Usually, midweek, I link to some sort of audio that I have listened to which might be interesting. Here are a couple of ideas for you…

Listen to the 1st message in John Piper’s new series on being born again. This was a wake up call to me personally as I pondered the ho-hum attitude of so many and the worldliness that exists within the church. I was convicted to do something pointing to the Biblical change the Gospel produces soon.

If you are in more of a Thanksgiving mood and maybe traveling looking for something fun to plug through an IPOD, Christian Audio is running a Thanksgiving special and have 10 free audiobooks to download for free…John Piper’s Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce would be excellent, as would The Legend of Squanto, a Radio Theatre Focus on the Family Production.

Enjoy!

I really enjoyed reading Thomas Chalmers’ sermon entitled The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. Chalmers hammers and hammers the truth of the Gospel into you as you read this. The first sentence is a theme oft-repeated in this work: “There are two ways in which to a practical moralist may attempt to displace from the human heart its love of the world; either by a demonstration of the world’s vanity, so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon simply to withdraw its regards from an object that is not worthy of it; or, by setting forth another object, even God, as more worthy of its attachment; so as that the heart shall prevailed upon, not to resign an old affection which shall have nothing to succeed it, but to exchange an old affection for a new one.” In other words, we can either preach against all the ways and reasons that worldliness is so horribly wrong in the life of a believer, or we can preach the remedy of the Gospel as the agent of change. He further states, “…in the Gospel do we so behold God as that we may love God. It is there, and there only, where God stands revealed as an object of confidence to sinners–and where our desire after Him is not chilled into apathy by the barrier of human guilt which intercepts every approach that is not made to Him through the appointed Mediator.” Summarizing toward the end of this great work, Chalmers says, “We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our heart than to keep in our hearts the love of God–and no other way by which to keep our hearts in the love of God, than by building ourselves on our most holy faith.”

These were definitely some incredible words to read. Too often we labor hard in Christian circles to decry and speak against all the manners of worldliness that seem to run rampant both within and without the church. Chalmers would say, rather than do that, labor to instill in the lives of your people strong affections rooted in the Gospel and God Himself. If your affections are here, then worldliness will not cohabitate long. This was an excellent insight. I encourage you to take time to read this work. It would be well worth it.

I have recently started buying many books through the Westminster Bookstore, which you can visit by clicking the above banner or the one to the right.

Why buy books through here?

1) There books are spiritually sound. When I am browsing books on Amazon, I usually have to be careful and make sure that I have a good foundation for something for which I am looking. At Westminster, I see the latest books that I need to read and can trust who is recommending them.

2) There are books you can’t get at Amazon available at Westminster. They have books published by Ligonier, Banner of Truth and some other publishing houses which Amazon doesn’t carry.

3) They have a section devoted to books by the CCEF. CCEF produces the Journal of Biblical Counseling as well as books by David Powlison, Paul Tripp and Ed Welch. These books are must reads for all Christians.

4) One low price of shipping. Their website boasts: “At Westminster Bookstore you pay one low fixed shipping charge no matter how many items you’ve ordered!” That is awesome!

5) Many books they offer include sample chapters online as PDF’s for free. This helps you to be confident in your decision.

I would heartily recommend you pay them a visit. Browse. Buy. Enjoy.

(Caution: Bibliophiles should use extreme caution when visiting this site.)

John Piper recently gave an address at ETS (the Evangelical Theological Society) related to his recent book The Future of Justification entitled Justification and the Diminishing Work of Christ. The audio, video and manuscript are online, thanks to the wonderful people at Desiring God.

Since this week is a week devoted to being thankful, and, since God’s Word says, “It is good to give thanks unto the Lord…” (Psalm 92:1), I thought it would be wise for us to use good communication to express thankfulness to God for our wives.

I remember being single. I remember the loneliness I felt going to my 2 bedroom apartment and wondering, “God are you ever going to take care of this area of my life?” God has blessed me, though, in spite of what I deserve. He has graced me with a wife that longs to serve, love and respect me. She wants me to lead and often exhorts me to do that. She is a great mother and has particular gifts to working with children. I am so grateful to God to be married to Meghan. I hope I live my life as a husband who is worthy of the stewardship God has entrusted to me and one who selflessly lays himself down for the good of his wife and family.

Thank you God, for my wife!

I have Elements, the church has the real program. Anyone know of any tips to learn how to use this more efficiently…?

Al Mohler gives some great recommendations on what the best story Bibles are and why.

My mom sent me a link to this website, in which you can find all the ads for Black Friday.

I was really helped by this workshop from the Gospel Coalition. Crawford Loritts and Lig Duncan do a Q & A on Preaching. It was very encouraging, challenging, and exhorting in the primary work of Gospel Ministry. Take advantage of this and other FREE audio available on the web.

Came across this quote by Paul David Tripp overheard by Phil Ryken:

“Your theology will not always move you in the direction of obedience because your use of theology is governed by the condition of your heart.”

Ryken deems this “as good a brief explanation as you will ever hear as to why Christians and churches with otherwise good theology sometimes disappoint.”

I couldn’t agree more…!