rc sproul

Ligonier Ministries: The State of Theology "We are in a new dark age"

Posted on August 15, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here is a wonderful info-graphic from Ligonier Ministries.

It is Ligonier’s desire to serve the church in fulfilling the Great Commission. This survey has helped to point out common gaps in theological knowledge and awareness so that Christians might be more effective in the proclamation, teaching, and defense of the essential truths of the Christian faith.

View the infographic, listen to Dr. R.C. Sproul discuss these findings on Renewing Your Mind, or download the official white paper and survey with key findings. You can also download the entire study in a .pdf.

Remember the point of absorbing this information is to educate yourself, but then to go forward and witness properly to others, either Christians or non-Christians. Now you know where the gaps in biblical knowledge are and can be part of helping to fill that in for people.

Thanks goes to Ligonier Ministries for this information and all their enduring hard work.

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Day 1 and 2 of Sheperds’ Conference: an ugly DNS attack and beautiful worship

Posted on March 5, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A friend of mine sent me his synopsis of day on of the Inerrancy Summit: Shepherds’ Conference held annually at The Master’s Seminary/Grace Community Church, John MacArthur’s church. With permission it is posted below. Day two (March 4th) went off without any apparent hitches. Please use the same links to view yesterday’s events or read the time-stamped blog notes.

Nearly 5000 men from every state in the US and 70 other countries (about 700 men) are attending. This represents many seeds in the Kingdom for His glory. Please pray for these pastors in their labors and as they bring the refreshed hearts and increasingly transformed minds back to their battle stations and continue fighting for souls.

The reason the Conference live stream went down is not because it was overwhelmed with viewers (wouldn’t THAT be a praise!) but because it was hacked into a DNS (denial of service) attack. Satan surely hates the saving message of Jesus to get out there, doesn’t he?

This photo is from Day 2, Alistair Begg is preaching. The photo represents only a fraction of the men who are attending. Many more are in this audience, and many others are in different rooms with video feed, due to the size of the crowd. Who knows what denial of service attacks satan perpetrated on each pastor as he made his way from all corners of the US and abroad, but they made it and now our senior pastors of the faith are ministering to these precious men. I praise the Lord for the body of Christ and for the shepherds He has raised up.

SUMMARY RECAP: Day one (March 3rd) saw the live stream hacked and the it was down most of the day. It’s is back up now but thousands of people were denied the opportunity to view two of the best presentations, by Dr. MacArthur and Dr. Sproul, I have ever seen.

Here are links to both video presentations:

Dr MacArthur

Dr. Sproul

There is also a site that has time stamped summaries of all presentations which is most useful. It includes most of the referenced verses of Scripture with links as well.

Summit Notes

If you are interested in reading the “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy” it is here.

alistair begg, Erin Benziger, rc sproul

Puritan Prayers, Equipping Eve, The Lightlings, How (Not) to Pray Against Cultural Decline, & more

Posted on December 6, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here are some good things I want to share but there is no unifying theme or essay to tie them together. Enjoy.

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We find Christ in all the Scriptures. In the Old Testament He is predicted, in the Gospels He is revealed, in Acts He is preached, in the epistles He is explained, and in Revelation He is expected.

~Alistair Begg, Preaching for God’s Glory, Crossway, 1999, p. 36

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Watch R.C. Sproul’s The Lightlings and The Prince’s Poison Cup for Free

R.C. Sproul’s The Lightlings and The Prince’s Poison Cup came to life when they were released as colorful and powerful animatic DVDs in 2009. Today, Reformation Trust is making these two children’s stories, written and narrated by R.C. Sproul, free to watch online forever.

//player.vimeo.com/video/111747938

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“We don’t live in a post-Christian culture, it’s gone beyond that. We live in an anti-Christian culture.” RC Sproul

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“The issue isn’t a separation of church and state, it is separation of state and God.” RC Sproul

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The above quotes from Sproul and Begg were quickly jotted down as I listened to those pastors’ sermons on RefNet, short for Reformation Network, a ministry of Ligonier and RC Sproul. It is radio, compete with scripture readings, Q&As, sermons, talks, music, and more. The music has a classical/Renaissance bent to it. The sermons and talks have a Reformed bent to them. It’s perfect for me. The only thing I don’t like is that because it’s radio, I can’t pause it when gems like the above come across. I have to quickly jot them down while missing so much other rich material. Good problem to have. Definitely meaty.

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In keeping with the same vein as the ant-Christian culture Sproul talked of, 9Marks has a plethora of good articles this month. Here is just one-

Colonial America and How (Not) to Pray Against Cultural Decline

There is an overwhelming sense among Christians in the West that we are not only in a time of cultural decline, but that it is gaining pace. If that’s true, how should Christians pray? There may in fact be a lesson to learn about praying from our colonial forbears: perhaps God cares less about our efforts at moral reform than he cares about hearts that belong to him.

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Equipping Eve is a new ministry from Erin Benziger of Do Not Be Surprised. In collaboration with and under authority of Pastor Mike Abendroth of Bethlehem Bible Church and her own pastor, Don Green of Truth Community Church, Ms Benziger wrote of the ministry’s emphasis:

“a ministry for ladies who love the Lord. From the twice-monthly radio show, to the original articles that will be posted, to the resources that will be provided, Equipping Eve exists to equip women with “fruits of truth” from God’s Word so that they will be prepared to stand strong in an age that is ripe with deception.”

There has been an introduction and two episodes, with a third coming later today. Please bookmark the site and listen to the half-hour show. And share generously with other ladies.

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Do you ever feel like you are getting into a rut in your prayers? Praying for the same things in the same way? Is a shallowness creeping in and you don’t know how to combat it? I feel that way sometimes. I found this book during my search of the Puritans:

The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

The strength of Puritan character and life lay in prayer and meditation. In this practice the spirit of prayer was regarded as of first importance and the best form of prayer, for living prayer is the characteristic of genuine spirituality. Yet prayer is also vocal and may therefore on occasions be written. Consequently in the Puritan tradition there are many written prayers and meditations which constitute an important corpus of inspiring devotional literature. Too often ex tempore prayer lacks variety, order and definiteness. The reason for this lies partly in a neglect of due preparation. It is here that the care and scriptural thoroughness which others found necessary in their approach to God may be of help. This book has been prepared not to ‘supply’ prayers but to prompt and encourage the Christian as he treads the path on which others have gone before.”

Here is a peek of one of the prayers:

O Holy Spirit, thou hast loved me and entered my heart, implanted there eternal life, revealed to me the glories of Jesus. Three Persons and one God, I bless and praise thee, for love so unmerited, so unspeakable, so wondrous, so mighty to save the lost and raise them to glory.

Amen. Have a blessed weekend and week ahead.

rc sproul, reformation, sola scriptura

John MacArthur and RC Sproul on Sola Scriptura and the Reformation

Posted on October 31, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

From Grace To You blog:

Today while much of the world wallows in the excess and prurience of Halloween, some Christians will instead pause to celebrate a different holiday. Reformation Day marks the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. That audacious act by a passionate monk is often recognized as the flashpoint of the Protestant Reformation.

The true catalyst of the Reformation was not merely that one act, but an understanding. The doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) was the true cause of the Protestant Reformation. Through the study of God’s Word, Martin Luther and others like him became convinced that Scripture alone was sufficient for salvation and sanctification; that the teaching and traditions of the Catholic Church were actually impediments to truly knowing and loving the Lord.

In a special program airing today on “Renewing Your Mind,” John MacArthur sits down with Dr. R.C. Sproul to discuss the importance of Sola Scriptura, the vital work of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other reformers, and how the battle for the sufficiency and inerrancy of Scripture continues to this day. You can listen to their insightful, encouraging discussion here.

Or here it is below:

doctrine, encouragment, ligonier, rc sproul, reformation

20 Free ebooks from RC Sproul

Posted on August 4, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A reader sent me an alert from Ligonier Ministries of RC Sproul. There are a series of ebooks that the Ministry has made free forever. In addition, the Ministry adds free ebooks constantly. Here is their blurb

To further help Christians know what they believe, why they believe it, how to live it, and how to share it, in May 2013 we made the ebook editions of R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series free forever. We continue to publish new ebooks in this series and this year have added Are These the Last Days?, What Is Repentance?, and What Is the Relationship between Church and State?

Here is the link.

I don’t have a kindle or have set up my iTunes for eBooks, but it only took me ten minutes to find and review (through CNET and Amazon) the app “FB Reader”. I downloaded FB Reader (declining all the junk and games they try to bundle in with it) and I’ve successfully opened the first eBook I downloaded from Ligonier:

“Are We Living In the Last Days?” (of course!). I am also interested in the ebook “What is Repentance?“

It is such a blessing that so many ministries have made their material available for free. Chris Powers’ AKA ActionJones’s animated videos and tracts, Grace to You sermons from John MacArthur, so much from Ligonier, and many others. In like kind, please pass along the generosity when you can, making what you have available too. And don’t forget to support one of these worthy ministries, or a ministry of your choice, so that others can continue to benefit from doctrinally solid products.