Theology Matters - James White - Hidden With Christ in God

Colossians 3:1-12
3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Powerful - What would you say to this guy?

Folks the seeker sensitive, emergent, friendship evangelism junk does not and will not cut it. I know this is just a show clip but think about it, what would you tell someone who was about to die not knowing God?

Shepherd's Conference and Arturo Azurdia III

In a couple of weeks there will be several Midlanders heading to California to attend the Shepherd’s Conference held at John McArthur’s church. As I am preparing to go I am reviewing some notes form last year and thought I would post some of the notes here. One of the breakout sessions I attended on expository preaching, was led by Rick Holland. The title of the session was “Preaching the Bible the Way God Wrote It”. The following are bullet points from this session.

• It honors the doctrines of bibliology: namely, inspiration, inerrancy, infallibility, perspicuity, and authorial intent.
• It helps us know and follow the mind of God.
• It teaches people how to study the Bible properly.
• It demonstrates the profitability of all Scripture.
• It sets the agenda for the pulpit.
• It provides context and orientation for any given preaching unit.
• It reveals the nuances and contours of the text.
• It creates familiarity with the books of the Bible.
• It highlights the “foolishness of God” (1 Cor 1:18–31).
• It promotes the work of the Spirit of God in the lives of our people through His use of the Word of God.
• It presents the most comprehensive understanding of God.
  

These points are fleshed out a bit more here.

Also, I was introduced to a preacher this last week that I had not heard before. A series of his sermons was offered by Monergism.com. The preachers name is Arturo Azurdia. A website featuring many of his sermons can be found here. He practices the above in his preaching.

Interview: Eric at the Fire Ant Gazette Interviews Me About my Audio Blog Impact Midland

A while back a friend from my days at ARCO interviewed me about my audio blog at Impact Midland. Here is the interview:

If you've got a keen eye, you may have noticed a new link in the Gazette's sidebar, in the "West Texas Blogs" category. The link hooks you up with Impact Midland, a relatively new blog beautifully conceived and executed by telecommunications guru Bill Lawless. Impact Midland is unique among the West Texas blogging community in that it's an audio-blog, consisting of recorded interviews and readings, with Bill acting as the producer, director, interviewer, sound engineer, and everything else.

Bill and I were co-workers back in prehistoric times, which emboldened me to turn the tables and request an interview with him, to which he graciously consented. From a geekish perspective, I'm not worthy to even be in the same room with him, so we did the interview by email, instead of a podcast, but I think you'll enjoy finding out more about Bill and his new blog.

Gazette – A blog consisting primarily of audio entries is a unique idea for West Texas. How did you come up with the idea, and what do you hope to accomplish with Impact Midland?

Bill – I listen to several podcasts everyday and find that it is a very good way to share information. You can listen while driving, walking, bike riding, etc. I am a technology type and have always been interested in electronics, ham radio, computers, the internet and audio production. Podcasting is a way for me to pull all of those interests together. It's also a way to live out a childhood dream to be a DJ of sorts. When I record I set behind an ElectoVoice RE20 which is a microphone you will find in 90% of the radio stations in the country.

The name Impact Midland is something that I thought long about. I didn't want to build a website that was just for me to play podcaster on. I wanted to build something that would challenge me technically and be useful at the same time.

From a biblical perspective I would like for the readings and interviews to perhaps cause folks to reassess their view of who God is and their own relationship with Him. You can't read or listen to the Psalms without getting a high view of God. The Valley of Vision is a collection of Puritan prayers. The Puritans had a high view of God and it was evident in their prayers and the way they lived. Today it seems that that we treat God very casually. We use His name in a casual sometimes vulgar manner, we treat Him as though He were some sort of cosmic Santa Claus instead of the high and holy sovereign of the universe. Our casual view of God is not only evident in the way we live our lives form day to day but in the way we worship. In the Psalms we learn how to truly worship. In worship the focus is not on me but on God.

Continue reading here.

Paul Washer - Legalism and Modern Evangelicalism

"Everybody is wanting to do something when we ought to be wanting to be something."