Contributed by Glenn Durham on Sep 30, 2008
In the 1500s, Martin Luther wrote "The Bondage of the Will" to defend the Biblical teaching of the depravity of our nature and our slavery to sin. Luther's work was in answer to the writings of Erasmus on free will. Of Erasmus' defense of free will, Luther wrote: "Your book struck me as so
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Sep 30, 2008
John Flavel: "How dangerous it is to join anything of our own to the righteousness of Christ, in pursuit of justification before God! Jesus Christ will never endure this; it reflects upon His work dishonorably. He will be all, or none, in our justification…. Christ is no half-Savior. It is a hard
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Sep 30, 2008
Doug Wilson wrote about food fads among Christians, noting how frequently we imagine that what we eat or do not eat pleases God: “There is no more defilement in ‘eating healthy’ than there is in stopping by McDonald’s. The only defilement possible is a defilement that comes out of the heart, and
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on Sep 17, 2008
The most recent PCA magazine, ByFaith, reported on Lynn Wheeler’s response to being made a quadriplegic in a car wreck. Rather than pout or withdraw, “Lynn continues to attend church every Sunday, though it requires getting up at 5 am to begin the preparations to leave the house. [And] She has
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on Sep 17, 2008
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Dr. Paul Tripp tells of a night in which he got home late from work after counseling all day and teaching an evening class at Westminster Seminary. He was tired and desperately wanted some relaxation time to read the paper, drink a diet coke and hit the remote control. Tripp had a plan for the
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on Sep 17, 2008
Andrée Seu (pronounced, Ahn’-dray Soo) wrote about it in an article in World Magazine a couple of weeks ago: “I was accustomed to thinking of discouragement as something that happens to a person. But on closer examination…I have been taken aback by how volitional or ‘active’ it is. To go around
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on Aug 13, 2008
Pastor Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy, 227: “It should be obvious how this applies to our work with the needy. Neither the ‘liberal’ approach (no conditions on aid to the needy) nor the ‘conservative’ approach (only helping the deserving poor) understand grace. Instead, our mercy ministry must
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on Aug 13, 2008
If you tune the second string of your guitar, the A string, to 440 hertz, then pluck it, the E string at 330 hertz will begin to vibrate also, because they share an overtone of 1320 hertz. It is called sympathetic vibrations. As you read this paragraph, Jesus is plucking the A string of mercy; does
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on Aug 13, 2008
Kent Hughes, who pastored in Chicago, tells something which happened to a dear friend. This lady was a missionary on furlough after a particularly difficult season of service. Now, for the first time since they had been missionaries, they had bought a place of their own to rest and recover. The
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on May 27, 2008
Dr. Ed Stetzer directs church planting for the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest denominations in the country. He writes: "Harold stood up, paused for a moment, and began to speak softly, 'We don't want our church to die. We'll do what it takes.' That was when I first knew the church
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on May 27, 2008
Dr. Robert Lewis (pastor of the Fellowship Bible Church of Little Rock, AR) says: “The first ‘big idea’ driving many churches is to create a church that meets the needs of its members. And since so many people have deep spiritual needs, there is much good in this approach. But often it also leads
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on May 14, 2008
The second grade teacher showed a magnet to her class and illustrated its uses. The next day she gave a quiz with this question: “My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?”
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 22, 2008
MY CONTRIBUTION TO SALVATION
At first glance it appears that the gospel is nothing but good news. As J. I. Packer neatly summarized: "There is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point that God saves sinners." So why was Jesus
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Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 14, 2008
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A pastor had a farmer friend in his congregation and they were talking over the fence one day. The pastor asked the farmer, “Abe, if you had one hundred horses, would you give me fifty?” Abe said, “Certainly.”
The pastor asked, “If you had one hundred cows, would you give me fifty?” Abe said,
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 14, 2008
Lucian lived between 120 and 200 AD. He was a Greek satirist and opponent of anything religious (which he grouped together as superstitions). Yet when he saw the generosity of the Christian church he wrote: “It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of that religion help each other
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 14, 2008
Phillip Keller drew from his many years as a shepherd to write, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, a book many Christians find beneficial. In one place he describes “cast” sheep: “This is an old English shepherd’s term for a sheep that has turned over on its back and cannot get up again by itself…. Even
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 14, 2008
There is a delightful scene in Prince Caspian, the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia Series. The children are trying to find their way to Caspian’s camp, and they come to the edge of a deep gorge. The way ahead isn’t clear, but then Lucy cries out, “Look! Look! Look!”
“Where? What?”
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 8, 2008
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The family sat down at the table and dad asked his young son to “say grace” over the meal. While the family waited, the little boy quickly eyed every dish which his mother had prepared; then he bowed his head and prayed, “Lord, I don’t like the look of it, but thank you — I’ll eat it anyway.”
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 8, 2008
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A certain man, living in Budapest, Hungary, went to his rabbi, complaining: “Life is unbearable. Nine of us must live in the one room of my house. What can I do?”
The rabbi answers, “Take your goat into the room with you.” The man is incredulous. Certain he has misheard, he asks again. But the
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 8, 2008
William Shakespeare has King Lear say: “Sharper than a serpent’s tooth is a thankless child.” Maybe you feel Lear’s sentiment. Mom labors hours over a hot stove, and dad rises thrice during the meal to refill cups, clean up plates, and serve desserts, but not a peep of gratitude reaches their ears.
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Presbyterian/Reformed