From my good friend Curt, the following is a great quote from T. H. L. Parker’s biography of John Calvin.

Before you read it may be helpful to know…

• Calvin was a sixteenth century theologian.
• The quote is Parker’s summary of Calvin’s view about man’s dependence on the Bible as our source of ultimate knowledge of God.
• The emphasis added through the italics is mine.
• Sorry the quote is so long, but stick with it… it’s really rich.

“For all his capabilities, man is a puzzled, groping creature, surrounded by that which is mysterious to him. He not only does not understand God, nor does he understand the world in which he lives, but he does not even understand himself-from where he has come, why he lives, or to where he goes. If help does not come to him from without, he will never know God or find His kingdom.

But God, in His loving concern for man, reaches right to him, where he is wandering imprisoned in the labyrinth, and gives him the guidance of the Holy Scriptures, which are like a thread, leading him through this maze of ignorance to the knowledge of God. “The light of the Divine countenance, which the Apostle himself says ‘no man can approach unto,’ is like an inexplicable labyrinth to us, unless we are directed by the thread of the Word.”

The basis of Calvin’s theology, therefore, is the belief that through the Bible alone can God be known in His wholeness as the Creator, Redeemer, and Lord of the world. He is not so discernible in any other place-in the creation, or in man’s conscience, or in the course of history and experience. And since, if we are to know of God, we must go to the place where He is to be found, it is to the Scriptures that we must go, and there we shall find Him as He is. . . . The Scriptures are not man’s guesses about the mystery of God, nor are they the conclusions that men have drawn from certain data at their disposal. On the contrary, they are the unveiling of the mystery of God by God Himself-God’s gracious revelation of Himself to ignorant and sinful men. Far from being a stage, even the last stage, on man’s quest for the well at the world’s end, the Bible is the place where God comes from above and beyond the world to show Himself to His people.”

From T. H. L. Parker’s, Portrait of Calvin, 1954, 62.

What is the foundation for your knowledge about God? Are you leaning on your own ideas about God to form your understanding of Him? Or are you basing your understanding of Him on what He has said about Himself in the Bible?

One way is fatally flawed. The other way leads to life. So be careful.

From a twentieth-century book that will certainly remain a classic until Christ returns, the following quote seems remarkably relevant.

Before you read it may be helpful to know…

• This paragraph is taken from a book written in 1948.
• The emphasis added through the italics is mine.

To be specific, the self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love, and host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them. The grosser manifestations of these sins – egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion – are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders, even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, for many people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 1993, 42-43.

I am not informed enough to comment on the levels of self-promotion among the church leaders in the 1940′s, but I find it hard to believe our generation has not surpassed them. The front window of any “Christian” bookstore illustrates the rising emphasis among Christian speakers, authors, and artists to employ marketing strategies to promote themselves by promoting their next tour or newest book or upcoming album.

Do you even notice the undercurrent of self-promotion?

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A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) was one of the great pastors and authors of the twentieth century. He who served several churches including more than 30 years at Southside Alliance Church in Chicago, Illinois and authored several books including, The Pursuit of God, which was first published in 1948.

From one of the great God-exalting books written in our lifetime, the following quote summarizes an often forgotten truth in our narcissistic culture.

“But God’s saving designs are penultimate, not ultimate. Redemption, salvation, and restoration are not God’s ultimate goal. These He performs for the sake of something greater: namely, the enjoyment He has in glorifying Himself.”

From John Piper’s Desiring God, 2003, page 31

The temptation to exalt humans to the highest place in God’s plan permeates contemporary Christian culture. God’s priority has, always will be, and must be Himself. For to care about anything more than His glory would shake the foundation of His deity.

If this truth troubles or strikes you, meditate on it. We’ll return to it many times in the future.

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John Piper is one of the most popular and powerful preachers alive today. His ministry has produced more than 2,500 resources and most of them are available at no cost on-line at www.desiringgod.org.

From perhaps the best book (outside the Bible) ever written on evangelism, the following quote expresses an essential part of my philosophy of life (and ministry).

Before you read it may be helpful to know…

• The “it” he writes about is reaching the world for Christ by making disciples.

• By “making disciples” he means leading another person to follow Christ by teaching and modeling a Christ-like life.

• For him a disciple is “made” when he or she begins to follow this pattern by “making” a disciple.

• This plan follows Jesus’ example of selecting the 12 men and then focusing even more closely on 3 of them (Peter, James, and John). In one sense Jesus didn’t call disciples; He called men and then “made” disciples.

• I’ve added the portions in brackets for your edification… you’re welcome.

“Here is where we must begin just like Jesus. It will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by people at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don’t live to see it. Seen this way, though, it becomes a big decision in the ministry [or in life]. We must decide where we want our ministry [or life] to count – in the momentary applause of popular recognition or in the reproduction of our lives in a few chosen people who will carry on our work after we have gone. Really it is a question of which generation we are living for.”

From Robert E. Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism, 2007, page 32.

How much time will you invest in another person this week?