Author: Kirk E. Miller

The Cross = My Infinite Worth? (John Piper)

Kirk E. Miller

Today I was reading in The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper and I ran across the paragraph below. This paragraph really seems to be just a side thought in Piper’s argument, but nonetheless, it caught my attention. Read it for yourself:

It horribly skews the meaning of the cross when contemporary prophets of self-esteem say that the cross is a witness to my infinite worth, since God was willing to pay such a high price to get me. The biblical perspective is that the cross is a witness to the infinite worth of God’s glory, and a witness to the immensity of the sin of my pride. What should shock us is that we have brought such contempt upon the worth of God that the very death of his Son is required to vindicate that worth. The cross stands in witness to the infinite worth of God and the infinite outrage of sin.

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“Are You a Horn Blower?” by Brian Trainer

Kirk E. Miller

I heard a great sermon out of Philippians 2:1-11 by Brian Trainer yesterday in chapel (2.28.2012). Here are my sermon notes:

Why we shouldn’t blow our own horn:

  1. Because of Christ’s future exaltation. You cannot blow and bow at the same time (v.9-11).
  2. Because of Christ’s past humiliation. You can’t blow your own horn at the foot of the cross (v.5-8).
  3. Because of our present relationship with Christ (v.1).

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Church Discipline: The Practice of a Loving Church Taking Sin Seriously

Kirk E. Miller

Every semester I have this habit of overachieving on certain projects, not for the sake of spending tons of time on them or to assure that I get a good grade, but because I like to push myself in my study of God’s word. This last semester (Fall, 2011), one of the projects in which I overachieved was a paper I wrote on church discipline for a class on pastoral counseling. This was also the semester I got married, and so things were a bit busy to say the least. But I was still able to put together a pretty substantial work. My goal was to try and set forth a rather exhaustive “system” of church discipline that takes into account all of the relevant passages and answers every practical question of which I could possibly think. Continue reading →

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen

Kirk E. Miller

J. Gresham Machen, at this point in my life, is probably my favorite author. Last year around this time I read his book Christianity and Liberalism. It was great. The purpose of his book was to identify liberalism (Liberal Christianity) and Christianity (Christianity that holds to the historic Christian doctrines) as two distinct religions. At one point in the book he states,

Admitting that scientific objections may arise against the particularities of the Christian religion . . . the liberal theologian seeks to rescue certain of the general principles of religion, of which these particularities are thought to be mere temporary symbols, and these general principles he regards as constituting “the essence of Christianity.” . . . As a matter of fact . . . what the liberal theologian has retained after abandoning to the enemy one Christian doctrine after another is not Christianity at all, but a religion so entirely different as to belong in a distinct category.

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Live Worthy of The Gospel by Means of the Gospel (Sermon on Philippians 1:27-30)

Kirk E. Miller

Having just posted my Greek exegetical commentary on Philippians 1:27-30, it seemed rather fitting to me to post the manuscript of a sermon I preached on Philippians 1:27-30. Unfortunately, although I’m somewhat sure the sermon was recorded, I have not been able to get a copy of the mp3 due to some difficulties. I believe the audio is lost forever. So, posting the manuscript is about all I can do. But if the audio ever shows up and I get access to it, I will surely post that as well. In either case, here is the introduction to the sermon, just to wet your whistle.

“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

“For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosever believers in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16).

These are things many of us have all learned from our youth, either when we were young physically or young spiritually. But have the truths of these words lost their impact on us?

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