my burg

"Beyond all doubt, biblical religion is authoritarian in nature.  The sovereign God, creator of the universe, Lord of  history, dispenser of destiny, determines and rewards the true and the good.  God commands and has the right to be obeyed,  and the power also to punish the disobedient and reward the faithful. "Behind God's will stands omnipotent power.  The  notion that the individual subjectively determines what is ultimately good and evil, true and false, not only results in an  encroaching nihilism, but also presupposes the illusion of a godless world.  God can be ignored only if we assume the autonomy of the world.   "But it is God who in his purpose has determined the existence and nature of the world.  The divine sovereignty extends to every sphere of life--the sphere of work, whether in the laboratory or in the forum; the sphere of love, whether in the home or in neighbor-relations; the sphere of justice, whether between the...

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:4-6 ESV)  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools...   (Romans 1:21-22 ESV) "Their [ Adam & Eve's ] disobedience entailed two things that are now characteristic of all of us as humans. On the one hand, for each of us, sin is the claim to the right to myself, and so to my way of seeing things, which—far more than class, gender, race and generation—is the ultimate source of...

Enjoyed listening to this 9Marks interview between Mark Dever and Carl F. H. Henry in 1997.  This would be six years before Henry's death in 2003.   Dever asked Henry to identify some differences that he sees in evangelicalism between today and earlier in the 1950 and 60s.  Two points came out:  1) Earlier there was a need to call evangelicals, who had largely withdrawn from the culture, to be more active in, and engaged with, the culture. Today the problem, Henry says, is to get the contemporary culture -- very much degenerated -- out of the evangelical.  2) In the 1950s and 60s evangelicals saw that they needed one another and so worked together.  Today, Henry said, they do not feel that they need each other the way they needed each other then.  Too many evangelicals and churches are pursuing their own agendas and individual ministries apart from a relationship to the wider body of evangelicalism.  Listen to the full interview here . ...

I was asked recently to suggest some biographies that I have read and would recommend to others. Most of the biographies that I have read are about men, and specifically, theologians and pastors, and sometimes soldiers.  I read biographies to find people to emulate and to serve as historical mentors.  Here are my top ten biographies, in alphabetical order... Augustine of Hippo: A Biography , by Peter Brown. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy , by Eric Metaxas.  Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life , by Colin Duriez. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther , by Roland H. Bainton. Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret , by Howard Taylor and Geraldine Taylor.  Jonathan Edwards: A Life , by George M. Marsden. (Or, A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards , by George M. Marsden). Life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones , by Iain Murray. (Either the two-volume original set or the new one-volume edition.) Robert E. Lee on Leadership: Executive Lessons in Character, Courag...

"Let the one who says he abides in Him, walk in the manner in which He walked."   ( 1 John 2:6  NAS) Jack Hall, former VT professor and long-time member of BCF, spoke briefly during Sunday announcements about our upcoming conference...    One of the themes of the upcoming conference is "Living with a Missional Mindset," that is, seeking to l ive in such a way as to draw people to Christ with every encounter. I n other words, emulate Christ.  So, to figure out how well you are doing in that regard, let's go through the alphabet using words that describe Jesus's character or personality, and then assess in your own mind how you measure up.... A mazing/assuring B old in testimony C aring/compassionate D ivine/dependable E nergizing F aithful G enerous H oly/helpful I nfallible/immaculate J ust K ind/source of all knowledge L oving M ajestic/magnificent N eeded O mnipotent/omnipresent/omniscient P owerful/parental Q uiet R ejuvenating ...