Tag: selection

Quotes to Note 45: Herman Bavinck on Yearning for God’s Word

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

Herman Bavinck is best known as a Reformed theologian from the early 20th Century. His four volume Reformed Dogmatics has been widely respected and embraced in the English speaking Reformed community. I am currently reading a small book he wrote on the importance of public confession of faith that has been reissued with a new English translation by Hendrickson Publishers.

In an almost Spurgeon-esque way, Bavinck’s writing abounds with Scriptural allusions and references. Here is a gem from this book, focused on the role of the Word of God in the believer’s life.

…it is a true mark of spiritual life when our heart yearns after and longs for that word. It is completely natural, just as one who is hungry longs for bread, the thirsty for water, and the sick for medicine. Just as naturally, the one who is spiritual with a holy longing reaches for the word of God and for Christ, who is offered in that word. Those who are spiritual never grow beyond that word. Unlike the mystic’s dreams, the word is not used as a ladder to ascend to a certain height, and then to spread one’s own wings and support oneself. Anyone who tries to do so will soon fall to earth broken. Anyone who refuses food will soon starve. Anyone who does not heed the word of Christ does not love him [1 John 5:3]. Anyone who rejects medicine has no need of a physician.

But the spiritual person, as long as one lives and with all one’s soul, feels bound to that word as the means of communion and fellowship with God, because God has bound himself to that word. It is only in the proportion one is planted in that word that one grows and becomes stronger. As ivy to a wall, the spiritual person holds fast to the word. As one leans upon a rod or a staff on a pilgrimage, so one leans on the word. One becomes increasingly attached to it, and increasingly devoted to it. The spiritual person’s love for the word becomes stronger, considers it ever increasing in value, and always finds in it a rich treasure for both heart and life. For the one who is spiritual, it becomes increasingly God’s word, a word that comes to that person from God, a letter from one’s Father sent from heaven, to be a guide to the Father’s house. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” [Ps. 119:105]. “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” [Ps. 119:97].

Therefore parents must feed their covenant child, even from early childhood , with this word….

~ Bavinck, Herman, The Sacrifice of Praise (Hendrickson Publishers, 2019), translated and edited by Cameron Clausing and Gregory Parker Jr., pp. 24-25.

Pick up a copy of this book from Westminster Bookstore, Christianbook.com, Amazon.com or direct from Hendrickson.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher, I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Reformation Gems 6: Henry Airay on Confidence Only in Christ

~ Bob Hayton

Reformation Commentary on Scripture Series: Volume 11 (Philippians, Colossians)Reformation Gems are excerpts from selections contained in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, a new commentary series from IVP which gathers the best Reformation-era comments on the text together all in one set. The volumes in this commentary series resurrect long-forgotten voices from the Reformation age and in so doing they recover the piety and vivacity of that era. I hope that by sharing some excerpts from this series, I will edify my readers and promote this important commentary series.
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Today’s selection comes from the latest volume in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series: Volume XI (Philippians, Colossians). Henry Airay, was the author of “one of the seventeenth century’s most prominent commentaries on the book of Philippians in English” (p. xlix). In commenting on Phil. 3:4-6, Airay zeroes in on the importance of placing one’s confidence in nothing but Christ.

Here is the excerpt from Airay’s work originally published in 1613 (with key sentences bolded for emphasis):

Confidence in Nothing but Christ.

Henry Airay: Let this, then, teach us not to have confidence in any outward thing whatsoever without Christ. You are baptized; it is well: so was Simon Magus (Acts 8:13). [You partake of] the Lord’s Table; it is well: so, no doubt, did Judas. He who eats and drinks worthily is made one with Christ, and Christ with him. But “he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks his own damnation” (1 Cor. 11:29). You are born of holy and godly parents; it is well: so were Ishmael and Esau. “They which are the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Rom. 9:8). You are of a holy profession; it is well: so was Demas. Holiness of profession does not commend to God, but a heart purified by faith which works through love. You distribute to the poor and do many good things; it is well: so did the Pharisees, and the young man in the Gospel (Mt 19:20). “Though I feed the poor with all my goods, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Cor 13:3). In a word, there is nothing under heaven without Christ that does profit us, so that we should rejoice or have confidence in it. (pg. 75, words in brackets added in an attempt to capture the flow of Airay’s thought)

About the Reformation-era author: Henry Airay (c. 1560-1616). English Puritan professor and pastor. He was especially noted for his preaching, a blend of hostility toward Catholicism and articulate exposition of English Calvinism. He was promoted to provost of Queen’s College Oxford (1598) and then to vice chancellor of the university in 1606. He disputed with William Laud concerning Laud’s putative Catholicization of the Church of England, particularly over the practice of genuflection, which Airay vehemently opposed. He also opposed fellow Puritans who wished to separate from the Church of England. His lectures on Philippians were his only work published during his lifetime. (pg. 264)

Learn more about this commentary series at the Reformation Commentary page at IVPress.com, or check out this sampler (PDF). You can pick up a copy of Reformation Commentary on Scripture: Volume XI (Galatians, Ephesians) at any of the following online retailers: Westminster Bookstore, Amazon, Christianbook.com, or direct from IVP. You may want to consider becoming a member with IVP and getting the entire series on a subscription discount of more than 40% per volume.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by IVP. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

The Legacy of St. Patrick

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

St. PatrickI have long been intrigued by St. Patrick. I love the color green and I do have some Irish blood. But the more I learn about the true St. Patrick, the more my estimation of him as a Christian leader rises. In fact, our son born near St. Patrick’s Day has Patrick for a middle name.

I’ve written on St. Patrick’s Day before, and today I just want to compile some resources for those who wish to learn more about the legacy of St. Patrick. The best thing to do to mark Patrick’s day would be to read Patrick in his own words – read his autobiographical “Confession of St. Patrick,” or his poignant “Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus” — both documents widely accepted to be from Patrick’s own pen.

On the Eve of Roe v. Wade’s 40th Anniversary: Black Genocide

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

BlackGenocide.orgThis is one of the rare times that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day comes so close to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade (Jan. 22). The Desiring God Blog shares a post today entitled “MLK’s Dream and the Nightmare of Black Genocide.” In that post the following points are raised:

One in four African Americans conceived in the last forty years have been cut down by the “black genocide” of legal abortion.

A decade ago [Clenard] Childress founded a website by and for African Americans (blackgenocide.org) “to expose the disproportionate amount of Black babies destroyed by the abortion industry. For every two African American women that get pregnant, one will choose to abort.”

The site laments that “a Black baby is 5 times more likely to be killed in the womb than a White Baby.” Childress says, “The most dangerous place for an African American to be is in the womb of their African American mother.”

For Childress and a growing number, the point is clear: Abortion in America is a race issue….

Again, roughly one in four African Americans, who otherwise might be alive today, have been consumed in the holocaust of legal abortion. Because of the disproportionate number of Blacks who have been aborted, it’s difficult not to make the connection between King’s dream and the nightmare of abortion, and ask, Have not the last 40 years of Roe significantly undermined the cause that King so tirelessly gave himself to until 1968?

…As one Black man says in the 3801 Lancaster documentary, “Everything that was ever gained during the Civil Rights Movement is worth nothing to a dead Black child,” and as one Black woman proclaims, “Make no mistake, abortion is a civil rights issue.”

The article goes on to quote Dr. King’s niece on the severity of this problem, I encourage you to read the whole post by David Mathis on this MLK Day.

Let me be clear, I believe as Christians we should be concerned for both the rights of the black man and the unborn child. I am ashamed of how white America, and specifically white Christian America treated the blacks for so long. I uphold Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a true hero – standing up for the rights of his people and advocating non-violent tactics. He is a gift to our country and we should be proud to celebrate today in his honor. But I also believe we cannot be silent when it comes to abortion. Innocent lives are lost every day and all of us grow calloused by the frequency of the slaughter and blinded by the sanitary-ness of it all. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

But when you see abortion as a civil rights issue, that the very structures which encourage and support abortion are heavily stacked in the favor of doing away with a 25% or more of unborn black children – then abortion should be come even more sinister. Add to this the fact that in other cultures around the world, girls are systematically aborted through fetal selection and the travesty becomes even more alarming.

May we pray today for our country to stop its schizophrenic attitude toward abortion. America is at the forefront of a revolution to protect life and extend it through a variety of avenues: social, scientific, medical, economic, political and militarily. America sacrifices and moves mountains just to save one trapped miner or rescue a displaced people group. Shouldn’t we be equally concerned with the rights of the unborn who are falling so quickly all around us?

Book Briefs: “Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives” edited by Nancy B. Winter

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

The Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) is a ministry focused on providing biblical counseling materials to the church. Their materials connect the Gospel to all of life and are designed to equip local churches to minister to all of the needs of their congregations. I have previously reviewed some of their books (here and here), and helped teach one of their courses (How People Change). I am constantly impressed by the quality of their work and how practical it is for the real problems people face.

New Growth Press has compiled a collection of excerpts from books written by such CCEF authors as Timothy S. Lane, Paul David Tripp, David Powlison, Edward T. Welch, Michael R. Emlet, William P. Smith, and more. The result is a year-long devotional, Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives, edited by Nancy B. Winter. This hardcover book includes daily devotional readings for every day of the year. The selections are short and readable, yet thoughtful and weighty. The readings are meant to complement a Scripture text to be read each day.

These devotional nuggets provide a practical out-working of a Gospel-centered perspective on all of life that under-girds the counseling approach of CCEF. The sovereignty of God, the reality of the kingdom, the cross of Christ, and grace-based sanctification are a few of the themes explored in these pages. Included in the back of the book is a listing of the source of each excerpt. Particularly poignant daily readings can be traced back to the book they were excerpted from, allowing the reader to turn to the source for more from the author on that subject. Also helpful is a lengthy index of Scripture passages commented on in the book. This index could be used as a guide for reading through the Bible. As you read passages, you can turn to the index and see if any devotional thoughts are available that intersect with the verses you just read.

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate the high quality of this particular devotional is to encourage you to take a quick read through some sample pages (Introduction and Jan. 1-5) provided by the publisher.

If you’re looking for a new devotional for 2012, look no further than this volume from CCEF. I’m confident its Gospel-centered, practical application of Scripture to all of life will make a lasting impression on your heart. It can help facilitate real change, by the power of the Holy Spirit–and that is what CCEF is all about.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Westminster Bookstore, Christianbook.com, Amazon, or direct from New Growth Press.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by New Growth Press. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.