Improving your Blog

Abraham Piper posted 22 very simple ways for a new blogger to improve on his blog. He also invites you to let him know which ones you would remove or what you'd add.

Family Man

I saw this on Justin Taylor's blog and thought it was good. Made me smile too, so maybe it will for you.

Surveying the Wondrous Cross Conference

The Surveying the Wondrous Cross conference began last night with messages from Justin Childers and Dan Rolfe. You can go to the Christ Baptist Church Sermons site to hear those, plus the ones to be preached today, plus other sermons by Justin Childers and Jonathan Brooks. Unfortunately I'll miss today, but last night was well worth listening to. Justin's sermon from Romans 3 proved challenging and encouraging in the gospel. Dan's message from Galatians 6:14 showed the sufficiency of the cross of Christ without any help. When we add works to the cross we are saying the cross is either meaningless or, at best, insufficient. Take time to hear these sermons. Jason Sessoms will continue to lead in music today and messages from Jonathan Brooks and Justin Nale still await. Praise God for faithfulness and focusing on the cross of Christ.

Surveying the Wondrous Cross

Tonight is the beginning of the conference Surveying the Wondrous Cross. I am excited to see what the Lord will do through this time. If you are in the Rocky Mount/Wilson area we'd love to see you come out for this. It is going to be held at New Hope Elementary School in Wilson, NC. All the details are on the above link as well as who R and R Fellowship is and what they want to accomplish for the glory of God in this area.

The Mac-Daddy Bible

With all the hype over the ESV Study Bible that has just come out, I thought I'd weigh in as well. I got mine delivered today by UPS and opened it with absolute joy. When I picked it up out of the box, the first thing I realized is that this thing is thick! After that, I saw very quickly that this is a Study Bible on steroids. I mean this thing is large and in charge. Okay, enough with the goofy lame language there. In all honesty, it appears that it is a great resource to have for anyone who wants to learn and study the Bible. I'm glad I got it.

Pillar and Buttress of the Truth

This past Sunday I had to privilege of preaching from 1 Timothy 3:14-16 where Paul writes:

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

One of the greatest points from this text is that the church exists for the proclamation of the truth of the gospel. Both a pillar and a buttress are used to support, or to lift up something else. In the case of the church, it exists to lift up the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remember the Gospel

I fear that the church in the West today has really misunderstood who the gospel is to be preached to. Certainly we know the gospel is to be preached to those in darkness and lost in their sin. Indeed, when one repents there is joy that spreads through the heart of every true believer. However, the gospel is not just for the lost. Paul trusted Timothy to do great works. He had a deep and abiding care for youth Timothy. And yet, he still reminded him about the gospel. The charge is found in Second Timothy 2:8, "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel." Why do we as believers often times fail to take heed to such a great and glorious charge as this?