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The Epistle of James is now Available!
October 3, 2017 by Sam Storms
Several weeks ago I announced that my entire series of sermon notes on the book of Hebrews was available on my website. Today I’m happy to tell you that all twenty-two lessons on the book of James are now posted. If you are unfamiliar about how to access these documents, simply click on Resources at the top of the Home page, and then on Articles. Look under Biblical Studies, and at the bottom of the list you will see both Hebrews and James. These twenty-two articles are essentially a verse-by-verse analysis of James. I hope and pray you will find them helpful in your life or ministry, or in both.
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #3
1By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #3
By: Sam Storms
Does God Desire All to Be Saved? by John Piper (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 62 pp. This book is almost too short to qualify as a book, but don’t let that keep you from reading it. What Piper addresses in these few pages is one of the more important theological issues facing all Christians. In fact, I would argue that his thoroughly biblical distinction between God’s will of decree and God’s will of precept is a truth without which it is impossible to ful...Read More ➔
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #4
By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #4
By: Sam Storms
The High King of Heaven: Discovering the Master Keys to the Great End Times Debate, Dean Davis (WinePress Publishing, 722 pp.). When I was much, much younger it was always taken for granted that one must never vote for oneself in an election. I can recall being nominated for the Student Council at my school, and also for the presidency of the Letterman’s club. In both cases, I followed suit and voted for the other guy. He won both times! I can’t break free o...Read More ➔
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #5
2By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #5
By: Sam Storms
Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, by Kate Bowler This book is simultaneously informative and infuriating. It is the most comprehensive history of the so-called “prosperity gospel” and its purveyors yet to be published. Kate Bowler is Assistant Professor of American Religion at Duke Divinity School. She is to be commended for her meticulous research and the eminently readable way in which she portrays this deviant and profoundly unbiblical...Read More ➔
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #6
By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #6
By: Sam Storms
God’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America, by Larry Eskridge There were times, in the reading of this book, that I was brought to laughter, and times where I nearly wept. Those of you who are old enough to remember the Jesus People movement may have a different response, but mine is one of both gratitude and joy. Keep reading... God’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America, by Larry Eskridge (New York: Oxford Universit...Read More ➔
Are You Afraid of the Christ of Christmas?
By: Sam Storms
Are You Afraid of the Christ of Christmas?
By: Sam Storms
Here it is, the day after Christmas. We’ve heard his name, sung of him in countless carols, and yet many hesitate, fearful that if they entrust themselves to his love and care he will abandon them or disappoint them or fail to live up to expectations. This challenge from Jonathan Edwards seems uniquely appropriate this year as we consider how to respond to the Christ of Christmas. Keep reading... Here it is, the day after Christmas. We’ve heard his name, s...Read More ➔
Christmas Paradox: The Word Became Flesh
2By: Sam Storms
Christmas Paradox: The Word Became Flesh
By: Sam Storms
It’s Christmas, so let's think for a moment of the beauty of Jesus as revealed in the act of incarnation. For some of you that’s a new and unfamiliar word. It may sound esoteric, but without it we are a hopeless people. Without it Jesus is nothing to us and we are nothing to him. Keep reading... It’s Christmas, so let's think for a moment of the beauty of Jesus as revealed in the act of incarnation. For some of you that’s a new and unfamiliar...Read More ➔
The Body of Buddha in a Golden Urn
By: Sam Storms
The Body of Buddha in a Golden Urn
By: Sam Storms
On December 7, 2013, I wrote a brief article on the purported discovery of the actual year when the Buddha is believed to have died. My point in that article was to draw our attention to the fact that, regardless of when he died, he’s still dead! There is no resurrection in Buddhism. Keep reading... On December 7, 2013, I wrote a brief article on the purported discovery of the actual year when the Buddha is believed to have died. My point in that article was to d...Read More ➔
Top Ten Books of 2013 # 7
By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013 # 7
By: Sam Storms
God in Proof: The Story of a Search from the Ancients to the Internet, by Nathan Schneider Don’t be put off by the cover design. This is a substantive and challenging book! It is somewhat similar to the volume that was number one on my list last year (Why Does the World Exist? by Jim Holt). The primary difference is that Schneider’s focus is the variety of “proofs” offered throughout history for the existence of God. Like Holt, Schneider has trav...Read More ➔
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #8
By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #8
By: Sam Storms
What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About: A Survey of Jesus’ Bible, edited by Jason S. DeRouchie This is truly a remarkable resource for the student of Scripture, especially those who’ve struggled to understand the Old Testament and how it relates to the New Testament. Jason DeRouchie has assembled an impressive team of scholars who explain the nature and flow of the Old Testament with an eye toward its fulfillment in the coming of Christ. Unlike ...Read More ➔
Jesus Christ: the Cornerstone of your Life
By: Sam Storms
Jesus Christ: the Cornerstone of your Life
By: Sam Storms
Yesterday I wrote briefly about Peter’s declaration that Jesus, though “rejected by men” (1 Peter 2:4a), is in the sight of God (and in ours as well, I pray), “chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4b). Dwell with me for a moment on this imagery of the “stone”. In 1 Peter 2:6-8 Peter refers to several OT texts, all of which describe a stone that in God’s purpose is chosen to become the cornerstone of the spiritual house that he i...Read More ➔
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #9
By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #9
By: Sam Storms
Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, by Peter Ackroyd I confess to having a love affair with 16th century English history. The story of Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Katherine Parr (my goodness, who can possibly keep up with his multitude of wives?), the boy-king Edward VI, “Bloody” Mary, her half-sister Elizabeth, and countless others has always captivated my att...Read More ➔
Jesus Christ: Chosen and Precious!
By: Sam Storms
Jesus Christ: Chosen and Precious!
By: Sam Storms
Christmas is only a few days away. The excitement of children and the economic boon to many merchants is at an all-time high. Our street here in Edmond, Oklahoma, is flooded with countless lights of numerous colors. Everyone is, in one way or another, filled with expectation. But are we filled with a deep and abiding affection for Jesus? Are we focused on the one whom Peter says is “chosen and precious†in the sight of God (1 Peter 2:4). So I ask myself, as I...Read More ➔
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #10
2By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013 - #10
By: Sam Storms
Paul and the Miraculous: A Historical Reconstruction, by Graham Twelftree Many Pauline scholars are of the (critical) opinion that the miraculous played little if any role in Paul’s life or ministry. In this we are supposed to see a disjunction between the ministry of Jesus in the Gospels and that of Paul himself. Paul, so they say, was almost exclusively “a thinker and theologian” for whom the miraculous was greatly downplayed. Keep reading... ...Read More ➔
Let Goods and Kindred Go, this Mortal Life Also
By: Sam Storms
Let Goods and Kindred Go, this Mortal Life Also
By: Sam Storms
We now come to the conclusion of our study of John Calvin on the practical benefits of meditating on the glory and beauty of heaven. Fourth and finally, setting our hearts on heaven enables us to respond well to the loss of money and property in this present life. Keep reading... We now come to the conclusion of our study of John Calvin on the practical benefits of meditating on the glory and beauty of heaven. Fourth and finally, setting our hearts on heaven enables u...Read More ➔
Top Ten Books of 2013
1By: Sam Storms
Top Ten Books of 2013
By: Sam Storms
That time of year is upon us again. Starting tomorrow and extending through the end of the year (with Christmas Day and Sundays being the exceptions), I’ll be posting my top ten best books of 2013. This year, instead of posting all ten in one article, I’ll be devoting a single blog post to each one. I hope you enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for #10. Keep reading... That time of year is upon us again. Starting tomorrow and extending through the end of the yea...Read More ➔
Preparing for our Departure from this Life
1By: Sam Storms
Preparing for our Departure from this Life
By: Sam Storms
We’ve come to the third practical effect, cited by John Calvin, of meditating on the glory and beauty of heaven. Third, thinking often of heaven and the age to come not only enables us to hold onto this life loosely, but also helps us to respond properly to the death of others and to be prepared for our own departure. Keep reading... We’ve come to the third practical effect, cited by John Calvin, of meditating on the glory and beauty of heaven. Third, thin...Read More ➔
Confessions of a Cultural Dinosaur
5By: Sam Storms
Confessions of a Cultural Dinosaur
By: Sam Storms
I’m not certain why I wrote this article or even if it was wise to do so. In many ways it reflects badly on me, or so it seems. But perhaps there’s also something good about the fact that I am, for lack of a more elegant way of putting it, a cultural dinosaur. Keep reading... I’m not certain why I wrote this article or even if it was wise to do so. In many ways it reflects badly on me, or so it seems. But perhaps there’s also something good about...Read More ➔
Overcoming the Snares of this Life by Meditating on the Splendor of the Life to Come
1By: Sam Storms
Overcoming the Snares of this Life by Meditating on the Splendor of the Life to Come
By: Sam Storms
We’ve been looking at the four ways in which John Calvin tells us that meditating on heaven affects our daily living. Second, meditating on the beauty of heaven strengthens the soul to overcome worldliness and the snares of this life. Let me simply cite several of Calvin’s statements on this point that you might feel the cumulative impact of how his own contemplation of heavenly glory strengthened him in the battle with worldliness: “They are said ...Read More ➔
Contemplating the Splendors of Heaven
By: Sam Storms
Contemplating the Splendors of Heaven
By: Sam Storms
We left off in the previous article by asking how meditation on “the things that are unseen” (i.e., the glory and beauty of heavenly realities) might affect us in practical living in the here and now. Here is John Calvin’s four-fold answer. First, contemplating the splendor of heaven empowers the believer to patiently endure unjust suffering. Calvin’s life was an unending, torturous ordeal in which he was subjected to slander, reproach, vilifica...Read More ➔
How to be both "heavenly minded" and of "earthly good"
2By: Sam Storms
How to be both "heavenly minded" and of "earthly good"
By: Sam Storms
Unlike Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin did not make an effort to provide us with an extended or detailed description of the beauty of heaven and all that awaits the believer. He did, however, speak of the eternal happiness of the final resurrection and heaven as “a happiness of whose excellence the minutest part would scarce be told if all were said that the tongues of all men can say. For though we very truly hear that the Kingdom of God will be filled with splendor...Read More ➔
Is my view "different from" yours? Grammatical Gripes (5)
1By: Sam Storms
Is my view "different from" yours? Grammatical Gripes (5)
By: Sam Storms
Among the more common grammatical mistakes people make is the use of “different than” instead of the more proper “different from.” Here are some examples: “He looks different than he did five years ago.”“Her hairstyle is different than mine.”“His new i-Phone is significantly different than the one I have.” Most people think there’s nothing wrong with any of these sentences. What’s wrong is that...Read More ➔
Asking the Right Questions (painful though they be)
2By: Sam Storms
Asking the Right Questions (painful though they be)
By: Sam Storms
Here at Bridgeway we strongly urge all our people to become a member of what we call D-Groups. These are discipleship groups, comprised of 2-4 people of the same gender. One purpose, among others, is that the members will encourage one another in the pursuit of holiness and hold each other accountable to godly standards of conduct. One of the more helpful ways of doing this is by asking the right questions. Here are a few examples. What specific things are you doing o...Read More ➔
For His Name's Sake
By: Sam Storms
For His Name's Sake
By: Sam Storms
Why do you exist? What energizes your actions? How do you account for your life and behavior and the choices you make throughout the course of a day? My answer to those questions, and I hope yours as well, is that it’s all for his name’s sake. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Jesus commended the believers there for “enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake” (Rev. 2:3). People all over the world endure pain for any number ...Read More ➔
A Statement of Beliefs concerning Homosexuality and Ministering to Persons with Same-Sex Attraction
2By: Sam Storms
A Statement of Beliefs concerning Homosexuality and Ministering to Persons with Same-Sex Attraction
By: Sam Storms
Not long ago the Elders at Bridgeway Church adopted a statement of belief concerning homosexuality and how we should minister to people struggling with same sex attraction. Our statement is actually an adaptation of the one first crafted by Bethlehem Baptist Church and Bethlehem College and Seminary, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We made certain changes in wording to reflect the emphasis that we hoped to achieve. I hope this document will prove helpful to other churches see...Read More ➔
Now we know when the Buddha died, but when was he raised?
1By: Sam Storms
Now we know when the Buddha died, but when was he raised?
By: Sam Storms
In the USA Today edition of Tuesday, November 26, 2013, writer Traci Watson reported that scientists have allegedly “uncovered the first physical evidence showing when the great religious leader known as the Buddha passed away, a date crucial to scholars and adherents of Buddhism” (5a). Excavations conducted during the past two years imply that he died (or, as Buddhists like to put it, he experienced his “great passing away”) in the sixth century...Read More ➔
How Critical is Community? Reflections on Hebrews 3:12-14
By: Sam Storms
How Critical is Community? Reflections on Hebrews 3:12-14
By: Sam Storms
Dietrich Bonhoeffer declared: “If somebody asks [a Christian], Where is your salvation, your righteousness? he can never point to himself. He points to the Word of God in Jesus Christ, which assures him of salvation and righteousness. He is as alert as possible to this Word. Because he daily hungers and thirsts for righteousness, he daily desires the redeeming Word . . . But God has put this Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to oth...Read More ➔
Taking pleasure in "assertions"
1By: Sam Storms
Taking pleasure in "assertions"
By: Sam Storms
The debate between Martin Luther and Erasmus on the nature of the human will is one of the most significant in the history of the Christian church. In the course of the dispute Erasmus declared a deep distaste for Luther’s manner of expressing himself in positive and categorical terms. “So great is my dislike of assertions,” wrote Erasmus, ‘that I prefer the views of the Sceptics wherever the inviolable authority of Scripture and the decision of t...Read More ➔
The "disaffected deviationists"
By: Sam Storms
The "disaffected deviationists"
By: Sam Storms
Thus far J. I. Packer, in his book The Quest for Godliness, has described the “restless experientialists” and the “entrenched intellectualists.” He turns finally to the third group whom he calls “disaffected deviationists.” These are those who used to view themselves as evangelicals “but who have become disillusioned about the evangelical point of view and have turned their back on it, feeling that it let them down. Some leav...Read More ➔
The Excellency of Christ (8)
1By: Sam Storms
The Excellency of Christ (8)
By: Sam Storms
“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Rev. 5:5-6). [Edwards now turns to what he calls &l...Read More ➔
The "entrenched intellectualists"
2By: Sam Storms
The "entrenched intellectualists"
By: Sam Storms
The second group to which Packer draws our attention in The Quest for Godliness are called “entrenched intellectualists.” I readily acknowledged the accuracy of his portrayal of this sort of “evangelical,” insofar as I used to be one! “Constantly they present themselves as rigid, argumentative, critical Christians, champions of God’s truth for whom orthodoxy is all. Upholding and defending their own veiw of that truth, whether Calvi...Read More ➔
The "restless experientialists"
3By: Sam Storms
The "restless experientialists"
By: Sam Storms
J. I. Packer has an uncanny knack for identifying and dissecting the unhealthy trends that exist in evangelicalism. Nowhere is this better seen than in his book, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Crossway). Here he singles out three groups who have gone astray and then asks how the Puritans might be of help to them. He begins with those he calls “restless experientialists.” “Those whom I call restless experientialists a...Read More ➔
From "House Church" to "Community Group"
2By: Sam Storms
From "House Church" to "Community Group"
By: Sam Storms
Here at Bridgeway we recently made a change in the way we refer to our small groups. From the time of Bridgeway’s founding in 1994, our small groups were called “house churches.” Why, then, do we now refer to them as “community groups”? Is this a meaningless toying with terms, or is there something more substantive behind the decision? I’ll try to answer that question by first asking another: How should we define a local church? What ...Read More ➔
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