http://www.hobbes.org.uk imperfect meditations on reformed and charismatic theology Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:25:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 1. Calvin’s Institutes 2. Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics No blogs. http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/12/reading-list-for-2009-2/ The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?     My God, no hymn for Thee? My soul's a shepherd too; a flock it feeds     Of thoughts, and words, and deeds. The pasture is Thy word: the streams, Thy grace     Enriching all the place. Shepherd and flock shall sing, and all my powers     Outsing the daylight hours. Then will we ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/12/christmas/ The following is an extract of a letter sent by Maurice Cerullo to a leader of a UK church in 1994. Dear Arthur, God often moves in very unusual ways. Arthur, I tremble as I write this . . . God has told me to release His End Time Financial Anointing. Do ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/12/end-time-financial-anointing/ A few weeks ago I posted a lengthy, but juicy, quotation from Carl Trueman, who said: …the content and efficacy of the gospel does not depend in any way whatsoever upon the moral qualities or salvific status of the individual who brings the message. This sounds surprising. Most people, I guess, believe ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/12/the-gospel-in-pretense-or-in-truth/ IF we satisfy ourselves in mere notions and speculations about the glory of Christ as doctrinally revealed unto us, we shall find no transforming power or efficacy communicated to us thereby. But when, under the conduct of that spiritual light, our affections do cleave unto him with full purpose of ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/12/the-just-temperature-of-a-state-of-spiritual-health/ This morning I read this outstanding quotation by Carl Trueman on the Reformation Quest blog, highlighting the "confusion between gospel as message and the believer’s response in experience". I've not read Trueman's book. But, based on this quotation, it sounds extremely helpful and insightful. It's a reasonably long quote, but ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/12/the-church-and-experience/ As for the assertion that beyond the apostolic period the only pattern for healing is James 5:13-15, and that none were to have 'gifts of healings' any more, such an affirmation is simply arbitrary and rests on the misunderstanding that 'gifts of healings' means the quasi-magical ability to perform evidentialist ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/11/gifts-of-healings/ Ruthven observes that a comparison of Warfield's treatment of the biblical miracles with his negative reponse to later claims for miracles reveals an epistemological incoherence at the heart of his view of 'miracle'. On the one hand, he expects the biblical miracles to be transparent to 'common sense' (i.e. it ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/11/warfields-epistemological-incoherence/ What the Church needs today is not more machinery or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use— men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/11/prayer-and-methods/ It was a real blessing to slowly work my way through John Flavel’s The Mystery of Providence, particularly the chapter on “How to meditate on the Providence of God”. It has been very helpful for dealing with my attitude towards the difficulties and problems that I face (not that they ... http://www.hobbes.org.uk/2008/11/set-before-you-the-sovereignty-of-god/