Justin Taylor's Blog, page 9
May 10, 2021
“Softly and Tenderly + Ashokan Farewell” by Keith & Kristyn Getty
A beautiful song above from Keith and Kristyn Getty’s new album, Evensong.
It is now hard for me to hear this old hymn without also thinking about this word from John Piper at T4G 2014 on the sovereign God of the universe who softly and tenderly calls his own.
May 2, 2021
Is Being Gay Genetic?
Professor Christopher Yuan—co-author of Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God. A Broken Mother’s Search for Hope. and author of Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story—explains about what we know and can conclude about genetics and sexual attraction.
HT: Randy Alcorn
April 29, 2021
A New Free Course: Tactics for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
I have been learning from Greg Koukl since the mid-1990s. He founded the ministry Stand to Reason in 1993, and a couple of years later I had subscribed to their free newsletter, “Solid Ground,” which came every other month to the third floor of Dancer Hall at the University of Northern Iowa, where I was a confident apologist by day in my religion and philosophy classes and a conflicted doubter by night.
I was thrilled in 2009 when Zondervan published Greg’s signature book, which has more recently been released in a 10th anniversary edition: Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. Here’s an endorsement I wrote for the first edition:
In this wise and compelling book, Greg Koukl—who has thought long and hard about not only what to say but how to say it—provides a game plan for equipping believers through an artful method of careful thinking and winsome conversation.
If you struggle with how to talk about your faith and respond to questions and objections in a meaningful and effective way—and most of us do—there is no better book to buy, read, and put into practice. I could not recommend it more highly!
I recently led a video course for an adult Sunday School class at our church, watching Greg lead through this material. I was reminded once again what a master teacher he is and how wise and careful (and realistically doable) this material is.
STR is now offering free courses. You can see a sample of the material from the Tactics course at the top of this post.
April 22, 2021
The Ninth Commandment
From the Westminster Larger Catechism:
Q. 143. Which is the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Q. 144. What are the duties required in the ninth commandment?
A. The duties required in the ninth commandment are,
the preserving and promoting of truth between man and man, and the good name of our neighbor, as well as our own;appearing and standing for the truth; andfrom the heart, sincerely, freely, clearly, and fully, speaking the truth, and only the truth, in matters of judgment and justice, and in all other things whatsoever;a charitable esteem of our neighbors;loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good name;sorrowing for and covering of their infirmities;freely acknowledging of their gifts and graces, defending their innocency;a ready receiving of a good report, and unwillingness to admit of an evil report, concerning them;discouraging talebearers, flatterers, and slanderers;love and care of our own good name, and defending it when need requireth;keeping of lawful promises;studying and practicing of whatsoever things are true, honest, lovely, and of good report.Q. 145. What are the sins forbidden in the ninth commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the ninth commandment are,
all prejudicing the truth, and the good name of our neighbors, as well as our own, especially in public judicature;giving false evidence, suborning false witnesses, wittingly appearing and pleading for an evil cause, outfacing and overbearing the truth;passing unjust sentence, calling evil good, and good evil;rewarding the wicked according to the work of the righteous, and the righteous according to the work of the wicked;forgery, concealing the truth, undue silence in a just cause, and holding our peace when iniquity calleth for either a reproof from ourselves, or complaint to others;speaking the truth unseasonably, or maliciously to a wrong end, or perverting it to a wrong meaning, or in doubtful or equivocal expressions, to the prejudice of the truth or justice;speaking untruth, lying, slandering, backbiting, detracting, talebearing, whispering, scoffing, reviling, rash, harsh, and partial censuring;misconstructing intentions, words, and actions; flattering, vainglorious boasting, thinking or speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves or others;denying the gifts and graces of God;aggravating smaller faults;hiding, excusing, or extenuating of sins, when called to a free confession;unnecessary discovering of infirmities;raising false rumors, receiving and countenancing evil reports, and stopping our ears against just defense;evil suspicion;envying or grieving at the deserved credit of any;endeavoring or desiring to impair it, rejoicing in their disgrace and infamy;scornful contempt, fond admiration;breach of lawful promises;neglecting such things as are of good report, and practicing, or not avoiding ourselves, or not hindering what we can in others, such things as procure an ill name.New Books and Bibles from Crossway in April
Below is a list of the new and notable resources releasing from Crossway this month. Titles include Marriage by Paul David Tripp, Glimmers of Grace by Kathryn Butler, and the ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal, Gospels Set.
If you’ve ever spent time in a hospital, you know that it can be a place of struggles and hardships. These hardships aren’t limited to physical problems; often when our bodies are in pain, our spiritual lives can suffer too.
When you say “I do,” you begin the journey of a lifetime— and you have dreams of that journey being perfect. But it won’t take long for expectations of the perfect marriage to fade away in the struggles of everyday life. A long-term, vibrant marriage needs to be grounded in something sturdier than romance—it needs the life-changing power of the gospel.
In this rebranded edition of What Did You Expect?, popular author and pastor Paul David Tripp encourages couples to make six biblical commitments to the Lord and to one another. These commitments, which include a lifestyle of confession and forgiveness, building trust, and appreciating differences, will equip couples to cultivate thriving, joy-filled marriages built on Christ.
“Noël and I listened to most of this book driving in the car! Wise words. Authentic experience. Provocative application. Turned a long trip into a fruitful two-person marriage seminar.”
—John Piper, Founder and Teacher, desiringGod.org; Chancellor, Bethlehem College & Seminary; author, Desiring God
If you’ve ever spent time in a hospital, you know that it can be a place of struggles and hardships. These hardships aren’t limited to physical problems; often when our bodies are in pain, our spiritual lives can suffer too.
Former trauma surgeon Dr. Kathryn Butler experienced this firsthand as she walked alongside patients, colleagues, and friends through various illnesses and aching loss. In Glimmers of Grace, Butler draws from this experience to guide believers through the deep questions of God’s trustworthiness in the midst of suffering. Blending memoir and devotional reflections, Butler interweaves her own stories of grace with narratives from Scripture to reveal how God’s steadfast love endures even in times of great affliction.
“This book combines the two qualities so often missing from our culture’s approach to suffering and death: brutal honesty and resilient hope. That’s because Butler writes from unique experience in the valley of the shadow of death. And she writes of the God whose rod and staff are our only comfort.”
—Matt McCullough, Pastor, Edgefield Church, Nashville, Tennessee; author, Remember Death: The Surprising Path to Living Hope
Deacons are essential to a church’s health—yet confusion abounds regarding their biblical job description. What’s their God-given role in a local congregation and how do they relate to the church’s overall mission?
In this short book, Matt Smethurst makes the case that deacons are model servants called to meet tangible needs, organize and mobilize acts of service, preserve the unity of the flock, and support the ministry of the elders. Clearing away common misconceptions, Smethurst offers practical guidance for deploying deacons and helping churches to flourish.
“If I could go back and pick one book to prepare for the onslaught of ministerial challenges our church has faced this year, it would be this one. Weary pastors, discouraged deacons, and churches struggling to stay on mission, get this book! It hits all the right notes.”
—Bobby Scott, Copastor, Community of Faith Bible Church, South Gate, California
But when suffering comes, trusting God’s goodness, his attentiveness to what’s going on in the world, and his justice becomes far more difficult. In times of intense suffering, many of us ask, Why does God allow these things to happen?
In the Bible, Job is known for facing intense personal suffering. Yet, upon closer examination, we find the book of Job is about more than just Job’s calamities; it’s a story about God and his relationship to Christ and his people in their suffering. In this helpful guide, Christopher Ash helps us explore the question, Where is God in the midst of suffering? As we read, meditate, and pray through the book of Job, we will find assurance that God will be with us in Christ through every season and trial.
“If like me you have neglected Job, finding it too long and too confusing, knowing that it contains comfort but unsure about how to find it, help is at hand. Christopher Ash unfolds what is tightly packed, unravels what is knotted, and makes plain what is obscure. Immensely helpful and thoroughly enjoyable.”
—Alistair Begg, Senior Pastor, Parkside Church, Chagrin Falls, Ohio
But when suffering comes, trusting God’s goodness, his attentiveness to what’s going on in the world, and his justice becomes far more difficult. In times of intense suffering, many of us ask, Why does God allow these things to happen?
The ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal: Gospels Set pairs the entirety of the individual Gospels with lightly dotted blank pages opposite each page of Bible text, allowing readers to take notes or record insights directly beside the text of Scripture. Each book features hand-lettered, gold-ink illustrations by renowned artist Dana Tanamachi, inviting readers to add their own artwork and reflection to each page of thick, opaque, cream-colored paper. This set is ideal for a small-group Bible study, family devotions, or for taking notes through a sermon series. Each set of journals comes with a beautifully designed slipcase for convenient storage on a bookshelf.
The ESV Children’s Bible is designed to help children ages 5–10 see Bible stories come to life. Included with the complete ESV Bible text are more than 200 vibrant, full-color illustrations of Bible events and characters. Additional content includes a dictionary, Old and New Testament timelines, child-friendly maps, and help in directing children to key Scriptures on various topics. The ESV Children’s Bible is a colorful Bible that kids will love!
April 21, 2021
Spurgeon: Truth Isn’t Measured by the Number of People Who Believe It
Charles Spurgeon:
It does not matter whether 50,000 espouse its cause,
or only five,
or only one.
Truth does not reign by the ballot box,
or by the counting of heads:
it abideth for ever.
All the tongues of men and of angels cannot make truth more true;
and all the howlings of devils and doubters
cannot transform it into a lie.
Glory be to God for this!
—C. H. Spurgeon, “An Address for Sad Times,” in Only a Prayer Meeting! (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1901), p. 146.
April 18, 2021
If You Use Your Phone as an Alarm Clock
Jared Wilson offers an example most of us would do well to emulate:
Like many other fools, I use my phone for my alarm clock.
Picking up my phone before I’ve even sat upright or set my feet on the floor used to mean not just turning my alarm off but quickly and casually checking email, looking at my calendar appointments and obligations for the day, and even scrolling through social media apps.
For the longest time, this meant that even if my first task of the morning was time spent reading the Bible, I typically came to God’s Word with other words already occupying my mind.
The Holy Spirit was kind to convict me about whose words take first priority in my day. I still use my phone as my clock, but the very first thing I do after turning off the alarm in the morning, before I’ve even sat up, is open up one of my Bible apps and ponder whatever the Lord has for me that morning.
My substantive Bible study time will come later when I’m more fully awake, but I still want his words to be the first words I hear each day. This practice is not primarily a function of study, though it’s usually impossible not to think for a while on the passages I’m encountering in these moments. It is primarily a function of worship. I want my daily thoughts and affections to have their agenda set by God. And I want to bring this spirit of worship with me later when I dive into Bible study more deeply
—Jared C. Wilson, Gospel-Driven Ministry: An Introduction to the Calling and Work of a Pastor (Zondervan, 2021), 47–48.
April 16, 2021
Luther and the Diet of Worms @ 500
On April 18, 1521, Marin Luther—age 37—gave his famous “Here I Stand” speech at the Diet of Worms.
The Imperial Diet was the general assembly of the imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire.Worms [pronounced more like verms] was a German town on the western bank of the Rhine River.On April 17, 1521, Luther arrived in Worms after completing his 15-day, 300-mile journey from Wittenberg.
At 4 PM he was taken to the Bishop’s Court and waited for two hours to see the Emperor.
Then at 6 PM he appeared before the Diet, led by Charles V, the 21-year-old Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and Johann Eck, his 33-year-old spokesman.
Along with them were the Roman advisers and representatives, Spanish troops, and the German political elite.
Luther was asked two questions:
Do you acknowledge having written these twenty books lying here?Are you prepared to retract them as a whole or in part?Luther was taken aback; he was expecting debate, not a yes or no answer. After Luther’s lawyer Hieronymus Schurff objected, “Let the titles of the books be read!” Luther responded in a barely audible voice: “The books are all mine and I have written more.”
As to the second question, Luther responded: “This touches God and his word. This affects the salvation of souls. Of this Christ said, ‘He who denies Me before men, him will I deny before My father.’ To say too little or too much would be dangerous. I beg you, give me time to think it over.”
The assembly reluctantly gave him 24 hours to think it through. He responded the next evening with his famous answer.
April 1, 2021
How the Disciples Might Have Felt on Good Friday
C. S. Lewis, in A Grief Observed (1961), made this comment about his own grief after the death of his wife. But perhaps it could apply to how the disciples felt as Friday drew to a close.
Meanwhile, where is God?
This is one of the most disquieting symptoms.
When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be—or so it feels—welcomed with open arms.
But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find?
A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside.
After that, silence.
You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house. Was it ever inhabited? It seemed so once. And that seeming was as strong as this. What can this mean? Why is He so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in our time of trouble?
But praise be to God. It’s only Friday. Sunday’s coming.
What Is the Historical Evidence that Jesus Rose from the Dead?
If Jesus of Nazareth is still dead, with bones buried somewhere in Jerusalem, then Christians are pitiful, hopeless, fools with a futile faith and no escape from their sin. That’s what Paul of Tarsus claimed in 1 Corinthians 15:17–19 after explaining why he and so many others saw the resurrected Jesus and had their lives forever changed.
The Gospel Coalition has posted an excellent essay from Benjamin C. F. Shaw laying out six facts that support the credibility of the historical claim that Jesus rose from the dead:
Death by crucifixion was not something that the followers of Jesus were likely to invent.Burial account fits with all historical evidence that we have. The claim of the empty tomb was easily verifiable, but there are no contradictory accounts. The apostles claim to have met the resurrected Jesus face-to-face. These apostles were willing to suffer and die for these claims. Those who were very unlikely to be converted to this belief were, nonetheless, converted by means of personal experiences of the resurrected Christ.The two videos below, from the Reasonable Faith ministry of William Lane Craig, they focus on three main facts that need to be explained:
The discovery of Jesus’s empty tombThe appearance of Jesus alive after his deathThe disciples’ belief that Jesus rose from the deadJustin Taylor's Blog
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