This Week in Review - 3/31/2017

Some more links to share!

What Does Semper Reformanda Mean? from Ligonier Ministries - Pretty much what the title says; it's an explanation of the historical background for the phrase Semper Reformanda.

Moses Was Not Abraham from The Heidelbog - A good explanation of baptism in regards to the covenants in church history. Namely, between the distinction of the Abrahamic covenant (which became a spiritual one under Christ, but not undone) and the Mosaic covenant (from which we were freed by Christ).

Seven Reasons Why We Should Not Accept Millions of Years from Answers in Genesis - A simple, brief explanation on why taking a position of millions of years is not a biblical one.

If the Quran Is True, Then It’s False from Stand to Reason - A brief discussion on the Quran's teaching regarding Allah's sending down the Law and the Gospel, and how, if the Quran is correct in that Allah sent them down, then it's untrue, as the Quran contradicts the Law and Gospel

What is moral relativism and how can Christians respond? from Coffeehouse Questions - We've all heard people say "That's true for you, but not for me," and similar statements. What's so fallacious about that reasoning, and how do you respond to it? This blog post gives some answers.

New Atheism’s Undead Arguments from Saints and Sceptics - An analysis of Richard Dawkins' argument that God can't exist because the universe is too complex, and that would require a super-complex creator, which is improbable. As the article points out, this philosophical contention has been refuted by theists and atheists, and for good reason.

You’re Not as Dumb as You Think You Are: Five Reasons to Put Down that Devotional and Pick Up the Actual Bible from Michelle Lesley - Ms. Lesley gives encouragement to women on how to get spiritual nutrition, not candy. My wife read this post and was very encouraged by it - and I found it to be on the level, so...

Don't Get Your Theology from the Movies from Michelle Lesley - A brief explanation on why movies can be detrimental to your understanding of theological matters or biblical stories.

Parents Are the First Apologists Your Child Should Ever Meet from Southern By His Grace - A warning to parents that you shouldn't rely on a pastor or the church in general to teach your kids how to handle the conflicts within our culture - it's up to you to prepare them, just as it was commanded in scripture.

Motherhood–You Are Not Enough from Reform Like a Woman - Good discussion on how feminism, and indeed modern society, looks down on motherhood, as well as how our sinful nature can affect our motherhood.

And in the humor corner...

Cecile Richards Thanks Ancient God Molech For Continued Government Funding Of Planned Parenthood from The Babylon Bee - I seriously thought this was a real story for a moment. Talk about Poe's Law...

A Salute to John Knox

When Reformation Day was around the corner, I was studying the life and times of John Knox, the Scottish Reformer: what he said, what he believed, what he put up with, etc. Each Reformer seemed to live a unique life, in one way or another, and Knox is certainly no exception: from his days as a bodyguard to George Wishart, to his time as a tutor of children at St. Andrews, to his two years as a galley slave for a French ship, to his time in the Church of England, his time in Geneva, and finally his time of sincere Reformation in Scotland, including the four big meetings with the Queen Mary.

Knox was definitely not a politically correct man, by today's standards that is. He called the pope the Antichrist, called the Latin mass idolatry, and openly said Purgatory was a fiction. When compelled to venerate a statue of the Virgin Mary on a French galley, he replied by tossing it into the river and assuring them that she was light enough to swim. He annoyed Anglican bishops by speaking out against anything resembling the Roman church, campaigning especially to remove any worship of the host during communion. Even when Scotland was ruled by a queen who was popular among the people, Knox was not afraid to call her out for her political or religious faults - either from the pulpit or to her face. At his funeral, the Regent of Scotland said, "Here lies one who never feared the face of man."

You have to look at us today and ponder if we are willing to be as bold as Knox is. Are we willing to tell others they're wrong? Are we willing to speak out against false Christianity when we see it? Are we not afraid of offending everyone when we believe the right thing needs to be said? Or are we willing to forgo error for the sake of "charity" or "unity"? Are we willing to speak out against national leaders and church officials alike? Can it truly be said that we never fear the face of man?

Let us pray that God grants us to be as brave as Knox was, and that many more men like Knox will arise in the centuries to come. Amen.

A Charlie Brown Reformation Day

Just a goofy little video I made for today. Enjoy.

God's Patience Towards Degenerate Churches

The following is from Jonathan Edwards's Treatise on Qualifications for Full Communion.

It is evident that God sometimes, according to the methods of his marvelous mercy, and long suffering towards mankind, has a merciful respect to a degenerate church, that is become exceeding corrupt in regard that it is constituted of members who have not those qualifications which ought to be insisted on. God continues still to have respect to them so far as not utterly to forsake them, or wholly to deny his confirmation of, and blessing on their administrations. And not being utterly renounced of God, their administrations are to be looked upon as in some respect valid, and the society as in some sort a people or church of God. Which was the case with the church of Rome, at least til the Reformation and Council of Trent; for til then we must owe their baptisms and ordinations to be valid.

Reformation Day

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. What would follow even he didn't fully realize. In celebration of this anniversary, I present the following clip, taken from the 1953 film version of Luther's story. It features the climactic speech at the Diet of Worms.

Sola Scriptura. Sola Fide. Sola Gratia. Solus Christus. Soli Deo Gloria. Amen.

The Reformation

A few days ago was the anniversary of the famous "Here I Stand" speech delivered by Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, which led to the Reformation throughout Europe. In a belated celebratory post, here are three audio clips regarding the speech at Worms - its background, delivery, and aftermath (about 23 minutes in total).