Reforming My Mind

Great Multimedia Resources

2012-01-23T15:41:00.000-06:00

Here is a list of Reformed Christian Websites that offers a mega-warehouse of sermons, audio talks, videos and articles at your disposal.

In Case You Missed It #5

2012-01-23T15:38:00.000-06:00

This week I am preparing to go on my business trip to Orlando, Florida next weel. My wife and daughter will stay home. We checked on the prices for airfare, hotel and food and it was way out of our budget. Our Community group that we are leading will be preparing for our Reformation Party on October 28th. This will be our 3rd annual event. Reformation Day is celebrated on October 31st each year.

It is in rememberance of Martin Luther, who posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for posting important notices. Also, the theses were written in Latin, the language of the church, and not in the vernacular. Nonetheless, the event created a controversy between Luther and those allied with the Pope over a variety of doctrines and practices.
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Here are some articles and sermon audio that you might have missed:
Articles

Sermon Audio

In Case You Missed It #2

2012-01-23T15:31:00.003-06:00

Sinusitis

Bronchitis

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Here are few interesting Christian articles to read:

The Resurgence of Calvinism in America by J. Ligon Duncan. There is a reformed resurgence going on. It is young. It is vast. It stretches across at least the English speaking world. In Bible churches, Baptist churches, Independent churches and Charismatics churches. There is a fever for the glory of God that has gotten into the blood stream of a new generation. What is going on? Where did this come from?

The Truth About Canadian Health Care by Canadian Blogger Tim Challies. But what I do want to say is this: the truth about Canadian Health Care is that it’s really stinkin’ good. As a nation we are hard-wired to complain and we do tend to complain about our health system as we grumble about our politicians, hockey players and donuts. But we also like to boast and when we talk to Americans, one of the things we like to boast in most is the health care system (or the beer, depending on your personality type).

Hero Worship and Holy Emulation by John Piper. When I say media-driven attention, I am not mainly thinking about radio, TV, and newspapers. They are almost irrelevant. I mean Internet media. Most churches have websites. Sermons and articles and books are available. Often there is audio and video. Recently, for example, John MacArthur and Alistair Begg joined many others, including Desiring God, in making their online audio sermons free.

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Here are some good Homeschool articles to read and links to look at:

A Place for the Husband by Brenda at the Family Revisited blog. Dads get a bad rap on TV. Sitcoms as well as commercials depict husband/fathers as really big dolts who can't think past the end of their noses. And many women are really willing to agree that it is so in their life.

The New School Year: Planning Your Course and Letting the Lord Determine Your Steps Free E-Book PDF. This encouraging read will teach you how to find more time in your school schedule, plan for multi-level teaching, organize Mt. Schoolwork (that pile of loose paper and hoped-for plans) and will restore your passion for educating your children at home.

100 Best Blogs for Homeschooling Moms. The public school system isn’t for everyone. Some kids require special attention no classroom experience can provide. Whether your child is gifted or coping with learning disabilities, teaching at home caters to their specific needs. Check out these blogs perfect for homeschooling moms.

American Homeschool Association Blog and Journal. The American Homeschool Association has been serving homeschooling families with advocacy, support, information and networking since 1995.

The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child by Linda Dobson. Are your palms sweating? Are you shaking in your boots? Welcome to Your First Year of Homeschooling! And relax. Here it’s understood that you’re at least a little - or perhaps a lot - apprehensive about your ability to enjoy and succeed in homeschooling.

In Case You Missed It #3

2012-01-23T15:31:00.002-06:00

The last four days, my family went to my wife's aunt's cabin in Folsom, Oklahoma for an extended weekend for our 11th anniversary. We had a relaxing, peaceful time up there. The mornings were cool and crisp. We saw my wife's great-grandparents and her brother during this trip for they live in the area. We had ample time to pray to our Lord and read scriptures.
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While I was gone, there was new articles and MP3 sermons published in the Christian blogosphere that you might want to read and listen to.
Here are the articles:

Here are the sermons:
Albert Mohler - FamilyLife Today Radio Program:

Tackling Lust (Day 1 of 3)
Understanding Homosexuality (Day 2 of 3)
Developing a Healthy View of Sexuality in Your Kids (Day 3 of 3)
Knowing God's Truth (Day 1 of 2)
Grounding Your Kids in the Truth (Day 2 of 2)

The Desiring God 2009 National Conference - With Calvin in the Theater of God

John Piper - Jesus Christ as Denouement in the Theater of God
Samuel Storms - The Final Act in the Theater of God
Mark Talbot - The Broken Stage in the Theater of God
Marvin Olasky - The Secular Script in the Theater of God
Douglas Wilson - The Sacred Script in the Theater of God
Julius Kim - At Work and Worship in the Theater of God
Panel Discussion
A Conversation About Collision

Burk Parsons - The Reformed Forum

The Doctrine of Assurance

Dave Harvey

Grace Church - "Parenting in Weakness", 2 Corinthians 11:30-12:10
KingsWay Community Church - The Summit Men's Retreat

Mark Dever - Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Peter's Passion and Passing - 2 Peter 1:12-15

Knowing The Truth Radio Program

In Case You Missed It - Homeschool Edition #1

2012-01-23T15:31:00.001-06:00

My wife Becky and my daughter Kaylynn has started homeschooling for the first time in mid-August. My daughter is 5 1/2 years old and she is being taught her main kindergarten curriculum, 'My Father's World' as well as her 'Building Thinking Skills Primary' and 'Saxon Math' curriculum. She is learning new things everyday. My wife is a member of her support group, 'New Beginnings' and a member of her co-ops, 'For The Children's Sake' and 'Physical Education Play'. She has a few girlfriends who also homeschool their children to find additional support. My wife enjoys the blogsposts that I found for her about homeschooling and homesteading. So, I am now starting my homeschool edition of 'In Case You Missed It.'
Here are several homeschool posts that you might have missed:

In Case You Missed It #7

2012-01-23T15:31:00.000-06:00

I have made it back from my Orlando business trip last friday. The student employer conference was pretty good, met new associates from around the world. I spent most of my free time in Downtown Disney buying presents for my daughter and wife and eating dinner. Coming home, the airplane from Orlando to Houston never showed up due to a lightning strike. The plane got hit the night before, they couldn't repair it, they had to wait for a plane to leave from Paris, France, to Houston, Texas to us in Orlando, Florida. So I had to wait 8 hours at the Orlando airport and got to Houston around 11pm. Stayed overnight at the Houston airport's hotel and flew into College Station the next morning at 11am. This ordeal took 23 hours total. What a pain!
In the last week and a half, there has been many things that you might have missed:
Articles

Audio Sermons

Tim Keller Sermons Archive #1
Tim Keller Sermons Archive #2
Houston Boot Camp Audio is Up - Acts 29 Network
Gospel-Powered Parenting - Crosstalk America Radio Program
Gospel-Powered Parenting - Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Program
Gospel-Powered Parenting - Knowing The Truth Radio Program
Justification 1: Removing the Shackles - Mike Reeves, Theology Network
Justification 2: Union with Christ - Mike Reeves, Theology Network
Justification 3: Challenges Today - Mike Reeves, Theology Network
Justification 4: Beauty for the Bruised - Mike Reeves, Theology Network

In Case You Missed It - Homeschool Edition #5

2012-01-23T15:30:00.001-06:00

Over the last month, I have accumulated many homeschool blogpost links that are interesting to read. This is what I have found:
The Carnival of Homeschool Editions: #203, #204 and #205 are available. There are many homeschool blogposts in each hyperlink.
The Hands On Homeschool Blog Carnival has its #14 edition available.
Mary from the Caffeinated Thoughts blog wrote a post on History, Historically Repeats Itself.
Nikki from the ChoosyHomeschooler blog wrote a post on How Did We Go From 13 Colonies to 50 States? Who Were the Native Americans? Find Answers to These Questions and Learn More About Our Nation with This Fun, Interactive.
Crosswalk.com has several posts that are interesting to read:

Debbie from the Debbies Digest blog wrote a post on Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky Unit Study.
Amy from the Earnest Parenting blog wrote a post on 6 Tips to Get Your Child Reading.
Brenda from the Family Revised blog wrote a post on Character Education.
Heart of the Matter Online blog has several posts that are interesting to read:

In Our Write Minds blog has started a blog series on 10 stumbling blocks to writing. Here are the first five posts that have been posted so far:

Maureen from the Spell Out Loud blog has three Christmas posts that look interesting:

Carletta from the Successful Homeschooling blog has a post on Homeschool Holidays - Fun and Easy Ways to Celebrate Christmas.
Richele from the Under the Golden Apple Tree blog has a post on the World's Weirdest Animals Revealed Right Here!
Kris from the Weird Unsocialized Mom blog does her own Carnival-like posts, Homeschool Showcase. She has 36 posts so far.
Steve from the Walden's Wit blog has a post on Dealing With An Angry Heart.
Henry from the Why Homeschool blog has four interesting posts:

The Homeschool Post blog has published their Homeschool awards:

In Case You Missed It #11

2012-01-23T15:30:00.000-06:00

It has been a month since I have posted last. My family traveled during the Christmas break to see my wife's family in Oklahoma and my family in Colorado. We traveled through two ground blizzards and lost cell phone coverage through one of them in Kansas. Here is a picture of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado from my mom's porch.

Over the month of December and early January, I have found a lot of new sermons and older sermons to listen to. Here are some of the sermons:

Albert Mohler Radio Program

Joel Beeke

Heritage Netherlands Reformed • 516 sermons
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary • 17 sermons
Audubon Drive Bible Church • 4 sermons
Christ Church of the Carolinas • 2 sermons
Christ Fellowship Baptist Church • 2 sermons
Covenant Free Presbyterian Church • 1 sermons
Covenant OPC • 6 sermons
Emmanuel Church • 10 sermons
Faith Bible Church • 7 sermons
Faith Free Presbyterian Church • 1 sermons
First Reformed Presbyterian Church • 1 sermons
First RPC of Cambridge • 1 sermons
Fort Macleod Heritage Reformed Church • 2 sermons
Free Reformed Church of Grand Rapids • 1 sermons
Free Reformed Church of Pompton Plains • 2 sermons
Geneva Reformed Seminary • 1 sermons
Greenville Presbyterian Church • 2 sermons
Greenville Seminary & Mt. Olive • 31 sermons
Heritage Reformed Congregation of Jordan • 1 sermons
Hull Heritage Reformed Congregation • 2 sermons
Immanuel Baptist Church • 1 sermons
Knightswood Free Ch of Scotland (Cont) • 1 sermons
Los Angeles Reformed Presbyterian Church • 1 sermons
Pilgrim Covenant Church 朝圣者圣约教会 • 1 sermons
Presbyterian Church of Coventry • 4 sermons
Providence Free Reformed Church • 2 sermons
Reformed Baptist Church of Holland • 1 sermons
Still Waters Revival Books • 2 sermons
Stornoway Free Church of Scotland (cont) • 5 sermons
Trinity Baptist Church • 1 sermons
Westminster Presbyterian Church • 7 sermons
Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church • 4 sermons

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Program

Knowing The Truth Radio Program

Westminster Seminary California Office Hours

Greenville Seminary & Mt. Olive

Adrian Warnock

John Piper, speaking at the Village Church, Denton, TX

Subjected in Hope

Crosstalk America Radio Program

2012-01-23T15:29:00.005-06:00

Crosstalk America Radio Talk Show is heard each weekday on over 80 radio outlets across America and worldwide on the Internet. Crosstalk covers the issues that affect our world, our nation, our families and the Christian church from a perspective centered in the Word of God. Whether we discuss the economy, the political scene, the continuing moral collapse of our nation, legislation that affects the family, or the state of evangelicalism, our authority is found in the unchanging standard of the Holy Scriptures. Veteran co-hosts Dr. Vic Eliason, Jim Schneider, and Ingrid Schlueter have worked as a team for over 20 years to bring solid information to the body of Christ.
Over the last few years, they have interviewed many Christian leaders, here is a list below that is worth listening to:
Paul Washer

The True Gospel

Don Kistler

Ray Comfort

Conquer Your Fear, Share Your Faith: An Evangelism Crash Course

Bob DeWaay

William Farley

Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting

Albert Mohler

Desire and Deceit: The Real Cost of the New Sexual Tolerance

Timothy Paul Jones

Fathers and Husbands Leading Spiritually

Alan Cairns

Defending The Gospel

Peter Lillback

John MacArthur

A Tale of Two Sons

For Faith and Family Radio Programs

2012-01-23T15:29:00.004-06:00

For Faith and Family Radio Program missions is to awaken, inform, energize, equip, and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the Biblically-based transformation of their families, churches, communities, and the nation. Dr. Richard Land’s articulate and insightful discourse on today’s most pressing issues has created a grassroots following that is inspired, informed, and energized to preserve the distinctives that have made America great. He interviews many Christian leaders on his program.
Here are his interviews that are worth listening to:
Albert Mohler

Joshua Harris

Russell Moore

Adopted for Life

Ed Stetzer

Howard Hendricks

Os Guinness

Voddie Baucham

The PATH Impact News iView Interviews

2012-01-23T15:29:00.003-06:00

Like my last post, Chad Bresson of 'The PATH' continued with his interviews with Christian leaders where he left off with the 'Frontpage' interviews. The iView interviews highlight stories and issues of special concern to the follower of Christ, the iView reports encourage kingdom citizens to be Christ incarnate in the church and their communities.
Here are the full interviews that are worth listening too:
Christopher Wright

Full Interview

Ed Stetzer

Full Interview 3/04/2009
Full Interview 6/26/2009

Albert Mohler

Full Interview

Jerram Barrs

Full Interview

Douglas Wilson

Full Interview 12/09/2009
Full Interview 12/16/2009
Full Interview 1/20/2010

The PATH Christian Radio FrontPage Interview Programs

2012-01-23T15:29:00.002-06:00

Highlighting stories and issues of special concern to the follower of Christ, the PATH FrontPage interview program encourages kingdom citizens to be Christ incarnate in the church and their communities. FrontPage provides a kingdom perspective to the events and issues of our own redemptive history. The radio program ran from January 2003 to February 2009.
Here are many interviews worth listening to:
Ken Sande

Peacemaking for families

R. C. Sproul

Joseph Stowell

The Trouble With Jesus

Michael Horton

Onward Christian Soldiers?

Randy Alcorn

Walter Kaiser Jr.

Studying the Old Testament

Donald A. Carson

Staley Lecture series at Cedarville University

Alistair Begg

Kirk Cameron

Albert Mohler

James R. White

Scripture Alone

John MacArthur

Gregory K. Beale

Justin Taylor

Reclaiming the Center

Josh McDowell

The Difficulty of Evangelism

John Piper

Vern Poythress

The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy

Howard Hendricks

How to Keep the Elephants Off Your Air Hose

Gene Veith

God at Work

Os Guinness

Unspeakable: Facing Up to Evil in an Age of Genocide and Terror

Russell Moore

Derek Thomas

God's Sovereignty and Times of Crisis

Philip Graham Ryken

The Heart of the Cross

Mark Dever

Paul D. Tripp

Voddie Baucham

Samuel Storms

Michael Haykin

In Case You Missed It - Homeschool Edition #6

2012-01-23T15:29:00.001-06:00

It has been two months since I wrote a homeschool edition post. A lot has happen in my home as well as in the homeschool blogosphere. My wife has done unit studies on cows, horses, elephants and penguins from My Father's World curriculum. My daughter enjoyed her science curriculum as well. She has done a water density experiment with baking soda and oil. My wife and daughter participates in a homeschool coop on Fridays. My wife teaches the '5 in a row' class for 5 and 6 year olds. My daughter attends the Veggie-tale Character Trait Class, Lego's Creative Class and my wife's class. My wife and daughter had many opportunities for socialization the last two months. My daughter is involved in her dance class on Mondays. Both of them met a new homeschool family in our church and visited them at their place for the first time. My wife and daughter are involved in physical education coop with other kids on Fridays.
In the homeschool blogosphere, there are many interesting posts that homeschool parents have wrote. Here are the blog carnivals that I have collected in my Bloglines worth reading:
Blog Carnivals

Here are some homeschool articles that are worth reading:

In Case You Miss It #12

2012-01-23T15:29:00.000-06:00

There has been some new sermons, audio talks and articles that are worth listening to and reading.
Here are the sermons:
Samuel Storms

Dave Harvey

Parenting in Weakness

Donald Whitney

Spiritual Disciplines for Progress in Godliness

Jerry Bridges

Gospel Enemy #1: Self-Righteousness

Covenant Life Church

Joel Beeke

Contagious Sacrificial Submission

Derek Thomas

J. Ligon Duncan

Luke Series

Southern Seminary Chapel

Here are the Audio Talks:
Reformed Forum

The Paul Edwards Program

Knowing The Truth Radio Program

Bethinking.org

Here are some articles:

Friendship MP3 Sermons

2012-01-23T15:28:00.001-06:00

A few years ago, I did a post on this topic. The church where I was going to at that time was thriving with a lot of people but I was struggling with friendships there. I had quite a few acquaintances but very little in close friends outside of my wife. Earlier in my Christian life, I pursued friendships because that was one of my core values. Over the years, I struggled in pursuing friendships with others because of the lack of reciprocation I got from them. Taking the initiative is not always easy when you feel it is in vain. I found many people do not want to pursue me. I remember one person even question my motives of wanting friends. Outside of my wife, daughter and family members, who wants to know me, who really cares about me? I struggled a lot 2 years ago because of the loss of my daughter, a lot of those acquaintances came, did their thing in grief in encouraging me and my family, and then went away. The few friends I had, stuck with me over the years, but, because of busyness and life, couldn't always be there.
Over the course of my Christian life, I have to learn to trust in Jesus, to know him as a friend. This process of sanctification is not easy, especially since our Lord is invisible to our eyes. God is a provider, but there has been many times where I don't trust him and pray to him to provide fellowship for me. He says in his word to ask him and he will provide. The problem with me is that I don't ask. This is hard and humbling.
Thankfully, God has provided audio resources for me and for us to listen to so that we can be strengthen by faith. Here is what I have found:
Gary Inrig

Quality Friendship - PDF and Audio

Paul Tripp

Being a Friend Who Can Make a Difference

Covenant Life Church

Monergism MP3 Library

Community & Friendship Page

Sermon Audio

Friendship Page

FamilyLife Today Radio Program Audio Talks

2012-01-23T15:28:00.000-06:00

Changed lives. That's what people discover after engaging with FamilyLife–their lives and marriages are changed dramatically for the better.
And that's the mission of FamilyLife – to help people change the world one home at a time. Created on the principle that the family provides the foundation for society, the ministry offers a wide range of tools to help families become stronger. Tools that help you communicate more lovingly and effectively. Tools that help you rekindle the romance. Tools that help you become the very best parent you can be. By offering tools for change, FamilyLife empowers people to live in love instead of in anger. And thus the world is changed, one home at a time.
FamilyLife is committed to helping people know and apply the biblical blueprints for maintaining a God-honoring marriage and raising children to become responsible adults.
To learn more about FamilyLife Today, here are some topics to choose from:

Our Mission

Our History

Our Tools

Here are some talks from various speakers at Family Life Today Radio Program:
Dave Harvey

C. J. Mahaney

Surrendering All to God w/Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Diana Green
Keep the Gospel in Your Daily Grip
No Condemnation
Attitude
Appearance
Allegiance
How a Man Should Romance His Wife
Solomon's Song of Songs w/Tommy Nelson, Dennis Rainey

Joshua Harris

Patience and Endurance
When Boy Meets Girl (Day 1 of 3)
When Boy Meets Girl (Day 2 of 3)
When Boy Meets Girl (Day 3 of 3)
The Purity Challenge
Finding the Power to Change
Special Web Only Audio
The Cost of Sexual Purity
The Benefit of Sexual Expression in Marriage
Keeping Your Marriage Sacred

Albert Mohler

Bruce Ware

Bryan Chapell

Matt Chandler

Michael Haykin

Mark Driscoll

Act Like Men
Building and Protecting Your Marriage and Family
Saved Through Motherhood, Part 1 (Day 1 of 2)
Saved Through Motherhood, Part 2 (Day 2 of 2)

Russell Moore

Voddie Baucham

David Powlison

Jerry Bridges

John MacArthur

John Piper

Parental Rights, Homeschooling, Fatherhood and Prayer

2011-08-27T14:09:00.001-05:00

All those things sounds awesome, but for one father in Texas, it has been extremely hard the last few years. He became a single father a few years ago, his wife died of cancer or related disease, his wife's parents got a judge to declare the father wasn't fit to raise their granddaughter, they got custody of his daughter for the last 3 years. They have fought the father in court basically making him broke and have him give up fighting for his rights to custody of his daughter. Read the story and outcome through these links.

God and the Weather #7

2011-06-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

The State of Texas is currently experiencing the 3rd worst drought on record. John Nielsen-Gammon, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University, who also serves as state climatologist, says that at least 50 percent of the state is designated as being in an “exceptional drought,” the highest level, and many parts of Texas are anywhere from 10 to 20 inches behind in rainfall. Some parts of the state have received less than six inches of rain since last summer and some of the state’s lakes are 30 to 40 feet below normal lake levels. “People keep asking if this is the worst drought in the history of Texas, and the answer is not yet,” Nielsen-Gammon explains. “The years 1918 and 1956 were worse, but of the 20 worst May droughts in Texas history, we currently rank third.” Reliable record keeping began in Texas in 1895, he points out.

Here in Bryan/College Station, God has blessed us with two evenings of thundershowers this last week. The weather almanac at KBTX television station said we receive less than .40 inches of rain total. Not much, but it is better than nothing. These thundershowers were unique because those clouds moved east to west over the sky instead of the common west to east in the northern hemisphere. The clouds in the southern hemisphere like in Argentina moves from east to the west. A good example of this was made by Discovery Channel and Tornadovideos.net.

Elihu in the Book of Job in the bible said many things about the nature of God and God's ways of doing things towards Job that relates to weather. Here are some of the things Elihu said about God and questions that Elihu asked Job to ponder.

Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable. For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly. Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion? Behold, he scatters his lightning about him and covers the roots of the sea. For by these he judges peoples; he gives food in abundance. He covers his hands with the lightning and commands it to strike the mark. Its crashing declares his presence; the cattle also declare that he rises. Job 36:26-33
Keep listening to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth. After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard. God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour. He seals up the hand of every man, that all men whom he made may know it. Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens. From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen. “Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God. Do you know how God lays his command upon them and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? Do you know the balancings or hoverings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge, you whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind? Job 37:2-17

God himself spoke to Job in a whirlwind. God challenged Job's pride and arrogance that he can questioned God's nature and God's counsel because of the circumstances and sufferings that Job faced throughout the Book of Job. These questions by God are designed to put Job back in his place, to shut his mouth and to humble himself before God. Here are the questions God said to Job:

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass? “Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together? Job 38:22-30, 34-35, 37-38

In the end of the Book of Job, the Lord blessed Job and restored his wealth, his extended family showed him sympathy and comforted Job because of all the disasters that the Lord had brought upon him. The Lord blessed him with 10 additional children which those children borne his grandchildren and then his great grandchildren of which he saw with his own eyes. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

God and the Weather #6

2011-05-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

The month of May will go down in history as producing the worst, the most devastating tornado since the early 1950's in Joplin, Missouri. Many lives were lost and much of the town was destroyed. In Oklahoma, that state experienced a superoutbreak of tornadoes as well. I followed many storm chasers live-streaming videos as they give commentary and close-up of tornadic cells including this one.

Here are some new sermons about storms and tornadoes:

Horrific as all this weather is, what is the God's view in the bible? So far as we read verses from Genesis to 2 Chronicles; we see the weather was used as a sign to hard-hearted people that their sin was great and God was judging them; we remember when Benaiah, a doer of good deeds, struck down his enemies on a day that snowed; we see it when there was a famine and it didn't rain because of King Saul's sin and the Israelites sin during King Ahab's time and lastly we see it when people repent, God sends the rain.

Now we turn to the bible below to continue to see what God's view of the weather. In the passages below, we see that the weather reflects God's wisdom and knowledge and mankind's ignorance in how the weather was created.

Ezra

Heavy Rain

Nehemiah and Esther has no weather-related terms.

Job

God and the Weather #5

2011-05-08T11:19:00.001-05:00

Tornado Update From The Associated Press: "Washington - Preliminary government estimates say there were more tornadoes in a single day last week than any other day in U.S. history. Government analysts said Monday there were 362 tornadoes during last week's outbreak, including a record-setting 312 in one 24-hour period. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the largest previous number on record in one event occurred from April 3-4, 1974, with 148 tornadoes. NOAA says 340 people were killed during the 24-hour-period from 8:00 am Wednesday to Thursday. It was the deadliest single day for tornadoes since the March 18, 1925, tornado outbreak that had 747 fatalities across 7 states."

What an amazing storm system that was! Thankfully, a lot of people are helping out the citizens of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee with food, water, clothing and money. Our church is collecting money to help people in Alabama and Georgia.

Pastor John MacArthur wrote several sermons that referenced to the weather over the last 40 years. Some of the references are about discernment, judgment, and the end times. Here are those sermons:

Today, we turn to 1&2 Samuel, here we found a few scriptural references to the weather in which the Lord uses with his people:

Next, we look at 1&2 Kings, here are some more scriptural references:

Lastly, we look at 1&2 Chronicles, here are those scriptural references:

Rain
Famine

God and the Weather #4

2011-05-01T09:08:00.000-05:00

This last week will go down in the history books as the worst Superoutbreak of tornadoes since April 3-4, 1974. From April 26-28, tornadoes were spawned in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama. Countless lives were lost to these storms. Many homes and businesses were devastated. On April 26th, 105 tornadoes were reported, on April 27th, 263 tornadoes were reported and on April 28th, 14 tornadoes were reported by the Storm Prediction Center.

At the beginning of the week, I had my first opportunity to do some storm spotting of local Texas weather since becoming an official Skywarn Storm Spotter back in March. Here are a few photos that I took in Teague, Texas.

Here is the video of the storm I took pictures of from above.

Here are some photo links from different websites from the April 26-28 storms:

Here are some video links from different websites from the April 26-28 storms:

Now we shift to what the bible says about God and the Weather. In all the scriptural references below, God relates to his people in a variety of ways:

He guides his people in the way to go and he protects them from the heat
He makes his presence is known to his people
He provides food to his people
If his people obeys his commands, God blesses them with rain, if they disobey his commands, God curses them with drought
God destroys his enemies with hailstones
He causes his people to relocate because of famine.

In the book of Leviticus, there is no weather-related terms. In the book of Numbers we find that God related to His people through:

Clouds
Wind

In the book of Deuteronomy we find that God related to His people through:

Rain
Cloud

In the book of Joshua we find that God related to His people through:

Hail

In the book of Judges , there is no weather-related terms. In the book of Ruth we find that God related to His people through:

Famine

God and the Weather #3

2011-04-20T18:46:00.000-05:00

Hopefully in the series so far, we see evidence that God controls the weather. Despite what scientists have said in the last 50 years about man-made Global warming or cooling, the scriptures testify that God controls the weather. John Piper has written numerous articles and blog posts on natural disasters, especiall weather-related disasters that point to God. Rev. Allen Baker wrote about natural disasters in his recent article, The Ways and Whys of Almighty God.

Today, we turn to the Book of Exodus for scriptures that point to God, who controls the weather.

Exodus 9:16-19, 23-25 - But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them...Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.;There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.
Exodus 14:21-22 - Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Exodus 19:9,16 - And the Lord said to Moses, "“Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever...On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled." God giving the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 20:18-19 - Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” God's presence being known to the Israelites.

God and the Weather #2

2011-04-16T09:09:00.001-05:00

The last two days, the southern states experienced severe weather. There was high winds, rain and tornadoes. There was lives and property lost to the weather in those states. One tornado was a few miles north of my mother-in-law in southern Oklahoma. This tornado eventually hit Tushka, Oklahoma. See Video.

At the same time, northwest Texas has multiple brush fires that has been burning for several days. The smoke from the fires has reached where I live here in College Station. See Picture.

This week, several area farmers has asked the members of their community to come together to pray for rain.

They have organized a prayer rally tomorrow afternoon and expect the citizens to bring umbrellas.

So what do we make of droughts and tornadoes? Does these weather events come from the hand of God or some impersonal force?

Let's continue exploring the Book of Genesis.

Genesis 19:24-25 - (God's judgment on sinners) Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Genesis 27:28 (Jacob receives blessing) May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
Genesis 27:39 (Esau receives cursing) Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.
Genesis 41:25-32 (God causes the famine) Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.

God and the Weather #1

2011-04-12T20:06:00.001-05:00

Currently, Brazos County, Texas of which I reside, is in the worst case of drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. According to our local television station, we have not had substantial rain since September of 2010. The government climatologists predict that we will stay in this drought through the end of June at least. Humanly speaking, there is not much hope that the weather will change. But...there is hope in God.

The Holy Bible is full of scriptures that point to our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, who controls the weather. Apostle Paul says of Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:16-17, "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." All things includes the weather.

So, I will be going through all of the books of bible and finding scriptures that point to God and Him controlling weather. When looking through the scriptures, we find God has different motives behind Him controlling the weather, sometimes the motives are redemptive to save His people and sometimes the motives are a judgment against sin and rebellion towards God.

With all of this in mind, does Jesus Christ control our weather today? I believe he does because the scriptures says so. What should our response be if He is still controlling the weather today? The immediate answer is to be thankful, stop complaining and to pray to God to change the weather. To find a more thought-out answer, we need to reflect on His motives more...and that we should do when we turn to the scriptures.

Genesis

Genesis 1-2 speaks of God being the creator of the universe, planet Earth, the seas, the dry land, all the vegetations, animals and the our first parents, Adam and Eve.
Genesis 2:5-6 - When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground.
Genesis 6-8 -And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth...For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die...For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually.”
Genesis 9:12-16 - And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
Genesis 12 speaks about the first recorded drought which caused a famine. "Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land."

To be continued...

Coffee Studies - Love it or hate it

2011-03-15T19:12:00.001-05:00

I love coffee. I enjoy the taste and the smell. I have enjoyed it since I was in college 20 years ago. Over the last 20 years, the medical and scientific communities either will praise its health benefits or complain that it will make you die from some terrible disease. Either way, I still enjoy it.

Here are some benefits that drinking coffee will help you live longer:

Here are some complaints that drinking coffee will help you die faster:

Oklahoma Conference on Reformed Theology MP3 Sermons

2011-02-20T08:25:00.001-06:00

The Oklahoma Conference on Reformed Theology is a yearly conference highlighting the doctrines of the reformation, hosted by central Oklahoma churches. From 2002 to the present, they have a guest speaker come to the conference to speak about the reformed faith, cultural christianity and the five solas.

Here are the guest speakers that preached at this conference each year, their sermons are in each link.

Kenneth Samples MP3 Sermons

2011-02-05T22:35:00.001-06:00

Kenneth Samples serves as the vice president of philosophical and theological apologetics at Reasons To Believe, a Christian apologetics organization located in southern California. Ken teaches a weekly adult class at Christ Reformed Church and occasionally conducts the afternoon Lord's Day worship service. An experienced teacher and educator, he has taught courses in philosophy and religion at several different colleges and universities, and presently serves as an adjunct instructor in apologetics and philosophy at Biola University and at Providence Christian College.

Kenneth worked as Senior Research Consultant and Correspondence Editor at the Christian Research Institute (CRI) for nearly seven years, where he was a regular co-host of the popular call-in radio program the Bible Answer Man. An avid speaker and debater, he has appeared on numerous radio programs across the country, including Religion On the Line, The White Horse Inn, Talk New York, Issues Etc, Stand to Reason, Apologetics.com, the Frank Pastore Show, Creation Update, and the Bob Grant Show. He has participated in debates and dialogues on various apologetics related issues including the existence of God, Catholic/Protestant doctrinal issues, and the nature of divine punishment.

Here is Kenneth Samples blog, Reflections.

Kenneth Samples has several podcasts that he is apart of:

Here are the sermons that I have found online:

Apologetics 315 Blog

Christ Reformed Church

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Program

Stand To Reason Radio Program

March 16th, 2008

Issues, Etc. Radio Program

Calvary Chapel, Murrieta, CA

Made in the Image of God

Azuza Pacific University

A World of Difference (ITunes only)

Center for Faith and Science International

Without a Doubt

Gospel Coalition

Sermon Archive

St. John's Church

Good Reasons to Believe

In Case You Missed It #16

2011-01-16T10:44:00.002-06:00

Here is the latest edition of 'In Case You Missed It'. I have celebrated my birthday this week. My wife surprised me by arranging for me to hang out with my guy friends yesterday. Me and seven of my guy friends went to see the movie, 'The Green Hornet', and then went to dinner at J. Cody's Steakhouse. The movie had a lot of cussing in it and the hero of the story wasn't much of a hero, which was a disappointment on both parts. Most comic book heroes that I know were more humble in their own eyes but this character's flaw was his vanity and made much of himself over his sidekick. At the steakhouse, we had a fun time of talking about storm chasing, Doctor Who, God's call, seminaries, one of my friends saving a girl from choking on the highway earlier in the afternoon and football. Its was a fun time of fellowship and food.

I have collected some Westminster Bookstore deals, sermons and articles that came up recently that you may have missed. Here are those things:

Westminster Bookstore deals (click on cover)

Sermons

Articles

New Year's Audio Sermons

2010-12-29T17:13:00.001-06:00

Over the years, I have noticed a lot of sermons that were preached on New Year's Eve and Day, Most of those sermons focused on goals, resolutions, prayer, self-evaluation and knowing God's will.

Here are some sermons that I have found that deals with those topics:

Joshua Harris

Teach Us To Number Our Days - Psalm 90

John Piper

John MacArthur

Escondido United Reformed Church

Matt Chandler

Park Cities Presbyterian Church

Joel R. Beeke

Charles Spurgeon

Albert N. Martin

Christmas Gift Idea - How about a book?

2010-12-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

Westminster Theological Seminary Bookstore has many books on-sale this Christmas season. There are many topics to choose from. Here are a list of them:

Communication and Speech MP3 Sermons

2010-12-18T20:52:00.002-06:00

What is the trouble of our talk?

For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45)

Christ teaches us in this passage that we live out of our hearts. What does the Bible mean by the word "heart"? It means the causal core of your personhood. It is your directional system, your steering wheel. Your behavior isn't caused by the situations and relationships outside of you. It's caused by the way your heart reacts to those things.

Word problems aren't vocabulary or technique problems. They are heart problems. Christ uses the example of the tree. Apple trees are apple-istic all the way down, a principle of organic consistency. We want to think that our problem is outside of us rather than inside of us. But that is a very dangerous heresy, because when you can convince yourself of that, you quit being a seeker after the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. You must come to admit that you are your greatest communication problem.

Much of what we do in our attempts to change communication is nothing less than trying to nail apples onto a fruitless tree. You may get it to look authentic and good for a little while, but those apples will soon rot and the tree will be fruitless again next year.

It's only when you stand before your Redeemer and are humbly willing to say, regardless of the flawed people you live among, "I am my greatest communication problem," you are heading in a direction of fundamental change. Source: Desiring God

Here are some audio sermons on our communication and speech:

Desiring God Ministries

Shalom Church Singapore

Tedd Tripp - God's Talk, Our Talk series

Paul Tripp Ministries

John MacArthur

Don Kistler

The Christian Tongue series

Sermon Audio

The Gospel Coalition

Kim Riddlebarger

James 3:1-12 "It Boasts of Great Things"

Thanksgiving Audio Sermons

2010-11-22T22:03:00.002-06:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving is an annual one-day holiday to return thanks for the abundant blessings of God. Traditionally held at the close of the harvest season, it has been designated in the US (since 1941) on the fourth Thursday of November and in Canada on the second Monday in October. These annual celebrations have their history rooted in harvest festivals and feasts celebrated by early settlers and explorers and particularly in the well-documented Thanksgiving held by the colonists at Plymouth in 1621.

Here are the Thanksgiving audio sermons and talks that I have found:

John MacArthur

John Piper

Thanksgiving Sermons

Escondido United Reformed Church

Issues, Etc. Radio Program

Christ United Reformed Church

Kevin DeYoung

Aisquith Presbyterian Church

Park Cities Presbyterian Church

Joel Beeke

Phillip Ryken

Sermon Audio

Thanksgiving Sermons

Douglas Wilson

Deep Peril, Deep Thanksgiving (Dt. 28:45-49)

Family Worship Resources

2010-11-13T10:38:00.002-06:00

It's time to jump on the bandwagon. It seems in the last few years, especially the last few months, a renewed interest in family worship has happen. Family worship has been around since the writing of the bible. Scottish Presbyterians wrote the "Directory of Family Worship" in 1647, since then, Puritans and Christians from each generation forward to our present has written books and articles on the subject. In our generation, we not only have books and articles available, we also have recorded sermons as well.

It is my intention in this post to provide the links to some of these resources. There will be many more resources I cannot cover.

Here are some of the books on the subject:

Here are some of the articles on the subject:

Here are some of the audio talks on the subject:

Covenant Radio Audio Programs

2010-11-06T07:47:00.002-05:00

The purpose of Covenant Radio is to bring people in the Church to a place where they think through various doctrines so that they may understand what they teach and are able to deal with them on a more personal level. It does seem to be a valid observation that many in the Church today are unable to adequately define and defend their own theological views. The goal, therefore, is to offer people a source and wealth of information so that one may be assisted in knowing what they truly believe. Covenant Radio’s desire is to present a number of issues, both theological and practical in nature, to help people move their thinking to a higher level.

The hosts of Covenant Radio are Reformed in their theology and Presbyterian in Church government. The doctrinal position of the program stems from the Westminster Confession of Faith . This does mean, however, that the hosts of the program will not deal with issues that are beyond the Westminster Confession however it will always do that in the light of the Orthodox Christian faith contained within the ecumencial creeds of the Church. Covenant Radio has their own blog as well.

Covenant Radio archives yearly all their radio programs:

Here are some notable radio programs that might interest you:

In Case You Missed It #15

2010-10-09T11:37:00.001-05:00

Fall is here, the weather is getting better here in Texas, it has been a lot cooler and enjoyable. It's has been in mid 80's and lows in the 50's. Now we can come out of homes for the temperatures are not in the high 90's and 100's and the lows in the high 70's as it was in August. Me and my wife has been walking more outside so that we can enjoy the weather more.

My wife has been in full swing with homeschooling our daughter. Our daughter has been enjoying her math, science and art the best. She still struggles with her writing though. I have enjoyed coming home from work to see our daughter's progress.

Our church has been going through the Epistle of Galatians this fall. Through our pastor's teaching, we have been growing in our understanding of the gospel and how it applies to our lives. We also go to one of our church's life groups, which is a home group, where we break down the passage that we learn on Sunday and find more meaningful ways of applying to our daily lives.

In the Christian blogosphere, there has been many new audio talks, videos and helpful articles that have been published. My Google reader is busting at the seams everyday. Here below are some of the things that I have come across.

Articles

Videos

Audio

Best of Reformed Forum Audio Sermons

2010-09-27T15:23:00.001-05:00

The Reformed Forum is a reformed theology media network. The forum seeks to serve the church by providing content dedicated to issues in reformed theology. To do so, the Reformed Forum offers several podcasts and blogs and has incorporated them into an integrated network. As an organization, we subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith as adopted by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. However, guests on our programs may or may not subscribe to the standards.

The Reformed Forum has many different programs to choose from:

There has been many different bible teachers that has appeared on these programs, here are some notables ones to listen to:

Best of Sydney Anglican Network Audio Sermons

2010-09-25T10:14:00.001-05:00

The Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church is a Christian denomination that bases its beliefs and practices firmly on the Bible. You can investigate what the Bible teaches about God, His Son Jesus and our need for a relationship with him by visiting Christianity.net.au. Important to our life here in Sydney is our mission:

“To glorify God by proclaiming our saviour the Lord Jesus Christ in prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit, so that everyone will hear his call to repent, trust and serve Christ in love, and be established in the fellowship of his disciples while they await his return.”

Our aim is to see ten per cent of the people of Sydney in Bible-based churches in 10 years. You can learn more about our mission by clicking here. We seek your prayers as we strive to serve God and make him known. - Dr Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of NSW.

Here are the audio sermons of various speakers:

Peter Jensen

Barry Webb

Dick Lucas

Donald A. Carson

John Stott

J. I. Packer

Jerry Bridges

The holiness of God - Isaiah 6 and 40

Phillip Jensen

R. C. Sproul

Timothy Keller

Best of 'The Proclamation Trust' MP3 Sermons

2010-09-24T20:37:00.002-05:00

In the summer of 1981, 40 men engaged in a preaching ministry gathered at a conference centre (Fairmile Court) in Surrey for a conference on 'expository preaching'. Dick Lucas, then Rector of St Helen's, Bishopsgate and Jonathan Fletcher his curate (now minister of Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon) held this conference with the aim of examining and learning what particular Bible texts actually say. Residential conferences continued informally and proved extremely popular, and in 1984 it was decided to hold a larger non-residential conference, which became known as the Evangelical Ministry Assembly (EMA). From small beginnings the EMA now attracts almost 1000 delegates involved in ministry, and speakers from all over the world have included Don Carson, John Chapman, Os Guiness, Jim Packer, John Stott, Phillip Jensen, Sinclair Ferguson and Tim Keller. In May 1986 The Proclamation Trust was formed officially, in gratitude to God for the 25 years which Dick Lucas had spent teaching the Bible from the St Helen's pulpit. Since 1986, The Proclamation Trust has existed to encourage ministry that seeks above all to teach the Bible as God's Word relevant for today.

Here are the sermons of various speakers who spoke at 'The Proclamation Trust' conferences:

Wayne Grudem's Faith and Politics MP3 Series

2010-09-16T12:25:00.009-05:00

Dr. Wayne Grudem of the Phoenix Seminary has completed his 'Politics According To The Bible' book and it is being sold starting this month. At his church, Scottsdale Bible Church, he has been teaching his Christian Essentials class on Faith and Politics.

Here are the available online MP3 classes he has taught as of 10/28/10, more will follow throughout the year:

The Hendrick's Family In Haiti

2010-09-15T12:30:00.008-05:00

Aaron and Heather Hendrick and their children have moved to Haiti less than 1 month ago. They are one of our families from New Life Baptist Church that were called and went to be missionaries over this last year. They have been to Haiti before on short-term missions with our parent and sister churches. In the last month, they have been blogging their everyday life, sharing with their blog audience their culture shock about transitioning from living like Americans to living like Americans living in Haiti. They share the highs and lows in loving God and loving their new neighbors and doing dishes.

Here are the posts from Aaron Hendrick, Mosaic Village blog.

Here are the posts from Heather Hendrick, Sit a Spell blog.

Best of Bethinking.org MP3 Sermons

2010-09-05T21:38:00.001-05:00

Bethinking.org aims to bring together the best possible resources for thinking about and communicating the Christian faith. Its goal is to help to prepare all Christians to provide an answer to those who deny the truth of Christianity. Whether that’s answering the attacks of Richard Dawkins, discussing our faith with a Muslim colleague or chatting about the latest episode of Doctor Who with a neighbour, bethinking.org aims to provide you with talks and articles that stimulate you to think about your faith and its relation to the world and culture around us, and then to show how Christianity is not only true, but provides the answers to life’s biggest questions.

Here are the best of Bethinking.org sermons that I have come across:

Best of Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU) Audio Sermons

2010-09-01T12:00:00.001-05:00

We are excited about CICCU because it is all about the gospel. If you haven't come across the term 'gospel' before, then it's simply the good news of what God has done for us in his Son, Jesus Christ. We are convinced that God is at work in the world today and his plan is for people from every nation to come to hear the gospel and know the Lord Jesus. What's more, as a bunch of Christians from different churches we believe that God has placed us here in Cambridge University with a part to play in that big plan. We have found life in Jesus and are passionate about others finding life in Him also, but we also know that it can be hard standing for Jesus on our own and so that's why we've come together. We see ourselves as a mission team – and those 2 words are the key to what we're about. CICCU is just a bunch of Christian students who have come together for a mission – to get the good news of Jesus Christ out to Cambridge University. We are Christians from a wide range of churches and countries, who unite together around the gospel, for the purpose of sharing the gospel with fellow-students. We believe unity has to be unity in the gospel because it was through the gospel that we became Christians in the first place.

Here are the various audio/video series available:

Here are the best audio archives available:

Best of Theology Network MP3 Sermons

2010-08-28T19:14:00.001-05:00

Theology Network exists to equip you with top quality theological resources - both articles and audio talks. We believe that Christian theology is the most exciting thing possible since it’s simply about knowing God better. Theology Network is an initiative of UCCF: The Christian Unions, an interdenominational evangelical movement in the UK. Theology Network adheres to UCCF's doctrinal basis which outlines the foundational truths of Christianity, but outside of these seeks to be generous and non-partisan.

Here are the best of Theology Network sermons I have come across:

William Edgar

Audio Talks

Wayne Grudem

Audio Talks

Terry Virgo

Audio Talks

Donald A. Carson

Audio Talks

Jerram Barrs

Art and the Artist's Vocation: A Biblical Doctrine of Creativity

Carl Trueman

Audio Talks

Donald McLeod

The Cross

Mike Reeves

Audio Talks

In Case You Missed It #14

2010-08-14T15:02:00.004-05:00

Here are some interesting articles and posts that I have found around the web that I like to bring to your attention. Have a great weekend!

Paul Douglas Weather Column: 104 Tornado Reports in Minnesota so far in 2010(!)

Evangelical Outpost: 33 Things - This week’s amusing and intriguing links

Cranach: The Blog of Veith: Pardon Billy the Kid?

Apologetics 315: D. A. Carson’s The God Who Is There MP3 Series

First Presbyterian Jackson MS: Practical Suggestions for Developing and Maintaining Good Marriage Relationships

Desiring God Ministries: Dave Harvey Live

Martyn Lloyd-Jones - USA: Free Books, Free Audio

Heritage Foundation: Obama’s Tax Hike - The Movie

Heritage Foundation: 50 Examples of Government Waste

The Patriot Update: Minnesota Under Attack From Sharia Law?

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Program MP3 Interviews

2010-06-29T13:29:00.006-05:00

"IRON SHARPENS IRON is an exciting new Christian radio program that every believer should tune in. The program has informative and challenging interviews with some of evangelicalism's most capable theologians, apologists, and teachers. If you are looking for an entertaining, educational, and dynamic radio show, you can't afford to miss this program."--- Ken Samples, author, former co-host of The Bible Answer Man

"IRON SHARPENS IRON is one of the most bold and informative programs on Christian radio. The discussions are refreshingly candid and reliably profitable, and Chris Arnzen is a superb interviewer with sound biblical instincts and a knack for asking the right questions. It¡s always an hour well spent."--- Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace To You, the Christian tape & radio ministry of Dr. John MacArthur

"Chris Arnzen provides a packed hour of serious radio on Iron Sharpens Iron with meaty biblical and theological discussion and this is a rarity in today's world. Listen in. Stretch your mind. Learn the truth."---Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, President

Here are some of the individuals that Chris Arnzen has interviewed over the last few years, click on their names to hear the interviews:

Are you LOST?

2010-05-25T20:08:00.003-05:00

Me and my wife has been watching LOST seasons 1-5 the last two months on Hulu. We have been watching season 6 since the beginning of this season. We were hooked in season 1 episodes and couldn't stop watching them. When we watched the last episode, we had mixed reactions. My wife and I was disappointed with the ending and we thought the sideways view of things was terribly lacking. What was the point of Desmond getting all those people together throughout the season and then to end in a great cum-by-ya church moment that they all made it to heaven. Oh well.

Since the LOST final episode was played last Sunday, there has been many interesting articles and media that has been published.

Here are some interesting articles to read:

Here are some media worth listening to or watching:

The Other Half Speaks: Kaylynnless

2010-05-23T21:30:00.004-05:00

Okay, I know my husband is better at this blogging thing than me. I really did intend to blog sooner. So, here is an update.

Our homeschool will be officially ending for this first year of kindergarten next Friday. I have one more lesson to complete in My Father's World that we skipped over and that is Dinosaurs. Not because we don't want to learn about Dinosaurs but because earlier this year Kaylynn wanted to learn about anything but Dinosaurs. So, rather than make a big issue about it, and say we have to learn about Dinosaurs because that is what is on the curriculum schedule we skipped ahead to another lesson about Jewels. Which of course she loved.

I want to say that I have enjoyed My Father's World and Kaylynn has too! Her greatest challenge has been concentration and writing! I have seen some improvements for which we give thanks to the Lord! She has grown in her reading and she enjoys science and math. Paul and I had been debating on whether to stay with My Father's World and get the 1st grade curriculum, pursue something else, or find a cheap used version of first grade and modify Exploring Countries and Cultures, which is a second/third - eighth grade level. A road trip to see Grandpa Steve in Minneapolis, MN gave us a few clues that Kaylynn was interested in maps, as she kept wanting to know where we were at, where we were going, and wanted to see it on the atlas map that we took with us. We have also know that Kaylynn enjoys looking at the World Globe and can name quite a few places. Add to that, that another homeschool family with three girls had offered to have us over on Fridays to do some projects together if we chose ECC. However, we decided to just get MFW First grade and to supplement with some other curriculum.

We are going to our first homeschool conference at the end of July and want to look at some of the curriculum that is available together, and then make some decisions from there. I think one of the drawbacks to the MFW curriculum for us is wanting to implement using the computer with the curriculum. What I did this year is that for every lesson rather than looking up information in an encyclopedia, we used the computer to find links to websites with information on the topic for that weeks lesson, as well as videos and games that would correspond to the topic. Kaylynn really enjoyed having this interactive way to learn facts about the topic of the week.

Issues, Etc. Radio Program Audio Interviews

2010-05-16T12:00:00.112-05:00

Issues, Etc. is a live theological talk show for the thinking Christian. It has a two-fold mission: First, Issues, Etc. defends and teaches the truths rediscovered during the 16th century Lutheran Reformation: grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone on account of Christ alone. Second, Issues, Etc. challenges today's postmodern culture with its unbiblical and illogical ideology. Rev. Todd Wilken is the host of the program. Issues, Etc. has two interview archives, KFUO and Issues, Etc.

Here are few other YouTube videos to watch about Issues, Etc.

Here are some notable interviews from KFUO Issues, Etc. archive:

Gene Veith Jr.

Albert Mohler

Kim Riddlebarger

Kenneth Samples

Douglas Wilson

R. Scott Clark

Daryl G. Hart

Michael Horton

Os Guinness

Donald A. Carson

The Emergent Church Movement - Part 1, Part 2

Here are some notable interviews from Issues, Etc. archive:

Kenneth Samples

Gene Veith

Donald A. Carson

The Irony of the Cross

Kim Riddlebarger

Michael Horton

Albert Mohler

R. Scott Clark

The Emergent Church Movement

The Other Half Speaks: First Daddy/Daughter date

2010-05-13T19:03:00.005-05:00

Paul and Kaylynn went out for the first daddy/daughter date tonight. They headed toward Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Parlor by the Fountain in town. I am praying for some sweet time tonight for the both of them. That this will give Paul an opportunity to implant godly and wonderul things into Kaylynn's heart. That she would know that she is the apple of her daddy's eye! That she would develop a deeper relationship with her father and enjoy being in his presence. That the Lord would give grace for all these things and more than I could ask, think, or imagine!

Knowing The Truth Radio Program MP3 Interviews

2010-05-13T13:23:00.002-05:00

“Knowing The Truth” with Pastor Kevin Boling is a live, call-in radio program providing Doctrinal Dialog, Cultural Commentary and Insightful Interviews with some of today’s foremost Christian authors and leaders.

Here are some interviews worth listening to:

Timeless Truth & Spiritual Friends by Kevin DeYoung/Bob Kellemen
Biblical Theology in the Church by Michael Lawrence
A Brave New World by Burk Parson
What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert
Welcome to a Reformed Church by Daniel Hyde
Living for God's Glory - Intro to Calvinism by Joel Beeke
Pure Devotion to Christ by Samuel Storms
Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris
Be Still My Soul by Nancy Guthrie
Oprah's God by Josh McDowell
Theology of John by Andreas Kostenberger
Pleasing People by Lou Priolo
Raised with Christ by Adrian Warnock
The Elder by Cornelis Van Dam
Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham
Unleashing The Word by Max Mclean
The Incarnation of the Gospels by Dan Doriani
God's Word & Gambling by Phil Johnson
Bioethics and the Christian by David VanDrunen
Gospel Driven Life by Michael Horton
Gospel-Powered Parenting by William Farley
Words from the Fire by Albert Mohler
Philip Ryken: Courage To Stand
David Powlison: Seeing w/ New Eyes
Jay Adams: Nouthetic Counseling
Os Guinness: The Case for Civility
RC Sproul: The Prayer of the Lord
Ligon Duncan: Grace in Winter
Steve Lawson: Edward's Resolve
Paul Tripp: A Shelter in the Storm
Richard Phillips: Precious Blood
Jerry Bridges: Bookends of the Christian Life
Elyse Fitzpatrick: Comforts of the Cross
Nancy Guthrie: Near the Cross
Phil Johnson: What is an Evangelical?
Michael Haykin: The Christian Lover
Tom Ascol: Redemption Defined
Thabiti Anyabwile: Transforming Work of the Spirit
Derek Thomas: Blogging The Institutes
Jerry Bridges: Respectable Sins
RC Sproul: The Prince's Poison Cup
Steve Lawson: The Genius of Calvin
DA Carson: Christ & Culture

May is here

2010-05-01T11:42:00.003-05:00

May is here. My wife's mom, my wife and I are preparing today for our daughter's dance recital this afternoon. Yesterday, we had her recital practice. For my Facebook friends, you can see her dance pictures here. She will be all dolled up shortly with her hair and her dresses and will take her to Rudder High School Performing Arts Auditorium. I am so proud of my daughter!

Tomorrow, our daughter's grandma will take her back to her place in Oklahoma for a week and we'll meet up with our daughter and grandma on Mother's Day weekend. Hopefully, we will see Becky's brother and her relatives next weekend. During this next week, me and my wife will pack more things for our move at the end of the month to our new condo.

Easter MP3 Sermons

2010-04-11T07:27:00.008-05:00

Last weekend, we celebrated Good Friday and Easter (Resurrection Day). On Good Friday, we remembered our Lord's death on the cross and his burial. On Sunday Morning, Easter, we celebrate His Resurrection from the grave and his triumph over death. Christians all over the world take time to remember and celebrate during this time.
Here are some churches and preachers who spoke during Easter weekend:
New Life Baptist Church