfaction.
Something of this undiscriminating usage extends into the New Testament. In the only three instances in which metame>lesqai occurs in the Gospels (Matthew 21:29, 32, 27:3, cf. Hebrews 7:21 from Old Testament), it is used of a repentance which issued in the amended act; while in Luke 17:3, 4 (but there only) metanoei~n , may very well be understood of a repentance which expended itself in regret.
Elsewhere in the New Testament metame>lesqai is used in a single instance only (except Hebrews 7:21 from Old Testament) and then it is brought into contrast with metanoei~n as the emotion of regret is contrasted with a revolution of mind (2 Corinthians 7:8 sq.). The Apostle had grieved the Corinthians with a letter and had regretted it (metamelo>mhn ); he had, however, ceased to regret it metame>lomai ), because he had come to perceive that their grief had led the
Corinthians to repent of their sin (meta>noia ), and certainly the salvation to which such a repentance tends is not to be regretted (ajmetame>lhton ). Here metame>lesqai is the painful review of the past; but so little is meta>noia this, that it is presented as a result of sorrow, — a total revolution of mind traced by the Apostle through the several stages of its formation in a delicate analysis remarkable for its insight into the working of a human soul under the influence of a strong revulsion (verse 11). Its roots were planted in godly sorrow, its issue was amendment of life, its essence consisted in a radical change of mind and heart towards sin. In this particular instance it was a particular sin which was in view; and in heathen writers the word is commonly employed of a specific repentance of a specific fault. In the New Testament this, however, is the rarer usage. [377] Here it prevailingly stands for that fundamental change of mind by which the back is turned not upon one sin or some sins, but upon all sin, and the face definitely turned to God and to His service, — of which therefore a transformed life ( eJpistrofh> ) is the outworking. [378] It is not itself this transformed life, into which it issues, any more than it is the painful regret out of which it issues. No doubt, it may spread its skirts so widely as to include on this side the sorrow for sin and on that the amendment of life; but what it precisely is, and what in all cases it emphasises, is the inner change of mind which regret induces and which itself induces a reformed life. Godly sorrow works repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10): when we “turn” to God we are doing works worthy of repentance (Acts 3:19, 26:20, cf. Luke 3:8).
It is in this, its deepest and broadest sense, that meta>noia corresponds from the human side to what from the divine point of sight is called ajnakai>nwsiv ; or, rather, to be more precise, that meta>noia is the psychological manifestation of ajnakai> - nwsiv. This “renewal” ( ajnakainou~sqai, ajnakai>nwsiv, ajnaneou~sqai ) is the broad term of its own group. It may be, to be sure, that palingenesi>a should take its place by its side in this respect. In one of the only
two passages in which it occurs in the New Testament (Matthew 19:28) it refers to the repristination not of the individual, but of the universe, which is to take place at “the end”: and this usage tends to stamp upon the word the broad sense of a complete and thoroughgoing restoration. If in Titus 3:5 it is applied to the individual in such a broad sense, it would be closely coextensive in meaning with the ajnakai>nwsiv by the side of which it stands in that passage, and would differ from it only as a highly figurative differs from a more literal expression of the same idea. [379] Our salvation, the Apostle would in that case say, is not an attainment of our own, but is wrought by God in His great mercy, by means of a regenerating washing, to wit, a renewal by the Holy Spirit.
The difficulty we experience in confidently determining the scope of palingenesi>a , arising from lack of a sufficiently copious usage to form the basis of our induction, attends us also with the other terms of its class. Nevertheless it seems tolerably clear that over against the broader “renewal” expressed by ajnakainou~sqai and its cognates and perhaps also by palingenesi>a, ajnagenna~n (1 Peter 1:23) and with it, its synonym ajkouei~sqai (James 1:18) are of narrower connotation. We have, says Peter, in God’s great mercy been rebegotten, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by means of the Word of the living and abiding God. It is in accordance with His own determination, says James, that we have been brought forth by the Father of Lights, from whom every good gift and every perfect boon comes, by means of the Word of truth. We have here an effect, the efficient agent in working which is God in His unbounded mercy, while the instrument by means of which it is wrought is “the word of good-tidings which has been preached” to us, that is to say, briefly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The issue is, equally briefly, just salvation. This salvation is characteristically described by Peter as awaiting its consummation in the future, while yet it is entered upon here and now not only (verse 4 sq.) as a “living hope” which shall not be put to shame (because it is reserved in heaven for us, and we meanwhile are guarded through faith for it by the power of God), but also in an accordant life of purity as children of obedience who would fain be like their Father and as He is holy be also ourselves holy in all manner of living. James intimates that those who have been thus brought forth by the will of God may justly be called “first fruits of His creatures,” where the reference assuredly is not to the first but to the second creation, that is to say, they who have already been brought forth by the word of truth are themselves the product of God’s creative energy and are the promise of the completed new creation when all that is shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8:19sq., Matthew 19:28).
The new birth thus brought before us is related to the broader idea of “renewal” (ajnakai>nwsiv ) as the initial stage to the whole process. The conception is not far from that embodied by our old Divines in the term “effectual calling” which they explained to be “by the Word and Spirit”; it is nowadays perhaps more commonly but certainly both less Scripturally and less descriptively spoken of as “conversion.” It finds its further explanation in the Scriptures accordingly not under the terms ejpistre>fein, ejpistrofh> , which describe to us that in which it issues, but under the terms kale>w, klh~siv [380] which describe to us precisely what it is. By these terms, which are practically confined to Paul and Peter, the follower of Christ is said to owe his introduction into the new life to a “call” from God — a call distinguished from the call of mere invitation (Matthew 22:14), as “the call according to purpose” ( Romans 8:28), a call which cannot fail of its appropriate effect, because there works in it the very power of God. The notion of the new birth is confined even more closely still to its initial step in our Lord’s discourse to Nicodemus, recorded in the opening verses of the third chapter of John’s Gospel. Here the whole emphasis is thrown upon the necessity of the new birth and its provision by the Holy Spirit. No one can see the Kingdom of God unless he be born again; and this new birth is wrought by the Spirit. Its advent into the soul is unobserved; its process is inscrutable; its reality is altogether an inference from its effects. There is no question here of means. That the ejx u[datov of verse 5 is to be taken as presenting the external act of baptism as the proper means by which the effect is brought about, is, as we have already pointed out, very unlikely. The axiom announced in verse 6 that all that is born of flesh is flesh and only what is born of the Spirit is spirit seems directly to negative such an interpretation by telling us flatly that we cannot obtain a spiritual effect from a physical action. The explanation of verse 8 that like the wind, the Spirit visits whom He will and we can only observe the effect and say Lo, it is here! seems inconsistent with supposing that it always attends the act of baptism and therefore can always be controlled by the human will. The new birth appears to be brought before us in this discussion in the purity of its conception; and we are made to perceive that at the root of the whole process of “renewal” there lies an immediate act of God the Holy Spirit upon the soul by virtue of which it is that the renewed man bears the great name of Son of God. Begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13), his new life will necessarily bear the lineaments of his new parentage (1 John 3:9, 10; 5:4, 18): kept by Him who was in an even higher sense still begotten of God, he overcomes the world by faith, defies the evil one (who cannot touch him), and manifests in his righteousness and love the heritage which is his (1 John 2:29, 4:7, 5:1).
Undoubtedly the Spirit is active throughout the whole process of “renewal”; but it is doubtless the peculiarly immediate and radical nature of his operation at this initial
point which gives to the product of His renewing activities its best right to be called a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15), a quickening (John 5:21, Ephesians 2:5), a making alive from the dead (Galatians 3:21).
We perceive, then, that the Scriptural phraseology lays before us, as its account of the great change which the man experiences who is translated from what the Scriptures call darkness to what they call God’s marvellous light ( Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:13, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 2:8) a process; and a process which has two sides. It is on the one side a change of the mind and heart, issuing in a new life. It is on the other side a renewing from on high issuing in a new creation. But the initiative is taken by God: man is renewed unto repentance: he does not repent that he may be renewed (cf. Hebrews 6:6). He can work out his salvation with fear and trembling only because God works in him both the willing and the doing. At the basis of all there lies an enabling act from God, by virtue of which alone the spiritual activities of man are liberated for their work (Romans 6:22, 8:2). From that moment of the first divine contact the work of the Spirit never ceases: while man is changing his mind and reforming his life, it is ever God who is renewing him in true righteousness. Considered from man’s side the new dispositions of mind and heart manifest themselves in a new course of life. Considered from God’s side the renewal of the Holy Spirit results in the production of a new creature, God’s workmanship, with new activities newly directed. We obtain thus a regular series. At the root of all lies an act seen by God alone, and mediated by nothing, a direct creative act of the Spirit, the new birth. This new birth pushes itself into man’s own consciousness through the call of the Word, responded to under the persuasive movements of the Spirit; his conscious possession of it is thus mediated by the Word. It becomes visible to his fellow-men only in a turning to God in external obedience, under the constant leading of the indwelling Spirit (Romans 8:14). A man must be born again by the Spirit to become God’s son. He must be born again by the Spirit and Word to become consciously God’s son. He must manifest his new spiritual life in Spirit-led activities accordant with the new heart which he has received and which is ever renewed afresh by the Spirit, to be recognized by his fellow-men as God’s son. It is the entirety of this process, viewed as the work of God on the soul, which the Scriptures designate “renewal.”
It must not be supposed that it is only in these semi-technical terms, however, that the process of “renewal” is spoken of in the Epistles of the New Testament any more than in the Gospels. There is, on the contrary, the richest and most varied employment of language, literal and figurative, to describe it in its source, or its nature, or its effects. It is sometimes suggested, for example, under the image of a change of vesture (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:9, 10, cf. Gal 3:27,
Romans 13:14): the old man is laid aside like soiled clothing, and the new man put on like clean raiment. Sometimes it is represented, in accordance with its nature, less figuratively, as a metamorphosis (Romans 12:2): by the renewing of our minds we become transformed beings, able to free ourselves from the fashion of this world and prove what is the will of God, good and acceptable and perfect. Sometimes it is more searchingly set forth as to its nature as a reanimation (John 5:21, Ephesians 2:4-6, Colossians 2:12, 13, Romans 6:3, 4): we are dead through our trespasses and the uncircumcision of our flesh; God raises us from this death and makes us sit in the heavenly places with Christ. Sometimes with less of figure and with more distinct reference to the method of the divine working, it is spoken of as a recreation (Ephesians 2:10, 4:24, Colossians 3:10), and its product, therefore, as a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15): we emerge from it as the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Sometimes with more particular reference to the nature and effects of the transaction, it is defined rather as a sanctification, a making holy (aJgia>zw ), 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Romans 15:16, Revelation 22:11; aJgia>zw , 1 Peter 1:22; aJgiasmo>v , 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7, Romans 6:19, 22, Hebrews 12:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:2; cf. Ellicott, on 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 3:13): and those who are the subjects of the change are, therefore, called “saints” ( a[gioi , e.g., Romans 8:27, 1 Corinthians 6:1, 2, Colossians 1:12). Sometimes again, with more distinct reference to its sources, it is spoken of as the “living” ( Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:9, 10, Ephesians 3:17) or “forming” (Galatians 4:19, cf. Ephesians 3:17, 1 Corinthians 2:16, 2 Corinthians 3:8) of Christ in us, or more significantly (Romans 8:9, 10, Galatians 4:6) as the indwelling of Christ or the Spirit in us, or with greater precision as the leading of the Spirit (Romans 8:14, Galatians 5:18): and its subjects are accordingly signalized as Spiritual men, that is, Spirit-determined, Spirit-led men (pneumatikoi> , 1 Corinthians 2:15, 3:1, Galatians 6:1, cf. 1 Peter 2:5), as distinguished from carnal men, that is, men under the dominance of their own weak, vicious selves (yucikoi> , 1 Corinthians 2:14, Jude 1:19, sarkikoi> , 1 Corinthians 3:3). None of these modes of representation more clearly define the action than the last mentioned. For the essence of the New Testament representation certainly is that the renewal which is wrought upon him who is by faith in Christ, is the work of the Spirit of Christ, who dwells within His children as a power not themselves making for righteousness, and gradually but surely transforms after the image of God, not the stream of their activities merely, but themselves in the very centre of their being.
The process by which this great metamorphosis is accomplished is laid bare to our observation with wonderful clearness in Paul’s poignant description of it, in the seventh chapter of Romans. We are there permitted to look in upon a heart into
which the Spirit of God has. intruded with His transforming power. Whatever peace it may have enjoyed is broken up. All its ingrained tendencies to evil are up in arms against the intruded power for good. The force of evil habit is so great that the Apostle, in its revelation to him, is almost tempted to despair. “O wretched man that I am,” he cries, “who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?” Certainly not himself. None knows better than he that with man this is impossible. But he bethinks himself that the Spirit of the most high God is more powerful than even ingrained sin; and with a great revulsion of heart he turns at once to cry his thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. This conflict he sees within him, he sees now to bear in it the promise and potency of victory; because it is the result of the Spirit’s working within him, and where the Spirit works, there is emancipation from the law of sin and death. The process may be hard — a labor, a struggle, a fight; but the end is assured. No matter how far from perfect we yet may be, we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in us; and we may take heart of faith from that circumstance to mortify the deeds of the body and to enter upon our heritage as children of God. Here in brief compass is the Apostle’s whole doctrine of renewal. Without holiness we certainly shall not see the Lord: but he in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, is already potentially holy; and though we see not yet what we shall be, we know that the work that is begun within us shall be completed to the end. The very presence of strife within us is the sign of life and the promise of victory.
The church has retained, on the whole, with very considerable constancy the essential elements of this Biblical doctrine of “renewal.” In the main stream of
Christian thought, at all events, there has been little tendency to neglect, much less to deny it, at least theoretically. In all accredited types of Christian teaching it is largely insisted upon that salvation consists in its substance of a radical subjective change wrought by the Holy Spirit, by virtue of which the native tendencies to evil are progressively eradicated and holy dispositions are implanted, nourished and perfected.
The most direct contradiction which this teaching has received in the history of Christian thought was that given it by Pelagius at the opening of the fifth century. Under the stress of a one-sided doctrine of human freedom, in pursuance of which he passionately asserted the inalienable ability of the will to do all righteousness, Pelagius was led to deny the need and therefore the reality of subjective operations of God on the soul (“grace” in the inner sense) to secure its perfection; and this carried with it as its necessary presupposition the denial also of all subjective injury wrought on man by sin. The vigorous reassertion of the necessity of subjective grace by Augustine put pure Pelagianism once for all outside the pale of recognized Christian teaching; although in more or less modified or attentuated forms, it has
remained as a widely spread tendency in the churches, conditioning the purity of the supernaturalism of salvation which is confessed.
The strong emphasis laid by the Reformers upon the objective side of salvation, in the enthusiasm of their rediscovery of the fundamental doctrine of justification, left its subjective side, which was not in dispute between them and their nearest opponents, in danger of falling temporarily somewhat out of sight. From the comparative infrequency with which it was in the first stress of conflict insisted on, occasion, if not given, was at least taken, to represent that it was neglected if not denied. Already in the first generation of the Reformation movement, men of mystical tendencies like Osiander arraigned the Protestant teaching as providing only for a purely external salvation. The reproach was eminently unjust, and although it continues to be repeated up to to-day, it remains eminently unjust. Only among a few Moravian enthusiasts, and still fewer Antinomians, and, in recent times, in the case of certain of the Neo-Kohlbrüggian party, can a genuine tendency to neglect the subjective side of salvation be detected. With all the emphasis which Protestant theology lays on justification by faith as the root of salvation, it has never failed to lay equal emphasis on sanctification by the Spirit as its substance. Least of all can the Reformed theology with its distinctive insistence upon “irresistible grace” — which is the very heart of the doctrine of “renewal” — be justly charged with failure to accord its rights to the great truth of supernatural sanctification. The debate at this point does not turn on the reality or necessity of sanctification, but on the relation of sanctification to justification. In clear accord with the teaching of Scripture, Protestant theology insists that justification underlies sanctification, and not vice versa. But it has never imagined that the sinner could get along with justification alone. It has rather ever insisted that sanctification is so involved in justification that the justification cannot be real unless it be followed by sanctification. There has never been a time when it could not recognize the truth in and (when taken out of its somewhat compromising context) make heartily its own such an admirable statement of the state of the case as the following: [381] — “However far off it may be from us or we from it, we cannot and ought not to think of our salvation as anything less than our own perfected and completed sinlessness and holiness. We may be, to the depths of our souls, grateful and happy to be sinners pardoned and forgiven by divine grace. But surely God would not have us satisfied with that as the end and substance of the salvation He gives us in His Son. Jesus Christ is the power of God in us unto salvation. It does not require an exercise of divine power to extend pardon; it does require it to endow and enable us with all the qualities, energies, and activities that make for, and that make holiness and life. See how St. Paul speaks of it when he prays, That we may know the exceeding greatness of God’s power to usward who believe, according to that working of the strength of His might which he wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.”"

Benjamin B. Warfield, BIBLICAL DOCTRINES (Volume II) (Joseph Kreifels).

Atheist Rap

2008-05-08T14:19:00.003-05:00

There seems to be some confusion about this video on YouTube. Apparently many atheists do not seem to understand this video is actually making fun of them. I get it, I hope you get it also and enjoy this brilliant parody.

HT-Disillusioned Words

Don't Tell Me They Just Are Not Living Their Best Life Now!

2008-05-06T12:01:00.001-05:00

I wonder why Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland do not visit these parts of the world. It makes me sick that these wolves are getting rich while true believers around the world suffer so.

We're Moving!

2008-05-02T16:36:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I have been to physical therapy six times now and they are doing ultra-sound therapy, some kind of electrical therapy, and a bunch of exercises. My hip is really starting to feel better but we had a 20'X8'X8' dumpster delivered to our driveway this morning and we now have ten days to fill it with as much stuff as we can. I really would cherish prayers that I control myself, pace myself and do not overdo it. I could really take a few steps backwards and do not want to do that. I especially could use it next week during the day while I am here alone and apt to think I feel better than I do. I can see the day coming now when we will be moved and class will have started. Praise the Lord my mood is better and I am so very excited.

Spoonman

2008-05-02T16:02:00.001-05:00

I have not lightened things up in a while so here is a video to help you unwind this weekend.

I Bet The Politicians Don't Let This See The Light Of Day!

2008-05-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

Unbelievable Patented Technology - For more funny videos, click here

Entrecard Dropping Made Easy

2008-05-01T18:34:00.000-05:00

Tysblog.com has made it incredibly easy to drop your entrecards. Just visit this blog, follow the instructions and in minutes you too can be a power dropper!

Did You Know Being Wrong About Doctrine Is A Sin?

2008-04-30T09:36:00.002-05:00

Did you? Being wrong about doctrine is to ascribe what is false to the Word of God, and that most assuredly is sin. In this day of "Can't we all just get along?""Let's just talk about Jesus.""We don't need doctrine, we need Jesus.""Doctrine divides!" Doctrine divides? You're darned right it does! Doctrine divides truth from error, it divides light from dark, it divides God from Satan. When preachers stand in the pulpit today and proclaim to millions "We need a new reformation, one of deeds not creeds!" Satan jumps for joy. "That's right," he says "Pile the law on as thick as they can stand it." These lies are being foisted upon an undiscerning evangelical church and it has to stop. We need division in the church today more than ever. A division along the lines of truth and we can only get to the truth by discerning proper doctrine from improper doctrine. I have not put up a crosstv video in awhile and I ran across this one over at Old Truth, enjoy.

The New Birth

2008-04-25T11:13:00.005-05:00

I have had many different disagreements with many different people during my stay here in cyberspace. But I am often asked why I accuse some men, like Bill Hybells, Rick Warren, and Joel Osteen of heresy while never mentioning men like John MacArthur, John Piper, and R. C. Sproul. Simple, these later men have the gospel right. While we are all fallible human beings prone to error as I believe Piper, MacArthur, and Sproul are in some areas, they have the gospel right. I think Piper and MacArthur are wrong on baptism, for example. And I believe Sproul's approach to apologetics is seriously flawed, but they have the gospel right.

The dismal state of the church is due to one major flaw in my mind. There is one point of doctrine with a subtle shift at the foundation makes for major heresy when put into action. It completely changes the way one looks at evangelism. It manifests dangerously in how worship is conceived of. It shifts the focus of the gospel away from God and onto man. It makes for a man-centered gospel instead of a God-centered gospel. What is this point you ask? It is the relationship of regeneration to faith. You see regeneration precedes faith. You can not do anything until God does His work. You can not believe until God changes your nature. You can not exercise your faith until God gives you the new birth. You can not repent until God makes you who were dead alive.

If we twist this just ever so slightly and start to preach faith precedes regeneration the consequences are devastating. If we have to exercise our faith, if we have the ability to resist God's call, if Christ did the same work for everyone, then salvation belongs entirely to man. If the only difference between you, who are saved, and your neighbor, who is lost, is your choice, then you have something to boast about and God is no longer omnipotent.

Regeneration precedes faith is crucial to the true gospel of God. I am going to put up a couple of quotes now, one from John MacArthur and one from John Piper. I wll include links to the entire transcript of each so you may read them in context if you so choose.

First from John Piper:
"Now we are in a position to answer our original question about the relationship between regeneration, faith in Christ, and loving people. Here’s what we can say and why it’s so important.
The New Birth Is the Cause of Faith

We can say, first, that regeneration is the cause of faith. That’s plain in 1 John 5:1: “Everyone who believes [that is, has faith] that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” Having been born of God results in our believing. Our believing is the immediate evidence of God’s begetting.
Loving People Is the Fruit of Faith

Second, we can say that loving people is the fruit of this faith. That’s the way John argues in verse 4: The victory that overcomes the world—that is, that overcomes the obstacles to loving others—is our faith.
The Order: New Birth, Faith, Love

So in the order of causation we have: 1) new birth, 2) faith in Jesus, and 3) the doing of God’s commandments without a sense of burdensomeness, namely, loving others. God causes the new birth. The new birth is the creation of new life that sees Christ for who he is and receives him, and that receiving severs the roots of the cravings of the world and sets us free to love."
From the sermon titled: "Regeneration, Faith, Love: In That Order"

Now from John MacArthur:
"And so, in all these passages you have a picture of the condition of the sinner who is spiritually dead, spiritually incapacitated, spiritually ignorant, cannot understand, cannot examine, cannot apprehend. And in that condition one asks the question, how does this sinner respond to a call from God, a saving call, an unyielding summons, a supernatural subpoena? How does he respond to this irresistible power grace, this drawing of the fire? What faculty is there to cause him to respond? How can he repent and believe and embrace, since he is dead and ignorant and helpless like a corpse?

And that question leads us to the simple answer of regeneration. There will be no response unless the sinner is supernaturally given life because the call of God is a call to life, but there must be enough life to respond to that call. It's a call to faith. It's a call to salvation. But there must be a faculty to react. And so the doctrine of regeneration, the teaching in the Bible of regeneration says that God gives to His elect life so they can respond to the call, the effectual call, the power grace, the Father's drawing."
And again:
"To believe that the sinner has the ability in himself to respond to the gospel is to believe a lie. Everything that is good, and everything that is perfect is from above, anothen. It's the same word that's used, by the way, in John 3, you must be born from above, anothen."
Taken from the sermon: "The Doctrine of Regeneration, Part 1"

John MacArthur says if you believe faith precedes regeneration you believe a lie. These are strong words but I think this doctrine needs to be defended with strong words. Many saved men are propogating this error that began with Pelagius, sent down to us through John Wesley, Charles Finney, Billy Graham, Rick Warren, and out into the future. Surely you can see how this snowball effect has devastating consequences for our Lord's Church. It leads to a man-centered gospel in which we must always be trying to appeal to the masses, we must be seeker-sensitive, emergent or emerging. We must go into the community and see what would attract people to our churches.

No, we must get back to a God-centered gospel, a Christ-centered gospel. God has told us how to do church and to evangelize. The gospel, says the Lord, is the power unto salvation! So we need sound historical-redemptive preaching of the word. When the preacher steps into the pulpit and proclaims the word of God by exposition of the scriptures he truly is a prophet of God, one who speaks Gods words to the people. That is the mission I am about to embark on and I will never compromise to the culture or sway with the wind. I will proclaim Christ and Him crucified until He calls me home.

Seeking Greek Advice

2008-04-23T09:54:00.002-05:00

Maybe it's just the excitement of preparing for seminary but I am studying Greek on my own and yesterday I was working on demonstrative pronouns and found myself just plain struggling. If any of you Greek scholars out there could let me know what you think or if there are any tricks my distracted mind might have missed I would greatly appreciate it. I am going to go back to verbs today and probably spend a couple of weeks with those and nouns before I try and tackle the participles before class begins.

No More Hoops! Well Almost.

2008-04-21T19:41:00.004-05:00

It is official! I received my acceptance letter from Reformed Theological Seminary Jackson Mississippi today. That's right as of June 30 I will officially be in Seminary. You may leave your words of congratulations/condolences in the comments section or you can email me directly if you have my email address. But if you have my email address you have probably already received my letter telling you the great news and asking for prayerful/financial support. If you have my email address and did not receive this email check your spam folder and if it is not there and you feel left out leave me a comment, I will be sure and forward you a copy. But you know, as long as you are here you may donate by clicking the button to the left. My wife just donated $50 mainly because that button has been there for more than half a year and we have not received any emails about donations so we wanted to make sure it worked, it does. Okay enough self-promotion, have a great day.

In Christ
Alan

Bible Study Logos Style

2008-04-19T13:17:00.004-05:00

Logos Bible Software, which I have endorsed here often, has just announced their plans to publish 2,000 new titles a year! That is not a misprint 2,000 titles a year. If you have not taken the plunge and invested in this amazing study tool I urge you to do so now. It will not be long before Libronix will replace my entire paper library and the benefits of electronic study can never be reproduced will a manual endeavor. Please take time to look into Logos/Libronix and tell them I sent you.

Logos is having a blog contest urging all of us bloggers to blog about it. This is my blog post about it. It is running for two weeks and then the Logos blog will publish links to all the blogs. I can't wait to read what those more creative than myself have to say. You can read about the contest here.

Wasting Time With Doctors

2008-04-16T11:37:00.002-05:00

I went to a specialist today to determine what is wrong with my hip. You know what he told me, it is muscular take some Tylenol. Tylenol, are you kidding me? He obviously does not know the first thing about medicine. This pain I am having is incapacitating, but you know what, I have been called to preach the gospel so I am going forward with my plan to attend seminary. I trust the Lord will get me through it and hey, pain builds character, right? I thought I had enough character but obviously I was wrong. I will not turn down any prayers though.

LCMS vs. ELCA

2008-04-14T12:44:00.003-05:00

Someone took exception to my portrait of Lutherans from my last post. I was talking about the LCMS and not the ELCA. The ELCA has nothing really distinctively Lutheran about them, in fact it is hard to tell them apart from the United Methodist, the Prebyterian Church (USA) or the Episcopal Church in America. All of these so-called Mainline denominations have one thing in common, they do not put themselves under the authority of the Bible therefor they are not Christian denominations. I am sure there are genuine Christians in these bodies but it is in spite of what they teach not because of it. When one makes decisions in direct contradiction to what scripture teaches why does one even want the name Christian? Ultimately these denominations have man as their authority and not God so they really should be social clubs not churches. Yes I was talking about the LCMS who hold to outdated doctrines such as not allowing homosexuals in the pulpit, this is not a social issue it is a sin issue, they would not allow a heterosexual in the pulpit who was having sex outside of his marriage either.
sola fide, sola gratia, sola scriptura, sola christo, soli deo gloria!!!!

Lutheran Vs. Reformed

2008-04-10T10:41:00.003-05:00

I have had another request to do a post on the difference between Lutheran and Reformed views of the sacraments. In Protestantism there are only two sacraments, baptism and communion, and we can't seem to agree on these.

The Lutheran view of communion is called 'Consubstantiation' as opposed to the Roman Catholic 'Transubstantiation.' In the Roman view the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ, worthy of worship, which they do, they actually worship the elements. In Lutheran doctrine the bread and wine are the body and blood in a 'mysterious' manner, they do not try and explain it save to say that Christ is in, with, and under the elements and they do not worship the elements. They also practice close communion, meaning one must be examined by clergy and agree with their stance on the supper before partaking.

The reformed view is, as Calvin put it, "The Eucharist is a visible sign of an invisible reality." The bread and wine are just bread and wine but they signify and present to us a spiritual reality that takes place - a spiritual feeding on Christ by which believers are nourished. Calvin proposed that that at the Supper, Christians are taken into communion with Christ in heaven by the Holy Spirit. We practice an open communion while administering the proper warnings about wrongful partaking, we allow baptized members in good standing of Bible believing churches to participate.

Baptism in the Lutheran view is efficacious. This is why they baptize infants. Baptism regenerates one and brings them into salvation. This is often referred to as Baptismal Regeneration.

The reformed view is the one I have been promoting over the past many weeks. We baptize as a sign and a seal of what Christ has done for us. Infants are brought into covenantal relationship through baptism but baptism itself is not efficacious, it does not save one.

If any Lutherans read this and think I have misrepresented your stand please do not hesitate to correct me. I hope this has cleared some things up for some of you.

In Christ
Alan

Calvin On Infant Baptism Pt. 9

2008-04-07T10:11:00.001-05:00

"25. Another passage which they adduce is from the third chapter of John, where our Saviour’s words seem to them to imply that a present regeneration is required in baptism, “Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). See, they say, how baptism is termed regeneration by the lips of our Lord himself, and on what pretext, therefore, with what consistency is baptism given to those who, it is perfectly obvious, are not at all capable of regeneration? First, they are in error in imagining that there is any mention of baptism in this passage, merely because the word water is used. Nicodemus, after our Saviour had explained to him the corruption of nature, and the necessity of being born again, kept dreaming of a corporeal birth, and hence our Saviour intimates the mode in which God regenerates us—viz. by water and the Spirit; in other words, by the Spirit, who, in irrigating and cleansing the souls of believers, operates in the manner of water. By “water and the Spirit,” therefore, I simply understand the Spirit, which is water. Nor is the expression new. It perfectly accords with that which is used in the third chapter of Matthew, “He that cometh after me is mightier than I;” “he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Mt. 3:11). Therefore, as to baptise with the Holy Spirit, and with fire, is to confer the Holy Spirit, who, in regeneration, has the office and nature of fire, so to be born again of water, and of the Spirit, is nothing else than to receive that power of the Spirit, which has the same effect on the soul that water has on the body. I know that a different interpretation is given, but I have no doubt that this is the genuine meaning, because our Saviour’s only purpose was to teach, that all who aspire to the kingdom of heaven must lay aside their own disposition. And yet were we disposed to imitate these men in their mode of cavilling, we might easily, after conceding what they wish, reply to them, that baptism is prior to faith and repentance, since, in this passage, our Saviour mentions it before the Spirit. This certainly must be understood of spiritual gifts, and if they follow baptism, I have gained all I contend for. But, cavilling aside, the simple interpretation to be adopted is that which I have given—viz. that no man, until renewed by living water, that is, by the Spirit, can enter the kingdom of God.

26. This, moreover, plainly explodes the fiction of those who consign all the unbaptised to eternal death.604 Let us suppose, then, that, as they insist, baptism is administered to adults only. What will they make of a youth who, after being embued duly and properly with the rudiments of piety, while waiting for the day of baptism, is unexpectedly carried off by sudden death? The promise of our Lord is clear, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). We nowhere read of his having condemned him who was not yet baptised. I would not be understood as insinuating that baptism may be contemned with impunity. So far from excusing this contempt, I hold that it violates the covenant of the Lord. The passage only serves to show, that we must not deem baptism so necessary as to suppose that every one who has lost the opportunity of obtaining it has forthwith perished. By assenting to their fiction, we should condemn all, without exception, whom any accident may have prevented from procuring baptism, how much soever they may have been endued with the faith by which Christ himself is possessed. Moreover, baptism being, as they hold, necessary to salvation, they, in denying it to infants, consign them all to eternal death. Let them now consider what kind of agreement they have with the words of Christ, who says, that “of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 19:14). And though we were to concede everything to them, in regard to the meaning of this passage, they will extract nothing from it, until they have previously overthrown the doctrine which we have already established concerning the regeneration of infants.

27. But they boast of having their strongest bulwark in the very institution of baptism, which they find in the last chapter of Matthew, where Christ, sending his disciples into all the world, commands them to teach and then baptise. Then, in the last chapter of Mark, it is added, “He that believeth, and is baptised, shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). What more (say they) do we ask, since the words of Christ distinctly declare, that teaching must precede baptism, and assign to baptism the place next to faith? Of this arrangement our Lord himself gave an example, in choosing not to be baptised till his thirtieth year. In how many ways do they here entangle themselves, and betray their ignorance! They err more than childishly in this, that they derive the first institution of baptism from this passage, whereas Christ had, from the commencement of his ministry, ordered it to be administered by the apostles. There is no ground, therefore, for contending that the law and rule of baptism is to be sought from these two passages. as containing the first institution. But to indulge them in their error, how nerveless is this mode of arguing? Were I disposed to evasion, I have not only a place of escape, but a wide field to expatiate in. For when they cling so desperately to the order of the words, insisting that because it is said, “Go, preach and baptise,” and again, “Whosoever believes and is baptised,” they must preach before baptising, and believe before being baptised, why may not we in our turn object, that they must baptise before teaching the observance of those things which Christ commanded, because it is said, “Baptise, teaching whatsoever I have commanded you”? The same thing we observed in the other passage in which Christ speaks of the regeneration of water and of the Spirit. For if we interpret as they insist, then baptism must take precedence of spiritual regeneration, because it is first mentioned. Christ teaches that we are to be born again, not of the Spirit and of water, but of water and of the Spirit."

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Translation of: Institutio Christianae religionis.; Reprint, with new introd. Originally published: Edinburgh : Calvin Translation Society, 1845-1846., IV, xvi, 25 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

The Cult Oprah

2008-04-04T10:56:00.004-05:00

How so many are sucked in by the pure evil being spread by Oprah Winfrey is beyond me. Everything she does has the appearance of good but at the heart of her "ministry" is nothing but unadulterated evil. Watch this video and warn everyone you know who has joined in this temple cult prostitutes alter of anti-christ to flee for their lives.

Update

2008-04-03T11:09:00.002-05:00

I went to the doctor and found out the x-rays were negative. So it may not be osteo-arthritis after all. What exactly it is remains a mystery but what is not a mystery is it is getting worse. I realized last night I could not work like I was 2 months ago and I am not sure I could cook dinner like I was 2 weeks ago. I go for a bone scan and MRI in 2 more weeks and am getting frustrated. I am sure God has called me to preach the gospel but I am not sure exactly how He is going to enable me to endure the training. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Green On Infant Baptism Pt. 7

2008-04-02T22:52:00.000-05:00

"7. Infant Baptism Stresses the Initiative of God in Salvation

All agree that baptism is the seal on the covenant between God’s grace and our response. But you have to administer this sacrament at some time or other. Should it be attached primarily to man’s response, or to God’s initiative? That is the heart of the question. It is here the paedobaptists (i.e. those who baptise children) and Baptists take different roads. The Baptist believes baptism is improper until a person believes, because he attaches the covenant seal primarily to man’s response. The paedobaptist position, which has been the mainstream of Christian thought, takes a different view. Yes, response is important, vitally important. Room must be made for that, in some such sacramental act as confirmation. But, supremely, baptism is the mark of God’s prior love to us which antedates our response and calls it forth. For the Baptist, baptism primarily bears witness to what we do in responding to the grace of God. For the paedobaptist, it primarily bears witness to what God has done to make it all possible."

Michael Green, Baptism: Its Purpose, Practice and Power, 55 (Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 1987).

Baptism--The Congregation's Responsibility

2008-03-31T20:47:00.003-05:00

I visited my old church (Peace CRC) last night because my son's Cadet group was participating in the service. The boys' theme for the year was "Now... pass it on." Throughout the year, they learned about how God has entrusted his people with the responsibility of passing on the truth of Christ's saving death and resurrection generationally.

The back of the Cadet Sunday bulletin had a request for donations (the group does not receive denominational financial support). A line there made an interesting point: "...as a congregation promises at a child's baptism, the whole church is involved in the nurturing of a child from infancy to adulthood."

The infant being baptized doesn't know any more than that some (perhaps cold) water has interrupted a nap. But the baptism does more than that for the parents and the rest of the congregation. It is a visual reminder to us of our own baptisms, and the sign and seal of the work that Christ has done. And it's a reminder to us that we are to take an active role in the spiritual education of our covenant children.

Some churches choose to dedicate infants, but only baptize adults. Apparently, there is an innate desire to include their children in the covenant sign. So, why not just baptize them?

Based on scripture, I don't see a reason to dedicate rather than baptize an infant or child. It is not the same as communion, which we are clearly taught we must understand prior to partaking. But paedocommunion is a subject for a different day.

In Christ,
Lisa G.

A Reason For The Pain

2008-03-31T20:08:00.002-05:00

I don't believe I have updated you all on my hip. I have Osteo-arthritis and will be seeing a family doctor tomorrow who will then give me a referral to a specialist. They may be able to give me a cortisone shot to help deal with the pain. But other than that this is degenerative and surgery may be the only other option eventually. I need some strength and motivation to go swimming, the only cardio I can do with my hip which will help me lose some weight.

Green On Infant Baptism Pt.6

2008-03-31T10:35:00.001-05:00

"6. Infant Baptism Stresses the Objectivity of the Gospel

It points to the solid achievement of Christ crucified and risen, whether or not we respond to it. Baptism is the sacrament of our adoption, our acquittal, our justification. Not that we gain anything from it unless we do what it presupposes, namely repent and believe. But it is the standing demonstration that our salvation does not depend on our own very fallible faith; it depends on what God has done for us. Infant baptism reminds us that we are not saved because of our faith but through the gracious action of God on our behalf which stands, come wind come weather. And that is a most important emphasis. Martin Luther, that great advocate, one might almost say rediscoverer, of the blessings of justification by faith, used to be beset by the most frightening doubts. At such times he did not say, ‘I have believed’. He was too unsure of his faith to do that. He said, ‘I have been baptised’ (as an infant, what’s more!). Baptism stood for what God had done for him to make him accepted in the Beloved. It was healthily objective. In our own day, when feelings are so often mistaken as the barometer of spiritual wellbeing, we could do worse than learn from Luther."

Michael Green, Baptism: Its Purpose, Practice and Power, 54 (Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 1987).

Captain Headknowledge On Baptism

2008-03-28T15:11:00.002-05:00

Eric asked the question "why do we both come to the scriptures and find different conclusions?" I answered this with a rather flippant "We live in a fallen world." Now while this is true and does contribute to it I thought the Captains comments on that post deserved front page treatment. I now present for your reading pleasure the Captain's insight.

"May I attempt to insert some thoughts regarding Eric's question about how individuals can examine the same text and come away with different interpretations?

As a listener to the White Horse Inn, I frequently hear Michael Horton point out that no one comes to the text of Scripture completely free of preconceived notions. Even though Eric was raised in a paedobaptist denomination, he says they didn't promote paedobaptism. That leaves a deficit in the minds of those not receiving clear instruction on the matter. So, naturally, this void of teaching on baptism was easily filled with the very consistent emphasis offered by the tradition for whom baptism is their very namesake--the Baptists! Perhaps I'm just trying to say, "nature abhors a vacuum."

The heart of the Baptist approach to the question of baptism seems to be in the difference in the emphasis put on the leap from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The paedobaptists emphasize the continuity between the testaments, while the credobaptists emphasize the discontinuity between the testaments. While paedobaptists are looking in the New Testament for explicit negations of giving the sign of the covenant to children of covenant adults (if you will), Baptists are looking for explicit commands prescribing the same thing. Baptists come looking for a positive; paedobpatists come looking for a negative--that explains, in my mind, how two individuals come to the text and end up with varying interpretations (which not amazingly coincide with the interpretation of the traditions from which both individuals come). It's the age old problem of not being able to get away from one's preconceived notions.

This may not have told you anything you didn't already know, but I think it's the plain and simple answer to that particular question.

I must confess, Alan, I haven't been following the posts on Calvin and Green as much as I would like, however, every time I did read them, I came away with a new layer of understanding on the issues. I'll certainly try to get back to looking up the ones I've skipped in the past. I presume they'll still be there when I come looking for them.

If I may, I'd like to suggest, if you haven't done so already, come by my blog later and check out the link to Google Maps which I found featured at the ESV blog. They are featuring satellite images of the greater Jerusalem area, with tags detailing the events of Passion Week, linking to the ESV website to read the relevant Scripture passages. It's pretty interesting. But my blog features a bonus great hymn on Christ's sacrifice by a seventeenth century Lutheran pastor to add a devotional application to the interesting maps."

Calvin On Infant Baptism Pt. 8

2008-03-28T12:52:00.001-05:00

"22. Every one must, I think, clearly perceive, that all arguments of this stamp are mere perversions of Scripture. The other remaining arguments akin to these we shall cursorily examine. They object, that baptism is given for the remission of sins. When this is conceded, it strongly supports our view; for, seeing we are born sinners, we stand in need of forgiveness and pardon from the very womb. Moreover, since God does not preclude this age from the hope of mercy, but rather gives assurance of it, why should we deprive it of the sign, which is much inferior to the reality? The arrow, therefore, which they aim at us, we throw back upon themselves. Infants receive forgiveness of sins; therefore, they are not to be deprived of the sign. They adduce the passage from the Ephesians, that Christ gave himself for the Church, “that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26). Nothing could be quoted more appropriate than this to overthrow their error: it furnishes us with an easy proof. If, by baptism, Christ intends to attest the ablution by which he cleanses his Church, it would seem not equitable to deny this attestation to infants, who are justly deemed part of the Church, seeing they are called heirs of the heavenly kingdom. For Paul comprehends the whole Church when he says that it was cleansed by the washing of water. In like manner, from his expression in another place, that by baptism we are ingrafted into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 7:13), we infer, that infants, whom he enumerates among his members, are to be baptised, in order that they may not be dissevered from his body. See the violent onset which they make with all their engines on the bulwarks of our faith.

23. They now come down to the custom and practice of the apostolic age, alleging that there is no instance of any one having been admitted to baptism without a previous profession of faith and repentance. For when Peter is asked by his hearers, who were pricked in their heart, “What shall we do?” his advise is, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:37, 38). In like manner, when Philip was asked by the eunuch to baptise him, he answered, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” Hence they think they can make out that baptism cannot be lawfully given to any one without previous faith and repentance. If we yield to this argument, the former passage, in which there is no mention of faith, will prove that repentance alone is sufficient, and the latter, which makes no requirement of repentance, that there is need only of faith. They will object, I presume, that the one passage helps the other, and that both, therefore, are to be connected. I, in my turn, maintain that these two must be compared with other passages which contribute somewhat to the solution of this difficulty. There are many passages of Scripture whose meaning depends on their peculiar position. Of this we have an example in the present instance. Those to whom these things are said by Peter and Philip are of an age fit to aim at repentance, and receive faith. We strenuously insist that such men are not to be baptised unless their conversion and faith are discerned, at least in as far as human judgment can ascertain it. But it is perfectly clear that infants must be placed in a different class. For when any one formerly joined the religious communion of Israel, he behoved to be taught the covenant, and instructed in the law of the Lord, before he received circumcision, because he was of a different nation; in other words, an alien from the people of Israel, with whom the covenant, which circumcision sanctioned, had been made.

24. Thus the Lord, when he chose Abraham for himself, did not commence with circumcision, in the meanwhile concealing what he meant by that sign, but first announced that he intended to make a covenant with him, and, after his faith in the promise, made him partaker of the sacrament. Why does the sacrament come after faith in Abraham, and precede all intelligence in his son Isaac? It is right that he who, in adult age, is admitted to the fellowship of a covenant by one from whom he had hitherto been alienated, should previously learn its conditions; but it is not so with the infant born to him. He, according to the terms of the promise, is included in the promise by hereditary right from his mother’s womb. Or, to state the matter more briefly and more clearly, If the children of believers, without the help of understanding, are partakers of the covenant, there is no reason why they should be denied the sign, because they are unable to swear to its stipulations. This undoubtedly is the reason why the Lord sometimes declares that the children born to the Israelites are begotten and born to him (Ezek. 16:20; 23:37). For he undoubtedly gives the place of sons to the children of those to whose seed he has promised that he will be a Father. But the child descended from unbelieving parents is deemed an alien to the covenant until he is united to God by faith. Hence, it is not strange that the sign is withheld when the thing signified would be vain and fallacious. In that view, Paul says that the Gentiles, so long as they were plunged in idolatry, were strangers to the covenant (Eph. 2:11). The whole matter may, if I mistake not, be thus briefly and clearly expounded: Those who, in adult age, embrace the faith of Christ, having hitherto been aliens from the covenant, are not to receive the sign of baptism without previous faith and repentance. These alone can give them access to the fellowship of the covenant, whereas children, deriving their origin from Christians, as they are immediately on their birth received by God as heirs of the covenant, are also to be admitted to baptism. To this we must refer the narrative of the Evangelist, that those who were baptised by John confessed their sins (Mt. 3:6). This example, we hold, ought to be observed in the present day. Were a Turk to offer himself for baptism, we would not at once perform the rite without receiving a confession which was satisfactory to the Church."

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Translation of: Institutio Christianae religionis.; Reprint, with new introd. Originally published: Edinburgh : Calvin Translation Society, 1845-1846., IV, xvi, 22 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

More Damage Control Spin From David Strand

2008-03-27T13:19:00.002-05:00

March 27, 2008

Dear Christian Friends:

Last week the decision was made to discontinue the “Issues, Etc.” program on KFUO-AM Radio, a ministry owned and operated by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). A brief statement was posted soon after on KFUO-AM's website citing programmatic and stewardship (business) reasons for this decision.

Following the discontinuation of the program, some KFUO-AM listeners asked for more information as to why “Issues, Etc.” had been ended. Detailed reasons are not usually provided when making program changes, and I intend to continue our policy and practice not to publicly discuss specific personnel matters. However, I do want to provide additional information regarding some of the significant challenges we faced prior to the discontinuation of the program and to respond to the inquiries of those who were particularly fond and appreciative of “Issues, Etc.”

In fiscal year 2007-08, KFUO-AM’s operating deficit was $620,698. Since 2001, the accumulated deficits at the station have been in excess of $3.5 million. The LCMS budget, entrusted to our care by members of our Synod’s congregations, has absorbed these shortfalls for years. After long and prayerful consideration, it became clear that measures had to be taken to stop the ongoing, staggering losses.

Although some are under the impression that “Issues, Etc.” was profitable and self-supporting, the fact is the program lost approximately $250,000 in the last fiscal year. While airing for only 18 percent of KFUO-AM’s programming week, “Issues” accounted for more than 40 percent of the station’s total deficit. These figures are based on the audited financial statements of the LCMS.

Over the years, every effort has been made to cut expenses at KFUO-AM. At the same time, particularly in the past year, extraordinary measures were taken to bolster the financial support of the station. A sizable portion of those efforts focused on assisting “Issues, Etc.,” the most costly program on the AM schedule. Unfortunately, these measures have not solved the problem. As of February 29th, two-thirds into the current fiscal year, KFUO-AM was on pace to suffer heavy losses again.

Some may also be under a misapprehension about the size of the “Issues” audience. In 2005, station management decided it could no longer justify paying for expensive ratings reports in light of the predictably low and static nature of KFUO-AM’s audience numbers. At the time, a blending of the spring 2004 and spring 2005 “books” showed an average listening audience during the “Issues” Monday-Friday timeslot of 1,650. There is no indication these numbers have grown appreciably since.

As for the audio streaming of “Issues, Etc.” via the Internet, the numbers are similarly low. During the last full month (February 2008) for which we have reports, the average number of live, streaming listeners during the “Issues” Monday-Friday timeslot was 64.

On Sunday nights, when the first hour of “Issues” was syndicated in a number of markets (an opportunity for which, during the past fiscal year, the LCMS actually paid $66,000 in broadcast fees), and where the second hour was available only on the Internet, the peak number of online listeners on the KFUO stream was 39.

Sadly, very difficult financial conditions sometimes require decisions that are not popular among all affected. In the case of KFUO-AM, the time had come when good stewardship of the church’s funds required a decision that meaningfully curtailed the deep, ongoing losses at the station. Ending the costs associated with “Issues, Etc.” was the only viable option, and the decision to do this was prayerfully and contemplatively made.

I am sorry that those who enjoyed “Issues” are disappointed, but I have made the show’s archives available, and I respectfully hope that all listeners will support the ongoing radio ministry of our beloved Synod.

Sincerely in Christ,

David L. Strand
Executive Director
Board for Communication Services

Link:http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=13252

Obfuscation!

David L. Strand, Executive Director of the Board for Communication Services for the LCMS has posted an 'explanation' that he hopes will make the controversy surrounding the cancellation of Issues Etc. go away. However, as someone who is well connected to sources deep inside the Purple Palace I know for a fact that Strand's official statement is full of half-truths and bureaucratic misdirection.

Here is just a sampling.

1. In his official statement Strand states:

In fiscal year 2007-08, KFUO-AM’s operating deficit was $620,698. Since 2001, the accumulated deficits at the station have been in excess of $3.5 million. The LCMS budget, entrusted to our care by members of our Synod’s congregations, has absorbed these shortfalls for years. After long and prayerful consideration, it became clear that measures had to be taken to stop the ongoing, staggering losses.

Please consider this, if Issues Etc. was cut because of business losses then how come it was the ONLY program on KFUO AM that ever asked for donations and support? If Strand was so concerned that KFUO AM was operating in the black then how come all the other programs which constitute 82% of the total air time for KFUO were not asking for donations?

One of my sources in the Purple Palace told me on Monday that the Synod has always considered KFUO AM to be a ministry outreach and therefore was not concerned by the expenses of keeping KFUO AM on the air.

Please also consider this fact. The treasurer of the LCMS was in Germany on the day that Issues Etc was cancelled and was shocked by the announcement that the show had been cancelled. If Issues Etc. was cancelled for financial reasons, then wouldn't it make logical sense that the treasurer of the LCMS would have been part of that decision?

2. Strand grossly understates the size of the Issues Etc. audience. In his statement he says:

Some may also be under a misapprehension about the size of the “Issues” audience. In 2005, station management decided it could no longer justify paying for expensive ratings reports in light of the predictably low and static nature of KFUO-AM’s audience numbers. At the time, a blending of the spring 2004 and spring 2005 “books” showed an average listening audience during the “Issues” Monday-Friday timeslot of 1,650. There is no indication these numbers have grown appreciably since.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice that Strand purposely omitted the number of people who listened to Issues Etc. via podcast. Why didn't he include those numbers? Answer: by omitting those numbers he is able to make it appear like very few people ever listened to Issues Etc. But if the Issues Etc audience is a small as David Strand would have you believe, then why is there a national outcry against this decision?

Also, missing from these figures are what those in the business world call a "comparative baseline". In other words, in order to get a proper perspective of these figures then we'd need to know how many listeners each of the other shows have during their respective time slots. But that information is also missing from Strand's statement.

This statement by David Strand is a propoganda piece designed to silence critics and end the controversy. It was carefully crafted using only carefully selected bits of information while omitting data that would give people the full and complete picture.

Unfortunately, this piece because of its half truths and omitted data will do nothing more than add fuel to an already raging fire.

Posted by Athanasius on March 27, 2008 at 10:55 AM in Synodical Half-Truths | Permalink

Link:http://adelphoitouchristou.typepad.com/savethelcms/2008/03/obfuscation.html

Another Place To Write

2008-03-25T17:28:00.003-05:00

I was looking for some work from home opportunities on the web the other day and somehow not only did I sign up for this blog-hub-type thing, I managed to email everyone in my contact list and tell them to become my fans. This may be providential but since three people actually did sign up I felt obligated to post there. We shall see if I actually make any money but in the mean time if you enjoy this blog check out the other one. I plan on keeping that more along the lines of Bible study/teaching and not so much hunting heretics as I suspect I will attract a much larger group of non-believers there. Here is the url of my latest post there, stop by and leave me a comment.

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Gospel-Of-John

Green On Infant Baptism Pt. 5

2008-03-24T21:09:00.001-05:00

"5. The Church Down Its History Has Baptised Children

There seems little doubt that it was the established practice of the subapostolic church to baptise infants within Christian homes. About a.d. 215 the Roman theologian Hippolytus, in a document significantly called The Apostolic Tradition, refers in the most natural way to the baptism of children. Indeed, he alludes to it as an ‘unquestioned rule’. ‘First, you should baptise the little ones. All who can speak for themselves should speak. But for those who cannot speak, their parents should speak, or another who belongs to their family.’ Then the grown men were baptised, and finally the women (Apostolic Tradition, 21). Hippolytus’ order of service for baptism had wide circulation, was translated into various languages, and set the standard for more than a thousand years.

We do not have much explicit evidence before Hippolytus. This is largely because not a great deal of reference is made to baptism in the surviving literature of the second century, and what there is does not always specify whether infant or adult baptism is meant. But what evidence there is supports the unquestioning acceptance of infant baptism. Thus Polycarp (c. a.d. 69–155), himself, it appears, a child of Christian parents, declared at his martyrdom, ‘Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He never did me any wrong …’ This takes us back to around the year a.d. 70, in the heyday of the young church’s advance, when apostles were still alive. It is almost incredible that Polycarp means us to understand that he came to Christian beginnings in baptism as a lad of 12 or 14, when he would have been old enough to make his own adult decision for Christ. Had that been the case he would have been 100 when he died. Not many people reached that age in those days! When they did, it was a matter for special comment. No, Polycarp was almost certainly baptised as a baby eighty-six years before his martyrdom.

The same was true of Origen. Three times he mentions the baptism of infants as a custom of the church, and in his Commentary on Romans 6:5–7 he says, ‘For this reason the Church received from the apostles the tradition of baptising children too’. Origen, that extremely erudite Church Father, was born in a.d. 185 to a Christian family, and if he thinks infant baptism was an apostolic practice, he must surely have been baptised as an infant himself. Where did his parents get the idea from? Such questions take us back into the first Christian century.

Another of the great teachers of the early Church, Irenaeus (a.d. 130–200) is no less clear, and no less relaxed about the practice. He says that Jesus came to save all who through him are born again to God—infants, children, boys, youths and old men. He passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants, and so forth (Adv. Haer. 2:22:4). And Justin (a.d. 100–165), one of the earliest Christian writers from whom any substantial literary works have come down to us, mentions ‘many men and women of the age of sixty and seventy years who have been made disciples of Christ [note the passive form, emathēteuthēsan] from childhood’ (1 Apol. 15:6). This is a clear allusion to baptism at a very early age.

The picture is clear and uniform. The early Christians baptised the children in their families, and took this to be an apostolic practice. There is, I believe, only one voice raised against the practice during the first fifteen hundred years of the church’s history, the lone voice of Tertullian (a.d. 160–220). That is not to say, of course, that there were no reformist movements in the church during that millennium and a half. Of course there were. Montanism in the second century, Donatism in the fourth, and the Franciscans, the Hussites and the followers of Wycliffe in the latter part of the Middle Ages were all preparing the way for the Reformation. They were all, in one way or another, attacks on the errors of the institutional church. But they did not bring into question the propriety of baptising the children of believers.

Tertullian, however, did. He lived in North Africa, and in the de Baptismo, written in a.d. 205, he expressed his doubts about infant baptism. It is very interesting that he does not use what would have been a clinching argument against it, namely that infant baptism did not derive from the apostles. He cannot do that, for he knows very well that it is no novelty in the church. Instead, he argues that the baptism of little children, except in cases of dire necessity, imposes too great a responsibility on the godparents; they might die and so be unable to fulfil their obligations, or undesirable tendencies might appear in the children! So he advises postponement of baptism. He prescribes the same for unmarried young adults and widows. Let them wait ‘until they either marry or make up their minds to continence’. Tertullian does not contest the legitimacy of baptism for such people, only the wisdom of it. Cunctatio baptismi utilior is his conclusion: delay of baptism is more beneficial (op. cit., 18). Ten years later, when writing the de Anima, Tertullian is happy for the baptism of children even if one parent is not a Christian, on the basis of a combination of 1 Corinthians 7:14 and John 3:5 (op. cit., 39).

This curious inconsistency in his treatment of infant baptism is probably best explained as follows. He seems to attest the universality of infant baptism, but in the de Baptismo reflects the growing tendency towards wanting a ‘pure church’, which led to a long catechumenate for adults who often deferred their baptism to their death beds! As Colin Buchanan acutely observes, ‘a catechumenate or long probationary period before adult baptism entails a reaction against infant baptism; and the apostolic way of doing adult baptism (i.e. immediately on profession of faith) happily accepts infant baptism.’ At all events, the inconsistency is clearly there in Tertullian. But his seems to have been the only voice raised against infant baptism. Whatever doubts he had about the propriety of baptising infants, nubile women, and widows before they had had a chance to prove themselves, these doubts made no impression on the North African Church to which he belonged. At the Synod of Carthage some years later, sixty-seven bishops from all over Christian Africa decided unanimously not to defer baptism until the eighth day, as was the case with circumcision, but to baptise directly after birth. So sure were these early Christian leaders that the baptism of infants represented the mind of God as displayed in the Old Testament and the attitude of Jesus.

Before leaving this subject of the early history of the church, one other matter is important. Just supposing the second century church had changed the rules, and had restricted baptism to those who were fully aware of what they were doing, should we not have heard something about it? When in the middle of the first century the Gentile Church saw no need to insist on circumcision and lawkeeping as conditions of entry into the family of God, there was a tremendous debate about it, which has left traces not only in Acts 15 but in many other places in the New Testament. The reverberations of that discussion were enormous. Are we to suppose, that a change of equal, if not greater, proportions took place in the early part of the second century without anyone in the surviving literature referring to it at all? That would surely strain credulity too far. The evidence suggests that the apostolic church baptised infants born to their members, and that this practice continued throughout the period of the undivided church until the Anabaptist protest at the Reformation."

Michael Green, Baptism: Its Purpose, Practice and Power, 51 (Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 1987).

David Strand Responds

2008-03-20T20:26:00.002-05:00

I am angry over the Issues Etc. debacle, so much so I signed the petition and emailed David Strand. He returned my email and this just incited me all the more, it would have been better unanswered. I am copying my email and his response here so all can see just how hideous this whole thing is.

Dear Mr. Gielczyk:

Thank you for your e-mail. We are sorry for your disappointment over the change in KFUO-AM programming. However, we hope you will enjoy our future programs.

Sincerely in Christ,

David L. Strand
Executive Director
Board for Communication Services
The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
314-996-1200

This electronic mail transmission, and any attachments thereto, may contain confidential information intended only for the named recipient(s). Any distribution or disclosure to another person is prohibited

From: Alan Gielczyk
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 11:49 AM
To: David Strand
Subject: Issues etc

Mr. Strand,
I have to assume that since Issues etc. was not losing money as a radio show your decision to cancel it must be a theological one. And since the show and it's host were fighting for the Biblical doctrine of sola fide you must disagree with this. This would, in my mind, call into question your own position in the Kingdom. I urge you to immediately change your decision, or at least resign your position before you can do any more damage to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners.

In Christ,
Alan
2 Cor. 10:5
Visit my blog!
Truth IN Context
http://www.truthincontext.blogspot.com

Alan On Infant Baptism

2008-03-20T16:45:00.001-05:00

So I have posted quite alot of information about baptism from John Calvin and Michael Green. I am not sure how many have read them, surely not much conversation around them, so I thought I would post some thoughts. I will tell you all my story and see if some personal experience helps lend any credence to what I have to say. I was raised, as a Christian, in a baptist type church. We practiced "believers baptism," which meant we only baptized those who professed Christ. Since infants could not profess Christ we did not baptize them. We would "dedicate" the infants, which was really a dry baptism, I see this as evidence we all have that we should not suffer the little children from coming to Christ in baptism.

Eric asked me to explain why there is so much disagreement about baptism and why I thought it was not clear in scripture. I have to say I think it is clear in scripture. The debate is not "infant baptism vs. believers baptism" as those on the believers baptism side think it is. I have said before and I will say it again, I am NOT against immersing an adult who comes to faith in Christ. I am also not against an infant in the household of believers being ushered into the covenant through the sacrament of baptism which is the fulfillment of the shadow of circumcision of the Old Testament. Paul clears this up for us in Colossians:

"8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version., Col 2:8-15 (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001).

There was no Church before Pentecost, there were no Christians before Pentecost. Everyone needed to be baptized after Pentecost this is why we see the early Church baptizing all those adults, but we do see them baptizing households as well. I hope this helps somewhat.

Issues Etc. Discussions In The Blogoshpere

2008-03-20T02:09:00.008-05:00

Bring Back Issues Etc.

2008-03-19T22:56:00.003-05:00

There is tremendous groundswell to bring back Issues Etc. and I could not agree more! There is a blog dedicated to it you can find here. There is also an online petition you may sign to bring the show back.

Issues etc. Canceled

2008-03-19T09:21:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Issues etc. was uncerimoniously canceled without notice. Rev. Todd Wilken and his producer Jeff Schwarz were let go. This move comes as a complete surprise to a multitude of people. The show was not loosing money and was a beacon of light in an increasingly dark LCMS. I for one am extremely disappointed. The show originated out of St. Louis and I had been listening to it for years. I remember when I started listening Don Matzat was the host. He had such a well weathered voice and when he left and this Todd Wilken character came in with his voice sounding as if he were twelve years young I was not sure the show would last. That was about eight years ago if I remember correctly and boy was I wrong. Todd has done a masterful job hosting this amazing 3 hour a day program. If you would like to join in the throng who is protesting and petitioning to bring the show back here is the information.

Synod: 888-843-5267
KFUO: 314-725-0099

David Strand:
David.Strand@lcms.org

Synod's address:
1333 S. Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, MO 63122-7295

infocenter@lcms.org

Also Todd and Jeff were fired, no pension, no severence, no nothing. If you would like to help them out financially you may do so by sending a donation along with a note to donate to the Wilken/Schwarz fund to:

Saint Paul Lutheran Church
P.O. Box 247
Hamel, IL 62046

I pray the dark forced of Satan at work in the LCMS would be thwarted and this great show be reinstalled on the airwaves.

HT: Slice
HT: Riddleblog