Miscellanies | CJ's View from the Cheap Seats

A God-Centered Perspective

November 9, 2016

David Wells describes what we all experienced last night watching the coverage of the election: “Secular writers force us to read the world from within a framework in which God’s moral will and saving intentions, his truth and his Christ, are never the criteria of meaning or importance. The biblical authors see everything from a theocentric viewpoint. The biblical writers compel us to read the world from this perspective, to see it in relation to the moral character of God…

Humble Faith

November 3, 2016

“I have been thinking about that woman all day.” Someone said this the other day after a sermon I preached Cornerstone Church of Knoxville on Sunday from Mark 7:24-30 titled “Humble Faith.” Who is this woman whose story is so captivating and provoking? In his commentary on the Gospel of Mark, James Edwards informs us: “Of all the people who approach Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, this individual has the most against her from a Jewish perspective. Even Levi…

A Cautionary Tale

October 20, 2016

Jonah’s story is a cautionary tale. This genuine prophet who was theologically orthodox blatantly disobeyed the command of God to evangelize the wicked Ninevites. And not because he was afraid of them but instead because he despised them. Sinclair Ferguson explains: “How perverse Jonah was. Living in a favored nation where spiritual light had been shone only because of the great mercy of God, he had come to assume that Israel deserved grace, whereas others had ill-deserved it. What a…

Marvel at Patience to Imitate Patience

October 18, 2016

“Appreciate the patience of God. Think of how he has borne with you, and still bears with you, when so much of your life is unworthy of him and you have so richly deserved his rejection. Learn to marvel at his patience, and seek grace to imitate it in your dealings with others; and try not to try his patience and more.” J.I. Packer, Knowing God.

Sow Sorrow, Reap Rejoicing

October 6, 2016

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” Psalm 126:5 If your soul is weary today, then the Psalmist would like to have a word with you. If you have prayed and worked and served and prayed some more about something or someone—with no apparent fruitful outcome—then the psalmist would like to fortify your soul with a certain hope. He wants to remind you that you are in a season of sowing. Are you acquainted with the…