Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 375
May 6, 2012
My End in Preaching
Blessed Spirit of God,
My end in preaching is to know Christ, and impart his truth.
My principle in preaching is Christ himself, whom I trust.
For in him is fullness of spirit and strength; my comfort in preaching is to do all for him.
Help me in my work to grow more humble, to pick something out of all providences to that end,
to joy in thee and loathe myself, to keep my life, being, soul, and body only for thee,
to carry my heart to thee in love and delight, to see all my grace in thee, coming fr...
May 5, 2012
Don’t Play Upon the Mind by Exciting Unspiritual Feelings
Do not play upon the mind by exciting feelings which are not spiritual. Some preachers are very fond of introducing funerals and dying children into their discourses, and they make the people weep through sheer natural affection. This may lead up to something better, but in itself what is its value? What is the good of opening up a mother’s griefs or a widow’s sorrows? I do not believe that our merciful Lord has sent us to make men weep over their departed relatives by digging anew their grav...
Links I Like (Weekend Edition)
by Jared. Browse more data visualizations.
HT: Justin Taylor
15 Tips on Blogging from John Newton
Tony Reinke:
John Newton, the slave-trade ship captain turned pastor and hymn-writer, wasn’t exactly a blogger. Many of his writings, however, fit in the category of we today would call blogging. He wrote mostly letters — small, topically oriented and experience-based pieces — and he became increasingly aware those letters would be published for a wider audience. Wh...
May 4, 2012
Book Review: Evangellyfish by Douglas Wilson
Life is simple for Pastor John Mitchell, a Reformed Baptist pastor to a small flock in a relatively large Midwestern city—that is, he’s sucked into the shady life of his counterpart/adversary Rev. Chad Lester. Lester, the senior pastor of the local megachurch, Camel Creek Community Church, drives a flashy car, a book contract for a book on following Christ through divorce, and a D.Min in adultery. He thinks he’s got it all until he’s named in a sex scandal, the only surprise to which is his a...
Links I Like
Michael Horton:
It is hardly a newsflash that we’ve been living through an era of upheaval in gender roles. Churches have been divided over the role of women in ministry. In “Young, Restless, Reformed” circles, a new generation is discovering Jonathan Edwards and “masculine Christianity” in one fell swoop. Weaned on romantic—even sentimental—images of a deity who seems to exist to ensure our emotional and psychic equilibrium, many younger Christians (especially men) are dr...
May 3, 2012
The Backlist: The Top Ten Posts on Blogging Theologically
Let’s take a trip back in time to see the top ten posts in April:
Everyday Theology: God Won’t Give You More Than You CanHandle(July 2009)
Everyday Theology: God helps those who helpthemselves(July 2009)
John Piper on Mark Driscoll & JohnMacArthur(May 2009)
Beware the Exhibition of DoubtfulSpoils(April 2012)
Don’t Build Prayer into Your Life, Build Your Life AroundPrayer(April 2012)
Book Review: The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler with JaredWilson(April 2012)
Book Review: Real Marriage by Mark and...
The Pall of Guilt Brings the Pall of Ignorance
Themost palpable evidence and fearful result of man’s fall from original holiness is the deep and awful ignorance of God, of His character, perfections, and moral government, in which that apostasy has involved him. It was the glory and the happiness of Adam that, before his revolt, not a cloud rested upon his mind tending to obscure the most clear and perfect views of the Divine character which it was possible for a finite creature to possess. He knew God sufficiently for all the purposes of...
Links I Like
John Starke:
Van Til transformed the discussions around epistemology and apologetics unlike anyone else in modern Christian history—being the main influence behind theologians, pastors, and apologists like John Frame, Tim Keller, David Powlison, Greg Bahnsen and the entire systematic and apologetics departments of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and California, headed by names like Michael Horton, Scott Oliphint, William Edgar, a...
May 2, 2012
Book Review: The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller
“What are the marks of a heart that has beenradically changed by the grace of God?” asks Tim Keller in the opening of The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness. “If wetrust in Christ, what should our hearts be like?” These are incredibly important questions, and ones that we would do well to answer.
It is not simply a matter of morally virtuousbehaviour. It is quite possible to do all sortsof morally virtuous things when our heartsare filled with fear, with pride or with a desirefor power. We are talk...
Links I Like
Albert Mohler:
The megachurches are once again on the leading edge of these questions, but they are not alone. The urgency to reach people with the Gospel can, if the church is not faithful and watchful, tempt us to subvert the Gospel by redefining its terms. We are not honest if we do not admit that the current cultural context raises the cost of declaring the Gospel on its own terms.
Cheap eBooks
Gospel Wakefulness by @JaredCWilson is $5.99 on the #Kindle a...
