Sweet Tea & Theology

A Christmas Meditation

The Fall of Man
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

Christless Christianity Q and A With Michael Horton

Click the image to get the book.

On October 31 Michael Horton appeared live on washingtonpost.com’s Viewpoint.  Horton was answering questions about his new book Christless Christianity that was released on November 1.  The book has been doing well selling over 7,000 copies and the live chat at Viewpoint was the best so far.  This is great news!  It would be nice if a book like this would have some impact in the same way Warren’s Purpose Driven Life.  For some reason though, I just don’t think I will be driving by various churches with Christless Christianty Study displayed on their signs.

Praising God When Your Baby Passes Away

Could you praise God in all things? Do you?  Could you praise God if He took a 3 month old infant to go home with Him?  Could you preach the funeral of this child?  How about preaching the Gospel at the funeral including mentioning that all are sinners?  Could you speak about the glorifying God and enjoying Him forever?  Could you speak of God’s grace in such a way?  Could you trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God?  Could you speak about it?

Could you do all of the above if you were the father of the 3 month old little girl?

Ten Indictments Against the American Church by Paul Washer

1. A practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture.
2. An ignorance of God.
3. A failure to address man’s malady.
4. An ignorance of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
5. An ignorance of the doctrine of regeneration.*
6. An unbiblical gospel invitation.
7. Ignorance regarding the nature of the Church.
8. A lack of loving and compassionate Church discipline.
9. A silence on separation.
10. Lack of children being taught in the home.

Praise God for men like Paul Washer who aren’t afraid to preach such truths attacking the elephants in the room.

Mark

Giving Thanks

O Lord, remember not,
How I once stood.
Before mine own reflection,
Worshiping what I thought was good.

Long did I look,
For life’s answers I sought.
Only emptiness grew,
Only death was I taught.

I saw death as inevitable,
A hopeless situation.
Laboring for self in this life,
This was my salvation.

Grabbing hold of my sin,
Oh, how it was glorious.
Accepting my flesh,
How I felt so victorious.

One day without warrant,
My vision re-arranged.
God’s perfect Law came,
My reflection was changed.

My victory was over,
As I clearly saw.
How black my heart was,
Against God’s holy Law.

Two New Blogs

Jason Roberton of Fide-O has started a new blog called Compelling Truth.  Jason says that, “Compelling Truth is simply an online location of helpful [theological] articles.”  If you aren’t familiar with Jason’s writings you should know that this should be a very helpful site.

Southern Baptist Missionary Kevin Howard has a new or I should say renewed blog.  Check it out: NeedNotFret.

Enjoy,

Mark

Book Review: Knowing God

I recently had the opportunity to write a book review for our church newsletter.  I was very appreciative to be asked do so.  And a big thanks my wonderful wife for being editor who helped me condense the review from 1,200 words down to less than 800.  Below is the review.

Knowing God by J.I. Packer
InterVarsity Press, 1993, 286 pages.

Overview

Do you know God or just know about Him? Do you seek to know God through Scripture or through personal experience? Are you skeptical about the Bible being divine revelation from God?

Wisdom of Solomon, Obama and Abortion

Obama and Solomon

There has been much past discussion about Obama concerning his stance on abortion.  This discussion is not going to end anytime soon and rightly so.  I’ve made the point and so have two other bloggers recently that as Christians we must pray that Obama seeks God’s direction and changes his position on abortion.  The wisdom Obama has shown thus far is what he said at a Planned Parenthood event earlier this year.

“The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act” (source)

A Calvinist Helping Missions?

Dear Readers,

I still need your help in being sponsored and this is the last week!

This Friday, November 21st, I will be joining 30 other men to help raise money for the Sandy Springs Mission in Atlanta, GA.  I found out last week that this mission will most likely run out of money in March 2009.

What this mission does

Sandy Springs Mission ministers to children in our community by:

• after-school programs (designed to help increase the literacy rate among low-income families)

A Lord’s Day Reflection: Richard Baxter

This is a wonderful poem to meditate upon.  It reminds me of how short I fall and how great a Savior we have in Jesus!

Lord, it belongs not to my care

Lord, it belongs not to my care
Whether I die or live;
To love and serve thee is my share,
And this thy grace must give.

If life be long, O make me glad
The longer to obey;
If short, no labourer is sad
To end his toilsome day.

Christ leads me through no darker rooms
Than he went through before;
And he that to God’s kingdom comes
Must enter by this door.

A Calvinist Missionary and Other Notables

When it comes to missions and evangelism in the Southern Baptist Convention today’s hot button is Calvinism and it’s resurgence among younger Southern Baptists.  Is the concern that Calvinism does and will stifle missions and evangelism in the SBC valid?  The answer seems to depend on who you ask.  Regardless of theology, it’s a Gospel issue and  a sin problem.  One of my dead horses is a concern of pelagianism which I’ve mention recently.

So what does Calvinist missionary Kevin L. Howard say ON BEING A SBC CALVINIST (& MISSIONARY)?

Reformation Radio

Friend and co-blogger James Swan will be on Chris Arzen’s Iron Sharpens Iron radio show.

Schedule and Topics

James will be on the show Wednesday (today), Oct. 29 and Thursday, Oct. 30 from 3-4pm.

• Wednesday James will cautiously tackle the problem of Martin Luther’s Antisemitism.

• Thursday’s topic will be: Martin Luther: Madman, Heretic, Prophet, or Reformer?

Listen

You can listen by going to the Iron Sharpens Iron website and get the live stream.

Participate

You can call in to try and stump James during the show by calling 1-631-321-9694.

Blog Action Day 2008:Poverty

What is poverty?  How do we fight poverty?  Can we do more?  How do we do more?  What is particular day all about?

What is Blog Action Day?
Today thousands of bloggers will unite to discuss a single issue - poverty. We aim to raise awareness, initiate action and to shake the web!
(click the banner for more info.)

The Issue

Thank You Issues Etc

The best I can tell is that I have been listening to Issues, Etc. since sometime in 2004. That is the date that my oldest mp3’s I have of the program.  And I have been appreciating the show since I started listening.

As many listeners know this show was canceled by KFUO AM earlier this year. There was an online petition put together to try and get the program back on KFUO AM.  The petition has 7,629 signature as of today.  Since then enough money was raised using the internet and other sources to get the program back on the air.  A simple search will give you more information if you like as well as listening to the show in my post I link to below.

Fundraising Auction for AOMin.org has Ended!

Bidding is closed.  We have a winning bid donation of $114 that will go directly to AOMin.org.  Thanks to everyone who bid in support of this ministry.

Update: For anyone interested this auction is ending this Sunday night at 10pm est.
(I will leave this up as the lead post for the weekend.)

I have appreciated and benefited from Dr. James White’s ministry for years now.  This note of appreciation would be incomplete if I did not mention the hard working Rich Pierce who keeps Alpha & Omega Ministries running behind the scenes.  Not only do I appreciate the work Dr. White does for the Kingdom, but he also did something very special for my wife and I.  Something we couldn’t forget if we tried.