Saturday, May 17, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Everything you need to know...
...is in the Heidelberg Catechism.
Here is the brilliant opening question -
- 1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
- That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death,1 am not my own,2 but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ,3 who with His precious blood4 has fully satisfied for all my sins,5 and redeemed me from all the power of the devil;6 and so preserves me7 that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head;8 indeed, that all things must work together for my salvation.9 Wherefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life,10 and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live unto Him.11
- 1 Rom 14:7-9; 2 1 Cor 6:19-20; 3 1 Cor 3:23; Tit 2:14; 4 1 Pt 1:18-19; 5 1 Jn 1:7; 2:2; 6 Jn 8:34-36; Heb 2:14-15; 1 Jn 3:8; 7 Jn 6:39-40, 10:27-30; 2 Thes 3:3; 1 Pt 1:5; 8 Mt 10:29-31; Lk 21:16-18; 9 Rom 8:28; 10 Rom 8:15-16; 2 Cor 1:21-22, 5:5; Eph 1:13-14; 11 Rom 8:14
Modern Reformation - Volume 2
They used to have more free articles online. A shame they don't anymore, but the ones they've kept up are very good...
Issue 1: The Megashift
The Megashift Debate: Debate featuring Michael Horton and Clark Pinnock
Issue 2: Preaching Christ
What Is This "Law & Gospel" Thing? By Rick Ritchie
Issue 3: Beyond Culture Wars
Beyond Culture Wars By Michael S. Horton
Proclamation Over Protest By Kenneth A. Myers
Issue 4: The Lord's Prayer
None!
Issue 5: The Chief End of Man
God Glorified in Conversion By Roger Nicole
Issue 6: The Church
The Marks of Worship By Rick Ritchie
Wow
"It is obvious that this [gnostic] influence causes our stewardship over the ecological state of the environment to suffer. After all, the environment is material, and it is destined for extermination anyway. Stewardship in just government suffers as well, since no Christian should be involved in worldly pursuits. Talented artists are made to feel guilty if they give too much time to their "secular career"; honest workers and diligent homemakers feel as though they are not giving God their best if they don't have enough time in the week to give to a whole series of church meetings and activities. Secular work is cut off from spiritual service. While our calling in this world is not spiritual or sacred (being a matter of Creation, not redemption), it does not require a spiritual justification in order to be honoring to God. As was mentioned above in regard to Satan, the worldliness evident in anti-worldly Gnosticism is the net effect of attitudes and beliefs which see all that is material in Creation operating independently of God. The same Gnostic disdain is held for culture in general, including dancing, drinking, reading secular literature, or going to movies." (from Modern Reformation 1.2)
Modern Reformation - Volume 1
I'm gonna list all the free articles in Modern Reformation, volume by volume, for easy ref. Well, I'll list a few - until I lose interest...
Issue 1: Understanding the Conversion
Biblical Conversion and the Modern Church By Kim Riddlebarger
Issue 2: Christ and Culture
When World Denial Becomes Worldliness By Alan Maben
Issue 3: Arminianism
Who Saves Whom? By Michael S. Horton
Unconditional Election: An Interview with J. I. Packer
Issue 4: How Pro-Life Are You?
Legislating Morality By John Warwick Montgomery
Issue 5: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
The Lord & Giver of Life By Kim Riddlebarger
Issue 6: God Justifies the Wicked
Reclaiming the Doctrine of Justification By Rod Rosenbladt
Christ Is My Worth: Self-Esteem, the Feel Good Movement, and the Doctrine of Justification By Don Matzat
Modern Reformation
"Modern Reformation" magazine has probably been the most important influence in the development of my Reformed theological outlook. They have an extensive archive of back articles online. I used to print the articles off at work, and then read them at lunchtime. This is strong meat and drink. Go back to Issue 1, Volume 1 "Understanding the Conversion" and work your way forward. A feast of theology...
Interview with Lionell Windsor
I rather enjoyed this. Interesting that he described Con's greek book as "groundbreaking". Con is modest when asked, but I get the impression that he is "world class" when it comes to greek scholarship.
Burma - should we invade?
Gareth Evans suggests that a case can be made. Even the French foreign minister thinks it might be a good idea. Won't happen, of course - but it's an interesting question.
Immigration
The government looks set to greatly increase immigration. This will be a good thing for our economy. What about the social impact? Despite what some would have you believe, Australia is a remarkably tolerant country with an excellent record of assimilating migrants.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Shout out to Camberwell
My friends Luke and Amy are attending St Mark's Camberwell in Melbourne, while Luke studies at Ridley. I just found out that the vicar there is Matthew Pickering. Matthew was instrumental in my conversion, way back at Engadine in 1989. He's a top guy, and I'm really pleased to hear he is serving down in Melbourne now.
Budget
My thoughts on the budget? Not much, there were no real surprises. The tax cuts are a little risky while we are battling inflation, but they are taking us where we need to be in our tax system. I don't object to means testing for benefits as such - my main problem is that it makes the system terribly hard to administer. I prefer simplicity and elegance, in any system. The massive surpluses show that we continue to have an embarrassment of riches at the federal level. Meanwhile the states (especially NSW) are scrounging about for cash. Some re-thinking about revenue and responsibilities at the two levels is desperately needed. Oh, and this budget does nothing to reverse inflation, despite all the talk.
Challies links
The Sola Panel gets a link from Challies. They are playing in the big league now. Probably wondering why they didn't do it years ago...
Challies reviews The Screwtape Letters
Click here. This is a marvellous book. I re-read it last year, many years since my last reading, and discovered all sorts of little gems. I'm assuming that most of my Christian readers are familiar with the book - but is that true? We need more books that use fiction to teach theology. Actually, check out the parables - even Jesus did it...
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