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God Is Better
We are people who always seek what is best and I offer to you, more accurately, God offers it to you. God offers you himself. He says, “Come to me, for I am the best” (Isa. 55:1-7). My life is about helping people see the supreme value of God, through Jesus Christ. He is better, so much better than anything with which you could compare him. He is better than scholarships or a GPA or a bachelor’s degree. He is better than independence or athleticism. He is better than everything—He is better. [Watch Entire Sermon Here.]
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Psychological Language Enters CSB Translation
Recently at Together for the Gospel 2018, Dr. Tom Schreiner announced that psychological language had made its way into the translation of the Christian Standard Bible 
(CSB). “Tonight, the passage Dr. Mohler used said ‘revilers’ but the Christian Standard Bible said, ‘verbally abusive’. I think that’s accurate; I think it’s a bit clearer to most contemporaries,” said Schreiner. Dr. Mohler referenced 1 Corinthians 5:1-6:11 in his plenary session on the Thursday night at Together for the Gospel, in which the verses of 5:11 and 6:10 translate the word, “λοίδορος.” Almost every other version of Scripture translates the word “λοίδορος” as “reviler” whereas the CSB uses “verbally abusive.” For the first time, psychological language is seeping its way into Bible translations.
Archeological Integrationism
As I write these words, I am sitting less than one mile from the Old City in Jerusalem. Yesterday my group spent 12 hours learning, walking, exploring, dare I say bustling through the Old City observing everything from the Holy Sepulchre to the Temple Mount. It was a combination of both culture shock and the collision of my faith with the historical details that have informed it for the past decade. As I prepared for this day, many said to me that I would never read the Bible in the same way. They were wrong: I will never approach my faith in Jesus, the Christ, in the same way. Yet, I still push back against archeological integrationism that necessitates this trip to inform my faith. (more…)
A Response to David Murray’s Misappropriation of Common Grace
David Murray has had much to say about biblical counseling within the past few years since assuming his teaching position at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in 2007. Of his publications, he has written mostly within the area of practical theology and now has placed himself within the biblical counseling movement. Most recently, in his article on The Gospel Coalition’s website, “How Biblical is Biblical Counseling?” he identified himself as a family member of the biblical counseling movement with some familial concerns.[2] His concerns have stimulated conversations within the biblical counseling movement of the nature and validity of the term biblical counseling.[3] His critique proved to be helpful in promoting clarity in what biblical does and does not mean as we use it within the context of biblical counseling. However, his article provided clarity in a way that was—most likely—not Murray’s intent. The reason being is that his article has encouraged biblical counselors to think well about their own position and, consequently, Murray’s misrepresentation of it.
John Owen’s Perspective on the Effects of Habits
John Owen’s Perspective on the Effects of Habits:
Habits Promote Sanctity of the Church
We had a light in this candlestick; which did not only enlighten the room, but gave light to others far and near.
—David Clarkson, Spoken of John Owen at Owen’s Funeral
In the wake of the English civil war, groups of clergy were ousted because of their seemingly anti-government teachings, ministry, and perspective. These men did not seek to overthrow the government, but rather to purify the church that had become so closely married to the government. Thus, in 1662 an edict was issued to provide standardization across the Church of England and that edict was the Act of Uniformity. It was declared that there would be uniformity in the sacraments, public prayer, and all of these changes were based on the Book of Common Prayer. However, these clergy members, given the pejorative title Puritan, refused to adhere to this new mandate and were ejected from every formal ministry or governmental position in England. This was the Great Ejection of 1662 in which some 2,000 plus clergy members forfeited their formal positions of ministry and government leadership because of a refusal to submit to the Act of Uniformity. One of these clergy members was John Owen—a faculty of Oxford, regular chaplain of Oliver Cromwell, and English clergymen. (more…)
2017 CDT Laguna Hills
The Call to All Christians:
Books that were referenced Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams, Theology of Biblical Counseling by Heath Lambert
Counseling Is An Every Member Ministry (Student’s Outline)
How Does Change Happen?
Books Referenced: Transformed into His Likeness; How does change happen (Student’s Outline)
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