MAGNALIA DEIWhen one delves into the things of God you plunge headlong into a pool of superlatives only to discover there are no words adequate to describe the Living Almighty God and His ways. Magnalia Dei is an old Latin phrase that speaks of the mighty acts, the wonders, the miraculous works of God. God confirms, validates, and authenticates His Word through miracles. Men are able to observe the miracles, the supernatural acts of God. The miracles of Jesus were to confirm that He is the Messiah, the Christ, that His message is from God the Father. His miracles proved He also had the power to forgive sins. Miracles were the seals of His divine mission. Think of the great miracles God performs for us and in us. The greatest miracle is that he does. Selah! The new birth is one of His greatest miracles.Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."How?REPENTBELIEVERECEIVE CONCEIVEThe collective miracles of God in nations begin with individual miracles, one man, or one woman, at a time. I'm an evangelist. What is the difference between an evangelist and a pastor? A pastor comforts the afflicted. An evangelist afflicts the comfortable, those comfortable in their sin on their journey to the pit of hell. The gospel makes them uncomfortable. I am concerned with the salvation of one man, one woman, at a time. Collectively, these redeemed of the Lord will change nations led by ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Thomas Kelly's major study of the Beneventan chant reinstates one of the oldest surviving bodies of Western music: the Latin church music of southern Italy as it existed before the spread of Gregorian chant.

For more than two millennia believers have struggled with the antinomy of God's absolute sovereignty over and man's ultimate responsibility in justification and sanctification. Theologians have used some version of the terms »active justification« and »definitive sanctification« in an attempt to illuminate this mystery. However, in the past decade scholars have begun to criticize these concepts, saying that they are unsupported in Scripture, lead to theological confusion, and are of no practical benefit to believers.Through the work of theologians from the broader Dutch Reformed tradition, especially Herman Bavinck, Alexander Comrie, Herman Witsius, and Abraham Kuyper. Jae-Eun Park demonstrates that the terms »active justification« and »definitive sanctification« are derived from Scripture and serve to clarify, not obscure the doctrines of justification and sanctification. In addition, the book shows that neglect, misuse, or misunderstanding of the terms have resulted in contemporary criticisms that are unconvincing and unfounded.Writings of the aforementioned theologians define and expound four characteristics held in common between active justification and definitive sanctification, i.e., inseparability, objectivity and decisiveness, Christ-centeredness, and God's absolute sovereignty – concepts of the mentioned theologians. All four characteristics of active justification and definitive sanctification emphasize the »God-driven« nature of salvation.Jae-Eun Park explains how – when properly defined and presented – the two terms are important theologically, bringing clarity to the issue of the perfect balance between God's sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation. He also shows how active justification and definitive sanctification offers practical assurance of their perseverance unto glory to true believers, and provides pastors with an invaluable tool for exhorting parishioners who may have lapsed into either triumphalism or defeatism.

"In writing this Guidebook," Bavinck says in his preface, "I had in mind, the pupils in the highest classes of our Christian gymnasium, public schools, in the education of teachers, and in normal schools, etc. and moreover those who desire to understand the main content of our Christian, Reformed confession of faith through a not too comprehensive or expensive book." Herman Bavinck completed Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion in 1913 and reprinted it in the Netherlands in 1931. He originally intended it for high school students and Christians of every confession. Bavinck's goal was to make Christians more familiar with the rich, deep thoughts of Scripture as universally expressed in the Christian faith. Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion is an introductory systematic theology by one of the foremost theologians of the past century. Alongside The Sacrifice of Praise, this is Bavinck at his best doing catechetical theology. To this end, Bavinck sets off to explain in a simplified manner the main contents of the Christian religion, even giving it a title that is a tip of the hat to John Calvin's Institute of the Christian Religion. While Bavinck's lengthy Reformed Dogmatics is an academic work, Guidebook for Instruction serves a more egalitarian aim. It is a theological guide for the everyday person in the pew. In this one--and much shorter--volume, Bavinck walks Christian readers through all the major topics covered in Reformed Dogmatics with theological depth and insight.

"Our Reasonable Faith" is an accessible digest of the author's famous four volume "Reformed Dogmatics" and clearly presents the fundamental doctrines of Biblical theology. A practical handbook of theology, it is an outstanding and comprehensive statement of Christian faith and doctrine. Fully supported by Scriptural references, this book provides students, teachers, pastors, and lay readers with a readable, thorough, and systematic presentation of God's revelation.

The christocentric character of Herman Bavinck's thought has long been acknowledged, but an analysis of Bavinck's christocentrism has not been forthcoming. The Heart of Dogmatics redresses this situation, offering a comprehensive study of Bavinck's concept of a christocentric theological system. Building on the more recent secondary literature, Pass draws attention to many unexplored avenues in Bavinck's writings. In particular, Pass sheds light on the intimate connection between Bavinck's christocentrism and his organicism. Delving deeply into Bavinck's appropriation of Reformed Orthodoxy and German Idealism, Pass presents a compelling account of this thinker's attempt to establish Neo-Calvinism as a modern orthodoxy. By way of conclusion, pertinent ways in which Bavinck's christocentrism may prove a useful resource for contemporary projects of theological retrieval are explored in a comparison of Bavinck and John Webster.