Live in the Portland Area? Got Plans This Saturday? Or Sunday?

Just a reminder, I'll be speaking at the Fall Theology Conference of the Reformation Society of Oregon this coming Saturday (October 17).

Here's the link with conference and registration information:  Conference

I'm also preaching at Grace Church (a URCNA church plant) in West Linn @ 10:00 a.m.  Here's the link to Grace Church:  Grace Church West Linn

Hope to see you there!

Audio Sermons

One of the benefits of our recent audio troubles has been a system-wide update (and upload) of old audio files.

Here's a list of sermons I've preached through the years, now available on audio through the Christ Reformed website:

Ephesians

Epistles Of John

Jude

James

Judges

Joshua

Job

Belgic Confession

Romans

Revelation

I Knew There Was Something Really Weird About Hitler

Remember that skull the Russians kept telling us was Hitler's?  If it was, "he" was really a "she."  I had an aunt with a mustache, but pity the poor woman with a Hilter mustache!  No wonder he (she?) hid in a bunker and surrounded himself with Nazi nerds.   "Hitler skull"

Talk about a loaded question!  Didn't take but a second to answer it.   Benny Hinn--a Charlatan?

If this is true, this is really remarkable and yet another testimony to K. A. Kitchen's thesis about the historical reliability of the Old Testament--the Jews were where they are supposed to be when they were supposed to be there.  Joseph era coins found in Egypt

Are you looking for a hobby?  Good at woodworking?  Like exotic animals?  We need one of these in America!   Noah's Ark replica in the Netherlands
 

"The Prayer of Faith" -- James 5:12-20

The Eleventh (and final) in a Series of Sermons on the Book of James

What is the most important thing that a persecuted and suffering church can do?  The answer is so obvious that we easily overlook it.  Pray!  In the final verses of his epistle, James wraps up with an exhortation to the suffering Christians of the Dispersion to seek the power of God through prayer.  James reminds them that prayer is the means through God sustains his people, especially during times of great trial.  Sadly, many in our day have turned James’ exhortation to pray for healing into a mantra through which God will supposedly heal all of our diseases–if only we dare claim what I rightfully ours.  Instead of seeing James’ exhortation to pray as the means through which God sustains us in the midst of our trials, faith-healers have turned James’ words into the magical “abracadabra” enabling us to “claim our miracle.”  It always amazes me that persecuted Jewish Christians to whom James is writing never understood James in this way, yet prosperous Americans, who have never known a moment of persecution in their lives, take James to be promising them health and wealth.  What James is doing is reminding persecuted Christians that God has heard their cries, and he stands ever ready to help in time of need.  All they need do is ask.

We now come to the conclusion of our series on the Book of James, as we make our way through the final verses of chapter five.  I hope this series has been as helpful and interesting to you as it has been to me.  There is much here for us and I hope you now feel as at home in the Book of James as you do in the letters of Paul.

While some have thought that the Book of James is nothing more than warmed over Jewish legalism, we have seen how that sentiment could not be further from the truth.  James does not contradict Paul when it comes to justification, and when interpreted correctly, James reminds us of the importance of good works, as well as the need for us to be more than mere “hearers” of the word.  In fact, James has taught us that it is God who brings us forth (from death to life) through the preached word, then implants that word with in us, thereby ensuring that we hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  James exhorts struggling Christians to draw near to God, because James knows God’s promise that God will draw near to us whenever we seek his face.  James reminds that when we humble ourselves, God responds by exalting us.  James tells us that whenever we seek God’s grace, God is willing to give us even more grace.  James is very clear that from beginning to end, the Christian life is grounded in the grace of God, who has promised to see us through all of the trials of life.  And the way in which God sees us through the trials of life is through prayer, the subject of this sermon.

To read the rest of this sermon:   Click here

An Important New Book from David VanDrunen on Bioethics

Here's the scoop on David VanDrunen's forthcoming book Bioethics and the Christian (Crossway).  This looks like a great resource on a difficult subject.

Justin Taylor has all the details.  Click here

This Week's White Horse Inn

Tactics (Part 2)

A friend tells you, "The Bible has a lot of nice stories but people take it too seriously because its really just a book written by men." How do you respond? On this edition of the White Horse Inn, the hosts continue their conversation with Greg Koukl, president of Stand to Reason and author of, Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions.

www.whitehorseinn.org

Who Said That?

"He who does not accept the doctrine of the Church of Rome and the pontiff of Rome as an infallible rule of faith, from which the Holy Scriptures, too, draw their stregnth and authority, is a heretic"

Have fun with this one! Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no google searches or cheating!  Answer to follow in one week.

Update on Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 09:30PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This is the "Third Foundation" from Sylvester Mazzolini Prierias' Dialogue Concerning the Power of the Pope (1518) which was his response to Luther's Ninety-Five Theses.  Prierias' views on papal authority anticipate the First and Second Vatican Councils.

Audio from Friday's Academy Lecture

Here's the audio from Friday's Academy Lecture, "The New Creation and the Age of the Holy Spirit"

Click here

"The Discipline and Instruction of the Lord" -- Ephesians 6:1-9

Here's the link to this morning's sermon, the fourteenth in a series on the Book of Ephesians

Click here

Tonight's Academy Lecture -- Amillennialism 101

Series:  "Amillennialism 101"  This is a continuation of an on-going series (see the audio resources for "Amillennialism 101").

Lecture:  "The New Creation and the Age of the Holy Spirit"  The New Testament era is the age of both new creation and the Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of the redemption of our bodies (i.e, the general resurrection) at the end of the age.  the Holy Spirit is the herald of the future.

Course Synopsis:  Eschatology is not just a discussion of "last things" or signs of the end.  The question of last things is tied to our basic understanding of how to read the Bible.  I believe the Bible is a Christ-centered book, and that a truly biblical eschatology must be centered around the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Texts:  Kim Riddlebarger,  A Case for Amillennialism (Baker, 2003).  Click here: Riddleblog - A Case for Amillennialism - Understanding the End

Kim Riddlebarger, The Man of Sin (Baker, 2006).  Click here: Riddleblog - Man of Sin - Uncovering the Truth About Antichrist