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  Bible reading for Aug 30 -- 31 Aug 30 -- Ezekiel 2 and Psalm 38 Aug 31 -- Ezekiel 3 and Psalm 39 ================   "But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house." (Ezekiel 3:27) A COMMISSION (ch 2). Like Isaiah before him (Isa 6), and his contemporary Jeremiah in Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called to be God's prophet. Like the Apostle John (Rev 1:17) he is overwhelmed by the glory of God. The term "son of man" (v 1, 3, 6, 8)  means a human, a man, someone with a human nature. When Jesus later uses that term for himself (Matt 24:30; 26:64) it is in reference to Daniel's use of the term of the being (human) who comes from heaven (Dan 7:13-14). Like many of the prophets Ezekiel will also find that people will be not receptive to his message. But he is not to be afraid, but rather to be o...

I have read and profited immensely from reading Jonathan Edwards (1703--1758) over the past 20-some years.  Before you jump into some of his  longer works like A Treatise on Religious Affections (1746) or The End For Which God Created the World (1755), you may enjoy reading  some of his sermons first.   You may find reading these sermons a bit difficult at first, but keep at it.  Just remember, colonial New Englanders -- even shop-keepers and farmers in his church --  understood and followed him very well.  Your thinking and powers of concentration may be challenged, and they certainly will be enlarged! Here are five reasons you should read the sermons of Jonathan Edwards :    1)  His preaching is Biblical.   One thing I have learned from Jonathan Edwards is that no preacher has any authority apart from the Word  of God and the reasoned inferences and applications which come from it.  Edwards proclaime...

Above, No Compromise was the second album by Christian singer/song-writer Keith Green, released in 1978. WHY STUDY CHURCH HISTORY? "For the past two-thousand years of our history, Christians have wrestled with Scripture. They have preached sermons, written commentaries,  defended orthodoxy (right belief) against heresy (false teaching), and articulated biblically faithful statements of doctrine in form of the historic  confessions of the faith.  If we disregard all this, choosing instead to remain ignorant of this treasure-trove of spiritual wisdom, is that not arrogant  of us?"   REDISCOVERING FORGOTTEN CLASSICS Here's a treasure trove of lesser known works that you may want to investigate. PASTORAL CONCERN ABOUT EVANGELICAL PROPHECY "The belief that God continues to grant special revelation through personal experience fosters unhealthy experientialism." THOMAS MORE'S ANTIDOTE TO MODERN IDEOLOGIES "By now, the recipe is sadly famil...

Why is the preaching and teaching of the Bible so central to the life of BCF?  This is the question asked in Sunday's sermon .  Here is the outline of those notes and a few quotations... Key passage :  “...the church of the living God [is] a pillar and buttress of the truth. ...devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”  (1 Timothy 3:15; 4:13 ESV) Here's a walk-through  of the ministry of the Word in biblical history... • In creation.   (Gen. 1:3, 5; Ps. 147:15-18; Rev. 21:5)   • To Israel. (Deut. 4:10-12, 33-36; Josh. 1:8; Ezra 7:10)  • In OT worship. (Ps 1; 19; 119) • In the prophets.   (Isa. 8:16-20; 40:8; 55:10-11; 66:2; Jer. 23:28-29) • By the Lord Jesus ( The Word in flesh! ) (Matt. 5:17-19; 26:13; 28:19; Mark 13:31; Jn. 8:31-32; 17:14-17) • In the early church .  (Acts 2:42; 6:4; 20:20, 27, 32) • By the Apostle Paul .  (Rom. 15:4; 1 Tim. 3:15; 4:13; 2 Ti...

"Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior..."  (Titus 1:1-3) "Scripture often tells us that God's word is pure, free of all dross and superfluity, unmixed with anything else.  That is why it is compared to gold and silver which have been melted down and refined by fire (Psa. 12:6; 19:10).  Such assurance is given to us that we may truly say that our faith comes not from men but has God as its author; we are thus armed with confidence for whatever fight Satan may choose to pick with us.  For the rest, it is made clear that supposing we had all the knowledge in the world, without the knowledge of God and his word we are no more than ...

And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.  Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.  But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."  (Acts 6:2-4 ESV) "Nothing is more needed among preachers today than that we should have the courage to shake ourselves free from the thousand and one trivialities in which we are asked to waste our time and strength, and resolutely return to the apostolic ideal which made necessary the office of the diaconate.  We must resolve that we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the Word."   (G. Campbell Morgan)

"Refuse to capitulate to the Kantian philosophy that says that ultimate truth about God is not accessible. He has been revealed. God is speaking and is not silent. He became flesh. He is risen. He has shown Himself. That not all see it is because the god of this age has blinded their minds, but as we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, God ‘has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Cor. 4:4-6)." ~ From Burning Hearts: Preaching to the Affections, by Josh Moody, Robin Weekes.

C. S. Lewis wrote, "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date" ( The Four Loves ). J osh Moody and Robin Weekes, authors of Burning Hearts: Preaching to the Affections , would agree, and maintain that -- despite all our scientific and technological advances -- this age is pretty much like the ages before.  Therefore, "relevant" preaching will preach to those unchanging issues of greatest importance...   "What is the same about our age? Everything of greatest importance. People are still made in the image of God. People are still fallen and depraved. The world and the whole universe is still created by God and sustained by the word of His power. All of reality still throbs to the beating heart of the living God. Jesus is still Lord. The cross is the centre of the universe and of all time and space. The Holy Spirit is the power for ministry, life, change and Christlikeness... Ecclesiastes is right when it says that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ (E...

I've been reminded how the ministry of the Word is the foremost activity that Christian leaders must be devoted to.  Reading, studying, understanding, applying, believing, obeying and teaching the Scriptures is the prime directive for pastors. Note just the following passages in Paul's two letters to Timothy... 1 Timothy 4:6   If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 1 Timothy 4:13   Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture , to exhortation, to teaching . 2 Timothy 1:13-14   Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 2 Timothy 2:15   Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightl...

My sentiments exactly on preaching, from Gresham Machen... "There is just one reason why I may possibly expect you to listen to me. I may expect you to listen to me if I can bring to you a message from God. If I can do that, then the very insignificance of the speaker may in a certain sense be an added inducement to you to listen to him, since it may help you to forget the speaker and attend only to the message. "It is just that I am trying to do. I am asking you to turn away from me and my opinions; I am asking you to turn away from yourself and your opinions and your troubles; and I am asking you to turn instead that you may listen to a word from God. "Where can I find that word?....Not in myself and not in you, but in an old Book that has been sealed by the seals of prejudice and unbelief but that will, if it is rediscovered again set the world aflame and that will show you, be you wise or unwise, rich or poor, the way by which you can come into communion with ...