Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Family Shepherds - Catechism

Family Shepherds - 1
Calling and equipping men to lead their homes
Voddie Baucham Jr.
Pg 64-67

Catechism is simply a pedagogical method employing questions and answers to teach a set body of knowledge. It’s explained in the following terms by Zacharias Ursinus, the primary author of the Heidelberg Catechism:

The system of catechiszing… includes a short simple, and plain exposition and rehearsal of the Christian doctrine, deduced from the writings of the prophets and apostles, and arranged in the form of questions and answers, adapted to the capacity and comprehension of the ignorant and unlearned; or it is a brief summary of the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, communicated orally to such as are unlearned, which they again are required to repeat.

Ultimately, catechism is a means of teaching Christian doctrine in a concise, repetitive manner. As Martin Luther wrote, “In the catechism, we have a very exact, direct, and short way to the whole Christian religion.”

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Sinners & Saints Saved - Isaiah 56-57

03/20/2016 am Isaiah 56-57 Sinners and Saints Saved

Thoughts on sermons at Andover Baptist

1) warning to the wicked
2) comfort to the contrite

1) There are both religious and secular sexual sins mentioned in this passage. Also mentioned are idolaters and those who do not keep the Sabbath.

And there are also those in the church who have private sins:


“The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭56:11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

They were offering infants as human sacrifices to their idols. Much like today in America we kill babies for convenience and we are doing this for our idols of comfort, beauty, and for more money.

“you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭57:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The next time you are about to sin ask yourself who you are afraid of? The answer is yourself or the idol in your heart. The idol says, "I want this for me; and I want it now!"

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Knowing God - Ch 14

Knowing God
J.I. Packer
IVP 1993 Americanized Version

Ch 14 – God the Judge

"People who do not actually read the Bible confidently assure us that when we move from the Old Testament to the New, the theme of divine judgment fades into the background. But if we examine the New Testament, even in the most cursory way, we find at once that the Old Testament emphasis on God's action as Judge, far from being reduced, is actually intensified. 

The entire New Testament is overshadowed by the certainty of a coming day of universal judgment, and by the problem thence arising: How may we sinners get right with God while there is yet time? The New Testament looks to "the day of judgment," "the day of wrath," "the wrath to come," and proclaims Jesus, the divine Savior, as the divinely appointed Judge. 

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