Welcome to the SharperIron Blogroll.
The Blogroll is a collection of blogs that are often of interest and help to SI readers. SharperIron does not create the content of these blogs and the views expressed in them are those of their respective writers.
9Marks just published my review of Rebekah Merkle’s Eve in Exile: And the Restoration of Femininity (Moscow, ID: Canon, 2016).
It’s not such much a critical review as it is a case for Christians to read it. I suggest four reasons:
When my eleven-year-old daughter, Kara, was reading the book, I asked her what she thought of the author.
Kara replied, “She writes like Doug Wilson.” (I had recently read Wilson’s story...
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So far, Church Works Media has published over 50 hymns and songs. Some are more familiar, some less. One of my favorites is still kind of unknown: “God Has Spoken.” Scripture describes several ways in which God has revealed Himself to humanity. This hymn highlights 3 of them, noting the crescendo from general revelation to special […]
The post God Has Spoken appeared first on Church Works Media.
Killian Hill Baptist Church had the distinct privilege of ordaining a man to the gospel ministry last weekend. By God’s grace, we’re going to have several similar opportunities over the next year. It was a great time to reflect on the meaning and importance of ordinations. Here’s a concise summary of what ordination is about. […]
The post The Blessing of Ordination appeared first on Church Works Media.
“I will build My church…” (Matthew 16:18) This momentous promise by our Savior is one of my favorite texts of the Scriptures. I’ve prayed it innumerable times, asking the Lord to keep His promise by building the local churches in which I’ve worked, or by blessing the work of our missionaries, or by demonstrating His […]
The post A New Hymn about an Old Promise appeared first on Church Works Media.
A few weeks ago, Church Works Media was able to participate in the 2020 G3 Conference. For those unfamiliar with the conference (as I was until just a few years ago, despite living in Atlanta), the G3 Conference is primarily a preaching event featuring exceptional preachers like John MacArthur, Joel Beeke, Voddie Baucham, Steve Lawson, […]
The post My Two Cents on the G3 Conference appeared first on Church Works Media.
Today is “National Sanctity of Human Life Day,” so designated in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion on January 22, 1973. Forty-seven years and over 60 million murders later, abortion still bloodies the hands of the United States. A society with laws […]
The post Human Life Is Sacred. Remember. appeared first on Church Works Media.
I love old architecture. There was a pride in craftsmanship years and centuries ago that has been sacrificed in a desire to have economical structures, built fast.
Something I have often marveled at is the attention to detail in such things as hinges. The filigree on this painstaking 18th century work of art will only be seen when the door is ajar…and that may not be often. Why spend such time on a seemingly inconsequential piece of hardware? Perhaps it was only that it was commissioned. I remember in my reading over the years, coming across an account of a carpenter who said it didn’t matter if any other human being saw the meticulous work he had secreted off in obscure corners…because God saw.
The secluded beauty of this hinge reminds me of this:
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 1 Peter 3:3-4
Indeed, the work of select ancient craftsmen could be identified by such signature...
I’ve become a counselor for a number of young men who have realized that they can no longer in good conscience remain tied to King James Only institutions. Almost without exception, the ones who have reached out to me have shown genuine graciousness and gratitude toward the pastors and teachers in that world who shaped them. It’s really been remarkable to me how few chips on shoulders I have witnessed. I praise God. I always, always urge them to be as gracious as possible, considering themselves lest they also be tempted. Just yesterday I urged one of them not to go public with a complaint he was making about KJV Onlyism—it wasn’t seasoned with grace, just salt. He humbly listened and agreed.
One recurring fear among these men is that they don’t know where they will end up. The King James Version was, in their world and in their hearts, like a concrete wall along the Rio Grande built by Jack Hyles between the United States and full-on theological liberalism. Knock it down and who knows how many theological illegals will make it into the church, or how many Christians will pitch their tents toward Sodom? The KJV was a symbol of all the...
I couldn’t enjoy this book once it became a sprawling set of vendettas—and that was about half the huge tome. I just kept thinking…
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:17–18 ESV)
My own opinion, after (admittedly) just one read and (admittedly) no exposure to literary criticism of this classic novel: Dumas makes half-hearted, too-little-too-late attempts at the end to mitigate the sin of Dantès in dedicating himself to years of revenge. And the story fails to show what revenge really does to a man’s heart.
In the very last pages of the book, Monte Cristo suddenly proclaims that he is remorseful, because he, “like Satan, thought himself for an instant equal to God,” and that he “now acknowledges with Christian humility...
A young aspiring pastor recently asked other pastors in a Facebook group what kinds of doubts they’ve had about Christianity, and what they’ve done with those doubts. I replied…
I went through a several-month period of doubt during my senior year as a Bible major at BJU. I preached weekly at that point in a nursing home. Thankfully, it was an Alzheimer’s unit, so it didn’t really matter what I said… I overcame my doubts through the grace of God and through specific statements in his word. Romans 1 and its argument that creation points to 1) a divine being who has 2) eternal power were especially instrumental.
If anything makes me doubt Christianity now it is the behavior of Christians, including myself, sadly. I struggle with anger toward misbehaving children, with a consistent devotional life, with eagerness to serve my wife in practical ways around the house. Sometimes I look at the words I’ve just said and I shudder. And sometimes I look at the silly, self-harming sins of other Christians and shudder more. Spend a lot of time dealing with KJV-Onlyism as I (for some reason I wish I could explain) do, and this is a genuine spiritual challenge you...
The subtitle for this blog used to be “Bible, Tech, Bible Tech.” I haven’t blogged about tech much in a long time. But I still love it. And it’s time for a break from heavy stuff.
One particular piece of tech I love is my new-to-me 12.9-inch iPad Pro. I got it a few months ago, and I got it basically brand new at almost half off the full price—the best tech deal I think I’ve ever scored. (Guy on OfferUp just didn’t find it did what he needed it to do, whatever that was. It was such a good deal that it made me wonder if he was legit, but he was.)
My iPad Pro hasn’t replaced my laptop or my desktop; I still need at least a desktop both for graphic design and for serious work at the office and at home. But it the iPad Pro has bridged the laptop and tablet worlds and created something new: a powerful device that can do almost everything I need, but that does those things differently enough that I find myself working differently. It’s always fast. It’s always available; the battery lasts all day. It’s really great for reading Logos and other books: the stylus is a big help. It’s light and barely noticeable and therefore can (and does) go with me anywhere. The...
Chuck Surrett has recently released a short white paper of sorts, arguing in some detail but in admirable brevity that the Bible teaches perfect preservation of the Hebrew and Greek texts of Scripture. It teaches, he says, “the certainty of the words” (Prov 22:20–21). I have been asked by nearby pastor Jonathan Beazley to evaluate Surrett’s arguments. I beg the reader’s indulgence in starting with a somewhat lengthy introduction; these matters are complicated, and I need a little time and space. Let’s begin.
There are two major issues involved in debates over English Bibles: 1) text and 2) translation.
The debate divides into many smaller issues, but it is at its heart—and, actually, a lot like a heart—irreducibly binary. Defenders of exclusive use of the King James Version (by English speakers) such as Charles “Chuck” Surrett, longtime Academic Dean at Ambassador Baptist College, have to “win” debates on both 1) text and 2) translation if they hope to establish their KJV-Only viewpoint.
If someone like Surrett argues successfully that 1) the KJV is based on the best Hebrew and Greek texts, he must then argue that...
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