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Showing posts from February, 2023

Herman Bavinck

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The LORD continues to provide resources to the ministry.Thank you Pastor Ryan Denton for recommending these - and the 16 volume Owen set that will come this March, Lord willing. These books may be expensive, but ignorance costs more. I have always wanted a library but have never imagined it would be of this subject and substance. Puritanism. As Dr ML Jones puts it, the Puritans are the guarding soldiers of God's garrison on earth. Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck Herman Bavinck's four-volume Reformed Dogmatics is one of the most important theological works of the twentieth century. The recently completed English translation has received wide acclaim. Now John Bolt, one of the world's leading experts on Bavinck and editor of Bavinck's four-volume set, has abridged the work in one volume, offering students, pastors, and lay readers an accessible summary of Bavinck's masterwork. This volume presents the core of Bavinck's thought and offers explanatory m...

Before The Doctor's Appointment

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Any time to go out, in this instance, to see the doctor, is an opportunity to bring the gospel to the people.

Heidelberg Catechism Exposition

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As we establish our stand as a covenant church we therefore stand upon each point of the Westminster Confession of Faith , and deem the Presbyterian form of church government to be what is biblical, correct, and proper for us.  One of the areas wherein we have been graciously set aright is the inclusion of the Heidelberg Catechism every Lord's day. The catechism has 129 questions and answers divided into 52 sections: one for each week of the year. This grounds us firmly in the application of the truths of God's word. Our gathering is also in the process of compiling our very own handbook, comprised of the English/Tagalog version of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechism , so that each member is adequately aware and fully conscious of his or her accountability in the Lord, something that is severely absent in the previous congregations we have been with. The book graciously provided below is a great aid to us as we are coming to t...

The Cross We Must Bear

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Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:34-39 The words of our dear Lord declare His absolute preeminence above our most intimate relations. Separation of our will from the world's will, and a willingness in the partaking of Christ's humiliation. So it is with those of the elect sovereignly selected by God from eternity past to be sanctified by His word through persecution from their own families, who in my nation...

Finally Calvin

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Oh, what a blessed and humbling thing it is for me to declare that, though I have not read a single page of Calvin's venerable tomes these many years, yet my theology doth, by God's own wondrous grace, align with his. And now, a new volume, a fresh supply of heavenly wisdom, is mercifully added to the already growing list of those sacred books I must prayerfully ingest for the nourishment of my soul. God indeed perpetually amazes me in the slow, sweet, and sure unfolding of my own doctrine! I look back and see how it began in the thin soil of mere personal opinion, then was sadly swayed by the fleeting, worldly whims of humanistic influence. Yet, in His perfect time, by reading Scripture alone, His gracious Providence led me to the firmer, tried ground of Reformed study, and now, finally, to the deep and boundless ocean of Covenantal Thought. What a monumental change! God has sovereignly guided what was once so pitifully man-centered in its focus, to become altogether theocentr...

Greek And Hebrew

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I have commenced my studies in the languages and it has opened deeper insight into the meaning of the texts. English is such a poor language it is almost ridiculous to argue about context using it. The practice is to read a whole chapter each day in both Hebrew and Greek. I give this about 3 to 6 years of consistent practice before achieving proficiency. Here is a list of the applications I use: Ginoskos (paid Php989) Hebrew Bible Reader (free) Daily Greek (free) Blue Letter Bible (free) Tanakh (Fluent) (free) Greek New Testament (free) DuoLingo - (for Hebrew letters) (free)