The Glory of the Gospel
I started reading “The Transforming Power of the Gospel” by Jerry Bridges last night [Monday, February 6, 2012] and I am simply in awe of all that I have read. Bridges does a remarkable and admirable of setting forth the necessary place of the Gospel in the life of the believer. It is very easy for professing believers to imagine that the Gospel has to do only with the matter of conversion and that the remainder of the Christian life is lived out in the power [really, weakness] of the flesh as Christians try and try and try to do what is right only to continually fail. Bridges helps us to see that we need the Gospel, not just for our conversion, but for every minute of every day that we live as believers. The Gospel is not only the power of God to convert sinners to Christ, it is also the power of God to transform those converted sinners to be more like Christ with each passing day.
I look forward to completing this book and writing a detailed review of it.
Dr. John MacArthur on the Future of the Reformed Revival
This is a portion of an interview Dr. MacArthur did with Christianity.com. This is simply outstanding.
A Couple of Updates
It seems that Phil Johnson, the Executive Director of Grace To You is getting quite a bit of airtime lately answering questions and being interviewed about Dr. John MacArthur’s ongoing series of articles on the Young, Restless, Reformed [YRR] movement. Phil will be appearing on Todd Friel’s radio show, “Wretched with Todd Friel” today [August 18, 2011] at 3:00 PM EST [12:00 noon PST] to discuss Dr. MacArthur’s series. You may listen live here or check in at the Grace To You blog after the interview to listen on demand.
Phil is a very good spokesman for Dr. MacArthur as he has worked with him for a great many years now and has edited a number of Dr. MacArthur’s books. He also has a good grasp of all things theological. This should be a good interview.
In a somewhat related note, Phil posted an article on his Team Pyro/Pyromaniacs website on Monday of this week detailing the rather outrageous claim of already outrageous Mark Driscoll that the Holy Spirit gives him visions of people engaged in sin [mostly sexual sin]. As Phil put it, Driscoll claims to have a TV in his head where he watches smut provided by, as he claims, the Holy Spirit. Driscoll has a great many fans, so it is no surprise that a number of them have come to his defense. Phil responds in this article to several of those and exposes the weaknesses in their respective positions. It is a good read.
Discussing the Controversy over John MacArthur’s “Beer” Posts
The Grace To You blog has posted another interview of Phil Johnson by Paul Edwards concerning John MacArthur’s recent articles on the Young, Restless, Reformed [YRR] movement. The interview took place on Edwards’ program, “The Center for the Study of God & Culture.” The subject of this interview is Dr. MacArthur’s most recent article, “Beer, Bohemianism, and True Christian Liberty.”
The Brouhaha over the Brew
Travis Allen at Grace To You has an interesting article on the recent posts by John MacArthur at the Grace To You Blog on the Young, Restless, Reformed [YRR] movement. Dr. MacArthur’s most recent article was on the danger and absolute irresponsibility of YRR leaders making beer drinking one of the badges of the YRR movement. As might be expected, his article was greeted with a great deal of opposition from those in sympathy with the YRR movement. Travis’ article is a good take on the main points that Dr. MacArthur is driving at with his articles.
Mark Driscoll Madness
Phil Johnson, the Executive Director of Grace To You posted an article on his blog, Pyromaniacs, related to an earlier post he wrote warning of the some of the dangers associated with the charismatic movement. His current post includes a video by Seattle, WA Pastor Mark Driscoll who also happens to be the poster boy for the Young, Restless, Reformed movement that has been the subject of a series of articles by Dr. John MacArthur on the Grace To You site. Phil Johnson uses Driscoll as an example of where charismatic tendencies inevitably lead a person who buys into that aberrant and unbiblical theological system. In the video, Driscoll is claiming to have the ability to see visions of a very graphic nature. He claims that the Holy Spirit gives him these visions that are obscene and outright pornographic. Continue reading
John MacArthur’s Latest Post on YRR
Dr. John MacArthur has posted his latest article on the Young, Restless, Reformed [YRR] movement. It is entitled Beer, Bohemianism, and True Christian Liberty and it may be found at the Grace To You blog. It is an excellent and much needed article that points out one of the real dangers of the YRR mindset which is to view the consumption of intoxicating alcoholic beverages, especially beer, as the height of spiritual freedom and maturity. Those in the YRR tend to be so passionate about this issue that it is not at all uncommon for them to label those who disagree with their view as being legalistic or even unsaved. I wrote an article on this subject a little over a year ago and I was mercilessly attacked for having the audacity to write that the consumption of intoxicating alcoholic beverages is not an indication of the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in our lives. Continue reading
Phil Johnson Interview about MacArthur and the YRR
The Grace To You blog has posted a very good interview with Phil Johnson, the Executive Director of Grace To You regarding John MacArthur’s blog series on the Young, Restless, Reformed [YRR] movement.
Join Paul Edwards (of WLQV Detroit) as he interviews Phil Johnson on his program, “The Center for the Study of God & Culture.” The subject? John MacArthur’s current blog series, “Grow Up. Settle Down. Keep Reforming. Advice for the Young, Restless, Reformed.”
Phil Johnson, GTY’s Executive Director, is well-informed about the YRR movement–you won’t want to miss this interview.
You may listen to the full interview here.
A Few Thoughts on John MacArthur and YRR
In my immediately preceding post, I made reference to the first of a series of blog posts that John MacArthur plans to write and post at the Grace To You blog dealing with what is referred to as the New Calvinism or the Young, Restless, Reformed [YRR] movement. I expressed my great delight in Dr. MacArthur taking on this issue because I know that he will address it from a thoroughly Biblical point of view. His first post is clear evidence of this. For what it may be worth, I would like to explain why I believe that Dr. MacArthur is most definitely the man for this job of laying words of necessary correction out before those involved in the YRR. Continue reading
MacArthur on YRR
Last week I mentioned that Dr. John MacArthur was going to be writing a series of posts on the Grace To You blog about what is commonly referred to as the New Calvinism or the Young, Restless, Reformed movement. I have eagerly awaited these articles by Dr. MacArthur because, as a Calvinist, there is much that I see in the YRR that is very, very troubling. MacArthur’s first article is now online and it is an excellent treatment of the adolescent irreverence that tends to characterize the YRR. In fact, this immature and juvenile behavior seems to be a badge of honor that they proudly wear and anyone who dares to challenge is immediately labeled a legalist or some other such term. Continue reading
Good Reads for the Day
I came across several very good blog posts recently that I would like to share. The first is from Jesse Johnson of The Cripplegate and it addresses the CJ Mahaney issue that I mentioned a short while ago. It is an excellent article that gets to the very heart of the matter.
Jesse Johnson is the Outreach Pastor and an elder at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, CA.
You may read Jesse’s article here.
The other blog post that I found to be particularly helpful is by Tim Challies and it is a review of a newly released DVD promoting the Family Integrated Church movement. I tend to shy away from Challies because of his lack of discernment in promoting/supporting questionable individuals such as Mark Driscoll, but I did find his review of this DVD to be excellent and on target.
You may read Tim’s review here.
Edit: Over at the Grace to You site, Pastor-Teacher John MacArthur is beginning a series of blog posts dealing with the issue of new Calvinism [the Young, Restless, Reformed crowd]. I am very much looking forward to this series of posts as Dr. MacArthur is going to address the “immaturity, instability, and inconsistency in the YRR movement.” These are issues that have been of great concern to me, so I am very thankful that MacArthur is going to address them and I am certain he will do so in a thoroughly Biblical fashion.
You may read Dr. MacArthur’s article here.
Welcome to my blog. I am Mark Fuss and I serve as Pastor-Teacher of Sovereign Grace Bible Chapel in Englewood, FL. I have been married to my wonderful wife, Kristy, since 1986 and we have three beautiful daughters and one precious granddaughter.
