Tuesday, April 12, 2005

CALVINIST QUOTE OF THE DAY. The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but of self-forgetfulness. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and contemplating your own greatness is pathological. John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life (p. 33).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there Mr. Thompson, it was great to talk to you and your wife tonight. It has been a long time since I've seen you both, and glad to hear all is going well. I've been wondering the past few years where you all stood theologically, so it was exciting tonight to hear that you all (with the exception of your oldest daughter) affirm the doctrines of grace and election. Have a blessed week and may you rest in His grace alone. Only He is sufficient.

-Levi-

Anonymous said...

hey, haha sorry...didn't mean for you to be offended. I promise i meant no harm by it. I'm not the greatest fan of labels; infact there are many who call themselves calvinist or determinist and misrepresent the views associated with "calvinism." Spurgeon said that he "found that [he] could not preach the gospel without preaching that which is known as "calvinism." I do affirm the doctrines of grace and election but only because I see them biblically. I can't argue with the Word of God.

Even with the little greek that i do know, it's much harder to argue against the greek of the NT. I didn't come to "calvinism" by reading Romans, I was reading through the book of Acts. Though we may hate the sound of these doctrines, if you come to affirm them, I know personally for myself, they have brought me great joy and hope. They may do the same for you aswell. These doctrines also have a way of humiliating us and also allow us to be more gracious to a sinner or unbeliever. For some, we may be the closest to heaven they'll ever get.

keep up your study! may you rejoice with a joy indescribeable (1Peter 1:1-9)...

Anonymous said...

there is a whole lot of evidence in the old testament that supports God's predestination of his elect aswell as God's sovereignty in determinism. The OT and NT are packed full of good stuff. if you run across anything you have q's about, let me know! it keeps me busy. :-D you can always check out my xanga. there are a bunch of guys from Criswell on xanga and people like to pose questions/arguments towards us a lot. if you have xanga my sn is nclevi2.