Musings of a Snickerdoodle

 "True spiritual illumination comes from Scripture,  which is 'profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for every good work' (2 Tim. 3: 16-17).  As the man of God is equipped for every good work, we see that Scripture is not only indispensable, but also sufficient.  No other supposed sources of truth need be consulted to receive the spiritual illumination necessary for salvation. "  Victor Kuligin The Language of Salvation: Discovering the Riches of What it Means to be Saved Find more quotes on my quotes blog: http://snickerdoodlesquotes.blogspot.com/

Can a biography be focused too much on its subject?   This may sound odd, but I think it can.   As Christians, we know that our faith comes from God, and we know that He has ordained whatever good works we do in our service for Him.   We are also not after the praise of men, nor do we consider it a great compliment to be praised by them.   We try to do our good works as unnoticed by people as possible, seeking the praise of God alone.      Knowing all of this, it seems quite strange for this biography of D. L. Moody to begin with telling how Moody was praised by three U. S. Presidents, and that he, " gained an immortality only presidents can bestow: their genuine respect".   You'd think that as a Christian Moody would resent the praise of the 'great' people of the world.   Kevin Belmonte made too much of the man. One statement in particular makes it seem as though God was dependent on him. "Consider as well how history would have ...

I usually love chronological Bibles as it is very interesting to read the Bible through in the supposed chronological order, and I was quite excited to get this one. This Bible has full color throughout, and the headers that note the changing of epochs   are so vivid they almost look 3d.   But sadly, some of the pictures were inappropriate/indecent and it's not very nice to have such things in one's Bible, let alone have them be so visually crystal clear.    The NIV Chronological Study Bible seeks to present the Scriptures in their probable chronological order, with historical notes, chronologies, maps and pictures throughout. I thought it was interesting that they note that, "The Bible is not a theology book arranged according to topics: God, man, sin, salvation, etc.   Nor is it simply a chronicle of events from creation to the final consummation.   Historical events are often the Bible's subject matter, but these events are always reported f...

I wouldn't call this Bible uniquely applicable to a person's daily life as the Scripture is always applicable. That is not to say that I don't like this format, I do! I just needed to clarify that I don't quite agree with the title. This is a chronological Bible, interweaving chapters from various books of the Bible in their probable sequential order. This means that some chapters are split up and other parts of other chapters are placed in the gap to stay chronological.   There are many helpful charts to support the chronological aspect, some of my favorites being the several charts throughout the accounts of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, showing the "Kings To Date and Their Enemies"…I always get a bit confused about them. One of the other things I found very helpful were the little maps throughout, demonstrating where people went and where such and such a town was located. It gives you more comprehension of Biblical geography. There are also sev...

In this book, MacArthur attacks the 'Strange fire'/worship practice of   pneumacentrism/Holy Spirit centrism(Major focus upon the Holy Spirit)particularly in the Charismatic movement, and does a good job too.   He starts by reminding us to 'test the spirits' and then moves on to how the modern charismatic movement got started and how they misinterpret Scripture.   We look at the Scriptures to see what the work of the Holy Spirit actually looks like and what 'Spirit-filled' really means.   Speaking in tongues is addressed, of course, and we are given the history of how and why the Charismatics switched from viewing the word 'tongue' as being a human language to its being an unintelligible spirit babble.   They apparently tried out their 'tongues' on people in other countries, and it proved that their supposed 'languages' were not languages at all but merely gibberish.   They wanted to keep this babble and so reinterpreted the Script...

http://www.nlpg.com/the-new-answers-book-4 The interpretation of the Bible's account of Creation through the lens of science seems to be a popular thing amongst professing Christians nowadays.  T his is a very discouraging state of things, that Christians trust human observations before the Bible's declarations.   That is one reason why this book is so refreshing as the authors hold to God's Word as the starting point and as the 'lens' with which to interpret their scientific observations.      The interpretation of the Bible's account of Creation through the lens of science seems to be a popular thing amongst professing Christians nowadays. The New Answers book 4 by Ken Ham(editor ) and many others, is full of chapters dealing with questions in regards to 'issues' that may come up in discussions about Creation, and is also great for simply perusing possible answers as to how certain things about Creation week might be explained.   It...

Today is celebrated by some as Reformation Day, the day in 1517 when Martin Luther posted 95 theses questioning indulgences on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg. This act accelerated the Reformation in Germany and elsewhere.   Before recommending some resources for remembering the Reformation, I would like to offer some thoughts on the term 'reformed' as applied to modern Christians who believe in the sovereignty of God, election, perseverance of the Saints…etc.  My dad and I have had several talks about this term.  To put it plainly, we do not like the term.   The Reformation was about reforming back to the Bible, God's Word, as the so-called 'church' had strayed from that foundation.   I was born into a Christian family, we go to a church that is Biblically grounded, so we have no need to reform, but rather focus on conforming to God's Word.   The word 'Reformed' always points back to the Reformation, and the doctrines that the 'refo...

"Don't confuse the gospel with the effects of the Gospel." writes Trevin Wax. Elsewhere he notes that , "…Christianity is not a scheme of morality, nor a plan for social and political change, and organizations which propose improvements along such lines are only 'tinkering with the problems.   We may be made better men, but before we can face God we must be new men."   So many churches today don't believe that the Gospel, as given in God's Word, is right for today. They think that it needs to be updated to fit our culture.   Wax does a good job of analyzing the various counterfeit gospels of our day: the Therapeutic Gospel, the Activist Gospel, the Churchless Gospel…etc. he shows how many of these take one fact of the Gospel and preach it, mostly disembodied from the other essential truths that make up the Gospel.   These people are, 'missing the mark' of the complete Gospel', which description, ironically, is one of the definitions ...

One Perfect Life is a 'Harmony of the Gospels' type of compilation.   MacArthur notes in his introduction that, " The Holy Spirit gave us four Gospels and, specifically, three of them are synoptic …so that the truth concerning our Lord and Savior might be established on the basis of two or three witnesses." Using Matthew as a base text, MacArthur uses these four witnesses to piece together their complete picture of the life of Christ.   Instead of putting the Gospels in parallel columns, the accounts are morphed together forming one account.   For instance, sentences from Luke fill in spaces that are not recounted in the same account given by Matthew.   To keep a distinction between the accounts, listed beneath each 'chapter' heading are the chapter and verse numbers of each of the Gospel accounts blended in that particular chapter.   In the chapter itself, tiny superscript abbreviations of the names of the Gospels are used to mark the transition of one...

  Today, so many good ministries of conviction try to get you to support the teaching ministry of so-and-so in such a way as if the truth of God's Word will die unless the particular personality of that ministry/leadership of so-and- so survives.   Mohler's work is a 'breath of fresh air', so to speak, in the seemingly ever present Déjà vu era of "I am of Paul, I am of Apollos…Calvin, Arminius,…etc." Mohler's premise is that,   "There are no indispensable people, only indispensable convictions."   Truth will not die in the death of its teacher.    Even if so-and-so's particular ministry does not survive, eternal truths that they spread, even if only in the hearts of a few, will survive, regardless of the ministries demise.   God chooses by what means His truth will be spread and He may choose to end particular ministries and simply spread the truth by individuals transformed by the truths that they taught.   As the author states, "A...

This book was much better than the only other book in the series I have read, Twelve Extraordinary Women, which did not capture my attention very well.   I'm not sure that I can pinpoint why, but this 3rd book in the 'Twelve' series really started my thought processes more in regards to the characters dealt with, and God's usage of them.   I'll say at the start that I appreciate that MacArthur doesn't try to make you see types in the people and events discussed, but takes the people and events as literal. And so takes the inspired apostle Paul literally when he said that " Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. (2Ti 3:16-17 ASV) Which I would assume to mean that every inspired scripture is profitable as it is, without having to change it into allegory for it to be profitable. ...

"God , after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways , in these last days has spoken to us in His Son , whom He appointed heir of all things , through whom also He made the world ." Hebrews 1:1-2 NASB Christ is the source of revealed Truth - This is in direct contrast to the competing, "would-be" points of greatest influence.   We are only truly informed as our source of information (what is the bias, the frame of reference, the limitations of our sources of   "truth"?)   Our sources of information have control/influence on our priorities, goals and ultimately become agenda-setters for our lives.   We are more what we "think" than what we eat.    Practically speaking, we are (act/live) the summation of our thoughts/thinking.   "For as he thinketh within himself, so is he:  Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee." Proverbs 23:7 ASV   As we ...