Miscellaneous Quotes (107)

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quotes“If private revelations agree with Scripture, they are needless, and if they disagree they are false.” – John Owen

“So when the Devil throws your sins in your face, and declares that you deserve death and Hell, tell him this: I admit that I deserve death and Hell, what of it? For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Where He is there I shall be also!” – Martin Luther

“Unless, by the grace of God, you are willing give up all hope in yourself, all trust in your own morality, all pride in your own goodness, all trust in your good works, your praying, church attending and bible reading then you do not yet know Christ, nor have you experienced forgiveness from God. It is only when the Spirit grants a sinner such a sight of the holiness, beauty and majesty of God that he immediately despairs of all hope in himself … such that he flees out of himself and he trusts, rather, in Christ alone … he is the one who experiences the pardon of God. For Christ alone is worthy, righteous, and died in the place of all sinners who trust in Him.” – John Hendryx

“Do you think Jesus Christ is only for little sinners? Is He a doctor who only heals finger-aches? Beloved, it is not faith to trust Christ when I have no sin, but it is true faith when I am foul, and black, and filthy; when during the day I have tripped up and fallen, and done serious damage to my joy and peace—to go back again to that dear fountain and say, “Lord, I never loved washing as much before as I do tonight, for today I have made a fool of myself; I have said and done what I ought not to have done, and I am ashamed and full of confusion, but I believe Christ can save me, even me, and by His grace I will rest in Him still.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests. It is not faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ. It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith, or the nature of faith, but in the object of faith. We could not more radically misconceive it than by transferring to faith even the smallest fraction of that saving energy which is attributed in the Scriptures wholly to Christ Himself.’ – Benjamin B. Warfield

“Two of the rarest sights are a young man who is humble and an old man who is content.” – J.C. Ryle

“Hell is eternity in the presence of God. Heaven is eternity in the presence of God with a Mediator.” – Roderick A. Finlayson

“God speaks through the Scriptures. He speaks with the Word, through the Word, and never against the Word.” – R. C. Sproul

The Stunning Wonder of Creation

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The three short films posted here (below) are simply stunning. Using the phenomenon of time lapse photography, they reveal the full breathtaking drama of the heavens. Personally, a visual encounter of sorts.

Two scripture passages immediately come to my mind. The first is Psalm 19:1, which says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

The second passage reveals the reasons for God’s wrath against humanity in sin. He has revealed enough of Himself in creation so that, concerning His Divine power and nature, humanity is entirely without excuse. God does not believe in atheists.

Romans 1:18-23 declares, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

I will allow Terje Sorgjerd (of TSO Photography), the maker of these films, to introduce these very dramatic short videos. – JS

This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide. Spain´s highest mountain at 3718m is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories.

The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and probably less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies.

A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April (bit.ly/​g3tsDW) and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.

Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

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Who Saves Whom?

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Michael Horton3Who Saves Whom? by Michael Horton

“God casts His vote; Satan casts his, but you must cast the deciding ballot”?
©1992, 1999 Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

The touchstone question in the running debate between Jesus and the Pharisees, Paul and the Judaizers, Augustine and Pelagius, the Dominicans and the Franciscans, the Reformers and the medieval Roman Catholic church, and the Calvinists and Arminians is this: Who saves whom?

In this article I want to offer some brief scriptural responses to the common objections concerning the doctrine of election. If one does not believe in the doctrine of unconditional election, it is impossible to have a high doctrine of grace. As Luther told Erasmus, ignorance of this great truth is in a real sense ignorance of the Christian gospel. “For when the works and power of God are unknown in this way, I cannot worship, praise, thank, and serve God, since I do not know how much I ought to attribute to myself and how much to God.” This distinction is essential, he added, “if we want to live a godly life.” Further, “If we do not know these things, we shall know nothing at all of things Christian and shall be worse than any heathen.”1 As Luther pointed out in his debate with Erasmus, this issue of free will and election is essential in maintaining the doctrine of justification by eliminating any element of human decision or effort as a foothold for merit. Therefore, let’s take a brief survey of the biblical support for this important doctrine by considering one of the principal passages: Romans chapter nine.

The Covenant

Running throughout the Old Testament and into the Gospels is the concept of covenant. Although God is the sovereign ruler of all creation and, therefore, quite capable of ruling merely as a dictator, he nevertheless condescends to enter into a covenant with fallen creatures, binding us to him, and himself to us. Continue reading →