Here is an 11-minute overview of John Calvin’s life and surroundings. The video is a bit dated but it does a good job illustrating the harsh conditions Calvin endured in Geneva, his banishment and amazing return to Geneva.
Year: 2007
Self-editing
The most difficult feat of human concentration is walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope during a windstorm. The second most difficult feat of human concentration, editing your own writing! Only because of sin can we be so blind to our own errors.
And both of these feats of concentration are impossible without practice. So for all the writers out there who are never done tweaking, and changing, and shifting, and adding and deleting words and ideas to your writing (like me), this new book — The Artful Edit: On the practice of editing yourself by Susan Bell — looks very promising.
For more information, see Evan Sparks’ short review at The American titled, “Edit Thyself: A Maxim for the New Media”.
Savior CD from Sovereign Grace Music
Of all my favorite worship CDs I would rank Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man from Sovereign Grace Music as one of my favorites (along with Songs for the Cross Centered Life and Valley of Vision). Savior was released in time for Christmas last year, though I found myself listening to the record all throughout the year.
Our good friend Bob Kauflin explains more about the project in this video.
More information about the Savior project can be found here.
And some bloggers qualify for a free copy of the CD. More info here.
David Crowder Band – Here is Our King
This has become a personal favorite worship song. The studio recording of this song can download through iTunes for a buck.
The heart of Cross-centered living
What does it mean to live a Cross-centered life? That’s a question I get a lot from TSS readers. I may try to maintain a Cross-centered blog, but I have no expert answer to this important question (I’m learning along with you!).
To my life situation and my own heart, the Cross could be applied a thousand ways:
- Parenting by encouraging (grace), not in angry threats (legalism).
- Leading my wife by sacrificing for her, not in pridefully asserting my authority over her (Eph. 5:25).
- Giving others hope while caring enough to give correction.
- Reassuring my own heart as I reassure others of God’s unending, unchanging love for His children as purchased in the Cross of Christ.
But ironically, as I begin to understand how the Cross unfolds and is applied to all of life, I find myself sometimes dangerously cold in my appreciation for the Cross! In pursuing Cross-centeredness I find myself sometimes looking away from the Cross itself!
How can this be?
I find it hard to look long into the Cross, because it’s hard to look at! To look at the Cross is to be reminded that I am a failure. The Cross stands me next to God’s Law so I can see myself as only a rebel, a sinner who has failed in the first commandment all the way down the list to the ‘smaller’ commandments. The Cross reminds me that, apart from Christ, I am only guilty and filthy in God’s holy presence.
But I think there is something even deeper here, because to truly understand the wrath of God being poured out on the perfect Son is a picture that causes something inside of me to revolt uncomfortably. For all my love of the Cross and my consideration of the Cross as a beautiful display of love and grace, it’s not easy to look at directly. If the Cross is beautiful and gracious, it’s also bloody and horrible.
Which is why I am thankful for my pastor and friend Rick Gamache (Senior Pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Minneapolis) who shepherds my heart back to the Cross. I’m most thankful for Rick’s Crucifixion Narrative, a Good Friday narrative that walks step-by-step through the events of the Crucifixion. It’s a powerful depiction of the Cross that you will find helpful if you struggle to return to the Cross frequently.
The section where Rick highlights the imputation of Christ as He becomes sin, is simply overwhelming!
You can listen to the audio recording of Rick Gamache reading the Crucifixion Narrative:
You may also download the mp3 audio file and the PDF text of the Crucifixion Narrative.
Nothing short of an awareness of the Cross — displayed in its full beauty and horror — will sustain a Cross-centered life.
History and Theology of the Puritans
Reformed Theological Seminary has blessed the wider Church by offering many class lectures for online download. These are available trough the iTunes store and come through your computer (for free!). Recently RTS may have added their best resource yet – History and Theology of the Puritans, a 16-part series delivered by Dr. J.I. Packer. [Packer penned the popular, A Quest For Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Crossway: 1994).]
In over 11 hours of lectures, Packer covers …
1. The Puritan Identity – pt. 1 (45:14)
2. The Puritan Identity – pt. 2 (33:10)
3. Puritan Theological Concerns – pt. 1 (45:54)
4. Puritan Theological Concerns – pt. 2 (45:03)
5. The Bible in Puritan Theology – pt. 1 (46:53)
6. The Bible in Puritan Theology – pt. 2 (46:01)
7. Salvation by Grace – pt. 1 (46:41)
8. Salvation by Grace – pt. 2 (46:37)
9. Faith and Assurance – pt. 1 (46:32)
10. Faith and Assurance – pt. 2 (46:16)
11. The Good Fight – pt. 1 (46:22)
12. The Good Fight – pt. 2 (31:45)
13. Conscience (44:06)
14. Reformed Monasticism (43:01)
15. The Christian Minister (44:22)
16. Worship, Fellowship, and Discipline in the Church (27:40)
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I hear you asking, So how do I enjoy this yummy goodness?
1. First, install the program iTunes on your computer by clicking here and following directions. Check first because there is a chance iTunes is already installed on your computer.
2. Once you have iTunes loaded you need to go to this website and click on the button under “Click to launch RTS on iTunes.”
3. You should now be in the RTS page in the iTunes store. Under “RTS Virtual Courses” click on “Church History.”
4. Then click on “History and Theology of the Puritans.” This will take you to the page for downloads.
5. To download just click the button “Get tracks” on the top (to get them all at once) or the button “Get” on the right side of each track (for individual downloads). The audio files will be downloaded into iTunes on your computer and from here you can listen to the mp3s, burn them to audio CDs, etc.
6. And be sure to download a PDF copy of the course syllabus.
And that, my Puritan friends, is how you get the yummy goodness of Packer on the Puritans into your computer and into your head!
Happy listening. And thank you to the gracious folks at RTS!
Tony Reinke 