Douglas Wilson has written a brief post on time management.

Click here.

Here is the quote of the week for June 30.

“The best news in all the world to the ungodly, who grieve under the cloud of darkness and guilt, is the news that God, by faith alone, counts them as righteous because of Christ.  This is the rock where we stand when the dark clouds gather and the floods lick at our feet: justification is by grace alone (not mixed with our merit), through faith alone (not mixed with our works) on the basis of Christ alone (not mingling his righteousness with ours), to the glory of God alone (not ours).”

John Piper

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck in their recent book, Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be, have a helpful section on why the doctrine of eternal punishment is vital to the Christian faith.  Some ministers today, including many in the emergent stream, are discarding this teaching citing lack of relevance to culture and hightened harshness.  Below are some reasons taken from this book on the importance.

1.  We need God’s wrath to keep us honest about evangelism.  Without the doctrine of hell, we are prone to get involved in all sorts of important God-honoring things, but neglect the one thing that matters for all eternity, urging sinners to be reconciled to God.

2.  We need God’s wrath in order to forgive our enemies.  The reason we can forego repaying evil for evil is because we trust the Lord’s promise to repay the wicked.  We don’t have to seek vigilante justice, because God will be our just judge.

3.  We need God’s wrath in order to risk our lives for Jesus’ sake.  The radical devotion necessary to suffer for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus comes, in part, from the assurance we have that God will vindicate us in the end.

4.  We need God’s wrath in order to live holy lives.  We are spurred on to live a life of purity and good deeds by the promised reward for obedience and the promised curse for disobedience.  If we live to please the flesh, we will reap destruction from God.  But if we live to please the Spirit, we will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:6-7).

5.  We need God’s wrath in order to understand what mercy means.   Divine mercy without divine wrath is meaningless.  Only when we know that we were objects of wrath (Eph. 2:3), stood condemned already (John 3:18), and would have faced hell as God’s enemies were it not for undeserved mercy (Rom. 5:10) can we sing from the heart, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!”

6.  We need God’s wrath in order to grasp how wonderful heaven will be.   It’s unlikely we will long for our final salvation if we dont know what we are saved from.

7.  We need the wrath of God in order to be motivated to care for our impoverished brothers and sisters.  If we don’t share our material possessions with those in need, we have no love (1 John 3:17).  And without love, we have no eternal life.

8.  We need God’s wrath in order to be ready for the Lord’s return.  Only when we fully believe in the coming wrath of God and tremble at the thought of eternal punishment will we stay awake, keep alert, and be prepared for Jesus to come again and judge the living and the dead.

Here is the quote of the week for June 23.

“We don’t become saints by our actions.  We are made saints by the immediate supernatural action of the Holy Spirit alone who works this change deep within our inner being so that we do, in fact, become new creations in Christ.”

Jerry Bridges

Taken from Desiring God Blog

Yes, God does use miracles today to heal people, but He also uses means, like doctors. 

Declining medical help, a faith-healing church member teen, lost his life recently.  The illness could have been easily treated, but the family said no, wanting only to pray.  This same family lost a cousin only months before for the same rejection of medical treatment, opting for prayer alone.  Click here for the rest of the story.

A false theology has cost many lives in the faith-based healing churches.  The Bible does not guarantee any of us divine healing in this life.  Both sickness and healing depend upon the grace and mercy of God and His providential plan for our lives.  (See John 9) 

Here is the quote of the week for June 2.

“Theology and doctrine make life simpler.  They protect us from reading verses out of context, restricting our diet to our favorite paddages, and making decisions based on impulse rather than truth.  They put meat on concepts we tend to use mindlessly like glory, gospel, salvation, and love.  They help us understand what we’re actually doing every Sunday.  What complicates life is not doctrine but ignorance of doctrine.”

Bob Kauflin

Shaun Nolan writes a great review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian over at Reformation 21.

Justin Taylor writes a great article about the exclusivity of the gospel.  There is only one way to God, and it is through Jesus Christ.  Click here to read the article.  Included in the article is a video by R.C. Sproul which can be seen below.

Here is the quote of the week for May 12.

“Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity - liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man’s will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God.”

J. Gresham Machen