Author Archives: Pilgrim

Devotion from Spurgeon


“Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”  – 2 Peter 3:18

“Grow in grace”—not in one grace only, but in all grace. Grow in that root-grace, faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have done. Let faith increase in fulness, constancy, simplicity. Grow also in love. Ask that your love may become extended, more intense, more practical, influencing every thought, word, and deed. Grow likewise in humility. Seek to lie very low, and know more of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humility, seek also to grow upward—having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus. May God the Holy Spirit enable you to “grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.” He who grows not in the knowledge of Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know Him is “life eternal,” and to advance in the knowledge of Him is to increase in happiness. He who does not long to know more of Christ, knows nothing of Him yet. Whoever hath sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ doth satisfy, yet it is such a satisfaction, that the appetite is not cloyed, but whetted. If you know the love of Jesus—as the hart panteth for the water-brooks, so will you pant after deeper draughts of His love. If you do not desire to know Him better, then you love Him not, for love always cries, “Nearer, nearer.” Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in his divine nature, in His human relationship, in His finished work, in His death, in His resurrection, in His present glorious intercession, and in His future royal advent. Abide hard by the Cross, and search the mystery of His wounds. An increase of love to Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of His love to us is one of the best tests of growth in grace.

Year End Book Review – Part 1


I love to read.  However, I am not a speedy reader.  Christian bloggers such as Tim Challies can knock down a hundred or so books a year – and manage to to review them all, but I’m lucky if I read a dozen.  Accordingly, I can lump all my reviews for the past year’s reading into a couple of manageable posts.  Let me first begin with all the books I have my hooks into but have not yet finished.

Books in Progress

  • Lectures to My Students by Charles Haddon Spurgeon – I put this one down last Christmas because of the influx of new books I received and was eager to tear into.  Spurgeon gives some timeless wisdom for all prospective preachers and pastors in this wonderful volume. Though I’m not likely to get into full-time ministry, I found his knowledge insightful and useful, even for a simple Christian layman.  I definitely will pick this one back up.
  • The Death of Death in the Death of Christ by John Owen – Maybe the most difficult volume I’ve ever attempted to read.  I grew exhausted about halfway through, though I actually did learn much from his treatise on Christ’s Particular Redemption of the elect.  I have since read other works by Owen, carried along by a little helpful editing and modernization of the text that I found very readable.  Is there a version of Death of Death similar to Justin Taylor’s and Kelly M. Kapic’s wonderful Overcoming Sin and Temptation?
  • The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller – Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.  He boasts nearly six thousand attendees in the very heart of Vanity Fair. This book is an Apologetic treatise answering seven of the most difficult questions non-believers pose about God and the Christian faith.  It then delves into the reasons for faith in the one true God.  I’m only a quarter the way through but so far this is one outstanding read.

On to the Reviews: Continue reading →

A Peculiar Anniversary


Tomorrow marks the 2nd anniversary of A Peculiar Pilgrim. I will be on the road to the Rockies so I’m putting this up early. If I never post again you can safely assume that we drove off a mountain somewhere.
Honestly, it has not been a good year for blogging. In 2007 I churned out about 120 posts. This year – less than 20. Ouch! Yeah, I know, ‘what a slouch.’ I even pondered the unthinkable; retiring from blogging altogether. But I just can’t. This pilgrim is poor and solitary with only a handful of loyal readers (I think), yet I still believe (perhaps vainly) that I can teach people from the scriptures and through my life experiences. So I press on. I will continue my pilgrimage down the road less traveled by for at least another year. I pray that some of you will carry on with me. I can always use the company.
Due to the dearth of quality posts this year I will simply link to my top five posts (in my humble opinion) of 2008:

My Conversion to the Doctrines of Grace Parts Four & Five – This series holds a special place in my heart.  It is both deeply personal and  somewhat humiliating – but it is the truth, in all its unvarnished glory.

The Dirty Word of Modern Evangelicalism – Basically a primer on the importance of doctrine and theology in the life of every believer.

The Society of Satan and His Gospel – A couple of quotes from AW Pink and Michael Horton that has completely changed how I look at the work of Satan in the world today.  Memorable!

Book Review – The Bible – My first official book review tackles the most powerful and influential book of all time.  Do you think I liked it much?

Merry Christmas to all my readers!


Convicting Power of The Gospel


I recently have had the distinct privilege of reading one of the most beloved books in all of Puritan literature, John Owen’s  Of The Mortification of Sin. It is a deeply sobering treatise into the reality of the wickedness and pervasiveness of sin and its power.  Owen argues that it is the duty of every Christian to put sin to death.  In this volume, he demonstrates the awfulness of sin and the immediate need for its mortification  He then goes into detail on how this is to be done. At one point Owen advises believers to “load your conscience with the guilt of sin”. A powerful sub-point to this direction is given here: Continue reading →

My Conversion to the Doctrines of Grace – Part 5


Author’s Note: Yes, I know, I’ve dragged these posts out so long nobody remembers what this whole series was about!  If this describes you, or if you’re new to A Peculiar Pilgrim, start reading the series HERE.

During my years as a Pentecostal/Arminian Christian I focused my theological studies on an array of supposedly sound biblical topics. I studied Dispensational Theology (though at the time I had no idea what it was called), learning the different epochs of time Earth’s history had been neatly packaged into. I was taught that God dealt with humanity on a different basis in each dispensation, setting a different standard rule of faith and life and watching man fail to achieve the goal. God would then move on to a different standard, man would fail once again to meet God’s demands… so on and so forth. I dabbled with spiritual warfare, waging battle against all principalities and powers of darkness. I learned how to defend my family against the wiles of the devil. I read many kooky books that inspired me to take up the armor of God and stand firmly against the devil’s fiery darts in ways that now make me cringe with chagrin. I danced as King David did (except fully clothed) and anointed everything with olive oil (or Crisco if the former was not conveniently available). I claimed enough territories for Christ during those years that I could have established a whole other country. I scoured the scriptures, scrapping together verses in an effort to discern the times, and determine the signs of Christ’s Second Coming.  I agreed with both Jack Van Impe and Hal Lindsey that the temple in Jerusalem would soon be rebuilt and the secret rapture of the church would whisk us away while the world would suffer beneath the iron heel of the Antichrist’s reign of terror.  I spent hours pleading and wrestling with God at the altar, in the desperate hope that he would grant me an authentic, earth-shattering spiritual experience akin to the ones enjoyed by my brethren, who appeared to get a ‘dose of the Ghost’ on a weekly basis. Continue reading →

Election Coverage


Yep, I think Dan Phillips covers all we need to know about election in this wonderful post over at Pyromaniacs.  Here’s an excerpt:

Today’s American election takes place (normally) every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.

The election I’m thinking of took place once only, before the foundation of a world (Ephesians 1:4).

Today’s election involves votes cast by millions of people of wildly varying circumstances, characters, levels of intelligence, and worldviews.

The eternal election only had three participants: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each the quintessence of perfection in power, wisdom, holiness, and goodness (Ephesians 1:3-14).

Today’s election requires that I take into account the career, character, accomplishments, stated convictions, and proposals of the candidates. My vote must be earned, in my estimation.

The eternal election actually is not only irrespective of (Romans 9:11), but contrary to the deserts of its objects. It is an election “that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4). If that is the objective (or outcome) of the choice, then what were we before that choice, if not altogether unholy, and blameworthy?

Read the post in its entirety HERE

Day of the Reformed


Happy Reformation Day to one and all! This significant, yet overlooked holiday celebrates the historical relevance of the posting of a long list of grievances against the Roman Catholic Church by the Augustinian monk Martin Luther on October 31st, 1517 in the German town of Wittenberg.  Luther’s consternation centered around the repugnant practice of selling indulgences to the poor and naive populace in order to fund the construction of the lavish St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Two great theological issues Luther brought to light were the lost biblical doctrines of justification by faith alone and the authority of Scripture.  They are historically referred to as the doctrines of Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura. Luther, after much wrestling with the scriptures, discovered that man is justified by God’s grace through faith alone.  No human work of any sort contributed to his status before God.  Faith in the work of Christ already done on man’s behalf is the means by which he is declared not guilty before a just and holy God. This doctrine is based upon the belief that the scriptures are sufficient unto all life and godliness for the believer.  No pope or councils of Bishops and religious leaders can add or subtract one jot or tittle from the God-breathed scriptures. Upon this foundation Martin Luther made his stand.  Will we stand with him? God help us if we don’t!

On this occasion, the Day of the Reformed, let all of us who fall under the label of ‘Protestant’ rejoice that we have been delivered from the iron bonds of Romish traditions and damnable heresies. Thank God that he used a frail and thoroughly flawed man like Martin Luther to unveil once again his amazing grace to sinners everywhere through his son, Jesus Christ.

Failure to Communicate


My pastor preached on 1 Peter 4:7-11 this past Sunday expounding on the apostle’s exhortation to serve in God’s strength.  The theme of this entire month has been Serve.  Pastor threw out a tidbit of wisdom that struck my heart profoundly, and I thought I would share it with my readers as well. His third main point of the sermon proclaims that God supplies strength for us, based upon v.11 in the text where Peter states, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…”

In conjunction with this profound truth, my pastor added this insight that spoke directly to my current situation.  He said (and I may not have this directly quoted) “We become stronger by serving, we don’t become strong so we can serve.”  Simple, yet stout enough to break the chains that bind.  It’s the same principle by which we sometimes explain coming to Christ.  We don’t clean up our lives so we may become worthy to follow Christ, we come to Christ just as we are, weak and helpless and his grace transforms us into new creations.  Why do some of us Christians believe that God’s grace is only sufficient for the act of coming to Jesus but somehow the rest of life is completely up to us? Continue reading →

My Peculiar Pilgrimage to Disney World – Part 1


The pilgrim is back!  I apologize to all my regular readers for my long absence from the blogosphere.  Oh, I’ve been around, but only as a lurker here and there, but now after a very eventful spring and summer I am ready to blog myself happy again.  From April through June I’ve been busy moving and adjusting to our new home.  Just last week our family took a second journey to that famous fantasy realm in Florida – Disney World. This trip was far more enjoyable than our last visit in 2005.  One reason is that our kids are all a little older and more independent.  They could enjoy the spectacle much more than they could 3 years ago.  Although it was the adults who had the most fun overall.  The teenagers were too old for Mickey Mouse and the young ones just weren’t feeling the magic.  That’s OK, I suppose, because the reason I had more fun this time around revolved around the fact that a large number of family members partook in this great adventure.  A grand total of 17 people, young and old packed their bags and made the journey to Orlando.  I enjoyed the company and a good time was had by all.  But as the patriarch of this clan commented at a final lunch gathering on the way to the airport: “We had to work real hard to have a good time.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Continue reading →