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"Amillennialism 101" -- Audio and On-Line Resources

 

Living in Light of Two Ages

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Entries from August 1, 2011 - August 31, 2011

Wednesday
Aug312011

Horton on Sanctification and the Christian Life (Complete)

Mike Horton was recently interviewed by Tullian Tchividjian on the subject of whether stress upon justification and the law-gospel distinction leads to antinomianism.

Here's the discussion,

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Wednesday
Aug312011

"The Wisdom of God" -- 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

The Third in a Series of Sermons on 1 Corinthians

When we hear someone who claims to be an evangelical state that understanding Christ’s cross as a sacrifice for sin is in reality a twisted form of cosmic child abuse–because it teaches that the death of Jesus is an act of a vengeful God pouring out his anger on his innocent son–we are shocked.  While the sentiment is shocking, we shouldn’t be surprised that people think like this.  It is the apostle Paul who tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that the cross is folly to those who are perishing.  The message of Christ crucified was foolishness to ancient Greeks, and a stumbling block to Jews.  The cross is both to modern Americans.  While sinful men and women mock the cross because they claim to wise, God, in turn, mocks them, because from God’s perspective, human wisdom is nothing but sinful folly.  If you’ve ever wondered why Christianity is so difficult for non-Christians to understand and accept, well then, Paul has your answer.

As we continue our series on Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, and we take up the subject of God’s wisdom and human folly, or as non-Christians see it, our folly and their wisdom.  As we saw last time, factions had formed within the Corinthian church as people claimed to be followers of Paul, Apollos, Peter and even Christ himself.  In verse 10, Paul exhorted them “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”  Factionalism had become a cancer in this church, and Paul wants it stopped.  The Corinthians are to be united around their common faith.

As we continue to follow Paul’s response to the factions which had formed in Corinth, we quickly learn that the divisions within the Corinthian congregation reveal a much deeper intellectual problem than people merely over-identifying with the person who baptized them.  The divisions within the Corinthian church stem from the fact that people are placing far too much confidence in human wisdom (sophia) instead of the gospel, which is centered upon the preaching of the cross.  Over-reliance on human wisdom was a serious problem throughout the Hellenistic (Greek-influenced) world.  Paul’s response to this problem is to remind the Corinthians that the wisdom of God is revealed in the message of Christ crucified.  This revelation of God’s wisdom stands in complete opposition to the so-called wisdom of the Greek philosophical tradition which regarded the preaching of the cross as utter foolishness.

In many ways, this is the same issue we face as Christians today–self-centered, prosperous, and technologically advanced Americans are very much like the Hellenized citizens of first century Corinth.  Both find the preaching of the cross either irrelevant or offensive.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here

Tuesday
Aug302011

Christ Reformed Strikes Again -- Compton on Worship

Rev. Andrew Compton (my compatriot at Christ Reformed) addresses the question on the White Horse Inn Blog as to whether worship must be "exciting."  I think you can guess how he answers the question.

But read it any way, it is very good!

Compton on worship

Tuesday
Aug302011

Samples Has Issues, Again . . .

Ken Samples, who teaches our Adult Sunday school class at Christ Reformed Church, was on Issues, Etc., this week, discussing Ramadan.  Click Here

Monday
Aug292011

Brian Lee Responds to Bill Keller of the NY Times on the Faith of Political Candidates

Dr. Brian Lee is the pastor of the other "Christ Reformed Church" in Washington DC.  You can find Brian's church info here: www.ChristReformedDC.org 

Brian and his wife Sara attended the original Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim before the Lees moved to the nation's capitol.  Brian's response is in the Daily Caller.  To read Brian's essay, Click Here

Monday
Aug292011

This Week at Christ Reformed Church

Sunday Morning (9/4):  I am continuing my series on the Book of Hebrews.  We'll be discussing the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8.

For previous sermons in this series, go here:  Sermons on Hebrews

Sunday Afternoon:  We are discussing Lord's Day 21 of our catechism and discussing the body of Christ (the church) and the gifts of the Spirit.  Our afternoon service begins @ 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Studies:  Our Bible study resumes on September 14th @ 7:00 p.m.  We'll be discussing the Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper).

The Academy:  Our Academy resumes on Friday night, September 9th @ 7:30 p.m.  We will return to our series on Michael Horton's theology text, The Christian Faith.

For more information and directions, check out the Christ Reformed website:  Christ Reformed Church

Sunday
Aug282011

"The Guarantor of a Better Covenant" -- Hebrews 7:1-27

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon, the tenth in a series on the Book of Hebrews.

Click Here

Sunday
Aug282011

This Week's White Horse Inn

Preaching the Gospel in an Age of Super Apostles

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul warned his readers about various slick preachers that he referred to as the “super-apostles.” Though their style was smooth and rhetorically attractive, the substance of the gospel was either being ignored, or distorted. So Paul admonishes the Corinthians church saying, “if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus…you put up with it readily enough!” On this edition of the White Horse Inn the hosts discuss Paul’s concerns about style over substance, especially as it relates to trends in the contemporary church.

Click Here

Friday
Aug262011

If You Are Interested, Here's My Take on Glenn Beck's Trip to Israel (Updated)

I was on Issues, Etc. today to talk about Glenn Beck's comments about Israel.

Listen here:  Glenn Beck on Israel

Friday
Aug262011

The Basics of the Reformed Faith -- Jesus Christ the Covenant Mediator

Here's the next installment in my series on basic doctrine on the Westminster Seminary California blog

Click Here