2010 Issue 3
Nothing was more important to John Calvin than the pure worship of God in spirit and in truth. Several Biblical texts played a role in Calvin’s development of his doctrine of the worship of God.
You shall have no other gods before Me.- Exodus 20:3
Calvin understood that concern of the First Commandment was worship. In it God, “enjoins that He alone should be worshipped, and requires a worship free from all superstitions.— God, therefore calls for the affections of the hear that He alone may be spiritually worshipped.…thence we arrive at the distinction between true religion and false superstitions; for since God has prescribed to us how He would be worshipped by us, whenever we turn away in the smallest degree from this rule, we make to ourselves other gods, and degrade Him from His right place.” — CALVIN’S COMMENTARIES, Vol. II, p. 418, 419
For many people going to work day after day is a real drag. It can be disheartening to roll out of bed every morning to head to a job that is no fun at all. But we go each day because quitting isn’t an option—we need the paycheck to eat, so that’s reason enough to stick it out.
From a Biblical perspective, however, there is more to a job than earning a living. Earning a living is crucial, of course, but it’s not the only important purpose for holding a job. Lester De Koster provides an interesting theological perspective on this issue in his book Work: The Meaning of Your Life (Christian’s Library Press, 1982).
The book proceeds from the premise that: “work is the form in which we make ourselves useful to others” (p. 3). That may not be the way we normally think of work, but every job, whether in an office, a shop, a factory, a warehouse, or wherever, involves doing something for other people. It involves serving others in some sense.
The Battle of Lexington is a sermon and eyewitness narrative of Pastor Jonas Clark of Lexington.
Where is the Voice of the Church? “How churches became neutralized, America lost its Christian heritage, and how to reclaim It” by Bob Norman, 2009, pb. 66 pages.
Calvin and Commerce: The Transforming Power of Calvinism in Market Economics by David W. Hall (Senior Pastor of Midway Presbyterian PCA in Powder Springs, GA).
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings to all from Ecuador! “How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways” (Psalm 128:1). We are living testimony to this fact in that the Lord has so abundantly blessed us in all areas of life … even though we are so undeserving! Praise His Holy Name!
We send very special greetings to all those who so faithfully remember the Ecuadorian ministry in prayer and support it economically. “When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy and it will be well with you” (Psalm 128:2). “In no sense do the humble find their labors in vain in the Lord. As in husbandry so in all works undertaken in the fear of God, they shall have such success as shall show that the blessing of God is on them, v.2. It is a great mercy that God’s people have something to do in life, and a still greater, when like their Saviour each one can say: ‘I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,’ John xvii. 4.
