A Brilliant Quote on Preaching

 I'm preaching at my church this week. I love this quote. I don't think my manuscript is even good enough to qualify as "pitiful":

“How utterly dependant we are on the Holy Spirit in the work of preaching! All genuine preaching is rooted in a feeling of desperation. You wake up on Sunday morning and you can smell the smoke of hell on one side and feel the crisp breezes of heaven on the other. You go to your study and look down at your pitiful manuscript, and you kneel down and cry, "O God, this is so weak! Who do I think I am? What audacity to think that in three hours my words will be the odor of death to death and the fragrance of life to life (2 Cor 2:16). My God, who is sufficient for these things?"

John Piper in  The Supremacy of God in Preaching

Don't Waste Your Cancer… Is it an Option?

Does God really cripple us with cancer? Many of us know that Matt Chandler has been diagnosed with cancer. Here is a recent article published by Associated Press on Chandler, his family and his cancer. Very moving and astonishing.

When Science Blasphemes Less Than Religion

I've come across a terrific video. But before I post it, I thought of this as-terrific quote. How are we doing Christians?

"I do see the design of the universe as essentially a religious question. That is, one should have some kind of respect and awe for the whole business. It's very magnificent and shouldn't be taken for granted. In fact, I believe that is why Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. He must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had ever imagined, and they were just not talking about the real thing. My guess is that he simply felt that religions he had run across did not have a proper respect for the Author of the universe."

Charles Misner, General relativity theory scientist (as quoted in Let the Nation Be Glad and in this sermon on the Supremacy of God)


Here's the video that brings us from planet Earth, across the entire known Universe and beyond.

What are we listening to?

Just thought I'd tell you what I've been listening to lately. To stay spiritually "fit" (or not get disqualified) I read my Bible, try to commune with God, listen to people that contagiously make me want to know God more deeply and tell the world about the supreme worth of Jesus.


Here are the people that help me. If you click on their name, you'll be able to listen to and download the most recent sermon I've heard:


John Piper  (Excellent sermon on "Going out of the camp"
CJ Mahaney (This man has the gift of encouragement)
Mark Dever  (Does God give second-chances? The message of Zachariah)
Francis Chan (Holy Anguish)
Matt Chandler (This is particularly good for anyone that listens to a lot of sermons, attends a lot of conferences and reads a lot of books)
Mark Driscoll (This isn't the most recent I listened to, but the 1st of an excellent series)

Remarkable Spurgeon Sermons to be continued

Spurgeon quotes have ceased all of a sudden (last week). This will be remedied as soon as this weekend is over. I've finished reading the first sermon, "Supposing Him to be the gardener" and found it good. Have several more passages I want you to read. The best thing of course is just to read the whole sermon. You can find it on the previous Spurgeon posts of my blog.

50 Remarkable Sermons by Charles H. Spurgeon

While attending a gathering in Switzerland, I visited their second hand book section. I found it rather interesting, although it contained no French books worth reading. Instead, I found old books from authors that have gone to be with Jesus, many years ago.

In the end, I only bought one book (because I'd come by train), but I think it is a rare find, a treasure. A collection of 50 Remarkable Sermons by Charles Spurgeon, printed in 1908. I bought a hundred year-old book of Spurgeon for just over a dollar! I love second-hand books!

As I glanced through the book, I found a wonderful sermon. I'd been longing to read it again, ever since a friend onboard the Doulos read it out loud to me in his Irish accent. The title of the sermon is: High Doctrine and Broad Doctrine (sermon #1762 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle). It is a gem of Bible exposition. To hear the scriptures preached with such force and beauty was a memorable occasion. You'd have to read it for yourself, but until you find the book, you can read the Bible and be amazed for yourself.

"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
John 6:37 (KJV as quoted in High Doctrine and Broad Doctrine)

A good weekend to all. Enjoy the extra free time to read your Bibles and be with God!