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.

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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)

Michael Horton (one of my favorite authors and host of “The White Horse Inn”) has a new book coming out with the title Christless Christianity.  Check out this web site that highlights the book and upcoming DVD with a good video clip of Horton speaking to the issue.  Good stuff.

(HT:  The Riddleblog)

One of my favorite online podcasts is the radio program called “The White Horse Inn”. This roundtable discussion of Biblical and theological issues is hosted by Dr. Michael Scott Horton of Westminster Seminary in California. The show’s motto is “know what you believe and why.”

A live video taping is now available online as well. That sounds like an oxymoron- a taping of a live broadcast?  Regardless, you can view it HERE. I recommend it!

(HT: Kim Riddlebarger)

I always enjoy the columns that Andree Seu writes for World Magazine. In this article, “Mind Tricks” , Andree reminds us of the need and benefit of exposure to the Scriptures as the only source of what to believe and how to live. She draws insight from C.S. Lewis’ A Grief Observed. Good stuff. Here is an excerpt:

When I drift away from close daily intimacy with [God] in his Word, I begin, ever so subtly, to reconstruct him in my own image. This process begins to happen some time before I realize it, of course, when I am still convinced that I know exactly who God is. It’s only when I come back to the Bible that I realize how dangerously close I had come to constructing an idol — a god made to look and sound like the desires and opinions of Andree Seu.

This is most appropriate as we approach the celebration of Pentecost and well worth your reading. This is from Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening as he reflects on Hebrews 12:2 and its call that we be those who are “looking to Jesus”:

It is always the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus. But Satan’s work is just the opposite; he is constantly trying to make us look at ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you do not have the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold on Jesus.”

All these are thoughts about self, and we will never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self; He tells us that we are nothing, but that Christ is everything. Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you- it is Christ that saves you- it is Christ, it is not your joy in Christ that saves you- it is Christ’s blood and merits.

Therefore, do not look so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ as to Christ; do not look to your hope but to Jesus, the source of your hope; do not look to your faith, but to Jesus the founder and perfecter of your faith. We will never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our deeds, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we are to overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking to Jesus.” Keep your eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercessions be fresh upon your mind. When you waken in the morning look to Him; when you lie down at night look to Him. Do not let your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail you.

As a matter of fact we are. How so? Rick Phillips of Second Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Greenville, SC puts it well when he writes of his own congregation:

Second Presbyterian Church is a Pentecostal church. In fact, there are no other kinds of Christian churches than Pentecostal churches. By this, I mean that the present age of God’s people is defined and energized by Christ’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Pentecost is this Sunday. Phillips makes the point that while Christmas and Easter get deserved attention, our appreciation for what Pentecost means for us is often lost. Pentecost was the outpouring of God’s Spirit on His people after Christ’s ascension in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Phillips goes on to say:

Pentecost was the summer harvest feast of the Jews, with the particular distinction that its great day was on the eighth day, which was a special Sabbath. The eighth day, of course, is the day of the resurrection, which we call Sunday. As such, the gift of the Holy Spirit is directly linked with the resurrection of Jesus. As the Pentecostal church, we enjoy resurrection life through the power of the Spirit. Paul tells us of the fruit of the Spirit, which is the character renovation the Spirit intends to do in each of our lives, granting us the blessings of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Whereas Israel broke God’s covenant through unfaithfulness, we are sealed with the Spirit to receive all the blessings covenanted to us in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:13-14; Heb. 8:9-10).

This is a very helpful article that you can read here.

(HT: Reformation21)

Yesterday at HLPC we began a 7 week look at Habakkuk. Habakkuk asks hard questions of God when what He is doing does not make sense. I referenced a quote from Dr. James Montgomery Boice that was made to his congregation at Tenth Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Philadelphia when he was diagnosed at age 62 with terminal liver cancer. Here it is again:

“If God does something in your life, would you change it? If you’d change it, you’d make it worse. It wouldn’t be as good. So that’s the way we want to accept it and move forward, and who knows what God will do?”.

From J.I. Packer’s Rediscovering Holiness (p.160):

“…there is far more to spiritual growth than repentance, just as there is far more to physical growth than regular bowel movements.”

You think about that.

Yesterday at HLPC we considered this diagram in relation to Romans 8:1-17 as we looked at a “life of repentance.” [Check out the Martin Luther quote below]  If you found this a bit confusing, let me elaborate a bit more. This perspective on the Christian life is in contrast to the view that sees the gospel as the first step- and little else. I’ll call this the “ticket gospel”. It sees the gospel as your “ticket to heaven.” Once you have claimed by faith God’s forgiveness through Christ and His free gift of eternal life, you need to move on. You need to get busy as a committed Christian, busy earning God’s pleasure and living the “abundant Christian life.” The ticket gospel sees the gospel as only that which non-Christians need.

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