Harold Camping Repents . . . Well, Kind of . . . No, Not Really . . .

Harold Camping has been the object of much criticism (from this blog and others) because of his repeated efforts to set dates for our Lord's return, when Scripture clearly forbids the practice.  Click Here

Now Camping has announced a mea culpa of sorts. "In this time of confusion and turmoil, God's Word remains the only truth in which we can trust. God has shown us again the truth that He alone is true. In Romans 3:4 God declares: `Let God be true but every man a liar.' Events within the last year have proven that no man can be fully trusted. Even the most sincere and zealous of us can be mistaken."

Yet, Camping adds the following.  "Yes, we humbly acknowledge we were wrong about the timing; yet though we were wrong God is still using the May 21 warning in a very mighty way. In the months following May 21 the Bible has, in some ways, come out from under the shadows and is now being discussed by all kinds of people who never before paid any attention to the Bible. We learn about this, for example, by the recent National Geographic articles concerning the King James Bible and the Apostles. Reading about and even discussing about the Bible can never be a bad thing, even if the Bible's authenticity is questioned or ridiculed. The world's attention has been called to the Bible."

So, if I have this right, Camping admits that he was wrong about the date he set, but nevertheless, God is still using his embarrassing error to get people talking about the Bible.

Wouldn't it be better to just say nothing and bear a little shame, rather than state "I was wrong, but at least I got people talking about the Bible."  Self-justification is not helpful nor very palatable at this point.

I'm Removing Wagga Wagga from My Bucket List

Yup, this it just what it looks like--a massive web, crawling with spiders.  Because of recent rain, spiders in Wagga Wagga, Australia, have sought higher ground, spreading their webs everywhere.  And no, that is not drifting snow in the picture below.

I'm not especially squeamish about bugs and critters (not even spiders), but I'm not going anywhere near this place (or anywhere like it, for that matter).  Here's the scoop:  Click Here

Basics of the Reformed Faith -- Sanctification

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

Click Here

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (March 5-11)

Sunday Morning (3/11):  We are beginning a new series on select Psalms.  We begin this week with Psalm 1, the introduction to the Psalter.

Sunday Afternoon:  We are covering Lord's Day 33 of our catechism (Q & A 88-91), and discussing the nature of good works.  Our afternoon service begins @ 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study (3/7):  I am continuing my series on the sacraments, and this week we'll continue our discussion of baptism and 1 Corinthians 10.  Bible study begins at 7:00 p.m.

The Academy (3/9):  The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. We are resuming our series on Michael Horton's theology text, The Christian Faith.  We'll be finishing up chapter two--The Character of Theology.

Ken Samples is also continuing his series, "Are You A Renaissance Christian?"  Ken's lecture also begins at 7:30 p.m.

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

"The Great Shepherd of the Sheep" -- Hebrews 13:17-25

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon:

Click Here

Audio from Ken Samples' Academy Lecture (3/2/12)

Here's the audio from Ken Samples' Academy lecture: “A Renaissance Christian Thinks Logically”

Click Here

This Week's White Horse Inn

The Commands of the New Society (Part Two)

Who is my neighbor? What does Jesus mean when he tells us to love, even our enemies? And what is the point of the command to be “perfect as our heavenly father is perfect”? On this program, the hosts continue their discussion of “The Commands of the New Society” as they walk through Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. White Horse Inn: Know what you believe and why you believe it.

Click Here

Baseball Is Back!

Later today the Yankees play their first spring game against South Florida (a college team).  Tomorrow, they play the Phillies.

This morning, on my favorite Yankee blog, appeared the following post:

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Raul Ibanez DH
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner LF
Eduardo Nunez 2B
Gustavo Molina C

RHP Adam Warren

If you love baseball, you know exactly what this is and what it means!

Baseball is back!

"Do All to the Glory of God" -- 1 Corinthians 10:14-33

The Seventeenth in a Series of Sermons on 1 Corinthians

Despite popular opinion to the contrary, Christianity is not a religion centered in prohibitions–“thou shalt not do this,” “thou shalt not do that.”  Rather, Christianity is a religion centered in God’s gracious plan to rescue the sinful human race from the guilt and consequences of our sin.  Because God has saved us from our sins, he will not allow us to worship him while at the same time keeping our allegiances to any non-Christian religions or practices in which we may have been involved before we came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  In the Corinth of Paul’s day, the people to whom Paul is writing were all new Christians.  They are struggling mightily to leave their pagan past behind.  They have written to Paul asking him a series of questions about how their new faith in Christ impacts them as they continue to live in a city dominated by pagan temples and practices.  Earlier, Paul exhorted them to put the needs of their neighbors above their own–to give up their liberty for the sake of others.  Now he gives the Corinthians a very simple standard by which to live as Christians in the midst of a pagan world–do all to the glory of God.

We have made our way as far as the second half of 1 Corinthians 10, where Paul brings to a conclusion the discussion begun back in 1 Corinthians 8:1 when he first raised the question of a Christian’s participation in pagan feasting.  The reason it has taken Paul so long to lay out his response is probably due to the fact that Paul is answering each of the points the Corinthians raised in their letter to the apostle in which they asked the question of whether or not it was acceptable for Christians to eat meat which had been sacrificed to idols.  

Paul has already explained that idols are nothing since there is one true and living God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ.  Paul has spelled out that eating such meat, or not eating such meat does not commend us nor condemn us before God.  But Paul is emphatic that the strong–those who see nothing wrong with eating meat sacrificed to idols–should be willing to bear with the weak (who think this meat should not be eaten) until the weak become strong.  The strong should be willing to give up their freedom until such time as the weak out-grow their spiritual immaturity.

As we have seen throughout this part of 1 Corinthians, food was often tied to pagan forms of worship.  It was commonplace for an animal to be sacrificed in one of the city’s pagan temples.  Part of the butchered animal was used as a burnt offering, some of it went to the priests and participants in these pagan rituals, but the remaining meat was often sold to local butchers or in city’s marketplace.  It is one thing to go into a pagan temple and participate in the pagan ceremony which includes an animal sacrifice and the ritualistic consumption of its flesh.  It is another thing to buy the leftover meat from these ceremonies from a third party when that meat had no religious significance other than it was to be eaten for dinner.  Should Christians buy and eat this meat, or should they abstain?  And what are you to do when someone offers you a meal and you don’t know where the meat came from.  What then?

To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here