Links & Quotes

Even if the world’s legal system seems unjust, Jesus says by continuing to press our case with the public servants He has put in place, we are really trusting God to bring us His perfect justice. Check out my full sermon on how the Bible from Moses to Jesus explains how to define the legal term, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“A significant amount of research and scholarship (both scientific and theological) indicates that a young Earth is the most straightforward, conservative way to interpret God’s Word. … The most unambiguous way to interpret the Bible is according to its grammatical-historical sense, or the intended meaning of the authors. A literal interpretation accounts for all figures of speech in the text, providing the most straightforward method of exegeting Scripture. To this point, when Jesus quoted the Old Testament, it was always clear that He considered its passages as factual and true.”  Check out the post Long Ages and the Bible—What’s the Problem? 

“Your brain is made up of neurons that communicate with each other through synapses. Delta-FosB is one of the chemicals that creates neural circuits—i.e., ‘pathways’—to help those neurons communicate more quickly and efficiently. … Basically, what you experience as getting better and better at something is your brain ‘rewiring’ itself to become faster and more efficient at sending the same messages between the same neurons.” This works for both healthy and unhealthy activities. In this article from Fight The New Drug, research shows how regular consumption of pornography is hampering your brain’s ability to have normal, healthy relationships.

Dr. Henry Halley, in his Halley’s Study Bible, observed, “Note, too, the unceasing emphasis on the resurrection throughout this book. It was the pivotal point in Peter’s sermon on Pentecost (2:24, 31-32), in his second sermon (3:15), and in his defense before the Sanhedrin (4:2, 10), It was the burden of the apostles’ preaching (4:33). It was Peter’s defense in his second arraignment (5:30). A vision of the risen Christ converted Paul (9:3-6). Peter preached the resurrection to Cornelius (10:40). Paul preached it in Antioch (13:30-37), Thessalonica (17:3), Athens (17:18, 31), and Jerusalem (22:6-11), to Felix (24:15, 21), and to Festus and Agrippa (26:8, 23).” You can check out all of the Scriptures he mentions in this quote here.

Stephen Witmer asks an important question: “Which is closer to the center of your life as a Christian: what you’re doing for God, or what God has already done for you through Jesus Christ? Which one grounds your identity more deeply, affects your mood more frequently, rouses your passions more highly? Your answer to these questions will deeply shape the stability, tenacity, happiness, boldness, and humility of your Christian experience. Jesus wants to provide you grounds for unshakable joy.” Check out this example Witmer shares from an exchange between Jesus and His followers. 

“Informing your opinion of the comparative merits of Christian men, never forget the old rule: ‘distinguish between times.’ Place yourself in each man’s position. Do not judge what was a right course of action in other times, by what seems a right course of action in your own.” —J.C. Ryle

God holds human life as precious in His sight. Whenever anyone asks me why I support the sanctity of human life, my answer is simple, “Because God holds it sacred.” Consequently, God punishes those who devalue human life.

My friend, Pastor Tim Dilena, shares a thought about how God often uses people as the answer to our prayers.

Links & Quotes

Don’t give in to F.E.A.R. When the devil’s lies make us afraid, remember that F.E.A.R. stands for false evidence appearing real. The Holy Spirit can help you find the true evidence in God’s Word that will confront and dismantle the false evidence. Check out this full message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“Meanwhile it is also necessary for the ruler [pastor] to keep wary watch, lest the lust of pleasing men assail him; lest, when he studiously penetrates the things that are within, and providently supplies the things that are without, he seek to be beloved of those that are under him more than truth…” (Gregory the Great). Check out how T.M. Moore unpacks this quote.

The Culture Translator” newsletter from Axis has this sobering reminder of the dangers of pornography. 

What it is: An eye-opening essay in The Free Press describes the impact of pornography on a teen’s developing brain.

What it tells us: The author of this piece, Isabel Hogben, is a homeschooled high schooler living in Redford City, California. In one of several devastating lines, Hogben details how she stumbled upon PornHub when she was only ten years old, even as her very present mother was “making sure I was eating nine differently colored fruits and vegetables on the daily.” Hogben goes on to explain that today’s pornography depicts a synthetically augmented and physically brutal type of sex that makes Playboy magazine look “like an American Girl Doll catalog.” She notes that teens who have never had a physical sexual encounter can’t know the difference between what fake sex and real sex is supposed to be like, skewing their expectations, and that her peers think selling nudes online is normal. As she examines the way porn causes scientifically-measurable changes in the brain, Hogden concludes that porn is not “content” as much as it is a dangerously addictive substance not unlike street drugs.

“Do nothing that you would not like God to see. Say nothing you would not like God to hear. Go no place where you would not like God to find you. Never spend your time in such a way that you would not like God to say, ‘What are you doing?’” —J.C. Ryle

“Learning to say no is not just about courage, but also learning how to prioritize your life and become more productive.” —John Maxwell

Links & Quotes

One of the last pictures I took with my Mom ♥

“Love of the Word appears preeminently in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He read it publicly. He quoted it continually. He expounded it frequently. He advised the Jews to search it. He used it as His weapon to resist the devil. He repeatedly said, ‘The Scripture must be fulfilled.’ Almost the last thing He did was to ‘open their minds so they could understand the Scriptures’ (Luke 24:45). I am afraid that man cannot be a true servant of Christ, who has not something of his Master’s mind and feeling towards the Bible.” —J.C. Ryle, Bible Reading 

“The character of our praying will determine the character of our preaching. Light praying will make light preaching. …The preacher must be preeminently a man of prayer. His heart must graduate in the school of prayer. In the school of prayer only can the heart learn to preach.” —E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer 

I have blogged several thoughts about the historicity of the Bible. Here’s a post on Breakpoint about yet another archeological discovery that once again vindicates the Bible’s trustworthiness.

“Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They do not pray; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture. … The call is: watch, study, attend to reading. In truth you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well. … The devil … the world … and our flesh are raging and raving against us. Therefore, dear sirs and brothers, pastors and preachers, pray, read, study, be diligent.” —Martin Luther

Looking at God’s awesomeness brings a peace that nothing else can.

A very thought-provoking Q&A with Sean McDowell and Dr. Stephen Meyer: Does Science Point to God?

George Whitefield (book review)

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

The ministry of George Whitefield in both the British Isles and the American colonies is still unequaled today. Of very few men could it be said that they both initiated a revival and put mechanisms in place for the long-range growth of the church in two entirely different cultures. Arnold Dallimore captures this well in his biography George Whitefield: God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century. 

Previously, I read and reviewed J.C. Ryle’s biography of George Whitefield. Bishop Ryle wrote this book to correct some of the maliciously untrue reports that were circulating about Whitefield. Rev. Dallimore’s book has the benefit of more years of history in which to test the assertions of Bishop Ryle. The result is a well-rounded work that takes us through the beginning of Whitefield’s ministry, his maturing thoughts and practices, and the lasting legacy that is still being felt today. 

Rev. Dallimore does address some of the same falsehoods that Bishop Ryle sought to debunk, but he goes farther to give us a sweeping overview of the tireless and highly effective ministry Whitefield undertook for nearly all of his life. Students of church history will definitely want to add this excellent book to their library. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? ◀︎◀︎

Book Reviews From 2020

8 Quotes From “Warnings To The Churches”

This hard-hitting, no-pulled-punches book is directed primarily at pastors and other church leaders. However, I think anyone who loves Christ and His Bride will find much to ponder in Warnings To The Churches by J.C. Ryle. You can read my full book review by clicking here. 

“Go forward, beloved brethren, and fear not the adversary. Only abide in Christ and the victory is sure. Marvel not at the hatred of the gates of hell. ‘If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own’ [John 15:19]. So long as the world is the world, and the devil is the devil, there must be warfare, and believers in Christ must be soldiers! The world hated Christ, and the world will hate true Christians as long as the earth stands. As the great reformer, [Martin] Luther, said, ‘Cain will go on murdering Abel so long as the Church is on earth.’” 

“He who cannot lie has pledged His royal word that all the powers of hell shall never overthrow His Church. It shall continue, and stand, in spite of every assault. It shall never be overcome.” 

“Weak as this true Church may appear to the eye of man, it is an anvil which has broken many a hammer in times past, and perhaps will break many more before the end. He who lays hands on it is touching the apple of God’s eye!” 

“We corrupt the Word of God most dangerously when we throw any doubt on the absolute inspiration of any part of Holy Scripture.” 

“We corrupt the Word of God when we make defective statements as doctrines. We do so when we add to the Bible the opinions of the Church or of the Church Fathers, as if they were of equal authority. We do so when we take away from the Bible for the sake of pleasing men. We do so when from a feeling of false liberality, keep back any statement which seems narrow, or harsh, or hard. We do so when we try to soften down anything that is taught about eternal punishment or the reality of hell. We do so when we bring forward doctrines in their wrong proportions.” 

“May we never care what men say of us so long as we walk in the light of God’s Word! May we strive and pray to be wholly independent of, and indifferent to, man’s opinion, so long as we please God!” 

“Chosen as believers are by God the Father, justified as they are by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, sanctified as they are by the Holy Spirit, believers are still only men—they are still in the body and still in the world. They are ever near temptation. They are ever liable to misjudge, both in doctrine and in practice. Their hearts, though renewed, are very feeble; their understanding, though enlightened, is still very dim. They ought to live like those who dwell in an enemy’s land, and every day to put on the armor of God. The devil is very busy: he never slumbers or sleeps.” 

“Like the fruit of which Eve and Adam ate, at first sight it looks pleasant and good, and a thing to be desired. ‘Poison’ is not written up on it and so people are not afraid. Like counterfeit coin it is not stamped ‘bad.’ It passes for the real thing, because of the very likeness it bears to the truth. Let us be on our guard against the very small beginnings of false doctrine.” 

Warnings To The Churches (book review)

J.C. Ryle died in 1900, placing his writings two centuries before our own. And yet his Warnings To The Churches sound an alarm that is just as relevant to the Church and her leaders as if it were written last week! 

Bishop Ryle spoke and wrote with an authority that sounded much like the Old Testament prophets thundering, “Thus saith the Lord!” And at the same time, you can also hear his ardent love for Christ’s Bride as tenderly as the beloved disciple John, who called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Taken together, that means Ryle’s words are steeped in authoritative, loving Scripture. 

He pulls no punches in pointing out how even Church leaders have bought into a definition of “church” that doesn’t quite line up with the way Jesus defined it. He reminds pastors of their heavy responsibility to preach the Word of God in all its purity. Just like Jesus, Ryle warns church leaders of the “leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And he calls for loving confrontation of those leaders who have succumbed to the “leaven” just as Paul confronted Peter. 

This is a challenging book to read simply because of the gut-level honest introspection that it will require. I certainly couldn’t read through this book thinking I’ve got my act together, and I doubt few others will be able to either. If you are a church leader and you would like Ryle’s iron to sharpen your iron, Warnings To The Churches is a definite must-read for you.

Book Reviews From 2019

Read Your Bible More

“Read your Bible more and more every year. Read it whether you feel like reading it or not. And pray without ceasing that the joy return and pleasures increase.

“Three reasons this is not legalism:

  1. You are confessing your lack of desire as sin, and pleading as a helpless child for the desire you long to have. Legalists don’t cry like that. They strut.
  2. You are reading out of desperation for the effects of this heavenly medicine. Bible-reading is not a cure for a bad conscience; it’s chemo for your cancer. Legalists feel better because the box is checked. Saints feel better when their blindness lifts, and they see Jesus in the Word. Let’s get real. We are desperately sick with worldliness, and only the Holy Spirit, by the Word of God, can cure this terminal disease.
  3. It is not legalism because only justified people can see the preciousness and power of the Word of God. Legalists trudge with their Bibles on the path toward justification. Saints sit down in the shade of the Cross and plead for the blood-bought pleasures.

“So let’s give heed to Mr. Ryle and never grow weary of the slow, steady, growth that comes from the daily, disciplined, increasing, love affair with reading the Bible. 

‘Do not think you are getting no good from the Bible, merely because you do not see that good day by day. The greatest effects are by no means those which make the most noise, and are most easily observed. The greatest effects are often silent, quiet, and hard to detect at the time they are being produced. Think of the influence of the moon upon the earth, and of the air upon the human lungs. Remember how silently the dew falls, and how imperceptibly the grass grows. There may be far more doing than you think in your soul by your Bible-reading’ (J.C. Ryle, in Practical Religion).” —John Piper 

On Full Display

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:16)

Jesus wants Christians to be leaders, to be pacesetting examples. That means that Christian leaders must be comfortable with others carefully watching their lives. 

A mark of a godly leader is one who is comfortable with public scrutiny.

“It is bad enough to be blind ourselves. It is a thousand times worse to be a blind guide.” —J.C. Ryle 

“Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.” —1 Peter 2:12 MSG 

Sermons must be practiced as well as preached…. If a man teach uprightly and walk crookedly, more will fall down in the night of his life than he built in the day of his doctrine.” —John Owen 

Be a walking, talking, living example of what you preach, in every silent moment of your life, known and unknown; bear the scrutiny of God, until you can prove that you are indeed an example of what He can do.” —Oswald Chambers 

“Behave yourselves wisely—living prudently and with discretion—in your relations with those of the outside world (the non-Christians)…” —Colossians 4:5 AMP

“We hear that some people in your group refuse to work [or are behaving irresponsibly; are living/walking in idleness/disorder]. They do nothing but busy themselves [meddle; interfere] in other people’s lives. We command those [such] people and beg [urge; encourage; exhort] them in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly [or settle down] and earn [eat] their own food.” —2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 EXB)

“We should make less excuses for the weaknesses of a Christian than for any other man. A Christian has God’s honor at stake. When a man is regenerated and bears the Name of Christ the Spirit of God will see to it that he is scrutinized by the world, and the more we are able to meet that scrutiny the healthier will we be as Christians.” —Oswald Chambers 

This is part 37 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.