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by on 9.21.08

9.21.08 gbcvic sermons

Having the Law is not Enough (Rm 2.13-15)

The impartiality of God’s judgement is under further consideration. The religious man (the Jew) might ask, “Aren’t we students (hearers) of the Law? Doesn’t that count for something?” The answer: No, hearing the Law (being a diligent student) isn’t enough. In fact, the sinners of the Gentiles have the Law in a sense by their understanding and performance of natural law. They have the work of the Law written in their hearts as evidenced by their consciences. So merely having, or hearing, any aspect of the Law is not enough. We still stand under the impartial judgement of God whereby all men, pagan, moralist, or religious man will face the judgement of sins. Our religion (whatever it might be) is not sufficient to make us just before God. We need Some One else for that.

Interpreter’s House

We come now to the point of salvation for Bunyan’s Christian, the entrance at the Wicket Gate. From the gate, Christian proceed’s to Interpreter’s House, a place where the Holy Spirit (or some say a preacher) guides the new believer through various rooms illustrating the things that make for a stable Christian life. Some are guides, like the illustration of the preacher (the ‘man in a thousand’) and others are warnings like the man in the iron cage and the man not prepared for judgement. All are meant to make a Christian stable.

The Head of Our Church (2) (Mt 16.18)

Not being satisfied with our message of the same name last week, our pastor offers another. The Lord Jesus is the authority of every church since the church is his idea and his creation. He it is who stands as examiner, corrector, exhorter, and encourager of His church. If our church will truly have Him as our head, we must submit ourselves to Him, allowing him to examine, rebuke, correct, and challenge every aspect of our lives.

~~~

We had a good day with a few visitors (one of whom found us from our church web-site … yay!!!) and one young couple who just moved to the neighbourhood. Some of our folks were out of town and some sick, so we were glad to see a few extras and hope for their return.

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Filed Under: Sermon Summaries
by on 9.20.08

cut it down! cut it down!

One of the items on my agenda this week was the removal of a large tree in the front of our church property. A Douglas Fir, it was about 160-180 yrs old. A big one, but not what they call “old growth”.

I will attempt to post video at some point, but here are some pictures.

One funny thing happened about noon, when our neighbouring elementary school let out for lunch. The kids saw what was going on and rushed out to have a closer look. As the fallers were taking the tree down section by section, they started a chant of “Cut it down! Cut it down!” They let out a big cheer when a huge section ‘bit the dust’.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Fun and games, Personal
by on 9.16.08

positive article on A Beka from Jamaica

I ran across a write-up from the Jamaica Observer speaking of the virtues of the A Beka School Curriculum.

We have used the A Beka Video curriculum in our home for fifteen years (I think I have the number right!). We have been very pleased with it. The article speaks highly of many aspects of the curriculum while noting the controversy (from the secular point of view) of its view on science and history.

While some criticize fundamentalism for not publishing enough books, it seems to me that fundamentalism has had a much more practical and down-to-earth ministering orientation. As a result, what we have written is curricula, not theologica. Should we say that these efforts were wasted, and beneath us?

Thank God for A Beka Book and BJU Press. These have been vital ministries for our times. May God bless them and grant them continued success.

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Filed Under: Education, Fundamentalism, General Interest
by on 9.15.08

CINO?

My on-line friend Tim Bayly alerts us to a conference called the Princeton Regional Conference on Reformed Theology. This will be held at Princeton Seminary, on All Saints Day, no less. [That would be Nov 1, for those who don’t know…]

Here’s Tim’s introductory paragraphs:

In a month and a half, Dr. Diane Langberg will be preaching at the Princeton Regional Conference on Reformed Theology co-sponsored by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, and she’ll be sharing the conference pulpit with Don [Carson] and Al [Mohler]. This ought not to be, right? Who governs this national parachurch organization?

Among others, Bob, Lig, Al, John, C. J., Alistair, Mark, Phil, R. C., and Gene– you know, men we all know as stalwarts in the battle for orthodoxy. So why are they approving and publicizing on their web site a conference where a woman will preach to men? A conference on “reformed theology,” mind you.

Why, indeed. Could it be that these men are CINOs?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Complementarianism, Issues, Separation
by on 9.15.08

9.14.08 gbcvic sermons

The Moral Man’s Problem is Sin (Rm 2.12)

Our message today continues to look at God’s impartiality in judgement as Paul explains that regardless of racial or religious status, sinners will be judged. No one gets an edge by morality or pedigree. All stand before God who will judge men according to their deeds, delivering sinners over to destruction.

Worldly Wiseman

We continue our look at Pilgrim’s Progress, discussing the advice of Mr. Worldly Wiseman and the consequences of listening to the same. We also consider how to discern modern parallels to Worldly Wiseman in our secular society (much different from Bunyan’s 17th century English society).

The Head of Our Church

In our afternoon service, we begin an intermittent series on the philosophy of our local church and the emphasis we want to promote as we build up a self-supporting church for the Lord’s glory. The first of the series speaks to the notion that the head of our church is Jesus Christ.

~~~

We had a good day in a number of ways. One young couple finally joined the church (they have been faithfully attending for some time). Another visiting family continues regular attendance, so we are grateful for the opportunity that represents. And we had a visitor who may present another opportunity of ministry. All of that was good. I wasn’t happy with the third message and am contemplating tearing it apart and doing it entirely over sometime in the near future. Be that as it may, we thank the Lord for these opportunities to serve him.

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Filed Under: Sermon Summaries
by on 9.13.08

a little good news

Reformers Unanimous, a Bible based addiction help program gets a nice write-up in the Peoria Journal-Star: “Thank God It’s Friday“.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:
by on 9.13.08

the world’s biggest Bible producer

Who would you say that would be?

And how many Bibles would they produce in a year?

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:
by on 9.10.08

is the bloom off the rose?

In the fundamentalist blogging world, enthusiasm for the medium appears to be flagging. I follow over a dozen fundamentalist blogs. Most of them are being very sporadically updated these days.

We’ll give our friend Greg, an excuse, but he’s the only one we’ll let off the hook. Chris A. also posts regularly, as do the fellows at TheoSource and Brian at Exegesis and Theology. And the intrepid Scott Aniol. But where is Jon & Champ, Frank, even PaleoBen, with whom I am wont to tangle? Even the vaunted SI, the 800 lb gorilla of the fundamentalist blogosphere seems to be falling off in the volume of its discussion. When most [hyperbole!!] of the current conversations are in-house between the admins and moderators, it does seem that the former furious interest has waned.

One can think of several reasons why this might be so.

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Filed Under: Blogosphere
by on 9.8.08

now, this is legalism…

I get kind of tired of the charge of legalism often laid at the feet of fundamentalists. Then I read stories that give me some relief. Today’s National Post gives me one today. (Unfortunately, no longer available online to the general public… not sure why.)

Here’s the headline:

Kosher gadgets grab the spotlight

When it comes to legalism, leave it to the Pharisees.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Issues, Legalism
by on 9.8.08

the death of systematic…

… biology!

A blog entry at The Scientist magazine bemoans the decline and literal ‘dying off’ of expertise in the area of systematic and taxonomic biology. While I am not too worried about the future of human civilization if this concern is true, the article may give us some thoughts concerning the value of systematic theology.

I think it is well known that I consider biblical theology to be superior to systematic, but systematic theology does have some value.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Systematic, Theology
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