Month: December 2005

Dean John W. Burgon Not “Textus Receptus†Only

~ fundyreformed

Doug Kutilek writes on the KJV-only issue over at Sharper Iron. Check out his great post, Dean John W. Burgon Not “Textus Receptus” Only

It was Kutilek’s articles at KJVonly.org which helped me out of KJV-onlyism. A couple of his articles grace my “KJV Only Debate Resource List” over on the right hand margin of this blog.

I commented on this article, thanking Dr. Kutilek for his great articles.

Update: My “KJV Only Debate Resource List” has now become the KJV Only Debate Resource Center–a site I am developing. For details about the site see this post.

∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7

Romans 14 by John Piper

~ fundyreformed ~ 4 Comments

I encourage you all to listen to these sermons on Romans 14.

I wish I had understood the message of Romans 14 a long time ago. It speaks to how we relate to others who have differing positions on nonessential issues. The passage says that how we treat others is vitally important, but which position we have on nonessential issues is not as vitally important. (The text clearly says it is viatl for us to welcome one another, irrespective of position, rather than charging us to have the correct position.)

Piper does a great job in this series and the first couple sermons really present an overview of the whole chapter that is priceless.

Here are the links.

UPDATE: I updated the links 12/17/2007.

Dead Right: The Failure of Fundamentalism

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

If you are reading my blog and you are interested in critiques of fundamentalism, you HAVE to check this discussion out! This is a link to a compilation of a discussion that raged for two or three months in the blogworld. It begins with the text of the address that Phil Johnson (a staff elder at John MacArthur’s church) gave with the title, “Dead Right: The Failure of Fundamentalism” at the Shepherd’s Conference this year. Phil critiques independent Baptist fundamentalism from a position of one having been at a fundamentalist school and who is well acquainted with numerous fundamentalists who frequent the Shepherds’ conferences as well as others who would not do such a thing. The critique is followed by a discussion that was largely held at Sharper Iron, a blog by and for fundamentalists. The compilation gives you the best of the best in the discussion. It ends up being mainly a dialogue between Phil Johnson and Dave Doran (the president of Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and pastor of Inter-City Baptist Church in Allen Park, MI). In my opinion, it ends with Dave Doran kind of saying he needs to do some more thinking about this.

What makes this more interesting is that Phil is going to be doing a sequel address at this coming years Shepherd’s Conference (in spring) on the same topic. That might reopen the whole discussion.

This discussion is very enlightening as to what arguments fundamentalists have for their ecclesiastical separation position and what arguments non-fundamentalists have for their position. I encourage you all to read it (in time).

∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7

Let My Lifesong Sing!

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

One of my favorite CCM groups is Casting Crowns. Their second album was recently released in October, to wide acclaim. The title of the album comes from their song Lifesong.

This song has been in the top 10 Christian songs (played on the radio) since August 21, right around when it was released for the radio. It was number 1 for 8 weeks in a row, and then moved down (for Third Day’s new song Cry out to Jesus) to number 2 for 4 more weeks!

I think it would be appropriate to post the lyrics here. It is a statement when such a popular song has such a great message. That this could be, was the furthest thought from my mind as a fundamentalist. I accepted the party line that CCM songs were strictly worldly or extrememly shallow, with no message. The message of this song stacks up well to a great many of the hymns I grew up singing. And its message is conveyed well.

 

Lifesong
by Mark Hall (the groups lead singer)

 

Empty hands held high / Such small sacrifice /
If not joined with my life / I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say / And the things I do /
Make my lifesong sing / Bring a smile to You

Let my lifesong sing to You / Let my lifesong sing to You /
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day /
Knowing that my life was true / Let my lifesong sing to You

Lord, I give my life / A living sacrifice /
To reach a world in need / To be your hands and feet

So may the words I say / And the things I do /
Make my lifesong sing / Bring a smile to You

Let my lifesong sing to You / Let my lifesong sing to You /
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day /
Knowing that my life was true / Let my lifesong sing to You

Hallelujah / Hallelujah / Let my lifesong sing to You

(lyrics taken from the CD cover of Lifesong)

 

I blogged about the rest of that CD in a later post here.

Purchase the album at Amazon.

Infant Baptism: An Update

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

The discussion has now moved, as Nathan Pitchford has posted Credo Baptism: A Retraction.

These posts are causing me to do some research into the topic, which I had pretty much taken for granted before. I can certainly respect his arguments. I remain unconvinced, though. I am still trying to put together another response to him, which will show up in the comments there, eventually. But for now, here are some good articles on the subject.

∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7