Tuesday, September 30, 2008

ABC World News Tonight at Southern Seminary


ABC's World News Tonight broadcast a segment from Southern Seminary trying to understand the issue of why many conservative Christians think it is ok for a woman to be president of the United States while also thinking it would be sinful for a woman to be a pastor of a church.

The segment is available here.

World News Tonight doesn't quite know what to think or say to a complementarian understanding of gender. It's not patriarchy, its not egalitarianism, its not feminist, they simply do not have a category for it.

Albert Mohler was interviewed in this segment, his thoughts about the segment are posted at albertmohler.com

Monday, September 29, 2008

Faith Baptist Church 2008 Men's Conference


I am very excited to announce our Men's conference this year. Our Church will be holding the conference on October 25th 2008 and our speaker will be Donald Whitney.


Two Books by Donald Whitney have had a huge impact on my life. First, book that impacted me was his Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, I find my self going over this book again and again helping me maintain spiritual health in my life. Secondly, Donald Whitney's little booklet on Family Worship also caused me to take seriously the call to lead our family in devotion and worship together.

I am hoping I will be able to take Professor Whitney's class on spiritual disciplines during the upcoming J-term at Southern Seminary.
The topic of the conference is "Responding Biblically to the Increasing Pace and Complexity of Life" This topic is based off of Donald Whitney's book Simplify Your Spiritual Life. I hope that God really blesses the men of our church through this conference.
Dr. Whitney has a very helpful website here

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Family Worship

In response to my post on discipline a few weeks ago Brynn asked good questions about what we do in our family devotion or family worship time. I thought that this being such an important and so often neglected subject, I should treat it in a few posts.

First, I must confess and have already confessed here that I am not the greatest model of faithfulness in leading my family in worship or devotions (praise God that he is rich in mercy). I am a Youth Pastor which means that our schedule is often hectic and our children routinely stay up way past their bedtimes because of my job and church related activities.

That said, this is no excuse for not having a regular family devotion/worship time. I should never want to miss the opportunity to bless my children, my wife, and myself through reading the Bible, singing praises to God, and praying for the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.

Here are some practical tips I have learned in starting and maintaining regular family devotions/worship in our home.

KEEP IT SIMPLE! KEEP IT SIMPLE! KEEP IT SIMPLE! Did I mention KEEP IT SIMPLE (read, sing, pray). This is the most important rule to remember. We don't need to do more than these simple elements.

-Keep it age appropriate (don't read the KJV if you have small children find an age
appropriate Bible)

- Be filled with joy as you minister to your family

- Have a set time to do it (right after dinner, before bed, after breakfast what ever will work
best for your family is the right time)

- Involve each person in the family (our children lead the singing)

-Seek out a person in your church to hold you accountable for doing family worship
-In the immortal words of those NIKE commercials "Just Do It"


I am putting in a side-bar for resources on family worship and I will cover the resources we use in a future post.

Monday, September 22, 2008

2008 Reading List


Part of the reason I decided to start blogging had to do with my 2008 reading goals. I thought blogging might provide some accountability and incentive. I found myself with shelves full of books that I wanted to read but never did. As a youth pastor there always seems to be something more important to read.

At the start of 2008 I compiled a list of books I wanted to read this year. I have added more than a few to my 2008 list and I have yet to remove any. I still have a little over three months to go. I doubt that I will make it all the way through my list. However, the benefits have been enormous. I have been far more disciplined in my reading.

Through my reading God has blessed me as I have wept my way through sections of books and was challenged by others, I have been encouraged, and convicted of sin, I have made new friends, and carried on conversations with some of the godliest men in church history. Above all, I find myself loving Christ more now than I did nine months ago. Thank you God for books.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

John Piper on the Gospel

John Piper answers the question what is the gospel.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Biblical Theology Resources

Just stumbled across a great website devoted to the subject of Biblical Theology. Check it out Beginning with Moses

Monday, September 15, 2008

What is the Gospel?

As The United States drifts into post-Christian spirituality Christians must stop assuming the gospel. Many contemporary prophets have sounded the alarm but the mainstream Evangelical churches in the U.S. has not responded. In a recent interview OS Guinness made the point that many American churches have so adopted worldly practices for structure and leadership that the Holy Spirit could leave the church and the church could continue on for another 50 years or so and no one would know that he left.

We have moved our focus from the transcendent God and the Work of the Spirit through the gospel and put our focus programs and buildings. The Holy Spirit and the gospel can be removed from a church while the church continues on with its programs and building projects. Gospel-less, Spiritless churches send people to hell while assuring them of heaven.

That is why we can never assume the gospel. We must always revisit God's plan of redemption. It must form the base and ground of all that we do. Churches, pastors, elders, deacons, songs, curriculum, books and church budgets, all must be evaluated according to the gospel. But to do this we must know what the gospel is.

Here is Mark Dever explaining the gospel. I hope to add videos along these lines. I took this off The Gospel Coalition website.



For more on the dangers of assuming the gospel, my pastor Bob Buchanan has written an excellent post on his blog here

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Themelios Returns


I just discovered today that my favorite Theological Journal is back in print (sort of.) I recieved a note last January telling me that Themelios would no longer be published. However, the good men over at The Gospel Coalition have decided to keep the journal even retaining the same layout and format. It is no longer a print journal but can now be found digitally at The Gospel Coalition website in three formats ipaper, HTML, and PDF download.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Discipline


About three weeks ago Shaunna (my uber awesome wife) and I noticed, that our children were not listening well, were very disrespectful and generally disobedient. I was getting tired of the constant discipline.


We started to brainstorm how we could parent more effectively when we needed to discipline . Both of us were very frustrated and during our brainstorm because the best we could come up with was harder spankings (now there is some creative parenting.) I left to go to the store and it dawned on me. We had not done family devotions in over two months. Because none of my children read yet our family devotions are their primary intake of the Scriptures.


I know in my own life that there is a direct correlation between the time I spend with God in the Word and prayer and my ability to resist and flee temptation. Of course this is true of our children as well. I was reminded that discipline has two sides. Discipline doesn't just seek to punish or correct sin but also must encourage us to follow, honor, and glorify God.


Discipline should always have as its goal discipleship and I was not thinking in terms of discipleship but behavior control. My goal as a parent must always be growth in God and I should never be content to merely curb sin. As a father I failed my children in the area of discipline and therefore failed also in discipleship.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Crazy Weekend

I have just had the most insane weekend. On Saturday I went to a John McCain Sarah Palin rally in Colorado Springs. This was my first time at a political event and I have to say I was not impressed. For starters all of those home-made signs, well. . . they are not so home-made. Volunteers make them up ahead of time and then they pass them out. I guess every political move has to be calculated and the campaign wants to control the message down to the last detail.

I realized something else while I was at the rally. I care deeply about political issues: the war, whether its wise to nationalize health care, how we can become less dependent on foreign energy. However, I could not care less about the games politicians have to play to get elected.

On the bright side we had VIP tickets and were seated about 20 yards from the stage. We went with good friends so we had a good time. The coolest people at the rally were the secret service men and women. I think I want to be one when I grow up.




(Both Pictures were taken by Kirk Speer for the Colorado Springs Gazette and were found here)

Friday, September 05, 2008

More on a Theology of Adoption

John Piper always pushes everything to its ultimate cause. So here is a very thoughtful explanation of why Christians should adopt and support adoption.


Why is it Ok for Women to Lead a Nation but not a Church?


Albert Mohler weighs in here regarding Sarah Palin and the gender issue. There are certainly going to be some Hyper-Patriarchal Christians who would have a problem with Palin Serving as VP of the United States. But does her nomination necessitate a revision of a complementarian understanding of the scriptures?


Dr. Mohler further highlights an even more fundamental issue at stake in this debate and that is the distinction between the church and the world. Should the church be a mirror of the world? Because Women can lead a country should they therefore be ordained as ministers and elders in our churches?


This cuts to the heart of debates that have been raging for years over the ordination of women. The question for complementarians is not whether women have abilities and gifts of leadership (many have excellent leadership gifts). The question we ask is, "who has God given the responsibility of leadership in the church?"


Even as we answer the question that God has given men the responsibility alone to serve as ministers and elders in the church. We recognize that God has not entirely excluded women from bearing leadership responsibility in the church. Titus 2 makes clear that women are to teach and lead other women. Further, the reality that Scripture presents, limits the role of women in so far as they are excluded from being elders. However, Scripture no where condemns women for leading in secular vocations.


I hope that the Palin nomination causes conservative Christians to think very carefully about the roles of men and women both in the church and in the world.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Sarah Palin and Complementarianism

The Counsel on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood has just published a short article about how Christian complementarians should view the nomination of Sarah Palin for Vice President.

Cultic Dangers

In an article posted at Reformation 21 Carl Trueman exposes the Danger of the Personality Cult. The title of Dr. Trueman's article is The Day They Tried to Recruit Me to the Most Dangerous Cult in the World!

In his article Dr. Trueman addresses the problem and dangers of seminary students who are drawn to the personalities of their professors. However, I do not think the issue of the personality cult is limited to seminaries. In general we all are as Calvin said idol factories and we will even turn good men into idols. Even worse is our tendency and desire to be worshipped ourselves. As pastors we are prone to the ego stroking that personality cults bring. (After all, its nice to have at least a few people who listen to what we say.) We need the words of John the Baptist "He must increase, but I must decrease" John 3:30

I would encourage all to read the article

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Adoption and the Gospel

Could there be a clearer representation of the gospel in the sphere of human relationships than adopting a child? It seems to me that adoption is a good picture of the result of the Gospel. Because of Christ's atoning work on the cross, we become children of God and co-heirs with Christ (see Romans 8:15-17). How might Christians have relationships that preach Christ? One answer would be to adopt children.

This is a video of Russell Moore, Senior Vice President for Academic Administration; Dean of the School of Theology; Associate Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics (2001) at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, explaining briefly how his theology helped him in adopting his own children.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Gospel Relationships

I have been teaching through Romans and almost done. In this book Paul gives his clearest and most comprehensive treatment of the gospel. Yet, what stung me most was not his exposition of sin and salvation but rather his treatment of relationships in chapters 14 and 15. Paul's basic argument is that the gospel in the life of the believer will produce gospel relationships.

Chapter 15:7 "Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you." This is a gospel statement. In order for Christ to welcome us he had to be killed to make atonement for our sin. Therefore it should be easy for us to be welcoming to one another. If we cannot welcome one another perhaps it means that we have not understood the gospel. The Gospel should radically transform our relationships. Yet how many churches are marked by division rather than unity, how many churches are stuck in a cycle of relational dysfunction? We need, I need the gospel to transform my relationships.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

How to be a good husband

finally music with a message. I wish I had heard this when I was first married it would have saved a lot of time.


Monday, July 07, 2008

Colonial Rebelion Day

I just thought I would post this hilarous video I found to celebrate Colonial Rebelion Day (aka 4th of July).



Make sure to watch all the way to the end.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Southern Seminary

Got the royal treatment today at Southern Seminary (campus tour, lunch, etc.)





The Highlight of the day was stop at the studio where Albert Mohler broadcasts his show.
















Traveling to Louisville



Shaunna and I are in Louisville Kentucky, our first real trip together without children. Getting to Louisville was no easy task, it makes me think that God gave us airlines for our own personal growth and sanctification. We were scheduled to leave Denver at 10am and arrive in Kentucky at 6pm. But we were late getting out of Denver because of a plane malfunction so we missed all our connecting flights. To make a long story short we flew standby and made it to bed (in Louisville) at 1:30am.

However, God is good and as we boarded our (late) plane in Denver we meet Margaret and Sydney who are from Louisville. Margaret's husband Rob is the pastor at North Oldham Baptist Church just north of Louisville (Rob went to Southern Seminary). We ended up on all the same flights. In Chicago all of us were on standby for Louisville, so we had dinner at Chili's in the airport, with. Even in our travel woes God gave us good fellowship with believers.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The Grace of God in Good Sermons

It is 11pm on Sunday night and I am pondering the grace of God on Sundays. God gave me this day. He did not have to but he did. He also gave me the privilege of public corporate worship. I got to hear a sermon today. This is an amazing gift of God. Our pastor is preaching through the book of Hebrews and today his sermon was really a meditation on Hebrews 13:5-6 which deals with contentment. God is amazing in giving us faithful pastors who preach his word for his people. God's grace was further evident to me today in the preaching of his Word as the Holy Spirit convicted me. The final point of the sermon was this application, "I must remember that I do not belong to myself I belong to God."



As an American I think that I deserve so much, I deserve: great schools, financial help in a bad economy, health, good insurance, a life free of fear, low gas prices, social mobility, "The American Dream" I deserve to be the master of my life. In actuality, I deserve far less. God would be totally just in condemning me. God does not owe me anything. If he destroyed me in his wrath it would merely be to the exaltation of his glorious justice. I am a sinner. Too often my actions seek to dethrone God to organize a cosmic coup where I seek to take his throne and rule myself and others. Yet God rich in mercy does not pour out his wrath on me for my sin. No, he poured out his wrath on his Son, killing Christ in my place. I deserve nothing and I have been given everything. So fundamentally, my lack of contentment shows a deficiency in my understanding of the gospel.


What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Penal-Substitution

Just gave a lecture/discussion on the importance of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement today to a few of the men of our church . For me this was just an awesome study and reflection on the work of Christ. In my study I was drawn to think Christologically about the first Passover in Exodus 12. In the first Passover there were 2 salvations

1. Pharaoh and Egypt
2. God's wrath for idolatry

Verse 12 of Exodus 12 is so important. God states that he would have dominion over the god's of Egypt, gods the Israelites no doubt worshipped alongside the Egyptians. It seems that God's judgment in killing the firstborn was his judgment on both Egypt's and Israel’s idolatry. In order to be saved from God's righteous wrath a substitute had to be provided. This is a divine picture to help us understand the perfect substitute we have in Christ. John the Baptist no doubt understood this when he exclaimed "behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Why do we object to Penal-Substitutionary Atonement? It is a hard pill for us to swallow. The only way we could have a reconciled relationship to God was for God to kill his own Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin. On the cross the righteous wrath and anger of God was poured out on Christ for our sin and rebellion against God. Perhaps some of us are uncomfortable with a God who is so perfectly just that he would kill his own Son in order to make sure that no sin goes unpunished.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

Friday, March 07, 2008

Faux Bloger




For the two people who actually read my blog, I am sure you have uncovered my dirty secret. I am not a real blogger. No, real bloggers post daily sometimes multiple posts in a day with great pictures. Most of them even understand Html. I however, struggle to post once a week and until recently thought Html was an abbreviation for Hot tamales.
I am really a faux blogger. I aspire to look like the real thing but discerning bloggers can tell the difference. So thank you for reading my faux blog.

On a different note I would like to post on sandwiches. Not only do I love to read and listen to good music I also love a good sandwich. I am not talking about pbj slapped between two pieces of Wonder Bread. No, a good sandwich is a magnificent work of art much like the paintings of, Monet, the symphonies of Mahler the improvisations of Coltrane. How few there are in our time who can make a good sandwich.

The base of any good sandwich is of course the bread any sandwich not made from a loaf of fresh baked bread is worthless. My preference is sourdough. Next it should contain a binding element like Miracle Whip, mustard, ranch dressing, Heidi’s deli one of my favorite sandwich shops uses a spicy pepper spread for one of their sandwiches. I prefer the veggies to go next. My basic veggies are lettuce (iceberg or leaf) tomatoes (out of your garden are always the best) onions (red seem to work best in a sandwich) and if in season avocado.
I prefer protein (meat) to be in the middle of the sandwich and I like many different meats depending on my mood. The important thing about meat is that it must be from a good deli and it must be thin sliced. It is better to have many pieces of thinly sliced meat than a big hunk of meat in the middle. Cheese is the final piece for me I love nearly any cheese but for sandwiches white cheeses are best. For ham I like provolone, for turkey a good swiss or baby swiss, for roast beef (you might think I am weird) muenster or blue cheese. Generally I use Miracle Whip for one piece of bread then on the other I will use either a good stone ground mustard or especially with roast beef a horseradish spread. I prefer then to cut the sandwich in half. Any sandwich worth eating must be gently and carefully compressed to fit into your mouth.
Oh we should thank the Lord for his divine goodness and providence in allowing us to discover and enjoy one of the greatest fruits of his creation the sandwich.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Jazz 101 with Dave Brubeck

Here is the Dave Brubeck quartet playing their most memorable tune Take Five. I just love this chart.



Monday, February 25, 2008

Why a Bruised Reed?

Now that I have been blogging for a little while it may be a good idea to explain the title of this blog. Last year I read Richard Sibbes' TheBruised Reed and the work had a profound impact on my life in several ways.

1. It reminded me that I am a miserable sinner
2. It reminded me that Christ is a great Savior
3. It convicted me of my self-righteousness when
when I judge my brothers & sisters in Christ.
4. It humbled me and showed how deeply
rooted and pervasive pride is in my life.
5. It held out a great model of serving truth
with tenderness.
6. Sibbes uncovers and magnifies the work of Christ
in the gospel.

Like many young Calvinists I lack meekness, gentleness and humility and more than any other writer or book The Bruised Reed helped me see that my lack of gentleness is really pride and it is sinful. So, as a constant reminder to myself of the lessons the Lord taught me as I read Sibbes I have titled this blog A Bruised Reed and a Smoking Wick. This is not so much meant to be a tribute to Richard Sibbes as it is to be a reminder that I am a bruised reed and My Faith resembles a smoking wick much more than it does an actual flame. Matthew 12:20, Isaiah 42:3

Packer's Essay

I just finished reading J I Packer's introductory essay to the Death of Death in the Death of Christ by John Owen. I was reminded that there has always been controversy surrounding the doctrine of Christ's atonement. I received hope as I read; it is so easy for me to become discouraged with the many attacks on Biblical Christianity. Yet Packer reminded me that the truth of the gospel must be fought for in every generation and I should not be surprised to find some who wish to distort God's work of salvation to make it more palatable for man. Every one should read this essay and so I will whet your appetite with a few select quotes.

"A half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth. Thus, we appeal to men as if they all had the ability to receive Christ at any time; we speak of His redeeming work as if He had done no more by dying than make it possible for us to save ourselves by believing...and we depict the Father and the Son, not as sovereignly active in drawing sinners to themselves, but as waiting in quiet impotence 'at the door of our hearts' for us to let them in"

"For to Calvinism there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point that God Saves sinners. God the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son, Spirit; three Persons working together in Sovereign wisdom, power and love to achieve the salvation of a chosen people"

"Where the Arminian says: 'I owe my election to my faith' the Calvinist says 'I owe my faith to my election.'"

"The Arminian will only say: 'I could not have gained my salvation without Calvary,' the Calvinist will say: 'Christ gained my salvation for me at Calvary.'"

"Christ did not win a hypothetical salvation for hypothetical believers"

Read the essay for yourself and you will be blessed by it.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Jazz 101 with Wynton Marsalis

There is perhaps no greater trumpet player of our time than Wynton Marsalis. More than his ability to play the trumpet Marsalis is tireless in his efforts to expose a new generation to music. He is more than a trumpet player he is a great musician who loves music. Here he shows his love for early jazz.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Jazz 101 With The Jazz Messengers



Here are the Jazz Messengers playing Dizzy Gillespie's Night in Tunisia

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Theology & Doxology From Thomas Watson


For quite some time now I have been trying to read a theology book for at least 1half an hour of every day. By a theology book I don't mean a book that is theological; I am referring to a book who's main purpose is to teach theology. For example during this half-hour I have read chapters out of Wayne Grudem's Systematic, Louis Berkhof's Systematic, and sections from Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion. Right now I am working through Thomas Watson's A Body of Divinity, which started out as sermons he preached on the Westminster Catechism. In many ways it is like a systematic theology though not technically one. I have been so blessed through my reading that I thought I would share some quotes from Watson.

"To glorify God is to have God-admiring thoughts; to esteem him most excellent, and search for diamonds in this rock only."

"A humble confession exalts God. How is God's free grace magnified in crowning those who deserve to be condemned!"

"In prayer we act like men; in praise we act like angels"

"God is perfect, the quintessence of good. He is sweetness in the flower....There is a certain sweetness about God's person which delights, nay, rather ravishes the soul."

"Obedience is an excellent way of commenting upon the Bible."

"If God be infinite, filling heaven and earth, see what a full portion the saints have; they have him for their portion who is infinite. His fullness is an infinite fullness; and he is infinitely sweet, as well as infinitely full."

"God's glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth."

"We are not elected for holiness, but to holiness"

I will post more as these are a sampling of the first 75 pages. I love the puritans because, better than anyone else, they understood the intersection that must take place between theology and worship (by worship I mean living in obedience to Christ Romans 12).

Monday, February 04, 2008

Why We Preach!



I found this little clip on the Together For the Gospel website. It is a great reminder for what is at stake in preaching. There is an earnestness that should be present in preaching because God killed his Son to pay his wrath for our sin. So when a preacher tells jokes or plays psycologist, or uses the pulpit for casual conversations he is making a mockery of what God has done for us. God sacrificed his son as an atonement for us. How dare we approach the gospel so lightly. And John Piper is the best prophet in our time to remind us of the call of the preacher.

Sorry about the fact that the sound is one or two seconds off. I had problems uploading it and now it has disappeared from the T4G website so I can't fix it.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

2008 Reading List

I have tried to set resolutions at the outset of the New Year and most years I have failed. I am attempting a new strategy for 2008. I have no resolutions (sorry Jonathan Edwards). However, I have set some goals. I like goals better than resolutions. Goals seemed to be measured on a scale whereas resolutions seem to be pass or fail. I have set as one of my goals to read about 27 books over the year. As a small measure of accountability I have posted this list on my blog and as I read books off my list I will post them to my completed books list. I think my goal for this year is reasonable I just need to read a little over 2 books a month.

Why place such an emphasis on reading? Well, there are many reasons; for starters the godliest men I know are all tireless readers and I want to be godly. Secondly, reading good books about God, theology, Christians of the past, and history are all ways of working at Philippians 4:8. I hope that God will use this discipline of reading for my own spiritual transformation this year.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Godly Men

I am currently reading volume 2 of Ian Murray’s biography of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. As I was reading a much quoted line from Robert Murray M'cheyne came into my head, “A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.” As I was reading this struck me as true about Lloyd-Jones. Even though is has been with Christ for now over 25 years Lloyd-Jones still speaks and convicts. One particular area in which Christ used Lloyd-Jones’s words to convict me is in the area of doctrinal differences. In a letter written to his daughter Elizabeth concerning the chapels at Oxford Martyn Lloyd-Jones quickly corrected Elizabeth’s thinking. It seems as though quite a few evangelical students at Oxford were critical of the hymns being sung during chapels. Some students were causing a stir and many did not attend the chapels for this reason. Elizabeth mentioned this in one of her letters and voiced her sympathies with this group. Her father was direct and concise in his correction:


“Your attitude is not one I can commend…Your duty is to show that your views and beliefs lead to a higher and finer type of Christian life and living. Then that will lead others to speak to you and to enquire as to your secret. To start a division on odd points and to raise difficulties especially in a matter like that of hymns seems to me to be the worst possible approach. It gives the impression that you are intolerant and that you regard yourselves as heresy hunters. Your duty it seems to me is to attend the services. If you find you cannot sing a hymn, just refrain from doing so.... You must beware of falling into what appears to be the common evangelical trap and snare namely an over-punctiliousness about matters that are relatively unimportant and a tendency to neglect more vital matters such as love and charity…”


I am perhaps more guilty than was Elizabeth in my attitudes concerning congregational singing. Though dead yet he speaks! I have rightfully fallen under his hand of correction. It seems as though M’cheyne’s comment rings true and God continues to use these men as weapons long after they have departed this earth.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Jazz 101 with Oscar Peterson



Just want to bring a little culture to the world. Here is a jazz great doing what he does best.

The Dangers of Pride

I have been reading CJ Mahaney's Book Humility for the second time and it is just as devastating this time around as it was the first. As I read chapter 2 I was meditating on the sinfulness of pride. In my reflection it occurred to me that the sin of pride is intimately connected with the sin of discontentment. For example, if I am asked a question that I am not sure of the answer I will answer anyway wanting the questioner to think I am smarter than I really am. This reveals my discontentment with my own intellect. I wish I were a genius and even more than that I fear that what I really want is to be omniscient. God however, has not made me a genius, in fact my intellect is quite average. Yet my pride and disconentment work together to tempt me to think I am greater than I really am. The root of the problem which Mahaney makes so well is that all pride is an attempt to displace God and rob him of his Glory. Lord keep me sensible of my sinnership; sink me deeper into penitence and self-abhorrence