Web Wednesday- Confessing and Reforming

Posted on September 23, 2009 by Randall W. Ross

It may be a little overwhelming to see the amount of links that I have listed on this website.  I am hoping to change the format of this soon.  In the meantime, I will be focussing on a different resource each wednesday…explaining why I have it listed here.

It seems fitting to start with Reformation 21, a resource of  The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

Reformation 21 Banner

From the site:
Reformation 21 is an online magazine (ezine) created to serve, edify, and educate Christians by presenting an authoritative reformed perspective, while embracing various denominational positions, on a variety of relevant historic matters, current issues, and thoughtful positions that inform, inspire, and challenge Christians to think and grow biblically. It is a ministry of The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (www.alliancenet.org), an organization established in order to call the church to a reformation that recovers clarity and conviction about the great evangelical truths of the gospel and to encourage their proclamation in our contemporary context.

With all the movements and networks around these days, it is most encouraging to see godly men coming together to stand for authentic Biblical faithfulness.  Instead of attempting unity at the cost of truth, the truth itself is what binds a groups like the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and The Gospel Coalition (Which I will feature next week) together.  It is important to note that this does not mean a sort of doctrinal or denominational good ole boys club.  This is clearly seen in the diversity of its membership:

Eric Alexander
Alistair Begg
Gerald Bray
Jerry Bridges
Donald Carson
Mark Dever
Ligon Duncan
Sinclair Ferguson
Robert Godfrey
John Hannah
Paul Jones
John MacArthur
C.J. Mahaney
Albert Mohler
Richard Phillips
John Piper
Philip Ryken
R. C. Sproul
Derek Thomas
Carl Trueman
Gene Veith
David Wells

No matter what theological tradition you are most familiar with, there will be many names in this list that will be recognizable. Regardless of some very different perspectives, what these men do share is a conviction that the Word of God is the Word of God (Inerrant, authoritative and sufficient) and that the Gospel (the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the Cross) is central to everything that we are and do as Christians.

This website features a vast catalogue of articles, reviews, blog posts, interviews, and other media that are very instructive and helpful.  I recommend bookmarking this resource and visiting here often.

Just an example of the kind of encouragement this site can provide, read this post from Derek Thomas: Falling in Love With the Church-

Something is terribly wrong when professing Christians do not identify with the church and love being a part of her. Something is wrong when professing Christians fail to be passionate about every aspect of the church and long to invest themselves in her, taking all that the church represents and does to heart.

Amen to that…and Amen to what Reformation 21 and the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals are helping to achieve.


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Media Monday-Free Music that’s Alive!!

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Randall W. Ross

iamlivingvol1I recently came across this website (for the organization Come and Live) that endeavors to reach and enrich the lives of people through music.  They want to do so without any financial obligation.  You can download a recent compilation of Artists that they work with.  Just Click on the image to the right and go to their download page.

I’ve been listening to this for the past week and I love it.

Enjoy.

(PS. My favorites so far are Tracks 2, 5 and 9.  Good Stuff!!)

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Think Thursday- The Already and the Not-Yet

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Randall W. Ross

A Shelter in the Time of StormIt just so happens that during the last few weeks I have been reading through Psalm 27.  This is mainly a result of picking up the book A Shelter in the Time of Storm, by Paul Tripp.  It seriously amazes me how the Lord provides His Word often to prepare us for and sustain us through trying times.  Go figure.  Our God is.  Our God is a shield.

As I was reading through this Psalm today I was struck by the dual perspective of the final four verses.  We find here encouragement for now and hope for what the future holds.

Teach me your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!

English Standard Version

Because of what we face (enemies and adversaries) we are in need of wisdom and instruction in the here and now.  Simply put, we need Him.  We need to constantly be reminded of who God is and what His ways are at all times.  What we have modeled here is that we need to ask for this.  We need to ask that we would see Him, that we would follow His leading, that He would keep us from turning away or being given up to our enemy’s will.

We are not led here to ask the Lord to take our enemies away…but rather for the truth needed to be sustained and to persevere. We need Him so that we can survive and remain faithful.

We are then given a second part of reality.  We readily see the need for God in the here and now, but we are not left without hope for what is in the future.  The writer declares…My foes and false witnesses are against me now, and the truth of God is with me, but I know and I believe that there will come a time when it won’t be so.

One day we will look upon the goodness of the Lord.  When all death…all sin has been finally destroyed…we shall stand in the land of the living and we will see Him.  We wait for this day with the greatest anticipation.  We have his sustaining Grace…and we have the promise of His future Grace.  Indeed, I think the second is greater than the first.

We hear this same theme repeated by the Apostle Paul in his final words:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV

God sustains us and allows us to be poured out for His Glory, but what is always before our eyes and longed for in our hearts is the day that we shall finally see Him.  The righteousness that we know now in small measure will be complete when we are in His presence.

Imagine that day.  The mere glimpse of Him is what regenerated us to new life.  If that was the new birth, what will it be like when we see Him in all His splendor?  What a day of rejoicing that will be.  What a victory to celebrate!

So we must ask for His way to lead us through the valleys and pits…but our eyes must be always fixed on the light of the celestial city.  We are where we are…but friends…we can see where we are going.

Thus, this is the Already and Not-Yet amazing Grace of God.

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Think Thursday-Jesus Draw Me Near

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Randall W. Ross

Jesus draw me ever nearer
As I labour through the storm.
You have called me to this passage,
and I’ll follow, though I’m worn.

May this journey bring a blessing,
May I rise on wings of faith;
And at the end of my heart’s testing,
With Your likeness let me wake.

Jesus guide me through the tempest;
Keep my spirit staid and sure.
When the midnight meets the morning,
Let me love You even more.

Let the treasures of the trial
Form within me as I go -
And at the end of this long passage,
Let me leave them at Your throne.

“Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer”
Music by Keith Getty; Words by Margaret Becker
Copyright © 2002 Thankyou Music

Storm…Testing…Tempest…Trial…

Are these the words that you think about when it comes to growing in your relationship with the Lord?  I know it sounds strange to us, but God has seen it fit to use the difficult things in life to bring us into a sweeter and deeper connection with Him.

There is so much talk in our world…and among those that claim Christ…that God has something better for us…something better than all these things trying to get us down.  We are encouraged to face our hardship and essentially command it to leave because God has increase and prosperity right around the corner.  These voices claim that if we have enough faith, we won’t have to deal with this tough stuff and negative experience.  We are told to see the difficulty as a hurdle to get around.

This sentiment is categorically untrue.

We see the opposite of this played out throughout Scripture.  Think of the patriarchs, the judges, the prophets, the disciples and apostles.  What marks their lives most notably is the fact that they endured amazing storms, testing, tempests and trials.  The result was not a rejection of or hardness toward God (though always a temptation) but rather they held fast to the Lord in the midst of it all.

A quick glance through the Psalms shows us the raw but always trusting nature of life as God’s children.  One of my favorites is Psalm 13:

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

5But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

David is discouraged.  He is asking the Lord…Why…Why are my enemies succeeding?  Have you forgotten me?  How long will this go on for? But I love the way David brings it back to that which is steadfast.  As if catching himself, he proclaims that God is trustworthy.  He remembers that regardless of what is going on, he can rejoice…he shall rejoice.  David can rejoice in the grace of God.

God sustains us through the turmoil of life…but greater still…He changes us as He sustains us.  The goal of life, and consequently the goal of all that we experience within our blip on the screen…is for our sanctification…for our growth…for our becoming more and more like Christ as we see more and more of Him.

Nothing accomplishes this like the riding out the storm.  Though it looks like He is sleeping in the boat, His power over the wind and waves has not diminished.

Nothing accomplishes this like enduring the test.  Though it seems like all hope is lost and our flesh is failing, His flesh didn’t fail and we are given His Spirit within.

Nothing accomplishes this like being face to face with an immense trial of will and character.  Though the pot is boiling hot and it seems that we will be consumed, we see that He is gently skimming the impurities and imperfections from the top.

He wants to see His face.

Jesus draw me nearer.  So that the treasure of your likeness is formed in me.


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Truth Tuesdays-This is True

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Randall W. Ross

This message by Paul Washer, though lengthy, is worth watching.  This has impacted me in so many ways I can’t even begin to unfold it.  I pray that God will use it to speak to you as well.

The Ten Indictments of the Modern Church:

1. A practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture
2. An ignorance of God
3. A failure to address man’s malady
4. An ignorance of the gospel of Jesus Christ
5. An ignorance of the doctrine of regeneration
6. An unbiblical gospel invitation
7. Ignorance regarding the nature of the Church
8. A lack of loving and compassionate Church discipline
9. Psychology and sociology have replaced the Scriptures with regard to the family
10. The Emergent Church , Church growth, and cultural sensitivity

You can get the full transcript HERE:

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