I'm still around

You may be wondering why I haven't blogged in a while. Well it's a combination of laziness, lack of time, and really not having anything much to say. I know most people use their blogs as they are meant to be used- as a public diary of sorts. I'm not sure that my day to day musings and thoughts are worth sharing as a whole, and, frankly, I'm not sure most of the blog posts I read are worth reading.

At any rate, I have a couple of interesting links for you.

The first is a blog by an old internet friend of mine, goes by the handle
Graceshaker. The Holy Wild

He doesn't like categories like "Reformed" and "Calvinist" and "Baptist" and so-forth, which is OK because he doesn't really fit into any of them. Some of his beliefs I strongly disagree with. Nevertheless, Graceshaker has a strong belief in God's absolute sovereignty and man's depravity, and the gospel of grace. His blog is more like what a blog was meant to be (as I described above), and is really some of the most interesting reading around.

Next is an exciting (to me) new internet resource, Puritan Picks.

It is a DVD lending library business similar to Netflix, without all the wickedness. They not only have documentary and educational videos, but lots of clean entertainment DVDs as well.

Lastly, I may as well introduce my new website, A Confessional Baptist.

I had hope to have more content there by now, but, for the same reasons I haven't updated my blog in a good while, I don't. What is available is a presentation of the gospel, the 1689 LBCF, the Baptist Catechism (Keach's), Cambridge Declaration, Daily Scripture readings, memorization, a couple of devotional and news feeds, and a link to my Cafe Press store.

The next thing I will have ready on the website will be the Canons of Dort, and it will be up soon. After that, i will tackle a little original writing with articles about Reformed Baptist Distinctives and then I don't know. I hope you enjoy the site and find it's resources useful. Feel free to tell me what you think here or through the contact form at the website.

DOH!

Earlier I posted a couple of tips on how one may determine the biblical orthodoxy or heresy of a particular website or blog, and among those tips was to look for a confession of faith or doctrinal statement of beliefs. Well, of course, this blog had neither. So I have included several links over on the nav-bar to doctrinal standards which I confess. The 1689 LBCF (original language), the Cambridge Declaration, and the Canons of Dort link to my website and contain the unedited language of the historic documents (or the English translation in the case of the Canons of Dort), and I also provide a plethora of supporting Scripture texts with the 1689 Confession and the Canons of Dort which also link to the online bible so that the passages can be read in context easily. These documents are also individually searchable at my website.

The Ordo Salutis is an originally worded presentation of the Calvinistic order of salvation written by myself with supporting scriptures.

The Modern Language Version of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith links to that document as presented at the Founders Ministries website. It is faithful to the original.

At the top of the nav-bar, I have linked to a presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ compiled by myself at my website from the Canons of Dort, the 1689 LBCF, Spurgeon's All of Grace and the bible. It presents the gospel from these historic Christian documents and scripture from man's sinful condition and separation from God through his total inability to live up to God's standards of perfect obedience to the good news of Jesus Christ for righteousness to all who believe.

I hope these links prove edifying and fruitful.

A quick note about the blog "goodies"

Over to the right you see I have added a small banner add for Monergism Books. I am an affiliate, and if you purchase a book through that add (which is a link), I earn a small commission. Don't ask me how much, no one has ever done it :-P. But it is there primarily because I believe you could literally buy every book they offer and never get a turkey and be edified by them all. There's no ridiculous heresies, financial success books, or popular psychology junk for sale at Monergism Books. If you are feeling spiritually famished, I recommend Monergism Books. And when you buy from them, you are supporting the incredible ministry of Monergism.com which is transforming hearts by the grace of God, a definitely worthy cause.

The second item of mention is the E-Sword add banner. I earn no commission with E-Sword, as it is a free bible study software program with lots of goodies. There are dozens of free modules including different bible translations, dictionaries, commentaries, maps, devotionals and, more. Most of the free modules are so old that they are public property but here's a tip- that's where all the good stuff is! I would recommend for starters you download the ESV translation, the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge commentary (which is actually thousands of cross references), and Nave's and Torrey's topical dictionaries.

The third item is a counter. You knew that.

The fourth item is a Google Custom search, which is tailored to give priority when searching to some of the best Reformed resource sites on the internet including Monergism, A Puritan's Mind, Founders Ministries etc. Type in a theological topic and read for days at your pleasure.

I plan to add more links, a book list and more in the future, so even if my own contribution is lame, you are sure to be able to use this blog as a springboard to many useful things.

Soli Deo Gloria!