Kubecki.com

OK, it’s been WAY TOO LONG since I’ve posted regularly. Time to get back on track. But first… a big bunch o’ links.

• Tim Challies reviews Al Mohler’s new book on preaching
• CJ Mahaney interviews Mark Dever on preaching (also applicable to personal Bible study)
• Peter Mead explains the differences between preaching and lecturing
• A break from “preaching” links… this ad for Wario Land: Shake It! is really cool
• Great excerpt from Paul David Tripp on sin
• More from Peter Mead on preaching and application
• Sinclair Ferguson on training the tongue
• Irish Calvinist has the post every Calvinist should read
• Justin Taylor lists 6 questions to ask before confronting
• Tony Reinke posts an excerpt (sermon jam) from Piper on how to Make War!
• And lastly just for fun… The video for A-ha’s Take on Me.. the literal version

Great general observation on apologetics from Terry Delaney, reviewing Nathan Busenitz’ Reasons We Believe:

As with any apologetics book, it must be noted that one cannot argue another person into heaven. One must be careful when reading resources like this or else they will become head-strong and heart-weak. What I mean by that is that it is one thing to read a book like Reasons We Believe to bolster one’s faith. It is something entirely different to read in order that you may win more arguments.

If God is an exceedingly great reward, let such as have hope in Him, long for the full possession of Him. Though it should not be irksome to us to stay here to do service—yet we should have a holy longing until our eternal portion comes into our hand. This is a temper befitting a Christian—content to live, and desirous to die! Philippians 1:23-25. Does not the bride desire her wedding day? Revelation 22:17. If we seriously considered our condition here on earth—that we are compassed with a body of sin; that we cannot pray without wandering; that we cannot believe without doubting—would not this make us desire to depart, to be gone to heaven? Let us think how happy those saints above are, who are solacing themselves in God. While we live far from court—they are always beholding the smiling face of God! While we drink wormwood—they swim in honey! While we are perplexed and troubled—they know their names are enrolled in the book of life. While we are tossed upon the unquiet waves—they have gotten to the eternal haven. If we but knew what a reward God is, and what the joy of our Lord means—we would need patience to be content to stay here on earth any longer!

Thomas Watson. God is His Peoples Great Reward.

2 Peter 1:4

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (ESV)

While we rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!

From Morning and Evening: Daily Readings, September 16th, Morning.

I’m quoting Justin Taylor quoting Ligon Duncan quoting Donald MacLeod. Isn’t the internet wonderful?

Theology exists in order to be applied to the day-to-day problems of the Christian church. Every doctrine has its application. All scripture is profitable and all the doctrine is profitable. Similarly all the application must be based on doctrine. In both the Philippians example-passage and the Corinthian example-passage, Paul is dealing with what are surely comparative trivia, the problem of vain glory in a Christian congregation and the problem of failure of Christian liberality. As a Pastor one meets with these difficulties daily. They are standing problems. Yet Paul, as he wrestles with both of them, has recourse to the most massive theology. It’s not only that you have the emphasis on the unity between theology and practice but you have the emphasis on the applicability of the profoundest theology to the most mundane and most common-place problems. Who would ever imagine that the response to the glory of the incarnation might be to give to the collection for the poor? Who might imagine that the application of the glories of New Testament Christology might be to stop our quarreling and our divisiveness in the Christian ekklesia? That is what Paul is doing here. He is telling them: You have these practical problems; the answer is theological; remember your theology and place your behavior in the light of that theology. Place your little problems in the light of the most massive theology. We ourselves in our Christian callings are to be conscious of this. We must never leave our doctrine hanging in the air, nor hesitate to enforce the most elementary Christian obligations with the most sublime doctrines.

Ligonier Ministries blog has been serializing John Gerstner’s Theology for Everyman, and is now complete. Check the link for details.

Derek Thomas quotes Bishop William Walsham How:

Bishop How once gave a striking description of the characteristics he believed should be found in an ideal minister of the Gospel. “Such a minister,” he said, “should be a man pure, holy, and spotless in his life; a man of much prayer; in character meek, lowly, and infinitely compassionate; of tenderest love to all; full of sympathy for every pain and sorrow, and devoting his days and nights to lightening the burdens of humanity; utterly patient of insult and enmity; utterly fearless in speaking’ the truth and rebuking sin; ever ready to answer every call, to go wherever bidden, in order to do good; wholly without thought of self; making himself the servant of all; patient, gentle, and untiring in dealing with the souls he would save; bearing with ignorance, wilfulness, slowness, cowardice, in those of whom he expects most; sacrificing all, even life itself, if need be, to save some.”

Gospel Ministers - Reformation21 Blog.

The ESV Study Bible has about 50 essays in the back of the Bible, addressing a number of issues that people inside and outside the church have questions about (e.g., the reliability of the Scriptures and their manuscripts, the canon of Scripture, world religions, how questions of ethics and theology relate to God’s Word, etc.) In addition there are a number of articles throughout the Bible, introducing major sections (e.g., the Pentateuch, the Gospels, etc.).

We thought it might be helpful to list all of the articles, in the order that they appear in the ESVSB.

Read more at the ESV Study Bible Blog.

Neatorama posts a reference to the film 2010, which includes a scene featuring “SAL 9000,” a computer similar to “HAL 9000″ from the original 2001. In the film, made in 1984, SAL is asked to define the word “Phoenix” and responds, “There are 26 references in the standard encyclopedia.”

Well, our reference resources in 2008 far exceed those of the producers of the film. The Wikipedia entry for Phoenix currently lists 166 distinct references to choose from.

Despite her awful use of “Puritan” as a pejorative, Peggy Noonan gets it…

…you assume evangelical Christians will be appalled and left agitated by the circumstances of Mrs. Palin’s daughter. But modern American evangelicals are among the last people who’d judge her harshly. It is the left that is about to go crazy with Puritan judgments; it is the right that is about to show what mellow looks like. Religious conservatives know something’s wrong with us, that man’s a mess. They are not left dazed by the latest applications of this fact. “This just in – there’s a lot of sinning going on out there” is not a headline they’d understand to be news.

So the media’s going to wait for the Christian right to rise up and condemn Mrs. Palin, and they’re not going to do it because it’s not their way, and in any case her problems are their problems. Christians lived through the second half of the 20th century, and the first years of the 21st. They weren’t immune from the culture, they just eventually broke from it, or came to hold themselves in some ways apart from it. I think the media will explain the lack of condemnation as “Republican loyalty” and “talking points.” But that’s not what it will be.

Declarations - WSJ.com.