My Hopes for General Assembly 2017

Posted on Friday, June 9, 2017 by Todd Pruitt on 1517

 

There is no avoiding the fact that there are deep divisions within the PCA. When “us versus them” language is used routinely it is clear that we have separated into competing camps. That is sad but certainly not unprecedented. These sorts of divisions and competing visions seem to always happen within denominations. I also know that all of us in the PCA, regardless of which side we find ourselves on, truly desire the denomination to be God-glorifying.
 

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My God Is My Rock: Part 1, Day 5

By James Boice

Theme: Their Rock and Our Rock

In this week’s lessons we consider different reasons for which David offers thanksgiving as he reflects on God’s grace and faithfulness towards him.

Scripture: Psalm 18:1-24

Since this psalm is supposed to have been written late in David's life as a summary of God's repeated deliverances of him, these words immediately raise a question of how David could say this in light of his sin with Bathsheba and against her husband Uriah. How could he claim to have been "blameless" and to have "kept himself from sin" in view of this sad episode?

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Sons and Servants

by Jason Helopoulos • June 08, 2017

Martin Luther, the great Reformer, said, “A Christian is free and independent in every respect, a bondservant to none.” In the very next sentence he stated, “A Christian is a dutiful servant in every respect, owing a duty to everyone.” The Christian needs this reminder daily. The beauty of the gospel delights our minds and sustains our souls; and it also provides drive, energy, and vision for the will. As it affects our persons, it informs our actions. Never underestimate the power of the gospel to claim lives from death and give them purpose in the present.

Martin Luther, the great Reformer, said, “A Christian is free and independent in every respect, a bondservant to none.” In the very next sentence he stated, “A Christian is a dutiful servant in every respect, owing a duty to everyone.”

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Christward Collective is a conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Christward Collective and the mission of the Alliance.

My God Is My Rock: Part 1, Day 4

By James Boice

Theme: Why God Delivered David

In this week’s lessons we consider different reasons for which David offers thanksgiving as he reflects on God’s grace and faithfulness towards him.

Scripture: Psalm 18:1-24

Yesterday we introduced the section of verses 4-19, and pointed out that in verses 4-6 David is recalling former dangers he faced from his enemies. He uses powerful poetic language to describe how God’s presence is revealed to those who cry out to him for help.

Verses 7-11 use language associated with the descent of God to Mount Sinai to give the law through Moses. This was accompanied by a shaking of the earth, dark clouds and lightning. The author of Hebrews describes Sinai as "a mountain... burning with fire . . . darkness, gloom and storm," so terrifying that even Moses said, "I am trembling with fear" (Heb. 12:18-21).

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

My God Is My Rock: Part 1, Day 3

By James Boice

Theme: The Psalmist’s Deliverance

In this week’s lessons we consider different reasons for which David offers thanksgiving as he reflects on God’s grace and faithfulness towards him.

Scripture: Psalm 18:1-24

Yesterday we looked at the first use of the image of a rock, which was that of providing protection and shade.

The second use of this image is to portray God as a refuge for his people. This idea is prominent in Psalm 18 because David is thinking of God's protection during the years he was forced to hide from Saul and later Absalom. David knew every cranny, track and secret hiding place in the vast rocky wilderness. So when he fled to the rocks he knew that he would be safe in their protection. From the height of some great rock David could look down into the canyon below and watch as his enemies pursued him hopelessly.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Summer Reading

Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 by Todd Pruitt on 1517

Because there is no such thing as too many books...

 

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Mortification of Spin is a casual conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Mortification of Spin and the mission of the Alliance.

Suffering, Love and Glory

by Matthew Holst • June 06, 2017

The suffering that we endure in this life is not in spite of God's love, but because of it. It is not out of God’s control, but firmly part of His plan. He is giving us all that we need, rather than giving us what we desire in order that we might see our Savior in all His glorious rage, vanquishing our enemies one by one, even death itself. May God grant us grace to see the “the Glory of God,"  in order that "the Son of God may be glorified” in and through our sufferings.

Many have experienced the kind of hard providences that have brought them near to the end of their faith. Seemingly Earth-shattering events are common to all men, and are heightened in the life of the believer by the trials that we uniquely face (e.g. persecution for the sake of the Gospel). The default reaction of believers (as well as for many unbelievers) is immediate prayer for an end to the trial. Yet what happens when our suffering continues and when God delays an answer?

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Christward Collective is a conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Christward Collective and the mission of the Alliance.

My God Is My Rock: Part 1, Day 2

By James Boice

Theme: Praise to God

In this week’s lessons we consider different reasons for which David offers thanksgiving as he reflects on God’s grace and faithfulness towards him.

Scripture: Psalm 18:1-24

Yesterday we mentioned the first category of David’s deliverances, when he was hiding from King Saul in the wilderness.

Yesterday we mentioned the first category of David’s deliverances, when he was hiding from King Saul in the wilderness.

Second, God delivered David during his years of fighting against Israel's enemies and gave him numerous victories. This was the period in which David established the kingdom on a firm footing. Second Samuel 8 lists David's victories over the Philistines, Moabites, Arameans of Damascus and Edomites.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

My God Is My Rock: Part 1, Day 1

By James Boice

Theme: The Historical Setting

In this week’s lessons we consider different reasons for which David offers thanksgiving as he reflects on God’s grace and faithfulness towards him.

Scripture: Psalm 18:1-24

Psalm 18 is the first long psalm in the Psalter. There are others, of course. Psalm 119 is known for being long; it is the longest chapter in the Bible. But Psalm 18, with fifty verses, is the longest thus far. I will be taking it in two parts, a pattern I will follow more than once from this point forward.

Psalm 18 is the first long psalm in the Psalter. There are others, of course. Psalm 119 is known for being long; it is the longest chapter in the Bible. But Psalm 18, with fifty verses, is the longest thus far. I will be taking it in two parts, a pattern I will follow more than once from this point forward.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Rethinking School Contractual Pledges after the Maddi Runkles Case

Posted on Saturday, June 3, 2017 by Aimee Byrd on Housewife Theologian

The Straw Man in Christian Ethics

The MoS team just finished a prerecording discussing Heritage Christian School’s handling of the teenage pregnancy of Maddi Runkles, a senior with a 4.0 grade point average and the now former president of the student council. It will air on June 14th. Maddi, along with the rest of the students at Heritage, signed a contractual pledge that she would abstain from premarital sex, drugs, and alcohol. So the pregnancy reveals that not only did Maddi sin by having premarital sex, she also broke her pledge to the school. 
 
Runkles is repentant for her sin.

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Mortification of Spin is a casual conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Mortification of Spin and the mission of the Alliance.
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PLACE FOR TRUTH

What David Needed Most

Reformation 21

“He fell today; I may fall tomorrow.”