tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31932660936732357202025-08-31T02:37:48.556-04:00"And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of the battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City."Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.comBlogger924125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-47720170997521507342016-03-10T09:58:00.003-05:002016-03-10T09:58:50.870-05:00

I have a new website at singingandslaying.com. All the posts from here have been transferred over to there.

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-20851690099839335052016-03-08T09:45:00.001-05:002016-03-08T10:55:57.613-05:00

This the first in a continuing series of hard questions that I have been asked by members of my congregation, other Christians, and in some cases non-Christians.  What is the normal Christian life? Or better yet, what is a healthy Christian life? Why is that we know Christians who hold to correct practices and doctrine, yet they seem so unhealthy? They are bitter, angry, joyless, and

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-81099728799434275702016-03-05T10:40:00.000-05:002016-03-05T10:40:19.024-05:00

What attitude should we bring into to worship as we prepare to listen to God's Word preached? Pastor Danny Hyde gives us five attitudes we should bring to the preaching of God's Word. Everything below is a quote from his book From the Pen of Pastor Paul.  Expectantly-Lord, I expect you to speak.  This means we assemble not merely out of ritual or merely out of routine. God is no

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-70014775698803771252016-03-04T13:08:00.001-05:002016-05-04T06:47:35.468-04:00

I am not a political pundit. I rely on friends for much of my political understanding. I read theology often and politics only occasionally. I have not watched any of the debates in their entirety. This post is therefore not a foray into deep political thought. It is more like the rambling thoughts a political novice. When Trump announced his candidacy I never thought he would get as far as he

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-62287159732753450912016-03-02T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-03T09:16:29.846-05:00

Here are ten of my favorite quotes from a book I recently read. Who/what book do you think these quotes came from? Masculinity and femininity, being elements of the original design, radiate glory. They shine. If the original distinction is lost-the vital one between men and women-we end up recognizing no distinction in sexual conduct. It is the logical conclusion. If sex has no transcendent

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-76172387748323757922016-03-01T09:26:00.000-05:002016-03-01T09:26:44.283-05:00

Calvin on the call of Matthew from Matthew 9:4-13. He explains what we should do if we find ourselves not wanting to associate with sinners in the Church. He whom you detest appears to you to be unworthy of the grace of Christ.  Why then was Christ himself made a sacrifice and a curse, but that he might stretch out his hand to accursed sinners? Now, if we feel disgust at being associated

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-18656474313554226322016-03-01T09:01:00.000-05:002016-03-01T09:05:13.734-05:00

It has been a long time since I was in public school. When I was in school I had many teachers who were Christians. But even in the early nineties their faith was kept under wraps. They could not pray for us or push us towards God. They could not reject a teaching because the Bible rejected it. And I went to public school in a conservative Southern state. It is hard to picture that has changed

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-52982902444446162102016-02-26T15:00:00.001-05:002016-06-27T13:09:24.960-04:00

In their excellent book, Unchanging Witness, Professors Fortson and Grams spend a chapter recounting the capitulation of the numerous mainline denominations to the homosexual agenda, including the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church. But the account that caught my attention was the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA). I am not an expert on the history of

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-13644255918485712932016-02-26T11:15:00.000-05:002016-03-03T10:46:14.212-05:00

Revising history has been one of the common ploys in the gay Christian movement. In particular John Boswell and former Jesuit priest John McNeill have written books that revise the history of the church to be more friendly to gays. These books have been used by gay Christians as proof that Christianity from it's earliest times was welcoming of homosexuals. Boswell even argues that

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-61777263446309602542016-02-25T07:36:00.002-05:002016-02-25T12:59:16.833-05:00

Yesterday I posted on how Christian parents are required to give their kids a Christian education. I was addressing the current situation where God has been jettisoned from public education. But what would happen if government schools were Christian? What if we lived in a community where the curriculum was based on Scripture, the teachers were Christian, subjects were connected to God, and

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-46618069593926308192016-02-24T10:39:00.000-05:002016-02-24T15:31:16.148-05:00

Introductory Note: I was educated in public school. I have many friends and family who send their kids to public school. This post is not meant to be cruel. But we can look around and see that something needs to change with our country, communities, and churches. Educating our children in the Lord is one the best things our generation can do to turn the tide and more importantly to honor Christ.

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-88981782760982412262016-02-20T11:18:00.002-05:002016-02-20T11:18:32.451-05:00

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-44482566777326690172016-02-19T11:52:00.000-05:002016-02-19T12:04:56.175-05:00

Q: 9. Does not God then do injustice to man, by requiring from him in his law, that which he cannot perform? A: Not at all, for God made man capable of performing it; but man, by the instigation of the devil,  and his own willful disobedience, deprived himself and all his posterity of those divine gifts. Q: 10. Will God suffer such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? A: By no

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-11422062178776679892016-02-18T11:45:00.001-05:002016-02-18T12:28:26.631-05:00

The following paragraphs from Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics: Volume I come after a discussion of how the theologian must function within his local church and use his confession. Here is a sentence explaining Bavinck's point. "Dogmatics [theology] is possible only for one who lives in the fellowship of the faith with one Christian church or another." He goes on to say that theologians/

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-44970937804508368572016-02-18T08:21:00.000-05:002016-02-18T09:41:48.450-05:00

Here is the final paragraph from C.S. Lewis's chapter on Sexual Morality in Mere Christianity. Brackets are mine. All else is his. "Finally, though I have had to speak at some length about sex, I want to make it as clear as I possibly can that the centre of Christian morality is not here. If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity [sexual immorality] as the supreme vice, he is quite

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-13320323571443959722016-02-17T17:17:00.000-05:002016-02-18T13:43:17.282-05:00

Jesus is not the Bible. We do not bow down to the book on the table, as if it contains Jesus. However, we cannot find Jesus outside of the Bible. For humans, God has given us the Scriptures as the only way we know Jesus. Jesus is in Heaven and we can pray to Him there. But we cannot hear the voice of Christ outside of the Scriptures. We cannot know Christ's character outside of what read in

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-41777259495022672692016-02-17T16:54:00.003-05:002016-02-17T16:54:48.836-05:00

In Dr. Schaumburg's book Undefiled there is an appendix that sums up one of the most glaring errors in modern evangelical culture. I have seen the error he addresses in my own life and my church. I have read it in books, heard it in sermons, and to my shame probably preached it. Dr. Schaumburg is explaining what the difference is between people who "get it" and people who don't. What is the

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-67949063189283505062016-02-16T09:38:00.000-05:002016-02-16T11:57:40.977-05:00

Harry Schaumburg has been counseling people for over thirty years and has spent the last eighteen years focusing on counseling those who struggle with sexual sin, such as adultery, pornography, prostitution, etc. His book Undefiled  is his attempt to put into writing his Biblical Intensive Counseling workshop, which is five straight days of intense counseling. I struggled with pornography

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-75979634075478942442016-02-11T13:58:00.001-05:002016-03-02T07:51:25.686-05:00

Here are ten of my favorite quotes from Daniel Hyde's book, From the Pen of Pastor Paul, which is a series of published sermons on I & II Thessalonians.   The pastor's heart towards his people leads to the pastor's labors for his people. God's Word in preaching is not communicated by skits; it is not conveyed through art; it is not taught to us through music; it is not expressed

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-35508187891653732672016-02-11T12:50:00.001-05:002016-02-11T12:51:37.507-05:00

From the Pen of Pastor Paul by Daniel R. Hyde My rating: 4 of 5 stars A wonderful book by Pastor Danny Hyde. This is not a commentary in the strict sense of the word. You will not find chapters on Pauline authorship or the textual issues in these letters. Also this is not a slow, careful verse by verse examination of the text. These are sermons put to paper. Here are several things I enjoyed

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-64481632651739346932016-02-11T06:00:00.000-05:002016-02-11T06:00:12.831-05:00

Discovering Church Planting: An Introduction to the Whats, Whys, and Hows of Global Church Planting by J.D. Payne My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was okay, but honestly had way more information than was necessary. I am the founding pastor of a church plant that is now almost ten years old. There is not much in this book that would have helped me ten years ago. It felt like overkill for most

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-59181642178080401202016-02-10T15:04:00.002-05:002016-02-10T15:10:05.688-05:00

God's mercy is great, but it is not endless. In the life of a man, a church, a denomination, a community, or a country a place can be reached where even God's mercy cannot be found.  II Chronicles 36:15-16 describes one such a circumstance:  The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-49296778288141054232016-02-10T11:19:00.000-05:002016-02-10T11:19:02.735-05:00

Last week I noted in this post that the definition of morality has shifted frombeing defined by a law to being defined by what harms other people. (See point number six in that post.) Wrong and right used to be linked to a transcendent moral law and for most of Western Civilization that moral law was God's character as described in His Word. But today morality is often defined by the harm it does

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-91929602816283735152016-02-09T11:54:00.001-05:002016-02-09T12:59:39.594-05:00

Last week the local newspaper here in Morgantown, The Dominion Post, wrote an editorial disparaging a new homeschooling law, which gives homeschoolers more freedom in their educational choices. I plan on responding to the article as well as writing several blog posts explaining why Christians must give their children a Christian education. In the meantime, here is a blog post I wrote in

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193266093673235720.post-10545830005524353502016-02-05T12:18:00.002-05:002016-02-05T12:19:32.956-05:00

The fact that two churches are going through the same liturgical actions does not mean there is unity. What someone thinks they are doing matters greatly. When a Roman Catholic celebrates the Mass they and the priest are doing something very different from what a Presbyterian pastor and his congregation are doing even though there is bread, wine, prayer, etc. Therefore unity cannot be built

Peter Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07169921605180545217noreply@blogger.com2