(1) Ligonier is having its BIGGEST ONE DAY SALE OF THE YEAR in TODAY’S $5 Friday sale. There are many EXCELLENT deals and I particularly recommend “What Is Reformed Theology?” DVD series, normally $60, the “What Did Jesus Do?: Understanding the Work of Christ” DVD series, which is normally $48, “Dealing with Difficult Problems” CD set, normally $24, and “The Truth of the Cross” Audio Book, normally $15, all by Dr. R. C. Sproul. Check out the $5 Ligonier sale here while supplies last.

(2) An Encouraging testimony from England:
“I was at the conference at High Leigh in 2004 when you came over. I have been going through some old tapes to see what I should keep and what I should discard, when I came across the tape where you are speaking. It made me think that I should thank you John for praying for me to receive healing. You said you were going to pray for people with back problems and asked us to put our hands where the problem was. I believed God’s word and my healing came some weeks later. I had permanent bone damage as a result of an accident at work. I am still totally healed today. Praise God! Thank you John for being obedient to God.” – Peter

Praise the Lord!

(3) Something different:

“Men and women by nature are opposed to God; they hate God and they are not interested in Him, neither are they interested in the things of God. From that statement of the Apostle I deduce that the internal work of the Spirit is an absolute necessity before anyone can possibly believe in the gospel of God and accept it and rejoice in it.” – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The following 2 x 15 minute youtube videos contain excellent material by the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the doctrine of “Effectual Calling” that is well worth considering. I am not sure who the reader is (he goes by the name of stegokitty) though I think the background music comes from Chopin:

(4) Speaking of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, when I entered the Christian ministry, my father invested in me by buying me many of his commentaries. As a preacher and pastor himself, he told me that outside of the Bible itself, these were the finest books in his personal library (a library he had built up over many decades). At the time, I did not realise the great treasure I had been given. However, in actually sitting down and reading his works, I find an incredible amount of spiritual “meat” for my soul on each page. There is little or no “fluff” whatsoever, just thorough exegesis of the text of Scripture as well as thoughtful and penetrating application. I cannot help feeling that he fed his people well.

The Wow Factor
As I am reading one his sermons, so often I think, “wow – how can he say so much in just a short space?” or “wow – there is more spiritual nourishment in this sermon than 5 or 10 in most modern day pulpits,” or “wow – I wish every Christian knew that!”

To give you an idea of what I am referring to, here’s a sermon called “Peace with God and False Peace” by “the Doctor” based on Romans 5:1. It is not a short read, but well worth the effort of printing it out and going through. There’s much to absorb. I think you will agree.

(1) Justin Taylor interviewed Stephen Wellum, professor of Christian Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY) on the long standing issues of credo baptism (baptism made upon a profession of faith), the covenant of grace and infant baptism. The result was an interchange that is probably a lot more technical and theological for many people’s tastes but I am sure some of my readers will enjoy the insights found here.

(2) I love these two quotes concerning union with Christ:

Martin Luther: “By faith you are so cemented to Christ that He and you are as one person, which cannot be separated but remains attached to Him forever. Look now at what grace, life, peace, and righteousness is in me; it is His, and yet it is mine also, by that inseparable union which is through faith, by which Christ and I are made as it were one body in spirit.”

John Murray: “Union with Christ has its source in the election of God the Father before the foundation of the world and has its fruition in the glorification of the sons of God. The perspective of God’s people is not confined to space and time; it has the expanse of eternity. This union has two sides: one the electing love of God the Father in the counsels of eternity and the other glorification with Christ in the manifestation of His glory. The former has no beginning, the latter has no end. Why can the believer have patience in the adversities of this present time? Why can he have confident assurance with reference to the future and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God? It is because he cannot think of past, present, or future apart from union with Christ.”

(3) Even a broken clock is right twice every day! Even the person who does not know God is made in the image of God and with that, has insights that can be very helpful to us all concerning many aspects of life. I have found that if I have the attitude “everyone can teach me something” its amazing what I find I can learn each day, often from very surprising sources.

(4) Once again, Ligonier has some SUPER deals today in this week’s $5 Friday sale. The online sale starts at 8 a.m. EST and goes on for 24 hours or until items are sold out. Check out the $5 Ligonier sale here.

By the way, remember that for any purchase at Ligonier, click on the green Ligonier Ministries image to the right and when placing an order, use the code “EGRACE10” and it will give you a 10% discount as a reader of this blog.

(5) You will notice a couple of posts here on the blog this week that deal with defending the historical authorship of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) as well as Dr. Daniel Wallace’s two lectures on “Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then?” I would encourage everyone to take a look at them (if you have not already done so). The attacks against the Christian faith in our day from men like Bart Ehrman have gone mainstream, and there’s no doubt our Christian young people need to be equipped with answers to the questions they will be confronted with in schools, Colleges and secular Universities. It is far better for them to hear solid answers concerning the textual issues of the Bible within the community of faith, than to be hit with these things for the first time in a hostile, secular environment. Its vital that our own children become aware of these issues and are armed with at least some of the answers.

Talking of Bart Ehrman, he is often quoted by Muslims when they attack the Bible. Yet here he explains why he does not criticize the Qur’an.

(6) I encourage you to check out the Reformation apparel by clicking on the Missionalwear logo to the right. There are some very cool items that have now become available for both men and women.

(7) Someone on the East Coast commented:
Wahoo! It is now 11:11:11 on 11/11/11. What an epic moment! Can you feel the exci….
Rats – it’s now 11:11:12… Excitement over. Back to work!

(1) Dr. James White has recorded the first of two responses to Roger Olson’s new book “Against Calvinism” found to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”(2 Cor 13:5). This command of self examination leads us to inevitable questions such as “How may I know I am truly His?” and “How may I know that I am elect?” A. W. Pink suggested seven things to look for:

First, by the Word of God having come in divine power to the soul so that my self-complacency is shattered and my self-righteousness is renounced.

Second, by the Holy Spirit convicting me of my woeful, guilty, and lost condition.

Third, by having had revealed to me the suitability and sufficiency of Christ to meet my desperate case and by a divinely given faith causing me to lay hold of and rest upon Him as my only hope.

Fourth, by the marks of the new nature within me – a love for God; an appetite for spiritual things; a longing for holiness; a seeking after conformity to Christ.

Fifth, by the resistance which the new nature makes to the old, causing me to hate sin and loathe myself for it.

Sixth, by avoiding everything which is condemned by God’s Word and by sincerely repenting of and humbly confessing every transgression. Failure at this point will surely bring a dark cloud over our assurance causing the Spirit to withhold His witness.

Seventh, by giving all diligence to cultivate the Christian graces and using all diligence to this end. Thus the knowledge of election is cumulative.

(3) Once again, Ligonier has some SUPER deals today in this week’s $5 Friday sale. The online sale starts at 8 a.m. EST and goes on for 24 hours or until items are sold out. Check out the $5 Ligonier sale here.

By the way, remember that for any purchase at Ligonier, click on the green Ligonier Ministries image to the right and when placing an order, use the code “EGRACE10” and it will give you a 10% discount as a reader of this blog.

(4) Kevin DeYoung wrote the following at his blog: I received an email from a woman with some suggestions on what not to say to single women in your church. I thought her comments rang true and were well written. She gave me permission to post them here.

“I keep praying for someone to come along for you.” Thanks for your prayers. I hope someone comes along too. Instead of praying for that, why don’t you pray that I would be growing in Christlikeness so that if Mr. Wonderful walks into my life, I would be better suited to be a helpmate for him.

“I don’t know why no young man hasn’t scooped you up and carried you off yet.” I know this is supposed to be a compliment and that the intention of the kind woman is to tell me that she thinks I’m worth marrying. I appreciate that you think so highly of me. Unfortunately when you say this I immediately try to answer the question of why no one has carried me off. Am I too much of one thing and not enough of another? Do I not look right? Am I too soft spoken or too loud? What do I need to change about myself since obviously something is wrong with me if I haven’t been taken off the market? Maybe I should go read Proverbs 31 again to figure it out.

“You should move somewhere where there are more young men, or maybe go to a church with more single people.” There is some merit to having a community that you can feel comfortable with, but comments like this aren’t helpful for several reasons. First, it makes it seem like the goal of going to church or moving somewhere is to find a spouse. That’s not why you go to church. Second, it feeds the controlling nature of most women to want to put their matrimonial future into their own hands instead of trusting God. It’s a slippery slope that is all too easy to find yourself on. What woman wouldn’t want to go to a church filled with thousands of single men just waiting to find a wife? You could just ask them all to fill out applications and have a screening process. It could be the church version of The Dating Game. Third, some women don’t have the option of moving, so pointing out to them that there might be “greener pastures” on the other side of the fence doesn’t help them be content in their current situation. It can be a daily struggle for some women to be ok with where they are at in life, and indirectly telling them that their life would be better somewhere else doesn’t help.

“Have you ever thought about online dating?” Many, many wonderful Christian people have met and married through online dating. It’s the wave of the future without a doubt. But it is still something that brings embarrassment to the person. It can sometimes feel like the question is really saying “I see that you’ve completely failed at attracting anyone in your physical world so have you tried to do it in an online world?” It reminds me of being kicked off the varsity team and ending up on the bench for the JV.

“Don’t you want to get married and have children?” This is usually in response to a statement about being content in my current state. Being content is not the same as having no desire for something. Yes, I do want to get married and have children, but there’s not a whole lot that I can do about it. I don’t have a lot of control over who I come across and whether they would like to ask me out. And although I would like these things, my life is not somehow a failure if I do not achieve them. I would love to be able to have the blessings that come with marriage and children, but it should not be more than my desire to have the blessings of a relationship with Christ.

Single people have a responsibility as well to not be overly sensitive. Singleness can be a deep trial, but making little things into big deals because someone unintentional prodded that hurt isn’t the way to go. Single people need to extend grace, knowing that the intentions of people are good and out of their love for them.

Kevin writes: These are wise words. I especially appreciate this woman’s attitude: understanding that these things are said by people who mean well and acknowledging that over-sensitivity can be a problem too. But it’s certainly worthwhile to think about how you and your church could be welcoming and supportive in the best way possible. The letter above will help.

(5) I encourage you to check out the Reformation apparel by clicking on the Missionalwear logo to the right. There are some very cool items that have now become available for both men and women.