Reforming My Mind

Friday, June 19, 2009

Monergism’s MP3 Library Mid-June Features

We have updated and created new folders this month.

Here are the updated speakers folders:

Here are the new category folders:

Here are the updated category folders:

Thursday, June 18, 2009

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Friday, June 12, 2009

Abigail Schafer's Memorial Day

One year ago today, June 12th, 2008, our 9 day old daughter died. She lived a hard life with a cleft palate and hypoplastic left heart syndrome but she was loved dearly by her daddy, mommy, sister, grandparents, aunt, uncle and church friends.

Bitter painful memories of this day are afresh in our minds today. We relive those memories again. This past year has been extremely difficult dealing with grief, suffering, what ifs, would of, could of and should ofs. It's been hard to deal with other people's indifferences, remarks, forgetfulness and avoidance in this matter.

On the flip side, we had some wonderful family members and church friends that have supported us through out this year. We had people made extra effort in comforting and encouraging us. Those people made food for us for two weeks during that time and recently. My wife found more attention with them than I. I had to be strong not because I really wanted to, but had to, to support this family unit through out this past year.

This past year, pursing and experiencing God has been a challenge. I have studied a lot on the doctrine of election of infants. Because there was not a lot of information on this subject in the bible and the internet, it was hard to find some answers. Praying and bible reading was difficult at first. It was hard to pray for other people's healings because we had to work through the issue of why God chose not to heal and deliver our daughter through the medical problems and death. We had to learn to trust God even more than we had before this suffering. God was good to us through out the year, though it was hard to see it at times. At times it was painfully difficult, especially losing my wife's dad to a brain stroke in November and my wife's brain surgery in February.

I have been very perplexed at the new testament doctrine of suffering and why God doesn't always deliver his people from their conditions. We are called to suffer but suffering sucks! This suffering is not like the suffering we face when we are being persecuted for our faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. This suffering is from Adam, the devil and sin in general. It's about us as the focus and not Jesus.

We have hope in God we will see our daughter again. We trust in God's mercy that He is the Mediator between God the Father and her. She has inherited the Adamic sin nature at birth. We trust in God's mercy to be elect, that she will not be numbered with the reprobate at the Day of the Lord. We trust in God's mercy that we will see her again. That she is living and not dead, living in heaven.

There is more to say but it's hard to come up with those thoughts right now.

Here are some interesting links to read and listen to. Why God Doesn't Always Heal (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) by Dr. Sam Storms, Condemned by Adam's Sin or Our Own?, Genesis 25:19-28 - Election and Dying Infants (Audio).

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Monergism MP3 Library May Features

Here are the updates to the Monergism MP3 Library. We have new preachers added to the “All North American Speakers Messages” folder: Charles Leiter, Hywel R. Jones, Steve Camp.

We have added Conrad Mbewe in the “All European & African Speakers Messages” folder.

We have added new sermons by the book in the Old Testament folders and New Testament folders.

We have added new conference folders: How Children Come to Faith in Christ, Children Desiring God Conference, Magnifying God: The Legacy of John Calvin in the 21st Century, Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference, The Scottish Reformed Conference and Twin Lakes Fellowship Conference.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Monergism MP3 Library is updated several times a week with resources from pastors and teachers we believe deserve a closer hearing, even if we do not agree with every detail of their theology. The vast amount of resources we have collected serve as a clearing house for the best voices the web has to offer. Hope you will be equipped and edified.

We have new sermons & talks from these preachers: Arturo G. Azurdia III, Brian Schwertley, Gerald Bray, Alan Cairns, Michael A. Milton and Rico Tice.

We have created new sermon folders for: Assurance, Union with Christ, Paul Washer's Spiritual Emphasis Week at Hannibal LaGrange College 1998, William Edgar's Christian Heritage Cambridge, Rico Tice's CICCU Media, Several new folders in History & Biography, Several new folders in Higher Education and Michael A. Milton's The Call Radio Program.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Year of Suffering: Father's Joy

My wife has been blogging on her website, Father's Joy, about the three trials we as a family have went through the last 7 months. Take a look at what she wrote.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Year of Suffering: Overview

Over the next few posts, I will spend time sharing on the subject of suffering in my family's life. From June 2008 to the present, my family has been going through three consecutive trials of suffering. These trials made trusting God a challenge. (1 Peter 1:6-7) We have encountered much grief, pain, frustration, regret and other emotions this year. We have a very supportive church family, Living Hope Baptist Church, in helping us through the grief and pain.

On June 12th, 5 pm, my precious baby daughter Abigail, 9 days old, passed away at the Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas. She died of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. She also suffered from a cleft palate that was discovered 30 minutes after birth.

On October 30th, Becky's father, Alvis, suffered a broken blood vessel in his brain, the blood vessel hemorrhaged and it cause a massive injury to his brain. We spend almost the entire month of November in the hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Over the course of the month, he suffered a Brain Stem Stroke according to his doctor as we found this out the day after thanksgiving. Becky's family decided to remove him from life support per her dad's wishes and he died peacefully on November 29th.

My wife has encountered health problems over the last 7 months, her symptoms of sleep loss, head aches and vision loss got worse. Her doctor did an MRI on her brain on January 2nd and found out she could have a Prolactinoma Pituitary Gland Tumor or Pituitary Gland Epidermoid Cyst. This has been hard on us this last week. She might have to have surgery to remove it or take drugs to shrink it for a very long time.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Come visit Monergism and Monergism MP3 Library!

I have been working part-time for Monergism for 10 months now. Monergism is the official website for Christian Publication Resource Foundation. Monergism is a great place to find free online Reformed Christian articles, books, video and audio multimedia.

Some of our most popular free resources come from the following:

Christian Publication Resource Foundation has two other websites as well:

My Facebook Page

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Richard D. Phillips MP3 Sermons

Rev. Richard D. Phillips is senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, S.C., having served previously as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Coral Springs/Margate, Florida, and as minister of preaching at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. He serves on the council of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and as chairman of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan, a master of business administration degree at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and a master of divinity degree at Westminster Theological Seminary. Prior to entering the ministry, he commanded tank units as an officer in the U.S. Army and later served as an assistant professor of leadership at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The Phillips family live in Greenville, S.C., with their five children, Hannah, Matthew, Jonathan, Helen, and Lydia. He blogs at Reformation 21 Blog.

Here are several books he wrote: