by Bret Capranica | Jul 15, 2015 | Christian Living, General Theology, The Gospel
Each Wednesday evening through the summer months, a group of adults are reading through and discussing the implications of John Piper’s book, Desiring God. If you have opportunity, come join us each Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. at Summit Woods Baptist Church. Here are a few highlights from chapter two. God’s pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in Him are one and the same pursuit. God’s quest to be glorified and our quest to be satisfied reach their goal in this one experience: our delight in God, which overflows in praise. …no one is a Christian who does not embrace Jesus gladly as his most valued treasure, and then pursue the fullness of that joy in Christ that honors Him. The best explanation of Romans 3:23 is Romans 1:23. It says that those who did not glorify or thank God became fools “and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images.” This is the way we “fall short” of the glory of God: We exchange it for something of lesser value. All sin comes from not putting supreme value on the glory of God—this is the very essence of sin. The wickedness of sin is owing to the implicit disdain for God. Quoting Jonathan Edwards: Our obligation to love, honor, and obey any being is in proportion to his loveliness, honorableness, and authority.… But God is a being infinitely lovely, because he hath infinite excellency and beauty.… So sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations, must be a crime infinitely heinous, and so deserving infinite punishment.… The eternity of the punishment of...
by Bret Capranica | Apr 15, 2014 | Evangelism, Featured Articles, Pastoral Ministry, The Gospel
I had the joy of attending last week’s Together for the Gospel conference. I could (and no doubt at some point should) list a series of personal blessings from the conference, but in this post, I want to merely encourage you to engage in some of the content for yourself. Below are a few of the moments of the week I found deeply encouraging. The Testimonies This is one of several. You should watch them all. Two Marriages from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo. The Messages While all of the messages were excellent and encouraged and convicted me in unique ways, here are those I found most impactful: Never Spoke a Man Like This Before: Inerrancy, Evangelism and Christ’s Unbreakable Bible, Kevin DeYoung The Gospel by Numbers, Ligon Duncan Mass Defection: The Great Physician Confronts the Pathology of Counterfeit Faith, John MacArthur Persuading, Pleading and Predestination: Human Means in the Miracle of Conversion, John...
by Bret Capranica | Apr 2, 2014 | Christian Living, General Theology, The Gospel
Here are a few more quotes from Tom Schreiner’s book, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance. I really recommend this book as a helpful tool in understanding the purpose and use of the warnings of the New Testament and how they related to perseverance and eternal security. The Christian life is like a race, and we run to win a prize. Winning this race is the most important matter in our lives. If we lose this race, everything else we achieve in life is meaningless. 46 Two truths stand out in Paul’s assessment of his life. First, he was confident that he had lived in a way that pleased God….Second, the reason for Paul’s assurance was his perseverance in running the race. He had not quit halfway into the race; he had not abandoned the faith. 47 Both the present and future dimensions of salvation should be viewed as two aspects of an indivisible whole….Salvation is not merely a past reality; it is also our future destiny. 47 We are already saved, yet our salvation has not yet been completed or consummated. We must uphold the tension in the New Testament between the already and not yet when we think of salvation in the New Testament. Believers today are prone to oversimplify the biblical teaching and to think of salvation simply in terms of the present. When this happens, a crucial element of biblical teaching is surrendered… 52 If we wish to represent the New Testament correctly, we cannot say that eternal life is exclusively a present or a future...
by Bret Capranica | Jun 30, 2010 | The Gospel
I’m looking forward to seeing this in its entirety! [YouTube Video] This is one of many reasons why I love and support...
by Bret Capranica | Apr 12, 2010 | The Gospel
This week, I and our three pastoral interns will be attending the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. Two years ago was my first occasion to attend this conference (2006 was the first). Over 7,000 are expected for this year’s conference and the line up of speakers looks excellent. You can keep tabs on the conference through the web-site. It does not appear they will be livestreaming the sessions, but each will likely be available afterward online. Here’s 5 things I most looking forward to at this year’s T4G: 1. Powerful Preaching. The preaching is from our generation’s best expositors addressing crucial issues in keeping the gospel central in life and ministry. I am still deeply affected by John Piper’s message two years ago and its effects in my ministry are taking shape even as we speak. 2. God-centered Singing. I cannot say enough about the singing at the last conference. Every song seems to lyrically fit the message previously given. Each song was played with simplicity and beauty so as to highlight what we were singing and the voices rose above the instrumentation – one mighty choir of 5500 men singing incredible words together. 3. Stimulating Resources. Rumor has it that some 20 books will be given out. These are not publisher left-overs. These resources are those which the main speakers want to put in the hands of each of the attendees because of what the intended impact. I look forward to digging into them. 4. Ministry Focus. These conferences provide an opportunity for me to be evaluated, evaluate ministry, and refocus my heart and mind...
