Daniel's Place - (Reformata et semper reformanda)

James MacDonald: Loving darkness rather than light

2012-01-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

James MacDonald has it seems kicked Chris Rosebrough and Erin Benziger out of Elephant Room 2. So much for "tolerance." This verse aptly describe MacDonald and company: And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light,

Pre-prolegomena: Affection

2012-01-25T00:11:00.000-08:00

AffectionGod commands us to love Him (Deut. 6:5; Mt. 22:37; Mk. 12:30; Lk. 10:27). Such is part of our spiritual act of worship. How does this love express itself in our affection? What are we to feel for?If we are to love God, it means that we love God as He is. Having known from Scripture who God is, we are to treasure all of God's attributes. What God loves, we love. What God hates, we hate.

News: James MacDonald resigns from TGC

2012-01-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

James MacDonald has just submitted his resignation as a council member of TGC (The Gospel Coalition). This is of course good news to hear given MacDonald's recent compromise of the Gospel message. It is however sad that his resignation has to come from him, instead of him being admonished by the other council members who should have the intestinal fortitude to rebuke MacDonald for his compromise

Peter Masters: Proving that Spiritual Gifts have ceased

2012-01-23T17:07:00.000-08:00

Dr. Peter Masters has written an interesting article in the Sword and Trowel on the cessation of the sign gifts, and addresses some of the popular arguments used against Cessationism in the process. While not necessarily agreeing with everything, I do think most of the arguments are valid. An excerpt: Does the Bible teach definitively that the charismatic gifts have ceased? Can cessationism (the

A Review of T.D. Jakes' sermon at the "CodeOrangeRevival" event

2012-01-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

Daniel Neades has written an interesting review of T.D. Jakes' sermon at the Elevation Church's so-called "Code Orange Revival" event here. Even if we discount Jakes' Sabellianism, the entire message is disturbingly Christ-less, Gospel-less and God-less. As Neades wrote, Jakes’ teaching is deadly to those who are enticed by it. They trust in God to fix the problems of this life, to keep them from

DeYoung's follow up, and the topsy-turvy world of New Evangelicalism

2012-01-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

Pastor Kevin DeYoung has written a follow up post to the Jeff Bethke video saga. In this post, Bethke has contacted him and the two of them had a cordial conversation via email. Such is being held out as the way Christians should resolve conflicts, but is that really the case?First of all, we note that the entire issue of Bethke's attack on the Institutional Church, which as we have seen was not

Pre-prolegomena: Knowing

2012-01-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Knowing We are to grow in knowledge of God through His Word. With Scripture as our ultimate authority, this means that we are to transform our thinking according to Scripture. Whatever Scripture says is true, whatever that Scripture refutes is false even if we in our human thinking think it is reasonable. This transformation of our mind is the submission of our mind to the lordship of Christ. We

Conversionalism: Shall we sin so that grace may abound?

2012-01-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

You see this was me too, but no one seemed to be on to me Acting like a church kid, while addicted to pornography See on Sunday I’d go to church, but Saturday getting faded Acting if I was simply created just to have sex and get wasted See I spent my whole life building this facade of neatness But now that I know Jesus, I boast in my weakness(Jeff Bethke, in his video poem)Now the law came

DeYoung, Evangelicalism and its deficient doctrine of the Church

2012-01-14T14:09:00.001-08:00

But when you start bashing the idea that Christianity can actually be shared, that it is a public event, that is bigger than just your personal insights, spiritual journey; when you start attacking the corporate reality of Christianity, by knocking that word "religion," you're not doing anyone any favors and you're setting up a path that will very swiftly steal the Gospel that you claim to love.

Christianity and Religion

2012-01-12T23:54:00.000-08:00

First, a contrast:If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:26-27) and .....Is Christianity a religion? The viral video by Jeff Bethke with its

Mark Driscoll, Steven Furtick and Christian maturity (ADD)

2012-01-11T22:55:00.000-08:00

It is no secret that people like Mark Driscoll and Steven Furtick are not exactly nice to their critics. Driscoll likes to attack young men especially in their 20s as cowards and berates them to grow up. He furthermore attacks critics as bloggers living in their mother's basements blogging while wearing pajamas. Steven Furtick attacks his critics as "haters" who need to grow up. Both of these "

Pre-prolegomena: Knowing, Affection and Being - Introduction

2012-01-07T18:39:00.001-08:00

Knowing, Affection and Being - Introduction I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom.

Response to "An Evangelical Statement on the Trinity"

2012-01-03T21:38:00.000-08:00

I have previously briefly responded to the so-called "Evangelical Statement on the Trinity" here. Here, I would like to publish my full response to that Statement, which interacts with the theological section of the Statement. The full response can be found here. As I have written, Recently, William David Spencer, in consultation with many theologians, has drafted a document which he has called “

A Calvinist in the hands of an angry modern Arminian

2012-01-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

As stated, I was lead to a blog post here which attempt to refute my article on the heresy of Classical Arminianism. In this post, I would like to briefly respond to Birch's attempted rebuttal of my article.Heresy, really?We will start with the idea of heresy. In a footnote, Birch quotes Neo-Orthodox church historian Alister McGrath on the definition of heresy. Of course, Birch is always welcome

On Responding to Arminians

2012-01-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

I was recently directed to a blog post attempting to refute one of my articles on Arminianism, which I will interact in another post. I was asked if I would interact with that post and comment on it, especially since I was once a former Arminian.To this, I have mixed feelings. True, I was a former Arminian, but I was an Arminian in the same way as human beings are born Pelagians. The default

Excerpt on Complementarianism

2012-01-02T18:12:00.000-08:00

In my full response to the supposed An Evangelical Statement on the Trinity, which is currently delayed as I have sought feedback to it, I have included a section on Complementarianism. I would like to post that section here first. We shall start with a brief description of complementarianism, the biblical antidote to egalitarianism. Egalitarianism is the view that equality (especially as it

Pre-Prolegomena: Our Submission to God's Authority

2012-01-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

Our Submission to God's AuthorityHaving shown that we are to submit to the lordship of Christ, how can we do so in practice? After all, Christ is not present on this earth, and the next time He will come again is in the Second Judgment (Mt. 26:29, Mk. 14:25, Acts 1:11, Rev. 19:11). Whoever claims direct visitation by Jesus Christ today is a liar. The Apostle John was the last to have something

Pre-Prolegomena: Lordship and Submission

2011-12-26T21:07:00.001-08:00

Lordship and SubmissionThe attitude of gratitude in a person's life will overflow into obedience. Such obedience is expressed in a submission to God and an acknowledgment that He is the lord of one's life.What do we mean by "submission" and "lordship"? By "submission," we refer to the attitude that one brings oneself under the authority, correction and lordship of another. By "lordship," it means

Egalitarianism, Subordinationism and the Trinity

2011-12-25T15:03:00.001-08:00

I have just stumbled upon an interesting article by the Christian Post on the Trinity here. It seems that there are some people who have read egalitarianism into the Trinity and insist that any mention of subordination is de facto subordinationism, and these proclaimed Evangelicals have come out with a statement "An Evangelical Statement on the Trinity" here. I would briefly interact with the

Pre-Prolegomena: The Obedience of Faith

2011-12-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

The Obedience of Faith The person who is saved has been saved from the condemnation that he was in before. God did not have to do that; Jesus did not have to do what He did. What then should be the state of the new believer?A person who truly understands this entire Gospel message and has responded to it in faith should be extremely joyful. He has faced the horror of his own sins. He has

Gospel, Ecclesiology and Kevin DeYoung's post

2011-12-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

In my previous post, I have posted some critical thoughts on Pastor DeYoung's post regarding the challenge to the YRR movement. In this post, I would like to elaborate further on the issue.DeYoung focuses on the issue of ecclesiology as one of the challenges facing the YRR movement. He wrote: Evangelicals have never been known for their robust theology of the church. Previous centuries could

YRR: Ostriches with heads in the sand

2011-12-20T21:27:00.001-08:00

It seems that Pastor Kevin DeYoung has posted a reflection on the use of the term YRR (Young, Restless and Reformed). Noticeably absent from his article was any indication of the compromise TGC (The Gospel Coalition) members have indulged in. It is indeed sad when one sees the myopia of YRR leaders. It's like the man who couldn't see the big elephant in front of him but focuses on the cat in the

Anabaptism, Scripture and the Word of God

2011-12-20T17:42:00.000-08:00

But the Bible is to the natural man simply lifeless ink and paper until the Holy Spirit enters into his heart and quickens his understanding. Then and then only can he understand, according to Scharnschlager, the true meaning of the Scriptures. — William R. Estep, The Anapbaptist Story: An Introduction to Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism, 3rd Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1975, 1996), p. 194-5 I

Pre-prolegomena: The first response of faith

2011-12-19T18:01:00.000-08:00

[continued from here and here]The first response of faithWe are sinners. God in Jesus Christ has given us a solution to our problem to fix it. What, then, should be our response?This is the situation that all of us had faced or will face. Faced with how bad we actually are, there is no solution that we can see. But God has given us a way out in the Gospel, calling on us to repent and be baptized

On Sex and Speaking about Sex

2011-12-19T16:19:00.000-08:00

Mark Driscoll has come up with another book it seems, Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship & Life Together. Tim Challies has posted a concern regarding one chapter whereby the Driscolls take a look at various sexual acts. (See also his part 2 and 3 on the issue). I think the main point however has not been well made yet. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,