If you've never before heard about the existence of two wills in God, I recommend reading John Piper's article, "Are There Two Wills in God?" (which is also an appendix in the book The Pleasures of God).

In essence, what the doctrine states is that there are... well... two wills in God. The first will is his will of command (or as Edwards says below, "law"). This is expressed through God's revealed desires for people, desires such as "Thou shalt not kill," or "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

The second will is his will of decree, which is the will by which God brings to pass all that actually happens, whether it accords with his will of command or not. This is also known a…

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An excerpt from Jonathan Edwards' Miscellanies #6 (paragraphing added):

There is a strange and unaccountable kind of enchantment, if I may so speak, in Scripture history; which, notwithstanding it is destitute of all rhetorical ornaments, makes it vastly more pleasant, agreeable, easy and natural, than any other history whatever. It shines brighter with the amiable simplicity of truth. There is something in the relation that at the same time very much pleases and engages the reader, and evidences the truth of the fact.

[...]

Notwithstanding the minute circumstances that are mentioned, which other historians leave over, it leads along one's idea…

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God is worthy of our highest, purest, and strongest emotions
– Bob Kauflin*

Disability, at least for me, easily draws out the strongest emotions. For a season, my emotions were ugly, bitter, self-righteous and angry—certainly not the "highest and purest" that God is worthy to receive.

But when God opened up my spiritually blind eyes to let me see the beauty of Jesus Christ, he turned those overpowering emotions completely around.

Recently, God encouraged me to worship through a new song Bob Kauflin created and performed specifically about disability. It is simply called, "Song for Those with Disabilities."

The first time I heard it, I wept at the goodn…

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We saw last week in Jonathan Edwards' Miscellanies #3 that God created the universe so that it would be happy in him. Today, in this excerpt from Miscellanies #5, he explains how the experience of higher levels of happiness by some in heaven will not dampen the joy of others.

We are very apt to conceive that those that are more holy and more happy than others in heaven will be elated and lifted up above them, whereas their being superior in holiness implies their being superior in humility, or having the greatest humility.

[...]

And besides, those that are highest in holiness, and so necessarily highest in happiness (for holiness and happiness ar…

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Today we're beginning an ongoing series that will highlight key quotes from The "Miscellanies" of Jonathan Edwards. (Thank you to The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University for hosting all of them online for free!)

This week's quote is from Miscellanies #3:

Happiness is the end of the creation ... because the end of the creation is that the creation might glorify [the Creator]. Now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory he has displayed? An understanding of the perfections of God, merely, cannot be the end of the creation; for he had as good not understand it, as see it and not be at all moved with joy at the sight. Neither can the highest end of the cr…

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A few days ago Doug Wilson wrote a very interesting post exhorting us not to be truncated Christian Hedonists (CH). Yes, it’s necessary that we pursue God as our treasure (CH 1.0).  And our understanding of God must be explicitly Trinitarian (CH 2.0)—Wilson calls it Nicean hedonism (I love it!).

But then he says, “we … need to move on to Chalcedon, to an incarnational hedonism.” This means enjoying God in all that he has made. Wilson writes,

The world is a sacramental, and everything in it. Grace is everywhere, and gets into everything. Faith can dig it out of anything. The grandeur of God can flame out from anything, like shining from shook foil.”

Amen. Read the…

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Sam Crabtree recently commented on his blog,

Mothers Day is not primarily about being a mother and receiving honor, but thanking God for the mother he gave you, and giving honor. The people giving honor should include all moms. Persons receiving honor as moms should also be giving honor for their God-given moms.

Mothers are a gift from God, and every last person has one. So Mother's Day is really a holiday for everyone, a day for thanking God for his goodness in giving us mothers, and an occasion for letting that gratitude play itself out in tangible expressions of special honor.

From the Mother's Day sermons John Piper has preached, here are a few you may find…

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Did you know that there are still over 2,000 languages in the world that don't have any of the Bible translated? That means that the more than 350 million people who speak those languages have very little or no access to the word of Christ and the faith that comes by hearing it (Romans 10:17).

Bible translation is a very strategic ministry. Cameron Townsend realized this. He once said, "The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It never needs a furlough, and is never considered a foreigner." That's why he established Wycliffe Bible Translators and gave it the global vision of seeing "God's Word, accessible to all people in the language of their heart."

Wycliff…

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This is a well-balanced and helpful word from Tim Keller in his book Ministries of Mercy:

Often books and speakers tell Christians that they should help the needy because they have so much. That is, of course, quite true. Common sense tells us that, if human beings are to live together on the planet, there should be a constant sharing of resources. So when the statistics are brought out to show Americans how much of the world’s resources we use, it creates (rightly) a sense of concern for those with less than ourselves.

But this approach is very limited in its motivating power. Ultimately it produces guilt. It says, “How selfish you are to eat steak and drive two …

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Adding to yesterday's post, here is one more quote by John Paton about his father. This time about how he didn't waste his final years, even though he remained where he had always lived:

For the last twelve years or so of his life, he became by appointment a sort of Rural Missionary for the four contiguous parishes, and spent his autumn in literally sowing the good seed of the Kingdom as a Colporteur of the Tract and Book Society of Scotland. His success in this work, for a rural locality, was beyond all belief.

Within a radius of five miles, he was known in every home, welcomed by the children, respected by the servants, longed for eagerly by …

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