John Piper offers parents practical advice from Matthew 21:28-30.

We stand in a precarious position. Any biblical stand we take will be shouted down as arrogant (and not just by the world, but by many in the church). Detractors will not engage meaningfully, but rather quench discussion under a mask of modesty. At the same time we must constantly ask God to convict us of any pride on our part, for true pride is insidious and always ready to creep in. So what do we do? Do we allow ourselves to be silenced by tactics carefully contrived to checkmate us? Do we allow ourselves to be held back by a fear of inappropriate motivations on our part?

Pride is a problem, so is inappropriate uncertainty. We need to stand with conviction, not allowing misapplied labels of arrogance to quench our courage. We need to address uncertainty, not thwarted by the misuse of the label humility.

Read more at Arrogance and Humility: Whose Definition? « Biblical Preaching.

As with his earlier volume, Venema leans towards an “optimistic amillennialism.” His evaluation of the four millennial views is fair, I believe, and he goes to great lengths to describe their beliefs accurately. When he considers the resurrection, the final judgment, eternal punishment and other such issues, he comes down squarely on the side of biblical orthodoxy, speaking out harshly against annihilationism and universalism, and affirming the reality of judgment. He looks constantly to Scripture to defend all that he teaches.

Read more at Tim Challies’ review.

“Clear vision but little depth perception.” That’s how I’ve heard Mark Dever characterize young pastors.

Young pastors see their doctrine with utter clarity. They know exactly what a church should look like. But they don’t know how to assess what’s important, what’s really important, and what can be overlooked. Their gauges haven’t developed.

Probably, the best solution for this is plain old experience. Yet a little battle wisdom from older men can’t hurt, either. So we turned to several pastors who have walked a few miles down ministry’s road, asking them to pass on a morsel or two of counsel.

Read more at 9Marks March/April 2009: For Young Pastors.

Fundamental to idolatry in biblical terms is the idea of an exchange – swaping the true God for something else…

…[T]he exchange may amount to modifying God’s character, airbrushing out attributes we deem problematic to make a more convenient God in our image. This last kind of idolatry is hardest to spot, because we can indulge in it while retaining Christian vocabulary. We continue to speak enthusiastically of ‘God’, and even about ‘Christ’ and ‘the gospel’, while all along we are operating with an imitation forged by our own sinful imaginations. When we suppress certain truths about God (e.g. his holy wrath against sin) or distort others (e.g. his love) to produce our own designer deity, then we are guilty of false faith, and are left with a ‘counterfeit God’.

Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, Andrew Sach – Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution

The longer I live the less I’m surprised by poor journalism in major media outlets. However, I think the reports about President Obama’s recent decision (3/9/09) to force taxpayers to pay for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research (HESCR) takes the cake. After reviewing the articles and videos by major media sources, as well as the local media here in Fresno, I offer this analysis of what you likely either missed or were misinformed about if those were your only sources for information.

Read more at RTLCC.

(HT: Justin Taylor, Stand to Reason)