Dei Gratia Rex

In Memory of The Doctor

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 01:02:00 -0800

Doctor Martin Lloyd-Jones went to be with his Saviour on this day in 1981 (the day before my precious wife was born).

Following this video are some links for great resources available today.

For free audio and audio that can be ordered, see the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust.

For biographical resources, see:

Iain Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years, 1899-1939
Iain Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith, 1939-1981
Iain Murray, Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace

Here is J. I. Packer on D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, from a 1985 essay:

What a fascinating human being he was! Slightly built, with a great domed cranium, head thrust forward, a fighter’s chin and a grim line to his mouth, he radiated resolution, determination, and an unwillingness to wait for ever. A very strong man, you would say, and you would be right. You can sense this from any photograph of him, for he never smiled into the camera.

There was a touch of the old-fashioned about him: he wore linen collars, three-piece suits, and boots in public, spoke on occasion of crossing-sweepers and washerwomen, and led worship as worship was led a hundred years before his time.

In the pulpit he was a lion, fierce on matters of principle, austere in his gravity, able in his prime to growl and to roar as his argument required.

Informally, however, he was a delightfully relaxed person, superb company, twinkling and witty to the last degree. His wit was as astringent as it was quick and could leave you feeling you had been licked by a cow. His answer to the question, posed in a ministers’ meeting, ‘Why are there so few men in our churches?’ was: ‘Because there are so many old women in our pulpits!’ (Americans, please note: that was no reference to female preachers! In Britain an ‘old woman’ is any dithery man with a gripe.)

In 1952 he complained to me of the presence at the Puritan conference of two young ladies from his congregation. ‘They’re only here for the men!’ said he. ‘Well, Doctor,’ I replied, ‘as a matter of fact I’m going to marry one of them.’ (I had proposed and been accepted the night before.) I thought that would throw him but it didn’t at all. Quick as a flash came the answer, ‘Well, you see I was right about one of them; now what about the other?’ That’s repartee for you! He did not suffer fools gladly and had a hundred ways of deflating pomposity. Honest, diffident people, however, found in him a warmth and friendliness that amazed them.

For he was a saint, a holy man of God: a naturally proud person whom God made humble; a naturally quick-tempered person to whom God taught patience; a naturally contentious person to whom God gave restraint and wisdom; a natural egoist, conscious of his own great ability, whom God set free from self-seeking to serve the servants of God.

Packer goes on to write:

Nearly forty years on, it still seems to me that all I have ever known about preaching was given me in the winter of 1948-49, when I worshipped at Westminster chapel with some regularity. Through the thunder and the lightning, I felt and saw as never before the glory of Christ and of his gospel as modern man’s only lifeline and learned by experience why historic Protestantism looks on preaching as the supreme means of grace and of communion with God. Preaching, thus viewed and valued, was the centre of the Doctor’s life: into it he poured himself unstintingly; for it he pleaded untiringly. Rightly, he believed that preachers are born rather than made, and that preaching is caught more than it is taught, and that the best way to vindicate preaching is to preach. And preach he did, almost greedily, till the very end of his life. . . .

(ht: JT)

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Appetizers for our house guest

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:24:28 -0800

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Signs You Are Growing In Grace - Timmy Brister

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:30:00 -0800

ORIGINAL POST IS FOUND ON TIMMY BRISTER'S BLOG, PROVOCATIONS AND PANTINGS.

These originally originated as tweets from Scotty Smith and Timmy Brister compiled them together.

A sign you’re growing in grace is less bombast about not being a legalist & more humility because you “get” the gospel.
A sign you’re growing in grace is less theological arrogance & greater appreciation for diversity in the Body of Christ.
A sign you’re growing in grace is you work much harder at remembering names and forgetting slights.

A sign you’re growing in grace is that everybody notices it but you.

A sign you’re growing in grace is movement from destructive cynicism towards redemptive engagement. Anybody can spew.

A sign you’re growing in grace is that you’re less like a drive-by-shooting with criticisms & more of a healing presence

A sign you’re growing in grace is evident when you receive feedback non-defensively and give it clearly & lovingly.

A sign you’re growing in grace is evident when people don’t feel like they have to walk on egg shells around you as much.

A sign you’re growing in grace is when you say, “I’ll be prayin’ for ya”, and you follow through on at least 50%.

A sign you’re growing in grace is committing fewer homicides in your heart of slow drivers.

A sign you’re growing in grace is praying for our government rather than simply being cynical about our government.

A sign you are growing in grace is that you are more disgusted with your critical spirit than offended by others’ sins.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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Classical Conversations Week 19; due to Weather this morning, The Haven Academy was forced to meet inside

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 07:40:06 -0800

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Merrell Barefoot - Bareform Running Technique

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 07:06:16 -0800

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REintroducing Boys to The Dangerous Journey; the book Papa use to read to momma and lahlah

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:47:28 -0800

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"Porcupine Balls" appears to be a hit!

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:17:33 -0800

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Untitled

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:08:00 -0800

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The 5yro says it looks like a rabbit, the 4yro says it is a fish.....OK

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:06:22 -0800

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Supper Time Outdoors Tonite....it's 70 degrees

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:54:30 -0800

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The Christian Life Defined by Dr. Sinclair Ferguson

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:32:00 -0800

The Christian life is men and women who have been dislocated by the work of God in their lives and caused to limp under His mighty hand; caused to limp, conscious, the rest of their lives of their weakness and their dependence upon the Lord for forgivenss and power but the Son (sun - Genesis 32:31) has risen upon them.

- Dr. Sinclair Ferguson "All Night Wrestling" (Genesis 32)

At the end he asks, "Are you holding on wrestling with the Lord and saying, 'I will not yield!' or are you saying, "Even if I limp for the rest of my life, bless me Lord, so the Son may shine upon all my days. -> May this be our lives."

God does not want your possessions -> HE wants your heart, your life!

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Encouragement to Pray for Your Child(ren) Through the Month

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 06:40:00 -0800

A friend who blogs at the The Broken Bohemian offers this encouragement for parents to pray for your children each day of the month using this guide, given by William and Carine Mackenzie.

Pray for your child through the month
William and Carine Mackenzie - FPC Columbia offers audios from a conference by them and can be accessed here.

Pray that they would:
1. Know Jesus Christ as Lord (Philippians 3:8)
2. Love the Word of God (Psalm 119:97)
3. Understand the gravity of sin and repent of it (Romans 6:23)
4. Realize the greatness of the mercy of God (Luke 18:13)
5. Obey and respect the authority of their parents (Exodus 20:12)
6. Glorify and enjoy God in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
7. Devote themselves to persistent prayer (Luke 18:1-8)
8. Be protected from schemes of satan (Ephesians 6:10)
9. Be morally pure (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
10. Know and follow God’s will in their lives (Colossians 1:9)
11. Be wise, knowing the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7)
12. Speak gracious words always (Colossians 4:6)
13. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven (Matthew 18, Ephesians 4:32)
14. Think biblically (Romans 12:1-2)
15. Love going to worship in God’s house (Psalm 122:1)
16. Encourage others in the Christian life (Hebrews 10:24-29)
17. Know the love of God for them (Psalm 103)
18. Love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength (Matthew 22:37)
19. Hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness (Matthew 5:6)
20. Know contentment with godliness (1 Timothy 6:6)
21. Understand grace and live humbly (James 4:6)
22. Keep God’s commands and obey his voice (Deuteronomy 13:4)
23. Know God’s peace in their heart (Philippians 4:7)
24. Be truthful (Proverbs 12:17)
25. Trust in God with all their heart (Proverbs 3:5)
26. Be washed from all iniquity (Psalm 51:2)
27. Bear fruit that is pleasing to God (Galatians 5:22-23)
28. Have and be a good friend (1 Samuel 20)
29. Resist temptation and pursue what is right (2 Timothy 2:22)
30. Keep their eyes fixed on heaven (Philippians 3:20)
31. Persevere to the end (Philippians 1:6)

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Benefits of Redemption

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:26:19 -0800

Westminster Shorter Catechism # 88

Question: What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?

Answer: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.

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Why Watson Wagered $947, and Other Intel on the Jeopardy Supercomputer

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 07:00:00 -0800

On night two of the match, Watson incorrectly answered "Toronto" to the Final Jeopardy question of which city is home to airports named for a World War II hero and a famous World War II battle. (Answer: Chicago.) There are multiple explanations for this. Watson had learned in general that the category (in this case, U.S. Cities) is not necessarily a reliable determinant of the answer. There are multiple towns named Toronto in the U.S, the Toronto Blue Jays play in the American league, and Toronto is an "American-style city," explains Prager. In any case, Watson's confidence in its answer was very low. In other words, the computer knew that it might be wrong. That's why Watson bet just $947.
Watson used 3,000 parallel IBM Power7 processors in its Jeopardy run--a feature that allowed the supercomputer to respond to queries in three seconds. Before installing the processors, Watson took up to two hours to answer a question. Now Watson takes three seconds to answer a question no matter what it is, so in many cases, humans have the advantage of speed.
Watson's mechanical hand takes between six and 10 milliseconds to push down the Jeopardy buzzer. Humans can push down the buzzer in as little as zero to one milliseconds.
Watson's quirky Daily Double and Final Jeopardy wagers--$347, $947, $17,973--are a goof from IBM. "The guy programming it thought it would be boring [to end wagers with a 0]," Prager explains. So the programmer ever-so-slightly tweaked Watson's wagers "to give Alex Trebek something to talk about."
Watson wasn't connected to the Internet during its Jeopardy run--instead, Watson downloaded "textual resources" a few weeks beforehand. This ensured that Watson wouldn't be a cultural laggard on the show. "We knew the clues had been written some time ago," Prager says.
In one instance during the Jeopardy run, Watson repeated a wrong answer from another contestant. IBM knew that might happen, but thought the chances were statistically insignificant enough to ignore the issue. The fact that Watson came up with the same wrong answer as a human was just bad luck.
At certain points during the match, Watson jumped around to different categories in a seemingly random fashion. At other points, the supercomputer stuck with single categories. The reason? Watson was trying to find Daily Doubles.