Pardon a little Dad pride here…

That’s what you tell yourself when your team loses to Vanderbilt 14-13.  It’s only a game.  The sun will come up tomorrow.  There are more important things in life.  What will it matter in 100 years?

I’ve run out of cliches.  I’m still bummed.   Sigh.

From Justin Taylor’s blog, Between Two Worlds:

I’ve only been to one Gothic cathedral in my life and it was this one- St. Stephansdom in Vienna, Austria.  I was able to visit it on two separate occasions during overnight layovers on the way home from missions trips to Odessa, Ukraine in 1998 and 2001.

Let the record show that I’m a Reformed Protestant and believe deeply in the Biblical truths recaptured during the Reformation.  Those truths have been summed up in the Latin phrases of “Sola Scriptura” or Scripture alone, “Sola Fide” or Faith alone, “Sola Gratia” or Grace alone, and “Sola Deo Gloria” or For the Glory of God Alone.  That being said, when I walked out of St. Stephansdom I was profoundly impacted with the reality that architecture communicates.  In this case, this massive facility that took hundreds of years to complete spoke volumes about God’s transcendence.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ligonier Ministries is webcasting their upcoming conference “Tough Questions Christians Face”.  The conference takes place this weekend in Scottsdale, AZ and features R.C. Sproul, Ligon Duncan, and John Macarthur.  They are charging a small fee of $5 to defray their costs.  If you are near the computer this weekend, this looks like a great use of your time!  You can register and get more info HERE.

Here’s the conference schedule to whet your appetite:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Session #1 — Ligon Duncan
Has Science Disproved the Existence of God?

3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Session #2 — John MacArthur
Why Does God Allow so Much Suffering and Evil?

5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Session #3 — Questions & Answers

7:45 - 8:45 p.m. Session #4 — R.C. Sproul
If God is Sovereign, How Can Man be Free?

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Session #5 — John MacArthur
Is Jesus the Only Way?

10:45 - 11:45 a.m. Session #6 — Questions & Answers

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Session #7 — Ligon Duncan
Should the Church Embrace Postmodernism?

3:45 - 4:30 p.m. Session #8 — R.C. Sproul
What is the “Gospel”?

Dr. John Frame is a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando where I am currently enrolled as a D.Min. student.  He has this to say about Christians and political choices that I find very helpful:

“…in some cultures (like the ancient Roman, in which the New Testament was written) there is not much that Christians can do, other than pray, to influence political structures and policies. But when they can influence them, they should. In modern democracies, all citizens are ‘lesser magistrates’ by virtue of the ballot box. Christians have an obligation to vote according to God’s standards. And, as they are gifted and called, they should influence others to vote in the same way.

This is not to say that political choices are always obvious. Often we must choose the lesser of two evils. Candidate Mershon may have a better view of one issue than Candidate Beates, while Beates has a better view on a different issue. It is an art to weigh the importance of different issues and to come to a godly conclusion. Each of us should have a large amount of tolerance for other Christians who come to conclusions that are different from ours. Rarely will one issue trump all others, though I must say that I will never vote for a candidate who advocates or facilitates the killing of unborn children.”-John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R 2008). p. 617.

(HT:  Josh Harris)

I was in a staff meeting at First Pres of Macon, GA.  The conference table was surrounded by several pastors, secretaries, and other support staff.  Suddenly, the receptionist barged in.  We had just received a call from the distraught wife of one of our members.  A plane had hit one of the World Trade Center buildings and he was there for some training for his new job.  A plane?  Probably a Cessna veered off course, I thought. After all, those are really big buildings. I had seen them in person only three days before when I flew out of JFK back to Atlanta on my way home from a missions trip to Odessa, Ukraine.   The meeting broke up.  Maybe someone ought to go see the wife.  I’ll go.  I know the husband fairly well.

One of the secretaries turned on a radio. It was no Cessna that hit the tower. It was a passenger jet. Then, as I stood in her office doorway the radio announcer said another plane had hit the other tower.  My knees felt weak.  I drove to the home of the woman who called the church.  What would I do?  What would I say?  What was going on?  Were we at war?

I arrived to find the wife, her Mom, and her husband’s Mom there as well.  Oh boy.  Still no word from the husband.   I prayed with them- still can’t remember anything I mumbled in that prayer.  We all then watched the TV in mute shock as the towers fell.  I felt helpless and useless.  What do you say?  Did we just watch this husband and son die?

Within moments the phone rang.  It was him.  He was alive and well.  Praise God!  He had evacuated the building under the watchful supervision of New York Policemen and firemen- many of whom undoubtedly died that day.

A day we’ll never forget.

(HT: Between Two Worlds)

Can you name the movie from which the quote above came?

This is why you’ll never see dancing during worship at HLPC:

Not much on this blog in the way of insightful posts, I realize.  Recently all that’s been given are links to stuff I like.  Well, here we go again.  R.C. Sproul is interviewed by Michael Horton for the White Horse Inn.  Check it out:

(HT:  Ligonier Ministries)

Ligonier Ministries, the teaching ministry of R.C. Sproul, puts out an EXCELLENT monthly devotional publication called Tabletalk that has great articles and daily Scripture reading and study material.  You can peruse a complete copy of a recent issue by going HERE. (Ain’t the internet a great thing!  Thanks Al Gore!)  I highly recommend all HLPC folk (and others reading this blog) to subscribe!