Monthly Archives: September 2010

The Holy Spirit Spoke to Me!!

29 Wednesday Sep 2010

Posted by in Theology

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The Holy Spirit said *what* to him??

Lately, some folks have been totally taken over by frenzy.  They put down their Bibles and want to reach out to God in another way.  These guys criticize others who preach from the Bible, saying that we’re “just following the dead letter of the law.”  Here’s what I want to ask them: where do they get this Spirit that shows so much contempt for biblical teaching as being so low and childish?  If they want to tell me that it’s the Spirit of Christ, I’d tell them they’re being ridiculous!

None of the apostles or early church-goers were ever taught to hold the Bible in such contempt…not by the Holy Spirit.  Instead, they had great respect for it…dare I even use the very old-fashioned word ‘reverence’?  The Holy Spirit taught of His ruling over His people when he spoke through Isaiah, after all:  “My Spirit is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring…forevermore” (59:21).  This is the way the Church is happy: by being ruled over by the Spirit of God in his Word!

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Dangerous preaching

27 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by in Theology

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John Broadus

Covenant Theological Seminary’s president Bryan Chapell based some of his book Christ-Centered Preaching on Broadus’ material as published in 1944 (and prior). Since that time, Broadus’ work has been so altered that most of his observations on expository preaching have been removed.  So, I went on Amazon and bought a copy to read for myself.

A word of warning to preachers and teachers of the word, from the father of modern expository preaching, John Broadus:

…it is so common to think that whatever kindles the imagination and touches the heart must be good preaching, and so easy to insist that the doctrines of the sermon are in themselves true and Scriptural, though they be not actually taught in the the text, that preachers often lose sight of their fundamental and inexcusable error of saying that a passage of God’s Word means what it does not mean.

[Broadus, A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, 41st edition, ed. Dr. E. C. Dargan; George H. Doran Co., pub. 1898. pg. 52. Emphasis his.]

A timely word indeed for all preachers. Lord help us.

Update and new book!

16 Thursday Sep 2010

Posted by in Book Discussion, Personal

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First, I haven’t fallen off the radar completely.  I’ve been swamped with reading for my Covenant Theology class, as well as learning Greek and doing my first outline for Sermon Preparation and Delivery.  Pretty stoked.

I’m also a reader for another student (meaning, I read their assignments onto an mp3 file and then send it to them). It pays pretty well and it’s a class I’ll have to take in the future, so I’ll have read most of the materials for those classes when I get there.  Pretty excited about that, actually.  But what that means is I fell behind in reading a little bit this week and spent 8 hours reading, 2 for the other guy, 6 for me…just to get caught up.  Then I came back from class today and read for over 2 hours for the other guy.  Now I’m taking a break from Greek to write this.

Washed and Waiting, by Wes Hill

But another distraction has arrived.  Amazon just sent me the copy of Washed and Waiting by Wes Hill. I couldn’t put it down and spent an hour this afternoon reading it. It warrants its own post, but allow me to quote from page 42 (which is, of course, the answer to life, the universe, everything):

A sexual orientation is such a complex and, in most cases, it seems, intractable thing; I for one cannot imagine what ‘healing’ from my orientation would look like, given that it seems to manifest itself not only in physical attraction to male bodies but also in a preference for male company, with all that it entails, such as conversation and emotional intimacy and quality time spent together.

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An interesting interaction

04 Saturday Sep 2010

Posted by in Personal

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Last night, I was working at the store and a Oneness Pentecostal guy came in.  I told him I had relatives that had gone to ABI (Apostolic Bridal Bible Institute) and instantly he wanted to talk, which was cool.

It was a fascinating discussion.  We talked about imputed righteousness, eschatology, holy living, the marks of a true Christian…all in the space of one hour.  I was in it more to hear how he heard my questions and how I might ask them better of someone I’m trying to share the gospel with, so it was a fruitful time.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him, however, that not only was I not baptized “in Jesus’ Name,” but that I’ve never spoken in tongues.  He did get to the point however, where he would refer to himself and me in terms I’d relate to “the invisible Church.” He put a high premium on inspiration (his own) through sermon prep and even at one point claimed to have seen the backside of God in a dream.

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