The Lord's Day Observance Society.  Something here is not right.  They write:

The Divine Authority and perpetual Obligation of the Christian Sabbath or Lord's Day, and that in asserting the obligation of the Lord's Day, the gospel of the Grace of God through Christ Jesus should be proclaimed 

Hear is my take on it (Yes, I intended to write 'hear' not 'here').  Click the link and you will know why.

Last week, in light of the biblical phrase 'The Lord of Host' or the 'The Lord of War', I recommended to my Bethlehem Institute students a book by Tremper Longman III entitled, God is a Warrior.

Here is an article by Longman summerizing the argument of his book.

http://www.beginningwithmoses.org/articles/divinewarrior.htm 

This book is a good antidote to Greg Boyd's warfare theology.

David Peterson, a biblical theologian, who authored Possessed by God, which is a superb biblical theology of 'sanctification' also wrote, Engaging with God.  This book is a biblical theology of worship.  This book like 'Possessed' is a good book, and worthy of time and effort to understand it.  I don't agree with every point, but it is still a great book.  What is great is that The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted David Peterson, and he gave four lectures on worship.  You can download them for free here.

One of the laments of preachers around Christmas time is that people should not simply go through the formalism and the materialism of Christmas, but that they should remember ‘the reason for the season’.  What this presupposes, is that participation in some elements of Christmas festivities does not mean full participation in the worship of our redeeming God, who gave Jesus to die and live for the sake of the elect.

This same distinction is found in Isaiah 29.13 when the Lord says, “…[T]his people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me… (ESV).  What we find here is that simple participation in worship to YHWH is not true worship.  That is, one could go to the temple, participate in the sacrifices, etc., and though there is participation, true worship does not take place.  In other words participation in the elements of worship, without a heart devoted to the Lord is not worship.

What this means, it seems to me, is that we need to make this allowance consistent in other areas of life.  For example, with Halloween, some argue that participation in the festivities of this day means that one is participating in the whole of it.  Thus, it is reasoned, if you go get free candy from homes, then you are participating in some form of occultism.  But as we see in Isaiah, and as we preach against at Christmas, participation in some elements of a holiday or a service does not entail full participation.  This, it seems to me, is what stands behind Paul’s discussion of food sacrificed to idols (1 Cor 8-10).  Also, this is what would make the difference between Paul forbidding Christians to be circumcised in his letter to the Galatians and Paul having Timothy circumcised for mission to the Jews.

What do you think?  Is this distinction justified?  Are there areas other than Halloween, where this distinction is true?  Music?  Harry Potter?  Movies?  Alcohol? 

I've been thinking about the subject of the Christian's assurance of salvation. To put my cards on the table, I don't struggle with assurance of salvation personally at all. I'm far more inclined toward the "wider mercy" view of God's love than I am toward any apprehensions about whether I am among the elect. My struggles are over entirely different subjects: Does God exist? How can I face death without losing my sanity? Check in with me on those topics and I'll buy your joe.

I'm interested because I spend a significant amount of time counseling students and adults on the subject of assurance. These are people who are unsure whether or not they are Christians at all. Some feel they never were, but most feel they've somehow started, and now failed, in their Christian faith. I rarely have anyone come to me doubting that God exists or questioning whether the Bible is true- both questions I would expect to hear frequently given the student population that I minister to at a boarding school. Instead of these fundamental questions, I continually have a conversation something like this:

"I used to think I was a was Christian, but I don't think I am any more."

"What has convinced you that you're not a Christian?"

"I don't live like a Christian. I do a lot of things that I know Christians don't do. I rededicate my life to Christ all the time, but I just go right back to the same old things, and I don't see how a Christian would be so hypocritical. I'm lazy, and I really don't live the Christian life."

See the remainder of the article here.  He brings up a good point in this article, a point that is important for Christians to engage.  The best book I know of for helping Christians think through issues of justification, sanctification, and assurance is The Race Set Before Us.

This is a great book and is well worth the price.

1. Faith and works are organically related, and thus they should not be separated.  They are as organic as life and breath.
2. Though faith and works should not be separated, they are distinguishable.  This is shown in that faith precedes works.  Paul writes in Romans 1:5 regarding an obedience which comes from faith.  Works do not produce faith, but faith produces works. 
3. Where there is faith there will also be works (Romans 1:5).  If there are no works, then there is no faith.  James writes, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 1:26, NIV).
4. Works are not the basis of our justification, nor is faith the basis of our justification, on the basis of the grace of God were are declared righteous.  Paul writes, “being freely declared righteous by his grace through the redemption which is in Messiah Jesus” (Romans 3:24).  He also writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast” (NIV).
5. The basis of our justification is God’s grace and it will be in keeping with our deeds.  Paul writes, [God] will render to everyone in keeping with his deeds (Romans 2:6).  James writes, “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” (James 2:24, NIV).  Jesus states, “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:37, NIV).

Carson gave three lectures on this topic.  They are good.

http://fieryones.com/lectures/

I am greatly indebted to Goldsworthy’s books (The Goldsworthy Trilogy, According to Plan, and Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture).  Goldsworthy has helped me a great deal in understanding the structure of revelation and seeing the big picture of the Bible as God’s story climaxing in Jesus the King.  Because of this, I think Goldsworthy is a must read for all Christian preachers, and I recommend him to all Christians.