Today’s Christians live in a culture shaped by a worldview that values tolerance and denies absolute truth—a stark contrast to the biblical worldview. As pilgrims in this world, we face the challenge of living in a society that embraces wickedness more brazenly than ever before. In light of these threats, it is vital that the church bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5), standing firm on the truths of God’s Word.

Please consider joining us, then, as we take up the important theme of the beauty and glory of the Christian worldview at the 2016 Puritan Reformed Conference, August 25–27. The church of Jesus Christ must remain steadfast in its conviction that the Lord has provided a better way for mankind, and that way starts and ends in Jesus Christ.

In addition to several PRTS faculty speakers, our guest speakers will include Dr. Derek Thomas, Dr. Brian Cosby, and Dr. Charles Barrett. 

More details and registration here.

I will place them in their houses. (Hosea 11:11)

God’s judgment of foreign exile for Israel was intended to have the same effect as a lion’s roar. It was to restore the fear of the Lord in them and then to restore them to their land. As Hosea puts it, “When he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, says the Lord” (Hosea 11:10 –11).

The people of Israel were exiled to Egypt and Assyria because of their spiritual deafness and insensitivity. God said, “I will place them in foreign lands.” There they would hear God’s roar in this painful providence and begin to tremble before Him again, as a dove would upon hearing a lion nearby. Trembling is mentioned twice (v. 10, 11) in order to emphasize the predominant characteristic of God’s repentant people. This double trembling at God’s word would hasten their flight from captivity. Having returned to God, He would again “place them in their houses,” the place of security, comfort, and rest.

Our churches and nations are ripe for God’s roar. We have covered our ears and hardened our hearts. The fear of God is not before our eyes. Sometimes we hear the divine roar in the distance through terrorist attacks, floods, tsunamis, or earthquakes. We stop for a moment, listen for a moment, fear for a moment, then get on with our lives. Gradually, we grow harder and harder. How near does the roar have to get before we tremble as a bird, until we fly to Him as a dove? Oh, for more trembling in God’s people!

God’s roars are not intended to frighten us away from Him but to draw us to Him. Perhaps God is roaring in your life and you are beginning to tremble before His omnipotence and your impotence. Your life is all upside down, and everything is falling apart. May your trembling draw you out of sin and its disordering consequences to Christ and His order-restoring salvation. He can make all things well again for you. Peace, harmony, safety, and a sense of belonging are restored. “I will place them in their houses.”

Blogs

The Impassibility of God Podcast | Place for Truth
“This week on Theology on the Go the topic will be the impassibility of God.  This podcast is the third in a series focusing on the doctrine of the Trinity.  In light of the recent Trinitarian controversy, Theology on the Go believes that a series like this is an important service to the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So, grab that cup of coffee and meet us at the table!”

Pray for the Police | Jarvis Williams, Reformed African American Network
“Christians, don’t follow the ways of the world during these national times of civil unrest and racial division. Always act in ways that are in step with the whole gospel of Jesus Christ when correcting injustice and working for justice for all people.”

The 5 Truths Stay-at-Home and Working Moms Can Agree On | Katelyn Beaty, ChristianityToday.com
“If Christ has ‘made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility’ (Eph. 2), then surely he has united the breast-feeders and the bottle-feeders, the career professionals and the caretakers. So in the spirit of the unity that mothers already have in Christ, let’s remember what holds us together.”

Stop Trying to Make the Bible Relevant to Teenagers | Eric McKiddie, TGC
“So let us learn to wield this sword in such a way that our young people see it glimmer, hear it ring, and feel the healing that comes when it cuts. Then they will want to start swinging it, too.”

Trump: Tribune Of Poor White People | Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
Although it’s over-simplistic to trace Trump’s popularity solely to poor white people (there are many middle class people supporting him too), if you want to begin to understand Trump, you need to read this article.

Five Sources of Our Racial Shame | Kristin Tabb, Desiring God
“Whether our racism is directed toward whites, blacks, or other ethnicities, it flows from ignorance, apathy, fear, judgment, and self-righteousness.”

Doctors Live on the Brink of Death | Kathryn Butler, Desiring God
“The physician suicide rate is twice that of the general population. This is no surprise. Without Christ, the daily fodder of medicine crushes the heart. Medical training mandates practitioners witness sin in graphic detail, yet the textbooks, instruments, and decades of study offer no context for forgiveness. Joseph understood God’s will at work in the face of evil (Genesis 50:20); medical training demands its practitioners confront evil, yet heaves culpability upon them.”

7 Theological Issues Confronting the Local Church | Jason K. Allen, For The Church
“In the spirit of Luther, the church—and especially those who lead it—must continually ask itself, ‘where is the battle raging? Which truths are under assault? Against what attacks should Christians mobilize and engage?’ When considered in this light, seven theological challenges surface for the church to confront.”

Kindle Deals

What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? by Kevin DeYoung ($4.99)

The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 1: Family Letters, 1905-1931 by C. S. Lewis ($1.99)

A Grief Sanctified: Through Sorrow to Eternal Hope by J. I. Packer ($2.99)

Too Perfect: When Being in Control Gets Out of Control by Jeannette Dewyze and Allan Mallinger ($1.99). Not a Christian book but gives important insight into a common problem, especially as a cause of depression.

I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. (Hosea 11:9)

What is your best hope of salvation? Some people hope that God will be just like them (Ps. 50:21). They hope that God is a compromiser like them, that He is a kind of changeable character, and they just hope that they will catch Him on a good day rather than a bad day.

But God says our hope should instead be based on His unlikeness to man. “I will not execute the fierceness of my anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you: and I will not enter into the city.” It is God’s dissimilarity that is our best and only hope. “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6).

Do you really want someone like yourself to be your only hope? What are you like? Are you not unpredictable, capricious, and changeable? Do you not judge one way one day, and another the next? Have you ever been fiercely angry and yet possessed the self-control not to execute the fierceness of your anger? Have you ever found a technique to turn away and exhaust your anger? No, you haven’t; because you are man and not God. Too much weakness and too little wisdom means that you will usually execute the fierceness of your anger.

Only God has the power and the wisdom to find a way of not executing the fierceness of His anger upon you. His power and His wisdom are found in Christ crucified. He is the power and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24). Having executed the fierceness of His anger upon Christ, God can then turn to you and say, “I will not execute the fierceness of my anger.”

And because He is God and not man, once He executes His anger, it is gone. He does not harbor a grudge or bear secret and bitter resentment against you. He is God and not man. Let God’s dissimilarity be your hope, your only hope of salvation.

Blog

7 Ways to Deal with Doubt | TGC: Michael Patton
“I’ve found that there are primarily two types of doubters. The first are walking away from God and believe they’re finding freedom. The second feel they’re walking away from their faith and are deeply disturbed about it. The difference with the second is that they are always facing God, crying out with arms outstretched for him to help. Thankfully, in most cases, these doubters eventually return to the faith.”

How VBS Saved My Life | Prince on Preaching
Here’s an encouragement for everyone involved in VBS these days:

“I like to tell my VBS story because it serves as an important theological reminder: we don’t often get to see the fruit of our labors. As the apostle Paul reminds us, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6). Some of you are tempted to think that you’re wasting your time when you serve at things like VBS. “What good can this really be doing? These kids aren’t listening to a thing I say? That boy is as wild as a buck!” Well, that boy was me. I was the crazy kid that probably looked like I wasn’t getting a thing. But what I took away from the mundane investment of countless church workers ended up saving my life.”

The Truth About Living with an Invisible Illness | Her.meneutics
“The greatest joy in my life is by Christ’s resurrection my pain, invalidation, and grief are being redeemed. Despite a diagnosis that spans the rest of my life, the hope of the gospel is my pain matters to God and will end. My illness may be invisible, but I am not invisible to God.”

Browse Worthy: Prayer Helps | Gentle Reformation
“Here are a few links that may help you to pray with more strength, focus, and quantity.”

An FAQ on America as a “City on a Hill” | TGC: Justin Taylor
“At the end of the day, you really can believe that America is to be a city on a hill, shining its values as a beacon of light to a watching world. But just don’t say that’s what John Winthrop (or Jesus!) meant when they used that phrase.

Kindle Book

For your non-Kindle book buying needs please consider using Reformation Heritage Books in the USA and Reformed Book Services in Canada. Good value prices and shipping.

Letters to a Young Pastor by Calvin Miller (Free)

New Book

The Revolt: A Novel in Wycliffe’s England by Douglas Bond (Kindle $5.99). Our boys have read Douglas Bond’s books over and over again.

I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. (Hosea 5:15)

In the previous verse, Israel is ravaged by the divine Lion. The nation is torn and taken away, and none can rescue. Now the angry Lion is portrayed as returning to His lair with its prey in His mouth. He drops the faintly breathing body and lies down in His place. His fury is partly assuaged; His prey is barely alive. And He says, “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.”

After some time, the body begins to groan and stir; the eyes open and slowly and fearfully focus on the angry adversary. Eyes meet. Time stands still.

“I’m so sorry,” stutters and stammers the aching body. “I provoked your anger. I understand and accept your just response. Thank you for sparing my life. Please pity me. Please help me.”

The Lion slowly rises and walks around the pitiful sight. He moves towards the face, pauses, opens His mouth, and…begins to lick the wounds and warm the fear-frozen limbs. The eyes open in wonder and, instead of seeing a bloodthirsty lion, behold a blood-shedding lamb!

Wounded, bleeding, barely breathing believer, has the Lord ravaged you? You provoked and provoked until His anger was justly roused. He tore you and took you away. Bodily disease, family disaster, business failure, or dark depression has left you barely alive. But you sense there is now a lull in the storm, some welcome days of relative peace.

This glimmer of comfort enables you to lift your eyes heavenward. And there you sense the root cause of all your troubles—the face of your God, justly angered by your backsliding and compromising. Eyes meet. Time stands still. Fight or flight? Or faith?

Faith neither fights nor flies but rather repents and casts all on the Savior’s mercy. Such faith and repentance transforms the bloodthirsty Lion into a blood-shedding Lamb. Look at the very next verse, “Come, and let us return to the Lord: for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up” (Hos. 6:1).