We believe that these 5 truths are biblical and therefore true. We believe that they magnify God’s precious grace and give unspeakable joy to sinners who have despaired of saving themselves.

Total Depravity

Our sinful corruption is so deep and so strong as to make us slaves of sin and morally unable to overcome our own rebellion and blindness. This inability to save ourselves from ourselves is total. We are utterly dependent on God’s grace to overcome our rebellion, give us eyes to see, and effectively draw us to the Savior...

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Today, 250 years ago a great pastor was born, Charles Simeon. He was called to Trinity Church, Cambridge in May of 1782. And he endured fruitfully there through much fire for 54 years until his death November 13, 1836.

Simeon never married. He "had deliberately and resolutely chosen the…celibacy of a Fellowship that he might…better work for God at Cambridge" (Moule, Charles Simeon, 111).

His greatest influence was probably through sustained biblical preaching for 54 years. This was the central labor of his life. In 1833, he placed into the hands of King William IV the completed 21 volumes of his collected sermons.

He tried to be conciliatory in doctrinal disputes. Here is an ex…

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Consider two important truths in Psalm 31:19.

Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of the children of mankind!

1. The goodness of the Lord.

There is a peculiar goodness of God. That is, there is not only God’s general goodness that he shows to all people, making his sun rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but also a peculiar goodness for “those who fear him.”

This goodness is abundant beyond measure. It is boundless. It lasts for ever. It is all-encompassing. There is only goodness for those who fear him. Everything works together for t…

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A sinner can’t over-drink at God’s oasis—the fountain of life in the cross of his Son. Calvin explains:

[In the Bible] we read not of any having been blamed for drinking too much of the fountain of living water; on the contrary, those are severely reprimanded who ‘have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water’ (Jeremiah 2:13).

Again, what more agreeable to faith

• than to feel assured that God is a propitious Father when Christ is acknowledged as a brother and propitiator,
• than confidently to expect all prosperity and gladness from Him, whose ineffable love toward us was such that He ‘spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for …

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I've been listening to Augustine's Confessions while doing yard work and exercising. It's been 8-9 years since I read the book and was blown away. The entire book is written as a prayer to God. Listening to it is a different experience.

It's listening to Augustine pray. And listening to him confess his sins, struggles, and intellectual wrestlings in this spiritual autobiography reminds me just how similar we are to our ancient brothers and sisters. As he talks to his Savior I hear what a heart in love with Jesus sounds like. And to listen to him ponder the miracle that is the human memory gives me a glimpse into the brilliant mind this man had.

For what it's worth, I think this au…

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In the “Minnesota Cruelty to Animals Statutes . . . Police Regulations,” Statute 343.21 subdivision 1 says, “No person shall . . . unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal.”

Subdivision 7 says, “No person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal.”

The penalty: “A person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.”

Question: If the eight-week-old human fetus (with beating heart, EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity) is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment (“no state shall deprive any person of life ... without due …

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In the most recent Christianity Today (“Sex, Lies, and Abortion,” Sept. 2009, p. 78) Dinesh D’Souza explains why pro-life arguments for the humanity of the unborn don’t carry the day.

Why then, in the face of its bad arguments, does the pro-choice movement continue to prevail legally and politically?

I think it's because abortion is the debris of the sexual revolution. . . .

In order to have a sexual revolution, women must have the same sexual autonomy as man. But the laws of biology contradict this ideology, so feminists who have championed the sexual revolution . . . have found it necessary to denounce pregnancy as an invasion of the female body. …

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One of the marks of our church is the aroma of Christian Hedonism. This is the biblical truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. The basis for this is deep, and the implications are as high as infinity and as long as eternity (both directions).

One place to see the basis is Philippians 1:20-21, where Paul says his “eager expectation and hope [is] that . . . Christ will . . . be honored in my body . . . by death. For to me . . . to die is gain.” His passion is that Christ be magnified in his death. Paul’s explanation is that for him “death is gain.” The reason death is gain is that to die is “to depart and be with Christ” (verse 23).

Therefore, Paul b…

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Tremper Longman has produced another beneficial resource for reading and rightly appropriating the Old Testament. This time it’s How to Read Exodus.

Tremper is particularly gifted at engaging with an impressive breadth of Old Testament scholarship. And he does this with an authentic and relentlessly Christ-centered bent, solidly evangelical convictions, and the ability to distill and articulate his findings in such a way that scholars, pastors, and laymen alike get real help.

There are 3 other titles in the “How to Read” series:

• How to Read Genesis
• How to Read the Psalms
• How to Read Proverbs

For introductory help for every Old Testament book, I highly rec…

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This is the speech I expected the President to give to our children—excellent.

Given that he is not directing them to Christ, which would be the best counsel, his advice is a wonderful gift of common grace from God to the students of our land.

If you settle for the news headlines that say the president tells the kids to wash their hands and take care of the environment, you will miss the wisdom and courage in this speech. Within its spiritual limitations it is simply amazing.

You can read it all at the White House Site. Here are my excerpts.

• I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. 
• I’ve talked about your…

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