Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 391
January 22, 2012
Around the Interweb
A Short, Free eBook on Abortion by John Piper
Desiring God is giving away a free eBook based on three sermons he's preached on abortion. Here's a sample from the book:
God is calling passive, inactive Christians today to engage our minds and hearts and hands in exposing the barren works of darkness. To be the conscience of our culture. To be the light of the world. To live in the great reality of being loved by God and adopted by God and forgiven by Christ (yes—for all the abortions that...
January 21, 2012
Beware of Him and Obey Him
Our Lord's whole life was a continuous sanctifying of His Father's Name. Everywhere, and in every act, He acknowledged its divinity, upheld its authority, vindicated its sanctity, magnified and illustrated its greatness. God's Name was in Him–and the solemn consciousness of being the sacred depository of so great, holy, and awesome a treasure–invested with the beauty and perfumed with the fragrance of holiness, every thought, word, and act of His life. His obedience to God's holy law, His...
January 20, 2012
How Can We Love a Holy God?
One of my favorite passages from R.C. Sproul's The Holiness of God:
The simplest answer I can give to this vital question is that we can't. Loving a holy God is beyond our moral power. The only kind of God we can love by our sinful nature is an unholy god, an idol made by our own hands. Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds His holy love in our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to change our hearts, we will not love Him. He is the One who takes the initiative to...
The Non-Negotiables
Over on Facebook, I've been asking readers what they think are the non-negotiables of the Christian faith. The discussion thus far has been really helpful, so I wanted to bring readers here into the discussion as well:
What, in your mind, are the non-negotiables of the Christian faith? What are things that, if you don't believe them, are indicators that you might be outside the faith and what things can you be severely wrong on but still probably scrape through as though snatched "out of the...
January 19, 2012
Why is Narnia Okay, But Not Princess and the Frog?
My sister asked this question over the weekend—and it's a good one. Why are we okay with allowing our kids to watch The Chronicles of Narnia, but not okay with The Princess and the Frog? In her mind it seems strange and understandably so. On the surface, it might seem inconsistent, given that both have magical elements and a basic "redemptive" storyline and both have some scary elements. So why do we let our oldest watch the former and not the latter?
Outside of personal experiences that play ...
January 18, 2012
He Descended into… Hell?
Have you ever sat down and read some of the creeds of the Christian faith? I've recently been looking at the Apostles' Creed, one of the oldest that has been preserved for us. It's amazing to how the early church distilled the essentials of Christian doctrine: An early formulation (although without explicit explanation) of the doctrine of the Trinity ("I believe in God the Father . . . and in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son . . . I believe in the Holy Ghost"). The distinction of the...
January 17, 2012
Book Review: Die Young by Hayley and Michael DiMarco
Big cars, big money, big houses… these are many of the elements of what's considered "success," both outside the Church and (depending on who you talk to) within. We chase after the next promotion and we switch jobs as soon as the old one stops satisfying. We seek happiness in the next toy when the old one isn't nearly as sparkly and bankroll it on a piece of plastic. We've buried ourselves under debt in the pursuit of happiness and have nothing to show for it.
But this is not what life is to ...
January 16, 2012
In Defense of Neatniks
No one likes being called a neatnik or a nitpick—especially a theological one. The nickname conjures an image of a guy sitting in his mom's basement surrounded by Calvin's Institutes, The Westminster Catechism, Systematic Theology (Horton's, Berkhoff's and Grudem's) and dozens upon dozens of commentaries. Think a serious Star Wars fan—but sub in Jesus for Luke Skywalker.
Now to be sure, there are some folks who are definitely a bit too… intense about their preciseness and forget that...
January 15, 2012
Around the Interweb
Revival is Always Christ-Centered
Jared Wilson:
It is the Spirit's raison d'etre to shine the light on Christ. The Spirit is often called the "shy" Person of the Trinity because of this. He is content — no, zealous – to minister to the Church the Father's blessings in the gospel of Jesus. He quickens us to desire Christ, illuminates the Scripture's revelation of Christ, empowers us to receive Christ, and imparts Christ to us even in his own indwelling. For this reason, then, any church or...
January 14, 2012
In What Way Has God Hallowed His Name?
From the earliest revelation of His will, God has been intent upon this great matter–the vindication of the holiness and supremacy of His great name. His entire work of creation has been to make His name–which is Himself–known and renowned in the earth. All nature testifies to its existence, illustrates its power, and reflects its glory.
Bold unblushing atheist! you are rebuked and confounded by the heavens above you and by the earth beneath you. Creation, in its countless wonders and...
