Monday, November 2, 2009

ex Libris - Mike McGirk




Pastor Mike McGirk

Intelligent, Relevant, Real











ESV - English Standard Version
Title: One Year Bible
isbn 1581347081 Title: The Attributes of GOD
Author: Arthur W. Pink
isbn: 0 80106989



Book Title: What Luther Says

Anthology for the Active Christian
Compiled by Ewald M. Plass

isbn 0 570 04240 2
1667 pages

CPH Concordia Publishing House
3558 South Jefferson Ave
Saint Louis, MO 63118-3968

A practical book to read about all of Martin Luther’s Sermons covering a myriad of topics and Scriptural text.

page 1059



in the following year Luther put special emphasis on this failing when he replied to Henry VIII of England.

3371 Papal Polemics Avoid the Bible
"They now have a very faulty manner of disputing in their schools; it is called “begging the question” (petitio principii)."

"This they learn and teach till they turn gray, to their grave, with such efforts, at such great cost – the miserable folk! But when they are to use their doctrine, they can do nothing but prove by what is to be proved. So it happens that I cry; Gospel! Gospel! Christ! Christ!"

"Then they reply: the fathers, the fathers! Custom, custom! Statutes, statutes! But when I say: The fathers, custom and the statutes have often been in error; matters of this kind must be settled by a stronger and more reliable authority, but Christ cannot be in error-then they are more speechless than fish."

(The Doctors exasperation at this papal side-stepping appears from the following outburst in the reply to Emser from which we quoted above.)

Page 1059 3372 Luther Loses Patience
"How often must I cry out to you coarse stupid papists to quote Scripture sometime? Scripture! Scripture! Scripture! Do you not hear, you deaf goat and course ass?"

http://www.cwrc-rz.org/documents/historic-002.php

Book Title: The Expositor’s Greek Testament

Volumes 1-5

Publisher: Hendrickson

First printing January 2002 reprinted from the edition originally published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Volume One
Gospels St. John
isbn 1 56563 029 7

Edited by Rev. W. Robertson Nicoll, M.A., LL.D.
1. isbn 1 56563 0297
2. isbn 1 56563 0297
3. isbn 1 56563 0297
4. isbn 1 56563 0297
5. isbn 1 56563 0297

Con’t Volume One
The Synoptic Gospels
(Matthew, Mark, and Luke)
II
The Gospel of St. John

Volume TWO
Apostles
Romans
First Corinthians
I The Acts of the Apostles
II St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
III St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians

Volume Three
I The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians
II The Epistle to the Galatians
III The Epistle to the Ephesians
IV The Epistle to the Philippians
V The Epistle to the Colossians




















Volume Four

I The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians
II The First and Second Epistles to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus
III The Epistle to Philemon
IV The Epistle to the Hebrews
V The General Epistle of James

Volume Five
I The First Epistle General of Peter
II The Second Epistle General of Peter
III The Epistles of John
IV The General Epistle of Jude
V The Revelation of St. John the Divine

(each of the chapters in these books facilitated by different Rev’s)
example Volume Five
I J.H.A. Hart, M.A.
II R.H. Strachan, M.A.
III David Smith, M.A., D.D.
IV J.B. Mayor, Litt D.
V James Moffatt, D.D.

Book Title: Total Truth
Author: Nancy R. Pearcey

isbn 978 1581347 463

Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity.
Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Forward by Phlllip Johnson



What’s in a Worldview?
1. Breaking out of the Grid
2. Rediscovering Joy
3. Keeping Religion in its Place
4. Surviving the Spiritual Wasteland

Starting at the Beginning
5. Darwin Meets the Berenstain Bears
6. The Science of Common Sense
7. Today Biology, Tomorrow the World
8. Darwins of the Mind

How We Lost our Minds
9. What’s So Good about Evangelicalism?
10. When America Met Christianity—Guess Who Won?
11. Evangelicals’ Two-Story Truth
12. How Women Started the Culture War

What Next? Living it Out
13. True Spirituality and Christian Worldview

Appendices
Appendix 1: How American Politics Became Secularized
Appendix 2: Modern Islam and the New Age Movement
Appendix 3: The Long War between Materialism and Christianity
Appendix 4: Isms on the Run: Practical Apologetics at L’Abri

End Notes

Book Title: The Reason for God
…belief in an age of skepticism
Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Dutton isbn 978 0 525 95049 3




Book Title: Coaching 101
Robert E. Logan, Sherilyn Carlton with Tara Miller

Paperback (PB) isbn 1 889638 37 4

www.coachnet.org

Email:
Carlton@destinationcoaching.com
Logan@coachnet.org

Dr. Bob Logan
CoachNet International Ministries

Book Title: Essential Theological Terms
Author: Justo L. Gonzalez

Paperback (PC) isbn 0 664 22810 0



Book Title: The Beast of Revelation
Author: Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry Jr.

Paperback (PB) isbn 0 915815 41 9

Book Title: Before Jerusalem Fell
Author: Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
Dating the book of Revelation

Paperback (PB) isbn 0 915815 43 5
American Vision

Book Title: Sin and Temptation
from the works of John Owen

edited by Dr. James M. Houston, introduction by Dr. J.I. Packer
isbn 1 55661 830 1 Paperback (PC)

Book Title: The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English
Editors ABEGG, FLINT, ULRICH
isbn 978 0 06 060063 1

Martin Abegg JR. is co-director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University in British Columbia. He is one of the translators of The Dead Sea Scrolls (Harper SanFrancisco, 1996).

Peter Flint is co-director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University in British Columbia. He is the author of The Dead Sea Psalms Scrolls and the Book of Psalms and co-editor of The Dead Sea Scrolls After Fifty Years.

Eugene Ulrich is the John A. O'Brien professor at the University of Notre Dame. He is chief editor of the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls and one of the translators of The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

Hardcover 649 pages, on side binder, green with gold lettering.
HarperOne

The Septuagint sometimes offers striking evidence of different ancient forms of biblical books (for example…Jeremiah is about 13% shorter in Greek than the Masoretic Text).

It is from the Septuagint that most modern Bibles have adopted this grouping and Catholic Bibles have included the deuterocanonical (secondary canon) books (or Apocrypha).

Three old Bibles…
1. “Masoretic Text (MT)
2. “Septuagint” (LXX)
3. “Samaritan Pentateuch.”


TORAH page 1
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Jubilees

PROPHETS page 199
Joshua
Judges
Samuel
Kings
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel

The Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
1 Enoch
Daniel

OTHER BOOKS page 503
Psalms
Job
Proverbs
Ben Sira (Sirach)
Ruth
The Song of Songs (Canticles)
Qohelet (Ecclesiastes)
Lamentations
The Epistle of Jeremiah
Esther
Chronicles
Ezra-Nehemiah
Tobit

http://www.centuryone.com/0063-2.html


Book Title: Don't Make Me Count To Three
Author: Ginger Plowman
A Mom's Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline
isbn


Book Title: Sheperding a Child's Heart
Author: Tedd Tripp

isbn 0 96637 860 1


Book Title: Goodnight Moon
Author: Margaret Wise Brown
isbn


From Growing Kids God's Way BABY WISE SERIES
Book Title: On Becoming Baby Wise: Book II
Author: Gary Ezzo

parenting your pre-toddler Five to Fifteen months
isbn 978 0971453210
http://www.growingkids.org/



Book Title: God Made You Special

[Veggie Tales with Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber]
isbn 0 310 704 669

Book Title: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything
story by Doug Peterson
Illustrations by Greg Hardin and Robert Vann
Big Idea, Inc. isbn 10 1 4003 1163 2
Thomas Nelson since 1798



VeggieTales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything
-A VeggieTales Movie Die-cut Board Book By Big Idea, Inc.

3 Books in a Boat


...package includes three board books:
I'm Not Afraid! featuring a fearful Elliot
I Can Do It! giving a confidence boost to reluctant George
Lazy Days Go Away! motivating a hammock-loving Sedgewick

isbn: 1400311640
Publisher: Tommy Nelson


Book Title: Point Man
Author: Steve Farrar
Lead and your family will follow

HOW A MAN CAN LEAD HIS FAMILY
isbn 978 59052 126 7




Book Title: The Anchor Bible Dictionary
6 Volumes approximately 1,200 pages each. large books, hard cover, burgundy with copper lettering.

Publisher: Double DayNew York London Toronto Sydney Aukland
isbn 0 385 26190 X

56500
9 780385 261906

Edited by David Noel Freedman...six years in the making, an unprecedented interfaith exploration of the Bible.

US $65 $100 CAN

Volume 1 A-C isbn 0 385 19351 3
Volume 2 D-G isbn 0 385 19360 2
Volume 3 H-J isbn 0 385 19361 0
Volume 4 K-N isbn 0 385 19362 9
Volume 5 O-Sh isbn 0 385 19363 7
Volume 6 Si-Z isbn 0 385 26190 X

Volume 1 List of Contributors ix-lxxvii

Doubleday a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036


Book Title: Systematic Theology
with new preface by Richard A. Muller
Author: Louis Berkhof 1873-1957 taught at Calvin Theological Seminary for 38 years.

isbn 0 8028 3820 0
***** 784 pages hard cover

An excellent description of “dogma.”
p. 18 The word ‘dogma’ is derived from the Greek verb dokein.

In classical Greek the expression dokein moi meant not only, it seems to me, or, I am of the opinion, but also, I have come to the conclusion, I am certain, it is my conviction-also self-evident truth an official ordinance or a well founded and formulated article or belief.

All dogmata have this in common, that they are clothed with a certain authority.

p. 19 Religious dogma is a doctrine officially defined by the church and declared to rest upon divine authority.

Pastor Mike McGirk hi-lighted a lot in this book.

Book Title: The Practice of the Presence of God
Author: Brother
Lawrence (1614-1691)

Publisher: Hendrickson Christian Classics
isbn 1 56563 148 X

300 years ago an uneducated lay cook in a French Monastery writes and teaches us how to enjoy a profound awareness of God moment by moment.”

Brother Lawrence with his sleeves rolled up and his hands elbow deep in the sink, shows us in every day ways to turn kitchens in our lives into cathedrals.”

hard cover book – smaller book 115 pages

The Thirty Years War 1614-1648 began in Germany as a religious civil war between Roman Catholics and Protestants but soon spread, becoming a brutal struggle for the balance of power in Europe.The way of Brother Lawrence is one of continual prayer, practicing the awareness of God’s presence until the awareness becomes a habit.

Conversations with Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection August 1666
http://www.practicegodspresence.com/brotherlawrence/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence


Book Title: The Valley of Vision
A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions


edited by Arthur Bennett

The burden of the valley of vision. Isaiah 22:1
ESV reads, The oracle concerning the valley of vision.

Leather Bound isbn 0 85151 821 4
Cabra Bonded Leather

Publisher:
The Banner of Truth Trust
3 Murray Road
Edinburgh EH12 6EL
UK

[07-09-03-this very day]

P.O. Box 621
Carlisle, PA 17013
USA

Printed in Belgium
Splichal nv, Turnhout

First Published 1975
This edition 2002
reprinted 2002

also available through Ligonier Ministries with Dr. R C Sproul.
http://www.ligonier.org/

The Valley of Vision on CD from Ligonier Ministries narrated by Max McLean includes a Bonus Disc with special message from Dr. R.C. Sproul, Introduction to The Valley of Vision, “How to Pray.”

The CD’s come in a durable black leather bound attractive wallet type design with GOLD lettering, simple but elegant. CD Message titles coincide with actual hard copy book chapter headings.

Each chapter filled with meaningful reverent prayer and or devotion for Christians to listen to in their hearing…

Disc 1 FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT
Disc 2 REDEMPTION AND RECONCILIATION
Disc 3 PENITENCE AND DEPRECIATION
Disc 4 NEEDS AND DEVOTIONS HOLY ASPIRATIONS
Disc 5 APPROACH TO GOD
Disc 6 SERVICE AND MINISTRY VALEDICTION
Disc 7 A WEEK’S SHARED PRAYERS

Paperback (PB) isbn

On CD narrated by Max McLean
isbn

set on CD narrated by Max McLean with leather bound book
isbn

The Valley of Vision CD only and The Valley of Vision CD gift set w/leather bound Valley of Vison book narrated by Max McLean available at http://www.listnersbible.com/

This book is a wonderful tool and resource for every Christian visiting the elderly in nursing homes or hospice or a dear one who has been hospitalized and in many cases offering comfort to those experiencing the death of a beloved spouse and their lives are in peril.

Perhaps with a friend on the phone with crisis de jour…ask them if they would like you to read them a prayer. Many times there is an awkward moment or an embarrassed silence...this book will help you dear Christian.

A good read whilst visiting the inmate at jail as the bible commands us.

If you are in a panic with, “what do I say dear Lord Jesus?” Don’t freak out running with a fistful of Prozac and start suckin down the Wild Turkey…keep this book at your finger tips as back up. Kinda like the bible, duct tape and WD-40. Don't leave home without it.

The Valley of Vision, truly, spiritually profitable reading with the eyes (book) or listening with ear (CD).






Book Title: The Lutheran Book of Prayer
J.W. Acker

isbn 978 075 860 8598
Hardcover (HC) 264 pages

The book to the right (with cross) is the older version and may be found at a used book store.

The one on the left (with Luther Rose and titled Lutheran Book of Prayer is the new printing of the book, 5th edition.

Prayers for morning and evening
Our life of worship
Throughout the church year
For the church
For the nation and the world
For family and neighbors
For the sick, convalescing, and the dying
Personal prayers
and more

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AXOH7O7REHV9M/ref=cm_cr_pr_pdp

Concordia Publishing

http://www.cph.org/cphstore/product.asp?category=&part_no=061322

Where Do Your Ideas About God's Character Come From?

RC Sproul with Ligonier Ministries offers eleven 23 minute messages on four compact discs.
In this series, Dr. R.C. Sproul demonstrates how our ideas about God are often too vague or incorrect. The Attributes of God provides an informative and challenging examination of God's unchanging character.


1. Ice Cream Cones and the Study of God
2. Perfectly Perfect
3. Alike, But Very Different
4. The Great I AM
5. God is Spirit
6. Our Infinite God

7. The God Who is Everywhere
8. The God Who Doesn't Change
9. God is Good
10. God is Truth
11. Questions and Answers

If you are interested in purchasing these powerful messages The Attributes of God
Call Toll Free 1.800.435.4343
http://www.LIGONIER.ORG
The Home of "Renewing Your Mind"
P.O. Box 547500
Orlando, FL 32854

R.C. Sproul is known by clergy and laity for his ability to communicate deep, practical truths from God's Word. Through Ligonier Ministries, R.C.'s goal is to help awaken as many people as possible to the holiness of GOD by proclaiming, teaching, and defending God's holiness in all its fullness.

Book Title: DEEP CHURCH
A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional
Author: Jim Belcher
Forward by Richard J. Mouw
Paperback (PB) isbn 978 0 8308 3716 8

IVP Books
InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400
Downers Grove, Illinois 60515-1426

http://www.ivpress.com/ [November/December 2009]
E-mail: email@ivpress.com

Book Title: The Great Evangelical Disaster
Author: Dr. Francis Schaeffer

Paperback isbn 0 89107 308 6




Crossway Books
A division of Good News Publishers
Westchester, Illinois

Sunday, 11-15-09
Also entitled entitled The Great Evangelical Disaster, a film is available to accompany this book produced by Francis Schaeffer’s son Franky Schaeffer V Productions through WORD films 1.800.433.3327 in Texas 1.800.792.3210

REVIEW

One need not look too far in our society to see that there are deep and contentious issues that divide us. We are divided economically, racially, religiously, politically and about in any other way one can imagine. While this has always been true to some extent, it seems different now. Tim Keller, lead pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, explained the difference by noting that we don’t just disagree on issues anymore; we hold the people who hold opposing points of view in contempt and attack them as well as their arguments.

Even within the ranks of professing Bible-believing Christians there is division. There is division in our marriages; the divorce rate is little better than the secular culture. There is disagreement over the sanctity of human life; some professing Christian are now pro-abortion. We are divided over the issue of marriage; one can now be both an evangelical and a homosexual and in favor of so-called “gay marriage.” There is also contentious disagreement over the inspiration and authority of Scripture, the nature of the substitutionary atonement, the nature of God and his foreknowledge, etc. This leaves us divided over how to flesh out Biblical conviction and practice. Some proponents of the “emergent church” movement recently encouraged Christians to observe the Islamic holy days of Ramadan.

How did we get to this point? There have always been liberal and conservative points of view within the Church. But the landscape has shifted, and Christians who would hold positions that please God in a way that honors Him could easily be confused and discouraged.

In 1984, shortly before his death, concerned over the early stages of this shift, Francis Schaeffer – theologian, writer, pastor, and founder of the L’Abri fellowship in Switzerland – wrote The Great Evangelical Disaster. Schaeffer intended to sound the alarm and rally Christians to what he saw as the core issues that would shape Evangelical Christianity in the years to come. It is a valuable exercise to read this book and see where we are decades later.

Marking the Watershed
Schaeffer’s main concern in this book is to identify the main watershed issue of his day and to call Bible-believing Christians to act in a certain way with regard to his issue. A watershed is an invisible line along the ridge of a mountain range that marks which way melted snow will flow. It is like the Continental Divide here in the Rocky Mountains. Snow that sits on the ridge only a few feet apart can sometimes end up thousands of miles apart when it melts depending on which side of the watershed that snow sits. For Schaeffer, the issue of biblical inspiration, inerrancy, and authority is a watershed issue. Christians seeming to have only slightly departed from traditional Christian values can be on the other side of the watershed and end up drifting thousands of miles from orthodox Christianity. Schaeffer longs for believers to stay on the right side of that watershed. He maintains that only by holding firm to a belief in inerrant, authoritative, and normative Scriptures can Christians withstand our culture’s slide into moral relativism.

Schaeffer insists that one must believe in these historic doctrines of the Scriptures in order to avoid running down the wrong side of the mountain. But he does not stop there. Merely holding to a classic orthodoxy as an intellectual belief is not enough. We must also live our lives as if that where true. Among true believers there must be 1) a belief in the truth and 2) a practice of the truth. Schaeffer says “The Church belongs to those who, by the grace of God, are faithful to the Scriptures.”

The Great Evangelical Disaster
Because Christians were not living under the authority of Scripture, Schaeffer maintained in 1984 that Evangelicalism was becoming worldly and accommodating the spirit of the age. What was the spirit of the age? Schaeffer would argue that it is “autonomy” – which essentially means “self law.” Autonomy assumes that “I” am able to discern the truth without any help from an outside source. It assumes that “I” exist independently from any higher authority unless I willingly submit myself to an authority on my own terms. That spirit persists to this day. As our culture slides further and further into moral relativism, there is a greater tendency to reject any law, especially God’s law. As Evangelicalism strives to accommodate the culture, there is a move among some who call themselves Evangelical to compromise and sacrifice Biblical truths and principles.

So what should believers do? Schaeffer says there are only three possible responses we can make:
1. loveless confrontation
2. no confrontation
3. loving confrontation

Schaeffer laments that Evangelicalism has chosen option #2 and is quickly sliding down the slippery slope of moral relativism. It is on the wrong side of the watershed. So he calls us to lovingly and faithfully herald once again the radical and revolutionary message that there is a God, that He has spoken to us through the Scriptures, that He holds us accountable for our transgressions against His law, but that He has also made a way of escape by giving us His Son to be our Savior. There is no message that stands in greater opposition to the spirit of the age than that Gospel message.

The Scriptures requires us to “speak the truth in love” (Eph 4:15), and Schaeffer is quick to insist that believers confront lovingly. The world will not understand many of the arguments over the faith and practices that divide us. They will, however, understand that something is different in the way we handle these disagreements if it is done in love and unity.

This is an important book for Christians to read. It is valuable to see how Schaeffer’s prophetic message about the issues that alarmed him decades ago has come to pass. He was correct to be concerned. It is also instructive to understand the core issues underlying many of the contentious issues today and how God would have us respond both in the culture in which we live and within the ranks of Evangelical Christianity.


Book Title: True Spirituality (Paperback)
Author: Francis August Schaeffer
isbn 9780842373517
isbn 0-8423-7351-9

Tyndale celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of this twentieth-century spiritual classic with a special commemorative edition featuring new foreword by Chuck Colson and introduction by Dr. Jerram Barrs.


John Steinbeck)
http://www.penguin.com/

Book Title: East of Eden
isbn 0 14 018639 5 Paperback (PB


Book Title: St. Augustine Confessions (Oxford World's Classics) written between AD 397 and AD 398 by Saint Augustine (Author), Henry Chadwick (Translator)
http://www.stoa.org/hippo/


Cults, Booklets on Major Sects
Author: John H. Gerstner
Booklet Title: The Teachings of Christian Science

Booklet Title: The Teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses
isbn 0 8010 3718 2
Seventeenth printing, September 2001
Originally appeared as chapter three and appendix in The Theology of Major Sects

Booklet Title: The Teachings of Mormonism

Booklet Title: The Teachings of Seventh-day Adventists

www.bakerbooks.com/

Baker Book House
P.O. Box 6287
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516-6287

Author, John H. Gerstner, professor at large for Ligonier Ministries, has written more than two dozen books. Before retiring, he taught church history at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for thirty years. His Ph.D. is from Harvard university, his M.Div. and M.Th. from Westminster Theological Seminary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gerstner

http://www.bookfinder.com/author/john-h-gerstner/



Book title: Calvin Theological Journal
April 2007
Volume 42
Number 1
Edited for the Faculty of Calvin Theological Seminary by
Editor: Lyle D. Bierma
and by Book Review Editor: Lugene L. Schemper

Calvin Theological Seminary 2007
3233 Burton Street SE
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546-4387

ISSN 0008-1795
paperback 212 pages

Title: A Course in Hermeneutics & Exegesis
Cassette Tapes: 17 Messages:
Author(s): Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen
Publisher: Covenant Media Foundations 1.800.553.3938

WebSite: http://www.cmfnow.com/acourseinhermeneutics.aspx
1. Language and Meaning, Part 1
2. Language and Meaning, Part II 3. Language and Meaning Part III
4. Necessity of Biblical Hermeneutics
5. Biblical Hermeneutics, Necessary and Possible Part 1

6. Biblical Hermeneutics, Necessary and Possible, Part II
7. Confessions & Challenges
8. Exegetical Tools
9. Grammatical Analysis Part I
10. Grammatical Analysis Part II

11. Semantic, Syntactic, Historical Analysis Part I
12. . Semantic, Syntactic, Historical Analysis Part II
13. Hermeneutical Principles
14. The Analogy of faith
15. Special Issues

16. Special issues & Applications
17. Conclusion

Max McLean narrates John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress

A classic story wonderfully told. 5 CD's.

“As I slept, I dreamed a dream.”

So begins one of the most beloved books in all of history. Few books besides the Bible have been translated, printed, and read as often as The Pilgrim’s Progress. John Bunyan’s classic allegory of Christian, the Pilgrim, on his perilous journey to the Celestial City has touched hearts and minds for more than three hundred years-and still the demand continues. Introduce a new generation to this memorable story filled with memorable characters — Evangelist, Charity, Hypocrisy, Goodwill, Obstinate, Mr. Talkative, and Mr. Worldly Wiseman.


Each one offers a unique insight into the Christian life — its joys and trials, its opportunities and struggles. You’ll discover The Pilgrim’s Progress to be both challenging and entertaining.

"Over the centuries countless souls have been transformed by John Bunyan’s timeless and brilliant Pilgrim’s Progress—in my estimation, one of the greatest works ever penned.

I am thrilled that Max McLean has brought Bunyan’s stirring words to life. I am confident that this unique production will captivate and encourage you." Ravi Zachariasisbn

isbn1 9310 4756 1

Disc One
1. Introduction
2. City of Destruction
3. Evangelist I
4. Obstinate
5. Pliable
6. Swamp of Despond
7. Worldly Wiseman
8. Evangelist II
9. Wicket Gate
10. Interpreter I
11. Interpreter II
12. Interpreter III
13. Salvation

Disc Two
1. A Low-Lying Place
2. A Difficult Hill
3. Beautiful
4. Three Virgins
5. The Palace
6. Valley of Humiliation
7. Apollyon
8. Valley of Death
9. Faithful I
10. Faithful II
11. Faithful III

Disc Three
1. Talkative I
2. Talkative II
3. Talkative III
4. Evangelist III
5. Vanity Fair
6. The Trial
7. The Sentence
8. Hopeful
9. By-Ends & Co
10. Demas

Disc Four
1. Lot’s Wife
2. Off Track
3. Giant Despair
4. Doubting Castle
5. Delectable Mountains
6. Ignorance
7. Little-Faith I
8. Little-Faith II
9. Flatterer
10. Atheist

Disc Five
1. Enchanted Ground I
2. Enchanted Ground II
3. Ignorance 1
4. Ignorance II
5. Fear
6. Backsliding
7. Beulah Land
8. Crossing the River
9. The Last Climb
10. The Celestial City
11. Conclusion

Total time: 5 hours and 22 minutes
A Production of Fellowship for the Performing Arts
One High Street Court
Morristown, New Jersey 07960

1 888.876.5661
http://www.listenersbible.com/
Discovery House Publishers


Title: Christ and Culture
H. Richard Niebuhr

Harper Torchbooks
Harper & Brother Publishers
New York 1956 copyright 1951 paper back
259 pages


Title: Financial Peace Revisited
http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Hebrews+12%3A11

ESV English Standard Version Hebrews 12:11
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

New York's Times Best Selling Author and Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show Host, Fox News Business News Contributor and Financial Genius Extraordinaire: Dave Ramsey with thoughts by Sharon Ramsey

(HC) hardcover isbn 0 670 03208 5
http://www.daveramsey.com/

Beat Debt-Build Wealth 1.888.22.PEACE


Publisher: VIKING
A member of Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson St.
New York, New York 10014

http//www.penguinputnam.com

Title: Faith’s Check Book
Author: C.H. Spurgeon
A Devotional
isbn 0 88368 243 5
paperback (PB) 374 pages

Don’t be caught spiritually bankrupt...Charles H. Spurgeon supplies daily deposits of God’s promises into the reader’s personal bank of faith. He urges the reader to view each Bible promise as a check written by GOD, which can be cashed by personally endorsing it and receiving the gift it represents.

Publisher:
Whitaker House
30 Hunt Valley Circle
New Kensington, Pennsylvania 15068

November 15, page 328 - Limitless Riches
Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.


Title: How to Manage Your Money
Moody Publisher
Larry Burkett
Workbook
isbn: 0-8024-1477-X





Title: From Followers to Leaders
paperback





Robert E. Logan and Tara Miller


Church Smart Resources
Title: Planting Fast Growing Churches



Stephen Gray

ISBN: 1-889638-69-2


The Christian Praise Hymnal
hardcover
Genevox Music Group
http://www.biblio.com/books/217056506.html

Tuesday 6-30-09
Biblical Counseling Foundation
p. 31, BCF Lesson 2, page 2
II You are to prepare yourself to help others
Principle 3

Practicing God's Word begins with judging yourself and removing obstructions from your own life (tend to your own rat killing).

(ESV Matthew 7:1-5
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.

2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?

5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.,

ESV I Corinthians 11:28-31;
28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

ESV Hebrews 12:1.
Pericope: Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Then you have the privilege and responsibility of restoring others to victorious living.

(ESV Matthew 7:5;
5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

ESV Romans 15:14,
Pericope: Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

ESV II Corinthians 1:3-4;
Pericope: God of All Comfort

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.




ESV Galatians 6:1-5)
Pericope: Bear One Another's Burdens
1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

5 For each will have to bear his own load.

The Bible pictured above here at text of Matthew 7:5...
Bible ESV English Standard Version

Hard Cover (HC)

Large Print Edition Type Set 12.75

Red Letter Text, the words of Christ in red

Full Color Maps

Book Introductions including theme and message of each book

Publisher: Crossway Bibles
A Division of Good News Publishers
Wheaton, Illinois

http://www.blogger.com/www.GoodNewsPublishers.org

Title: Handel Messiah

Novello Handel Edition
Author: George Frideric Handel

Edited by Watkins Shaw
paperback
Music
257 pages
0-85360 033 Cat No 11 0122

PURITAN PAPERBACKS

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Jeremiah Burroughs
isbn: 0 85151 091 4


The Reformed Pastor
Richard Baxter
REFOlBP
isbn: 0 85151 091 0
first published 1656


The Glory of Christ
John Owen
isbn: 0-85151-661-0



Book Title: Prayer
Author: John Bunyan
isbn 0 85151-090-6

Book Title: All Loves Excelling
Author: John Bunyan
isbn: 0-85151-739-0

The Bruised Reed
Richard Sibbes

isbn: 0-85151-740-4

Letters of Samuel Rutherford
Samuel Rutherford
isbn: 0-85151-163-5


The Spirit and the Church
John Owen

isbn: 0-85151-822-2

The Banner of Truth Trust
3 Murray Road
Edinburgh E#12 6EL
U.K.

P.O. Box 621
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
17013 U.S.A.

Book Title: The Gospel According to Job
Author: Mike Mason

An Honest Look at Pain and Doubt
isbn: 1 58134 449 X Paperback 448 pages

Crossway Books
Good News Publisher
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinios 60187

Devotional

It’s not so much about suffering as it is God’s Sovereignty


BCF Biblical Counseling Foundation
A manual for in-depth discipleship.

ESV Matthew 7:1-5
Pericope: Judging Others
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.

2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?

5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Title: Self-Confrontation
Developed by John C. Broger

Based on Old Testament and new Testament as the only authoritative rule of faith and conduct. Printed by Capstone Enterprises
isbn: 1 878114 01 8
Syllabus for Course 1

BCF Biblical Counseling Foundation
42-600 Cook St., Ste 100
Palm Desert, CA 92211-5143

760 773 2667
http://www.bcfministries.org/

orders@bcfministries.org

admin@bcfministries.org

Defending your Faith
An overview of Classical Apologetics with RC Sproul

Ligonier Ministries
the home of "Renewing Your Mind" with RC Sproul
1 800 435 4343 http://www.ligonier.org/

http://www.ligonier.org/media_player.php?tabID=1&id=003




R. C. SPROUL is the founder and president of Ligonier Ministries and serves as senior minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida. He is featured daily on Renewing Your Mind, an international radio broadcast with an estimated two million listeners per week, and has written over sixty books.

There is a widespread belief that reason and faith are incompatible and opposed to each other. Faith is viewed as subjective, emotional, a crutch for those who find the real world too hard. Though many of the world's finest minds hold this view, the Bible teaches that it is the fool who says there is no God.

Dr. R. C. Sproul clearly and simply argues that at its core Christianity is rational. He focuses on defending the basic truth claims for two of the most crucial issues of apologetics: God's existence and the Bible's authority.

In this primer of apologetic thought, Dr. Sproul affirms four logical principles that are necessary for all real discussion and teaches you how to defend your faith in a faithless world. Using the writings of church fathers and philosophers throughout the ages, he uncovers the common ideologies that work against faith.

The defense of the faith is not a luxury or an intellectual vanity. It is a task appointed by God that you should be able to give a reason for the hope that is in you as you bear witness before the world.

Call Ligonier 1 800 435 4343 or go to the Ligonier website http://www.ligonier.org/ to purchase message in CD format and much, much more.





  • CD 1
    Introduction to Apologetics
    Why Apologetics?
    Pre-Evangelism


  • CD 2
    Four Steps Backward
    Law of Contradiction
    Law of Causality


  • CD 3
    Reliability of Sense Perception
    Analogical Language (part 1)
    Analogical Language (part 2)


  • CD 4
    Contradiction and Paradox
    Mystery
    Natural Theology (part 1)


  • CD 5
    Natural Theology (part 2)
    Aquinas vs. Kant
    The Case for GOD


  • CD 6
    Four Possibilities
    The Illusion of Descartes
    Self-Creation (part 1)


  • CD 7
    Self Creation (part 2)
    Self Existence
    Necessary Being


  • CD 8
    GOD of the Bible vs. God of Philosophy
    Kant's Moral Argument
    Vanity of Vanity


  • CD 9
    The Psychology of Atheism
    The Bible and Apologetics (part 1)
    The Bible and Apologetics (part 2)


  • CD 10
    The Bible and Apologetics (part 3)
    The Bible and Apologetics (part 4)
    The Bible and Apologetics (part 5)


  • CD 11
    The Deity of Christ
    Questions and Answers


    Overseer


  • Leader
  • Ensure car is moving in the right direction
  • Implement policies of the board or Lead Pastor
  • Monitor every ministry
  • Oversea all church ministries
  • Implement vision of Lead Pastor


Volume 4
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
Edited by Philip Schaff, D. D., LL.D
Hard Cover (HC) Mocha/Light Tan color,
Binder-Black with Gold lettering
Binder-Green with Gold lettering


First Series
#1. isbn 1 56563 095 5

2. isbn 1 56563 096 3

3. isbn 1 56563 097 1

4. isbn 1 56563 098 x

5. isbn 1 56563 099 8

6. isbn 1 56563 102 1

7. isbn 1 56563 103 x

8. isbn 1 56563 106 4

9. isbn 1 56563 107 2

10. isbn 1 56563 109 9

11. isbn 1 56563 110 2

12. isbn 1 56563 110 0

13. isbn 1 56563 113 7

10. isbn 1 56563 115 3

Hendrickson Publishers
P.O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473

First originally published 1887
Second printing July 1999

  • 1. isbn 1 56563 095 5
    Augustin
    Prolegomena
    Confessions
    Letters

  • 2. isbn 1 56563 096 3
    Augustin
    City of God
    Christian Doctrine


  • 3. isbn 1 56563 097 1
    Augustin
    on the Holy Trinity
    Doctrinal Treatises
    Moral Treatises

  • 4. isbn 1 56563 098 x
    Augustin
    Anti-Manachaean
    Anti-Donatist Writings

  • 5. isbn 1 56563 099 8
    Saint Augustin's
    Anti-Pelagian Writings

  • 6. isbn 1 56563 102 1
    Sermon on the Mount
    Harmony of the Gospels
    Homilies on the Gospels

  • 7. isbn 1 56563 103 x
    Augustin
    Gospel of John
    First Epistle of John
    Soliloquies

  • 8. isbn 1 56563 106 4
    Expositions on the Psalms
  • 9. isbn 1 56563 107 2
    Chrysostom on the Priesthood
    Ascetic Treatises
    Select Homilies and Letters
    Homilies on the Statues

  • 10. isbn 1 56563 109 9
    Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew
  • 11. isbn 1 56563 110 2
    Chrysostom
    Homilies on the Apostles and
    the Epistle to the Romans

  • 12. isbn 1 56563 110 0
    Chrysostom
    Homilies on First and Second Corinthians

  • 13. isbn 1 56563 113 7
    Chrysostom
    Homilies on
    Galatians
    Ephesians
    Philippians
    Colossians
    Thessalonians
    Timothy
    Titus
    and Philemon

  • 14. isbn 1 56563 115 3
    Chrysostom
    Homilies on the Gospel of St. John
    Hebrews

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_and_Post-Nicene_Fathers

    http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html

Dover thrift editions
St. John of the Cross

Dark Night of the Soul

translated by E. Allison Peers
from the critical edition of P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, C.D.
paperback (PB) isbn: 0 486 42693 9

Todays Date 11-4-09 Wednesday
Hardcover (HC)
Renovation of the Heart
putting on the character of Christ

Dallas Willard
isbn: 1 57683 296 1
NAV Press bringing truth to life
http://www.navpress.com/

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
Second Series Volumes 1-13
Binding: Black stripe/band with Gold lettering
Book Title: Blue stripe/band with Gold lettering. The rest of the hardcover book color, MOCHA embossed with picture on the front with black pinstripe vertical to the left.

The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Second Series contains in fourteen volumes the works of the Greek Fathers from Eusebius to John of Damascus and the Latin Fathers from Hilary to Gregory the Great. Several of the writings appear for the first time in English. The first three volumes are a complete collection of the historical writings of the Fathers, whose permanent value as the primary sources is universally acknowledged. Other volumes contain the works of eminent figures in early Christian history, such as Athanasius, Jerome, and Ambrose. The series concludes with the canons and decrees of the seven ecumenical councils, as well as canons of local synod with ecumenical acceptance. The Second Series is edited by Philip Schaff, eminent church historian and professor at Union Theological Seminary, NY, and Henry Wace, Principal of Kings College, London.

Edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. and Henry Wace, D.D.
Henry Wace (1836-1924), former Dean of Canterbury and noted turn-of-the century scholar, author, and editor, is especially known for his work on the four-volume Dictionary of Christian Biography and with Philip Schaff on the fourteen-volume Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series isbn: 1565631161

Hendrickson Publishers printed in the U.S.A.
P.O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473







Originally published in the U.S. by the
Christian Literature Publishing Co 1890
Second printing July 1999

isbn
1. 1 56563 117 X
2. 1 56563 118 8
3. 1 56563 119 6
4. 1 56563 120 X
5. 1 56563 121 8
6. 1 56563 122 6
7. 1 56563 123 4
8. 1 56563 124 2
9. 1 56563 125 0
10. 1 56563 126 9
11. 1 56563 127 7
12. 1 56563 128 5
13. 1 56563 129 3

1. 1 56563 117 X
EUSEBIUS : Church History
Life of Constantine the Great
Oration in Praise of Constantine


2. 1 56563 118 8
SOCRATES
SOZOMENUS : Church Histories

3.
1 56563 119 6
THEODORAT
JEROME
GENNADIUS
RUFINUS:
Historical Writings

4. 1 56563 120 X
Athanasius: Select Works and Letters

5. 1 56563 121 8
Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, etc.

6. 1 56563 122 6
The Principal Works of St. Jerome: Letters and Select Works

7. 1 56563 123 4
Cyril of Jerusalem
Gregory Nazianzen

8. 1 56563 124 2
Basil Letters and Select Works
The Treatise de Spiritu SANCTO
Saint Basil the Great Archbishop of Ceasarea

translated with notes by the Rev. Blomfield Jackson, M.A.
Moor Lane, Fellow of King’s College London

9. 1 56563 125 0
Hilary of Poitiers
John of Damascus


10. 1 56563 126 9
Ambrose Select Works and Letters
The Principal Works of St. Ambrose


11. 1 56563 127 7
SULPITIUS SEVERUS
Vincent of Lerins
John Cassian


12. 1 56563 128 5
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome
Gregory The Great

13. 1 56563 129 3
Selected epistles of Gregory the Great Bishop of Rome
Ephraim Syrus, Aphrahat
(Books IX.-XIV.) with notes and indices, by the Late Rev. James Barmby, D.D.

14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils


http://www.hendrickson.com/html/product/31161.trade.html?category=all#curr


Big Book-Hardcover (HC) Journal entry date 6-28-09
isbn 0 226 03933 1
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian Literature
1108 pages

isbn 0 8308 1451 5
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery: An Encyclopaedic Exploration of the Images, Symbols, Motifs, Metaphors, Figures of Speech, Literary Patterns and Universal Images of the Bible (Hardcover) by James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III (editors) 'Leland Ryken' 1058 pages

Ante-Nicene Fathers:
10 Volumes
isbn: 1565630823

~ Alexander Roberts (Editor), James Donaldson (Editor),
Philip Schaff (Editor), Henry Wace (Editor)

The Early Fathers

Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
P.O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473







Gold lettering
Red band or stripe with Gold lettering
Book color: Mocha/Tan embossed design/picture on front.

Published 1885
Second printing July 1999

The Ante-Nicene Fathers ranges from the Apostolic Fathers to various third and fourth century sources including the liturgies and ancient Syriac documents. It was intended to comprise translations into English of all the extant works of the Fathers (with the exception of the more bulky works of Origen) down to the date of the first General Council held at Nicaea in 325 A.D.

This American edition by Arthur Cleveland Coxe is a revision of the original series edited by Alexander Roberts and Sir James Donaldson and published in Edinburgh.

The revision involves a major rearrangement to conform to the historical sequence, the addition of brief introductions and notes indicating variances in readings, specifying references to scripture or literature, clarifying obscure passages, and noting corruptions or distortions of patristic testimony (as forged in the Decretals).

The basic aim of the translations has been to strive for literary exactness, placing the English reader as nearly as possible on an equal footing with those who are able to read the original.

isbn
1. 1 56563 083 1
2 1 56563 084 X
3. 1 56563 085 8
4. 1 56563 086 6
5. 1 56563 087 4
6 1 56563 088 2
7. 1 56563 089 0
8. 1 56563 090 4
9. 1 56563 091 2
10.

Volume Titles:

I Volume 1: 1 56563 083 1
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, IRENAEUS

II Volume 2: 1 56563 084 X
Fathers of the Second Century
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria (entire)

III Volume 3: 1 56563 085 8
It's founder Tertullian I, II, III
Latin Christianity
Three Parts
I. Apologetic
II. Anti-Marcion
III. Ethical

IV Volume 4: 1 56563 086 6
Fathers of the Third Century
Tertullian (IV) Part fourth, Minucius Felix, Commodian,
Origen, Parts First and Second


V Volume 5: 1 56563 087 4
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
(p. 13 The refutation of all heresies...speaks about the stoics)

The writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325)
VI Volume 6: 1 56563 088 2
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius

Fathers of the Third and Fourth Centuries
VII Volume 7: 1 56563 089 0
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily, and Liturgies

The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325.
VIII Volume 8: 1 56563 090 4
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Aprocryphal Gospels, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Acts, Syriac Documents. Remains of the First Ages

IX Volume 9: 1 56563 091 2
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron of Tatian, The Apocalypse of Peter, The Vision of Paul, The Apocalypses of the Virgin and Sedrach, The Testament of Abraham, The Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena, the Narrative of Zosimus, the Apology of Aristides, the Epistles of Clement (complete text), Origen's Commentary on John, Books 1-10, and Commentary on Matthew, Books 1, 2 and 10-14. Miscellaneous Works

X Volume 10:
I Bibliographical Synopsis, Ernest C. Richardson, M.A.,
II General Index, Bernhard Pick, Ph.D.
III Annotated Index of Authors and Works, William DiPuccio



http://www.theopedia.com/supralapsarianism

Book Critique:
November 2009

The Shack by William P. Young is an unusual success story. Young is a salesman who wrote the book for his children never intending to publish it. He had it bound at Kinko’s and gave it to them as a Christmas present. It came to the attention of a pastor who had a small publishing company. The rest, as they say, is history. This book was a sensation that spread like wildfire through churches of all denominations. While most of the euphoria over this book has passed, the furor that it caused is worth revisiting. There are discussions of making it into a movie and even the most conservative believers were telling their friends “You have to read this book. It changed my life.”

At the book’s peak, to speak negatively of it brought angry responses. Tim Challies, a conservative who holds a Reformed perspective, wrote a book titled The Shack: Unauthorized Theological Critique. To this day, the reviews of Challies’ book on Amazon.com are harshly and angrily critical – even from believers and some pastors. Eugene Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. said that this book “has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress did for his.”

The Shack is a novel. Mack, the main character of the book lost his daughter on a family vacation. Evidence points to the fact that she was brutally murdered in a small abandoned shack in the Oregon wilderness. The grieving father receives an invitation from God, known in the story as Papa, to spend the weekend with Him at the same shack. During the weekend Mack has extended dialog with each member of the Trinity. Jesus is a man of middle-eastern descent in tool belt, jeans and flannel shirt. The Holy Spirit is a small delicate woman of Asian descent named Sarayu (Sanskrit for air or wind). Papa is a large African American woman.

As we might expect, Mack, the main character of the book – the grieving father who has lost his young daughter in a horrific way – has a life-changing revelation from his encounter with the characters presented as the Trinity. This is likely why, at least in part, this book has found such emotional support among many Christians. It puts a man in a horrific situation which draws from the reader an emotional identification. It then presents a God who, while challenging Mack’s unbelief and anger, offers comfort and resolution to this awful situation and draws from us an emotional response and, naturally, an emotional and fervent defense of any criticism of it.

The Shack is not without merit. It challenges us to rethink our relationship to God on too intellectual a level. It confronts us and makes us rethink the presence and operation of God in our day by day, minute by minute lives. To those of us who forget, in the busy activities of our days, that every breath we draw is given to us directly by the hand of God – it brings a God who might have become distant or theoretical back into focus.

On the other hand, however, The Shack has a major flaw.

Humans are universally confronted by three significant questions: 1) Is there a God? 2) Has He spoken? and 3) What did He say? This forms the basis for a Christian’s epistemology – a fancy word for the question, how do we know what we know? What is the basis of our epistemology? Is it because of what we experience or how we feel? This would seem to be at best an unreliable source since Paul told us that “the creation was subjected to futility” with the fall of Adam (Rom 8:20-23). This would include our senses with which we perceive the world. We must never forget the noetic effects of sin. Noetic is drawn from the Greek word nous for mind which means that our minds don’t work the way they were created. We are fallen creatures with fallen minds and emotions.

Believers know what they know because God has revealed it. Scripture is referred to as “canon” not because we use it to blow people out of the water. “Canon” is taken from the Greek word meaning a measuring stick or ruler. What we believe, how we conduct ourselves in thought, word, and action must be measured by God’s self-revelation. The Reformation credo “Sola Scriptura,” Scripture alone, simply means that Scripture alone is authoritative and normative. It is authoritative because it is the final arbiter and normative because, just like the word sounds, it tells us what is normal in the eyes of God – it establishes the standard of correctness.

If we accept that revelation is the basis of our epistemology then how is the revelation given to us? Christ’s Church has held the position throughout its history that God has given us a record of His revelation in the sixty-six books known as the Bible. The Old Testament Scriptures were well established by the time of Christ and Jesus Himself verified the truth of these writings by quoting from them or referencing them in His teaching (Matt 5:17,18, 21,22; 11:17; Mark 7:6; Luke 24:13-27). Additionally, Scripture testifies to itself. 2 Tim 3:16,17 is very familiar and tells us that all Scripture is breathed out by God. Additionally, we have testimony from Peter that there was an awareness and acceptance that apostolic teachings and writings were inspired and authoritative (2 Peter 3:15,16).

However, we get a glimpse of Young’s view of Scripture early in the book. While Mack is pondering whether the invitation could really be from God he says, “In seminary he had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course. God’s voice had been reduced to paper and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects… Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book.”

To look outside Scripture for our knowledge of God is a mistake. Every assault on the true faith has started with a denial or diminishing of the authoritative and normative role of Scripture. Even while the apostles were still alive the Gnostics challenged the teachings of the apostles and prophets and attempted to replace them with their own writings. It is here where The Shack becomes an unreliable source and a work of fiction like any other.

Is it all bad? No. Is it all wrong? No. However, a half truth presented as a whole truth is an untruth. It is true with all books, but this one especially needs to be read critically and subjected to the canon – the measuring stick of Scripture



Have a spiritually profitable day.

Reverend, Pastor, man of the cloth,
Shepherd, (my beloved) Michael Anthony McGirk

Eastlake, Colorado

Proud charter member of the prestigious and distinguished ASOBI.
Association stomping out biblical ignorance

to be continued...LORD willing and the creek don't rise.

This blog includes but is not limited to...books and literature teaching/learning about God, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, church history, eschatology, arminianism, supralapsarianism, infralapsarianism, amyraldism, Reymond's modified supralapsarianism, the attributes of GOD, hermeneutics, biblical worldview, spirituality, calvinism, Christianity, ASOBI Association to Stomp Out Biblical Ignorance, church, faith, theology, tulip, prayer, religion, universal catholic church, church, bible, reformed faith, reformation, elect, culture, creation, fall, redemption, evolution, intelligent design, intellect, process of sanctification, grace, mercy, exegesis, Pastor, Reverend, Clergy, book critiques.

3 comments:

  1. Sandlin on “AVATAR”

    Arguably the most visually stunning movie ever made as well as the most anti-Christian major motion picture produced in years: cross-species-ism, gnosticism, New Age-ism, radical environmentalism, pantheism, and paganism.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Because the bo-admin and co state democRAT gov bill ritter put the beatdown on Amazon for affiliate program in Colorado not one penny has been profited from this (Amazon links) blog-just a helpful FYI. Have a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sadly, because the bo-admin and co state democRAT gov bill ritter put the beatdown on Amazon for affiliate program in Colorado not one shiny copper penny has been profited from this (Amazon links) blog-just a helpful FYI. Have a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete