Off to the Caribbean!

 

If you've listened to the White Horse Inn for any length of time, you know we've long dreamed of the "Dad Rod" Christian cruise.  Lambada lessons from Rod, middle-aged fitness and hair-care from yours truly, Michael Horton explaining why he isn't the guy from the "Go to Meeting" commerical (click here), Ken "LeBron" Jones on whether he's still a Lakers fan after moving to Miami, and all kinds of hijinks from our producer Shane Rosenthal and the rest of the White Horse Inn staff . . .  It just doesn't get any better than that!

Lord willing, I will be back soon enough, with a host of stories and a few interesting pictures, perhaps!

"For the Sake of the Gospel" -- 1 Corinthians 9:1-27

The Fifteenth in a Series of Sermons on First Corinthians

Although we are 2000 years removed from the ancient Greek city of Corinth, we accept Paul’s apostolic authority without question.  For many of us, Paul is our favorite New Testament writer because he teaches so many of the doctrines we hold dear.  It is hard for us to imagine that Paul had to defend his own apostolic authority in a church which he himself helped to found.  Yet that is the case in 1 Corinthians 9.  Paul cannot tell the strong among the Corinthians to act in a certain way toward the weak, if he himself does not practice what he preaches.  And so Paul now spells out his approach to dealing with Jewish and Gentile believers in the midst of a pagan culture.

In chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, Paul continues to address problems arising from the practice of meat being sacrificed to idols.  Apparently, some in the Corinthian church were using Paul’s voluntary surrender of his liberty to eat all things as an argument that Paul’s apostolic authority was limited.  Even though Paul was free to eat all things, he realized that doing so might offend the weak, so in such cases, Paul abstained.  As we saw last time in chapter 8, Paul explained that Christian liberty is not freedom to do whatever we want, but liberation to do as we ought.  Love for our brethren trumps Christian freedom.

Paul develops two basic lines of defense regarding his apostolic authority.  These are stated in the form of a series of rhetorical questions.  The first is that Paul is indeed an apostle with all the rights and privileges thereof.  A second point is that no Christian should use their liberty without due regard for the weak–just as Paul has done.  This is especially problematic given the fact that Paul apparently ate Gentile food when in Gentile settings, even as he abstained in Jewish settings.  It may have appeared to some that Paul is vacillating.  So Paul defends his behavior.  He has done nothing wrong, or inconsistent with his apostolic calling.  This is evident by the fact that he preaches the gospel voluntarily, even though he is  entitled to be paid for his labor in the churches.

To the rest of this sermon, Click Here

Basics of the Reformed Faith -- Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King

The next installment of my series on basic Reformed doctrine has been posted on the Westminster Seminary California blog.

Click Here

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (January 23-29, 2012) and in Miami!

Sunday Morning (1/29):  Rev. Chris Coleman is preaching

Sunday Afternoon (1:15 p.m.):  Ken Samples is conducting the catechism service

Wednesday Night Bible Study (1/11):  I am continuing my series on the sacraments, and this week we'll continue to discuss the biblical case for infant baptism focusing upon the John the Baptist.  Bible study begins at 7:00 p.m.

The Academy:  The Academy will re-convene on February 10, 2012.

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

The White Horse Inn hosts will be in Miami this weekend.  On Saturday, January 28, Mike Horton continues his conversation "For and Against Calvinism" with Roger Olson.  On Sunday evening, the four hosts are doing a live taping at the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel.  For more info, Click Here

On Monday, January 30, we take to the high seas, for the long-awaited Dad Rod Christian cruise!

"The Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith" -- Hebrews 12:1-17

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon, the twenty-second in a series of sermons on Hebrews:

Click Here

This Week's White Horse Inn

For or Against Calvinism (Part Two)

On this edition of White Horse Inn we’re airing the conclusion of our conversation between Michael Horton and Roger Olson on the role of God’s grace versus human freedom in salvation. This event was inspired by two books recently published by Zondervan: For Calvinism, by Michael Horton, and Against Calvinism, by Roger Olson.

Click Here

Basics of the Reformed Faith -- Divine Image Bearers

The next installment in my series on basic Reformed doctrine has been published on the Westminster Seminary California blog.  Here's the link, Click Here

Congrats, Dave!

Our gracious God has given my wife and me two wonderful sons, Dave and Mark.  Our oldest son, Dave, just completed his MS in Product Engineering at USC, and this week he begins his career in automotive design, working for Honda research and development.  If you don't like your 2015 Acura or Honda, you'll know who to blame!

Congrats Dave!  We are proud of you!

A Favor?

I don't like to ask for favors, but here's one that may be of benefit to you.  A Case for Amillennialism is still not available in kindle format.

The book was published by Baker Books in 2003.  To my great surprise, it has gone through seven printings, but is still not available in an electronic version.  The folks at Baker are great to work with, and they keep both my books in print.  Even though Man of Sin hasn't sold nearly as well, despite the cool cover, it is available in kindle format (Man of Sin)

So, here's the favor.  On the Amazon web page for my book, right below the picture of the cover, is a link which reads "Tell the publisher, I would like to read this book on kindle." 

If you have a moment, and are a kindle user, please follow the link here (Click Here) and then click on the "tell the publisher link."  Maybe we can get the kindle version released a bit sooner.

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (January 16-22, 2012)

Sunday Morning (1/22):  We are continuing our series on the Book of Hebrews and we will be covering Hebrews 12:1-17.  We are focusing this week upon Jesus as the founder and perfecter of our faith.

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

Sunday Afternoon:  We take up a discussion Lord's Day 30 of our catechism and Q & A 81-82 which deals with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and who should participate in it.  Our afternoon service begins @ 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study (1/18):  Rev. Andrea Ferrari, URC church planter in Milan, Italy will be speaking on the topic of "Lessons from the Past: An Italian Reformer Speaks Today".   Rev. Ferrari is a missionary and pastor ordained in the United Reformed Churches in North America. He is an Italian national and serves as pastor of Chiesa Evangelica Riformata ‘Filadelfia’ (CERF) in Milan (Novate), Italy.

The Academy:  The Academy will re-convene on February 10, 2012.

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