Jesus on Every Page

I am very much looking forward to reading Jesus on Every Page by David Murray. Sinclair Ferguson offers the following endorsement: "With deceptive ease Dr. David Murray brings his readers on to the Road to Emmaus for a few hours of conversation about Jesus and the Old Testament. With an enviable grace and simplicity he teaches us how to read the Old Testament as Christians."

And if you buy the book this month, Dr. Murray is offering a bundle of great resources along with it for free.

If you're still not sold, check out the video trailer below:

What Exactly Do We Owe the President?

In a post today entitled The Most Disobeyed Commandment in the Church, David Murray cites the Westsminster Larger Catechism (Answer 127) in outlining what we owe the President:

1. All due reverence in heart, word, and behavior
2. Prayer and thanksgiving for them
3. Imitation of their virtues and graces
4. Willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels
5. Due submission to their corrections
6. Fidelity to, defense and maintenance of their persons and authority
7. Bearing with their infirmities
8. Covering them in love

I fear that many Christians I know (including at times myself) have failed miserably at these (especially numbers 1 & 8). I'll let you and the Holy Spirit be the judge at how well you specifically have done, but Murray puts it this way:

Many Christians have shattered this commandment in a thousand pieces over the last four months, perhaps even over the last four years.

Sure, we must defend the sanctity of life and of marriage, but we must not do so at the expense of the fifth commandment. Since when do we get to pick and choose which commandments are most important and which are irrelevant?

Serious moral errors in some areas of government policy and practice are no excuse for failing to obey this commandment in all other areas.

Thankfully and mercifully, God offers forgiveness for this sin too – if we repent of it and believe in Jesus.
 

2012 Puritan Reformed Conference

Last week I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend the 2012 Puritan Reformed Conference in Grand Rapids. It was the fourth annual conference put on by Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and (as has been the case with their past conferences) it was wonderfully conducted.

Throughout the conference, I tweeted highlights from the various messages. In lieu of a full detailed review of the conference, I thought it might help give you a feel for the conference if I were to share with you what I tweeted.

There's probably an easy way to re-order your tweets so that they read top to bottom as opposed to bottom to top. Alas, if this is the case, I am not smart enough to figure it out. So if you'd like to read the tweets in the order they were tweeted, go to the bottom of this post and start there.

PRTS Conference: The Glory of the Father

Joel Beeke, Burk Parsons and Derek Thomas will be among the great lineup of speakers at the fourth annual Puritan Reformed Conference, held August 23-25 in Grand Rapids. I attended the last two years when the conference themes were The Beauty and Glory of the Holy Spirit and The Beauty and Glory of the Son. This year's theme is (not  surprisingly) "The Beauty and Glory of the Father." Each of the conferences I have been to has been a blessing to my soul, and I have every confidence that this one will be no different.

Space is limited and they are almost certain to end up having to turn people away for this conference, so don't hesitate; click here to register online before July 22 and receive the early registration rate of just $65. I am steadfastly convinced that there is not a better value available anywhere for this type of conference. There are even great deals available for hotel rooms in connection with the conference.

The schedule for the conference is as follows:

August 23 (Thursday evening)

6:00 – 7:00pm
Registration

7:00 – 8:00pm
Welcome, Prayer, & Singing
Opening Message – Jerry Bilkes, Father and Son in the Exodus (Hos.11:1, etc.)

8:15 – 9:15pm
Plenary Session #1 – Derek Thomas, The Holiness of the Father in the Old Testament

9:15 – 10:15pm
Exhibits Open – 10:15pm, Day One ends


August 24 (Friday)

8:30 – 9:00am
Registration

9:00 – 10:30am
Welcome, Prayer, & Singing
Plenary Session #2 – Bart Elshout, The Father’s Love for His Son (Jn.3:35)

11:00am – 12:00pm
Plenary Session #3 – Burk Parsons, The Father’s Beautiful Hand of Blessed Chastisement (Heb.12:4-13)

12:00 – 1:45pm
Lunch Break

2:00 – 315pm
Plenary Session #4 – Ryan McGraw – The Need for a Trinitarian Piety

3:30 – 4:30pm
Breakout Sessions:

David Murray, Counseling and the Fatherhood of God
Burk Parsons, The Glory of the Father in the High-Priestly Prayer of Christ (Jn.17)
Paul Smalley, Richard Sibbes on the Mercy and Faithfulness of the Father
William VanDoodewaard, Your Father in Heaven (Mt.5-7)

4:30 – 6:30pm
Dinner Break

6:30 – 7:00pm
Special Music – TBD

7:00 – 8:15pm
Plenary Session #5 – Joel Beeke, The Apostle John and the Puritans on the Father’s Adopting, Transforming Love

8:30 – 9:15pm
Q&A Session (moderated by David Murray)

Joel Beeke
Derek Thomas
Burk Parsons
Bart Elshout

9:15 – 10pm
Exhibits open – 10:00–10:45pm, Day two ends


August 25 (Saturday)

9:00 – 10:30am
Welcome, Prayer & Singing
Plenary Session #6 – William VanDoodewaard, The Father’s Mercy (1Pet.1:3-5)

10:45 – 11:45am
Plenary Session #7 – Derek Thomas, Seeing the Father in the Face of Jesus (Jn.14:9)

11:45am – 12:00pm
Closing Song & Prayer – 12:00pm, Day three ends

A Word for Preachers...David Murray on the Preacher's Heart

"The pendulum of the preacher's heart must be continually swinging between two states. He must know that he is a hell-deserving sinner with a deceitful and desperately wicked heart. And he must know that he is saved by the grace of Jesus Christ through faith in his blood. The further and faster the pendulum swings between these two convictions, the better. No one has a right to preach who is not totally and utterly convinced of his own misery and of Christ's saving mercy."

David Murray
How Sermons Work

What is Truth?

David Murray takes a look at the nature of truth in this overview of questions two and three of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Another Great Book Deal

I just received word yesterday that Reformation Heritage Books is running a one week special for 50% off on their 10 best sellers of 2011. Included in the special are David Murray's Christians Get Depressed Too and How Sermons Work, Joel Beeke's Family Worship, and William Farley's Gospel-Powered Parenting. To see all the books involved in the special click here, or click here to go to the RHB website and browse all of their selections.

Best Books of 2011

I enjoy books. And I enjoy "best of the year" lists. So you can imagine how I feel about lists of the year's best books!

Last year I decided to take it a step further and I compiled a list of such lists.  Perhaps some day I will have done this enough times that I could compile a book of lists of lists of books.  One can only dream.

For now though, we'll have to settle for this year's installment of the lists from various sources, each with their own slightly different qualifications for what gets a book on the list.  Here they are:

Tim Challies
Kevin DeYoung
David Murray
Jared Wilson
Sam Storms
Tony Reinke
TGC Staff: Collin Hansen, Kathleen Nielson, John Starke & Andy Naselli
Matthew Robbins
Trevin Wax
Aaron Armstrong
J.J. Sherwood
Zac Hicks

How Sermons Work

Recently I got David Murray's book, How Sermons Work. I'm not all the way through it yet, but what I've read so far, I've really liked. Understanding how sermons are put together is something that can be quite helpful for hearers of sermons as well as those who deliver them, and Murray has written this book with the exact point in mind.

Below is a quick video that very creatively gives a preview of How Sermons Work.



How Sermons Work from HeadHeartHand Media on Vimeo.

(HT: Challies)

Wednesdays Words of Wisdom...John Murray on Union with Christ

"Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation not only in its application but also in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Christ...We are not able to understand all that is involved, but the fact is plain enough that there was no election of the Father in eternity apart from Christ.  And that means that those who will be saved were not even contemplated by the Father in the ultimate counsel of his predestining love apart from union with Christ -- they were chosen in Christ.  As far back as we can go in tracing salvation to its fountain we find 'union with Christ'; it is not something tacked on; it is there from the outset."
John Murray
Redemption: Accomplished and Applied

Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

The Gospel Coalition has a blog post today with cautions on how we preach Christ from the Old Testament from three men who do so wonderfully: Tim Keller, D.A. Carson and David Murray. All three had very helpful comments, but I was especially struck by some of Murray's closing words:

I’d also like to encourage preachers and teachers to be clear and consistent on the question: "How were Old Testament believers saved?” The most common options seem to be:

1. They were saved by obeying the law.
2. They were saved by offering sacrifices.
3. They were saved by a general faith in God.
4. They were saved by faith in the Messiah.

Unless we consistently answer #4, we end up portraying heaven as not only populated by lovers of Christ, but also by legalists, ritualists, and mere theists who never knew Christ until they got there...

Click here to read the entire post.

Tim Challies

One of the wonderful things about living in this age is the access we have to so much wonderful teaching. The internet has made it possible for me to be spiritually fed by people all around the world. One such person is Tim Challies.

If by chance you are not already familiar with Tim, please allow me to introduce you to him. During my time as a pastor, I have been greatly blessed by Tim's ministry (and I'm not just saying this because he is a big baseball fan...though it does help his credibility!).  His fantastic blog includes great book reviews, interesting videos, and original posts as well as links to those by others. It is all there for your edification, and I found it so edifying that I've chosen to support it by becoming a "Friend of the Blog."

In addition to the blog, he has a weekly podcast with David Murray entitled Connected Kingdom. They have great great guests discussing interesting topics, and you can subscribe to it either via iTunes or through other media players.

Finally, Tim is an author of a number of books, the latest of which is The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion. It deals with the fact that though living in this technological age has many benefits, it also has its downsides. I have already ordered it and am looking forward to receiving my copy in the next couple weeks. Check out the very nice preview below.

Is Technology Evil?

Much has been made of the perils of technology in our age.  Douglas Wilson wisely points out though, that the problem is not the technology, but the way we use it.  Twitter, facebook, and the internet in general certainly can encourage narcissism, laziness and superficiality.  Ultimately, though, they are not the problem and need not be cast as such.  As Wilson puts it, we needn't fear Google making us stupid:

Don't mistake me. Google does make many of us stupid, but only in the same way that libraries have made us stupid for many centuries. Libraries make a handful of people really wise, and provide many others with artificial props for their footnotes.

By virtue of the fact that I have a blog and can be found on facebook, you've probably figured out that I agree  that we ought not fear "technology" as an evil.  We need to be aware that technology can be used for evil purposes and guard against that (David Murray has some great thoughts on this), but we need to realize that the problem ultimately isn't the technology.  Wilson puts it this way:

The constant and ever present temptation in the Church is the gnostic temptation of locating sin in the stuff, sin in the matter, sin in the wealth, sin in the technology . . . instead of locating it where it belongs, in the heart of man.

A truly "Christian" response to technology is to use that technology (over which Christ is sovereign) to the glory of God...which is exactly the idea behind this blog.  You can read Wilson's whole post here.

A Word for Preachers

Each Monday I post a quote about preaching.  It occurred to me recently, that there are many different ideas as to what preaching is or what it should be.  When Dr. David Murray was at our conference at the end of October, I asked him to share with me what he thought preaching was.  His answer was short and simple, yet pregnant with meaning, and as good a definition as I've heard:

"Preaching is a passionate explanation of the text of Scripture, with a Christ-centered focus, to transform hearts and lives for the glory of God."

Conference Audio Available

This weekend our church was blessed to be the host of the 7th annual Mid-Michigan Conference on Reformed Theology. Dr. Joel Beeke and Dr. David Murray spoke on the topic of Reformational Family Living in the 21st Century.  Audio is now available for all five sessions at the Calvary Presbyterian Church website, and will soon be available in podcast form via iTunes.

Book Review - Christians Get Depressed Too

David Murray's Christians Get Depressed Too is a concise, practical book which is designed to be helpful for both those suffering from depression as well as those who are in some capacity caring for others who are fighting it.  Murray is quite clear that he does not view depression as something which is inconsistent with Christianity.  In fact, he points out, many heroes of the faith, including those in the Bible, have struggled with varying degrees of depression.

Beyond this, Murray points out that though depression always has spiritual effects, its causes are not always spiritual in nature.  Often times, life situations and physical ailments over which a person has no control stand behind their suffering with depression.  In such situations, the proper treatment for depression will often not be purely spiritual in nature.  He argues there are certain times, for instance, which call for the introduction of medication to correct physical problems.

This book doesn't claim to have all the answers.  There are no quick-fix promises.  But it does offer some very practical steps in working through depression.  If you are struggling with depression, or if someone you love is, I highly recommend this book

One More Reminder

I've mentioned this before, but wanted to issue a reminder just in case you forgot.  Next Friday, the congregation I serve, Calvary Presbyterian Church in Flint, Michigan will hold the Seventh Annual  Mid-Michigan Conference on Reformed Theology, beginning at 10 am.    Dr. Joel Beeke and his fellow professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Dr. David Murray will be our featured guests and they will speak on the theme of "Reformation Family Living in the 21st Century."  

There is still time to sign up and the cost is extremely reasonable at only $15 per person, with children living at home attending for free.  We will also serve a hot lunch served at the church for an additional $5 per person which promises not only to be delicious, but will serve as a wonderful opportunity to fellowship with other conference attendees.

Click here to get a brochure, and feel free to send me an email with any questions you might have at Pete@CalvaryPresbyterianChurch.com.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

“Christ discharged the debt of sin. He bore our sins and purged them. He did not make a token payment which God accepts in place of the whole. Our debts are not cancelled; they are liquidated. Christ procured redemption and therefore he secured it. He met in himself and swallowed up the full toll of divine condemnation and judgement against sin.”

John Murray, (Redemption Accomplished and Applied)

Young & Reformed Conference

At Calvary Presbyterian Church in Flint, Michigan, we're looking forward to Seventh Annual Mid-Michigan Conference on Reformed Theology which we will be holding Saturday, October 30.

I just found out about another conference on the west side of the state the prior weekend that also looks to be fantastic.  Corinth Reformed Church in Byron Center (near Grand Rapids) will be hosting the Young & Reformed Conference with featured speakers Kevin DeYoung, Mike Wittmer and David Murray (who also will be at our conference the following week).   All three are are among my personal favorites, not only great speakers, but also great guys.

Of course we'd love to have you attend our conference.  But if October 30 doesn't work for you, or if you're on the west side of the state and can't make it over to Flint, I highly recommend that you check out this conference.  It is very reasonably priced at $10 ($5 for students) and should be a great time of teaching and fellowship.

WORLDVIEW CONFERENCE

OCTOBER 22-23, 2010

CORINTH REFORMED CHURCH

DVD...God's Technology

As I have mentioned elsewhere, I am very excited about the Mid-Michigan Conference for Reformed Theology which we will be holding October 30. The theme will be Reformation Family Living in the 21st Century and our speakers will be Joel Beeke and David Murray.

One of the topics which Dr. Murray will address will be that of technology and how we as Christian families ought to interact with it.  He has produced a 40 minute DVD on this topic entitled God's Technology.  In it he makes the point that the digital revolution is perhaps a bigger revolution than even the industrial revolution was, and in light of this momentous era of change, it is essential that parents develop a distinctive Christian response.

The answer, he argues is to neither blindly embrace all that technology produces nor to attempt complete separation from it. Rather, we must adopt a plan of disciplined discernment.  In the video, he outlines and models one such plan.

We'd love to have you at our conference.  If you can't make it though (especially if you have children), watch this video.  I've posted a trailer for it below and you can purchase it either via DVD or digital download here.


God's Technology Trailer from Puritan Reformed on Vimeo.