The Tulip Driven Life

Picture taken from this address There is only one question that you must settle, Christian, if you are to have unconquerable comfort in your life. This comfort depends not on your financial status nor the status of your other affairs and duties in life. It does not even depend upon your health and physical well-being. This comfort never ebbs, it never runs empty or dries up, but is a constant, steady stream that will never cease to flow to you when you most need it.  The comfort that I am speaking of is the comfort found in the sovereignty of God. Your problem is, if you are anything like me, you have been told much of your life not to believe in the absolute sovereignty of God because it would be most unsettling to have a God who ordains and predestines everything, even sin and sickness and all those who wind up in hell. You have been told this because the one who told you likely believed that God is incapable of predestining all things in such a way t...

The final draft. Enjoy.                Reformation Bible College God Gives Permission? The Error of Permissive Will Theological Prolegomena By Thomas Booher Sanford, Florida December, 2011 Where is God when natural disasters occur, taking so many lives? What about when seemingly innocent people are robbed or raped or murdered? Does God permit or plan that? The permissive will of God is a doctrine to which many Reformed theologians adhere. Reformed theologians believe that God is not under any obligation to give man freedom to act apart from His plan, and thus permits sin for His own good purposes. This permission falls within His sovereignty, since God could choose to stop man from sinning, but instead chooses to not restrain the sinfulness of man, leaving man to his own devices. The permissive will exposited by many Reformed theologians, however, undermines rather than affirms God’s sovereignty.   ...

God is sovereign over all. He predestined everything, including the Fall, all according to His good will and pleasure (Eph. 1:11). We also know that for the elect, for those who love God, all things work together for good because of God's sovereign control over all things (Rom. 8:28). So how do we live in light of this? Do we "let go and let God," meaning, do we take a whatever will be, will be attitude and not work towards or strive for anything? Hardly. What happens when pain and sorrow comes? Do we not go to God in prayer, do we not find ourselves on our knees, on our faces? We tend to take the que sera sera attitude until we find ourselves in painful or difficult situations. Then we think prayer and action might be worth a try. As a Christian, I sin a lot, in thought, word, and deed. I don't read my Bible enough, and I don't pray enough. I try to figure things out through what I have learned from Scripture largely void of prayer and reading Scripture direc...

My friend wrote a poem before coming to Reformation Bible College. I believe it very well voices some of the same concerns, fears, and anxieties that we all have. The poem is well done, and the theology is very sound. I found the portion where we need to remember that God is in control, knows all about me, and can see completely quite helpful. We aren't in control- God is. He tells us what to do. He made us, and bought us with His blood. He owns us doubly. We don't call the shots, we can only make requests and petitions, but in the end, we must say, not my will, but your will be done Lord. Further, God knows all about us. Meaning, He knows what we need better than we do ourselves! We don't know what is best for us. So prayer and trust in God, casting our cares and anxieties on Him, is in part an admission of this. That is something I struggle with greatly. Finally, God can see completely. This was the lynchpin for me. It is really an excellent insight. This touches on...

This was originally posted at The Voice My journey to Calvinism is an unusual one. I went to a Presbyterian (PCA) church my whole life, went to a Christian school, and yet never learned the doctrines of grace. If they were taught to me at all as a child in my church, I do not remember. Once, as a senior in high school, I remember our new pastor talking about the five points of Calvinism. We went through them briefly, but for various reasons, including the lightness with which we studied the points and my own failure to see their importance and understand what was being taught, no real impact was left on me. ​ Evangelistic Methods Hit Rock Bottom A few months after that, my senior class went on what can best be described as a senior trip where we do some ministering to the locals in the Dominican Republic. We fed them some, played with them for an hour or so, sang silly songs, did a few silly skits, gave a testimony or two, and then gave an invitation for the ...