Excerpt from Spurgeon Biography

Spurgeon was crystal clear in teaching justification by faith and in denouncing works as a way of righteousness.

"Come to him as you are. But ah, I know that when we sit in our studies it seems a light thing to preach the gospel and to make people believe in Christ; but when we come to practice it is the hardest thing in the world. If I were to tell you to do something great you would do it,but simply when it is "Believe, wash and be clean!" you will not due it. If I said, "Give me ten thousand pounds," you would give it. You would crawl a thousand miles on your hands and knees,or drink the bitterest draught that ever was concocted, but this trusting in Christ is too hard for your proud spirit." -Spurgeon

Work like an Arminian, Sleep like a Calvinist

I was tremendously blessed by this sermon this morning by Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hills Church in Seattle, Washington. Here is a clear, bold, straightforward sermon on predestination with an intro to Calvinism and its proponents throughout church history. If you are already familiar with and rejoice in the doctrines grace listen closely as this sermon will be a sweet reminder of what you already hold true and love. If you are unfamiliar with or unconvinced that the Scriptures teach the doctrines of grace (total inability, unconditional election, particular atonement, effectual calling, and perseverance of the the saints) listen carefully as this sermon gives a good introduction to these glorious doctrines and shows how they are clearly taught in Scripture. Feast and enjoy!

Travels Through Ireland: Rock of Cashel

While Sandi was here we took a road trip to County Kerry. On the way there we stopped at a magnificent site- the great 4th century fortification of Cashel - the stone fort. This was the seat of kings and mediaeval bishops for 900 years and flourished until the early 17th century. It was known as a "Stronghold of the Faith."

Reflections on the Eternal City: The Vatican Museum

I am not an art person but going to Rome and not seeing the Sistine Chapel would be like going to Edinburgh and skipping the Edinburgh Castle- ludicrous! We waited in line two and half hours to get in to the Vatican Museum and paid 26 euro. There were thousands of people there but once inside and free to move about it was surprisingly not that crowded. The Vatican Museum holds over 4 miles of art- mostly sculptures and frescoes but there are also some maps, tapestries, and artifacts. You begin by going through several rooms of sculptured marble statues. Now at first sight these are amazing and to think of how the artist just chiseled away and made such detailed human likeness is incredible. After the first few rooms of the marble though I had enough- where was the Sistine Chapel? On to more rooms with beautiful marble pillars and floors and breathtaking ceilings and more sculptures. Then onto rooms with maps and tapestries. Most of the art is dimly lit to protect it so it is sometimes hard to see and even harder to photograph. All beautiful but where was the Sistine Chapel? I had seen many signs for it and kept entering one long room after another with increasing amounts of beautiful frescoes depicting Bible stories and Bible people. I also saw the "School of Athens" which is a famous fresco by Raphael that I had read about from Schaeffer. I was quite excited to recognize a piece of art. I didn't care that much for the marble but the frescoes I really liked. It was so fun to guess which Bible stories or people the frescoes were portraying. I really like one that depicted the Apostle Peter being liberated from prison and another that showed a marble statue of a man (possibly the David?) broken on the floor before Christ on the cross (notice these in the slide show). In the course of seeing many beautiful pieces of art you will also see a lot of Mary and the popes. Much of the art is on the ceiling and it was not long that I became dizzy from looking up so much. They should think about getting some mats for people to lie down on to look at the ceilings! Anyway after 4 miles, some bad modern religious art, and a hundred signs showing the way to the Sistine chapel I finally came to it. Let me tell you it does not disappoint. They do not allow photography in there and photos do not do it justice so I suggest you go to Rome to see it for yourself. Of course my favorite part of the Chapel is where God is reaching out to Adam. This is in the very center of the ceiling and can be easy to miss because there are so many scenes on the ceiling and walls you barely know where to begin. After seeing just the two hands in so many pictures I was stunned to see the whole scene which is so beautiful. Adam looks like he is just hanging out but God looks like he is really going out of his way, condescending, to reach Adam. A beautiful picture of the reality.

Reflections on the Eternal City: The Vatican

Upon entrance into Vatican City I was immediately struck by the size of St. Peter's Basilica and even more so by the number of people in the square. The line to get into the Basilica wrapped around the entire square. Fortunately it was fast moving and we only waited about 30 minutes to get inside. The top of the square is lined with hundreds of statues. I assume they were of popes and saints. I was surprised there was no entrance fee and I was also surprised to pass through metal detectors before admittance.
Once inside there is a definite pathway through the huge building that carries people through in a pretty efficient manner. The Basilica is chock full of marble (taken from the Colosseum), gold, paintings, statues, and to my surprise popes- it seems all the popes are buried here. You see many of their caskets with big fancy shrines over top. Some of them were very ornate. There also a number of confessionals throughout for all different languages. I wonder if you get extra absolution or merit for confession at the Vatican?
The Basilica is shaped like a cross. In the middle is a large structure made of bronze (taken from the Pantheon) which stands under Michelangelo's dome and over the altar that the current Pope performs mass on. The Basilica was built over the remains of St. Peter which were moved here by Constantine. His remains are under the altar. Speaking of mass you can attend mass at St. Peter's while 5,000 tourists are walking through. Don't be distracted though- they do put a rope between the worship service and main flow of tourists...
I felt it necessary to see the Vatican because of my faith. I am not Catholic but the Roman Catholic Church has played a large role in the history of the church. Before coming to Rome I had been studying the life of Martin Luther (because I expected to be going to Germany in Feb). How much better this made Rome!! I really enjoyed walking around Rome listening to lectures on Luther's life. The selling of indulgences provoked Luther to write the 95 Thesis. These indulgence sales were to fund the rebuilding of St. Peter's- the very one I saw. There is much more to the story and life of Luther. I suggest anyone interested read "Here I Stand" by Roland Bainton.
So, what can I say about the Vatican? What can I say about St. Peter's- deemed by many to be the greatest church on earth? I can tell you I thought much of the Grand Palace in Bangkok while I was inside the Basilica. Both are a grand spectacles of idolatry.

Amore

This one is for you, Mom!

Rome for the Christian

This is the first of a few slideshows I hope to create in order to share the INCREDIBLE city of Roma with all of you. This particular slideshow will focus on the sites I saw that meant the most to me as Christian. After the intro you will see some pics taken at my favorite site, the Colosseum. Notice the pic of Christ scultped into the wall. You will see a prison cell where martyrs and slaves were held until they entered the arena. Then I have included a fresco from the Vatican Museum. After a few more pics of the Colosseum (notice the pic with the crosses) you will see a big arch- the Arch of Constantine. He legalized Christianity in the fourth century A.D. A second arch follows which is the Arch of Titus. This arch commemorated the vitory of Emperor Titus over Jerusalem. Then you will see a few pictures taken at Mamertine Prison which is the prison that held the Apostles Peter and Paul. It is here that Paul wrote the letter of 2 Timothy just before he was martyred(see 2 Tim 4:6-22). It is possible that Peter wrote 2 Peter here as well. How amazing to see the places the inspired infallible word of God was written!! The picture in the background of the last prison pic depicts the Apostles baptizing prisoners. Then you will see a photo of a road which is the Appia Antica- one of Rome's oldest and most famous roads. This is the road you take to see the catacombes. The catacombe I visted was St. Sebastian's and it supposedly held the bodies of Peter and Paul for a number of years until Peter was moved to the Vatican and Paul was moved to a church in Rome called St. Paul Inside the Wall. Next you will see photos of the Pantheon. This place is larger than life! It was first built in about 25 A.D. and then rebuilt in about 125 A.D. after a fire. The Pantheon orignally was a pagan temple but was latered converted into a church to honor Christian martyrs and is the best preserved ancient site. Then you will see a few photos of the Roman Forum, which was the ancient city square of Rome, with a pic of me just hanging out in ancient Rome! Then there is a photo of the ruins of the ancient palaces of the emperors on Palatino Hill. Then a few more pics of the Arch of Constantine. Lastly you will see God reaching out to man in the Sistine Chapel.
I set this slideshow to the Sara Groves song I posted the lyrics to a few months back called "When the Saints." I listened to it a lot while I was there.