This video is certainly in the category of must-watch. So good.
What is the Bible about?
Message excerpt from Tim Keller, video by Heath McPherson.
“It’s okay to wrestle with a biblical text, so long as at the end it masters you and not the other way around.”
The happy truth that God does not need us is a tonic against the fatal illness of self-reliance. It pleases God to work in and through us, but he is not dependent upon us. He is never biting his nails. He is never on the edge of his seat, worrying over outcomes.
If your god is like that, may I suggest you kill him and turn to the Triune God of the Bible. He is the Sovereign King. In actual fact.
“The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.”
Søren Kierkegaard
HT: Scotty Smith
I know these Youtube homemades are often pretty bad, but I found this one very moving. Maybe because I love Genesis, Abraham, and Andrew’s Bible-saturated music. You can get this song on AP’s Appendix A. You can have his Appendix out and in your iPod (or whatever) for 12$ here.
The following is a prayer by Scotty Smith (no natural relation). If you, like me, live among a people who are embracing Moralism and personally have a will that wants to embrace Moralism instead of Good News, then maybe this prayer is one you can pray as well. -sam
A Prayer About WHY God Loves Me and Us
The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers… Deuteronomy 7:7-8
Most holy and gracious Father, like every day, this day begins with the bodacious promise of your steadfast love and new mercies for me. Yet I am still foolish enough, at times, to look for some generating basis… some causal motivation… some rooted explanation in me for why you love me as much as you love any and all of your people. Here my cry for mercy…
Where do these moments of temporary insanity come from? Why in the world do I have days when I think there’s something I can do to prompt you to love me and stimulate you to even greater affection?
Isn’t it because I want to manipulate and control you? Isn’t it because I want less mystery and more predictability in my walk with you? Isn’t it because I’d rather spend the Monopoly money of self-salvation than declare my real bankruptcy? Isn’t it because I’d rather work my way out of guilt than be shut up to sheer grace? Isn’t it because I want to make you responsible for my bad days and hard circumstances? Isn’t it because I want to justify my critical attitude towards other less-disciplined more-irresponsible people? Oh, how much I need the gospel, today and every day…
Indeed, Father, all day long, I will rehearse this good, humbling and liberating news. You have set… settled… secured your affection on me NOT because of anything in me… not because of anything I have done, do or ceased doing. You have chosen me not because I am choice, but simply because you have chosen to redeem and restore me for your glory. It’s only because of your covenantal faithfulness—promises you have made that you alone can keep, that I have the absolute assurance that I am loved with your everlasting unwavering love.
The only mirror I want to consistently stand in front of is the mirror of your Word, where I behold Jesus, the author and perfecter of my salvation. For Jesus is your “Yes!” to every promise you have made on my behalf. So very Amen, I pray, in His matchless and merciful name.
Genesis is so foundational to the rest of the Bible and all of human history.
It is also highly poetic, and (needless to say) so full of truth.
Note: When I say “highly poetic” I do not in any way mean that it is not factual in its accounts of events. I believe that it is factual. It’s just very literary as well, and beautiful. That’s what I meant.
This short video has some fascinating insights. And it’s kinda weird.
You may recognize Doane’s name from his film, Collision –which is outstanding.
Genesis Redux Pt. 1 from Darren Doane on Vimeo.
“The kingdom of heaven is like this: Find the Treasure. Feel the Joy. Forsake the Stuff. (Matthew 13:44).”
John Piper
HT: Austin Storm
I place before you here a short discussion by childrens author N.D. Wilson and his father, (author, pastor) Doug Wilson, on a subject close to my heart. Is it appropriate for Christians to appreciate the use of magic in stories? Yes, if you want to read the Bible. But not so fast, what about the idea of authority? Some useful, worthwhile thoughts.
Ask Doug – Magic in Literature from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.
Here’s the video for those on Facebook if it doesn’t show up.
It is no secret to people close to me (like my wife, brothers, and football legend Pat White) that my favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes.
In my experience it is also one of the most consistently misunderstood and ill-preached (an actual term?) of any book in the Bible. Not that I have it all figured out. Show me that man who gets it all, I would like to shake his hand and listen to him talk for days.
My dad has taught the book with great clarity and understanding. But, sadly, he hasn’t written a book about it.
Lacking that, Doug Wilson’s book , Joy at the End of the Tether, is the very best book I have read on Ecclesiastes. I recommend it with a muchness.
Here, in a short video, Wilson talks a little about it.
“Joy at the end of the tether” – Conversations with Doug Wilson from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.