" ‘What if my master should come and find me idle?’ said Calvin to his friends, who demanded of him why he wasted his body in such constant labors. Few are like-minded so as to put this question to their souls, ‘Am I as I would wish to be should Christ come?’ " 

There is a concern among many that Pastor Keller has been influenced by, and is now promoting CSM, or contemplative spirituality and mysticism, which finds its roots in Roman Catholicism. The concern is a legitimate one, based not on a single instance, but a pattern. 

The publishing world sees very few books reach blockbuster status, but William Paul Young's The Shack has now exceeded even that. The book, at first self-published by Young and two friends, has now sold more than 10 million copies and has been translated into over thirty languages. 

From the recent sermon Jesus Without Sin, on Luke 4:1-13. 

A quote by Greg L. Bahnsen on the Word of God and apologetics: 

My thoughts on this statement often attributed to Francis of Assisi. 

Joe Holland has organised a group of people online to read through the Westminster Standards in 40 days. 

Nice summary from JMac. 

Sola5 Radio (brought to you by Covenant Radio) will now be going 24/7 with streaming of Reformed preaching, lectures and discussion, Bible reading, Psalms and sound hymns. Please get the new program guide from http://sola5.wordpress.com and tune in! Sneak Preview of the new format starts 7am EST 16-Jan; 24/7stream begins in earnest 18-Jan.  

I find this debate fascinating and very educational. 

A police officer I recently met was gracious enough to send me a long report on church safety. I’m passing it along in hopes it can be of help to all churches. 

The human species is inherently and resolutely religious. The Bible and the Christian tradition affirm this truth, even as we know that the religious impulse can so easily transform itself into idolatry. 

As someone who has worked briefly in Christian education, I am excited to see more attention being paid to pedagogy and its relationship to anthropology.  

The following simple juxtaposition is a sufficient reason.  

It is important to plan life. If not, life will plan itself for you. 

By Peter Leithart. 

"The effort to think like a Christian is...an effort to take seriously the sovereignty of God over the world he created..." 

One of my favorite passages from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity is his first chapter on Faith, which has gotten me through many of my doubting periods. One of my favorite parts of the passage is Lewis’ deference to reason. 

Hint: He's Russian. 

Helpful. 

By Ben Miller, OPC Franklin Square. This was a great sermon to hear in person and I have no doubt you will be encouraged and challenged by it. 

Sometimes, it is alleged, Bible readers read into the text of Scripture ideas that developed at a much later stage, and which, therefore, could not have been known or understood at the time when the text was first written.  

Roundup of some of the best posts from a great blog. 

My weekend reading has taken me to three very different, but equally worthwhile places. 

In 1993, my wife and I were involved in an historic train wreck. The crash of the Sunset Limited into an inlet from Mobile Bay killed more passengers than any Amtrak accident in history.