a Cross-centered blog
“If you find me short in things, impute that to my love of brevity. If you find me besides the truth in anything, impute that to my infirmity. But if you find anything here that serves to your furtherance and joy of the faith, impute that to the mercy of God bestowed on you and me. Yours to serve you with what little I have.” John Bunyan (Works, 1:336).
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“In the cross of Christ, as in a splendid theater, the incomparable goodness of God is set before the whole world. The glory of God shines, indeed, in all creatures on high and below, but never more brightly than in the cross, in which there was a wonderful change of things—the condemnation of all men was manifested, sin blotted out, salvation restored to men; in short, the whole world was renewed and all things restored to order.” John Calvin
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Welcome to Miscellanies [formerly The Shepherd's Scrapbook] a blog serving sinners who seek their daily food in the Cross of Christ. Our goal is provide thoughts on Cross-centered living, theology, preaching and pastoral ministry. We review books considered excellent, announce new books that look interesting, and encourage biblical discernment with both. All of this should fuel our pursuit of the Cross. [Meet the winners of our book of the year awards: 2006 winner and the 2007 winners.]
Email: crede.ut.intelligas AT mac.com
Stay on top of the latest posts by subscribing to the RSS feed.
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Current reading …
- Robert Louis Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought
- Michael Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (3rd ed.)
- F.F. Bruce, The Spreading Flame: The Rise and Progress of Christianity from its First Beginnings to the Conversion of the English
- Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms: 73-90, Boulding trans. (vol. III/18 )
- Colin Duriez, Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life
- Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools
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On my iPod …
Were You There?
music > off shai linne’s excellent rap album
Podcast #1: 07/07/07
podcast > interview with artist Tom Fluharty
Podcast #2: 04/09/08
podcast > interview with Dr J. Ligon Duncan [more]
Let Your Kingdom Come
music > from the excellent Valley of Vision CD
How Great Your Name
music > by Will Pavone
What a Savior!
music > live recording from NA’07
Rick Gamache
sermon jam >
sermon > A Functional Doctrine of Sin
sermon > The Glory of the Cross [great sermon!]
C.H. Spurgeon
sermon > Without Money and Without Price [a favorite sermon!]
John Piper
biography > on Jonathan Edwards [required!]
sermon > Boasting only in the Cross [classic!]
C.J. Mahaney
sermon > Cross-Centered Parenting [excellent!]
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2007 conferences. Last year we blogged the Sovereign Grace Ministries Leadership Conference (Gaithersburg, MD; April 11-13) and the Banner of Truth Minister’s Conference (Grantham, PA; May 29-31). Click on the hyperlinks for our posts.
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Do-it-yourself Blank Bible. Of all the books we promote, none compare with God’s Word. We pursue the Cross as God opens His Word to us. In this anticipation, we encourage you to make your own blank bible like Jonathan Edwards.’ Building a blank bible shows both a commitment to serious, life-long reflection and the anticipation of God’s illuminating Spirit. To date, over 15,000 readers have accessed the Blank Bible Index.
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FREE book! What is God saying to us? How can we know Him? I wrote a little book — Come Unto Me: God’s Invitation to the World — to answer these questions. You can download the book as a PDF and you can read more about the background of the project here.
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Humble Calvinism. Early this year we started a series on Humble Calvinism, a study through John Calvin’s Institutes. Especially noteworthy is Calvin’s experiential sensitivity to the contours of godliness. Join us as we continue learning humble and holistic Calvinism as Calvin intended. See the Humble Calvinism series index here.
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The Puritan Study. The Puritans were Cross-boasters. So how do we use the wealth of Puritan literature in our personal devotions and expositional studies? Our series on building and using a Puritan Study answered this important question. For more see the full Puritan Study series index.
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Who am I? My name is Tony Reinke but call me “chief of sinners.” For 22-years I hid from God in self-righteous religious ‘faithfulness’ until my stubborn heart was subdued by God’s sovereign grace (Eph. 2). In one moment, after a sermon by Paige Patterson in Lincoln, NE on Luke 18:9-14, I perceived the Gospel as the great exchange, and by God’s grace I released my self-righteousness to cling to the saving righteousness of Jesus Christ. That day I recognized I was a sinner playing the part of the Pharisee. It was the day I was reborn. Now nothing is more precious than knowing Christ — the God-man who died for me and gave me His righteousness in place of my sinfulness (Phil. 3:7-9). Pursuing further up and further into the Cross has become the center of my life and this blog is intended as a place to share this pursuit.
Educationally, I graduated from Bellevue University in Omaha, NE with a degree in Liberal Arts. Theologically, I’m an autodidact under the wise direction of a local church. I’ve been married for 10 years to my best friend, Karalee (a more gifted writer and blogger than myself) and we have three precious kids, a majority of whom are named after dead preachers. Last year I was interviewed by Joshua Sowin about life, books and reading (if you want more info)
God has given me the rare privilege and joy of serving as personal assistant to C.J. Mahaney (if you really want to learn from blogs, navigate away from this sorry one and check out what C.J. is saying on his.)
Misc stuff you don’t need to know but will read because you’re bored and surfing the Internet to kill time anyway: My nicknames include any variation of The Scribe, T-Scribble, Scribs, Big Blog Daddy, Big Honkin Blogdaddy, Big Blog Papi, T-Rex, Blogzilla, and Scribola (take your pick). Curtis Allen calls me by the name Tone Capone. Do I look like an Italian mobster? Here’s my mug.
Email/comments. I’m grateful for your readership and would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment on any post to get in touch. Depending upon time restraints I usually respond to email. You can email me at: crede.ut.intelligas AT mac.com .
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My book wishlist. Hopefully one day these valuable books will be added to my library. All from the The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Yale editions) …
- Vol. 10: Sermons and Discourses ( 1720-1723 )
- Vol. 14: Sermons and Discourses ( 1723-1729 )
- Vol. 19: Sermons and Discourses ( 1734-1738 )
- Vol. 25: Sermons and Discourses ( 1743-1758 )
- Vol. 17: Sermons and Discourses ( 1730-1733 )
- Vol. 22: Sermons and Discourses ( 1739-1742 )
- Vol. 13: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 1-500 )
- Vol. 18: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 501-832 )
- Vol. 20: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 833-1152 )
- Vol. 23: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 1153–1360 )
- Vol. 15: Notes on Scripture
- Vol. 8: Ethical Writings
- Vol. 21: Trinity, Grace, and Faith
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Princeton Cemetery. I don’t know how I did it, but in the Spring of 2006 I convinced my wife and kids it would be fun to spend the day at Princeton cemetery. Princeton is famous for its school and less famous for its rich evangelical history. I took several photographs at Princeton Cemetery (where Edwards, Hodge, Warfield and the Alexanders are buried). These photos always remind me to be Cross-centered.
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Hi Tony,
I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I appreciate your website. You are doing a fine job and your articles are always helpful and timely. As a pastor for more than 20 years and a lover of the Doctines of Grace, it is so ecouraging to see young men as yourself loving and promoting the Puritans and solid, experiential Reformed Theology.
Keep up the good work brother!
Rob Gates
Wow. Rob, thank you for encouraging me in the work, I do greatly appreciate it. And thank you for your 20 years of pastoral ministry.
Blessings,
Tony
Hello Tony!
I just want to commend you for your website, which is really profitable for all pastors who seek to use “the wealth of Puritan literature in expositional studies.”
By the way, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (PRTS)in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has a Puritan Resource Center designed to promote the appreciation of Reformed and Puritan literature.
Puritan Resourse Center has The Works of William Perkins, a 3-volume set once owned by Charles Spurgeon, bearing his Pastor’s College seal, and later acquired by Arthur W. Pink, whose penciled notations appear throughout. Another volume worthy of mention is a pristine copy of Francis Roberts’s 1750-page magnum opus on the covenants (The Mystery and Marrow of the Bible: viz. God’s Covenants with Man, 1657).
Those engaged in doctoral studies or on sabbatical leave are welcome to study in the Resource Center. PRTS plans to offer grants to resident scholars, as enabled, for study purposes. An office and several carrels are available for the use of visiting scholars.
For more information you may want to visit this website: http://www.puritanseminary.org/pages/Resources
All for God’s glory,
Brian Golez Najapfour
Tony,
Rebecca and I were traveling this past weekend and missed your sendoff but we wish you all the best in MN. Please extend our love to your wife and children.
Tyler
Tony,
I cannot wait to see how you construct you study bible. Give me call when you get a chance.
Hey, Tony. Our prayers are with you guys duirng your move to Minn. Trust your time in Omaha has instilled in you a love for Husker Football, and that you’ll be a “Cornhusker Transplant” in your new home.
Blessings, and Go Big Red!
Tom
Doctrine Matters
Tony
Thanks so much for the photos of Princeton cementary. I often visited there while doing research on Warfield in the archives of Spear library during my PhD program at WTS. Later this Spring P&R is scheduled to release a book on Warfield that I edited with contributions by: Mark Noll, Moises Silva, Paul Helseth, Steve Nichols, Brad Gundlach, Barry Waugh, Ray Cannata and David Calhoun. Warfield rightly deserves to be discovered by this generation of Reformed people who seem to be blissfully unaware ( or indifferent ) to Old Princeton.
Tony
Good to read your blog, process and become even more enlightened through the scriptures being shared. Some are aware and remain in their positions because of being an agent of change and a reformer in young lives who are truly understanding what it means to follow Jesus and not just a believer…
I hope all is well up North!
Excuse me…What it means to be a follower of Jesus and not just a believer.
Did I not leave a comment on an open blog? Was I taken off for some reason?
Hello Kip,
Sorry I’m still catching up form a busy week. The comments are not posted until I get a chance to moderated them. I get a lot of spam like comments like “great blog” and then the link actually goes to a retail website that sells something. So I end up with about 5:1 spam:legit comments. Takes some time to weed out. Just another reminder of the fallen world we live in.
Things are going great in MN, very busy but the Lord is teaching me much here. Never in my life have seen a church like this one. Amazingly blessed by God!
What does it mean to be a follower and not just a believer? There is no difference. The bible says there are believers/followers and unbelievers/non-followers. True believers can backslide for a time, but they will be restored from this temporary slide into sin. But there is no difference between, say, disciples and Christians. Those terms are synonymous (Acts 11:26). Churches have in the past (and present) tried hard to not be forced to talk of believers/unbelievers so there has been a lot of semantic shifts to replace the word “unbeliever” with “pre-Christian” or “seeker” but these are not the biblical terms. So there is always a tendency away from the word “unbeliever.” Even in the context of a church meeting, Paul calls unbelievers “unbelievers” (1 Cor. 6:6; 7:12-13, 10:27, 14:22-24, etc.). Any church that no longer uses the term “unbeliever” seems to be making a semantics shift from the biblical terminology. This I think is why you also see a supposed distinction between a “follower” and a “believer.”
Christians are disciples. Non-disciples are non-Christians/unbelievers.
Let me know if this answers your question or not.
Blessings,
Tony
To speak of it more broadly this brings in a debate over Lordship vs. Easy-Believism. Jesus is clear that if you claim to be a believer but your life does not evidence the fruit of being a believer that person is a hypocrite (Matt. 15:7-9). These are hard words but consistent with Tozer who writes,
“The Lord will not save those whom He cannot command. He will not divide His offices. You cannot believe on a half-Christ. We take Him for what He is — the anointed Saviour and Lord who is King of kings and Lord of all lords! He would not be Who He is if He saved us and called us and chose us without the understanding that He can also guide and control our lives.” [from the book, I Call it Heresy, pp. 18-19]
If one does not live like a Christian they are not Christians. To believe is to pick up ones Cross and follow the hard (but fulfilling) yoke of Jesus. The best books on this subject are by John MacArthur titled “The Gospel According to Jesus” and “The Gospel According to the Apostles.” I highly recommend these to you as MacArthur’s greatest contribution to contemporary Evangelicalism!
Likewise chapter 31 out of John Piper’s new book “What Jesus Demands from the World” speaks very clearly to the subject (as does the entire book). I highly recommend it. In a church culture that wants to know what God has for us its great to ask “What does God expect from me?”
Blessings
Tony
And on the difference between a genuine believer and a hypocrite, Jonathan Edwards famous book (The Religious Affections) is probably the best treatment of the difficult topic. If there is no life change towards godliness, no matter what kind of religious experience one has had, they are not believers … Very humbling! In Edward’s own words,
“Therefore if there be no great and remarkable abiding change in persons that think they have experienced a work of conversion, vain are all their imaginations and pretenses, however they have been affected. Conversion is a great and universal change of the man, turning him from sin to God. A man may be restrained from sin before he is converted; but when he is converted, he is not only restrained from sin, his very heart and nature is turned from it unto holiness: so that thenceforward he becomes a holy person, and an enemy to sin. If, therefore, after a person’s high affections at his supposed first conversion, it comes to that in a little time, that there is no very sensible, or remarkable alteration in him, as to those bad qualities, and evil habits, which before were visible in him, and he is ordinarily under the prevalence of the same kind of dispositions that he used to be, and the same thing seems to belong to his character; he appears as selfish, carnal, as stupid, and perverse, as unchristian and unsavory as ever; it is greater evidence against him, than the brightest story of experiences that ever was told, is for him. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision, nor uncircumcision, neither high profession, nor low profession, neither a fair story, nor a broken one, avails any thing; but a new creature” [see Galatians 6:14].
Tony
Tony
Great thoughts as I believe we are stating the same distinctions between the two. I would add from the book of James where the writer states “do not be merely hearers of the word, do what it says.” (James 1:22-25) My distinction would be the Lordship or what the new testament calls a “Reprobate”, one who knows but is not transformed or deceived into thinking they are followers of Jesus. I believe in most churches across this country we have many who think and hear, but are not transformed by the Spirit of God’s prevenient grace from the inside out. We have many who gaze and forget their image…
In regards to “Seeker”, “Follower” terminology…we are all seekers regardless of where we land on our spiritual journey…I am a seeker of the King, a follower of Jesus, which Christ himself states over through proximity of “Following” Him (Mark 2:14).
Again Levi is one powerful example of a “Follower of Jesus” (Mark 2:14,2:15,Luke 5:27,5:2
Kip, Yes, I totally believe that one’s actions (life) must be consistent with one’s doctrine (beliefs). I would be interested in your distinction between a “believer” and a “disciple.” Tony
We would agree on terminology just different wording. Let me ask you a question…
Why is a sunday service so important? No hidden agenda here, just enjoy reading people’s response.
Good question, Kip,
Sunday is usually the day Christians meet together because we are told it’s the Lord’s Day. The church met on the first day of the week to “break bread” (Acts 20:7). That’s another way of saying the believers gathered together to proclaim what was of first importance - the Cross (1 Cor. 15:3 and 11:27). Our tendency is to forget the centrality of the Cross (or at least begin forgetting things about the Cross) and so the weekly church meeting seems to focus believers back to this one foundation. Due to the communion requirements, it’s clear these meetings around communion were not designed for unbelievers (1 Cor. 11:26-30). Focusing the believers back to the Cross through communion was top priority. Sundays were not used for evangelism or service projects but the building of the body.
But the church meeting is also a special place where various spiritual gifts are engaged for the upbuilding of the whole body. I think 1 Corinthians 14 is especially helpful here.
“What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up” (1 Cor. 14:26). Church gatherings are a place for several spiritual gifts to be used in the building up of Christians. There is a corporate expectation that the Spirit will provide gifts through several (all) people at the meetings. Church is much more than a song a sermon and a prayer. “Each one” has some gifting to be used to build others up. This is amazingly foreign to my concept of church.
When reading through 1 Corinthians and how the church was functioning, I find it especially interesting that the emphasis was on building up the believers. We need to be ready for unbelievers to come in the door (and especially to call them to repentance from their sin - 14:24). But I am struck on the emphasis of the church being built up through the use of gifts to edify the believers.
On a more personal level, Sunday mornings will be a place that I apply the Apostolic example that pastors are to preach the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). There are very few duties that humble me more. How will I preach through Leviticus? Proverbs? Job? Psalms? Revelation? These are heavy tasks that will require life-long devotion and many weeks of preaching opportunities to a congregation of believers.
So these are some thoughts. The church gathers to re-calibrate its heart around the Cross, to provide a place for all believers to use their spiritual gifts and where the pastor can fulfill his calling to preach the whole counsel of God’s Word. It’s clearly a place for building up first and evangelistically only by consequence of unbelievers seeing Christians building one another up.
These are important concerns in a church culture that seeks to build church methods around non-believers or around the gifts of one man (multi-campus, multi-casting). These show serious ecclesiastical misunderstandings.
Hope this makes sense. Blessings,
Tony
Tony,
Just wanted to say “Thanks” for reintroducing me to the Puritans. I have really enjoyed your blog and reading the Puritans. I’ve been extremely blessed by the copy of “Overcoming Sin and Temptation” I received for Christmas and have also been enjoying Thomas Boston’s sermons that I found in the university library. Their work has really convicted and stirred my heart to glorify God in all that I do.
Blessings,
Ben
Ben, I thank you for the gracious words. It is an honor to be used of God in some small way in the growth of others. Boston is a TREASURE! Thanks again! - Tony
Hi Tony, been reading your blog a lot, was curious if you knew anything about Federal Vision.
my blog has a post on it and just wondered if you could look at it and comment, maybe give me a break down in easy speak.
thanks, kristina
Hey Tony!
Love your blog! Must admit I hate to miss a day without strolling by. Your posts
have helped me sooooo much in my walk.
I did a search on your blog and noticed you had no topics discussing scripture
memorization. I would love to hear your input towards this and and advice you
can give someone who is serious to do so.
Thanks a bunch Tony!!!!
Matt Blair
thefoolishgalatian@wordpress.com/
Just found your blog and intend to read and comment often. I am a huge fan of Sovereign Grace Ministries and CJ Mahaney’s work. How has the experience been for you in your time in the internship program with SGM?
Hello Darrell! Each Sovereign Grace church handles the internship/training positions a bit differently. I’m not in a formal internship. What I love about Sovereign Grace Fellowship here in MN is the discernment they have with the particular gifts and calling of each man. This is a really special place to be. If you ever want more info, please email me! Tony
tony AT tonyreinke DOT com
Hey Tony, I’ve enjoyed your blog for over a year now. Thanks so much for your convictions and desires rooted in the Gospel! I have a question about audio podcasting that you may/may not be able to answer. You always list what is currently on your iPod in individual audio players. I am trying to upload our church’s sermons each week and want to imbed them into our blog. What service do you use to upload those songs, sermons, and more? I’ve tried searching for sites and have found “mypodcast” and “hipcast”, but they are either too expensive or too limited in use. Just curious as to what you use or how you upload your audio files on Shepherd’s Scrapbook. Any help you can offer would be great,
In Christ,
jonathan
I would like to discuss Making War in the Name of God with Christopher Catherwood. Any chance of communicating with Christopher?
Tony,
I have been to your blog a few times and appreciate your posts and insights. I wanted to let you know of a puritan devotional podcast that I am doing: http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=22236&forum=16&6
I would like you to pray about possibly doing 5-6 readings for it, if so please email me and we can talk further.
Greg
Tony,
Thanks for posting such regularly encouraging and Cross centered entries, including your streamed audio files. I would like to learn more about how you go about posting audio files to a blog. When you post a recorded song, do you have to obtain permission from the copyright holder? Since I knew that you posted recorded songs, I thought you’d be a good person to ask.
Many thanks,
Champ
Champ, thanks for the encouragement. This is very meaningful. For these mp3s I either asked permission or they are posted online elsewhere. Actually a number of the files streaming through this blog are posted on the artist’s website. So although it looks like I posted it, I’m simply directing what’s made free from the artist themselves. Make sense? Hope this helps. Blessings, Tony
Hi Tony,
I’m a little frenchy, so excuse my english.
Your cross-centered blog is a great blessing for me. You’re doing a great job following CJ Mahaney. I tried to find email addresses to write to you about it, but i haven’t found it, so i’ll write a suggestion here.
Don’t you think it could be interesting to have a CJ post on personal bible study for dummies ? I’m nothing of a theologian but i desire to improve my knowledge and my understanding of the Word of God. My goal is not to be smart but to be obedient.
When I see puritans who where immersed in the word of God, i think we have much things to learn.
I don’t know if i have been clear, i hope so.
Thank you for all what you do,
GBU
Tony,
I’m not sure where to write this but I wanted to bring this up to you. My blog looks very similar to your. You would probably agree. The layout works for me (the theme) because of the set up. I know it looks real close. I don’t want it to offend you or anything so if you want me to change anything ask. I didn’t want to copy you with the “a Cross-centered blog,” so I didn’t, but I wanted to make it clear that this blog is about the Cross. I thought about Christ Centered but it was too close to yours, so I saw the subtitle of Ferguson’s book In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel Centered Life, so I chose “A Gospel Centered Blog.” I wanted to make the subtitle of my blog known as well as it being a Christ/Cross/Gospel Centered Blog and the Theme does that for me through changing the name of the about page. I ask that you would please tell me if you want me to change anything on my blog.I don’t want to seem like “I’m copying you” so please tell me. I guess you can delete this comment if you want. Thanks for reading and I hope you do this for me.
Your Brother in Christ
Mark
P.S. I’m saying this out of a serving attitude.
Hello Mark. Yes, I would recommend you change your blog. Simply put, I want you to improve upon this blo. So be careful in emulating that you don’t limit yourself. So, for example, the blog template I chose accommodates my audio files on the right column. But if you dont need the 3-column look I would recommend going with a much more attractive theme (and there are many others more attractive than this one).
And perhaps your blog name could more carefully reflect scripture. I’ve always wanted to integrate Galatians 6:14 into the title. But you can use it. Create a title like “Cross Boasting” or “One Boast.”
Know that you are free to copy whatever format you like on this blog, but know that I would encourage you to improve upon what you see here, too. But yo are free to take.
What do we have–blog titles and formats–that have not been given (1Cor 4:7)?
Tony